Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 901 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

eS Diamond Dave, the Gilt-Edge Shooter. YS de ee a, nS 1 ee struck hard, and glared at the freckled ‘* You sure of what you are saying?” | and Pat explained how she had been held , f Pais young face beaming down upon him with ‘*Didn’t Oi say it mesilf?” an expression that might easily have been | up as she was descending, and how the ‘‘Steady, then! Be quiet for a moment man he fancied was Captain Curse himself Hats taken for one of mischievous delight. If | and let me thinkit out.” came around the rock, and accepted her sur- ; aes Diamond Dave had been watching just then He held up his hand ina continued token | render, 7 ie 9 bea he would have been apt to imagine the | for silence, and sat gazing into vacdncy Then, he piloted them around the rock ; ss hea | mine-manager already suspected what had | which was over. the boy’s left shoulder, | and showed the route taken. He pointed hs ie happened. | while his thoughts ran over the points sug- | out, too, another route, which he declared ae tes ‘*Av me oyes didn’t decave me, sure an’ | gested by the intelligence. | would bring them near to the eyrie of the FFs she’s been kerried off.” ‘‘There’s more in it than I thought, and it | bandits. He. knew, because there were hee: ‘Oarried off, ye spalpeen? Who would! may be all for the best. Looks as though | times when he had nothing particular to do 7 have carried her off, and how could they do | the outlaw was a gentleman, and did not | during the absence of the young lady, and it?” care to entertain his company alone, If any | had made explorations which no one but a ‘t's men wid masks, an’ Oi think the | woman can take care’of herself it is the wild | boy, and that a very reckless one, would fourst litter av the chafe’s name wad be | little Irish girl; and I’m not sure but what | have thought of undertaking. Captain Course.” she could take care of a friend or two be- The advantage of that was, it might be — Hy. Malloy wag on foot, while the boy was on | sides, But where does John come in at? It | possible to flank the outlaws, and they could horseback, so, there was not much danger | struck me he was mighty lukewarm. Won- | follow at a pace which would be dangerous of anything like immediate punishment. Pat | der how he takes it now?” so long as they did not know how soon could afford to be a littleimpudent, and take! Dave’s scattering reflections were inter-| they might stumble upon a sentry, ora rear his time to his revelations, rupted by a call from Kent Baker, who was | guard, | | 4 Meare ‘An’ what wor ye a-doin’ at the toime? | already growing impatient. All hands had breakfasted long ago, after a me - - >t ~% md i —— a ~ ie” oe = —- "2? C alr =” ee — — ; a a >“? * " > 5 a * od at 1 ee i Pnied — > ~ —— i SS, ae “a: . to By ms "> [a aes ¢e a * — ee eed > “at 4 > ™ _ ae * bag _~ A: ~~ ro ; An’ how did ye come to lit her run into the dangher? You’re a shmall b’ye, but 1 thought ye wor to be tristed. What wor yer oyes for?” ‘To see wid; an’ be the same tokin it’s not magic lantherns, nor yit photygraffs they be. An’ av Miss Belle, rist her sowl av she’s did, saddled her own horse, an’ lit out whoile Oi wor shlapin’, it wor more be loock than be good jidgment Oi could folly her at ail.” ‘But you did follow her?” ‘* Oj did; an’ Oi caught a glimp’ av her, *way ahead, an’ afther Oi got ez close ez Oi thought she wad want meto kim Oi toied him toight, an’ cript up clester, an’ saw the min wid the masks, an’ the chafe av thim wor tippin’ his bat az foine a pouslena az iver drew brith, It’s a heart-breaker he might be av he worn’t a road-agent.” ‘* Sthop yer infernal babber, enough to hear phat he said?” ‘‘T wor too clost to be azy in me moind, an’ afore they moved off Oi listhened to the -convorsation, ‘¢¢ Good-mornin’, Miss Malloy, Oi hope we see yez well;’ an’ then to hissilf, sort a loike; ‘An’ by the rowlin whales, it’s a double cinch Oi have on yer father.’ ” “The scoundril!’ exclaimed Malloy. ‘* Avy she’s not back here, safe and sound, Wor ye clost be sundown, Oi’ll break hisoogly jaw. An’, Patsey !” Fe? ae, BOP.” ‘‘Kape quoijet for the prisint, It may be all a misthake.” .“* Yis, sor, An’ manetoime Oi'll be afther sayin’ avit’s a mishtake did a pourpose or itherwoise.” Patsey wheeled his pony before Malloy could stop him, and was off ata galop. He had caught a glimpse of Diamond Dave, and wanted to whisper a w<rd or two in his ear, before he was lost to h'm a together. CHAPTER VIII. THE SPRINGING OF A TRAP. MistuEr Dave!” exclaimed a youthfe voice, that was as full of brogue as an egg ds of meat. The sport turned quickly at the sound, He had halted his companions, and was mak- ing some suggestions to Kent Baker, which were not being received after a very enthu- .