Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 512 — page 29: what you’re looking at

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

4 * 7 — ——— — A —— eS —= Captain Velvet’s Big Stake. : ‘‘T am here!” was the answer, put in before the girl could think of a reply. The tones more than the words appeared to produce an electric effect. Mona hid the dagger in a second, and leaned forward as if with her poor eyes hardly able to distinguish night from day she could see the person who had spoken. ‘You are here, are you?” she said. ‘‘I am in the dark and Vetla does not seem to know you. You must introduce yourself.” ‘‘ Send the girl out first. Vetla, you call ber, I believe.” The child had stolen closer to Mona, as if she thought that the strange woman had not come for any good, and when Colonel Bluff’s cast-off wife told her to retire, she went away witha reluctance she could not conceal. ‘‘ Now, who are you?” asked Mona. In another instant the stranger covered the distance between them with one stride, and then she was bending toward Mona, her eyes seem- ingly on fire. ‘+l am Inez!” Mona shrunk away as if a serpent had hissed in her lap. ‘‘ Aha! you seem to know who Inez is!” was the quick continuance. ‘‘ Well, he knew, too, before he died in the bonanza realm he created. I have come from the north—from the corpse of the man of two lives—the man who lured me to a false marriage, only to throw me off the mo- ment you crossed bis path.” ‘‘ What have you done to him?” ‘‘T killed him in Shasta Land!” was the hiss. ‘‘ Boss Nevada, commissioned by Colonel Bluff to put me out of the way, never got to complete the job. He gave me a home among the mines he run for his master, but one night I disap- peared and he thought I lay at the bottom of a shaft. For years he lived under this delusion but he never told Colonel Bluff that he had not finished me himself, Time came when he knew the truth., When I met him in ‘ the office’ and overthrew his reason by an assault which to-da is one of the mysteries of No Man’s Ground, began to play the gameI had longed to play. By and by Colonel Bluff came to the net. | saw in him my enemy, and now yours, The dagger of the man now called Dun Duff let light in upon his double life, and you turned from him, but not to lose hopes of a reconciliation.” ‘‘ Tt is not true,” replied Mona, ‘‘ I hoped for nothing of the kind. I have yearued for m child who was stolen when she was a babe al- most. Colonel Blutf broke my heart when his double life was revealed, and that is why I never went to him while he occupied his chair on wheels. No! no! Idon’t wanthim. But if you know—tell me about my child.” She is his child, too,” ‘Don’t ask me, woman. cried Inez. ‘‘I have come down the mountain- trail alone to find you—to look into the face of the woman who crossed my path, and made me a creature with a stain. And what do you think goaded me on and on?” Mona shook her head, ‘‘T am here for vengeance! Here I finish the ame begun yeas and years ago. No Man’s round has slipped through the dead hand of Colonel Bluff, and the men tigers up there can fight over the spoils. Your sleuth is yonder, too, but they are too many for him. The man who holds the missing wy hilt is at the top of the heap. He is master of the bonanza realm,” ova fell back with a blanched face, while Inez drew of and glared at her with the fero- city of a tigress about to throw herself upon her victim. A moment thus, then she slipped forward again, this time with something white along her arm. ‘You must be ready, Mona. You have been here a long time with plenty of time for pre- paration,” she cried touching the hand of the almost blind woman who promptly withdrew it. ‘*The child has developed into a beautiful woman.” “The child?