Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 294 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

20 The horse awaited her with his fright consider- ably abated, and an ejaculation of joy fell from her lips when she dropped one of the pistols and clutched the rein. Timothy Tenwives saw her vault with grace into the saddle, and inwardly cursed the ill-for- aoe gag had despoiled him of a prisoner if not a wife. ** Pll conquer yet!” he eried dashing forward , and shaking his fist at Alice, ‘* You may go to Deadwood, but [Pll get thar; you may travel ' northward tothe red tribes along the British ’ line, but Timothy Tenwives has sworn to make you the eleventh member of bis family, and he will keep his oath.” The Deadwood belle sent a defiant laugh over her shoulder toward the enraged ormon and then bade him an adieu, the surcasm of which cut bim to the quick. A moment later he stood in the trail loudly cursing bis ill-luck, while the bird which had es- caped the snare of the fowler was disappearing . as eg pr as the horse could hear her away, fh an ormon could scarcely credit his bad A few minutes ago he had Alice in his power and was on the way to Salt Lake City; now the tables were turned, and be was where he had been the day before in fortunes. to subscribe to the truth Timothy was willin bere’s many a slip twixt of the old adage: “ cup and lip.” lice had really left him, and he could not hope t« overtake her situated as he was without a horse and forced to proceed on foot. A bend in the trail hid the mad Mormon from the girl's observation; she could not see bis dis- appointed expression nor bear the maledictions that broke over his lips. She reined in the horse after awhile and al- lowed him to proceed in a steadier gait. The Denver trail was well defined, and Alice knew that she had but to follow it to reach Deadwood. | And wky go back there? tf Why not go on to Denver where she would not see Paradise Paul, nor be watched by the lynx eyes of the thirty toughs? In Denver she would be safe, while in Dead- ¥ wood perils greater than those already sustain- ed might environ her. Alice, gentle reader, bad reasons for going back to the wild capital of the Black Hills, re She bad left there one in whom she felt inter- | ested, and that person was not Paradise Paul. Nal She believed that Broadcloth Burt, the Den- e verite, bad come to Deadwood for a certain pur- pose and that that purpose concerned her. . Therefore, she would go back to the place and a) events. hae! Paradise Paul was there, the man from Iron- | Grip was not far off, and all hated Broadcloth | Burt; but she felt that instead of flying to Den- Bhs yer to find an asylum among strangers, her -__-| place was in Deadwood, dangerous as it was, é ~ Colonel Sandbanks might have continued bis flight after losing her, or he might have gone ‘back to Deadwood; Alice did not care what -~~—s ¢ourse he had pursued, as she did not fear the oprietor of the Setemup, now, though she. ew it not, a mass of ruins. . "ks No incident of an alarming or suspicious na- | ture prevented her return to Deadwood; she aes found the trail singularly unobstructed, and she drew rein among the outskirts of the wildcat ahs. 8 t was the morning that followed the eventful ei. ne a night whose deeds we have witnessed |. in previous chapters. ) aca Broadcloth Burt had been discovered in the ay i ‘ ae - *. ee ave Fh “ ~~ 4 ‘ ae Ke . Ss V9 ny rocm of the Setemup, had shot Bowie Bi 2” 3 uff from the window, and the early dawn | had followed with Simon Sandbanks’s return as 3 _ Colorado’s prisoner, and the mad assault on _ Paradise Paul weak in his shanty. _ All these were thrilling scenes and rendered | the time not very propitious for the girl’s com- me ____ The sun bad left his bed behind the hills and _—s- was marching zenithward when Alice reached — - Deadwood. _ * I might as well face him first as last,” she _ gaid to herself. ‘‘ My return will surprise him, _ and if he growls I will tell bim plainly that | __-while I thank him for kindness in the past, from this time on, I am my own mistress. No more __- your ward, Paradise Paul! And you, thirty a hs, 1 am not going to be too closely | ‘She urged the horse forward again, and three | minutes later appeared like a vision from the | «sky to a group of Deadwood characters who | __—- stood in front of the Full-Hand Casino. _ -—-—-« S§everal exclamations of astonishment hailed ee appearance, but she gave the crowd no more gs So a passing glance and rode on. ! ‘**Stop her! she mustn’t go on to the cap’n’s * \ shanty!” exclaimed