Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 1102 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

- - J \ Sy M “A ‘ . " : “ ‘i : ? - : . . ¥ yy oil 18 RT SPI as RE RE ROR De eer So ee Seen een aU Une PDS Sn reat eeererer ne an nee ee ‘¢ This hyar is as fine a bit of ground for real, actual business as kin be scared up out of doors, I reckon.” ‘¢1t suits me first-rate,” Blake observed. Ugh!” grunted the red-skin, ‘it is a fine aiace to kill a man,” and he cast a demon-like glance at his opponent as he spoke. ‘Say, is there any particular place where you would prefer to have me plug you?” the Fresh asked. ‘‘Tt don’t make any difference to me, you know: I had just as lief plug you in one place as in another. ‘+ All you have to do is to indicate the particu- lar spot and I will put a ball there with the ut- most promptitude and precision.” |. “Ugh!” grunted the red-skin, who was more annoyed by these taunts than he cared to show. ‘‘ There is only one place where I shall try to hit you, and that is in your heart. My rifle-ball will splitit in two.” ‘“Tt)s lucky for you that you didn’t make up your mind to aim at my head, ior hy rifle-ball that was ever run would make any impression upon my cast-iron cheek.” This sally raised another laugh, which caused the Indian to grunt out something in regard to the white man ‘‘ playing the fool.’ With all of his vast experience the Apache chief was puzzled. Never in his career had he encountered such a man as.the Fresh of Frisco. His lively sallies and peculiar off-hand way would seem to indicate a man from whom in a seridus matter iittle could be expected, for on the frontier the light-hearted jokers are not the men upon whom the community leans in the hour of, danger. And yet the jester had fairly rushed into this quarrel, just as if it was one of the greatest jokes in the world to confront a determined foe, rifle in hand, at a thousand yards, True, at such a distance there was not much danger, but then as by the terms of the fight the opponents were at liberty to advance and fire as many shots as they pleas it was clear that the thousand yards would sptedily be reduced to a hundred. And the only decision to which the chief could | come to in the matter was that the free-talking white man was either a fool who did not know the full extent of the peril he was encountering, and had rushed into the affair looking upon it in the light of a joke, or else he was a man brave to rashness who had in some way learned that in the Apache chief he could only look for a foe, and had made up his mind to bring the matter to a speedy issue. This fair and open duel was not exactly what the chief had bargained for, and he was not pleased with the prospect. His idea had been to remove the white man in a sacret manner, and to so arrange the affair that he need not run any risk, The average Apache is as brave as a lion, and no man who knew anything of the Painted Bean could possibly doubt his courage, but it is the savage policy never to risk life if a foe can be harmed otherwise, and although when forced to it they can stand up and fight even against great odds, as well and bravely as any warriors that the world has ever seen, yet it is altogether against their traditions so to do, To the Indian mind there is nothing unfair or dishonorable in ten or twenty attacking two or three. That is the chance of war and must be ex- pected, and they will wait and era for days to bring about such a result, and in their minds great praise is due to the warrior, wise and cun- ning enough, to succeed in attacking his foes ‘with all the advantage on his side. But in this case the fight had been forced upon the chief: the duel had been none of his seek- ing. The foe whom he sought to destroy had chosen the weapons—but to this he did not object, for he was as well-skilled in the use of the rifle as any other arm which could have been selected— but the time and place of meeting had also been of his opponent’s choosing, and this did not suit the chief at all. The more he thought the mat- ter over the more he became convinced that the wily white man had succeeded in gaining a de- cided advantage, and he was greatly enraged. It was too late now to do anything, and if he had been familiar with the noble works of the Bard of Avon, with Macbeth he could have ex- “They have tied me to a stake, I cannot fly,” ‘* But bear-like I must fight the course,” Jimsonweed, always anxious to have a finger ‘in every pie, suggested that it was necessary that some one should act as master of cere- monies; this idea was received with favor, and one of the bystanders anxious to curry favor with the man who controlled the leading saloon of the tewn made a motion that Jimsonweed as- gume the duties of the position. This idea met with general approval—saloon- keepers