Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 795 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

pA : ‘ - ‘ ° ’ ’ tad + ithe : ‘fine . Fr ae ; . : re 5 et i, nt , + 1 1a / elf eee aU f. va eat in the coach, bad given the particulars of the murder, the mystery surrounding it, and the first pangs of Florence’s grief had subsided. The day was warm and the windows of the coach were lowered to admit the balmy air. Now and then Florence looked sadly out at the rugged hills, but there was nothing in their grandeur to her now, The eyes of Paul Moore, the young man from the East, were ever fixed with surprise and admiration on the never-ceasing wonders that were constantly unfolding as they advanced up the pass; but in deference to the feelings of the maiden, his enthusiasm was not permitted to ‘find expression in words, In this manner the journey was continued mile after mile—hour after hour, and it seemed to afford a feeling of relief to the passengers when Tac Barnes finally informed them that it was not over ten or twelve miles to Red Ruin. But he had scarcely imparted this cheerful information when the stage came to a sudden halt, and passengers heard a voice cry out: ** Don’t ’tempt to budge a peg, or you’re a dead ribboneer!” ‘* We're held up by road-agents, by heavens!” exclaimed Tac Barnes, with a nervous start, A cry of terror escaped Florence Walworth’s dips as she shrunk back into the corner of the coach, Tac Barnes leaned forward and gazed out of the window. ‘*May I be eternally blowed!” he growled, with a look of evident disgust. ‘* What is it, Barnes?” Hines asked, ‘* Look for yourself,” and Barnes settled back iin his seat. Hines looked out. A little to the left, and in front of the team, stood the tall, gaunt firure of an old man clad in rags, his long arms extended straight toward the driver. He looked for all the world hke a weather-beaten scare-crow, moss? as Hines dropped back into his seat, he ‘‘ Whatis it, anyhow?” **Old Soaker, a Alef bum and vagrant, ‘who was kicked out of Red Ruin yesterday,’ Barnes answered, _ **He may shoot for all that,” declared Paul Moore, ‘‘tor he’s got the driver covered now, with a pair of pistols.” Barnes burst into a derisive laugh. ‘* Look close, and see if he has,”” he command- . » - The young man again looked out, and, to his mortification, saw that the old vagrant was pre his long, bony jndex fingers at the river instead of pistols, So often had Old Hi Graves been held up by knights of the road that he had learned to promptly obey the command to halt. Any dis- regard of this was sure to be followed by a shot ‘which seldom failed to bring down a horse, if not the driver himself. But, it required only a glance for him to determine the character of ‘tthe man now before him, and to see that he was covered bya pair of dirty fingers instead of ‘steel tubes. ‘You cussed ole rip!” burst from Graves’s lips; ‘‘ what do you mean by sich work? Do you know you'll git the stuffin’ shot out of you, fu’st thing you know? Who are you? and what do you want?” ‘¢1'm Colonel Sol Soaker, and I want a ride,” was the old vagrant’s reply, and, striding for- ward, he landed in the boot by the side of ‘Graves before the latter could interpose an ob- jection, At first the driver was disposed to throw the old bum out, but he quickly changed his mind and drove on, saying as he did so: ‘Old man, you've got abundance of cheek, but ar’n’t much of a success as a road-agent.” ‘¢ Guess not,” was the reply, a drunken smile ‘passing ever the bummer’s face; ‘‘ Ole Colonel oaker—them’s me—has never been much 0’ a success "cept drinkin’ wines and campaign. But, if my fingers’d been pistols’stead o’ fingers, I expect I’d shot a muleor two, anyhow,” 31 Bolonél. I see liquor’s been your ruination,” observed Graves, highly amused with his com- ‘panion. me Yes; 'n’ I’ve been the ruination ©? lots o’ liquor. Some cons’lation in that,” was the com- lacent response, ‘* Where did you come from, colonel?” ‘*Red Ruination. War up thar nearly a week. The folks give me a bottle o’ liquor to eave, and promise of a neck-tie if I come back. But the liquor’s all leaked away, and I’m goin’ back fur more. Durned nice foiks to Red Ruin, Had a big murder there a few nights ago—thou- sand dollars reeward for the murderer. I’m on : oni, & eet xo a NM yy " ; ’ Tay f Oe i es LL LLL DLDBDB ALLL LLL LLL ALLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL, LL