Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 425 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

: 4 f glimpse of the beautiful — — — —_— —-— —_—--— —<—— ow —— a took writing materials froma dressiz::-case, and jeft the following letter for the absent rancher: * DEAR GuarDIAN:—Think not that I have left you. The guest who came to the ranch a week ago—a young man pamed Roy Berdan—bas been decoyed upon the /lano. His destination is Camp Coyote, where lives an uncle whom he has never seen. He was waiting here to see you when the urgent mes- sagecame. Lfesritisaplot. I have gone to bring him back, or tobe his companion to Coyote, Just before the message came, Laced Leon—whom you may know—stopped here to see you, Don’t up- braid me for what I have done. I will come back whén 1 have done my duty. “Your little child, The girl put this note where the coming rancher would be certain to see it, then, hav- ing previously armed herself with a silver- mounted revolver, she went out and mounted the horse. A word and the merest touch of the spur were enough to start the steed, and the next moment Tnez of Hermosilla was riding toward the fringe of the dreaded llano, and to some of the most ex- citing adventures ever had on the southwest border. For some time the He & in the boudoir INEZ.” was left undisturbed. Th@ man for whom it was intended did not come, but by and by a cat-like figure crept up the Btair and opened the door as cautiously as if Ine% was sleeping lightly in the soft lamplight. This figure when it stood revealed, was one which when once seen would never be forgotten. In stature not over five feet, with humped shoul- ders, a leathery and repulsive face, long ape- like arms, and cold gray eyes never for a mo- ment still, the person who entered the girl’s room was by no means RG iss aarters He wore dark-colored moccasins which gave forth no sound, and it were hard to tell whether he was indian, peon or half-breed. A grin distorted his countenance when he found himself where he had never been before— in Inez’s room—and for a moment he stood near the door like a person dazzled by the surround- ings, Presently the dancing eyes fell upon the letter _on the dressing-case and bounding forward he seized it. ‘Girl leave this for Flippo to fix up, eh?” he laughed. ‘* Aha! he fix it so that Major Ralph will swear when he get back.” It did not take the dwarfish villain long to master the letter, and when he had done so, he set out on a search for writing materials which he found where Inez had deposited them. Then, seating himself at a little table under a lamp, he studied the letter intently for some minutes, and moved the inkless pen carefully over some of the letters. ‘“T have it now—ha, ha!” he suddenly laugh- ed, and for the next few moments he wrote on tho sheet he had taken from the girl’s writing- box. | More than once while he wrote he glanced at the letter lying at his elbow, and when he fin- ished he had produced this startling announce- ment; wae “Dear GuaRDIAN:—I am tired of life at Mermo- Silla. I have gone off with ung man I love bet- ter than I ever loved you. Don't follow us; it might be dangerous. When you read this I will be far across the dlano with Roy. IngzZ.”” The girls letter was thrust by the dwarf into his pocket, and the one just finished was left in its place on the stand. The handwriting was the exact counterfeit of Inez’s graceful chirog- raphy, and Flippo laughed aloud as he inspect- ed his infamous work. “Tf this doesn’t raise a tornado when Major Ralph gets home, tread me down for a horned toad!” he exclaimed. ‘ They think Flippo for- gets, but they are fools. I told her that I would get even one o’ these days, an’ I will! Thar’s two kinds o’ blood in me, an’she made ’em both boil. Aha! my girl—my Hermosilla Rose! I wish you a fine tripacross the Llano Estacado !” He left the room with a laugh and went down the stair. 