Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 816 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

a a eS 5 ie he at oo strait. > seme = on = eS a ee Pat ae orga a wa = ’ -” ma, ' ow s ie ‘ rs rad a “* < . Lite ae . . Sc with me ar’ my a) ~~ 7: i, z mustache and keen, piercing, magnetic black eyes; and having brought his horse to a stop he at asked: * Well, what’s wanted?” . ‘You ar’ wanted, Deadwood Dick, that’s what’s wanted,” he was promptly told. ‘‘ You have come to ther end of yer rope now—or any- how ye will be at the end of etin less ’n an hour —the noose end,” | The lone horseman smiled, spite of his danger- ous situation. ~ f ‘‘ You have made a mistake this time, gentle- ra eg declared. ‘** My name is not Deadwood ick. ‘Bah! go tell that ar’ to the buzzards, won't yer? Don’t ye s’pose we know ye well enough? -I hev seen’ ye or ae lad, and we’ve been lookin’ fer ye hyer. e hev got ye now,” ‘* But,” and the horseman spoke seriously, ‘‘ I tell you [am not he. For once in your life, my man, you have made a mistake. 4 - That don’t go down, You can’t git off wi’ that kind o’ yarn,” : | ‘Tt is the truth,” ‘An’ I tell ye I know better, T haven’t gone cross-eyed sence I seen ye last time, an’ I guess I'd orter know ye. Dusky Dick is waitin’ fur ye, and thar will be achoker party when we take yein, Ha! ha! ha!” ‘* Dusky Dick, the Dark Dread? You would not give me into his hands? By all that you hold dear I entreat you to let me go, and I will reward you greatly. 1 will take you with me and give you double what you can hope to gain by serving this devil in human guise,” “Hal ba! ba! Show ther white feather, do ye? I thort ye would, ef ever we got our claws on ye. Nary alet go fer you, Deadwood Dick, till we let ye go atther endof arope, Ther captain has been expectin’ you, sooner or later, and has been ready and waitin’ to receive ye, Keep yerself quiet, now, or you'll have ter be taken to him dead.” The leader of the balf-dozen had given a sig- nal, and his companions had flung themselves upon the borseman and were binding him hands and feet. . ‘“‘ But I tell you this isa mistake! the prisoner protested, stragsling to free himself, ‘‘I am not Deadwood Dick! Free me, and give me a chance to prove who and what I am!” ‘* Nary a free, me noble Richard. We’ll hang ye first, and then try yer case after that, and ef we find ye innercent we'll draw up reserlushuns of regret, or somethin’ of that sort, Bring bim ‘On, pards, and we’ll hand him over to ther cap- tain fer him ter deal with.” — Their work accomplisbed, they moved for- ward, one of their number running on ahead as though to carry the good news in advance, Deadwood Dick, if it was he, wasin a‘desperate CHAPTER I. GIDEON’S BAND, * WHOAP, thar, pilgrims!” ? r ** Nothin’s ther matter, but we want ter know who ye be, what ye ar’, and whar ye ar’ goin’,” ‘‘By what right do ye make them ’ar de- mands?” “We make ’em by ther right of might, We have got ther lift on ye, so ye bad better come to time and onwind. Thar’s alump o’ lead ‘hind every trigger, and we mean biz,” | In the depths of a rugged mountain pass. A little band of horsemen and plodders on — brought suddenly to a stop at a bend in the rail, Before them five or six rough-looking fellows wearing half-masks, each with a revolver pre- sented, blocking the way—for the time being holding the advantage of the situation. The leader of the emigrants, a man of erizaled | hair and beard, apparently past the prime o life, aged beyond bis years by hard knocks and rough buffeting against the world, as one might guess; his keen eyes, however, yet undimmed, and his manner fearless, ‘*Wull, strangers,” this man said ina blunt way, ‘‘ you seem ter have ther best of et just now, but ye'll find that we dont scar’ worth a cent. My name is Gideon G. Gripes, and these people—Gideon’s band ez wur, We ar’ honest folks, as folks go, an we're headin’ fer a new diggin’s we’ve heang te of—Bank Garden,” : “‘ Jest what we thought, that you was bound fer Bank Garden, and we’re hyer to give é notice to turn right about and go back ther way ye hey come.” - “ By what right do ye do that?” ‘> . Tay ” q , : a a ee a wy, tos ¥ a Ver MS Ion" e . > " 7% *») ° o on) 4a, ae ‘ \ A goB pw} - : - ’ » — ty LY 3 . “ - 4 tw a Pt My» “YW eo P| {ie ar . , iy iv i. “Whoa! Whoa! Wull, what’s ther mat- a ’ 4 | * * Tt : . uf ’ a y : " e ‘ = _ # Preise as es ; a A wr ney 4 4 » « - ca bh ¢« 4 at a ee ee & metehee oS tee Wein petater’: a ee ere) oe - Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Rival. | ‘* Right of might, same as before, pilgrims. | hag, whose mouth was cavernous in its dimen- We own this Bank Garden ye have beard about, and we've got all ther folks thar we want. So don’t stand on ther order, but turn tail to aud git, ** You'll find that Gideon and his band ain’t that sort, pardner. We hev set out fer Bank Garden, and thar’s whar we ar’ goin’, if we have ter fight our way thar.