Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 816 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

| . —— ——e - - ES ews ee . SB ss << Fs. : —_, dertake, and they bad become the terror of the country infested by them. Such, then, was Bank Garden, and such the crew it harbored. W hen Gideon Gripes and his band, with their prisoners, entered the camp, great was the ex- citement, as stated. Men poured forth from all the buildings, but for the most part the crowd came out froma large building which had the appearance of be- ing a saloon, or having been built for one, and out from this place came Dusky Dick himself, ** Hello!” he cried, whipping out a brace of revolvers. ‘‘ What means this, my men? Who are these strangers? Why—’ The discovery that his guardsmen were pris- oners in the hands of thése invading strangers interrupted his speech, for his first impressions bad been that the strangers were the prisoners, ‘* Kit means that these hyer hev done up our boys cap’n,” said one man, ‘Then mow them down, curse them! Blaze away at them,I tell you! Never mind your pards! Cut them all down, I tell you!” ** Hold !” The voice came out of the air over Dusky Dick’s bead, The brigand chief looked quickly up, as did all his men, and from the same quarter pealed out a mocking laugh. ‘* Jest s’pose ye go a little slow, at ther start, captain!” spoke up Gideon Gripes, as the laugh- ter died away; and as Dusk ick and his crew looked again at him they found the band with ‘weapons drawn ready for use, ‘“* Curse you!” cried the enraged chief. ‘* Whd are you, and what means this?” “*Go slow, and we’ll try to explain all to your g@atisfaction,” Gideon rejoined, ‘These byer men o’ yours ain’t ter blame that they are pris- oners, fer we got ther drop on ’em jest ther game as we have got et on you this minnit; that is ter say, by ther help of our guard’n speeret.” ‘Your guardian humbug!” roared Dusky Dick. ‘* What trick is this, anyhow? By blazes! but you'll give us a straight story, or will never go out of this place alive,” “That hits ther thing right on ther head, captain; we ain’t goin’ out in a hurry, fer we have come ter stay. Do yer see?’ ‘* You have come to stay?” ** You bet!” ‘“ Well, maybe you will, as dead men. Yer ‘wimmen we kin make use of fer our dirty work. But, who are you?” ‘* Ever hear of Gideon’s band?” ‘*No; and, what’s more, I don’t want to hear of it,” : *“Wull, ye behold et, whether ye want to or mot; Gideon G. Gripes and his fambly!” **See here, Red Mike,” and the brigand chief, . stepping forward, addressed the captain of the guardsmen in bondage; ‘I want to know what this means? How did this happen?” ‘You have had et straight, cap’n,” was the answer. ‘We held ’em up on ther trail all night, but that speeret voice ye hev jest heerd spoke ahind us, and we turned dur heada fer jest one second, and thar we was, ina trap! That’s all thar is to tell, and hyer we be,” ‘‘That’s a straight yarn,” declared Gideon, the shaggy-headed leader of the little company. “‘That’s ther card of interdoocin’ we bring to ye, Dusky Dick; a sort o’ letter o’ recommend ter tell ye what our caliber is; ef we could drop down onto a round half-dozen of your picked men and gobble ’em like we did, don’t ye think we have et in us ter make ourselves useful mem- . bers of yer band?” ‘What! you want to join me?” “That’s ther idee that brought us hyer, cap’n.” ‘ Well, I'll be lynched if this ain’t gall—gall of the first water!” ‘* And we're a fambly noted fer gall, as you will find out ef ye give us a fair show ter prove ‘* Tt don’t need proving, for it stands out for itself. Put up your weapons and we'll talk it over, and Dll hear what you have to say.” “No, we can’t dicker that way,” Gideon ob- jected. ‘‘Ef it’s all ther same ter you, and whether et is or not, we'll keep our teeth in sight till peace is patched up ’tween us.” ‘ Well, then, who and what are you?” The crowd was silent, or nearly so, all eagerly looking on and listentng, * As ter who we ar’,” the head of the Gripes family made answer to that, “‘you have heard a’ready; Gideon G. Gripes and his fambly.” ‘Well, then, what are