Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 453 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

“Tam thy father’s spirit!” cried the visitor, mock tragic tones. ‘*Oh, Lordy! gracious!” chattered Sligo. ‘Don’t shoot—mister, don’t shoot, I beg! I beg lass pardon a thousand times!” ** Ye do, eh?” retorted the visitor, as he came forward and helped himself to a seat on the chair. ‘* Well, sir, if you don’t want me to bal- last you with lead, you’d better beg my pardon. If the old court knows herself, I’m a bad man, and I wear socks made out 0’ rattlesnake-skins! Who are you, anyhow, rackabones?” ‘‘My name is John Sligo, sir, tho’ I have got a middle name of Seth, by which I am more frequently called.” ‘“ You are a liar—I mean a lawyer—are you not?’ **T am an attorney, sir.” ** You look as if business had not been brisk lately—as if the free lunches of You Bet had been few and far between.” “* Business has been rather dull in my line for some time,” Sligo assented, ‘‘and money corre- spendingly scarce. Is there any legal matter I can adjust for you, sir?” “Well, I don’t know. I may give you the job of settling up my ducal estate in England, if you serve me right. If you don’t, Pll take your head for a bull’s-eye, and indulge in a lit- ‘tle pistol-practice. D’ye know who I am?” ‘*No, no! nor I don’t want to. If you will ony please to leave my office, I shall be very ’ **Oh, don’t get in so much of a hurry. Tl tell you who I am. I’m Deadwood Dick, Ju- nior, the death-dealing defender of the defense- less women and down-trodden children,” ‘**What’s that to me? I ain’t no wuman, nor ~ never had any children!” declared Sligo, keep- ing a nervous watch of /Dick’s pistol-hand. ‘No, but you are a guilty wretch!” thundered Dick. ‘* You drew up the will of Joseph Mora, did you not?” ‘*No, no! Ihave never drawn up a will since _I have been in this camp.” ‘Look out now. None of your lying to me.” “T am not lying, sir—I am not lying!” “‘T believe you are, you superannuated slim, and if I find out such to be the case, you look out, for Pll come back here and break every one in your skeleton framework!” ‘**Believe me, sir, I did not draw Joseph Mora’s will!” protested Sligo, vehemently. ‘‘I never did any work at all for that gentleman.” “Who did draw up the will, then?” «That I do not know.” _ **Mind you, now! You'd better tell the truth for if I catch you in a lie off goes your head! i amabadman. You must have heard of Dead- | wood Dick, the road-agent and avenger?’ ‘* Yes, I have heard of him.” “Well, ’m the second edition of that same and I’m making things jingle. Thar’s a scheme up to ruin Mrs. Mora’s reputation and get pos- session of Mora’s money. Tm going to balk that little scheme, and so if you know anything about OL it will pay you well to come over to my _ *T tell yon I know nothing about such a | me oer Rote ASuNe the will you mention, nor nothing abovt Mora’s affairs.” _ “Very we'll” Dick said, rising to depart. ‘‘ I'll take your word for it for _ find out different woe be unto you!” There'll be one less shyster in this camp,” - took his depar- *. = _ And with this admonition he _ ture much to Sligo’s relief no doubt, for he began _ to hastily bundle his papers together, destroy- 2: ing such ones as were of no special importance. “Tf that villain catches me in You Bet an hour from now, he'll be smarter than I am!” the dis- eiple of Blackstone grimly chuckled. ot CHAPTER XIII. \ Pelt A CELESTIAL DESCENT, _ As the reader has no doubt. surmised, Dead- ‘wood Dick, Junior, and Sunflower Sam were - one and the same persons, the latter make-up bie Bet having been adopted for a purpose to be here- , dnafter explained. "_ Leaving the lawyer’s office, Sam made his way to a lonely spot beyond the outskirts of the town, and inside of a few minutes once,more Lt rmed himself into his guise of the sport | from Shasta. ¢ iy. He then sauntered back toward the gaming _ £00m, just to see Andre and Max Mora leave the place a off in the direction of the mouth | the Beauty mine, of.” Sam muttered. ‘‘Them two _ I wonder if they ain’t going to aie one ey ain’t going to try * ; Be @ * , . 7 ri a Me , Nees 9 ‘? ‘ Pe i WY , aa bh a 5, 10 * r 5 ts doastue an ‘ he * a s rf iy Ws y oy : P = : > eit a eas a ty - ay, oe ( ; / pod v © ‘ a i x” . ve J { . . . ; : Py x ’ A ie re Te : , ' - : whh aa ar - f * fact, we prefer the Chinamen, anyhow.” e present, but if I nin’t stickin’ so close together for any good Mdm afe?? ii 1 cautiously after them, but, to his '. 