Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 512 — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

2 2, >» fe eb AX and not 28 Captain Velvet crossed the Plaza, attracted erhaps by the little lighted window in Shasta m’s trap. He drew near enough to see that a group of men were at the counter, and he made out that wey were some of the pards in close consultation, hile he looked he became aware that he was watched by some one. And he was, Barely ten feet away stood a man, bent for- ward in bis eagerness, and with his eyes riveted upon the detective. ‘* So he has come back. I think I can find an ally in that man. He is cool and collected. His mission here is no longer a guarded secret. He can’t win without our consent, and I want his advice, and may be, bis strength.” These thoughts passing through the brain of the watcher took him toward the detective, and while he looked at him with bis hand at the trig- -ger of a half-drawn revolver, he was approach- ed without sign of fear. ‘‘You are Captain Goldbar, Mona’s sleuth,” were the words the detective heard. ‘Opal has ‘told me allshe knows about you, and you will not be betrayed by meinasingle thought. As » soa have been absent fora time you may not now the latest move. The real crisis is at hand. It isDun Duff orthecode. I am Nor- gan, and on yon tree I have posted my procla- mation as master of No Man’s Ground. Colonel Bluff has revoked the command which created Dun Duff such. He has placed me at the head of affairs, but the enemy holds his ground.” ‘* Where is he?” ‘‘He was with the Colonel a moment ago, ‘The camp has determined to stand by me, and the move is to be made at daylight.” ** What is it to be?” ‘We are going to carry out the last section of the code. It has never been carried out in this camp, It is the section which gives us autborit to call a usurper out and shoot him dead in bis tracks.” The two mefi looked at one another in silence a full minute after Norgan’s words, ‘*He may beat the code and all of you,” answered the detective. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE TURN OF THE TIDE. Yrs, Dun Doff was still with the man over whom a short time before he had had unlimited influence. The two men were the only occupants of the little cabin of which Colonel Bluff had taken possession on his arrival in camp. The Croesus of Sacramento had been terribly stabbed by the woman who had crept from the mines to assault himinthe dark, but he could look at Dun Duff with an eye full of fire, and his voice was strong. ** Colonel,” said the desperado man, seeming to lean nearer as he spoke. ‘‘Do you know that your slaves had just got through hanging a man according to the code, when I first reached camp?” «Yes, Norgan told me coming up.” ‘The victim called himself Mark Moline, Burrell, the Rolling Stone, got possession of the ae ears expecting to find a bonanza in it.” e ‘** He found, instead, a paper wrapped in oiled silk and protected otherwise, It was a strange place to carry a secret, eh, Colonel?” Colonel Bluff replied with an approving smile, ‘*You are guessing that the secreted paper revealed Mark Moline’s identity,” Dun Duff went on. ‘* You think so, too,” ‘“‘ Well, we are not mistaken. The secret, old-dust, was what Burrell got for his pains. rk Moline was one of your old ac- quaintances.” ‘3 One of mine?” echoed the nabob. es, ** Name him.” ‘* He was the Mad Monte of other days.” Colonel Bluff passed his hand across his fore- head. **Can’t you think?” asked Duff. ‘* Don’t you recollect the man whosold you for a song the secret of No Man’s Ground? He was compelled to sell, I think, for you had him in a ten-by- twelve room, and there was a cocked six-shooter at his head, Come, come, Colonel! You have thought for many years that Mad Monte was dead. When be came up here to see how your slaves were getting along, they nabbed him, un- der the code, and choked him to ceath at the tree. His wife and children are in destitute cir- cumstances, but he refused to locate them to the mob that took his life. You ought to make things even before long. Don’t you think so, Colonel?” _ The man lying on the cot looked fora moment into the face almost touching his own, and his lips twitcbed several times before he spoke. “No!” be cried. ‘*‘ What I have goes to Mona and ber child. Whereis Opal, as they call her here?” I am talking for Mad - ‘* Never mind the girl. ae fareiy sb e sold me the secret, and swore to Keep his distance.” . isd nt LR 0 I Se REE i SO SINR IS nl RRR. SE LES RAS EL RS MT ad PR Re Se Ok SP ee ee na Ree eee 2,2 2) ‘‘ Yes—witha pistol at his head. But poverty sent