Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 420 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

2 witnesses the opening of this story—or, rather, of the incident that furnishes its prologue. ‘‘ Holcomb” was the name on the silver plate that adorned the front door, and Josiah Hol- comb was the owner of the house, whose usual occupants were his wife and two children, with two female servants, one of whom was a nurse- irl. ‘ There they had lived for nearly five years, a and in that part of the city there was not a more | his talk was gradually leading up. es, respectable and apparently prosperous family. Mrs. Holcomb, a bright and attractive young woman from the interior of Ohio, was not only known as a model wife and mother, but was a member in good standing of the Presbyterian church near by, attending all the services with conspicuous regularity, and taking a great in- terest in all the work of the church. Though her husband was not a member, he was seen there with her occasionally when he happened to nd a Sunday in town, and his conduct and demeanor were always most ex- is business, as he informed his wife and she informed the neighbors, was that of a dealer in produce, and it was of such a nature as com- ed frequent and long absences, so that Mr. oleomb, as a rule, was away from home, He had no office in the city, and his name was not in the Business Directory; but he was in tho habit, as he said, of purchasing produce in the oo —_ ee Ae ee The Old River Sp ort. — — ——— —~ - — ‘I know nothing about that; but I know | it was my duty to expose the fraud he has been | what Mr. Holcomb has to do, and his explana- ; playing.” | _ you may find it out when it will be much worse | coming here to tell you what the business really _is that keeps your husbard away from home so / made, and Mirs. Holeomb mentally braced her- country round about, accompanying bis ship- | ments to New Orleans, and bringing back re- turn freights of sugar and other Southern staples. Mrs. Holcomb wuuld have preferred that his occupation should keep bim at home, or allow him more time there; but it was profitable, and she had all that she could reasonably desire, and she was devoted to her children, and her husband was a kind man of good habits, and under these circumstances it was easy to be satisfied. The visitors at the pretty home were mostly Mrs. Holcomb’s acquaintances, as her husband seemed to have few friends; but occasionally he brought a guest to the house, and the one who came there the most frequently was Mr. James Hannafin. He was a few years younger than Josiah Hol- comb, and not so gentlemanly in appearance and manner, there being a suspicion of ‘ loud- ness” about his dress and general style which was quickly perceived t.y the alert intelligence of Mrs. Holcomb, though she always treated him well as her husband’s special friend. It was Mr. James Hannafin who came saun- tering up the street alone that bright June morning, with a bit of a swagger that was habitual with him, stopped at the pretty house and rung the front door-bell. Mrs. Holcomb had caught sight of him as he came up the street, from her seat at an up-stairs front window; but she did not go to the door to let him in. She merely *‘ primped” a little before a glass, | | the sharpest gamblers on the river, too, and | and I must admit that1 had never suspected tions have always been perfectly satisfactory to | me. He has gone down the river now in caarge | vated her eyebrows. ‘‘ I should not suppose that of a large shipmen of bacon.” you would be much worried by considerations ‘*Bacon is a queer name for it,” observed | of duty. If you fancy that you have done me Hannafin with a sneer. | a favor—though I doubt if you fancy anything There could no longer be a doubt that the | of the kind—you are mistaken. Perhaps it was visitor had some malign object in view, to which : right that I should know what you have toldme, . but I do not thank you for telling it. The bear- ‘* What do you mean by that, sir?’ demanded ! er of bad news is never welcome, and I wish Mrs. Holcomb, you good-morning.” ‘Tf he had said lambs or suckers, he would ‘** But, Mrs. Holecomb—” have come nearer the truth.” ‘* Good-morning, sir. You need not trouble “IT ask you again, Mr. Hannafin, what do you | yourself to call again.” mean by that?” Jim Hannafin went away, looking as if he had _“ Is it possible, Mrs. Holcomb, that in all the | in some way been cheated out o something, time you have lived with your husband you | and even before he had got out of the house the have never known what his business really was? | lady sunk into a chair, a picture of anguish and Of course you haven’t, though. You church | utter misery. | people never think of anything of that sort, and She did