Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 279 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

The next moment the enemies were drawn clear of the tree-top, and were swinging in mid-air over a gauich whose bottom was so far beneath them that they could not see it. Red Star was the most inconvenient of burdens, for he lay limp and helpless across the ranchero's arm. e herder had to tax all his strength to sus- om 2 the weight of his foe; but he wag equal to the task, It had proved a fatal fall for the once proud In- dian. Red Star was near the end of his last trail The distance between the trees and the edge of the precipice was being slowly lessened, and Cap- tain Rob could see the anxious, but rough faces that peered down upon him, “A few more good pulls, boys, and then ven- geance!"’ exciaimed the ranchero. “The Injun is mum, but he knows that talking would do ‘im no good. He'll hoki out till I’ve dealt with him.” The next second wild cries burst from the throats of the men that jined the cliff, for, without warning, one of the red-skin’s arms encircled the ran- chero’s neck, and his va zight hand had jerked the Great Godl Mm in f gasped Ranch Rob “Grea | Pmina : , who dared not use force ep Brae the red-skin’s arm, lest they both would fall from the fone and be precipitated thro space to certain d e wasin a trap which threatened to put a speedy and bloody end to his existence, Fire seemed to shoot from Rel Star's eyes. His terrible erip tightened about the herder's neck, and the bowie upraised in his right hand, flashed before the white man’s eyes. “Red Star can talk!” hissed the Indian. “Did Ranch think that the fall had broken the Indian's tongue? When will the white man tie Red Star to a horse’s tail? Ah! the trails of the two trailers will end when the chief strikes!” Already a number of revolvers had been thrust over the precipice. Captain Rob saw the flashing ores and the determined visages behind them. He still clung to the rope with his right hand, and the men aa he could not see were still drawing him upwa . st Shoot, but make sure that you hit the Injun!” was the command that peril forced him to send up to the men with the revolvers. He saw that he would never 3 to vy out his revenge on the red-skin, for whom he had already eked. his life. It would be a miracle if he escaped alive, for the blazing eyes and trembling arm of the savage told him that the bowie aimed at his heart would soon deseend. * Ranchero dies now !"’ exclaimed Red Star, ‘“With his own knife in his heart, he will meet his friends!" Captain Rob made one desperate effort to ward off the blow with the hand that did not clutch the rope. Re that critical moment the loud command “ Fire!” rung out overhead, and the revolvers flashed in the ranchero’s face. He fell back and whirled half-way round like a person bullet struck, but did not fall from the ape. The following second he knew he was alone, for Red Star was not to be seen. ‘* Hold fast, Ranchero!” exclaimed a voice from above, and as he clutched the rope with 9 firmer p he was whisked through the air and drawn over fhe edge of the cliff before he could collect his scat- tered senses. ‘T reckon you'll never go down thar arter another red.” said Lasso Dan. ‘ Did he give you the knife?’’ “No, but it was a close call. here are the men who shot the red-skin loose?”’ Lasso Dan desi nated pe ox Nye e Aa Srdty *T thank you, u wish you stunned the Injun,” the ranchero said, as he gazed at his rvers. ; ‘* Jehosaphat! jes’ hear ‘im!” burst forth the leader of the troop, ‘‘ Mebbe, Ranchero, you'll wish we had me stunned Pedro, whom we tackled back in the mountains, afore we found youan’ Red Star?’ Pedro, the Merciless, the man who tried to burn me alive?’ demanded the ranchero. “ You met him after his failure? Where is he?” ‘Ob, he rode off, but full of lead, cap'n,’’ was the re- sponse. “ We didn't know what he'd tried todo, but we ‘lowed thet some devil like him hed fired the grass. With Pedro dead an’ Red Star finished, who comes next, Ranchero? Name yer man. The men ov Gold Valley ar’ ready fur anything.” The eyes of the ranchero surveyed the swarthy faces by which he was surrounded, but did not reply, although he said to himself: ‘Why the girl comes next, of course. I'll be hunted no longer from this night. Pedro, the Mer- ciless, I you had lived to dealt with by me. When I go back to my ranch I can put up the re- yolvers IT have carried for P Ace and bass in the smiles of the queen of Gold Valley. Ah! hero, your fortunes are on the mend.” He was mounted again. “ Lasso Dan, I will see you and the boys at Eldo- rado to-morrow,”’ he said, turning upon the troop. ** Let me seek a trail of my own to-night, Red Star is dead, Pedro the Merciless bas lassoed his last man, and Old Winch—" “Thar! he's the fellar we want to hear about, cap’n.”” oie is dead! If you'll go back by the way of Gold Pass you'll find himdying