Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 512 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

~> Captain Velvet’s Big Stake. 17 ‘Captain Nevada is a little better. Do you | comes you will know something. You are one ‘ask because you are interested?” ‘* You mean because I am liable to be tried when bis mind comes back. No, 1 do not ask on that account. I don’t care for that, He is bet- ter? [am glad of it.” There was honesty if not secret rejoicing in Dun Duff's tones, “Ww ser brought it on?—the Queen of dark- Less, @ ? ‘* Pernaps.” ‘* Do you think she is flesh and blood, miss?” ‘* 1 do, for 1 don’t believe in the supernatural,” Opal hastened to say. ‘*Neither do I,” laughed the man. “I’ve beard of haunted mines all my life, but I’ve never found one yet. They don’t exist save in diseased imaginations or the designs of men with a motif. It Captain Nevada saw a queen of Darkness he saw flesh and blood. If he was touched and made mad ke was touched, by fingers of flesh. We don’t believe in hobgoblins —you and [, miss! I—” Dun Duff went no further for a figure loomed up before them, and then Opal was asked if she could come down to Boss Nevada’s cabin a few moments, Dun Duff stepped back. ‘*Come back in time to see the mounted tramps off,” he said to her as her graceful figure glidedaway. “‘ They go at eight from beneath the tree yonder—Mark Moline’s gallows,” ‘* I willsee them go, Captain Duff,” she sent back over her shoulder, and the marked man of No Man’s Ground walked slowly toward the square though he did not invade it, turning aside before he got there. Opal went straight to Boss Nevada’s shanty. She looked in at the window before she lifted the latch, and saw the well-known physique of the Shasta captain outlined against the cabin wall, There was a subdued light in his eyes when she entered, and when he saw her he leaned for- ward and greeted ber with a pleasant cry. ** You are the ange! of hght as the other is one of darkness,” he observed, with no traces of strangeness in his tones. ‘‘ Come here, Opal. am no longer tied like a tiger, but I could go out and down to the Plaza withont hindrance.” She was surprised to see that he was entirely free, and when she went up to him he took her -hands ard drew her still closer, ‘* Now,” thought the girl, ‘if he should take ane for the Queen of Darkness, in a fit of mad- uess, my lite would not be worth a blade of mountain grass,” ‘*T know all that is going on,” continued Boss Nevada. ‘‘The Goths are going away. The spring to saddle at eight o'clock, and we shall see them no more forever. But I did not send for you to tell you this. I have something for you here,” : He released her and crossed the room to the bedstead to which he had lately been lashed. He stooped over the cot and ran his hands under the pillow. When he came back he held a small parcel, sealed with red wax and wrapped with buck- and Satan City,” he resumed, stoppin skin cord, ‘“There are two trails between Sacramento in front of the wondering girl and balancing the parcel on his fingers, ‘* Two main trails, 1 mean, One man can’t take both of them at once. I am going down one.” ‘* You, Captain Nevada?” cried Opal. ac I ?? 4s But—” ‘‘T have my old head again,” and he broke into a chuckling laugh. ‘‘Something has ha ned that was not to happen yet. She brought it about, Norgan is not to blame. I confide this parcel ‘to you, girl. If I come back, you will surrender it; if he comes, you will give it to Lim.” ‘“* To Norgan, captain?” ‘* No, to Golonel Bluff!” . The beauty of Satan City recoiled to the walt, ‘Tt is impossible for that man, crippled as he is, to come here!” she exclaimed. ‘* Why, he can’t leave bis chair! He is—” “The message that Norgan carries would bring the dead to life!” broke in Boss Nevada, ‘““By Jupiter! I believe if Colonel Bluff was made of stone he would casing to saddle and ride this way. I go toward Sacramento, I may go allthe way. I may meet him coming up, or I may miss him, There is no Ring which trail he will take; but he will come. tell you he will come!” ; Opal took the parcel tied and sealed, without knowing what sbe was doing. ** When do you go, captain?” ‘‘ While the Goths are taking leave of Satan City. Ican get away best then for the boys will all be there.” He went to the door and looked out. ‘* The crowd bas gathered,” he resumed. ‘* The hour has come, Opal. Keep the parce] for me or for him.” ; He took his