Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 197 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

early hour, and she knew only too well what that meant. Hehad begun one of his protracted debauches, which might last for days or even weeks before his bodily powers yielded and gave place to ‘‘ the horrors.” Until that occurred, and she was called upon to nurse him back to comparative health, Pet Flamsteed was free to go whither she would, so far as duty to others was concerned. It so chanced that her wanderings led her across the path of Barnacle Bill, who, true to his expressed detertuination of the past night, —— was fleeing from the scene of his utter defeat at | the hands of Revolver Robinson, and the sight Revo | of her beautiful face—even more lovely from | all that she had endured since the sun last set— scattered his wise resolutions to the four winds of heaven. Though he had so gracefully accepted that defeat, Barnacle Bill felt it none the less deeply, and as a partial solace he had not only drank freely before leaving Nugget Camp, but took with him an ample supply of similar ammuni- tion to beguile his weary retreat, which he sam- ey so freely that when he first caught sight of et Flamsteed, he was just drunk enough to) fancy her something more than simple mortal, though whether angel or witch was beyond his power of divination, With the elumsy cunning of one “ half-seas- over,” the Wall-eyed Pike o’ the Peak succeeded in gaining a position from whence he could catch a fair view of her face, and the rare beauty of this struck him more forcibly than did the rich voluptuousness of the blonde siren on the past evening. Nothing of the witch there—most assuredly an angel. Had Pet Flamsteed been less wholly absorbed in her own bitter musings, she must long since have discovered the approach of the drunken giant, for he had lost his usual skill in stalking, thanks to his whisky-muddled wits, but as it was he succeeded in gevting close to her before a more than usually clumsy stumble roused her from her reverie, and with a little exclamation of alarm she turned and faced him, A bland smile broadened his massive face, and with one hand thrust into the bosom of his woolen shirt, Barnacle Bill essayed a dignified gesture with the other, overbalancing himself and almost falling at full length. ‘‘ Durn the onstiddy ground! on a drunk las’ night, an’ bain’t rightly got over it yit!” he muttered, balancing himself with some little difficulty. ' Mechanically the little woman dropped a hand to the secret pocket in her dress where she usually carried a small but trusty revolver when away from the house, but for once she had forgotten it, and now found herself wholly unarmed. She cast a swift glance around her, thinking of hasty flight from the man she knew was drunk, but to her dismay, she saw that she had wandered into a trap from which she could escape only by brushing close past the giant, Beyond ber, and curving back on each side, ran a deep and wide cengen, its brink at this point being bordered with loose rocks so thickly that ony a awed passageway was left for retreat, and at the mouth of this avenue now stood the drunken man. “You ain’t gittin’ skeered of me, anngeliffer- ous madam?” asked Barnpcle Bill, with a re- proachful echo in his husky voice. ‘* Me as wouldn’t burt a flea, ef so be it was of the fem- inine nder, an’ I knowed it! Me, the great n’ only simon-pure Wall-eyed Pike o’ the Peak! Me, the tumblin’ tarrification o’ little minners— the b’ilin’ maelstrom that sucks in everythin’ from a sick angle-worm to a fuzzy goslin—the double-geared essence o’. chain-lightnin’ as sweeps the riffles with back-fin up an’ tail a-wig- glin’—the annihilator 0’ alligator-gars an’ tap- pin’ snorkles—sure death an’ bloody destruction to all sech ongainly critters, but the softest- hearted critter whar the gentle sect is consarned that you ever hearn tell on, me, Barnacle Bildad Tholuck?’ His great eyes protruded and his huge cheeks swell Reckon it was to give vent to his customary bugle- blast, but suddenly remembering in whose presence he stood, the giant choked back the unearthly sound, at the imminent risk of suffo- cation, This long-winded rigmarole gave Pet Flam- steed time to recover her wonted coolness, and her alarm lessened as she more nearly compre- hended the nature of the man by whom she found herself confronted. Had he been sober, she would have felt comparatively at her ease, for his face was not that of an ugly-disposi- tioned being, to say the least, but she knew only too well what complete alteration strong drink can effect even in the most generous of disposi- tions, and assuming a confidence which she was far from feeling at heart, Pet Flamsteed took a step forward, saying: , “Scared? no, of course not! Why should I be a, germ of you? But [have already over- stayed my time, and really must hasten bome, else father will be uneasy and set out in’ quest of me.” _ Barnacle Bill doffed