Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 936 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

| fresh horses there, as the stock-tender is eRe . igi ; - > peg SSI “V0 - ae ‘ e ' : i 4 , “,F Ve 4 A ‘ am | ‘. * i we mY ae 7 a f s* ; A ir +! ye. . . ey, ots thar’ anything I kin do for ma a, “Nothing, thank you; but I guess Ned Geant to take his dog.” “Yes, sir, for if he gets too lame we can put him on the pack saddle, and he'll be . most useful.” “The dog goes, Ned, and we'll let him ride now until we need him.” With the aid of a blanket and lariat Chum was securely placed upon the pack horse and rather seamed to like the ride. The scout took the trail which he in- tended to follow, Joe Jarvis waved a fare- well, and the two pards. were off on their mission to find the mysterious four. Buffalo Bill had no difficulty in follow- ing the trail of the seven horses, ‘and he found that they had pushed on hard with but few rests. After going a number of miles he dis- covered that the trail they were on joined one going in the other direction. “ Both trails were made by the same horses, Ned—it is the trail going to meet the party and returning with them,” said the seout. Soon after Buffalo Bill said again: “They flanked the station which is the end of Joe’s run, and went on to the next, striking the coach eastward from there, I guess. “Tb will be hard riding to keep straight on, but there is a relay station on our right about three miles, so we will get | a friend of mine. “We can leave our pack horse, too, and push right on in the night, and we'll fetch the next station about one o’clock. * “Then we'll know whether the four stopped there to take the next coach east, which will not be far behind us, as ie takes the mail and passengers on that Joe carries,” Ned was willing for any hardship, and 380 the pace was quickened and the relay tation reached before sunset. The stock-tender willingly gave them fresh horses and said the coach was due in an hour going east, and it was Burt Larea who met Joe’s coach, “Say nothing of our being here, Ned,” ‘said Buffalo Bill, and, mounted on two fresh horses, they pushed on rapidly to the end of ed next driver’s run, thirty- five miles awa They had had supper at the stock-tend- -er’s, and left Chum there, so there was e e. nothing to delay them, and it was just cr) twelve when they reached the settlement, 3 - where the scout felt sure he would get “some news of those hé:tracked. ‘There was a fairly good tavern at the % Me /=place, which was the starting point of ¢ 7 ‘ o's 4 Pe. , he : 7 . & * « "7 *. re * . M. be i ' r ; Sh. See ou wo branch coach lines to other points. peat The Jandlord of the tavern had been an ae old hunter and knew Buffalo Bill well, in answer [to questions from the scout, he said that he remembered four ~¥ af ss “People, two men and two women, going Ny oh. } : ate. th ough on the last run West. ei hey had not returned, as the coach By “was not yet in, but four others had come Ah on the branch line that morning, from _ Glitter Canyon Camp, and had engaged seats s the coach to go West the next #5 E es Deeurtba them, Hickory,” said the scout, abruptly, and he nudged Ned. r pes cat “Two men and two women, city folks “Anes Fee looks like, and they says they is a ” oe mening country, where the men have ia aims, they tell me.” Apr Where are they?” 1g ae “Gone to. bed, I gu ses acts then vat yg a lord Hie ore more ™ a nding that the driver was be 8 » the scout l | tA a pe Drought them are s : : ' ° wre pid an “ae ie * nb May aude | wives, are.along,”’ young married folks on a tower through Buffalo Bill’s Boy Mascot. sought him and thad a long talk with hin. What he discovered caused Ned and himself, after giving their horses two hours’ rest and a good feed, to start at once back over the trail they had come. They got their horses again at Nat's station, and had several hours for rest, after which they started once more on the trail, leaving a letter which: Burt Larea was to give to Joe Jarvis. That Joe got the letter coming events will show. CHAPTER XXYVI. RUN DOWN. | ‘‘ Halt! Hands up, or die!’ Joe Jarvis!” Joe Jarvis was on the box on his run West, and he had reaehed the scene of his last halt by the Mounted Miners, when the stern summons caused him to quickly draw rein. He beheld four saddled horses in the trail ahead, a fifth animal being also in sight, and this gave the impression that five outlaws were on hand, though he saw but two, both masked, and covering him with, their rifles. “T pass, gents, for I knows when I is in good health,” said Joe Jarvis, in a re- signed tone, and out of the coach peered the faeces of several passengers, one ask- ing sternly: “Who is that halts this coach?’ “Go slow, pard, for there are plenty for all of you, and we are after some one we are in search of,” said one of the maskec outlaws. — “You will not find them here, for only myself and friend and two ladies, our said the man, “Get out, and let us have a look in the coach.”’ The two men got out, and two young and pretty women followed, both with a profusion of blond hair. One of the outlaws whispered to the other, and instantly the taller of the two called out, as though giving an order to some one in ambush: “Fire if I give the signal, men! “This is our game?!’ The four travelers started, and turned deadly pale, but they were covered by the two outlaws in sight, while Joe Jarvis chipped in with: “TI has yer under aim, too, darn yer, fer yer change o’ rig, and. wearin’ wigs don't fool me, as I knows yer fer ther four as done me up last trip. | ‘“ And I knows yer leetle game, | too, for yer was layin’ fer a big amount 0’ money thet was ter-go last trip westward, but was delayed, and which I has along this: run. ‘Gents, yer is tu’k in, fer thet hain’t no outlaw, but Buffalo Bill, and t‘other is his boy pard, Leetle Buffalo Bill, as you knows from last run. “Come, I has ther iron bracelets along fer yer, as I got ye'r letter from Burt Larea, Buffalo Bill, and fixed accordin’. “You is sly and cleyer, but not quite smart enough this trip, when Buffalo Bill Senior and Junior is on yer trail,” and Joe Jarvis laughed heartily. The four stood with pallid faces, but to resist was madness, and, pulling off his mask, Buffalo Bill ‘stepped forward and quickly manacled the two men, while Ned, also unmasking, disarmed them and the two women, too, the latter seeming to be wholly unnerved, now that the tables were. turned against them. “You will have td lead the two horses again, Joe, for we got them from the relay stati nh as we came along to make a show of force with them “We wi as an escort, and y Chum a berth on , as he has had a long run of it, oer is ‘lame yet.” ‘ sa! ate yD a ie ?. tick 4 to our saddles and act | 15 “Vl do anything for you and that boy, Buffalo Bill: But, who is they and what is they?” and Joe nodded to the four pris- oners. ‘Who they are remains to be seen, Joe; but what they are has been proven by their holding you up and robbing you. ‘Fortunately they still had that money with them, and mre, too, with jewelry enough to start 2 store. “I guess we'll find them pretty slick out- laws, after all,” and, mounting their horses, Buffalo Bill and Ned Osmond fol- lowed on after the coach, Joe Jarvis every how and then breaking out into a burst of laughter at the ex, ture of the mysterious four who had so cleverly robbed him on the last run, and had planned to do so again, ‘ Ned, I think I know now who our prisoners are,”. observed Buffalo Bill, after they had ridden some miles be- hind the coach. “ Who, sir? I’d like to know.” “The tall man is none other than Ele- gant Ed, a Denver gambler, and who I have heard it hinted was the secret chief of a band of road-agents. “The other is Bird Brandon, also a gambler in Denver, and Blegant Hd’s de- voted pard. “The two women are known in Denver as Queen Kitty and Rosebud Sue. They are sisters who married those two gam- blers and have become fully as bad as their husbands. “ Mind you, I never saw one of the four, but the descriptions I have had of them fit these people; and it was said that Wild Jack, whom your dog killed, was the leader of the band of Mounted Miners in the field, while the real chief lived else- where. “We will know when we reach Mount- ain City, for Night-Hawk George knows both men and has seen their wives also, he told me.” “Then we have made a most important capture, sir?’ “Yes, indeed, Ned, and had we not se- cured them this run, they would have held poor Joe up again and corralled the big sum he carries, so we are in luck. “T guess you are my mascot, boy pard,” said Buffalo Bill, in a kindly tone. CHAPTER XXVII. CONCLUSION. i The coach, at Buffalo Bill’s request, was late in reaching Mountain City. The scout wished to go in under cover of the night, and he told the four passen- gers frankly, if they made no display of the fact that they were prisoners, the miners would not guess it. “The miners of Mountain City are good fellows,” he added, but peculiar. “They might wish to hang Elegant Ed and Bird Brandon, and not be over-polite to Queen Kitty and Rosebud Sue.” The shot hit dead center, and though fired at random, it told the scout he was not far wrong. 3 “So only “four passengers” arrived in the coach, and a word from Joe Jarvis ex- plained the situation and they were well cared for. Later on Buffalo Bill and Ned arrived, and were given the boy’s room, which had. been reserved for "him by Captain Luke. After the latter had had a talk with Buffalo Bill, Joe Jarvis and ‘Ned, Night- Hawk George was sent for and the situa- tion told to him. He went up at once and had a look at the ysterious four. 4 hey are the ones you think, Cody,” ou. had better give | he said._ So it was decided that an extra Soncks * would go raid by bri Joe: driving It,