LL LL LL LE LL Ltt tt a the oO i r ‘ ad “Ty . c. 3 AG "Ls oF ee, Oa ar! 7 a ~ eh { ob ee “) m ft si sh pty! Chap al Ay ; 4 *, 1 _ ah S ’ 5 Kit Bandy in Red Ruin. the lay for that thousand. If Colonel Soaker— them’s me—gits hands on the ’sassin he’ll rake him from taw. [I’m a bad man—hic—driver, from ’way over yan!” It was quite clear to the driver’s mind that. Sol Soaker was still under the influence of his last drink, but, as he was good-natured and in- offensive, Graves concluded to let him ride to camp. Twenty minutes later the coach was rolling along through a clump of timber whose foliage was 80 dense on one side as to almost exclude the light of day, when, suddenly, a man with a mask over his face, sprung from concealment and, seizing the lead mules by the bits, jerked them back almost upon their haunches, at the same time commanding: ‘S Halt !” To Hi Graves there was no uncertain sound in that voice, and he promptly drew up; but, as he did so, a pistol rung out and the faithful old driver of twenty years tumbled from the boot to the ground, a corpse, , Old Soaker made an effort to catch the falling body, but in doing so lost his balanceand toppled to the ground. , The passengers were filled with terror; but Paul Moore was the first to recover his senses, and drawing his revolver proposed that they de- fend themselves against the robbers, Throwing open the door he sprung out, pistol in hand; but his feet had scarcely touched the ground when he fell dead, pierced by half a dozen bullets. The door of the coach was then opened on the side next to the strip of timber, and revolvers were thrust into the face of Hines and Barnes by masked men, ‘** Passengers will all get out,” said the leader of the outlaws, The two men quietly and quickly obeyed, ‘*] hope you will not disturb the lady,” re- marked Major Hines, as he stepped out and threw up his hands, ‘* We assure you we will not harm her,” re- plied the outlaw, ‘‘ but she will have to oblige us by getting out of the coach until we can search the vehicle for hidden treasure; and, if she has any money or jewelry of value, she can, in the mean time, deposit it with our cashier,” Trembling with terror, Florence Walworth was assisted from the coach on the timber side by one of the outlaws, Six of the masked villains were now in sight. One of these gave attention to Old Soaker, who stood trembling with terror, his long arms rais- ed heavenward like twin masts, When ordered to deliver up his weapons and yaluables he thrust his hand into his bosom and drew forth au empty whisky-bottle which, with a laugh, the robber declined to accept. Not fully satis- fied, however, the outlaw fumbled around among the bummer’s ragged garments to make sure he had no weapons concealed. Finding none, he said: ‘** Old man, go down there and help hold them mules; and if oe attempt to run you'll git it in the back. We mean business.” ** Colonel’? Soaker hastened to comply with the brigand’s erder, He took,the lead mules by coe bits, relieving the man who had first stopped em, / In the mean time, Hines, Barnes and Florence were led aroun: t » the opposite side of the dense bushes where it was lighter, and there were re- lieved of their valuables. hey were not gone over three minutes at most, when the men, Hines and Barnes, re- turned to the coach, supporting the half-droop- ing form of the girl between them. Livery robber had now disappeared. Assisting the girl into the coach, the men ex- amined the bodies of Graves and Moore. Both were quite dead, and the passengers concluded to let them lay where they fell, hurry on to Red Ruin and have the bodies sent for. But now arose a new difficulty. Who would drive the coach into camp! Neither of the two had ever held the reins over more than two horses in their lives. Finally they bit upon an expedient: They would hire Old Soaker to ride the near lead mule, while one of them would mount the coach and hold the reins. Yor a pledge of all the whisky he could drink, Soaker agreed to ride the mule into camp; so, mounting the animal, the old cawp exile gave the sigual to start, and away they dashed, at a dead run, from the fatal spot, which run con- tinued for nearly a mile before the old bummer could get himself balanced so as to control the lead team. An hour before sunset the coach rolled into | Red Ruin, and, as it had been expected all that ; He _ vt ' — > ed | rad , i | 4 I ‘ 7 y ag ' iy ne ; A ) ’ / 3, ' ‘ j 4 ‘ y Rn Rada seal ail im Sr + / x wet # ‘ ° i =o o FS ace. eee ad Ag alr fa hse nA . .