Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 887 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

. nee ‘ ee > . * aT _ 4 oe eS eee while he looked he kept muttering to him- self various exclamations, such as—‘* Ah! ‘Um! Ha! Ho-ho! Sure enough!’ and the like, And his survey was not a brief one, but one which he kept up, evidently having pleasure in it. Many of the benches were occupied, and by the time this old man had been there half an hour most of them were full. His own was the only exception. Presently three men came along and dropped down upon this bench, as far from the old sailor as the length of the seat would allow. One of the trio wore a slouch hat, and was & man to draw attention in an Kastern city, having long hair that rested upon his shoulders and gave him the smack of the far West. He was not bad-looking, had a pair of ** T’ve been clear over my head, Terry.” ** Oi should say ye had.” “Tl tell you how it was, Terry. You #ee, 1 needed a bath, and my clothes needed ‘washin’, and to make one job of the whole matter | jumped in and did it that way.” ‘*Begob! but it is the boss liar ye are, fur a chip av yer size and weight,” cried the oflicer, ‘Don’t ye believe me, Terry?” ‘* Oi don’t.” ‘Well, didn’t hardly suppose ye would, anyhow. IJ'lltryitagain, The fact of the _ business is two toughs got hold of me and chucked me in, which they wouldn’t done if you had been wide awake.” ** Now it is lying again ye are, Bobby.” *‘There, what is the use of trying to be a George Washington, anyhow? Can’t you tell the difference between the truth, anda lie?” keen, black eyes, and was well dressed. . ae when it comes from you, Oi'll be | He wore a chin whisker and mustache, ound,” something after the style of a Southerner, and an expert in types would have set him down for a sport, perchance gambler, of the Mississippi. The other two were ordinary fellows, but who did not appear to be residents in the metropolis, They, too, had the savor of the West, but not in so striking a degree as the first mentioned. They fell immediately into conversation, At first the old sntiit did not pay any attention to what they were saying, but finally his eye wandered from the telescope and seemed to be rolling in quest of nothing, and his ear to cock up in the attitude of lis- tening to what was passing. ‘“And you say you dumped him?” asked he of the long hair. ‘‘So we did,” answered one of the others, ‘* He’s food for the sharks long before this time, you bet!” ‘‘Served him right, too, but take care how you talk, for that old cock there ar have sharp ears. Wait a minute, and 1’ll see whether he is keen on the hear or not, “‘Tsay, Uncle?” The old salt had heard every word, for his ears were unusually good. He made never a move to answer, but wiped his glass preparatory to another sur- vey of the harbor. ‘*T say, Uncle?’ this time in quite a loud key. The old sailor turned his head and looked at the speaker inquiringly, and after a mo- mentary pause, asked: ‘* Did you speak to me?” He put his hand behind his ear, very much as a deaf man would. ‘“Yes, I spoke to you. We were won- dering which way the tide is moving. Can you settle the question?” ‘The tide?” ‘* Yes,”’ ‘Well, it is nigh about flood, now, I take it, sir,” was the information given. ‘Thank you, sir,” ‘*'You are jest as welcome as kin be, sir.” The old salt finished wiping his glass and applied it to his eye again. “As deaf as a badger,” sneered the Westerner, in a tone of disgust, and in a slightly louder tone than he had used before. ‘Then it’s no use my telling you anything else, If you can’t pick the truth out of two stories, what +would you do with three? “mag one thing sure enough about it, any. ow.” ‘* That you are wet.” “Yes,” ‘‘And do ye mean, fur honest, that ye ‘was t’rowed in?” ‘That was the situation, Terry, true as news in the Sun. When you see it in the Sun, it’s so.” ‘‘ And who was it t’rowed ye in?” “The same toughs I told you about awhile ago:” ‘“Then, begob, it was revenge they were after taking out av ye.” ‘‘That was about the size of it, Terry, I guess. If you seethem, pull them in,” ‘*Oi will that same, Bobby, and don’t you forget it. This has been a night av ex- citement on the Battery, and Terrence Mc- Dougal has not been in it worth a cint, But, my turn is coming, Bobby, b’y.” Presently they parted, and Terrence went on bis way. CHAPTER V. JACK TARR HEARS SOMETHING, On the following morning Battery Park awoke bright, green and sunny. And so cheerful and pleasant did it look, that one could hardly believe the night had witnessed such events, Gradually the city awoke to another day of bustle and commotion, and in due time Battery Purk had