Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 627 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

i eet ae -~ ———— _ - _—- ie, carey SP I ee villo? Have you seen my folks? What’s dad up to?” ** Hoe’s at it again,” said Will, with some sense of backwardness, ** Boozing ?” “Yes. And fighting and flinging his money around, they say.” A strange expression came into Tom’s face, as if some new idea had dawned upon his brain. He sat for some minutes,in dead silence, while Will continued to chat about Mayville affairs, Tom seemed rather lost in his own thoughts than listening to him. At length he spoke, with an effort: ‘““Maybe I’d better lay down, Will. My head’s humming again, ou can talk on. I[ like to listen to you, but I can’t answer.” Will tenderly helped him into bed, where he sat holding his hand, and speaking to him in a soothing tone, till the eyes of the young invalid showed signs of closing. ry You'll stay with me to-night, Will, won’t you?” he asked, sleepily. ** Yes,” answered Will, In five minutes afterward Tom was fast asleep. Will sent word back to his father, by a young friend who had accompanied him, that he would sa the night with Tom, and arranged with the armer to do so, It was eight o’clock the next morning when the two boys awoke, It was a fresh October morning, with the sun shining warmly in the window, and a frosty crispness in the air, Tom seemed his old self again on waking. The presence of his friend had soothed and aided him, and he rose from bed as lightly and strongly as of old, icy octor entered at almost the same mo- ment, He removed the bandage from the invalid’s head and examined the wound. It was an ugly cut, severalinches in length, and reaching to the bone, But it had been skilifully dressed, and looked promising. ‘** How does your head feel, this morning?” ** It aches a little,” answered Tom. ‘ But all that buzzing and humming’s gone, and I feel ’most as strong as ever.” ‘be doctor manipulated the scalp a little, and asked some other questions, ** You are all right, my boy,” he finally said. ** T feared that your brain might beinjured, but I see that itis sound. Itis nothing but a flesh wound after all, and that shows good signs of healing,” ‘** Then I'll soon be sound again?” asked Tom eagerly. ** You ought to be able to jump a five rail fence in a week or two.” : ‘* That’s good, I feel as if I could now.” ‘*Can I take him to Mayville this morning, in Mr. Jones’s carriage!” asked Will. ‘* We can tell better after du hour or two. If he holds out all right you might venture.” He dressed the wound again, and the boys walked down-stairs, where the farmer had provided them an appetizing breakfast. Tom ate with a good appetite, enjoying his meal amazingly. He talked also freely and gayly. But for his bandaged head no one would ave known that anything ailea him. As this liveliness held out Will and the farmer concluded that the journey to town might be safely made, without waiting to consult further with the doctor. The Ppl ern was accordingly carried out, the invalid being none the worse for his journey, except that he showed some signs of weariness. Will took him to his own home, declaring that he was not in condition to be placed within reach of his drunken father. To thisTom made no objection. It appeared to him the wisest movement, under the circumstances, Dnring the remainder of that day and the next Tom’s chamber was the scene of a regulat ovation. Most of the leading inbabitants of the | place called on him, and he was asked a host of questions concerning the circumstances of the outrage, the questioners being particularly anxious to be put on the track of the prowling ruffian who had assailed him, Tom’s answers were very brief aud unsatisfac- tory. He avoided answering as much as he could, on the plea of weakness, and was so non- committal on the subject of his errand, and in regard to the horse which tk. farmer had heard, asto give rise to some suspicious comments. He made no mention of what he had told Will, that he had heen robbed. Finally visitors were forbidden his room, on plea of weakness, but really from the annoy- ance of their awkward questions. Only Tom’s mother was now admitted to see him. His Tom Bruce of Arkansas. ee —_—_—_—_—_- —_ father, despite