Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1003 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

a oe German Joe, the Hayseed Sport. shock from which he recovered with difficulty as he recognized the familiar face and form of John Dunning! CHAPTER XIII. A CHANGE OF SCENE, Jor had not doubted in the slightest degree but that Dunning had really diei. The detec- tive had seen him fall, and when he read the | Tight band, the reading-room to wait until Dunning came down-stairs, He was obliged to sit there for nearly an hour before the man appeared, this time alone, but with the sachel still held in his He walked to the desk, paid the | | clerk some money, and then hurriedly went out | very plausible account of his death in the paper | he did not dream of such u thing as meeting the man face to face in the street, alive and well. But such was indeed the case, and he stared at Dunning, hardly able to believe tie evidence of hisown eyes. The man was having a very wordy dispute with Darkin, and would evi- dent! interfered. ‘* Call an officer,” said Dunning, and as he did so Joe caught a glimpse of the black sachel in hishand, ‘‘ This man isa thief!” **'You’re a liar!” retorted Darkin, wrathfully. ‘¢ Thet sachel an’ what’s in it belong to me, an’ I wantit mighty quick, I boughtit, an’ yo’ ainu’t got no right to it!” **T haven't, eh? prove, just the same, that you stole the thou- sand dollars in gold from my room in Silverside, It’s in this sachel now, with the other papers and although I can’t imagine how it got there, I ic pe the whole thing is mine, and I shall keep t. ‘* Well, I reckon not, You kin hev ther gold, but yo’ ain’t got no right to ther papers in ther sachel, ‘*Them’s mine, ’cause I paid fur ’em.” ‘*Darkin, you had better keep quiet or Ill have you arrested at once,” said pen a don’t want to go to the trouble now since | have gotall the money back, but I shall do so, unless you clear out,” ** But them papers is mine.” ** They are not,” ‘© Yo’ lie. Don’t I tell you I bought ’em an’ paid fur ’em?”’ ** But the person you bought them of stole them from me,” ** No, he didn’t, neither. They wuz mine day before yist’day an’ wuz stole from me ezI wuz ridin’ on ther cars to Denver.” ‘* Who stole them?” ‘“* A young chap, an’ he wuz sent up for it, too. I hee ’im arrested yisterday an’ he got four years in jail. I tell yo’ I can prove they wuz mine!” ‘“* Well, it doesn’t make any difference whether vou had them at one time or not. They are mine now and have always been mine and | in- tend to keep them. See what a crowd is gather- ing here—l’m going to leave this town on the first train.” ‘*No, yo’ ain’t, not till I git them papers. Yo’ kin hev ther money but them papers is mine, I know what they’r’ wu’th, an’ I'll hev ’em or arrest yo’ fur stealin’’em, I kin prove by fifty people thet I had thet sachel.” Dunning walked off, followed by Darkin who talked and gesticulated wildly. Joe kept close upon their heels, occasionally hearing a few sentences of the excited conversa- tion which ensued, Both threatened to arrest the other and yet both feared to take the step except as a last extremity, As the two walked slots together, the dis- pute getting hotter and hotter every moment and finally threatening to come to blows, Joe saw in a hand-to-band conflict a possible op- portunity of securing the sachel once more. And this was for the present his highest am- bition. If he could secure that and then watch Dunning until assistance came from the East, he had no doubt but that the evidence would der, of Joseph Schlerger, But his hopes of witn A passage at arms ppointed. They Well, perhaps not, but I can nemween the two —_ ye d pped in front of a hotel somewhat smaller than the Kirby House, and Dunning, followed closely by his companion, entered and went up-stairs, evidently, tohisroom. __ Joe could not follow him very well without a attention, so he turned to the clerk ‘Who was the is Matthews; he is stopping here man that just went up- ‘* His name for & day or two.” ed ioe know when he is going away, or ry) No.” “Mor tap eater “All right, thanks,” and Joe took a seat in a“ sows o'- a - | | | ee ee into the street and started for the railway station, Joe had left all. his baggage in his room at the Kirby House, but he could not afford to lose sight of Dunning now, and when the latter en- tered a train bound for Denver, he purchased a ticket for the same place, It was a long and wearisome ride to Denver, and the detective was glad to be able to stretch his legs as he followed Dunning about the reg- have struck him, had not the crowd | ular, well-kept streets of that model Western | City. The man seemed to have no definite ob- ject in view, and waudered through: the public buildings and parks of the place before go- ing to the Weldon Hotel and registering, Joe kept close at his heels and placed the name of ‘“‘‘James 8 McCarty” under that of “*C, M. Matthews” on the clerk’s book, He was assigned to a room directly opposite Dunning’s, and when the latter went to his room to prepare for dinner, the detective fol- lowed his example. **T sha’n’t let the fellow out of my sight,” he thought, as he washed the dust of travel from his face and hands. ‘‘Just as soonas I geta chance I shall steal those bonds, though it’s retty risky business. Then 1’ll keep my eye on im until some of the other men come out here with a warrant for his arrest,” Joe dined at the same table with the man he was so persistently following, and in the evening accompanied him tothetheater. At night, after Dunning had retired, thé detective sought outa clothing storeand purchased another outfit, to be used in case his present disguise should attract suspicion. Healsoobtained a pair of side-whisk- ers, which changed his appearance to a great extent, Thus equipped he returned to the hotel, which he found in a state of great excitement, Dun- ning, who seemed to have a remarkable aptitude for getting into trouble of some kind at every step, bad just informed the proprietor