Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 186 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

ee Jas oe ae - ota oe —— <= 4 | Cool Desmond. have left their country (State) for their coun- | good-natured face, fringed with silver whiskers, ‘try’s good. and which somehow reminded one strangely of he Doctor was never troubled about his name | afull moon. The son was also tall and well- after that. built, and in his honest face, lit up by a pair of There was little law and much license in this | keen blue eyes, perfect honesty and good faith growing camp, and yet the inhabitants got on | might be read. pretty well together. Once in a while, though, he advent of a circus, brass band and all, or a strauger would come in and make trouble, as | of a caravan of wild animals, could not have one big six-foot giant did only a short time be- | more amazed the crowd than did this little pro- fore aes of which we write. cession. He had come into town pretty full, and be- The nondescript was no stranger to them, be- fore he had been long in the camp he got fuller. | ing a well-known town character, but the boy ‘*Bug-juice ” was no more to him than so much | upon the back of the mule, with pale, frightened water, he declared. He was a large fellow, a | face, and eyes that trembled as they gazed “regular burster,” and for a time he rather | around, and the girl so sides 3 attired, so cowed the boys with his talk, and they kept | oddly armed, and so surpassingly beautiful, clear of him. He was Robert Ridley—Ole Bob | caused the men of Juanapolis to gape with Ridley O! he said—the feller wot the song was | wonder. writ about; he was a chief—a humped-back There was but one other woman in Death elephant—a wide-eared wild-cat, and various | Valley, and, although several of the miners, other strange animals, and finally declared him- | pining for female society, had essayed to culti- self the Tearing Terror of Taos, but at last he | vate her acquaintance, each and every attempt ‘‘riled ” the crowd. had been a sad failure, as, in due course of time, **How do ye call this ranch, Juanapolis? | we shall describe at length when we come to Oh, you mud-colored gophers wot can’t spit | the proper place; so, therefore, if the strange Spanish—I kin—I kin come the lingo; it’s Wan- mate had been only a fair-looking girl, her ar- apolis and be blessed to you!” rival would have been a great event in the his- This was more than the crowd could stand, | tory of the new-hatched city, but, as she was and as one man they sailed into the stranger. | of such matchless beauty, no wonder the miners He von) 23 like a Trojan, bit and clawed and | stared and stared with open mouth and start- swore, but, maddened by the insult, the crowd | ing eyes, as though she was one of the queens was too much for him; they got him down and | of heaven and had dropped from some bright coon him, then they dra — him down to | star instead of being a maid of mortal mold. he creek and soused him, holding bis head un- ‘You seek Juanapolis!” the nondescript ex- der water until he was nearly drowned, and | claimed. ‘ Behold! I bring ye to the town, but when at last vm let him up, blowing like a | here you willfind naught but misery, despai porpoise, the Doctor sternly put the question: and death!” And with this somewhat startling ‘* What is the name of this camp?” announcement, the boy galloped wildly deg ‘*Wan—” began the Taos man, stubbornly, The miners, acquainted with bis strange hu- but, before he got it out, down under the water | mors, did not attempt to stop him, and the girl, again he went. noticing this, guessed that she was right when And they ducked and kept on ducking him | she had come to the conclusion that the wits of until he had hardly life enough left in him to | the skin-clad being were out of order. speak, and then they put the ee again. About the only one of the crowd who seemed “*Wan—” he commenced, but as the rough | to have any sense, and could do anything but hands seized him he wilted, not exactly took | stare at the strangers, was young Shannon, for water, because he had already taken all the | he advanced to accost the girl. ‘water that he could conveniently hold. ‘‘ Let ‘‘ You must not mind him, miss,” he said, no- up, boys; give a man a chanc uanapolis!” ticing that the ominous words of the nonde- And into this strange camp, amid these rude, | script had caused a shade of sadness to appear rough men, with the coming of the night, came | on the face of the girl; ‘‘ he doesn’t know what that girl of marvelous beauty, and a beautiful | he says; he is not in possession of his right woman in a mining camp is a firebrand to stir | senses.” [ up distraction. ‘‘So I supposed, sir,” answered the maid, her low, sweet voice, so silvery clear in its tones CHAPTER IV. falling upon the delighted ears of the entran A STRANGE DISGUISE. miners like so many notes of softest music. It was about nine in the evening when the | ‘‘ We met him on the trail above and he volun- uncouth guide conducted the two girls from the | teered to conduct us to the town.” rocky trail on the hillside down into Veath Val- The miners opened their ears wide at this ley and through the single street of the mining- | The superb creature, then, was coming to their camp, halting at last in front of the general | town and had not found her way there by acci- store, which was situated right between the | dent; and one and all of the throng in his heart ‘Tenderfoot’s Rest and the Desperado’s Den, | of hearts hoped that she had come to stay. , as all three of these places depended al- **It isa wonder he could be trusted even to most entirely upon their night trade, naturally | doso slight a thing as that,” young Shannon re- they all made the best display they could, and | marked, ‘‘ for, asa rule, he is as uncertain and there was a blaze of light from the three com- | as unreliable as the wind.” bined that well lit up the street in front of ‘“‘He conducted us truly and fairly enough, em. although he taiked of nothing but bloodshed and It was a pleasant, balmy spring night, al- | disaster, and did his best to keep us from the nae extremely dark, for no moon was visible | town.” and but few stars—just such a uight when it is When they heard this quite a number of the more comfortable out of doors than within, and | miners doubled up their big, hard fists and men- therefore, as it was a little early for play to | tally vowed that they would pound the nonde- commence—the truth must be written that af- | script the first chance they got, for daring to ter nightfall about the only amusement that the | offer such