Beadle's Dime Library No. 384 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

be Ses Set Fe a i Injun Dick, Detective. “‘Bu’sted flat as a pancake, and that is jest |onsuch a trip, and just after nightfall the two | w’ot makes me hungry to get at the gore of the aloots w’ot went for the dust. I was a-count- ing on that for to rig me out like a gentleman. And I say, Dick, how can you foller up this hyer trail without spondulicks? It takes money to make the mare go, you know?” ** Rest easy on that score; it isn’t often that 1 et clear down to bed-rock,”’ Talbot replied. ‘I ave a few hundred inmy money-belt, and when that runs low, I must strike some sharps who think they can play poker, and so replenish the money-chest.”’ Bowers loudly expressed his admiration of the forethought of his pard, and then the twostretch- ed themselves in the shelter of the trees and es- sayed to gain a little rest; for they knew that they had work ahead of them. As soon as the town became awake Talbot and Bowers made their appearance, and told the | story of the terrible death of Limber Bee and | their own attempted assassination after the rob- bery of the cabin. Business was instantly suspended, and a posse organized to look into the matter. nthe frontier, where the regular courts of law and police machinery do not exist, each man feels bound when any outrages occur to do his level best to detect and bring to speedy justice the doers of all evil deeds. Talbot and Bowers told their story, and as both had suspected, public opinion ran all one | way. The unfortunate Alethea was universally be- | lieved to be in league with the guilty parties. The most of the citizens held that there was oaly one man concerned in the matter, a lover of the woman, and that together they had plan- neck the murder of Limber Bee, the plunder of the cabin, and then had fled. Parties were dispatched in all directions to nin intelligence. Suspicion was particularly directed against the unknown old man who had inquired the way to Murphy’s Gulch. There wasn’t much doubt in the minds of the | miners that the old man was no old man at all, but a young one in disguise, the confederate of the woman, and that her offer to accompany him, so as to show him the way was but a clever device to get Talbot away from the cabin. As time passed ou, finding that she did not re- turn, if was more than likely that Talbot would | be led to go in search of her, and so leave the cabin unprotected, as actually happened. By nightfall all the scouting-parties had re turned, and though the stock of information which they had obtained was meager in the ex- treme, yet enough was gathered to confirm the mivers in their belief that tiiey had guessed the secret of the mystery. No old man, or any stranger at all, had been near Murphy’s Gulch on either the night of the tragedy,or the morning succeeding, But a rancher who had a place in the foot-hills. of the Cottonwood Mountains, some twenty miles south of Yampa City, down toward White river, reported that at an early hour somewhere around three or four o’clock, being troubled by an aching tooth so that he could. not sleep, hap- ning to sit smoking by his window, endeavor- ing to werd a his pain, he had noticed two stran- gers, both young men apparently, and well mounted on *‘ American horses,” so called to | distinguish the large horses brought from the East from the little native ponies, riding rapidly toward the south, and from the awkward way in which one of the cavaliers rode, he judged it was a woman in male attire. The matter did not make any particular im- pression upon him at the time, and he probably would not have given it a second thought if the story of the murder and robbery, wherein a man and woman were believed to have a hand, had not been brought to his notice. The town was unanimous in the belief that the true trail had been struck. The fugitives had fled to the south’ard, and after coming to the White river they could discovered this fact. adventurers started. : They put up at the rancher’s house that night and obtained from him all the information he | possessed in regard to the fugitives. ’ Bright and early next morning they set out | upon the trail. Talbot had a good map of the country, and , during the evening he hud carefully examined it, | aided by the rancher, who was an old hunter, and a man thoroughly posted in regard to all of Southwestern Colorado, The conclusion reached by Talbot was entire- ly different from the guesses made by the towns- men. But then he had some knowledge to aid him which they did not possess. He did not believe that the fugitives would either flee into Utah or find a shelter in South- western