Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 389 — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

than IT would think of trying to fly over the hills here.” ' “ String him up!” commanded Cripps. A rope was procured, in one end of which a noose was knotted, and the other end was passed over a limb of a neighboring tree. The prisoners arms were bound behind his | ‘back, the noose was put around his neck, and | he was given another chance to comply with the | requirements of his captors, ‘**Go on with the hanging,” was his answer, as he closed his lips tightly. It was Ben Hillman’s second experience of the ‘kind within a short time, and on this occasion ‘there was ct eg no chance of succor or escape; ‘but he did not flinch. “Run him up!” ordered the officer, and the three soldiers obeyed the order promptly and implicitly. he rope stretched, and the helpless prisoner rose gradually from the ground, strangling as he «Scended. ». SOE J His legs, which had not been tied, involun- tarily squirmed an] struggled, and his breast | heaved Sather ei His limbs were bacoming limp, and his head ~was beginning to hang over, when the cavalry- man made a sign, and the three.soldiers let him «down at once. T'be ordeal had — if not quite, proved too much for him, and he ell on the ground, an un- conscious heap. The noose was loosened and removed from his neck, and. water from a canteen was freely dash- ed in his face, the operation being aided by a little whisky from a flask. Gradually he came back to life; but it was a painful recovery, accompanied by convulsive | pasps and shudderings that were terrible to be- ) When he had revived sufficiently to be able to sit up and stare about, Lieut. Cripps tried him again. “You know how it is now,” said the offi- cer. “ Are you willing to tell us where Devil Dick is to be found, or do you want to go up again?” “Finish the job,” feebly gasped the victim. “* He saved my life, and I don’t want to keep it at the expense of his.” ‘*The choice is between life and death. Do you choose death?” ** Yes, rather than go back on my friend.” The heroic obstinacy of Devil Dick’s 1 ron brought Cripps and his friends to a stand-still in their proceedings. They consulted quietly together, while the half-hanged man dropped over on the ground. ‘*We can’t hang a man like that,” said the officer, at last. ‘*There must be some good where there is so much grit. Put him on the stage, boys, and we will take him on to Gon- eZ. CHAPTER XXXI. A STRANGER IN GONZALEZ, BEN HILLMAN was safely taken to Gonzalez—- ‘the more safely as he was then not in a condition = make any trouble—and was placed in the jail there. Walter Brandis and Jeptha Jones hurried away to their friends at the ranch in the Gonza- lez valley, and Lieut. Cripps was left to receive the honors due him for the capture of Devil Dick’s partner. For this he was given proper credit and many thanks by the less enterprising people of Gon- zalez, though they would have been better pleased if he had got the greater criminal. It was admitted that he and his party would have been justified in hanging Ben Hillman when he was caught red-handed in the act of attempted stage-robbery ; but, as they had not inmediately executed justice upon him, and had brought him within reach of the law, the law must take its course, : There was undoubtedly sufficient justification for a legal hanging in the murder of Sam Jones the stage-driver, and the prisoner would be con- victed and hung. © He must be kept in jail to await his trial, and in the mean time haps he might weaken, and give information that would lead to the eapture of his still guiltier accomplice, So Charley viet got that business off his hands, and returned to his military duties. Two days after Ben Hillman had been con- signed to the jail, a stranger arrived in Gon zalez. , Of course there was oe unusual in this, as strangers arrived frequently; but this par- ticular stranger soon became an object of inter- -est in the little town. R He came by stage, and registered at the shanty which was known as the Gonzalez House, as Samuel Prosser. Samuel Prosser wasa tall and stout man; but his fatness. if it could be so called, had the sin- gularity of being confined to a protuberance of the front part of his person, which gave him quite a portly appearance. | fi. He had long, grizzled hair, and a heavy griz- zled beard, with no mustache, and on his right cheek, under the eye, was a purplish patch such “as is commonly styled a birthmark, / >, -_— ee Colonel Double-edge. —_— —— - —. -—— — --- RE This gentleman, who