Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 365 — page 21: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

i ee St ‘ Keen Kennard, the Shasta Shadow. my bird, I ought to throw my hand at your throat. I hate you and all your kin!” With the last word Queen Moro reined in her steed and glared at the girl with all the inten- sity of hatred. * Run off with Duncan, did you?” she sudden- ly cried. ** No. find—” ‘Gilbert, eh? Always Gilbert! I wouldn’t mind finding the boy myself. I would make him talk. He should show me the route to the lost Ophir. I would draw from him his secret for the second time. I had it once, but the man called Dagger Johnny got possession of it after a fight which must eventually cost him his life.” “Tf it is ‘always Gilbert’ with me,” smiled Floss, ‘‘ it is ‘always the lost mine’ with you.” ‘* Yes! I want its wealth!” exclaimed the woman. ‘‘ Without it [ cannot carry out the revenge I have planned. I know the failings of some men. By the eternal heavens! girl, I go back to ’Frisco armed with a power that will crush, and then kill. The sun shall never see my face. I wouldn’t show it to you for the earth.” Floss made no reply, though a chill swept through her frame. She thought of the time when she caught a glimpse of that hidden face, as we have heard her relate to the big alcalde of Red Eye. If Queen Moro had raised her mask there she would have turned away with- out a glance, She did not want to see that face again. The horses moved on, continuing their slow walk down the trail. More than once Queen Moro would turn and look fiercely at the young girl at her side, ‘She looks like him, and she ought to; she is his kin,” the woman muttered. ‘* What a re- venge it would be to take her to’Frisco and throw her at his feet with a, dagger in her heart! His brother’s child, too! Oh! you viper spawn! I could dagger you where you are, Hark!” She uttered the last word aloud. ‘‘ A horse is coming toward us, and horses do not run these trails without a rider.” The next moment the masked mystery clutch- ed Floss’s bridle-rein, and the two steeds were guided to the very edge of the trail where the ghostly pines rendered the spot quite dark. ‘One word, one sign at the peril of your life!” Queen Moro went on, seizing the girl’sarm and drawing a slender-bladed dagger, ‘‘The erson who comes may be your friend; certain it is he will be my foe. Look me in the eye and hold your tongue. If the horses give us away, I will drive this bit of steel to your heart!” Floss saw the blade poi‘ed above her breast, and gripped firmly by the hand that held it there, and while she looked she heard ,the hoof- beats of the horse as yet unseen. ‘*You know what to do—so beware!” the mystery went on. ‘‘I am one of those people who work for one thing—vengeance!” The horse came on amid the strange silence that filled the spot occupied by the girl and her persecutor. Floss’s curiosity almost made her lean forward despite the menace of eye and dagger. Who would the horseman be? Slowly a figure appeared in the trail, and the girl saw evolved from the semi-darkness a horse and his rider. The eyes of Queen Moro seemed to glisten anew, but Floss noticed that the dagger remain- I went with him. He promised to ~ ed stationary, as if the mystery possessed the power of watching two objects at once. The horses shod like statues in the shadows of the pines. Queen Moro had told Floss that if one of them sg na the dagger would fall, and the girl did not doubt that she would keep her word. ‘‘ Heavens! it is a woman!” almost co oe be- tween the girl’s lips, and she glanced at the masked avenger to see what she thought of the discovery. ‘‘My enemy, asI thought,” she heard Queen Moro mutter. ‘If she sees us, Floss, you get the full benefit of my steel.” ; Twenty feet only separated the two parties, and the woman who had appeared when not ex- Peet passed on unconscious of the proximity of ‘loss and her foe. ‘* That woman is the banished sorceress of Red Eye. Itis Vera the Viper,” said Queen Moro, addressing Floss, whose eyes were following the woman. “She came from Utah to strike two men. One of them she has killed; now she wants the blood of the other. I respect a woman who can hunt the blood of the men who made her more than exile. I had that person before my revolver once, but [ could not kill her. I broke my oath and let her live; but before she should look into your face here, girl, as I have told you already, I would dagger _ Let her go. Sho will see somebody if she riles forward long enough, andshe may know that I am not here to lay.” . Slowly Vera the sorceress vanished