Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 420 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

a ¢ im 7 oe - gadiy answered; “ but 7 > ae ; re 2 ‘ me ¢ > Th toe ‘ iy ‘ ‘ . . ' iA : ’ 1 _ give us a fair show at the gang? e urge i . ; think of g tours.” The Old River Sport. shires’ supposed friends up yonder, and where was their supposed haunt? ‘*T reckon 1 can settle both of them p’ints,” observed Jerry Mabry, who had lately been lis- tening to the statements and opinions of the others without putting in a word of his own. ‘* Tf you can do that, Jerry,” eagerly declared Gordon “‘you are the right man in the right place. So jump right in and settle them.” ‘‘ Well, gentlemen all,” began Jerry, with a certain slowness and hesitation, evidently not caused by modesty, ‘‘I must say that I’ve had cause to know somethin’ about hoss-stealin’ in these parts, along with some other little matters that may be more or less in that line. I don’t mean to say that I ever stole a hoss—” “Oh, no! no! no!” was the general chorus that | interrupted the speaker. ‘‘Of course you never stole a horse, Jerry,” chimed in Gray Gordon. ‘‘If you ever had stolen a horse, nobody here would care a straw about it now. All we want to know about you is whether you can show us how to lay our hands on some men who are known to have been stealing horses. [f you will do that, you shall be counted as good as gold and as pure as | an angel.” * You are observed Abe to that talk.” ‘** Well, gentlemen all,” began Jerry again, ‘*hein’s we ain’t here to do any argufyin’ about outside p’ints that ain’t strictly business, 1 must say that thar’s one place in these parts whar a iving it to him right, colonel,” ssiter, ‘‘and we'll all stick up hoss that’s been slipped up onto is mighty apt to | bring up, either by way of a friendly call, or to stop awhile. That place is jest over the border, and the man who runs it is an old moonshiner who goes by the name of Colonel Rapp.” | — - a ‘* That is just what I am going to look after right away,” replied Lassiter, as he started up and entered into a hasty consultation with some of his companions. The consultation was not ended when the party were informed that their breakfast was | ready, and just then a couple of stragglers who had been down to the river arrived with an in- teresting announcement, CHAPTER XXTI. LIGHT BACKED BY MIGHT. THE news that was brought up from the river was not only interesting tothe Arkansans, but was regarded by them as a matter of actual linportance. lt was to the effect that a flatboat of the | ‘‘storeboat” variety had lately landed down there, and that the ‘‘goods” to be disposed of by the mercantile cratt were whisky in all sorts of packages. Though a general whisky famine was scarce- ly possible in an Arkansas district, yet in isolat- | ed communities, owing to sparseness of settle- | and he blessed the impulse that had led him to ment and difficulty of communication, the sup- ply was sometimes known to run low or even to give out entirely, and such occasions were re- garded as public calamities. One of them had struck the region from which | Abe Lassiter and his levies had come, and they had consequently been obliged to leave their homes with an insufficient supply of the fluid which most of them raghtded as one of the necessaries of life, To this destitution had been partially due the hesitation about proceeding further with the ex- | pedition, The arrival of a storeboat loaded with whisky, Gray Gordon and Gerald Talcott started and | however, instantly put a new face on the affair, stared at each other, but said nothing at the | arousing fresh enthusiasm, and inspiring them | moment, and their agitation was not observed by the others. To Gordon it must have seemed strange that this Colone] Rapp, or whatever his name might be, was continually cropping up, and that all roads appeared to lead to him. ‘‘T’ve heard of that man,” observed Abe Las- siter, ‘‘and I reckon we all know more or less avout him, It is a great pity that he should mix up hoss-stealin’ with honest business.” {t may be proper to state the fact that the manufacture of surreptitious and untaxed whis- ky, commonly styled moonshining, although not regarded as an honest business by the Govern- ment, was held in good os ie? by most of the people in the neighborhoods where it was car- ried on, and the moonshiners were looked up to as heroes and public benefactors. Horse-stealing, however, offended not the | statute law alone, but the universal law, and was utterly abominable by the general consent of mankind. To join the functions of moonshining and horse-stealing was scarcely less than sacrilege in Arkansas, Jerry Mabry protested rather feebly in favor of Colonel Rapp. ‘* Tt don’t seem to be sca’cely right