Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 434 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

l bas ———s, ae ee am a ee em ee eee LLuciter Lynx, the W onder-Detective. | | “fe : =f: —_—-—— se and saw that Major Sphinx had written an ad- e. dress near the foot of the paper: ‘‘ RICHARD RAGAN, JR., pec in the mountains that separate Idaho and | but I'll more than get even by an’ by. What ontana. about the peri thar?” The particular place was Thunder City, on the The speaker glanced at ’Boam Butterball as Idaho side, and not far from its pugnacious | he spoke, and the fellow called Ozark stepped Montana rival, Lightning Lay-out. The time was about ten o’clock of a cool night in the late autumn, and the occupants of the cabin, ten in number, were playimg cards for each other’s gold. The stranger had come unannounced. He had strode boldly up to the o,en door, and the first intimation the gambling party had of | his presence was his nasal ‘*‘ Hello! gents,” which | instantly commanded attention. Rather tall, but with a well-rounded figure that seemed to belie his statement that he was a | wanderer, the stranger was in this respect at- | tractive. . He had dark-brown eyes, hair of like color, and his face wore a bristly beard of a few days’ growth. He might have added to his personal remarks | that he was no dude, for his clothes were of many colors. On one foot he wore a boot into which he had rammed one pantaloon leg without ceremony, | only wanted to be sure of him, you noiselessly across the cabin planks, ‘‘He sleeps like a winter b’ar,” said Ozark under his breath, and then he stooped over the mountain tramp and looked steadily into his placid face. 4 The big man waited impatiently for the ver- ict. ‘*Make sure o’ him, Ozark,” he whispered. ‘* We don’t want any listeners hyer now,” Ozark touched the tramp lightly at first, and then shook him gently. The response was a grunt and a slight move- ment of the tramp’s limbs, ‘**{ don’t think he'd hear it thunder!” laughed Ozark, as he came back to bis companion who had seated himself at the deserted table. ‘* That galoot is just what he looks—a mountain nui- sance, an’ as harmless as a kitten.” ‘*That is all right,” smiled the big map. ‘I now. An- aconda gave him the use of the corner he occu- pies, an’ I don’t want to shake bim up without and on the other a shoe that did not seem to | cause.” afford him much comfort. His hat was a slouched sombrero, whose | board in ther corner thar, claims to better days consisted of a fragment of silver band lengthened by means of a rattle- snake’s skin. ‘Oh! he’s safe, major. He’s as good as a Now let’s get down to business.” - For a moment silence reigned between the two men and then the big one laid one of his hands When te had finished the remarks that open | on the table. this chapter, he leaned against the cabin wall and fixed his eyes on a bottle that stood on the rough card table. **How war things at Lay-out?” asked one of the men. ‘**T didn’t come that way,” was the reply. ‘‘I smelt ther blamed den from afar an’ kept off!” ‘* By Jupiter! thet’s a bit thet hurts!” laughed the questioner. ‘* Ain’t thar some p’isen lett in thet bottle for ther peri?” The next moment the mountain tramp had the suspicious bottle in his hands and with a ludicrous bow to the crowd, he proceeded to dis- cover what was in it. He took a long, steady pull at the bottle and handed it back with some reluctance. ‘*An eagle toa shiner thet thar’s not a drop left,” whispered one of the toughs to his neigh- bor. ‘* Thet galoot’s capacity is a gallon, or Pm a seraph! hisky is whisky in Thunder City, an’ we can’t cater ter a walkin’ sponge like thet.” ‘* Gents,” said the stranger, as his eyes ap- peared to snap under the influence of the drink just taken, ‘‘my cognomen in full is Jeroboam howastie utterball.” ‘** Jewhillikins!” ejaculated one of the men. ‘“‘It’s ther name thet wore yer clothes out, an’ not yer anatomy.” ‘{t’s ther name my saintly parents gave me an’ I wear it with pride, though it's pulled me back many a time on ther road ©’ life,” was the ly. f li’s a wonder you ever got this far.” Mr. Butterball sighed and passed one of his hands across bis brow in a reflective manner. ‘‘Pve tried ter shorten my name so as ter save jaw, an’ now I’m ginerally called ’Boam, which I think is nearly as sweet as the sound ov fallin’ waters,” he said. ‘‘ It reminds me ov a cascade’s base,” laughed a bronzed gambler, who seemed to have grown tired of the tramp’s talk. ‘‘ Wal, Mr, ’Boam, thar’s a blanket in yon corner, an’ it’ll prove long enough for yer carkiss if you don’t stretch too much,” The mountain tramp was