from the sight of the watching pair, and Queen Moro sud- denly touched the girl’s arm. ‘You obeyed me well, and our horses kept silent for your sake,” she said, with a lightlaugh. “Tt was a close call,as they.say among the roughs of the sierra. I would like to fol- low Vera. She has turned her face toward Red Eye. I wonder whether she is going back to pay her respects to Dropshot Bluff. If she does, my girl, there will soon be another mountain grave where Grim George lies. I don’t want the morning to find us here. Come; we are off.” Once more the horses moved on, and Vera, who by the merest chance had missed Queen Moro and her prisoner, kept down the trail, which, if followed in all its windings; would carry her close to Red Eye. She rode over the same ground lately traversed by the masked mystery and Floss, and at the end of several miles her steed whirled suddenly and almost unhorsed her. ‘‘ What is it, Pluto?’ she cried, leaning for- ward. ‘* Nothing frightens you butasnake and a corpse. Heavens! a corpse it is!” The next moment Vera was on the ground, and while her steed planted himself firmiy in the trail und refused to move another step, she went forward. Stretched across the trail in the brilliant star- light lay the body of a stalwart man, clothed in the rough garments of the mountains, and with his stiffened arms outstretched. Eager to see, Vera bent down until her face almost touched the face of the dead. ‘*Duncan!” she suddenly exclaimed, ‘‘ Dun- can, the man who took the girl Floss from Red Eye. Where is Floss?” She could not tell how long the man in the trail had been déad. ‘* He was not shot in the face,” shesaid. ‘* Per- haps he was hanged, and thrown in this position across the trail. a here is the instrument of death—a knife broken off in his bosom.” Just then the woman’s eyes caught sight of the object standing an inch above Duncan’s “plata sa blade of a bowie broken off at the ilt. It seemed to pin the corpse to the ground. ‘*T know the knives of Red Eye Bar,” she said. ‘‘If Duncan died at the hand of one of his former pards,this blade will.say so, for at my suggestion, when I played sorceress at Red Eye, each man stamped his initials on the blade of his bowie. I know them all.” She laid hold of the deeply-buried blade, and to her surprise found that it was easily pulled from the death-wound it had inflicted. ‘You needn’t wipe ther blood off ter see whose initials ar’ thar,” suddenly said a dee voice behind the sorceress. ‘‘I did thet my awhile ago, an’ I kin enlighten yer.” **'You?” cried Vera, springing up and con- fronting the speaker. ‘* Bet yer boots I kin, Vera. I looked at thet bowie not twenty minutes ago, an’ saw on it ther letters ‘D. B,’” ‘* Dropshot Bluff!” cried Vera. ‘*'Thet’s ther man who gave it ter Duncan!” CHAPTER XXIV. A MERCILESS CROWD. Tue sorceress of Red Eye stood in the star- light, and glanced from the man before her to the hiltless r in her hand. **So this is the alcalde’s work? He followed Duncan, eh?” ‘*T jedge so. Nobody but ther owner ever carried that bowie, yer know.” “*What became of Floss? She went off with Duncan.” © ‘I don’t pretend ter know everything,” was the answer, accompanied by a faint smile, ‘I tried ter find out too much for my own Le All I know about Duncan is thet I found him dead thar awhile ago, hunted down by Dropshot an’ pards, mebbe. They want this chick under ther blood laws ov Red Eye. Behold in me ther exile ov ther Bar.” The speaker straightened himself before Vera and laughed. “I never suspected why you played sorceress so long, until arter we found Grim George dead,” he went on. ‘‘George war Dropshot’s pard in Mormondom. Why did you begin on him, ther least ov ther two, Vera?’ ** Because I want the greatest villain to be the last one,” was the quick replys: ‘*T want him to’ track. All his im before his time comes. e has kept them together by the love of gold; they have all sworn to find the lost bonanza. It has become the life-hunt of the pards of Red Eye. They have watched Gilbert for years, his dreams have been interrupted by their footsteps, they have trailed him in his rambles, but so far all in vain. What would they say if I would tell them that I could lead them to Ophir?” ‘‘ Heavens! kin yer do that, Vera,” exclaimed the man, almost throwing himself forward. “‘Did I say I could?” laughed the sorceress. ‘Not exactly, but I inferred—” ‘You must not infer so much, Dagger Jobn- ny,” continued Vera, laughing still. ‘‘I must not forget that I am addressing one of Dropshot Bluff’s pards—” ‘‘An’ his bitter foe!” interrupted the rougia who was our old acquaintance, Dagger Johnny. **T