3 Nobody had seen him enter the room, and his villainy was likely to remain undetected. There was absolute demonism in his eyes, _ ‘A horse, by Jupiter!” he exclaimed, reach- ing the ‘porch. ‘I was not a moment too The quick ears of the dwarf had heard the rapid gallop of a horse, and from his post be- hind one of the columns he saw @ man leap from the saddle and land on the porch with an exclam- ation of joy. ‘‘Home again! Inez, my girl, where are you?” cried a man’s voice. and impatient for a There was no reply, girl whom he expected EY ee Texa -_-— — eee to welcome him, a handsome man of forty sprung into the house, and bounded up the | he seemed content to remain behind. stair. ‘**'rhe storm will burst in about two minutes,” grinned Flippo. seen a tornado for some time, will see one now!” He did not follow Major Ralph, the rancher, up the steps to the little boudoir, He did not see him approach the bed with noiseless tread, as if afraid of disturbing a sleeper. The Texan found the door ajar; he saw the lamp burning where the girl had left it, and then he saw the paper lying near by, Major Rolph stepped forward and picked it up. He did not doubt that Inez had penned it. All at once his eyes seemed to fly from his head; he staggered back as if he had received a blow, and then a loud cry parted bis lips: ‘*My God! this blow is worse than death !” ho exclaimed. ‘‘ What! Inez my Texas rose, fled? Merciful heavens! what have I done to deserve this? But I will follow! Fool she was to leave even this behind. It throws me upon the trail; it gives mea clew, and the man who decoyed her from the ranch shall feel the blow the Texas rancher can inflict! Better for him if he had never seen the sunlight!” ‘“I’ve opened the vials of wrath, haven’t I?” chuckled the dwarf who heard all this. ‘TI knew my letter would unchain a Texan tiger, an’ ef I don’t reap a aappy harvest out of it, shoot me for a mustang! lm little an’ not very handsome; but, oh, my!” Major Ralph the rancher came down-stairs three steps at a bound with clinched hands and blazing eyes, ‘‘T’d sooner see my girl dead than this!” he exclaimed as he sprung out. upon the porch, ‘* But I will show them [ am no laggard when it comes to vengeance. I have been sport and Vigilante. I ean play more roles than one, The man who has played this infamous game shall suffer!” ‘All right, ef you kin find him out, Major RaJph!” chistokled Flippo. The rancher sprung to saddle and dashed to the stables. . ‘* He'll do it all afore he cools down,” said the dwarfish villain in the shadow of the pillar. ‘‘T wonder if the girl will see my hand in this when he strikes. I'll make her see it afore I’m through.” R He waited till Major.Ralph came back on a fresh horse, and he saw him draw rein in front of the house. e ‘This is the most terrible welcome home I ever had!” the Texan said. ‘‘ Some devilish in- famy is at the bottom of itall. Woe to you, Roy, whoever you are! You must be an old foe to strike me thus!” a He turned and waved his right hand in part- ing salute at the house, then, touching the brosh horse with the spur, he darted away leaving be- hind.the echo of one word—vengeance ! “ Tve played a master hand to-night, ha, ha!” laughed the hunchback left behind.” CHAPTER ITT, THE LLANO TRAIL, Roy Brerpan had parted from Inez with many regrets, which, at the moment of parting, he had made out to conceal, His sojourn at Hermosilla Ranch had been the es week of his life, and if the laced sport’s well-worded message had not come, he would have been there yet. He did not think of treachery when, with King the half-breed boy for a guide, he rode toward the Jano, and set his face for Camp Coyote on the border land far away, The boy had played mute so well that the young man did not question him, though he yearned to know something about the uncle whom he had never seen. The night had dark- ened around the two riders, but the sky was thickly studded with stars, and the horses and their riders threw shadows where the ground was bare. | Roy, who believed the Llano Estacado to be a vast weary plain, soon found himself mistaken. He found instead rich grass and great canyons the walls of which rose like old battlements, and in the deep passes through which the trail led at times, were admirable lurking-places for a foe. Behind him, silent and sullen, rode the Mute Comanche, in no haste to catch up, but with a pair of twinkling eyes constantly on the alert. There was something striking in the half-naked Indian riding under the stars, as if pressing sternly forward to a goal of some kind. He might have urged his horse forward and s Trump, the Border Rattler. ee _ muttered a man who filled a saddle in one of the ‘'Phis country that hasn’t | loneliest canyons of the llano, ee ee -on ther llano trail!” black cord fly. 3 ng soon caught up with the youth and his guide, but * Everything moves along swimmin’ly so far,” ee They can’t be far back ef King has done his duty, an’ 1 see no reason for doubtin’ the boy. He war gettin’ tco thick with the ranchrose. I had ter interfere now, an’ by Jupiter! 