his show of feeling, failed to come near him. And so passed the two or three days after Tom’s advent to Mayville. The wound was rapidly mending. His healthy frame and young blood were full of healing influences, and his strength quickly returned, while the headache and the buzzing in his brain vanished. It ended by the two boys slipping quietly out of the house and escaping to the fields, Tom was too full of life and spirits to be housed longer. et the affair bad excited very unfavorable comments among the town-folks, Their first indignation and anxiety to pursue and capture the assailants was changed to a feeling of suspi- cion and doubt, Tom’s unwillingness to enter into details, his long absence from home on some mysterious errand, the horse wbich had been heard to neigh in the grove, all roused again the story of the horse-thefts. In fact, after two or three months’ cessation, the horse-thieves were at work again, and on the very night of Tom’s disaster a valuable ani- mal had vanished from the stable of a gentle- man living half a mile out of town. Had Tom Bruce stolen it, tied it in that wood to be removed by his accomplices, and been knocked in the head during some dispute with these accomplices? It looked questionable, and though many be- lieved Tom thoroughly honest, others were sure that both he and his father were in league with the horse-thieves, ‘‘ Jake Bruce bas suddenly got flusb. Where did he get the money which he is Mdourishing around this day or two? Last week he was sober and short of cash.” These comments produced such an effect upon the public mind that there was some talk of ar- resting the fatker and son on suspicion, But the lack of any positive evidence checked this idea, and it was thought best to wait and investigate the affair further, before taking any decided action. Unsuspicious of this dangerous sentiment in the community, the two boys were enjoying themselves in a brisk country walk, in which the fresh air and a happy heart did more good to Tom than would a shop full of medicines. On their return he went to his own home, being unwilling to be a charge upon his friend any longer. But we must leave him and return to his father, whom we last saw in a startled state at bee accosted by a stranger in the street. ho this stranger was, and what passed be- tween them, must be left for future considera- tion. It will suffice to say that Jake was great- ly sobered at theend of his brief conference with the stranger, and that there was a grave, yet somewhat triumphant expression on bis face as he walked onward. “Pve got a ring in his nose, shoot him,” he muttered. ‘‘I can make him squeal lkea pig in a gate, whenever I take a mind. No use fur him to come round here swellin’.” His journey ended at Tony Blink’s establish- ment, while he entered from the rear, asif anx- ious to keep bis visit a secret. Tony was in, andit was not long before the two men were in busy conference, ‘‘It was so sudden.it most ’made me jump outer my skin,” said Jake. ‘It’s like as when a chap gits a tap on his shoulder, and looks round and sees a grizzly bear.” “It was—-him?” asked Tony mysteriously, “No mistake. He’s smellin’ round yet, Thinks ther’s a loose plank in the fence, blast him. I dasen’t say much, on account of—you know,” Tony nodded, his face growing pale. ‘** But I stood up bold, and let him see that [held a full hand. He called me an imperdant dog. Let him flourish, blast him, I'll turn it back on him afore a year,” ‘**Can’t you get him away with some lie? You ney so boozy that you may have let something out. _“Nary time, His touch on my shoulder was like a bucket o' cold water on my head. It sobered me. And I’m not goin’ ter swaller a drop till he slides out. I ain’t nobody’s idyot.” ** The boy is all right again,” said Tony, ina balf whisper, glancing suspiciously around. ‘*He’s got a cast-iron bead, that chap. It runs in the breed,” answered Jake, wsth an oath. v ** Not in your breed, Jake.” ‘** He’s none o’ mine; you know that,” ‘*WellI do, But take cere he don’t.” ** He swears by his dad, Tom does,” answered Jake, with a laugh. ‘'He’d guv his head fur me, that boy would. I don’t keer a copper fer that, I bate the whole breed, from granddad down to kid. Ive got it in pickle ag’in’ ’em.” ‘*' You