Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 467 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

ee. + Se ee eee RE, Sed ee oe 0 ot ees + ee re ceul by circumstances, ‘‘When our man begins to howl and shoot, and the men from the jail run to where he is, there will be a great uproar: and the citizens, thinking there is something wrong at the jail, will flock out in a body. “Then as soon as Ben Bantam leaves his house, as he surely will, we'll rush in and carry off the two girls. ‘*That’s about all we can arrange, for as I said, we will have to let circumstances govern us, ‘“Come on.” And they, too, moved away. ‘‘ Great horned toads!” ejaculated Red-eye Jim, as soon as the men were gone. ‘ S’pose we was tied up in thet ’ar old Cabin now, pard, whar would we be?” ‘‘ We would be in a bad fix, and no mistake.” ‘“Wal, I ruther reckon we would! I kin jest tell ye what it is, pardner; ’m yer friend to th’ core in this heur game, an’ don’t ye fergit it. I’ve seen enough o’ them p’izen critters, now.” eR ig said Dan, ‘‘ come on, and we will take a hand in this deal ourselves.” ‘‘l’m with ye,” Red-eye responded, prceapeye and the to left the shadow of the old shanty and followed the ‘‘s.int” and the “ parson.” Ten minutes soon passed away, and then of a sulden a volley of pistol-shots was heard, fol- lowed by a series of yells, hoots and howls that iaivly astonished the natives. ‘rhe guardsmen at the old cabin spring to their fect instantly, weapons in hand. ‘“What in th’ name o’ snakes be that?” each asked the others. ‘‘ Give it up!” was the reply. And then came the general exclamation: ‘* Let’s see what it are!” They had all stood undecided for a moment, but now away they rushed to learn the cause of such an uproar. Barely had they left their posts, when out from the deep shadows at the rear of the cabin came a human form, holding in one hand a gleaming knife. | Rapidly yet stealthily the man advanced, ina half-stooping manner, to the broken window. Reaching it, he put his knife between his teeth and climbed as silently as possible into the room. About the same time that this would-be mur- derer disappeared into the cabin, one of the guardsmen, who had suddenly realized that it would hardly do for all of them to desert their svatch, left his companions and hurried back to ‘he temporary jail. And it was lucky that he did so, in one re- eect. ‘ As soon as the hired assassin entered the cabin, he whispered: ‘‘ Hist! Whar be ye? chance ter git out.” Getting no reply, he began to feel his way around to find his intended victims. The room was as dark as Erebus, but he quick- ly explored it, and great was his surprise when he found that the prisoners had escaped. “Wal,” he muttered, “it’s mighty queer, any- how. I wonder how an’ when they got out? But this is no place fer me, an’ I'd better be argettin: out afore them ’ar pesky watchmen git back. He turned toward the window to retreat the way he had come, but there was a surprise in store for him. ’ He had made a little noise, just loud enough to attract the attention of the lone guardsman, and when he thrust his head out to see if his way was clear, he suddenly found himself con- fronted by the guardsman, with a revolver star- ing him in the face. fa ‘ ‘Don’t ye move a ha’r’s breadth!” the guards- man cautioned; “fer if ye do, yell be a dead man in jest no time! Who be ye, anyhow?” “Say, don’t be rough on a feller,” he begged. “T was in heur when th’ pris’ners was put in, an’ I thought I’d take this chance fer gettin out. Let me go, won’t ye, an’ say nothin’ about it?” ““Nary a time I won't!” was the answer he iar “You jest stay right whar ye be, er else ll drill a hole inter yer cabeeza that ye kin stick yer thumb into!” * But what d’ye want ter hold me fer? Lain’t done nothin’,” **Sure o’ that?” ‘In course Ibe! I was in heur asleep in ther corner, an’—” ‘Hold on, now, that’s Mr. Disco Dan,” calling I’ve come ter give yea t whar ye lie! Say, the prisoner he sup- posed to be within; “be ye thar all safe?” Of course there was no reply, swered, ‘but we will have to be guided a great | | an’ I'li soon see | ‘“*Cuss ye!” the guardsman then cried, “‘ I be- lieve you’ve been up to some devil work heur, Don’t ye move an inch, now, er Pll plug ye.” And then the lone guardsman fired his revol- ver and shouted for his companions to come to his assistance, He half-feared that this man had killed the prisoners, Little did he imagine the true state of af- fairs. Meanwhile, the three other guardsmen had gone on to ascertain the cause of all the shoot- ing and yelling. And they soon came upon the man who was doing it. The fellow seemed to be royally drunk, and was blazing away regardlessly. And the way he was howling was enough to make the night hideous. He played well his part; and even after the guardsmen had shouted to him, he continued to reel around recklessly, and to shoot and yell to the best of his ability. ‘What th’ merry doost ails ye; anyhow?” one of the guardsmen asked. ‘Ello, pard, ello!” cried the man. hic—l’ve shot th’ moon!” “Shot th’ moon! Why, you blamed jackass, thar ain’t no moon ter-night!” ‘I know it, pard—hic—I know it; ’ve—hic —I’ve shot it!” ‘*Oh! go to blazes! You’re drunk!” By this time half the town was aroused, and men came hurrying to the scene from every direction, And then of a sudden the three guardsmen heard shots and shouts in the direction of the old cabin, and they started back on a run. When they arrived there, great was their surprise to find their comrade holding the ‘‘drop” on a fellow who had his head thrust out the window, unable to get out and afraid to draw back. At first they took it to be Red-eye Jim, trying to escape; but their fellow guardsman quickly explained that it was not he; and when he also told them that he could not hear a sound from the other prisoners, the excitement ran 6s I’ve high. Gaaviie the one to guard the man at the win- dow, the others opened the door and went in. One of them had a torch, which ‘he had previously lighted, and by its light the interi- or