Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 770 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

2 sizes, the largest of which was the Silver Bugle . Hotel. Next to the Silver Bugle in size, and far surpassing it in local favor, was the Palace Sa- loon, the beadquarters of the camp, run by a young, dashing and good-looking woman known as ‘‘ Queen of Hearts,” The buildings on both sides of the street stood shoulder to shoulder for a distance of nearly half a mile, while to the north of the street, bebind the buildings on that side, were tents and shan- ties in great number, The camp was of nearly two thousand population, and was a reproduc- tion, on a smaller scale, of what now great Dead- wood had been in its youth. South of the street, behind the Silver Bugle, the Palace Saloon, and the other buildings on that side, rose a wall of rock toa height of two hundred feet or more, sloping outward until it fairly overhung the single thoroughfare. A stone dropped from its crest would strike in the middle of the highway,in front of the Palace, The rock was basalt, and this cliff was the “basalt butte” from which the camp took its names, At the top was a level ledge. On this ledge, at the time which marks the opening of our story, leaning over the brink and gazing down upon the busy avenue below, was a man clad all in red, His hat, his coat, vest, and shirt, bis trowsers —even his boots were red. So was a mask that partly concealed his face. He wasof good fig- ure, strong and rounded in limb, evidently an athlete, Only a portion of bis face was to be seen—his chin and jaw. The first was of the square type, with the suggestion of a dimple in the center, The jaw was strongly outlined, expressive of de- termination, The ends of a graceful mustache showed below the mask, and his skin had a smooth, soft look, like a woman’s, Suddenly he started back, looked behind him, listened, The ledge was not broad anywhere, and this was its widest place. Directly back from the brink ran a pass in which, some distance away, was a bend, It was toward this bend the man in red fixed his attention, and now could be plainly heard the rapid tattoo of a horse’s hoofs, drawing nearer each second, Suddenly around the bend dashed a runaway horse, with a charming wo- man trying in vain to control it. The man in red took in the situation ata glance, Another quarter-minutea and horse and fair rider would go over the verge together, to be’dasbed to death in the gulch below. Without the loss of a single second after the horse came into sight around the bend the masked man ran toward it, arms outstretched toward the woman, shouting: ** Throw yourself off into my arms! It is your only hope! Death is yonder! Now! Jump— jump !” The horse, a superb black, was thundering for- ward at mad speed. The woman, pale and wild- eyed, saw the man in red, beard his words, and acted promptly. In spite of her paleness and evident terror, the woman seemed to be perfectly cool. She lifted ber knee from over the horn of the side- saddle, drew ber foot from the stirrup, and at the right moment slipped off. The man in red caught her, but was almost carried off his feet by tue force of the shock, and only for a projection of rock against which he Staggered would have fallen to the ground, The moment he stopped he turned his bead to look after the flying horse, ' He was just in time to see it take the frightful lunge, as, with a cry of terror, the noble horse eaped out in air and disappeared from sight. Barely five seconds had elapsed, and he gave his attention to the woman, who was now endeavor- ing to free berself from his arms. Her rapid breath fanued‘bis face, her eyes met his, and she was about to speak when— The next moment anotber actor appeared upon the scene. Hoof-strokes bad been heard again, and into sight dashed another horse and rider. The rider was a man, a young man of noble appearance,and bearing, and though riding at a rapid pace his horse was under control, There was a flush of excitement upon his face at first, but the instant he beheld the terrible precipice just ahead his face assumed the hue of death, and while be drew rein with one band he covered bis eyes for a moment with the other. Obedient to the master’s touch upon the rein, the horse slackened its speed at once, and finally stopped within a few feet of the brink. the man leaping lightly out of the saddle at the same mo- ment, No sooner did his feet touch the ground & on both sides with buildings of various sorts and and looked over. One moment he gazed, and reeling back, again covered his eyes, ** My God!” be cried, can bear! My love—my darling! your meeting a fate like this!” ‘ A sob shook his frame, and for some seconds he did not move or speak, When he removed bis band from his eyes it was to look back along the way he bad come, and all around on the ledge, ‘** Why did she not think to throw herself off, when she saw this terrible danger before her?” he asked himself, ‘‘ But, she bas been too horri- fied to act. There was a chance for life here, while down there it was certain death, Oh, God, is it true that she is dead?” Helplessly be looked around, She was not there; the awful truth was forced home, Her mangled form was in the gulch below—there could be no doubt of it, Again he stepped to the edge and looked down. There was a great crowd in the s'reet, gathered around the dark, dread object that lay there. Great excitement prevailed, as could be plain- ly seen, and no wonder. From every direction men were still running to join the crowd, which was growing larger each moment, For a moment the man on the cliff gazed fixedly at the dark object, when with a start he exclaimed: ‘She is not there! It is only the horse I see! What have they done with her body?” While he was looking down, men were glanc- ing up every second, and presently he was seen, and the attention of all the crowd was called to him, In a moment every face was turved toward him, and he called down: ‘*What have you done with her? dead?” There was a short interval before the answer came back, ‘*Lio ye mean ther hoss?” was shouted. ‘ Ef ye do, he’s deader’n a stone.” ‘**No, no!” the man on the cliff cried. ‘I mean the woman, What has become of her?’ He could see the men looking from one to another, evidently talking, and this time the 1n- terval was longer, ‘Thar wasn’t no woman on ther creetur’,” was presently shouted back to bis astonished ears, ‘*Ther hoss kem down hyer aloue, and he’s knocked all to sassage.” Then she bad escaped! The man sprung back once more and looked eagerly around, Nowhere was the one for whom he searched to be seen. Himself and his horse were the only living creatures on the ledge, Stepping to his horse he sprung lightly into the saddle and cantered back to the bend, where he looked down the trail with searching scru- tiny, but with like result. That he was puzzled, now, his face plainly in- dicated, ‘* Where can she be?” he questioned, ‘They say she did not fall with the borse, and they cer- tainly ought to know, I was not a minute—not half a minute behind her, yet I fail to find her. Why, she had not time to walk back to this bend before I came up,” He reflected in silence, Dismounting, he led his horse forward toward the ledge again, making a close inspection of the ground all the way. The floor was ot hard, bare rock, washed clean by the rains of ages, and not a mark was to be seen save here and there a white scratch made by the shoes of the flying runaway, ‘‘It is more than I can understand,” the baffled man mused. ‘‘ They must be mistaken down there; there is no other explanation. Nothing was to save her from going over, if she did not drop from the horse here; and she did not do that or I would find ber bere, She must be under the horse,” : Stepping to the edge he looked over as be- ore. The scene below was practically the same, and many faces were upturned toward him. ‘* Have you found her?” he called down. Talking among themselves, they did not catch his words, and had to ask him to repeat, “Have you found the body of the woman?” he shouted, ‘* Have you looked under the horse to see if she is there?” '* I tell ye there wasn’t no woman aboard ther creetur’,” the same man answered, ‘‘ We have turned the carcass over, and thar ain’t a sign of a rider hyer.” The man on the cliff fairly staggered as he drew back from the brink, and he pressed his ‘This is more than I To think of Is she Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Defeat. ya. ey. eZ. 73. 1920. than he sprung over the intervening distance | hands to his head, This awful mystery was al- | | eee ee ee ee ee most as bad as the terrible fate itself. ‘‘ They are mistaken,” he cried. ‘‘She did go over; there was nothing tosave her, The very fact of her not being bere provesit. Ha! now | Falling apart from the animal, she has have it, I wall struck upon the roof of some building. look once more and then hasten down,” Turning to the brink once again, he knelt and took a long and careful look below, searching the roof of every building witbin a reasonable radius, His careful search resulted in nothing, how- ever, as we know, Nothing was to be seen any- where that bore resemblance to the dear form he looked for, and at last he rose to his feet with a sigh, ‘*T do not see her,” be mused, “‘ but she i there none the less— How can she be any where else? She has struck some roof, and ha rolled off behind some building, or is perhap: lying between two of them, I will find her, once I get down there. But, bow to get down? I shall have to ask them,” He called to get the attention of the men below, : ‘Will you tell me the nearest way to get there, citizens?” be asked, The same spokesman responded again, ‘‘Ther narrer trail thar to yer left is the nighest one,” he informed, ‘‘Et wull take a man o’ narve to travel et, though.” ‘* Ts it safe?” ‘* Yas, ef ye have got sand.” The traveler drew back and looked at the trail indicated, It was a narrow extension of the ledge along the face of the cliff, to the left, sloping gradually to- ward the gulch. Judging it to be passable, he mounted his horse, and in sorrowing mood made his way along the narrow shelf with as little concern as tbough riding on a broad highway. At times the ledge was so narrow that his left leg touched the rocky wall, but be minded it not, riding as though in a dream, and so be continued until finally the end was reacbed and a broader trail led to the bottom of the gulch, CHAPTER IL THE MAYOR’S SUSPICION~HIGH WORDS—SUR- PRISE. Tue Mayor of Basalt Butte was one Archibald Grimm, He was about fifty years of age, tall, broad-shouldered, and heavily built He wore a full beard, that covered his face almost to his keen, gray eyes, With great force of charactes he bad naturally come to the front, and bis fel- low-citizens bad thrust upon him the dignity and responsibility that were now his, He ruled with an iron hand, and more than one citizer had felt the strength of bis powerful arm, lt was this man who had responded to the in- quiries of the stranger on the cliff, At the time when the black horse lunged over the precipice the camp wus pursuing the even tenor of its way, and everybody was attending to his own or his neighbor’s business with accus- tomed diligence. The mayor was just crossing the street toward the Palace Saloon when he heard a wild cry, apparently right overhead, and glancing up, what was his amazement to see a horse plunging down from the height above, With a cry of warning to others who were near, the mayor jumped out of the way, and the next instant the borse struck the ground with a thud that fairly jarred the windows in the buildings near at hand, ‘Great storm-king!” ejaculated the mayor, It was all he could say just then, and after a ° glance upward to assure himself that no more horses were coming, be sprung* forward to look at the mangled carcass. The beast’ wasbroken almost to pulp, its bones, in slivers, Frere protruding through the hide in many places, and every muscle was quivering with the last flickerings of life, ‘‘Great. storm-king!” the ,mayor repeated, ‘What do ve make out of this hyar, me childrun? A side-saddle, too, by ther livin? Jupiter! Me childrun, thar’s somethin’ hap- pened up thar on ther-Jedge, and ye kin ’pend on’t.” It was a way he had, this addressingjhis fellow- citizens as bis ** children.” ‘‘ Ther critter has been rode by a woman, that ‘ar is plain,” one man declared, ‘‘ She must hev jumped off of thar.” ‘Et is plain that she didn’t come down, any- how,” observed the mayor. ‘I was hyer when ther creetur’ started and when he arrove, and I kin sw’ar nobody was aboard of him, or kem along witb him.” Other remarks were made, and presently > - _ ~ > © . —~—_ » . [<. « — ic bookSicx