1 hev!” This man did not look like the person who called himself Laced’ Leon when he rede up to Major Ralph’s porch a hort time before that same night. He had no laced som- brero now, no gaudy jacket, and no tassels at his boots. But it was the same man. Clad in rough, dark clothes now, he looked the picture of the ideal rough, and the lasso dangling from the horn of his saddle, with the revolver near by, confirmed his character in mute Lut emphatic language. The llano spider was waiting for the prey fcr whom he had spread his net, ‘ef he ever sees his uncle Hugh, may death trump my ace,” continued this man while ke waited. ‘‘I don’t lose any games no sirrce! They all hev ter stan’ back when Texas Trump ther Border Rattler, takes a hand in ther pre- céedin’s, Hark! what war thet?—a hoss?” The man leaned forward and listened a wc- ment, then he drew suddenly to one side and loosened the lasso coil at the saddle-horn, ‘“‘T didn’t hev ter wait long. King knew his business an’ did it well. I kin depend on the young mixed-blood.” The desperado and his horse seemed a part of the wall which they almost touched, 6 ani- mal seemed to know the needs of the hour, fcr, though he heard the coming horses, he did net send out a whinny of betrayal. i. Texas Trump waited for the riders whcm he knew to consist of two persons, oe. * “The next note you take in, Roy Berges won't be written on this mountain sph¢ chuckled the sport. ‘‘ Ha! ba! what a fdol ar’! Wal, ef I don’t wear ther Texanserc shoot me for a mustang thief. Oh, I’m a d@ Nearer and nearer tothis man waiting with bronze hand on the fatal coil came the two p sons riding over the plain. i. Roy Berdan had loosened his revolvers for any sudden emergency that might arise, anc they were ready to his band. _In the eyes of King, the balf-breed, lurked a singular gleam o triumph, and he was looking constantly ahead as if in search of some one. ‘‘Come inter ther llano trap, my Texas fly!” laughed Texas Trump. ‘‘ Yer last thought will be ov ther ranch blossom,no doubt. Mine is ov her now, an’ 1 could whisper in yer ears thet she’s a flower worth playin’ for.” In another moment the figures of two horses and their riders entered the little canyon, and Texas Trump’s eyes suddenly blazed. ‘* Hyer!—King an’ ther fly!” he said. Just then he saw the twain, the youth from the South a little in advance of his guide, who a to know that the blow was about to all, ae Berdan rode by the lurker and so near that he could almost have touched him, The half-breed boy saw the waiting figure and stopping without noise, let the Border Rattler drop into his place. It was the work of two seconds, and so well and silently was it done, that the youth did not notice the change. He had now on his track, almost at his very side, the villain who had decoyed him from Her- mosilla Ranch, Texas Trump leaned forward, with the noose of the black lasso gripped in his hand, and his eyes fastened on his young victim. ‘‘Some men ar’ born fools, an’ you ar’ ene ov ‘em, Roy!” he laughed. ‘‘ Why don’t yer look over yer shoulder an’ see who’s at yer heels?” Buh the youth did not oblige the grinning des- perado, He kept the trail still visible in the starlight, and rode leisurely forward as if the time was not at hand for rapid riding. ‘‘Oh Hades! let us end this!” suddenly ex- claimed Texas peop: ‘I’m whar I kin safely leave him for ther /lano vultures. I want ter play Laced Leon ag’in!” The hand thet held the lasso noose went up, and the /lano sport darted forward as he let the The next instant it dropped over the head of the young man a few feet away, and a quick om hie the Rattler’s part pinioned his arms to “Tn God's name, what means this?” cried Roy Berdan. “Only ther tightenin’ ov a noose!” laughed EComicbooks