Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 627 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

_ ——— ee Tee - =>. ~ -_—=—- se ' | a0 i ; ' Ps . >? vm | ‘ ‘ * - te, 2 - * . 4 ‘ 4 - . v< Ja ‘ : - ‘> TOE N, 9 ae 10 Shortly after ten o’clock that night, Jake Bruce met his confederate in a retired spot, be- yond danger of ear-dropping. ‘* The trap’s laid,’ he said to him ina voice but little above a whisper, ‘‘The kid’s gone, We have an hour to work in, and the night’s a prime one, Tony.” **'You’ve heard what’s in the wind?” a6 No.” ‘* There’s been a private meeting held, anda sort of Vigilance Committee rigged up. They’re arter us, Jake. It’s my notion we’re going to be searched and snatohed to-morrow.” ‘* Let em search. ‘They’ll find nothin’ in my house.” * Nor in mine. But how about them docu- ments?” . ‘* Them dokyments is safe salted, now you bet, Jake Bruce ain’t no blind beetle,” ‘That ain’t all. The boy’s to be questioned. You let the cat’s tail out of the bag that night you were drunk, Jake,” * They mought have uglier bizness with the boy,” answered Jake, with a mysterious wink. ‘* Bless my eye, what a puff that was,” as a blast of wind nearly took himoff his feet. ‘ It’san angel of a night, Tony. Folks’ll be afeard to poke their snoots out o’ doors, ’cept seasoned coons like youan me, Dig out now, old hoss, Time’s up.” ‘** A'' serene,” answered ‘Tony, moving away. Jake followed him at a cautious distance, in a lurking fashion, watching <eenly to right and left. lt was evident that the pair had some question- able business on foot. Meanwhile the young adventurer made his way cheerily, along the road, at a free pace, whistling for company, and buttoning his coat tigbtly around him to 3 out the wind. It was about half past eleven when he reached the vicinity of the grove. A drizzling rain had been falling for the last hour, and the weather was growing thoroughly disagreeable. ‘“‘ Tt ain’t nobody’s picnic this time,” muttered Tom. ‘‘1l’d sooner be at homeabed than on the road a night like this. Lucky for me I ain’t made of sugar or salt.” lt was now pitch dark, and he had some diffi- culty in finding the grove of which he was in search, and greater difficulty in making his way into its center. He did this with great caution, remembering his recent experience. It was full midnignt when he at length reach- ed the tree where he expected to find the horse. Yet a loud trampling and rustling of leaves guided him, while a moment afterward a horse gave unmistakable evidence of his presence. “There he is again,” cried Tomin wonder. ** It beats me where them horses come from, It’s a dodge too deep for me to see bottom.” He wasted no time in conjectures, however. Yn a few minutes, after running blindly against half a dozen trees in the darkness, he succeeded in leading the animal to the road. A minute more sufficed him to mount and away, the mud splashing to right and left as the horse dashed onward. And so the horse and rider vanished into the gloom of the night. At almost the same hour an exciting incident took ati in Mayville. A loud knocking came upon the door of the showy mansion in which resided Colonel Levi Brown, and the door-bell rung furiously. This was continued for some ten minutes, the noise of the storm partly drowning the uproar. Finally some one within seemed to be roused; # window was heard to lift on the second fioor, and a sleepy head lookec. 0: 't. ‘*What’s broke ‘oose below there Who's that thundering on the door?” ‘** Is that you, colonel?” ‘* Yes. What's the matter?’ ** Get dressed, and come down-stairs at once.” ‘“‘What for? It’sno night to go abroad ona blind errand.” **'There’s bad work afloat, Your stable door’s wide open, and your horses kickin = round like wild. Isthat the way you leavethings at night: **No. Who are you;” ** Harry Smith, ° “A right. 