Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 262 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

a_i 4A . / ‘possibly bave been c 2 a Fighting Tom; OR, , The Terror of the Toughs. A Story of a Very Deceiving Young Man, BY COLONEL THOS H. MONSTERY, Champion-at-arms of the Tivo Americas, AUTHOR OF “TRON WRIST,” ‘‘ CHAMPION SAM,” ETC,, ETC. CHAPTER I’ ~ - THE DECEIVING DUDE. Ir was Decoration Day in New’ York city, and Broadway was black with the crowds of sight- seers. ; The streets re-echoed to the music of the bands, as regiment after regiment passed the reviewing-stand and took its way home to the armory. ? The procession broke up after reaching Canal street and the little posts of the Grand Army dispersed to the various ferries and railroad stations, to visit the outlying cemeteries, A few marched to the Brooklyn Bridge which had just been opened after tedious years of waiting, ben they arrived there, they found the whole of the narrow footway blocked with people and, so great was the pressure from either end of the bridge that the crowd had come toa stand-still, and none could advance either way. A few moments later came a great surging roll of the crowd, and a hoarse murmur began about the middle of the long road, which ran back through the multitude to the New York shore, and finally framed itself into the cry: ** Back! back! People are being Killed! It seemed so strange on such a holiday, when everything around seemed to be so peaceful and joyous, when every one had a bunch of flowers or a wreath, and no one thought of any- thing but pleasure, to hear that cry: ** People are being killed !” And indeed they were being killed in a man- ner at once so dreadful and inevitable that the only wonder seemed to be that the trouble bad not suggested itself to the builders of the bridge, when ‘hey made of it a death-trap, at that staircase of mournful memory. Three flights of steps at each tower; a foot- way that widened and narrowed at sharp, angles; a crowd that packed it closely; a reck- less band of street rowdies; the elements of death were all there, and a moment precipitated the disaster, On the New York footway, at the bottom of the stairs, stood a tall and slender young man, whose slim waist and broad shoulders gave him an elegant aspect that made the ordinary ob- server think him effeminate, though a connois- seur in athletics would have pronounced bim a ‘very deceiving young man.” He was dressed with that neatness and care that marked him as one who paid attention to his personal appearance, and elicited from more than one. envious and slovenly youth in the crowd the audible sneer: ‘* Hey, boys! Look at the long-legged dude!” As far as dress went the young man might assed asa ‘* dude,” woile the gentle. good-natured expression of his hand- some, blonde face aided the idea among the by- standers of his effeminacy, One or two of the roughs in the crowd, which contained numerous pickpockets, jostled up against him as if by accident, when they made the discovery that the ‘“‘long-legged dude” knew how to “ handle himself ” amazingly well. With a slight, apparently careless sway of bis body, be sent ou’ a pair of sharp elbows in- to the ribs of the malicious ones, drove all the wind ous of one man’s body, and sent another s ering ot iney* the railing; tbe same placid smile on his face as before, while he said softly: ‘* Please don’t push so. Tt’s no use. We can’t get forw And then, all of @ sudden, they heard a.cry in the distance, in the rear of the crowd at*the top of the steps: * Make way for the Old Gang! Hi! hi!” Up to that moment the crowd had been sat- , the steps bare of people, the crowd hesitating to advance inte the’ open ; * e moment that cry arose it was followed by a confusion of shouts, oaths, and women’s shrieks, as the throng above was pushed to the edge of the fatal flight of stairs; soon to become so mournfully notorious, : The young man who had been called a ‘‘ dude” threw off all his apathy ina winute and shouted in a high, clear voice: OF ot back! Do you want to kill the peo- ple In another moment the panic began above, as a lady, with a wild shriek, tried to run down the steps, slipped and fell ! ‘ Then came an avalanche of people, pushed over, bee to keep up but thrown down the =e headlong, and the crowd below recoiled in orror. to ! 