Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 367 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

weapon of Johnny-jump-up was still swifter, and asthe revolver exploded, the unfortunate cowboy fell headlong, dead ere his body measur- ed its own length on the ground. The surviving cowboys shrunk back, seem- ingly on the point of breaking and seeking cover, but the clear voice of Aces-and rung out: ‘* Hold! keep your places, or by all that’s evil! our mistress and her kids shall be butchered Fahoos your very eyes! That’s business!” ‘* He lies!” cried Rachel, breaking from the grasp of the sluggish giant, and rapidly con- tinuing: ‘*‘Go—find your master and tell him all! They dare not harm.us, for fear of—” Again she was caught in the mighty arms of the Infant, who was terribly wera up by his repeated blunders or mishaps, nly for the warning voice of Johnny-jump-up, low but stern, hel Brown would have fared ill at his hands just then. ‘“Try it on, if you want to sup sorrow!” cried Ace:-and, with a wave of his hand toward his still mounted men. ‘Try it on, and not only will these helpless ones suffer, but [ll turn my bully boys loose to lap blood until your veins run dry! Isay it, and I am Aces-and!” ‘‘ And I’m Johnny-jump-up!” “And I’m Johnny’s Tn ant'’ roared the colossus. ‘“An’ hyar’s the rest o’ the deck, each an’ every one a ace o’ trumps!” chimed in burly Dave Bristow. The cowboys wavered and seemed undecided what to door howtoactinthisemergency, The only one among their number who was fitted by nature cr education to take part as leader, lay dead at their feet. Any one of them was bold enough, Could fight when only ree fighting lay before them, and fight to the death without stopping to count the odds. But with death menacing their mistress and her children, they dared not open fire, dared not break in flight, even though she had bidden them do so the more surely to carry the news to Dan Brown. And so, not knowing what else to do, they hud- dled together, weapons in hand, still dangerous if crowded too close, but not if hand!ed aright, And Aces-and believed he could manage them without firing another shot. * Any other among you want a card of the same color?” he cried, tauntingly, his weapon at alevel. ‘‘ Don’t be backward about coming for- ward, if youdo. We're the most accommodat- ing sort of fellows you ever run across, and can ‘Zit any one in the lot with a through ticket. Up vith your hands, and empty, you curs!” he ‘added, with abrupt savageness that seemed to startle the cowboys almost as much as would have done a thunderbolt had it dropped in their midst. At a motion from him, those glittering knives once more hung over the helpless captives, while the horsemen tightened their reins and held themselves ready for a sudden dash. Sharp and stern Aces-and added: ‘Throw down your weapons and elevate your hands! The man who hesitates dies like that dog lying at your feet! And more—if one of you all tries to shoot or to run, that move seals the f ite of all Dan Brown loves dearest on this earth! Once more—hands up and empty!” It was a bitter pill, but there was no means of evading it. With sullen curses, deep but none the less bitter, the cowboys obeyed. Their weapons fell to the ground, undischarged, and their hands were held up at full length above their heads. Aces-and nodded to his men, and then strode forward, a cocked revolver in each hand, covering the cowboys. Under his supervision they were wholly dis- armed, then bound hand and foot and piled against the base of the nearest corral, with little care for their comfort. Then the outlaw chief retraced his steps, a hard, exultant smile playing about his bearded lips. At a sign from him, the Infant released Rachel Brown, and Johnny-jump-up permitted her to take ion of the children, Cherry still sobbing with fright, Willie just gay et 9 to show signs of returning consciousness. And, oh! how tenderly the mother pressed her pale and quivering lips to the bruised and swollen cheek where that brutal blow had alighted! He was ber hero! Aces-and laughed malignantly as he noticed this. “Tf Dan Brown only loves the spunky little kid equal to you, my beauty, Pl ash no better revenge!” ‘‘What has my husband done to you?” de- manded Rachel, turning upon him with flashing eyes, fs Nothing much—a mere trifle,” mocked the villain, but with an angry, evil glow in his black eyes that flatly contradicted his words. ‘Only ruined my business. Butchered my ser- vants. Robbed me of my hard won gold. Hunted me from pillar to post until in my des- peration I turn to give him a little taste of his own medicine!” ** And show your bravery and nobleness by assauliing a poor woman and two helpless babes!” Aces-and tapped