Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 118 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

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On his way West he stop at Dayton, and sold his lots for a slight advance on the price which he had given; he then visited Cincinnati, Chicago and St. uis, and withdrew the amounts he had deposited : and when he arrived in Cheyenne, he found himself the possessor of about twenty thousand dollars in cash. vit — pee ~ ie ta his wealth ae an great, for he dressed quite plainly, and made no pretensions. : 3 He carried his money in an old sachel, with the exception of what he needed for traveling expenses. ‘This he kept in a little leathern va- About this time, the depredations of road- agents between Cheyenne and Deadwood were everyday occurrences, and travelers all went well armed. But arms seldom availed them, for no stage went through without being stopped by one or more gangs of the knights of the trail, and those who had money always had to “cash up. Being something of an actor, himself, Jack hit upon a happy expedient, by disguising himself as an old preacher. Near Red Canyon their stage was promptly halted by the road-agents, and the Passengers were commanded to hand over their valuables in the shortest possible order. Jack immediately dropped Le his knees in the coach, as if to pray, but when nudged with the muzzle of a revolver, he handed over both his valise and the sachel. ‘There, most noble sir, is all I have—my money is in the valise, and my shirts and dirty socks in the sachel. Take them in welcome, but eeare my life!” he said. ‘*Who in blazes wants yer dirty socks?” the ‘‘coMector ” growled, hurling the superannua sachel back into the coach. ‘‘The rhino’s what we want, I opine!” And thus, as Jack had calculated, he fooled them, there being only about fifteen dollars in the valise, while the sachel contained nearly twenty thousand dollars. Many of the passengers gave up all ~. had, the sums gating over a thousand dollars, and when the road robbers had got all they could they rode off in triumph. The stage arrived in Deadwood without fur- ther molestation, and Jack counted himself lucky that he had got through the mountain traps without losing his ‘pile.’ Instead of stopping long in the town, which was full to overflowing with all classes of humanity, he soon adopted another plan. In his rambles among the neighboring mount- — he had stumbled upon the entrance to a singular cave in the side of the mountain, and upon exploring further, he found it to be a sort of honeycomb of subterranean passages, the one main chamber having low, narrow, tunnel-like exits that branched off in different directions. Jack at once resolved to take up his quarters in the cave, and prospect in the vicinity for | e according ‘‘nacked” up a number of articles from the mining metropolis, which nestled below in the gulch, four hundred rods or more. Among other things he procured himself a ‘ull hunting outfit, a hound, some camp-stools and cooking utensils, a bed, a pick, shovel, and pen and es, and a moderate stock of grocer- s, and found himself prepared for life in the By the time he got things arranged in the eave to his suiting, it had a home-like and cheer- ful appearance, and he was satisfied that he could stand it as an abode for awhile, at least, eee the grizzlies should make it too warm for Among the first of his jobs was the one of burying his money, where no one could find it, gold and game. ly purchased a patk-mule and as he did not care to carry so large asum about his person. To find a secure hiding-place in the great mountain honeycomb was a matter of but small importance, for there were many alcoves and fissures where a searcher would never think of penetrating ia quest of treasure. After arranging all at his new home, Jack went out with his rifle and hound, and rambled daily over the mountains, sometimes bagging some game, and occasionally bringing in a grain | of gold which he would wash out from some rivulet. But as yet he had struck no mine, and had | to indicate that he was rea made nothing to pay him for h's coming. In Deadwood he saw little or no chance for investment, and he had about made up his mind ' nothing of the prowess of the stranger to return tward, when something occurred to change his mind, and cause him to resolve to remain longer in his quarters. One night he was visited by a strange dream —strange to him, because he seldom dreamed at In the dream he found himself sleeping as usual in the cavern, when suddenly he became conscious of the presence of somebody, and opened his eyes to find a beautiful Indian girl standing in front of him, holding in her hands a banner, upon which was inscribed in letters of fire, the word ‘‘Gold!” The banner she waved several times to and fro; then pointed toward one of the many imter-mountain fissures, and suddenly disappeared as if by dissolving into at- mosphere. , This was the dream, or what Jack supposed was a dream, its naturalness and reality causing him to believe sometimes that he had not been asleep at all, but had really seen the visitation. What further caused him to give credence to this belief, was the fact that, when he awoke in the morning, he found foot-tracks upon the dusty floor of the cavern, which were not his own, but were such as might have been made by the pret- ty moccasined foot of the Indian maiden he fancied he had seen. At any rate, Jack’s interest was fully aroused, and he resolved to remain long enough to ferret out the mystery of the cave. The next day he ~ par again in hunting and prospecting, but with poor success. On his return to the cave, he was a little surprised to find it occupied by a stranger, who was seated before the fire, smoking a pipe, and engaged in roasting a piece of venison, which emitted a savory odor. A a ig customer he was, with a fat squatty form, clad in greasy buckskin that had evidently seen much service, and a face that was wrinkled and furrowed, and bristled to the eyes with a stubble of gray were