Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 374 — page 22: what you’re looking at

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22 — give yer breathin’ time between sentences,” rinned the Coyoter. ‘‘ Yes, you’ve had half a ozen namesin your time, I guess. If thar war a mole on Gideon’s shoulder, mebbe thar’s a scar midway between yer left wrist an’ elbow.” gs What if thar is?’ suddenly flashed the ajor. ‘-It would prove ter this mountain seraph that you war at one time Captain Dandy ov ther *Frisco Fleecers.” This time there was no start on the Major’s part. He had evidently prepared himself for a thunderbolt, and he merely looked into the piercing eyes and dark face of Crimson Con. ** So that is your judgment, eh?” he said, after a minute’s silence, ‘‘ Ther nextman I meet will probably call me Satan himself.” **T don’t know who better deserves the name,” smiled Crimson Con. ‘If thar ar’ no scar on yer left arm, Major, ov course you ar’ not er tain Dandy. Thet’s ther test, but havin’ made a study ov yer since you came bhyer, I’m con- vinced. Wild Alaric war with yer then, If I am not mistaken on thet precious rosebud, he ‘war then Faro Flip, ther card fakir. I’m hyer ter remind yer, Major, thet a few years don’t spoil my memory. Roll up yer sleeve!” For a moment there was no move on the Major’s part to comply with Crimson Con’s re- os but at last he began to throw back his eeve and lay bare his arm. The nabob of Coyote leaned forward, with curiosity in his dark eyes, and watched the pro- ceedings. All at once he uttered a slight exclamation. “‘ Thet proves it, eh, Major?” he said, catching Blister’s eye as he looked up from the livid scar which had been brought into view by the lifting of the sleeve. ‘‘I don’t often miss my man. If ther mole on Gideon’s shoulder war a coinci- dence, this scar is not!” For several minutes the Major held his arm in a position that enabled Crimson Con to eye the scar, and his eyes said plainly: “ Get enough of it, Con.” **Now, let me put in a question,” said the Sport of Two Cities, suddenly dropping the sleeve. ‘*Who are you?” Crimson Con showed his teeth like a wolf well pleased. ** Don’t yer know me?” he laughed. ‘‘ Don’t ‘yer know ther galoot who broke yer bank ther night ther little girl an’ Captain Dandy both left ’Frisco?” ‘¢ Jehosaphat! do we meet hyer?” ejaculated the Major. ** Tt seems so.” There was no audible reply, but under his breath the hunted Sport said: *¢ T’ve got to kill this man or add another ene- my bitter as death to my list. This man is Silver Loup, the father of the girl Zoe, who is my Cleopatra in Custer. Ye gods! the last man I expected to find here. He will never let me et out to fight the iron blades, if I let him have is way.” Then he beat down the fierceness that was fast betraying him, and laughed as he replied to the man before him: ‘¢ We haven’t met for—let me sse—” ‘‘Ten years,” finished Crimson Con. “‘?ma good hand at keepin’ dates, Captain Dandy!” The Sport of Two Cities saw that it was “Major Blister” no longer, for Crimson Con had gone back to the past as he knew it in *Frisco ‘“ Whar’s Nita?” he suddenly went on. “Cap- tain Dandy, whar is the little girl you took from ’Frisco the night you fled, Do you think I have forgotten that night? I gave you ther scar you wear oa yer arm. I wish my bowie had made its mark on yer heart. Come! no hoodwinkin’ games hyer, My child! The, boy is dead I hear.” Major Blister darted forward like a rattle snake but without the warning given out by that serpent. ‘* TJ] show you whar yer child is!” he hissed. Crimson Con caught the movement in time to leap from the three-legged stool upon which he heat seated himself, but the hands of the Major had already clutched him. ‘‘T never suspected you, but I see you now,” he cried, ‘It is strange that Alaric didn’t find you out while he lived in Coyote. But never mind, Crimson Con, as they call you here. You’ve found Captain Dandy again but this time you will not make your mark on his per- son!’ It was now a fierce struggle by two men well matched for the mastery, and so full were their hands with the fight, they did not get to draw a single weapon. ‘Tigerish eye looked hatred into eye that returned the look with interest, and although Crimson Con was forced toward the door by the fury of the Major’s onslaught, he did not give up the contest. ; The stools kicked away, rolled under the rough table, and the table itself toppled over and al- | most lost its balance. Hand to hand and eye to eye the two toughs wrestled like gladiators in the small space be- tween table and door. Each was anxious to get a chance to settle the contest with a weapon which was within easy reach; but they prevent- ed one another for some minutes, Major Blister, the Sport of Tw All at once Major Blister