Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 302 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

— that fighting was intended, with Milo Vincent shooting as rapidly as he could work his pistol, and the ancient yelling out bis wild rigmaroie, this fresh assault was more than the road-agents could stand. They faltered, thus sealing their own fate, A bullet from Vincent’s revolver crashed through the brain of one—another dropped be- fore the fire of the old man. The rest turned to flee, but they were fated to never again ‘* hold up” stage or footman. ’ One ran almost against the muzzle of a pistol held by Weatherwax, staggering back with the entire top of his skull blown cff. A seeond dropped with the last shot left to Vincent, and as the other fled in utter dismay, he was pur- sued by both the ancient and Milo. A short bundred yards he ran, then leaped high intothe air, to falla corpse, And with a dry laugh, Epaphroditus rose from his knee. ** ’Pears like they don’t agree overly well with thar medicine, boss! Or, mebbe they’ve struck a sit o’ fickness that makes ’em feel they wanted to lay down and go tosleep. Durn the odds, 9) long’s it works, Who’s the next patient that—’ A grating oath from Vincent as he saw the masked chief in the saddle, fleeing up the pass at full speed. Dropping the woman, he urged his horse in headlong pursuit of the fugitive. : ’ CHAPTER VI, OLD PAP WEATHERWAX DISCOURSES. Bur fate was against the handsome young foreman in that instance, at least, and it was ordained that bis marvelous victory should lack one thing of being complete. ! With a fierce shout he drove his heels into the flanks of the horse he bestrode, lashing it vio- lently with the double reins, forgetting that he carried only an empty pistol, without a single cartridge to make it effective, thinking only of the bitter ill-treatment be had suffered at the bands of the masked scoundrel who was fleeing in headlong haste from the scene where his tri- umph had so suddenly turned to bitter defeat. A dozen swift oy the good horse made, then its hoofs struck heavily against one of the bodies, and both steed and rider plunged heavily to the flinty ground, opposite the stage. Though bruised and balf-stunned, Milo Vin- cent pet a scrambled to his feet, but not so the animal. It lay motionless, with head doub- led ap beneath its body, its neck broken! **Good Lawd! ef ever I see a bigger circus on the same ’mount 0’ bana hope | hev to chaw m fer a old maids’ horsepittle!” puffed Don btail Fandango, arms akimbo, one foot plant- ed on the remains of a defunct road-agent, his little pig eyes rolling amid their surroundings tm an almost delirious ecstasy of supreme de- light. ‘‘Ef I on’y hed one o’ them riggin’s which they make pictur’s by, I’d plaster ’em all over the billsides an’ treetops ontel the durned- est fool in nineteen States wouldn’t hev the gall to hint that black was the white o’ Good Enough’s eye! Whoop-ee! full growed an’ got her dyplomer ter show ferit! Oh, rig-a-de-jig, a-jig, a-jig!” And away the half-mad lover of the mountain camp burst into a fantastic break-down, cutting pigeon wi innumerable, only ceasing when one foot slipped ina pool of blood and he sat down with aforce that drove the rest of the tune out of bis mouth in one explosive grunt! Epaphroditus Weatherwax showed that his limbs were quite as active as his tongue, for he caught Stella Timberlake in his arms when Milo Vincent flung her from before him, though he red beneath that compact bundle of flesh and blood, But as he saw the horse stumble and cast its rider, a cry of concern broke from bis lips, and with one glance into the face of the fair young pilgrim who bad played such a curi- ous part in the little drama, he lowered her to e ground and rushed to the assistance of the ‘oreman. ‘‘Durn my pill boxes!” he spluttered, as Vin- cent scrainbled to his feet but little the worse wear. ‘ Kick over my best mortar an’ spill all my cholery medicine! Ef I%idn’t think I'd hey a onj’inted vertebra fer to tie together when see you trying to drive a’tesian well with your head fer a di’mond drill, then I never phy- sicked a patient fer the quinsy when he hed a lumber-goat! Be durned ef you ain’t a tough ‘un! Put ber thar an’ shake!’ ‘No nonsense!” panted Milo, dashing the gled dust and blood from his eyes and star- ing wildly around him, ‘That devil will es- <9 Rolle wrseer me a horse—quick!” There were only the uneasy stage horses left n the seens of action. The animals ridden by road-agents bad all taken flight and dashed away, one of them bearing tye masked chief with him. Vincent started toward the team, but the ancient caught him around the waist with a power that was too great for him to successful- y resist in his present state, crying: xt Paps ol, my pore feller—take it ca’mly, now, or Band won’t. answer fer the. conse- { Fao’st you know you'll be down with a howlin’ fever or fatal c’la o’ the flues, an’ OC Lat up-helll get of ‘*He is off, a’ready, straddle of a streak o’ greased lightnin’, an’ you want to ketch him by jampin’ a three-legged goat with a bob-tail? £ you ain’t growin’ looney with the fever, then ona got the mumps, an’ they’re strikin’ in, ad | Milo Vincent suddenly ceased his desperate efforts to break away, forced to laugh despite bimself at the whimsical remarks of the an- cient, uttered as they were with the utmost gravity and appearance of sincerity. That laugh relieved the unhealthy pressure on bis brain, and the dancing, blinding mist of blood which hung before his vision, vanished for good. He had suffered much during that short hour, and the heavy blows he had re- ceived on his skull, added to his mental anxiety concerning the charge which he held so sacred, lacked little of serious.y disordering bis brain. A few minutes more of the same pressure, might easily have proved fatal to his sanity. “Say, you bottle o’ fizzin’ cider!” cried Weatherwax, turning his head toward Don Bobtail Fandango, who sat where be had fal- len, still humming bits of bis favorite jig, ‘‘ Git somethin’ wet here in a hurry! Anythin’— whisky, rum, brandy, gin, or even water! Ef — cain’t do no better, shin up a tree an’ etch a rain-cloud in your hat! Do somethin’! Don’t you see I’m "bout fer to lose a patient fer lack of a little bellows-mendin’ lubricationer? Durn it all, man! ef you cain’t do nothin’ else, holler !” *“T’'m all right, old man,” gasped Vincent, shaking himself together with an effort. “A sup of water wouldn’t go amiss, but I reckon Pll survive without it.” ‘*Didn’t I say so? Sart’in you wil!l—ef you don’t go an’ bu’st your b’iler ag’in by tryin’ fer. to ketch that cyclone on a mule’s k in the next county!” ‘* It’s too late for that, I’m afraid!” ‘“Onless you kin saddle an’ ride a telegraph wire which ain’t sot up yit—I reckon it is! Two hours sence he left the score, an’ goin’ a mile a minnit—count up how fur he is from the home base your own self!” ‘‘I’'d give my best finger just to have him within reach of my arm at this moment! Or even if I knew who he was!” muttered Vincent, frowning blackly as be remembered all that he had suffered, both bodily and mentally, through the agency of that arch villain, ** Mebbe the time’ll come when show cheaper then that,” said **The old man ain’t a prophet—” ‘* But better than that, old fellow, and—” a tery Neral you mean?” blurted out the ancient, suddenly turning on his heel and trotting back to where Stella Timberlake still lay onthe ground, ‘‘Durned ef I ain’t, but I come mighty nigh fergettin’ of if jest then. Stan’ back an’ give the patient air, gents an’ ladies! Don’t scroudge in on the perfession, on- less you want to commit bloody murder! Stick out your tongue, honey-dove! Doctor won’t hurt you—not a bit!” The ancient dropped on his knees beside the little woman and gazed owl-like into her face, fumbling clumsily for her pulse, It really seemed as though he believed himself one of = profession to which he had made such abrupt claims. , With folded arms, Milo Vincent stood beside the patient, gazing steadily into her face, that eurious light coming back to his blue eyes once more, and a faint smile beginning to curl bis ou kin gita eatherwax. p. ‘Don’t worry yourself, doctor,” he said, speaking with reer te , eae ah imagine your ient is not very dangerous! afflicted.” A J . ’ Was there a barely perceptible quiver of the closed lids as these words dro from his lips? Did those faint lines about the small mouth deepen and grow more distinct? Milo Vincent would have answered yes, without a moment’s hesitation, even though the woman lay there like one de:d. eatherwax flashed a nag and just showed his teeth i he said: “Waal, that’ll be monstrous lucky, fer I reckon that p’izen sit o’ fickness is workin’ off, an’ I don’t feel bafe so much like a pill- dler as I did a bit ago! You try your an’, Stooping, Milo Vincent raised the plump, yet limp, figure in his arms and strode back to the stage with ber. Gently lowering her to the ound, where her head could receive support om a rounded stone, he spoke to Don Bob- tail: ‘Look after the lady, Don. Fan her with your hat, or blow in her face, if you can think of nothing else, She’ll come to before long, OT areing oti cient, Milo grasped ng ly to the ancient, Milo grasp bis hand Satine ates emotion in his Sones as nt Now I will , “Now 1 will say what you refused to listen to a few moments since. *You're a hero, sir—a hero of the first water! You saved my life when I had lost all hope, for I know now that solved | sol ou who cut hands free, I had re- have revenge oh that devil: though I lance upward, na silent grin, Then 8 Faro Saul, the