Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 469 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

re! eer dust,” repeated Sweet By-and-By, * ae > . : ~ ~ = —_ ~ ~ Ter Se et ne . > @ oi pe ene = mm . . - ied —_—_ — - - - - — a St. Elmo, to find the cool, calculating sport’s | revolvers leveled at his heart, “This is your work, St. Elmo, and, by the Eternal, you shall pay fo it, you cold-blooded | hound!” he hoarsely enunciated, voice, words, and manner plainly revealing his intense hatred of the gambler. ‘ The shot that laid him low came from the darkness out thar, and was in- tended for me, was fired hy one ov your hired assassins. ‘' Quick, boys”—with an appealing glance at his friends in the excited crowd— ‘quick! th’ murderous wretch is still lurking thar in th’ darkness, Five thousand dollars to th’ man that captures him, dead or alive!” A wild yell burst from the crowd, and a score of men at once surged toward the door, cager | to prove the truth of the alcalde’s assertion. old Gabe was not without friends; then, too, the munificent reward was a powerful incentive to the gold-seekers. A cold, cynical smile flitted over Julian St. Filmo’s face, as witha swift, sidelong rlance he ‘noted the exodus of the man-hunters. Then his eyes turned to meet the searching gaze of the alealce. * You seem to overlook the fact that your owl weapon exploded the instant it reached a level, King Gabe, and thatthat was the only -¢-urt heard,” he remarked, sneeringly. US There's no two ways about it, my gentle alcalde; you killed the big stranger, and I reck- on you've got to suffer for it. Under your iron rule, you’ve carried things with a high handin Nowhar long enough, and the cunning ruse your quick wit suggested won't save your bacon this time.” wy overlook nothing,” hotly retorted the giant of the golden locks. “‘1 did pull trigger, T admit, but not at that poor lump ov clay. ft was one ov your heelers, Jule St. Elmo, that I tried to wing, aud I think I succeeded, too. I sighted lim skulking in the darkness out thar, just as he drew a bead on me, and tried a snap- skotinreturn. Our weapons cracked together.” ‘A Jikely yarn, that, alcalde,” observed the gambler, sarcastically, yet with an_undercur- rent of uneasiness in his tones, ‘‘ Do you ex- __ «e183 to swallow that in its entirety, or is it to 42 >\'sen in homeopathic doses? You say, too, ‘vbat t) 6 lurking assassin was a heeler of mine— ha‘re you any proof of such a fact?” Piyecaisp response Gold Gube was about to shouts and yells from the wo bers outside, "The next minute the motley crew came surging through the doorway, its leaders dragging in their relentless grasp the cause of all the tumult. ‘*Reckon Dll hev ter claim thet leetle five thousand, King Gabe,” shouted the foremost, a brawny red-shirted minery who, in that camp at least, enswered to the euphonious appellation of Sweet By-and-By. , “As he spoke, the red-shirt half-pushed, half- dragged into full view as odd a specimen of humanity as it had ever fallen to the lot of any resent to come in contact with, A mountainstramp it was who writhed and twisted in the strong grasp of Sweet By-and- By—a “Yankee of uncertain age, tall and pre- ternaturally lank, with a thin, beardless face, and shrewd gray eyes. His dingy swallow-tail coat had been split two-thirds of the way up the back during the scuffle, and his battered white plug hat bad been jammed down over his lett eye, giving him the appearance peculiar to the unre- enerate bum. One hand clutched the remains of what had once been a green gingham umbrel- la, the other the handle of a dilapidated carpet- bag. **Yaas, King Gabe, I reckon I’ll hev ter take yush- ing his captive forward. ‘‘ Hyar’s ther identi. eal cuss w’ot plugged ther Shasta pilgrim. Gaze on him—his mug’s enuff ter make pi’zen sick!” “Plugged nothin’, yer towerin’ monument ov fraud an’ deeception!” snorted an indignant voice in the midst of the crowd hanging about the doorway. ‘“* Alcalde, yer can trot out yer yaller shekels. Hyar’s ther ginooine simon- pure, lead-slinger, an’ Pll leave it ter all ther galoots ov Nowhar ef his face hain’t enuff ter make a dead man git out ov ther way. It’s puffectly hidjus!” . Puffing and panting from his exertions, his honest face aglow with excitement, the speaker forced his captive across the rough floor, a, eth of the luckless Yan- e ludicrous 7 Sypen i gig he was brought kee was only heightened = into contrast with the ‘specimen’ stoutly struggling in the grasp