Wildcat Bob, the Boss Bruiser — page 2: what you’re looking at

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2 ' The New York Library. Vol. f. Wildcat Bob, THE BOSS BRUISER; OR, THE BORDER BGLOODHOUNDS, BY EDWARD L. WHEELER. CHAPTER IL. A TERRIBLE INITIATION, Tyre sun was rising in the east like a ball of molten gold, and shedding its first dazzling rays over a vast level plain in Western Kansas. The time was mid-spring, and glorious nature was fairly puiting forth her grandest efforts to render the earth a perfect paradise. The grass was a carpet of vivid emerald, and here and there the sunlight reflected against a solitary tree, just nodding & proudly ‘neath its coat of fresh, dew-bespri they flitted gayly hither and thither, gathering the honey from many a wild siesta and honey- suekle; buffaloes were crazing their way by de- toward the glistening waters of the Smoky Hill river, anc the antelope, with the frisking fawn, was standing staring with dis- tended orbs toward the north-west, where a party of horsemen had halted. There were sixteen of them—all ruffianly-look- fellows, mounted on swift steeds, and armed | “vith rifles, revolvers and knives. The spot where they had halted was the end of an uncompleted railroad, and here were many evidences of what had been, and yet what was not to be. Decayed ties lay scattered about; rusty nails and half a keg of spikes were just where they had been left when work was suspended, in con- nce of a failure in the company’s finances. Here a shovel, there a pick; here a sledge, and there a broken counting a a car . and most con- icuous 0 , a heavy box freight-car stood by one side of the track. : This had been converted into a habitation, ap- parently, for a spiral cloud of smoke curled up- ward through a hole in the roof. Also, an old, repulsive-looking wretch was sitting in the open door, with his legs dangling down toward the ground, engaged in sucking the smoke out of a venerabic pipe. It was before him that the horsemen had halt- | im, triumphant smile overspread his | ed, and a gr face ns the leader said: ‘“Wellt—” “It’s all hunky,"’ quoth the other. ‘I got the gal last night, up in Marriotville, and now I’m ready to jine ye. * Good. ou have but to fulfill the neces- — uirements, and you become a member of the Bloodhound Band. Are you ready?” ** Jes’ so. Bring forth yer hoss.” At a word from the leader, who was a man of portly figure, and whose face was hidden behind a thick vail, a strong, wiry mustang was led out from among the crowd. The old man, then, by a straining exertio drew his legs up into the car, and Heapyeaned trom view. view. Not long was he gone, however, for he soon wame back, carrying in his long, muscular arms a figure wrapped in an immense skin cloak. This he gave into the arms of the leader, while he into the saddle of the riderless steed, “Hal” ejaculated the leader, as, pushing away the cloak from the face of the figure, he ‘beheld a picture of fresh young beauty, such as he had never seen before; “she is very re “*Bet yer dudads she is. Et ar’ a pity to take such tee like she.” : y! man, are you crazy trifling amount of beauty to your revenge— sweet revenge? Were she the finest lady in the orla, my purpose could no in the worl uld not be al least. Shee. take her, and let’s be off!” The old man took the apparently lifeless form across his saddle-bows, then the whole a their horses toward the north, pet — away. ‘ commander took the lead, and he wag Followed | by his comrades and the old man. | All day they kept steadily on, and as the sun | ‘was in the west, they came to a halt in a belt of timber, through which ran the Kansas Pacific railroad. Here the order to halt and dis- mount was given and fulfilled, with alacrity. ~~ ‘Ehe was a wild ono in the extreme. The ' cut down ha a wild woodland , fringed on either side by towering pines, was uneven and uninviting. The train generally wild-catted it through this place in onler to make a steep | * grade a half-mile beyond, and would stop only at danger signals. This is our destination,” said the leader, as “More than one of ba ry his saddle. my Bloodhounds have here proved their cour- | = you have the same ba toler y man nodded with a repulsive leer, aad dismounted. “Ye needn’t feer fer me, colon'l,” be replied, 5 sae Sore as oll aa Ga i] pee ed leaves. Birds | were filling the air with their sweet melody, as | What is a} | as he laid his unconscious burden on a heap of | Nearer and nearer it leaves which the wind had whirled er at | the foot of a tree. “Jake Corrigan’s got the | nerve to do wuss jobs nor w’ot’s comin’ to-night, | W’en he’s got sech a lift ahead as j'imin’ yer | band, ye’ll find ’im all nerve an’ muscle; tho’ et ar’ hard tew kill sech a promisin’ gal!’ ‘* Bah! you are chicken-h . But, never mind, my man. It will all be over in no time, and besides making yourself a member among us, you also prove yourself a man who will fal- ter at nothing which will achieve success for our brotherhood.” “ Yas, thar’s shuvyelfals o’ truth in thet, sir. Onc’t git me ‘nitiated, an’ Pll stick ter ye like tar-’n’-feathers!” ““T believe you. Now, all hands to work and prepare your grub. It lacks ten minutes of eight o'clock. The westward bound express passes here at eleven, precise.” So saying the masked leader took a package of dried venison from his saddle-bags, and seat- ing himself on the grass, proceeded to do justice to a large meal. His companions did likewise, but old Jake Corrigan refused to eat. Instead, he sat by the side of the unconscious girl like a watchful de- mon, and when she would show any signs of re- turning life, he would drop asmall portion of liquid from a vial between her parched lips. ight fell dark and threatening over the earth. | Heavy, ominous black clouds skurried across | the face of the heavens; the rumble of thunder seemed to jar the very air, and forked tongues | of hissing lightming darted down toward the earth. It was only too evident that a furious storm was soon to break out. Most of the band were clustered in groups, near the railroad track, conversing in an under- tone, for the roaring and flashing of God’s ar- | ordinary importance. tillery caused them to shrink in awe, heartless, blood-stained ruffians though they were, They, in moments like this, feared the mighty power of Him whose laws they scorned and cursed at other times, The masked leader sat in silence where he had partaken his meal, his thoughts seemingly far away, for he noticed naught about him. Old Jake Corrigan kept a silent vigil over his charge, and ever and anon as an awful peal of thunder would fairly make the earth tremble, and a vivid glare of lightning would fan his bronze cheeks, he would glance nervously about and shudder. The hours wore swiftly away, and though no rain fell, the warring of the sky-batteries con- tinued with even greater force and power. At last the masked leader was seen to spring to his feet, and his comrades involuntarily drew near. ** Bloodhounds!” he said, in a cold, stern voice, “we have here an applicant for initiation into our circle—a man while name has long been outlawed in Kansas, and one whom we have con- | cluded to take as a brother to our hearts—the ac | cessory to our plots and plans. Therefore it be- | hooves us to see that his courage and nerve lack | not. DoI speak aright?” | “Ay! ay!” came from a dozen throats, | “Then, Jacob Corrigan, are you ready to ful- fill your “T am!” said the old ruffian, as he regained | his feet. But that his voice was hoarse, and | that he trembled in every joint did not escape | the commander’s notice. | “No faltering!” he cried, fiercely. “If you | hesitate or offer to back ont, [, myself, will shoot you through the heart!” “Do not fear for me!” was Corrigan’s reply, as he gave vent to a terrible laugh. “ Ef I don’t | go thru wi’ my part, ye kin plug it to me all | ye’re worth.” | ‘Good. You begin to talk like a man. | You took our oath three days ago. Do you | wish to repeat it now?” | * Jes’ ’s ye say "bout that!” j | ‘Hal there is the down-brekes whistle of the | express. Never mind the, oath now, but get to your work!” | Without a word Jake Corrigan advanced to | where he had left the maiden, and picked her up in his long arms. He then led the way to the | railroad, whither he was followed by the base | wretches, one of whom he was soon to become. The blackness was most intense, and it was only by a sense of feeling that the track could With grea ision Jake C laid the Tit: t precision e Corrigan: laid t neck of his fair young victim across the rail, so that the wheels of the approaching train would — over it. A grunt of approval from the | leader pronounced the arrangement correct. | Then, there beneath the black pall of a wild | awful night, with its deafening thunder that | jarred the earth like an earthquake, and the | blinding glare of sharp lightning, those seven- | teen hard-hearted, pitiless wretches waited the re tee of the through express, whose head- ' light gleamed like a dim star, far away toward | the east. | Nearer and nearer it came, clouds ot sparks i ayia from the smoke-stack, and the roar of the | whee ! oe thunder. b ligh train was coming on a speed, in order to make the heavy grade e supply of the valuable metal was for a. on the