Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 333 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

2 Derringer Deck, the Man with the Drop. The ragged old bummer applied his ear to the door and was silent while he listened. Without doubt they did hear him-—whoever might be comprehended in the word “they.” There was audible the faint sound of whispering, and then the door opened suddenly, without a word of warning. As Mr. Bender was hanging on to the knob with a gri roportionate to his inability to stand upright he followed the opening door, lurching into the room with a suddenness that wound his feet up in a pretty tangle, and caused him to fall headlong to the floor. There was no excitement about the catastro- phe, though he struck the uncarpeted, rough rds with a noise that was sufficient, one would think, to startle the house. On the contrary, he slowly rolled over on his back, holding his hands and feet uP, in an awk- ward, deprecating way, while he leered at the other occupants of the room. Howlin’ Billy Bender, of Black Dam was no tyro in the social system of the West, and prob- ably for that reason he contemplated serenely the pistol bar el that lay in pe big accurate range for his head. The eyes of the gentleman behind it did not say shoot, so he waited for the question that he knew was bound to come, ‘‘ Ah, you rum-soaked villain, what do you want here? If I didn’t think you too drunk to be responsible for what you are doing I could blow your worthless brains out. Get up and march.” ‘*Easy, boss. No objections hev I ter git up; but when I me tale unfold mebbe you won’t so anxious fur me ter march. Jest listen now.” Billy Bender rose gradually toa sitting pos- ture, and laid hold of a neighboring chair. He was no very handsome object to look at. He was ragged, battered, tattered and grizzly. His hair and beard were unkempt, matted, and heavily sprinkled with gray; his eyes were bleary, and the tobacco-stained mouth twitched nervously in his moments of greatest repose. Fortunately for him he had no enemies in Brad Awl; but on the other hand he had no known friends. By common consent he had _ been judged too worthless to have either. How he ived nobody knew; and nobody cared. When he had managed to wring in for sufficient drinks to be decently full he seemed perfectly happy; and for the rest of the time he retained an owl- like silence. That was the sort of man who had ained an entrance to the room where Doctor abriel Gordon and his daughter, Ianthe, had been conversing in low whispers. The two were strangers in Brad Awl, though one citizen, Colonel Abner Thompson, claimed their acquaintance. He had met them at Glory Gulch, and. by his glowing representations had done his best to lure them here, where he was a ag gran power in the camp. y they should have come would have seem- ed a mystery to any one not familiar with the - mannerin which the most unsuitable men drift in- - to such out-of-the-way sanctuaries, such latter- day white friars as was Brad Awl. When the craze gets on them they BO the uttermost limit, with- out seeing the certainty of loss. . Unless Doctor Gabriel Gordon utterly belied his ap ce it was certain, by every theory as to the eternal fitness of things, that he had no business in Brad Awl; but Colonel Thompson’s black eyes gleamed wickedly when this man with the downcast face, vac mouth and hesitating speech suddenly clapped a cold, ten- der, white hand into his own warm, sinewy one, and said that he would bethere! And hescarce- ly knew how to reason with the sharp-eyed, handsome girl, who so outspokenly opposed the movement. : ‘‘ Father,” she said, and the colonel held his breath while he listened, uncertain how best to meet her arguments. “Why should we go? I have followed you so far on wild chase after immense fortune, and do not fear but I will fol- low you to the end; yet pause e you go fur- of You had enough, and both of us were happy. e have enough still. If you go fur- ther, who knows how it will end? Better to turn back now. When this insane desire for bound- less wealth has a little spent its force, you will recognize what you will not admit now: that we have enough for a lifetime. Why should we risk ruin, and perhaps death?” And in his mild, deprecating way, that could be as obstinate as death itself when he was in the wrong, the doctor waved his hand and an- swered: ’ “ Very true—very true; but we will go.” So they were here at Brad Awl, stopping at “The Ark,” and they had withdrawn for pri- vate conference when Howlin’ Billy, butt and bummer, tracked them down. No wonder then that the girl, with an imperious motion of her hand, exclaimed: ‘Wait! I have followed you ‘here, but it is with my eyes open. If you are blind to the sort of lo you have thrust yourself among, I am noe. is man means to give us a warning, and T say it may be worth something. Let him speak. He shall speak. Go on.” “Certainly, my dear—certainly. Anything in reason; though what such a creature can say ‘hat will have any interest for you, is more than ican imagine.” ‘Look yere, boss; don’t spread it on too} ed. He put away the revolver and advanced thick. I’ve got ther best ov intenshuns, but you kin r’ile even ole Billy Bender. If I warn’t orgy would I be here? Say, now; answer me t.’ ‘* When a man becomes as drunk as you are, he can be found almost anywhere, especially where he ought not to be. I think you had bet- ter get out.” y nk? Drunk ? Heavens! what yer givin’ me? I kin be weak, er weary, but ther ain’t enuf mount’in-dew this side ov ther continent ter make Howlin’ William drunk.” By this time the bummer was standing with his feet very wide apart and his eyes blinkin with owl-like gravity, while the words arevaiet out in a thick whisper. ‘Enough of that,” inte Ianthe. ‘I want none of it here. Tell us your errand, and then go. Iam tired with the long journey, and we have enough to say without listening to your nonsense.” ‘** Bizness, bizness, every time. That’s ther way | like ter hear it. But yer won’t give me away now, will yer?” “if by that you mean that you want our pee not to betray your confidence, you ve it, flat-footed. Speak.” ‘‘ An’ ye’r’ aware yer in Brad Awl—in ther Ark—in ther Ark, at Brad Awl?’ ‘*There can hardly be any doubt of that. We still possess our reasoning faculties.” “Thet’s it—thet’s it. Wal, onless yer hev more luck than ther averidge run ov tender- foot ee you'll stay thar—yes, you'll stay re 9”? thar. “Stay! Of course we'll stay. That is what Yer don’t we came for.” ‘* But hole on, ole man, hole on. take it all in. They stay byer a’cause they plant ’em. You’ve stamps, coin, copperheads an’ coal ile—yes, an’ them are the kind they never let gitaway. They plants ’em, yes.” ‘** Plant them; how do you mean?” ‘* Well, this yere burg are aclost corperashun. Thar’s a gang hyer—copperheads an’ coal ile, sich a gang! An’ sooner er later they skoot ’em in, There’s Kunnel Thompson an’ a few more knows ther ropes, an’ hangs tergether, an’ they stand ’em off sorter like; but it’s ther edge ov the’r teeth ez hez hold, an’ if the’r grip slips, it’s good-by, John! Ef yer hed bin wise yer never would ’a’ come hyer; but now ye’r’ hyer, watch out, fur I tell yer it’s death ter stay hyer, an’ yer can’t git away.” “Can't gitaway? What do you mean?” Ianthe was listening with strange earnestness to the battered old dead-beat. His words chimed in so with what she had just been say- ing, that they came like a distorted echo. ‘Mebbe yer ain’t believin’ me, but they clean ’em out hyer, an’ ef they try to skip, then Kunnel Coldsteel and his Lucky Seven ketches ’em on ther back-track, cleans up the’r pockets, an’ cords up the’r stiffs in his private graveyard. That’s how they keep down ther ? ? rush, Nobody hears anything about Brad ra |, cause nobody goes out. They kill ’em u’st. ‘* But Colonel Thompson got out in spite of them all; andif nothing was heard of the place in the outside world, there would be no one to Your story will hardly hold water.” ‘*Water! Who ther thunder wants water at Brad Awl? They all drink whisky. But ez fur Kunnel Thompson, ’thout sayin’ he ain’t a good man, he hez ter keep his mouth shut er they'd be crape on his door. They let him out now and then ter bring in ther victims. Oh, I tell yer, it’s an awful place. You've hearn about men ez would cut yer throat fur ten cents an’ steal ac ter throwin. Them men live hyer. ‘* And so the gist of your ar ent is that we should leave town ienfnedlintaty. . Now, tell me; Meee ets this yarn to induce me to go ney og eT spoke _— Pree) 3 than usual, for he protested from the first against i to the maund of the bummer, and from that standpoint it was not strange that the idea should sug itself. Bender’s face was a picture of virtuous indig- nation. **D*yer think [’d work fur pay ? T’d scorn ther acshun. Boss, J don’t want yer ter go.” “Then what in Heaven’s name do you want?” said Ianthe bitterly. ** Ain't I bin a-tellin’ yer? My ole side pards hez all went up ther flume, one way er another, an’ I want ter take yer in on ther ground floor. Ef me an’ you kin hitch hosses, you ter fu’nish capit’] an’ me ter put in sixes an’ science, it might make a team ez c’u’d pull through the mie ware a ain’t aa I'll starve, an’ you'll git shot. Don nothin’ more a onless yer wants Ser toan me a quarter; ~ think on it, an’ when ye’r’ ready ter chip in “pe word ter Mad Mike's an’ we'll size up our nds.’ ‘* And that is all? Well, I have listened to our farrago of lies until I am sick of myself. Now, §0. shall not speak again. I mean Doctor Gordon's patience was at last exhaust- with threate countenance. One hand was outstretched while the other fist was drawn back as if to strike. So thoroughly had his face been transformed that Billy Bender did not stand on the ceremony of his going, but went at once. ‘** So long, old fel’; an’ ef yer wants any odd jobs in my line I kin be heered oy at Mike’s.” He even stepped briskly over the threshold, as Doctor Gordon’s foot missed its mark. Then the door was banged shut behind him in an energetic way, and the doctor turned toward his daughter: “*T hope you are satisfied with the interview. We have wasted half an hour over a drunken vagabond who came in to borrow twenty-five cents. I am ashamed of myself and you.’ ‘You needn’t be, then. If that chap didn’t bring twice the worth of your money I'll eat snakes. It was worth half a dollar, sure.” The voice was a startling interruption. Up to that moment Doctor Gabriel had not the faintest suspicion that the conversation was being overheard. Now, as he looked in the direction the sound seemed to come from, he oo a face set in the upper part of the partition wall. “Don’t be scared, doctor. It’s no ghost. They can’t afford to run the boards all the way up, and I cut a slit through the canvas and ked my nose in as I heard you two talking usiness, I’m a new-comer at Brad Awl, my- self; but T’ll vouch fur it that Howlin’ Billy tells the truth. We’re ix. for it here, and we can’t get out.” CHAPTER II. ONE DOWN AND ANOTHER COME ON. THE advent of the bummer calling himself Billy Bender had only been an event; but the coming of the gentleman in the wall was an ex- citing surprise to the two who had fancied them- selves alone. His explanation evolved a fact of which they had been entirely unsuspicious. The upper part of the partition wall was of muslin, and t the in- yap gentleman on the other side had coolly rawn his knife for a foot or more along the canvas, inserting his head through the aperture thus made. It was a fresh, and by no means unhandsome face that the doctor saw; clean-shaven save for a long, dark mustache, and with a pair of bright, dark eyes flashing down on him through a pair of spectacles. evertheless, neither Doctor Gordon nor his mary took kindly to the intrusion. ‘* Don’t do it, doctor, don’t doit. I see you’re trying to make up your mind to something des- pent but my word on it, it won't pay. I’m ere todo you good, and when Deck Bright is caught doing anything that looks so low down be peeping into another man’s room, it’s because e is something on board. You need a friend mighty bad, and I swear I’ve a notion to catch right on. “You seem to have cheek hough for any- thing,” interposed Miss Ianthe; “but perhaps we may have something to say to that. Take —— away before you find by experience at we have forcible reasons for not wanting anything to do with you.” **Thank you, miss. I like to see a proper amount of delicacy in Ray but Brad Aw] has no use for a lus of if. I can assure you if [ didn’t want a little talk I wouldn’t have said a word in the first place. You see I saw you both when ey came, and I felt an interest in the lambs that were dropping down here among the wolves. I said to myself, there’s a man I'd like to give a warning; and there’s a lady that had r be somewhere else ; I’ll express my opinion when I get a chance,” . ‘‘And now that you have had a chance, you will certainly leave us to ourselves. It wollte rank injustice to me that we should be involved ° in + difficulty the very first night of our ar- rival. | ** Bless Phas soul, miss, there will be no diffi- culty. If I didn’t think you were a reasonable creature, I would leave you to your fate; and, if I hadn’t something to wp Med wouldn’t have opened the conversation, In Brad Aw] we don’t stick so closely to the forms of etiquette that are so charming in a higher scale of civilization. And first and foremost, I want to you warning not to trust the jud Mr. Bender is by no means as simple as he looks, though he’s not worth much without a head to manage him. This performance here was only the introductory overture—and I haven’t a reasonable doubt but that the whole programme that is to follow has been arranged was warning you, the redoubtable Colonel Cold- steel. Now that I’ve said my say, I am wi to go as the gentle William did. If you thi you can keep own cues the deal will be one turn short and you'll never know it.” _ Light and airy was the er; but his words were making an imp on. Doctor Gordon noticed that this knew how to place his words so that they would do the most good, and having gotten over the shock of his appearance was the more and more inclined to hear him to an ending, as Ianthe expressed her disapproba- <eom ebooks a. ie y the gentleman of whom he co Td : | f mf - =