Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 390 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

—*, ** Calling you what, Cupid?” ‘““What? Why, that ’ar name.” **Oupid?” “Yas, Cupid!” ‘Why, certainly, Cupid; when I give a man a name I generally call him by it. I should think you would be proud of it. May be, though, you are not aware who the orig!- nal Cupid was. He was the God of Love, and some claimed that he was produced with- out parents. See how neatly that hits you? You’re the most ‘lovely ’ creature I ever saw, and I shouldn’t wonder if you were created without parents, too; for I don’t know where on earth we would find parents worthy of you. Some, however, held that Cupid was the offspring of Venus and Mars, while others believed that Heaven and Earth were his parents; I don’t pretend to know anything about it. He is always represented, though, as a plump, rosy-cheeked little cherub with a pair of wings, and armed with a bow and arrows. Oh! Cupid is the name for you, my friend, and no mistake. You are not armed with bow and arrows, ’tis true; but you're as red and rosy as the rising sun.” How the crowd did whoop and howl and Jaugh! ‘*Gree-ate jee-umpin’ hoss-fly!” the man from Jimtown howled, «fairly jumping up and down with rage. ‘I’ve a notion ter plug ye, right whar ye stand! Gol dast yer pictur’, anyhow! Can’t ye see that I’ve got th’ drop on ye? You’d better keep yer tongue a leetle more to yerself, er else down ye’ll go, You hear me / ** Cock-a-doodle-doo | “Oht I’m th’ great old cross-eyed, long- legged, full o’ fight an’ never give-up he-hoss from-’way over, J am, an’ so ye kin go an’ tell yer neighbors! ** Cock-a-doodle-doo | Dee-doo, dee-doo ! ‘* Jest hear me crow! Oh! I’m th’ Shang- thai Rooster from Jimtown Lode, J be, an’ 1| John Jones? I notice that you look like kin whollop four times my weight in wild- | him.” eat, tom-cat, er anything else! ‘* Cock-a-doodle-doo !” And with his final crow, the giant gave a great flourish of his revolvers and an extra flap of his wings. Tben he paused to note the effect he had produced. Cibuta John simply stood and gazed at him, as though in surprise, but said never a word. ‘‘Wal,” the giant presently blurted out, ** what d’ye think?” ‘“Say, Cupid,” was Cibuta’s response, “*just do that again, will you?” “ Do what ag in?” “Why, crow and flap your pretty wings, and so forth.” ‘‘ What d'ye want me ter do it ag’in fer?” ‘* Because it amuses me so.”’ ‘“Oht it does, eh?” “Yes. I once went to a circus when I ‘was a boy and you remind me of that circus so much that it makes me think Iam a boy again!” ~«« How th’ merry old tom-cats do I remind ye o’ a circus? Come, now, jest unwind yerself an’ let me know.” Y “Why, they had some sort of athing there, half-monkey and half-rooster, which they called the ‘What is-it,) and you made me think of that. The What-is-it was better- looking than you are though.” Oh! but the crowd did whoop and howl and yell! This just tickled them, and their laughter fairly made the windows rattle. One would have imagined they wanted to prove true the saying that ‘‘ he iinghs best who laughs last.” And the bully—he fairly turned blue and green, ~« Gree-aate jee-umpin’ hoxss-fly ! he scream- ed. ‘‘Fer two bits I’'d shoot th’ eabeezar right off o’ yer shoulders! I look like a W hat-is-it, do 1? J show ye what I look like, gol-dast yer pictur’! J’ show ye! I'd shoot ye right whar ye stand, ef it wasn't fur th’ fun I'm goin’ ter have wi’ ig Gosh hang ye. can’t ye see thet I’ve got th’ drop on ye?” That was one fact which caused the crowd no little uneasiness. ' The man from Jimtown had the drop on them, and in the worst kind of way, too; and they could not see how they could get out of it. No one eared to attempt to draw after the sad failure Jem Patterson had made