in tragic tones that he had been robbed. ‘* When I came down to dinner I Jeft a sachel containing seventy-five thousand dollars in my room up-stairs, [| went to the theater from the table, and on returning I find that it has been taken.” The proprietor of the hotel hastened to assure the angry and frightened man that ens search for his property would be instituted with- out delay. Tne detective, as much alarmed as Dunning, hastened to his room, | CHAPTER XIV, KID KERN TAKES A HAND, KEEN followed the detective’s example, and in starting out on Dunning’s trail, first inter- viewed the new 1d inggaoa of the ‘* White- house,” Casey told bim practically the same story that he had told German Joe only a few hours before, and the scout set out for Junita, almost in the tracks of his tner. During the remainder of that day, and throughout the next, he was unable to discover any trace of the missing man. He was stopping in the Valencia House, and on the third day he discovered, much to his astonishment and delight, that Dunning was staying at the same hotel. He saw him, quite early in the day, enter the room next to his own, The man carried the sachel in his hand, and was conversing in loud and excited tones with his companion, whom Keen soon recog- nized as Jack Darkin. Ou entering the room, which was connected by a glass door, the posse of which had been heavily painted, with Kid Keen's, Dunning mpansed a sigh of relief, and turned to his com- on. Pe Now, what do you want herc? Didn’t I tell you that I place you unde unless you cease to annoy me? You must be crazy, toactin this way. I wish you would go away—I have no time to bother with you fur- ‘Yo’ ain’t, eh? Well, I reckon yo’ will bother with me consider’ble further, ‘less’n yo’ giv’ me that sachel an’ ther as a ? ne ou idiot, they are 1" Q, ee eo aia Ss sg awe an » and after carefully lock the & bureau-dra the key ES 13 ‘““You are either a fool or else one of the meanest men in the world,” he exclaimed. ‘*Why don’t you go back to Silverside and behave yourself, instead of bothering around here with your nonsense? I’m totally sick of it all, and won’t hear any more of it. The money is mine, whether you ever had it or not, and I shail keep it. Now, clear out; I want to dress,” Darkin was working himself into atterrible rage, He believed that he had been robbed of the bonds, and really thought that Dunning was a party tothe theft. He listened tothe man in silenen, but his eyes glistened ominously and he gritted his teeth—sure signs of anger in a man ot his caliber, Meanwhile, Keen was able to hear all that was going on in the next room, and see part of it, for the paint had chipped off the glass in several places, and he could see through, He congratulated himself on finding Dunning, and wondered where German Jove bad concealed bim- self. Had he known that at the time the detec- tive was in the reading-room, down-stairs, he would probably have looked for a speedy and satisfactory settlement of the c.se, ‘*T don’t want to raise a disturbance here,” said Dunning. ‘* But unless you get out, I shall call for a policeman,” ‘“T wish ye would, trouble.” ‘‘And are you still convinced that you have any right to these papers—or to part of them?” ‘*They’r’ all mine, an’ I want ’em. Hand ‘em over an’ I'll git out.: The money is yourn, an’ yo’ kin keep it fur all I keer, but I vant them bonds,” Dunning saw clearly that there was trouble ahead, and he took a unique and effective way of avoiding it. He had in his pocket a pair of handcuffs, and taking them ouf, he ap- proached Darkin, while that gentieman was gazing out of the window. His bands were crossed behind him, and it was the work of but an instant to slip the steel clasps over his wrists and draw them together tight, Darkin uttered a yelland wheeled about, struggling to release his bands, ‘* What er yo’ doin’?” he bowled, tearing about the room and swearing between every word. ‘* Leggo my hands or I’ puta bullet in ye—leggo, I say!” Dunning looked at him apprehensively for a moment, but saw that it would be impossible for the man to draw his revolver while his hands were in their present position. ‘*] warned you to clear out,” he said, skip- ping about the room to avoid the flying legs of the maddened man. ‘* You wouldn't do it, and so I was obliged to handcuff you to keep you from hurting yourself or me,” Darkin didn’t venture a reply. He was in- dulging in a fit of swearing that almost choked him, and hs whirled gxbout like a jumping-jack, trving his best to free his hands, ‘* You had better quiet down,” advised Dun- ning, from bis position behind the bed, which he had shoved out\into the middle of the floor and constantly kept between himself and his antagonist, ‘It will do you no good to dance around in that style. W yourself?’ Darkin stopped and leaned against the bed- stead, panting loudly, but still employing every other breath in an expression of profanity. ‘¢ Yo’ blanked fool!” he roared, making an- other feint of rushing on Dunning. ‘' What’n thunder do yo’ mean by fixin’ me lke this? Ef yo’ don’t leggo my hands, l’ll paralyze yo’ when I do git loose.” ‘*] ghall release you presently,” returned Dunning, cheerfully. ‘‘But first let us see what arrangements we can make about those bonds. Do you stillentertain the idea that they are yours?” Darkin replied most emphatically that he did. His spirit had in no wise been broken by the rough treatment, although his arms showed signs of approaching dissolution. ‘Ef you think I be bluffed by this little game uv -_ it’s time you learnt what’r mis- take yo «I ain’t no chicken, an’ I reckon thet when I git out’n these things, 1’ll make yo’ feel pooty bad, I’d giv’ them papers, lot uv ‘em, ef my hands wuz loose. It'll save me ther hy don’t you behave the h I'd maul yo’ till yo’r own maw wouldn’t know yer. T - oma niger wr ny eect re turb ng in the least. pri pa nee faith in the effects of the ani — began his preparations for leaving the ‘“*T shall have to goto Denver to-day,” be said,