Mimi! IIIH‘III [WNW ~ 3;; _  ‘ :~ g
$§\ 33“ ‘ 5‘ * a I - 4x ~ 7' 3-2::
 . llllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllw
\ \x  
 iii
\ é.
\ ‘ 3
_ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\>x \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ §
2} \ H \ \-
W m. .qu 1m; .. M II! i— , A ‘
flared at the Postomce at New York: N. Y.. M Sooond Class Man Rates. Copyright 1890, by BEADLE AND ADAMS. March 4. 1590.
2.60 PUBLI II) WEEI'LY BY B , J I . '
NO. 658. 8 SH} x FADI E A\D ADAMS Prlce, VOL 

a Year. No. 98 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK. 5 Cents-

 

 

 

 

   
 

 

o
u}
f
‘ z
3; ,
é
{
i
t
3
i
i
‘i
2/.
i/ I I1] 
on,
I THE STURM-WAIP of GIANT’S BOUT.
' BY JO—PIERCE, ‘ 
AUTHOR OF “FIVE Pmsz PHIL." “BOB o' 5
THE BOWERY.” “HARLEM JACK." "
“JEFF FLICKER," ETC. ' ’
CHAPTER I.

 

DRIFTING T0 DOOM.

“ Tm: vessel is doomed I"

“ Can’t We save her?”

“ There ain’t no earthly chance.”

“ I’ll go out in a boat, if you will."

“ Don’t think of it, Rob. Nobody can’t say
that old Foretop Ben is a coward, an’ he’s seen
life at sea hisself, an' knows sailors’ perils an'
needs; but tor put out in a boat now would be

 

THE YOUNG LIFE-SAVER 551' ms TEETH AND ADVANCED DANGEROUSLY FAR. mg suicide, A dozen men couldn’t hunch.

 

u.

M

 
    

2

beat, an’ we’re only two.
come in l”

The speaker pointed as he spoke, and the fire
which burned just before him revealed a wild
and thrilling scene.

First of all it showed a rocky coast, half-ledge
and half—cliff, with ragged and erratic rocks
everywhere. Against this bulwark of stone the
water was breaking with great violence, for a
furious storm was raging; and the wind drove
the ocean waves in toward the land in swirling
mountains of foam.

And, revealed by the frequent flashes of light
ning, a helpless sh1 was seen drifting steadily
toward the pitiless reakers. »

It was a man and a boy who had discussed the
chances of rescue. They stood alone on the
rocks, and were liable to continue alone until the
vessel struck. After that they might have live
men for company, but were more likely to be
visited by dead men, if at all. ‘

At that point the coast put out a miniature
cape. At low tide it was like a boot in shape,
the toe joining it to the main-land; but at high
tide the water flooded the toe, and the remainder
became an island.

Further along the coast, on the main-land,
was a town, but angry waves rolled between it
and the point of rocks, at that juncture.

On the cape—the Giant’s Boot, it was called—
lived three persons who follmved the calling of
fishermen. They were, respectively, a man of
fifty years, who was known as Foretop Ben; a
young man called Tony Bristles; and a boy
named Robert Wiley, but more commonly known
as Sky-Rocket Rob.

Tony Bristles had gone to the town for help,
but no one had yet appeared. Foretop Ben
looked in that direction anxiously.

“ No sign 0’ them yet,” he observed. “ You
might fire off a few more rockets, Bob.”

The boy hastened awa , while the weather-
beaten fisherman .slappe his arms around his
burly form, looked out over the frothing water
and shook his grizzled head.

“ Can’t see how anything kin save them from
goin’ ter pieces on the rocks. A boat won’t live
out thar, even ef it kin be launched, an’ I reckon
the Giant’s Boot will be their grave!”

An unusually long, lingering period of light-
ning, like a, succession of flashes, followed, and
he could see the vessel plainly. She was strug-
gling in a hopeless, helpless way in the grasp of
the water. Much of her rigging had been torn
away, and it was tobe doubted if she could have
made sail even in calm Weather.

Already she was but little better than a wreck,
and when she went upon the rocks of the Giant’s
Boot the desolation would be completed.

The fisherman turned his face toward the west
just in time to see a rocket ascend from the fur—
ther side of his water-locked kingdom. It was
the work of Rob Wiley, and was a signal to the
people of the town which had been established
upon the boy’s Own suggestion.

From that fact he had received his sobriquet
—Sky—Rocket Rob.

“ Ef they come,” Ben muttered, “ they’ll find
it hard ter crOSs from the mainland. The waters
run riot over the Neck.”

Realizing his inabilit to render the vessel
any service, he walks to the west side of the
Giant’s Boot. He had barely arrived when he
saw that the town’speo 16 had not been idle; a
boat was tossing on t e troubled water, and
heading for the point. Even then the oarsmen
had to struggle vigorously, and as the little
craft pitched and dipped it was not hard to see
how helpless she would be ofi.’ the coast proper,
where the wind had full sweep and the waves
ran far higher.

But Foretop Ben saw more than this.

“A woman, by thunderl”

He uttered the words in wonder as be caught
sight of flutteringedrapery in the boat. Who
the wearer could he was not able to surmise.
There were brave women along the coast, but
who was there that could See a call to face the
storm and exposure of this occasion?

Rob Wiley, too, had seen the craft, and he
joined the fisherman. They speculated in vain
as to the woman’s identity until the boat was
almost at hand, and then Rob exclaimed:

“ It’s Mrs. Vincent-Brown l”

“ \Vho’s she?”

“ A New York lady,
the hotel in our town.’

“ Zoundsl she’s got pluck. Is she so anxious
ter do good that she’s come through this
storm i”

“ I don’t know,” Rob returned, doubtfully.
“ From what I’ve seen of her Isupposed she was
too selfish to have a thought for any one but
herself. Her husband’s name is Brown, but she

See them breakers

who is now stopping at

 

Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-Saver.

It was little more than a grunt from the old
fisherman, but it expressed a good deal. He
wasted no good will on such persons as the New
York lady seemed to represent.

The new-comers reached land, but, in the
effort to touch it in the usual way they scored a
failure, and the boat and all its occupants made
a disastrous landing. The boat was overturned,
andl the human beings spilled out unCeremoni-
ous y.

The lady did not prove agile, and it was not
until Roger Walden, a well-known young man
of the town, gave his aid, that she regained her
feet. She came up smiling, however.

“ Ain’t this jolly l” she exclaimed.

Nobody spoke to confirm her view of the case,
but she was not abashed.

“So far, good 1” she added. “ Now, send alon
your wreck, and we will bind up the wounds 0
the castaways and take an inventory of stray
jewels.”

“ Would you rob the dead, woman?”

It was a sharp question from Foretop Ben, but
she showed neither anger nor shame.

“ I expect to find the rocks lined with jewels,
after the crash,” she serenely ex lained.

“ When the lives of our feller- ein’s are on the
precipice o’ eternity, it ain’t no time ter think
(f)f plunder—unless that’s what you’ re here

ur.

The old fisherman was angry. Long years of
life on the ocean had made his every s mpathy
ready to 0 out to “Jack,” and, hav ng been
wrecked h mself, he knew how awful was such a
crisis in the affairs of man. His eyes revealed
the fierce resentment which Mrs. Vincent-Brown
had aroused, but she remained unmoved out-
wardly. Her answer had its sting, however,
thong it was not of a kind to be felt by Ben.

“ I don’t have to get my living from the ocean,”
she retorted.

“ This is no time for idle talk.” interrupted
Roger Walden, curtly. “ Let us see what can
be one.”

“ l’ll go out in the boat if you will 1” cried Sky-
Rocket Rob, eagerly.

“ How can a boat live outside the point?”
asked one of the party, “ You’ve seen how we
were capsized just in cressing the Neck, and
thdatgs a flea-bite to the mountains that roll out.
s1 e.

“ If I were a man I’d go out!” affirmed Mrs.
Vilrlicept-Brown, gayly. “ It would be just
JO y!’

Glances were bent upon her that were far from
friendly. \Vith' many she was no favorite. She
was of a nature aptly described by the term
“ rattle-patcd;” she was a woman with fixed
opinions, usually wrong and always radical,
which she never hesitated to avow; but, above
all, the men were all sailors in a degree, and her
levity when a vessel, freighted with human be-
:Egs, was driving upon the rocks;was obnoxious to

em.

Almost in silence they walked to the extreme
side of the Giant’s Boot. As before, the doomed
vessel was to be seen, but Ben was startled to
see how fast she was moving to her doom.

The exact time of reprieve could not be sur-
mised, but the end was certain. Where the
craft would receive her death-blow was not so
sure. Between her and the Giant’s Boot were
many irregularly-situated jagged rocks. She
might become impaled upon one of these, or
might escape them only to drift on and meet her
fate on the point itself.

The watchers stood in a group, with Roger
Walden, Foretop Ben and Rob Wiley in front
and discussed the situation. The fierce win
which swept in from the ocean almost took
Mrs. Vincent-Brown’s breath away, and as
nearly caused her to repent that her hare-brained
desire had made her one of the party.

For the time bein she was silent.

Not so the men. eep] y did they regret their
own impotence, and even the fact that widows
and orphans had before then been made in their
town by just such attempts, the talked of the
chances open to a boatin the boi ing flood.

Luckily for them, the verdict was that it
would be madness to put out; no boat could live
there, and they knew it.

Arriving at this conclusion, nothing re-
mained except to watch the vessel go to pieces.

The end approached. The craft drew nearer,
plungin in the grasp of the water, leaping

ike a rightened steed as it approached its
doom, and as helpless as a feather in the gale.

The impulse was strong in the minds of the
watchers to turn aside that they might not see
the tragedy, but some sort of fascination held

 

them to their places. ’ Watch they must and did
while the doom was fulfilled.

All knew when the fatal shock came. They
saw the vessel rise on the crest of a foaming
wave, while, in the gulf before her, a rock,
shaped like the horn of an anvil. became strange-
ly and ominously distinct. One moment the
vessel hovered over the place of destruction, as
though recoiling from or doom, and then the
mighty force which was making a plaything of
her, hurled her forward upon the rock.

There was a crash which was heard even on
shore, and then old Foretop Ben shivered like
one beset with cold. , ,

“ She never’ll get of! that s ike until she’s torn
fer bits!” he uttered, gloomi y.

“Our work begins now,” shouted Walden.
“ No one can live on her deck, and we shall soon
see human beings coming—alive or dead.”

“Scatter along the rocks,” added Ben; “ we
must be ready to pull in any unfortinit who
may come ter our grasp. Providence grant that
they may come alive 1”

It was an earnest wish, but he knew very well
how strong the chances were against. Still,
the were men eager to do their best, and the
too: their positions and eagerly watched eac
sea filial; rolled landward from the doomed
vesse

 

CHAPTER IL
was: DIAMOND NECKLACE.

SKY-ROCKET Ron was as eager to help as andy
one there. Although only sixteen years 01
and small of frame, he had a brave nature, and
all his life had been passed in fishin and heat-
ing along the New Jersey Coast. nown unto
him were secrets of the deep which many men
never acquire, and familiar acquaintances were
the waves that broke on the coast in calm and
storm.

He took his station near the water, and waited
with the others. -

Ten minutes of inactivity passed, and then he
uttered a cry.

“ A man l-a man l” he shouted, pointing to
the boiling breakers.

“ Where?” shouted old Ben, in return.

“ Above you. There he is again!”

All saw the unfortunate then, as the waves
flung him 11 where the fire on the land cast a
light that tipped a frothing roller with red, and
there was a contraction of the line with the pur-
pose of saving the unkn0wn.

Rob saw that he could be of no use, and he
kept his place and continued to watch. Sud-
denly he saw a sight which electrified him. How
he had missed seeing it before he did not know.
Only a few yards away the garments of a wo-
man became visible a black area on a back-
ground of foam; and he realized that she would
be the first of all to touch land.

Whether she still lived he did not know, nor
did he have time to call for help; the crisis
would come before any of his allies could reach

him.

He braced himself for a great effort.

Bufl’eting its prey about, the ocean gathered
her helpless form foralast effort and flung her
toward the rocks.

The young Life-Saver set his teeth and
advanced dangerously far. An older head
would have seen great probability that he would
be carried back with the wave; he thought only
of the woman.

Then she was flung toward him like a projec-
tilel from the watery batter ; he closed his arms
around her, and both were ashed to the ground,

He fell with reat force, so close to the rocks
that his shoul er touched them, and then the
water closed over him.

He realized his danger and grasped for sup-

rt.
p0His hand providentially closed upon a point of

rock.

Another moment and the water was receding,
sucking at him with a force which bade fair to
render his grasp futile, but he clung with unna-
tural strength and conquered the f06.

Once more left free, he arose, holdin tohis
burden, and staggered back out of anger’s

wav.
Not far did he go. He bore a burden heavy
for his young arms, and the recent strug le had
told upon his strength. He waspbllg tolet
the rescued woman fall, but he did so by drop.
ping upon his owpl knees, thus lowermg her
entl tothe un .
g The? light 0339 fire fell full upon him and the
woman he had saved. _e was unconscious,
and would have fallen entirely had he not held
her head on his arm. He saw that she was

 

  

 

       

 

    
   

Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-SaVer. 3

 

 

 

young and pretty, and as her damp, unloosened
e

hair ll over his arm, it was like a great vail.

Rob felt his own inability to deal with the
case properly, and as he glanced around and
saw that all the men were busy, he called to
Mrs. Vincent-Brown. She came with steps
noticeably slow for one ordinarily so head-
strong.

“ Do you see this?” cried the 

“ I see,” answered Mrs. Vincent- rown, coldly.

“ She came from the wreck."

“ Yes.”

“ What can we do for her!”

“ Haven’t you done enough?”

“Enough! I’ve only begun. Can’t we revive
her, somehow?”

“ 0h! she’ll come out of it!” retorted the we-
man indifferently. '

“ hat are you here for,” cried Rob, “ if not
to help the unfortunates?”

“I choose those I work for.”

Tlite Life-Saver regarded her in silent amaze-
men .

“ I have none too good an opinion of that
woman,” added Mrs. Vincent-Brown, severely.

“ What do you know about her?”

“ I have eyes!” was the wise reply. “ Others
may be stupid, but-I profess to be able to tell
the character of another woman as soon as I see
her. If she is unworthy, I have a subtle pre-
sentiment of it. Call it instinct, if you will. ’

“ I call it rank nonsense!” declared Rob.

3 “ No impertinence, boy!”
* “When my tongue gets as lawless as yours,
I’ll try to curb it.”

The Life-Saver was filled with indignation.
He was built 11 on a broader plan than the lady
from New Yer , and even if he had known that
one of the sufferers of the wreck was a criminal
of the worst type, he would have given hearty
aid in that hour, believing that one of the fore-
most duties of life is to help another in time of
distress.

However good Mrs. Vincent-Brown’s judg-

' ment may have been, her eyes were as keen as

those of all her sex usually are, and she suddenly
moved forward, reached toward the rescued
girl’s neck, and lifted an ornament that en-
circled it.

. It was a necklace of diamonds!

The firelight caught the jewels, and out
flashed a hundred little gleams of light such as
only the pure gems can give. The little gleams
made Rob Wiley wink rapidly. He had not
seen the necklace before.

“A costly trinket for one to wear with such
clothes!” proclaimed the austere discoverer.

The Life-Saver was but a poor judge of fe-
male apparel, biit, in this case, he did see that
the garments referred to were of the plainest
material and simplest style.

“Moreover,” added the critic, “you will see
that, instead of being worn in the usual way,
the necklace is made longer by means of a cord,
so that it was big enough to slip down out of
sight on her neck. I should not have seen it had
it not been disarranged. Why should she wear
the'necklace like that?”

“ Because she wanted to, I presume!” retorted
Rob, feeling that his reply was justified by Mrs.
Vincent-Brown’s own language.

“ You are impudent!”

“ Then don’t you be so unfeeling!”

Further conversation was interrupted by the
approach of the men. They had made one res-
cue, and only one; the man first seen had been
dragged out of the boiling waves.

He was not insensible, but he leaned heavily
upon Roger Walden’s arm as he approached.
R“ Keep up your watch,” he was urging to

oger.
“ That shall certainly be done, though I
doubt if more will be saved. Whoever else is in
the water is making slow progress, and the
longer the journey the more danger of death
upon the rocks by the way.”

“ There were a dozen on the vessel.”

“ Heaven help them; we cannot.”

The stranger looked at the scene before them.

“ It’s a bad place for a boat, I admit.”

“The worst on the coast. I know every int,
I may almost say, from Cape May to ggndy
Hook, and there isn’t a place where the ocean
buffets more fierCely in a gale. Jagged rocks are
all along, and it’s a very caldron of wrath at
such a time. A boat can’t live there.”

Sky-Rocket Rob and his Ezrty had not yet
been seen. The fire blazed tween them and
Walden, with black smoke rising freely from
the lsgfih pile of fuel. Now, however, Roger
direc the rescued man to sit down while he
went for a supply or whisky which old Ben had
brought With excellent foresight and placed in a
safe niche.

 

 It") ‘5‘”; .! . V'. . ‘ _ ‘
-"’*"Wv;h,i‘rsznw ",3.   . ‘. 2 ‘L .t A, 

As he turned around the fire, the young man
saw Rob and his companions and paused in sur-
prise.

“ What! another saved?” he cried.

“ Yes, es!” Rob responded; “ but she’s insen-
Vl hat can we do? There is whisky by
yonder rock—is it safe to give it to her?”

For answer Roger hurried to the niche. His
sympathies were aroused afresh, and in a stron-
ger degree than before. He returned . with a
well-filled bottle.

“ Did you save her, Rob?” he asked.

H Yes 11

“You’ve done yourself proud.”

“ It’s a rare treasure, no doubt!”

There was a sneer in Mrs. Vincent-Brown’s
voice as she made this comment, and Walden
paused and looked up at her gravely.

“ Don’t you think so?” he inquired.

“ I want it proved before I believe it.”

“ At least, she is a woman.”

“ Seine persons are a disgrace to the name.”

“ I’ve known such 1” retorted Rob, pointedly.

Roger did not make further comment, but

roceeded topour some of the liquor between
be rescued girl‘s teeth. He showed a care and
sympathy in deing so that brought a sneer to
Mrs. Vincent-Brown’s face. That woman was
not by any means all evil, but she was selfish
and uncharitable, especially in dealing with her
own sex.

It was very evident that what the unknown
woman needed was the care of another woman,
and when Roger had given her the whisky, he,
with doubt and anger in his mind, was about to
address certain emphatic words to her when the
man who had been snatched from the ocean
made his appearance on the lower side of the
fire.

The sound of voices had brought him, and he
may have had some important thing to say, but
it fled from his mind at si ht of the girl.

He stopped short and ooked at her in sur-
prise.

“ So she is saved!” he muttered.

I “ Did you know her?” Walden asked, eager-

“ She was on our vesscl.”

“ Who is she?”

“ Her name is Carona Dane.”

“ Had she friends there?”

“ She was alone.”

“ What do you knew about her?”

“Nothing to her credit!”

The rescued man spoke harshly, and Mrs.
Vincent-Brown’s face li hred u with triumph.

“ I told you so!” she eclared?

“ What do you mean?" asked Walden, ignor-
ing the last speaker. “ But why do I ask? This
is no time for idle gossip. This girl has claims
upon us, as every woman would have, which we
cannot be deaf to.”

“ Bless me! I believe the man is smitten!”

The new retort caused Walden to turn an
angry glance upon Mrs. Vincent-Brown. She
had come down from New York on her vacation,
and had amused herself by seeking his company
much, and trying to get up a desperate flirta-
tion. She had been wholly unsuccessful, but
friends of his had been glad to receive her
money for a few weeks, while she was their
boarder; and he had never quarreled With her,
though despising her severe remarks and selfish-
ness.

“The woman was practically a prisoner on
the vessel,” added her late fellow-voyager, “ and
would have been turned over to the authorities
on arrival at New York.”

“ Why?” asked Mrs. Vincent-Brown.

“ For theft!”

Rob Wiley turned a wondering gaze upon the
motionless face of the girl he had saved.

“ I don’t believe it!" he declared.

It was the impulsive retort of an honest

heart, but there seemed to be a good deal of
foundation for the opinion. The face did not
appear that of one given over to Crime or mis-
demeanors; it was innocent looking in all re-
spects. Rob felt that he ought to be the cham-
pion of her whom he had saved, and was re-
solved to be so.
-—_ A frown was on Roger Walden’s face, but he
did not waste any more words. He looked to
where Foretop Ben and the other men were
still watching to do good. .

“We must adjourn to the shanty,” be ob-
serVed. “ Rob, will you give our intentions to

our old friend, tell him to use his judgment

670, and join us when he thinks proper?”

The Life—Saver hastened awa' . ,

“ Will you two go to old Ben sshanty?” Roger
added.

“ Anywhere.” the rescued man returned, “ to
be out of this fierce wind.” ' -' '

‘ .

 

 

“ And how about helping me carry this in-
sensible irl?”

“1’1! 0 it, surely. I want to keep watch of
her, you see.” .

 

CHAPTER III.
THE WAIF‘ or THE WRECK.

THIS speech brought another unfriendly
glance from Walden upon the speaker. There
was something ominous and sinister about it,
Roger thought, but it was no time to argue the .
matter: If the girl was being slandered, she
was unconscious of the fact.

The young fisherman turned to Mrs. Vincent-
Brown slowly.

“ Can you be persuaded to give your aid after
we reach the shanty?” he asked. “The girl
needs care.”

“ Not being selfish, I am always ready to give
my assistance,” the self-a ppointed model of
propriety responded. “You can rely upon
me.

Sudden as was her change of expresssion, her
voice was not such as to awaken doubts of her
sincerity. Something else would have done so
if Roger had been enough at leisure to watch
her closely.

Ever since the unknown’s assertion that Ca-
rona Dane was a thief, Mrs. Vincent-Brown
had been looking curiously at the necklace, and
then at the other survivor of the wreck. All
things wentto indicate an inquisitive turn of
mind as deep as it was discreditable.

Rob returned, and Carona was lifted and car-
ried toward the shanty.

On the way the stranger explained that his
name was Wesley Carter; that the doomed ves-
sel had been the Singing Sally, bound from
Norfolk to New York. Although a medium of
trade she had accommodations for half a dozen
passengers, and he and Carona Dane had been
among those who had started on what was un-
doubtedly the schooner’s last voyage.

Even then be displayed a willingness tosay
more about the girl, and in no complimentary
vein, but Walden did not encourage him: and
the wind not only made conversation difficult,
but interfered with locomotion.

In due time the shanty was reached.

When Foretop Ben retired from activesea
life, and ceased to be a sailor, he went over on
the Giant’s Boot and built a home such as his
taste craved. His taste and the home were alike
simple.

Seen at this later time, the latter was a one-
storied structure of extremely weather~beaten
aspect. The boards which composed it had
never been painted, smoothed, or laid in much
order, and it would not have satisfied a finical

person.
Enterin it was seen that comfort was not
lacking. here were two rooms, with a stove in

each, and, meager as was the furnishing, the
shanty was quaint, cheerful and inviting.

Roger had been a frequent visitor at the place
for years, and he did not hesitate to make him-
self at home.

Carona was carried to the inner room and
placed upon the bed. The leader then fixed a
steady gaze upon Mrs. Vincent-Brown.

“ As I have before said,” he began, quietly,
“ our rescued friend needs a woman’s care. You
will obscrve that she shows signs of returning
consciousness, so I will leavo it to you to say
whether her wet apparel shall be removed before
or after she comes to. In yonder corner you
will find feminine garments. They were once
the property of other wrecked women, but _are
now Ben’s by possession. They are at this girl’s
di. 1. Are you disposed to take_charge?

t was not a very gracious question either as
to words or manner of utterance, but Mrs. Vin-
cent-Brown knew very well that she could not
trifle with Walden.

While she remained on the coast his ood will
was valuable, and though she would rat er have
acted disdainfully, she was shrewd enough to be
complacent.

Besides, she was curious as to the waif of the
wreck, and something might happen to her good
if she was left alone With her.

“ Go along l” she retorted, airily. “ What
(1065 a man knew about such matters? It is
purely a woman’s affair, and I am able to man-
age it. Get away, all of gen, and I’ll let you.
know when you are wanted.

“ Omit no mention in her behalf.”

“ Bless the what next? Be 08!”

Mrs. Vincent-Brown bad brains, if not con-
science, and she could be ous when she
tried. Knowing her as he id and well aware
that she was not ca able of f

eelingd s m-
pathy for anyone, ‘ ger was  Inn.

' \

 

 

Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-Saver.

