Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 257 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

eno found birth, and beside this the camp had been pitched, For a few rods around, grew a short, coarse grass, on which a few horses were grazing, though there was little above the roots left to satisfy their hunger. Hanging from spurs of rock were the carcass- es of a brace of deer, while another of the same species was then being cut into strips by the nimbly handled knives of two men, several of whose fellows had just completed a rude sort of scaffolding, formed of stakes and twisted raw- hide, beneath which they were spreading a scanty fire, evidently for the purpose of jerking the venison. Clay Benedict, from his cover under the vines which wreathed a massive bowlder, scanned these men closely, but then bis gaze became riveted upon the figure of still another man, re- clining in the shade cast by a mighty bowlder, either asleep or idly watching the movements of his mates from beneath the drooping brim of his slouched felt hat. The hunter turned white and red by turns, his eyes gleaming strangely as he stared, his fingers twitching nervously as they handled his rifle, their owner seemingly in doubt how to act, or what todo. But only for a short time. Silently leaning the weapon against a rock, where if could instantly be grasped if the occa- sion arose, Benedict picked up a small pebble, and, drawing back his right hand, cast the stone over the top of the rock, acros: the inter- vening space, so that it fell just beyond the lazily-reclining figure, eagerly watching the result. ’ It was all that he could desire, for, at the faint sound of the dropping missile, the man quickly sprung to a sitting posture and glanced in that irection, giving the hidden man a fair view of his profile. A faint, hissing laugh parted the thin; red lips, and Clay Benedict muttered below his breath: , ** Just as I thought! If he hasn’t forgotten the old signal in the years that bave elapsed— I'll _ Yisk it, anyhow!” Covering his lips with his hollowed palms, he gave vent to a peculiarly-modulated whistle, eagerly watching the effect it produced upon the man beyond, his eves gleaming like those of an aroused serpent as he beheld him leap to his feet and glare around him, seeking to discover from whence the sound proceeded, while his “ellows uttered sharp exclamations of surprise and doubt, one crying aloud: ‘It’s the old man come back at last, I reckon!” ‘Silence, fool!” snarled the man who had been taking his ease while others worked. “‘That’s not Painter’s signal—” His speech was cut short by a repetition of _the whistle, this time followed closely by an in- describable sound that drew a cry of wonder from his lips. ** Tt’s the devil, or a ghost—” ‘“‘Not the last, most assuredly,” cried Bene- dict, still hugging his cover closely as he added: “Keep your men from pulling trigger, Jeff Archer, and I’ll show up to satisfy you.” *“Drop your tools, boys—it’s a friend,” bastily cried the other. ‘‘Show yourself, Tiger Jim— for you it must be, or else the devil has sold our old signal to some one else!” “Tiger Jim it is,” laughed Benedict, ae from his covert and advancing with outstretche hand, ‘“‘though I little thought to hear that title pronounced by the voice of an old pard in these regions. How goes it, gentle Jefferson?” With a joyous ery, Archer grasped the prof- fered hand, wringing it vigorously as he al- most hopped up and down in his fantastic glee at the unexpected meeting. g **Tt is you, for a fact! And here I’ve been wearing mourning the past three years and pay- ing for masses to get your jolly old soul out of cmc clutches—may woodsticks and sand-fleas re old fraud, if a sight of your ugly mug don’t make my heart fairly slop over with glad— once more, and hearty, pard!” “Then you haven’t quite forgotten your old side pard, and the jolly days of yore?” laughed Benedict, his eyes aglow. “ Forgotten!” with a sonorous oath. ‘Does this look like it? Man, dear, I live’em over in my dreams avery night, and often wake up to a the crooked luck that wiped you out and ke up the old gang!” ** So you were deceived by the report of my 9 death, too? I took care not to contradict it, for _ I knew the boys were gone, and when I could _ fearn nothing of you, after I came out into the world again, I fancied you too had turned toes ap for good and all. So I dropped the old name, as I then thought, forever, and took to the re- Spectable lay for a change: It worked well h fora time, but now—Jeff, old pard, if I _eould have had my choice between meeting you and taking a frontseat with the angel: in heaven when I croak, ’d say give me my pard—ever _ _ gince last night.” _ ** Of course; more fool you if you wouldn’t,” was the matter-of-fact response. ‘‘ You know me, and up yonder | reckon you’d find yourself among strangers, for precious few of our sort our old hide to a riddle, man, for a blessed © Death-Trap Digvines. ever cut their lucky with their baggage checked for that seaport! But why last night in partic- ular?’ Benedict cast a swift glance over the faces of the five men who were eagerly listening to the conversation. “Tl tell you—but Pm leg weary, so sup- pose we take a squat-down in the shade, some- where, I never could talk when standing up, anyway.” Jeff Archer had no difficulty in comprebend- ing his meaning, and turning to his men, spoke sharply: ** Get to work, you lazyrascals, Fuel is too scarce to waste like that, and if you let that meat'spoil, Pll set you to chawing on your saddle blankets. Lively now.” Benedict led the way up the little valley to a distance sufficiently great from the spring, to carry. on a conversation in ordinary tones, with- out running the risk of being overheard by the others, then dropped down in the sbade. ‘¢What sort of fellows have you got yonder?” he asked. ‘‘ Prime,” was the instantaneous reply. ** Not too scrupulous?” ‘*Not one whit more scrupulous than we were, in the old days when we run a movable toll-gate.” ‘‘Ready to make a good stake if the oppor- tunity offers, I suppose, without looking too closely at the means used?” ‘‘ What do you call a good stake nowadays?” ‘‘ How would a thousand apiece suit them?” “So well that were you to offer them one- half the sum to slit the throat of father or mother, they’d break their necks in their haste to finger the dust! For a fact, old fellow, we’re most awfully down on our luck just now. I don’t believe we could squeeze enough out of our whole party to pay for a gallon of red-eye. Wo spent every red preparing for a big haul, down country, and slipped up on it so mighty bad that we not only made a fizzle, but come cursed near making a sizzle, for if we had been caught, that’s about the way we would have fared— been roasted without judge or jury!” ‘I’m glad of it—” ‘“‘ Kind, you are!” grunted Archer, witha hard laugh. ‘* Because, only for that slip-up, I wouldn’t have this chance to throw a better thing in your way,” hastily. ‘We counted on fingering five thousand apiece—” ‘‘T can see that, and go you as much more better—for yourself, I mean—if you care to fall in with my plan.” Archer stared at the speaker as though sus- pecting a jest rather than earnest, but Benedict met his gaze without change. ‘‘ I’m giving it to you straight as a die, pard. I'll be as good as my word, if not better. But first, what brought you to this part of the coun- try just now? Not chased so far?” ‘© No, not exactly; but we raised such a storm by our slip-up, that we concluded our health would be better the further west we go. Hang it all, man, laugh if you will, but we came out here on a gold-hunting expedition.” Benedict laughed grimly, as he nodded to where lay a lot of mining-tools, among the rocks, ‘‘T rather suspected as much, but I thought l’d wait and see how much confidence you placed in your old partner.” “You didn’t think I’d hide the truth from ou?” ‘“‘T knew the old Jeff Archer wouldn’t; but men change as the years roll by, and bow was I to make sure you hadn’t altered with the rest?” was the cool retort. ‘‘Fact is, | was ashamed to mention it,” said Arthur, grinning. ‘I never enlisted in a wild- goose chase of the sort before, nor will I try it on again, if ever we find our way safe out of this infernal desert. I thought I tested the infernal scoundrel thoroughly before starting; but I reckon he’s played it on me, after all. One thing; he'll never brag over it, if I once clap my eyes on his hide—that’s flat!” ‘You mean Budd Painter, the Hard Man from ’'Way Back, as he calls himself?” asked Bene- dict, ae ‘* What do you know of him?’ cried Archer, in amazement, ‘‘ Not as much as I would like to know. Per- haps you can supply a missing link or two? Where did you stumble across him, and how did he give you the slip?” . ‘‘It was just when we were at the last ditch; hadn’t a dollar to cross ourselves ' with; out of grub as well, and as thoroughly lost as though we had been picked up at night, and set afloat in the middle of the ocean on a chip. We'd lost all bearings, and were afraid to strike out for fear of runnin’ into some of the bloodhounds who were chasing us, when Painter dropped in on us, and’showed us the way out of the wilder- ness, ‘‘ There was a good deal of pumping done on both sides, and in the end I reckon we pann out about even on the score of morality and all that rot. Painter offered us what we thought might prove a good thing, and fitted us out