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No. 98 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK.

 

e g- fldams, (Publishers,

 

.‘HTVEQI'!IV\V.II I378, av BEADLE 3‘ ADAM-5V3"

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Price,
Ten Cents.

No. 38.

 

 

The Velxet Hand;

The Iron Grip bf Injun'Dick.

BY ALBERT W. AIKEN.
AUTHOR or “ OVERLAND m," “30ch MOUNTAIN nos,"
“mos, m sroa'r,” “mm max," no.

PROLOGUE.

NOT DEAD BUT SLEEPING.

Dam: and gloomy were the clouds that
lowered around t Shasta’s snow-covered

 

 

peak The hour 0 midnight was near at hand,
and the slow- ' ' moon, strugfi ‘ in the
embrace of the thic and envious c girlie, barely
lighted up the night.

On the north-western side of the where
one of the edges .of the old crater broken

away, thus forming a small circular plateau
about a hundred yards in diameter, a huge fire
was brtiighgi-feb dngeeding th flam stood

y e an e a
tall, dark form. 08’ .

 

The copper-colored face, the massive features,
as well as the forest-prairie b of deerskin
which he wore iplainly told t the man was
native to the so .

Far below in the valley twinkled the lights of
the minintiatown of Cinnabar and in the main
street of t young metropolis of the Shasta.
valley, a grouglof miners were gathered, eagerly
trying, With 0 aid of a powerful lass, to dis-
cover the meaning of the unusual geacon blaz-
ing so brightly on the side of giant Shasta’s

“Some of the buck’s heathen ceremonies!”
the word went around, as, b the aid of the
glass the miners made out t the tall form
 by the burning pile was a savage
e 1e .

Little did the men of Cinnabar dream that
the blazing beacon was to serve as a funeral

for the mortal remains of the long-bearded
erokee, the Injun Dick of “ Overland Kit,”
the untiring pursuer of “Rocky Mountain
Bob,” the Richard Talbot, superintendent
of the Cinnabar Mine of “Kentu ” and
the dreaded White Ri er the Death hot of

Shasta, who made such tearful fight for the

 

Cinnabar lode, as detailed in the pages 0 “ In-
jun Dick.”

“ Give my body to the flames on Shasta’s
side,” the hero had muttered, after receiving
the chance shot, his death-wound, seem' 1y.

And O-wa—te (Mud-turtle), the Blac oot
chief, who had traveled far from the home of
his tribe, seeking the friend of his early days in
the golden California land, promised to respect
the injunction.

Then the stricken man had swooned away
and the Indian, bending anxiously over the Stlli
form, believed that death’s dark angel had set
figstad signet upon the brow of lion-hearted

t

Motionless by the side of the body, with his
head muffled in his blanket after the fashion of
his people when mourning for the loved and
lost, the chief had remained until the midnight
hour was at hand; then, to the to of Shasta’s

he bore the senseless form of e man who
ad been to him like a brother.

The funeral p was kindled, and as the
flames roared an tshparkled high in the air, the
Indian knelt b e side of the form, now so
cold and still, adast farewell to take.

 

 

 

2" _ ' . __Beadle’s Dime Library. .

The eyes of the chief were heavy with tears as he looked
upon the face of the man he had loved so well. Even the
item nature of the savage gave way before the grief of that sad

our.

And then, bending over, he took the helpless form within his
arms.

A second only the Indian pressed the senseless figure against
his own broad breast, and then with a wild start and a half-
sliriek. almost womanly in its nature, he placed the body again
upon the cold earth, and glared with eager eyes upon the passive
face.

Life was not yet extinctl

In some little corner of the manly frame the vital spark still
lingered.

The. random shot had struck fairly home, but so strong the
constitution of iron-limbed Injun Dick that the potent lead, which
would have carried death to almost any other mortal, had only
produced a deatlilike swoon.

The heart was beating feebly, and the savage chief, well gifted
in the rude medical practice of his race, doubted not that he could
five the stricken man.

The fight for the Cinnabar mine was not yet ended! Injun
Dick Talbot lived, and while he breathed no mortal man might
hope to possess the Cinnabar lode in peace. Again it would be
war to the knife! an .-  ,...-.......--.. .- ,s, .

The eyes Opened; the great dark eyes, as keen as the orbs of a
wildcat, and yet at times‘ns soft in their light and as lustrous as
the star-gazers of. a-beutiful girl.

Slowly the life came back to the manly form, and then, as the
red chief raised the head of the reviving man upon his knee, the
eyes of Talbot fell upon the distant lights of Cinnabar.

“Again I pass from the shadows or the valley of death, and
wake to life; Cinnabarfi‘éigyglories~ uranium, and mortar man
shall not wrest them, " me. By air. means or foul again
I’ll own the Cinnabar lode, and Woe to 'men who dare to stand
between me and my priest" v , '

And the pale stare, glittering above, reghtered the oath.

 

charms I.
use vsnvn'r auto;

Aoanv we write of the yoting metropolis of the Shasta valley,
thriving Cinnabar City. We take up the recital of the fortunes
of this celebrated town and its inhabitants Just one year from
the time when the beacon fire, biasing on the side of Shasta, had
attracted the-attention of the minimum

And, during .tho year, Cinnabar had changed. considerably.
litany of tile tonnes-inhabitants- had departed; and- fresh ones

‘taken'their places. i _ ~ ' ~ ~

The "situate lode and been "sold for taxes, and had been
purchased for quite a small sum by a gentleman named Fernando

del Colma, a native Californlian, originally a cattle-raiser on
the lower coaet, near We es. 4 ‘ . .A J .

Del Colmg win a man 6: thirty, Willy; is true Spanish-
Mexican-AIer  of medium sise, dark
hair, pointed  aindheard, co V _ I,
iii-tie feet, little  eifeminate in their 
settled mekmclioly tobrood everon his Ilium, haughty
features. Great conwas’ ’ t washgervery inch a Martian, to the
rude and uncultivated men'by whom he was among ed, _

He was a true descendfiii of the old race—«lie cattle-breeding,

. pleasure-loving, proud, haughty, but gentlemanly lords of Cali.
fornia, who held the land invest tracts before the gold discoveries
brought in tha‘pushing, adventuring Anglo-Saxons.

There was ‘fiothing in common between the old race and the
new men, and little by’ilttle the ranch“ gave way to the gold-
miners.

Fernando’e father  been one of the largest landed proprie-
tors on the lower coast, and, dying, had bequeathed to his two
children, Fernando and his hitter Blanche, a large fortune.

Fernando, careless and umhrifty, like all his race, had made
sad havoc with his money, until at last the day of reckoning
came, and the young man found that few of his father’s broad
acres remained unincumbered. ‘

Pleasure must cease and work begin.

During his tripe to kn Francisco he had made the acquain-
tance of a dashing young fellow, who called himself Bertrand
Baden, and this gentleman, who profound to be well acquainted
with the upper mining country, had often advised Fernando to
try hisluck in a mining speculation.

80, upon discovering that something must be done. to retrieve
his impaired fortunes, Del Celina had turned all his prOperty
into ready cash, and acting upon Bedau’s advice, had bought the
Cinnabar mine; and, as he knew very little about mining
mane”: Red“ wilted the position of superintendent, and
agreed to manage the whole flair.

A handsome, dashing-looking fellow was Redan, being rather
tall in stature, well built, with black eyes and hair, which he
wore long and curling, very white skin, and with a general air of
refinement. ‘ I

A pretty fair miner, too, as he quickly proved when 1:0 set the
men to work to clear up the rubbish which had accumulated
around the Cinnabar works, and proceeded to put the mine in
working order.

An evil name the Cinnabar lode bore; too much blood and ~

treasure had alre..dj.' been exrended there, and the old residents
of the Lown, who knew something of the mine in the old days.
shOok their heads sngely, and “reckoned” that no luck Weird
connl from mending With the lode which had already co..t one

2 senvirita.

eyes, m '
«itdiny hue, -
A

 

Indian war, to say nothing of the officials of the town who had
fallen by ,the desperate hand of the Death Shot of Shasta.

Some of these sayings had come to the ears of Del Colma, but
be shrugged his shoulders with true Spanish indifler‘ence, and
proceeded to erecta cottage just outside the Cinnabar property,
a small, snug dwelling, and in looks superior to any other in
town.

Cinnabar City was not particularly well supplied with women,
and what there was, as a general (rule, were rather weather-
beateu and ugly. It was a matter, then, of little wonder that the
arrival of Blanche del Colma excited a great deal of interest, for
Blanche was a beauty. No fairer girl had ever stepped foot
within the Shasta valley. She was strikingly like her brother;
the same eyes, the same hair, and the same peculiar melancholy
expression.

She was as sweet by nature as one of the juicy oranges of her
own sunny clime, but as proud as though she had‘been born to a
que =n‘s estate.

Blanche del Colma had lived a month in Cinnabar, and yet no
gentleman of the town could boast that he was a friend of the
charming girl; very few indeed could lay claim to even a simple
acquaintance.

Still she was no recluse; hardly a pleasant day but saw her in
the saddle. She rode a spotted mustang, a creature of infinite
beauty, as though she was born tothe back of a steed.

But there was unthing in common between the fair S anish-
blooded girl and the gay young fellows 6f the town. he Was
not for them, nor they for her. In her hiin they rude,
rough men, and she would have as soon thought of entertaining
an affection for one of the half-blood herdsnien upon her father’s
estate as to allow her maiden- i'aiicy‘to be plefised'With. onH”'6f
these sturdy men of Cinnabar. ..  _. .. .

 by nature, she looked for a gallant lover, some
stranger from, beypnd‘the seas, one of the old waperchance,
from whence her lineh‘ad sprung; ' " ' ‘ ' “*

Del Colma, like most native Californians, was a slave to some
of the peculiar traits ,of his race. He was a hard drinker, deeply

addicted to play, lacked “the thrift; and caution of 

Saxon, and sis careless with his money as though he still
possessed the broad acres that his fatheronce had owned near to
the “city of the Angels,” on the southern coast, and, naturally,
his love for gambling, and for strong liquor, brought him often
in contact with the young fellows of the town.

Therefore, when in company with the gay bucks of Cinnabar,
he had encountered Blanche, common courtesy had compelled him
to introduce his commn'ions. ' ,

.SmaIl benefit, though, the introduction hadube‘ento theenam-
ored youths. . A cold bow and, ascent “;‘good.moriiing” were all
that theVCalifprnla'n beauty'.vouchsafed in return for their dabo-
rates'a'lututions, a ., _, , .7 ,. _.

rlibero was a mall group of friends, generally found togethBr
after the toils of the: day were do'hey'dmi rcbmmbnly termed. by
the iniMsthe' “Occidental gang,” with whom Del. Colma-was
quite intimate, and as the members of the “gang” were the
leading men of the town, it was only natural that one and all,
with one exception, should be   _ of the fair

Iv

Clint MacAlpine, f0 _ ‘ly  but now mayor of the
city; John Rocks, 11 termed “ Sandy 3’ Books,» largely inter-
ested in the Queen City Mug Company of Engel’s Bar, atth-
ing siilxiilirb offimabar; “Judge ” Bob Candy, the’ex'p'ren-agent;
Billy. 'ng, forcibly the barkeeper, but adv the thriving p-o-
9121:1159! 6! the? _ ‘dentnl Hotel; Leo: Polloék, the largest 8 re-
keeper in the wn, were the ~p'rincipal members of the Coda?!
“gang,” and with tho Occidentals, too, wasmally to be f ,d
one of the moist‘characters of the city at the time or
which we write. He was a man of thirty or thereabocts, a little
above the medium site, with a strong, manly face, a well-innit
figure, and a hearing which stamped him as a captain among
captains. His face was always smoothly shaven, and he  as
neat and careful in his dress as though he were a promenader
fresh from the asphalt pavements of la belle Paris, rather than a
denisen of one of the roughest little mining towns to be found in
all California.

He dressed so oddly that, once seen, he was not apt to be for-
gotten. A complete suit of black velvet he wore; coat. vest, and
pa‘ntaloons, the but even, were of the same materiil, and his
ruffled shirt-bosom, wherein gleaned two tiny diamond studs.
was a miracle of art.

The best card-player in all Northern California this gentleman
was reputed to be, and, clear from Yreka to Mount Shasta, he
was blown as “ The Velvet Hand of Cinnabar.” 4

Richard Velx et he called himself, and he had such a soft,
“taking” way with him, as many a foolhardy miner, confident
in his skillfii card—playing, had found to his coat, and he wal
always so cool, so self-possessed, that it was not long before
“ Richard Velvet, that new sharp,” became shortened to “Velvet
Hand ;” and the gentleman in question rather liked the title, 5"
that he got into the habit of giving his namees Velvet Hand
These little nicknames stick on the Pacific slope.

Manyla skillful player of cards was there in “IO Wu”? “1'
butary to the lively city of Cinnabar, but not one of the tribe
could win eith the ease and grace 0! Velvet Hand.

A strange fact, too, about this quiet gentleman, and one which
his companions had often notcd and commented upon: he a lone
of all the young men of the town seemed not to have fallen a
victim to the charms of Blanche del Colma; he alone of all me
Occidental gang had not  an introduction to the dark-
eyed beauty, and yet he was on more intimate terms with For-
nando del Celina, her brother, than any other man in the town
_.!,‘w_nt|‘;|nil Reina, the superintendent of the Cinnabar works,
slum sluuym

M._... «a...

'3

 

ll

 

 

Many a time the gray light of themorn had peeped in at the
window of a little private room on the second floor of the Occi-
dental Hotel to find the Californian and the Velvet Hand hard at
play, with a week’s production of the Cinnabar lode trembling
in the balance; and seldom it was that Del Colma rose a winner
from the table. I

And when Mr. Dick Velvet was rallied about his avoidance of
the glowing beauty, so rich in all her wondrous charms, and asked
why, being so intimate with the brother, he had not tried to push
his fortune with the sister—for the cool sport was as good-looking
a gentleman as there was in the town—he would laughingly reply
that women were “ had medicine ” to him, and that as long as he
depended upon card-playing to keep ahead of the world he would
give the softer sex a wide berth.

Thus matters stood in the year 187—, when we again take up
the pen to chronicle the doings of the men of Cinnabar. ‘

 

CHAPTER II.
was: BAND or CAPTAIN DEATH.

THREE miles from Cinnabar City the Shasta river cut its way
through the McCloud canyon. Dark and deep was the defile—es
lonely a spot as could be found: within a dozen miles of the
mining settlement.

At the upper end of the canyon this defile widened out into a
tidal} rocky valley, through which ran the old Indian trail leading
from Ci abar up the river.

Alon th‘e' trail, in"’th'e dash of the evening, a horseman was
riding. He was well mounted, Well armed, and accused flamilisr
with the rolid, for he pushed straight onward without hesitation.

When he reached the open valley above the McCloud canyon,
he halted'for a moment, cast a careful glance around him as if
suspicious of observation; then spurred his horse over the steep
rocks until he reached the side of the rocky wall. There he
disinounted. Drawing a black mask from his pocket, he covered
hiafaee with ft. This done, he pushed his way through a dense
clut'np of  ’  his horse by the bridle, and disap-
peared, apparent havinginade his way right into the solid rock;
but if the clump of V had been removed, the mouth of e.
cave—a narrow cleft, justwide enough to allow the entrance d
a h )rse—would have been visible. -

'Within the narrow passage all was dark as Egypt, but the
masked man proceeded "Without hesitation, apparently familiar
with the road, until a winding in the passage suddenly brought
him into a vaulted chamber in the rock; thirty feet at least in
diameter it was. __M 7_ _r g 1

Within the apartment, the roof of which extended cone-shaped
up into the rock, evidently having an outlet above, were two
other horses—two other men.

The horses were quietle manhungiflieir cats in some rude
stalls constructed at the further ezd of the apartment.

The men, roughly d‘remd,  i' fashion, and also hiding their
fleet; behind black masks, Were meted upon some buffalo-relies,
seemingly waiting for them-rival of the new-mmer. _

A couple at lanterns suspended from mikes driven into the
walls aflorded light.

'  monient the horseman released his grasp on the bridle, the
animal hastened to join the other two, thus plainly proving that
he 'was no stranger to the cavern and its mysteries.

Andthnsecretchamberintheheartof thehillwasthemounp
tain home of the daring and bloody road-agent known far and
wide in the Sheets valley as Captain Death.

And who m Chptfin Deathl

Ah! that was a question that often had been putbut as yethad
not been answered.

About a year before the time of which we write Captain
Death had first made his appearance in the Shasta valley.

A stage-coach, northward bound for Yreka, had been halted in
a gloomy defile, seven or eight miles from the city of Cinnabar,
and robbed of its express matter.

A single man had done the job. The driver, perceiving that
the road-agent was alone, had attempted—contrary to. the
general habit of his clan—to ofler resistame, but had been
p131:pr tumbled 03 his box by e. undirected shot tired by the
on w.

The frightened pemengere, four' in number, had fled from the
hack in hot haste at the driver’s downfall, never offering a sign
of resistance; than the “gentleman of the road ” had coolly pron
ceeded to appropriate the valuables. This finished he had
addreued a few words to the disabled driver, who lay groaning
on the ground, cursingthe svilstarwhichledhimtoofferresist—
anco to the bird of prey. \

“ My name is Captain Death,” he said, in a coarse, evidently

ised voice. “I’m going to run this hyer trail for a time
and I want the folks hereabouts to understand that I me busio
ness, every time! if they knuckle down and let me go l.tough
’em. all right! If they don’t, then look out for sudden death. ”

With this the bird of prey coolly rode elf.

Of course Wells and Fargo, the Owners of the stage line, were
not going to shed any of this nonsense; therefore, they went for
Captain Death lively, but little good it did them, too; not I
ilngle trace of the deeperado could they disooVerl

After a time the search was given up, as the road-agent was
supposed to have hem driven off by the urgent chase; but, just

every body had come to the conclusion that they wouldn’t hear
ny more of the bold rider, another coach going north was
dtteeked, and this that W Death had two commnions.

 

r I A Iv 3
 . J.

 

 

A desperate resistance was offered by one of the passengers, an
old man‘, who carried a small fortune on his person, and who
was accompanied by his daughter. All fled from the hack but
he, fierce at the prospect of losing his gold.

Captain Death called upon him to surrender; he refused, when,
without more ado, the road-agents opened fire upon the coach,
mortally wounding at the first discharge both the old man and
his daughter, but, although staining their souls with this terrible
crime, the outlaws did not secure the prize they were in search
of, for the up coach trom Yreka happening to approach just at
that moment, compelled the rascals to retreat in hot haste.

This bloody deed created a terrible excitement; and for a time
the read-agents disappeared, but when the excitement cooled
down again they haunted the road.

The name of Captain Death became as well known along the
trail as the express line itself, but so cunnineg did he manage
that never by any chancc did onset the many expeditions in
pursuit of him ever get fairly upon his trail. .

That Captain Death was well posted as to the designs of his
pursuers was evident; he had “ friends at court” and they gave
him timely warning when danger. threatened him. _

The two road-agents nodded to their chief when he appeared,
for the solitary horseman was the notorious Captain Death, in
person. He took a seat on one of the buflalo-robes, lighted
a cigarette, commenced smoking as he looked, inquiringly, upon
his followers.

“Any news!” he asked.

“ Not any,” responded the road-agent on the right, a tail,
broad-shouldered fellow who was known as No. l. -

Ca tain Death had organized his band in a peculiarmanner.
The faith of man he distrusted, and therefore neither one of
his companions knew who he was, or had ever seen him‘without
his mask. He had picked his two men, had approached them at
night, disguised, and smelled them, neither one knowing the
other. . , _ a

‘1‘“ For ,our own safety,” as he had explained,.“it. is best we
should be as strangers to each other. ; Then, it one is taken he
affideuouncehisoompenions."  , . ., v ; -

_so, withpovered facssrthe outlaws always met, ,“Namee
were never mentioned. The leader Was addressed a eeptein, the
firso road-agent, the burly fellow, as No. l, the second, a tlu'n,
tall individual, as No. 2. .

“ Nothing stirring, eh!”

“Nothin’ thatlhegref,"topliedNa L‘wi‘thestrongns-l

accent.

“Itiuametimo-isoommndnuin?’ _ .

“ Yes,” responded No. l, with a melancholyehaked the hmd.
“ Dry as dust an’ nothin’ to keep the flats umber.”  , 

“’Bout time we struck a rifle, somewhat} W!" No» 2
suggested. , . ..  ,. .- .

“ I’ve got a big 10b on hand, boys,” Captain Death said; “no
road-agent business this tine. but something.“ will pay us
batten, .You know  . . , .-
,Bothofthemennodded.-,.. ..;,...- .-  .. 

“ That’s our mutton!" ' ' .

g The two men shook theirheads; they did 
""lbemiueisarichona9 V.,,,. -. ‘

“’Tain’t payin’. much yet," N09 1. observed-  .  - .. ' ,3

“That is because a has not yet got many to work, tat it will
pay, though. A friend of mine wants it, but as‘ it would take
twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars to buy it he prOposee that
we shall getltfor him, which wecanataless ,F 
del Colmaisattheendofhisrope; allthe moneyhehe’sis, the
mine; there’s a mortgage of ten thousand dollars due’on itnext
week. He hopes to push that mortgage 0;! fora month and in
themean time get outore enough to meet, it. ,Now wages:
misc blazes generallyzfi‘amsse the. machinery, set the  on
a strike, stop Work by any means sothat the place will have to be
sold by the sheriff, then my friend will pay two or three thousand
dollars for the services we render in the matter.”

“ Hol’ on 1” cried No. 1 only. “ Is our friend named
In'jun Dick Talbot?" ’  y ‘ ' , ,

“Injun Dick Talbot,” said Captain Death, slowly; “what do
you mean!” I, '

“Why, that, if it isn’t Injun Dick he mought as well hang up
his fiddle!” No. I replied. " Tell you what it is, Cap, I know a
heap ’bout this hyer town! That air Cinnabar mine belongs to
Injun Dick, the Death Shot of the Shasta as he’s been called! It’s
an oulucky consarn; Pve bin expectin’ to see Dick pop in and
bu’st it up as he allers has done store.” . . i I

“I never heard of him,” Captain Death said, dryly, “and I
reckon that he won‘t trouble my schenm any.” , , I A ,1 . , '

“ That Velvet Hand is tryin’ to bu’st the Cinnabar concern as
fast as he kin,” No. 2 remarked, abruptly. ‘fI heeled last night
that hewinned a thousand dollarsfrom Del Colmain asingle
eettin’." .

“ I shouldn’t be surprised; but now to business; remember! Do
all that is in your power to stop_the mine from working.) If ,we
can fetch Del Colma into the hands of the sheriff it  be a
couple of thousand dollars in our pockets. We must let the
stages alone for awhile. fer the pursuit is still hot, and the
mean time can amuse ourselves with this little game. The _ rd
night hence we will meet here again."

“Say, Cap!” cried No. 1, abruptly, “wouldnft _it be aAgood
ided to go for this Velvet Hamil I reckon that he would pan out
right lively ef we got him up hyer onc’t.” . . -

“ That is WQrth thinking of,” Captain Death replied, rising;
“and now, boys, be metal how you approach the cave, for if
our‘hidingplace was once discovered it would be all up with us.”

And then the three separated, each one to make his way but
to Cinnabar, by diflerent roads.

The plot against Del Colma was working

4 Beadle’s Dime Library.

 

 

CHAPTER III.
rus oauasrsss.

Tn first gray streaks of the coming moon, lining the eastern
skies and heralding the approach of the sun-god, peeped in at the
window of a small, plainly furnished roam, situated in the second
story of the Occidental Hotel.

Within the room, a table between them, were seated two men,
busily engaged at cards. The floor was strewn with crumpled
cards: ’tis the losing gamester’s whim to try a fresh pack every
now and then in order to woo the fickle dame, Fortune.

That the two men had been at their game all night long was
evident, for the candles were burning low, and the bed in one
corner of the apartment had not been used.

The two men were quite a contrast to each other; the first. a
good specimen of the Anglo-Saxon race, the second bearing the
imprem of the old Spanish line in every feature.

A single glance at the first—the winner evidently, for he was
cool and unrufiled, and as clear of eye as if he had not spent the

lifelong night at the card-table—and from his peculiar garb he is
easily recognised as theVelvet Hand of Cinnabar.

And the second, too, so strongly marked in feature, quite fit to
sit for the portrait of Hernando Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico,
was the man arrayed in the olden garb: no trouble to recognise
in him the Californian, Fernando del Colma, the owner of the
Cinnabar mine.

The players are cipherlng up the results of the game.

“ Five hundred dollars I owe you,” Colma said, with a gloomy
brow. “The fiend take the cards! Will my luck never change!"

“ l’m afraid not, senor," the winner replied; “ not until you
change your style of playing.” -

The oblservation irritated the Californian.

Am notasgoodaplayerthenas f'heexclaim loftily
atruoSpaniarvlinhisarrog'amway.y‘m ed, ,

“ No, not as good," Velvet Hand replied, coolly.

“And why not! It is the cards that favor you; when my
handisgood,youholdabetteri”

“Oh, no, onlyI knowthevalueof handsbetterthan youdo,
and I keep my temper. I play for amusement, you for money.”

TheCalifornhnrosetohisfeetindignantly.

“You forget yourself, senorl" he exclaimed, mortally oifended,

forhisclcakand todroptitaroundhiminthe
picturesque Mexican fashion. “Iamagentleman of birthand
forums! Gold] stshon to it,andtomeitis somuchdross,
while you—" he hesitated.

The Velvet Hand,husy nowint hisnailswithalittle
pearl-handled knife, laughed outright].qu

“Letmefinishthesenteueeforyou, sucr,"besald. “Iam‘a
gambler, a man who lives by card-playing. No social match for
you, senor. You are anhonestgentleman, theproprietorofthe
riched mine in the towu,and yet youcurseyour evilfortune
when luckgoesagainu youand youloseafewhundreddollars.
I, onthecontrary,amasocialparlahwithnotafriendon
:ndyet’Ilosemymouey with asmileandlaughatthedecreesof

o .

“Forgiveme, unorPDeiCoimaexclsimed, hastil hisgener-
ous nature touchedbythe frankcoolhe-of theotgér. “Idid
notmeautowoundyou. Idolosemytemperandplaybadly; I
conic-it! Iamuotamanoficefithnotthemoneyicarefor,
butthelosing—that iswhat gallsmei Youhavewonfromme
five thousand dollars since we commenced playing two weeh
ago and I can ill spare the money.”

“Why play thenf’was the natural question.

“ I cannot help it!” cried the (hut desperately. “There
is a fiend within me that craves the excitement.

“It’s lucky for you that you have got the Cinnabar mine to
heck you," the other said, carelessly. “ By the by, you’re doing
very well, ain't you!"

64  m yaw

“ It’s a rich mine. "

u . '
0rde':¢,a,s,butwehave hardlygetthe machinery in working

“ By the way, senor, you and I have got to be not intim
considering that you are the owner of one of an: rlc‘gest prop:-
tiesinthetown, andthatIamonlyapoordevilofacard-sharp,
and so I’m going to make hold to give you a point or two, for
I’vehad agooddealofexperienceinminlng; thatis, if youare
213:; to receive the advice in the same spirit in which it is
b0‘v"Ishall be honored, senor,”DelColmareplied, withastately

“Itookslookattheworks this afternoon. Iknew
fntheoldtime,andIhadasortofcuriositytoseehowthzm
appeared." The wisest head could not have guessed from the
cool way in which the man spoke, of the terrible flood of bitter
recollections which the Cinnabar mine recalled to his mind.

The machinery you are using is not exactly the right sort,
and you ye got the toughest set of hands there that I think I ever
saw, and your superintendent-Bertrand do you call
 The Californian nodded. “Have you perfect faith in

“As in my brother!" Del Celina replied, with true Spanish

warmth.

##msm;mmmmawmm, Ipre-
“ Yes, of everything."

0;? an u-ust is invaluable," the cool sharp

 sacrament:ch

 and yet my sister does not trust him,”

 

“Eel” the American was surprised- “women he.
Instincts sometimes." ’ V. tan

“ She does not like him. I am astonished, for he is a fine noble
fellow, and I fear he cared more for my haughty sister than he
should,” and then the don suddenly checked himself; he was not
wont to speak so openly of the lovely Blanche, dearer to him
than the apple of his eye. “The amount I owe you I have not
with me—”

“Your word is quite sufilcien ” Velvet Hand '

y. t, replied, care;
The Californian hesitated; it was evident that he disliked to
remain a debtor.

“ Stay 1” he exclaimed, abruptly, drawing a diamond ring from
his little finger and placing it upon the table; “ take this as
security for the sum."

The other shook his head.

“ I would rather not.”

“Nay, I insist] life is uncertain; I may die before I pay the
debt.”

“Don’t let that trouble you; I should consider the account
settled.”

“ Pray oblige moi”

The senor was thoroughly in earnest, and as the tallest WHY ‘70
settle the matter, Velvet Hand placed the ring upon his litth

finger.

“ The sun is rising,” the Californian remarked, approaching the
window, and as he did so he caught sight of his sister riding past,
mounted upon her spotted mustang.

Hardly had the sound of her horse’s hoofs died away in the
distance when a fearful uproar arose on the air, and from the
door of a low saloon, opposite the hotel, came forth a motley
gang, bearing a Chinaman in their midst.

Harder characters than were in the crowd could not be found
within the territory of Cinnabar.

There was Yuba Bill, one of the recognised bullies of the town;
Joe Bowers, the fat and greasy bummer; Doc Slater, the smartest
horse-thief north of F’risco; Col. Tom Pipkin, as smut aknave
aseverdweltwithina whitejail, audhalf a dosenotherscamps
equally as bad. _

The crowd alunga rope over the limb of aconvement tree,
adjusted a noose around the neck of the trembling, crying
almondeyed son of the East, from whose flowing sleeves sundry
“ face” cards were dropping, and prepared to swing him up.

“ By Jove!” cried the card-sharp, throwing up the window-
msh; “it’s Hop-Ling-Ki, and he’s the only man in town that can
do up my rufled shirts! They mustn’t hang him, or I’m dished!”

Out of the window then, nimble as a monkey, went Velvet
Hand, whiletheOaliforuiaurudIeddowntheshirway.

 

mos nus A sum rs m m.

“Bruise up the derued heathen!" yelled YubaBill, adjust-
ingthenooseroundtheneckoftheaflrlghtedChinamen. "
“ Oh, lemme kickflle sawdust outen him first, me lord dock!

cried Bowers, who was nothing if not theatrical.

“Go easy, genie!” exclaimed Doc Slater, who headed the
crowd gathered round the end ofthe rope, readyto run the
unfortunate heathen up to the tree-branch. “Just give us the
word when you are ready, and we’ll fix the cutter! We’ll teach
himto play roots on us freewhite men, the durned saffron-
colored son of Confuciousi” Doc was a scholar, if he was the
cutest horse-thief that had ever escaped the hands of the Vigi-
hntee.

“Me alle same Melican man; no hobbe, how can!" sputtered
the celestial.

“ Shut up yes- yaupi” yelled sweet William Yuba, in the same
dulcet strains with which he was wont, when on a “tare,” and
taking possession of the street, to proclaim that he was monarch
of all be surveyed, which be generally was until some quiet
miner got tired of his “foolin’,” and sailed into him with a club,
thereby producing order in Warsaw.

“Ob! men and brothers, has it come to this that we air
a-gwine to be ruined by Chinese cheap labor?’ howled Bowers,
wildly; “ and he held three aces, which was an immoral possi-
bility, ’cos I had two on ’em up my own sleeVe myself, an’ the
moment the heathen showed his hand, three sees, an’ claimed the
pile, I sed, ‘ thar’s been cheatiu’ ’round this hyer boardl’ ”

“All ready!" cried Yuba.

“ Ye he! and up he goes!” responded the Doc, and he and
his gang began to pull on the rope, when the sudden and unex-
pected arrival of Velvet Hand interrupted the proceedings.

“ Halloal what’s the matter?" he cried.

‘ “Mind yer own business!” replied Yuba, savagely. and in
supra e contempt; and as for Joe Bowers, who had only
arde in Cinnabar during the preceding night, he stared with
open mouth at the velvet sport.

“ Go ’long, an’ don’t interrupt the fun!” was Doc Sister’s sug-

ion.

“This ain’t any of your funeral i” Colonel Tom Pipkin ejacula-
ted, loftily.

