Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 858 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

fea v7 cy v ~<—. % ’ ' + Sth * efile ’ a 4 , . . . of - _ se oe a ‘.' ’ at . es % 4 Le “) Te Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Death-Hole Hustle, Seen cc EER joined the gentle-looking Magic Mose. *' As your partner there has remarked, the snake and toad are certainly gone, and if they are not in your boot I don’t know where they are.” ** An’ et’s drinks fer us all, ary way!” yell- ed the bummer. ‘‘Qount me in!” here sung out the parrot, poking its head out of Pete’s pocket at that moment. ‘‘ Polly on hand, you bet!” This fairly brought down the house, and and while the parrot climbed out of her mas- ter’s pocket by means of her beak, and mounted to her place on his shoulder, ‘Towser ‘Terrel sat down to remove his boot. CHAPTER IL. MAGIC MOSE FLOORS A BULLWHACK. Tuts Towser Terrel was one of the toughs of the town, He was accounted a particularly bad man, and it was said of him that he had several notches in his tent-pole for men killed. Be that as it might, he was known to be a hard customer in a fight, and his threat re- specting Magic Mose was not an idle one by any means, as those who knew the man were well aware. Seating himself upon a stool, he flung up his right foot, grabbed his stogy with both bands, and pulled. The boot wasa stiff, ungainly piece of foot-furniture, and it required considerable of muscle to get it off, but it came off at last with a suddenness that almost toppled Mr, "'Terrel off the stool. He looked into the boot, as soon as he re- covered, and cried out: | “ Thar, blame et, knowed thar was nothin’ in et; I’ll fix you out, younker, as soon as I git this boot on again.” “ But, shake it,” directed Magic Mose. “I'm not going to take your bare word for it; I want to see the proof. Shake the boot, and if the shake and toad don’t come out, I'll take water.” ‘You'll take more’n water, blast ye!” Towser Terrel felt that he was the laugh- ing-stock of the crowd, and his choler was rapidly rising. He gave the boot a shaking, top down- ‘ward, and ‘greatly to his surprise, out came the snake and toad together, as full of life as they had ever been, and he stared at them as though he had the jams. | The crowd, too, could not conceal their amazement. ‘‘Thet ’ar war done fine, hang me ef it wasn’t,” remarked one man, whose eyes fairly bulged. , Vou ar’ right et was,” agreed Merry Murray, ‘‘ What will ye take, boys? It is “Towser Terrel’s set-up, ye know; ha, ha, promptly. — re all yo $M cha, in Moses hyer; “JT don’t want to fight you, sir,” Magic | through, when he's riled.” J ° > owes “fight, ct won't; I'm merely goin’ ter spank . 4 \ Fhe e . * ha!” ‘Booze fer me!” chirped the parrot, ‘Towser Terrel’s set-up, ar et?” yelled that individual, now flushed with rage. «‘ We'll see ’bout that, J opine,” as he yank- ed on his boot again. ‘1 think I promised ou a lickin’, young feller.” He leaped to his feet, con Mose savagely. | Better go slow, Mister Man!” warned Pete Parrot, speaking earnestly. “You bet!” cried Poll. ‘Shut your head!” the fellow savagely ordered, to Pete. ‘Say two words, and I'll lick the yer of ye.” bee | » how,” drawled Pete, -** that’ ’ar might be somethin’ of ® Contract, fore ye got done wi’ et, Mebby you will bite off mebby'ye fronting Magic Mose declared, backing away. Mar! ete No, ITreckon ye don't; et won't be no er yer darn freshness, that’s all.” _Ewouldn t try Niet were you.” “Ye wouldn't, hey?? “* No,” ‘“An’ why wouldn’t ye?” ‘* My pard there has just told you the son.” ‘“An’ that ain’t no reason a tall, et ain’t; peel off yer coat an’ git ready.” ‘‘T don’t feel inclined to do that; I don’t | want to fight. Ill treat the house myself, ‘if you want to back out.” ‘‘ Ha, ha, ba! y think you said somethin about takin’ water a bit ago, an’ et looks as |ef ye ar’ takin’ et in ther biggest kind 0’ | gulps. Peel that ar’ coat, now, or Ill take | yeas year.” i ‘** You had better shake some of the saw- dust out of your clothes before you talk fight so strong.”’ ‘Sawdust in my clothes!” ‘* Yes; you are made of sawdust, anyhow, or look to be.” | “T am, hey? Wull, I'll make you think ‘I’m more’n sawdust, I reckon; you’ll swear I’m a steam sawmill, when I git done!” With. that he flung off his coat, and as he did so a great quantity of sawdust went fly- | ing in every direction, greatly to his amaze and greatly to the amusement of the crowd. | ‘*Cuss ye!” he snarled. ‘‘V’ll take the | funny tricks out of ye!” | He made a leap forward, and aimed a ren - SS blow at the nose of Magic Mose, but the said nose wasn’t there when the fist arrived. The force of the blow carried Towser for- ward a step or two, and when he recovered he was ten times more enraged than before, and those who knew him best saw blood in his eye, | ‘* What are you doing there ?” asked Mose, ‘* Here Lam, Bow-wow!” ‘* Yar-r-rh/” snarled Towser, ‘* What's that ye call me? Do ye take me fer a dog, blast ye?” ‘You've got a dog’s name, anyhow, and it slipped me for a moment, so I came as near to it as I could at first guess. Hndn’t you better go take a walk and cool off, don’t you think?” “T’m goin’ to cool you off, that’s what I’m oin’ ter do!” és ‘‘ Well, if you are bound to have trouble, sailin, then. I'll do my little best for you.” A space had been cleared, in the middle of the room, and Magic Mose and this man Towser found themselves in the midst of the crowd, a ring formed around them in the approved style. On one side stood Pete Parrot, on the alert to see that his more youthful pard came to no harm through treachery, “Trouble is jest what I am bound ter have,” whooped Mr. Towser. ‘I’m goin’ to take some of ther consait out of your breeches fer\ye, “A cussed little banty, ye! I am goin’ ter wollop ye ina way that will make ye think yer granddaddy has come ter life armed wi’ a eudgel.’”’’ | He made another leap and another blow, This time he found Magic Mose, but not in a way he had looked for. Mose dropped slightly, allowing the bully’s arm to pass over his shoulder; then, with the same motion, as it seemed, his own left shot out, straight from the shoulder, taking Towser fairly in the left eye, and over Tow- rattle when he came down on his back The cheer that went up was deafening, almost. hd | lt was the first time the terror of Deming had ever been floored in this fashion, — i ee eee i 0 OO _ _--—_—_ oo eee ing voice gave notice, ‘He will murder ye, ef ye give him haff a show ter do et; he's a bad man, he is, cl’ar through an’ { “Tl watch out for him,” Mose quietly rejoined. | Lyd ~. 'Powser was making the dust of | fly, as he scrambled to regain his feet, and as he came up he was reaching for a weapon. “Hold on, thar!” cried out Pete Parrot, . ser went like a tenpin, making the windows | “Took out fer him now, boyee!” a warn- | — the floor | bum | , and | chance to liquidate, ‘‘ You ar’ purty ‘Towser, but Udidn’t think you'd beso as ‘ . : a? * 3 | and he leveled a brace of revolvers at the fel- low. ‘Ef you draw a gun, by ther ’ternel ef I don’t make a mammoth excavationin — yer in’ards that'll make ye think ye’ve lost | somethin’!’’ | tile ‘“You bet!” chipped in Poll. ‘* Shoot head off!” vie The baffled bullwhacker promptly check- ed himself in the act of drawing his gun, and glared at the homely pard of Magic | Mose with the eye he still had in service, ; for the light seemed to have gone out in the one Mose had hit. ‘* What’s this hver ter do wi’ you ? he growl- ed. “A mighty sight,” was the response, | ‘* Mosey hyer is my tender pard, an’ I’m his legal an’ ’p’inted guardian, so ter say, | ’pinted by himself, an’ nobody is goin’ ter wring ina cold deck on his deal, you kin ‘| bet. Drop that ar’ gun, now, or I'll do ther 4 same fer you,” ri Lage 3 | There was no way out of it, so Towser | brought his band around in front in plain | ‘‘ Have you had enough, sir?” asked Magic Mose. ae ‘1 didn’t set out ter fight ther hull town,” the bullwhacker arosiadt | | =] ‘You offered to whip both me and my - | pard, only a few minutes ago; seem to have | changed your mind about that.” ‘‘He’s no good!” croaked the parrot. ‘“No good! Ha, ha!” | “Blast you!” grated the exasperated Towser, and he made a reach for the bird with the good intention of wringing its neck, . The parrot, however, simply flung itself over backward, yet holding on with its sharp claws, and began to flap its wings and screech in a way that fairly startled the man. ‘Hands off!” ordered Parrot Pete. ‘‘ You tetch that ’ar bird, an’ by ther horned hornets of Stingtown ef I don't close up yer other eye fer ye. We didn’t come in hyer to git Into trouble, but et seems we have, an’ you kin bet we ar’ able to git out | again.” Whore hier ‘hae ‘Sock it to him!” screamed Poll, — : ‘* You couldn't do et, in a fair fight, ye couldn’t ” retorted Towser, ‘‘Mosey hyer has done et himself,” re- minded Pete, ‘‘Ef ye ain’t satisfied with - ‘ther job, let him finish et, that’s all,” “Tl ’tend ter him another time, blast him! I hit my eye on ther leg of a table, : when I tripped an’ fell that time, an’ I ain’ a in trim fer any more jest now, Iwillsettle ther score, though, all ther same.” | ‘Ha, ha, ha!” laughed Parrot Pete, and | all the others joined him. ‘‘Why, you ~— blamed idiot, it was ther fist of Mose that + e . ae & + eyo ow * a al * i $ - ee ee EE —_—— put ther blinder on yer eye, that’s whatet = was. A poor excuse is bene ere how- sumever. Then ye call et quits for this — time, do ye?” He, a, Rc ieee “Yes, fer this time; but, mark et, young. ster, you will never leave Deming alive; swear et.” - IRS et ie fs i BOS take chances of that,” laughed Mose, 7 + Je os ~ 4 se a ‘With that, and a fierce glint at the good- wae looking young stranger with bis one avail- a. able eye, the fellow started forthe door, ‘Say, hold on!” Mose called after him. — 5 You haya forgotten something.” ) - “Wull, what hev I furgot?” stopping. = ‘The snake and toad.” mS, ee oe a In the excitement, these had been forgot- ten by'all, Beet ae a Now everybody looked around for them, wa but they were not to be seen nowhere, and | every eye settled upon Towser, ‘Don’t steal ther critters!” sung out the bummer, who had been disappointed of Dish. | ar’ p Pak ye i a * * gucci : .*» we & he " - * ot /" . “a. -" : Tih! mean as ter steal toads an’ snaxes.”