Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 471 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

+ -94 = ‘As. Te a | > : 4 is . A wi 4! ‘ ja - ” ‘ a . {4 J ? j 2 ; ", H fe i on " -_. % ™ ar i - a . i ox F oan WT id = : | 2 - “a. a“ + - ~ > ~— os a4 ~ ite * |S ~ > Be is - hi : s Z : ¥ . 4 i o te ‘ er ; . 7 ew ee of ~ ” - — —— ae *'s 7 10 enough, while beside him trotted the vicious- looking goat, whose knotty forehead had struck terror to the heart of Jake Jug the previous evening, and caused him to take leg leave, in a hurry. Avalanche appeared absorbed in thought, as he came striding along, and did not notice the detective, until he came within a few paces of him; when he halted, with a sort of grunt. “Hello!” he saluted. “Ireckon I’ve seen you afore. You’re the chap as interceded in behalf o’ Janet, last night, ain’t ye?” iam, sir.” ‘*Thort so. Mighty glad ye did, too, fer thet ar’ Janet aire a mighty nice gal, an’ don’t ye fergit it. Let mesee: What d’ye call yerself?” **Oh! sometimes I sail under one name, an’ then, again, sometimes under another. At present I am Bozeman Bill. You have had the onor of making my acquaintance once before, however, whet’ bore the name of Deadwood Dick, Junior!” Old Avalanche started at his informant, in- credulously. ‘*Great ham-bone thet made soup fer old Joner! ye don’t mean it, b’ye?—ye don’t mean ter insinyate thet ye’r’ ther same pilgrim w’ot rescued us from ther road-agent, Dark Dem- ming?” ‘*l am that very chap!” Bill replied. ‘ Al- though my personal appearance is somewhat changed. I am the identical namesake of your old friend and pard!” **Moses an’ ther bullrushes! Put ’er thar! Mighty glad ter see ye ag’in—great ham-bone, es. luk er sort 0’ likin’ ter ye from the first I now’d ye war named arter my old pard, Dead- wood Dick—ther best feller as ever straddled a hoss, or sported a gun, yer kin bet!” The two shook hands, heartily, and their friendship was then and there cemented firmer together. ‘What’s ther news?’ Avalanche went on. “‘T hev bin out o’ cemp, up in ther mountings, ter see ef me an’ Jeremiaher couldn’t skeer up some b’ar, but Ill be kicked ter death wi’ mules ef I c’u’d skeer one.” ‘** There is quite a little news that may inter- est you, friend Avalanche,” Bozeman Bill an- swered, ‘‘ and since you appear to be a square old hoss, [’ll let you into part of it. To begin with, what do you think of that, eh?’ and he handed the Great Annihilator the note of warn- ing he had received from Dark Demming. ‘What do I think of that” replied the vet- eran, after perusal, ‘‘ Waal, "pears like ther galoot takes you for a tenderfoot, and wants to scare you out o’ yer boots, or at least, out o’ ther vercinity. Now, d’ve kno’ what tother Dick w’u’d ’a’ done ef he got sich a billy-doo as thet— an”he’s had many of ’em in his time?” ‘Well, no, I can’t say as I do.” “Tl tell ye, then. He’d jest laff ther socks clean off his feet, sohe would! Tell yefer a fac’ what I see’d him do once, an’ I ain’t fabricatin’, nuther. Dick he war out ridin’ one day, when thar kim up ther orfullest wind storm ye ever hearn tell on. Why et’s an actooal fact, an’ [ll sw’ar to et by ther great ham-bone that tanta- lized ther larnyx of old Joner, thet ther wind et blew a thousan’ miles an hour, ‘“* But, I tell ye, Dick didn’t keer fer that. He never felt ter home, nohow, ’cept some sort o’ a breeze were stirrin’; so he‘rid complacently on. , ‘* Well, things went all right, until along on ther highfalutin’ spread-eagle wings of old bore- as, came a billydoo, somethin’ like the one you’ve got, thar, an’ it struck Dick on ther back o’ ther neck with such force that et nearly smashed in his thorax. When Dick tried to pull off the plaguey thing, et stuck thar like et was put on wi’ mucilage, an’ Dick war wonderin’ how he war goin’ to get it off, when ‘long kim a flash o’ lightnin’, melted the wax on ther enwelop, an’ Dick hed no deeficulty in gittin’ persession of it. ‘““Waal, to make a long story short, et war a letter from some enemy oO’ Dick’s, an’ told him ef he didn’t clear out o’ ther country, he’d suddintly find himself dead, with his boots on, Then, what ’d’ye suppose thet ’ar same Dicky o’ Deadwood did?” ** Well, I am sure I haven’t the least idea!” re- plied Bozeman Bill, with a smile. ‘Waal, Dll tell ye,” pursued the Annihila- tor, pa in deep earnest. ‘‘ He jest turn- ed right round in his saddle, facin’ the wind, an’ he says to et, sez he: ‘ Hyer, ye howlin’ winds o’ ther north, I return to ye this bunch of bombast, and bid ye waft et back to the sender, an’ tell him I defy him, a thousand times.’ ‘An’ would ye believe et, sir, thet ’ar wind just whipped immegetly around from nor’ ter nei tan - Py i Othe a mf «4 4 ; . E | o-oo oe ~, comer = — Dh all Bozeman Bill of Big Brace. south, snatched ther billydoo from Dicky’s hands, and tuk et back to the sender! An’ most wonderful to relate, when et reache him, et struck him in ther face, knocked his teeth down his thrut, broke his nose, gouged out an eye, and caused him to die of lock- jaw. Now, then, that’s ther kind 0’ a hair- pin Dick war. What's yer think?” ‘* Well, to tell the truth, and shame the devil, I think that’s the biggest lie I ever heard yet,” Dick replied without hesitation. His candor caused Old Avalanche to roar with laughter, until his very sides fairly shook, while Jeremiah capered about as if he was likewise well-pleased. ‘* Well, mebbe I did stretch et a leetle,” the Annihilator admitted. ‘‘ But then, ye know, yarn half spun, ain’t no good fer socks, no- how. Et won’t wear. By ther way, I jest thort 0’ suthin’. Aire ther gal all safe an’ snug, up at the hotel?” ‘Oh! yes, I guess so,” Dick replied, and then went on and explained what had occurred since the previous night, and which of course it is not necessary to relate, here. Old Avalanche listened in grim silence, his battle-scarred visage undergoing no change of expression, ‘I told ther gal thet ther chances war big thet she war runnin’ a mighty risk, in comin’ heer,” he said, when Bozeman Bill had done, * So, thar ain’t no John Jones to be found here, eh? ‘No. Nobody appears to have any knowl- oa of such a person, so far as I have question- ed. ‘Dye think the girl has any real claim on the estate, or that the present will is a forgery?” “I do. From Janet’s statement, and judg- ing by the letter, I believe that Hamilton Hin- ton made another will, and left Janet some- ee ee Harry the residue. Whether this will s been destroyed or not is hard to say, but I am satisfied in my own mind that the resent existing will is a forgery, from the very act that it disinherits Harry, who was his father’s pet.” ‘Great ham-bone! Et strikes me you're right. An’ now, when ye come to talk about these things, there’s something that troubles me.” ** What*is that?” ‘* Waal, et is this. When I war comin’ down ther gulch, a couple o’ mile above heer, I found a glove what luks just like one ther gal wore when I fetched her ter Big Brace.” ‘* Let’s see it!” Old Avalanche produced the glove in ques- tion. It was of a drab-color—a seven-buttoned af- fair, made to fit a small hand and was a trifle worn, no doubt caused by handling bridle reins. ‘It’s Janet’s glove, sure enough,” Bill de- clared. ‘‘She wore gloves of this sort when I saw her in the gulch this morning. I remember them well.” ‘* Where did she go arter you left her?” ‘* Back to the hotel. I watched.” ' ‘‘Then how ther blazes did her glove come so fur from camp?” ‘*That I don’t know, unless she concluded to take a stroll up the gulch, which I shouldn't think she would have done, as she knows that the Hintons, with the exception of Harry, bear her no good will.” | ‘Then if I war you I’d go an’ see if she’s at the hotel. There’s no tellin’ but what some job has been put up to git her out. 0’ camp!” Bozeman Bill looked anxious. “You're right!” he assented. ‘‘Come! We will go and investigate this matter at once, If ill has befallen her I'l] make some one suffer for it, you bet!” : They quickly supe their way toward the 6) ne one as interested as the other i t Miss Earl's welfare, minilecrti 3 On reaching the hotel they made their way to the office counter, where Colonel Corker pre- sided, as urbane and smiling as was his wont. ‘‘Is Miss Earl in her room?” Bill demanded. ‘She is not!” was the reply. ** Do you kn \w where she is?” **T do not. boy came with a message for her and she soon left the hotel.” ‘What sort of a boy left the message?” ‘* A ragged kid with red hair.” ‘The same, no doubt, who brought the mes- sage to me,” Bill remarked, turning to Ava- lanche. _Then, to Corker: ‘* Did Miss Ear! leave any message for me?” ‘* By the way, I believe she did!” and taking