Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 483 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

~ 18 4 Flush Fred, the River Sharp. Jake Tolliver?” “Yes, it is Jake Tolliver.” ‘* What can he be there for?” ** No good, of course. Perhaps he is a SPY **But why? Has he got brains enoug that sort of thing?” “He is as smart as a steel-trap, though he don’t look it. Anyhow, his presence at that window is suspicious.” ‘Yes, and he must be captured. You had better take somebody with you, Wash, and sli around tue house, one on each side, and na him and bring him in here,” Judge Stacey returned to his friends and con- tirued his discourse, making no allusion to what he had learned. | Wash Stacey and another slipped out of the house, and approached the concealed spy from opposite directions. e was so intently occupied in listening just then, that be would not have noticed them if they had come upon him less stealthily. He did not discover them until it was too late to escape, though he made a vigorous effort to do so. Jake Tolliver was as slippery as an eel; but the two men gripped him firmly, and dragged him to the house and into the dining-room. The lad had quickly decided what he would do and say when put the question, and that was nothing at all. He fully expected to be sentenced to a severe whipping; but no torture should induce him to Ravina his business there, or the name of his employer. herefore, when Judge Stacey sternly ordered him to tell what he was doing at that window, he put on a vacant, half-idiotic look, and made no answer. He was threatened with serious pains and penalties if he refused to make known his pur- pose; but he cast down his head, picked at his ragged clothing, and said nothing. ‘The boy is a fool,” declared Bramwell 7 for mney ** Not a bit of it,” said Wash. ‘‘ He is play- _ing a sharp game, and he thinks that he is too smart for us.” ** Well, we can’t fool with him now. We will attend to his case after awhile. Take him up- stairs, Wash, and lock him in the trunk-room. He can’t get out of there unless he breaks a limb, and I reckon he is too smart for that.” Jake was lugged up-stairs, thrust into a small room where there were a few trunks, and the key was turned on him, This imprisonment, and the hard time that he might expect after awhile, did not worry him at all, He was only troubled by the thought that he would be unable to hear and report the proceed- ings of what he supposed to be a very interest- ing meeting down-stairs, f Mr. Henning could know how easily and stupidly he had suffered himself to be captured at a critical moment, that gentleman would be seriously offended, and the poor lad had formed such an affection for Flush Fred, that his dis- pleasure would hurt him more than any punish- ment the Staceys would be likely to inflict upon im, He did not mean to submit to any punish- ment, however, and as for the imprisonment, ie was sure that he could easily make an end of that. Thus he had scarcely found himself alone in the trunk room, when he began to look about and consider means of escape. The room was a small one, and it was empty, except for a few trunks, which were of course locked, There was one window, which could be easily raised, and the prospect from the window was not at all discouraging. The room was on the second story of the house, and the distance to the ground was not great enough to make it certain that a jump would seriously injure him, though it might be dangerous, If he had been in a bedroom, a pair of sheets would have served his purpose; but there was nothing of the kind at hand. He might lessen the distance by lowering him- self from the window sill, and would then be willing to risk the fall; but he thought he saw a safer and easier way to gain his liberty. At the front corner of the house was a stout Virginia creeper that had climbed to the roof, and such an acrobat as Jake Tolliver would find no serious difficulty in reaching it. He opened the window, stood on the sill, threw himself to the next one like a monkey, pane the upper casing firmly with both hands, and drew his feet up on the sill. His only fear was that there might be some- body in one of the rooms who would perceive him and give the alarm; but, as it happened, he was not observed. ; the same way he swung himself to a second window, then to a third, and then he was within reach of tke vine, and it was easy enough to mex? his way silently and swiftly to e ground, He would gladly have returned to the dining- room window to see and hear what was going on inside; but it was then too late for that, and a was not enough to be gained to justify the risk, So he concealed himself near the house, to watch his chances for’getting hold of some other information, Shortly be saw the visiting Staceys come out of the house and mount and ride away. The conference was over, and he had not been able to find out what it had amounted to. CHAPTER XXVI, EVA’S ABDUCTION. It was a pity that Jake Tolliver was choked off at the beginning of the conference in Bram- well Stacey’s house; for, if he had been able to listen to it, he would have learned something tbat could not have failed to interest his em- loyer. . No doubt Flush Fred afterward made a pretty good guess at what had happened as the result of the meeting; but it would have been a great advantage to him and his friends if they could have got hold of the facts in time. It was settled by the assembled wisdom that Ben Stanniford and Fred Henning must be got out of the wav, by fair means or foul, and it was agreed that Henning was the more danger- ous man of the two, though the other was be- lieved to be a suitor for the hand of Eva Bram- well, who was favored by that young lady. The wrong and ignominy that Flush Fred had already inflicted on the Staceys, on board the steamer Tom Swann, and even there at Stacey- ville, called for something severe in the way of retribution, Moreover, the cause of Bramwell Stacey, as the chief of the elan, was the cause of all, and the Staceys were noted for the thoroughness with which they stuck together. . If Bramwell Stacey should fall, there were others of the tribe who would tumble like a row of blocks, and he did not attempt to conceal the fact that he was likely to be a ruined man unless he could marry his son to his niece and ward, and thus secure her fortune, It was the opinion of all that this very eligible arrangement must be consummated, and that anybody who stood in its way ‘‘ must go.” The only question was, what should be done to rid the neighborhood of those two obnoxious in- dividuals. Judge Stacey had a plan to propose, which, was in effect that his niece should be forcibly carried off and put out of the way of her lover and his friend, and that these two should be ac- cused of her abduction. A warrant would be issued for their arrest, which was to be served by a sufficient force, and when they