Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 365 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

——— —_—- —_— best for him to obey the command without cuvil. An acquaintance with the citizens might not prove desirable. Eye Bar was the home, small as it was, of one of these mountain sorceresses of whom I have spoken. This woman from some unknown cause bore the name of Vera the Viper, but she did not look like a serpeut. Dropshot Bluff, the self-constituted alcalde of the camp, had his cabin close to hers, but there existed between the two a singular aversion which seemed greatest on the woman’s part. The alealde had roughed it over a great part of the gold lands, he could relate stories of wild personal adventure in California, New Mexico and Utah. The latter place he always touched sparingly. It was said that Dropshot Bluff had once been a Mormon elder, that for some crime he had been banished from the territory, and that on pain of death he had ever feared to return. Certain it was that he did not look like a Mor- mon elder while he performed the duties of alcalde of Red Eye Bar. He had the frame of a giant, the bronzed face of a plainsman, the nature and quickness of a tiger-cat. He watched Vera the Viper whenever he saw her, and this was almost every day. He al- ways saw a woman who seemed to have reached her thirty-fifth year, a woman with a graceful figure, very keen black eyes and close-cut hair, Her close-fitting dress reached midway between knee and ankle, and she wore a hat very like a soft sombrero. It had a bit of lace for a ribbon, and helped to give her a romantic appearance, She had been the sorceress of Red Eye Bar for three years when we introduce her to the reader, and in that time, singular to relate, she had never been on familiar terms with the al- calde. ‘* They’re like oil an’ water—they don’t mix,” the men had said a thousand times, and then they invariably fell to wondering what kept Mop Bluff and Vera apart. Was she a spy to watch the Utah exile and the camp he inhabited? Was her calling of sorceress but a cloak to cover some deep de- sign against the men of Red Eye Bar? She never replied to the insinuations the mountain band threw out; she came and went when and where she pleased, and, brave as the roughs were, there was not one bold enough to question her. It was night in the middle of the autumn that followed the sending of Keen Kennard, the Shasta Shadow, upon the mysterious trail of the lost Ophir, and the alcalde of Red Eye Bar had shut his shanty door to seek the little cot that occupied one corner of his cabin. ** Another 5 ot hyer an’ ’m no nearer the big stake than 1 war at mornin’,” he muttered. ‘* Pshaw! I’ve said this a thousand times, an’ ef I don’t push things I’m liable ter say it a thou- sand times more. Hades an’ horns! am I afraid ov that woman who watches me an’ Red Eye Bar like a hawk? Jerusalem! why don’t I bring matters ter a crisis? If I could throw ther young chap back inter insanity, I might ick up a clew, but I can’t work while she’s er!” Dopehiot Bluff stood in the light of the lamp on his table. His eyes flashed while he spoke. ‘* Why don’t ye do it, Bluff?” he asked himself ina bantering manner. ‘‘ Look at ther back- in’ ye’ve got—eighteen of ther best blades in California, an’ each one wielded by a master ov ther art. Yet, hyer yer stan’, an’ let ther sor- ceress hev her way. hat ar’ yer alcalde for? Ye'd better be citizen!” He talked himself into a frenzy of passion; he was getting ready to froth at the mouth when he concluded. ** Tn this ther year ov our Lord eighteen hun- drei an’ seventy-nine, I'll break ther chain thet chains ther tigers ov Red Eye Bar!” he sudden- ly went on. ‘‘ We've given up Gold Gorge p for this mountain tomb; we mustn’t be driven from hyer by a creature thet pretends ter commune with spirits an’ ther dead. By heavens! no! I tell ’er so afore ther swiftest star makes another mile!” He had no preparations to make, for the al- calde of Red Eye was always armed. He mere- ly glanced at the revolvers he carried in his belt and ster out into the night. Red ee seemed to have sought repose. Here and there a dim light was visible where the solemn cabins stood, and the few stars that twinkled far above the mountain-top showed Dropshot Bluff the merest outlines of the shan- ties. “ He had left his cabin with a well-formed de- termination. The presence of Vera the Viper in Red Eye must come to an end, and the alcalde was the man to say so. He did not pretend to know where she had come he saw in her a check to him, he would not have stopped to have called her a sp . Doternitiied