Beadle's Dime Library No. 278 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

¢ _ ae : » : . ¥ P 4 ° —s : - ' P ee J 4 . a, “~ 6” ¢ ‘ : , w ap . 4 . ¢ George an’ me.” ‘This was too much. “The Happy Rattler from Silver Bow is the restore the . * Frequently,” “No, an’ I never expect to. pr Be yt : the Rattler. — te ee eee eo ——— a me re tic Arizona ranch in the person of Zoe, the pro- tegee of The Man of the Velvet Hand. mat Ns o restore the girl to her father, to snatch her, if need be, from the power of Hercules Goldspur was the aim of his ambition, and while he connted the perils that faced him, the old time twinkle left his eyes and a serious ex- pression eame to his face. ‘* We'll pull through, George,” he. resumed, striking the donkey with his fat hand. ‘*My long-eared cherub, we'll rake in the stakes an’ leave You-Bet with flying colors.” “If Tsay so.” At the sound of that voice the Happy Rattler and his pard both stopped. “Great Jehosaphat!’ fell from the Rattler’s lips as he caught sight of the man who seemed to have risen from. the earth ahead of. him. “* Whar did you rise from?” The answer was a low, cuttirg laugh. ‘From the ground, mebbe. Mr. will yer please repeat yer words?’ “ pout—” “Yes, about that good-sized reward. Mebbe you'll get it, an’ mebbe not. Now, chaw yer words over, an’ spit ‘em out.”’ For a moment the jolly man from Silver Bow remained as silent as a statue; but he craned his neck forward to get a good look at the man who had confronted him, He saw a well-built personage, with deter- mined face and a pair of wonderfully cool eyes; a man his superior in stature, if not in strength, and one who held an advantage over him inas- much as his confronter held a revolver. ‘*T war just talkin’ ter George hyar about a legacy we'd get one o’ these ds ys from our aunt in Frisco,” said the Happy Rattler, with un- | blushing effrontery. ‘It’s only a small pile, | but big enough to open a game o’ draw, eh, | George, my honeysuckle?” The man with the revolver appeared to smile, The falsehood bad not deceived him. ‘* You're a cute one, Rattler,” besaid, ‘‘ You must be president ov a liars’ club somewhar. Does yer pard possess the same faculty?” ‘* Pretty mucb, thank ’ee.” “Then ye’r’ a delicious pair an’ no mistake. Comin’ from yer aunt in ’Frisco, eb?” Heaven knows how deep it is.” “Wal, deep er shallow, you’re goin’ ter find ther bottom.” ‘*George an’ me?” ** Both ov ye. United in life, not severed in death, eh, Rattler?’ The last word was followed by a cutting laugh which seemed to find an echo in the ds stood, ‘‘Tam goin’to reach my goal ef I reach it — riddled an’ cut,” continued Cold-Deck Carl. ‘*You’re one ov ther obstructions, Rattler, an’ ez such must get out o’ ther way. Jump!” The sudden command startled the Happy Rattler. He looked from Carl into tke black abyss that yawned at bis feet. There was death at the bottom of the. old wos! arg: and the loss of the reward he coy- eted, No wonder that he shrunk from the leap into the unknown. Gold-Deck Carl was not going to give his vic- tim wy time for preparation. His last command was quickly followed by another. ‘* Mount that mule!” “It’s a good idea,” murmured the Rattler. ‘It's my only hope fer life. George, 1 guess our kickin’ days have ended.” And he threw himself sullenly upon the donkey’s back. ‘* Now, my angel from Silver Bow, inspect the mine. thar—a bigger one than you war goin’ to get from that moonshine aunt in’Frisco. No more talkin’ now. Jump!” | The speaker took a step nearer his victims, | Rattler, but took good care to keep out of reach of Kick- ing George’s hovfs. The revolver crept forward till it seemed to touch the Happy Rattler’s face. There was an uosparing finger at the trig- ger. ‘Wal, jump it is,” grated the Rattler wheel- ing upon Cold-Deck Carl and clincbing bis band as he shook it in bis face. ‘* Durn my picter! ef George an’ me ever come up from this black- ness ov darkness thar’ll take place ther all-fired- est kickin’ spree ever seen in Idaho! It won’t be counters an’ jugs then, but ’twill be ther anato- my of thet mean skunk what calls himself Cold- Deck Carl. Come, George. Truth crushed ter earth will rise ag’in, an’ phat!” ‘* Jump! The next moment a pair of spurs touched the “A small pile?” ‘Small but comfortable; big enough for 9 man who heard these words burst into a ugh. ‘S Slicker than an eel, by jingo!” he exclaimed. champion liar ov the Northwest, You can’t pull the wool over my eyes, old fellow, That an’ be quick about it!” rr rr es aunt game is all sham, You've told it so often in different