Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 173 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

s} ~~ Oe raised his right arm and, behold! a cocked re- volver gleamed in the d, leveled at the breast of the big skinner. ‘* Don’t make a movement, my greasy friend,” the man in black warned, “‘ or | shall be obliged to tunnel through you; then the track-men can follow and put down the iron and before you know what has happened there’ll be an engine and a train of cars running right through you, and if that don’t astonish your insides on’t know what will.” The big bully giared in speechless rage, but the other went on: Riis che I va ps want a fuss ~ 30 you; Il am the quietest of men; so just put up your mean Pe e to let the matter drop right fete and I give you my word I won’t bear the least bit of malice.” Now, this was about the coolest thing the lis- teners had ever heard, but for a wonder it struck the coarse mule-skinner as being ex- tremely funny. ‘“ Waal, durn me ef you ain’t a hull team an’ no mistake!” he exclaimed, thrusting his re- volver back into its holster and marching with outstretched paw up to theunknown,. “ Put it thar, stranger; it’s all right; you needn’t drink oniess you want to b’ist ve pison; but I say, stranger, durn me ef I won’t feel too mean vo lock a mule in the face ef you don’t tickle ee throat with a leetle bug-juice, jest to ob- ige the crowd and help the house along.” This was Alcibiades’s cue to speak. 7 galled him that a stranger in ‘‘store clothes” and “biled” shirt should carry matters with so high a hand. ‘“‘This hyer house don’t want the trade of any man who ain’t gentleman enough to take his licker when he is invited to drink in a polite manner!” he exclaimed, scowling at the strange visitor. ‘‘For any such man as that the outside of this house is a good deal better than the inside.” ‘**‘And, who may you be, prey?’ asked the ether, surveying the master of the keno shop with a look of quiet, yet insolent defiance. ‘“‘My name is William Alcibiades, and I am the boss of this ranch.” ‘““Well, I thought so. I heard of you before I struck the town. Youare a sort of a kin -pin hyer—a ‘bead devil,’ if I may be allowed the nse of the expression. You not only run this shebang, but also aspire to rule the whole town. Yes, l’ve heard that you were a dangerous kind of hoss. Say! why didn’t you introduce . yourself to me before you inveigled me into this discussion, so that I would have known who you were, and then I would have had sense pee not to run counter to your views. Alcibiades? Where on earth did you get that name? Keno Bill is all right; that suits you to a T; but the idea of making love to the name of the old Greek to stick up over the door of a keno room and a liquor shanty to boot! Why 1 wonder the ancient bones don’t rise out of their dost and haunt you by night, and most certainly they would if the spirit of the warrior and statesman wandering in the other world possesses in the least degree the pluck and valor that the Athenian v5 Pa while he lived.” The keno man had listened with a great deal of impatience to this long harangue, of which he understood but little. He hadn't the re- motest idea of who or what the man had been whose name he had adopted. He had come across it in the columns of a newspaper and the oddness of it tickled his fancy, and as he was in want of a name, just then, on account of a little difficulty which he had had with a very un- pleasant sheriff of one of the coast counties _ south of the Golden Gate, without more ado he bod helped himself to the appellation. And that this cool and inselent stranger knew of the real Alcibiades while the king didn’t, was an- other reason why he should feel incensed against him. ‘You are using a good deal of jaw, young feller!” Bill fiercely exclaimed; ‘‘and since = are so free with your tongue, suppose you ius who you are. I reckon thar ain’t any on us what has been introduced to you.” ‘* My name, sir, is John.” “John what? John ain’t enough for a white man’s name, though it may do for a China- man.” ‘* Well, really, you have so obfustificated me with these proceedings that I will be hanged if I hav’n’t forgotten whether I have got any other name or not,” answered the other, plea- santly, and with a perfectly serious look upon his face. ‘Where are you from?” “‘ California.” ‘““From California, hey? You didn’t come in the coach?’ ‘Hang your old coach! I have a chariot of my own—Shank’s mare!” ere was @ broad grin upon the faces of all ste “ ymmicpanch the stranger was ‘‘ panning out” well, ‘What do you want here, anyway?” ‘\To make a living.” ““How? You don’t look much like a working- man,” Keno Bill sneered. ** Oh, I use the same tools you do; I travel on My cheek.” The crowd tittered, and the questioner be- came still more incensed, ‘*See hyer! you’re too fresh!” ** Too fresh! too fresh!” the other muttered to. himself, as if pondering over the term. ‘‘ Strange how that accusation meets me at every turn. Go where I will the cry arises, ‘you are too fresh!’ Can there be any truth in it? Does any gentleman present know of any big salt spring in the neighborhood where I could put myself in soak for a while so as to see if I couldn’t remove some of this freshness?” “Took hyer, Mr. Jack!” cried Keno Bill, roughly. ‘John! not Jack; I told you distinctly John —J-o-h-n,” and the speaker spelt the name out on his fingers. ‘Well, Jack or John: what difference does it make?” “To your humble servant much, for I have a strange reluctance to being called out of my name.’ * Well, then, Mister John of California—” “Now you’ve got it!” the other interrupted; ‘that fits suactly That agrees with the cli- mate; youcan smell the samic odor of the nodding pines, hear the whirr of the northern _— and the flap of the tail of the jackass rabbit bounding over the sage brush! Cali- fornia John! That’s my handle, and don’t you forget it!” ‘Don’t you worry about your name; life is mighty unsartain in this region; the climate is dreadful onhealthy sometimes, and men drop off without ever being sick.” ‘* Die with their boots on, eh?” “Well, it comes so sudden that they never know if anybody else does,” Alcibiades re- ase. with grim insolence. ‘‘ But this is what want to remark, and I trust my meaning is plain—the man in this hyer couatry of Ari- zonia who is asked to waltz up to the bar with the crowd to take a drink with the boys and refuses is no gentleman,” ‘*T doubt that statement, and therefore either ou area liaror I am one,” replied California ohn, promptly. : At this bold declaration of war of ‘course all looked for trouble, as Keno Bill was an ugly customer when he was insulted. But the master of the saloon in his sudden dislike of the stranger and his anxiety to picka quarrel with him had forgottemthat the cocked revolver was still in the band of the other, and that long before he could get a weapon out the stranger could send him where keno and kin- dred games flourished nof. For a moment Keno Bill was nonplused; he had got himself into this difficulty without any trouble, but for the life of him he did not know how to getout . The stranger in the most unmistakable man- ner had challen him to a personal encounter, for on the frontier when the lie is given and re- ceived blood must be shed to avenge the insult; either with fists or weapons the outrage must be atoned. _ But it was of no use to‘ pull” on the stran- ger; there was not twenty feet of space be- tween the two, and the impression came to Bill “i his antagonist was no tyro with the pistol, “Do you dare to coms outside and have a fair fight with me, whar we won’t hurt nobody but ourselves?” he challenged. ‘“‘T dare!” cried California John, promptly. CHAPTER ,IV. A STRANGE DISCOVERY. THis suited the crowdexactly. Keno was all very well, but what was it to the excitement of a e where two human liyes were at stake? ‘We will do this thing up in first-class East- ern style,” the Keno King remarked. ‘‘ We have had two or three little disturbances since the settlement of this hyer town, but no regular squar’ thing yet. I move that we adjourn out- doors, measure off the ground and fix things as they ought to be.” ‘Gentle Alcibiades, thy words are as full of wisdom as the words of the ancient Greek whose great name you bear,” responded the Californian. ‘‘So go ahead, sir; ’'m your gold — from the surface cro;;:pings to the - rock.” He was careful to keep his cocked revolver ready for action until he was fairly out into the street. ' The crowd had filed out as soberly and as or- derly as a church congregation. But there was a sudden interruption to the programme when they had all got into the street. Not two hundred feet away, face upward, with the bright light of the cold, calm moon shining down full upon it, lay the body of the man who had come to his death in such an un- timely manner. Lying plainly in sight it naturally attracted attention; but at first they had concluded that it was some bummer, Overcome with drink. Hence, great was the astonishment of the crowd when it was discovered that it was the body of Mr. Wentworth, who had arrived in company with the beautiful young girl that very day. ‘* Well, durn me ef I thought he was as d as this!” remarked the first man of the crowd, / Zz 2 “a 7 s "Un . - California John, the Pacific