Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 840 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

* oe ~ thorough search, _ with the glare ofa _ Deadwood _ He noted the rays of the lantern as 14 = Deadwood Dick Jr.’s, Clutch. ** Well, here I am in spite of the outlaw and everything else, and alive, too. But, I am not gafe, for they know somebody has crossed the forbidden line and will no doubt be here as soon as possible to investigate. I suspect the game, now, and how it is carried on,” He tanghed lightly to himself, ‘* But, | must look out for myself,” he said seriously,enough, ‘‘ They may be here in a mo- ment, and if they find what has been done they will make it interesting for me, no doubt, But, where am Ito hide? 1 am a cat in a strange garret, here, true enough. [ must be mighty cautious bow I proceed, or I may find myself walking on nothing.” Feeling bis way, he advanced along the passage till it opened upon a plateau. ‘* Ha! this is better,” he spoke in whisper. ** Now to find a spot where I can spend the re- mainder of the night in safety, and then to con- tinue the rest of my investigation by daylight. If I do not get crushed, [ think Dll bs able to solve the mystery of this Captain Crusher and bring him to account for bis misdeeds, It will surprise them when I spring my trap, I imagine, ‘They will find Deadwood Dick’s declaration was not idle.” Deadwood Dick, Junior, it was, in a disguise and armed to the teeth, It was he, the re- doubtable Richard, hot after bis foes, While he stood there, on the edge of the plateau, studying the situation for a moment, a light’ far down the rugged mountain-side caught his eye, and he watched it. ‘*Coming this way, as I live,” he told him- self. ‘‘ Well, it will serve a good purpose, if I can escape discovery. If it comes here, it will show me the trail down when it returns, and I may be able to get through my work to-night without having to take daylight for it. T hope it will turn out so,” He looked to his weapons, well knowing that a fight there on the cliff might be an event of the near future. , That done, he began to explore around as well as he could without making a light, a thing he did not dare do since that would reveal the presence of some one on the danger side of the death-iine, and would lead to a He made the tour of the cliff, or plateau aud found there were at least three means of escape from it, but none of which it was pru- dent for him to take yet, not knowing which way his foes would approach, What he needed was a place of concealment there on the spot, _ He had been keeping watch of the approach- ing light, too, off and on, and it was now con- siderably nearer than when he had first noted it, It appeared to be approaching the plateau on the right. — At one point Dick discovered a spot where it was le to scale the wall which backed ‘the plateau, and he looked above as well as he could in the dim light, There seemed to be a ledge some feet up, but he could not be sure of this without clim 12S, sed to see, and maybe not then without a "de made the attempt to climb, but with eatest caution, knowing that to slip meant th, And it needed all his care, for it was barder than it bad looked to be, but after a few minutes of hard work he reached what proved to bea very narrow ledge, or shelf, ‘** Just the place, if they don’t explore it,” he said to himself, “If they do, it may prove a death-trap instead of a place of refuge.” Lying down at full length, with a revolver ready in hand, he waited, _ Here be could not see the light, or at any rate he did not see it again, but that was because it did not exist, Presently three men made their appearance upon the plateau, one from each of the ways Dick bad found, and they came in dartness, baving no light with them, moving as silently as shadows, | They spoke not, but passed through the nar- row pass that led to the dead tree spanning Dis- mal Canyon, Some moments passed, during which Dick did not hear a sound out of them. Then finally they came back, now with less caution, and as they came out this time upon the plateau one of the party lighted up the scene s-eye. | Dick drew quickly back so as not of the light was flashed this way and that, and presently they flashed up over the shelf he was on, “ Well, thar ain’t nothin’ hyer,” a man then spoke, ‘*So et seems,” another agreed, ‘‘ Et’s sar- tain somethin’ was on ther tree, though, all ther same, ‘* Yes, we cannot be mistaken in that part of it,” the third of the party made remark, a voice Dick recognized, ‘Still, it may have been some animal, It don’t take much weight to give the alarm, you know,” ‘**And et must hev run back ther way et kem, hey?’ * Maybe so, maybe not; that is nothing. If it was a man, it is pretty certain he did not come this way, or we would have met him, He cculd not escape us, coming by all the trails leading here, as he did from the point where they branched off, We may as well go back,” Here was information for Dick. All the ways of escape from the plateau were one, after all, since they were but branches of a main trail. “Ets just possible one of the shots tumbled the chap off’n ther tree,” one of the three suggested. ‘**It is hardly probable, firing in the dark like that, and yet it may be as you say. We cau learn that in the morning, for we'll know where to find bim,” ‘‘Ha! ha! You bet we wull!” ‘** Folks will begin ter think Captain Crusher is a holy terror, after awhile, I’m thinkin’.” ** And isn’t he? Folks don’t know him yet.” **What’ll you do, though, boss, when Cap- tain Crusher is ketched, ef he ever is, an’ they hang him?” ‘We'll have to go out of business, I sup- pose, seeing that we are living on his reputation now. But, time enough tothink of that when the emergency comes,” ** T spose 80, There was further discussion, when it was decided that the alarm had not been signifi- cant after all, and they set forth upon their re- turn, ** As I thought,” Deadwood Dick said then to himself, ‘There are two Captain Crushers in- stead of one, The game is in my own hands, now, if nothing slips. L’ll get a sweet revenge upon the camp of Big Nug. As soon asthe men were gone Dick proceeded to get down