Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 523 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

4 “ —— — Sa 7 _ — NS Ee EE ee Oe 1" = 12 nine, now stepped forward and confronted the ssa ge gg = ‘You are not wrong in your conjectures, stranger,” he exclaimed. ‘‘ We did bring you here to take part ina bit o’ sport, jest as a sorter afterpiece to the fandango over to the city, yonder. The Canyon folks seem so proud of yer, that we hev decided to lay ’way over their racket, an’ give yer a pleasant enter- tainment, not down on the bills,’ ‘* Indeed! How kind of you, to be sure.” **'You see, we hev assigned the chief part in the programme to you; but 1s’pose when you learn what it is, you'll kick likea mule. An’ Ole Nick hisself couldn’t blame yer, Ha, ha!” ‘*My Christian friend, your language is too obscure for my comprehension,” gravely ex- claimed the Dandy Sp rt. ‘‘ Please come to the point, at once, and put anend to this foolish- ness, ‘*Ther end will cum all too soon, don’t yer woiry ’bout that. Now, my gay young leather- twister, let’s get down ter solid, hard-pan biz- ness. Ter commence with, do you know who we are?” ‘*T have seen some of you before, certainly,” admitted the Wizard, with a sarcastic smile, ‘* Then, seein’ as how ye recognize us, mebbe ou’ve got sense enuff to suspicion what we're hyar for. Young man, behold in us a dread tribunal, representing the mighty burgh of Sil- verton, whose sole object bhyar to-night is ter wipe out ther lickin’ that you, cuss you, give ter ‘us this afternoon, Ay, look on us, you inferne! monkey, an’ tremble clear to the bottom of yer patern-leather boots, for we are hyar on biz an’ thar’s blood in our eyes.” ** Well?” ‘‘Our fame is gone an’ sois our money, an’ you are the cause of it. We could hev cleaned out the camp easy, if you hadn’t stuck your in- fernal nose inter the pie. You had no bizness ter meddle with the game, anyway, an’ we hev resolved to hev our revenge, an’ put ye where all sich extraordinary ball-tossers kin be dis- pensed with. So say’yer prayers, Mr. Pitcher, if yer knows enny, ’cause time is short, an’ we've got a long road ter travel.” Algernon Arnold stared at the speaker in amazement, and when ‘he finished speaking, a loud laugh escaped the lips of tae Dandy Sport. ‘*This beats everything in my varied experi- ence!” he exclaimed, amusedly. ‘‘It strikes me that the East and West are greatly at variance as regards base-ball. Out there, to be sure, we occasionally mob the umpire, just to vary the monotony; but never does the unsuccessful club seek the lives of its opponents, simply because they have been beaten in a fair and square game. Verily, gentlemen, you have a forcible way of doing things here in the rowdy West.” The Silvertonian laughed demoniacaliy. ** Your opinion ’jl be strengthened afore many minutes,” he said, grimly. **Come, men, get to work an’ dispose of this young Dandy without further palaver. Too much time has been lost already. Make haste, or we shall have the gang from Canyon City at our heels.” Several stalwart fellows advanced and seized the sport. The cords about his waist were cast off, leaving his arms free; but at the same time he was held fast in a grip impossible to shake off. Next, a long rope Was produced, at one end of which nimble fingers quickly formed a slip-knot. This was dropped over Arnold’s head, and drawn taut about his breast just below the arms. Up to this time, the base-bail sport, not in the least alarmed, had treated the adventure in the light of a huge joke; but these ominous pre- parations caused him no little uneasiness. ‘‘ Pardon me, gents,” he said calmly, ‘‘ but I think this farce has gone about far enough. Be ood enough to teil me what you propose to of?” ‘* Simply to fire you into Satan’s Kettle,” an- nounced the Silverton leader, grimly. ‘ You'll a play ball ag’in, my festive dude! Ha, a Brave though he was, the young Easterner shuddered, and his face grew asby pale. There could be no doubt now but what the men of Silverton were verribly in earnest. Maddened by defeat, they were determined to have ven- nee on the young man who had caused their iscomfiture. Plainly there was 10 hope for mercy. A glance into the sea of faces revealed not a look of pity. Algernon Arnold, the Wizard Arm, was doomed! It was a terrible scene, upon