Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 544 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

oe! po oa ie Ts. ' ae Pre % > * mG ye * » cae ae . eee? : a >" YS . 4 oe b <taw ry =" Y ~~ 1S we . y f ¥ . —— * ; ” -. ‘ + al ea . 7 se ad ‘ 3x . -. ct 79. ae Deadwood Dick, Jr., the Wild West Vidocq. ~— - wird =* dick any six of ’em single handed!” Fatal action ! ; ‘* You'll have todo it, I guess. They’ve got The next instant he received a Llow beside the a a grudge against you, and they’ll take it out, | head that felled him to the ground, and, ere he ‘too, mark my words, They allow it was you | could arise, he was pounced upon by a dozen Would they really lynch bim? ye That seemed to be their intention as soon as b) aan the new captain arrived, and, if such was their intention, what was to prevent them accom- “Oh! well, I wouldn’t fret about it. Very It was inclosed in a small envelope, and di- | ‘‘ Pshaw! He may not come till noon,” Rs 4Jikely he has wandered off somewhere, and will | rected in a woman’s hand. rowled another. ‘‘ Who wants ter hang ’round — mi turn up again, soon. By the way, young man, ‘* Well! [ wonder what this means?” Vidocq | ae dry as a grounded fish? Ef any one hed ~ PAS I heard considerable talk about you, and would | silently soliloquized. ‘‘Il was not aware that any rat poison et wouldn’t be so monoternous)” like you to answer me a question. What brought | bad any female correspondents in this town.” gree Wal, I’m jest ther pilgrim as carries a little © I “you here to Sockdolager?” With considerable eagerness he tore away the , 0’ thet same when I go to er necktie-party, you ,} : ‘* The stage-coach! envelope and spread the sheet out before him. gamble on it!” the first declared; ‘‘but thar i ‘*No! no! Ldon’t mean that, What business This is what he read; don’t happen ter be enuff ter go ther rounds 0’ have you got here?’ “ Deapwoop Dick. Srr:-— . ther gang, There’s jest a nice three-fingers for ; ‘* As much business as any one else, I reckon!” TI wish tu see you on a matter of great import- | all cept three of us. Let the dryest men o’ the : i Vidocq declared, nonchalantly. : ance, But, not at the tent. Come up thegulch, to | party hold up a hand.” or : Covington scowled, angrily. where the sign-board is, You will find me there. very man of the gang reared a brawny fist q | ‘Tt don’t always pay to be too facetious, **MuLE. Leonora!” inatanth : ‘ j ‘young man!” he said. ‘‘I want a civil answer Vidoeq could but give vent to a whistle of ‘** Hello! ‘Every one o’ ye is the dryest, hey?” I | to my question, sir.” astonishment as he read this. observed the first speaker, with a shake of the : , ** And I decline to give it. I don’t consider it ‘‘Wants to see me, eh?” he muttered. ‘I | head. ‘* That won’t do—no, siree! sure’s my : 7 sanybody’s business what I am here for!” wonder what for? Does she want to confess | name is Pipes! Thar’s suthin’ else got to be did, : Bp ‘*‘ We shall see about that. I represent this | that she is Stella? I don't know of any other | Lemme see. Ah! J have it: Let’s lash the pris- 4 ‘town in the capacity of mayor, aud it is my | reason. Or, maybe, I am in her. way, and she | oner to the big tree yonder, so there’s no danger ; "he ‘Cuty to look into matters of a suspicious nature. | wants to put me out! Well, Pll go, at ali | o’ his wigglin’ away, an’ then set down an’ play Bt The man you saw talking with me is Jake Peel, | hazards, and be on my guard!” the keerds to see which three uv us stays out in | ‘the new chief of the Regulators. He tells me He brushed up a little, and then set forth on | ther cold.” ‘Ap you’re a hard character, and that you are the | his journey, afoot, the distance not being great, This proposition was immediately greeted . | ‘famous road-agent, Deadwood Dick. What | and he did not wish to attract any unnecessary | with approval, for it was fair in its way, and ‘ i have you to say to that, now?” attention to his movements, the game had life enough in it to make it inter- | re ‘‘Nothing particularly, eitber one way or It was a bracing morning, and being a good | esting. a et another,” was the reply. ‘* As long asI mind | walker, he covered space rapidly. No time was lost in .getting ready. Each | my cwn business it’s nobody’s business who I In three-quarters of an hour he came in sight | man’s mouth watered for the first pull out of ti : | am.” of