Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 728 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

| “ With barely your lives! Curse it! you don’t | mean to say you have been gone through, do ou ‘i | ‘Waal, that’s erbout ther size of et, mayor,” chip in the driver. ‘* We got ther hold-up and clean-out in ther wu’st kind o’ way.” Kentway went on like a crazy man, while the passengers alighted, and led the mine president 2 off in the direction of the hotel, loudly declaring | what he would do, and that without delay. ‘‘ We'll clean them out,” he cried, “‘ if it takes every man, woman and child of Pond Lily to do “| This was a sensation, this robbery of the | special, and it was more of a sensation to learn | that a new chief was in the band, Iron Ivan. _ Tron Ivan!” exclaimed the stranger, when he heard thename, __. , _ “ Ther same,” assured the driver. - |. “Then he is my man,” wasthecry, ‘I will 4°. have him, if I have to wade in blood to take . ALE, - =, a ** An’ who mought you be?” was asked. **T am Deadwood Dick, Jr.” ““Ther dickens! Then I has word for ye. Ther outlaw sent his special regards ter you an’ Bent you a invite ter come an’ take him, ef yer ‘* And it’s one that I'll accept,” the wounded Man declared. ‘‘I am hot upon his trail, and |. he won’t escape me for long. There will be a 4 of reckoning, when 1 get bold of him.” ‘Who do you say you are, sir?” asked the wo- “apy Sho ha alighted. € Dame was repeated, and the woman gave & Starching look, The expression of her bed pu g one. , when this lady had registered, felt curiosity enough to look, saw ae ng set down as Madge Marble, r 4 ncisco,. : os CHAPTER VIL. ys _ ELECTING A NEW CAPTAIN. ' feet TO return to the outlaws, after their bloodless victory in their uadertaking. _* Youis ther chief, you is, by durn!” cried Thomas the Terrible, as he pumped away at Tron Ivan’s hand. “I thought I could prove my worth to you,” ~ “Tvan laughed. ‘‘ But, this was only child’s play. _ The eas b I have inal while.” . ‘heen, ef yer hadn’t had r back ye up,” putin one of the band. ‘‘Ob, of course not; [admit that. You are - good mea, every one of you, and I am proud of you. Now let’s get back to your camp, ‘* That’s ther ticket,” agreed Terrible Thomas. “We hev got a pile of collateral ter divvy. ,» Must be a couple o’ thousand, at ther least. ‘ ~— Durn good streak o’ luck!” _. ** And it’s all yours, as I have said,” remarked Tron [van. ‘I don’t want any share init, That was the arrangement, and I’m willing to live up toit. Ididn’t expect we pay us for the trouble.” ‘Et ar’ all ther better thet we hev,” declared Thomas surnamed Terrible. ‘‘We wull give ‘you ther jolliest old toast you ever heerd on, hen we gits back to ther camp, an’ don’t ye _ @isremember et, uther. Durn me ef I don’t ~ < feel like nommynatin’ you fer captain.” “Ob; don’t be in a hurry about that,” Ivan assed over. .‘' l’m satisfied with a less impor- post, if it is all the same to you. And now, thomas, | turn the men over to you. I’ve ne What to do, and you seem satisfied oly let’s We're = An’ et would be a durn, bog what wasn’t _. gatisfied,” the Terrible declared, ‘ Yas, come ~~ on, boyees, an’ we'll] amble. For’d, now, an’ we'll soon put distance abind us, Ding dong -« dast et, Iron Ivan, but you is ther cussedest cuss __.- thet Lever met in me life, you is! 1 can’t git _. over ther way yer done et. But, say, why in _ turaation didn’t yer kiss ther gal?” “That's ther question,” another chimed in. would get enough to . Ber, mi ther best part of et, or I’m a : D * j | , ** An’ say, What was et yer said to ther dame?” 6 Rt asked Thomas, war lettin’ ber off too _ durn cheap, @t war; onless yer knowed her, an’ had other reasons,” . "That was just it,” Ivan admitted. ‘She - was a lady [ have known, and I had the satis- faction of telling her who I am, so that she could have something to think about for awhile.” “Ha, that war it, hey? Sort o’ love affair in the days gone by, reckons, Waal, that’s your business, an’ none 0’ ours, so we'll not meddle any more witb it. I wanted ter see ther fun o’ _- your kissin’ ber, though— Haw! haw! haw!” . —~ She “It might have made