you?” “That brings us right to ther p’int, cap’n. We ar’ a fambly what’s had it nip, an’ tuck with ‘ther Texas rangers fer a good etic and what’s been routed out at last and made ter do ther tall hustle act fer green flelds and pastur’s new.” ‘* Then your record isn’t the cleanest?” ‘*Our record! If thar’s one thing we pride ourselves on, cap’n, et’s our record. Tbhar’s nineteen notches in our death-stick, asa fambly, and not one of us has ever been nabbed, though they have had us hard ter ketch fer a good while.” ‘* Well, I begin to see you now in a new light, But, what has brought you to me?” ** What’s brought us? Wull, we hey come ter dwellin your tents, ez e6 wur. Things got too hot fer our fambly out Texas way, and we had ter git out; and bavin’ heard ’bout you we thought we'd come and see if we couldn’t lodge with ye, 80 ter say, Ther fact is, what we want is your protection, and in r satin fer that we ar’ willin’ ter live with ye, fight with ye, and die with ye, too, ef need be,” As the shaggy-headed old man ended, Dusky Dick put up his weapon and stepped forward with hand outstretched. ‘*Paut up your guus!” he invited, “If your story is straight you have nothing to fear here. What proof can you show that it is straigbt, though? How do we know your story is true?” ‘* Not just yet,” demurred old Gideon, still keeping bis weapon to the fore. ‘‘ I hey cut my ‘wisdom teeth, cap’n, and ain’t ter be caught nappin’ ef I know et, When our bargain is made, then it will be plenty time enough fer us to onhook our hosses an’ settle down. And fer proof—Elviry, whar’s them papers?” ‘* They’re right hyer, Gideon!” responded the old woman, opening her mouth like a tunnel. ‘* Right hyer they be, an’ I only wish we could ’a’ stayed thar long enough ter have added an- other notch to ther death-stick, and that notch ter stand fer’ ther feller that writ what these hyer papers has ter say bout us, Et would’a’ done me —" . She had been rummaging for something in a saddlebag while speaking, and as she brought to light a couple of folded newspapers, Gideon took them from her and interrupted by addressing Dusky Dick, ‘‘ Yas, hyer they be,” he said, ‘and thar’s a couple o’ notices you kin read, You will see ther papers ar’ from Texas way, and that they ar’ a month old or more, an’ by that ye kin know it’s all ginooine, e ar’ ther fambl what’s referred to thar, an’ you kin see that it was ’bout time that we made our presence less, in them diggin’s wi’ some soonness of dispatch— ez et wur. But, read ’em, and size et up ter suit yerself, cap’n.” The brigand chief had opened one of the pa- rs, and had fixed his eyes upon an article eaded thus: ‘‘GIDEON’S BAND DOOMED! THe Nororious .GrRipkrs FAMILY WARNED. THE GOVERNOR ORDERS OUT TROOPS TO DISPERSE THEM. TEXAS SOON TO BE RID OF THIS FAMILY OF CUT- THROAT OUTLAWS.” Such was the heading, in big display, and the article was more than a column in length—by far too long to be quoted here, It gave the history of the Gripes family, told of their numerous crimes and depredations, de- nounced them “as tbe worst wretches in human form, and rejoiced that at last they were to be dealt with summarily. The other paper, of like date, had the article in about the same form, While Dusky Dick read his face lighted up, and when he had read all, he cried out: ‘‘ Welcome, Gideon’s band! We will take you in with us, and give you a fair deal, This is all the proof that can be asked of yon.” He extended his band again, and this time the head of the Gripes family took it, at the same time putting away his weapons, as did the men of his band, ° So the compact was sealed, CHAPTER ITI, DEADWOOD DICK DOOMED, Axpovut the time when Gideon and his band were being received with open arms by Dusky Dick and his horde, a man was seen running across the gulch in the direction of the camp center. ‘ Those who saw him first called the attention of the brigand chief to him, and Dusky Dick ex- claimed: ‘Why, that’s Stuttering Steve! Somethin is wrong, boys; get out your weapons an stand ready for whatever is coming. He’s excited, and tbhere’s something in the wind.” __ Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Rival. 