Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 241 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

10 * Still harping on that string! Well,” with an impatient fling of bis hand, ‘‘ ll give you any promise you can ask, since you no longer hold tee rifle at my breast. But after we meet ark Boyd, and be tells you that you have been making an unmitigated ass of yourself—as he surely will—I will bave the honor of giving you a brief lesson in common politeness.” | ** And I promise you a most attentive pupil, never fear. But let that rest until we have seen Mark Boyd—" ** Which I trust may be— Ha!” and the dark face lighted up suddenly as he looked straight over Genteel Guy’s head, with one hand extend- ed. ‘*There he is now!” Both tone and action were so natural that the young man wheeled in his tracks to look in the direction of the extended forefinger, without a thought of treachery, but as he did so, Blood- good drew a revolver and grasping it by the barrel, leaped forward and brought the silver- bound butt with a crushing force down upon Genteel Guy’s head, felling him to the ground like an ox in the shambles. Lithe as a vey aah the fellow leaped upon him, tearing the rifle from his nerveless gr and casting it beyond reach, then twining his muscular fingers around the luckless foreman’s throat as though bent on completing his treach- erous work without delay. There was only a tremulous quivering of the limp form; no struggle, no attempt to free itself. That blow had done the work only too well, and satisfied of this, Bloodgood arose, and with a contemptuous smile showing his teeth, he turned the body over with one foot, gaz- ing down upon the distorted face thus revealed to view. * And this is one of their brag men! One of their fighting game-cocks! The fire-eater whom the desperadoes cannot name without their cheeks paling and their eyes roving round to make sure that the way is open for their escape by flight! Bah!” and he laughed mockingly. **He has shown himself a double-dyed idiot only one scale above those who so greatly fear him for the reputation he has won—how?! Give it es ith a short, scornful laugh, he stripped off the belt of weapons, and cast it far away in the grass, then turned and uttered a sharp whistle, that brought his horse trotting to his side with a pleased whinny. _ Waking the lasso from where it hung coiled at the saddle-bow, he stooped again and swiftly wonnd coil after coil of the rawhide ro around the body of his victim, dexterously knotting the ends, then giving a nod of selt- approval. ‘** Let him crawl out of them unaided, and I'll be ready to admit that he’s all he’s cracked up to be!” Squatting on his heels close beside the sense- less man, Bloodgood quietly puffed away at his cigar, watching the slow recovery of his senses, -and laughing insolently as Genteel Guy finally opened his eyes, with a dazed stare. ‘* My dear sir,” he cried with mock enthusi- asm, “‘you can’t imagine how intensely de- lighted [am at beholding those sweet orbs of heavenly blue once more! I really began to fear that your unlucky stumble would prove ‘fatal, and— My dear fellow, don’t; I beg of you, don’t!” as Genteel Guy strove to arise, then, realizing that he was in the toils, making a desperate effort to free himself. *“You’ve done this, you cowardly, treacher- ous devil—” ‘*Of course Ihave. Leaving off the epithets, of course,” was the cool response, cutting short the indignant speech of the prisoner. ‘‘ Unlike yourself, I never do things half-way.” Genteel Guy averted his head, with a bitter curse at his stupidity in letting himself be so shamefully duped. ‘*T might have known it!” he muttered, more to himself than to the other. ‘ Twice I have let up when I[ held a sure thing. The third time lll strike before parleying!” ‘“The second time you mean, my dear sir,” blandly corrected slonieors. ‘You forget that you and I never met before this day.” Genteel Guy turned bis face toward the speaker, his eyes flaming, his voice hoarse with gry! controlled passion. ‘* You are still sticking to that lie—” ou say thatI ‘* Vou are the the liar, not I, if dy ess,” was the am the fellow you call Win swift interruption. “Tf not that slippery scoundrel and cut- ' throat, you are a fitting mate for him,” un- dauntedly, ‘ But you lie in denying yourself. If not him, why have you treated me after this fashion? Why did you strike me down from behind, without a word of warning?” “Why did you cover me twice with your rifle? Did you give me warning then? Yes— after you had the drop! Very well; I do the same now, simply to avoid unnecessary bother. I hold your life in the hollow of my hand. What is there to hinder my taking it?” “Your fear of a hereafter,” was the swift reply. ‘You were seen to ride back to