Beadle's Dime Library No. 392 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

—~ - Rob, totell him that there could be no mistake. ~~ ‘a frightened person. ? ta? gels je —— h - - = ; se = —— > — . , 2 a . = . ra . — y) A re ’ Gr ; x “ $ gt R< us ; * ‘ i. "« % . ” Ca : + “ 5 * ? : , 4 , Pa - -« « Ve ws eA, a . ‘The Lost. Bonanza. 15 ‘““T am to ‘Tf it hadn’t been for you, he would not have come!” she hissed at the unconscious girl. CHAPTER XVIL. PARDS, RED AND WHITE. For five days nothing occurred to break the ‘““T don’t know,” was the reply. make you as happy as I can.” ‘*T can’t be happy here—I shall go away.” “You!” and if get Nell came springing to- ward the girl and clutched herarm. ‘Do you talk about going away? If you think of doing VS | that you will find Satanscrown a surer prison | monotony of life in Satanscrown. than the French Bastille. You are here till we Mountain Moss still remained an occupant of say for you to depart. Don’t show any spirit | Nugget Nell’s cabin, and in all that time she had here; it will not do.” not been visited by the man most interested in A new light seemed to break upon Mountain her—Ruby Rob. The man fired at by the camp Moss’s brain. Cleopatra had not come back to disturb her, and ‘‘ Ah! I begin to understand now,” she said. | his saloon had become the common property of “Tam thestake of some game. Tie shooting thecamp. It was presided over by a man who of Idaho Ivan was one play in it; there is to had been chosen by vote, and the toughs of the be another play here.” mountain seemed to rejoice over the events ‘You are right,” cried Nugget Nell, and her / which had resulted in nominally free whisky. flashing eyes showed that she was unable tore- Meantime, Ruby Rob had not been idle; there strain herself. ‘' Yes, my child, you are right; had been secret consultations at his cabin, and and I don’t scruple to tell you now. Youare some men noticed that each night two stalwart the stake of a game, and there hasn’t been a | fellows armed to the teeth watched the roads bigger one played in the Northwest since the | that entered the camp. This had never been white man entered it. They killed Idaho Ivan, | done before in the history of the camp, and to did they? That was only a part of the game. | those who did not know that Satanscrown had a You are in the hands of men who have sworn to | young visitor, it was a strange and mysterious play the game out at any cost. Your cage isa | proceeding. — gold one; don’t try to break the bars.” It was evident that somebody was expected, Mountain Moss reeled away as far as the | andif the roads were watched, who could that hand of the camp Cleopatra would let her. She | person be but an enemy? saw the glittering eyes of Nugget Nell, and the In the consultations that took place in Ruby beautiful but triumphant face she showed. Rob’s cabin, the real name of the girl captive ‘“T have a history, then! I am somebody, | was frequently mentioned, and the big fortune after all,” said the princess of Trigger Bar. lying idle in San Francisco was divided again ‘* You are work ten times your weight in | and again. gold to us!” laughed Nugget Nell. ““Why,my, An hour after sundown on the sixth day, mountein robin, we would not hesitate to let somebody came to Satanscrown; a hungry- out your heart’s blood if we feared we were go- | looking man with a miner’s kit swung over his ing to lose you forever.” shoulder. He looked like a person who had met ‘My God! into the hands of what fiends | with terrible luck among the mountains; his have I fallen?’ came wailing from the girl’s | clothes were torn and dirty, there was dirt in his heart. hair, his week's beard was a dingy red, and all ‘*That’s the time you hitit!” cried the Satans- | his toes looked from his boots. crown queen. ‘We are fiends—gold-fiends! This man was not alone. His companion was ha, ha, ha!” a young Indian who had a bright eye anda Mountain Moss felt her senses leaving her. She | quick step. He did not present the famished ap- attempted to cry out against the laughing face | pearance of the prospector, but he said he had that almost touched hers, but she had not the been the miner’s companion for several weeks. wer. | The couple appeare.] suddenly to the inmates Allatonce she became faint. Nugget Nell . of Cuban Con’s, as the saloon was called not- saw the symptoms of a swoon; she saw the girl | withstanding its change of owners. : sinking to the floor, arid she caught her in her ‘** Famine afoot, by Jupiter!” exclaimed Topaz arms. Tom when his eyes caught sight of the miner. The nextmoment Mountain Moss lay on the | That galoot will eat us blood-raw unless be gets woman’s bed in a faint that resembled death. | something more wholesome mighty soon.” Nugget Nell standing over her watched her with | The pards of the gold-camp gathered