Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 858 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

y a ing, and Dick was in as good trim as ever in his life. It took him but a few seconds to run up the rope, hand over haad, for he now was right on his muscle, When he reached the mouth of the tunnel, und swung himself in, Pete grabbed his hand, giving it the heartiest kind of a shak- ing, . Bless ye, pard, but I’m glad ter see ye!” he cried. ‘‘By ther howlin’,, hummin’, hump-backed hornets! but I thought ye was a goner that time, sure enough. Blame me ef I couldn’t weep tears o’ joy over ye.” ‘* Me too!” chipped in Poll. Dick had to laugh, ‘* Well, don’t do it, either of you,” he re- sponded. ‘‘ We must pull the other fellow up now.” ‘‘The other fellow?” gasped Pete. Clavering looked at Dick wonderingly. ‘* Yes: the dead man,” Dick explained. *“ We want to havea look at him, at least, for he has undoubtedly met his death down fhere, at the hand of the Masks,” ‘ You ar’ right; but darn me ef 1 like the idee of fishin’ fer dead men, not a bit I don’t. But, ef you say pull him up, Mosey, up he comes, 1s’ pose you made him fast to t’other eend, o’ course,” ‘«« Yes; not likely he could hold on himself, All together, now, and up he comes with a ee: *, Dick had taken care that the rope should not be lost, and had held fast to it himself when Pete let go, and now they caught hold with him and pulled. The body was a heavy one, but there were three of them to lift it,and they had no trouble in lifting it up so far, and there it lay, limp’ and gruesome, face down- ward, ~. ‘The victim of a murder, and not a doubt about it,” observed Dick. ‘* This will count one against the Masks, Pete.” ‘You ar’ right, boy.” ‘And perhaps we may recognize the face, or at any rate maybe I will be able to do so,” observed Clavering, ‘‘living here at Dem: y ? SUNT IST Te Oe reer ee ere we Fr +e. SRP ~----e- oa ' orn Ee Py rf Just what I’m going to put to the test,” said Dick. ‘‘Have you had any missing men hereabouts lately ?” ‘* Not lately, that | have heard of,” ‘‘ Then there have been some before!” ‘* Yes, I can recall at least two instances ” ‘‘ Maybe this hole will account for them.” ‘‘Tt is more than possible.” “And that means it’s quite probable, But, let's see what this man looks like, if his face is all right.” ‘Three of the candles had now been light- » ed, instead of one, and there was, conse- quently, more light, and as Deadwood Dick turned the dead man’s head so that the face could be seen, both he and Pete Parrot - sprung back with exclamations, ~‘*Good Harry!” cried Dick, we were in search of, Pete!” ‘“‘Dave Daws! by all that’s smoky!” at the same time ejaculated Parrot Pete, <« This hyer is awful, Mose!’ ‘*The man “Then you know the man?” asked iat ~ Clavering. Be ; « Yes,” said Dick; ‘‘we came here on 4 _ purpose to find him.” Then I can give you a clue to hig mur- erer,” “Vou can? Who was it?” ‘“The same man who sent me down into ayy this death-hole—Noel Namara. I saw him ca and this man in conversation at the United a) _ States Hotel one day about a week ago,” te "We had the clue, but this isa clue to at the clue, so to say. The fact that he was in i this old shaft proves how he came there, _ and the fact that you saw bim talking with Namara doubly fastens the crime. : __ ** Now there must be some understanding, _ right here,” said Dick, in earnest. , ** An understanding?” * ott! s A —- ¥ “4 * en ~ ae * - ‘ % fi - d : - + fe aa 5 , . r SP 4, Vine! , oe A pet ‘+. Deadwood Di a a ee — . ne ¥ _ - Clavering put the question in a tone of surprise. ‘* Yes; we have let out something of our secret business to you, and now you must promise not to give us away.” ‘Give you away? Great Scott! is there not every reason why I should work in with you to bring this hound of perdition to justice? Let us work together, by all means, and you will find I’ll take my share of the dangers.” __ “That is enough said; that is just what I would have proposed,” ‘«Then your hand on it,” They gave their hands, around, with a pressure denoting determination, and that done, turned once again to the body. ‘‘] must search the pockets, to see whether there is anything in them,” said Dick, can appreciate what he suffered, Mr. Claver- or ” “ My God! yes!” A search of the dead man’s pockets was made, but they contained nothing. ‘‘His murderers have robbed him,” Dick decided. ‘“ You ar’ right.” agreed homely Pete Parrot, sadly. ‘*Who and what was this man, friends?” inquired Henry Clavering, showing much interest, ! “Shall we take Mr, Clavering into our confidence, pard?”’ Deadwood Dick asked of Parrot. ‘‘T don't see nothin’ against et, Mosey,’ was the answer. “If there is something secret, I don’t ask to be taken into it,” Clavering spoke up quickly. ‘‘I did not think when I spoke.” ‘You are into this fix with us, anyhow,” supplemented Dick. | : ‘Yes, and but for you would be in a worse one still, and one which I would never have got out of. You need not be afraid to trust me in any and every man- ner, for we must work together,” | ‘That is the way I look at it. Ill give youan idea of our business bere, while you take another pull at Pete's flask and try to get yourself together in shape. : : “ Yas, take another dose of ther medicine, ter warm ye up,’ urged Pete, extending his pocket flask. ‘‘Me too!” sung out Poll Parrot, promptly. ‘‘Metoo! Polly wants booze! You bet! Ha, ha, lia!” Clavering stared at the bird for a mo- ment, then burst into a laugh, and for some moments the parrot was the subject of remarks, “ But, about this unfortunate man,” Dick then set about explaining, ‘‘He is a victim of foul play, as I need not tell you. He was from Virginia City, Nevada, and came down here to invest in a mine,” ‘And brought money with him?’ asked Clavering. ‘Yes, a good many thousand dollars, car- ried in a rusty-looking grip. ‘Then he was murdered for his money, no doubt. Was enticed here by sharpers, robbed, and killed,” | “That is half the story, undoubtedly,” ‘‘Then there is more to it?” “Yes, he was also in search of a daughter, a child by his first wife. His wife deserted him, shortly after this child was born, and took the babe with her. He had no reason to be proud of the woman, and had no trouble in procuring his divorce, when he married again. oy | ‘‘By his second wife he had another daughter, and ovly this one child, and on | the death of his second wife he conceived the idea that it would be only just for him to hunt up his first child and bring the two to- gether if possible. _ ‘He had grown rich, you see, and desired to do what was right by both his children, if | he found the first to be worthy.” 7 a . ° . Lg or yy / . ‘ Revogs Ap ae . “ ar ri oa» — ; Oa we te fe ' Lt “Ve : _ + We, 4 7 ve x Mant * Pansy ..' . . }3 - “s > ww S Py ,&? €2 - . ‘ o oe " . 4 ~ iy ule , - " : wa * 4 er : 6 o2, Ace ‘ +f “~ , ’ ry y pe Pe “ he. P ¥ aif SA : ry | 7 Til > e » a ; ‘ Pe . ; wan 2 aw , anf si S - >? Y eva ret oo LAE A } ud «A? pvt.) - sae ~-_" } - P ¢ hm ee" 7 e at . — cs 4 ee. Poe “ay a » in - fin. er Ya. +. as a . ; Pre PRS te oP = ER av 4 REY ¢* z —at : BT Fe ters, " wae =z” 4 J ‘ oe ri ‘thee > , * —“ * . * Death-Hole Hust ‘‘Poor man! he came to a horrible fate. Yout . : * =* L* Av? *Q rs ned : Pg . ‘ + Ne yh le, LT ‘That was common justice.” ‘‘ Maybe it was not so much his own do- ings as the urging of his other daughter, who had hear the story of her having a half-sister and desired to learn somethin about her. ‘ Be that as it may, he set about tracing . up his faithless first wife, and at last locat- ing her at Deming, or rather learned that she had lived here, but was now dead. Nothing could be learned of the child, how- ever. Here the woman had been known as Bad Bess.” | ‘‘T have heard of her,” said Clavering. ‘* She certainly was a bad one, from all ac- counts.” 6 ‘*Do you know that she 7s dead?” ‘Yes, I happen to know that she is dead. She killed herself a couple of years ago, and I was on the coroner's jury.” ‘‘That is one point settled, then, and we know that David Daws came here on no false scent, so far as knowledge of that wo- man was concerned. Now, do you know anything about the daughter?” **T do not.” . *** There is little likelihood that she will ever be heard of, though her half-sister at Virginia City insists that she is living, and is determined she shal] be found.” “She knows whet the girl’s mother was?” ‘Yes, knows all about it, and cares noth- ing for that. Since they both had the one father, she stands ready to receive her, only provided she is worthy, which again, is very doubtful,” | ‘You are probably right, there.” — “So, this dead man, with a double pur- pose in view, came here to Deming. He had money to invest in a mine, and at the same time wanted to learnall he could about _ the woman he had once called wife. But — his daughter, dreading that something would — happen to him, engaged me and Pete Parrot to follow after him and take care of him, or to help him if he needed help.” VoRee ‘Then you are detectives?” “I am Deadwood Dick, Junior. May as ne tell you the whole while we are about ey : ‘* Dick Bristol, the fellow I have heard so much about? I am doubly glad to know you! -Now I can understand something of _ the bravery that led you to risk your life for | mine,” “Say nothing more about. that, please, We had other business here, too, looking for + a robber who was known to have friends | here, and all together we came here all — cocked and primed for action; but, the trou- | ble has been, they have got us by the legs sooner than we expected.” ty a “Yes, so it appears. But, about this missing girl: was there any mark by which — she could be recognized? What clue was © her father working on?” | | ‘“Yes, there was a mark; rather a defor- mity. The child had been born with a | double ear on the Jeft side of her head; a very pe—” | - << —— a Ss Si - — — a ag —s ee oe ee = 22 Sst = =. ~~ — . a ™ ee _ 4 a — ee Ree 1 h 5 ‘“My God! Is it possible—can it be possi- | e?” bids Maas Clavering had clapped his hand to his — forehead, and he leaned against the side of 4 | yp bl the tunnel for support, for the moment all — CHAPTER VIII. DEApwoop Dick, JUNIOR, and’ homely “no j the girl’s deformity to affect him like this? — Do you know her?” he Etta—the child of such a bein ay e « t+ oe é ~* — -z > x “ — . promptly asked. — : t be; Etta—my g as Bad Bess; — but overcome. | A SECRET, THE WAY OUT, — Pete Parrot looked at the man in amazement — What was there in the mere explaining of — The thought that came to Dick was that per- — haps the man knew her, AG “Tt cannot be, it canno my God, no!” acai ) 1 H . / : . '* * . ~_ ww ~ a . ® 7 e ec? omy, , ij * a - § 7 ’ ’ ie -; ¥ q ; " @2 @ my Pe gi ’ | | | “~" j~ . = | Bd ae « . 4 Ww Put - > . , > . or . . +