one of the group who guess- _ -- @d_- the girl’s- destination. “Hello! thar, girl!” he called, lifting his voice. ‘‘ Stop whar ye ar’ fer the present. Paradise isn’t in a condition to a oo gee you just now an’—” * Os nl oe dotge of that, Colorado Clate,” Pp . aN “You hevn’t any right ter be. Ther cap’n — Can’t be seen now,” | $ “Why not?” Alice had reined in her steed, and was looking down upon the stalwart tough who was coming forward with great strides. ‘* Because—because he can’t—thet’s all,” was the answer. ‘‘ We ar’ surprised ter see ye back, but we’ll make it just ez pleasant fer ye ez it used ter be, only ye can’t see Paradise just now, He’s hed a relapse since daylight. In the first place, he lost blood with his hand, but his iron constitution kept him up till the excitement dropped then down he went. He war gittin’ along pretty well until fortune brought ther meanest skunk in Deadwood home, an’ he chok- ed the cap’n till be hadn’t three breaths ter draw from.” The girl felt ber heart rise into her throat as she longed for Colorado to explain. Who had choked Paradise Paul? She knew of but one man who despised him enough to do that—Broadcloth Burt, from Den- ver. Colorado Clate stood beside the girl’s horse with twenty men and more looking on froma distance, ‘* What became of the man who choked the captain?” she inquired, a question she could not keep back. ‘*The meanest hypocrite next ter ther Mor- mon spider thet ever struck Deadwood, he war! What did we do with him? He’s lyin’ in the it under Monte Mark’s house waitin’ till ap’n Paul gits strong enough to blow his brain- box to pieces.” ‘** Broadcloth Burt?’ ejaculated Alice. ‘‘Heavens! no. I’m talkin’ about Simon Sandbanks. The boys wanted ter throw him among the burnin’ logs ov his hotel, but we overruled their motion, As fer thet dangerous Denverite, arter shootin’ the Bad Man from Iron-Grip through the back, blame me! ef he didn’t face twenty pards an’ walk coolly away in broad daylight.” . Alice’s countenance brightened in an instant. ‘Thank fortune!” she exclaimed, ‘* The kid gloves will win in the end. Broadcloth Burt is more than a match for the thirty toughs of Deadwood,” For a solid minute the man on the ground stared up into her face amazed. ‘We'll see,” he said. ‘“ We all know. just what brought that shootin’ fashion-plate from ther South, an’ we ar’ goin’ ter show him thet one revolver hezn’t ther ghost of a show among sixty.’ tear brought him to Deadwood?’ she asked. ‘*It wouldn’t do ter tell you just now. One ov these days mebbe you’ll find out—thet is, ef we don’t cash ther Denverite’s checks ag’in’ bis will an’ quicker’n lightnin’. No, my daisy girl; it wouldn’t do ter give it away.” ‘Very well. I will make the captain tell me. He knows,” ‘*Ov course he knows; but don’t go to bim now. Arter awhile nobody will object, but let him rekiver a little,” and the bronzed hand of Colorado Clate fell on Alice’s bridle-rein, and he led the horse away. CHAPTER XXV. CORNERED. Or course, after what had already taken place in Deadwood, Alice’s return was sure to create a fair-sized sensation, and it be- came the topic of conversation at the Full- Hand and other like places of resort. The girl submitted without remonstrance to being led away with Colorado’s hand at the haidio refi, and she soon found herself installed in a rough weather-boarded shanty beloeging to Idabo Hal, who but a short time before had lost his life, as we have seen, in an attempt to overtake Big Jehu’s stage. While she was not regardéd as a prisoner, it was evident that she was watched in order to — her from making her way to Paradise aul’s cabin. Colorado had told ber that the captain of the toughs had been choked to death’s verge by” Simon Sandbapks, and that Broadcloth Burt, the Denverite, had effected his escape in the face of the assembled rascals of the town, The day passed slowly to the girl, and she looked forward to the coming of night witha great deal of eagerness and anxiety. A good sound sleep strengthened her, and she awoke to see the sun sinking once more behind the silver bills of the west. Up to this time she had not been disturbed by the citizens of Deadwood; she bad found two substantial meals in the shanty’s larder, and watched the sun disappear from the little win- on er pe “amy door. age ‘owed spite the apparent liberty sbe enjoyed, Alice Trelt herself a prisoner; she knew that the cabin had been watched from the moment of her entrance into it, and that the eyes of some of Deadwood’s roughs were still upon if, Slowly another night, star-illumined and