Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 294 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

18 Broadcloth Burt, the Denver Dandy. ‘*You’ve lived in Deadwood long enough, ker- nul, to know thet not one ov ther Thirty Pards stand any foolishness. Now, I b’long ter thet ruther hard crowd, an’ I shoot. Out with the truth, kernul.” | *T will. I don’t know whar Alice is,” | “You had her ter wait fer ye at the big tree last night.” “Thet’s correct, but when I got thar she war ne. Colorado Clate sent a searching look into the pcolonel’s face. | * Hev [ struck the wrong trail after all?’ he ; asked himself. ‘I have found one of the per- sons we were commanded to run down, but ther most important one, ther cap’n’s girl, is not ) with him. Ef ther kernul lies why would I find him goin’ ter Denver alone? You will , swear to yer statement, kernul?”’ he asked aloud. : “By the heavens overhead!” exclaimed Simon Sandbanks, elevating one hand, ‘‘ Alice went toward the tree, but she either gave me the slip, or else she fell back into the bands of thet infernal woman!” The Deadwood tough started visibly. * lll trust you,” he said, and Sandbanks drew a genuine breath of relief when he saw himself no longer covered by the easy-triggered weapon. ‘Stand whar ye are a minute.” Colorado Clate moved toward the horses, two of which had righted themselves, but the third unhurt one was held down by the dead body of his companion. Whipping out a bowie, the desperado leaned a over and severed several parts of the heavy harness, which let the animal up, and then, Sais, it by the rein, he rode back toward the colonel. “Kin you ride without a saddle, kernul?” he asked, smiling as he nalted in front of the Dead- wooder, i “T kin if I have to,” was thereply. “‘AmI ter continue my journey on horseback?” ie ** You ar’ goin back ter Deadwood with me.” ' * Now?” eerie “ Right away.” i , e o wants me thar?” 7 ‘*Cap’n Paul. He sent three ov us arter you, kernul, but I’m ther only one ov ther set what if reached ther game. You about face hyar, A Instead ov Denver, you'll hev ter put up with bi Deadwood fer ther present.” Colonel Sandbanks felt a nameless shiver run } through his frame, but he braced up and looked > Colorado Clate squarely in the face. in . ‘*-You have no authority to take me back to BS Deadwood,” he said, ‘I didn’t abduct the girl; pat she didn’t go off with me. You kin go back an? 2) report to Paradise Paul that you know she’s not a th me, You don’t want toruin my business, ier you ” : a ** Not exactly —” har: “Then, go back an’ report so that I can make ih my way to Denver on the important business that calls me thar.” < “I can’t do thet. Ther cap’n wants you just | _ -—-- @@ bad ez yer business down Sc does,” was 2 the pitiless reply. ‘“Kernul I’m sorry I can’t ae accommodate ye. It’s got ter be Deadwood | hen instead ov Denver.” Aas Colonel Sandbanks ground his teeth. sitar ‘*T guess I'll bev ter go back among the Dead- | wood alligators,” he muttered. ‘* Paradise Paul | a: hez nipped all my plans in the bud. Tl not get bs rsa ter snatch Alice from Merciless Maud in Den- -~——s- ver, but by the eternal heavens! if they monkey us * with me, I'll kill somebody in Deadwood! I’m no kid-gloved milk-an’-water dandy, if I hev ae kept a hotel. I’m arelic of 49, an’ somebody will find it out ef they try to blow the horns b’longin’ ter this band-wagon.” — _ He appeared to submit to the inevitable with- Leys out another protest, and climbed upon the back a cf the stage-borse with more alacrity than a ba ipereon knocked about as he had been is supposed aga! Turn over yer pill-boxes, kernul,” said Col- --—-—s orado Clate stretching forth a hand for the pris- ss @ner’s weapons, e7 “ve got none,” replied Sandbanks opening his coat and displaying his defenseless condition. } ‘*T lost ’em in that memorable jolt over ther -.- ‘Denver trail, an’ in another mile I should hev oa been turned wrong side out.” poner “Very well. To Deadwood then.” Saad Side by side toward the north, or back to the ganguinary capital of the Black Hills, rode the proprietor of the Setemup and his swarthy * ~~ << o _— + » - ee ee —$_—— ~~. >... 