Beadle's Dime Library No. 299 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

Sad ~ ) fms = rr — Then he had a bright idea. ** Don’t touch him, gentlemen!” be cried, bur- riedly, yet guardedly. At the same instant he thrust Mrs. Reilly for- ward, saying: “You speak to him. Your woman’s voice | may reassure him.” e could have bit his tongue off as he forced himself to speak the words which acknowledged his dependence upon one of the hated sex; but the exigency of the case would admit of no denia!, [n a quavering voice Mrs, iveilly appealed to the poor fellow who was unwittingly bringing death down upon them all—himself not less than | the others. ‘* Oh, sir! you are perfectly safe,” she assured him, ‘‘ These are all your friends. We are taking you where you will baveevery care. Do | get back on to the litter! You will come by your death on the damp ground with your bare feet! And for mercy’s sake don’t cry out any more! You are followed by bitter enemies. See! you are bringing them down upon us!” It was true. Bob’s shrieks, so different from the yells that filled the camp and coming from pa in the darkness, at once attracted atten- ion. The men nearest at hand were seen to ause | Three of a Kind. ee time leave no one alive to escape! these devils on sight!” The cry was caught up on every lip. | ‘** Death on sight!” And madly they rushed forward, swinging their torches until their crimson flames seemed bearers in blood. The shanty of the widow Reilly was reached, and found dark and deserted. This was proof positive to Moran, and a shadow of doubt re- mained. ** It’s them beyond all question!” he shouted. ** Come on!” ‘** Hark!” cried Adam Farley. It was Bob's last shriek, when, having reached out and touched Iron Despard in the darkness, convinced in his delirium that he was a devil, he cowered in Mrs. Reilly’s arms. _ “Pid you hear it? It came from this direc- | tion! Forward, men! Spread out! We can’t /miss them. We'll soon run them down, or _foree them to abandon the only man who can _ read the cipher for them!” It was Moran who thus cunningly kept before | the minds of the mob the lie be had devised to enlist their co-operation in the accomplishment of bis crime, With yells of fresh fury they sprang after and peer curiously in that direction, holding | bim, like bounds on a hot trail. their torches above their heads, Then some | hurried words passed between them, and they | set out at a pun, the widow’s deserted shanty | being directly in their line of approach. | Meanwhile, at the sound of Mrs. Reilly’s voice | Bob stopped his outery. | “Who are you?” he asked, groping for her in | the darkness, and clinging to her with trembling | hands. ‘‘You are a woman! You—yow will | not hurt me!” | ** No, no; none of us will hurt you. Weare taking you out of danger. Only get back on the litter so we can carry you. ‘You are too sick to walk by yourself,” “Ts this hell?” cried the poor fellow, with a new accession of terror. “‘See them devils leapin’ about, throwin’ the fire an’ brimstun right an’ left! An’ what are these black | things? More devils come to take me down) there?’ | He reached out bis band and touched Iron | Despard, who was nearest him, standing so that — the outlines of his body were brought out against the background of flaring torchlight, the Sportive Sport being for the same reason dimly visible. From the contact of bis band with Despard’s body, he shrunk back with a shriek into the arms of Mrs. Reilly, moaning piteously: ‘* Save me—oh, save me!” By this time Joe Moran had been found and —— ——_— The moment he picked up the broken links of recollection, his rage was unbounded, ‘‘ Where are the devils? Have you captured them all? Let me get at them, and hew them to inch pieces with my own band!” His eyes were bloodshot; he foamed at the mouth; he raged aboutlikeainadman. Clutch- ing at his bowie, and finding it gone, he ap- pealed to the man nearest him. ‘‘Give mea knife! Let me get at them! No man shall stand between me and my revenge! Til not leave one shred of flesh clinging to an- other!” ‘* Boss,” said a miner whose sense of humor no ea passion could awe, “‘first ketch yer At this the otbers laughed—so close akin are farce and tragedy in this wild on ee ‘Joe Moran dashed his tangled bair from his eyes, and glared at them. ‘* What! escape?” “Ob, no! We hadn’t nothin’ to do with it! They jest dug out, promiscuous like.” Moran choked with fury so that he could not he roared, ‘“‘have you let them speak. Then flashed across his mind bis possible loss. He thrust