to goas fur as that, Mr. Lassiter. He don’t mix up hoss- stealin’ with business; leastwise, he don’t steal ho hosses as I ever heerd of.” ‘* A sort of receiver of stolen horses,” suggest- ed Gordon. ‘*Maybe somethin’ in that line. do bring up thar, as I said afore.” ‘‘ This is the p’int, then, Mr. Mabry,” remark- ed Lassiter. ‘‘If hoss-stealin’ is mixed up with the business, they’ve got a den up thar that’s likely to be a tough one to tackle. Do you know enough of that den to put us onto it and 27) The hosses ‘‘ Seems as if I ought to. I know the ins and outs of it right well.” ‘“‘T know something about it, too,” observed Gray Gordon, and this quiet remark drew upon him the general gaze, accompanied by a runniug fire of ejaculations of astonishment. “Yes, gentlemen, I have been there,” he re- sponded—‘‘ I and my young friend Talcott—and - mvy little experience cost me something. I was — yobbed there. of quite a pile of money, that I blame Colonel Rapp for that affair, so - much as I blame certain parties who appea Not red to be particular friends of his, and it was they who got the money.” _ “Weare getting on now purty fast,” remark- Lassiter, ‘‘and I don’t see anything to hin- der us from finding those rascals and striking them.” ! * Then let us start right out and strike them,” Gordon. ‘** All rizht, colonel; but we can’t go too fast. Grub’s the first thing to be ’tended to, and for you folks there’s something more to be done.” & What is that?” ** You will have to get hosses. This is no sort of tramping job, Mr. Gordon, and you can’t make the trip without crit- No doubt this was true; but the Horgan. ame was one u which Gordon had not counted, and the statement of the fact quite u him. ‘*T suppose you are right, Mr. Lassiter,” he w on earth are we with renewed confidence. All they then bad to do was to go down to the river and secure such a supply of solace and in- vigoration as would carry them whooping through the campaign. | it The news gave them excellent appetites, and they hastened to demolish the breakfast that ) had been prepared for them. To Gray Gordon the news was also good news, not only on account of its effect upon his allies, but because he instantly jumped to a conclu- | | says that ['m hard to beat at seven-up, all the | same,” knew the flatboat which had arrived, and that | sion which was soon proved to be correct. A little questioning convinced him that he es owners were the Gonders who had victimized im. As a further delay was rendered inevitable by ' ‘served Gordon. the identity of the craft, and further proof was furnished by the presence of the Gonders, father and mother and son, all looking just as mean and malignant and ‘‘or’nary” and sneaking as when he last saw them. a delegation of citizens—especially such a large and thirsty delegation as this proved to be, and business began with them so briskly that they were justified in anticipating a large income. The Arkansans, hastening to sample the liquor that was offered them, were rejoiced at discov- ering that it was neither Cincinnati red-eye nor Louisville blue-ruin—noxious compounds shipped in vast quantities for the purpose of emptying the southern pocket and destroying the southern | stomach—but genuine moonshine from a secret and home-bred still, unquestionably the pure juice of the corn, and not much the worse for its rawness, The business of filling flasks proceeded rapid- ly, Israel aud bis mother working with a will, while the old man made change and watched the proceedings with avaricious eyes. This was an unexpected big bonanza for him, run his craft in there near the wreck of the | Nowena. When the rush of business began to slacken, his attention was claimed by Gray Gordon, who had been sampling the liquor with the rest, ap- _ parently devoting himself to it with a vigor that _ promised speedy intoxication. Gordon surely looked like a wild man from the mountains, and it was evident to him that none | of the Gonders had suspected his identity, ‘* Look-a-here, old man,” he said, catching the elder Israel by the shirt-sleeve, ‘*don't none o’ you folks never play no sort o’ games with keeards?” ‘*Mebbe we do, a leetle, sometimes,” admitted | Israel. “That s what ’'m buntin’, old pard. I’ve got whole boodles of money, and am just achin’ to find some man who thinks he can beat me out of ‘* Well, I dunno *bout that. I don’t purtend to be much on keeards; but now and then I like to play a bit of seven-up.” ‘*Seven-up ain’t my strongholt, old man,” ob- ‘*Poker’s what takes me whar I live every time. But I’ve got money as This was just what old Israel Gonder wanted. He considered himself an adept at bis favorite game of seven-up, or all-fours, or old sledge, or whatever anybody chose to style it, and a con- the necessity of procuring