him out into the world again.” ‘“ Will you make reparation?” asked Dun Duff when he had watched him awhile. ‘*T make nothing over to them. Mona first, then the child. Dun Duff, where is the handle of the dagger that maimed me for life the night the masked man stood over me and struck like athug? I have the point, Mona bas the rest of the blade. Now, where is the handle?” Dun Duff’s band disappeared in his bosom, and _when it came out it held a small package, with which he bent over the cot, ‘‘Tt is here,” said he, speaking in cool triumph as his eyes seemed to get a mad glitter. ‘‘ For this link the man known as Gideon Goldhar came up here as Mona’s sleuth. See, colonel; the blade is broken off close to the hilt. I haven’t carried this souvenir of that one night ever since, It was in the shop of Mardoni, the Ital- ian pawnbroker of Sacramento, till I came to No Man’s,.” The gaze of the Crippled Croesus remained fixed on the dagger-hilt while Dun Duff permit- ted it to lie in the hollow of bis hand. ‘¢ You wielded that blade like a devil once,” he grated at last, looking up into the face above the cot. ‘‘Did I?’ was the laughing rejoinder. ‘‘ Col- onel, we have been enemies all our lives, You bave rolled in wealth; I have supped at the table of poverty, but always with an eye on you. I have waited for my time; I bave held back till No Man’s Ground is worth millions. It once belonged to Mark Moline. In reality, it belongs to his family to-day; but I am the owner of the winning hand. I am the Crosus of Shasta,” At this juncture the cabin door was opened. Both men looked toward the threshold. ‘¢ Ts the gentleman ready?” asked a voice. Dun Duff stepped back and turned to the speaker, ‘¢ There are two of us here,” answered he, ‘“‘T address Captain Duff. Is he ready?” *¢ For what?’ ‘* For the decision of the conference under the code of the country.” Dun Duff looked at Colonel Bluff and saw the smile of pleasure that was fast spreading over his face. ‘* Where is the conference?” he cried. ‘¢Tt isin session at Sam’s.” “T am ready!” and then he stepped toward the cot and bent hastily over the man there. ‘*T am going to face the mob, [shall play my last hand, which will win. Men have hearts: they will turn against you when they hear the story of Mark Moline and his cheated family. You bave but a few hours left of life. You can’t recover from the wounds given by the Queen of Darkness, your Mexican mistress, When I come back I may have at my heels a mob of men cry- ing for the blood of the man they have served. Adieu, Colonel.” Dun Duff drew back before the millionaire could respond and went to the door, ‘*“Come!” he remarked to the person who awaited him there, ‘‘At Sam’s, did you say? We will go straight to the place.” The dark-shirted man who walked beside Dun Duff while they crossed the space between the cabin and the saloon could not help admiring his coolness as indicated by his bearing and bis tep. “You'd better turn back, Dun Duff,” he said to himself. ‘* The man who has sold bimself to a woman who wants vengeance is beyond the door we’re approaching. But I won’t warn you; not for the world would I!” The right hand of Dun Duff was conveniently near his belt as he strode into the saloon and council house of Satan City. The whole camp seemed congregated there, The lamp on the wall with the help of its bright tin reflector threw a vivid light over the room, and showed all the stalwart figures and bronzed faces that were there. In a moment Dun found bimself in the midst of the banded pards, His look said, “I am here,” and his bearing, cool and collected, showed that at the wall he was ready to throw another card. If he had looked back when he had entered the place he would have seen that ten men had uietly placed themselves between him and the oor. ‘* Captain Duff, the men of’ No Man’s Ground have decided under the code that there must be noconflict of authority here,” said a voice, and there stepped to the front the figure of Norgan, the young assayer. The lips of the gold-plotter curled derisively. “We have further decided that you are to quit the land without the customary notice,” continued Norgan. ‘* Your mission here is known; your former deeds in connection with Colonel Bluff’s life have been made clear to- night ee oa entleman behind me.” Dun Duff had already picked out the man mentioned, for in that crowd it was not difficult to find his trailer and late prisoner of the crypt, Captain Velvet, the detective. t was no time for him to ask how the captive of the mine had obtained his liberty. It was \ a) Pe oo Se , p Sete. om ~—~a - FA Captain Velvet’s