Beadle's Dime Library No. 1 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

14 The New York Library. if toclear his vision. Then fixing his eye, which in that moment regained all its wonted fire, on his foe, and grasping his knife firmly, he ad- ‘vanced, — ‘* You were birds of a feather; and as I spit- : ted him [Pll make a brace of you!” Already they were toe to toe, and their blades crossed with a ringing clash, when a piercing scream thrilled both to the heart; and the wo- man darted forward, clutching The Red Hand’s arm and dragging him forcibly back. Stop! You shall not fight!” she | “Stop ! cried. ‘Off, you jade!” replied The Red Hand, and would have buffeted her, but that she caught his hand, her unimpaired strength more than a match for his weakness from loss of blood, ‘*] say you shall not fight!” repeated the oman. ; “What! Dare’ _ dictate—” | ‘“Hallo, hyar! u! What in blazes is the | matter with the man? Doggauned ef he hain’t gone fast asleep. Hey, hyar! Wake up, I say!” The voice came from below stairs, ‘ca g ‘The Red Hand to break off in his speech an | listen. 4} For once Ned Conkling had been faithful to ‘ his «mission, and, conquering (not without a re a which might have won canonization in a better catise) his affection for ‘‘ greased ‘light- »nin’,” ‘had borne the liquid treasure from the place where criminals are made to the place where they are confined. Finding his» chum ‘asleep, as he supposed : on i his , he crossed the room and shook him if roughly by the greed rh ‘*Ho, hyar! Wakeup! The hull posse oO’ hoss-thieves is goin’ to gobble us up an’ run off ‘the pris’ners!” r ‘Do you hear that?’ cried the woman, ‘ad- i ‘dressing The Red Hand. “Go!' ‘You can es- He cape that drunken lout; but in a minute hewill Wt have a swarm of men here to mae you.” “Tll have time to pay this debt!” said The ‘Red Hand, doggedly, to free himself and -réturn to the contest with The sete ag | ‘*T say you shall not!” persisted the woman, | pushing ‘toward the stairway. ‘¢ What. in Cain! Is the cuss°dead? An’— ‘Hallo! What's this hyar+—a woman’s bonnet! An’ Lou’s as gone! An’ dog my buttons ef the scallawags hain’t carried off our carbines! Thar’s been a stam w 6 hyar, sure!” i This was Ned’s summarization of the state of i things as he found them, and the conclusion he | drew therefrom. He assumed that the prison- Ht cvs had fled; but he wanted help to look to the \ case of his old crony, if he was not indeed dead ; BO to the door he put his hands to his mouth and uttered a prolonged Indian war- whoop. ‘Go! Go!” cried the woman, d tely, “urging The Red Hand toward the irway. as or will find the horses beneath Hangman’s * & fit place!” muttered the robber chief, — mee prncer a events. . gain , ing’s warwhoop rung throug ' “the might, answered this time by a shout from t ‘the direction of the saloon he had so recently quitted. Then followed a confused sound of "men’s voices in excited exclamation. Séeing that there was no time for his encoun- ter with The Stranger, even with the woman’s 5 ser oem: removed, The Red Hand shook his at his late antagonist and said: ‘This is our second round, and noblood. But | remember, the next time it is to the death, if W the devil and all his legions stand in the way! he ‘Three times and out!” With that he turned and tottered down the d Forward, men!” he cried to an eeey ‘command, ‘an’ we'll puta stopper on the clac o’ this noisy bantam’ ‘As he'spoke, he fired a shot at random, rightly oo that the valiant Ned would think it " ‘‘onhealthy hangin’ round thar,” and so take to his heels, until his had companionship. In left clear to thatepen ‘But’ the woman remained, to confront’ The Stranger with a visage which would have done ‘credit to a Gorgon. ‘He stood staring blankly at her; as he had | from the first of her interference, when he had iz - gained a clear view of her face. = Well!” she cried, fiercely, ‘“do you» recog- m ‘“« Pepita!” he said, ine dazed sort of way. ‘«‘ Ah! you know me!” she cried, wolfishly. “j—I thought that 7 ~~ dead bre stam- mered, again passing hi across rows. “Through no fault of yours, if I am still . alive!” she yan ee “You know that I did not strike at you.” “Bah! You struck at my heart of hearts! | Only to-night you stabbed my brother to the \ heart. But do you think you hurt me there? $i No! The fool deserved his death, if he was not | man enough to cope with such a manikin—such a ay aero a—such a-—” e hesitated, at a loss for an epithet suffi- ciently expressive of diminutiveness by which to show her contempt for his stature. As a Sact, but slightly below ‘the ‘mediwin ‘hugnt of the support of this way his passage was men, the contrast between him and the tower- ing form of The Red Hand was very marked. ‘After a moment’s hesitation the exasperated woman burst forth: ‘*Bah! you are not big, enough for a fair- sized woman! If I'were aman I would refrain from striking you for the same reason! If, then, my brother allows himself to be overcome by such a whiffet in a fair fight with knives, I have no régrets—I-disown him, as unworthy. But,” she pursued, with clenched fists and blaz- ing eyes, “when you direct your bullets—that infernal invention ‘which: places all men on an ag |!