Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 413 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

es **On none other. I told him that for oncm‘l- | a= Jion wo would restore the lost articles sud lob rt him alone, that we would even point out the true od heir, and let him play out any game he wants to 7 without hinderance.” = “It was heavy blackmail, Ahab; but what mn . did he say?” x ‘The price seemed to take his breath,” We ** But you dil not lower it?” 1788 **Not a dollar! I told him that a thousand | ae _ Captain Coldgrips could discover nothing, that a the Dragon League was a profound and deadly yy es, ae 4 had to walk over his corpse with the true Percy | throw I will make mysel!.” pea heir. Ha, ha! wasn’t that putting it pretty aT strong, Helen?” oor a “ Not a whit too strong!” cried the woman, tla {# ' Mi a F “ao ae or . . . -* * Pl f ’ + Jtold him, Jupiter! I poured it into him like hot shot, and in language that cut like a kni'e.” ‘** Well, what did he say?” asked Queen Helen, eagerly, ** He sat at the table with bloodless lips and wide eyes and said not a word.” ** Thunderstruck, eh?” ** Astounded!” laughed Elegant Abab. ‘‘ Well, you played a bold hand,” the beautiful adventuress said. ‘* You offered to return the papers and the dragon?” es Yes ” *“* On the conditions IT named?” of Elegant Ahab, puffing coolly at bis cigar. _ told him that we held his fortune and his life in our hands. The million was too much, I think.” ' ‘*Heis worth ten millions, they say, and not one is rightfully his. He intends tiat Nydia, _ his ward, shall inherit all some day, that the Jost heir of the Percys shall never get a dollar of herown, We've got the call on that man, _ Ahab; the papers and the dragon are in our hands. This game must be played out, and be- fore Captain Coldgrip gets fairly on the trail. ‘You had him in your hands to-night!” ‘*T threw him to the floor with the fumes of the pastille. I left him there.” With life in him to run us down!” hissed ' the woman. ‘“ Why didr’t you finish him?’ Elegant Ahab shrugged his shoulders. ** Ah! you did not like to take life, eh, Ahab?” she cried, leaning toward him, with her hands clinched and her eyes on fire. ‘‘ Don’t you see what you have done? The ferret knew you!” ‘* [had the mask on when I confronted him.” e But he marked your stature and your voice. ** Which will do him no good. There are hun- dreds of men in New York like me,” ee ‘* But not to that human sleuth,” cried Helen. ** Where are your hands, Elegant Ahab? Why didn’t I go myself? I would have removed . this man from our path! You hesitated; you ot come back here and tell me that ou had Cap- tain Coldgrip, the detective, in your hands, and yt you spared him? This will cost us trouble ‘before the game is played out. The next play I will make myself.” She resembled a beautiful demoness as she leaned over the sport, who looked at her coolly from the depths of his chair. You must remember that I am the heiress,” ‘ ghe went on. ‘lI am the person to whom the _ diamond dragon belongs, the one about whom the papers speak. [am Frances Percy, though yu and Bowery Burt call me Queen Helen. e are the Dragon League—we are playing for millions. The man-traps of New York are in our service. They are ready to ingulf who- ever we want out of our way. The oath we took was that nothing should check us—that * the beauty of Nydia and the age of Ferguson | Fowler should not give us a conscience. The documents and the mystic dragon, glittering -with diamonds, fell into our hands, Your pas- tilie gave him four months of Jemgrinn & but he ‘wore tae poison out. Now you go to him ask- dng a million—only a tenth of his wealth; you Jeave him frightened, unconscious perhaps. Where is the money? You came away as poor ss @s when you entered his house. You meet Cap- tain Coldgrip, the man commissioned to ferret us out, and yet you don’t kill him! What kind of a I oo is this you are playing? Are you afraid to shed a little blood? Do you want to desert the League? If you do, very well. I will play the game out. Land Bowery Burt.” ‘ Elegant Ahab changed color, and bit his ip. 4 ze We call you Frances Percy, but you are not she, you know,” he said. ‘No, I am not—only during this game for gold,” was the answer. ‘ Yet, with the papers and the dragon, with what I know about the Percys, I have & winning card in my hand. The Percy beir is called dead—who can prove ' that I am not she?” Helen drew back and straightened proudly ' before Elegant Ahab. * **f am Frances Percy for this game, and as ' Jong as J choose to be such,” she went on. * #*The time will come when I will go back to a frau of ny, Oxvte I long to bunt the villains whe killed my father and threw me on the world. I will go back to that crime when I ay * have Ferguson Fowler’s millions in my bands, _ ‘There is no proof that the Percy heir is dead, ae TRB oes a. 1 ‘ 2 oR te * i) — a 7 4 ye -. 