Beadle's Dime Library No. 299 — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

Three of a Kind. 21 the same time it is only fair to our own city to say that all the facts would have been brought out in the trial of which we intended to give the accused the full benefit, 1t is my opinion as a citizen of Coyote that the interference of Mulligan’s Bend in this matter was entirely un- justifiable.” At this ungracious fling the brows of the men of Coyote clouded again. Thedemagogue is al- ways sure of a prompt response when he ap- peals to the clannish prejudices of men, “That’s all right, gents,” said Six-foot Si, yjacidlv. ‘‘But when it comes to a fair trial efore Judge Lynch—o’ course, you know how it is yourselves!” And he winked and smiled significantly. ‘Tt don’t hurt a man’s chances fur fair play none, to be backed by bis friends. You don’t need fur nie to tell ye that !” They did ‘‘know how it was themselves,” and {the appeal to the sense of humor which never fails with a border crowd counteracted Adam Farley’s words. Six-foot Si.was not slow to press the advan- tage be had gained. ‘* Thar’s one man I’ve been lookin’ fur in this hyar crowd,” be said, ‘‘ the which, to be down- right honest with ye, 1 didn’t. much expect to find. That thar’s the scallawag as calls himself Joe Moran.” ‘*That’s so! Whar is het” The question went round, but no one could answer it, ‘be moment it was ascertained that he was really missing, the demand for him became urgent. Tben quick suspicion sprung up in the minds of the men. To be accused, was. to be half-convicted of erime. ‘‘ Waal, now,” said Six-foot Si, rolling his quid to the other side of bis mouth with a twinkle of amusement in his eye, ‘‘durn my hide ef it don’t look as it the skeezicks had seen us come into camp!” That was enough, His hearers instantly filled out his meaning, and accepted it as the true ex- planation of Moran’s absence, They began to ransack the camp; and had he been found, even under the least suspicious cir- cumstances—so quickly did suspicion pass over into. conviction of his guilt—he would have sod a fair chance of being hanged out of and, In five minutes time there was not a man in the camp who doubted the significance of his ‘* flight,” as they already called it. At this moment a great shout was set up. The crowd ran from every direction, to learn that one of the horses was gone also, Then went up a torrent of execration, while the remaining animals were mountod in hot haste, and the pursuit entered upon at once. It was not known in which direction the fugitive bad gone; so two went one way and three the other, At last the former party caught sight of him clearing the brow of a mountain, his figure and that of bis horse outlined against the sky, Then the ehase began in downright earnest. Hour after hour they hung upon his trail, until the sun had nearly completed its sweep across the heavens. At first he appeared to be distancing them; but later they began to over- baul him. Then it was discovered that his horse was limping. The truth was that the ani- mal had received a strain by having a stone roll from under its foot, Bitterly did Joe Moran execrate his hard luck. His hatred flamed up against the animal which had borne bim to the best of its ability; and he lashed it with unfeeling. cruelty. Behind him thundered his relentless pursuers. Now that they began to scent victory, they would jeer him every time they caught sight of him, as the road rose and fell. He sent back savage oaths of hatred, At last his horse stumbled, then staggered, then fell. 5 He managed to disentangle his feet from the stirrups; but he was thrown with some force on the rocky road. ' His pursuers, balf a mile in the rear, sent up a yell of derision. ; ® rose, half-blinded with blood and dirt, and sprung to the horse’s head with a drawn revolver. The animal lay gasping, completely exhaust- ed, and making ne effort to rise, or even to lift its bead, Foaming with rage, he was about to senda bullet into its brain, when its piteous gaze and a low whinny unnerved him. ‘No! no! bad luck—worse than this—wou!d- n’t be far behind, if I do that And with a superstitious shudder he shrunk back, There was but one resource left him. He leaped away, and began to climb the rocks. th of triumph bis pursuers swept down the road, and as they came within pistol-range opened fire upon him, “Surrender! surrender!” shouted one of he replied. them, ‘Take this back pith’ yon 1” leaden compliments And he returned the with interest. His elevation, and the rocks and bushes that surrounded him, protected him