his bat, smiling blandly, but be made no move to clear the narrow pass- age, and the little woman was forced to stop short, not caring to place herself within reach of his hands if she could avoid doing so. ‘‘Fer why should ye, sure enough!” echoed the giant. ‘‘Fer no airthly reason at all—by no manner o’ means! ‘Stead o’ that ye ought to be tickled ds I be—tickled at meetin’ with your finny—inity, that’s it!” and he nodded ore at his having found the proper word, That vigorous nod was too much for his un- certain equilibrium, and he lurched heavily forward with a choking hiccough. Mistily re- alizing that he must fall, either purposely or otherwise, Barnacle Bill made a merit of ne- _cessity and dropped to his knees, then clasped bis hands and leered languishingly up into the face of the startled little woman. ‘“ Anngelifferous madam, the one great an’ only ’riginal Wall-eyed Pike o’ the Peak gits down onto his marrer-bones to do you honor! He slicks down his back-fin, an’ combs all the kinks out o’ his double geared propeller—he paints a beauty-spot in each one o’ his shiny scales, an’ begs you to look tharin an’ diskiver the idol o’ his lonesome heart! Smile onto the his wall-eyes ferever! Anngelifferous madam, hear my prayer!” the drunken fellow’s words, looks and attitude, that the anger which had sprung up in the heart of Pet Flamsteed at his impudence, was con- quered by a strong inclination to laugh. ‘This she managed to smother, but despite her will, a smile flashed over ber face, and drunken though e was, Barnacle Bill saw and drew encourage- ment from ib, ‘Don’t be skeered, anngelifferous madam, but let ’er slide—say the word that'll make old Walleye the happiest fish in all the swimmin’ holes this side 0’ monkey-héaven! Ef it comes kind o’ hard, an’ you feel too bashful to spit it out with me a-lookin’ at ye, jest give the teen- tyest bit of a wink, an’ [’ll shet all two both o’ my eyes so I cain’t heur nur see ye—I will so - he smile died away more quickly than it had found birth, and the little woman flushed up warmly as she demanded: ‘What do you mean? you, sir!” It was now the turn of Barancle Bill to look astonished, and he did so to the very life. ‘You ain’t foolin’? Sure you ain’t tryin’ for to cod me?” “- ‘Get out of the way and let me pass!” cried Pet now thoroughly angered. ‘ You are a per- fect stranger, and can have nothing to say that Iam bound to listen to. Let me pass, if you are a gentleman and not a blackguard!” Barnacle Bill stared at her in open mouthed amazement, his whisky-sodden brain incapable of understanding how he had given offense to this beautiful spitfire. But then a peculiarly brilliant idea struck him, and with a sheepish laugh, though not making any offer to arise or clear the way, he said: ‘« Anngelifferous madam, I ax your pardon a million times over; an’ as much more atop o’ that as yer kin wish fer. My heart isin the right place, evenef my tongue ain’t quite as limber as it ought to be when talkin’ to a female anngel in petticoats, ‘The great trouble in this is the lack o’ ’sperience on my part. It’s the fust time I ever was called on to pop the ques- tion, an’ ef I sorter went at it back-eend fo’most you mustn’t lay it up ag’inst me too hard.” “Once more, will you let me pass?” ‘‘Don’t she do it nice an’ nat’ral?” grinned Barnacle Bill, nodding and smiling to an unseen audience aS he uttered this “aside.” ‘Most any body would think she was in dead-open-an’- shet airnest, wouldn’t they, now?” Provoked, angered as she was, Pet Flamsteed could hardly restrain a laugh at the ridiculous notion, and as she began to believe that there was no actual harm in the drunken fellow, how- ever annoying his persistency might be,she took what promised to be the shortest methad of ex tricating herself from an unpleasant dilemma, “Since you persist in being heard, say what you have to offer, in the fewest words possible,”’ she uttered in a cold tone, ‘I have little time to waste in trifling.” ‘Didn't I tell ye so?’ exclaimed Barnacle Bill, still in that theatrical aside. ‘‘Didn’t I know she wasn’t mad in up-an’-down airnest, but only a leetle putt out at my bein’ sech a clumsy idjit to fergit all 'd ever read an’ hearn tell "bout the anngelifferous critters?” Turning his beaming countenance once more toward Pet Flamsteed, Barnacle Bill clapped one nans over his heart, and gracéfully empha- sized his words with the other. * Anugelifferous madam, the one an’ onl great an’’riginal Wall-eyed Pike o’ the Pea axes your double-an’-twisted pardin for makin’ a long-eared jass-ack out o’hisself! Some on- manly critter an’ reperbate mought try to insin- iwate as I hed bin drunk—they mought even tr to make you think I wasn’t clean got over It yit; but it ain’t that as makes me so fergitful an’ strabacted. No, sir, anngelifferous madam, not by a in hed It’s all along o’ my thinkin’ an’ a-ponderin’ an’ a-weepin’ over the lonely lot I don’t understand disconsolate critter, onless you want