« siastic fashion. . Seeing Pat Bandy, he made a motion to tell his companions to remain where they ’ were, and rode back a trifle to meet the boy. ‘“ Speak low, Pat,” was his salutation. ‘No use to post the world up. What is it?” _‘* Niver fear; it’sa long head Oi have over me tongue. Sure an’ all the worrld eS Se eee ee - —OC +--+ ——_—_--_- O00 (—Or——OOTTOO OT ——— ee eee — Sa ‘* All right,: I’m with you!” was the an- swer, ‘‘And there’s a bit of intelligence that puts a new face on the matter. Patsey, here, tells me that the same gang have car- ried off Miss Malloy. If that is the case we will have John on the trail fast enough; and if he goes for one he’ll save both,” ‘‘Serves him right!” answered Kent, ‘* He will know how it feels himself, But he will hardly counsel delay now, Perhaps we had better find him again. .What we wanted was his help, and it don’t matter how we get it so he gives it.” ‘*T think -you are a little out,’’ responded the young sport, reflectively. ‘‘ Jobn Mal- loy will not need our help to carry out things his way; and like as not he won't want to run them ours. I guess we had bet- ter go off, into the woods all by ourselves alone, and get up a little game on private account. If we should happen to win— well, | won’t say that it won’t be feathers in our caps that I would like to put there, If Malloy fairly gets to going, like as not he will be too rash even for us, I think we can afford to drop him and his men out of sight altogether. ‘* Sure, an’ av yez have room for a shmall b’ye, it’s mesilf wad loike to go along wid ye. Oi know a thing or two that John Malloy wa'd shtare over, an’ av yez wants to foind it all out Oi’ll show yez the ropes.” jor ce ‘*Come, then. If you can show us which way Captain Curse went I would sooner nee you with us than John Malloy him- self.” ‘*Oi can do betther, for I can show you where they got to,’ replied the boy; and without further effort to gain aid from the Fair Isabel the little party turned aside, and headed in the direction of the Black Rock. Kent Baker, as he had been all along, was impatient over the pace, which he would have forced into a bard gallop had it not been for the cool-headed sport, ‘*Take it easy, Baker. Things have been coming our way a good deal better than we could have hoped for, and there’s no hurry aboutit. Weare more an army of observation than anything else, until we see how Malloy is going to stand up to his work, What do you think about it, Sandy?” _-The silent man shrugged his shoulders, and delayed his answer for a moment while | ‘cept Sandy, in the rear, a fashion—the boy having caught up a hasty morsel before striking out in search of his mistress—and under the excitement of the affair would not be apt to care to halt for rest or refreshment until they had run the outlaws to their Jair. And they did not re- flect that after that there might not be much time or opportunity for regular meals. Patsey was a good guide. He pushed his sure-footed little pony along in front, and never once seemed to be at fault. Before very long even Kent Baker was satisfied with their rate of progress. They galloped on the very verge of a deep fissure, with a wall to the other side which every moment threatened to push them off into the abyss. They scrambled up what might have been the parapet of a fortification, and yet stum- bled down a yet steeper declivity. ‘Sure, an’ we have thim now!” he ex- claimed. ‘‘ Here’s wan av their own bridges, an’ they niver thinkin’ to guarrd it. Folly yer l’ader av yez wants ter be in at the dith,” And scarcely slackening his pace he plunged through the crevice of the wall of rock which had suddenly loomed up before them. The footsteps of his pony sounded, for an instant, strangely duil and leaden, but a low, encouraging chuckle brought the men along in his wake. They could see nothin that was before them save their leader, an as long as he was going straight no one doubted to follow. In fact, it might not have been altogether safe to pull in—certainly not for any one ex- , A little blunder and a trifle of crowding, and a horse would go pitching off a hundred fect or more down into the barranca they were skirting. Before he knew how he had done it, Kent | Baker had passed safely over the danger, and was Grawing a little to one side to be out of the way of those who were to foliow, and Diamond Dave was holding the head of his skittish mustang very straight, while in a quiet way he gave warning: | ‘Down brakes if you can, Sandy, and hold your head level! If you crowd me—” There was a dull creak below him, and a slight giving of the footing. If his gripe on the reins had not been like iron his mustang | woul. have given a leap to one side, or tried _ to wheel at the very least. Dave's heels sought the sides of his mount, and the animal had nothing to do but to go he looked around. Then, he sent a stream of | forward, yellow tobacco juice over his shoulder, and slowly answered: | ‘It looks queer, Pave; it looks queer, But I’m with yew,” | Fortunately he lost no time about it, for Sandy was coming, and he came with a rush. Foran instant, at the crash, bis mus- i tang stood still, quivering all over, his head “A moight hear what Oi havef{to say. It’s| At first, caution was not necessary, and | downward a trifle in spite of the hard hand _ pe ey 3 ‘Miss Belle that wor a missin’, an’ they rode along at as fast a gait as they | which held it. p ws Sie Olm afther thinkin’ she’s gone off wid | chose until the Black Rock was reached. That instant gave Diamond Dave a chance — 7 --——- Cupt’in Course. More be tokin she wint| Here, Pat told what he had seen, and | to get out of the way, and the next, gather- bs it ss whither she wor willin’ or not, It’s druv pointed out what bad taken place. They | ing himself together he gave a mighty oo» + ae he owld mon crazy, an’ Oi wor wondherin’ | noted where Miss Belle fastened her horse | spring—and landed with his forefeet onthe “i v it would knock you woild.” — _ | when she was preparing to climb the rock, | brink of a side shoot to the barranca, over = 4) ‘ pie os sy penaae es oa ei mai ita koa) co gitar aRM od Ain CMR :) : one = SAE i i ai ea oO exexe 0