in a measure from their shots; while they, on horseback in the open road, were completely exposed. This advantage was quickly manifest. With a@ savage ejaculation, blended with a howl of ain, one of them reined in bis horse, and eaped, half falling, to tbe ground on the further side, so as to make a breastwork of its body; while the other, realizing his danger, spurred his horse forward until he had passed a creg that screened bim. The man behind the horse opened fire on the fugitive. ‘[’ll soon unmask your battery!” muttered Moran, as a leaf, cut from just above his head, fluttered down and struck his face. He aimed deliberately at the borse. As the bullet plowed his flesh, the animal bounded forward with a shrill scream of pain and fright. The man was thus exposed. Moran fired a second shot. With a smothered oath his victim staggered a step or two, and fell beside the road in some bushes. “Ha! ha! ba!” laughed the fugitive. ‘‘ Maybe you won’t get back to tell the tale!” The liberated horse coursed down the road, to be caught by the other pursuer, who had dis- mounted. e was plucky, and without a moment’s hesitation started up after Joe. ‘“*Tt’s that confounded Six-foot Si! . Waal, I'd jest as leave lay him out as any one I know!” growled Moran. But he began to climb again, as if he did ::ot feel quite easy with his present pursuer at his beels, Reaching a more protected spot, he made an- other stand; but peer downward as he might, he could get no’ trace of Six-foot Si. Had be abandoned the chase, or was he cree ing upon him unseen? The uncertainty made fe koe nervous, He began to make his way higher. | Suddenly a pistol-shot in his rear settled all doubt. oran felt as if some one had struck him on the back. He needed no interpreter of that sensation. With a snarl which resembled’ that of a wounded animal, he fell forward. Fora mo- ment the agitation of the bushes in his im- mediate vicinity showed that be was writhing on the ground, Then they stopped. Presently they swayed again, as if he made an ireffectual effort to rise, Then they returned to a quiescent state, and all was still—death! y still! The man who had shot him did not spring up and rush forward with an exultant cry. In- deed, there was no trace of him. The mountain- side seemed deserted. It was lucky for Si that he knew a thing or two about bush warfare; for at that moment instead of lying on his face with balf-close and blue-gl eyes, Joe Moran was on his knees, with a cocked revolver in his hand, peer- ing from his covert for the slightest trace of his enemy. He got none. If Si was stirring anywhere about, not the snapping of a twig, not the flut- tering of a Jeaf, betrayed the fact. ‘*Curse him! he’s a match fur me!” was the ** But if He tribute Moran paid to his shrewdness, I can hang on till dark, that’s all I ask.” He dared not remain long where he was, suspected that Si was working round to gain a nosition above him, from which he could see whether he was indeed dead, or only ‘‘ playing um, He listened. The rolling down the slope of a pebble, or, the sifting sound of sliding sand, would have conveyed all the intelligence he wanted. But his strained ear was not rewarded with the slightest noise, Then he began to creep away with a care which showed that he was the peer of the man he was trying to evade, in this sort of maneu- vering. “And now a bright idea struck him. While Si wasfiguring to get a position further up the mountain, and Jooking for him to pursue his course in the same direction if his actions after the shot were tut a ‘‘ blind,” Joe resolved to go down. There was risk in such a course; but there was also hope, Tbe horses were out of sight in the road below ; but he could hear their move- ments—now a stamp; now the rattle of a bridle, which told of the impatient tossing of an equine bead; now a snort, such as a weary horse de- livers with his nose close to the ground. If be could gain the road undiscovered, choose the animal in best condition and shoot the other, be might laugh at Six-foot Si as he coursed aaay leaving him to trudge back to camp on The mere notion of such a triumph had an at- traction for him, Apart from securing bis safety, it would be such a good joke; and it would show the men of Coyote that they bad **no slouch ” to deal with, To no one is glory of more account than to a borderman. Inch by inch he worked his way down the pogniaia tee Eapous where he put his foot, so wig, nor stone, nor sand, should betra him. All the while he kept most vigilant ard: with eye and ear, Kep 4 gila ear CHAPTER XIX. ‘“wkr WON’ GO HOME “LL