Beadle's Dime Library No. 278 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

~~ ba rte , ins did leave it deserted when they left! Some- ‘him, The ody, who don’t like Hercules Goldspur is up ar. With eyes that emitted sparks of rage he paused no longer on the ladder, but went up- ward, « Another missile grazed his shoulder and went to join the others that bad preceded it to the bottom of the shaft. He could not tell how large the objects were, but from the way they winded him he had a right to judge that they were bowlders larger than his head. Two hundred feet above him was tbe brink of the yawning chasm, and the ropes that held in its place the ladder that supported his weight, were liable to be cut at any moment by the foe at the top. Still, despite the terrible danger that menaced an of the Velvet Hand kept his way starward, is grip on the ladder against the wall was firm, for he knew that one of the heavy stones coming down at intervals was likely to strike him and stun, if hot burl him from his insecure stair. ““You dar’n’t wait fer me!” he exclaimed with upturned face, ‘‘ A man what would burl bowlders at a fellow in my fix is meaner than a Mexican thief. You are mean, dirty coward, who dar’n’t face Hereules Goldspur, an’ give ’im a show!” . The response to these words was a rock which struck the giant on the shoulder, and breaking one of his hands loose, caused him to swing out: into the darkness! But he clutched the tighter with his other hand, and re®ecured the hold which had been broken loose, . Up, up he went, now with a naked bowie- knife between his teeth, and more than eager to meet the enemy, surely at the top of the shaft. All at once the ladder oscillated in a manner that would have sent a chill to the heart of ney a brave man placed in the giant’s situa- tion. ** from stone to knife!” he hissed madly, and sounding his desperate case to the depths, he _ went up the ladder like asailor, band over hand, ‘ ** You've ter cut ther ladder loose durned soon, my daisy, er Hercules will be on deck,” e saw the brink of the chasm while he spoke. The ladder oscillated more than ever. One side was already cut loose, At times it swung out into the darkness be- neath his own weight, and then came back against the wall of the shaft with a force that most stunned him, But Hercules Goldspur now saw more than a | emapi with stars, e‘saw a figure that leaned over the top of —— and he caught the gleam of a knife- ade, The sight nerved him to renewed exertion. Oh, for a grip on the firm ground above, He would give worlds for a chance at the hu- man throat above him. Suddeniy a wild exclamation of. triumph grated on his ears. It told him that the knife was finishing its work. ‘The next instant the ‘ladder seemed to give way beneath bim, and he made one wild leap at the top of the shaft with his velvet hand, All his agility and strength was in that leap for life. As his hands caught the fringe of the shaft, the ladder, cut loose a second too late, went rattling down the mine, and Hercules Gold- spur was left clinging to a frail hold, from which the bowie that had deprived bim of his support might cut him free! ‘By the eternal gods! I am byar!” shot from his throat, as by a mighty display of strength, he drew himself up and appeared so suddenly on the firm earth that the enemy at the shaft sprung back with an exclamation of terror. Hercules Goldspur did not wait ‘o catch his well-spent breath, but cleared the space between him and his enemy with a bound, and swooped down upon the would-be killer like an eagle. “‘Cuttin’ a ladder from under him doesn’t wipe out Goldspur!” he cried, and before the listener could draw a weapon of any kind, The Man of the Velvet Hand bad jerked him from the ground and was holding him at arm’s length as aman sometimes holds a child, only one of the terrible velvet hands was at the pris- oner’s throat. “Not ther person I thought you war, but "al do!” said Goldspur, with a alicious augh that seemed to increase the devilish light that blazed in his eyes. ‘‘ 1 came hyar ter find you, hang meif I didn’t! But you found me, eh? Wal, it’s all one, I guess, How ’d you like ter go on ther hunt ov thet ledder?” And as the giant laughed, he wheeled and held his prisoner over the yawning mouth of the shaft, Not the person he e ted tosee? Who, then, was the giant’s prisoner? _ The dark eves that peapess undaunted fire at Hercules would have told the reader could he have scen them. + ‘Goldspur krew them well for they belonged to no otber p_rson than Lola, the Poker Queen. eee ee a TI OS -.Cd2d DS a aS Se > ae ha a ..:2::0.DwO0 8008S ee _—— ———————e _ e—— —— =e eee ee ee ee OC = eTrCcu. 