The Brand Burners of Cimarron — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

4 FY ov ) 3 y ‘ 7 = F a .. % - - _ — wi x 5" ‘4 4% wie —_—_ 4 Tw h } ." . mn ad Os alt 0) 7 cod Vs a ' . oe ria as é) : yy es2, >. - ~ ay ; ase =e pe id .— - 12 one, knocking him down, and Goldspur found himself near the door. “ Look out! ” warned the chief, divin- ing the detective’s purpose. ‘“‘ In another minute Goldspur will slip us! ” In the excitement of the moment the fellow had forgotten the double role he was playing, and the detective distinctly recognized the voice of Rupert Belmont! Then, the ruffian’s prediction was veri- fied. The door opened, and closed with a bang. All realized that the quarry had escaped! “Curses! After him, fellows, but don’t scatter too much. Remember the other job.” Meanwhile, Goldspur was speeding swiftly and silently through the dark- ness. His sole aim, just then, was to intercept Dr. Antotix and Lucky Luke before they reached the vicinity of the camp-house. In this he was successful. Just before daybreak a man emerged from Tiptop’s one hotel, and walked rapidly in the direction of Zebulon Peggs’s domicile. This man was Goldspur. The attack upon him the preceding night had warned him to lay aside the pseudonym and character of Hercules Redrock, and he now appeared in a fresh disguise. His garb was that of a cowboy. Hands and face seemed deeply bronzed by ex- posure, and the tawny mustache and hair had become almost jet black under some Skillfully applied dye. Passing rapidly along the smooth, wide street, until he had gained the south- ern boundary of the little town, he en- tered a sort of narrow lane, and a few minutes later paused in the rear of Peggs’s stable. The two-wheeled vehicle stood just where the veteran had left it when he unhitched a few hours before, and Gold- spur examined it carefully. Then the detective sat down, and wait- ed until the sky grew light in the east, when he arose and closely scanned the tracks left by the wheels in the soft, sandy roadway. “Tt is as I thought,” he mused. “An axle is bent, or the hub is too large for the axle, on the right side, and the wheel rocks, leaving a winding, serpentine trace. Well, if this is not a result of the accident last night, I'll soon know where Peggs went.” - Without further delay Goldspur cut across lots to the livery barn, where he found Burton King astir. To keep up his assumed character, the detective was compelled to abandon his splendid roan for the present, so hired a horse, trap- pings, and a Winchester from King. At the point where Brown’s abrupt and startling appearance had caused the mule to upset the cobbler’s cart, Goldspur found Lucky Luke in waiting, fully armed and standing beside a splendid black horse. Lightfoot, as previously stated, was a trained athlete. He was a young man, not older &han two-and-twenty, with a quiet, resolute air, and many graces of face and figure. His mustache, hair, and eyes were black as night, and he looked a stranger to fear. ; However, his face was white and drawn like the visage of one who Drei just spent a night of sleeples an iety, and he hailed the detective’s approach with a sharply drawn breath of relief. “The trail is here, sir, quite plainly marked, leading straight into the tim- ber,” he announced, as Goldspur drew rein. “You are prompt, Lightfoot,” the de- tective returned, in a pleased tone. “T am spurred by anxiety, sir, and the uncertainty surrounding those helpless girls urges me to haste.” . “Well, Lightfoot, I predict that we shall soon know something of their whereabouts. “Take up Brown’s trail and follow it mntil you locate or capture him, If you ai ” ¢ ete ae ya re ORNs ~~ st ay 5 oad . po ’ . mh, is, a ie. ti The Brand-Burners of Cimarron. lose him or the trail, meet me at the point agreed upon.” “If I get in roping distance, I’ll sure get him, for my nag and I have handled most everything, from a wild stallion to a grizzly bear, and we'll try not to let this madman break our record.” - Then Lightfoot walked into the timber, leading his horse, and speedily passed from view. Meanwhile, Goldspur’s eyes had not been idle. A glance at the trail beyond the point where the card had upset showed the peculiar impress left by the defective wheel, and he at once understood that the injury to hub or axle had not been sustained in the accident. Then a closer inspection revealed that the vehicle had made at least two trips each way on that little-traveled road, the preceding day, and the detective smiled grimly. “Rather singular, yet perhaps wholly insignificant,” he thought. ‘“ Anyway, we'll soon know.” Remounting, Goldspur rode onward. At times, the trace grew faint and indistinct, but in each instance reappeared in the next sand patch. Several miles it ran thus, then disap- peared in a long stretch of grassy road crossing a glade in the timber, and for some time the detective was at fault. Certain it was that Peggs had quitted the trail somewhere in the glade, for the mark of the wheel was not to be found in the sandy soil where the trail re-entered the timber. Under such circumstances, Goldspur could have but one recourse—the time- honored “circle.” Riding back to the point at which the old trail entered the glade, he turned aside, plunged into the timber and slowly circled around until he had crossed the-trail on the opposite side of the open. Just beyond this point there were signs that a vehicle of some kind had crossed the short buffalo grass and entered the timber. The trace was