Wildcat Bob, the Boss Bruiser — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

= ad te “4 we No, 6. spats were had, that rendered the family life tells but desirable. Fi the gold-fever, and leaving his property Charles’ control, he set out for the mines, ‘“* For awhile es went along all right; then there reached his ears, through some of his eastern business uaintances, hints that his oe and Charles onte were suspiciously timate. ' “ Myra wrote regularly, but there was noth- ing in letters to er these suspicions in | er her husband’s mind. He had left one child on | his departure—a bright little fellow, the very likeness of its mamma, and Myra wrote that he was doing nicely. ‘four years Thomas Lamonte remained in the mines, and then he returned home on a) short eee from duty, Here he was warmly | greeted, and after a month of rest and enjoy- | ment, he again set out for the golden West, anthlai the image of his loving wife before eyes. During his stay home, he found that Charles had married and was the father of one child and that there was no truth in the hints agains his wife’s unfaithfulness. “Two years passed by, and still Thomas La- monte lingered in the mimes; he was acquiring a fortune, he told his wife, in the numerous let- ters he sent home. But, after awhile, the letters from M came few arid far between. She said a little girl had been born her since her husband’s yisit; that Charles Lamonte’s wife and child had died, and that he was coming West. “ Then came a long lapse of time during which the toiling husband heard not a word from home. Anxiety at last took root in his mind, and leaving his mine he was about to start for home when the mails brought him that which deterred his course of action. A letter came from one of his former acquaint- ances—a letter stating that Myra, his wife, who had long been suspected of being criminally in- timate with Charles Lamonte had disappeared with her children; that said Charles had dispos- | ed of the property, and fled, also. “Now this was not true. That letter was penned by the hand of Charles Lamonte, himself, and Mra, onte was at the time li quietly in her home. Every week she wrote to her hus- band, but did not receive her expected an- ewer. **One day Charles Lamonte came to her with a letter pu ing to have been written by the absent brother; and in it was an order to con- vert all the estates into money, and place the cash fer the same in Mrs. Lamonte’s hands. This, said Thomas Lamonte, would maintain her and the children as long as they would live, and, as he should never return, he took this last opportunity to bid them a farewell, forever. ‘Of course this was a forgecy. ee it nearly broke the poor wife’s heart. Charles Lamonte did as directed, and soon Mrs. Lamonte was in on of a princely sumofmoney. Then it was that she, her children, and Charles Lamonte disa ‘The beautiful wife of Thomas Lamonte was plored in a private insane asylum, the children ost in a great western city, and with the for- tune in his own hands, Charles Lamonte fled. “The children were lost, we say, in a great western ci Here tt make os i Cue Ms them—the —was in cago; the gir was edaghed bi one of | Charles Lamonte’s em- ployees, who, late in life, came West. aiee the m ious ee of Mrs. fLamonte and the children, her brother, Major Anderson Bloodgood, and his family came West, Woda nd 6d eer meget to find So fp to their whereabouts, they suspecting that they had come out Goon carch-ot Maman ee monte, “We now permit a lapse of years to gob and we raise the Sartatiod another act ot the drama. “Since last we saw him, Thomas Lamonte, a broken has wandered about the heart- man, world, and at last, one day, he comes upon a cot- ina wild gulch , where there is a large dam a “‘ He sees a maiden at her work; he watches her, for nearly an hour, and then goes a convinced that at least he has found one of his chil dren. But, man that he is, he cares not to sain hen ate all howe Year, “He hg found r) , jong ago now seen the girl. He away. mouth later he returns and parchases worthless mine of old Bill Wood. he gone, ere he returns to the mill- that that Iris Wood is in real- al ine and hides confessior., a ee ° thus Wild Carlos gold, and Finally, Thomas got | placed her in an ; 2 | poor woman.” wedded to Thomas Lamonte; that his brother Wildcat Bob, the Boss Bruiser. a member of his brother's family, it was evident | | monte placed her, which goes to state that she | wife when she attended to the he bore him no good will, ee ie | was once Myra Bloodgood; that she was ment. asylum, and she ends by saying | Vigilante band, and made 25 legal settle- ‘*In the mean time I became a leader in a perhaps more enemies that she feels that her keepers are driving her | than friends, for the men I had to deal with mad by their inhuman treatment. “We must here surmise that she escaped from the mad-house, and has wandered West in search of her husband,” ‘‘And who am I?’ asked Wildcat Bob, his face paling as he remembered the struggle in the mine. ** You are Robert Bancroft Lamonte,” replied Wild Carlos. ‘‘In your father’s confession, here, he states that he traced you out as far as Chicago where you were reared to the age of seventeen by a man named Bancroft; you ran away at that age, and he could trace you no further. But by the aid of this paper you gave me, some months Bancroft’s own child, which, with what I have learned from Thomas Lamonte’s confession, con- vinces me that you are his son.” ‘“‘ And the old hag—is she my mother?” “She is—or rather was, for she is now dead, ‘Dead! Great God! then I am her murderer. | She attacked me in the Haunted Mine, and we fit till both were insensible. When I was rescued | he cave of petrifaction!” | she lay like one who was dead.” | _ True; but you did not kill her. | this cavern on the night subsequent to her bat- | tle with you, and told me all about it. Her | death was the result of her own imprudence. | In the interior of yonder niche, which you per- | ceive at the end of this cavern, is another cave, | which is endowed with marvelous power. A | stick or a human body left there one hour will | be turned to stone. _—held a grudge were a brutal class of border ruffians. ‘**One man in particular, whose name was Jake Corrigan—yonder stands the wretch now inst me, and the night thas my Jessie returned, and on the eve of our