to put an end to her rule, he walked toward her cabin which, as has already been said, was near his own. No light in the little window to the right of ? * ~ se the door told Dropshot Bluff that the cabin was inhabited. He had doubtless caught the sor- ceress of the sierra asleep. The alcalde of Red Eye advanced to the door and halted there. ‘‘ Ill be polite,” he said, with asmile. ‘* Pll knock.” Up went his big bronzed hand and the knuckles were about to fall upon the door when a voice from the inside said: ** Come in.” Dropshot Bluff recoiled in spite of himself, for the summons without the knock seemed to con- firm the supernatural powers of the sorceress of the camp. The big alealde took a long breath before he recovered and went forward again. ‘** What’s ther matter?’ he exclaimed. she’s in league with sperits, they’ve told her thet I war comin’—thet’s all.” And he lifted the wooden latch and opened the door. Dropshot Bluff found himself on the inside of a cabin he had never entered before. It was al- most dark, and in the uncertain light he ran against a table. ‘*It is I—Dropshot, ther alcalde,” he said. ** You will pardon this night call, Vera, but I’m hyer on very important business.” the reply, but the speaker the alcalde did not see ‘*A man ahead ov me?—a man transactin’ business for Vera ther vee in Red Eye? Who is he? By the livin’ soul! Pll transact my busi- ness with her!” The alealde’s mutterings were brought to an abrupt ending by the appearance of a light which a dim hand placed on the table. ‘* There’s your man, Dropshot,” said the same voce, The alcalde of Red Eye Bar looked once across the table and then uttered a most startling cry. an there was a man at the table, but such a man! Once the agent of the sorceress had mov- edand had a being, but now the object the al- calde saw was a whitened and grinning skele- ton, with one bony hand lying on the table, and the other raised, with a bit of paper between the fleshless fingers! It was a horrible sight, and one strange enough to drive every vestige of color from the face of Dropshot Bluff. The skeleton was seated in the rough chair drawn close to the table, and the terrible face of death was turned full upon the alcalde. ‘*Go up and take the paper he offers you,” said the woman whose outlines Dropshot Bluff now saw for the first time since entering the cabin. ‘‘ He will introduce himself. Aha! are you afraid, alcalde of Red Eye?” ‘*No, but I came hyer ter see you!” was the answer, ‘* Take his paper, I say.” ere his lip, Dropshot Bluff came forward and picked the folded paper from between the skeleton fingers; then, leaning toward the lamp, he unfolded it. Watched intently by the woman in her cor- ner, the alcalde of Red Eye read the following lines which were traced on the slip: **Tam Max Mogalle, one of Gilbert Golden's five companions. I died at the mouth of the lost Ophir. When are you going back to Utah, Buckshot Bluff?” “ When I want ter!” cried the alcalde drop- re he paper and turning upon the sorceress. ‘This is one ov yer tricks,” he went on, ‘ Yer can’t stuff this Californey chick with the story thet thet skeleton thar war once Max Mogalle, an’ thet he died whar thet paper says. It’s an infamous lie! Who found ther skeleton at ther door of ther lost bonanza? Thar war a Max Mogalle in ther party thet hunted years for ther mine, an’ they all died but ther starved an’ cr boy who came back ter Gold Gorge Camp. See hyer! We want no more tricks like this in Red Eye. Icame byer ter say that yer reign ends ter-night. I don’t talk ter dead men. My business is with you.” | ‘* No; you deal with Max Mogalle,” said Vera. 5 Listen, Dropshot Bluff. He is going to talk to you. The next moment the hand of the skeleton was lifted till it covered the alcalde of Red Eye, and the lower jaw dropped with a ghostly sound: ‘**To you, Buckshot Bluff, and to your pards, the riches of the lost Ophir are lost forever! issued from the mouth of the skeleton in sepul- chral tones. ‘‘ You can choose your place to die—among the wild trails of the Sierra, or where you committed that unearthly crime which drove you from Mormondom. e wa to the lost mine is the way to death! The alealde and his fold pards are doomed. I am Max Mogalle. e hand that would force from Gilbert Golden the secret he holds, shall be picked by the vultures of theSierra. Be warned in time, alcalde!” ‘*Oh! hades!” roared the alcalde, flushing madly. ‘* We ar’ goin’ ter get thar! Ten min- utes ter leave camp in, Viper Vera, Take yer skeleton pard along! Thar he is!” Dropshot Bluff wed a frenzied kick on the table, and sent it and the ghostly