Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 295 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

— we we ae. ete A I a ee my ~ better go alone. ine ‘bas only lost his way, and will show up afore " ee ene ee ~—— ee ee one - o oe 2 Oe eee David Darke was convinced against bis’ will, and rode on with the others, sadly and silently, After a while he roused himself, and satis- ‘fied Mr. Vintrey’s curiosity by telling that | said. gentleman who he and his friend were, and how they had happened to join John Hackett’s train. He then gave a full account of their subsequent adventures, down to the expedition to Quartzville. “ [t is to you brave fellows, then,” said Mr. Vintrey, “‘ that I owe the safety of my daugh- ter, and my own liberty, if not my life. And now one of you, I am afraid, isin yet greater danger than I was in, and on my account. He shall be saved, if it is possible to save him. ‘The ranchmen about here will make common cause against the scoundrels who run the town ‘of Quartzville. They are bound to do it. They have been plundered and bulldozed too long. { will start out in the morning and get them together,” — That was all very well, David Darke sadly reflected; but it would take time, and in the meanwhile what would become of poor Bert Otis? The party reached Wild Jim’s hiding-place before morning, and the meeting between Mr. Vintrey and bis daughter was a joyful one. Mabel’s delight was unbounded. She not only saw her father for the first time after a long separation, but he had just been rescued from a great danger. She kissed David Darke’s hand, and covered it with tears. ‘‘ But what is the matter?’ she asked, ob- serving his sad face and downcast eyes, ‘‘ Has anything happened? Where—where is your friend? Where is Bert?” ‘* He is lost!” ‘Lost? Then those villains have caught him. How could you lose him? Merciful Heaven! this terrible. We are no sooner clear ot one trouble than another comes. They will kill him, Mr. Darke. They will murder him. ‘They will use him horribly. Father, can nothing be done to save him?” ‘¢T will do all I can,” replied Mr. Vintrey. “T am going to set out as soon as possible to raise the ranchmen, and I think they will be ready enough to fight. But, as Mr. Darke says, that will take time.” | ‘He must be saved!” cried Mabel. is killed, it will break my heart.” “But, Mabel, my dear child, everything that is possible shall be done.” ‘Something must be done quickly,” said David Darke. ‘I will set out at daylight, and will ride to Quartzville. I will save my friend, er will perish with him.” Phil Henning stepped forward, and laid his hand on Darke’s arm. ‘That is hardly the right way to talk, sir,” gaid he. ‘‘ We have no lives to throw away to please those scoundrels. You bad better leave that job to me, Mr. Darke.” “If you want to go with me, Phil, I will be to have your company.” “ That’s not what I said, sir. “Tf he I think I had You are pretty well tired out, and I am fresh. Some people in Quartz- ville might recoguize you, and itis not at all wlikely that anybody there knows my face. Two would be of no more use than one in that crowd, and they might get in each other's way. ™ You all know me, friends, and I hope you can trust me, though I am a young chap.” It was clear enough that all were disposed to trust him to the fullest extent, and David Darke was finally persuaded to allow Phil to . undertake the evterprise alone, especially as Mabel expressed the greatest confidence in the youth, and declared that no person could do _ more to save Otis than he could. Phil to disguise himself to some extent, not that he feared he might be recog- _ wized, but because he wished to present such an appearance as would satisfy the ordinary With the aid of some of Wild Jim’s old A A —_-_---— eo eee is Se es ee ee Se ee eS CP OS Ot SCN _- SF OO OO eee ae ee ee r Fearless ‘Phil. rags, @ liberal supply of dirt, and @ smashed | hat, he transformed himself into such a loafer as might well pass muster in Quartzville, and before daylight he was ready to start. “T shall want the best borse I can get,” he ‘(Take mine,” said Dan Gilligan. boss crittur. way with you and try to cover the ground we passed over last night; but it won’t be safe for me to go nigh Quartzville.” Phil left the cavern, followed by the tearful prayers of Mabel and the best wishes of all. Dan accompanied him the greater part of the distance, following as near as he could the route he bad taken in the night, but they saw no trace of Bert Otis. Within a mile or so of Quartzville Dan pressed his companion’s hand, wishing bim food luck, and the daring young fellow went on alone, JHAPTER XIIL QUARTZVILLE LAW. DAN GILLIGAN had given it as his opinion that Bert Otis had lost his way, or his horse bad fallen, or he bad been captured. Two of éhesewontingencies bad occurred. Riding in the rear of bis party, he had dis- covered, shortly after they entered the first ra- vine, that bis horse was lame. He would not for a moment think of pre- venting or retarding the escape of his friends, so he made no mention to them of this misfor- tune, though he feared that he would not be able to keep yp with them. This fear soon became a certainty. The lameness of bis horse increased, and he. lost sight of those ahead of him. At the same time he could hear the pursuers coming on rap- idly. He was about to abandon his borse and trust to his feet and the darkness, when the animal suddenly stumbled and fell, throwing his rider over his head. Bert