Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 303 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

4 - the much on the ‘laction if I kin help it, Mr. you who gave me good advice an Top Notch Tom, the Cowboy Outlaw. ‘Punch, if you'll see to our boys, as you go by the ranch, Ill man. I want to go back to town, for reasons you can guess.” “Geeroosalem!”’ cried Limpy Balstrop, in an accent of great surprise. ‘‘ Don’t ye do it Tom. The taownies is only waitin’ fura good chance at one of us, alone; and it ain’t best to be too resky; no matter haow well ye kin shoot,” Top Notch Tom smiled, as he replied: ‘‘Tf Hank and I together are not capable of taking care of ourselves, in Satanstown, Limpy, we ought !o give up our names, and go North, I bid you all a very good-evening, gentlemen.” So saying, he turned his horse, and was about to ride off, when Punch called out: “ Any message to hum, Tom?” Tom understood him, and called back: ‘None. Yes, you may tell them I shall be home in the morning. Llectioneering. Nota word about the trouble, you understand.” ‘* All right,” was the reply. Then the two parties separated, and noone would have thought, to hear the calm tones of the men, and the quiet, commonplace language they used, that Top Notch Tom was going back into serious peril of his life, and that Punch Burleson’s question related to Tom’s young bride, not yet three months married. These Texas men have a point of honor, that they never let a woman know anything about a fight, if they can help it, till it is all over. et, when Tom rode away with the cit marshal, he felt decidedly ill at ease, and his thoughts ran a good deal on the fair young wife he had left at the ranch, who loved him devotedly and trembled at everything that threatened to harm him. When they had gotten some distance, Tom said to his companion: ‘“‘Hank, I am afraid there is going to be trouble about this affair, to-night.” Hank tranquilly replied: ‘‘ Thought so, when I heerd the firin’, 1 was goin thar, when it os Atay and I reckoned the sputies had squelched it. I don’t like to inter- fe’ with ’em, ’cause it makes’em think I don’t trust em, and they’re good fellows enough.” ‘Yes; but that is not the thing, Hank, The fight is over, for the present; but that cattle company overseer was into it, and he made it worse than it might have been, by his interfer- ence. Ovor men were getting the best of the townsmen, and the trouble was only one of clubs, when he called off his men, who were helping our boys, and the townsmen began to drive ours. Then, of course, we ranchers had to get in, for the honor of our end of the house.” "In coa’se,” was Hark’s tranquil reply. “The cowboys has ruled the roost, longer’n any man kin remember, and it ain’t nateral that the taownies should drive ’em, if they had anything of a squar’ show.” ‘Exactly. That was the reason Punch and Smith and Limpy had to ride in, and we used our whips to get our boys off. Well, that was what started the firing; for the townies, as soon as they found we were giving it to them, and they three to one, anyhow, got to their windows and began to fire.” Hank shrugged his shoulders, as he replied: ‘““What kin ye éxpect from a taownie, Mr. Field. They ein’t got ro sand to stay, and they can’t stand the temptation, if they know the other side ain’t heeled to use thar guns. Waal, no one was hurt, as I heerd-on, was they?” “T don’t know that. Limpy got ugly, and cut one man’s eye out, he says; and there-may be a number of others who have grudges to set- tle. It was all an election trick, 1 think, to oa ag party unpopular. What do you n CHAPTER IV. TAKING THE STUMP. the Nailer, did not answer for several seconds, during which he was considering what Ee _ said; for he was a man who never ein a burry. Then he answered map “Waal, it might be, and then again it oie be on’y a common muss, When the boys has peiory rtd in ’em, they’re apt to git into musses, ow. ‘** No, but I mean his interference.” * Waal, that oe be, too. Ye couldn’t blame the man fur tellin’ his men to git aout of fight, Mr. Field. Mebbe it might be better if some of ye had stopped it on yer own side, “] didn’t get a chance, Hank. It was all too quick; and now they will use it for all it is worth against me,” * Waal, they may try’ but I reckon I kin stop that fur ye,” said Hank soberly. “I ain’t . erally, but when a frien’s in the race I ft t apt to let him get left eid, “Thank you many times, Hank! You were ways the best friend I ever had in Texas. hen every one else was eben as me, it was made me what Iam.” ‘No, no!” returned the marshal in his simple, earnest way, ‘I didn’t hev nothen todo with ; makin’ you what you air, Mr. Field, 1 ain’t go in and give bail for your | eddicated, and you air!” ‘* But all