Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 700 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

* r a o”y Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Drop. i It seemed darker than it really was, at first owing to the sudden transition. ‘‘ Wull, what d’ye think of Captain Death, by this time?’ the driver inquired, when he had turned the next bend, addressing Deadwood Dick. ‘‘ He’s a good one,” Dick acknowledged freely. ‘“You bet he ar’! Et aire lucky thet you didn’t get a bullet in yer head, fer that snap- shot at him. You was crazy ter try it on.” ‘“So I realized, after I bad fired,” admitted Dick, ‘They could have picked me off as well as not. But, I am a fellow who takes long chances, and i thought if I could drop him, we might get away with the restofthecrew.” ‘‘Nary time. When Captain Death takes it on ter bimself ter hold up a hearse, he knows what he’s doin’, and you kin bet on his holdin’ ‘ther best hand in ther game, too.” ** But,” inquired one of the other top passen- gers, *‘ can’t nothing be done? Do we have to lose our money and watches like this, and no chance to get ’em back?” ‘* Thet aire ar’ about the size of et,” the driver assured. ‘* Yer money and other sinful and on- mecessary Chattles hey gone where the wood- bine twineth, and ther chances is about a thousand ter one that ye’ll never see ’em again.” “Then the owners of this stage shall make good the loss,” another man declared. ‘* Which I don’t reckon they will,” drawled the driver, ‘‘ This ain’t no insurance company, mister. Ef et was, et would be bu’sted in a month,” ‘‘ We'll see whether they will or not. I have not come West to be robbed and cheated in this high-handed manner, and they’ll find it out so, Somebody has got to reimburse.me, I don’t care who itis,” ‘* Mighty good chance fer you ter distinguish yerself, then, by goin’ fer Captain Death him- self and makin’ him disgorge. There’s a big reward offered fer him, and mebby you might corral that, too.” ‘* And I'll see that the reward is made big- ger,” this passenger promised, angrily. Introduction to characters may as well be given as they come to the fore in our romance. This man was one Austin Pilbrooke. He was @ stockholder in a mine at Satan’s Spring, and had come West to look after his interests, He was a man of fifty or thereabouts, rather portly, and fine-looking. He had the appear- ance of a man of business, but it was clear that he was unused to the ways of the Wild West. The other passengers, inside and out, com- plained about the loss of their money and other valuables, but, as that was about all they could do, it amounted to nothing. ’ The only ones who took the matter philosophi- cally were the driver and Deadwood Dick; to them if was not a new experience; by any means. The old stage rumbled on through the canyon, and finally emerged into the valley pocket into which Satan’s Spring was situated. By this time night had settled down, and the lights of the town had an appearance of wel- come to the weary and belated travelers, as they gleamed out brightly ahead in the dark- mess, Once clear of the canyon, Ribbon Jobnny tightened up on the lines, swung his long whip around with many asnap and crack, shouted at ‘the leaders in his usual way, and the rattling mad vehicle went spinning into the town in style. ** Whoap!” the driver cried out finally, drawing up in front of the largest building to be seen, This building was a hotel, and a sign in front announced it to be the Grand Union Hotel—a _ rather imposing name for such a place, The hotel fronted upon a Square, a usual fea- ture of your Southwestern towns, by the way; and in the middle of the Square was the spring from which the town derived its name, Other buildings of various sorts were on the Square, or Plaza, all of them well lighted, anda goodly number of them saloons, another - usual feature. ‘* Whoap!” and he put on the break, bringing the ‘‘hearse” to a stop. Immediately a crowd began to collect, pour- ing out of the hotel and other buildings near by, ‘Hyer we be,” “‘all that Captain Death hey left of us, which ain’t much ter speak of, I’ve brought ye a bu’sted crowd, landlord, and you kin undertake ter board ’em fer their clothes or not, jest as ye please. ‘ This was addressed to a tall, red-shirted, bald- ai EN headed man who followed thecrowd out of the _ bar-room of the Grand Union, Ribbon Johnny shouted, Benjamin Benson was the name this man answered to, but he answered oftener to plain ‘* Baldy ” Benson. ** Why, hev Captain Death gone through ye again?” he inquired. ‘* [ should smile ef he hadn’t,” was the assur- ance. Questions and answers flew thick and fast, then, while the passengers got down and outand filed into the house, Among the inside passengers was a vailed wo- man, whose age could not be guessed, who seem- ingly had no escort, since she made her way alone to the private entrance of the hotel, By the time the mail had been handed out, and, the baggage taken down from the rack, the driver had given a fair account of the robbery, and the crowd began to disperse, many return- ing. to the bar-room. he landlord had assumed his place bebind the bar, snag answered the purpose of office-desk as well, Austin Pilbrooke had just stepped up to make some inquiry. “Is there a man in your town named Casper Appleby ?” he was heard to ask. ‘*] ruther opine ther’ is,” was the answer. ‘‘ That aire is ther gentleman, right over thar. Mister Appleby, a man askin’ fer you, sir.” The person indicated was a man of forty-five, tall, dark-visaged, and wearing a close-cut black beard. He was clad in a plain suit of some ser- viceable material, and wore a black felt hat. He came immediately forward, asking: “* Have I the pleasure of greeting Mr. Austin Pilbrooke?” ‘That is my name, sir,” the new-comer as- sured. Appleby offered his hand, giving Pilbrooke a nA shake, and the two turned away together, talking. The other passengers pressed forward, now, inquiring for rooms, and the landlord shoved his register out before them for their names, Deadwood Dick was among the number, and when it came his turn he put hisname down in his usual bold way— ‘RICHARD M, Bristrou,” Just behind him was a young man, another of