“None of my business, eh!" cried Velvet Hand, taking a
couple of strides toward the fellows who had hold of the rope.

“N0, sir-eel” Doc responded, and he let go of the rope to feel
for his six-shooter.

But before he could get his hand on the weapon, the sport had
him by the throat, and the unceremonious manner in which he
chucked the renowned horse-thief over his head and tumbled him

Velvet Hand. 5 ‘

 

 

to the ground, completely demoralised, took all notion of fight
out of the crowd. It was plainly evident that the velvet sport
knew how to handle himself.

And, with the letting go of the rope, down came the celestial
all in a heap. ‘

A nickel-plated revolver glistened in Velvet Hand’s white

fingers, and not a man in the crowd cared to test the marksman"

ship of the sharp.

“ This is the only washee-washee in the town that can do up a:
shirt lit for a gentleman to wear, and I’m not going to stand by

and see him abused! Now what is the trouble!” Dick Velvet
cried.
“ Pardner, lemme explain!” Joe Bowers replied, with becoming

dignity. “This hyer yaller cuss, fat an’ ugly, has a—bin a-playin"
it on us. He kem with the washin‘. he did, for the noble ladies,

that reside in yonder doocal mansion,” and Bowers pointed to
the shanty from whence the crowd had emerged, the celebrated
Break 0’ Day saloon, notoriously the worst place of the kind in
the town. “The John had the rocks; wid me own two lookin’
eyes I see‘d ’eml We invited him fur to tackle us with the
kerds. Games, he sed, he did not understand; but we, like men
an‘ brothers, oflered fur to teach the poor heathen. He was
a stranger, an’ we were ready to take him in, but we slipped up-
on it; he took us in, he did! He flaxed us right outen our boots;
he won our ducats—four dollars an’ a half of mine he corraled,
an’ then all on us went in to get hunk. We put up a job on him
—Yuba carbined the kings, I yanked two aces, the Doc got the
jacks, Col. Pipkin salivated the queens; we got him whar his ha’r
was short, an’ we slung out our pile an‘ went for him lively; and
what was the result! I weep when I think of it! He saw us
every time, an’ arter all our shekels were up, we called for a
sight, andhehadthreeacesandtwokings! Wharisourboasted
civilization of sich things kin be, an’ overcome us like a summer
cloud without our special wonder! We went fur him! W’at we
couldn’t get by cunning we took by force; an’ then we calc’lated
to swing him up, jes’ fur greens, but you hev played a run hand
on us, an’ raked the p' ”

“ Boys, I wouldn’t interfere with your fun for the world,"
Dick replied, perfectly serious, “but put yourself in my place.
This John is the only man in town who can do up a ruflled shirt.
If you hang him, where is my washee-washee to come from, eh?"

The crowd shook their heads; the question was a conundrum,
and they gave it up.

“Now, i’ll tell you what I’ll do, boys; call it squareon the
heathen—you've cleaned him out, anyway—and I’ll stand two
rounds of drinks at the Occidental bar!”

“ Bully for you!” cried Bowers, joyfully; “ that’s a heap sight
better nor hangin’ the John!”

The majority of the crowd agreed with the bummer; but the
Doc, who had been so roughly handled, Yuba Bill and Col.
Pipkin objected.

“No, no!” Bill cried, doggedly; “ we’re going to hang the
heathen.”

“ Yes, of course," Doc added.

“ Certainly!” the colonel assented.

“You are not going to hang himr’andVelvet Hand spoke
firmly, as with a single motion he threw the noose from the
Chinaman’e neck. “30003 I”

Hop-Ling-Ki did not wait for a second bidding, but sped away
up the street as fleetly, almost, as a grayhound.

And not one of the crowd dared to follow him, no matter how
great the desire, as long as the velvet sport was to the fore, the
revolver gleaming in his hands.

The heathen disappeared around the corner of a shanty, and
then the preserver turned to the three men, who stood, scowling,
together.

“ Now, gentlemen, if I’ve trodon any of your toes, I'm ready to

give you all the satisfaction that you may require. Don‘t be.

bashful about speaking. I’ll take you one at a time or two
together, or three, or I’ll fight the whole crowd at once!"

“ Hol’ on, me noble dock!” cried Bowers, imprefively, “this
ain’t any of my funeral. You acted bully, and it does me proud
to say sol. Say, sport, if these aged eyes do not deceive me, I
haV’ seen you someer store; your name is—l”

“Oh, I don’t think you ever saw me anywhere!” Dick replied,
carelessly.

“ Oh, yes, I hev; and I knows you—knows you like a boo
me ’I’loble count! You kin run this town, of you want to. fur y
me.

The three discontented men had taken advantage of this diver- ’
sion to sneak on; not a man of them cared to measure strength ‘

with the cool and plucky Velvet Hand.

The rest of the crowd adjourned to the hotel to accept the prof-
fered hospitality of Dick, and as he followed the crowd into the
Occidental, first bidding the stately Californian adieu, he hap-
pened to glance down the street and there beheld Blanche del
Colma, half concealed behind a shanty. She was still on horse-
back, and it was plain that she had been attracted by the noise
of the hanging match, and had witnessed the whole affair.

“Gambler and bully combined! A nice opinion she will have '

of me 1” Dick muttered.

CHAPTER V.
ever: or menu.

As Velvet Hand entered the hotel he encountered a stranger
in the entry; a tall, brawny-built fellow, roughly dressed, miner-
fushion. There was just about light enough in the passageway to
enable him to discover this much in regard to the man, and that
was all.

 

“ Say, stranger, where kin I find a doctor round!" asked the
man, hastily. “My partner has jest been h’isted over his horse's
head down yonder, an’ I’m mightily skeered lest his durned neck’s
broken; leastway, I ’spect he’s pretty badly hurt. Mebbe you
migllit be willing to give a teller a lift with him up as far as the
hate I, .

“ Certainly,” answered the sharp, readily; “ where is he!"

“ Oh, a leetle piece dawn the road. We were a—comin’ up from
Angels, an’ my partner had bin a-h’istin’ in more p’ison than he
oughter, an’ he rode his mule—like a durned galoot -—-right over
a bowlder, an’ the brute jest r’ared up, an’ then hepitched t’other
end Skyward an’ sent my: partner outen his saddle like a blamed
old sky-rocket, an’ if his ,neck ain’t bu’sted it will jest be a won-
derl’

“Goahead; we’ll fetch him uptothehotel, andIguessIean
scare up a doctor round the town somewhere.”

The man led the way straight through the hotel to the back
geogr cnind out into the street, while Velvet Hand followed, close

in
' “He’s right down thar, jest round the bend, shind them air
bushes, ” the fellow explained, as he hurried along the  '

And now that Velvet Hand got a good view of the man’s face,
he saw—as he had thought—that he was a total stranger to him.
He was not a particularly good-looking chap, and if the Cinnabar
man had chanced to meet him alone on a dirk road and at a dark
hour, he certainly would have given him a wide berth and had
his weapons handy. 2' A

“ I’m from Angels, I am,” the stranger informed his volunteer
nurse; “ Joe Smith of Angels, an’ my pardner’s Dave Buck.
Mebbe you’ve heern tell on Dave! He’s jest the “finest cath
in Northern Californy." ,

“ No, I never heard of him,” Velvet Hand replied, but “ in
his mind’s eye, Horatio,” he determined that if Mr. David Buck’s
neck had not been dislocated by his unpremeditated downfall-
and gentle Providence generally protects the helpless devotee of
jolly Bacchus—he would speedily ascertain by what right the
man from Angels held such a reputation.

Asthetwainhurriedroundthebendtnthemndtheirears
weresalutedwithastr'angedisoordofgroansandcursea

It was very evident that Buck of Angels was still in the land of
the living.

Themanwaslyingonhissideinalittle clump ofbnshes
which had plainly broken his fall and saved him from serious

“ Whar air ye, ye durned ole Joe Smith!" he howled. “Air
ye goin’ to leave me hyer fur to die like a spavined mule, eh!"

“Hyer I am, Dave!” answered his partner, hurrying up to
him; “an’ this hyer gent has been kind enoughfurto come all
the way from the Occidental fur to help you. Whar are ye hurt!”

“All over,” growled the prostrate man. “Blame my eyes!
of I think that I’ve got a whole bone left in my body. Ef you
sir ary friend of mine, jes’ can that blamed mule till you’re
black in the face."

“Do you think that you can walk!" asked Velvet Hand, ap-
proaching the prostrate man and kneeling down by his side.
The Cinnabar sport quickly decided that the “pride of Angels"
was more frightened than hurt, and that the strong liquor, so
noted a product of the “ Bar,” which Mr. Buck evidently had
been largely imbibing, had more to do with his inability to walk
than any shock he had received by his fall.

“As quiet a mule as I ever see’d, too!" Joe Smith explained,
and in truth the gray beast, grazing peacefully by the roaddde,
seemed gentleness itself. ‘

“Wm, stranger, ef you would be so kind as to gl’n m! a bit
of a lift, mebbe I could walk a leetle," Buck admitted. '

“Certainly.” a -

Velvet Hand, bending over the fellow, took hold of him under
the anus, while Buck grasped the Cinnabar man’s shoulders,
grunting with pain as he moved.

Velvet Hand half raised the fellow from the ground, Buck got
a fair hold with his feet on the earth, and then, suddenly exert-
ing his strength, gave a twist that toned the Cinnabar man—
who was totally unprepared for such a thing—over on his back.

And the moment that Velvet Hand’s shoulders fairly touched
the ground, the other fellow sprung upon him.

Then out from the clump of bushes came a third man, who
also assailed the prostrate man.

Crushed to earth, despite his struggles, the three men, with
stout lariats evidently provided for the emergency, bound Velvet
Hand securely, first dextrously muffiing his head in a thick
Mexican scarf, to make any alarm impossible.

But the cool and acute sharp had never for a moment thought
of crying out for help. Accustomed to “wholly depend upon
himself, to call for assistance was foreign to his nature. ~

The moment that the Cinnabar man was fairly on his back the
truth flashed upon him—he had beenentrapped. Buck of Angels
was a fraud. I

Why they had selected Velvet Hand he was at a loss to goes.
What foe in the Shasta land was bold enough for such a plan of
vengeance!

His assailantswere taking particular care notto harm him.
They had trussed him hand and foot, like a turkey, ready for the
roasting. If his life was' sought, one good blow would have
settled the matter.

Once secume bound, the assailants lifted him carefully from
the ground; Buck of Angels mounted the gray mule; Velvet
Hand was seated on the saddle before him, the other rufiians
taking care to lash him securely to their companion, and then of!
they set.

The eyes of the surprised man were securely bandaged, but his
hearing was not impaired, and therefore he was somewhat sur-
prised to note that; no words were exchanged between the three

67 Beadle’s  Library.

 

strangers during or after the attack. Evidently the scheme had
been carefully planned in advance in all its details, but what was
its meaning!

Onward the party went at a rapid pace, turning aside from the
main trail a short distance on and striking into a “blind” path
which wound through the shrubbery, running almost parallel with
the road, but about a quarter of a mile south of it.

For thirty minutes at least the party proceeded on their way,
and the captured man readily understood that he was being con-'
veyed to some secure retreat; but, being as familiar with all the
Shasta region as any native red brave, he did not doubt that
when the bandage was removed from his eyes he would be able
to recognize the locality to which he ha'd’been conveyed.

Velvet Hand 'could hear the rustling of the pine needles as the
party forced‘ their way through the narrow passage, the trail of
the night beasts of prey, and then easily distinguished the differ-
ence. when the boots of the mule trod on the uncovered lava
rock, and then, when the air grew thick around him, and he
missedlthe breath of the free winds, he guessed that he had been
conveyed into some mountain cavern.

 

a namrm. anmmam

Tin beast was halted, the prisoner removed from his back and
seated upon a soft. couch; then the scarf was taken from his head
—and once again Velvet Hand was permitted to enjoy the privi-
lege of his eyesight. I

He looked around him. As he had anticipated he was in a
cavern deep in the bosom of the mountain;

A few tallow candles, stuck in crevices in the walls, dimly
lighted up the scene.

Three men beside himself were in the apartment, and each and
every one of the three had carefully hidden his face under a black
mask.

The road-agente—for the Cinnabar man guessed they were such
—were all armed—in fact, fairly bristled with weapons.

Throngh their black masks their gleaming eyes shone, and Vel-
vet Hand fancied that they all looked threatenineg upon him.

The road-agents were seated upon elevated seats cavered with
buffalo-robes while the captive had been placed upon a skin couch
upon the floor, so that the three looked down like judges in
council.

“ You are the Cinnabar sharp called Velvet Hand?” the tallest
readagent said; he sat in the center and seemed to be the chief
of the three. Hewas the one who had been concealedin the
bushes and whom face the captive had not seen.

Velvet Hand looked inquiringly upon the gleaming eyes, shin-
ing through the holes in the black mask when the man spoke; it
might be only fancy, yet the prisoner would have sworn that the
owner of the voice was no stranger to him.

“ Richard Velvet is my name, and I am sometimes called Vel-
vet Hand,” the prisoner answered.

“Well, we have taken considerable pains tosecure anintess
view with you.”

“ I should suppose so,” Velvet Hand dryly retorted.

“We have long daired to make your acquaintance."

“ Indeed!”

“ And as we deemed it improbable that you would accept an
invitation to visit us in our mountain home, we took measures to
campel you to come ”

“ The game is yours; I ‘ pan,” Velvet Hand answered, in short
parlance. '

“Probablyyou srsslittlemixedssto whywshave tskensll
this trouble!”

“ Quite correct."

“We were anxious tomske your acquaintance; andhad an
idea we might be mutually useful to each other."

“No sabe,” responded the sharp, tsrssly.

“ You don’t understand!”

a  “1..”

“Do you know who we are!"

“Well, I think I can guess."

“We are men of liberal ideas; there is altogethertoomuch
inequality in this world; some men have too much money, othen
notenohgh; wepropcsetostrikeabalsnoa.’

“ At the music of a revolver, eh!”

u Comet!»

“Or the pointofabowie-knife, weain’t ’ticulartoa shade!"
put in the road-agent on the right,aud in hishoametonesthc
Cinnabar sharp recognized the voice of Buck of Angels.

“And as youare a man who dossbusiness something afterour
fashion, we didn’t know but what you might feel inclined to join
teamswith us. I am Captain Death, and these are theroad-
agents of Shasta. We own all the roads south of Yreka, and we
intend to collect toll from everybody that travels over them,
provided the pilgrims arswcllfixsd andsin’ttooheaftyonthe

t.”

' Velvet Hand nodded to Wy that he understood, and the
longer he listened to the voice of the road-agent the more he
became convinced that Captain Death was no stranger to the
Occidental Hotel and the streets of Cinnabar.

“ Come. Velvet Hand, you are the very man we want,”
Captain Death continued. “ We want one more in our
hand, and you are the very man to fill the bill. I’m told that you
are not afraid of man or devil, that you are as good a pistol~shot
as there is in the Shasta valley, and as you rob men now at cards,
why, it will be right in your line to change the ‘papers ’ for the
revolver."

 

“I beg your pardon!” cried Velvet Hand, shortly, “but you
have made a slight mistake,” and there was a gleam of anger in
his dark eyes as he spoke. “I have never robbed anybody yet
at cards; I try to play as fair a game as I know how, unless I
get in with a lot of thieves, and then if they try to cheat me it is
only fair, I take it, to turn the tables upon them.”

“Oh, yes, I understand all about that!” Captain Death ex-
claimed, abruptly. “ I never knew a gambler yet that didn’t
play on the square. Men of your trade are not as honest as we
road-agents. We own up to skinning our game when you cry
honesty, but it’s all a matter of words, and we won’t quarrel
about it. What do you say now? Will you join the band of
Captain Death?”

“ What are the inducements?” Velvet Hand asked, in his quiet
way.

“ All booty will be divided into five parts; one share to each
of the band and two to the captain.’ The captain-myself—to
plan the jobs and receive unqualified obedience from the memo
bers of the band."

“ That is I must obey any order that you may give whether it
wits me or not.”

' “ Exactly.”

“ And who guarantees me against being shot by the troops, or
a’ well~heeled ' gar, or from being hung by some vigilance
committee?” elvet Hand demanded.

The road-agents looked at each other, and then Captain Death
burst into a hoarse laugh.

“ Oho, my line fellow, you must take your chances on that. ”

“I reckon I won’t chip in l” Velvet Hand retorted. 'I’m not
need to following any man’s lead but my own, and, least of all,
going it blind. I‘m very much obliged for your flattering offer,
and when your time comes to be hung I’ll travel a hundred miles
to say good-by to any one of you.”

The road-agents glared ominously at the bold speaker.

“ This is your final decision?" demanded Captain Death, angrily.

“ You can bet all your rocks on it!” Velvet Hand replied,
boldly. “I’m no man’s dog, and when I do choose a master it
won’t be one who travels with a halter around his neck.”

' “Bold words, considering that you are a helpless prisoner in
our hands l” the road-agent leader cried.

“I generally speak my mind wherever I am.”

“ Well, since you have refused our offer, now hear our little
game!” Captain Death added. “ We have got you foul and we
intend to make something out of you. You’re the king card-
sharp of Cinnabar, and I reckon that you must have feathered
your nest pretty well; now we pro to make you shell out.
How much are you worth—ten thousand dollars!"

“I reckon that I ain’t.”

“ Five thousand then!”

“‘Yes, I guess I can touch that figure.”

“ Good! write us an order on your banker for five thousand
dollars; I’ll send and have it cashed,‘ and when the messenger
returns you can go free.”

“ Oh, I reckon that I won’t do that,” Velvet Hand said. coolly.

“If you won’t sign freely we shall be compelled to use un-
pleasant means,” returned the road-agent. “We’ll give you
one hour to think the matter over, and then; if you still per-
sist in your refusal, we’ll slice 011 about an inch of your right
car; then another hour to consider the matter, and if you are
still obstinate a similar slice OR the left ear, and so on until
both ears are gone, and then we’ll commence on your fingers.
They call you Velvet Hand, I believe, because you have such a
light, woman] touch; we’ll cure you of that if you hold out long
enough, and on your pards can call you ‘stumps.’ Come on,
:oys,” we’ll leave this high-toned gentleman to solitary refieo-

on.

And the road-agents withdrew toanoutsr apartmentofths
mountain cavern.

CHAPTER VII.
in. man’s arr-rm: can.

Inthe office ofthe CinnabarminesatBertrandRedan, the
III rintondent of the works.

fidan was a man of twenty-eight or nine; a tall, well-built
fellow, with jet-black hair, worn short and twisting itself into
little crispy curls; along, drooping mustache and pointed chin-
piece, the ends elaborately waxed, and of the same intense hue
as the hair ornamented the lower part of the face; he had full,
line eyes of uncertain tint, sometimes seeming black, at others
appearing gray, and then again, in certain lights, and under cer-
tain impulses, showing green and cat-like. His complexion was
a' strange one, bemgllrnnaturally white, quite a contrast to the
tacos of the miners, daily associates.

‘ParticularcareBerti-andfiedantookofhishandsomeface,and
the fact would have been apt to have rather him in the
opinion of the hard-fistod men of Cinnabar. but for the well.
known truth, that, this one thing excepted, the superintendent of
the Cinnabar mine was as rough and tough a customer as a man
would be likely to meet with in along journey.

Ready was he at all times to back his words with either fists
or weapons, and Cinnabar City had learned long ago that the
“ head man” of the Cinnabar afiair was fully able to take his own

t.
parRedan was not popular in the town. There was souwthing
about him that kept men at a distance. No chum—nu bosom
friend had be, unlike, in this particular, nearly every other pawn

 

Velvet Hand. 1, - 

 

 

in the district. He had a cold, proud way with him, and as
plainly—spoken denizens were wont to express it, he went around
“a—kinder a-holdin’ up his nose as if be reckoned he was better
nor common folks;” and yet, neither by word nor deed had the
superintendent ever giVen the people of Cinnabar reason to think
so; it was his general bcaring, that was all.

And with the white-faced, iron-willed, resolute Bertrand eat
the fat and greasy bummer, Joe Bowers.

The superintendent sat idly tilted back in a chair, pulling a
long cigar, while the old and unsavory vagabond, stretched out
upon a sort of lounge, which had been cleverly extemporized by
spreading a buffalo-robe over some candle-boxes, was busily
engaged in endeavoring to keep a short, black pipe in operation.

If the inhabitants of the lively town, the Queen City of the
Shasta valley, could haVe peeped in at the window and witnessed
this scene of contentment, they would have been much surprised
at the evidence of intimacy thus plainly evinced, between the
shrewd and rather domineering superintendent of the Cinnabar
property and the veteran bummer, the irrepressible Joe BOWers,
for there was nothing in common between the two, and in fact,
few in the town knew that they were even acquainted.

The Cinnabar “boss” was none of your common fellows; he
didn’t mix with the crowd, and Bowers would have been the
last man in the world to have been indicated as an intimate
friend of the cool, determined Mr. Redan—Bert Redan, as he
was generally termed.

Bowers had been absent from the “city” for about a month,
and had only returned on the previous evening; he had spent
the night at the Break 0’ Day House, having fallen in with the
gay and festive Yuba Bill immediately after alighting from the
stage in which he had journeyed from Yreka, and Yuba had con-
flded to the veteran his idea for making a raise out of the Chinese
washee—washee, which, as the reader knows, had resulted so dis-
astrously to the proud Caucasians, and had nearly proved the
death of the almond-eyed son of the flOWery land. ~

“ Well, how goes it, rocks?” Mr. Bowers observed, thu-
evidently opening a conversation.

“0b, as well as can be expected,” Redan answered in his care-
less, easy way.

“The mine is a hummer, isn’t she? 0h, me most noble and
potential dook! ‘the rich east holds not her peerl’ From the
south to the east, north and north-westerly, the cry comes up;
she knocks the socks outen any of ’em. you bet!”

Time had not withered the original Joe Bowers—that was
clearly evident; nor staled his infinite variety.

“ It’s a rich lode.”

“And didn’t I say it, an’ carlt you tie to me every time? an’
the man who seys that I ain’t worth my weight in gold-dust,
when it comes to the clear white article, is a villain an’a goat-
thief!”

“ Your information in regard to this mine was perfectly cor~
root; you certainly put me in for a good thing.”

“I couldn’t handle it myself, you know. I ain’t the kind of
hair-pin to out a superintendent of a mine outen on; but I knew
that you could make the trick every time, and it’s a heap sight
better than hangin' ’round Fr’isco, jes’ makin’ your grub, an’
that’s all."

“ Del Colma is going to the devil, though, as fast as he can,"
Redan observed.

“ Wot do you care?” Bowers asked; “ when he plays out mebbe
you’ll be ready to play in.”

“ Yes, that is my idea, -

“But have you got the money, my lord dooki Talk is cheap,
you know, but it takes the rocks to buy land,” and the original
Joe Bowers looked sagely. _ n

“ Yea, I guess I can raise enough to manage the matter.

“ But wot is the trouble With his noble nibsi Is he aphantflin’
the ‘papen,’ or takin’ a ‘ bowl ’ with the boys from Oshkosh too
livsl 7”

“ (ylh, his drinking will never ruin him, although he’s as good a
customer as the Occidental knows; but, lately he’s taken to p y-
ing cards with a new man that has recently come to town. t’s
all night work, too; they get at it about nine at night and keep it
up until morning, and from a few little things that I have heard
Del Colma say, I think that he has been losing pretty heavily.”

“A new man, chi" and a sly twinkle appeared in Bower’s fish-
like eyes; “ an’ has he got the ducatsi”

“ Healways seems tohave plenty of money," Bertrand replied.

“I must call onhim. Iplaypokes‘myseif, onceinawhile,"
and Bowers nailed, .

“Wh have made his acquaintance; it’s Velvet

7' M 3'
Band, the sharp that prevented you and the Break 0’ Day crowd
from hanging the Chinaman last night.”

“ Oh that’s all right, then,” the bummer replied, evidently
rather astonished at the information. “None of him in mine!
He’s too big for me to tackle. Ole Joe Bowers is no fool, no,
sir-eel Iknowthesiaeoftheanimallwant.’

“i know that Del Colmahas lost very heavily, indeed, and
the“?! O- heavy 111011988 on the mine which must be met shortly.
I don’t think that he can possibly raise money to meet it, and
then odmes my chance.”

“Ye gentle auctioneer sails in, ehl an’ you reckon tobuy the
ptOPerty at sheriff’s sale?”

“Oh, no!” Redan answered; “I’m playing a deeper game than
that. I want money; but I want something also more."

Bowers winked his little eyes mysteriously.

“Oh! ye kin cut it as fat as any man that I know of, ye kinl”

“ Yes, I rather flatter myself that I am up to a thing or two,”
returned the superintendent, complacently.

“ Del Colma is no match for sich a sharp as you are, me royal
magnificol”

“No, i think not. He will soon get beyond his depth; next

n

 

week will probably bring matters to a focus. He’ll need about
ten thousand dollars, and I know a man who will lend it to him.“

Bowers looked incredulous.

“ That man is myself 1”

And now the bummer looked astonished.

“ I’m playing a bold game and a deep one. I have been fool
enough to fall in love with Blanche del Colma, Ferdinand’s sister,
and so far, in spite of all my eflorts, I haven’t succeeded in
making the slightest impression upon her. She’s a deuced strange
girl; I never saw a woman like her before; she doesn’t seem to
care for a fellow at all; she’s fond enough of her horse, but she
scarcely looks at a man. Well, now, just because she is that kind
of a girl, I’vo made up my mind to have her. If I lend Fernamb
the money to save the mine, I shall have a claim upon her gener-
osity; I know her peculiar, high-spirited nature; the feeling of
debt will weigh her dovvn, and she will be glad to quit the
account by giving herself.”

“ It’s a bully plan i” cried Bowers, warmly. “ That’s only one
chance to upset it; s’pose she falls in love with some other
galoot?”

“Bah! where is she toflnd a man to suit her fancy in this
region?” Bertrand exclaimed.

CHAPTER VIII.
a noun arson.

Wrm a calm face the helpless man watched the road-agents
depart.

In one hour they would retin'n, and then—but, one hour’s
thespite was a great deal of time to give to such a man as Velvet

and.

Within a single hour the tide of great battles has been turned,
and a nation lost and won.

Searcer had the figures of the masked men disappeared from
sight when through the active mind of the prisoner plans of
escape began‘to pa.

He was bound hand and foot—bound so securely that the road-
agents left him to solitude with easy minds; they did not for a
single instant dream that he would be able to free himself.

And Velvet Hand, supple and strong as a moimtain lion, found
it impossible to loosen the cord which confined his wrists.

“When the lion’s skin falls short, eke it out with the fox’s,”
wrote the ancient Gmek, and the alpine acted upon this advice.
With all his wondrous strength he could not loosen the tightly-
fastened cord; trick then must serve when force failed.

Availing himself of the rough surface of the wall, near which
he was placed, grasping the jagged points with his hands, he
pulled himself to his feet. The {awnings around his ankles
allowed him to stand, although locomotim was impossible.

Stuck upon a projecting pointof therockywall,withinemy
reach of his hands, was one of the candleswherebythecava'n
was lighted; Into the blue of this condo the prisonerthrust the
ends of the cord hanging from the knotwhichallhisstrength
had been unable to break.

The device succeeded.

The consuming flamespeedilycharredthestrandsoftherqe,
eating its way into the-knot will it gave way-beneath (he
straining muscles. ‘

The wrists of the man suffered, but Velvet Hand never

' forwhatwasah-flinghunoompandtothslo-cfa
limb or life!

The cord parted; thongs-imam hands were free. An easy
matter then for Velvet d to whip out his knife and sever the
lariat of hide which bound his ankles.

“Now, my gentleman roadagenti” cried the Cinnabar man, as
he drew forth his revolvers and examined the 0398, “W0 Wm
meet on more equal terms! I might as well take the bull by the
horns as to wait for theseoundrelstooonss. I’ve “omniscient
in thededleahovetheMdHoudn-ycmandl’dliketogetahw
winks of sleep before that."

Attheendofthecamthemmthofavaultedpepage
Wthnughwhichtheroadamtshaddeputed. Gau-
ticedyVelvetHandwolefos-ward, entu-edthedarkma
cechedrevoiverineachhand, upecfingtoencounterthewtlaws
at any moment.

Twenty—thirty steps he took; flies, tuniag abruptly around a
sharp corner, found bin-elf haunting-minty inibdimem
lions than the inner one. '

A single candle only illuminatedthedarkneu, mdclmbyflie
candle, whichwas placed as the topofalssgebowldsr,m,tthe
three roadogenu in buy emulation , .

So noiseless had been Vdvutfiandlsadvucethatthecaflaws
had not disoovendhispmnd, oonoealedashewasinthe
gloom which hung-round the mounts! the dark pangs, it
would have taken a W pahofeyuthmmm
are gifted with to have discoveeed his

Just beyond the collection ofhowldan encased both. des-
peradoes, was a pause-way through which shone a faint light
-—not an artificial illumination, hutthe clear, (brim lightof
the day-god.

This was evidently the portal to the outer world, but how to
gain it! that was the question.

Velvet Hand reflected for a moment. Ambuahed as he was,
all the advantages on his side, he could easily have slain two of
the outlaws before they could have raised a finger to have pre-
vented it, but he shrunk from shedding blood: he did not wish to
have even the deaths of these desperadoes upon his soul, and
then there was a certain something in his nature that revolted at

the walk.”

8 Beadle’s Dime Library.

 

s... '

the idea of slaying his foes Without warning; to his mind it
savored of assassination.

A plan came into his mind, which he proceeded at once to put
Into operation.

The cavern was a very large one, fully a hundred feet by a
hundred, and the light afforded by the single candle only illumin-
ated a small circle just around the bowlders.

Cautiously then, keeping close to the wall of the vaulted cham~
her, Velvet Hand proceeded to circle around the apartment, mov-
ing noiselessly as a shade. ~

About thirty feet from the mouth of the passage the road-
agents were sitting.

Velvet Hand proceeded until he got between the outlaws and
the outward passage. He had succeeded in gaining the position
without alarming the three men in the least.

The desperadoes had been conversing in low tones, but Velvet
Hand had approached so near that he could plainly distinguish

.thelr words, and as he came within ear-shot, he found that he

formed the subject of the conversation.

“ S’posen the sharp won’t gi’n us the check for his dust, what
then?” one of the fellows queried.

“Dead men tell no tales! that’s what I say,” cried the second
outlaw.

Captain Death nodded his head.

“ We’ll finish him, eh, captain?” said the first ruflan.

“ That's our programme," the road-agent leader remarked.
“ I would like to get hold of his dust though, first.”

“ Sartin—five thousand dollars ain’t to be sneezed at !”

“0b, he won’t sign!” the other outlaw cried; “he’s a plucky
customer."

“ Maybe when we commence to slice his ears of! he’ll change
his mind,” Captain Death suggested, grimly. “l’ve taken the
pluck out of these plucky chaps before.”
do; He’s game—he won’t fiinchl” the first outlaw declared, deci-

ly.

“ S’posen he does sign, will you let him go!" asked the second
road-agent.

“ No, of course not!” answered Captain Death. “ Doesn’t he

’ know the secret of our hiding-place! We would be mad to let
~ him go!”

And as this declaration cameto the ears of Velvet Hand, he,

I standing with a leveled revolver in his hand, had a great mind to

put an end to Captain Death’s career there and then, and it
required an efiorttoresistthelmpulsesndconfinehimselftohis

‘ original intention.

Velvet Hand fired, and the candle, snufled out by the pistol-
ball, tumbled from the bowlder.

The cavern was plunged in utter darkness.

The outlaws, though taken completely by surprise, had wit
enough to fall fiat upon their faces. They believed that the shot
hadbeendirectedattheirpreciouspersons.

The instant he fired the Cinnabar sharp glided through the
passage-way, which, as he had supposed, led directly to the
mouth of the cavern.

Afew momenta and he stood again intheclear lightofthe
men-hing, new growing meager and stronger.

A glance around him—the entrance to the cave was hid by
a clump of timber, so that one might pass close to it and yet not
discover it-to fix the locality in his mind, and Velvet Hand
hurried away. Fifty feet from the cavern he struck a trail
which he recognised at once. Itwas the road fromAngelsto

' Gnnabar.

Ahalfanhourlatesourhu-owasinthsOccidentalHotel.

 

CHAPTER 11.
ran warns-stab.

Vnnvl-r Hm entered fisshouss, went npstairstohisroom,
threw himself on the bed, without undressing, and in five minutes
was sleeping as sweetly and softly as an infant.

