Beadle's Dime Library No. 317 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

Frank Lightfoot, the Min one way to keep your thrapple out o’ the noose. Come down freely with the oro, an’ you kin keep on w’arin’ your smooth mask tell the eend o’ all, But kick up rusty, an’ murder will out, in a red-hot hurry, you bet! “Then fer him—the bloodhoun’! He don’t want the truth to leak out. Why? Beca’se he’s on a big trail? Beca’se he’s got wind o’ the Courtright case? Ef not, what’s be here fer, onder kiver—an’ he a officer o’ the law, a de- tective? Look a little keerful, Frank Ligbt- foot, or you may run ag’in’ somethin’ like this!” he grated, drawing a vicious-looking knife from his rags, plunging it to the hilt into the earth as he added; ‘‘ Good man as you think yourself, ’tain’t many sech as them you could stan’, cuss an’ double cuss you!” CHAPTER V. THE FIRE FIGHT. THE accident which had happened to the throne and its fair occupants, just when the ceremonies so carefully planned and arranged were about to commence, threw all into dis- order and confusion, bidding fair to make the whole celebration end in a miserable and dismal failure. Willing bands soon cleared away the charred fragments of the throne and its background, leaving that end, like its opposite, open to the air and light of day; but when that was accom- plished, even tbe most energetic was at a loss what to do next. Had tbe unfortunate fire done no worse than to destroy the beauty and symmetry of their proud pavilion, though grief might have filled the hearts of those whose long-hoarded finery had vanished in smoke, a local pride would have kept even those from slacking their efforts to make the double anni- versary one never to be forgotfen in the annals of at least that portion of the Centennial State, But the sight of that motionless figure borne so carefully tbrough their hushed ranks, with thoughts of what might possibly be the outcome of that luckless salute, drove all thoughts of merry-making from their minds for the time being. Only until the tall form of Frederick Lyon Was seen moving across the grounds, smiling and shaking hands, spreading the joyous news that their beauteous Goddess of Liberty, Cieo- nice Lyon, had received no serious injuries. Then the wild, glad cheers rung out until the very hills seemed to shake and quiver with the echoes they sent back. And then, though there was little attempt made to follow out the pre- _ cise programme, tbe citizens fairly ‘‘ turned themselves loose,” with a laudable desire to make up for lost time. Of course there was speaking—when did an American crowd ever get together without ‘‘a few remarks” of some sort? Frederick Lyon made a brief address from the foot of the ruined throne, begging their in- dulgence, even while urging them to suffer no thoughts of bim or his to cut their merriment short or abridge their sports in even the slightest degree, Though bis place was beside his daugh- ter, he woull be with them in spirit, and they would best please him by pleasing themselves. And since he could not carry out the portion of the programme wnicb they bad, in their kind- ness, assigned to him, he took pleasure in intro- ducing to their consideration, Colonel J. Romeo Freestone, the latest, but by no means the least, addition to their beautiful city. Bowing low, the mine-owner made his escape, leaving the aspiring young editor and publisher to give the hungry congregation the Declara tion of Independence, with variations and all the modern improvements, After the speechifying came the barbecue, and the citizens ate raw meat and tasteless cinders after the regulation fashion, firmly be- lieving in their boundless patriotism that they were enjoying themselves bugely! And thus the day passed away, filled with noise and confusion, with eating and drinking, shouting and screeching, with burning of pow- der in the sbape of blank cartridges and giant crackers—for the burly diggers, now they had so many to keep them in countenance, seemed delighted with the idea of playing boy once more—but through it all there was not one in- stance of rowdyism or ill nature. Drunken men there were, and plenty of them, long be- fore the sun bid himself behind the western ridge; but there was no quarreling, no fighting. There were the usual sports which accom- pany celebrations of this sort in the less sophisti- cated regions of our great country. Here were jolly diggers blundering through the clumsy sack-race, hopping, rolling, tumbling hither and yon in the blind attempt to reach the appointed oal, Yonder stood a slender pine sapling, stripped of its bark and coated thick with soap and grease. From the apex dangled a rag, well weighted with gold, the reward of merit, the wages due the man who had piper and persis- tence enough to mount thus bigh above bis fel- low-creatures. But why even attempt a description? Those who have witnessed a celebration of the sort, can imagine what it was when the miners, from youth to gray age, gave themselves over to the spirit