his wounded cheek with one —— A Royal Flush. ‘‘ That looks like the work of a helpless babe, don’t it?” to catch Sol fergit that!” he mumbled, tryin gers, only to Scott’s hand with his trembling ‘‘ Next time Ill shoot straighter!” uttered a. find himself foiled. faint but undaunted voice, as Wilie lifted his , curly head from his mother’s bosom, his eyes flashing defiance into the face of the outlaw. | ‘‘None of that whining cant, Jimmy,” came the sharp retort. ‘“‘If you thought you could make a dollar by it, you wouldn’t stop to think Quickly Rachel pressed his head to her bosom | twice before letting a knife into my carcass.” again, her momentarily flushed cheeks palin as she feared for her daring lad. But Aces-an only laughed hardly as he read her fears aright. ‘*Let him crow while he can, the dainty little bantam! It may not be for so long, un- less—” ‘Unless what?” demanded the mother, appre- hensively. ‘Unless his father meets me on my own ground and at my own figures,” was the quick response, ‘‘Be sure [’m not taking all this trouble for nothing. It’s a big game we're play- ing, and this is our first move. We mean to strike Dan Brown as hard as he has ever struck us—ay! a thousand times harder!” ** And we? These poor, innocent children?” ** Are our best cards,” laughed the gambler, ‘*Tt’s a game of freeze-out with Dan Brown and Sol Scott against our crowd.” ‘“Spare my children! Do with me as you will, but spare them!” and Rachel Brown fell on her knees at the feet of the evil man. CHAPTER V. OUT OF THE GAME FOR GOOD, Ir Dough-ball Jimmy had been seeking a sen- sation from the first, he could not have chosen his words better, even though they were but little more than a repetition of those he had whined forth before. For now, somehow, every one who heard him seemed to be convinced that he was uttering naught but the plain, earnest truth, A muttering sound ran through the circle of cowboys, and the prisoner glanced apprehen- sively in that direction, but his worst danger lay not in that quarter. Sol Scott frowned darkly, the anxious light deepening in his eyes. or a single breath Dan Brown of Denver stood silent and motionless, as though suddenly turned to stone by the revelation, then a low, grating cry escaped his lips, and leaping for- ward, one strong hand clutched Dough-ball by the throat. A revolver-muzzle pressed against the flesh between his eyes. ose blue orbs lowed with a deadly fire as they stared into his bloodshot eyes, and the tones of the Rocky Mountain detective quavered with savage fury and strong dread: ‘*Out with it, curse you! The whole truth, or off goes your head!” At that moment Dan Brown was little better than a madman, Even his brother detective had never seen him so thoroughly “off his base,” though he could readily understand how this came about, as has been partially explained. He saw, what Dan Brown a as Ni ad no realization of, that Dough-ball Jimmy was un- able to speak, owing to that deadly gripe upon his throat. He saw that Dan Brown was just mad enough to put his threats into execution without hesitation, and knowing that it was all- important that the rascal should speak out clearly and to the point, for the second time that evening he interposed and snatched the prey from the iron grasp of his brother detec- tive. A swift stride, a deft , and the hammer of the revolver fell harmless on his hand instead of the cartridge. Dan Brown whirled upon him with a savage snarl, but his uplifted hand never fell as intend- ed, though Sol Scott made no effort to evade or check the threatened blow. His gaze caught and held the half-insane glare of the detective, almost instantly bringing a return of reason. ‘*'You’re choking him so he can’t speak, pard. Leave him to me, won’t you? Ill get at the bottom facts as quickly as possible.” A flush swept over the face of the other, and without a word he freed the half-suffocated horse-thief, falling back a pace, his revolver re- turned to his belt, his arms tightly folded across his heaving chest, as though to lock his fierce passions in. Sol Scott cast the noose from the neck of the prisoner, leading him a few paces apart, and gently Ae ety | him against the leaning trunk of a tree, where his trembling frame might receive a little much-needed support, He held a brandy- flask to the parched and bleeding lips, and the eagerness with which Dough-ball Jimmy clung to the bottle told how grateful was the hoon just then. ; Only sufficient to moisten his lips and throat, not enough to thicken his speech or to lend him ‘* Dutch courage.” Then Sol Scott removed the flask from the clinging lips, and with his knife cut the rawhide thongs that held the hands of Dough-ball Jimmy behind his back. ‘Take that as an