Part 10
All Colonel Fairfax’s coolness; all the aplomb that had made him a master of men; all his traditional self-possession dropped from him, and he stood stammering like any schoolboy.
Dorothy’s eyes sparkled. “It’s all right, father,” she declared. “Frank married me to save me from that horrible Forbes. He didn’t want to do so because of that ridiculous accusation against him, but he couldn’t help it. I insisted on it. Shake hands with him. You and I are going to find the real murderer, and clear his name.”
“But--but--Mr. Loving----”
Loving, his face pale, but with a forced smile on his lips, struck in. “Hallo, Howard, old man,” he said, holding out his hand. “I was just waiting my chance to speak to you. Frank Howard is all right, colonel,” he continued earnestly, turning to the elder man. “I’ve told you so before, you know.”
Colonel Fairfax had recovered his poise somewhat. “Well,” he said, “this isn’t the time or place to talk about it, though it is the time to thank you, Mr. Howard, for saving my girl’s life. It nearly killed me when I lost her. Come, let’s get on board--Good Heavens! Loving! What’s the matter?”
Loving’s face had grown white as death, and his distended eyes seemed popping from their sockets. Following his gaze, the others saw Mr. Willoughby picking his way along the Seashark toward them.
“Ah! Mr. Howard,” he said, holding out his hand to Loving, “I’m glad to see you here, for, of course, it means that you must have cleared yourself of that terrible charge. Quite a coincidence having another of the same name in our little party, isn’t it? I had meant to speak to him about you, but we have been in such a turmoil that I haven’t had the chance.”
The changing expressions in the faces of his listeners suddenly caught the good man’s attention. “Why! What is the matter?” he explained. “I--I hope I don’t---- Surely you have cleared yourself of that charge, Mr. Howard?”
Loving’s dry lips moved, but no sound came. The other men, too, were stricken dumb. Only Dorothy found breath.
“This gentleman is Mr. Loving, Mr. Willoughby,” she gasped. “Why do you call him Howard?”
The missionary turned a bewildered face to the girl. “I don’t understand,” he stammered. “I knew this gentleman as Mr. Howard in Porto Rico, where I married him to Dolores Montoro. Later she followed him to New York, and he was reported to have murdered her. I was coming to testify when I was wrecked, and----”
Loving burst suddenly into a fit of jarring laughter. “You needn’t say any more, Mr. Willoughby,” he cackled. “You’ve put the noose around my neck all right. Yes, I did it, I did it. I married that she-devil under your name, Howard, and when she followed me to New York I killed her. I didn’t mean to get you into it, but you got a letter she intended for me, and butted in just in time to get accused. You’ll bear me witness that I tried to save you; and I would have done it, too, if those fools in Porto Rico hadn’t identified your photograph as the man who married Dolores. All smooth-faced men in uniform look alike to them, I suppose. Well, it’s all up now, and I’m glad of it. Maybe you won’t believe me, but I haven’t had a happy moment since you were arrested. I’m not so bad as you think; that woman was a fiend and--but there’s the ship. I’ll go on board and write out a formal confession.”
Unseen, the Duluth had approached and, as she ran smoothly alongside, Loving caught a Jacob’s-ladder swinging from a boom, and ran up it to the deck.
Before any one could follow, the Duluth swung past, and, when a moment later her reversed screw brought her to a halt, the sound of a pistol-shot in her ward-room told that Loving had signed his confession with his blood.
EPILOGUE
The Sargasso Sea will soon be robbed of half its terrors. The Seashark Wrecking Company, with Howard at its head, and all his party as share-holders, has been formed to recover the great wealth still existing on the derelicts in the sea. It has opened communication with the wreck-pack by a paddle-wheel steamer that is expected to maintain a reasonably clear channel through the weed. The company is projecting a series of relief stations, and will keep up a constant patrol all round the wreck-pack. The expense, of course, will be enormous, but there is no doubt that the enterprise will meet it and will pay an enormous profit besides, even if not a single other treasure-ship is found.
A message just received by wireless from the sea says that the first steamer of the company is about to start back to New York with a tremendously valuable cargo of salvage. It adds that Forbes and all his men have begged for passage, and that it will be granted them. The money left on the galleon, which Forbes was forced to divide, has made them all comparatively rich, and they are anxious to get back to civilization to spend their money. Their departure leaves Howard and his friends with an undisputed title to the salvage of the Isle of Dead Ships.
THE END.
_DELIGHTFULLY FASCINATING_
The Princess Dehra
By JOHN REED SCOTT
In which we meet again the characters of his dashing success, “_The Colonel of the Red Huzzars_” (Eleven editions).
Mr. Scott displays uncommon dramatic skill in the handling of his characters--the same, by the way, as those who were met in his “Colonel of the Red Huzzars.” It is a continuation of that former dashing romance of an American army officer who turns out to have royal blood in his veins which eventually wins for him a throne and enthrones him in the heart of a charming princess; mystery, intrigue, plot, and counterplot, all are here, and the reader will find his attention held until the very last page, when loyalty and the wit of a woman triumph in the face of even “the Book of Laws” and a clever rascal.
