Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 294 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

4 Broadcloth Burt, the Denver Dandy. down upon the scene, and something seemed to have riveted his attention, Quick as a flash the eyes of the Mormon ap- peared to bo lit up as with a lightning gleam. He saw the back of Broadcloth Burt for a moment turned upon him; his hard was quick- ly thrust into a hip-pocket beneath his coat of rather clerical cut, and as quickly reappeared, clutching a revolver; then he took a quick stride, noiseless, cat-like, forward. His pistoled hand went up, and he hissed: ‘I guess lll stay and win, after all, Gentile dog !”? The revolver touched the back of the Denver- ite’s head at the words, and the finger pressed the trigger! Instead of a sharp report, there was only a faint click as the hammer struck. ** One cartridge in a thousand!” said the Den- verite coolly, as he wheeled upon the discom- fited Mormon, avho recoiled with an ejacula- tion of bitter disappointment. ‘* The next time, Mormon devil, look to your medicine before you administer if, Conclude ter stay, I b'lieve you said? Throw thet dropper in yon corner, or, by Heavens! thar'll be ten disconsolate widows in the slave-pen to-night!” One mad stride had carried Broadcloth Burt to the spot to which the now thoroughly alarmed elder bad shrunk, and he towered above his would-be assassin like a demon of vengeance. “ Separate yourself from that revolver— quick!” grated tbe Denverite. ‘ Hang me! if [ ain’t tempted to kill you whar you stand. I[ hate a snake what tries to bite a man from be- hind! I usually crush the head of such reptiles when I find them.” The dandy’s words were followed by a thud and close-fitting, di her arms,and her head was adorned with a soft Panama of the sombrero pattern. She was in the midst of a loud exordium when Broadcloth Burt, who had listened for a moment at the foot of the stairs after his inter- view with the Mormon, stepped upon the porch. “T travel wherever I have business, gentle- men,” continued Merciless Maud; ‘‘ an’ if busi- ness hadn’t summoned me to Deadwood, I wouldn’t be bere. Shall 1 repeat that [ am the Blushin’ Daisy—” ‘“*T guess not, miss,” interrupted Colonel Sand- banks, who looked disgusted, ‘‘If l’'m not mis- taken you’ve already announced yerself as that, an’ we'll take it fer granted that that’s just what year’.” The ‘‘ Exile” wheeled upon the landlord, and in an instant was looking through him with those piercing eyes of hers. “Yes, sir, [ am all that I claim!” she repeat- ed, lowering her voice. ‘‘ There’s more than one 1 wg will be willin’ to swear to it before he ies. She stopped abruptly, for at that instant she caught sight of Broadcloth Burt who had just emerged from the house. “Now, gentlemen, there’s one of your butter- flies!” she suddenly exclaimed looking at the crowd as she pointed at the Denverite. ‘‘ He toils not, neither does he spin, yet he shines like a fashion-plate, and simpers likeadandy. That man, my smilin’ galoots, belongs to no place. Denver knows bim as Broadcloth Burt and Cheyenne calls him the Kid-gloved Kid, Look at’im! Take himin! Six footin his patent- leathers, gentlemen, an ounce of wax on his mustache, an’ a cold-deck somewhere about his laying the plumpness of fore them sun turtles was a caution. There’s no room for ev in this house when she applies, I don’t keep a flower garden for blushin’ daises; I don't.” But Merciless Maud did not appear to trouble the discriminating landlord of the sSetemup. and he sighed when he viewed the well-filled page, and thought of the ingenuity and ink ex- pended for notbing. Having watched Broadcloth Burt out of sight, she moved toward the edge of the porch, the crowd making way for her, and passed down the narrow street in direction of the Full- Hand Casino, in front of which the first record- ed incident of our romance took place. In less than thirty minutes more night would spread her wings again over Deadwood. Merciless Maud had doubtless come to the Black Hills town on a missiou of some impor- tance. Sbe was not a woman to travel about without an aim, and Coen in her black eyes there lurked a light strongly suggestive of ven- geance. ‘‘He knows me,” she said as she neared the Casino,‘ This elegant dandy has come from Denver to Deadwood for a purpose. He cannot bave got on to’ my schemes. Nobody knows them but the man who is to help meif I need help, an’ I can depend on him. My only fear is that he may get on bis mettle an’ boast of his name an’ deeds. He said he would see me in Deadwood to-night. I did not notice him as I came into town, but one man I did see, an’ I’)] settle with bim before I leave.” Five minutes after these words Merciless Maud stood among the suburbs of Deadwood, her fig- ure casting no shadow now for the sun bad set and night once more held sway. She bad halted at what seemed to be the mouth of a gorge through which the stage al- ways