small and twinkling, and emitted a strange fiery ee the nose was hooked, and the mouth large. In the belt about his waist he sported six re- volvers, an equal number of bunting knives, a asso, and ammunition, while on the floor at his side lay a long rifle. He looked up as Jack entered, nodded, and turned his attention to roasting the meat. ** Hello, neighbor!” Jack saluted, not knowing what to make of the situation. ‘‘ I reckon you’re in the wrong pew, ain’t you?” ‘¢ Waal, I ruther gus not,” the man at the fire replied, with a shrug of his broad shoulders, and without looking around, ‘But, I rather guess that you are,” Jack averred. ‘I believe I’m the proprietor of this hotel, if [ know myself.” “Ve do, eh?’ laconically. *Yes,I do.” ‘‘ Mebbe you can lick me, then,” the intruder observed, wheelin around on the stool, and gazing at Jack with his fiery little eyes. ‘‘T don’t know as I made any boast to that effect, sir!” ‘Oh! ye didn’t, eh? Well, then shet up. When a man ken’t lick me in a fair up an’ down scrimmage, I allow I assume absolute possession til I git ready ter puckachee. I allus drops in wharever night overtakes me, an’ ef I find ther folks sociable, like, I allus mak’ ’em feel perfect] ter home; but ef they go fer ter tryin’ ter bull- doze me, I generally boot ’em out, an make things howl. I warn’t brought up in ther woods ter skeart out by an owl, young feller—I warn’t, an’ ef ye approach me kinder gently an’ zephyr-like, an’ don’ go ter perigrinatin’ off onter yer ear, I opine I’ll sheer wi’ ye, seein’s how you ain’t a -lukin’ chap; but ef ye want fer ter claim ther boss-ship o’ this leetle shebang, T’ll allow et will be healthiest fer you ter seek a more salubrious climate, an’ don’t ye fergit et, a I’m bizness clean to the backbone you t! beard. The eyes | —— EE eC eee ee OO a | Sse mc a eee ee ee Ce CHAPTER VIL JACK’S NEW PARD. Anp having delivered himself of this eccen- tric speech, the individual turned around to- ward the fire, again, and began’ roasting his meat, At first Jack was provoked, and had a notion to throw the illiterate stranger out—that is, if he was capable of so doing, which was a thing he was not certain about. But upon more mature deliberation, he con- ! cluded that his best policy was not to have any . fuss with the chap, whose Sppenk nae seemed y for a fight ata moment’s notice. This Jack did not care to venture, OOH ANE who might be the veriest coward, or a match for any half-dozen ordinary men. ‘Well, I expect I'd better take up with what I can get, rather than to go without anything,” he said, setting down his traps and approaching the fire. *‘‘ You are the cheekiest galoot 1 ever saw, at any rate.” ‘“Cheek# Waal, now, look a-lLyar, young pilgrim, mebbe if you had b’iled around the mines fer nigh about ten yeers, an’ fit fer er rights at every p’int, yed be cheeky too. Kf ye don’t believe my philosophy, why jest go and try it. Oh! I’ve been thru ther mill, and foand out that ther world’s a humbug!” ‘** And all the people in it,” Jack replied, with a laugh. ‘* By room-mates, give us your handle, and your biz.” ““Sartin, young felier, I alius leevemy name —should hev registered, only I coulén’t find no book. My handle is Revolver Jake, ef ther oid court knows herself, an’ then ag’in sumo’ tl er plore call me Old Firefly, on account o’ my amb-like disposition. As to my biz, that’s none o’ yer biz, ner anybody else’s biz, 1 allow, though ye can ginerally find me around, some- ‘eres, when, thar’s a fight goin’ on. Now dis- charge yer cargo.” ‘Well, my name is Jack Hvoyle, and I’m a kind of adventurer, in a modest way. I picked up this cave for a dwelling and found cooking my own grub preferable to the hash they sling out, down in Deadwood.” ‘Jest my fix, perzactly,” the old man chuck- led, grimly—‘‘ jest my fix perraey an’ bein’s we agree on thet p’int, grab yer knife and belp yerself ter this venison, which is ready fer dis- section.” Jack readily obeyed, and found that the roasting process had been skillfully accomplish- ed, for the meat was a marvel of sweetness and. juiciness. ‘*T reckon you’ve been cook before,” Jack re- “You excel a hotel cook. marked, admiringly. in the roasting line.” ‘Great jim-cracks! I reckon I orter be wuth: sumthin’, arter all the haunches I’ve roasted. Say, young feller, this yere cavern?’ “Indeed I do not.. I was not aware that any one knew of its existence, except myself, until found you here.” “Ho! ho! I reckon you ain’t ther first pilgrim as has been heer. An’ you're ther fust chap as hes stayed ther second night, This yere cave war diskivered about a nek ago, by a pard 0’ mine, an’ when we found him hes carkass war gone, but his head sat perched up on yonder rock, a-grinnin’ at us like all creation!” “*Murdered!” Jack gasped, glancing around, apprehensively, ‘ft reckon,” Old Firefly replied, munching quietly away at his meat. Wa , next cum another feller frum ther States, an’ he sed as how he wasn’t afeard ter stay hyar, but he cum back ter town ther next mornin’ minus bis scalp, an’ we couldn’t never git a word out o’ him as to how he lost et. Severvial other pilgrims has bin heer, too, but one night satisfied ’em. They sed they see’d speerits, an’ Satan knows what all, an’ ye couldn’t a-hired ‘em ter cum back hyar, ef ye was ter give ’ema good layout in pure nuggets.” ‘“Pshaw! I’ve never seenanything that look- ed worse than you or I, and we ain’t to be fear- ed,” Jack replied, laughing. “Those fellers war arrant cowards, or else they lied, then,” the scout muttered. ‘‘ Down ter Deadwood they cackylate you must hev heaps 0’ grit ter continny livin’ hyar.” “Well, if I have prit, | baven’t manifested it yet, for I have not been heunted by spirits of any kind. The only thing that has puzzled me since I have been here, is the dream I had last night, in which I thought that a young Indian girl came and stood before me, and held a ban- ner for me to look at on which was printed the word, ‘Gold.’ After l awoke I found small foot- Gomiicboo S} the way, since we are to ka. @’ye know ther report about: eo)