Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 396 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

ae 7 A, - i ———— ————— ee ne >. gee a a er * a* . aK os ey ty <® t +, ar, : push aside his hands. him than you think. . ; rh wr v, Ind 7 gt > a. unt a 7 ae OF rend | ’ , ' a ' ‘ « 4 . de wy ‘‘ And so the upshot of all this is that you intend to keep me here a prisoner. ou know little of me if you think to win in any such way. You have said your say—and very little have you made out of it. Ido know your life—every dark nook and cranny of it. It has been a violent—a vile one. For that, perhaps, I have no right to re- proach you; but for the wrong you have done to me rest assured I shall take ample vengeance, and your own folly has given my hand the chance to strike the blow. Ed- _ gar, your career is finished at last,” She spoke solemnly rather than in heat but her words bit to the bone. Something in the altered tones of her voice made him stare at her with a nervous shiver, and then draw himself up as if bracing himself against a terrible shock. ‘‘ Ah,” she continued, “‘ Edgar Raven, you know me now?” The woman drew her hands over her face and seemed to push away the last remnants of the double disguise. ‘By the eternal heavens!” he exclaimed. ‘Tt is Madam Velvet!” ‘‘Ha, ha! Your eyes are open at last. Did you think you could befool me utterly to the end? You are a very Proteus in your dis- uises, but I have followed you through them all. You murdered my young life, strangled all that was good and true in it, and left me stranded and alone, groping in the dark for years in search of you, and still vowing vengeance. At last the time has come.” “I believe you,” he answered, coldly, his icy coolness coming back. ‘‘I have used you again as a blind instrument; since your eyes have opened for a little it is time that they close forever. Ah! Down with her.” Her hand moved swiftly toward her bosom in search of the second revolver hidden there, but as a fingers closed upon it, from behind her arms were clutched in a grasp of iron. The woman gave a start andacry. For the moment she believed that she was be- trayed by her hired tool, in whom she had trusted. But it was Raven himself that was de- ceived. He had played for many thousands in his time, and more than once had he thrown his life into the stake; but he had al- ways had the cards stocked in his favor, and known the size of the hand that would prob- ably be out against him, This time there was an unrecognized element in the game. The hand on Madam Velvet’s arm did be- long to Big Mike; but he did not come to betray her. With a sudden swing he flung her around behind him, just as three nimble figures dashed past, and threw themselves upon Edgar Raven. These coming was a surprise, yet he had time to draw and fire one shot that did not miss its mark, though the next instant a dex- terous blow knocked the weapon from his arm, and he was coiled in a life and death struggle with the trio. Overmatched though he was in numbers his magnificent strength would have borne him through, perhaps, in a stand-up fight without weapons, though these men were wiry, active, made of stcel, and full of des- perate courage. Their fingers clutched him everywhere to tear him pla yet once he shook them all off and drew back his arm to strike a straight blow from the shoulder out. It was then that a noosed cord fell over his neck, and while one drew taut. the other two nimbly sprung upon his shoulders. Madam Velvet’s eyes turned toward and were glued upon the struggle. She had no mercy forthe man she hated and now would have stayed to see it to the end had not Big Mike forced her toward the door. ‘‘Let me go,” she said harshly, trying to ‘*T must see it all.” I know more about It’s life or death now. 1”? ‘No, no! Quick! Another minute will be too late He wet a a her up over his shoulder, and rushed away as she saw Raven, with the three men clinging to him, staggering to- ard the opposite corner of the room. Big Mike flung open the hall door, and stumbled downward into the street, unmind- ful * the little hands that clutched and tore at him. . Then behind them, in the house they had just left, there was -an awful, smothered : - a. : a 4 ict aed hs | 4 he 4 | ,”* —_ * ‘ ™ : 4, a & a OT os - ae - —_— = - - a : "4% ee = - > o. 7 - , — eh ai ; Ss) ; ., . ys ; ; *. ae . co wl 3s s ~,* +o > Ve , < t i * r . result of a wonderful piece o > i= ‘ hy’ 7 ies cory at tf. The Piper Detective. roar, the crash of breaking beams and falling bricks, and the wreck and wrack of a shat- tered building. Madam Velvet stared wild-eyed at her comrade. ‘* Dynermite,” he said, coolly. ‘‘ He know- ed the end were here, sure. You hed him ez he was, if he even got the better ov them three; an’ he jest thought it were time to go out ov ther damp, an’ take ther hull crowd along. ‘There’s a heap ov money, a lot ov corpses, an’ ther main guy ov ther Gilt Edge Gang there now; but we’re on ther safe side ov ther mix, an’ we'd better stay so. It wouldn’t be healthy fer me ter be found ‘round here; an’ 1 guess you'd better sher- r aor Half-dazed by the sudden end of) her quest, Madam Velvet allowed herself to be led away. CHAPTER XXX. GRAND FINALE. ’ CAPTAIN HARDY was not surprised when Madam Velvet did not show up that night or the next morning; he was when Howard Rawle revealed to him his identity, and fin- ished unraveling the tangled hank of crime which as yet had been only partially under- stood, . The police had paid a visit to Judge Wetherington’s late residence, but had found no traces there of the man they sought. Evidently he had prepared all for flight, and had left behind him nothing of value but the furniture. Even Thomas had looked out for himself, and skipped. Afterward a dis- covery had been made, of which Howard was not aware until he had finished his story. In the first place he frankly confessed that he was Craig Clayton, under sentence of death for a murder he had never committed. By that name he had been known to his worthless associates when he was having his fling, and he had been careful that the name of Rawle should be saved from disgrace. He had lived in hiding and disguise for years, and had learned a good deal about the dangerous classes. One of his hiding-places had been the building now occupied in part by Copper Sile, and that worthy himself was not as well