Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 454 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

a ite a “ * | f 18 1 ——— The Night Raider. peg themselves upon the attention of Major obbs and his party. As the hours of darkness would bring acces- sions to the rough element, with a largely in- creased consumption of whisky, and consequent- iy a greater tendency to disorder, the first thing necessary was to consolidate and organize the law-abiding citizens, so as to guard the we and present a firm front to the enemies of order. This duty was confided to some of the citizens who had joined the marshal, and they hastened to perform it, the jail being fixed upon as the eneral rendezvous and headquarters of the orces, The next thing in order was the arrangement of acommissary department, so that the men on duty could be fed without leaving their “i Men were found to put this machinery in motion, as well as to attend to the supply of am- munition and to add a number of rifles to the revolvers that were carried. As the jail had been, and probably would be again, the objective point of the mob of roughs, it was deemed proper to fortify the ap- proach to it, so that its defenders should not be forced to fight entirely in the open. This was accompanied by building a barri- cade, or breastwork, of barrels and boxes and odds and ends of timber. These matters having been attended to with- out any further disturbance or interruption, Major Hobbs felt himself at liberty and strong enough to take other measures connected with me safety of the town and the preservation of order. The ‘‘ solid citizens” came to his assistance more largely and with greater alacrity than he had expected them to, and he had good reason to hope that with the force then at his command | he would be able to ‘‘ down” the rough element quite effectually. Again, as it was his nature to do, he proceed- ed to take the aggressive. One danger to be feared was that of partic- ular or promiscuous attacks upon obnoxious a and the destruction of their prop- Tistond of flinging themselves against a force that was organized and prepared to meet them the mob might assail weak points here and there, with a view to private grudges or gen- eral plunder, or with the hope of dividing the force of their foes and diverting them from the ve eta point of attack. o meet this contingency it was decided that the town must be watched and guarded, and a strong patrolling force was sent out after dark, armed with rifles, near enough to support each other in case of need, and with orders to report immediately at headquarters any demonstra- tion in any direction on the part of the enemy, CHAPTER XXTIL A FRIENDLY FIRE. THE mob, in the mean time, leaving their wounded friens to the care of their foes, had re- tired to fill their ranks with men, and to fill their skins with whisky. Whisky had been the controliing force that began the war, and“whisky was to be the sus- taining force to carry on the campaign. Though Jack Halsey had not yet been “* strung up,” Dan ' | I | | country for a few hours of business or revelry— especially the revelry—the emissaries of the mob captured numerous cowboys and others, whom a sufficient supply of whisky made ripe for a row, and who were willing enough to worry the con- stituted authorities, The other side secured a few ranchmen; but their recruits from the outside were not near as numerous as those of their adversaries. As the hours of night wore on, and the effects of free whisky became more manifest, a plan of campaign was agreed upon by the leaders of the three combined forces. It was settled that a portion of the mob should o and “clean out” Sam Bartoco’s ‘* Miner’s ope,” which was the oldest saloon in town, and was obnoxious to the disorderly element as being the favorite resort of Major Hobbs and | r | sider. his adherents. Another section was to work its way around to the rear of the jail, and endeavor to burn the building by making a bonfire against it, regard- less of the fact that their wounded friends as well as their foes were in there. While these movements were in operation the main body was to attack the position in front of the jail, with the expectation that the attention of the enemy would be so distracted that a suc- cessful assault might be made. The first movement was made against the ‘* Miner's Hope,” and there the malcontents had cause to rejoice in their achievements. The inmates, glad to escape with their lives, | scattered out as quickly as they could, some of | them being severely hustled in getting away, | | | and the mob proceeded to wreck the saloon, As they hated to see good liquor wasted, they naturally endeavored to save as much of it as they could by pouring itdown their throats, and this portion of the campaign was somewhat de- moralizing to the campaigners. News of this strike was immediately carried to the headquarters of the other side, and Major Hobbs lost no time in meeting the attack. Rightly judging the intentions of his adversa- ries, be sent only a small portion of his force to that point, under the command of Aleck San- der, with instructions to use no half-measures in dealing with the insurrection, but to strike quick and hard. The detective and his command hastened up the street, swelling their forces by picking up the patrolmen on the way, and dashed into the ‘*Miner’s Hope,” where the rioters, who had not thought of placing a guard outside, were smash- ing things at their own sweet will. Obeying the instructions of the marshal, San- der and his men opened fire as they entered the building, without any challenge or warning, and A <a | | kell made good his offer | the effect of this unexpected attack was to throw the wreckers into such a state of consternation that a sudden stampede ensued. He did not give abaen time to rally or gather head, but pursued them as soon as they broke, driving the most of them down the street to- ward the main body. The movement of the second detachment of the mob was made more quietly. They sneaked around to the rear of the jail, from which quarter no attack had been expect- ed by its defenders, and some of them piled com- bustibles inst the building, while their com- rades s ready to protect them from inter- ference. Though the men engaged in this diversion of free drinks to those who had taken part in the’) were not more sober than the rest of the mob, _ battle and were still able to drink. He had gone into the fight, as he expressed it, red-eyed, bound to ‘‘make a spoon or spoil a horn,” and, as he was himself pretty well mud- dled, he issued orders for the distribution of **red-eye” that made his barkeepers stare. Consequently his saloon was the headquarters of the revolutionists, and thither flocked not ly hisown adherents, but the Jonas cowboys and their friends, with all who were interested in overturning the Harvey Hobbs dynasty. These men, and especially those last named, realized the fact that the contest which they had a was a very serious matter; but they also believed that with the odds of numbers and enthusiasm on their side they would be pretty sure to win if they should stick together and - fight for all they were worth. A