Beadle's Dime Library No. 278 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

al Vw t| oo mee reeotTere crn" & — - " 1s San > ir} he de — AP ee ae ee a TTR its mi . ~< — x . own ee om CHAPTER XIIL. THE LAUGHER SHOOTS. Yus, Cold-Deck Carl had come back to the wild-cat city, aud the scalp taken after a des- perate encounter with Big Wolf the Sioux had secured him a goodly number of pards, men who, as oneof their number hud put it, were ready to stand by him “through thick and thin.” The gambler-sport’s chagrin at finding Her- cules Goldspur absent from You-Bet was no- ticeable from the moment that Pigmy Pete made the announcement. There was no cowardice in Carl's breast. Despite Goldspur’s velvet hands, he was not afraid of him; on the other hand, he burned to meet the giant who bad thrown him half-sense- less into the midst of the Indian band with the hope that they would make short work of him. ut he had turned the tables on his giant ad- versary. The quickly coined but adroit lie about the silver bonanza of which he did not possess a foot had proved too much for B’g Wolt’s cupid- ity, and secured his release from the Indians as has been already seen. He had come back to You-Bet with the same pro that had first turied his face toward that place. His pard killed in the gulch along the rail- road track by aman known to the reader to be Zoe’s father had thrown him upon his own resources, hence his determination to draw a “ blood-line about the place.” We know that years before the date of our story Zoe had been abducted from her home in Arizona. She was at the timea babein the cradle, but the crime was as great asif she had been on the threshold of womanhood. Indians had not taken the child, as had been supposed, but the band of a white man Sutter’s rival and enemy had planned and carried out the scheme, The rancher’s heavy reward for the return of his daughter and the scalp of the Indian sup- posed to have committed the crime availed nothing but long trails and thrilling adventures no more than to be reverted to bere. Ferdinand Sutter passed sleepless nights and weary days on various trails. He enlisted good scouts and frontier detec- tives in his service; but they failed to clear up the mystery that surrounded Zoe’s disappear- ance. It was a hunt of years, a long, weary, endless chase after something that ever seemed to elude | him and his men. At last there came a message from two of his hunters, It came not from the haunt of the lawless Apache, nor from the dens of the mountain outlaws of the southern frontier. It came from the depths of the ilimitable N athwest, recently crossed by theiron track of ine Northern Pacific, and, roused by the hope ed words contained, the father turned his face toward the mountains of Idaho. Reader, that message came from Pigmy Pete | and Lola the Mexican, two of his tireless hun- | ters, and persons in whom the Arizonian reposed much confidence. Had they really discovered the lost daughter? or were they only on a trail that might prove another delusion Ferdinand Sutter had finally given up the Indian theory. He believed that his child had been taken from him by a man whom he well knew, a man whom he hated and who hated him. When, therefore, Pigmy Pete sent him word that he bad learned that a girl called Zoe was living at You-Bet protected among its lawless people by a white man he believed that he had tracked his arch enemy down. The same night that brought Sutter to the Idaho town bad also brought another man to the same place, The red ight ont the railroad track had stopped a train and enabled the colonel to rejoin his cone Cold-Deck Carl just outside the A) . BS the father, witnessed the meeting in the gitich, He saw the two pards face to face, heard Cold-Deck Carl divulge his discoveries and list- ened, for a moment only, to the other’s expres- | sions of joy. ! " He listened until he could no longer stay his a —— and. There stood before him the author of years of a the maker of long trails, the robber of his home, the abductor of the ranch’s heir. | “He saw in a flash that the robber bimself | had been robbed, and that the two men in the ig were huuting the same prize he sought— oe, Coli-Deck Carl was the colonel’s pard and sp Vs When Sutter step toward the two men, a rifle struck his shoulder. 