Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 991 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

averred Bob. “We've found the whole lof, Ben! Now, if we don’t have our hands full I’m mistaken! ” “Keep cool. It all lies in that, Bob. Keep cool and watch.” CHAPTER II. TWO AGAINST A TOWN. The young men caused a flutter of ex- citement in the front room of the Hotel Eden when they en-ered it. The proprietor, tall, gaunt and a man of muscle, looked them over from head to foot, and probably called them dudes under his breath, but Ben and Bob asked for the best room in the house and pres- ently were shown to it. As the Hotel Eden was on the oppo- site side of the street from The Comet they could get a view of the front door of that establishment from the one win- dow of their apartment. “ Come here!” called out Ben, who had gone to the window. His comrade walked forward. “The bees are gathering,’ assumed Ben. “ That *man who towers over the rest of them in front of the trap is your late antagonist, Larry.” “ Yes, and near him stands Mountain Kidd. I don’t see the sweet-singer of Shakedown, though.” “ Billy Whiskers, eh? He could hide behind either of the pair and not be no- ticed. The storm is gathering, and be- fore long we'll have more trouble on our hands. But for one I didn’t come down here to back out of the bargain.” ‘Of course not. We are here to solve Shakedown’s mystery and nothing short of a solution will satisfy me.” The declaration was echoed by the listener, after which the pair continued to watch the little group in front of The Comet in silence. “Tf the body is still in Goldbug Ben’s shanty we must have a look at it,” “You know how the toughs looked at one another when I mentioned the murder, and how they Seemed to dislike my reference to ts (4 a) eew. it.all.’’ “Well, we will go down and take a look at the body.” a Now? Be “Yes, that will be better than wait- ing until morning. Besides, since we're in Shakedown, we might as well keep the place stirred up from the beginning.” In a few minutes the pards had passed from the hotei and were walking down the street. They were seen at once by the group of toughs in front of The Comet and the crowd surged forward, Instead of taking particular notice of the miners, Ben and Bob walked on, and at last halted before the last shanty on the street. It was a little more pretentious in looks than its neighbors up the street. but was dark outside and inside, like them, and silence seemed to have east a spell over the cabin. “Thar’s a dead man inside,” said a harsh voice behind the dudes. “ Well, we have come to see him.” A figure came out of the shadows be- yond the two callers, and a man loomed up. “It’s the dead man found near the white rock by Alkali Tom you wants to see, eh?” “ That’s it. unknown.” “Whar ye from? You don’t BRE in We want to inspect the Shakedown? ’”’ “We came down on the stage.” ead 7 bg . : « « oi} Am ia . : “ dae" rer Oe, fon) —— malt . vei ae 3s be es in ap Gite 2 es ae Gaal OM . lal vee ee ts »S tN y-« eh ea. = Lats MAN ae . BP EYL it ie Ea <a » ae: 4é- 1° ’ » ww. f P| & g a ae wie ” cs ' t 5 “A t bias ers . Two Dudes from Doomed Camp. “I thought so,” and the speaker looked the young men over from head to foot. “Can we go in there?” pointing at the hut. “T see no objections. I’m not Goldbug Dan, who owns the shanty, but he won’t care.”’ The door was pushed open, and the two young fellows passed in. “Shut the door,” said Bob to the miner. The interior of the shanty was quite dark, but the caller struck a match and in another moment was looking down into a dead face resting upon a pillow on a rude cot in one corner of the place. “Come here!” he called to his com- panion. Ben came up and looked. “ We are right. It is surely the man!” The other nodded, and turned suddenly to the door. “Keep the crowd out for half a min- ute,’”’ requested Bob, as he bent over the silent form. “ There, that will do. You can let them in now.” The voice of Mountain Kidd was heard. It sounded like the roar of a lion, and the figure of the Shakedown giant was seen at the door. “Come out o’ thar an’ give an ac- count 0’ yerselves!”’ he erfed to the two pards. “It’s after you we ar’ just now. What do you want ter be cooped up with the dead man for? Who is he? Do you know? Come out an’ give an account oO’ yerselves. This is Shakedown an’ we, the citerzens thereof, allow no monkey- ing without explanations in this camp.” Bob and Ben walked to the door and the crowd drew off as. they stepped out. In the calm moonlight that flooded the town at the foot of the mountain the whole scene was plainly visible, and over all stirred the boughs of the scattered pines. “Stand thar—right agin’ the shanty,” Mountain Kidd went on. “We _ think you’re up ter suthin’. It don’t look right ter see you. two sneakin’ here ter get a squint at the ‘find.’ What does it mean? ”’ Bob stood nearest the mountain giant, and-nis fresh young face looked childish against the swarthy features of the other. Kidd was backed by ten men, who looked like the typical desperadoes of mountain and gulch, though all were ene in good standing of Shakedown ity. “If you know him, say so,” from Kidd. “We know him.”’ A murmur of excitement ran through the crowd. “Then, who is he?” “ We'll answer that question later on,” was answered. “ We are not ready just now.’ “ You mean ter defy all Shakedown?” “We don’t. intend to defy anybody. We simply do not wish to tell what we know.” “You want the murderer to escape?” “ Quite the contrary. We want to hang him.”’ “By keepin’ silent?” laughed Mount- ain Kidd, and the men at his back joined in. ‘‘ We don’t intend to do anything that looks to the escape of the assassin. The man in there was foully murdered, and his blood calls for justice.’ “ That’s right; but you two dudes from the north can’t avenge him by your- selves.”’ The last sentence was spoken in -a contemptuous manner by Mountain Kidd, though the final word seemed to die in a whisper. on his tongue. “We'll see you to-morrow,” contin- on “ae ,! Gc “a ‘ ? ‘ a 77 aki 5 i age ety A TyFt Ee kh oe we) “ Puli wit g ees way {5 ee A, + ’ ‘ - ‘ % ‘ ~~ rrr ar it Sag) —_ =~ — “ iy ued Bob, walking off, his comrade at his back. “ You men can find us at the Hotel Eden, but if you would rather see us elsewhere we will accommodate you.” “Why, that’s the all firedest bit of coolness I ever saw!” exclaimed Kidd, looking after the well-dressed pair, now moving up the street. “It’s a fake—the hull thing,” cried some one at his side. “ D’ye think them fellars know anything ’bout the dead un? They’re playin’ a game just ter hoodwink us, an’ by to-morrer thar won’t be one o’ them at Hotel Eden.” Mountain Kidd did not reply, but con- tinued to gaze in silence after the two pards until their figures were lost in the shadows of Shakedown’s hostelry. After this Mountain Kidd opened the door of the improvised morgue and looked in. “They didn’t take the corpse, that’s Sartain,” said he, with a grin. “It’s the funniest bit o’ business I ever saw in Shakedown. I’m for disciplinin’ the pair. They’re entirely too fresh for this neck o’ the woods,’ Which sentiment. was cheered to the echo by the men behind Kidd, and in another minute the whole troop were walking up the street. Arrived in front of the Hotel Eden, the crowd stopped and called for the stran- gers. “It has come,” announced Bob. “ We must fight for our ground. This verita- ble hornets’ nest is going to give us trouble, but not a foot backward must we go. It all depends on our nerve, Ben, and the keeping of our oath will make Some one happy and others miserable.” The pards had retired to their room, Which overlooked the main street, and had seen the crowd halt in front of the porch. “You’re wanted down here, gentle- . said the red-shirted landlord, and — 3” men, then he dropped his voice a little: “The boys seem ter be on the turf to-night an’ you’ll have ter handle ’em easily or thar’ll be trouble. Don’t cross Mountain Kidd unless you kin shoot as well as he. Give him latitude, for he’s somewhat o’ a boaster, an’ soon cools down. Hasn’t got half the grit o’ Billy Whiskers! ” Having taken this advice in the spirit in which it was offered, both Bob and Ben descended the stairs and came out. on the porch. They were plainly visibie from the street, for the uninterrupted moonlight fell upon the front of the hotel, and as | they came forward all murmurs of con- versation in the ranks of the regulators grew still. “We want a true explanation, that’s all,” averred Mountain Kidd. “ We don’t tolerate mystery in Shakedown. We can’t sit still an’ see it abroad. In other words, gentlemen, we must know whar ye came from, who you are, an’ who is the tenant of Goldbug Ben’s shanty.” Bob looked over the crowd without be- traying a shadow of paleness. The crisis had come, and he seemed to feel that the most important moment connected with their strange mission was at hand. ‘‘I must repeat my words,” said he. ‘““T eannot disclose the mystery now.” There seemed to be a compressing of the crowd in front of the hotel, and the bearded ruffians of the Mariposa looked to Mountain Kidd for advice. “That don’t satisfy this crowd,” said he. “It’s not half a loaf—not even the crust. We don’t move out o’ our tracks till we’ve got the truth. I give you two one minute. If at the end o’ that time you haven’t told us all, or ‘started the ? e.g e Mee oF Ps abe *~ ¥ + y # % vir v4 ) ¥ —” [= *? ‘ ¥ * - “_ ; “ + < | f . al |