Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 80 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

Rosebud Rob. ———$ $< the mountains at nocturnal hours. There was a trai‘or in our midst, and he was the first to circulate the infamous report that we were a band of road- arents. The report has gained such credence, that it would be useless for us to think to vindicate our- selves. There is a spirit working against us—myself in particular—backed by more money than I can mus- r. 2 demon who calls himself a man—and he is equally your enemy and mine, for I speak of Munro alvern, the mine-owner)!”’ “Tia! then I am not alone in my hatred for that devil!’ Rosebud Rob exclaimed, fiercely. ‘‘Go on, °9 ‘‘No! you are not the only one who hates Munro Malvern, Perhaps J have the best cause to hate him of all his foes. But the whys and wherefores matter little to you. It is enough that he is working dead against you. And he is also working against your totayt?? en ay sister [”? Rosebud Rob gasped, leaping to his feet. “ My sister!” ‘Av! your sister. Were you not aware that you such a relative, young man?”’ me Alaa no. I and that my little sister Jessie died shortly after I fled from my boyhood home.” “Then you heard wrong. Robert Mapleton brought his daughter with him to the mines, and she is livin here in Deadwood since his disappearance a ear aco.” “By Heaven! Can geet ix true? Are you trifling with me, sir, to give me misery?” ‘On the ‘sontoarys no. Miss Jessie Mapleton is alive, well, and, I may add, the prettiest young lady in the mines!” “And you say against her?” “With all his power. for ten See _ : ei et how the trial will end!’ a And why do you come here to tell me this?’ Rosebud Rob demanded, as he arose and paced to and fro, with clenched hands, ‘‘I cannot see your object.”’ ! It can easily be explained!’ Nugget Ned re- sponded, “I have taken a sudden fancy to your sister. 1 believe her to be good and true, and just such a woman as would suit me for a wife. If I will release you and work for you, to clear you and her, and establish you as the rightful heirs to the Big Bullion mine, will you give me your sister’s hand in marriace, if I first gain her willing consent to a union with myself?” ‘* Vo ? ten thousand times, no!’ Rosebud Rob cried, fiercely. ‘I will not sacrifice a helpless wo- man, even to save myself from the hangman's noose. Go! sir road-agent! Our interview is at an end! Nugget Ned bowed, and without a word left the, jail, locking the door behind him, CHAPTER IX. NUGGET NED ABROAD. Tat honorable member of the Deadwood Bar, Colonel Bill Stokes—the bald-headed beauty of the mines—wwas on this same night returning from the upper portion of the city, at the midnight hour, where he had been paying his respects to a certain claim-owning ‘“ widder,”’ on whom the gentleman of legal technicalities had cast a matrimonial eye. For the colonel had a particular passion for “ wid- ders” with a surplus of cash, and as the one in question was never dead broke, and was of a gos- siping, convivial nature, the colonel often dropped in to spend an evening. And it eame to pass that, In many instances, when the veteran dispenser of Black Hills urisprudence wended his way homeward, during the wee sma’ hours, he was in a state of happiness that finds ex- pression in bacchanalian song, and while his thoughts wandered aimlessly in the yath of melody, his feet and legs were also in the habit of wandering out of a bee-\ine. : As usual, to-night, the colonel was ‘full ” to over- flowing with song and melody, 45 he zig-zagged along through a portion of the gulch ae See not particularly inviting to the ordinary pedestrian, af- ter dark. : : The trail was bordered on either side by frowning chaparrals, back of which piled up nearly perpen- dicularly the jagged mountains, on whose very top- most ridges stood ghostly sentinel pines, which cast their nalzed shadows far down into the moonlit gulch, This locality, being beyond where there were many dwellings or other habitations, had witnessed many” vo crimes, and was regarded as an outlaw am- ush, ; But, to-night, it had no terrors to Colonel Bill. ® was a supremely happy being. Every thing around him seemed to be inoculated with the glorl- ous spell which the “‘ widder ” had cast around hin. Even the fat, grinning countenance of the mood, rite soe «1 to the “legal limb,” was pregnant with jolli‘ication, And he sang and he sung, until the whole gulch was mocking at him in detonating echoes. “(ilic!) ther ole gal she sot °em up scrumpshest —(hic!) bet yer boots!” the colonel volunteered, as he paused to gaze up at the moon, ‘didn’t she, (hic!) old fellow? A fine chic} ‘ole gal ar’ thet same w-widder, an’ (hic!) I feel like a corn-fed_turk- (hic!)-ey, an’ don’ ye (hie!) fergit it, (hic!) I say (hic!) old feller w'at’s your (hic!) opinyun o’ (hic!) rats? Hey? W-why dont ye speak, (hic!) ter yer (hie!) unite? b leetl> (hic!) off color! that Munro Malvern is working He has had her arrested got bail; I cannot say as This spirit is invested in the flesh of a man—or a | thar! (hic) don’ stand up thar a-grinnin’ (hic), but come erlong wi’ me, an’ (hic) assist me ter shed «\ widder’s tear!”’ : “Shut up, you drunken fool! Do you see this?” and, as a masked man suddenly stepped in front of the colonel, the muzzle of a large revolver was thrust ' under his nose. | | | But, alas! the good member of the bar ha‘l not the power of comprehending very difficult things, and mistaking the glistening deadly tube for the nozzle of one of those glass receptacles from which the innocent toper derives his moisture, a grin of gratitude shot athwart his grotesque features, and with a gracious ‘‘thankee,’’ he clasped his lips over the end of the tube with a smack of hugest satisfac- tion. But he drew back the next moment, suspiciously, and first eyed the tube, and then the masked man who was holding it in a firm grasp. ‘Gone dry, hey?” he queried, with a tipsy leer. ** Waal, thet is all right!” And he would have once more turned his attention toward the silvery moon, only that the masked knight seized him rudely by the shoulder and gave him an unceremonious shaking. ‘**See here, you drunken lout, wake up, or I'll puta bullet tiycarh you in quicker time thana cat can sneeze!’’ the stranger said, and after a series of vio- lent efforts, he succeeded in partially bringing the “beauty of the mines” to his senses. ‘“‘W-what the devil (hic!) ’s the matter wi’ you?” the colonelgasped. “I hain’t got ared cent, ef that’s w’at ye’re arfter, ye galoot!’’ for he naturally sup- sed his assailant to be a road-agent, from his be- ing masked, **T don’t want your money, ye old fool!”’ the knight said, sternly. ‘‘I want your blood—your life, unless you promise me what I demand!” And straight on a level with the colonel’s heart came the revolver. “T promise!” that frightened individual gasped. “T promise, ef ye won't salivate me, pilgrim.” “Very well. What I want is this: There is a risoner in the Deadwood jail, accused of murder. ou hear me speaking to you?” ““Ye-s!"’ Stokes gasped, watching the revolver, genes up at the é was not dream- ing. Well this man, Rosebud Rob, is innocent, and be lynched, or convicted, even. You must suspiciously, and occasionally moon, to assure himself that must not — act as his attorney and counsel, and you must so | man who ruined me and murdered my father. Iam twist your tongue into the intricacies of the law as will result in freeing him. Do you hear, sir?” oan oe bet yer (hic!) boots! Come, let's g-go take a smile.”’ **No! hold on! Remember you are to free this man, with such proof as I shall be able to furnish ou. If you fail; T'll fill your carcass so full of bul- ets that you'll answer for a first-class soddering- block. Here, lest rou may forget my name—Nugget N es yr Knight of the Gulch—I’ll slip a card in your oc e 7 ¥ Which the road-agent cleverly did, after which he darted down the ch. And fastening his eyes upon the moon, which he still firmly believed to be the Dutch Judge, Colonel Stokes zig-zagged slowly on toward Deadwood, occa- sionally bursting out into hilarious snatches of song “We shan’t go home till mornin’, We shan't go home till mornin’,”’ , &tc., etc, The body of Bel Helene, the Pistol Queen, had been taken to the shanty home of one Miles, and as- signed a room not occupied by the family, where it was to remain until the trial of the accused murder- er, Rosebud Rob. On this same night, a ootEs of hours after Nugget Ned’s meeting with Colone! Bill, a dark shadow was hovering in the gulch near Miles’s cabin. Now and then you could see the reflection of a man’s figure in the spectral moonlight which stream- ed over the mountain crests: then, for a few mo- ments everything resumed its customary aspect. The town was more quiet than at any time during the twenty-four hours, very few being abroad except in the business part of the main street. Occasionally a gang of drunken miners would pass out of the town toward their respective claims, mak- ing the night hideous with their boisterous songs and shouts. But they soon were out of sight and hearing. Ha! now the shadow emerges from a growth of pines, and assumes a more tangible shape—the figure of a man. Stealing, after a sharp glance around him, across & space of moonlight, he finally gained the dark shadow lying before Miles’s shanty. Here he paused again and listened, while his sharp eyes, which were visible through a mask, swept the surroundings. Nobody was in sight; the street was deserted; the shanty was evidently the abode of slumber, Noting this the prow ier gave a Satisfied sigh, and stole toward a window which he had previously as- certained opened into the room where the body of the dead girl had been placed. “They are all asleep inside, and now is my time,” he muttered. ‘I must get into the room where the corpse is, and search for some proof that will add to that which I already have. If I cannot get further roof, it may go hard with the Sport. I must work bor him, or my hopes in the direction of Jessie Ma- Seems to me, (hic!) ole felier, you-ser | pleton can never be realized.” Listening once more to assure himself that there —EE eee eee And the colonel shook his fist at the moon, with a | were no other prowlers around than himself, he | sly wink, d “/TTiel) Ye ken’t shet m-my eye up, galoot (hic!) ferl know ye, bet yer (hic!) boots. Thar! carefully tried to raise the sash communicating with e old Dutch | the dead-room. Ah! it yielded, and he raised it slowly until it ° 11 ht and fastened with a spring. This much of the job was accomplished at least. His next move was to raise himself upon tip-toes, anc peer into the sper, It was wrapped in dee, gloom; he could distinguish no single object. A strange, sickening smell, peculiar to a room in which the dead are kept, blew out into the prowler’s face. “U th! that appetizes of the unearthly,” he mut- tered, with a shiver; ‘‘ but I must not hesitate in this wey. I must get in there, and search the clothing wo.n by the girl at the time of her death. If there is any guilt to be attached to Munro Malvern, curse him! perhaps this search will reveal a clew.”’ Hesita*tng no longer he carefully pulled himself upon “he vindow-ledge, and in a moment was inside the ro ‘m. Befove venturing in search of the body, he lowered the window and also a curtain. He next produced a dark lant rn, from which he shot the slide, and a bolt of light sprung out with brilliant distinctness. And new that the darkr2ss was banished, it was gd tose that the nocturnal prowler was the mask- ed knight, Nugget Ned. Flashing the light about the room, he set the corpse lying upon a blanket on the floor, still robed in the costume worn at the time of the shoot- ing. A pool ef Mood had coagulated upon the floor, making a gha ie" A se “Poor girl!’ th’ knight muttered, as he advanced toward the body, “‘what a pity she had to be cut down so young. Bel Helene hey called her—I won- der what her real néme was?” He paused above the so and gazed upon the cold, rigid feature. with a shiver. A purple hue was upon the face, the jaws had fallen apart, and the eyes were wide open, w.th a ag stare. Setting the lantern upon the floor, Nugget Ned knelt beside the corpre and proceeded to make a hasty search of the clothing. It was a ghastly job at the best, and he was is’ 1 9 mood to linger long in company with a dead body. Each pocket he examined hastily; then, a thought striking him, he felt in the besem of the dress. An exclamation burst from .\i' lips; a newly-writ- ten sheet of paper rewarded hir search. Hastily holding it before the light, he read the contents, a deadly glitter pene stealing into his eyes. It seemed to be part of an wm. fiished letter in pencil writing, and read: ‘** DFapwoon, July—, 187—. “T have found the man I am searchi.¢ for—the $$$ —_ —--—- -— ——— not positive—I saw him to-day, and am ast sure ‘tis he. They call him Munro Malvern, ava he is rich. I will find out, and if it is Garyl Sanderson my knife shall drink his heart’s blood, for he would murder me if he should find that lam here. \ will go now and test the matter.” This was all, but it was enough to cause a chuckk' from Nugget Ned. “The very proof that I wanted!’ he muttered “the very proof which must be the means of hang ing Munro Malvern where he would have Rosebud Rob hang. Ha! ha! surely but slowly are the tables turning upon this man, whose whole life has been oue trail of guilt. The devil has prospered him here- tofore, but now—now the cld fellow has turned tail and has left his victim in the lurches! Ha! ha!” Storing the paper in his pocket, the masked knight prepared to leave the dead-room.”’ Casting a parting glance at the corpse, and then stealing cautiously toward the window, he shot the slide back over the lantern, and allwas dark. He was about to roll up the curtain preparatory to rais ing the window, when he heard a noise that caused him suddenly to become motionless and silent. There was a sounc against the window-pane, as if some person were searching for some place to get a hold whereby to raise the sash. “Ha! there is some one trying to gain entrance to the room, like myself!’ Nugget Ned muttered under his breath, ‘Who is it, and what object have they in coming here? Ah! perhaps itis Munro Malvern, coming to remove anything from the body that might throw suspicion upon him, I will get back in the shadow, and see!”’ With the stealth of a cat he stole away from the neighborhood of the window, and secreted himself as well as possible behind a bundle of skins which aoe one corner, _The faint noise at the window continued for some time; then the sash was cautiously raised, anda few moments later a man drew himself up and dropped into the room. ‘“ Ah, ‘tis darker than the shades of Hades!”’ he muttered, ina hoarse tone. ‘“‘I should have brought a lantern, for ‘tis accursed spookish business, t searching dead bodies after dark. I will search the body, and hasten to leave the place, all the same,” “Hold! Munro Malvern—you need not go to that trouble.”’ hissed a low, stern voice; then there sud- denly shot a bolt of light upon the figure of the mine-owner, and arevolver muzzle was thrust for- ward directly into his face. ' “ Hist! not a word aloud, er I'll blow your brains The millionaire reeled back, with an oath, fraught with terror. ‘“ Who are yaa he gasped. ‘‘One who has sworn to hound you down to the death, Munro Malvern, demon that you are!” the Knight of the Gulch replied, in a fierce whisper. ‘“* Start not, curse you! You know me now, for this is not the first time we have met. You know me as Nugget Ned. Not until you stand upon the scaffold for your crimes shal] you know the real name of the sleuth who has dogged you for over a year, as per- sistently as has your half-vrother, the devil.” JOO <€om ‘S (E (E(@)