Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 467 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

a, ecm om : 8 ‘“‘That’s th’ idee, prezackly!” cried Red-eye Jim. ‘‘ Nobody kin object to that!” Again the ‘‘saint” and the ‘‘ parson” had to yield, and the four men being appointed, the prisoners were led away, the ** parson ” going along to see that they were securely bound. Pete Hanker’s cabin was a small and deserted ene onthe outskirts of the town, and just the place to answer the purpose. After a few minutes’ walk the party arrived there, and then the *‘ parson” set about making his prisoners safe from escape, He tied their feet, and then bound their hands to a convenient pole at one side of the small room, thus making them doubly secure. Then he proceeded to gag Red-eye Jim so that he could not speak. “Hold on!” Jim cried, as he saw what was in- tended; ‘* what’s this fer?” “To stop your tongue, of course,” the °* par- son” answered, as he made the gag secure. ‘“‘If you can’t talk, you won’t tell tales.” The “parson” had a wholesome fear that | Red-eye might reveal his secret if left free to use his tongue, and hence his precaution, ‘And now,” he added, when he was done, T'll relieve you of that paper,” his hand into the pocket where Jim had kept it, But, the paper was gone. CHAPTER VIII. THE ** PARSON ” FOILED, : THE ‘‘ parson” was furious. Where could the paper be? Only a short time ago he had seen Red-eye Jim put it into this very pocket, but now it was gone. Had the ‘‘rascal” destroyed it? Had he passed ifover to Disco Dan? What had he done with it?” ‘* Where is the paper?” he fairly thundered. Of course Red-eye could not reply. ‘“Te}] mo where it is,” the ‘‘parson’ manded, as he drew_a knife. wiil cut your throat from ear to car!” ‘‘Tlow can he speak with a gag in his mouth?” asred Disco Dan. In his rage at being foiled the ‘* parson’ not paused to think of that. : Quickly he loosened the strsng which held the gag in place, and then repeated the demand to know where the missing document was. “Bol it are jist whar you won'tgit yer paws ontwit, you kin safely gamble,” Ked-eye an- swered. Tol] me where you have put it or I will kill you where you stand!” the ** pers 1” cried, and he raised his knife in a most threatening man- ner. ‘Fold on ‘ parson,’ hold on thar!” and one of the two men chosen by Ben Bantam steppea up with a revolver ready for action, and with its ‘¢ business end” pointed somewhere in the neigh- borhood of the ** parson’s” nose, “‘ Let us have no trouble here, if ye please.” ‘ Whatis it to you!” tue ‘ parson” demand- ed, roughly, but at the same time taking care to step back from the revolver’s dark tube. ‘“Wore sent here ter watch these two men,” the man replied, ‘ter see that they don’t get out 0’ this cabin, an’ also ter protect them: an’, by great, we're goin’ ter do it!” And he man meant solid business, which the ‘parson ” very plainly saw. ‘You're right, my man,” Disco Dan said. “This is pot a trial, and no man has the right to interfere with Red-eye Jim until he is on trial.” ‘* He's welcome ter search me, if he wants to,” said Jim, but he won’t find th’ paper, I kin ’sure him o’ that.” ‘‘Then where is it?” ‘None o’ yer biz Dye think I’m gettin’ out 0’ order in my u»vper story? Ef ye do, yere left, an’ left bad. too.” And then Red-eye Jim shut his mouth as though he intended never to open it again. “Tt seems to me, ‘ parson,’ that you are won- derfully interested in that paper,” said Disco Dan, ‘‘Onlya short while ago, in the saloon, you Genied ever having seen it. It strikes me that you™ stories won’t dovetail worth a cent. Just remember, guardsmen, this is further proof of your worthy * parson’s’ lying, and of my catching him in the act of stealing the disputed paper from Jim.” “Oh, the’ dead-wood is on him, sure’s fate!” Ben Bantam’s two men exclaimed. And the other two guardsmen could not deny it. @, The ‘‘ parson” bit his lips, but his quick brain instantly framed an answer, ‘Yes. I am interested in that paper now,” he gaid, ‘‘ because I believe by it I can