The Dragoon Detective; Or, A Man of Destiny — page 2: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

sae i) The Dragoon Detective. a } The Dragoon Detective; £. MAN A Romance of the Road Raiders of the Rockies, BY DOCTOR FRANK POWELL, **White Beaver,” Chief of the Winnebagoes. CHAPTER I, Tak OLD MINER, In one of the wildest patis of the Rocky Mountains, where the streams, gulches and hills have panned out many a golden fortune for the miner who had dared the dangers of the wil- deruess and faced death daily in the reckless eamps,an old man stood gazing, like one fas- cinited by the charming of a snake, upon the gro ind at his feet. He was at the head of a small ravine, with a ‘cliff rising above him fully sixty feet, over aa which tumbled a torrent in the rainy season, but which was a dry water-course in the sum- | mer droughts. On either side the cliff broke away, or merg- ed iuto steep, rugged hills to the end of the ravine or gulch a few hundred yards away. The man stood upon loose earth, lately dug OF DESTINY. | | cord, wound its way as far as the oye could up, it seemed, and in it were innumerable | sparkling objects reflecting back the rays of the | declining sun which peered over a distant mountain, and piercing through the forest foliage, fellupon the Very spot where the miner stood, for the pick grasped in his hand and the shovel at his feet proved him to be such, It seemed like a sunburst of hope, of vast | riches to be found there, this falling of the sun’s rays upon that very spot, while all else near Was in shadow. A man of large frame, well-knit, clad in red woolsu shirt, rough black pants, top-boots and a slouch hat, he was the picture of an ideal miner, though his long hair and beard were iron-gray, and time had told off over two score and ten years of his life. His face was a noble one, not bearing the im- press of one accustomed to the wild life of the ee stamped with refinement and intel- ect. A belt, containing a revolver and knife, was a'.out his waist, a rifle leaned against a tree nog by, and the shovel and pick completed his outfit Stull as a statue stood the miner, his eyes glar- ing as brightly as the upturned gold at his feet. Then he began to tremble, as though from a chill and sinking upon his knees he gava one Img, loud, ringing cry, and clutched at the golden specks as though he was fearful they | would flit away from his vision. Like one gone mad hegroveled about upon the | earth, laugbing one moment, crying at another, and then causing the darkening woods to echo with bis shouts. At last he became ¢alm, and staggering to bis feet, stood with bands clasped over the pick- handle in front of him, and his head bowed, ‘At last! at last! after long years of hope, struggle and sorrow, it has coms at last. ‘* Here, beneath my feet isa fortune, ay, for- tunes, wif which I can right a wrong and clear from my name the stain upon it, the stain of ae- frauder, robbcr of those who trusted their hard— earned savings to my keeping! * And my children! Oh, happy indeed will they be, for, besides wealth to them, the riches they deserve, will be the dishonor taken from their father’s name! ‘‘T have been a hunted man, hiding from every face that I had known in the past, and drifting from camp to camp in the hope of find- ing what now lies at my feet. ‘God knows how I have suffered, how [ have struggled and worked, and now I have tri- umvhed!” and lifting his face, it was illumined like a halo by the sun’s last rays. ‘* Night is coming on now, and I must return to camp, but soon after dawn I will be here again, here at my mine, and I will cut my name 4cov in the solid rock above it. ‘** -vijl build mea cabin there on the hillside py that bubbling spring, and out of the gener- ous earth I will quickly dig the sam due those anfortunates, with ful interest to date, and send it to the bank for them. ““Tpnen, when my honor is cleared, I wilt dig a fortune for my children, Heaven bless them!” So saying the old miner shoveled the loose earth back into the hole under the cliff, and shouldering his rifle started down the gulch which Jed into a broad, deep canyon, with tow- ering hills upon either side. Darkness was rapidly approaching, and the how! of she wolf and the hoot of the owl could be heard on the hillsides; but caring nothing for these the man walked briskly along, Jeaving the canyon where it entered a broad valley, and | toking a slightly defined trai] that bordered the | fan's of aswiftly owing stream, Lt \vag now night. and