Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 1003 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

Gold Dan. = od rt ee, a a ee eee - — _ 7 — —— a —_-- — ee ——— --— —_— — ~~ SN eee s ° A GS ES VT = a2 os — — al ~ ee es A —--- _ — i aie Te ate a « + ” & a! call ‘I ; = fp ie 3% ‘ af a Z t aes is 9 . an. The suddenness of the unexpected act took all by surprise; and almost before the defiant words had been fairly spoken by the leader of the White Savages, the old man was dead. Clark gave a signal to his men, and turning their steeds, the Mormons rode slowly out of the town, scowling contemptuously upcn the enraged townsmen as they rode by them. Not a hand was lifted to detain them; for the moment the be'd act awed the townsmen, but after the departure of the Danites the anger of the citizens broke out. ‘‘ We've stood this hyer thing too long!” cried one old gray- beerded man; the same, by the way, who presented so bold a front to the Mormons on the night of Gold Dan’s trial. ‘I don’t ear’ two pins whether the man was guilty or not; he hadn’t ought to be killed without a fair trial.” ‘Oh, the Mormons own this hyer huil town!” announced the- man-from-Red- Dog, in a tone of contempt. A dozen were quick to resent this insult, and for a few mo- ments there seemed to be a strong probability of an extremely lively free fight occurring. “Take that back!” cried one of the men of Corinne, indignant at the insult. “Take it back, or we’ll—” “Take nothin’ back!” cried Dandy Jim, loftily, doubling up his buge fists and preparing for war, ‘It’s a sure-enough fact! In Californy, whar I come from, the men of Red Dog would have waltzed right into any sich ornery crowds as these hyer Mormon bucks, and whaled thunder and lightning right out of ‘em, afore they would hev stood any sich treatment as y.ou dough- {aces have swallowed to-night. I say it ag’in, an’ I say it bolely, old Brigham and bis parus jist own this town, an’ they run it, too, to suit themselves. Me and my pard here are vir ners, and yet we're the only two men in town that dare to . wa a jaw at these durned Mormon brutes?’ ‘Lets raise a crowd—go after these fellows and bring this Clsivk back, and try him for what he’s done,” the old gray- beard suggested. Despite his age, he was as good a man as there was in the town. ‘- { sacond that motion!’ put in Gold Dan, promptly. ‘ (m your antelope!” yelled the Red-Dogite. ‘We want a captain!” cried a brawny six-footer in the crowd. ‘*Gold Dan!” suggested another, This idea met with favor at once, and a tremendous cry of God Dan went up on the air. The plainsman would fain have declined the honor, but the people at larga insisted, and the-man-from-Red-Dog the loudest of all. so at last the borderer was compelled to accept, Aud then there was a furbishing up of arms, and a mounting in hot haste. ‘The blood of the men of Corinne was up, and they were deter- mined to punish the Mormons for their bold invasion of their town. They were determined to show to the world at large that Brigham and his brood did not own the town of Corinne, And no light task was it, mind you, that these hardy towns- mien had taken upon themselves. No bolder, nor more reckless ruffians, than the Danite band was there in all the Western land. Men steeped in crime, they beld their lives as lightly as they did their money, CHAPTER XXXYV. PREPARING FOR THE FIGHT. rs Mormons had ridden leisurely out of tho town, taking tbe trail southward toward Salt Lake. No fear of pursuit was in their minds; if such an idea as ¢ne citizens of Corinne rising en masse, and coming forth to give them battle, had been suggested, they would have received it with shouts of derision. Too long had they ruled with an iron hand, to fear resistance WwW, Clark rode on at the head of the band, moody and silent. Dark thoughts were in Bis mind; he had satisfied his vengeance, but that was little recompense for the treasure he had lost, Just one bright glimpse of a happier, better life he had seen, and then the vision had been rudely dispelled. Was it a wonder that the dark browed Danite was sullen of face and scant in speech? His men, used to his humors, rode on behind and did not attempt to force their company upon bim. Some three miles they had ridden, and the ‘*‘ Mormon Swords ” fad just about got through chuckling over the clever manner is which their leader had settled the point in dispute in Corinne by shooting the cause of it outright, when the appearance of two horsemen, galloping at full speed after them, attracted their xitiention. “ Hyer’s all Corinne a-comin’ to lay us out!” cried one: burly ruffan. “Only two meu!” responded another; ‘why, they won’t make ymuore than a morsel for us!” ‘‘Oh, thar’s more ahind; this pair is only the advanced guard!” a third suggested. And so they joked in regard to tho horsomen, but that the townsmen would attempt to pursue them, was too ridiculous an idea to be entertained for a moment. Finally, as the horsemen came nearer and nearer—the two were riding at topmost speed, while the Danites were just jogging along at a moderate pace, so that it was easy for the strangers to overtake them—the sound of their horses’ hoofs attracted the attention of Clark. Turning in the saddle, he surveyed them, and an expression of annoyance passed over his dark face, He evidently recog- nized