Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 330 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

ee a ee a ajarmed, the tone of his visitor was so cool and significant. * How long have you owned this magnificent do- mainY’’ Chalfont went on, stroking his beard gently, pad never once allowing his gaze to lave the gen- eval’s face, ‘For several years—three, nearly.” “Were you ever married, more than once?”’ “Certainly not.” * You are sure?” The general sprung to his feet, growing livid with rage. “Why do you question my veracity?’ he cried. “If you come here to insult me, | will excuse your presence, and request you to leave my house.”’ He was /n the act of drawing a revolver, when he noticed that Chalfont already held one, in his grasp. 3 Halked, there!"’ his caller said, with a chuckle. “You should know better than to try any crooked ames on me, Gleason. You are too hot-headed, ut I do question your veracity about not having been biessed with two wives, as I know you were legally married once, and illegally married a second time.” +,’ Tis false !"’ the general roared. pit is true!" was the stern cry. Casske, and remove your vail.” The woman obeyed, and turned a careworn but sti)] pretty face to Gideon Gleason's view—the face of a woman over forty years, mayhap, from which Hoa had failed to erase an expression of matronly -auty. ‘* By heavens!" was all the general could utter, as h» staggered back aghast, his gaze riveted upon the woman's face, Then he suddenly turned upon his tormentor. ‘* And you—who are you?” he roared, savagely. .. “Ty? the man chuckled, removing his false beard, ‘why, I am Cap. Melton, chief of the Cattle Clique, end your dutiful son !”’ “Stand up, CHAPTER XIV. A FEARFUL RIDE, becomes our duty to follow the adventures of I .«.e Quick-Shot and Grit Gleason from the time t) J they were so rudely dispatched at the heels of tl i maddened, burning horse. ‘he lariats that connected them to the animal were securely fastened to their ankles, and the length of the lariat was such that they were not in danger of being harmed by the horse's heels. For the first five minutes of their frightful. journey they were unable to control themselves in the least, the jerk: jerk! occasioned by the animal's frantic bounds nearly taking their senses away, but the horse kept on his course over the prairie, and as there was much grass and no stones, they experi- enced no severe bruises. The horse plunged madly on, its azonized screams making the night ring. That he would ever stop antil forced to drop from sheer exhaustion did not seem probable. If he could only get his hands free, so as to draw the clasp-knife which he still had in his pocket, the Scarlet Scout could cut the two lariats; but to get his hunds loose was no easy feat, and there was no immediate probability of his accomplishing such relbase from their frightful position. Not a word nor groan escaped Grit, she was pass- ing through the ordeal nearly as bravely as himself. They were well away from Villa Voselle, when the frantic horse came suddenly to a deep and abrupt arr yo, and unable to check itself, was forced to plunge headlong into the depths, dragging Donald and Grit with him. Down, down they went—then all became blank, Litule Quick-Shot was the first to recover con- sciousness, ani, with Lis returning senses, came a knowl dge tliat he had a severe headache, and was as pg sagen ee yi e several minutes, motion] until he was satisfied. that he was in active easeuston of his right mind; then, with an effort, he raised himself upon his elbow and gazed about him. pi f ee yoy a Bp he was — at the bot- es , ’ was r e : His bonds | had been severed. cen ora , wes but a narrow seam or fissure, the bottom befhg thirty feet below the level of the erable An ob¢»rver would have imagined that some mighty water-spout might have washed it out; yet the es were nearly perpendicular, and ovérgrown with shrubs and clinging vines, there being but one place at the '* wash-out,”’ where an easy ascent to the p could be made, Quick-Shot could not help epee i A what an admirable buffalo-trap it could be turned into! But where was Jrit? The horse, with every hair singed from it, lay dead a few yards away, a sickening mass to gaze at —but Grit was nowhere to be seen. Ha! what discovery was this? Fats horse had, before the fatal plunge, worn a e, Now, that article was not to be seen. and it was certain that the fire could not have consumed the bits, even if it had burned the leather. | There remained, then, but one reasonable theory: some one had entered the arroyo, carried away the bridle, aod hkewise Grit Gleason. : with an effort that cost him great pain, Little Qi 2k-Shot arose from his recumbent position, and ho bied toward the low place where egress from the pi. JJ was easiest—a sort of natural trail that wind up the side to the prairie. . tere he found the plain imprints of a horse's fedé. and the indications were that the animal had recently galloped up the trail. Little Quick-Shot. ‘‘ By Heaven! that brave girl shall not remain lost very long,’’ the Scarlet Scout gritted. ‘She imperiled her own safety for her love for me, and I'll never rest until I set her at liberty. I don’t feel very active after that tough ride and tumble, but I can still follow a trail.” Without delay, he ascended the path to the prairie above, and found that the trail did not lead toward Daggersville or the Cottonwoods, as he had expected, but on the contrary, pointed off to the extreme eastward. ‘*T owe more to her than to them, there!"’ he mut- tered, his gaze wandering in the direction of Dag- gersville. ‘I reckon they're all through fighting, anyhow, by this time, no matter who came out vic- torious; so I'll take this trail and follow it until I lose it or find Grit. Strange! Her relation to Le- ncre causes meé now to take a deeper interest in her than I at first supposed I could.”’ Weapons he had none, except a clasp-knife in his: pocket; but nothing caunted, he set out as rapidly over the trail as the bruised condition of his limbs would permit. He traveled until nightfall with scarcely a pause, 4 being a sturdy walker, covered ~ good many miles, Being hun by this time, he corraled a fish in a small prairie stream, and building a fire of such ma- terial as he could find, he seon had a palatable sup- per ready. After eating it, be remembered that, the sky being clear, there would be a nearly-full moon to light the prairie, so concluded to continue on his jonrney a while longer, as the trail was plainly visible and easy to follow. The prospect ahead, however, was not cheering. One vast ocean of slightly undulating prairie, for miles and miles, with not a tree or bush in sight, not to mention a human residence. Yet Quick-Shot knew that there were numerous little valleys between him and the horizon, wherein might exist a place of abode, even unknown to the ordinary prairie herder. - So he continued on his way, as soon as the moon was fairly is and did not pause until near mid- night, when he felt too fatigued to proceed further, and threw himself upon the ground. It did not trouble him to get asleep, and he slept for several hours—at least, the moon had disap- peared in a bank of clouds near the horizon, and a grayish gloom overhung the prairie. Something had aroused the Scarlet Scout from his slumber. He was sensible of the fact, but, for the life of him, could not tell what it was. He raised himself on his elbow, and looked around him, keenly, but could see nothing that should have startled him from his slumber. He lay down again, but an uneasy feeling caused him to partly raise once more, and make another survey. This time he uttered a startled cry! He saw something that elicited it, and would have startl:d any strong-minded personage. A trifle above the level of the ground, not a dozen yards away, he bebeld the Dead Face looking toward him, white and unearthly, and apparently attached to no body. “Well, U'll be banged,” was the Scarlet Scout's mental ejaculation, “if here isn’t a go, in earnest! Wonder what I’ve done, that I should be haunted by a cadaver, or whatever the thing is?’ The specter, if such it was, remained motionless in the one ition, The eyes were closed, as hough sealed by the hand of death, and the face retained its corpse-like expression, Little Quick-Shot watched the thing for several minutes, ere he made up his mind what to do. “Tf that ain’t human, it’s certainly inhuman," he muttered, “If it’s the latter, I reckon I'd have hard work to capture it. If human, I'm dashed if I wouldn't Jike to know what the individual wants. If I can't more than hail him, I may be able to make out what fer thing be is. Hello, there!” Clear and distinct the scout-detective’s voice sounded on the night air. Instantly the Dead Face arose higher, and a man’s form became outlined, as it fled from the spet—a man's form clad in deepest black, from chin to toe. * Very ghostly!” Quick-Shot gritted. ‘So tha’'s the thing that’s be n frightening the Daggers- villaine! Wonder if I hadn’t better give him a chase?” He leaped to his feet. and bounded awayin pr- suit. but was soon surprised, to think that he should ever have laid claims to being a runner. for in a very few minutes the Dead Faced individual had vanished, beyond the rane of his vision. ‘*Riame it! I've lost both trail!’ he growled, pausing when he saw that tt was no use to proceed further, “T shall have to wait till daybreak, ore I can readily pick up that trail again,” He sat down, in an ill-humor, and waited, Ten minutes had scarcely passed, when, hearing * the man and the | rustling behind bim he wheeled around, and beheld | the Dead Face a few yards away, and in the same position as when he first discovered ft. With a yell of anger, he sprung to his feet, and rushed toward the ghostly tormentor, only to see that personage also gain his footing, and glide away into nothingness. “Oh! had I only a revolver or rifle!” Quick-Shot growled, when forced to pause again, more pro- voked than was his wont to get. That dough-faced galoot evidently knows how I am fixed, and is having a little fun to himself, at my expense. One thing appears