—when you direct your bullets against vm— ‘‘Tt was in self-defense, even had he not ven me - just provocation,” interrupted The stranger. The woman’s manner underwent a sudden ‘Oh, yes!” she laughed, mockingly. “We have you just assured did not strike at me? Do you love me still? Ha! Ha! Ha! Well; then, know that I hate ou!—TI hate you/—I HATE You!” she cried, rais- ‘Ing her voice at’ each repetition, until it ended in a shrill s¢ream of fury. ‘*See!” she contimued, ‘‘I have just saved our life, For love of you? No! No! No! ords are inadequate to express my detesta- tion—my abhorrence—my loathing of you! I a me so earnestly that you | mace foot and the wretched, a | beneath Hangman’s Oak, their made a fine dupe of you, did we not?) And why | mented by tape! When all that’s need o’ good hemp rope, what’s the use o’ jed oem +o. “‘Tt’s a galoot in women’s ¢clo’s! Give ‘ima Phen heir pi Is spok ring ¥ol en their pisto ein a scatte vi : But a taunting laugh came back Broth obscurity, where’ the fluttering skirts of the woman could be but.dimly distinguished. With the advantage of dress in their favor, the men found that her fleetness was fully a match for theirs; antl when she reached Hang- man’s Oak she. had rather gained. on her pur- suers. There she mounted a horse with an agility which went far in support of Ned Conk- ling’s theory. _A second volley of pistol shots had no percep- tible ‘effect. e fugitive bent to her horse’s withers, and urged him forward with voice and rein, using her knife for a spur. The animal bounded forward, and was soon swallowed, up _ by the darkness, . The mob: gathered in a orgs aed up iscontent qug- ‘the discomfort of the re mud izzling rain from xpression in words. alaverin’ and red is a couple o’ yards ve. The chagrin of one fotind e “This. hyar all.comes 0’ an juries, an’ witnesses, and pettifo oe a-makin’ out that black’s white, and white’s no color at all. —an’ I don’t want no galoot w When I knows a thing, I knowsit! t takes to save your life as I would that of a mangy cat! | tongue-waggin’ in the place o’ earnin’ a’ honest I toss if to you as I would toss meat to a dog! Ispurn it from me! I spit upon it, as f gpont tee You are a stench in my n ou offend’ my sight! I would shrink from ‘touching you as I would recoil from contact with a slimy lizard! Faugh!in your presence every sense shudders with horror and disgust! I leave you to the dog’s death which is coming with yonder mob! At your last gasp reflect that I et |\—I jeer—I dance !—I— With pers curved like claws and lips drawn back from her teeth in’ such a manner as to be vividl — of the tigress in her nature, she had advanced until scarcely a foot separated her from The Strange ‘fierce words into his face. But sudden! broke off with a seream, and fled, with her hands over her ears, like some crazy creature. The heart of a woman is astrange thing. Did she hate him so, or was her very intensity an indication that, after her ti fashion, she loved him? o can tell? As she disappeared down the stairway the re- action came; and The Stranger sunk almost un- conscious to the floor. The confused voices of the mob, which had’ reached’ the stable-door, and the sharp crack of a pistol, followed by a n, came to him faintly, as if from a dis- nee. As things which stir the blood “during wakefulness often call forth no pred tay n sufficiently - emotion in a dream, so he was a conscious to take cognizance of the sounds, but felt no thrill. Was the woman dead? He did not even ask himself the question. CHAPTER XIV. BENEATH THE HANGMAN’S OAK, DECEIVED by The Red Hand’s ruse, and Hav- ing the’ su fate of his’ chum before. his eyes, Ned Conkling beat a hasty retreat, or, to use his own expression, *‘ cut ‘out o’ that right smart, fur’a fact!” ‘Hallo, hyar! W’at’s the row?” was the salu- tation of Poker Tom,as Ned‘ showed no inten- tion to slacken his pace until he was in the midst of friends. “The hull kit an’ caboodle of:’em’s up yon,” panted the badly routed guard, “sé Who?’ “What?” A. soars at-*7oteds \qusektoniid:h score onet m, @agerly, as the'men gathered ’round. } ; ‘The Hand an’ ‘his Ball ‘pani replied Ned, excitedly. ‘They’ve gobbled up Lou; an’ when I yelled they charged me down the airs with a bi de; an’—well, bein’s as I’ve t a family, I cut stick; an’ hyar I be. Ireckon they ambushed Lou behind a petticoat. He’s laid out alongside of a woman’s bonnet.” ‘‘No-more chin-music! Hurray, fellers! ur they'll give us the slip,” urged a Voice. ‘*Hold on!” cried Poker Tom, who was not so ‘keen ” after The Red: Hand as be an honest citizen. But a mob recognizes leadership only: in the men who are in advance; and the gambler | found himself likely to be left alone. Pell-mell they rushed, each with his revolver held in readiness, until they came in sight of the open stable-door, from which the figure of a woman was issuing. ‘“Whoop! Hyar’s somethin’! yelled the fore- most. ‘‘Hold on hyar, missy! We wants a lock o’ yer ha’r!” And he extended his hand to arrest her flight. ** Die, you fool!” was her fierce reply. A. pistol exploded ‘almost in his face, and he fell without a rere “Stop’er! Stop’er! Stop’er!” yelled the mob, not thinking to use their weapons on a woman, until Ned Conkling cried; —- | | r, hissing her | the luckless Lou. ‘The she | d hi ee x livin’ to gi it | me believe that it ain’t so. , ! | hoss-stealin’, heng ’im higher’n Hamian!—that’s | law an’ gospel enough fur me!” ‘was waging own no lot o’ books an’ to make Ef a man’s ketchéd **T piles my chips on that color every time!” responded a voice, “By rights the galoots ought to be swingin’ from thishyar limb, now.” An’ the qoeeauned thieves has got the im- idence to hitch thar hosses whar they’d ought liad thar necks hitched!” added one who evi- dently relished the joke. But this discussion was fruitless, the birds hav- ing flown; and slowly the men picked their way through the mud back to the stable, to look after found him in the same oo lethargy, which was destined to be his slee “Whether he might have been saved by the timely application of medical skill can never be known; for attention was’ suddenly diverted from him by a cry from the stable loft, Led by a Se anee which found gratification in everythi ated with the escaped crimi- nal, some of the mob, in prowling about the | , had stumbled upon The Stranger. In a moment poor Lou was forgotten, and the stable loft was thronged, Poker Tom now. the loudest of all in denunciation. ‘“Hurray! by all the snakes, we’ve got the king pin,” he cried, .‘‘ See! the knave was too weak to crawl] off, after his friends had armed him with ribtickler an’ bull-dogs. Bear'a hand “hyar, fellers, an’ we'll hang him high enough to make we be? the one as has give us the ei The pistols lay far beyond his reach; but’even had they been at his hand The Stranger was in too dreamy a eee ae have used them in self- defense. hen the rude men approached he of- fered no opposition, When they jerked him un- ceremoniously from ‘the floor he lapsed’ into unconsciousness. Unheeded now their gibes and jeers. No kind- ling eye abashed his rude assailants. ‘The most cowardly vermin need show no respect to a déad on. ‘* I say, fellers,” su Poker Tom, with a grin, ‘* fel’s give him s send-off from the back 0’ the last hoss he stole.” ; The proposition met with eral applause; and soon the beast'was brought. The limp form of the unconscious man was set astride and held in position by men walking on either side of the horse, while another led him by the bridle. Thus this weird procession, its ghastly de- formities disclosed by the light of lanterns and rudely-improvised torches, passed through the gloom—Nature’s reprobation of the unhallowed proceéding—to the fatal tree. _ Witn the wild antics of the’ mob and hearing their un- couth utterances, as they gave expression to their feelings, some in rude attempts aft the ’s March, some in mere ejaculations of drunken exultation, a stranger to the manners and language of the people might have mistaken this for some savage ritual over the remains of a de chieftain. e hubbub aroused the whole town, and the mob received constant augmentation, until when it reached Hangman’s Oak, it comprised all that had been present at the previous riot, and many more. , ‘Major Gravesend having left his friend the doctor under the influence of a narcotic, stood in the outskirts of the crowd, viewing the pro- ceedings with a eo, frown. In his breast a bborn conflict. Humanity urgéd him to interfere in behalf of the uncon- scious man; but something which he refused ‘to analyze and at which he frowned, bi his nether lip with impatience, when it b be- fore him the face of Gentleman Sami’s sister, ar- gued with insinuating plausibility : “The mob will brook in ata i Comichooksze im