Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 535 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

—<i -_——- have got wind of it. We've played altogether under cover, as yet, and so—” ‘‘ Mayn’t it be because of the past? Mayn’t they be looking for—well, either you or me for work long finished?” Major Holly Gardenhire gave a start, his eyes filing with a reddish glow, like one to whom a fresh source of danger is being revealed, but be- fore he could make any reply to that deliberate question, a tiny bell suspended directly above the head of the bed standing in one corner of the room, set upa silvery tinkling! ———— CHAPTER XX. A WORD OF WARNING. BoTH men sprung to their feet, the movement awakening no echo, thanks to, the thick carpet covering the floor. Their eyes turned toward the one door of the room, and each man gripped a weapon while waiting in breathless suspense for what might follow. it was a cunning device invented by Aubrey Conyers himself, fur the purpose of giving him timely warning of the approach of a_ visitor, welcome or otherwise, be weight of a foot upon a certain one of the stairs set the bell to ringing loudly enough to waken a light sleeper like the gambler, though without volume enough to pierce that thick door to give the one coming an equal warning. A very brief pause sufficed to relieve the sus- pense which the two schemers experienced, for as a soft, steady tapping echoed through the door, Conyers replaced his weapon with a long breath of relief. ‘*Tt’s one of the boys,” he muttered, turning to his companion, ‘‘If you’d rather not beseen, pardner, there’s the closet,” ‘Never mind me, So long as it’s one of the family, ’'m not caring,” replied Gardenhire, re- tee his seat and selecting a fresh cigar, while Conyers crossed the room, turning a key, and admitting the one who rapped, ‘It’s you, Vie Tolley, is it?” the gambler said, closing and securing the door again. “Tbs me, an’ more o’ me then I like, wuss Juck!” came a balf-angry reply, as the fellow gingerly touched his left jaw. ‘“*Got a bead put on you, eh?” laughed Con- yers, as his keen eyes noted the unusually promi- nent feature. ‘I thought you usually dia the slugging? How comes it, eh?” “That's jest what fetched me here, boss,” his tones growing earnest as the burly fellow drew nearer the light standing on the table. ‘* You know Under-shot Dan?” ‘‘The tin-horn gambler—yes,” with a curt nod, ‘¢ Well, Dan jumped onto me in a mighty bur- ry to-night, sayin’ that a bloke was up to the Oasis, rakin’ in the scads with both hands, an’ that it’d be a howlin’ shame ef he was let git off with the bull boodle, don’t you see?” ‘You mean Dandy Dutch?’ sharply de- manded Gardenbire. ‘‘T don’t know so much about the ‘ Dutch,’ but the ‘ Dandy’s’ all right enough,” grinned the rough, one hand lifting to caress his adly swol- len jaw. ‘* An’ it wouldn’t be so mighty fur out 0’ the way ef you was to add daisy, too!” ‘“*You jumped on him and got the butt end of the bargain, then?” ‘* T got the butt-end of a airthquake, from the way it felt then,” still grinning, though with precious little mirth in the grimace. ‘ And the fellow you tried to down?” ‘‘Was mighty piert when I come to think I hed mighty ‘’portant business waitin’ fur me right on the furder side o’ town, boss.” ‘Business be it, and the quicker you settle down to it, Tolley, the less apt you'll be to have a check to match that biggest one,” coldly inter- posed Conyers, dropping into the seat he had vacated at the alarm of his bell-trap. ‘‘ Short and sweet; spit it out!” ‘*'Thar was me an’ Downey Dick an’ Billy the Cricket, an’ Under-shot ‘lowed thar’d be plenty scads fer a divide. An’ he lowed they wouldn’t be any too many in the bunch, fer he said we'd find a mighty tough nut to crack. An’ we did; so durn tough the crackin’ was all done onto we that was to play the hammer—wuss luck!” ‘You don’t say that one man got away with the four of you?’ grimly laughed Conyers, with a fleeting glance at his fellow-plotter. ‘“[T don’t say that he wouldn’t, but it didn’t need he should. He got away with me—bad!” again touching bis jaw. ‘‘ I thought I hed him dead to rights in the dark, but he ducked what I tried to lend him, an’ puid me back, too mighty slick! Ilay down a bit, an’ when t got. up ag’in they was a tall cuss with a club, just layin’ Un- der-shot down fer keeps, I’m thinkin’.” “ That infernal valet!” flashed Gardenhire. ‘‘He didn’t seem to val’ie the boys wu’th a cent, anyway,” grinned Tolley. ‘‘ An’as I tuck my leave, I see him lay out the last son of-a- gun. Even that wasn’t ’nough fer him. He hollered wouldn’t I wait, but 1 knowed him ra well fer mindin’—bet your sweet e ‘¢ You knew him, you say?” ‘‘ Long afore I met him in Prospect, boss,” suddenly: growing sober, even frightened if his looks be taken as a stardard, ‘I see him . ne ne ne