Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 385 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

~~ ee > Ce. meme pet wae TP PA ope o werner ee Ba 8 pee ee be b \ ‘ a rm i1eka Jim’s Joker. ee ee ee ee a ee ee would be a time of reckoning, and it was by a “Frobably not. Yreka, if he is the man, | then rule this town, and Yreka shall give me the oa | oy _— letter from him that | was advised to come to | very likely received the same sort of an explan- | right to do so!” Red Nose asa temperance lecturer. Jeremiah | atory letter 1 did, and may have ferreted out hen ensued a long conference between the ¢ Alvin, you are really the Ralph Ardmore of the | more than be lets on. Indeed, his evident aver- | two villains, the particulars of which will tran- past!” sion to you and me, seems t» argue that he is | spire later. The bonanza king of Red Nose bowed jme- | notignorant. It is my belief that Van Gelder Suffice to say the interview did not end until echanically. means to make one of the two of us— Yreka or | a few minutes before Yreka Jim’s return to the ‘“‘f am!” he said, huskily. ‘‘ And yow—are | I—or maybe, the both of us, the instrument | vicinity of the Buckin’ Cayuse, prior to bis you his son, or mine?” through which be-will obtain revenge on you!” | street encounter with Mambrinus Maccaw. “Tf will not lie to you—I donot know. He ‘*Curse him! what shall I do?” And also that at least three distinct persons bas never given~ me so much as a bint toward ‘‘Leave it tome. Put your whole confidence |} overheard the substance of all that passed be- letting me know who I am. I suppose the} in me, awd we will work together. Bel your | tween the judge and St. Maur, neither one of other one bas been kept in the same obscurity— | son or not, I will fight for you, on one condi- | the trio being aware but what they were the at least I judge so. But I will tell you this | tion!” only eavesdroppers! smuch—I believe that I am your son!” ‘* And that—” When St. Maur left the Alvin residence it Why?” *“__Ts that you will make me your heir!” was inadisguise furnished him by the judge, *‘ Because you are of a villainous disposition Judge Alvio reached his hand across the | in which he fancied his identity was secure and I am not unlike you. Then, again—read | table, his eyes gleaming. from discovery. this!” ‘‘It’s a bargain!” he said, grimly. ‘‘ You He threw an enveloped letter upon the table, | stick by me, and you shall be my heir—my son !” And let us now return to the room in the and the judge snatched it up eagerly. - Buckin’ Cayuse, where we left Yreka Jim, It was without date or heading, and ran as | CHAPTER XIII. Maccaw and Joker, the principals of a novel follows: A WONDERFUL SHOT. and original tableau. a “Ons. St. Maur:—Go to Red Nose as a temper-| [IT was the sealing of a compact, and a glass The bullwhacker stood with his back against ance lecturer. There you will meet a person you | of wine was tossed off, in honor of the occasion. | the wall, trembling as in an ague-fit, while Ih will become interested in, If your interest does not | ‘* Now, then,” Judge Alvin said, ‘‘as you say | Joker stood with the revolver outstretching the | sabsorb your prudence, work him for all he is worth. | you have devoted some time to ferreting out | grasp of his right fore-paw. at The end is not far off, ROLFE ARDMORE. matters, can you tell me what became of Agnes ‘‘One! two! three!” Yreka counted slowly ; _Judge Alvin’s face assumed a color between | —where she is, and whether living or dead?” and in a measured tone, as if giving the word to | | fivid and pallor. ‘*T can tell you only this much,” St. Maur | a twain of duelists—‘‘ fire !” “Curse him!” he gasped. “He is still alive | said. ‘After you deserted her, and sbe learn- The next instant there was the report of the | ‘then, and means me no good!” ed that her first husband was living, she swore | weapon, anda yell from Maccaw as he tum- [" ‘You are guessing pretty fairly,” St. Maur | that she would tirelessly follow vour trail, | bled forward upon the floor and rolled and ae ‘declared, ‘‘ He means business!” and bide her time until an opportunity present- | kicked as if in mortal agony. HY] ‘Where is he?” ed itself