Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 189 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

16 A’Nor will you the next, for that man bears a charmed life.” ~’ om Ov ‘‘You’d have thought so had you seen bim get away with my little party that called for him to pass fh ‘his chips.” | : ‘You had a fight with him, then?’ and it was very evident that Captain Tiger was deep- ly interested. . Kit Carr answered the question with: ‘Did we hev a fight with him, pard? ~ ai) Yes.” “Waal, it were a battle, av’ ther dead sayed thar, ther wounded escaped, an’ we are trer latter.” — ‘How many of you were there?’ “Plenty, accordin’ ter our calkerlation, ter do ther biz prime; but we made a miscalkilate, an’ we two orphans are all thet remain o’ our fambly o’ five pussons.” “He killed three of you, then?” “Them thet is dead thinks’so, you bet, an’ we what is livin’ knows it.” “That was too bad, for that man ought to die,” “T have sworn to kill him, and I will keep my word!’ said Captain Corduroy, in a low, stern tone that showed he was in deadly earn- est in making the threat. : “That is to be proven; but are you just from Poker City?’ . “ Left there yesterday.” ‘‘ Where were you last night?’ “In the mountains hunting for one of your men to take us in.”’ ‘Were you in Poker City when the stage came in?” ‘*Driven by Andy Rush?” ae Yes. ” “We were.” “Did you know who arrived im it?’ “T did.” “Was there a young lady?’ “Til sw’ar ter that,” interrupted Kit Carr, ‘fer | knows her.” — “Who was she?” ‘‘A gal by ther name o’ Miss Insley, an’ she are a petticoat terrer.” ““Why do you say so?” “Waal, durin’ our lively time with Wild Bill I jest skipt inter ther parlor ter put a bul- lit through him outer ther window, an’ she were thar an’ tuk me in out o’ ther dampness. ‘Yas, the gal arrived by ther stage, an’ are in Poker City.” “Well, that is the girl I want, and if you two men get her into my power I will accept you as members in good standing in our band of the Desperado Dozen,”’ “You give us a hard task, sir.” “Why?” ts a *‘If we returned there we would be recog- nized and killed.” : “Were you known in the disguise you now wear?’ “Your eyes are searching to detect that we wear a disguise,” said Captain Corduroy. “Oh! I saw that when you first came in, for Iam compelled to hide my face often also. ‘Remove your false beards and wigs.” Promptly they did so. “Well, I cannot say you are much improved, for the devil in you still shows prominently.” “You are complimentary,” sneered Captain Corduroy. “T say what I mean; but come, I will pre- pare a disguise for you in which you can re- turn to Poker City and défy detection, and Hyena Harry shall go with you to see that you do not play me false.” “I, captain?’ asked Hyena Harry, in sur- prise. " eFer* ‘You know I never go any where other than to the Overland trail. “True, but you will oblige me this time, when I reveal my plot, and prove to you how safely it can be carried out.” Oe - is your plan?’ asked Hyena Harry. What that plot was, in all its clever deviltry, the reader already knows, as he does also, of the killing of Kit Carr by the Fighting Parson, the flight of Hyena Harry, and the hanging of Captain Corduroy by Wild Rill, the very man who had sworn to take his life. CHAPTER XXXL THE FATE OF THE VICTIMS. Arter Captain Tiger had started the now members of the Desperado Bozen on their devilish errand, accompanied by Hyena Harry, who was not only a spy upon them, but also an “Wild Bill’s Gold Trail. oe aid in getting Edna Insley into the power of the chief, he went first to the tent where was confined the unfortunate woman whom he had told was doomed. ‘‘ Well, sir?’ she said haughtily, wholly self- possessed. ‘‘You will not find me merciful, I assure you, Gertrude, and I have come to tell you that here you remain until you die.” She paled slightly, but answered: ‘‘Then you intend I shall. die?’ . “ Certainly.” ‘* You are now determined to get.rid of me?’ ‘Yes, because you are like a snake, and I know not when and how you will strike.” ‘‘ Whenever I can, and at your heart, you monster,” she'said,. with suppressed passion, ‘“‘ That I know and shall prevent; for here, I say, you die.” ‘* How do you intend ending my existence?’. “By starvation.” ‘‘T will live a long time then, and before I am starved, who knows but that the Desperado Dozen and their daring chief may be things of the past.” . ‘Perhaps we may, but we take the chances. “This is your abiding-place and death cage. | ‘‘ You have eaten your last morsel on éarth, and knowing what is to be your doom, you have ample time to prepare to die.”’ ‘Some weeks at least,” she said, with in- difference, apparently. ~ **It depends upon how long hufan nature can hold out without food. ‘“*T could knife you, but I like not a woman’s blood on my bands,” ‘You have become strangely virtuous then, since we last met,” she sneered. “Oh, it was imprisonment for me, or death for you, and of course I acted upon the first law of nature. ‘‘But you have it in your power to die sooner, if the pangs of hunger become. unbear- able.” ‘“How mean you?” “Here is a deadly poison, and I leave it with you. “Tt is aconite and a few drops will kill.” “Thank you, for you are merciful,” sh said, in a tone of withering sarcasm. ‘“Good-by, Gertrude, for this is our last farewell, as you will not see me again, and I care not to look upon you again in your misery. u ‘‘ Use the poison