Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 420 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

: bens ’ is trying to geb your sister away from her friends, mstead of taking her to them. From what we have heard so far, he seems to have been On good terms with those Shropshires, | and there can hardly bea doubt that they are a bad crowd.” ‘So it is a good thing,” answered Gerald, ‘‘that we came prepared for trouble.” ‘‘{ only hope that we may be sufficiently pre- pared. We must be on our guard at every step, and it wiil be best to approach this placea little cautiously.” They did approach it cautiously, and Jerry | | | Se A eee eee mean business from the word go. Come out 0’ thar and surrender, or we'll turn loose and clean out the hull den.” e Gordon consulted hastily with his friends. ‘* Those men out there mean business,” said he ‘“‘and our best-chance is to give in and try to convince them that they have got hold of the wrong crowd.” ‘* Hello!” he shouted then. want us to do?” \ Jest come out o’ thar and give yourselves Dp. ‘* That is what we want to do, and glad of the “What do you a _ | you take us for, anyhow? ' 17 ——— from them, and if money is any object to you—” ‘* Drop that!” exclaimed Lassiter. ‘*‘ Whatdo If we can do any- thing to help a lady that’s in trouble, you may bet your solid life that -we don’t want any ' / / ' money for it. are hunting the same crowd. together.” ** That suits us exactly, and we want to make the hunt as short and sharp as possible.” . ‘*’You will find us with you there, Mr. Gor- don; but you had hit it off right on one point. Then, again, as you say, we So let’s bunt Mabry, whose lungs were of leather, hailed | chance. But you have made a mistake, my | We can’t do anything afore morning, and we the house from a safe distance; but, there was | friends. We are not the men you are looking | must just try to be content and wait till then.” no response to the hail. for.” As it was then near the close of day, it was deemed necessary to push proceedings. Again and again the house was hailed, and So they had their supper, using the provisions which they had brought from the Chicot, bunked down as comfortably as they could, and waited for the morning. ‘* Come out and show yourselves, then, and we will settle that durned sudden.” ‘All right, but we want to be sure that no oo ar that they had quit the house after the fight, and that the best thing we could do would be to stay here until morning and try to get on their trail.” CHAPTER XX. SEEKING CLEWS. THE Shropshire house was full of lodgers dur- requisitions or State lines, finding a‘tjuryof = the vicinage ” always ready to execute his decree if he can prove his case. But the impression prevailed that the Shro é 2s * * 3 still there was no answer, and no sign of lifo | more mistakes will be made. Start a fire out | irg the remainder of the night; but they had 47 was visible about the place, there, so that you can have a light to see us | not much time for sleep, as at daybreak every- | ‘7 reckon thar ain’t nobody in thar,” remark- | by.” body was astir and out, anxious to begin the ] ed Jerry Mabry. ‘Dll go and see,” | This was a reasonable request, but there was a | search for the absconding Shropshires and their 3 The entire party moved cautiously toward | little delay before it was answered, as the leader | willing and unwilling companions. . the house, the Arkansan in the lead, and it | seemed to be consulting with his followers and While the men from across the river were soon became evident tbat the establishment | giving orders. eager to find and rescue the lost young lady, the Z was deserted, and the question then was, what Shortly he hailed the house again. Arkansans wanted to hurry up and punish the 4 had become of the occupants? ‘* Hello, there! We'll start a fire. But you’d | horse-thieves who had given them such a hard 4 Though the empty rooms were scantily fur- | better come straight out and not try any gum | time, adding insult to injury by sneaking away vk nished, there were evidences of recent occupation, | games. We're fixed for you to-night, and you’d | after driving off and seriously Camaging their r but a thorough search failed to develop any | better not play roots on us.” assailants. ? signs from which the presence there of Eva Tal- Gordon again assured them of the good inten- While Gray Gordon went with the Arkansans <a cott or Mark Hannafin might be conjectured. tions of himself and his friends, and a bright | to lo-k for the trail, Gerald Talcott remained in ‘* Perhaps this is not the place they came to,” | fire was started in the clear space between the | the house to seek by the daylight for some sign i suggested Gerald, when he and hisemployer had | timber and the house. of his sister's presence there. . descended from the loft to the open hall. Leaving their weapons in the house—with the The others were scattered about in various h ‘‘Thave no doubt that they came hero,” an- | exception of their