—mine?’ exclaimed Mona, ‘‘Yours! I have watched her a thousand times, and more than once with a knife in my hands. But I have resolved to let her be for a life that is to her worse than death. She will become the wife of Dun Duff—the man who holds the lost bilt. Isn’t that enough?” And the hand of the speaker closed on her wrist. Mona gave utterance to a cry. ‘No! you can’t get away!" was the response, “T am Inez; you seem to forget this again! You came between me and ambition. You kept me from gy of No Man’s Ground. Your witch face did it! Now my hand com- pletes the play.” The door opened, and Inez dropped Mona’s hand as she drew back. Another woman had passed the threshold, and was now looking at her with heaving bosom and flushed face. “God! is it you?” suddenly cried the Queen of Darkness. ‘‘ You have followed me! You have been on my trail all the way—” _ ‘Yes, viperess, I have spared nothing on the hunt!” and the peli a ono 304 figure hampered by no cloak, her arms an her hands evidently eager to close on her prey. ““Stand off!” shouted Inez, retreating, and showing the knife. ‘‘ You are the spawn of the couple | hate!” ‘“T am Mona’s child! You came here to kill, but you shall be thwarted again.” The knife went up and came down as Opal sprung at the woman, but the blow was warded off, and in a twinkling the agile waif of No Man’s Ground was holding a struggling in- furiated Amazon against the wall! By and by a man summoned by Vetla rushed into the room and Opal surrendered her pris- oner. She turned toward the chair near the table and saw that its occupant had fallen forward and was sinking to the floor. Rusbing to the table, she caught Mona, and rasing the head kissed the brow above the almost sightless eyes. ‘‘ Mother! The new life has come.” There was a quick responsive cry, and a pair of arms were thrown round Opal’s neck, ‘*My child! my child!” Three days later there came to the house where the rescue occurred a man who was met by Mona at the door. ‘‘ She wants you,” said the young girl, and he went up-stairs, two steps at a time, into Mona’s presence. Something dropped into the woman’s lap. She picked it upand uttered a cry of pleasure. “It is the missing hilt!” she exclaimed. ‘* Captain Velvet muss be here!” The man advanced and she pressed his hand, ‘* Where is he?” she asked. ‘‘ He is dead. The Code of No Man’s Ground carried out the rope sentence; the man whose life has been a succession of cool plays against odds for one bonanza after another will plot no more. His will was found in his breast pocket after his death; it gives a million to Vetla, who is the child of Mark Moline, from whom he wrested the golden secret; the rest of his estate is yours, Mona; Norgan will be here to-mor- row,” he added, with a glance at Opal, who blushed. ‘*The dagger has been pieced, and I am no longer your sleuth, Mona. Johnny Jump- up has concluded to remain mp. Sees and Nor- gan insists that I shall come back.” A few necessary words will complete our tale of No Man’s Ground. Boss Nevada never went back to the scene of his mastership. He disap after his call en Mona, and from that hour to the present he has not appeared among the mines which he de- veloped for the Crippled Croesus of California. The treasure in the crypt enriched Vetla, and made Opal one of the richest women of the Golden State when she became ad bride, Mona’s sight has been restored by a delicate operation, and Vetla is growing into a dazzling woman. Never did the Gold Goths come back to No Man’s Ground, and it was disturbed no more by = nee plotter like the desperate