Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 442 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

e oe ° ow A» * SQ wre ? Phew Cie eee. i "2 > , all Had Lemuel known that William La Grange had heard of the death of their brother Louis and his wife in Corpus Christi, of the adoption of Leon, and the contents of the will— had Captain Lem known this, and also that Bill had learned of the fight at Helena, and the oath of the bandit chief, with whom he had formed a compact—then, indeed, he would have had solid ounds for being apprehensive in regard to his e and property. Such, indeed, was the case. Cortina, having been assisted in his escape across the river, into Matamoras, after he had killed the sheriff in Brownsville, by no lessa person than William La Grange, who had good reasons for wishing the outlaw to live, felt the same in reference to his new ally. Bill had age a heavy reward to Cortina, did the tter succeed in slaying his brother, and now little Leon was included, This the bandit chief had readily promised to do, and that without any urging, for he would be killing two birds with one stone—that is, he would earn the reward and keep his oath of ven- geance at the same time. _During the interval between the date of Cor- tina’s repulse from Helena and the slaying of the sheriff, the outlaw had wandered through the chaparrals on the American side of a river with a small party of Mexican cattle- thieves, and had gained a knowledge of all the paths and fords, and also the exact location of mye ranches, with their ranges and amount of s : And all this time he had in mind the forming of his brigade of bandits, and the extensive thieving operations, rapine, and murder, which he afterward carried out. . CHAPTER IV. BLUFF BILL. Ir had been the policy of Bill La Grange to keep aloof from his brother, and lead the latter to ieve that he was either dead or had left the country for good. He was known as a great ‘ bluffer” at cards when playin ker; hence he had acquired the B uff, or Bluffing Bill. i =. of he not succeeded now and then in “‘ clean- ing out” a planter of his cash, by ‘‘ priming ” his intended victim with drink, oft-times drug- ged at that, he would have been nothing else but a bummer, in rags, and destitute. Luck, however, seemed suddenly to have been thrust upon him after his visit to his brother at Oakville, when Captain Lem had refused to as- sist him in a pecuniary way, except by furnish- ing him with a respectable suit of clothing, and a sufficient sum to pay his way to Galveston. As stated, Bill left the ranch swearing ven- geance. And he meant it. His intense aage and disappointment nearly sobered him for once. And from that time on, next to his passion for gaming, and his love for liquor, was longing for revenge upon his rich brother. He did not take into consideration the fact that he had no one to blame except himself for being worse off in this world’s goods than his more respectable ‘brother. Bill retained his ragged attire, bundled up that which had been given him, and, taking passage on a coaster, went to Galveston. There, at the Island City, he disposed of the suit with which Captain Lem had provided him, and, with the small sum thus realized, he fre- quented the lowest garaling dens until he had won quite a sum of money; for he was an adept at cards, and knew all the tricks of professional gamblers. But, not for one moment did Bill La Grange lose sight of his revenge. His Eecduar in Corpus Christi he had not gone near, ers him to be almost as poorly off He did not remain long in Galveston, but went to New Orleans, where his stay was pro- tracted toa couple of years; and, when he re- turned to Texas, he was tolerably well fixed, financially. However, the yellow fever soon broke out in the Island City, and Bluff Bill— being a coward of course—hastened down the coast, and thence to Brownsville, on the Rio Grande, At that place he became acquainted with many of the lawless characters of that section of the State. Among these was Juan Cortina, who had be- come a noted desperado, and was feared by many of the officers of justice. It was then that Bill learned of the death of Louis and his wife, and also that considerable property had been left; and he hastened to . > ' i" PY us} a* Fs, , of <c* - ey . é > - hin (yey .. mf . del A! Ws eo ahs 4 aes sad ie | 4 ae “< - P « : os y! ’ pe Ta > = ve LE ‘ *, , ’ Ori" abe "4 ‘ a hee 5 fim) : 7 i P ( att = ee ; Sl " ae. fie cs iss ae % : . sak z 4 Cg Ge! > "os s* “1 ¢ a)» >> wae —_ in ru. . rd i | * ah, . “Zz 4s g FRA). ¥ +. ae *~ % Sema) Bg STP se td) Lag sah = Lg tan, eee ad 4 ie ge EE es ae & i ae _— « . » #¢ } q y= % , . nll +4 adtenl ant re Me