Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 663 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

Violet Vane’s Victory. Spot, called ‘‘ Saul, the Spotter,” was the crack | pistol-shot of the camp. He never missed, and it was said that be could draw and shoot while most men were reaching for their guns. He was a dangerous man to tackle, as his own private | graveyard in Jacktown would testify. He was a very peculiar man, for he never drank a drop of liquor, never avoided a quarrel, and some- times picked a fuss for the mere satisfaction of having some one to shoot. He had enemies enough, but they were careful not to let him dis- cover that they were his enemies, A man who carried his life in bis hand, although he did not ya he was classed with the toughs of Jasper ity. And now as he stood within the Night Hawk Saloon, his arms folded, leaning lazily against a pst he looked like the meekest and most inof- ensive of men. But the gang around the Spot- ter knew him quite well, and their hands fell away from their weapons as they uttered his name. No change came over his immobile fea- tures to indicate that he noticed the sudden change, but his keen eyes took it all in just the same. Slowly he repeated: ‘Don’t you think you had better let up?” ‘¢ What do you mean?” asked several. ‘“‘Just what I said. You are displaying mighty poor judgment in pen yourselves with liquor in this manner. If you do not all want to be fired out of town before another day, you will chain up a little.” ‘* How is that?” ‘Plain as the nose on aman'sface, You have made fools of yourselves to begin with in raid- ing this town in this way, but now that you have taken it, you must hold itor be fired. Where in the name of the prophets is High Card Harry?” ** Dunno, Jacktown,” ‘““That wassmart! I always counted him aman of good judgment, although I did not exactl approve of the raid on Jacktown and he did, e should have staid by you and saw that you broke up and hunted your boles when you got back here. { know that he would not have coun- tenanced this wild raid.” ‘¢ Wat's thet got ter do with our drinkin’? ‘‘Hello! So you are there, Toddy Tom. I might know that you would be around when free whisky was running. You don’t know enough to reason about this matter, but that the others may understand, I will say that as sure as the crowd get paralyzed to-night the Sunday school people of this camp will riss up and overpower you when you are unable to resist. What does that mean?” The Spotter paused a moment, but no oae answered the question. “T will tell you what it means,” he said, slow- ly and distinctly. ‘‘ Jt means Judge Lynch !” There was something terribly blood-chilling about those four words, and more. than one law- less fellow trembled and rubbed bis throat as he heard them. After several moments of impress- ive silence, Saul continued: ‘“¢ You all know that for some time Jasper has been threatening a general clean-out of the gamblers and bums, and your judgment should tell you that that clean-out will come now if the y-good men can make it work. You have seize the town and you must hold it or go.” ‘‘ An’ er leetle whisk’ is jest the stuff ter give a ther backpone ter hole it,” asserted Toddy om, ‘‘ And too much whisk’ is weakening for that same backbone. If you could get the stuff, you would drink till you was blind drunk, even if he knew that the blamed p’isen would kill hae ou take a reef in your mouth and let us hear less of you. I would be doing the community # gece turn if I loaded your old carcass down th lead, and I may be t-mpted to do so if you put in any more of your lip. That was enough for the bummer. Swiftly he slunk out of sight behind those who were gather- ed around the pistol prince, and nothing further was heard from bim. aw Spotter went on: ‘You men of brains can see the common sense in what I bave said. If you fill up with liquor, there will be an uprising in this camp and some- body will be hanged for dropping old Solomon Drew, who attempted to hold the town with a shot-gun. If there are serious charges against any others of the gang, he may have company. The rest of the crowd will be escorted to the out- skirts of the place and given a certain space of = 2 Riseig Mx wn bape loge a If ey return, the penalty wi a piece of hemp, How like you the prospect, pards?? - There was a dead silence, then some one an- He left us on the way back from “’Tain’t very invitin’.” Saul smiled, grimly. ‘‘ There is only one way to prevent this clean- out, and that is to hold thecamp, Do you think that a gang of drunken men can do that?” ‘*Tt’s pritty doubtful.” ‘Right you are. Now, pards, you have your choice. What will you have?’ “Wat d’yer want us ter do, Saul?” ** Let up on liquor and hold the town, [ will help you. ‘* An’ you’re as good as fifty common men,” declared an enthusiastic admirer. ‘‘ Er durned sight better,” shouted another. The gang needed a leader and they all knew that in the absence of High Card Harry the Spetter was the very one for the place, there- fore they were ready to listen to him almost to a man, And those who did not wish to listen did not dare tosay so, Saul bo perceived that he could carry things as he liked. ‘‘ Pards,” he said, quietly, ‘‘ I propose that we turn this saloon into the hands of its rightful owner. Whatever liquor comes over the bar after this will be paid for, and for to-night the bar will be closed. I shall order the other saloons closed until to-morrow. Who kicks against that?” The Spotter’s hands were in the side-pockets of his coat—and no one kicked, “ That settles it,” declared Saul, and for the remainder of that night the toughs found it very difficult to obtain liquor in Jasper City. Where was Solid Sid, the marshal, all this time? Nobody seemed able to answer the ques- tion, Sid was known asa mig bad man, and the peaceable citizens of the town had expec that he would soon quell the riot, But the solid man failed to show up, and the toughs had everything taeir own way. There seemed to be 3 screw loose somewhere, to speak figara- tively. It was near morning when there were three new-comers in the place, Two of them_were well-known, for they were High Card Harry and Hickory Jimmy. The third was tho Jack- town gambler and desperado, Tom Alicar, or Dandy Dirk. Harry’s appearance was hailed with delight by the toughs, of whom he was the acknowledg- leader. The Spotter at once stepped into the ranks, and the card-sharp assumed command. But he depended on Saul to explain the situa- tion, which the pistol expert did in a very lucid manner. For a time the gambler seemed to hesitate between dismay and delight, but finally a grim look settled on his face, and he said: “There is no backing out now. We must hold the town and rule it from this time onward. This difficulty was needless, but there 1s no use in crying over spilled milk, We had quite a grip on the place before, and could bave held our own had the cits tried to get rid of us, but now bok must get everything into our hands and cling Morning came, and at Harry’s direction the Night Hawk Saloon was opened again, although the card-sharp warned his men to go light and y for all they drank. Thus far the law-abid- ing citizens of the place had made no organized attempt to regain control of the camp, but the es a were looking for such a move at any time, The forenoon passed without a pitched battle, although there were several little skirmishes in which no one was seriously injured. Near mid- day a delegation from the peaceable citizens of the place appeared in the Night Hawk Sa- loon. ‘We wish to see the leader of the party that is raising such a riot in this place,” declared the spokesinan of the delegation. High Card Harry bps gad stepped forward. ‘“ Reckon I must be the man you are looking for,” he admitted. ‘“‘I am the leader of the party that has taken possession of this place, and by common consent the Alcalde of Jasper City. Now hole a leetle on there!” cried a voice from the doorway. ‘I reckon ye’re troddin’ on my corns wen ye make thet kind o’ tork. I heerd thet this hyer town wuz needin’ 0’ er al- calde ter kine o’ yank ther knots out o’ things an’ bring ’em roun’ ship-shape, so I jest hoofed it all ther tig frum Jacktown hyer ter present merself fer thet orafice. Ef ye’re lookin’ fer er galoot ter do thet same, I’m ther very galoot ye’re lookin’ fer. I propose ter becum ther Al- calde 0’ Jasper, an’ my name’s Wagg, with Erastus ter ther frunt. Whoopee /” And straight into the saloon tripped the wool- ly-headed man, hat in hand, bowing to the right and left and grinning all over his homely, beard- less face. CHAPTER VII. ERASTUS GETS INTO TROUBLE. THE ragged vagabond of the mines was on hand as usual and was anxious to get into the midst of the