Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 464 — page 19: what you’re looking at

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

v off on the course which the old woman had in- dicated. He did not feel very thankful, as he was by no means sure that she had directed him rightly, a he fairly hated her because of her presence there. It looked as if she had followed him and meant to stick to his trail. ‘*T don’t like this a bit,” he muttered, as he strode away from the cabin. ‘“‘ It looks like the worst of bad luck. Was that little row in East St. Louis the trouble I was warned against? I would never have thought that I would go out hunting this day and find a panther in the path.” CHAPTER XXIV. THE POWER OF RAW WHISKY, SANDYCRAW was worried as he went along by thoughts of the fortune teller, whose presence in that cabin was not only incomprehensible to him, but seemed to be fraught with danger. Why had she come there, and how had she got there? lf he had just then been capable of calm reflection, it might have occurred to him that the railroad from St. Louis did not run very far back of Spoon Lake, and that she could easily have made the trip to that place before he got there with the Gazelle. ut, even then, how could she have known or guessed that he was heading for that region, and mie had prompted her to be there to meet im Was it merely a chance, after all? If so, it was a chance that he utterly detested. Had she really spoken the truth when she said that she had ‘‘dropped down” there on what might be called professional business? onfound her witchcraft ways, anyhow! One thing was piseey certain, and that was that she was pretty well acquainted with the lo- cality, and he bad ‘“‘given himself away” to her, though under a sort of compulsion, when he asked her to direct him to Spoon Lake, If her direction should prove to be correct she would know where to find him, and could easily reach him, whether she meant good or ill to him. But, though she might dislike him intensely, or even hate him, she was still his mother, and it was hard to believe that she could really seek to harm him. He did not allow these thoughts, troublesome as they were, to take his mind from the im- So business of the moment, his return to Spoon e, That point he was exceedingly anxious to reach as soon as possible, for the reason that has been noted, and acon ory, he pressed forward as rapidly as he could, but at the same time carefully, keeping his back to the sun, and fol- lowing to the best of his abilitity the course that had been pointed out to him. Considerably to his surprise, but vastly more to his delight, within the time that Madame Lavalette had named he came within sight of Spoon Lake and the Hirchley habitation and the Gazelle. The day was then nearly done, and Hiram Hitchley wondered at seeing Crawley return alone, as the three young men had not yet come This latter fact was also a cause of wonder to Sandycraw, but yet more a cause of congratt- lation, as it was then evident to him that no such plot as he had suspected had been put in opera against him, It was not yet dark when Joe Dillenger and the two Hitchley boys arrived, bringing a fine buck as the result of the day’s endeavors, They were surprised at Cay y belted there, and wanted to know what had become of him, declaring that they would have been home long ago if they had not spent their time in search- ing for him. ‘I got lost,” exclaimed Sandycraw. ‘ You might have known that [ would get lost in those woods,” ‘* Yes, we mought ha’ knowed it ef we'd thort,” asserted Ben Hitchley; ‘* but I reckon we warn’t thinkin’,” ‘You can’t have been far from me, though, b= I began to call you. Didn’t you hear me e r Nery yell!” ; “I fired off my rifle two or three times, and you must have heard that.” ‘We heerd a gun, and allowed it mought be yourn, but reckoned that you’d run across a deer or suthin.” This was all reasonable enough, and Crawley was obliged to admit that it was satisfactory; but he was careful not to explain how he had found his way back to Spoon Take, He purchased the carcass of the deer, and sent two of his deck hands to bring it aboard the Gazelle, glad to believe that his fears were not justified, and that he had not been the sub- ject of such a plot as he had suspected. __ This belief was quite correct; but he did not —— the whole truth. hi e young men had not plotted against him, and had not thought of such a thing, but there had been a plot the same—a plot that was destined to give Mr. Alexander Crawley a great Sandycraw, the Man of Grit. deal of trouble, and to cause an entire change of his plans, The plotter was cunning old Hiram Hitchley. That