Duncan uff. Captain Velvet has retired from the trail of the broken dagger, and, strange to say, when he comes to Sacramento he is entertained AY a handsome woman in the house once occupied by the Crippled Nabob of the Coast, “ And rumor says that the hostess, who is Mona, is to become the wife of her guest, As to the i of Darkness, she slipped through the fingersof tle authorities eae one night some men found a runaway horse drag- ing a woman over a rocky trail. ‘* Hello!” cried one. ‘*This person has the eyes of the Mexican who once enmeshed Colonel luff. I used to know her well, but I thought—” ** Don’t!” cried the woman, pushing the bend- ing face away. ‘‘ Let me die in peace. The = is over, and it went against me. I am nez And almost with the announcement came a tremor, a few gasps, and all was still. The Queen had passed into darkness, indeed. It came out that Norgan was not her son, as Duncan Duff had declared, but, for all that, it was his hands that made in the dark gold hills of California a grave for the dead Queen. THE END, Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. BY CAPTAIN FRED. WHITTAKER. 15 The Sea-Cat; or, The Witch of Darien. 29 The Dumb Page}; or, The Doge’s Daughter. 48 Dick Darlin hg bony Exprees Rider. a5¢ I RKO 3 or, The Children of the Chaco ance und , he Sword Hunters; or, The Land of the ae Riders, to the 159 The Lost Captain; or, Skipper Jabex Coffin’s a Polar Sea. 200 The Boy Bedoutna; or, The Brothers of the Plumed Lance, 214 Wol 249 Milo Wanderer. 265 The Ti 881 Biack Ni 895 California ang, the Rebber of the Rhine. emer, the Animal King; or, The Round the World r Tamer; or, The League of the Jungle. the Demon Rider. oe’s War Trail. BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID. 78 Blue Dick: or, The Yellow Chief's Vengeance. 87 The Land Pirates; or, The League of Devil’s Island, 187 The Helpless Hand; or, Backwoods Retribution. 289 The Gold-seeker Guide; or, The Lost Mountain, a BY EDWARD 8, ELLIS. 6 Bill Biddon, ac eg 8 Scth Jones; or, The Captives of the Frontier, 10 Nat Todds; or, The Fate of the Sioux Captive. 21 The Frontier Angel. 98 The Boy Miners; or, The Enchanted Island. 182 The Hunted Hunter; or, The Strange Horseman. 254 The Malt-Bleod; or, The Panther of the Plains. 271 The Iuge Hunter}; or, The Steam Prairie Man. BY J. C. COWDRIOK, 860 Bilver-Mask, the Man of Mystery. 869 Shasta, the Gold King or, For Seven Years Dead. 420 he Detective’s Apprentice; or, A Boy Without » ame. 424 OCibuta John; or, Red-Hot Times at Ante Bar, 9 Sandy Sam, the Street Scout, 467 Disco Dan, the Daisy Dude. 490 Broadway Billy, the Bootblack Bravo- 606 Redlight ee the Prince of the Road. 514 Broadway Billy’« Boodle. 524 The Engineer Detective 5686 Broadway Billy’s ‘ Diftikilty.” BY NARRY 8ST. GEORGE, ¥ 80 Roaring Ralph Rockwood, the Ranger. 44 Rattling Rube; or, The Nighthawks of Kentucky, 59 Old Hickory 3 or, Pandy Eliis’s Rone 108 Daring Davy ; or, The Trail of the Border Wolf. 166 Hickory Harry ; or, The Trapper-Brigade’s Spy, 172 Thunderbolt olf-Herder. BY MAJOR WENRY B. STODDARD, Ex-Scout,. 806 Neck-Tie Ned; or, The Dug-Out Pards, 846 Rapler Raphael; or, The Swordamen of Zacatecas, B91 Kid-Glove Kit, the Dandy of the Rockies, 898 Kid-Glove Kit and Pardy or, The Gold King. 406 The Mad Man-lfunter; or, The Mystery of Golden Gulch. 505 Powell’sa Pards or, The One-Armed Giant. omy or, the BY PHILIP 8. WARNE, 6T Patent-Leather Joe: or, Old Rattleanake, the Charmer. 175 Captain Arizona; or, Patent-Leathor Joe's Big Game, 198 Captain Mask; or, Patent-Leather Joe’s Defont. 