Idaho Springs siftings., September 27, 1902, Image 8

About Idaho Springs siftings. (Idaho Springs, Colo.) 1900-1905

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A WARRIOR BOLD.
By ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE ,
Author of “Little Mitt Million*," “ The Spider’*
Web," "Dr. Jack'* Widow’," "Mil* Caprice," etc
Gmpj right. 1001. Street Smith. New Yorh-
C'HAFTER XI.
Hot Shot.
One look told Charlie that his
friend had good news.
Artemus was fairly bubbling over
with the intelligence he had picked
up.
Such a smile upon the face of Bar
naby looked bad for Capt. Brand and
his great game; the foundations of
his Spanish castle were getting shaky,
and possibly the whole tremendous
structure must come crashing down,
engulfing him in the ruins.
“What’s the word?” asked Artemus.
“All goes on serenely, so far as I
know.”
Artemus shut one eye.
“There’s some high old fun in pros
pect”
“Well, yes, I suppose so; St. Pat
rick’s day is always Dooming with
good cheer in New York.”
“Ah! I mean for us; for our friend
the captain.”
“That strikes closer home. Now, I
knew you were the bearer of good
news when I saw you enter.”
“I always said I was born under a
lucky star, and this settles it beyond
peradventure.”
“Well, tell me your adventures, and
how good fortune attended you. All
of which shall be to the glory of our
cause, the vindication of truth and
right, and the utter demoralization of
Capt. Brand.”
“Come over here, where comfort
and velvet chairs await us, and pre
pare yourself for a surprise that will,
I guess, surpass anything you ever
heard.”
So they settled down.
Charlie endeavored to retain his
composure and possess his soul in
patience.
He knew Artemus of old and that a
ceremony had to be gone through with
ere he would disgorge the secrets he
possessed, such as would not disgrace
the cross-questioning in one of the
higher courts.
“Well, now, you know what hopes
I had with regard to the fellows on
the Rialto; how I built up air-castles
' concerning the finding of one or more
among them who knew Macauley by
heart, and would, for a proper consid
eration, take pleasure in denouncing
him to his face.
“I only ran across one man who had
played upon the boards with the
great Macauley; he declared he would
know him under any disguise; that
his mannerisms must always betray
his individuality even though he rep
resented an Arab or a heamen
Chinee.”
“Ah; that’s the man we want,” said
Charlie.
“And that’s the man we won't get.
You see, he had one experience wiw
Macauley, and to this day he declares
the mention of the man always sends
a chill up and down his spinal column.
In a word, he fears him worse than
the devil fears holy water, and nei
ther bribes nor pleading could in
duce him to say he would open his
batteries on Brand. The most I could
get him to promise was to see the
other from a safe hiding-place and
then secretly give us his opinion, with
the iron-bound proviso that his name
would never appear in the matter.”
Charlie elevated his eyebrows.
“I should say that man was a little
bashful.”
“He admitted the soft impeachment,
and confessed to a ghastly fear. No
Macauley for him, thank you. A
burnt child dreads the fire, you know.”
“It might be some satisfaction to
us if he added the weight of his secret
testimony to our own strong convic
tions in the matter; that is, it would
perhaps influence Lady Arline.”
“No doubt, no doubt.”
“Will it pay to summon him, then?”
This direct method of questioning
was the best way of assisting Arte
mus along.
It compelled an answer, and thus
necessitated the unmasking of his
strong batteries.
"I hardly think so.”
“You know best, but 1 should like to
hear your reasons for refusing what
small favors the gods throw in our
way.”
“And you shall, Charlie, my boy.
In the first place, it would hardly pay
us to depend at all upon such secret
testimony. If we could Inject some
alcoholic fluid into this low comedian.
f to give him backbone, so that he
would face Brand and finish the game
in a blaze of glory, it would do very
well; but I fear the only thing that
would give the poor devil artificial
courage, would at the same tim,e steal
away his senses, so that our cause
would hardly make much progress.
