Beadle's Dime Library No. 199 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

Diamond Dick, the Dandy from Denver. “Tf any man, or men, in this assembly thinks enough of the coward at my feet to take this thing up, let him or them step forward now, or else forever hold peace. the champagne waste,” said Diamond Dick, placidly. : The gigantic borderer, a moment after, gave I’m a stranger in your | a grunt, and with a spasmodic quiver openeé town, and a tender-foot perbaps, but I think I | his eyes. He then sprung to bis feet with a yell can hold my own now.” : ‘Reckon Pete don’t think yer huff’s ver tender,” said Bowlder Bill; which remar of pain and fury, as Placer Palace once again | rung with cheers for Diamond Dick. Drawing both sleeves across his smarting op- brought down the house, as the speaker drew | tics, and rubbing them vigorcusly, the des- “six” and bowie, and placed himself by the | side of Diamond Dick. the senseless man, and with the weapon pre- | sented, and its muzzle describing scalloped circles in the air in his shaky grasp, put on a | desperate look, that was extremely comical, as he, too, ranged himself by the side of the daring dandy from Denver. rado gazed around upon the crowd with a | look of stupid rage; but as Dick happened to be Jim Jams jerked the pistol from the belt of | standing in his rear, he did not observe him. ‘‘Feller pilgrims,” spoke up Pete, in a hoarse voice, ‘“‘have thar bin a thunder-storm, a double-barreled cyclone, er hes ther dinnermite in Sper Shaft ’sploded?”’ The crowd, however, stood dumfounded, and | the Indian—the innocent cause of the strife— looked admiringly upon the youth who had risked his life in his behalf. In another moment | he bad thrown his blanket to the floor, and with his black snake-like eyes pe ary. f stood, scalp- ing-knife in hand, by the side of bis champion. ‘* Put up your weapons, Dick,” advised T'aop ‘Tim; ‘‘ that man hasn’t a friend in this burg. He came into thetown flat broke, and pretended to have lost his pile since he arrived, that he might get his whisky free. If any one here wants anything, he can get it. I’m your friend from the word ‘go’; but, generally speaking, this is a square crowd.” “All right, sir,” said Dick; “Til take your word for it. I’m not afraid of a brave man, .but I keep my best eye On acoward, I ordered drinks just now, I believe. Gentlemen,” touch- ing his hat, ‘‘ this is a free bar for the next half- hour,” _ Adeafening cheer at this rong through Placer Palace, and all hands soon ranged themselves at the counter for refreshments. The Indian returned bis Pree to its place, and grasping the hand of the dandy from enver, pressed it against his breast. ‘‘ Big Medicine is the friend of Diamond Dick. His lodge is open, and his heart, will be glad when his white brother sits by his camp- fire.” ‘‘Good, my red friend! Ill come and see you, bet your life,” was the bearty response. | cated in my skull. A —— A roar of laughter greeted the question. ‘*The comet slings a loose tail to-night, and it must have struck you,” said Taos Tim, as he lished a decanter. ‘‘ You haven’t got the eart disease, or congestion of the brain run- ning in your family, have you?” ‘“*Pears to me thar’s somethin’ wrong with my thinkin’ machinery,” replied Pete, rubbing his head. ‘I’ve got bugs in my ears, or else my brains hes run out an’ a swarm o’ bees hes lo- Reckon I needs some med’- cin’,” ‘Take another pull at Big Medicine, and see if you can’t make a better thing of it,” advised the bar-xeeper, with a laugh. At these words Pueblo Pete spriing into the air with a whoop, and whirled about, bis blood- shot eyes glaring with the most intense rage. Everything was now brought back to his mud- dled mind by this last remark of Taos Tim. As Pete turned around Diamond Dick stood with his arms folded, and a boyish smile upon his face. ‘‘By ther big terrantaler o’ Taos! By ther skippin’ scorpion 0’ Susquebhanner!” Pete cried out. ‘‘Ef Ll ’members kerrect, my as squirt from Civilize, ye’re ther tender-huff what clubbed me side o’ my kerbase fer layin’ my paw on thet greasy red. Now, jist watch me, an’ I’Jl scalp the scarefyin’ heathen right plum afore yer peepers; an’ ef yer lays a finger on my nattermy, l’ll cut yer inter saddie-strings, so help me, Jumpin’ Jericho!” Drawing his bowie as hé spoke, Pete sprung madly toward Big Medicine; but before be “Itisenough. Big Medicine’s lodge ison the | reached the Kioway, Diamond Dick stepped in mountains, toward the north, He can shoot front of him, which caused the latter to stop an arrow fron bis skin-house into the street of | and make a lunge at his late adversary. the white man.” ‘* Dick,” spoke up Jim Jams, familiarly; ‘‘thet’s ther chief what this hyer bure’s named arter. He’s a med’cin’ man o’ ther He war fust off a chief, but he picked