Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 453 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

i ae Sr _ .* 7 ’ “e p s — a = an ——t— ~~ 5 =f, = 3. ~ Ae Pe ae | wt - ~ — =< 7 <a Ce oy ee ka” Piet ae Fa tS Fe ch = f + % ‘ . r - d péa s sian. _ fail as your father has done.” 12 he laughed, looking toward Silver Deck with a light here and there, and with the gambling den located by its large window. ‘‘ He can go back to his old beat, and take up the trail he lost near- ly a year ago. And Cyclone, who is inclined to be a little tricky, can remain here and become Silver Deck’s citizen again. Iam able to take care of myself.” Not far from the mouth of the mine, and where the shadows of the mountain pines were darkest, Colonel Redpath found two horses. They were not his; no. When he came to Silver Deck his only proper- ty was a valise, and it had not grown into two swift steeds that knew the trails about Silver Deck almost as well as the miners knew them. Colonel Redpath had not hesitated to strip the camp stables, He had taken the last twohorses, and with a grim smile, too, for he knew that pursuit would have to be made oun foot. He lifted Medora to the back of one of the steeds, and mounted the other. Then, as the girl was not able to ride without assistance, he transferred her to the horse he rode, but grip- ped the bridle-rein of its mate. ‘This is the Scorpion’s big hand. Ha! ha!” he laughed, as he started the animals off. ‘‘ [’'d like to see Claude Coldgrip or anybody else beat it with an American card! It can’t be done! My compliments to _ when you find the nest- bird missing,Grant Thurston. This is an arrow in your side—this is the deepest wound Paul Demidoff could inflict on his old enemy !” Away went the horses over the same trail taken not long before by Coral, when Mark a conducted her from camp into forced exile. The stars showered the earth with their golden light, and a ligbt spot in the far east, between two mountains, told where the moon would soon silver both mountain and trail. The road was well defined for some distance beyond Silver Deck. The two horses kept side by side, and went along at a good gait. Suddenly Colonel Redpath felt a movement on his arm, and a downward glance into Medo- ra’s face showed him her eyes fastened upon ition in their rst time, seem- There was now a gleam of liquid depths. Medora, for the to realize what had happened. Her first thought was not of herself, but of the father left behind. ‘*Ah, Paul Demidoff, [ know you!” she ex- claimed. ‘‘ You found us in the mine, There - was a traitor in Silver Deck, and may the por uf |. geance of Heaven find the guilty wretch! what did you do to my father? Did you strike him before you completed your work?” “Do you think I would, Medora?’ smiled the Russian. _“* You struck him once,” was thereply. ‘‘ You dealt your first blowin Russia!” ‘* You think so, eh?” ‘*We know it. It was your scheming that had him branded for life and sent to the mines of Siberia. That was your work, Paul Demi- doff, and this is yours, as well.” The Russian sleuth answered with a triumph- ant look. _ “My father? What of him? You have not answered me,” cried Medora. ‘* He will waken to find the nest empty,” was the reply. ‘‘I did not touch him, Medora.” - The gil let slip a breath of relief. ‘You wounded him deep by witholding your hand,” she exclaimed. ‘‘ He will lose his reason when he realizes your work. It will torture him more than the mines of Siberia did.” A smile came to the Scorpion’s lips. Torture was what he wanted to inflict. ** Where is this to end?” asked the girl. ‘* Let the future determine,” replied the Rus- “They will try to beat me, but they will _ * They?” echoed Medora. ‘‘ Your father and his new friends,” exclaim- ed Colonel Redpath. ‘“‘ But what can they do to start with when we are mounted, and they have not a horse to their names? Don’t you see what kind of a hand I hold?—and that will beat the best combination in the world.” ‘* But this is not Russia!” Cried Medora. ‘*T know it. It is better than Russia for me just now. In the heart of this New World we can bury ourselves, and the keenest sleuths can- mot find the trail. I don’t have to go back to - ezar’s empire. I left it to find the Siberian exile and his daughter, and who will say that Paul Demidoff has failed?” Medora shut her eyes to prevent seeing the roud smile of the palace sleuth, and for some time the horses bore them on without a word. “Your tool joined you at Silver Deck!” sud- denly said the girl. ‘‘Is he to remain behind and cover your trail?” ‘*Oh, you mean Captain Coldgrip?” guessed the Russian. ‘* Yes, the New York sleuth whom you hired with