not weep, but was fearfully pale, and so Holeomb kas told me again and again that | held her head with her hands as if it was in dan- he has kept the thing covered from you as close | ger of bursting. as close can be. But it is time that the truth After a while she rose, her handsome features should be known. If you don’t learn it now, | hardened by a sad and determined expression, and thereafter there was a bustle of packing in the house, which lasted until a late hour in the afternoon, when Mrs. Holcomb went away in a carriage with her two children and their nurse. ‘‘[ have received news that compels me to go into the country for a few days,” she said to the other servant. “I leave the house in your charge. If Mr. Heleomb should come home while I am gone, tell him that there is a letter for him in my room.” So she went away, and she never saw the in- side of that pretty house again. ‘Your duty?” inquired the lady, as she ele- for you, and I think Iam doing you a favor in much.” Surely some terrible revelation was to be self to receive it. What could it be, and why had that man come there to afflict her with it?” Was he going to say that her busband was by profession a burglar, a river pirate, a forger, or what? The revelation was bound to be made, and the sooner the better; so she invited it. ‘* What is his business, Mr. Hannafin?” she asked with as much of an air of unconcern as she could assume. Jim Hannafin had no doubt come there with the purpose of telling the exact truth, but at the same time of putting it in as bard a shape and as bad a light as he could give it. ‘** Your husband,” said he, “is a professional gambler. Thatis his business, and he has no other, and never had any other. Since be was nineteen years old he has played cards for a liv- ing, and has never had a dollar but what he has got hold of in that way. He is known as one of CHAPTER IT. PAYING HIM OFF, Two days after Mrs. Holcomb had left her home there came up the quiet and pleasant street a young man, who stopped at the pretty house as if he belonged there. His appearance surely indicated that he be- longed there, as his dress and manners were evi- dently those of a gentleman. It was easy to see that he was disappointed when the door was opened by the servant, and there was also something in her look that trou bled him. ‘* Are all well?” he asked, quickly. ‘‘ All well, but nobody at home,” was the brief answer. ‘* Where is Mrs. Holcomb?” ‘She went away two days ago with the chil- drcn and the nurse.” ‘‘That is strange. Anything tho matter?” ‘‘ She said she had got some news that would take her into the country for a few days, and t-ld me to tell you that you would find a letter in her room.” ‘* Perhaps some of her people are sick.” Josiah Holcomb hurried up-stairs to his wife’s room, wondering what news it could he that there’s no man who can beat him at getting hold of other folks’? money. You say vhat he has gone to New Orleans with a shipment of bacon; but the fact is that for the past three weeks he bas been running a faro bank in Cairo, and a dead open and shut game it is, as I well know.” This was indeed a terrible reveletion to the lady, considering who and what she was, and it was no wonder that her voice as well as her hands trembled as she answered. ‘* Your statements are news to me,” she said, anything of the kind. As it is, I have only as women will do from a natural desire to look | your word against thet of my husband, whom their best, and weut down to tke parlor to re-_ ive always believed to be a gentleman and a ceive him after the nurse-girl had answered the | man ef honor. How am I to know that you are bell. telling me the truth?” In the parlor she noticed, as she had often ‘You will believe what your husband says, done before, and with the same silent disap- | I suppose, and of covrseeyou know his writing. proval, certain points abéut this yisitor which | You may read this.” were objectionable to her. Jim Hannafin handed the ledy a letter which His mustache was somewhat too long and | she took from its ‘spe envelope and read pointed to suit her severe taste; the colors of his | carefully, her face pale and her voice lowered. necktie were a little too gaudy; bis watch-chain was rather heavier than it should have been; he isted in wearing a spring overcoat though the weather was warm, and shoes that were varnished instead of blacked > sbe did not admire the style of his plaid trowsers, and bis voice had not the mild and gentlemanly intonations of her husband’s. But there was really nothing about him for anybody but a too critical person to fnd fault with, though he had seated himself before ke was invited to do so, ana kad placed his’ hat on a table instead of holding it in his hand. ‘‘T hope that you and the children