Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 776 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

ee a ee eee — ee ee ee ee a Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Resurrection. $8 Being called to the stand, they told their story . bout as it was; how they, on coming into the camp in the night, had run into the awful ob- ject, and how their cries had awakened the citizens, Other witnesses were called, the men who had been first out after the alarm was raised, but their testimony amounted to nothing, unless it afforded satisfaction to the coroner, who, by the way, was acting without a jury. That, how- ever, was all right, and no one raised the point, It did not take long t» examine the witnesses, ro when he had concluded with that, the mayor said: ‘* We now come right down to the naked fact, me childrun, Here is the body of a man hyer afore us, a body that was found before daylight this mornin’, swingin’ by a rope from ther top of ther cliff. Now, we want ter know who and what this man was, and who killed him. How ar’ we goin’ ter find out? Let us come to ther business of searchin’ his pockets, ter see if there is anything in them that will throw any light on ther matter. Handsome Harry, you make ther search, will ye?” Tois was said to a well-dressed sport who was standing near. Harry Stacey, or ‘‘ Handsome Harry,” as he was popularly known, wa3 a young man of per- haps twenty-eight, a good-looking, dashing fel- hi with a pair of cool, keen eyes of steely ue, He was a general favorite at Basalt Butte, well Jiked, and wag one of the mayor’s right- band men in an emergency. True, he was a sport, and one who made no secret of the fact that gambling was one of his chief pastimes—to say the least of it; but for all that he was, as saii, well liked. He stepped forward at once and began the duty assigned to him, It was plain that robbery had not been the object of the crime, for the man’s watch and bain, and his money, were in his pockets un- touched. , The watch was a silver one of English make, and was held by a bright steel chain of no par- ticular value, Of money the man had, alto- gether, about a bundred dollars on his person. Besides these things there were some odds and ends not worth mentioning, The inner pockets, however, revealed some letters, which imme- diately claimed attention as being the things most likely to throw some light upon the matter. All were addressed to Henry Whipple, and one was post-marked from England. This one he had evidently received in New ‘York, as also two of the others—which two had been sent from placesin the West. One other he bad received while at Basalt Butte. This last was the one Handsome Harry happened to open first, It read as follows: ““Henry WHIPPLE:— “You will probably escape being hanged for Red Roy, and if you do you had better take advantage ~of the chance and put distance between yourself and Basalt Butte just as soon as you can, after your release, I know what your bu-iness here is, and if you do not heedthis warning you may regret it, Perhaps you have heard enough cf me to know that Ido not use threats idly. **REpD Roy, the Outlaw. To say this created excitement but mildly ex- presses it, Here was proof positive that the man could not have been Red Roy, and which, had he produced it at the timeof his trial, would have cleared him without a suspicion attaching; which had not been the case, since, from the mayor’s words further back, we have seen that he was ordered away from the camp at once, ** By ther great storm-king!” the mayor cried, “*but this hyer begins ter look like et was Red Roy that done ther job; bey, me childrun? What do ye say about et, Handsome Harry?” “It certainly looks that way, mayor,” the ‘sport answered, ‘‘ Here is the warning, plain enough, and here is the dead body of the man who disregarded it,” ** You are right, by ther livia’ Jupiter! But what's in the other letters? Let’s have ther bull thing while we ar’ about et.” The other letters were read, but their length forbids their being quoted in full. The two from the West were answers to inquiries concerning “one Gregory iy diate of whom the man W hipple seemed to have been in search, and one of them gave information sufficient to have brought the bie apa West. he one from England was, perbaps, the most important of all, though it was filled more with meaning implied than expressed, It was signed Rudgar pe by cor It stated that inquiry at a London bank had gained the information that ‘Gregory Mayham was at that time in the West. This had, no doubt, been the clew used by ga in his opening his Western correspon- ence, ‘* What’s yer think?” demanded Mayor Grimm, at the end of the reading. ‘* What do you think Harry counter-questioned., picion.” ‘** Yes, and so hev I; and a big one, too, Ef we remember, this hyar Mayham is ther man eadwood Dick was in search of when he was here a month ago and disappeared sv ’tarnel mysterious,” ‘* Yes, I remember.” ‘* Well, et strikes me this hyer Whipple was in search of ther same man, fer no good pur- ‘** We think alike,” declared Harry. ‘‘I sus- pect this Rudgar Mayham is the next of kin after Gregcry, and that he put a scheme in motion to git Gregory out of his way.” ‘*Greatstorm-king! Thatis ther very thought that kem ter me while you was readin’ his letter.” ** May I ask for some enlightenment upon this matter, most worthy sir?” The mayor looked up quickly to see who had made the request, the cold, stiff, icy tone oa strange and claiming his attention imme- iately, He noticed a dark man of medium hight, a fellow whose skin was as swarthy as that of the darkest Spaniard he had ever saen. He had a stubby beard of some weeks’ growth all over his face, ** Who are you?” the mayor demanded. Not only bad the attention of the mayor been drawn, but that of Handsome Harry and others, ‘“*T am a stranger here, gentlemen,” was the civil response, in the plainest and purest of English, yet with a slight foreign accent hard to define, ‘* We know that as well as you do,” was the mayor’s sharp rejoinder. ‘* What we want ter git at is who ye are, and why ye want ‘lighten- ment on this hyer matter. Jest ‘lighten us first, ef ye please,” Every eye in the room was fixed upon the stranger, and he seemed the coolest man of them all. He