Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 294 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

re ie = 2y a PRES, ‘ & er (Pig * ode 44 “ee - 12 Colorado. I hevn’t looked inter her eyes fer many a long day, but I’ve not forgotten how she used ter look,’ He stood erect, proudly mad before the wo- man encircled by the brawny arms of Colorado Clate, who by this capture had redeemed him- self for letting Alice escape. The eyes of the pair flashed fire as they re- garded one another. “You didn’t gain much beauty in Utah,” said Paradise Paul, suddenly, in tantalizing tones. ‘* No; but I learned to hate there.” **By Jove! I b’lieve it!” and the ruffian’s eyes fell to his red bandages, ‘* Yer work to- night proves yer words,” ‘It was a terrible school, an’ I proved an apt scholar,” Merciless Maud continued, **No doubt ov thet. Colorado, kin ye hold her?” The eyes of the pard were answer enough. ** Then hold her band ag’in’ the wall yonder!” said Paul, pointing to a certain spot on the rough wall of the but. a hand fer a band; but I'll pay you back with interest, Maud. Ill take the right one!” Ready to do the merciless bidding of his chief, Colorado Clate forced his captive across the room and seizing her right hand, forced it against the wall, and turned upon Paradise Paul with a devilish grin. “Thar’s a band thet made yer blood run, Paradise,” he said. ‘‘ Now strike it whar ye please. I'll hold the target, cap’n; you do the shootin’ !” ‘* Won’t I do thet?” exclaimed the captain of of the toughs as up went his heavy revolver and covered the hand held against the wall. ‘*Now Maud, thar’ll be two broken wrists in Deadwood to-night. I don’t want yer life; it’s only a band fer a band!” aoe x woman held by by Colorado Clate never u A - * ast better make it my head, demon,” she said. ‘**T don’t want ter spoil thet,” ‘ ‘* You will leave me a hand that may strike and kill!” “T’ll take the risk. A crippled snake seldom crawls far.” } Merciless Maud made no reply. “Hold the target steady, Colorado!” said Paradise glancing athisswarthy pard. ‘‘ When the revolver cracks, throw the Mormon viper outside an’ shut the door. Now, woman, you shall feel a man’s revenge!” His eye fell toa level with the revolver and be was drawing a bead on the target held against the wall. 3 ‘T'll take a band in that game myself, Dead- wood pards!” suddenly said a cool voice at the door. ‘‘ Drop that revolver and let that woman go! Decide in a second, for I’m byer on busi- ness!” Of course Paradise Paul wheeled upon the speaker at his first word, The man leaned coolly against the door frame, — ‘“*T know bim, cap’n!” exclaimed Colorado Clate. ‘‘ He’s the fellow the kernul winged. The man from Iron-Grip!” | CHAPTER XIV. COLORADO’S HUNT. ‘*THAT’s just who I am,” said the man at the door in nse to Colorado Clate’s exclama- tion, “‘ iphabetically speakin’ I’m A B. M, from L-G. Ar’ ye goin’ ter drop that woman’s hand?” The two ruffians looked at each other for a moment and then stared in turn at Bowie Bluff. He held a formidable revolver in each hand and the cool eyes that glittered like burnished steel proclaimed him the desperado that he really was. Colorado Clate was one of those who had wit- nessed the encounter between Bowie Bluff and Colonel Sandbanks in the Full-Hand Casino, and this is why be recognized the man from Iron-Grip the moment he caught sight of him in the doorway. A dirty handkerchief dyed in blood encircled e Bluff’s head, and mutely but expressively told the story of the colonel’s sna shot; it also lent him a look which did not of right belong to him at other times. Paradise Paul’s revolver dropped suddenly but a the menace of the two pistols Colorado st : seemed disposed to hang on to the-woman’s **Come byer, Maud,” said Bowie Bluff. ‘‘ By the eternal! if you ar’ detained, thar’ll be su- thin’ drop.” Merciless Maud took a step forward as Bowie Bluff's eyes fell on Colorado Clate. Witb a sullen growl the Deadwooder dropped the hand and stepped aside, * Thet’s sensible,” remarked the men from Iron-Grip. ‘Now, look hyer, ye two Dead- wood nosegays. It mepyenes thet I got byer ust in time to be ov service ter thet woman. I rn up at divers times an’ places whar I’m nei- ther wanted nor expected, an’ I ginerally walk off with the platter. Good-night, my twin ga- loots. When yer stump beels, Paradise Paul, I ba expect ter hear ov a b’ar on the roe a ac S ‘More than one b’ar! twenty ) * & F mm tl a i ee Broadclot: —— ————_ —- — -- ‘‘’m goin’ ter make it | grizzlies!” greeted the captain of the toughs. ‘* That's right. Take that woman off. She knows Burt, the Denver Dandy. ee - - Se | me an’ we thoroughly understand one another. | Ef you hadn’t come when you did, Iron-Grip, sbe’d be in my fix by this time.” Merciless Maud who had halted at the door _showed her teeth in a mad smile as she looked | straight into the speaker’s face, | Pll give you another chance,” she said. ‘TP Il take it,” shot Paradise Paul. “I want but one!” Half a minute later the two ruffians were the sole occupants of the cabin, and for a moment | neither spoke. ‘* Thet’s the man the colonel shot, is it?’ sud- denly asked Paradise Paul. ‘‘'Thet’s the villain, but old Sandbanks will never draw on him again.” ‘Why not?’ ** 1m not goin’ ter let him.” ce You 9” ** Colorado Clate, by heavens! Twice to-night hev I been baiked—once by thet girl ov yours, _ an’ now by adog frum Iron-Grip. He’s in league with Merciless Maud.” | ** No doubt ov that. with anybody now. First a Mormon elder, now a shooter from Iron-Grip. I’m devilish glad I got rid ov her long ago,” **'You ar’? Look at thet arm.” Paradise Paul threw a quick glance at his bandaged arm, and ground his teeth till they were heard to crack. ** A thousand lives like hers could not pay fer thet left hand ov mine!” he bissed. ‘I shall make her know this before she dies! rid ov ber when I did? I wish 1 had kill then.” ‘Which means thet you’re goin’ to do it now.” : em” you ar’ still in Deadwood. To tell the cold truth, I’'d sooner find you than Alice.” It was natural for Colorado Clate to suppose that Alice was afraid to return to tbe cabin, and into the presence of the ruffian who in- habited it. He knew that once before on that very night ' Broadcloth Burt’s interference had protected | | } | | | | Glad I got ; and wing impatient. od oor | the aa —— nntimeetitiine | ‘‘- You handle the woman an’ I'll take care ov | the man from Iron-Grip. lll track him across the continent but what I catch him. If Sand- banks, the old fool, had kept bis nerves steady when he drew on that chicken, we wouldn’t hev been interrupted to-night.” ‘* An’ mebbe Maud wouldn’t hev come back to Deadwood. She came for me, I think.” ‘Or for Alice.” Paradise Paul started forward with an ex- clamation of horror. “The girl! I forgot her till now. She es- caped from thet woman’s clutches, a few bours ago, an’ Maud is not the person to give up the chase. Yes, Alice brought her back to Dead- wood, She is here to strike me by robbing me ov the daisy girl ov Dakota. Alice is somewhar in Deadwood, ignorant of Maud’s return. A tigress like Maud would not hesitate to kill the girl to get even with me. Colorado, Alice must not fall into her bands! She must be warned an’ saved in time. I’m weak from loss of blood, but what ov thet? Merciless Maud must be baffled, an’ I will baffle her!” ‘‘T’l) be blamed ef you could baffle a baby to- night, cap’n! I saw yer hand tremble while ye war kiverin’ her band. Hang’ me, ef I ain’t kinder ov the opinion thet Bowie Bluff’s comin’ hyer saved my gripper. Stay whar year’. Go back ter yer blanket an’ rest; you'll need yer eer long. Vil find Alice, if she’s in w , . Dead J ‘* When, Colorado?” gs Right away.” ** An’ you'll fetch ber hyer?’ ‘* Thet’s what Ill do, cap’n.” “Good! I'll stay behind. Ef you meet Maud remember that she belongs to me; but that citi- zen ov lron-Grip—you may shatter his brain- pan to yer heart’s content.” “Trust me for that, cap’n. Stay down on ver blanket. When I come back Ill hev the girl fer ye,” Colorado Clate left the Deadwood cabin, and looked over his shoulder in time to see Paradise Paul stagger toward the poor couch in one corner. ‘* Winged fer life, cap’n,” he muttered.: ‘‘ The — you brought thet woman to Deadwood an’ told us thet you had the dandiest wife in the diggin’s, 1 told the boys thar war fire in her eye, ‘‘ Mebbe you don’t think you did wrong ter drive her away without hearin’ her side ov the story. but ldo, It’s comin’ home ter yer, Para- dise Paul, an’ you kin look at thet bloody arm an’ think ov the time you would hev defended thet woman’s name ag’in’ a thousand revolvers. Yes, I'll help. you through because we’re pards. Ef Alice is in Deadwood to-night V’ll find her, but I’m afraid thet woman called Merciless Maud hez set up a cold deck on me.” Colorado Clate was bent on two things. In the first place he wanted to find Alice, and secondly, he was anxious to get the drop on the man from Iron-Grip. Perhaps he was most anxious to carry out the second design, for whenever he sponge of the work of the desperado be felt his blood grow bot in his veins, ‘* By Jebu! I'm willin’ to meet him any