Beadle's Dime Library No. 801 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

te Eee | (RTs ** You shall have the best, and at ten dollars a week, which 1s cheap.” ‘i doa’t complain of the price, miss, if the roon is good.” ‘* A seaman, I take it?’ ‘ Yes, aud from a long voyag>.” ‘‘Then you doubtless have got your pay all with you, so you’d better let me lock it upin my safe for you, as you might be robbed, as this is a wicked town.” **So Pve heard.” ‘* You don’t know it then?” ‘*Haven’t been here fora great many years.” ‘*Then take my advice, for I speaks as one who kuows, and be careful who you trust, for maybe you have enough about you to make it worth while to wicked men to take your life to get it.” ** lve got considerable money, miss, and when I go to my room Ill fix up a package for you to ‘keep for me, if you'll give me an envelope.” ‘Certain! DPlldoall Lean fer you, for I like you, and I’d treat you as I'd do for my own bro- ther, if he had money.” ‘*T don’t doubt it, miss, for vour face shows it,” was the dubious compliment, Then Mistress Betty ordered a hottle, as “ her treat,’ and bringing some envelopes left Lons- dale to drink the wine alone, for she said it was too early in the evening for her to indulge, when he invited her to share it with him. At last he arose and Nick showed him to his room, which, as Mistress Betty said, was the best, causing him to say: “Heaven have mercy upon those who occupy the worst.”’ Once iu the room he put some worthless papers in One Of the envelopes, and marked upou it: dollars, “* To be kept for Sharp.”’ 1; was not long before Mistress Betty knocked at the door, and said, as she opened it, before he could bid her enter: a, f came to see if you were comfortable, sir.’ ‘* Perfectly at home, miss,” he replied, in per- fect imitation of one who was under the in- _ fluence of liquor. **T hope you will ask for all you wish, sir, anlif youhave any friends who would like to liva here also, Pll make a deduction in my price for you.” ‘**{ naven't a friend in the world, landlady.” ** Oh, don’t say that, sur, for I am your friend; but as I see that second bottle of wine was a little too much for you, perbaps you had better give me your valuables to put in the safe.” ‘“‘ That’s so,” was the answer, and the envel- ope was handed over, causing Mistress Betty’s eyes to open wide when she saw the sum mark- ed on the back, ' ** Now lie down and takoa nap, sir, for you need it.” ‘* Pil do&’o,” and Lonsdale sunk down upon _ -—~-—« the uncomfortable bed, while Mistress Betty departed. iL He heard her stand outside an instant, then, as he breathed hard, tne door was locked and she went away. Instantly he arose and discovered that the _ door could not be locked from the inside, while _ there was no window in the room, only a sky- Se ight overhead. ~ . . *T fear ve gotten into a scrape, in ventur- ; ing into the den of the lioness,” he muttered. i after he heard a step in the hall, and at once threw himself upon the bed and feigned to The door opened and there entered softly a : Riek, the young man whom he had seen in the a __, Nick came to the bed and felt his pulse, mut-) tering: * A good pulse for a man who took that et hy drink. It was not strong enough to «settle him; but this will do it.” - ._ As he spoke he took a bottle from his pocket, drew out the cork and was about to pour the - eontents into the mouth of the eappone sleeper, ae when it was struck from his handand fell upon _ the floor, shivering into atoms, . At the same instant the grasp of Lionel _ _Lousdale’s strong bond was upon the throat of the intended murderer, and his left fist was driven sevcral times, with telling force, into his > face, “ Doctor ’’ Nick, as he was called, for he ~~ had been a medical student, was taken by sur- prise, and, though a powerful fellow, he had - taore than met his match at the hands of the mon whom he had deemed wholly in his * One thousand 2 * ¢ & ee 4 f a te * Sw - 7 = « at -_ ‘4 yee 7 oe ‘ power, «Rendered unconscious from the. choking, and stunned by the blows, Nick was thrown upon the bed, and seizing his sachel, Lonsdale qnick- ly placed the contents about his person anu left _. Mistress Betty started and turned ;pale at sight of him, but he said in a well-assumed drunken way: iss, for [ don’t oe NS oe Yo a drug store, m Ef. going to fellexactly right. I’ll’be back.” SRS No, let me send out and get what you a e, ; fie ee py get it myself,” and so saying Tonsdale _ | ‘Walked up the steps, Mistress Betty dream- a4 ; 4 ‘ 4 w : ~~ nn 2 ’ i A ay es -? i of i r- 2 ha - ~~. The Pointing i, ————————————— nnn LT a He at wm = 89% © ~, ae ing that he had so cleverly outwitted her and mastered her son, until the latter appeared with swollen, bleeding face, and cried out: — ‘* He nearly ended my life, mother!” ‘** We are ruined!” groaned Mistress Betty, in dire alarm, CHAPTER XITI. THE SECRET OF A GRAVE. WHEN the one who appeared to be chief of the band of mysterious men, who met under- ground in that dismal chamber which was call- ed ‘* The Tomb,” asked the question as to where was the third personage who had been sent off upon the secret mission to the grave of Colonel Lonsdale, all eyes were turned upon Captain Kit and Buster. ‘* Kit, where is Bruiser Bill?’ sternly asked the chief. ‘** Dead, chief,” was the solemn reply. ‘* Who killed him?” quietly asked the masked master, as sli started at the response of Kit. ‘* It was the will of God!” ** Bah! what do you mean¥sir?” was the stern uery. 4 ** Chief, I'l] tell my story, sir, and you will see that it is not intended that we should rob that ave,’ **Go on, sir,” said the chief of the Water Wolves, but be was without doubt impressed by the manner of the man to whom he addressed his words, ‘* Chief, when you told us here that vou knew there was a fortune in the grave of Colonel Lonsdale, and you wanted men to go and get it, bad as is our band of Water Wolves, it was no easy task to get those who would go, for you know the old superstition that he who robs a grave must hang.” ‘* Come, what happened there?” sternly asked the masked chief. ‘* Bruiser Bill,” continued Kit, in the same strain, ‘‘ was the only man who would consent to open the grave, though Mate Buster and my- self went with him.” ‘* That we ajl know, and you have returned, and he is dead you say.” ‘* Yes, sir, we are here, and he is dead.” ‘¢ And what caused his death, I ask you?” im- patiently said the chief, ‘*He took your map and the tools, when we ran into the little cove and landed him, and went alone to the grave. ‘¢ A storm was threatening, and soon it broke; but Bill did not return, and we turried in out of the wet and went to sleep. ‘It was dawn when we awoke, and yet Bill had not returned. So we went ashore to look him up. We reached the hilltop and saw the little grave with the headstones in it, as you de- scribed to Bill, and going toward it discovered that a large tree had been struck by lightning, and there, lying upon it, where he had made but a few strokes with his shovel, lay Bruiser Bill.” ** Dead?” ‘Yes, sir.” | ‘Struck by Pghtning?” ** Yes, chief,” ‘* Well?” ‘* ft was God’s punishment upon him, and it just made Buster and me heartsick, and we ran away from the grave as quickly as possible.” ‘*Fools! cowards! Why did you not open the grave yourselves?” ‘Touch that grave? Never!” *¢ Not for a million,” said Buster. ‘“Well, you acted like cowards, and fools, too, for I have reason to know that that grave con- teins that which will bring to us vast riches.” ‘*T wouldn’t touch a dollar I got from it,” de- clared Kit, firmly. | ‘*Who will, then?” asked the chief, and bis eyes read the faces before him. Not a man spoke, and again came the ques- tion: “3 Who of you will go and rob that grave, I ask? Still no reply. ‘* Chief, we were seen leaving the place by some one, for he hailed us as we were under way. and we crowded on all sail.” ‘*Do you think that he discovered the body of Bruiser Bill?” ‘*T am sure of it, for he went back toward the grave.” ‘* Are you sure that Bill was dead?” **Oh, yes, for his shovel and lantern were ai coak up by the lightning, and his face was ack, The chief tapped impatiently upon the desk before him, and no oue spoke until the Silence was most impressive, Then hesaid: | ‘* Well, I want a man to go to thespot and see if Bill's body has been buried, or is still there, for it is a desolate place and few go there. Who will go?” Noone answered. ‘* A hundred dollars to the man who will go to that spot and get the information I need.” Not a voice rose in penis and, with a mutter- ed imprecation the chief said: ** You are as brave as lions and vicious as tigers when it comes to facing a foe, fighting the ey pr and gets are a burglary; but let tgninal teint choy, Ps eS % i. a“ 4 Finger. stern. . ; P * ‘ * “4 ¥ Neal — ~9 yA un” | ey oe 6 } i - . \ \ | are as cowardly as jackals, and your supersti- tion governs you wholly. ‘* Well, I