219 Deapard, the Duellats or, The Mountain Vempires,, B88 A Tou h Boy 3 or, The Dwart’s Revenge. £68 Little Tornado}; or, The Outcaste of the Glen, B78 Little Jingo; or, the Queer Pard. BSS Little omy or, Caught In Hits Own Trap, 401 Little Shoo- ly or, A Race for a Ranch. 408 } ttle Leather-Breeches ; or, Old Jumbo’s Curses 481 Little Ah Sing or, The Curse of Blood, b1 Colorado Kate. A Tale of the wines. 0 Three Jolly Parda, 517 Jim Gladden’s Deputy. 527 The Jolly Pards to the Rescue. BY EDWARD WILLETT, 167 Aan Scott, the Steamboat Boy. 199 Featherweight the Boy Champton of the Muskinguns.. 228 Ozark aes or, Featherweight Among the Outlaws, 282 The Typo detectives or, Weasel, the Boy Tramp, 295 Fearless Phil; or, The King of Quarteville. £11 The Roving Sporty; or, The Pride of Chuckaluck Camp, B22 PS ngy Pome Selective: or, Kit Kenyon's Vendetta, 840 Clip, the Contortionist; or, The Montana Vigilantes... BY ROGER STARBUOK, 25 114 The Blaek Schooner; or, Jib Junk, the Old Tar: 259 The Golden Harpeon t or, Lost Among the Floes.. 848 Fire-Heela; or, Old Bkinflint, the Death-Shadow. 854 Big Morn Ike, the Hil] Tramp; or, The Odd Pards:. 861 The Phantom Light-house, 870 Breaker Ben, the Reef-Runner, The Boy Captain; or, The Pirate’s Daughter. BY BUCKSKIN 8AM (Major Sam, 8, Hall.) 284 Oe messes ** Boyees 3” or, Benito, the Young Hore-. reaker, 246 Giant George; or, The Ang’l of the Range, 275 Arizona Jack; or, Giant George's Pard. 207 The Tarantula of Taos ; or, Giant George's Revenge, 80T The &trange Pard; or, Little Ben’s Death Hunt. 818 Rerwiaey Ker-whooy; or, The Tarantula of Taoa, 827 Creeping Cat, the Caddo; or, The Red and White Pardo... B82 Frio Fred: or, The Tenkaway’s Trust, 844 The Fighting Trio; or, Rattlesnake, the Tonkaway, 849 Wild Wolf; or, Big-Foot Wallace to the Front. B57 The Ranch Raldera: or, The Siege of Fort Purgatory. 864 Snap-Shot, the Boy Ranger. 875 Chiota, the Creeks or, The Three Thunderbolts. 881 Bandera Bill; or. Frio Frank to the Front. B92 Romeo and the Reda; or, The Beleaguered Ranch. 404 Little Lariat; or, Pecan Pete’s Big Rampage. 414 The Dalay from Denver. 427 The Three Trallera; or, Old Rocky on the Rampage, 442 Bluff Bills; or, The Lynx of the Leona. 455 Little Lone Star} or, The Belle of the Cibolo, BY WM. G. PATTEN,. 489 The Diamond Sport Bod The Double Face of Bed Rock . ve jn One. ay Dare, the Sport from Denver, BY WARRY HAZARD, 28 Arkansaw Jack; oe Scourge of the Mines, 8 9 -Skin T , The Demon's Trail. baz fe Mounein Devil; or, Yellow Jack, the Outlaw, BY WILLIAM Ff. EYSTER, 190 Dandy Darke}; or, The Tigers of High Pine. 210 Faro Franks or, Dandy Darke’s Go-Down Parda, BY C. DUNNING CLARK, 185 Captain Paul; or, The Boy Spy of the Mountains. 280 The Yankee Rajah; or, The Fate of the Black Shereef.. BY COLONEL DELLE SARA, 108 The Lion of the Sea; or, The Vailed Lady. 186 Cool Deamond3 or, The Gambler's Big Game, N19 Captain Myatery ¢ or, 6581 D RY GEORGE WALDO BROWNE. 86 Dand 90 The Rock the Man from Texas. read Rider; or, The Texan Duellet. 99 The Tiger of Tuoa; or, Dandy Rock’s Angel. 115 The Mad Miner; or, Dandy Rock’s Doom. 181 The Golden Mand; or, Dandy Rock to the Rescue, 164 Dandy Reck’s Ple $ or, Hunted to Death. 178 Dandy Rock’s Rival; or, The Haunted Maid of Taos. BY MAJOR E. L. 8T. VRAIN, 292 Bancho Pe the Boy Bandit, BOL Landville Nick, the Boy Sport 812 Redtop Rube, the Vigilante Prince. 8 Brimatone Rob, and His Lightning Horse Quartette, 852 Tembastone Tom, the Arizona Boy of “ Sand.’j @ Young fin e ve. 880 Avalanche Alf, the Foothills Guide. 890 Jaguar Joe, of the Mountuin Mall-Line. A new issue every Tuesday. The Half-Dime Library is for sale by alk Newsdealers, five cents per copy, or sent oy mail, on receipt of six cents each. 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