Beadle's Dime Library No. 384 — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

ti i 26 Sadie diasimen — - =_— > Injun Dick, Detective. ES the particulars of the untimely death of her mother. It really seemed as if in this struggle the hand of Heaven had been interposed to protect the , to a life of idleness; on the contrary we intend to make you work hard. ‘*Mr. Phenix is in need of a secretary, one who can be thoroughly trusted, for in his busi- two sleuth-hounds, for Malachi Everest had | ness, where secrecy is so important, it would planned with such fiendish skill that mere hu- ! not do to intrust the details of his plans to a man wit alone would never have been able to | common person who might betray them. baffle him, if not aided by accident. ** He suggested that you would answer for the | It was a most fortunate circumstance—one of | position admirably, and as it is both important those rare things which so seldom occur—which } and responsible he can afford to pay you a good sent the two rascals to the lair of the master scoundrel, at the very time when he expected a visit from the men who were hunting him with such untiring energy. Then, too, the fact that the voice of one of them greatly resembled the voice of Talbot, led - the hunted man into the belief that the blood- hounds, whom he sought to destroy, had entered the house. Phenix, though, in some particulars, had de- ceived Everest when he had surprised him, act- ing on the time-honored detective policy. The trap which Everest had sprung with such a ruthless hand had been only too successful. The house had been shattered as though wrecked by an earthquake, and then the ruins had immediately taken fire; and though Talbot and Phenix, being in the immediate neighbor- hood, had hurried with all possible speed to lend assistance to the unfortunate beings, caught in so terrible a trap, they were not able to render them much aid. One of the callers and the woman, who had opened the door for him, had been imprisoned in the ruins of the shattered house, evidently ren- dered insensible, if not killed outright, by the shock. The second man, who had loitered behind his comrade, had been blown through the portal into the open air, and had just sense enough to gasp the names of himself and companion when the two men hurried to his assistance. But within ten minutes he breathed his last. The flames had burst out with such fury im- mediately after the explosion, that it was impos- sible for any one to enter the house, and by the time the fire-engines arrived, the flames had taken such complete ree of the building that it was impossible for the fire laddies to check the conflagration. A fiery end was the fate of the man and wo- man imprisoned within the ruins, if they had survived the shock of the explosion, The next day the bodies were recovered, but so disfigured by the flames as to be beyond re- cognition. And this was the end of the woman whose life had been so strange a one. Talbot and Phenix had a discussion in regard to the untimely death of Fedelia’s mother and the Westerner volunteered to break the sad tid- ines to the girl. . espite the wild life of adventure which he had led, Injun Dick could be as gentle as the ten- derest woman when it was necessary, and it was with all possible care that he conveyed the sad intelligence to the girl. She was deeply affected, being a gentle, sensi- tive creature, although not nearly as much as she would have been had her mother acted dif- ferently toward her. But, asshe said, from her earliest remembrance her mother had never shown to her the love that a mother should display toward her child, and so the boly bond, usually the strongest which ex- ists in this world, was weakened. As soon as the girl recovered from the emo- tions caused by the unexpected intelligence Tal- bot began to discuss the future. He explained that having been ae cmenet i'A ac- quainted with her mother, he felt bound to do all for her that lay in his power. Talbot did not come to particulars though, nor relate how his kindness had been abused. ‘*T am very grateful to you for your kind- ness!” the girl exclaimed with glistening eyes} and as Talbot surveyed her earnest face, the thought came to him that she was likely to prove a far truer and nobler woman in all respects than her unfortunate mother. ‘But I do not wish to be a burden on any one. Tam able to get my own living, as I have done for some years now, for, lately, I have received but little from my mother.” “Yes; but my dear Fedeiia, I think you can do better than to go back to your life of drudg- ery at the store where you were employed. ‘Mr. Phenix and myself have talked the mat- ter over and have come to the conclusion that under the circumstances, we