Russian gold.” Colonel Redpath laughed. ‘I don’t care what becomes of Captain Co p,” he an- swered. ‘‘I am sure the Yankee ferret is noth- fase He can go back to his Broadway * im. ® 4 ton ¢ “4 Ae bierds yt ! , * we 3 po es By a ' Captain Coldgrip’s Long Trail. ‘*Ts he no longer your man, Count Demidoff?” asked Medora eagerly. ‘* No!” answered the Russian in mad tcnes ‘* But you hired him once?” The Muscovite ferret did not reply. ‘* Very well,” continued Medora, ‘If this man turns against you, if you have thrown off Captain Coldgrip, the game now in your hands may be in his some time.” ‘* Ho! never, Medora!” cried the Russian, bursting into a derisive laugh. ‘* This New York sleuth is not what he is cracked up to be, | I know a case in which he was completely | Thurston. Let | eyes and ears open, and filled with an astonish- baffled. Ha! ha! it was a signal failure! him turn on me if he wants to! I ex after me like a pack of hunters. I don’t care! And as for the New York spotter— Pshaw! I’ve beaten that Broadway ferret before\” The face of the beautiful exile turned away from the Russian’s boastful glance. ‘*T may yet trust this American sleuth,” she murmured. CHAPTER XV. VENGEANCE MAD. Wits the echo of bis swift night-shot in his ears, Cyclone re-entered Silver Deck. A strange stillness hovered over the mountain camp. ‘* He would not take the trail I showed him, so I sent him on another which is the darkest one he ever struck. There was a belief that nobod could beat this Cold nip; but what have done?” And the rough laughed to himself at his red work just beyond the borders of the camp. Cyclone was anxious to find Colonel Redpath, but the Russian did not turn up to his hand, As the moments waned he grew bolder. Nobody had seen him decoy the New York de- tective from the cluster of cabins, therefore the shooting had no witness. Cyclone entered the saloon and sought a place at one of the tables. As it was whispered that he had come back from Leadville pretty flush, he was speedily ac- commodated, and in a little while the late pro- prietor of the Wildcat was deep in a pre. Nobody took particular notice of Cyclone. Mark Million was not in the place when he en- tered, but he came in a while later and watched the various games with some interest. ‘*They don’t know it yet,” thought Cyclone. ‘Tt won’t be found out before daylight, and Captain Mark ain’t going to care who dropped the Atlantic sleuth.” While Cyclone won and lost over the rough pine boards, a man wassleeping on some blankets many feet below the mountain camp. When he moved and opened his eyes, the lamp fastened to the wall seemed to be burning with more than its usual brilliance. ** Medora! my child! In God’s name, where are you?” suddenly cried the man, leaving the cot ina second and springing across the chamber. The next instant he started back from the lit- tle bed that touched the wall, and stared at it like a man in a maze. Again he sounded the name he had just spoken and louder than before; this time in ac- cents of mingled fear and anguish, “‘She is gone!” be exclaimed, ‘‘ while I slept the infamous villain stole a march onus, She would be here if he had not come. Who is tho traitor? Is this some of the new arrival’s work? Is your hand in this, Claude Coldgrip?” t Thurston had the wild eyes of a man on the brink of madness. Medora was not on the couch where he had seen her sink to sleep with his nightly kiss on her forehead. Her absence told him that the Russian trail dog had found his fie at once Grant Thurston turned away with a cry, and rushed from the naine. He knew the network of corridors which the men of Silver Deck had made in the bowels of the earth; he had threaded them in the dark and alone before that time, and because fear and vengeance lent him wings, as it were, he did not miss his way now. In the air beyond the mine and under the stars he did not stop a moment. He rushed over the ground between the mine and the camp and dashed into the saloon. Exclamations of astonishment burst from the throat of every man who saw him, be he Ld pes he given away the secret Silver Deck had sworn to keep? Here he had come back when his hunters were in camp, and it could no longer be said that the exiles were not among the miners. A sudden change crossed Cyclone’s face when he saw the excited man. “They can’t hide ’em any longer,” congratu- lated the Colorado sport. ‘* Here is Thurston himself and o’ course the girl, isn’t far off. If the colonel] war here now, thar’d be a picnic, and no mistake. Ha! thar goes Mark to him.” At that moment the boss of Silver Deck started toward Thurston. ** In God’s name, what brings you here?” cried Mark