Colorado. Alethea came from the East; any acquain- | tance of hers would be apt to come from that | direction, and in the event of flight it seemed to | Talbot that the fugitives would be much more apt to attempt to seek concealment east of the mountains rather than west. His idea was that the fugitives would, by way | of the Gunnison valley, get into the heart of | Colorado, then make their way to Pueblo and thence to the East. After they took up the trail again he sounded Bowers as to his ideas on the point, and to his satisfaction discovered that the veteran bad ar- rived at the same conclusion. This was a good sign, in Talbot’s opinion, for he had great faith in the judgment of the old original in a matter of this kind. Nothing of moment transpired until the trackers got into the Gunnison region, and then in the neighborhood of Poncha Spring they got news of the fugitives. F Talbot had not neglected to inquire with due diligence of all he met‘in regard to the pair whom he was tracking so closely. After getting so far away from the scene of the tragedy, the pair had apparently relaxed in their flight, and were disposed to take mat- ters easy. And then came a strange accident, Amid the head-waters of the Arkansas, head- ing toward Pueblo, Talbot and Bowers abso- lutely got ahead of the fugitives, and were oblig- ed to turn back. This was unfortunate, for if warned the pair that a tracker was upon their trail, and they began to double like hunted hares, ‘‘ We'll have ’em soon, pard,” Talbot observed to Bowers, with grim determination, when he The scent was growing hotter and hotter, and the trailers’ blood was at fever heat, when one leasant afternoon the pards came to _ the pane of the Arkansas, heading toward South ark, The fugitives had now changed their route— had apparently given up all idea of making Pueblo, and were heading for Denver. The trailers rode down to the ford, and as Talbot looked around him he could not help re- marking to Bowers: ** What a capital spot for an ambuscade!” ‘* Beautiful!” exclaimed the bummer. __ 5 “Tf the party we are after had any disposi- tion to show fight, I doubt if they could find a better place in all Colorado,” Hardly had the words left his lips when— _“ Zip, zip, zip, zip!” sung the bullets in the Yr. The horses reared in agony, and the two | bloodhounds, clutching wildly at vacancy, fell | from the backs of their steeds. | It was an ambuscade! | CHAPTER VIII. THE NAME NEVER were men taken more sho ag by rise, for neither Talbot nor Bowers the either follow that stream down to its junction | slightest suspicion that a foe was near. with the Green and find a refuge in some of the Utah towns, or they could keep straight on, cross the Cottonwood Mountains and foll valley of the Rio Grande down into South- western Colorado. But in the opinion of the town it did not mat- The thought that the spot afforded an excel- lent chance to plant an ambuscade was a natur- ow the | al one, but Talbot never even dreamed that the | fugitives would be daring enough to attempt anything of the kind, although the murder of Limber Bee was a convincing proof that the doer ter much which way the fugitives had gone; so | of the deed was not a man who would hesitate long as they were well mounted, well heeled with | at any crime. gold-dust, and had twenty hours’ start, there But that the two would turn at bay and show wasn't the slightest chance of a pursuit proving | fight was a wonder, and such an event had never | successful. : All despaired of doing anything but Talbot and his pard, the fat bummer. And neither one of these two either gave utter- ance to much hope in regard to the matter, entered into Talbot’s calculations, | Now, too late, he perceived the reason for the | fugitives’ erratic course. ; The head demon had been selecting a spot | where he might be able to strike a deadly blow | Talbot felt certain that the right trail had | at his pursuers. been struck, and he said quietly that it wouldn’t No better mode of stopping a pursuit could be | There were four of them—four big and burl ruffians, armed to the teeth, fairly bristling wit weapons. But not one of the four bore any resemblance to the old man who had inquired the way to Murphy’s Gulch and who was supposed to be the murderer of Limber Bee. And it would have required a fertile imagina- tion indeed to have fancied that any one of these burly men was the queenly Mrs. Beaverwick in disguise, The smoke was still eurling from the muzzles of the pistols in the bands of the ruffians when they made their appearance, and then set up a great shout of triumph as they looked upon the destruction which they had wrought. ‘* Durn me for a no-souled