Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 512 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

” ce) ‘“‘ He was hanged for theft?” tt Yes, ” “* He took fifty ounces belonging to Boss Ne- vada?” “* { believe that was the charge.” ‘‘ The dust—every grain of it—was recovered.” ** Tt was.” ** But the code stood between the man and mercy I believe they say.” Opal’s eyes caught an indignant flash. ‘They might have stretched the code a little. I think justice would not have complained. But,” she added quickly, ** you know there must be a semblance of law, if not law itself, even in a place like this.” ‘That is true, Opal,” answered Gideon Gold- bar. ‘‘ We will not discuss Mark Moline’s sen- tence. lam not here for that purpose. You saw the man—had a talk with him—after they brought him back.” “Yes, It was not much of a talk, though.” ‘*No? Now, did he give you any part of his history? Did he say where live the ones of whom he spoke just before he was hanged?” Opal did not speak for a moment. “Tam talking toa man who comes here a perfect stranger,” rejoined she at last. ‘‘ You must not forget that until to-day we never saw one another. You came to No Man’s Ground as Gideon Goldbar, and I know nothing more of ou. Weare an exclusive community here. It is known far beyond the boundaries of our land that we would rather not be molested. The coming of the Gold Goths, as the men out yon- der are already called, may breed trouble though I hope not. You don’t come with them—that is true; you don’t seem to belong tothem. But for all this you are an invader of exclusive terri- tory like the man who preceded you a few hours; like Dun Duff. Now lam asked to divulge what may be a secret, I had an interview with Mark Moline not long before they tried him under the laws of No Man’s Ground, and hanged him un- der the same merciless code. Why should I tell you anything that he told me?” . Gideon Goldbar could not dispute the potency of the girls argument. What right had he to ask her to confide anything to him? She belonged to No Man’s Ground as exclu- sively as did Boss Nevada its acknowledged master. ‘*You may be right,” answered Gideon. “I have looked at this matter in the same light in which you view it. I have not come to you to rob you of any secrets which you may not want to surrender willingly. You have been frank with me, I like frank people. I have no con- nection with the movement which has thrown the Gold Goths into No Man’s Ground. I am not allied in any way to the man called Dun Duff. I am here not by accident but by design. I want to know something which you are abie to impart—if you will. If the man hung by the men of Satan City intrusted you with a secret which you bound yourself to keep, I fully un- derstand the matter. I hope that is not the situation.” ‘Tt is not,” returned Opal quickly and with a slight flush. ‘‘I came away from Mark Moline with no secrets. The man was in the shadow of death, but that fact did not seem to trouble him.” **So they tell me who attended him through the last ordeal of his life. Mark Moline wasa brave man.” ee was pleased with this eulogy. ‘**He could not have been anything else. Bravery wasa partof his nature,” she exclaimed. ** They would not let me out of the house durin the trial and execution. They feared that would come into court and plead for his life.” **Can we go back to your talk with him?’ ventured Gideon Goldbar. ‘* We can,” was the prompt response. The man did not reply, but looking into Opal’s face waited for her to proceed. ** He had but little to confide to any one,” she went on after a brief silence, ‘* Mark Moline was not a man of secrets. He talked about his wife and children and asked me to try to tell them some day that he was dead.” 5. cere tell you where they were?” 0 ** No!” echoed Gideon Goldbar. ‘* He did not know,” answered Opal. ‘‘He knew once—it was years ago—but ha had been beating about the world so long that he lost track of them. Which is not strange, you know.” **Not at all strange,” said Gideon. ‘‘ Where were they lost?” ** In Sacramento.” ** When” ‘Tn the year 1871.” The man seemed to make a mental note of Opal’s reply. ‘** It was not much of a secret, Mr. Goldbar,” smiled the girl. ‘“* Strange to say, I have never been asked before what Mark Moline said to me. Boss Nevada who is curious about a good many things does not seem to care, and the rest of them iets equally indifferent. The dead man had no keepsakes, He gave to Burrell the only