them. } “‘ Ride on, boys,” he said, reining his horse in and aNowing the rest to passhim. ‘I want to have a few words with this party yonder, and I'll soon overtake you.” The band proceeded without a word; they were not accus- tomed to either dispute or question the commands of their leader. Rough and rude as they were, outcasts of every nation, stained with every crime, yet the- Duke of Corinne ruled them with a rod ofiron. With such men it was the only way; a less pow. erful band would have been set at naught. ‘*What does the fool want, now?” the Danite leader muttered as he halted in the center of the road, and waited for the two horsementocomeup. ‘He is crazy, or so near it that be might as well be. It’s a mystery to me what makes the other one stick to him, but it’s the nature of the animal, I suppose!” The two horsemen, urging their steeds onward at full speed, soon reached the side of the Danite. The foremost rider was the wild, peculiar-acting Texan, Jules Mercado; the second, his delicate, effeminate brother. Mercado had altered greatly in his appearance during the last few days; his face had become pale and thin, while his eyes had seemingly grown unnaturally large. ‘*-You are pursued!” cried the Texan, as he rode up. “‘Pursued?” questioned the Danite, not exactly under standing the warning, for so thoroughly did he hold the prowess of the men of the town of Corinne in contempt, that he never even thought of them Caring to attempt such a thing. ‘Yes, pursued, and they are close behind me, tou.” ** They — who?” ‘Twenty or thirty Corinne men, headed by that demon whom {I cannot kill!” the Texan cried, a touch of wildness in his man- ner. ‘You mean Gold Dan?’ ‘Yes, that is what he calls himself now, but he is not Gold Dan, or else I am crazy.” Clark felt very much inclined to tell the speaker that he believed that he was, but the Danite seldom wasted words, and so the sentence was not spoken, “They are coming to take you back to Corinne, to try you for killing the old man,” the Texan explained. “I was asked to join the party, for they wanted to muster every man in the town who could puila trigger. | agreed, of course, but instead of doing so, 1 mounted my horse, and made a circuit round the town, so as to be able to warn you of their pursuit.” ‘Are they tired of life, these men of Corinne, that they seek for certain death?’ the Danite asked, grimly, ‘‘ or do they fancy that I have forgotten how to pull a trigger, and will run like a rabbit when I hear the clatter of their hoofs?’ ‘*You will fight them, of course?” the Texan asked, eagerly. ‘Yes, if they don’t get frightened and scamper back to Corinne, when they see that 1 am prepared for them, and mean business every time!” “Ob, they will try the question with you!” the Texan ex- claimed, confidently. “I'll stay and fight in your band. Per- haps 1 may be mere lucky in the daylight with this man, for by night be seems to bear a charmed life.” ‘‘As you please,” Clark replied, and then he nodded toward the younger rider, who, seated motionless on his steed, just out of ear-shot of the two, seemed sadiy dejected. “You had better send that party a little way on in the advance. If these fellows attack us, which Ican hardly believe they will dare to do, a stray bullet might do much harm.” “*T will attend to it.” ) And then the two rode on, followed by the boy, and svon . overtook the band. Great was the astonishment of the Danites when they were informed that they were pursued by the men of Corinne, and that there was a probability of a fight. At first they were inclined to scout at the idea, but when, in a few words, Clark bade them prepare for action, they began to believe that it was the truth. The troop reached a level prairie plain, about a mile square, perhaps, through which the trail ran, the Great Salt Lake bound- ing it on the west, ‘This will do!’ exclaimed Clark, as the party reached tha center of the plain, ‘‘A better ground for a fight we couldn’t have, and if they whip us, why there’s the broken country be- youd to cover our retreat.” A laugh of derision went up on the air from the lips of the Outlaws, at the thoughts of a defeat. “These Corinne chaps!” cried a burly ruffian, “why, we'll eat ’em without salt!” And this was the general opinion. In fact, very few of the Danites believed that the townsmen would dare to attack, when they saw that they were waited for. “No, sir-ee!” cried one of the band, “you won't find thosy sports eager to find out what kind of stuff we are made oi! They'll fire a few shots, mabbe, and then when we g0 for ’em, they’l] break and dust as if blazes was arter ’em!” | The Danite chief deployed his men in a long single line, himsei+ in the center and the Texan by his side, while the brother was placed some fifty paces in the rear. Hardly had the Mormons prepared for battle, when forth from the rolling foot-hills rode the townsmen. Twenty picked men were there in the ranks of Corinne, besides their leader, the plainsman, Gold Dan. | And, as the party emerging into the plain deployed also in a single line, the Danite chief, with his keen eyes, noted that nearly every man in the outfit was armed with a rifle. This Clark had not calculated upon, for only a few of his men were so equipped, and the discovery caused a frown to gather upon his ever-sullen brows, ;