Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 414 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

- ee A i —— 4 4 . -% ‘ * ag City, about Old Hickory’s body over in the ) | | do your duty by me before father,” and the coach. ‘‘ He tracked me here to get even, and the Red Renard has called in his chips. ‘*T shall keep this arrow as a& souvenir.” And King Kendall returned to his bed, leaving the intended assassin lying where he had fallen, Parson Pete promising to see him buried in the morning. A sleep of three hours, and King Kendall arose, carried out his pack-sacdle, and soon after rode off alone to follow the haunted trail to the bitter end, for his destination was the Death Mountains, where he had seen so much of mystery, which he was now resolved upon solving or losing his life in the attempt. CHAPTER XLV. THE VAILED WOMAN UNVAILED. WHEN the vailed woman—the fellow-pas- senger of King Kendall in the stage-coach at the time of the attack upon it by the Gold | him and not his son. Buzzards—sprung from the vehicle and went back to face the coming outlaws, she | barrassed in his fortune, through your acts, had a motive in it which will now be ex- | plained. In looking. from the coach-window the woman had suddenly uttered a startled cry, ‘Red Renard, the Indian Detective. | ' ' ' ' for in the leader of the Gold Buzzards, as | the smoke and dust lifted an instant, she re- cognized one she had long wished to find, Instantly she made up her mind to act, and watching her chance as the coach went slow up the hill, she opened the door as King Kendall leaned out the other side, and | trary, sprung to the ground. Throwing her vail from lier face, she sud- denly confronted the Gold Buzzards, her arms upraised to call them back. The leader beheld her act and gave a loud command to halt. Then, as the stage rolled on he threw him- self from his horse and cried: ‘“My God! Queen, what are you doing the post-mortem proved that he had choked to here?” ‘‘Father above! Kent, my poor, lost bro- ther! you the leader of the Gold Buzzards?” she cried, shrinking from him. ‘There is no need of denying it. “Yes, Lam Captain Kit.” “Kent Kittredge, for shame that you should have fallen so low. ‘*Oh, brother, brother!” He seemed moved at her deep distress, and said hastily: ‘You have caused me to lose the coach, Queen, but I forgive you, so come with me to my camp.” He left his men to look after those who were wounded, placed her upon a horse, and the two started alone toward the Buzzards’ Nest. ‘‘Brother, what does this mean, for though I knew you had sinned, I did not be- lieve you had come to this?” she asked as they rode along side by siJe. “Queen, luck went against me, and I took to the road and have made a fortune out of it.” ‘A fortune which you robbed other peo- ple of, and every dollar of which is stained with blood.” ‘“We will not discuss that, Queen; but tell me how it is that 1 find you here, when I believed you were—” He paused, and she said: ‘Speak out, brother; sey where you be- oe me to be—in the penitentiary.” ‘weer “No, I was sent there for life, as you know, and yet I remained but six months, for one night the keeper came to me and let me out of my cell, giving me money and telling me to go where | pleased. ‘‘T believed that you had befriended me, Kent; then I thought it must be father; but you I heard not of, other than that you had come West, and father was lying ill, and was failing steadily, when he felt that his daughter was in prison for life, ‘But I sent him word of my escape, he | edge will do you no good. also try to find you. ‘‘ Now, Kent, I have been trying to seek you that you might acknowledge your crime to our father, and not let him die believing | a rich one. me guilty.” ‘* Bah,” was the contemptuous response of descended to trickery, and we have caused the young outlaw. ' | | 8 ee... te t— eee eC. joraee me, and we came here together to | ) iide ourselves from the world forever, and after finding it was murdered. | | ! ent Kittredge, I have come tolay your tains are haunted. ‘ ~ ae ‘*In this the Indian has aided us, thougin he did not do so intentionally to help us. ‘* He knows that we live in the mountains, and yet, though I saved his life, he does not come near us. ‘‘ Where he dwells I do not know; but I warn you not to attempt to invade his terri- tory. ‘* Miners have come there, and he has met them and driven them back, and death has. overtaken them. | ‘* Miners came a short while since, and I | led them to believe that the mountains were haunted, for, as fast as they built a bridge ‘across Lightning River, 1 sawed it away, first creeping near and rendering them un- conscious with chloroform. ‘‘l cast it in the air, at a distance, and ‘then crept nearer and nearer until they felt its influence, and my work was then easy. ‘They fled in terror from the mountains, and I have not seen them since.” ‘“A clever trick you have been at, and. playing ghost, too,” the man said with a sneer. and you sold me to poor old Mr. Kendall to ‘‘TIt was not crime, Kent.” pay for the losses. | “Po you remember one man who went ‘‘Te gave me before our marriage, the | there—a large fellow whom we call the money to pay father’s liabilities for you, and | Bravo?” made his will in my favor, making father ‘‘ Yes; he slept like a log, and I crept near executor, and cuttirg off his son. and let him inhale chloroform, for I can. ‘«By this you knew you would handle the | walk almost, I