Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 420 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

might bea chance for her to assert her inde- pendence and claim a right to do the same; but when she made the eftort she found herself erushed by the Shropshires and cajoled by Mark Hannafin. The cajoling had no effect upon her, as she did not believe a word the young man said; but it was clear to her that she must go willingly or by force, and therefore she submitted as patient- ly as she could. —- CHAPTER XVIII. STARTING THE SEARCH, As Gray Gordon, after leaving Mrs. Hanna- fin’s place, walked toward the hotel where he was to meet Gerald Talcott, he seemed to be rather movish, walking slowly and with his head down, and musing as if he had encountered a probiem that bothered him. There was sadness mixed with his musing, too, and it was evident that the widow’s champagne had not had an exhilarating effect upon bim. He found Gerald at the hotel, and the young man was immediately struck by the downcast appearance of his old friend. ‘“Wiat is the matter, Mr. Gordon?’ he has- tened to ask. “‘It cannot be that you have failed to get the money.” ‘‘No indeed, I got the money al! right, and had not a bit of trouble about it. I wich thas everything before us was as easy as that.” ‘Phere is something that worries you, I am sure,” “No worry of my own, anyhow. There may be a little of other people’s worry that has caugat onto me like burrs when you go through the bushes, There are many queer things in this world, Gerald, and it is unaccountable how they turn up when they are least expected,” “' What have you been running foul of now?” tae ‘*T have heard a strange story which I may ihe tell you some time, and one item which I have Bi icked up may be somewha’ surprising to you. Rc a VYhodo you think that old moonshiner is, who SHE os helped the flatboatmen rob us?” ay “T think I know what ho is, and that is enough for me.” *‘T believe that ho is the father of Mark hhan- nafin, the man who damped you into tho Missis- . sippi.” Ca ** The deuce he is! it ied ay They must be a bad crowd all around.” ‘oe ‘‘ Not so very bad, perhaps. ‘he old moon- ig ry 4 ere 4, ie q ay ‘ ih we * iy . a iP" ra ’ ref : Aye 4 fe S "shed je . fj be 1O Vt; ¥ } Woll, I shouldn’t wonder, sziner, who is probably not near as old as he sedms to be, is not, in my opinion, entirely right in his mind.” / “He was smart enotigh to strip us of our » property. But bis name is Rapp, Mr. Gordon. — ©olonel Rapp is what they call him over there.” f ; “Yes, that is ono of the peculiarities of the case, As I understand it, an injury to his head has caused him to forget his former life, includ- ng his family and his name. But we ara not _. jikely to run across the man again, Gerald, and ‘ we need not worry about bim. I hope you _ Were not lonesome while I was away, my boy.” G * Lonesome? NotI. Ihave been too busy to be lonesome,” A, ‘* What heave you been doing?” “The first thing I did was to send my mother another dispatch, telling her that I have reason to hope that Eva is alive. Then, feeling sure that you would get the money you went atter, I attended to the business of securing transporta- tion for us to the wreck of tho Rowena.” | “That was thoughtful. How did you suc- » eeed?” *T found alittle stern-wheel boat that runs up g small stream somewhere below here, and the captain agreed to start ahead of his time, as carly in the morning as possible, and to land us - at the spot we wish to reach.” ‘* That was well done, Gerald.” “OF cour e I promised to pay him well, re- lying on you to back up my bargain, It isa _ strange thing, Mr. Gordon, that I find myself so willing to accept money from you, leaving you to pay the expenses of this business, Of course tle to settle the pecuniary obligation; bu% itis not that which makes me feel casy. I su pose it must be the way you have about you that causes this sort of thing to seem natura! to me.” *“T am glad, then, that I have that way, as JY want you to trust me and rely apon me.” _ . “¥etitis strange,” insisted Gerald, ** that I should so easily give myself up to tho guidance of a comparative stranger.” . “TT don’t consider myself oven a comparative ee stranger to you now. ou must remember that ss we have got acquainted very rapidly since we “met on the Rowena. Circumstances sometimes Hat é throw people together in such a shape that they _ ss gain more knowledge of each other in a little _- while than years of common acquaintance would give them. But that is all right, Geraid—the money business and the rest of it. Your credit is good with me, and, as a matter of fact, it is Mrs. Hannafin who is paying our expenses this trip. Since you have been attending to busi- _ . ~-ness'so well, there is only one thing left that we need to