across the trail,”’ A loud shout burst from the listeners’ throats. “We'll go back thet way, Ranchero!” said Lasso Dan. . The parting then took place, and the herder king tS te gaa ect ce s for an an -8 ollowers, - they soon reached the place “ca ed Gold Pass, but. Old Winch, the Rifle King. their horses did not halt before the corpse of an old man. Daylight had come nand the trail was visible, but the men of Eldorado found nothing but a few drops of blood, ‘We'll hear ov Old Winch ag’in,”’ averred Lasso Dan, seriously, and for a moment the company seemed about to resume the hunt for him; but it was voted to return to Elderado. Away the gray shirts went with Dan at their head. If they had turned back, they might have seen a horse slowly climbing a mountain trail with the fig- ure of a man lying motionless along his neck. “Take me to Gold Georgie, old hoss, an’ I'll pass in my chips without a murmur!" this man was saying. “ If I can’t see her reach ther end ov her trail, I kip tell ’er not to furgit the shootin’ instructions d to give ’er.” use CHAPTER XVI. THE AVENGING BULLET! Tue horse seemed to know the man’s desires, his pre needs. He climbed the elevated trail in a manner that did not discommode his rider, and for an hour or more he kept on until he at last began to descend toward a valley that lay far beneath, “T’m trustin’ all to you, hoss,"’ remarked the, old man who looked down upon the scene, “I b’lieve ou know whar the pal isan’ thet you're goin’ to take ld Winch to er. Lhope she an’ the boy’s got to- gether, fur they’re suited to one another, I'll never t to go back to Eldorado to fight the men what put this bullet in my life-box, but somebody. else will do it fur me one ov these days. The wolves will fall out amongst themselves, ez mountain wolves allus do, an’ they'll eat each other up with knife an’ revolver. Vengeance will charge it all to my account when she balances the books. Don't be afraid to go faster, old animile. I’m able to endure a good deal yet. Ranchero would hey put more musele inter his blow ef he hed thought thet I'd liveover thet one, Live?" and the old hunter chuckled strangely. “I’m fool enough to think thet I’m goin’ to see Georgie at the end of her trail.”’ The old Rifle King was one of those iron men to be found among the mountains anywhere in the far, wild West. Some of them carry a dozen bullets in their bodies, and live to seek more in desperate en- counters with lawless men. The terrible wound in the grizzly-hunter’s breast was not the only hurt he had received during his exciting life The claws of bears, the bowies and bullets.of des- peradoes had sought his life in vain; but the bal] he now carried in the depths of the wound that gaped near his heart was destined to end bis life, The horse carried him down to the shade of a pass and stopped unbidden to quae his. thiret at the rivulet that gushed from the foot of one of the walls. All at once a loud exclamation sounded oni the old hunter’s ears, and he looked up to behold a man who had jnst entered the and reined in his horse with a countenance that betrayed his aston- ishment. “Old Winch!” “*Ranch Rob!” aa enemies had met again, and unexpectedly, The night had passed away, and the fresh tints of another autumn day were beautifying the. land- scape. “What kind of a head have you?” exclaimed the herder, as he came forward, having seemat a glance that the old grizzly-hunter was unarmed and conse- quently at his merey. “By Jove! Winch, you are bound to be killed!” The captain had drawn rein at the side of Old Winch's steed, and the two animals were renewing their acquaintanceship in the equine bps , “You didn’t strike hard enough last night, Ranch Rob,” said the veteran, calmly returning the flashes of the mad ranchero's eyes, ‘‘Itseems to me that aoe to see the little beauty ag’in, in spite of every- ne.”" “ That’s pretty much as I 6ay was the quick re- sponse, ‘* Let me tell you, Winch, that the feud be- gun in Starvation Camp is to end here. Ill not risk a blow this time, but a bullet; and that straight through the brain. Red Star and Big Pedro are out of my road, You're the only obstacle left, for I don’t count the boy any ping. f **T would, ef I hed him ag’in’ me,” jon A I will watch him, I'll take your advice, nch."’ The old hunter saw the revolver as it was raised to & level with his head. Behind it were eyes that meant murder, and at the trigger was a finger that did not know how to spare. The muzzle of the weapon was not three feet from the Rifle King’s face. “How does this look like finding Gold Georgie?” hissed the ranchero, over the ilittering barrel. There was no reply. “You're as stubborn as the Injun was when I found him among the trees last night,’’ continued the captain, “I give you a minute.to live, or till I count ten. One—two—three—four—” The pharp crack of a firearm interrupted the count, and the bullet that struck the outstretched revolver knocked it from the ranchero’s hand... , Rob started, with a maddened ory, “The young pair!"’ cried Old Winch, ¢atching sight of two persons who’ stood a short distance above the bed of the An oath of rage fell from the ranchero’s lips, “Let me tell ye satin’ yet may not know, Ranch Rob,” continued the old a upon his baffled enemy. pep dor eyes t unr ae what. : kiv- | on. SOAS ie ME ee BOR he, T ktin® ee 15 know ‘er, Ranch Rob? Hev'n't you been able to see thet she looks like the Diamond oy Sonoma looked when you first saw ‘er—afore you shot her husban and hounded her to a death among the mountains?’ A cry was smotbered in Ranch Rob's throat. ‘It’s the Diamond’s righteous avenger, because Gold Georgie is her child,” went on Old Winch. ‘*She’s hunted you a long time, Rob, an’ 1 promised to see her to the end ov the trail. Thar hev been forty times since yesterday thet I thought I'd never get to see her thar; but I guess my chances hev im- proved. She knows who you ar’, ef yer face is stained. If I hed killed you when I shot at you the day ye went through Eldorado, fastened to the h I expect the gal would hev turned on me, an’ wouldn't hev murmured if she hed, She'll settle the debts ov Starvation Camp ez well ez her own when she touches the trigger. © If Ranch Rob’s face was pale while Old Winch spoke, the fire in his eyes did not abate. ‘‘Tam here !or deeds committed years ago!" cried Gold Georgie, in a clear voice, ‘* You have trans- formed me from a happy little child into an aven- ger. Ranch Rob—murderer, villain and b we here forever, You would have counted ten for brave Old Winch. I count but five for you. Prepare to die! One—” A e first numeral had hardly left the girl's lips when the horse ridden by the ranchero sprung for- ward with a snort of pain. Old Winch Plumas Roy. ‘Georgie! Georgie! & * Quick!” cri Ae will escape!” The beautiful avenger’s answer was the quick re- a of the deadly weapon that still covered the esperate nan, ; As the detonation awoke the slumberin agg of the landscape, Ranch Rob fell back, and feza, his faithful horse, went on, but withoutarider! —_ ** The gal didn’t disgrace her trainin’! e ed the old e King. “I knowed of: t right when the time come. It is the end of th frail : murderer ov the lovely Diamond ov Sopoma will ride these trails no more,’ me Ge aga RE It proved a death-shot, and a minute later Gold Georgie stood on the spot where lay the corpse of the hardened ranchero of Gold Mg ‘Let ‘im be, Georgie,”’ said Old Winch. . a he bury the poor woman he deserted to 4 the mountains? Who gave the man a . ve he killed a few months before thet? Look! those fellare ar’ fur him!"’ and the old hunter pointed to a number = he objects sailing through the ether far over- ead, Unburied, unhonored and unwept, Ranch Rob was left where the bullet of the avenging daughter had ended his life trails. oo ae When the sun descended Ca Se to day among the mountains of California, it | » the winds and the stars a lonely grave, wae ple headboard of cedar bore this inscription: _“ OLD WINCH, THE RIFLE KING. |. “Treg TO THE Last.” Me» As the Rifle King hunter had predicted, he lived to see Gold Georgie reach the end of her pe ge it was by her soft hands that his ery ooe A of pray were brushed from his ee , and his ands crossed on his breast forthe sleep that knows no waking. “ie @ > A year has passed since the last scene in our mountain and valley drama. pat od The *‘ boss ranch of Gold V. a? poe oe iy pe strange hands, and Eldorado ; but the sso Dan, 6 to s , they fell out among themselves, and Sledoaedl ballmade er and, let us hope, a ye ~) class of room for ano tizena. . baw ey Pedro, the Merciless, got back to Red Carlos’s estoncia after his encounter with the roughs of Gold Valley, but it was to burst into the bouse to fall dead, shot in a dozen places, A Oy He died bene E ae his fire had destroyed the herder king, and the little Mexican's swarthy va- queru~ save him a western burial. . Bt Gola ~sorgie suddenly reappeared in Sonoma to the surprise of Srey ate who bad missed her,and her return was celebrated by a quick wedding which be- came the nine days’ wonder of the California town. Plumas ‘Roy has of his claim in Gold Valley, and, with the little wife he found and won on the trail of vengeance, he lives happily in the famous capital of the great golden State. = Red Star, the vindictive red-skin, untortured by bo ean Mazeppa, sleeps unavenged in the lonely c » ic Sunnyside Library. 1 LALLA Rooxn. By Thomas Moore............. 10¢ 2 Don Juan By Lord ByroD...-..<+++se+-++e-s- We 8 Parapiss Lost. By John Milton......:....... 10¢ 4 ‘Tue Lapy or THe Lake. By Sir Walter Scott.. 10c 5 Lucie. By Owen Meredith.......+-<6:. +,4° 1e 6 : Tae Water-Spsrir. From Vietnan 6b Friederich De La Motte Fouque nO t < Je BS Mar) For sale by all pewsdealers, or sent, postage Ligate twe repente lee ing e 10c MH BOTS os faeril OD ay 7 s | JOOK iGOrr