bis hand into his breast, and knew | Not a scrap— remained to bim of that precious cipher for | which he had done worse than murder—be- | trayed bis partner! Iron Despard bad got. the worst. The game was up: safely awa of the two a kind beside which he—Morarn—and Adam Farley seemed a very small pair indeed. At — moment were heard the shrieks of with it; and he, with his bac The truth—the whole truth, with all its bear- ings—flasbed upon Moran. ‘They are - Soe Bob to testify against me!” be reflected. ‘* This country will be too hot to hold me, anywhere between the foothills and the Golden Gate, if it is once known that I tried to murder my pardner in order to rob tim! But Pil have one more crack at ’em be- foreI grveitup!” | And swinging bis revolver above bis head, he shouted: ‘*Gents, that’s our game! Once more to the scratch! Foilow me!” Adam Farley was at bis heels, bis chagrin bursting forth not less hotly. ‘““Away! away!” he shouted, | Jost. | i brought to his senses, ed t men in the mines, made three oF | | the shout. ‘* No CHAPTER XV. THE GATEWAY OF DEATA. Tue fugitives were now driven to the last extremity. There was not a moment to be To stay there meant capture, followed by ignominions death to them all; to abandon their charge, not to mention the revolt of their manhood from such a desertion, meant the defeat of a project which became more fixed in Iron Despard’s mind the greater the obstacles thrown across bis path. Yet the man they were struggling to save promised, in his irre- sponsibility, to force this alternative upon them, fron Despard tried what he could do. Speak- ing in those firm, evenly-modulated tones which never failed to master the natures of weaker men, he said: “We are all your friends. This is Mrs. Reilly, Don’t you know ber? She has told you that if you willsubmit yourself to us, we will save you from your enemies—who are ours as well,’ As he spoke these words, rapidly, yet without excitement, he placed his hand on the shoulder of the sick man with a soothing touch, ‘*Mrs. Reilly?’ repeated Bob. “Ob, yes! I know her. She’s a good woman, She—” “Then lie down, deary!” urged the nurse, “Don’t lose another minute for the world! See, they are coming!” ‘**Then let me keep your hand, so that I shall know that you are near.” “Yes! yes!” And with a dexterity that secured dispatch without violence, Lron Deipava placed Bob on the litter, crying: ** Now, gentlemen!” All this P acation was necessary, since violence would only have increased Bob's delirium, until he became utterly unmanageable. As Tiger Dick and the Sportive Sport caught up the litter, Iron Despard opened his dark. lantern, so as throw a light on their path. ‘‘If wecan reach the defile that is just on ahead before we are overtaken,” he said, “ we can defend it against all the men they can bring.” And so, with the mob just at their very heels, they made their way over the uneven ground, Mrs. Reilly with difficulty keeping her feet, as she ran beside the litter, holding Bob’s hand, and pgtericis Be: with words of assurance. The view balloo had drawn all the men in camp on trail. The unusual .excitement bad pulled every sleeper from his bunk; and with the flaring torches they made an imposing array for three men to hope to cope with. Mrs. Reilly now proved the heroism of a wo- man of the border. She never fora moment thought of emckdee her post, though the battle was already opened, the mob as it advanced fir- ing random shots into the darkness, in the hope Pre chance might direct some of them to quick esn, “ After them, boys! Hyar they are!” was quarter to any one but the _ woman, Don’t shoot her, ef you kin make her out.” And pell-mell they rushed, vying with each other to gain the lead in the chase. | Of course they gained upon the burdened | fugitives; and as crags loomed in the path of | our friends, the lurid torchligbt. illuminating the face of the rocks, brought them out in sil- houet te, “ There they are. See! see!” And this announcement was followed by a shower of bullets. ‘* In there'—quickly!” cried Iron rd, | And leaping to cover the retreat of his _ friends, he opened a perfect fusilade upon the mob from both his revolvers, Yells of pain and rage, the plunging forward | ' ‘“And this of bodies, and the sudden extinguishment of Death to to bathe the passion-distorted faces of their $e ee tS ummm LE ee Hs torches, showed that not all his shots were thrown away. For a moment his furious assault checked the advance, until bis friends had passed through a narrow cleft in the rocks. Then