Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 773 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

2 The Rustler a a stream, and from out of these bushes a large grizzly bear had made a sudden and startling appearance, The bear was growling savagely; and, strange to say, there were flecks of bloody foam on his ponderous jaws, Fora moment he stood hesitating, swaying bis huge head slowly from side to side as if uncertain whether to risk an attack or beat a retreat. A growl deeper and more menacing than any that had preceded it called forth the exclamation, Felix Redmond, the man addressed as Fee, and universally Known as Red Fee, dropped a hand to bis pistol, undetermined what course to pursue, To accept the grizzly’s gauge of battle, armed as they were only with revolvers, seemed suicidal. A lu:ky shot might terminate the affair in their favor; but an unlucky oue might so arouse the brute’s ire that their lives would pay the forfeit. Neither of the men were cowards, but they knew enough of the habits of “Old Eph” to un- derstand the peril they were in and to act with caution, Red Fee’s companion drew still further back, almost dragging Fee with him. ‘““?Twon’t do to try bullets!” he nervously as- sumed. ‘‘If the critter’s willin’ to goits way, I’m willin’ to go mine,” Bruin evidently reconsidered his determination to fight, induced thereto no doubt by the re- treatof the men, Showing his teeth in another cavernous growl, be turned about and made his way deliberately toward the river, increasing his yait to an ambling trot as the distance grew betweea him and his natural enemies, ‘*T thought it was fight, fer a minute er two,” taking a deep breath of relief, as he looked at the retreating form of the bear, ‘‘I hain’t a-sp’ilin’ fer a row under sich conditions—not [!” This companion of Red Fee was sseminzly a tool rather than an equal, which was indicated more by his bearing toward his superior than by anything else. They resembled each other very much in general outward appearance, being clothed in the ordinary garb of western miners, of which the most conspicuous article is the inevitable red flannel shirt. There was, how- ever, one difference. Red Fee was “ bearded like the pard,” while the other, whose name was Curt Thomas, had a smoothly-shaven face, Red Fee paid no heed to his companion’s words, He was looking earnestly at the clump of bushes from which the bear had emerged, anda ques- tioning light shone in his eyes, ‘‘ What in Sam Hillis a grizzly doin’ that near to town?” he queried. ‘* Answer me that, will 7e2” He glanced across the brow of the bill and over the rising ground to where, but a few hundred yards away, a group of rough shanties was visible. They represented the new mining camp of Lucky Ledge—a camp which Red Fee bad been instrumental in ushering into existence, It was the newest of the new camps in that re- gion; so new in fact that its builders and pro- moters had not had time to familiarizas them- selves with the peculiarities of the surrounding country. ‘* Lookin’ fer somebody to grub-stake him, meboe!” and Cart Thomas laughed af his own joke, any A queer place fer a bear to come out of!” Red Fee continued, not heeding Thomas’s words. ‘* Shouldn’t think a grizzly would bide in a bunch of brush like that.” He stepped forward for the purpose of in- vestigating, The bear bad disappeared from sigbt, and, they felt reasonably sure, would not return, ‘You got a good look at the beast?” to Thomas, who had obediently fallen in behind him, ‘* There was bloodon his jaws, er my eyeg fooled me. Tell me what that meant, will ye?” Thomas was inclined to nervous levity. ‘*T ‘low he’s been a-eatin’ up some o’ them raw Eytalians what you brougbt over yisterday frum Sunset City. I don’t think they’d know enough to git out o’ his way, There’ll be a dead bear in these hills if he has, fer there’s dirt and garlic enough on one of ’em to p’izen an elephant!” Tney bad reached the screen of bushes, Be- fore them tbey saw a passage like a game-trail, Still further enlarging this by pressing into it and bending back the obstructions, they made a discovery that drew from them low exclama- tions of astonishment. The bushy clump con- cealed the mouth of a cave! They halted, with words of wondering sur- prise, It was plain the bear had come froin this cave. ‘* Mebbe there’s another ’n’ in there!” Curt suggested, voicing