of it, and they were in a tight box. The giant was too good a shot to be trifled with, | town Lode, which I won't object ter.” -had. Come, though, here you are going The Giant Cupid. They would have to trust all to their hero, Cibuta John; though how he was to help them, or himself, either, they could not see. They noticed that the situation did not seem to trouble him any, however, and that gave them hope. There he stood before the giant, a smile upon his face and his hands still in his pockets. The giant’s awful threat did not seem to discomfit him in the least. ‘* Pshaw, Cupid,” he said, when the giant ceased speaking, ‘‘you don’t mean it, do you?” ‘‘T don’t mean what?” the terror roared. ‘* What is it I don’t mean?” ‘““Why, you wouldn't shoot an unarmed man right down in cold blood, would you?” ‘Wal, no, not ez long ez he has th’ sense ter do ez I tell him ter do, an’ gives me no back talk.” ‘Then I must look out not to ‘rile’ you up, eh?” ‘You jest must, fer a fact.” ‘*Well, now, Cupid, see here. You are not doing the square thing by me, not at all.”’ ‘‘What d’ye mean?” ‘‘T mean just what I say. You are not doing the square thing by me. You invited me in here to see the fun. Where zs the fun? Are you going to dance a jig, sing a song, or something in that line? If so, why don’t you begin?” ‘So, I called ye in heur ter see some fun, did I, eh?” ** You certainly did, Cupid.” ‘Wal, you'll see fun, an’ more fun than ye want ter see, too, if ye don’t stop callin’ me that name! ay name are Jim Jones, an’ nothin’ else; onless ye want ter give me my fightin’ title—th’ Shanghai Rooster from Jim- ‘*Your name is Jones, eh?” ‘*Tt are, fer sure.” ‘‘Are you any relation to the late Giant ‘“Yas, he war my brother, he war, an’ I tell ye this heur town o’ Ante-Bar has got ter pay dear fer his takin’ off, too. Ive hearn all bout that case, an’ I don’t believe Giant John wur th’ murderer at all. It wur that ‘ar So-beautiful John, er whatever he’s called, thet did it. That’s my opin.” “Well, I don’t agree with you, Cupid, for I happen to know a little about the case my- self. I can assure you that no mistake was made in hanging Giant John, except that he wasn’t hanged half soon enough.” ‘Then you had a hand in if, too, eh?” ‘‘Well, yes, Cupid, I must admit that I away off on another tack. Why don’t you begin the fun you promised me?” ** So, you're achin’ ter see some fun, be ye? Wal, we'll have some. I’ve been havin’ piles o’ fun heur this afternoon, watchin’ th’ citizens dance, but they’re all tired out now, so spose vow take a turn at it.” ‘*Get out! You're joking!” ‘“‘Nary a joke; I want ye ter git right out thar an’ dance! You hear me!” The critical moment had at last arrived, and the crowd fairly held its breath. Tlow would it all end? Cibuta John was the least excited of any inthe room. He stood before the giant and gazed at him in surprise. “You don’t mean to say you want me to dance, do you?”’ he demanded * Yas, that’s jest what I said, an’ ye’d bet- ter be a-gettin’ at it, too. Come, now, step off, an let’s see what ye kin do,” ‘But, Cupid, I—” “Thar, now, hold right up! I've heard that ar’ name jest ez long ez | want ter, now, an’ ef I hear it ag’in, down you'll go. Now then, dance !” ‘* Nary a dance.” ‘*What! D’ye mean ter say ye won’t?” That is just it, Cupid, you red-eyed son of a hump-back gin mill! You’ve been run- ning things with a high hand here, and it is time your little game was blocked.” *’ Gree-ate, jee-umpin’, tom-cats!” the man from, Jimtown cried, fairly beside himself. *“Ye won’t dance, eh?’ And in his blind rage he leveled his revolver and— ‘© Orack! Orack !” Cibuta John’s time had come. CHAPTER VY. ‘*CUPID’”” DANCES. Nor Cibuta John’s time to die, however, eee O_O —E oh, no; but the time had come for him to take action. And taken action he had, in a way that was a surprise to everybody. The two shots fired were not from the re volvers of the man from Jimtown, but from two derringers, which Cibuta John carried in his jacket pockets, Cibuta had been prepared to use them at any moment, and the instant he saw that the big bully meant *‘ shoot,” he let them go. The result was wonderful. The hero of the town had not aimed at the red giant himself, but at the revolvers he held in his hands; and the bullets from the derringers sent them flying out of his grasp and away to the further side of the :oom. The Shanghai Rooster was struck dumb, For some moments he could not speak nor utter a sound, but stood and looked foolishly around him, as though to ask what it meant, anyhow. But the crowd, the instant it realized what had been done, broke out in a wild cheer, ‘*Whoop—hurrah! Three cheers fer Ci- buta John the Prickly P’ar! Hip—hip— hurrah! *’Rah! ’Rah!” ‘Tullo, Rooster, how d’ye feel now?” some one asked. ‘Why don't ye flop yer little wings an’ crow?” another cried. ‘‘Come, Cupid, ye purty bird, what ails ye?” a third queried. ‘‘ Be ye struck dumb? Why don’t ye epen yer trap an’ say suthin’? Be ye paralyzed?” ‘Mr. Cupid Shanghai,” said Bill Twicker, ‘‘’"low me ter interduce ye to Cibuta John, th’ Prickly P’ar from Cactus Plains. Ye wanted us ter p’int him out ter ye when he got heur, an’ thar heis. What d’ye think o’ him? Now, ef ye want ter eat him, hat, boots an’ all, as ye said ye would, jest pitch right in. Ef ye want ter buckle his belt up any tighter than it are, jest brace up an’ be- gin ter buckle. Ef ye want ter impress it upon his mind thet th’ last day has come, ye'd best be gettin’ at it. Come! Don’t ye stand thar like ary blamed ijjit, wi’ yer mouth wide open, but let's see what ye’re goin’ ter do.” ‘*Gree-ate hee-owlin’ cyclones!” the giant finally ejaculated. ‘‘ Did th’ lightnin’ strike me?” And he rubbed his benumbed hands to bring back their natural feeling. The crowd laughed itself fairly hoarse. As for Cibuta John, he stood there with his hands still in his pockets, for he did not take them out, be it understood, when he fired the two shots, but had blazed away right through the cloth, regardlessly. t was not by any means the first time he had done it, though it was the first time the citizens of Ante-Bar had witnessed the feat. ‘“‘ Well, Cupid, do you still insist upon my dancing?” Cibuta asked. The man from Jimtown grunted out some sort of answer, and then added: ‘‘So you're th’ great chief o’ this town— Side-buckle John, eh?” ‘“Cibuta John is what I am _ generally called,” was the reply. ‘‘An’ you’re th’ feller what licked Giant John Jones, be ye?” ‘*l believe | did once have a little scrim- mage with the gentleman you mention.” “A little scrimmage? Great old bob-tail tom-cats! It must ‘a’ been quite considerable o’ scrimmage, J should say, ef you laid ae John out like these galoots heur say ye di Ri “Well, [ have no doubt the gentlemen present have given you a correct account of the affair, Cupid; but why do you ask if I am the man?” ‘Wal, Dll tell ye. If you licked Giant John, Mr. Somebody John, ye’ve done noth- in’ more’n I could do myself. Iam Giant John’s brother Jim, J am, an’ Giant never see’d th’ day that J couldn't lick him. ‘“Now, if ye want ter git hold o’ th’ best Jones in th’ hull fambly, a reg lar chip from th’ original John P. Q. Jones, o’ Revolution- ary fame, jest tackle me. I’m a holy terror, Iam, an’ don’t ye fergit it! ‘* Oock-a-doodle-doo | “Ob, I'm th’ reg’lar old long-legged, full- jeweled, patent-lever, stem-windin’—” “ What-is-it /” somebody shouted, ‘*No, Lain’t no What<s-it/” the giant re- torted, thrusting his thumbs under his belt and striking an attitude as independently as though he were thoroughly armed and fully EO NMAICE DOC) ‘S. CO!