Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 4 — page 19: what you’re looking at

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

~~ + No, 4, stronger than you; and she must be carried— her very life demands it!” he said, turning to Mr. Burbank. Like Shang, the father yielded at once, and without effort. As for the daughter—well, should you expect opposition from her? Rapidly, Walter explained to her how to take breath; and, timing his own breathing to hers, the instant he saw that she had completed the Lhe Kidnapper; or, the Great Shanghai of the Northwest, i a ee ‘more than half the passage, when he felt her i ' pressed his hand over her mouth, which in her | | process he snatched her up‘in his arms and ran | down the passage, preceded by Shang with his torch, and followed by Mr. Burbank, Burly Ben fetching up the rear. : The tax on Walter was much greater than on the others, since he carried a burden; and when he reached the main chamber and sunk upon his | knees, even the tainted air, with which the mo | tion of their bodies had mixed altogether too | much smoke for health or comfort, was grateful | enough to him. ‘“'Pake good breath here; for ye don’t git no more till ye see daylight!” said Shang. ‘here | hain’t a thimbleful of air inthe passage leadin’ out o’ this trap; an’ it’s longer than the last one.” In a voice so low that it reached no other ears | pee hers for whom it was intended, Walter said: ‘“Please do not put your arms about my neck | this time—” The girl started and strunk from him with a | tion over its movements. look of keen pain, the rich flush streaming over face and neckx. ‘Nay! do not misunderstand me,” he added, hastily. ‘‘ You did perfectly right, making ft much easier for me to carry you. But, there are new conditions, which make it expedient for us to proceed differently next time. Get in as fulla supply of oxygen as you can before we Start; and, on your life, do not attempt to breathe until we have reached the pure outside air; nor be surprised at anything I may do to | assist you; but give yourself up unreservedly*to | me, The stinging sense of shame that she had done something unmaidenly in putting her arms about his neck, and the sickening humiliation of having him ask her not to repeat it, yielded be- fore his tender earnestness; and the painful blush faded, and the tense muscles relaxed, leaving her face softly luminous with a smile of | | | strength of decided protest, soon to a into the frantic energy of determination. e re- _laxed not a muscle. against suffocation, her whole ne to burst with fullness, the blood throbbing into 'now!” cried Shang, unselfishly giving some of his precious breath for the salvation of the rest. _ And with a double purpose—to show his com- _ panions the obstruction, and for his own perfect trust, and her ure one of restfulness. hen, too, the possible double meaning—low es. give yourself up unreservedly to me!”—sent a little thrill of ecstasy to her heart, which infused | himself lying on the into her manner that coy grace which so charmed him. At this moment, when he was feeling as if he | tru could; single-handed, overthrow all their enemies under the inspiration of that look, Shang, who was near him, said: ‘*Walter, nly boy, you'd better let me carry | know that Shang, after seeing him safe, had | this one safe. drawn a dozen deep inhalations, and then her the next pull. I’m better able than you; and you've stood one siege already.” Had he been less in love with her, or had she quick she was to discern it!—of his last words— | | ly Ben had staggered from the pa been already his wife—is there any odious par- | allelism here?—he might have yielded to the evi- dent reason of Shang’s words; but, as it ‘was, the eeotiarn: of his great love cried out: ‘What! let any arms but mine encircle her | fair form?—let any breast but throbbing of her heart? Never!” _ Then, too, the swift glance which darted from her eyes was more than questioning; it was an unconscious protest, which thrilled Spim without his knowing just why. But neither words nor mamer betrayed any emotion as he said simply: " ‘“‘Tam strong enough. Let us lose no more time.” Did Blanche feel a little ashamed that those words had power to quiet Ler momentary un- rest into perfect content? But his demand for renewed activity was timely ; for the vent Shang had opened was fast sucking all the pure air out of the cavern; and they were forced to hold their faces close to the floor to get what little there was left. ‘* Are you ready?” warned the scout. ‘‘Calmly!” cautioned Walter to his lady-love, ‘Do not allow yourself to become agitated. Y os that 1 will not stop until you are in safety. Yes, she “‘knéw” it, or believed it implicitly wltich was to the same effect; and she lent him the inspiration of an ineifable look as he gath- ered her again in his arms. ‘Now for it!” cried Shang; and all rose to a feet. t was a blind rush—that desperate pertinaci- ty with which the soul clings ta its eelfoationk of