Beadle's Dime Library No. 387 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

' ing his red, full lips, but his jaws and round, eyes that ere long caused tho old man to shift _ Look here, dad,” and with a sudden movement not have disgraced the statue, so far as regular- ity of features went. fe Earl Wingfold was strikingly handsome, and he knew it. His skin was thin and clear, his complexion nearly perfect. His eyes were large and lustrous, bold and seemingly frank, of a deep chestnut hue. Hair of a shade or two lighter, clustered over his high, broad brow in tiny curls, covering his skull in a magnificent crop of which any man might well have been proud. Mus- taches of the same hue shaded without conceal- dimpled chin were shaven clean. In his dress the ‘‘ bad drep” began to show. It was rich, fitting his superb figure to perfec- tion, bu6 it was undeniably ‘‘flashy.” Hewore too many and too large rings on his white, taper fingers. The diamond stud in his glossy front jooked vulgar, though it was undeniably genu- ine. Too much heavy gold chain crossed his vest. Too many bright colors, too large figures marked his clothing for good taste. It was not the fault of Damon Wingfold that Earl had not turned out more of a gentleman— though the foxy old rascal was perfectly satis- fied with the results, and fondly imagined his boy was absolutely perfect, ** good enough for a queen, sir!” He had sent him to the best and most select schools: had kept him at college, providing him with money unstintedly, even though, more than once, he himself was left without a dollar, But the **bad drop” was in his veins, and all this only put a finer polish on a natural-born rascal. And when he joined his father in Denver, Earl Wingfold was a past master in all the low, evil arts of the rowdy, gambler, profligate, “Nothing 1] break, my boy—don’t you think it!’ chuckled Damon Wingfold, nodding over his refilled glass. ‘‘?ve been watching and waiting too long for just such a chance as thi:— devil make the bed of Maurice in the hottest corner of his bake-oven!” ‘** And as speedily as may be, after once the divine Precious becomes Mistress Earl Wing- fold,” amended that rascal, joming in the toast. A sudden shade came over the wrinkled, vul- pine face of the elder man at these words, and with a wry grimace he set down his emptied glass, as though its dregs were bitter as aloes. ‘“¢That’s the only part I don't like, Earl—your marrying the wench,” he muttered, shaking his head slowly. Karl Wingfold laughed carelessly. **You’re not expected to do the liking part, dad. IfIam satisfied, what matters it to you?” ‘* J don’t like the breed! It’s bad—” ‘¢ A cross with ours, I believe.” The old man puckered his lips tightly, as though choking back a word that might tell too much, Earl watched him closely, but then let the sudden suspicion pass by, These little pecu- liarities were so common with his father, that really they were not worth sifting down. ‘Tt ain’t love, as the kooks call it, eh?” “Callit that, if you like, dad,” was the care- less reply. ‘‘ Really, I don’t know when I’ve seen a lady whom I felt a deeper interest in.” ** Because she flouted you—because she rolled up her eyes in holy horror whenever she heard your name mentioned—the cat!” Damon Wing- fold snapped, viciously, apparently feeling far more insulted than Earl himself. ‘‘Maybe—I wouldn’t swear either way. But apart from being as prey and trim a girl asall Denver can boast, P’ve got a bet of big money at odds that I can win and wear her.” “Vou could do that without marrying her!” whispered the old rascal, showing his fang-like teeth. “‘Curse the cat! Dd rather help you in some such way as that.” wines. - Earl Wingfold leaned back in his chair, gazing keenly into the flushed, disagreeable face of his father through the blue smoke curling up from his fragrant cigar. Yet, with all his seeming indolence, there was a light in his own uneasily on his seat and to turn his face away. “That's all right, goy’nor,” slowly uttered Earl, perdi the tabie with one of his trim boot-heels. ‘*I know you're mighty kind and accommodating, and ’m awful glad tocatch you in just such a humor. For I want something of you, this evening.” ‘Money, of course?” “Tf you have any loose change to spare, of course. But that ain’t exactly what I meant. Earl Wingfold brought his feet to the floor, his elbow resting on the table, his round chin on his jomed palms, his brown eyes fixed on the green- ish-gray orbs of his parent. ** Why is it you hate Maurice Wingfold so infernally! What has he done to you?” Foxy, crafty, cunning though he was while dealing with others, very seldom to be penned or caught in a corner out of which he could not slip with the loss of never a hair or rag, amon Wingfold could not deal thus with his hopeful offspring. He flushed, then turned a sickly yellow, mumbling something