Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1003 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

——— ; \ German Joe, the Hayseed Sport. of an idea as to the value of the papers than he was willing to admit to his credulous com- panion, He had never seen a Government bond before, but he had a general idea that anything issued by the United States was worth its face value, and he concluded to risk the hundred dollars on it, ‘Ef they ain’t no good,” he said, as the two left the saloon, ‘‘ I'll bring ’em back to you 30’s to show you thet I’m on ther square,” ‘* But this money’s mine, jest ther same?” ** Thet’s the idee.” ‘* An’ we go whacks on what yo’ git fur ’em ef you kin sell ’em?” ss Yes,” *‘ All right. Thet suits me up to ther handle, I wonder who lost ’em?” / ‘* Ther’ don’t seem ter be any name on it,” said Darkin, holding the sachel close to a street- lamp and examining some faint tracings ona silver plate fastened toits side, There wuz once, but it’s worn off, Kin yo’ make it out?” He handed the sachel to Carter, whose eyesight was evidently better than his companion’s, for he made out with some little difficulty a name which he wrote on a card, and after showing it to Dakin, placed itin his pocket. ** Joseph Schlerger! Why, thet’s ther name uv ther Dutchman thet wuz over to my place yesterday,” The speaker emitted a long, low whistlé, and then relapsed into silence, refusing to answer Carter’s questions as to who the Dutchman was, and where he came from, ‘It ain’t no matter,” he said, at length, “'You’ve got your hundred dollars, an’ will be money in on ther find, anyway.” “I know that,” admitted Carter. ‘‘ But I don’t want ter rob ary one.” “You won't, I guess, Ef ther Dutchman did lose em, I reckon he stole ’em frum some one else, Jest like’s not he threw ’em away because they wuza’t wu’th nothin’.” ** Mebbe so,” Carter admitted. The two spent the evening together, and in the morning Carter returned to Lode Camp, while Dakin was to take the first train for Den- ver, The latter’s absence from the ‘t‘ Whitehouse ” was the cause of muchcomment, His partner, & man by the name of Casey, professed entire ignorance of his whereabouts, but said it was quite probable he would return before morn- ing. hen Dunning returned from Placer Ranch, and bis visit to the bedside of Phil Dacy, he did not at once discover the loss of either his two thousand dollars or his fair captive. But when, on going to the latter’s room a short time after- ward, he came face to face with Colonel Den- more, he began to suspect that something was amiss. ‘*See here, sir,” began the colonel, laying his hand on Dunning’s shoulder, ‘* { have found evi- dence that my daughter is, or was, confined in this house. Do you know anything about it?’ ‘**She’s not here,” replied the other, uncon- sciously telling the truth. ‘* Not to my knowl- ede, at least.” *¥ don't believe it,” retorted the colonel. ** You are the only one in this house who would be likely to do such a thing.” “But I assure—” **You can’t assure me anything,” cried Col- onel Denmore, hotly, ‘* My daughter has been confined here ena demand that you conduct me at once to her hiding-place. 1 shall stand no more of this, sir,” Dunning saw that the speaker was thoroughly in earnest, and he backed down-stairs, ‘*T tell you I don’t know anything about your daughter,” he insisted, ‘I ain merely stopping here for a few days before going East.” But the colonel was not to be convinced, and he brought out a revolver, ‘‘Perhaps you don’t understand what it is that you are doing,” he said, with forced calm- ness, ‘‘I mean to kill you right here and now, unless you conduct me to m ity Sn or prove that you are in ignorance of her hiding-place,” The terrible earnestness of the enraged man impressed Dunning with an idea of his danger, and after a minute’s hesitation he said: ‘¢T believe she is here, but the man who owns the house, and not myself, is to blame,” “Then take me to her,” roared Colonel Den- more, ‘‘Show me where my daughter is con- fined, Ili attend to the man who brought her here later.” . Dunning led the way to the room in which Grace had been kept prisoner, and producing a key, unlocked the door. ‘She’s in there,” he said, grufily. es et _ But as the colonel rushed in to grasp his daughter to his breast, he found the room vacant, although there were plenty of signs about that showed of her late captivity. His anger was increased a huvdred-fold by the dis- appointment, and he turned on Dunning like an enraged tiger. That gentleman was evidently greatly surprised by the absence of the girl, and bis looks and tone denoted it as he said: ‘She was here a few hours ago,” ‘Then where is she now?” **T don’t know.” ** You must know! I tell you [ll kill you un- less you take me to my daughter!” *“*But I don’t know where she is any more than youdo, She was here this morning, for I[ saw her myself, Dakin must have taken her “athe 5 or else this man Goodloe has discovered er, The man’s earnestness did not impress the ex- cited colonel with a sense of his veracity. The two walked down-stairs together, the latter handling his revolver in a way that threatened the life of Dunning, who begged him to put it in his pocket, The loud talk of the two, and the angry threatenings of Colonel Denmore were the causes of the commotion which luckily drew the atten- tion of the men who had discovered German Joe in the quicksand, from that unlucky individual, to the people in front. But, just as the colonel had threatened for perhaps the hundredth time, to put a bullet through Dunning’s head, a man came up be- hind him and whispered a few words in his ear. It had a wonderful effect on: the excited man, who immediately put up his revolver and hastened to the place where the horse was fastened. ‘* Are you sure?” he asked, as the messenger assisted him to mount, “There can’t be any mistake?” ‘*Nary a mistake,” was the reply, as the ee started on a rapid gallop toward his ome, CHAPTER IX, THE FATB OF THE FORTUNE, AFTER German Joeand Kid Keen had changed their clothing, taken a bath, and placed them- selves on the outside of a square meal, they felt much better, and in spite of the loss of the sachel, were inclined to think that the prospects of a speedy and successful termination of their plans were excellent, They spent the evening in the ‘‘ Golden Gar- ter,” where, strange to relate, Joe found a letter from New York awaiting him. It had passed safely through the mail to Denver, and from there on by messenger to Placer Ranch. As it is of as much interest to the reader as it was to the detective, we print it in full: ‘“‘New YORK, May 2, 1892, ‘*My DEAR WINTHROP:— ** Another complication has arisen in the Schlerger case, which it will be necessary for me to call your attention to. The will of the old gentleman, made a few weeks before his death, cannot be found, and unless it turns up pretty svon, his wife and daughter will be Jeft almost penniless. An old will, made in 1859, when Schlerger was unmarried, bequeaths his entire property toa charitable institution in Pennsyl- vania. This will, 1 am afraid, will bave to be carried into effect unless the other one is found. 