Beadle's Dime Library No. 351 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

od meared each other, while Rickety Joe raised hfs lariat over the head of his comrade’s horse, then each speeding on until rather more than a half-circuit had been made, when the legs of the bull were hopelessly entangled, and he fell heavily. It was a cunning trick, neatly performed, and while his mates were still further winding up the Maverick, Dick Wheeler turned to his captive with an approving nod, “They ain't much to look at, by them as sets store on beauty, them two boys ain't, but when it comes down to neat work in thar own line, ’d back them aginst ary other two in seventeen States—”’ ‘What's that got to do with me?” impatiently de- manded Jack Robinson. ‘“ You didn’t yank me off my feet just to show me that trick, did you?” ‘Why not?’’ and the ty bi | | eee significantly. “* You're so fond o’ cattle that I reckon ou could *preciate fine tetches like them. Ef ye do, jest let me know, won't ye?” The prisoner made a sudden and desperate effort to burst or slip his bonds, but in vain, Gans Dick Wheeler sat still, watching him, with implic t confidence in his work. ‘**Tt's not the rope I mind so much,” said Robinson, his coolness suddenly restored. ‘I covld stand that well enough without kicking, but it’s having to listen to the idle vaporings of a fool’s tongue that cuts, Once more I ask you, why have you treated me thus? If you can’t give me a straight-forward an- swer, don’t Poe your jaws at all.” The eyes of the Maverick-hunter opened widely at ae Seal speech, but then, with a short laugh. he replied: ‘Short an’ sweet, but Ikin matchit. Iroped you, fust, to squar’ a old grudge; second, to keep you from stea our cattle ag’in; an’ last, because thar’s the wages of a year’s hard work roundin’ up set onto your head. e’ll take in that little pile, an’ then call our account squared—see?”’ The countenance of the prisoner changed swiftly while the Maverick-hunter was speaking. From angry surprise to open-eyed wonder, then to a cer- tain + pre amusement as he said: “What mare’s nest have you found now? A little while ago I was the detective, Nor’ West Nick. Now I am—whom?” ° “*Cap’n Slyboots!’’ came the swift response. “I reckoned as much,” sneered Robinson, *“* when T heard you get off that rigmarole. | man, are ouc : ‘ Nyther crazy nor drunk ef the court knows it- elf.’’ ** But [swear to you that I am no more Captain Slyboots than you are,” protested the captive with earnestness, realizing at length the full nature of the eril which threatened him. “My name is Jack binson. I’m a speculator, a for a payin investment in mines, acting as agent for a New York company. Give me time to send a message to the nearest on station, and the answer will show that I am what I claim to be.” “* Give you time fer the devil to come to the a 0’ his favor-ivht imp, you mean!” bluntly interpos Wheeler. ‘“ No, no, my covey; that cat won't jump! I’ve got your brand an’ markin’s down here,”’ tap- ping his forehead. ‘“ Two weeks ago you got the est of us, but now it’s our turn to make the trump. You're Cap’n oe They want you p’izen bad in Rocky Bar. bad, that they’re y to pay big money fer the man as interduces you to ‘em. e said we'd show you the way to the town, an’ we mever go back on our word when it once passes, We'll putt you on the right trail, and take mighty good care that you don't stray from it before you git to the eend too—bet your life!” “A bit ago you were ready to swear that I was Nor’ West Nick, but you are still further from the truth now.” The cowboy cut him short with a mocking laugh. ““An’ you're the critter as was so sure nobody couldn't pull the wool over your eyes, while all the time I was blowin’ smoke in et a Cd Lord! it’d make a love-sick mule laug till its sides cracked wide open, jest to think how p’izen slick I tuck back the misstep I made at fust sight o’ your mug. I knowed you at the fust jump, but it come so onex- ted that I couldn’t help showin’ out some of it, ou played aac pas well, an’ you kin thank that fer your bein’ still alive an’ kickin’, fer at the fust show of 'spicion on your side, you'd 'a’ chawed lead, sure! To make sure that you didn’t hev your gang along, I sent out the boys, an’ when they said you was playin’ a lone hand, I made up my mind to take vou alive, ef it could be done. To settle your mind pertended I thought you was Nor’ West “Are you nearly through?” impatiently broke in the other. fer the circus, never you