Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1064 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

- “this lady. ees are OT AAS oh hej ; -.! . ; ba ee, 14 Dandy Dick Decoyed. Steelforth was a chief of rascals, and the feelin was intense against him, while Mr, McDonalk was highly spoken of as a much-slandered young man,” “That is to the point,” remarked Dunbarge. ‘“*T knew you were the man for the business, James, And now, madam, I suppose you know everything concerning the mysterious way in which your daughter came to us.” ‘* Yes, sir; your man told me all about it, as he claims,” ‘* Very good. Now, please throw some light upon the matter. How in the name of wonders came your daughter to be drifting down the creek in her ccffin, so far away from home?” **T do not know, sir; though I can—” ‘*The deuce! But, your story.” And seeing if was a woman’s story that was coming, the local czar settled back in bis chair with a look of patience. ‘*] will tell you everything about it,” Mrs, Pratley/ began. ‘*Mr. McDonald had been ying attentions to my daughter, and I liked im and offered no objection, But at length came Mr, Steelforth—the rascal! and he was so polisbed, and so rich, that I believed be would make my daughter a better match, and so urged her to accept bis attentions, ‘It was of little use, for she would not hear to it, but then came Mr. McDonald’s disgrace, which was all brought about by lies told by Steelforth, and by some of his dirty tricks againet the young man’s character, and I for- ‘bade Myra ever to speak to bimagain. More than that, I commanded her to accept Steel- forth, wbo was more than eager to have her a, him at once. “‘ Well, seeing that I had to use almost force, 1 took the matter into my own hands, told Mr, Steelforth (I wonder if that is his name?) he could have her, and set the evening for the wed- ding, and all. Myra, all the time, was crying and taking on like mad about it, threatening to kill herself if [ did not give 3 my plans and let her remain as she was. But I did not think she would do that, and went rigbt ahead with the preparations. ‘*The hour came, and I forced Myra to dress and meet Mr. Steelforth in our best room, where the preacher was already awaiting to marry them. At last I got her there, and the eeremony was commenced, when, suddenly Myra flew back from the man, put a small ‘bottle to her lips and swallowed its contents, She told me it was my fault, and in a few mo- ments more fell to the floor, dead—as we all sup- . I was almost crazed, and evente that ollowed seem like a dream. ‘* Steelforth went away, with apparently little concern, leaving me alone with my sorrow, and from that moment I bated him, and saw that there was no manhood in him—as ‘compared with McDonald. That wason a Saturday even- ing. The funeral was on Monday, and my child was laid to rest in the valley burying-place, ‘Steelforth did not even attend the funeral, hav- ing gone out of town. And that was the last, [ supposing my daugbter’s body to be in its ve. ‘The rest is plain enough,” cried McDonald, ** That devil must have taken the body from ‘the grave, for the purpose of sending it to me in “the manner he did, Now we can understanc the terrible import of his note. He deserves to die, and it will not be well for bim if we meet, But, ‘thank heaven, he has rendered me the greatest service he possibly could bave rendered!” The young man sprung forward, his face aglow, and caught to bis arms the girl he loved, pressing her to his breast. “Death is what he deserves,” cried Dunbarge. “ But, it is not likely that you will ever see him -again, for after a trick of this sort he would be likel to go as far away as possible,” si And Tine he has,” spoke Mrs, Pratley. At that moment there was a stir near the -door, and the old fortune-teller entered the r oom. , ‘‘ Hearken to what Madam Sibyl] bas to say,” -she piped, invher shrill, shaky tone. ‘‘ Iam here to utter a warning to somebody—bave been im- pelled here to utter a warning. Will you hear ‘what I have to say?” “ Yes,” answered McDonald, .‘‘ Speak out, old woman.” |. “There is danger, young man, and now I can see that you are the one threatened—you and Look out! look out!” ‘““What is the danger?” asked McDonald. ‘“Whatisitlike?” - ‘‘'You have an enemy,” was the further ex- . “You may think he has gone far bie bas not, He is near, and knows all : place, whatever it may be—and i : . ' 1 yoke” + y* , A . 