He slept about three hours, never even stirring from the posi-

' “on which he had first assumed, then awoke with a sudden

start, glanced at the sun, now high in the heavens and sending its
bright beams full into the little room. He pulled out his watch.
“By Jove! I’m afraid that I have overslept myself!” he
but a glues at histisnepiecereamuredhim. It was

' exclaimed,
- not yet nine. “1. mnubein thsdefileabove the McCloud can-

yon by twelve,” he continued; “and I want some breakfast before

He made a toilet, merely sousing his face with cold
water, wiped it of! with the apology for a towel which the Occi-
dental a'fiorded to its guests, ran a comb through his dark locks,
and then a stranger, to have looked at him, would never have
dreamed that he had at at a card-table all night long.

Descending to the restaurant, which was on the ground floor of
the hotel—the Occidental boasted three stories now—he ordered
breakfast, ate it, and started forth.

Straight up the river read he went, following the old trail
which ran along the bank of the Shasta until the lower end of
the McCloud canyon was reached; there the road bent inland,
making a wide sweep to the west in order to avoid the rocky
formation through which the restle- waters of the swift-flowing
Shasta had cut its way, thus forming the great McCloud canyon.

For about two miles the trail skirted the rocky wall and then
turned abruptly back again to the river, running through the
little valley where, in the early days of Cinnabar City, the
partners of the Cinnabar lode had waged such adesperate fight
with the great chief of the McCloud ludiaus, Koo-choc, the Hog,
and his warriors.

 

In the center of the little defile Velvet Hand halted and looked
carefully around him. It was evident that he expected to behold
some one, but rugged rocks, giant bowlders, cone-like juniper
bushes and spiny leaved pines alone met his eyes; no human
form was in sigh!

He consulted his watch. It wanted but a minute to twelve.

The man was well armed. Besides the self-cocking revolvers
which he carris d in his pockets, a leather belt was buckled to his
waist which supported two more pistols, six shooters, and a long
broad bladed bowie-knife.

This was an unusual armament for Velvet Hand, for he seldom
displayed his weapons

“ I will wait,” he murmured. “ I never knew one of the reds
to fail to keep an appointment, if life remained."

He sat down upon a bowlder, still keeping a cautious watch
about him.

Not long did he wait, for within five minutes a light form came
hurrying through thevdark-green shrubbery which fringed the
upper end of the valley.

A red-skin, and a Woman!

A fair one, too, although her skin was of a dusky hue, but she
trod the sterile soil with the step of a princess, and even the
cold-hearted man of the world could not repress a glance of
admiration as he watched the movements of the lithe form, step-
ping so gracefully along the uneven path.

Velvet Hand’s first meeting with this Indian girl had been a
most romantic one. Enjoying a day’s shooting on the upper
Shasta. he had encountered the girl “ treed ” by a grizzly bear.

The girl had come suddenly and unexpectedly upon the lord oi
the wild rocks, and the bear, startled by the presence of the
human in his rocky wastes, had given chase.

Luckily a stout tree was near at hand, and into its branches
the girl had clambered, but the bear, 10th to leave his prey,
kept close watch at the foot of the tree.

The White’s timely arrival raised the siege, and the grimly
monarch turned upon the new-comer.

Although Velvet Hand “hadn’t lost any b’ar," to repeat the
mountain saying, and wasn’t particularly desirous of finding one,
yet on this occasion he was compelled to give battle, for the
brute allowed him no time to retreat.

A single shot settled the matter, for with that marvelous skill
with firearms for which he was noted, he sent a ball straight
through the eye of the mountain monarch into the brain, killing
the beast almost instantly.

Of course the gratitude of the Indian maid knew no bounds,
and the white was somewhat embarrassed by the outpouring of
thanks which came so treer from her lips.

In answer to his inquiries she stated that she was of the Tonaton
tribe, and that her name was Hula-ha-ha, which, translated ints
English, meant Water-bird.

A prettier Indian maid Velvet Hand had never seen, although
he had had much experience with the savage people of Northern
California.

Twice after the first meeting the white had encountered the
girl, and both times she had come to seek him in Cinnabar, taking
the precaution, however, to enter the town early in the morning
and to seclude her charming face in the folds of her blanket, so as
not to provoke impertinent curiosity.

On the first visit she had brought the skin of the grizzly bear,
beautifully tanned and ornamented in the highest style of savage
art.

This keepsake, after some solicitation, Velvet Hand accepted,
and on her second visit she had brought a ring rudely hammered
out of a pure nugget of gold, and this present also Velvet Hand
took, although he remonstrated against so doing and told the girl
hankly that the service was already amply acknowledged

But the gratitude of the Indian seemed as boundless as the
heavens, and she had replied that while she lived she would never
forget.

And on the previous day to this one whereon we have traced
Velvet Hand’s steps, he had received word by an old squaw that
the girl wished to meet him at a certain place and at a certain
hour—that his life was in danger, and that she could inform him
how he might preserve it.

At first the white felt inclined not to go, but, despite his
heart of stone and head of iron, some little spark of curiosity yet
lingered within his breast, and he wondered who it was that
threatened his life, and how it came that the lndian girl knew
ought of the matter. .

Thus it happened that Velvet Hand waited in the lonely defile
above the McCloud canyon for the coming of the Tonaton girl.

She came onward with rapid steps, and Velvet Hand rose to
receive her.

“ I have come, you see,” he said.

“Hula—ha-ha is glad to see the white chief," the girl replied,
her voice earnest and her face troubled. “She was afraid that
he would not trust the warning sent and that he would not
come.”

“ You excited my curiosity; you sent word that my life was in
danger, and I am anxious to know who threatens it.” .

The girl was evidently much troubled, for she hesitated befor.
replying.

“The McClouds are a great nation," she said at last. “Doe.
the chief know of them!"

“Yes, something, but not much,” Velvet Hand replied, rather
puzzled at this beginning. He had not imagined danger from
red foes, but from white.

“ Hula-ha-ha is sorry now that she deceived the white chief,”
the girl said, sadly.

“ How have you deceived me?" the White asked, amazed.

“ Hula—ha-ha is not a Tonatou: she is a McUloudi”

“ A Mnlllmnll”

 

x

“The daughter of a great chief, she did not dare to tell who
she was, for the white chiefs hate her father,” the maiden said,
in faltering tones.

And then, before Velvet Hand could reply, the fierce Indian
yell rung on the air, and every bowlder appeared to be crowned
by a painted chief. . .

Velvet Hand’s revolvers glistened in his hand; the girl crouched
at hi fast; a bloody conflict seemed near at hand.

 

CHAPTER X.
m “1100” TALKS susmsss.

Sunnis was the irruption, complete the surprise.

The dusky forms of a hundred well-armed warriors crowned
the rocks of the defile.

Armed to the teeth was Velvet Hand, but what could one man
do against a hosti

And the Indian maid, crouching at his feet; like another
Samson, he had been betrayed, by a woman, to defeat and
death; he wondered, too, that she could be brought to lend her-
self to such a deception, for gratitude is generally the strongest
impulse due to the savage breast.

High on the crest of a. lava rock stood the great chief of the
HcClouds; as proud a king—dusky though his skin and barbarian
his pomp—as any Old World monarch of them all.

In his hand he bore a patent breech-loading rifle. The days of
savage weapons have long since passed away, and the modern
red chief meets his foe armed with weapons of the latest pattern,
thanks to tlm rnal care of a benevolent government which
provides its “helpless ” wards with the latest style of weapons,
so that they may be enabled to kill game—and white men—with
ease and grace.

“Betrayed to death by you, Water-bird!” Velvet Hand
exclaimed, as, with an undaunted front, he faced the fearful odds
arrayed against him.

“As the bright stars can witness, I am innocent!” the girl
moaned, evidently deeply afflicted.

There was truth in her voice if ever truth spoke in human
accents, and the imperiled man believed her.

Motionleu as statues for a moment stood all the actors in this

scene; the savage warriors with brandished weapons in
their dusky hands, waiting but for the signal of their chief to
spring forward at once to the slaughter of the solitary white, and
Velvet Hand, as cool of eye and as steady of nerve as though all
this startling, warlike display was but an empty pageant, “full of
sound and fury but  nothing.”

And then a change came over the spirit of the scene; the
McCloud chief spoke:

“Let my warriors hold off their hands, and you, bold white
chief, throw down your little guns!”

“Oh, no!” Velvet Hand replied, quickly; “while I live I'll
hang on to my weapons. You red fellows have the advantage

ustnow, butifImustdie, besurelwillhavecompanyincross—

g the dark river 1”

The leCloud chief frowned as he listened to the bold words of
the white.

“ And will my brother dare attempt to resist the braves of the
red McClouds in their native hills!” the old warrior cried, lustily.
“Let my brother throw down his weapons and beg for mercy!
If he tries to play the wolf, let him not murmur if the red hunv
ters give to him the fate of the wolf !”

“ Does the chief think to scare me with words?’ Velvet Hand
replied, contemptuously. “ Iet him talk to the winds, and bid
them be still when they choose to blow. Alone—a single man am
I, but before you take my scalp, I’ll send some of your warriors
to their long home. 'h-ust to your mercy! Oh, no! If I must

face death, it shall be with arms in my hands and not as a bound

and helpless prisoner.”

For a moment the McCloud chieftain seemed undecided: he
looked at his red warriors and he looked at the daring white man
who so boldly held his ground.

As well as any man in the Western wilds he knew how lightly
the cool-eyed white man held that precious jewel which men call
Life; no stranger was he to the story of the past wherein the

desperate white chief had played so prominent and bloody a part. ’

The red McCloud was an acute and wily chieftain. He had a
d°°P Purpose in view in springing this trap upon the white man.
Through his trusty spies he had learned of the acquaintance
which had been so strangely formed between the white man and
the young McCloud girl, and had seized upon it as a meansto
lure Velvet Hand into his power. Acting under his direction,
one of the old squaws had suggested to the girl—who had
confided to the aged crone her acquaintanceship with the Cinnap
bar man—that she could easily pay the debt of gratitude due to
the white man by revealing to him a score “pocket” in the
mountain where the precious gold-dust could be procured, and
this was the reason why the Water-bird had wished for the inter-
view; but it was all a scheme on the part of the old chieftain to
get the white man into his power. The secret “pocket” in the
mountain existed only in the imagination of the old squaw.

The plan had succeeded in every particular, excepting that the
McCloud chief had anticipated that the white man would sur-
render upon :seeing the number that opposed him, and the bold
defiance of Velvet Hand had surprised him-

Koo-ohoo, the Hog, meant businea; it was not merely to take
the scalp of the white man that he had intrigued to lure him to
the lonely defile above the licCloud canyon, but he had a far

desperpurposeinview.

 

 

Velvet Hand. 9

 

The bold attitude of the white man, however, did not suit him.
He did not desire to treat with Velvet Hand as with a potentate
of equal power, but preferred to have him helpless—a prisoner
in his hands, and then talk to him.

In fact, the wily McCloud chief wanted all the advantage a
his side.

But it was not to be. -

The trick had succeeded; the white was in the defile alone,
surrounded by the armed red-men, but he had not surrendered,
nor did he intend to.

A conflict was not to be thought of, for an attack would
defeat the purpose which the red chief had in view. Therefore,
with as good a grace as possible, the McCloud chief prepared to
make the best of the situation.

“The Red McClouds would be friends with the bold white
chief,” he said, with great dignity.

Velvet Hand smiled; the idea pleased him. Force had failed;
the chief would now try cunning.

“ No man in all the great north land would the warriors of the
McCloud sooner call brother than the white chief who is as brave
as the bear, as cunning as the beaver, and as wise as theow ”
continued the old warrior. “In the mind of the McCloud chief
liva the past. He remembers his brother when he was the
great chief of the Shasta nation and wore the war-paint of the
red-man. His white brothers do not treat him well; why does
he dwell with them in their lodges up the river! Why does he
not make his home with the red-men in the mountain wildernemi
The Shastas are no longer a great tribe, but the McCloudsars
the lords of all the northern land; the Bed McClouds will be
glad t0;weleome so great a warrior as my brother, and they will
do him honor.”

And then the old chief waved his hand. Instantly the signal
was obeyed, and like magic the savage warriors vanished, each
separate brave sinking to his covert amid the rocks with ghost-
like celerity.

Then down from his lofty perch the old warrior stepped, and,
casting his rifle into the hollow of his arm, he advanced directly
to the little level spot where Velvet Hand stood.

The Indian girl rose to her feet as the old warrior came on,
and, Stepping back a few paces, surveyed him with a curious
look upon her pretty face, for the young squaw was pretty,
despite her dusky complexion and the unmistakable Indian' can
to her features. »

Koo-ch00 halted in front of the white, and his black glittering
OYGS peered curiously first at Velvet Hand and then at the girl.

“My brother is a great brave—a cunning one, too, or else
the Water-bird would never have flown jfrom her wigwam to
meet him. Does my brother know that Hula—ha—ha is the
daughter of Koo-ch00, and that she shall be the squawof the
white'man if he wishes her!”

This was busineu with a vengeance.

 

CHAPTER II.
wins m “noe”wamn.

THE maiden modestly met down her eyes, but the look of joy
upon her face told only too plainly that she would be no unwill»
ing bride.

Velvet Hand glanced at the girl for a moment in his odd,
peculiar way, "while the old chief watched him, eagle-eyed.

Then the white turned his attention to the McCloud warrior.

“ You do me too much honor," he said, quietly. “ What am i
to do for you in return!"

The chief drew himself up proudly.

“ The McCloud warrior does not sell his daughter I” he ex-
claimed, in haughty dignity. “Hegives her to his white brother;
that is all."

“ And yet, if you desired a service at my hands I should feel
bound to comply,” Velvet Hand suggested, shrewdly.

“ Ah, that is another matter," the old chief said, his dark eyes
flashing with a cunning light; then he beckoned the white to a
spot a little remote from the onewhere thegirlwasstanding.
“ The McClouds are Jealous of the white men in the valley,” he
continued, cautiously. “Their lodges grow too fast; some day
the red warriors will take the war-path and drive the gold-dig-
gers away.”

Velvet Hand shook his head sadly.

“Has the chief forgotten the fate of the Shastasi” he asked.
“It is useless totryto drive back thewhitesbyforce. Itcannot
be done.”

“Then my brother would not join the HcClouds if they took
the war-path against the white men!"

u No.”

“NotifhetooktheWater—birdtodnghIhiswigwamf'

“ No.”

“ Why not?

“Becausetheattemptisuseleaand would onlyendinthede-
struction of your tribe.”~

The old warrior nodded his head, sagely.

“ So the great chief of the McClouds thinks, and when the
Modocs talked of the war-path he said, ‘ No,’ just as my brother
has said.”

“ Are the Modocs dinatisiiedi" asked Velvet Hand, astonished
at the intelligence. , _

“ Yes; their treaty is all lies; no blankets but old ones cut in
two; their meat and flour rotten.”

“But they are only a handful.”

“In the lava-beds they will fight like the old mountain-bear
fights for her cubs.”

 

 

10

Beadle’s Dime Library.

 

..

“ Let them fight, chief, but you and your tribe keep out of 1t,-
the white cautioned.

The old chief grinned. ‘ I ‘

“ Talk fight much, maybe, but no fight. Will the chief take
the Water-bird!”

“ And what must I do for her!" .Velvet Band was evad' ing
the question. ’ v

“Not much," and the old chief looked inquisifivcly in the f”.
of the white as if be rather hesitated to commit himself furthc.

“ But what, chief, what must I do!”

“ The white chief will do it?”

“Let me know first what it is."

It was diamond cut diamond between these two.

“ The Water-bird is a fine squaw—no better squaw in all th.
HcCloud nation.”

“ She is a. fine girl,” the white assented.

“ She is as dear to the heart of the chief as the little stars to
the sky, but for the sake of his white brother the McCloud war-
rior gives her up.”

(I  "

“ It is only right that my brother should do something for so
fine a squaw; many a young brave in the McCloud nation would
give twenty ponies for the Water-bird.”

“ She is worth much,” Velvet Hand said, sententiously.

“ And yet, the McCloud chief does not ask his white brother
to buy her; he gives her freely, for my brother is a great chief.
All he asks is a favor.”

“Exactly, and that favor is—” V

“ The great chief of the McClo'ud nation is a lonely man; his
wigwam is empty,” said the old warrior, impressively, and bring-
ing his greasy face close to the ear of the white man.

“ Ah, I understand; you want a squawi”

“ My brother speaks with a straight tongue; the McOloud chief
does want a squaw.” ‘, .

“ And you desire my assistance in the matter!"

The chief nodded.

“And in that way I am to requite the gift of the Water bird!"

Again the old warrior nodded assent.

“ And the squaw—who is she!”

“ She is a white squaw.” 4

“ I supposed so.” '

“ My brother_ once owned the mine in the white lodges up the
river called Cinnabar.”

Velvet Hand could hardly restrain a start of surprise.

“ Well, what of it?”

“ The bad white men took fronli1 my brotherizvthka he
made them I .f i but 9 never got

And now lill“;gsegelyregr‘ffind’s‘tur'h  I

“ My brother can help the’Mchoud chief to his squaw and at
the same time be revenged upon‘ the chief'who'lnsthe'ma”

“ Oho! I think that I guess the squaw you mean.”

“ She rides the spotted pony." -

The truth was out now; the greasy red butcher, the brawny
old chief of the McClondshlid cast his evil eyes upon the dainty
Californian girl, Blanchedel Celina!“ ‘ t ‘

The .old warrior had w'atbhed the face of the white with an
eager eye, but not a single movement of the muscles rewarded
his scrutiny. The face of Velvet Band was a face of wax as far
as betraying his feelings was concerned.

“ My brother will help me?” the old red-skin ask anxiously.

“ It will be difficult,” the white responded, grav y.

“ It is difilcult to tear the Water-bind away from the young
braves of her nation," thecld chief responded, “but for the sake
of his white brother the great McCloud chief has done it.”

“ And if the chief should get the white squaw the white war-
riors would follow and; tear her from him; the white squaw
might cost the best blood of the HcCioud tribe. ”

The old heathen shook his head and a cunning expression
appeared upon his bronzedfeatnrss. ; 1 . _

“ The chief will hide thesqnaw away; thasismauy a'defile in

the mountain where the foot of the pale-face has never troddeu. '

My brother shall load the Asquaw into an publish, the red chiefs
will seise her and carry her to a lonely canyon where a bird
alone can track her. Who then shall say that the warriors of
the McCloud know anything of the white squawl”

Velvet Hand laughed—a bitter, sarcastic laugh.

“You put vengeance right into my hand, eh, chief! The I
brother holds my property; the sister I etcal'and give to you. '

Why, itisascesy as rolling otfa log!"

“My white brother consent, then—he will do the red-man's
bidding?” exclaimed the McCloud, in great glee.

“ Why, it is not in mortal man to rsfnnesuch an offer," Velvet
Hand answered, “ but it will take time.”

at Y“. n

“ I willsend yous. W”

“ Yes; will you take the squaw now!"

‘fNo, let her wait for me with her tribe. After I put the
white squaw in your handswill be time enough to claim her. Let
one of your braves watch this spot by day and by night in readi-
nose to receive a message from me.”

“ It shall be done."

“And mitten farewell,“ as I keep mypromise sokeep
you yonra"

#

CHAPTERXH.
sumo morons.

“Tn! white chief speaks with a straight tongue and the red-
man is satisfied,” said the old warrior, although, to relate the

 

4

exact truth, the wily savage was far from being satisfied with
the ambiguous giving out of the Cinnabar sharp.

The white man had not refused, neither had-he accepted, and
the Red McCloud was sorely afraid that the pale-face was
“playing it ” upon him, to use the term common to the Wild
West

But there was no other course open to the red-skin thanto
appear satisfied even if he was not.

“The McCloud girl will wait with her people until the great
white chief comes for her,” the old warrior continued. “It h
good!”

But, it was not good, and Koo-ch00, the Hog, was not the only
chief in the McCloud nation who was to have a say in the matter
for the moment the old warrior finished his speech, forth from
the line of red braves stopped a young but brawny chief.

Little Horse he was called, and as a warrior he stood second to
none in all the nation.

“Koo-choc, the Hog, is the great chief of the red McCloud;

Hula-ha—ha, the Water-bird, is his child, and it is his right to say.

to whom he will give her, but the warriors of the red McCloud
are not children that he shall say to them: ‘This is a great
white chief; bow down and obey him.’ What red chief of our
nation gains the right to braid the eagle-plumes in his hair and

call himself a brave until he has proved his courage and skim.

Why should the great McCloud chief seek a husband for his
daughter in the smoke of the white lodges, when amid the hilh of
Shasta there are red warriors as brave as the mountain lion and
as wily as the wild-cat?”

A little hum of approval went round the savage line at these
bold words.

And then before the old chief, who was totally unprepared for
this demonstration, could collect his thoughts to reply, forthstep-
pod another brawny chief.

A brave of middle age this time, and as ugly a customer as the
eye of mortal man had ever looked upon.

The One-eyed Crow he was called, and his reputation as a-

warrior was great, but a more bloodthirsty ruman never

foot upon a war-trail. Little Wonder was it then that when-he
came a-wooing to the dainty Wafer-bird, the dusky beauty
turnedadeafeartohissuit.

“ Straight as the eagle darting upon his prey go the words of
the {young McCloud warrior to the mark,” said the old, scarred-
faced chief; he had suffered the loss of an eye in early youth,
hence his name. “There are as great warriors in the McCloud
nation as can be found upon the solid earth. Why cannot the
daughter of the great McCloud chief select a husband in her own
tribe? Why should she seek to mate with the false white mu
who have stolen the land of the red chiest Is this pale-faces
greater brave than can be found in the red llcCIOud nation! I
for one deny it! Let him prove that he is a better man than the
McCloud warriors can boast before he seeksto take the fairest
jewel of the tribe for his squawi” ‘

Again there came a hum of approval from the lips of the red-.
men, and the wily Koo-choc saw that this demonstration was one
not to be easily passed over.

Asforthe Cinnabarmanheeawhimselfplaced
unpleasant position. It was very evident that these two hold-

warrions meant “business.” If he wanted the red

speaking
maiden they intended that he should not get her without a string. ':

gle.

Now when it is considered that he hadn’t the slightest idea' of '
forming an alliance with the dusky daughter of the red MoCiouds,‘ ‘
and that he had merely temporined in the matter so as to get out "
of the predicament in which he so unexpectedly found himself, "1

with as little difficulty as possible, to become involved in a quan-
rel with two red warriors was far from pleasant.

As brave as any mortal living was the cool, keen-eyed man of
Cinnabar; utterly reckless, too, of his own life, caring but little
whether he lived or died, having but few ties to bind him to the
world; yet to enter into a life and death struggle with these
envious red chieftains solely for the sake of a woman who was
no more to him than any other dusky damsel of the woods was
utterly ridiculous; but, how to escape from the embarrassing
position was a puzzle.

True, he might openly declare that he did not want the Water-
bird, and simply declined the honor of the alliance which old

Koo-ch00 the Hog, had arranged for him; but, in that case there '

was little doubt that the baffled chief would raise the war-shout,
and that, instead of encountering the two warriors, he, single.
handed, would have to fight all the savage host.

As to the McCloud chief he was not sorry that affairs had
hken this sudden and unexpected turn. The white man would
he forced to declare himself. He must either fight for the girl,
thus practically accepting her, or else decline the alliance alto-
gether, and in this latter case the old red butcher mentally prom-
ised himself the pleasure of “lifting” the scalp of his esteemed
white brother on the instant. ‘

But, the old chief wished Velvet Hand to accept; he coveted
the fair Californian girl, and he believed that he could easily
secure her through the aid of the white man. He therefore
determined to force Velvet Hand into the contest.

“ The ears cf the great McCloud chief are always open to tn.
words of his warriors,” began the old scoundrel, gravely. “ 3.
cannot blame the McCloud warriors that they are angry in; th.
thoughts of the Watebbird leaving her 0 W ling in the lodge
of a pale stranger. The white chief i Brent brave;
moons ago he fought the warflorl 0‘ the red McClouds and
brought sorrow to their wigWams. Koo-choc knows it, and
therefore is be satisfied to receive the white man as a son-in-law;
he is proud to have so great 3 Chief wed a daughter of an
McClouds, just as long 630 he Wed the queen of the Shastas.
But, it is only right that 111! braves should call for deeds as wdl

inamost‘

 

 

Velvet Hand. 11

 

 

I words. The white chief wants the McCloud girl—he will fight
fer-hes with any brave of the nation who cares to challenge him,
and I, the great chief of the tribe, will see that the fight is fair
Is it good!’

A very emphatic grunt came from the lips of the red warriors.
This sort of thing was exactly to their liking; and then, too,
there was hardly a man in the savage ranks who doubted that
the white man would be beaten in the struggle. The young
chief, The Little Home, was as fine a brave as the McCloud tribe
could boast; and, as for the ugly, scarred-faced One-eyed Crow,
deeds of blood were so heavy on his head, that there was not a
red butcher in the nation, Koo-choc, the Hog, alone excepted,
who could boast a bloodier record.

Velvet Hand was in for it; there was no escape, and therefore
with as good a grace as possible he prepared to “ face themusic.”
‘ “ I am ready for the trial!” he exclaimed. “ Let the red
braves who doubt that I am a great chief step forward, and on
their heads I will prova that I am as good a man asany red war-
rior in the McCloud tribe.” ’

Eagerly the two warriors who had spoken stepped forward.

“The Little Horse and the One-eyed Crow,” said Koo-ch00, in-
dicating the two. “Which one will encounter the white chief
first!"

As crafty as he was bloodthirsty was the older McCloud war-
rior, and he warily calculated that if the Little Horse took the
first chance the white man might disable him, and so a powerful
rival would be removed, and even if be conquered the pale chief,
matters would be no worse than they were at present, so the old
brave spoke intently:

“Let the Lima Hos-satake the first chance,” he said; “he was
theirntospeakanditiahisright.”

The young brave eagerly accepted the position.

‘Facetofaeethe rivalsmet. .

“ I bear no malice to myredbrother,” observed Velvet Hand,
gazing with a keen eye at the intelligent and pleasing face of :the
young McCloud warrior. “It is merely a question between us
as to which is the better man. We need not seek each other’s
lives; let us lay aside our weapons and with our bare hands,
muscle against muscle, struggle for the mastery.”

The young warrior accepted the condition, and soon, stripped
ofalluselessincumbrencee, thetwotwedeachother.

 

CHAPTERXIH.
1'“th

‘ A m contrast the two presented. The dusky-faced son of
the wildernem the child of the lava rocks, and the pale, eagle-
eyed sharp cf Cinnabar.

Fairlymatched in size and build were the two, no apparent
advantage on either side.

The savage chief had stripped ofl his hunting-shirt, exposing
his brawny chest, and arrayed only in leggings and moccasins,

.was splendidly prepared for the contest.

Velvet Hand had removed his coat and vest, bound 8. handker-
chief around his waist, rolled up the sleeves of his daintin milled
dirt, thus plainly displaying the muscles of his massive arms, the
sight of which rather astonished the red warriors, who, squatting
upon the neighboring rocks, were eagerly watching the preparer

. tions for the contest.

.Theyhadno ideathatthewhitechief possessedsuchapairof

arms, and even the confident McCloud chief looked rather

‘ duTbious was: he beheld such an unusual muscular development-
0, m . .

“ saililzlg” common to the sporting fraternity, Velvet

“ Ready, chief!” said the white.

“ Ready.” responded the Indian, and then, with the word,

‘ 59 m “Don the Cinnabar man. It was his intention to force
the white down by sheer strength, but Velvet Hand knew a trick
worth two of that.

His strong arms brushed the outstretched hands of the red
chief away, and, grasping him in a peculiar way, before the
Indian could realize the intention, he was jerked violently .03 his
feet and laid flaton the broad.ofhisbackinamostsumm&1'y

A grunt of astonishment came from the lips of the xvi-men;
never before had they witnessed such a performance, and as'for
the young chief, who was not injured in the least, except that
his pride had received a terrible shock, he grew fairly black in
the face with rage. He felt that the white chief had madea
phything of him.

Springing to his feet, furious in his anger, be rushed deeper»
ately at the mind wary white.

No chance this time to try the tricks of the wrestler’s for
the rush of the Indian was like the maddening charge 0, the
bison bull; but, nimble on his feet as a dancing-master, Velvet

, Hand dodged under tla arm of the Indian, turned quickly, and
as tin savage checked himself, and emayed to follow the example
of his dextrous white antagonist, Velvet Hand caught him a ter-
ribleblowcn the neckJmt undertheear, whicbfelledtllered-
skinasthonghhehadbeenshot.

Down lament, his head striking with a dull thump, and for a
minute or twothe chief remained motionless on the ground.

He had besntnooked out of time.

With his hands folded low down about his waist, the favorite
breathing position of the practiced sparrer, Velvet Hand waited
hr the red-man to revive.

~  And the loud red-men, «caching upon their rooks of vantage,

like so manyhmmd teadawatchedwithwonderi e esthis
straw-m as y

 

It was the first time that the bold warriors of the red
McClouds had ever assisted at a “boxing match.”

Slowly the senses of the stunned red chief came back to him.
and he rose to his feet, an expression of pronounced amazement
upon his face. _.

Never before in all his life had he been so roughly handled. and
yet he was accounted one of the most expert wrestlers in the
tribe; but that he was no match for the strong limbed, skillful
white man was plainly evident. Nine warriors out of ten would
have been quite satisfied to give up the contest at this point, but
the young and proud chief was loath to cry “ enough” so soon.

With careful steps, then, he approached his adversary, who
simply unfolded his arms in readiness for the attack.

The chief approached almost within arm’s length, and then,
concentrating all his strength, sprung upon the white.

Not an inch of ground did Velvet Hand give, but his strong
right arm shot out, the blow striking the Indian full in the neck,
just under the chin, taking him 03 his feet, and hurling him over
backward with terrible force.

Few men had endurance enough to enable them to receive a
second one of these terrible right-blinders, and the McCloud chief
was not one of these few.

It was three minutes at least before he recovered from the
awful shock, and some of his friends, believing that the blow had
been fatal, hastened to his assistance. They raised him to his
feet; he could stand, but it was quite plain that he was in no
condition to renew the contest, and so the wondering braves
assisted him to leave the field where he had met with such a. com-
plete defeat.

The One-eyed Crow had watched the struggle in astonishment,
and too late he understood how great was the task he had taken
upon himself; but he did not shrink, for as brave as any race of
men that ever lived are the red warriors, after their own fashion.

But the old chief made up his mind that he would not encoun-

' ter the white ’man with bare hands, after witnessing his prowess.

The Little Horse removed from the field of action, the old
warrior stepped forward.

1 F112;!) his girdle the red-akin drew the long, keen-edged scalp-
ng- ife.

“ A warrior’s weapon is mine I” he exclaimed. “ Let the pale
chief understand that when he faces the One-eyed Crow it is for
life or death 1”

A quiet smile passed over the iron-like face of the Cinnabar
sharp, as he listened to'the bravado of the McCloud warrior.

“ If the white chief does not fear to look upon death, let him
take his weapon and face the McCloud warrior, whose wigwam
is lined with the scalps of h'is‘enemies.”

Again the lip of Velvet Hand curled in contempt.

“ What McCloud warrior will lend me a sharp knife, that I may
give this great brave his ticket to the happy hunting-ground!"
demanded the white, in evident scorn. '

Koo-choo,the Hog,drew his own knife from his girdle,and
pitched it toward the paisfaoe.

There was but little doubt in the mind of the old chief that the
Cinnabar man would be as as his word.

The glittering knife fell "right at the feet of Velvet Hand; he

it, and not an instant too soon, for hardly had he again
assumed the upright position before the ruthlem red chief was
upon him.

No better handler of the long Indian knife was there mall the
nation than this bloody-minded red‘siayer.

His favorite game was to orpose his left arm to the slash of his
opponent’s knife, and at'the mine moment drive his own weapon
home to his antagonist’s heart.

But this time he met a fceman worthy of his steel.

As the red chief rushed in to close quarters, Velvet Hand sud-
denly assumed the offensive and slashed at the Indian’s breast.
The One-eyed Crow threwup his knife to ward off the blow, and
then, with a sudden whirl, Velvet Hand cut the Indian across
the knuckles with the keen-edged blade. A bowl of pain escaped
from the lips of the'savage, despite the grim resolution, so great
a characteristic of the old chief.

