Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 389 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

Sete UES Aig be . an boy - . : — ' ‘20 ‘Colonel Double-edge. here on a fair and honest errand, and he sha’n’t | of the disturbance from bis house, hastened to be hurt in my house as long as he behaves him- self ” ‘* You had better get away from him,” insisted the leader of the mob. you are no friend of Jim Sartine’s, and if you meddle \with this you may get yourself into trouble.” ‘* j¢verybody knows that | “T ain’t his enemy, no matter whateverybody knows. I won’t put a straw in his way, nor lift a finger to hurt him. But this young man is all right. Even if you should hang him, that wouldn’t help Sartine a mite.” ‘‘ We mean totry the scheme, anyhow, and you will have a chance to see how it works,” ** Hold on!” shouted the marshal. ‘‘ You had better not try to buck ag’inst the law and me, “too. friendly way, andasa friend I’m goin’ to take him back to the hotel Any man who interferes with us will be apt to git hurt. Take my arm, ~ Walter.” The men blocked up tbe door, barring the «egress of Sam Sholes and his friend. ‘**Clear the way!” ordered the marshal, ‘ or you will bave a fight on your hands, You cow that I’ve only got to give a yell here, to >start sech a row as ’ll tear Sandstone to giblets,.” The mob did know it, and they knew that a row of that nature would be sure to dv Jim Sar- | tion was introduced into the affair. tine more harm than good. So, after a whispered consultation among sheriff, acting as themselves, they abandoned the effort and clear- wed the way. Sam Sholes took his friend around to the hotel, «and left him in safety at the side entrance from which he had emerged. _ T reckon it’s a good thing for you, my boy,” -said he, *‘ that I was sheep enough to guard one wolf. Now, if you will take a sheep’s advice, Walter Brandis came over to see me in a ; | | | — you will stay right here in the hotel until this | trouble kinder quiets down. Tve a notion that it’s goin’ to be settled in some way afore morn- int CHAPTER XXVII. A TIME OF TRUCE. WALTER BRANDIS felt rather sheepish, him- “self, after the man he accused of being a sheep had saved him from serious trouble, and was glad to get back to the Rangers and Jeptha .Jones, whom he made acquainted with the ig- -nominious failure of his attempt at negotiation. ‘‘ Well, there’s no harm done,” observed Bur- -gess, ‘and you’ve brought back a little some- ‘thing in the way of news.” ‘‘ Nothing of any use,” replied Walter. “*T don’t know about that. Sam Sholes told you that he thought the trouble would be set- tled in some way before morning, and I reckon be knew what he was talking about. All we’ve -got to do is to be patient and stand pat and wait for the draw. e’ve got the best end of the -game so far.” NS “ana The prediction of the marshal was verified, | “and it was Sheriff Beesley who brought it to pass and effected the settlement. P At least, he rejoiced in the belief that it was | ‘he who concocted and carried out the scheme, thou*h the truth was that it was suggested and amainly operated by shrewd Sam Sholes. Beesley cam up to the Rangers’ room and sasked them, in his fussy, important way, if they | would respect a writ of habeas corpus for the ‘production of their prisoner the next day. ‘‘Of course we would,” answered Joe Bur- -gess. “ Anything that’s law will find us ready ‘to obey it and live up to it as well as we can.” “T haven't got the writ yet,” continued the — “sheriff, ‘‘ but will attend to that part of the busi- “ness the first thing in the morning. My nggion is that [ had better go down and tell the ple ‘that the writ is out and served, and get them to — let you take your prisoner to the jail and keep | him there until the judge is ready to hear the “That will suit us well enough, Mr. Sheriff. “The judge will find out that our papers are all right and that the man is identified, and then he -ean't help giving them back to us.” Sheriff Beesley performed his part of the con- ‘tract with vigor and dispatch, and without many more airs than the occasion required, The way had been cleared and smoothed for him by Sam Sholes, and ail he had to do was to walk in it. : | He stretched his conscience sufficiently to as- | sure the people that the writ of habeas corpus had been secured and served, and that the Ran- -gers had promised to obey it. There was no danger, therefore, that any at- tempt would be made to run off Jim Sartine, who would be taken to the jail and guarded by the Rangers, who would in their turn be guarded by the sheriff and his deputies. The only thing necessary was to gain the con- sent of the people to the transfer of Jim Sartine | ings of the throng, that it must have occurred from the hotel to the jail, and that question the | sheriff would proceed to put to a vote. ed by a roaring majority which such as was friendly