its share of what was go- ing on, though here was less activity than at: some other points. Battery Bob was around, with his face wright and his clothes dry, and was on hand at one of the docks to try to earn his break- fast by carrying the baggage of some in- coming passenger, or by piloting such a one to the place he desired to find, if a stran- ger. Bob’s income was chiefly derived from this source. On this particular morning he did not ap- pear to be very fortunate; but, leaving him for a time, let us form a new acquaintance, The forenoon was well advanced when an ‘* Yes, nothin’ to fear from him, that’s old man, wearing a semi-sailor garb andj sure. But, *bout the paper; was it the one sporting a wooden leg, came walking stiffly down one of the paths to the Park in the di- rection of the s¢a wall. Finally he reached a bench that faced the water, and there sat down. Taking from his pocket a telescone of medium size, he carefully wiped the lenses and as carefully adjusted it. Having done these two things to his evi- dent satisfaction, he applied the telescope to his eye and took a searching survey of the harbor and bay, as if m quest of some particular craft. Not a vessel escaped his observation, and you wanted ?” ‘« Yes, that was the one, Joe.” ‘Then we have done our work.” ‘You have, and well.” | ‘‘'Then our pay is due.” ‘You shall have it. But, first, there is another matter I want to talk'to you about.” ‘*You won't never have a better chance, pardner, Talk right out, an’ if it is any- thing in the way of business, you kin ’pend on us, every time,” ‘Well, it is something in the way of busi- ness, and there is money in it, too, Dan, ' But, here, you may as well be paid for what } Battery Bob, the Dock Detective. 5 ee -_ you have done already, Isuppose. Ideal on the square,” He of the long hair drew out a wad of bills and counted out a sum fer each of the men. They received it with all eagerness, and were then more than eager for his further scheme, ‘* Now Ill tell you what it is,” continued the Westerner, putting away his money, managing to display the butt of a revolver in doing so. ‘*Thereis a certain man in this town who must be removed, some way or other ” ‘You have only got to say who and how, Gibson,” ‘‘ Hist! take care how you mention my name, Iam not going tosay how it is to be done. If you could ship him for Australia, that would do pretty well.” ‘He would come back,” ‘‘He must be sent in such a manner that there will be no come back.” ‘*’That’s more to the p’int. Now we know jest what you mean. You have only to name the man and the figger,”’ ‘The figure will be a hundred each for you, and the name of the man is John Barr. Can you remember that name? ‘At present he is a prisoner, and will reinain such till we deliver him to you.” ‘* Who is We?” ‘‘No matter, so long as you get your money.” ‘Well, that’s so, But, you know we ain't quite to home here in this big city, pard.” “What has that to do with it?” ‘It will bea ticklish job, for we may fetcb up against a police snag.” R ‘That is your lookout.” “Then, we don’t know the man,” ‘*'You have seen him.” “When?” ‘‘Lasit night. He was with the girl.” ‘Oh! that feller? Well, we kin take keer of him, I ruther opine.” ‘* Then I shall look no further. Take this card, and be at this address at one o’clock in the morning.” ‘** Number —, —— street,’” the fellow \ read aloud. ‘* Yes; but, don’t lose the card, for your memory may play you false. You wil. not fail to be on hand?” ‘* Nary a fail, pardner. When Joe Fink an’ Dan Huston says they’ll be at a place, hy Larry they’re goin’ to be thar or bu’st their b’iler a-tryin’!”’ ‘‘That is all for the present, You want . to keep straight to-day, or you will be of no use for the undertaking. If you turn | up with a jag on, you will not get the job, , that’s all.” ths ‘*Don’t you worry about that, pardner,” ‘‘And take care that the police don't et onto you for your last night’s /bit of usiness.” ‘We dodged the police all right, you bet. If one had mounted us, he would have got the same dose, you kin bet.” ‘‘ Well, so-long. I guess our uncle here is going to buy the harbor, the way he is in- specting it. Ha! hal” And with a jerk of his thu toward the old salt, the villainous Westerner went away. The others took their departure a few min- utes later. , CHAPTER VI. BATTERY BOB POSTED, | “Carry away my jib-top#l,” muttered | tha old sailor, as he closed up his telescope My with a snap, ‘‘if thare ain’t a nigger stow- a away aboard this craft som’rs; I kin swear ) to it. Wonder who the lubber was they cast overboard? I kalkylate this here is a ease fer Bobby.” He braced his wooden leg and got up, ee ¢ og wy GDOOKS.cOoOm com