Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 420 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

i the flat-boat draw their supplies, and 1 wish we had not come here.” Even this bit of a whisper attracted the at- tention of the leader, who turned on them at once. ‘* anything he manded. ‘* Nothing at all,” answered Gordon. ‘* What are you whispering about, then?” “| was suggesting to my young friend here that we are probably on our way to a still- house.” “Tt is easy enough to guess that. But you want to speak out what you’ve got to say. I don’t like whispering.” ‘*Then I will speak right out and say that nei- ther of us would object to a drink of the pure stuff this morning.” - After Colonel ‘Rapp’s warning there was no more whispering, and within a few minutes the party reached the headquarters of the moon- shiners. The were not at all formidable in appear- ance, nor were they in any way interesting ex- cept to those who had business there, being mere- lv two low and shabby cabins, the smalicr of which was the abode of the still, and the larger the lodging-house of the workers. the matter?” sharply de- Two more men were visible up here, making | was concluded, quite a respectable force to guard the premices, and all seemed to be willing and able to defend what they called their rights. —E Lhe Old River Sport. ——_ — + + Cee Gordon rather grufily, as if these questions were annoying him. *‘ 1 couldnit see him drown be- fore my eyes, and I suppose it was a sudden im- ulse that caused me to jump in and help him. Chere was nothing particular in that.” ‘**Something to him, perhaps. nothing to me, and I don’t pretend to say that it is any of my business. the water, though, bow did you get from the shore out here? It is quite a tramp.” ‘** That is where we struck a little trouble, col- onel. We were treated very inhospitably at a flatboat where we landed and asked for accom- modations. That proved to be too tough a hotel for us.” The interest of Colonel Rapp in the subject seemed to increase suddenly, as he leaned for- ward with an eager jook. ‘* Indeed!” he exclaimed. ‘* Where was that? Tell me all about it.” Gordon was of the opinion that he had stepped into hot water; but it was necessary to wade through, and he told the story of the difficulty with the Gonder family plainly and fully, of course making his story tell as plainly as possi- ble acainst the flatboat men. ‘*T thought that something of the kind was the matter,” said Colonel Rapp when this narrative ‘*T recognized, you see, the shotgun that you brought here as belonging to Israel Goncer, and wanted to know the facts of the case, so that | might judge how you had come The guests of the moonshiners—or the cap- | by it.” tives, as the case might be—were invited into | | ers were friends of the flatbcat men, if not con- the larger cabin, where they were informed that they would soon have as good a breakfast as There was no doubt, then, that the moonshin- federates, and this fact gave the affair a dar! look could be provided for them—an assurance that | for the castaways; but they were not yet dis- would have been more satisfactory if they had not at the same time been disarmed. **] will take care of these guns of yours,” ob- served Colonel Rapp as he deprived them of their weapons. ‘‘ Of course you won’t need them while you are here, as you have us to defend ou.” : As there was no gainsaying this statement. and no use in objecting to it, the visitors tricd to make the best of it, and Gray Gordon did not fail to thank the old man for his kindness, ‘‘ Now, gentlemen,” said the latter as ho seat- ed himself near them, ‘‘ I want to know who you are, and where you came from, and how you got here.” ‘*That is easy to tell,” answered Gordon, who continued to act as the spokesman of the visit- ors. ‘* My name is Gray Gordon, and my young friend is named Gerald Talcott.” “T have surely heard tre name of Gray Gor- don, and it seems tome that I must have seen your face before now, though I can’t begin to place it. But that’s no wonder, as I am badly mixed about names as well as faces, and would not even be willing to bet that my name is real- ly mine. Queer, ain’t it? I have seen some people who claimed to be related to me, but I couldn't place them.” “Perhaps they were lying,” suggested Gor- don. ‘“Maybe so, and maybe not. I can’t tell. I was killed once, you see, and that accounts for my getting things twisted.” ‘Only once?’ was on the tip of Gordon’s tongue; but he could easily guess that any flip- pancy on the subject would be regarded by the old man as a deadly insult, and he did not speak his thought. ‘That is a great pity,” said he, as he assumed as solemn an expression as the situation would