Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 186 — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

—_—_——_ so te do, with the exception of three prominent men whom the citizens had placed in durance vile under suspicion of being connected with the mysterious murders which had so alarmed the town. As more than one man had observed during the course of these stirring events: ‘‘ We'll stamp out this Cat band or know the reason why. And now, as the night drew on apace, from a wooded eminence high up above Death Valley, the five remaining Cats sat in council and look- ed down upon the town. Five men were there in the group, all habited in the edd disguise, which, acting upon a bright idea, they had assumed when the band had been formed, with a double a Mach tds to disguise their persons so that they would not be recog- nized; second, to inspire terror and to prevent resistance. And, as all five were there, and as the bullets of the secret slayer had reduced the band to this number, it was certain that, care- fully as the Vigilantes had made their calcula- tions, they had not caught any of the ‘‘ Cats” in the swoop of their net. Five gloomy and dispirited men, who had come tegether by appointment to decide what was best to be done. Quite a contrast these nervous, gloomy, fear- ful men, anxiously peering about them and ready to start at the slightest sound, fearing the coming of the deadly foe who had made such havoc in their band, to the bold and reck- less ruffians who had lorded it over the valley! The secret foe who had dealt such fearful blows—the mysterious secret slayer, whom it was clearly impossible to fight, whom no one of the band had ever succeeded in getting a signt of, how was it possible to contend with such a creature? But now, to crown the difficulty, the miners were up in arms, and it was clear that there would not be peace or place for the outlaws in the neighborhood of Death Valley for some time to come, ‘* Well, boys, what is it to be?” asked the Cat leader, uneasily, for he had an idea that some of the band meditated giving leg-bail, thus breaking up the party. The Cats stared at each other as if each ex- pected his neighbor to speak, and their leader perceiving this, saw that the best way to ascer- tain the sentiments of the gang would be to question each man separately. ‘‘Come! what do you say, No. 1—what do you think about it?” ‘‘Oh, I don’t know what to think,” the man replied, with a shake of the head. ‘In fact, I am willing to think exactly as you think.” ‘‘Them’s my sentiments exactly,” remarked o. 2. But the other two shook their heads in a man- ner which indicated that they bad an opinion of their own, and upon the outlaw leader ee his eyes inquiringly upon them they proceede to ventilate it. MO 471 ‘‘The thing is played out; better give it up and git out while our skins are who e!” No. 4 declared. “Yes, that is so: what is the use of trying to fight ag’in’ this thing? It can’t be done,” No. 5 continued. ‘Just look at what has happened already. There were thirteen of us in the first place—how many now?” ‘‘ Rive,” responded his comrade. ‘‘ Bight of us have been wiped out, and all on them in exactly the same way; now, don’t it look reasonable that, if we keep on, all of us will be served the same? I have got jest as much sand as any man in Colorado, but ain’t really hankering for any more of this in mine. ‘‘Nor me neither,” added the other. The sentiments of the party were now clearly defined. Two were willing to abide by their leader’s decision while the other two were for quitting as soon as possible. “S¥%. The outlaw captain had a purpose in view, and he required the assistance of all of the band to carry it out, so he made an effort to win them over to his views. “Well, boys, I aboutagree with you that the jig is up, but, Ishould like to make one big strike before I quit, so as to have something handsome to quit on.” / “All of them nodded in approval at this; the idea pleased them. ae cae “Thar’s a heap of dust hid up in the old Conejos mine, somewhares, if we could only find out whar it is.” The two dissenters had had enough of the Conejos business, and so they at once express themselves, stating that they thought the Cone- jos thing was ‘‘ bad medicine,” and that they did not want any more of it. Cool Desmond. _—— -_—~—- ‘‘Oh, that is all nonsense!” the captain re- torted, emphatically. ‘‘ We did the work, and we ought to profit by it. Now, I propose that we pay another visit, to-night, to the cabin of these two pilgrims, and force the gir] te point out whar the dust is concealed, for I know, well enough, that she can point out the exact spot, if she wants to.” Again the two shook their heads. + Gantain, you must really excuse us!” the spokesman responded; ‘‘ we have got enough, and we are not hogs; we know when we are satisfied, We want to cry quits, now, right to once, if you won’t think it hard.” The others protested against this, but the two men were resolute, ‘‘No, sir, we don’t want any more of it! Jes’ look at the slaughter, last time! I tell you, not for a heap of dust, right in my hand, would I risk it ag’in. Dust is good, but, life is better and I ain’t a-going to risk my life ag’in, if I know myself.”’ The other man fully agreed with this senti- ment, and so expressed himself, and the outlaw leader, fully realizing that it was useless to at- tempt to change their opinions, did not try. They shook hands all round, and then the con- ference broke - Two of them followed the Cat leader, while the other two struck off to the northward, following a little blind trail, al- most imperceptible to the eye. After twenty minutes’ walk thep came to a little ravine, dot- ted all over with huge bowlders and little clumps of pines. From the mouth of the ravine the town of Juanapolis could be distinguished, the lights from the windows ——e out like so many beacons upon the night. In the ravine thetwo halted, stripped off their Cat disguises; and then, malian them up into a bundle, thrust therm into a little cavity in the rocks, the mouth of which was hidden by a fringe of bushes, and which had evidently been made use of by the outlaws before. From the cavity the two drew out their hats, and one of them a jacket, which he immediately proceed- ed to put on. ‘“Thar, it’s good-by, Mister Cat!” proclaimed one of them, as he thrust the disguises into the hole. ‘‘I reckon that neither you norI will ever keer to fix up in this hyer way ag’in. It was a good lead, but, like a good many other good things, we follered it up too long.” ‘‘That