join me. If you kill me,I will be missed by my friends, and the manner of my taking off inves- tigated. You will be suspected. You will be Spitfire Saul, King of th hunted down, and—well, I leave the rest to your imagination!” Fred Bloodgood laughed mockingly as he made reply: ‘‘A better argument than I made when you held my life at your finger’s end—because you love life more than I, perhaps. Of course it is not cowardice—” “Set me free, and with empty hands against your tools, I'll take pleasure in pe which of us two can most rightfully be called cow- ardly!” hotly cried Genteel Guy; but Bloodgood only shook his head, with a soft laugh. ‘*My dear fellow, you have cheek equal to that of a Government mule! In short, you ask entirely too much. Supposing for a moment that I am Windy Jess, would I set you free, after having you foul, after you have sworn to show me no mercy?” ‘‘No; you’d slit my throat. Why don’t you set about it?” **Because I am not Windy Jess. From the first, you have been yelping on a false trail—” ‘Then who in thunder are you?” impatiently eried aay. ‘Fred Bloodgood, at your service,” his tone changing to one more serious. ‘‘ Listen for a moment, my friend. To the best of my know- ledge, you and I never laid eyes on each other before this day. I have been in the territory less than one week. I never even heard of your name before we were introduced by iss Debonay. You remember your words and looks, back at the timber island. They were insulting, but I kept my resentment in check, because I believed 1 divined the reason for your surliness; yousaw that I admired Miss Debonay, and looked upon me asa possible rival. But in your foolish jealousy you went a little too far. saw you aiming sour rifle at me, and that was the last feather. rode back to give you one more chance. You would not accept it. I plainly saw that you would ruin my plans, if I permitted you to run the length of your tether, and so I brought you up with a round turn.” ‘All of which amounts to nothing,” im- patiently. ‘‘It neither explains who you are, nor why you have committed this outrage upon me.” ‘*My dear fellow, you are terribly dull of comprehension. One would think you were a child, learning your letters. Listen, and I will yoake one more attempt. “My name is not Windy Jess, but Fred Bloodgood. I came here to interview Pierre Debonay, on a very important subject. I am an utter stranger to him, and the story I have to tell will be difficult enough for him to believe, under the most favorable circumstances. Its very nature would make him distrustful of me, and this would be increased to positive suspicion, were you to give mouth as you threatened, before I had time sufficient to convince him of my perfect truth. ; ‘“T frankly admit that I am not taking all this trouble from pure benevolence, but that I expect to make my expenses, and maybe a trifle more, through the gratitude of our mutual friend—if such I may call a gentleman whom I have never met in the flesh.” ‘‘In plainer words, you hold some secret of his, through means of which you hope to bleed his pocket?” sneered Guy. ‘*Something like it,” coolly admitted Blood- good. ‘* You see lam magna frank with you, because I feel tolerably certain that you will not interfere further with my little game. Can you guess of what I am thinking, just now?” ‘‘Some further rascality, of course,” suilenly. ‘Tf you had said folly, you would have come closer to the bull’s-eye. I was reflecting whether or not I should turn you loose.” “Do that, and I’ll take back what I said about your being a coward!” eagerly cried Genteel Guy, his eyes aglow. ‘**) will—on conditions.” : ‘‘ What are they?” but with the light fading in his eyes. “That you piccee me your sacred word of honor that you will remain quiet; that you will not speak or write a word to mortal being be- tween now and this time to-morrow,” t ‘* And thus give you ample time for carrying out your devilish schemes? I'll die, rather!” ‘You're a bigger idiot than I thought you— and that’s needless! Look here, young man. I swear to you that I meditate no harm to any of your friends. Instead, I will give joy unspeak- able to your employer and to his daughter. I will tell them my story, and give them the proofs of its truth. Then I will go my way, and trouble none of you again. Is that plain enough?’ demanded Bloodgood, throwing away his cigar and bending forward, his eyes glowing vividly. ‘Tf I could believe it—yes!” slowly responded Genteel Guy. ‘ButIdonot. You are Windy Jess. Your limber tongue bas betrayed youa thousand times over. You mean some deviltry, and only want to keep me from interferin - fore your evil schemes are complete. ow’ll get no promise from me.” ““1]l give you one, to set the example. Swear that you will lie quiet here, and not attempt to attract the attention of any one who may chance to pass this way before morning, and I e Rustlers. swear to come back with the rising of the sun, to set you at liberty, restore your weapons, and, if you feel in the least aggrieved at the treatment to which you have been subjected, give you all the satisfaction that you can digest. Vhat say a “That Vill make no bargain while my hands are tied—least of all, with a scoundrel like you!” nowy cried Guy. ‘Then I'll waste no further time,” coldly added Bloodgood, drawing a long-bladed, keen- pointed bowie-knife from his bosom, and feeling the edge with his thumb. ‘“ For the last time— will you promise?” “No! Strike, you cowardly cur!” cried Gen- teel Guy, not a muscle quivering save with rage and scorn. The polished bade flashed in the bright sun- light as the weapon rose in the air and hung for a moment above the prostrate man’s bosom. The white teeth gritted through the beavy fringe of jetty bair, the black eyes glared down into the blue orbs, but without detecting the slightest trace of fear—and then the weapon flashed downward; only to be as abet checked, even as its keen point pricked the skin directly over the young man’s heart. “You have got the grit!” muttered Blood- good, drawing back with a short nod of grim approval, ‘‘l may have to do it yet, but Pl give you one more chance for life. I’d hate to kill a man with the nerve you've got, but I can’t have you sbuffling the cards after I’ve stocked them so masterly.” ‘You are the coward, asI knew from the first,”” muttered Genteel Guy, with a short, con- temptuous laugh. ‘‘ You dare not even stab e bound and helpless man, For the first time I begin to believe that I wronged—not you, but Windy Jess! He was not a coward, whatever his other failings!” Bloodgood laughed softly, as he thrust the snife into the ground, and drew a gold coin from his pocket. ““T felt confident that time would show you yourerror, my dear fellow. I’m only sorry that you made the discovery so late. I can’t set you free, now. I may have to kill you. It all de- pends on luck, “You see this coin? I'll toss it, heads or tails, to see whether you lie here a live man or a corpse. Call!” With a scornful sniff, Genteel Guy averted his head. He believed this rascal was only play- ing with him, as a cat plays with a mouse be- fore killing it, and he would not humor bim in the least. Bloodgood laughed softly, then spun the golden disk high into the air, calling out clearly: ‘* Heads you live, tails you die!” The coin fell directly before Genteel Guy’s face, and he could not help seeing that the head was uppermost. Without a word, Bloodgood fashioned a gag and prying open Guy’s jaws with the point of his knife, inserted it and tied it fast, then turned away and mounted his horse, sae: ‘You can pray for some one to find you, be- fore the wolves scent their feast! Adios, Gen- teel Guy! I go to join the fair Lucille!” CHAPTER VIII. MARTIN, THE SWAMP-FOX. ‘““You have your wish, Mr. Bloodgood. We are alone, and no one will interrupt our inter- view, unless they hear this bell ring,” touching with the tip of one long, white finger, a massive silver call-bell which stood on the table, close to his elbow. The speaker was Pierre Debonay, and he ad- dressed Fred Bloodgood, who bad lost no time in reaching the Debonay ranch, after leaving Genteel Guy Abbey helplessly bound on the lain. » He knew that the chances were a hundred to one against any mortal discovering the bound man, hidden as he was by the rank grass which grew between the twin land-waves, but he had played too many desperate games not to know that sometimes the single chance proves more powerful than all the host against it. If noth- ing had gone wrong, he would have played his cards more deliberately, particularly as he could not help seeing that Pierre Debonay bad taken a strong dislike to bim from the very out- set, despite the eloquent manner in which Lucille detailed the gm events of the day, dwelling far longer on her last escape, than on the first, for obvious reasons. Then, too, from words which the maidens had let drop, he knew that Mark Boyd was expected some time that afternoon, and little relished the idea of meet- ing the keen-eyed Ranger just at that stage of the game. Spurred on by these reasons, Fred Blood- good, in a tone that was almost a demand, re- quested the ranchero to favor him with a pri- vate interview. It was granted, but with an icy politeness that would have sharply stung one less thick-skinned than the worthy ‘* tender- foot.” ‘‘Which you think me very impertinent in asking, under the circumstances,” laughed Bloodgood, shortly, dropping into a chair and consing a keen, comprehensive glance them. (E (0) micbool ew oe —~ toner eel Magy Pmt .