those who had come by the stage, and as Dick’s name fell, bold and black upon the page, this man gave a start, looked at Dick sharply, and turned away. Dick saw nothing of this, but stepped back, when he had finished with the business in hand, and took a turn around the room, He looked at faces tosee if any were there whom he knew. Finding none, he gave attention to some pic- tures and notices upon the walls, while he await- ed the call to supper. Presently his eyes fell upon something that drew his attention. It was a reward of a thousand dollars offered for the capture of the outlaw known as Captain Death, and was signed by Casper Appleby. ‘* Which seems to indicate that Captain Death is wanted,” Dick mused. ‘‘Not a very big re- ward, though, but probably fair for this camp. However, | think the man who undertakes to gather in Captain Death will earn it if he gets it. He went on around the room, finally bringing up again at the bar, where the last of the pas- sengers was just bending over the register, And this ona was the man who had started at seeing Dick’s name, as it dropped from the pen. Dick glanced at him, remembered him as one of the passengers, but gave him no further at- tention. He was evidently a stranger to the de- tective adventurer, This man’s name, as he wrote it, was Hubert Watkyns, Presently the landlord was summoned away, and calling a man out of the room to take his place for a moment, he disappeared. When he returned, after an absence of a few minutes, he turned the register of the house to face him, and entered @ name upon its page under the others, Deadwood Dick rightly guessed that he was entering the name of the woman who had come by the stage, and when the landlord shoved the book away from him, Dick turned it to learn what her name was, having had some curiosity to know something about her. As he did go, the eyes of Hubert Watkyns were upon him, | CHAPTER IIL. THE GAUNTLET FLUNG DOWN. THE name told him nothing. It was not a striking one, but musical to a degree, There was no prefix to it, so Dick was as much in the dark as ever regarding its owner. was old or young, he could not determine, though from her form and carriage he had de-~ cided that she was not old. Jessie Worthington was the signature the landlord bad penned, and as Dick repeated it in mind the impression grew upon him that she was young, and, as a natural sequence, he pic- tured her in his mind’s eye as beautiful. In a little time there camea call to supper and the tired and hungry stage passengers filed into the dining-room. Deadwood Dick looked to find the woman there, but she was not; por did she appear. Determined to learn what he prot about her, he put a question to a young woman, the land- oer daughter, who was waiting upon the table. , ‘* Where’s the young lady who came on the stage with us?” he asked. e spoke of her as a young lady, to see whether it would be denied that she was such, ‘She was too tired ‘to come down,” the young woman made answer, ‘‘so she’s taking her supper up-stairs,”’ Finding that his assumption was not disputed Dick decided that the impression he had formed was correct, ‘* And I do not wonder that she is tired,” spoke up Hubert Watkyns. “I am almost used up myself. Feel too tired to enjoy my supper. How is it with you, Mr. Bristol?” ‘* Well, I feel a little weary,” Dick responded, ‘* but I guess a quiet smoke on the porch after supper will fix me up all right, I’m pretty well used to hard knocks of this sort, and don’t mind it much.” ‘As for me,” put in Tombstone Dan, ** I’m sore in every muscle from holdin’ on to taat aire infernal old hearse. Curlin’ smoke! but I kem near a’most gettin’ toppled off more’n a thou- sand times, Ye’ll never ketch me ridin’ out on top again, not ef [ know myself, and I opine I do.” Presently Austin Pilbrodke and Casper Ap- pleby came in, and while Pilbrooke was eating they kept up a low and earnest conversation. The first one to leave the room was Watkyns. Whether she Reasserting that he was too tired to eat, after’ doing half justice to the meal, he went out, None of the others were similarly afflicted, though, and all paid due attention to the crav- ings of the inner man before leaving the table. The last to go out, except Pilibrooke and Ap- pleby, was Deadwood Dick, When he returned to the bar-room, he stepped to the bar to get some cigars, his case having been emptied on the road, “*Are-you ther feller what signed himself Bristol?” the landlord asked, as he set out his best brand, “Yes, ’m the man,” Dick assured, ‘* Why do you ask?” **’Cause, hyer’s a letter what I found hyer on ther bar, wi’ yer name on et, and I thort mebby you'd left it.” ‘*T had no letter,” said Dick. ‘‘ Let’s see it,” Baldy Benson put it in his hand. It was a white envelope, sealed, and on it was Dick’s name in full— . RICHARD M. BRISTOL. Dick studied the writing a moment before opening the envelope. _ It was a puzzle tobim. He had never seen it before, to his knowledge, ‘and he could hardly decide whether it was a man’s or @ woman’s, Finding that nothing was to be learned from further speculation in that direction, he present- ly tore the envelope open and drew forth the “cs contained within, t proved to be a half-sheet, and the writing was in pencil, the same as that on the envelope, Spreadiug it out under the light, Dick read: " Egpnoe knoe wiled Urides ot! to Hktan's Sering **T donot know w ou to ‘SS but if it is business, you had better look out for yourself. Wedo not need any of your sort of busi- ness around here, and you had better take this asa friendly warning and get out. If you do not, you may live long enough to be sorry you ever came here, *“Onr WHo Knows You.” Dick smiled as he read. | ‘*One who knows me, eh?” be mused. ‘* Well, it is plain that it is one who does not know me very well, or he—or she—would know tkat I am not the man to be frightened off by anythin of this sort. Richard, my boy, we'll stay, an see this thing to the end.” ; > & He folded the paper, returned it to the envel- ope, and put it in bis pocket. Lighting a cigar, then, and filling his case, he a coin to the landlord and sauntered out upon the piazza, « - : . ——_ 1 ‘ ; . lS -\ aes y } ; ae op py *® Nl, xt