Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 375 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

a -. Zee = . ~ * — ee - ~~ 4 . - . 7 pad » x oS ? - . a . " ‘happened. Git in, an’ stir up ther fire. 14 —————_—___ a SS PIE EN TRS oO Ry f ' i serses came back to him with marvelous Thar might be worse places in ther world quickness when they once began, and if he ter live till mornin’ in.” lad not taken a wary glance around him be- | ‘‘ True enough, if the man’s dead,” thought fore moving, it is possible that there might | Hurley, as once more on the move he fol- have been some wild work. When he dis- | lowed the procession into what he knew covered that Ned the Nailer was viewing him | must be a cave. over the barrel of a leveled pistol, and only | Then a light flamed out into the darkness, seemed anxious that he should take the ag- and revealed a singular scene. gressive, he silently settled back into an easy | . position and waited for the conversation to CHAPTER XVIII. A STRANGE MEETING, come to a close, ‘‘Sorry fur yer, pard; but this are what Tur first thought that darted across Bess kims ov keepin’ bad company. It’s even up | Stanley’s mind when so suddenly assaulted now whether ter take yer along er leave yer | was that she was in no great danger. If corpus. Ef yerkin keep up with ther hearse, | bodily harm had been intended—and she you kin j’ine ther percesshun; but I gi’n yer | believed there were reasons why, in a general fair warning, when yer drops out there’ll be | way, she might apprehend that—there would a dead man on ther grass.” have been no nonsense. <A knife or pistol ‘“Why are you going to take us?” would have done the work thoroughly and “That's none ov your biz; that’s mine. | quickly, without half of the risk there was Mebbe you'll know when yer git thar, an’ | in this bold abduction. A single scream and mebbe you won’t, All I’m askin’ is, whether | half the Bar would be at her back in a ye'r’ ready ter start? Whar one ov yer goes | minute, ther other follers, I give yer fair warnin’; But she had no chance to scream. an’ when one drops out, t’other’ll be dead. From the very first she was utterly help- Yes er no?” less,and if she was not strangled, in the outset Hurley looked over at his late companion | it was more luck than judgment. Her and saw her nod her head. If her face went | mouth was all the time kept stopped, and for anything, it meant that she believed | about half the time her wind-pipe. Royal George was in sober earnest in what’ result, in a very few moments she was near he said. to insensibility. Hurley answered briefly: That was only temporary; but when full “ Bix it to suit. yourself, then. I want to | possession of her faculties drifted back she bring no further trouble on yonder lady, | discovered that she had been effectually gag- since I am to blame for what she has emg ged, and transported well out of camp. suffered. Lead on, and you'll find me with Some involuntary movement called the at- you until she says ‘stop!’” tention of her captor to the fact that she was ‘An’ you'll promise ter keep ther peace | again observant of her surroundings; and he an’ stay with us till yer see ther lay-out?” did not seem displeased. Hurley nodded, and the outlaw extended ‘Now, see hyar, my duck,” he grumbled, his sats : ‘fit ain’t the squar’ thing ter be makin’ me ‘‘Tt’s a barg’in, fur that long an’ no longer. | totea hundred an’ twenty pound ov gal meat I may hey ter cut yer throat; 1 may take yer | an’ shemale cussedness, in on ther ground-floor. Thar’s no knowin’ | go, an’ I can’t see why yer mightn’t ez well till I see ther rest an’ know what yer kin be | walk ez ride, an’ save us ther carryin’ ov wuth. Git good an’ ready afore yer say | yer. Ef I sot yer down will yer hoot it jest ther word; then, ef yer can’t keep up, look ez | say so? Nod yer head ef it’s a go.” out.” Still retaining a gripe upon her wrists the On this one-sided sort of bargain the hands man who had held her in his arms placed of the two men met in a firm clasp, and then her upon the ground and gazed keenly into Royal George gave the order to move on, her face. No one else said a word. Resistance was worse than useless; and to There was evidently no mean discipline | have an opportunity for strategy or flight among the bandits; and yet, if Hurley could | it was necessary that the man should be have seen the dark glance turned wpon him | thrown off his guard, Bess nodded vigor- by Ned the Nailer, he might have had some | ously. doubts abuut his ultimate safety. ‘Sense ter ther backbone, an’ Tom an’ ‘An’ T s’pose we'll have no trouble with | me’ll hev it a leetle better than we figgered ou?” added George, looking keenly at the | on. UHyar, Tom. No useter be foolin’ ’way lndy. time. I’ve got this daisy’s promise not ter ‘‘Scarcely, in the shape you have things | make trouble. Jest come forth an’ we'll now. If you think there is no hereafter, | propell.” Without evincing a desire for resistance Bess Stanley held back. The action was a question as plain as she could make it, and meant: ‘“What is the meaning of this; where do you take me?” ‘“Ax me no questions, leetle one, an’ I'll tell yer no lies—tho’ I ’spect we mou't ez well give yer ther squar’ tip, an’ be done with it. e’r’ makin’ a heap ov trouble right down thar in Blazer's; an’ fur fear thet ther eperdemic may spread to ther mount’in it’s When Hurley noted that there was no | my ’pinyun thet ther boss hez decided ter sound of hoofs, and looked carefully down | git yer outen ther way. Factare, kwouldn’t he discovered that the horse’s feet were bet three cents on ther condish’ ov yer throat muffled. to-mo1rer mornin’.” ‘‘T wonder where the infernal ruffian is| The man gave a low, rude laugh, and look- going to take us,” he thought to himself, | ed sharply at his prisoner. ‘*Scems as though he may be going torun | | If he thought to shake her nerve he was us into some sort of danger, and he’ll have | drive on,” ‘‘Don’t threaten; it only brings yer bad | luck. An’ keep cool. We hev biz on hand, an’ it’s yer own fault ef it takes this shape. But mebbe it'll be ther