Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 534 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

$$$ the cattle-ranges below, others were to go to 7 work in the mines, above, or go off on prospect- | ing towrs through the range, while not a few in- tended to hang around ‘Red Dog, and live by a their wits. These, as may be surmised, were mostly gamblers, and sharpers. Red Dog, considering its size, is about as live- ly a town as there is in Arizona, te During the winter and spring, it has an ex- tensive floating population, and lots of money is left there; consequently, it is a sort of an Elysian Field for the nimble-fingered card-sharp, if and the equally expert pickpocket. ) The mines contribute a regular flow of pards who cannot rest until they’ve ‘ blowed in’ their last dollar on games or ‘ booze’; the cowboys would die of ennui if they missed their periodi- cal monthly spree; then, there are cattle-buyers with fat wallets, and men who have come to the sunny clime in search of homes, all of whom aah contribute to ake Red Dog a red-hot and ram- pant resort, | One of the most popular and respected, as i,» well as one of the most wealthy men of Red Dog, was Alonzo Israel, the banker and broker. 7 He was a Hebrew, but a genial, accommoda- 2 ting man, and was esteemed by all who knew hin, He did not exactly do a regular banking busi- Ms ness, but exchanged paper money for gold, and took sums of money for safe-keeping, charging a percentage for the sane. He had the only burglar-proof safe in the town, and made quite a respectable income out of this business alone, Israel was a bachelor, and lived in the little a ; board office, where he carried on his business. 9 Although no one knew positively, it was gen- 3 erally understood that he was very rich. th , If a tenderfoot struck the town of Red Dog, eg without the price of a mealin his wallet, Israel 7 would invariably go down in his pocket and c | help the poor *‘ cuss” out; and it was these little acts of charity that made him popular. Several days before that which opens our story, a syndicate of cattle-men had struck the town of Red Dog, and, at the advice of the “ast sheriff, had made a large deposit of money with Israel, for safe-keeping, until they should want 4 ; to use it. | ' This, with various other amounts which he a had on band, made the Jew the custodian of a ak good-sized fortune of other people’s money—a ee responsibility that many another a man would not have cared to shoulder, for as in most far Western towns Red Dog had a plentiful supply - of tough characters, and it was by no means | safe for a man to have any considerable sum of money about his clothes, after dark. : And, now, this morning, the people of Red Dog were thrown into a state of great excite- ment, by the discovery of the murder, The earliest citizen abroad was a man named Grady, whe, in passing Israel’s office, saw that a the door was wide open, a Suspecting that all was not right, he turned ee back, entered the office, and there found the Jew lying in a pool of blood—dead! Grady Fabian ee sounded an alarm, and fp , soon had the whole town aroused, and the ma- a jority of them congregated about the Jew’s ‘7 office, A When it was further discovered that the safe ie: had been opened, and robbed of everything of i." value, the excitement became unprecedented. | Who had committed the double crime? ay , Here was a question that found expression on , every hand, but which no one could answer. Ld There were plenty of ruffians in the place, - who were none tco good to commit such a crime, “a - but no clew to the identity of the murderer had a ' been left behind; so who was to be suspected? : This was a matter which the sheriff, Bill | Booth, and the syndicate of capitalists, discussed in all its different lights, but without coming to «. any definite conclusion. Booth knew the pedigree of nearly every local crook in the town, and, after a private inspec- 7 s tion, came to the conclusion that none of them a ! had had a hand in the murder and robbery. & _ - On the other hand, there was a Jarge influx of : strangers in camp, of various stations in life, Res. and it was not improbable that there were one | or more of the lot who had been connected with the tragedy. a This theory was further strengthened by the ue. fact that the safe had undoubtedly been opened Th by an expert, there being no