Macon Moore, the Southern Detective
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THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES MACON MOORE. SOUTHEEN DETECTIVE, By JUDSON E. TAYLOE, AUTHOR OF "GIPSY BLAIR," "THE INDIAN DETECTIVE," Etc. NEW YORK: J. S. OGILVIE & COMPANY, 25 Rose Street. Copyright, 1881. BY STREET & SMITH. CHAPTER. PAGE. I. A LIVING MAN'S DEATH-PLATE 19 II. A STRANGE DISCOVERY 22 III. THE MAN IN A LONG CLOAK 25 IV. ONE MAN DEFIES A DOZEN 28 V. OPENING UP A DEATH- TRAIL 30 VI. A ROGUE UNMASKED 33 VII. A MOST EXTRAORDINARY RUSE 36 VIII. SOME ACCOUNT OF QIIR HERO 39 IX. A RETURN SHOT. ....*. 42 X. ONE TO TEN 44 XI. IN A "PEACEFUL" DISGUISE BUT. BELLIGERENT MOOD 47 XII. MACON MOORE'S FIGHT WITH THE NIGHT RIDERS 50 XIII. COLONEL YENNI GETS THE NEWS 53 XI V. A SMALL FIGHT WITH A RED MAN 55 XV. A STRANGE TABLEAU 59 XVI. SURROUNDED BY FOES 61 XVII. THE DETECTIVE RECOGNIZED 64 XVIII. COLONEL YENNI'S DISCOVERY 67 XIX. PREPARING FORA THIRD STARTLING FEAT 70 XX. ON THE ROAD TO THE VALLEY OF DEATH 73 XXI. MACON MOORE WINS BY COOLNESS 77 XXI r. THE DETECTIVE IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH 80 XXIIL PREPARING FOR ANOTHER GREAT FEAT 83 XXIV. OUR HERO IN His GREATEST ROLE 86 XXV.- I AM MACON MOORE" 89 XXVL THE DETECTIVE BROUGHT TO BAY 92 XXVII. NUMBER NINE'S PERIL 94 XXVIII. ANOTHER NEW DISGUISE 97 XXIX. PICKING UP THE POINTS 100 XXX. COLONEL YENNI RECEIVES A VISITOR 103 XXXI. A RIDER'S BOASTS... 105 8 XXXII. LEADING FOR A TRAIL.... 108 Ill ^, XXXIII. A STARTLING DISCOVERY XXXIV. MACON MOORE IN A CORNER 114 XXXV. OUR HERO GETS OUT OF A CORNER AND TURNS TUETABLES.H? XXXVL THE PURSUIT... 119 XXXVII.-lN A DILEMMA 12 XXXVII I. AN EXTJi AORDINARY ANTAGONIST 125 XXXIX.-AT His MERCY 128 XL. MASTER OF THE FIELD 13 XLT. AN EVENTFUL MOMENT 13 < XLTI. THROWING OFF THE DISGUISE 13 XLlir. ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE DETECTIVE 138 XLIV. THE SECRET PASSAGE 14 XLV. TH E ESCAPE 144 XLVT. LUCY'S DISAPPEARANCE... 146 XLVIL RESCUED 149 XLVIII. THE DETECTIVE'S HOPE 152 XLIX. A WEIRD SCENE 155 L. THE WORK DONE. 158 449689 cc w 1 g fcj MACON MOOKE, THE SOUTHERN DETECTIVE. CHAPTEE I. A LIVING MAN'S DEATH-PLATE. "Whoa, there, Dandy! whoa! what's the matter with you, old boy? Whoa, there, whoa!" A horseman had been riding along a mountain road in the wildest district in the State of Georgia. The night was dark, and a wild storm was raging. The lightning flashes came bright and quick, followed by terrific peals of thunder. The rider had been urging his horse forward, and the spirited animal had dashed ahead over the road at a mad rate, when sud denly he came to a dead halt, planted his fore-feet firmly in the ground, and throwing his ears forward, presented a perfect picture of equine terror. The rider was evidently not only an excellent horseman, but a man of iron nerve, as he hardly moved in his saddle when the horse came to such a sudden stop, and there was not the slight est tremor in his voice as he quietly, biit firmly, urged his steed forward. Finding that urging did not serve the purpose, the rider re sorted to more severe measures, and plunging his spurs into the animal's flanks, exclaimed: "On there, you coward! Forward, I say!" The animal backed, reared, and plunged, and snorted in the most violent manner. " What on earth has frightened him?" muttered the rider, as he buried the spurs still deeper into the flanks of the frightened beast, and thus tried to force him forward. 20 MACON MOORE, The animal became more frantic and furious, when his rider exclaimed: " What has got into the beast? He must have seen something extraordinai'y to act in this way!"' Macon Moore, the great Southern detective, well knew the disposition of the horse. Both horse and rider had often been in perilous positions, and the former had never quailed before. The horseman leaned forward over his horse's neck and peered through the darkness to discover what had caused such a display of fear. Suddenly a brighter flash of lightning than any that had pre ceded it came, and our hero caught a momentary glance of an object that caused his own blood to turn cold. It certainly must have been a startling sight that could cause one nerve of the iron frame of Macon Moore to quiver. Right before our hero's path lay a new coffin. It was this, weird symbol of death that had caused the horse to rear and prance with frantic- fury. In an instant the bold rider was out of his saddle. As he struck the ground, an observer would have noticed that Macon