Velvet Hand was quick to; improve the advantage he had
gained. He closed in‘With‘the chief, caught his right wrist with
his left hand, and thug dextrously giving him the trip, threw
him over on his back, ding his own weight to the fall. “

The warrior writhed like a wounded serpent; but he was com-
pletely helpless in the firm grip of the pale-face, and the keen-
edged knife of the white ‘was scratching the skin of the chest,
waiting but the force of the strong right arm te drive it home to
the heart of the red chief. ' .~

“ Yield crdiel" criedVeivet Hand.

" Strike!” replied the wan-ior, in bitter, impotent rage; “the

. McCloud warrior does not'fear to die!”

But it was no pen-t of the white man’s policy to kill the red
brave, and thereby incur the enmity of all his kindred; in time
to come he might need the aid of all the McClouds.

With a dextrmls mavement'he wrested the knife from the war-
rior’s hand, and sent it spinning over the rocks.

“ The victory is mine  bloodshed!” aid the -white,
rising. “I scorn to strike when I can sparel”

The struggle was over and Velvet Hand freete depart.

———-‘-—-——_

OMB XIV.
. m pinion mo.
armam- for me city of Cinnabar went Velvet Hand, walking

on with tireless strides, but‘the rapidity of his stepsbare no
comparison with the surge of the thoughts whirlingtbreugh hi

 

 

12 Beadle’s Dime Library.

 

r

The interview with the McCloud chief seemed like the basele-
fabric of a dream.

“Am I then a renegade from my race that the dusky heathen
thinks to use me for a tool?” he muttered. “Has the sun which
has bronzed my skin changed also my heart? A fair bribe he
offers. He is right! There is no prettier squaw in the McCloud
nation than this dusky beauty. And the chief gives her to me!”
The white man laughed, his quiet, bitter laugh. “The old
rascal! The girl is mine already if I choose to take her, and
neither the great chief of the McClouds nor all his tribe, were

‘they ten times more powerful than they really are, could keep

her from me or take her, once she was safe in Cinnabar town
with me. And Blanche del Colma, too! would no other white
squaw in the settlement suit him but this dainty Californian
beauty, pure as a lily and as proud as though the olden days
still fingered and she could claim the free control of ten thousand
broad acres? Blood! the seizure of this dark-eyed girl would
cause a river of it to flow! Strange what a world this is! For
the sake of a white squaw this filthy savage, ugly as sin itself,
would put in peril not only his own life, but the very existence
of all his people; and what a mean, miserable wretch he must
think me, when he dares to boldly propose such a bargain to
me!”

Bitter indeed were the thoughts of the wayward man, whose
life had been such a constant struggle between good and eviL

The pine forest passed he came again in full view of the swift-
ilowing Shasta, rippling along so merrily over its rocky bed.
And as he came into the broad trail by the river the sound of
a horse’s hoofs in rapid gallop fell upon his ears.

“Whoever rides that beast is riding fast!” he murmured, sur-
prised at the unusual speed so plainly indicated.

And then around the bend in the road came the flying steed.

A riderless horse, although the bridle and the bitted mouth
plainly betrayed that, at a very recent period, a master’s hand
had controlled the animal. There was no saddle upon the back,
and Velvet Hand quickly and easily guessed the nature of the
accident that had evidently but just occurred.

As the horse came so fieetly on, the velvet sharp recog-
nised the animal: it was the spotted mustang of Blanche del
Colma!

To spring into the center of the trail, throw up his hands and
check the speed of the panting steed was but the work of a
moment, and, as the horse shied 03 to one side and endeavored to
plunge into the thicket of scrubby pines which lined the way, it
was an easy matter to lay hold of the rains and so make captive
the steed.

Once the bridle was fairly in his grasp, Velvet Hand swung
himself upon the horse’s back. Like the wild red chiefs he could
ride as well without a saddle as with one.

He urged the horse around the bend in the road, expecting to
behold its fair mistress, and he was not disappointed.

A half a mile or so down the trail stood the girl, busily
engaged in coiling up the heavy masses of her glorious blue-black
hairwhichhadbeendisarrangedbyherfall.

By her side upon the green turf was the fancifully-ornamented
Mexican saddle which had been strapped upon the mustang's
hack.

Velvet Hand rode straight up to the girl, and she acknowledged
his salutation as politely as though he had been an emperor
instead of one of the wildest sports in the city of Cinnabar.

“ This is your horse, I fancy, min,” he mid, dismounting, but
still keeping a firm grip upon the animal’s bridle. “ I succeeded
in stopping it a short distance down the road.”

“I am very much obliged, sir,” she replied; “the girth
parted, and so 1 lost my seat in the saddle."

“ Permit me to repair the damage.”

Years of experience in the wild prairie life had taught him
how to quicklyrepair the (hmage of such a mishap, and in a
few minutes the girth mum and the pretty saddle

n stra pod upon he m s
“Velvet gflered his hand to assist the girl to mount, but'with
a smile she declined the aid and vaulted into the saddle as
lightly, almost, as a bird.

“Thanks, sir!” she exclaimed, gathering up the reins; “at
present I am your debtor, but I hope to soon requite the obliga-
“m.”

“To be able to oblige a lady is quite suflcient payment for
such a service,” the gentleman answered, gallantly.

“Oh, believe me, I shall not be satisfied until I repay the
obligation!” Blanche exclaimed, bowing graciously, and as she
bent her superb head her eyes caught sight of a diamond ring
upon the little finger of Velvet Hand.

A look of amazement appeared upon her face and an exclama-
tion of astonishment burst from her lips.

“That ring, senor!” she cried.

For a. moment Velvet Hand appeared puzzled, but the look
vanished almost as soon as it had appeared. He could not mis-
take the ring she referred to, for it was the only one he wore.

! “ This,” he said, holding it up to view.

Itwas an odd, peculiar ring; one once seen not easilyto be
forgotten It was fashioned after the pattern of a coiled snake,
and the diamond—a beautiful stone—was securely clutched
within the outstretched jaws of the reptile’s head.

“Pardon me, senor, if I expre- amazement," she explained;
“buttheringissotamiliartome; mayIukhowtheringcame
into your possession?”

“Certainly, it is yours,” and Velvet Hand slipped the trinket
flunhisfinger ashespokeandhandedittothegirl.

“ Yes, it is mine; it was my father’s.”

“I found it, senorita,” replied Velvet Hand, unblushingly. He
fullyunderstoodthecase. Fernandqu madpadonfor

 

play, had possessed himself of the ring, and lacking matey to
pay his “ debt of honor "had pledged the jewel. ..

“ Oh, thanks, senor!” the girl exclaimed, her cheeks flushing
and her dark eyes sparkling. “It is not the value of the ring I
prize, but the remembrance which is attached to it.”

“I am pleased at being able to restore it toyou,” thecard-
sharp replied, gallantly, and then over his mind as he spoke
came the thought that Fernando would be terribly enraged when
he learned of the occurrence.

“ Two favors in one day I owe you, senor. I fear that I
shall be your debtor for some time, but if gratitude can repay the
obligation, then, senor, you are paid, for I am very ”

There was a flush on the peach-like cheek of the beauty, a
kindling light in her dark eyes which plainly told that these
words were more than empty lip-service.

“ Miss, I am more than paid at being able to serve you."

“ You are a friend of my brother, I believe!" ,

“ Well, I’m an acquaintance, miss,” the man replied, honestly.

“Perhaps my brother may find a way to serve you.”

“Oh, don’t speak of that, miss, but now that I think of it, I’d
like to give you a word of advice. Be careful in your horseback
excursions not to go far from the town. These Northern Indians
cannot be trusted, and death would be far preferable to the fate
which would surely await you if you should fall into their hands."

“I shall be careful. Oh, senor! you heap obligation upon
obligation. Adieu!” And with a farewell glance such as no
man in the Shasta valley had ever before received from Blanche
del Oolma’s glorious, dark eyes, she spurred away.

Velvet Hand followed slowly down the road, a strange expres-
51011 upon his manly face, strange thoughts in his clear, knightly
mind.

And, just as his figure disappeared from view around the
lower bend of the road, out from the pine thicket stepped Yuba
Bill and Bertrand Redan. -

 

CHAPTER IV.
a nasm m can-r.

Born of the men were armed to the teeth. They had been
coming down the trail from Angel’s Bar which joined the main
road about a hundred feet above the spot where the interview
between the card-sharp and the sister of the Cinnabar mine-
owner had taken place.

Attractcd by the sound of voices they had wept forward and
witnessed the latter part of the meeting.. ,

Too far of! to overhear the conversation they could only judge
of the nature of the interview by the actions.

Bertrand Redan had seen enough to enable him to gueu only
too well the meaning of this stolen meeting afar fmm the to
by the Shasta’vs bank. -

The woman whom he had marked out for his own was already
the prize of another man! The glorious Californian beauty,
proud and haughty as the descendant of a long line of kings,
had stobped to favor Dick Velvet—Velvet Hand, the card-sharp,
the man who lived by his wits. He, of all men in the town of
Cinnabar, to win the smiles of Blanche del Colma!

“By heaven, I would not have believed it if I had not .wit-
nessed it with my own eyes!” Bedan exclaimed, in a date of
great excitement.

“A sure enough fact!" Yuba tersely replied. .

“ The girl is mad to throw herself away upon such a fellow.”

“I reckon that wimmen don’t never trouble their heads much
'bout who or what the cuss is when he happens to ketch ’em,”
Yuba sagely obserted.

“I’ll put a stop to it though, pretty quick!” Redan tied,
abruptly and angrily.

Yuba looked astonished.

“What in thunder is it to you, anyway?

“ Maybe I want her myself.”

“ Sho!”

“Anyway I’ll put a spoke in this feilow’s wheel!" ,

“You’ll have your hands full, old man, for he’s a tearer.’

“A shootist, eh?”

“Oh, yes, I bet yer! He’s all bull-dog except his Wand
that’s grizzly bear!”

“ So much the better!” and Redan smiled, complacently.

“I reckon I don’t sevvey,” Bill observed, doubtfully

“Why, so much the more honor in cutting his comb,” Redan
explained. “The fellow is evidently in my way and he’s got to
get out of it. I’m not the man to let any miserable gambler
step in between me and fortune."

- “ Sport, you will have a lively timei” Yuba declared, impres-
sivel .

“That remains to be seen,” Redan returned in his cool way.
“In the first place, I’ll keep my eyes upon the twO for awhile,
and then, if the strong suspicion which I now entertain that the
fellowisinmywayisconflrmed,l’lltakemeanres to upset m,
apple-cart.”

“ Old man! he’s a bummer now, I 0011 181'!" Yuba exclaimed,
solemnly. “Why, he war ready to fits the hull darned town
this morning, an’ all for a John. We wanted to hang the yaller
sum, an’ this velvet sharp mil in ‘3’ am my cats! of he didn’t
hack us all down.” '

“ He skeered you, ehl" :

“Bight he did! an’ he meant fife, too, allthe time. Iain't no
slouch, an’ I’m jest I! W“ 8 men as youkinllnd cl'ar from
hyer to Oregon till I meet another galoot M kin hump himseh
better than I kin."

 

 

 

 

“And such a man you take this velvet chap to be, eh?” and
Redan’s lip curled in contempt as he put the question.

“ Right you are ag’in! I’m a reg’lar old sockdologer of a b’ar,
l mu! I’m anybody’s meat but the man’s wot kin make meat
enter: me; then I draw out; I ain’t riding in funerals as much as
l was.”

“ I’ll give Cinnabar City a chance for a first-class funeral
if this. Dick Velvet comes prowling over my hunting-grounds!"
mu! Redan spoke with fierce emphasis.

“All right, sport; I’ll be on hand; but Isay, hump yourself
lively when you commence the fun, for this chap is lightning on
the jump, they say.”

The superintendent laughed contemptuoust and then the two
proceeded toward Cinnabar.

When they reached the bend in the road, whence the way was
straight to the town, they could distinguish plainly the wall pro-
portioned form of the velvet sharp striding along in the distance.

“ If you’ll take my advice, sport,” said Yuba to his companion
as they walked toward the mining village, “ you’ll go slow in this
matter, an’ ef it does come to grabbing fur the under-grip jes’ do
it by proxy, you know; git some other pilgrim to lay him out
fur you. Thar’s plenty of men in the town that hev been
buckin’ ’g’in’ bad luck till they’re clean broke an’ ready to jump
at ary chance to make a stake. Go fur some of ’em; let ’em lay
in wait fur this sharp an’ knock fits outen him some dark night;
it will cost you something, but it’s a heap sight the best way.
That’s the lead I’d foller," he added, emphatically. ,

“ Well, every man to his own game,” Redan observed,
quietly. ,. "That sort of thing might work with you but it
wouldn’t suit me at nil. I’ll just wait for awhile and see how the
land lies, and then if I find out that he is going to interfere with
me, l’ll settle him, or he shall settle me."

“ Go in; root hog or die l” exclaimed Yuba.

“ l (1an usually call for aid until my own resources fail."

By this time the two had reached the town and with a parting
Salutation they separated, Yuba making a bee-line for the nearest
saloon, and the superintendent continuing on down the street
toward the Cinnabar works.

“Fernando must know of this meeting,” Redan mused as he
walked along. “ It will touch his haughty Spanish pride to
the very quick to know that his sister has condescended to give
secret interviews to this gambler. Fernando is thick enough
with him, too, but that will make the smart all the greater, for
he will believe that the fellow has presumed to woo Blanche on
account of his intimacy with him. Engage braves, eh, Yubel
Oh, no! I know a trick worth two of that. Fernando del Colma
shall be the cat’s-paw to pull my chestnuts out of the fire. I
know his nature as well as though I were his brother. He is
rush, hot-headed, impetuous; a few words from me will set his
blood into a flame; he isalways armed; he will rush forth at
once in search of this velvet sharp and will either kill him or be
killed; either way I make my point. If the gambler is removed
the only rival I have to fear is disposed of; if DelColma dies
why then Cinnabar City will be too hot to hold Mister Dick
Velvet and he will be compelled to fly for his life. And Fer-
nando dead, the mine falls at once into my grip, and Blanche,
bereft of her natural protector, most certainly will cling closely
to me. Why, I don’t see how I can fail to win every point!”

N 0 common trickster was Bertrand Redan but a master-hand
in craft. One must play well and watch the game sharp to beat
him in the rubber of life.

Entering the little building which served as an ofllce for the
works, Redan found Del Calms.

 

CHAPTER XVI.
name ran urnn.

Tun Californian was extended at full length upon the buflalo-
robe which was still spread upon the cracker-boxes, thus forming
a sort of a couch. His generally disordered appearance, blood.
shot eyes and listless demeanor told plainly of the night’s dissipao
tion.

It was the first meeting that day between the owner of the Cin-
nabar lode and the superintendent, and Bertrand’s practiced eye
saw at once that Fernando had been making a “ night of it" and
was considerably the worse for it. .

“ Good-morning. Were you at it again last night!" Reda-
usked, seating himself upon a keg near the door; articles of font
turn were scarce in the Cinnabar office.

“ Yes,” the Californian answered, gloomily.

“ And how was the luck"

“Satan himself was in the cards!"

“ You lost?’

u Yes."

“ Heavily?”

d “gee, very heavily,” and theuadeep sighcflm from PM
o 3 p3. .

“ Who were ou is i with"

‘LVelvet Hana.” p y n‘

“ Yg play with him, I believe?

fig“? y wins!”

“H”; “n W theCahf' orniau sighed.

“ e 3 ‘ '0'! lkfllful player, I have heard."

a  very skillful.”

a not always hone“, either.»
n") 00"“ MM his heavy eyes and looked with amasement

mto Redan’s face' he did
the superintendent’.‘ word-:1“ clearly understand the meaning of
W

“How not

Velvet Hand. 13

 

 

 

 

" Why, he sometimes helps luck by holding good hands,"
Redan replied, bluntly.

“ You mean to say that he cheats!"

“ Ya.”

The Californian shook his head.

“ You don’t believe it, eh?”

(I No.

“And yet he always wins when you play With him!"

“He is a better player than I; I lack judgment. I lose my
temper and play hotly—foolishly. Be, on the contrary, always
plays carefully; besides, he does not seem to care whether he
wins or loses—”

“And Fortune is a fickle jade. chi and like a woman favors
the man who is indiffeer to her favors."

“It seems so sometimea” replied Del Colma, in a melancholy
tone.

“That mortgage is due pretty soon, isn’t it?” Radon asked,
carelessly.

“ Yes, and where to raise the money to meet it I know not.”

“ Why, I thought that you had made arrangements to get the
money from Fr’isco.”

“Eight thousand dollars only; I still lack two of the amount.”

“ Ten thousand, isn’t it!”

u Y“. 9:

“But, even supposing that you can’t raise the odd two thou-
sand the partieswill give you time!”

“No, not a day; they are anxious to get the mine in their
hands, for they think that there is money in it, although, so far. I
have not succeeded in making much out of it.”

“:It is improving every day, though.”

“True, but not enough to enable me to tide over this crisis,”
Fernando replied, gloomily. " According to the terms of the
loan I must give up the mine within ten days if I do not meet
the payment; then it will be sold by the sheriff, and, as the
chances are that it will not fetch over six or seven thousand dol-
lars, money is so tight and the reputation of'the mine so bad, I
shall be ruined." .

“Not a very bright outlook, is it!"

M No.”

“ By the way, you might borrow the couple of thousand that
you lack from this Velvet Hand,” Redan observed.

A glance of fire shot from the dark eyes of the Californian.

“ What! do you think that I would ask a favor of such a man!"
Del Colma cried.

Redan affected to be astonished.

“ Why, what is the matter with him!"

“ A common gambler!”

“Oh, yes, I forgot his profession; and, by the way, speaking of
that, don’t you think that it is rather imprudent for your sister
to meet this fellow privately on the outskirts of the town?"

With a single bound Del Colma was on his feet, his face dark,
rage in every feature. '

“ What do you say?” he exclaimed, hoarsely.

“ Is it possible that you didn’t know that Blanche was acquain-
ted with him?” Redan demanded, pretending astonishment.

’ “ Acquainted with him, the villain!” cried the Californian, hot
with rage. ‘° By my aim], if I caught them together I’d kill the
fellow on the spot!”

“It’s lucky for him then that you wasn’t with me a little
while ago,” Bertrand replied. “ I was coming from Angel’s Bar
and on the road met Yuba Bill, and just aswe cametowhere
the Bar trail joins the main road our attention was attracted by
the sound of voices, male and female; we rather wondered at it,
for women are not over plentiful in this region, and save quietly
cameforwardtoseewhothepartieswere. Themawasthis
Velvet Hand—”

“ And the woman—the woman was my sister?” cried Fer-
nando, fiercely.

“ The woman was your sister, Blanche!"

“Impossible! your eyes must have deceived you!”

“Oh, no, there is no mistake about the matter," the superin-
tendent replied, firmly. “I was quite near enough to see her
face distinctly, and, even if I had been further on, the spotted
mustang which the woman rode would easily have identified her,
for there isn’t another horse like it in this section.”

“Possibly it was a chance meeting only," Del Colma said, after
a few moments of thought “ I cannot bring myself to believe
thetmy sister, withinwhoseveinsrunsasgoodbloodssany
Californian family can boast, would so far forget her station as
to meet this common blackleg alone and in secret.”

“ Fernando, I say nothing but whstI know,” Bertrand said,
earnestly, and with an appearance of great frankness. “I dis-
tinctly saw your sbter in conversation with this Velvet Hand on
thecutkirtsofthetewn. Shewasonhorseback, heonfoot. It
did not seem to beachaucenseeting, forwhenitmeudedshe
galloped back to town and he followed slowly after. I was not
near enough to overhear the conversation, but it was a very
earnest one, and at its close Velvet Hand gave your sister some-
thing. I wasn’t close enough to see what it was, but I distinctly
saw hercarryittcherlipsandkissit,andfromthatlnaturally
judged that it was some pledge of median.”

Aringingcursecame fromthelipsoftheenraged brother.

“Oh, would I had been therei’.’ he cried. “The wretch! to
dare to lift his eyes to my sister, and she—she must be mad! Is
it possible that she has repulsed the love of so many worthy gen-
tlemen to give at last hex-virgin affection to this gambler—this
blackleg who lives by and who in a civilised world would

be driven out of all-decent society! 0h, nol i cannot believe it,
and yet what explanation can be given of this secret meeting ex-
cept the natural inference which you have drawni”
Bertrand shrugged his shoulders but made no other amwer.
Then NCclmsntdonebrspflyuwntherudstsew

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forth his revolvers and carefully examined the charges, fresh
capped them and then thrust them back in their holsters.

The superintendent watched these warlike preparations with a
calm face, but with a satisfied mind. .

“ Now I’ll have a few words with the scoundreli” the Califon
nian exclaimed, rising and striding toward the door. “ If he has
dared to raise his eyes to my sister let him make his peace with
Heaven, for he is not long for this world i”

CHAPTER XVII.
sxxnaa’s ernr.

NIGHT had come, and the silver moon, round as the shield of e
dusky warrior, hung high in the heavens, shedding a soft flood of
silvery light over the city of Cinnabar.

Gigantic shadows the shanties of the town cast, grotesque and

uliar.
pecThe cottage which Del Colma had erected on the Cinnabar pro-
perty, stood just within the line where once the old stockade wall
had run, extending in a semicircle from bluff to bluff, all around
the claim.

Only a few moss-grown stumps now remained to show where
the wall had formerly stood.

Attached to the cottage was a little garden, wherein the care-
ful hand of the girl, with true womanly grace, had planted wild-
flowers, gathered here and there during her rambles in the foot.
hills near the town.

A lofty pine, which the woodman’s hand had spared, stood just
on the outskirts of the garden, and by its trunk a rude bench had
been constructed.

By the tree-trunk sat Blanche del Colma, and, reclining on
a huge stone near by, busily engaged in knitting one of those
gay-colored scarfs, so common to the Mexican race, was the
lady’s waiting-maid, a rather pert, pretty-faced halfolndian, half-
Mexican girl, by name Zimena.

Blanche had been engaged in thoughtful meditation, watching
the beauty of the night, and enjoying the grandeur of the rugged
mountain scenery, so oddly set forth by the light of the moon.

Zimena had been chatting away, merrily, and parrot-like,
about a hundred diflerent things; full of life and vivacity was
the peou girl.

“ And so you do not find it lonesome here!" the mistress said,
taki advantage of a declaration of how charming a place she
thalng‘ilt Cinnabar City to be, made by Zimena, to ask the ques-
tion.

“Innelyl Oh, no, senorital" the girl cried, instantly. “ It is
so lively, so gay here, so many houses, so many peoplel Why,
senorita, if you remember, at the hacienda in the south, we saw
only our neighbors; here we can see strangers every day.”

The lady would not have wondered why the girl thought Cin-
nabar City to be so gay if she had known that the cunning peon
maid was in the habit of stealing out of the house now and then
to take part in a sort of fandango, held generally on Sunday
evenings, at a Mexican saloon in the lower part of the town.
Quite cosmopolitan in its character was the young metropolis of
the Shasta valley. No churches, as yet, but plenty of saloons.

“ It seems lonesome to me, for of the many faces I see, but few
appear to be familiar; all strangers, no Californians.”

“ Why, senorita, what did‘erence does it make if they are only
agreeable!" cried the girl, in her pert way. “At home I had ad-
mirers,but none so gallant and nieeastheAmericansIhave
here.”

“Ah, you have an admirer—4 lover, than!” Blanche asked,
curiously, interested, woman-er, in affairs of the heart. . 'ill.

The girl simpered, attempted to blush and look confusedi‘but
not being by nature one of the blushing kind, made a mid failure
0‘ It. ' !
“0h, senorita, I don’t know as I ought to call him a lover,
because he has never said much to me with his tongue, although
with his eyes he has said enough,” the girl confessed.

“ How did you happen to make his acquaintance?” Blanche

“ 0h, senorita, it was just like a romance -—like one of the old
Spanish stories that Father Anselmousedtotellusi” Zimena
exchimed, enthusiastically.

“A romance?"

“ Yes, senorita; it was just after dark one evening, and I had
been to Senor Pollock’s store for some article "-e-which was all e
downright falsehood, for it was near midnight, and she was
returning from the Mexican fandango which we have oetore
mentioned—“ and as I came along the street I met some of the
horrid miners; those ruflians, senorita, who come from the
mountain gulches, and wear red shirts and big boots—great, ugly,
huge-whiskered monstersl” and the girl’s eyes mapped and dilated
as she described the peculiarities of- the gulch pilgrims. “ It was
quite dark, and I was alone "—not exactly truth this statement,
for she had been accompanied by a cavalier, a Mexican of uncer-
tain character, who had incontinentlytabeu to his heels upon
encountering the jolly crowd of inmate—“and these great, rude
men surrounded me.‘ ‘ Hiilol’ cried one big monster, ‘1! it ain't:
gall’ ‘ W’ar yer goin’, little when“ another.

“And what did you say" asked Blanche, deeply interested in
the tale, and wondering at the boldnesss of the men, not having
the slightest suspicion that the scene Which the girl was describ-
ingwithso much vivacity had taken place,not in the early
evening, but close upon midnight~an hour when the
of a women alone in- the streets of egreat citywouldexei
lurk. let alone in a mining camp. -»

 

 

“Why, senorita, of course, I at once told them who 1
and begged them to let me pass.” Another falsehood this state-
ment, for the girl had not dared to confess who she was for fear
of the circumstance Coming to the ears of Del Colma, a result
which, as she well knew, would be followed by her instant dis-
missal from his service.

“ And did theyi”

“ Oh, no, senorita, the brutesl They declared that I must pay
toll.”

“Pay toll!”

“ Yes, senorita; I must kiss each one of the ugly monsters.”

The checks of the lady crimsoned at the idea.

“ But just as they began to stretch out their hands to lay hold
of me, a tall, handsome gentleman came rapidly up, and step-
ped in between. ‘Take care what you are about,’ he said;
‘ this lad y is under my protection, and I’ll trouble you to let
her go on her way in peace.’ ”

“ And did they?"

“Yes; but they wasn’t going to, until one of them seemed to
recognize the gentleman, and then he said. ‘ Well, king-pin of the
Occidental gang, seeing as how it is you, we’ll let her slide, but
you’ll have to stand treat,’ and then the gentleman said, ‘all
right,’ and told me to run along home." -

“ And so your adventure endedi”

“ Yes, senorita, although I have seen him a great many times
since, and he always lifts his hat to me as politely u if I were a
princess, and yesterday he was on the hillside—just up there,
senorita," and the girl pointed to the beginning of the foot-hills,
about a hundred yards off, as she spoke, " and I watched him for
user an hour.”

“ And what was he doing there!”

“ Nothing, senorita, except looking down here.”

“Perhaps he was looking for you?”

“ Yes, senorita, that was what I thought; and I hurried out es
soon as I could, but he was gone.”

“Do you know his name?

“No, senorita , but I an easily find cast, for he wears such an
odd suit, all velvet.”

Blanche looked astonished; but the girl was so busy talking
that she did not notice the expression of amazement so plainly
written upon the face of her mistress.

“And be such a handsome gentleman!” she continued; “he
always looks so nice l”

And here a sudden stop was put to the girl’s chatter by a hasty
summons from’the aged housekeeper from within the cottage.

Zimena fled, leaving Blanche to her own thoughts.

And so VelVet Hand—for the Californian girl easily recognized
the velvet sharp by the description—was the lover of her wait-
ing maid! '

The proud lip of the girl curled in contempt.

“And he Seemed like a gentleman too-like one far above in
station the rest of these rude, wild men. These Americans are
all alike! There is no nobility of soul among them i”

The girl fell into a deep meditation—a meditation from whence
she was suddenly aroused.

Forth from the shadowof the pine tree stopped a dark form.

' A single glance, and Blanche saw that it was an Indian maid
who confronted’her.

Frowning was the dusky face, and savage the expression of the
eyes.
“ Hula-ha-ha has traveled far from the home of her people to
look upon the face of the pale beauty who has won the heart of
the great velvet chief l” the Indian maid declared.

 

CHAPTER XVIII.
« ran mans.

BI.st had started to her feet surprised by the sudden and
unexpected appearance of the farest daughter, but astonished as
she had been by the sight of the girl she was still more astonished
by her strange speech. ' ~

The great velvet chief 1

And who was be, if not Velvet Hand!

“ You are fair; the Water-bird does not wonder that the chief
caresfor you,” the girl continued, slowly and sadly.

"‘th are you, and why do you come to me!” Blanche de-
manded. ,

“ Hula-hams is a‘ddughter of the McClouds. She comes to the
lodges of the white men so that she may look upon'the face of the
pale woman who has stolen the velvet chief aWay. Bhe is satie-
iied; she will go back to her people now and tell them that it is
useless to try to win the velvet chief from the whites. The pole
woman isltoo fair; he will never leave her."

“ And what Have I to dd‘with’ the velvet chief!” cried Blanche,
her cheeks crimsoning. 1

“Everything,” the Indian girl replied, slowly; “for your sake
he forgets and forgives. Many wrongs have the false white men
heaped upon him; once he 'o'wned this valley—the little cave
where they dig the yellow metal --the ground whereon we stand,
all was his. His false brothers cheated him out of it, and then
he fled to the lav he and the wild pines, and became the
great chief of the tribe. He wrote his totem in blood here
by the river many moons ago; he drove the false white men from
the land which they had stolen and burnt their lodges. All here
is his if he chOOses to claim it. The red McClonds oflered him

their warriors; I, the‘Waten-bird,’the daughter of Koo-chm, she.

Hog, would have become his sqmw; all the yellow metal in the
moantains would have been his, but he would'have none of it for

 

 

the {love that he hears you. He forgives the bad white men
who stole his land away; he forgets the blood of the warlike
Shastas, shed like water in his behalf; your face has been big
medicine to him; the daughter of the red McClouds will go back
to her people and tell them that it is useless for them to attempt
to takeit‘he' great velvet chief from the white lodges.”

Blanche listened in utter bewilderment to this speech. What
had impressed the girl with the belief that she exerted such an
influence over the Velvet Hand! And, what manner of man was
he, in truth! From the Indian girl’s recital he had in the past
acted the part of a hero, and yet at present he was apparently
playing the lover to her waiting-maid, the peon girl.

“ Why do' you couple my name with that of the man whom
you call the great velvet chief?” the Californian girl asked, her
eye's flashing and her bosom heaving “I have neVer met him
but once in all my life; he is almost a total stranger to me!”

‘ “ Did not the Water-bird see the meeting between you to-day
by the river!” the Indian girl replied. “Is the daughter of the
McClouds blind that she cannot detect the light of love in the
eyes of the man for whom she would give her heart’s blood,
drop by drop! For your sake the great velvet chief refused the
offer-sot my father—for your sake he will dwell here in the
white lodges, a common brave only, when by right he should be
chief over all. Hula-ha—ha is satisfied now; she will go back to
her people and tell them that while the pale squaw lives the
great velvet chief will not desert the white village.”

And then, shrouding herself in her blanket the girl stalked
away, disappearing as suddenly and as unceremoniously as she
Ind appeared, leaving the Californian girl a prey to bewildering

D.

The lndian maid had plunged into the scrubby timber border-
ing the foot-hills, and had been lost to sight almost immediately
In the dark shadows.

Blanche hardly knew what to think of this strange interview.

It was plainly evident that the dusky maid fully believed that
she spoke the truth when she declared that but for her, Blanche,
the velvet chief would have joined fortunes with the red braves,
the masters of the lava rocks and the great northern wilderness,
 thong, ht “gas folly! What was she to him, or he to her!
If came near the cottage at all it was to woo the waiting-maid,

Zinnia. Hid the proudbeauty smiled in seem at the thought.

The night was growing apace; she turned to enter the house,
and was amaaed to behold a tall, dark form advancing slowly
around the corner of the cottage.

It was an Indian—a brawny chief wrapped up closelyin a rag-
ged blanket.

He ducked his head gravely upon perceiving that he was recog-
nized, and uttered the salutation so common to the half-civilized
red-man of the West.

7. “ How?”

‘Thegirhwellusedtothehdiansfromearlychfldh per-

ceived at a glance that this brawny brave was no Calzg'rnian

amino, red-skinwest of the BcckyMountainrange ever
such a build. '

Upon the appearance of the chief the thought that he was a
cempanion of the girl naturally occurred at once to the senorita,
and‘the Indian soOn put that idea to flight.

