Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 512 — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

i. v2 Lo ™ la Tiss F 17 26 Captain Velvet’s Big Stake. The next minute a match flashed up in Dun Duff’s face and he fell back from the sight he | hands and my face attest this, saw revealed. The face on the cot was covered with blood, and the hand that held the burning stick was also red. ‘““In the name of Tartarus, who has been here?” cried the plotter of No Man’s Ground, darting forward. ** Can’t you guess?” It was a hideous grin by which these words were accompanied. **One would say that you had fallen into the clutches of a lioness,” Dun said. “I left orders that you should not be disturbed; but somebody has disobeyed,” ‘* There is one who is bound by no commands. She came when I was aleep, and when [ came to my senses I was in her power.” ** You mean the Queen of Darkness.” ‘“‘Ab, Captain Duff, you need not ask that uestion, Touch this match to the lamp before it goes out. There! now take the stool atthe table, the one she must have overturned. Col- onel Bluff, the victim of the coolest plot ever hatched in the brain of man, is at the end of the life-coil. I still call you by the name se wear here, though you have another, whether Opal is gone?” ‘*Gone! the girl?” ejaculated Duff, starting. ‘* She dare not go. I have issued orders that no citizen sball quit camp without my consent,” _ And J have begged her in the name of God to go. he two men looked straight at one another while Croesus spoke. The words were couched in firm tones, and one of his hands caught the cover with an unnatural grip. ‘** Yes,” he went on, ‘“‘I told her to go—to go atonce, I besought her to brave your author- ity, and I told her the truth.” ‘* What was that?” “That her mother was Mona, the woman who set this Captain Velvet on the trail, and that I aim her father.” ‘* What did she say?” **She looked at me like one mad.” **T would think so. And did not believe you, of course?” "She believed at last. I know she did,” was the answer. ‘‘ But her eyes, ber look, said that she would not go.” Colonel Bluff fell back exhausted, his bloody face getting new terror in the lamplight, and with a hurried glance at the door, Dun Duff followed him up. **T have been to the crypt!” cried he. ** Inside?” ‘* Yes. You have no idea of the wealta that is there. The tomb holds millions,” ‘*The tomb? Why do you call it that?” ‘* Because that is just whatitis, It contains three dead men now, and there is a prisoner cooped up in it who is as good as dead,’ The rp of Sacramento looked at his tor- turer, but did not speak. ‘*] saw there an inscription on one of the walls, written by Lolas or one of his fri-nds, It gives a name for the Queen of Darkness, this tury who attacked Boss Nevada in the mine and dethroned his reason,” te W ell?” **Tt calls her Colonel Bluff’s wife!” Dun Duff dropped his voice to a whisper. *“You need not whisper it, Captain Duff. It is a falsehood !” exclaimed Colonel Bluff, ‘* That woman never was my wife. Mona, the dis- carded—Mona, the one who sends out sleuth after sleuth to find the lost child,is the onl woman who ever bore that relation to me. own her here. I conld tell her that I am the person who lived a lie to ber—” **But you will never do that, Remember! never do that,” hissed Dun Duff, his band fall- ing upon the nabob’s shoulder. ‘You will see to that, eh?’ ‘* T will see to that!” ‘“‘Then, by the eternal laws of justice! you shall never reap the fruits of the game for which you have played. Captain Velvet may never get to piece the broken dagger whose last work was the severing of my leadors, maiming me for life; but I have baffled the man who drove the keen blade home.” ‘* You have, eh¢ How?” Instead of recoiling to the wall from the man who seemed to dart at him like an eagle, Col- onel Bluff leaned forward, and sent the last words toward his enemy like bullets from a six- shooter. “IT was left for dead by the woman who has lived among the mines of No Man’s Ground as the Queen of Darkness,” he resumed. ‘* Long ago I had her abducted by a Jot of men at the head of whom was Captain Nevada. The bar- gain was that she was to be taken somewhere and disposed of, and that I was never tc know the truth fill at Nevada’s death. I took it for granted tbat they finished her. I trusted in the man [ had eemmissionec for that mt What, then, was my surprise when I opened the sealed packet taken by Norgan from the sup- posed corpse of Captain Nevada to find that she was stillalive. That is what broughu'me up here, tied to my horse, with every move Look me in the eye, Dun Duff; | o you know | | agony. The woman—Inez—lives, I say. My As I have said | she was here, and her last words, ere she left— | words which sbe thought she was speaking to a _ corpse—were: ‘I go now to finish the woman | who came between.’ Captain Duff, you have | said that I should go back to Sacramento before | to-morrow. Will you get my horse?’ Colonel Bluff caught the coverings of the cot again and took a long breath. ' ‘A horse? You had better be thinking about a grave,” laugbed Duff without pity. | ‘The borse first. Ab! coward, you dare not | tie me in the saddle, You are afraid of the / man you maimed for life and yet you are the _ acknowledged master of No Man’s Ground.” | * But you have boasted that you had baffled / me. | A wild look crossed the nabob’s face, **T have,” said be. ‘‘ Even now your author- | ity is worth nothing. Listen.” | Dun Duff sprung to the door and listened | there a few moments. ‘* What have you done?” he exclaimed look- ing toward the man regarding him from the cot, | ‘You will know if you wait there long enough,” **'You bave revoked your orders,” er ” ; I have. The tiger band of the California sport went oe to his hip and closed on a revolver | there. | ‘*] have done this and more. I have made Norgan master of No Man’s Ground. It ma have been the last official act of my life, but assure you, man of many names, that it was well done,’ Beyond the cabin door, out in the starlight and toward the Square, were voices and the tramp of many feet. A grim smile came over Colonel Bluff’s face as he listened and heard them all. ‘*So you gave my place to the young assayer —to this man Norgan—to the person who re- fused it when first offered during the ride up ao from Sacramento,” suddenly cried Dun uff. The nabob nodded. ** Do you know who he is?” The speaker went half-way toward the oc- cupant of the cot to throw the question into his teeth. | ‘**T question if you would place in his hands the keys of No Man’s Ground if you knew whose blood courses through his veins, Norgan is the son of the woman you hate, He is the child of Inez, the Queen of Darkness.” A startling cry was beard as Colonel Bluff went back, his gaze riveted on the man before | him as if he bad seen an apparition, ‘* Her son?” he exclaimed. ‘* Do you say that, Dun Duff?” ** Ay, and I will prove it.” “No, no!” And the nabob put out bis hands as if to keep back the proof, ‘* Whether you want the proof or not, know that Inez was a widow when you met her, She married very young a man who—” ‘*They are out yonder, captain,” interrupted Colonel Bluff, throwing a glance toward the door. ‘* You can te)l me all after the inter- view. Attend to the gentlemen of No Man’s Ground.” Biting his lip, Dun Duff turned back to the oor _—_$—$—$< $e His hand was once more at his revolver, and his dark face was a study of cool defiance. ‘““Have I played m7 hand for nothing?” be mentally exclaimed, ‘‘Is this the end of Dun Duff’s hig play for millions—death before a mob of Shasta toughs?” He opened the door and looked out. The flood of light that left the cabin as he performed this action, showed him the solid crowd of men who stood within a few feet of the shanty. One look was enough to tell him that the crisis had come, ‘* What is it, gentlemen?’ he asked. The answer was three words spoken by twenty men at once: ‘* We want you!” CHAPTER XXXIV. NORGAN STEPS IN, A GRIM smile played over the face of the man stretched on the cot along the wall. He looked beyond the figure in the open door and saw the stalwarts who had just spoken the ominous words, ** We want you!” The demand meant the overthrow of one man’s hopes and schemes. It meant, too, that the mask had been torn off, and that Satan City, all of it, knew that Dun Duff was but playing a game of grab and hold. f Colonel Bluff, clutching the covering of the bed, and with bis eyes riveted upon his enemy, could have looked into the face tbat confronted the mob, he might have trembled for the success of his bold play. Dun Dutt seemed to look the crowd over with the coolness of a desperado who was used to perilous situations, fay) we Rings ce, Pai To show a sign of weakness would be fatal; to confront the men and laugh at their demand =“ prove no better in the end. W hat would he do? ‘*So you want me, gentlemen?’ Dun asked, a smile even in that hour visible under the ends of his dark mustache. ‘‘I stand before you. Dun Duff always stands in bhisown shoes. Why am I wanted?” * Don’t you know, Captain Duff?’ came the answer, ‘“* You are playing a game,” ‘* For what?” The question confused the crowd, ** Against the Colonel and for the secret.” The plotter stepped back, glidingly, but with caution, and in a moment he was at Colonel Bluff’s side. The crowd moved to the door. ‘* Colonel, they say I am playing against you,” said he, glancing down at the nabob, ‘‘I am one of your creations. The echoes of your pro- clamation making me master of No Man’s Ground have bardly ceased to vibrate the air. Do you revoke the order?” There was a silent leaning forward on the part of the pards of the bonanza land. Another crisis had come, Colonel Bluff had unmasked the man before him. While Dun Duff was at the crypt with Gideon Golbar he bad crawled across the Plaza and de- nounced the impostor to the pards, Going fur- ther than this he had declared the seat of tke usurper vacant and bad installed Norgan, the young assayer in his place, “Tt is for you to say, Colonel,” continued Dun, ‘‘Am 1 to hold my place or am I[ an im- postor?” Twice the crippled millionaire tried to speak, and twice he failed. He grew white, and his lips twitched as blood came and went in them, ‘Talk it oat, Colonel!” came from the impa- tient men, ‘ We are for you to the bitter end, and you own us now as you did when we took the oath and swore to the code.” With a desperate effort which all could see Colonel Bluff clutched the low posts of the cot and raised himself up. The left hand of Dun Duff was within a few inches of his throat, and the glance he got when he looked up into his enemy’s face meant more than words could have spoken. “Tt is now or never!” mentally ejaculated the nabob. ‘I have but little life left. The Queen of Darkness nearly took it all with her when she went away. I want to go back to Sacra- mento—to throw myself between the Mexican lioness and Mona, Todo tbis I must play with this man. If I denounce him here I will fall against the wall with a bullet in my head,” All this went through Colonel Bluff’s brain like a succession of thoughts. ‘‘ Gentlemen—boys—I must think a little. I don’t know what I have done. My brain has been in a strange, mad whirl. Sinee sundown I bave been attacked—cut by a creature who has gone off to do another desperate deed. Give mea breathing spell. A little time.” The men looked at one another. They were simply amazed. ‘““Time, Colonel?’ they growled, on every side. ‘* What did you tell us awhile ago? Didn’t you have your head then?” ‘“‘T don’t know. ButI must have time now. This is no child’s Play. 1 fee] a fire in my head. I am full of pains. herever the knife of Inez pierced, I feel a cold thrill. For God’s sake, men of No Man’s Ground, give your Colonel time,” Victory, clear and undisguised, shone from Dun Duff's eyes. He thought he had won, and he ascribed his triumph to his presence so near the man who had weakened. The secret of No Man’s Ground was not yet lost, After this the crowd went back, but it was with reluctance. It continued to recede till Shasta Sam’s place held it once more. Then the storm pent up in bronzed bosoms broke out unchecked. ‘‘The Colonel is either crazy or he is under the thumb of the man inthe sbanty,” cried a man who stepped to the middle of the room and faced the gang. ‘‘If crazy, we must constitute ourselves his guardians and take matters into our hands, The time has come when No Man’s Ground has two captains. Where is Norgan?” Asif in answer to the question the assayer appeared in the doorway, and had every eye in an instant. He was cool and collected, and those who looked at him bardest saw how firmly his lips were wedded as he came forward. ‘*Do you enforce the code, Norgan?”’ asked the man who had just barangued the crowd. ‘‘ We have two captains, now—two, when the law says distinctly that there shall be but one.” ‘‘T have accepted the appointment,” came from the assayer in clear tones, ‘‘ I acknowl- edge no authority by the man who holds the » fort up at Lolas’s cabin. He is a man with cook cards in his hands. Dun Duff,eh? He isa man with more names than that, and the secret of No Man’s Ground is in bis hands to-night.” “To what extent?” (E(0) Ebhoo m eS ee