obtained a moment- ary advantage. **T only wanted a second,” he ejaculated. ** This Coyote thug will find me quick as a cat!” Crimson Con saw the dart of the hand that alighted,on the dagger-hilt that protruded from an inner pocket on his enemy’s person. to prevent the drawing of the weapon, but the Major was too quick for him. The next moment the blade caught the lamp- light, but there was no flash. It was the deadly blade of the iron dagger. ** Your child, Crimson Con, is yet my prize!” cried the Sport of Two Cities. ‘‘ Having run me down at last, I pay you back for the scar on my arm which was intended for my heart.” Crimson Con had been forced against the door. He held it shut, a living barricade against any one outside, and when he saw the iron blade shoot upward in Major Blister’s clutch, he made a wild effort to avoid the blow, But it was a vain one! The teeth of the Sport grated harshly as the knife came down; he drove it downward with all the strength he could summon to his right arm, and a cry which the coolest man on earth could not have kept back tore the Coyoter’s lips apart when the iron blade struck. ‘‘Thar’s scar for scar!” laughed the Major. ‘‘ Tm ther last man you unmask, Crimson Con. Heavens! I did not expect to find yow here. Nita? Tll make her queen of a greater place than Custer one of these days—when I’ve ae the last card against Mark and the roadway Spotter!” The broad back of Crimson Con no longer held the door of the cabin shut. The kader of the Coyote pards lay at the Major’s feet with the ne ay ag on his dark face. The Major looked at him a moment and wiped the iron blade on the Coyoter’s sleeve. Then he ees back and blew out the little lamp. “ This exiles Alaric and I from Coyote,” he said in low tones. ‘‘ We can’t set ovr trap here for the iron blades, What a fool this man was to give me half a chance!” Out he went shutting the door behind him. ‘*T must find Alaric now, then away from Coyote!” he said. CHAPTER XXVI. KEEPING OFF THE DOGS. STANDING in the starlight was a certain per- son who saw the Sport of Two Cities emerge from Crimson Con’s cabin and betake himself away with rapid strides. This person was a young girl and she watched the Major with much curiosity. ‘* Something happened in that shanty awhile ago,” she said in low tones to herself. ‘* Two mep came this way awhile ago and one was the leader of the Covote pards who calls himself Crimson Con, They walked together arm in arm and entered the hut. Now cne comes out and hurries away; it is Major Max Bl ster. The lirht is out too. It was burning within the cabin a few minutes ago.” Adele—for the speaker was she—did not fol- low the Major, but watched the cabin for tho reappearance of the man who must still be on the inside. Nobody came out to reward her watchfulness, however, and the silence that continued to en- shroud Crimson Con’s abode increased her be- lief that “something” had happened beyond the threshold. By degrees the girl approached the cabin, and at last found herself at the door, where she listened with much attention. Not a sound came from the interior; the silence of death seemed to reign in the darkness beyond. At last Adele lifted the latch, and pushed the door ajar. She stood on the threshold and listened again, but still no sound. If Crimson Con was awake, why did he not demand to know her errand to his quarters? Emboldened by the very stillness of the place, Adele went in. She felt the table, and then the little lamp left thereon by the Major. Beside it lay a few lucifers, one of which seemed to cling to the girl’s fingers. It could not be possible that Crimson Con had left the cabin without being seen by her. Adele struck a light, and lowered the lamp for an inspection of the floor. *“My God!” rung suddenly from her throat. “T was right. Something did happen here!” At her feet lay the body of a stalwart and very handsome man, and a shudder ran over the girl’s frame when she held the lamp close to his face and saw that he was dead. ; ‘‘ This is your work, Andros Ruby,” she said, as if the murderer stood before her to be ac- cused. ‘This gives you more enemies than you have ever had. Coyote will be at your back now if they put the crime on your shoulders, and they may keep the irontblade from carry- ing out its owner’s oath of vengeance. I hope you have fled the camp, Andros. I trust you will baffle these men. ‘You must perish by one of the iron daggers. Even though you have taken the life of Crimson Con, you must not die at the hands of his pards. If I can I will put them on the wrong trail, but only to save you for the iron dagger.” He tried | o Cities. Adele put the lamp back, and saw the shadow of the table fall athwart the dead face of the | Coyote rough. The one blow delivered by the | iron dagger, m the mad hauds of