Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 375 — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

28 _——.- The voice all along had sounded familiar; the face appeared more so, and the Baby gave an ejaculation of surprise. ‘“Gentle Joe!” he exclaimed, and then, with a quickness that excited even his own wonder, he took a snap shot at the face be- fore him, A mocking laugh was the answer to his offer. Though he felt sure the bullet was coing home, it Lad apparently been wasted | on the air. ‘None of that, Baby. You can't hit the side of a barn, but you make a mark, as you stand there, that is just too sweet for any- thing. Another such an effort and I will have to take you in, Jess was a better man than you ever dare be, but he was too fresh with his tools and lies just where you will if ou try any more nonsense, I want to have a little talk with you. Last time of asking. Hold up your hands.” It wasn’t murder that the party was after . now; that much was certain, here was the | chance, already, to shoot bim several times over. His dogged nature made Burt refuse | to yield, even though he fancied there was a chance for his life in so doing. “You cussed, double-dealin’ traitor, yer can’t skeer me; an’ [ won’t give an inch ter such ez you be. Ef yer want ter talk— talk; ef yer want ter shoot—shoot. Aryway be quick about it er Ill run the chance an’ try a blizzard at yer. Better take me in outen ther damp while yer hez ther chance. Ef yer don’t, sooner er later I'll be even with | you.” | | ‘“Why, you infernal old idiot, ’'ve been treating you better than you deserved, ten times over. Haven’t you any gratitude at all? If your pard had not come nosing | around about a thing that didn’t concern , him anyhow he would have been alive and kicking. If you won’t beg, down you go. Hit him, Jan.” For the first time Baby Burt suspected ‘ that he was looking on the wrong side for % danger. He half turned—but he turned too late. A crushing blow, delivered on the back of his neck, with the butt of a revolver, brought him to his knees, and the hand that | dealt the stroke was raised to repeat the ef- ; fort. Another moment and his brains might have suffered; but aninterruption came, just | in time. “ TIold on thar,” cried a husky voice. ‘Royal George hez suthin’ ter say ter this. You two fellers kin hold up yer own hands. We are round hyar an’ we mean biz.” : The two men had undoubtedly been off : their guard, but had they been listening ever és so carefully they would not have detected I the approach of the speaker, for he came Instead of throwing their hands up at the challenge each gave a backward spring and landed in the concealment of the shadow | noiselessly as a phantom, | just as there came the rush of half a dozen ls men, who dashed past Burt without stopping 1 to see whether he was harmed or not. The effort was vain, however, for there ‘i was no trace of the fugitives, though for an dy instant there was a sound in the distance that | might be the noise of trampling feet hurry- i ing away from the spot. , The pursuit was briefly vigorous; Royal . George and his men almost immediately re- turned. ; There was the body of Jess Hurley, and + knecling almost over it, staring at it in a a dazed, almost idiotic way, was Baby | Burt. es & ‘‘Hyar, sonny, I guess you don’t want ‘ them any more. What's ther use ov » man like you kerryin’ tools aryhow? We'll jist take charge ov them till yer seem ter hev a some use fur ’em.” Without resistance Burt suffered the re- “ volvers to be drawn from his grasp. If he $. ~ looked up without fear it was also without understanding. ae ‘‘T reckon yer can’t sabbe ef I speak slow an’ very plain.” The Baby shook his head, but whether it was because he understood the question was by no means certain. As it was in a nega- tive way probably he did not. ‘Wal,ther fact are we hevn’t a bit ov use fur you, an’ we can’t afford ’ter be layin’ ’round yar waitin’ fur yer ter git back ern’uf life Qt ter walk. Ef we leave yer hyar them ger- — 4oots’ll be back an’ give yer a shake-up that- “tl be an cverlastin’ sickness. Ter save suf- “ a i . : Royal George, the Three in One. ferin’ I dunno’ but what it’d be as well ter lift yer brain-pan an’ then berry ther corpus.” ‘*I’'m a-stayin’ with my pard,” mumbled Burt in a half audible way. ‘‘ Ef he’s dead kill me too; I ain’t no more use when Jess goes over ther range.” “Jess ain’t dead, ole man, an’ we want him. Ef we take keer ov him will you git? Ef ther’s ary foolishness we'll jist hev ter kill yer both.” The threat was the best thing that could have been done to bring back the Baby’s wandering senses. He rubbed his arm across his forehead, stared at the seeming corpus, and then at the man bending over him. “Not dead! Ef ld a know dthat! aside thar, ther Baby's comin’.” He threw his hands to one side and the other, as he did in the time of his strength, and attempted to swing his way among them as of old. If his body responded as it usual- ly did he would have made lively work, un- armed as he was. The effort only showed how stunning had been the blow that had felled Ile him. stumbled, half regained his footing, and then fell headlong. ‘Purty neat work, this hyar,” said the Stand | | | leading man of the crowd, not paying the least attention to the fallen Baby. ‘‘ Jist plastered ther life in him so it | couldn't kim out er goin. Two or three ov rer tote him along till it’s safe ter gin him a etter boost, an’ ther rest ov yer, ef yer kin handle thet young eierphunt, drag him outen range ov them gerloots ef they kim back. They may change the’r minds an’ go fur his top-knot ef they find thet Jess bes got outen reach.” The order was obeyed without a murmur, theugh the removal of Burt was a contract that caused some pufling and blowing. Ina heavy, aimless sort of way he began to | squirm, and before they had gone a rod they | were compelled to tie his wrists and ankles. | In that way his returning strength profited | him nothing, and he finally submitted with- | out a word, though from time to time the | way his teeth grated was