Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 383 — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

linemen ———- —- —$—$— $$ ——— + —- Indian Bill’s Hole, and to relate the particu- | lars of the attempt by Jim Boggs upon the life of Angus Dameron, and the subsequent | assault upon himself, which had resulted in the death of Boggs. As regarded the money and the mine, he said that Dameron had assured him that un- der an agreement between himself and Jim Boggs it was all to belong to the survivor of them, which state of facts had doubtless prompted Boggs’s murderous attack. It was at Angus Dameron’s request that he, Dick Herries, had stepped into the place of the dead partner, who was held by them to have forfeited all his rights in the premises, They had said nothing about the death of Jim Boggs, as they considered themselves | clearly in the right, and thought it not worth while to make any fuss about the affair. But it had been their intention, if the mine should ‘‘ pan out well,” to inquire for the heirs of Jim Boggs, and give them at least his forfeited share of the partnership money. 7 Dick Herries told this story clearly and plainly, and with an apparent desire to give the truth and conceal nothing. Consequently his statement: made a good impression upon the jury of visitors, as well as upon the Whitewood spectators. But it was only his statement, with noth- ing but his word to back it, and its effect was weakened by his recent history as dis- closed by Andrew Birkett, by the admitted fact that he had killed Jim Boggs and had taken possession of his property, and by his subsequent secrecy in regard to the entire affair. Dick Herries perceived the weak points of his defense, and alluded to them. ‘You have only my word for this,” said he; ‘‘but Angus Dameron, if he had not been killed or nearly killed by the shock of his brutal treatment to-day, would tell you that I have spoken the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I hope he | may have at least recovered his voice by this time, so that he can back up what | have | said.” This was a vain hope. Harry Cline came in from the house across the creek, bringing the sad intelligence that Angus Dameron was helplessly and hope- lessly paralyzed, incapable of speech or motion. The jury, led by Ben Ripley as judge and | foreman, got together in a corner, where they consulted in whispers. | in a few minutes the result was announced by Ben Ripley. ; ‘* The eaaias of the jury is,” said he, ‘that they are sorry for it, but the evidence | against Dick Herries is so strong that he will have to go and stand his trial.” CHAPTER XXX. MUGGS GETS HIS WORK IN, a Srmron Muaas, known to the general pub- lic as Muggs of Muggsville, was not an in- active person. He atoned for his lack of beauty by his abundance, seeming to possess the faculty of being everywhere at once, . That was of course an exaggeration of the sure enough fact that he could distribute himself over a large surface with amazing celerity. Without in any way neglecting the duty to which he had been assigned by Silver Sam, he happened to be in Butte at the time | of the excitement occasioned by the finding of the body of Jim Boggs and the coroner’s inquest and subsequent proceedings. Muggs was deeply interested in those mat- ters, as Dick Herries was the father of Kate Herries, and the affection of her ugly guar- dian for the girl had amounted to adoration. She was alsc very dear to Sam Slevin, who ‘as. worshiped by his tough adherent, and who was supposed to be still a Whitewood whither he had taken her to join her father, Thus it came to pass that Simon Muggs, NO). having some information which be wished to present to his leader and employer, made that an excuse for a visit to Whitewood shortly after the departure of Andrew Bir- kett’s party. As ha iad mounted on a tough Indian pony. that was accustomed to surmounting all manner of natural obstacles, he decided upon seving time and distance by taking a as Indian Bill’s ‘and Jim Boggs, it was natural that he should not permit him to consider anything a trifle. ‘very useful ally, and in whose employment ‘he had learned that there are more places /more ways than one of getting at it. case, as he hastene , ope. Silver Sam, Detective: short cut through the pass that was known lole. When he had got as far into the canyon as the cabin that had sheltered Angus Dameron desire to visit the scene of the tragedy which had been the cause of so much comment, He rode up to the dilapidated cabin, and found the door nailed shut as Andrew Bir- kett and his friends had left it. But Muggs, who had the habit of doing what he set out to do, was not to be hindered by a little thing like that. Hitching his pony, he easily effected an entrance, and examined the interior of the cabin at his leisure, while he cooked a bit of supper for himself on the vacant hearth, ex- pecting to pass the night there. He noted the blood-stains on the floor, the bloody track that led to the entrance, and the few rude articles of furniture that had been left, rusty, damp, moldy and mildewed, and thought that he had taken in the entire location and surroundings of the killing of Jim Boggs. But his fire, when it blazed up brightly on the hearth, showed him something that he had overlooked. It was a small matter, only a coat that hung against the wall in a corner. Not much of a coat, either—probably a | working coat that had belonged to one of the men who had inhabited the cabin for a | while, It was so worn and tattered that it had evidently outlived its usefulness, and Angus | Dameron had not thought it worth taking | away, and the men who had subsequently | entered the cabin had not thought it worth | noticing. But Muggs hada turn of mind that did SaaS He had been to a considerable extent edu- | cated by Sam Slevin, who had found him a | than one in which truth may, be found, and Me took the coat down, handling it rather | gingerly, carefully examining its outward | aspect, and then searched the pockets. , His search was