Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 776 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

4 Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Resurrection. ‘Not asign of her, as I said. And as fer Deadwood Dick— Well, he didn’t take on wild, nor nothin’ like that, but anybody could see how he was cut up. Hedone his best ter find her, but et wasn’t no use, and at last he disappeared, Oe Not" “Yes; and as suddent as his wife had gone, too, Oh! et’s a long story, and I'll hev ter cut it short in few words, Dick was warned by Red Roy ter git up and git outof here, and if he did his wife would be set free later on, If not, if he wouldn’t go, then she was ter be killed, Dick had one set-to with ther cuss, and got laid out, After that he ’p’inted another meetin’, — that was ther last that was ever seen of im, ‘Then it is supposed that Red Roy got away with him, eh?” ‘* Yes; fer et can’t be ’splained in no other way. Ther landlord hyer says he carried a note up ter Dick’s room that night, and that Dick went out, That's all that anybody knows about et. This bull camp spent two days and two nights, huntin’ every nook and corner fer miles around, but not a sign of him was ter be seen, So, we had ter give et up, and et has been a mystery ter this day.” “Then it must be that Deadwood Dick and his wife have both been killed,” ‘*That’s ther way et louks, stranger.” “Well, about this dead man: What connec- tion had he with the matter? From what bas been said I infer it ali comes under one cap- tion.” “* This man, stranger, is one that ’peared here about ther same time Deadwood Dick did, and seemed ter be a feller that minded his own busi- ness purty much and let other folks do ther same, I hev said Deadwood kem hyer in search of a Gregory Mayham, and tbat he found bim. Well, Mayham disappeared, too, about ther time Dick did, and be hasn’t been heard of either, But, before that, this man Whipple fell under s’picion as bein’ Red Roy, an’ we jugged him, Afterward we tried bim, but couldn’t put any- thing on him and had ter let him go. But, we s’pected him all ther same as bein’ a pard of the outlaw’s, so we gev him notice ter git out,” ** And he went?” “You kin bet he went, Ef be hadn't et would have been bad for his health, fer things ’round hyer was jest b’ilin’,” ‘* But, he came back.” “Yes; he arrived last night some time in ther night, and this mornin’ he was found out thar in ther street, swingin’ by ther neck from ther top of ther cliff, and as dead as a smoked herrin’, Now, by letters found in his pockets we know thet he was a man who had been in search of Maybam, the same as Dick was, and also that Red Roy had ’casion ter warn him ter stay away from byer ef he got free, Thar ye hev it, all in a lump, and ef you kin throw any light on ther matter we'd be glad ter have ye do et,” “You sa Roy has not been here since Densecee ick disappeared? Do I understand you 80 “Ttat’s ther way et is, stranger.” ** Perhaps Dick and he had a fight, in which both got killed?” wes ‘¢ "gree with ye in that. Ef that had been so, then we would ’a’ found their bodies,” “Yes; unless they fought in some secret place you know nothing about, or perbaps fell together down into some deep chasm, I suppose these mountains are full of such holes.” “ Yes, thar’s plenty of em; but ther fact that we searched every nook fer two miles or more all around sort o’ knocks that idee out. Besides, this hyer note from Red Roy ter this man Wbip- pie was writ after that, provin’ plain enough be was a ive after Dick had vanished.” “Ved, if that ix the case, that’s proof.” “T tel! ve, Mr. Icicle [saac, as ye call yerself, et isa puzzler from ther land 0’ puzzles, Et bas stumped us, bad, and we have ter own et,” “Yes, it does have the appearance of a mys- tery of no mean size, that is so, and 1 am inter- ested init. I believe I will take a hand in this matter, and see if I can’t make something out of “* Make somethin’ out of et?” “That is to say, solve the riddle, Not that I am a detective, mind you, but this sort of thing just pleases me; I like to delve into secrets.” “Well, you’re welcome ter try et; but you want ter look out fer Red Roy, is all I have got ter say. At ther same time, this byer hull camp will back ye, ef ye mean honest,” ‘And I