25 (rOlLaSDUY. ~ | ae : r - , : . i ‘4 , “You first stole Zoe an’ next you foller me,” continued Hercules after bolding his captive for a moment over the abyss, ‘‘ Don’t you see thet yer throat jes’ fits my hand, Ho! ho! my poker princess; roce a daisy jumper; but ther heel of Goldspur will crush any flower. Whar’s Zoe?” How defiantly the eyes first made reply; but when he removed his hand from Lola’s throat and placed her on her feet again, but still in his power, the mad light waned. ‘No lies! I want the solid truth er you git this, Lola!” and the giant’s right band was thrust almost into the girl’s throat. ‘* You stole the girl—you took Zoe from the mountain cabin. har is she!” Then it was that Lola’s black eyes seemed to twinkle, ‘Yes, I robbed you of Zoe,” she said; “ but if you want her you must seek her of the man who robbed me.” ‘* Who was that—Cold-Deck Carl?” “No; the Man from Silver Bow.” ‘¢‘The Happy Rattler!” exclaimed Goldspur. ‘An’ he <dbbed you of Zoe? It makes a new trail for me. Lola, did you know it was Goldspur down the shaft when you begun to send ther stones down?” The Mexican’s eyes said yes. ‘* An’ you cut ther ladder loose ter fix Gold- spur forever?” he went on, ‘‘ Lola, you knew that I would never spare the person who robbed me of Zoe. I bev sworn thet Vd bring you ter settlement some day fer thet theft. Iam hyer. lhev you in ther clutches ov Hercules Goldspur. My Mexican wild-cat ef I spare you I make myself out a liar.” Before the girl could lift a hand he leaped madly at her, and again she was lifted from the ground, “Ye ar’ goin’ down arter thef ladder!” he fairly hissed, ‘IT find Zoe without you, my Mexican rattlesnake. Ill run ther Happy Rattler down an’ make ’im give up his prize.” He turned again toward the shaft, a black hole in the garth at his feet. He held“the girl above his head firmly clutched by both hand& ‘Tl clean ’em out ez I go along!” he grated. ‘We'll see about thet, Hercules Goldspur!” As these words rung out a horse covered with foam halted a few feet away and a re- volver changed the scene. Changed the scene, we say, for Lola dropped from Goldspur’s hands, and the giant reeled to the edge of the ravine below which he dis- appeared as the shooter leaped to the ground and darted forward. See CHAPTER XX. A LIFE FOR A SOMBRERO. “WrLL, you got him!” exclaimed Lola wheeling upon the man who halted before her revolver in hand. } ‘‘T should grin,” was the answer, and‘ the speaker shot a quick glance toward the shaft. ‘* He hed them soft hands ov his on yer, eh! He war goin’ ter throw ye down ther shaft ov ther Black Bonanza, Don’t yer feel kinder grateful to Con Griggs ov You-Bet?” “Tam grateful,” said Lola, as she looked into the face of the man whose Shot in all probability ut an end to Hercules Goldspur’s career. ‘Would you have ororend him if he had not been holding me over the mine?” ‘“Thet didn’t hasten my shot. What do yer think he did to-night?” ‘* T cannot guess,” ‘“T should reckon not, Wal, a lot ov us tried ter play a certain game called spl in these parts an’ war gittin’ along boss wken be picked up ther blamedest hand [ ever saw a human it an’ played it through in spite ov us all. o-night thet«happened, Lola—not more’n an hour ago, Jam ther only man what gotaway. Some he choked, some he shot.” ‘* Whar did it happen?” - “At Bulldog up the road. It wara time I tell yer, gal. I couldn’t beat ther train ter You- Bet, but I didn’t lose any time comin’ byer all thesame. Wal,I got hyer in time ter git & hand thet trumped Géoldspur’s last aces, I didn’t give ’im time ter know thet it war Con Griggs, er Crimson Con thet dropped him. Will he ever interrupt another game ov hold- up? Wal, my daisy, [ruther guess not.” The man laughed at his success. He was a person whom Lola had seengefore in You-Bet when it was populated by the roughs and toughs who inhabited it at tne commencement of our romance. Broad shouldered and handsome, with dark eyes and a raven mustache that streamed be- ond either cheek in the wind, was Crimson ‘on, the avenger of the men killed by Hercules Goldspur on the night train between Bowie Gulch and You-Bet. : He left Lola‘and walked to the edge of the shaft when he had finished his laugh of triumph and revenge. The Mexican beauty saw bim lean over the dark pit and listen with a half-bent hand be- hind his ear. . “It’s ez silent es ther grave down thar,” he said. ‘Thar’s water three feet deep at ther