thing he bad to dispose of—his beard, which netted the gold-mad barber nearly an ounce of dust.” Opal stop like a person who reaches the end of a narrative. There was nothing more for her to say. Gideon Goldbar had drawn from her all she knew about the man who suffered death under the Code of No Man’s Ground. ‘‘T might ask you some questions now,” she suddenly said. ‘* Go abead, girl.” But Opal shook her head. ‘‘No. Your re- plies would do me no good, besides you are here on business of your own and [ have no right to intrude. I might ask why you want to know so much about the man who was hung—” ‘* A passing fancy, perhaps, Opal,” be laugh- ed. ‘“*Heisa man who has no friends—a per- son drifting from camp tocamp, He commits a crime against the common law of gola-dig- gings everywhere. He does it knowing the penalty, and when caught says thaf he would repeat the offense with death staring bim in the face. Isn’t all this enough to interest even a stranger in bim?’ ‘Tt is something singular,” Opal rejoined. ‘*T never saw anything like it, Fifty ounces of dust taken from the kind of aman Boss Nevada seems to be was almost certain to be followed by death. I would sooner rob a bank in San Francisco.” “You are right. The pards of No Man’s Ground would have followed Mark Moline to the ends of the world for those fifty ounces. And, what is more, they would bave brought him back to suffer the penalty here.” ** Ts that in the code?” ‘Tt is. All of its violations are punished on No Man’s Ground.” Gideon Goldbar did not push his investigations further. He went to the door, and with one of his hands onthe latch looked back at the girl re- garding him in the soft light of the lamp. ‘You have told me even more than I had hoped to obtain, You have the thanks of Gideon Goldbar,” and then hfting the brim of his hat with the tips of his fingers, he went out and Opal was alone. If she had gone to the door, she might have seen a figure follow her visitor from the cabin. if she could have caught up with the human ferret and looked into its face, she would have recognized one of the most important tenants of No Man’s Ground—Norgan, the chemist and assayer. If he had overheard the conversation had be- neath the cabin roof, Boss Nevada was likely to know something within a short time, and he would know that another man besides Dun Duff needed watching. “This fellow for myself,” muttered Norgan, with a shake of the head. ‘‘1 don’t care what Boss Nevada thinks of Dun Duff, Pve got my opinion of Gideon Goldbar.” In a little while he lost the man he followed among the Gold Goths on the Square, and while he was cautiously looking for him, he was toucbed on the arm. ‘** We've got another dead man in camp, Nor- gan,” said a voice as he turned. ** No! who is he now.” ** Tt is one o’ the Goths, yet. Come with me.” Norgan permitted himself to be led to where two cabins stood close together. of ia he is, Norgan,” continued the chemist’s pard, Norgan bent over a dead man stretched on the ground. It was too dark at that spot to let him see the features as he wanted to see them. Diving one hand into bis pocket, he produced a match and struck it on one of the logs. A moment afterward he was holding it close to a face whose chief ornament was an enormous mustache, ‘*Ho!” cried Norgan. ‘‘ He ought to have kept his secrets to himself. This is Nicol Mac- beth, the Goth whom I took to Boss Nevada awhile ago because he knew something about a certain person,” ‘* Ts that true, Norgan?” ** Nothing was ever truer,” ** Where is that certain person?” ** In this camp!” aa the assayer of No Man’s Ground threw down his useless match and bounded to his feet. ‘‘ Now let’s see the Goths with their blood hot, I fancy it’ll be a sight!” CHAPTER X. DOWN IN TNE DARK, MEANTIME Gideon Goldbar had singled out from among the Gold Goths a man who had walked away with bim at the touch of his finger. No persons with suspicions aroused seemed to see the two together, and the eyes that did see them thus thought nothing particularly of the companionship. “ Well, captain, he beat you a few hours!” exclaimed Gideon Goldbar’s comrade when the two stood near the entrance to one of the mines of No Man's Ground. ‘* A few hours, Johnny?” ‘*He is still Dun Duff as he was in Sacra- mento up to the moment of his cians “Yes. What became of Julius, who got the little box over Mardoni's counter?” ‘*T have been waiting to tell you, ha, ba!” “* He left the city with you Goths, did he not?” They don’t know it