of gaunt grizzled Jeems Rivers—a short, fat, rotund figure, incased in clothing originally intended for a man of far less avoirdupois; around, beardless red face, out of the center of which, from between the two The Rival Giants of Nowh unusually full, puffy cheeks, peeped a yet redder pug nose; a pair of pale blue eyes; a shock of bristling straw-colored hair, aittoat white; a small, pursed-up mouth, and immense double chin; all in all,an indescmbably comical, inno- cent-looking wanderer, far from his lieb vater- land, ‘‘Por heaven's sake, gentlemen, some of you ro seare up the rest of the menagerie!” exclaim- ed Julian St. Elmo, in much astonishment, smiling coldly, exultantly. The next instant he started back with a bitter oath, stripped of the advantage he had held over the alcalde; for shrewd Jeems Rivers, stanchest among Gold Gabe’s adherents, had deftly whirled the stout form of his captive directly before’ the muzzles of the gambler’s leveled weapons, Then followed a swift movement upon the part of both St. Elmo and the alealde, 4 The forincy i.ttered a sharp cry of rage. _* Reep coel, dainty sport! aottly murmured Gold Gabe, kis br’ Vant bine ev: - plowing hotly af revolver, the muzzle of which now bore full on the gambler’s head. ‘* Th’ tables have turned, thanks to our mutual fricnd, honest Jeems Rivers. Yield up your weapons and we will call a truce until this affair is sifted to th’ bottom; refuse, and I pledge you my word good Judge Lynch will will never ect th’ ghost ov a chance to crack your soft white neck,” The crowd waited in deep suspense for the de- fiant answer the sport seemed about to fling back, ‘*Reckon you’ve got me in a corner this time, alcalde,” at length observed Julian St. Elmo, slowly and with forced calmness, as he delivered his weapons mto the keeping of one of his faro- dealers. ‘‘ Tate is against me, and | vield with the best grace possible. When this side-issue is settled, we can have our little reckoning; but it galls me to throw up my hand when called by an over-grown two-legged coyote low down enough to work a trick as scurvy as the one you played on him,” with a swift inclination of his handsome ead toward the lifeless form of the dark Hercules. The giant of the golden locks bowed, in sheer mockery. ‘** King Gabe, hyar’s ther owdashus annymile yer want ter see,” squeaked Sweet By-and-By, acain pushing forward the Yankee, as the al- calde thrust bis revolver into his belt and turned with an icy smile from the discomfited gam- bler, “Git out! That whapper-jawed, flat-footed string ov lankness hain’t nerve enuif ter shoot off his mouth, say nothin’ about a gun,” growled Jeems Rivers, irascibly. “‘ Why didn’t yer lasso a he’lthy shadder, sweet ’un?—then yer mought hey stood sum’ show fer ther money. Right hyar’s: ther bloody-minded Lucresha Borger wanted by ther alcalde.” Wheezing, gasping from the tightness of the miner’s twisting grip in his collar, the hepless Teuton was whirled slowly around, like a moun- tain of fat on a rusty pivot, his red face grow- ing yet redder, his short pug-nose gleaming like a miniature beacon-light below his twinkling, dim blue eyes. An explosive burst of laughter escaped Sweet By-and-By, to be caught up by the care- less throng, unmindful of the inanimate, bleeding form of Shasta Sam lying ina ghastly heap a few paces away. ‘What! that kraut-vine fang a man in ther back!” snorted the Yankee’s captor, in a shrill falsetto, an expression of unfeigned disgust spreading over his usually beaming face, ‘‘ Jeoms Rivers, yer’re crazier than a rattler in dog-days! Hyaws ther sneakin’ critter w’at slewed ther stranger-sport—a fact I'll gamble on!” And Sweet By-and-By, highly indignant at the imputation that the alcalde’s reward was not for him, brought his heavy hand down upon his captive’s back with a slap that made the Yankee’s teeth fairly rattle. Staggering forward under the weight of the unexpected blow until his hands came in contact with the floor, the mountain tramp dropped his precious carpet-bag, and with an agile spring regained his equilibrium, turning in the act so that he faced his red-shirted captor. ‘‘ Monkey with Jonathan Trotter, will yeou, yeou gosh-darned skunk!” he thundered, with a marked nasal twang,in a voice so deep and werful that it almost caused the roof to trem- le, his keen gray eyes snapping wickedly, his lank form growing stiff and towering with righteous indignation, ‘‘ By th’ holy mackerel! V'll tickle yeour diaphragm with my umberella, darn