6saw his targetin the red light still burning on the track, and for him to see was to make revenge, _ When the avenging finger pressed the trigger | will yer go back on an old pard? “s ne wee ——_—— — oe there was, as we already know, a death-gurgle, and the man who reeled from Cold-Deck Carl fell dead at the threshold of another success! As if satisfied with bisrevenge the Arizouian turned away leaving the gambler-sport to send forth threatenings of = ve Better, perhaps, had it n if he had fin- ished the work begun in the railroad gulch, if he had stretched Cold-Deck Carl beside his master. en the mountain sport would not have come back to You-Bet to win twenty bronze friends by the display of a bloody scalp, and to swear anew to carry out the plans of the dead pard buried on the billside. The eyes of Cold-Deck Carl fairly beamed with triumph when he took in the extent of his scalp-bought victory. “IT may need these fellows some time. I've bought 'em cheap,” he said to himself. “I’ve clipped the Happy Rattler’s feathers with a few Injun hairs.” e glanced contemptuously, as he finished, at the Rattler and his donkey, who occupied one corner of the den, and then invited the crowd up to the bar. lt was Cold-Deck’s triumph, and he had resolved to follow it up. Watching his opportunity, the Man from Silver Bow seized the muddy bridie of his pard and led him toward the door. His glance at Cold-Deck Carl was full of anger, but he did not speak, but slipped so quietly from the place that the hilarious party at the new bar did not notice his departure. ‘‘ You an’ me ag’in’ ’em all, George,” he said to his donkey. ‘“‘ Wal, ef we ain't up ter snuff thar never war pards thet war. Got new friends by totin’ thet scalp back, didn’t be, my beau ideal? Wonder how long he'll keep ’em? I'd like ter see ’em tried; hang me ef I wouldn’t.” The Happy Rattler stopped suddenly as he finished the last sentence, “I’m hyar fer a time an’ I might ez well hev it,” he went on. ‘I'll try them new pards o’ his’n. Happy Rattler, ef you let Cold-Deck Carl buy twenty pards with one Injun scalp, an’ don't try their mettle, you’d better let George kick yer ter death. Come, my daisy; we ar’ goin’ back.” He turned and walked back toward the place he had lately left, but all at once Kicking George craned his neck forward and seized his master’s jacket in his teeth. ‘What! don’t want ter go, eh?” ejaculated the Rattler, as the animal planted his fore-feet firmly on the ground, and exhibited some firm- neas of purpose. ‘' Mebbe ye’ve got more sense than yer pard, George; but ef this jacket bu’sts I'm goin’ back.” ! Then the Man from Silver Bow started for- ward with a jerk, and the next second be landed on ali-fours on-the ground some distance away, the piece of dirty cloth between the mule’s teeth showing plainly the result of the wrench. ‘‘Tt’s a bad omen, but it’s ‘go’ just ther same,” he went on, picking himself up. ‘‘ George, e’ve got ter keep up ther reputation ov Silver Bow, an’ we kin do tt best together.” When be started off again the donkey was at his heels, as if he had given over his efforts to keep him out of danger, and the two pards approached the drinking-den. As the night was warm the doorof the trap seldom shut at ad time, stood wide open, and a malicious twinkle lighted up the Happy Rat- tler’s eves as a certain voice reached his ears from within. “We'll try ther friendship ov ther new pards,” he laughed, and a minute afterward put one foot on Joe’s threshold, The crowd he had left but a few mioments be- fore was still at the bar, listening to Cold-Deck Carl’s narration of bis fight with Big Wolf. The Happy Rattler heard him for a moment, and then his voice was heard above the laugh that supplemented the gambler-sport’s er “Hyar we ar’, ther beanuty-spots ov Silver Bow!” he vociferated. “ with yer bands, every mother’s son ov ye. rge kin kick, but I kin shoot. My sweet-Williams ov Idaho, ther Happy Rattler bez ther drop ov ye all.” Was it wonderful that the men who heard this voice, and turned to confront the two pards in the doorway, recoiled from the two revolvers that gvinned in their faces? As tor Cold-Deck Carl, he threw one hand toward the weapon on his bip, but the quick glance of the Rattler caught the movement. ‘‘ Draw an’ die, Cold-Deck!” he said coolly, so coolly that the gambler-sport’s weapon was not drawn. “Ther rat that falls inter ther well sometimes gits out. Thet’s why I'm byar. Oh I'm no slouch when if comes ter rovidential escapes. Ther chap from Silver Bow, backed by a pard what kin kitk a mine-sbaft ter pieces, ien’t an infant by a Jong shot, Touch thet dropper, Cold-Deck, an’ I'll set these pis- tols ter laughin’ in dead earnesh Want ther gal, don’t yer? Want Zoe an’ all o’ ther bo- nanza ye kin get, eb? Thar’s suthin’ between you an’ success—my revolvers an’ Kickin’ George's heels!” Some of the men smiled faintly at this some- 4 + \ = a = —- er LL LL LLL LLL EL A ER Nm a ee i — -_--— oe ee ee — - what bombastic wind-up; but Cold-Deck Carl saw no merriment in the effort. - **Come out on one side or t’other, men ov You-Bet!” continued the Rattler. ‘* Stand by me er Cold-Deck. Give a man a sbow in this wild-cat’s den. Ef yer friendship kin be pur- chased with an Injun’s’scalp, it’s durned scrub- by timber. Will ye stand it? It’s an imperta- tion on yer honor. Who ar’ ye fer now—Cold- Deck er You-Bet?” ; There was a moment’s silence, and then as a loud voice shouted ‘‘ Fer You-Bet!” a dozen men came toward the Rattler. ‘“* Thet’s bizness!” hesaid. ‘'‘ Now, Cold-Deck, bold up yer hands.” The command was accompanied by a look that was full of fire, and as Cold-Deck Carl raised his hands with the doggedness of an out- law brought to bay, oneof the Rattler’s revol- vers spoke, With a wild, hoarse yi of pain the gamble: sport went backward, his face livid, his eye: ee ee es ff —_— Tt ashing fire. ‘‘Hold!” shouted the Happy Rattler as a stride carried him toward the men who had re- mained at.Cold-Deck Carl’s side, ‘ I guess P’ve got the biggest squad on my side, I'l kill ther first turtle-dove thet drawsa pistol, Thar’s the man I want. Pards o’ mine, ef you mean ter maintain ther bonor ov You-Bet, seize Cold Deck-Car! and tie him to my donkey’s tail.” The men addressed by the Rattler started to- ward the sport, who bad fallen to his knees; but the next moment his band shot forward and the foremost desperado staggered back with a ery and fell dead at the donkey’s feet! CHAPTER XIV. A LIAR'S OATH. THE death-shot was fired by Cold-Deck Carl, who would have met a like fate if some of his new-found pards bad net rushed between hi and the Rattler’s revolver, For a few moments bloodier work was threatened, but all at once Kicking rushed between the two parties and elevated his heels in a manner that put an end to the dis- turbance. As for Cold-Deck Carl, he glided behind the counter, and at the first opportunity’ slipped througb a door that stood bandy and ajar, and found himself alone with a limp and bleeding arm under the stars a few yards from the den. ““Shot!—winged by that infernal dead-beat from Silver Bow!” be grated, in no good bumor, as he glanced at his arm and then sent a mad look toward the saloon, ‘‘ Won't I get even with him, though? I was about ter dro m when thet mule took a band in ther melee an’ scattered the crowd. The Rattler owes bis life to his d, but [ll cancel ther debt afore long. Wal, I’m back just. too late, saegeny Hercules Go is gone—ran off with ‘hat pee Cold- Deck Carl took a quick, mad step toward the gambling-den, as if about to seek it again to try conclusions with the Happy Rattler, but wiser and cooler mental counse Teess. vened, for he turned suddenly on his beel and walked away. With his actpared arm henging at his side, he hurried toward the north side of he. am, where the mines were, but stopped near the first shaft, for a figure had risen in path, and he found himself face to face with a magnificent-looking man whose hair and mus- tache were gray. ‘‘T know you!” hissed Cold-Deck Carl. ‘‘ You are Ferdinand Sutter, and the man who killed the colonel.” A smile on his confronter’s part said “Iam the man.” ’ ' Cold-Deck Carl stepped back a pace and look- ed inte the piercing gray eyes of Zoe's father. ‘“Why didn’t you drop me, toot” he exclaim- ed. “1 war at your mercy, Zz ‘* One at a time; the worst one first.” was the ‘answer. ‘' Yes, L killed your pard. God knows I bave hunted him long | FA ‘* But the shot didn’t give you Zoe.” “No,” in tones of disappointment. ‘‘It took y Me companion’s life, but it did not give me my child.’ | “Don’t you think you dropped ther man?” and Cold-Deck Carl smiled as ** A bullet in Goldspur’s bead might have prov- ed a bonanza for ye,” | For a momeut Sutter did not. speak. ‘‘ Don’t question me!” he suddenly ried. ‘Where is that blood-line you were going to draw around You-Bet?.. You and the villain I killed were pards. His mission has yours. He wanted the girl called Zoe. He robbed me of her years ago, and so adroitly that. J thought the deed was committed by Indians. Not until Jately was I led to suspect the truth. When I killed your friend | knew I had struck the right trail at last. Like yourself, I struck You-Bet to-night too late to find Hercules. G ~ spur and my child. Who ishe? You Cold-Deck Carl, and as Zoe's father I ask you! A strange smile wreathed Carl’s ‘ips fora moment. : *‘ He is the man who took Zoe frova the man you shot,” be said, at. length. “It was ten years ago. He came an’ went in the ni like a wolf—made no trail un’ did res kill We 0) <S Eomicboo veto) » a>