hat from a wooden peg driven in- to one of the logs, buckled about him a belt con- taining two revolvers, and held out bis hand. ** Must this be?” asked the bewildered girl. ‘“* All earth could not prevent. Opal, when he | wait, i i et ~ - a | day, if justice is done, to be the Gold Queen of | the Pacifie.” | ‘I don’t care for that. You dare not tell me the secret now, Captain Nevada,” ‘*That is true. I dare not..” He said no more, but went out leaving the girl to wonder if she were really awake, and not the victim of some strange dream. Of course she could not follow him though she went to the door herself, He was already gone and the sound of his ora tread had died away. ‘* What is this secret and this mystery?’ cried Opal, ‘‘ Does Mona’s sleuth-hound know of it? Gone to intercept Colonel Bluff. That is Cap- tain Nevada’s mission. Butcan the California Creesus ride? After all, his confinement to the wheel-chair may bave been a sham, I must i must watch. But they seem to be waiting for me down yonder. Am I the only one not there? It must be so,” She shut the shanty door carefully behind her, and went toward the Square. One corner of it was comfortably filled. Opal first saw a lot of men on horseback, They were the Gold Goths and the heads of their steeds, every one, were turned one way. The girl drew alongside some of the pards of No Man’s Ground, and when she was seen they made way for her and she passed to the front, ‘*Gentlemen, we find nothing hyer, therefore we move on to other fields!” said a loud voice, and Opal at once saw the giant speaker as he sat astride one of the foremost horses. ‘* We’re a company o’ rollin’ stones, an’ we've been rollin’ all our lives with no moss to show for our industry. In behalf of all the Goths in your presence, as well as the one on the mountain yonder, [ thank you for your courtesies. We may meet again; we may part to-night forever. You have your code, we have ours. Blood has been shed, and it has dried without hindrance. When your crazy alcalde gets his reason, if he ever does, you will look up your laws. We carry our code inscribed on the barrels of our revolvers! Pards cf No Man’s Ground, fate aud luck have united to make me executioner.” During one-balf of this speech the speaker's right band rested on his hip. ith the last word it was jerked away, and every man saw that it held a revolver. The men of No Man’s Ground seemed too as- tonished to stir, Opal broke the strange silence withacry. She turned to see who was covered by the Goth’s six-shooter, when the man in the saddle fired straight into the crowd before him! CHAPTER XXII. SOME. PLAIN WORDS, THE secrecy that enveloped the holder of the black stone was out. He was Burke himself, the man who, blind- folded, had taken the lots from the hat for his companions, and the last stone, which bad fal- len to him, had proved to be the fatal one. Tbe drawing of the revolver and the shooting had taken up barely an instant of time, Asa matter of course, his farewell led up to startling action, but the men who had listened were not prepared for what followed, At the crack of the weapon a tall man in front of the mounted Nemesis staggered against the person behind him, and twenty men had cried: ** Dun Duff!” A clicking of revolver-locks followed the shot, and it was seen that every Goth held above the saddle a cocked six-shooter. ‘‘ Gentlemen, our code is to leave no pard un- avenged,” spoke Burke, the giant, ‘* According to agreement, you see Gothdom at my back. We harbor no ill feeling against the men of No Man’s Ground. It is code against code; that is all, Shall we go in peace, our work of ven- geance done, or shall we fight our brethren of the Gold Land.” The pards of Satan City looked at one an- other, and then at the mounted phalanx behind the deadly barrels, ** Go,” said some one, and the word went from mouth to mouth, till almost every man in front of the Goths had spoken. Not until then did a single weapon drop, and then the horses were turned, and the bonanza- hunters of California moved off. Opal bad turned quick enongh after the shot to see some of its immediate effects. Dun Duff was still in the arms of the two men who had caught him and were holding him from the ground. Ra: In another moment she was at his side. “Dead?” cried the young girl. ‘“ Was it a fatal shot?” “I guess Dun Duff’s done for. Shot through the head by the coolest band in the gang, I said Pa bet my