Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 424 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

ay ee a) 1 ya [a 4 t + 7 : . 53 4, a 1 ae \ ° hea! ‘ 7 « * * . a“ d ‘ » * _s i = . : , 4 7 as' « : ‘ <i <> # T! ' Ls : ‘ re >. & ae | , 2 ae sad ; a> i seb s (one a oP — ~- : i: : “ wif ; ; - ‘ ' - Nike itt . “4 Rae big ez your thumb; so, be very careful ter keep yer han’s well up. Ef ye doubt my story, bein’ ez ye can’t see ther rifles mentioned, jest put one han’ down fer th’ fraction o’ a second—th’ six- teenth part o’a split red ha’r o’ time, an’ ye’ll be wafted inter port across th’ big divide afore e kin say ‘ Rob Jackinson,’ er any other man. h’ rifles aforesaid are a-lookin’ at ye, like real old grim Death. Don’t let that escape yer mind fer a moment! **Come,now! Git right down an’ out o’ thar, every one 0’ ye, maskerline an’ femernine alike!” The moment the stage had stopped, all within it was confusion. Outside, the cause bein eth seen and understood, the men had raise heir hands at once, and each remained quiet. ‘*Oh! what can the trouble be?” cried the lady, as she closed her book quickly. ‘Wh—what’s matter? at’s up?” queried Phineas Skynn, the wy hes as he awoke sud- denly from his sleep. ‘‘ Are we there?” ** Moly Hoses!” cried the old Jew. pe a robber?” The old darky said nothing, but prepared to defend his young inistress against anything that might come to pass: hen came the words of the road-agent, as given. **Oh! mine goodness!” cried the old Jew, ‘it tsa robber!” And he drew a well-tilled wallet from his pocket and slipped it into his boot. ** Wh—what do you say?” gasped the lawyer. ‘‘A robber, mine frient; a robber! Petter as you blace your bocket-pook in your poot, same as me” ‘6 A-__g—yobber? oh! heavens!” And with trembling hands the lawyer followed the Jew’s advice. ** Oh!” the lady cried, ‘‘do you think we will be robbed, sir?” ‘* My tear lady,” the Jew answered, “TI tink ve vill, Petter you vas blace your waluables in your—your—” ‘*T don’t wear boots,” the lady said quickly, to help the old man out. ** Vell, t’en, I vill allow you to blace your mon- ish in my poots.” ‘No, I will try and defend it myself. Oh! he orders us to get out! Shall we?” ‘** Pet your schweet life J will,” the Jew cried, “ ane mighty gwick!” And he tumbled out with aste, “Can it The lawyer followed at once, ‘*Come!” cried he in the Mother Hubbard own. ‘Everybody out! I don’t want ter de- ay ye any longer than necessary. Git right out, every one of ye!” ‘*Come, Snowball,” said Clara St. Clare, ‘‘ we must obey.” And she stepped out. ‘Ah! a lady! pardonme,madam, I will put you to as little inconvenience as ible, ! a nigger, too!” as Snowball sihinberad out. ** Hullo! Snowball, how are ye?” ‘For de lub ob goodness, now yo’ know my name?” the old darky cried. And then as he saw the threatening revolvers, he jumped in front of his mistress, and shouted: ‘‘ Took out dar, ol woman, whar yo’ is a- ‘intin’ dem ar guns! Hain’t yo’ got no sense? Tdok out, I say! Turn ’em some other way! Dey will go off de fu’st yo’ know, an’ den some one will get hurted, shua /” ‘**Don’t be uneasy, Snowball. Jest you hold up yer han’s, an’ ye won’t git hurt.” ‘“*How yo’ come ter know my name?” the darky asked again. __* Why, I guessed it. Any feller o’ your shade 0’ color is titled ter a white name, seein’ ez it’s th’ only way ye’ve got ter indulge in sich a shade of purity. — ‘“Come, Jew, gitup! Don’t get down thar in ther dust an’ s’ile yer breeches.’ The old Jew had fallen upon his knees and was begging heartily to be spared. ‘‘ Now,” the robber continued, ‘form in line heur, an’ I’ll call ye up ter me one at a time. That’s right, only jest turn about an’ face t’other way. Thar! Now, stan’ jest ez still ez ye kin, an’ don’t budge. Remember thet rifles are a- p’intin’ at ye from this heur clump o’ bushes, an’ if one 0’ ye moves down he'll go! Keep ’em coy- ered, boys!” addressing his men in the ambush as though ge Morag were there, instead of be- ing mere bugbears of his imagination, invented for the occasion; ‘‘an’ if one on ’em turns his face this way ter see what is oa on behind ’em shoot him!