not slow to see the hint implied in the man’s words, and with the remark that he believed he needed rest, he sought the blanket cot and stretched himself upon it. Nobody seemed to take any notice of the stranger after that. The game, slightly disturbed by his arrival, wes resumed with the fervor known to ae games of the sort, and Jeroboam Butterball, peri or tramp, was left entirely to himself. In a little while, some heavy breathing in bis corner told the mountain gamblers that he was asleep, and he was allowed to enjoy his nap without disturbance. The game went on until the stars that shone above the ‘‘ Divide” denoted midnight, whten, by common consent, it broke up, and the men pre- pared to disperse, Among them was a more than ordinary look- ing person—a large man with a heavy mus- tache, shaggy eyebrows, and about fifty years of age. | He was the best dressed person in the cabin, and his heavy gold chain and medallion charm proclaimed a mountain nabob, if nothing else. This man lingered behind when the others be- gan to withdraw. He dusted his clothes with his hands as if to ain time for some purpose, and he was still in he cabin when the other gamesters had left. The next moment one of the players came back, and with a glance at the big man shut the door behind him. “By Jupiter! Ozark, I thought the game would never end!” ejaculated the Nabob. “I lost my pile as soon as possible, just to end it, | | | | ? i a EE ae ‘‘By the hand before you, Ozark, Pve got ter get thar inside o’ a month!” he said. ‘* The time hes come for ther whole game to play into somebody’s bands—mine or theirs! Here is a letter. Read it!” At the same time the speaker produced an envelope from an inner pocket and threw it be- fore Ozark. ‘‘Read it aloud,” he wenton. ‘‘Il want to hear how it sounds on your tongue. I[t is post- marked New York, as you see, an’ it must have been a few days in the Helena post-office before I got it.” Ozark Oll, as his entire nickname was, hastily relieved the envelope of its contents and leaned toward the lamp between the pair. Then he began and read aloud the following letter: ‘* New York, Nov. 9, 188—. * MAJor SPHINX:— “They say they have found the right trail, but I don’t believe a word of it. You don’t want to make any mistake now, but when you strike you want to hit the bull’s-eye! They hired a new detective some time ago, but one night, som-hore or other, he fell into the river, and since tuen has furnished no report! If he ever reports it will be after Gabriel blows his trumpet! We are all serene here, but almighty im- patient, and the treasury is rather low. You don’t want to lose your wits now. The game is to be played out on the ‘Red Divide’ and both Thunder City and Lightning Lay-out will take a hand in it, I expect. The right person is somewhere near you, He is worth to the right individuals more than a million in coin. If you want me on the * Divide,’ telegraph. ma man from Sunup. and I know the Rockies as I know the dens of Gotham. Keep a cool head, en Be sure of every man you trust. We must be millionaires or beggars, * JuLIAN, ‘ THE SPIDER,’ ”’ The big man leaned across the table and list- ened to the reader with glistening eyes. He drank in every word and seemed to follow the reader with bated breath. ‘‘That’s a letter an’ a half, eh, Ozark?” he ex- claimed when the dark-faced man had pro- nounced the strange signature at the bottom. ‘* You don’t know the ie mare hey?” ** No,” answered Ozark. “Then you've missed | nowing the coolest head between human shoulders. He is my pard by the sea, you my stand-by in the mountains, e Spider is larger than you be, Ozark, quick as a cat, and merciless. Major Sphinx he calls me, ha, ha! That means mystery, eh? Well, I’m a livin’ mystery, by the giant spoon!” and Major Sphinx thrust his thumbs into the arm-holes of his vest, and leaned back in the chair and laughed. ‘‘See here, Ozark!” he pee ‘“The Spider says he will come if I send for him. By Jove! 1 b’lieve Vl do it. Whata dashin’ team you two ‘ll make in the game we've got ter play for the gold stakes. I'll write out a dispatch for the Spider—on the back o’ his letter. Of course it’ll go ter a name. You'll take it ter Helena, Ozark?” The tough bowed and saw the major write on the back of the letter that had just been read. ‘Thar it is, Ozark!” he cried, pushing the in- tended dispatch across the table. ‘* I have only written: “Work is plenty here. I can give yéua job.” He will understand that. Can this telegram start for Helena to-night?” “Tell be off in twenty minutes,” was the proipt response, **Good! Jehu! I want to see you two men work together, I know what you can do. Ozark an’ the Spider!