Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 816 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

that ye wur Deadwood Dick? That’s what I want ter know.” . * _ “*You might as well. a.§ " oe rap ‘ 2 . 1 . + A," \ , ou ¥ a \ fen a 14 Gideon Gripes came out from his cabin, stretching himself, and called out: ‘‘ Guess we hev tried ter make a hull night ©’ et, boys. Thought we had begun our everlastin —er that’s what I would’a’ thought ef I had thought a tall. When I woked up 1 thort ther camp was dead. Wonder how ther guard stood et?” | ‘« Et wasn’t no guard at all, ef et slept like I did,” said one. | “Wull, go out and bring ’em all in,” or- dered Gideon, ‘‘and we'll try “Dusky Dick and see what’s ter be done wi’ him.” Messengers set off, and.while they were gone the other prisoners were brought 6ut, the old man, Gideon, saying he would make one job of the-whole business. Deadwood Dick and the other men were brought forth bound, but the woman pris- oner was allowed to come forth free. She had been permitted to make her toilet, too, and was altogether a different person in appearance. | % Young and fine-looking, she had the air of a lady born, and a face of intelligence. At sight of her the prisoner—Brandson— cried out: ’ ‘‘ Katel—Kate Rossetyr! How can you longer deny your identity? I would know you among a thousand!” CHAPTER XV. ‘ MAKING THE HAUL. THE young woman looked at him when he spoke, but gave him no other sign of recog- nition or attention. He addressed her again, with more strength of language, but was not noticed even then, and in a rage he turned upon Deadwood Dick. ‘““And you!’ he cried. ‘* You He when bi say you are other than Dick VanDeyke. know you, and you cannot deceive me. Were | free, [ would have your life!” : ““ You will not be free in a hurry, though, Raybold Brandson,” was the answer. ‘‘ You are in the hands of persons who will take care of you for that little job of forgery.” The man paled. ‘““How knew you of anything of that, Deadwood Dick?” he demanded. “Ha! you admit that [I am Deadwood : Dick, then?” ‘* You must be, to know that.” ** Well, you are not far from the truth.” Just then a cheer was heard. Gideon and his son Peter were coming from one of the cabins with Dusky Dick a prisoner. | | There wasa shout sor liis hanging without trial, and a rush was made, but Gideon wav- ed them back with a revolver, shouting: ‘No, not yet, boys; wait till Ihave some- thin’ ter say "bout et.” . Gideon and his son led’ the prisoner for- ward to the stoop of the saloon, which raised them a little above the others around, so that all could see as well as hear; and turn- ing to his band, said: =) wale oa ‘‘ Now, before we, attend ter this galoot, let's see about t’other prisoners and see jest what’s what. Deadwood Dick, you first: Is that your name or is it not? We want < | seni facts, and we’re goin’ ter have: ’em,” ell, then, it is not my name.” ‘* Who, then, ar’ ye?” x eS ‘*T am Richard Van Deyke.”’ ie ‘What, then, was your object in tellin’ ‘I did it to save my life.” . ‘‘ And how was that goin’ ter save ye?” “Why. if Deadwood Dick is rich as you say, I thought to pass for him,” ‘*Wull, that’s a purty weak story, I take et. If ye got found out at et, do ye think that would save yer life?” _ “ Hardly.” : | “* And do ye think we'll spare et now?” You can’t gain any- a’ ‘ Db at a> , z. hk f > . nee ‘ bs AS aa a 7 : miacgh Deadwood eve , ear . : ad Py “rie r ; / a - i. ’ ‘ ft 72 t ° min at : pA aera ts AGE ft a wots me 4 a : $jitnt . » ad <@ - SUS = > ton : er rer eee en ~ - Dick, Jr.’s, Rival. a a ee ee ere thing by holding me, and you can’t gain any- thing by killing me.” ‘* Let us both go free,” cried Brandson, ‘‘and only one will leave this place alive!” ‘““No, your goose is cookéd,” Gideon de- Clared. ‘‘ We’ll see what Dusky Dick has ter say fer himself before.goin’ further. Pete, jest give him ther use of his jaw.” _ The gag was removed. ‘‘ A thousand curses on you!” the brigand chief roared. ‘‘ Men, I call on you to shoot him down like a dog, and then free me!” “That little jig is up,” said Gideon, calm- ly. ‘‘ We have had a new deal hyer. I am now captain, and all these men ar’ Gideon’s band. Ye see, that don’t work fer a cent.” ‘““What! You are false tome?” the chief cried. ‘‘ Yas they ar’,” Gideon answered for them. “T hev told them how ye meant ter play ‘em, and they ar’ onto ye.” ‘Men, it’s ade /” the frantic prisoner cried. ‘¢ He is the one who will play you false! Re- lease me, and we’ll hang the lot of them, and then for that quarter million.” Hands fell upon weapons. “That quarter-million will be all right,” declared Gideon, ‘‘and when et comes hyer every man will get a shareinet. But, ye see, now, this prisoner denies that he is Deadwood Dick, and ef that’s ther case ther money is gone ter smoke.” ** He lies!” ‘‘No, I do not lie, for 1am not Deadwood Dick.” ‘“‘ Hearken, ye!” The voice came from the air over their heads, gad all looked up. ‘Ther voice again,” cried Gideon. ‘* Wull, what is et?” “The time isnow ripe. The net has been spread; now make the haul.” The men looked at one another in wonder- ment. — ‘* That’s what’s ther matter!” a high-keyed voice shouted. ‘‘ Great old hambone of de, vastatin’ days o’ chronic demolishun! I kin stand this hyer rig