Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 375 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

vV——— et youll hev ter kim along with us. common grateful fur what we've did you won't make no nonsense, an’ ef yer do, ez a Ef yer | we're pressed fur time we ll hev ter drop yer | on ther spot an’ add yer corpse ter profit an’ | loss. a flyer?” ‘You are frank enough, and I suppose I ,must submit, though why you should burden yourself when an hour or so of time anda little riding over a road that no doubt you know well enough would fill your pockets with gold, is more than | can understand.” “ain't at all necessary thet you sh’u'd. You kin jest s’pose thet yer out fur air an’ | exercise, an’ resign yer own purty self to ther men ez will take ther best ov keer ov yer—fur ther present, How is that fur « squar’ deal, without | ‘‘Ha, ha! There’s been a double deal, my friend, and you’re on the wrong side of the house. The gate goes shut, an’ you're our mutton!” There was the noise of a falling rock, and then a light flared up, and from the belt of ' the man in front of her Brilliant Bess snatch- | I want ter treat yer | white, but ef there’s ter be eny monkey- | shines I’ll hev ter put ther strings back jest ez we found ’em. Reckon you're Bess Stan- ley, an’ she’s ther identical bit ov caliker we're lookin’ fer,” ‘‘T am not ashamed of my name, and that | 18s more than any of you ruffians can say,” answered the girl, in sudden heat. “If I had known when I was well off I would have | stuck to the other gang. They were the first finders, and for all I see they would | [ came to you | have been the safest keepers, thinking you were men. If I was mistaken so much the worse for you when the time of retribution comes. Go on; I have nothing more to say.” ‘You talk like a leetle tin angel on wheels, an’ l’m only sorry we ain’t time ter start yer up ag’in. We'll trust yer, an’ lil sw’ar thet you'll find it safest ter try no sharp tricks. It won’t be a very long ride, an’ mebbe yer kin find friends at ther end ovit. Excuse me, but hyer goes,” With this indefinite programme a horse | was brought forward, and again Bess was_ mounted behind a man she could only guess was an outlaw. He held her - gingerly enough, and as her hands and tongue were | free perhaps she had made something by the exchange of captors. As neither party was known to her, and their intentions were com- pletely a mystery, the ultimate profit was as yet a question. If some one had got hold of her secret she could guess well enough that the one party or the other, or perhaps both, meant mur- der. The lights that had illuminated the scene had been extinguished; and now three or four r.ore dark forms came gliding into view, and gathered themselves around her, She was more thoroughly hemmed in than ever, These men, however, went forward with no hesitation or fear, and the journey proved to be neither as long nor as tiresome as she had feared. In the course of an hour they halted, and she was helped from the horse, and led forward into what seemed to be the solid rock, though a way opened itself as they advanced. ‘‘Don’'t be skeered ov ther darkness leetle one, ther gas ain't been turned on yit, an’ it’s a shade lonely, but we'll ‘luminate after a bit, an’ maybe you'll hev more company than yer keer fur. We had a hint thet yer friends war on ther road, an’ thort we’d hey a ‘greeable s'prise all ’round.”’ The man departed with a mocking laugh, and Bess was left alone in darkness so thick that it could almost be felt. Fora time she did not move an inch, or hear a sound, and it seemed very much as though she had been buried alive. The men had promised her a light, but it | was hardly safe to place much faith in what they said, and Bess was not of the kind to sit down until things developed in course. She preferred to find out the worst at’ once, and rising to her feet she began to move carefully around, feeling her way first with her feet and then with her outstretched hands. She found the rocky wall that shut her in, and as she began to edge carefully along its base she heard a sound at last, that came from just above her head. “Dark as a little dungeon down there, and I guess it’s no use to ring for lights. Lucky | know the place like a book. I’m ahead of the time and I’d better take a seat in a corner till something turns up.” Right after this soliloquy came the sound of some one leaping lightly to the rocky floor; and immediately afterward a voice from above: | ed a revolver and leaping back aimed it squarely at his head. CHAPTER XIX. A CANDIDATE FOR UTAH. THE room into which Mrs. Ormsby looked was at least twenty feet square, and was but sparsely furnished. A lamp, that gave a brilliant light, was suspended from the ceil- ing, and standing just below it, with a mock- ing smile on his lips and his arms folded over his breast, was Joe Lipscombe. A few feet away a woman, whose back Royal George, the Three in One. | | was toward the spectators, menaced him with | a cocked revolver, while her words dropped | from her lips in a low, compressed tone of | | dive at my revolver. savage earnestness. ‘‘Not a word—not a sound!” she hissed. *“You have sealed your own doom by your | own mad folly. For a time I suspected; again, | thought I had done you injustice. All along it was but the turn of a hand whether | slew you or not. After this I can- not doubt. You know me and fear me; that is proof enough of your guilt. yet for vengeance to begin; yet sooner than miss you, I will slay you now. Joe Lips- combe—gambler, thief, cut-throat, vile assas- sin—prepare to meet your end!” ‘Which end, my dear? And, if the end is part of me, how can I meet it? Take it altogether, | am inclined to believe that you labor a little under a misapprehension, both in regard to my destiny and your mission. I may be all that you mention; but what is>| that to you?” ‘*It means that you are not fit to live. If you are what you have just admitted, why should I spare you?’ ‘Well, go down and shoot into any sort of a crowd at Blazer’s, and you'll hit one of that kind; so why pick out me?” ‘Why? Because you are dangerous to me. One of us must die, and I must live until my mission has been performed. My vengeance could wait, even against you, while it was sure, but you have showed your hand, and, having wrested from you your own weapons, I must strike. If you have a prayer that you dare say, say itnow, In another moment it will be too late!” It was a strange scene; and Mrs. Ormsby, on the threshold, viewed it with a wonderful interest, scarcely drawing a full breath lest her presence might be observed. The girl was in such deadly earnest, the man so ut- terly careless of her desperate intentions, that there seemed but one possible ending to it all. ‘‘Have you nothing to say—no explana- tion to offer for this vile plan of abduction?” ‘* Nothing at all. It’s going to be such a cold-blooded murder that I really think I will enjoy it. Why, Lucretia Borgia was nothing alongside of you. If I had some one to meet me I'd offer three to one that it will break you | allup—after the thing has been done. But, if it’s all the same, couldn’t you aim a little lower? When sleeping there is generally a eaceful, child-like, innocent look on my ace that it’s a pity to spoil, and I know that your westhetic taste will be shocked when your immediate excitement has cooled. However, have your own way. I don't | want toquarrel. Anything to suita lady.” With his arms still folded, he threw him- self carelessly backward into a seat that was just behind him and looked up at her with a mocking insolence that would have maddened another woman. Upon Brilliant Bess it had just the con- trary effect. In a moment she was cold as ice. ‘Stand up, sir, if you please. have our talk face to face.” ‘‘Thanks, but I’m tired. You can’t do more than shoot, and you're going to do that anyhow. I allow I'll have my own way, for I can’t see that it makes any difference, one way or the other.” ** And you will not make even a struggle for your life?” ‘“‘ Nary struggle. I prefer to Two very good reasons It is not time | _sound cf achuckle and a closing door. _ you; and [ have no ends that you can inter- whole earth.” 15 as quick and sure at a snap-shot as any living human being, so that | wouldn’t have the ghost of a chance; andl intend that when the angel of Blazer’s Bar leaves here—if leave she ever does—she shall feel herself a first- class assassin, and nothing else.” ‘‘I believe you lie to me now, as you have lied to me before this. You have seme scheme, some plot, some device by which you have me in your power. You would scarcely have been so cvol and careless else. What man ever before took Gentle Joe’s weapons, much less a woman?” ‘*l assure you, my friend, I have no plot or scheme. Since you have got down to question and answer, and are only reasonably ravenous for blood, | don’t object toradding that 1 haven’t had chance or time to concoct any. Icame here quite by chance; iad no knowledge or expectation that I would meet fere with one way or another. You saw me when that blazing old lamp was suddenly let down from above, and you mede a quick As, unfortunately for me, the thing was empty, I didn’t inte:fere. I’ve been shooting at half of Blazer's with it to-night, and it snapped half a dozen times before 1 thought of it, that I didn’t hold the He spoke with such av air of mocking truth, that his words carried instant conviec- tion. In mad fury she flung the weapon against the rocky wall of the cavern. Instantly there was an unexpected re« sponse, for, as if struck, there was a sharp report, followed by a woman’s shrill scream, just at her back, and then the light went out, darkness came back, and she heard the It was almost certain that Bess Stanley had been deceived; but the knowledge did not unnerve her for more than a fractional part of a moment, Hardly had the harsh echo of the report died away when, like a tigress, she sprung in the darkness at the spot where she had seen Gentle Joe seated, The spot was vacant, and hurt somewhat by the heavy fall that followed, she lay quivering. ‘‘A moment, if you please,’ liquid, feminine voice. Mrs. Ormsby, saying: ‘‘T think perhaps you have made a mis- take here; and you will certainly do more harm than good if you go ramping around in the dark. Let us have a light aed look at things. A little explanation is next in order.” The cool words were supplemented by the striking of a match, and by its little blaze the Jady lighted a small taper, which, however, gave light enough to render the nearest ob- jects distinguishable, and even rendered less dense the shadows in the remotest parts of the room. ‘*Ah! a lady of sense, and, no doubt, a prisoner like ourselves.”’ It was Gentle Joe that was speaking, and. from a point behind where Bess Stanley had. been standing. He had been quick to shilt his position, and now came forward. ts ‘You are right, sir; I certainly should not — have come here of my own free will and _ accord. Why I was allowed to enjoy the scene that I have just been treated to is more than I can explain, but I have no doubt there 5] . was a reason for it. Perhaps if we were all || to compare notes, it might not be so hard to | explain. Who are you, and what are you | doing here?” ian “Gentle Joseph is my—well, not patrony-~ mic—say pseudonym, After a reconsideray tion I decided, down in Blazer's, to back the hand that this lady was playing, and as acon- sequence was compelled to fight the town, — The contract seemed heavier than J had bar * gained for, after the first flush of enthusiasm had worn off, and I evaporated. I did noj do any particular damage, though | did qa good bit of shcoting, and being awareofa — hiding-place here, I stumbled into it; finding a good deal more than I expected—protak v4 nently, Miss Stanley. Then she snatched + my revolver and began to expound. The — rest you know as much aboutasI do. Isaw | you when you halted at the threshold, Winey Ki: 30 > ? she heard a It was the voice of rd y* > oP - 4 a; is in reserve for us I can only guess at.” i ‘Then it is hardly worth while to say any- thing in regard to our plans for the future, | but as we are in together I suppose our in- terests for the present lie in the same direc- _ have I, my dear. Iam aware that you are | tion. When there is a chance that we can