Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 730 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

a, - ye 7 ae = e. Oa 14 Violet Vane’s Verdict. ** Tt must be possible, Slink. Not only must it be attended to to-night, but not a minute must be lost,” ** it surely must be important. -What can it be, dear sir?” ‘* You know the old fellow who calls himself Daddy Duzenberry ?” ‘* Surely.” ** You know he has a girl? Well, I have taken a fancy to that girl,” There was a pause, as if the lawyer was too surprised to speak, and during that pause Adam distinctly heard the suppressed but gurgling breathing of a third person within the room, Giving vent to an exclamation of anger and fear, the sleek hypocrite leaped to his feet and caught Elias Slink by the throat, holding the amazed lawyer helpless in his chair. ‘* You treacherous dog!” snarled Jayne, ‘‘ So you are playing a double game! I have caught you! ** Hold on! hold on!” cried Slink, ‘‘ What are you upto? Whatdo you mean?” ** You know well enough what I mean! There is a third person in this room!” ** Ts that all, dear sir?” ‘*That’s enough! You have some one here tooverbear my taJk! You bave sold me out!” “That is where you make a big error, and you have unnecessarily alarmed yourself and your humble servant, E, Slink, Esq.” **Do you deny it? 1 heard the man breath- ing. He is sitting at the right-hand end of the table.” ‘* That is true,” ‘Then you confess?” ** That there is a man there—yes,” Oh, w’at yer makin’ all this fuss fer?” gur- led a familiar voice. ‘‘ reckon I’m in this usiness with ther rest of ye, ur my name hain’t Ben Hogg.” It was the *‘ judge.” ‘*'Why didn’t you say he was here?’ indig- nantly demanded Jayne, as he sunk panting in- to a chair, ‘You did not give me time, dear sir,” cooed Slink, ‘‘ You plunged into business at once, and I thought it could do no harm for the eee hear what you had to say.” ** W hat is he in here for?” **Came in ter tell Slink ’bout ther sad ’fair over in ther Jim Dandy,” was Hogg’s reply. “°T wuz too bad we wuzn’t able ter down thet velvet sbarp,”’ ‘‘T have put a dog on his trail, But this other business, We cannot lose ariv time.” ** What can you want of old Duzenberry’s girl, dear sir?’ softly inquired the lawyer. ‘That makes no difference. It is enough that I want her and want her bad, More than that, I will pay to get ber.” ‘** Thet soun’s right,” mumbled Hogg. ‘** But I scarcely understand how the riffle is going to be made,” protested the cautious law- yer. ** Kasily enough,” said Adam. ‘* Duzenberry is in town and the girl must be alone, Three or four of the men can slip down to the cabin and carry her off,” . “That might not be so easy; she is something of a spit-fire.” **it could be done if you were with them, Slink. You are great at imitating another man’s voice, After you knock at the door, she will ask who is there, then you can imitate Duzenberry’s voice when you reply. She will immediately unfasten the door, and the rest will be easy.” ‘* I berlieve it kin be worked, Pard Slink,” as- serted ** Judge” Hogg. ** But where are the boys to go? Jim, Ike and the Greaser are off on another lay. We might cat ape of the others, but they are not very rusty, ‘“‘Then do not try them,” hastily put in Jayne, ** Why are not you two enough? I will remain behind to watch Duzenberry.” ‘* An’ so keep whar yer neck is safe,” chuckled ogg. * Will you do it?’ impatiently demanded Adam, ‘** How much are you willing to pay?” “I will give you a hundred dollars apiece, if you are successful,” ** Not enough.” ** Two hundred each, then—not another cent. You are to take her to some place where she can be sately kept till I am ready to take her away. What do yousay? Speak quick!” “‘Tt is a bargain,” declared the lawyer. **'We'll scoop her,” gurgled ‘‘ Judge” Benja- The three sealed the crooked compact with a CHAPTER XVII, THE LAST DEAL, }'RoM Slink’s office Adam Jayne hurried to- ward the Jim Dandy Saloon, his bired tools hav- ing started for the cabin down the creek. As he was walking along he was startled by hearing the sound of a low groan, which came from near the wall of a low cabin. He halted, his hand seeking the pocket in which he always carried a ready revolver, ‘* Who is there?’ he demanded. Once more he heard the groan, and again he repeated the question, A figure partially arose in the darkness. and the voice of Sweet Jim replied: ‘** Tt’s only me—Jim Cobb,” Adam/’s hand fell from the butt of the revolver and he instantly approached the figure. ‘‘ What is the matter with you?” he demanded, ‘Are you drunk?” ‘Not much!” moaned Jim. ‘ All ther same, I hev got an awful head on me,” ‘*Well, then what is the trouble with you?” “Ts thet you, Jayne? Then Ill tell ye how it happened. Ye see, [ wuz follerin’ thet velvet sharp as you wanted meter, I[ reckon ther ga- loot must hev tumbled, fer w’en I rounded thar corner of this yere cabin, sutain’ drapped on my head. I jest laid right down hyer, an’ hyer I’ve stayed ever sence,” Adam uttered a snarl, ‘Then you let Violet Vane get away from you?” sé Ye 2 ‘Fool! I told hege to find the boy and I would pay you well, If you had been sharp enough to follow the sport, he would have led you to the boy.” > ‘* Thar wuzn’t ary need of thet anyhow. I know whar the kid is.” In another instant Jayne had the tough by the shoulder. ‘‘ What do you say?” he hoarsely demanded, ** Don’t lie to me, man! What do you mean?” ‘* It’s straight goods, ‘boss; I know whar ther kid is, sure pop.” ** Where is he?” ‘“‘ Stoppin’ hyer in town at ther howtel.” At first Jayne could not believe the man was not attempting to play a joke on him, but Jim finally convinced the chiet plotter that he was in sober earnest. Great was Adam’s anger when he learned bow Slink had sought to keep all knawledge of the boy’s presence from him, ‘‘T have paid that foxy wretch well to serve me!” he snarled; ‘‘and now he would play a double game on me that he might bleed me still further! I will beat him at bis own trick!” ** An’ ’}] holp ye, boss, ef ther’s money in it,” eagerly assured Sweet Jim. ‘* Well, there is money in it; but how can you aid rne?” | | ‘*Thet’ll be easy. Ye see, Slink hes planned ter scoop ther kid ter-night an’ take him ter a cave I knows on. Ian’ lke an’a Greaser are goin’ ter do ther job arter it gits quiet-like. W’en it is all done, one of us “ll bev ter stay in ther cave an’ watch ther kid. [ll work it so they’llleave me, See?” ‘* Yes; but I want to get hold of this boy to- night. Il am not willing to lose more time, How can it be worked?” _ » remained in thought a moment, then re- ied: ‘*Do you know where the split rock is?” sé Yes. ” . “ ‘*'Wal, you go thar an’ lay low. W’en we kerry ther kid ter ther cave, we shell pass thar, You kin. foller, but you want ter be mighty sly *bout it so Ike ur ther Greaser won’t ketch on, W’en you see us go through a mess of bush thet sets right up ag’in’ ther foot of a puppindiculer wall of stun you kin know we hev gone inter ther cave. Then you jest keep hid tell [ke an’ ther Greaser goes erway. Arter they hev, I'll kem out an’ whistle; then you kin show up an’ I'll take ye ter ther kid.” Adam readily agreed to this plan, gui? for- getting he had promised to watch Daddy Duzen- berry while Slink and Hogg captured the old man’s ‘‘ gal,” At Jast the arch-rascal began to believe the end of the game was close at hand; success was about to crown his schemes, He assisted Sweet Jim to his feet. At first the tough was so dizzy he could only stand by clinging to his companion, but the feeling swift- ly passed. ** Now, Iam all right fer biz,” he declared. ‘* Remember that you are goin’ ter pay me five hundred dollars, an’ I want ye ter hev ther money with ye w’en ye come ter ther cave,” handshake in the darkness, ** You need not worry about that. I have the ¢ e t er® ¥4 1% . . ‘ - ; ‘ va ; ‘ , “% five hundred in my pocket, and plenty more to keep it