Beadle's Dime Library No. 392 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

_ to the search for the hands of the three, for nobody has brought ‘bonanza is worth 4 —T am going on the hunt again, this time among the camps of Colorado and Idaho. I carry the face in my mind and under my feet. If you should find me dead you will know where to look for it. It takes a silent hound for a dark trail. I amasilent hound.’” Ruby Rob stopped and looked into the wom- an’s eyes. ‘* Was that the message?” she asked. ‘That was all.” ** You did not give it to Carlos?” **T should say I didn’t,” smiled the handsome desperado. ‘I thought I had a clew to the bo- nanza girl, and ever since I have watched for that Si here. He was a silent hound, because he was tongueless. When that discovery was made, I would have bet a thousand that I had a clew to the sender of the message I have just repeated. e had already searched the corpse without rae anrening. Then a sentence of that mes- sage flashed across my mind: ‘I carry the face in my mind, and under my feet !’ What did the last words mean, but that somewhere in his boots was an important clew? I had the dead man’s boots brought to my cabin, and under the sole of one I found the portrait and the paper covered with writing. Now we have but to put our hands upon the girl of Golden Gate.” ‘* This is more than luck!” cried Nugget Nell. “It is Providence at work for us!” **T don’t know,” smiled Ruby Rob, shaking his head. ‘I hardly think Providence would hal us in this game, Nell.” ‘“*It is fortune, then, but give me the paper Let me see what the Silent Hound has to say.” She reached out and took the paper from Ruby Rob’s hand and went to the window. * scholar wrote this,” she said after a glance, and then silence filled the little cabin while she read to herself the following strange sentences: ‘*T am the Silent Hound of California, and this is the longest trail of my life. The picture within this paper is the portrait of Kate Lossing, the only child of Major Louis Lossing, who set out from Frisco over land for St. Louis on the 3d day of May, 1869. He was RCCoENp ae his daughter and two servants and a guide. He never reached St.,.hopisy .At,a, certain place in ee 7 i 2, wos il pone, night, and his coud an ibaa rn ath Wason # puis satan an a8 oned,,im a BtROTAPS Ware eV. at 9svia itp T -pOSRL Ww OTS ty A , tion. In a wi in Fr befg ek on hora iow ight at Bish then fepoFaars § SAME wall yr ieten aay. name 1s APpEem b AY AS of IPRS BG.d SVORP: —lI ha my § *4 ° 4e0r- 2 > pe rt ne Died not cheated out of heryrights, i: hi ws ‘di on the fatal trip. Kate, the; child— young woman now if living, belien —never claimed the vast estate....] los tongue in a manner needless to describ > REE, but let me say that it was in Major ings service. I believe that the girl was carried off. by the three men who persuaded Lossing make the journey, I have devoted eight years: te Lossing; she cannot be in her forward to claim the estate. Has she for- gotten her parentage? I will not believe it! I am now on the of a young woman who is said to be in a gold-camp in Colorado. There are three camps to be searched—Satanscrown, Trigger Bar and Tartarus Gulch. If I die with- out my mission accomplished the finder of this paper will take the trail where I leave it. If I find Kate Lossing I will turn on those who made me the Silent Hound of California, and the shall discover that there is death in the still _dog’s bite!” _ The woman who read this singular paper seemed to linger over the last sentence. Ruby Rob, who had watched her all the time, was anxious for her tos . ‘* The still dog will never bite,” she said with a smile when she looked up. “‘That is true, but he brought bis dangerous teeth to camp. it was a narrow escape.” *“Who killed him?” **T don’t know. Somebody, perhaps, who wanted the portrait and that paper. The Frisco Aol la ing for. We have it at our fingers’ ends at “How?” — “There were three camps for him to search, He believed that Kate Lossing is in one of them. If he came from the south he made this his first camp. the order in which he mentions them: Satanscrown, Trigger Bar and Tartarus Gulch. The heiress of the Golden Gate is not here; we know that, Nell. Then, she is at Trig- ger Bar or Tartarus Gulch.” The woman sprung toward Ruby Rob with a cry of exultation. So near! I can hardly realize this! Have we found the gold-trail at last?” ‘“‘Thar’s no mistake!” exclaimed Ruby Rob. “The Silent Hound spoke in death. would like to know who killed him last night, but we won't stop to