Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 1092 — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

Ate + oS 22 Tom Field kept bis rifle over his left arm, with his rigbt hand at the lock, in an attitude that Punch did not like, for it showed that the other could shoot from the hip, by the eyealone, as well as any other way, and made the rancher feel nervous. **] mean it, stranger,” he protested. ‘I know we~uns hev treated ye bad; but by gum, we ain’t on that trail no more, now. We want ye to be friends, and hyar’s my hand on it.” ee Field eyed him narrowly, and at last said: ‘*Mr, Burleson, I never injured you in any way, neither did I any of your friends, I came here to live a quiet life, and let others do the same. Instead of that, you have all sét on me, without giving me any sort of chance, and have tried to make my life a very bell onearth. I had never fired a pistol, and you presumed on that to insult me, and call me a coward, when the real cowards were the men who took the ad- vantage of my defenseless condition, to drive me out, by numbers. Now the boot is on the other foot. I can outshoot any man in this county, except Hank the Nailer, and be is the ouly man who never gave me anything but kind words; when the rest of you were insulting me on every possible occasion. Now you preten that you want. to be my friend. Howam I to know yen are not trying to take advantage of me, and do that by treachery that you dare not do by open force? If you are sincere, give up the arms that you carry in your belt, and show that yon dare trust me. with your life.” Punch Burleson listened to what the other said, and when he had finished the cheek of the rancher was redder than its wont. He laughed in an uneasy sort of way as he replied: “Waal, now, it seems to me, sir, that I'm jést abaout as much in your power as you might wish aman. Hyar you’ve got me kivered, and I hain’t got my pistol on you at all. I don’t deny that we-’uns treated ye bad. I jest admit- ted it. But, if ye doubt my word, I bain’t no more to say than this. Jest let’s settle it, fa’r and squa’r, hyar on this spot.” Tom never took his eyes off the rancher as he was speaking, and when he had finished, he an- swered, with a sigh of some relief: ‘* No, there is no need of that; I believe you now. You are not afraid to be Killed. I will take your word that you mean me honestly.” Punch instant}y put his pistol back to bis hip, out of the way of # quick snatch, and said: ‘Come, that’s the talk for a man, stranger. Your name’s Field ain’t it?’ ss Yes, sir.”’ > “Waal, Mr. Field, I’m glad to meet ye.” CHAPTER XXYV. THE RANCHERS’ MEETING, THaT night there was a meeting of riders, who came, from all quarters of the compass, to Punch Burleson’s ranch, though there was no moon to guide them on the way. The odd thing about the meeting was, thatno one left his house till after eleven o’clock at night, had the time been counted by watches, in mat ge county, which it was not, as a general thing. They came slowly from the house, and went to the sheds where the horses, that were wanted for immediate use in the daytime, were gen- erally kept; and rode slowly down the lanes to the river-side one by one, at a foot-pace, The strangest thing about their riding was that it was absolutely noiseless, from the fact that every horse bad its feet tied up in strips of old blanket and sacking, to muffle the sound. There was never more than one horseman ata time, and he never rode faster than a walk, and kept in the middle of the road, between the two fences. t It would almost have seemed a meeting of — so stealthily and silently did each go orth. On the other side of the fence, in the ground of the cattle company, these night-riders could hear the sound of voices, that showed where the men of the rich corporation were on guard, over the b»rbed wires, that had caused so much bad blood in Satanta county. These guards had become tired of their task by this time, and had the babit of. getting into groups and talking, to keep themselves awake. The silent riders went on, as if they had ar- ranged their plan of action beforehand, and took the way to the river, thence rape, ir the ree till they came to the ranch of Punch Bur- eson. It had been selected, for the reason that it was the central one of the lot, witb an equal distance to either extremity of the line, By midnight, quite a number of men had gone up Punch Burleson’s lane, and disappeared un- der the big shed, which he kept ready, at all times, for the sale of horses to chance customers, After they had put up their animals, they came out on foot, and went to the house, which was a small and unpretentious edifice of logs, that looked as if it contained only one or two rooms, As a matter of fact, it had three. The front had two, anda long extension was run out of the back, in the shape of a