the sign-board which contained the Executive | that pre ious bottle, and the delay of Captain bt ee ip ‘* But, it is, though! If you're a character of | Committee’s manifesto, but, there was no sign | Jake Peel in arriving upon the scene was for the bt a ay ‘that sort, we don’t want you around this camp. | of human presence in the immediate vicinity. time forgotten. i : You came here and set yourself up as a bravo, The locality was sparsely timbered, the prin- Deadwoor Dick was lifted and lashed firml7 ‘ sand besides several quarrels, you openly defied | cipal wood being bunches of knotted chaparral. | to a large tree which grew near at hand, Then, ‘ the authority of the Vigilance Committee, and When he reached the sign-board, idoecq | equipped with cards, the twelve ruffians sat t } i ‘bluffed them off!” paused and looked keenly about him, but no | down upon the grass, a dozen yards away, to ; | Vidoeq laughed, lightly. sign uf Leonora did he see. gamble for the whisky. — : ERS iH ‘*That’s nothing!’’ he retarted. ‘* A pack of Even then he was unsuspicious of treachery, Dick paid ‘little or no attention to them, for poh , h | coyotes could do that, These men who set them- | for he leaned carelessly against a tree, and prv- | his mind was too busied in cogitating over the mn 9 ) | selves up to be the Executive Committee, I can | ceeded to light a cigar, problem of what was to become of him, Bet ) , who killed Elephant Epb, and they’re goin’ to | men, who leaped from a thicket near at vand. plishing it? } avenge him. So, if you know when you're well He struggled with the desperation of a mad- Dick was thoroughly helpless, and unable to | ; | -off, you'll slide out o’ town while you have the | man, to fight them off, but all to no use. defend himself. Nor was there apy person in | i opportunity. If give you this asa friendly tip, By superiority of numbers, alone, they over- | or near Sockdvlager who was likely to come to . for Jake Peel told me what were their inten- | powered him, and bound him, band and foot. his rescue, OH tions, and when he has un object in view he car- | Then, he realized how easily he had been Most discouraging, to be sure, was the out- ut ries 1t out, at all hazards!” fooled look; yet, when he came to remember the many miraculous escapes of bis past career, it brought him a faint ray of hope. ; The game of cards for the whisky was waging hot ani heavy, and so excited were the players that they paid no attention to their prisoner. Dick was silently remarking this fact when | he was startled by a whisper, Close to his right ear: “Sh! Iam going to cut you free, and then we will steal into the chaparral, and thence to a cave, of which no one knows but myself.” Dick made a movement of the bead, to indi- cate that he heard, and, at the same time watch- ed‘ the committee,fearful. lest they might look his way before he could be released. | But by far too interested were they in the game to think of him. One by one the ropes fell off, until he stood a free man, | Then he turned and saw a worman’s figure re- treating toward the chaparral, keeping the big tree Boma between her and the gang. He recognized in an instant who it was, It was Leonora! ; When she bad disappeared he followed as stealthily as a cat, and quickly reached cover, _ when both pushing on through the dense thicket without leaving a trail, entered a small cave, whose entrance this chaparral hid. | ‘* There! we're safe for the present,” Leonora announced, ‘*They do not, know of the exist- ence of this place, and will not look for it, for I have hidden two of their horses, and they will think we escaped by them!” ; ‘“ And, mademoiselle, [ owe you my life!” Dick said, gratefully, ‘How can I ever re- ward you for your bravery?” ; ‘No reward is wanted, sir. I felt you were in trouble—at least I dreamed so, last night— and when I saw you come this‘way, and know- ing those men had preceded you, earlier in the morning, I foresaw trouble and_ followed you, ‘A fig for your tips!" Vidoeq returned. ‘‘I The letter bad not come from Leonora, at ‘shall not leave this place, until [ get good and ready, and there are not enough people in the camp to make me go, So your advice is both ‘unsought and uncalled for!” ‘Very well, sir. Have your own way if it ‘suits you, but, if you’re determined to be as stubborn as a mule, [ hope they do go for you!” and the man turned away. ‘* All