Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 339 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

—— ae 2 al y= | 7 Spread Eagle Sam. i3 "woman, weak-nerved ,weak-armed, weak-headed. | He drew back from the doorway, and Laughing Instead, what did you find? “That I am a man, as well as a gentleman. "That 1 can use the tools of your boasted craft yuite as adroitly as the best ruffian among you. "That I have more nerve, more sand, more of what goes to make up a real, genuine man, than ‘you have in your whole carcass, big as it is!” Laughing Leo leaned carelessly on one elbow, his head a trifle on one side, the better to enable him to look into the face of the man he address- ed. There was a faint smile, as of contempt, playing around his red lips, but the light which filled his large blue eyes was hard and even ‘menacing. is voice was low and even, musical as the far-off notes of a flute over water, but cut- ting like a keen-edged knife. Spread Eagle Sam made no motion to check his speech, listening to his words with a calmness strange in one of his hot, peppery temper. As Laughlin proceeded, the face of the big hide- hunter turned white as ashes, and a pinched, hungry look settled around his curved nostrils, always a sign of danger. “Stranger,” he said, when Laughing Leo came to a pause. “ Stranger, ou’re in my house, settin’ at my table, eatin’ of my victuals, ‘You kin pour insults out by the gallon, long as ou sit thar, an’ my ruff kivers ye over. ou kin tell the truth, or you kin lie, all the same. You kin take what pleases ye, or you kin letitall alone. But when you’ve done an’ said an ett an’ rested all you want; when you git tired o’ stay- in’ in this house, sech as it is, then—” He paused abruptly, turning his blazing eyes away and fell to eating like one almost starved. Laughing Leo coolly watched him until he ceas- ed to take breath, then asked: “You did not finish your speech, my dear fel- iow. When I decide to leave this ce, what ‘will happen?’ “T'li show you a man, ef he ain’t a gent!” Savagely. “Without holding up a mirror?” drawled Laughlin. Jesse Purchass, who had until now maintained an unbroken silence, even while angrily chafing against the matchless insolence of this stranger, now leaned forward and said, sternly: “Sir, if at first we treated you rudely, as I have already admitted, we made what amends jay in our power. I, as the one who started this unfortunate affair, humbly and sincerely begged your pardon. I offered you my hand, and you > accepted it. Among gentlemen, this would have been the end to a really harmless, if a trifle coarse, jest. In refusing to accept that ending ou have shown yourself what you accuse us of ing, a brute, an animal unfit to associate with gentlemen.” Leo Laughlin laughed coldly at this fiery out- burst, languidly waving one white hand as though to brush away some insignificant but annoying insect. No torrent of words could have been more irritating, or conveyed so bitter an insult, and livid wit rage, Jesse Purchass leaped to his feet, only to ——— by the mighty grasp of the Hercules Hide-Hunter, and held absolutely powerless. “Let the critter belch, Jes’. He’s my meat, an’ I’ll barbecue him in prime style the minnit ‘he tries to sneak out o’ this house—I will, so help me—!” Few men could have listened to that dee ‘tone, have looked into those blazing eyes, an not felt fear. But Laughing Leo was one of those few, and his voice was even as ever, cold and stinging, each word like a slap in the face: ‘‘ Allow me to correct you, my good man. ‘You meant to say you would try—but ae is uite a different thing. I came from a part of the country where they throw away such abortions as you are—or save them to use as scare-crows, “You call yourself Spread Eagle Sam, the best man on the buffalo-range. deny that claim. I am your master, take me how you will. I came here expressly for the purpose of clipping your wings, and if you will take the trouble to step outside for five minutes [ll fin- ish up the job off-hand.” With a hoarse, grating cry Spread Eagle lea to his feet and rushed out of doors, fair- iv insane with rage. His comrades also rose, as did Laughing Leo, who coolly unbuckled the belt of arms which was hidden eath his tightly buttoned coat. He cast the weapons on one of ‘the bunks, following it with coat and vest, standing strivped to his trowsers and shirt as Spread Eagle thrust his head in at the opening with: ‘Bf you're comin’X— What ye mean by that, critter? Whar’ your weepons?”’ ‘* Always on hand, critter.” laughed Leo, as ‘he playfully shook his clinched hands in spar- ting fashion. ‘I claimed to be your master in and ateverything. If I begin with steel or lead and kill you—as [ surely would, if you choose those tools—I would cheat myself out of all chance to whip you still further in detail. Can you understand that, mammoth?” “You mean a stan’-up fist-fight, then?” a“ That, or rough-and-tumble, just as suits you ‘best. Without a word Spread Eagle Sam removed his weavons and stripped off his ‘‘ jumper.” a aa is Leo leaped lightly outside the hut. ‘*One word, first,” he cried, as Sam was about to rush at him with ungovernable fury. ‘‘lam ent, ter I have polished him off and clip his wings, I will accommodate any or all of you—one down, the other come on. Is that un- derstood?” ‘*Tll kill the one as lifts a finger — e!” grated Sam, eager for the fray. ‘‘ When I git through with ye, they won’t be even a smell left fer anybody else!’ ‘Think so?” laughed Leo, leaping forward and tapping him lghtly on each cheek, then jumping back out of danger before Sam could make a blow or a move. This capping insult produced the precise effect Leo calculated upon. Blind with fury, the giant rushed to close, only to be deftly evaded while stinging blows, sharp and cutting, rain upon him so swiftly following each other that the eyes of the watchers could scarcely follow them. It was skill vs. brute strength, and the result may be guessed easily enough. Less than five minutes later Spread Eagle Sam went down before two terrible blows on his throat, lying motionless, Laughing Leo had kept his word. The Eagle’s wings were clipped! CHAPTER X. TO THE VICTOR BELONGS THE SPOIL, As Spread Eagle Sam fell headlong to the ound with a dull, sodden sound that showed e made no effort to break his fall, lying still and without motion, Laughing Leo gazed keenly at him for a brief space, then his mocking air gave place to gravity. He — forward, stooped over the fallen giant, an fore one of the almost stupefied spectators could divine his purpose, he lifted the giant form in his arms and bore it swiftly down to the sloping bank of the creek beyond the corral. It was a marvel- ous exhibition of strength, and all save one of the hide-hunters began to regard this peculiar perwpinecnae with something closely akin to super- ition, Paying them not the slightest attention, Laughing Leo deposited the senseless hide-hunt- er beside the water, in an easy position, then dashed the cold water repeatedly into his face. Sam shivered slightly, the tremor growing stronger until articulate sounds broke from his ps: - Look out, critter! Yar I come, head up an — Despite himself, Leo burst into a clear, merry laugh as he caught this warning, and the sound acted on Spread Eagle Sam like a shock from a galvanic battery. His eyes shot open, his head uplifted and he glared about him with a vague ferocity that was ludicrous enough, when all the circum- stances are remembered. Laughing Leo stooped over him, his voice all tenderness and consideration as he uttered: ‘*T trust you are feeling a little better, my dear sir?” ‘* Waal, I ber-durned!” slowly ejaculated Sam, as his head fell back and one hand mechanically sought his chin with that old, familiar action. ‘** It’s the monkey-critter!” ** At your service, Spread Eagle.” It was a thorough puzzle to the confused and scattered senses of the herculean hide-hunter. For the time being he had not the ghost of an idea what had happened; he only remembered that he had set out to annihilate this laughing per my rete yet there he stood, calm and still ughing “Then I didn’t—I didn’t drive you clean into the airth, critter?” he slowly asked. . ‘**Do Llook as though I had been used as a pile?” laughed his adversary, the big blue eyes dancing merrily. He certainly did not. There was not a mark nor a scar upon his handsome face; barring a little deeper flush upon his cheeks, the result of the violent exercise, Laughing Leo presented precisely his ordinary appearance. Stunned, confu though he was, Spread Eagle Sam could not avoid noticing this fact, and for the first time a sickening, awful wonder leaped into existence, and he muttered: ‘You didn’t—I ain’t bin licked, stranger?” ‘Simply struck by lightning, my dear fel- low,” laughed Leo as he “ts he back and motioned Jesse Purchass to take his place. ‘* You won’t lie to a old mate, Jes’,” the stun- ned giant muttered as Purchass knelt beside “ey ‘That smellin’ bottle didn’t lick me, did ae? ‘I'm afraid that’s about what we'll have to call it, old man,” was the uneasy reply. ** Licked—me!” and the trembling fingers scratched his chin with something like their ac- customed energy. ‘‘ Licked in fa’r fight, was it, Jes’? No hoodoo business?” ee Eagle touched his bruised face, his swollen nose, his puffed-up and watering eyes, then noticed hisdamp and dripping frame with something like a frown. ** Licked me—then give me a duckin’ as the ps same OY Spread Eagle Sam alone at pres- | fu’st step in scrubbin’ out the ranch, did he? Chucked me in the crick?’ As the briefest way of satisfying the amazed | Hercules, Jesse Purchass gave him a terse ac- count of the fight and of what followed. Spread Eagle Sam even then was unable to accept or comprehend the real facts. A man of his great size and weight, coupled with immense strength and undisputed courage, | should have been able to crush an adversary | like this audacious intruder, at a single effort, Let those hands once close upon him— And right there Spread Eagle Sam began to realize the cause of his defeat. He had not | been able to grasp hold of Laughing Leo. His _ fierce rushes had all been eluded, while those small but steel-like fists were continually in his _ face, working with the precision and force of _ piston-rods, blinding and rendering him still | more rash and headlong, until those terrible blows on his throat! On for them! _ _“ But what’s the use?’ he muttered, with a sickly smile as he rose to a sitting posture, | glancing into the dark face of his protege. ‘With my grip once fa’rly onto him, Id ’a’ broke him in two, like he was a rotten stick; but he was too good a man fer that. He licked me. It’s a bitter pill, but it must be tuck! I’m goin’ to tell him so.” With an effort Spread Eagle Sam rose to his feet and ering for a moment like one with the vertigo, he steadied himself and moved to- ward hing Leo who smilingly watched his uncertain footsteps. ‘*Stranger,” said the “ws 3 hide-hunter, his voice hoarse and strained, betraying his con- cealed emotion, ‘‘I come to you as soln as I could find my legs, to say that I’ve made a jass- ack out o’ myself, so fur’s you’re consarned,” ** Surely you are not satisfied this early?” ejac- ulated Laughing Leo, arching his brows in mock rise. Sevend Eagle Sam drew himself erect at this sneering speech, and despite his bruised and bat- tered face, there was a native dignity in his voice and manner that brought a flush of shame to the cheeks of his cys ‘*T say I’m licked—but it’s licked by the truth, not by you, yourself. I tuck you fer a wind-ba an’ a no-’count squirt. I found you aman, as they make ’em in all that a man wants. I say this ’cause it’s a duty lowe to my own self, an’ not through any skeer o’ you or the fists you kin han’le so red-hot. An’ newit’s said, stranger, ef you ain’t satisfied, [m your man ag’in in any way you like to mention. I kin stay licked, ef it’s a true man that does the lickin’; but ef he tries to rub it in an’ git double glory out of his work, I’m a hundred times a better man than he ooWith, ieak ile, Laughing Leo ith a frank smile, Laughing grasped his hand and shook it cordially. And his tones were r ful as he said: “I accept the reproof, and acknowledge my- self in the wrong, Mr. Ingalls. Set it down to inflated vanity at having achieved even such a trivial victory over an adversary so widel knownand justly celebrated as Spread Eagle Sam, the best hide-hunter on the range!” Sam blinked a little suspiciously at the uttere of this glib speech, but he could see nothing but genuine frankness in that bright, handsome face, and only muttered a few inarticulate words in reply as they all moved back to the dug-out. Laughing Leo quickly donned his outer rar- | ments and rebuckled the belt of arms about his waist before king again. His voice was grave enough, but the laughing devil was in his eyes still. ‘Gentlemen, you have had your joke, and I trust that you have found the game worthy your powder. I have done the best I knew to fall in with your eigen humor, and to make the jest a success. I have failed through any fault of my own, I humbly beg your pardon.” LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LL LLL LL LC LLL ttt —_— ‘* No need o’ that, stranger,” commented Spread Eagle Sam, with a sickly grin. ‘ You went me om ys with the circus as ef you'd made it a study all your life. ’Tain’t no fault o’ yours ef we hain’t split our ribs clean open with laugh- in’—you ladled out the fun by the bucketful. Some day—say a year or two off—mebbe we'll begin to see whar our sheer o’ the funny part comes in at.” ‘But he needn’t ’a’ made sech a monstrous fuss over a teenty hit o’ ashes, like them!” whimpered Old Misery. ‘‘ Never see the like o’ that back in good ole Mizzoury!” ‘** Well, gentlemen, as the funny part is dis- sed of, suppose we get down to business? I id not come here merely to take a part ina circus. I am bearer of a message from Mr. Morris Kirkendall, who expects to have the pleasure of meeting you all some time to-mor- row. A vivid light flashed into the dark eves of Jesse Purchass, while Spread Eagle Sam uttered a soundin oath. ‘“ Why didn’t you say so fu’st off?” he sharply demanded. ‘Why did you shoot before demanding my business?” laughed Leo. ‘I believed this dug- out was the place I was aiming for, but of course I could not be absolutely certain. It seemed a little doubtful, to say the least, when those bullets came slap thrcugh my ket. My —_—_—_—_—_—_—_——— Oe Ce SS ee JOO <S EGOMmG (E() bike Sitals. *3