Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 379 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

| % af Br aks ———— hr —- rrawmnwmWmWW eee =~=~$~<_— es LLL LZL $$ ‘He risked life to defend the fellow. And Headlight Harry said he heard him call him by a name which, when I mentioned I’ranz Moskau, he instantly recognized. 1 believe he thinks he . has found the missing son and brother, whether he is right or not.” Widow Watkins bowed her head and covered her face with her hands. As Iceberg Dave watched, he could see her figure quivering with strong emotions, He made one move as though he would leap forward and catch her in his arms, but then fell back, his hands clinching tightly as he fought back the hot impulse. Though he so hated and despised Joel Malli- son, he could not forget that this woman was his wife. The widow abruptly lifted her head and ex- claimed: * David Ingram, I can trust you, wholly, per- fectly?” ‘**Put me tothe test—I ask nothing better,” he said, gravely. ‘*And you will deny me nothing? You will not shrink away from me if I speak out plainly? If so—I would kill you!” ‘“What you ask, I will perform. Nothing you can say or do will alter my love for you— nothing turn me from you now!” ‘‘Even though I bid you stain your hands with blood?” ‘““Once more, your slightest wish is my law. Command me in all things, and may I never look into your sweet eyes again if I fail you, Mercy!” ‘* Then—kill Frank Spartan for me |” CHAPTER XVII. A STRONG MAN TEMPTED, ‘* T writu—unless he kills me first.” Without a moment’s hesitation came the reply, cool, distinct, leaving not even the shadow of a doubt as to the speaker’s perfect sincerity. Yet that fair brow perceptibly wrinkled and the red lips vig lr ue as though the words were not wholly pleasing. ‘‘'You spoke to Joel Mallison about setting the’ machine to work,” the widow said, after a brief pause, ‘* That means an attempt is going to be made to set Perry Blair free?” Iceberg Dave bowed assent. **‘And Frank Spartan has taken this crazy slayer of Dan Bennison to the same place? He will be one of the defenders, of course?” Again the gambler inclined his head, **'Then—it could be done easily enough, and without once giving rise to referee not manage it so that the mob rubs out. the fellow?” uttered the widow, leaning forward in her seat and Peo oie rapidly, her eyes glowing vividly. “Tf it happens so, well and good,” slowly re- sponded Iceberg Dave. ‘It isa chance all men must run when they mix up with such effairs. And of course you know that my first duty is owing to the family. Perry Blair must be set at liberty this night, or it may be forever too late to save him, Still, if you are not willing to wait—" ‘*It was for your sake that I spoke, David,” the widow gently murmured, flashing a quick glance into his face, then drooping her lashes, Apparently both words and look failed of their intended effect. “David Ingram grew colder and harder, at least in outward seeming, and his voice had a clear, metallic ring as he spoke again: ‘*Unless you plainly state that you expect me to attend to this matter instantly, without the loss of a minute, I will fad ag it until after the other affair jis pulled off. You know enough of the workings of the family to realize how all- important it is that Perry Blair be rescued as s00n as possible?” 4 ow—and expect you to do all you can to bring that to pass. It was knowing this part of your duty that made me give the hint I did, not from any doubt as to your bravery, David.” _Itisenough for me to know ‘that you wish him put out of the way, I will kill himif he don’t kill me first. But I can’t strike a man from behind! I can’t strike without first giv- ing him warning that I am after his scalp!” ; N Ot evel for my sake, David? Not even to —to— . Swiftly she began, only to falter, her eyes drooping after one glowing look into his big pray orbs. A hot flush came into her face, Her ands twisted together nervously, She looked the picture of sweet confusion. ~ As though an impetuous tongue had almost hurried her into a too frank revelation. Cool sport though he wascalled, and not with- out ample reason, when the ordinary events of a gambling and sporting life are alone consider- ed; keen, shrewd, clear-witted man of the world though he had so often proved himself; in the cunning hands of this woman Iceberg Dave was but a puppet. Though she spoke to him of murder, it did not shock him. He felt that Frank Spartan had amply deserved even. worse treatment. He knew her husband was living under that same roof, yet he could not think her cruel or unnatural in leaving him alone, possibly to die in that heavy fit. And when she spoke to him in this tone; when she looked at him with that glow in her eyes, he felt — oe = Howling J onathan. his control fading away and the lava-flood