cross, —e eee ea ee Senses which contained one long store room, for the use of Punch’s cowboys, In this room, with the windows darkened with blankets, so that no gleam of light. shone outside, were gathered, that night, all the ran- chers of Satanta county, with the exception of Judge Collingsworth, and the buzz of conversa- tion was kept up, in low, guarded tones, that sbowed the caution of the men who composed the meeting. But the ranchers were not the only people in that room, for every man had brought his cow- boys with him; and the cowboys were as much interested in the matter at issue as their employ- ers, for there is nothing on earth more: faithful to his chief than a Texan cowboy. At last Punch got up, and rapped on a table for order, when a bush came over the scene, and he said, in a low distinct voice: *‘Gentlemen, you know what we’re hyar fur. What d’ye want to say abaout it?’ ** Colonel” Callahan got up, and said: *T move we organize a meeting at once, and put Mr, Burleson in the cheer. All agreeable will say ay.” There was a low murmur of “ayes” over the room; and Punch, with the pride of a true American at being chosen to preside over a meeting, smiled all over his face, as he asked; ** What’s the pleasure of the meetin’?” Then Limpy Balstrop got up, and everybody looked at him with attention; for the story of his discomfiture at the bands of the Englishman had gone over the county, though every one pretended not to believe it. Limpy looked rather awkward as he rose, but he knew every- body there, and managed to speak to the point, ‘*Gentlemen,” he said, ‘‘ye all know that, when we come byar fust, there warn’t a fence in the bull caounty; and we come hyar and made the caounty what it is, now. e come hyar, when the Injuns was round, and there ain’t one of you, hyar, but what’s had bis scrim- mages with the greasy cusses. Well, we druv ‘em aout, and got the caounty in order. and we was all happy. We had our ranches, and the cattle was growin’, and we was a-growin’ with ‘em and nobody owned the big preerie, outside, but the State. Then comes this hyar cattle com- pany, and tells us it’s bought the hull of the caounty, without givin’ us, who’d made it what it is, a chance to mf yea ornay. Then they comes and puts up this darned, diabolical fenve of theirn, as if they’d meant to do the most comeue they could; and by gum, they did it,” “* You're right, thar,” broke in Punch Burle- son, without any more regard to the dignity of the meeting than if he had been talking in a bar- room, ‘I lost a good broncho, the very fust night; and he’s gone lame ever since. The darned ornary galoots!” ‘‘And so did I,” chimed in another man, while the ‘‘colonel” contented himself with the re- mark: ‘‘ Hear! hear!” which, he had heard, was the proper parliamentary way of. expressing approval of a sentiment. impy, excited by the approving cries, looked round him, in the proud consciousness of a man who has his audience with him, and went on: “Waal, gentlemen, what’s goin’ to be did abaout it? That’s what we've got to settle to- night, We've tried to git justice at Austin, and they won’t give it to us. e’ve offered to buy the land from the eattle company, and they won’t selltous. It’s true they offered to buy us aout; but they hain’t offered us no price fur the land, and, when we go aout of byar, what air we to do with aour beasts? Naow, I’m allers in favor of the rule of the majority, and I want to ~ te! what some one else has got to say abaout t , Then Limpy sat down and wiped his forehead, as a man who had been engaged ina tremendous intellectual effort. He was succeeded by a blank silence, which — for some time, and at last the chairman said: “Thar’s a gentleman, hyar, as some of ye know; but I didn’t, till to-day. He’s what they call a’ eddicated man, an’ I kin sw’ar that he shoots a streak; fur I’ve see’d him, Gentlemen, allow me to introduce teyye Mr. Thomas Field, who has come to settle amongst us, if be kin buy a good place,” All eyes were turned on the young man, whose fine clothes had attracted the attention of more than one; but who was comparatively unknown, from the time he bad been absent. / Field rose up er: He had no feeling of embarrassment, for the simple reason that he was thé only man of education in the room. He rose with a smile, and looked round him. “Gentlemen,” he said, ‘‘I don’t know that anythinged could say would have muéb weight with you; but it seems to me that you bave only one method of redress, and that is to go to the Législature with your wrongs, and elect men thereto who will fight for your rights. I am not a believer in the doctrine thet the State has any right to sell land to private persons, at the ex- ense of the people who make the land valuable, if it has any value atall. This fencing-in of the prairie outside, and debarring you from access thereto, when