and good-humored. It was - proved that Sam Sholes had not been idle in his | ~~ task of influencing public sentiment. The sheriff hastened up-stairs to inform the _ _Rangers of this satisfactory result. and the land- Jord of the Lone Star Hotel, who was overjoyed at an arrangement that would remove the scene make ready a hack which he used for the con- | veyance of passengers between the hotel and the | railroad depot. | The Rangers entered the hack with their pris- | oner and Sheriff Beesley, and two of the latter’s deputies got on top with the driver. Thus the opposing parties were equalized in that outfit, and Jim Sartine’s friends were satisfied that he was safe. Yet they were determined not to lose sight of him, and the crowd accompanied the hack and watched it closely until its living contents | were deposited inside of the jail. | Though the temporary settlement of the af- | fair gave them a chance to go home and sleep, | they were in no hurry to avail themselves of it, | but adopted a new method of procedure. A strong detachment remained to watch the jail building until morning, and the rest of the mob gradually straggled off and disappeared, so | that Bandstoie became comparatively quiet and peaceable. In the morning the town was reasonably quiet, having settled down to the conviction that | a moderate amount of watchfulnes would fre- vent Jim Sartine from being run off; but the crowd about the jail became nearly as big as it had Leen during the night, and anew complica- This was explained by the consequential kesman for the citizens of Sandstone, to the Rangers, who had remained in the jail with their prisoner. ‘* You fellers will want your breakfast,” ob- served this eminent diplomatist, ** and so will Jim Sartine. Of course you can’t get anything fit to eat in this shanty; but there’s a decent res- taurant a little way from here.” ‘*Then we will bave our meals sent in from there,” remarked Joe Burgess. ‘* What's the use? It would be just as bandy and a heap nicer to go there and get them.” “That wouldn’t suit the business we are in just now.” * Reckon it would. Don’t see why it should | interfere with anythin’. This is a sort of a truce, you see, and you know how that used to | work in war times. The fact is, my friend, that | the citizens of Sandstone insist upon Jim Sartine | bein’ allowed to go to the restaurant and take | his meals until his case is settled. If you won't | give in on such a small p’int as that, they may | get their backs up and raise another row.’ | “That don’t scare us,” rejoined Burgess, | “Wo don’t want any row, and I believe, for | one, that the easiest way is always the best; but | it looks to me as if this is some sort of a scheme to get our man out of our bands,” “You strike it wrong, Mr. Burgess. The Sandstone folks don’t mean that. Dd be willin’ to swear it on a stack o’ Bibles. They won't | meddle with him nor with you. All they want is to have a chance for a good look at him, and to be sure that he issafe. They will see to it, and so will I, that he comes back here with you, just as he went.” ** All right, Mr. Sheriff, if you say so. We want to go as far as our duty will let us in ac- commodating Mr. Sartine and the people of Sandstone, and we will rely upon your word pas we and our prisoner are not to be meddled with. This was Sheriff Beesley’s second triumph, and he plumed himself upon it considerably when he went out and informed the crowd of | his success, Jim Sartine was taken to. breakfast at the res- | taurant. | The handcuffs were removed from his wrists for the pnrpose; but the three Rangers were | his body-guard, with their hands on their deadly | revolvers. As for the citizens of Sandstone, they kept the promise which Sheriff Beesley had mace fer them, and refrained from interfering with the | prisoner and bis guard. If there were turbulent spirits among them— and there were surely some who were inclined to be turbulent—their obstreperousness was re- pressed by the others, and they were compelled to be quiet and orderly. | The crowd escorted Jim Sartine from the jail | to the restaurant, and pressed about him and kept close to him, but made no demonstrations | outside of expressions of sympathy and friend- | ship, and promises to see him safely out of his scrape. For bis part, he plainly showed that he was pleascd with the degree of freedom that he had secured, and with the sympathetic professions of his many friends, His eyes were so bright, and he carried him- self with such an air as he answered the greet- to his captors that he would be a hard subject to handle if he should be free and armed. At the restaurant there was no sign of a dis- turbance, nor was there any excitement except A portion of the crowd pressed their way in, | greatly to the annoyance of the proprietor of the establishment, and stood about the party of four, interposing ete igre remarks, while the | rest waited outside; but there was no sign of any attempt ata rescue. After breakfast Jim Sartine was accompanied bacleby the crowd that had escorted him thither, and was again safely lodged in the jail with his captors and the sheriff’s deputies. At dinner-time Sheriff Beesley suggested a repetition of the previous performance, and the | Rangers, having succeeded so well with the breakfast attempt, were by no means averse to trying it again. So Jim Sartine was started out from the jail again, escorted by the Rangers and the sherff’s deputies and the crowd, and again the party seated themselves in the restaurant and ordered dinner. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE GREAT PISTOL ACT. JEPTHA JONES and Walter Brandis remained at the hotel when the Rangers took their pris- oner to the jail; but they did not stay there long. Landlord Beers, though he did not openly ob- ject to their presence, gave them to understand that he considered them partly responsible for the disturbance that had threatened to wreck his house, and that he still regarded them as an element of discord. The hint was sufficient for the two friends, and they sallied cut when the crowd had left the vicinity of the hotel. They sauntered about, endeavoring to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible, but scon discovered that there was no occasion for keep- ing in the background, as the citizens of Sand- stone were not disposed to molest them. The crowd, in fact, was a friendly and good- natured one, and the temporary settlement that had been made appeared to be agreeable to every body. It might have been a good time for Brandis and his friend to do some talking for their side of the case, and to show up Jim Sartine in his true light; but they thought it best not to make any efforts that would be calculated to stiy up animosity, and therefore held their peace. In the morning, when the crowd began to gather more thickly about the jail, they circu- lated among the citizens pretty freely, and were soon made aware of the intention of taking Jim Sartine to a restaurant for his meals. They saw that intention carried into effect, and were both of the opinion that it was not a good plan, though it worked very well as far as the breakfast was concerned, and the prisoner was safely returned to the jail without any res- cue or disturbance, ; Jeptha Jones would have gone to the Rangers and urged them to run no more risks in that way; but his friend persuaded him not to do so, They knew their business, Walter said, or believed that they did, ond might be offended if advice should be thrust upon them. Besides, the arrangement wes satisfactory to the citizens of Sandstone, who seemed to be dis- sed to carry out their part of the agreement in good faith, and there could he no doubt that the crowd was orderly and gocd-natured. Yes, the crowd was good-natured enough; but two friends had cause to suspect that the sweet temper of the Sandstonians arose from a feeling of security in regard to the position of their friend, rather than from a simple desire for peace. Comments upon the prisoner and his captors were freer than they had been, and the two men who were known to have come with the Rangers for the purpose of identifying him were no longer regarded with hostility, but were favored with friendly and even jocular remarks. , ‘* You have made a mistake,” said one; *‘ but it will soon be straightened up.” “We don’t worry about Jim Sartine,” said another. ‘* He will, be all right after a while,” From such statements as these the Arizona men were led to conclude that the judge who is- sued the alleged writ of habeas corpus had been ‘* fixed,” or that some other vgn perp having the Jook of legality had been {made for securing the freedom of the prisoner, As a matter of fact, however, no such writ had been issued or even applied for. It was a fiction of Sheriff Beesley’s which was generally accepted as a truth and had thus far served its purpose very well. Not until dinner time did Jep Jones and Wal- ter Brandis get a suspicion of the real intention of Jim Sartine’s friends. Ile was teken to that meal as he had been taken to his breakfast. guarded by the Rangers and escorted by a peaceable crowd of citizens. The two men from Arizona mingled with the throng for a while, listening to the comments that were made upon the performance and the situation and demeanor of the prisoner. | Supposing that there was nothing more in the matter that deserved their attention, they started to get their own dinner, intending to take some needed rest when they bad satisfied their hunger. Their information came from a man who was a bitter enemy of Jim Sartine’s, end who was not altogether satisfied with the way things were going on just then. Hardly had they got out of the way of the crowd when this person stepped them gave them some startling news. amie exeye) (E cS