7 , ; Pee) — . me ‘ ot es \. ie a ¥ arene 1 4 ores 4 ‘o tA * {" i? ‘ * | . ~ % wrt. nil | ! | ce mystery, and that it intended to succeed if it | because she is to help us in this play. The next | ‘* After all this he shook his head,” continued | and when Bower | r,s LL TL —_———— sss esses snes Pe en a % . * s a «te a i | 7 i. vn ooo —- but I can impersonate her without fear. What are you staring at, Elegant Ahab? Do I look like an avenger, or a seraph?” And the woman laughed till the elegant room rung with the silvery echoes. ‘‘T wish Bowery Burt would come,” said the man. “Tf he has tried to entrap the detective and failed [ don’t war.t to see him!” exclaimed Helen. ‘‘He said he could get Captain Coldgrip into Papa Pangborn’s by the assistance of his girl, Floss, Who is that child?’ Mlegant Ahab shook his head. ‘‘ Where did he pick her up?” “T don’t know. She was probably a street Arab,” ‘*Is she pretty?” a She would beif she had silks to wear!” smiled Ahab, ‘* I'll give her all she wants if she entraps this man-fox!” said Helen. ‘' How old is Floss?” ‘You'll have to ask Bowery Burt, and I sus- pect he doesn’t know. By Jupiter! if you want to see this girl, Vil make it convenient.” ‘‘T don’t care to. lLtake an interest in her | | | | | | | The sport’s eyes suddenly dilated. “T think I have a right to make the next play,” the woman went on. ‘‘ When you fail | Burt’s man-trap catches no- | body, whose trail follows? I may go to the banker’s palace?” You?” ‘* Helen Hotspur alias Frances Percy!” laughed the beautiful creature, ‘* This is the deepest game ever played in New York, It is for mil- lions! I wish Bowery Burt would come,” ‘‘He is here now,” said Elegant Ahab asa door beyond the room opened and sbut, In an instant Queen Helen fastened her eyes on the entrance before her and held her breath. The next moment it opened and Bowery Burt stepped into the room. The Shadow was excited; his oyes glistened and his sallow hands were clinched. ‘¢ What has bappened?” ejaculated the adven- turess, bounding forward, ‘ For heaven’s sake! open your head.” . rit open it to recuperate,” said Bowery Burt | crossing the room and opening a little door in | the wall. ‘‘I want a glass of liquor hotter than the waters of Tartarus, Jupiter Pluvius! we’ve got new foes, but one ov ’em ’s in a bad fix just now.” Queen Helen now uttered a startling cry and reached Bowery Burt in a single bound. ‘¢' Talk !—now!” she cried, seizing bis arm, ‘¢ When I’ve oiled my throat,” said the Shadow pouring out the li Helen stopped, forced to waif. ‘* I didn’t get a chance to work the trap,” said Burt, turning at last upon the women. ‘‘I had Captain Coldgrip the ferret at Papa Pangborn’s door, but Floss didn’t decoy him thar! Great Ceesar! he was decoyed by aman in woman’s clothes—by a man who was pitched into the house like a sack of flour by the ferret himself. T had my hand on the rope that manipulates the trap when it took place. Floss is lost. Some- body got onto the whole game—somebody what wants the ferret out 0’ the way as badly as we do.” ‘Who can it be?” cried the woman. ‘‘The man who was pitched into the house fcr me,” answered Bowery Burt, ‘* He’s got one pard-—mebbe more than one.” ‘* Where 1s he now?” ‘At Papa Pangborn’s, and nearly all the time out o’ his head. He calls himself Foxy some- times, and talks about the Raven. Itsticks me. After the Ferret threw Foxy into the old trap he walked away. A minute nore, if be had not made his play, he would have been in the trap. Think of it! DPve been lookin’ for Floss, but she’s not to be found. I sent her with a decoy Jetter to the man-fox, bnt the game failed.” ‘“ Ah! don’t you see?’ cried Helen, wheeling upon Elegant Ahab, ‘Captain Coldgrip wen‘ from Papa Pangborn’s house to the banker’s palace?” ‘¢T see that, but who are the men working against us, and what is their scheme?” ‘PH get it out o’ Foxy with Papa Panzborn's aid!” ejaculated Bowery Burt. “The man can’t | leave the old house till we let himout, If we | say so, he will never leave it. I want to find Floss. I must find her. foxy has spoken of her when out of his head, He knows where she is. The girl has served me well. I can’t dispense with her.” ; “Get away from Ploss for a moment,” said Helen to Bowery Burt. ‘The man to be met now is this fox, whomissed the trap to-nigbt.” ‘Right you are, Helen!” exclaimed the Shadow. ‘If he follows up the clew which I think he got to-night, the dragon game is up.” ‘‘ Then he dies!” cried the gold beauty. i “ied iting her faultless lips and tT CHAPTER IX. THE TRAILER AT WORK, CAPTAIN CotpGrip did not recover from the fumes of the pastille for some time, | When he regained his senses he was lying on 4 ys 7 : . é . - * Captain Coldgrip in New York. “You went to England during your tour?” ae Ven a4 — +i. a 4 (an ? 