1 incline to the opinion that the person who killed the old man, and robbed the safe, took with him unintentionally a number of papers of no value to himself. I have sent a copy of this letter to all the men on the case, none of whom seem to be making any headway, however, and if you can throw any light on the additional mystery, you are requested to do so, and with- out delay.” German Joe read this letter twice, and then handed it to Kid Keen without comment, ‘* ve got the will in my pocket, and will have to start for New York to-night,” he said, slowly. ‘*] hate to leave at this time, but I’m afraid I shall have to,” ‘‘ Why not send it through by Express from Denver?” asked Keen, when he had finished the usal of the letter, **Tt wouldn’t do,” replied Joe. ‘‘If I risked it Byrnes would kill me when I got back. Til have tostart at once. If you will keep right on with the case until I can get back, however, [ guess we'll pull through allright. We've got almost enough evidence to convict Dunning now, ‘** But the sachel?” ‘* You'll have to keep an eye out for that, Dunning will not leave Silverside without it, A Sal ee ce. es. ee yo a2 @ ae you may be sure, and while he’s here you can try to gather still more evidence against him, I would like to know, for one thing, how the will got in Limpy Dick’s cabin.” ‘““Itis mighty strange. I reckon he or Nick Goodloe must ’ev had sum dealin’s with Dun- ning, Thet probably accounts fur the knife with ther Dutchman’s name on it,” ‘*] guess you’re right. I wouldn’t be sur- prised if Limpy had helped his partner steal the girl, They’re a good pair to do sucb work,” After a few minutes more of conversation the two pards separated, Joe mounting Kid Keen’s own horse to ride to Junita, ‘*It isn’t likely I can get back inside of a month,” he said, at parting. ‘‘Butif you will keep an eye on Dunning, and not let him get away till I return, everything will be all right, Good-by, old man, I'll send your horse back in the morning.” **So-long,” returned Keen, as the detective galloped off in the darkness, ‘*T hope he’ll git thar safc,” he muttered to himself ag be returned tothe saloon. “It’s a ood ways from hyer to New York State, He on’t seem to mind it no mor’n if it wuz out ter Silverside. He’s a mighty plucky youngster, an’ [’m durned sorry he’s gone,” Keen felt very lonesome lounging about the ‘Golden Garter” without his friend, and lon before midnight he sought his cabin and retired. Meanwhile German Joe was rapidly lessening the distance between himself and Junita, which is the largest village in the county, and is situ- ated at the northern corner of a triangle, the two southern points of which are formed by Piacer Ranch and Silverside, A road runs from the former place direct to Junita, while the city is reached from the latter either by a cattle-trail running across the hills or by the longer route through Placer Ranch. Darkin in running away from Silverside with his stolen goods took the cattle-trail for Junita only a couple of hours before the detective set One for the same place by the Placer Ranch road, Both, by a strange coincidence, missed the night train for Denver, and Joe, walking about the streets, soon caught sight of Darkin and Carter entering a saloon. Ordinarily he would not have followed them, but he quickly de- tected the sachel in the latter’s hand as he raised it to the light for his companion’s inspec- tion, ‘*There’s just what I want,” he thought, hastening toward the saloon, ‘‘I wonder how that man got hold ofthe bonds, ‘‘ Ill follow him and see what he does with them. I must get the sachel back if I can,” He waited on the outside for nearly an hour before the two men appeared, and then noted the fact that Darkin carried the sachel. The latter walked directly to the Kirby House, the largest hotel in Junita, where he ergaged a room for the night. Joe proceeded to do the same thing, and when Darkin retired, he entered his own room and hastened to change his attire for bis Eastern trip. The buckskin coat, trowsers and leggins were removed, and he donned a suit of ‘store clothes "and a derby hat, The drummer’s out- fit, which bad served him before now, gave him the ap ance of a commercial traveler, and in this disguise he thought it very probable that be would pass Darkin umrecognized, particu- larly so since that gentleman had only seen him once, He slept but little during the remaining hours of the night, for fear that the man would escape him. But his vigilance was uncalled for, Darkin, never a very early riser, slept until ten o’clock, and then after a hasty breakfast walked to the railroad station and took a train for Den- ver. Joe followed him, hoping to get an ja Sa tunity of stealing the sachelon the way. But Darkin, knowing its value, did not remove his hands from it until in bis seatonthetrain. The detective sat behind him, trying in vain to think of some way of regaining ion of the bonds, until nearly balf way to Denver. Then Joe was celighted to see Darkin show signs of sleepiness. He was evidently unused to railway travel, and the motion of the train soon rocked him to sleep. His arm, however, was thrown around the sachel, even in dreamland, and the detective could kardly hope to remove it without awakening him, But he tried neverthe- less, thrusting his hand around through the arm of the seatin front of him, and gently pushing the sachel away from the sleeping man- Darkin emitted several violent snorts during the process, but he did not awake sufficiently to know what was going on, and whew the train 000 ain ee 2 ee rity ae"