Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 375 — page 29: what you’re looking at

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

Royal George, the Three in One. ‘“You're a detective, are you? Very well. Let up, I'll go quietly to where we can talk the matter over. If you think, after that, that you have any use for me I’ll go further; but when you get back, across the mountains they will laugh you out of the force.” | ' He punctured the last words with three blows with his open hand, not to hurt, though they fell with a ringing emphasis that made the fingers of those that heard them tingle. Then he sprung back—so avoiding Mr. ‘Don't be so desperately cool; I’d sooner Cathcart—and stood facing the man, who have you squirm a little. would feel less seemed for the moment utterly bewildered by as though | would have to kill you before I , the savage onslaught. get.through. Nononsense, now. I’vetaken the risks; I’m going to share the profits.” ‘* Ha, ha, ha!” Cathcart, who had so suddenly changed base, and blossomed out in a new role, had been edging h’s prisoner toward the door. He had a wholesome regard for the advisa- | | | along. ‘‘How’s that fur s’perior elevashun?” asked Ragged Rufe. ‘‘Ain’t he jest jay- bird? <Ain’t a-keerin’ a conternental fur nothin’! Knock him all apart an’ he jest sets ‘em up on ther other alley an’ goes right Don't ye think, Johnny, yer hed better hold on till some one loans yer bility of leaving the Jungle at the earliest a quarter? I really don't expose it’s healthy ag moment, if he desired to hold him or good and all. fur a man ’bout your size ter be spreadin’ hisself in a mix like those. Ther boys like The laugh had a peculiarly irritating ef- | fair play, an’ you might ketch ther lead fever fect, for he recognized it in a minute as be- longing to Ragged Rufe. He turned his glance over his shoulder and spoke hotly. ‘*See here. If you know what is good for you you will keep out of this. You are the wildest fraud I ever did see; but you are something worse. You make some mighty big guesses at everything; but you manage to be wrong all the time.” ** All right, ef yer think ther Primrose that kind ov a hair-pin. I couldn't help laffin’, though, ter think how you war mixin’ yer drinks. I thort I’d bin a fool, but you jest take ther deck.” ‘‘Let those laugh that win. not to interfere.” ‘«] ain’t interferin’; I’m only tryin’ ter coax yer not ter sp’ilesport. Yer think I can't re- comember a man ez I see’d in me ba’my days? Thar ain’t no five thousand dollars reward, this man ain’t Caton Ormsby, an’ yander stan’s Neil Kavanaugh. I see it ail now, an’ cf you don’t, go on with yer cock-fightin’ an’ T’ll stan’ back an’ grin. Yer needn’t think I’m a-throwin’ off on yer fur ther sake of me ole side pard. I don’t jest guess—” Ragged Rufe's explanation came to a sud- den ending, consequent upon the unexpected antics of Gentle Joe. The words of Prim- rose had galvanized him into life. He casta sharp glance at him, and another about the room, which brought his eyes around just in time to see Mortimer rising from the floor a pistol in his hand. At that he thrust his hands further behind him, giving at the same time a dexterous kick, Then, with a firm grip on Cathcart’s clothing, he bent suddenly forward. Small blame to the detective if his grip was broken as his heels went up in the air, or that Gentle Joe, breaking loose with the effort, sprung straight at Moraaunt Mor- timer before that worthy had time to take aim. I warn you CHAPTER XXXy, MR. CATHCART STRIKES A NEW VEIN, AFTER showing the nerve that it certainly required to make an arrest at the Jungle, it was pretty clear that Mr. Cathcart would be a had man to get away with. If Gentle Joe had taken him at a disadvantage, it was no more than could have happened to any man, and the expectation that he would stay in the game till the last card fell was not a very wild one, He was on his feet again ina moment, and plunging forward. There was where he showed that he had been brought up in a different school from that which was the popular one around Blazer’s Bar, An old timer there, after things had gone that far, would scarcely have thought of going for his man without his irons out and ready for immediate use. ‘“‘That kind of work takes a cultivated in- stinct, and Mr, Cathcart might have been pardoned for the freshness that sent him for- ward with an outstretched hand, reaching for Lipscombe’s neck, just as the fingers of the little sport tightened on the throat of Mordaunt Mortimer. “You cowardly, lecherous, treacherous villain!’ he hissed, as his erip tightened. ‘© You are too wicked to die and too worth- less to live. had known where to find you, rest assured A | ee SEO eee ef yer interfered afore this leetle matter are settled an’ done fur. Hold on; I'd jest ad- vise yer ter hold on.” Rufus was right in the way of Cathcart’s rush, and though his voice was as coarse and careless as ever, it was a fair guess that he meant all that he said, and more. Just when another man would have been the maddest, John Cathcart grew suspicious- ly cool. He halted suddenly. ‘“What is the meaning of this? What sort of a quarrel is it that won't keep even under such circumstances? Who is that man?” He pointed to Mordaunt Mortimer; and the bummer answered, with a chuckle of satis- faction: ‘‘That’s ther corpus derlickdecus, round w'ich, ez a hub, thet hull thing revolves, Ef you ll wait long ernuf you'll see ther Gentle ill him, an’ then byes kin go back in peace an’ quiet. They'll try Joe hyar, er not at all!” ‘* Yes, if we stand by and see murder done. It must not be. Hold!” ‘* Don’t fret yerself,” retorted Rufe, in his oiliest tones. ‘‘ You've struck it rich; an’ ef ther eends ov jestice are ter be served, ain't IT hyar? An’ ef it’s a fair fou’t, ain’t all Blazer’s hyar ter say, Amen an’ not guilty? Joseph won’t cross ther briny ontil he’s ready, an’ you kin stack all yer duckats on that keard. Now you sabbe?”’ ‘*Not yet, and as you put it. Who ¢s that man?” He pointed at Mortimer but looked at Gen- tle Joe. **That man,” answered the bummer, “are Mordaunt Mortimer—otherwise, Major Neil Kavanaugh—what war killed some years ago. Ef I war you, I'd let things drop. Yer ain’t got a leg left ter stand on.” It was a fact that Mr. Cathcart had never seen Major Kavanaugh in the flesh; the ap- earance of Mortimer, the actions of Gentle ¥06 and the statement of Ragyed Rufe, taken together, made him pause, as it possible that the bummer did know the inside history of the case, and was giving him a square tip? Or could he only be patching bs a lie on the instant, to fit every change in the scenes? ‘“ You rum-soaked old scoundrel!” he hiss- ed, ‘‘if I find you have been trying to play me for a flat, I'll make you ith you were dead! Ill wait and see, since I can scarcely go wrong. It don’t look as though he was going torun away. Meantime, I don’t want you to think he can get away. If 1 saw a chance for that, I’d first shoot you and then kill him!” *Ye'r’ jist bout fool enough ter do them same thing, an’ ef yer only hed a pard an’ a place ter land me ye d run me in afore I could wink. My darlin’, yer ain’t in ther Empire City; this are Blazer’s. Watch an’ see how they do things hyar.”’ ufe kept one eye on the detective during this conversation, also one hand. The other hand was convenient to his gun, and the other eye was turned toward Gentle Joe. If he had been the cross-eyed man himself he could not have looked two ways at once in better style. Mordaunt Mortimer— Major Kavanaugh as Rufus Primrose called him—had been full of deadly hate before; now he had reached the white-heat of anger. A downright, I half suspected this; but if I | knock-down blow would not have maddened him nearly as much as the stingingly con- that you would not have had to come half- | temptuous way in which he had been treat- way to meet me. There! And there! And there!” ed. A very bad man he might have been at home, but here he was of only moderate ac- —_ti as CL LLL LLL LL LLL | Yes (e(e) count when life hung on quick, open work. If Gentle Joe had so-chosen he could have shot all around him. As it was he had both hands outstretched, a revolver in each with the hammers back, when Mortimer could look through the momentary mist that had been beclouding his eyes. ‘‘T didn’t suppose you would fight me fair,” said Lipscombe, as he saw that the man realized the frail tenure on which his life was hanging. ‘*T tried to drag you up to the mark once before and failed, though you would have risked your neck to murder me in the dark. Now I'll give you one more chance to show your manhood, even though you have just tried several times over for a felon shot, for which, according to the law of the mines, | could shoot you down in cold blood. If you are man enough to face another man who has: a pistol in his hand, say so, and I'll give you the chance. If not, say your prayers — quick.” “You can talk big when you know you have me where you can kill me before I can touch a trigger, Was it not for that we would hear another tune, or none atall. I dare meet you any and every time, with a chance Or without one. These men around will see fair play and plenty of what the call fun. I am no match for you in this guerrilla sort of business—I acknowledge it —but when it comes to plain, straightfor- ward shooting you will find me all there,” ‘‘Then have some man to set you up and I'll have a friend to place me. If you are as good as you say we'll both tumble, and the world will be well rid of us.” ‘Now, and here, then. With us living and in the same camp neither would dare sleep.”’ ‘‘Neither would want to sleep—I from hate, and you from fear. Ready?” “Hold on, hold on. ‘Pears ter me yer might hev some regard fur ther dignity ov ther place ef yer ain't fur me. When two gentlemen fouls each other in ther course ov biz I don’t mind. ‘That hez ter be so. But when two fellers gives warnin’ thet they're just goin’ ter sail in I don’t consider it fair all around; an’ I sez—go out-doors. Be yer goin’?” The proprietor had suddenly wakened up to the demands of business; and decided that this was a case he could adjust. Joe took the address in good part. ‘Right you are, Neddy. There’s a beau- tiful spot just outside of the door. Primrose will act for me; and I have no doubt but that this gentleman will act for you, he Kavanaugh. He seems to be a kind of side pard and cenfidential friend, anyhow.” ‘‘Come,” retorted Kavanaugh, you are wasting wind. I can’t trust you; but I'll trust them behind you.” To show his good intentions he handed his revolvers to Mr. Cathcart, and looked around over the crowd. The crowd had forgotten Abednego, for the most part; and were curious to find out what was inthe wind now. Gentle Joe went through the door, and he was followed, first by Mortimer, and then by all the rest. It was a lovely little place for the settle- ment of such an affair, and the spectators could only regret that the moonlight, bright though it was, could not be supplemented with a more effective illumination. They could see reasonably well, but the little min- utiz, that make or break the gilt-edged nature of such affairs, might be lost. A regular duel was as good as a circus, when it could be seen; but shadows in the starlight are peculiarly provoking, and the Bar, on second thought, was half inclined to think, if there was more danger in it for out- siders, there was still more satisfaction in a rough and tumble in the bar-room. Mr. Cathcart took hold of his side of the ceremonies without any apparent reluctance, but with some curiosity. Once on the pases | he looked up and down the street, to get the lay of the land, and then turned to his man. ‘We are strangers in fact, but if what I have just heard from an outsider—whoase word, as a general thing, is none too reliable —I should know something of you and your friends. I doubt if this is as profitable em- ployment for you as you might find on the other side of the mountains, and if you are — open to advice I would say, crawfish out if micbooks 29 “ f 2 les trod at ety Al oe - ” ent an # oe