gopher!” cried the biggest man of the gang, a red-bearded ruffian who seemed to bo the leader of the party, ‘if this ain’t the cleanest and nicest leetle bit of business we have had our paws into for some | time,” ‘**You bet!’ yelled the rest, in a sort of chorus. ‘* Earned the money easy, eh, boys?” ‘* Yes, yes,” responded the others. **Rarned it without half trying, too. Cuss me! if I wouldn’t like to run afoul of a job like this every day in the week,” continued the red- bearded giant. ‘Why, boyees, we could make enuff so we could all live like fighting-cocks; each man could set up a gin-mill of his own.” A burst of laughter greeted this sally. “If we did that I reckon the proprietor would be the best: customer,” observed one of the gang. And the rest agreed with the assertion. ‘* Well, boyees, let’s finish up the job by going through the pilgrims. Their wealth ain’t of no account to them now, and, maybe, it will do us some good,” This suggestion was received with decided ap- srobation, and shoving their revolvers in the 10lsters which were belted to their waists, the ruffians sauntered to where the bodies of the vic- tims lay. The horses had been struck in vital parts, and already the animals had ceased to kick and lay motionless, gradually stiffening, chilled by death’s cold hand. The humans were as mo- tionless as the beasts, and the leader of the cut- laws chuckled as he noticed the fact, and called the attention of his followers to it, ‘¢ Hey, bovees, do yersee them stiffs? Ain’tit a neat bit of work? Darn me! ef I thought we were sich mighty good shots. ‘*T tell you wo’t itis, fellers, we must go in fur to make our mark the next time they call on the crack shots of Colorado to come to the frunt.” There was a general guffaw at this speech, for although each and every member of the band boasted of his ability in the shooting line, yet there wasn’t one of them who did not secretly have doubts in regard to bis abilities as a marks- man. Both Talbot and Bowers lay on their backs, just as they bad fallen from the plunging horses, and in the right hand of each was a revolver, In the first moments of the surprise both had abet a weapon, but either the bullets of the oe or the plunging of the horses had dismounted pnt before they had a chance to use these tools. ‘They are two nice-looking kids, ain’t they?” cried the outlaw giant in mockery, as he strode up to the prostrate men. “°Ticularly the fat ‘un. Look at the fat ‘un! Ain’t he a healthy looking corpus?” “You bet!” cried the veteran bummer, ab- ruptly, and as he spoke he discharged his revol- ver at the outlaw chief, sending that individual to his long account with the shortest shrift on record, for the bullet pierced his brain and he to pled over dead on the instant. Palbot was equally as Pate to open fire, and two of the scoundrels fell before his bullets, one killed outright with a ball through his lungs, and the other mortally wounded with a shot in his head. ‘ The fourth ruffian, dismayed by the fate of his comrades, started to run, all the fight com- pital taken out of him, but a bullet from owers’s revolver brought him to the ground, disabled. Both Talbot and Bowers were wounded, but not seriously, and simultaneously, without any consultation between them, each had decided ke playing the same game, the old ‘possum rick, By pretending to be dead the ambushed men would be drawn from their hiding-places, and the fight rendered decidedly more even. As we have seen, the plan succeded to a charm, and the defeat been turned into a victory. ‘ . The biter had been bit with a vengeance, The victors rose to their feet and proceeded to: ascertain what damage they had received in doany harm for him and his pard to take a scout | devised than killing the bloodhounds, hot upon , the encounter. southward and see if they could pick up any | the trail. further information. So he disposed of his claim, and instead of buying the mule for Bowers, as he had intended, invested in two of the best horses The horses were mortally wounded by the deadly-aimed bullets, the riders also apparent- | ly dispatched, and, thinking the bloody work in the town, laid in a stock of such articles as | they had lain concealed, came the ambushed as- | his long experience told him would be necessary © sassins. ‘‘ Well, you’re not dead yet, Bowers,” Talbot remarked, as he opened his shirt in order to: ascertain the direction a ball had taken which had struck him in the side of the chest and he could find | was consummated, out from the coverts where from which he experienced considerable pain. ‘** No, sir-ee, but "bout a dozen of the blamed bullets have scraped the bark offen me,” the Eomicboo! € < Cc o)