from his airy perch, using even more care and caution than before, if possible, Re reached the main plateau in safety, and proceeded at once to follow the men adown the rugged trail, e had to move in darkness, but he knew the way must be tolerably safe, and he remained far enough in the rear of the others to insure lit- tle danger of his being heard. Now and then he could see the flashing of the light ahead, and by this means kept himself straight, At last, after a pretty severe descent, the end was reached, It was at the bottom of a tin guich pocket, where a single cabin close under the overhanging rocks sent forth a welcome gleam of light. A light from a window is nearly always thus spoken of, but it-would have been anything but a welcome one for Deadwood Dick had he pre- sented himself there, although his reception would have been undoubtedly warm enough, | The men entered the cabin, or shanty—as it more properly was, aud Dick remained at the lower end of the trail to await further develop- ments, These soon came, After alittle delay in the cabin the men came forth again, and one was a | It was the chief, whose voice Dick had recog- nized, ‘*T'll drop out and see the ‘“‘and then get back again to B mighty good care of our secret ti again,” ‘‘You bet we will!” was the response, and with that they , one setting forth up the guich while the others returned to the cabin and closed the door after them. . Needless to say, Deadwood Dick followed the one, uard,” he said, Ri Nug. Take I can see you CHAPTER XIV. ‘DOUBLE TRAGEDY. Dick found it necessary now to use more caution than before, since a man walking alone made less noise than when in company with two others, and there was more danger of de- tection, . Before, too, the men had talked more or less, ar ; Ay Aj A nat Ver . $ pret tad : ¢ . ‘ 2 4 AY (ius, & ; { & ae AES on die RN: bay meat ape i , | 2 rah J fi but pleasant. : : . 4 ve x : : y : iy f { » -\ @ uP ’ . P’ . | - : , y ‘ * ity oh a : y " ‘ Meas he ci may: Pe OR DY. “2, | " pe tS) Ne +25 USA Fa [a 7 *AL ot he We 0 mae > Ne _- . Uo : and now even that slightadvantage was denied the daring detective. Nevertheless, he pushed forward boldly and determinedly. If it had disadvantages, however, it bad cor- responding advantages. There was less danger, in a fight, against one man then againet three, Dick now followed closer than before. An experienced shadower, he had, too, the courage of a lion, and he could not afford to run the risk of losing his man, Now was to be learned the way to Big Nug. Only a little distance up the gulch the man went, when he turned abruptly into a low nar- row tunnel. | Whether it was natural or made Dick could not tell, but that did not matter. Tbe suspect carried the bull’s-eye, and by the ligbt of this Dick had no trouble to keep him in sight. The tunnel was short, and came out abruptly upon « shelf of rock in the inky blackness of what Dick knew to be Dismal Canyon, and here ou this ledge stood the smallest shanty imagin- able, Dick heard the man call to some one, and by the light of the bull’s-aye saw another man come out of the mere box, a rifle in his grasp. ‘*T find you wide awake,” the chief observed. ‘‘ Never found me any other way, did ye?” was the response, . ears ‘* No, that’s so, How soon after thealarm did you fire? Soon enough to fetch a man by day- ight. af Wull, I should say so. Ther’larm badn’t no gooner sounded ’n I was peggin’ away, soon’s [ uv ther warnin’, ’cordin’ to ther rule. Did ye nd anybody up thar, cap’n?” ** Not a soul!” ; ‘‘Proof that I skart him back, then, You needn’t be skart 0’ anybody gettin’ over when I’m on guard,” ' ‘Well, be watchful, and Jet no one cross till I come again, We're going to figure on getting out of here soon, for there is danger rising. I’m going back to Big Nug pow.” } Dick waited to hear no more, knowing dis- covery would follow if he did, but got out of the tunnel as quickly and silently as he could, He was none too soon, for about the time he emerged from the other end into the gulch, the man with the lantern set out upon his return, and Dick had to step lively tohide. A convenient place was found, behind some bushes, and there Dick squatted till the man bad comejout and gone on bis way up the gulch. ‘‘ The silent shadower followed as before, At the end of the gulch it narrowed into the narrowest of canyons, and ere long that closed in overbead and became a Cavern, ’ It was no surprise to Dick, He had seen so many of these fantastic freaks of Nature in the mountain fastnesses of the West that nothing of the kind could surprise him. : The man pushed straight on, with his light thrown ahead, and Dick steadily following. If the man should turn and cast the light behind him, discovery would be a certainty, but Dick had a weapon in hand and was ready for such an emergency. | No need to tell of the trip in detail; it was finally accomplished, 7 ds On one side of the cavern the man came at last to a ladder, where he stopped and began to ascend, and at the top: he simply lifted a trap door and was gone, the door closing after him with a clang, ‘ ‘‘ Well, that’s the end of the performance, and the curtain is down,” said the. redoubtable Richard to bimself, ‘* And here am I in the dark, Well, I'll wait a few moments and then climb the ladder, and if progress is barred there will be only one thing for me to do,” That ove thing was, to go back the way he had come. Waiting till his suspect had time to get further away, he ascended the ladder to the top and tried the door. Meh eral It was open, and lifting it, Dick climbed silently out as the other bad done, but shut- ting the trap after him a great deai more rae is and that much accomplished he stopped to listen. He heard some one walking on a floor, high overhead, | ‘‘Under a building,” he told himself, ‘and the chances are it’s Lighting a match Dick looked around, He was in what appeared: to be a cellar, bat it was deeper and Jess regularly cut out. yh he rightly guessed, a part of the cavern ‘below. , | Here was another ladder, with a trap over- ‘5 ' \ +9 byl : ‘ : + | — 4 ee . % ma va Ne | a IN the heart of Big Nug, aut | \ 4 ‘> 6 ; fe) \ “ i » hs ad fie : é I =