+ I guess that ‘ar is plain enough fer you to onderstand, ain’t et? Ei et ain’t, don’t know how ter make et plainer.” ‘Then you refuse to turn back? ** Most ’suredly.” Then fell a moment of silence. ‘‘ By ther way,” the spokesman of the oppos- ing party next asked, ‘‘ what is et takes ye to that ’ar camp?” : “Ther desire fer gold av’ gain,” was the prompt answer. ‘‘ We hev heard tell it’s ter be had thar, and we ar’ bound ter havea share of etif wecan, That’s ther long and short of et,” ‘‘ But, have you heard of Dusty Dick? ‘Not to ther best of my b’lief and knowl: edge,” ntee ! ‘‘Wull, he’s boss of ther camp, and he has made a decree, as he calls et, that no more citer- z-ns will be ‘lowed ter come in an’ share,” ‘‘Guess he didn't reckon on Gideon’s band when he made that ’ar decree, did be?” ‘> He made ther decree all ther same, though, pilgrims, and we ar’ hyer to aid in carryin’ out hislaws. Thar’s only two trails leads to that camp, and this hyer is one of ’em, Both of em ar’ guarded, and ther chances of your gettin’ through is ruther lesn,” . ‘‘ But, we ar’ goin’ through all ther same.” ‘6 We don’t see how year’ goin’ ter manage et. We have got ther lift on ye bad, so what ar’ ye goin’ ter do about et?” - ‘© Wull, I’m disposed ter argy ther p’ints with ye, first, and ef that don’t do, then we'll try some othér how. You kin make up your mind toet that Gideon G, Gripes and his fambly ar’ > ter Bank Garden or bu’st.” ‘Then et’s likely ter be a bu’st. Dusty Dick, our chief, has made his orders plain, and we ar’ bound ter turn ye back, even ef we have ter shed blood ter do et, so what’s ther use kickin’? This camp of Bank Garden is private property, and Dusty Dick is the owner,” ‘Hold on, tlere, boys! Don’t begin to kill!” The call came from a little further around the bend than where the half-dozen of guards- men stood, With one accord every man of them turned his head to look in the direction of the voice, seeing the emigrants look suddenly that way, and immediately a mocking laugh was heard. ‘¢ Hal ha! ha! No, don’t begin to kill, boys, but up with your hands, every man of you!” That loud laugh, and the louder command, came from the same place whence had come the other words, and in the alarm the guardsman looked back again toward the ies Ainge A In that brief moment the situation had been changed wholly! _ There was the leader of Gideon’s band, with a big revolver aimed straight at the head of the guard spokesman, and eyery.one of the band resented either an old gun or revolver, cover- ing all the Dusty Dick gang. — ‘‘Do ye see ther pint?’ demanded Gideon. “This is ther p'intof my argymint., Lift yer hands, or by ther day o’ doom ef I don’t lift yer roof s? quick ye won’t ever know what bit ye! Up with ’em! or thar will be‘ wailin’ in yer wigwam fer ther brave that never kem back,” The tables had been turned, and the bands of the masked men were raised, with their weapons still gripped in them, , No sooner that done, than three or four of Gideon’s band stepped forward and disarmcd them. , And, not only so, but proceeded forthwith to bind them as well ‘‘ Ye thort ter git ther bulge on old Gideon G, Gripes, did yer?” the leader of the little com- pavy scolded, while this was being done, ‘* Guess e have woked up to ther fact that Gideon and is band ain’t ter be ketched nappin’, We'll take ye in to this hyer Dusty Dicky, or what- ever et is ye call him, and see what he thinks of ye. Et will be our card of interduction.” “Et will be yer check to ther other shore, that’s what et will be,” stormed the chagrined leader of the guardsmen. “ All right, ef so; we'll have company, you bet! “But, I reckon et won’t work that way, fer ‘Gideon and his band ar’ hard