do.” ¥: “What is that, sir?” ¥ . oar Be “T fancy that we will need some help, and, “wu we ” ‘ , ‘ aoe * * hs es vey ie of | EEF RNNRR-S Sn ea ww TY ee ee ———— ee SS The O ee as it is getting late, I must start at once to find and engage a couple of men.” ‘* But why will we need them?” ‘‘ Well, Gerald, there is no telling what may turn up, and it is well to be prepared. Of course, though we don’t like to talk about it we.are both suspicious of Mark, Hannatin, and it is possible that we may have to do a good deal of searching. I am afraid that the young man means mischief, because it seems to me that he might, if he had tried, have brought your sister away on the steamboat that went to the rescue of the Rowena, that is, supposing it to be true that he and she were the parties seen on the sand-bar.” ‘‘T have thought so, too,” added Gerald. ‘Tf he does mean mischief, he has gone ashore there for a purpose, and we may have trouble to find him and more trouble after we find him, It is best to be prepared as wellas we can for any difficulties that may arise.” “You are right, Mr. Gordon, as you always are. But where will we find the men?” In a city like Memphis it was of course easy to hire man for such a service; but the trouble with most of them was that they were either loafers or otherwise unfitted for the purpose, and Gordon was obliged to admit that ho did not know where to lay his hands on tho right sort, It was his idea, however, that ho could fall back on Hank Byers, whese information and advice had already proved to bo so interesting and serviceable, and he and Gerald sallied forth in search of Hank, They found him without much difficulty, and Gordon explained to him what was wentccl, without going into details concerning the cb- ject of the employment or tho use to which the men mizht possibly be put. ‘Tt think I know what you mean,” said Byers. ‘*You suppose that you are going to find a rough style of Americans over there, and it is quite likely that you may.” ‘“We have alrendy had some experience in that line,” observed Gordon, ‘* and that is how I happened to be short of money.” af see, A burnt child dreads tho fire, Come with me, then, and in a little while I will finda couple of tough citizens who will suit you.” ‘*Not too tough,” suggested Gordon, “ but just tough enough, as they are to be our com- panions.” ‘Just so. Come along and be your pick.” Hank Byers, who was thoroughly acquainted with the city, led the way to a saloon—of course to a saloon, as the rooms of the Y. M. C. A. did not contain the article’ required—where he had only to look about him to find men who were both willing and eager to risk their Jives if ne cessary for the sake of adventure and a fow dollars. Gordon, who considered himself a good judge of human nature, speedily chose from those who were offered to him a couple of men who, as ho believed, would suit his purpose, and made a bargain with them. One of them was Jerry Mabry, an Arkansan who happened to bo stranded in Memphis, and who was evidently woll acquainted with the western side of the river. The other was Ernst Kreutz, a German who announced himself.as a member of a ‘* Turn Verein” and a ‘Schuetzon Corps,” and as the possessor of a ‘‘ yager” that was unequaled for accurate shooting. Both of these men, boing entirely unattached, were ready to start at once, and Gordon took them away with him, after thanking Hank Byers for his valuable services. ‘That makes something more that £ owe yon, Mr. Byers,” said he, *' stat I hope to be able to settle up with you before long.’ “You have already paid me right well,” answered Byers, ‘‘I made a decent little pile by taking your advice and following your lead to-night.” ‘* And you might have made more if you had caught on sooner. But that did not pay any- thing of what I owed you. We are both greatly obliged to you, Hank Byers, and that must pass for partial payment.” It was not necessary for Gordon to stop at the hotel and pay the bills of himself and his friend, as they had no baggage, and had been politely requested to pay in advance for what they had got. So he and Gerald, with their two allies, went down to the levee and boarded the little stern- wheel craft, and settled themselves to sleep for the remainder of the night. ‘: Tho captain of the ‘* fly-wp-the-creek,” which was known as the Chicot, had no idea of cerry- ing out to the letter the bargain that he had made with Gerald Talcott, and might have re- mained at the Memphis levee all day, but Gray Gordon, who was up and out at daybreak, roused him from bis berth, and had a serious conversation with him. Asa result of that discussion, with which the current money of the United States was not al- together unconnected. the vbicot got up steam at an early kour in the morning, and left the landing