is so, and if you keep on bucking at the bank, luck is bound to go ag’in’ you in the long run,” the other observed. The two then advanced to the mouth of the ravine, and looked down, in a reflective sort of way, at the camp, which, seemingly, was sleep- ing in the moonlight, for it was too far off for even a wonderfully far-seeing eye to distinguish any movement in the streets. — But, if any of the inhabitants of the town had been able to distinguish the persons of the two men, now that their disguises were removed, they would have been recognized, for neither one of the two was a stranger to the camp. “Well, I reckon that we don’t either of us want anything more of this hyer camp,” one of them remarked. ‘‘ Nary thing more,” the other agreed. ‘* Let’s be getting, then, while our skins are whole, for I reckon this hyer region ain’t as healthy for us as it might be. I tell you what it is, old man, that Conejos business was a mis- take; we have had mighty little luck since then, and I’ve a sort of an idea that this cuss who has bin a-laying our boys out right and left, a sort of come from that air affair.” ‘‘ Mebbe so; but, let’s be traveling.” ‘**Good-by, Juanapolis!” cried the other, but, hardly had the words left his lips, when the sharp report of a pistol rung out on the night air, and, with a hollow groan, the man stag- gered, and then, throwing up his hands with a convulsive gasp, went down on his face, dead. For a moment his companion stood like a statue and gazed stupefied upon his comrade, stricken down so suddenly. He understood, well enough, what had happened, despite the abruptness of the affair. The secret slayer had tracked them! Recovering from the dreadful terror that had fallen upon him, he drew his pistol from his belt and bounded away. Vain was the effort to escape, for, not ten steps had he taken when another shot rung out, clear and mae and the groan of a dying man followed as the outlaw threw up his hands, clawing the air in mortal agony, and then went down, lifeless, CHAPTER XXIX. ‘(THERE WERE THIRTEEN—” In blissful unconsciousness of the fate that awaited their comrades, and never for an in- 21 stant dreaming that their doom was so near at hand, the outlaw leader and his two devoted companions went on their way to the cabin of the two pilgrims, ‘* S’posin’ this cuss who bas already made it so warm for us is on the look-out ag’in?” one of the ruffians asked. ‘‘T am just calculating on the chance that he ain’t,” the Cat leader assured. ‘“ Lightning don’t strike twice in the same place very often, ou know, and Iam acting on that idea. Our oe, whoever he is, did go for us fearfully when we were here before, and I reckon the chances are about a hundred to one that he won’t ima- gine we will try it on again, at the same place and in the same way.” The other two assented to this, but a bright thought came to one of them. ‘*But I say, sup that he is a-dogging on us all the time, Injun-fashion, you know; I’m cussed if the hull thing don’t look to me like red-skin work.” The outlaw chief halted instantly; this idea | had never occurred to him, and now that it was presented it struck him forcibly. ‘*Perhaps he is an Injun,” he said, and all three grasped their weapons and looked around them. They were in a wooded and broken country, where a skillful tracker would have had very little difficulty in trailing the party. ‘‘We must try a game on this fellow if he is after us,” the captain observed, cautiously, tak- ing particular care that his words should not travel far. ‘‘ We will double on our track and hide in ambush, so that, if he is after us, he will have to pass by our hiding-place; then we will try a little shooting game on our own hook.” is plan was at once carried out, but it proved barren of results and for a good reason; at the moment the three stretched at pre ey behind a little clump of bushes, waiting for their foe, the secret — was executing his deadly vengeance upon the other two members of the band, a couple of miles away in the wild ravine. Satisfied at last that they were not tracked, the three again proceeded on their way, In approaching the cabin of the brother and sister they used the utmost caution. First they scouted all around it in the most careful man- ner, so as to be satisfied no one was lying in wait in the neighborhood, but not a soul was to be seen. As the outlaw leader had calculated, the se- cret fow was not lying in wait this time. ‘‘The coast is clear, boys,” the captain an- nounced, ‘‘and-we can make an easy job of it this time, if we can only get admission to the house, and I have a plan which I think will in- duce the girl to open the door, od voice must be pretty well known to her by this time, and I don’t think she will suspect that I wish to do herany harm. Be ready to prevent her from closing the door if she opens it, as I think she will, Keep close behind me, but tread softly, so that neither one of the two will be able to hear the sound of your footsteps. Come on.” The outlaw walked boldly up to the house, but with hurried footsteps as though he came in haste, the others treading with catlike cau- tion in his footsteps. ‘‘Miss Brown, open the door, quick!” he ex- claimed, in his natural tones, as he knocked at the portal; ‘‘Mr. Shannon has been badly hurt down-town and he wants to see you imme- diately.” The scheme was scree with fiendish cun- ning. Shannon to the girl was the one true friend whom she respected—whom she loved, although she did not confess this, even to her- self, and the moment she heard that he was hurt 7 sb enn for his safety overcame her fear of danger, and she immediately proceeded to unbar the door, despite the remonstrances of her companion, who, with cocked revolver in hand, declared that danger threatened. But the girl was deaf to fear now, and with- out paying the least regard to the other’s words, she opened the door only to fall back with a smothered scream of terror as the horrid images of the Cats appeared. The scream was reéchoed by the boy, and in his wild despair, despite the brandished knife in the hand of the outlaw leader, he leveled his re- volver full at the intruder and fired. The escape of the Cat captain from instant death was almost miraculous, for the pistol was so near that the flash of the powder burnt his eyebrows, but the boy, in his delirium of fear, had not taken aim, but the ball came so near the outlaw’s head that it passed through the side of the Cat mask. . Startled by the unexpected peril from whi he had so narrowly esconed, and perceiving eS ' » 4 6 \ ,00Ks-com