could clap a pistol to his, head an’ send him ter Grim George!” ‘Which I would not advige you to do for your own good,” said Vera. know that the avenger is on rds shall desert 21 “He banished me!” **No difference.” ‘*He was mad because his picked jury didn’t hev me shot on ther spot.” ‘Yet, you must not kill that man.” ‘Why not?” ‘* Because I am the avenger of the 10th of uly.” Chat settles it, I suppose. When ar’ yer goin’ ter strike?” ‘“ When his hopes have been raised to the bigh- est. piteh—when he almost feels the gold of Ophir in his hands.” “T call that risky work. What ef you should fail then?” ‘¢ But I shall not,” said Vera, with resolution. ‘You may hate Dropshot Bluff with all your heart, Dagger Johnny—you may be willing to shoot him on sight—’ ‘By Jupiter! I am!” 7 You may have forgotten your old oaths of pardship taken in his presence, but I cannot for- get that you belong to Red Eye Bar. I will tell you notning Ab ‘‘Then I kin go on an’ do as I please.” “With the alcalde?” ** Mebbe so,” The next moment Vera the Viper darted for- ward and her hand closed on the rough’s right arm. “Tf you dare!” she said, sternly. ‘Touch Dropshot Bluff to carry out your own revenge, and as sure as there’s a God above us, Dagger Johnny, the stars will see you lying across a trail like Duncan there! I have no band to back me. I wantnone. The Gentile League was dis- banded long ago. I am the only member who stuck to the trail. I will not leave it till the end has been reached. I say for the last time, ‘ Touch Dropshot Bluff if you dare!’ Kill all his pards, if you wish, but spare that prince of demons for me.’ There was a_look in Vera’s eyes that sent a chill through Dagger Johnny’s frame. *‘ She played ther lamb in Red Eye, but she’s a tigress hyer,” he muttered. ‘I guess I'd bet- ter not turn my battery on ther alcalde while she hunts him.” The hand fell from his arm and Vera stepped back. “Duncan can a the dagger,” she said, throwing the hiltless blade upon the dead man in the trail. ‘‘ Where are you going, Johnny?” “Hang me if I know for certain. Yer don’t want a pard, Vera?” “Tn thi e? no! And if I did, I wouldn’t select a man connected with Red Eye!” ** Jehu! thet’s plain English! J hope you'll find Dropshot, an’ when you do strike remember ther man he exiled.” ““T remember only the 10th of July. Guard this corpse or go away, as you please. Don’t cross my path.” The next minute the sorceress was leading her horse down the trail, and Dagger Johnny was gazing after her with the air of a man lost in as- nishment. “Tf they are all away from Red Eye why not post the lure?” she suddenly exclaimed, reining in her steed. ‘‘ They will come back, and a sight of it will set them wild, I will doit. To- night yet I will set the trap for the gold dogs of the sierra.” She rode forward again and did not stop until she reached the scene of so much of our romance —Red Eye Bar. “Tl draw it in his own cabin. I will Jeave it there for him,” she said, as she approached the quarters of the alcalde. In the eyes of the huntress there always leamed the light of vengeance, and having lit Hropahot's lamp she seated herself at the little table and began to draw a ‘sin a small sheet of paper which bosom. ; She presented a Hire» tableau in the light of the solitary lamp, as the sole occupant of the rough cabin. The silence was that of the grave, and the pencil of the avenger made no noise as it moved back and forth over the paper. What a sight for the alcalde’s eyes if he should return! What a splendid chance to avenge the blood of Grim George buried on the mountain! Vera did not pause until she had completed the map to her satisfaction. r diagram on e took from her Then, beneath it she wrote two lines of six . words each. ‘‘ Here is the gold map, Dropshot, now lead your men to Ophir.” The diagram was left ‘on the table, and the sorceress of Red Eye turned away with a look of triumph. ‘‘ When he clutches this he will not carry out my command. I know the man called Drop- shot Bluff,” she said. ‘‘He will seek the trail alone. He will turn from his pards. Now for the rest of the play.” Five minutes later Vera sat at a table in an- other cabin, and when she arose she had writ- ten the following upon its surface in letters of chalk. “ Men oF Rep’ Eye:—Watch the man whom you cailleader, He knows more about the location of the lost Ophir than you dream he does. Dropshot the alcalde; in Mormondom a few ago he was Dave Dastard, the infamous elder!’ comilcbooks ears es ” . ae . € we Ss, - — stelle ial « — a ee r st ees oe b- La Lary od Pa . * - t ‘ “<7 a 74 te: A : » " a Tovou beis' . , oo,” x