around gleaming eyes for several minutes, and then | the strangely-mated pair and plied the man with caught up the lamp with a sudden impulse. questions. obody seemed to take much notice ‘‘T will see if it is so,” she said. ‘‘It will | of the Indian boy; he was left to shift for him- a ee ee + “We don’t keep an establishment ov thet kind in camp. However, we allow no man to go hungry. Come with me.” ~ Three minutes later Jingo Joel and his Indian were seated at a rough little table in Topaz Tom’s cabin discussing a cold meal in silence. The Satanscrown sport had placed his larder at their disposal, and had gone back to Cuban Con’s. For some time the twain ate in silence, but often their eyes met and exchanged looks, At last the young Indian got up and went to the litthke window alongside the door. His eyes had a searching glitter, and for several mo- ments they watched the play—of moonbeams on cabin roofs and along the street. Jingo Joe ate along at the table until he came back and their eyes met again. ‘** What do you see?” asked the miner. ** Nothing,” answered the Indian in excellent English. ‘* Satanscrown is like all other camps at night—full of shadows.” ‘What did you think of the crowd at Con’s, Pretty bard, eh?” ‘Yes, like all Colorado crowds.” ** Ruby Rob warn’t thar.” Before the Indian could reply Topaz Tom re- appeared. ‘*Got through, eh?’ laughed the big when he saw that the man and the boy cleared the table of nearly every thing eatable. 2 Ae about cleaned ‘er out,” grinned Jingo oel, ‘** Yer Navvy pard war hungry too, eh?” ** Kinder so.” The Indian pointed to the table, said something Topaz Tom did not understand and smiled. ‘If yell come down ter ther ranch you'll see ther hull lay-out,” continued the Satanscrown sport, ‘* We're yer buckleberries, Topaz,” said Jaga- way. ‘‘Come, Red Buck. We'll take in ther panorama with fuller stomachs than we’ve had in many a long day.” The three went out and entered Cuban Con’sa minute afterward. Ruby Rob was there and the moment Jingo Jcel and his pard came in he turned the battery of his eyes upon them. ‘* The up to the miner ard locking him in the face. ‘*T feel thet way,” was the reply. ‘** This red hyer is yer pard?” “*‘ Bet yer life. Be you Ruby Rob?” ‘“*T am Captain Rob.” ‘* Boss ov Satanscrown, eh?” ‘*Tf you think so, yes.” Jingo Joel stepped back and looked at the prove whether we have caught the right | self, for no person considered for a moment that | handsome sport. he might be able to speak English. The miner said his name was Joel Jagaway, _or Jingo Joel where he was best known. He was _ the victim of a dream or rather a series of vis- ions which he told with a credulity that made blazing in her eyes. even his rough listeners smile. He had dreamed ‘‘Tt is there!” she exclaimed, as she looked. | for six nights in succession of a rich deposit “The Jewels of Satanscrown made no mis- | among the mountains; he had even seen the solid take!” metal among the rocks, and it appeared that he On the shoulder thus bared was a tattoo which had but to move upon it to possess fabulous was plainly seen in the lamplight. It was the | wealth. deuce of diamonds, smaller, but exactly like the It was still the day of rich pockets, of gold- tattoo found on the breast of the Silent Hound, | gulehes and hidden mines. No story was too killed a few steps from that very cabin‘\a few | wild to be told in Southern Colorado; but Jingo nichts before. Joel was the first person wlo hed followed the e deuce of diamonds told Nugget Nell that | trails of dreamland. the hunt for the heire s cf the Golden Gate mad He told a wonderful story of ;rivaticn in the terminated. It now remained for the plottersto | mountains, of tramps and trails, of hunger and play the rest of the game through. Could they ; hope. The wild men cf Satenscrown Jistened do it? with open mouths and ritied while they heard. When she had studied the mark to her satis- | Every now and then the famisched man would faction, the Satanscrown Cleopatra closed the | help himself to the contents of the tell bottle jacket, set the lamp down, and went to the | which had been placed on the counter before door. him. It was not the right spot for all that.” “This ar’ young buck war ther Good S’mary- ton thet I tumbled ag’in’ when I war castin’ dice with death,” said Jagaway, laying his hand on the young Indian’s shoulder. ‘“‘I never liked ther reds till I got acquainted with this examoule. They say an Indian ain’t good till he’s dead, gents, but I’m ther individual thet says thet’s a lie!” ‘“ What is ’e, Jingo? He looks like a Nava- jo,” said one. *'That’s what he is.” responded Jingo Joel. “‘T war with ther Navvys four vears, an’ I kin git off their lingo pretty well. This young red ar’ Red Buck. He is ther angel what saved me when hunger had ther drop on my