brains agin’ an empty bug- juice bar’l that he was a cool one.” The speaker was Shasta Sam of the mountain saloon, ** What do you think?” Opal addressed her second question to a man who had just examined the man lying on the ground with his hat for a pillow. ee two dead men yet, miss, was the reply. hy * ‘* Then, there is hope?” ‘* Plenty of it. Dun Duff is marked for life, and his beauty will be spoiled, for the Goth’s bul- let plowed a furrow across his forehead as he turned his head ag the desperadv touched the trigger, He is mine yet!” e spoke the last sentence in a whisper lean- ing slightly toward Opal as he did so, and then with another look at the man on the ground walked away. It was svon known that by a miracle Dun Duff had escaped with a crimson line ac:oss his forehead. Escaped to play out the game that had brought him to No Man’s Ground. Escaped to take vengeance some day for the shot fired from the saddle. The Goths were gone in the belief that Nicol Macbeth had been avenged by the holder of the black stone. Dun Duif was taken back to his quarters where his head was bandaged and where in a short time he was visited by Gideon Goldbar. **T call that a piece of cool business,” smiled Dun Duff. ** You witnessed it, Captain Gold- bar?” wh Cle” ‘¢ After the shot what did the gang do?” “* Rode off quietly.” ‘* They believe that their captain finished me, 7? ‘* Undoubtedly.” The hand that rested on the rough table of the cabin shut suddenly. ‘‘They may discover before death calls the roll that they have committed a blunder.” ‘*T think they have, Captain Duff.” ‘“They have left me to be tried when Boss gets bis reason again,” continued Dun, ‘* When do you think that will be?” he detective shook his head. ** We will wait and see in what shape he comes back,” ‘*Comes back?’ echoed Duff, falling back on his stool. ‘‘ From where?” ‘* From the South.” “ Boss Nevada?” ‘* Boss Nevada,” ‘* When did he go South?” ‘“* About the time iy were staggering back from the work of the big Goth's revolver, Dun Duff gave the detective a look which soon became a stare. He did not ask what had taken the autocrat of No Man’s Ground southward, but he was interested, all the same. a **Does the camp know of this?” was the in- quiry he made. ‘*Not all of them, The secret has not yet got abroad, You know itand I with the girl and suveral others,” “ He did not go alone?” “He went alone.” ** Mad, of course?” ‘* Opal says he seemed in possession of all his faculties.” Dun Duff was silent, but Gideon could see that his thoughts were at work, Suddenly he looked up, caught the eye of his visitor before it could be dropped or turned away, and held it for a moment. “Why don’t you throw off the mask?” he said, and the words were accompanied by a smile that seemed to lend him a new counte- nance. ‘What mask, Captain Duff?” ‘The one you’re wearing now.” **T do vot understand.” Dun Duff burst into a laugh. ** You did not leave your wits in Sacramento, and you are not the man to lose them on a trip, he continued, breaking off bis merriment and settling down to seriousness, ‘* Captain, shall I inform you that Iam now addressing a gentle- man known in various quarters os Captain Vel- vet, sleuth and shadow? There was nosudden start on the utterance of these words, Gideon Goldbar sat coolly on his three-le stool and looked at the man who had spoken them with a tinge of triumph in his tones... ““You see I have not been playing in the dark,” resumed Dun Duff, the smile coming. back and settlin aptly been calle caught when I have my eyes open. at bis re ‘*] have not in- an old bird—too old to be Let me finish,” he raised bis hand to maintain silence on Gideon’s part. ‘I think I know who set you on the trail which you are treading now, You started from Sacramento, and you left behind a promise that you would find her child, Is that not so?” ‘You are right. Goon.” “You are in the employ of a woman who is willing to destroy the world to carry out het ends. Mona can sitin ber dark room and hatel more plots than a Guy Fawkes gang. Were in her place, I would be thinking about the other world and its es beg hat do you think will become of the child sho is raising in the atmosphere of bate and vengeance by which she has surrounded herself?” “T like Vetla, I—” ‘Yes; there’s not much of the mother in the child—as yet,” interrupted Dun Duff. ‘ But there is no telling what will happen if the 4 Eomicbooks (E(0) 4 i) ie 0