a letter from his pocket the colonel handed it to the detective, who immediately opened it. ——— The contents consisted of but a few words, viz. : “Mr. BozEMAN:— | “I have just received a note from Mr, Jones, and have gone to see him. JANET.” That was all. ‘ She did not say where she was going to meet this mysterious individual, Jones, nor when she expected to return. ill gave the note to Old Avalanche, who read it over with darkening brow. ‘*Great ham-bone that discomboberated ther larnyx of old Joner!” he growled. ‘Jest as I feared, from ther moment I found ther glove. Ther gal’s been decoyed inter a trap.” CHAPTER ® X. THREE PUZZLED MEN, BozZEMAN BILu and Avalanche at once with- drew to one side, to talk over the matter, and while thus engaged, Harry Hinton put in an ap- pearance, Bill then apprised the deceased mine-owner’s son of much that he had hitherto been ignorant of, especially regarding Janet’s claim to the estate, and what had transpired up to that time. As may be surmised, Harry was greatly sur- prised, but at once showed the generosity of his nature, by saying: ‘* Of course you must know that I am great] astonished by this revelation, but not so muc so as I might be, did I not suspect gross villainy on the part of my uncle and step-mother. [ have heard my father speak of a young lady’s saving him from having his pockets picked, but he never mentioned her name, nor that he in- tended to leave her anything when he died. However, that shall make no difference. If it turns out that father left another will, and that Miss Earl is a legatee, she shall freely have every cent the will entitles her to,” ‘“Nobly spoken, Harry, old boy!” Bill de- clared, seizing his hand and shaking it warmly. **'You’re just the sort of a fellow I sized you up for, and youcan bet your boodle I’m your friend from the word go,” ‘“*Yere too, by ther great ham bone thet stuck in ther crop of old Joner!” cried the Annibilator, heartily. ‘* You’re a squar’ feller, you aire— sixty per cent above whisky proof, an’ I)] bet on it. ecan jest count on me, Old Avalanche the Annihilator, every day in the week, an’ twice on Sunday, an’ along wi’ me aire my goat, byer, Jeremiaher, who air a reg’lar sojer from Sundown. Then, thar’s my mule, Prudence Cordeliar, what can kick ther spots off’m ther moon easy as chawin’ cheese. I tell yer, we make a reg’lar regiment when we git a-goin’, even ef Iam gittin’ old an’ kinder stiff in ther jy ints.’ : | ‘‘ Well, Iam sure I am glad to have acquired the friendship of the both of you,” Harry re- sponded, ‘‘and shall endeavor to merit it in the fullest sense of the word. United as pards, we certainly ought to be able to sift this matter of the will to the bottom, and get at the truth of ‘‘ And we certainly will!” Dick decided, reso- lutely. ‘‘If there’s any bottom to be reached we will reach it, and don’t you forget it! What do you think about this John Jones business, Harry?’ ‘‘There’s no such a person in this camp aS John Jones, unless he bears another name than that, and I'll bet on it,” Harry replied. ‘‘ That’s one thing I can’t understand. doubtedly sent for Miss Earl, since you bave the letter, but the question is who? Blame me if I can understand it.” ‘Norl. But, since Horace and the widow have found out about her claim and the letter, they naturally bear her no good will. and doesn’t it strike you that this summons for her to meet Jones, 18 a plot to kidnap her and put her out of the way?” _‘‘It does indeed, and I'll give you a straight tip that my uncle and step-mother are not a bit too good to get up and execute such a scheme. Knowing that there are now two claimants, who intend to fight for possession of my father’s estate, they will of course fight back, whether they are guilty or not. If guilty of trying to defraud me of my rights, they will struggle all the fiercer, and let no scruples interfere with such plansas they may believe will achieve them victory.” ‘You are right. I have seen your uncle, and my impression of him is not particularly favor- able. As for your step-mother, step-mothers generally are the butt of a great deal of adverse criticism, and very often, I dare say, they de- serve it. However this may be there is not a doubt in my mind that Miss Janet has been de- coyed into a trap. Do you know a twelve-year- me one Uun- — —— a eS ee ee i — _ — m