Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1063 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

§ a Pes go the was a man who detested the life be had been forced to lead, For a moment the youth was tempted to offer sympathy to his companion, but he remembered what a strange man Bill was, and hesitated. It was well he did Sympathy for Wild Bill would have been like coals of fire on his head, It was not sympathy he desired. for a little time the Pistol King was silent. “Sr gz he straightened up, flinging out one aud, ‘‘To-morrow [I shall take the trail of the horses. If I overtake the thieves—well, the wolves may have a feast!” Ned shivered. Bill’s voice had grown harsh an! cold, and once more he was the stern and iro -verved man who had won such an unenvi- eb! reputation along the border. ‘ae Pistol King arose to his feet, walked a few steps away, then turned, came back and sat down. ** You were speaking of the Gulch, pard,” he said. *“T do not know as I quite unders ou. ** And I do not know as I quite understand Moaning Gulch,” confessed Nervy Ned. ‘tI am @ot a man who believes in spirits, Bill; are 9” ‘*Um,” was the noncommittal answer, ** But there is something uncanny about that gorge,” asserted the young man, ‘One night when you and the others were talking and smok- ing. I went down there all alone,” ill was interested, ** What did you see?” he asked. ** Nothing.” Now he was disappointed. “it was what I beard that has troubled me ever since,” Ned went on, ‘* You know how the wind sometimes shrieks down there,” **Well, 1 should say so! I heard it a bit @zo.”’ ** Well, those sounds have often seemed to me like the voices of human beings, and sometimes I fhave almost thought I could hear certain words,” The Pistol King nodded. ' ** Same here.” ‘But never as plain as that night, I went down by the sluices and sat there listening to the sobbing sounds, They fascinated me, Suad- denly, I heard a voice call my name. Three times it cried: ‘ Bert, Bert, Bert!'” , “* But your name 1s Ned.” ‘* No, my true name is Elbert Wyndal.” ** it might have been fancy, pard.” **Tt was not. I heard it as plainly as I ever heard anything in all my life. ore than that, i recognized the voice!” *‘Ha! You knew the voice?” a Yes,” ** Whose was it?” “* That of one who is dead and gone !” CHAPTER IX, NERVY NED’S STORY. WiLp BILL started to bis feet in surprise. Nervy Ned also arose, and the Pistol King could gee |1\o was shaking with suppressed emotion, W bat did the young man mean? He had dis- tinctly stated he did not believe in spirits, yet he now claimed he had heard the voice of one who was dead and gone! Bill gazed searchingly into the youth's face, but even bis piercing eyes could not read therein the answer to the many questions which uprose within him, For a little, both were silent. Away off in the darkness near a distant crest @ lone wolt howled. ‘* Boy,” came soberly from Wild Bill’s lips, ** do you mean that?” “Toat is what I mean,” was the reply, but Nervy Ned belied his name then, for he was all atremble, ‘** But you said you did not believe in spirits.” ‘** No inore do I, Bill,” ** You’re getting me tangled, pard.” “TI don’t really think it was a spirit—no, no! be! it was something—perhaps only my imagina- on. Then Ned tried to regain control of his nerves, and be partially succeeded aftera time, He mo- tioned for Bill to be seated again, and both sat wn. “‘ Bill, I like you,” came frankly from the youth’s lips, * Well, 1 like that.” “ You know I am not in the habit of talking much!” “Yes,” yrs ' “But, if you care to hear it, I feel like telling you my story.” 5 * i -~ -Wild Bill’s Weird Foe. ** Well, drive ahead, a story, and more than once I allowed to myself I would like to hear you spin it,” ‘* All right, you sball hear it now. Itis nota very long story, and I will not drag it out, for I know you must need sleep.” ‘Don’t you worry about that, pard. I am not at all hard up for sleep. In fact, I am fresh asa daisy. Go abead,” ‘** ] have alread bert Wyndal. i was born in Illinois, My parents were not wealthy, but they had a little something, However, when I came to manhood I was not content to plod on an Lllinois farm. i wanted something more than could be obtained in that manner. I dreamed of making a for- tune. ‘* Among my schoolmates were two persons with whom this story will deal. One was my friend and chum, the other tbe girl [ loved. Seba Rankin was my chum. We were always mates, and we stood by each other through thick and thin. He was a little the older, but, if any- thing, I was the stouter, Py Tice Aldrich was the girl I loved. It is not necessary for me to tell you how beautiful she was, for you might smile and say to yourselfa great partof her beauty was the imagining of an enthused lover. Her eyes were dark, but ber bair hada sligbt tinge of red, when the sunlight fell full upon it, She was almost two years younger than [, ‘* Now, it happened that Seba Rankin loved Anice, too, but both of us tried to keep the other from discovering we hada more than friendly in- terest in the little fairy. She lived with ber mother, and she knew not whether her father was alive or not, ‘¢ When Anice was eleven, her father went to California to seek his fortune in the mines, He never came back, It was thesame old story of hopes and fears, encouragement and despair, His early letters were full of light and shade. At one time he would be certain of winning a for- tune within a short space, at another he would have no hope of success and would be ready to give up the struggle.” ‘‘ That’s the way,” nodded Wild Bill. ** I bave seen hundreds just like him.” ‘* Those letters became less and less frequent,” continued the young man, “ and, at length, they ceased entirely. Mrs, Aldrich tried in vain to get some word from her husband, aud the brave woman never gave up thebope that he would ut day return to his bome—his wife and his child. ‘‘ Little Anice wasa bright and vivacious creature, and she made friends with every one, 1 had no thought of falling in love with her when 1 first began walking home from school with Anice, She lived on the same road, ‘Seba also paid ber some attentions, but he never seemed jealous of me—tbat is, he did not seem so in those-early days, ‘* But he opened my eyes to the secret of my heart, It came about when, one day, he spoke of Anice, as my ‘little sweetbeart.’ How those words thrilled ne—how they caused my blood to leap and my heart to pound.withiv my breast! ‘*Seba’s eyes were searching my face, and he instantly cried, bis face growing strangely dark: ‘What makes you ,blush so, Bert? Ab! by racious! I hit the truth that time! You are in ove with little Anice Aldrich! ‘‘Somebow, those words angered me, and I made a sharp retort, 1 believe I told kim it was no affair of his. He laughed unpleasantly, and then informed mehe should do bis level best to cut me out, “For a while after this, our relations were strained, but we did not come to open hostility. Why, even our schoolmates did not dream there was any trouble between us! We seemed friend- ly still, and I resolved tu remain so. ‘‘Having made this resolve, | went to Seba and bad a talk with him. I told him I believed I did love Anice, and, even if he cared for her, there was no reason why we should become foes. Each could do his level best to win her regard, and the one who was defeated should vote the other a lucky lad and offer congratula- tions. , ‘* At this, his face lighted up, and he heartily agreed, We shook hands over it, and from that time on were openly rivals. ‘Wor a while, it was hard to tell for whom Anice cared the most, She seemed to look on us both as ber particular friends, and she treated us exactly ahke. This was not strange, for she was still in short dresses. ‘But, as she grew older and we still con- tinued our attentions, she began to understand our méazing. Then she gradually grew to hold us both away. Tbisaroused us, We had allow- : I have thought you had told you my true name is El- | ed things to run along easily while she remain- ed frank and friendly with both, but when she began to grow reserved, each commenced to fear the other was getting the inside track, ‘* One day Seba accused me of double play and unfairness. Now, Lam called cool and nervy, but in those days I was hot-blooded and impul- sive. We had hot words, and be applied an abusive epithet to me, I knocked bim down, ‘*Seba arose and deliberately pulled off his coat. His face was black, and 1 saw he meant to Jick me, I remained facing bim, but I re- gretted my hasty blow, Still I was ready to meet him, He advanced, and our eyes met, ‘*For almost a minute, we stood staring into each other’s eyes, neither speaking a word, Then he wheeled back toward his coat, picked it up and putiton. Having done this, he came bac “ne to me and said, his voice being low and ard: “‘Tam not going to fight with you Bert Wyndal, but some time I will make you sorry for that blow!’ ‘‘Then he turned and walked away. ‘“‘T was already sorry, but .my pride would not allow me to immediately confess it. How- ever, | went to him tbe next day and asked bis pardon, He hesitated a moment, then held out his hand, I grasped it, and the breach was healed, “from that time forward, things were the same as before. We both continued our atten- tions to Anice, but neither knew for a time if the other bad the advantage. ‘*We became young men, and we were not satisfied with our lives, The world was large, but we were living a narrow existence. Neither was possessed of much worldly wealth, and both craved a little. We bad beard the stories of the fortunes being made in the mines, and we re- solved to try our luck, We planned it all out togetber, and we set the day of our departure from the sleepy little place that bad so long been our home. ‘“‘I resolved to know my fate before I left home, and I think Seba made the same resolu- tion, Both redoubled attentions to Anice. ‘*T was the fortunate one. It was the night before the day we were to leave. Anice and I were together, and she knew | was going away on the morrow. Then I told the story of my love, and I pressed her for my answer. I told ber if I was successful it would cheer me during ail the long months I might be far from her side, ‘¢ Well, Bill, I am not going to tell all that Sera between us that night, but from her lips heard that she had loved me all along, and she promised to marry me when I came back, I told her I might come back poor, but she said that would make no difference. Poor or rich, beggar or prince, she would be my wife, Then I beld ber in my arms and kissed ber again and again, How full with the puredelight of Heaven was my heart! ‘‘ How the little gir] clung to me when the time came for me to leave ber. Sbe wept, and I must confess, big, strong fellow though I was, my eyes were dimmed, It waslike tearing out my heart to leave ber, but 1 was now doubly re- solved. I would win wealth—I would come back to ber a rich man! ‘‘ Although my beart had been sacly torn, I walked on air when I left ber that night, I had won the prize I coveted most. How strong and brave I felt! No danger or privation would daunt me then, The soft breeze that came over the rolling prairie was not the usual zephyr of - the country where I had spent all my life; it was the breath of the wide world, ‘¢] saw her but once more before I left bome. She was with others then, and we parted with a simple bandsbake, “As planned, Seba and I went together. We did not strike for California, for the latest tales were of wonderful gold discoveries in Arizona. California miners and adventurers had crossed the mountains and invaded the red-skin haunted and, ‘*T will not follow up our careers till we join- eda party of fortune-hunters, bound for Ari- zona. There were twenty of us, and we felt able to lick the whole Apache Nation, We were fools! ‘By this time Seba bad learned of my good- fortune with Anice, but, to my amazement, he claimed she bad also promised to marry him when he returned. I did not believe that, and the result was a quarrel, ‘Poor Seba! I have always regretted that peopl, We never made it up, and now he is ead. ‘¢ One night the Apaches came down on us. I am not geing to linger upon the horror of that > 7 « fi | Sy ~s ee nef ae —— —_—_ a —- a OV eE—— —— . - . comicbooks