3 * i * " A Pon y Wes *. a $ - 5; > bu , . - “ ‘ < .# f : ~ 4 ” Be > s ? ‘ ‘ 7 i? * 4 aad C9 be ad 7 ' Fa 4 . ‘ » ~*~ = - . J xi wy ™ " o> P vas's hes vty 122. A a... 4 = ~ , : _ - I will not stop to read that. him!” All looked from one to another in amazement, ‘*Can you not point bim out to us?” asked Mc- Donald, ‘* No; for be is not within sight just now, and I might not be sure of him if l were totry. No, no; [can’t do that, But, I bave warued you, so be on your guard, and do not give him the op- portunity to steal your bride from you.” Abruptly the old bag turned, and in a mo- ment was gone, McDonald’s face was white and stern, while that of the girl was os pale, ** You must protect me from him, Hapwood,” she faltered. ‘‘ At any cost you must not let me fall into his hands,” ‘Will you marry me, here and now?’ the young man asked, ‘** Yes, and gladly,” was the reply. ** Let it be done,” cried the motber., It bas been mentioned that tbere was a church atthe camp, and the preacher was sent for quickly, The affair was further discussed while they awaited his coming, but nothing new was brought out. Nothing further could be ex- plained yet. Presently the preacher arrived, and in the presence of all, the lovers were made one in marriage and McDonald held the right of pro- tector indeed, 7 About the time when the ceremony ended, something of a startling nature took place, A great booting and yelling was heard with- out, at a distance, but coming rapidly nearer. In another moment a running fire of pistol- shots ensued, The men in the room sprung to the hall, to get out and learn what it all meant, but they were too late, for while they were pouring into the hall a body of horsemen swept past the hotel, sending a volley of bullets crashing through the windows, Shouting, screaming and firing, they went past like demons on wing, and by the time the men reached the piazza they were too far off to see what they were like, or to make it any use to fire after them, though a good many shots were sent in the direction of their retreat, Several persons bad been more or less injured by their bullets, and the camp was crazy with rage and excitement in a moment, The men bad been masked, it was said by those who had seen them well, and were undoubtedly outlaws, Here was something new in the experience of Satan’s Delight, and the czar of the camp rose in his might and registered a vow that he would — the country but he would wipe the rascals ou Look out for CHAPTER XxX, DEVIL DUVAL’S DOING, But there was more to this sudden raid than appeared on the surface, as was soon to be made nown. Presently two women were seen running from the direction of the Dunbarge residence, scream- ing as they came. And as they drew nearer it was seen that they were Mrs. Dunbarge and her servaut, ‘**Help!” they cried, ‘‘Help! Help! Flora has been carried off by those outlaws! Save her! Oh! save my child! Jackson, send men after them as speedily as you can! Ob! my child, my ebild!” ‘What is this?” Dunbarge thundered, ‘‘ Flora has been carried off,do you say? Quick, men, your horses! Every man who has a horse, let him getitassoonashecav! A thousand dol- lars to the man who will rescue my daughter from their hands!” Now the camp was wild indeed. Men hastened in every direction, eager to be off in the pursuit. It wasa time of keenest anxiety not only for the parents of the beautiful girl but for the whole camp. Useless to try to describe what the excitement was like, and much more so to attempt to set forth what was said by the chief characters, Everybody was interested, strangers as well as citizens, Lord Brandt Comingway, on the piazza of the Mountain Mansion, with his statue in buttons immediately bebind him, was interested in everything—perhaps thoughtful for his own safety and calculating the earliest possible time for bim to get out of so wild a place, Bad-man Ben was roaring and bowling around like a crazy man, offering bis services if some- body would provide him with a.horse, <A horse ‘ is . : it bY ora “ er Es) Lf sai > 2 wus all be wanted, It