“Here is a new story to set the pulses tingling.”--_Philadelphia Press._
“Since Hope’s ‘Prisoner of Zenda,’ nothing better has been done than this new story by the author of ‘The Colonel of the Red Huzzars.’”--_Cincinnati Enquirer._
“There are situations involving the principal characters which are ingenious in conception and cleverly woven into the story by essential and natural sequence, and at these situations the reader feels a desire to continue the story, even if the house be burning. He has produced a story that is interesting and exciting without being overdrawn.”--_Boston Evening Transcript._
_Four Full-Page Illustrations in Color by Clarence F. Underwood. 12 mo. Decorated Cloth, $1.50._
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA
_THE DASHING NOVEL_
THE COLONEL OF THE RED HUZZARS
By JOHN REED SCOTT
Stirring adventures, courtly intrigue, and fencing both of sword and wit, fill the pages of this story. The plot is built upon a wager between Major Dalberg, U. S. A., and a friend that within a certain time both would be dining with the king and dancing with the princess royal of Valeria. Strangely enough, Dalberg proves to be of the blood royal of Valeria, is reinstated into his ancestral rights, and when matters are about to reach a climax, the pretender steps in, and there ensues an encounter between American pluck and unscrupulous cleverness.
“There’s not a dull page in it.”--_The Index, Pittsburg._
“A slap-dashing vacation-day romance.”--_Evening Sun, New York._
“So naïvely fresh in its handling, so plausible through its naturalness, that it comes like a mountain breeze across the far-spreading desert of similar romances.”--_Gazette-Times, Pittsburg._
Illustrations in Colors by CLARENCE F. UNDERWOOD
12mo. Decorated cloth, $1.50
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY Philadelphia
BEAU BROCADE
_By BARONESS ORCZY_
_Author of “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” “I Will Repay,” etc._
A captivating romance of love and chivalry--the adventures of a charming highwayman of the days of the English Pretender.
“Faith and courage make the story of ‘Beau Brocade’ a very interesting one. The hero is delightfully fascinating--bubbling over with exuberance of youth; nothing is a hardship for him. He reminds one of Dumas’s famous D’Artagnan, and most especially in his fighting escapades. Gloriously dramatic is the fight in the forge, when, by his prowess, Beau Brocade holds at bay a lot of redcoats, escaping on his steed ‘Jack O’Lantern.’”--_N. Y. American Book Review Contest._
“The story is so well told, so full of life and action, that one never loses interest from start to finish.”--_Pittsburgh Dispatch._
“Let no one begin reading this tale late in the evening, for there is no stopping-place till the end, and the end is worth reaching.”--_The Congregationalist, Boston._
“The illustrations in color are unusually attractive.”--_Chicago Tribune._
FOUR FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY CLARENCE F. UNDERWOOD.
12mo. Cloth, $1.50.
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA
When Kings Go Forth to Battle
By WILLIAM WALLACE WHITELOCK
_Author of “The Literary Guillotine,” etc._
A small German principality is the seat of exciting warfare. An unscrupulous king and a conniving “minister of interior improvements” find their match in two invincible Americans who keep the secret of a young prince’s hiding-place, and with characteristic American energy join in a revolutionary plot to unseat the reigning monarch and place the prince upon the throne.
“A story that grasps our interest with its first chapter and causes us to follow breathlessly until the climax.”--_Baltimore Sun._
“The prettily tinted illustrations by Frank H. Desch are particularly praiseworthy.”--_Philadelphia Press._
“Told with energy and color, and it is well worth reading.”--_San Francisco Argonaut._
“Some excellent illustrations in color add to the beauty of the volume.”--_Nashville American._
THREE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY FRANK H. DESCH. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PUBLISHERS :: :: :: PHILADELPHIA
THE SMUGGLER
By ELLA MIDDLETON TYBOUT
_Author of “The Wife of the Secretary of State” and “Poketown People.”_
This is not, as the title might suggest, a tale of daring deeds on the deep, but a blithesome story of the adventures of three American girls while spending their summer vacation on a Canadian island. They become involved in a series of strange happenings by a band of clever smugglers who pose as their friends, using them as a blind in their smuggling operations. There is a pretty love story interwoven with mystery, adventure, and humor, that holds the reader’s interest from cover to cover.
“The characters are mightily convincing, and the rapid-action plot makes the most indifferent reader ‘sit up’ until he has devoured the last word.”--_Times-Dispatch, Richmond, Va._
“A happy blending of Stocktonesque humor and Anna Katherine Green mystery.”--_New York Globe._
“A brightly written story for those who like light and agreeable fiction that is free from coarseness.”--_Boston Budget and Beacon._
ILLUSTRATED IN COLOR BY HOWARD EVERETT SMITH. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA
The Affair at Pine Court
By NELSON RUST GILBERT
A truly American novel of love and mystery, taking place at the Adirondack lodge of a New York millionaire. It is a story of living people set against a background of October-painted forests, azure lakes, and limpid trout-streams.
The reader lives through such exciting days in the depths of this great forest, with characters so well drawn and so intensely human as to seem alive. The arrival of a German count gives direction and impetus to incipient love affairs. He arouses the greed of the humble natives by exhibiting the wonderful “Lens of the Gau” in the presence of his host’s butler. These envious enemies of the rich pleasure-seekers at the court put the house in a stage of siege, during which each guest displays his or her real character. The many incidents of the forest war are told with admirable skill, and a happily ending love affair keeps the reader’s attention taut and eager.
“A tale of mystery, crisply and briskly told.”--_Leader, Cleveland._
“An unusual story in which the author has pictured real men, who ring true in the time of danger.”--_Buffalo Express._
“A book whose plot is well conceived and wrought out, whose craftsmanship is excellent, and whose ability to hold the interest to the last page is undisputed.”--_The Interior, Chicago._
“A book to be read not only for its strong human interest, but for its true picture of life in the Adirondacks.”--_Argonaut, San Francisco._
THREE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY FRANK H. DESCH.
12mo. Cloth, $1.50.
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.
The cover image for this eBook was created by the transcriber and is entered into the public domain.