Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 385 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

ae Wild Dick Turpin, the Lion of Leadville. is not one of your tricks, explain yourself in as few words as possible. I haven’t the ghost of an idea what you are talking about,” ‘Dick, you can’t deceive me!” she exclaimed. ‘Tam not blind. Do you imagine that I don’t understand where pes go when you put on that suit? Once beyond the cave you cease to be the Lion of Leadville, and play a very different part. Just where you go I don’t know, but I can almost swear it is to visit some woman, Why should you go there unless to—make love to her?” The last words were uttered sharply, after a little pause, and the deeper shadow of annoyance on Dick’s face indicated that, however correct the suspicion, he was not pleased by the suspicion expression. Still, he managed to laugh. ‘‘ Nonsense! You are wholly wild, Kit. What has put such an absurd idea into your mind?” vr f am not blind.” ‘¢ None of the men have spoken of it, and they would surely do so if they suspected as much as ‘you do.” ‘* Unlike me, they are blind.” Dick looked at her with a new interest. This was not Red Kit, the Wasp. No keen retort, no bright remark served to connect her with the old days. A woman stood before him, and in the quick breathing, the troubled face and averted eyes, he read something—he knew not what—which was so radical a change, that he felt sure he should never again be able to re- gard her as he had done before. ‘‘ Have you spoken to your father, Kit?” “ve not spoken to any one.” — ‘* Well, why do you come to me, anyway?” There was a tinge of Dy aes in his voice, and he felt like asking if he was not capable of managing his own affairs, but could not utter the words. What was his surprise when the girl suddenly and fiercely exclaimed: ‘* Because, I would rather die than see you marry that woman!” Dick Turpin recoiled, The vehement outburst was startling, and he would have beer. blind had not a vague suspicion of the truth occurred to him, ‘«Tt’s no use for you to deny it, for I can see as plain as day,” she continued. ‘* Somewhere, not a great many miles from here, is a woman whom you go to see. Probably she don’t know that you are Dick Turpin, but you are thinking of making her your wife. Then you would eith- er bring her here or desert the band. I wouldn’t have spoken—now—but I didn’t know how soon you might go. Oh! Dick, Dick! kill me if you ‘will, but don’t love that woman!” ith this passionate outburst the girl fell on her knees, seized his hand and pressed it to her ips. The most gifted of emotional actresses could not have given a more vivid picture of woman’s consuming grief, but, in Red Kit’s ease, it yao 4 from her very heart. The Lion of Leadville stood dazed and uncer- tain. Blind, indeed, would he have been had he failed to understand then. She whom he had re- garded as a buoyant, careless child had revealed in one breath that she was a woman at last, and moved by the deepest of woman’s emotions. Dick was dismayed. Outlaw he might be, but he was far superior to the petty knaves of so- ciety who revel in the sorrow of those who are so unfortunate as to love them; and Turpin felt only deep pity for the britht, kind-hearted girl whom he had always liked as a friend. . Gravely he lifted her to her feet, and then laced a chair for her. Then he sat down beside teri Her hands covered her face, and he could see but little of her bent head save the brick-red hair, with its beautiful ripples. ‘* Kit,” he said, gently, ‘‘ I am very sorry that you are in trouble.” ‘*T couldn't help telling you,” she said, with a sob. ‘‘ Mother has told me how they do in the outside world; how all women hide their feelings and drift with the tide; but I can’t do like them —it would kill me. I must speak plainly. Dick, you know what 1 mean, and it now rests with ou. She don’t love you as I do!” “Kit, Kit, why will you persist in your sus- picion? Have I not said that you are wrong?” ‘““T don’t blame you, but I know Lam right. There is another woman, and you go to see her, but if you insist on loving her, Il] kill myself. Dick, ain’t you happy now? Are there better companions anywhere than the boys? Don’t we doa'!l we can to make roe comfortable here? Oh! Dick, why can’t you happy with me?