Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 461 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

|. The terrific strain loosened the lashings around “A - seat for any man west of the Mississippi! ee + —_—_ oo we ww ~~ + The Fresh on the R LT io Grande. ae reckon you two have the job of wiping me ” “You are right thar!” replied the first ruf- fian, ‘‘ and although I must say that it is a job which goes awfully ag’in’ my grain, yet it must be done.” ' ‘‘The captain has changed his mind, then,” the Fresh remarked, taking the news with a coolness which won the admiration of the des- peradoes. a just made me an offer to join your band, and I had an idea that everything was lovely and the goose hung particularly high.” : Pain'’t that way, pard; the captain thinks ou are a dangerous man. You know too much ’bout us and our affairs, and we have got to wipe you out, or else, mebbe, you would work it so that we would be wiped out.” ** We hate to do it, you know,” chimed in the other desperado; ‘‘ but orders are orders, you see. We have got to carry out the captain’s commands, or else he would go for us.” **Certainly—of course—I understand that. I am durned sorry that the riffle is working this way; but, ‘what can’t be cured must be endured,’” the sport remarked, not betraying the least fear. ** And I say, boys,” he added, ‘‘since the time has come for me to pass in my checks, there’s a little secret that I suppose I had better confide to you.” ** A secret?” cried the first ruffian, and both, with the glare of speculation in their eyes, came nearer to the sport. ‘* Yes, a secret concerning the richest gold lead that was ever struck in New Mexico—up in the Zuni region. Sewed up in the lining of my coat is a paper which describes the spot, and if you will agree to send a fair share of the money to my old father in the East, I will put you on the track. ‘* The directions are written so durned queer that any one might read them, and not be able to make out how to get at the mine, but [ can explain the thing so you can go right straight to the spot. ‘*'Tnis bere mine was what was bringing me to El Paso. Iran across it with a couple of pards about a month ago, but the red-skins got after us and we had to run for our lives. ** Both of my pards were wiped out, I alone escaped, and my little game was to get some solid men in El Paso to go in with me, raise a force big enough to fight the red-skius and go for the mine.” The Fresh seemed to speak with the accent of truth itself and neither one of the desperadoes had the least doubt in regard to the tale. The story of the secret mine is one of the oldest of the wild western romances and never fails to find plenty of believers. A man is apt to believe that which he wishes to believe. ** Well, pard, we'll do the squar’ thing with er old dad if you will put us on the right ck,” the first ruffian remarked. **'Yes, and you might as well let us make some money out of the thing, seeing as how you won’t be able to get a whack at it veel | a7 added the other. ** Of course, that is my idea, and then, I want 3 the old man to stand some show.” “Oh, we'll do the square thing by him!” ex- elai the first ruffian. ** You bet!” cried the second. “You can afford to be liberal for this mine is rich enough to make the fortunes of a dozen men!” the sport asserted. ‘“«] tell you, pards, when you begin to rake the gold out you will not have to take a age t is the biggest kind of a strike! “Just rip open the oe of my coat here in the left breast. If you feel, I guess you can make out the paper, although it isn’t large.” The ruffians in their eagerness came close to the captive—no suspicions in their minds, CHAPTER VIL. AN ASTONISHED PAIR, Tus was the opportunity which the Fresh me oe and for which he had so carefully - The weapons of the Red Riders were in their belts, for they hadn’t the least thought that the prisoner meditated anything so d rate as an 7 to escape from the fate to which he had been doomed, and they came up to him without e least suspicion. “Il hold my hands up out of the way so you will be able to get at my ccat,” the sport ob- served, elevating his bound wrists up over his head as he spoke. The action was sc ratural that the suspicions of the captors was not aroused. The Fresh was in a position though to deal a terrible blow, and he was quick to improve the advantage : With al! the strength of his powerful muscles he dashed his clinched fists full in the face of the first desperado, felling him headlong to the ground, then with a dextrous trick he doubled up the second ruffian, sending him howling to e earth, saying as he did so: ‘‘ Take that with ‘the comp ts of the Fresh of ’Frisco!” . ! ' his wrists a little, so he was able to have, ina slight degree, the use of his hands, although the lariat held so well that he could not free bimself with all his desperate exertions, His hands were so he could manage a pistol, though, and quickly a ag na himself of one from the belt of the ruffian whom he had half- stunned by the terrible blow in the face. The revolver secured, the great difficulty was to raise the hammer in his fettered condition; but there’s an old adage which says, ‘‘ fortune favors the brave,” and in this case it certainly seemed as if the saying was true, for the weapon proved to be a double-acting one—a self-cocker. The moment the Fresh made this discovery, he felt the victory was won, The ruffian, whom he had temporarily dis- abled by a kick, reached for his weapon the mo- ment he recovered sufficiently from the effects of his injury tc be able to doso, but by this time the sport was ready for him, and as the desperado drew his pistol, with a quick, snap- shot the Fresh closed his mortal account. Down went the man, all in a heap, and at the same moment, the other desperado, having come to his senses, jumped to his feet, plucking forth his remaining revolver as he did so. But the Fresh