steel-shod rails outdoing that of tom, Simngh Be night, its one fiery eye Bone. & path ; _ On, on, and the locomotive was so near that % could not stop in time to save the life of the fair, innocent victim of a hellish Jake Corrigan held the neck in its p et , on, and just aa the fairly flying train |} came rushing up, a broad, ie aia of lightning revealed to the horrified engineer the startling scene—but too late! The train. could not be stopped until it had made the e, Then a detachment of men were sent back, but | all they found was, in-one place, a headless: | body, and in another the head itself. The | fiendish Bloodhounds had made good their es- cape, across. CHAPTER II. A “CLEANING OUT” AT “HEIFER SHEBANG.” Ir was araw, rainy day in Pompeii’s gulch. | The rain came down in perfect torrents, dri | the miners. from their respective claims, flood- ing out sluice-boxes by the wholesale, and doing more or less damage everywhere. The sky was overcast with cold, somber clonds: that seemed to contain a mighty reservoir of water, and the wind was sharp and chapping, Not a miner could stick to his labor in suc unfavorable weather, and consequently the. claims were all deserted, their owners having: hied themselves to various. saloons to sacle spirit ‘“comfort” from Mose Snicker’s black ties, Pompeii’s gulch was a mining “strike” of no: Some ever-alert and ac- | tive individual named Smith or Jones had dis- covered gold in the sandy bottom—gold in the grants and quartz rocks, and gold in the bed of ’empeii’s creek, which, after miles of tortuous: windings through a narrow, rocky go de- bouched into the South Fork of the haieerrtbes: Immediately subsequent to Smith or Jones’ | discovery, the news spread like wild-fire to the | Golden City diggings, and brought a swarm of | ‘all sorts” back to the gulch of promise, which, | we may as well add, fully acquitted itself, as | re zards the average miner’s expectation. time quite inexhaustible, and it is in the happi- est days of Pompeii’s that we take the rete there to witness many strange and thrilling: scenes. : pon) roper, consisted. of a few rude huts along the slope, occupied by the few miners who had been rash enough to bring their families along with them; a store,a smithy, an over- land-to-Denver express office, a drug store, and two saloons of great importance to the youn metropolis—Mose Snicker's ‘‘ Heifer Sheban 5 and Chauncey Tupper’s “* Spread-Hagle Rane” Both of these establishments boasted of a libe- ral patronage; both were favorite resorts to cer- tain classes of the miners, and each had, in addi- _ tion to the immense mirrors and sparkling luxu- | ries behind the bar, a corps of very pretty San Francisco waiter-girls, to wait on and talk to | the “ em ” eustomers. | “‘ Plump” men are known in the mines to be | men whose word, no matter how bad asa gen-. eral, can be backed in the shape of superfiuons | dust and greenbacks, to almost any amount, On the day of which we write, a gang of Semana! par ihn on the border, had come into ompell, with the avowed purpose ving | “‘tear an’ cleanin’ out the town” sas ts A more repulsive or ruff -looking set had never been seen congregated together in one mining settlement, within the recollection. of the oldest “ cradler,” and conse ently, the ex- citement among the sparse populating of Pom- peii was something more than usual. The gang were headed by a big burl border- man—a very giant iu size, with a great breadth and depth of chest, large iron-like limbs, with wonderfully large-developed muscles; and a face as hideously furrowed, grisly, and repulsi can well be imagined. His garnaente weree ea homespun, the trowsers being thrust into an i mense pair of knee-boots, an ge pon” ; ‘ and the shirt open at Taken altogether Big Hank La Verec - troduced himeelf, was as large ent ets ekg men of the blatting bully as one could easily: find, in a month of western travel. ile teen. ciates were all of his type—rough, low-browed and _ grisly-lookin wretches, cropped out very plainly in their rum-blossomed a and bloodshot eyes, were armed to the teeth, make an inviting assemblage, as tant de ed before the door of the’ Heifer Shebang,” er rym into the long crowded barroom. 4 a ent was ditty wid about a hundred feet 6, and at the of the arrival of Hank and his party, was half filled with pouring, shouted door slammed shut behind he . “heer we be, I tell an est of Si up from Kangass, ing the gulch with muddy, clayey water, tear- . Whose natures _ the giant as the men— bitin’ an’ api’ fete : | ' ‘ A 4 +. { re My ; 4 é [ * Be Py a « > ike , P| * a Li 4. 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