the company really owns a stri | of ten miles wide, is an edeh 8 My advice is to go to the Legislature when it meets.” Old Cross-Eye, the Maverick-Hunter. But his words bad very little effect, and the faces of the ranchers and cowboys showed that. they thougbt bim a visionary. y Colonel” Callahan got up immediately, and said: ny ‘* Yes, that’s all very well; but in the mean time the cattle are goin’ to ruin, and the legisla- ture don’t meet till a month. Now, ’m goin” to take the bull by the horns, gentlemen, Punch: Burleson and me, we've b’en a-talkin’ this: thing over fur some time, and we came to the: conclusion thaf thar’s only one thing to do, and that is to cut the darned fence to flinders: in one night, and hyar’s the tools to do it with,’ ! As he spoke he produced from the pocket of his loose deerskin coat a pair of nippers, which action bad the singular effect of making every man 4@n the room, with the exception of Tom Field, go into his own pocket, and produce ay implement of exactly the same Character, “We've stood enough from the darned skunks,” continues the ‘‘ colonel,” ‘‘and naow it’s time we struck fur aour rights. Gentlemen, there’s no time like the present. I move that we resolve aourselves into a cuttin’ committee, and go to work this very night. -The gyards: has got keerless, and were all together. If we meet them we'll take them by surprise, and that’s the time to give them what they give us: on’st.” The sentiment evoked such universal approval that it was evident ranchers and cowboys were- alike ripe for mischief, and the chairman, with- out ? thea for the seconding of the motion,. cried: “Gentlemen, it is moved that we make committee, and go to work this very night, and rip the darned old fenee to pieces. Air you ready fur the question? All in favor will say” ay. And the deep murmur of “ayes” that went up from the crowd, showed that they were in earnest, . Then some one asked: ‘But whar’s the jedge all this time? He oughbter be in line with the rest of us.” There was a short silence, and then Limpy Balstrop spoke up: ‘*T went thar to give him the message, and got into a muss, boys, Waal—to tell the truth got the wu’st of it, and didn’t give bim the message. He'll be with us when it’s done. And now, the only thing to do is to make every one in this room sw’ar to bold bis darned tongue. abaout what’s goin’ to be did.” Tom Field rose up, and all eyes were fixed on him with a decidedly hostile expression, for they bad not forgotten his pacific advice, and did not want to hear any more of it. ‘*Gentlemen,” he said, quietly, “I can’t say that [am surprised at what you have resolved on; and although it is against the law, there are times when self-preservation is above all laws.. But, before you go any further, let me say something. Judge Collingsworth may be in- clined to take the offer of the company. In that case what would you do to him?’ The question started a buzz and one man cried: ‘“‘What d’ye mean, stranger? He wouldn’t dar’ to doit. We'd make Satanta¢actnty too hot to hold him, if he went back on us.” Field bowed. ‘eg **Just what I wanted to find out. But you must remember that he has daughters, and that he might do a great deal, for their sakes, that he would not do if he were unincumbered with a family. Now you are going out to do a very dangerous deed. Are you prepared?” Punch Burleson laughed as he replied: ‘Mr, Field, did you ever hyar ot Kukluwin’ ? We had a little of it, daown this way, on’st on a time, and we hain’t furgot it. You've got to ride with us, you. knowyopit’ll be the wuss fur you. You’re a good man on the shoot; but ye can’t fight a bull caownty.” Tom.Field paled slightly, but bis tone was: firm as he answered: ‘“‘I-bave faced a whole. county, before this, when I had not so mucb asa knife. I have no fear of death. But I have no wish to deter you, if vou are determined on doing what you are about to do. It may be the best thing, in the end, But you know tbat the men in the service of the company are all sworn special constables, Suppose you are recognized, what then?” ¢ ° Limpy Balstrop tapped his revolver signifi- cantly, as he answered: — “So much the worse fur the man that spots me,” ** And me too,” muttered several other men. Then Punch offered Field a hood, cut in the old ‘‘ Kuklux,” pattern, with holes for the eyes and mouth; a perfect disguise for any sort of rson, ‘*Come,” he said, ‘it’s time we was cff- Who'll be captain? We want one head,” With one accord they all murmured: ‘You, you,” aud Punch assumed the command, witha readiness that was explained by the fact that he was an old Confederate soldier, and bad fonght in many a battle, where the mifitary, ‘** Colonel” Callahan bad never been heard of. As they went out, Punch whispered; comicDOooO S ee ee _ a ee, ~~ ieee sameetiemeam aie rl: hn oa Te tt eee ae en ee ee ee