Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 663 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

4+ Dand ‘“Not a man. I have friends in that camp whom I can depend on, For instance, there is Dandy Dirk.” ‘* Av’ er mighty good man be is too,” asserted the wrestler, ‘* Are there enny more like him?” ‘*There are others, but none of them are the equals of Dirk. We don’t need any from this balf-drunken crowd of cowards.” ** All right, you knows best. W7’en shell we turn back?” : ‘*Now; but we will not enter Jacktown until after dark, Wecan lay low near the place and wait till night. Itmight not be healthy for us if we were recognized by some of Jacktown’s citizens; and besides that we may do work that ‘we will not care to have laid at our door.” Watching their opportunity, the two plotters turned asice from the trail when no one was no- ticing and allowed the crowd to go on without them, Then they turned their horses’ heads back toward Jacktowa, | ‘Now for Laughing Lu and revenge,” said the Jasper City sport, grimly. ching a point near Jacktown, they con- cealed their horses and stole forward till from a bigh bluff they could command a view of the victorious camp. There re remained, con- versing in low tones, laying plots and plans, till darkness fell, When they finally stole forward into the place, they noted that the camp was brilliantly lighted, and it seemed that the cit- izens were greatly excited. Just as they reached the eastern boundary of the town a burst of music, a wild cheer and a thunderous report saluted their ears. t ** Great, Moses!” gasped Hickory Jimmy, in alarm, ‘* \Y’at’s thet?” The Jacktownites are probably celebrating their victory,” Harry explained. ‘‘ Come on, we are on hand to witness the fun,” CHAPTER V. THE WORK OF A NIGHT, | Hien Carp Harry and Hickory Jimmy wit- nessed the reception given the party returning from the successful pursuit of the kidnappers of Ione Wilson. ingling with the excited crowd, the Jasper City desperadoes attracted no attention and were enabled to see everything that occurred. When Violet Vane appear- ed on the platform in front,of the Silver Bell Hotel and made a speech after being presented by Judge Blowbugle, the vindictive wrestler in- voluntarily reached for a revolver, but his com- _ panion’s band restrained him, be ‘** Slow and easy, pard,” came firmly from the eard-sharp’s lips, ‘‘ This is not the time for that. You would hang higher than Haman if you dropped him now. He is the idol of this camp, and the men of Jacktown will visit a reson vengeance on the one who barms him— providing they know who does the job.” _ Hickory Jimmy relinquished his evil purpose witha sigh of regret. It was hard for him to _ restrain bis passion, but he knew that Harry had spoken the truth. ‘**Tt must be done silently and swiftly,” hissed the card¢player, softly. ‘‘ No open work. Have _ care if you wish to leave Jacktown alive,” It was some time later that the two learned of Dirk’s arrest, ‘** He must be rescued,” declared Harry, with some excitement, ‘‘ You must help me, pard, and that must be our first work. After Dirk is - free we can look after the girl, The girl—by Jove! there are two of’them, and both are hand- some, One is Violet Vane’s sister and the other his sweetheart. If we kidnap them both, we | shall be striking a heavy blow at the velvet + ’ _. dandy. ul $ But won’t it be er mighty hard job ter do?” . “‘The chances are tbat it will; but we can work it with some aid, and I fancy I havestruck the very man to help us. He basa room in the f Silver Bell and will admit us, We can make a . go of it.” ~ “ And if we fail ter kill Violet Vane, we will have him hot at our heels to-morrow.” _ “Just what we want, for then we can lead ee Bs him into a death-trap. Savvy?” “Yes, but it’s goin’ ter be mighty dangerous,” eae You are right. Any games against that lit- tle deception in velvet will be dangerous, Are you afraid of him?” | “Not by er durned sight!” _ * Allright; that settles it,” _ High Card Harry was busy from that time onward, He laid bis plans well, taking care _ that in no way should he meet with defeat. As _ the night wore on and the carousal continued he _ became nervous and fearful lest he should not _ have an opportunity to carry out his schemes, ‘ ~ Violet Vane’s Victory. He