or a bats din tre ey ate fe -* — ‘ ay q ~= — < ‘ a oe ‘ ¢ > . tethe ~ * ‘ix t' w ee”: 2 ; . > a : ax at a a. * a \ = &) 5 3 - ~— 7 we es ‘ - ‘Bluff Bil. Corpus Christi, to ascertain if he had been re- membered in his brother’s will. To his intense fury, he learned that not only had Louis La Grange been quite weer but that Captain Lemuel had been given the control of every- v4 including the guardianship of the son and heir. For once in his life, Bluff Bill found that he had been bluffed. He was furious. Now he had a double incentive for revenge. He realized that he had an opportunity to enter a game, and play for an immense fortune; and that, too, with a certainty of winning. There must be blood spilled in the game, of course, but a murder or two, more or less— even of his own relations—would not cause Bill La Grange to hesitate. It was a trifling matter with him, and then he would become a rich man, About this time, the villain fell in with a follower of Cortina; and, learning from him of the outlaw’s plans, it occurred to him that his best move would be to ingratiate himself into the confidence and friendship of Cortina, and through him gain all that he desired. With this object in view, Bluff Bill hastened at once to Brownsville, but was greatly disap- inted on finding that the bandit chief had not een in or near the town in some time. How- ever, he met two of Cortina’s associates, secured their services as spies, and sent them to Oakville to find out all they could in regard to the loca- tion of Captain Lem’s ranch. These two ruffians departed on their mission, well mounted and equipped at Bill’s expense, and with several doubloons in their pockets. Bluff Bill was, of course, very impatient; but he began porenatrs in a secret manner, from this and that man in the town who chanced to get broke, all the revolvers, rifles and knives they would part with. He knew the possession of these would greatly please Cortina. Money was plenty, but arms of American manufacture were scarce and difficult to procure. His suspense was eventually ended. One of the spies returned and brought very gratifying information. Captain La Grange, it seemed, was about re- moving to the extreme border, to establish a new ranch on the Rio Leona. The spy, Pablo Castillo, also gave his employer the intelligence that Cortina was then near his mother’s ranch, and would soon be in Brownsville. Bluff Bill was wild with joy. This was increased when Pablo mentioned the fact that his chief had also vowed vengeance on the Oakville ranchero. Bill then hired the Greaser to return to Cap- tain Lem’s ranch, rejoin his comrade, Juan Garcia, and persuade the latter to enter the ser- vice of the old ranchero. Pablo, being well paid, readily agreed to this. Not only Juan but himself were soon in the employ of Lemuel La Grange, having been en- gaged by him to take charge of the mares to be urchasei in Mexico, and the horses and mules hat were to be driven from the Oakville ranch to the Leona, At length Cortina, who had known through a messenger that Bluff Bill wished to see him on business, arrived in Brownsville. The night that followed was passed by the two worthies in drinking and smoking, and the bandit chief was greatly gratified on being presented with lenty of arms and ammunition by his new con- ederate. He agreed to send a sufficient number of men, as soon as he could collect them on the Mexican side of the river, under the command of Bluff Bill, to raid the ranch and capture the old ranchero and his little nephew. If possible, he himself would command the raid. Cortina felt confident of success. i Bill, of course, must be thoroughly disguised. But, that very night, when under the influence of liquor, the outlaw leader shot down the sheriff in cold blood, and then escaped to Mexico, No one knew that Bluff Bill had any connection with him or the crime, The next night found Juan Cortina in his first camp as an acknowledged bandit, and from which he began at once to collect recruits. A month after this first establishment of a rendezvous, there were nearly three hundred of the most brutai cut-throats, and swarthy mis- creants, in the camp; all jubilant at having for their chief Juan Cortina, and at the prospect of revenge aoe the Texans; not to speak of any amount of plunder. In fact, to them, there ap- peared a joyous life ahead. It was not until then that Cortina sent for Bluff Bill, although he had more in view than the raid upon the ranch of Captain Lem. pur’ * ar mag : ; & al + . ees YES ad ha eee . » Me ws ye <q. Z 7. . =F ; P _* . g* “ore A -s oats | Od. +5 : i. a7%° 9 PT Ms ds) cae a So e a eee ee ee 7 — , ton Ps i ft aw .. Ne hy . i 2 ‘ ae ’ CHAPTER