final victory would not only give them con- trol of the town of Oro Fino, but would enable a them to defray the cost of the campaign at the expense of those who had most bitterly op- ; poeet them—in other words, to gain unlimited ‘Joot. The cowboy contingent were of the same opin- jon, and had the additional incentive of de- _ siring to avenge the death of their leader and to execute their judgment upon Jack Halsey. oe 4, Pe } It was only necessary to secure a good organ- ization and proper plans, and the anti-Hobbs a of the malcontents undertook to attend that part of the business. It may be stated as a general rule, however, that an organization which is mainly cemented by whisky is not likely to be an entire success. Whisky is very effective as a stimulant, but as -a bond of union it is not thoroughly reliable. The leaders of the mob found it useful as ' arecruiting agent. As the people came in from the surrounding . they realized the fact that owing to their weak- ness in point of numbers, they must find safety in prudence, and their work was done with so little noise that it failed to attract the attention of those in front of the jail, who were occupied just then by a serious movement on the part of e main body of tke mob. But the incendiaries were not to be allowed to complete their task without interruption. Hardly had the bonfire begun to blaze up, when a big man burst in among them with an Indian yell that was loud and wild enough to wake the dead, With a vigorous kick he scattered the pile of combustibles, and then, swinging a heavy rifle ny the muzzle, dashed at the men who had built i This perl pe action was accompanied bv a series of yells which indicated the presence of a force to back him. ‘*Come on, boys! Here they are! the gallbu’sted sneaks! dodburn ye!” The force to which he was appealing existed only in his imagination, as ie was entirely alone; but there was help at hand for bim. Aleck Sander, coming that way with a por- tion of his men in pursuit of some fugitive riot- ers, comprehend and swooped down upon the scene of action. Before the incendiaries had recovered from their astonishment at the big man’s demonstra- tion, the detective and his band attacked them in beg rear. . ey were then v opvsine disposed of, and the fire which they h started was effectually ex- tinguished. : This left the mob that had gathered in fron of the jail the only organized body operating against the partisans of law and order, and the Pitch into Burn the jail, will ye, the situation at a glance; | ! t task to which it had addressed itself proved to be by no means an easy one. Though the scattered roughs who bad not be- come too badly demoralized for further active employment had gathered there, those who favored the other side bad collected at the mar- shal’s headquarters, prepared to carry on the war to the bitter end. The latter force, though still somewhat smaller than the other, was soberer, more concentrated and better led, and bad the further advantage of the fortification which Major Hcbbs had erected in true military style. Hobbs and his friends, therefore, found them- selves easily able to hold their position and pre- vent their adversaries from doing them serious damage; but that was unfortunately not the only point which they were compelled to con- While they were cooped up there at the jail, the rest of the town was practically at the merey of the mob, detachments from which might go here and there and raid such establish- ments as were obnoxious to them or offered a promise of plunder. This was a danger which could not be over- looked, and occasional shots and yells from the upper end of the street told of rioting that murt be quelled at any cost. It again became necessary to assume the ag- gressive and force the fighting until the insur- rection should be quite ended. A hurried censultation of the leaders of the force at the jail resulted in the decision that a charge should be made upon the mob, who must be scattered and driven until the friends of law and order could obtain entire possession of the town. Just as the men were massed for that purpose, and the order to charge was about to be given, the startling cry of fire was raised. It came from the upper end of the street, and was instantly empbasized by a bright flame that shot up in that direction, made fearfully visible by the darkness of the night. This caused an immediate stampede. The crowd outside the barricade broke and ran toward the fire, and the men whom they had been assailing hastened to follow them. Friends and foes speedily became inextrica- bly mixed up, each man striving to be first at the scene of the new excitement. Leaving a few reliable men at the jail in charge of Aleck Sander, Major Hobbs hurried off to the fire with the rest. The discovery was quickly made that the con- flagration threatened to be a serious one, ome half-drunken rioters, allured by the prospect of easy plunder in the midst of the general commotion, had entered a store to help themselves to what they wanted, and had been stoutly resisted bythe stubborn proprietor and a couple of clerks. In the struggle that ensued, a lamp was over- turned upon a mass of inflammable materia] which blazed up so quickly that it was beyond the power of those present to extinguish the flames, and the alarm was instantly given, It was soon evident that the store in which the fire bad started was bound to go, and that the utmost exertions would be required to save the adjoining buildings and the rest of the town. There was not a man who refused to give his aid to this object. The roughs vied with the “‘solid citizens” in their efforts to conquer the conflagration, and all other animosities were lost sight of in strenu- ous endeavors against the fiery foe. It seemed to the general verdict of good men and bad that the mght thing to do was to save the town first, and fight for it after- ward. The struggle was severe end desperate: but the united forces finally prevailed against the fire, and it was completely extinguished after much damage had heen done, By that time the population of Oro Fino, resi- dent and transient, was so utterly exhausted, that nothing but peace and rest was possible, CHAPTER XXIV. AFTER THE STORM. A LITTLE explanation will be in place con- cerning the big man who had’so opportunely interrupted the incendiaries behind the jail. By the evening train, just at the close of the first battle, there had arrived in Oro Fino a man whose appearance and ways were calculated to attract attention. He was a middle-aged man, tall and of large frame, the greater part of his face covered with a heavy black beard, and his brows shaded by a broad slouched hat. There was nothing peculiar about his attire which was that of the average ranchman; but he had an extensive armament for a peaceful traveler, carrying no less than two visible revol- vers and a heavy repeating rifle. In his air and his gait was the style of a man who considers himself monarch of all he are he and who is not disposed to brook the interfer- ence of any created being. At the hotel he registered his name as; “TT, TEXAS, Texas,” choot : (E(@) hn! ‘~~ ~~" 7 5 +O ps 4 ~ “ Sd ‘ } >t? ee |