Beadle's Dime Library No. 395 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

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Each man seemed sufficient unto himself, just then, and really a conversation could be carried on there in as much privacy, so far as conversa- tion was concerned, as though they had the deck wholly to themselves. ‘© Well?’ asked Kyte Darley, as he gained the side of his fellow plotter and fell into’ his slow, leisurely stride. _. ‘Tt is well: and with you?” muttered Rufus, - guardedly. ** All serene. Any word from the Ancient?” ‘* Not a syllable! I don’t know what to make of it,’ and Rufus corrugated his light brows. ‘Surely that old scoundrel can’t Lave hung on until now?” ‘*Tt begins to look like it,” was the thought- ful response. “If so, and I was in the place the Ancient fills, he’¢ be pretty apt to have a se- rious relapse before the Superb can reach St. Louis. He knows you are on the way, of course?” , ‘*Of course. I sent him word before leaving.” ‘““T see Miss W. is on board. Have any par- ticular trouble?” ** More than I bargained for,” with a smoth- ered oath. As briefly as he could, and yet explain all clearly, Rufus Cramp detaied his experience thus far in the difficult game. And in return Kyte Darley gave a whispered account of his doings since they parted on the down-trip. Not without break were these communications made. Atodd times some of the parading pas- sengers would drop a word or a query which de- manded attention, and whenever they passed within ear-shot of any others, the plotters changed their talk to evervday affairs, or some- thing that could by no possibility give a clew to their evil schemes, Still. by the time the call to supper cleared the dock of hungry passengers, the two .svil schemers had brought their stories to a comple- tion, or nearly enough to leave them at liberty to make the best use of the favorable opening thus afforded them. ** How do you stand with the fair one?” asked “Ky , eagerly, ‘ Better than I dared hope,” was the prompt reply Do you know, Darley, if this trip , ave as he spoke, could be doubled in length, I have faith I could more than win back my old position in her good graces ~ “Tt can’t be doubled; and if you are idiot enough to grow soft and n:ilk-hearted at this stage of the gare, old man, I know who'll have to pay the piper!” sharply muttered the other, iyi a savage grip to the arm that swung uear est hiro. “ Don’t fly off the handle now,” was the cool retort, ‘I’m only riving youa glimpse of what snight be, but what will never come to pass. I wouldn’t give up the little girl—” ‘* When you win ker.” fus eo laughed harshly as Kyte drop- this remark. “Tf [ fail, dcn’t think there’s any room for ‘ou to come in, Kyte. If I can make, I can also reak; and unless the game goes my way with- outa ruffle, there'll come the crack of doom to usall, You amor me!” envy, without wanting to rob you, ** And can old fellow,” laughed the other, lightly. ‘t Don’t forget that! And now—once more. How do you stand with the angel? Can you fill the eontract on short notice?” “ At a moment’s notice, if necessary,” was the prompt response. o-night, then?” hurriedly muttered Kyte, asa light footfall came toward them and a tall figure paused by their side, a voice uttering: ‘Pardon, gentlemen, but aa cigar has gone out. Can you oblige me with a light?” asked the intruder, suavely, without seeming to notice the simultaneous start which the plotters CHAPTER X. PLOTTING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. Tris wanting a light bade fair to become chronic with Mark Lendrum, and a complaint that would agg vag create more or less hard feeling, unless he used greater discretion in choosing the time in which to prefer his request, And yet, uncomfortable as was this growing habit in itself, it was not to be compared wit that other peculiarity: the usurpation of the voice of the Duke of Derringers. ' For the second time since the wheels of the trip, Rufus Cramp felt that sickening cold chill creep up and down his spinal marrow, without | which he had never, since that fated day when ublic for uke Bar- cei eit LLL LLL ; r Deadly Aim, the Duke of Derringers. the gentleman sport caned him in acting the brute, beard the voice of ringer. Once before this, Mark Landrum had startled him, but then a single glance at the face of the he startled plotter, and it speaker reassured only required a second ‘sentence to make him smile in his sleeve at his folly in detecting a re- semblance that had no existence, , But now he could see that Kyte Darley was no whit less startled than himself, even going so far as to drop a hand on a pistol-butt. ‘‘A