 

 

meaSure, but it was not without some doubts
that he retired and closed the door.

Sky-Rocket Rob and Wesley Carter stood in
front of the fire, drying their wet garments.

Carter did not appeal to Roger’s admiration
as he stood thus clearly revealed. He was a tall
man broad across the shoulders, but otherwise
slen er and bony. His complexion was dark,
and a mustache of unusual leugth swept over a
prominent chin.

“This fire feels good; I’m chilled to the mar-
row!” he declared.

“ You’ll find dry garments yonder.”

“ I’ll put them on at once. Boy, why didn't
you mention them i”

“ Roger’s boss here.”

Rob answered no raciousl ; he had no good
words to waste on esley arter. Why had
the man been so nick to brand Carona a thief!
Even while she ay senseless he had instilled
poison into the minds of those who were stran-
gers to her. Rob hated him for it.

“ Well I’m thankful to have my life left,”
Carter ded, as he made for the dry clothes.

“ How came your vessel in such a plight?”
asked Walden.

“ I'm no sailor, and can only so. that the gale
caught us on the hip. One of t e masts broke
short ofl.’ and went down with a wreck of the
rigging. By the time it was cut away the
sc ooner was leaking and unmanageable—I sup-

she would have been in such a wind, any—
ow. We drove on to the coast as helplessly as
you can conceive.”

“ Did you leave the craft of your own free

will?”

"Hardl . The Singing Sally had leaked
badly, an , when we were impaled on a spike-
like rock, it became all-day with us. All hands
had to take tothe deck as a last resort, and
from there I was washed away.”

“ And your com anions?”

“I can’t say. ome were left when I was
washed off, but how many I don’t kn0w.”

Reger asked other questions, but not one in
regard to Corona Dane. She was up rmost in
his mind, and he listened eagerly or sounds
from the inner room. He suspected Carter of
having a desire to injure the rescued girl, and
would have shown the man the door cheerfully
if he had consulted his choice.

The young fisherman had grown restless when
the door to the other room opened and Mrs.
Vincent-Brown a peared.

She closed the cor behind her and approached

er.

(BFThe girl is conscious and
, she annOnnced.

“ That’s good.”

“ I am not so sure as to her mind.”

“No?”

“I am perplexed, and want your advice—or
rather, I want you to take charge of the case.
It’s too deep for me. Come in 1”

Her manner was mysterious, and Roger
would have questioned her gladly, but she
abru tly receded, opened the door again, reveal-
ing arona Dane; and he had no choice but to
go to her at once.

She sat in a chair by the fire, but as the
ments supplied for her wore both neat an of
fair fit, if not costly, her naturally rett face
lost notbin by the scene. Roger oun it an
attractive ace. She was of a style of beauty
somewhat delicate, and her ex ression appeared
sad. Her eyes, as she look at him,
doubtful expression of a troubled child, rather
than a woman’s gratitude, such as might be ex-
pected then.

as smiled reassuringly.

'“ 1 am glad to see you so well,” he remarked.

, “ You are very Find,” she returned, in a low,
“gigging “yin pad 1 h i”
0 you ve esca w t out in'ur
“ I thifiek I have.” J y
You are now among friends who will do
their utmost for you.”
“ I am very thankful.”
“ Can you suggest anything. for our guid-

once
“ No; nothing.” ,
She answered with a pause between the
mfiiitiigtfiithifié’n” “" "1°" R°‘°’
“mon friends on the Singing Sallyi” he
0.
:1 You were going to’l‘i’ew York, I suppose.”
“ Yes—I sup so.
_, “133", (in frie’pds there?”
, “ r, in so “ Well,
ion came from Nor elk. Your relatives live

(strong of body,”
i

ar—

4

ad the '

 

“ I don’t know where they do live!” '

This singular statement was made with a voice
which trembled, and in such a manner that the
$uestioner half-expected her to burst into tears.

here was a vagueness and uncertainty in her
way that led him to credit Mrs. Vincent-
Br0wn’s statement that she could not under-
stand the girl fully, but be attributed it to the
peril, hardship and horror of the wreck.

Her sadness appealed strongly to him.

“ We are humble folks on this coast,” he re-
sumed, “ and not overburdened with money, but
I trust that our hearts are all right. We shall
be glad to send you to your relatives, or sum-
mon them here.”

“ I am grateful to you,” Carona answered,
“ but I don’t know how to help you. I have lost
my past life; if I had not learned it by chance, I
should not even know my own name!”

CHAPTER IV.
THE MYSTERY IN HER LIFE.

ROGER VVALDEN looked in amazement at the
waif of the wreck.

“ Not know your own name?” he echoed, me-
chanically.

“Let me explain,” the girl responded, with
feverish haste, a red spot appear-in in her
cheeks. “ I am deep in misfortune, an , thdugh
I would avoid the revelation if it w not a ne-
cessity, I feel constrained to make explana-
tion to you.” '

“ Your confidence shall be respected,” Roger
returned, with grave kindness. .

He looked uneasily at his companions. Rob
Wiley was thoroughly reliable, but there was a
good deal of doubt as to Mrs. Vincent-Brown
and Wesley Carter. That the latter was Ca-
rona’s personal enemy er had at ‘flrst
thou ht, but she gave no in ication of so re-
gard ng him.

To send these two persons out while the res-
cued girl was talking would be to arouse their
ill-wil

He decided to make no radical move.

“ A few days ago,” began Carona, “ I found
myself in Norfolk just recovering from severe
illness. For two weeks I had lain delirious with
fever. When I‘i‘ecovered, my past was gone.
I did not know who I was, whence I had come,
or why I was there.

“ I questioned my nurses, but could get no
light. I had come to their door ill and feverish,
footsore and dust-laden, and begged for a night’s
shelter. My words were rambling and vague,
and gave them no clew; they asked me ques-
tions, but did not even learn my name. I

“Plainly, I had been too much afflicted to
realize my situation, or what was wanted.

“As a result, when I did recover, I could not
get information from them, and as my mind
would not work, I did not know a thing con-
cerning my past life.

" The gradual return of bodily strength did
not improve me otherwise, and when at last I
was what might be called wholly well, I was at
loss as much as ever.

“In place of memory I had a conviction: I
felt, Without knowing why, that it was a vital
nec ssitly for me to get to New York City at
on e. listened to this voice of fate or chance
--whichever it was—and engaged passage on
the vessel.

“ When I did so I was requested to register.
I took, the pen. and, without thought or diffi-
cult wrote the name, ‘ Carona Dane l’

“ hen I had done this I regarded it with
wonder. Was it my own? Certainly, I had
written it as easily as a person in ood health
would put down his own—in a pure y mechan-
ical way. I felt that I had penned my own
name, but was not sure of it.

“ It awakened no recollections.

“ Well, the vessel sailed with me as a passen-
er, and "—here she paused and looked at Wes-
ey Carterz with a world of doubt and fear in

the gaze— ‘ my story may be concluded by say-
in that I was shipwrecked in the storm.”
garter and Mrs. Vincent-Brown exchanged
glances. Both smiled—she, open] ; be, behind
a hand which strayed to his mout in his half-
hearted attem tat concealment.
' Not so with oger Walden. He had seen less
of the world than the two 0 ice, and, conse-
quent! , was more ready to be ieve. a Hedid be-
lieve barons. She had told the story With sim-
ple pathos and an air of veracity and sorrow
which went straight to his heart.

“ You are to be pitied ” he declared, earnestly.

“ Heaven help me!” e murmured.

“More than pity—I and my friends shall be
glad to work for you practically.”

“ I thank you: I thank you. ’

“ Have you any plansi”

 

“If I had, the wreck has driven them from
my mind.” -,

“ You might advertise. The influence of a
newspaper is all-powerful. If exerted for good,
it can do great good.”

“ The idea is worthy of consideration.”

" If our name is really Carona Dane, as ap—
pears li ely, a news-item should bring some in-
formation of your friends. But, for now, rest
and quiet are things which you need above all
others; so we will leave you to yourself for the
remainder of the hi ht." .

“ You are very nd, indeed,” she answered,
tear%‘glisteniug in her eyes.

“ e are simple people here, and long life on
the border of the restless ocean has given us a
keen feeling of sympathy for all who have suf~
fered from that same ocean. Rest easy. and
rely upon us as your friends. Good night!”

“ Good-hi ht—and may Heaven bless you 1”

Roger ha been moving toward the connect—
ing-doors, but the straightforward sympathy of" ‘
his voice and manner went straight to the girl’s
heart, and her reply was more pathetic than
words could indicate.

The young fisherman closed the door and faced
his former companions.

“ I can no longer endure inaction,” he added.
“ Foreiop Ben and the other men are enough to
do all that man can do on the shore, ’tis true,
but I want to be with them. I may be able
to‘wrest one more life from the sea-destroyer’s
grasp. Rob, this dwelling is your .home, and,
in the absence of Ben, you are naturally master.
Of course you will have charge.”

This was a quiet suggestion that he, not Mrs.
Vincent-Brown or Carter, would have Carona
Dane in charge, and all understood it. '

The man and woman did not resent it in
words. Sky-Rocket Rob nodded with quiet em-

phaSis.

“ I’ll attend to all,” he responded.

Once more Roger went out to meet the storm,
and the boy Life-Saver prepared to actas halt.

“ You'll find a chair yonder, ina’em,” he said
to Mrs. Vincent-Brown, “ and there are stools
fin; ygu and me, sir. Make yourselves comfort--
a e.

“ I’m all right,” Carter declared. “ It takes
more than a gale or a shi wreck to bother me. ”

“ I believe you need some one to pull you
out?”

“Haven’t I returned thanks?”

“ I presume so.”

“ All heroics may be saved for the girl with
the remarkably history!” he sneered.

“ The improbable history!” affirmed Mrs.
Vincent—Brown, elevating her nose.

“ You don’t believe it?’ questioned Rob.

“ I don’t i”

“ Nor I!” Carter agreed.

“ That’s the best proof that it’s true.”

“ See here, youngster, don’t be impudentl”
commanded Carter, sharply.

“ If you sit on a teeter-board you can’t expect
to bob up without going down now and then.
I’ve as good right to criticise you as you have
to be so merciless to her ! ”

Rob pointed toward the inner room, and his
eyes flashed indignantly.

:: Younbelieve in her, I judge.”

“ I don’t,” depOSed Mrs. VincenhBrown.

“ Charity is not an ingredient of your na-
ture.”

“ See here, if on don’t hush up, I’ll box your
ears!” cried the ady, furiously. -

“ Allow me to do it-now,” volunteered Carter.

“Try it, and you lose the shelter of this house
to-night—not to mention some damage I may do
while you’re boxing l” was the Life—Saver’s de-
fiant retort.

Carter wisely concluded to laugh and aban-
don his urpose. _ o

“ You vs sailed With the girl,” continued Mrs.
Vincent-Brown, 1n whose nature malice was a
passiin rarely atlrest, “and ought to know her
we .

“ I know she was accused of theft during the
voyage.”

9* What did she steal?”

“ Money. The captain had some in his cabin,
and it strangely disappeared. It was found—
strangely or otherwise, as you will—in Carona
Dane s state-room.”

“Put there b some one who hated her, peg.
ha‘psi” flashed gob.

You should be a detective i”

“ I may turn to one.”

“ With your intuition, you would be a phe-
nominal success.” w

“ Perha you'll admit that fact proven, "
later ” Bo answered, poin ly. . ‘

“ rui- scene is disgraceful,” Mrs. Vincent 2 ..

 

in

   

 

 

 

q.- 4... ._._.——~Mm.~ - ....__. . -~—:~—___... _.”..‘._.~_.—.I.__..._..... uiw» v. r...» .

Sky-Rooket Rob, the Life-Saver. 5

 

 

Brown asserted. “ Walden is rude, but he
would not uphold remarks like yours.”

“Then don’t flood the air with venomous
words,” stoutly returned the Life-Saver. “In
yonder room lies a girl whose life has been in
the greatest peril. She has been through enough
to awaken the ity of any one whose heart is
not of stone. ere, on the coast, we natives
don’t put on a. world of style as the Upper Ten
of New York do. We dress plainly, instead of in
silk and broadcloth; we eat plain food, instead

' of fancy dishes cooked by shallow—pated French-

men for city SWells; our churches are for wor-
ship, instead of for show. And we sympathize
for the unfortunate and afflicted, instead of
dragging them into the mire and setting our
heels on their necks!”

Rob Wiley was not a boisterous lad, and his
manner was as subdued as his voice was low;
but this long speech was delivered with indig~
nant warmth, which was a warning to the others.

Even Mrs. Vincent-Brown saw the need of
keeping her worst impulses down.

She and Carter were dependent on the humble
fishermen for hospitality, and their campaign
against Carona must be discontinued for the
time.

Mrs. Vincent-Brown, however, never forgot
the reproof she had received, and she silently
vowed vengeance upon the bold and honest boy.

CHAPTER V.
SUSPICIOUS FACTS.

HALF an hour later another discovery was
made by the watchers along the shore. All
their diligence had failed to show them another
person struggling in the furious water, and
they decided that no more were likely to be
found alive.

The waves were breaking in regular succes-
sion over the deck of the Singing Sally, and it
seemed that if any one remained there, lashed
in place or otherwise, death by drowning must
have occurred.

The general opinion, based on previous experi-
ence, was that all had been washed 01? and had

erished on the jagged rocks that lined the space
etween the wreck and the shore.

Pitiless as was the wind, and drenched as they
were by the driving rain, the hardy fishermen
did not intend to quit their post for some time
yet. They kept up a regular patrolling of the
shore, and one trip finally bore fruit.

Foretop Ben raised a shout, and Roger Wal-
den hastened to his side to find that another
man was discovered. Sitting down in the midst
of the storm, an old man was leaning his back
against a rock and enduring his troubles the
best he could.

He was well below the locality where any one
was expected to be washed ashore, and had thus
been left for a considerable time uncared for,
while he had not discovered their fire on account
of intervening rocks.

He was fully conscious, and able to talk, but
not to move about. His knee had been injured
severely, and he could neither walk nor creep
away from where he was found.

At the very first he, having but little hope of
surviving the night, had toli Ben that he was a
survivor of the Singing Sally; that his name
was Horace Addison. and that he lived in Phila-
delphia.

Ben soon succeeded in putting him in a mood
more cheerful, so .that he thought less of ar-
rangements for dying than of those for living;
and, when Roger arrived, they proceeded to lift
and carry him toward the shanty,

This caused a good deal of pain to his knee,
but he bore it well.

In due time the shanty was reached, and they
surprised the previous occupants by their en-
trance. Wesley Carter’s face lighted up at once
at si ht of be old man.

“ hatl'is it you, Addison?” he cried.

“ Hal so you still live, Carter,” the new-
comer returned. “Well, I’m glad there’s one
other survivor.”

“ We count three, all told.”

“You seem none the worse for your close
call.”

“ I’m not.”

“ ’m about as near a wreck as the Singing -

Sal is, but I’ve seen too much of nautical life
to take it to heart. What makes me sorry is to
know that the captain, the crew and the other
passengers are gone.”

He spoke with feeling, but Carter’s voice was
indifferent as he made answer:

“ That’s so.”

“ Providence hath us all in its keeping, how-
ever, and I suppose there’s wisdom in the sum-
mons home when it comes.”

“ I don’t want it too soon.”

 

“You say we count three, saved. Who is the
other?”

“ The Dane girl.”

“ Poor child 1”

“ Oh! I reckon she wasn’t born to be drowned.
They say those born to be hanged, never can be
done for t’other way.”

“ Carter, you are criminally severe!"

“ Call it what you will; I stick to the opinion
I gave on the schooner. The captain was not a
severe man. but he believed that she stole his
money. As for that, it was learned here that
the girl had a necklace of diamonds around her
neck, and put on in such a style, with such an
attempt at secrecy, as to suggest that it, too,
was stolen. Perhaps it belonged to Mrs. Dwyer,
who had the forward cabin.”

“A diamond necklace, say you?" replied Mr.
Addison, with sudden interest.”

(L Yes.”

“ Where is it?”

“ In the other room.”

“ I’d like to see that necklace.”

“ I’ll retire there while you jump into dry
clothes, and get it,” volunteered Mrs. Vincent-
Brown.

“ Wait l” directed Roger. “ Why do you
speak of this article, Addison!”
“ I think it may be mine.”

“ Why?”

“ Because I’ve lost such a. thing.”

“ Lost it how?”

“ I had the necklace in my state~room, and, as
it was a keepsake of untold value, I cared for it
diligently until, during a crisis of the storm,
thinking we were going down, I ran out of my
state-room and left it on my berth. It was a
false alarm, but, when I returned, the necklace
was gone; and the most careful search failed to
reveal it. Now, its actual value was about ten
thousand dollars, but, to me, it was worth more
than all the money in the world.”

“ Describe this necklace I”

“It was of diamonds, curiously strung. The
body, as it may be expressed, of the necklace
was of gold beads strung together just far enough
apart so that one diamond could be introduced
between each two gold beads. Attached to the
chain thus formed was a shield of gold with an
inscription, ‘ W. to L.,’ made on a groundwork
of imitation leaves.”

Reluctant to admit anything against Carona
Dane, Roger had demanded the description be-
before he would allow the jewels to be produced,
but the result was most disheartening to those
who hoped to prove Carona innocent.

Addison had given an accurate description.

“ Bring the necklace!” the fisherman directed,
addressing Mrs. Vincent-Brown.

The latter was not reluctant to obey. As she
had already announced, she was a woman of
“intuition.” When she first saw a person she
made an estimate of his, or her, nature, and from
that moment was doggedly bent on following the
aforesaid first impression.

Her opinion of Carona was not favorable, and
she hailed any chance which would prove the
girl as bad as she had proclaimed her to be.

She entered the inner room.

Carona had fallen into peaceful sleep, and
there was little danger in removing the necklace.
Roger’s last order had been given when there
was a. good deal else on his mind, and he had not
paused to think that the waif of the wreck was
wearing the diamonds.

If he had done so, he would have insisted up—
on waiting until a more seasonable time.

The lady from New York had no scruples, and
she proceeded to unclasp the chain. Carona
moved slightly, raised her hand to her neck and
murmured a word.

“ Mother!” she whispered.

Mrs. Vincent-Brown had a mother whom she
professed to love, and did, perhaps, to the ex—
tent of her dwarfed nature, The fact should
have touched her heart, but it did not. Work-
ing steadily, she secured the coveted article with-
out arousing Carona, and then returned to the
other room and reclosed the connecting door.

She held up the necklace, and in the light it
glittered with a brightness which seemed to
Roger to be of fiendish origin.

“ It is mine!” Addison exclaimed.

Mrs. Vincent-Brown danced it about with
herrfingers until it shot out a volley of gleams
which appeared as baleful. as the sparkle of a
serpent’s eye. ,

“ A bonny trinket!” she observed.

“ It is a woman’s necklace,” said .Walden,
mllylng- “ Pray, Mr. Addison, how does it
happen that you carry such a‘ thing about?”

“ It was my sister’s!”

There was quiet pathos in his voice, and Roger
could not doubt him or his desire for justice.

.s
v

 

Few men had he ever seen who were as noble
of appearance as Horace Addison. His hair and
beard, touched by age until they were almost
snow-white, framed in a lofty forehead and
earnest, kindly eyes. Honor was the man’s
birthright and lasting possession, or all signs
went for nothing.

“ For many years,” the speaker added, “ yon-
der necklace has been the companion of my v un-
derings. It binds me to the memory of my lost
sister, and I hope that, when I join her in the
grave, it may be buried with me.”

Roger’s expression grew more and more
gloomy..

“ Mr. Addison,” he made answer, “ can you
account for it being in Miss Dane’s possession?”

“ Indeed, I cannot.”

Mrs. Vincent-Brown and Carter smiled sar-
castically.

“ As I said,” continued Addison, “ I left it on
my berth when I left the state-room for a short
time. When I returned, it was gone.”

“ Who had access to your state-room?” -

“,As I left the door Open, any one might have
entered at that time. There was danger of the
Singing Sally going down at once, and, in the
panic, a level-headed thief—that is, a person
who kept cool—could have entered my room
and Seized the diamonds.”

“When we brought the Dane girl here.”
calmly deposed Mrs. Vincent-Brown, “ the neck-
lace was around her neck, but it had been made
larger—although originally large enough—by
splicing it out. Why was this done, unless to
enable it to slip down on her shoulders so as to
be invisible?”

It was an argument not easily met. and
Roger’s brows were contracted in a imam, but
Sky Rocket Rob warmly answered:

“ Do you suppose any one would think of
stealing when the vessel seemed just going
(10w,, .4” t ,

“ We need not argue the point,” interrupted
Wesley Carter, with a disagreeable smile.
“ Theories and sentiment all gr0w weak in the

resence of the fact that she did secure the neck.
ace. The only question is, did she steal it?”

CHAPTER VI.
AN OBJECT 0F CONTENTION

“I FIND it hard to believe ill of that girl !”
declared Mr. Addison. “She has a most at-
tractive face, and my opinion of her has been
favorable from the first.” .

“It does you credit, sir!” warmly answered
Roger Walden.

“Perhaps on can explain how she got the
necklace,” a ded Carter.

“ At present I can’t, nor is it necessary that I
should. You and I, sir,” continued Walden, his
voice rising indi nantly as he went on, “ need
not concern ourse ves about it. The diamonds
belong to neither me nor you; it is none of our
business what becomes of them. Neither is it
for us to act as her judge or jury. Let Mr.
Addison manage the affair.”

“ Your advice is so good that you will do well
to keep it in mind, instead of trying to hulldoze
those who venture a word contrary to your
views,” sneered Carter. “Arrange it to suit
yourselves: I don’t care a picayune.”

Turning aside he went to a corner of the room
and sat down.

There was a good deal of ill-will in the party.
and all on account of a girl who had spoken in
the case, thus far, almost with the voice of
silence. Strangely saved from the storm, she
had come among them and, by her mere indi-
viduality, had created a strong drama. She
had made warm defenders and venomous ene~
mics, and those of the party who had been old
friends to a certain extent were now arrayed
against each other.

Addison had taken the necklace and was ex-
amining it in a mechanical way, his mind being
on other subjects. His fine old face bore a trou-'
bled expression, but this finally gave place to a.
look of relief.

“ Madam,” he said, addressing Mrs. Vincent-
Brown, “ will you kindly return this ornament
to Miss Dana’s neck?”

“ What?”

The lady from New York looked supremely
astonished.

“I have my reasons,” he added. “and ab-
solve you from all responsibility. Will You 1'9.
turn it?” .

“ Certainly.”

t was an ungracious assent, but. the lady
knew which way the wind was blowmg, as it
were. Whatever might be her judgment as to
human nature, she was discerning in certain re-
spects; and she plainly saw that Horace Ad-
dison was one of a high rank in life. .

 

 

 

  

6

 

Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-Saver.

 

 

Such a man the wily lady could not afford to
affront deliberately.

She returned to the inner room, and succeeded
in returning the necklace to Carona’s neck With-
out awakening her.

Roger had a vague theory as to the plan that
was in the old gentleman’s ,mind, and respected
him all the more.

Foretop Ben and some of the other fishermen
came in, reporting that no new discoveries had
been made, and Roger announced that he would
take a turn along the line of the breakers.
Rob hastened to add that he would go, also,
and they went forth together after Walden had
privately cautioned Ben not to leave until his
return.

“ What do you think of it?” Rob asked, eager-
ly, as they once more faced the wind.

‘ Of what?”

“ The girl.”

“ There is a mystery to this diamond affair
which I can’t understand. In fact, all that re-
fers to her is mysterious.”

“ I don‘t think ill of her, though.”

“ Nor 1.”

Roger made the statement with emphasis, but
it expressed onlya part of what was in his mind.
Carona affected him peculiarly; he was strange-
ly drawn toward her, and inclined to feel for
her in her misfortunes. If the weight of testi-

‘ mony was against her, and it was hard to ex~

plain it away, he could not believe that she was
a thief.

“ 9 must help her, Roger," Rob pursued.

“We will.”

“ But what can we do?”

“ There’s the rub!”

“ She didn’t steal those diamonds.”

“ Then how came she by them?”

“ That’s what I’m going to find out. Addison
ain’t a hard man, and he’ll give us a show.
Then I’l go ahead and find out the facts."

Walden did not reply. He appreciated Rob’s
hearty good will, but was equally alive to the
difficulties of proving what they wished. The
scene of the alleged robbery was the schooner,
and that bade fair to go to pieces before the
storm abated; (probably only three persons had
been saved, an these were the alleged thief, the
man who had been robbed, and a man who
hated the alleged thief.