trouble,” the young stranger explained, ‘‘ She is full of spirit, and might have kept her threat and killed herself. I thought it best to let well enough alone, We'll let that drop, however. And now for the camp, and to see how much of a haul we have made,” They had started on, but now they increased their speed, and little more wassaid on the —— When they arrived at Coffin Camp they dash- ed in upon the ‘‘ playground” with a whoop and a ee ron lvan and Terrible Thomas leading. t was nearly dark, and the home guard rush- ed out like hornets out of a nest, arined to the teeth and ready to offer fight, and this circum- stance told Llron Ivan something important. By it he saw that an attacking party, coming at night, or at any other time, for that matter, might overcome the men of Coffin Camp, if the force was great evough. And he resolved to mention it to Terrible Thomas as soon as he could, Seeing who they were, the home guard joined in the shout, and as soon as the returning con- querors drew rein, gathered around to learn the result of their raid upon the stage, And that result made known, there was a wild cheering that made the surrounding rocky walls ring. And then immediately, their probation over, the men who had been out rushed to the saloon to do harm to their bodies by imbibing freely of the vile stuff there on tap. Iron Ivan called Thomas the Terrible aside, after he—said Thomas—had “ wet his whistle,” andsaid: . ** There's something I want to call your atten- tion to, and thatrightaway. Iseedanger ahead for thiscamp. I want to tell you of it.” ** Tuer dickeus yer do!” was the exclamation, ” Spit her out, then, Let’s hear it, although | can’t see how et ar’, Why, man, we could al- most defy ther reg’lar army, byar.” ‘* Yes, I know, if you took it in time; but just Suppose we had been enemies when we Pushed in here, with a hundred men at our backs; we could have cleaved out the place in five minutes, I tell you it won’t do,” Thomas the Terrible scratched his head, ‘We never thort of et in that light,” he ad- mitted. ‘‘ We has allus expected ter have notice enough, and we kin git under shelter an’ pepper ’em in half ther time et takes ter git hyar from ther p’int o’ rocks. But I allow you is right, ef et had been az you says,” ‘Of course I’m right, and as long as I am here I want better protection,” ** What would you say orter be done, then?” ‘“ Have outposts to guard the approach, day and night.” ‘* We does have ’em, o’ nights, but never thort et was necessary ter hev ’em in ther daytime.” But you see itis, Why, a hundred mounted men from Pond Lily might sweep in here some time, when you were not expecting it, and they’d make you sick in a short time, I tell you.” ; “Yas, but yer see they dassen’t try et on. We has been too many fer ’em two or three times, an’ they is afeerd of us. You couldn’t it’em ter go fer us in that’ar way, an’ I’m ettin’ on et, Thar’s no danger of the’r tryin’ et on.” “I don’t know about that. Deadwood Dick is around, and if you believe the stories you hear about bim, he would be just the man to propose such a thing. Besides this robbery will make Pond Lily wild, aud when Deadwood Dick learns that Iron lvan is with you, he will be after us red-hot.” ‘You talks sound sense, every time, yer does, Say, will yer take ther lead of ther camp, ef I'll nommynate yer?” ’ ‘*Oh, no; I didn’t come here for anything of that sort.” ‘‘But I wants yer to, Yer see et ar’ like this. Ther boyees all looks up ter me, ’cause Pve got ther name, but ter be honest with yer, I ain’t got ther head fer plannin’. That was Gorrilly’s great holt, when he was sober.” ‘** And when be wag drunk be was worse than nobody. A drunken man bas got no business to be at the head of anything. e you in the babit of taking aboard more than you can con- veniently carry ?” , ; **T must own thet I am, sometimes,” ‘* Well, if that is the case, and you really want me to take the lead of your band, I am willing, if the meu are.” ‘That’s there cheese, skippers an’ all. I'll call a meetin’ ter oncet, an’ see what ther ver- dick wull be; but I knows a’ready, jest ez well ez I know me name,” oo Thomas the Terrible was as