Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 743 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

Z A dashing, handsome fellow, a superb horse- man, armed to the teeth and dressed like a fron- tier dandy, the stranger had won the admiration of the people of the train, They had been told by their guide, Lasso Luke, that the handsome stranger was a desperado, a Texan gambler, known as Devil Dick Drum- mond, and properly named, Two days after this same deadly duelist had overtaken the train, rescued it froma band of Indians, into whose power the treachery of Lasso Luke the guide bad led it, and himself acting as guide, he had led it on to its destination. Among the people of the train was a Mr. Red- mond, his wife and their niece, known as their adopted daughter. Ruth Redmond was the daughter of Mr. Red- mond’s brother, an army officer who had lost his life upon the prairies, as had his wife, at the hands of the Comanches. Ruth had been born and reared upon the prairies until her fifteenth year, when she went to dwell with her uncle and aunt in Alabama, But adversity drove Mr. Redmond to seek the ranch of Ruth, left her by her father, and it was upon their way there that Devil Dick cross- ed their path. He proved himself a daring map, true friend, and saved them more than twice from death, and Ruth Redmond, then in her eighteenth year, beautiful, and a dashing, splendid girl, who loved manly courage, fell desperately in love ie the strange man who thus crossed her path, The ranch was reached, and Mr. Redmond, wife and Ruth settled down there in com- ort. But thither came Richard Drummond, and be the man what he might, he won and wedded Ruth Redmond, He bore her away to the mines of New Mex- ico, where he knew that her father held an in- terest which would give her a large fortune, Was it the love of gold that caused Dick Drummond to win the heart of Ruth Redmond? The sequel will show. CHAPTER II. THE SOLDIERS’ MINE. ‘*I SAY, pards, I may be a rough one, and on tbe shoot and kill, lookin’ out fer number one every time, but you kin bet I hain’t no man ter steal a dollar that don’t come to me squar’, and never could [ take the bread out o’ the mouth o’ a leetle girl. ‘‘Tt are my honesty that hev caused me ter cerkilate around that I wants ter find Captain Redmond’s darter, and I has let it be knowed rather gineral that [ has news ter interest her with a yaller metal ring to it.” The speaker was seated before his cabin in a mining-camp of New Mexico. He was a large man, with long black hair and beard, tinged with gray, and had the unmis- takuble stamp of the Hebrew upon his face, He had been a miner for a score of years, drifting from place to place, never giving up, eiysys hopeful, until at last the gold had come 8 Way. A Pouslens fellow, he had been able to fight his way,and honest ever, he had been chosen by Captain Redmond years before to work his mine with him On shares, He was known as ‘‘Marks the Miner,” buat soon after was called ** The Jaw Miner.” The mine had never paid during Captain Red- mond’s lifetime, and he had never supposed that it would, so bad left no mention of it in his will, leaving his daughter Ruth a fine ranch, some cattle and horses, and to the guardianship of his brother, ° The lead was known as the ‘‘ Soldiers’ Mine,” from the fact that balf a dozen army officers had put money into it, and Captain Redmond had bought them out, But Marks had “struck it rich” in time, and had advertised the fact so that it would reach mi aa Redmond’s heir, t had come to the ears of Lasso Luke the guide of the Redmond train, and he had sought to win the heiress, and failing had led the train into a trap to get her into his power. lt had reached the ears of Devil Dick, and he had won the heiress and wedded her, And so Marks sat in front of his cabin that evening, and dilated upon what he had done to find the heiress, ‘It will be a han’some fortin’ fer her, won’t it, Marks?” asked a pard, ‘* Yer bet it will, Granger. ‘I has banked for myself over a clean hun- dred thousand, and her share were two-thirds, 50 ‘* Well, I has a letter here from the gent as is PO i a TR eae ae Oa a a a we eee LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LL LL LN ttt st Buck Taylor’s Boys. ter marry her, and he says they will come this way ter see mie when they gits spliced. ‘* This were weeks ago, and I is a-lookin’ fer ’em on any coach. ‘* [ only hopes she has married ther right sort o’ a feller.” ‘* Gals with money seldom does, Marks; but who be he, a army officer?” ** No, he signs bis name only Richard Drum- mond, and I once knew a gambler by that name that came through the mines and cleaned out the boys. ‘* He were a dandy ter look at, cool asice, and on ther shoot for all it was worth, ‘‘ Thar sounds the stage-horn now,” A few minutes after, the stage-coach rolled up to what was known as the ‘‘Gold Brick otel,” and out sprung a tall, fine-looking man, dressed in a velvet jacket, corduroy pants stuck in top-boots, a black sombrero, and with a belt of arms strapped about his waist. He aided to alight a young girl with a dark- ly-bronzed but beautiful face, great lustrous black eyes, and a smile of wonderful fascina- tion, She was plainly, but neatly dressed in a dark- gray habit, wore a sombrero, gold-embroidered, and over her shoulders was thrown an officer’s military cloak, ** Them is my people,” cried Marks the Miner, and pressing forward be introduced himsejf in his characteristic way. They were ‘‘ his people,” for it was Richard Drummond and his wife, the latter baving learned of her inheritance just on the eve of her marriage, ‘* Yer see, miss, I have banked for you a little over two hundred thousand, you having two- third ownership, I one-third.” ‘*T has mine sufe, too, and as the mine is not yet played out, [ll keep a-pegging away at it as long as she pans out dust for us, and then I intends ter retire and live on my money, whar I kin enjoy life, arter the bard knocks I has know’d,” Such was Marks the Miner’sstatement to Ruth, ond he turned over to her husband, at her