es Ce Oe ee et A = a — - Dandy Dutch. down in Quiverin’ Asp, an’ I hearn tell of his tricks in Falcon City, an’—” ‘‘ Was it he, then? Anything worse then a crack-brained idiot?” ‘‘As much wuss as a rattler in August is then a garter-snake in Jinnewerry |” was the emphatic rejoinder. ‘‘ He’s playin’ much the same sort o’ game up this way as he did down ender, from what I’ve picked up sence I tried his bit of a specilation; little joker, sufferin’ grandpap an’ all!” ‘You mean he is a detective, then?” slowly asked Gardenhire. ‘*T don’t mean nothin’ else, boss, ’cept that ef it wasn’t that I felt in duty bound fer to put you two gents up to his little racket, you wouldn’t find me inside o’ Prospect this min- nit. An’ now I’ve done posted you, ’m go- in’ to hunt a hole whar lll feel heap sight more comf’tabler then in this same bergh—l jest be!” He turned as though to at once begin his flight, but Aubrey Conyers was not yet satisfied, and held him in check, questioning him clos ly about Solemn Saul, and his rea- sons for feeling so positive that the valet to Dandy Dutch was a detective, There is no especial need for his recital to be given in full, It is enough for our purpose to add that Vic Tolley gave the plotters ample food for thought during the next few minutes, proving beyond the possibility of a doubt that the pretended valet was a person to be dreaded by all who were engaged in so desperate a game as they were playing. He stubbornly refused to linger in Prospect, even when Conyers covertly threatened him with the penalty usually visited on those who refused to abide by family latvs, and finally he was permitted to take his departure to go where he saw fit. ‘* Well, what do you think of it now, pard- ner?” asked Conyers wnen they were left alone together. ‘ About the same thoughts as your own, of course,” frowned Gardenhire. ‘And yet, I can’t fully believe they have anything to do with our game here, They must be tracking some other game.” ‘* You found them at the bank to-day. Dandy Dutch seemed acquainted with Leonard Cor- win, Then their coming in here to-night, Isn’t that evidence sufficient for a hog?” ‘* You're the best judge of that, pard,” with a short laugh that softened the taunt. ‘‘ All the same, I can’t really think that way. And even if what you fear should prove the truth, we’ve gone entirely too far to back down now, Why, man, just think of it!” with glowing eyes, “The game is won, all but raking down the stakes!” ‘Little good they'll do us if we get rake down at the same time!” . Major Gardenhire leaned across the table, gazing keenly, curiously into the face of his com- rade, seeming to find much of interest therein, judging from the length of that stare. Conyers sat in sullen silence, his eyes down- cast, his face far paler than ordinary, though his mode of life was not conducive to color. ‘‘T never thought to see you lose nerve just for one man—” ‘“For two devils, say!” flashed the athletic gambler. ‘If that man-monkey is a detective, then his pretended master must be tarred with the same stick, And—knowing all this, I can’t help thinking that bis queer manner to-night at the table means more than lies on the surface, You ought to know that, man!” “JT know this much,” laughed Gardenhire, softly. ‘I know that the Decorator from | Dead-Lift seemed mightily struck with our fair enigma in black velvet, and lace, I know that, if properly coaxed, La Masque can easily get at the truth of the matter, or ’m no good judge of human nature, Andif you agree to my plans, there will be a test made in short. order that will show us how much or bow little we have to fear from these two fantastics.” ‘Tt might work!” mused Conyers, yet with that strange and unusual lovk of anxiety, al- most of fear, on his handsome face. ‘* It shall work, I give you my word,” declar- ed Gardenhire, rising from his seat and moving toward the door that led to the lower floor. ‘Sleuth though Dandy Dutch may be, in La Masque we can work up a bait so dainty that he’ll jump into the snare with botb eyes open!’ ** And that devilish valet of his?” ; “‘Pllagree to put him out of the way of giv- ing us trouble, if I have to put him to sleep with my own hands!” grimly nodded the major. CHAPTER XXII. SOLEMN SAUL AND HIS SWEETNESS. DESPITE the late hour at which he had sought his chamber on the night before, Andre Deutsch was one of the earliest risers in the Occidental Hotel that clear, pleasant Sabbath morning, and, as a matter of course, bis valet was also afoot, though with many a groan and yawn- pasianeed grumble at the perversity of man- ind and his wretched lot in lite, Yet Solemu Saul took care that bis master should not suffer by tasting the cool mountain Oy mo mm — a 1H ee toa visit to the ‘‘ lower regions” and a judicious outlay of small silver, an early breakfast was furnished the valet for his