—with ME?” Once more she dropped on her knees at his feet, and the outlaw was almost at his wits’ end. Red Kit’s love was not like the flame of a can- dle which dies away ina night. It was strong, enduring, all-absorbing and passionate, and he felt that no common means could control it. CHAPTER IV. THE GATHERING STORM. Witp Dick had more than one reason for feel- ing troubled by Red Kit’s unexpected avowal. Now that he had time to think more clearly he perceived that it might cause trouble to more than herself, and he realized the importance of arguing away her fancy. o sss a So he began, with all the eloquence, logic and skill at his command. It seemed but a day be- fore that he had consoled her for the loss of a fawn, which she had in the cave. Her tears then he had regarded as those of a child, Now, how all was changed! He was trying to convince her that it would be to her advantage not to love him, Why follow his elaborate argument? Why dwell on his wise logic? Advice is easy to give, but how different the position of the one who re- ceives it; while the experience of time has shown the world that one might as well try to con- trol the waters of the ocean as the flood-tide of ove. Red Kit did not hear in silence. Child of Nature that she was, she would not shrink back into a passive creature of clay, like her sisters of oie al when her heart’s happiness was at stake. Rebelliously she met Dick’s argument, and when a clock atone side struck seven, he saw that he must go without having convinced her. A|- ready he ought to be miles away, but this strange interview had made the lapse of time the last thing in bis mind, ‘*T must go, Kit,” he said, kindly, “ but I will see you again. Think seriously upon what I have said, and remember who | am: a hunted outlaw. I fear I could never make you happy.” ‘* You don’t seem to be afraid that you can’t make her happy!” retorted the girl, something in her old mood. ‘*You will insist that there is a mysterious woman. This is absurd, for I would not ask any one to become the wife of an outlaw—” **So you're going to quit the business!” - Quick as a flash came the interruption, and Turpin saw that no ordinary evasion would an- swer with Red Kit. The situation was growing serious, and, seeing no other way to do, he de- clared emphatically that her suspicions were groundless. That she believed him he did not think, but there was no help for it; he could de- lay no longer to continue a useless argument, He went out to order one of his men to get his horse ready, and, no sooner was Kit alone than she ran along another passage, caught up a hat and shawl as she went, and then made her way to where the horses were kept. This was in a large, natural arena; so large that, as Dick Turpin’s man prepared the black steed for the road, he did not see that Red Kit was at the same time saddling her own horse. Dick soon led out the black, mounted, and went galloping down a canyon. He was long behind the time at which he had intended to start, and must make it up by rapid riding. As he clattered away he did not suspect that another horse was speeding in the rear; he did not imagine that the cave-girl had determined to solve the doubt which was in her mind, and was in a promising position to do it, Her theory in regard to Dick Turpin was cor- rect. There was a woman in the case; he intended to marry her; and it was his intention to pemeey desert the band and leave no sign be- ind him. His history was a strange one, and only mis- fortunes and bitter wrongs had driven him to the life of a road-agent. Naturally honest, kind and upright, he had found the world and all its ople ‘‘ dead against him.” When he tried to be onest he was accused of crime; if he trusted a fellow-man, the confidence was betrayed. If it is true that some men are born under an unlucky star, such must have been his lot. Mis- fortune dogged his steps wherever he went; he was imprisoned for crimes never committed, and his life was made a burden. How he e associated with the outlaws will be told later. It was the result of chance, but when he drifted on the tide, his dashing bravery soon made him famous. He succeeded one Burke Broutt as leader. Broutt had been a cruel, yet cowardly, ruffian. Dick Turpin, when xromoted, took as his motto: ‘Plunder, not utchery!” and made his men live up to it. Since he had been at the head he had become noted, but the Leadville trails were safer than ever before, so far as human life was concerned. There was a brighter spot in the Leadville Lion’s life. Fifteen miles from the city lived a well-to-do mine superintendent, whose name was Raoul Legrand. One day the road-agent chief, traveling in his proper person, chanced upon the miner’s house. That day gave him a glimpse of a new life. Legrand had a daughter, Lots, and from the first Dick Turpin loved her. He determined to win her for his wife, but the way was one of diffi- culty. He saw that she was thoroughly honor- able, and would never look kindly upon a road- nt. = iis course was soon decided upon. Securing a sheep-ranch forty miles away, he selected a man whom he found begging for bread in Denver, and gave him one-half of all on condi- tion that he represented to all that he and ** Barnes,” as Dick called himself at Legrand’s, were equal ers, and that the latter was a good deal of the time