Big Stake. the men of No Man’s Ground all he knew about the play for the bonanza stakes, - an instant the eyes of the two men had met, Norgan’s hand went up before either could speak, and in an instant two men sprung from the door and alighted on Dun Duff’s shoulders. As he wheeled with an oath, he heard the voice of the chemist of the camp. ‘* We have to move unawares on a tiger, Dun Duff,” said the young man. ‘‘ We want no more unnecessary bloodshed in this game for gold and vengeance.” The two men who had been selected for their strength, held the desperado fast before the crowd, and in their grip he stood erect, flashing his eye over all, a veritable lion in chains. ‘*We sentence you to the cord exile,” con- tinued Norgan. ‘* You have read the code, and you know its penalties. Gideon Goldbar says that Mona will be satisfied because her child is on the trail to her bosom. I will get the ap- proval of Colonel Bluff,” Norgan left the court and hastened across the Square to Lolas’s cabin, he lamp was still burning on the table. He opened the door and went in. All at once he fell back with an exclamation on bis Jips. On the floor at the side of the cot lay the body of aman, and Norgan catching up the lamp bent over it with a white face. It was Colonel Bluff, with an expression of agony on his face, aud with his useless legs drawn up to his chin, Norgan held the lamp close and looked for a moment, ‘‘ Death came in his hour of triumph,” mut- tered the young man. ‘'The Crippled Croesus of California no longer holds the secret he forced from Mark Moline,” There was a paper in one of the clinched hands, and Norgan took it out. Opening it, he went back to the light and read, while he held his breath: ‘* Vetla, Mona’s companion, is Mad Monte’s child. Give the girl her due, but don’t beggar Mona and Opal. COLONEL BLUFF.”’ With the pee in his grasp, Norgan went to the door and looked across the Plaza. The portal of Shasta Sam’s den was open wide, and as he looked a crowd surged out, and held before it was a Wild West Apollo, with his hands of silk tied on bis back. CHAPTER XXXVII. AT THE END. WE go back to the place where we opened our romance, We come down from the north and enter Sacramento, withits myriads of lights, for the day bas ended, and night has again spread a pall of darkness over the city. In a room where a dim light but poorly re- veals its appointments, sits a woman. There is a shade over her eyes, as if even the small amount of light blinds them, She leans back in the chair, which is on rockers, and her hands are clasped in her lap. *¢ Vetla, my child,” she calls, and a door opens to admit a beautiful little girl, who runs across the room to ber, and leans over her with that tenderness which belongs to childhood, ‘‘ Bring me tbe blade, Vetla,” continues the occupant of the chair, and in a moment a some- bad 5 in paper is placed in her hands. ‘T don’t know what to make of it,” she went on, boxeiny to the girl. ‘‘ Has my last sleuth followed the others? Am I never to feel the dagger gt together, for I am _ not to see any- thing of the kind? Captain Velvet does not come. He swore to find the bilt—the hilt of the dagger which brougkt out the hidden secrets of Caisse! Bluff’s life and drove us apart. He said, too, that he would find the missing one, my child, Vetla. But he does notcome. Where is my sleuth? And where is Colonel Bluff? Why, the man who came here a few days ago and told me that he rode away tied to bis sad- dle, went off himself before I could question bim, He told you atthe door that he was Ne- vada, did he, child?” ‘** He said that,” ‘“‘T wish he would come and tell more, but he will not,” sighed the woman, as her hands un- wrapped the package, disclosing a dagger-blade broken at both ends, ‘‘ Listen! I hear some one!” exclaimed the girl! ‘*Somebody is on the stair,” ‘Ts it Captain Velvet?” Vetla drew herself away from Mona and went to the door, where she listened a while, All at once the door was pushed open, and the little girl drew back with a balf-suppressed cry of fear, asa woman glided into the room like a pantheress, : There was something about the visitor that held Vetla spellbound in the middle of the rcom. She wore a cloak over her shoulders, and her hair was confined somehow in a mannish bat, As Vetla looked, a movement of the arms threw the cloak back, and the woman wajked toward Mona, whose quick ears caught the foot- steps, though they were like those of a cat, ‘That is not you, Vetla,” she said. ‘*‘ Whois enough that he was out, and that he had told ° in the room with us?” micbooks.c¢ ones : a A sd at gt ‘ ee ee eee (<0)