Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 268 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

> - . one of the men who had ac D ee burst rudely open, and Quigg and his four @eompanious, filed into the apartment, where the three captives were seated. Seeing that the ruffians were all under the in- fluence of liquor, and that her sister had turned deadly pale, Lady Clare leaped to her feet, haughtily. ¥ ans, what means this intrusion?’ she cried, angrily. f “Sit down, sissy—don’t get excited!” Quigg said, provokingly. ‘‘ Children should be seen not heard. Lady Chandos, I have fixed your ransom for youand your party, at the moder- ate sum of fifty thousand dollars, and have, moreover, decided to close the matter up at once. So please write me out a draft on yer Dank, after which ye will only be detained long exough ter allow me ter git ter Omaha or Denver, and have the money drawn.” ‘* Never!” Lady Chandos cried, firmly, as she arose to her feet. ‘* You have received from me every penny you shall ever get!” “Not so, fair lady. I am the last man in ther world ter be trifled with, When I mean bigness, I meanit. Write out the draft, or off comes a finger from your hand, and one also from the hands of each of your companions. Number Four, bring in the block and hatchet!” The order was obeyed. This block was mounted upon legs, and the top of it was much hacked up, and profusely Stained with blood. Judging from its present proposed use, it was the fatal Block which had been the scene of the brutal amputation of more than a score of fin- ers, on previous occasions. At sight of the terrible object, the three wo- men shuddered, and turned pale: but Lady Chandos quickly recovered herself; her face ‘ecame flushed with indignation and the fire of a true Briton entered her eys. “Ruffian!” she cried, drawing her figure in ‘proud defiance to its fullest hight, ‘‘do not sup- pose for an instant that your most bloodthirsty purpose could make me yield to your request. { loathe and defy you. There!” and she placed her fair left hand upon the block, ‘I was a warrior’s daughter. Cut the whole hand off if it will gratify your demon heart!” Lady Clare and Marie, with frightened cries attempted to rush forward, but were hauled back by two of the bandits. Quigg, steeped in villainy as he was, stood for an instant dumfounded by the beautiful womin’s pluck; but soon, the old ugly gleam «rept back into his eyes, and a malicious grin upon his face. ‘*Very brave, bet yer!” he said, “but ye war mighty keerful ter reserve yer fightin’ hand, which is perfectly O. K. Tl fix it fer ye!’ With brutal satisfaction expressed all over his face, he seized the hatchet, and raised it to strike the blow. An instant of suspense, then— Two piercing screams— A rifle report— A heavy fall and a groan. Jabez Quigg lay upon the floor, a stream of ‘blood a mee from his temple. an yoy report, and anotheg . This time anied Quigg to the cabin. . Quigg With yells of consternation the remaining outlaws turned and fled, pell-mell from the room, following which there was an exchange of shots on the outside. Then a shadow dark- ened the doorway, and Deadwood Dick stepped into the cabin! ~ gece glance showed him that neither of the three ladies was harmed, and Lady Clare, uttering acry of joy, ran forward and put her ands in his. ‘Oh! sir, you are a noble man, and I am sure the Lord will eye you for killing these wretches!” she said, looking up into his face, earnestly. ‘If he don’t, [ reckon I’ve had a heap of sat- isfaction in pe in their checks!” the knight of the West replied. ‘*Such brutes as those are worse curses on the face of the sarth than any known pests eacept Texas musketoes. [am glad my arrival and its result was so opportune,” All the ladies were deeply impressed with the appearance of the dashing man of the mountains, who, without his usual mustache and imperial, looked somewhat boyish. “‘Tam very thankful to you for risking so moch in our behalf!” Lady Chandos said, ‘‘ and ‘must also thank you for a former service to my aister, here. I hope it has put you to no in- convenience, in coming to our rescue?” ‘‘By no means, and even if it had, I should. ‘stant, and nearly made me faint eadwood Dick’s Death Trail. 5 — have made the same attempt to free you from | I am no coward, nor am I prone to frights. & what I feared at the start was a trap; hence I followed. Your mission and mine, is, in one respect, identical. You want to see the rascal Jerry Carker, andsodol. I want his ao a you want your child. With your approval, I will endeavor to get both, and give you your choice of the trophies.” The ladies shivered a little at his liberality, while he went on: ‘*My handle is Deadwood Dick, and you may have heard of me, for ’ve been rather a tough cuss, Vlladmit. Bata few months ago, I and my wife, Calamity Jane, settled down for good, up country, on a little ranch of ourown. Our next neighbors war fine people, but unfor- tunately rich, an’ atarget for ruffians to aim at. The old gentleman, in particular, wasa man to the backbone, and he an’ I were in- separable friends. He had a fair daughter, and what does this rough, Carker, do, but come along one night, set an evil eye on her, and offer her insult. When the old gent heard of it, he had Carker flogged, and driven off. You see that?’— and he held up a bit of human scalp, the locks of hair upon which were long and white assnow. ‘‘ They found the old gent a few nights after, wi’ this beside him, and the letter “C’ cut in his forehead. The family were paralyzed with grief, but the horror and in- dignation I felt surpassed theirs, and when I bid ’em and Calamity good-by, I told ’em I shouldn’t be back until I was sure Jerry Carter was where there is no chance for him to do an Rory scalping jobs. First your child—then his ife.’ CHAPTER V. NELLIE THE WAIF. ‘TO trap this mas, Carker, will require shrewd planning and indomitable perseverance!” Dick went on. ‘It will require money, too—but erhaps we can find a-plenty in this brigand en. I will make a thorough search, at any rate, before leaving the valley.” Old Quigg and the other ruffian had expired almost instantly, and were now stiffening corpses. Hut this fact did not seem to appall the avenger, for he went through their clothing with a celerity that must bave astonished a professional pickpocket, and succeeded in bring- ing to light a sum of money nearly double the amount that the ladies bad surrendered to the outlaw. . Delivering up their past, Dick appropriated the balance, after which he went out into the valley to make a reconnoissance. Diseovering no signs of the enemy, he re- turned to the cabin, and bade the ladies prepare to start as soon as possible. ‘The first place we’ll strike for will be the San Jacin mines, to the eastward, which will in all probability be the first place Carker will strike on his route, He is a cunning rascal, and I think he suspects that I am already on his trail. Therefore he will naturally work east- ward, where he thinks to puzzle me. But he will get left if he conceives that I will give up the chase; I'll follow him to the ends of the earth but what I will have him, I see there are enough horses in the gulch to mount us; so while you get ready, I’ll secure them.” As night was fairly settling over the earth they were all mounted, and Deadwood Dick led the way out of the mountain stronghold through a narrow gap, and then all rode away through a mountain gorge, which ran eastwardly, walled in on right and left with mighty towering cliffs. The ride continued during the night through some of the roughest country the ladies had ever seen, but it was no novelty to Dick, who pe literally grown up among rocks and bowl- ers. Once, about the middle of the night, Lady Clare, who was in the rear, gave vent to a scream, which caused an instant halt. ‘Hello! what is the matter?’ Dick cried, wheeling his horse around, while the others echoed his ery. ee Clare’s deathly white face was visible, even through the darkness. “Ob! oh!” she gasped—‘‘I saw him! I saw him! He was walking right alongside my horse, just a moment ago! Oh! ob!” “Who?” demanded Deadwood Dick. ‘* Who?” cried Lady Chandos, anxiously, ‘‘The man who slapped me,” my Lady Clare. ‘‘He walked beside my horse for an in- the terrible expression of hatred upon his face,” You were dreaming,” Dick suggested, “‘ balf asleep on your horse,” ‘*No, sir, I was never more awake in my life. | saw the man, and am wegng.0 swear to it,” ‘Tf that ruffian is really following us, be bas an object in it, and it may be that he is acting as a rear guard for our genial friend Clarker. 1’ll keep an eye out for bim,” They continued their ride, and made the best time possible, until the next noon, when they arrived at San Jacin, a little Spanish-American town, whose principal industry was placer mining. Its inhabitants were of the usual lawless kind. and the street scenes were identical with those in many other towns, the dance-houses, saloons, and gaming dens doing the best traffic, by fav. Conducting the ladies to the only respectable tavern in the place, Deadwood Dick set out on a tour of reconnoissance about town, wonderirg if in this strange place he would meet any om who knew him, The first thing he did was to visit a pawn- broker’s shop, one of which profitable huxuarles exists in nearly every mining town, Always among the stock in trade are to be found various styles of disguises, Many Western eharacters are comIpenes by a force of circumstances to resort to disguises te save being lynched, while others use them te further some particular private schemae. Not knowing what minute he might need te conceal his identity, Dick selected a variety of wigs, beards and other apparatus, and conceal- ed his chases about his person. He then betook himself te the post-office, and spent an hour in watching and studying the different characters wh e in and inquired for mail. When the wit was vacant ior a few minutes, he approach ‘Has any one ealled here reeently for letters for Jerry Carker?’ he inquired of the clerk. ‘* Yas, this mornin’!” was the short reply; bus it satisfied Dick that for the presents, at least, he was on the right trail. But where was Carker? Had he already flown, or was he still lurking around the town, Cautious inquiries, on Dick’s part failed to elicit any news during the afternoon, so he re- turned to the tavern and made known what be had discovered, to the ladies, who seemed pleased—all except Marie. Whenever mention was made of Carker's probable capture, a steet-like glitter would creep into her eyes, and a sart of grayish pallor suffuse her face, Dick’s sharp eyes noticed this,on several oc- casions, and he jotted the matter down in his memory. “That woman evidently is not vag particu- lar whether Carker is caught or not,” he mused, ‘‘and Dll wager a detective’s guess that she is not overburdened with scruples, I must keep an eye on her; she'll bear watching.” When it came dark again, he set forth and made atour of the saloons, gaming-houses and da nce-houses, The first named were, as a rule, filled with half-drunken miners, who were awakening the echoes with Bacehan song. : The gaming rooms were more quiet and orderly, and held a better class of people—at least as far as personal appearance was con- cerned, In neither of these places did Dick see eny- thing of Carker: so he sought out the principal dance-house, where music and Terpsicharean revelry had a decidedly spirited airing. The majority of course was com of males, but there were also not a few of the posite sex, and not ali bad, by any means, as it would seem, but in a majarity of cases decent, so far as aeolian f is erned—women reared amid scenes of excubion and rude ex- citement peculiar to the border, who, in many cases, had no choice left but to live as best they could and act lives they hated for a paltry sum of money, to secure their maintenance. Among those upon the floor Dick spied a oung, trimly built girl of seventeen, with an intelligent, BD vy face. She was stru in the grasp a disgusting looking r , whe oo apparently, endeavoring to force ber to nce, The others were paying no partleuler atten- tion to the struggle, which probably wae nott-- tog Dana in the place, here was an expression of disgust and leath-. ing upon the face of the girl that alone was suf~ ficent evidence of her purity, Dick watehed the scene for a mometit, mating whether it was best or not to interf but when he ived that the rough perce | ‘* half the seas o’er”’ with bad -juice, he not stop to eonsider longer oh -aheanatl her forward. om JOOKS:-C