parts of the kentry, that you’ve be- | flanks of the donkey, and in, the twinkling of n ter b’ieve it yerself. It won’t doin You- | aneye the two pards from Silver Bow disap- t. After this don’t talk so loud ter Kickin’ peared from sight, l5 was an awful leap! Two strides carried Cold-Deck Carl to the edge of the shaft, and leaning over it he listened intently for some moments. when you unfold your plans. Goin’ ter girl to her father an’ rake in the re- ward! Warn’t thatabout the size ov it, Rattler? “Never. Restore the girl? hat girl?” “Fool! I’m not goin’ ter waste words. I’m Not a sound came up from the darkness Cold-Deck Carl, an’ I fool with noman. I’m! whichno human eye could penetrate, and at hyar fer a purpose, an’ thet purpose is to rake | the end of five minutes he rose and put up bis revolver. “One,” he said significantly. ‘‘ One meddler out ov the way, an’ he promised to be a trouble- some one, too.. Whar ar’ ye, Rattler, an’ when an’ whar will yer pard kick ag’in?”’ With a light laugh Cold-Deck Carl turned | away and left bis victims to their fate. “Never?’? He looked like a man who was bound to keep - “Never!” | his oath to draw a blood-line about You. Bet. “T don’t know about that.” He had already begun his work. “Ido. Move along straight ahead.” He went straight toward the saloon where Rattler gave Cold-Deck Carla , Kicking George had performed his last exploit. but hesitated. | {fhe door stood open, but the denizens of the Pm in earnest,” be said. ‘‘I have sworn to trap were not to be seen. draw a blood-line about this infernal town an’ | he only person visible was Joe, who was I’m ready to begin with you, although *twould thering up the remains of bis bar with a do- be a pity ter deprive Silver Bow ov such a | forous look, as if he thought of the labor that prominevtcitizen. Marchon! If you move a_ would be required to produce a new one, foot either way from the trail I'll leave{George |, Cold-Deck Carl surveyed this scene for a mo- ter kick bis way through the world alone.” ' ment, and then stepped inside. “That'd ned ppaaresaeeceemsanly ” remarked Joe’s first knowledge of his presence was con- ‘I guess I'll move on.” veyed by the hand that dropped upon his shoul- There was no reply except the menace of the | der. ; revolver in Cold--Deck Carl’s hand, and the man “You back?” he exclaimed, recognizing Cold- and his donkey began to move on. Deck Carl as he sprung up. ‘ Whar ar’ the in more than the ranch-owner’s reward. It wouldn’t last me one night, especially when I ve such aayroess as Pigmy Pete’s black- eyed daisy, Ever hear ov me? said the Rattler. “Did you George kick?” 4 ee eeeeeE—eEE—E——— ) Se The trail was narrow and led toward the Hap y Rattler an’ that boss kicker ov his’n?”’ Ges, mines, but the many brilliant stars, and the [sat Where they'll never demolish another bar. -——s moon that rode the heavens, showed it to man | Joe, Ill take a whisky flush, 1 feel like a morn- rie and mule, jn’ star.” And the speaker patted Joe’s shoul- _—--- Cold-Deck Carl followed, with his eyes fixed | der and laughed again. on the Happy Rattler. | : = Fae was triumph in them, the triumph of | CHAPTER VII. 4 i ~ desperado who rejects no means that prom- SILKEN FINGERS. ica to gain certain ends. THE drink which Cold-Deck Carl poured out ny A short distance from the place where he had | among the ruins of Joe’s bar was tossed off with = | fen d by Cold-Deck Carl, the Rattler | the gusto of a well pleased desperado, and a ——-s @ame toa balt, and then suddenly drew back, minute later the bartender found himself alone of “*Thar’s a bole in the ground byar,” he said. | again. wf ‘** Jump it,” said Carl, sarcastically. Cold-Deck Carl walked away, and was soon Law “Tcan’t. It’s a hundred feet wide.” lost among the mines. spe The eyes of Cold-Deck Carl] fairly glistened. Half an hour afcerward he reappeared, bear- Al ‘*Go on, then!” he said, ing in hisarms the body of a man whose face 1% “ Inter ther, hels¢ ‘Cold-Deck, I'mn no fool.” was white and whose eyes stared blankly at the ti “Ho! ho! You can’t jump ther hole, you | stars overhead. pay?” ! The man killed in.the gulch! wae ff ing . i“ “- lercules Goldspur. Mebbe you'll strike a bonanza down | | , | | | | _ got to meet, not Pigmy Pete. | | | into an inner pocket Cold-Deck Car] proce ’m truth, by Jebosa- | to inter his comrade, 3 — He carried the corpse away and halted balf- way up a little bill well covered with furze and with narrow paths running hither and thither like the trails of rabbits. ‘* Pll plant bim hyar,” he said, depositing the body