had managed to let Dandy Dirk know that he was near and waiting for a chance to effect his rescue, and he knew that the prisoner would be ready for anything that might occur, The room next to the one in which the unsus- pecting girls were tospend the night was occu- pied by the ally of whom the card-sharp had spoken to Hickory Jimmy. waiting till things were quiet and admitting the two plotters, it was decided that they should secretly enter his room and remain there till the time for work arrived, High Card Harry had once been an actor and was able to successfully imitate the voice of almost any’ person whom he had ever heard speak, providing he had taken particular notice of their manner of speecb. The sport from Jasper resolved to try to make use of this ability in rescuing the prisoner. The hour for action finally came. High Card and the wrestler crept from the room into the corridor. Quietly and with a steady tread the gambler advanced along the corridor, and with the step of a cat, a revolver in either hand, Hickory Jimmy followed. Before tbe door of the room in which Dandy Dirk was confined, guarded by the detective, Harry halted. Then he rapped boldly on the door. There was a stir within and a voice—that of the officer—asked: ** Who is there?” . For answer, the card-sharp rapped again in a peculiar manner, at the same time saying: ** It is I—Violet Vane.” And his voice sounded exactly like that of the Velvet Sport. It was a perfect imitation. His second knock had been a signal to Dandy Dirk, and the gambler knew that the prisoner would ke all ready for desperate action. . But it was evident that the detective’s suspicions wero easily aroused, for be advanced to the door and again demanded: ** Who is there?” Harry replied in the same tone of voice used before: ‘* Violet Vane,” ‘* What do you want?” **To talk with the prisoner a few moments. Five minutes is all I ask,” After a few moments more of hesitation, the cunning mimic heard the key turn in the lock and braced himself for a spring, intending to launch himself straight at Alan Dale’s throat. But as the door swung open, the gambler saw Dandy Dirk strike the detective on the back of the head with the iron manacles which held his wrists together and Harry was just in time to catch the body of the unlucky man in his arms, ' The detective had been stricken senseless perbaps killed. . ‘*Slickly done!” laughed High Card Harry, softly, as he bore the unconscious man to the little bed in the room, ‘‘ I knew that you would be ready to act, but I hardly thought you would have a chance to do such effective work as this, Here, I will place my coat under his head to keep the blood from smearing the clothes. He is not bleeding very profusely, We do not want to leave any signs of a struggle if it can be avoided.” | ‘Right you are,” agreed Dandy. ‘It would please me to make people believe that it wasalla prop job between me and the sharpy here, f there are no signs of a struggle, J can do that for I willleave a little note behind which will prove anything but a balm to their souls,” Swiftly Harry and the wrestler bound and gagged the unconscious man, then the key to the manacles was found and Dandy was released. **Gods!” he exclaimed, ‘It seems good to get out of those cursed things. I was in what ou might call a mighty tight box, and when I orget this service I shall be unable to remem- ber anything.” ‘That is all right. I only did for you what you would have done for me had I been in the Same fix. But there is more work for us to do and the quicker we get at it the better,” “Iam with you in anything, and perhaps I may be able to assist you materially, Just tell ac your plans,” e door was closed and in a short space of time the Jasper City sport had made Dirk ao- quainted with his plans. / ay 200d!” exclaimed the_liberated scoundrel, I have taken a fancy to Owen Wilson’s daugh- ter and have registered an oath to gain posses- sion of her, You may have Laughing Lu; I will take the peerless Ione.” ', Phe arrangement satisfies me,” Anu, as you say, we will be striking straigh at that cursed velvet fop when we carry away bis sister and his sweetheart, We can take the girls to some safe place amid the mountains, : ae ew ae - A A Poe ~ t : ® . ’ ; - . . ‘ z J esis Ge REY as , ~~. . ae eS ted SE a