company.” ‘*Then you git ter ther Split Rock an’ lay low. Don’t ye git narvous ef ye don’t see nuth- in’ fer two ur three hours, fer we’ll shorely be erlong afore mornin’, Jest you keep cool an’ foller arter we pass,” They separated, Jayne immediately making his way toward the Split Rock, which was near- ly a mile out of town. Reaching the rock, the hypocritical villain threw himself down beside it to await the coming of the kidnappers, Slowly tbe minutes passed into hours, The moon finally arose, but the sky was overcast by a flying scud which made the light of the ‘Queen of the Night” rather fitful and uncer- tain. In the shadow of the riven rock Adam Jayne crouched and waited, straining his ears and eyes. At least two hours passed after he arrived there before he saw a buman being. Suddenly he heard a cat-like footstep, and, peering from his place of concealment, he de- tected the figure of a man approaching. The man was moving toward Coffin City in- stead of from the town, so he could not be one of the three who were to capture the boy. There was something suggestive of the sneak about the almost noiseless manner in which the pedestrian moved along, and from this pecu- liarity Adam immediately recognized the pedes- trian. It was the oily lawyer, Slink. Jayne was seized by wonder at the presence of the man, Why was he there, and where was the ‘‘ judge?” Slink burried on and vanished in the direction of the town. ‘*Go on!” softly snarled Jayne, shaking his clinched hand toward the spot where the lawyer was last seen. ‘*Go on, you blood-sucker! You will never get anything more out of me, I do not believe that girl of Duzenberry’s can ssibly be Jennie Kenyon, or truly Jennie ayne. It was nothivg but an accidental re- semblance. When I have finished the boy the game will be ended,” | Another hour passed. Adam was beginning to become wildly im- patient when he heard low voices, and, a mo- ment later, shadowy figures were seen advancing from the direction of the town, The man be- side the rock crouched lower. Three men passed the rock, two of whom were bearing what seemed to be the inanimate body of a third, They were the two toughs, Ike and Jim, and the Mexican, Juan, The inanimate figure was the boy tenderfoot, Timothy Stiles. Adam did not wait for them to get very far away before he arose and crept along after them. Had he waited a few seconds longer he would have made a startling discovery. The kidnappers were being shadowed by a small party of men! These shadowers were startled when Adam appeared, and they were compelled to follow Jayne and trust that he would not lose sight of the ones they were after, The party consisted of Daddy Duzenberry, Red Lark and Leon Forest, As Jayne took considerable ki Spe 3 against | im being detected by Sweet ’s companions, those who were following him found it no easy job to keep him in view. ‘*He dodges like a jack-rabbit!” whisyered Red Lark in disgust. Se ‘ ‘* He'll give us ther slip ef we hain’t keerful,” asserted Daddy. For a considerable distance they were able to follow the chief rascal of the crooked game, but, quite unconsciously, he finally gave them the slip. ‘i Didn’t I say so!” growled Daddy, disgusted- ly, when they were certain that Jayne had in- deed passed beyond their vision and there seemed no hope of getting sight of him again, ‘¢ Naow what are we goin’ ter do?” **¢ Ax me suthbin’ easy,” retorted Red Lark, Leon was greatly excited when he realized they were quite off the track. | For a Jong time the three continued to search, although it seemed time wasted; but finally, of a sudden they came face to face with two men. They were Lank Ike and Juan Pacheco! It was difficult to tell which was the most as- tonished of the five men, but Daddy Duzenberry succeeded in getting the drop on the tough and the Mexican. ‘‘Hands up, you critters!” he commanded, in a business-like manner, ‘ Be lively, ur swaller lead!” com ‘ | IC i > —_ <= “4/5 "A —-<ie -_ ———™ ' ¥