assure you I do. I have heard of Deadwood Dick, and it will be som to learn what became of him. By the way, he eny particular friend, or acquaintance, here —— — - —_ — —— ee who would be likely to know more about him than the average man?” ‘“‘Handsome Harry bhyer was in with him about ther closest of anybody.” ‘* Then, sir, you are the man I would like to tie to. What do you say to our taking this thing up together to sift it to the bottom?” ‘*T don’t know about that,” answered Harry. ‘“‘This devil, Red Roy, seems to havea way of disposing of his foes that is not at all to my lik- ing. If there is anything I can tell you, how- ever, that will help you on, I'll do it.” ‘*W hat!” cried the mayor, ‘* yedon’t back out, Harry ” ‘No; and I don’t go in with a rush, either,” was the answer. ‘‘ We do not know this man yet, mayor. You must excuse my bluntness, sir. Wedonot know but itis the outlaw bim- self, in disguise, playing thisinnocent role. Ido not mean to cast such a suspicion upon you, Icicle Isaac, but what proof have we to the con- trary? Holding the position he did in public favor, this remar': by Harry Stacey was the cause of a hum of excitement in the crowd, The man from Frozen Flats stood as cool as ice and looked at Harry, silent for a moment, ‘You do not mean to cast such a suspicion upon me,” be repeated, ‘‘ but you did not hesi- tate about doing so. And you ask what proof you have tothe contrary. I willanswer. You have my word for it, and I am a man to back up my word every time, On the other hand, what proof can be brought against me to show that lam the outlaw? Until you have proof to present [ warn you, one and all, that you had better keep off dangerous ground,” ** That is purty cool talk,” observed the mayor. **lam able to back it, I am no braggart, and am not bragging, but I am not called Icicle Isaac for nothing. It may not be out of place, siuce this possibility has been hinted at, to tell you a little more about myself. Lam a sort of free-and-easy rover, coming and going at will, and I have dropped in here only by chance, Now, however, after hearing this story of Red Roy, I have made up my mind to cham- pion the cause of Deadwood Dick and see what will come of it, I therefore make it known that I am against Red Roy, first, last and all the time. This is all I care to say at present. When you have proof that Iam not what I seem, just bring it along.” All this was said in bis same firm, incisive way, and bis eyes were as unwavering as eyes possibly could be, ‘“‘That’s a straight-out speech, anyhow, by ther livin’ Jupiter!” exclaimed the mayor. ‘* Et hits me this man is all right, Harry, and ef you can put him in ther way of findin’ out any- thing you had better do et. This hull camp stands ready ter back him, too.” “The way I was picked up "said Harry, with a light laugh, “‘ one would think I had made the charge that this may is Red Roy. I did not mean that, Mr. Ikeaac. What I did mean was to show you that some of us here have a little nerve, too. Iam willing to go in with you in this thing, now, after your further statement; and, as the mayor has said, the whole camp will back us.” ** Agreed!” assented the dark man, simply. The mayor then returned to the business of the inquest, and brought in a verdict to the ef- fect that Henry ipple had come to his death by hanging, and that it was the sus- picion that Red Roy, the Oregon Outlaw, was the man who bad done the crime. And the in- quest over, the body was taken away and pre- pared for burial, ‘CHAPTER IV. ARRIVALS— UNDERSTA NDING—CHALLENGE, IN your Western camp, excitement is excite- ment while it lasts, but it is no sooner over than the cause is almost forgotten, apparently, and the people drop back to their steady-going every- day pace vutil something new happens to stir them up again. It was so in this instance at Basalt Butte. The ep over, the new ar- rival gone off to the Palace Saloon in company with Harry Stacey —after registering at the hotel and having his horse put away, the crowd dispersed, and everything assumed its wonted routine, It was about an hour later when a strange- looking equipage came lumbering up the gulch and into the camp, It was a long, unusually long, beavy wagon, drawn by three animals, two horses and a mule, The wagon