Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 519 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

os SA tI At Peel ache ee oD | ~~ ~ > mes 8 eel + ge - ——— Sa — Captain Mystery. affair, at least,” was the reply. of being Captain Mystery, the road-agent chief, bya party who surely took no open hand in the ame, although, without doubt, be had great in- juence with the majority of the crowd with whom we had the little difficulty.” ‘*Who was ther condurned sneakin’ varlet as whooped out thet you war me ane Mystery? I didn’t see er blamed soul thet I c’u’d fissen et on- ter. The consarned critter must ’a’ been hid sumwhere or odder.” ‘It was Faton Stone. I know his voice. He was hidden somewhere, or else present in dis- ise, I thought the voice came from the nce-room; but there were some of the crowd in front of the door, and I could see no one whom I thought the author of the accusation. I know that my deadly’ foe was in league with the ruffians who took me prisoner, if not their leader. The ready manner in which he was ad- mitted to the jail proves this.” ‘‘ Waal, by ther Roman gods, pard! they hed us in mighty snug quarters onc’t. W’en they laid you out—dead as hay, I thought—things looked durnod squally fer ther Border Boomer- ang. (Guess they’d roped in ther ole man too ef it hedn’t been fer ole Lion, my dog. Pard—” pointing to the dog that was sitting beside him, with an intelligent look upon its face—* thet air animile knows more than two-thirds o’ ther human critters in Bowlder Bar.” But Red Robin only half heeded his words nodding abstractedly in reply. For severa rors tian he ate slowly in silence. Finally he said: ‘‘ Maybe you thought it strange that I took a band in that affair last night, but seeing you beset by the crowd of roughs, [ could not resist the temptation to take a hand with the weaker side.” ** An’ e6 may be as how you thort et mighty strange thet I sh’u’d desart.ye jist wen ye war down; but pard, I sw’ar I thort ye’d flew’d over ther river, an’ ther chances war, ef I loafed aroun’ thar much longer, I'd takea flew too. So Islid, I hung roun’, not knowin’ fer sure ef ye war really defunked, an’ w’en I see’d ’em sack- in’ ye to ther jail, 1 made up my mind ter hev ye out o’ ther afore mornin’ an’ [ dun it.” ‘* You did, Bombshell, and it will be a long day before I forget it. Youcame just in time to save me from the knife of Faton Stone. In one more minute you would have been too late. Had it not been for the dog, I doubt if you could have saved me even then.” ‘*Ole Lion’s ginerally pritty handy on sich occasions,” declared old Bombshell, bestowing a look of pride upon the dog. ‘‘ He’s helped ole man out ov mor’n ér dozen tuff scrapes. But, ard, wo’t kind ov an idee hev ye got inter yer ead erbout them ’ere chaps as went cavortin’ by ther jail jess as we kem out ther door?” ‘‘T haven’t thought anything about it, Bomb- shell. What makes you ask? Do you think there was anything wrong about them?” ‘* Blamed ef [ don’t! One thing’s sart’in—they warn’t er part ov ther other crowd as we hed ter buck ergin’. They war jist er skootin fer tall timber, es fast es their hoss-critters c’u’d leg it. Ther bullets as I vent arter ’em, jist started ’em erlong ther faster. Ghost o’ ther Pan Handle! how they did skoot!” ‘‘They probably were some miners, striking out of camp for their cabin, somewhere among the hills, Perhaps they thought we were drunk and urged their horses to get out of the way of our bullets.” Old Bombshell shook his head ees ‘‘T can’t jist swaller thet idee,” he said, ‘It may be so, but then I don’t jist look at et in thet way. Kinder strikes me like esef they’d been up ter sum shenanigan, an’ war skovtin’ fer et. You noticed ther big bundle they had an’ sed et looked like er woman. Blamed ef I don’t believe et war er woman, pard!”’ The Reckless started. He remembered the brief interview with Howard Thorne, and how the young man had declared that he believed Sylva Blair in danger, Could it be— Red Robin sprung up, exclaiming: ‘You may be right Bombshell! It is possible that the bundle was a woman. If so, she was earried away by the agents of Captain Mystery. Should this prove true, your service may be re- quired to help hunt out the outlaws’ nest—that is, providing you are willing to do so.” ‘Count on me, pard, an’ by ther Roman gods! IT won’t fail ye. Ther Border Boomerang will be on band ter take er band in any game as is played ag’in’ the outlaw, Captain Mystery.” ‘“Good! Now help me to disguise, and. I will hasten back to Bowlder Bar, and soon find out about this affair.” { ‘*T was accused Old Bombshell at once produced the disguise left in his possession by the deceased detective, With his host’s assistance, Red Robin soon disguised himself as a rough, bearded, weather- beaten miner, and was soon prepared to return to the camp from which he had fled the night before. ‘‘ Ah!” he exclaimed, ‘‘my horse! Some of omer may know it! What’s to be done about that?” ‘‘T hev er couple horses, pard. ’Tain’t very offen as I use oneon’em. You may hev her, an’ I reckon as how they’ll never tumble ter ther trick on that account.” With some reluctance the Reckless consented, He did not like to use any but bisown trusty stallion, but on this occasion he was obliged to do otherwise. ‘‘T’m a-goin’ with ye, pard,” Old Bombshell declared. ‘‘ Thet is, I’m a-goin’ part way. I'll be down Big Cat Canyon jist er piece, an’ if suthin’ has gone wrong, you kin mighty easy let me know.” They mounted their horses and _ started, Bombshell’s dog following them. A rapid ride, lasting less than an hour, took them in sight of the camp. Leaving Old Bombshell a short distance down the canyon, beyond the outskirts of the camp, Red Robin rode on alone. He entered the camp, a a his way directly toward the Clarion otel, Arriving at the hotel, he found a number of men upon the steps talking earnestly. Reining up the horse, he sat quietly mm the saddle, listen- ing to the conversation. He soon found that they were talking of the daring manner in which one man, unassisted, save by a dog, had put the guard to rout and rescued a prisoner ro the jail. That prisoner he knew was him- self. ‘‘ It was a darin’ piece o’ business,” one rough fellow declared. ‘* Yes, an’ ther rescuer war ther same ole cuss what we had cornered in the bar-room las’ nite,” put in another. ‘* Does any one know him?” ‘* He calls himself Ole Bumshell, an’ he hangs out somewhar’s back hyar amung ther hills,” ‘‘T heer thet Cyrus Gaines has stuck up er notiss offerin’ er reward fer them air galoots’ capter,” spoke up another. *‘ Yes,” replied the first speaker, ‘* five hun- dred dollars fer ther prisoner as was in ther jail, an’ er hundred fer ther other ae This was one of the points that Red Robin had desired information upon. He now sprung from the horse’s back and hitched the animal to a post that was in front of the hotel. Then he ascended the steps and entered the building. Simeon Small was in his usual place behind the bar, and there were a few loafers in the room. In order to successfully carry out the charac- ter he bad assumed, Red Robin advanced to the bar and called for liquor, Small at once waited on the customer, and Red Robin tossed off the fiery stuff as though he was in the habit of taking his ‘‘ bitters” daily. In a conspicuous place upon one of the bar- room’s walls was tacked a eree placard, upon which was written, in a clear, plain hand: “TAKE NOTICE! ‘‘$500 Reward is offered for the recapture of the ruffian who calls himself Red Robin, but who is, in truth, Captain Mystery, the road-agent, and who recently escaped from the jail in this place. Also— ‘* $100 Reward. for the capture of the fellow known as Old Bombshell, who assisted the above-mentioned ruffian to escape. These two men are both outlaws, and the law-abiding citizens of this canip are re- quested to make every exertion for their apprehen- sion. (Signed), Cyrus GAINES, ‘* Per order of the Vigalance Comm.” Red Robin’s eyes caught sight of this notice, and walking over to where it was posted, he read it carefully, yet apparently with great trouble, seeming to spell out each word. He turned carelessly away, and glancing through the wide-open doorway into the saloon and dance-room, to his surprise and pleasure, he saw Howard Thorne, sitting all alone at one O the deal-tables. There was no one else in the room. On Thorne’s face there was a strangely mingled look of excitement and moody thought- fulness, Red Robin advanced to the young man’s side, aud slapping him