up too much from ther whites ter suit ther tribe, an’ they bounced him. He knows more’n a dozen reds put together. Yer played a_ fust-class trump card when yer pertected him, fer he hain’t got an enemy in ther er “Dick,” said Bowlder Bill, “I want yer ter count me asa true pard, frontier, but I reckon yer kin salt a man "bout es lively es ther best on us. Yer hes too much od natur an’ wealth ter be safe hyer-a-ways. ) Reckon yer hain’t bin in New Mex’ many moons, hes yer?” _ . Wild yells for Diamond Dick prevented the latter from replying to Bowlder Bill, except by a grasp briskly to the bar, where Taos Tim passed him a bottle of champagne, the wires only having been cut. An idea seemed suddenly to occur to him as he took it up, He saw that he had created a good impression, notwithstanding hisdandyish appearance, which he knew was an object of contempt among the borderers. He was in frontier rig, but he knew that he was too “fresh” and showy, and that he needed to roll across the street a few times, or tumble down a canyon or two, before he could expect to appear exactly square to the citizens, As he objected to such a programme, he resolved to make himself ‘‘ pure pewter” with the denizens of Big Medicine City, through the accomplishments and skill that were most valued and respected among them, and which he had practiced somewhat befure his foot: had pressed prairie sod or the rocky trails of the mountains. With this end in view, Diamond Dick the bottle of champagne, and step from the bar mmf Pueblo Pete still lay senseless on his back, his brutal face upturned, and our hero deliberately stood the bottle on the forehead of the prostrate man, drew some fifteen paces away; backing, as he did so, into the gambling portion of the establishment. By this time the attention of the crowd was fixed upon the bottle, and Dick drew his re- volver and fired, seemingly without taking aim. The top of the cork flew through the air in a number of pieces; the strings were shot away, and the remainder of the cork left the neck of the bottle, striking the ceiling, while the seeth- ing wine shot upward in thin spray, and the sparkling juice of the grapes of sunny France ran down the sides of the and head of Pueblc Pete. y “Pards, my bullet drew the cork, so don’t let | ment of Dick, in order to get the Ye’re fresh on this | | ioways. | of the hand, and our hero stepped | a a | The instant that the huge borderer made a step backward, the leg of our hero flew for- ward and his foot clasped around the heel of Pete, causing the latter once more to lose his balance and fall backward heavily upon the —. the point of his bowie being buried in the plank. Again Placer Palace rung with wild shouts and cheers, and Pueblo Pete ground his teeth in a desperate frenzy of fury. With a look of unconcern Dick walked back and forth, tapping his boot-leg with his whip as he did so. In spite of this, however, his manner and ex- ression would have led one to believe that he ad some important object in view, and was evolving plans in his mind to favor or forward its accomplishment. The peculiar and scientific manner in which Dick had ‘laid out” the big borderer, ny om to his extreme liberality and gentleman y bearing, had won the favor of ‘the majority of the motley crowd; but when they witnessed such forbearance the second time, their minds were filled with wonder and admi- ration. Such usage as Pete bad received was bumiliat- ing in the extreme, especially as he had been worsted by a youth yet in his teens, and ‘a ten- der-foot at that. He felt it the more, because, in the early part of the evening he had been swaggering around the gaming tables in a most insulting manner, and boasting that he was the best man in Big Medicine City. However, most of the frequenters of Placer Palace had set Pete down for what he was worth previous to the advent of Diamond Dick, ‘but it afforded them great gratification to see him shownup. The dashing dandy from Den- ne had evidently made a clean jump into popu- ty. ‘‘ He’s a high-falutin’ sort-of a cuss, dang’d ef ped he ain’t!” said one “No tin-foil ’bout thet rooster. He’s solid silver clean through.” ~~ ‘* He does pan out wnt ‘*He’s peart es a panther-cat, limber es an eel, an’ quick on ther shoot es an alligator gar.” ‘* He’s got es much snap in him es a nem bear- trap, dog-goned ef he hain’t, and don’t you Gis- remember hit.” : | ‘*Reckon he’s Barnum’s Ingy-rubber man on a champagne stampede.” Such remarks passed here and there among the crowd, and if Pueblo Pete-had any sympa- thizers, they prudently kept their opinions to shemselves. t Taos Tim, who was, from business necessity, well schooled in reading the character and in- tentions of men by their manner and expres- tle upon the face | sion of features, knew that Pete was bent on deadly revenge, and