should be safely lodged in the county jail, it was hoped that there would be an end of their power for mischief, To prove them guilty of the charge was a matter of little consequence, the point was to get them shut up and out of the way. Thus the Staceys, as Flush Fred afterward guessed, would be killing two birds with one stone. So the plan was agreed upon, and the details were settled, a leading point of the arrange- ment being that the deed should be done in such a manner that Judge Stacey could not be sus- pected of complicity in the abduction. Colonel Jeff Stacey was to serve the warrant the next day, and was to select the men neces- sary to assist bim. All this important information Jake had missed by his capture; but because be had missed it he was more on the alert than ever, determined that nothing should transpire in or about the house without his eridwlodiee! if he could help it. When the visitors had left the place, Judge Stacey and Tom went up-stairs to look after the captive, and were surprised but not specially troubled when they found him missing. A little after nine o’clock at night, when Eva Bramwell, for lack of anything else to do, was thinking of going to bed, ber uncle hurried into the house, looking troubled and sad. nara asked him what bad bappened to annoy im. **To some people it wonld seem a very small matter,” he answered; ‘‘ but I am very sensi- tive about the servants among whom my life has been spent, and whatever hurts them burts me. Eva had entertained a suspicion that he was not that kind of a man, but she might be mis- taken. ‘‘Is anything the matter with them?” she in- quired. ‘** Only one of them. Poor Aunt Cynthia, who was Tom’s nurse, has been suddenly taken sick, and none of us know what to do for her. I have sent for a doctor, but he may not get here be- fore morning, and in the mean time the poor creature is suffering.” : Eva’s sympathies were at once enlisted, and she truly declared that she wished she could be of some service to the sufferer. ‘* Perbaps you might, my dear. If you would run down there with me, you would be snre to cheer her up, and might do her a great deal of ood. Her cabin is half a mile from here, but it is an easy walk.” et S Eva said that if she could be of any use, she would be glad to go. ‘* Better put on your hat and a shawl, my child, as the air is a little chilly to-night.” In a few minutes Eva was equipped for the walk, aud she sallied forth with her uncle. The path led through a piece of ‘woods, and they had about reached the middle of the patch, when three men sprung out from among the trees, two of whom seized the young lady, and the third took hold of her uncle. Eva was unable to make any resistance; but she heard, if she could not see, Judge Stacey struggling manfully. ** Villains!” he cried. ‘*‘ What do you mean, you infernal scoundrel? You shall suffer for this. Help! help!” She was hurried away so rapidly that she could not know how the struggle terminated. It terminated as soon as she was out of sight and hearing. ‘*T reckon that is all right,” said Judge Sta- cey’s assistant. ‘It seems to be,” answered the Judge. ‘‘She must have been well fooled, and she surely can’t suspect me of having anything to do with the affair. Run on and join the others. now, as I must get back to the house and raise a row.” The man hurried away, and Bramwell Stacey ambled back to the house, where he proceeded to ‘*raise a row,” declaring that his niece had been seized and carried away by strangers from Staceyville, who had also tried to murder him. After thoroughly arousing all about the place, he had horses brought out with a great bustle, and he and Tom mounted, with two of the men-servants, and rode away in a different direction from that which had been taken by Eva’s abductors, When Judge Stacey called for help, he was sure that there was nobody near enough to an- swer his call; but there was one person withia hearing and seeing distance, who might have come forward if be had cared to, But the burnt child dreads the fire, and Jake Tolliver, having been once captured, was quite unwilling to fall into the clutches of the Staceys again. Steappotittad of his desire to witness the pro- ceedings of the meeting in the house, be was all the more anxious to keep watch of the subse- quent occurrences, and nothing took place about the house, after he regained bis liberty, that es- peg his notice. hen Eva Bramwell left the house with her uncle, Jake Tolliver followed the couple closely, and he was but a few yards away when the young lady was seized by the men who had been waiting for ber in the piece of woods. Though the three men bad the upper parts of their faces concealed by black masks, Jake had no difficulty in recognizing them as Staceys, and he jumped at once to the conclusion that the capture of Miss Bramwell was a ‘*‘ put up job.’ ; In this conclusion he was fortified by Judge Stacey’s sham struggle, and by that gentle- man’s remarks after Eva had been got out of the way. ‘* Hit’s as plain as the nose on Tom Stacey’s face,” the lad confidentially informed himself, ** and I on’y wish I could do w'ot 1 want todo.” What he wanted to do was to inform Fred Henning of what had happened, and at the ear time to see what became of Eva Bram- well, As he could not accomplish both of these ob- jects, he was compelled to choose between them. He was sharp enovgh to understand that the young lady was the main object of interest to his employer, and therefore he determined to keep her*in sight and do what he could for her, trusting to luck to enable him to send the news to Mr. Henning. He saw the two men who had seized Eva take her to the road, where they mounted her on a horse which had evidently been brought for that un pose. : Shortly they were joined by the third man, and the party rode away in an easterly direc- tion. Then Jack Tolliver girded up his loins—that is to say, he hitched up his ragged trowsers— and ran after them, CHAPTER XXVII. ; THE HOUSE IN THE HILLS, Eva BRAMWALL, not possessing the oppor- tunities for observation that Jake Tolliver gave himself, had no suspicion of the genuineness of her capture or of the duplicity of ber uncle. If she had reflected on the matter, it might have seemed strange te her that two men were required to subdue a helpless girl, while one was considered sufficient to attend to the case of such a stalwart man as Judge Stacey; but she was too badly frightened to reflect. She heard her uncle abusing her captors, fight- ing with his tongue if not with his hands, and her aid if it had not been put out of his power to do so, As for any attempt at resistance on her treatment to which she had colamiielexexe) F ~ 2 * $a es ee naturally supposed that he would have come to that was out of the question, and at first she was . too much overcome to even protest against the = been subjected. “a fee sna? * . . he Qa asta oe *— <<) Je % oa *