Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 194 — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

3 ~ | | f | | | | | / ‘ I ‘ Don Sombrero, the California Road Gent. ys but, before more could be said, Don Sombrero spoke quietly: “Have no fears, my friends, for I am not bere with evil intentions. Miss Austin, I dis- like to delay you at this moment, but I would like a few moments of your time.” ‘‘Do not agree, Miss Octavia,” Dorval said, hastily, ‘‘or we shall have another abduction. Leave this man to me.” ‘* No,” she answered, firmly, ‘‘ I will talk with him. Even if he should attempt mischief, your revolver is still in your hands.” She walked toward the road-agent without awaitiny a reply, and, though Dorval groaned inwardly, he kept his place and contented him- self with keen wa ching. “Tf am glad to see you still trust me, Miss Austin,” Don Sombrero quietly said. ‘*I trust that events will not shake my faith in you,” she answered. “So fur as [I can control the future, I swear that no harm shall ever come to you through me. Believing as I do that you are the noblest of women, it would be an everlasting blight on my manhood if I proved so worthless. That is a strange remark for an outlaw, isn’t it?” ‘Why will you use such a term?” ‘* Tt is the one applied to me in the placard at the village.” ‘He who wrote itis himself now a fugitive from justice.” ‘‘[ know,” Don Sombrero quickly said, ‘‘and you have my sincerest sympathy in your afflic- tion. I have strong hope, however, that Miss Laura will be safely rescued.” ‘* She seems to be singularly unfortunate.” ** It is so, but, were it not for the condition of her father, I should have faith to believe a brighter day at hand.” ‘My brother is mortally wounded,” Octavia sadly said, ‘*Lam/sorry for you all, and I know from experience just how hard it is to bear. Now, pardon me, but I would like to know for what you were searching in the grove.” Octavia hesitated, and then he continued: ** Was it for a pistol and a cigar-case?” For a moment the lady was uncertain how to act, but, vielding to a sudden impulse, she told how and why she had been sent to the grove. ‘* Perhaps I can throw some light on the sub- ject,” the road-agent quietly said. ‘‘I believe Judge Austin desires the articles I just named, and, if you will take this package to him it may save him from worrying.” He partially unrolled the package, showing a pistol and cigar-case, but she hesitated. ‘Why take them when they are not the originals he wisbes?” “They are the originals, Nay, do not ask me to explain vow, buf merely accept my word andcarry them tohim. Do not mention me, or say that you found nothing in your search, but, my word for it, he will be satisfied.” “T willdo as you say, though I am deeper than ever in perp exity.” | “You ghall soon have an explanation, not only of this mystery, but of that which hedges mein, Inside of a week, perhaps of a day, Don Sombrero will unmask, and you shall know him as he is. Then, perbaps, you will curse him and the hour we met, but I bope for a dif- ferent result. Bo that as it may, the career of the road-agent is over. Your face has saved me from crime, Octavia, and I bless you with all my heart.” His voice was passionate and tender, and the lady knew not what to say. She felt that, with her proud ancestry, she ought to rebuke this outlaw, but it would be a grand thing to save a human being from ruin, and she knew that, in her heart was an echo of the tenderness sbe read in his manner. What she said she scarcely knew, but Don Sombrero realized that time was rapidly pass- ing, and he soon bade her adieu and rode away toward the road. She watched until he disappeared in the dark- ness, and then, followed by Dorval, returned to the house, but the man asked in vain for an ac. count of what had been said, A few minutes later she laid the pistol and the cigar-case in her brother’s hands, and she cae the sudden lightening of his face that there was no mistake. _ “They are back again,” he murmured, look- ing at them intently, ‘“‘ but I cannot realize why I ted them.” She did not answer, and he turned them over Peres Imes, and then turned toward her sud- ‘‘ Octavia,” he said, ‘these things have a stony ® tragical one, and I am pe is to tell it 9 you. CHAPTER XXX1xX. ft Theodore Rivers Wr left en ore ivers and Dj at the end of a previous chapter gid each Ns come upon Roberts and his prisoner, and bad halted at his Coa Both the would-be rescuers were wise to see that the sheriff meant business, eooaeo way in