Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 390 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

The Giant Cupid. ‘‘Ha, ha, ha!” the old woman laughed. “How can you change it to make it other- | wise?” she asked. ‘‘Tcan hire men to watch over you and protect you,” Cibuta responded. ‘‘ Useless, useless. It isso to be.” And | then she added: ‘‘But you have not promised me. Will you avenge my death?” ‘‘If it comes to that,” was Cibuta’s reply, “¢ Twill.” * Will you swear that you will?” ‘*T swear that I will avenge you.” “Then I shall not try to escape my fate. “TI might leave you to yours, and your pretty bride to hers, and thus avoid the mur- derer’s knife; but I will not. ‘“So it is to be, and so it shall be—must be!” ‘‘But, Mother,” Cibuta still protested, ‘‘can you not warn me of my danger, and let me guard against it, and thus keep out of danger yourself?” | ‘Alas! no,” the old witch answered. | ‘And why?” ! ‘‘Because, as I have told you before, I cannot foresee all things, and | do not know | in what form nor at what time the crisis will | come.” | Let us here observe that this conversation | was carried on in the Spanish language. | ‘“And you say that you are again to save | my life?” | ‘‘T cannot say that I will be the direct | means of saving your life, for you are pro- tected by the charmed daggers; but there | will come a time when I shall hasten to warn you of danger, and in so doing I shall | perish.”’ ‘*But, Mother Wolf, it will be folly for you to rush into a danger from which you anticipate death. ‘* You must not do so. ‘“You must leave me to take care of my- | self, Mother; and if 1 cannot do it—well, | then let me meet my fate.” | ‘“And why would it be folly? You are young, and have long and useful years before | you. lam right at the verge of the grave. | My years are numbered, and I am near the | end of the journey.” ‘* All the more reason, Mother, why your | death should be # natural one and not oneby, violence. I am—” ‘*It is of no use,” the old woman here in- terrupted. ‘It is so to be, and it cannot be changed. % Remember, though, your oath. Avenge my death |” ** | have sworn to do so.” This conversation was of much greater length, but enough for our purpose is here given. Just as Cibuta uttered the last words, Bill Twicker, Jem Patterson and the others | came up. | “Did you clear them out of the valley?” Cibuta asked. ‘“We did, you bet!” Bill answered. ‘‘ But, pard alcalde, we’ve lost a good man an’ citi- zen, an’—” ‘** Whom ?” Cibuta demanded. “Tom Billin’s, pard.” ‘Too bad—too bad. But he shall be avenged! ‘‘ Bung-eye Camp shall pay dearly for this night’s work.” And a general vow was then and there registered to that effect, other Wolf was about to move away when suddenly Bill espied her, ‘*Oho!” he exclaimed, ‘‘It war vou, eh? I thought there must be some witch"knife at work. Bully fer you, Mother, bully fer ou!” | ‘‘ But how bout them ‘ar snakes?” queried | Jem Patterson. ‘‘ How did ye do that, old | woman?” m ‘Simply enough,” was the response. ‘T prepared a great bunch of squibs for just | that purpose, and touched fire to them at the right moment. ‘But I must away. Beware—beware. Take care—take care !”’ And as she uttered the words she hastened from the stene. And then the men of Ante-Bar again | took up their dead, and all was ended—thus | far, \ ‘The soukd of wedding-bells had scarce | died away, yet funeral knells were at hand. ' CHAPTER XXVIII. CIBUTA TO THE FORE Tom BruurNas had been a great favorite at Ante-Bar, and his untimely death was a sad event. The body was taken to the cabin the young man had so lately occupied, and there it was laid out by kindly hands and left to the care of Jeff Parsons, who had been ‘'l’om’s most intimate friend. The men of Ante-Bar were greatly disap. pointed to think they had not been abie to avenge the young man, and the others who were wounded, but they swore to have re- venge at no distant day. A grave was made for those of the Bung- eye Camp rascals who had met their death during the short battle, and they were put into it and covered over with but little cere- mony. The surrender had proved to be more of a surprise to the citizens at large than to Ci- buta John, But, an hour later, after all the excitement was over, the town was once more silent and dark, and the citizens were, for the most part, abed and asleep. At a reasonably early hour next morning there was a great crowd in Bill Twicker’s saloon, the Pleasant Hour, but a little later on they all adjourned to the Town Hall, Bill locking his place up and going with them. There was to be a public meeting in regard to the surveying of the Bartolo land claim. Cibuta John and the surveyors were there when the crowd arrived. Jibuta made a little speech, in which he introduced the surveyors and explained the terms upon which he had secured their ser- vices, and the crowd approved all that had been done. Then the chief of the surveyors asked nu- merous questions, examined all the old pa- pers—or at least the copies which lawyer Skynn had procured, and at length said that he was ready to begin. Cibuta John appointed a suitable escort of men from the town, and an hour later the party set out. The day appointed for the trail at Santa Fe was now fast approaching, and the sur- veyors would have jest about time enough to complete their task and make their report, but no more. ' Exeept