passed going to and coming in from Den- ver. She was certain that nobody had followed her from the main part of town, for she had looked back frequently while making her way to the spot, and now she seemed to be waiting clothes. Don’t L know. the Denver dandy,. though? If there’sa man ’twixt bere an’ Salt Lake whose pedigree the Blushin’ Daisy doesn’t know, l’ll give up every trick. Jsn’t he a pic- ture, galoots? hat a delightful chromo he’d make for a milliner shop! Don’t let any of bis fine points escape yer eyes. It’s a free show an’ may never be seen after to-night, Thar he - . which was made by the Mormon’s revolver as ' he threw it into the corner. | “The demon of wickedness got the upper hand of me,” whined Timothy Tenwives. ‘*He’s had it since childhood. Thar isn’t a _* of humanity in you, you Mormon leper. ou leave Deadvrood inside of an hour. Go back to your household without the eleventh Le Mrs, Tenwives. I’m going now, If at the end | stands. Done up in water-colors, but a livin’ | the appearance of some one who had promised Sy of an hour you ai’ to be found under Colonel | figger. Talk about yer walkin’ chromos. Thet | to meet her there. Pant Sandbanks’s roof, yer life won’t be worth a | one thar elevates the rag from the bush, or l’m| Abt last a footstep fell on the woman’s ears, is snuffed candle!” not the Blushin’ Daisy of the Mountain Top!” and as she started forward with a light cry on her lips, a figure evolved itself from the dense shadows and stood before her—a man. Merciless Maud looked a moment and then sprung forward, as she cried: ‘* Bowie Bluff! you ar’ here according to pro- mise, The Mormon Exile is ready to take ven- geance on one of the two.” ‘““When did the Bad Man from Iron-Grip ever go back on a pard?/’ was the vesponse which brought a ‘‘ Never!” from the woman's The dark faces of the woman’s auditors wore grins while she spoke, and Broadcloth Burt had good-naturedly struck an attitude with head thrown back, and his thumbs planted in the arm-holes of his vest. To all outward appearances he seemed to en- joy the scene with the same zest displayed by the crowd of toughs, some of whom were read y to rae into loud guffaws over the woman’s words, liens © Broadcloth Burt turned and left the baffled oe disciple of Mormonism alone on the field of his ! | defeat. eaede ‘Curse that defective shell!” grated Timothy ‘Tenwives as he stared at the door which had closed on the figure of the handsome man from Pi Denver, ‘* The next time I will not fail. Me dis #9 back to Salt Lake City without a new wife? a guess not! You don’t know me, Denver dandy. I came here for a wife, an’ all the ” " Re — , br powers shall not prevail against me! I’ve ‘‘IT know him!” she went on, ‘I’ve seen him | lips. ‘‘I got hyara little ahead ov you, Maud. | Die marked the woman and I mean to sess her. | in his palmy days, an’ when he didn’t know | I deposited my autograph at ther Zaye a ire, You say that you will come back here at the | where his next meal was to come from,” when I struck ther town, an’ left old Sand- Beh a8 Tie end of an hour. Well, I may not be here, but I A cloud seemed to cross tha Denverite’s face | banks starin’ at it ezef I hed jotted it down in au not be on my way to Salt Lake. Dead- | at the Jast words; the bolt had, evidently struck | gold ink. Got in on ther Rockerville stage, AX wood shall have the honor of ee the | home, eh?” . 3 eleventh Mrs. Tenwives, or we'll know why. If ‘‘She knows me; that’s a fect,” he confessed. “Yes, an’ I saw him—standin’ before bis Tam a Mormon elder, as you derisively call | ‘‘ I’ve had my palmy days as that woman calls | cabin, with the girl—the blossom whose beauty aad me, I can hunt a wife and shoot to kill at the | them, an’ I’ve been down at the heel. Did you | I have sworn shall wither in the grip of Merci- Bs same time. Let Denver beware!” come to Deadwood to say this?’ And his blue | less Maud!” nes 6 The speaker once more held possession of the | eyes, suddenly animated, met the black orbs of | - ‘‘ Unless J should take a fancy to her!” the Ao revolver he had been forced to cast aside, and erciless Maud. “ What has your life been? | man admonished. ni his fingers quickly expelled the defective cart- | Gentlemen of Deadwood, I’ve a notion to retali- “Ab! but you said you would not,” ex- net rig om ate. I’ve known that woman for years, I | claimed the woman, ‘You bave promised to ree ie threw it away with an <2 eer we of rage, | knew ber when she would blush to stand in a | assist me in any scheme I saw fit to propose. | ie and filled the steel chamber with one which he | crowd of men an’ use the language you_haye|am Merciless Maud. Don’t let me forget this 3 felt confident would not fail him. heard. I knew her when she was not the Blush- | for one minute, L am here to strike Paradise As: At that moment a sbrill and not unmusical | ing Daisy of the Mountain Top, before the Mor- | Paul where it will burt bim most, an’ I saw