Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 483 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

f- 7 =F > a Vor Food c Flush Fred, the River Sharp. 20 posed that you held that office. Where should she be, if not in her room?” - * She is not there, I tell you, and she can’t be found anywhere on the boat.” ‘* Perhaps she has stepped ashore at some land- ing.” ‘*The boat has not made a landing since she came aboard.” Betty Mark’s countenance assumed an expres- sion of utter woe. ‘Is it possible?’ she exclaimed. ‘‘ Has the poor child been driven to destroy herself? Has she jumped into the river and made an end of herself? I was afraid that her troubles were greater than she could bear.” ‘* That is nonsense,” grunted Judge Stacey. ‘¢ As if she would want to die and leave all her money. She had no troubles,” He secretly doubted whether some such dis- aster might not have occurred; but he had fixed it in his mind that Miss Marks was responsible for Eva’s disappearance, ‘This is your doing,” he vociferated, ‘‘ and I want to know what you have done with my niece, and where she is,” **] don’t know what I could have done with her,” mildly answered Betty, ‘‘unless [ swam ashore with her, and that seems to be impos- sible.” ‘“You have got her hid somewhere on this steamboat. Oh, I will get even with you, I will settle with you for this.” Judge Stacey’s loud talk had attracted to the spot a number of the passengers, who looked at him as if they thought he should have better manners than to berate a woman so roughly. ‘‘Perhaps you had better go a little easy,” was remarked in a quiet but firm and peremp- tory tone at his shoulder. Looking around quickly, he saw Fred Hen- ning, sic a new anger struggled for utterance. ‘* You here, too? How in the name of won- der did you get on this boat? But, that’s no matter. I see it allnow. This is an infamous conspiracy, and you are at the bottom of it.” ‘* You may accuse me of what you please,” replied Fred; ‘‘but I want to tell you right now that if you address ny more harsh lan- guage to that lady, you will have a _ personal difficulty with me, and I would advise you to avold it. What is the matter, Miss Marks?” ‘va Bramwell was on this boat last night,” answered Betty, ‘‘and her uncle there says she has disappeared. I am afraid that the poor child has destroyed herself to end her troubles. That man was accusing me of having hid her from him; but it is more likely he bas made way with her. He was speaking about her money just now, and if she is dead, her fortune is his. Who else would want to put her out of the way?” ‘“What! I?’ stammered Judge Stacey, to whom this accusation was a hit from the shoul- der. “‘ Why, I can prove—” f ‘Never mind what you can prove,” inter- rupted Flush Fred. ‘If suspicion rests on any- body in this matter, it rests on you; but, let us have no more charges or countercharges, in view of what appears to be a great calamity.” This solemn speech reduced Judge Stacey to silence, and Colonel Jeff had nothing to say. “Before you fly off the handle again,” con- tinued Flush Fred, ‘‘ you_had_ better ascertain for a certainty whether Miss Bramwell is any- where on the boat. If she is not, the conclusion must be that she has destroyed herself or has been destroyed. CHAPTER XL. ANOTHER EXPLOSION. THE bystanders were so clearly of Fred Hen- ning’s opinion, and were so ready to side with Bet Marks, that gy Stacey perceived he bad ination follow the advice, though, it came from an enemy. : ‘‘T will go and make sure of that fact,” said he. ‘If my niece bas disappeared, I will find out who is responsible for her disappearance.” This big talk did not count for much, as the judge and the colonel made a rather undignified exit from the ladies’ cabin, By this time the people on the boat were thor- Gagtiy aroused and alarmed, the mysterious disappearance of a young lady stirring up a great excitement. : The officers and a portion of the crew started a search, in which the passengers readily joined, and every part of the boat was carefully exam- ined, but without discovering the missing gir]. Inquiries that were freely made were also fruit as Eva’s exit had been so quietly and secretly conducted that no person but those im- mediately concerned in it knew anything about it. The night chambermaid, who i have given some interesting information, had been well paid to keep silence, and was, besides, off duty then and sound asleep, As there could be no doubt that Eva Bram- well had disappeared, it was the genera] convic- tion that she had committed suicide, though there were some who had noted Betty Marks’s statement concerning the young lady’s