was going to say, as noiseless-- fortune, as you were aware that father yield- | ly as a ghost. ed to you in all things, and still believed in “T took his weapons and arms, led his: your honor against all proofs to the con- | horse some distance off, and then let him wake up, and frightened him out of the: mountains.” “And you expect me to confess my crime?” ‘1. eo. ‘*T shall not only do so, but I shall devote- my life now to killing King Kendall” ‘‘Beware, Kent Kittredge.” The man laughed, and the two rode or once more, for all this time, in their excite- ment, they had been sitting on their horses facing each other. On their way to the Buzzards’ Nest, little more was s:id between them, other than for — Captain Kit to repeat his threat to kill King’ > Kendall. Convinced that she could not make her de- praved brother confess his crime to her father, the maiden stole awry from the re- treat the next morning, during his absence, and selecting the best horse in the corral, set: out upon her return home. crime once more before you, and ask you to woman drew rein, the two halting near a huge rock by the trail. | ‘**My twin brother, that you unfortunate- iy are, you are as unlike me in character as aylight and darkness. ‘You were wild, reckiess, got into money | difficulties, and, to extricate yourself, sacri- ficed me. ‘*You knew that I loved King Kendall with all my heart, and because after he had cramped himself to lend you money, and then disowned you as a friend, for your faults, you sought to get revenge. ‘* You took advantage of his departure for his ranch in Texas, when you knew he would be gone for months, to give me, as you said, proofs that he was false to me. ‘You also urged his old father, weak in mind from the fail he got from his horse, to offer to marry me, telling him that I loved ** You know that father then became em- ‘“‘Have you forgotten, Kent Kittredge, the very nicht before | was to be sacrificed to that old weak-minded man, what hap- pened? **It was said at the trial that J visited his home, and. remained several hours, there dis- missing his valet. “The next day he was found dead. and — ee oe se death, ‘‘ The will was in my favor; I had visited his room, and I suffered. ‘‘ Yes, rather than tell on you, and. see you hang, Kent Kittredge, I said nothing. ‘‘I did not say that you, with your wo- manly face and form, dressed in my clothes, and resembling me strangely, had gone to that old man’s home and murdered him. ‘*You escaped, and I was sentenced to prison for life, a felon, a convict, in the eyes of the law. ‘But [I was aided to escape, and came here, as I said, with my father. ‘‘We sought a home in the Death Moun- tains, and there have since dwelt, ‘*But I feared father might die, believing me guilty, so | came away to hunt you up, and I have found you. **And more, Kent Kittredge, I now know who it was that aided my escape.” -‘* Who was it?” gasped the guilty brother. ‘King Kendall.” “1 half thought it.” *“Yes, he aided me to escape, and he has followed me here, for he it was who kept you and your cut-throats at bay to-day. | ‘‘He did not know me, but I recognized | retreat in the glen. him. | Arriving in the vicinity without adventure, _ ‘‘He is on my trail, I know, but for what | and in daylight. he staked out his horses and. _ reason God only knows. went on foot up the path to the secluded: em a wheels, and seeing the coach approach sprung from her horse and gave King Ken- dall the warning which the reader is aware- _ of. Then she set off on her return tothe Death» — for her life in those wilds had made her reck— less of danger. CHAPTER XLVI. A MYSTERY SOLVED. Wuen King Kendall left Bonanza City, TTT eee ‘‘Now, Kent Kittredge, I demand of you | spot. | : are that you return with me to my father and It was nightfall when he arrived at thee barrier he had built. It was still there, confess all. ‘Then you can go your way, for I care + not,” gone. | ‘‘ You said you dwelt in the Death Moun- | Returning for his horses he determined to» tains?” remain there the following day and give the “‘ Yes.” lace a thorough search. | ‘“You have heard where the Lost Gold | He slept through the night without being: — Mine is that is said to be there?” disturbed, and commencing his search at the ** Yes, 1 know the mine,” ‘cave first, he at once made a discovery that ‘You know it?” | surprised him. re Yea ‘Thank God!” ‘‘ Hold on, Kent Kittredge, for my know]- ' the cavern, he got up into the dark hole, There be found the skeleton, with ropes. “ That mine belonged to an old man, who, had evidently been lowered from the rocky- shelf to his side. : ‘He left it to an Indian, who now owns Seeing light ahead he followed it and after- it, 1 believe. | ‘‘ Father and myself have also a mine, and the cavern pierced. ‘To keep people away from us we have! From there, down the mountain-side,. through chasms in the cliffs, led a trail to the rumors to go out that the Deat Moun- the canyon, in which was the Haunted | Cavern. a IOO "comic < On the way she heard the rumbling of Mountains, utterly fearless though alone, | his first destination was the Indian’s secret: ~ ‘Sa 4 , : a. “ Ps 7 ss . \e ¢ 2 “so r,* oi but the horses had: mi. + 7 Above bis head was a large cavity. ie Getting a torch and leading his horse into A J awhile came out at the top of the hill which: _ ‘ae : : y a | re ig (eo) eos Av: =. ° «+ , > By. Ly “? il >< ‘attached, which had been his bedfellow, andi e ae un if = = = .