are in duty bound to look after you, and neither of us are willing that you should go back to the store.” “Oh, I am so sensible of your kindness!” Fedelia exclaimed. * And I trust you will not think me strange when I declare that it will be herd for me to eat the bread of idleness. “‘T am young and strong and having been ac- customed to work it is no hardship for me so to ” “Stay, stay, vou are jumping too quickly to a conclusion!” Talbot roplian: ‘*The sentiment which you have just uttered is a praiseworthy one and I am certain both Mr. Phenix and myself will think more highly of ' you, but if is not our intention to condemn you eee ee ee a ema am a a a a fo salary. ‘You will be an inmate of this house, just as | ou are now, and in all respects will be treated ee him as though you were his sister or daugh- | ter.” The girl did not reply for a few minutes but | cast down her eyes and appeared to give way to | deep reflection. At last she spoke. ** Both yourself and Mr. Phenix have been so kind to me that I can hardly find words to express my thanks,” she said. ‘**It is very fortunate indeed for me, situated as I am, that heaven has given me two such friends and I cannot be too grateful. ‘* Of course it will be much more pleasant for me to remain here than to go back again to the store, although I was well treated there and | have no reason to ad ee At this point the girl hesitated and seemed to become a little confused, just as if there was something she wished to say and yet knew not exactly how to word it. ‘* Speak freely,” observed Talbot, noticing her hesitation. ‘* What is it you wish to say?” “JJ don’t know—I wish—” and then the rirl paused in a helpless sort of way, anda vivid lush mantled her cheeks. ‘* Don’t fear to confide in me,” Talbot urged, and as he gazed in the lovely face of the girl he could not help thinking that he had never seen a | more beautiful creature, for the charming con- fusion under which she was now laboring decid- edly enhanced her beauty When he had encountered her mother amid the wilds of the West he had been attracted by her beauty: but the daughter was far more lovely, | and then, too, she possessed qualities which the mother lacked. The unfortunate woman, who had come to so terrible an end, was of a peculiar disposition and could not be depended upon; but from what he had seen of the daughter Talbot felt satisfied | pe a man would be safe in trusting his life to er. And Talbot felt such an interest in the beauti- ful girl that if he had been a younger man he | most certainly would have endeavored to win her for his own. The girl hesitated for a few moments, and then, with an effort, recovering her composure, said: ‘*Of course, Mr. Talbot, I will gladly accept the kind offer which you have made me on behalf of Mr. Phenix, although, after what has bappened, New York has become distasteful to me, and I would rather go somewhere else. “-You—you will not remain in the city, I pre- sume?” Shyly she put the question, as though it was one she thought she ought not to ask. ‘T shall only remain here until IT have com- leted the task which called me from my home in the West. When I succeed in capturing this scoundrel who has led me such a chase the busi- ness which brought me here will have ended, and then I shall return home.” + ‘Can't you take me with you, Mr. Talbot?” cried the girl, in a sudden outburst, moving her chair so she could lay her hand upon his arm. ‘fT don’t want to stay here in New York; it doesn’t seem like home to me now! ‘‘ Surely there will be something out where you live that I can find to do. Iam very quick to learn, and I will try so hard if you will only take me with you. You have been so kind to me that it will be like a calamity to have you go away! ‘Oh, Mr. Talbot, you do not seem like a stranger. I cannot bring myself to believe that it is only a few days since we first met. ““Tt appears to me as if we are old acquaint- ances—more than that—you seem like a—like ——————Y ** Father,” suggested our hero, “Oh, no; not like a father—I could never think of you in the light of a father. ‘You are to her temples. yet an old man, either.” And then Talbot passed his arm rently around from the caress. ‘ On the contrary it appeared to give her plecs- her beautiful head on the manly breast of Talbot | and thus hid her features. | “There is only one way, Fedelia, in which the matter can he arranged so that you can ac- my wife.” A slight thrill passed over the girl’s form, but otherwise she made no sign t words had reached her ears. rfect | “Well, [am not so young as I once was, nor | ure, although blushes covered her face until it | accustomed ease, seemed to her fancy as hot as fire, so she nestled | credulity on thinking we Co ‘*T suppose this is rather sudden; for a man to win stch a glorious girl as you are, ought to take time, and not attempt to carry the fortrcss by storm. ‘But still, as the poet says, ‘love is not a flower which takes time to grow—to bud and bon but it springeth into being in a single our. ‘** And so hath come my love for you. Not the less strong, perhaps, because it is the growth of a week rather than a year. **T cannot « ffer you wealth, Fedelia, for for- tune and myself haven't got along very well during the last year. Speculations which seem- ed to promise much, have turned out disastrous- ly, and instead of making money I lost the sums invested. ‘* But in the wilds of the West there is always a chance for a man like myself to strike a rich lead, and so if you are willing to be content with an humble lot at first, the chances are good that we will rise to affluence in the end. ‘What do you say, Fedelia, can you find love enough in your heart for me tc risk the. venture?” ‘**Oh, yes,” replied the girl nestling still closer tohim. ‘Ihave loved you from the moment when first we met, and I could not bear to re- main here in New York and have you go away to the treat West, and, perhaps, never see you again.” ‘*A true case of love at first sight,” Talbot observed, as he pressed a betrothal kiss upon the girl’s ripe, red lips. ‘‘And I will do my hest to keep you from ever having cause to repent your decision, ‘** But first to hunt this scoundrel down. Until that task is accomplished I have no time for any- thing else.” Phenix’s entrance into the room at this point interrupted the lovers, CHAPTER XXXVI. ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT, Tur moment the detective’s hand touched the knob of the door, Fedelia, warned by the sound, withdrew from the embrace cf her lover, but the keen eyes of the detective speedily detected the signs of embarrassment so plainly written upon the girl’s face, and he was not long in com- ing to the conclusien that he had interrupted a love passage between the two. In fact, the great detective had suspected how the girl felt toward the man who had come so timely to her rescue when Everest made his bold attempt to abduct ber. To watch people and guess at their secret thoughts had become a second nature to this ex- perienced man-hunter, and so when he inquired of Talbot if he had made known to the girl his proposition in regard to the secretaryship, and the other replied that he had, but that Fedelia thought she would rather take a situation to go West, and there attend to his household matters. Phenix extended his congratulations, which the girl blushingly received and then made her escape from the room as soon as possible. Relieved of her presence the two began to discuss what would be the next move in the game. **This fellow is no slouch, as we say in the West,” Talbot observed. opinion he is the most Le a not. Inm accomplished scoundrel] i have ever encountered and I have had an extensive acquaintanceship in that line. ‘This fellow carries out the German idea of the master-thief to the life.” ‘‘ We have been able to give him a pretty hard run for it though,” Talbot observer, — “That is true, and I doubt if during all his professional career he has ever been tighter pushed. I thought we had him foul when we caught him in the old house, but he managed to wriggle out of the scrape.” “Yes, he continued to fool us in an extremely smart way. I gave the fellow credit for being more of a wolf than a fox, and when we brought hie ee to bay I believed he would turn and Rs I ought not to have been deceived by the shallow trick though,” the detective observed. ““T ought to have known the rascal better. We had him fairly trapped, but after all the situation was not a serious one for him. “The only charge we could have brought not old enough for that,” she replied, blushing } against him was abduction, and then, although we found the girl in his power, it is a question whether we could bring the actual guilt home to him, for there isn’t the least doubt in my mind that, personally, he had nothing to do with the the slender waist of the girl; she ‘id not shrink | carrying off of the girl. “Undoubtedly he could prove an alibi and thus slip through the fingers of the law with bis and then ee 2 at us for our d hold such a master-scoundrel as himself. ‘‘ Tt seems tome that the only way I will ever be able to get the best of this fellow will be to make a personal matter out of it, just as we do company me to ‘ae West,and that is by becoming | in the wild West; there, when two men havea dge against each other, they don’t bother the wyers, but settle it with the weapons they t the | can command the first time they meet.’ The detective smiled. o .OO eom (G