the survey, everything had been prepared, and lawyer Skynn had his line of defense all marked out. Lawyer Skynn’s personal appearance was somewhat against him, but Messrs. Jingle and Joy had already found that he was ex- ceedingly cute and brainy, and, if the truth could have been known, they began to trem- ble for their client’s cause. Mr. Skynn’s air was always so confident that they feared he was holding a powerful trump in reserve, though they could not guess what it could possibly be. And Mr. Skynn was confident. If,the survey proved anything crooked in the case, then his success wis assured; and if not— Well, his line of defense was well chosen, and he had not neglected a single point. ‘*Oh, we'll make this Mexican dog of a Bartoly mighty sick afore we gits done wi’ him, pards, an’ don’t ye fergit it!” | but thie \ | and né | the opi } 27 Of this he knew nothing, though, and a. grand surprise awaited him. The citizens of Ante-Bar were all jubilant. The day for the trial was now at hand, and Cibuta John, Lawyer Skynn and a number of the chief citizens sct out for Santa Fe. They traveled all day and part of the night, destination in safety, found them on hand at court, - leaving home, Cibuta had: taken every precaution for the safety of his wife during his absence. In addition to this man Smith, he had en- gaged four good men to guard the house at night. He felt no uneasiness concerning her, — The case of Don Juan Bartolo against the officers and citizens of the town of Ante- Bar, was the first one called. Jingle and Joy were both on hand, evi- dently determined to make a hard fight. Their client had no doubt promised them a rich slice out of the pie. They opened their case with great vigor, brought forth their proofs, made eloquent speeches, and, as Bill T'wicker expressed it—‘* jest riz hallelooyer in gineral.” Then they rested to allow the other side a chance, Lawyer Skynn set to work very coolly. He went to work in a very roundabout. way, and reserved his best trump for the last trick. He argued the case very strongly, brought all to bear against the Mexican that he possi- bly could, and no doubt had a fair chance to win; but he did not rest here. ‘‘Murthermore,” he said, ‘‘ we have, at great expense, had this tract surveyed; and we find that our town of Ante-Bar is situ- ated not less than twelve miles north of the northernmost border of this old Mexican grant.” Had a bolt of lightning flashed into the room, it could not have created greater ex- citement. Messieurs Jingle and Joy, before so calm and smiling, were upon their feet in an in- stant, both pale and excited. ‘Proof!’ they yelled, ‘‘ Proof! proef'/ ” ‘‘Here it is,” responded Skynn, and he handed the surveyor’s report to the Court. The case was lost, and well they knew it. The judge examined the papers, and pre- sently said: “T only wonder that this man did not. claim the whole Territory. ‘* T dismiss the case. ‘*T only—”’ But his voice could no longer be heard. Don Juan Bartolo was making for the door, followed by almost every Mexican who: was in the room. ‘““What means this heur?” Bill Twicker quickly asked, addressing Cibuta John. ‘‘T cannot say, Bill,’ was Cibuta’s reply, ‘‘but I think we had better get back home as. soon as we can,” ‘* Yas, an’ so do I!” Lawyer Skynn soon had gine on file at. Santa Fe which settled for all time the ques- tion of right for Ante-Bar, and then the party set out upon their homeward journey, It was late in the day when they started, but they had an experienced guide, and they , ; ri*jph¢ ned | ti ‘ » baie wUlULG So declared Bill Twicker, as he and his | resolved to push ahead all night. crowd returned to the saloon, after the sur- veying party had gone. And so they all agreed. Late in the afternoon poor Tom Billings was buried, and many an eye was dim as the rude coflin was lowered into the grave. Then passed several days in which no more exciting events came to pass, At the end of the fifth day the surveying party returned to town, hen the chief made his report, lawyer Skynn fairly danced with joy. Not only had Don Juan Bartolo ‘‘ drifted ” his claim northward a dozen miles or more, but he was actually trying to obtain some- thing like a hundred square miles more than his papers called for. His claim was all straight, so far as his real grant was concerned, but he wanted more, | He wanted nothing less than the town of | Ante-Bar, wtth all the rich silver mines that | had been opened at and near that place. But he had overdone it. He had run against a snag. And as they rode along they talked over the events of the day. Lawyer Skynn was complimented as many as a hundred times, by first one and then another, Jeff Parsons declared positively that ee those in the court-room he had recognize some cf Captain Pedro's men. And this was not doubted, for that Don Juan Bartclo and Captain Pedro were in some way working together, was certain, Whether Captain Pedro and his men were hired by the worthy Don or not, no one could say; but there was certainly some un- derstanding between them, Cibuta and his men had covered about half the distance on their homeward way, per- haps, and were riding slowly along, when | suddenly they were surprised by a command to halt. And the one who uttered the command was well backed, for behind him stood at. least four men with cocked and leveled rifles, The Ante-Bar party had just turned