good as his word, You see, this Pes ‘Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Disguise. Getting up on the end of the bar—they were in the saloon—he called the wild crowd to order. ‘‘f wants yer ’tention,” he cried. “‘I hasa proppyzition ter unfold to yer. I wants ther senty mints e ther crowd on what I’m goin’ ter say. Yer all knows thet Iron Ivan ar’ ther right sort of stuff, don’t yer.” ‘ Bet ie? life on't!” was the wild cry. ** Wull, be hey called my tention to ther fack that this hyar camp ain’t ez safe from attack ez we hev allus supposed et ter be. He have spot- ted a weak p’int, an’ hey showed et tome. Now what more proof does we want thet he ar’ ther right sort of man ter tie to?” ‘‘ That’s all ther proof anybody could ask!” ‘‘ But what’s ther weak spot yer tells of?” That was explained by Iron Ivan himself, in about the words we have quoted, It was received by the crowd with much satis- faction. The truth of it could not be denied, and every word was approved. The outposts for the night, by the way, had been sent to their places, so there was nothing to look after for the present, and a full meet- ing was in attendance at the Bob-tail. ** An’ that’s what I says,” voiced the Terrible, ** Ary galoot what wull come byar an’ take sich interest in our affairs, is ter be trusted. Now, boyees, I am in favor of resignin’ my place in favor of Iron Ivan, He hev said he'll take et, ef you ar’ willin’.” ‘** But it is an Honor I don’t seek, mind you,” Ivan putin. “It was et gong to me by your captain himself, Isn’t that so, Mr. Terrible?” ‘*‘ Yas, them’s ther facks of ther case. Et war all my doin’,” Thomas admitted, ‘‘An’ we want yer, you bet we does!” sung out a voice, Said one man; ‘“‘Ef ther capting ar’ willin’, that’s sartain.” , ‘* Wull, ez many as is in favor of et, jest sing out,” the Terrible put to the test. There was the beginning of a wild shout of approval, and the motion would have been car- ried, Lut one voice louder than all the rest called a halt, ‘‘ Hol’ on, thar!” the voice bellowed. 1 offer § , a mandymint ter that ’ar moshun, I ‘oes, moves thet if ther candydate kin stand Thomas ther Turrible on his herd, in a friendly tussle, then he hey ther post o’ benor.” This. was received with wildest enthusiast. ‘* If you hold to that,” spoke Ivan, “I am not likely to win the place, for I see your captain is a bigger man than | am,” ** Et don’t matter,” the man insisted. ‘‘ You is called ther Man.of Iron, an’ I opines thar must be a reason fer callin’ yer so. bat dyer say to et?” Well, Iam wae) jf your captain is, seeing — . that you insist upon ‘*Bet ver life we does! What der you say, Turrible?”’ ‘“Wull, I'll try et on wi’ him, jest fer cod, but I wants him ter bave ther posto’ capting jest ther same, I may have ther best o’ bim on mus- cle, but I know he holds ther best band on brain,” ** All right, jest ez yer pleuses erbout that, but we wants ter see er leetie fun ez we goes erlong. Git teady fur et, now.” | So other.and present] for a friendly wrestle, . \ It was to be taken all in good part, and the best two out of three was to decide if, The men of Ccffin Camp well knew what their chief could do, andexpected that he would soon stand this stranger on bis head, but stil] there was a reasonable doubt. And it was that dcubt that made it interest- ing. Tbey were all ready, as said, and at the word from him called Jonah, at it they were to go. And on theoutcome of that wrestle was to rest the new cbief’s laurels. ‘‘Wull, ef yer is both ready,” spoke Jonah, ** T}] Jet ’er slide.” ** All ready,” answered they both. | “Then hvar goes; Ove, a two, an’ a three, Git thar Eli!” | CHAPTER VIII, THE RESULT.—WAR EXPECTED, At the word, the two sprung at it, o: It was to bea ‘catch as catch can” affair, and the first catch seemed to be all in favor of Thomas. . There was a brief struggle, and then presently down went Iron Ivan, under a force cf muscle which, apparently, he could not resist, And this was wildly cheered, as would bave been the. case anyhow. “T told you so,” Ivan remarked, as he got up we'd orter be, get ready they did, Iron Ivan and this they were up face to face — > res oe