marks to indicate OP : that the heavy door had been forced open. After the sheriff had expressed his opinion to ' 3 syndicate and a number of others who had > en heavy losers, a resolution was Peele and ‘ho offering five hundred do se sor the reclamation of the stolen property, and RE an additional like sum for the capture of the rs reward, d , * , i » Me 4 ¢ on LE . A” ee, pd v “~“+ Deadwood Dick’s Death Hunt. / safe-robber, or robbers, to which a few of I[sra- el’s friends added another five huudred for the capture and conviction of the murderer. All day long the streets of Red Dog were thronged with a crowd of restless, excited and revengeful people, and the outlook for the mur- derer, should he be found, was exceedingly du- bious, But, that he would be found, was also exceecd- ingly doubtful. That he had secured at least twenty thousand dollars’ worth of plunder was reason enough for him never to be seen again in that vicinity. The syndicate, and a few other losers, held consultation, nearly all day, in an upper room of the Arizona Hotel, where, liberally supplied with wines and liquors, they awaited the inves- tigdtions that were being prosecuted by the sheriff. Among the lot was aman named, or who gave his name as, Abram Audley. He claimed to be a New York broker, and averred pee he was out six thousand dollars by the rob- ery. He was a stout indvidual, with a huge recidish beard, and hair to match, and taking into con- sideration the fact that he was not very well dressed, he looked more like an Indiana hoosier than a metropolitan speculator, Late in the afternoon there came a knock up- on the door of the room occupied by the consult- ing committee, and upon the door being opened, a seedy-looking individual walked in. Yes, not alone was he seedy in appearance, but be looked decidedly like a bummer. He was of a good figure, but his garments were loose, ill-fitting, patched and greasy. He wore a thick, yellowish beard, with hair to match, and the fiery hue of what of his visage was to be seen, proclaimed that beyond doubt he was addicted to excessive use of strong drink, A badly wrecked white plug hat was crushed down upon his head; six dangerous-looking re- volvers gave a bristling aspect to his belt, and in his right hand he carried a heavy cane, which was a serviceable weapon, in itself. As soonas Fresident Lawrence of the syndi- cate opened the door, this uncomely individual stalked into the room, without invitation, and plumped himself down into a chair, with a snort of relief. Lawrence closed the door, and turned to the new-comer: ‘** Well, sir,” he demanded, ‘‘ who are you, and what do you want here?” ‘** Me ?” queried the bummer, with a sort of lear, ‘* Why, I tho’t I'd jest drop in an’ see if I couldn’t make a dicker for the job!” ‘**The job? What job do you mean, sir?” _“* Why about ther murder an’ robbery bizness. When I struck ther town to-day, I see’d all ther reward papers stuck up round, an’ my han’s got to itechin’ ter fondle them ’ar shekels, an’ so I tho’t [’d mazurky up here and see ef T couldn't corral the ps ‘*Humph! What do you know about the murder or robbery?” ** Nary a bit, ’cept I heerd ’em talkin’ ’bout it, round town.” ‘Then, how on earth do you, a greenhorn, expect to bs able to ferret out the mystery of this crime?” ‘*Greenhorn, hey? Lookee heer, stranger, I reckon you don’t know who you’re talkin’ to, do er? ‘* Well, can’t say that I do, and don’t know as Icare to, Judging by appearances, I should not estimate you to be a person of much account!” ‘*Shouldn’t, hey? Waal, neow, thar’s whar yer plum off yer kerbase, Guess ye never heerd of Old Sly Slater, the Premier Sleuth?” ‘* Never!” , ** Waal, I’m he, an’ I don’t take no back pew fer any detective in the land! Yer noddle o’ memory must be off on a strike, or ye w’u’d recomember of heerin’ uv at least some o’ my exploits ” ‘I never heard of any of them, nor of you, either!” Lawrence replied, coldly, ‘‘and as for you being a detective, my opinion is that about the only thing you can detect, is bad.whisky!” ° **'Ye don’t mean it?” ** Most assuredly !” ‘An’ yer think I ain’t what I represented? ‘Ye take me fer an impostor?” ‘*T must confess that I do.” ‘** And I, too,” spoke up Abram Audley. “*Oh! you do, do yer?” and the uncouth de- tective turned his gaze upon the New Yorker. ‘‘ Who in thunder are you, I’d like to know, ou red-whiskered