Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 545 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

ny ler Harry, the Cowboy With no trouble at all he passed onward into the back room, closing the door behind him. speaking in his natural voice, As Hustler Harry | he disguises his true voice in a measure,” He found himself in utter darkness, but Old | Shark was prepared for just such emergencies, From his pocket he drew forth a small lumin- ous ball, about as large as a common hen’s egg. This he held by a tiny cord. filled with liquid fire and shed a soft light which enabled the detective to examine anything with- in three or four feet of the strange little lan- tern, Holding the luminous ball above his head, Old Shark advanced straight along a short, ball- like passage. He passed a door on the right ahd one on the left, both of which probably opened into small rooms, peared to be the solid face of the cliff, Holding his strange light close to the rock he examined it swiftly and closely. Its surface was scarred and seamed. ‘**T believe there is a secret door here,” thought the detective. At the same time he realized that he might be wrong. One of those side doors might lead toa room tromwhich there was a passage into the secret cavern which he felusure existed in that vicinity. Possibly the cave was reached by go- ing down through a trap door into a cellar. But, Old Shark resolved to examine everything thoroughly as far as he went. He was used to discovering springs by which secret doors were operated, and at once began to work around the wall with a short-bladed knife. Suddenly he did touch a hidden spring. Then slowly and noiselessly a great square mass of rock moved from him, showing a dark open- ing. Rapressing an expression of satisfaction, the detective stooped low down and entered the place. He soon stood erect within a narrow passage. Hearing a sound behind him, he wheeled swiftly only to find that the entrance had closed of its own accor.l, probably worked by invisible weights and springs. The bravest of men will at times experience feclings of fear, and for an instant Old Shark wished himself out of that dark place, But he cboked down every thought of retreat and slowly advanced, holding the luminous globe above his head. His knife had been replaced by aself-acting revolver, and he was prepared for any sudden emergency, The passage Was narrow ana winding, being not more than four feet wide by from seven to ten feet high. Sbark moved forward with the greatest cau- tion, for be knew not bow soon he might come upon some unlooked-for danger. But in that respect he was fortunate, . e had proceeded quite a distance when the sound of voices came to bis ears. Hastily he placed the luminous ball in his pocket, and then sence still in the dense darkness, listening breath- essly. Again the far-away murmur of voices came to his ears. “The gang is not far away,” he thought. ** Now, old man, use your utmost caution,” Again he crept forward, keeping his left hand against the wall. The passage soon began to w wider, but as he was in utter darkness, the etective was not aware of this fact. The sound of voices became plainer as he ad- vanced. Several times he paused to listen. He decided that the speakers were not conversing in low tones, He finally turned a bend in the pastas and saw a glow of light not far ahead, Redoubling his caution, he pressed forward. He could now hear one man speaking in a tone which indicated that he probably was ad- dressing several others. Old Shark soon reached a point where he could gaze into a brilliantly-lighted cavern chamber. The chamber was not very large, and was cir- cular in sbape, although the wails were very irregular. Twoswinging lamps were susy ended from the roof, There were a number of rude benches which were occupied by dark-robed and masked figures, Standing upon a platform raised a foot or more above the levelof the floor was a figure wearing a white robe and a white mask. This person was speaking, while bis left hand rested on an altay-like structure ‘beside him. Upon the breast of each of the dark-robed figures was a crimson heart, From the peaked caps upon their heads dangled a short cord with a red ball at the end which looked like a huge drop of blood. There was also a crimson heart up m the breast of the white-robed figure. The altar-like structure was covered with a white cloth, upon the front of which were a dark skull and cross-bones. Not a weapon of any kind was visible about the strange throng. ; The detective’s eyes glowed as they rested upon the uliar scene. It was not the first time that he had witnessed the private meeting of some secret league. The individual who wore the white robe was evidently the chief, and Old Shark started as he " heard the man’s