—east an’ west. It means success!—it opens the gates ov the biggest bo- nanza out o’ doors!” Ozark picked up the telegram with a smile ; } exclaimed. + tt 4. Se ‘¢ No. — Sixth Avenue, N, Y.” In a moment the paper had been transferred to Ozark’s pocket and he was on his feet. ‘With the Spider here, and with one 0’ his culiar nets well spun, V’ll be the Nabob o’ the ed Divide!” exclaimed the major. At that moment the mountain tramp in the corner moved, and his lips said almost audibly: ‘* Jewhillikins! what a lie!” CHAPTER II. OLD ‘‘ BY JOVE! HA, HA!” THE next morning it was discovered that *’Boam Butterball, the mountain tramp, was not in the corner, and Anaconda Alf, the owner of the cabin, said, when questioned, that the non- descript must have stolen away before dawn. At any rate, nobody in particular seemed to take more than a passing interest in him, and the majority of the Thunder City toughs had al- ready forgotten his ludicrous name, Thunder City, as bas been mentioned, was on the Idaho side of the mountains. It consisted of a few stout cabins, huddled to- ‘ether without any arrangements of streets. fach man had put up his cabin where he pleased, and when the whole thing was done somebody christened the collection Thunder City, for want of a more euphonious name. Almost within the limits of the city was the mouth of one of the most wonderful silver mines that had yet been discovered in the Northwest. It belonged to no one in particular, but to all Thunder City, which was ruled by a sort of communism, that held and would defend all things in common. This mine was called Devil Duke’s Mine, after the person who discovered it, and who was shot by a brother tough in a row in Lightning Lay- out, the rival town just beyond the ‘‘ Divide.” Thunder City’s most important citizen was Major Sphinx, with whom the reader is already acquainted. e was not present at the founding of the new silver town in the Rockies, but had come to it a few months later, and had become the foremost person in the place, His companion and tool, Ozark Oll, was one of the original inhabitants, He had been a desperado in numerous parts of the West, and it was his boast when im liquor, that if he bad all the rewards offered for him, he would be a bonanza prince. Major 2 gee somewhat of a human mys- tery himself, for the men of Thunder City knew nothing of his past career, drew Ozark to him without difficulty. There seemed to be a bond of union between the two, although Ozark Oll declared he had not known the major pre- vious to his arrival on the ‘‘ Divide.” The hatred that existed between the valir camps was bitter, and in the course of a few months after their establishment the ground be- tween them had well earned the title of the ‘““Red Divide.” More than one mountain duel had been fought, and a dozen men had died in the passes with their boots on. So great was the antagonism, that midway be- tween the two camps was a broad board nailed toa tree with a black hand pointing toward planning Lay-out, and under it the inscrip- ion: ‘* Lightning Lay-out is a nest of liars!” And not to be outdone by Thunder City, some irate denizen of the slandered camp had added to the board a hand pointing toward Thunder with these words underneath: “* Thunder City, ditto!” This is the state of affairs that existed on tLe ‘* Divide ” when we transport the reader to it. Now and then some over-courageous man from the Montana town would brave the Idaho rougks on their own ground, when blood was sure to flow, and in return some Thunder City desper- ado would make a crimson night of it in Light- ning Lay-out. Let us now get back to our story. Major Sphinx. knew before the new day had advanced far that Ozark had departed for Hele- na with the telegram intended for the Spider in far New York. ; He knew the trail across the mountains was rough and somewhat dangerous; but he had great trust in his messenger, and believed he would get safely through. As for the mountain tramp, he did not care, and while he stood at the little counter of the whisky shop of Thunder City, enjoying his morning dram, he did not once think of Jero- boam Butterball. The promised success of the _— he was play- ing and the pro tof soon having the Spider with him, quickly took the tramp from Sphinx’s recollection. “T believe I'll go and see Flavia,” suddenly ex- claimed the major to himself. ‘‘ Somehow-or- other, if I can discover the real relations be- tween the pair, I may play the game out a little sooner than otherwise. The girl is wm She's one of those early birds, by Jove! ha, ha!” and EGCOmMmIcboo ajor - \ ee: “ St y ~ ~ Se ~ * SS nw