Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 901 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

|. have known it. «That ishe!” exclaimed Belle. ‘*I might | He intended to try and get ' Dave is my own particular hero! What do | you suppose Iam living out here in these (25 iy wild woods for?” ae ’ on that train, and what he intends he gene- hes rally succeeds in doing. But, if you ever. Pee dare to more than look at him—why, Diamond ‘* Don’t be alarmed about your own pecu- liar property. Kent Baker was with him; and you remember who he was?” ae ‘* Oh, dear, what a beautiful complication! And after they whipped Mr, Curse?” beech ‘* Oh, then we crawled back to a switch, Yc and they sent outa party to see if they could ‘aN find out if the road was passable. And the ot i came and stole meaway while we all ioe, 8 cpt. 4 Ta ** Rest easy, then. If papa fails us, Dave / . will save us, and betweea us, I believe I | would rather have it that last;way!” yy Then, with a little start, that was almost he imperceptible, she added: ~~~ ** Good heavens! I believe there he is tie Bow!” aa CHAPTER X. eh i THE RECORD OF DIAMOND DAVE. faint ‘Tre words were scarcely uttered before Haye! they were regretted, and so swiftly did she Es turn her gaze that Vera, who looked up almost instantly was thoroughly mystified, dig There was nothing in the direction Belle’s Wagga O° te >) im io in ‘ ‘= “ t: " f glances seemed to indicate but a bare wall Sey OF rock. ee ‘* Not a word!” continued Belle, in a still Iti lower tone. ‘‘I was mad to speak, but, -. -waita little and I willexpiain. I can only | pray no one else saw what I observed.” A Morn” could be discernment itself. She ' ‘had shown herself so far a girl of vast dis- __ eretion and true courage, and she now acted | he the part of indifference to a charm, Without. | ae sign of excitement or curiosity, she went | back to the subject of their conversation, I Wis ‘‘T can believe you, my dear, if I am not wrong in my guess, Mr. Dave is a hero,a » | hb god, but—papa hardly sees him in that light.”’ | fee in spite of the position, she gave a - mocking little laugh which had the ring of . the real article. She was amused at the idea of Diamond Dave, with his deck and his bibs _ shooters courting an alliance with the mil- lionaire magnate’s captivating and spirited ‘«,. daughter, | —. _ Hush! I am veryserious about it. He tt Ke has been a wild boy, and I don’t know that iy ‘he is worth a cent, but I’m half in the mind reform all that. My father’s only daughter will have enough for both of us, and, oh, but he’sadarling!”—_—~ i _ The line of danger was passed, and in spite of her enthusiasm Belle gave a little ai oh of relief. It had been the merest chance in the world, but, through a little rift, she had caught a fleeting glimpse of the face of her admirer, and knew that he was not far _. How he was to make his presence known | * =< ‘ ry to the outlaws, or if he had a force with him, | | were questions she could not answer; but it | : ie was wisdom for her to allow him to remain | undiscovered at least until she knew more. Al she knew was that the distance be- . . tween them was not so great as to be impas- gable; and it was not likely be had any great _ force in attendance, she surmised; so all the >. morg was ‘‘on the tip-toe of expectancy, __ / Both young ladies were skilled in the con- # -versationalist art, and consequently had | been able to carry on this rather lengthy con- ference without the outlaws being any the | _ wiser.. When they were side by ,side they | could speak in a low tone, without being overheard, When they separated a trifle etd e ae ath ut de, a ee Sr : the while, they managed to con- re ssion that. they 9 dea being a bandit within a hundred t t é 1 PS yi 4 , j + we Vg e f, ‘ A aw . 7 PT ONT de oe ’ »! RY J - ot : ae ae. vai abt qua! -* fy s Ea % in + <—') 5 » wy 7 re ip? » re Asn 2 “, i? : 4 | een) re 7 . : : yeves fe the ieee outen it the better.” i Aytt £4 : 5° eee es re m ‘ 2 acl , } ‘ pf ‘ Ts WAL =F) miles of them. Once together and their spirits and: courage rose to the pitch of per- fection. There is no telling to what confidences they would have risen had they not dis- covered suddenly that they were come about to the present end of their journey, The leader of the cavalcade turned abruptly to one side, and piloted the way up a steep and narrow acclivity. and then entered through a frowning portal of overhanging rock. They had reached the headquarters of Oap- tain Curse. ‘Sorry, ladies, that our accommodations are not more in fitness with our distinguished guests, but these are our every-day quarters, and we had no time to order furniture from Paris. Such as they are, we welcome you to them, and hoffe you can make yourselves comfortable. I will have to leave you here for a time, to attend to our business interests, but in my absence Daddy Grimes will do everything to make your stay as agreeable as possible.” The captain made a low bow at the begin- ning of his speech, and another one at its close. He was politeness itself, Isabel Malloy would have asked him some questions, and perhaps tried to give him some orders, for she was equal to almost any emergency, but the captain allowed her no chance, He turned away, and the man he had introduced as Daddy Grimes slipped in between him and the girls, as if to pre- vent the possibility of their following him, ‘““Ef you please—jest don’t. Ther Cap are too busy ter bother, an’ ef yer knows what’s good fur him an’ you, better spend yer time a-prayin’ fur him, ’stead ov to him, Thar’s a heap sight *pends on his gittin’ back safe,” Daddy had a villainous looking face in spite of his gray hairs, and the idea of his suggesting such athing as actual prayer was so ridiculous it was almost infernal. He was one of the few who did not think it necessary to wear a mask