Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 340 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

— — Monte sent for the painter an’ hed the work com- pleted. Every time thet man comes hyer he takes a look at the man hangin’ from the crag.” ‘* He comes here, then?” ‘* Yes; just left a few minutes ago.” ** Who is he?” _**They call him Silver Chick wherever he is known. I guess he never had any other name. He’s got the coolest head in ’Frisco to-night.” “And he suggested the placing of the corpse swinging from the crag as it is represented in your painting?” ‘Yes. Devilish fine piceie that. Monte wouldn’t part with it. It’s the best one in the house. ave you ever seen the canyon?” ‘*' Yes,” grated the stranger, his eyes blazing ‘like balls of fire as he spoke. ‘‘I know it too ‘well. Where will I find Silver Chick?’ ‘*T don’t know where he stops, but he’s every- twhar. He makes ’Frisco howl when he comes up from the gold camps. He made our banker wince to-night. Luck always freezes to thet cool head. He left awhile ago with a fellow who b’longs to the camp. If you want ter see the Chick, you'll pick him up on the street.” The stranger waited to hear no more. He seemed eager to quit the card palace, and hav- ing thanked the bartender for his information, and with a final glance at the painting he start- ed for the street. To all appearances Tunis had waked up the wrong man, for this individual wore no glasses, his face was dark, and a heavy mustache, thickly strewn with gray hairs, covered his mouth. He started off at a lively gait when he reach- ed the street, and his keen eyes from the first were on the lookout for Silver Chick and Tunis. ‘* Oregon Noll can go down and suppress Red ant fe but I will find this Chick,” he said to him- self. ‘‘ And when I’ve found him he'll not go out of my sight again.” Meanwhile, the man he was looking for, with Tunis, had directed his steps toward the Coast City Hotel. hey reached it, and Silver Chick inspected the register, leaving Tunis at the door. ‘* Great Jehosaphat! thar’s that man ag’in!” suddenly ejaculated Tunis. ‘‘ Hang me! ef he isn’t keepin’ an eye on us. I'll notify the Chick!” At this time Silver Chick had turned toward his pard, and the next moment the twain met. ** He’s hyer ag’in, Silver.” Who? ‘*Thet man I stirred up at Monte Merle’s.” ** Whar is he?” Silver Chick asked the question coolly, as he sent a glance toward the door. ‘*T saw ’im on the sidewalk in front a moment ago. He’s watchin’ us.” ‘*T reckon not.” ‘‘Try him an’ see. Walk out an’ glance back occasionally. It'll test the matter.” ‘Tl do it, Tunis.” The ay Sega was about to leave the building when a boy rushed inside and slipped a piece of paper in his hand. t was the work of a second, and Silver Chick got won a glimpse of the urchin before he dis- ap ‘Another warning,” said the Chick to him- self, as he walked into the adjoining bar-room, where he unfolded the paper. ‘“*By Jupiter! tunis was not mistaken!’ The paper did contain a warning, and it was couched in three brief sentences hastily scrib- bled as follows: ‘“Sirver Cutok:—Be on your guard. A man of many diszuises is now watching you, The Dakota Tiger is at your heels! 4—11—21.”” The recipient of the note of warning crushed it in his hand with a mad oath and wheeled to- ward the spot where he had just left Tunis. ‘* Where is he?” he asked in tones that startled his companion. ‘*T saw him on the sidewalk a moment since,” was the reply. The two went to the door, and Silver Chick’s keen eyes scrutinized every man in sight. ‘* He’s not in sight now,” he said disappointed- ly. Mu Yes he is; look yonder,” and Tunis’s look called the Chick’s attention to a man who was quietly li hting a cigar under the nearest lamp. Silver Chick ooked at the man for a moment and then said in low tones at Tunis’s ear: ‘‘That’s the man; that’s the Dakota Tiger. Now, Tunis, my boy, we must entrap him to- night. By the eternal stars! his hunt must end before another day dawns on ’Frisco.” The two er watched the man until he had finished lighting his cigar. He was the same man whom Tunis had dis- turbed while contemplating the painting at Monte Merle’s, and Silver Chick got an excellent ey of him while he stood under the street p. ‘* Come, now,” continued the Chick. ‘‘ He’ll follow us, Tunis, but it will be to his doom. Now we understand one another. That note settled it.” | ‘* What note?” ‘The one the boy thrust into my hand.” ** When?” ‘* Five minutes ago.” Md > Cool Conrad, the Dakota Detective. ** And it war signed—” ‘* With figures,’ ‘“ Great ehosaphat? thet’s the way Oregon’s Tunis, 4s It came from ther same person.” ‘*T think so, We'll find out by-an’-by. But that man-tracker first. After all, we'll get to camp in time to see Oregon Noll deal with Red Roy an’ his pards. Off we ar’ now. Don’t glance back too much, I'll do the watchin’ for the hull hunt; you might give the thing away, ou see.” <P settle wit warnin’ war signed!” exclaimed not ter, Chick. Don’t I want ter ther daisy who threatened ter kill me in my boots? Whois he, anyhow?” ‘“ We'll get at that further on in the game,” said Silver Chick. ‘“‘I’ve got an idea, but I a be wrong. We'll wait an’ test it.” he two pards moved w the well-lighted thoroughfare, and Silver Chick’s keen eyes singled out the man who came after them with no apparent object in view. He seemed to be enjoying both the starlight night and the fragrant cigar, but, in reality, as Silver Chick saw he was tracking them. The man with the gray mustache was un- doubtedly a human sleuth-hound, and he seemed confident of his prey from the cool manner in which he was conducting the hunt. *‘ Ar’ yer goin’ ter take ’im back ter Merle’s?” inquired Tunis as his companion turned into a street which if followed a short distance would | land them both at the doors of the gambling palace. ‘Yes. Why not end his hunt there?” “Oh, I’m not particular; only Monte Merle might object ter it.” ilver Chick laughed before he replied. ‘Pll risk that, Tunis,” he said. ‘* You don’t know Merle as I do.” ‘‘TPll admit thet, but think what a stir itll make if you kill him thar.” ‘* Who talks about killing?” ‘* Nobody, but I thought you said thet thet tracker’s hunt should end afore mornin’.” ** So I did, an’ soit shall! Ah! he is still on the trail, Tunis! He’s following us like an In- jun. That man wants blood. ell, Pll gratify im, or my name’s not Silver Chick.” A few minutes later the sleek desperado and his pard reached Monte Merle’s place once more, and were admitted. They were met in the room below by Monte Merle himself, black-eyed, and sleek-looking as usual. Silver Chick took him to one side and said hastily and in low tones: | ‘““The man who next rings your bell must | never leave the palace alive!’ eee reply was a start, and a deeply inquisitive | ook. ‘*T mean it,” continued the Chick hastily. ‘** He’s not three minutes awey. His death pro- longs our existence. When I call him a man tiger from Dakota, I say enough to put you on your guard. Is the trap ready ” ‘Tt is always ready,” was the quick response. t know about this discovery of ours. ‘*Tdo. Ah! there goes the bell! He must go down with the trap. That man isa tiger. Receive him. My ‘*But I don’ He comes! me. pres- ence here would mar the scheme. Spring the trap! ilver Chick gave the Lad pve of the gam- bling palace a final look an wa ea rom the room just as the rdian of the door ad- mitted the who rung. As he ee out he touched Tunis and that worthy slipped away with him. A minute later Monte Merle turned to behold standing before him the man who had just en- tered the house. It was the stranger who had just tracked Sil- ver Chick and Tunis through the streets of ’Frisco. Monte Merle looked at him for a moment, and then addressed him with a suavity which had made him famous. : ‘“'You will find the gentlemen u ;” he said at the end of his welcome. ‘ The games drag to-night, I am told, and they need a little excitement. But before you ascend, let me show you my latest purchase in art—a painting which has become famous.” The pair had already entered the room that contained the pictures, and Monte Merle con- ducted his visitor up to the canyon painting. ‘‘ There, sir,” said the gambler; ‘‘ that is said sr in the city. Step back to yon bunch of roses in the carpet and look at it from there. That is the point de ob- servation, and from thence you can see all the wonderful beauties of the picture.” Without a word, the street sleuth obeyed the wave of the gambler’s hand. That painting seemed to possess a strange charm for him. His back was turned to the sliding doors be- tween which he had entered the room, and he neither saw nor heard them slip together as if | propelled bY some noiseless machinery. onte Merle’s eyes suddenly | sige erin and | rae ae to one side he pressed his right foot — firmly upon the carpet. The next second the floor gave way under the to be one of the finest | his splendid figure. feet