“ Bad squaw—McCloud girl,” he said, gravely, nodding his head
in the direction taken b the Indian maid. “Chief watch her
{ting—think mebbe she o bad—keep eye on her, you bet, bully

y

Blanche then nndentood that the red-man was claiming ii0 not
ass protector.

“ Do you know her!” she asked. '

“ Mebbe yes—not much —bad egg! no good McCloud but dead
McCloud! Chief see her come—see her creep like wilde
“night “1.9be the mean bad—chief ‘antc ’ up too; she no ‘pass,’
$301110 1n’—ell good white man my chief old, tough son-ofa

m was the most peculiar savage that the girl had ever seen.

"What tribe is the chief!” asked Blanche, curious to know
from whence he came.

Afhggetoot—Mbe g1: off—many sleeps away. O-wa-he is a
among le—like white braves too- white
chiefs call him Mud-Mega” ' .

The girl had never encountered a member of the Blackfoot
mtiou before, and therefore it was no wonder that she did not

the WI natiOn.

“Chief hungry,”, continued the brave, impressively; “like grub
"much, 3111b, umbb"—li’POOe White squaw gives chief fodder, he
that bad MeClond squaw no come back."

“Certainly; come with me.”

Blanche conducted the red-man into the kitchen where his ar-
rival produced Quite a. sensation among the servants.

Bidding the housekeeper provide a substantial meal for the red-
skin the girl withdrew to the privacy of her own apartment,
there to meditate in solitude over the strange events of the day.

Mud-turtle had astonished the servants by his uncouth appear-

.anee, but he still more astonished'them by his enormous appetite
and the wonderful command which he po-ened over the miner’s
mum to the mountainregion.

. ‘ the housekeeper, an aged dame of uncertain temper, told
him M be was as big as an elephant, and could eat as much, he
replied placidly that the statement was “too thin,” and that she
hadbetter‘fw‘elkcil'onherear.” .,

And then, .wli'en,"the hostler of the establishinent, a wily little
Mexican, took saucy fo 9; pec’uli'ai' tobacco-pouch which the In-
dian were, about the only thing really that was of much value
t t the chief Main! expressed a wisli to purchase it, the

_ ‘ w out adpckofdirtycards from somehiddenrecees
andofle 'pley‘againe'of poker,thsMexicantostakeaces~
telnsumdmonexasainsttheertiele.‘ ‘ '

 

Velvet Hand. 15

 

Now, as the hostler rather prided himself upon his skill with
cards, he gladly accepted the challenge, but the nimble-fingered
Sanchez was a very bungler compared to the stolid savage, for
cheat as outrageously as the Mexican could, the chief cheated
still better, and within half an hour Sanchez had lost every valu-
able that he possessed.

And then, as if sighing for new worlds to conquer, the savage
folded his blanket around him and stole away, his stomach full
and his pockets well lined, thanks to the hostler’s chains to pee-
sess the tobacco-pouch.

 

CHAPTERXIX.
m or, on» m.

Tm: dusk of the evening shades was falling fast upon the town
of Cinnabar. The miners Were beginning to pour into the town,
fresh from the mountain gnlches and the toils of the day; the sa~
locus were beginning to freshen up and prepare for business, for
it is by night only that the saloon in the mining town does much
trade; like some huge beast of, prey it slumbers while the sun is

Velvet Hand had just finished his supper in the restaurant of
the Occidental, and was posing himself outside the hotel, leaning
against the corner of the building, trimming his nails with the
little pearl-handled knife, over his constant companion.

Like the saloon-keeper’s the gambler’s trade thrived only by
night, and the keen-eyed Velvet Hand was waiting for the com-
ing of the Californian in orderto indulge in their nightly encoun-
ter at the card-table.

“He can't possibly keep on at this rate much longer,” Velvet
Hand mused, in meditation, talking to himself after the fashion
of men who make few friendships. “At the rate he is going on,
the earnings of the richest lode in California wouldn’t supply the
dust, and I know that the mine is not doing much; and then,
when he is shaken out, who will stand between me and mine? At
last the Cinnabar lode will come back to me; not that I care to
work it myself, for there are too many unpleasant memories con-
nected with the spot, but no other man shall make money out
of it And when his grip is forced from the mine, what then!—
what is there left for him—and for her! Ah! these women are
always in the way."

“ My lord dock!” cried a hoarse voice, close to the ear of the
meditating man, “ kin I b’lieve me eyes, or kin I not! Am I
dreamin’, or is this a wakin’ hour, when things air as they seem
an’ whisky is not?”

Turning, Velvet Hand beheld the person of the redoubtable
bummer, the veteran, Joe Bowers.

‘,‘ How air ye, me noble dock?” continued the vagabond, duck-
ing his head in graceful salutation. “ Velvet Hand, ole pard,
how goes it?"

“ Well, what do you want!” the sharp asked, abruptly, and
with considerable asperity in his tone.

“ Ye’re jist ole business, every time, ain’t yet” Mr. Bowers
exclaimed, in unbounded admiration. “ Ah, pard! I reckon
that you ain’tlchanged much, though you hev shaved off that big
beard an’ h’isted on the velvet togs. Now, by Saint Patrick!
you look bully!” ,

Velvet Hand surveyed the bummer for an instant, a peculiar
expression upon his face, and the vagabond, quick to read a man’s
thoughts in his face, saw that the sharp was uncertain how to
receivehisn.

“ As a friend, mighty satrapl” he hastened to exclaim. “ I’m
with yer, tooth and toe-nail! Glad air these aged eyes that they
look one’t ag’in upon yer noble face, an’ if you feel inclined to
stand the drinks for the uke of old times, I’m yer man. Never
be it said that ole Joe Bowers refused to h’ist with a friend i”

“ A friend, eh?” quoth VeIVet Hand, doubtfully: “ well now
I am not reallycertain thatIamafr-iendofyoursorthatyor
are a friend of mine.”

“Not certain, me lord!” Joe Bowers exclaimed, pathetically.
“Oh! kin I b’lieve me own two lcokin’ ears—kin I trust the eye
sight of mesmelleral Oh, rocks! think on the old time, when in
cahoots we bucked ag’in’ Kentuck’s game an’ bu’sted his consarn.
Mebbe it aren’t a man about my sins who warned you when the
Egyptians came down ‘ like a wolf on the fdld!’ Oh, no! it was
the man around the corner! The original Joe Bowers war not to
the front! Who played ghost in the Cinnabar ldie and kept the
miners out’n it, oh! Was it me or some other man?”

“ You think you know me!"

" Mess noble dook! you kin bet duoats onto it!" cried Bowers,
solemnly. “ I knowed yer the moment I set me pee‘pers on yer
although I giveyoumewoniesawhite man that Ihadan idea
tint you had quit the game and ‘cashed in your checks’ long

’9

“Igneml’mnillinthefles "the sharpquietlyreturned.

“ Well now, I reckon that you air!” the bummer protested, ed-
miringly. “I’d like to see the galoot that sed you wasn’t; he’d
be my meat, or else my name ain’t Joe Bowers! Say! air you
still keepin’ yer eye on the Cinnabar trike?”

“Why do you ask such a question!” Velvet Hand inquired.
“What is the Cinnabar mine to me!"

“'l‘ain’t as deep as awdl nor as widens a church door, but
'tis enoug ” replied the bummer, in his ridiculous, theatrical way.
“Rocks, asIaedamia‘ite ago, Ireckonedthat youhadquitthe
game lohg ago, an’ I constituted myself your heir."

“Indeed! is that sol”

“True as preacldn’, me noble deck; as you had lost yer grip
on the Cinnabar lode,l WWIoouldspitonmyhands
and wade in.”

. -._.._...‘..-. m.

.-

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 Beadle’s Dime Library.

 

“Who do you think I am?” asked the sharp, suddenly.

“Oh, I know yer like a book!” the bummer ejaculated, with
a series of knowing winks. “You can’t fool this old coon much,
I tell yer! Your handle is Dick Velvet—now Velvet Hand—but
I knew yer name was Richard something else, and then ag’in
when Cherokee was to the fore, an’ I reckon thar’s a few men in
this town that would tremble even now ef somebody was to
how] out that the Death Shot of Shasta war round, but I won’t
give it away; wild elephants couldn’t tear the thing from me!
'l’m your man, i am, an’ I jest come to you now to say fair and

,‘squar’, ef so be as how you’ve got your eyes 0n the Cinnabar
mine, to let up, old man, an’ gi’n me a show fur my white alley!”

Velvet Hand had listened with astonishment to the latter part
of this speech.

“ What have you to do with the Cirmabar mine?” he asked.

“ Why, I’ve got a leetle rake‘in thar,” Bowers explained,

“How so? 1 don’t understand; you don’t mean to say that
you have any share in Del Colma’s speculation?”

“Oh, no, not at all, but he’s about played out, an’ when he
quits my pardncr jumps in,” Bowers explained. “YOu hear me,
noble lord: it was all through me that this Californian came to
invest in the mine at all. I knowed that it was a good thing,
richer’n thunder if the right vein is ever struck ag’in, an’ struck
it will be one of these days, you kin bet yer boots on it! Well,
thar was an old pard of mine, a high-toned chap, jest the cuss
to work sich a thing, an’ I—thinkin’ that you were played for
good as I sed afore—told him of the Cinnabar strike, an’ be h’isted
Del Colma in, fur he had the rocks to start things—”‘

“If I understand your plan correctly, you intend to ‘h’ist ’ Del
Colma out!” Velvet Hand abruptly interrupted.

“That is our little game; but, as I sed afore I had no idea that
you were ever comin’ to the fore ag’in, an’ so, ole pard,’ I says to
you, fair an’ easy, let up, old man, if so be as you’re goin’ for the
Cinnabar strike, an’ lemme git my little rake outen it!” Bowers
exclaimed, imploringly.

“I couldn’t think of it,” Velvet Hand replied, in his softest
manner. .

“No!” cried Bowers, in tragic accents.

“ No, not by a jugful!”

“ You’re goin’ to run the thing yourself?

“That is what I intend to do; maybe I may not be able to
make the rifle, though,” the sharp suggested. “You can take
a hand against me if you like; the game is an open one, you
know.” ’

“Me noble dock, I seek not sudden death!” Mr. Bowers ex-
claimed, loftily. “Oh, no buck ag’in’ you, nary time, this chile
will not. I draw out!”

“Are you for or against me?”

“ For you, every time—unwonted gold you kin bet onto that!"
the bummer responded, promptly. “I reckoned that, 'mebbe,

,you might not be willing to see the Cinnabar consarn tossed
round like a football, an’ I made up my mind to hev a talk with
you afore I took another kick at it. I ‘pass’ficount me out.
Yer name is Velvet Hand—you bet; I never knowed you by
cry other, I savvey. Say, kin you trust me fur a dollar?”

The sharp silently placed a‘ five-dollar gold-piece in his hand,
and Mr. Bowers departed in high spirits. There was troubl
ahead he was sure, and in troublous times he thrived. '

 

CHAPTER XX.
m cmmasun mrs. nIs mm

Vnnm HAND watched the bummer swagger of! with a quiet
smile. '
“ t fellow hasbeen of use in thepastand maybesointhe

future,” he murmured in meditation. “So there is another'

party after the mine, eh! That is a bit of information worth

knowing. It was cheap at five dollars, and who is itl Am I.

wresting the mine from the Californian that another my step in

and enjoy it? Oh, no! whoever the party is he will find that?

when I shake it out of the hand of the Californian it will drop
into my paw and l’ll hold it with a grip of iron; neither man
nor devil shall wrest it from me!” ’

But in the list of adversaries the iron-willed velvet sharp had .

not counted woman. - -

The figure of the Californian, striding up the street with a
gloomy brow, interrupted Velvet Hand’s meditations.

“ Hallo! here comes my bird!” he muttered, “ and out of sorts,
too, if his face is any index to his mind. Whatbrlngshim outso
early! He is rarely abroad until after dark." ,

Del Colma marched straight up to Velvet Hand and the
gamester noticed, to his astonishment, that his eyes were fairly
flaming with anger. ‘

He paid no attention to the friendly nod of the sharp, and it
was quite plain that the Celifornian’s errand was not a pleasant
one.

“I want to speak with you a moment if you will have the
:indneu to follow me," Del Colma said, auger plainly visible in

gooth face and voice. V

“ Lead on, sir, I am entirelyat your service," the other re-
plied, taking no notice whatever of the peculiar manner of the
mine-owner. ‘

Del Calms. marched up the street, Velvet Handfollowing
close at his heels, until they were fairly beyond the line of the
town. ’

The gloom of the night was growing thicker and thicker, and -

yet there was still light enough for the two men to plainly dis-
tinguish each other’s features. I

The Californian looked carettu around him, saw that they
were secure from observation and not likely to lac-interrupted, as
theyweresomedistancefromtheroad. .. V 

 

v

m“ Now, then, sir, a few words with you !” he exclaimed, haugh-
y.

The manner if not the matter of the speech grated upon Vel-
vet Hand’s ears, and he felt strongly inclined to reply in kind:
but, as he hadn t the slightest idea of how he could posiny have
offended Del Colma, be restrained the impulse until he could learn
the reason for the rude treatment, and so replied, qnuietly:

‘ “ As I said before, I am entirely at your service.

“ Who are you and what am 1?” Del Colma demanded.

“ You are one man and I am another,” Velvet Hand answered,
coolly.

“I am a native Californian, a descendant of a longli’ne of
Spanish nobles, whose blood is blue and who trace back ten"
kineg source 1” Del Colma exclaimed, haughtily. ‘

" What you say maybe true for aught I know," Velvet Hand“
observed, almost contemptuously, “ or for aught I care,” he.
added, “ but that you are any the better as a man for springing
from such a race I deny. The Spanish nobles you speak of were
a set_of blood-thirsty robbers if history tells the truth, and no
descendant of Hernando Cortes and his gang has any reason to
boast of the fact.” '

“ My race were the owners of all this land once!” the Califor-
nian cried, hot with rage at the aspersion cast upon the character
of his ancestors. and yet unable to deny that the old conquerors
had rather overstrained their power in dealing with the simple
hearted natives.

“ Yes, your race stole it from the people of Montauma and"
North Americans wrested it from you, which simply proves we
are the superior people!” '

The Californian fairly ground his teeth in anger.

“Go on, go on!” he cried; “it is but right that you should
make me mad with rage, you miserable gambler, for within the
next ten minutes either I will kill you Or you shall kill me!"

Velvet Hand looked astonished at this out-burst of rage; he
could hardly believe that his words could have provoked such a
storm of passion. _

“ Oh, we are to fight, then," he said in his cool way. “ Wifi',
all my heart, only I shouldnke to-know whstwearegoing'to'
fight about.” ,

“Oh, you know well enough!” the Californian cried, him
ness in his tone. '

“ Do I!” and there was considerable doubt visible in his voice
as he put the question.

“Yes, we fight because I am a wretched native Californian and
you are a noble North American; but. wretched as lam—thy
descendantrof an old race fast dying out, melting away under tn.
influence of your superior civilization—I spit upon and despise
your people. There is nothing in common between us' the blood
of the Californian and Anglo-Saxon can no more 
than oil and water can mingle l” '

“And so we must fight because we are of dinerent races, eh?
Velvet Hand exclaimed, totally at a loss for an explanation of the
Californian’s fury. ' -

“Yes, yes!” Del Colma cried, hastily. “I am fully aware of
the honor which. you intend to do me, but I cannot accept; I'
must kill you to prevent it. Come, sir, will you fight or must I
spit in your face to heat your superior blood to the fighting,
point?” . ' , ’

, “ Oh, I wouldn’t do that!” Velvet Hand cried, quickly, flaming .
into sudden anger, “ for a fight wouldn’t follow, but a murder,
for I should kill you on the spot without giving you the slightest
chance for your life. ” , _ ' ‘

“You kill me, you miserable thief!" Del Colms shrieksd,
excited beyond the bounds of endurance, and then his”
hand he struck the Cinnabar sharp a violent blow in the face.
In a second Velvet Hand sprung upon him.‘ He wrenched the
Californian from his feet as though he was but a child and forced
him over fiat upon his back, pressing his powerful knee upon
Del Colma’s chest; then he drew forth his glittering bowie-knife.

Del Colme was half-stunned by his sudden downfall but he had ‘
sense enough left to understand that he was utterly at the
mercy of the man whom he had so wantonly provoked.

“Strike!” he cried, wild with impotent rage; “the blood 02,-"
degenerate nation may be in my veins, but I do not fear to die."

“Kill you, eh!" cried the victor, with a bitter smile; “ oh, no, ‘
that is notmygama- Youcalledmes-thiefandnowl’mgoing’
to brand you as a. liar. Your life I’ll spare but I’ll put a mark
upon you that will endure to your dying day! The letters ’
L-l-A-B. I’ll carve on your forehead!” , ’

“Oh, for heaven’s sake spare me that!” fairly yelled Del
Colma, white with rageand terror; “death rather—death I beg!" ,

“ Why have you attacked and insulted me so grossly—h man"
who never injured you?” ' ' .

“You, a gambler, would marry my sister! I know how you.

meet her in secret—how you gave her a love-token which she ‘

accepted!” hisied Del Calms, almost choking with rage.

“A love-token!” cried Velvet Hand, in astonishment. “Why, :

I 'never met your sister but once, and then I happened tostq)
her runaway horse after she and the saddle had parted canpsny
with the beast. And when she thanked me she saw file diamond
ring gleaming 'on my finger—the ring which you'gsve me as a
surety for the gaming debt you owe—her ring, which you had no
business. it) thus dispose of. , She, never suspecting the truth, I
instantly jumped to the conclusion that ' it had been lost, and
found by me, and asked me if’I hadfound it, and I—thepoor,‘
mean, miserable thief of a gambler—lied to the girl rather then
tell. he: that her own noble WMglvenmsthsz-ings'ss.
security for a gambling debt.” ” -

“Isthistruthl” Del Colmaexclsimed. totallybewildered.

“ Truth!” cried Velvet Hand, roughly; “ do you want me to
drivemy knife through your throat and let out smotyour hotl
blood that you use web ugly words!"

Velvet Hand.

.17

 

CHAPTER XXI.
ms surnamrssnm rams rr or.

“PLEDGE me, senor, I know not what I say,” Del Colma
replied, humbly. The false position in which he had so stupidly
placed himself had completely tamed his wildness.

Velvet Hand returned his knife to its sheath, and removing
his knee from the chest of the prostrate man, rose to his feet.

Del Colma slowly followed.

It had grown so dark that the two men could just about distin-
guish each other’s faces and that was all.

“Senor, I owe you an apology,” the Californian said, slowly,
and with evident reluctance.

“ Oh, don’t trouble your head about it,” Velvet Hand replied;
“ we‘ll call the matter square as it stands. But who is it that told
you this tale—who is that put it into your head to attack me!”

“ No one,” the Californian answered, slowly.

“Some one witnessed the interview between your sister and
myself?” h

“ Yes.”

“ And that some one told you that it was a love-meeting!"

it Yes. ’7

“ It was no friend of mine."

“I do not know.”

“It is very evident to me that it was not. Of course the
party, whoever it was, knew that the story of the meeting, told
in such a way—represented as a secret love-meeting between
your sister and myself, would most certainly lead to a quarrel
between Isa—possibly to the death of one or, perhaps, both of

n

us.

“ That is likely.”

“ And this man, whoever he is, is an enemy of mine, and no
friend to you, either, Del Colma, or else he would not have ex-
posed you to the chance of death. He evidently desires to do me
a mischief, and has used you as a cat’s-paw to pull his chestnuts
out of the fire.”

“ Oh, no,” and the Californian shook his head; “ he fully
believed the story he told. He saw the meeting between you and
Blanche at a distance; he did not overhear any of the conversa-
tion, but saw that you gave her some trinket, and that she car-
ried it to her lipsandkbedit. What eleecould he think but
that it was a love token, given by you to her!”

“I shall have to hunt up this genflenian who takes such an
interest in my aflairs,” Velvet Hand observed, quietly, yet with
menace in his calm tones. “ And, Fernando del Colma, this end!
our acquaintanceship. You owe me a certain sum of money,
that paid, we will be as strangers to each other. I am a gambler
but ’tis merely because the excitement of the card-table keeps me
alive; I have nothing else to live for, but I never urge any one to
play with me, as you well know. You have grossly insulted me
this evening, and I have spared the life you forfeited, but I don’t
intend that you shall ever have the chance to repeat the opera-
tion. In regard to your sister and myself, as I have said, I have
never met her but once, and I should never seek to win her or
any other woman unless they knew fully and exactly what I
am; but, knowing that, if they choose to care for me, a hundred
brothers should not keep me from the lady. Good-evening, sir.”

And then Velvet Hand walked off in the darkneu, leavint
the Californian in a very unpleasant state of mind.

Del .Colma watched the tail of the Cinnabar sharp
until it disappeared in the gloom; then slowly and sadly he
returned to the town, and just as he came to the Occidental he
encountered Redan, who was lounging about the front of the
hotel. It was quite evident that the superintendent had been
waiting to learn the result of the interview between the Cinna-
baf‘ $0rt and the owner of the mine.

“ Yil’,’ you have seen him?’ Redan inquired anxiously.

“ I thought that had mined °
entered the hotel.” you mm m mm. "y’ M h. in“

4‘ Yes!”

“You did not quarrel, then, forIseethatneitheroneofyou
shows signs of damage!”

Del Colma evaded the question. It was not pleasant to
relate the particulars of the contest wherein he had come out
second best. '

“He explained the matter satisfactorily." ' ‘

“Indeed!” and Redan threw a strongexpre-ionof contempt
into the single word.

“ Yes; there is no love-aflair between him and Blanche.”

“Of course he swore there wasn’t!" Full of contemptuous un-
bel‘ieIifI was the sentence.

‘ 0 he did not swear-

“hisfwzion.” , but he explained everything to my
“ I’m afraid that you have allowed this fellow to fool you.”
“Oh, no; I know how the matter really stands. That is all;

good-night !”

r And the Californian pend on, leaving Redan a prey to sullen

age.

“ I cannot understand it,” he muttered. “I thought I knew
hum of them too well for my plan to fail; but it h evident
that Velvet Hand smoothed the matter over and managed in
some way to satisfy Del Colma. No love-affair between them!
Then I’m no judge of a woman’s eye! 1 musttskeahaudin
this matter, myself. I am easily pick a with this gam-
bler,andif wecometo imaldlhithim,allthslaw
and order part of the town will be on my side.”  ;

“Aha! bully rook! I was arter you!” cried I hoarse voice,
and the burly figure of the fat bummer, Joe Bowen, loomed into
the circle of light in front of the hotel. -

“ Well, what do you want!” demanded Baden, notiuthe M

humor podble.

 

“Pard, inregard to thishyer leetle Cinnabar mine aflbir,” said
the bummer, lowering his voice, mysteriously.

“Weill”

“ I’m a-gwine to draw out. ”

“ Draw outl” cried Bedan, astonished .

“Yes, sir-ee, hoss‘fly!” replied the bummer. “It is played,
me noble dock; we air down to the bed-rock, an’ nary a ducat
will we take outen itl”

“I don’t understand.”

“Akick is as good as a wink to a blindhoss, me noble and
potential superintendent!" exclaimed Bowers, sagely. “ Thar
has a new man come up—a cuss who will run that Cinnabar
lode, an’ I ain’t anxious to hev anything to do with it. I ain’t
tryin’ fur chances now to ride in funerals as much as I was.”

“I don’t understand what you are ,driving at!” Redan ex-
claimed, roughly.

“ Do I m. express meself in fluid accents, me sportive tricks!
Well, then, listen, while I a tale unfold! When the bow Califor~
nian is shaken out of the mine thar’s another cuss stands ready
to take hold, an’ he’s got an iron grip, me lord! I jist tell you
when he puts out his paw, it’s like old death a-reaching for ’em.”

“ And who is the man?”

“Here he is, inside the Occidental. 0h, he’s a tearer now, I
tell yer when he gets started!”

And Bowers conducted the superintendent to a window, and
to the astouhhment of Redau, pointed out Velvet Hand.

“Andheis the man who is going to knock ourlittleplanf’
Bedan queried.

“ I bet yer! higher nor a kite! Oh, me noble dock, you kin go
ducats onto that!”

“ That remains to be seen,” Bedan observed, grimly.

“You kin experiment ef you like, but as fur me, I’m out.
No leetle ducats of mine do you rope into that mine now;
my shekels I will keep an’, if you’ll take the advice of a man wot
knows, you won’t try to buck ag’in’ that velvet sport onless
you’re tired of this hyer world; so long!” And Mr. Bowers
marched ofl.

But Bertrand Redsn’s mind was made, up. He had determined
to have a talk with Velvet Hand on Blanche’s account, and now
having learned that the quiet sport was likely to interfere with
his plans for gaining possession of the Cinnabar property, he
wu still more determined to run him out of the town. There-
fore, when a few minutes later Velvet Hand left the hotel,
Baku accosted him.

CHAPTER XXII.

carcn'mo a TAMAB.

“ WILL you step this way? I’d like to have a few minutes’ con-
versation,” the superintendent said.

“ All right, sir," Velvet Hand replied.

Redan led the way to the corner of the hotel, just out of earshot
of the loungers congregated by the front door of the Occidental,
and then be commenced the attack.

u'Probably you know who I am,” he began.

“ Probably I do,” the sharp answered, not at all inclined to be
pleased with the arrogant manner of the other.

“ My name is Redan, and I am superintendent of the Cinnabar
mine.”

“I don’t take the slightest interest, sir, in regard to your name
or what occupation you may follow,” Velvet Hand observed, in
his cool way; he had already detected the hostile feeling of the
other, and was fully prepared for war.

“ I have explained to you who I am, sir, in order that you may
understand why I speak as I am about to speak!” Redan ex-
claimed, beginning to lose his temper.

“ Sir, I don’t care two cents who you are or what you are
going to say 1” Velvet Hand retorted. ,

“ Perhaps you will before I get through," Redan remarked,
significantly. "

“I’m open to bet you ten to one that I won’t!" ‘

“I’m not a gambler and I don’t bet!” the superintendent
replied, loftily.

Velvet Hand winced a bit; be fully understood the taunt, and
he felt a strong inclination to pick a quarrel with the speaker at
once, but then it was foreign te his nature to force a difficulty
with any one, and, too, he could not understand why this man, a

r to him, forhe had never exchanged words with Redan
before, should desire to put an affront upon him; he felt a little
curious also to learn the reason for the strange proceeding.

“ Well, then, if you don’t bet we can’t make the rifle, can wei"

“ I’m going to speak to you in regard to a rather delicate mat-
ter, and I don’t exactly know how to begin,” Redan said, affect-
ing a reserve which in truth he was far from feeling.

“ The beginning is a good place,” Velvet Hand suggested,
quietly. “though you might try it in the middle, or tackle the
end if you thought it would come easier.”

The superintendent scowled. He saw that the cool Cinnabar
sharp was poking fun at him. He hesitated for words; his anger
was rising and he felt strongly inclined to take Velvet Band
by the throat; it was only by a great effort that he controlled
himself; the time for violence had not Y“ arrived- _

“ I’m afraid that you are not to receive tins 00mm“.
mean in the spirit in which I tender it.” Mun said-

“Well, I don’t know; it depends altogether upon what it is, I
reckon,” the sharp replied, reflectively. “ I think that I can
meet you half-way though, no matter how you come at me.”

This was a defiance, quietly as it was given, and Redan under-
stood itessuch. Hesawthethehadbettercometothepointat
one

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Beadle’s Dime Library.

 

“I wish to speak to you in regardtoaeertain lady."

Velvet Hand was amazed and fully showed it in his face. It
was only for a. moment though, for his active mind, used to:
drawing inferences, quickly guessed the connection that Mr. Ber-
trand Bedan had with a certain matter.

“ A lady, eh!” quoth the sharp, refiectively, with the design of
drawing the other on.

“ Yes, and that lady is Miss Blanche del Calms.”

“Ah, is that so!” and Velvet Hand’s smile was “ childlike and
bland ” as he looked the sullen-faced superintendent straight in
the eye.

“ I come to you as a friend to tell you that you had better give
up all idea of that lady, because if you persist in your present
course you will only get yourself into trouble.”

“ Into trouble, eh?” remarked the sharp, as quietly and as
mildly as possible.

“Yes, and if you want to avoid trouble you had better let her
alone in the future.”

“ Who says sol” demanded Velvet Hand, abruptly, but still
very quietly.

“ I do, ” replied the superintendent, roughly. Deceived by the
manner of Velvet Hand, he began to believe that he had suc-
ceeded in making an impression upon him.

“ Excuse the question, respected stranger, but what on earth
have you got to do with this matter, anyway?” asked the sharp.

“I don’t know that I care to satisfy your curiosity om that
point," replied Redan, loftily.

“ Oh, don’t you?”

“ No; I don’t know why I should i”

“0h, perhaps you hav’n’t any interest in the matterat all,
and you are only interfering in something that doesn’t concern
you in the least.”

“ If you keep on you will find out whether it concerns me or
not!” Redan exclaimed, threateningly.

“ Perhaps you want the lady yourself.”

“Perhaps I do.” -

“ And you fancy that I stand in your way, eh!”

“ That is my business, sir, and not yours.”

“ Oh, I only asked for information,” Velvet Hand responded,
as quietly and as coolly as possible.

“ Just you content yourself with keeping away from her, that’s
‘11-”

“ Who says so?”

“ I say so!” Again the anger of the superintendent was rising;
these frivolous words annoyed him.

“ You are quite confident that I have been in pursuit of the
lady?”

“Quite, sin”

“ No use for me to attempt to deny the fact?”

“ Not the slightest. I would sooner trust my eyes than your
words.”

u  I”

Just a single exclamation from the lips of Velvet Hand, but a
world of meaning in it.

It was all plain to him now. This was the man who had
played the spy upon the chance interview between the Califor-
nian girl and himself, and who had hastened to Del Colnia with
Eliie tale, thereby leading the hot-headed Californian to attack

m.

The sharp fully understood all now. This fellow wanted
Blanche for himself; it was ten to one that he was the party to
whom Joe Bowers had referred—the man who intended to Wrest
the Cinnabar mine from the weak Del Colma’s hand. And this
fellow—evidently a scamp and an adventurer—sneered at him,
the card—player.

Velvet Hand resolved to bring matters to a focus at once.

“ And who are you, anyway, that dare to interfere in my con-
earns!” the Cinnabar sharp cried, contemptuously. “ You had
better not poke your nose in other people’s business or else you
may get it pulled!”

Redan could hardly believe his ears when he listened to this
bold defiance. '

“ Why, you infernal scoundreli” he cried, mad with rage,
doubling up his fist and shaking it in the face of the other, but
more he did not do, for on the instant Velvet Hand, with his
open palm, hit him a most terrific crack on the side of the face,
so violent that it sounded like a pistol-shot, and the miner, not
being braced to receive the blow, went reeling backward like a
drunken man.

Redan’s loud words had attracted the attention of the little
crowd, lounging in front of the Occidental, and they had turned
their attention to the two Just in time to see the vigorous slap
admini‘ered. '

The superintendent recovered himself in a moment and thrust
his hand behind him to draw his revolver. ‘ '

Quick and yet not quick enough! for Velvet Hand, expecting
the motion, was fully prepared for it. ‘

Springing forward be dealt the superintendent a most terrible
blow between the eyes which floored him as if he had been shot.

The bystanders ran to his aid, for he had been stunned by the
blow; and when he recovered his senses, and it was fully five
minutes before he did so, he seemed dazed and bewildered.

The crowd expected a first-clam “ shooting-match ” immediate-
ly, but, to the surprise of all, Redan did not attempt to pursue
the quarrel further, although Velvet Hand was leaning against a
post evidently prepared for the fish but the superintendent had
evidently got enough for the time ng, for without a word he
turned and walked 03 down the street toward the mine, much to
the disappointment of the anxious bystandaa

The superintendent had taken “ water."

 

CHAPTER XXIII.
wsrrmo we ran oosrmor.

01' course the news of the aflfray between the Cinnabar sport
and the superintendent of the mine soon spread around town and
one and all “reckoned ” that it would be “ shootin’ on sight ” the
first time that the two encountered each other.

Great was the astonishment of the good folks of the mining
town too when they learned the particulars of the aflray. That
Velvet Hand should be able to “handle himself ” so well—to use
the common phrase—was a matter of great wonder.