certain—there’s no use of my spending my breath in chasing him.” Nor was he likely to, as he full well comprehended, the next moment, when he was seized from behin —_— ee ——-—™ 13 by a number of pare of hands, which made quick work of seourely binding and blindfolding him. Who his captors were he could not form an idea, as “se saw none of them, and not a word was en, That the Dead Face was concerned in the proceed- ing, however, he did not have a doubt, He was bound across a saddle, face downward. and carried away, the horse cpparently being led, by one of the captors. It seemed, to Quick-Shof, an age befpre they st ped. and he was taken from the horse's back, and placed upon his feet, He was not unbound, however, nor was the thick cloth removed from over his eyes, He felt a pistol-muzzle pressed to his temple, and knew something important was about to happen— perhaps death, to him. There was a moment of ye suspense; then a harsh, stentorian voice cried: . ‘Donald Waverly, do you know where you are?” ‘‘T have not that pleasure!’’ Quick-Shot retorted, coolly. “Then, I will grant you the information!’ the speaker said, in an impressive tone. * You are in the presence of a band of avengers—persons who | to get . w into - have suffered terrible wrongs, and failin justice in any other way, have taken the their own hands.”’ ‘*Go ahead!” Quick-Shot called out, indifferently. “There are five of us, at present!’’ the speaker went on, ‘‘and I, the ‘Dead Face,’ as 1 am best known, am the chief of the band. Of my wronge I need not speak, for they are known only to myself, and to my God, The others, with one exception, have suffered through the agency of one, Cap. Mel- ton, a chief of catile-thieves. ‘*T understand.” ‘Well, we want one more member to cur order, before we proceed to business. We know you have suffered a grievous wrong, and haveswern a vow of vengeance, against one whom it is our business to drag down tothe doom he richly merits.” “You speak of General Gleason.” “Ido. He has wronged, not only all of eg has massacred many a good man at the Cotton- woods and Daggererville, of which a he now holds undisputed possession. He stands a tyrant king, in a civilixd government, and it is a reproach on ajl honorable humanity that the accursed out- law is not swept from the earth. We have agreed among ourselves to do the job, and want your co- ration in helping us to restore right from wrong, at Daggersville, and breaking up the Cattle Clique!’ ‘*Supposing you inform me whom I would be as- sociated with. I could best answer you then!" “That is out of the question. I know it is better for the present that you should not. I have named the other four, Norman, Warren, Gorman and Flor- ren, You are well known ard respected by two of them; the others have detts to cancel with Cap. Melton, but are sworn to help us thrcughout,” “ SP ages But I would be excused.’ s y y’ ‘Because I have another mission!" “ be search for Gertrude Gleascn?"’ “ Tes,”’ ‘Have you ¢o soon fcrgotten Lenore?” ‘By no means! Miss Gertrude rashly imperted Ler life through a dsire to accompany me, and she having get into trouble it is my duly 28 &@ man to rescue her.”’ ‘Then set your heart at rest in that res for Gertrude Gleason is in the stronghold of p- Melton, a prisoner, and the first act on our pro- precios will be to rescue her, and acd her to our eague.’ “if I don’t join A ‘You will be held a prisoner until our vengeance is Soin ed re be it a day or ten years!" iick-Shot reflected, The incidents of the st few days arose vividly before him. ; The sufferings not alone of but many—the oath of vengeance he had silently taken over Lenore’s body—all, came like a phan- tom before his vision. . “T will join you on conditions!" he said finally, ‘Name them, sir." | “They are that 1 will not be request d to take part in any affair, cther than the one I bave to avenge, more than to help to run the others to bay.” “Accepted! Listen to the oath. Repeat it word for word. after me!” The Dead Face then said over a vow of alleriance, and the Scarlet Scout repeated it after him, rea the oath with 3 vs ce id akg held to h lips, in a cup, W nearly sickene or it was like’ unto blood! CHAPTER XV. vc oath was administered: the As soon as the oath was acm - age was removed from Little Quick-Shot's Shen ent his bonds were cut He found himself in the presence of five persons in fall flowing black rowns. belted at the waist, while each wore a p-pier-movhe head-covering desi to renresent his Satanic Majesty, with horns and all, ick-Shot surveyed them with a “Well, you have left nothing undone, in the w of self-adornment, I see!"’ he said. eS glimpse you ought to be punishment enough for any ordi- /narv sinner.” | Perhaps!” the tallest of the five said, with a chuckle, his voice unmistakably that of Dead-Face. ‘We mean to make our appearance an omen of doom to those we are to chase down. Here ig a bundle of apparel to match ours, and weapong of defense, Please equip yourself, and then we will get down to business, as fast as is Judicious.”’ if Eomlenboo - —-e~e ee Tes ee —=ee Oe ; *. —~-— cS: =