Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 551 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

—_—_ ce ee = = —_ oe lis a _ just how to reach her prejudices, ‘*T am worn out; the man has done his work and Iam crushed. Henceforth, farewell all that I hold dear! Farewell ambition, rank, high estate, personal triumphs and all that men and women should strive for! ‘ Farewell the tran- quil mind! — farewell content! — farewell the lumed troops, and the big wars, that make am- bition virtue!’ Bah! why do I fall into poetry? I can understand just how Othello felt, but why lament like a weak child? The world has seen how grand I can be in victory; it shall see how marble-like I cap be in defeat!” Despite her words the lady was anything but marble-like then. Her eyes were glittering; her fair cheeks had flushed with excitement; her fingers worked nervously over and between each other, and she was more like a caged tigress than the thing of marble her alert fancy had conjured up for the hour, ‘*Come!” expostulated Norman; ‘“‘ this talk is wrong.” cow hy?” ** You, of all persons, should not weaken.” ** Disgust, Sir, will sap the strongest ambi- tion.” ** Nonsense! You must rally—” “T decline to rally. Do you know that I came near breaking my engagement to meet you here?” The Kentuckian’s jaw fell, ** You did?” ** Verily, I did.” ‘6 Why ra ‘* Because, having decided to abandon hope, I thought it would be just as well to sink without making a bubble on the surface.” ** You shall not sink!” declared the colonel. ** It would be horrible to see a woman like you go down,”— he was thinking of his own schemes, not of ber—‘‘and I protest. Come, my dear madam—rally, ratly! What! one of your cour- age be prostrated because a stupid man has tried to set his iron heel upon you? Is that the proper way? Where is your spirit? Look you!—the eagle cannot be netted in a spider’s web, or the lion chained with a thread of silk. Where is your courage? Will you,a woman of divine gifts be conquered because a brutal husband says: * You are physically weak, and I am strong; you are my wife, and must obey me? Will you crouch under his testy humor, and kiss the hand which would make you a slave?’ The crafty colonel Knew just her, and he did his work well. She sat more erect, and hot anger flashed in her great, glittering eyes. ‘*There is one thing which does not occur to ou, colonel,” she responded, ‘I can go ahead ignore the judge and work for glory, but it will be purchased at great cost. I am proud, and, as muchas I despise him, I could not bear to have menand women point to me in the hour of triumph and say: ‘She isa woman cast off by her husband!’ I could not, would not, en- dure that!” Norman leaned forward and lowered his voice, ‘*Between you and me, they won't have a chance,” ‘* What do you mean?” ‘** Brackett is going to leave this city.” **T have not heard of it.” ‘*Nor has he; and right at this point comes in asecret. I have it on good authority that the Reds contemplate a riot. They are dissatis- fied with Brackett, who, of a truth, bas been mighty severe upon them, and they say the judge must leave town ordie. Naturally, he will leave. Now, this is no scarecrow, but solid fact; the Reds are going to run Brackett out of town. [ have it straight.” He had gained some information on the point, but by no means the whole truth. He callated that the contemplated uprising was to be con- fined to action against Brackett, and did not suspect that politics bad anything to do with it, or that the Reds intended to seize the City Hall, or commit any act of violence beyond the at- tack upon Brackett. ‘*The man has brought all this upon himself,” the Kentuckian continued, ‘*‘He has been a harsh, merciless judge, and has met all men, honest or otherwise, with the same cavalier treatment shown us to-day. Now, be is going down like a lump of lead. Are you willing to be involved in his ruin?” Mrs. Brackett made no reply, so Norman an- swered for her: ‘* Heaven forbid! Why should you suffer for that man’s folly? Let him go—as he must go, when the Reds rise. You aré not an object of their anger. You can remain here, and, freed from your incubus, can reign as queen more brilliantly than ever. A new career would be open to you, and all men would bow to your royal will. Unhampered by antagonistic ele- ments, what could you not do?” Still the lady was silent, but her face told the how to arouse ry. N i bad talked cunningly, and bad known He had done it well, and her towering ambition fell into line with his seductive arguments and pointed out a road which, though darkened by shadows of “raga if not of crime, led to glittering —_ * ~~. ’ - ‘ ‘ ‘a Garry But she answered nothing. Norman’s eyes were