counsel. i.iners indulged in was gambling, either among ‘**He is an idiot, miss, and what little brains themselves or with the sleek harpies, fellows of | he has left runs continually on such things; but, the Desmond school, quite a little squad of | when you hear his sad story, as you will cer- whom had found their way over the rocky | tainly if youremain in our town for any length trail which separated these ‘“‘new diggings” | of time, you will not wonder at it.” from the jumping-off places of civilization, and ‘**Perhaps not,” the girl replied, absently; it so about ten o’clock and from that hour to one, | was ee that her thoughts were not of the the two saloons, for they gambled as well in the | idiot, boy, and without appearing to do so her hotel saloon as in Desmond’s avowed gaming- | eyes were wistfully surveying the rough and hell, were always pretty well filled with rough | bearded faces that surrounded her as though and bearded men anxious to get rid in a minute | she thought by the examination to detect of the ounces of gold-dust which it had taken | whether the owners of the faces were likely to them hours of hard toil to win—as we have | prove friends or foes. said, as it was a little early for the sports o get Upon every face that met her eyes, admira- at their accustomed work, or amusement, | tion, or curiosity was written, but not one of whichever one chooses to consider it, the great- | them expressed hostility. er part of the men of the town were louafin Shannon noticed the look but misunderstood about the front of the three principal build- | its object. ings. ‘* Perhaps you are looking for friends, miss,” reat was the excitement, then, when the | he hastened to say, and at the same'time he was nondescript clad in skins came marching Gown | vainly cudgeling his brain trying to guess what the street, conducting the travelers, and halted | man in the camp of Juanapolis could have any with them in front of the general store, which, | possible relation with {his beautiful stranger. by the way, was kept by a father and son, in “Friends!” the girl echoed, absently, and general repute two of the ‘‘ whitest” and nicest | again she looked around as though seeking for men in the valley. Thomas Shannon the father | a friendly face. was called, a big, overfat man, with a broad, ‘* You expected some one here to meet you?” and again Shannon looked at the crowd, but not a man stirred; they only stared at each other, as if each was questioning his neighbor in regard to the matter, or, as one miner whis- pered in the ear of the other next to him, put- ting into words what the rest said in looks: ‘* Bill Stubbs, you ugly, ornery, long-legged galoot, is this sweetly gay heifer any relation of yourn?” ‘* No, I did not expect any one,” she replied, simply. ‘‘I do not know any one here. My brother and I are all alone in the world, and we came here to seek our fortune.” The crowd were astounded, and they looked at each other with wondering eyes. No friends—nothing but chance to bring this splendid creature to their midst. Well, Juan- apolis was in luck, that was all! This was the general sentiment, Shannon, for a moment, was bothered; he looked at the crowd and the crowd looked at him; they saw that be wasin difficulty, but no one volunteered to help him out. In fact, if the prevailing sentiment had been expressed in words—he had taken it upon himself to boss the job, now, fight it out. And the girl stood looking at him with her beautiful eyes as though her fate lay in his hands. | ‘* Well, miss,” he said, at last, perceiving that all expected him to do the speaking, ‘‘as you haven’t got any friends I suppose we men of the town ought to look out for as and see that you are made comfortable. Here’s the hotel, and the Doctor will look out for you—”’ Here the ominous faces of the crowd caused Shannon to halt in some little confusion; evi- dently the miners didn’t consider the hotel the fit place for the lady; and right they were, too, seeing that there wasn’t any woman in the place —an idea that struck Shannon too, for he at once saw the impropriety of the suggestion but almost immediately thought of a way out of the dilemma. ‘*There’s Johnny Trainor’s little cabin right at the end of the street by the creek; he is away and won’t be back for six months. I’ve the key, and he told me that I might use the cabin if [ wanted to; itis all furnished, stove, bunks, everything; and I reckon there is some leetle provisions there too. Now oe are heartily welcome to it, miss, if it will any accommo- dation to you.” Heartfelt indeed were the thanks the gir! poured forth. ‘** And to-morrow I'l get the citizens together and we'll see what we can do for you.” ‘**Oh, sir, you are so kind!” and tears stood im the beautiful eyes. As one man the ‘‘ gang” escorted the strangers to Johnny Trainor’s cabin, and after seeing them comfortably bestowed, left them. As Shannon had said—nothing was wanting. After a frugal meal the two prepared to re- tire to rest for they were fatigued after their long journey. ‘* First to bar the door,” said the maid, but, as she advanced to it, it was suddenly m3 open and a tall figure clad completely in blac and wearing upon its shoulders a huge cat’s grinning head stalked into the apartment. ‘‘ Not a word—not a sign of alarm or you die on the instant,” cried the intruder, with uplift- ed and brandished knife. CHAPTER V. CAPTAIN WILD-CAT. Down upon his knees, in an agony of fear went the boy, the heart’s action almost stilled by the cold hand of terrible fear, and even the girl, bold of heart and full of courage as she was, grew pale as death and staggered back in alarm at the overpowering terror inspired by this horrible thing. Of course it was a human—a man, but the disguise was a fearful one, for all that. From head to heel he wes clad in a close-fit- ting black suit, composed of cloth that close] resembled a cat’s skin, and with the gigantic cat’s head fixed jirmly upon the shoulders, ata short distance, at the first glance, one would never have taken the figure to be a man in dis- guise, but, on the contrary, a gigantic cat—a black cat ef colossal size. f course a moment’s reflection would have shown the absurdity of the thing, but the terror of the first vision was not apt to leave much room for reflection. The pair were taken utterly by surprise; the girl’s weapons were far from her—the rifle in the corner of the room, the revolvers still in their holsters, and attached to the belt hanging from a nail near to the rifle, But, the girl had no thought of resistance; if she had, long before she could have possessed om JOOKS- Eom *