Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 948 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

‘ & @ 7 So ea ' wit : oy ‘a r = | ¥, pa Wed { 'y \ ve,’ i es G2 12 fresh pony, and one equally as good as Scamp, he started off on his ride of twen- ty-five miles to El Monte, the settlement made up of a few stores, a couple of blacksmith and wagon repair shops, a dozen drinking and gambling saloons, a combined school-house, court-room, church and public hall, which had been the scene of deadly encounters, with a seore of log cabin houses and an alleged hotel. The regular dwellers in Kl Monte num- bered some three hundred souls, the “floating population,” of wagon train peo- ‘ple, emigrants passing through, ranchers and cowboys, with a mingling of itiner- ant gamblers and fugitives from justice ‘more than doubling the number of those who were pround to call themselves El JMonteites. With half a hundred ranches within a radius of as many miles, and employing from two to twenty cowboys each, El Monte had a large number to draw upon in the way of frequenters of its saloons, and they were wont to make things lively there at times, and, keep the place ‘ton the jump,” so to speak, from noon until day- break. It was Wild IKid’s wish to reach El Monte after nightfall. He considered it safer, as just then he ‘was anxious to avoid trouble, He was never before afraid to go there at any time, for Wild Kid was not one to avoid danger, and he had made his mark even in such a community as that of EF) Monte. Who the boy was no one there knew, and he often said that he did not himself know; that he was a product of the prai- rie, like a weed, and just grew, but wheth- er he told the truth in this nobody could He had been known in Kl Monte for four years, stopping there with a number of people from a wagon train that had been terribly cut up in a fight with In- 4ians. The boy wrote a good hand, was bright, ‘quiet, and got work in the hotel as clerk, being cashier of a gambling saloon at night. His first display of “border talent” had been when a couple of roughs tried to rob him, and he shot one dead and held the other up, the Vigilantes hanging him an hour after. Then he had distinguished himself by taking the part of Sable, the negro boy, ‘whom some desperadoes were torturing for fun, and in the stand-up fight that fol- lowed the boy won the admiration of all ‘by his nerve and deadly aim. On another occasion he took sides with two youths, Merton Calder, and Ham Goldsby, who had come to Texas to seek a. fortune, and he helped them out of a yery ugly scrape, as afterward he aided Henrteo Sanchez, whom he called Rico. Giving up his clerkship, he had gone off beyond the border of the settlement proper and started a ranch, with Rico Sanchez and the negro Sable as his pards, and he had prospered. Thrice had he warned the settlement of a raid by the Renegades of the Rio Grande, and again saved the ranches from being surprised by Indians, for he was con- stantly on the trail, being a devoted hunt- er of large game. iver readily with his revolver if imposed on, a sure Winner if he gambled, utterly fearless, suspected of many crimes he was euiltless of, Wild Kid gained the name of a young terror and desperado, and those allied with him, and who ealled themselves Boy Rangers, were regarded by many as no more than a band of young outlaws. . It was just as dark had set in that me boy rancher saw the lights of El “ i y , : 4 « % - } Aa te - a . eK a > 1 “ae Buffalo Bill’s Snap- -Shot. . me aman a a ee eee Monte loom up ahead, and soon after he rode into the corral of the Lone Star Hotel. CHAPTER XNXITI. WILD KID VISITS GOLD MINB SALOON, El Monte was in full blast when Wild Kid rode into the corral of the Lone Star Hotel, the latter being a rambling struct ure of adobe, which at one time in the dim past had been a mission house, About it was a thick growth of timber, evidently planted by the good padres of generations before, and scattered along the one street, or trail, that ran through the place were the stores, saloons and ‘“abin homes of the citizens. Off on the prairie on either side were the stockade corrals where horses and cattle were kept for sale, and upon the stream that ran around the hill or mount, upon which the settlement was located, and from which it took its name, were the ruins of a fort built by the United States troops back in the fifties, and here was the camping ground of army and emigrant trains passing through, The story had already been told in El Monte of the attempted kidnapping of Major Brasher’s beautiful daughter, and her rescue by the Wild Isid, but following upon the news had quickly come the report that it was a fake affair gotten up by the Boy Ranger to win the regard of Lady Beauty. There were some who believed the report of a fake rescue, others who did not, for be the faults of the Wild Kid what they might, he was not one to seek cheap noto- riety. El Monte Ed, a rough citizen ot the place, was said to have been killed by the boy, but