was well-dressed, and with manners to match, announced himself as a capitalist from New Orleans, who had come to the Territory for the purpose of investing in lands or mining property, or both, As a wealthy speculator he was naturally con- sidered a bonanza by the Gonzalez peop; who sought his society and made much of him, e appeared to be well supplied with money, and was liberal in his ways, though allowed to spend much by the owners of mining and other lands, who insisted upén feasting and treating the man to whom they hoped to dispose of a portion of their unproductive property. He talked with them freely, spoke argely of his wealth, examined tract after tract, bar- gained and chaffered, and made such a good im- wression that he might have had deeds toa pretty arge segment of the Gonzalez district without paying a dollar, if he had been so inclined. Not at all fastidious in his amusements was Samuel Prosser, and by no means averse to a little poker. Indeed, he was always ready for a friendly game with men who had money, and in the course of these transactions he absorbed a larger amount of the spare cash of Gonzalez than the people generally were aware of, It was an admitted fact that the stranger was a master of that speculative game. Consequently he was considered a smart man, and respected as such, Among other matters of interest to the town, he was made acquainted with the doings of Devil Dick and the recent capture of that des- perado’s partner. He wanted a description of Ben Hillman, and when it was given him, he said that he thought he rebogiiens a man who had robbed him in the eastern part of the Territory. He proposed to go to the jail and see if he could identify the man, and was taken thither by some of his friends. At the jail Samuel Prosser failed to identify the prisoner, but he made quite a stay there, questioning him freely and inspecting his quar- ters closely. Before he left he gave Ben Hillman some money. **T felt a bit sorry for the _— devil,” he ex- plained to his friends. ‘‘ He don’t happen to be the man I was looking for, and I ought to pay him something for the way I worried him.” The stranger was informed that Ben Hillman continued obstinate and obdurate, refusing to furnish any clew that could lead to the capture of Devil Dick, although he might make terms for himself with the authorities for so doing. ‘“‘There must be good stuff in him,” observed Samuel Prosser. ‘‘I am not sorry that I gave him a little change.” This was regarded by the Gonzalez people as a liberal act on the part of the stranger. Lieutenant Cripps in the mean time, was oc- cupied with the affairs of his post and some other matters. Although a ood* soldier, and strictly atten- tive to his mili ry duties, he was not perfect. He was sionately fond of a game of cards at which the stakes were not allowed to run too high, and occasionally sought. amusement of deseription in Gonzalez. Two nights after Samuel Prosser’s visit to the jail the cavalryman was in town, deeply en- gaged in his favorite game. n this occasion he was so intensely interest- ed that it was not until two o’clock in the morn- ing that he quit the game and started to return to his post. ’ The night was about as dark as a night could be, and he was afoot; but it was not far to his destination, and he knew the way so well that he believed he could have walked it blindfold. was obliged to pass the jail on his route, and he was surprised at seeing two horses stand- ing in a little patch of timber just before he reached that building. This was an unusual, if not an unaccountable circumstance, which naturally led him to think of Ben Hillman in the jail, and of Devil Dick somewhere outside, __ He turned his steps toward the building to see 2 by possibility, any harm was being worked ere. The Gonzalez jail was a small, square struc- ture, the lower portion of which was stoutly built of heavy logs and covered with similar logs for the safe-keeping of prisoners. Above this was a framed story, in which the jailer lived with an occasional assistant, and this was reached by a light staircase running up the outer side of the log portion, Quite a primitive affair was the jail, but con- sidered sufficiently strong and safe for all prac- tical purposes. an As the cavalryman came near the building and got a view of the side opposite to the stair- case, he perceived that there was plenty of cause for his suspicions. 