allow. “Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. You can’t always be sure that you know good luck from bad. Anyhow, it has nothing to do with the business. Goon and tell me where you came from and how you got here.” ‘* Phat’s a queer piece of husiness, too, col- onel,” answered Gordon, who was particular in giving his host the title by which he had heard him addressed. ; ‘‘ Not too queer for me to believe, I hope.” ‘‘T hope it is not, and I hope you will believe me whenI say that I mean to give it to you straight. But I must admit that I would have my doubts of the yarn if I should hear anybody else tell it. The truth is, Colonel Rapp, that we swam ashore from a steamboat.” ‘‘ {tis pretty tough, for a fact,” observed the moonshiner. ‘‘ What made you do such a trick as that? Did you have to?” ‘Well, partly so. Yes, I may say that we had to. ‘My friend Talcott got into a difficulty with a man there, who took him unawares and knocked him overboard. Seeing no other way to save him, as the boat was running down- stream very fast, I jumped in after him and helped bim to swim ashore.” ‘*That was kind of you, Mr. Gordon, to say the least of it, and it was a good job to make the trip to shore,. Not every man can buck against that river and live. You must be fend of the young man. What is he to you?” ‘‘He isa human being,” answered Gordon a little evasively. ‘* Well, yes, he does look asif he might be eesti eee err posed to despair. ‘* Well, you’vo got the facts plain and straight,” suggested Gordon. ‘*So yousay. LDve got your side of the case, anyhow, but must hear the other before I can decide how the matter stands, You say that the Gonder family tried to rob you of your pro- perty; out it is certain that you have got some of their property in your possession—~how much moro I can’t say.” : ‘* We paid for what we took,” declared Gor- don. ‘That is the toughest part of the story, every bit of which is hard toswallow, To believe that you botght a man’s gun, either after or before he used it in trying torob you, is too much to take down. It seems to me, my friends, that the boot is on the other foot.” ‘“*Do you mean to charge us with being rob- bers?” indignantly demanded Gerald, ‘* That is what it looks like, young man, and it ain’t worth while for you to kick against the facts. It looks as if you have been robbing those poor people at the river, and | only hope you hain’t murdered them.” ‘* This is too much!” ejaculated Gerald. ** Yes, it would be too much, and I hope you haven’t done it. I should think that you might have got up a yarn that people would be more likely to believe; but you have told a crooked story, and it has got to be straightened out somehow. Those folks at the river seem to be poor but honest people, and it would be a great pity if they have come to barm. I have sent to them and they will be here before long, if they are alive.” CHAPTER X. CLEANED OUT. THE position of affairs was far from encour- aging to Gray Gordon and his young friend, who found themselves in a predicament from which there seemed to be no way of extrication, and the result of which promised to be consider- ably worse than disagreeable. The last statement made by Colonel Rapp, added to the conclusion at which he had pre- viously arrived, assured the captives that tliey could expect nothing less than to be handed over to the tender mercies of the defeated and dis- gusted flatboatmen. The smooth and plausible manner of the old moonshiner appeared to them then to have been intended to deceive, and it was evident that he had been leading them into a trap which he meant to spring on them. But there was no help for it; they were in the trap, and it was useless to wriggle or squirm; so they continued to face the trouble boldly. ‘* The facts are exactly as I have stated them, Colonel Rapp,” said Gordon, “‘ and if you should disbelieve us, I can only say that we are in worse luck than we had thought for, But that is no reason why we should starve, and I am rhe colonel, that you promised us some break- ast, ‘‘ So I did, and you must have it right away.” The promised breakfast happened to be ready, and was brought in immediately. It happened, also, to be a very good breakfast, stewed squir- rels being a dish that was well calculated to tempt the appetites of hungry men, and Gordon and Talcott ate so heartily that they almost for- got their troubles in the comfort caused by the something in that line; but we don’t jump into | palatable food. the oie 94 for every human being we meet. What else is he to you?” “TT think Ican call him my friend,” replied ' hope, they found it impossible so to act as to’ clear that they must have been in my pocket > , 7 » Ps. Yet it must be admitted that although their improved bodily condition