But instead of 7 ; ay ies - D-H a be yi 7 9) and lure Violet Vane into Jasper City by mak- ing him believe that they have been earried there. In Jasper we can easily find a way to down the man whom the toughs of the place mea cordially hate after the work of yester- ay. ‘Solid hoss sense, If we can get away with the girls, Mr. Vane is as good as done for,” ‘* We will get to work at once. First let me write a few words, then we will carry this bound of justice out by the back way. I have keys which will take us anywhere in this old building.” In afew,moments Dandy had written and posted the note which Violet Vane afterward found pinned to the door by a tiny dagger, Then they lifted the still unconscious detective, and with his head wrapped in Harry’s coat to prevent leaving a trail of blood, carried him from the Silver Bell. The Jasper City sport had made arrangements for horses to carry them all away from Jacktown, but Dandy se- cured one more to carry the detective, who was bound upon the animal’s back, Then leaving Hickory Jimmy and the man who had served them by secreting the Jasperites in his room, High Card Harry and Dandy Dirk once more see into the Silver Bell to complete their vile work, In less than half an hour they issued forth, carrying two unconscious forms in their arms. Dandy’s keys, a little chloroform and a great deal of cat-like cunning, had enabled them to secure the unfortunate maidens without arous- | ing a soul within the house, Behind them they had left the writing which they hoped would lead Violet Vane to Jasper City—into the lion’s jaws—to death! Hidden by the darkness, they rode out of town and away into the mountain fastne leading the horse upon whose back was bound the silent detective, 4 For nearly two hours they rode onward through the’ dark passes, Finally High Card Harry fell back to see if there was still no sign of life in the detective’s body. Then he made an amazing discovery. The led horse was burdenless—the detective ‘was gone ! CHAPTER VI. THE SITUATION IN JASPER CITY. THE defeated toughs upon returning from Jacktown had indeed ‘‘taken” Jasper City. The unexpected result of their raid had aroused ail the ugliness in their natures, and they pro- ceeded to vent their spite on their own town, Had High Card Harry been with them when they reached Jasper, such a thing would not have occurred, for the cool-headed card-sharp would have seen that a struggle that might be disastrous to the toughs would surely follow if they attempted to hold the place. But the gam-— bler was not on hand to restrain them, and within thirty minutes after charging down the main street of the place they had the majority of the law-abiding citizens under cover and everything in their hands, Then began a genuine reign of terror in Jas- per City. Up. and down the streets of the boomers’ camp rode the liquor-maddened mob, yelling like Indian warriors and firing their re- volvers to the right and left. Twoor three of the quiet citizens of the place were wounded, and one man who came out and tried to argue with the ruffians with a shot-gun was dropped in his tracks, the bullet striking a vital spot, The first place seized by che mob was the Night Hawk Saloon, one of the worst drinking and gambling resorts in the town. The proprie- - tor of the place was fired through a window, and at the muzzles of several revolvers, the bar- keeper was forced to set out liquid refreshments for the gang. Right then and there the mob would have got paralyzed so that the honest citizens of the place would have had little trouble in quelling the riot, but at that juncture a cool-headed and desperate man grasped the reins, i“ “Whisky may be tempting, pards,” said a lit- tle man, whose steel-blue eyes seemed to look one ‘through and through, “but you are display mighty poor judgment in turning down so much of the stuff. dn’t you better let up?” A dozen men wheeled, with their hands resthog on their revolvers, but their fingers never close recognized the to draw the weapons, for they one who had n. ** Saul the Spotter!” Sree The exclamation came from the! of twor thirds of the inmates of the saloon. hey knew, the small man with the steel-blue eyes, a 4: << al = \ 4 P a ae a ati. * ' 6 Br 2 es aoe ass - ’ °° Ms = a ae fe i = ¥ * + A i ~ °. s rw = a ~ mn 5 é 3