Beadle's Dime Library No. 411: The White Crook — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

Hand it over, if you don’t want to git hurt.” ‘** This is very sad and disappointing,” observed _ Ephraim Cronkhite. ‘‘I hoped to find in you | a trusty and valuable friend in a good and |. glorious cause, and you prove to be a highway- PS | a r-J : 2 - 4 " a h ee . ‘a ook The White Crook. ) **But Tl need suthin’ fur expenses. How ‘** But it is not safe,” insisted Mark. bie much ‘ll you gi’ me to start?” ‘That man we met at Pat Byrne’s—Hark i ‘* How much will you want?” Sarpy they called him—said that it might be Dy Fy * All you’ve got.” safe for tww or three days yet, and he gave me BAS This was plain and blunt enough; but the | to understand that he would look in on me Michigander did not seem to take in the mean- | shortly. I would rather wait for him, if you ing of the words. are will’ng.” a ‘Really, my friend,” he calmly replied, ‘‘I ** Just as you please, Jack. If that man said MF fail to understand you. Perhaps you mean to | that he would be here, | think we may depend B _ say that you want all I can spare.” upon him to come in time to warn us of danger, P ‘I don’t mean nothin’ o’ the kind, TI mean ! and we will wait for him.” » jest what I said. We won’t have no moro fool- It was — in the afternoon when Mark } im about this, mister. I want your money, | Stepney, who had gone out oa the ridge to re- Bs every dollar of it. That’s what I follered you } connoiter, perceived a horseman approaching | = down here fur, and that’s what [ mean to have. | from the direction opposite to that by which he o<k » man, demanding my money or my life. Is that _ what you mean?” | ; —. *aveckon you’ve got down about to the facts, wat mister ” OS kag The man from Michigan slowly arose and . f thrust his hands into his on ry —- * Don’t. you try to pull no gun!” fiercely or- » dered Zeke Stebbins. ‘“‘If you do, I'll blow a ' hole threugh you quicker’n you could wink.” r -* There is not a weapon upon my person,” | mildly answered the missionary, ‘If my cause ' «cannot succeed without the employment of fire- arms, it deserves to fail.” _ He showed his empty hands, somewhat to the ' —-—s_- yelief of his adversary. You see this,” said Stebbins, as he pointed to is cocked revolver. 4 ' \ “Ido, It appears to be a deadly weapon.” _ “You jest bet it is, and I mean business might straight along. Hand your money over right _ away, and I'll let yougo. If youdon’t, off comes _ _ the roof o’ your head!” | The missionary gazed. calmly at the leveled __ revolver, as if he considered it an object of curi- _ osity, rather than of fear. _ __ ** Truly I have been told,” said he, ‘‘ that the white man in these parts is worse than the In » dian; but I had not expected that the truth would be brought home to mein this wise. [I cannot comply with your demand, my friend, andI fear that I may be forced to handle you « .* rough! wadlege you desist from your unlawful wed : ngs. “Shut up your talk shop!” yelled the squaw man, “Hand over that money, and be quick about it.” “JT have no deadly weapons, as I assured you but such as the Lord hath bestowed upon me I will use in mine own defense,” 5 a Suddenly, and with the swiftness of lightning, __ .the lanky man’s two long arms shot out like those . an octopus, and Zeke Stebbins, who had not looked for any such demonstration, was taken __--—« One of the bony hands knocked up his pistol, which was discharged harmlessly, and the other _¢lutched him by the throat. _« Then both of them seized him by the neck and waistband, lifted him up in spite of his struggles, and flung him forcibly upon the ground. __ His head struck a stone, and he lay there sense- . mo Ls ae “He will recover shortly,” said Ephraim ? Cre nkhite as he bent down and examined his de- _ feated adversary. ‘‘ In the meantime I will leave _ this place, which speaks tome now of nothing - but sorrow and disappointment.” _ He mounted his bony horse, and that archi- tectural steed started down the valley at an astonishingly rapid gait. 4 ’ i+ ae CHAPTER VII. ae: _ §EEKING A PLACE OF SAFETY, _ Jack Buwn’s three friends of the ‘\elegraph -_ gervice were badly upset by the Apache invasion In vain he explained to them that those red. skins were nothing but tame Apaches, mere loaf- ers, too much demoralized to do anything but -beg or steal. The unexpected apneumnee and fierce looks of those red loafers had given the young men a + shock from which they did not care to recover, and they firmly declared their intention of leav- ing the shanty as soon as they could get away. Br hh me daylight they were mounted and off, their purpose being to travel by the most direct route * poate to a settlement where they would be - Bunn and Stepney were a