That he was not excelled as a. pistol-shot by any man in the
town was well known and few of the townsmen doubted that the
arrogant Redan had waked up the wrong passenger when he
assayed to quarrel with the most skillful card-player in all the
Shasta region.

Expectation then was on tiptoe after the news spread around,
and there was not a place of public resort in the town without
its little circle eagerly discussing the affair and waiting unpa-
tiently for the quarrel to be renewed.

That the superintendent would never be willing to “give it up
so, Mr. Brown," everybody believed, although the gosips of the
young metropolis were rather puzzled that Redan had not
pushed the affray to a summary conclusion at once.

Various were the reasons assigned for the superintendent’s
withdrawal from the scene of action.

“ Mebbe he wasn’t heeled,” one suggested.

“You see Velvet Hand had the ‘drop ’ on him,” another ex‘
plained. “ Arter he gi’n the sup’t that crack atween the eyes he
had his we’pon out to onc’t, and if Redan had a-gone fur to
draw his tool the sharp would have let daylight right through

-him,seei”

And this was the general opinion; taken at a disadvantage, the
superintendent had hauled of! for repairs, intending to renew the
quarrel at a more favorable occasion.

But what the quarrel was about—why Return and Velvet
Hand should be at sword’s point was a mystery to the entire
town. I

The two men were notxeven acquainted, and the loungersin
front of the Occidental, who had witnessed the affair from the
beginning to the end, were not able to explain how the matter
had commenced, although more than one had guemed shrewdly
at it. -

Velvet Hand had won large sums of money from Del Colma,
the Californian, the owner of the Cinnabar property; Redan was
superintendent of the mine; the mine was not prospering; Redan
had taken it upon himself to call Velvet Hand to account for
winning Del Colma’s money—had called him a cheat, some of
the party insisted; almost ready to swear that they heard the
epithet applied, so often does the imagination confuse the senses;

‘ Velvet Hand—no man’s lackey—had promptly resented the insult

(

,snomleyea In fine,

N‘whatdidhe

by slapping the face of the insulter and had then administered
the terrible blow which had so completely taken all the fight out
of the miner. '

“ They’ll have it out afore the night’s over i" was the common
declaration, and no one in the town dissented from the opinion.

And therefore the people in the various saloons were all on
the alert, ready to rush out into the street on the instant that the
warning was given that the two men were out in hostile array.

And in no better way can we show the drift of public opinion
regarding this matter than by simply stating that the betting
was five to one that Velvet Hand would plug the superintendent

Joe Bowers, who was always to the fore whenever anything of
this kind w going on, was wildly oflering to bet twenty to one
on Velvet nd, but the solid men of the town looked askance at
the greasy bummer, and no one accepted the banter.

The night drew on space, but no ringing pistol-shots breaking
the quiet of the hour told the watching town that Bertrand
Baden nndVelvet Hand had joined forces in mortal combat.

Velvet Hand was around town in his- accustomed haunts as
usual, but the tall figure of the superintendent appeared not to
he was conspicuous by his absence.

The hour of midnight arrived and the expected. meeting had
not taken place.

Quite a little crowd of loungers had collected in the saloon of
the Occidental. believing that as that locality was the common
resort of the card-sharp the hostile meeting would surely take
place there if anywhere.

And Billy King, the affable proprietor of the hostelry, having
recently fitted up the saloon with some expensive mirrors, “ first-
class Eastern style,” quietly confided to his intimate friends his
hope that the alfray would be settled elsewhere, not that he
wanted ,to interfere with any man’s fun, but the freight on the
glasses from Fr’isco up was enough to make an angel swear, and
stray bullets were no rsspeoters of property.

But as we have said the hour of twelve arrived and no Ber-
trand Redan appeared. ’

Velvet Hand consulted his watch, remarked that the hour was
late and that he “ reckoned ” he would retire, then took his
candle and marched for the door.

All within the room drew a long breath; with the disappear-
ance of the sharp the suspense would be ended, and one bold
youth, rendered desperate by curiosity, took it upon himself to
question Velvet Hand.

“Say, mister, that was as putty a thing as I ever see’dl” he
exchimed.‘ “ How-did it happen, enywayi I reckon he ’sulted

you, didn’t he!” .
“ Yes,.sir,” responded Velvet Hand, gravely, turning in the

doorway.
.. me what I reckoned!" cried the sum- youth. worm

 

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Velvet Hand. 19

 

FL

“Well, I don’t mind telling you, provided that   it H

quiet,” the sharp replied, sober as a judge.

“ Oh, we won’t mention it, honest!”

“ He said I couldn’t drink!”

And under cover of the roar of laughter drawn from the
crowd, at the expense of the eager seeker after knowledge, Vel-
vet Hand retired. ‘

By daylight then the superintendent of the mine would seek
to get square with the cool and hardy sharp.

But the marrow came and no Bertrand Redan was to be seen.

A couple of impatient souls, unable to restrain their curiosity,
made it their business to visit the Cinnabar mine with the intent
to interview the superintendent in regard to the matter.

Their curiosity was not gratified, for they found Del Colma
only, and in answer to their question in regard to the where-
abouts of the superintendent the Californian stated that he had
been suddenly called out of town on business; and, furthermore,
he had not any idea where Redan had gone or when he would be
back. ‘

And from the tenor of Del Colma’s words the listeners gathered

that he was not aware that there had been any trouble between '

his superintendent and Velvet Hand.

Eagerly then—as heme .men possessed of such an excellent ‘

story—they related how' severer the iron-fleted sharp had
handled Redan.

Del Colma listened in wonder; the cause of the quarrel was no
mystery to him. Redan was in love with Blanche; he had
suspected that for some time; the superintendent was jealous of
Velvet Hand and had essayed to drive "him from the town, and
Del Colma, with thszflparticulars of his own encounter with the
steel-muscled sharp fresh in his memory, could clearly under-
standliowRedanhadbeensoeasilydiscomflted. ‘

The superintendent had evidently left town unwilling to show
the marks of Velvet Hand’s skill upon his’han'dsome face.

In time he would return, and then, perhaps, there would be
one card-sharp less in the town, or else the Cinnabar mine might
need a new superintendent.

Del Colma was in a quandary; he knew not how to act.
Velvet Hand had spoken the truth in regard to his interview
with Blanche for the girl had shown him the diamond-ring and
related how strangely she had recovered it.

But Whither had Bertrand Redan gone and what did he seek!

In the mountain caves, beneath the shadow of Shasta’s mighty
peak, he held council with the masked men of Captain Death’s
bani and together they plotted the death of the daring Cinnabar
‘90

 

CHAPTER XXIV.
ran FANDANGO.

Arron Vnunnn was his name, and “the City of Mexico Sa-

teen” was the place that he kept.

A little yellow-skinned Mexican, evil of face and supple of con-
science; no brawny desperado, and yet few men in the town of
Cinnabar bearing a harder name. '

Within the limits of the young metropolis of the Shasta val-
ley there might be worse places than the den presided over by
the Mexican; noisier, rougher-appearing saloons there certainly
were, but when it came to mischief within the walls of “ the
City of Mexico,” it meant death.

The place was saloon, gaming-hell and dance-house combined.

In the outer apartment a man could drink; in the next there
were always six or eight beauties, more or less indebted to art
for their charms, and there the light fantastic toe could be shaken:
and the inner room of all was sacred to the god of chance, and
the flush miner, hot from the mountain gulches, with his little
buckskin bag of gold-dust, could freely risk it at almost any
game from Spanish monte down to the rude 'chuck-a-luck board,
so common to the south-western border.

And once a week—on Sunday night, too, to relate the exact
truth—there was always a grand fandango held in the saloon;

and so common had the habit grown among the miners of attend- '

ing these wild orgies, that on Sunday evening in Cinnabar if one
wished to find any prominent man, the chances were about ten
to one that at some time in the evening, varying from nine to

twelve, the party could be found, looking on at the “fun” so

strongly indulged in at the Mexican saloon.

Two out of every three who visited the place took no part in
the orgies, but were merely “ lookers-on in Vienna.”

rum the correct “thing” among the little circles into which
the inhabitants of the town were naturally divided, to stroll
down the street and take a look at the elephant on Sunday

evening, when conversation flagged and topics of interest were ,

scarce.

It was on the Sunday evening closing the week wherein the'
tray between the Cinnabar superintendent and Velvet Hand had
occurred that we visit “ the City of Mexico,” and quite a crowd
had assembled, as usual, in the Mexican saloon.

The fandango had commenced, and as was, only common, a' 1'

little group was gathered around the doorway of the dance-
hall, watching the fun; a small number of. players, too, were
within the' gaming-room, intent upon wooing the fickle god-
dess, Fortune. ‘ '

Velarde, the proprietor of the place, ever on the alert,
noticed that within the precincts devoted to the tickle daine,
were two men who only made a pretense of playing, and ever
and anon a third man would saunter into the room from
the dance-hall, exchange a few words with the two, and then
saunter out again.

One ‘man only of the three was known to the Hexican, and H
. . B I E .

M W” erlDtendentofthe Cinnabarmine, Bertrand

 

The faceor tne mmmg superintendent”! borevisiblemar‘ss
,of Velvet Hand’s iron knuckles, and the oily Mexican, know-
ing the story of the meeting between the two men, quickly
guessed that Redan was lying in wait for the Cinnabar sharp.

' The two..men with the superintendent were both utter
strangers to the Mexican; they were big, burly fellows, and from
their look Velarde judged that they were gentlemen untram-
;meled by any foolish ideas of right and wrong.

. Now the Mexican bore the Cinnabar sharpno good will; one
'evening when Velvet Hand had strolled into the place he had
'been bantered to play; few men were there in the Shasta valley
as expert'at “short cards ” as the tawny saloon-keeper, butwhsn
he encmmtered the pet of the Occidental he met his master.

Anton had never forgotten nor forgiven Velvet Hand, and
therefore he was not at all sorry when he saw preparations on
foot to double-bank—that is, amault with overwhelming force—-
’the Cinnabar sharp.

Careleuly sauntering up to the superintendent, he saluted
him. BedaIaalthough annoyedthatho had attracted the atten-
tion of the landlord, responded civilly.

ThenAntoncastarapidglancearoundhim, saw that no one
excepting Bertrand’s companion was near, drew Baden a .few
; paces away, and then came at once to business.

“You make some quarrel here, eh?” the Mexican said, speak—
ing with a very perceptible accent.

“ Oh, no,” Redan replied, annoyed that his movements had at
tracted the attention of the lynx-eyed saloon-keeper.

“Oh, yes! you nofoolmel” Anton cried, decidedly. “Both
your friends, eh!”

Andes bespoke theMexican noddsdtothe stranger by Be-

'dan’ssideand tothe other who had justre—enteredtheroom,‘

but who hesitated to approach his leader, perceiving that he
was in company with the saloon-keeper.

“Yes.” Bertrand saw thatit was useless to attempt to deny
the truth.

“ And you wait for Velvet Hand, eh?"

“Oh, no, I’m not waiting for any one.”

“ But if Velvet Hand comes you will settle with him for those
marks upon your face, eh!” questioned the Mexican, shrewdly.

“Well, what of it!"

“ You have your friend watching for your  when 

comes you will receive warning—you will step out, and than,
as he is the best shot in the town, he will kill you.”

This manner of disposing of the alfair did not agree with
' the tuperintendent’s idea at all.

“That remains to be seen,” he replied, grimly. “We
'arethres‘toone against him, and we won’t give him much
chance to use his weapon.”

The Mexican shook his head.

“This man is very quick; you must take him by surprise
to get the advantage; s’pose I tell you a way?”

“Why, what have you got against him?” asked the super-
intendent, rather astonished at this unexpected ally. '

“He win one t‘ousand dollar-son me, carambol”hissed Ve-

larde,ina panicn,his rage ris'mgashe thoughtoftheskillfnl-

manner in which the sharp had “ flaxed” him.

“Ohol and you will help me, then, in the aflalrf"

“ Yes, s’pose youquarrel—you shoot, all is fair; s'pose you no
quarrel but shoot without; it is murder; look outl the vigilante

' are sleeping now, but they will wake some time. I will show you
a place where you can secrete yourself—take deadly aim at your
man—kill him and no one know where the shot «me from, or
who tired it! How will that suit, eh!"

“Splendidlyi” cried Redan; this cool proposal of bloody as-
assination suited him exactly.

“Does Velvet Hand know either one of your friends!”

Redan hesitated for a moment before he replied.

“ Perhaps he might recognize them.”

“And he knows that they are friends of yours!

“No, but if he did recognise them it would be pretty apt to
put him on his guard."

“Do not think that they will see him and he not see them,"
Anton cautioned. “ He has the eye of a hawk. My plan is far
the best.” I

The Mexican had drawn the superintendent to one side dur-
ing this conversation so that Bedan’s companions could not over»
hear.

“le yourfriends to wait here until you return,” the Mexi-

- can continued. “ You are an expert pistol-shot?”

“ Few better.”

“Good! I’ll put you within twenty feet of him!”

“The devil must be in it then-if I miss him!”

“01!, you cannotmim if youarea goodshot. Instructyour
companions and then follow me.”

The superintendent did as he was bid. The Mexican then led
the way to the hack of the gaming-room. There was a small
door there through which the two passed. The door led into
a small room, tittedup as a bed-chamber. This was the private
apartment of the Mexican. This room and the gambling apart-

_ ment were coiled over, at the cross beams, but the dance-hall
was open from the floor to thereof. Mounting upon a chair Ve-

- larde pushed open a trap-door in the ceiling, and then resting
hisarmsupontheheamof theopen space easilypulledhimself

‘ up into the left above. Bedan followed

The two found themselves in a small left which extended
all over the gaming-room.

“ Come—tread lightly,” Velarde said.

The Mexican led the wayto the wall at the further end on
the loft which rose from the emu—beam to the roof. In the
wall was a. window about two feet square, covered with some
thin, white meshy stuff, which at a distance could not be dis-

{stmmmwhitewashedwalla 

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20

Beadle’s Dime Library.

 

.—

 

111e'window looked down into the dance-hall.

“ See, there is your man now,” cried Velarde, pointing through
the window.

Sure enough Velvet Hand had just entered the dance hall.

CHAPTER XXV.

run-mar.

“You cannot min him, eh!"

“ Well, I don’t know,” Redan replied, slowly. “ It’s rather a
long shot and the flickering lights will tend to confuse my aim.
I sha’n’t get two shots, you know. If I miss him the first time
he won’t be apt towait to let me have a second chance, and,
suppose I do hit him, what is there to prevent the miners from
discovering me up in this cubby-holel the smoke of my pistol
will be sure to betray me and they won’t show me much
mercy.”

“ You see how the room is lighted?” and the Mexican pointed
:1 the rude chandelier suspended by a cord in the center of the

oon.

“ Yes, by the chandelier. ”

“Youseewherethecordruns tothewall so that it can be
lowered and raised!”

M Y“. 9;

“Good! I will be by the cord—a sharp knifeinmyhand;
the moment you fire I will cut the cord, down come the lights—
all is dark—the crowd will swear, they will yell, rush out!
Xho- knows who fired the shot or where it came from,

'I

“An excellent plan, but unless he changes his position I am
afraid that I will not be able to hit him."

“ I can fix that, too!” the Mexican said, shrewdly. “ There
is a girl—she is fond of this Velvet Band. I will send her to
dancewithhinnand tell her to take a position on thissideof
the room." '

“Ah, that will answer."

“ Oh, I am as cunning as a fox!" the greaser cried, chuckling.
“Do not fire until you see me or my bar-keeper with the
hand on the rope of the chandelier. You see where it is fast-
ened behind the bar!"

it  l,

“ Watch well and we will go to his funeral to-morrowl” and
then, with another hideous chuckle, he strode away.

The Mexican proceeded straight to the ball-room, and as he
passed through the groups of dancers he looked carefully around
for the pert Mexican girl, Zimena.

It was the fashion for the females to come to these fandangoes
muffled up to the eyes, masked or disguised in some way, thus
carrying out the idea of a masked ball; but the figure of the
girl he was in search of was so well known to the rascally saloon-
keeper that he was generally able to detect her at a glance.

Zimena had evidently not arrived, for the Mexican was un-
able to discover her. ‘

Proceeding behind the bar he accosted his second in com-
mand, a stout Mexican with about as ugly a face as could be
found within the limit of the town.

The bar-keeper was sitting on the edge of an open window
right behind the bar, regarding the dancers with a scowl.

“No Zimena to-night, eh, Pedrol” said the Mexican.

The bar-keeper was vainly trying to pay court to the will-
ful waiting-maid.

“Oh, yes, she’s here,” he replied.

“ She’s not gracious to-night, ell" Il'he landlord guessed the
reason of the Mexican’s ill-temper.

“Thafgringo is here!” Pedro replied, with a scowl.

“And when he is here she has no eyes for any one else!"

“ And he cares not two straws for her."

“You can’t make a vain fool of a girl believe that there is
any man in the world whom she can’t get," the saloon-keepc
observed, sagely.

"He takes no notice of her at all, and yet she is always
throwing herself in his way. ”

“ Ah, women always like men whom they have to run after."
The Mexican was a philosopher.

“If this fellowwas out of thewayIthink the jadewould
listen to me.”

“ You think so, eh!"

u Ya.»

The Mexican glanced around; not a soulwas within nearer
than eight or ten feet, and all were very bully engaged watds-
ing the dancers.

“We will not be troubled with him much longer."

“ Eh!" The bar-keeper looked astonished.

“He has enemies, and they will strike him soon."

“ When—to—night i”

44 Maybe.»

The two rascals exchanged glances; both hated Velvet Hand,
but neither one dared to openly quarrel with him.

“ Where is Zimenai"

“ Yonder, at the end of the room, with the black mask and
the black gown trimmed with red; but what do you want with
her!"

“As a decoy to engage the attentions of a certain party
until the trap is ready tobe sprung."

“Oho! they are not going to give him a chance, ehl"

“No chance at all. You get by the rope of the chandelier, un-
fasten it so that you can let it go eta moment’s warning.”

“How will I know!”

“'I'hemomsntyou hear the crackof epistol."

 

“Ah, they will fire at him !” and the blood-thirsty Meximn
fairly grinned at the idea.

“Yes, we will go to his funeral to-morrow.” And with this
cheerful observation the saloon—keeper moved away in search of
the sprightly Mexican girl.

Velvet Hand, who had simply strolled into the place to pass
the time away, was standing idly by the entrance gazing upon
the dancers, when he felt a light touch upon his arm, and turn
ing in some little astonishment, he beheld afemale form, heavily
cloaked and densely vailed.

“ A word with you, sir,” she said.

The sound of the sweet clear voice sent an electric tin-fl)
through every pulse of the cool sport, and yet Velvet Hand
was not a man who cared to talk much with the masked wo
men who attended these Mexican fandangoes.

“ This way,” he said, replying instantly, although his astonh‘h-
ment was great; and as he spoke he slipped the lady’s arm with-
in his own, and drew her oi! toward the side of the room where
the benches for the accommodation of the tired dancers were
placed.

Owing to the crowd this movement excited no attention.

One man only noticed it, and that man was the superinten-
dent of the Cinnabar mine, Bertrand Redan.

From his place of concealment, with eyes alone for Velvet
Hand, notamotion of the Cinnabar sharp escaped him, and great
was his astonishment when he saw the woman accost him.

Despite the cloaked figure, despite the vailed face, Redan be-
lieved that he recognized the woman, and he set his teeth to-
gether in anger, while heavy curses, not loud, but deep, as-
caped from his lips.

“It cannot be possible, and yet it is!” he muttered, hot with
rage. “ I would not havebelieved that she could play so hold a
partas toseek thefellow here in thisden! Whatmadness
has taken pomession of herl By heaven! it will be a glorious
revenge to shoot him down right before her very eyes.” And
then the keen and calculating assassin noticed that the bar-
keeper, in obedience to his orders, had undone the fastenings of
the rope which adjusted the chandelier, and stood ready to
bring total darknsu upon the dance-hall the moment that the
signal was given.

Eagerly then the concealed man waited, with murder in his
heart, for a favorable opportunity to speed the deadly leaden
ball home to the breast of the sport, who, all unconscious of
danger, could not pouihly suspect that death threatened him so
nearly.

“Your life is in danger,” the vailed woman said in low, ears
nest tones, as they paced along the floor. “Seek not to know
who or what I am, but believe the warning I give.”

Poor girl! She fancied that her disguise was so perfect that
Velvet Hand’s shrewd wits would be baflled in guessing who it
was, and yet the evil eyes of the superintendent had pene-
trated her secret just from her figure and her walk. .

“ I am very much obliged for the warning, lady,” Velvet Hand
remarked, slowly, “ and I mist that you will believe me when I
say that I have no wish to pry into your identity; but can you
not explain the manner of the danger, the quarter from whence
it will come, and how soon I may expect it?"

“ At any moment!” replied the girl, hurriedly. “Even at this
present moment the pistol of the assassin may be leveled at
your heart.”

“ Oh. I am to be assassinated!"

“Yes, here, in this room,
sound of the pistol shot is to be the signal for the putting out of
the lights, so that the assassins may escape after dOinl “1°”
deadly work, I presume."

 

CHAPTER XXVI.
surmise ms simmer.

“Tn sound of the pistol shot is to be the signal to extin-
guish the light, eh!" Velvet Hand repeated, slowly.

if Ya." ‘

“And then, I presume, they intend to settle moi"

u Ya.”

“ Well, I shall have to' alter the programme a little, for I am
not quite ready to shuille off my mortal coil yet, but I can’t
imagine from what quarter the danger comes, for, so far, to
night I hav’n’t seen the face of a foe.”

But just as he finished the sentence, his quick eyes, ever on the
alert. caught sight ofa frowsy head projected cautiously through
the door-way which led from the dance-hall to the gaming saloon.

On the instant the cool gamester recognised the man to whom
the head belonged. It was Buck of Angels!

Little doubt now in the mind of Velvet Hand as to the

r from whence the danger threatened. Captain Death
and his road-agent band were near!

With Velvet Hand to think was to act.

“Do not be alarmed at anything that may happen!" he mid
quickly in the ear of his companion, and then with a careleu
movement his right hand was in the pocket of the loose sack-
coat he wore; be elevated the skirt of the coat a little.

The hand in the pocket grasped a cooked Derringer pistol,
lnallinsise,but likesllofthat peculiar make, carrying an
extremely heavy ball.

Then throughthe roomrungthequick, sharp report of a pistol

No need for the Mexican bar-keeper to obey the instructions
which he had received and lower the chandelier at the sound of
the pistol-shot, for the well-aimedball of the velvet sharp cut the
cord of the lighting apparatus and dewn with a thump mine
Ilerudecentrlvanca :  -~

r

at any moment, I suppose; and the' 7 ‘

 

 

21

 

 

 

The shock extinguished the lights and the apartment was in
a second plunged into utter darkness.

“Carambo!” cried the Mexican in delight, “that settles my
gentleman; he no more win a t‘ousand dollars at my table 1”

The saloon-keeper believed that the shot had been fired by the
man whom he had placed in ambush, and be nothing doubted
that at the moment Velvet Hand lay weltering in his ;;ore.

As for Redan he was completely astonished at this sudden
and unexpected turn of affairs. Mad with rage e‘d jealousy
he had taken deliberate aim at the figure or the ma» he hated
and was just about to pull trigger when Velvet Hand's prompt ac-
tion plunged the room in utter darkness

A dance had just ended and the dancers were congregated
about the bar when this sudden “dousing of the glim " occurred.
One and all believed it to be accidental and some imagined that
the report they had heard was produced by the sudden snapping
of the chandelier rope.

“Keep your placesl It will be all right in a moment!” one
cool-headed fellow shouted.

And so they did, but a dozen matches were ignited in a
second, the little flames shining like so many huge fireflies.

The Mexican had listened anxiously, expecting to hear the
dying groans of the man he hated; but, not being gratified in
this particular, he came to the conclusion that Velvet Hand had
been killed outright by the superintendent’s well-aimed ball.

Judge of the surprise of the bloodthirsty mongrel Spaniard
then, when the lights were again lit. to find no trace of the
sport. He rubbed his eyes, as if unwilling to believe that he had
seen correctly; but there was no mistake about the matter—
Velvet Hand was gone!

There were open windows in the wall behind where he was
standing; wounded, perhaps be had struggled to one of the win-
dows and fallen out.
‘ Vain surmise! for upon examination the baffled Mexican could
find no trace of the Cinnabar sharp, and still greater was his
astonishment when, consulting the barokeeper, he found that .his
assistant had had nothing to do with the fall of the chandelier.

Velvet Hand’s sudden disappearance is easily explained. The
moment the room was plunged in darkness. he drew the vailed
woman gently to the nearest window, leaped through it, and
then assisted her to reach the ground outside.

“Lady, you have done me a great service to-night," he said,
ll they walked away from the saloon; “I am deeply grateful
and wish in some way to return the service.”

“Oh, no!” she exclaimed, quickly, “ that is not necessary. It
was a bold, unwomanly step to enter such a place, but I could
not resist the impulse which told me that it was my duty to save
a fe110w-creature from mortal danger.”

“Lady, while I live I will never forget the service,” he re-
plied, with feeling.

“And now, good-night, sir,” she said, evidently embarrassed,
and halting irresolutely.

By this time they had got away from the immediate vicinity
of the Mexican dance-house, and were in quite a lonely spot,
secure from observation.

is Goa-laughth

Velvet Hand understood that she wished to retreat unobserved,
and as he replied to her farewell salutation, he politely raised
his hat.

“ You will not, I trust, seek to discover who I am,” she ob-
served, nervously, and evidently much agitated.

“ Miss, I will not attempt to deceive you,” he replied, gently
and kindly. “I know who you are, and I feel that it would
be a sorry repayment for your kindness, if Ipermitted you to
go away with the belief that you were a stranger to me. In
Cinnabar City there are few women likely to be confounded
with Blanche del Colma.”

With a quick, impetuous motion the girl threw up her vail,
thus reveahng the glorious beauty of her facetothe dark eyes
of the sport.

“1 am Blanche del Colmal” she cried, “ and 1 will not attempt
to deny it. You served me by returning the diamond I prize
so highly, and now I have repaid the service. All I ask is that
you will not reveal the secret of this night’s adventure to any
one.”

“ Most certainly not; you may rely upon my honor and my dis-
cretion.”

“ A foolish fancy, foolishly followed, has led me on to-night;
I do not regret it, for it is always sWeet to serve a fellow-crea-
tm‘e."

“ And I am right glad that it has happened as it has, although
the events of this night interfere most materially with some
cherished plans of mine.” '

The senorita looked astonished, and her great, dark eyes
were turned inquiringly upon the speaker. '

“A few.words will explain,” he continued. “ All Cinnabar
City knows me now as Dick Velvet, or as Velvet Hand, as I am
more commonly termed, but there was a time when I bore
another name—when I was something different from the mere ad-
venturer that I now seem to be, floating carelessly upon the tide
of fortune, the sport of every idle wind. Years ago I owned
the Cinnabar mine; it was my property by right of discovery;
from the wild red chiefs I wrested it and held it until men of my
own race wrested it from me. I came back here determined
to repossess myself of my property. I found your brother in pos-
session. He had a mania for card-playing; I am an adept in
handling the painted pasteboards, and I gratified his mad desire
for play. I had an object in view; he was in possession of my
Property, and I was determined ,by the aid of the cards, to regain
every ounce of gold that he got out of the Cinnabar mine. 80
w my plan has succeeded I have won from your brother
0V9? 3“ thousand JOHN‘S. double the profit that he has en-

Velvet Hand.

 

Joyed from the mine; he is hopelessly involved; the property a
mortgaged and will be sold under the hammer in a very short
time unless he manages to raise a certain sum of money. There
is not one chance out of a bundled that he can raise it. I
see the way open to again enjoy my own, when, like aspirit
from another world, your figure rises before me. You have risked
that most precious jewel of womuukind, a good name, to save my
worthless life, and now must I repay the service by driving
you forth into the world a beggar? What shall I do?”

“ Wait; give me time for reflection and then I will answer
you!” cried the girl, impetuously, convulsed by emotion, and
then she hurried away, as it she ieaied to trust her tongue.

CHAPTER XXVII.
a LAST s’rau.

OLD Father Time in his eternal flight stays not, no matter
how humbly we pray or how earnestly we curse; and so, dating
from the night when the strange interview between the haughty
California girl, Blanche del Colma and the Velvet Hand had
taken place, ten days had passed, ten days fraught with much
consequence to some of the characters in our story.

And to no one of them more than to Fernando Del Colma,
had the flight of time furnished greater matter for anxiety.

The mortgage on the Cinnabar property came due; Del
Colma was unable to raise the amount necessary to meet it, al-
though he had worked like a horse to procure the money.
But, in mining parlance, the Cinnabar property was “a bad egg."
Men shook their heads when asked to advance the sum and
take the mine for security.

The story of the lode was too well known in the town. That
lead was presided over by a demon who promised great stores
of wealth, but who invariably ended by devouring the unlucky
mortals who controlled the property.

“ Don’t you believe that there is gold in the Lode!”

“Oh, yes,” was the reply, unhesitatingly given by one and
all; “but what’s the use of the gold being there if it’s going
to cost more than it‘s worth to get it out?”

’l he story of Talbot’s bloody adventures in connection with
the mine, was still current in the town, although not a man who
listened to the legend-like tale even dreamed that bold and
hardy Injun Dick still walked the earth, and still kept watch
and ward over his old—time Wmhouse.

“Oh, no, sir,” the acute and canny men of means replied,
when asked to put up a few thousand dollars on the strike.
“No Cinnabar lode for me; no, sir, no sugar in mine. That
place has either killed or broke every man who ever had anything
to do with it. It is an unlucky bit of property; 'bad medicine,’
air. as one of the heathen bucks would say. It would really be a

benefit to the town if an earthquake should come along and ‘

shake five or six thousand tons of earth and rock right down
on top of it; yes, sir, bury the Cinnabar lode so deep that pick-
ax and spade would never be able to dig it up again."

With such sentiments common to the solid men of the town,
no wonder that Del Colma was unable to raise a cent on the secu-
rity of the mine.

Payment being refused, the summary aid of the law was in
yoked; so rigidly had the papers been drawn that there was no
chance for a delay. The court put the sheriff in possession of the
property, and a day was set for a sale almost immediately.

After the legal process was executed and the strong arm of the
law had wrested the property from the Californian, sullen
and downcast Del Colma came in to his supper.

“ Well?” Blanche questioned, inquirineg, although from the
lookuponhisfaceshe easily guessed that the worst had trans.
pired.

’ “ It is all over,” he answered; “,the mine is now in the hands
of the sherifl, and will be sold at public auction the day after
to-morrow.” .

“ Then you have lost all that you have invested?”

“Yes; there is only one chance to save anything from the
wreck,” he observed, thoughtfully. “ The mortgage amounts to
ten thousand dollars; the interest and legal expenses will be
a couple of thousand more—about twelve thousand all told.
Already I have invested double that; in fact, the mine stands
me in over thirty thousand dollars. It is good property—I
don’t care what people say about it. It is as rich a mine as
there is in all northern California, and will pay splendidly just as
soon as it gets in good working order. Now, to pay of! the
mortgage would cost twelve thousand dollars, but at the auc-
tio'n sale the chances are a hundred to one that the entire pro-
perty willnot fetch, over five or six thousand dollars, so great is
the feeling against the lode on the part of the money-men of
the t0wn—tbe fools believe that it always brings bad luck to
whoever owns it. If I could raise live or six thousand dollars,
I would buy the property in—buy it in your name, for the law
holds me answerable for the difference between the amount the
place brings at the sale and the sum due from me. ‘ Of course
as long as I have nothing, my creditors can get nothing, but
with the mine running—and I am certain that the are we are
glazing out now will pay handsomely—I could soon pay of! the

t. i

“ But five or six thousand dollars is a large sum,” the 81'“ 0b-
served. “Can you get the amount!”

Fernando drummed with his fingers upon the edge of the
table, by the side of which hehad seated himself.

“I can’t borrow it,” be observed, after quite a long pause.
“Nobody will loan on the unlucky hole.”

was

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“ Perhaps there may be some truth in the superstition; the
mine has not brought good luck to us.”

“One swallow does not make a summer,” the brother re-
torted. “It is my evil fortune; the mine has had nothing to do
with it.”

“Perhaps not; but if you cannot borrow the money, then
it is hopeless to think of still controlling the property.”

“ I don’t know about that.”

Blanche looked at her brother, inquiringly; it was plain that
he had some plan in view.