carkiss.” Satanscrown was not partial to Ind’ans: the pards showed this by the looks they gave him, but he did not seem to notice them. “Tf yer don’t like reds in Satanscrown I pigeon.” With one hand she loosened the jacket worn | by the girl, and kept on until she had laid bare the white-skinned shoulder. Then she held the lamp down, with eagerness | She wanted to reveal her discovery to Captain Suddenly there appeared in the road before | ber the figure ofa man. It came from toward Cuban Con’s, the door of which was wide open as usual. Nugget Nell instinctively drew back and fixed her eyes on the figure, She was certain she had not been seen. ‘Tt is the man whom of all men I hate,” she said between her teeth. ‘It is the sharer of my one secret—the Satan who threatened to drag | me back to Frisco, and throw me to the lions of | the law! Now is my time!” She stepped to the couch and snatched a re- volver from beneath the pillow under Mountain Moss’s head, and bounded back to the door, Opening it a little, she looked out and saw the man only a few feet away. ‘“‘ This is the end of our acquaintance, Colonel Tarantula!” she said, savagely. Her eye for a moment looked over the revol- | stay, an’ whar he isn’t ez welcome ez TJ, I then a sharp shot rung out on the mountain air. | t| | don’t prefer ter stop even if hunger ar’ knawin’ A ap followed the shot, a laugh so full of | Satanic derision that Nugget Nell almostdropped at my vitals.” _ the smoking weapon as she leaned forward. ** Nobody’s said anything agin’ ther Injun,” *“]ll give you my weapon if you want to try | said Topaz Tom. ‘It ar’ true thet we never again,” laughed the man in the street. ‘It is | took kindly ter ther crittur, but we don’t growl warranted not to miss. Better luck next time! | loud when they strike camp.” You'll see Frisco yet my Western Borgia!” ‘JT sha’n’t stay long, only.till I kinder rest up _ Nugget Nell shut the door and went back..| arter wrestlin’ with famine all for ther sake ov a Her face was colorless; her eyes had the stareof | dream,” Jingo Joel answered. j lunch-shop?” , rm _—— reed, Lut if seemed to reach | ' | kin pull out,” snddenly said Jingo Joel. “* Whar | ver that covered the man in the moonlight, and | this young buck can’t stop 1 don’t want ter | Jingo Joel without being seen yourself. Keep Something mysterious seemed to lurk in the | corners of Ruby Rob’s eyes. m ‘* This man an’ his pard didn’t come in by the ron.cs,” Le muttered. ‘They came down the mountain an’ struck the camp sideways. there is any pley in this I will find ft out. This men may he Jingo Joel, an’ he may not.” Captain Rob continued to question the miner until the story of the dream and the gold-mine chase had been repeated almost word for word. All the while the sharpest eyes were fastened on the young Indiar. who did not seem to know that he was watched. At the end of the inquisition Ruby Reb step- ped aside, and was followed out by Topaz Tom. ‘* Did his storics vary ¢” asked the Satanscrown boss. 45 ¢ y ; : ee. ‘- Not a hair,” was the reply. > ‘** Aw the Injun?’ “Never gave anything away. stcr is a full-blood Navvy. He kin rattle off ther linre.” oa Ruby Rb locked puzzled, 4 * Ineo Jcel is the exact size of rc. certain unconsciously spcaking aloud, ‘* Who is he?” Centain Rob gave his pard a quick look. »*. * Whois whom?” | 47 ‘Ther man you just referred to;, You spoke x aS ‘**T did notintend to,” was the answer. ‘ did I say?” Aes “Thet Jinco Joel looked like asortainmen you cidn’t want ter come ter nov.’ ‘Well, if I said that unconsciously, I say it openly!” said Ruby Rob. “Name biu.” | . “f will not tili I am certain. I think I can test this man.” ‘Test him, then, en’ by ther eternal heavens! Satanscrown just if he isn’t Jingo Joel, thar’ll be ther deadest rt : teil me you’ve been chasin’a dream mine all over creation,” he exclaimed, coming If : rw 7. a <q: 43 = bry? m et | whem I don’t wart ter sce here now,” he said, ya Pe ad ee “e be “ pate inet « ® ay ‘2 = tp. A = oy . 9 + . a Se nes, That young: me | “S- 4 ad <- 5 oe ek aN. a i ¢ ~~ ey 7 Ls * ~~, =~ ' r’ 53 ia ae Ph } {i rr f .’ ~ 2 a ae . 4 , ay wy a ow 5 ee r * .. * + we Cd he » 7, f ws. f, corpse in Satanscrown it ever held!” '.. ig “{ will proceed to apply the test. Go back into the saloon and get where you can watch your finger at the trigger of your revolver. shall shout a certain name in front of the ranch. If he starts or changes color at the name, cover him instantly. You understand me, Topaz?” ‘* Thoroughly,” said the lieutenant sport. if If we F * , ae = YS 1h AS . 2 Fa ap A he gives himself away, he'll look into ther muz- zles ov ther handiest dropper in Colorado!” we _ A minute afterward Topaz Tom walked back = into Cuban Con’s, and leisurely stationed hfM- “What's yer | a where he could obtain a good view of Jingo IOO com cS Cc