2 a tS) ee Caterakas Clate looked mad and disappointed, mad because he bad lost two courageous pards, 2 and disappointed because he had not effected ' the objects of his expedition. Vets “Take me straight to the old stand,” said the Bie colonel as they galloped into the suburbs of . wood. ‘Remember that I am a citizen of Deadwood, and entitled to all ov its Fishy Aa do Cap’n Paul can call at the Setemup ef he wants ter see me. He-—-heilo! they’ve had a fire in his ’ town.” het -X Colorado’s countenance quickly changed, but em e made no reply; he did not even notice the —. golonel’s Se ge ay There had been a fire in Deadwood, and as | 3 _ the two men turned into the street that ter- a uae minated before the Setemup, a loud mad cry parted Simon Sandbanks’s lips. ** My God! the Setemup is gone!” he exclaim- ed. ‘*Thet’s about the way it looks, kernul,” was the cool, unconcerned reply. ‘‘I can’t take ye to ther old stand now,” ‘No, an’ I don’t want ter go thar. Take me to the meanest skunk in Deadwood—the man you call Cap’n Paul. Do you bear me remark, Col- orado?” “To Cap’n Paul you go, kernul, an’ I caution you to be docile when you git thar, too. Para- dise hez been robbed ov a hand an’ he’s not ez patient as a seraph. Put a stiff bit in yer mouth, an’ keep it thar while ye’r’ with him. This Alice bizness riles him to ther bone.” ‘‘]’m no boy ter be advised,” snapped the colonel, as he sent a swift mad glance toward the blackened ruins of Deadwood’s “first and only” hotel. ‘*Show me yer one-handed blood- sucker.” The horses’ heads were turned and the two men rode away. Turning into another street a minute after- ward they came upon a crowd of dark-shirted er more than twenty in all, in front of a small cabin, “Ther cap’n must be holdin’ a levee,” said Colorado with a glance at his prisoner. ** It’s not a very good time ter interview him, but—” **T’ll see him if ther hull gang’s at his back!” was the interruption. ‘‘ Brought back ter see my hotel burned at his command, I'll hev satis- faction if it hez ter be his blood!” At that moment a loud shout arose from the throats of several men in front of the cabin, and Colorado and his prisoner were then espijed by all. Colonel Sandbanks shut his jaws hard, and orate on with a mad, contemptuous look at the eadwood toughs. “Whar’s ther cap’n?” asked Colorado of the crowd in general. ‘*On the inside, but—” “Pll announce myself!” exclaimed Simon Sandbanks driving the horse among the toughs, whoseparated. ‘* He wants tosee me I hear an’ I’ve got business with him now /” He reached the open cabin door before one of the forty hands could detain bim, and the next moment he was inside. “Don’t let him touch the cap’n!” cried sev- eral loud voices. ‘‘ He’s weaker ner a baby. We hed hell in Deadwood just afore daylight. Broadcloth Burt—” : The interruption came from the interior of the cabin. ‘*Hyar you are, Paradise Paul! Now I'll pay you back for the burnin’ of my botel!” It was Colonel Sandbanks’s charging cry, and the men who rushed into the hut saw him spring at the man stretched on a lot of skins. ‘* Colorado fetched no infant back over ther Denver trail!” pealed from his throat. ‘ Ill choke all the villainy forever from yer nature, Cap’n Paul!” n instant later the infuriated landlord of the Setemup was seized by three dusky hands, and lifted bodily from the floor but another human rose with him. His fingers, eager for revenge, seemed to have met in Paradise Paul’s throat, and the toughs could not shake him loose. It was the wildest moment that Deadwood had witnessed for some time. Paradise Paul was helpless, weak, senseless, perhaps dead! The Deadwooders tugged at the maddened colonel’s hands; the uproar increased, men swore and drew knives and revolvers, the in- side of the cabin was a surging mass, At last Cap’n Paul was wrenched from the demon’s grasp, and the man who fell under the feet of the toughs was the colonel. CHAPTER XXII. FROM HORROR TO DESPATR, READER, let us turn from the turmoil that ex- cites Dead wood and seek out two of the charac- ters of our story from whom we have been sepa- rated for some time. | You have been left to imagine Colonel Sand- banks’s surprise and disappointment when he reached the tree by the Denver trail and discov- ered that Alice whom he expected to meet was not there. In a moment of excitement the girl had pro- mised to accompany him to a place—to Denver she ‘SA she would escape the rage o aradise Paul rendered desperate and heartless by the loss of his hand. Had she reconsidered her promise and left the rendezvous before the colonel’s arrival, or bad she fallen back into the hands of Merciless Maud? The morning light that witnessed Simon Sandbanks’s rough ride in the Denver stage and Big Jebu’s gallant defense of the vehicle, saw also the Mormon Exile leaning against her horse a short distance from the trail. — “ He thought I wouldn’t get the girl again,” the avenger said to herself. ‘* He thought that eohouet I robbed him of a hand he would wt the girl he has raised, but he is mistaken. have the beauty again, 1! bad