horses, he proposed | siderable portion of his profits along the shores to himself that he should take advantage of the had robbed him. | of the Mississippi was secured by his skill in opportunity and get even with the rascals who | fleecing the natives at that game. He had ocular demonstration of the fact that While his companions ate voraciously, he gave | the red-headed Arkansen was well supplied with them an outline of the robbery, without going | money, and hisappearance and manner indicated too far into previous details, and declared that | an easy victim. the two Gonders on the whisky-boat were the men who had got his money, to say nothing of the shameful treatment he had received at their hands. even with those sneaking scoundrels. I don’t want wy 4 fere wilh an them, as I don’t expect to get my work in until that is over. The Arkansans easily admitted that this was his chance, ‘Just one thing more,” he added. ‘‘ When we are down there at the flatboat, you must none of you speak to me or even mention my name, as 1 don’t want those scalawags to know me until I am ready to spring myself on them.” ‘*Seems to me that they will be apt to know you, colonel, without any help from us,” sug- sted Abe Lassiter. . ‘* Indeed they won't. Let me run my own end of the show, and I will guarantee that.” Gordon went up-stairs in the house, and from his clothing brought out a few “ fakements” which he had procured in Memphis. oat were simple but effective. With a reddish wig and a beard of the same hue, well fitted and deftly applied, his appear- ance was so completely transformed that his companions did not recognize him when he re- turned to them. | ‘* You'll do, Mr. Gordon,” remarked Lassiter. “T reckon you can be trusted to play your own | game, and now ali who want to may go down to | the river and liquor up.” ‘* Net you, Gerald,” ordered Gordon. “ Those Gonders would spot you at once, and you will have to stay here out of the way.” ly to Mabry and the German, requesting them to watch his friend and be ready*to back lhint if he should need backing. hast- onder Talcott and two others, the entire ened down to the river to sample whisky. W hen needed but a giance to assure Gray Gordon of the Give me a chance, and let me | alone—that’s all.” | I With the exception of Abe Lassiter and Gerald | they came in sight of the flatboat it | Why, then, should not Mr, Israel Gonder take this wild man of the woods into camp end de- spoil him of his property? This was just what Mr. Isreel Gonder pro- ‘All I want,” said he, ‘‘is a chance to get | posed to do. He produced a greasy deck of cards at first, help, and I will promise not to inter- | but brought out a new pack at Gordon's request, business you may have with | and the two antagonists seated themselves at a table near the door. A detailed description of the game as it was begun and continued might possibly be instruc- tive; but it would be much too lengthy, and at a reasonable request, and that he ought to have the same time the most careful description of the game could not possibly include its intrica- cies and its true inwardness, Therefore only a general idea of its style and results can be given. in his native township, and among the people along the bank of the rivers whom he supplied with whisky, old Israel Gonder may have Gores: success at seven-up; but he had surely never played the geme on the Pacific Coast, where everything of the kind found its highest develop- ment and was worked for all it was worth. Gray Gordon had been there, and the style in which he proved himself a master of the game ro enough to make old Israel’s hair stand on end. The trumps, the court cards, the ten-spots and the jacks were always just where he wanted them, and no matter how good a hand his oppo- nent might held, he never failed to have one that could just beat it. It did not take long to satisfy the old man as well ss to astonish him, and when be had got enough he threw down his cards and declared his intenion of quitting. / He had not lost much, though a good deal more than he had wanted to lose, and the prospect of Gordon's getting his money back by winning it from the old flatboatman appeared to be too faint Talcott promised to do so; but he spoke quiet- | to be worth considering. That, however. was not Gordon’s idea. He had no time to spare for such a campaign as that and the cards were merely an introduc- tion to his real intention. By this time the game had become the center of attraction to all inside of the flathoat; and among those who had owe ae near the table to watch it were young Israel and hismother, the former staring at the style in which the old man They were overjoyed by the early arrival of | comicbooks me a oa - st | | P bs Pn, 7 ot Toys ah | — ese een te rE oe .