no longer, an’ hyer et goes!” _ The personage was ‘‘ Mrs. Gripes,” and as she shouted she came running to the front, tearing off her clothes as she came, and as ’ she ended she stood forth a homely, wrink- led old man—a man without any ears, a de- fect which the wig of woman’s hair had kept from notice before. There was no mistaking him, it was Old’ Avalanche, the one-time ‘Great Injun Annihilator.” ‘No more blasted woman’s toggery for me!’ he cried, prancing around. ‘‘ Great hambone of ther dusty days o’ prehistoric revolutionary floods an’ famines, no! I hev a plenty, thank ye. And fer vou, Dicky, boy, yer ears shall be punished fer many a day ter come, for ther forced silence ye hev made me observe!” He shook his head at Gideon. > No one seemed able to take in the situa- tion yet. What meant it?” ‘“Yes, the time is ripe,” Gideon spoke, in a changed voice, a clear, stern, ringing tone. With afew quick movements he cast off his false hair and beard, and threw from him the over garments he had been wearing, and there stood forth—Deadwood Dick, Junior, the redoubtable Richard himself! The men paled, fell back before him, and hand drew a weapon. é ‘Who ar’ you?’ demanded Rooster Rube, | ina husky voice. ‘‘T am Deadwood Dick,” was the cool re- sponse. ; * Kill him /* thundered Dusky Dick. 4 _ A scote of weapons clicked, but no report came forth. : | Dick himself, held them covered with glitter- ing revolvers! , —_—— . * — Se rr a ee ! said. FT Sk ee. = . t jae oo. 7 ° * . ) ' : : . 4 7? am? — + ge > = it = pa - aan - ww - meee Le SaaS POS rer rn ire ; *) Deadwood Dick laughed at them. ‘* You see you have fallen into a trap,” he ‘“ Dusky Dick, I was sent here by the Government for the purpose of capturing you and your band, and I have done it. I have only these ten with me, my Decade, I call them.” ‘Oh, that I might be free, with a weapon ing hand!” the brigand chief cried, and he tugged at his bonds to get free. ‘“You are helpless,” said Dick. ‘‘ It is all up with you. Ihad my plans well laid, and though I had to change them greatly to accommodate circumstances as | found them here, 1 have been successful. This lady, sir, is my wife and able partner in my werk, Kodak Kate. You can now see that she and this other lady look very much alike, and that I and Mr. VanDeyke resemble each other.”’ Yes, Kodak Kate was there, having pass- ed as ‘‘ Sally Gripes,” wife of ‘‘ Peter,” and mother of the three youths. These were, re: spectively, Dolan Hardy, Billy Bucket, and Johnny Smile. * The other six were well-known detectives on Deadwecd Dick’s staff—for Dick, now, was at the head of a strong agency in the West-land, ‘“TIt was.a clever trick, lam willing to claim,” Dick said further. ‘‘ These papers we showed you were printed in full at Bristol City for the one purpose of deceiv- ing you, and it worked well. And, had anything miscarried, we bad enough dyna- mite bombs at hand to blow you all out of this gulch in one minute. And now, since you know me for what Iam, it is needless for me to go over my work in detail.” “Can I duy my freedom?’ asked Dusky Dick, coolly. ‘No; you can not, sir. You are my prisoner, and I will hand you over to the authorities.” ‘*Men, at them!” the brigand chief then shouted. ‘‘ You are five to one, and you can down them if you will! At them, no matter if you are unarmed!” ‘see ‘The rush was made, and it would have succeeded, but weapons spoke sharply and half a dozen of the rascals went down; and seeing that only death awaited them, the others threw up their hands, ‘“Hold on!” cried out Stuttering Steve. ‘** 7 sur-sur—” : value, your life,” Deadwood Dick declared, pe ia XE ‘* Bind them, men, every One.” That was done. | Then Richard VanDeyke was _ released, and he and Kate Rossetyr clasped each other in arms. Their story was simple. Kate was the only child of a rich American residing in Mexico, and her father had desired her to marry Brandson. order to wed VanDeyke, whom she loved, had eloped with him. They had fallen in the way of; Dusky Dick, who captured the roung woman and held her for ransom. ‘he men, searching for her—and Brandson for VanDeyke, likewise fell into the hands of the out nd | And so and his ten tcok their prisoners safely to the authorities; where they delivered them UP», | y deserved. Dick received great praise for the difficult task he had so skillfully accomplish- and each one of them met the fate he just ed, as well as the reward that had been ' offered, and the latter he divided equally among his men. VanDeyke and his prom- ‘ised bride went with them to Bristol City where they were married, and where they settled down—for a time at any rate, aoe ‘And then came the order from every side } become fast friends with Deadwood Dic for the band of villains to raise their hands. ’ They looked, they paled, and dismay fell forced to play. upon them. Ten men, besides Deadwood; \ ‘ ’ i? _ , : "aA * ~ « . Yr Lae Ain ‘ , ] *? Jj wy nal Lek ees A 2 ed 3 ak * ' eel : | and Kodak Kate, whose parts they had been ere put b THE END. h ea oy: ‘‘ Yes, the only thing you can do, if you” She had refused, and in | nds our story. Deadwood Dick i “i . ~- a ee el te = 25 « ae: : < nity : “> , ‘ewely coal ._ . . ra . out = ae . —— — . 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