The groundwork for a detective case was not

By that time Roger and Rob had reached the
water’s edge, and they proceeded to view the
scene critically. The rain had decreased some-
what, and the wind, as a consequence, was less
difficult to face: but the ocean had abated no
part of its fury. High, foam-capped billows
were chasing each other constantly toward land,
and they fel upon the Giant’s Boot with a force
which filled the air with boom after boom.

Out on the deadly rock upon which she had
been impaled, the Singing Sally was yet to be
seen, her sole remaining mast rising above the
tvivater, which almost constantly broke over her

eck.
“She won’t stand it long.” shouted Rob.

“ That she won’t. There’s a tremendous force
at work, and she will go to pieces right there,
unless she manages to wrench herself clear of
the rock. The wonder is that she holds, any-
how; but I presume that there is another rock
at bogv or stern, from which she gets some sup-

rt.

“ This going to sea. is a serious business,
R0 or."

‘ You are right, my boy; let that life alone.
Better be a humble fisherman on this c t.
True, the men in our town who are engag in
other ursuits think we sometimes take great
risks, ut it isn’t like cutting loose from all
but a frail vessel. The sea is a merciless
master.” ‘

' For an hour the two friends paced the shore.
No bodies were cast up, and the only change to
be seen was in the schooner.

Her deck and her mast appeared to be getting
lower and lower, and the only explanation was
that she was being steadily wrenched apart.

Later, Roger and Rob returned to the shanty.
They found Addison and Carter asleep on the
floor, while Foretop Ben smoked a black pipe
and warmed his back at the fire with an air of
great satisfaction.

Mrs. Vincent-Brown had retired to the inner
mm.

As no more could be done then, the remainder
of the men lay down, and all were soon asleep.
Tlfiy rested Well until daybreak and set.

oming found a fairer scene on t e Giant’s
Boot. The sun was out in undiminished glor ,
and the sky was of the brightest blue. But t 0
ocean was not so easy to appease. It’s surface

 

was still rough and foamy, and the incoming
waves broke angrily on the beach.

Of the Singing Sally but little remained. The
last of the masts had gone, and the only thing
which rose above the hulk was the remnant of
that mast which had succumbed first to the
gale. The dismantled craft was a sorry-looking
thing.

The time had come at last when a boat could
be handled, and the fishermen launched one and
went to the wreck. No sign was seen of a hu-
man being, alive or dead, and but little could be
told as to the exact Condition of the schooner
until the ocean eased off a little more; but it
was clear that she had leaked at many points
and taken in about all the water she could.

A more hopeless condition could not be
imagined.

Half an hour later all were astir at the shanty.
Horace Addison found himself much better off
than he had anticipated. There had been ground
to fear that his knee was permanently injured,
but he could now step upon the corresponding
foot without much pain. He would have to
limp awhile, however.

Both he and Wesley Carter were generally
lame and sore, but they had come out of the
adventure wonderfully well, all things con-
sidered.

Foretop Ben found great responsibility rest-
ing upon him as cook for so many, but it was no
new work, and he prepared a breakfast as pala-
table as it was limited in variety.

Mrs. Vincent-Brown was late in making her
appearance, but, when she did come, she report-
ed Carona evidently nearly well again. She was
sent to ask the girl out, and the latter soon ap-

peared.

She had a shrinking, half~frightened air, but
was not oblivious to her duty. She was quick
to recognize Roger and Rob, and hastened to
thank them again for what they had done the
night before. To Carter she gave only the
coldest bow, but, catching sight of Horace Ad~
dison, she advanced with an expression of great
pleasure upon her face.

“ Oh! Mr. Addison, are you, too, spared?” she
cried, with more of lightness of spirit than she
had manifested at any time before.

“ My life has been spared, child,” he re-
sponded, gravely and gently.

“ I am very glar .”

Mrs. Vincent-Brown and Carter exchanged
looks and smiled sneeringly.

“ We have come out of the storm through
many perils,” Addison added.

“ Yes,” Carona sighed.

“ But, I bone, with clear consciences.”

“Our peril and our escape should show us
how dependent we are upon Providence, and
how powerful it can be in our behalf."

Addison’s manner encouraged R or in the
belief that he would deal gently wit the girl,
and there was great relief in the idea; but the
conversation was interrupted by Foretop Ben’s
call to breakfast.

All sat down, but a shadow was over many
there. It was known that, after the meal was
finished, Carona’s case must be disposed of in
some way.

 

CHAPTER VII.
INNOCENT on GUILTY?

WHEN all had satisfied their hunger, and the
breakfast- arty broke up, Addison spoke pri-
vate‘liy to alden.

“ ill you take Mrs. Brown to walk? I want
to speak with Miss Dane, and want no witnesses
except friends. I will not speak before the
Brown woman and Carter. Can you free me of
their presence ?”

“ I can, and will.”

Roger caught eagerly at the little device, and
then went to Foretop Ben. The result was that,
soon after, Ben took Carter by the arm and led
him away, and Rogers himself asked Mrs. Vin-
cent-Brown to go to walk—both making an ex-
cuse of going to see the wreck from the shore.

Their captives objected, but old Ben promptly
asserted his rights, as owner of the shanty, and
informed them that its interior was not at their
disposal for the time bein .

Both Carter and, the Iady from New York
suspected that it was a scheme to keep them
from seeing the settlement of Carona’s case, but
they were helpless.

When remonstrances failed they went sulkily.

Carona, Addison and Sky-Rocket Rob were
left as the sole occupants of the shanty.

The old entleman had decided upon his
course. He 0 d that the interview would end
to Carona‘s a vantage, and that she would es-
tablish her innocence, but, in any case, he had

 

decided not to prosecute her if she would give up
the diamonds.

Rob was anxious to hear the couVersation,
but this he could do anywhere in the room,
and he took pains to keep at a distance, and
devoted his attention to repairing a fishing-net.

Addison began in a roundabout way, but
finally approached the subject he had at hearr.

2‘ It is sad,” he remarked, “ to think of so
many of our fellow-voyagers gone to another
world.”

“ It is, indeed.”

“As for us who remain, we are not fixed as
well as could he wished. If anythin is recov-
ered from the wreck, it will be near y or quite
ruined.” '

“ Yes.”

“ I hope you lost no valuables?”

“My loss was not heavy. I had my mone
with me, and that was about all I had, at all.

“ I lost a valuable diamond necklace.”

Both Addison and Rob looked at Carona
ea erly, but she gave no evidence of guilt.

‘ That was bad,” she observed.

“ It was a complete line of those jewels, with
smaller, almost—invisible gold beads between
which served to keep the diamonds in place, but
were scarcely visible at a distance. Besides this
a gold ornament was attached, marked with the
inscription ‘ W. to L.,’ upon a device of imita-
tion leaves.”

The old gentleman looked keenly at Carona,
but she gave no evidence of ever having seen
the necklace.

“ Perhaps you will find it inside the schooner,
yet,” she sug ested. v

“ Do you t ink so?”

“ There seems to be a hope, I should say.”

“ M theory is that some one picked it up. In
fact. think it came ashore.”

“ Then on ought to find it.”

“Possib y I shall. Quite likely, it is being
worn on somebody’s neck, now.”

Carona looked puzzled.

“You and I, and Wesley Carter, were the
only ones saved,” she slowly, doubtfully return-
ed.

M Yes.”

“ Then who could be wearing it?”

“ That is just what I wish to learn. Can you
give me any suggestion?”

Patient, charitable and forgiving as Horace
Addison was, his voice was beginning to gr0w a
trifle stern. He was giving the girl a chance to
refer to the jewels she wore upon her neck even
then—though they were invisible—but she did
not explain or confess. This suggested the be-
lief, even to a charitable mind, that she was
guilty, and was trying to brave it out, and his
faith began to fail.

“ I can’t give you any help,” she answered,
“ but”—here a sudden terror flashed into her
eyes and disma became imprinted on her face
—“ surely you on’t suspect me?”

“ Why should I suspect you?”

“ It seems by your words to lie between Mr.
Carter and me, and I do not forget the unjust
accusations against me on board the Single
Sally. I was accused of taking the captain s
money—which I declare I never did.”

“ And you don’t know where my necklace is?”

“ No, sir.”

“ Miss Dane,” sfernly retorfed the old gentle-
man, “ it is on your neck now i”

“ On my neck ?”

66 Yes.”

“pth Mr. Addison, you wrong me—you wrong
me

“ It was there a few hours ago; I believe it is
there now!” .

Pitifully pale was the irl’s face, and her air
of distress grew dee r, at she flung her hands
up to her throat an fumbled there feverishly.

“ You shall see!” she cried; “ I will prove my
innocence. I wear a necklace, but it is one of
the plainest kind, without even one diamond;
and not worth ten dollars to any one—”

She had pulled at the necklace, which she
could not see, and pulled so roughly that it was
unclssped rematurely; and, when she found it
loosened, s esuddenly held it out to vindicate
her cause. .

But her sudden pause in speech was that of
alarm. for. as she extended her hand, she and
both her companions saw a string of gleaming,
costly diamonds, any one of which was worth
{ive times the avowed total value of the neck-
ace. .

Addison gave only one glanCe at the jewels;
then be fixed his gem upon rona’s face. Was
she the most consummate of actresses, or the
victim of a strange deception? If her expression
was a true copy of what was In her mind she
was dumfounded and terrified.

a

  
 

!

\.. ._ ._.._.. -..._..._'.._._4 ..._. _. _ .v-

 

 

   

 

\-.._..._.
o

4.“- -___. .___......I

~...-

- I

.h-

 

 

Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-Saver. 7

 

 

She gazed at the diamonds in speechless dis—

a .

“yJust Heaven 1” she said, in a whisper, “ what
does this mean ?”

Not a word answered Horace Addison, but he
looked as keenly as ever.

She said no more. Her fri htened gaze con-
tinned to dwell upon the jewe s for several mo-
ments; then the hand which held them sunk
down and Carona turned her gaze upon the old
gentleman.

Her face was whiter than ever.

“ Who put this upon my neck?” she asked.

“ Isn’t it yours?” he asked.

H NO.”

“ Then how could it get there?”

“ I don’t know.”

“ Where is your own?”

Her hand sought her neck.

“ Gone!” she returned.

“ And you don’t know how my jewels came
into your possession?”

It  ’1

There was a brief silence. Addison and Rob
Wiley felt that to believe in her further was to
do violence to common sense. Caroua had been
the first to drift ashore, and the necklace had
been around her neck when she was brought to
the shanty. True, as Rob well knew, Wesley
Carter had aided to bring her, but his position
had been such that he could not have made any
change of necklaces, even if so disposed.

No one could have made the change after the
irl was washed ashore. She must, therefore,
ave worn the diamonds when she left the

schooner.

“ You don’t believe me?” cried Carona, sudden-
l , sharply, as she saw the expression on

ddieon’s face.

“ I am asked to credit a good deal.”

“ Some enemy has done this.”

“How? When?"

“ In this shanty l”

Addison shook his head. Determined to do
justice to the girl he had informed himself on
every minute particular until he was as well
qualified to discuss the matter as though he had
been with the girl ever since Sky-Rocket Rob
pulled her from the water.

“ Impossible 1” he answered.

“ Mr. Addison, do you condemn me?” the girl
asked, her eyes full of tears.

“ Would to heaven I need notl—but listen to
what I have to tell!”

He then went over the whole ground and
shOWed how impossible it was that any substi-
tution could have been made, but Carona was
not convinced.

“ It was done here,” she asserted, “ for when
the last call came for us to go on deck, and I
was prepared for it, I distinctly noticed the
necklace which I wore, and I knew it’ was my
own. That is settled—the change was made on
shore i”

If she was innocent it was unfortunate that
she made the last statement and accompanying
assertion, for Rob knew positively that such a.
change had not been made since she came
ashore.

“ Miss Dane,” answered the old gentleman, in
a voice far from stead . “I am filled with deep
re ret, but I cannot be eve you l”

he look which then appeared in Carona’s
eyes haunted Bob for many a day to come.

“ And you—you think me a thief I” she gasp-

“ I will not say that. Heaven must be your
jud e; 1 will not. Child, Child, I have thought
we] of you, upheld you, been your defender,
felt attracted to you, loved you as one of my
years may—and can I condemn you now? I dare
not answer one way or the other, for my head
is pulling against my heart; but one thing I find
it ard to credit—that that necklace got upon
your neck unknown to you. It was stolen from
me just before we went on deck; I can’t believe
but you know how it got into your possession l”

Sk -Rocket Rob stepped quickly forward.

“ iss Dane,” he announced, “ you ain’t desert- .

ed, yet. I still think you innocent, and I’ll stand
by you!”

 

CHAPTER VIII.
AN EVENTFUL CHANGE.

ROB was nothing if not loyal, and, unlike
Horace Addison, he was young. Consequently,
he was more ready to belieVe than the old gen-
tleman. His heart was not more kindly, how-
ever, and Addison met the last utterance with
the earnest response:

“ No one here is going to deal severely with
Miss Dane. Iam attracted toher in spite of
myself, and she is safe from annoyance.”

 

 

“ But I’m going to prove her innocence l” Rob
asserted.

“ How?”

“ I don’t know yet.”

“ You shall have all the aid 1 can give.”

“ I thank you most gratefully,” Carona an-
swered, addressing Rob, “ but I am not sure
that I deserve all this. Misfortune dogs my
steps’constantly, and I may as Well' yield first as

ast.

“Don’t you do it!” stoutly returned the Life-
Saver. “I’m going to be your champion, and
there may be such a thing as getting at the bot-
tom of all these mysteries.”

“ What will your friends say?”

“ Why should they say anything?”

“Remember that I am charged with being a
thief!”

“ All the more reason why honest folks should
stand up for you. You ain’t guilty and I know
it; and what’s more, I’m going to prove that
you ain’t!” ‘

“ Have you a plan in mind to accomplish that
result?” inquired Addison.

“ Not yet.”

“I will furnish aid, financial and otherwise,
if it can be done.”

“But you think me guilty,” interrupted Ca-

rona.

“I don’t know what to think. If I were
twenty years younger I should, I suppose, con-
sider the evidence against you conclusive; but
advancing years have put aspirit of charity
within me that does not always yield to mere
evidence. Besides, I have from the first—if you
will pardon an old man for saying so—been
drawn toward you by a singular sympathy and
interest. I wish you well. My position is not
logical, and is hard to understand—but, I hope
all will end well.”

Rob Wiley found it less difficult to under-
stand than the old gentleman thought; be com-
prehended that, while Addison’s strong intelli-
gence and worldly wisdom compelled him to see
the strength of the evidence against Carona,
his rare kindness led him to hope against hope
that she might not be guilty.

The Life-Saver was not similarly situated.
He was young and impulsive, rather than logi-
cal; he had takena strong liking to Carona;
and he was firm in the faith that she was inno-
cent.

Her own face wasa picture then. Deepest
sorrow was thereon expressed, and she seemed
readyto sink under the load. It was no con-
solation to her that Addison wished to think
well of her: it only showed her more clearly
how desperate her position was.

If one as noble as he thought ill of her, how
would it be with the general public?

The return of Roger Walden and Mrs. Vin-
cent-Browu interrupted the conversation, and
other matters came under consideration.

The Giant’s Boot, well fitted as it was for
Foretop Ben and his fellow-fishermen to live up—
on, was not the proper place for the shipwrecked
persons. Ben’s shanty was the only dwelling on
the little paint of land, and its accommodations
were limited.

On the other hand, the neighboring town af-
forded ample accommodations, and to that
place the castaways must go. This was a very
simple matter for Addison and Carter, but
Carona’s friends—and this meant Addison,

Rob and Roger—were not wholly at ease in re- 1

gard to her.

She was either an accomplished evil-deer or a
child of misfortune. If she was the first, she
ought to be avoided; if the second, no effort in
her behalf could be too earnest. If the one, she
was not a fit subject to go into a private family;
if the other, she was not suited for life at the
hotel, among the rattle-headed summer board-
ers.

Rob Wiley grappled with the subject bravely,
as was his custom. He had relatives in the vil-
lage who, he thought, would be just the ones to
receive her, an aged man and his wife, the last
of whom was his father’s aunt. At his father’s
own home there was a tribe of growing children
who might not always be thoughtful of Carona’s
feelings.

“When this plan was explained to Walden he
gave it his support at once.

8 was anxious to help the storm waif away
from Mrs. Vincent-Brown, and it could be done
in that way. .

Little more time was lost. The fishermen
launched the boat with which they had crossed
from the mainland the night before, and all of
the party except Foretop Ben' and two com—
ptanuzns entered and were rowed across the
s rai .

Once more on land, the town was not far'

 

 

away. It was a place of considerable size and
some pretensions to style. Although many of
its male inhabitants were fishermen, that was
not by any means the sole industry.

All of the pursuits flourished which are usual-
ly to be found in a town of corresponding size,
and the hotel did a good business in catering to
summer boarders from the cities.

To this hotel Mrs. Vincent-Brown went with-
out delay, her manner showing that she was
deeply offended with Walden. She had sought
his society a good deal ever since she came dewn
from New York like a female Napoleon, to con-

uer as she marched, but the night on the Giant’s
oot had aroused her ire.

That it would be permanent was not to be be-
lieved. She belonged to a class of women who
forgive a man easily—a sister woman, never.

Wesley Carter escorted her to the hotel.
Both ignored Uarona. They knew that Addison
again had his diamonds, and appearances indi-
cated that the girl was not to be prosecuted.

.More than that, he seemed to have joined

Walden in acting as her rotector.

“ The more fool, he!” eclared Carter.

“ The old chap is in his dotage,” pronounced
Mrs. Vincent-Brown.

“ No doubt.”

“ Do you believe she has lost her past life?”

Carter shrugged his shoulders.

“ Do I believe the moon is made of green
cheese?” he retorted.

“ No doubt, she is a professional thief.”

“ Looks that wa .”

“ I suspected it mm the first.”

“ You are a lady of good judgment.”

“ When I see another woman ” declared Mrs.
Vincent-Brown, “I can read er at a glance.
Call it intuition or what on will, I can sag
through her with singulars ill. I never make
a mistake!”

The faintest possible smile on Carter’s face
showed that be regarded this conCeited claim as
absurd, but he was the speaker’s ally for the
time being, and he answered dutifully:

“ You have proved your skill in this case.”

“ I only hope she won’t steal this town
bodily."

“ She may not find the officers of law, here, so
soft-headed and mush-hearted as old Ad and
this Walden clawn.”

“ I only wish I had charge here i”

Miserable Mrs. Vincent-Brewn, holding her
head high in the air, and claimin to be a model
of her sex, was working herse 1' into quite a
fever over Carona’s case, and at each turn she
fancied that she had more and more cause for
it. Really, as it was not her place to condemn
Carona, anyway, she was only harrowing up her
own mind with the poisonous fangs of groundless
resentment.

Horace Addison, too, went to the hotel soon
after, lisigping painfully, and leaning on an
improvi stafl’.

Roger and Rob took Carona to the selected
refuge. Mr. and Mrs; Bonil were quiet, simple-
minded people, and though Roger, from a sense
of duty, told all that he knew concerning the
stormmaif, they did not fail to see the matter
as he did.

They readin agreed to receive Carona, and
harbor her until she decided what to do.

Just then she was in a state of great uncer-
taintv. The conviction that she ou ht to be in
New York City, which had caused or to leave
Norfolk, was no longer strong. 0n the other
hand, she declared that she ought to remain
where she was until events proved her inno-
cence.

“ And,” Rob said to Roger, as they left the
house. “ I’m going to be the instrument of prov.
in itl”

alden answered enoouraginglfy, for he was
all in sympathy with the b0 Li e-Saver, but,
really, he could not see how t e result was to be
accOmplished.

 

CHAPTER IX.
TONY BRISTLES’S MISFORIUNES.

“ WHAT’S that fellow skulking around there
for?

“ Wants ter git in out o’ the fog, I reckon.”
“Poor place to do it.”

“ Good place' hard ter git in.”
“ He’s an evi -lookin knave.”
“ Rags an’ dirt is onfy skin-deep.”

“ I believe the man is a burglar.”

It was late in the evening of the day after the
wreck. Sky-Rocket Rob stood near Otis Bond’s
house in company with Tony Bristles, who has
been mentioned as a partner of Foretop Ben.
Tony—his real name was Anthony Britten—was

 

   
 

‘i
l’ ,

, ,>‘§'L 1‘

 

 

8

Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-Saver.

 

 

 

a young man of such varied qualities that no—
body had ever yet been able to decide whether
he was wise or foolish.

He had been left an orphan at the age of eight
years, and had seen hard experience until old
Ben took him in charge. Under that tutor he
had risen above his old level, and what sagacity
he possessed was not a little due to the ex-sailor.

Rob Wiley had decided to sleep in his great-
uncle’s house for a while. Tony was over on an
errand for Ben. The two had met by chance,
and, standing near Bond’s house, under the
cover of a tree, had seen something which im-
pressed Rob as suspicious.

That evening a fog had settled over tho coast
and the town, which shut out almost everything
else, and made pedestrians almost liable to run
into each other.

Despite this state of affairs, Rob had noticed
a ragged, disreputable fellow approach the house
and take a deliberate, careful survey of the
premises. He had a vague recollection of hav-
ing seen the fellow before, but could not say
positively.

The stranger looked as critically as though he
thought of making a purchase, but did not go
near enough to make himself liable to direct
charge.

“ Ef he‘s a burglar,” res onded Tony, “ he’s
had poor luck in the past. e’s a man of rags,
verily.”

“ He may have diamonds in his pocket.”

“ A diamond on the buzzorii is wu’tli ten in the
pocket!" proclaimed Mr. Bi'istles, gravely.

“ He‘s going away."

“ See the dirt on his face wrinkle as he walks!”

Tony‘s eyes must have been sharp if he saw
what he asserted, but the speaker gaVe ltob no
chance to investigate. His legs were long, and
his steady retreat caused him to be enveloped in
the fog soon after.

“ Only a tramp, I guess,” Rob commented.

“ A tramp’s heel makes mileposts on many a
road," quoth Tony Bristles.

Rob did not pursue the subject. His eccen—
tric companion was not a person to cousuler a
matter seriously or intelligently. so it would be
a waste of time to linger under the tree With the
fog settling all around and adding new gloom to
the, scene every moment.

'l‘hey separated. Tony started back to the
Giant‘s Boot; Rob went into the house.

Cnrona had already retired. She was in a
condition far from that of good health, and rest
was something very necessar . Her recent ill-
ness, the unpleasant affair a card the Singing
Sally, and the wreck—all had combined to upset
her nerves.

Rob forgot the ragged man for awhile, and
talked with Bond and his wife on trivial mat-
ters, but, when he had retired to his chamber,
the scene he had just witnessed returned to his
mind.

Who and what had the stranger been?

The Life-Saver had fears that Carona might
be menaced, but he could not see why she should
be. That there were persons who thought ill of
her was not to be denied, but why should they
molest her?

“ I reckon I’m nervous,” Rob finally docided,
smiling. “My imagination is too keen; I’ll go
to bed and to sleep.”

This wise resolution be adhered to so closely
that, in half an hour, he lost all consciousness in
slumber.

In the meanwhile the fog and the darkness
wrapped the town in close embrace. Few per-
sons were astir. Over on the beach quietude
was beginning to rule again. The ocean seemed
to repent of its fury, and the rollers that broke
on the shore lacked the impetus, and the crash
previously seen and heard.

From the Giant’s Boot a boat crossed to the
mainland. Its occupant was Tony Bristles.

There was a period of inactivv at the Giant’s
Boot as far as fishing went. Foratop Ben did
not intend to do anything at it until the
matter of the wreck was settled, and it was
thought that work could be begun on the Singing
Sally by the next day.

Tony was of a different mind. He wanted to
resume fishing, and though Ben inted out that
the fish would not bite well unti the effects of
the storm passed, and the water rid itself of
mud, Tony was not convinced.

He was obstinate, and, after a long talk with
Ben, he had cr0ssed to the mainland, bound to
giaki certain preparations and be out at day-

rea '.

Having crossed the neck of the water, be
secured his boat and went to the town.

His way was past Bond’s house, and when he
reached it he saw a light on the back piazza.
Some one was there whom he took to be Rob,

 

and he hastened to join him and ask for his
company on the fishing-trip.

When he reached the piazza he found that the
door of the kitchen was open, and that some
one stood just outside with a lantern in his
hand.

“ Hullol" greeted Tony.

The unknown turned quickly, and Tony saw
that it was neither Rob nor Otis Bond. There
was a brief silence, and then the stranger made
reply:

“ Hiillol”

“ What ’re you doin’ here?” Tony asked, sus-
piciously.