which the flaring torches shed their weird and fitful gieain. a a a a ae eee eee SS The Dandy Sport. Ths stern voice of the leader broke the death- like stillness, ‘** Hurry, boys! Over with him!” Willing hands grasped the rope, while others urged the victim to the verv brink of the preci- pice. In an instant the luckless sport was low- ered as far as the sength of the rope would acess into the dismal depths of the frightful abyss! ‘*Hold tight, boys, and drop ’er when I give the word. Steady, now! One, two, three!” The Dandy Sport poised motionless for an instant in mid-air; then, with a last, long, despairing cry, shot like a bullet, down—down into the horrible depths of Satan’s Kettle! CHAPTER XII, UNDERGROUND, Down, like a stone, shot the Dandy Sport through the vacant air! Down—down, into the unknown depths of Satan’s Kettle, from which strange, weird sounds ascended, as of countless demons eager to claim their newest victim! Down—down with the velocity of a rifle-shot, not to be dashed to fragments upon jagged rocks, but to find himself immersed in water of extra- ordinary depth! Fortunately, Arnold had maintained an up- right position throughout the terrible descent, and now struck the water feet first, shooting be- neath the surface like a flash. Down he went, till it seemed the bottom would never be reached; then, rebounding like a rubber ball, shot up to the surface again. His breath fairly forced from his body by the. rush of air, Algernon lost all consciousness dur- ing the frightful descent: but the icy water revived him, and he opened his eyes to find him- self floating calmly on the surface. Stiff and sore, and gasping for breath, the young man looked bewilderedly about bim, wondering where he was, aud scarcely crediting the fact that he was still in the land of the living. It was, indeed, a miraculous escape. Only the extreme depth of thestream at that particu- lar point had, by breaking the force of the fall, saved him from instant death. The sport was faint and weak, his brain spun round like a top, and it was only by a su- preme effort that he kept from sinking again beneath the surface. besides, the water was icy cold, and chilled him to the bone, adding to his misery the prospect of soon perishing, unless he speedily escaped from the treacherous ele- ment, It was impossible to locate his whereabouts, for night covered the scene with her inky pall. Impenetrable blackness reigned on every hand. Algernon only knew that he was in the stream flowing at the bottom of Spirit Canyon, and that the current was stoadily bearing him in some unknown direction. His first thought was to escape from the icy element that chilled him through and through. Reaching vaguely forward in the darkness, his hand encountered a rocky wall. Eagerly clutching a projecting point, the sport, bending all his energies to the task, suc- ceeded in dragging himself from the-water. He judged A was upon a sort of rocky plat- form, amply wide enough toform a resting-place for his weary body, and Arnold wisely con- cluded to wait and recover some of his lost strength, ere continuing his investigations. Being destitute of light-—not possessing even a match—he could only conjecture as to his where- abouts. One thing was certain, however. He was somewhere at the bottom of Spirit Canyon, and how he could ever reach the trail, a hun- dred feet above, was @ question that puzzled him not a little. After resting a few minutes, the young colle- gian felt strong enough to proceed, He made his way carefully on hands and kneos, cautiously feeling every foot of ground, lest he should be suddenly precipitated into some unseen abysm. t was apparent that he was now in a rude sort of tunnel, and after progressing some dis- tance without coming to a terminus, a most un- pleasant idea suddenly occurred to the young adventurer, Instead of being in the canyon bed, as he at first supposed, the sport bad been caught up by the swiftly-running waters, and wafted through some yawning fissure in the rugged wall. At this moment he was underground, w the very heart «f the mountain, hopelessly lost, with darkness his only ccmnpanion, Strange as it might seem, the more he ponder- ed, the stronger grew his convictions that such t= : — eee ee press forward, Behind him lay nothing but the icy waters; in