Dangerous Ground Part 6

A rickety two-story frame building, in one of the worst quarters of the city.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "He applies the match to the letter, and lets it fall from his fingers to the fire-place."--page 38.]

It is black with age, and guiltless of paint, but a careful observer would note that the door is newer than the dwelling, and that it is remarkably solid, considering the tumble-down aspect of the structure it guards. The windows of the lower story are also new and substantial, such of them as serve for windows; but one would note that the two immediately facing the street are boarded up, and so tightly that not one ray of light can penetrate from without, nor s.h.i.+ne from within.

The upper portion of the dwelling, however, has nothing of newness about it. The windows are almost without gla.s.s, but they bristle with rags and straw, while the dilapidated appearance of the roof indicates that this floor is given over to the rats and the rain.

Entering at the stout front door, we find a large room, bare and comfortless. There is a small stove, the most battered and rusty of its kind; two rickety chairs, and a high wooden stool; a shelf that supports a tin cup, a black bottle, and a tallow candle; a st.u.r.dy legged deal table, and a sc.r.a.p of rag carpet, carefully outspread in the middle of the floor.

An open door, in one corner, discloses the way to the rat-haunted second floor. There are some dirty bundles and a pile of rags just behind the door; some pieces of rusty old iron are lying near a rear entrance, and a dismal-looking old man is seated on a pallet in one corner.

This is what would be noted by the casual observer, and this is all. But the old man and his dwelling are worthy of closer inspection.

He is small and lean, with narrow, stooping shoulders; a sallow, pinched face, upon which rests, by turns, a fawning leer, which is intended, doubtless, for the blandest of smiles, a look of craftiness and greed, a scowl, or a sneer. His hair, which has been in past years of a decided carrot color, is now plentifully streaked with gray, and evidently there is little affinity between the stubby locks and a comb. He is dirty, ragged, unshaven; and his age may be any where between fifty and seventy.

At the sound of a knock upon the outer door, he sits erect upon his pallet, a look of wild terror in his face: then, recovering himself, he rises slowly and creeps softly toward the door. Wearing now his look of cunning, he removes from a side panel a small pin, that is nicely fitted and comes out noiselessly, and peeps through the aperture thus made.

Then, with an exclamation of annoyance, he replaces the pin and hurriedly opens the door.

The woman who enters is a fitting mate for him, save that in height and breadth, she is his superior; old and ugly, unkempt and dirty, with a face expressive of quite as much of cunning and greed, and more of boldness and resolution, than his possesses.

"It's you, is it?" says the man, testily. "What has brought you back?

and empty-handed I'll be bound."

The old woman crossed the floor, seated herself in the most reliable chair, and turning her face toward her companion said, sharply:

"You're an old fool!"

Not at all discomposed by this familiar announcement, the man closed and barred the door, and then approached the woman, who was taking from her pocket a crumpled newspaper.

"What have you got there?"

"You wait," significantly, "and don't tell _me_ that I come empty-handed."

"Ah! you don't mean--"

Again the look of terror crossed his face, and he left the sentence unfinished.

"Old man, you _are_ a fool! Now, listen: Nance and I had got our bags nearly filled, when I found this," striking the paper with her forefinger. "It blew right under my feet, around a corner. It's the morning paper."

"Well, well!"

"Oh, you'll hear it soon enough. It's the morning paper, and you know _I_ always read the papers, when I can find 'em, although, since you lost the few brains you was born with, you never look at one."

"Umph!"

"Well, I looked at this paper, and see what I found!"

She held the paper toward him, and pointed to a paragraph among the advertis.e.m.e.nts.

WANTED. INFORMATION OF ANY SORT CONCERNING one Arthur Pearson, who left the mining country with a child in his charge, twenty years ago. Information concerning said child, Lea Ainsworth, or any of her relatives. Compensation for any trouble or time.

Address,

O. E. MEARS, Atty,

Melbourne, Australia.

The paper fluttered from the man's nerveless fingers, but the woman caught it as it fell.

"Oh, Lord!" he gasped, the drops of perspiration standing out upon his brow, "oh, Lord! it has come at last."

"What has come, you old fool!"

"Everything; ruin! ruin!"

"We're a pretty looking pair to talk of _ruin_," giving a contemptuous glance at her surroundings. "Stop looking so like a scared idiot, and listen to me."

"Oh, I'm listening!" sinking down upon the pallet in a dismal huddle; "go on."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Oh, Lord!" he gasped; "oh, Lord, it has come at last!"--page 42.]

The woman crossed over and sat down beside him.

"Now, look here; suppose the worst comes, how far away is it? How long will it take to get a letter to Australia, and an answer or a journey back?"

"Oh, I don't know."

"Well, it'll take all the time _we_ want. But who is there to answer that advertis.e.m.e.nt?"

"Oh, dear!"

"You miserable coward! _She_ wouldn't know what it meant if she saw it."

"No."

"Arthur Pearson--"

"Oh, _don't_!"

"Arthur Pearson has not been heard of in twenty years."

The old man shuddered, and drew a long sighing breath.

"Walter Parks, after all his big talk, never came back from England,"

she hurried on. "Menard is dead; and Joe Blakesley is in California. The rest are dead, or scattered south and west. There are none of the train to be found here, except--except the Krutzers; and who can identify _them_ after twenty years?"

"I shall never feel safe again."

"Yes, you will. You always feel safe when the dollars jingle in your pockets, although it's precious little good they bring you."