Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 365 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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8 and when least expected,” she said, when for the twentiefth time she thought of Dropshot Bluff’s visit to her cabin. ‘‘ The skeleton game didn’t a es him very much, and my ventriloquism had but little effect. They found Grim George, of course, with the bullet in his head, and the mark of the brotherhood cut to pieces. The | , alcalde of Red Eye will take an oath of ven- eance now, and I shall probably be hunted. } ery well, Dropshot Bluff. If Iam to be your quarry, I may prove a dangerous one. Beware! H the tigress pg | on her hunters. Thecrime committed in Mormondom is still unavenged!” Vera the Viper was not far from Red Eye 4 when she spoke thus, and while she spoke she looked toward the camp, which of course was not visible. ‘* I didn’t leave because of your hatred, Drop- shot Bluff,” she went on, “ ft I had desired to remain, the combined powers of yon accursed camp could not have ejected me. } can go back and stay there in spite of its alcalde. The time wil] come when I will go thither and laugh in the faces of its roughs and toughs. I didn’t take up my abode in Red Eye for nothing.” The sorceress of the sierra rode slowly from : the spot, but not far away she suddenly drew rein, and caught a silver-mounted six-shooter from her belt. **One must watch,” she said. ‘I am under ‘the ban now. There is a dead man behind me who must be avenged. I must not forget this.” ' Moving to one side of the mountain trail, the i woman Waited for the horse whose hoofs her f keen ears had heard. The animal was approaching from the south- west, and a strange smile flitted over Vera’s ' face while she waited with a good deal of im- patience. ! Almost suddenly the horse came into view, and at sight of him the sorceress threw out a hand and exclaimed: ‘Halt! In the name of fortune, who are ou?” The rider from the southwest uttered a light exclamation of amazement, and reined in the horse. A woman witha mask! The last person Vera the Viper expected to confront in that place. “T didn’t expect to meet a female robber here,” said the masked person, and she followed | the sentence witha laugh. * It is stand and de- liver, I suppose?” ‘It is nothing of the kind.’ I am no road- * agent,” was the answer, as the sorceress of Red Tye guided her steed alongside until she touched <p ye = ETE the masked one. ‘*‘ We have never met before. We need not be enemies.” “That is true. If I am not to be robbed, tell me how near [am to the camp called Red Eye r. Vera started and looked into the eyes that glittered behind the silken mask, They were black and full of fiery play, and she could see that the strange being possessed a splendid figure full of easy grace. ‘* Your mask makes a mystery of you,” said Vera, not paying any attention to the inquiry. **T must tell you that mysteries fare poorly " here. The only one that ever kept long is that ' which enshrouds the lost Ophir.” The masked woman could not repress a start and a cry. ‘** Then you know of it here?” she exclaimed. “It moves Red Eye. It is the pulse of the Fine wae me.” ** And it is as yet unsolved?” ‘* Yes, and may forever be.” ‘‘Not if I get a clew!” ejaculated the masked one. ‘‘See here! I don’t know you.” “T am Vera, the Viper, for three years sor- } ceress of Red Eye Bar.’ * And I am Onéen Moro. The agent I sent * out last summer has failed. He has never re- Porte progress. I was told that a better man a han Keen Kennard, of Shasta, 1 could not get | to help me in my hunt for the lost Ophir. Men . lie though, you know.” And the speaker laugh- | ed till the silk mask shook. **Go down to Red Eye and feel its pulse,” said | ) Vera, waving her hand toward the camp. i, ** You'll find a pretty set of men to play seetnet there. You'll have for an antagonist Dropshot | Bluff, Red Eye’s big alecalde—a man whose whole life is bent on finding the missing mine, You'll see there the lost man of Gold Gorge.” - “Gilbert Golden?” cried Queen Moro. “Gilbert Golden and as crazy as a loon.” ** Heavens, no!” i" “He used to jabber about the mine; but he | doesn’t anymore, He has forgotten it.” A sigh came from under the mask, but the a moment the strange woman darted for- ard and clutched the sorceress’s arm. ‘* What clew has Dropshot Bluff?” she asked, eagerly. ‘Did he ever get anything out of the boy's ravings?” ‘I think not. Certain papers, including a map which Gilbert drew up before he disappear- : ed from Gold Gorge, were stolen. Since that they have discovered nothing else although they be have turned the mad boy loose among the moun- tains and have