as the swell- ing crowd before him recovered witb the force of numbers, and cbarged bim witb yells of ex- ecration and a leaden bail far more eff-ctive, he leaped through the defile, falling upon his knees, to be caught up by Tiger Dick, and drag- ged under cover, while the Sportive Sport sprung before the opening, and poured through it a stream of bullets which piled before its en- trance three or four men one upon anotber, The charge was checked. The mob saw that to try toforce a passage through that narrow gateway of death, which would admit but one at a time, would be but to build a barricade of bodies over which those in the rear would bave to climb. So they were left chewing the bitter cud of defeat. They had nothing to show for their share in the fight but a lot of painful wounds and two dead men, Joe Moran was fairly frantic. Once more had the prize been snatched from bis grasp. In his rage at this repeated defeat be would have rushed through the defile upon certain death had he po been restrained by Adam Farley. ‘*Stay! This is folly!” heexclaimed. “We have one more chance. While they are defend- ing this defile, let us make the north pass, and hem them in, in the rear.” ‘* Now ye’re ta)kin’ hoss sense,” agreed one of the men. “Thar ain’t men enough in this section o’ country toforce that pass, as long as their ammunition bolds out.” Moran yielded, “Thar’s no time fur foolin’, then,” be said. ‘** We want hosses; or it will be daylight before we turn the mountain.” There were but balf a dozen horses in the camp, These were quickly saddled, and bore a party headed by Joe Moran and Adam Farley, to be followed by the general mob on foot, a handful having been left to ens the approach from the Coyote side, so that, if caught, the fugitives could not escape by doubling back over the way they bad entered, Equally determined, Adam Farley and Joe Moran goaded their horses with merciless spur, so that their followers could bardly keep pace with them; but the ground was so broken that 10 rapid progress could be made, It was not until tbe gray of the morning that they flanked the mountain, and entered the other end of a gorge that was shaped like a funnel with the defile as its vent. Here they left their borses, since they would betray their approach, and give time for an am- buscade, ‘* Gents,” said one of the men who added . dence to unquestioned courage—indeed, this is the highest kind of courage—*“it might stand us in hand to guard this end o’ the valley until the crowd comes up. If the men we are after are in thar, they can’t git out; besides, we’ll bave daylight. This prowlin’ around in the dark is better fur them as isrunniu’ than fur them as is tryin’ to foller.” But Moran sccuted prudent counsels. Farley too had not the patience to wait. Both «ere too eager for bl to content themselves with folded arms. ** Wait!” cried Joe, scornfully. ‘‘ How many do you want? Ain’t we two to one? I'm used to fightin’ without askin’ odds! And then. we might be watcbin’ a last-year’s bird’s nest. Sup- they didn’t stop, but kept right on toward Mulligan’s Bend? They were fools if they didn’t! In that case, they would have passed bere long ago. No, sir! We want to find out if there is anything in our trap; an’ if there ain't, then we want to take the crowd an’ make a clean sweep 0’ the country until we run ‘em down!” The general impatience of delay of the bor- derman was in keeping with this policy, so the cautious one was overruled, and the advance made at once, Every precaution was observed, so that not even the birds were wakened by their noiseless ssage, When they reached the hither end of Phe defile, the darkness had been dissipated to that dusk in which objects can be made out with indistinct outlines. They first discovered the light of the dark- lantern thrown on the rocks. A little back of it was a dark object, which as they crept nearer took the form of a man sitting motionless with his back propped against the rock. Here was one of them, at least, still on guard. But where were the rest? . ‘They bave gone on. He is alone,” whispered Moran in Adam Farley’s ear. Then these two men’s bearts began to beat faster. To which bad fate vouchsafed the vic- tim of his hate? “* Which is it? Can you make him out?” asked Farley. / ‘*No!” replied Joe sullenly; “notin this cy Hang the darkness! will it never let up? But whoever it is, he won’t have been fool enongh to keep by him what I’m after. He'll bave sent it on by the others.” Adam Farley cared nothing for the crypto- ogiaacomisbooks GO ’ 4