mine feel the n the sublimity of love—that attribute of | | | clay Saee in the very grasp of the Destroyer! | kisses fell upon her face. te 19 ee — — — — — — — —— | He is yonder, among the rocks; but is reviving, and will join us soon.” Whether from over-solicitude, or in keeping with her needs, he still supported her with his ' arm, fanning her gently with his hat; and, sat- isfied with this arrangement, or too weak to make the necessary effort to change it, sho yielded, letting her head sink against Kis shoul- der, while her hands hung listlessly in her lap. Gazing into her face, with its now pale cheeks and closed" eyes, it seemed to the lover as if he could sit thus forever, But his bliss was broken in upon in tLe person of Shang. ‘* Bless the Lord! the goat that danced before writhe, and she sought to tear herself from his | Pharaoh, or Abimelech, or some on ’em,” cried arms. But he clurig to her asif his own life de- | the scout, a little uncertain of his biblical refer- pended upon it, and staggered on up that way | ence, ‘‘wa’n’t no happier ’n Ibe! So righ all of death. Soon her struggles subsided, and he | right, little lady bird? Bless yer bright eyes! knew that she had fainted. | you'll be as chipper as a young robin in no time! But his own violent exertions had congested | An’ here’s yer shoe, that’s jest fit for a queen! his lungs until it seemed as if his breast were a | Scalp me if it’s much bigger’n my thumb!” furnace at white heat. His head seemed about | He drew the shoe from the breast of his jerk- in, and presented it with a bow which in honest homage need not have shamed the queen to which he had likened her. Blanche had had some minutes of repose in which to repair her sorely taxed energies; so that on the appearance of the scout she and | Walter tacitly agreed that his arm was quite | dispensable. She now received her shoe, rather the worse for the Se grip in which she had ’ drawing up her hands—an indication that her | breath was well-nigh spent. Instantly he | present position was within his reach, and stopped her nostrils with his thumb and finger. he girl <a to shrink from the hand; but | it pressed her head firmly down upon his shoul- der. She seized the hand with both her own, and sought to pull it away, at first with the Then, in the mad fight began to his brain like the regular stroke of sledge-ham- mers. His eyes protruded from their sockets and his ears rung with strange noises. A strange numbness seized him, giving him the sen- sxtion that his spirit had separated from his body and that his will had no longer any direc- ‘Ts this death?” he asked himself; and then: ‘“Will the corridor never end?” ; At this point Hal gasped, coughed, staggered and fell to the ground, partially obstructing the passage. “Look out! Don’t stop! It’s life and death been forced to leave it, with a grateful smile that made the*honest scout feel ‘‘all-overish,” as he afterward declared. With an exclamation of fb Sard — Walter discovered her unshod foot peeping from beneath her skirts, the ——e torn and blood- stained, where the rocks had lacerated the ten- der flesh. ‘‘ And you bore this so patiently that none of us knew of it!” he said. ‘Let me prepare a cooling poultice for it at once.” ‘* An’, lady-bird, yew won't refuse the softest bandage in my lot?” ventured'the scout, draw- id- ance on his intended return—he dropped his torch near the prostrate man. Reeling blindly along, Walter stumbled over Hal’s feet, and would have fallen, but that a nervous arm was thrown’about him, and Shang | ing a small roll of cloth from a receptacle in his | jerkin. “ “Shang is a regular old maid,” laughed Wal- ter. ‘He ee carries the appointments of a small hospital about his person.’ ‘‘ A proper bandage means a life, sometimes,” said the scout. ‘‘ But, I must goto yer father, an’ tell him not to worry about yew; for ye’re in good hands an’ in good spirits.” Nothing in his look or manner gave outward indication that he saw anything unusual in her relations with Walter: but there was a covert twinkle in his eye as he turned away; and he muttered: half dragged, half carried him forward. On ahead a faint illumination showed that | they were nearing the mouth of that death-pas- | sage at last. But Walter did not see it. He was blind. His head spun round. He lost all consciousness of motion and of his surroundings until suddenly he seemed plunged into a ‘sea of flame, which slowly his paralyzed senses grew to recognize as God’s glad sunshine; and he found ound, with the uncon- scious Blanche still clasped in his arms, and gasping for breath, which he drank in as in h the elixir of life. He did not know that Mr. Burbank and Bur- | ‘God bless ’em both! they’re a har air! to sink | I'll not worry any on ’em by lettin’ on that her e did not | mother’s in the hands o’ the enemy, until we git It’?ll be time enough then.” Walter returned from his quest of healing plunged again into the th Con of death, | leaves to find that Blanche had removed her » to emerge shortly with Hal on his back; he only | stocking during his brief absence. He was knew that heaven’s sweet breath enveloped him | charmed with the waxen beauty of her foot, and the woman he loved better than himself. | with its blue veins and pink nails, and its sym- But the prayer of thanksgiving froze in his metry like chiseled marble. Tenderly he bathed exhausted almost at its very mouth; heart as he looked at her. Had his life been pre- | it, with so reverent a touch that she looked at — served, robbed—oh God!