charming evening, gentlemen,” pleasant- ly added Mark Landrum, smiling until his white teeth gleamed in the dim starlight. ‘‘If one could always live thus, under the stars, free from the rush and turmoil of— Thanks,” with another bow as he deftly took the cigar from Rufus Cramp’s hand, daintily flipping away the ashes and holding the ruddy end against his own fresh weed. The light was quite sufficient to give such keen eyes as those of Kyte Darley a thorough view of the fellow’s person, while the red glow of the cigars illumined his face quite plainly. Tall, well-built, graceful in every movement, with the ; eculiar “ something” about him that alee, roclaims the ‘‘man of the world,” in igure Mark Landrum might have passed for the Duke of Derringers; but so, too, might half a dozen other passengers on board the Superb. His eyes, too, were large, dark and bright. But there the resemblance came to an end. His hair was close-cropped, his face was smooth-shorn, with an even bronzed color that could not be mistaken for that of a man who has recently clipped off a luxuriant beard. And, too, just as Rufus Cramp had noticed once before, the more Mark Landrum spoke, the less remarkable grew that resemblance, real or fancied, to the voice of the Duke of Derrin- cers. It was only a resemblance. They were rrowing nervous, playing for such heavy stakes, They had been talking of this gambler who had so narrowly escaped ruining all at the very out- set, and thus they foolishly mistook his voice. That was it! The tivo schemers came to this conclusion at about the same time, and feeling that the soon- er they could reach a final decision, the better it would be for their hopes of winning the Well- spring millions, they tried to elude this intruder, without arousing his suspicions that they con- sidered him as such. But apparently Mark Landrum was in a so- ciable mood that beautiful evening, turning as they turned, keeping pace whether they walked fast or slow, chatting idly, seeming content to do all the talking if his companions felt averse to perform their rightful share. Yet in it all there was nothing at which either of the plotters could take offense openly, without showing their cards too plainly, and at length, smothering a curse of vexation, Kyte Darley remembered that it was the hour for supper. ‘* So it is,” cried Landrum, with a half-laugh, tossing his cigar over the railing and bearing them company as they descended from the hur- ricane-deck, ‘*' And one must eat, after all! It is vulgar, disgusting to think of in oneself or to watch in others, but—we all do it!” The narrow steps afforded an excuse for breaking the linked erms, and watching bis chance, Kyte cautiously whispered: **To-night, without fail! Watch me, and fol- low my—” Landrum was again beside them, and the whisper died away. But Kyte saw his fellow- plotter nod slightly in token that his meaning was comprehended, and no more was said until atter the long table was reached. A single glance showed Cramp that Portia Wellspring was not at the table, and so he did not take the trouble to pass on to the end set apart for the lady —— dropping into the first vacant chair he came to. He was not sur- rised at this, since Portia had preferred to take te meals in her own state-room. Still, he wished she had broken her custom this once; it would save trouble, and be less risky. Kyte Darley, though usually a hearty feeder after his graceful way, wasted but very few minutes over the good things—and when or where could one fare better than on a “ floating palace” in those ‘*good old times” when the stuffy, dusty, noisy, head-ache-y railway cars were in their infancy, and the great rivers were the main arteries of travel?—and with a warn- ing glance at Rufus Cramp, he pushed back his chair and hastened to the state-room which they were to share in common. A glance showed Cramp that Mark Landrum was busily wrestling with the contents of his plate, seemingly with thoughts for nothing else, and he followed the i set him by Kyte. As soon as he entered, Darley turned the key in the narrow door behind him, and with a sigh of relief dropped on the lower bunk. * That prosing villain can’t crowd himself in here, without giving us a fair excuse for blnfling him off after a fashion that would be far more agreeable to me than tohim! Who is he, any- | way?” eo More hawk than pigeon, I fancy,” laughed Cramp. response, “ T thought you were old acquaintances, from his manner.” ‘* Never met him before this trip. Indeed, he seems a stranger to all on board, though there is something about him that oncein a while strikes me as—that is—” ‘* When he first spoke, I could have taken oath Duke