—aw’ shoot ter kill!” | There et all stood in a row, with faces turn- ed toward the long stretch of road over which they had come, and behind them, at some dis- tance away, stood the man in the Mother Hub- bard gown, laughing heartily but silently as he watched the trembling legs of the lawyer and the old Jew. » <j ge \e-*" . . J 4.4 : - at b4 Pes * Sas ¢ ne eo A oo 4 ’ I es he ro ie A Piha - J . ‘Pa, : , Li ap, < . P ¢ ‘ ry yw ae ] yg beu ite 4 ot. i om [rest i ¢ - ee “Siti, .- - “tt . Cibuta John. mee ee + ee When he had enjoyed himself for a few mo- ments, he said; ‘* Now, Jew, come here!” With a groan, and with face as white as it could turn, considering its natural yellow hue, he obeyed. ‘* So help me—” he began, but the robber bade him shut up. **Come, fork over you wealth. Don’t try to hold any back. Lively! Snake off them ’ar boots first! I have an idee thar’s spondulix in them.” With many — and all the while pleadin in a whining tone, the Jew obeyed. He coul not well have done otherwise. ‘*Now, git back ter yer place,” the road- agent ordered, when he felt satisfied that the Jew had given up his all. ‘‘ Hold on, though,” he added, ‘‘ what is your name?” ** Levi 'Poppenheimer,” the Jew answered. The agent made a note of it in a little book. ‘‘That’s all,” he then said. ‘‘Git ter yer place!” And he added: ‘* Now, you preacher cuss, er lawyer, er what- ever ye be, you come up an’ disgorge!” Mr. Skynn quickly came up. ‘‘Off wi’ them ’ar boots!” was the order. ** No doubt ee follered the old Jew’s example, er else he follered yours. Off with them!” It could not be helped, and the lawyer surren- dered his wealth. ‘* Now, your name?” ‘*Phineas Skynn.” “Skynn, eh?” said the robber, as he noted it down. ‘“Skynn by name and a ‘skin’ by na- ture, perhaps. Well, Mr. Skynn, you have been ‘skinned’ this time, sure. Git back ter yer place.” ne a sorrowful heart the lawyer went ck. The next one called was Gerald Keyne. Him the highwayman searched himself, and the first thing he found was—in the right-hand- side pocket of his loose jacket—a small self-cock- ing erringer. *Ah!” he cried, ‘I suspected it! If I had allowed you to put your hand in thar, no doubt you’d ’a’ taken th’ risk an’ plugged me, Now ante up! If thar’s anything I’ve missed, jest preduce it!” This man’s name was asked too, but refused. ** Tell me yer namo, er die !” cried the robber, as he thrust his revolvers squarely under the man’s nose. The name was given. And so it went on until all had been called save the lady and her negro servant. These the road-agent called up together. ‘Now, fair lady,” said the agent, ‘I must trouble you. And you, nigger, you pony right up; er die right down!” Even as he spoke, though, he raised his finger and warned the lady not to speak, Then in a very low tone he said epee igs? to her which caused her to start, and fora brief instant he raised his mask. ‘ | Instantly the lady grasped his hand, Then he hurriedly explained something to her, to which she nodded yes, and smiled, “Come, nig! Don’t be all day!” this myste- rious robber then cried aloud. And he added: “You other fellers, thar, you jist stand still, an’ keep yer han’s up ez straight ez ye kin. It’s kinder rough on ye, I know; but I'll soon be done. Come, lady, be ez quick ez ye kin, An’ you, nigger, you jest hump yourself! ‘You're too blamed slow ter drive pigs!” While the wearer of the Mother Hubbard was thus exhorting, however, the lady was leading her servant rapidly away up the road. For a short distance they proceeded, and then beg 2AM ce suddenly from the road and disap- ared. i Look out, Jew!” the bold agent continued. “* Kee P hard han’s well up! Come, nigger, come natch off that ’ar other boot! Now, lady, your earrings, please. Boys, keep your eyes upon ther driver an’ Mr. Keyne, especially. Ef they turn the’r heads, fire !” Then all was silence. And the silence con- tinued. Nor was it again broken. In truth, the daring road-agent had hurried silently away from the scene, | CHAPTER IX. A RED-HOT SCENE. OnE—two minutes passed away, and still"the weary travelers stood there in a row. Phineas Skynn, the lawyer, was perspirin from every pore. His jaw was hanging, an his tired arms were bound to come down, de- spite his resolute efforts to xe them up. Levi Poppenheimer, the old Jew, was in no better condition. If anything, he suffered