Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 618 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

r r Po } ar. FER OE Oe ee ee ; ¢ a ‘10 ‘‘Sonny,” he said, ‘‘ them’s the first real tears I’ve shed sence yer mother died, but ef what the boy sez be true he'll never hev to work ag’in while J live!” “Bully fer you, dad!- an’ after you've turned up yer toes I'll see he wont want for nothin’ Ah! he’s comin’ to. The brandy hes fixed him!” ‘‘Then go order the cook an’ darter ter get the best fodder ther’ is in the house, and have et got here quicker’n lightnin’, I'll bet the boy kin eat a shoat all by himself. Poor feller!” and old Cliucher knelt, and chafed the bootblack’s hand, while tears coursed down his furrowed cheeks. ‘‘ Ter think he’d a-done all o’ this fer me! He's one 0’ ther old stock, an no mistake about thet. Poor boy! I never was much fer charity, but this ar’ the sort as desarves et, an’ he'll get et, ef I hev ter part wi’ every hog I’ve got at the yards.” Peter scon came back into the realms of consciousness with a gasp, and stared around him. ‘Where am 1?” he demanded; then, espv- ing Clincher, he put his hand to his head. ‘‘Oh, [know. Iam at old Clincher’s. Yes, [ come d'rect heer from the ferry. Guess I fell asleep, eh, boss?” ‘* Yu fainted, my boy,’’ Clincher replied huskily. “Oh! that’s it. I got here, and had to huga lamp-post. I tell ye yer gal was all right?” “You did.” “Then, will you let me lay down on that sofa a minute till my head gitsclearer? Dun- no what ails me. I feel as if i'd been drink- in’, but I hain’t,” Old Clincher averted his face to conceal a smile, for he knew what the matter was. In his haste the Bull-dog had put too much of the rich old brandy down the bootblack’s throat. No wonder Pepper thought he had been ‘‘ boozing.” He lay on the sofa a while scratching away at his head; then he sat up. ‘‘T feel beter now,” he said, ‘‘’cept [I’m hungry. But you kin kick me from here clear over the Rhine if I know where I got the jag.” This was too much for Clincher. He could enjoy a good joke as well as the next one. He had kept a sober face half afraid the brandy would do more harm than good; but now he could hold in no longer, and roared with laughter, ‘‘ What ye laffin’ at?” Peter demanded. ‘‘Sonny,” the hog magnate said, ** while e was in a faint you needed su’thin’ ter race you out o’ it, an’ so my son he chucked some sperits down you, and I reckon he over- estimated your capacity, an’ give yer too much!” Just then the Bull-dog re-entered. ‘“Yer supper will be heer in a jiffy, my lad,” he announced, ‘‘and after you've hed er fodder, we’ll wanter hear yer adventures. 3ut in ther mean time, will ye answer two questions?” ** Reckon I kin do that.” | —_——_— -——_ Felt kinder faintish ‘fore Did Supper was served and Pepper gorged himself; then, equipped with money, he de- parted, which brings us up to the opening line of this cbapter. While eating, we may add, the boy had told the Clinchers of his adventures. ‘‘When I went off in s’arch 0’ Stinson and Blackman,” he said, ‘‘I was not long in diskiverin’ that I was bein’ follered by Dead- wood Dick. Ireckoned he were suspicious o’ me, but I kept right on; but he still dogged me. Byme-by, he see I was all right, and jined me an’ we continued the search to- gether. ‘‘We found Stinson and Blackman at the Newport river front, an’ they were waitin’ fer a down-river steamer. They stated thet Moore an’ King had taken a boat ahead of us an’ had purchased tickets for Cairo, Lller- nois. ‘So, when ther boat came erlong, we all took passage. The blokes must ’a’ hed a chap a watchin’, ter put ther coves on guard, fer when we got ter Cairo, we found thet the two hed fled down to Arkansas, or had _ slid up stream inter Tenne see, “Stinson took sick, and Blackman, who thought the game had gone to Little Rock, sed he'd go thar. Dick tried ter argue wid him, but he wouldn't hev it, an’ so Dick told him to go ahead ef he wanted to. ‘He waited, along wid me, in Cairo, fer two days, afore we got any news; then he found out from a gambler as he had spotted as one of King’s chums, that Kingand Moore had gone back on their tracks and made a run up into Tennessee beyoud Nashville, gittin’ off at a place called Fosterville, whar they would meet some confederates an’ go up to a place they had in the hills. “That was nuts fer us, sc away we went for Fosterville, about four days behind the game, but the scent was hot an’ Dick kept it, I tell you / ‘When we arruv at Fosterville, Dick he soon learned all about the lay ov the land, an’ which way the trail into the bill led. So we got hosses an’ started and rode a hull day, when we stopped with a planter named Par- sons, fur the night. From him Dick gota cheap o’ news about a place up in the hills whar King and Moore often went, for Par- sons had kept them over night often. This rendyvous was kept by old Zep King, who Dick beiieved was the gambler’s father, an’ a hard old nut he was, accordin’ to Parsons’s say. ‘‘Well, in the mornin’ Dick left me_ with the planter, an’ takin’ his bearin’s, as he called it, said he would go and reconnoiter. ‘* fle didn’t come back till near night, an’ then he was as white as plaster-paris. He called me aside, an’ he sez fo me: ‘I’m wounded, but not seriously. They know we are on their track, and are surrounded