object to the floor in a jumbled heap. en, with a de- ee laugh, he turned and sprung into the star- ght. EE Sse —ssee—-e—n— Keen Kennard, the Shasta Shadow. “Ef | star-light. CHAPTER III. A TERRIBLE SCHEME. TEN minutes after the occurrences just nar- rated the alcalde went back to the sorceress’s shanty. He found the door wide open and the woman gone. **She knowed thar war no foolin’ with Red Eye,” exclaimed the alcalde when he had taken a survey of the interior of the little cabin. ‘** Now, all I ask her is ter keep her distance, That skeleton trick wara good one, but it didn’t skeer anybody! Max Mogalle’s bones, eh? Let me see. Ef they war, then ther person thet etched ’em hyer knows whar ther: lost Ophir is, y heavens! why didn’t I get ‘a grip on this afore?” He went out, and stood for a moment in the Vera and the skeleton had disappeared so | ces that Red Eye Bar was ignorant of their eparture, and Dropshot Bluff was glad to think that they were rid at last of the woman who had inhabited the camp for years, He finally went back to his own shanty, and had scarcely crossed the threshold ere a pistol- shot rung clearly out on the night air. It took him outside again. ‘‘ The man at the table will talk to you,” was | Ee “War thet ther Viper’s partin’ salute?’ he asked, with a light chuckle. ‘If it war, itma mean war ter ther knife. Confound her! should hev taken this step afore, but better late than never—ha! ha! ha!” The shot had no repetition, though the big alealde of Red Eye Bar waited some time for one. He listened to the four quarters without results, and was about to invade the httle cabin once more when something fluttering from the sign-board attracted his attention, ‘She did thet,” he said, moving toward it, The next moment he passed under the board with its business legend of ‘‘ git out o’ here,” and saw a white object dangling from it. A closer inspection showed it to be a piece of Mfc cloth, which was fastened to a skeleton and. **A part o’ Max Mogalle thet concluded ter phac at Red Eye!” ejaculated Dropshot Bluff jerking hand and eloth down. ‘Jehu! but Vii play a hand with these skeleton fingers. I’m satisfied thet a sudden shock will throw ther lost oUgs ov Gold Gorge back inter his old state, ll try it, anyhow.” The alcalde of Red Eye started off with the skeleton hand partially concealed in the cloth, and did not stop until he reached one of the last cabins in the line, Halting before the log structure he took a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote there- on, using the logs as a seb dey s Tepae Then he fixed the paper between the fleshless fingers and started toward the door again. On tiptoe he opened the door and entered the cabin. A lamp burned low on a little shelf in one corner, and revealed a young man stretched out on a blanket and fast asleep. Dropshot Bluff eyed the sleeper for a few mo- ments and then laid the skeleton hand on the blanket close to his cheek. ‘* Ef thet don’t throw ‘im off his balance, T’ll agree ter stop ther gold game whar it is,” said the alealde contemplating his work with satis- faction as he moved off. ‘ Arter all, Tl thank the person who brought Max Mogalle ter camp, Waken an’ find ther hand ov yer old pard at yer cheek, boy. By Jupiter! I'd like ter see ther tableau!” Tke young man slept on unmindful of the work of Red Eye’s alcalde who stole across the threshold again and shut the door carefully be- hind him, A few yards behind the cabin a man stepped from between two shanties and stopped him. ‘*Dropshot, what is ther matter in camp?” asked this man who was big and bareheaded, “6 Why?” : **Come an’ see.” Without saying more, the aker took the alcalde’s arm and led him to the western con- fines of the camp where he pointed to the ground. “What's thar?” cried Dropshot Bluff. ‘I see nothin’.” The alcalde of Red Hye d hiskn é alcalde of ye dropped upon his knees and began to examine the ri a ‘*Don’t yer see dark marks on ther white stones?” asked the stalwart fellow, who was looking down upon him. “T do now. tis it?” ** Blood!” { ose is it? What do you know, Dagger ©) ? Decpant Bluff was on his feet in an instant. y? ‘*Not much, only thet some bein’ has been bleedin’ along hyer like a stuck pig. I heard a pistol-shot awhile = eae “So did I, but I thought it war ther Viper’s partin’ salute.” ‘* Has she gone?” ‘Yes. I took ther dilemma oy Red Eye by ther horn, an’ made Vera ther Viper bid fare- a on oa a hibited t deal of agger Johnny exhibited a great deal of as- tonishment and was silent for a moment. ‘* Mebbe thet war her work,” he said. **But whom did she shoot?” asked Dropshot EComichbooks