Beadle's Dime Library No. 395 — page 30: what you’re looking at

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

i en ee ae ee ee ee ——-— = _ * —— — a ee ee oe ee re _—- - , ? —————— = >= _ —- ——* = = eee we Se am & Tee | eadly Ai 7 . = Sr eh a ee ee Se eee _———— ee : » % * ‘ m, the Duke of Derringers. x gers, for not one of the party in their excite ment had noticed the landing of the steamer, Hy and it seemed es though the worthy chief had actually dropped from the skies, despite his uni- ; form and all too substantial corporation! \- ** Dead or alive, Duke!” harshly muttered the | officer, as he saw the gentleman sport mechani- cally cover him with one pistol. ‘‘Shoot me, i and my deputies will take you, one way or the ot other. Your hands, please!” *“*T won’t kick, if you'll wait until we can see this matter settled!” hurriedly muttered Bar- ringer, as he glanced toward Aunt Honor, who just then came up. ‘‘ I swear Ill not try to give you the double.” ‘*T trusted you once, and what came of it?” grimly retorted the chief, an ugly light glowing 1a in his eyes. ‘‘Ill run no chances this trip, if 1 : can help it. Once more—your hands!” ‘*Not without you—” re “You won't, eh?” cried Tullar, in savage : rn exultation as his deputies, two stout fellows, caught the gambler from behind, wrenching his hands up and back, tripping him heavily to the \ und, falling upon him and holding bim help- ‘ / ess while their chief snapped the irons about his wrists, then leaped up ana faced the startled crowd with cocked and ready pistol as he cried sternly: “I arrest this man in the name of the law, and T’ll blow the first man through that lifts a finger to interfere with me in my sworn duty!” - Only one in all that crowd made a move or —— = - Se “y “ ' —s »=-"uttered a word of sympeuy. Only one—Portia ey Booemg shed forward as the officers raised FoR the manacled, sorely-shaken captive to his feet, and flung her armsabout the neck of the accused, A* sobbing bitterly, tenderly: a ** It is for me—all for me that you suffer this + ghame, my love !” ‘** And this is the—the thing that dared to lay claim to my name!” cried Marcia, with intense a scorn as she turned toward the bewildered Aunt Honor. ‘‘ Come, aunty, let us go. It makes me disgusted with my own face and form just to byte witness such condugt in my double!” Be J But Aunt Honor’stood as though rooted to the spot, gazing first at one face, then at the other, ~~ unable for the life of her to decide which one was really her beloved charge. Captive, disgraced though he was in the eyes of all save himself and this pure spimt, Duke Barringer would not have exchanged places at that moment with the richest man on all the ‘earth! He saw that, hysterical though Miss Wellspring plainly was, those last words came direct from her heart, drawn thence by the bit- ter knowledge that all this humiliation ‘and dan- _ ———s ger came to him through his manly defense of yan her alone. And he knew, too, that she would ‘ ever retract that impulsive confession, though, Aye under less exacting circumstances, months and ‘oF years might have passed before he could have BS: won them from her coy lips, aa Unheeding the rude hands upon him, unthink- ame", ing of the many eyes that were noting every word and action, Duke bent and pressed his lips to hers, then whispered bravely—for it docs _—-.- Yequire jee dad hy no ordinary sort to banish rel ~ one who just avowed her love—to et” **Go, darling! Go with your aunt. Keep close beside her. Don’t let that beautiful ser- ‘ pent get the start of you. Surely you can think of some proof that will convince her you are the va Portia?” ~ It was his commands, and Portia immediately -~—s obeyed them. She at once moved over to where Aunt Honor stood rooted in utter bewilderment, bb.) and pang her trembling hand, saying: AS ‘*Look at me, aunty. Gaze direct into my -———s eyes and try to look down into my heart. You nl _* know I am your Portia. You know that this -~-—s -woman is a vile impostor! She is Marcia Well- ~~ spring, daughter of Remus. Look well at us both. Read our minds, if you can, Decide which is the true, which the false Portia!” ~ - Breat lessly the Duke of Derringers watched and listened, but not for long. Martin Tullar had yas! brooded over his shameful defeat at the hands of this man, and though he had volun- -_ tarily withdrawn the pa’ ole he bad granted, of his own volition, he grew to believe that Duke _. Barringer had bitterly wronged him, both as a - - man and an officer, by foully betraying the rn a he had reposed in his pledged word. %y It was nearly night before he had been releas- ed, by the coming of a chambermaid to prepare ~~ the toom for another occupant, and then the ‘Superb was far beyond his reach. He could s y wait for the next boat, fully four-and- twenty hours later, before he could make chase. ' Chase he would, though it led him twice around | the world, he mentally vowed. He took the ‘boat, fully armed at all points, and accompa- nied by two allies who were sworn to take or kill _-—s the Duke of Derringers should Martin Tullar fail to ca him unaided. Thanks to the de- » Sa lays which befell the Superb, the chase had been ss far less protracted than he had dared hope. Suc- —s ess had rewarded his efforts, and now his first ; ish was for a speedy return to New Orleans here his revenge would be complete. | ¥ “Tf came after you alone, Duke,” he said, as his deputies fo the prisoner away from the Vin coir g and towerd the river-bank, “I’ve got Piet) a 4 y ee i On A 5 * a es a le Ld ft -* x - x J ) y ’ 7 ? 