to see his | | pore gills dry up an’ the light o’ life fade out o’ There was something so utterly ridiculous in | lver Rob, the Red-Handed. eee —_———— ae oe $$$ ———- ———ea which a spiteful fate hes squatted me down into, without axin’ me so much as I, yes or no!” “Will you oblige me by coming to the point as quickly as possible, sir?’ impatiently demand- ed Pet Flamsteed. Still more blandly smiled Barnacle Bill, if that be possible, at what he regarded as the very natural impatience of a young lady who only waits a fair excuse for saying the all important yes. And clearing his voice, he resumed: ‘* Ef thar’s any one p’int onto which old Wall- eye prides hisself more then another, it is that of slingin’ his talk straight to the bull’s-eye, without wastin’ a grain o’ powder in sightin’- shots. When he’s got anythin’ to say, he says it, an’ don’t go sloppin’ his breath all over the kentry, like some o’ them two-legged talkin’ machines you read about, he don’t—not much!” In utter despair the little woman uttered no - further protest, but sunk down on a rock, sum- moning what patience she could, letting the drunken giant take bis own time. Dimly conscious that something was going wrong, Barnacle Bill spurred up his wandering wits and returned to the point: ‘‘’Tain’t good fer a man-critter to bach it all bis lonesome self—we’ve got the word o’ the good book fer that, as mebbe you’ve hearn tell, anngelifferous madam. When I was young an’ foolish I didn’t take it to heart so much, but old Wall-eye hes cut bis wisdom teeth at last, an yar he is, on a still-hunt fer a wife. Lookin’ fer some anngelifferous madam who'll agree to cook his chuck, keep his shack in apple-pie order, putt buttons onto bis shirts, half-sole his britches an’ sing the young-‘uns to sleep when it comes roostin’-time. ‘‘That’s the one side; now look at the other. ‘* Right yar on bis marrer-bones is a smart chunk of a man, ef Ido say so, which hedn’t orter. Forty year old, but sound as a dollar, without wind-gall, quarter crack, splint or spavin, an’ soople as a two year old chuck-full o’ new oats! man as kin jump furder, kick higher, squeal louder, strike harder, shoot straighter, eat more chuck an’ swaller more stiff budge—that is,” with a dim idea that some- how he was on the wrong tack, ‘‘ who kin love alittle woman ten times more then ary other two-legged critter that walks the footstool!” At this juncture the love-lorn giant paused to catch his breath and observe the effect of his eloquence on the object of bissudden adoration. It was hardly all that he could wish for, though the emotions of the little woman were about equally divided between indignation at the fel- low’s unparalleled impudence and a strong sense of the ludicrous. But Barnacle Bill was too much in earnest to be easily daunted, and so he pluckily picked his flint to try again. ‘‘'That’s the man, an’ now fer the trimmin’s, anngelifierous madam. An’ when it comes to that, the one great an’ only ’riginal kin spread hisself with the best an’ toniest of them, Ef he don’t kerry a gold mine in each one:o’ his britches pockets, *tain’t ’cause he don’t got ’em, no, sir! Ef you like, you kin throw nuggets o’ gold out o’ the window with a shovel all day long, an’ old Wall-eye’ll never kick. Only say the word—say you'll marry me—” An imperious gesture from the little woman cut him short. | ‘‘ You have said enough. I flatly decline the honor. If there isa spark of manhood about you, arise and let me pass.” With these words Pet Flamsteed advanced, and Barnacle Bill, like one stupefied, staggered to his feet unsteadily, as he did so flinging out one hand which closed on her shoulder. A sharp ery of mingled indignation and fear broke from her lips, seeming the signal for a spiteful pistol crack. tide a choking groan, Barnacle Bill fell like a log. CHAPTER XI. SAMSON AND DELILAA, Pret FLAMSTEED uttered a gasping cry of hor- ror and staggered back as the giant fell at ber feet with that horrible groan, so suddenly over- taken by a terrible retribution. Only for the support lent by one of the bowlders nigh, the little woman musthave fallen, for a bloody mist ee before her eyes, and her limbs failed er. Like one in a dream, she heard a cheering shout, and a moment later, warm hands clasped her in a close embrace. Like magic, her streneth returned, and wresting herself free, Pet Flamsteed stood at bay, for as yet she had failed to recognize the one who had rescued her from the grasp of the tipsy giant. “You are not hurt? That scoundrel did not do you any injury?’ came the swift inquiries in an agitated tone. . As a puff of wind dispels a fog-wreath, so the sound of that voice cleared the misty blur from before the eyes of the little woman, though she could not say that she bad ever heard it before, but there was an interest in it such as none save one wholly friendly could have manifested, and that sickening fear which had overcome the poor hunted girl-woman, that she had been Eomicboo S) (E()