voice. ‘*Jack Tackaloo, [ll venture something!” softly breathed the spy. ‘‘The fellow is now ? The ball seemed | ‘Our failure to-night to capture the prize through which we hoped to get our bands on the Red Star Mine is unfortunate,” said the chief, ‘*Number Five reports that he did his level best, and lost the game just when he seemed to have everything in bis fingers. ‘But itis not that of which I wish most to speak, Dangers are multiplying around us. | Some of the Brotherhood remember the unfor- Then he came to what ap- | | detective who is in Cimarron City to-night. tunate ending of that job we tackled in Squaw Canyon, away up in Montana, nearly a year ago, We failed to secure the yellow wealth which wedesired and a rash old map met his deash by a sudden blow. Brothers, that trage- dy is not forgotten, and to-day a Nemesis is on our trail. You all know of whom I speak, as this matter has been brought up before. This Nemesis must be removed in some manner, ‘* But more to be dreaded than all others is ae am confident that he is here to demoli-h this Brotherhood. In fact, 1 am positive that this is true. He is employed by some of the moneyed men of the camp—men who are deadly enemies of the Brothers of the Red Heart. His name is Dan Shark, and he is commonly known as Old Shark, the Shadow. This man is one of the most crafty and determined human bloodhounds in existence. If he has come here to hunt us down and is allowed to live he will overthrow the very mountains but he will accomplish his purpose, ‘* There is yet another danger, of which I will not speak, as it menaces ine more than the league. But I have said enough to show you our position. ‘The time has arrived to strike in our own defense, and strike swift and sure, Let no man hesitate to do his duty. Let us all re- member our sacred oaths, and also remember that whatever we do is done for our own safety. It is death to our foes or death to us!” The man stopped speaking, but stood gazing at the throng. e seemed to be noting the ef- fect of his words, but if this was the case, le could not have derived much satisfaction from the grim silence which the dark cloaked figures maintained. As for Old Shark, he was not a little surprised by what he had heard, His object in coming to Cimarron had been farfrom hunting down the Brothers of the Red Heart. In fact, he had known nothing of tie existence of such an or- ganization until after he reached the camp, But he fancied that he knew the object of the white- robed ehief. ‘*T am after Jack Tackaloo,” inwardly solilo- quized the spy. ‘‘ Tackaloo is chief of this in- fernal league, and if he succeeds in convincing them that I am here to hunt down the band, every man will feel an interest in my removal. Thus the job may be done without Tackaloo himself striking a blow.” ‘* Brothers,” the chief again spoke up, “‘it is not necessary that we should choose a certain individual to execute the will of the league, We should all be willing to strike fer our own safety. Let every one who will do so hold up his left hand—the one nearest his heart.” Up went the left hands of the dark-robed Brothers. The chief also raised his left hand. As he did so, the flowing sleeve of the white gown fell away from the man’s wrist and’ the brilliant light showed Old Shark somethirg that caused him to clasp his hands over his mouth to repress an exultant exclamation. he crimson heart-shaped birthmark was there! ‘* My bird!” whispered the detective, with in- tense satisfaction. ‘‘ I thought so before; now I know.” ‘*Good!” exclaimed the chief, as the Brothers of the Red Heart lowered their hands, ‘* Every man has expressed a willingness to do his duty, and I do not think one will fail, Is there any- thing further to come before the meeting?” ‘* Tt is time for me to be getting out of this,” thought Old Shark. ‘My throat would prob- pr be cut in an instant if I were discovered ere. Then a sudden paralyzing thought came to him. He had succeeded in openite the secret door from the outer side, but could he repeat the act from the inner side? The chances were that he could not. ‘* Tt would mean sure death to be caught at the narrow end of this passage,” thought Shark. *“‘Tf I should go there and try to open the door, I might fail until they came and found me, Then I would be caught likearatin trap. I could only sell my life as dearly as possible, but I do not believe in that kind of business. I have a desire to kick around a little longer.” But what was to be done? Old Shark resolved to discover what he could do. Waiting to hear nothing further, he turned back into the passage, The light from the lighted chamber had shown him that the pas- sage was at least ten feet wide at the mouth. Might it not be wider in places? It was possible that he could find some place