V. DANGER FROM ANOTHER QUARTER. THERE had not been, up to the time when Cor- tina had succeeded in getting to his mountain camp in Mexico, any cause on the part of cur friends at Bend Ranch for apprehcnsicn of any immediate danger from Indians or lawless Mex- cans. Indeed, no one at the bcnd had ever felt the least concern as to their safety, except Cap- tain Lem, and he kept his own counsel. Captain Lem endeavored to appear uncon- cerned and cheerful when in the company of his. nephew, yet he could not refrain from warning the boy against venturing far from the ranch. From this, the youth judged that his uncle really apprehended danger: but he never ventured to make any remarks on the subject, except to lit- tle Humpy, the negro boy. However, Leon and the black dwarf were more cautious and watchful in consequence, for they felt that Bend Ranch was a very danger- ous place in the event of a raid, as enemies could advance under cover of the bottom-timber and the undergrowth, and, gaining the corrals, fire from behind the pickets. The captain had thought of this, but there was no way in which he could improve the defenses. Re He was, also, not without his suspicions in re- gard to his new hands, Pablo and Garcia. He ad not liked their appearance, when he had given them more attention, after he had learned of the threatened raid of Mexican bandits. Pre- vious to this he had taken but little notice of the Greasers. However, it did not seem reasonable to sup- pose that the two Mexicans could be in any way connected with Cortina, for they had been in the employ of the captain some time before the rumor reached him that the bandit chief was on the Rio Grande. Besides, Captain Lem did not believe that Cortina knew of his having left the old ranch in the vicinity of Oakville, much less that there was one on the Leona, owned by him. For all that, he knew that the outlaw had spies in all that section of the country, and that even the Texas-Mexicans, who were apparently good citizens, secretly sympathized with Cor- tina, Thus it will be seen that the old soldier was in no enviable frame of mind. In fact, he even meditated the abandonment of Bend Ranch until more safe and settled times, or else sending Leon back to Oakville. It will also be seen that the dark clouds were at length in reality hovering over him and his loved nephew, and that two most ruthless ene- mies, with great power to back them, were now bent upon his ruin. . Had Captain La Grange known the true state of affairs—known that his disreputable and un- rincipled brother was in Cortina’s camp, and had formed a compect with the noted outlaw, which included the murder of himself and little Leon, then indeed he would have had good round for anxiety and concern. Or, had he nown that Pablo and Garcia were in the pay of his wretched brother, he would doubtless have shot them both, and abandoned the ranch with- out delay. At this time the whole force of Texan Ran- ers, consisting of three companies, commanded y Captains Burleson. Dalrymple, and Conner, were driving the hostile Indians from the West- ern border. Yet, notwithstanding Cortina knew of the fact that noranger force could be brought against him, and that he felt little or no conecrn in connection with the United States trcops sta- tioned at the different posts eng the Rio Grande, he delayed his march into Texas until the following year. But, we have now to do with the small party © which he saw fit to detach from his comman«, for the purpose of wreaking his vengeance upc i Lemuel La Grange, and also favoring his friend Bluff Bill, who remained in his camp, having asserted in Brownsville that he was on his way to New Orleans. The latter had acted with ex- treme caution, for he knew if he won the big stake for which he was now playing, it would ke of no benefit to him should the Texans discover that he was acting in concert with Juan Cortina, for, in that case, he would be hanged to the first - tree that was convenient, as soon as discovered. next morning little Leon and his body-guard, Humpy, galloped from the corral, out from the timber, ard down toward the entrance of the bend. Bright and joyous Bright and earl was the youth, after taking a laughing leave of his uncle, and promising to bring home a couple of haunches of venison or antelope meat. — Humpy, as has been said, was far from being handsome, but it was easily seen that he was naturally of a gentle and kindly disposition. —— | a, ol a3 Sete eae a“ O%4,s08 “a4, ~.' wo =**) iF ~ eo as " eS " a. a ~ * "'¥ > 7 ae hy oar le m (7 eF ee Sait has 7 V0 ae 4 sow a 3"y yr tae Pe a +4 ah BS : ." P ¢ . - ~ s » ’ re oy * Oe ‘2 * (ae > aS é “s ‘ “a £ tiie 2 >“. oa ae ; ~