fortune and her uncle’s heirship, and were strongly in- clined to suspect him of having made way witb ait! } Bolivar was in sight by the time the search | was concluded, and Fred Henning and Betty Marks prepared to go ashore, though they had very little preparation to make. ‘* Suppose the Staceys should get off there, too,” suggested Miss Marks. ‘* Tt would not surprise me a bit,” answered Fred, ‘‘ If they should, we must find Miss Bramwell as soon as possible, and keep her out of their sight.” The idea of getting off at Bolivar had not only occurred to the judge and the colonel, but had become a settled conclusion, They easily perceived that some of the passen- gers looked at them askance, and that the sus- picion that was directed toward them might make their further stay on the Starlight un- pleasant. ‘‘ There is one consolation that may come out of this,” remarked the judge to the colonel when they were out of pec Bs va others, ‘“ Do you mean what Miss Marks hinted at?” inquired Jeff. ; “* Just that, though not precisely in the way she meant it. Ifthat girl has really gone and killed herself, it is very sad; but I suppose it isa fact that her property will come to me,” ‘* As it is settled that she is not on the boat,” said the colonel, ‘* we have nothing to gain by staying here any longer, and possibly something to lose,” ‘‘ That is so, and we will get off at the next landing, which I believe is Bolivar. Let us go and get a good drink at the bar before we go ashore.” The judge and the colonel walked up to the bar and call for what they wanted. As they raised their glasses to their lips, there was a trembling of the floor beneath them, then a sharp concussion, then a terrific roar, and then confusion and chaos, The boilers of the Starlight had exploded, and a more destructive disaster had seldom occurred on the Mississippi. Fortunately there were but few passengers on the boat, or the explosion would have ranked with the the most terrible in the annals of the Western rivers. How the Starlight happened to be carrying such a heavy head of steam was an enigma to many, and the engineer on duty, who was instantly killed, could not be expected to solve it. It was known that her boilers were old, and perhaps the barkeeper, if be had survived the explosion, might have supplied some information concerning the engineer. : The one fact concerning which there could be no controversy was that the Starlight was sud- denly and completely destroyed; the greater part of the boat being blown to fragments by the explosion, and the remainder easily falling a prey to fire and flood. Not only was it a good thing that the pas- senger-list was small, but it was fortunate that the disaster occurred in the daytime and within sight of a town. oats put out from the shore immediately, and the survivors who were able to swim or to support themselves on fragments of wreckage, were speedily picked up. ’ The Starlight, however, soon became a steam- boat of the past, as her remains sunk in deep water. Fred Henning and Betty Marks had started toward the forward end of the cabin, when they were suddenly and violently separated, never again to see each other alive. In the upheaval and rending and crashing and tumbling in of everything below and above and about them, they were as helpless as straws in a tornado, and did not even know what had hap- pened to them. When Flush Fred came to bis senses, he found himself in the water, a little bruised, but other- wise uninjured, and able to swim for his life, He was compelled to use all his strength and skill to keep clear of the struggling people about him and the masses of wreck that were driven and whirled by the strong current, Finally he got hold of a fragment of the hurri- cane deck, which supported him until he was picked up by a skiff. As the skiff moved toward the shore, he caught sight of the body of a woman in the water swirling rapidly down-stream, and he reach out and seized it by the hair of the head. When the face came into view, he recognized Betty Marks. She was quite dead, and a deep wound in the forehead showed that her death had been sudden and painless. The body could not be taken into the skiff, which was fully loaded, but was towed to the shore, and was carried to a place where it could be suitably prepared for burial. Flush Fred’s worldly wealth was all on his person, and seas Sieg safe, It consisted mostly of bills, which needed to be carefully dried before they could be used; but he had specie enough for the purchase of some dry clothing, which was his chief necessity just then. As he sallied forth, after arraying himself in bis garments, he was astoni