are well,” he said in response to her salutation. It was in these words: “My Dear Jin:— “Tam sorry tbat I could not let you into this Cairo snap as we had agre.d to; but you failed to come to time, and I hac to take in a man who was willing to risk his money with me. Iam running a great game bere, ard there is money in it as long as the authorities let ine atone. “IT can put you ona good thing, though. A havy- seed delegation is to go frem In iana, to a trade convention at Memphis, leaving Evansville by boat on the 14th, You can pass yourself off as a Cincin- nati business man and work those suckers fcr ail they are worth. ‘** Wishing you the best of hrek, Iam as ever, “ Your frien’, * J. Hoicoms.” eee ‘Quite well, [ thank you.” | **T looked in to ask if Mr. Holcomb has got “T suppose that you are also a gambler,” sug- back,” rested the lady as she handed the letter bac’: to ‘** Indeed, no. her visitor, ‘Yes, ma’am, That’s the way I make my living. I haven’t beeri in the business as long es your husband has, and I don’t claim to be such a double-edged sharp as he is; but I can hold my own,” ‘* Does it seem to you that you are doing the days yet.” ‘He is away from home a great deal.” ‘ A great deal, as yousay, Mr. Hannafin. I used to worry about that, but have become quite reconciled to it, as bis business requires it.” ‘* Yes, there is no doubt that bis business does require it. It couldn’t be carried on any other | way. But did it never strike you that it must | friend and comrade where you know he would be a queer sort of business that keeps a man most object to being exposed?” I do not expect him for several ! away from home so much?” ‘* Of course it is right, He deserves that, and Mrs. Holcomb colored a little. There was something in this visitor’s tone and air which indicated a purpose that might prove to be hostile. ‘* Not at all,” she answered. ‘‘ The business in which he is engaged compels him to make frequent visits to New Orleans.” ‘‘Other men who buy and sell in New Orleans don’t have to be going to and from there all the time.” more, back on me?” ‘* He says it was your fault.” ** He lies! he could make more money by taking in another man, and that’s the sum and su nee of it. He cut me out of a good thing, end what could he expect me to do? Besides, Mrs. Holcomb, right thing in coming here to expose your Don’t his letter tell you how ha wernt Oh! he’s a success as a liar, as I reckon you know by this time. He broke his word, and went back on me because he thought ee ree ee TTT LL nn LS sssisnsssseesessensteeetesse seee hed carried her off into the country, as nothing of the kind had ever happened before. As soon as he stepped into the room he no- ticed that several articles which he had been accustomed to see, were es but there was nothing in that except an indication that her ae might possibly be protracted beycnd a few ys. He easily found the letter, es she had stuck it, woman-fashicn, between the glass and frame of the mirror, and he tore it open and started to read it hastily. He may have glanced over it hastily; but thereafter he read it over very slowly, here and there to take in its full mcaning, an oshe read his face became a: hy pale, and the hand that held the letter trembled visibly. ‘This is the wording of the letter that moved him so: “Tam sorry to rey that I have found you out. I know thet you marricd me under false pretenses and the* your entire life with me has been a traud and a false pretense. That might be forgiven. if you were not wiat you are; but I know that you are a rambler. that you bave always been a gambler, and thatadl the money that has supported ycur fam hes been the wages of iectaanan* suppose I woul have coutinued to live in a fool's paradise if I had rot learned this disgraceful truth; but I must have ! ernec it soorer orlater, I know it now, and that knowledge encs all betwecn us. I cannot be the wife cf a gambler, and cennot suffcr my children to grow up as the children of a gambler. My duty eg a Chr.s.ian and a mother would allow no such sacri. fice. Assoon as I learncd the shameful truth, there wes but one thing for me to do. and that | have done. You will never sce us again, as I shall put more than distance between ycu ard those whom you have so foully deceived. Farewell, and may God have mercy on you énd show you the error of. your ways.”' He stood while he read the letter so carcfull and so slowly; but, when the last werds aed sunk into his scul, th he oar upon a chair. Then his strong and manly frame shook with emotion, and tears—real tears—streamed from his eyes and wet the hands that covered them. This lasted but a few moments, and he rose and carefully folded the letter, while a hard and e paper fell to the flcor and | Eomicbooks co - % ; : te a =