not dark, fell over the mining-town, and the girl was still in the quarters she had occupied all a it to contions thus ‘* What of # Paul, and why don’t they ry Broadcloth Burt, the Denver Dandy. tell me whether I cannot go to him now?’ she asked herself. “I never thought that Colonel Sandbanks would display courage enough to attack anybod« ,not even a one-armed man, I begin to belie *° that Paradise Paul is not in bad health, considering, and that Colorado’s words cover a scheme of some kind. Night is here again, and they do not visit me; but I am watched, I know,” Yes, watched she was, but not by the eyes she imagined. “I will try them,” she went on. ‘‘I will try to reach my old cabin to learn what has bap- ened there. If they prevent me, then I will now that Colorado has lied, and that the chok- ing story is a hoax.” She opened the door slightly with the last word and looked out, Not a sound disturbed the quietude that reigned in Deadwood, and a stranger would never have supposed that the deadly revolver had cracked in its streets, and that men had fallen dead on every hand, ‘* My lambs are not asleep,” said Alice, noting the singular silence with a smile. ‘[t is too early for the monte-tables to begin operations, but the toughs are not idle, They are doing something.” The Deadwood belle stood for sevéral mo- ments in the doorway, as if charmed by the tap mo of the hour and the beauty of the star- it night. ** Now for the trail. If I fail, why—Ill fail, that’s all!” She stepped out, but the foremost foot had hardly touched the ground when she became conscious that somebody was very near, and the next moment a hand fell upon her wrist. “‘Don’t start, girl,” spoke a voice in low, re- assuring tones as Alice recoiled with her eyes fixed upon the tall figure that hugged the dark- ened weather-boarding of the shanty while she was held a prisoner. ‘“‘I guess you needn’t be afraid of me.” wen it was that the tough’s ward recognized im. ™ “Is it you—Broadcloth Burt?’ parted her ips. ‘“*Tt’s nobody else. Hush! do not betray me ina loud voice. I have eluded the lynx eyed pards of Deadwood, They didn’t get entirely rid of me whenI backed out of town behind my repeaters this morning. They are fools if they think that Denver has yielded to Dead- wood!” The words sent a thrill to the girl’s heart, and a flash of pride and exultation lit up her eyes as she looked up into the Denverite’s face, ‘““Go back into the cabin. I want to talk,” he continued before she could answer one of bis rapidly-spoken sentences, and he forced her back over the threshold and cleared it after her with one stride. *“You’ve been away?” he went on half-inter- rogatively. sé Yes,” ‘The colonel didn’t abduct you?’ ‘‘No. I fell into the hands first of Maud the Merciless, then into the power of the Mormon spider.” Broadcloth Burt seemed to receive the girl’s reference to Timothy Tenwives with a start. ‘* Where did you leave that oily hypocrite?” he asked. ‘‘Half-way down the grade on the Denver trail.” ‘* Dead?” “ec No.” “Tam half-sorry, but Maud will settle with him if she get’s a chance.” ‘“*T hope she will.” ‘‘She has a right to, and she will not hesitate. But do you know what has happened here since you went away?” ‘‘T know nothing only what Colorado Clate saw fit to tell, and that was that you made your escape, and that Colonel Sandbanks at- tacked Paradise Paul and choked bim to death’s door,’ A grim smile played with the corners of the Denver dandy’s mouth. ‘‘Choked him? 1! should say he did. I never want that old Californian to bury his fingers in my throat. If Bowie Bluff hadn’t ferreted me out in the Setemup, and then betrayed me, I should bave witnessed the whole scene. Yes, Alice, I want to talk.” ‘‘Go on,” said the girl, eagerly, as the Den- verite paused. ‘‘T would show you a letter, if we dared to have a light hyer,” he said, ‘‘ but as that would not be policy, I will try to repeat it to you.” ‘*T am listening!” cried the girl. ‘* Do not miss a word of it, for I am sure that it concerns me. Now, proceed,” Broadcloth Burt was silent for a moment, and then Alice heard him,in slow and measured tones: “*For the sake of Heaven do notfail. My child is my life. re her to my arms before I die—I who have suffered so long without her, I cannot think of being mistaken. She must be my child. They lie who tell her that lam dead. Fail me not, my friend. me the child for whom I con- stantly yearn, and Heaven will you. I can- not. Iwaitforher, 1 pray for your success,’”’ DOOKs:<c (* ws Se bes @ be Ses fj 2 | 2s 4 > ’o a Pos (E (0) - . : J ~~ 4 2 AA Ke