at meeting Tom Stacey. Scarcely any person on the Starlight bad been more helpless and less deserving to live than that young man; yet he had been saved, secre many abler and better people had per- ished. Though they bad been a considerable distance apart at the time of the explosion, he found himself, when he reached the water, within a few feet of Colonel Jeff, who was uninjured thus far, and who went to his assistance, As the colonel was a good swimmer, and Tom was as yet too stupid to struggle, he was kept up until his rescuer could get hold of a piece of wreckage that was large enough to support them both, The colonel found it a rather difficult job to get his oe relative mounted safely on the float; but he finally succeeded, and was about to draw himself up there, when a heavy timber from the ruined boat struck him on the head, and that was the last of Colonel Jeff Stacey. Tom held on;and was picked up by a boat from the shore. He was sober when Fred Henning met him, though somewhat dazed, and was about to start a search for his father and Colonel Jeff, Judge Stacey’s body was recovered, but the river never gave up the mortal remains of the colonel. CHAPTER XLI. EVA BRAMWELL’S LUCK. BEN STANNIFORD was by no means as good an oarsmen as Fred Henning, who seemed to ex- cel at everything he undertook; but he could row a skiff, and he pulled in stoutly toward the shore, ‘‘ quartering” across the current, so as not to be carried too far down stream, Eva Bramwell was so agitated by mingled emotions—joy at escaping from persecution doubt of the propriety of leaving her uncle and guardian, pleasure in the presence of her lover, and trepidation at finding herself alone with him at night—that she could scarcely trust ber- self to speak, and Ben was too busily occupied with his rowing to allow himself to talk, Though the night was dark, her sight was keen, and she soon espied something which, under the circumstances, she was glad to be- lieve she saw, ‘*I think 1 see a house over there near the bank,” she said. ‘* hope you do, Eva dear,” cheerily answered Ben, ‘tas that is just what We want to find. The current is so strong here that I can’t turn around to take a look at it; but you can tell me how to head the skiff, and we will reach the house, if it is a house.” ‘* Pull a little more up-stream, then.” Ben headed the skiff as the fair pilot directed him to, and shortly Janded it at the bank, where he helped her out, and made the boat fast to the root of a tree, It was a little difficult to get Eva up the steep: and sandy bank; but that feat was soon accom- plished, and they found themselves near a clear- sn, Mak oy proved to be a cultivated field, cross the field was the house which Eva had descried, and thither they hastened as fast as the darkness and the obstacles would allow. ‘* We are in t luck,” said Ben, ‘Indeed, we have had the best of luck in every way to- night, and have good reason to be thankful.” ‘“T am glad you think so,” answered Eva; “but 1 am afraid,” ‘* What are you afraid of, my dear?” ‘*T am afraid that I have been doing a wron thing in running away from my uncle, and that there may be more trouble.” ‘“The one thing necessary was to get awa from him, so that you might avoid trouble, an you surely had a right to escape from his perse- cutions,” ‘* What will come of it, Ben?’ ‘Why, we will be married, and then you can. defy him.” ‘*But he is my guardian, and perhaps I can- not be married without his consent.” ‘* Tf his consent were necessary, he would not. have been so anxious to get you out of my way. No, Eva, you are of age, as far as marriage is concerned, and are entitled to choose for your- self. Why, here we are, already!” They had reached the building, and found it,. to their great delight, to be a respectable farm- house, and evidently inhabited. As they crossed the road which lay between the field and the house, their approach started up a couple of dogs, which barked vociferously, but were restrained by a picket fence from run- ning out at them. The barking of the dogs, and Ben Stanniford’s loud hail, aroused the inmates of the house, and finally a man opened the door and demanded who was there and what was wanted. He was soon satisfied that they meant no barm, and, though he did not understand how or why they had come there, he quieted the dogs, and invited them to enter. The planter, who afterward gave his name as Stephen Beemer, lighted up a front room, and scrutinized his guests, who were apparentl epans people of respectability and good pont: on. Of course, nobody could look at Eva and sus-. pect that she had been or intended to be guilty Goim S) Gboo (eo)