yet if it was not true, the man did not show up, though his friends said he had gone northward with a large herd of cattle, It was certain, however, that the body of the man said to have been killed could not be found, nor could his horse, while the two with him were not known, What Lady Beauty said of the affair could not be learned, though Doctor Del- mar, the man who had the inside track in her regard, it was believed, asserted that Miss Brasher believed that the man who fell at Wild IWid’s shot was playing pos- sum, the others running off to carry out the boy’s plot, to get the credit of a daring rescue, It was while the affair was still being discussed in the “Gold Mine,’’ the most popular gambling. den in El Monte, that Wild Kid appeared, strolling into the crowded place in his free-and-easy way, and glancing about as though anxious to find some one. “There's the fake hero now, doc,” said a large man, With long, fiery red hair and beard falling to his waist, who was stand- ing by a table where two.others were play- ing ecards with a large pile of money up as the stakes. One of these Men was a Mexican who was said to be an ony officer and very rich, and who often crossed the river to visit El Monte to gamble. . He had a dark, refined face, and seemed to enjoy playing, which was a passion with him, though he; almost inyariably was a loser. He was known in El Monte as El Capi- tan, but at Major Brasher’s ranch, where he visited when coming across upon Tex- an soil, he was called Captain Miguel Munoz, and, if Doctor Duke Delmar was not his rival, many thought that he would be the favorite suitor for the hand of Lady Beauty. His companion now at the card-table, and to whom the red-headed and bearded, Ai £A¥ Ps Nevg 2, ees + TASTE tee, ¥ pe \ rf yu : ye : a ey “4 . 4 + 7 ey wih, é « ae f ae PVs" K ob. $b, Cok 6 | “4 _— ne ¢ - —. man had spoken when Wild Kid entered, was Doctor Delmar. He was one who might more readily be taken for a clergyman, for his handsome face was clean shaven, his hair clustered in short ringlets about his temples, he wore gold-rimmed eye-glasses and dressed in black broadeloth, well-polished top boots, with silver spurs and a slouch hat. His frock coat was open, however, and beneath it was a belt of arms, and he had more than once shown that he knew how to use them, He was a fine surgeon and physician, and generally popular, while he owned a large ranch and was rich, for he added to his income by being a most successful gambler. Though rivals, the doctor and Captain Miguel Munoz were devoted friends. Glancing up at Wild Kid when Brim- stone Bill, the man with fiery red hair and beard attracted his attention to him, he said: ‘I'll see him later, for big money.”’ Now I’m playing CHAPTER XXIV. SHOT FOR SHOT. Something of a hush fell upon the room as Wild Kid entered. All felt that he had made a mistake in coming there, for he would be accused of putting up a fake rescue of Lady Beauty, and he was not one to submit to ridicule. Brimstone Bill was known as the friend of El Monte Ed, whom, it was said, Wild IXid had either killed or bribed to play possum for his sake, and the aforesaid William had justly won the prefix of Brimstone to his name. He was the most dreaded man in the settlement, and one who was a dead shot and full of nerve. When Wild Kid caught sight of him, he walked straight up to him and said in a low tone aia got a message for you, Brimstone Bill.” The man had never liked the y he now said with a sneer: “Irom my friend Ed whom you claim to have killed, 1 s’pose?’ “NO; it is from your friends Mustang Matt and Half Breed Jose,” was the cool reply, and the boy looked quickly from the face of Brimstone Bill to that of Doctor Delmar, He saw the start of the former and the quick look that Doctor Delmar gave, fol- lowed by a sign that no one else caught. ‘All right, young feller, I takes mighty leetle stock in you, but if my pards has sent you to me I'll hear what yer has ter say. ? “TI don’t ask you to take any stock in me, Brimstone Bill, and don’t care for your love 6r hatred; but I was sent to you, and if you care to hear what I haye to say you can folow me outside.”’ “Tll.go yer,” and another strange look passed between Brimstone Bill and Doc- tor Delmar, the latter urging the man to go, as Wild Kid interpreted it. youth, and “Do not go, Senor Beel, for he weel you! assassinate, ” called out Captain Miguel Munoz, in a tone that all heard, and a silence followed the words, Instantly Wild Kid faced him) and said: “E] Capitan, none but a coward would give such an insult.” The Mexican sprang to his feet, draw- ing a weapon as he did so, and, ‘with a savage oath, upsetting the table and spill- ing the money, while the crowd scattered in all directions out of the line of fire. Wild Kid did not move, and even at such a moment he seemed to see the ri+ diculous side of the affair in the men tums bling over each other, and laughed. - sty Ay ere O° ‘CO nN! Ys SD Aya n icbook (s.com ’ ‘ ’ ' aaa a ———— 1) «ss me ne, Ir if a A; wo voy