ferret that out now. I am er to lay my hands on the Bonanza Queen of the eat Hound. He came to camp last night, | ‘ but he was followed. Somebody killed him The Lost Bonanza. All at once Ruby Rob thrust a hand under Gold Coast. But, there is one thing I don’t like. Colorado Carlos is here.” the bosom of his dark-gray shirt. His fin- ‘*T don’t like a hair of his head!” said Nugget | gers touched the little packet, but there he hesi- Nell between her teeth. ‘‘ It is singular that he | tated. should come at this time.” Colorado Carlos did not speak, but all the ‘‘It may be accincidence, He never discover- | time his eyes were looking over the leveled re- ed, I think, that I got his message in Frisco. | volver. But let me get ready for my trip. I will leave ‘*I found this under one of the soles,” said to-night, and I will come back successful!” ! Ruby Rob producing the miniature and its paper **T haven” | had time to examine it, consequently I don’ | know what value it ar’ to you, or anybod) else.’ ; 8 Rob was in his own cabin when its door | oiled silk as he had found them. opened. The leader of the Six Jewels started when he saw the man who came in. It was Colorado Carlos. Colorado Carlos seemed to know that Ruby “I’m almighty glad to find you at home, Cap- | Rob was falsifying, and a smile appeared at the tain Rob,” was the mountain Ishmaelite’s greet- | corners of his mouth as he reached is band for- ing. ‘‘ I want the boots of the man who died in | ward for the packet. ° Satanscrown last night.” ‘I don’t care about that,” he said. “TI only want what the dead man carried in his boot, or between foot and sole.” “Thar you have it,” said Ruby Rob relin- quishing the prize for which a few hours before he would have given all his wealth and a good deal of his blood, He saw the fingers of the mountain Ishmaelite close about it, as if the touch delighted him, and the next moment he saw it no more. Colorado Carlos stepped back and was speedily at the door. CHAPTER IV. SPORT AGAINST SPORT, THERE was a threat and a challenge in the eyes of one man, defiance in those of the other. The demand coolly spoken by Colorado Carlos sent a thrill to Ruby Rob’s heart, and drove him back almost to the wall of the cabin. The dead man’s boots lay where he had tossed them after the examination, and the shadow of | the table falling into the corner prevented the “The man killed last night had an unknown gold-laced Ishmaelite from seeing them. enemy,” he said to the boss of Satanscrown. Ruby Rob’s first thought was to blurt out, 4 Who ever that enemy war, he found him,” ** ‘You sha’n’t have them!” and to follow the re- | Ruby Rob answered. ply by the drawing of his revolver; but a **l have a fancy that that foe was looking second’s reflection and a look into the depths of | for the very pocket you have just given up. if the eyes that transfixed him changed the proposed | he still wants it, he can find it with me.” tactics. ‘* You knew the dead man, then?” ‘* Want a pair o’ boots, eh?” said the boss of «i did.” Satanscrown, smiling, as if the demand was ‘** What was his name?” preposterous. ‘I beg leave to inform you, Col- ‘““He was called the Silent Hound of Califor- orado, thet this cabin ain’t the storage-room for | nia.” Ruby Rob gave a slight start. — ‘* Beyond this I will not go,” continued Color- ado Carlos. ‘‘I might turn the tables and ask you how you came to look under the boot soles. of the dead, but I think I know.” The captain of the Six Jewels could not sup- press the exclamation that sprung to his lips. ‘* Aha! Id like to know what you think!” ‘* About a year ago a message intended for me fell into the hands of some one else. It hap- pened in Frisco in the lobby of the Palace Occi- dental. You need not say that I am wrong, Ruby Rob. Istand before the man who got. | my message.” Ruby Rob’s only reply was a smile which dead men’s effects.” ‘*Do you mean to say that the boots did not come mae ” — Co vas ary. not at all ut back by the « rado’s reply. pn What did I say?” ‘*T understood you perfectly, Ruby Rob, but I am here for them boots, an’ 1 want ’em!” At that moment the hand of the mountain Ishmaelite was suddenly lifted and Ruby Rob looked across the table into the muzzle of a cock- | ed six-shooter held in the steady hand of a man who flinched for nothing. | &* The boots!” continued Colorado Carlos. _-“Wohat ar’ they worth to you? | #No difference how much. I will have the botts, oralife!” | (Phi tovas plain enough. Ruby Rob bit his lip under his big mustache. S>Phisinzan natist be humored,” he said to him- ef (Dhesboothsoles look all right at first riahicdon Hewill baive.as soon as he gets them, nd with the shanty door between us, I will have hie rihandifiai 2eonnt, -tdo tisemcwhat marticlar value a dead an’s boots ar’ to you,?she said to Colorado maelite’s accusation. ‘‘It was a sleek trick, Captain Rob, and one which other men have played before,” Colorado Carlos went on. ‘I did not find it out till long afterward, and if it had not been for this epi- sode of the dead man and his boots, I should not have mentioned it. However, it is all right now: but if I had discovered the trick that: night, we would have broken the monotony of life at the Palace Occidental.” A light laugh po ag ce the speaker’s last sentence, and suddenly dropping the revolver, he tipped his big hat to the astonished sport, cov _ gone before kis departure could be be- ieved. Ruby Rob caught a glimpse of an iron-gray horse beyond merioer of the cabin, and saw a man seat himself in the saddle. He went forward with gleaming eyes and a curse struggling up his throat, ‘* This is the coolest trick I ever saw played!” he ground out between his teeth. “Tl Rate the dockiments back in three minutes!” He threw the door open with his left hand, and eee in it, a heavy revolver clutched in his right. The mountain Ishmaelite was already gone, and down the road that ran the whole length of the gold-camp was a cloud of dust, which mark- ed his trail as truly as if the man himself was seen. ‘* Pve hit men after dark; why not in a cloud of dust!” cried Ruby Rob. The following moment he threw up his hard and felt the trigger, when a loud ** Hello, cap’n!"” greeted his ear. The exclamation came from a dark-faced long-haired man of splendid Ls yr ted and Ruby Rob dropped the revolver and turned to- ward him. ‘‘ Td have given a thousand, Onyx Oll, if you anlbsta¢4Séenétfothar have a difficulty you beet ae erat] bhésbottsiI have in this trap. on’t you want nritre; ted S:Onlythosecbilkingiag to the dead man,” was therespohseyon bed doidw wv Ruby. Roby kattedstoxvard the corner that con- tainefl «the estra ‘syoétsiand picked them up. sAs he! them toward!the light, he man- aged to) press downoethe! solesowhich his bowie had peed oer oe thet! with an assumed care- less *‘ hy¥er’ thdy!ate,?:he exténded them by the tops toward the exacting sport. Colorddo Garlds-gate;the»bodts a searching glance and ‘thendaoked btiRuby Rob. “ T want thé owhole’ outfit; the said. 7 ** What’s pene cr ‘the icamp boss, feigning great astonishim Hoos cdtivd? ‘““You knyows without) asking me, Captain Rob,” said Golordilé :Carlos,slowly as the eyes of the two sports met. ‘‘ You know that I would not conte hereafter dead man’s boots if they had no' more ‘valuerthan the leather they contain. Tobe as: plain! as!/Eican, I want what you found under the soles.” A hand seemed)'to clasp the little packet at that moment under: Ruby) Rob’s shirt and very near his heart; o'[ sias@ %: “What! give up .to:this:imountain vagabond the mute’s secret, t of the lost heiress | of the Golden Gate? It was like taking a pound of flesh from the:gold-camp desperado. The second demand was worse than the first. A Pll be hangeéddifi;I do it!” blurted Ruby . Banw 7 ‘*No; yowlk had been ten minutes earlier,” he said, as the anw 1 man came up. al e killed in your tracks—that’s | ‘‘ You’ve been visited by Colorado Carlos, eh, all.” was ey ar et Ruby Rob frewned and looked the man over once more. Therstranger’s boots had fallen from the hand of Colorado Carlos, and formed a con- fused heap at his feet. He had discovered that the soles had been tampered with, and heseemed to know what had been abstracted. ‘¢' This man has the scent of a fox and the eye of a hawk,” muttered Ruby Rob. “I would give a thousand if Topaz or Onyx would open the door, or twice that amount if I had the drop on him!” But his pards did not come, and he was at the mercy of a man who looked almost merciless. Satanscrown. ‘* What did he take?” Ruby Rob hesitated a moment, but all at once: he caught Onyx Oll’s wrist and almost dragged him into the cabin. ** Tt war all about the dead man’s boots,” he continued. ‘‘ One of them war worth its weight in gold ten times over. Thar they lie—not worth a picayune now.” ‘* Why, I searched ’em when they was pulled a said Onyx Oll, eying the two boots on the: oor. “S AMIEL eX) (E@) Five minutes later Nugget Nell was alone,and covering, the whole carefully wrapped with the F with the twinkle in his eyes confirmed the Ish- - | . — 4 — 7 a tt tll, MIDE ct cap’n?”’ {Visited and robbed!” flashed the ‘boss of”