glittering, and he lower- ed his voice still more and presented the final argument, ‘“* When Brackett is driven out, he will be a man under a ban—ruined. You do not deserve to fall with him. Let him go, but go alone, You should remain here, where ali look up to, admire and love you. If you should desire,”— for one moment the colonel hesitated—‘** you can get a divorce, You would not lack suitors!” He had said ali that he had to say; he leaned back and awaited her reply. Mrs. Brackett turned her head aside and gazed at the objects Py the way without seeing them. She was confused, angry and uncer- More than that, she was a pitible ex- ample of misdirected energy. Her ambition was the curse of her life. No one knew better than she that eAbram lbrackett was aman of rare nobility, and that their present relations were wholly due to her own folly. He had never been cold and reserved to ber until her thirst for notoriety ran away with her judg- ment, and caused her to ra slights upon bim, She did not care for all that now. The man had refused to cater to her ambition, and her anger amounted to mad passion and hatred. Yet, she was not allevil. She would not have harmed him, or done what she considered a crime. Her temptation, craftily presented, was one to cast the judge off, apply for a divorce, and rule as an unrivaled, untrammeled queen in the social world of the poor little mining- town, Such was her temptation, but the pupil some- times outdoes the master, While Norman talked glowingly of life at Jack’s Delight, she lcoked past him, as it were. If she was free, why should she be content with the inter-mountain camp! Other places should be open to her—Boise City, Denver, San Fran- cisco—and, with her beauty, intelligence and cunning, she could make ber way anywhere. Slowly she turned again to Norman. ‘‘T will consider your suggestion,” she an- nounced, in a low voice. ‘You can arrive at but ore conclusion.” ‘*T think you are right.” = We are not black slaves—we of this genera- tion.’ ‘*One word: Can this matter be arranged so that people will not sneer at me?” ‘* Most certainly. You have only to remain behind when Brackett is driven ‘out. People will say you are well rid of him.” “IT will consider your words, and—it would not surprise me if I accepted!” She aroused and looked around like one arous- ing from sleep. have gone as far as I care to,” she added; ‘* we will turn back.” ‘*'You may drop me here, I have business to transact, and, besides, it would not be well for us to be seen too much together.” Mrs, Brackett did not object, and when the grand creature in buttons had turned the car- riage, Norman alighted. The carriage sped along the homeward road, while the colonel psy after it, smiled sarcastically and mut- tered: ‘** The bait has caught her; she is on the hook. Oh! woman, I thank Heaven that vanity is the birthright of the sisterhood!” Kean. tain. CHAPTER XXXIIL THE UPRISING OF THE REDS. Two days passed. The unnatural calm con- tinued at Jack’s Delight, and the court was without business, The last case had been dis- posed of, and no more were presented, The tur- bulent, drunken Reds seemed to have become the best of citizens. Foralong time they had practically supported the court, but they drank to excess no more; if they quarreled and fought, the fact was not known outside their own ranks: and a newspaper inan adjoining town, which had found Jack’s Delight a rich field, was growing tame in consequence of the city’s hal- cyon days. It was a delusive calm, but if some were de- ceived, this did not apply to the leaders of the better class, English John’s effort to give Garry Kean ali the credit for overhearing the plot in the saloon having been discovered by the latter, he wrote a note to Judge Brackett in which he asserted that he had not been seeking credit on a false basis; that John deserved all the praise in the case as far as the discovery went, but no praise whatever for trying to sbift all the glory ny aman who deserved none—namely, him- self. . . This frank, modest letter was answered by the Iron Judge in person, Hecalled upon Kean, and an amicable interview followed. He grace- fully admitted that be had been guided too much by prejudice in his former interviews with the ex-actor, and begged his pardon for what- ever injustice had been done, Garry met this friendly confession frankly, but did not abuse it, Without venturing to be more familiar or sociable, he answered courte- ously, but maintained the same dignity which had previously marked their conversation. 