—of all its light and | him as only a woman can look at a man who ‘beauty and sweetness? does such homage to her womanhood. . Bruisin the leaves between two flat stones, he spre them one by one over the wounds and bound them firmly, securing them with pins with which she supplied him. Then he withdrew toa little distance, to enable her to complete her toilet without embarrassment. ‘“Your poultice is delightfully cooling,” she said, a moment later; ‘‘and your work is so nicely done that I found little inconvenience in putting on my shoe. jill you accept my thanks, and take me to papa?” He assisted her to rise, and would still have extended to her the support of an encircling arm; but, looking up into his face, she_said: “If — will let me take your arm, I think I can walk nicely.” Something in her look took away most of the sting of this slight rebuff; yet he could not whol- ly repress a look of chagrin, as he bowed to her ed ill. So, limping slightly, she went to her father CHAPTER XXVII. A MAN’S HONOR AND HIS LOVE. Wauat startled Walter in Blanche’s ap - ance was her face, purple from the effects of suffocation, and the still darker marks left by the close pressure of his hand over her mouth. Was she dead, and—what matter if in the at- tempt to save her lifet+—by his hand! He was spared the agony of seeing her face distorted by terror. The muscles had relaxed, and she lay as if asleep, save for that shocking discoloration. iW > With a palsied trepidation upon him, setting every nerve and muscle a-quiver, he turned in sy of some means of restoration. Down the ace of a rock near at hand Sani crystal drops of water, like tears, to be collected in a little basin below. From this he sevoped the water with his hands; and dashed it in her face, Then he struck her tender palms with his, and, | to twine her arms about his neck with a gush of ushing her sleeves back to the elbow, chafed love that made Walter shiver, thinking that er white arms. As signs of returning anima- | what his soul craved with such famished appe- tite would be forever denied him. Thile alone with her he had almost forgotten Hal’s existence; but, once more in the presence of her affianced husband, his dream of bliss was shattered, and he was overcome by a sense of having wronged man; for the jewel was is, no matter how unworthily he held it. is introduced another and even more bitter tion began to reward his ministrations, the fast- coming tears of joy so blinded his eyes that he could scarcely see the quivering respiration and the slow recession of that terrible purple before an unwonted pallor. But she lived—she lived! and, forgetful of everything else, his tears and —— OO ee Was it this that made her open her eyes so our imperfect humanity which lies nearest suddenly and so wide as to startle him? She heaven !—self is sometimes made secondary even } did not seem to recognize him at first; but when | in so supreme a moment as this! she did, she clung to his hand and shuddered, They proceeded in the same order as before, | and began to so Hal being still in advance. Shang watched has just awakened from a troubled dream to Walter and his burden with no little anxiety, | find itself safe in its mother’s arms. Burly Ben assisted Mr. Burbank by the arm. “Do not give way now, after you have been _ _,,.Walter had lifted Blanche so that her shoul- | so brave,” said Walter, lifting her tenderly, so der rested against his breast, thus turning her thatshe could rest him. ‘‘‘ Thank Heav- face across in front of him, instead of backward | over his shoulder—a rather awkward position in | ‘“‘ Papa!” was her exclamation, as she feebly which to carry her, yet suited to his purpose, as essay to rise. ; ? es the event proved. had traversed a little’ ‘Wait! You are not able to goto him yet, en! we are all safe!’ i nervously, like a child who reflection. To him betrothal had much the pre ens be marriage. What then could be said of his having kissed’ her while she was uncon- scious and could not refuse him¢ Had he taken a dastardly advantage of her helplessness? Had he betrayed her confidence and frundship? Where was his fine sense of honor, where was that reverence due to all women—not to men- tion the one woman of all the world most sa- cred—that he could so forget himself? His spirit was humbled to the dust; and he turmed away to hide his emotion. . But was there no way to make atonement! 900 a « “= ee a a LLL LAA A LO A NN tty et — ee eet ewe mee ~*- =eomic (S-com ae te