Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 512 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

24 Captain Velvet’s Big Stake. but half played out, and the trumps he has been holding back will fall from the fingers of the dead!” Colonel Bluff looked up at the man, but said nothing. ‘*T may as well watch the time ont here as elsewhere,” Dun Duff went on, ‘‘ It won’t be long any more.” e drew a watch from below his belt ard placed it open on the table under the lamp. ‘‘T have marked the time exactly and [ will work to the minute,” he resumed, with a glance pt Colonel Bluff, ‘‘ By the way, Colonel, how much do you think 1s in the crypt?” ‘*T cannot say,” answered the Sacramento Croesus, biting bis lips. ‘* But you have ideas. You must know some- thing about Boss Nevada’s last report.” The dark eyes were again fustened upon him, and he could not avoid their gaze. *T would have supposed Pai had seen for yourself ere this, Captain Duff.” ‘By Jove! [ can’t, Captain Nevada took with him the combination and the door is fast.” ** You bave tried it, then?” ‘* Yes,” confessed Dun Duff. ‘I can get into it with the sledges of Satan’s City, but [ am in no burry. Couldn't you approximate, Colonel?’ Colonel Bluff shut his eyes and kept them shut for some seconds, ** There ought to be a million,” said he. ‘*No more than that?” cried the evil genius of the camp. ‘Jn these days a million is noth- ing. Come, come, Colonel. You have not worked this great bonanza for nothing. The erypt was made to hold more than the sum you name. There is more than that amount in it.” ‘* Then have it so.” Dun Duff frowned and glared at the man who had shut his eyes again, and seemed to be counterfeiting sleep and said to himseif: ‘*A million! Pish! There are more than five of them beyond the locked door of the secret bonanza mine. He ought to know that a he will not serve him long. A lotof iron anda lock won’t stand before me long when I want to push forward.” At this juncture he leaned toward the watch and consulted it an instant. ‘Vive minutes yet, Colonel,” he announced, glancing at Colonel Bluff with a malicious grin. ‘Tt the aliens intend to obey the command they had better improve tbe time left.” ‘‘They have gone, no doubt.” **Do you think so?’ cried Dun Duff as if he feared that the nabob’s surmise might be the correct one, “I was thinking that the sleuth would be fool enough to test the code and the courage of the captain of No Man’s Ground.” The minute hand on the polished dial soon ticked away the remaining minutes of the al- lotted time and when the last one bad been told off, Dun Duff pocketed the watch and stepped back from the table. ** We will now see who is master here,” said he, throwing a parting look over his shoulder as he reached the door, ‘‘ Colonel, you need not disturb yourself. [ am able to cary out the code, The pards of Satan City are at my back. By Jove! [ like work o’ this sort, You know that I shrink from nothing.” The eyes of the maimed millionaire watched him till he passed out, and then he shook his fist toward the door and ground his teeth. ‘*Oh for the legs I used to have!” he cried. “Td give my wealth—my heart’s blood to be the man I was twenty years ago—for a minute only. But Iam what I am—the miserable victim of that demon’s cunning! This must be the judg- ment of an avenging God!” He dragged himself across the room with the help of the table. His hand caught the latch an * pom the door open. ‘‘T can stop his game from where [ am!” he exclaimed. ‘‘I can proclaim in a loud voice that Dun Duff is deposed, and that J am master of No Man’s Ground. They can hear me across the Plaza. I see a crowd, in front of Shasta Sam’s. They know that the three hours have expired. Dun Duff, lam going to checkmate you if it costs me my life!” ‘*T thought you’d take a hand, Colonel!” hiss- ed a voice that almost broke the nabob’s hold on the door. ‘‘ Don’t be ina burry to throw your eard, If it costs your life, did you say? Go back to your shanty, and lifta hand before I t through with the detective and his pard, and it’]l cost you more than that. You know me of old. You know Dun Duff is master of No Man’s Ground, and woe to the man, great or small, who throws anything in his path!” There were now two hands at Colonel Bluff’s collar, and he was forced across the cabin and thrown without a show of gentleness upon the cot, when the man of plots walked off witha course! CHAPTER XXXT. THE DETECTIVE’s