of passion bursting down all barriers, ‘* Beware, Mercy!” he panted, hoarsely, his white face flushing deeply. ‘‘ Don’t trifle with me, I beg of you, or worse may come of it forus both!” Instantly she glanced up, with that same light in her eyes, her voice soft and low: ‘‘ What do you mean, David? Surely, I have nothing to fear from you?” Not much when set down in cold type, but enough when coming in that sweeti voice, when accompanied by that look, to sweep away the last weakening barrier, and Iceberg Dave sprung forward, catching her to his breast forcing back her head until their eyes could meet fairly. ‘““Whet do I mean, Mercy?” he echoed, his voice low but full of a passion so intense that even her eyes were cation though she had long known him asa secret worshiper. ‘‘ I mean that I love you with all my heart and soul! That for one kiss from your lips, I would dare the hottest fires of hell itself! For one glance of love—one word of love from you, Mercy!—bah! how poor and feeble words are!” he abruptly broke off, releasing the widow and stepping back a pace, his hands behind him as though the better to resist temptation. A. slight shade passed over her fair face, and his eyes were keen enough to catch it, though he gave to it a wrong interpretation. It was not that he had said too much; she wished and expected still plainer speech. ‘*Am I to blame for that, David?” she ut- tered, softly, a half laugh parting her red-ripe lips. ‘Did [ fall on my knees and beg of you to commit such an enormous crime as to fall in love with me?” ‘*Tt was fate, I suppose,” he muttered, his brows contracting. ‘‘And one is a fool to fight against fate, David!” Again that glowing, almost savage light, leaped into his eyes. Once more he lifted his right hand with a warning neta ‘That is what I meant, Mercy!” he said, try- ing hard to render his tones cold and even, but with only partial success, ‘‘ What I meant by warning you not to rouse my wild hopes, only to laugh at and crush them down when I[ have performed the work you set for me. I will do it without that. J will serve you as faithfully as ever mortal man served woman, and all without even the ghost of a promise on your part. But you must not make it too hard for me. You must not throw out any false beacon for me, or —it will be worse for us both, Mercy!” Even yet she pretended to be in doubt as to his real meaning. She uttered not a word, but there was a het in her uplifted eyes. **T will kill you—we will die together, Mercy!” he added. She laughed, lightly, merrily, then whispered: “Would it not be better ‘and more agree- able to live together, Dave?” The gambler gazed steadily into her eyes, as though trying to read the undisguised truth there, She lifted one hand with a gesture that bade him wait, and he mechanically sunk back in his chair, his face hard set, his eyes glitter- ing, his hands tightly clinched by his side. “You wonder how that can be, David, while Tam a married woman, my husband alive and underneath this ‘same roof! It does sound rather suspicious, and as I don’t want you to form a worse opinion of me than I actually de- serve—listen |! ‘**T told you how I charged Joel Mallison with defrauding this man Franz Moskau out of his rights in the Plenty Mine. I did more, I made him as good as acknowledge that he killed Franz Moskau the better to cover up his rascality. And then, when I had frightened the poor devil half out of his feeble, whisky-soaked wits, I sprung a bold trap on him, “T told him what Frank Spartan had sworn, and what a reward he was working for. I made him see that sooner or latter the whole truth was bound to come out, when he would have to suffer. And then I showed him one little loop- hole through which he might even yet escape with sound wind and an uncracked neck! ‘‘ The prospect did not wholly please him. He balked a little at taking the leap, but with your aid in frightening the fellow, ’'m open to bet that we can make himrun away withand marry Amelia Moskau!” Whatever clse he might have expected, this conclusion took Iceberg Dave by surprise. He showed it in his face and eyes. e widow laughed softly, adding: | ‘“ More improbable things than that have been carried to complete success, my friend. With the aid of the family, it will not be difficult to steal the girl away without leaving any telltale traces. And then, surely she could be persuad- ed into marrying Joel Mallison?” “Your husband, Mercy!” ‘“ Now—but then?” with a soft laugh. ‘‘ How long would it take to get a divorce! If neces- sary, to bring him to book as a bigamist? But that only if all other means failed. Whocan Sap our marriage besides he and I? No one! t would be easy enough to secure a divorce without publicity, by lIaw—or death!” LLL LL >. - - — — ——— ** And then, Mercy?” ‘* After that—after Frank Spartan is dead— you