Don’t you agree with me?”
Charlie nodded in the affirmative.
“That is one reason, you see. It
wouldn’t pay to bother with such a
witness; time and labor and good
point I wish to make. His evidence
isn’t needed.”
“Ah!”
“Since I have found another way
of ensnaring the wonderful Capt.
Brand in a net which must render him
utterly helpless. When the Rialto
prospects grew dim, I had in my mind
another alternative, by which I meant
to make one last, desperate move, you
know. It was suggested by something
you said a long time back, in case
business took us to London.
“First of all, I began to make dili
gent inquiries among the various ship
ping houses down in the region about
Fulton market, and soon struck oil.
“One man remembered the Hespa
sia and her sad fate perfectly. He had
sailed a voyage on her, and was later
on connected in some clerical way
with the American branch of the
house in whose interests she was
sailed up to the time of her loss.
“That branch house is still in exist
ence and only a block away from
where we stood talking at the mo
ment; if interested in the Hespasia
or her gallant captain, I could not do
better than to turn in and make in
quiries there.
“When I opened my business with a
little gray-headed chap, who was resi
dent agent,l wish you could have seen
him jump about six inches off the
floor, while the look of astonishment
on his face was quite killing. For, as
he presently informed me, as luck
would have it, I had come asking
about a vessel lost many years ago,
about which no vestige had ever been
discovered, in the very hour that the
sole survivor of the luckless Hespa
sia had been sitting there in the
same chair I occupied, and telling the
most thrilling tales of his adventures
in the deserts of Africa —the most ex
citing that ever fell from the lips of
mortal man.”
"That was quite a unique situation
—to sit in the same chair and this
survivor of the Hespasia wreck had
ocoupied within the hour. How it
must have stirred your blood and set
your nerves tingling! And then, just
to think what rollicking adventures
he had to tell of his life in Africa. By
the way, haven’t we heard something
in that line before? I have an indis
tinct recollection of listening to some
very entertaining reminiscences that
rivaled the feats of old Munchausen.
Perhaps, after all, it was only a
dream.”
“Plainly, then, you think the old
boy has been up to his tricks, and
spinning his yarns to a fresh audi
ence,” Artemus remarked.
“I confess that thought came to
me.”
"Well, it struck me that way—at
first.”
“Ah! then you found occasion to
change your mind?”
“I did.”
“And it wasn’t the ogre?” breath
lessly.
“Not a bit of it.”
Then Charlie gave vent to a
whistle.
There were two Richmonds in the
field.
The man they knew as Capt. Brand
had a rival for the honors.
It was growing decidedly interest
ing, and Charlie Stuart realized that
his friend had certainly stumbled
upon news of importance.
Here, then, was Mate Ben Hazen,
come to the surface after his long ex
ile.
Yes, it was a grand stroke of
luck.
They could doubtless easily prevail
upon the mate to meet the imposter
face to face, and tear away the mask
with which he had all this time con
cealed his identity.
Surely he would be willing to do
this for the sake of his old captain’s
daughter.
No wonder Charlie felt pleased.
"Well,” he said, at length, “it be
gins to look like business, I declare.”
“Very much so,’ remarked Artemus.
“I can readily see there is some
great fun in prospect if we can bring
these two wonderful African travelers
into contact.”
"Oh! glorious!”
“And if we can get the mate to de
nounce this old ogre, our end is
gained.”
“Who is to denounce him?”
“Why, Ben Hazen, the mate, of
course.”
“Ah! where will you find him?”
“I thought—that is, I understood,
or, at least, I took it for granted, you
had found him.”
Artemus slowly shook his head in
the most tantalizing manner.
“I never said so.”
“Then I jumped at conclusions, and
was wrong?”
“You were.”
“If Ben Hazen is out of the ques
tion, I suppose this is one of the crew
who has turned up?”
Artemus lay back in his chair, with
thumbs in the armholes of his vest.