yeou !” And he did. With the skill of an expert fenc- er he caught the astounded Sweet By-and-By in over. the polahed loans t¥ / iv » - al’. CL sl at eum — Ee — ee the midriff with the pointed steel tip of his nov- el weapon, so suddenly and so forcefully that the miner dropped in a heap, gasping for breath. As the red-shirt went down, clawing frantic- ally at the pit of his stomach, a derisive shout went up trom the crowd. One keen, scrutinizing Jook at the faces of the two allegad culpmts, and Gold Gabe, his face plainly showing bis disappointmeut, turned to Jeems Rivers and said: — ‘Thar is a mistake here, Jeems—neither ov these fellows is guilty, Th’ man cut thar wore a full beard and a dark slouch hat, as was re- vealed by th’ flash ov his pistol.” ‘*A remarkably keen eye is yours, alcalde!” sneered Julian St, Elmo. ‘‘ There was but one report heard, and I can take my Bible oath you fired. I will leave it to the other gentlemen present.” ** Thar was two shots,” calmly declared Jeems Rivers. ‘They rung out exactly together. I saw ther flash cut thar, but not ther man w’ot held ther weepon. Wen I went out, I found this hunk ov fat skulkin’ in’ ther darkness, an’ I runhimin, If ther alcalde sez he hain’t ther man, be hain’t; same way with Yank thar, though he do look p’izen,” ‘*See heur, yeou feller—jest yeou let Jonathan Trotter an’ his looks alone,” exclaimed the lank tramp sharply, turning from the writhing Sweet Ry-aird-By to Rivers, and savagely brandishing ‘15 wnbrella in that worthy’s face. ‘‘I belong ~) one 0’ th’ fu’st families o’ th’ State o’ Maine, -’ | hex tramped all th’ way to this heathenish ace i arch o’ gold, an’, by smoke! ef yeou ( ytoye Sr me, darn yeou, Vil puncture yeour aatous ith th’ pint o’ my umberella—l will, by th’ Loly rmmackerel! “Say, yeou, capting,” turning inquisitively to Gold Gabe‘ did yeou offer five thousand dol- Jars fer th’ man that blazed away from eout thar in th’ dark jest neow ?”’ The alcalde started, then quickly replied: ** 1 did, my man; why do you ask?” ‘Not jest eout o’ curiosity; yeou see, cap- ting, I hev bin sum’at o’ a bunter, a mighty Nimrod, in my day—hev cleaned eout my weight in wil'cats an’ painters an’ sech menny a time up in th’ dark shadows o’ big Mount Katahdin. Jest now I feel kinder savage--like a meat-ax, yeou know, an’ to relieve my pent-up Lechn'’s Mor goin’ to s’arch for th’ hyena that was prowlin’ round eout thar. Ithort I see’d a flash in th’ darkness es Hunki Hans thar an’ me kem up.” Impatiently, the giant of the golden locks lis- tened until the mountain trap had finished, then turned to examine the corpse of the dark Hercu- les, confident that, even if the lurking assassin was never found, he could clear himself of the dark charge brought against him by Julian St. Elmo. ; The pathway of the fatal bullet must prove conclusively that it had been fired from a point directly opposite to that at which the alcalde bad stood. But no sooner had Gold Gabe turned and push- ed his way through the gaping crowd than a sharp ery escaped him. , Shasta Sam’s body was gone! Crowding forward, with exclamations of sur- prise, the excited inmates of the Fair Play clus- tered around the spot where the ill-fated giant had fallen. A small pool of blcod marked the place-—that was all. | ‘* Alcalde, allow me to congratulate you,” softly uttered Julian St. Ejmo, smiling mali- ciously, as his coldly glittering blue eyes met those of the nonplused giant. ‘It seems that the machinery of the law—yvour law— has been put im operation, A most damag- ing piece of evidence has been suppressed—the body of your victim stolen away. I shouldn’t wonder if you escaped, after all.’ ‘‘VYou devil!” hissed Gold Gabe, through his hard-set teeth, a vivid tongue of flame seeming to start from his glowing eyes. ‘‘ You have done this. I would rid the territory of its worst pest if I sent a bullet through your treacherous heart. ‘Tt may appear that way to you, my dear al- calde—there is no accounting for the opinions some men hold; but allow me to suggest that it would be a very unhealthy thing for you to at- tempt todo. If you will take the trouble to look, you will observe that I have you ‘lined.’” ‘* As T hev you, yer two-legged hunk ov de- ceit pure an’ ondefiled!” chimed in Jeems Rivers, grimly. ‘‘Don’t yer kem fer ter try eny: ov yer skin games on ther alcalde w’en I’m ’round, or saltpeter won’t.keep yer carr’on frame from sp’ilin’.” res The assembled Nowharites dropped back out. of range. ‘ ) 4 4