was covered, after the manner of the prairie ‘* schooner,” but the covering was black instead of white. The bows at front and rear were bigh, while those be- tween were lower, making a sag in the middle, A rough, dark man walked abead of the leading animal, the mule, while two others trudged along beside the wagon. Under the fore part of the wagon was a dog, secured there with a stout chain, If the excitement had abated, if was now to e seen oe extent revived by the appearance of this outnht. General attention was speedilly called to it and by the time it entered the street proper the crowd was on hand to meet it, every man loaded with curiosity and primed with inquisi- tiveness, ‘*Great storm-king!” the mayor gave vent to his usual exclamation, ‘‘ What hev we hyer, me childrun?”’ But his “childrun” did oot inform’ bim, for the simple reason that they did not know them- selves. That is to say, except in the general way. What do you make out of it?’ asked Harry Stacey of Icicle Isaac, they having stepped out to learn what new cause of excitement the crowd bad found. “ Rather an odd concern.” ‘‘Tt must be a family of emigrants, I should say,” the man of ice ventured. ° ‘* You must be right. We'll soon learn, I sup- pose, Not meaning to give any other offense, that fellow shead is dark enough to be a coun- tryman of yours,” The man of ice paid no heed to the remark, which, evidently, was intended for a round- about question to learn from what land he him- self had sprung. If such bad been the case, Stacey met with disappointment, Unmindful as unaware of the many critical and facetious comments made by the crowd, strange caravan came steadily on and was pres- ently ov hand, ‘*Ha!” ejaculated Icicle Isaac, then. ‘ Zin- gari !” ‘**Gypsies!” came from the lips of Handsome Harry, in almost thesame breath, And turning to the man from Frozen Flats, be added; ‘* You are an Italian, then?” ‘** Perbaps,” was the noncommittal response. Now, the caravaneer, to apply such a title to the man who led the mule, came to a stop in front of the Silver Bugle, Immediately the heads of some women and children appeared at the opening at the frcnt of the wagon, looking at the crowd with as much curiosity as the crowd manifested toward them. The leader gave a wave of the hand by way of salutation, and said: ‘We have traveled ‘far. We would like to camp here. We are Romani, and live by for- tune-telling, mending and trading. Our queen is with us, May we stop and go into camp?” This was said in plain enough English. ‘*] reckon ye forgot ter mention stealin’ ’mongst ther items as ter how ye git yer livin’, didn’t ye?” demanded Mayor Grimm, At this the crowd raised a laugh, but their laughter was immediately checked at sight of a new face which now appeared at the opening in the fore part of the cover, the face of a young and pretty, though dusky, woman. “Gentlemen,” she ad the crowd, “T am Heloise, the queen of the tribe of which these area part, My people do not steal; at any rate, { can assure you I do not permit it where I am, Much has been laid to the charge of the Gypsies of which they were guiltless, Let us stop here, and you may hold me responsible for the con- duct of all,” She was a young woman not far advanced in the twenties, as dark of skin, almost, as Icicle Isaac, who looked to be one of them, now tbat they could be compared; and gayly dressed and bedecked with jewelry. In her ears were large hoops, withfpendants, and a massive gold brace- let, in the form of a snake, was upon the arm she extended with seemingly unconscious grace as she spoke. On her head was a simple tiara of gold set with one stone, “Do you tell fortunes?” one man demanded, ‘* Yes,” was the response; “‘I am one who is favored of the Fates,” ‘Then let ’er stay, mayor, let ’er stay; and thar ain’t a darn galoot byer but will have bis fortun’ took.” ‘* Wull, I don’t see nothin’ ’g’inst yer stayin’,” the mayor said, ‘so long as we bev yer word for’t that thar won't be no stealin’ done by yer pards, Lady Queen,” Patt ae you, sir; and you have my word for that. With a wave of the hand, then, she drew back out of sight, and the head man of the trio on foot asked where he should stop, The mayor indicated where, and the caravan GEomicboo - ' v . et ————— ( = ee ath —— a . .