“ Lookin’ at on.”

“ You don’t live here.”

“ Don’t I?”

“ No. I’ve seen you afore.”

“ Hey you?”

“Yes. Seen on prowlin’ around some hours
ago. You’re a urglar! I’m a detective; I ar-
rest ye hereby an’ herewith.”

The stranger, who was the ragged man of the
early evening, held up his lantern until its light
fell full u on the fisherman’s face.

“ TonV ristles, you’re drunk!” he declared.

h I be?”

“ So I said.”

“ I ain’t so drunk but I kin arrest you, an’ I’ll
do it!” asserted valiant Tony.

“ No, you won’t. Why? Here‘s the reason!”

The stranger’s hand had been under his coat.
It now came out quickly, and Tony suddenly
found the muzzle of a revolver only an inch dis-
tnnt from his nose.

“' Surrender, or I’ll blow your head off!”
growled the tramp, in a deep base.

“ Ho-ho-hold onl” staniiiiered Mr. Bristles.
“ For the Lord’s sake, don’t do it!”

His desire to make an arrest went out like a.
feeble candle-flame. Courage was not an in-
gredient of his nature, and he wished himself
safely back at the Giant’s Boot.

“I think I shall have ter kill you,” the ragged
man continued. “ That’s the only way ter make
sure that you will keep mum.”

“ Don’t, don’t! I’ll do anything; [’11 be yer
slave. Don’t kill me!”

“Will you swear ter hold yer tongue for-
ever?”

“ Oh! Lord, yes!”

“Then perhaps [’11 spare ye. I’ll see. Well,
come with me!”

An imperative motion of his hand caused
Tony to enter the kitchen, and then the stranger
shut the door.

“ Now, we’re goin’ upstairs. You’ll keep
along with me. You’ll step like a eat, an’ do
all you kin ter avoid bein’ heard. Ef you don’t,
I’ll blow yer head off. See?”

“ Yes,” groaned Tony.

“ Come on!”

The simple-minded fisherman dared not resist
or object. His philosophical element, which usu-
ally flamed up occasionally, was now dead and
turned to ashes. He was frightened clear
through, and perfectly obedient to the tramp’s
wishes.

They ascended the stairs. It was like a death-
march to Tony Bristles. He knew that not
only was Sky-Rocket Rob on the alert, but that
he had secured a revolver. If he should awake
and use that weapon, he, Tony, might s ak
only from the cemetery after that terrible night.
His knees wabbled painfully as he went up, and
he knew just how a condemned man would feel
upon the gallows.

The house had been built for honest people,
and there were no locks upon the doors. The
tramp paused before one of these, and deftly
fitted a cover over his light which transformed
it into a rude dark-lantern. Then he motioned
to Tony to follow, and entered the room.

Poor Tony was a monument of perspiration,
and trembling with fear, but he dared not diso-
bey. He entered. The room wasabed-cham—
ber; its occupant was Carona Dane.

Tony gazed at her in a species of fascination.

Would she awake and recognize him?

This she did not do at once, and, after a terri-
ble pause, his gaze wandered to the tramp. The
latter, keeping a wary eye upon the slee r,
had advanced to the table and set down his an-
tern. Then he knelt on the floor, and, removing
several things from his ocket, one after an-
other, thrust them under t e edge of the carpet,

where it met the wall.

Large grew Tony’s eyes when he saw that at.

least one whole handful of this stuff was green-
backed bills—paper money.

Strange possession for a tramp to have!
Stranger yet for him thus to pa rt with!

When be bad concealed under the carpet all
that he wished, he arose, held out his revolver,

 

tapped an unwashed finger upon the barrel, and
motioned Tony to precede him in retreat.
They left the room.

CHAPTER X.
ROB RECEIVES STARTLING NEWS.

THE following week brought no important
change in the situation. The entrance of the
tramp to Otis Bond’s house had not been discov-
ered, for he left no visible traces behind, and
Tony Bristles, the Only person who could, and
would, tell of it, kept silent through mistaken
motives.

The tramp had sworn to kill him if he re—
vealed anything, and, besides, Tony had a
vague idea that he would be liable to arrest for
entering Bond’s house.

That a confession would be the shortest step
to safety never occurred to him.

Carona was still at Bond’s. Acting upon the
Klan already outlined, Roger and Mr. Addison

ad written such an account of her case as they
thought proper, and had sent it to New York
for publication in a leading daily, hoping it
would meet the eyes of her friends.

This step they had tried to Keep secret.

Addison had remained at the hotel a while,
but had finally taken a trip to New York him-
self. Carter continued at the place, and was
often in Mrs. Vincent-Brown’s company.

He had made the statement that he had a full
million invested in real estate at the metropolis,
and the ambitious woman was not disposed to
let such a fish escape the hook.

Her husband, a well-meaning, hard-working
man, had made what little money he possessed
—some five thousand dollars—by running a
cheap restaurant. No one with a critical taste
could make a good meal there, but many who
Were not critical came, and he thrived in a
small way.

Originally as poor as she could be and live in
freedom from want, Mrs. Brown used her bus-
band’s few dollars for sails and was ever on the
alert for a cruise. She aspired to be thought
rich and “ toney,” and worshiped those who
really came under that head. Amos Brown
and the restaurant were rarely referred to by
her. From Mrs. Hannah Brown she emerged
into new radiance, signed herself Sybil Vincent-
Brown, and admired herself greatly.

She had a use for Wesley Carter. If he was
worth a million he must know other million-
aires, and have entrance to fashionable society.

As his friend she might force the doors of that
glorious circle.

Happy thoughtl Sybil Vincent-Brown was
in rapture, and she did all she could to impress
Carter favnrably.

The wreck had been looked to, and such arti-
cles removed as were worth taking, but the
bulk lay on the rocks, nearly high and dry at
low tide, and never since the storm with her
deck under water.

Sky-Rocket had carried out his intention of
acting as detective, but even an older head than
his might have been discouraged with such a
lack of evidence.

Thus far he had made no discoveries.

0n the seventh day after Carona came to
Bond’s house Rob and,Bristles had been out fish-
ing together. As they were aware, Roger and
old Ben had the same day gone twenty miles
down the coast on business.

The IiifeSai'er and his companion landed at
the town, disposed of their fish at the hotel, and
then started for home. Their way was past
Bond’s house, and Rob decided to stop there.

Leaving Tony outside, he opened the door and
entered. Mrs. Bond greeted him With a smile.

“ You ought to have come sooner, Rob!”

u ‘Vhyln

“ Carona is gone!”

“ Gone!”

H Yes.”

“ You don’t mean it?”

" Oh! but I do: her friends came for her, and
she went away with them.”

“When? Where?” demanded Rob, in great
excitement.

“ Oniy a. short time ago—in fact, I wonder

ou didn’t see them, for their boat could hardly
out of sight.”

“ I saw a sail» boat going up the shore.”

“ It was theirs.”

“ And Carona has really gone?”

“ Yes. Her friends came for her, and as they
were in a hurry, she went right off. She wanted
to wait until you and Roger camo. but they had
to make haste to carry out their plans; so she
left her love, and said she would gee you again."

Placid old Mrs. Bond talked quxetly, but Rob
was far from being in like mood. From the
first he had been startled, and the progress of

 

   

l

 

   
 

 

Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-Saver. 9

 

 

the statement had filled him with additional
alarm.

“ Did she recognize those friends?” he asked.

“ No; her memory would not come back.”

“ Do you mean that she went away with en-
tire strangers?”

“ They were like strangers to her.”

“By heavens! I believe she has been trapped l”

“ Trapped l” echoed Mrs. Bond, opening her in-
nocent eyes widely.

“Yes. If the game had been a square one
they wpuld never have rushed her away so sud-
(leiily.’

“ But who should trap her?"

Sure enough, who? Such enemies as Carter
and Mrs. Vincent-Brown could have no motive
that Rob could see. But his active mind, once
at work, did not fail to find another explana-
tion. Was not the newspaper account they had
caused to be published just as likely to meet the
gaze of foes as friends?

Perhaps all her troubles were due to old, bit-
ter enemies who now had made another attempt
and kidnapped her.

He questioned Mrs. Bond further. The al—
leged friends, both of whom were men, had come
down the north shore in a. sail-boat and, arriving
at the house, had assumed to be very glad to see
Carona. Neither claimed to be a relative, and
had not attempted a greeting warmer than hand-
shaking; but they had seemed devoted to her,
had talked about her mother and sister, and their
anxiety, and said that these relatives had begged
Corona to hasten to them.

The girl had tried desperately to remember
the persons referred to, but all in vain.

Their requests, however, backed up with a
Show of haste, and the need of prompt depar«
ture, had not been in vain. Carona had gone
with them. Gone where? To a town Well north,
Mrs. Bond explained. There, according to the
messengers’ story. the mother and sister were
waiting, but on the eve of returning to their
home in New York.

It was certain that the messengers must have
been plausible men, for they had deceived Caro-
na and Mrs. Bond, but Rob found food for sus-
picion in just the fact that would have occurred
to Mrs. Bond readily if she had been younger,

If Caronu’s mother and sister were at the t0wn
to the north, they would have hastened to come
in person for their afflicted relative. What if
they were about to return to New York! Would
that fact keep a mother away from her child?

Rob was positive that the girl had been ab-
ducted, but his courage rose to meet the emer-
gency. She must be rescued. By whom?
Roger and Ben were away, and'not likely to re-
turn for hours, while every moment was pre-
cious.

His resolution was quickly taken.

NVithout any unnecessary words he informed
Mrs. Bond that he believed Carona had been de-
coyed away, and that he was going in pursuit of
her. The old lady was amazed and confused.

“ It don’t seem ssible.”

“ I’ll test it—if Igan catch them. Now, then,
aunt, will you see Roger as soon as he comes
back, and tell him all about it?”

“Dear me, es; but—”

“'That’s al . Tell him I’ve gone in pursuit!”

With these words the Life-Saver hastened out
of the house. If he had been allowed ample
time for thought he might have associated with
himself a more capable rson than Tony
Bristles, but the impulsive .ecision of the mo-
ment was that all depended upon him and his
eccentric companion. He seized Tony by the

arm.

“ Come 1” he directed.

“ Eh? What’s the rush?”

“ Follow, and I’ll explain when We’re in the
boat.”

“ Be we goin’ a-fishin’ ag’in?”

Rob did not answer but, hurrying Mr. Bristles
along, soon reached their boat. They entered,
and, in a very short time, were receding from
the shore.

The first boat was no longer in sight, but he
was not without hope. Their own little" craft
was the swiftest that the town could boast, and
the wind was exactly in their favor. Of course
the last advantage would also favor the kidnap-
pers, but, 11111958 they had a boat far beyond the
average, he expected to gain every moment
when once under way:

There was a miniatuer harbor outside the
town, but this was soon passed and they had the
full benefit of the mud. The boat answered
bravely to the demand, and they went skimming
along merrily.

Rob used his eyes to the utmost, but the
fact was undeniable that the runaways were
out of sight. This was liable to be the case

pearance of conscious

 

any away for the shore was very irregular, and
the Life-S'aver buoyed up his spirits with the
hope that the intervening distance could be cut
down rapidly.

Tony noticed his companions excitement,
but did not give it any great amount of thought
until they began to pass the Giant‘s Boot.

:: fiin’t you goin’ ter land?” he then asked.

0 H

“ Be you goin’ a-fishin?”

“ Fishing! We’re going man-hunting!”

Tony opened his eyes more widely than ever.

“ You ain’t goin’ ter turn pirate, be you?”

“ We’re going to hunt pirates!”

“ Great land 0’ Gilead! you don’t say sol
Robert, I’m with ye! Ef thar’s any one thing I
feel cut out for, it’s pirate-huntin’. Whoop!
Let ’er go, Gallagher!”

The eccentric young man swung his hat wild-
ly, and looked fully as much delighted as his
words would indicate, but Rob’s set face never
relaxed.

 

CHAPTER XI.
HUNTING HUMAN GAME.

THE sail-boat would have delighted any vet-
eran of the sea. She cut the water as neatly as
a knife, sending it rippling away on either side
With a murmur that was full of music. Sky-
Rocket Rob had been acoustomed to boating
from his infancy, almost, and he handled the
racer with the skill which come of long practice.

Tony Bristles was in high spirits. He exulted
owr their rapid progress, and at the idea of
hunting “pirates.” Just what he understood by
that, or what he expected, was not clear.

Rob was depressed. It was highly encourag-
ing to sweep along the shore so nobly, but until
he sighted the other boat he would not dare to
hope. Feeling sure that Carona had been ab-
ducted, he looked forward to a long race, at the
best. Even if the other party was sighted, the
affair was liable to end with a. fight.

“Why didn’t we think to take revolvers?” he
suddenly asked, mechanically giving his thoughts
aloud.

Tony hesitated, and then produced a bright
new revolver of the most approved pattern.

‘.‘ Where did you get that? ’ Rob asked, in sur-

rise.

“ Bought it.”

“ When?”

Tony looked confused, and then stammered:

“ L—lately.”

“ Well, I never dreamed that you went ‘ heel-
ed,’ but that weapon may come handy before we
see the town again. It’s a good thing to have.”

“Thought so, when I bought it.”

“ What use had you for it?”

Tony’s face flushed, and he did not meet his
young friend’s gaze.

“ I didn’t know what might happen.”

Rob detected the evasion, and wondered what
it meant, but far more important matters were
on his mind, and he forgot the circumstance for
the time.

Minutes passed and grew into hours, but the
long-looked-for sail of the fugitive boat did not
appear. The case became serious. Night was
near at hand, and, if she could not be overtaken
before that period, all hope appeared to be gone.

They had reached a broken part of the coast.
Several islands, which, by some persons, might
be termed detached fragments of swamp, lay in
a group. The land was generally very low, and,
often, impassable. To avoid this broken coast
entirely one must take a wide detour to the east,
as Rob well knew, while a straight course would
have strong advantages.

One thing he realized—for some time to come
as had been the case for some time past, he would
have only a limited view in front, and might get
almost up with the fugitives without discovering
the fact.

The direct course was taken boldly.

Previous knowledge of the lace enabled him
to choose the broadest channe , where their boat
would receive the‘most aid from the wind; but
even that precaution did not save them from a
vexatious letrup in s .

This was not due to any fault of the channel.

Some time before a black cloud had appeared
in the north. It rose steadily, and with an ap-
wer, yet it came up
against the wind. as it b ew where the boat was
racing along. For some time the south wind
had been growing fickle and weaker, and it
finally began to die out entirely. -

Meanw ile the cloud in the north greW, seized
upon more and more of the heavens, and as.
sumed a threatening aspect. Plainly the north
wmd was to be the victor. '

“ e’re goin’ ter hey a howlerl” declared
Tony.”

 

“Yes.”

“ But it won’t last long—unless it changes
inter a. storm.”

“It makes the future a. problem. Once in
open water again, we shall find the waves rough
and annoying, and the wind will be dead against
us. Progress in that case will be dangerous, I
should say. N ow, the question is: What effect
will it have on our fugitives?”
h.Tony did an unusual amount of thinking, for

im.

“ How’s the shore above!”

“ Barren and desolate. The nearest town is so
far that, if they try to make it, they are likely
to getrcaught in the darkness.”

“And it’ll be darker than black cats. And
the water will be rough as ’tarnation. And I
don’t b’lieve they’ll be fools enough ter try an’
make the town, with a gale likely ter be howlin’
around them any minute. You an’ me hev seen
jest sech squalls come up afore now, an’ we
know they kin pounce down as sudden as a pan-
ther, an’ a heap more dangerous.”

All this was in keeping with Rob’s own
opinion. For several minutes the idea had been
growing upon him that the abductors would
make a landing rather than face the dangers of
a squall.

But if they did land, where would it be? No-
where in that vicinity could they find shelter,
unless it wins in some shanty unki10wn to him.
That such existed was probable, but the coast
was so wild, low and barren for several miles
that nothing was certain. ,

Darkness came on rapidly, and far ahead of
time. Rob began to feel that theirs was a lost
cauSe. When their eyes failed to he of any use,
what hope would remain of overtaking Carona
and her companions?

He held to their course. A little while longer
would bring them to open water, but it was
already nearly dark.

“ Hullol” quoth Tony, suddenly, “I kin see
the sun settin over yender.”

Rob looked, but one glance was enough to
show him that Tony did not see the sun. Its
rays could not have struggled through the black
cloud, anyhow, and the particular sight that
Bristles saw was the light of a fire.

It proceeded from a ridge to the left. but
whether that of island or mainland the Life-
Saver did not know, though it had immediate
and strong interest for him.

Had the abductors encamped there?

For awhile he was undecided what to do. The
delay necessary to make an investigation might
prove fatal, but, when he looked ahead, he could
not but see that it was next to hopeless to pro-
ceed in that direction, let the other craft be
what it might.

He briefly explained his views to Tony, and
that person fell in line at once. The fire was
then clearly to be recognized as such, and be de-
clared that it must be the abductors’ camp.

A landing was made without delay, and their
boat secured.

Before them was a slight bluff, heavily
wooded. On the summit burned the fire.

Rob was about to suggest a search to see if the
other craft could be found when Tony uttered a.
cry. He had used his eyes well, and when Rob
looked for the result, he found a boat not twenty
feet from their own, but nearly concealed by
bushes which overhung it.

An examination was made, but it established

nothin . It was a sail-boat, but there was no
way 0 determining whether Carona had ever
been in it.

“ We’ll go up the bank,” Rob announced.

“ a’pose they fire?”

“ e must be careful.”

“ Right! There are men in these regions who

would shoot us as quick as though we was buz-
zards. Look outl—it hurts like sin ter be filled
up with lead.”

“ You me
than you, an some
the fire on the sly.”

“ You do it; I’m a fisherman, not a trailer.”

“ Stay by the boat, and see that nobody gets
awa with it.”

“ rrect.”

Rob started on his trip. It was not easyto
ascend the bank without making any betrayin
sound, but due care enabled him to accomplis
it in a fairly successful way. Once up, he was
able to get more information as to the fire.

Only a few yards away was a long. low shan~
ty. If the whole had once been roofed over it
was so no longer. One-half still had the old
walls, but the top was gone, and through the
opening mounted the red flames of a fire made
of material that burned fiercely.

stay here, Tony. I‘m smaller
body must crawl up toward

 r  

. j ’-  _ y r _,
' I a? {sa 

 

 

.
.1

~‘l >AI-r3.‘ a.» ' thf.

 

10 Sky-Rocket Bob, the Life-Saver.

 

 

 

 

The interior of the place was not open to the
life-saver’s view, and no one was Visible outside.

He waited for some time, in hopes that chance
would reveal more, but there was no change.
Then he dropped upon his hands and knees and
crept cautiously forward, pushing the bushes
out of his way with great care.

Reaching the wall, he found that it was thicker
than was to be expected. No crevice was to be
seen, and he could gain no view. He drew his
knife and began to cut an opening. This was
not difficult; the wood was somewhat rotten,
and a crevice was soon made.

The desired chance was gained.

He looked inside.

First of all he saw two men. One was moving
about and, as it proved, was preparing an
apology for supper. The other sat on a block of
wood, evidently buried in thought.

No woman was visible.

The men Were of the ordinary kind. Rob was

_repared to see persons well dressed, but of sin-
ister cast of countenance. These men answered
to the first requirement, but not to the second.
No stretch of fancy could make them look like
rnflians. Neither were they especially prepos—
sessing. In every way they were ordinary men.

He who was silent had an angry look. Some-
thing had gone amiss with him. He suddenly
raised his head, looked across the shanty—almost
at Rob, the latter thought—and impatiently ex-
claimed:

“ Well, perhaps you’ll suggest something?”

“ I will. Let us make an effort to find some
inhabited house.”

The Life-Saver started. It was the voice of
Carona Dane, and it sounded from a point not
three feet from him.

“But consider the darkness, the swamp and
the lonesome coast,” urged the first speaker.

“ There must be a house somewhere I”

“ It ma be twenty-five miles away, and the
storm wil ' soon break.”

“I care not for that,” Carona replied. “ I can
endure the journey; I only ask that you will let
me go. I am afraid of this wretched place!”

CHAPTER XII.
URGENT NEED or HELP.

THE Life-Saver was drinking in every word,
and his mind was as bus as his ears. From
what he had heard, an the manner of the
speakers, he believed that if the men were
villains, which he did not doubt now, they had
not yet revealed their character fully to
Carona.

The spokesman’s voice and way were alike per-
suasive, while she spoke with uneasiness and fear
of something alarming to come, rather than with
a clear perception or known peril.

“ I wish your mother had come along,” the
spokesman gently observed.

Rob heard a sigh.

“ Would to Heaven she had 1” Carona replied.

“Yet,” he added, “ her poor health would illy
fit her for such hardship."

“ Somehow, I cannot realize it.”

“ Realize what?”

“That she was my mother.”

“ Indeed! but I have seen you grow up in her
house. you know.”

“ Strange that I don’t remember you.”

“ Ah! but your mind is not yet strong.”

“ if memory ever returnsit must be because
some object, or incident, of my old life is brought
before me so powerfully and vividly that the
whole comes back with arush. I feel that l”

“ Possibly it will be so when on see her.”

“ Perhaps so,” Carona doubt IllBreplied.

“ Don’t get downhearted, MiSS ane; all will
yet be well.”

“ Anyhow, I want to leave here as soon as we
have eaten supper.”

f A look of annoyance appeared on the man’s
ace.

“ Are you willing to pass through the
swamps, with mud and water at times waist,-
deep, perhaps, and risk a journey of twenty or
thirt miles?”

“ es,” was the prompt answer.

“ Then I must say that you are very foolish.
The squall which is coming up will be a brief
disturbance, and, by morning, the ocean will
have become still enough to enable us to make a
safe, quick and comfortable run up the coast,
and finish our journey.”

“ I am not content to wait until morning,
and _ must ask you to carry out the idea I have
advanced. Lat the journey be as long and diffi-
cult as it may, I want to make an effort to find
some house at once.”

“ Strikes me you are confounded obstinate l”
cried the stranger, roughly.

“ What would you expect?” Carona asked,

 

 

tremulously. “ This wild, deserted, gloomy
knoll and camp fills me with fear. You sur-
mise that, in the past, it was the temporary
residence of a party of fishermen, or somebody
of the kind, you say. It maybe safe enough,
but I can’t convince myself of it.”

“ We are certainly able to protect you from
any outside danger, for we are well armed and
should shoot any one who might approach the
camp; so it must be that you lack faith in A!-
berts and me.”

“Remember, Mr. Call, that you and your
friend are strangers to me. True, you say that
you have known me ever since we Were chil-
dren, but, as I cannot remember that fact, or
you, I am compelled to take the word of one
just the same as a stranger.”

“Considering all we have done for you, I
think you are ungrateful !" declared Call.

The man was very transparent to Sky-Rocket
Rob, and the latter clearly saw that Carona
had many doubts and fears. Her voice was
eloquent with these emotions, and he did not
hesitate to believe that she bitterly repented
having come with the men.

A sail up the coast by daylight was very dif-
ferent from a night on the ridge in the deserted
shanty.

It wasaplace to try stronger nerves than
Carona ever had. The fire was the only cheer-
ful thing in the situation. The shanty was
miserable; the trees and bushes were dark and

loomy; a storm was impending; she had doubt-
ul company, and there could be no privacy for
her at the camp.

Rob suspected that if she dared to express
her opinion of the men it would bemore em-
phatically unfavorable than had yet appe red.
As for him, he knew that they were rascals,
and that Caroua was the victim of a nefarious

plot.

Naturally, as she was not sure of her position,
and was so alarmed over the situation, Call’s
last complaint added to her distress. She has—
tened to make peace, and displayed not a little
skill, while not trespassing upon veracity by as-
serting a confidence in them which she did
not feel; and a degree of harmony was re-
stored.

She, however, insisted upon leaving the island,
as, judging by the man’s words, the land really
was, while he heard her in such amood that
Rob suspected the mask would be thrown off

soon.

The Life—Saver turned and made his way back
to Tony Bristles.

It was evident to even an unpracticed eye
that the squall was inevitable. Black, detached
clouds rushed along the gloomy expanse above
as though in haste to reach some given point,
and it would not have surprised Rob to see the
outbreak come at any moment.

Tony Bristles was calmly enjoying a chew of
tobacco when found.

“ Was it a hotel?” he asked , innocently.

“ It was the abdiictors, with Corona in charge,
cam in an old shanty.”

“ id you ask them fur her?”

“Hardly! They are armed, and I heard
them sa they would shoot any one who ap-
proach .”