the education I had was useless to | me in Texas, lacking the one thing that is neces- | sary. In Texas, a man who can’t shoot is likea fish out of water; and you were the first man that suggested that idea tome. After that, the rest was all plain sailing.” Hank laughed slightly, in a peculiar fashion of his own, grim and noiseless. “ Reckon you're the fu’st man ever I seen told me that, Mr. Field. I never taught ye anything. If I had, ye might talk: but I didn’t.” “You are mistaken, Hank. You taught me more than you imagine, for I often watched you when — were at practice, and it was by watching that I learned how to shoot.” ‘““Yoe was right welcome to that, I’m sho’!” see the marshal, heartily. ‘‘I don’t teach all the men I know haow to shoot, ’cause they might make a bad use on it; but when I come = — like you, Mr. Field, I help him all I in Then they rode on toward the town; and as they neared if, od heard a great shouting, that showed how the Satanstown people were rejoicing over their victory against the cow- boys and rancher element. Hank, the Nailer, observed rey “Ef ye think it best, Mr. Field, I'll go in and see to Sandy, and you kin go straight to Con- cha’s haouse.” Tom turned his head quickly. ‘‘You mean that there may be danger in my being seen in the town, as matters stand.” “That’s jest abaout the size of it. They dassn’t say nothen to me, ’cause I’ve got the law on my side, ye see; but you hain’t, It wouldn’t do ye no g to be see’d with me, nuther; fur ’d have to stop any muss, and they’d say ye was skeered. On the hull, the best thing ye kin do, Mr. Field, is to go to the Jedge's haouse at onst.” *“T think you’re right, Hank, You always are, for that matter. But suppose I meet any- body, and he tries to pick a quarrel with me. They might do it at night, when they wouldn’t think of it in daylight. I can’t afford to fight now, you know; when everything I do will be used against me in the election.” Hank considered a little, and at last said: “Ef I could trust ye not to draw a weepin, I’d say come with me, Mr. Field; but it ain’t to be s’posed ye c’u’d keep from trouble, ef they go too aggerawatin’, e see I cain’t git inter musses any mo’, naow. Fve got to keep the ce, and ef you was to git inter trouble, I'd ev to rest ye the same as anybody else.” The man spoke quietly and soberly, and Tom nodded his head, with the answer: “Of course, 1 under tand that; but the fact is, I can’t rest till I have found out whether the ae against me is fatal to my prospects as a candidate. If it is, lam going to draw out, and put the judge in my place.” They had been riding on while they were se , and by this time had got to the out- skirts of the town, when a loud burst of shout- ing, frem the middle of Satanstown, made them both halt. Tom Field seemed to be specially uneasy, and listened to the sound intently. It was evidently the climax of some excite- ment, for the cheering was continuous. . When it died away, they heard the noise of a man’s voice, speaking in the open air, with the peculiar rising and_ falling inflection of the stump speaker, and Hank said: ‘*‘ Saounds like they’d got up a meetin.” ““Top Notch Tom twitched in his saddle as he listened, and finally, with an effort that showed he had taken a resolution that cost him a strug- gle, he said firmly: ‘“Come on, Hank. I'll take the risk.” Then he set spurs to his horse, and the two men galloped into Satanstown, and drew rein in the large open space before the Lone Star House, where a large crowd had gathered in the moonlight, around a sort of platform, has- tily constructed of barrels, on the ye 4 of which aman was swinging his arms and shouting in the true stump style, familiar in all parts of the Union. The audience in the street were so intent on the speaker, that they did not notice the ad- vent of the two horsemen, or did not show it if they did. The ae kept on at the oration, and they heard the last words: “T tell you, fellow-cititens, that the time has come when the citizens of Satanstown have got to show that they run the county; and when hese cattle lords, who think they are the kings of the State, must be taught their place. I’m running on the taown ticket, and | chal- lenge the candidate of the other side to come hyar, and tell these free and enlightened men I see araound me, that they ain’t entitled to rule. wwe air the people, and the people air the ngs. Another loud shout showed how ‘the peo- ple” appreciated the compliment, and the , who was as Mr. Belshazzar vy, continued, waving bis arms more wildly than ever: tits ‘They call bim Top Notch Tom, and the y blow, like all possessed, abaout his shootin’, but that ain’t what’s goin’ to settle this question, gentlemen. The great people of Texas is a-go- in’ to settle