say, David!” Even yet Iceberg Dave fought back the lava- flood of pesesan that seemed almost bursting his: brain. hite in the face as a corpse, he sat. motionless, not yet daring to trust himself! to speak, She looked at him in surprise, the warm flush gradually fading from her face and a look that was clese akin to fear coming into her arge eves. Had she made such a terrib ce mis- take? Had this man, too, been playing a cun- ning part? Iceberg Dave read something of her thoughts, and it lent him the necessary nerve to speak, cold and steady, with an undercurrent of hot and even savage passion in his tones: ‘*Mrs. Watkins, as you have set the example, so will I be frank and speak without the thin- nest disguise. I love you. I have loved you ever since the day we first met each other. 1 would not own it even in my own heart, at first, for I knew that you were the wife of my part- ner. He told me at the outset, because—” ‘*Because he saw and appreciated the vast difference between you and his coarse, hoggish face and figure, no doubt!” laughed the widow. ** For that reason, in part, but more because I feared to trust myself, [avoided you whenever I could do so without openly betraying the fact. I knew that if I saw too much of you my mad. passion would surely get the upper hand, and then—either Joel Mallison or I would have to go under!” “Tt wouldn’t be very hard to say which one would do the toes-up act,” laughed the widow: but there, was something in her face and eyes: that showed she was far from feeling at case. Cold and calm though the gambler was out- wardly, his tones smooth and even, she began to estimate him more correctly, Until now, she had never dreamed a man could love so wholly, so fiercely. And though it almost frightened her, she experienced a strange, glowing thrill that was as new as it was startling. ‘¢ Until now I never permitted myself even to dream that my love could be returned, nuch less that it would ever be rewarded by the prize for which I would be willing to dare heaven and. hell combined! I never thought to speak such. words to you. I would not, only for the words: you have spoken this evening—only for the light I have seen in your eyes, ‘* Wait—hear me out,” he said, his tones grow— ing steadier as he lifted one hand with a swift motion. ‘Iam trying to give you a faint idea. of how I worship you. Words are poor things. to paint it, but you may be able to guess the rest. ‘Tf you encourage me to give way to that passion, even though you are simply playing with me, we can never go back to the old foot- ing. You must be mine—all mine! If not— I will kill you !” Her eyes were fully opened now. She realized that with this man love meant more than a. milk-and-water sentiment. And she felt that wild thrill growing and growing until she could. hardly refrain from crying out—from flingin herself upon his breast! It was strange, bu none the less the truth, She was one of those women who must be taken by storm, and when. once so taken, only death can change them, With an effort she fought back that dizzy temptation, still keeping in sight her fiercely sworn vengeance. ‘‘T am not displeased, David Ingram,” she said, her tones low but her voice steady. ‘Any woman should be proud of inspiring such love,, and I am a woman, after all!” ** Mercy?” She quickly lifted one hand, and the gambler sunk back in his seat, ‘‘Let me speak now. You have been frank. and open; I will be the same with you, though what I have to say is terribly hard for a woman to speak in the face of a man whom she respects: and whom she wishes to think well of her.” ‘“Nothing you can say will alter my opinion. of you, Mercy.” *T told you how I ran away from Frank Spartan. It was through pique, such as a warm- blooded, passionate woman will feel when she is: treated like a spoiled child by one whom she loves—for I did love himthen. More—that love grew stronger and more intense with each day that passed over my head while I was waitin and watching for him to follow the trail I left. and beg me to return! Jt was growing even when I became convinced that hope was worse than vain—growing when I had to admit that. Frank Spartan was glad to get rid of me! And it was never stronger than when I listened to that clumsy hog, Joel Mallison!” Hard words, true enough: but harder for Ice- berg Dave to listen to than for ker lips to utter! ‘Through it all my love for Frank Spartan. grew and stood the test of time and absence. And when I beard of his being struck with that blind beggar’s daughter, I could have torn — her eyes out with a hearty good will, had she crossed my pa h! ‘That, when I first heard the rumors connect— ing their names. But then I began to grow skeptical. He was a lcen and swift fowler, and. if he had really meant business, I felt that he a a ~ ¥ ‘ ays - 7 + CORMICMIOOKS (C (Eo)