5 ‘ . % , os 4 ) - ‘ z you have denied me. my meat, and I’ll run no chances of losing it. I treated you white, down home, and you covered me with dirt. Now—I’m going to think more how to keep you fast, than of your comfort or high-toned feelings!” n silence, knowing how worse than vain would be any effort on his part to free himself, the Duke of Derringers was led on board the vessel which was tied up but a little ways below where the *‘ pleasure party” had landed. Cap- tain [les wasin busy consultation with the of- ficers of the boat, ut busy as he was he had | wee do you mean, fellow?” angrily snarl- “That the game’s up, and Silas Cramp has confessed everything!” CHAPTER XX, THE FIGHT WON AND LOST. Rurus CRAMP sunk to the floor, weak and unstrung as he had been when he first caught sight of two faces, the owners of which he be- time to bestow a black scowl on the prisoner as | lieved his arm had helped to hurl down to death. he was led through the office by his captors. ‘** Keep him tight, officer!” he cried, sharply. ‘* ve got a charge to enter against him: assault with murderous intent!” ‘* After I have settled old scores, captain,” laughed Tullar, passing on, stowing away his prisoner in his own state-room. ‘‘A mighty few words will settle them, chief,” quietly uttered the Duke of Derringers, who had striven hard to collect his resources. outside, and they can swear to my innocence. As 1 told you before, Rufe Cramp put up that job on them, and capped it by trying to mur- der the young lady on board the Superb. Only for me, he would have succeeded, She can tell you this!” ‘*Tm taking you back on an altogether dif- ferent charge, Duke,” the chief laughed, grimly. ‘*I’m chief witness against you, if you must know! Iswore Id never rest until I got even, you remember?” ‘*Then it is all spite-work? If you will only listen to my story, chief! If you will only see how important it is that 1 should be free to match those two devils, I-yte Darley and Rufus Cramp! If you will only arrest them on a charge of—” “Out of my range, Duke,” was the blunt re- sponse, ‘‘ And I wouldn’t stretch a single point to save your neck. ITve got it in for you bad |” ‘* There’s a boat coming down-river, chief!” cried one of his men, rushing down from deck in hot haste, ‘Good enough!” with a hard laugh. ‘‘ See about stopping her, and we’ll take passage back home.” The Duke was half-distracted with fears on account of Portia Wellspring, and begged Tul- lar to a'rest Kyve and Cramp, swearing that he would see that he was justified in the end. This being refused, he implored time enough at least for an interview with Portia, thinking to persuade her to either return to New Orleans, or at least refuse to take the same boat with the dangerous schemers, | Even this the chief was reluctant to grant, but finally he agreed to find Miss Wellspring and make known the request for an interview. And leaving Duke in charge of his deputies, with strict orders to blow his brains out the very first sign of an attempted escape, he left the state-room and passed out on the forward guards. By this time the majority of the persons ashore had come down to the new boat, the most of them eager to make arrangements for continu- ing their journey up the river on her. Among these were the rival claimants to the name of Portia, and the still thoroughly bewildered Mrs, ar ose behind them followed Kyte Darley and Rufus Cramp, arm in arm, just as though the had not but an hour before stood up to take eac other’s life. In this crisis, they could not afford to pursue their quarrel, They would need all their energies to avert the utter ruin that threatened to overwhelm them and their plot for the Wellspring millions, Through the curious crowd, down the long cabin to its after extremity, the three women et still followed by the two men. And yte Darley, with a cold, hard glance at the men who ventured to follow them this far, drew the sliding doors close behind him. Portia shivered as she noted this action, but even against such tremendous odds she did not shrink. Firm in the consciousness of rieht, she fought her battle, striving to clear the befogged rain of Aunt Honor, only to be deftly counter- ed by Marcia at every point. In silence the two men watched the struggle, Rufus Cramp still too hardly shaken to be of any service, Kyte Darley coolly waiting the proper