master, and so liber- ally that neither of the twain had aught left to complain of when the dishes were sent back. There was nv business discussed between the twain, master and servant to all the rest of the world for the time being. All had been decided upon the night before, and now it only remain- ed for each to play bis.allotted part to the best of his ability. With all his doubts as to the complete infatu- ation of Fanny Black, Saul Sunday felt pretty confident that she would not fail to keep the rendezvous she had given him, and though he hardly expected her before a comparatively late hour, there was far too much at stake for him to risk possible miscarriage by himself being late on the spot. For this reason the partners were so early astir, and this was why Solemn Saul skirmished around to gain an early breakfast, Both he and Dandy Dutch were devout believers in the say- ing that a full stomach winneth many a tough battle. Dandy Dutch took aR his favorite position on the front veranda, lazily enjoying his cigar, and after a little byplay for the benefit of such ears as might be curious enough to listen, the Decor- ator bade his velet begone, for he was unbear- ably stupid that morning. ‘Sufferin’ grandpap to thunder an’ guns!” groaned Solemn Saul, bis little eyes rolling up- ward, his gaunt visage the battle-ground of de- spair and indignation. ‘*Good Lawd! Kin I stagger up under it much longer? Kin I—shell I—must 1?” ‘Lend him a bat over the head with your club,” maliciously suggested the clerk, who alone caught a portion ef that beartsick soliloquy ; bot Solemn Saul fairly turned green with hor- ror at the idea, and fairly bolted from the spot. ‘“Tt’s a wearing work,” be grimly mused, as he left the hotel rapidly behind him, heading for the corner of the street designated by Fanny Black as their place of meeting. ‘It’s mighty trying on the constitution, I’m beginning to dis- cover, even this early; but business is business, and the end rope to justify the means. If we et there with both feet, the Sad Man isn’t go- ing to grumble out loud.” aul Sunday had ample time in which to con well the role he had chosen before that rendez- vous was kept, for Fanny was late in keeping her appointment, avd he had to do considerable tramping here and there to guard against arous- ing the curiosity and suspicion of such citizens as crossed bis path during those weary hi urs, It was pretty well along toward noon, when he first caught sight of his ‘* sweetness” ap- proaching the corner, and he drew a long sigh of relief as he recognized that tall, graceful figure, despite the long linen ulster by which its out- lines were disguised. “ Brace up, old man!” he muttered, something like admiration leaping into bis keen eyes as he saw how suddenly and perfectly the maid man- aged to disguise herself directly she saw her lover had recognized her figure, ‘‘She’s a daisy—of one sort! How’s that fcr a woman over head and ears iu love with a symphony in jet and gold?” From tall, Fanny Black became short, from erect she grew crooked, and in place of her quick, elastic tread, she seemed to shuffle as she walked, with the addition of a very natural limp. Good Lawd!” gasped Solemn Saul, as the lovers came together on tke corner, bis gaunt visage the picture of amazed sorrow and appre- hension. ‘* You didn’t ketch the rheumatics, honey dove, o’—” 8.s-s-t!” uttered the maid, casting a swift glance around them, as though she feared being spied upon, then resuming ber natural action for a space, as though to lend her laughing ex- planation more credit. ‘‘ No, you dear, silly goose, but if anybody should see me here with you, it might come to the ears of my mistress. And then—she'd never forgive me for joining in the plot against her peace of mind.” Solemn Sanl gave a breath of relief that al- most equaled a groan, and sought to fling an arm about that trim waist. But Fanny seem- ed far more coy now that the sun was sbining upon them, and deftly eluded his grasp, spring- ing back and shaking a warning finger before his face, ; ‘‘ How dare you, Saul?” with a frown that was scarcely less tempting than her smiles, it was so evidently assumed for the occasion, ‘* In broad daylight, and right where all the town can see you?” ‘Town to thunder, jest so it leaves me you, an’— Honey dove?” ** Well, silly?” ‘‘ Jest one—jest a weenty, teenty bit o’ one! Ef you only knowed how monstrous hun fer honey dew I’m gittin’ this holy minnit— an’ me waitin’, an’ watcbin’, an’ hopin’, an’ fearin’, an’ never knowin’ but et was playin’ roots unto me, ever sence the light begin to come crawlin’ up over them rocks in the yeast! Ef you only knowed all this, jest as I’m tellin’ of ye now, wouldn’t you, couldn’t you let me have air too long on an empty stomach, and thanks jest one?” Re ee ah yh, S wy Gomicbooks com >! a st ee ed ee oe