Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 728 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

r -— o a — s- ; —— or: yu a. a - 4 Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Disguise. roof that ] am one of you, and ready to stand | two and others repaired to the Bob-tail Flush, y you, then I want you to take me into your band and stand by me, ‘“ An’ we'll do that, if yer proves yerself all wool an’ full width.” ‘¢ That’s enough said, then. Now here’s another point: I don’t know how well fixed this party will be, mind you, but whatever we get, I don’t want any of it. ‘You just take it and share it among yourselves. Now, if you can find any fault with my offer, all around, let me know what it is.” This last carried the crowd. A general shout of approval went up, and Thomas the Terrible sprung down and grasped the stranger’s hand. ‘You is a chief, you is, an’ I know et!” he cried, ‘‘ Hyar’s ther hand of what sez so, too, Boyees, ef this byar feller don’t pan out rich, then I’m a liar.” ““ Bet yer life on’t!” echoed Jonah. “ Ef he don’t prove his worth, then yer kin hang me erlong with bim, that’s all. An’ as fer his bein’ Deadwood Dick— Well, et are pooty plain thet he ain't nothin’ more’n what he claims,” **Go slow, boys, go slow,” the stranger cau- tioned, smiling, ‘‘ Don’t think I’m too good till I have given you the proof. Don't let it slip our mind that Deadwood Dick might come te and play just such a role as this, as you thought at first.” But the more the stranger said the more he rose in favor. He was taken in with open arms now, and was told that the whole camp was his to do with as he pleased. . ** All right,” he agreed, *‘ Pll take advantage of your offer. I'll make myself at home, and gee acquainted with the boys, And, by the way, there is still any doubt in your minds concern- ing me, just appoint two of your men to watch me, You are welcome to doit if you want to; it won’t worry me any.” ** No, that ’ar ain’t a tall necessary,” declared the Terrible. ‘*‘ Thereyesof ther bull durn camp will be on yer anyhow, an’ ther isn’t a galoot among us what ain’t true blue. No, sir, that ain’t needed er tall... But, come erlong, an’ let’s imbibe some p’izen while we wait. Thar’s noth- in’ kin prove a man’s caliber like tanglefoot, every time, an’ef you kin swoller yer p’izen straight, that will_ go along ways to’rds settin’ ye right in ther eyes of ther—” * Just hold upright there,” Iron Ivan inter- rupted, raising a finger. ‘‘If my caliber has to be gauged by thatstandard, I won’t pass, I shut down on that sort of thing some months ago, slick and clean. You couldn’t get a drop of it down my neck if you paid me forit. And just here I want to say one word more: I want you to select your nine men here and now, and if one of them touches a drop of your ‘ p’izen’ before the time is ? for us to start, it is no BO, and [ll draw out. I never go out on the trail with men who are not entirely clear headed. What do you say?” ‘““Wull I ber durn!” gasped the Terrible. ** This hyar ar’ somethin’ new, etar’. You seems ter be quite a saint, stranger.” *€Can’t help what I seem; that’s my platform, every time, and I’m on it hard with both «feet. Do you agree to what I’ve said? If you don’t, then it’s no go, that’s all, unless you want to go it alone.” ** Yas, durn et, we'll do ez yer asks, fer this oncet, anyhow. But you drats a ha’r too fine, you does, Thar war Gorrilly Jake, be wouldn’t mever go out on ther road onless he bad his b’iler more’n half full, an’ he was no slouch, you bet!” ‘“And where is he now? Perhapsif he had kept his head a little more clear, and his nerves more steady, be wouldn’t have got dosed. You may think about it what you please, but with me it is business first, always, After that, then you can fill your skins just as full as you want to,” ‘Et ar’ no use kickin’,” remarked Jonah, *‘ You fellers of ther nine hev got ter go dry till after ther stage racket. As fer me, Terrible Tommy, you kin please count me out of that, I couldn’t never stand et ter fast solong. Et would nigh erbout play me-ont, an’ you know I ain’t very strong, No, I opine I'll hev ter be excused,” This raised a laugh among the villainous crowd, and Jonah was readily excused, as he a a man who would not have been selected any- ow, Thomas the Terrible lost no time in raising his required number of picked men out of the forty or more present, and after pledging them not to touch a drop of the burtful, the crowd broke up, [ron Ivan made the request that his borse be shown the best care the camp was able to bestow, and that having