of the cabin was plainly revealed. And it also revealed to the thunderstruck custodians of the temporary jail the fact that their prisoners were not there. They were thunderstruck. here could their prisoners be? Had this man set them free? They certainly believed so. The villain was still standing with his head sticking out of the window, where the cold muzzle of a revolver caressed it gently. He held his knife firmly grasped in his right hand, and was a bad-looking customer; but when three more revolvers were pressed against his body from behind, and he was called upon to surrender, he did so at once. _ He allowed his knife to drop to the floor, and in a few moments more he occupied the position so lately held by Disco Dan and Red-eye Jim. The news of the escape of the two prisoners flew like wild-fire all over the town, and in a wonderfully short time Domino Divide was all astir and in a fever of excitement. The guardsmen, and also their new prisoner, were plied with questions, but no satisfactory information could ained. The new prisoner finally acknowledged that he had ‘‘ entered th’ cabin with th’ intention of settin’ th’ pris’ners free,” but had found them already gone. : But he was not believed. All thought that he had set them free, and that had the guardsman who returned arrived a moment sooner, he could have prevented their escape. As it was, he got there just in time to nab the last one in the act of getting out, CHAPTER XV. THE TABLES TURNED, rf AND while all was excitement around the jail,” events of no less importance were trans- piring at the other end of the town. When the first of the pistol-shots and wild shouts were heard, Ben Bantam was among the first of the citizens to hasten to the scene of the Angas at bea arely had he gone, when his wife ste eee the door to satisfy her curiosity by lis- ning. And so deeply interested was she, that she Disco Dan, the Daisy Dude. © LL rr =) 13 —__- _—- ee - —_ --—,- roe = failed to discover two dark forms that crept slowly and silently toward her, and she knew eee of their presence until they sprung upon er, A hand was clapped over her mouth, and powerful hands laid hold upon ber in no gentle manner, Desperately did she struggle, but all in vain; she was soon helpless in the hands of her assail- ants, and in a moment more was securely gagged and bound. The assailants were two nien, both of whcm wore masks of black cloth. Silently they carried the woman into the heuse and laid her on the floor, and then they as silent- ly began to look around for the room where the twin sisters were; and, as soon ‘as they had lo cated the door, they put out the light and advanced toward it. Meanwhile, at the first sound of alarm, the girls had sprung to their feet. ** W hat can it be, sister?” the blind girl asked. ‘*T sup itis some drunken fight, such as we have heard so often,” the other answered. ‘I do not know why it is, Edith,” said Bessie, ‘but Iam alla-tremble. I fear that something is about to happen to us.” ‘*'You must not give way to your feelings so,” said Edith. ‘‘I fear your adventure of to-night bas completely unstrung your nerves.” At that moment there came a knock at their door. ‘Who is there?” Edith asked. “It’s me, Mrs. Bantam,” was the answer, although the voice did not sound natural; ‘‘ you had better get up and dress, my dears, for th’ rioters may come this way at any moment.” “We are already dressed,” said Edith; and she could not belp wondering at the change of tone and language in the speaker. Of course it was none other than one of the men who had just made a prisoner of Mrs. Ban- tam, and while he was thus speaking, he gently tried the door, Finding it secured only with the latch, he flung it suddenly open, and the two villains sprung into the room. One glance in the semi-darkness showed them that the girls were indeed up and dressed, and that they were standing near the window; and without a single word of warning the two ras- cals sprung at them. There was one faint scream, a brief struggle, and then the two girls were soon bound and gagged as Mrs. Bantam had been. Then the two men lifted them up and bore them away in their arms. When they left the cabin they hurried out of town in the direction of the Poor-man’s Find Mine, and were soon lost to sight. town; but there were two men who followed them like veritable sleuths, eagerly watching their every move. And those two men were Disco Dan and Red- eye Jim. ‘* Shall we mount ’em, pard, an’ give ’em a little moosic in ther key of high G?” Red-eye asked in a cautious whisper, as they crept silent- ly along behind their game. ‘* No,” Dan answered, ‘‘ let them go on. The are playing right into my hands, now, and will give them plenty of rope. SS Where do you think they will take the girls?” ‘‘ Wal, there is an old cabin a short ways up th’ hill back of th’ mine,” Red-eye replied; ‘ an” I reckon mebby they'll take ’em up thar.” ‘Very well. We will let them get up there. and then we will take a hand in the game.” Carefully they followed the two bold rascals who were thus geo fom. the orphaned girls away from the town, and not for an instant did they pause or allow the trril to grow cold. The way in the cirecticn of the Poor-man’s Find Mine lay up-hill, aud three or four times the abductors had to stop to rest: and at such times Disco Dan and Red-eye Jim would drop to the ground and remain perfectly motionless until they heard or saw their game moving on ain. aw them in the town they could hear a gront hum of voices, and could see a hundred rches flashing hither and thither, and they knew that their escape was known. ‘* They'll Jook a Jong time afore they'll find us pard, I’m thinkin’,” said Red-eye, during one of their forced pauses. **T think they will,” was Disco’s re ‘They should have kept us when they had us; it wasn’t our fault that we got away.” ¢ This was said in such a way that ‘t struek Red-eye Jim as being particularly funny, ané ere he knew it he bad laughed out aloud. | ICO E€OnE That is to say, they were lost to sight of the 2 (E(e)