are generally popular with the masses —and although Jimsonweed at first pretended that he would rather be excused, saying: ‘* Ob, thar’s a heap of men in the crowd who can double-discount me in sich 4 position!” yet he The Stranger Sharp. finally yielded with a good grace and accepted the office. ‘‘ Now, then, fellow-citizens, since you all seem to be of the opinion that I ought fer to see to the running of this hyer circus, you kin jest bet rour bottom dollar that I ain’t the man to go ackon you. ‘*Tll run this consurn jest as well as I know how, and I reckon no man can do better than that!” ‘‘ That’s correct!” chorused the crowd. ‘‘Tf I understand this hyar thing, the distance is to be a thousand yards, and arter the word is given either man can advance as fast as he likes and fire as many shots as he pleases, and the fight is to be kept up until one or both are laid out, or satisfied to quit.” ‘“That is the way I understand the pro- amme,” Blake said, with an inquiring look at he dusky warrior. The Painted Bean had become more end more ~ way 6 oe dissatisfied with the state of alfaivs, anu tac stronger ie his impression that he bad been | ? entrapped, but as he couldn’t see any way in which he could get out of it he was forced to go on, although terribly enraged at his own stu- pidity in allowing the cunning white man to so easily trick him. But as there wasn’t anything to object to in the arrangements, he was compelled to nod his head in acquiescence, although if he had been free to follow the dictates of his own judgment he would have objected to the whole thing, ‘* Well, that’s the bull business in a nutshell!” Jimsonweed exclaimed. ‘¢ That's all there is to it. Dll pace off the dis- tance, while you fellers kin load your we’pons and git ready for the fun. . “Phen, arter you are placed and ready, Pll fire a shot from my revolver as a signal for the fun to begin. ‘‘ Of course, boys, it’s understood that thar’s to be fair play and 1'll shoot the first man that interferes on either side.” The bystanders expressed their approval of this and then the men got into position. CHAPTER XXVLI. THE DUEL, THE opponents took their places and proceeded to load their weapons, And when this ceremony was ended, Jim- sonweed who had eagerly watched the proceed- ings, inquired: * Are you all ready?” ‘‘ Ready!” responded Blake. ‘¢ Me ready,” said the red-skin. ‘¢(Go it ye cripples!” yelled the saloon-keeper, discharging his revolver in the air as he sels And then came an extraordinary performance on the part of the Fresh which amazed all the beholders, and none more so than his Indian op- ponent, for the moment the report of the pistol rung out on the still air of the night, down on his face went the Californian! Extended at full length, hugging the earth like some huge srake! If the master of ceremonies had not fired his pee in the air, one + er have imagined that y some mischance the bullet had struck Blake. The moment the ie of the pistol rung out clear and shrill, the Indian brought his rifle up to the shoulder, preparing to draw a bead on his foe, but this movement on the part of the other puzzled him. Of all difficult shots, to hit a manstretched out flat on the earth, is one of the most difficult. It would not be an easy matter even to the ex- perienced rifle-shot—the man skillful enough to make bull’s-eyes at a thousand yards, when aided by the clear light of day, but when the uncertain rays of the moon must be depended upon, the task was ten times more difficult. But the Indian, standing like a statue, with his dark figure outlined against the horizon, of- fered a fair mark, as the Fresh soon proved to the intense disgust of the red-skin. The moment he was down, the Californian brought his rifle to his shoulder and taking care- ful aim fired. The result of the shot proved that Fame, with her thousand tongues, had not lied when she said that the Fresh of Frisco as a rifle-shot had not a superior in the known world, if indeed he had an equal, Vast as was the distance, uncertain as was the light, yet the leaden ball tore through the brawny left shoulder of the savage; not a severe wound, asit just grazed the shoulder-bone, mere- ly cutting through the flesh. A half an inch lower down, though, and the missile would probably have crippled the left arm of the chief for life. As it was it guve the red-skin the most acute pain when he attem to use bis arm. In describing the Indians the reader will per- haps remember that we have said no braver men ever trod the earth-than these dusky war- riors of the Apache tribe. Their apparent cowardice in lying in wait for an unsuspecting foe and attacking him in overwhelming numbers, is due to the manner of their warfare, a custom handed down from an- cient ages, not tothe fact that they are afraid to dare