a couples of miles down the valley glimmered a hundred camp fires, the distance causing them to look like as many fire- flies. The valley was one of grand and picturesque beauty, for towering mountains sheltered it be- yond the range of vision, and the stream, look- ing in the light of the new moon hke a silver reach. With prompt step the miner walked along, unmindful of the beautiful scenery, so occupied | were his thoughts upon his good fortune. At length he reached a scattering settlement of miners’ cabins, and going up to one small, humble structure, hardly ten feet square, he put a key into the padlock, opened it and en- tered, This was the old miner’s home in what was known as *‘ Gilt Edge City.” CHAPTER II, THE MINER TRAMP. THE place bearing the hich-sounding title of Gilt Edge City was but a succession of mining- camps, running along the valley for several miles, Through the ‘‘ city ’ ran the Overland stage trail, connecting more distant camps and other trails with a Western town of some promi- nenee, which had sprung into existence merely as an adjunct to the gold regions, Several hundred cabins, from the size of the old miner’s ten-foot-square shanty to extensive ones with four rooms and a covered hallway, with a score of rudely-built ‘‘stores,” where everything needed on the border could be bought, drinking-saloons ad libitwm, and an extensive structure, called by compliment the Barracks Hotel, from the fact that it had once been a fort, was what comprised Gilt Edge City proper. To this must be added the denizens of the place, rhe ‘people ” that went to make up the community, and who were of all shades and complexions, pale-face, red-skin, Chinee and negro, with as many nationalities represented among the whites as there were creeds. Armed to the teeth at all times, greedily seeking for gold, many of them fugitives from justice, sharpers, harpies, gamblers, thieves, and honest men, most of them_ reckless, numbers desperate unto death, Gilt Edge City was only a place for a brave man to dwell, and one who did not fear to carry his life at the muzzle of his revolver or point of his knife. One afternoon the Overland stage rolled up to the doorof The Barracks, as the ‘‘ hotel” was called for sbort, and a passenger got out who was a stranger in those parts, for no one seemed to know him, He was in miner’s dress, a tall, broad- shouldered, dark-faced man, with long black beard and hair, and the look of one who would promptly use the weapons in his bels, if called on to doso. Hoe gave his name to the Jandlord as Richard Ford, and hinted in his quiet way that he wasa tramp miner, drifting through the mining country to find where he could strike it the richest, and had ‘‘ dust” to pay his way, while he was called, by those who had had the en ag of his intimate acquaintance, Deadly Dick. Landlord Champ was a man of great per- spicacity, and knew his man ata glance, He had failed in the hotel business in the Hast, and had sought a fortune in the mines; but, seme eae in his, anticipations in that quarter, he had fitted up the old army barracks as an inn, and was coining money as hotel- keeper in the wilds of the West. In his long experience Landlord Champ had become a good reader of the human face, and sa Dick struck him as aman it would not be well to ‘‘ fool with,” nor was he wrong in the conjecture. r., Richard Ford was given a good room, and, after a hearty supper, sat smoking his pipe on the piazza, which had been erétted along the front of The Barracks, while he enjoyed the scenery spread out before him. The Barracks were charmingly situated, and were a succession of spacious cabins built in the shape of a square; and occupying an acre in ace. They were two rooms deep, and the center had formed anassembly-ground in bad weather for the soldiers, forming a plaza, as it were. In fact, the rigs was a fort, built of stout logs, and, situated upon a rise of ground, commanded a superb view of the valley in every direction. From The Barracks on either side, following the Overland trail, stretched the cabins of the miners, the stores and other adjuncts to a bor- der camp, ranging from drinking saloons to blacksmith shops and gambling dens. It was Sunday afternoon, and many miners were loafing about Tho Barracks, or the one streetin Gilt Hdge City,;men who were ‘too good’? to work on the Sabbath, so spent the timo in drinking and playing games for money. The landlord gota chair and drew if near his guest, who was. wrapt in admiration at the , scenery, and said; ‘A trond view, landlord, from kere,” ‘* Ves, sir, ibisa grand view, and the site was well chosen for a fort, as it proved, for there was a hard-fought Indian battle around it years ago.” The landlord saw his guest start, and wonder- edif it was the story of the indian fight that affected him: but his eyes were fixed upon an old miner who just then passed by The Bar- racks, going at a brisk step down the valley. ‘Say, landlord, who is that old man?” Deadly Dick asked the question almost ex- citedly, and still kept his gaze upon the miner. “Do you know him?” ‘“T asked you who he was,” was the sharp re- lye PN That is why I asked you if you knew him, for I don’t know who he is,” ‘* Don’t he live here?” 6 Yes, 2 ‘“ How long has he been in these mines?” ‘ T should say nearly two years.” ‘* Don’t you know his name?” ‘“No more than that the boys call him Judge, on account of his learning, for there is nothing he ist posted upon.” ‘ “‘T soe; and they call him Judge?” *“ Yes, pard; jest that an’ nothin’ else.” ‘*Never heard any other name for him?” ‘“No, sir; never heard it mentioned.” ‘‘He is mining, of course?” ~ ‘Yes, pard, and they do say he has struck it rich the past month or'so,” ‘“TIndeed?” ‘Yes; in fact I know he has, for he has sent sixty thousand off on the stage-coach the past six weeks, 80 Ribbon Rob, the Overland driver, told me, and it got safe through, too, to them he sent it, and I am right glad ot it, for he’s a fine man and.getting along in years; but did you think you had seen him before?” “Well, his face crossed my mind as one I haa seen before; but 1 guess I’m wrong. Does he live near here?” ‘* His cabin is one of the first in the camps, and an humble place it is; but then, it is com- fortable within, for he has books, and he draws like an artist, and plays the violin, too. ‘* He has little to say to any one, but is always - polite to all,and keeps to himself, never drink- ing or joining the boys in a game.” ‘He is a rich old man, then?” ‘* Yes, and kind-hearted, too, for if anybody is wounded or sick he goes and nurses them, and the boys say he is so pious he goes out to his or eae has prayer every Sunday all by him- self. The winer smiled a strange sort of smile, which the landlord did not exactly like, and shaking the ashes out of his pipe he arose and said: ‘I guess I'll take a walk through the camps, landlord.” So saying he left The Barracks and walked et the direction which the old miner had taken, CHAPTERIII. THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DETECTIVE, Tam ‘‘ Judge,” as the miners of Gilt Edge City called him, was seated in his lonely cabin some evenings after the arrival of Mr. Richard Ford as a guest at The Barracks, He was engaged in reading by the dim light of a candle, though the cheerful fire burning upon the -broad hearth, for the nights were growing cold, sent a ruddy glow throughout the room. Though humble looking without, the cabin was certainly pleasant within. A cupboard stood upon one side of the fire- place, and near it a small, stationary table, be- neath which were some cooking utensils, all clean and neat-looking. A stout box, made into a chest, was in the opposite corner, and in the rear was a bunk, containing a fine straw bed, blankets, a pillow, and even sheets and pillow-cases, Over the door hung a rifle on brackets, and stags’ horns, a dressed bear's head, some wild- cat, wolf and fox-skins adorned the walls.- A shelf with books, with a lid to let down and serve as a desk to te on, a few clothes hung on pegs, some excellently well-drawn pencil-sketches, two windows, a large easy- chair, with a shelf on the back posts for a can- dle, and a kuge bear-rug on the floor for the feet to rest on, and you have the little home of the old miner. The rippling of the rushing waters of the stream, not ten feet away. reached the ears of the miner as he sat in his chair, and the wind whistling without and sighing among the shel- tering pines made it seem most comfortable within, Supper had been over some little time, and the miner was passing away the evening with his book. But, suddenly, he failed to turn over the leaves, and his attitude was that. of a man lost in deep tneditation. ‘* And the dark clouds of my life have at last a silver lining,” he said aloud, ‘‘ for I have sent payment to those who lost their all, end a few more months of strnggling, of toil, will enable me to return a rich man, ‘Not for myself am I working ee but for (CCOYANNCLO)O)O) KS (E(0) lial ta ee a