it, and the cowboy candidate is a~goin’ to git left every time. We've seen the caowboys to-night. They come here to run things, and they got left, too. Ain't that so?” Of course this provoked another burst, louder than ever, and Top Notch Tom looked at the marshal, as he sat beside him. Hank, the Nailer, was frowning thoughtfully, and pulling at his beard. But Levy went on, louder than before: ‘* Yes; the come here.to run things, and we run ’em iad We've got thar best man, byar, in the calaboose, and we’re goin’ to send him up in {the mornin’, where he won't kick up any more musses; and naow I ask you all, whar is this Top Notch Tom that we bear so much off Why ain’t he hyar to take keer of the man they left behind ’em? Shall I tell you why be aint hyar, gentlemen?” He paused, and waited for the stillness that. always comes over an audience, when a ques- tion is asked that interests them greatly. ‘* ll tell you why he ain’t byar, gentlemen,” he went on, when he had secured their full at- tention. ‘‘It’s because he was afraid of the men of this taown. It’s because we run him aout, with the rest of ’em, and be ain’t got the sand tocome hyur. . That’s what’s the matter.” They began to shout louder than ever at that : but the shouting died away insensibly, and was replaced by a hush, while a whisper, that be- gan at the outskirts of the crowd, gradually spread, as the people at the borders recognized the figure of the very man the speaker bad been berating, accompanied by the redoubted mar- shal, and saw that Top Notch Tom was waving his hand to the people, to get out of the way, that he might get near the barrel platform. Mr. Belshazzar Levy, who wore spectacles and was intent on bis subject, bad not perceived what was the matter; but he found, from the stillness of the crowd, that something unusual was going on, and he stared all round bim, un- easily; when the voice of Top Notch Tom was heard, over the buzz, which instantly became ill. i “Gentlemen,” said Top Notch Tom, in his clear tones, without the accent that Levy af- fected,—though he had it not by nature. “If you will take care of my horse for a moment, I should like to answer what Mr, Levy bas just said. I don’t seek any difficulty with him, because he is not a shooting man; but I want to show you that I can talk as well as be.” This pr suited the crowd, for they were all in that state when they wanted noth- ing more than excitement, and a duel of words between two smart speakers is the delight of the Southern heart, and the custom of the country.. There was an instant opening of the crowd to the platform, and voices cried: ‘Put him up! Let’s byar what he’s got to say.” They allowed him to ride up to the platform, but Hank, the Nailler, took care to follow bim, as closely as possible, and when the people saw the marshal, they gave way to bim, with a re- spect. that they would have showed to very few other men in the S*ate. Mr. Belshazzar Levy looked decidedly uneasy as the rival candidate rode up to the side of the platform. Then Top Notch Tom gave his rein to Hank, the Nailer, and stood up on his saddle, steppiD from it to the platform, with an ease tha showed his tall figure to advantage, The platform had been constructed by feet ting half a dozen planks on top of as many bar- rels, so as to raise the speakers above the heads of the crowd, whose faces were about the level of the knees of the orators, Top Notch Tom, as soon as he had reached the platform, held out his band to his opponent, and said to him, in'tones,that were heard all over the assembly: ‘‘ Good-evening, Mr. Levy. I hope this can- vass will be conducted, as between you and me, as befits gentlemen.” ' Levy smiled, though be was rather pale in the moonlight, as he replied: ‘Oh, of course, I hope so, I hope so. Noth- ing personal, you know, all strictly parliamen- tary, you know, of course, of course, Top Notch Tom surveyed the other from head to foot, with an air that delighted the crowd, as he answered coolly: “Of course, sir, Everything on my part shall be parliamentary. As for personalities, I don’t think you would find it wise to indulge in those things before my face.” This little hit, after what Levy had just said was received by the crowd with a laugh, an one man whispered to his neighbor that ‘‘ there was goin’ to be fun, you bet, Then they all settled down to the enjoyment of the contest that was to take place, for their especial benefit. | op Notch Tom was not such an old stum speaker as bis antagonist; but he bad the ad- vantage of having a reputation among the ple asa good shot, which goes for a it deal in Texas. He cast bis eyes over the assembly before him, and at last began: Fellow-citizens of Satanstown, I am glad to Gomicbooks “ \. 3 ae Dat | pa —_-