prove youto > com- 77 bad and he thrust | | . . down so suddenly, after so much bluster; and it “Toll me, or I | — i ee be the man I have said you are. what I say, guardsmen, as proof that I am no liar, but that the paper was put into and taken from my sleeve by sleight of hand. When that paper is found, if it ever is, it will prove that this sport is Midnight Dan.” ‘That's whar ye lie!” cried Red-eye Jim, “I know what that ‘ar paper is, parson,.an’ so do you; ax’ you’d better shut right up about it an’ git out o’ heur.” This was partly a threat, and the “‘ parson” knew it. ‘‘T cuess ther dead-wood are jest about as fast onto th’ sport ez it are onto th’ parson, now,” one of the ** parson’s ” guardsmen remarked, ‘© You'll see whar it is,” retorted Red-eye Jim ‘ef th’ ‘parson’ forces me on it, PU bring th? i ter light in a way he won't like, now I tell ye! ‘‘ Tali js cheap,” the ‘‘ parson” sneered, as he put away his knife, ‘‘ Since the paperis not to be had, though, we will have to push our case without it.” ‘‘T euess ye will, fer a fact!” And Red-eye laughed. It was plain to Disco Dan that Red-eye Jim’s threat was the cause of the “ parson’s” backing vas also plain that the power Jim held over the man was of no trifling nature. ‘The paper will come to light, Mr, Kenton,” he suid: “‘ 1 feel certain of it. And if it does— Well—” and then he stopped. ‘What do you mean?” the * parson ” cried. “T think you can guess my Meaning, sir,” “Do you know what the paper is?” ‘¢T did not heave it in my possession for sever- al minutes without glancing at it, at least.” Dan knew no more what the paper was, than the man in the moon. He was simply playing upon the ‘*‘ parson’s” suspicions and fears—cast- ing his fly to land a trout, as_it were, He was now becoming interested in the mystery of the disputed document himself, it was the name he bad seen on it—* Barton Raker.” and the fact that it seemed to be some sort of legal paper. The * parson” was baffled all around. He could not tell where the paper was, but he sé half feared that Red-eye had passed it over to | Diseo Dan for safe-keeping. ad the sport read it? bin? On the last point the ‘* parson” felt sure that he was yet safe, as he b2d not seen the two men talking together, and feeling thus far secure, he meant to rema_n s0, With this idea in view, he again put the gag into Red-eye Jim’s mouth. Ashe had areued before—if the man could | not talk he would not tell tales; and he meant to | leave him in just that unpleasant situation. When he had arranged the gag to his satisfac- tion, he said: ‘There! now you may converse as much as you can, which will not be very much, I guess. I would search you both, but I guess it is not yecessary, for you can never destroy that paper ifit ¢s in your possession, with your hands and fact tied as they sre,” “That is about the way it looks at present, Disco Dan admitted. ‘‘ Yowhave got mein a tight place, parson, as sure as you live, It has | no terrors for me, however, for I have been in just such fixes lots of times.” ‘‘Oh! you have, eh?” ‘‘ Sure.” “And you always came out alive and kick- ing, I suppose?” ‘“Bvery time! I begin to think I have as many lives as a cat is said to have, and perhaps a dozen or sO more.” ‘‘Tndeed! Well, I fancy when you come to be tried to-morrow, Mr. Midnight Dan, you will find that your supply of lives bi; narrow- ed down to one.” ‘You think so, eh?” “Yes, and that one will be choked out of you with a hempen nueck-tie.” ‘‘Well,a man has got to die once anyhow, I suppose, so there’s no use kicking if it is so or- dered by fate. There’s many a slip between the cup and the coffee-pot, though, or words to the same effect, you must remember; and you must not count on my being dead until you find I can’t squirm,” ‘« And we'll fix you so that you can’t squirm, never f:ar.” “You might be mistaken, though, Mr. Ken- ton, for you can’t always tell just which way the frog will jump till he jumps.. Now, J have an idea that the name of Parton Baker may be mentioned. if this tnine com s te trial!” Another thrust in (ne Gurk Was Ul. Disco Dan, the Daisy Dude. ee x Just remember | | Baker was his having seen that name on the All he knew about | Had Red-eye revealed the dark secret to | eee ew ++ ' Saloon when her friend, the s Disco Dan’s only knowledge of any Barton now missing paper he had rescued and preserv- ed for Ked-eye Jim; and he mentioned it now only as a chance shot, But the shot struck home. The effect was a surprise, and proved Dan’s suspicions that the hold Red-eye had upon the ‘‘ parson,” through the mysterious paper, was a powerful one. Orily the promptest k nd of action on the part of the four guardsmen saved Red-eye’s life. For an instant the ‘*‘ parson” had staggered back, his face turning ghastly white in the light of a torch held by one ot the men, by which this scene wichin the old cabm was lighted up, and then he snatched bis knife from his belt and sprung at Red-eye Jim with the cry: “Curse you, you have betrayed us!” “Whoop! Go slow, pearson—go slow!” And the revolvers of the guardsmen were at his breast as he realized it. ‘Stand aside, and let me at him!” he ordered. “ He has played the traiter.” ‘Stan’ back!” the guardsmen ordered, his own men as well as the two chosen by Ben Bantam. “He has done nothing of the sort, sir,” said Disco Dan. ‘Then what do you mean by saying that the name of Barton Barker—” ‘Hold on! I said Baker, not Barker, my friend.” * No matter. What do you mean by saying that name will be mentioned at the trial to-mor- TOW ¢ ‘Tsaid it may be mentioned.” ‘* And how did you get bold of that name, if Red-eye has toid you nothing?’ ‘“ Why, [ saw it on that paper you are so anx- ious to get hold of—so anxious, in fact, that ycu stole it. ‘*Gentlemen, is any further proof wanted of this man’s. guilt of the charge [ made? Have not his own words and actions proven him a liar? You are all my witnesses, and I shall call upon you to-morrow, if 1 am tried.” Karlo Kenton was fairly knocked out of time. ‘‘Piends!” he cried. ‘* Are you manor devil?” “Oh! I’m man, every inch!” the sport de- clared, “And I’m a white man, too, clear to the core.” Kario Kenton, as we have already said, was considered a solid man at Domino Divide, a man of nerve and grit; and now to see him so taken down by this stranger sport, with no other weapon than the tongue, was a matter of no Lit- tle wonder to the men who saw and heard it. It began to dawn upon the minds of even the two who where on the “ parson’s” side of the case, that there must bea lcose screw some- where, to knock the ** parson” off his legs like the sport’s words had done. And the “parson” was not slow to see and understand that this impression was gaining | hoid, and that he must do something to turn the tide once more in his own favor. ‘‘Ha! ha! ba!” he Jaughed. “TIsee [ can not easily trap you by my acting, Mr. Sport,” he said, And then to the guardsmen he explained: ‘You see, boys, I was playing off a little to draw him out; but he won’t draw worth a cent. Midnight Dan is all nerve, and no mistake about it. Inever heard the name he mentioned, be- fore, but L thought I’d make out I had, just to see what the next move would be. ‘Ha! ha! ha! I guess you all thought I was in earnest, boys, the way {soswen for Red-eye. How you did go for me! Is my acting really so good? I guess I shall have to take to the stage.” “Your acting is decidedly good, just at present,” Disco Dan honestly declared. ‘Pretty good, Mr. Outlaw Dan, pretty good; but it won’t work. These men of Domino know me far better than they know you, and to- morrow I'll show you up in your true colors.” **T hope you will, for my true color is white— ure white.” ‘We shall see. Close your doors and guard ee well, boys, for Midnight Dan is a prize of gold. And so saying, the parson went out. The four gi a soon followed, locking the door, and then the Daisy Dude and the ‘*cyclone” were left alone. CHAPTER IX. THE SISTERS, In the mean time, what had become of the poor blind girl whom we left seated in The Den i port, was led away a prisoner by the ** parson” and the four choses | guardsmen ?