3 The men all drew their weapons, Gideon and his band following their example and ranging themselves with the others, realy to play their part in whatever they might be called upon to do, Thecaptured guardsmen had been released, of course, before this time, Io a few seconds the man came up, half out of breath, and he began to stutter desperately: ‘*‘ K-K-K-K-K-K-K-Captain! We hbave k-k-k- k-k-k-k caught—” ‘* Sing it out, confound. you, sing it ott!” order- ed Dusky Dick, sharply. ‘* Confound you, you know you can’t talk!” bs We—have—caught—Dead wood—Dicky, I— tell—ye—we—have!” So sung the stutterer, in a rather pleasant voice, without a suspicion of a stutter any’ where, The poor fellow, whenever be had anything to say ina hurry, was always obliged to sing; and being a singer, too, of no mean ability, he was called the Sweet Singer of the band. ‘“What!” cried the brigand chief, ‘ You have caught Deadwood Dick? It can’t be ible, here did you get bim—and .how?” “1 -+-t-t-t-t-t-t-t—” , “Sing, hang you, sing/” roared Dusky Dick, though he used a stronger word than ‘* bang,” ™ Hi nerhienctidine--alouie so—fine—and—so — gay, and — we— got — ther—drop—on—bim; you — bet — we— did, captain, you — bet—we— did! So the stutterer sung again, and the super- fluous words he worked ip were for the purpose of rounding out the measure of the tune he em- ployed to impart the information he had to ive. ‘‘ Hooray!” yelled the crowd, wildly throwing up thelr hats. ‘‘Now thar will be a jubilee hyer, you bet!” “You can bet there will,” assured Dusky Dick, “if there is no mistake about this, We will hang that cursed detective higher than Haman. How many of you bave seen bim?” Some four or five of his men held up their hands. dark-visaged chief ‘*Good!” the cried, ‘‘Bnough to identify him beyond mistake, and we will soon put him where he can’t do us ony harm, I have been expecting Deadwood Dic to tackle me sooner or later, and he bas come at last, Where is he, Stuttering Steve?” ‘* 'T’-t-t-t-t-t-t-the b-b-b-b-b-boys are b-b-b-b-b- bringin’ him,” ‘+ Tf they are as slow about it as you are with that tongue of yours we won’t see him before dark. Butare they sure he’s the wan they’ve got? Sing, now!” ‘* Yes, captain, they—are—sure, very, very— sure; for—Rooster—Rube—he—bas—seen—bim —before, and—be—knows—him—on—sig ht; tid- dy—iddy—iddy—iddy—um!” The euding of his message caught the tune in the middle of a bar, and hencgthe ‘‘ tiddy-iddy ” to carry it to the end, The crowd laughed, and especially Gideon Gripes and his band, for this, to them, was some- thing new and decidedly Sunny. ‘“‘T tell ye whatet is, Dusky Dick,” old Gideon cried, ‘‘ef you have got holt of Deadwood Dick you have made a rich haul and no mistake, [ do hope it’s bin,” ‘“Do you know him?” ‘*No; but I’ve heard ’bout him, and I’d ruther have a dose o’ p’izen after me than that same Deadwood detective, or whatever he’s called for short. We got right into his stampin’ ground, comin’ out byer, and I tell ye I didn’t feel easy till we bad got out again.” ‘‘Hyer they come! Hyer they come!” So cried the crowd, and the guardsmen, with their prisoner, were seen anpaoecenee They shouted and hurrahed wildly then until tie party came near, when those who claimed to bave seen Deadwood Dick before cried out: ‘“*That’s him, captain! Don’t need but one look at that face, ter know et! He is ther cuss! Rooster Rube has made no mistake! You are in ther fix of yer life this time, boy!” The prisoner, pale, but determined, faced the angry crowd without flinching in the least, ‘Deadwood Dick, 1 am glad for this oppor- tunity of making your acquaintance,” greeted Dusky Dick, with mock politeness, ‘‘T can’t say that ['m proud to make yours,” was the stern retort. ‘‘ But I desire to set you right on one point—I am not Deadwood Dick! IL have no desire to rob that gentleman of any honors that are rightfully his.” The crowd laughed loudly at that, ‘*No, I suppose not,” rejoined the chief, “But, as it happens, you are positively recognized by at least half a dozen men here, so your story don’t go down, Andif there could COT ee