7 * aed fi PY . > yet J ‘ he. i ; -. : V_.<* a4 ts yar G : oe %. Wi ? " ~ AS AY >> ’ oe unflower Sam, of Shasta. surprise, however, they kept on past the office of the Mora mine. ‘What the dickens does this mean!” the de- tective mused, not a little puzzled. ‘ Evidently they’re not after the money. Dll know what their racket is if I have to follow ’em clear to Alaska.” Andre and Mora continued straight on until they came to the mouth of the Beauty mine drift, where they halted. By extreme caution, Sunflower Sam managed to gain a position behind a bowlder, within a few feet of where they had halted. The Beauty mine was located just beyond the built-up limits of the camp, and was one of the richest quartz lodes in that section of the terri- tory: There was but one other mine in You Bet, end that was owned by a gambler named Jim Cole, and it was not nearly so productive as the Beauty, nor did it give employ to half so many men. The mouth of this mine, which was known as the Agnes, was about two hundred yards above the Beauty. The ore taken from these two mines was haul- ed by carts to the crusher at Globe City. On coming to a halt, near the mouth of the Beauty mine, neither Andre nor Mora spoke for several minutes, but appeared to be listening. “Strange that Harkley has not come by this time,” Max said, at last, ‘‘He is generally punctual to a minute.” ‘* Perhaps he has had some difficulty in his ar- rangements with Cole,” suggested Andre, ‘‘Oh! there’s no fear of that. The Agnes is sold to Harkley safe enough, and he got it ata bargain. He and I have had the matter work- ing for a month past, and now the two mines are under our control, We will make some of these high-minded miners of You Bet pull up stakes and vamoose for other parts, or else they will have to come down to Chinese wages. In ‘* Perhaps the matter will be a go!” Andre said, doubtingly; ‘‘ but I’m afraid there will be bloodshed.” ‘** Bah! If there is it will be white blood that is spilled. The Chinamen outnumber the present population of You Bet two to one; and, more than that, they’re all armed and know how to fight. If the,whites don’t come down to our terms, they can starve. We are not supposed to be forced to pay high wages when we can get all the help we need for a mere song.” “True. The present hands won’t bear you much good will, though.” ‘*A fig for that! They’ve got their choice of working for low wages or not working at all. Then, too, | owe ’em a grudge for meddling in the affairs of the Mora estate, and appointing that scoundrel, Sunflower Sam, as adminis- trator.” ‘Well, you needn’t have any fear that that chap will interfere much with your schemes after to-night. DPve taken it upon myself to arrange to have his goose cooked!” “Good, Iam glad of that, for I can well wish him out of my way. Ha! some one approaches, No doubt it is Boss Harkley!” Heavy footsteps came nearer and nearer, and then a tall, brawny man loomed up before the two arch schemers. A very giant he was, roughly dressed, and armed to the teeth; the possessor of a coarse, brutal and bloated face, midnight eyes, and long hair and sweeping mustache, that was c black, All in all, he was as ruffianly a looking chap as one would care to meet, “Hello! Is that you, boss?’ Max Mora sa- luted, as the giant approached. | ‘* Yas, it’s me,” was the gruff response, ‘‘ Been waitin’ long?” ‘* Only a few minutes, How is everything?” ** All ready. | Who’s that with ye? “This is Mr. Augustin Andre, a friend of mine, who will work in co-operation with me. Mr, Andre, this is Boss Harkley, from Carter- ville, agent for the Frisco firm that’s introducin’ cheap help into the different mining sections. oss can furnish a small army of Chinamen at very short notice, and generally has a force in reserve, so as to fill orders in quick time.” Sort of a slave trade, as it were?” suggested ndre, ** Oh! our own,” Max replied. ‘If we can double our Income by employing rat-eaters, it’s to our interest to do so, . At this juncture Boss Harkley took a silver and blew a sharp blast ae rom his pocket, n it. . | ‘Pll show you our beauties!” he said, grim- LL CC LLL LLL LLL ae NT ; ' > * . so ; ‘ Li ry vt * ve Dae PEO : t a» at : '* - : * : -_ zZ ’ oa ny Lori zee whee %! yes. But, that’s no one’s business but !' ‘Well! here’s a go!” he muttered. WA; his ghost cavortin’ a er in white, and see ~~ a > . rhe F 8 ; Die ’ : pon oEs Pat Deer oe Me: - ' _ 7 ' q he . ’ Ds “ne ° 9 , 7) : a’ 4, ' 1 ‘ . ; . aa ae »,*. aH < > -.