followed him like a pack of bloodhounds. If you think you can find a clew where they have failed, you will find yourself greatly mistaken.” —— Queen Moro said nothing for a moment, dur- ing which time her hand dropped slowly from Vera’s arm. ““Tll never go back without the Ophir,” she said resolutely. ‘* Then you remain here.” ** That is the opinion of a woman!” ‘*It isthe belief of one who has aright to a Go down to Red Eye and tell Dropshot luff and pards that you are hunting the lost bonanza, and you won’t stay six hours in camp. They’ve just got rid of one woman whom they kept three years under protest, and they’ll never harbor another. I had to shed blood before I left. You may have to do the same.” ** Whom did you kill?” ** Ask Red Eye’s alcalde when laughed Vera, ‘I say I had to ki ou see him!” him, and no Keen Kennard, the Shasta Shadow. More than once the tigerish fury of Queen Moro tore Vera’s hand from the mask and forced her back, but the sorceress always c:.me forward to the struggle with renewed strength. The stars were the only spectators of this strange battle, and they did not interfere. ** For pean & sake, let me remain masked!” said Queen Moro, gasping at last, and at the mercy of her antagonist. ‘A sight of my face will do you no good—it cannot. Don’t! don’t! You area woman. Pity me!” ‘‘Not after this struggle,” said Vera the Viper. ‘* I havesworn to look into your face and I shall. If the ‘ost Ophir were offered me to withdraw my resolution, I would reject it. The face! the face! I look behind your mask, Queen Moro!” The sorceress of Red Eye had outwinded the person living had a better right to take that life | strange woman of the black mask, and with the than I.” * Won't they hunt you for it?” ‘*Let them! It will add spice to life in these parts to be hunted by a pack of men wolves like Dropshot Bluff and pards,” laughed the sierra sorceress. ‘‘ But I doubt whether vengeance can take them from the gold trai]. I don’t want to detain you here. If you have sworn never to go back without the lost bonanza I know of one oath that will be broken. If you will let me turn your horse’s head, Queen Moro, you will live to thank Vera the Viper before the year is another week older.” ‘*T am not to be daunted,” was the flashed re- sponse. ‘‘You do not know the motive that urges me on. I want to use that gold to strike a blow that will inflict a wound as deep as that given by the dagger. Under my hunt for the lost Ophir lives a vengeance which I never for- et! You tell me that Gilbert Golden is in Red E ye, but insane. I will get aclew from him. You intimate that the roughs of the camp will tolerate no rival on the trail. 1 will not stop for them! Vera the Viper, you must remember that the oath of Queen Moro is recorded against her where oaths are never forgotten. If “Keen Kennard had not failed me, I would not be here to-night.” ‘**] would like to have seen your agent.” ‘*'You never will. He has given up the hunt or he lies dead somewhere. If I find him I will srobably shoot him on sight for failing to report. Vhat is the name of the man you killed in Red Eye? Pardon me for seeking to know.” The sorceress hesitated. She had once told the masked woman to ask Dropshot Bluff, but here was the question again. ‘Well, it was Grim George,” said Vera look- ing straight at Queen Moro to note the effect of the words. ‘Not the same Grim George who once was saint in Utah?’ cried Queen Moro, ‘‘ The same man.” “Tn heaven’s name why did you kill him!” she cried. ‘*That man I could have made my ally by a glance. When you shot him, you lost me a friend.” ‘‘T can’t help that,” said Vera, smilingly. ‘“You will find him under the mountain sod now. Saint in Utah, eh? He was devil in the same skin!’ ‘*T don’t doubt that, but I would almost give my right arm to-night, if Grim George was not dead,” ‘So you would make my foe my eyil genius, your ally?” exclaimed the sorceress. “In that case, Queen Moro, whoeyer_you are we would have been enemies in Red Ve: The friend of Dropshot Bluff and the ally of Grim George, the Mormon saint, cannot be my friend.” ‘‘T’'m sorry,” said Queen Moro with a sneer that made Vera’s eyes flash. ‘I am here to get to the lost Ophir in spite of all flesh. Good- night, if you are not going back to Red Eye. I goalone. Thus far I have followed the gold trail—from the parlor to the sierra. I am go- ing into the camp from which you are exiled. I may shed blood before my hunt ends, I shall not hesitate. It takes gold to play the game I would play when I go back to ’Frisco.” The speaker drew back and took up the reins. ‘* Heavens! what a woman!” exclaimed the sorceress. ‘‘ I’d like to see the face she hides be- hind that mask. It