NERVE, Ir Dun Duff had not acted thus promptly his career as master of No Man’s Ground might have come to a sudden termination. ' **T know whol’m dealing with,” he said te himself as he walked away confident that he had silenced the man left behind. ‘‘Colone] Bluff has felt my hand before, and ina manner calcu- lated toimpress him as longas he lives. In- tended to revoke my commission, did he? I guess he wont do it now.” | Dun Duff crossed the Square to the crowd con- ' gregated in front of the saloon. | The clock ticking hoarsely among the shelves )} on the inside had proclaimed that the three | hours of grace had expired, and the men were | waiting for the new captain. ' Gentlemen, the time is up,” remarked Dun, | halting in front of the group. ‘* An’ tbe aliens ar’ bere yet, cap’n,” was the response. un Duff looked toward Gideon Goldbar’s cabin. There was a faint light in its one window. ‘*‘ Are they there?’ he asked, | “They war awhile ago.” A short silence followed. | ‘* You know the code and its penalties,” the | cool-head presently observed, ‘* You knew them | before I became master here.” | ‘* We know ’em well,” ‘“Then, yonder are men who have dared to disobey the mandates of No Man’s Ground,” and | the dark hand of the speaker covered the shanty _afew yards away. ‘You will follow me to duty. Come, pards of Shasta.” The figure of Dun Duff seemed to increase in stature when he walked off, and without look- ing back he knew he had the band at his heels. ‘*What is the penalty for disobeying Section | 101, boys?” he asked, over his shoulder. ‘* Death!” answered a dozen voices. | ** How administered ?” ‘* That depends, cap’n,” replied the man near- est Dun. ‘*The code allows us to hang or to shoot, just as the occasion demands, There can be no trial for breaking Section 101,” ‘“You are right. Aliens found on No Man’s Ground after a proclamation convict themselves, Isn’t that it?” ‘They do.” The crowd tramped on without further con- versation, and as they drew near the menaced shanty the light on the inside got brighter. ‘* Did you see that?’ said some one, ‘* The light flaring up?” “ Yes.” ‘‘ They are still there.” Half a minute later the door of the detective’s abode opened, and a figure was seen. Some of the men halted, but only for a sec- ond, for the stalwart figure at their head, and and the band that rested on the top of a buck- skin belt seemed to urge them on. ‘*Gideon Goldbar is in the door,” went from mouth to mouth. ‘‘ We are going’to see work now. But what does the fellow mean? He had three hours in which to go away, but he played stubborn and stuck.” The shanty lamp was on the table behind the form in tbe doorway. The man himself was cast in silhouette on a background of light. Dun Duff led his men to within five feet of the figure on the rough sill. The two master spirits of the bonanza region —the detective and his prey—were face to face, ‘‘We have come because the time has ex- pired,” began Dun Duff. **T see you here.” ~ You heard the proclamation, Captain Gold- bar? ‘* Yes, [heard the crier who warned all aliens from Satan City within three hours.” ‘*The proclamation came from the highest | authority in this part of the east ‘* Whicla means that it emana from Cap- tain Duff.” The coolness/of this man was remarkable. He leaned against the door-frame with no sign of being armed, and with no friend in sight. ‘“*You might have come before,” he went on, addressing the crowd, though he looked particu- larly at their leader. ‘You did not intend to obey the mandate from the first? Is that what you mean?” ‘*T obey all reasonable laws,” was the re- sponse, ** What is this?” ‘““A code that does not contain one section founded on justice. It was written miles from | here, and for the selfish ends of a man who is in this camp to-night trembling for bis life under the thumb of an enemy.” Dun Duff knew what these words meant; but the men about him did not, He looked at the man in the doorway and saw that he had turned bis face to thelight, and that he was looking at him with the calmness of a n his equal in everything, if not his better ere and there. “T do not acknowledge the authority that would enforce the blood-signed code of No Man’s Ground,” the detective suddenly went on. **T appeal to no one. The gentlemen at your back, Captain Duff, are wondering still by what hocus-pocus you became master—stepping in a twinkling from the shadow of death to the throne. I admit that there are sudden