*, «> ae It was but a couple of minutes ere the sound! of horses’ feet was heard, and then a band of* | horsemen came into view, or rather mule-men ec for the party were mounted upon burros, and mules. As they drew near, it was to be seen that all were Chinamen, with the exception of four ruf- gh igh white men, who acted as escorts ;, for the party, numbering two hundred, was sep-- arated into four divisions, and each division had its captain in the person of one of the white men, before mentioned. Each Chinaman, besides a rifle and revolver, was equipped with mining tools, a small tent, and cooking utensils; so they were all ready to» camp down at any time and place, By a signal from Harkley, the cavalcade drew up in lines of fifty abreast, and then he and Andre and Mora passed up and down the lines, and made a careful inspection of the men, ‘“‘Splendid!” Max cried, excitedly. “I am more than pleased. We will show the fools who stood by Sunflower Sam, that we can do quite well, without them,” “Of course. Vd give more for a Chinaman, as faras work is concerned, than I would for two white miners!” Boss Harkley declared. He then ordered the new-comers to camp in: the vicinity, and in such a manner that ap-: proach of the white miners of You Bet, to either of the mines, would be cut off, This was done, and precautions were taken to» make as little noise as possible, The Chinamen went to work with a will, and: | pitched their diminutive tents, while the live — stock of the party, was tethered out to graze up- the gulch, where the braying of the eda would not be likely to be heard by the people of’ You Bet. Sunflower Sam had retained his position he-- hind the bowlder, to watch the progress of af-. fairs, and learn what was to be learned; but- he finally saw that it behooved him to get out of the new camp before he was hemmed in, as he had no particular desire to be discovered; so he. flitted about, and at last got beyond the lines. The circle of tents had been so formed as to» take in the office of the Beauty mine. This is a very fine piece of diplomatic work,’ the detective muttered, ‘‘ and there’s going to be trouble. Harkley, Mora and Co., intend to run: matters pretty much as they please, it seems, but I’ve a notion they woun’t succeed. They've . got the office within their lines, and protection ° enough to give them a chance to blow open the safe. Whether they will attempt to do itor — not is a question! Hello! what the blazes is — this? He paused stock-still, and gazed in astonish ment at the spectacle which caused his exclama-- tion. | Coming directly toward him, and but a few» oA rae away, he beheld a ghostly figure, clad in hia Ala white. bape) ! The darkness was so intense that he could not make out whether it was animate or otherwise, but it certainly had a most, uncanny and spook~+ ish appearance, ‘. . | It apparently had come from You Bet camp, and was making in a direct line toward the — ee where Joseph Mora had been buried that _ ay . CHAPTER XIV. AN ALL NIGHT RUCTION, pees | SuNFLOWER SAM was not naturally of a | superstitious nature, but the sight of the figure in white, gave him a start, SW t If he did not move there would be a collision witn the ghostly rambler, so he stepped quick- ly to one side, behind a clump of scrub bushes, Ry that lined the path. Jaa) Vk | oe Nearer and nearer came the white cladfigure, = = | until Sam became satisfied that it was some per- _ sae Say son clad in a flowing robe,and a night-cap, whose wide border almost completely concealed alah the face from view—so much so, at any rate, that the detective could not distinguish enough of the features to recognize them. he He concluded, by the slow movement of the — Us: * De No ae OR nocturnal perambulator, that it was a wo As she went straight on past the place where Oe Sam had stood, without either looking to the — ae ks Oa. right or to the left, he concluded that hehadnob 7 person is evidently trying to play ghost wonder if they calculate to represent Jos Mora’s departed spirit? Ha! ha! Poor J seph wouldn’t, feel flattered, I er it You Bet, et tea: \ — =>