“ Do you not think that we ought to make some eflort to re-
tain the mine?” he continued.

“ It seems a shame to lose so much,” she replied.

“ That ring upon your finger is worth five hundred dollars
at the least,” he said, pointing to the diamond, which has al-
ready played so prominent a part in our story.

“ This ring!” and a burning blush sWept rapidly over the beau-
tiful face of the girl; but the tellotale blush was gone in a mo-
ment, and Fernando, busy with his own thoughts, gazing intently
upon the precious stone, did not notice it.

“Yes; if you are willing to risk the loss of the ring, I may
be able to raise five or six thousand dollars.”

“ I do not understand," Blanche observed.

“ And I cannot explain,” he replied, a tinge of haqu in his
voice. “ If you are willing to risk it, well and good; give it to
me, and I will make the 'trial, but I cannot explain to you what I
am going to do, or how I am going to do it. I know that
there is a chance to raise the money, if you will give me the
ring to work on. It is not possible that fortune will forever
frown on me; the tide must turn sometime; it is a long lane
that has no turning, they say. I am desperate n0w, and must
play a bold game; Fortune is a fickle jade, and now at the
eleventh hour she may choose to smile upon me. ”

Without a word Blanche took the ring from her finger, kissed
it, passionately—two sweet memories were connected with the
charming bauble—and then handed it to her brother.

The dark eyes of the Californian lighted up as his fingers
grasped the ring.

“ If fortune does not change, why, then, the sooner I am out of
this evil world the better!” he exclaimed.

“ While we live we may hope,” exclaimed the girl.

woman though she was, she was made of stouter stuff than
the Californian.

Fernando rose, putting the ring upon his finger.

“ Before midnight this little sparkler shall win back the urine
for me!” he announced, with a glow of triumph on his face.

Already the gray mists of the night were rapidly descend-
ing. The Californian took up his hat.

“ Will you not stay for supper!” Blanche asked.

“Oh, I have no appetite. Food will be repulsive to me
until this suspense is settled.” And then his eyes fell upon the
long-necked wine-bottles upon the side-board; the sole remains
of the famous vintage which had once repoeed so snugly in the
ancestral cellars of the Del Colma family.

“ I am not hungry, but I thirst,” he continued; and then
be filled himself a generous glass of the rich wine, tossed it
of! at a draught, kissed the sweet forehead of the girl, and sallied
forth.

Up and down through Cinnabar town went the» Californian,
and one man alone he sought—Velvet Hand!

 

CHAPTER vam.
A DESPERATE CKANO'.

V'an Hm was found at last; seatedon a bowlder on the
hill-side, he was gazing vacantly down upon the Cinnabar mine.

It was the veteran Joe Bowers who directed the Californian to
the right spot. .

“ Pard, methinks I savvey,” he exclaimed, with all that
dignity so peculiar to the bummer. “0ft in the stilly night,
when slumber’s chain holds the galoots of this hyer wicked
world, hev I see’d that velvet-coated sharp aesittin’ on the hill-
side, right above the Cinnabar strike, a-gazin’, in meditation
wrapped, down into the valley. He’s a deep cuss, he is. He goes
up thar’ an’ steadies his nerves, so that he kin flax the boys at
{char when the midnight hour draws on. He’s jest ole p’ison now,

to yer.

Acting upon this advice. Del Colma climbed the hill-side, and,
sure enough, he then found the man he sought.

The face of the sharp was clouded; it was with troubled eyes
that he looked down. upon the mining valley.

The sound of footsteps aroused him from his meditation, and,
in some surprise, he looked up. Few feet ever trod the little
trail up the hill-side.

“ Good-evening,” said the Californian, advancing.

“ Good-evening,” Velvet Hand replied, distantly, evidently
not pleased at having his privacy intruded upon.

“I have been seeking you."

“ Yes!" '

The Californian seated himself close to the other.

“ And not finding you in the town, I was directed here.”

It was quite plain to Del Colma Why Velvet Hand had selected
this nook on the hilloside, sheltered by the spreading pines and
the cone-like junipers, as a lounging place.

A short eighth of a mile away was the Cinnabar property,
and from that spot one could command a full view of the
mine and the buildings.

“One can command a fine View of the Cinnabar property
from this point, I see." ‘

 

6‘ Ya."

Velvet Hand was strangely reserved.

“ You know, i presume, that the Cinnabar property is in the
hands of the sheriff?”

“ I heard so.”
' “I owa al out twelve thousand dollars on it which I am un-
able to pay."

“That is 3 Id.”

“ And of ..ie twelve thousand which I ought to have, you
have got abmt six.”

“ Yes?”

Velvet Hand was not manifesting the slightest interest in the
matter.

“ Lost to you at cards,” Del Colma continued.

“ If a man will play, he must expect to lose sometimes,” the
sharp replied, in his cool way.

“I have lost always!” the Californian retorted, bitterly.

“I wouldn’t play then if I were you.”

“When I need your advice I will ask itl” Del Colma ex-
claimed, haughtily.

The lip of the sharp curled just a little, but he did not reply.
Possibly he saw that the Californian was in a desperate mood,
and he forbore to provoke him to a quarrel.

“ There is only one chance for me to save my property."

“ Your property!” questioned Velvet Hand.

“ Yes—the mine.”

“Oh, yes, 1 see. Well, you are not the first man whom. the
Cinnabar mine has broke.”

Wasthecool and hardy sharp a believer, then, in the legend
which gave to the golden lode the character of a destroying
demon!

“ If I had six thousand dollars I might beable to buy the
mine in at the sheriff’s sale.”

“Yes; but six thousand dollars don’t grow on every bush,"
Velvet Hand observed, tartly.

“ You have managed to make that much out of me.”

“ Do you want me to give it back?” the Cinnabar man asked,
sharply. “ Are we a couple of boys playing marbles in fun, the
winnings to be returned when the game ends?” ~

The Californian was nettled by the speech, and threw his
head up proudly.

“ I ask favors from no man 1” he cried, “and least of all from
you. I have sought you out to-night to challenge you to play.
Before morning dawns I intend to win six thousand dollars
from you.”

“ Well, if you do that, I sha’n’t be able to buy the Cinnaba?
mine, to-morrow, at the sheriff’s sale. ”

Del Colma started as if he had trodden upon a snake.

“ You buy the Cinnabar mine l” he cried.

“Why not? It will be sold to the highest bidder, won’t it!
Why shouldn’t I buy as well as anyone else? I am getting
rather tired of being a gambler—a card-sharper, that is what
gentlemen like yourself term me, althOugh you are all eager
enough to try to win the money that We gamblers risk. When
I become the owner of the Cinnabar lode, I shall be a gen-
tleman—a man of property; I can play cards, too, just the same
as ever, but I will not be a gambler any longer. You will ob-
serve that there is a great deal of diflerence between the man
who plays cards for amusement and the man who plays that
he may live.”

Del Colma winced at the sarcasm

“ Of course you are at liberty to buy the mine if you bid
high enough.” ~

“I’ll give thirteen thousand dollars for it, iflcan’t get it
cheaper.”

The Californian looked astonished; he had no idea that Velvet
Hand possessed such a sum.

“ 0h, 1 mean it!” the sharp exclaimed.

“ Will you play with me' to-nighti" Fernando asked, abruptly.

H No. )1

“ You are afraid to give me a chance to win my money back!"

“I said once that I wouldn’t play with you again.”

“ You owe me my revenge, and you are no man if you refuse
to give it to me!” Del Colma cried, hotly. “ See this diamond
ring, my sister’s jewel, given by her free] in this last ex-
tremity. It is all I have. It is worth five hundred dollanat
the least, and I challenge you to put up that sum; take the
ring, and then we will play.”

“ It’s a bargain,” cried Velvet Hand, abruptly. “I will
buy the ring from you and give you five hundred for it, and
you shall have the privilege of redeeming it at any tiine within
a month."

“ And you will play with me!" asked the Californian, eagerly.

“ Yes; as long as you have a cent of money left,” Velvet Hand
replied, with cool irony.

The two men rose to their feet, and down the hill-side to
the town they went; straight to the Occidental Hotel they pro-
ceeded,secureda room,laidina stock ofcards and candles,
and immediately proceeded to work.

The game proceeded at first with varying fortunes, but as
midnight approached luck deserted the Californian, and'with the
stroke of twelve he sat a haggard, penniless man.

The thousand dollars lay in a heap on Velvet Hand’s side of the
table.

He drew from his pocket two bags, one marked a thousand
and the other five hundred, and placed them beside the heap of
coin.

“Your sister is a charming r1; when I own the Cinnabar
mine, I shall be a suitable match r any woman in California.
I’ll put up this twenty-five hundred dollars against your con-
sent in writing to my wooing her, and take the chances of a
single cut out of the cards.”

 

 

a velvet  ' .. L28" '

 

 

 

 

In desperation the Californian consented.

He cut the cards and displayed a jack.

Velvet Hand cut and showed a queen.

“ These women always did favor me,” he said, laughing.

.—

 

CHAPTER XXIX.
ar snnnrrr’s sans.

0

Tim morning of the day appointed for the sale of the Cinna-
bar mine property came bright and beautiful.

Ten o’clock was the hour set for the sale, and quite a crowd
had collected around and about the premises as the time drew
ni h.

gProminent among the idlers who were plainly collected
out of pure curiosity, and who had no idea of investing in the
property, was Joe Bowers, who was the center of a little group,
as he generally contrived to be.

“ Oh, I tell yer wot it is, gentl’men, I know this hyer pro-
perty from A to izzard l” he declaimed with lofty accent. “I
knew it in the time when this hyer town was furst started. I
was one of the furst pilgrims that boofed it up this hyer valley.
I was! Oh, them were lively times, you bet! I’ve seen more
good old gold dust taken out of this hyer mine—why, gentl’-
men, talk ’bout yer Big Bonanzas, an’ yer Consolidated Virgi-
nia, an’ yer Mariposa grants—why, this hyer mine could knock
the socks outen any of ’em! Oh, methinks, me noble bretheren,
in me mind’s eye, Horatio, I see them times ag’in l” ,

“Get out!” cried an irreverent bystander, “this hyer mineis
a fraud, anyway! I reckon that l’ve heered all ’bout it. It’s
bu’sted every party that has took hold on it!”

“ That’s so, me noble dook: to the p’int you talk, and straight,
by jingo! but it’s a bully mine for all that! You don’t
understand; thar’s a spell onto it!” and Mr. Bowers sunk his
voice to a sort of mysterious whisper as be made this wonderful
announcement.

“A what!” cried Yuba Bill, who was in the crowd.

“A spell—a charm, gentle William!" responded the bummer.

“Oh. give us. a rest!” ejaculated the tall son of Yuba.

“ It's a sure enuil! fact!” cried Bowers. “Don’t I know
it, an’ don’t I say it; an’ wiar, oh, whar on this hyer footsteol is

the man wot says that I, Joe Bowers, kin lief Thar's blood on -

this mine, teller-citizens! I see’d the fight when good men an’
true went down like sheep with the rot; an’ the bad spell that’s
on' the place will never be worked at till Injun Dick Talbot
comes to his own ag’in."

The name of Injun Dick was tolerably familiar to most of
the crowd, and nearly all had heard some account of his connec-
tion with the settling of the town of Cinnabar; but some of the
bystanders were ignorant of the man and his doings, and one of
them, happening to ask fer information inregard to Injun Dick,
afforded the bummer, who was never so happy as when spin-
ning some outrageous yarn, a chance to go into a long story
about Injun Dick Talbot and his wonderful adventures.

Of course the veteran did not trduble himself in regard to
facts, but he just “waded in,” as Yuba would have remarked,
and told one of the toughest yarns that mortal man ever lis-
tened to. e

A few minutes before ten the sheriff, Shepard Blum, arrived
upon the ground. Blum, as the readers of Injun Dick will
probably remember, was formerly chief of police, but at the
last election had succeeded in getting in as sheriif.

With Blum came the superintendent of the mine, Bertrand
Bedan.

The good folks of Cinnabar had been on the lookout ever since
the affray between the Cinnabar superintendent and Velvet
Hand for a first-class “shooting-match." The gomips of the
town, after hearing of the discomiiture of Bedan at the hands
of the agile and strong-armed Velvet Hand, had looked to see
Redan arm himself and assault the card-player on the first favor-
able occasion. But Redan had manifested no idea of doing any-
thing of the sort, and when questioned in regard to the matter—-
some anxious souls could not restrain their curiosity—bad
simply said that be was a fool to allow himself to be drawn into
a quarrelat all, and that,asfar ssbe wssooncerned, he
should pay no further attention to the matter.

Thiswas “takingwater” with a vengeance. Cinnabar was
woefully disappointed, and the character of the superintendent
entered accordingly. As Joe Bowers bad remarked, “Things
wasn‘t now as they used to was.” Civilization had come and
the glories of the old-time Cinnabar City were on the wane.

The hour of ten arrived.

Blum mounted a box, and unfolding a legal-looking paper pro
seeded to read the terms of the sale.

“The Cinnabar mine, machinery, buildings, tools, etc., to he
sold to the highest bidder, ten per cent. of the purchase-money
to be paid when the property was knocked down, forty per
cent. more in thirty days, and the residue in one year from date."

And just as Blum commenced to read the terms of the ano-
tion,Velvet Hand, accompanied by Clint. MacAlpine, the mayor
of the town, joined the throng.

As the two came up and the velvet suit of the Cinnabar
sharp was recognised, many in the crowd exchanged glances,
and those individuals who were in the direct line between the
new-comers and the Cinnabar superintendent began to edge out
of the way. These considerate citiwns were not anxious to
interfere in any way with the settlement of the quarrel between
the superintendent and the Cinnabar man, provided the pair
were desirous of settling the matter by an attempt to “set
tle " each other.

 

But neither took the slightest notice of the other, much to the
disappointment of a great many in the crowd.

“Now, gents, let’s proceed right to business !” cried Blum,
after he had finished reading the conditions of the sale. “ ‘Tain‘t
necessary'for me to dilate upon this hyer mine. You all on
you knows the Cinnabar lode, gents, like a book, and a richer
mine don’t exist on top of this hyer airth! It’s in tip-top run-
ning order, as my friend hyer, Mr. Superintendent Reduu, says,
and I reckon he‘s posted on mining matters! Now, gents, as
life is short and time is flyin‘, we‘ll pitch right in to onc’t! How
much am I offered for this hyer mine? On behalf of the own-
are of a mortgage ag’in’ the property risin‘ twelve thousand shek-
els I'll bid seven thousand dollars!’~

This announcement took the crowd by surprise, for one and all
expected that the property would go dirt cheap. They had not
anticipated this action upon the part of the wily gentleman of
California street in that thriving burg of Fr’isco.

But these sharps had put considerable money into the Cinnabar
property, and they intended to either have their money or the
mine.

“Seven thousand dollars!” cried the auctioneer, “seven
thousand—do I hear the eight?"

“Eight thomandl” exclaimed Mr. Superintendant Bedan.

“Eight thousand dollars—eight thou—nine! Thank you, air!"
and the sheriff bowed, apparently to an individual ontbe out-
skirts of the crowd. -

Everybody looked to see who had bid nine thousand, for no
one had heard the bid; but the look was vain as far as infor-
mation was concerned, for the men in the locality where the
auctioneer had directed his how were evidently as much amazed
as the rest.

And then all at once it flashed upon the keen-witted ones
of the crowd that the nine-thousand bidders were the Fr’isco
sharps—the bulls and bears who r'oamed unchecked around the
Bank of California.

" Nine thousand—who says tent"

“ Ten!“

It was the clear voice of the Velvet Hand that spoke this
time, and Del Colma, standing gimmin by the door of the
little cottage, dull—eyed and wan of face, started.

“ Ten thousand—eleven!” another rise from the mortgages.
“ Now who says twelvei”

“ Twelve thousand l”

A woman’s voice this time, clear as the ring of a silver coin
and sweet as the breathing of a lute. L ‘

It was Blanche del Colma in the cottage door.

“ Twelve—twelve thousand—no advance,”——the Fr’isco gent:
were done. “ Twelve thousand dollars, going, going—gone !
Miss del Colma!”

Blanche had bought the mine!

CHAPTERXXX. ,
A nanrno nssn.

A wanna buy the Cinnabar mine! a nine days’ wonderl And
that woman, too, the proud and haughty Californian girl.

“ Miss Del Colma—twelve thousand dollars !” from lip to lip in
the crowd the words passed, and every eye turned to gaze upon
her, but she had discreetly withdrawn within the cottage.

Upon the face of the latesuperintendent of the mine, the cold-
visaged Redan, sat a look of angry astonishment. The prize he
hadtoiledsohardtogainhadbeenwrestedfromhisgrasp
right in the moment of apparent victory. Bedan was fully
prepared to pay ten thousand dollars for the mine, but to
“rise” twelve was too much for him.

Another thoroughly astonished personage was Fernando del
Colma. If the hoary headof old Shasta’s peak had nodded and
cried out, “Twelve thousand dollars for the Cinnabar lode!"
he would not have been much more amused

As for the other party interested in the sale, the cool and quiet
Velvet Hand, he did not seem in the least surprised, but teak
it as a matter of course.

“Why didn’t you give thirteen thousand, old man!" Clint
MacAlpine exclaimed; “thirteen would have corraled your
elephant.”

“ Oh, it isn’t mannersto bid against a lady,” the sharp replied
with a laugh; “besides, twelve thousand sized my pile. When
the blind is too much for my hand, I always ‘stay ont’ of the
game." ' '

The sheriff approached Del Colma, who was still standing
moodily by the door of the cottage, the little throng in the mean-
time rapidly 

“Ten per cent., you know, must be put up now," Blum said,
supposing as a matterof ooursethstthegirlhadbidthe mine
in on behalf of her brother.

“I know nothing about it,” Del Colma answered.

“Well, I reckonedthatyou and the ladyhadflxedthemat-
tar between you,” Blum exclaimed, astonished.

“I don’t know anything about it,” Del Calm reputed,
“ and what induced the girl to bid twelve thousand dollars when
she hasn’t got twelve thousand cents is an utter mystery to me. ”

The sherifl expreaed the astonishment swelling within his
manly bosom by a loud whistle.

“Blazes and Thomas!” he ejaculated, “ here’s a nice go! Have
I got to sell the thing over ag’in, and the hull caboodle gone!
Well, this is a sweet mess: Why, the gal must be crazy i"

“ Perhaps you had better go in and see what she has to say
about it,” suggested Del Calms. “I for one am utterly be-
wildered by her action. Twelve thousand dollars! Why, I
don’t believe that she has got ten dollars in this world. I
took all her money i) put into the infernal mine, and like a

'rfigxr'

  -. .. _ .._.,

 
 

_.__.._......‘.‘__..I

24 Beadle’s Dime Library.

 

 

hungry demon it has swallowed all and now clamors for more.”

.“ All right; I’ll go in and see what she has to say about the
thing. You’ll excuse me, colonel, if I give vent to my feelings
and say, darn these women critters! they are allers mixin’
things up 1” and thus having in a measure relieved his mind, the
big sheriff marched into the house.

like the majority of big men, Blum prided himself upon
being a lady’s man; and so, when he came into the room where
Blanche sat, he removed his hat and bowed gallantly.

“Excuse my intruding, miss, but I’m the sheriff, and I’ve
come to see about this hyer auction sale.”

“Yes?” said the girl, smiling in her cold, stately way.

As Blum afterward said, in describing the interview, “she
could jest hang herself alongside of any of them furrin queens
an’ sich, an’ nary one of them would take the starch outen her."

“You bought the mine, mix—twelve thousand dollars.”

“Yes, sir.”

“ I spoke to your brother about it."

“He knows nothing of my aflairs," said the girl, with dit-

nity.
“So he said, miss; well, there’s ten per cent. to be paid to

onc’t.”

“ Ten per cent. of twelve thousand is twelve hundred dollars,"
Blanche observed.

“ Yes, miss, I guess that is correct."

The worthy sheriff was not a man of figures, and he was get-
ting out his book and pencil to ascertain the amount, when
fihgirl spoke; but her prompt declaration carried conviction

1 .

Blanche took a buckskin bag from her pocket and counted out

in double-eagles the sum of twelve hundred dollars, a sight

which made the eyes of the stout sheriff fairly blaze. Never
before in all his life had he seen such an enticing display.

Sixty double-eagles, all arrayed in nice little piles.

“Count the money and give me a receipt, please," she said,
in quite a business-like way.

The sheriff, much astonished, mechanically did as he was bid.
This was the lady whom her own brother pronounced to be
not worth twelve hundred cents.

" Correct!” Blanche asked.

“ Quite correct,” the sherifl replied, the count finished.

Then he wrote a receipt and handed it to the girl.

“ Forty per cent. more in thirty days!" she asked.

“Yes, miss; and then the deed will be given, and the mortgage
prepared”

“Very well; the money will be ready. Good-morning."

The sheriff understood that this was a polite hint that the
interview was ended, so he gathered up the gold and withdrew
with his load, no light one, as any man will find who atr
.empts to walk of! with sixty double-eagles.

Blum marched out of the house feeling duly elated, for he had
feared that the whole “business” would have to be performed
over again, and he had no wish to figure as the victim of a silly
woman’s whims.

“ Now, whar is this durned old Californian who sed that this
air beautiful heifer war clean bu’stedl" the sherii! ejaculated,
as he strode out of the house. “ Whar is he, so I kin shake the
double-eagles at him and make him look sick—tryin’ to fool
the sherifi of this hyar durned old corral with aich a cock-
and-bull story!”

But the Californian had departed. Gloomy and desperate, he
had yielded to Redan’s suggestion that he had better try some
liquor to keep his courage up.

The wily superintendent was anxious to learn how Blanche
had possibly contrived to raise so large a sum as twelve thou-
sand dollars.

Del Colma could not afford him any information though. In
fact, the Californian bluntly declared that he believed the girl
had lost her wits, and that bidding for the mine was but the
whim of a moment.

Anxious to learn the truth, Redan hurried away, as soon as
be conveniently could, leaving Del Colma to continue the do
bauch which he had commenced.

It was not often that the Californian yielded to the demon of
drink, but when he did, he drank until bereft of both sense and
reason.

The superintendent hunted up the sheriff, and that worthy,
in reply to the question as to whether the girl had made good
the ten-per-cent. deposit, shook a handful of golden coins in the
face of the questioner.

“ Did she make it good!” he cried, exultantly; “well, now,
she did, you bet! Ponied up jest like a little man, the solid stuff,
an’ I’m betting my head ag’in a lump of quartz that she’s good
for every cent!”

Amazed and disgusted, Redan strode away, his face overcast
with a portentous frown. - -

The game was going most decidedly against him.

Del Colma came not home to his cottage that day; but as
he was in the habit of remaining absent at times without
warning, Blanche was not alarmed.

Night came and still no Fernando. Instructing Sanchez to
keep watch for her brother, Blanche retired to rest, and about
the midnight hour the sleepy hostler, dozing in his chair, was
suddenly aroused by a most rude attack.

Who or what his assailants were he could not tell, for he
was blindfolded, gagged and securely bound in an instant.

Then the midnight marauders ascended to the room where
sleeping innocence reposed.

Bound, blinddfolded and gagged, wrapped closely in a blanket,
Blanche was borne from her apartment, placed upon the back
of a horse, securely held by stout arms, and then, by a dark, cir-
cuitous mute, was carried M. ,_ .. .- .» on of Cinnabar.

 

CHAPTER XXXL
A ern access-non.

Gmir was Del Colma’s astonishment, returning home at
six o’clock in the morning, after sleeping off his debauch in a
private room at the Occidental, to discover honest Sanchez,
trussed neck and heels like a turkey ready for roasting, in the
lower, outer apartment of the cottage.

The bonds removed, it was some time before the half-strangled
Mexican could tell his story, and then it was a brief, broken, and
most unsatisfactory one.

Seized by strong hands, during his sleepy watch for his master’s
return, he had been blindfolded, bound and gagged, and so ex.
portly, that it was plainly evidu' he assailants were master-
hands at such business! Some tin .er midnight the attack had
occurred, for Sanchez stoutly pr. . .od that he had heard the
time-piece strike the hour of twelve, and it was not long after
that he had been roused from his slumber by the strong hands
griping him by the throat.

Unable to understand the reason of the attack, for the cottage
contained no valuables calculated to attract such desperate birds
of prey, Del Colma hurried up—stairs to question his sister.

He found the door of the apartment open, his sister’s
clothing scattered in confusion around the room, but us
Blanche!

And then, all at once, the unhappy brother guessed the object
of the midnight attack.

No gold or silver or precious stones had lured the night-hawks,
but a single jewel that in the olden time would have purchased
a king’s ransom.

Blanche had been abducted!

But by whom?

To one man only the suspicions of the frenzied brother pointed.

Eagerly he tried the charges of his pistols, put fresh caps
upon the nipples, and then, thrusting an ugly-looking, long
Spanish knife into his girdle, he sallied out, blood in his eyes,
murder in his heart.

Straight to the Occidental Hotel he went.

An all-night party were just emerging from the hotel, intent
upon getting a breath of the pure, fresh air of the morning, so
deeply laden with the balsamic odor of the pine groves, after their
prolonged vigil at the card-table.

There was the mayor of Cinnabar, Clint MacAlpine; the gay
and festive Billy King, the popular landlord of the Occiden-
tal; Leo Pollock, the principal store-keeper of Cinnabar, as wild a
coon after business-hours as the best of the “boys,” Judge Bob
Candy, the expreu agent; and last, though not least, the sharp,
Velvet Hand.

'Oh! it was a high-toned party! So any citizen of the town
would have assured you; more manhood to the square-inch than
you can often find, search the wide world over!

Straight up to Velvet Hand the Californian walked, and pull-
inga revolver from his pocket, ready cocked, fired straight at the
handsome face of the Cinnabar sharp.

For once in his life Velvet Hand was taken entirely unawares,
coming down the steps of the hotel, full of life and fun, for this
“high-toned” party never met for the express purpose of win-
ning each other’s money; card-playing was but a secondary
object. True, they played, but for small stakes, the bets limited
to a quarter-ante, and wild betting frowned upon—it was the
festive game of poker they enjoyed. A little wine was drank,
but not enough to hurt any one of the party; they came to-
gether for the sake of fun, and with joke and song and story,
they enjoyed the fleeting hours; and the sad, gray light of the
early morning stealing in at the curtained windows saw quite a
different set of faces from the haggard countenances that sur-
round the professional gambling-tables when the aurora gilds the
eastern skies.

As we have said, Velvet Hand was completely 0! his guard. He
had not even noticed the Californian until the latter sprung for-
ward and pulled the trigger of the revolver.

But the star of the sharp was surely in the ascendant that
morning, for the hammer of the revolver fell without exploding
the cap.

The over-caution of Del Colma had defeated his murderous at»
tempt; in fresh-capping his weapon he had neglected to forcethe
cap down upon the face of the nipple, and this neglect had re-
sulted in a miss-fire.

No chance for the Californian to rech the revolver and make
a fresh attempt, for in a second Velvet Hand caught him by the
wrist, and adroitly twisting it, until Del Colma fairly groaned
with pain, forced him to drop the weapon. And at the same
time, too, Clint MacAlpine and Leo Pollock seized the infu-
riated brother in their strong arms.

Del Colma was instantly recognized.

m; Good heavens! Del Colma, are you mad!” MacAlpins

“Let me go!” the Californian exclaimed, hoarsely; “ this
man has wronged me almost beyond belief. Let me go, Isay!
It is his life or mine!”

“Let him go, gentlemen, if he will have it!” Velvet Hand said
in his cool way. “As I am a living man I never wronged him in
any way, shape or manner, but if he wants satisfaction, I’m not
the man to cry nay to him! All I’ve got to say i8, that I want
a fair chance for my life, and if he’s insured, I’ll give his heirs
a chance to make a stake out of the company.”

“No, no!” cried MacAlpine quickly; “this sort of thing has
gone quite far enough! Why, Del Colma, I took you to be a man
and not a cowardly assassin. I don’t know how you manage
things where you came from, in Lower California, but up here in
the Shasta region, we call a man who pulls a pistol or draw: a

 

 

 

Velvet Hand. 25

 

 

knife upon another without giving him fair warning, adamned
coward!”

Del Colma’s face first grew red and then pale as he listened to
this disgraceful accusation.

“ Oh, I am mad, I know it!" he cried wildly. “ But you do not
knowhow thismanhaswrongedme; andIamas achild in his
hands in a fair fight!”

A frank confession, certainly!

“ Why,Velvet Hand, what have you done to him!” Judge Candy
asked.

“ Nothing at all, except play cards with him,” the sharp replied,
promptly.

“ Oh, it is not that, gentlemen!” the Californian exclaimed,
quickly. “ He has abducted my sister I"

There was a general exclamation of astonishment at this
charge.

“ Yes, gentlemen,” Del Colma continued, “this very night "
-—in his excitement he forgot that another day had dawned—“ this
villain, with armed romans, broke into my house, bound,
blindfolded and gagged my servant, and then carried off my sister
Hanche! Just after midnight the deed was done, and am I not
justified in killing such a wretch!”

“0h, nonsense!” Clint MacAlpine said. “I can prove a clear
alibi for Velvet Hand! I met him at the auction sale this mom-
ing, and he hasn’t been out of my sight five minutes since that
time up to the present moment I"

“We can all bear witness that Velvet Hand has been with us in
a room in the Occidental ever since nine o’clock last evening!”
Judge Cand declared.

'nreheadzftheCaliforniau ;lnhisblind,un
way he had instantly fixed upon elvet Hand as the author of
the outrage without a particle of evidence to connect him  it
in any way, except that he believed that the sharp desired the girl.

“Gentlemen, I will swear to you, by any oaths that a man
should hold sacred, that I knowabsolutelynothing in regardto
this sad affair,” Velvet Hand said, impresively, and there was
not one in the circle, not even the half-crazy Californian, who
did not believe he spoke the truth. “ But I have an idea who is
the author of the outrage, and I’ll have the girl back again
within a week if she beliving, or lose my life in theattempt."

“ I’m with you!” MacAlpine cried.

“Count me in!” exclaimed Candy.

“And your humble servant, also," added Pollock.

“I’m your mutton with the wool on!” the ever-impre-ihle
Billy King yelled.

“Thank you, gentlemeth one man alone can aid me at
present; my old Indian ally, Mud-turtle. As luck has it, he is at
my little ranche at the upper end of the town. Within two days
expect to hear from me.”

And then Velvet Hand hurried away.

 

mm
emu-mum.

OmelearofthetownofCinnahar,theahductorsof the
unfortunate Blanche—there were three of them, all closely db
guised inblack desks and masks—rodeintothetrailleadingup
the Shasta stream. .

Onelookatthe persons of theoutlaws, anditiseasyto recogs
niae Captain Death and his road-agents.

Straight onward they pushed, following thetrail closely. They
left the river just at the commencement of the McCloud Can
yon, and circled around the rocky wall, passed the junction of
the Angel’s Bar trail with the main road, and then plunged
into the well-wooded wilderness, sweeping from the crest of
the McCloud Canyon to the westward.

Captain Death rode on ahead, the peerle- form of the abducted
girlmhisstrongarmawhile close behindhimcame thetwo
road-agents.

“ Not for the cave to-night, eh!" questioned the worthy, who
had called himself Buck of Angel’s.

“No,” replied the other. the evil-faced Joe Smith.

“ A new hiding-place!”

“ You bet I”

“ The captain’s head is level!”

“ Oh, you can go rocks on that!” replied the other.

“The cave is played out now; no good in the cave since that
velvet chap slipped through our fingers as sleek as an eel," the
man from Angel’s declared.

“ Where are we bound, I wonder!"

“Blast if I know! The captain is a close-mouthed chap; he
don’t let nothin’ out.”

“ What’s the ideo of takin’ the gal away!” I

“ Make her folks come down with a big pile to get her

’in!”

‘8“ That’s a bully idea!" thought Smith.

“Oh, yes; the captain has got a head on his shoulders.”

“’Sposen they don’t come down with the dust quickly!"

“The captain will cut ofi one of her pretty ears and nail it
up in the streets of Cinnabar, as a gentle reminder to her folks
that he is in a hurry,” the rufilan replied.

“ Ah. that will fetch ’em!"

The party turned into the little open defile above the McCloud
Canyon, through which 1.1 the water-courts, evidently the cause
of the canyon’s formation. '

The moon. a round, bright - ball, still high in the heavens, wu
shining brightly, so that the defile was almost as light as by day.
" ptain Death reined in lab steed,and hisfollowersdidlike-
wise.

