Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 905 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

“= ~- “ ~~. Ciel a ie a ’ ¥ ing “ . ° - oi - al aw . a ae ee) pas + ot oa sah gids sittin 2 jc 7 Pate - é tt ae - —* _ _ _ which was pointed toward the open door, 7 Ieee % Dandy Nugget could lie at his window which overlooked the sloping roof of the porch and listen to tie men who sat and -smoked there. Very often they did this far into the night, and daylight sometimes found them asleep in the rough chairs. Across the Square fell the light which, through the night, fell from the open door of the Black Eagle, Here and there stood a tree which had been left by the founders of No-Luck, and their shadows fell athwart the ground dark and forbidding. Dandy Nugget went to this window and sat down, He could smell the smoke of the begrimed pipes used by the men below, and now and ‘then could catch a word or two. The bed in the room was a rough affair, large enough for one, and not very soft. In fact it was not inviting enough for Dandy, who preferred to remain at the win- ‘dow, and as the moments passed he listened with keenness, trying to catch the trend of the remarks being made below. One by one the men of No-Luck with- drew. The Boy Shadow saw their forms steal ~across the Plaza and vanish beyond the ‘trees, At last no one seemed to be on the porch— at least he heard no word of conversation and ‘all seemed as still as death there, He sat at the window till after mid- night. At one o’clock the light in the hotel was dimmed and the trees became less visible in the Plaza. All at once there came across the Square, gliding forward with the movements of a wild beast, a figure which the boy saw the moment it struck the Plaza. It zig-zagged toward the Black Eagle, timing its movements as it were to the flit- ting of the shadows of the boughs, and at last it was lost at the end of the porch. Dandy Nugget. looked no longer, but turned to his door. It would resist no one, A man might throw himself against it and ‘it would fall in with a crash, and, from what he had seen of the gliding form, he knew that it would be no match for it. — But no feet came up the stairs, The young detective, watching the door in the dim light of the stars, waited for the man who did not come, ‘‘He won’t come,” said Dandy to himself, ‘‘The spy has seen enough for to-night and has gone away. He may have been want- ing to discover if Golliday is here, for spy he was aS he moved from shadow to shadow in the Square.” ; Dandy Nugget was about to turn again to the window when he heard a voice that startled bim. window in & trice, ‘Where are all the rest of them?” demand- ed the voice. ‘‘Are you holding the fort alone, Hank Hawk?” ) “Why, it’s the girl! [t's Vinon!” ‘‘T am Vinon, Was the reply. ‘‘ Where ‘are the rest of the crowd?” a ‘“Tt’s past midnight, child.” **So it is and havent I ag much right to be out as you, Hank Hawk» ‘That depends what ye’r out for.” . A moment's silence followed this last re- mark and. Dandy Nugget wondered what | am out because I could ‘not: remain..at home any longer, I would" like’ aus met more than you here; but I will talk to you.” Be 2 ‘Trumps is in there.” Dandy Nugget could not see the han ‘the girl would say. Vandy N igget Running, and the man who lost his head} ‘‘ Where’is he?—the very man I would P might tail. It came from below and he was at a) ns are et Fatt a *. see,” cried Vinon. The next moment the sound of heavy boots was heard and there swaggered from the bar-room of the Black Eagle the ideal of a desperado—a large man with a dark face, well bearded, deep-set eyes of jet black- ness, and great hands which looked large even for him, He stopped in the doorway and seemed to bend forward to get a good look at the angel of No-Luck Camp. ‘* That’s Trumps, girl. Mebbe you’d rather talk to him.” : Already Vinon of No-Luck had turned upon the man in the doorway and her eyes had Jooked him over in a fearless manner. This seemed to invite him, for the next moment he was leaning against one of the posts of the porch with his arms folded and his eyes fastened upon ber. ‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘‘Tam here to denounce the murder of Paul,” cried Vinon, ‘‘1lt is dastardly; it was cowardice, and the hund that did. the deed should be made to suffer for it.” ‘© Oh, is that all?” ‘It is not all!” continued the girl. ‘I am here to call all men cowards who do not take a hand in ferreting out the guilty. The murderer is in No-Luck now. The red hand is sheltered by this camp; the criminal lives under a roof in No-Luck, and vengeance must strike the guilty down.” ‘*That’s all right, girl,” answered the King of Trumps, ‘‘I'm sure I have no ob- jections, but are you going to become mixed up in this affair?” __ ) ‘*?’m mixed up in it now.” ‘*Oh, I begin to see,” and the words were accompanied by a laugh. ‘‘She’s badly mixed up init, eb, Hank?” . ‘“‘ Seems so,” simpered Hank Hawk. ‘“‘It was done by the Black Beads!” rung out the clear voice of Rosy Vinon. ‘ It was the work of those fiends; they are the men who committed this deed, and why? Let that be answered by the hunters of vengeance! Let the avenging hand tell the story which those men will keep back to the very last.” ‘‘ Just hear the girl! This is better than a circus, Hank! Why, she’s prettier than ever, and—” Some one sprung up suddenly, for a chair was overturned and the voice of Hank Hawk was heard: ‘‘ She’sarmed, Trumps. There’s ‘shoot’ in Vinon’s eye. Don’t level that revolver at me, giri.”’ Dandy Nugget sprung to the door of his room and threw it open. He was half-way down the stairs when a loud report seemed to stop him and he stood for an instant on the steps. ‘‘Vinon has precipitated matters,” rushed through his mind. ‘‘Thisis the very thing she should not have done.” Then he went on until he opened the door which led out into the lower roomand thence to the porch itself, But he stopped there. The sight he saw was not so bad after all, for Tolliver Trumps held Vinon’s pistol hand and was looking into her face with the fiend- ish grin of one of his kind. : ‘* It didn’t take much, only a lock of hair, and I kin gpare a dozen,” laughed Trumps, brutally. ‘‘ You’re foolish, girl, You can’t shoot your way to the end of the skein. You’ve got the grit and the powder; but there it ends.” | | “* Let-her go, Trumps,” — } - Ina minute,” was the response. ‘‘ You don’t 8’pose I'd hurt Rosy Vinon, eh? She’s too pretty, but she’ll tell me something be- fore Llet her slip.” | “J may tell you nothing, King of Trumps!” ** We'll see.” and he laughed again. ‘‘ Where did Gold Golliday go, girl?” | Vinon made no reply. ws “I thought she’d keep mum,” said Hank he Boy ‘ nadow. Hawk. ‘‘ Get blood out of a turnip, if you | kin, Trumps.” | Tolliver Trumps leaned toward Vinon and his hand seemed to sink into her flesh. ‘You wiil tell me, girl, or you will be held here till daylight!” he exclaimed. ‘* How would you like that?” ‘* You can hold me here till doomsday.” ‘You won't tell,eh? You won’t give that wild wretch away? And the other one—the youngster Who was with him to-night at your cabin? What brought him to No- Luck 2” If Dandy Nugget could have seen Vinon at that moment he would have known that his secret was safe, ‘* Come, I’m tired of this,” cried Trumps. ‘You must tell me, girl, or I'll transfer my hands from your wrists to your pretty, White throat.” ‘* He must not do that,” taought the Boy Shadow, revolver in hand, a few feet away. ‘* That man, strong as heis, can carry this joke a little too far.” ‘*She won’t tell you, Trumps,” reasserted Hank. ‘* You don’t want to hurt a girl, eh?” ‘* But she xnows, you see. She knows what brought the boy here, and on what sort of mission Gold Golliday went to-night. It all concerns us, Jt means that ske is in the conspiracy, and we must have her secret * if it costs even her life.” ‘Then it will cost me my life!’ heroically answered the fearless girl in the big tough’s STIP. ” CHAPTER VY. A COOL WOMAN AND A COOL DEMAND, ‘‘ Let her go, Trumps.” ABTS Tolliver Trumps looked from Vinon to the man who, gave this advice. Hank Hawk either did not like the situa- tion or ‘was afraid that it might result in something against the best interests of the Black Beads of No-Luck Camp. ‘You heard what she said, Hank? She won't tell anything and she knows why one left and the other stayed.” * We'll find all that out in time, It can’t be kept from us you know, Trumps,” In another moment the dark hand of the © ruffian had fallen from Vinon’s wrist and she was free. As the girl fell back Hank Hawk dropped his feet from the post and stood up. Dandy Nuggetsawitall © | Vinon stepped from the porch, but she still faced the men, ~ “*Tt will come to light by and by,” she said, ‘Don’t think that this crime will re- main conealed very long. The guilty shall be punished no matter what his station is.” Both men laughed and Tolliver Trumps pointed across the Plaza, ‘You know where your nest is,” cried he, ‘‘and it is time for birds like yourself to be there,”’ Vinon went back, | She had faced two of the toughs of No- Luck, but whether she had done her cause any real good remained to be seen. © he entered her home and threw herself upon the bed in onecorner, (| ‘“‘T may have been too fast,” she thought, ‘ but I could not let the opportunity slip to tell these men that. I intend to seé the right one’punished, The, death of Paul shall be avenged, no matter who had a hand init, and Golliday’s crusade, whatever that is, shall not interfere.” 34 As for Dandy Nugget he went back to the little room that looked out over the sloping roof. — . Trumps and Hawk were talking, but in’ low tones on the porch, and he could not hear what they said, and by and by they slouched across the Square and he lost them for the night. - | _ The Boy Shadow felt that a crisis in the affairs of No Luck was at hand. arty | .