will have to go myself, I see, and solve the secret that hangs about this grave. Who have reports to make?” Thus the chief dismissed the subject, and at the last question the men promptly responded, coming up one by one and reporting certain transactions of an illegal matter entered into, burglaries committed and other deeds of a guilty character, Dismissing the band, the chief turned and dis- appeared through the sable curtains, the bones fastened thereon rattling ominously together as he did so. On the other side of the curtains was agnarrow hall, or cellarway, with what appeared to be massive brick pillars to support the structure overhead; but, by touching a certain brick in one of these pillars, which was some three feet in diameter, it slowly began to descend into the flooring, revealing the fact that it was wood- work cased in brick, and with a small iron lad- der running up through it. When it bad descended so that the ton was level with his shoulders, the chief sprung upon it and stepped upon the ladder, and as he ascend- ed the pillar rose into position once more, Ascending the ladder, which led up a chimney to the top floor of a house that fronted upon the street back of the one upon which stood Mistress Betty’s tavern, the chief touched a spring and what appeared to be a wall swung open like a door, revealing a closet, into which he stepped. Closing the aperture behind him, no one would have suspected that the closet wall, upon which bung wearing 2g of various. kinds, was otherwise than solid. Opening the glass door of the closet, the man stepped out into a luxuriously furnished room, where sat a person in an easy-chair. It wasa young girl of perhaps twenty-two, with a face that was handsome, yet hardlv wo- manly, for it was haughty, cold and almost Still it was a face to command admiratic., al- most awe, and her form was exquisite in its per- fection. She was engaged in reading a novel, and glanced upsvithout surprise as the man entered, while she said,in a languid way, that seemed natural to her: ‘* You are back soon, King.” ‘* Yes, there wus little to do to-night, though much to hear,” and the man threw himself into an easy-chair, pinched off the end of a cigar, and, removing his mask, settled himself for a smoke to quiet himself, for he seemed in ill- bumor. “ Anything gone wrong?” asked the woman, with a shade of anxiety. ‘* Yes, Queen, the cruise of the Ow] failed.” ‘* How so?” ‘A gtreak of lightning killed Bill Bolton while he was digging into the grave,” The woman’s face flushed, and then paled, 3 while she said: ‘¢ Can this be true?” ‘* Why, you look as scared over it as did those ignorant tools of mine.” ny ‘‘And you are not free from superstition about that grave, King, and this does look as though it was not intended that we should have the—” ‘*Bah! I will not be turned from my path for that for which L have sinned so deeply and plotted so long. There is a vast sum hidden somewhere, and that we must have,” “Tf itis to be found. But for the madness of that poor man, Patsey Belt, you—” — ‘*T beg you not to speak of him, for I wish to forget that man’s face.” ‘*Can you?” 7 { ‘No! no! I would to God Icoujd; but this hidden fortune left by Colonel Lon ale must be found, so bring your woman’s wit to bear on some plot, be ft what it may, that we can get ++ 69? ‘¢] will do all I can, as you know, King; but are you going so soon?” and, as she spoke, the man sprung to his feet. **T must— sang, a and expect me to-mor- row,” and taking a key from his pocket, hv un- locked a drawer of a writing-desk, taking outa wig and false beard, which he put on. hey had both been made with such skil) that no one would have suspected them of heing false, and thus disguised, he took upa slouch hat and leftthe room and the house, descending | by way of a Meh wan ee stairway, and enter- ing the street through a handsomely furnished | As he departed from the room, the woman touched a bell, and in response a maid-servant a ' cla ila ama “ a eS < ~~? —_—, -_ ew —— Se oe pe mM Chispa, I will have my supper now.” ‘* Yes, my lady, and the master?” ‘‘He has just gone and will not be here for supper,” and the woman returned to her novel as Chispa, her maid, departed But though her eyes were upon the book, ber thoughts were elsewhere.asshe murmured aloud: ‘Yes, that hidden fortune of Lonsdale’s must veel be found at any cost, for the shadow of deathis =—§s_—- ever before us in this struggling life we now bop cbooks.com