4 ly people at tiaitop. of the steps push- is b ra Fighting Tom. —_—— ee ——$ $e All but the dude. Before the first rush came he had darted for- ward, seized the first lady that had fallen, pick- ed her up like a feather, and darted back as the people were pushed over, After that sudden avalanche, Hercules could have done no more. He had saved one life, the life of a woman, and she hung in his arms, white and senseless, while the dead and dying were piled up round them, and the young man, in spite of his power and dexterity, was almost overwhelmed. Then a man in uniform leaped upon the trestlework of the car-tracks that bounded the roadway, and began to shout the warning which spread so rapidly: “ Ba ts back! theyre killing people !” The ery spread quickly on the New York side, and people began to rush back to the gates, which were thrown wide open to give them egress, ,On the Brooklyn side the crowd still remained immovable, till the uniformed man, who was a bridge policeman, managed to make himself beard and to turn them back. When the retrograde movement began the oliceman saw a line of about a dozen men, one ehind another, with their hands resting on each othef’s shoulders, headed by a man of great hight and bulk, who had a determined, brutal- looking face. All were slowly pushing through the crowd toward the stairs, with a measured tramp, and the cry, in unison: “Hi! hi! hi! hi! Tchoo! tchoo! tchoo!” ‘* Keep back, you brutes!” bheshouted. ‘* You're killing people.” The big man laughed contemptuously and shouted back: ‘Go tograss! Thisisthe Old Gang, and we’re going through, Hi! hi! tchoo! tchoo!” And on they went, parting the fast diminish- ing crowd, till they came to what was now an empty platform, and saw below them tbe + are and writhing bodies of the dead and y'ng. When they saw what had been done, the hands dropped, the men started back with exclam- ations of horror, and began to run back with the crowd to Brooklyn. CHAPTER II. BUCK JARVIS, ALL but the leader. He looked down, a ee by the groans of the dying, and saw in the midst, at the foot of the steps a confused mass of people some ped to crawl out, with the single ereet figure of the young man, carrying in his arms the senseless woman above the press, A silence—the silence of awe—had succeeded the shrieks and cries of a few moments before, and the big man saw in the distance an ambu- lance dashing up, and policemen with stretchers, He came to the edge of the staircase of death, and looked asif he were about to leap down, when the horrified bridge policeman yelled: **My God! Go back! What are you going to do?” The big man shook his huge shoulders and looked up with a sneer, answering: ‘““What am I goin’ to do? I'm a-goin’ to New York—that’s what I’m a-goin’ to do, Buck Jarvis ain’t beat so easy.” So saying, he deliberately gathered his body into a ball, and rolled over and over the beap of crushed humanity to the open footway below. And just as he got up on bis feet, the young man helow, who had been called a ‘‘dude,” managed to extricate himself from the mass of bodies, with the woman still in his arms, and called out fiercely: pie’ ‘You brute! you coward! You ought to be flung into the river.” Instantly the big man turned with a scowl. _‘ What’n blazes ails you?: Whoare ye talkin’ to? What d’ye say?” And with the word made a blow for the young man, burdened as he still was with the insensi- ble girl. ) There was acry of horror from such of the crowd as remained to play spectators, turned, a moment later, into a cry of admiration and satisfaction. ‘The blow never reached its mark. — It was aimed at the young man’s head, and he avoided it so neatly, and with so little trou- ble, by a sidewise movement, that the bridge police an on the truss cried: * Well done, dude!” In another moment the slim young man had backed away several paces, laid the woman down by the railing, and stepped out to face the giant, with the quiet remark: ‘Now, my friend, take care of yourself.” The big man instantly fell into an attitude of self-defense, and roared: : ** Buck Jarvis is the boy to sweeten your cof- fee. Come on!” : The young map said nothing in reply, but sailed in” with such surprising activity and force, that before Buck Jarvis could getin a blow, bis face was a mass of cuts and bruises; he fell back, blinded and confused; and then, by means of asudden push and trip, executed so quickly that the bystanders could not find out ———e le Sod « eS