Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 28 — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

EET es oe nei that he did not entirely escape.” “That settles it, ther!” coolly added Zimri. “Tf you goes under, I'll settle him—an’ thar’s Hi} my hand on it!” after a scramble up ahigh rock point, Zimri settled their course and they rode away in the ‘|| direction of the hermit’s cave. The distance 1| was considerable, the trail rough and at times impassable, necessitating tedious circuits, so i | that it was late in the day when the travelers found themselves in the vicinity of the cave. 1. Suddenly Zimri drew rein, and, shading his i | eyes, peered steadily from beneath his broad 4% | palm, | _ ‘““They’s somethin’, stirrin’ over yender,” he 4 said, slowly. ‘‘I see’d somebody or somethin’ | ‘slip into them bushes. It mought be Crazy Bil- HY ly, or it mought be somebody we’d ruther not r | meet jest now. Back out, lad; I reckon we’d 4 | better cache our critters ontel we make out the signs.” ; i | ‘Little Voleano made no opposition, and re- i | treating until they were hidden from view of | | the hillside, they dismounted and tethered their , horses. Then, looking to his weapons, Zimri | cautiously advanced, the boy miner keeping Kk iclose to his heels. t | The old hunter displayed no less caution than | \skill, pausing for moments behind each rock or bush from which he could peer out upon the | jambush. . Little Voleano exhibited some impa- | tience, believing that Zimri’s eyes had deceived iI 1im, or else that the object seen was some | prowling animal. Still he did not refuse to imi- } \tate the old hunter. . _ “Thar!” at length muttered Zimri. ‘‘ Look uick! cain’t you see the starn eend o’ some hu- an critter a-pokin’ itself outen that bush—the ne growin’ atween that black rock an’ the broken-top cedar?” , ‘‘Yes—Isee! There’s mischief going on there, ld man, and we must stop it! Crazy Billy is ny game!” . *<{t does look like they was layin’ fer some- body—but I reckon we’ll take a hand in, es you vy. But soft an’ easy does it, lad. They may = dozen varmints thar. You foller me; do $$ - \ est as I do.” He sunk down on the ground and glided noise- essly along toward the ambush. He meant to ‘each a little pile of rocks some three score ards from the bushes where the man had ex- osed himself, then challenge him, and trust to uck for the rest. But the crisis came before he rock-pile was reached. A little cry from the boy miner guided his xyes. He saw the figure of the hermit, who seamed to be intently watching their progress. ‘hen came the rifle-shot. They saw Crazy Bill eener and fall. They heard the exultant yell f the murderer, and saw him spring up from is covert. Zimri Coon leveled his revolver, and fired. hough full one hundred yards away, Sleepy eorge flung aloft his arms and sprung inte the , with a horrible shriek of agony. : if CHAPTER XXXTIL SLEEPY GEORGE REWARDED, ‘“Wnoo-rE!” yelled Zimri Coon, as he sprung orward, ‘Throwed him cold that time—twur long— Ge-thunder!” The abrupt exclamation was extorted from he old hunter’s lips by a couple of shots from he line of bushes just beyond that from which leepy George had arisen to receive his just re- rard, ‘he bullets, forced through a rifled cham- r, whistled unpleasantly near his ear, and } Limri lost little time in dodging behind a ) ler that stood conveniently near, dragging Lit- e Volcano after him. Re tert <p we've run cea ‘ge a hor- } \ets’ nest! eep your eyes peelec —they’s t \o tellin’ what dodaes them critters ’!] be up ‘fe } fake it easy—” ) | “There were only two shots fired,” muttered i) he boy miner, peering steadily around his cor- | er; ‘and there go the fellows who fired them— N bok!”? Two men were retreating over the rocks and cross the valley, malcing wonderful progress i onsidering the nature of the und. They fere indeed the two comrades of Sleepy George, lock-eyed Waddel and Ham-fat Zack. ‘Zimri, in accordance with the lessons taught | im by a life of savage warfare, was taking con- (erable trouble to ascertain if the enemy had | deed all fled, when the hot-blooded impatience Little Voleano cut the matter short. Dart- ¢ swiftly forward he tore through the line of ishes, with revolver in readiness to drop his 1me, if flushed. Grumblingly, yet not without feeling of admiration for the young fellow’s ‘klessness, Zimri rejoined him. “Look to your meat, old man,” muttered the miner, 2s he pressed on to the spot where azy Billy lay in a pool of hisown blood. With sathiess anxiety, he stooped over the pros- ate figure, moving it so as to lay bare the ‘rt. ‘Through the left breast the rifie-bullet ‘yd passed, lodging just beneath the skin on his f ;, Only aclose observer could tell that the 5 Tae ee ee Spe fe © horses