MORN’N’!” At last, after infinite pains, Joe Moran set his foot once more in the mountain road, as yet undiscovered. : The horses were before bim. They meant life. The silent mountain was bebind bim. Somewhere on its side lurked death! It might be far above him; it might be at bis elbow! He glided toward the borses. Terrified by his aspect, they snorted and tossed their heads, and tried to break away. There was no time to lose—that time more precious than diamonds! He sprung forward, marking the wounded borse as be advanced, and dooming itto death. A plungeof bis knife into its neck finished all. The pivk blood spurt- ed from the severed carotid, The animal leaped aside, then fell upon its knees, then rolled over on its side; then with its bead and neck streteh- ed in a line it lay rapidly bleeding to death. But Joe Moran did not stoj to note all this. Witb a bound he was in the other saddle. Then ae clang of flying hoofs rung out sbarp and clear. Far up theside of the slope a man ros* among the recks and underbrush, and muttered an oath of intense disgust, as be impotently watchb- ed the rapidly-receding borseman., Joe Moran turned in his saddle, saw the soli- tary figure on the mountain, and swinging hi hat above his bead, sent back a derisive cheer. Six-foot Si waved bis hand to bim, with a good-natured admiration for the man who had proved himself able to outwit him. He then went down the mountain-side to look after his ate eyo ‘* Hello!” he said, seeing that the other was lying on his back, but with bis eyes open and turned toward him wistfully, ‘How air ye feelin’, old man?’ ‘* Purty bad, Si I’ve got my dose. ‘“‘Psho, now?’ protested Si. “You ain't ready fura high lot yet, nos by a long shot, 4 you'll only think so. ‘Let’s see whar you're ft. ” was the reply. ‘I reckou iy An examination proved that no necessarily mortal wound had been received, though the man was weak from loss of blood. ‘* Nonsense!” cried Si. ‘‘ We kin patch you up as good as new in jest no time at all. Kin you set up? O’ course you kin! Now let’s see ef you can’t git on your legs. Thar ye be! What do ye want better than that? Why, man, you’re steadier on yer pins than I am, pow !” This was not literally true; but it served ement. — well by way of encou nk smiled faintly, as be leaned on his com- panion, who stood like a granite colossus. ‘‘T ain’t in trainin’ fur no walkin’ match;” he said. ‘*‘ How in Cain am I to git back to Coy- ote?” ‘“Why, ride back!” ‘*On a dead hoss?” *‘Not much! How’s this byar one? I allow be hain’t got much speed leftin bim; but belike he’ll make out to carry you as fast as you want. to travel the way you're feelin’ jest now.” At this moment they came in sight of the horse Joe Moran had ridden until it fell. The ae was much exhausted but had regained its feet. Six-foot Si lifted Hank as he would a child, and placed him on the horse’s back. Then turn- ing its head toward Coyote, he walked beside t it. / Meanwhile, the remainder of the committee were being ey hospitably entertained by the men who had looked upon their entrance into their camp with anything but kindly eyes. But public sentiment bad changed with the convic- tion that they had been *‘ barking up the wrong tree.” They were now ready to swear all round that the representatives from Mulligan’s Bend were the *‘ whitest ” men it Lad ever been their good fortune to meet. The return of the party of three some time before nightfall, and the continued absence of the two whom the reader bas attended, led to the sending of three fresh men after Six-foot Si and ne a took eee rovisions— ially ag y supply of ragged-edged rye! —in case they should be detained over ni nt. Then, as the darkness fell, the artificial lights of the a flared out, and the orgies began. Under the escort of their entertainers, the delegation from Mulligan’s Bend ‘stormed ” all of the dance-bouses in turn, and the painted and bedizened “‘angels” smiled upon them with especial! favor. The violins squeaked, the flageolets sbrieked, the cornets blared, in a way that suggested that the final torment. might consist in endowing every one with an ear for music, and then compelling bim to listen to this sort of orchestration forever. But the miner who had cheerfully paid bis * two bits” for a place on the floor, and then set bis slouch hat on the beck of bis head and “ howed it down” in a jig that made up in vigor what it mezbt lack in grace, as he balanced he pry a mincing te with painted lips pen- ciled eye-lids and ena bust—judging from bis broad grin of enjoy ment, he evidently’ GOmicbooks cor _~ oe a ee é . . $0