Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 389 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

a On the evening of the second day after their ‘arrival he took supper with them at the Lone Star Hotel, and after supper Joe Burgess invit- ed him to accompany them up-stairs to their room. ‘‘T want to show you,” said Burgess, ‘‘ the pair of pistols that the Gov’nor gave me for my work in ketchin’ the scamp who murdered the Rawlings family on the Pecos,” Jim Sartine readily went with them to the room that was occupied by the three Ran- gers, After they had entered Jack Poole loitered near the door, while Joe Burgess went to the other end of the room with Jim Sn rtine, and Sol Nettley took a position between iis two com- rades. Burgess opened his grip sack and took out ‘two handsome silver-mounted revolvers of the latest and best pattern, which he handed to his guest. “There’s the beauties,” he said, “and I’m powerful proud o’ them, not only because o’ their value, but because o’ the way I got them,” Sartine took the weapons and looked at them admiringly. ‘*They are beauties, sure enough,” said he, ‘*T would like to own a pair like them.” “cc Let ‘Want to swap?” inquired Burgess, me look at yours.” Jim Sartine was the possessor of two excel- «celent revolvers, which he always carried on his person. ie took them off and handed them to Bur- ross, who stepped aside as if for the purpose of «:-1mining them. Sartine was still looking admiringly at the brand new weapons when he was startled by i320 ominous click of a pistol. Another click followed instantly, and then another. Iie looked up quickly, doubtless supposing that Burgess was trying the lock of one of his weapons. To his great surprise and consternation he found himself covered by three revolvers, one in the right hand of each of the three Rangers, cocked and leveled at him, ‘*What does this mean?” he sharply manded. ‘We arrest you,” calmly answered Burgess. ** You are our prisoner.” Instinctively Sartine raised one of the pistols he held, ** It’s no use, pard,” observed Burgess. ‘* Those guns ain’t loaded.” That was the case, as Sartine well knew, and he perceived that he was trapped. e had thoughtlessly given up his weapons, and in their place be had two useless pistols. He was fairly covered by three determined men, and was completely at their mercy. Escape was no more to be thought of than re- ‘sistance. There was a window near him, but it was too far from the ground to be useful to him. His only course was to accept the situation and make the best of it. ‘** You have got me foul,” he said; ‘“‘ but I am ready to take my Bible oath that I don’t know what you mean by it. What right have you to arrest me, and what do you ar:est me for?” ‘** We are officers of the State of Texas,” an- swered Burgess, ‘acting under the orders of Govnor Sheldon. We arrest you under a requisition from the Gow’nor of Arizona, signed and warranted by the Gov’nor of this State. You are accused of robbin’ stages and murderin’ people up in Arizona.” “There is a mistake out somehow, I was mever in Arizona in my life, except to pass through.” e “Youve got to go there now, anyhow, and ‘when you get there you will see what the proof de- ‘* This is a mean trick, Joe,” protested the ex- marshal—*‘ as mean a trick as a white man was ever guilty of. I thought you boys were my friends, and I showed you around here, and you have had the best the town could set up for you, and all you wanted was to play this sneaking game—to hang around it you got me away from my friends and in a corner, and then spring this thing on me. I would never have thought it of you.” ““Couldn’t help it, pard,” replied Burgess. «¢ We had to obey orders and take you the best way wecould, If you are the man the requisi- tion calls for, you are a powerful dangerous cuss, and we couldn’t be too keerful. Hold out our hands.” The order was meant to be obeyed, and the prisoner held out his hands, “ While Poole and Nettley still covered him with their revolvers, Burgess snapped a pair of handcuffs on Jim Sartine'’s wrists. CHAPTER XXIII, A BUNGLED JOB. AS soon as the handcuffs were on, the prisoner dropped back into a chair. His manner was cool, and hv smiled sneeringly at his captors. ** You men have got the best of me now,” he said; *‘ but it won’t last long.’ = 7 Colonel Doubie-edge. **What’s the reason if won't last long?” de- manded Joe Burgess. ‘** Because you've got the wrong man—that’s all.” ‘** Jack, bring in those Arizona men.” Jack Poole left the room and returned im- mediately with Jeptha Jones and Walter Brandis. Sartine’s face lighted up with an evident look of recognition as he glanced at them; but it passed as quickly as it came, ‘** Is this the man?” inquired Burgess. “That is the man,” they both answered to- gether, ‘The man Devil Dick?” ‘**The very man,” replied Jep Jones, ** He is the man who was guilty of the crimes charged in the requisition,” remarked Brandis, ‘**There you are, Jim Sartine,” said Burgess. ‘*These men know you and have come here to point you out,” “Those men are mistaken,” calmly insisted the prisoner. ‘** Don’t you know them, then?” **f remember them both. I have met them before this, but never in Arizona. It was here that I met them, when I was Marshal of Sand- stone. One of them had something to do with the railroad survey about here, and I don’t know anything against him, except that he seems to be a pard of the other one, who is a tough subject. The other one I had to arrest for disorderly conductand put bim in the cooler. I suppose that’s what's the matter with him now,” ‘*Something more than that,” rejoined Jep Jones. ‘Have you forgotten how you killed two of Tom Throop’s herders, and afterward murdered him in cold blood while his house was burning? Have you forgotten how you held up the stage at the Chiapa Pass, disguised as an In- dian? I reckon you wish that you had hung me toa tree then, instead of treating me like a dog. Have you forgotten that you came with Jack Koopman’s gang to wipe out the people at the Throop Ranch, and that the gang got salted? Have you forgotten that I met you in Gonzalez, disguised as a Mexican, and pulled off the big false beard you wore, and that you shot me through the head as you supposed and rode off? Have you forgotten that you and pad partner set fire to another house on the Throop Ranch, and tried to burn the people in their beds? Have you forgotten that you foully murdered a poor Mexican girl before you ran away from the Ter- ritory? You know me, Mr. Dick March, quite as well as I know you.” During this crushing indictment Jim Sartine did not utter a word, but sat and stared at the at ina as if ho understood nothing of what was said, When it was ended he turned to Burgess with a smile, ‘** This man must be crazy,” said he, ‘‘ or he is playing a game that I can’t neain to understand, was never in Gonzalez, and I don’t know any- thing about Arizona.” ‘*There are plenty there who know you, though,” sharply responded the circus man, **and all they want is to get their hands on you.” ‘*No doubt there are some scoundrels who would be glad to get hold of me and wipe up the earth with me, as I have given that kind slant of cause to hate me.” **There’s no use in any more talk,” observed the leader of the Rangers. ‘‘ Jim Sartine, are you willing to go to Arizona to stand your trial, without pet any fuss?” **Oh, no, That would be too much to ask— too much like the spider and the ef I think I understand the game. I was obliged to kill some rascally Greasers in New Mexico in the discharge of my duty, and their friends have worked this scheme to get hold of me and lynch me, ‘Tt would puzzle the devil,” observed Burgess, **to find anything like that in this requisition from Arizona,” “That’s what if amounts to, though, and I don’t propose to go quietly and be lynched.” ** Taen we will have to take you.” These proceedings, it a ed, had been pro- vocative of thirst, as Sol ettley remar that it was a ng time between drinks, and it was agreed that he should go down-stairs and order liquid refreshments to be brought to the room. in the bar-room he found several of Jim Sar- tine’s friends who were waiting for him there. They knew that he hed gone up-stairs with the Rangers, and were wondering what kept him there so long. Naturally they expressed this wonder to Sol Nettley, and wanted to know what had become of their friend. This inquiry, upon which he had not calculated, put the Ranger in a bad box. As he was not a very bright man, he could not easily invent an evasive answer to suit the emergency, and his hesitation aroused the suspi- cions of the inquirers. The suggestion of a friendly game of poker, or even of a talk over old times, might have satis- fied them; but stolid Sol Nettley thought of nothing of the kind. Being hard pressed for a response, ke saw who was known in Arizona as —s < ee ee me | " - eal =: ee a - mee ee no way out of the scrape, but in telling the