r=. i= Tee . bottom ov ther shaft. Ef lonly hed thet man’s laced hat ter exhibit. Id be satisfied.” Lola gave him a strange look which was a mute interrogation. ‘* Thar’s not another hat like it in Idaho,” he wenton. ‘* Hercules bed it made ter order, an’ allus boasted thet he’d kill the man what wore one like it. Lola, 1 want that bat!” ‘* Better not,” said the girl, as her eyes bright- ened. ‘‘ There may be a live man at the bottom of that shaft.” “If thar is lll turn parson, bang me ef I don’t,” laughed Con. “ A man with a bullet in ete — arter a tumble ov two gener ee at ar’ ye t ’ ter give this sage chick, Lola?” : Kt . : The girl did not reply for a moment, but her eyes burned half-resentingly. “Tf you think so,” she exclaimed, “go and find that laced hat.” ‘* By Jehosaphat! ef I don’t, I’m a saint!” He started off and Lola’s eyes followed him until the shanties of You-Bet and the shadows that prevailed hid bim from view. “T'll wait and see what he will do,” she mur- mured, and did not move until Crimson Con came back dragging after him an immense coil of rope capable of supporting a great weight, ‘‘Tt’s the laced hat I’m after, Lola,” he laughed. ‘* Thar’s not another like it in Ldaho, Think ov thet!” Going to the edge of the pit, he began to lower the rope, and the girl who step to his side watched it descend with a g deal of curiosity. ‘‘Now fer ther hat!” exclaimed Crimson Con, as he made fast one end of the rope toa rock near at hand. ‘ Don’t thin I kin climb ther cord? Nothin’s easier, Lola. Ther side ov ther shaft will act ez a brace fer one’s feet, an’ he’ll come up slick an’ sure,” Ere he lowered himself over the edge of the mine he drew a ten-inch bowie and placed it between his teeth so as to bave it ready for an emergency at a moment’s notice, then with a look ind a smile at the Mexican he clambered down into the shaft witb bis bronze bands at the rope, Te by chance Hercules Goldspur should be alive you'll make the acquaintance of a pair of death hands, C:imson Con,” said Lola, in an un- dertone as the last vestige of the hat-bunter dis- en amid the gloom of the shaft, , he vibrations of the rope told the girl that Con was still going down deeper and deeper ihto the dark depths of the old shaft. He expected to find the laced sombrero of his victim floating in the water at the bottom of the pit, and trusted to his bands to secure the coveted priza. Lola watched the oscillating rope until sho was satisfied that Crimson Con had reached bis jourhey’s end, for the motion suddenly cessed but not a sound, not even an exclamation 0 success, floated up to her. She waited five, ten, fifteen minutes; but the rope did not move again. ‘Come up at your leisure, Con!” she laughed, ete Pty . “TI cannot wait all night for you. When I see you with the laced sombrero on your head I'll believe that the man who clutched my throat awhile ago will néver run off with another girl.” Lola walked from the t, and stopped not until she, like Hercules Goldspur had lately done, had inspected the interior of Joe’s eet ling-den, with its tell-tale paper and blood- stains on the floor. , “ The Happy Rattler did not bring Zoe back to You-Bet,” she said. “‘I have missed the trail. I wonder where Cold Deck Carl and Ferd Sutter are, and what they bave discovered. Ah! if Pigmy Pete were bere. I told bim when I left him that I would hunt Hercules Goldspur down and I have done so. I robbed him of Zoe, but in turn I have been robbed, and by that dead-beat who calls himself the appy Rattler from Silver Bow. Let me find bim again! I will make sure that be never robs another woman.” Lola made a tour of the town, but nobody greeted her. The one athe of the avenging red-skins of the Northwest bad been sufficient. You-Bet had had raids before, but none that approached the last in completeness, She saw signs of desolation even in the weird moonlight that lay on the ground. Cabin doors stood wide open, but their last occupants were iy She went to the frame station, but it, too, was deserted. As if hating everything civilized, the red- skins had gutted it. The 8 Die les bore scars made by their 7g and hatchets, but they had spared the wires. ‘‘[’'m queen here,” laughed Lola, “I couldn’t get up e game of draw were I to hammer on every door in You-Bet. en I left here, everything was lively. The indians did it all. They came and killed, and then left You-Bet desolated, I wonder if they struck Pigmy? Why didn’t I ask Crimson Con?” She turned and ran toward the Black Bon- anza shaft. JOO Geom (E 3 ‘ G 7 | a . I , = a - . le