Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 389 — page 30: what you’re looking at

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

te DD ee - a pam a —— * - ._ = 7 —t- omgio ' * — — we 7” ree —— a So on ~ _=—e - ae aS ee a eS el ee eS ET ee ESR vee ~~ — nate - - a ET I. I FE - 1 C—"y . “ a subject him to the risk of oat » “30 “prevent them from moving and acting in con- cert. When the circus man was about to begin the -ascent of the steepest part of the ravine, he thought that he saw thin wreaths of smoke -ecurling up from behind a big rock a little way beyond him, This smoke—if it really was smoke—surely in- « «dicated the presence of a man in the ravine, and ‘it was reasonable to suppose that the man was no other than Devil Dick. He tried to communicate with his friends and yoint out the suspicious smoke; but Lieut. ‘Cripps was out of sight, and Chinquapin made «signs to the effect that he had already perceived it. Knowing that Chinquapin would not fail to take care of his side of the ravine, the circus man proceeded to climb the steep ascent at the bottom, moving as cautiously and silently as possible. But the way was very rough, the bed of the ravine being choked up with bowlders and broken pieces of rock, and it was almost inevi- ‘table that some mishap should occur. There was a racket when it was most import- ‘sant that quiet should be preserved. A loose bowlder gave way under the circus man’s feet, and went bounding down the in- cline, At the same time he stumbled and fell for- ward. At the same time, too, the sharp report of a ‘rifle sounded near by and caused e, sudden trans- formation scene, Jep Jones, looking up from the spot where he had en, made two discoveries, In the first place he noticed the vanishing -smoke of the rifle-shot up at the left of the -gorge, and knew that Lieut. Cripps had fired. A second glance showed him the mark at which the cavalryman had fired, but which he had evidently missed. A tall and dark figure suddenly started up near the rock from behind which the smoke had seemed to arise, There was no chance for anybody to mistake ‘that figure who had ever seen Colonel Double- _ «edge or Jim Sartine. he hanted man, quickly becoming aware of the fact that he was hunted, was instantly on the alert to discover his enemies and take an advantage of them. There were two courses open for him to pur- ssue, and he appeared to hesitate between them. Being near the head of the ravine, where it began to apie out into a more open but still broken and tangled part of the hills, he might attempt to escape in that direction, the more easily if his horse happened to be near at hand. His other chance was to kill or disable some of his pursuers, and thus free himself from them in the surest and most effective manner. The latter plan was that which he evidently decided to adopt. Unable to catch a view of the man who had fired at him from the side of the gorge, his hasty pane fell on Jep Jones as he was scrambling to is feet among the rough rocks of the incline, and he fired hastily at that rash intruder. The circus man, however, had all his senses about him, and was quick enough to drop be- hind a convenient bowlder at the right time. The desperado’s bullet passed harmlessly over his head and spattered against a rock be- hind him. Almost immediately he fired in his turn; but his shot was no more effective than that of his adversary had been. These three shots gave all the parties in the drama, with the partial exception of Dick, an insight into the true condition of affairs, as well asa pe good idea of the position of each. Col. Double-edge quickly stepped within the cover of his rock, where he kept a wary watch upon hostile demonstrations. Jep Jones perceived that any attempt on his to advance against the common foe would shot down, though he might crawl up carefully and possi- bly place himself in a better position for active operations. ; In the mean time he felt able to keep up his end of the business, and he had nodoubt that Lieut. Cripps and gl Ay each on his own side of the gorge, would do their best to flank the common foe or get in bis rear. The former was not visible just then, as he had a different route to travel and was obliged to keep carefully under cover; but the latter could be seen from the position of the circus man: who had no doubt that he was attending strictly to business. ; There was also another piece of business to - which the lad was attending just then, and it was a very serious affair A remarkable elemental disturbance had en- gaged his attention, as he was in a better posi tion to see it than the others were, and the were too closely occupied with watching eac other's movements to take notice of