her once before, but she eseaped and went back to Deadwood— back even to the old cabin where Broadcloth Burt rescued her from his fury. Let them baffle me if they can, I have come hither for revenge, and I will not go back without keeping my oath, Paradise Paul, | have your ward once more, and Merciless Maud will strfxe you through her,’’ The woman was too far from the spot where the stage fight took place to hear the cracks of the deadly revolvers, and the well-limbed horse ; that cropped the rich grass at his feet formed with his mistress a striking picture, There was a dense thicket of young timber be- hind the wronged Mormon wife, and a narrow path that led into its depths seemed to suggest ros Merciless Maud knew something of the in- erior, True it was that Alice of Deadwood had fallen again into the hands of the woman who wanted her for a purpose, In the middle of the thicket just mentioned, and bound to one of the young trees, stood Para- dise Paul’s ward. Merciless Maud had secured her captive, this time beyond the possibility of escape. While the ropes that secured the girl did not hurt her flesh, they prevented flight, and her amy face told that the short captivity had visi- ly affected her. The she vulture of the Black Hills, as we may call Merciless Maud, bad swooped down on Alice while she waited for Colone] Sandbanks at the tree, and secured her before she could set up a show of resistance. It was a ‘‘ find” that made Maud’s black eyes glisten like polished coals, and with a wild ex- clamation of triumpb she placed Alice on a horse and galloped away, while the colonel, flushed with victory, was moving tothe rendez- vous to be terribly disappointed, Alice had pax with Maud, only to find ber heartless and without mercy. ** Not because I hate you, girl, but because I want to strike that villain in the Deadwood cabin!” she had exclaimed, on refusing Alice’s appeal for liberty. ‘'1 bave struck one blow. I shattered his wrist so that he had to sever the tendons and throw the useless hand away. Through you I strike the second blow, The third stroke will kill.” Alice did not speak. ; ‘*Then,” continued Maud, ‘‘then, I will turn upon my other enemy and make him wish that be had never seen the light of day. He com- leted the wrong Paradise Pau] began. He of- ered me a home after I was driven from Dead- wood by the man who believed a lie against my oath, and I lived to discover that the Mormon spider had coined that lie to accomplish his ends, n the slave-pen over which be rules in Salt Lake City I awoke to the awful korrors of the terrible wrong those two men had done, Then I swore revenge, and for tbat Iam here!” Alice bad heard words similar to these before; she knew that the woman before her had been terribly wronged, and it was not for her to say that she should not take vengeance, ‘* You will let me tie you,” said Maud as day- light began to penetrate the thicket. ‘* You es- caped from me the other time, you know. | am going out to watch the trail for awhile, The Deadwood tigers may have scented me—their captain’s enemy.” e have seen Merciless Maud watching the trail from her steed’s side in the roseate light of morning. All at once she turned and led the horse back into the thicket, Alice was still there; this time her ropes had served her well, and Paradise Paul’s ward was still in her power. ‘They do not come,” said Maud, looking at the girl. ‘Something must have oceurred in Deadwood to keep them back. Why doesn’t he lead his toughs after me? I wish he would bunt me. I can strike him a blow that will make bim rave like a lion.” a advanced until she reached her captive's side, ‘*‘ What would he say if he should awake some morning and find a new hand on his table?” she suddenly asked. ‘*A new hand?’ repeated Alice. ‘* What do you mean?” “Ah! you do not know. Let me make it plainer. What would he say if the hand of which I bave spoken should be taken from your wrist?” The villain’s ward recoiled with a ery. ‘*My God! you would not do that?” fell from her lips. The eyes of the Mormon wife scintillated hate- fully, like the orbs of a basilisk. Her voice sunk to a whisper which resembled the hiss of a serpent, ** What would I not do to torture him?” she said, leaning forward as ber hand encircled Alice’s arm. ‘‘ You forget that the work of two men have transformed me into a fiend in- carnate. The snows of Dakota and the crimes of ies have given me a name—Maud, the Merci- ess |’ Alice wanted to sbrink from the scorching eyes, the terrible grasp of that mad woman, but she could not. ‘*] meant your hand, girl!” Maud went on, com \e Wy J “\..