galoot? Fer a chaw of ter- r, ['d waltz over thar and spit in yer eye. I’m a bad man from Jumpin’-off Place, I am and I eat a fricasseed lunk like, you fer breakfast ~ ‘ev’ry mornin’, Ef ye doubt et, jest spit on yer hands and come fer me, and see how quick I'll | make a mummy out o’ you.” | And springing to his feet, the Premier Sleuth struck a pugilistic attitude, | President Lawrence likewise arose to his feet. sie See here, my man, this won’t do,” he de- | clared, emphatically. ‘‘We can’t be annoyed by any sucb business as this; and, what’s more, we won't, We don’t know you, and don’t want | to have anything todo with you. If you area | detective, why, go about your business, and fer- | ret out the murderer. If you succeed, you will receive the rewards. So now, have the kind- | ness to take your departure, and don’t intrude | upon us again.” ‘* Ye don't say?” | ‘* Yes, [ do say it, and I mean it!” | **S’posin’ I ain’t ready to go?” | ‘In that case, [ presume there are enough of us to throw you out!” ‘*Reckon ye’r’ off thar. But Ill go, jest the same, since ye say so. But, as tur brick-beard over thar, lve sized him up fer a skin, and he’ll bear watchin’?” | «And with this declaration, Sly Slater turned and stalked from the room. CHAPTER IT. A STARTLING WAGER. THE Jockey Saloon was one of the popular resorts of Red Dog, at the time of which we write, for that class of male bipeds who were won’t to indulge in ‘ booze,” or had any par- ticular fancy for the fascinating sport of ‘* buck- ing the tiger.” ‘he place in itself was quite attractively fit- ted up, and its big patronage brought in a small-sized mint of money to the coffers of its proprietor, Pat Kelly. Moreover, Red Dog had, for several years, maintained a reputation of harboring a square, ‘and the men wuto laid a fortune upon the turn | of a card, as the saying goes, were not a few. The night following the murder of Alonzo Is- rael found the Jockey filled with a large au- dience of sporting men, combined with a sprink- ling of business men, who had dropped in to pass away a social hour or two. The tables were all running at full blast, es- pecially the poker games, which took the prefer- ence to faro and roulette. At one table an exceedingly lively game of poker was in session, where, besides the banker, several other parties were playing—among the number, President Lawrence, of the Eastern Syndicate of Capitalists, Abram Audley, Sheriff Bill Booth, Hair Trigger, a noted pistol-shot and bad-mau-in-general, and a rather dandified but good-and-courageous looking young man of some three or four and twenty years of age. He was sportively dressed, wore good jewel- | ry, and with an intelligent countenance, bright brown eyes, and sunny hair and mustache, was a decidedly attractive-looking person, | The game was a hundred-dollar limit, and judging by the pile of chips in front of him, Hair Trigger was largely ahead. Another peculiar fact about this individual was, that he alone of the half-dozen players, had a revolver lying upon the table at his right hand, cocked and ready for use, The game progressed for over an hour, with little partir, Men by any one, although every one but Hair Trigger was losin tp He seem- ed to have the phenomenal luck of not losing a pot, although, to all appearances, the dealing was perfectly square. Finally the banker declared himself out of the game, although he still acted as banker. He was soon followed by the sixth man, and —--- almost immediately was followed by President Lawrence, Abram Audley hung out for awhile longer until he had dropped about five hundred dollars, when he too declared quits. Hair-Trigger then turned to the sport. ** Done, pardner?” he queried, ‘““By no means. I’ve afew hundreds more, and if I lose em, I’ve some diamonds!” _ Hair-Trigger’s eyes sparkled, greedily, for he had already noticed that the jewels worn by the sport were of considerable value. | “All right, pardner!” he said. ‘‘ You're game, and I like to play with a game man, So, if you lose you mustn’t kick, By the way, if you’ve no objections, ’d hke your name. It always makes it pleasanter for one toknow who ~ one is playing with!” . “My name is Jolly Johnson,” was the brief reply; and there the conversation dropped, and the game went on, two-handed. | But luck did not change, for Hair Tri geer won steadily, and at last Jolly Johnson lost his ‘ last dollar, \