the thought of both. ‘‘ Bears an’ lnjuos an’ rattlesnakes air li’ble to bunt in couples!” ‘*T intend to see what’s back there,” Red Fee decided, impelled by intense curiosity, “If there’s another bear in there, likely the two have been at it, tooth and nail, and that'll accourt for the blood we saw,” He pushed the bushes still further aside, drew bis big revolver, and made a cautious advance, Curt crowding close at his heels. The opening was not so large but that they hud to stoop in passing through it. Just be- yond the entrance they were forced to stop, he darkness was becoming so intense they could see only a few feet. ‘*Go out into the bushes and see if you can rustle something for a torch,” was Red Fee’s command; and Thomas hastened away to obey. He was back in a few moments with two or three bunches of light wood that promised to answer their purpose. A match was touched to one of these, and by its flickering glare they continued their explorations, They had not gone a dozen feet when the flickering light revealed a pair of objects that seemed surprisingly out of place in that gloomy hole. One was a manlying face upward on the hard floor, The other was a bit of writ- ing supported in the cleft of a stick, which was planted in a fissure of the rock near him, To all appearances the man was dead, His face was so blood-covered that the features were in- distinguishable, the blood having flown from a scalp-wounds Here, then, was the explanation of the mys- tery that had so piqued Red Fee’s curiosity. The bloody flecks seen on the jaws of the bear could now be reasonably accounted for. The unknown had invaded Bruin’s den, a combat had resulted, and the bear had achieved the mastery. But, what was the meaning of the piece of paper upheld by the cleft stick? Rod Fee glanced at it even more keenly than he did at the prostrate figure on the floor, then went to it and reed it by the light of the flaming torch, It was a mining-claim notice, filled out in regular form, and signed with the name of Philip Craigen, ‘There could be little doubt it had been placed there by the man who was now seemiugly lying dead at their feet, the victim of the big grizzly. Red Fee flashed his torch upon the surround- ing walls, looking at tkem with eyes that blazed with cupidity. Then he bent over the stranger, ‘* The chap ain’t dead!” he declared, placing a hand over the feebly beating heart, and at the same time making a minute inspection of the scalp-wound, Curt Thomas was looking on with an interest the most intense. ‘* He ain’t dead,” Fee repeated. ‘‘ That’sa bad scratch there, and he may git well, and he may not!” There was a strange quaver in his speech, which did not pass unnoticed by Thomas, He got up very deliberately, and again scanned the walls by the light of the smoking and flushing torch. A most unpleasantlcok had come to his face, a look which one unacquainted with the man would not have found ensy to interpret. It indicated conscienceless avarice, if not murder, He uttered a hoarse ejaculation as gleaming points in the wall caught bis trained vision. The notice bad revealed to him that the cave had been staked as a mining-claim by this man, Philip Craigen, and he was searching for some evidences of its value. He had known many claims to be taken which were not worth the trouble of the legal formal- ity, and he was not sure this might not be one of them, But, when he caught those points of light, and quickly followed the discovery bya careful examination, be knew that Philip Craigen bad not erred. He had seen rich ore, but be did not remember to have seen any that promised to yield more of the precious metal to the ton than did this. A fever of excitement grew on him as he con- tinued his close seratiny. The bear’s cave was literally seamed and starred with gold, He per- ceived that almost within touch of his hands | was a fortune, such a one as he had for years | dreamed of acquiring. Heturned from the walls and looked into the eyes of hiscomrade. He saw mirrored there the desire that had overmastered him. Curt Thomas had always been his pliant tool, and would not fail him now, ‘‘Tt’s worth a big risk,” he said, glancing at the form of Craigen before speaking, ‘* Air you with me in it?” There was in bis eyes almost the glare of in- sanity. Thomas nodded, These two understood each of Roiling Stone, other, and there was