trans- formations in this world, but this is one that surprises. Let us go down to Colonel Bluff and look into the matter. No! you and } will re- go down and investi- main here while the men gate for themselves.” + a - 4 Be a SL ee LT SS SS Sess Dun Duff felt himself go back a step. This would never do. Let Colonel Bluff see the tis of No Man’s: Ground without his (Duff’s) presence as a. silencer, and there would be a revocation of an: edict which might prove fatal to him, No; anything but this. ‘Captain Goldbar, you talk to gain time,” he answered. ‘* The men of Satan City have come to take you imto custody under the code. Do you resist?” The California detective left the door, and in a twinkling a quick stride had carried him —— the space which separated him and Dun uff. ** AsT have said, I acknowledge no code like this one,” and his hand fell on the desperado’s pistol-arm, the fingers closing there while the eyes of the two men met. ‘‘ Where I come from they have nothing like it.” ‘‘ Where you come from? I suppose not!” laughed the usurper. ‘‘ Will you tell these men where you came from?” “If you will give an account of yourself to them, Captain Duff.” ‘*‘ Agreed! agreed!” exclaimed the miners, see- ing in the scene before them something tbat promised to divert them from the shedding of human blood, Dun Duff saw the detective’s hand fall from his arm, ‘* Tt is no time for life yarns,” said he. ‘* Not for yours, perhaps, Captain Duff,” ‘Nor for yours, Captain Velvet.” The new name, spoken for the first time in resence of the pards, produced a sensation. I here was the craning forward of a number of bronzed necks, and the miners of the bonanza camp looked searchingly at Gideon Goldbar, wondering what he would do. ‘* You are right,” responded he. ‘Since you have unmasked me to the men of No Man’s Ground, permit me to return the compliment.” ‘There can be no parleying when Section 101 has been violated,” came swift from Dun Duff’s lips. ‘‘You talk for time. Where is your comrade, Captain Velvet?” “* Johnny Jumpup?” “ Yes.” ‘¢ Perbaps he has fled because of the mandate,” ‘¢Then he had more discretion than his mas- ter.” ‘‘Just as you say. Dare you go with me, Captain Duff? Dare youcommand these men to remain behind and accompany me?” ““To Colonel Bluff?” ** Not to Colonel Bluff.” A singular look darting from the cool-head’s eyes became fixed on Gideon Goldbar. ‘‘T dare to go,” he spoke, and tbe words seemed to come trough his teeth. ‘“* Provided we go alone,” he finished. The detective placed himself at Dun Duff's side. ‘*Go back to Shbasta’s, and stir not from the place till I come back,” cried Duff turning to the men, who stared in amazement at the detec- tive. ‘‘I promise you that the Code of No Man’s Ground shall not be broken with impuni- ty. Now, Captain Velvet, the man you hate is at your service.” he wonder of the crowd was augmented when they saw the two men walking away to- ther. eT hey drew into a close group and stared at the strange spectacle, and almost entirely in silence till their figures disappeared. ‘‘We are to wait at Sam’s,” said some one, and the cry ‘To Sam’s” being taken up, the band made a basty return to the mountain bar, Dun Duff and the detective passed to the edge of the camp. Not more than ten audible words bad passed between them since the making and the accept- ance of the strange proposition. “* Now which way?” suddenly asked Duff, “Straight ahead.” They went on down into the deep shadows where all was still. ‘‘ Ha! you have found the secret!” cried the man from the South, drawing back from what he knew was the mouth of the mine that con- tained the crypt with the iron door, ‘Do I surprise you?” asked Mona’s sleuth. ‘¢- You forget that I am a hunter of secrets,” Dun Duff leaned toward hisrival as if to catch the triumpbant smile which he thougbt must have followed his last sentence, ‘Come; weare going on,” resumed Captain Velvet. . ‘* Into the mine?” : “Into the gold pit which has caught more than one victim.” ** What do you mean?” ‘‘ Wait and see.” —— They entered the shaft in the mountain-side together. : Gideon Goldbar led the way, walking fearless- ly through the darkness as if be did not fear the hand that followed bim. At length he reached the door of the crypt, He found the lamp on the stone shelf above it, and soon had a light. _ , : ‘‘ Hold it, captain,” he said, putting the light into Dun Duff’s hand. As if under a spell the plotter obeyed. Gomicbooks. ff