mar- riage, stole her away from me and fled. ** Some of you 4 aps remember the tragedy that occurred on the Denver road some fiveyears ago, when a beautiful girl was run over while being held to the ack i @ ruffian; that ruffian was, I have since learned, taking the initiatory ledge of admittance into the Brotherhood of loodhounds. Well, from the day, or rather night, of that tragedy, I became an outlaw. I 0, [learn that you were not | She came to | |_ ‘Miss Iris, yonder, will recollect how the | _ body of Thomas Lamonte was found to have dis- | | appeared from her home. I ordered the secret | removal of that body, and it now rests in the | cave of petrifaction, preserved in a stone state. | I suppose that it was to view this that poor | Myra Lamonte entered the cavern; at least, she | ing over the form of her silent husband.” * went in there, and her statue now stands bend- | | “Thank God her life is not on my hands,” | | said the Wildcat, bowing his head in reverence. | Then, after a moment, he added: ‘Then she | who has hitherto gone under the name of Iris | Wood is really my long-lost sister?’ | “She is. Major Bloodgood is your uncle, his , Son is your cousin, and his son’s wife is also your | cousin. Yonder wretch, Charles Seton, alias | Charles Lamonte, is your uncle, and to him you ~ | owe a debt of gratitude for all the wrong he has | | done you and yours. Major Bloodgood tells me | that Charles Lamonte has a wife and child, the | latter being now the wife of the major’s son. ‘* He further states that he and Lamonte have lived neighbors for the few months, but, until he could learn something of his lost sister, he had forborne to tell the villain that he had | been recognized. The conviction has pat | upon the major of late that Lamonte had mur- | dered his sister, and he was waiting to obtain | some proof to that effect, ere he should strike an | avengi g blow. In the meantime Thorpe, his son, has wedded yon. villain’s child to get her from under his care, “‘A chase was given them by Charles La- ng of ruffians, which resulted in | monte and a | the former's being dashed over a waterfall into my camp, and the latter being rescued from the quicksand by myself.” There was a few moments’ silence; then Wild Carlos continued: | “T have explained, my friends, all that is shot a man in a Topeka saloon, whom I had cause to think was the murderer of my Jessie and that set the judgment of the law me; since then I have cared little what became of me, except that I have wanted to live for re venge. The man Ll killed was a ruffian, and de- served death, althongh he was innocent of the crime I accused him of. Yonder stands Jessie's murderer, and by high Heaven I swear he shall suffer for his inhuman deed. He L die in All eyes were turned upon Corrigan as Wild Carlos passed this sentence, but he was not visi- bly affected. The same sullen, bull-dog look was on his visage, and a burning gleam of hatred in his 5 So “If you please,” said Wildcat Bob, stepping forward, leading Ma Belle by the hand, *‘ this young lady, who is my betrothed wife, wishes to ask you if you ever had a claim of cousinshi to a certain scuthern family named Vincen who resided in the next state to you?’ De Monterey started violently, and at Ma Belle searchingly; then he stepped quickly forward with extended hands. ** Is it possible?” he ejaculated, ‘‘ that you are Mabel Vincent—the beautiful cousin of whom I have heard so much, and yet never seen?” ‘**T am Mabel, yes, sir,” replied the rope-walk- er, coyly. ‘I have heard terrible stories of my outlaw cousin, and the moment I saw you I was satisfied that you were he!” . * The bloody stories are not true, dear cousin. ery Hom Ba onotdeny. And now, when the cloud has been lifted from so many lives, I feel that we ought to be doubly grateful to our God, and let the curtain fall over a tableau of re- unjon and happiness!” A few more words will end the tale. On Amber's account Charles Lamonte was set at liberty, with the warning that if he was ever | Seen again he would be arrested and tried for | | ! | | power, save the confession of old Bill | Bob his crimes. For he was guilty of many, Cor rigan confessed, an hour previous to his death, in the cave of Petri. As for Charles Seton, he was the head spirit in the band of Bloodhounds—a sort of ki ,in fact—and always received his share of their il. At the time of the ¥ resul in essie’s death, he commanded band, but shortly after been sueceeded by Hank Ia Verge. According to the sentence passed upon him, Corrigan died in the cave. Three Foal hotel of Be ee ne in a principal hotel of St. Louis. Wildcat Bo and Wild los were the bridegrooms, and we Me Bei the reader to guess who were the rides. Su ent to entering the matrimonial state, e haste to cancel his engagement with m Wood ts litt] thing, fur- | Col. Tupper, who, as soon as the mining da . which amounts to little or nothing. Shite ene, lott Web The te * ing ys ther than it goes to say that he received Iris Lamonte from Charlies onte, and that he has all these long years known that the wife of Thomas was incarcerated in a mad- house. Is there anyone among you who wishes to ask any questions that are not clear in their minds?” There was no answer. There were none who did not understand how matters stood, Wild Oe ae resumed : | ‘Before dropp: the curtain over my so- called life«irama, I have a few words to say in to my own actions in the | “Tama Creole by birth, and a native of the | State of Mississi Rho ago, when I was | just entering my majority, I became enamored | of a young Northern lady, who was visiting |a@ plantation adjacent to m | reciprocated my affection. of ut my father, one South, ily disapproved of my choice, and | threa: to disinherit me if I paid any further _ attention to the daughter of the hated North. |“ My temper was as fiery as his, and with the 1 I fied into the furthest part of Kansas. | ere I took up land, built me a while | Jessie, the maiden of my choice, returned to her Northern home, where she was soon to come into the possession of a large fortune; but she promised to come back to me and become my ag father’s, and shé ——— ose stern old blue-blooded gentlemen of the’ ; stock raiser. The wife of the worthless Charles Lamonte ang the Bl - and the estate turned over obert an Lamonte, as they “Saiweeae And is not THE END? a a b> (oF (e) (e) (¢|