 

The road-agent leader castasearchingglance around him, and
then, placing his fingers in his mouth, whistled shrilly.

His followers, astonished at the action, looked eagerly around
them, anxious to observe the result of the signal. And totally
astounded were they when from a hidden covert amid the rocks,
like the lair of the wild beast, a painted, feather-ornamented
chief rose to sight.

In a trice the road-agents had their revolvers in their hands.
They feared that they had ridden into an Indian ambuscade,
but quickly and sternly Captain Death allayed their appre-
hensions. _ ‘

“ Put up your weapons, you fools!” he cried. “ The chief is an
ally—a friend !”

“Ugh! chief—white man’s friend all time!” and the warrior
slapped his brawny, naked breast with his huge paw.

“ Pore are your warriors to take the gier demanded the road
ngen .

“Here—ready! Come!” replied the Indian: and in obedience
to the chief’s command four stout warriors, bearing a buffalo-robe
between them, advanced from their hiding-places among the
bushes.

The bufialo~robe had stout saplings fastened alr'ig two sides, so
that it formed arude sort of a litter.

Into this receptacle Blanche was deposited, still wrapped se-
curely in her blanket, and still tightly bound.

“All is understood, chief!” Captain Death questioned

“ Yes, me thinks so."

“You are to keep the girl safely until I come for her, and
you must be careful that no knowledge that the girl is with you
reaches any of the whites."

“ Me be careful.”

“Because if it was found out that the girl was concealed
among your mountains there would be a swarm of white men up
here after her.”

The Indian drew himself up proudly and smacked his chest
again with true savqe dignity.

“Not all the white men who dig in themudcandrive the
red chiefs from the hills of their fathers!” he cried.

“Ah, juststicktotlntandiftheydo cosnegivethemawarm
reception." .

“The red-men can either fight like the mountain lion or
play at hide-and-seek in the woods like the fox.”

“And when you deliver the girl safely into my hands, I will
give you twenty-five rifiee—as good guns as any that the white
men have.”

“Good; Injun want long gun—shoot far.” .

“Oh, you shallhave them; thebest the market affords.”

“Injun gladthathiswhife brother is ”

“I’ll be as good as my word; keepfaithwith meand you
will have no cause to repent it!”

“ Injun always keep fai Injun—no bad hearts in the
tribe,” replied thebrave with, stolid dignity.

The road-agent leads- glanced upward at the moon, now fast

waning.

'“Mornlngwill soon be here andwe’vs gotalongrlde before
us. Insomanydays," andCaptain Deathheld up five fingers,
“ I will meet youhere ”

The savage gravely displayed five fingers and nodded.

“ You understand!"

“ Yes, chief know.”

“And I’ll bringarifie with mass a ample oftherest.”

“ It is good!”

Perfectly plain now to the twc road-agents was the course
which the bold Captain Deathhad followed. He had continued
to ally himself with the Indians, and so had provided a safe re-
treat to place the girl, secure from all danger of discovery.

But to the mind of the suspicious road-agents it was like
playing with edged tools to have any dealings with these uncer-
tain, tricky red-men, and right glad were they, therefore, when
Igaiptain Death bade the red wolf good-by and gave the signal to

e on.

The red-man gravely said, “How,” after the stolid fashion of

:ismrace; then Captain Death and his band rode away down the
e e.

Fifty paces thethree whites had gone, their figures darkagainst
the pale moonlight, when the old savage raised his hand high
above his head.

A signal it was—a signal for blood and slaughter, for on
the instant, a whistling arrow hurtled forth from almost every
tree and bush on the sides of the defile.

Down went the three road-agents, transfixed with the keen-
pointed, barbed shafts. '

Writhing in the terrible agonies of death upon rocky, sterile
soil, lay the outlaws, a dozen arrows in each breast.

And this was the way that the old red butcher Koo-choc, the
McCloud chief, kept faith with the white man.

A few minutes and the death struggles were over; cold and still
in the moonlight, With rigid, convulsed faces lay the dreaded Cap-
tain Death and his two right-hand men.

The Indian had avenged the plunder of many a hapless emi-
grant.

And now what earthly power could tear Blanche from the iron
grip of the red McCloud!

CHAPTER XXXIII.
ran wanwnmn’s nmoa.

Hmnupamidthelavarocks,flghtundertheshadowsofgreat
Bhasta’speak,wasthechiefvillageofthelic0louda

v_r._-n .4._-';..u.. -a,_J.—.. . .

__ a“... ._.-____n..._., ._..._-. ... . .,._,

28 H V‘Beadle’fsfiime library.

 

neavmg 'a «acumen: to strip are magnum whites or their
arms and Clothing, the old chief, with the rest of his band, toot'
up the line of march for the McCloud village.

Perched among the rocks like an eagle’s nest, it was no idle
boast of the old Chieftain when he asserted that he laughed at the;
power of the white man. ‘

Through the green mountain’s gorge ranya limpid stream. By
the borders of the water-course the ponies of the tribe ‘fo'und
excellent pasture. The woods around abounded in game, the
streams in fish. It was, in truth, a very silvan paradise!

Above and below the little valley the gorge contracted. A

sentinel posted below the Valley could easily detect the approach
of a foe insufficient time toallow all the non-fighting members

(if the 'village‘to'take to the hills; and,protected by the natural,

fortifications, "the rocky raiiiparts', ‘rijsu'lg in regular successive
lines, the red warriors could hope'td inak'e a stubborn resistance
against a force double their own in number. .

At the upper end of the valley the tent—whickee-up-tepee—_
or Wigwam, as the skin-covered habit’ations of the wild sons of.
the desert and the wood are variouSIy called—cf the old chief
was situated. ,

It was a larger habitation than any other lodge in thevillage,
and immediately behind it was another Wigwam, comm ' 'cating
with the first by means of a skin door, but much smaller in size.

The captive girl was carried directly to the 'inrier w‘igwam,
placed upon the ground, still in the litter, and then the sturdy
redbraves, who had acted as beasts of burden,.withdrew, andin
their place came the son-eyed, gentle-veiced Indian maid, Hula-_
haha, the Water-bird. -

With kindly hands she unbound the lashings which confined
the limbs of the white maide ,, gr moved! the bandages from
round her head,  allowed or "once more breathe the free,
air and enjoy the blessing of here‘y‘esig‘ht.  ' ' V , g
_ Nearly stifled had Blanche been I? the rude muffler, and her
mulls Weresor'e from‘theii‘loirg c'oh em’en't, ,"_ ' I V I . I

Theint'erion ofpthe lodge was. ' ite dark, for the cold, gray
lighter tlie‘morning, ’sreelmg' has» so swiftly ov'er the eastern

11,193, had 9.0" ywipéhetfated '90- lihé v.01: the IndianWiE—E

“ on, Virgin Mother! where am ,li’: cried Blanche in j 'r','
upon mo‘i’efln‘g the use or her «one, h‘fld‘Vhinfy ende'iivo rig cg}
her e es,_whi<':h, keen afs,theyywere,’cbifld not peiie‘ rate'tll‘
. leis. lilclréurromdedherw ‘. ' , .. ., A. . ,.
' “In the tillage or them Mommas, by great Shh’sta's p'oak',"g
repliedtheIndiangirh V  ‘ ,   ,
“And you,,who .areyOu that‘soeak to inner. Your ‘voi'eei.
familiar!” . , 1 .. ' ., ‘ i ..
, “Hula-helm; .thewater-bir the, higher of. tween, the
flag, the filth chief of the M lo  H the bird [$131qu

the. Diamond 'l.,ca. e 00.. '  .8 6, rid- lfiéé’ an'
as. names... gnl- n.1,. .3: ., 

dthen back toggli-  't no 99’ ‘e to ".‘i’nblfanc'
all; filtei‘view‘w’ith :he girl. * - ' ' ‘

“ And is it you who caused me to. be brought herei?’ she 
 . .. ~ mi '1' '- I
 “0h, n8,“ answered the Waterway“,

i th M lo ds id in 
0 e .11 , Wow. nothing.  6‘ ;, ‘. .. 9Ur_.. ’ r
are you n “the'belbi‘efifsql‘fé ' white‘ghifl?’ , p. 

In truth, this savage maiden was a noblb'iivbmaii, despite the
fact that she'was but almountainvwild—Iflowerlthat'hadgrowmto
womanhood with as little training as the free pineaon, the sides
of Shasta’s snow-crowned peak. , , - . . . .

“And why was I broughtihsre, then?” , , ,

,.The Indian girl evaded the question; she know, only too well,
why the old chief had so, gladly embraced the opportunity to get,
the white girl into his clutches. but she-shrunkfromtelling the
terrible truth. . V

“Bad white men carried my sister from her b

, . . lodge dqvm‘
the river where the gold diggers live, and they pal theT red-man
to receive my sister and keep her safe for them.” k,
_ ‘g‘ And these white men are .to come for, me, then?" asked
Blanche, unconsciously, her brain in a whirl ,at this strange
stor . _
“$10, the white men are dead.”

. {‘ Dead l” a H ,
“The warriors of the McCloud killed them; my skter is
arranged for the wrong, they did her,” _ l . .1

.Blanche shuddered; terrible the ts were inher mind. 
red chiefs had evidently leagued w 'h the white men who lnni
committed this fearful assault upon her, and than, when they had
fairly lured the whites into their hands, had  slaughfi
cred them. ,What fate was she reserved for! What mercy ooul
she expect at the hands of these blood-stained sayage's. ' 4

. ,“ Oh, you m a woman like myself!” Blanche oped, iniplor-
ingly; “ can you not aid me, to escape from this terrible peril?”

“ I cannot,’,’the'1ndian girl replied,

sadly.
V“ To what terrible fate em I doomed?” the hapless girl cried in

38011 - v , i.

Th: heart, of the  maiden was touchedyby the piteous cry.

“ Let my'sl's'ter lis ' ” she ss'i‘d, sinking her voice to a whisper,
evidently afraid lest she should be overheard; “ when the great
white chief, the Velvet Hand, hears that his singing-bird is go
he will know where to look for her, for he knows the plans 0
the red McClouds. He will come to the McCloud village. The
Water-bird will be on them; ‘fi'é‘hwill see the chief and tell
him all; then he will come and take the white bird away, for he
is a great warrior and, he McClouds, are afraid of him.”

The Indian maid spo e confidently, and yet her words afforded
but little consolath to the achlns he“; 6! a Californian girl.
.e-Wbt slush . Wm! .07 . vs dammit he
might be.  . .  9 3310‘? 0.;91, Inflnfiwmim

e

leagued against him? thought we. madness. 0 hardy

 

dunner" men would but los‘e his own life in endeavoring to
rescue her. , , ,

“ "‘ Oh, no, do not tell' him that I a'm'here unless he comes with
a, force strong enough to overpower, the Indians!” she exclaimed;
u‘single-handed, he would but be lured to his destruction l”

’ The light of the morning had now penetrated into the lodge, so
that the two girls could plainly see each other.

. The water-bird shook her head; it was plain that she had
much more faith in the skill and prowess of the Velvet Hand
than the Californian maiden, but then Blanche knew nothing of
the past career of the man; was totally ignorant of the wild and
daring deeds which had made the white chief of the Shasta tribe
9'. very demigod to the simple red-men of the mountain land. _
, “The great red chief will come soon,” said the red maid, With
a glance at the scanty costume Of the captive; " will my sister
wear the Indian garb while she dwells in the McCloud village?”
, Right gladly Blanche accepted the offer, and ' soon she Was in
dress a very daughter of the McClouds. With her jet-black hair
and dark skin she did not look unlike an Indian girl when attired
in the forest garb. , y _ ,

And then the Indian maid prepared al'rude breakfaSt, of which
the. captive ate heartily; she was young, strong, and nature
craved food. ' .

d The meal dispatched, the water-bird withdrew, promising to
return Soon. ' _

Two, three, four hours passed away, and the sun was high in
the heavens, when Blanche heard a sturdy, s'tep  the outer wig-
w'am; then the skin door Was abruptly pushed aside, assassin,
br _wny chieftain stalked into the apartment, and, with his little;
glittering black 'eyes leered covettlusly at the helpless captive.

It was Koo-choc, the Hog!

 

'i  -!nc'

Vognnnnmw. - 1'”

~laws-kr- worsen-rm burn. ' v v

m heart of the Californian girl sunk within her as she looked
upon the ugly, gross, y chieft'ain. ' . g ' 4
No man inns right mind, eculd peasibl decidethat 'tlie 91d
McCIoud warrior had any pretensions to good looks, and not one
omap , t of ten thousand _ white or red, but would we
f " edliini tote positivelyhideous. , ." V 
a e  pr" pared himSelf for the o’c'c‘asiOn “1035136. had
adhrn‘ ' "face wit 'fresh rel-million, had 3011an his handsomest

attir and stood before the mai n,he  (an-Evita," ' d
in a: regal magnifl' cement-“iian 'p “arm
all!

“ How?" said the old warrior,>opening the conversation after
the approved fashion common to the frontier.

Blanche bowed her ghsad ,inhswlutati , fixing her brilliant
black eyes full upon the ugly face of the o d savage, as if expect.
ingtoreadherfate-there." "A ""'i *-
uzu“het the white  mmbb,”voontinud the «blah-4‘6
deisuufe‘asthamannhin eagle‘th sky!" .. v ~ n
quWhat. Meryl The.bird4>f.Jove bore Basalt-on free
while she was a helpless prisoner—a captive song-bird. . - . .
», .‘i'mabad whitewash, who stole the pale flower from her
home and people, fell by tbe_bauia of: the. red. WaMM;'¥1fib°
mountain gulch. Let in. whitebini taro hamper too-me
deadmnnd their scalp hang in the smoke oi the MoCloudzwig-
warns. , _ v. i _ I

“And you will send me back to my people?” the girl ,ques-
tinned, eagerly. 9‘ They will reward you well, and say that you
are a true friend to the white men.” . . v a

 rod chief. drew himself up proudly.

e i‘Kepicbmn the Hos. is like the mountain 1in, he. is kins over
the land of Shasta; he is no friend to the false white men who
“,;ip‘;§hfl, earth like thebeaver; he is their toe, and when they
come up the river beyond the McCloud canyon, he will take a
stick and drlYchem, back. . The red chiefs aratimd of the white
man; soon the Modocs will raise the'wamshgut, had all the
painted braves of Northern California will join in the cry; we’ll
drive the white man back to his foothills, where he can dig in
the dirt as much as he pleases!" , , ‘

4 Hope sunk in Blanche’s breast as she listened to this bragging
brute. ,, ,

“No go back to the big lodges of the pale-face,” the old
warrior continued; “stay here with in! ,redrmen. Koo-ch00, the
Hpg, is, a ;m Warriormnfi lied cbletllr the. North dare dispute
his power; very great chief—three squaws,_;l,njun squaws, old,
ugly,” and here the painted beast made a,grimace, “but work
heap; The chief wants”! ,white,squaw,,young, tender; the white
bird will do; let her say that she will come and dwell in the
lodge of the great McCloud chief, and she shall be as a queen
over his nation.” . A

Thu-was a fate far worse ,emn than death to the beautiful,
high-spirited Californian girl. The lea-slave of this heathen
monster, whose hands were red wi= e118 blood of helpless vio-
tims; whose soul was _ with a thousand crimes—oh, the
most horrid death that human ingenuity could possibly invent
would he, who indeed compared to such pollution as association
Withth-

But she was a helpless captive, far from home and friends, in

the almostiumuihb mountain! tributary ‘70 amt SW;
what, possible change wu,,thmg for her to escape from the
WI tense closelyzim

a! - . . . V
With gloating eyes the o d red wolf looked upon her; noted the‘

beauty of her face. the matchless perfection of her well-rounded

 

 

" 

a... My...“

 

 

as- v- a... ’.
,  ,m‘

Velvet Hand. 

 

(dim; and all these charms were his—his to possess and control,
for was she net helpless in his pewerl and what man so mighty—a
what chief so' bold as to dare to attempt to step bctWeen the red
McCloud and his prev! '

The skin door was abruptly drawn aside, and a warrior stuck
his head’in. '

“ Ugh?” cried Koo-ch00, in a tone ofquestion.

The warrior beckoned for the old chief to approach, and then,
when he did so, whispered in his ear.

Velvet Hand and a strange red warrior had come to claim the I

Indian girl!
.The 7win old warrior was startled at first at the circumstance,
and he cast 'a suspicious glance at the white captive. Did the

pale chief know‘thatshe was in the McCloud village, and had hd‘

come with the intention or rescuing her?
A moment’s reflection dispelled the idea; all the warriors had
been strictly wdrned not'to mention'the presence of the captive, '

and itwas clearly impossible that Velvet Hand could know that l

the gin-was in the Indian village, even if he'knew that she we:
missing from the white lodges. .‘

“ Take ‘him him the outer lodge and send the Water-bird here,”
whispered the chief to the other.-

When the girl arrived he Committed the prisoner to her care,
\nd passed into the outer lodge, where he found Velvet Hand
Jeated upbu a pile of skins. The strange Indian, Velvet Hand’s
companion, who was the trusty Blackfoot, Mud-turtle, was out.
side ‘the lodge in charge of the heroes. ‘ 1

Velvet Hand rose as the old warrior approached. « w ‘

“Let the white chief speak low, " continued thelohief'; "-‘ one ot-
tflelh‘est- btftaenccmiu warriors a mu- to death within. He
slee , and to wake isto die.” I '1

'  wiiyjpun was to prevent the votes 0113116 waits mailman
reaching the helpless captive within ' -"

{‘i will be' careful,” the'white answered. . ‘
“The red‘Mcmoud is glad to se‘eliis brother; what does he
seek?” ‘ ~

“Hula-hate, the Water-bird." 

“ Ah, my brother has concth tdkb ‘thb nmww'lasa 
old rascal affected to be amazingly pleased.

“Yes, if the McCloud chief, of the same mind as when we
last talked together.”

“The red McCloud is like the peak of Shasta!” the chief
declared, loftily. “ He never changes 1”

‘ ’ Wit. a . .--

“But the chief was to favor the ficCloud  whzr—e‘is

the White flowed? ‘ g I my. . .~- ~ wl—n
“Safe ix’im ‘ 8m hughtX habw‘," the Cin-

nabar sharp answered, carelessly. .“ I will do the best I can for

QWJLilA  that. will require much time. Wemust,
 Id: 5 “variable oppodunityJ’ ‘ . ' ’ ,

disarm: .msndsi’nha old. man said, slammed:

gemtgnantly. “ 1111;“ is _in_ yo hugygthe time will come when his
ro er can he ' ” , .. ,.

“on, yatflaidfilbl‘iwfihm 

Surely “impound parthe'o‘m sited ed in his mm '_

“Yonwiiltakethesquawwlthyuunowf' , 

‘.‘ If it suits you.”~ ., ' '

’ “ You have, hdx'se'sl"

“They wait without.” .

g “It is good! Koo-choc, the Hog, will keep his word,- you shall
have the red squaw." " , . f , V ‘

“I am much obliged, and some day I may be able to return
the favor.”  . I ,.

_. “The heart of the red McCloud is big-die always k'e’ep'slhil ‘
word,” and the old' scoundrel placed his hand upon his chest and,

' ned. I _ . I _
anl the chief tell his people that the Watér-bird it anodtto
depart with the white warrior, so that he may haves free 
sagethrong‘h the village!" ‘

“ The pale brave has a big head—thinks much,” observed the ,
chief in compliment. Then he advanced to the door of the lodge
andstuckhisheadout. H V _ I . e

“Let my people give free passage to the pale ‘chiéf,’his red
brother, and the Water-bird who goes with them!" he cried,-.
then he drew in his head and turned to speak to the white, but
before he could perform the motion a powerful hand caught him
by, the neck.

 

CHAPTER xxxv.
A son» orsau-rom

'I‘r' was the strong hand of the Velvet sharp that griped the
wawny neck of the Indian, choking him until he was black in
the face, and with the other hand the agile white applied a sponge
soaked in chloroform to the nostrils of the old red butcher. .

The MCCloud chief struggled for a minute or two, but gradually
mkened, and finally went down all in a heap: the power of
Velvet Hand’s muscles add the odor of we potent drug combined
were too much for the old scoundrel. . ‘

Quickly, than, into the inner lodge pamed the Cinnabar man.

wannabe m already pmpared for the desperateattempt. The
Water-bird had covered her head with her owu blanket, And, as
the two girls were much alike in stature, the disguise wee an
etcellent one. ’

Blanche thus prepared for the perilous attempt, Velvet Hand
took" some of the lashing which had been used to confine
Blanche’s limbs and tightly bound the Indian maid. This was
to give color to the story that she had been surprised by the
daring white and frightened into silence. and so save her from

 

the areal rage or the, old chief when he titanium from his
death-like swoon and discover-that hisrprey had escaped him.

Through the opening in the lodge’passedthe white and the dis-
gulse' d girl. . .. .

Mud-turtle was already in’the sadflgfandhemaiiaged his horse
so as to cover Velvet-Hand as be mounted and swung thegirl up
on the saddle behind‘him. . p ;

Through the Indian village they rode, passed the pickets at the
lower end of the pleasant valley, and entered the gloomy gorge.
Once in the gorge, out of sight of the Indian encampment, they
pushed their horses to their utmost Speed.» .

Within ten minutes "after the departure of the fugitives the
old Chieftain recovered from his Moon. Rising to his feet,
staggering like a dnmhen man from-the effects of- the drug, be
rushed into the inner lodge, and when he discovered the Water—
bird, bound hand and foot and apparently insensible—Velvet
Hand hall instructed her how to‘ pretend to be overcOmeby the
effects of the drug—and no white maiden to be seen, his rage
knew ho bounds. '

Then there was mounting in hot haste, but the fugitives had
far too much the start, and after following the'escaping party
down the valley to within sight of the smoke of Cinnabar,
reluctantly the red butcher gave up theohase and sought again
his mountain home.

.Lit'tle conversation passed between the fis’gitivesduring their
headlong ride, and after they arrived at Cinnabarthere was no:
chance, if they had been so inclined, for the whole town turned
out to receive the  " ’

‘H’fterwdep‘ostting the weary Blanche lat hr home, the velvet
sharp was the hour)! the hour, and it was only by great labor
that‘he‘  from the «Iowa and mught the rest he so much
needed after the toils of his perilous attempt. 41.3  u} g. :1- . .. I

About the only man in the town who did not seem to
wild with delight at the complete success of Velvet Hand in
rescuing the Californianegirl from the deadly peril in Which she
had been placed, was her brother, Fernando del Colma.

His face was gloomy, his manner abstracted; as the free-spoken
miners openly said, he either‘ didpjt‘ care much for his sister or
else he had something Making of! his ’

In the evening, after Blanche had fully recovered from her
fatigue, Fernando attempfifi-to‘dum her in regard to where
the alone): has! manual with it its. wbousht the. Cinna-
bai‘erqurty. but . the sittinsuafiu  ‘ ‘ ‘ utterly remote
satisfy him, on that point, and when he‘madesomo meeting to-
mark in _ to‘the' ,m,’  had sandblyme‘scimd‘herfrom-
the powér' o the ruthl McGlohd, 'she turned upon him with
fieryindixmtionv  7' iii; ':-...z:: ‘I > i; I.-;: a; 

.Fémeda. anemia-tam the stem,lsft.-th9-§ouse; all his
old-time influence over the girl seemed to have vanished. g

Velvet hand was them“ it; and from the very bottom of
Mahala. he cursed, tteCinnsbqrehsrp-x:  . -: . .

Time passed an. The form  farmhecianabumtm.
 and was mflrmfids muchmfihe 
alipztor it seemed to he am» everyonewhu-e the girl
promredtthonez. a. 2.51;.“ . , 1 .- .g V -

On the night cube. earth» steel-rm» had m.m.
velvet Ham-lounging in the Want part of the Occidental,
wasth 'bysmesssae'thatalady wishedtoseehiminthe
m 1'0 - ' _ , I .

fatally.» a, less. to guess whethe lady was,_for his female
acquaintances were not minus inCinnahar, he proceeded to
tha'x'eoeptiou'romn. . - .. . . .,  ~ g, .

A lady, deeply veiled, “anemia. but it Only neededa glance
to tell the keen eyes of the sharp that it was the Californian girl
Whohadsoushthim. . .~ . . 

‘f Good-evening, Hr. Velvet," she.sa.id.jrisiug at his approach,
ands‘mndinshstmwitehmdmkly- .   

He just touched the velvet palm, but there was a thrill in the
W Which sent the warm blooddandng through every vein in
his body, than of icons he wasl _

.rThe lady. Placed a folded, legal—like looking paper, upon the
table, apd then resuming her chair, called Velvet Hand's atten-

ionito t. . ,, - ..
vellieopenedit. Itwasadeedof theCinnabarminetoRichard
vet. , V, . V 7 .

“Your name is Richard Velvet, is it not!” sneaked, as he
 w in astonisth upon discovering the naturelof the
paper, and the name of the person to whom the property had
beenmonveyeds

“ Yes, but—4’ ‘

. ‘f,But.wh'atl" she asked, in the low, sweet tones so  of
music. --

'; “How Domesitthatmyname hasbeeuinsertedinthispaper!
You bought the mine,” he replied. ' ’

9533, bought it with your money)? I A

For a moment the man appeared confused, and it was not
often either that the cool and keen—witted ,sharp was thrown off
his balance, but he quickly recovered himself though, and
laughed. ,

“ Where did you get such an idea as that! How did'yo'u get
my money?! , ,

“ When Mr. Pollock, the storekegper, came to me and oflcred
to lend me from twelve to fifteen thousand-dam to Minna“
the mine at the auction sale, taking merely my note as hi!
security, I thought that he wiscTa'zy, for what was I to him, or ‘
he to me! but I awepted the ofl‘er, just as a drowning man will
clutch‘at'strawa But now that I know the mom ‘8 70m 70!!
and I. sir, must have a reckoning 3'

“But why should you think that the moneyh mine—why
should I lend you such a sum!" ‘ , I

“ Because you are the most noble and genemusvof menlf'th's
flrl “skinned, fervently; and at this eulogy Velvet 

 

~.~a_.~..____... .__. .

28 Beadle’s Dime Library.

 

 

colored up and blushed like a bashful school-boy. It was a long
time since the man of the world, he with a seared heart anda
doubting mind, had had to do with such a fresh, young, impulsive
nature.

“ The mine belongs to you!” she continued; “ you told me so
yourself; by trickery and fraud it has been wrested from you,
and now, just as fortune puts within your power a chance
to seize your own again, for the sake of a foolish whim—a foolish
sympathy for a weak, unhappy girl, who is already borne down
by the weight of- the obligations heaped upon her without meas-
ure, by your generous hand, you suffer the chance to pan aside;
you give to me what I cannot and will not accept!”

For quite a time there was silence; the woman leaned her
cheek upon her hand, the arm resting upon the table, and gazed
with her brilliant eyes, so surpassineg lovely, upon the troubled
face of the man.

“ Miss, what makes you so certain about this money!" he asked
at last, evidently at a loss for words.

“ Your name is stamped upon one of the buckskin bags which
contained the double eagles," she answered. “ I went at once to
Mr. Pollock and—excuse the womanly artifice—I told him to
tell you to please not to forget to have the money ready for the
next payment. He, caught in the trap, believed that you had
told me that the money came from you, and said, ‘Certainly, he
Would remember.’ You see, it is uselcu to deny the truth. And,
whatis this I hear from my brother that you posses some
written document from him relating in some way to me.
Fernando and myself had hot words to-night, for I am of the
same blood as he, and I will not tamely brook even the interfer-
ence of a brother in matters which concern me alone.”

Velvet Hand silently drewapaper fromhispocket,and
handed it to the girl.

mm

mus AI nan.

O

“In consideration of the sum of twmty-flve hundred dollars. to lie
in hand paid, the receipt ofth is hereb acknowledged I agree to
five org: drfiele Sgnsent to thgeuliagitshge of Richard Leg? anti my sister,

lma, prov parties agree e an on.
“(Bigned) harem our. Conn."

The girl read this peculiar document aloud, and her eyes
sparkled angrily, whileat thesametimeaburningblushspread
over her cheeks.

“Whatisthemeaningofthisf’shccrled. “Isitajesti”

“ Oh, no; sober reality," he replied. “Your Mother is an

gamestcr. On the night before the auction sale he
came to me and fired use to play, offering to pledgemethis
ring,”andhedrewthediamondh~omhispocketsshespokze,
and handed it respectfully to the girl—“this diamond for five
hundreddollars, so thathemightbeabletohavemoueytoplay
with. Iadvanccdthemoney,wonit back,thenhewas
desperate; he hadpreviouslyannoyed mebyehargingthat I was
in pursuit of you, and I determined to geteven withhim. I told
him I would put twenty-five hundred dollars agaim his cement
iowcdyou; heaccepted,andagainlwon."

“ And is the right to woo me worth twenty-live hundred
dollars!” she asked, a peculiar light shining in her eyes—a light
thatmortalmanhedneverseeutherebefore.

“Blanche, the right to woo you issopreciousthatif it were
mine—your own free gift to the man you fancied—there is no
gold mine in all this treasure-Men California rich enough to buy
it!”

“And when I have a lover, teach him towoo as you woo,
and I may be won,” replied the girl, with downcast eyes.

Was it in human nature to longer refrain! and yet this man
of noble soul hesitated to speak.

“ Blanchei” he exclaimed, his voice trembling, “ your love is a
treasure so great that the pomeesor of it need not envy the lot of
any one in this wide world: your words bid me speak—give hope,
but I fear that you do not know what I am."

She was about to speak,but hestoppedher with a quick

gesture. -

“ Hear me ontl” he exclaimed. “ I am an adventurer—a man
who lives by his wits—a gambler, to speak the name plainly and
inallits bluntness. Forthesakeofthemancanyouforget
what he has been?”

With a proud, yet supplicating gesture, she extended both her
beautiful hands.

“To the hero who saved my life—to the man whom I had

learned to love long before that time, can I refuse the poor
treasure of the heart which has gone out of my keeping long ago,
and is his already! Oh. my lord and master!” And gladly she
nestled upon his broad breast.

The end of the dark hours had come; light at last upon the
gloomy life of the man who had toiled and dared as few men in
these ourmodern timescaretodo.

 

Once more Injun Dick Talbot is inpo-euion of the Cinnabar
lode, although he hears the name of Richard Velvet. There
were too many painful associations connected with the old name
to allow our hero to again assume it.

And the proud Californian girl, clinging tothe manly breast
d the mauwhowas to heravcyherqwhisperedhowshehad

 

learned to like him long before she had known his name or who
he was; and that, after listening to the Mexican girl’s stories of
the fandango, a foolish jealousy had induced her to closely vail
her person and visit the Mexican den.

Lucky chance it was for Velvet Hand that she had happened
to come, for her timely warning surely saved him from the _
assassin’s ball.

“And Bertrand Redanl” we fancy we hear a reader say, “ the
superintendent of the mine,——what has become of him?”

On the very night of the abduction of the Californian girl,
Redan disappeared, and was never seen again, living, by mortal
e es.

yGreat was the wonder at what could possibly have become of
the wily and unscrupulous superintendent, and the mystery was
not solved for some time until two hardy gold-seekers, prospect-
ing through the mountains, came upon three bodies stuck full of
Indian arrows, stripped of everything, and scalped, in the little
defile just above the McCloud canyon.

One of the bodies was easily identified as being the remains of
the iniquitous and overbearing Redan.

And after this McCioud massacre Captain Death and his road-
agent band were never seen again. The pilgrim in the mountain
gulches noted the fact, and rejoiced that no more the three black
birds of prey came down upon the lonely camp. the solitary
traveler, or the heavily-laden exprea—coaoh, revolvers displayed,
and with the slogan of ‘ ‘ Throw up your hands!”

Few of the men of Cinnabar, though, gue-ed that Bertrand
Redan and Captain Death, the terror of the Shasta mountain’s
side. were one and the same.

The lonely mountain grave, in the rocky defile, held the road-
agent’s secret.

Smooth water, now, ahead, and plain sailing, apparently, for
Velvet Hand; yet in the far distant horinon one little cloud—a
cloud no bigger than a man’s hand, yet the practiced sailor
dradsthewhitesqnaflwhichfrommchackmdcomeaashe
dreads no other ocean blast.

Andinthccenterofthccloudthehandsomehead,withthe
dark malignant eyes, of Fernando del Colmai

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