Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 121 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

- “ , ~~ -—— — « - ——— ——_- ——— - Cinnamon Chip, THE GIRL SPORT; oR, The Golden Idol of Mt. Rosa. i. TALE OF NORTHERN ARIZONA BY EDWARD L. WHEELER, AUTHOR OF ‘‘ DEADWOOD DICK ” NOVELS, ‘‘ ROSE- BUD ROB” NOVELS, ETO., ETC. 'CHAPTER L A GALA DAY AT BUMMER’S BEND. Pmeuars the reader of” this romance will staile, when we announce the locale of the first r°ONO Bummer’s | That such a place existed, there can be no doubt, nor is there anythin #strange’in the title, when in the catalogue o the names of Western towns, one can pick out ve titles as ‘“‘ Cut Throat Gulch,” ompson’s Mouth,” and ‘ Misery Northern Arizona, the clime! Bummer’s Bend the town. Nestling down at the base of a mighty moun- taim, among whose foot-hills many miners had scattered their cabins} a couple of hundred rude shanties there were, in addition to a small tert, a-blacksmith-shop, a few stores, dance- Louses, saloons, and gambling-dens, Taken all in all, Bummer’s Bend was a ‘‘loud” town, and serie as it were the town of tue wild, sparsely inhabited country in which it, was located, it boasted of a ‘‘ hefty” floating vopulation, and a fair tract of surrounding suining territory. \ Situated on the eastern side of the mountains, 1.0ar@ sharp bend in the towering Aap 4 chain, \ pleasantly faced a long level stretch of prairie # the east and south, These prairies stretched aaray Seceene tothe. & wustern horizon, and the only perce otible 1:pon the bosom of the vast expanse, except its w3autiful verdure, was the log fort and a few outbuildings, about a half a mile from the tu ander the charge of an old army veteran, Gen- eral Howard by name, perhaps more out of re- «pect for his past deeds of valor, than his present value in the field of active service, for he was now getting old, white-haired, and gouty. : Why this fort, in the extreme wilderness, was n question only the rulers at Washington could probably answer, as the romp pe Baa was but little settled, and the town of Bummer's Band had been created since the advent of UneleSam’s men, The first discovery of gold in cue mountains back of the present site of the town, had been made by the solsiere, and by strict orders from the commandant, had been kept a secret for a period of several years, during which time General Howard and his men bad enriched themselves in a moderate But ts, like preserves, don’t keep long, if not closely sealed, and this one, as usual, finally leaked out. A soldier deserted, and bore the news over into Nevada, and the result was an immediate stampede of miners from that territory to the Arizona discovery. They came in swarms, men of all classes and types, and on their finding ‘‘ sure signs” in the mountains, ets and gulches, the town of b.ummer’s spr into existence, and soon grew to the size of the small city we find it at the opening of our story. It was not a pretty town, for there was but one street ru g around the base ot the foot- hills, and the houses not upon this thorough- f1re, were strewn around among the foot-hils, uad out upon the edge of the prairie. | But despite its comparative isolation from other goiden burgs, Bummer’s Bend was a fast town—a sportive town—a fashionable town! f ulators and men of leisure had | A few spec small knee-boots of patent leather, breeches of had “-ebipped ‘ormed a little social world by therm- | and form - ' upon the busuin, and jaunty velvet jacket, to a | white woolen slouch hat upon the head. brought their families with them to the little ~ city of the wilderness, and they in, s¢ives, to which any one a be admitted wR ada fair pedigree, a gentle appearance an bebavior, and-an ‘suliratted bank account with which to furnish bim or berself with fashion: | ones Gine raildcius, ee me 8 ~~ - so. 4.—“ Rosebud Rob” Novels. hen there’ was another a ape com rts w and does yet exist, wn. The fort numbered about fifty men, who were : field. Cinnamon Chip. oe ee . ae oo — ms Spo gam who bet, and sports who did an ‘*venteel” nature by which to add to the con- dition of their coffers, from picking a pocket, to stopping a stage. Three pe nies t he erat and the third class oO was composed the toiling miners who drudged at tbe pick and shovel from sunrise to sunset, in search of golden gifts. Sports and pastimes were among the ures of the classes who did not work, an of the a) aah diversions was horse-racing. Just outside of the town upon the level prai. leas- one pe mile track had been arranged, in a circle, | here many an exciting race occurred, High purses were lost and won, and for miles rt ogy Bummer’s Bend was noted as a “ horse- wn. At the time of which we write, at but a re- ‘cent date, the country adjacent to the wilder- mixed. ness city was inf y bands of Indians, who hunted through the unsettled peeing of the territory, and, in fact, held cer- n portions as their own. They were com- posed of remnants of tribes: Cheyennes, Sioux, Se nae and Arapahoes predominating. ese rovers were widely feared, for, although there was no declared hostility between them and the whites, many butcheries were perpe- trated by them, and rapine and plunder appear- ed to be one of their chief objects. Few of ‘the citizens of Bummer’s Bend cared to venture alone into the depths of the moun- tains, or out upon the almost boundless prairies, and miners generally moved and worked in parties of ten or a dozen for fear of an attack several bands of miners having been surprised and butchered by. these Red Bedouins. One of the leading chiefs of the Indians was an old battled-scarred warrior of the Apache nation, who boasted of having in his day raised over a thousand scalps, and whose name was Hoko-me-go-to, or the White Face, the latter yrs pase having been given him on account of the bleached appearance of his countenance, which was near y as white as a Caucasian’s pee) hoe remainder of his body was brown and sw ; The White Face was much feared and hated by the miners, yet he had the freedom of the wn, The reason of this was generally conceded to be because the people were afraid to drive him out, for