nuts, every one of us, and we kin hold ourownin a scrimmage, every time, Ain’t that so, Elviry?” He turned suddenly and appealed to one of his Pet bat one was a woman, a most homely old & ¢ ' ets, ; ; @ 4a 4 Sa ie... ; Pe = sions when she Oo .ened it to reply. ‘*Wull, you kin jest bet your terbacky on thc.t, Gideon!” she cried, in a high and cracked voice, ‘‘We are a faiably what don’t know what et means ter be downed, and I’m ther mother of ther null of et. By ther great—” ‘* D’ye hear?” interrupted Gideon, turning to his prisoners again. ‘* D’ye bear what ther old dame has ter say? That’s ther kind of spring chickens we ar’, and mebby this hyer Dusty Dick of yours won’t ’bject ter takin’ us inter his roost when he comes ter size us up.” The prisoners had by this time been made secure, Putting them ahead of his company, two by two, Mr. Gripes ordered them forward, and they all went along down the gulch, We have bad time to take note of this ‘* Gideon’s Band,” as its head has given us name for the party, and a word just here concerning other members of it will not be out of place. There were ten persons besides the leader. One of these has been mentioned and descrih- ed; the others were well worthy, in appearance, to be called ber children. | There was another woman, one whose age could hardly be guessed, sirice she might be unything from twenty-five to forty-five, She was rather slatternly attired, and’ her face and hands were not remarkable for cleanliness, Then there were six men, some of whom were hard-looking characters, and two youths, In brief, the old leader himself was about the most reputable-looking one of the bunch, but he did not improve upon extended acquaintance, He, the two women, and one man besides, were the only ones mounted. Little was said as they moved along, and final- ly they came out in a broad pocket, where before them was seon the place of their destivation. It was, at a glance, a camp of about the usual type, but as they drew nearer a difference could be noted, 3 There was wanted the activity which genuine trade and competition inspire, As they drew yet nearer still, 2 crowd poured out intotbe one main street of the place, and then a shout went up. . The citizens—denizens, or whatever you will— had discovered the'plight of their fellows, and great was the excitement their discovery cre- ated. Who and what were these strangers! . CHAPTER II. PROVING THEIR CLAIM, Just a word right. here for this camp of Bank Garden. . The gulch pocket in which the camp was situ- ated wasa garden indeed, No fairer spot can be imagined, If there was a blot upon Nature’s handiwork, that blot was the camp itself—a blot that was made ali the blacker by the hordes of cut-throats that made it their stronghold. : The camp had been located, as all such camps are, by prospectors, and it might have grown and prospered, but before it could geta fair start Dusky Dick, the notorious outlaw known as the ‘Dark Dread,” swooped dotvn and captured it, giving the rigbtful owners their choice between death and submission, : The owners had named the camp, and the out- laws had never seen fit to change the name, When first discovered one of the discoverers had exclaimed, ‘A garden!” And upon their striking it ‘‘rich” and locating, another de- clared it was as good as a bank. Your mining-camps are named upon triflin ‘incidents, sometimes, and so it had come abou that this one was called Bank Garden, The outlaw, Dusky Dick, was a terror to the whole Southwest, Having a powerful band at his command, he had never yet encountered a force large enough to overcome him, and he was lord of all that country. He had_been hunted and hounded by Ameri- cans and Mexicans alike, but had ever managed to make it convenient to be on the other side of the line when things got too warm for him from either party. ) ; He was Spanish by birth but talked English — like a native of our land, and hisdark skin had given him his nickname ‘Dark Dread,” For the Sera reason he had been dubbed “* Dusky Dick. His band was a horde of primus, made up after the manner of such bands in Dusky Dick’s | own country. They were ripe for any evil,and more than once had taken and held personsfor == ransom, And that, too, with success, There was no deed of daring too risky for them to un ’ j - ; ‘ t . a | = eee men ay ‘iy