Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 480 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

4 at liberty. Walking is good, and if you have ever had any practice on the race-track, you may be able to get back to New York by snow-fall.”’ **Oh, you nasty, horrid brute! Oh, you vile, con- temptible, good-for-nothing wretch!” burst forth Mrs. Seybert. ‘The monster!’’ breathed Miss Granville. ‘** You'd better save some of those pet names for another time, I should say,’’ Lieutenant Lily smiled. **You may encounter some one before you get out of the wilderness on whom they will have more ef- feet than on me, Please let me have your several pocket-books now?” ‘** What?”’ “Your pocket-books—in fact, all the valuables you have on your persons.”’ ‘* Never!’ Mrs. Seybert gasped—“‘ never!” **Oh! yes you will; you will have to. If give them up willingly, you will only be the indignity of being searched.” ** Yes, mother,” use of resistance, and the only thing to do as we are ordered.”’ ‘You're quite sensible,’ Lily complimented. *‘We shall have your valuables, and you will save yourselves trouble by delivering them up without any foolishness.”’ *““How do you suppose one’s to deliver anythin up with their hanas tied?” M:s, Seybert demanded, we ese be ‘You haven’t as much sense as a snipe.’ “Oh! I'll release your hands long enough for that,”’ Lily assured, and he suited the action to the word, by cutting the thongs that held her wrists in confinement, ** Now your pocket-book, madam!”’ And a revolver in his hand showed that he was ready to check any attempt at sy ee The mae was produced and handed over, and a well-filled one it was too, which caused the lieuten- ant’s eyes to sparkle as he glanced into it. “Have you no more than this?—none stowed away in Sg ue corsets—or in your stockings?” 0,1 haven’t! That’s every cent I have—over three thousand dollars.” “*Oh, well, that’s not such a bad sortof a haul. Now, nee finger-rings, your earrings, and your watch!”’ a Flushed with anger, Mrs. Seybert had no course but to obey; and Lily shoved the things into his age with as little concern as though they had enso many oe, pennies. Geraldine was likewise relieved of her valuables, and then Tom Seybert; after which Snow, the valet, contributed to the haul the magnificent sum of two dollars and a half. Lieutenant Lily chuckled. ‘“*This is the fattest haul we have made for some time, and Mormon B. Jl will be greatly pleased, I am ever so much obliged to you for these tokens of your appreciation, I can assure you, and if we should ever reverse matters, as they stand now, you can bleed me of my wealth, ard i’ll never utter a protest.”’ ‘Very likely we shall not turn road-agent very soon!”” Tom Seybert declared. ‘ And now, having deprived us cf our valuables, are you not going to liberate us?”’ **T am not sure about that yet.’ ** Why not?" ** Because I cannot order your release until I have received instructions from Mormon Bill, by messen- er. They are liable to come at any minute, and if e says let you go, go you shall, as you are of no ou don’t orced to om Seybert said; ‘‘ there’s no left for us is earthly use around here now.”’ Just then a oP on flew into the room, and, after making sever les about it, lit wpon ‘Lieu- tenant Lily’s shoulder. ** A message from the captain!” he said, removin a paper that had been attached to the wing. ‘* Let’s see what he says.” He unfolded and read the document, after which he Reve vent to a surprised whistle. **The captain's orders are that you are to remain here indefinitely,” he said. ‘‘ Or, better still, I will read you what he says: “**Near Satan's Snap, A. T., t *** August 20th. ‘**TyguTenant Lity:—If you have captured Mrs. Seybert, Miss Granville and Thomas Seybert, all of New York, hold them, after relieving them of all eir valuables, until you receive further notice mme. Iintend to get a handsome ransom for them, and to that end have telegraphed John Sey- bert, who is rich, to come on at once, ct bim shortly. So take good care the game don't escape. Send this note back by carrier, with ‘all right’ marked on it, if all is right. “** Yours till death, ‘**Mormon BI.’ * And as all is right,” continued Lily, ‘‘back goes another pigeon, and you may as well make up your mind to sojourn for some time at Fort Freeze-Out— which is this same ’way-up camp!”’ CHAPTER IV. EN ROUTE TO LOVELY LAYOUT. _ Tae sudden standstill to which the horses of Dead- wood Dick and Calamity Jane had been brought, showed that the man at the bits was pcssessed of a strong arm. ; At the instant the fugitives were ing through a portion of the guich whe.e the darkness was in- tense, so that aney ware unable to perceive the style of man they had to contend with. Dick, however, quickly drew and cocked his re- volver, Calamity follo his example. “Hands off. and get out of the way!’’ Dick cried, in a tone of menacing command. ‘“ What d’ye Deadwood Dick’s Dust. mean by stopping my horses? Out of the way,I say, or P’llshoot you so full of holes you'll answer for a sieve.” ‘“‘Arrah, now, and yez wouldn’t be after doin’ that, would Fes? Re aisy, sir, be aisy. It’s no trouble we'd be afther givin’ yez at all, at all, more than to ax yes fer direction as regards to where we are,’’ ‘** Where you are? Why, are you lost?” ‘* Shure, an’ et’s lost we are, an’ divil a wan av us knows which way we be goin’.”’ “How many are there of you?”’ ‘*There be but tow av us, sure—mesilf and Lim- burger Jakie. Me own name is Dennis Doyle, or Dancin’ Dennis, an’ shure there's divil a wan kin beat the loikes av me at dancin’ a jig.”’ ‘““What the blazes do you suppose I care about your dancing propensities? Who are you, and what are you doing here—where do you belong? Be live- ly, pow! I’ve no time to jabber with you.” “Be aisy, now! Don’t be gittin’ ompatient, me laddy buck. We be tow servants, yer honor, phat’s lost from the bosom av our family. We be the ser- vants av the Missus Seybert, sure, who was thravel- in’ through the mountains wid her son and her niece. The robbers attacked our party, bad luck to *em, an’ took ’em all prisoners but mesilf and Lim- burger, d’ye see, an’ told us to take a shneak, bedad, as we were no good. Thin they left us in the moun- tains, an’ divil a wan c’u’d we tell which way to go. So if you could tell the likes av us where we'll be foindin’ lodgin’s fer the night, it’s much obliged we will be, yer honer,”’ ‘* Yaw, dat ish so,”’ a Teutonic voice chimed, ‘‘ Ve vas so hungry and starved as never vas.” “This is rather a queer story!” Dick said. ‘* What was your mistress doing in this wild region?”’ ‘‘She vas travelin’ for her health, an’ the magnifi- cence av tha scenery, shure. She be a rich lady av New York, yer honer, an’ she thravels all over, whereiver she pl’ases.”’ Down the guich Dick fancied he could hear the faint sounds of the pursuers’ approach; so it would not do to tarry longer, in conversation with these two alleged lost servants, ‘* Well, my men, all I know for you to do, is do the best youcan. We are followed by a band of ruf- fians, and if we are caught, they’ll make mince- meat of us. So, take care of yourselves—out of the way, there!’ and with this caution Dick applied ein to his horse, and broke away, Calamity doing likewise. ‘* Arrah! bedad, we hev horses, an’ it’s not goin’ to be left behind we are!” yelled the Irishman. ‘*We will go ‘long wid yez, an’ ef et comes ter fight- in’ you'll find us a bull rigiment wid a_ battery oct is in. Onter yer baste, Dutchy, ye beer-bar- re And a moment later, the two men were mounted and following close at the heels of Dick and Calami- ty. Mi Blame it, Ido not fancy the idea of these fel- lows following us!” Dick growled. ‘ There’s no tell- ing who they are.”’ True, but how are we going to help ourselves?” Calamity replied. ‘‘There’s no way except to shoot them, and we might be harming innocent men. Onthe other hand, by making friends with them, we may be able to utilize them, in a case of necessity.” ‘* Perhaps. Isee no way but to let them follow us.”’ ** Are you going direct to your ‘locate?’”’ ‘Not direct, but by a roundabout way. I hope by a sudden movement to throw the pursuers off the track, before long.’’ On! on! they dashed, at a gallop, up the gulch, whose grim, rocky sides rose high toward the heavens. : Every little ways transverse ravines and gorges branched off into the mountainous labyrinths. Fast though the two fugitives rode, they could not gain much on the Irishman and Dutchman, who brought up the rear rapidly, plainly being mounted upon g horses. five miles of distance had been traversed since leaving Satan’s Snap when Deadwood Dick drew rein, was at a point where a transverse ra- vine crossed their trail at right angles—a peg nar- row passage between perpendicular walls of tower- ing rock—a thoroughfare, dark and forbidding, whose entire bottom was covered with a noisy but shallow stream of swift-running water. ‘‘Here is where we turn off!’’ Dick said. ‘‘We shall have to ride in single file, down-stream, as the ravine is quite narrow in places. At this point, our pursuers will have been baffled.” ‘* How so?’ Calamity inquired. ‘“‘Because if the dwarf leads them, he will lead them vp the stream instead of down it,” Dick re- plied, whereupon he guided his horse into the water, and rode into the Cark passage. Calamity followed, and the Irishman and Dutch- man fetched up the rear. The ravine appeared to run in a straight course, although it was hard to tell for a certainty, as the darkness was complete. After a while the passage ew wider, overhead, and consequently a little lighter; then, Deadwood Dick’s followers were able to perceive that the ra- vine was making a sharp curve to the left, the entire bottom still being covered by the noisy creek. Still Deadwood Dick led on, for what must have been two miles or more, ere he drew rein, and al- lowed the others to come up. _ At the point where he had halted, the moon shone down into the fissure, from overhead, quite bright- ly, and Dick made the pause, in order to see what sort of looking fellows Dennis and Jakie. really were, ; ‘should attempt to travel through the w As they came up, he saw that they were typiea? specimens