way. Ef I can’t steal a march on the Iron-Grip galoot, WV} face him and bis six-shooters. He had me foul to-night; but fer that he would never have got away. You an’ me fer it, Bowie Bluff, if ee UuEE EE EEE =—-— her from Paradise Paul’s rage, and having gone to the Denverite’s assistance in return for his help, would she not sbrink from the hated shanty ? ‘¢ Ef Maud hezn’t got her work in, she’s still in Deadwood,” mused Colorado, ‘‘ When I saw her last she war talkin’ to Colonel Sandbanks on the spot wharshe kept us from chokin’ bim, He’d keep her from the shanty, ov course he would,” And Colorado turned his face toward the Setemup as if he had suddenly reached a con- clusion concerning Alice’s whereabouts. W ben he reached the famous Deadwood hotel it was silent, dark and apparently deserted. Considerable time had elapsed since Alice’s spirited rescue of the landlord from the lariat of She’s willin’ to take up | the Deadwood tough, and Colorado could readily imagine that the colonel] bad either retired to rest, or bad fled the *‘ city,” fearing further in- dignities at the hands of the unpacified men. He approached the hostelry almost noiselessly and listened like a spy on the porch, The door of the ‘‘reception-room ” was shut, and not a sign of light rewarded bis gaze, ‘‘The Setemup skunks a graveyard fer silence,” said Colorado, after listening awbile ‘*Looks to me as ef *forty-niner hez pulled up{ stakes an’ mosied off.” He laid bis dark hand on the latch, and softly tried the door; but it did not yield. ‘Locked up, sure enough! We’ll turn yer old ranch. inter a daisy monte parlor, colonel. We'll dedicate it to-morrow night, an’ then fer the bighest old time Deadwood’s hed fer six months!” The closed door seemed to tell Colorado Clate that the Setemup was no longer a hotel under its owner’s management, and that Colonel! Sandbanks had fled to parts unknown. If this was the case then no information re- garding Alice would be obtained at the hotel and the desperado turned away. ‘‘Thar comes the stage ov the competin’ line!” he exclaimed as be reached the edge of the porch, and heard the rumble of a heavy vebicle, and the clear voice of a stalwart over. land driver as be sung out lively to the borses always glad to reach Deadwood which was the end of the route. ‘“‘'Thet line always comes bu’stin’ inter town after. midnight, an’ thet’s ane why it’ll never ow inter greets f thar’s any guests er this ranch, they ’ll wake ther colonel.” The Denver stage of the opposition line came thundering down the dusty street with the sombreroed Jebu on the box, cracking bis whip, and singing. out to the horses at the top of bis lungs in a mixture of Spanish and American lingo but half intelligible, Colorado waited for bim on the porch. ‘Whoa! Dead—wood!” yelled the driver, throwing himself back as the spirited borses fell back on their bauncbes. ‘** Hyer’s ther kernul’s shanty solemn ez a grave, an’ twice ez still! Hello! thar, my gentle hasb-producer:! I’ve got a passenger thet I picked up on the trail. He looks like a saint astray from thir Mormon fold.” Down sprung the driver and bounded to the rear door of the stage just as two men were stepping out, “Til help the find out,” he said, ‘‘ Hezn’t he waked up yet?” ‘‘Only once, but he’s as mute as an oyster. We had a notion totoss the Mormon serpent out,” By this time the driver had pulled from the interior of the vehicle the body of a man, and with it in bis strong arms, was approaching tbe motionless figure on the porch: ’ “‘ Hyer’s a case fer yer doctors, colonel,” he yelled, ‘‘Ho! spirit ov the Setemup! Wake up thar! Hyer’s the stage from Denver!” The driver reacbed the porch as his brazen lungs vociferated the last sentence, and the next moment he had deposited bis burden at Colorado Clate’s very feet. ‘¢1")}] bu’st the blamed door in!” and he leaped across the porch, and struck the door a tremen- dous blow with bis bare fist. *7)1 look at the corpse!” murmured Colora- do, still unpercieved by all, ‘‘ What kind ov a ‘“* find” is it anyhow?” He stooped over the human figure lying in the starlight and scanned the face for a minute. “Great Jebu! it’s thet Mormon galoot— Timothy Tenwives!” pealed suddenly from his throat, and bounding over the body he almost fell against the horses, ‘‘What’s that, pard?’ demanded the driver whirling instantly upon the excited tough. ‘* Whisper thet ag’in, will yer?” ‘Yes, [ know that man. We hung him a while ago, Whar did you find *im?” “Bout six miles out ov Deadwood, lyin’ — across the trail.” com ”- | - y a a “4 € \ * ‘- é * a? Seg = = >)