how it was done, the bully was sent on his back with a thud that knocked the senses out of Lim, when the young man dragged him to the edge of the trestle-work and would have thrown bim down, had not the police come runnivg ip, shouting: ‘* Stop that! What are you doing?” ** He's doing just right,” yelled the bridge po- liceman, ‘‘I seen it all, and he’s a-doin’ just right. You leave him alone,” So saving the man came running along the trestle-work to his assistance, but the young man, whose face was white as a sheet and whose eyes were gleaming like those of a wild beast, seemed to recover his senses at the com- ing of the police and said: ‘**1 beg your pardon. 1 forgot myself. Help these poor creatures, if you’re men,” ‘ And with that he stepped over to the lady he bad saved, picked ber up.again and began to march back in the crowd, every one cheering him, while the policemen began to try and ex- tricate the living people from the mangled corpses that had come so suddenly into the light of Decoration Day. The New York crowd parted before the young man and be bad nearly reached the ambulance, when he felt the woman in his arms move, and she began to struggle. Instantly he stopped; set ber down, and sup- ported her, asking: ‘* Are you burt much?” For the first time he looked at her face, and saw that she was young and pretty, with dark eyes, which looked up at him in a dazed, fright- ened way as she said: “What isit? Who are you? Where is my mother?” Then the young man’s face fell as he answered rather falteringly: ‘‘ There has been an accident. Where do you live?’ People were round them, staring curiously and the girl seemed bewildered. ‘‘T don’t understand. Where is my mother?” was all she said. ‘* Was your mother with you in the crush?” he asked in a trembling tone. The girl started and looked wildly round her, as the reality began to crowd on her. “Oh, my God!” she whispered, catching her breath, ‘* She’s killed, she’s killed.” ‘*T hope not, I think not,” he answered gen- tly. ‘‘ Keep up your heart, madam, I'll try to find her fer you. How was she dressed? hat did she look like?” Tbe girl made no answer but a sob and a shudder, for, just at that moment a stretcher pareec by, with the body of a man on it, the ace covered with a coat, the blood dripping as the stretcher moved. ** Don’t look at it,” said the young man to ber, ‘Tt will only unnerve you. Tell me quick Are you burt? what your mother looks like, and I’|l find her for you.” ‘‘She was dressed in black,” said the girl in alow tone. ‘ Her hair is quite white. Ob, sir, for God’s sake find her for me.” ‘*T will,” be answered, and then a New York policeman came hurrying up, club in hand, crying as he came: ‘Here, keep back there, all of ycr! Clear this roadway quick! Move on!” ‘‘ One moment, cflicer!” cried the young man. “Take care of this lady for a moment, while J sap crite. ha? * Hain’t no time nd no one,” retor policeman, waving bis club. ‘‘ Get, beck sateen here. Move on, Take yer lady home. This ain't 20 fittin’ place for her. Git!” nd so saying, witha couple end he shoved back the crowd to the crake a “ gardless of expostulaticns, just as a big man with a battered, bloody face, came lurching _along the roadway from the scene of tho dis- aster. : Him the policeman a red to reccgnize, for he cried ont | SER 5 ‘* Hillo, Buck! What! were you into it, too? Poor feller! Toddle along to the hospital. By gosh, this bere’s awful!” ‘*'Tain’t nothin’,” returned Buck with a rather rueful grin. ‘I ain’t burt as bad as some of ’em, Hank,” , The young man who had saved the girl recog- nized the voice and saw his late foe slouch by, Bay his eye. To bis surprise, he felt the. girl on bis arm start,.and saw her stare at the big man as if pe knew him, too, while she shrunk closer to Bick Jarvis passed on, however, and the young man whispered: ‘Do you know that fellow?” . She shuddered violently and seemed ready to drop, for ber nerves were all’ unstrung by the shock, as she answered; ‘“Oh yes, my God, yes! Was he there?” ‘‘ Not till after it was all over,” returned her protector. ‘‘ He’s a brute!” The girl looked up at bim, as if startled. ** What? Do you know him?” she asked. ‘Never saw him before,” returned the youn man, and they were forced along in the crow to the gates, unable to stop, and the girl began to wring her bands and say brokenly: ; com ee eee, é =~ oe 2 (¢| @) NG Ke “¢ *