about busi- ness trickery and past treachery. Rw Earl Wingfold listened in silence until his voice died away, then he spoke, sharp and to the int: po “ve heard all that before, I vant to hear ARs 4 3 i $ ‘ Se a ‘ ’ ’ Ps ie AL aod wir & ' q ae ; | -_ v3 %, the truth now. 1lknow that you hate him worse than the foul flend hates holy water; but why ? And what sort of hold is it you’ve got on the varlet? How did you manage to bring him to terms so easily? Mind: it’s the truth I’m asking for, and the plain truth I’m going to have, too!” It was not often that Ear] Wingfold used this tone and manner of address, but whenever he did, Damon Wingfold was sure to yield. Hard as granite to all others, in the hands of his son he was pliable as putty. A pocr pretense at a smile contorted his thin lips. Noe course I meant to tell you everything, in good time, Earl.” ‘*No time like the present. I’m expected to play a part in this little game, and I don’t want to go into it with my eyes sbut.” Damon Wingfold was lighting a cigar. It took him several minutes to accomplish this to | his satisfaction, and even then he spoke slowly, with evident reluctance, shifting uneasily under that steady, penetrating gaze. ‘*T’ve hated Maurice ever since his birth, I be- lieve. I hated his mother when father brought her home. There was little love lost between us, and many a sound cuff I got for making up faces at the cat when father was out of sight. And so—well, from that day to this my dislike and hatred has grown and strengthened.” ‘* Not quite so far back, dad, if you paca ‘* Until this day—and now I’ve got him where the wool’s mighty short! I can pinch him until his very heart bleeds! And’ Tl never let up while there’s a drop in his heart or a groan in his lungs!” A very demon the grizzled looked, just then. But Earl smiled coldly as he interposed: ‘* Pinch as much as you like, but don’t forget that I’m to have the Precious for a_ bride, Don’t let your hatred put that out of sight.” “Ts it likely?” with a harsh, grating laugh, ‘‘ When that will cut the rascal deepest and sorest of all? Patience, my boy! Wait a few more days, and the ripe plum shall drop into your mouth—though for the life of me I can’t see why you should take a fancy to this little eat? She’s not worth a single look from you, my boy!” ‘‘That’s for me to judge, remember. But how @id you trap him?” Damon Wingfold laughed silently, leaning across the table and speaking lowly, as though fearing an eavesdropper: ‘‘Tt wasa trap of his own setting, though I touched it off just as he thought everything was safe and sound. He wanted money for one of his trips, and—” * After the lost cache, of course?” Damon Wingfold turned fairly green in the face and a vicious curse hissed through his teeth as the great veins swelled on his forehead. Jf Maurice Wingfold could have seen that face, just then, he would indeed have lost all hope. t contained.a hatred, a malevolence far beyond the power of tongue to express. Only amoment. He cavght the deepening in- terest in the face of his son, and with a desper- ate effort he regained his self-control, choking back the bitter words that rose in his throat, sinking back in his seat. Earl smiled softly, then said: ; ‘¢ And you're sure there’s no loophole through which he can escape? He’s a slippery oldrascal, remember!” Damon Wingfold gave a long breath—was it of relief? ‘**Not the ghost of a chance, Earl; I made sure of that befcre I let hirm see a single card, Unless he can raise the money, in good hard cash before the last day of the month, he’s a gone ’coon!” ‘* Just how? It’s no hanging matter?’ ‘*Not in the trap the fool sprung, but with that asa handle, I can spring his neck to the rope. Without it, I might not be so readily be- lieved,” chuckled the old sinner. Earl frowned darkly, tapping his knuckles sharply on the table. ‘“Will you speak out? What has Maurice Wingfold done? What is this hold you have over him? I want the plain truth, without any flourishes. If I can’t get it from you, I'll look elsewhere. You understand?” Apparently he d'd, for his answer came promptly and to the point. ‘¢ Ho has forged notes for $30,000!” The young man’s brow cleared instantly. ‘‘ Nothing to hang a man in that.” ‘‘ Enough to bring him into the gutter, and to make any other charge readily believed, though, when backed up by pretty adroit proof!” “ More lies than truth, of course,” was the careless retort. ‘‘Jf not—if you could carry it out without sticking your own neck into the noose—you would herdly have waited this long before pouncing on your dearly beloved kins- man, bony rascal Wingfola only Dark Durg, the Ishmael of the Hills. ee @ got wind of it—and yet, why make a mystery of it with you?” “Just what I was on the point of asking,” laughed Ear!l. **’'You know old Mechsner?” “The Jew?” **So people call him, but he’s only a Dutch- man. Well, | made the