re- quest, the fortune his honesty had saved for her, And then theevil in the nature of Devil Dick asserted itself, for be began to squander his wife’s fortune, and in a few years she had been driven to seek a refuge in her girlhood home in the Texas Ranch, with ber uncle and aunt, and to know that her wicked husband was a fugitive in Mexico, whence to escape punishment for bis crimes he had been forced to find a hiding place, CHAPTER III. THE LAST OF HER RACE, A SMALL cavalcade was winding across the rairie just at sunset, some five years after Ruth Redmond had become the wife of Devil Dick Drummond, {t had filed out of a prairie home, situated in some timber upon the banks of a stream, and was wending its way across the prairie toward a hill that was heavily wooded, and rose from the surrounding plain alone, for no other rise was near, The cavalcade consisted of a ‘‘ jumper,” or prairie wagon, on which was visible a pine coffin painted black, A negro man drove the wagon, and by his side was seated a negress, and her eyes were red from weeping, Just behind the wagon, which was serving as a hearse, rode a woman, It was Ruth Redmond, as she again called herself, for since her return to ber home she had utterly discarded the name of ber evil husband, Not a day older did she look, in spite of the years and the sorrows she had known, Her form was faultless, and clad in a black riding-habit, while upon ber head she wore a sombrero of the same somber hue. A gold cord encircled it, and thebrim was looped up with a gold Texas star. er face wore a sad expression with bitterness, as though the worl aer some severe blows. Behind her came a dozen horsemen of the un- mistakable type of Texan cowboys, They were frank-faced, daring fellows, but now there rested a look of gloom in every coun- tenance as they rode along two by two, The party drew near the distant hill, and as they did so it was seen that the spot in the long ago had been a Catholic Mission of the early Spanish settlers in Mexico, of which Texas was then a part, There was a ruin of a stone chapel and out- buildings, but all crumbling to decay, for many one mingled d had dealt along year had passed since the worthy pf and their flocks bad dwelt there, A large stone cross was where the trail wound from the prairie up the hill, and there was a fine spring of limpid water, about its edges being thousands of tracks of buffalo, deer, wolves and wild borses, for it was a favorite drinking-place wlth animals, Up the hill wound the vehicle with its dead, filing around the ruined chapel, and finding a halting place in an ancient burying-ground, There were a few newly made graves among the old ones, for the rancheros came from far and wide to the sacred, deserted spot to bury their beloved dead there, Apart from the others was & grave newly made, and above it wasa head-board into which ne pie skillfully cut the name of the occupant, t read; “To THE MEMORY OF ROBERT REDMOND. Born in Alabama, May ist, 18—. Slain by Comanches in Texas, Oct. 2d, 18—.”’ It was the grave of Ruth Redmond’s uncle, and adopted father. A few months before the Comanches had raided the ranch, and left death and destruction behind them, Mrs, Redmond had never rallied from the shock, and fading away day by day, she was now being borne to the grave, a resting-place by side of ber buried husband. Afar back over the prairie was the home of Supset Ranch, a pleasant home withal, with many comforts about it for that wild land, And there now was Ruth Redmond to return alone, the last of her race. She had all about ber to make life enjoyable, except companionship and kindred, The man who bad made her his wife, squan- dered her fortune and wrecked her life, was a fugitive in Mexico. er parents had fallen by the bands of the Comanches, then followed her uncle, and now her loved aunt was to be placed in the grave. It was no wonder that Ruth Redmond’s thoughts were bitter as she followed the body to the grave. © The faithful negroes, Primus and Nannie still clung to her, and upon the ranch were the cattle- herders, a dozen gallant cowboys, and to her the rest of the world now was a blank, The little party halted near Robert Redmond’s burying-place, and the cowboys, taking spades and shovels from the wagon, set to work to dig a grave for his wife. ‘hey worked steadily and in silence, while Ruth Redmond strolled about the hill alone and gathered wild flowers to place upon the grave. At last the grave was ready, the coffin was lowered with lariats, the burial service was recited in a low, but firm voice by Ruth Red- mond, and then the earth fell with a hollow sound upon the coffin, At last the mound was completed, the wild- flowers were strewn upon it, and she who was the last of her race, a young and beautiful wo- man, alone, as it were, in tbat wild land, said: ‘* My friends, one and all, I thank you!” Hardly had the words been spoken when a cry of warnirag broke from the lips of a cowboy, and all eyes A eh out upon the prairie saw that a large band of Comanches were between them and the ranch, CHAPTER IV. IN CLOSE QUARTERS, One would naturally suppose, that, when danger threatened, the party at the old burying- ground would have trusted to one of the cow- boys as their leader; but, instead, all eyes turned upon Ruth Redmond for aid and instructions, She was a soldier's daughter, and had seen much of border life. Her uncle had turned to her often for her advice, and she was known by the cowboys to be fearless, skillful and cool, She at once, when the alarm was given, walked over to the edge of the timber where the horses had been left, and took a view of the danger, There lay the ranch with its white walls and fences six miles away across the prairie, situ- ated upon the banks of the winding stream, Afar below was a large herd of cattle and a couple of hundred ponies, guarded by two cow- boys only, for the rest were with the funeral party. Those two cowboy guards were striving to drive the herds toward the stream, to cross and escape with them from the threatened danger, 900 GOnc cS — ee ee ° — col