* ty j 4 afternoon, half the camp were assembled in front of the hotel to get a lookat Florence Wal- worth, who was also expected to arrive that af- ternoon. But never were men more astounded than were those miners when the stage drove up with a ig ie in the boot, and the old bummer, Sol Soaker, astride one of the lead mules, With an air of importance the bummer slid from the back of the long-eared steed, doffed his cap with mock politeness, and bowing to the astonished crowd, exclaimed: ‘*Gentl’m’n, the colonel’s arriv’ back ag’in— glad to shee you all once more. Thought I'd got rid o’ your ole camp, but I ain’t, though, by a durned sight—bottle too little—false measure, and road-agents playin’ roots with things ‘long the gulch.” From the lips of Tac Barnes and the stranger, Major Hines, the miners heard the story of the attack by road-raiders, and the death of the driver and one passenger. At once all became excitement in the camp, and fifty men announced their readiness to go in pursuit of the outlaws; but Mayor Vaughn, who kept cool under all circumstances, dis- . suaded them from anysuch movement, for, long ere that, the outlaws were safe in the fastnesses of the hills, where it would be folly to attempt to follow them, rn Fiorence Walworth was taken to her father’s cabin, which had been put in order for her, and where the good wives of two of the miners were waiting to receive and comfort her. Men were sent out to bring in the bodies of Graves and young Moore, And once more night settled down ever Red Ruin, CHAPTER ITI. A STARTLING SURPRISE, Masor Hines, who came in on the stage with Florence Walworth, put upat the hotel, inform- ing the landlord that he had money to pay his bill, having very cleverly succeeded in outwit- ting the road-agents that day, and had saved, not only three or four hundred dollars, but his gold watch, also, out of the wreck. After supper, the major went with a few others over to Baldy Krone’s saloon, The Mag- net, and ordered liquor for the crowd, Not to be outdone in liberality by the stran- ger, each of the miners called the drinks, and by the time all had treated, the major’s tongue began to limber up, and he became clamorous for a game of poker. It now was apparent to some that the man’s true character was cropping out—that he was a professional gambler, and they had no desire to try conclusions with him at the tables. Finally, however, a man came in who was willing to accommodate him with a game, This was the miner,‘* Purple Nose” Jack, a notorious gambler, who hitherto had been uniformly suc- cessful with the pasteboards, Seating himself at a table, Major Hines said: ‘« My friend, is this to be a fight to the finish? Ive gota few hundred I tricked the road-agents out of to-day, and you can have it i/—well, what is?” ** Just suit yourself, major,” blandly respond- ed Jack, séating bimself opposite the stranger, ‘Well, [mean to have fair play anyhow,” observed Hines, drawing a pistol and holding it up so that all could see it, then replacing it in his pocket. “You're all business I see,” remarked Old Jack, with a slight touch of sarcasm in his voice, In the mean time, Old Sol Soaker had put in his appearance just in time to get a glimpse of Hines’s pistol, wben he blurted out just what was in the minds of several others: ‘‘Guess ye tricked the road-agents outen a pistol, too, didn’t ve, maj’r, eh?” ‘TT borrowed this at the hotel,” answered Hines; but, calling to Baldy Krone, he said; ‘Proprietor, givo that bummer a_ pint of poisoned whisky at my expense, then kick him out of the shop.” A few applauded this reckless order, but it | impressed others more strongly than ever that the man was not only a sport buta desperado, The game finally began, and no little excite- ment was manifested as to theresult. Every- body who could get within sight gathered around the players, Old Soaker ran a ‘‘side-show ” over in the corner of the house to entertain the ‘* overflow,” and while a deathlike stillness reigned around the gamblers, roars of laughter burst out, ever and anon, from the ‘‘ colonel’s” corner. ‘‘Purple Nose” Jack seemed to be in his usual luck, for the cards ran in his favor from *e , : . « o oe ay 1 ie ah" = ta w ; i ‘ = * . & ¢ ~ ~ a ~ one 9 —~_y < 4 * oat