on the ground. ‘“‘He war my pard, an’ 1 sent fer him ter come byar ter die: but I * didn’t know it.” Without another word he fell to the labor of making a grave for the dead, and this he ac- complished with the assistance of a pick which depths of the old mine, on whose brink the two | he bad brought from the mines. Nobody heard the sounds of the implement as it dug the last resting-place for Cold-Deck Carl’s pards and the little clods that rolled down the ill did nothing more than slightly shake the bushes through which the yaterd. It was a wild and lonely burial, one that at- tested the faithfulness of man, rough and hard- ened though he was, to a companion who had possessed not a single good trait of character, When Carl turned to the corpse and lifted it to transfer it to the hollow his pick bad formed, tbe coat opened and he saw—what?—a paper fastened to it on the inside, a paper covered with writing. ; ““Somebody’s been with the colonel since I left him!” he ejaculated, and tearing the paper off he beld it up in the moonlight and tried to decipher the inscription. **Cold-Deck Carl,” he read aloud. “ When you have planted the colonel I beg you to turn your at- tention to me, for You-Het is too little to hold both of ussince I know what brought you here. Draw your blood-line about this town an’ start in with me ef you want to. You can’t have the prize what brought you to You-Bet, I'm her protector, an’ b the eternal stars! thar’s not men ner wolves enough in Idaho to loosen my grip. “Hercutes GoLpsprr, ‘The Man of the Velvet Hand,”” After reading the paper Cold-Deck Car} glanced over it again and then smiled derisively. ‘Ther Man ov ther Velvet Hand, eh?” he ex- claimed. ‘ You-Bet too small fer both ov us! That's a hard cold fact. Zoe’s ther prize we’re playin’ fer, Goldspur, I’m glad you announce yerself her protector, fer I know just who I’ve You say you didn’t kill the col- I doubt it. I’m inclined ter b’lieve youa Ef you didn’t, who did? Not the Rattler, Who else is byar to do it? Let the man who wiped the colonel] out step for- ward ef he bears me. Let the sneaking coward show himself if he dares!” There was no reply, and thrustin onel, liar. the paper He was not disturbed at his labor, and when he went down the hill, having flung the pick among the bushes, a few fresb clods told where slept the man who hdd come to You-Bet with a scheme which he would never accomplish. ‘Pd like to meet him,” grated Carl through clinched teeth, ‘‘ but most ov all I'd like to find the girl just now. She stays about Joe's, f think, but the events that happened thar to- night may have frightened her off.” e went back to the saloon, but bis inspection of its interior failed to find Zoe. Joe’s customers, many of them at least, had come back and money was being lost and won over the various tables that were seattered about the den. “She isn't thar, so I'll bave ter look fer ber elsewhar,” he said turning from tbe door from which he bad taken an observation. He turned back somewhat disappointed. ‘‘Wher will I look fer ber?” he ejaculated. ‘Tt isn’t necessary that I should find her to- pight, but, then, I’d like to.” he last word bad scarcely left Car]’s lips ere a man emerged from a cabin hardly twenty yards away. “The very man I want,” exclaimed Carl. ‘*T1l shoot his manifesto through bis head! By heavens! they’ve raised a devil in You-Bet.” The man who had stepped into the starlight had a magnificent physique, and was in every respect a giant, standing easily on the ground, and looke and with his wealth of black hair that brushed his shoulders, and with the broad- rimmed hat which was elevated just enough to show his lofty forebead. It was The Man of the Velvet Hand! How Cold-Deck Carl's eyes flashed as they watched him! “My victim,” passed his lips in’a hiss. “ Yes. You-Bet is too small for both of us, Herenjes. We both want the same gold-mine, an’ but one can win. That one shall be Cold-Deck Car)!» He had drawn bis revolver, and Dow he took from his pocket the paper he had found pinned to the dead colonel’s coat. Rolling it up in bis left hand, he thrust it into the barrel of the weapon, but left one enq pro- truding from the muzzle. ; Not for a moment had he taken bis eyes off his enemy, who, standing near the cabin whose threshold he had just crossed, appeared to he waiting for some one. Sudden! y, bowever, Hercules Golds piece of paper from bis pocket and s ward Eoeenay ifesto,” said Carl P ‘‘Another manitesto, Under | breath as be watched these proceedings, « ae took a ( com ed Pped to-. Se : >} —_—_-. a i a,