His attitude was consequential and
triumphant; it plainly gave warning
that he was about to Are a volley.
“Guess agaiii.”
"I am at my wits’ ends.”
“How about the genuine Simon
Pure captain?”
I Charlie caught his breath.
“Good Heavens! that would be
the most stupendous thing on record
coincidence without a parallel. But
see here,” as he detected a quizzical
gleam in the other’s fun-loving eyes,
“this Is too serious a thing to joke
about, you know, my dear fellow.”
“You bet it is.”
“And you are in dead earnest?”
“Never more so in all my life —
cross my heart if it isn’t so.”
Then Charlie realized that he could
believe him.
“Tell me,” he said, eagerly, “were
you incredulous at first?”
“Rather.”
“And how did you set about prov
ing matters?”
“I saw only one way—that was to
look up this new claimant for the
honors.”
“You did It?”
“I had to. You see, I couldn’t rid
myself of the idea that it might after
all be Macauley, our ogre, spinning
his spider web.”
“That would have struck me the
first thing.”
“Well, with me it was somewhat
different, for the case stood out so
clearly. You see, he came to the
agency in company with the captain
of the English steamer that picked
him up in a small boat off
the coast of Africa—he having at
last escaped from the Arabs who held
him prisoner so many years.
"This steamer was bound from
Cape Town to New’ York, and had
been thrown out of her regular course
by a series of terrible southern
storms.
"They wanted to put him aboard
some vessel bound for London; but,
strange to say, spoke none during
their subsequent voyage, so that he
has been landed here.”
“Most remarkable. What a sur
prise for Arline! I truly hope this
papa will prove more acceptable than
the ogre has been,” said Stuart, re
flectively.
“I think he will,” remarked Arte
mus, calmly.
“What grounds have you for believ
ing so?”
“The evidence of my judgment as
brought to bear upon the matter by
eyes and ears that are at least equal
to the average.”
“Then you have seen him?”
“Oh, ay.”
“And talked with him?”
“Spent three hours in his company
and he was very loth to have me
break away, then.”
Really, that should settle it.
In three hours Artemus could learn
scores of things that would go to
prove matters were as the new claim
ant declared.
“And the captain—what of him? Is
he anything like —well, our ogre?”
“Not a whit in manner, and very
little In appearance. These long years
on the desert have darkened his skin
and whitened his hair, but they could
not destroy his noble nature. It show’s
in the determined and kindly glow of
his eyes, in the almost heavenly
smile, and warm clasp of the hand.”
“H’m! Well, I hope he’ll be friend
ly,” said Charlie.
“Oh, he’s wild to see you—to thank
you for all that has been done. Don’t
worry a bit about that part of it —I’ve
fixed matters,” significantly.
Charlie blushed a little.
“Hope you haven’t overdone it and
made me out a heroic sort of figure.
By the way, what did he think of the
other?”
“You mean—the ogre?”
“Yes, Capt. Brand Number One we
may say.”
“Well, I wouldn’t care to stand in
his boots when those two meet.
There’s going to be war to the knife,
I can tell you.”
“Just as I thought.”
“All these years he has lived on
the hope of seeing his dear ones
again, and to find an usurper in liia
place makes him furious.”
“Could he cone with the rascal?”
“His wild life among the Arabs ha*
hardened his constitution like iron.
Besides, he isn’t an old man, although
his hair is white. God help the ogre
if once he falls into the avenger’s
hands.”
“Then we must see that this hap
pens as soon as possible. There is
need of haste. Such a romantic story
as the captivity and escape of Capt.
Brand can’t long be hidden under a
bushel. Some enterprising reporter
will get hold of *it, and the affair can
be spread out over a whole page of
a yellow journal.”
“Correct. And for that reason I
thought you had better see my cap
tain at once, so I took the liberty of
fetching him along, and if you will
kindly take a little walk with me, I’ll
introduce yOu to—papa!”
(To be continued.)
Where Carnations Thrive.
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season, being properly a biennial.—
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