at the dawn of day. It was understood on the little boat that the party of four were goingSto search for a lady | young Hannafin means mischief, and that he (e(o) | ) . Ay Nai 7 F ») Ps d River Sport. — $s ce \ nn eee who had been a passenger on the ill-fated Rowena, and they were duly sympathized with by the captain and crew. On the passage Gerald had en idea which he communicated to his old imend as they sat on the hurricane deck, looking down the river. ‘* There is one thing that we forgot to attend to, Mr. Gordon,” said he. ‘What is that, Gerald?” ‘Tf we are likely to have something of a search, as you think may be the case, and if the country is as unsettled as we found 1t when we swam ashore, we ought to have some provisions in a shape that we can use.” ‘That is already attended to,my hoy. Ihave made arrangements with the cook of this craft, and also, I may add, with the barkeeper, and we will have plenty of provisions, solid and liquid.” ‘In due course of time—that is tosay, shortly after noon—the little Chicot rounded to on the western shore of the river, a short distance be- low the remains of the Rowena. She was obliged to feel her way carefully through the water at the lower end of the sand- bar, but being of very light draught and ac- customed to working over shoals, she reached the bank, and landed there the searching party and their belongings. The landing of a steamboat there—ev.n so small a craft as the Chicot—was quite an event, as was proved by the arrival at the bank, of a man of decidedly backwoodsy appearance, with a boy and girl of the same strive, who stcod and stared at the little steamboat and the strangers, To theso natives, as soon as the Chicot had left the shore, Gordon applied for information, say- ing that he and his friends were looking for three people, who were supposed to have esc: ped from the burning Rowena and to have come ashore from the sand-bar, ‘The man was most depressingly ignorant, as well as stupid, but was quite willing to state fully all that he did not know. ‘T'was off in the woods,” he said, ‘* a-lockin’ fur astray heifer when that steamboat burnt; but Tom and Myry was yer, and I reckon they see’d w’ot was to be seed.” ‘“Tom and Myry,” who seemed to ke tco ob- tuse to have ever taken hold of any facts and kept them in their recolicction, came out finely on this occasion. ‘* Wo was standin’ yer a-watchin’ the steam- boat burn,” said Tom, ‘along with old ma Shropsbire and Bob and Ben. Thar wes a wo- man and two men on the bar, and Bob Shrop- shire he gota skiff down into the water, and rowed over thar and fetched ‘em ashore. Ther was orful wet, and arter a while they went o with the Shropshire folks,” | An attempt to get a description cf the rescued parties did not elicit much matter of interest from Tom; but Myry, being a girl, was able to cive a fair idea of the young lady’s clothes, and from this Gerald Talcott Gecided that she was his sister. ‘‘ Where did they go to?” inquired Gordon. ‘To Enoch Shropshire’s. place, I reckcn, Thoy. all went together, and they started off that way.” The promise of pay induced Tom to guide the searching party to Enoch Shropshire’s place, though he declared that he would not accompany them to the house, but would take them within sicht of itand leave them there. \yre and her father were gratified with some of the coin of the republic, and Gordon and Tom led the way into the woods. CHAPTER XTX, RUDELY AROUSED. | THE boy's reluctance to go to the Shropshire ace necessarily excited the curiosity of Gecr- don and his friends, who plied bim with ques- tions, endeavoring to extract from him some information concerning the Shropshires; but : was little enough that they could get out of om. Whatever other quasities he might lack, he knew how to hold his tengue, and guarded his speech as carefully as if he had been instruct- ed in the art. | ‘You must be afraid cf Enoch Shropshire - and his folks,” observed Gordon. ‘*T reckon I ain’t.” ‘What is the matter, then? Why won't you tell B anything about them? Are they a bad crowd? ‘““] dunno. I’ve heard talk goin’ arcune, but I don’t take much notice o’ talk.” As nothing more was to be got out of the boy, the party were obliged to be satisfied with his guidance to the Shropshire house, which he pointed out to them when they came within sight of it, and hurried away as soon "1 be received the pay that had been promised im. , is reluctance and reticence had of course aroused strong suspicions in the minds of the party, and they approached the Shropshire es- tablishment with the feeling that they must be on their guard against some danger which they could not estimate or understand. ‘“*T am afraid, Gerald,” said Gordon, “that comic -"' ae 4 a = 7 ; : . rt a | } t : ‘ > ~ al - - ~ ~ - -_ 7 ~hic Oia Ms ‘ ; i r i ¢f