of concealment in a dark niche, From his position at the mouth of the the detective bad seen the mouths of other dark passages which opened into the chamber, but ’ cabin, ZO RLS BATT Cates Sport oe —— —EE eee » rte ae 4 ‘ ps) ae! — neither of these could be reached without step- ping out into the light, where one would be seen by the entire band. When he had proceeded a short distance, Old Shark took the luminous globe from his pocket. This be held low down, and peered sharply to the right and left as he hurried onward. ‘‘Tf I cannot find a place of concealment there I will try the secret door,” came faintl through the desperate detective’s lips. ‘If fail there—” He did not complete the sentence. He knew well enough what failure meant. Suddenly a little gasp of pleasure came from Old Shark’s lips. e espied a deep fissure in the wall. Just outside of this fissure lay a bowlder. * Thank Heaven!” he breathed, and within his soul he felt that it was almost a special provision of Providence. He lost no time in climbing over the bowlder and crouching down behind it in the darkness, It was a capital hiding-place. His chance of being discovered there was small, indeed. Placing the Juminous ball in his pocket, he remained perfectly quiet and waited. He had quite given up all hope of capturing Jack Tack- aloo just then if, indeed, he did so that night. He would wait until he was well out of the den of the Red Heart Brotherhood before he attempted if. Nearly thirty minutes passed ere he heard the tramp of advancing feet. Lower crouched the daring and fortunate spy, and silently the un- suspecting men filed past his place of conceal- ment, Without a word they passed on, and Old Shark drew a long breath of relief. For more than thirty minutes the detective re- mained in his place of concealment. Then feel- ing quite sure that all of the band had left the cave, he arose and climbed over the bowlder in- to the passage. ‘* Now to get out of here,” he muttered, as he again produced the luminous ball, A few minutes later he was fumbling around the secret door at the mouth of the passage. For more than an hour he searched for the means of opening the door. At the end of that time he found that he had accomplised nothing. With an exclamation of disgust and despair he stamped fiercely on the ground, Then he was amazed to see the heavy door swing toward him, His foot had struck a block of loose stone less than six inches square beneath which was a lever which connected with the mechanism that. worked the door. With great haste Old Shark crouched and passed through the opening. The door closed silently behind him. He walked along the short, narrow passage and listened at the door which opened into the front room, The regular breathing of a sleep- ing person came to his ears. Silently he opened the door and stole into the room. The light had been extinguished, but the little ball, as he swung it slowly roung his head dimly showed him the room, ‘There was no one save himself in it. Then he realized that the heavy breathing had come from one of the rooms with which the doors that opened into the passage communicated, Cautiously the detective stole across the floor, unfastened the outer door, and passed out into the night, CHAPTER X, BLACK JOE ON HAND, ‘‘ Fo’ de lub ob Hebben, missy, I’se seen him down dar shore!” ‘¢ Whom do you mean?’ demanded Ruth Fos- colo, catching the excited darky by the arm. ‘* Not Philip Barret?” ‘* Hope I may die ef ’twarn’t!” was Black Joe’s emphatic assertion, as he stood before her, still panting for breath after his hard climb. The girl’s eyes glowed, and she trembled in ever'v limb. ‘*You are sure?” she panted; “‘ you are sure— sure?” ‘* Shore’s ye’r’ breafin’, Ides see’d ’im wif my two eyes, an’ I beerd ’im talk, He’s down dar, I tells ye, av’ I knows w’at ’m sayin’.” For a few moments Ruth was too excited to question the darky further. But she soon grew calmer, and succeeded in drawing out the story of Joe’s adventures. The old negro made a rg broken narrative, but the girl understood it fully. e3 Fate has sent him here!” she declared, ‘‘ The time has come for me todo the work of ven- geance. May the memory of my poor old father, stricken down by that wretch’s cowardly hand, nerve my arm!” ** Amen!” said Black Joe solemnly, ** Joe, I am going down there.” **Ts yo’ goin’ now . “Yes, at once. I cannot delay. If I draw back now with him so near, my resolution may fail. I have sworntoavenge that dearest and kindest of men, Come!” ‘ The negro was still breathing heavily from the hard climb, but, Ruth took no notice of that. Her thoughts were fixed on the accom- plishment of her deadly object. She extingaibey the light within the little and they passed out into the darkness, nm ~- Nia Se o)ey@) a 4 co a ls 2S odey wa f