anything else. _ The air had suddenly become very hot for the season, and was so close and heavy as to be quite oppressive. soon as Chinquapin felt the change he Colonel Double-edge. knew what it meant, and looked about for its visible cause. He found it in the Southwest, where a cloud as black as ink, small at first but rapidly grow- ing, had begun to obscure the clear sky. lt advanced with almost incredible swiftness, and when it hung over the hills its appearance was striking and terrible. lt seemed to be, in fact, a huge funnel, the mouth of which was purple and yellow, as if fires were burning within, and the other end as black as utter darkness. So rapidly had it approached that it was almost over the lad’s head before his gaze had fully taken it in and apprehended its sig- nificance. Then he shouted to Jeptha Jones, down in the bottom of the gorge, and frantically signaled to him to come up out of there. The circus man looked up, saw the black cloud, and hastened to seek a place of safety. Col. Double-edge saw it at the same moment, and also started for the side of the gorge. Just then the cloud burst, and a deluge of water poured down upon the thirsty hills. It was not a rain, but an avalanche—a great clump of water that dropped as if a spring had opened the bottom of a tank. It was such asoaker and such an astonisher that human efforts were unavailing while it lasted; but it was ended in a very brief space of time. Thecloud had dropped its burden and passed on, Immediately a gush of water began to come down the ravine, and everybody who was ac- quainted with such phenomena knew that the hollow would be quickly filled, or nearly so, by a rushing torrent. Jeptha Jones, who was nearest to the side of the gorge, began to scramble up with an agilit for which he must have been indebted to his practice as an acrobat. Desperado Dick imitated the circus man’s ex- ample to the best of his ability, and Chinquapin hastened to head off the desperado. As his rifle had been rendered useless by the deluge of water, he decided upon climbing down to a point of vantage where he could club his enemy back into the boiling torrent. The water had nearly reached the desperado’s legs, and when he looked up and saw Chinqua- in waiting for him with his clubbed rifle, he ound himself ‘‘ between the devil and the deep sea. He drew a knife, gripped it between his teeth, and resolutely climbed upward. At that moment an accident happened to his enemy. A stone gave way under Chinquapin’s feet, and he fell forward and downward. As he fell he struck Colonel Double-edge, clinched him with a death grip, and both drop- ped into the raging torrent. CHAPTER XLI. ‘““SOME OTHER MAN.” JEPTHA JONES, when he had climbed to the edge of the gorge, well out of the way of the rushing mass of water, gazed down into it mournfully. It went tearing and whistling by, snatching great stones from their places, an ring on its swollen surface trunks of trees and a miscel- laneous lot of debris ; but he could see no sign of gi eg er or Devil Dick March. They had been swept away by the torrent, and there was not the faintest chance that any living thing eould have survived the flood. Lieut. Cripps appeared on the other side, and the circus man signaled to him. It was useless to shout and tel] him what had happened, as it was evident from his manner that he had witnessed the double catastrophe. Shortly the water in the gorge began to sub- side, and within a little more than half an hour it had entirely disappeared, with the exception of little pools that were left in hollows. The sky was clear and the sun was bright, and it was hard to realize the fact of the recent ic : ep Jones signaled to Lieut. Cripps, and the two comrades descended into the ravine and be- gan a search for the bodies of their friend and their enemy. They found three rifles under and among the rocks and rubbish—Devil Dick’s, Chinquapin’s, and the circus man’s—all more or less injured by water and rough usage. A little further up they found a heavy black horse, that had drowned where it had been hitched. Then they followed down the course of the recent torrent; but it was not until they had | life ‘on traversed it fully half a mile that they found the bodies they were seekiug. They were lodged in a hollow at a considera- | i i | —— -_—_— Both his hands were tightly clasped around the neck of his enemy, doubtless just as they had fastened there when he had fallen upon him, The brave fellow had avenged the death of his sister, but at the cost of his own life. Lieut. Cripps agreecd to remain there and watch them while Jep Jones went to find Sheriff Mabry and the remainder of the party. This was a task of no httle difficulty, as they were