been pledged by Thomas the Terrible, who gave the order forthwith, these the only public resort the camp boasted, There, in his quiet way, Ivan, the Man of Iron, told something more about himself than he bad told hitherto, He was from Arizona, he ex- | plained, where he had won such a reputation | that everybody desired his acquaintance, espe- | cially the officers, and as they had pressed their attentions upon him to the last degree, he had | thought it the proper thing to get up and get out. And along with that story went any number of reminiscences of hairbreadth escapes, all of which were strictly true, too, the only difference being that the narrator was putting himself in the other fellow’s place in most of them, In return, Terrible Thomas told much about himself and Coffin Camp. The camp, it seemed, in the first instance, had belonged to some miners*who had struck paying panning in the creek on the opposite side of the we praverouad, as the flat was called. bese miners had put up most of the shanties, and bad named the place Horsehoe Flats, owing to the curving of the rocky wall against which the buildings were backed, And there they held forth, defending their camp against all comers until after the rich find at Pond Lily. There, soon, was opened a mine that proved a staying success, and Pond Lily was speedily a young city. Panning in the creek at Horse- shoe Flats was too tame” in comparison with the gilded reports that came from Pond Lily from time to time, and finally the miners packed up their tools and deserted their claim for the newer sensation, It would have been well enough for them, perhaps, if they had made their move earlier, but as it was they found no employment await- ing them when they reached their destination. The mine at Pond Lily was paying big wages for common labor, but it was well supplied, and there was no opening for the new-comers.. They jamboreed around the ycung city until their money was spent, when they set out to return to the creek to reopen business at the old stand at Horseshoe Flats, In the mean time, the usual thing to follow a rich strike, a band of road-agents had appeared near Pond Lily, and were making it a matter of money or life to all travelers to and from that place, And when these honest miners got back rome, whai was their disgust to find that their camp had been taken possession of by the out- laws, who refused to give it up. And they were able to hold the place, too, having every advan- tage, and hold it they did, There was a fight, in which the miners got the worst of it, leaving several of their number to make the starting of a cemetery there, and the rest withdrew to seek pastures new, The out- laws had not outnumbered them greatly, but they had had the advantage of position, and that was everything, These outlaws, of which Terrible Thomas boasted that he had been one, renamed the place, calling it Coffin Camp, and there they had remained to the present, It was a place of refuge for villains for whom bonest society had no further use, except to grace the “ business end” of a rope at a “‘ hanging-bee;” and they had gathered there, one by one, till at last there were forty or more of them. Thomas bad been second in command, and, as said, after the taking off of the leader, Guerrilla Jake, he had stepped into first place. The camp was the plague-spot of all that country, and two or three times it had been attacked, but always with defeat for the besiegers, and after each vic- tory the outlaws had become worse than before, And such was the situation at the time of our romance, CHAPTER IV. EXPLAINS A MYSTERY, THE city of Pond Lily was a different sort of place. It was a city of the usual mining-camp style, but on a scale of more than usual magnitude. It had several payiug mines, of which the first, oldest and best was the'‘‘ old original” of the camp, the Lily Mine. This mine alone employed close upon a hun- dred hands, and the aggregate of the others made up several hundred more, Hence there was a population that numbered nearly a thou- san‘ souls, And it was a wide-awake, ‘‘ whooper-up” city of its kind, too, It boasted more modern im- provements to the square inch than any other spot of its size witbin a bundred miles, More than that, it made the boast that it was —_——_——————————————— ee - 000O8”D?TTF DLT ee ee aes rr ee :—t—tiC si <M LLL LLL LLL ttt. ctl ® ee the wickedest place within the same limits, = Coffin Camp excepted. That, it was admitted, | ha was a degree worse, " . lik When Pond Lily would no longer permit a | 3 rascally knave to remain within its