of the momeut, proving themselves more boyish than they had been in their schoo] days; while those who have not been thus favored, could not comprehend the wild, rollicking, law- less and yet orderly manner in which the worthy citizens enjoyed themselves, though a dozen columns were given up to descriptive writing. Though thus far there had been nothing to frighten or offend the women who graced the scene with their presence, as the shades of night began to fall, they gradually withdrew from the celebration grounds, to return to their homes. Not so the men. They did not often havea holiday of this sort, and they were bound to have their fun out. And then strange faces and figures began to make their appearance, amid yells and whoops of laughter. en with frigbtfully deformed bodies, Men with heads of abnormal growth, with grotesquely exag- gerated features, with garments that would have set a drunken Indian wild with envy, or made a scarecrow bury itself below the corn it sought to guard, through pure despair. It was as though a vast museum of monstrosities had broken loose and poured its inmates down on this pleasant plateau. In the days long gone by, an exhibition of ‘* Fantasticals” as they were termed, was no very extraordinary occurrence, but it may well be questioned whether this was not their first appearance west of the Missouri—certainly never before did the mystic crew honor a moun- tain mining-camp with their company. With masks and make-up none the ridicu- lous or hideous for being of bome manufacture, armed with whatever taste fancied or that would make the most noise, the Fantasticals paraded around the grounds, certainly enjoy- ing themselves if they did not hugely please those of the gentler sex who lingered to see the ‘*circus ” before retreating bomeward, As the darkness deepened the fireworks were set off, the dazzling creations being greeted with shouts and cheers and sundry little screams of delight that told plainly enough all of the fair sex had not deserted the grounds; or, if having departed, they bad ventured back, for ‘‘ just one more peep!” This was no very difficult matter. Indepen- er Detective. ee e— ; ' dence City was built at the foot of a rocky | range, Nearly a hundred feet above its level lay the plateau which bad been selected as the celebration grounds. This was almost level as a floor, relieved bere and there by tall trees and clumps uf shrubbery. Through a deep defile in the rance poured a goodly sized river, cutting through rock and soil, forming one boundary of the plateau. Roaring, foaming, brawling with many a swift eddy and boiling swirl, the waters tore along the canyon, three-score feet below the level of the peteen. Tbe wall was fairly perpendicular in places; ia others the width was greater below than at the top, as though the mad waters were gradually pry Agere. the plateau; at no place near by was it possible for even the surest- footed, the most active man to descend the wall unaided by ropes. After skirting the plateau for some distance, the river made a curve, ate once more through the range where had once been a pass but little higher than the celebration-grounds were now, then ran its course until it reached the plain, three miles away from Independence City. Among those whom curiosity drew to the ounds after the shades of nigbt descended was ora Burgess, Though ber parent bad made Lis head-quarters at the camp for the past four years, this was the first season Mora had passed there, she being absent at school. Thus all this was new to her, and having beard so much for weeks and weeks past of the glorious times that day was to witness, it was natural enough her wishing to see at least the closing scenes, having so rudely been driven from the stage at an early hour, Hence it was that, none the worse for her ad- venture, Mora scaled the hill and took up.a station somewhat removed from the bustle and confusion, leaning on the arm of her father. It was quite dark where they stood, but this made objects beyond al] the more distinctly visible by the red glare of the many torches and the huge bonfires, Thus at first: but then the torches were extinguished ard all save one of the fires put out, causing Mora to cling closer to her fa- ther’s arm, ‘Surely that is not all?’ she uttered in disap- pointed tones. ‘If so, it was hardly worth the trouble of climbing up tbe bill!” ‘‘Wait a bit, little girl,” said Jeter Burgess, with a low langh of satisfaction, ‘‘ The sport is juct about to begin, and if the lads carry out the hints I gave them, you will witness a sight which will richly repay you for your trouble.” ‘*You, father?’ “Ay! And old as I am growing, only for you, little one, I'd be in the front rank of the fight to-night!” ‘*Surely, they don’t mean to fight? they seem allin good bumor,” murmured the half-fright- ened girl. ‘‘A fight that will be marked by few bard feelings and less bloodshed, my dear, but for all that, fighting you are fated to behold this night. Look! there goes tue first shot!” EE eee eee ee ea EE — —_ As he spoke, a bright Jight suddenly appeared, was whirled around the head of a dimly re- vealed mask, then shot upward aud outward, forming a pretty curve as it fell to the earth, still blazing, casting a circle of light around it. And as though this was the signal, a dozen fire- balls shot through the air, accompanied by wild yells and bursts of laughter as the Fantastics darted here and there, armed with forked sticks with which to bandle the glowing missiles, dodging the roaring meteors and deftly catch- ing and burling them back to their senders, Truly it was a wild and peculiar scene! ‘It was from the lips of my grandmother that I first beard of these fire-fights, as they were called,” hastily explained Jeter Burgess, hugely enjoying the childish delight which Mora betrayed as the fun waxed fast and furi- ous. ‘* It was a common enough thing, in those far-off days, and when all brains were taxed to contribute something to make this day memor- able, I remembered her description, You see the result,” A little ery escaped the lips of the maiden, and her fingers closed tigbtly around the arm of her supporter. By the white light of one of the fireballs, she caught sigbt of a bold, band- some face, It seemed without a body, the ball passed so swiftly, and to this, in part, must be attributed ber cry. Trembling, blushing furiously in the dark- ness, Mora might have kept the secret of her outcry and agitation, but for what followed so closely. ‘‘ An alien—an enemy—a spy!” cried as many voices, amid wild laugbter as the face and fig- ure of one undisguised became noticed among them. ‘‘Down with him! Fire and flames!” That was enough. One of the rules govern- ing the fire-figbt had been violated, and though this was doubtless through ignorance, the revel- ers were just in the humor to make the most of the opportunity tbus offered, Yelling and whooping they surrounded the man who had ventured in bis ignorance to cross their battle-ground, and then in swift succession the blazing balls of fire were showered upon bis devoted head, Until then, he never so much as suspected the real cause of the increased uproar, but as the balls came faster and faster, making it a diffi- cult matter to dodge them all, be saw the point 'and made the best of a desperate situation. This it actually was, though the revelers meant no harm. The fire-balls were of oakum, tightly wound and thoroughly saturated with _ oil and alcohol, and as they roared tbrough the | When the air, the ignited fluid would fall in blazing drops. ° struck against a buman or the ground, a little blaze would mark the place for a few moments, unless promptly extinguished by the one struck. ‘* Lightfoot, I declare!” exclaimed the mine- owner, as the many-glancing lights plainly re- vealed the face of the man thus suddenly as- saulted, ‘* He will be killed!” gasped Mora, trembling, yet unable to turn her face away from the thrilling scene. ‘* No, it is only play,” was the hasty reply, though the brows of the speaker drew together darkly. ‘‘Why don’t the led break his way through—ha! gallantiv done!” Surrounded on a)! sides, pelted with fire-balls from every direetion, Frank Lightfoot leaped swiftly to and fro, knocking the missiles aside whenever he could with his forearms or elbows, but making no effort to burst a passage through his assailants. That this was tot through either bewilderment or fear, was plainly enough evidenced by bis laughing countenance as re- vealed by the flashes of white light. He seem- ed to enter fully into the wild spirit of the figbt, and while saving his face and guarding bis per- son as best be might, he was drawing a pair of thick gloves on his hands. It was when he suc- ceeded in accomplishing this that Jeter Burgess burst out with that enthusiastic ery. No longer trying to knock the fiery missiles aside, Frank Lightfoot caught them in bis pro- tected bands and swiftly burled them back, ina few moments decidedly turning the tide. Securing by the aid of bis gloves, far hetter command of the fireballs than those who de. pended on the forked sticks, Lightfoot made no wild shots, but sent the blazing missiles straight home, so swiftly, so unexpectedly that, beaten at their own game, tbe revelers broke and scattered in confusion, And then, witha mocking laugh, the young athlete leaped from the lighted scene into the gloom without, van- ishing from sight before they had time to re- cover from their surprise. Himself partially blinded by the transition from light to darkness, Frank almost ran against the mine-owner and his daughter before he noticed their presence, “Tt was gallantly done, my dear sir!” cor- dially cried Jeter Burgess, grasping his band, warmly. ‘‘ You seem intended by nature to get the upper hand of fire. Mora, child, this is the gentleman who so gallantly preserved your life, to-day.” | 6 But As though she needed that reminder! with a lit'le more courage than she might have displayed without it, Mora also took the hand ES > GCOMmlEeEdsooe (ECO) f