no need for words, were dangerous things, to be used sparingly at such a time, ‘* What will we do with him?” again looking at Craigen, Thomas wrinkled bis brows in a fiendish scowl]. ‘** He’s as good as dead a’ready! Why not clip him on the head, and then chuck him into the drink ?” ‘Is there any need?” cautiously, as if desirous of feeling the ground well before him. ‘“ He'll pass over tbe divide before morning anyway, don’t you think? No usein sticking our heads into a noose if we don’t bave to.” ‘““"T would be safest!” was the cold-blooded comment, ‘‘ He might come out o’ that, and it’d be easy enough to fix ’im so that he never would. Jist a quiet rapon the head, then toss’im into the river. If be’s found, no one could know *twas done, and there’s the marks of the griz- zly’s claws to tell their own tale!” The rascal really seemed anxious for bis su- perior’s permission to carry this into ¢ffect. ‘*‘ No,” Red Fee averred, drawing back, as if he already bebeld the bangman’s noose dangling before his face, ‘‘ We're goin’ to have this mine ”—the glitter of avarice in his eyes—‘‘ and we needn’t run the risk of banging to git it. The feller’s sure to die, and burryin’ will only bring about bis end a few minutes sooner,” He took the notice from the stick and thrust it into his pocket, seeming to bave already made up his mind asto bis course of action. Then he drew outa notebook, tore from it a page, and scribbled a similarly worded document, which he signed with hisown and Thomas’s names. This he placed in the cleft from which Craigen’s no- tice bad been taken, He surveyed his work with a cunning sort of satisfaction, lighted another torch—for the first wes burnt out—and giving it to Thomas, burried from the place to inspect the surrounding land- scape, Night was near at hand, and a few lights al- ready shone from the windows of Lucky Ledge. The fear of discovery made bim nervous, but there was nothing in what he saw and heard to add to the feeling. The river foamed and raved only a few yards away, the rocks and hills were silent, touched by the ineffable glory of the fad- ing sup, The beauty of the scene passed unheeded, He was only anxious to ascertain if the way was clear for the consummation of bis plan; and bav- ing satisfied himself on this point, he turned back into the cave, A haif-hour later, when the gloom of night was falling, he and Thomas emerged from the bushes, bearing between them the unconscious form of Philip Craigen. This they deposited by the riverside at a point where 1t would not be rendi- ly discovered; and then stole guiltily away to- ward the town, They bad taken the precaution to place the injured man near the bear-tracks visible in the sand, and doubted not that when the body was found, the cause of death would be attributed to the grizzly. On the following mcerning they expected to herald their great ‘' find” to the world, CHAPTER II. THE MASQUERADE, FroM one of the principal buildings of Lucky Ledge came the fantastic caperings of a pair of violins, accompanied by the sounds of dancing. More than a month had elapsed since the occurrence of the events just noted, and in that tine Lucky Ledge had grown and prospered, vntil now it called itself a city. It must le re- membered, however, that it dces not take much to meke a city in the ruder portions of the West. A dczen shanties and a general store are sufficient, There have even teen ‘‘ cities” whose only ex- istence was on paper, The music of the violins came from the upper part of the building. The lower part was. oc- cupied as a saloon and gambling resort known as the Moss Agate, The ball which was in progress was a mas- nerd? given by Felix Redmond and Curt homas in honor of the opening of their new mine, the Grizzly Bear. Their plan for the disposition of the body of Philip Crajgen bad not worked to their entire satisfaction. Nevertheless, its success was such as to warrant them in continuing in possession of the property. On the morning which fol- lowed the discovery of the mine, they had duly announced their find to the wondering men of the camp. This was, of course succeeded by a general rush to that point, and an examination of the richness of the ore, But to the surprise of the emp nse. the body of Craigen was not found by the river’s brink, cpDOoc com S Words | -_ e = oF : ~\& 3a ce . « tm ¢ ae : Lange ms > “4 a “, y - cme an =. yp Z et