Beadle's Dime Library No. 327 — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

~ — -_— —-— = - -_ - —- = = Oe tie a i ee ee ee ee en ae a ae > =i > > ——— es = ; : an - . - - : . > ~ - ——_—-— . al _ - —_ 2 s ws + st _ ~ =- . ie oe 2s a $5 Ss ee -_— e-- = —-«= = — _ done. 1 will tell you all about it.” 26 a Terrapin Dick. aper and a pencil, prepared to take dow is words as they were uttered. ; ‘*] suppose,” he said, ‘‘ that the innocent man you spoke of is Nick Sanders.” ‘*That is the man,” answered Ben, ‘‘and ou ought to say something to clear him. here is a young lady, too—Miss Payson— who is wrongfully accused of having put Nick up to the job.” ‘*Ig that so?” murmured Jeffard. ‘‘ That is too bad. I didnt know that she was mixed up in it. Give me another drink. | can pay forall [I want. There’s a man not far from here that | can draw on for any amount of money.” ‘You don't need to pay for anything,” said Ben, as he dosed the patient again. ‘*Go on and tell your story, and we will take the best possible care of you.” ** Nick Sanders didn't kill the old woman,” was Jeffard3s first revelation. *‘ I was the man. Nick never had anything to do with it He left Cranston before the job was But that ain't all, Listen, here, and Joe Jeffard’s story was not a short one, and he told it fully and freely, with due at- tention to details. . The liquor that was doled out to him at in- tervals stimulated him sufficiently for the urpose, though his voice was weak, and udge Meacham took down his words as per were uttered. hen the statement was concluded it was read to him in the presence of the others, and he signed it by affixing his mark. Judge Meacham then hastened out to find Abner Sanders, to whom he was anxious to give the news of his cousin Nick’s innocence. The lad was not much affected by this in- telligence, which was nothing more than he had expected to hear, sooner or later. ‘* | knew that Nick never did it,” said he. ‘‘He hain’t got the grit to kill anybody. I knocked over a man as we was comin’ on here, without thinkin’ twice about it.” ‘* You killed a man?’ exclaimed the judge. ‘‘Who was that? Why did you do it?” ‘*He was one o’ those cursed skunks 0’ Kanucks, who tried to kill my folks, and did kill poor Boney. I settled him, though.” ‘‘}f you are so bloodthirsty, my boy, I shall be afraid to give you the cartridges I boucht for your rifle.” ‘Did vou bring ’em, jadge? Please give ’em to me. I won't kill anythin’ that walks on two legs agin, if you say so.” Th: cartridges were produced and pre- sented, greatly to the delight of Abner. Joe Jcffard could not be induced to take a solemn or serious view of his condition, but k»pt calling for liquor as long as he was able to use his voice, and finally expired in a arly the next morning Judge Mcacham and Ben Lawson set out for the Sanders habi- tation, accompanied by Hemlock Hank, Ab- ner and Neptune. CHAPTER XXXVIT. DICK AND THD DELUGE, Wnuewn Terrapin D ck left the camp on the plateau, fullowed by the wonder and sus- oe of his comrade, he had a distinct and efinite purpose in his mind, which he had no idea of explaining to Julius. Ilis discovery of the existence of Ilemlock Hank had so strongly excited him that he thought of nothing but meeting his old friend and taking him by the hand. The threatening weather did not worry him in the least, nor was he at all bothered by the thought that Julius Muldrow might be left alone during an entire day and night. He had little sympathy for that young man at the best, and less than ever since he had suspected him in connection with Hem- Jock Hank's disaster. As for the business that had brought him into the woods, that was abandoned, if not forgotten. e no longer had the least desire to cap- ture Nick Sanders and take him back to Cranston for trial. On the contrary, his intention was. as he then regarded it, to surrender himself to the Banders family—to put himself on their side —to make friends with them at any cost of self-respect or of prospective profit—to do anything and everything that would enable him to rejoin his friend, sss The time had been when defeat in such an | énterprise would have been scarcely less than death to him; now it was a matter of not the Jeast moment. Before, he had admired Hemlock Hank, and had cherished him as a comrade; now, he loved him with a greater affection than he could have bestowed upon a brother. Thus it was that he was as light-hearted as a boy, and full of pleasant expectations, when he left the plateau. He started down the nearly dry bed of the mountain stream which he had recently dis- covered, and which afforded a comparatively casy means of descending the rugged hights. Its course was nearly straight, and for a considerable part of the distance its bed was not deep. Then it passed through a narrow and steep ravine with precipitous sides, at the foot of which was a basin in which a quantity of water had collected. The slight overflow of the water at this poiut. being the usual amount furnished by the stream at the dry season, made a pretty little waterfall as it tumbled over a rocky declivity, where occurred the only really hard climbing that he found during the de- scent. As he was hastily picking his way in that direction, the clouds were gatherisg above and behind him, much darker and more ominous than when he left the plateau. Ile had just entered the narrow and 'stecp pass that has been mentioned, when the clouds burst. The storm that followed was indeed a cloudburst, and no other name would suit it. Though it covered but a small area, and doubtless would scarcely have been noticed from a distance, it was intense and terrible where it occurred and while it lasted. A perfect deluge of water dropped down from above, as if the bottom had fallen out of some huge reservoir un there. It was accompanied by terrific peals of thunder, and the black