by a big gang of men who will stand by ’em. Ther’s not enuff people around heer to help us. I’m goin’ back on watch duty to see they don’t escape. If I see they go to sleep, I'll be back by daybreak. Ef I’m not back then, you'll off for Cincinnati. an’ fetch the Deadwood Dick Jr. in Cincinnati. | with reinforcements, prior to their departure: for Tennessee. When the Bull.dog returned from Cincin- nati, he had been accompanied by six sturdy fellows of his own type. ‘ Mr. Clincher was in excellent spirits over the probable recovery of his daughter, but anxious about the safety of Deadwood Dick. Peter Pepper had had a solid night’s rest, a change of raiment, and was feeling like a fighting-cock, The bull-dog, enveloped in a huge ulster overcoat, strode to and fro restlessly. ‘‘l do wish we could be movin’'!” he growled; but in a little while he cried: ‘‘ Hurra! thar comes ther boyees!” A little steamer was just nosing in, and the Bull-dog espied some of his men—the ‘* Bully Boys from Butte,” as he denominat- ed them. As soon as they landed, the party set out. for the nearest restaurant and had a ‘‘ feed,” for the hour being so early, none of them bad yet breakfasted. While they ate it was discussed which was. the nearest way to.reach a point, where young Pepper averred he could take the purt of scout and lead the party to Planter Parsons’s, and the planter would guide them into the mountains. , : ‘“Well, | reckon we'd better take to the cars at once. ‘The Central aire the nighess route I know of. Et runs straight for Chat- tanooga. Bin over et myself, after hogs.”’ Old Clincher had not come short-handed for money, and the whole party were soon ou the Southern Express, speeding along at the rate of thirty miles an hour, en rowte for Fos- terville, which was reached that evening at dusk. It was now night, and altbough young Pepper was eager for starting for the a2 cent hills where he supposed his much be- loved Deadwood Dick was a prisoner, Mz. Clincher, who was weak and tired, objected, So the party put up at the best tavern the village afforded. But between the Bull-dog and Pepper there was an understanding, and that understand- ing was to the effect that they were to make a nocturnal trip to the Parsons plantation. So, after supper the two ordered their horses of a livery man, and set off. The bootblack took the lead, but with re- markable cleverness, and in the course of q few hours they reached the house of Parsons. Parsons, who was a strapping, big-hearted fellow, welcomed Peter, cheerily, and like- wise, William Clincher. ‘‘ Well, what's the news?” Peter asked. ‘Heard anything from my chum?” ‘¢ Nothing!” Parsons replied, ‘‘I’m ’fraid et isall up with him. It was atough gang as hung out at old Zeb King’s. Zeb runs an unlicensed still, and has a good bit of money ut by, they say. Of course I do not med- dle, fer I’m the only farmer within ten miles o’ heer, and don’t dare interfere, for if I did, I’d wake up some mornin’, and find myself dead, or my buildin’s all afire. ‘‘T took a skirmish up that way, last night, i ar i ‘‘Where is my friend, Deadwood Dick?” | Bull-dog back with reinforcements. I will | tho’, fer I felt consarned about yer friend. | ‘*Same’s yer sister—a prisoner.” most likely have been captured, or maybe | But, old Zeb’s cabin war dark, and there ‘‘And the other two detectives—Stinson Tell old Clincher his daughter is still | was no stir about. 1 didn’t dare venture too and Blackman?” alive. Tell the Bull-dog to bring men as | near, for if 1d been caught, et would bin ‘¢Stinsterson he tuck sick at Louisville, an’ | ain’t afraid to fight, and don’t let the grass’| death to me, an’ my family, too.”’ last we heerd o’ Blackman, he had gone on a! grow under your feet, if I’m not back,”’ ‘‘What time war ye up thar?” asked the ‘* false scent way off to Little Rock. We, by ‘“ And I didn’t, you can bet your boots! I} Bull-dog. i luck, struck a different trail, an’ we follered | came back as quick as railroads could bring ‘Not long after dark,” et night an’ day. That's why I’m so played | me, and now you knowalll know. A gango’ “Do they generally go to bed so early as { out. At last we were s’prised, an’ Dick was | men must go ter her rescue.” that?” L knocked silly and captured. I slid fer heer, This was thesum and substance of the reve- ‘Not generally. The men who hang out i fer money, grub, an’ reinforcements. You } lation made by the bootblack to the Clinchers | in the hills, know old Zeb’s as an all-night i _ two chaps hev got ter pull on yer travelin’- | before he left ‘‘fer hum.” house. His whisky costs him little, an’ he | ha caps, and go ’long wid me.” gives big measure, an’ draws considerable % “« Where?” | CHAPTER XII arg | he ‘‘Tennessee. In de mount’ins.” iy ee ‘‘D’ye think there: war any purtickler . * b «You will not be able to start to-night?” OFF FOR TENNESSEE. cause fer his place bein’ dark, when ye were |” foi} ‘‘Muchly not. I must have rest. After} Buvto proceed: _ there?’ Charley asked. é | } ese supper, I skin fur hum, To morrow morn- The party on the N**! ort river-front were ‘Well. I bad a suspicion, but I didn’t feel =) i, in’ you'll find me ready fer work ag’in. not waiting fora boat _ ; the arrival of one { safe in attempting to verify it.” — Wi an cf a ; ‘ : =. ry 7 1). “ “ Sgn Me Nee 3) a il. j ee comicbooks.com —