revolvers, which wero retained | errands and occupations, quite a delegation at- By; | swered Gordon; “ but why they should have left | fora possible emergency—the four men sallied | tending to the preparation of breakfast for the - here-—that is, why the entire party should have ! forth and approached the fire. combined party. Be ne cleared out—passes my comprehension,” They were met by a strong force of men, ail Gerald’s search came to nothing, as he could s ‘‘Some people, whom we must suppose to be | well armed and with their rifies ready for im- | not discover anywhere about the house any 4 the Shropshire family, had surely teen living | mediate business; but their attitude changed | scrap or ~ to prove to him that Eva had been 2 here,” said Gerald. when they perceived the weaponless and peace- | there, and he soon went out to join those who Pe ‘‘ Yes, and what has become of them? If they | ful style of the four men who came from the | were picking up the trail. “7 had remained, we might presume, and it would | house. Their search had been easily made successful, a be easy to ascertain the fact, that young Hanna- Gray Gordon, as usual. was the spokesmen of | as it was no trouble to find and to follow the ok fin and his partner had taken your sister tosome | the four, and he stepped forward briskly and | plain traces left by the fugitive Shropshires, | point from which she could easily reach her | boldly. and the Arkansans were then busy in guessing i) friends or communicate with them. But they ‘Tt hope that you will have the kindness to tell | whither the trail led and where it would end. 7. have all gone away together’, and itis hard to | me what this means,” said he. ‘‘We are Though at first this was mere matter of guess- oe ; guess what that means.” strangers here, and we feel sure that some mis- | work, points were gradually ee up that a Ernst Kreutz, who had been making a search | take has been made. I may say, too, that we | aided conjecture and brought the party rearer Fe) of the establishment on his own account, called | are glad to meet you and have a chance to ex- | to definite conclusions. m the attention of the others toa number of bar- | plain matters.” ‘“Ttis sartin that the rascals are the hoss- i q rels that were scattered carelessly about in the The men about the fire surrounded the men from | thieves we’ve been huntin’,” said one of the Ar- ~ gpen hall, nearly blocking up the passage at each | the house, and scrutinized them closely as they | kensans. ‘‘ [ve found the tracks of my rcan (“a end. came forward, but seemed to be disappointed, if | mar’, which [ know ’em well because a shce was xs An examination showed that the barrels were | not disgusted, by what they found. missin’ from the nigh hind foot.” a filled with earth, and this was deemed a suspi- “These folks ain’t no Shropshires,” observed ‘* Thar’s no deubt of that, Dentry,’ answered a cious circumstance, especially as a closer inspec- | one of them. | long Abe Lassiter, “‘and thar’s no doubt that =| tion disclosed holes in the barrels which were ‘** That’s so,” responded the leader, who gave | we can pick up that trail and foller it as long as “a decided to have been made by bullets. his name as Abe Lassiter. ‘‘ Who are you, men, | it sticks to dry land. But we can’t afford to * “There has been a fight here,” said Jerry | and how did you git here?” foller it all over these United States, andthey’ve = Mabry. “That is the very thing,” declared Gordon, | got a good start, and ’d be glad tohavescme —_— ‘No doubt of that,” declared Gordon, “fand I | ‘* which we want to explain. I suppose we are | sort of a notion about whar they’re likely to ones wish we knew who had been fighting, what the | looking tor the same men whom you are hunt- | bring up.” apt < fight was about, and what the result of it was, ing Upon this question the combined intellect m These barrels filled with carth can have been pre- te proceeded to relate the business that had | and experience of the Arkansans were concen- a pared and placed here only for one purpose. | brought himself and his friends there, and told | trated, with the more or less valuable assistance os) iy ‘hez must have been intended for use as a forti- | how, having found the Shropshire house desert- | of Jerry Mabry. a i fication, and that proves that the people who | ed, they had decided to remain there until morn- It was to them an important question,as they = \ lived here must have had enemies, lawful or | ing, when they expected to begin a search for | would be loth to leave their farms and families ug & therwise, against whom they were obliged to | the missing occupants, for an indefinite time, even to devote them- — ; fortify the place. Asa result of the fight the The meeting was adjourned to the house, | selves to the praiseworthy pursuit of hunting — . house is deserted; but whether the occupants | where Gordon’s statements as far as concerned | borse-thieves, and they were naturally anxious