Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 840 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

\e ay a oe - ~ —o ite ry. aa ee) os 4 at tee 4 F * on ane — -* 3 x : ~* > 4 ~ - — aang i ~¢ a — 2 i. =... =r . > : hoo ae ” ¢ = . , —_ > yh af 4 ‘ Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Clutch. — 4 os ~~ +, 7 ' or. i\<4 - 15 head again, and when the match had gone out Dick mounted the ladder as he had the first and tried this door, It, too, was unfastened, and he could easily open it, Lifting it with caution till he made sure there was no light above, he opened it wide and got out, W hen he had closed it he listened again, and bearing nothing, struck another match. He was now in a Cellar proper, with a floor roverbead, In one corner was a flight of steps leading up to a door, now closed, Di¢gk had good reason to think he was back again in the camp. To ascend the stairs and try the door would be bardly safe, for the man he was after was undoubtedly in the room above, or some room of the building, and he was likely to be discovered. : Lighting other matches, he explored the cel- ar, In a few minutes he made a discovery that delighted bim, and one which he proceeded to take advantage of immediately, At one end were doors opening outward, but hooked inside, and slipping the hook it was the easiest thing in the world for Dick te raise one of the doors silently and step out into the open air. He was back again in Big Nug, true enough! ** Here we are again,” he told himself, ‘‘ And now what building is this? Ha! it is Hartz’s gaming place, asl thought, The secret is out, my gay Captain Crusher, and if there isn’t some crushing here before long it will be no fault of mine, I assure you,” All that evening, there at Big Nug, Wat Cooper had been busily engaged looking for John Hartz. He had resolved upon forcing him into a fight, on account of the young lady, Miss St. James, but he was not to be found. And, too, Timothy Gibson and his man Snyder were eagerly searching for the missing boy, Trip, but their search was a fruitless one, for the lad was gone, The capitalist, Comstock Jones, too, had dis- appeared early in the evening and nothing had since been seen of him, But, then, nothing was . thought of that, and it was believed that he and ~~ — «+ cre > savagely declared. runnin Ke ‘The situation told its own story. Hartz were together. They had been seen much in each other’s company, was what gave rise to this idea. On the following morning, however, all these missing ones, save alone the boy, were in their accustomed places, It was shortly after breakfast, when Hartz made his appearance on the street, that Wat pai: stepped up to him and slapped his face smartly. _ With an oath, and flushed with rage, Hartz back and whipped out a revolver, but rung Docuer bad been as quick and had him already covered with one of bis own, and now he cried: **Come out to the middle of the street here, , and we'll back away ten paces and let ‘*Yes, and let drive to kill, too!” Hartz we @ you a Jesson you won’t forget, for that slap in the face, No man can do that to me, and Hive afterward,” ‘+ Bah! let’s have deeds, not words!” _ Pll give you bullets,” | ty Toey had already reached the middle of tha street, and now they backed apart, each keeping his eyes fixen upon the other, Each had revolver ready, and the moment they had taken the required number of steps backward, for neither took advantage, they fired e ‘ sa peel as almost one weapon, | tz was unharmed, but Cooper threw up his arms and fel) to the ground, a dead man be- - fore he touched th he garth, — The bullet of his antagonist had pierced the center of his foreh ‘Ts anybody else eager to slap my face?” the sport coolly asked, as he returned his weapon to his pocket, . | A crowd was gathering rapidly, shouting men from every direction toward the scene, and all in the botel hurried forth to learn what was the excitement, : : - Miss St. James and her servant were among _ those who came out, — So was Comstock Jones, | . d, and Job vate fees motionless on the ground, and Jobn z jus leaving the Soaltira he had occupied, | i : __ “ What has happened?” cried Miss St. James, in evident distress. -“ Jost what you warned me against,” answer- en Bite Ok lifting his hat to her, | Hae AGA a “Then e sought a fight with yout” en hy ote a jis ; 4 : 4 N Pe Nid BO abe | AL i} Ms ws! as et Ve Ree Se i: x y ‘oayt pa sok ‘ nid hy . ri e! f ’ ' . ~~" gr | ‘ uk. * Sd ae alt “ahs the 4 ~ th i ‘A* * Sa VE + : atl * ‘* And got it,” Without another word the young woman turn- ed and entered the bouse, leaving the sport to stare after her in amazement, He could not understand this action on her art. He could not read her woman’s heart ad been touched keenly, since she held herself in a measure responsible for this death, Before he had taken bis eyes from the door by which the woman had disappeared, a shot was heard and a bullet clipped close by bis head, Instantly be sprung around, his hand on a weapon, to learn whence the shot had come, and to his surprise a woman was advancing upon him from the opposite side of the street, and as he looked she fired again! He know her at sight, a young woman who had loved Cooper but she had never been able to secure his love in response, - Her second bullet was closer than the first, and still she came on, preparing to fire again, ‘*Stop!” the sport ordered. ‘* Another step, and, woman though you are, you will force me to protect my life, Stop!” er answer was another shot, and this time the bullet went through his hat a little above bis head, and without giving ber time to shoot again the man fired and she fell to the ground with a groan. Then such a howl as went up from the now excited crowd! es ‘CHAPTER XV, EXPECTATIONS AROUSED, THE mind.and passion of a crowd change with every passing event, and now all who had been friends of the spat only a moment before were loud in their demand that he should be banged, ‘* Up with him!” was the shout, woman!’ And the crowd advanced angrily upon him, * if to carry out their design with no waste of ime, ‘* Back!” the sport cried, ‘‘ Back! every man of you! Didn’t I have to do it to save my own life? I warned her, but she would not ** He’s shota stop.” ‘* Yas, but et was a woman !” ‘* Tbat’s so, pares!” % wi’ him!” * Woman or no woman, she had a weapon and was intent upon killing me, and when she came as close to it as this,” indicating the hole = bis hat, “‘ I thought it was about time to stop er, ** But, et was a woman!” was still the cry. ‘Et was Cecile Raymond, ther gal what was struck on Cooper.” cae oe give him no show, boys, but up with m ** That’s ther tune!” ‘*Hold!” and Hartz now covered the crowd with a brace of revolvers, ‘The man who comes a step nearer dies, If you take the trouble to look you'll find the woman isnot dead; I only disabled her. I would have been a fool oye her keep popping away at me, wouldn’t * But, et wasn’t a man!” ** No, no!” Meanwhile Elma St. James had bastened out from the hotel to the spot where the girl lay, and was supporting her head, ‘¢ Ts she dead, miss?” one fellow asked, ** No, not dead, but badly burt,” was the reply. S She must be carried into the house, gentle- The sport was backing away toward the gaming saloon. . ‘‘Then ther sport has got ter be ’rested an’ held ter see ef she dies,” one man cried out. “ Yer might as well drop yer guns an’ give in, sport, **Keep your distance, or something else will drop,” was the defiant warning the sport sent ack, ‘* You are not going to bang me, or take meé prisoner, either, for simply defending m life. Keep off!” He was step by step nearing the saloon, And willing hands had now lifted his victim and she was being carried into the hotel. Don’t let him git inside them doors!” one fellow gave warning, ‘‘ Ef ye do he will have ther best of ther crowd, and kin pick off any man he sees fit!” “I | | ‘“‘T have no intention of harming any one,” the sport called out. ‘All I ask is to be left alone, You know the kind of man I am, that I m a friend to friends and a foe to foes!” WV hy do you not take a hand in this matter, sir?” asked k Jones of Mayor Gi ¢ “I think the sport had the right to defend his 7 \\ oa of : ‘. > 4 iw a a. ee Fee ol LS i Vie! «1/90 pe eal “Nig aed life, sir, but I daresn’t oppose the crowd, I think he’ll be able to bluff them down. And he didn’t kill the woman, anybow,” *T thought