Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 339 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

i Cali cs Spread Eagle Sam. | 15 oe ee About this trim, muscular waist was a broad | “What hev I did that you cain’t trust me no | while Sam tried to keep his broad figure between band of stiffened buckskin, ornamented like the | longer? An’ ef you wanted me to skin out, why | his eyes and them. ‘ Durn you, too, Sam In- rest. It upheld a brace of heavy revolvers and | didn’t you come out flat-footed an’ say so, ’stead | galls! git out o’ my light or 'll— Bless my ole h a long, doubled-edged knife, all of which were | o’ sendin’ that over-ripe squirt to try an’ scroudge | sole! Ef it ain’t— They ain’t ary other pe i- ; richly ornamented and of the finest workman- | me out o’ my place?” cut in these parts! Ef it ain’t my Beauty-bird ship. And when he made his appearance with | Morris Kirkendall began to smile, like one | !ma liar! Got somebody with her—but who a plain-looking, but finely-finished rifle of the | who sees the dense fog lifting and dry land close | Sam, you dodgin’ critter, ef you don’t git out 0” same make as that by which he swore—the one | before him. He peered maliciously through his by which many an old hunter swears, even to | shaggy brows, noting the many-hued bruises this day, the ‘Old Reliable” Sharpe—Spread | and contusions which ornamented the face of the Eagle Sam knew that this laughing, enigmatical | big hide-hunter. And then, in a mock-anxious stranger ‘‘ meant business clear through!” tone, he asked: By watching his chance, Sam contrived to de- “What on airth! Sam, ou’ve bin foolin’ liver the note left with him by Jesse Purchass, | with a bal’-hornets’ nest, an’ I know it!” with his face the other way, facing Laughing and though the huge hide-hunter was careful | Spread Eagle flushed hotly, for there was | Leo, who said: to vail his curiosity, from one corner of his | something in the old man’s tones that awakened “Mr. Ingalls, will you be kind enough to in- eye he noted the warm flush which overspread _ his suspicions. form me where I can find your partner, Jesse oa light, Pl punch a hole clean through your 7 lubberly karkidge—so thar!” Sam knew that the harm was done, and step- ~- ped aside so abruptly that the old man came near falling, only saving himself by catching hold of the big hide-hunter. This brought him her face, and he chuckled within himself as he | _ ‘* What's that critter bin tellin’ ye, "bout me?” | Purchass?” moved briskly away to arrange some unimpor- | he savagely demanded, his mighty fists clinching 4 ne Eagle gave a grunt of utter disgust. - tant affair. tightly. Kirkendall rip out a sonorous oath, and “She hain’t fergot—the little chicky-biddy!” ‘Never a word, ’cept that he’d give you the | wheeled toward the couple who still sat in bliss- he muttered to himself, inwardly laughing | word I sent; that I was comin’ fer a litile taste | ful ignorance of the im nding storm. heartily. ‘‘ The way the red flag come into her | 0’ the old life.” ‘*The devil! Don’t like him—face of that she- ritty face telled that mighty plain. Jes’ agin’ | ‘‘Then he didn’t say nothin’ *bout how we | wolf!” he spluttered, then thundered: ‘You, the laughin’ critter, fer all the world with the , skeered his ha’r right up on eend? Nothin’ bout | Luada! come here, you witch!” moon an’ stars throwed in!” | no row that come of it?” | For all he was so busily engaged, Sam man- “I tell ye no, man! Did yetrick him? Was CHAPTER XII. aged to keep an eye on Luada until he saw her | thar a fuss? How did the critter pan out, any- ‘““LOVE NOT ALL A BLISSFUL DREAM.” leave the camp, passing from sight without at- way?” eagerly questioned the veteran, as full of LUADA KIRKENDALL had proved herself am tracting any particular notice, so far as the big | life and fond of excitement as ever. actress of no mean merit since she bade a tem- hide-hunter could determine. Then, to keep his ‘*Pan out? Mortal man never see’d the like!” | porary adieu to St. Paul. She knew that were rtion of the agreement made with his pro- | solemnly exclaimed Sam, determined to make a | Morris Kirkendall to entertain the faintest sus- ege, Spread Eagle Sam drew near to where | clean breast of it, since Leo Laughlin had acted | se that Jesse Purchass formed one of the orris Kirkendall was slowly stumping his way | so generously. ‘‘ He went in only a handful o’ | family of Spread Eagle Sam, he would no sooner back and forth, smoking a pipe of Indian stone, | pay dirt, but I’m a howlin’ liar from afore the | take her there than he would thrust her into the evidently in a state of perfect content with him- | flood, ef he didn’t come out a hull mount’in, an’ | den of a hungry grizzly bear. self, if not with all of the people around him. ie grain pure gold!” | On several occasions, when there seemed a There was a malicious twinkle in his gray **'You didn’t make much out of the lad, then?” | probability of the weather changing to actual eyes as Sam approached, and from the way his Spread Eagle felt a little pang