of their nationalities. The Irishmanr was a tall, gaunt yet muscular fel- Jow, with the map of Ireland indelibly engraven up- on his face. There was nothing about him that par-. ticularly marked him from a hundred-and-one other’ Irishmen, except it was t-at he had a rather villain- ous pair of eyes. Limburger Jake was a man of tremendous girth, and rather a comical looking chap, every bit as. Dutch looking as Dennis was Irish. Both were roughly attired, a fact that struck Dick as curious, if they were, as they had represented, a. aay? servants. They were well armed, too, with repeating rifles: and revolvers, and their horses were fine animals, ‘If I mistake not those fellows have been lying to me,’”’ Dick mused, ‘But, V’ll watch ’em and see what gam > they are up to. If they pan out crooked, they'll find they're barking up the wrong tree.”’ hen he had finished his inspection of the pair, he turned to Calamity, and said: ** We are now but a short distance from our des-~ tination, and yet, the most remarkable part of our gourtieg is yet to be made. You remember I said,, efore leaving the main gulch, that the dwarf would most likely lead our pursuers up the stream of the: ravine, instead of down-stream }” ‘Well, the up-stream course would take them. direct to Lovely Layout, which is where my claim is located. Ovaey ayout is only about two miles: from where we left the gulch, going up-stream. Coming down-stream, we have gone about six miles, and by following this curving ravine, are also in the: vicinity of Lovely Layout. Ahead, yonder, a little ways, this ravine ends, in the face of a mountain wall, and there we find a natural tunnel under the: mountain, of sufficient size to admit of our passage: on horseback. The creek flows through this tunnel for a mile, passing directly in under the main gulch, from which we first debouched, and finally flows: out over a ledge on the mountain-side, into a pocket,, fifty or sixty feet below—one of the fairest walled. pockets of all Arizona, Which same is Lovely Lay- out. Come!” He led the way, riding leisurely. Rounding the curve a few yards, they came to the, end of the ravine proper, a gigantic wall of rock ris- ing before them, in the base of which was a dark round opening, which, as Dick had said, was suffi- ae ree to admit of the passage of a man on: orse It, apparently, ran down-grade, for the waters rushed into it, with a sullen roar. Dick rode fearlessly into this dark passage, how- ever and nothing was left for the others but to fol- ow, Once within the aig 4 dark conduit, the noise: of the waters under foot was greatly increased and the voyageurs were surrounded abath of” mist. A mile of this sort of journey rather suggested’ the idea of going into another world through dark- ness; but the monotony was ecard relieved by their debouching into a large cavern, through w the: stream flowed in a narrower channel! than it had hitherto occupied. Here they rode out of the stream onto the oy rocky bottom of the cavern, and dismounted, Dic applying a match to a heap of resinous fagots, and’ soon having © bright light, which fully illuminated. their surrouncinrs. “Here cur journcy ends, for the present!” he said, ‘‘cs we cre within a stone’s throw of Lovely Layout.” he stream crossed the floor of this subterraneam chamber, and disap d through & narrow aper- ture in the rocks, too small for a person to crawl through. Further than this there ap ed to beno- visible way of communication with the outer world, in the direction whither the stream disappeared. Dielz did not seem inclined to point out such @ way, either, for he unsaddled his own and Calamity’s: horses, and lariated them out, at one side of the cave ern. Dennis and Jakie doing the same. Dick then produced a coffee-pot, from a secret re- cess, and some hard-tack, dried buffalo meat and cheese, and in half an hour’s time had quite a little- repast ready, of which he and Calamity first partook, after which the two followers were apprised that. they could have what remained. ‘Shure, an’ it’s a gintleman ye aire!’’ Dancing” Dennis declared,” an’ we'll try to repay yez Ser yer kindness, will we not, Dutchy?” ‘You ped your sweed life we vill!” Jakie soit amg making a grab, and securing the lion’s share 0 the provender for himself. ‘I neffer vas so hungry in my life.’’ And it would seem that he spoke the truth, the way he got outside the scant allowance. | ‘*Bedad, it’s mesilf as is wishin’ mesilf on’ tha. poor mistress was back in New York!’ Denais de- clared. “Waith we had a plinty to ate an’ crink,. ete t ll arty of ] t seems strange so small & p of people ; Dick obse las of Ariz na, without proper escort!’’ Dick observed, n acigar, ‘You say, this Mrs. Seybert, her som and niece, hail from New York?” ‘'Yis, sur.’ 3 ‘¢ Has she a husband living there? ‘sé Yis, gur.”” . ‘* Encaged in business? ‘‘Shure, an’ he’s not. He’s a retired merchant, and lives at his aise.” ‘‘ How is it he did not accompany his wife, on her Western trip?’ “That’s H family matther, sur, an’ divil a bit I know about it, at all, at all.” | . » Geom G €5) 900 en 4