must be no common one else why hide it here amid the sierra? By the eternal gods! I will look behind that silk. I don’t care if I send her to Red Eye without her mask.” The gold huntress did not read Vera’s resolu- tion in the expression of her eyes; she was un- prepared for the sudden coup that took place. All at once the exiled sorceress of Eye darted straight at the masked woman, and the right hand clutched the silk mask before the action could be met. Pp. ° ‘Hang your! I’ll see behind you mask!” cried Vera the Viper. ‘‘ Interfere with my determin- ation, and I’ll send you to Red Eye exposed!” A wild ery pealed forth from Queen Moro’s throat, and she caught the arm of the resolute woman. Then a fierce struggle on horseback began, Vera fighting to lift the mask, the mys- terious woman battling to conceal her face. | The two steeds standing side by side permittec this battle to go on without interruption. Nei- ther combatants thought of the weapons with which they were armed, , LT ‘last word she clutched the silken covering and | jerked it off. A cry parted Queen Moro’s lips. She threw her hands up to her face, ‘‘ Spare me this disgrace!” she cried. ‘‘If you refuse, woman, I’ll hunt you down and kill you like a dog!” Vera laughed derisively. ‘‘ Tl] see if Tartarus gaps for the sorceress of the sierra!” she exclaimed, and then she madly jerked Queen Moro’s hands away. Resistance ceased then, and Vera leaned for- ward to look into the face she had exposed. One look was enough. ** My God!” she cried, turning quickly away. ** Marked for life! I’d sooner be dead than hav your face!” The answer was a terrible groan, What had the sorceress seen? A face once beautiful, no doubt, but now so marked, so terribly defaced, that Vera rode away, with a shudder! CHAPTER IX, DAGGER JOHNNY’S TRIGGER. ‘ Let us go back to Red Eye, reader. Keen Kennard’s remark that the trigger would have to be called in to tes the superiority of man in the mountain camp, threatened to be realized before long. The unexpected coming of Floss to Red Eye had put a new face on affairs there, The Shasta detective saw that the girl recognized him on sight, and he knew that his look had forced her into the falsehood she had uttered. He knew, too, that Dagger Johnny had also recognized him but his prompt action and the revolver he had thrust into that worthy’s face had made him swallow that assertion. Affairs could not remain thus: the present uiet was only a lull before thestorm, and Keen ennard, when he walked away after subduing Dagger Johnny, saw that he was treading the brink of a very dangerous volcano, His aim already decided on was to get Gilbert Golden away from Red Eye, The young man, clothed again in his right mind, knew the trail to the fabulous riches lost so many years; but there was no telling when he might go back into the terrible state of darkness and insanity. — But Floss had come to Red Eye, and a sight of her might excite Gilbert and put a summary end to the whole scheme. The Shasta Shadow would have given a hand almost if the girl had not come. Fortune seemed against him, In the scene about the wagon he had gota peep into Dagger Johnny’s true character. ‘The man was treacherous, cowardly when cornered, but a dangerous fellow withal. He would beg for mercy at sundown to deal a blow in the dark, The man from Shasta left Floss in Dropshot Bluff’s care and walked down to Gilbert’s cabin. If the youth had not discovered the irl’s resence in camp there was yet a chance to beat ed Eye without shedding blood. “Tf ‘they must meet it must be beyond the bounds of Red Eye and under my care,” said the detective. ‘ First, I will get Gilbert away. By the holy stars! Pve got a grip on the monster bonanza, and 1’m not going to let go!” He soon reached the shanty sought for and the next moment was inside. ‘¢ Gilbert, my boy—” He paused abruptly and looked around. The cabin wasempty. | ‘“Zounds! if he is outside he will discover her!” exclaimed Kennard. ‘‘ He will show the alcalde that he is in his right mind again. He may even give the lost Ophit away,” The Shasta Sleuth whirled upon the door as the last words left his lips. “This must not be. They must not meet here,” he cried. A long stride carried him to the door, and he was about to spring into the starlight when a figure confronted him, and he stood still. ‘“Why didn’t you tell me?’ said the person who clutched Kennard’s arm. ‘‘ She was near all the time and you knew it. I have seen her, Floss has found me at last, no thanks to you, Magic Merle.” : The eyes of the young gold-hunter emitted a_ strange light. ‘Now that I have found Floss, my earl playmate, what doI care for the lost Ophir? ~ (E(©) MIECOOO MCS - ss