away on business for the outfit, This man proved faithful. At regular intervals Dick went to Legrand’s, talked about his sheep-ranch, and quietly con- ducted his wooing. He was successful; Lois: promised to become his wife; and it was ar- ranged that, mg reeaepr & after the wedding which was near at hand, the entire family shoul go to Dakota and settle on a cattle-ranch. Turpin dared not locate nearer Leadville. All his hopes of the future were bound up in this plan. is position as an outlaw had be- come unbearable since he had won Lois’s heart, and, though he had found the only good luck of his life since entering upon his career on the road, he was anxious to lead a life such as to deserve Lois’s love and respect, hoping that the old ill-luck would never return. Only a few days more, and he would be able to call Lois his own, Then it remained only to slip quietly away, and Dick Turpin would be: buried so deeply that he hoped no one would ever mention him again. With what anticipation he looked forward to the new life no pen can tell. His wasted, wretched, unfortunate past lay behind him like. a black, miasmatic swamp, alike offensive and dangerous to behold. The future held—what? Perhaps a home, with Lois as its good spirit, and the road-agent’s heart daily sent up the xrayer which he dared not bring to his lips tilh Dick Turpin was a thing of the past. He was now going to see Lois, and his black horse was for once too slow to keep pace with his: eagerness to be there; the delay at the cave had. been annoying. It was annoying in more tha Turpin deeply regretted Red passion, She had been the life of the cave, and he had liked her as he would a child of half her years. Until recently he had not supposed her more than sixteen, and it was a new revelation to think of her as a woman. ** Poor Kit!” he muttered, ‘‘I wish she had never seen me. She is a fine little girl, and would make some mana good wife, but Provi- dence grant that she may speedily forget me!” Little did the road-agent suspect that Red Kit. was even then on his track, intent on learning just who, and what, the Woman was who had pen the place she would gladly have filled in his. eart. As usual Dick took precautions to prevent officers of law from dogging him secretly, but the ‘‘ Wasp” showed a cunning which baffled his precautions. Screened by the darkness, she followed un- Once at Legrand’s the outlaw stabled his horse, entered the house and became plain Richard Barnes, dealer in sheep from South down Ranch. There he was sure of a warm re- ception from Leis, her father and her mother. one sense, and t’s unfortunate They little s ted his real character, and he looked forward eagerly to the now fast approach- ing day when this muttering volcano would be left behind. Red Kit secreted her own horse in the bushes, and then, when a little reconnoitering had satis- fied her that she need not fear detection, she advanced close to the house to investigate fur- ther. A lowered curtain interfered with her plan, but, finding the window unfastened, raised the lower sash a trifle and was able to gratify botb her eyes and ears, Dick and Lois were in the room together. — outlaw’s daughter looked and saw her rival. Lois Legrand was beautiful in the full sense of the word, with a fine form; well-shaped fea- tures; large, earnest, hazel eyes, which were like a well from which sprung honesty, sincerity and intelligence; anda grace of word and motion which might well charm any man, Red Kit saw this at a glance. She did not underrate her rival, and her face was full of dis- may. Until that moment she had not abandcn- ed all hopes of convincing Dick that she would make him happier than “‘that other woman,” but she realized at last what she had to work against. “Her rival could meet charm with charm, and the mountain girl also caw that Lois was one who had had the advantages of the more civi- lized world; and she had an idea that these ad- vantages gave a woman the same power tat a snake possesses which charms a helpless bird. The spy listened. What she heard was like the death-sentence to. a helpless prisoner in court. The words of the young couple were plainly audible, and she heard them express their mutual love and speak of the approaching wedding, . Her worst fears were realized! Finally, she could bear it no longer, and, rush- ing back to her horse, she sprung upon its back and dashed away toward the cave at full speed. Once she looked back at the house, and then burst into bitter tears. “Tost! lost! That female rattlesnake has coiled herself about his heart, and it’s no wonder he gives no thought to red-headed Kit, the Wasp. Yes, she’s pretty, but I hate her—hate her! She has robbed me— Hasshe? No! it shall not be. Before she shall have Dick, I'll shoot her to the heart! Gerwue fa Eomicbooks wl fe’ ¥, ik. # :