which he held Laura prevented them from using their own revolvers upon him, On Laura’s part, her face was paler than usual, but there was no evidence of cowardly fear, and their p did not suffer a material check, confident as Roberts appeared. ‘*We were looking for you, sheriff,” Rivers said, not knowing what else to say in the pecu- liar state of affairs. ‘* Well, you’ve found me, haven’t you?” the assassin retorted. ‘*T reckon we have,” “‘ Having found me, what do you propose to do about it?” **We propose to take Tabor, either alive or dea ‘*Good! ‘You are talking to the point, which is a thing I like. I will do the same. You want to rescue this lady, but you can’t have her. I hold this pass, and, if you advance, I’)] bore you full of holes until a coroner could never sit on your remains.” **Do you propose to hold the pass against all Mount Tabor?” ‘*T am talking with you, and with you alone.” *“S’posen [ see fit ter put in my bugle voice?’ said Dick Meeker. ‘‘S’posen I see fit ter cover your stake? Thisis a free kentry, an’I am a naturalized voter. Where is ther mule-eared sheriff that kin bridle my tongue?’ ‘*Don Sombrero and a fool!” cried Roberts, derisively. ‘‘ You are a fine pair of knights errant!” ‘‘*There are more fools than ther gods ever made,’” said Meeker, dramatically. ‘‘ See byer, Roberts, | know you well. You are a durned cunnin’ cuss, but you dassent fight a ’skeeter. Jest say whether you'll settle this circus by tacklin’ a man like me.” ‘Tf you want a fight you must come to me.” ‘** Gentlemen,” in'errupted Laura, *‘ I beg that you will not sacrifice your lives for me. The man, Braxton, is in thé valley behind us, and he carries a rifle. Would it not be well for you to await reinforcements?” ‘‘Tisten- to the oracle,” laughed Roberts, hoarsely, ‘* This is a war of words. Who speaks next?” Rivers stopped the miner as he was about to speak, ‘*Say no more, but keep your place quietly. The villain will scon tire of bis position.’ **T wish we had a Jasso.” ‘‘We have not, so we vill not discuss the matter. Roberts is bold enough now, but this affair will soon end against him, I have an idea. Suppose that I remain here while you make a detour and gain the rocks above his head. This would soon drive him to pastures ye back to Mount ew,” “'That’s ther proper caper. gy your eyes open, squire, an’ you shall soon hev returns from ther back counties.” The miner strode away to the left, and Rob- erts looked after him uneasily. ** What are they trying to do?” he muttered. “You bave only to wait and you will learn,” Laura curtly said. ‘* Shoot me if Ido wait. I’m not going to let them get the drop on me when I’m wide awake,” With these words he began to move slowly backward, keeping his gaze fixed upon Rivers, but the latter did not stir. It was not timidity that kept him quiet, but the knowledge that for the time the game was in Roberts’s hands. Des- perate as the latter’s chances had become, he would not hesitate to shoot Laura if hard pressed, while a little careful work seemed sure to give the pursuers the vantage in the end. So Rivers, without stirring, saw the two dis- appear behind a point of rock, and the sheriff turned to where Ben Braxton was standing be- side the horses. The ruffian did not look in a very happy frame of mind, but Roberts felt that he could be de- pended upon, and matters had come to a pass where his single arm was to be highly valued, “We will get into the bushes,” the leading, villain briefly said, as he lifted Laura into the saddle of the nearest horse, ‘‘ They can’t see us in yonder labyrinth without getting might close, and if phe try that we will make their way one of blood.” “Aint thar but two on ’em?”’ asked. “There may be others bebind, but only Rivers and Dick Meeker are near us.” ‘“All Mount Tabor will soon be howlin’ about ther place.” ‘““They won’t take me alive,” Roberts said, grating his teeth. “‘T don’t think they are particularly anxious for you to live,” said Laura, sarcastically. “Oh! they want me for Judge Lynch, I sup- poras but they will be thwarted. My good Ps so not going to desert me at this late a y: By this time they had reached the cover of the trees and the sheriff paused and looked back. His enemies were not visible. ‘Their courage isn’t equal to the demands of the occasion,” he sneered. ‘I am not afraid of a score of such fellows.” “Do you really expect to oppose them suc- cessfully?’ Laura asked, in surprise. “They will be in dead earnest after what has occurred.” ‘J donot fear them.” Braxton * And what, sir, do you intend to do with ‘* Well, L scarcely know, except that I am resolved to have you to myself, come what may. I tried to win you fairly, but they would not allow it. Now, I’ll have an unwilling bride if it is necessary.” ‘Do you think, Mr, Roberts, that I shall be like clay in your hands after I have seer my father shot down by your act?” ‘‘! was driven to the deed.” ‘You speak alely sir. It was an uncalled for and cowardly deed, and if I thought his wound was serious, I would myself take your life now.” Her flashing eyes and set face showed how much in earnest she was, but Roberts only laughed. For the time, at Jeast, she was pov er- less to do him injury, and he had always re- garded her sex as creatures of utter weakness. Braxton, however, turned his i hs away from her face with a gravity unusual to him, He and his leader stood opposed to all California in the struggle, and nowhere in the future could he see a gleam of light. In fact, the courage of the bully was beginning to waver, and he would gladly have been out of the contest. f ‘*Can’t we find a cave som’ers about hyer?” he asked. ‘Why? ' ‘*We can be surrounded whar we be an’ this thicket is no protection. Ef we could git inter a hole in ther rocks they couldn’t get us out easy. There was reason in what he said, and as Roberts remembered the cave found by the exploring party, he resolved to at once take to its shelter. It was large enough to give quar- ters to them and their horses, and the entrance was so narrow that it could be held against a large foree, Acting on this idea they turned and rode through the bushes toward the cliffs. No one eer to oppose them and the further side of the valley was soon reached, but here oc- curred a new difficulty, steep and rocky and it seemed impossible to the horses up to the mouth of the cave, Roberts went in advance with Laura, it being his intention to place bonds on ber ankles as well as on her wrists when once in the refuge, while Braxton devoted his attention to the horses. They were hardy animals and accus- tomed to mountain work, so that they respond- ed to his call far better than he had expected, but he was in, a vicious mood when nothing could satisfy him. ‘*Come up hyer, you durned galoots!” he mut- tered, jerking at their bridles, ‘Climb, curse you, or I'll brain you whar you stand. You took me up hyer an’ inter this trap on ther dead jump, an’, by ther Lord, I’ll make ye go furder or hey your skins,” There is nothing laughable in the rage of a man who values human life as a mere nothing, and Ben Braxton was not at that moment ina condition to attract argument from a reformer. Said reformer would have preferred to give bim a wide berth. But the faithful horses climbed steadily, and when the sheriff again appeared outside the cave he was delighted to find them at the door. ghey were persuaded to go inside and to the further side of the place, and then Roberts sent Ben to watch the entrance while he went over to where he had left Laura. CHAPTER XL, HEMMED IN, ‘“‘T am sorry to have had to bind you thus,” Roberts said, with some pinche! of shame, ‘but it was a work of necessity. To make amends, I will now free you from all your bonds,” While speaking he was busy with his knife but Laura remained silent until the last cord was cutaway. Several times during the past few weeks she had been subjected to rough treatment, but it had only served to show her heroic nature and she had reached the point where all was received with outward compo- sure, ‘Tt is no wonder they called you a good sheriff at Mount Tabor, since you are so ful at handling prisoners,” she said, sarcastically. **My genius has only begun to sbine,” l e an- swered, with remarkablelightness. ‘‘ I'll make those pilgrims from the town think me a Napo- leon before I am done with them.” ; “In the meanwhile, what will you do for food?” Roberts’s smile suddenly vanished. Until that moment he had not thought of that most es- sential feature of a siege, and it was a question which perceptibly dampened his ardor. ** We have plenty of horse meat on hand,” he said, savagely, ‘‘ and if the worst comes wecan seize the men we kill and turn cannibal!” Laura shuddered. *‘T did not think you such a monster!” she said, ina voice of horror. “1 am only a man,” he said, scowling. ‘*What more is the milk-and-water creature oulove? You think Rivers an angel, but I ow him better than you. Girl, have you ever suspected the identity of Don Sombrero?” — get t cS com Ghboo The way was then | (Eo) —_— —. =e. = ee —. :