“ The dickensl Say, le’s go back!”

“ I thought on were eager to fight pirates?”

“ I be—at ong range. Besides, pirates are
gentlemen. I don’t believe these fellers be.”

“ Tony, be sensible. Carona must be res-

cued.”
“ That’s so.”
“ Have on any ’plani”
“ No. ev ou ’
Tony’s indi erence was very amazing. Weak-
minded as the young man was, Rob did not for-
et that he was ten years older than himself.

n this emergency he felt the need of an old head .

to manage affairs. But Tony appeared to be
abSOIutely of no value.
' “ We can’t fight them open] ," he pursued.

“ I had rather not,” agreed ony.

“ On the other hand, they will not be likely
to leave the camp—the squall will (probably
overcome Carona’s desire to leave—an as the
have no reason to suppose they will be attack ,
we may be able to foil them after they get
asleep.”

“ Hadn’t we better go back fur help!”

“No, no; we must depend wholly on our-
selves. Now that we have sighted them we
must keep them under watch until we can res-
cue Corona, Tony, you must get some pluck
into you. You have a revolver; what are you
afraid of?”

“ It’s (heir revolvers I’m tremulous on!”

“ But you’ll help me?”

“ Yes; ef it’s safe.”

 

A

Rob was angry. Always erratic, Tony was
now in a mood that promised but little for the
future. His early enthusiasm and courage were
alike gone, and he manifested both indifference
and cowardice.

Paying no further attention to his ally, the
Life—Saver sat down to try and form some plan.
It was not yet settled whether the final scenes
would be in the shanty, but he did not believe
that the men would allow Carona to go away.

Unless they had decided previously to stop at
the sh1anty, how happened it that they had food
a on
“ They had planned to stop here; they will
stop, in spite of Carona’s requests, and we can
only wait until one or both get asleep. Then we
must fight them!”

Such was his decision, and, by the time it was
made, there was something elSe to occupy his
attention. The Wind had begun to blow again,
and its suspended fury suddenly found vent; it

unced (10wn upon the knoll with a sheet of rain

me along with it. The trees bent and
writhed, some branches fell, and the nOise was
great. Then the darkness was banished tem-
porarily by a flash of vivid lightning, and the
thunder that followed was short and sharp, like
the sound of a mammoth whip-lash cracked by
giant hands.

It was not a pleasant storm to face, and Rob
and Tony looked for better quarters.

Boldness seemed safe, then, and they actually
went again to the shant and crouched by its
walls, while Rob used his old means of observa-

tion.

Call and Alberts were eating supper, and Ca-
rona was trying to do the same, but her efforts
amounted to but little. She was so worried,
and so suspicious of her companions, that appe-
tite would not answer her summons.

The leading abductor had recovered his usual
equanimity, and his conversation was pleasant
and respectful.

Whatever the plot was, Carona did not seem
to be in immediate danger.

Supper over, Call and Alberts produced
cigars and began to smoke. Even Carona did
not speak of departure in the furious storm then
raging.

One thing she did observe with uneasiness.
As before stated, the fire, while inside the shanty
walls, was at a point where no roof was over it,
and the heavy fall of rain was already putting
it out. Lower and lower sunk the once big
blaze, and dark shadows began to creep into the
lon shanty.

ltimately, unless a change was made, total
darkness would prevail there.

She was about to mention the matter, when
she had a fresh shock. The big trees had been
kept in constant convulsions ever since the van-
guard of the storm struck, and to one the ordeal
had been too great.

There was a new, sudden sound, and a many-
limbed giant of the knoll swept through the air
in resist-less downfall.

No one there saw it come, but they were not

'left ignorant. It struck the shanty, crushing a

part of it almost into a shapeless mass.

CHAP’.ER XIII.
THE LIFE-SAVEB’S PUZZLING SITUATION.

TEE last eVent was so abrupt and radical
that Carona uttered a cry of alarm, and Call
and Alberts sprung to their feet in a mood
scarcel calmer. None of the three had been
injur , and that part of the long shanty
beaten down was not near enough to deprive
them of shelter, but they looked at the tree in
uneasiness while the storm roared outside as
loud as ever.

“ Touch and go, by J ove!” Call exclaimed.

“ A little more this way, and it would have
been more ‘ touch 'and less ‘ go,’ ” Alberts added.

“True. If it had taken the shanty in the
middle it would have crushed it like an egg-
shell.”

“Inreckon we wa’n’t born to go under that
we .

“I don’t know. If one tree has yielded to the
wind, others may follow suit. Stay here, A],
and I’ll go out and sum up the chances.”

He went at once. The trees weie still writh-
ing in the grasp of the wind, and some Were
swaying toward the shanty in a way far from
pleasant to see, but the discovery that there had
been aslight imperfection in t e fallen giant,
where it was twisted from the trunk, gave him
ground to hope that the others would outlive the
sto

rm.

He started back and paused for a moment
tolook at the cause of theirlate alarm. While
he was gazing at the big trunk and huge
branches, the atter of which held the former

.   I  ‘ "  ta lllhvf‘v‘llluv‘dfr “ II,”
- t  We ' 

 

Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-Saver.

11

 

 

 

clear of the ground, and had been the means of
.saving the shanty, something caused him to
start back.

A roan sounded close at handi

“ oundsl what was that?”
“ Could it have been the wind?”

It was repeated, and this time he knew it was
nota voice of the storm. Unquestionabiy, it
came from under the tree, and be advanced
nearer in a state of per lexity.

Then the lightning ushed, and he distinctly
saw a human form among the broken branches,
crushed, he thought, by the fallen giant.

He forgot the Consequences of interference in
the natural desire to investigate the matter.
In a. moment he was down upon his knees.
Reaching in between two branches he first re-
moved some of the broken limbs, which were of
kindling-wood fineness, and then grasped the

sugposed fatally-injured rson.

onsiderably to his suif')e rise it did not prove
that the unknown was he d fast, and he had no
trouble in pulling him out.

“It must be some one who was ti' in to get
out of the storm,” he soliioquized. “ e 1, some
life seems left, and I’ll give the fellow a lift.
He‘s only a boy, anyhow."

The last meditation was the result of the
thought. Would it not be dangerous to befriend
any one at such a critical time?

‘ There can’t be any harm in such a younster,”
he added; and then he picked the “ yougster ” up
bodily and carried him into the shanty.

Their appearance created a sensation.

“Hallo! what in blazes have you got there!”
Alberts demanded.

“A kid who was beaten down and left sense-
less 0 the fall of the tree.”

“ ho is he?”

“ Don’t know.”

“ What was he doing here?”

“ Seeking shelter, I suppose.”

“Why did you bring him in?”

Alberts’s voice and manner betrayea more
than his words, and Call gave him a warning
glance.

“ He was alone, and, of course, it’s our dut
to take care of such an unfortunate, even thong
he be a mere fisher-lad.”

Both men looked at Carona. If they had
done this at first they would have been better
rewarded. First si ht of the boy had caused
her to start violent y, for she had recognized

he muttered.

Sky-Rocket Rob. She was now looking at him ‘

in wonder and perplexity. How had he come
there?

This was a conundrum she could not answer.

There was now nothing in her gaze, fixed and
startled as it was, to arouse sus icion in the kid-
nappers’ minds' it was nature that she should
be shocked an frightened at seeing a boy so
near death as this particular youth appears to

But Rob Wile was not in any such deplora-
ble condition. e was unconscious, but not
even a bruise marked his skin. If ill luck had
directed the broken tree toward the quarter
where he had crouched under the wall, Prou-
dsnce had saved him from serious injury.

He had received a stunning blow, but the
larger branches, broken though they had been,
formed a support that held the trunk of the tree
clear of the ground, savmg his life by a narrow
chance.

Already he was recovering, and, seein this,
Call produced a whisky-bottle and gave im a
dose. A few moments later the Life-Saver
opened his eyes. , '

For a moment he was bewildered. but recol-
lection quickly returned, and he realized his ex-
act situation.

" So you’re alive?" greeted Call. cheerfully.

“ I really believe I am,” Rob admitted, with a
faint smile.

“ Much as ever.
one round.”

“What were you doing there?” demanded Al-
berts, sus iciously.

Rob di some rapid thinking. He did not be-
lieve he had been recognized by the men, and if
Carona had_ been shrewd enough to keep silent
up to that time, she would not be foolish enough
to betray his identity now.

“ I was on my way here to get out of the rain
and wind," he clearly returned. “ I was out in
my boat with another boy, fishing, and the
storm made it out of the question to go home.
We landed and started here but the tree fell.
After that I don’t know what happened”

“ Where do you belong ?" .

Rob named a town twenty miles up the
coast.

“ So you’re a fisherman?”

“ Yes, sir.”

The tree knocked you out in

 

“ Is this your regular ground Q”
~ “ We have to fish. wherever we can get bites.
It’s a hard life, and not much pay for work. If
I had the money l’d run my own boat regular to
New York, and hire a man to fish for me, but
these things take capital. New York’s a long
wa s off.”

8 shook his head, and assumed such an un-
sophisticated air generally that Call :et him
down for a very innocent, harmless youth,
whose whole soul was bound up in fish. Alberts
was more suspicious.

“ What’s become of the other boy?” he asked.
RThis was a question which had been troubling

ob.

“ Sure enough,” he returned with a start. “ I
hope he hasn’t been hurt by the tree. He was
close beside me.”

“ There’s a lantern here; we’ll look.”

They took the lantern and went out, but Tony
Bristles was not to be found. When certain
that he was not under the tree, Rob breathed
freer; Tony had escaped the danger, but had
run away.

The Life-Saver was glad to know that his
companion was safe, but matters were left in a
state of uncertainty. Rob himself had been
placed in the enemy’s own camp by chance. He
did not intend to lose the advantage if he could
help it. As long as he was near Carona, and
could maintain his character of an ignorant boy
of the coast, he could watch over her. Perhaps,
too, chance would offer opportunity for him to
rescue her. To do this, he desired Tony’s aid,
but Tony was absent, and it was very uncertain
what that erratic person would do.

His already developed tiinidity might cause
him to keep so far away as to be useless, or he
might develop courage as unsystematic as it
soul]? be rash, and ruin all by some ill-advised

 C

When they returned to the interior of the
shanty, Rob managed to signal to Carona se-
cretly, which he did by placin a finger over his
lips and givmg her a warning 00k.

That told her that she was not to let the men
know she recognized the Life-Saver, and the
latter felt sure that she would not jeopardize
the cause.

Call next gave his attention to making a
smaller fire just under cover of the roof, to re-
place the fast-fading blaze before relied upon.

That was nearly drowned out.

The storm continued, and the four occupants
of the place sat down and tried to pass the time
the best they could. Rob avoided glancing at
Carona, and even Alberts began to lose his sus-
picions.

The boy champion was formally installed as
one of the company for the time being, but he
did 11:3 intend to remain idle. Carona must be
rescu .

 

CHAPTER XIV.
A WILD MAN ON THE RAMPAGE.

THERE was a change for the better outside.
Both wind and rain lost their force, and it was
eVident that the worst of the squall was over.
The sky did not clear at all, however; the
clouds ung low, and it looked as if the ebulli-
tion of nature would end in a drizzling rain.

The quartette in the shanty were making
themselves as comfortable as ible.

One of the features of the B32: in which Call
and Alberts had taken Carona away was a sus-

iciously large stock of blankets. These new

came very useful. Three were put at her dis-
posal, and each of the men had one.

All things pointed to a night in the shant .
Certainly, the freshly-upset ocean would not
a safe place for a sail-boat before morning, and,
now that Sky-Rocket Rob was on the scene,
even Carona did not speak of a journey through
the wet swamp. .

Nature appeared to have aided the kidnappers
in their very transparent designs, but the pres-
ence of Rob made a vast change in the scene, as
viewed by Carona.

She longed to question the brave lad, who had
saved her life once before; to ask what the pros-
pects of rescue now were; but she realized that
secrecy must be maintained, and did nothing

rash.

The Life-Saver was, outwardly, the calmest
Eerson present. He warmed his feet and dried

is clothes by the fire, keeping up such a conver-
sation as an ignorant fisher-lad might under
like circumstances. Call had plausibly ex-
plained the presence of his own party. and Rob
was careful not to ask unwelcome, questions.

Thus even Alberta came to regard him as
harmless. '

Rob, however, was in a fever of suspense. No-
body knew better than he that Tony Bristles

 

was as unreliable as an April day. If the sim-
ple-minded young man was near he was liable
to walk into the shanty at any moment, and be-
tray everything hy an unguarded speech.

The Life-Saver’s hOpe was that both Call and
Alberts would go to sleep. Unless they did, his
chances were not of the best. They were armed;
he was not.

After a while he began to yawn, and finally
spread one of the blankets close to the fire and lay
down. His position, while careless and easy to
look at, was such that he could watch every one
else in the shanty.

He expected to do a good deal of watching
that night.

Yet his eyes soon closed, and he, to all ap—
pearances, sunk into peaceful slumber. Call
noted all this attentively. He waited half an
hour, and then turned to Carona.

“ Hadn’t you better retire, Miss Dane?” he
asked.

“ Whither am I to retirei”

“ We have but one room, it is true, but the
stout cord which, as you may see, is stretched
from pin to in across yonder corner, not only
sug ests its ormer use, but gives us an idea.
By anging a blanket upon the cord your room
is made.”

“ I shall not sleep tonight.”

“You will be perfectly safe.
until morning dawns.”

“ I am too miserable to sleep.”

“Believe me, nobody regrets this delay more
than I.”

“ Will you take me back, tomorrow i”

“ And disappoint your mother?"

“ I do not care to go to a mother who would
not come to me.”

“ Remember that she is ill.”

“ Is she?”

“ Did I not say so?”

“ You said sol”

“ You still doubt usi”

H I do.”

Carona had not intended to be so frank, for
she knew the suspicious of the men ought not to
be kept active, but her indignation had over.
mastered her.

“ Really I suppose it is not strange,” returned
Call, amiuhly. “ I don’t blame you a particle.
All I do ask is that you will suspend judgment
until we have given you proof, one way or the
other.”

“ When will that be?"

“ Early to-morrow forenoon; as soon as the
ocean gets over its riot so our boat can run com-
fortably.”

“ You say that my mother will be there to
meet us?"

“ Yes.”

“Strange that I cannot remember her i”

Call looked toward Sky-Rocket Rob, but that
youth seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

“ This is but a small part of what you have
forgotten, since your past is all gone. But let.
us defer consideration of this until we see your
mother. Will you act upon my suggestion, and
let‘n‘ire cu’rtain of! the corner?”

es

I shall watch

Call looked encoura . Carona was yielding
a trifle, and, as be con (1 not understand how the
presence of Rob influenced her, his hopes rose.

he corner was soon arranged, and the girl
retired from general view, arranged the material
at her disposal so that she could partly sit and
partly recline, and prepared to exercise what
patience she could.

Her abductors went near the door and talked
in vgices so low that even Rob could not catch a
wor . ‘

Then Alberts lay down but Call put his back
against the wall, lighted a cigar, and settled
down to keep watch.

Obviously, the Life-Saver must use tiencev
in order to accom lish his purpose. harmed
as he was, he can] not act while Call remained
awake.

An hour elapsed.

The wind appeared to have died down almost
wholly, and the rainfall was not heavy enough
to make an audible sound. Only for Call it
would have seemed that everybody and every-
thing was willing to be quiet.

In spite of himself Rob was beginning to feel
sleepy when something occurred to arouse him
thoroughly. His secret gaze had strayed to the
doorway— there was no door —when he was
startled to see a human head appear there.

It came into sight slowly and cautiously, and
was followed by a pair of shoulders. Its owner
reconnoitered silently and carefully.

It was Ton Bristles. '

Rob was rmed. What idea was in Tony’s
mind was not to be surmised, but if it was

 

 

      
 

  

   
  
  
  
  
  
   
   
  
  
    
  
   
   
      
   
   
   
  
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
   
    
   
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
   
   
  
   
   
   
   
  
  
  
   
  
 
   
   
  
   
   
    
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
     
   
   
   
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
 

 

, MN“

V coherent, the fact was strange.

carried flashed in the fire~light.

 i3;.)h‘slaughiuir.

   
   
   

)1

1'2

. ......_

...... .. ..~ 1,,” .. .,. . ., ..,, .. ., «A.

l .

Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-Saver.

 
   
   

 

 

His chances of
unintentionally doing at end deal of damage
were abundant, and the ife Saver could not
make a single gesture to warn him back.

Call’s back was toward him, but Gail’s face
was toward Rob, and if the latter made a mo—
tion, the watcher for the abductors must see it.

There was nothing to be done except to let
Tony operate as he would.

The simple-minded fishermun’s face bore a
cunning expression, and there was faint hope
that he realized the critical state of affairs, and
would govern himself according. He was anx-
ions to learn all about the shanty and its occu-
pants, but the light was not strong, and no one
but Call was plainly visible. Gradually a puz-
zled look overspread his face, and his ally be-
came nervous.

But the Worst was yet to come.

Once more Tony advanced; he passed the door;
he entered the shanty.

Rob was too much alarmed to form any plan.
He could only watch in a species of fascination.

Tony moved with singular caution and good
luck, so that his advance was almost noiseless,
and Call was singularly oblivious to what was
going on. This could not last forever, thou h.
Tony was creeping straight toward where l-
hcrts lay wrapped in his blanket. and this
brought him into the middle of the room.

Call saw him at last. and the disc0very was
both surprising and startling to him. He gazed
in inactivity fora while; then he leaped to his
feet and found his voice.

“ Whch perdition are you i” he cried.

Tony leaped up, himself, and a look of com-
plete terror overspread his face. He had not

:seen that member of the party before, and he

fell into a panic in the presenc of discovery.
His lips unclosed and he suddenly/emitted a yell
which would have done credit to a madman.

Another moment and the revolver which he
, He turned it
swiftly Upon Call and fired.
him nor system about it and probably as little
thought, but he kept blazing away until six
shots had been fired as fast as he could deliver
them, while his almost unearthly yells made a
strange and alarming accompaniment.

Of course the whole party was astir. Rob
and Alberts had leaped to their feet, but while
the latter was frightened almost out of his
senses, the Life-Saver was calmer than wasto
be expected.

He had called to Tony to stop firing, but his
voice was lost in the uproar. Then he thou ht
Aof Corona, and started toward her, but he colli ed
with Alberts with such force‘that both fell.

Rob struggled up and started again.
time he was more successful: he reached the
blanket and brushed it aside. Disappointment
awaited him.

Carona was gone!

‘ He was surprised, but it dawned upon him
that she had fled during the disturbance, and
he quickly emerged from cover. He was just
in time to see the skirts of Alberts’s coat vanish
through the door, while a. glance showed him
‘tgat the departure left him sole occupant of the
.s anty.

Every one else had fled.

Greatly alarmed for Carona, he was not /slow
to follow a distance in their steps, but, when he
reached the outer air, not a person was tobe

:seen.
Night and the bushes had swallowed them up.

CHAPTER XV.
non STRUGGLES WIN.

ALMOST total silence r ' nod around the
shanty, and Rob was unable to locate even one
.of the runaways. It seemed almost impossible
that they could get out of hearing so quickly,
and, already bewildered, he stood in a state of
uncertainty for several moments. .

Then he. made a vain circuit of the shanty.
This, however. brought him back to the door,
and, looking in, he saw, not one of the party.
but a revolver.

He hastened to secure it. It
Tony’s, but a fine, fully-load
he welcomed gladly.

A: Call was not to be seen, it followed that,
whether wounded or not, he had escaped death

 

roved not to be
weapon, which

' in spite of all of Tony’s headlon shooting.

It Would not do to delayt ere, sotheLife-
Saver hastened down the hind. Both boats
were where they had been left, and were vacant.
Plainiy, all of the missin persons had taken to
the woods in precipitate ight, and it was hard
to say who had been the most frightened of the

tte. If the situation had been less serious
. Curons, the thought would have excited

There was neither .

This.

 

As it was, he was terribly alarmed for her.
Which way was he to go to seek her?”

After a while his wits returned fully, and he
rocured the lantern and searched for the trail.
11 this attempt he was successful at once. It

was not hard to find the sharp—pointed heel-
marks which, well imprinted in the soft earth,
betrayed the paSsa e of a lady’s feet, and, once
started, he followed apidly.

Carona’s course had been toward the north-
west, and there was every evidence that she had
gone in great haste. He dared not lose Sight of
the tracks, so, as a consequence, he could not
equal that speed, but he did his best.

It was a rough way the unfortunate girl had
taken. Trees and underbrush abounded, and
the swamp had been made almost impassable by
recent rains. A traveler sunk in mud and water
at almost every step.

Rob went on wit the lantern held forward
and the revolver ready for use. In a short time
the trail began to curve around toward the
west, but so gradually that it became clear she
was unconsciously following the arc of a
circle.

Where her wild wanderings would end he did
not know, but the gravest fears seemed called
for as the swamp became worse and worse.
Mud, water, bushes and logs alike barred the
way. Whether he was gaining Rob could not
tell, but he did have evidence that Carona’s
strength was giving out, and that she was mov-
ing but slowly.

At last he made a discovery. He was follow-
ing the trail as before when he came up to a large
log, and, as he was about to cross it, he raised
the lantern and the light fell full upon a man
who was sitting upon the fallen tree.

It was Call.

“ Hello!” spoke the latter, faintly.

“ You, here?” cried Rob.

“ Part of me.”

“ What are you doing?”

“ Resting.” I

“ Resting!”

“That’s what I said. When a man has two
bullets in his carcass, he needs to take things
easy.”

“ Are you wounded?”

“ Rather! That maniac who descended on us
got in his work, and it’s a wonder I’m alive. I
ran into this diabolical swamp, and only stop-
ped when I got so weak that I fell down—more
fool, I! Now, I’m trying to get out of this fix,
but it’s slow work.”

Rob was thinking more of the girl than of the
woulnded abductor, and he looked down at the
trai .

“ Where is Carona!” he asked.

“ Just what I’d like to know!” groaned Call.

“ Don’t you know i"-

“ I don’t.”

All this was quite possible. The Life-Saver
saw that she could easily have passed before
Call reached the point. t

“ Will you give me your arm and help me
out?” the speaker added.

“ I will, on one condition.”

“ Name it!”

“ Why did you abduct Carona?”

Call’s eyes opened widely.

“ What‘s that?” he cried.

“ You decoyed her away from friends by lies.
You know you never intended to take her to
her mother, but acted as her foe. Why did
you do it?”

“ See here 1” cried the wounded man, in a rage,
“ Alberts was right; you‘re an infernal spy!’

” I’m here to rescue Carona, I admit.” .

“ By the fiends! I’ll—”

Cal! rose to his feet and lifted the club he had
been using as a staff, but Rob unceremoniously
turned the revolver upon him.

“ Drop it!" he called out, sharply. “ I hold
the trump here, and you can’t scare me. Keep
oil'; ,or I’ll add to the damage already done
you!

Tao kidnap r was in a passion.

“Oh! if 1 ad my revolver!” he cried. “I’d
fix you; I’d do you up—”

“ lf’s don’t count and I can’t stop to waste
words on on. So- ong!”

The Li e-Saver leaped over the log and re-
sumed his way. The man called something
after him, but it passed unneeded. Once more
the brave youth was on the trail with the
patience of an Indian. He had lost all knowl-
edge of the points of compass. but he had a
vague idea that, already, be had nearly com-
pleted a circle, and that his face must be to-
ward the ocean.

For five minuth longer be pursued his way,
and then the swamps ended at a knoll. He as-
cended the side, and, at the top, saw a low

I

faintly but that he recognized it. v
After all the tramp, he was back at the
shanty.

Despite his suspicion that they had gone in a.
circle he was surprised at this discovery, but
Carona’s trail led straight on, and he hurried to
the shanty.

He reached the door. The place was no
longer untenanted; Carona crouched by the
fire, warming her hands by the blaze. She
sprung to her feet, and then terror gave place to

Joy.
“ Oh! Rob, Rob!” she cried, “ I am so glad to
see you. Thank Heaven you are here i” ,

He shook her hand warmly. ‘

“ Jiminy! but on can’t be gladder than I am i”
he declared. “ t’s been a hard pull, but I hope
we are all right now.”

“ Where have you been i”

“ FollOWing your trail.” _

“ And I—ohl Rob, I wandered on, and on, in
that fearful swamp, only to learn in the end,
when it seemed that I’d gone many miles to-
ward safety, that evil fate had led me to go in a
circle. I came back to this horrible place.”

“ Never mind; it’s a. good place to start for
home from.” ,

“ Can we go now?” she asked, eagerly.