of regret for | winter, the old trader would have turned about under lip protruded, the ag eee apeers a knew | his protege as he saw how brightly the eyes of and retraced his steps, dearly as he longed to his disfigured countenance had not entirely es- | the trader gleamed and noted the eagerness of once again draw a tree breath on his beloved ca observation. his voice. So much interest in the exploits of a | buffalo-range, but as often would Luada coax q nowing as he did the grim sarcasm for | rival was not encouraging. _ and persuade him to keep on. ts which the old trader was noted, it was like Still, he was too honest and true-hearted to She had to manage this without awakening his walking unarmed to the mouth of a loaded can- | either lie or cover up the good qualities of that suspicious nature—no easy task—to a belief that non, but Spread Eagle remembered his own | rival, and he spoke frankly, even enthusiasti- she was unduly anxious to reach the rendezvous. wise advice to Jesse Purchass of a few hours be- me She had to guard against the fierce outburst fore, and struck the first blow, straight from ** Boss, he’s a holy hummer from Topville! which she knew would sweep all before it, the ‘ the shoulder. He looked like a gingerbread man, jes’ come | instant Morris Kirkendall discovered how thor- ‘‘The orders you sent me is all kerried out, | out of the bake-oven, so soft that you could run | oughly he had been duped, how much pains he Mr. Morris Kirkendall,” he said, sharply, with your little finger clean through him an’ never had taken to bring together the twain he had just the shadow of a bow, loftily overlooking | know you was punchin’ more’n wind, ef your furiously sworn should never be one. e hand which the trader Fates: at his ap- | eyes was shet. But when wecometocrowd him | Yet, with all her eagerness to reach the ren- proach. ‘Ef they ain’t done up ’cordin’ to | —gitoutcyclones soakedinlightnin’an’sprinkled dezvous presided over by Spread Eagle Sam, your likin’, putt the blame onto your own shoul- | over with strychnine!” _Luada would not admit, even to herself, in her ders, fer axin’ a pore, wu’thless, no-’count devil ““A hard horse to curry, was he, Sam?’ most sentimental moments, that she was in love to work fer ye—like me !” chuckled Kirkendall, rubbing hishands together, with Jesse Purchass, Laughing Leo, or any other , Morris Kirkendall actually dropped his oe a deep hole in the ground with his' man. And even when her heart sunk heavy as ? d cherished pipe from between his jaws in his | wooden eg. ‘Made you plenty o’ fun Ireckon?”’ lead in her bosom that bright November day | satindenaectt at this totally unexpected address. ‘* Don’t the mug o’ me look like I’d hed fun in | when the camp was reached, and among the | 1 he His gray eyes stared in doubt, wide open. gobs an’ more of it?” grinned Sam, half-sheep- rough-clad hide-hunters who came forward to Sam clicked his teeth sharply together to choke | ishly. welcome them, she failed to recognize the well- off the laugh that rose in his Shirost. and abrupt- In his excitement, Morris Kirkendall now be- | remembered figure with its darkly handsome ly changed his mode of attack, to still further | gan to move restlessly, and as he showed an in- | face, its jetty eyes, so changeable, yet ever filled clination to take the same direction in which, an | with a warm light that spoke plainerandsweeter . hour or more before, Sam had seen Luada steal | than mortal tongue; even then the maiden would = away, the big hide-hunter caught his arm and | not acknowledge the fact. wheeled him about, or, | nervously while In those by-gone days when Jesse Purchass i / bewilder his adversary. } ‘¢T’m as low-down an’ humble a critter as the if ood Lawd ever wasted time in makin’, Morris | Kirkendall, but they’s some things even a root- ie eater cain’t climb over though gittin’ his hide | walking him in the opposite rection. humbly served behind the counters of the eccen- 7 scratched down to the quick.” ‘‘ A hard hoss? Jes’ one? Boss, he’s the big- | tric trader, his silent devotion, his evident thank- i ‘““ What's the matter now, man alive?” splut- | gest herd o’ r’arin’ kickin’ buckin’ bronchos that | fulness for her slightest smile, his utter freedom _ | tered the trader. ever run the perayrie! Kerries a pile-driver up | from all presumption, added to his darkly roman- each shirt sleeve, run by steam! He kin rent | tic beauty of face and rson, first warned Luada out his han’s a double-power cider-mills! Ef of her pefil; but proud of her own powers, Luada ever he was anythin’ but a full-growed man, | resolved to prove his the danger, his the weak- Pm to bet his nuss was bottled chain-light- | ness and folly, not hers. And so it came to pass that they were much together, intimate friends ‘ = aie he licked you, Sam?” chuckled Kirken- y ‘““Who be I, anyway? A digger Injun? A i squaw-man? <A _ broken-down critter, *thout I tooth, eye or hand? Or be I Spread Eagle Sam, ) the Boss of the Buffler Range? Tell me that ?” | ‘Unless you are drunk, I should say