pare voice came up from below. mon serpent came—” enough as I came into Deadwood to know just ‘ea ‘ — “Pm a blushin’ daisy from the mountain top. A wild and startling ery came from the wo- | where to strike, Desperate as he is, he loves | ~~ +‘Y'm Merciless Maud, the Mormon Exile) An’ | man’s throat, and with uplifted hand sbe fi the girl called Alice. Did he recognize me? By re don’t you forget it!” with the agility of an enraged tigress toward | Yes: I saw him start when I shouted that I a Timothy Tenwives beard and grew pale. the elegant Denverite. was the Blusbin’ Daisy of the Mountain Top. i My God!” he gasped. “ We'll quit where we ar’!” she exclaimed. | saw the other man, too, I held that kid-gloved Beaty s | } ‘ve suffered enough at the hands of two men | sport from Denver up for the derision of the ee” | CHAPTER IV. not to have it hurled into my teeth here. Don’t | toughs of Deadwood; but he t on me, ee AN OATH RENEWED. goon, Burt. I’m willin’ to throw up the sponge | curse his handsome face!” eyes THE voice came from the poreh that fronted | for the present. I didn’t expect to meet you in ‘‘Trod on yer toes with his t leathers, ee the reception-room of the Setemup and not | Deadwood; but, havin’. met you, I’ve tried to | eh?’ grinned Bowie Bluff, . ‘1 saw thet band- ‘em from the interior of the hotel. amuse its galoots, an’ to havea little fun at your | box sport but once, an’ then he walked into the be Toe speaker was, of course, a woman, and | ex Ri stage an’ cleaned it ov about a dozen Mexicans / ss She was the observed of a small group of inter- The face of the woman was colorless now; she | in half a minute, I’m a wildcat from [rov- ita ested observers, dark-shirted and dark-faced | was all apology, but still her eyes flashed. Grip, Maud; but I hev no particular desire to At men, the toughs of Deadwood. Broadcloth Burt subsided with a knowing | cross thet deadly chromo. Pag ‘ ‘ve never accommodated such a she alliga- | glance and a wink at the crowd. ‘‘ Let bim run bis course here unless he inter- ae tA tor as thet, an’ hang me if I like to begin now!” ‘* It’s a game two can play at, my daisy,” he | feres with us,” ejaculated the woman, ‘Iam et 2 said Colonel Sandbanks of the Setemup as he | said tothe woman, “I may be a chromo, but | going to strike my blow before daylight. | Kye scrutinized Merciless Maud through his little | the paint will come off if you rub me; so be- know where the nest is, and have seen the gir). re optics. ‘If she’s a mountain daisy, I'll never | ware!” And without another word he stepped | Sbe is pretty, prettier than her mother. who ‘ae sigh for a bouquet.” from the porch and walked away. died under the Mormon devil's roof. Bowie a} ee He was speaking of a woman who had reached ‘Kinder got the best of ye, eh?’ ventured Bluff, we strike Paradise Paul first, then that ey, her thirtieth, year, and still bore traces of a | one of the crowd tothe woman. ‘ He’s a dan- | other villain, that sleek-skinned serpent who f “pase beauty which would not vanish entirely while | dy an’ a jumper, an’ he’s fresh from Denver.” completed the ruin Paradise begun. Merciful s 4 life lasted. ; There was no reply; the eyes of Merciless | Father! hear the wronged woman of Blossom | | « ake She was of medium hight, and shapely, and | Maud were following the Denverite, and there | Valloy!” and the hand of Merciless Maud was Teh looked like an offended queen as she stood in the | was much strange speculation in the look. livtcd appealingly toward the stars. ‘“‘I have \ ¥ y, midst of the curious crowd, and proclaimed in | Meanwhile, Colonel Sandbanks had manged | s\/crn to rest _not until I have paid those two LOS a loud voice that she was Merciless Maud, the | to slip into the house where he bad hastily cov- | Viilcins back for the wreck of wy life, I shall Pa Mormon Exile. ered the blank lines of a page of his register | oo) vhat oath. Oneof them is here in Dead- i wae Blacker eyes than bers never burned in a | with poorly scrawled fictitious names opposite | wood. He who made me bis wife an’ then in ek ee) woman’s head, and her bands almost as dark as | an equal number of equally fictitious rooms. the dead of winter turned me over to the mer- ay , ra the faces of the Deadwood Toughs, suggested ‘No such a tigress as thet out thar shares the | cies of a pack of wolves, drove me to the arms ie re that she was capable of asserting her claims to | hospitalities of the Setemup,” he said to bimself | of that. Mormon wolf who destroys every- iat ie the title. | in explanation of bis conduct. ‘I wouldn’t| thing he touches, is within reach of m vai, ! hath The rather flashy dress she wore barely | bave her in my house for half of Deadwood. | vengeance! He loves at last! They tell oF | ry _--—s geached to her ankles; her sleeves were tight | The way she did trim that Denver eel down be-! me that he would sacrifice his b for icon (ot EER | Me ly. | | | EC JOOKS-ECOM omic 4 =.