if you suffer, and when you are dead I will bury you yonder in the valley, on the bank of the brook, where the wild flowers will clamber upon your grave, and the rivulet and the birds will sing requiems over you to lull you to an eternal rest. ‘‘Good-by, dear Gertrude, sweet Gertrude, a long, a last farewell.” He kissed the tips of his fingers mockingly toward her, and turned away, leaving her white, stern and trembling with hate and passion, gazing after him as he walked down the valley, and remembering that he was the | man who had, in bygone:years, been her lover, and whom she had devotedly loved, whose wife she had become, and who was now divided from her by a gulf so wide, so deep, so_ black, that the wings of angels..could not bear an atom of affection back across the yawning chasm, Whistling an air from Norma, and assuming an indifference he could not feel and be human, Captain Tiger walked down the valley. He soon reached the mouth of a canyon, and entering it, came upon a cavern, when his ears were greeted by a deep growl. ‘Down, Death,” he said, sternly, as a huge grizzly bear raised upon. his hind legs at his ap- proach, . z The bear growled, or rather whined, yet made no hostile demonstrations as at first. The bear was one of the largest of its kind, and most savage-looking, red-eyed and fierce. He was chained securely to a tree growing at one side of the cavern, and the terrible gashes in the trunk showed how hard he had tried to free himself from his chains. There were piles of boves about him, and the odor was most disagreeable, Beyond him, and in the entrance of which he was lying when Captain Tiger approached, was a cave, which ran back into the solid rock about thirty feet. \ It was some ten feet in diameter at the en trance, and receded like a funnel, being but four f et at the end. 2. 4, passing the savage guard at the en- / trance, back into this cavé went. Captain Tiger, and before him was his second victim, It was Boyd Insley, and he, too, was chained heavily, an iron collar being about his neck. The chain was not long enough to allow of his standing up, but. held him down like a brute, He had been stripped of his clothing, except- ing his pants, and sat staring at the man before him like one dazed. The atmosphere of the place was most. fou), and the rocks alone served as. his bed, while a pile of straw in the corner was his only cover- ing. ‘‘ Well, old man, we meet again, as in ihe olden time, and once more I have you just where I want you.” ‘ ‘‘Hugh Harcourt, by Heaven!” and unmind- ful of his chains, Mr. Insley attempted to spring upon the man, but was jerked down again with fearful force, that hurt his neck se- verely, and nearly stunned him, ‘Yes, I am Hugh Harcourt in disguise,” laughed the wretch at the other’s severe fall, and he added: ‘You are here to be tortured to death, if you do not reveal the secret I would know.” ‘‘Man, you have not the power to wring from me the hiding-place of my gold, so do your worst,” é “We shall see.” , “ Ay, that we will.” ‘“‘Do you see your guard?” : ‘That grizzly bear is more merciful than you will be, I know.’ , “If you could free yourself of your irons, you could never pass him.” | ‘‘ Perhaps not,” ‘‘ Boyd Insley, you can go free this very day if you lead me to where you buried the gald your good luck gained for you, while I, dig- ging by your side day after day, toiled in vain,” ‘“* You shall never know,” ‘‘I guess a little torture will wring from you the secret.” . ““T will die as stoically as does the Indian under torture, you will find.” ‘“‘ Wait until you feel the knife and fire.” “They are no more than the pangs of star- vation which you made me suffer when I was in your power before.” . ‘Well, then, I shall not torture you, but. another.” . “What other?” “Your daughter,” ‘“‘ Thank God she is not in your power,” **She soon will be.” The father turned livid, and hoarsely asked: “What do you mean, monster?” “T have laid a trap into which she will fall, and I will torture her to wring from you the secret.” ‘Ob, man! man! have younomercy? “Spare my ehild, and you have my gold,” and the poor man was bowed with an- sh. “Then tell me the secret.” He seemed deeply moved, and said after an, instant: “ T will, I will. Rock?’ “I have heard of such a, rock in the upper valley,” eagerly answered the outlaw. : “Well, go there, and— No, no, no! not now will 1 tell you, for after all my noble child may not fall into your accursed trap. ‘No, no, Hugh Harcourt, there is one who will protect her, and yet hang you.” 5 ‘‘ You mean Wild Bijl?”’ said x and it was evident how deeply cbagri he was that the victim had not divulged bis se- cret.” ‘Yes, Wild Bill will save her.” ‘Bah! I have laid a trap for him too, and he will be here soon, along with your daugh- ter,” ‘Oh God!” All hope seemed to leave the poor man, and he lay upon his face on the rocks, groaning bitterly, and all efforts to arouse him were un- availing. > With a curse repeal Tiger turned away, and as he retraced steps up the valley, he muttered: ‘‘ IT do hope that\Hyena Harry and his ailies will be successful, gs I see fos that with Edpa Insley in my power, I can force the se- cret from the lips of her father. ‘And the gold I must have, for this country is becoming too hot for me, and the treasure will give me a fortune at one grasp which it will take years to earn as a road-agent,” Cs) Do you know the Umbrella’ (E() EComicboo