was standing with his hands thrust into the pockets of bis double-breasted coat, and bis eyes met those of the mayor with a steady gaze, **T shall not question your right to make the demands you do, most worthy sir,” was the return he made, still in his cold, stiff, icy tone. ourself?” Handsome ‘“‘T have a sus- ‘**As towho 1 am—men call me Icicle Isaac. | mitted, Why I ask for light upon this matter is, being a ** Well, he made a name fer himself right off stranger and just arrived I have the naturalcuri- | at oncet, you bet. He’peared all in red, from osity such an event as this arouses.” hat ter boots, and he done some darin’ deeds, **Wull, you are a cool one, durn me ef ye | Then he suddenly disa red and wasn’t seen ain’t. Have ye any right by which ye make yer | no more fer three months or so. He was called demands?” the Oregon Outlaw, too, and we wasin hopes he’d ** Most worthy sir, I have made no demands; | gone back thar.” merely arequest, Coming in just now, seeing ** But be hadn’t?” a dead man here, and finding you in solemn ‘*No; he badn’t. About a month ago Dead- conclave, I asked out of mere curiosity, as I | wood Dick—ever heerd of him?” said,” ‘* Yes; 1 have heard of Deadwood Dick, too.” ** Well, then, jest keep yer ears open and ye ** Well, about a month ago, as 1 was sayin’, he will proDably find out all about it, We'll go on | kem hyer, and his wife with him. He gave et with ther business,” out that he was in search of a man named Handsome Harry bad been staring at the | Gregory Mayham, and he found him, too, in-a stranger from the first, and there was a sort of | young feller that was goin’ under the name of puzzled, questioning expression in his eyes. He alt Thornton. There was nothin’ strange turned now to the mayor. about that, fer it ain’t every man that wears ‘“*Mayor Grimm,” be asked, “ will you allow | his own name out hyer, you know; but ef ye don’t me to make a suggestion?” ye have my word fer et that et’s 30,” ‘“‘Sartain; as many as ye want to make,” was ** T don’t question the statement, sir.” the answer, promptly. ' ‘No, I opine not. Well, this man and his- ‘Well, the request of this stranger is on? it | wife was comin’ to this camp by way of the up might be well to favor. There area good many | trail, up thar on ther bluff, and the horse the men here who know nothing about the events that took place a month ago,” ** That’s so,” ‘** We have new arrivals every day, you know, and it won’t be out of place to go over the ground at length, so tiat every man may have a clear understanding of the matter. Of course, don’t do it because J suggest it, if you don’t agree with me; but I consider it about the right thing to do,” **] ’gree with ye, Handsome Harry, and I'll do et. Stranger, seein’ that yer motion is seconded by this gentleman, I'll tell ye ther hull story.” “‘And I shall be glad to hear it, of course, From what I have picked up, I believe a murder has been done here, and if I can be of any use to you toward solving the mystery, why just count me in, Still in the same cold, icy tone, ‘* Why, are you a detective?” asked Handsome Harry. “Well, I have a liking for this sort of thing, sir,” was the response, ‘Because ef ye are,” quickly supplemented the mayor, ‘‘ maybe we kin make use of ye in more ways than one. Seein’ that you are a stranger hyer, though, I ain’t goin’ ter hide ther fact that at a time like this strangers are looked on witii somethin’ of s’picion.” **] hope you do not re age me of this crime, do you?” the man asked, still as cool as ice. ‘*But you can’t do that, without some clew to point my way. I knownothing about it 1 as- sure you. I have only just arrived, as my sad- dled-horse outside there bears wituess. I am what I am, Icicle Isaac from Frozen Flats,” CHAPTER III. THE STORY—SUSPICION—THE COMPACT, OnLy a few minutes had elapsed since this stranger bad drawn attention to himself, yet already he was the center of attraction of the whole room, He was a man whose very manner bespoke the appropriateness of his name. As cool as ice, his tone as cold, an icicle was bis fit- ting symbol. And now, too, as men looked upon him, there was a suspicion in the minds of many. Could it be that this man had had some- thing to do with the death of the unfortunate Henry Whipple? He had been quick to take up the mayor’s suggestion and apply ib in that di- rection, The mayor looked bard at him, as did also Handsome Harry. ‘* Stranger,” remarked the mayor, after a mo- ment’s pause, ‘‘ye seemed ter take that shot home to yerself rutber suddent, didn’t ye?” ‘*T meant to give you to understand, sir, right at the start,” was the chilly answer, ‘‘ that if you were hinting at such a thing you were barking up tbe wrong tree. Iam willing to believe you did not intend it that way, however.” ‘““At ther same time, though,” rejoined the mayor, ‘*I don’t take nothin’ of et back. You ar’ a stranger hyer, and all we know about ye is what we have got from yer own lips! No ’fense meant; nonea tall. And now, one and all, ef I kin have yer "tention, I°ll tell ther story of this case,” ‘*No offense is taken, sir,” assured the dark stranger, ‘‘ Let us have your story, and let us have it in full,” ‘Four or five months ago, mebby not mor’n four,” the mayor commenced, “this hyer city was turned upside down by ther suddent ’pear- ance of a outlaw who called himself Red Roy. Ever heerd of kim, stranger?” _ '* Yes, Il have heard of him,” the cool man ad- woman was ridin’ got a scare and run’d away. Dick was close after her, but afore he rounded the bend that comes out on the cliff up thar, the woman's horse and the woman too had dis- appeared from sight slick and clean, Thar wasn’t but one ’clusion fer Dick to come to, and that was tbat the borse and rider plunged over aud landed down hyer in ther street. And et took us a mighty while ter convince him any other way,” ‘‘ Well, what had become of borse and rider? This is getting interesting.” ““The horse had come over, that was so, and was all knocked ter puddin’ out thar in ther street; but ther woman—not a sign of her has been seen from that day to this,” ‘* Wonderful! What became of her?” **She fell inter the hands of Red Roy, the Oregon Outlaw.” ‘* And what of Deadwood Dick? Did he not 5 acon a But, you say she has not been seen since, ‘boo