AR . | have been captured, or haye merely decamped, | that establishment, were fully confirmed. to know whither the pursuit would be likelyto : is the mystery of the matter, and there don’t Abe Lassiter expressed it as his opinion that | lead them. P.. £. seem to be anybody in the neighborhood who is | the strangers were “all right,” and went on to} Point after point was gradually picked up,as Bb able or willing to solve that mystery.” make a statement concerning the Shropshires | has been said, and, by patching together bits of = . a ‘*Then we must go to work and solve it for | which was decidedly uncomplimentary to that | information concerning the haunts and habits — a z ourselves,” suggested Gerald. ‘‘ Our friend, Ma- | family. of the Shropshires, with the direction of their bry, who knows the country and the waysof the = They're the worst set of hoss-thieves,” said | trail, the nature of the country into which it sae t people here, will be able to put us on the track, | he, ‘‘ that we have struck in these parts for a; led, and some other little personal or publicde = / and we ougat to push forward and follow them | long time; but it is only lately that we have | tails, one general conclusion was finally reached = : up as fast as we can,” 1 found ’em out and lit down on’em. Wemade | anda to. | . 5 * We can do nothing to-night,” answered Gor- | up a party yesterday, and came here last night | _ ‘‘ They’ve gone due north,” was the way Abe — ¥ don, ‘‘Even it Jerry should be able to pick out | to give the cusses what they deserved; but they | Lassiter put it. ‘‘They know just whar they : the right trail in the darkness, we could not at- | were ready forus, and they fought us off, hurt- | are going to, and they won’t stop afore they’ve ska 1% tempt to follow it before daylight.” ing one of our men right badly, These bar'ls | crossed the Missouri line.” rae i This opinion was confirmed by the Arkansan, | of dirt tell the story.” Not that the crossing of the Missouri line — ‘ and it was settled that the party should pass the ““We had noticed the barrels,” said Gordon, | amounted to anything to the Regulators there Di night at the Shropshire house, and make as early | ‘‘ and had come to the conclusion that there bad | present, as Judge Lynch, when he really means % a start as possible the next morning. been some such a fight as you speak of. We | to get his work in, never bothers himself about Ee It must have been about midnight when they | ‘* Well, Mr. Gordon, it’s a fact that you came | shires had friends over the border, with prob- ;/ were aroused by a shot outside, followed by a | durned nigh getting the dose that we had fixed | ably a haunt of their own, and that they had = ke hail, and speedily they were up and ready for | up for the hoss-thieves. We got some more | gone thither because they believed that they a 1 $e business, taking hold of the new emergency as | men, and came here to-night tu clean ’em out, | would be safe in that quarter. Wy 9 ee well as they might. you see, and if you hadn’t stepped forward just | This view of the case naturaliy made the = ‘Hello, there!” shouted Gray Gordon, Jump- | as you did, you'd ha’ caught it hot and heavy, | Arkansans feel a little dubious,as they were not | ing up and answering the hail assoon ashe could. | because we wasn’t in the humor to stand any | anxious to be again pushed into » fight against ‘* What's the matter?” sort o’ nonsense.” anv sort of odds or advanta 1. a ai ‘You know what’s the matter. Come cut 0’ ‘*If you are satisfied that we are all right,” e sacred duty of entoline horse-thieves, ee thar, you durned hoss-thieves! You cain’t | observed Gerald Talcott, “and as we all are | however, was not to be shirked, if itsexecution = worry us ag’in as you did last night.” hunting the same people, 1 hope that we may | was within the limit of reasonable possibility, 13 ‘There are no horse-thieves ‘here!’ he yelled | ask you to help us to do what we came here to | and the men of Arkansas were so far from = P in reply; but a voliey of rifle bullets admonished | do.” being di to shirk it, that they were Ye ¥ him to take in his head and keep it withincover. |“ That’s the potest,” broke in Gordon, “‘and | anxious to get a clear idea of what they wel oe ioe “What do you mean?’ he cried. ‘Let us | that is why I told you that we were so glad to | have to do. Rx ' know what the trouble is, and we will straighten | meet yon. The young lady that I told you of is} Having justice on their side/“if lacking the it up.” ; this young man’s sister, and you know that we | law, they had a right to demand that the odds > mae ou can’t fool usag’in as you did last night. | can’t bear to have her in such a crowd as that. | of a fight should be also on their side. Ee y Be We've got you surrounded this time, and we ° Help us to follow them up and get her away The questions then were, who were the Shrop- __ alain he ae pai et, Cee a MEIN BEF orig by RRS AEN Ie Tet Web Ue Pe ee ee Fok Pec ee