discovery through him, | and you can bet high I jumped at the chance to i i] se — SNS invest my money. The old rascal evidently sus- pected something was out of the way, but he got ° I gave him: precious little satisfaction from me. the regular discount, and locked the papers up safely. I told Maurice J had nothing to do with them; but one lie more or less don’t court.” Earl Wingfold was watching his worthy arent closely through all, and now he drew a wreath of rehef. Until now he had dcubtcd the full extent of the power which Damon keld over Maurice, but be doubted no longer. Beyond a doubt the latter had committed a heavy forgery, and the notes were now in the possession of his bitterest enemy. But be was not yet through with his questions, For months past he had known there was more than one hidden page in the history of bis father, and recent events had determined him to get at the bottom facts, if close and persistent question- ing could bring that about. ** Now, dad, what about this mysterious lost cache?” Again the elder man changed color, but a ‘single glance was enough to show him how firm- ly Karl was resolved to have an ample answer, and he made the best of the matter. ‘*More lies than truth, but enough truth to break my sleep, many and many a long night,” he muttered, huskily, pouring out a glass of brandy and tossing it off at a single gulp. ‘* ve had a polite sufficiency of the hes; now I want the truth,” was the blunt addition, ‘* Both you and Maurice were mixed up in that little affair, I believe?” ‘** We were partners—yes.” “Goon, I’m waiting, you observe.” “That was many a year ago, when you were a boy and at school. You know I was poor then, and, like many another fool, I set off hot-foot to make my fortune when the Cherry Creek fever broke forth. Maurice Wingfold was another of the pilgrims,” | ‘* A queer chance that brought two such lovers into partnership!” ‘* Any acquaintance is like a dear friend in a strange region,” was the quick response, ‘If we didn’t love each other, we were willing to bury our hatred, for the time being. Anda so— but you don’t want the entire history ?’ “The main facts will answer for the present, I’ve heard so much about this wonderful ‘ lost cache, this marvelous ‘Gold Phantom,’ that my bliss will never be perfect until I krow all about it; but I can wait for the particulars, if you haven’t got all the tangles smoothed out to your liking.” A thinly vailed hint which Damcn Wingfold was not slow to perceive, but just then he was led to catch at even that chance, end lest urther speech should prove less agreealle, ke hastily added: ‘“We were part of a band allied in a pros- pecting expedition, for the Indians were trouble- some, and it was rather risky playing a lone hand very far out among the hills. mind who the others were, but—” ‘*One of them was this precicus Dak Durg, of course?” Damon Wingfo!ld turned ashen white, and his eyes roved around with a look of absolute terror in them. He crouched low in his seat, tremb- ling violently, though he strove to hide his powerful emotion uncer a laugh. more like a groan! Earl Wingfold was startled, for ke had ty no means expected such a display of fright—or was it remorse? However, he quickly recovered himself, and acded: : ‘*T believe he said something of the rort, cidn’t he, when you bad that little trouble with him?” ‘* The devil—the bloodhound!” gasped Damen, hoarsely. Ear! felt a growing interest. This wes a dis- covery he had not at all anticipated. Put he was cunning enough to smooth it over fcr the time being, and after drinking again, Damon Wingfold resumed his story. He said that gocd-fortune had at length re- warded their prospecting, and that they gained a modest fortune from the gold Learing gulches in the mountains. But then trouble came upon them when they least expected it. There were dissensions in camp—he hinted that Maurice Wingfvuld was at the bottom of all this—and then the Indians made a descent upon them. The first attack was bloodily repulsed, but from the signals which the red-skins sent up, the gold-hunters knew that worse was in store. And so, in the dark, while a tempestuous storm was pelting them, they stole away and wandered all night. Morning found them in a portion of the Damon Wingfold seemed by no means discon- | mountains where none of their number bad ever certed by this truly filial speech. He chuckled | been before, and, worn out by their flight, ex- and nodded in appreciation of the sharp hit. “I won't say Pll hang him, though I could do pecting with each hour to see the encmy come pouring down upon them, they dug a cache and it with a mighty good will. But about the for- | concealed their gold. gery: that isa positive fact. NomatterhowI' Asnight fell again, the enemy did net come, “ Wy SAX ie ae 4 4 fo Se v aes Tad, , rae Gomicboo G - j Never ‘ 7 It scunded ¥ n : he \ yf N bet ‘SEO