ex- act truth. Accordingly he explained the arrest under the requisition, and gave a brief summary of the charges against Jim Sartine, His statements were received in ominous si- lence and with evident incredulity. Only one remark was made by those to whom he furnished his information, and that was to the effect that if those sneaking galoots expect- ed to take Jim Sartine out of Sandstone in any such style, they would learn their mistake before morning. of the inquirers to get away, and they had all left the bar-room before Sol Nettley completed his order for refreshments. He went up-stairs, somewhat bewildered and a little out of temper, and reported this state of facts to his chief. Joe Burgess would doubtless have been glad to give his subordinate a severe bit of abuse for his stupidity; but under the circumstances that would only have made matters worse by ex- posing his plan, His sojourn in Sandstone had informed him pretty fully of the feelings of the Sandstonians, and he could not suppose that Jim Sartine’s friends would allow him to be quietly taken away, even in obedience to an order issued by the highest authority in the State, His hope had been—and to this the previous proceedings of the Rangers had led up—that the arrest would be quietly made, and the affair would be kept from the knowledge of the Sand- stonians. When the night should have advanced suf- ficiently to insure a certain amount of quiet, he had expected to slip out of the hotel with his friends and his prisoner, and to get away from town before any attempt at a rescue could be made, This plan—not thoroughly a feasible cne at the best—had been spoiled by the bungling of Sol Nettley, and the leader of the Rangers was considerably annoyed, Jim Sartine, on the other hand, was well lepre with the turn the affair had taken, and 1e smiled a quiet smile of malicious satisfac- tion. It was certain that his friends would be speedily informed of his * fix,” end it was easy for him to predict a hard time for the men who had presumed to arrest him. In this expectation he was not to be disappoint- The men who had gained their information from Sol Nettley had not been idle. In an almost incredibly short time the news spread through Sandstone that Jim Sartine had been arrested on a sabe egies charge Ds the three Rangers who pretended to be his friends, who had been hobnobbing with him al! over town, and whom he and his associates had treat- ed in such prineely style. The arrest had been made secretly, on the sly, in a sneaking and thoroughly reprehensikle manner, and was a clear case cf intended ab- duction, Both the friends of the prisoner and his ene- mies at once connected this arrest with the evil reports that had been in circulation con- cerning him; but widely different opinions pre- vailed. His enemies naturally regarded it as a con- firmation of the reports, while his friends firm- ly declared it to be a put-up job, as the sup- posed charges had been sufficiently refuted or explained by Jim Sartine. ‘riends and enemies, however, were alike ex- cited, and together they hastened to the Lone Star Hotel, which premised to become shortly the scene of stirring events. CHAPTER XXIV. SANDSTONE EXCITED, Jor BurGeEss and his party, together with their prisoner, were soon made aware of the excitement that pervaded the town of Sand- stone; but they cid not allow it to disturb their equilibrium or interfere with their enjoyment of the liquors and cigars that had been brought up to them. | , Within half an hour from the return of Sol Nettley to the room, fully two-thirds of the male population of Sandstone were gathered in front of the Lone Star Hotel. The street was blockaded, and the jam was so close, that there wasno passing to or fromthe hotel, It was a very noisy crowd, too; and so uproar- ious were its demonstrations, that its intentions were quickly made- manifest, Part of the mob demanded the instant release of Jim Sartine, while others howled for the death of the perfidious Rangers; but all swore with one accord that the officers should never leave the hotel alive with their prisoner. The Jandlord was quick to take alarm, Th2 existence of his hotel was threatened, and it was necessary that something should be done to appease the crowd and save his premises. He stepped out at the front door, and endeav- ored to speak to his enraged fellow citizens. At first his voice was drowned by the howls Nothing more, except a disposition on the part - com ebooks con