you was |} Spread Eagle,” Kirkendall replied, still at a loss i to divine the other’s meaning. ‘“‘ What the | deuce has got into your boots, anyway?” } “Yes, sir, [am Spread Eagle Sam!” and the huge hide-hunter drew his ma cent figure | rigidly erect. ‘‘I kin jump higher an’ stay up | longer—kin out-run, yell, eat, drink, fight or | love ary other critter as ever drawed the breath | 0’ life!” I kin shoot less an’ take more hides—I ‘ kin drap a bull in his tracks so fur off that the | lead’ll grow gray headed a year afore it ketches up with the critter! I kin surround a gang 0’ 7 buffler an’ take twicet the number o’ hides that they is heads in the bunch! I kin throw away my tools, an’ when the herd ketches the wind 0’ if Spread Eagle Sam, they jes’ strip off thar win- ter kiverin’, an’ on thar knees beg the Boss 0’ tS the Range to credit ’em with so much.” h ‘You're a good man, Sam, and can spit out { and good comrades, if not lovers, when Morris Kirkendall opened his eyes to the disagreeable fact of his Beauty-bird being no longer a child. | There was a stormy scene between him and his . clerk, the details of which Luada shortly learned © > from her favorite maid, a half-breed girl. She learned that Jesse Purchass boldly avowed his love for her, —— that she be given to him in marriage, the result being as detailed by Jesse wf himself to the giant hide-hunter. Jesse Purchass vanished that srame night, but a letter from him reached Luada the next day. Sam caught sight of two fi s seated close to- It told her all that bad happened; it told her Fp! under the shadow of the towering rocks. | how madly, passionately he loved her; told her t needed not a second glance to tell him who that if she denied him, death alone should be his they were, and in his desperation he pushed in | bride; with much more of greater interest to front of the veteran and strove to turn him | Luada and himself, than to the present com- around before he also made the discovery. pany. But Morris Kirkendall was stubborn as he | He declared that he would take Morris Kir- was suspicious, and this abrupt change in the kendall at his word, and after preparing himself ‘Waal, not to say jes’ licked, ye see, boss,” stammered the big-hearted hide-hunter, loth to admit the truth, yet unwilling to lie about it. ‘But you didn’t lick him ?” persisted the vet- eran. ‘ ‘“No; I cain’t say as that was it, nuther. Ye see— The good Laud !” Their walk had carried them far enough from the camp to open up a new view beyond a line of short brush, and to his dismay Spread Eagle ee ; more gas than ary other critter I know,” dryly commented Kirkendall, as the big hide-hunter | manner of his companion awakened all of his | for the ordeal, would hunt up Spread Eagle 3 ' paused to catch breath. curiosity. | Sam and strive to make a record at which not “T ain't no slouch when it comes to takin’ ‘What's the matter with you, Sam?” he irri- | even the proud father could laugh or jeer- a hides, be I?” “ You're as good as tho best, Sam.” ‘‘T knows my business, don’t 1?” ‘No man livin’ knows it better, old fellow.” F ‘*Did I ever try to cheat ye in count or qual- ity? Did I ever throw dirt onto ye, an’ then rub it in with sandpaper? Did I ever treat you | or yourn any way ’cept white from the word go? Did I, now?” “What has got into you, anyway, Sam tably exclaimed, as he resisted the pressure. | Then—he would come to Luada first, for his “You act like a crazy critter to-day, an’ I| reward. If she still remained obdurate, wel- don’t— Hellow, who's that over yonder?” come death! . Despite Sam’s efforts, the old man caught a Bombastic, exaggerated, as the generality of r glimpse of the unsuspicious couple, and blurted | lovers’ letters are very apt to prove on analyza~ out his surprise. tion; but Luada had never forgotten the impas- Sam caught a glimpse of Laughing Leo ap- | sioned vows therein, and, though she was so proaching them from the direction of the camp, | certain she regarded Jesse Purchass only as @ ; and as his last chance, cried: friend, she still.carried that letter somewhere c “Talk o’ the devil—an’ yender he comes, boss! | about her person night and day. “1 Ingalls?” irritably cried the trader, his eyes be- | Wants to see you, I reckon. Better come an’ It lay close above her heart as her shy gaze ginning to glitter and snap. ‘‘ You say you | see what he wants, hedn’t ye? Mebbe it’s some- | wandered over the bronzed faces of the hide- ain’t drunk, ae ou act like you was!” thin’—” hunters who advanced to meet and welcome ‘It’s grief—clean sorrer, boss,” and Sam “Durn him !” eer’! uttered the old man, | them; as she moved nervously about the camp shook his head gloomily, a reproachful light in | moving his head rapidly from side to side in _ while the tents were being pitched, starting at his big blue eyes that was not all assumed. order to get a better view of the couple beyond, every footstep and each strange voice that met : Gomichbooks. com ol} F is _nceettai L R R RLLRRLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLALLL LLL L - ee ee _—_