heard what Colonel Brown said at the Bald Eagle,” rejoined Tomy; ‘‘’bout, somebody else than Tom seeing us out that night. Maybe it’s a mistake to lay the blabbing on Tom.” ‘‘There ye’re off yer legs, Tony. I thought you had more sense, I weren’t so drunk but I could see through that dodge. Levi Brown was trying to rig a leader on me, It all came from the kid, drat his long tongue. We’re not safe while he’s loose, Tony. Twixt him and the old un things look blue.” ‘* You bet they do,” said Tony, with a quaver in his voice. “Leave ittome, Old Jake Bruce ain’t ter be discounted by any o’ that breed, Tl rig up a settler fur the pair of ’em afore many days. Nobody ever cotched me flingin’ up my hand while there was trump cards in it,” ‘* What are your trump cards?” queried Tony. ‘‘ We're together in this box, and we’ve got to play together. J must know bow you're going to move before I can know how to move my- self. ‘*Them docykments are deadwood on the old *un; you oughter know that well, Tony, I’m goin’? ter squeeze him afore I hand ’em over, and you bet I’m the coon ter doit. As fur the kid, he’s got his good pints, but I don’t love him nor none of his kin enough to let him hang me, and blast him, if we don’t put the screws on, he’ll twist hemp fur the pair of us.” ‘A long tongue’s worse than rank p’ison,” re- ‘We got todo wks yes Jake, a nor’- Std Tony. | ’m a-shaking inside as if l’d swaller wester.”’ ‘¢ You allers was a white-livered coward,” an- swered Jake, contemptuously, ‘‘but I reckon you ain’t fur out in yer notion,” A conference ensued, which lasted for an hour. At the end Jake made his way out in the secret manner of bis entrance. The con- federates had concocted a dangerous plot for those they mistrusted. CHAPTER VIII, A STRANGER IN MAYVILLE, DuRING the few days that followed, Tom Bruce rapidly grew well. The cut on his head healed with remarkable rapidity, and all traces of weakness disappeared, By the end of a week he had discarded the bandage, had taken a ten-mile gallop on horseback, and had been one of the winning side in a game of base-ball. He was fully himself again, and quite ready to hold bis own in the game of life. In this interval Jake Bruce had kept remark- ably sober; and had treated Tom with a gen- tleness and kindness which were quite equal to that of the cat and the mouse in the fable, ‘‘I’'m layin’ low fur the galoot as hit you, Tom,” he declared. ‘If I kin git my ten hooks in his hide, J bet I make him squeal wu’ss nor a pig inagate. Yer old dad ain’t goin’ ter be sot on that way, youngster, nary time.” Tom was very grateful for this concern. He fancied that his father had kept sober solely on his account, and this roused a strong sense of filial affection in his young heart. ‘¢ Dad’s sound oak at bottom,” he declared, confidingly, to his mother. ‘‘ He’s been rough to you and me pretty often, but it’s all the whisky. There’s not a better man to his family in town when bis head’s straight.” ‘‘] wish it was always straight, then,” an- swered Mrs. Bruce, querulously. ‘* For he’s made my life anything but a path of roses.” ‘‘ Tt’s all rum, mother. If he’d only leave that dreadful stuff alone—” ‘“ Which he never will while he has a mouth | to swill it, and legs to carry him to the bar.” The good woman viewed her son with a look that was full of meaning. She evidently would have said more had she dared, As she turned awav she shook her head sadly. Something lay behind the scenes in that family, some dark se- cret that was full of terrors for more than one member of the household. os ‘While these events were taking place within the Bruce domicile, public opinion was equally busy outside. The authorities of the town had — made some effort to investigate the circum- stances of the assault on Tom, but nothing had come of it. No tracé of the assailants had been found. In fact Tom’s lame story had told against him. The belief that he was concerned in the horse- theft grew stronger in the town, The loss of a horse on the night in question, the fact that the farmer bad heard a horse in the grove, Tom’s absence from town for several days before, con ; | | . ee, Nar % mec T, P ay “S| yl Dy ¢ k rv 4 ta +, 5 : e L r Kk J ae i is . i an / ‘ lm ~ ; ‘el . WA ; aa! J / - al D> -—SesCOMiIGcpDOoocKs:.CcorTr