tret,” “* Time enough coolly replied the Maverick-hunter, glancing toward en bull. his mates, who were sill busied with the f. With swift dexterity they wound the bull up in their lassoes so thoroughly, that it could scarcely move a muscle, It lay on its side, vering, gasp- ing for breath, the air ng chee its contracted und, dpipe with a whistling so While Rickety Joe kept up the controlling e saddle and wound a strain, his mate leaped from red lightly a the eyes of their captive, “They're mighty good boys, all two both on ’em,” said eeler, with a nod toward his bt they’re slow to see — a le. Th idee of the game I was p fol with you, ontel I sent you off after your hoss. enl — them the hint, an’ they jumped at the chaince fer some fun, even while ‘4 in’ even with you fer the Mavericks you er us, ** Look here: word. If you Pome st one you really t hink t hold of Captain Slyboots in catching me, by t contemptible trick, you’re mistaken, Either that, or you re lying for a purpose rs) = our own. either case, I swear to get even ou for this outrage.” e ch you're quite welcome to try it on, after the pore at Roc eeler, with a significant Bar git through with you!” retorted ugh. “Talk enough! You wanted to go to town. I promised to show you the way, an’ I’m goin’ to do it. The boys is ready. Low tter you're to ride is ready, an’ you soon will The jaws of the prisoner set themselves firmly. The stern light deepened in his big blue eyes. He Nor’ West Nick,. the Border Detective. knew that there was no use in wasting his breath in further arguinent. Either the Maverick-hunter was firmly convinced that he was the notorious road- agent and cattle-thief, or he had some secret motive _ for affecting that belief. In either case he was —o less, and he nerved himself to’ meet the terrible ordeal which he saw was before him. ‘** Lend a hand, Long-legs!’’ cried Wheeler, spring- ing to his feet. ‘‘Rickety Joe kin manidge the Mav- erick. I’mina hurry to git the circus a-goin’.” Lvoking more repulsive than ever as he showed his crooked, tobacco stained teeth, the squat Her- cules came forward, bending over the prisoner and staring into his face with a savage grin. ‘*T knowed it’d come, sooner or late, when you eae us that night, an’ left us without hoss or orn. Iswore then to git even, an’ I'll make that swear good this night, or I'll never whirl another hide-splitter!”’ “That’s enough, pard,”’ interrupted Wheeler. ” I've done the talkin’ fer the hull outfit. It's work now.’ Stout thongs of half-dry hide were tied tightly around each wrist and ankle of the captive, and then, while maintaining a firm grip on their victim, the lasso was unwound from around his body. Nor were these precautions unnecessary. The instant the lasso fell off his person, Robinson, with a strength and swiftness remarkable in one so hampered, tore self free from the cowboys, But before be could improve this advantage Long- kicked his feet from under hi just as Wheeler dealt him a crushing blow on the head with the chunk of wood. Stunned and senseless, the victim was lifted from the ground and carried over to where the black bull lay. Stretched at full length along the back of the bull, with his head to the rear, Robinson was firmly bound in position by the nimble-fingered cowboys, face downward. His feet were placed one on each side of the ani- mal’s neck, connected by a strong thong which from ankle to a | around the throat of e Maverick. With some difficulty, owing to the osition in which the animal lay, his arms were fas- ned in much the same manner, the thong passing beneath the bull at his flanks, “Git to your hoss, Legs,"’ cried Wheeler. ‘ Let the critter up, but keep up the strain on his wind ontel I fix the rest.” romptly obeyed. The lassoes His orders were were unwound, the bull was suffered to scramble to its feet, though trembling in every muscle and fear- ful to move, owing to the blinding blanket with which its head was still enveloped. Working rapidly, yet doing all with a thorough- ness characteristic of himself, Dick Wheeler bound the prisoner to his novel charger with fold after fold of the stout lasso, then, with a wild, reckless laugh, he tore the blanket from the head of the bu “ie slipped the two lariats from around its neck. ‘** Hurray, boys!”’ he shouted as he leaped into the saddle and swung his whip through the air with a pistol-like crack. ‘‘A hull circus all to our own selves, an’ not a durned cent to pay fer lookin’ at it an’ takin’ it all in!” As that well-known and dreaded sound stun through the night-air, the Maverick tossed its he high, uttering a wheezing bellow. ‘No crowdin’, mates!’’ added Wheeler, warning- iy “Give the critter time to git good an’ ready. *Tain’t often we hev sech a high-toned cuss as Cap'n Slyboots to entertain, an’ we want to round up the trip in heap style,” ts flanks heaving rapidly as it sucked in the grateful air, its long switching to and fro, its bloodshot eyes glowing viciously as it glared around at its tormentors, now swaying its back low, now arching it with an ominous quiver as it felt the unac- customed weight, the Maverick was rapidly recov- ering from the terrible choking it had undergone be- fore ‘miei been And quivering all over with a satanic glee as they anticipated the barbarous sport in store, the cowboys waited—not for jong. ‘ _ s < eg alone shies pen? me ie Hy ead, shoo ong, 8 s) then straight at Dick Wheeler. iy Mi Instinctively the well-trained horse leaped to one side. Uprose the strong right arm of the despera- do, moving a few inches forward, then back again. reece ap, heme ox om Mas long lash of plaited rawhide hissed through air, and the horn-like cracker struck the bull in the forehead with a re og = rina that of a rifle, cutting away the curled little cloud, and leaving a bloody spot to mark its wer. With another bellow—of pain and terror now—the black bull turned and rushed away, crashing through the shrubbery and out upon the moonlit prairie. Close at its heels thundered the cowboys, yelling like veritable Gends, ay ring their terrible whips so swiftly that it sou e a hotly-engaged skirmish line. And on the back of the fleeing ani- mal lay the helpless form of thatman. Guilty or innocent, he was to be pitied now! “My head ag’inst a chaw terbacker I kin cut off that tail coat-button an’ never fetch blood!” yelled Long-l looking more than ever like a hideous ape as he leaned far forward in the saddle, the bril- liant moonlight falling full upon his hideous counte- nance as the broad brim of his soft felt hat was blown back by the breeze created by his swift passage. Only those who have witnessed the true “ bull- whacker’’ whip, and the manner of using it by an rp ony Degen form any idea of what a terrible weapon it can me, —- are not as common now asin the bygone days when os over the plains was a regular profession, and have gone almost out of es even among awe tem ye BSA Sd Let this fact serve as an apo or a brief digressio A Sani of hickory, e shieen inches long. A lash of rawhide, or buckskin in some instances, as many feet in | Not more than half an inch in thick- ness where it joins the handle, it pacoey swells until one-third of its length, where it is from two to three inches in diameter, according to the strength of arm or the taste of its owner,then tapering down to the slender cracker. With this, to a novice, clum and unmanageable contrivance, an expert can pic a fly off of an ox without distur a hair, or he can cut a gash through the thickest hide deep and - wide enough to lay one’s forefinger in. On one oc- 3 _easion the writer saw the ears of an ugly steer cut otf close to the head, in two successive strokes, as clean as cnough a Knife had been used to the amputation. Many persons, including several of our writers of Western life, who are less excusable for making such a blunder, seem to think that the term ‘“bullwhacker” is applied in the West to mule-drivers. The wo found birth in the early days of ’fifty-nine and ’sixty, when the freight- ing to Pike’s Peak and other gold regions first began. The freighting was then almost wholly done by ox teams, as those ani:nals were deemed alone capable of withstanding the terrible work cf thedesert. To the drivers of these teams the term was first ap- plied. To them, and now and then to stock-men or cowboys, the title is confined, and if the aforesaid writers could see the curling lip of the true Western- er as he reads of a mwu/e bullwhacker, the misappli- cation would be less frequent. On sped the Maverick, running low and true, with long-reaching strides, very unlike the awkward, up- and-down gallop of its prototype in the States. On thundered the cowbows, yelling like fiends, plying their terrible bg a the cutting lash striking now the bull, now the helpless wretch stretched along its back. ‘*“Whoop! didn’t I tell ye so?” yelled Long-legs, as he shot his lash forward and with unerring aim severed one button from the coat of the captive. “See ye—go one better!’ jerked forth Rickety Joe, stretching one knotty arm behind him until the long lash trailed at fulllength. ‘* Bet I kin—bite his —ear off!”’ ‘Go slow, mate!” cried Wheeler, with wonderful dexterity circling his whip and intercepting the whistling lash as it shot forward on its barbarous mission, jerking the weapon from its owner’s hand. *“*None o’ that, my lad! ‘Tain’t that I'm in love with the p’izen cuss, but I’ve swore to turn him over to the boys at Rocky Ray ative an’ in good condition. Tickle him ali veo like, but don’t go more than skin- devs. or thar’ll be a -sized row in the family-- you hear me preach!” On swept the mad chase. On, over we sandy waste in the clear moonlight. On until the und rew broken and rocky. Still on, the black hide of the Maverick growing lighter in color as the sweat turns to froth, streaked here and there with the blood that trickles from the gashes which those ter- ribls whips have scored in its hide. Panting, its flanks painfully heaving, its tongue lolling, its eyes wildly protruding, blood nak stipe. gg its distended nostrils, racing for life in the vain attempt to shake off its dreaded pursuers—on races the tortured animal, Now in the rear, now on either side, ride the reck- less cowboys, enjoying as only half-brutish men can enjoy, their frichtful humor, yelling, laughing, screeching, whirling their blood-stained whips, now gashing the Maverick to arouse its failing strength, now “tickling ’’ the hapless prisoner, hoping to draw a cry of pain from his lips, or wring from them an appeal for mercy. ut not a sound escapes him. They might have believed him dead, only for the defiant, threatening glitter which they see in his eyes as they ride close and bend in the saddle to solve their doubts, Woe unto them if ever he has an f, rtunity of striking a blow in return for this de torture. But they are none of them men who look beyond the present, or deny their passions because of a future, Much less now, when their wurst passions are fully aroused. With certain death before them, they would not hold their hands. Still on! Would that frightful ordeal nerer come toanend? Swifter runs the bull, faster follow the pamers, Whiter grows the face of the vi uder the whip-cracks! CHAPTER IT. THE “‘ JEALOUS GIRL’ MINE. sir, it depe ds. If you are thinking of making the deal on_your own hook, I can’t say that I would recommend it.”’ , * But you did recommend it, Mr. Brown, as r can show you in black and white—ia good, plain writ- ngs our own signature, sir!” a little excitedly retorted the other. “Exactly; but that was a month or more ago— time enough for the world to turn itse!f end for end several times over,’ was the cool response. ‘“ You asked my opinion as a man of business, and I gave perform “WwW it, Suppaeang you wished the truth. The Jealous Girl is for sale, if any one cares to pay the re, but I won't lie about it for the sake of eo a trade, The speakers were seated in a room at the Arling- ton, the one hotel of which the lively little mining town of Rocky Bar could boast, built by an over- sanguine individual in the early days of the great rush, when all predicted a wonderful future for pesky Bar—‘“ The center of all creation, sah, and bound in nat sah, to become the hub of Amer- ica, with the salt water for the felloes, sah, and such second-class towns as New York and Fr iy will be nothing more than the auger-holes into which fit the spokes—our lines of railway, sah!” _ It cost a fortune to freight the building material for the two-story structure, and scarcely was the touch put toit, than the wild excitement of those first days died away, and Rocky Bar set- ae down on 4 oo gene om es scanty pact oa iggings gave out, leaving only sev uartz ve worth aioe po , sufficient to insure the town an existence, bu ectually op my Yor g the extrava- gant hopes of the owner of the Arlington. And now, a wreck of his former —~ self, unable to sell, less able to remove his *‘ white elephant” to amore. favored locality, Colonel Beverley Tucker Randolph Gordon—to omit or curtail one of his names was a fighting offense still—lived on, not in rete eee on poe) - pre of those “ glorious days befo’ wah, By the noon stage two guests arrived at the Ar- ling! vet _— — by ey host with ea O or e glance was eno °o show that Ser ae caboen the ordinary van of travelers as seen in that wild region. lady and a gentleman—father and my pee ju ¢ from their ages and the names on the dog’s-e xh imag ‘Arthur Ovelman. Esauire— M Ovel- e€oilm Eboo Sj ctim, - _——— =