“ I hate to trust a boat to the ocean right
after such a squall ”

“ But the men—where are they!”

“ Gone into the swamp, too.”

“ Aren’t they liable to come back i”

“ Yes,” Rob admitted, reluctantly.

“ I care not how roughly the water may roll;
I had rather take my chances there than to re-
main and meet those men. Who are they?
What are they?” ,

Her agitation and fear influenced Rob not a
little, and he began to think well of the idea of
leaving. It did not seem that he could oppose
Alberts and Call alone, while as for the ocean,
he had been accustomed to that all his life.

It would be a most dangerous undertaking to
sail down the coast, unless the water was
quieter than he had reason to expect, but he
was in just the mood for trying it.

He explained how be regarded Call and Al-
berts, and Caro an agreed with all he said. She
had lost all faitl in them.

“ Can’t we start for your home at once?” she
asked, when he had finished.

“ Dare you risk it?”

" I am eager to risk it."

“Then we’ll g0!”

That seemed to decide it, but Carona sudden-
ly uttered a cry of alarm. Rob wheeled and
saw Alberts standing at the door. The man
smiled sarcastically.

“ A very prett plan!” he commented. “Only
one thing is lac ing to make it a success, and
that is, ability to carry it out. When you sail,
Miss Dane, you go north, not south. As for
this hop-o’—my-thumb, I’ll tie him up here by
his heels!”

He advanced upon the LifeSaver, full of
brute confidence that he could carry evei thing
his own way, but Rob had no intention 0 being
disp of so summarily. Out came his re-
volver, and he was about to call a halt when af-
fairs took still another turn.

Through the door sprung a figure covered
with mud so as to be almost unrecognizable.
He carried a club and might have been a wild
man of the w 9. His eyes. certainly were
wild and staring. and the light of reason was
not especially prominent in his face.

Yet, this man was Tony Bristles, and there
was method in his movements. _,

He rushed toward Alberts, the club upraised
to beat him down. .

Some instinct, perhaps, told the kidnapper of
his danger. He turned. saw Tony. sprung to
one side, drew a bead Upon him, and was about
to fire when Rob, as alert as ever, leaped for-
ward and knocked the revolver away.

Then the boy’s own six-shooter was raised.
while Tony lifted the club again. Both ad-
vanced, and. in the face of such danger, Alberts
lost his nerve, turned, and then fled from the
shangy.

“ ow for the boat!” cried Rob. “ Get away
at once. We’ll trust all to the ocean l”

 

CHAPTER XVI.
ran: Losr HONEY.

IT was no time for coherent thought. Corona
was pallid and nervous; Tony was excited and
incapable of reason; and Rob was far from
calm. Realizing that Alberts probably would
return soon, and believin that such would be
the case with Call also, a had only one strong ‘

 

I

  

     
   

structure, faintly lighted by a fire; but notsoft‘? '

   

 

 

 

1.
t
J!

   

 

Sky-Rocket Bob, the Life-Saver.

  

13'

 

idea in mind—to get away before any such
calamity could occur.

,Piling several blankets into Tony’s arms, he
gave his own aid to Carona and hastened the re-
treat. No one barred their way, and, in a very
short time they were by their boat.

It was not the easiest thing in the world to get
it afloat on the open water, but, as no one ap-
md to oppose them, they were soon receding

shore. .

Rob saw that the wind was still north, which
would be very much in their favor, and, as soon
as possible, this wind was utilized, and they
were gliding through the channel.

There the water was rough, but the broken
land was a shield in a measure. It was a gal-
lant/and not unpleasant voyage while these con-
ditions lasted. but all changed when they
reached the open water.

The ocean was rollin and foaming in an ugly
way, and the night con d not have been darker.
Rain had almost ceased, but the blackest of
clouds hung over them. Into this area of gloom
and danger they must go, but Sky-Rocket Rob
shut his teeth firmly and faced the danger.
Tony was once more himself, and thatmeant
that he was to be relied upon for good seamen-
ship; Carona was comfortable as was possible,
with the blankets around her; and the Life-
Saver felt that ' he had rather face the perils of
the ocean than the men who had made all this
trouble.

There was joy in Otis Bond’s house the next
day. Just as the sun was rising Sky-Rocket
Rob’s boat came gallantly toward the shore,
and, after that, it was not a long task to return
Carona to her old quarters.

r Walden was not there to welcome her.
He had returned from his trip too late to take
part in direct pursuit of the abducters, not ar-
' riving until after dark; so he had taken a train
for the North, hoping to head the enemy of! in
their flight.

During the day everything was very quiet.
Rob saw Wesley Carter at the hotel, in conver-
sation with Mrs. Vincent-Brown, and fancied
that the man gave him a most unfriendly
glance, but no words passed between them.

Rob was anxious to See Roger return. Plain-
! , Carona ou ht to be in a place safer than
their town cou d ever be. The fact was settled
that she had enemies, and it was not likely that
their late defeat would end activity on their

art. The unfortunate girl ought to be removed
rom their knowledge and given a safe, pleasant
home, where she could recuperate fully.

The Life~Saver knew of no such lace, but
he tihought that Roger would be ab e to man-

e t. -
“Determined not to lose sight of her until Wal-
‘ den took charge, Rob remained at Bond’s house.
Tony Bristles went to rejoin Foretop Ben at the
Giant’s Boot. _

Rob watched for Roger, and, as night drew
near, felt that the young man must soon appear.
Thus it was that the youth saw the first approach
of a party which, though it did not contain
Roger, was destined to act an important part in
the near future.

It was composed of three persons. The most
noticeable was Mrs. Vincent-Brown; the second
was the hotel-keeper; the third was a local
justice.

In this party Rob had but little interest, at
first, and as he sat at the side window they

ssed out of his mind as 8000 as they did from

is sight. He heard the door-bell ring, hntgave
that fact only casual attention until he heard
footsteps in the hall and Mrs. Vincent-Brown’s
voice sounded.

Then, struck with sudden apprehension, he
opened the door.

The trio were inside the house, having been
admitted by Mrs. Bond. The latter’s face bore
a frightened look.

“ be young lady is in her room,” she was
sayiag, ‘ and I hate to disturb her.”

“ hen the law demands we have to do many
unpleasant things,” the justice re lied.

“ But, surely, Carona can ave done no
harm.” ,

“Is it nothing to steal myproperty?” de-
manded Mrs. Vincent-Brown, viciously.

Mrs. Bond turned pale.

“ Surely, she has not done that!” gasped the
good woman.
. ' “Be ease,” interrupted the justice, kind-

‘~ ly. “ I, for one, make no charges while proof
is lackin . Mrs. Vincent—Brown has lost money
and jewe and the fact that an olive was
found in her room, at the hotel, with was
_ Dana‘s name upon it, compelled metoinvesti-
“ gate a bit.”

j? i

 

  
 

 

Sky-Rocket Rob pushed forward with eyes in-
dignantly sparkling.

“ It’s a vile plot!” he cried.

“ Perhaps you know who did it!” retorted the
lady from New York.

“ I don’t believe you last any money.”

“ Is this the voice of an accomplice?” demand-
ed Mrs. Vincent-Brown, saiurly.

“ Be calm !" interrupted the justice, again.
“ Our Rob is above suspicion.”

“ Nobody is—”

“ You are right!"

The last retort was from the Life-Saver, and
it clearly expressed his opinion of the woman,
but the justice, who was a fair man, again in-
terfered and calmed the hostile elements.

A robbery had been committed at the hotel.
Mrs. Vincent-Brown had lost fifty dollars in
cash, two bracelets, and a ring; none of the
jewelry being extremely valuable. She had re.
ported the loss to the landlord, and, by his ad-
vice, the matter had been kept secret, and a
quiet search made, but on this day an envelope
bearing Carona Dane‘s name and ad
been found in the room from which the valua-
bles were taken. Hence it was thought proper
to search Carona’s ions, and the Justice
had decided that this should be done.

Rob did not waver in his Opinion that all this
was a plot. but he was of the Opinion, further-
more, that the justice would be convinced of
Carona’s innocence most easily by allowing
matters to take their course.

Accordingly, all went up to her room.

Carona had just risen, and she opened the
door without delay. She looked in surprise at
the large party, but the justice, confused and
ashamed)i made known their errand as quickly
as 1 e.

he girl’s face flushed. When aboard the
Singing Bally she had been accused of theft, and
it apgeared that the game was not over.

“ hat new plot is this?”

She asked the question in a manner so impres-
sive that the justice felt more ashamed than
ever and he hastened to reply:

“Believe me, if the charge is not true, you
shall not suffer from it. You deny the charge?”

“ I do, emphatically."

“ And what she says you can depend upon,”
declared Rob, stoutly.

“ Will some one remove that child?” demand-
ed Mrs. VincenhBrown, irritably.

“ Bob has a perfect right here, and will re-
main if he wishes,” the justice firme asserted.
“ Miss Dane, excuse us, but we must make a.
search.”

“ Certainly. Do your duty, sir.”

The search began. Mrs. Bond put her arm
around Carona to assure the girl of her sympa-
thy, while Rob’s defiant, hostile air indicated
that he was still her champion. Mrs. Vincent-
Brown looked on with a sneering smile.

The two men did the searching. Carona’s
property was so limited that it was soon looked
over: othing was found. Rob’s face took on
a triumphant look at what be regarded as a
successful end of the matter, but the justice
glanced at the carpet, and then began to search
around its edges.

He soon reached a point where there wasa
suspicious bulging of the fabric.

He ran his hand under, fumbled for a mo-
ment. and then brought out—a roll of bank-
notesl

Mrs. Vincent-Br0wn uttered a cry of triumph.

“ It is mine 2” she exclaimed.

“ Waitl
lost?”

“No; but there were five ten-dollar bills.”

“ That is just what We have herel”

“ Then I claim them.”

“ Be patient! Let me look further.”

This he did. Next he brought out a card
photograph, which, after a casual survey, he

aid down. The next effort brought to light a.
pair of bracelets, with a ring tied to one of
t em.

“ Minel-minel” almost screamed Mrs. Vin-
cent-Brown, in great excitement.

“..They certainly agree with the descri tion
you gave,” the justice reluctantly admit .

All e es were turned upon Carona. Paler yet
she be grown, but with er startled eyes turned
upon the male-y, she was silent.

Not so h iley.

“ It’s all a vile plot!” he reiterated “ and that
woman and Wesley Carter are in it! ‘

He had not forgotten seeing Carter and Mrs.
Vincent-Brown in convorsation at the hotel, and
now he had a presentth that his accusation
was true. ~ , '

But a cool, airy voice sounded at,the.door:

“ Who takes my name in vain!”

Have you the numbers of the bills

shrewd youth suspected the cause.

' vanoedtoaidM

  

 

It was Wesley Carter himself, who had
sauntered in accompanied by Otis Bond, a cigar
rakishly thrust into his mouth.

“ I take your name!” declared the Life—Saver,
stoutly, “ but not in vain. You have hatched
this infamous conspiracy, as you hatched all the.
others!”

 

CHAPTER XVII.

THE PACE mar KILLED. ,
CARTER coolly flipped the ashes from his;

en ar.

g‘I plead not guilty, though I don’t know
what the charge is,” he answered, nonchalantly.

“ Wait!” commanded the justice; “ I want to
talk here. Whose photograph is this?"

“I don’t claim it,” answered Mrs. Vincent-

Brown.

The previous 8 her held it toward Carona.

“ Is it yours, iss Dane?” he asked.

The light fell full upon the photogra h and
revealed the likeness of a fine-looking ady of
about fifty years. Carona gazed at it, started.
snatched the picture away, and then continued
to look with a strange intentness. Large grew
her eyes, her color came and went, and one and
was ra and seed to her forehead. Her
expression was wildered, but it suddenly
cleared, and the light of a revelation was in her
face and eyes.

“ My mother!” she gasped; and then she
reeled and dropped fainting into a chair.
Utter silence prevailed for a time.

broken by Wesley Carter’s voice.

“ A doctor seems to be needed here, and I’ll go.
for him,” he remarked. _ '

It was, in some ways, a careless observation,
but Rob Wiley, glancing up quickly, caught an
uneasy expression upon his face. Even then the
Carona had
recognized her mother’s picture; might it not be
that full recollection of her st life had re-
turned, and that Carter dread the result?

The Life—Saver blocked his way.

“You can’t leave until this is settled!” Rib,
declared, firmly.

“I can’t! By heavens! stand out of the way’
or I’ll twist our neck, you insolent cur! Out of’ l
the way! come and go when I please, and it:
pleases me to go now.”

“ But you can‘t go!”

It was a stern voice behind Rob that spoke the?
words, and er Walden appeared with Her--
ace Addison, oretop Ben and Tony Bristles
close behind him. Like Roger, Addison looked.
severe and menacing.

“Instead of going," added Roger, “you will
yield yourself a prisoner, Carter!”

“ A prisoner! Ridiculous! What charge.
him» you a inst me?”

“Your al y, Benson, alias Call, has been so—
cidentally chanced upon by us, and he has con-
fessed that you have been systematically pens--
cuting Miss Dane. Her rea name he could not
tell, but you know it. He, badly wounded and
alarmed for his life, has confessed that he came:
here disguised as a tramp; that you stole cer-
tain articles from Mrs. incent-Brown, and
hired him to hide them in this room. The arti-
fles were fifty dollars in money, two brace—
ets—’

“ It is an infamous falsehood!" cried Carter,
hotly, though Mrs. Vincent-Brown looked be-
wildered.

“ We have proof. Tony Bristles, here, discov-
ered the be e tramp at his work, and forced to-
keep the fel ow compan at the revolver’s muz-
zle, saw the articles hi den. Threats made at-
the time so alarm Tony that he dared say
nothing. but he has t last spoken out.” I

“ Yes; nn’ I’m goin’ ter swear to it, on it, upon
it, an’ at it!” declared Tony, proudly.

Carter’s face was covered With perspiration
which had started out freel . He saw that he,
was in a corner, but not ing amen to yield
tamely, he suddenly wheeled, ran to the open
window and made a desperate leap for liberty.

Misfortune attended the efl’ort. Bis too can ht
on the lower part of the window, ahesvy all
followed, and when the others looked out, they

saw him lgg in a heap.
mFinger, b and Tony hastened down the.
s we.

Horace Addison, kind and noble as ever, ad-
rs. Bond in resuscitating carona,
but was stopped on the way by the picture,
which the justice chanced to lift. .

“ Blew me! what’s this!” Addison mad, with.
a start.

“ A likeneu found in Miss Dana’s posse-ion.“
“ In her i”

on
“Yer th in she denied that it was he...» ,
swi,shéa$t§dusooouannwiw  

It was

 

 

  
  

 

14 ' Sky-Rocket Rob, the Life-Saver.

“ Great heavens! that picture is that of my
deceased sister 1”

“ Is it possible? Why, Miss Dane fainted after
gasping the Words, ‘ My mother!’ ”

Addison looked dazed.

“This dumfounds me. Can it be——”

His hesitating, half-unconscious utterance was
stopped by a movement on the girl’s art. She
opened her eyes and looked around wlth momen-
tary wildness, which soon faded into intelligence

'- and a near approach to calmness.

“ My memory has returned!” she cried.

“ Thank Heaven, Miss Danel” answered Mrs.
Bond, heartily.

“ Dane? That is not my name. Why I ever
assumed it I can’t surmise. My real name is
Estelle Roland.”

“ The daughter of Alfred and Lucy Roland?”
demanded Addison.

‘0 Yes.”

Carona, as she may still be called, stopped
short, started, and looked eagerly at the former
speaker.

“Your name is Addison,” she added. “My
mother was named Lucy Addison before mar-
riage—”

“ And your grandparents?”

“ Were Walter and Lucy Addison.”

“ Then, praise Heaven, you are my niece,
recovered after many years i”

Impulsively the old gentleman clasped her in
his arms, tremulously adding:

“ No wonder I was strangely attracted to you
from the first.” '

“ But,” she answerei , “ I do not understand.
We thought you dead.”

“ I have always been a wanderer, and ten
years in Africa as explorer and missionary
caused me to lose all knowledge of you and my
widowed sister. When I returned to Philadel-'
phia I could get no trace of. either of you, though
it was said that your mother was dead.”

“And but too truly. We removed to Balti-
more, where she died.”

“But your recent troubles—does the return
of memory make all clear?”

“ It does. I see now that one Darius Lowe——
whom I now recognize as Wesley Carter——
sought my hand in marriage. I refused him,
and, when he became abusive, would have had
him arrested for a forgery I knew he had com-
mitted; but he had me seized and shut up in a
private mad-house.

“ My sufferings there were eat-let me not
dwell upon them—but I fins 15' escaped going
on foot and becoming ill with fever. It was
during that illness that I lost my memory.
Now you know all.”

“ I see how you have suffered, but I see bright-
ness in the fuiure. You are ' my niece, and I
will protect you while I live 1”

Rob Wiley entered.

“ Wesley Carter is dying from his fall,” the
Life-Saver explained. “ Will you see him?”

Carona shivered.

“ No, no; don’t ask it of me!” she exclaimed.
“I see now how his enmity has- folloWed me,
haunting me even in my recent misfortunes.”

“His own lips have confessed it. He admits
that he stole the money from Mrs. Vincent-
Brown. She was not in the plot, but be aimed
to drag her in as an element of respectability to
aid him. Next, he admits that he stole the
money from the captain of the Singing Sally,
and hid it in your state-room, with the Same
motive—to fasten the act on you, and make
you miserable. Also, he stole the diamond
necklace from Horace Addison’s state-room.
This he would have kept, it was so valuable,
and did put on his own neck, enlarging it by
adding a string; but when you were all kneel-
ing on the deck of the Singing Sally, and death
seemed certain, he, knowing the history of the
necklace, was seized with fear for the future,
and, going to you, clasped it around your neck.
As the waves were rolling over you, his work
passed unnoticed by even you.”

“ That explains it,” Addison said, with a sigh
of relief. “ I’m glad we have the jewels.
Originally given by my father to my mother,
they were long in your own mother’s possession.
but were finally given by her to me. Now, I
intend that they shall be yours.”

“ Carter also confesses that he hired Call and
Alberts to decoy you away,” added Rob.

“ Both men are prisoners,” observed Addison.
“ Call, badly wounded, was being taken North,
in a boat, by Alberts, when Roger and 1 found
them, knew them by a description given by a
fisherman here, who chanced to see them, and
had them arrested.”

' “Heaven only knows what would have hap-
pened to me only for brave Rob,” gratefully ex-
claimed Carona.

 

“I know. Rob is a brave and noble boy, and
I will not forget him in the future!”

 

Addison kept his promise.

When Carter’s life had gone out like a candle;
when Call and Alberts were in prison for their
crimes; when Foretop Ben and ’Iony were again
calmly fishing oil’ the coast; when Mrs. Vincent-
Browu had gone back to New York, crushed and
humiliated, Addison rewarded all who had help-
ed him.

Rob’s reward was a good business position in
Philadelphia, and Roger Walden’s—well, the
latter thought, when he finally married Carona,
that she was his greatest reward.

Addison proved to be as noble a friend as any
one could wish. His chosen associates were
Roger and Rob, and he never has tired of help-
ing‘ them.

he old gentleman was sorry to see Mrs. Vin-
cent-Brown go unpunished, but it was clear that
she had been the victim of Carter‘s wiles and
her own evil disposition. Such a woman is
neither happy herself, nor will she allow others
to be, but the world must have all kinds of peo-
ple. For awhile it must endure her.

01’ all our chief characters only Foretop Ben
and Tony remain on the coast. They occupy
the shanty on the Giant’s Boot, but never since
that eventful night of the Singing Sal] ’s doom
have they had an experience of equa import-
ance.

THE END.

 

Beadle’s Dimer library.

BY J. C. COWDRICK.

390 The Giant Cupid: or Cibuta John’s Jubilee.

422 Blue Grass Burt. the Gold Star Detective.

436 Kentucky Jean, the Sport from Yellow Pine.

452 Rainbow Bob, the T ip from Texas.

473 Gilbert of Gotham, the Steel-arm Detective.

499 Twill ht Charlie. the Road Sport.

519 Old iddles, the Rocky Ranger

557 The Mountain Graybeards; or, Old Riddle’s
Greatest Riddle.

565 Prince Paul, the Postman Detective.

580 Shadowing a Shadow.

 

BY CAPTAIN MARK WILTON.

176 Lady Jaguar. the Robber Queen.

194 Don Sombrero. the California Road Gent.
202 Cactus Jack. the Giant Guide.

219 The Scorpion Brothers; or, Mad Tom’s Mission.
2.2"} Canyon Dave, the Man of the Mountain.

227 Rue shot Ben, the Man-Hunter of Idaho.
237 Long-Haired Max; or, The Black League.
24.") llarranca Bill, the Revolver (‘hampion

258 Bullet Head, the Colorado Bravo. ,
263 iron-Armed Abe, the Hunchback Destroyer.
266 Leopard Luke. the King of Horse-Thieves.
271 Stoneflst, of Big Nugget Bend.

276 Texaa Chick. the Southwest Detective.

285 Lightning Bolt, the Canyon Terror.

291 Horseshoo Hank, the Man of Big Luck.

305 Silver-Plated Sol, the Montana Rover.

311 Heavy Hand; or, The Marked Men.

323 Hotspur Hugh; or, The Banded Brothers.

BY SAM S. HALL— “ Buckskin Sam.”

3 Kit Carson. Jr.. the Crack Shot.
90 Wild Will, the Mad Ranchero.
178 Dark Dashwood, the Desperate.
186 The Black Bravo; or, The Tonkaway’s Trium h.
191 The Terrible Tonkaway; or, Old Rocky and is

Pards.
195  {410116 Star Gambler; or, The Magnolia’s
1 a1 .
199 Diamond Dick. the Dandy from Denver.
204 Big Foot Wallace. the King of the Lariat.
212 The Brazos Tigers; or, The Minute Men.
217 The Serpent of El Paso; or. Frontier Frank.
221 Des erate Duke, the Guadalou e “Galoot.”
2&5 Roc y Mountain Al; or. The \Vaif of the Range.
239 The Terrible Trio; or. The Angel of the Army,
214 Merciless Mart, the Man Tiger of Missouri.
250 The Rough Riders; or, Sharp E e. the Scourge.
256 Double Dan. the Dastard; or, T 6 Pirates.
264 The Crooked Three.
269 The Bayou Bravo: or. The Terrible Trail.
273 Mountain Mose, the Gorge Outlaw.
282 The Merciless Marauders; or. Carl‘s Revenge.
287 Dandy Dave and his Horse, White Stocking.
293 Stg‘mpede Steve; or, The Doom of the ’Double

ace.
301 Bowlder Bill; or, The Man from Taos.
309 Raybold, the Battling Ranger.
322 The Crimson Co otes; or Nita, the Nemesis
328 King Kent: or, he Bandits of the Bason.
342 Blanco Bill, the Mustang Monarch.
358 The Prince of Pan Out.
371 Gold Buttons; or, The Up Range Pards
511 Paint Pete. the Prairie Patrol.

BY LEON LEWIS.

428 The Flying Glim; or, The Island Lure.

456 The Demon Steer.

481 The Silent Detective; or. The Bogus Nephew.
484 Captain Ready, the Red Ransomer.

 

 

BY NEWTON M. CUBTISS.

120 The Texan Spy; or The Prairie Guide.
254 Giant Jake. the Patrol of the Mountain.

BY 0. DUNNING CLARK.

164 The Kin ’8 F001.
183 Gilbert t 1e Guide.

BY (70L. THOMAS H. MONSTEBY.
82 Iron Wrist, the Swordmaster.
12b The Demon Duelist: or, The Lea us of Steel.
143 The Czar‘s Spy; or, The Nihilist eague
150 El Rublo Bravo. King of the Swordsmen.
157 Mourad, the Mameluke; or, The Three Sword
masters. .
169 Corporal Cannon. the Man of Forty Duels,
2‘36 champion Sam; or The Monarchs of the Show.
262 Fighting Tom. the Terror of the Touahs.
832 Spring-Heel Jack; or, The Masked Mystery. I -

BY ISAAC HAWKS, sax-Detective. 

232 Orson Oxx; or, The River Mystery.
240 A Cool Head; or. Orson On in Peril. '

BY NED BU NTLINE.

14 Thavendanegea,the Scourge;or, The War-Eagle.

16 The White Wizard; or. The Seminole Prophet.

18 The Sea Bandit; or, The Queen of the Isle.

23 The Red Warrior; or. The Comanche Lover.

61 Captain Seawaif, the Privat eer. ,
111 The Smuggler Ca tain; or, The Skipper’s Crime.
122 Saul Sabberday, t e Idiot Sp . i
270 Andros. the Rover or. The irate’s Daughter.
361 Tombstone Dick. the Train Pilot.
517 Buffalo Bill’s First Trail. .
584 Fire Feather. the Buccaneer King.