Captain Veivet’s Big Stake. “* He did.” ‘* But I haven’t seen him here.” ‘* By Jove! be isn’t here. He met with an ac- cident by the way.” ‘* An accident, Johnny? How’s that?” “The third day out Julius became involved in a quarrel with one o’ our party, but we got, ’em apart b fore they came to blows, That night Nicol Macbeth, with whom Julius had fallen out, lost a few things from under his pil- low, which was nothing but his blanket. As a matter 0’ course we arrested Julius and searched him, But we found nothing.” ‘+ And let him go?” ‘Wait a minute, Just before the searchers got ready to report, a man came forward and said that he saw a man put something under a bowlder at the edge of camp shortly before mid- night. He wasn’t prepared to say who it was, for he didn’t know. A committee Was sent to the rock and there they fownd all the missing things. They measured the fuotprints near the stone and then took the dimensions of Julius’s boots. A deucedly fine seheme, eh? he, he, he! That’s how Julius came by bis accident.” ‘* But what became of bim?” questioned Gid- eon Goldbar, eagerly. ‘* Better ask the committee that stayed behind with Julius while the rest of us went on,” was the answer. ‘¢ Did you question them when they came up?” “No; nobody did. We all saw that Julius wasn’t with ’em, and that seemed to be enough.” **Do you think Dun Duff knows anything of this?” The man addressed—who was none other than our late Sacramento acquaintance, Johnny Jumpup—shook his head in a manner that im- plied doubt. ‘*T haven’t seen him bunting for his pard,. He hain’t been near us Goths since we came, as if he imagined what’s happened, ha, ha, If he wants to find Julius, he will bave to track us back. But, captain, what do you know?’ ‘* A little,” smiled Gideon Goldbar. “More than you did before you left Sacra- mento?” ‘* Yes, Johnny.” ‘* What is the outlook on No Man’s Ground?” **The puzzle is not much clearer.” ** How are the mines?” ‘* We might answer that question in part by an investigation.” Johnny Jumpup looked at the dark cavernous opening in the mountain at bis side, ‘¢ Shall we go in, captain?” asked he. ‘‘ Boss Nevada who runs the diggings here says, that we have struck Poverty’s Pocket instead of Gold Land. The others say the same. To-morrow we are to be taken about over No Man’s Ground like a visiting committee of a legislature. Of course we'll be shown the poor side of the pic- ture. If they have any played-out mines here we'll see ’em Lacie oe The bonanza we won’t get to look at. WIl bet my head, and it’s the last thing I want to part with, ha, ba, that with us came some one in the employ of the crippled Nabob of Sacramento—Colonel Baldy Bluff. But the shaft! Here it is, captain, ready for inspection.” Ten minutes afterward the two men were en- veloped in total darkness, They were no longer on the surface of No Man’s Ground, but many feet below it, and one was ahead of the other, feeling their way down a ve Sanaa corridor with their hands on the wall. Now and then they exchanged words, but it was not often, and then they spoke nearly alto- gether in monosvllables, ‘** Now for the inspection,” said the voice of Johnny Jumpup when he and the captain had halted in a small chamber. ‘Some o’ the rocks I’ve picked up along ar’ rayther heavy, but I don’t like the way they feel.” Gideon Goldbar took from a little case with an oiled-silk lining a wax candle which he handed to Johnny Jumpup after he had lighted it. Then he fell to examining a number of rough- ly shaped nuggets of rock which he had broken from the walls with bis hands or picked up from the floor of the mine, His companion held the candle, and looked on with a good deal of curiosity. Goldbar went through his treasures, and then took other pieces of rock from Johnny’s pockets and gave them the same inspection. ‘‘This is one of the mines you'll see to-mor- row,” be remarked, giving his friend a smile as their eyes met. ‘*T thought so just from the feel of the pieces,” was the response. ‘“ Is there nothing about ’em that indicates the presence of gold in No Man’s Ground?” ‘* Yes, but it isn’t here; and besides, the rocks don’t throw indications enough to encourage a miner.” ‘‘Then we can go back,” “Not just yet. We'll go a little further, and pull up the net again.” The candle was Ee out, and once more the tread of Gideon Goldbar and Johnny Jumpup vo the only noise that broke the silence of the mine. 3 Some distance from the spot where they had ae ied Eomicboo! _