inspired them with a J ~< « J ¥> ' 7 “ Sy ad " i > 9 cause the moonshiners to believe in their hon-- esty and thus securea realization of their hopes. There was no getting over the fact that cir- cumstances were against them, so their case was _ already prejudged. Of course it is | After you got clear of | In view of Colonel Rapp’s acquaintance with the Gonder family—whether be helieved in the honesty of those ‘‘poor people” or not—the . story which the castaways had told him was | a point of that fact. Z| \ af \ ig ~ 3 exactly the thing that would not secure his sym- pathy in their favor. It was clear that he disbelieved that story, and was prepared to believe anything that the Gon- ders might allege to their discredit. Thus they perceived—or Gordon did, at least —that the best they could say would only give their case a worse look, and they tcok refuge in silence. From this condition they were relieved—if it could be called relief, and it at least braced up the two captives—by the arrival of the two Gonders, father and son, and the only wonder was that the old woman kad not come with them. When they came into the cabin, their faces wore such a malignant look of expectant tri- umph, that it was clear that they had been thoroughly posted as to what had been told a and as to what they might safely say and do. The evidence of their looks was immediately confirmed by their speech. ‘* Yes, Colonel Rapp,” put in the elder Israel, ‘‘them’s the rascals that robbed us, and it’s lucky you caught ’em and sent us word, s0’s we could git back our prop’ty.”’ ‘What did we rob you of?’ indignantly de- manded Gordon. acyedal ‘Part of it was a shotgun and a pistol, as Colonel Rapp knows.” ‘** We left a pistol in place of that which we took, and left money to pay for the shotgun.” ‘* That’s one of the yarns that nohody is likely to believe. “Twas bad cnough to rob us, without lyin’ about it.” ‘* Why. youinfernal scoundrel, you came upon us When you thought we were asieep, and de- manded cur money or our lives,” The appearance of virtuous indignation as- sumed by the two flatboatmen at this juncture was not well put cn, but its intent was evident enough. “Is that the sort c’ yarn you’ve heen tellin’? yelled old Israel. ‘*‘ Why, Colonel Rapp, it’s a wonder that them hellions let us escape with our lives. Myson thar was knocked down by’em and left fur dead, and it seemed like we'd never bring him to ag’in.” Young Israel confirmed this statement most emphatically. ** Maw would ha’ come along,” he added, *‘ to sw’ar ag’inst the rascals; but she was skeered nigh to death, and was used up so bad that she wasn't fit to stir.” The castaways were so overcome by these as- tounding and unblushing falsehcods that they could say no more, and it would have been useless for them to try to do so, as it was evi- dent that the case had been already decided against them. ‘*How much money did they take from you, Mr. Gonder?” inquired Colonel Rapp. ‘Well, Idunno. I reckon they must ha’ tock all thar was on the boat; but we’ve been so wor- ried and tore up that we hain’t been able to lock and see. Anyhow, they said they dida’t have a dollar when they came aboard, and it stands to reason that if they’ve got anythin’ now it belongs — to us,” ‘** You infernal old liar!” burst ont Gordon. ‘* Stop that!” ordered Colonel Rapp. ‘ It is enough to have robbed these pocr people, and I can’t allow you to abuse them.” ‘* Do you mean to say that you believe that we are a pair of robbers?” ‘*‘ What else can I believe? I know these peo- ple, and have found them honest and well-mean- ing. I know nothing about you, except that you: have told mea pack of stuff that is altogether incredible. refsonable story, which wy confirms what I had previously suspected. Yes, I believe that you have robbed them, and they have a right to get back their property.” This was the decision of a court from which there was no appeal, and there was nothing for the castaways to do but submit. | The fiatboatmen manifested an eager desire to take upon themselves the immediate execution of the sentence, but Colonel Rapp halted them. and deputed one of the moonshiners to searchito - prisoners. Gray Gordon had sought an opportnnity tu conceal bis valuables, but had not found one, as the strangers had been closely watched. The search of Gerald Talcott did not pan out . very extensively; but in one of Gordon’s pockets | was found a large roll of bills, which included the money he had raked in at the poker game on the Rowena. As the money was still wet, he sought to make “Just look at those quested, ‘‘ You see that they must have been very wet, as they have not dried out yet. It is ebook . . ' PS ee, aS --¢€om They have told mea straight and ~ bills, colonel,” he re-.