Beadle's Dime Library, Vol. XII, No. 145 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

pene eee — ‘Pistol Pards.. ee ee ——— ———— must have eyes in the back of the head to have | before they fire upon me, and I doubt whether noticed her at all, though it was yer friend you would raise your cruel hand, even if I that talked to her. moighty interested loike.” He repeated the name after her several times, and shook bis head as though trying t9 | recall something that had escaped his memory. “She lives near here does she?’ he asked | quickly. “Not onless a half dozen miles is near. It’s a good long gallop; but thin she’s the wan that kin take it. She had a bit ov thrubble wanst, an’ it would’’a’ bin worse but oi kim along an’ betwain us we driv off ther plunderin’ villains wid lead fleas in the’r ears. Oh, it’s brave she is; an’ it moight be well if the young leddy | there had some av her speerit, fur this is a bad | place fur a lone woman.” Mr. Wilkins requiring his services the con- versation ended here; and was not renewed. Up to the time of the sudden, and, to Wilkins, mysterious disappearance of Soft Hand, noth- | ing more was said about her, nor did she again make her appearance at the ranch, On that night, when the hours went by and there were no signs of the return of the bronze- | bearded man, Kate became strangely nervous. | Irish Molly had returned from looking after | her stock and was sleeping soundly; her fa. | ther was resting quietly, free from fever and | stronger than he had been for a long time. "here seemed no reason why she should not sleep herself; butshe could not. She got up and went out, standing in the fresh night air, with her head turned, listening for any sound that migbt come from the head of the gulch. Tae absence of the quiet, self-contained man, who had scarcely spoken to her and yet who had proved himself kind, thoughtful and skill- | ful, gave her a sense of loneliness that seemed | strange indeed, for really she did not antici- pate any danger; but felt rather that some one was approaching, Sure enough, when she bad wandered some little distance from the house she heard rapid hoof-strokes, and thought without doubt that the man came at last. Then, to her surprise, the rider came to a sudden halt, apparently just around thé bend a few hundred yard. away, and listening eager- ly she heard the hum of voices, engaged in earnest Conversation. Who could be there at this time of night? A desire to know possessed her. Gathering her short skirts still more closely around her, she stole along under the shadows of the bluff, winding her way among the bushes and be- tween the trees that bordered the clear road, until she reached the bend in the gulch. Here she dropped upon her hands and knees; for though the role of spy was distasteful enough, she had had her suspicions awakened as she drew nearer to the spot. The voices that she heard were voices of strangers. Closé to the wall of the gulch she crept, and at last reacbed a spot from whence she could both see and bear whatever was to be seen or heard. It was a singular sight that met her eyes; and one calculated to bring a chill of fear to a woman’s heart, however brave she might be. Just beyond the bend the narrow roadway. widened out into a little dingle: and here, facing half a dozen horsemen, was one that, at a glance, Kate recognized as Catalina Triscador, thé friend of the lone Irishwoman. . . Certainly Molly had not spoken too highly of her courage, for, with a revolver in either outstretched hand she menaced the men before her. ‘ | Nor did Kate have much trouble in recog- nizing who the men were, for every one of them was masked, as were the highwaymen who bad attacked the stage a few nights be- fore. Five of them were bunched together in a little group some thirty yards away; while twenty yards nearer was a single horseman, — the leader, at whose breast’ Catalina pointed the weapon in her right hand with deadly aim. “Tt is no use,” she was saying, ‘Captain Skull, you cannot pass here. I am only one, and a woman; but for the present I am strong and you aré weak. Go back. . As true as I am a living girl if you attempt to move a step further you will move to your death,” “What nonsense is this, girl? Put up that plaything and stand aside. No one here would willingly harm you; but you must know that these riders of the night cannot be baffled by a woman; even though that woman mny be Catalina Triscador.” “Tall words those, my valiant captain; but 1 mean what I say. Your men will hesitate \- | did not have you covered with an aim that never misses. Go back! While I can prevent it at any cost you shall not harm him who lies in yonder guich.” ‘‘High, oh! In the name of wonder, what makes you his champion? But if that is all that troubles you stand aside. It is not a man weare after, buta woman. If that will do you any good we will swear to you that if the man will stand aside no man shall be hurt.” ‘“Do you suppose that any man would hold his hand and see a woman falling into your clutches? No, sir. Go back. I am a guard here now, and you shall not pass. By day- light they shall have warning, and, as you and your men are night birds, before you can swoop again for your préy it will be gone.”’ This was the conversation that Kate heard; and now, thinking a sudden crisis inevitable, she drew from her breast her own revolver, carried there always for an emergency, and crept still closer. Although she was fonder of flight than fight she bad no intention of de- serting the woman who had stood up as her champion. She dared not make her presence known as yet; she hoped that the nece-sity for doing so might be altogether wanting; but all the same she was ready to join forces and wage. war, desperate even though unsuccessfrl. And as she settled down behind a little clump of bushes, that served as a complete shield, suddenly around her waist, there stole | @ strong arm, that seized and held her wrist beyond chance of mischief, and over ber mouth was placed a huge hand, that choked all chance of ery or groan. ) She had glided into an ambuscade and with out chance of rescue was a prisoner. CHAPTER XX. THE EXILES. Ir there had been any possible profit, or even a little streak of glory in it Alabaster Jim would probably have been willing to stay and run the risk of a hand to hand conflict with the whole of Tierra R»oxo. As there was a decided risk and no money in the operation and the citizens bowing tothe judgment of the court, gaveevidence that after the expiration of the sixty minutes grace they intended to argue the case with shot-guns, he joined Soft Hand, as the latter came out from the Star, and stalked silently by his side, the two marching due north. He had a careful eye for any attempted treachery; but he need not have borrowed trouble on that score, for half the crowd had gone to their homes and the rest were strangely well under control. There did not seem to be even an attendant spy, to see how well they carried out the behests of the court. A half-mile from town the two halted, on the near side of the crest of a little spur fro a the mountain, that rao across their route. The stop seemed to be by common consent; and then the two looked at each other a momeut, ao Jim finally breaking into a hoarse ‘* Well, dog-gone my pictur’s! thet’s my first visit thar, an’ I don’t keer ef it’s my last. It’s a, one-horse place, an’ ther mule thet runs it is thet Kunnel ood, ez they’call him. [ ain’t bloodthirsty, but Pd give an eagle er two to have another round with him.” ** You'll have it if you travel this road much further, You had better make up your mind about that, quick, and if you don’t want to tacklé him and bis friends, go some other way.” “See hyar. Is this kunnel a friend .o’ ourn?”? ‘“‘ He likes you a little the best of the two.” ‘*Well, what in thunder did he come down on you so light fur, then? I thought they had it all set up to have a good send-off, and he just spoiled the lay-out; not to say nothin’ of my leetie game bein’ blocked fur makin’ that Page squirm. Lordy! how I'd have dreened him out down in ’Frisco.” | ‘‘He wanted to save Page, 1 suppose—but that isn’t the question. . We ain’t out of the woods by a long chalk, and what I want to know is whetber we are going to walk on over this hill, right into the crowd that is waiting for us. You bet they’re there; and I guess they picked out enough men to bring us into camp.” eS a 15 oe - ——_ — “Right you are, old man, I was a fool not to think of that sooner. There’s sport ahead, after all. Sailin; ’m with you.” In his enthusiasm Alabaster Jim drew two revolvers, swinging them around his head, and was about to give vent to a shrill war-whoop, when his companion uttered a warning: ‘sé Hush 19 ‘Oh, dingblast it! I felt so good I purty nigh forgot myself. Sure enough, ef they . drop to our leetle game, they might run away.” “No such good luck as that, Just remem- ber, ’m bare-handed; and have something else to do besides setting myself up for a mark for roughs and road agents to pop away at.” “You ain’t heeled? Why, pard, why didn’t you shout sooner! S’pose they'd begun to play pepper and salt, an’ you’d hed no show—l’d never furgive .myself. Hyar’s ther tools; I allers carry an extra cargo. Shove these in yer belt.” | From either boot he,drew out a mavy six, and tendered them with a flourish, ‘‘ Now, then, me pistol pard, sail in!”, ‘* Yes; if we can do no better, but just listen a little and see if I don’t talk square common sense.”’ . While the two were holding their council-of- war, the enemy in the gulch on the other side of the hill were beginning to grow uneasy. For they were there. It really seemed as though the soft-handed sport had been fur- nished with a pair of these double million optical magnifier that laughed at deal doors and stair-cases, and.could see right through the side of a bill. a Something less than a dozen were ‘there in the crowd that crouched behind the bushes; all armed with shot-guns or rifles, in addition to their pistols, and they had been ensconced there for a good half-hour, since they had left Hangtown some little while before the conclu- sion of the trial. The time seemed longer to them than actu- ally was, and one after another they began to grumble: ‘“*T say, this is low-down enough business to put us on without asking us to stay byer all night to run it through. Ef you go up to the top of the hill ’'d put up all my rocks you’d see the streaks of sunshine in the East. I don’t believe they’re coming this way at all. Like “ not. the boys kicked and hung ‘em up any- w. ‘‘Er they’ve pulled their sixes and took the town. There’s a thundering sight more fuss made over them than I’d make if I had theplan- ning of it. I wanted to just lean outof' window and salivate them both as ) there, but the captain wouldn’t listen to rea- son, nobow. - Blamed if I’m going to stay her much longer. There’s more than one road of Hangtown, and I'll go you a dollar took the wrong one.” . ‘‘ He said they’d haye an hour to leave in; an’ that they’d go two-forty when (Struck the level. _ This don’t look ach like ie “It. ish mine obinion that they. gife der gourdt swei hour to moof der. gamp,” inter- posed a stolid faced, Teutonic ten, indivi. dual, as he proceeded to fill a short clay pi “Dl shtay mid der bushes dill d E bat, ve gits der shtamps all der same; an’ so mooch tanger. Ven you sees ’em =e whan mit der road shoost dells me, vill yer?” | The German sport looked the very pi of complacency as he_ placed the pipe i mouth and struck a match upon his knee, des- pite a warning growl from po or two of his associates. - Then he held up the match . the sputtering little flame to the mouth of the bowl. , “Crack! Smash!” * From the higher ground to the rear there came the report of a pistol, and a bullet sped past his face, that broke the bowl of the pipe to flinders, cutting it deftly out from between the Dutchman's fingers. At the same time a chorus of shouts aruse, and theo the clear tones of Alabaster Jim: “ Warp it to them, pard, Don’bthrow awa a shot, an’ we'll jist string this hes = 5 < town with corpses. Kiver yer men a The unlucky smoker dropped the fragment of pipe-stem from his teeth as he ut- tered a yell that should have ard half came down he did not cease bounding, but kept S » (ECON MUCEL ENON) (Elo) m