3 A man was there, stooping down over an opening that had been made in the wall by cut- ting out a — of one of the large logs, Charley Eippe approached him cautiously, as swiftly and silently as possible, and discovered to his great surprise that the more than win y cious character was Samuel Prosser, the weal f ‘ he was not | eee eee \ 23 speculator, whose acquaintance he had recently made in Gonzalez. There was no mistaking Mr. Prosser’s style of dress, bis long hair and his protuberance, Cripps also perceived that a hole had been cut in the inner planking, and that a man was crawling out of the hole. This man must be Ben Hillman, as he was known to be the only prisoner then in the ee ee au, Evidently it was a case of rescue, in which muel Prosser was the outside agent; and the cavalryman proposed to stop it at all hazards. He rushed forward and seized Prosser by the coat collar, at the same time emitting a yell that could not fail to be heard by the jailer above. ; The cavalryman counted on his strength as sufficient to overcome the old man and the lame prisoner, but he was sadly mistaken. Samuel Prosser had given the Gonzalez people to understand that he was afflicted with rheu- matism, and he always carried a heavy cane, with which he supported his somewhat unsteady steps. hat stick was in his hand as he rose quickly when a grasp was laid upon him; but there was no sign of rheumatism or any other ailment in his sturdy and rapid action. He tore himself loose from the grasp with a force that left a shred of his coat in the hand of his assailant. Then he raised the heavy stick, taking a step backward for room to use it, and dealt the cay- alryman a fearful blow on his head, Charley Cripps fell like a log. Without paying any furtber attention to his fallen adversary, Samuel Prosser helped Ben Hillman to emerge from the hole, and the two ran to the little patch of timber, neither showing the slightest symptom of lameness. The jailer had been aroused by the shout of the cavalryman, and came hurrying down from his habitation. When he reached the scene, so quick had been the work of the prisoner and his friend, the rapid galloping of their horses was the only in- dication he tad of what had happened. Looking about, he saw the hole in the wall, and Lieut. Cripps lying near it. He raised the unconscious man, and. endeav- ored to revive him; but there was no sign of life to reward his pains. Leaving him there, and making sure that his prisoner had escaped, the jailer hastened to Gonzalez to give the alarm and fetch a phy- sician, As it was useless at that hour to attempt a pursuit of the fugitives, a number of curious and excited citizens accompanied him to the jail with the physician. Lieut. Cripps was found to be alive, and was taken to the town and cared for; but it was sev- eral hours before he was sufficiently recovered to give anything like an intelligible account of his adventure. His stavements concerning Samuel Prosser amazed and confounded the Gonzalez people | who had banked so heavily on that sn ve gentleman. It was impossible that he should be the man who bad assisted Ben Hillman to escape. He was too old, too portly, tco rheumatic for such work, and a man of his wealth and char- acter could not be in any way connected with oF Soe . ieut. Crieee had been so hadiy stunned b the blow on his head, that his mind was affected, and his statements need not be seriously con- sidered, Nevertheless, search was made for Mr. Samuel Prosser, and he was not found within the limits of Gonzalez. His room at the hotel was entered, and the — contents of his capacious gripsack were found to be stones and paper. ‘Your capitalist from New Orleans,” said Lieut. Cripps, ‘‘ was nobody but Devil Dick.” CHAPTER XXXII. A VILLAINOUS PLOT. WHEN Ben Hillman and his rescuer had got well away from Gonzalez, they rode on calmly and at a moderate pace, as if they had no fear of being followed. ‘* This is the second time you have saved my life, Dick,” said the late prisoner, ‘and I can’t tell you how thankful I am.” “You don’t need to tell me anything about it, my boy,” replied the other. ‘‘ You fully de- served all I have done for you.” ** Deserved it?” ““Tndeed you did. When I knew that you | had refused to go back on me to save your life, though they strung you up to make you give me _ away, I said that you were the man for me, and I swore that I would get you out of th clutches if it should prove to be the last act o! my life.” ‘How did you know that, Dick?” ‘*T was there, my boy.” “There? Where?” ‘When I rode away, after they had gobbled bs =| you at Chia Pass, I didn’t go far, scarcely out of sight. and sneaked back to where you were.” jumped off and bitched my horse, (E(0) S miicboo