he counted his savage horde of war- riors by hundreds, and did he choose, it was estimated that he could clean out the little city of the wilderness without half trying. His warriors also were frequently seen in the their mission being te pees bac whisky in exchange for skins or go On several occasions old White Face had taken a part in the races, mounted upon his jet-black steed, but the trotting and phay en 3 stock of Bummer’s Bend was choice, and the chief of the Bedouins of the Plains had lost his gold. But on the openin wad of our little romance, another grand free-for-all race was to come off, and the news brought crowds of people flocking to Bummer’s Bend—miners, opus ruffians and red-skins, all came in to see the sport, for it was to be an occasion of unusual interest. Miss Evelyn Howard, the general’s daughter, at the fort, was going to match her superb saddle-horse for a thousand dollars, against the The Howards were acknowledged great le She Bendites, and it had long been co that beautiful but haughty Miss Evelyn had the swiftest racer that ever entered Arizona, Early in the morning the town presented the apt . ce of a holiday, for the street was filled peat e near the course in the bright sunlight of he beautiful September's day. ie When the overland stage came rolling into town, drawn by its six prancing horses, it also discharged another cargo to add to the audience at the races, Among the gers were several strangers among whom was one who instantly attracted attention. A yo woman, not over eighteen ears of age, round and symmetrical of form, of the me- dium stature of women, strikingly handsome in face, and attired in male cossume, from the fine whitish woolen, vest to match, “ Diled” shirt, with collar and tie, and blazing Ciamond Yes, a real wom:.a, and a remarkably pretty too, for, in addition to an attractive form, face boasted of rarely-chiseled features, dered — le, and others were skimming over the. ——— SSeS ee eee oes -_~ ao oem cheeks of healthful tint, a mouth large en to be witching, relieved, as it was, by a. f ps and two rows of rly teeth; eyes dark and dan with mischievous expression, and a pure, fair forehead, from which of a oi hue clustered in light curls close to her ead. Down the street strode this eccentric charac- ter, with a swaggering gait, after leaving the stage, twirling a gold-headed cane in one hand and ¢ ing a small sachel in the other—down thestreet she went, with the utmostindependence manifested in her bearing, and many, an eye followed her, with an admiring and surprised ems rmed with a pair of revolvers thrust in her belt, was this new-comer, and probably capable of es them, if the case demanded. | A tall, stalwart buckskin-clad individual, with blonde hair and mustache, who stood upon the steps of the ‘‘ hotel,” in company with another man nee the girl dandy mag xs “By reorge!.she’s a clipper, Pete,” he said, enthusiastically, +s he turned to his companion, who was a Chinaman—an al:nond-eyed, comi- cally flat-faced son of Coufucius, with a fat, uatty form clad in breeches and a semi-gown, with sandals upon his feet, and a slouch hat upon his head. .‘* That girl is a charaéter, in this wild mining-life drama, and I’ll bet she’s game, too. No galoot can pick on her with im- punity, and I'll bet high on it. Eh, what do you say, Pigtail?” ‘*Me tinkee Captain "Sage Mayburn muchee right!” the Celestialreplied, withvan assenting» nod, ‘* Muchee fine gali—berry muchee stylee, ‘‘Ha! ha! you’re solid, there, Pigtail. She’s what we'd call a stunner, down in the Black Hills country. Shouldn’t wonder if we'd see her down to the races, to-day, too. By the way, I opine we’d better saunter down that way.” And the two men, so strikingly iffer- ent in appearance, strolled away towaid the race-course, arm in arm. That they too were strangers in Bummer's Bend was evident, for the citizens of the town gave them nearly as many curious glances as ey did the gir] wen? wo men seemed to be particularly impressed with their appearance, The one a man of five and thirty, with a dusky complexion, black hair, eyes and mus- tache, and the careful dress of a city dandy; —the other a swarthy skinned, scarred-faced fellow, clad in greasy buckskin—evidently a half-breed, judging by the cast of countenance, the wild tigerish eyes, and the straight ‘‘ Injun ” air. Both were Bummer’s - Bendites; the ae Dell Guthrie, or Dandy Dell, a nephew of ol General Howard, and an authority in the little mining town, of which he was ‘‘ mayor,” and manager. A gambler, a horse-jockey, a dead- shot, and a great brag, he bore an unenviable reputation, and was disliked, if not feared by the majority of the people, A no bravo he had become by Oo uy killing his “pair of pilgrims,” in cold b and the act had strengthened him as ‘ boss” of the town. His companion, the half-breed, was called Lynx, and Bb a fit tool and associate for this ‘“ Who are those two galoots?” Guthrie ask as Captain Mayburn and the Chinaman walk away. ‘‘It appears to me I have seen the Ati they belong to ¢ rangers wh ‘They belon a of rangers who are camped aban the Bend the half-breed re- plied. “The American is the captain.” ‘‘A band of rangers, eh? What are they doing here#—where aie they going?’ “Don’t know. Camped last night. Got good horses— pack-mules, too.” | “Then they are bound for the interior, Pll wager. How many are there of them?” ‘*Four—the captain, whore name is Mayburn, a nigger, a Dutchman, and the Chinaman.” ‘‘Humph! a motley gang I must admit. 1 must look into this matter, directly. ‘There may be reasons why they should not go further west. But, at present, I’ve other business, I’m to ride Evelyn’s ‘‘Flying Star,” and I’m goin to show these Bendites how to come in a the death. There’s a ee of five thousand dollars in the hands of the treasurer—a thou- sand for each entry, and if I win the race, I have half.” “But you will not win,” Lynx said, suddenly potaiing down the street, toward where the ast of the pamengert was just disembarking from the stage. ‘‘ Yonder isa horse and rider who have won eve pgs race the past year, down in Colorado and Dakota.” EOomicboo G CS (E(©)