front of him was—what? The open air, perbaps—light and liberty! The thought inspired the adventurer with’ renewed hope. Siowly Algernon moved forward, eagerly fol- lowing the serpentine course of the mysterious underground passage, hopeful that it would at length lead him to the open air, Suddenly a light appeared ahead. It was not a brilliant light, buta dull, phosphorescent glow that seemed weird and unearthly, contrasted with the intense gloom of the passage, Surely no common fire ever emitted such a wondrous glow; there was something supernatural in its appearance, and Arnold felt a peculiar sensa- tion creeping up and down his spine. But the young man never faltered. There was nothing superstitious about bis nature, and after the first start of surprise, he deliberately made his way toward the mystical light. Nearer and nearer he approached, only to pause at Just, acry of unfeigned astonishment welling from his lips. The tunnel bad terminated; and the adven- turer now stood at the entrance to a spacious cavern, the roof and walls of which were adorn- ed with all the wealth and beauty of nature’s handiwork, forming a spectacle wonderful to contemplate. Hundreds of beautiful stalactites, wreathbed into all manner of fantastic shapes, bung pen- dent from the roof of the chamber, reflecting all the varied tints of the rainbow, and glitter- ing like diamonds in the soft, mellow light. Curiously shaped stalagmites covered the rocky floor, while the walls on all sides exhibited the wondrous result of nature’s marvelous handi- craft. Illuminated by a strange, mellow radiance, coming from some invisible source, the under- ground chamber presented a scene of dazzling splendor, The marveling observer might be pardoned if he imagined himself suddenly trans- ported to the magic realms described by the Arabian Nights, Astonished beyond measure, Algernon Arnold stared interestedly at the wondrous scene. He had heard of these stalactic caverns, but the beauty and grandeur of the specimen before bim far eclipsed his most vivid imagination. But whence came the spectral light that per- vaded the chamber, touching euch object with iis mellow glow? The Dandy Sport reached up and broke off a elittering pendant; his fingers, upon. handling the fragment, emitted the same unearthly light. The truth was clear enough now. While the ignorant or superstitious would ascribe the strange illumination to supernatural] causes: yet it was, nevertheless, caised by the action of peculiar chemical properties in tke atmosphere, phosphorus predominating, For some moments the adventurer stood with- in the chamber, forgetting his own misfortunes, as he contemplated the beauties of the scene before him, Suddenly a faint sound reached the young man’s ears, breaking the deathlike silence that pervaded the cave, Attentively he listened. He was not mistaken. W hat was undoubtedly the sound of approaching footsteps, warned him he was about to have company jn the under- eround chamber. Arnold hastily dodged into a convenient recess, Where he could see and not be seen. SS Who was the new-comer—friend or foe, spirit or mortal? The Dandy Sport did not have to wait long for an auswer, for suddenly a tall, gaunt form appeared within the illuminated space, coming from a point directiy Opposite Algernon’s hiding-place. And as the new-comer paused, intense excite- ment written on his countenance a8 bis eyes fell upon the glittering scene, the beart of the watcher gave a tumultvous leap, for he recog- meee his recently-found friend—Tonimy the Kid! With a joyous shout, Arnold bounded from his hiding-place, and contronted the startled Kid. Enough had already been revealed to Tommy to astonish him exceedingly, and now the unexpected appearance of the sport served to complete his amazement. With blanched face and shivering frame, the boy sleuth, firmly believing -he was confronte by an apparition, sunk tremblingly upon the stony floor, wildly Waving back the sup phantom, But Algernon’s cheery voice reas- sured him, ‘Come, Tommy, my man, brace up and have was indeed the case. Utterly bewildered, the | some style about you! Don’t lie there shaking Dandy hesitated. However, there was no alternative but to and shivering like an Alabama nigger, down with the ague. What's the matter, I say?” sci * ase - fuk, oer - ~~ a