the risk of an open hand-to-hand fight. Like the wild Arab of the Eastern desert, whom the red-skin wanderers so much resemble, the braves are trained from early childhood te regard war as their natural avocation, and are taught to believe that there can be no death so grand as that of the pases chief, dying upon the field of battle with nis face to the foe. That we have not overstated the case, the ac- tion of the Painted Bean after receiving his wound amply proves. y Understanding that the cunning white-skin had contrived to place him at a terrible disad- vantage, and that he could not bope to co with him at rifle practice at such a distance, the red warrior shrilly gave forth his war-cry—the note of defiance dear to the hearts of the dusky- hued warriors of his tribe—and then he ran for- ward toward his snake-like foe. His idea was to reduce the distance so that be might have some chance of contending with his ' antagonist, who had shown himself to be such |-an expert rifle-shot. As he ran forward, though, he was shrewd enough to adopt a zig-zag course, thus material- ly lessening the danger of his being hit by the shots of his antagonist as he advanced. Blake laughed to bimself as he beheld this a expedient resorted to by his savage oe. ‘* It's the only hope for him, though,” he mut- tered, as the savage came racing onward. ‘‘Not that there is much of any chance for him,” he continued, “for in this fight the ad- vantage is all on my side. ‘‘ Asa gereral rule I don’t care to lay out the men I happen to run afoul of, unless they are ugly brutes who are better out of the world than in it; but this red-skin butcher who coolly plans to take a human life with as little reluc- tance as he would exhibit in treading upon a venomous snake, deserves to be taught a lesson, and I reckon that I am just the man able to do it.’ The bystanders watched the scene with anx- ious eyes as they noted the reckless, mad ad- vance of the red-skin. Each moment they expected to see the little white puff of smoke and the bright burst of flame followed by the sharp report from the ri- fle of the Californian, telling that the death- dealing bullet was on its way to find a billet in the body of the red-skinned warrior. But the Fresh remained as motionless as though by some magic he had been turned into stone, until the Indian was within about five rg yards and then he sprung nimbly to his eet. The rea-skin halted and brought his rifle up to his shoulder, . This was the opportunity be sought — the chance for which he craved—a fair shot at the white man for whose life he hungered., But the dusky warrior ‘‘ reckoned without the host,” for the Fresh did not intend to give him an opportunity for revenge. When it came to shooting, he calculated to get the first crack himself, and as he was by ong odds a far quicker man with the rifle than his dusky opponent, he had no trouble in suc- ceeding in his design. His rifle sprung to his shoulder the instant he ined his feet, and it did not seem to rest there ate an instant when the flash of the powder and the sharp report denoted that the leaden missile was on its way. The rifle of the savage had only just reached his shoulder when the Californian discharged his piece. The Indian was not what is called a ‘‘snap shot” by any means, and on this present occa- sion the painful wound in his shoulder made him slower than usual. The Fresh was a good shot at a thousand yards, and a still better one at five hundred. And on the present occasion it was his game to disable the red-skin—to inflict upon him so severe a wound that it would be a lesson and teach him not to essay the trade of the assassin in. tho he fired with a deliberate purpose in view. His aim was true—the shot struck home. The savage dropped bis rifle as though he had been stricken with an electric shot, threw up his hands and clawed at the air for a moment while a convulsive groan came from his lips, and then he fell forward on his face, writhing in what seemed td be the agonies of death. There was a solemn bush. The Fresh had joked so about the matter— had treated the affair with so much levity, that the spectators had really looked upon it more in the licht of a jest than anything else, and not until the red chief fell. evidently a ed, did the idea strike them that the been peasy a to a duel where human life was at stake. Not one of the throng had counted upon see- ing the grim figure of Death stalk in among em, The silence was rudely broken. The four young red bucks, the sons of the old chief, all wrapped in their blankets as though they were extremely chilly, had watch- ed the affair with true Indian calmness; but now, realizing that their sire had been badly, if not mortally wounded by the laughing white ‘ ve ¢ “Tia . r ’ 2 pls de C ad aw a ge ™ “e | \ * } Y, t. | @ as