were caught up and saddled, and | a ee Beadle’s Dime Library. { do my work, then it would comfort me to know | hermit still lived. The pulse was faint and ir- regular, his heart barely fluttered beneath the boy miner’s hand. ‘I reckon he’s a gone case,” said Zimri, who had approached unheard. ‘When you git through, mebbe you’d like to take a squint at my meat. It’s a old fri’nd o’ ourn—Sleepy George won’t steal no more chips!” At that moment came an interruption strange and startling indeed. A sharp, clear voice hailed them. They glanced hurriedly up, and beheld thd figure of a man standing with a cocked and loaded revolver in each hand. ‘“You might as well take it easily, boys,” the man added. “I’ve got the dropon you. Be- fore you could touch a weapon I could bore you through. I don’t care about shooting, unless you force it upon me. But Pve sworn to take you both—and [ll do it, dead or alive!” “And you’re the only man that can do it, Jack Hayes,” coolly replied Little Voleano, nev- er stirring. ‘‘ Even you couldn’t, if we weren’t willing. Quick as you are, I could spring un- der cover of that rock before you could pull | trigger—then where would you be!” “Tf you try it on you'll see,” laughed the sheriff. ‘*Don’t dare me to then. Honestly, you are the man of all others whom 1 most wanted to see, You may not believe it, but 1 was on -. way back to Hard Luck to stand my trial. To prove it I surrender to you—see!” As he spoke Little Volcano turned his back upon the sheriff, and, pate his belt, cast | ) his weapons into a clump of shrubbery some dis- tance off. At his request, Zimri Coon followed his example, though reluctantly. ‘‘ There, captain,” added the boy miner. “You see we don’t mean to give you more trouble than we can help. You can come down and take possession whenever you 1 Onl —you must let us attend to this poor devil, first.” Not to be outdone in confidence, Hayes re- placed his weapons, and descended from the rocks, limping and still suffering semana from his bruises. He stood by in silence while the comrades carefully examined the wound of Crazy Billy. Zimri removed the bullet, and bandaged the wound as well as he was able un- der the circumstances. “Tf he recovers ’twill be a miracle, said the sheriff. ‘I saw it all from the hill yonder, but too late to interfere. Then I recognized you, too, and—you know the rest.” ‘“You see me drap one o’ your pet witnesses, then,” grinned Zimri. “ Throwed him cold- ’ ’ er’n ‘(He kicks lively for a dead man,” laughed Hayes, as Sleepy George suddenly attempted to rise, falling back with ahollow groan. “ But it may be all the better for you that he was not killed outright. I know that he lied some at the trial—maybe we can find out the truth of the matter, now. There’s no harm in trying, anyhow.” : The bummer closed his eyes with a bitter groan as he recognized the three faces ee over him—probably the three whom he hate nnd feared more than the whole world besides. They examined his wound. The bullet had en- tered his left side, between two of the lower ribs. Hardly any bloodstained his clothes. The bullet had left scarcely more trace than would the sting of a wasp. ‘‘He is bleeding inside,” whispered Hayes, cautiously. ‘‘ Whatever we get out of him must be soon. You keep still, and let me manage it in my own way.” The acute spasm of pe passed ce and Sleepy George opened his eyes as Jack Hayes addressed him, sternly: ‘You've reached the end of your rope at last, my man. As clear a case of icious murder as ever I met with—and three good witnesses to prove it, too!” ““He made me—he swore he’d murder me ef I didn’t do it,” groaned the bummer, his eyes quailing. ‘* Now see here, George, there’s been a good deal of underhand wor oing on lately, and I believe you can clear it all up, if you choose. I’ve got the whip-hand of you now, but I don’t want to be too hard on you, unless you force it upon me. Tell you what [ll do. If you will tell me all you know—make a clean con- ' fession and sign it, I promise you that you shall not hang for this bit of work. I don’t say you will escape all punishment, but I do say that I will not lay one finger upon you, nor attempt to ee you to justice in —y way. If you refuse, by the heavens above! 1 will string you up to the nearest tree with my own hands, be- fore the words are cold upon your lips! Now take vour choice.” ‘You ain’t playin’ no bugs onto me?” asked | ‘You mean | the wounded assassin, doubtingly. it?’ ‘You have my word,” was the quiet reply. “Tl doit! He’s treated me lilee a do 5 ani way—I don’t owe him nothin’ but kicks an’ cusses! [ll tell the hull story. You take it down, ef you kin, an’ let them fellers witness it—that’ll cut him wuss’n all!” chuckled the wretch, thinking only of his revenge upon his | proud, insolent master, little dreaming how ra- | accents from the lips of Zimri ---- . - — —— — " —a _ — — | pidly his own life was ebbing, in the absence of pain. Sheriff Hayes produced a notebook and pen- cil, putting own the substance of the dying | man’s confession as it dropped from his lips. Sleepy George did make a clean breast of it. Not only the story of their treachery and _plot- ting against Little Volcano, but enough else be- sides to condemn Long Tom to the gallows ten times over. Little Volcano listened breathless- ly for a time, but then turned away, sickened and filled with disgust. Life seemed very hol- low, then, and not worth the living. The confession lasted full an hour, and might have run on still longer, but Hayes cut it short as he saw that the bummer was wh as sink- — ing, though still ignorant of how near he was to death’s door. e was lifted up and man- aged to -— his name, in faint, trembling char- | acters. es and Zimri witnessed the signa- ture, but when they looked around for Little Volcano, he was bending over crazy Billy, his face pale as death, his eyes wildly dilated as he listened to the incoherent mutterings of the hermit. ‘*] knew it—I told you he was one of them!” said Little Voleano, in a strained voice. * Lis- | ten! he is talking of it now! If he could only tell all! He must—he shall not die until I learn the truth—learn who was his comrade. Zimri, you must go for help—there are doctors at Hard uck. Ride for your life—bring one here if you have to tie him hand and foot!” “You fergit, lad—” hesitated Coon, with a glance at Hayes. ‘That is all past, friend—or will be when br say you bear me no ill-will for doing what thought was my duty,” quickly uttered the sheriff. ‘That settles it, then!” cried Coon, exultant- ly. ‘I alays said you was a brick, Jack Hayes —shake!” ‘You are Srp time—and there’s none to spare,” impatiently cried the boy miner. ** What if he should die before you get back— die, and take his secret with him. Go—ride as though the devil and all his imps were at your back! Tell the doctor just what the case is— tell him to pee plenty of stimulants—and make haste, for God’s sake!” “Tl go with yous friend,” said Hayes. “It might be unhealthy for you to show yourself in town alone, while they believe all this against you. Come on—” They saw Sleep George suddenly rise to a sitting position, his face horribly distorted. He seemed as though trying to speak. One hand clutched fiercely at his throat. Then a yell, so loud, so full of utter despair and horror, parted his lips, only ta die away ina choking gurgling sound, as a stream of clotted blood oured from his mouth. Then bis head slow] rooped, he fell over upon his side. A convul- sive quiver, then all was over. “He is dead!” muttered Hayes, not entirel unmoved, despite his long life amid just rien scenes. “You won’t git mad an’ do him any hurt, will ye, lad?’ w red Zimri, addressing Lit- tle Voleano, but an impatient gesture was his Oe Ee e two men slowly proceeded down the hillside, Hayes leaning upon Zimri’s sturdy arm, Little Voleano sat beside the unconscious hermit, listening to his low-muttered ravings. To most hearers, the words would have seemed empty vagaries, but to* the boy miner they were full of a terrible interest. Allusions to a startling crime—of murder and foul treachery —of an innocent man suffering for the crimes | of others. At times these ravings grew more a connected, and the boy miner hung over the lips of the hermit as though his very life de- ended upon his hearing every word. At times i moistened Crazy Billy’s lips with water from his canteen, yet all the same there was a stern, undying lust for vengeance tearing at | his heartstrings, and more than once he had to | turn abruptly aside and stop his ears tightly, lest he should spring upon and tear the raving / man limb from limb. One of these absences was longer than the others, and he returned from the struggle with himself, pale and haggard. The wounded man was lying still and motionless. With a sicken- ing fear at his heart, the boy miner sprung for- ward and knelt beside the hermit’s side. But Crazy Billy was not dead. His eyes slowly opened,and rested upon the boy miner’s face. A puzzled look filled them, but this gra- dually faded away, while a faint smile played around his lips. Breathless, awe-stricken, Lit- tle Volcano bent over to catch the faintly-whis- pered words: % ‘“*Harry—brother—thank God! you have come at last!” | CHAPTER XXXIV. ANOTHER BLOW. ““Waat—l ber-durned !” _ There was a peculiar eloquence in this brief _and pointed speech, as it dropped in measured oon. <A printed column couldn’t have said more. a : As heretofore stated, Zimri and Sheriff Hayes eft the hermit’s GOAL CoOOC ie (E(0) | t ee