1 il be downina minute.” It little more than a minute when he de- scended. Smith explained that he had been out late at a card party, and on his way home had heard such an vroar in the stable that he fancied something must be wrong, . ““ The horse-thieves are not all hung yet, you know,” **None of them, more’s the pity,” said the colonel, ‘‘The stable door’s open, you say? locked it myself, that I’m sure of.” A very short time brought them to the stable. ; ¥ : om As Smith had said, the door stood wide open, and the horses were very uneasy, probably in consequence of the chill blasts that searched every corner of the building. ‘*The wind may have done it,” said the col- onel, as he lighted a lantern, ‘* But I don’t see how. The lock is a good one.” The lantern quickly threw new light upon the case. The three horses, which Colonel Brown kept in his stables, were reduced to two. His favorite saddle-horse, a fast-going bay, had vanished. A hasty examination added to the evidence. Saddle and bridle were gone, as well as horse. The lock of the stai.e-door was found on tho ground, broken, and looking as if it had been opened with a hammer blow, A closer search revealed, in the stall of the stolen horse, a scrap of paper, written on in a disguised hand: ‘COLONEL LEvi BROWN :— ‘You have bragged a bit too much about what you were going to do to the horse-thieves. This is our answer: Catch us first and hang us after. * ApAM LIGHTFOOT.”’ The colonel was more enraged at this missive thau at the loss of his horse, “tll do it, I promise you, if I catch you once,” he declared, through set teeth. ‘‘ And by Heaven, you’re playing with edge-tools when you wake me up! Something must be done at once, Mr. Smith, Where have you been play- ing? Are the folks awake at the Bald Eagle?” ‘* There were lights there when I came past.” ‘‘' Then let us make haste there. Messengers must be sent out to give warning, late and stormy asitis, There is only one way to head off these thieves. I’d give a cool hundred if the telegraph, which they’ve got all through the East, had only reached this far.” ‘‘There’s a line to Franklin, and that’s only twelve miles off,” suggested Smith. ‘ An office was opened there last week.” ‘*Then messages must be sent out from there to every point the wiresreach. Come, there’s no time to lose.” Buttoning their coats against the blast, they made their way to the Bald Eag!e Saloon, whose Dene proved to be yet up. The news brought threw all the inmates of that establishment into a fever of excitement. Colonel Levi was willing to pay well for mes- sengers, while a half-dozen volunteers asked no reward to pursue the horse-thieves, ‘* We've got the chance now,” it was declared. “They haven’t more than two hours’ start, at the most, and if we can’t run them down this time, we may as well give up the job. Don’t talk bout money, kurnel. We want no better reward than a chance to swing them infernal hounds,” The rain had now slackened to a slight driz- zle, of no importance to those weather-hardened Westerners, In half an hour more five horsemen were off in different directions, making their way to the surrounding towns and villages. It was their purpose to give the alarm, and put people on guard at every point they reached, and to dash ahead until daylight, rousing the whole country far and wide. ‘ One rapid rider made Franklin his goal, with the purpose of telegraphing the news to every place reached by the wires. As yet, however, there were offices only in the larger towns to ward the Mississippi. The telegraph was still in its infancy in that region, Jb The night passed slowly on, Mayville sunk again into slumber, though a very nervous and excited slumber. North, south, east and west, horses’ hoofs splashed through the mud. At every hamlet and village the innkeepers were aroused, told the news, and put on the lookout for the stolen borse. Levi Brown’s bay trotter was well known to many of them. With others a clear description was left. The tidings of the horse-theft was rapidly spreading in a circle around Mayville. Day dawned at length—a gray and somber day. The rain had ceased, but the clouds hung heavy and threatening, It was about eight o’clock in the morning that Tom Bruce rode into Ivanstewn, the place where he had breakfasted on his former journey. Horse and rider alike were splashed so thickly with mud, that it spread over them like a single coat. And they were both well worn out with their nigbt’s journey. Tom dried himself before a cheerful fire in the bhar-room, and brushed off the thickest of the mud from his clothes, while his breakfast was preparing. It was half-past nine when he was again ready for the road, . | ‘‘Order out my horse, landlord,” he said. ** The animal! has done a good night’s work, but “e must do ten miles more before I can let him off. The hostler led up the animal. As inthe case of his master, he had been relieved of some of his coat of mud. He proved to be a medium- sized bay, with slender limbs, but strong flanks. and shoulders. ‘* He’s got thirty miles in him yet, if I choosed to push him to it,” said Tom, as