acquainted with the hidden ways about the house. | He had had plenty of money—largely the luck on the turf—when a gang, which he knew was un- der the leadership of Waite, had inveigled him into their hatids to be killed. Fortun- ately he had it safely stowed away before he went into the slaughter-pen; then came the murder of the man with whom he had hada foolish quarrel, and his story that his own life had been in danger went for nothing when the.police broke in and found him with a smoking pistol still in his hand, and what seemed to be a letter of hisin the appa- rent victim’s pocket. But Waite and his men had been frighten- ed away for a time, and when he had made his escape he went down for a time into the slums, but afterward grew bolder in his dis- guises. For some years he had owned half of the double building in which was Copper Sile’s, and had had eyes on the gang that had its headquarters on the other side, though he cared nothing about them until they began to strike into his affairs, Then he went for them, at first believing they were the Gilt Edge Gang. It was only at the last moment he discovered the existence of a second gang of a far higher grade of criminals, and that Mike Cordova, true only to Madam Velvet, was a connecting link between them, though unsuspected by either. Through all, his sister and one friend had been trusted and true. In the guise of a detective he had arranged with Ferd for the use of the stall at his place, and had been keeping an eye on the building between the saloon and Madam Velvet’s. As a result he became aware of the plot to bring ‘‘ Paddy the Piper” and his men into the shoes of the Gilt Edgers, and he had made the desperate resolve to have Waite spirited away while he took his place. It was necessary to keep the rascal hidden, since if he was turned over to the police, there was a chance of his being dis- charged, and a certainty of his capture leak- a aw ar cia | he result of the meeting had evidently r-- af ee reed a i : ; ES at ae 4s —_ > - - er tee ee a can cc ccc c ccc nr nccccccccccccncccmccnnncccccccccccnccnnn nrc sss elses —_—_--—_ -—- -—_--__—_— SO ee —S— ee ’ sayy’ . - ‘ VP Arr’. es 32 BF , - : ag b — ean chit i tall 0. Die ee Te eee Fe ae SP ee es 7 i * 27 ee excited the suspicion of the man known as Conyngham, and one of his men had been wirks in at Ferd’s. It was through his treachery that Hardy and Blaine so nearly came to grief when he led them into a pass- age that had been planned by Madam Velvet as a rear entrance to her gambling-place, and that Jed through the house that held some of the secrets of the criminals with whom she had been linked. It had been by chance that Regina had met Lizzie Waite, and quite a time before | they knew that she was a sister of the crimi- nal whom he had so much cause to hate. Even then they trusted her, save so far as any knowledge of Howard went, though knowing she was in communication with her brother. But never once had they dreamed — of danger to her. ’ ‘* And you think we have the entire gang?” said Barty. “Well, I think we have gathered in the remnants. They are men you would hardly | have suspected, though I think you will find they have all been in desperate straits in the past. You know they belonged to the gang, and there will be no trouble about sending them up for a long term even if they don’t stretch hemp. The most remarkable thin that I see is the wonderful way in whic Raven managed to conceal his identity from them,” a . 2 ‘‘And Madam Velvet? I suppose she was in the mire as deeply as the rest of them?” “I’m afraid so. But she had her eyes’ open. When she came to me she meant to break up Raven and his gang, and she did it after away. The gang is gone; if Raven has escaped I shall be very much mistaken.” — ‘‘How so? He was not in that crowd last night; and once away, with a start, you might as welltry to hunt a flea in a hay+ stack,” : **] will tell you. The three stranglers fol- lowed tothe madam’s my father who went disguised as an old man. Raven went awaym the garb of General Rawle; and they follow- = ed him. Sooner or later they will find him, — xa and I think this time they meanto killhim } on sight so that I don’t doubt he'll get Lis’ punishment.” a ‘* That explains it then.” | | ‘‘ What? anything new on the subject?” ‘‘Simply that they found him in another of of his dens and the desperate villain blew up | the whole shebang with dynamite. He was =~ ready to leave, and had his plunder with | him. I found spoils enough to show wha> he had done toward pauperizing thelandof — Egypt; and I found some papers there that — belong to your father, if he can really prove — his identity beyond dispute The Wharton — racket is cleared up at last. Fellows like — young Tyler were only accessory Thugs; Raven and a few men with brains managed sae the head-work. They got Alvah in their — toils. He found it out and when hemadea _—- few lucky hits he gotthis funds in shape in- tending to settle with his bona fide creditors at his leisure. Then he was taken off, and the gang discovered they had been too pre- vious. Raven fancied that the general was dead and I guess was working the Rawle ~ racket for his own advantage. Oh, there will be a howl when the case isopenedup. And some of the big guns that used todrop in at Madam Velvet’s will sing mighty small till the racket is closed.” ' oe & % « 5 e ¥}.<0 __ Ne ? - vs A eg There was quite a howl, as thecaptain had prophesied. The Waite set were, for the é most part, ordinary ruffians—for Waite, though still a dashing, reckless man, had =~ gone downwerd in the scale of his associates —but about the true Gilt’ Edge Gang there was a sensation. They were men who would have been the last to be suspected of some of =| the brutal crimes of which they had been | guilty. Their prosperity had been wonder- ful, and it was not strange that they wanted to retire with their wealth. Le Madam Velvet disappeared and left no trace. When she had taken Howard Rawle ~_ = were ~~ knew thet, bona ca well he might keep faith with her, the game was up; and Big Mike, when he ict her. ae into the secret of the retreat at Sile Kettle’s | — knew that he could no longer carry wateron both shoulders, and the madam’gaffairs on his back. He had managed it very ma for awhile; but now, when she went, he — went too, He could not have told much of 3 : Gomic 4 4 3 <! in” 5 > a “ “s A) %