little lonesome after _ the departure of their comrades, but managed to pass the time pleasantly enough, considering the circumstances. | _. They could not help feeling that their situation __was ticklish, to say the least of it. and it is prob- able that both thought that they would do well to get away from there, though neither liked to Tha cach the subject of decamping. _. Mark Stepney was the first to suggest it, and was surprised to perceive that his comrade op- posed the motion. y ; a bd , . t ey » -> a » _ * ©] don’t thmk we need be in a hurry,” said _ Jack. “I may receive important news, or be | ere as able to send some, and [ ought to stay Jong as it is safe.” ee ) alae : at > F <= i ee | Oe and Jack Bunn had reached the shanty. “Here he is, Jack!” shouted Stepney. ‘‘ Here comes Hark Sarpy!” Jack Bunn ran out instantly, and both the young men joyfully greeted the horsemen, He seemed to them just then like a deliverer, a& messenger with a reprieve, a person for whom they had been waiting to let them loose and show them the way to safety. Hark Sarpy dismounted and entered the shanty with them, ‘'T got around here a little sooner than I ex- pected to,” said he. ‘‘ The fact is, my young friends, that I discovered that the scare we were talking about at Byrne’s is a worse piece of business than any of us had supposed it to be. It looks now as if all the Apaches in the Terri- tory have gone on the war path. The hills are full of them, and there is no telling where the may be met. I have come to tell you that think you had better get away from here.” ‘* We are very thankful to you for coming,” answered Jack, ‘‘and for my part I am more than willing to slide out.” ‘* Where are the others? I understood you to say that you had three friends here.” ‘*They went away early this morning, scared off by a couple of Icafing red skins who looked in on us la: t night.” ‘*T hope they are safe: but it won’t do to bet on anything just now. I reckon, Mr. Bunn, that wo may as well trot along.” Jack Bunn filled his cartridge belts with all the ammunition they would carry, and hid the rest under the floor of the shanty. Then he picked up a queer little machine, which he placed in a leather case that had a strap for carrying it over his shoulder. ‘** What’s that?’ inquired Stepney. ‘** That is a thief,” ‘‘A thief? What sort of a thief?” ‘A telegraph thief. It contains a small in- strument and something more. I can climb a pole, attach my wire there, and send a message in any direction, The something else is some- thing of my own invention. It is an arrange- ment for storing up electricity and keeping it on hand until it is wanted, it a storage battery. I’was going to apply for a patent when I learned that some Frenchman had got ahead of me—way ahead, I believe—and then I a little one, so that I could use it with my thief. “Is it worth while to carry it away now, Jack?” ‘* We may have a use for it, and it isa pet of mine. Perbaps, though, on second thought, I may as well leave it. I’ve got a dynamite cart- ridge, and [I could arrange that with the machine so that if any stray Apaches should hap- pen in here when Lam away, it would blow them to kingdom come.” ‘* That is ’most too good a scheme,” observed Hark Sarpy. ‘‘ Some white men might happen along instead of the Apaches.” ‘You are right, Mr. Sarpy, and I will save my machine. I believe I will take the dyna- mite cartridge, too.” ‘*Isn’t that rather risky?’ _ Not a bit of it. I know how to carry the little darling. Besides, this is the kind that needs an electric spark to explode it.” “All right. Take it along, then, There is more than a chance that we might find a use for it, Come on, boys! It seems to methat there is an Apache smell in the air. I hope your friends have got through safely.” Jack Bunn did not load himself up with any more incumbrances, but locked the door of the station and put the key in his pocket, ‘*That’s business,” he said. ‘' Don’t know but 1 ought to put a sign up, ‘ Back in ten min- utes,’ ” The three men mounted their horses and rode away, Hark Sarpy in the lead. They rode down the glen into the valley, and soon came in sight of Pat Byrne’s hostelry,. ‘‘ We will ride up there and see if all is right at the Irishman’s,” said the guide, ‘If he hasn’t got away from there, it is time for him to be starting.” Everything seemed to be right at Pat Byrne’s, and there was not the least indication of trouble or harm. The front door stood open, as was usually the case at that time of the year, and the shanty was quiet as if the proprietor, in the lack of cus- tom, was sleeping away the long hours of the afternoon. ‘It looks right,” muttered the guide, “ but it seems to me I smell Apache.” . rr EE LL LLL LL S “ >. ‘ 7 é na ge on 2 rue — rar, — 3 - ’ : * se , ‘ “ae “4 f i a*d °: ~-> an eS _— - aa 4 ofS ey Mee { 4 3 : — atl . J ‘ — + abd, % iy al 2, ~e - a! ‘ ; ‘e S $, a hy ' : EES Pe Oe 1 ALAS Se Me Om Peeks le He dismounted with his two friends, and they walked quietly to the open door and looked in, The sight that met their eyes was enough to send a chill through the hottest blood. aa Byrne had gone away, but to another world. He lay on the floor near the entrance, with his head toward the open door, and from the top of his head the scalp had been stripped, ** As you peel a fig when the fruit is fresh,” leaving a bloody patch of nearly fleshless skull, though then somewhat dried, upon which the flies had settled thickly. There could be no doubt that the Irishman ‘. was dead, but who had killed him? It was not necessary to look far for an answer to this question. Of course his murderers were Apaches, and there they were, right before the eyes of the gazers, Not a bit formidable were they just then, but, at least for a time, helpless and at the mercy of any avenger who might come along. And the avenger bad arrived! Three stalwart savages lay on the floor, none of them far from their victim, and allapparent- ly ina drunken stupor. They had first slaughtered the proprietor of the hostelry, and had then been laid out by his liquor. he ‘ stuff” was the real avenger of Pat Byrne. ark Sarpy took his companions by the arms and led them away from the shanty a few steps. ‘*T thought I smelt Apache,” said he, *‘ and now we all know whatit means. Boys, I reckon you had better go a little further back, as Daw won't want to mix in this, I will attend to what needs to be done.” “What are you going to do?” Inquired Step- y. “T am going to civilize those Apaches,” Leaving his young friends with the horses, he returned quickly and entered the shanty. | Directly they heard the sound of a slight scuffle, followed by a heavy fall. Then Hark Sarpy came out, closing the door behind him. ‘* He bas murdered them in cold blood,” whis- pered Jack Bunn. “ Better so than that they should not be killed,” answered Stepney. ‘‘I would have ape, to do the job, but | am glad that it is one. CHAPTER VII. MORE MURDEROUS WORK. Hark SARPY made no report to the youn men of what had happened in the shanty, and pe made no inquiries. If they had insisted upon knowing, he might have told them that his work had been ck and sure; that he had stabbed two of the murderous red-skins to the heart as they lay in a drunken stupor; that the third had been aroused and had at a resistance which had been most effectual y overcome, There were three dead Apaches and one dead Irishman in there with the barrels and kegs, and bottles of liquor, and the guide looked back at the building wistfully when he had reached his friends. ‘“‘It would be a good thing,” he said, ‘‘ to touch a light to that shanty and give poor Pat a fiery funeral, but the blaze would be sure to draw all the Apaches within range, and there may be a score of them.” ‘Tt will be safest to leave things as they are,” observed Stepney. | ‘* No doubt of that, especially as I have reasom to believe that the woods and bills about here are full of red-skins, and that Zeke Stebbins is: engineering the raid. He was here with the party that killed Pat Byrne.” | ‘* How do you know that?” inquired Mark. ‘¢ He left his traces plain enough. Here is a letter addressed to him that [ picked up on the oor of the shanty. and of course he had dropped. t there. It is a very important matter, too. Read it.” Both the young men read the letter, which in- formed Zeke Stebbins that a box of rifles and cartridges had been shipped to him by Express: to San Rafael, “That stuff is for the hostile Apaches,” said Sarpy. ‘There can be no doubt of that. Zeke Stebbins has been their secret agent and spy for a long time, and if I needed any proof that he is still with them, the fact that he was with the wretches who killed Paddy Byrne is enough.” ‘‘ Quite enough,” assented Stepney. ‘‘This is very important, asI said. The rifles. are meant for the a) ac ees and they are to get. them through Zeke Stebbins. Probably he has gone on to San Rafael to look after that busi- ness, It would be a fine stroke to stop it, if we could only get word down there in time.” : ‘‘There’s no trouble about that,” broke in Jack Bunn. “If the line is not cut, and I don’t. believe it is, 1 can send word to headquarters: and to San Rafael as easy as rolling off a log.” . ‘Do it, then. It may save some liv even if vt puis not result in catching a scoundrel. e id a comic | ts i ” bi at Aa le | oun telegra h operator y ee ad made fe ready ‘his ( ehiet | climbed an joining tele-- y ee Sat «f cys ‘ * 4 ’ 2 P 4‘. -~eeee. pe , | Va ; er | ee eae \ 0 (eX e) \\= & | J = 2S lw oy | ae ‘ \ P a ~ A : ‘vw oe) ’