was stunned by the fall, and when he recovered his senses he found himself a pris- oner in the hands. of two men, who, as he could not doubt, belonged to Arkansaw Pete’s gang. ‘‘So you’ve come around, my gay galoot,” said one of them. ‘I was beginnin’ to be afeard that we mought miss the fun of hangin’ yer.” Bert felt for his pistol, but of course it was gone, | “ Hope ye didn’t think we was green enough to take any chances on yer,” chuckled his cap- tor. ‘Not much. We hain’t bad a hangin’ bee in Quartzville now for quite a while. Come along, sonny, and don’t try no tricks.” Bert was mounted bebind one of his captors, around whose waist his arms were passed, and his wrists were securely tied. The other brought up the rear, leading the lame horse, which was pronounced ‘‘ wuth savin’.” The captive understood from their talk, as they went along, that the rest of the Quartz ville horsemen had gone on in pursuit of the fugitives, leaving kim in charge of the two men who had the poorest horses. The journey to Quartzville was a slow and tedious one, and was peculiarly unpleasant to Bert; but the procession at last reached the town, and the prisoner was consigned to the | jail, the door of which he had left open with the key in if. | Both the drugged guards had been taken away, with the bound and gagged sentry at the door, and Bert and the two men who bad brought him there were the only occupants of the prison. His prospect was far from a cheering one; but be bad reason to hope that his friends had got away safely—and in that there was much consolation. There was no use in fretting. If it came to the worst, he would meet his fate like a man, could not help? | ee Oe = | mn eee eee le seem mmeaaeeaaeeeaaceeceacaaaiacaaaaaaaaeaaaaaaid = —EEE _ — | i } —— 5 a ad With this reflection he laid down on, the rude bed, and was soon sound asleep, | Early in the morning one of his, captors brought him a hot and substantial breakfast, “Ez Lalliow to go an’ see yer bung to-day,” said the, man, ‘1 ort to pay su’thin’ fur the “Itisthe sight; so I’ve brought yer some first-class. [I am goin’ to ride part of the | grub.” It was quite a good breakfast for Quartz- ville, aud Bert ate it heartily and enjoyed it thorougbly. At about nine o’clock be was taken into town by a strong guard, and was soon surrounded by a crowd of rough-looking men, who eyed him maliciously, and made remarks upon his personal appearance that were intended to be severely sarcastic. It was clear to him that he would find no friends jn Quartzville. Well, he had not expected to find any. He was taken into the office of “Judge” Toler, but not for the purpose of a legal exam- ination by or before that magistrate. Arkansaw Pete bad returned from the pur- suit of the fugitives, as one of his followers expressed it, ‘‘chuck full of cuss.” He was fearfully angry because he had lost them, and determived to vent his wrath upon the one prisoner who bad fallen into his hands, He said, and caused his words to be repeated on the street, that aman who would help a cattle-thief to break jail was worse than a cattle-thief, and hanging was too good for bim. If outside galoots were to walk into the Quartz- ville jail and walk off with its prisoners, there was no use talking about law and justice any more. Anexample was needed, and the pris- oner was a fitting example, especially as he and his partners had poisoned the guards in the jail, so that at ove time they were not ex- pected to live. The course of the law was too slow and uncertain for such an offender, and nothing but a lynch court could be relied on to do justice speedily and surely. This was the substance of the King of Quartzville’s arguments, as repeated in various forms by his followers, and the result was that when Bert Otis was taken into Toler’s office he found everything arranged there for the exe- cution of lynch Jaw. A burly ruffian sat in Toler’s seat as the representative of Judge Lynch, and twelve ‘‘rounders,” who looked as if they deserved banging, occupied a bench as a jury. The respectable people of Quartzville kept aloof from Arkansaw Pete and all his proceed. ings as much as they could, satisfied if they were left alone. Where was Bert’s dog Rip while his master was in trouble? When Bert was captured a pistol-shot that grazed his skin bad forced Rip to seek a piace of safety; but be soon returned, and followed the prisoner and his captors to Quartzville, He stayed near the jail until Bert was brought out in the morning, and then followed the crowd into town, but at a safe distance; as he recognized them as enemies, and did not care to scrape acquaintance with any of them, Not far from Toler’s office be was accosted by a rough-lcoking young man on horseback, who did not seem to belong to the crowd. ‘‘Hello, Rip!” said this: person, as he dis- mounted and hitched bis borse. The dog recognized the voice, if not the face, of Phil Henning, to whom he bad taken a great fancy in the cavern, and went up to him, wag- ging his tail. ‘Keep off, sir!” ordered Phil. “You area suspicious character in Quartzville, I say, old boy, you must look out for yourself. You may stay around here, but keep your eyes peeled.” Rip moved away, asif he understeod what was said to him, and Phil went into Toler’s office, and pushed forward to a front plece, a as Bert Otis was arraigned before Judge Lyneb, ‘Is this a legal court?” demanded the pris- oner. “If itis, I bave a right to lawyer and to challenge the jury.” » ete I00 COMIE cS ‘CO