was the burden of his cry. A borse, a horse! And he was willing to give his kingdom for it, He made more fuss and noise tban any half-dozen other men in the excited crowd, In a brief time a body of horsemen was as- sembled, and they were about to set out nwhena™ single horseman was seen coming swiftly from the direction of the canyon where the outlaws had made their exit, He drew rapidly near, and soon it was discoy- ered tbat he carried a woman in front of him, | half supporting ber with his arms. Anotber moment and he was at hand, and was recognized. It was Richmond Danewood, and the woman was Flora Dunbarge! It was a welcome sight, and Dunbarge greeted the man heartily, ‘*{ was in the nick of time,” Danewood re- marked. ‘I met the rascals in the canyon, sah, and the young lady let out a ery for help, By gad, sah, no woman ever appeals in vain to a Southern gentleman, and I tackled them sin- gle-handed. I seized your daughter and tore ber from their. hands, as she can tell you, and away we came,” + for you!” cried Dunbarge, ‘*I won’t, soon forget the service, sir. But how did you get off with your life?” ‘‘Owing to the darkness, and to the fact that their weapons were empty for the most part. Hammers enough clicked, but only two | or three shots came after us,” Flora bad been let down, and was in her moth- er’s arms, weep.ng. And now little time was lost, when Dunbarge set off in pursuit of the villains with the inten- tion of fully carrying out his threats, It had been a timely rescue. and Danewood was the hero of the bour. He-was loudly cheered, and everbody wanted to shake hands with him, but he soon got out of sight in the house, and was seen no more, The hour was late when Dunbarge returned, His pursuit had been a fruitless one, The out- laws were not to be found. But this did not end it, be vowed, for on the morrow he would send his men out again to scour the country for them. They should not be allowed to remain in that section, In the morning there was new cause for ex- citemment for the camp. And it was such as to occasion even a greater stir than anything that had preceded it. The early risers found a man on the street, between the bridge and the hotel, a man bound hand and foot, and apparently dying. Blood was all over his face and breast, and a note was pinned to bim. It was this note that made the stir, more than the finding of the man under the circumstances described. It was addressed to the citizens of the camp, and was signed by no less a personage tban tbe notorious outlaw, Devil Duval! lt ran as follows: ‘* RESPECTED CITIZENS OF SATAN’S DELIGHT:— “Here is the cuss who carried off the young wo- man last night. I owed him a grudge, and this is the way I have squared it. If you find him alive, finish him by hanging. You needn't look any fur- ther for me around here. I'm off to pastures new. Your man Dupbarge is too many for me to tackle, so. I’m gomng to move out, With my best compli- ments, I am yours for life and liberty— ** DEVIL DUVAL.” The discoverers raised such a hullabaloo that the whole camp was speedily out on the street. Men ran to the spot from every direction among them Jackson Dunbarge, who happened to be up early. And by the time he came up, it had been discovered that the man’s tongue was cut out! ““Good heavens!” Dunbarge cried, ‘‘ what is the meaning of this? Who is this poor devil? Who has done this bellish deed?” Tbe note was handed to him, and that explain- ed it all—or all that any one knew aboutit. It was a piece of work that was certainly worth the reputation that notorious outlaw had well earned, ‘**So, Devil Duval bas been here, has he?’ cried the czar. ‘But there is more about this mat- ter than this note explains,” he addec. ‘* What connection had this man with the band he was — with? Is he one of Duval’s men?” At that instant a cry of recognition was uttered, Hapwood McDonald had just come upon the — scene is man is Wardman Steelforth!” was the excited exclamation. ‘‘ How came he here, and in this condition?” ** Wardman Steelforth!” cried Dunbarge, so, he has met no worse a fate than he d BI , Soe it was uttered by him. comicbooks.co rs * <? . * 7s . a gee eM Se Te rs ite Pe een : eal oot rs A ——_ . ’ « Pas : SY, : es “Hf 7 ad ” { a“ a ie ch