boundaries, | yp; the only harbor of refuge known was Coffin | 4, Camp, and thither th@ said rascally knave gen- erally repaired in all haste, provided he escaped | ¢, the rope at Pond Lily, which was not always, But there are kinds and degrees of wickedness, ] Pond Lily, as a whole, kept within the pale | pj, of the law, while Coffin Camp, being on the | ¢p, other side of the line, bad mo respect for law, | 4), man or anything else. It was a law unto itself, | ¥,, ag ~psiey, chapters have shown, he owever, here were these two Camps, within a dozen miles of each other, and with all her population, Pond Lily, to this time, bad been un- able to crush Coffin Camp out of existence, ~ As stat2d, it had been attempted on several occasions, but always with defe t for the attack- ing party, owing to the impregnable position of the outlaw camp, With its modest half bun- dred, it was in position to set an army at defi- ance, almost. There was no known way of get- ting at it, except from the front, and once let the attacking force appear on the ‘ play- ground,” and the defenders could pick them off at will, Once the attempt had been made at starving the rascals out, and the valley was blockaded for a whole week, but during that. time these very knaves,, under their Yeader made a raid on Pond nie one night andcarried off provisions enough to last them six meTLus By what means they bad left Ccffin Camp ana returned, was unknown, but the fact was there, and was not to be disputed. Since then, the camp had been allowed to exist for the ‘best, of }. reasons, that Pond Lily did not know how/te deal with it. ‘aie One night recently the stage to Pond: Lily, later than usual, had been held up by the ‘out- law band—or rather, the attempt had been made to hold it up—but scarcely sooner bad the order been given to stop, than there was a flash | 4:5) and report from the top of the old hearse, the leader of the band toppled out of his saddle, a passenger grabbee the ribbons cut of the hands | py, of the driver, and away the stage went spin- ning, while a shout of defiance was sent back in these words: ‘Take that as a reminder that Deadwood }y,,, Dick is around, you devils!” pr The outlaws firedeiter ihe stage, of Si ie FS soon as they could recover from their asionish- oe ment, but their bullets lodged in the baggage behind, or flew harmlessly by. ¢j Tbe man laid low on this occasion was none} gag) other than Guerrilla Jake, and no wonder that} opr} Coffin Camp bad a score to settle. with Dead-| 7, wood Dick, and that the worst of fates would be] ».,.4, his should he chance to fall into their bands, at ¢ ‘Now, strange as it may seem, nothing bad)». been seen of Deadwood Dick at Pond Lily,” That) aij), he had been on the stage that night, noone ques- tioned. The driver swore to it with all ve he t hemence, and extolled the manner in which be) ¢h 4; had laid out the outlaw chief and hustled the stage) ),i,, along out of their hands; but that was as far an) « he could tell anything, ! Dea, It had been a terrible dark night, this night) «7 | of that occurrence, so dark that the driver bad) o¢ a been unable to see the trail ahead, further thay fo r his lamps shone and when he rode into thecamp| « he was amazed to find that bis passengeron top) « bad disappeared! He had spoken to bim not two} 4: 5 , minutes before, as they came out into sightof| «: Pond Lily, but when the stage drew up hefore gay the leading hotel the passenger was missing! here Siuce that hour nothing had been seen of him, you so far as the citizens of the camp knew, {t had}>,,, been much commented upon at first, but ina) «: busy place like Pond Lily a thing soon becomes)y oy old, and so it was with this, was The Mayor of Pond Lily was one Howland) apiy. Kentway, who also, was mavager of the LIX gost Mine, and bead of affairs generally. off. | He was¢ man of fifty, stern of face and manner, mys and ruled things with a hand of iron in his own “er Mey . 6s} recent robbery of a shipment of bullion) pay, from the Lily, just previous to the death of the foun outlaw chief, had put bim upon his muscle, 80} ¢he,, to say, and he bad made a vow that Coffin Camp that must be wiped out, here But, how it was to be done—that was what and puzzled him. am | 1t was not easy to find men willing to attack) },,...: the rascals in their lair. Each man seemed toset) 4 too high a value upon his personal safety for) 4): that, so the next best thing the mayor could do}; el was to offer a reward of so much per head for |¢, ‘ every outlaw brought to him. men’ Nor had even this the desired effect, None un “ ( " books.com™~ ecom