clouds that held and discharged the moisture swooped down upon the mountain and hid it from view. While Terrapin Dick, who happened to be at the easterly edge of the rainfall, was looking among the rocks for shelter from what he considered a heavy but passin shower, an avalanche of water had gathserell above him, and was rushing down the bed of the stream. He noticed that the brook was swelling pretty rapidly, but made no special account of that circumstance, as the idea of danger had not yet entered his head. Ilardly had he found his place of shelter when he awoke to the fact of a flood. The stream bad a 2 swollen to a tor- rent, and it was nothing less than a wall of water that was pouring down into the ravine, It rushed in so rapidly and in such vast volume that only a part of it could find egress at the other end, and that which re- mained was fast rising in the basin, boiling and secthing, covered with branches of trees and fragments of wood, Only a glance was needed to tell the de- tective that the situation was full of peril. He looked about for a way of escape from =o calamity that had so suddenly overtaken im, That was just what he failed to find. Ile could not go back up the mountain, as the downward rushing flood was an insur- mountable barrier in that direction. He could not escape at the other end, as the torrent would be sure to whirl him down the rocks to destruction, The danger was that he would be dragged pak and hurried over the fall against ‘his will. ) With every moment this here increased, and the need of escape became more urgent. Risden was forced to the conclusion that his ony chance for life was to climb the pre- cipitous side of the ravine where he was. The other side offered better opportunities for climbing, but was as much out of his reach as if it had been miles away. With the water rising rapidly above his feet he began to climb. leaving his rifle to be swallowed up by the flood. He clutched with his fingers points and crevices in the nearly smooth surface of the rock, and desperately dug the toes of his boots into other crevices, ' The task was so hard as to be almost hope- less, and he nearly despaired when he per- ceived that the water rose quite as rapidly as he ascended. | But he persevered, and was gradually nearing a point where the climbing would be easier, and where he hoped to be out of danger, when both his feet slipped at once. He strove to cling to the face of the rock with his hands; but the slippery hold could not be retained, and, in spite of his utmost efforts, he dropped down into the boiling whirlpool that filled the basin. While there is life there is hope. Though there was but little hope in this case, Terrapin Dick was the man to make the most of that little. Rising at once to the surface, he struck out. boldly for the rocky wall, hoping to geta hold somewhere that would prevent him from being swept over the fall. But the torrent seized him, and carried him whither it pleased, as if he had been a stick or a straw. As he was whirled over to the other side, and then borne swiftly toward the lower end of the ravine, he renewed his efforts, though already convinced that they were in vain. An end was put to the unequal battle by the big branch of a tree, which came tearing ' down into the ravine, and struck him on the head. Stunned by the blow, he sunk, and knew nothing more, But his struggles, from the beginning of Lis attempt to climb, had been watched by a young man at the other side of the basin. lt has been said that the rocks on that side were comparatively mers to climb, and the young man was cautiously descending them, at the same time looking out for a chance to assist the imperiled individual across the water. . It would not do to call to him, as a shcut might startle him and deprive him of his chance to save himself. When that chance was gone, and Risden dropped into the whirlpool and was swept away by the torrent, the young man saw his opportunity and hastened to use it. He had already uncoiled from his waist a light line with a noose in one end, and had made the other end fast. | it With the noosed end of the line in his hand, he descended to the flood, and waited for his chance. As soon as Risden was struck and stunned he jumped in the water, caught the detective by the coat, and quickly passed the noose over his shoulders and under his arms, The torrent pulling them in one direction, and the line holding them in another, both were swept against the side of the basin, when Risden's savior dragged his prize up the rocks to a ledge where he would be out of reach of the flood. By this time, indeed, the deluge had dwindled toa gentle rain, which soon ceased. Shortly, too, the water in the basin began to subside, and ran out almost as rapidly as it had run it. For a little while it was a question whether Risden would revive. Though the blow he had received had mere- ly stunned him, he had then been half rowned., His rescuer rubbed and rolled him vigor- ously, and in the course of this exercise dis- covered in his pocket a flasx of liquor, a por- tion of which he administered to the patient. These various inducements persuaded life to return to the detective, who opened his eyes, sat up, and helped himself to a drink from his own flask. He saw before him a young man, at whom he looked closely. ; ‘‘T suppose you have saved my life,” he re- marked. ‘‘T guess I helped,” answered the other. ‘As there is nobody else about here, you must have done the entire job. I never saw you before, my friend, but 1 think I know ou.” | ‘‘Same here.” ‘*You are Nick Sanders.” ‘‘ And your name is Risden.” “That is correct. Did you know that I came up here to catch you?” ‘‘ Yes,” quietly answered Nick. “And yet you saved my tife.” ‘‘Oh, I couldn’t see you drown, you know, Besides, I ain’t a bit afraid. Wouldn't grum- (ECONMIUCE S7GO ICO | a ene