moment for interference. Time passed, and still he was silent, but then Marcia abrupt- ly appealed to him as a gentleman. ‘You can decide all, if you will, sir,” she ad- ded, falling back. ‘* Tt’s all up, Marcia,” he muttered, addressing Portia. ‘1 can’t conceive what you are trying to win, but I won’t tell a lie even for you, now You are Marcia Well- spring, daughter of Remus!” The vile lie was still lingering on his lips when the doors suddenly slid back to admit several men, whose hands held revolvers, covering the ay me ed conspirators, while their leader stern- y cried: ‘““’You are our prisoners, Kyte Darley and Ru- fus Cramp! ist and so much the worse for - you both!” aod I =e And Kyte Darley showed signs of breaking down, this blow was so totally unexpected. In his intense interest in the battle between the false and the rightful heiress, he had unnoticed the noise that accompanied the landing of the steamer from up the river, and thus it seemed that these officers must have dropped from the clouds or reached the scene by some other miraculous means, Still he showed himself of no ordinary metal, Che ladies I am accused of assaulting, are | and haughtily frowned upon the officers as he sternly demanded: ‘* By what right do you intrude here? Iknow nothing of Silas Cramp, nothing of any game or confession |” ‘“* Vd stick to the same, if I was you, Mr. Dar- ley,” laughed the officer, yet never once relax- ing his guard, never once lessening the advan- tage he and his fellows held over the plotters. ‘**| don’t want to do you any particular harm. I want to turn you over to those who sent me after you, safe and sound if I can. Andif a little arguing will help to bring about a better understanding between you and I, so be it! But at the same time, you must remember that you are under arrest, and rather than let you slip through our fingers, we'll fill you too full of lead to run without steam power!” ‘*This gentleman is my friend,” sharply ut- tered Marcia, facing this fresh peril as boldly as she had that one of an hour earlier. ‘‘ Of what crime dare you accuse him?” ‘Of conspiring with Silas Cramp and his son, Rufus, to poison Romulus Wellspring, and—” “My father!” gasped Portia, starting for, ward with an agonized cry. ‘* He is well—he is better, Miss—” Marcia felt that all was lost, and with a cat- like leap she was beside Kyte Darley, swiftly muttering: ** Flee—for life, my darling! I'll check them until—” ‘‘Not without you, Marcia!” he interposed: one arm closing about her waist while his right hand clutched a wenger. Not to use it. The officers were on guard, and by that one moment spent in trying to secure the woman whom he loved more than he did his own life, Kyte Darley lost his last chance of escape. He was disarmed and twisted to the floor, when a sharp snap told that the irons were upon his wrists. Marcia was hurled rudely aside in the strug- gle. She fell against a chair, rising with a little rill of blood marking her temple and cheek, one now as thatof a corpse. Aunt Honor, still onestly bewildered as to which was Portico, moved toward her with a little cry as the girl- woman fell, only to shrink back as Marcia re- pulsed her with a hard, reckless laugh. ‘* Back, you old fool! Yonder is your tender = your meek Portia, your sinless ewe lamb! —{'am Marcia Wellspring!” ** Don’t—don’t weaken, for Heaven’s sake!” groaned Rufus Cramp, who was being ironed without making the slightest resistance. Like a beautiful fury Marcia turned upon the craven wretch. ‘You pitiful cur! Only for you—only to make your punishment the surer—I would lock my lips and never breathe a word though they tore me limb from limb! If you had shown one particle of pluck! If you had shown yourself even the shadow of aman! We might still have a chance to win the fight; but as it is—” ‘*T must remind you, ma’am, that whatever you say now, will be repeated at your trial,” astily interposed the chief officer. Marcia turned from Cramp, smiling, bowing aa PH o ‘*So I wish may prove the case, Mr. Officer. 1 have fought the fight the best I knew how. 1 have been defeated, and unlike yonder miserable craven, Ill die firing my guns to the last!” “Td hate terribly to have to—to put you in irons, ma’am!” ‘And I will glory in them, for you have already fcee irons on my soul, my life, my all,” cried farcia, turning her great brown eyes upon Kyte Darley, no longer me kg er mad, idolatrous love for the gambler. ‘I will not fare better than my love does; only—I ask it as a favor—let me make confession while my hands are as free as my tongue!” : She hardly waited for permission, but turned toward Portia and Aunt Honor, speaking with feverish rapidity: ‘*I tried to steal your name, for which I am willing to beg your pardon, Portia Wellspring. I helped to plot your death, for which 1 expect to pay the full penalty exacted by law. I am only se that our efforts were not wholly suc- cessf ! 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