was prrtrc erg, sos move- p on him. —_——OO ll EE EE a ————————————————————————--=--—-sss-se-ssssss=---seesie A ET desperado. Pete with yells of rage; others bounded toward Had the self-styled desperado been more calm and had less whisky on board, he would have realized how foolish and dangerous it would be for him to take any advantage of a man who had, in a short space of time, won the good- will of the citizens of Big Medicine City; but he thought only of revenge. His revolver had been returned to his belt Jams, previous to his recovery, and while seated on the floor, jarred to the very marrow by his unexpected fall, he determined to put a ball through the Denver dandy, before the latter could wa weapon. With this resolve, Pueblo Pete, with a heavy groan, turned over on hands and knees, and in a stiff, slow way, exerted himself to regain his feet, his right side being next to, and in the shadow of the counter, where no eye could detect bis right-hand movement. With a sudden motion, the desperddo: pulled his revolver from the scabbard, and regained his position at a bound, at the same time eock- ing and presenting his pistol toward, Diamond Dick; but before this movement was executed, it was detected by the latter, who, ee ward, kicked the pistol from the hand of Pete, sending it flying behind the bar, and then ressed the cold muzzle of his own tothe vil- ain’s forehead. Loud shouts of “Shoot him!” “ Kill him!” ‘* Plug ther ornary cuss!” ran through the room. ‘See here, sir,” said Diamond Dick, ima cold, steel-like voice; ‘*I have fooled with you long enough. I bave proved you to bea second class coward. Landlord, return the scoundrel his pis- tol. He shall fight me now, and I'll give him a fair show for satisfaction, though he does not deserve it.” ey Taos Tim passed the revolver to its ow ner, as requested; , howéver, letting down the hammer. p ‘*Watch him close, Dick,” warned the bar- r. ‘He’s as treacherous as an Apache.” ‘*TPll give him a chance at me again,” was the reply. “Right about, face! arch! We'll take the street on this deal!” And Pete fo himself forced out of the door, and into the moonlight, followed by a yelling mob, and with Diamond Dick’s revolver ~pressed against the back of his head. ‘*Measure off ten paces, gentlemen,” shouted the dandy from Denver, as he stationed Pueblo Pete in the street, and then step briskly to the spot indicated by Bowlder who said in a determined voice: , *Pard, ef he bores yer, I'll make cold meat of him, sure’s ye’re a sinner!” ** No,” was Dick’s reply; ‘* Don’t harm the fellow. If he miakes the best shot, he’s the best man. Walk out there, Bill, and count. You, Pueblo Pete, at the word ‘three,’ shoot! I shall not kill you, for you’re too mean to die at pres- ent, and I’ give you time to reform. However, I mark you for life, in order that you may not forget me. All ready for business?” A surging line of excited men extended along the street, beyond danger from the bullets of the duelists, and along the line ran murmurs of dis- satisfaction as Dick had spoken. ‘¢ Wipe him out, Dick!” ** Lay ther big cuss out cold!” ‘*Make a stiff outen him!” rung on all des. Bowlder Bill took his position as master of ceremonies: | if ‘* One—two—three !” erott The reports of both revolvers blended in one, as Diamond Dick suddenly allowed bis feet to slide apart; and, as thouglk his legs were bung on hinges, sunk to the earth, the bullet of bis adversary tearing through the crown of his sombrero at a point where his heart would have been had he remained erect. Pueblo Pete uttered a hoarse howl Re. nr and clapped his band to the side of his for the ball from -Dick’s pistol had carried away iamond Dick sprung ea - jack, and stood as straight as a sheltered . but as he stood thus, with an amused eon his youthful face, the report of a rifle sounded from a clump of cedars which grew between Placer Palace and the next shanty, and the tail, gayly-attired form of the dashing dandy from Denver fell backward into the dust of the street, his handsome, untanned face upturned to the moonlight, ghastly as death; his eyes sightless and dzed upd the Queen of Night, whose he ight ‘rays played upon his gold- ornamented arms and the flashing gem at his throat, that had suggested his frontier cogno- men to Jim Jams. CHAPTER VI. COMING HOME TO ROOST. | To describe truthfully the scene which fol lowed the fall to earth of Diamond Diek would be impossible. We will, however, attempt it. stranger, as shown toward his adversary first to last, had impressed the crowd great in his favor; and the fact that he would have been killed had he not saved himself by a move- men which no other man in the burg could have performed, infuriated against the Some rushed at once toward Pueblo S) ae The unaccountable forbearance of the young. co <€om =, ebool