better, all ’round. Now, keep yer jaws shut an’ yer eyes open; | we may hev some resks ter run. hen [| want yer ter talk, I’ll say so; an’ T wouldn’t | advise yer ter open yer mouth afore that.” The little party started off. The captives had been remounted, and all rode in utter silence. very much mistaken. The savage threat it tixed so if there is any scrapping done I braced her up inamoment. She drew her- exn’t bite back; curses on it, he has my hand | self up proudly, and gave a bend of the head to the most one-sided bargain ever Hen Hur- | which said that she was ready. ley was caught in. Let him drive on with Gripping her shoulder with a clasp so his band-wagon, but if he thinks there is no | strong as to be painful the man stepped away, hereafter it will be fun to see him grin when | following closely in the wake of the comrade he gets left.” | he had addressed as Tom. Where they passed the line of danger, if | The way was rough and in darkness. By such there was, did not appear since there | the time they had made half a dozen turns was no suspicious sound, until finally they | Bess might have guessed her direction from halted in a shadow so dense that the nearest | the camp but she certainly could not have objects were covered by the vail of darkness. | pointed toward it, and she began to hope For fully a minute they remained waiting that the toilsome journey would soon come and listening. Then there was alow, pecu- | toanend. The effect and the susperse were liar whistle, and almost immediately there- | proving a severer test of body and mind than after a subdued voice sounded, just in their | she had counted on. front. It was no great relief when they came “Ali right, Cap. Yer hyar at last. We | upon a third man holding their horses. That bin waitin’ on yer an’ feared suthin’ hed pO ae the journey was to be one of some extent, . .* = : . “s par : 7 i ad : & f hg . wd . r Royal George, the Three in One. + ----——— As a | | | OOO Without a word her special guard threw her up on the back of one of the steeds, and then swung himself up behind her. There was no consultation, but all moved off to- gether; and from the silence in which it was done the girl imagined that the horse’s hoofs were muflied, and that the men looked for some danger. The latter thought gave her a thrill of hope. It was possible that some signs of pursuit that had escaped her notice had been perceived by them. They might not be as far as it seemed from the Bar, and any min- ute, might see the people from Blazer's striking in to her rescue. Just now they did not seem half as bad a set as when she was defying them all in defense of a vagabond. for whom she had more hate than sympathy, but who had enlisted heron his side on the strength of a few mysterious words. Prepared for something she was not ready for what did happen. As the horses crept slov.ly down a narrow and precipitous trail the way before them was suddenly illuminated. The horses snorted and stopped instantly, while a solid curse fell from the lips of the man whose arm was around Bess Stanley’s. waist. His other hand dropped from the reins and darted to a revolver. ‘*No use, boyees,” laughed a coarse voice, sounding from some point above them. ‘‘Yer didn’t s’pose yer could begin ter play a game sich ez this without Royal George takin’ ahand? Paws up, you dung- hill roosters, or ketch ther gafts,” The response was three shots, aimed in the direction of the voice, and then the three dug spurs into their horses’ sides, and started recklessly downward. In answer came a quick shot that pierced the brain of the leading animal. It felldead Ther ain’t fur ter | in the path, so suddenly dropped by the stun- ning wound that it only gave a few convul- sive kicks. If the intention was to wall in the other two it failed. ‘The man who held Bess had regained the reins, and with a quick motion lifted his horse to the leap. The animal went over like a bird, but in the leap Bess had the chance that she was looking for. She could hardly make her case worse; and with a sudden spring she launched herself out of the arms of her cap- tor, and dropped lightly to the side of the trail as the third man swept by to the leap. Without hesitating she rushed up the rocky roadway down which she had just come, vainly striving to utter a cry for help to those she believed had come to her assist- ance, | Several shots sounded from the rocks, and from below came the sharp cry of a man badly hit, and the mufiled sound of hoofs. It was pretty certain that Bess Stanley need anticipate no further present trouble from her late abductors, and she slackened her pace as she came to a crest in the trail, and saw a couple of dark figures standing in front of her. As she halted the figures moved forward. “Pon me soul, it’s a woman! Ther woods are jest goin’ ter be full ov’em ter-night. Say, leetle girls, w’ot brought you hyar?” While he spoke the man was cutting away the cords that held the gag in her mouth and loosened those that bound her hands. In appearance she was once more free, and if she had still the weapons her former captors bad taken from her she would not have cared whether these men were friend or foe. As it was, she answered cordially: “Tf you had light enough for straight shooting you had enough to see, and if you could see you know almost as much about it as Ido. The ruffians carried me off from Blazer's Bar. They had their own reasons, no doubt, but they didn’t make me their con- fidant. Since I have so happily escaped it may have been for the best, henceforth I will be on my guard. “You have my thanks for your gallant rescue; now, if you can guide me back to Blazer’s Bar I will be able to re- ward you in a fitting manner. It was worth money, and money you shall have. ‘That's squar’ talk, an’ ther way We gen- rally like ter hear it, but ter-night that filly won't trot. Fact are, we won't feel safe at ther Bar, an’ ef we did we’ve got bigger hiz this side of it. Sorry ef it puts yer out at all, but ez we couldn’t think of leavin’ a on- protected female alone in thet woods I guess: eEomicbooks > 2S = . : ws vd ares: on See P vag