with tools, as you see; then led us this far, in , RT OL TT search of a bonanza, only to give us the slip before we opened our eyes yesterday morning; but what he expected to make by it, puzzles mel He didn’t take a single tool, and left both his mule and his rifle behind.” “That don’t look much like his running away,” laughed Benedict. ‘‘T know; and it’s just what we concluded, when we roused up to find him minus. We thought he’d only gone out for a stroll, to scout about, and expected him back every minute. But be basn’t come yet, and we bad about given him up, for though we hunted all yesterday afternoon, we couldn’t strike his trail, or learn anything about him. ‘* Late last night the boys ran into a herd of deer and knocked over those three, and this morning we concluded to jerk a lotof the meat, to stand us through the back-trip, if the ugly cuss didn’t putin an appearance before the morn- ing. ‘* But you can tell us something about him? Where is he, and what has he been up to?” ‘Wait a bit. What sort of man is he, any- how?” ‘* Well, unless rumor lies most abomiuably, he’s just the tough citizen he lays claim to being. Wespent a week out-fitting, and Painter ran the town to suit bimself. A frown of his seemed enough to create a panic, and if one-half the yarns we heard told when he was out of hearing had any foundation in truth, a worse dare-devil and fire-eater never drew the breath of life. He hada private graveyard wherever be hung out over night. He had the strength of a dozen men, and the bull-courage of a hun- dred. Hecould do anything with rifle, revol- ver, knife or any other weapon you could name. He never forgot a wrong, and never started for a man but he fetched bim to score inthe end. Ina word, he was a perfect demon —to take the say-so of the men who knew, or pretended to know, him best,” concluded Archer, with a short laugh. a echoed the laugh, sneeringly, as he said: ‘*Some such reputations have been easily won, simply because the owner was smart enough to pick his men shrewdly. But what is your opinion of him, from personal observa- tion? ‘‘That he would make a better friend than enemy. I’ve seen him perform some wonder- ful feats with the pistol and rifle, and I don’t think he lacks sand to back up whatever he undertakes. At any rate, if I wanted to quar- rel with him, I'd take precious good care to se- cure the drop before the music began to play.” ‘* Are any of your lads in love with him? Would they go into mourning if he was never to turn up again?” ‘‘ Not a bit of it,” quickly. ‘‘ He was too overbearing, too insolent, for that. More than once there would have been blood spilt only for me, and I would not have interfered to save him if I badn’t depended on him to find that bonanza for us.” ‘* So much the better, for, unless ’m ’way off in my judgment, Budd Painter will be called on to pass in his checks beforé many more days,” and Benedict laugbed shortly. ‘‘ What do you mean by that? Where is he?’ asked Archer, _ CHAPTER VIIL. THE TRAIN LAID. CLAY BENEDICT laughed pleasantly as he leaned back against the rock, chipping bits of tobacco from a plug, then kneading the frag- ments finer in the palm of his left band, wit the knuckles of bis right. ‘‘ Bound hand and foot, resting uneasily on a portion of the very bonanza he promised to show you, I have not the faintest shadow of a doubt.” ? Jeff Archer flung out one hand, with an air of impatience as his former partner in evil paused to fill and light his pipe, but then, as though experience told bim it was useless to fight against the peculiar humor of the man he called Tiger Jim, be assumed an air of patient resignation which he was far from feeling. ‘‘Take your time, old fellow, and tell your story after your own fashion, That meat won't be cured for a couple of days, and I can afford to give you that much time to reach the point.” ‘‘ Which is sarcasm,” laughed Benedict, his pipe well alight at length. ‘‘I can get along with half as much, if you don’t interrupt me too frequently with your pointed observations and leading questions, = “To begin at the beginning and make a clear trail as we go along, I shed my title and char- acter of Tiger Jim, directly after that annoy- ing little affair of whicb, no doubt, you retain some remembrance, and became so modest and pious that, actually, I began to feel the pin- feathers starting through the skin over my shoulder-blades! © } : ‘‘ My reasons for playing such a foreign part? At first, to the better bide my real character, ed |-but then I had still fairer cause given me, in the guise of a little angel in petticoats, who qui opened my eyes to a fact which I bad a age so much as suspected—that I had a heart GComicdoeo » oat \ > > 88 . wt. oo. >