Million. | “ My child! my child! Medora—is—gone!” » : “ : . - 4. f om “ > ae aay =f ? ¢ — a 2 ee a i A dozen men started to their feet, All had heard the cry, and tbe intelligence seemed to strike them like an electric spark. ** Medora gone?” echoed Captain Mark, clutch- ing the arm of the white-faced father, as he lowered his voice with a quick glance at Cyclone. ‘‘She may bave wandered from the room.” ‘No! the Muscovite ferret found her—found her while I slept!” was the answer. ‘‘ May the blight of God fall upon me for sleeping when he was near!” A wild and excited crowd surrounded Grant Cyclone was on the outside of it with pect to | ment which he could not conceal. hear of Mark Million setting all Silver Deck | | the swoop. It could not be. Paul Demidoff had He did not believe that the Russian had made obtained no knowledge of the exiles’ whereabouts, Grant Thurston was mistaken, Mark Million saw that the only way to cool down the excited man was to get him away from there, so he took him tenderly by the arm and led him out. Several miners ran down the well-beaten path that led to the mine. Plunging into the dark mouth, they hastened to the exiles’ abode and found it empty. That was not all. In the dust of several narrow passages they discovered footprints which they all declared be- longed tua stranger. The boots of Silver Deck were all alike; this cne was totally different. Back they went with the news, but some time time bad elapsed, As they were rushing forward with their re- port, the stage from Leadville swung into the main street and came down in a cloud of dust. It was unusual for that vehicle to reach Silver Deck at night from any direction; but now and then some men with plenty of money could get. the driver to push forward at all hours. ‘* By Jove! thar’s the young chick who came in with Colonel Redpath!” cried several men as the vehicle was halted in front of the open door of the ranch. ‘‘ What fetches him back so soon? Why, he’s barely had time to turn around in Leadville, Mortimer hecalled. Mortimer who?—tenderfoot or sport?” The young man had by this time stepped nimbly from the stage, and was walking toward the ranch a few feet away. ‘* Mebbe he’s connected with Colonel Redpath? By Jove! it looks that way,” gro Jed a stalwart. man. ‘*We don’t want any o’ the spawn hyer, an’ if he ar’ ther exile-Lunter’s friend, he’d better get ther driver ter take ’im on ter Tartarus or some other seaport!” Meanwhile Grant Thurston, somewhat cooler, had told Mark Million all he knew about Me- dora’s disappearance which, as we know was. not much. He was certain that the Russian had made a successful swoop, and with him he con- nected the New York detective, Captain Cold- Dm not so certain about the captain.” said Mark, with a shake of the head as he recalled the detective’s last words in the interview he had had with him. ‘‘He wanted us to keep you safe.” Grant Thurston started. ‘‘ Did Claude Coldgrip say this?” he cried. ** He did.” ‘‘ Tt must be a game—a scheme to allay your fears. Why, we were routed out of New York by Captain Coldgrip. He was then in Paul Demidoff’s employ. If he was then the Rus- sian’s sleuth, why not now? No, Mark Million; you must not trust the American spotter. Those two ferrets hunt together, and their e is the same. My word for it that Captain Coldgrip is: miles away from Silver Deck at this moment, But, how did they find us out? Was there a traitor in camp?” Before Captain Mark could reply the cabin door was opened and a miner appeared. ‘There isn’t a horse in the camp,” he cried. ‘‘There ought to be three,” was the r se, ‘*¢ Don’t you see?” exclaimed Thurston. *‘ Three horses for Colonel gre ge the captain, and their prisoner! That tells the tale; that must convince you, Captain Mark!” Mark Million looked nonplused. ‘¢ What is the report from the mine?” he asked. ‘‘ The boys went there, didn’t they?” ‘‘They found nothing. What fetehed the stage in at this time?” ‘* From Denver?” ‘* From Leadville.” ** Somebody has come!” decided Mark, ‘ Will you stay here, Thurston?” ‘*No! Lam to be chained or hidden no lon- r!” cried the Siberian exile, starting toward he door. ‘‘ With Medora in the hands of the hawks, why should I hide longer in Silver Deck? The three men were already moving toward the mountain ranch as if they knew by instinct where to find the stage’s passengers, if any had come in. Mark was the first to cross the threshold. ‘* Ho! Mortimer is back! ee oe eee told me that we hadn’t seen the last of him!” he mentally exclaimed, as he caught sight of the rons. man who had just stepped from the - < : vehic eom . , A | oS a T ) ifs am 4 fe. re ° . “* f c ~ .y ; oe iy i