he seated him- self in the saddle, and took the reins, ‘** He’s not got thirty yards,” came the stern answer, asa stalwart man grasped the bridle near the bit, and faced the young rider. ’ What do you mean? Let go that bridle!” cried Tom, hotly. ‘*..ot much, my young blood. This is a stolen hoss, and I’m the Constable of Ivans- town, T’ve just got word that Levi Brown’s bay was stolen from Mayville last night, and I happen to know this is the hoss. Slide down, youngster, ye’re my prisoner. And by all that’s: good, | wouldn’t be in your skin just now fora bagful of dollars.” CHAPTER X. AN EXCITEMENT IN MAYVILLE. At about the hour of the arrest of Tom Bruce, a committes of citizens called at the Bruce domicile to request the presence of tbat FONE gentleman at a meeting then being held at Colonel Brown's house. The horse-theft of the night before bad roused the people to a dangerous pitch of excitement, and it was decided that it was about time to put a stop to that kind of business. Colonel Brown’s energetic proceedings were uni- versally approved, and it was declared that more stringent measures must be taken in regard to the Huntly murder. | The moral atmosphere of the town wanted clear- ing, and it was their business to clear it. he committee who had .been sent to bring Tom Bruce for examination, returned empty-handed. The lad had left home the night before on a visit to his aunt in St. Louis, was the answer they had re- ceived, a reply which was deemed suspicious. ‘Whereis Jake Bruce, the boy’s father?’ was the uery. : ‘Down at Tony Blink’s, swilling whisky,” was the reply. ‘‘He’s been busy getting drunk ever since daybreak.”’ : ‘That doesn’t look as if he had anything to do with the colonel’s horse,”” remarked one person. ae it’s a dodge to cover his tracks,” said an- other. ‘‘There’s no use beating round the bush, gentle- men,”’ broke in athird. “If we're going to search for evidence of the Huntly murder, now’s the time. I vote the Bruce and Blink houses be searched.”’ ‘“‘Yhat’s for the authorities to do,’’ rejoined Mr. Wilson. “ We have no right to set aside the law.” “That for the authorities,” broke out Harry Smith, snapping his fingers. ‘ The citizens are the law, in these diggings, and if we don’t strike while the iron’s;hot we’d best drop our hammers. If these men smell @ rat once, all’s up.” : Further conference brought them to the decision that the hous«s of the suspected parties should be searched, without waiting for the slow process of the law, and committees were appointed for that purpose, strong enough to bear down all opposition, It was accordingly done as directed. At the Bruce man:ion only Mrs. Bruce was found, and the committee, paying no heed to her protests, began a rigid search of the house. At Tony Blink’s house, where both the suspected parties were found in the bar-room, they were taken temporarily into custody, while the search proceed- “Go ahead, hosses, if you think there’s no here- after,’ cried Jake, defiantly. ‘‘ But if I don’t make Rome howl fur this outrage, there’s no snakes. I know the whole gang on ye, and there’s some law in Arkansaw yit. We'll see, my covies, who’s goin’ to win in this game.” “All right, Jake; you can have your innings after we’ve had ours,’’ was the curt answer. “*/t’s our notion that there’s law enough in Arkansas to hang ou. And if there ain’t, we can splice it out with tynch law.” “Drive ahead, my joll,,’’ roared Jake, “but I wasn’t born in the woods to be skeered by an owl. Brag’s a good dog, but look out fur old Holdfast.”’ He was justified in his defiance. Nothing came from the search. Every nook and corner of both houses, and every article of furniture and scrap of paper in the same were thoroughly examined, but nothing having the least bearing on the Huntly af- pd or otherwise Of a suspicious character, was ound, ; The searching parties at length gave up their labor, nopplused at its useless resuit. saw? were thor- ougly disappointed, and began to fear that they had been too hasty, in acting without due process of Ww. Jake’s violent threats of legal redress did not make them any more comfortable. “T weren’t brung up a lawyer,” he declared, “ but I ain’t quite a fool, neither. And if I don’t salt coons fur this day’s work. ther’s no use talkin’. I’m goin’in fur ten thousand damages, fur disturbin’ the home and castle of a "Merican citizen. And Ton Blink’s got ter strike fur as big a pony. 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