excitement. Apparently without a thought of danger, he boldly entered tbe Night Hawk Saloon and proclaimed himself a candi- date for the office of Alcalde of Jasper City. It is doubtful if Erastus knew just what an alcalde was, but he was certain that it was some exalted position else High Card Harry would not care to represent himself as holding the place by com- mon consent of the people; and it is positively certain that the tramp did not pause to take a second thought before he announced that he was a candidate for the office. The woolly-headed man usually talked first and thought afterward, Wagg’s appearance and loudly-spoken au- nouncement caused a ripple of excitement within the saloon, and more than one man allowed his hands to creep toward his revolvers, Every- thing seemed to indicate that there would be lively times directly, and if appearances were not very deceptive, the vagrant from Jacktown would find himself in warm company. While the toughs were smarting from their recent re- pulsion in Paradise Gulch, it wasa bold thing for any man to appear in their midst and boldly declare that he was just from Jacktown; but the camp tramp put himself in double danger by announcing bimself as falcalde ‘in opposition to the card-sharp chief of the lawless gang. But what cared Erastus? He smiled as serene-~ ly as if in the midst of friends and advanced intu the room without the least hesitation. The woolly-headed man was a strange combination of bravery, braggadocio and cowardice, and it was impossible to tell, when he was forced to do one or the other, whether he would fight or run. He would do either at the most unexpected mo- ments. Pausing in the middle of the floor, he fanned the air with his long arms as if they were a pair of wings and uttered a very creditable imitation of the hoarse crow of a Brahma rooster. ‘Hyer I be,” he loudly announced, “ ther fine- feathered, high-steppin’, loud crowin’ cock-a- doodle-do from Jacktown. Jest feast yer bleared optics onter me an’ see ’f ye kin realize yer own utter insigniffycanse, Common critters bunt their holes an’ prepare fer Gabriel w’en I let off steam in a good-sized ole-fashioned yoop. They think that it’s ther las’ trumph an’ thet ther final day o’ deestruction hes cum. [’m a leather- lunged bowler frum Hurrycane Gap, I am. I’m er mighty b-a-a-d man ter tackle an’ er hard — hawse ter crowd. Whoopee! Trot out yer heavy-hitters an’ see me interjuce ’em ter one 0” them ancient s’prise partys w’at ole Samson use ter kerry concealed in ther sleeves o’ his every- day ulsterett. If ye want ter see furi—fun— haydoogins o’ it—jest give me er chance ter spread, He paused a moment to catch his breath and to glare around in a manner that was both de- fiant and beseeching. It was a wonder that half a dozen of the fighters in the crowd did not make a jump for him without further ceremony, but something seemed to hold them all motion- less till the vagabond began again. “ Hev I took ther place without er struggle?? he asked. ‘* By jehocus! it looks thet way. did think thar wvz er leetle sand in this ole town, but I reckon I must’a’ bin woefully de- ceived, They sed thar wuz sum mighty good men in Jasper an’ thet if er feller wuz lookin’ fer invigoratin’ exercise be c’u’d fine it hyer without bafe tryin’, Reckon thet must ’a’ bin an error. I didn’t expec’ ter becum’ Alcade 0’ Jasper without hevin’ ter rassil fer ther posish, but it looks‘as if I had slid rigkt inter ther place ez easy ez grease, Dinged if I don’t admirc ther jedgmint o’ ther gang, though I can’t sa} thet I~ think much o’ their pluck, Gentlemen, allow me ter interjuce merself: E. Wagg, Esq., Al- calde o’ Jasper City.” ; And once more he bowed to the right and left, hat in hand, The crowd looked curiously at High Card Harry to see what the card-sharp would do or say. Harry loud-spoken V ance on bis dark, handsome face. Still the Jasper City sport did not seem very angry. It nt that he was more disgusted and was a % candy than anything else. The crowd waited ; ub for him to make some kind of a move. Wagg was regarding the © ie nt with a look of mild annoy- pretended to accept their hesitation as an -evi- zz. ee? dence of f ear, . ‘Tails down ther hull o’ ’em,” he laughed. Oh! I’m _ ther igh { ‘Seore one fer Erastus! howler w’at makes them hunt their holes! ther—” Stop !” a. It was High Card Harry who spoke, and his —