Barringer was at our elbows!” exclaimed Kyte, with a dark frown. ‘‘ That’s what I was trying to get at,” return- ed Cramp, with a little sigh of relief. ‘‘ Once before he gave me just such a shock, and I was on the pomt of lending him a few inches of cold steel, when one fair look into his face told me to spare the pains.” ‘* Let him drop. We’ve more important busi- ness on hand than trying to spot his pedigree. You’re all square with the girl?” Rufus Cramp nodded assent. ‘¢That’s good news! I didn’t know but what she’d be inclined to hold you at arm’s length, de- spite the fact of vour being the envoy of her dear daddy. You think you can turn the trick on short notice?” ‘*T don’t see anything particular to hinder, It must be done this ¥ery night, of course?’ ‘* Without fail,” was the low, stern response. ‘‘ And your part of the arrangements?” ‘* There'll be no slip-up there.” “Tt would be awkward, you know—-cursed awkward!” mutttered Rufus Cramp, nervously fingering his under lip after the fashion inherited from his worthy father. ‘*Don’t worry, old fellow,” quietly retorted Kyte, with a cruel smile playing about his red lips, a tigerish glow in his eyes. ‘‘When I go in to play a game, I run the limits from start to finish, knew just what was wanted, and I went to work accordingly. I have trusty men stationed a few miles apart, from the Landing up as far as this dld tub can plow in twenty hours. They fully understand what they are to do, and are eager to win the reward which I promised the successful gang, aside from their regular wages. There will be half a dozen chances to turn the trick between this and day- break, but the sooner it is raked in, the better for us and our game,” ‘* Tf there should be any serious hitch?” “*T tell you there will not, if you do roe part. You saw how the trick was worked bclow the Landing? Could you have bettered it?” Rufus Cramp shook his head, ‘* Well, each and every one of my fellows are trained just so perfectly,” was the complacent ‘*They will be ready to take care of he goods as soon as you deliver them, I will snow, when the right moment comes, and if you keep your <2 and ears open, you will know it just as surely.” ‘“You see,” muttered Cramp, with a short laugh, ‘this is a bigger game than I am accus- tomed to playing, and it’s not queer that I should feel a little nervous. There’s a rope dangling at the other end!” ‘‘ With good five millions between you and the ® hemp; don’t forget that part of the play, my dear fellow,” laughed Kyte. ‘* And not one dollar too much, either!” “To say nothing of the gentle Marcia! Put the two prizes together, an he have enough to pay you for depopulating half the world!” bright glow came into the sallow face of the weaker-nerved plotter at the mention of this name. As much as lay in his shallow na- ture, he was in love with the child of Remus Wellspring. But for her, he told himself, he would wash his hands of this dangerous work. ‘¢ She knows? She is all ready for her part?” he muttered, softly. ‘¢ Of course; she helped me make the arrange- ments. Without her intimate knowledge of the ground, and lacking her clear, bright wits, I could hardly have succeeded so well,” was the prompt reply. is Rufus frowned, biting his under lip savagely. '¢ flash of the old-time jealousy returned, and e felt anything but comfortable as he reflected how intimately these two must have been brought together while making all these arrange- ments, He knew how easy it was for Kyte to play the ardent lover, even when the pretext was far less fair than in this case. He knew that Marcia was partial to flirtation; he remem- bered how willingly the little witch had accept- ed the attentions of the elegant, sleepy-eyed sport on that unlucky occasion when chance dropped Kyte Daricy at Paullets Landing. And remembering all this, he wondered just how much pleasure and flirtation there had been mixed with the business during those days which intervened between his parting with and meeting Kyte Darley? The gambler was as shrewd-witted as he was keen of sight, despite his habitually lazy, in- dolent demeanor, and through bis half-closed lids he saw the frown and readily divined what was troubling his companion. At any other time, he would have taken pleas- ure in fanning this jealous flame, but now he was rather anxious to smother it. So much de- nded on the work of this surly fellow, and he ew from pen experience that Rufus Cramp could only do clean, thorough work when his brain was clear, his nerves untangled. ** But under it all, old tallow, there was a con icomicbooks © ar. os ee ¢ A , ‘s ' 4) ay fea ‘ /_ ‘i es . “> 74 od M4 ig =~ ee . . . m { 4 \ a \ . (™ ] i — a ‘*% 4