Major Blister, had ended the fight for the mastery between him and Crimson Con. The girl had seen that one stroke had finished the struggle, evidences of which were apparent in the overturned stools | and other articles of furniture. She could imagine the fight that had taken place between the two desperadoes, but she did not know that it had been preceded by the ex- yosure of a certain scar which proclaimed the fajor somebody besides Andros Ruby the New York Sport and criminal. **T must put the men of Coyote on the wrong trail,” she said. ‘‘I want Andros Ruby to fall by the iron dagger—not by the revolvers of Crimson Con’s pards. How can I do it?” For some time the girl stood at the table rack- ing her brains with half a dozen plans that sug- gested themselves, but none seemed possible. “They may know that the two men came here together,” she said, ‘‘and suspicion will naturally fall upon the Major. All Coyote will spring to his trail. I know these mountain men, I have seen them in Custer. The longer they wait for Crimson Con the more certain wiil be the Major’s escape. Icando nothing more than put off the hour of discovery. I must keep the pards of Coyote from this cabin and its dead man.” She went out, and after standing for several moments in the starlight before the cabin, she moved toward Terrapin Tom’s, where she hoped to find the pards of the mountain camp. ‘‘Tet me hold them but one h ur,” she said to herself. ‘The Major will join Wild Alaric, and the two exiles will fly.” She presented herself at the door of the saloon, and was seen by half a dozen men at once. ‘*Thar’s ther angel what came ter camp with Lariat Lige!” was the exclamation that greeted Adele. ‘She is Burt Browne’s guest now, but ther rose ov Coyote all ther same.” Several men sprung forward to escort the girl into the liquor trap, but she waved them back, while she smiled and entered of her own accord. She counted the pards with her eyes, and seemed to be satisfied. They were all there, all but the man lying dead in the little shanty down the street. Burt Browne gave Adele a protective look as she advanced, and he took a step toward her, when she halted before the crowd. **Can’t yer give us a song, my nightingale?” asked a bronze giant. ‘‘ We don’t hear angel voices often in Coyote, an’ I fancy that ther sound ov ’em is about forgotten hyer.” What could be more to Adele’s present pur- pose than a song? Her beauty seemed to assure the Coyote toughs that she possessed a good voice, and forthwith a song was demanded from all sides, It was a strange place for a concert, and the time was stranger still; but Adele had sought the den to hold the pards from Major Blister’s trail. If she could only do that, she would be more than satisfied. Moving to the center of the rcom, to which a box had been carried for her acccmmodation, Adele halted and faced the rough audience, The pards took off their hats and became silent. For a minute the girl appeared to be makin a mental selection of some song, when she sud- denly began in a voice that was wonderfully sweet and full of music. The wild men of the mountain camp listened like persons entranced. Not a limb moved; the whole crowd stood like statues before the girl, and heard the first song through without the slightest interruption. ‘“*T control these men,” Adele murmured. “TI could hold them here till morning. Major Blis- ter, you may thank me for keeping thirty tigers from your trail.” The first song was followed by ten minutes of congratulations, and rest for the girl. She noticed that no one retired, and the crowd was made no larger by additions, Another song was received with the same re- spect and satisfaction. Adele had the men of Coyote at her command, and as song followed song, their admiration and attention increased, ‘““Go an’ fetch ther captain_hycr,” suddenly exclaimed one of the band. ‘‘ He doesn’t know what he is missin’, an’ then—” ** Let him he,” said Burt Browne, “It is his own fault if he misses a treat like this.” Adele’s eyes thanked her Coyote friend for the word sthat checkedwhat might Fave proveda dangerous movement, and all thoughts of Crim- son Con were drowned by another song. ; Adele sung two hours away on the improvised stage at Terrapin Tom’s. She had given the slayer of Crimson Con that much time the start of the men who would send heayenward a cry for his blood, the moment they discovered the dead man on the cabin floor, Was it possible to hold them another hour? She had given them the songs celeulated to please them, and now she began on the naticnal airs. The effect of the first notes was encuch. ‘‘T can hold them!” she mentally excleimed, ‘One more hour of grace, Andros Ruby!” In the midst of the “Star Spangled Penner,” which Adele sung magnificently, some one came ee rr Comiecboo! (G “Si (S