Moore was not a man of large stature or stout frame; and yet later events will prove that he WHS a fellow possessed of almost superhuman strength and nerves of steel. The man never lived whose personal appearance served as a more, perfect mask to his real powers, both mental and physical. Macon Moore, the detective, was a true type of a genuine, hot-blooded, cultured Southerner. He was of slender build and of medium height, possessed small, classic features, a clear, girl-like blue eye flashing under a white, smooth forehead the latter fringed by light hair. This extraordinai'y man possessed certain peculiar physical advantages that enabled him to successfully assume disguises that no other man would dare attempt. A person coming into his presence would set him down men tally as a rather pretty, effeminate young gentleman, who had just escaped being born a woman; and yet some of the most desperate criminals in the South and Southwest would rather have faced in combat a grizzly bear than this delicate- appearing man. The moment the detective had dismounted he managed to quiet, to a certain extent, the restless fury of his steed. ing allayed the terror of his horse, the detective drew his masked lantern, and, with his bridle swung across his arm, he advanced toward the death-casket. A most thrilling discovery fell under his gaze. A large placard, lettered with blood-red figures, served as a coffin-plate. THE SOUTHERN DETECTIVE. ill The letters had been written in blood, and read as follows: A strange glitter came into the detective's eyes, and a red spot glowed upon each cheek as his eye rested upon the significant warning, conveyed in such a weird and suggestive manner. " "Aha!" he muttered, in an undertone; they expect me! they have had a spy upon my track! they have my movements down fine!" The detective slid the mask of his lantern, and led his horse past the death-casket, when he mounted and rode on through the darkness as unconcernedly as though he had passed under an arch of flowers, with a welcoming motto, instead of over a coffin bearing his death-plate written in letters of blood. Although apparently riding along in such an unconcerned manner, the detective really was intensely on the alert. He Avas like the tiger who curls his claws like a harmless kitten just before the fatal leap. Macon Moore knew from the position of the coffin that the men who had spread out the grim warning knew not only his probable route but the hour of his coming. The meaning of that coffin, with its strange inscription, was this: "One side is life; beyond, death. Turn back, and live! advance, itit.tl die!'''' The steel-nerved man rode on but a short distance when he dismounted, and from his saddle-bags drew four hoof-muffles. Having placed them on his horse Dandy, he once more mounted and road ahead. The detective's well-trained horse appeared to know that silence was necessary, as he but lightly touched the ground, and seemed to possess an almost human keenness. After riding thus stealthily forward for a few seconds, the de tective came to a turn in the road, and just ahead espied the glimmer of a light. A touch upon the reign caused the horse to come to a halt, and the rider leaned forward to study the character of the gleam of light. 22 MACON MOORE, CHAPTEE II. A STRANGE DISCOVERY. It was a pitch-dark night, and objects at a distance were only revealed in outline, and it took the detective some seconds to fully decide upon the character of the light ahead. As length he discerned that the gleam came through the lower window of a house, and he urged his horse forward a few steps, when once more he came to a halt and dismounted. "Forewarned, forearmed," saith the old proverb, and it was upon the teaching of the above maxim that our hero was pro ceeding. Death might lurk behind a seemingly harmless bush, and an incautious step might bring him dead abreast of a number of ambushed assassins. Macon Moore picketed his horse beside the road, and drawing a pair of revolvers, he cocked them, and, with one in each hand, slowly advanced towards the house. He reached the low dwelling in safety, and stood beside an. open window! He was glancing through the window into the room. A light burned upon the mantel, and shed but a flickering glare around, but dimly revealing a human form lying upon the floor. It was an awful sight that met our hero's eye. Death appeared to be stalking abroad that night, and holding a high carnival, as it was upon a dead form that the brave man's eye fell.