27 One step was gained, however: they were on better footing than before. English J a & and Garry were not idle during this lull. They knew that the Reds were at work, and they set out to watch them. They had the best of luck. The Reds’ old confidence in John’s harmlessness did not waver, and as he lived in their very midst, he was able to see and hear a good deal that was of interest. Garry visited him only at night, and the schemers did not suspect how much danger lurked in the little hut above which fluttered the Stars and Stripes, On the third day the first real note of warning reached Abram Brackett. It was in a ncte which Job brought bim, and which that person said was given him by Garry Kean, and the judge easily recognized the ex-actor’s bold, legi- ble writing in the few lines which followed: “The blow will fall to-night. They have perfected their plans, and will strike shortly after twelve o’clock. Their force will be divided, and directed as follows: A small detachment will attack your house. The building—if they have their way—will be burned to the ground. We do not learn that any harm will be offered Mrs. or Miss Brackett, but it is their avowed purpose to violently expel you from the town. The enmity of Nathan Bradley is svulely responsible for this Tar and feathers are mention- ed, but it is only reasonable to suspect that there is something back of this, and, once in their hands, your life may be in danger. “The second and larger force will attack the City Hall. As before indicated, they intend to seize the rifles kept there, and then, in case the ‘ Blacks’* re- sist, use the building fora fort. Later indications emphasize the fact that they are terribly in earnest, and that this city will be fortunate to escape a reign of terror and of blood. We might use many words to impress the solemnity of the times upon your . mind, but we believe that you fully realize how crit- ical the case is.”’ Brackett read with his usual calmness, and then went to see Sheriff White. Tbis he did in a way not calculated to arouse suspicion, but they had a long conference, The day passed; night fell. For several hours all was quiet. The Reds, by Nathan Bradley’s orders, passed the evenin as usual, and there was no suspicious sign untit after midnight. Then, when the honest folks were supposed to be asleep, the rioters gathered quietly. Bradley assigned every nan toa designated place. A few were scattered to points where no fighting was to be expected, but active sery- ice was marked out for the majority Of these, twenty men, under Thad Johnson, were to go to Brackett’s house, burn that buildivg, and visit the anger of the rioters upon the master thereof. The remainder were to go with Bradley to seize and, afterward, defend the City Hall. Johnson marched his force silently along until a position near the doomed house was gained. Then he drew out a watch, with which he had been provided, and awaited the exact time set by hissuperior. The big ruffian was exulting abeaay in the expected triumph, and a more merciless leader could not have been found. He finally closed the watch with a sharp click, ‘* Time’s up!” Le announced. His followers were glad of it, and they said as much, Thad led them to the house, which they - | proceeded to surround, skulking close to the sides where the shadows would conceal them, Johnson walked to the door and kaocked. He had expected considerable delay, but there was next tonone, An upper window was rais- ed and a head was thrust out. ‘‘ Who's there?’ inquired a voice, very dis- tinctly. ; e- Me,” Thad answered. ‘* lve come from the mayor, with a message for the jedge, an’ I want ter see him right away.” “You will have to go to the City Hall,” an- nounced the same voice, even more clearly than before. ‘* Hey?” cried Johnson, se Ju City Hall, where he has an engagement with Nate Bradley’s Reds. We, however, are here as his representatives, and we are prepared to receive all comers. We shall not open the door, however, so your heelers need not skulk by the house. Thad Johnson, you have a big con t if you think to do damage here! e are on- ty your game, and will shoot the first man who ~ tries to enter here!” The man at the window had ken, and his words had been to the point, Thad stood in dumfounded silence, staricg upward blankly. No one could fail to unde what had been said, but his head was thick, and he could hard- ly realize what his judgment told him. The elaborate scheme of the Reds had miscar- ~ ried? Impossible! He must have heard sles He was the victim of a hallucination—of a jo —but that the plot was public property—that VS was out of the question. | He lifted his voice weakly. ““ Say, up there?” * What isit?” ‘‘ What did you say?’ A mocking laugh followed. ‘There are none so deaf as those who will | not er vou caught on all right, bully John- Eomicboo € ge Brackett and all his family are at the ~< : +. 2 "ted a” ~ : -* jf ' - Ts : 1 1 ae ‘\, t .