widely scattered; but he succeeded in finding a few of them, whom he brought to the ravine, leaving a man at the rendezvous named by Ben Hackett to notify the others of what had happened. The body of Devil Dick the dreaded Colonel Double-edge was left to the birds and beasts of prey; but Chinquapin was tenderly carried uP out of the ravine and placed on his own orse. With this sorrowful load the lad’s friends went on to the rendezvous, where they were joined during the afternocn by the rest of the perty, all glad that their task was finished and pet an end had been put tothe career of Devil ick. As their nearest way home was by Jack Koopman’s ranch, they naturally took it in, and the entire party stopped there, greatly to the displeasure of the proprietor, who made no effort to welcome them. The body of Ben Hillman was swinging in the evening air from a tree in front of the house showing that the command of the Vigilantes had been strictly obeyed. Jim Mabry, baving obtained the unanimous consent of the others, mace a brief address to the cattle baron. “Jack Kcopman, do you see the poor lad who is lyin’ dead on that hoss? He is the last of those who have lost their lives because of your pard, Colonel Double-edge; but no more will die that way, as the infamous scoundrel is wiped out. He won’t do any more harm in this world. One of your side partners, Jack Koopman, lies dead in Jim Allen’s Hole, and the other swings from that tree. You deserve to die jest as much as either of ’em, but the proof ain’t so clear ag’inst you. You kin take down that carr’on now as scon as you wart to, and we have agreed to give you two weeks to take yourself and your stuff out o’ the Territory. We don’t want you here any longer, _and this is your notice to quit. See that you NN eeeEEeEeEeEe—eE—eEeE—EEE———e mind it.” The crestfallen Koopman had nothing to say, and the party rode on. Before the two weeks were up he had disap- peared from that region, horse and foot, men and cattle, bag and baggage. Sheriff Mabry and his party rode on slowly through the night, reaching the Thrcop Ranch in the Gonzalez valley about daylight. They were joyfully received by George end Etta Throop, who were glad to learn of the ex- tinction of Colonel Dou le-edge; but their joy was turned into mourning when they weie in- formed of the death of the devoted Chinquapin. The lad had greatly endeared himself to his friends at the ranch, who had oe to be able A time to well reward him for his services to them. He was buried by the side of his sister, but was not laid away to be forgotten. There was great joy in Gonzalez the next day and night, and the wiping out of Devil Dick, the Double-edged Desperado, and his partner was the occasion of such a jubilee.as had not been witnessed in a long time. When his friends returned to the ranch they found a great change for the better in Walter Brandis, and with the nursing of Etta Throop _his wound speedily healed and he rapidly re- ee ; | | gained strength. When he was fully recovered he was married to that young lady, and settled down in Gonza- lez as a surveyor and land agent. George Throop managed the ranch in the val- ley without further molestation from any cattle barons or their brutal pards, and soon developed it into a valuable property, Jeptha Jones had very good luck with his cir- cus, the next season, and thereafter traveled far and wide, but without forgetting the friends with whom he had passed through such stirring scenes, The gallant Cripps was at the wedding of Walter Brandis and Etta Throop, and heartily congratulated both the bride and the groom. “It is better that you should have got her, Walter,” said he. ‘She is too valuable to be thrown away on a soldier who must knock about the country and make the best of a hard poor pay.” When the career of Colonel Double-edge and its close were related to the people of Sandstone, his friends and some of his enemies obstinately ble distance from the steep incline, against a | refused to believe that he was identical with the barrier of rock that had partially broken the force of the flood. The body of Colonel Double-edge had been Jim Sartine who kad been the popular marshal of that thieving town. : ‘“* Some other man,” they persisted in saying, badly bruised and a AB by the rough usage in spite of all the proof that was presented to of the torrent; but that of Chinquapin was scarcely harmed, and his features would have | them. ; But, Jeptha Jones and his friends knew bet- been as peaceful as in sleep, except for an ex- ter, and it is certain that Jim Sartine was never pression of vengeful hate that had come into them and abided there. \ seen in Sandstone again. THE END. ey ee ee ee < ee a — Eomichboo Ss € 0}