sagacious squatter, more than suspecting that there was a pile of money or other valuable property concealed on the Gazelle, set his wits to work to discover ways and means to find out its whereabouts, and concocted a plan which he began to putin operation shortly after Craw- ley and the other hunters had got out of sight. aturally presuming, from the fact that he had not been invited to take a drink on the Ga- zelle, that the boat was destitute of liquors, he approached Berry Sanders and condoled with him upon that grievous lack of spiritual conso- lation. It happened that the old man’s presumptiva was reasonably correct just then, as there was no liquor on the Gazelle that could be got at. Crawley always locked up everything of the kind when he left the boat, and kept the key in his pocket, not only with the view of saving his stores, but to prevent his passenger and crew from becoming drunk and incapable in case of an emergency. Berry Sanders was the man against whom this rule was specially enforced, as he was the most important person in the expedition next to the chief, and as he was noted for his thirst, be- ing in the habit of consuming liquor recklessly whenever he could get hold of it, He did not resent the restrictions that were placed upon him, but they grieved him, and he was in a condition to respond warmly to the condolence of Hiram Hitchley, lamenting bit- terly the absence of anything to drink that was stronger than water. ‘‘T kin straighten you up thar, my friend,” said the old man, “‘ and I'll be glad to do it, too, because you’re a good kind of a feller, and not nigh so uppish and offish as Sandy Crawley has got to be.” ‘*T never saw such a change in anybody as rye come over that man lately,” observed San- ers. ‘*He don’t treat his old friends right, and that’s a fact. Well, Mr. Sanders, ef you’ll come along o’ me, Pll take you to whar I’ve got a jug o’ whisky hid out in the woods, to keep it away from the boys and girls. , It’s the giniwine arti- cle, too, the pure juice o’ the cawn, ’stilled not more’n ten mile from hyar, on the quiet, It’ll jest warm you all over and put new life into you, Berry Sanders, who was anxious to be warmed all over, andshave new life put into him, gladly accompanied the old man to the place in the woods where the whisky was to be found, not knowing that it had been carried and concealed there for his special benefit. The whisky was, as ijiram Hitchley had represented it, calculated to warm him ail over and put new life into him. As a matter of fact, it scarcely differed from raw spirits, being new whisky, which had never felt the mollifying touch of the rectifier, and it was consequently fiery and drunk-provoking to the last de . Though it contained none of the poisonous in- gredients that might have been supplied to it in its passage to the regular market, its newness and rawness made it a very dangerous beverage to fool with. That sort of thing, however, happened to be just what Berry Sanders wanted, aud he fooled with the potent beverage until it promised very shortly to make the biggest kind of a fool of him, and it easily succeeded in doing so. The intoxicating fluid darted into his veins, and started a co ration in his blood that mounted to his brain, drove out bis wits, and set his tongue at work like a flutter-wheel. As this was exactly the state of affairs which Hiram Hitchley desired to produce, he encour- aged his companion to drink and talk. The old man was not only seasoned to raw whisky, but, while plying Sanders freely with the fiery liquor, be bimself touched it very lightly, thus see ea head reasonably clear, and manipalasing 7 scheme to suit himself. Thus it was that the St. Louis tough, over- joyed at having got hold of a fluid that made drunk come quickly, sunk his discretion in the depths of bis appetite, and was easily persuaded to make disclosures at which in his sober mo- ments he would not even have hinted, Led on by cunning old Hiram Hitchley, he became boastful, bragging loudly of his ex- ploits, and finally brought his career down to the successful raid upon the New Madrid bank. Upon this, as the latest and test event of his life, he enlarged extensively, stimulated in his talk by the jug inducements held out by the old man. He not only told the entire story of the bank robbery, but exaggerated the amount of the plunder, informing his liberal host that it was then safely stowed away in the Gazelle, and that Crawley and he were only awaiting the arrival of their two partners to divide the swag. This was just what Hiram Hitchley wanted to know, and it wasall he wanted to know. Satisfied with having got enough of a good —_ he upset