BY E. A. ST. MOX.

471 The Heart of Oak Detective.
491 Zigzag and Cutt, the Invincible Detectives.

BY EDWARD WI L LETT.

129 Mississippi Mose; or, a Strong Man '8 Sacrifice.
209 Buck Farley, the Bonanza Prince.

222 Bill the Blizzard; or. Red Jack‘s Crime.

248 Montana Nat, the Lion of Last Chance Camp.
274 Flush Fred. the Mississippi Sport.

289 Flush Fred‘s Full Hand.

293 Logger Lem; or. Life in the Pine Woods.

308 Hemlock Hank. Tough and True.

315 Flush Fred’s Double; or, The Squatters‘ League,
327 Terrapin Dick, the Wild wood Detective.

337 Old Gabe, the Mountain Tramp.

348 Dan Dillon. King of Crosscut.

368 The Canyon King; or. a Price on his Head.

483 Flush Fred, the River Sharp.

BY PERCY B. ST. JOHN.

57 The Silent Hunter.
86 The Big Hunter: or. The Queen of the Woods.

BY WM. G. PATTEN.

545 Hustler Harry, the Cowboy Sport.
571 Old Dismal, the Range Detective.

MISCELL ANEOUS.

6 Wildcat Bob. By Edward L. Wheeler.
9 Handy Andy. By Samuel Lover.
10 Vidocq. the French Police Spy. By himself.
11 Midshipman Easy. By Ca tain Marryatt.
32 B’hoys of Yale: or, T e rapes of Collegians.
By John D. Vose.
60 Wide Awake. the Robber King. By F. Dumont. 1
68 The Fighting Trapper. By Capt.J. F. C. Adams. .
76 The Queen’s Musketeers. By George Albany.
78 The Mysterious S y. By Arthur M. Grainger.
102 The Masked Bani . By George L. Aiken.
110 The Silent Rifieman. By H. W. Herbert.
125 The Blacksmith Outlaw. By H. Ainsworth.
133 Body the Rover. By William Carleton.
140 The Three Spaniards. B Geo. Walker.
144 The Hunchback of No tre ame. By Victor Hugo.
146 The Doctor Detective. By Geor 7 e Lemuel.
1.52 Captain Ironnerve. the Counter eiter Chief.
158 The Doomed Dozen. By Dr. Frank POWell.
166 Owlet, the Robber Prince. By S. R. Urban.
179 Conrad, the Convict. By Prof. Gildersleeve.
190 The Three Guardsmen. BlyjAlexander Dumas. .
261 Black Sam, the Prairie underbolt. By Col. 1
J o Yards. .
275 The Smug ler Cutter. B J. D. Conro . '
312 Kinkfoot arl, the Mounts n Scourge. By Mor-
ris Redwing. _ 3,
330 Cop Colt,the Quaker City Detective. B C. Morris. '

350 Flaslegllf-on. the Society Detective. y Weldon
J. o .
353 Bart Brennan; or, The King of Straight Flush.
By John Cuthbert. 1
366 Tiff Telegraph Detective. By George Henry ’
orse. '

410 Sarah Brown, Detective. By K. F. Hill.
500 The True‘Heart Pards. By Dr. Noel Dunbar. \
518 Roovtg Richard, the Thoroughbred. By J. W. i

s on.

534 Green Mountain Joe: or, The Counterfeiter’a
Cave. By Marmaduke Dev.

542 The Ocean Drift; or, The Fight for Two Lives. ,:
By A. F. Holt. *

566 The Dauntless Detective: 01', The Daughter 3
Avenger. By Tom W. King. I

A new issue every Wednesday.

Beadle’s Dime Library is for sale by all
Newsdealers, ten cents per copy. or sent by mail on
receipt of twelve cents each. EADLE & ADAMS. ;.

Publishers, 98 William Street, New York. .-‘_

 

In.

 
   

BEADLE’SeHALF-DIMEieLIBRARY.

Published Every Tuesday. Each Issue Complete and Sold at the Uniform Price of Five Cents. No Double Numbers.

 

:3

 

BY I’HILII’ S. WARNE.
7 ]Pgtent.1,em,her Joe: or. Old Rattlesnake, the Charmer.
5 Capt-In Arlzona; or, Patent-Leather Joe's Big Gsme.
8 :Dgptgin Musk; or, Patent-LeatherJue’s Defeat.

 

19 Des urd, the Duelist; or, The Mountain Vampires.
88 A on h Boy; on'l‘he Dwuri’l .vengo.

368 Little Tornado: or, The Uutcnsts ofthe Glen.

878 Little Jingo; or. the Queer Purd-

or, Cuught in His Own Trap.

1101 Little Shoo.) ly or, A Race for a Ranch.

408 Little Leather-l reeohen; or. 01d Jumbo’s Curse.
431 Little Ah Sin: or, The Curse of Blood. ,
451 Colorado Kate. A Tale of the nlinos.

480 Three Jolly l’arda.

517 Jim Gludden’a Deput .

52? The Jolly l’ards to t e Rescue.

54? Sandy Andy; or. A Good Man Down.

556 Lariat LII; or, The Cast for s Life.

5?4 Old Weasel-top, the Msn with tbs Dogs.

893 Keen Clem. the Ranch imp.

599 Jim Dandy the No~Name Sport.

618 Billy Blazes; or, The Skeleton’s Legacy.

685 Oklahoma In, the Blue-Coat scout.

648 Happy Harry’s Rig Find.

or CAPTAIN rum». wnlr'rsxnn.

15 The Sea-Cat: or. The Witch 0! Dsrien.
B9 The Dumb I’a‘e or, The Doge’a Daughter.
48 Dick Darling. t s ony Express Rider.
150 Lance and Lasso: or. Tho Children of the Charo.
154 The Swurd Ila-ten; or. The Land of the Eloghant Riders.
159 The Lost Captain; or, Skipper .lsbes Coflln’s rniso to tho
0 en Polar Sea.
200 Tile Roy Bedouin“ or, The Brothers of the Plumsd Lance,
214 wolf .n., the Robber of the Rhine.
849 Milo outer, the Animal King; or, The Round the World
Wanderer.
.65 The T1 r Tamer: or. Tho Lssgus of the Jungls.
861 Black 101:. the Demon Rider.
895 California Joo’a War Trail.

BY BUCKSKIN SAM (Major Ball. 8. Hall.)
284 {BlldkRocky‘s "Boyees; or, Bonito, the Young Horu-
l’BI 151’.

246 Giant George; or, The Ang’l orths Ranks.

275 Arizona Jack: or Giant George’s Yard.

997 The Tarantula o Tami or, Giant Gsom’s Rsvsngs.
807 The Strange Ford: or, ittls Ben’s Death Hunt.
818 Ker-whoog. Ker-whoo: or, The Tarantula ome.
827 Cree ing at, the Caddo; or,The Rod and White Parda.
88: ¥iio F‘ireltllxI or, ¥heITonkmanyh rust.

84 e t ng r 0: or, attlesnake, the Tonhsu ,
849 Wild “Foil: or, Big-Foot Wallace to the Front. y
857 The Ranch Raiders; or, The Siege of Fort Purgatory.
861 Snap-Shot, the Roy Ranger.

875 Chiota. the Creek 3 or, The Three Thunderbolts.

381 Randera “ill: or. Frio Frank tn the Front.

892 Romeo and the Reds; or, The Belesguerod Ranch.
404 Little Lurlntx or. Pecan Pete‘s Big Rampage.

414 The Daisy from Denver. '

42? The Three Trailers: or, Old Rocky on ths Bunpags.
449 Rluii' Bill; or, The Lynx of ths Leona.

435 Little Lone Start or. The Bells ofths Cibolo.

681 Cache Curl, the Chico Giant

RY EDWARD “'ILLETT.

16? Asa Scott. the Stesmbnst Boy.

199 Featherweight the Boy Cnnmpion ofthe Mnskingnm.
228 Ozark Ali" or, Featherweight Among the Outlaws.

282 The Typo Detective: or, Weasel. the Boy Tramp.
£95 Fearless Phil; or, The King of Quartzvllle.

811 The Rovin Sport: or, The Pride of Chuckaiuclr Camp,
622 Net-o the eteetlve; 0r, Kit Kenyon‘s Vendetta.
840 on. the Contortlonlat: or.Tha Mbntsns whim...

BY J. C. COWDRICK.

3.0 Slivep.flguk, the Man of Mystery.
869 Shanta, the Gold King; or, For Seven Years Dead.
400 The Deter-(he’s A prontlocz or, A Boy Without a Name.
4241‘ Clbuta John 3 or, (“Ii-lint Tunes at Auto Bar. V
439 Sandy Sam. the Street Smut.
46? Dir-co Dan. the Daisy Dude.
490 Broadway Hilly. ilie liouthlnrk Bravo.
50“ Redil ilt Ilflth, thn- Prince of the Road.
514 Rrou way Hi Iy’a Boodle.
524 The Engineer Detective.
586 Broadway Rilly‘n ‘Dlilikllty.”
548 “art, the Night Express Detective.
557 Rrondwa .llllly‘s Death Racket.
  .llkosthe Young Enuineen.
e ‘ mnoy pyt or, Broadway Bill 's Su rise-Part .
592 ahlfilloy‘lpfikortlon. ' y rp y
605 ' um rou way; or, The BovDeteriive’s Bl lnninw.
615 Fighting Ilurrv the Chief of Chained Cyclone.g ’
62% Broadway Billy’s Dead Act,
6-1011nrebaok Iit'ih. the (‘i-ntnur of the Circle.
647 Typewriter Tilly, the Merchant’s “'ard.

RY JO PIERCE.

69'? Rob 0' the Bowery: or, The Princs oanth s:
415 The Vagabond Detective; or, Bowery Bonngomfu‘
452 llota ur Bob. the Street-Buy Detectlv..
460 The .nwyer’n Flnulnw: or. Luke’s Long.
473 Jaunty Joe, the Young Horse-King.
494 surly film. the Young Ferryman Detective.
1504 Five Points l’hil.
509 Jack J“ Kern. the Butcher Boy Detectlvs.
5]“ an‘ar In]; of, Five' i‘nints Piiii’l Menagsrh
526 North River Nut. the Pier Do‘tectlve.
588 Wreatllng Rex, the Pridroithe Sixth Ward.
541 J01? Fliolu-r. the Stuhie Bny Detective.
 Nick] Nettle, tho} lioy§hmlinw.n t u
"n.- om Jack, in- i) 0(- in)’ e i‘!‘ vs.
569 Brooklyn Ron. the OnJiis-meilook Detect-in
5T7 Pavement Pete, the Secret Sifter.
51‘s Jn(-k-o’-Laniorn, illi‘ Under-Sun Prospector.
“OR \"ldoq‘wuke Bert. the Street-Starr".
614 “'hiatllng Jacob, tlm Deiertive‘a Aid.
623 Hui-k Bumblebee, the Harlem Hummer.
“89 Sunrlse Ran] the Express—Twin Ferret.
6-19 Gamln Bob,t t' Bowery Badger; or, Scooping I Slippery Set.
RY MAJOR HENRY H. STODDARD. Ex-Seont.
806 Neck-Tie Ned; or, The Du -Out Pards.
846 Ra ier Ra hael: nr,The word-men orZscatseas.
1191 K1 -Glove it. the Dandy of the Rockies.
898 Kld.Glove Kit and Yard: or, Tho Gold King.
406 The Mad Man-Hunter; or, The Mystsry of Golden

ulch.
505 Powell’s Pas-d: or, The One-Armed Giani.‘

BY WM. G. PATTEN.

489 The nl..ond sport; or, The Doubls '60.  M.
519 Captain Myater ; or,Flve in One.

"a I Dare the . port from Denvst.
557 "id Romhahell. the Rnngsr Detectivs.
004 Iron Fern, m. Man oi Firs.
:19 The Do Tramp Detective: or,ThsDoilsIrb'ltasu

“9 1 iolet ’ane, the Velvet Sport.

‘41 Dis-ll Dave’s Dandy Par‘

BY ALBERT W. AIKEN.

11 The Two Detectives; or, The Fortunes ofa Bowery Girl.

76 Abe Colt. the Crow-Killer.

79 Sol (ringer, the Ginnt'lru per.
288 Joe Buck oi'Angels an His Boy Pard.
447 New York Nat. A Tale of Tricks and Traps in Gotham.
458 New 11.. land Nick; or. The Fortunss oiaFoundling.
464 Nimble 191:, the Circus Prince.

98 Too: Ted. tne Arizonn Sport.
510 Cool Colorado, the Hull-Breed Detective.
518 Cool Colorado In New York.

It Y GEORGE “'ALDO BROWNE.
86 Hand Rock the Man from Texas.
90 The I read Rider; or, The Texan Duelist.
99 The Tiger oi’Taoa: or, Dandy Rock’s Angel.
15 The Mad Miner: or, Dandy Rock’s Doom,
31 The Golden Hand: or. I)nndyiRock to the Rescue.
64 Dandy Rock’s l’led e; or, untedto Death.
78 Dandy Rock’s Riva t or, The Haunted Maid of'l‘m.

BY CAP'l. J. 1“. C. ADAMS.

84 Oregon Sol: or, Nick Whiiiies’s Boy Spy.

46 Gillrlrl- By the Great Shut of the West.

54 Ned Haze . the Duly Trapper.

56 Nick \1' hiiiiea’a set; or, In The Valley of Dsath.

60 The White Indian; or, The Scoutoi'tlie Yollowaiolls.

70 Old 21 'a Cabin: or, The Greenhorn in tho Woods.

81 Lightn Ill J0. the Terror 01 the Prairie.

85 Buck lllsokram; or, Bess, the Female Tra per.
847 Old Grizzly and His Peta: or, The Wil Hunts...
951 Light-house Liget or, Osceola, the Firebrsnd.

95’? The Lost Hunters; or The Underflound Camp.
988 The Scalp king: or, The Human Thunderbolt.

BY ROGER STARBUCK.

25 The Roy Captain: or, The Pirate’s Daughter.
114 The Black Ri-hooner: or. Jib Junk. the Old Tar.
959 The Golden Har mm: or, Lost Among the Floss.
84S Fire-Heela or, ()iii Skmi‘llnt, the Death-Shadow.
854 Big Horn I e, the Hill Tramp; or, Tbs Odd Pards.
.61 The Phantom Light-house.
870 Breaker lien. the Reef-Runner.

HY “'ILLIA“ l3. EY STER.

190 Dandv Dal-keg or. The Tigers of High Pins.
210 Faro Frank: or, Dandy Dnrke’s Go-Down Pards

RY COLON EL DELLE SARA.

106 The Lion ofthe Seat 0', The Vailed Lady.
186 Cool Desmond: or. The Gambler’s Big Guns.

BY JAMES L. ROR'EN

107 One-E ed film: or, The Abandoned Forest Home.
110 The B uni. Stet-d oi' the Prairies. A Story of Tsns.

RY C. RUNNING CLARR.

185 Captain Pnulr or, The. Boy Spv oi' the Mountains.
.80 The Yankee R ajuh: or.TlieFate of the Black Sherssf.

RY GEORGE C. JENKS.
486 Git Thnr Owney the Unknown.
499 Git 'l‘hnr Owney’s Pledge.
518 The Demon Dos-tor.
581 Double-Curve Dun. the Pitcher Detective.
59" Flute, iili‘ Singer llilii'i‘ii1't’.
608 '5hi;]i’}itl.('hcr Doicctlvo’s Foil; or, Double Curve Dan’s
on 1' ’ uv.
616 The Ooou'n Detective; or. The Last Cruise ofihe Black Bear.

RY CAPT. ALFRED B. TAYLOR U. S. A.

191 Ruifulo Rilly the Boy Bullwhncker.
194 Bull'an mm. llett or. The Gambler Guido.

BY CHARLES E. LASALLE.
50 llurt Bunker, the Trapper.
59 The “'11th Ruii'ulo. A Tale of the Northwest

BY JOHN J. MARSHALL.
40 Roving Ren. A Story oi'aYounzA ri .
97 The Outlaw Brothers; or, The Caistflvg‘d‘! tthsrpss.

HY HARRY ST. GEORGE.
80 Roaring Rulph Rockwood, Ihe Run or.
44 Ruttllng Rube: or. The Nightliswkso Kentucky.
59 Old Hickory; or, l’andy Eilis’s Scnl .
108 During Davy: or, The Trail of the ifordsr Wolf.
166 Hickory Ilarr ': or, The Trs er-Brlgsds’s Spy.
172 Thunderbolt our: or, the Whit-Herd",

RY MAJOR E. L. ST. VRAIN.
298 Sam-ho Pedro the Boy Bandit.
sol Loadville Niel. the Boy Sport.
819 Redtop Rube, t is Vigilante Prince.
688 Brimstone Rob, and His Lightnlnx Horse Qosristts.
659 Tombstone Tom. the Arizona Boy oi“Sand."
859 Durnmro llnyo. the Yuung “lnumiwn “'regtler,
871 Kin bolt Chris, the Yiung Hard-Shell M".
880 Avn ant-he Alf. the Foothills Guide.
890 Jaguar Joe. of the Mountnin Msll-Lins.

RY EDWARD S. ELLIS.

8 Hill Biddnn, Tm Irer.
8 Seth Jones: or, ‘ 1e Captives ofthe Frontier.
0 Nat Todd: or, The Fate of the Sioux Cnptlvs.
The Frontier Angel.
98 The Roy Mlnera; or, The Enchanted Island.
162 The Hunted Hunter; or, The Strsn s Horseman.
354 The flu": Blood 3 or, The Panther o the Plains.
971 The Huge Hunter: or, The Steam Prairie Man.

RY MAJOR LE“’1S 11'. CARSON.

878 The Three Trapper-g or. The Mountain Monster.
988 Indian Joe; or, a White Spirit of the Hills.

RY FRANK DUMONT.
IIOTheR ddHa d: ,Th M {M is .
187 Wild-Ring. ethe Bosroi' ill); Roaii. “I 0 y. ry
140 Blue Blazes: or. The Break 0’ Day Boys oi‘ Rosky Bar.
171 Ebon Dan t or, The Rival Leanna.
 Evil Eye: or, Tbs Vultures of the Rio Grands.

RY CAPT. MARK WILTON.

956 Young Rentuckx or, The Red Lasso.
$70 Rlluard Rent or, The Riot st Keno Camp.
.86 Josh, the Boy Tenderfoot. '

BY BRACERRIDGE HEMYNC.

89 Illund Jill: or. Ths Pet of the Family.
9 The Captain ofthe Club; or. The Rival Mth
101 Jack Harhaway in New York.

BY CAPTAIN MAYNE'nEm.

g: gageLDiogtiqr, {he Yei|o¥hChisPs Vsu anti".
an ra ea or Loan _ or s island
18? The Hel less llan ; 3r, Bzckwooqisonstributlou. .

1
1
1
l

 

. 889 The 001 -sseker Guide! or. '11!- 10“ “MINI.

 

BY JOSEPH E. BADGER, JR.
2 Yellowstone Jack: or, The Trullv‘por.
48 Black John, the Road-Agent; or. he Outlnw’s Rstrsat.
“5 Hurricane Bill: or, Mustang Stun and His Purl.
119 Mustang Sans or. The King ofths Pisins.
186 Night-llnwk 'it; or, The Daughter of the Ranch.
14A. Dninty Lam-e the Boy Sport.
151 Panther Paul: or. Dainty Lance to the Rescue.
160 The Black Giant: or, Dainty Lance in Jeopardy.
168 Deadly Darth; or. Fighting Fire Wliil Fire.
184 The Roy 'l‘ruilers ; or, Dainty Lance on the War-Path.
203 The Ho ' ’nrda; or. Dainty Lance Unmasks.
211 Cronke Cale, ihv‘ Cuiilmn of Celestial City.
810 The Rarranca \V 011'; or, The Beautiful Decoy.
819 The Black Rider; or, The liorse-Thieves’ League.
885 Old Double Flat; or, The Strange Guide
855 The king: ot‘the “’oods: or Ilanioi mom’s Last Till!
“9 Kit Fox. the Border Bo ' Detective.
625 Chincapln Dan, the Boy Trailer.
BY 1N. J. HAMILTON.
68 The Red Brotherhood: or, The Twslvs Avsnysrs
66 Sin le Hand: or, A Life for a Life.
Ma Tom Western, the Texan Rsnm. i
88’? Ben Bird. the Csvs King; or. Big Pete’s Scoop.
BY JACK FARRAGUT.

815 Ned, the Cabin Boy.
880 The Sea Sorceress: or. The Boy Slipper-

RY LIEUT. H. D. PERRY. U. S. N.

176 The Roy Runaway; or, The Bucvaneor of tho Bay.
180 The Sea Trailer‘i‘or. A VOW We” KO!“-
19. Captain Kit: or, he Mystery or Montsuk Point.

BY HARRY HAZARD.

826 Arkanaaw Jack: or. The Scourge of the Mines.
629 Red-Skin Torn or, The Demon’s Trail.
848 The Mountain Devil; or, Yellow Jack. tbs Outlaw.

BY COL. A. F. HOLT.
399 mack Buckskin; or. The Masksd M... oststh Caryn.
419 'enneth, the Knife-King.
485 ittle Lighti'oot, the Pilot of the Woods.

RY J. W. OSRON.

469 The Rival Giants ofNowhar’.

498 Cactus Burr. the hinn ironi iinrd Luck.

537 Old Buckeye. the Sierra Shadow. "‘
564 Powder Pin“, the Boy Miner.

609 Holly Dorrit. .tlne \ eturun Detective.

620 Little Ll htuin ’n Long‘uo: or. The Mystery om. nu

688 l’lueky aul, t 0 Boy l'rosperlor.

BY FREDERICK DEWEY.
818 Clmarron Jack, the King-Pin of Rifle-Shots.
478 Tungolnund, the Desert Detective.
542 The Canyon I’nrda.

BY ARTHUR C. GRISSOM.
440 Little Foxfoot, the Gold Bowie Kid.
5593 The Sure-Shot Pardl.
621 Truthth James, the “Pecooiittr” Man.

BY LIEUT. A. K. SIMS. \

546 Captain Cactua,ihe Chaparral Cook.

568 The Dandy of Dodge.

576 The Silver Sport.

588 Sufl’ron Sol. the Man “'ith a Shadow

5H9 Torn-Cut and Yard; nr.The Dead Set at Silv.
601 list py Hnna, thv Dutch Vidoc .
61 1 Rildad Rurnnolo, thr Detective ercules.

622 Tom: Tom-(Yut’n 'l‘riu

681 Tom (‘ut’s Terrible Tusk.

688 Tom-Cat’s Triumph; or. lllunk lvsn’s Great Combine.
646 Cowboy Gid, the Cattle-Range Detective.

MISCELLAN EOUS AUTHORS.
4 The “'ild-Horae Hunters. By Capt. Msyns lists and
Frederick Whittaker.

9 Adventures of Huron Munehausen.

12 Gulliver’s Travola. B ' sn Swift.

14 Aladdin: or, The Wonder ul Lamp.

16 Robinson Crusoe. (77 illustrations.)

18 Sindbud the Sailor. His Seven Voy ss.
29 '11:“; Sea Serpentt or, The Boy Robinson Crusos. Byluss

W I.
86 The Ocean Bloodhound; or, Tbs Rod Pirates of ills
Csrrihees. By S. W. Pierce.
86 {his Roy Clown; or, The Queen oiths Anna. By Frank
. nn.

8!! Ned “'ylde. the Boy Scout. By Texas Jack.
51 The Roy Rifles; or, The Underground Camp. By Archie

C. irons.
98 The Rival Rovers; or, Tho Frosbootsrs oi tbs Mississippi.
y Menu-Col. Hazeitlne.
98 Robin Hood. the Outlawsd Earl: or,Tbs Merry Lisa ofGnsa-
wood. B ' Prof. Gildersleevo.
Ruin, the Hunter; or, The Crow Csntivs. By Captain
Hnmiiton Holmes.
112 The Mad Ila-ten or, 1 he Cave of Dssth. By Burton Sun.
184 Tippy. the Texan; or,’l‘hs Young Champion. By George

QFIOH.
1'8 The Young Privateer: or, The Pirats's Stronghold. Dy
nrry Cavendish.
148 Sharp Stun; or, The Advsn tum ofa Friendis- Boy. By J.
Alexander Patten.
.8? Dusky Darrell. Tra per: or, Tbs Green Ranger of tbs Ysl.
lowstons. By ward maroon.
261 Fergus Fearnaught the Now Y rrk Boy. B G. L. Aiksa.
.66 Killb'ar. the Guide; or,sty Crockstt’s rooksd Trail.

y ns tn . . amn.