Handsome, Hercules. —s —— = ——- knew they would butcher me the next minute! But you gave me a chance, and then, when that in—that woman, hampered me until I was almost at their mercy again, you came to the rescue like—like—”’ His voice choked and he c_uld not find words in which to express his surging emotions. His sinewy fingers contracted until the ancient visi- bly flinched beneath the warm grip. ‘You think so?” be doubting)y asked, scratch- ing his bead with bis unoccupied hand, an anxious light in his eyes. ‘‘Do you raally reckon ole Pap done all them?” * You know you did!” ‘‘T wish I did, but ef I do I’m durned ef I do!” with a mournful sbake of the head, ‘It must be gelorious fun fer to be abero like them, an’ be able fer to upsot the hull etarnal yairth with one turn o’ the wrist—an’ then not hafe try! But I don’t feel that way. They ain’t no buzzin’ hot spring ful] o’ laver an’ sich-like, a-bubblin’ up inside my shirt, nur yit my britches ain’t chuck full o’ nettles that sarve to keep. a critter on the keep jump all the time; an’ all the story books I ever read makes a hero sometbin’ like that!” ‘*But you did it—no one else,” persisted Vin- cent. ‘* Waal, I’m glad of it, as fur as it goes,” with a placid grin. “ But it ain’t me you want to thank, It’s all ‘long o’ them queerious sits 0’ fickness! They jump onto a feller jest when he ain’t thinkin’, an’ they ain’t no tellin’ what way the pesky things is goin’ to make him travel— head up an’ fail over the dasher, or with a ole tin kittle tied to his narrative! No they ain’t, boss, an’ I’m reelin’ it off to ye so straight that it’d make a bee light-headed jest to try to foller the mark! “F’r instunce: take it when them ky warmints tumbled out 0’ the clouds an’ hollered fer us to byste our flippers. How was it? What kin’ of a blanket was it that wro ole Pap Weatherwax up inside of itself? at did that p’izen sit o’ fickness do? Made the ole man think he was a dog with a powerful bad dose o’ the colly wobbles, an’ sent him bowlin’ onder the seat to hide—an’ ketch the toe o’ somebody’s boest that weighed a ton!” Milo Vincent flushed hotly, as he muttered: “I ask your pardon a thousand times! I thought you a skulking coward, and—” ‘* No matter,” with a magnanimous wave of the hand. ‘ Ef J wasn’t them, the sit o’ fickness was, an’ it got jes’ what sarved it mighty right! It wasn’t me you kicked, boss, an’ I ain’t fightin’ the battles o’ them p’izen tantrums; I'm jes’ tryin’ to make you see how durned contra they be, an’ how monstrous onsart’in it is what they’re goin’ to turn a pore ole cuss into when they once git him in thar grip. ‘* Bit ago, nother ’tack tuck me, an’] thought I was a doctor right out of a pill-box, boun’ fer to kill or cure everythin’ what 1 tackled! That time it was all bunk; but asI said afore, you cain’t depend onto the durned things, Mebbe the next time I ketch one I'll ’magine I'ma lovesick kitten of a gal, red-hot in love with ou, an’ slobber all oyer ye afore you kin kick the durn foolishness out o’ the ole man— fact!” ** Have it that way if you will, but bear this in mind,” said Vincent, with deep earnestness. “You have made a friend this day who will stick to you through thick andthin! I'd far rather have lost my life than that package of money. You saved them both, and I'll never forget it, I’m too full to say much now, but if the time ever comes when I can serve you, rest assured I will act!” ' ‘IT say, boss!” called Don Bobtail, at this juncture. ‘‘Durn ef 1 know what to do ’bout this gal! She jes’ lays thar like she hed done croaked an’ skun up the golden stairs fer ood!’ ““ Waal, I ain’t feelin’ so much like a M. D., as I was a bit ago, but I’m bettin’ two to one I kin fotch her to in less’n forty winks,” said Old Pap Weotherwax, striding to her side and stooping over the motionless figure. *‘ One good ss— “Try it, you ugly beast, and I'll scratch your eyes out!” sharply cried Stella, rising to a sit- ting posture and slapping vixenisbly at the old man as be nimbly dodged aside. ‘* A merricle, by thunder! Who says I ain’t a he-ole doc?” “It is truly a remarkable recovery, and I congratulate you, Miss Timberlake,” said Vin- cent, with a mocking smile. S'e cast one swift glance into his face, then covered her face with her hands, sobbing vio- lertly, Still she managed to articulate with passable clearness: ‘*T acted for your sake, Mr. Vincent! I know you hate me worse than poison, but I did it all for the best, They would have murdered y and how could 1 remain silent when one had ie, my lips was sufficient to preserve your e ‘I would far rather you—but let that el As Bienes fearing to say more thaa he deemed wise, Milo Vincent turned abruptly away, fol- lowed by Old Pap Weatherwax. Only Don Bobtail Fandango caught the swift glance which Stella Timberlake shot through COMIC OOO KS