4 oe ~ ¢ ‘ ; or Py the floor of Ferguson Fowler's library, and the first object that engaged his attention was the banker himself reclining in his chair, deathly pale, and apparently dead. he faint odor of the dangerous pyramid still pervadea the room, and the detective lad a slight headache. | ‘he man with the mask, of course, was gone, and the room was silent. Captain Coldgrip glanced at the steel safe, but it evidently had not been tampered with. The millionaire’s visitor had not come this time for a lot of papersand a diamond dragon. The detective laid his hand on Fowler’s shoul- ders and shook him gently. The banker opene4s his eyes. ‘Thank God! [ see you!” he said, looking fixedly at the detective. ‘*‘ He is gone at Jast.” ‘* Yes,” said the captain, ‘‘ Your visitor hes taken his departure. Who was he?” Fowler hesitated. ‘‘ Very well, just as you like,” continued the detective, in an off-hand manner,. “I can quit this trail very casily.” ‘‘Not for the world!—not for all my thou- sands!” cried Fowler, quickly. ‘The man who came before you is the chief of the Dragon League.” ‘* Mortimer Nogg?” ‘Yes: the same man who gave me four months of mental darkness.” ‘* What did he want?” ** Money.” * How much?” ‘*One million.” ‘In exchange for what?” ‘‘ The papers and the dragon.” ‘* And you refused?” *“*He was exorbitant. beggared.” The banker spoke firmly. ‘‘ Are the papers and the diamond dragon worth a million to you?” ‘** More than that.” ‘Oho! Tsee. You don’t want to compromise with the League?” ‘‘T want it broken up!” and Fowler’s hand fell heavily upon the table. ‘‘ 1 want its chief lodged in Sing Sing for theft. I want all its members in my power. I have been tracked half-around the world by tbe infamous gang.” ‘“That is just what I want to talk about,” said the detective, and he dropped into the chair fronting the New York nabob. ‘You say these people have tracked you half-around the world?” Fereuson Fowler looked confused, ‘*Did I say that?” he asked. ‘You said nothing else,” was the answer. I don’t propose to be “é Yes,” ‘You put up at the Albemarle Hotel, in London?” 67 aia:” ‘‘You there became accuainted with a man named Major Roger Percy?” Fowler gave a slight start. ‘Well, what of it?” he asked. ‘You accepted an invitation to visit Percy’s estate?” ‘*T went to Oak Meadows with bim.” “Yes,” said the detective. ‘*' When was that?” ‘‘ Thirteen years ago this winter.” Capt*in Coldgrip looked Fowler squarely in the face while he talked. ‘7 don’t see what all this has to do with the work I’ve put into your hands,” Fowler went on. ‘We'll come to that by and by,” the city sleuth said, and then he went on: — “Three weeks after your visit to Major Percy’s estate, he was found dead in his private apartments.” “That is true,” lected. ‘‘ He had no family, save a daughter, at that time—a little child called Frances, four or five years old. The coroner’s jury said that the major committed suicide, I believe?” “Tt wasa plain case. Therevolver was found in his right hand.” “So T have learned,” said Captain Coldgrir. “‘ Several days arter the—the suicide, the child and her nurse disappeared. There was no will found then. You went down to Oak Meadows and helped in the hunt for the will?” ‘“‘T did. I liked Major Percy from the first. He was an agreeable companion, but sometimes got too irritable over his wine.” Captain Coldgrip bowed. ‘* When the search for the will had ended, you went back to London, thence to the Continent, after seeing which you returned to America,” Ferguson Fowler looked strangely at the de- we = : ou must have dogged my footsteps, cap- babel? holeetifleds 2.947 tak leet v ‘““Never mind. Two months after your re- turn, Major Percy’s will was found,” the detec- sive said. ‘It gave you three hundred pounds, and the rest of his fortune went to the lost chd Frances, whose guardian the will made you.” ‘““That also is correct,” said Fowler; ‘‘ but I said Fowler, cool and col- don’t see what all this has todo with this night’s f work.” <€om (E b ‘ : i wel oN Ga rs L 4 ‘ 2) t r. 4 7 : i —- 4 4% ee . . = — TF ho t9 p or it es “es 7 get J os ; Rt ey oe RE ee =< - mo hea te ' Pat * ot mae abe Si cry Lon Mn . a , ay : Ss . 4 : * | | | | . . ' ) )