when he was out on a raid, That might have been bravado, or, per- haps, he thonght himself so well known it woulda be useless. | ‘‘ Don’t be excited, Father Grimes,” purred Belle, with a courtesy. ‘‘;We shall not at- tempt to interfere with your commander in of his duties, As I shall cer- tainly one day have the pleasure of secing yon both hung, I would not be soselfish as to interfere with his occupations during the short time he has left to himself. You can show usto our rooms, and after that take yourselves off just as soon as possible, and see to getting our dinner ordered, My morning ride has given me the appetite of a wolf.” Daddy Grimes’s grizzled mustache curled up over the sudden snarl her words evoked. ‘Ef yer knowed what wor good fur ye you'd be tryin’ ter make frien’s ’stead ov ene- mies This byar jo are one we kicked ag’in’, an’ I doubt ef it are goin’ ter bring us good luck, We'd ’a’ sooner went through the ’spress car an’ stood our chances, We've figgered it up this hyar way. It ain’t goin’ ter bring us no luck, an’ ther sooner we git “Well, that is easily done. My friend and I ask for no escort of honor, Turn us loose and I will vouch for it that we can find our way to the Fair Isabel, and, as they Diamond Dave, the Gilt-Edge Shooter. —— nl say in the advertisements, no questions will be asked,” Lai i ae. ‘‘S'kassly, me little lady; s’kassly. Ef tharis gold a goin’ we may ez well git our sheer ov it; an’ ther sy hez gone ter see about that, Ef he makes a failure we’re go- in’ ter set up a ’public, an’ try ther game over on our ownaccount. We kin work ther trick, ef he can’t.» We ain’t so infernal kid- gloved 7) 4 eye | Oe Fog’ wouldn't dare to say that to his face,” answered the girl in some indignation, ay a ‘If what I Jae | ies" ki ay ? ant ; ts + a icf . 2 ‘ ian a ao oy ot ate ; aes ee | mane ba i] ll eo - AT? Oty a Fla Tey a saving—claws,” just as well, of it it would never do to ious He will have to try some other Way.) x4 have heard of him be true Cap- | They — + = tain Curse does not consider his actions opem to criticism. If I mistake not, he extermi- nated one gang for attempting something of the kind,” | ‘*So he did, an’ tharfore we're a- watchin’ ovhim. An’ ef it looks ez though he war able ter make ther riffle I ain’t sure but what we hed better git rid ov him, aryhow. He’s kinder sot on hevin’ ther lion’s sheer, an’ would make it mighty oncomfortable ef he didn’t git it. Ther fack are, ye’r’ in a ugly sorter «© perdicament, an’ [ wouldn't advize yer ter put ontooimuch style till yer gits outen it.” | Daddy tried to be impressive; but Isabel was a young lady it was hard to impress when she once set her head against it, and she looked at him as though she was grcw- ing amused rather than indignant. ‘¢Come, Daddy, we don’t scare for a cent, and if you don’t hop off lively and see about that dinner, we will smother you with that blanket, and lead this little insurrecvion our- selves, though, beiween us all, 1 would sooner trust Curse tran you, any day. I don’t think you can understand how ridicu- lously villainous you look.” The old man looked as though he would like to wring Belle’s neck, but as the insur- rection he had hinted at had not become am established fact, and he found she would not frighten, he moved off, muttering. “And do you really think he is in earn- est in what he says?” asked Vera, in some anxiety. ! ‘‘He means it very much, the old villain, and if they actually start in on the lines he has laid out it will be awfully uncomfort- able. But thereis nothing like keeping your courage up; and that’s the reason [ am glad Iam with you,” aoe . ‘But are you sure you really saw the gentleman we have been calling Diamond Dave, and what is his realname? It seems. odd that I never heard it.” : ‘‘Why neither have I!” exclaimed Belle, seemingly astonished at the thought. ‘‘ He is about, though; and that is enough to know for the present. He will turn up at the right time. He always does, Do you know, Vera, he has absolutely saved my life two or three times over, and the ‘lear, modest creature wouldn’t allow me to say a word of it to papa?” “ Are you in earnest, or is that only one of your delightful exaggerations?” | ‘Surely is it a fact. He saved me once from going under the wheels of the train. That was a year ago, When I tried to thank him he said if I didn’t want my father to be taking all sorts of precautions I had better say nothing more aboutit, and coolly walked 99-2 awey. ‘And never told his name, or—or—any~ thin a py ‘Never; but of course I inquired, and some one said it was Diamond Dave.” ‘’ And the next time?” «That time he pulled me out of the water —and a lovely drip of it 1 was.” «And the next?” .* Oh, after that I got used to having him around, and didn’t take much account of such little things, I ought to look it up in my diary, I suppose, but I really don’t have time.”’ , “Well, 1 won't trouble you to go over the record; but I only hope he will be able to repeat the operation, and include me in his. l cau ht a rlim pse of him, ‘Never fear, ' ut what he will be anda haven’t a doubt ‘competent for the occasion, 1i’s nota very — ecmfortable sort of a contract, either, [| judge he was trying to head off these out-— laws and got bere a trifle too late, But it’s ith to begin promiscuous shooting. won ) os FF ih sem Wis ae ey tne [3 ae - : vila : . ve ’ MM , Ph) ul , ¢ \ 4, ' - iy . oe '' = . 4 i; * ‘ ¢ 4 ry bt ‘* mS ’ . ‘ _ “_—~ > Pt ade i he ' . ie » Ande ae “oy " " Ly Late Bn ix She UF ea pe 5 ree se OPN bay vy Play © r tua! p ' * - Ve a § “ “i, ii DAA by ~~” i hae 4 ee rae . 4 ° #. 7 ft te (eet wa We ' hed c aif A ri * 4 ey abate ty ut Sut ne i fs » OP FP) f Sie z | : - | . r fs oe = 4 wo) ~e) = ye OMmIC ou and me in the thick < 4 ’ - bs . ‘ . . se hy MY ft is dered for some time what tha enh. di t cits, oo 4 "> ~~