Thoroughbred. _—© 3 —_—— oe eee wee —_——-- as he bent over the prostrate man. Then the pees of the face attracted his attention, and — cry of alarm speedily brought the rest to his e. “Hyer, boys, quick!” he cried. ‘‘ Durned ef I don’t believe thar is rg ey he | here,” and his hand feeling moist he li it to see that it was red with blood, ** Murder!” cried another, in a hushed, awe- struck voice, appalled by the unexpected dis- covery. “What's the matter, boys, anyway?” Kene Bill asked as he came up. ‘*Murder! That is what’s the matter!” re- pe the man, kneeling by the side of the ‘Why, if it ain’t the sport who was going te skin us at keerds,” the keno man remarked. ** Durned if I ain’t sorry for him. He went all round town no-ig ht, talkin pretty loudly, too, or he did in yd place, and 1 s’pose some scoun- drel thought that he had a big stake on him.” ‘*His watch ain’t teched,” said the kneeling man, holding it up as he spoke, and then ex- amining his pockets, produced a wallet which appeared to be tolerably well filled. ‘‘ Who- ever did it didn’t go through him, anyway.” ‘“*Thar’s a leetle diamond ring on his finger, too,” observed another sharp-eyed citizen, ‘**Stand back, fellow-citizens, and give me a chance to look into this hyer matter!’ Keno Bill exclaimed. ‘* Thar has been foul play byes whether the man was robbed or not. He has been killed and no mistake about it!” The throng of people fell back and allowed Keno Bill to advance. He knelt by theside of the body and proceeded to make a careful ex- amivation. Aft the first glance there was very little indi- cation of violence, but upon a- close inspection, a little scariet ring encircling the neck was dis- covered, and Bill at once announced the fact to the crowd. “* See byer, boys. if the man hed been choked to death!” ‘*Thar’s blood on his clothes somewhar’s,” declared the man who first discovered the con- dition of the prostrate form. “I know it, ’cos 1 got some on my band.” e miner held up his band, and u the fingers, plain to the sight of all, was the stain of blood. ‘* We must go slow; one thing at a time,” ob- served the Keno King, who did not relish the interruption. ‘‘ Furst and foremost, hyer is the mark on the throat, jest for all the world as if the fellow had been choked to death, and the face, too, is all distorted jest asif the life had been squeezed out of him.” Then the self-constituted investigator turned his attention to the y- He unbuttoned aud threw open the high-cut vest, and there on the white surface of the shirt was a gory stain. **He has been cut or plugged, sure enough!” Bill announced. No doubt in regard to this, but, what puzzled the bystanders was the fact that there was no visible spe, pee the shirt had been pierced by blade or Alcibiades stared and shook his head, and so did all the rest. This was a mystery such as Needle Bar had never known. e blood-spot was right over the heart and the crimson life- tide was still welling forth. ‘* This beats my time, gentl’men; if it don’t, you may call me a catfish!” the Keno King de- ‘*Suppose you open the shirt and then the nature of the wound can be discovered,” Cali- fornia John ‘ Alcibiades gave a contemptuous sniff at this, but acted upon the hint, nevertheless, With his sharp-pointed, keen-edged bowie- knife Bill slit the shirt down the center, and throwing it open exposed the muscular chest o the d man. : Right over the heart was a little red spot, the tiniest kind of a wound, from which the blood was slowly flowing. The wound was no bigger than would have n the mark left by the stab of a knitting-needle. Carefully, with his handkerchief, Bill wiped away the blood so that the wound could be are seen by all, and not one of the eager crowd bending over the body, mouth agape with curiosity, examined the odd-looking York with more attention than California John. ‘* Well, durn me! if this don’t beat ary thing that I ever see’d or heered tell on!” Alcibiades averred. ‘See hyer, gentlemen, [think I can throw ens light on this affair,” California John re- mar ; The eyes of all were instantly turned upon him, and on more than one face appeared a look of suspicion. ‘‘T mean how the man came to his death, not. who killed him,” the Californian continued. ‘‘ As I walked into the town to-night—I came by the California trail—I saw something glisten b the roadside, and being of a curious nature picked up this little article, which I took to bea toy, but which I now perceive has been put to practical use.” Then the speaker took from his pocket, and held up to view, a tiny little dag- ger, a toy such as the Spanish maids we to Durned if it don’t look as _* cHaty i ie = chooks. - sin.