maybe you had as lief see the crowd hang him, you were taking it so easy.” ‘Perhaps you can suggest how I could stop them, if they made a rush upon him with that intention,” ** { don’t see that you could; but, a word from you, at this stage of the proceedings, might turn the scale in his favor.” ‘““ Well, you may be right, there, boys!” to the crowd. The mayor was standing opposite the sport, nearer the hotel, and the moment his voice was heard the entire crowd, to a man, looked in his direction, ‘** Better let up on Mr, Hartz,” the mayor sug- gested. ‘* He fired in self defense, as you know, aud he’s responsible for what be hasdone, He will not run away, and if the girl dies the law can deal with him,” Hartz bad been quick to take advantage of the moment. The instant the crowd looked toward the mayor, the sport wheeled and ran for the surf of the saloon, disappearing immediately within, Seeing this, Comstock Jones smiled, as though it was something he had expected from the first, ‘*Not much we won't!” yelled one hot-head who was taking place as leader of the mob. ‘* We’re going to have him and hold him, and givehim no show to sneak out of et— Blazes /” ESpvinig 4 he noted that the sport was gone, Hartz had been a favorite with the camp’s denizens, but the girl bad been a greater, and hence the uprising against him. | With a bowl of disappointment, this man led the crowd to the saloon, into which they surged, weapons drawn, regardless of danger; but their intended victim was vot to be found, : _Nor did they find him, though their search was a thorough one, extending from top to cel- lar of the building, In one corner of the cellar a lot of rubbish was found, bat nothing more, | Finally they gave it up. : They bad to accept as true the idea of the man who managed the place for the sport, that be had run right througb and out at the rear, and so ef- fected his eseape into the bills, However that might be, be was not found. Nor was he seen again that day, In the mean time it had been ascertained that the wound the woman had received was mortal, though not immediately fata). She could not live longer than a day at most. Elma St, James nursed her as tenderly as though she bad been a sister, and in return the dying woman took her into her confidence, tell- ing her life story, ) | She had been wronged by the man whose life she bad tried to avenge, and although she loved him and would bave died for bim, he bad grown to despise her, and so she was glad the end bad come, } : And she, of all at Big Nug, was the only one who knew the secret of Captain Crusher—that was, outside of his immediate band. For sake of the man sbe loved she bad kept the secret well, for be had been one of the band, but now that he was no more she told it freel and fully, intrusting Elma to see that the fac were given to Deadwood Dick, And tbis Elma prom to do. The facts would prove helpful to Dick, but were not now geigt atk to bis ferreting out the mystery, since bis work was about done, ick was at work, though still under cover, and each passing hour saw bis grip growing tighter and | whicb was ruled by as great a set of rascals as had ever disgraced the earth, As the day passed it was noticed that promi- nent@men of the camp were absent from their accustomed places, And this was noticeable in stations both high and low, Finally the mayor bimself was whey, | looked for, but was not to be found, and then the camp began to grow excited about the matter, ‘* What does this hyer mean, anyhow?” one man of the camp wanted to know, at last. ‘‘ Hyer is a dozen missin’ men at least, rangin’ from | ley Bone clear up to ther mayor, and nobody knows a thing about ’em.” L say, Elma 8t. James was on the hotel piazza at the and overheard the remark, “Will you allow me to venture a guess, sir?” ' , sartain,” was 8 ‘4 * What we want ter a. | you kin guess ’em, good fer you. i yV , ’ os 4) fies v a . i ; bs ‘ 4 = = P “4 br 1 eee ord | di , é APER Ds 4 " a4 ef 4 hee % 4 j 4 ie OF ry - ot uf ' * < 2 . J 7 d ore aT y 7 he : = by ‘ f, f <a . Seat ea ee Oe PCiiiqe * Senter upon this camp of Big Nug,. git at is ther facts, ian’ of a : Sin ¢ ao - ~~ bd .« > . +. — ew pe Ss > a 4 J <2 > all ‘ ‘ aS a