heavily on the shoulder, ex- claimed in a tone of voize loud enough to be heard in the bar-room: ‘‘How-are ye, young feller! Dog my cats ef you ain’t jist ther chap I’m lookin’ arter! Reckon you remember me?” ‘‘ Well, I can’t say that I do,” replied Thorne, somewhat angrily, for the slap that Red Rot had delivered et his shoulder had been fa from gentle. ‘“* Who in Halitax are you, any- way?” ‘*Me? Why, you don’t mean ter say that you don’t remember me, an ole feller-traveler. Rode mor’n er hundred mile wi’ yer. Why, I’m boze- man Jake.” Jake?” eT ‘** Bozeman don’t—” But a covert sign from Red Robin caused the young man to pause in his uncertain, hesitating S , and asthe disguised man sunk intoa chair by the table, he whispered quickly: ‘*T am Red Robin—easy!” Then he continued aloud: “Et can’t be thet you’ve fergot ole Jake, Why, don’t ye know, we agreed ter meet hyar an’ settle a little piece of business thet we war talkin’ about?” ‘‘To be sure I do!” exclaimed Thorne, com- prehending the situation. ‘How queer that I should forget!” Then they began conversing in lower tones. ‘*T didn’t know you at first,” said Howard, ‘¢ Your disguise is complete.” ‘‘Tt must be, for it deceived even the sharp- eyed bartender out there. He looked at me rather sharply, but I fancy he failed to recog- nize me.” ‘* But why are you thus disguised?” ‘‘T suppose you have heard of the little fracas that occurred here last night?” ‘T caught a few words that some of the roughs were saying about some kind of a blow- out; but did not heed them, Then there was a prisoner who escaped from the jail last night, and raised an infernal row in the camp.” ‘“‘ T was that prisoner.” “ You?” Howard Thorne was plainly astonished, and it was evident to Red Robin that the young man knew very little of the exciting occurrences of the previous night. With a few hurried words, the Reckless told Thorne of the affair and of the reward offered by Cyrus Gaines for his capture. The young man was astonished and indignant, ‘Well, what kind of a camp is this, anyway?” Howard exclaimed. ‘I believe there was more than one foul job done last night. Miss Blair is missing!” ‘‘ Missing?” exclaimed Red Robin. ‘* Then Ola Bombshell was right!” ‘Yes, she is missing. She did not appear this morning, and after rapping several times, the servant tried the door. Tt was locked, Every ye to arouse her was a failure, and finally they burst in her door, to find her bed tumbled, but the window open and the young lady gone.” ‘Then she*was abducted! As we came out of the jail door, Old Bombshell and I saw two horsemen gallop by, one of whom carried acress the saddle-bow what seemed to be a large bun- dle, but Bombshell declared that 1t looked like a woman. It may have been Miss Blair,” In a moment Howard Thorne became terribly excited. : ‘“‘It is the first clew!” he cried. ‘* They car- ried her away! She must be rescued!” **Coolly, coolly, young man. Hang to your chair,and keep your clothes on, Old Bomb- shell and myself are ready to do our best for the young lady. As for me, I have a notion that it may be for my interests to take a look after these outlaws, whom I believe abducted Miss Blair. Ibavea plan, Listen: ‘Old Bombshell is waiting for me a little way down Big Cat Canyon. If you wish to take a hand in this little affair, secure a good horse and join him there, Should we leave camp to- gether, it might awaken suspicion. Arm your- self well, and tell no one where you are going, We three are enough; we wantno more, I will join you presently, and in our future actions we will be guided by Old Bombshell.” The young man nodded bis comprehension. ‘“ Then away, at once!” said the Reckless, Thorne at once departed, leaving Red Robin still sitting beside the deal-table, gazing thought- fully at the floor. : He paid no attention to two rough-looking men whé came into the room and sat down near at hand, tut continued in his thoughtful atti- tude. ee Silently a little side-door opened, and Faro Kate, the asked Queen, appeared, She ad- vanced noiselessly into the room until she stood near Red Robin. Then she spoke: ‘Well, sir, why are you here?” He arose to his feet, but before he could reply she seized his cvat, and tearing it open, reveniea the red vest beneath, interrogatively.