toruin you beyond retrieve—finan- **Oh! Lordy! oh, Lordy!” he roared. ‘I’m a ‘From remarks uttered by Yreka Jim, to- | cially, and otherwise. She, then, disappeared, | shot—l’m salivated, jes’ as I told ye. Ouch! might, I infer that he is not far away.” to be seen no more, Rolfe Ardmore also alludes | hurry an’ git a doctor—oh! 0-0-0!” i, “Ha! Curse him! Explain”! to her as seeking vengeance, in the letter he ‘‘Get up, you lying fool!” Yreka command- if | ed, sternly, ‘' You were not hit at all, but Joker bu’sted the apple like a little major.” ‘* The divil you say!” and Maccaw felt of his head and found fragments of the apple spat- tered over it. ‘‘Gr-at silver-sand jigs of old St. Vitus! I thort et war me brains w’ot war scatterin’ around so permiscu’s, sn’ so that aire __ The judge was growing excited and vengeful. | wrote me, several years ago. So, dad, you’re He seemed to feel power, money and popularity | between two fires, that has got plenty fuel to moving from beneath him. keep them burning. You don’t know what ‘Don’t get impatient. The world was not | minute you’!l be taken off, and neither do I— made in one day. Howis your stock of wine | for, mind you, I’ve got a petticoater hunting banging fire? This last bottle has played out!” | after me!” Ph With a grunt, the judge arose, unsteadily ‘* How is that?” crossed the floor to the closet, and returned with “Oh! I got mixed upin a little intrigue with | b’ar actooally slugged ther apple, eh?” and the the wine. , a girl, named Faith Hemple, over in Colorado— | giant gazed in unalloyed astonishment at the A glass apiece was partaken of, and then | sham marriage, you know—and when [ left her | wonderful animal, who, reared upon its hind- ‘St. Maur went on: for greener fields and pastures new, she got | feet, still clutched the weapon. ‘Yes, Joker did that same!’ Yreka asserted, roudly; ‘‘and what is more, can dotit again. ut now that you have stood the test, there is no reason for me to longer aap 5 lovalty ) unless I detect you in playing me false. Then, | I'll shoot you down as I would a wolf.” ‘Well, you will remember that Yreka Jim | upon her ear and swore blood-an‘-butcher- and | had a confab, the result of which was, [ | knives she’d hunt me down todeath. At last had to give up a deed and mortgage?” accounts, she was still hunting me, and I’ve an Yes, SAN 4) 3 intuition it won’t be a century before I hear ‘* Well, some time since Yreka Jim bought the | from her again. You heard Yreka speak about ranch in Vista Valley of a man named Vox Van | his wife being missing? Well, I left one of ‘Gelder, dog cheap, and paid cash down for it, | Faith’s letters in Yreka’s coat, while I was at ‘¢ Yer needn’t hev no fear, Yreka. Yer will allexcept $5,000. Thissum was put on mortgage, | the-ranch, and I reckon she got onto it; any- | find me solid frum muzzle ter mud-heel, an’ by - & the time expiring, grace and all, at ten o’clock, | how, it drove her out of her mind, and she va- | ther pedestal clog of old St. Vitus, when I say the day following Yreka Jim’s arrest, here in | moosed, and was found wandering through the | er thing et aire as dependable as ther Rock uv —_—_—___—— ee Red Nose. Knowing the circumstances, and | mountains, near bere!” Ages,” that Yreka was short, and had come here to ‘*Ha!l by whom?” ‘‘Time alone will prove that. As for the amuke a raise, I was on hand, the next day, and ‘‘By myself. I captured her, and now hold | present tell me what you know concerning my : ‘took up the mortgage, which had been given by | her a captive.” wife?’ Yreka Jim and wif>. Owing to our remarkable ‘You do? Whatis your object?” ‘‘VYer bet I will. Yer wife aire crazy ’bout resemblance, Vox Van Gelder did not recognize ‘“‘T mean to make her the instrument of my | some letter sbe found in yer duds, w’ot was left es ame from the real Yreka.” revenge upon Yreka Jim, if I do not succeed in | there by St, Maur.” : “Ah! Goon!” killing bim.” “Tamsoaware, But go on,” “4 “It was my intention to secure the death of Juége Alvin made a gesture of impatience. “She quit ther ranch|and went wanderin’ the real Yreka and put my feetin his shoes, but, ‘You would not commit murder?’ he said. thr’u’ the mount’ings in search Ov some place as you know, he wasn’t here, on my return, and ‘‘Ha! I’d do anything. Yreka will kill me | ter lay down an’ die. Thet aire snoozer, St. 7. : the plot failed, for the time being, Now, as we | if he sees mein Red Nose again, and, if I mis- | Maur, he got onter her trail and overtook and | ; proceed, let me tell you that, from the time of | take not, Rolfe Ardmore would favor such a | captured her, an’ shut her up in a mountain ‘y getting Rolfe Ardmore’s explanatory letter, | crime. After my death, you, too, would die, | cave!” | eseveral years ago, I have not been idle. Ihave | and Yreka would be pushed forward as your ‘‘T am also aware of that, sir. But that point exerted all my ingenuity to find out where he | heir,” is not of much particular importance to me. kept bimself, and bave at last nailed my man, ‘Perhaps! But, murder happens to be a | What I want to know is, where is she confined? Rolfe Ardmore, and Vox Van Gelder are iden- | serious crime.” Do you know?” tical.” ‘Bah! It’s getting to bo a common amuse- ‘“Great gyratin’ geesers, yes. Ireckon [ or- SS ie ‘* If so, and he knows you—which he must do, | ment nowadays. To-morrow is election, and if | ter, when he caged ber in ther werry same a if he is constantly aware of your whereabouts, | I can prevent it, Yreka Jim will not waken to | place whar I’ve bin restin’ my shins, nocturnal- | why did he not recognize you, then?” take any interest in that event.” ly, sence I've bin sojourvin’ in this vicinity.” . ‘““That I do not know, unless it was because He spoke fiercel y—venomously. ‘* Does St. Maur know this?’ so of the existing resemblance between myself and Judge Alvin, however, shock his bead, evi- “ Nary!” - ‘Yreka Jim.” dently not favoring the idea. ‘“ And you are sure that Martha will be all os ‘And, from what you say, Yreka Jim is, in ‘‘ Its dangerous?’ he protested, ‘“ If Yreka | safe and unharmed where ste is, until I want oe your imagination, the other of tha two boys | Jim was to be found murdered, the crime would | her?” a) * who were stolen by Rolfe Ardmore?” be blamed upon you, if, indeed, I were not im-| ‘‘Assnug asa bugin a rug!” ; ~ ‘That is my belief!” plicated in it. No! no! it won’t do!” ‘‘Then, let her remain there. I have learned aK The judge was silent a moment biting his lips ‘*Then, do you want the rascal elected Mayor | that to-night, which convinces me_ that the fh with vexation. , of Red Nose to-morrow? Do you want to jose | machination of two precious rascals is liable to Pan” ‘It’s a strange affair,” he finally declared, | all your power—perhaps allof your money?” | get nippedin the bud,” . “and Icannot make outclearly what is going ‘*No,. But I bave an idea which even your The bullwhacker pricked up his ears. to transpire. If Yreka Jim is the other boy, do | ingenuity has not developed. This wife of ‘‘Say, lookee byer: Pll bet ther buttons off es een vou think he knows that Rolfe Ardmore and] Yreka’s—is she really insane?” old Neptune’s vest thet you war eavesdroppin’ a oy (Cie Vox Van Gelder are one and tbesame ‘person?” ‘* Yes.” bit ago; now warn’t ye?” ‘ “No. Vl bet on it that he is ignorant of the ** Where is she?’ ‘‘Ravesdropping? Where?” ae fact. Van Gelder, in dealing with him, about “Shut up in a cave, not half a dozen miles ‘‘Up at the judge’s!” | Boe ae the ranch, showed bim no more mercy than he | from here,’ *¢ And were you?” Ret) te would a_perfect stranger—hardly as much,I| ‘She will be safe there until wanted?” “Bet_ yer boots! Heerd ther bull interview | ‘fancy. e’s not a merciful man, say the best ‘Perfectly. Not a soul but myself knows | *twixt St. Maur an’ the judge.” Nat .e) ‘you can of him!” where she is.” | ‘¢ And so did I,” Yreka replied, putting forth 2) SL te ‘Then, Yreka’s presence, here, bas no signifi- “Then, listen. Let things take their own | his hand, ‘‘ We’ll shake flippers on that. , oe! OS eeance attached to it,,in regard to the business | course. If Red Nose goes for Yreka, to-morrow ‘You bet we will, Yreka, ye old he-up-an’- es. pertaining to Van Gelder’s maneuvers?” let her go. When election is over I will even | haw, an’ I’m a hydra-headed, howlin’ hizaglo, — ho “ po . 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