earnest of your reward, if rou can talk to the point and the purpose, immy,” the detective uttered in his clearest tones, for he began to fear that the poor devil bad received treatment rough enough to unset- tle his never too solid brains. *'You’re white—clean white—an’ [ll never ; iis LLL LBL = o ***Deed I never—” ‘Let it go at that, I tell you, Jimmy. It’s business now. What did you mean by what you said a bit ago? What devil’s work is Aces-and and his evil pack up to now? Out with it, if you love your life!” “Tl tell you,” mumbled the rascal, with a covert glance toward the dark face of Dan Brown. ‘Vl tell you, fer you’ve treated me nigher white then anybody else this month 0’ Sundays!” ‘Tell me, then,” with a frown, his blue eyes beginning to glow and glitter. ‘* Don’t make me replace that noose as a tongue-quickener, or I'd hate to insure your neck! Begin at the be- ginning, and tell it all in the fewest possible words. Time, Jimmy!” “It’s jes’ as I tole him, a bit ago,” muttered Dough-ball, with a sullen, half-vicious nod to- ward Dan Brown of Denver. ‘“* Aces-and knowed you fellers hed dropped onto his secruts an’ was drawin’ in on him. He knowed his ‘riginal game was ruined in these parts, an’ that he’d be grinnin’ through the loop of a lariat afore long ef he didn’t either levant or git a foul grip onto you two critters.” ‘*Then his new game included me as well?” demanded Sol Scott, the stern lines deepening around his mouth, the fire growing deeper in his blue eyes as his mind flashed across the miles of prairie which lay between him and his srecious ones. ‘* You only mentioned the fam- ily of Dan Brown at first.’ in those tones that There was a warnin Dough-bdall Jimmy could not miss. He was re- covering his mental powers sufficiently to real- ize that, softly as this man spoke, he was to the full as dangerous to trifle with as Dan Brown himself, ' ‘“*T hearn’em use your name, but it wasn jes’ like they did that o’ your pard. They seemed to look on him as the wu’st one they'd hev to han’le, an’ to sot the biggest blame ag’in’ him fer breakin’ up the trade.” ‘* They haven’t learned the worst of me yet!” harshly uttered Dan Brown, with a smile that caused Dough-ball to shiver as though an ic douche had suddenly broken loose over his hea ‘** Spur him up, Scott!” At the first sound of his pard’s voice, Sol Scott turned quickly in that direction, fearin another mad outburst, but he drew a breath o relief as he saw those cold, com features. Dan Brown was waking up and getting to be more like his wonted self. His strong right hand clasped that of his inate, and he whispered: “The more haste the less speed, this time, pard. The rascal was never any too smart and he has been frightened out of even that scant supply of wits. He’s coming ’round, and will soon rattle his tongue glibly enough, never ! ‘“*Tt's all a lie—it must be! But spur him on, old friend!” So the lips of Dan Brown uttered, but in his heart he felt that the words of the h»rse-thief were only too surely founded on fact.’ Worn and weary, almost broken down with hard work and loss of rest, the detective was in just the right condition to accept an omen or premoni- tion without question or investigation. He seemed to hear the voices of his loved wife and. idolized children calling to him begging him to rescue them from some terrible peril. He could hardly resist the mad impulse to leap upon that dirty, ragged, disreputable-looking wretch who so painfully drawled out his words, and tear the truth from his tongue at a single ip; but the Sarit influence of his brother etective luckily kept him from that madness. ‘‘Go on, Jimmy. Strike the trail at the. be- ginning, and keep close to it if you love your precious neck. For the last time, open up.’ Sol Scott spoke quietly enough, but as he stood in front of the horse-thief, his fingers were busied in making the slip-noose run more freely. It was a silent but terribly eloquent reminder, and with a haste that was almost ludicrous, Dough-ball Jimmy spoke again: ‘**'You know the gan , boss. You know what work they’ve bin doin’. You hunted ’em so al- mighty close an’ hard that they hed to do so thin’ an’ that mighty quick! So Aces-an called ’em all together an’ opened up a plan that he said would make ’em come out hea more’n even with the game, ef it didn’t fizzle ‘‘ An’ that plan, Jimmy? Get down to it as soon as you can, please.” **T jes’ ketched the shadder of it, boss, an—” 7 Careful, Jimmy!’ "Deed I’m givin’ it to ye straight asa bee- line, boss,” was the eager response to this warn- ing. ‘*‘ You saved my life when it was jes’ goin’ out onder that grip—why shouldn’t I tell you the honest truth?” ‘You would be a miserable idiot to do other- ‘oven€omicbooks.co