very faint, but the detective deemed it sufficient. A little distance back in the timber it became plain enough to be followed read- ily, and Goldspur pushed forward as rap- idly as possible. A half-hour later he discovered through the trees the old ranch house. Hitching his horse, he cautiously advanced to the edge of the timber. A long and earnest survey of the gloomy pile convinced the detective that it was deserted, and he boldly entered the glade. At the same moment a man emerged from a timber clump opposite the eastern end of the old house, and with a start of surprise Goldspur recognized in this per- sonage his new ally, Lucky Luke. Lightfoot just then looked up, saw and recognized the detective. Silently he pointed to the ground and then to the cabin. “Both trails lead to the house,” mut- tered Goldspur. Then another thought assailed him, and he exclaimed: “Great heavens! If the girls are there, and the madman, we may well fear the worst! ” With a sign to Luke to quicken his steps, the detective ran forward, thrust open the door, and entered the house. A search revealed nothing until the two men had ascended to the upper story. There clots of coagulated blood on the dusty floor gave evidence of a struggle, while at the foot of the ladder leading to the attic or garret lay the stock of a mus- ket and a rusty bayonet. “Good God! That was Peggs’s weap- on!” cried Luke, as he turned his ago- nized face to Goldspur. ‘“‘ Can it be that the girls were here? ” Mutely the detective thrust him aside and lightly ran up the ladder. In a moment—a moment that seemed ages to Lightfoot, Goldspur’s face ap- peared in the opening above. “Come!” the detective exclaimed. “The girls were here—or one, at least, Come! There has been a tragedy. We must read the signs and get to work! ” ‘ ve ‘ ve a La . - ' b+ Ne ~ me ae ‘ ‘age jy e t he i ore) we ew Sie ei ¥ vabe te Col oe re lei CHAPTER XV. RUBY RANGER’S RUSE. Ruby Rarger was not, in the true sense of the word, a cowardly girl; yet she was conscious of an emotion closely allied to fear when she saw Peggs turn to.depart. To her young and fervid imagination there was something decidedly uncanny jj about the old ranch house, and she list- ' ened with bated breath to catch the foot- steps of the retreating veteran. | Then, with a clang that rang dismally | through the empty rooms below, the outer | door shut, and the girl knew that she was | alone. | That thought produced upon her over- | | | tasked nerves the effect of a powerful tonic. It induced her to face the situa- tion calmly, and invoked all the self-reli- | ance of her naturally fearless nature. Putting down the musket which Peges had given her, she closed and fastened the trap-door, then opened one of the bundles and secured a blanket to hang i over the window in the western end of | ] the loft. | “ After all, the situation is not so bad,” t she mused. “It is true that I am alone | t here, and far from any human habitation; but when that is said, the worst is said, . for I have food, water, and means of de-— a fense, and shall be quite comfortable. | h “ To be sure, I am not to be envied just a" now; but this place is better than the set- je tlement, where I should be constantly menaced by that odious gambler. g “Yes, yes! Poppy Peggs evidently | tt knew what he was about, and [ shall wait here patiently until he finds means to | thwart Spanish John and take me away.” és With these thoughts running in herd head, Ruby prepared a couch of the blan- | kets, blew out the candle, and lay down. But she was not to sleep undisturbed. Hardly, it seemed to her, had the pall of darkness settled over the old loft, when the door below stairs was violently flung open, and a heavy trampling sounded) », through the house. re Then came‘voices and steps, which gradually drew nearer, until they sound- ed in the room directly beneath the fair fugitive, who was now wide awake. ce} Pressing her ear to a crack in the floor, sh; Ruby listened. Two men were talking. “Dandy, I tells yer some one hes bin ( in this ole cage,” declared one. ‘“ Hold her yer lantern hyar, tell I looks at the prents in ther dust.” “ Nonsense, Noolan ! stopped a moment, I suppose. this girl away.” “ Whar’ll yer putt ’er?” N “In the end room. We can fasten thé p,) door, When she comes out of that faint, ao, she’ll simply mope and cry.” ‘Wall, she’s comin’ to, right now. Hol pre yer lantern hyar, pard, tell I sees ef she’ wit! rrally awake.” A moment’s silence followed. both men swore viciously. “Tt’s Polly Peggs !” Dandy ejaculated “Yas! <A purty mess we’ve made o et!” growled Noolan. “Ther hat an cloak fooled us all. I was sure ’tw ther Ranger gal. What’ll we do?” “Do? Why. we'll have to keep he here now, till we hear from the captair ‘Twill never do to carry her back t¢ ™m Some hunter ha Let’s pu Tiptop. ’*Twould spoil all!” “So et wud. But ther cap’n wil rear.” “No. If he holds this girl, it will giv ee him a grip on Peggs. Then he can com «: pel the cobbler to give up the Range « girl and keep his mouth shut.” ure Ruby heard the man called Noolal « I mutter an assent to this view of the cas@,.,.. 4 Then there was a shuffle of feet, enterir ait the east room, and the ruffian growled: Fai “Wore tracks! Dandy, some ’un’s bi Bo: hyar, I tells yer. An’ mebbe ‘they’l « g hyar yet !” “Where?” r ms : “In ther loft.” ff 1? “The trap is down. Steady, a minut oT and I’ll see.” “emp Creeping on all fours, Ruby had i Yo - comicbooks.com — Tudo * ol Gtk ! 4 i 1~ * ah a ry Le 1? . ae +" Me oee ¥ P -