898 Red Claw the One-Eysd Trapper; or, The Maid oi the 011'.
By Captain nmstock.

817 Peacock Pete. the Livon Lad horn Loadvllls. By Ll..-
tenant Alirsd Thorns.

8.8 The Sky Detective: or, A Boy’s right for “is and Roast.
B Maior MICkey Fros.

sso Ryed mm, the River no"... 0...”, MM b,

vonze. By Ned Buntllns.

665 Baltimore Ben the Bootbiack Detective. By A, P, m

874 Gold-Dust Tom; 0?, Ben’s Douhla Hatch. By M I.

Mons.
876 California Joe’s First Trail. By Coloasl The“

as iiiii" iimnflr'. 11 Wis“-
y om e. , the Cliff Clim‘ar. B ’18.

475 The Black Shi . Bv Johns Wsrnsr.’ W
Comanche Dial? and His Three Invinciblss. I
110an J. Thomas.

as “'izard-Arns, the D..st n. in Ann... F..Holt.

582 The Cowbo Duke. ily Edwin rocks ForIsst.

“2 Ariel the Athlete. By David Druid.

585 Will Waters, the Rev Ferret. Bv H. Inton-

682 The Dead Detectivc’a Double. By 00"“ Gimm-

A New Issue Every Tuesday.

The Ralf-Dime Libra is for solo by all uswsdsalsrs,
sash per copy, or ssnt by mung receipt 0! six coals sash. h

BEADLE AND ADAHS. Publishers.
.08 Willia- Itroat. New Ysrt

 

 

.

.- ~ -sh.—~V‘\/‘.‘-‘

 

\

BEADLE’SrHALF-DIMErLIBRARY.

¥Published Every Tuesday. Each Issue Complete and Sold at the Uniform Price of Five Cents. N0 Double Numbers.

 
  

 

 

BY ED‘VARD L. “'IIEELER.
Deadwood Dick Novels.
1 Deadwood Dick, the Prince of the Road.
’ 20 Double Daugers' or, llcllulwmvtl Dick's Defiance.
l 28 Buifalo Ben; or. brilllwnml lllt‘k in Diaguiw.
85 “'ila lvun, the liuy (‘iuude lluvul.
42 Phantom Miner; or. llrilllwmid Dick‘s Bonanzg.
49 Omaha 0“; ur, llelltlwnod Dick in Danger.
57 Deadwood Dick‘s Eagles; or, The Paula oiFinod Bar.
l 78 Deadwood chk on Deck; or. Calamity J2me,ths Heroine.
7 Corduroy Charlie; or, Deadwood Dick’s Last. Act.
100 Deadwood Dick in Lead leIe.
104 Deadwood Dick‘s Device: or. The Double Cross Sign.
109 Deadwood Dick as Detective.
129 Deadwood Dick's Double; or, The Ghost of Gorgon’s

Gulch.
188 Blonde Bill; or, Deadwood Dick’s Home Base.
49 A Game of (sold; or, Deadwood Dick’s Big Strike.
156 Deadwood Dick of Deadwood or, The Picked Part .
195 Deadwood Dick’s Dream; or, he Rivhls ol' the Ron .
201 The Black Hills Jezebel; or, Deadwood Dick’s Ward.
205 Deadwood Dick's Doom; or, Calamity Juno’s Last Ad-
venture.
21? Captain Crack-Shot, the Girl Brl and.
221 Sn tar-Coated Sam; or. The Blac Gown.
28 Go d.])uat, Dick. A Romance of Rough. and Tonghs,
26 Deadwood Dick‘s Divide or, The Spirit oi‘ Swamp Lake.
268 Deadwood Dick’s Death rail.
809 Deadwood Dick’s Big Deal; or, The Gold Brick of

Oregon.
821 Deadwood Dick’s Dozen; or, The Faklr oiPhantom Flats.
847 Deadwood Dick’s Dacats; or, Rainy Days in the Dig.

lugs.
.51 Deadwood Dick Sentenced; or, The Terrible Vendetta.
862 Deadwood Dick’s Claim.

; or, A "Cute Case."
480 Deadwood Dick’s Dust; or, The Chained Hand.

448 Deadwood Dick, Jr.

448 Nickel-Plate Ned; or, Deadwood Dick Jr’s Defiance.
453 Sunflower Sans, ol Shasta; or, Desdwood Dick Jr’s Full

Hand.
459 Flash Fan, the Ferret; or, Deadwood Dick Jr’s Big Round-
465 gliiilomFly, o! Phsnix; or, Deadwood Dick Jr’s Racket. at
I In s

471 Boneman Bill; or, Deadwood l)le Jr's corral.

476 gunbholdt Harry the Hurricane; or, Deadwood Dick Jr’s
01 elective.

481 Moll Mystery; or, Deadwood Dick Jr. in Deadwood.

491 II’rirEee Pistol, the King of the West; or, Deadwood Dick
r’s iompact.

496 Monte Cristo, Jr.t or, Deadwood Dick Jr’s Inheritance.

 Beagwoog  Ili’igfiings; :ré Dr. Death—(511V. Swoop.
ea woo c. s e veran .

515 Deadwood Dick’s Protegee.

522 Deadwood Dick’s Three.

529 Deadwood Dick’s Danger Ducks.

584 Deadwood Dick’s Death llunt.

589 Deadwood Dick Jr. in Texas.

 Reagwoog girl? Jr. ltlhle \giiidt?iest Vldooq.
ea woo e on s e c.

554 Deadwood Dick, Jr. in Gotham.

561 Deadwood Dick in Boston.

567 Deadwood Dick, Jr. In Philadelphia.

572 Deadwood Dick, Jr. in Chicago.

578 Deadwood Dick, Jr. Afloat.

584 Deadwood Dick, Jr. in Denver. »

590 Deadwood Dick, J r's. Decree.

 Reagwoog lI'Dlie|l‘(JJ r. itntlieelzelblllb’sdBasln.
ea woo c ' r. a 'onc s an .

at: il“:iw°°i ill‘i‘ ache 
ea woo e' r.n ero.

618 Deadwood Dick, Jr. in Cincinnati.

624 Deadwood Dick, Jr. in Nevada.

23% i’.”fi"°1’.fi ill”? ’5' “Ail” “.‘i'""q"““'
ea wo c r. or c ueer.

642 Deadwood Dick: Jr. in Buifaio.

648 Deadwood Dick, Jr’s. Chase Across the Continent.

Other Novels by E. L. Wheeler.

.6 Cloven Hoof, the Bufi'alo Demon.
82 Bob Woolf; or. The Girl Detail-Shot.
I 39 Death-Face, Detectin or, Life in New York.
45 old Avalanche: or, Wild Edna, the Girl Brigsnd.
53 Jim Bludsoe. Jr., the Boy Plienix.
'61 Buckhorn Bill; or. The Red ltltle Team.
69 Gold lliiic, the Slingshot-tor: or. The Bo Detective.
80 Rosebud Rob' or, 'uuuet Ned, th» Knight.
“4 ldyl, the Girl Miner; or, Rusehud Roh on Ham].
88 Photo I'll ll Phil: or, Rosebud Rob’s Reappenmnm.
92 Clint! B 1‘ et; or, old Allfli‘nllllfl in Sitting Bull’g Cunp.
96 Watch-E e; or, Arabs und Angels ofa Great City.
113 Jack Hoy e the Young Speciilntor.
117 Gilt-Edged Dick, the Sport Detective,
121 (‘innamon Chip, the Girl Sport.
125 Bonanza Bill Miner.
183 Boss Bob the king of lioothlacks.
141 Solid Sam the Boy Road-Agent.
145 Captains Ferret, the New York Detective.
161 New York Nell the liov-Girl Detective.
177 Nobb Nick 01’ Nevada; or, The hierras Scampi,
181 “'lld rank, the Buckskin liravo.
209 Fritz, the Bound-Boy Detective.
213 Fritz to the Front; or, The Ventriloquist Hunter.
.26 Snoozer, the Buy Sharp; or. The Arab Detective.
286 Apollo Hill, the Trail Tornado.
240 C clone Kit, the Young Gladiator.
244 s erra Sam, tho Frontier Ferret.
24S Sierra Sam's Secret; or, The Bloody Footprints.
258 Sierra Sam's l’urd; or, The Angel at Big Vina,
258 Sierra Sam's Seven; or, The Stolen Bride.
273 Jumbo Joe, the linv Patrol: or. The Rival Heirs.
277 Denver Doll. the Detective Queen.
281 DenVer Doll's Victory. I
2H5 Denver Doll's Decoy ; or. Little Bill’s Bonanza.
291 Turk, the Boy Ferret.
296 Deliver Doll’s Drii‘l : or. The Road Queen.
99 A No. 1, the Dashing Toll-Taker.
806 ’Liza Jane, the 'iirl Miner: or, the Iron-Nervod Sport.
825 Kelley, lllckev & Co" the Detectives of Philadelphia.
880 aittle Quick-Shot; or, The Dead Fare oi Daggersvills.
854 (angaroo Kit; or. The Mysterious Minor.
“9 .{an aroo Klt‘s Racket.
'43 M an attan Mike, the Bowery Blood.
858 First-Class Fred, the Gent lrom Gopher.
868 Vreka Jim, the Gold-Gatherer; or, The Lottsry oi

Life.

Yr ka Jirn’s Prize.
 Nagoh Ned; or, The Secret of Slsh City.
852 Cool Kit. the Kill! "1' Kldl: 0'. A Villain’s Vengeuu,
885 Yreka Jim’s Joker; or. The Rivals of Red Nose.
889 Bleycle lien; or. The Lion of Lightning Lode.
894 Yreka Jim of Yuba Darn.
400 Wrinkles, the NighLWstch Detective.
416 High Ilat Harry, the rim Bail Detective.

Sam Slabs-id the gar-Boy Detective.

in Beak an Pal, rlvsts Detoctlves.

 

£3 alto Fe Sal, tho Sluhsr.
6 Sealskia Barn, tho Sparklor.

 

BY COLONEL I’REN TISS INGRAHAM.

7 The Fl ing Yankee; or, The Ocean Outcast.
17 Ralph {o , the Boy Bu cmnrcr; or, The Fugitive Yacht.
24 Diamond Dirk her, The Mystery of the Yellowstone.
62 The Shadow S 1p; or, The Rival Licutennnts.
75 The Boy Duelist; or. The Cruise of the Sea-“'0”.
102 Dick Dead-Eve, the Boy Silluuulrr.
111 The Sea-Dev l; or, The Midahipuuin’a Legacy.
116 The IIIIssar Ca tain ; or, The lleiinit ol'Heii Gate.
197 Little Grit; or, essie, llle Sloth-Tender”: Daughter.
204 Gold I’lume; or, The Kill-Glove Sport».
216 Bison Hill the Prince ol the Reins.
222 Grit, the I ravo Sport; or. The Woman Trailer.
229 Crimson Katee or, The Cowboy’s Triumph.
287 Lone Star, the owboy Ca tain.
245 Merle the Middy hon he Freelance Heir.
250 The . idshiplnan utlneer; or, Brandt, the Buccaneer.
264 The Floating Feather; or, Merle Monte’s Treasure

s and.
269 The Gold Ship; or, Merle, the Condemned.
276 ailerl’e Montes Cruise; or, The Chase of “The Gold
1, ill). ,
230 Merle Monte’s Fate ; or. Pearl, the Pirate‘s Bride.
2 4 The Sea Marauder; or, Merle Monte's Pledge.
287 Billy Blue-Eyes, the Boy Rover of the Rio Grande.
804 The Dead Shot Dandy ; or, Benito, the Boy Bugler.
303 Reno Kit; of. Dead Shot Dnndy's Double.
814 The Mysterious Marauder; or,Ths Boy Bugler’s Long

I rat .
877 Bonodei, the Boy Rover; or. The Flszloss Schooner.
888 The Indian Pilot; or, The Search for Pirate island.
887 Warpath Will, the Boy Phantom.
393 Seawaif, the lioy Lieutenant.
402 Isodor, the Young Consfiirator; or. The Fun] League.
407 The Bov Insurgent; or. ‘he Cuban Vendetta.
412 The Wild Yachtsman; or, The War-Clouu’s Cruise.
429 Duncan Dare, the Boy fugee.
488 A Cabin Bo ’s Luck; or, The Corsair.
48? The Sea Ila der.
441 The Ocean Firefly; or, A Middy’s Vengeance.
446 Ilaphanard Harry; or. The Scspe race of the sea.
450 \Vizard “'illi or. he Boy Ferret 0 New York.
454 Wizard Will’s Street Scouts.
462 The Horn Guide; or. The Sailor Boy Wanderer.
468 Neptune Ned, the My Coaster.
474 Flora; or, ‘6’izard Will’s Vagabond Ford.
488 Ferrets Afloat; or. wizard Will’s Last Case.
487 Nevada Ned, the Revolver Ranger.
495 Arizona Joe the Buy Pard oi‘Texas Jack.
497 Back Taylor, King oi the Cowboys.
508 The Royal Middy t or. The Shark and the Sea Cat.
507 The Hunted Midshl man.
511 The outlawed Mid y.
520 Buckskin Bill. the ('mnnnche Shadow.
525 Brothers in Buckskin.
530 The Buckskin Bowers.
585 The line skin Rovers.
540 Captain Ku—Klux. NW MMI‘IdeY Of the R10.
545 Lieutenant Leo, the Son of Lafitte.
550 Lolittc‘s Legacy: 0r. The Avenging Son.
555 The Creole Corsair.
560 Pawnee Hill, the Prairie Shadower.
565 Kent Klngdon, thr- (‘ard King.
570 Camille. the ('ard Qua-on.
575 The, Surgeon-Scout Detective.
580 The "uh-ant (‘udotg or, The False Detective.
586 The Buckskin Avenger.
591 Dclmonte. the Young Sen Rover.
597 The Young Texan Detective.
602 The \ ngnbond of'the Mines.
607 The Rover Detective; or, Kano Kit‘s Champions.
617 Ralph, the Dead-Shot Scout; or, The Raiders and the
Red tillers of the Rio.
644 The Hercules Highwayman.

BY BUFFALO BILL (Hon. “'m. F. Cody).

8 Kansas King; or, The Red Right llllnll.
19 The Phantom Spjy: or,’l'he l’ilotol‘ the Prairie.
55 Deadly-Eye. the nknown Scout.
6" Border ‘Robin Hood; or, The Prairie Rover.
158 Fancy Frank of Colorado; or, The Trapper’s Trust.

BY CHARLES MORRIS.

19 Will Somers, the EM Detective.

22 I’ll" llard y the Boss liny.

Picayune ’ete; or, Nimdemua. the Dog DQWflVQ.
Detective Dick; or, The llern in Rags.
Handsome Harry, the litmllrltll'll Detective.

6

0

42
7 11'1" “'Hdlire, the Thoroughbred.
2
7
2
r

2
8
4
5
r

Black Hess. “'ill “'ildlit'r‘s Racer.
Mike Merry, illl‘ Harlmr l’ulit‘e lioy.

v

6 Will “'ildilre in the “'oods.

6 s Billy Hag age, the Railroad Buy.

70 A Trump ‘ard; or. Will Wildfire Wins and Loses.
74 Bob Rocket-t; or, Mysteries of New York.

79 “01) llocketti the liank Runner.

SB The Hidden land; or, Will \Viidfire’s Revenge.

R7 Fred Ilnlynrd, the .ife linat Bm‘: or. The Smugglers.
159 Bob Hockett; or, Driven to the Wall.

196 Shadowed ' or, lint) liockett‘s Fight for Life.

206 Dark Paul’, the Tiger Ktnz.

212 Dashing Dave, the handy Detective.

220 Tom Tanner or, The iilark Slim-p oi the Flock.

225 Sam Chart-on the Premium Darky.

235 Shadow Sam, the hlcasenger Boy.

242 The Two “ Bloods ”; or, Shenandoah Bill and His Gang.
252 Dick Dashaway t 0r, A Dakota Boy in Chicago.

262 The Young Sharps: or, Rollicking Mike’s Hot TrsiL
274 Jolly Jim, thr- lleier‘tlvr Ap trentir‘e.

289 Jolly Jim’s Job; or. The iouiig Detective.

298 The Water-Hound; or, The Young Thoroughbred.

805 Pashaway, of Dakota; or, A Western Lad in the Qnu"
Iilv.

HI‘HHHHHHHHHHHIAH

824 Ralph Ready, the Hotel Boy Detective.

841 Tony Thorne, the Vagahnnd Detectivs.

853 The Reporter-Detective; or, Fred Flyer’s Bllsurd.
867 \V hie-Awake Joe; or, A Boy or the Times.

879 Larry. the Leveler; or, The Bloods of the Boulevard.
403 Firefly Jack. the RiverrRat Detective.

423 The Lost Finger; or, The Entrapped Cuhlor.

428 Fred Flyer, the Reporter Detective.

482 Invincible Logan, the Pinkerton Ferret.

456 Billy "rich, the Jolly Vagabond.

466 Wide-Awake Jerry, Detective; or, Entombsd Allvs.
479 Detective Dodge; or, The Mystery of Frank Hearty.
488 Wild Dick Racket.

50] Boots, the Boy Fireman t on Too Sharp for tho Sharper.
566 The Secret Service Boy Detective.

596 Jill-y the Kid; or, A Lamb Among Wolves.

627 Toll Bruce of Arkansas; or, The Wolfln the Fold.

 

BY OLL COOM ES.

5 Vagabond Joe. the Young Wandering Jew.

13 The Dumb Spy.

27 Anteltflte Abe, the Boy Guide.

81 Keen- nii’e, the Prince ol'the Prairies.

41 Lasso Jack, tllr Young Mustanger. ‘

58 The Border Kin ; or, The Secret Foe. I

71 Delaware Dick, t. a Young li‘ugel’ Spy. .

74 llawk-e 'e Iiarr the Young Trapper Bangor.

88 Rollo,t e Do 1 an er.

184 Sure Shot Set , ill: y Rifleman.

148 Scar-Face Saul. the Silent Hunter,

146 Silver Star, the Boy Knight.

153 Eagle Kit, the Boy Demon.

168 Little Texas, the Young Mustanger.

173 Did Solitary, the Hermit Tra >per.

182 Little Hurricane, the Bo Captain.

202 Pros ect I’ete ; or, The oung Outlaw Huston.
208 The oy Hercules: or, The Prairie Tramps.
218 Tiger Tom, the Texas Terror.

224 Dashin Dick; or, Trapper Tom’s Castle.
228 Little lldilre, the Young Prairie Nomad.

88 The Parson Detective; or The Little Ranger.
248 The D1guised Guide; or, Mild Raven, the Ranges.
260 Dare-Devil Dan, the Young Prairie Ranger.

272 Millkllin Mike, the Boy Sharpshoolel.
290 Little Foxfire, the Boy SP!"
800 '1‘ e Sk Demon; or, Rainbolt, the Ranger. .
884 “’hip- ing Joe, the Boy Rauchero.
409 Hercules or, Dick, the Boy Ranger.
417 Webfoot L ose, the Tramp Detective.
Baby Sam, the Boy Giant ol' the Yellowstone.

e Buckskin, the Young Prairie Content.
457 Wingedi’oot Fred; or. old Polar Ssul.
468 Tamarac Tom, the Big Trsfiper Boy.
473 Did Tom Rattler the Red iver Epidemic. i
482 Stonewall Bob, l 0 Boy Trojan.
562 Blundering Basil, the Hermit Boy Trapper.

 

er

 

BY T. C. HABBAUGH.

28 Nick 0’ the Night; or, The Bo Spy of ’76. 
87 The Hidden Lodge; or. The L ttle Hunter.
47 Nightln ale hat; or, Tno Forest Cs kins.
64 Dand .faek; or, he Outlaws ol‘ the rsgon Trail.
82 Kit arefoot the Wood-Hawk.
94 Midnight Jack or, The Bo Trapper.
106 Did Frosty, the older or Tie White Queen.
128 Kiowa Charley the M'hlte Mustanger.
189 Jud e 1. Inch, Jr.t or. The Bo Vigilante.
155 liolthr r, the S ort; or, T 0 Girl Avsnzfl.
169 Tornado om; or, njun .1st From Red Core.
188 Ned Temple, the Border Boy.
198 Arkansaw; or, The Queen of Fate’s Revsnp.
207 Navajo Nick the Boy Gold Hunter.
215 Captain Bullet; or, Little Tonknot’s Crusads.
281 Plucky Phil; or. Ross. the Red Jezebel.
241 Hill Bravo; or, The Rnughs of the Rockies.
255 Captain A ollo, tns King-Pin of Bowie.
267 The Banks in Detective.
279 Did Winch; or, The Buckskin Desperado".
294 Dynamite Dan; or, The Bowie Binds of Uochetops.
802 T e Mountain Detective: or, The Trigger Bar Bully.
816 Did Eclipse, Trump Card of Arlsona.
826 The Ten l’ards; or, The Terror of Take-Notice.
886 Big Benson; or, The Queen of the Lasso.
845 I’itiless Matt; 0', Rod Thunderhoit’s Secret.
856 Cool Hun null Parr‘; or The Terrible Six.
866 Velvet. Foo the lndisn Detective.
3““ Captain Cut ass ; or, 'l he B"ccaneer’s Girl Foe.
896 Rough Rob: or. The Twin Champions of Blue Biases.
41 l The Silken Lasso; or, The Rose of Ranch Robin.
41" Felix Fox, the Boy Spotter.
425 Texas Trum . the Border Rattler.
486 Phil Flash, t s New York Fox.
445 The City Vampires; or, Red Rolfe’s Pigeon.
461 One Against Fifty; or, The Last Man of Reno Bar.
470 The Boy Shadow: or, Felix Fox’s Hunt.
477 The Excelsior Sport: or. The Wubington Spotter.
499 Single Sight, the One-Eyed Sport.
502 Branded Ben, the Night Ferret.
512 Dodger Dick, the Wharf-Spy Detective.
521 Dodger Dick’s Best Dodge.
528 Fox and Falcon, the Bowery Shadows.
5BR Dodger Dick, the Dock Ferret.
548 Dodger Dick’s Double; or, The Rlvsl Boy Detectivsa
558 Dodger Dick’s Desperate Case. , ,
568 Dodger Dick. the Boy Vidocq.
578 The Two Shadows.
5R2 Dodger Dick’s Drop.
594 Little Lon, the StrcetSlngcr Dctettlve.
610 Old Skinner, the Gold Shark; or, Tony Slurp on Guard. ,
626 The Champion I’nrds. \
687 Dick Donn, the Dock Buy Detective.

645 Kit, the Pavement Sharp.

LATEST AND NEW ISSUES.

650 Butterfl Billy, the Pony Rider Detective; or, Bug‘an
liill‘a Boy am. By Col. Prentiss lngrahain.

651 Bound Boy Frank, the Young Amateur Detective. By
\V ‘ Patten.

III.
652 Don Barr, the Plains Freelance. By Oll Commas.
658 Billy Bantam, the Bov Beagle. By T. C. Harbsugh.

654 Deadwood Dick, Jr., Among the Smugglers. By
Edward L. Wheeler

655 I’lucky Paula “It? Boy Speculator. By Charles Morris.
656 Butterfly Billy’s Man Hunt. By Col. P. lngraham.

657 Warbllns William. the Mountain hiountebuik. By
Lleut. A. K. Sims.

658 Sky-Rocket Bob. the Lil’s-Saver: or, The Storm-Wait 0i
Giant’s Boot. By J0 PlsrCc.

659 Moonllght Morgan, the " Piaenest ” Man of Auto Bar; or
Clbutu John‘s Champion Chase. By J. C. Cowdrick-

660 Dendwood Dick Jr’s. Insurance Case. By Ed'm’d
L Wheeler.
661 Old Kit. Bandy’s Deliverance; or, Banner Ben, the
What". of the Prairies. By on Cooms. Rede Much 95-
662 Buitcril Bill ’s Bonanza or, The S 7." Soldier 0)
the overiiuid. ByyCol. r. inmth Bandy iml 1-
A New Issue Every Tuesday.
The Half- Dime Library is {or ask bvsli newsdsslerszs
ssots pa copy, or asst by mail on receipt oi six cents each.
BEADLE AND ADAMS, Pablishera.
.8 William ltreet, New York.