right!” Vidocq called out. ‘‘If you ‘had only expressed that wish in the first place, -you’d have saved a lot of breath!” Covington made no reply, but passed down "the steps and hurried away. - As he took his departure, a handkerchief =P iy from his pocket, and fell upon the Charles Covington had apeeae truly; he Was now in the power and at the mercy cf his ene- mies, the Executive Committee! They stood around and glowered down at him, with veriest triumph. CHAPTER XV. LEONORA GIVES IN. For a few seconds, Vidocq, or as we shall hereafter call him, Deadwood Dick, was too mad for utterance. His was one of those sensitive natures, that he would much rather be half-killed in a square and fair fight, than have any one get advantage of him by an act of mean cunning or treachery. And this very thing the Executive Committee had done, He had fallen right into the trap they had set for him, and really had no one to blame for it but bimself, ‘* Waal, me bucko, how do you find yourself?” one of the gang demanded, leaning over the fallen detective. ‘* Kinder took ye unexpected, didn’t we? Didn’t find so much gal heer as ye thought ye would, did yer?” Cott) 3 Dick’s lips remained sealed, but his gleaming eyes spoke volumes of defiance, ‘Ono! ye won't talk, hey? Waal, ye needn't. Wecan do all the chin-music thar’s needed for this nara oceasion, you bet! Yo see, we was bound to hev yé anyhow. Et war decreed b fate that you should appear before our tribunal, and amuse us by some feats on the tight-rope. We tried to persuade you to come into our fold, in ther usual manner, but you was too gentle and lamb-like ter obey, and so we had to resort to a leetle strategy, similar to that which the spider worked on the fly, ‘**Oh! [ tell you the new captain has a great head on him fer plannin’, an’ when he arrives, ? YT. Under any other circumstances, Vidorq would ave called his attention to tne loss; but, be had + ‘taken a positive dislike to Covington, and some ¢ impulse he coull not have explained, caused ion ‘him to let the man pass on without recovering his property. hen he was out of sight Vidocq picked up “the rag and examined it. It was certainly an old-timer, but in its better rddays had been a fine articlo of imported silk, In the center some deft hand had worked in ~colored silk the symbol of two clasped bands, ‘with a dove hovering above them. The color of the sulk thread used in this work "was yet quite distinct. ** An odd handkerchief,” Vidocq commented, ‘** and no doubt highly prized by its owner. It would seem, by this, that Covington must bave ‘married at some previcus period of his exist- ence; or, mayhap, this was a present from a sweetheart, Well, I'll rreeze to it, at least, vntil the owner comes looking aftir it,” and putting ‘it in bis pocket he thougbt no more about it for ‘the time ie, Soon after he retired for the night. ———— «2 6 e- oe™ i 7 —— Se all ~~“ A — . . 5 _— r, Ps SUE ne ieee sss Xb se But he got little sleep, through wondering | we're goin’ ter have sum fun wi’ ye, you bet— | with the result you have seen. I thought I was ~what had become of ol4 Si, ain’t that so, me larkies?” she on a wild-goose chase at first, but, fortunately ~ That foul play had befallen him now seemcd There was a guttural murmur of assent. for you, I was not!” fe ae cas good as settled. But, how and where? ‘¢ What’s ther use 0’ waitin’ for the capt’in?” “Do you know what brought me out bere? am Vidocg finally wearied of puzzling his brain | growled one of the committee, ‘“ Why not ‘* How should I?” m es , ~——s« sover the matter, and dropped asleep. string the feller up, ter onc’t, and have done | ‘‘ Well, read that and you will find out. i: . | Sy oy 4 He arose early, and, securing a ehh took & | wi’ it?” 5 He handed her the note he had received, and oe. ay brisk gallop down the gulch for several miles, | — ‘Not much, Mister Sandy Jim! Ther capt’in | she sed ther galoot war to hev a fair trial before he rh fumph she said. ‘*A very clever trick.to war gi’n his send-off, an’ the capt’in is boss. | draw you into a trap, I should say!” : What he sez goes, an’ no proceedin’s can proceed They conversed for some time, and then Dick till the capt’in comes, You heer me!” | said: | : ) ‘ ae weeling greatly exhilarated on his return for . Lie After breakfast he found a note waiting for ae (him at the hotel office,’ eee. Bh — Oe. Nn. 8.0 00350KRpeeeO«O SSS OO