rewarded by the discovery | of a letter that was sealed, directed, and even stamped ready for mailing. Simon Muggs took it to the firelight, and a look of interest stole into his stolid face as he noted the direction. Probably he had no conscientious scruples about opening another man’s letter as a gen- he had none in this to cut open the envel- eral thing. Certainl Then he brightened up his fire, and pro- ceeded to read the letter. Muggs was not a good reader of writing, and this writing was not particular! BB and it was a slow job for him to spell it out, but he had not got through with it when the knobs on his face glistened, and his eyes fair- ly bulged out of his head He jumped up, uttering a cry of joy that sounded like the yelp of a coyote, Then he calmed down, put the letter back in the envelope, restored it to its pocket in the old coat, rolled that garment into a bundle and tied it tightly. When the supper that he had prepared for himself had disappeared down his throat very rapidly, he seized the bundle, hurried out to his horse, mounted, and rode away up the canyon, ” All night he rode, regardless of darkness and obstacles, of difficulties and dangers, and the next day he pushed his pony near to the limit of the tough little beast’s endurance. The pony, in fact, was nearly broken down when Muggs rode into the new and small camp of Whitewood. Perceiving a crowd in front of the. Sham- rock Saloon, he urged his tired steed to that center of excitement. The men outside, who were mostly miners, | were so deeply engaged in the discussion of | some absorbing subject, that they scarcely | paused to notice the queer stranger on the pony. _ “What do they say, Jim?” was the cager | nant as they clustered around a man who | ha just come out of the saloon. | ‘They say that Mr. Herries is guilty, and that he’s got to go.” ’ ‘* Does he mean to give in?” ~ | tened to untie his precious bundle. 21 **So he says. He agreed to leave it to those men, you know. But he sticks to it that he: ain't guilty.” ‘“And so he ain’t, and we don’t ought to- let him be carried off by that crowd of rus- tlers.” Muggs had already dismounted and hitched his pony. Gripping his bundle tightly, he forced his }, way into the saloon, and through the press of people about the bar, back to where Ben Ripley and his jury of visitors were stand- ing, with Dick Herries and his friends and. Andrew Birkett and his party. The prominent citizen of Butte had an air,. somewhat too evidently, of triumphant mal- ice, While Dick Heriies wore a troubled and downcast expression, and Sam Slevin had a. look of perplexity. Muggs siahad his way to Slevin, regard-. less of the grumbling and cursing of those: whom he hustled about. His leader’s face lighted up when he saw him, and the look of perplexity changed to one of surprise. ‘‘ Hello, Muggs!” was Sam’s greeting. ‘‘ Where have you come from, and how did you happen to drop in here?” Muggs made no verbal answer, but has- From the ragged coat he took the letter which he had opened, and handed it to his chief, Slevin looked at the direction wonder- ingly, and glanced over the letter in a great. hurry. ‘Where did you get it, Muggs?” he de- manded, in an excited whisper. Muggs answered him as quickly and as. briefly as possible, and Sam stepped ferward eridely, his face and manner showing that, some. extraordinary occurrence had moved! him. ‘‘Mr. Ripley,” he said, ‘‘ I have a favor to: ask of you. It is one which you will grant. as a matter of courae, because it is in the interest of justice. 1 want you to open this: case and call the jury together again, as I have some new evidence to submit to them which has just come in.” ‘ Andrew Birkett protested largely against — this course, declaring that the matter had . been settled according to agreement, and no “‘after-claps ” could be allowed. But Ben Ripley paid no attention to the protest, his court being a court of ‘‘ justice,” rather than a court of law. He called the meeting to order, and the members of the visiting jury assembled to hear the new evidence, . Slevin requested Boggs to step forward, and that individual obeyed, evidently won- dering what was the matter, . The letter was folded so that only the sig- nature was Visible, and was placed before his. eyes. ‘Ts that the handwriting of Jim Boggs,, your brother?” asked Sam Slevin. . Abner admitted that it was. . ‘‘Look over the letter, then, and tell me — whether you wish to read it to the jury or would prefer that I should do it.” goa Abner’s eyes dilated as he glanced overthe paper, and his face turned ashy pale, ; le handed it back to his questioner, fee- bly saying that he did not care to read it. aloud. =~ Silver Sam called upon Simon Muggs, who stated where and how he had found ther 4 letter. oF _- _Then the former read aloud this extraor- dinary and unexpected communication from Jim Boggs, addressed to his brother Abner. _ ‘Dear Brotrer:— -s ‘Since I last wrote to you, asking youtocome out here in the spring, things have changed, and now I ig yaa want you to come unless you hearfrom me rain, * We are snowed in here, shut up in the cabin,and the loneliness of it, with the way we are buried alive, is nearly enough to drive a mancrazy. Ishould gol} out of my mind if I stayed here much longer, ; ‘‘Dameron has been sick here over three weeks, : and I have had an awful hard time with bim, } eis so fretful and so queer that I have got out of all Fis patience with him, and I mean to put an end to this ¥. sort of thing as he will never be any good. he): “So Iam going to make an end of him to-night or to-morrow, and then I will light out of here with the rh¢ money. Perhaps I will go East. and wait for aDrng ee to look up the mine. Anyhow, I mean to get rid of Danieron’ tor good and all. ge * This mney sound kinder awful to you who don’t. know anything about what men havetodoouthere; but the man bas got scarcely a bit of lifein him,and — if you had been obliged to put up with him as long as I have, you would feel as | do, ; Pot NiIiGDoOO (€(0) (G S a a we as