enough to show that he was anything but a submissive Jamb. “Thar yer be. We'll let yer hands loose an’ I guess yer kin work ther rest ov ther | racket accordin’ ter yer strength. Ill give | a squint this hyar ways ter-morrer ter see | thet nothin’ ain't happened. By-by.” Then the gang trooped away, carrying the | motionless Hurley among them, Whenthey | had gone some little distance he was placed | on one of the horses they came to, a man mounting behind him, and all proceeded in silence. Royal George had gathered one more fish in with his drag-net, while the | Baby was left to work his way back to the | Bar at his convenience. How he made his | reappearance there the reader has lately seen. He had made an unavailing search for his pard, and at last, when driven in by hun- ger, went back, doubly desperate, and just ready for the work he found ready to his hands, CHAPTER XXXIV. CATHCART COMES TO THE FRONT. BLAZER’s BAR meant business. No ore but the few behind the scenes un- derstood how the thing had been worked up the preceding evening when the cross-eyed man was brought to book; and this evening's phy seemed only a natural corol- ary. When matters had once gone this far men were too excited to think; even Mr. Cath- cart felt the subtile influence of the nervous excitement that swayed the crowd. No wonder. Men were thronging around like angry bees, lights flared in the darkness, there was a wicked hum, occasional shots, frequent yells, and in the midst of it all two men making a stand for law and order—the Baby from the principle of general cussedness, and Mart Hammers because it was his nature to do the square thing. As Mordaunt Morti- mer had prudently remained withip the shel- ter of the Jungle he didn’t count for the pre- | sent. ’ When Mart announced that his hands were full the town about came to the conclusion that it had no more use for him and the wonder was that he did not drop at the instant he | eonelud d his little speech. That he didn't was because, though there were twenty men * * * fe ee SUPE eS lis il -_———_ clamoring for a rope, there was as yet no one for a leader. Even Dave Dukely would have been better than no one if he could have come to the fore just then: but till some one squarely answered Mart, and indicated the intention of the camp, no one wanted to fire the first shot at a man that had always becn deservedly popular. As for Trinnfador-—it was tacitly understood that he was to be saved for the cord, and nothing else. While Mart Hammers held the town at bay, Baby Burt was taking advantage of the situation, and was slowly backing toward cover in the jungle, carrying the cross-eyced man with as much ease as though he was an infant. Finally, with a bound, he went through the doorway, followed, an instant after, by Mart. They had won the first hand in the game; how about the next? When Major Widespin and Mr. Cathcart had entered the saloon at the heels of the surging crowd, they found that in some occult manner Trinnfador had been spirited away. He was not to be seen; but the two men who had constituted themselves his guard, were there, standing behind the bar, as unconcerned as though they had nothing to fear, and no desperate pledge to kee. ‘Jest a minnit, boyees, afore the circus begins. Ef ye’r’ in earnest its purty sure thar’s a number ov ye'll never pull off yer coats ag’in, an’ it’s a sure thing thet Baby an’ I'll go under. That's all right. This hyar’s a free country, an’ we’ve all had our ch’ice. I want yer ter onderstand I ain't no hard feelin’s 2g"in’ nobody; I jest axe right down ter ther line, an’ let ther chips fall whar they want ter. Hevin’ sed that much, lll add thet thar’s a dead line drawed now in front ov ther bar. Them ez steps over it goes up ther flume, onless Baby an’ me hez fu’st climbed ther golden stairs. Are yer all ready? Ef so, sail in.” Mart Hammers dropped bis words out in a low, dogged tone, and they had their effect. Nobody else in town could have talked so to them; and it looked as though the warning was going to call a halt. For half a minute at least there was no answer. Then some one, whose voice was suffi- ciently disguised to be unknown, gave a ral- lying whocp. ‘*It’s only two men ag‘in’ ther town; take ‘em ez he sez, an’ byar goes ‘fur a rush.” The last word was hardly as distinctly spoken as it appears in print. There was the sound of a solid blow, and a falling man. For the first time Mr. Cath- cart had taken a hand—and on what cer- tainly seemed to be the losing side. He had not far to reach, and he hit out suddenly with a snap at a critical moment. Then he sprung fiercely into the crowd, and seized a second man by the wrists, bringing them behind their owner’s back by a dexterous wrench, that looked as though it might have’been learned by much practice, The man he had struck down was Mor- daunt Mortimer; the man upon whom he had fixed his grasp was Gentle Joc, who had come gliding into the room but a moment before. ‘‘ Just in time to save your life, my festive friend,” whispered Cathcart. “ That scoun- drel had the drop on you, and meant to take it. J want you, though, and for fear there may be some kind of a complication before this thing gets over I'll take you now. Will you go peaceably; or must I put on the braceicts?” A dog fight would break up & council of kings: the side issue so unexpectedly intro- duced stopped the rush that was just on the tremble. The man who had elected to lead it had staggered back when Mordaunt fell against him; and the rest of Blazer's wanted to know what was the matter. Lipscombe showed his wisdom. Taken at such disadvantage it would have been vain to struggle. He answered as cool- ly as though he was drawing to a bobtail flush from a bug under the table, and the man on the other side was a tenderfoot tramp. ’ ‘“ What's the game? I just got In, ard haven't seen enough to guess the racket.” ““The game is five thousand dollars re. ward for Caton Ormsby; and you're the man. There’s a fortune in the air; but you'll grace the dock before you have a chance to finger it J A reomi Eboo! cS <=