the : ) ‘+ Pats « 4 : . dt. 8 Ae he > ii . * + TA a iene Ss : “ e . ’ an worst of all, for his legs were growing weak at the knees. He could hardly stand, All the others suffered more or less, and the hot sun beaming upon them as it neared its setting, caused their perspiration to flow freely. It was nothing short of torture, but thus far not one had dared to move. What puzzled them was the profound stillness that had suddenly fallen over the scene. Not a sound could be heard save the champ- ing and pawing of the horses, and an occasional rattle of the harness. , ‘**Great thunder an’ minu exclaimed at last. s!” the driver ‘* How much longer?” No reply. yee Keyne ventured to turn his head a ittle, Finding that he was not instantly killed, nor even challenged, he was encouraged to turn it a. little more, Then he turned clear around. ‘** Well, by the infernal!” he cried, as he drop- ped his arms, ‘* the cuss is gone!” What a sigh of relief went up from that crowd! ‘‘ But,” Keyne added, ‘‘ where’s the lady and the nigger?” They all looked at one another in blank sur- rise, . What could it mean? The driver was the first to catch on to the spirit of the thing in its ridiculous light. ‘‘Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!” he burst out. “Oh! Don’t we look sick and silly? All of us! Every one of us! I include myself, too! Ho ho, ho! Ya-a-h!” And he hugged himself and laughed long and uproariously,. ‘*It seems to very funny for you, mine frient,” said the old Jew. ‘* Funny! Lord bless your soul! what else was it? The idee o’ us a-standin’ heur a-boldin’ up our han’s, all in a row, fairly quakin’ i) cur boots, an’ nobody around ter make us do it!’ And again he roared. Some of the others laughed with him, they could not ts it; but neither the lawyer, the Jew nor Gerald Keyne could force a smile. The lawyer and the Jew had lost their all, and that, to them, was per bicker yt while Keyne was concerned about Clara St. Clare. ‘**] would give a fortune,” he cried, as he drew a revolver and glared around, “if that man would come back! I could now meet him on an ual footing. I wonder which way they went? There must fave been at least a dozen of them, to get away with both the lady ard her servant without making a sound. Come! Spread out, men! Let’s rescue that lady or die!” ‘* Mighty brave all to wunst!” the driver re- marked to some of the others, aside. ‘‘ Come, though, an’ we'll see what we kin find out.” Half an hour they spent; and learned to their satisfaction and chagrin that the man in the Mother Hubbard gown had been entirely alone. They found his gown aud hood a short distance away from the road, but they could not follow the trail. The ground was rocky, and none of them were expert at trailing. It was a mystery. They had to give it up. So, getting aboard the stage again, they continued on their way. Barely two miles further had they traveled, when out into the road ahead of them rode four masked men, each one beanie repeating rifle, ‘* Stop! and throw up your hands!” came the ringing order, And it was obeyed. f ‘‘ Great guns!” cried the driver. ‘ Things is lively on this heur trail ter-day, er I’m a royal liar!” ‘Get down and come out!” was the next or- der, and it, too, was quickly obeyed. ; As soon as they were on the ground, with ‘“hands up,” one of the masked men dismount- ed and prepared to search them. The Jew happened to be the first. ‘Say, old Israel, whar is yer wealth?’ the man cried, after he had e ed almost every ket the Jew’s clothes contained. ‘Mine frient,” the Jew replied, “it ish gone; you vas chust @ leetle too late.” ‘What d’ye mean?” _ ‘*T means some other feller vas pean got ahead mit you. Ve haf peen alreaty robbed.” “Git out! youre joking!” And the man glanced at the others. ) ‘No choke at all, mine frient.” ‘‘ Solemn truth, sure’s ye’r’ born!” declared the driver. ‘ ‘By heavens! I don’t believe it!” cried the leader of the band. ‘‘ Search them, every one. If you don’t get it then, search the coach.” order was Obeyed. Every man was searched, but nothing of value was found, ” oe fone , } 32 Js - 7 | _ - od, 7 > iz » : A a* ‘. ' a SY : me , oe a ly, 3 - ‘ “ a, | ao é 4 a 7 Ane ii Xe 4 ; ‘ ‘ a eS in } é . « . : [fe gaa — = . . - ? — ee TT —-_- Se eee