the jug as if by accident, spill- ing be remainder of its contents, greatly to persuaded the grief of bis companion, whom he — to return to the Gazelle before he became too drunk to travel. Berry Sanders managed to get aboard the boat, was helped up to thecabin by one of the colored deck hands, and was bundled into his berth, where he lay like a log in a drunken stupor, utterly oblivious of anything that had happened during the day. CHAPTER XXV., THE PLOT FOILED. SucH was the state of affairs that confronted Sandycraw on his return from that unpleasant hunting expedition, and he was soon made aware of the nature nnd extent of the difficulty. Somewhat surprised at seeing nothing of Ber- ry Sanders at the Hitchley habitation or on the shore of the lake, he looked for his partner as soon as he went aboard the Gazelle, but saw nothing of him there. When he inquired for him, the disgraceful and dangerous truth was disclosed that Berry Sanders was dead-drunk in his berth. He was still dead drunk, and the utmost efforts of Sandycraw could not arouse him suf- ficiently to get any coherent speech out of him. Half wild with rage, and full of fear as well as of wonder, Crawley hastened to inquire how this sad condition of things had been brought about, and the man who had helped Sanders up into the cabin told him enough to excite his liveliest apprehensions and make him nervously anxious to know more. How had the man got his liquor? The store-room on the boat was still locked, and when it was opened it was clear that noth- ing there had been touched, nformation from the deck hand was to the effect that Berry had gone off with old man Hitchley, had stayed away a long time, and was fearfully and wonderfully drunk when he got back. That was enough to make, Mr. Alexander Crawley fear the worst. He was almost certain that Hiram Hitchley had taken his partner off and made him drunk and he well knew how very drunk ‘Berry would get when he had the chance, and how tonguey he became when he was drunk. The odds were that he had made a fool of bimself in his usual style, and had ‘“‘ given the snap away.” As for getting any information from the vic- tim of this detestable plot, that was out of the uestion, as raw whisky held him in almosta eathlike grip. So Sandycraw, dreading the consequences of his partner’s stupid and perilous performance, hurried below and to the forward part of the boat, to see whether oe 3 suspicious circum- stances on shore required his attention. He found them right at hand, ready made, but not to order or to his likiag. The Gazelle lay with her nose at the bank, a small line out, and a gang-plank leading to the shore. Night had settled upon Spoon Lake and its environs; but the moon was shining in a clear sky, and there was plenty of light to allow the owner of the Gazelle to see what was going on. What he saw was Hiram Hitchley, his three sons, Joe Dillenger and the old woman,. me proaching the boat from the direction of their cabin, not stealthily, but without making the least unnecessary noise. They all carried rifles, includin ley, and their appearance was midable and menacing. When Crawley discovered them, they had got so near to the boat that it was not possible to make any attempt to escape, or to prepare to give them a hostile reception. _ Though at his wits’ end, he yet perceived that his only chance was to start a parley with them, and try to hold them off until he could hit upon some plan to defeat their probable 1 ; Therefore he hailed them in friendly tones, though he was boiling over with rage, and was at the same time consumed with apprehension of a peril which be was not prepared to con- front. ‘Hello, Uncle Hiram! What’s up? Here you are with all the fighting portion of the family. “You folks look as if you were going to war. What’s the matter? as the guyascutis broke loose?” “Thar ain’t no more uncle hyar, Sandy Crawley,” sternly answered the old man. ‘‘Thar hain’t nothin’ broke Joose, and you cain’t uncle us out o’ what we've got onto.” ‘““T don’t understand you. What do you mean by that kind of talk?” Hiram Hitchley had been compelled to wait ecidedly for- until he could acquaint the -eturned hunters. with his plot and his grand discovery, and then he had started the family out to capture the Gazelle and the treasure. Why should they not? As they were monarchs of all they surveyed at Spoon Lake, and there was nobody to take ‘any notice of their proceedings, they could doas. they pleased with the Gazelle or any other vic- tim that came within their reach. Besides, if it was not lawful to rob robbers, Hiram Hitchley believed that it ought to be made lawful. ecomicbooks 19° Mrs. Hitch- ceo s a