of the visitor, and a startling cry arose | from his lips. ft He grasped madly at the carpet as he went a down, but in vain, and he disappeared with a laugh of triumph in his ears! onte Merle did not move until the trap came: back to its place, and the carpet again appeared one unbroken piece. The sliding doors opened again to admit Sil- ver Chick who came forward with victory’s, gleam in his eyes. Three strides carried him to Merle’s side. ‘*That was well done!” he exclaimed. ‘TI ess I’ve carried out Noll’s orders, The Da- ota Tiger is caged forever! Now, I’m off for camp.” ‘* But tell me who that man was,” said Monte Merle, as his white fingers closed on the Chick’s arm. ‘I don’t know that I ever saw him be- fore to-night.” ‘*He wanted us both just the same, He’s the brother of the man hangin’ to the crag in that picture.” ‘*Great God!” cried Monte Merle. \ +> CHAPTER IV. RED ROY. Let us for a little while transport the reader from San Francisco to the gold region where the forks of one of California’s most beautiful rivers take their rise. It is deep in the celebrated Merced country where man is as wild as the scenery about him, where, when he is not digging into the moun- tains for yellow ore, he is gambling it away among the gold camps of the region. Between the forks of the river just mentioned was, at the date of our romance of wild men and wilder deeds, a camp of good size. It contained about forty rough but substan- tial cabins which gave shelter to the men who had come from the four quarters of the compass to get rich by some means in a short time. The place was nothing more than a gold camp, yet some one had christened it Pistol City, and the name, as if appropriate, had clung to it from the first day of its existence. , Of course its denizens composed a hard crowd, | made up as it was, from representations of a dozen States and Territories and from old Mexico, and even the Central American States. \ The only race eo ee to cross the sacréd precincts of Pistol City was the Mongolian, and g the men of the Flowery Kingdom knew that their appearance in camp would be followed by a pe a : istol City had prospered in a certain way. That is, the mines were generous, and flush times had never left the gold camp. It was near the close of a warm day when a man flung wide the door of a certain cabin in Pistol City, and stepped into the street. There was nothing uncommon in this action, but there was a mad gleam in the depths of the man’s eyes which told that something unusual was in the wind. ‘Ef I don’t hev my way for a time, shoot me for a Digger tramp!” he hissed. ‘ With Oregon an’ Silver Chick in ’Frisco, I oughter come out on top. Thet’s just whar I’m goin’ ter land—on a top!” e was a gold-camp giant, and his garments consisted of oft haekekn trowsers, a dark shirt, open at his throat, and an embroidered jacket, open all the way down. His feet were incased in hoots whose tops al- most touched his knees, and his hat was a wide- brimmed one, like those met everywhere along the Texas border. The skin of this ill-humored fellow was swar- thy almost to darkness, his eyes were black and iercing, like the eagle’s, and he wore his thick hair long, after the manner of Western sports. Not a semblance of hair was seen on his face, which was as smooth a3 a child’s, This man the whole camp knew, He was called Red Roy from the fact that the embroidery of his jacket was red, and it would not be saying too much to remark that his nature, when aroused, partook of the same tem- perament. We have already written his name. The reader will recollect that Tunis brought to Oregon Noll, on the streets of San Francisco, a report that Red Roy was “‘stirring things up” in the gold camp, and that Oregon Noll deter- mined at once to leave the city to suppress him in a summary manner. It was the second night after the one that wit- nessed the events recorded in our first three chapters that Red Roy left the miner’s cabin with flashing eyes as has just been mentioned, He had already thrown the camp intoa furore, and on this account Tunis had mounted the best: horse and galloped toward ’Frisco. Having left his shanty, Red Roy stood for a. few moments in the wide street of the camp, with the last light of the setting sun falling on ee <n. — ————— *“—t_ 4. } He looked like the monarch of the chief lion of the mountain den. ‘Some ov em hev known for a long time what i I’ve just found out!” he went on, speaking af place, the <SiGO (EOAAICEloxexe)