was ready for him, and before the man could take aim, the crack of the sport’s pistol sounded on the air. Well had the Fresh been named the Califor- nian Dead-Shot, for his second bullet was as fatal as the first, and the ruffian was hurried in- to aE without a chance to speak a parting word, The fight was ended, and with his customary luck, the sport proved the winner. ** So far, so good!” he exclaimed; ‘‘ these two scoundrels have escaped the hangman’s rope, but now I must hurry up and get clear of this lariat, for the rest of the gang may make their wupenienes at any moment.” t did not take our hero long to accomplish this feat. He plucked a bowie-knife from the belt of the nearest ruffian, sat down, placed the handle be- tween his knees, and by sawing the lariat against the edge of the blade soon severed it. ‘* Aha, this is sometbing like!” he cried in tri- umph, as he rose to his feet, the lariat dropping to the ground. ‘** Now, then, with the aid of the weapons of these dead desperadoes, I fancy I will be able to fight all the Red Rider gang if they should hap- pen to return.” And acting on this idea, he proceeded to help himself to the weapons of the dead men. He took the belt from one of them and buckled it around his waist, adjusting the holsters upon it so as to accommodate all four of the revolvers and also shoved the eight-inch bowie-knife through the belt, ‘* By the way, I need some cartridges,” he ob- served, ‘‘and as these tools are all of the same caliber, one box will do for the whole caboodle. ‘** And let me see, isn’t that old saying, ‘ to the victor belongs the spoils’ a pretty good one, and doesn't it fit in here? ‘* Ain’t I justified in going for these galoots, and stripping them of their wealth, seeing that they went for me to the queen’s taste? ‘* Well, I reckon that is both law and gospel, and I am the man to put it through for all it is worth.” The dead desperadoes did not pan out though as well as the Fresh had expected, for the pair only had seven dollars between them, the first ruffian six silver dollars and the gambler four ‘*two-bit” pieces, but he got two boxes of cart- ridges. ‘“Oho! I sha’n’t be likely to break my back carrying this amount of silver!” the Fresh ob- served, considerably disappointment by the smallness of the find. ‘* The galoots got a good deal more coin than this out of me,” he continued. “So LI must reckon that the Red Riders of Rayon are still in my debt, and I will be hanged if I don’t force them toa settlement before 1 leave this region. ‘*And they have got the best of me too in the weapon swap, for I wouldn’t give my pair of beautiful barkers for a dozen of these com- mon-place tools! ‘‘ Beggars mustn’t be choosers though, and I suppose I ought not to complain, particularly when it is considered that if this Red Rider chief had succeeded in his plan I would be in the happy hunting-grounds by this time. ‘I owe the fellow one for that, and I will not rest content until the account is squared, either!” | This was no empty boast, as the reader who has followed the Fresh of Frisco through his varied adventures, can easily understand. After possessing himself of the spoils the sport took a look at the faces of the dead men; just out of pure curiosity for he had no idea that he knew either of the two. One was a common, ordinary-l-oking fellow, such as are to be seen by the score in all the frontier towns; the second, by his dark face and jet-black hair, betrayed his Mexican origin, but there wasn’t anything upon the person of either to show who they were, ‘Well, I must be getting out of this!” the a LT em eee Fresh exclaimed, ‘‘ or else the Red Riders and I ax run afoul of each other!” y this time the sun was beginning to get low in the western skies, and as our hero no- ticed this fact the thought came to him that the coming on of the night would be a decided ad- vantage, for darkness would shield him from the outlaws. He proceeded to the trail and headed down the river toward El Paso. The gloom thickened, but there was a new moon, rising early, and the night was far from being dark. As nearly as the Fresh could calculate he was twenty, or twenty-five miles, from his destina- tion—considerable of a walk even for a man of his fine muscular powers, but he trudged man- fully on, keeping his ears open for the ap- proach of any horsemen, for he understood that they were far more likely to prove enemies than friends. Not a soul did he encounter though, but about ten o’clock he came to a solitary cabin through the chinks of which gleamed a light. ‘* Perhaps I can get accommodation here for the night, and then go on fresh in the morning. for although [am Fresh by name, I feel any- thing but fresh just now. Our hero judged that he had covered some sixteen miles since starting on his tramp and so could not be far from El Paso, The cabin was the home of a half-breed sheep- herder, a rather dull fellow, but quite ready to make the stranger comfortable for the night. Upon inquiring, the Fresh found that he was within six miles of El Paso, The half-breed set out a frugal repast, to which the traveler did full justice, and in the course of the conversation during the meal, the Fresh spoke in a guarded way of the marauders who called themselves the Red Riders of Rayon. But the half-breed had never heard of such a band, so it was plain to our hero that the stock- man’s statement in regard to the Red Riders confining their raids to the country below El Paso, was correct. ways then, had this swoop on the stage Leen made? The stockman and himself alone had suffered, and if Jackson was a confederate, as the Fresh believed, the outlaws had been poorly paid fo their trouble. CHAPTER VIII. THE DRIVER IS AMAZED. Our hero enjoyed a good night’s rest, and was up betimes in the morning. The sheep-herder shared his breakfast with the guest and then the Fresh set out. He tried to pay the half-breed for his trouble, but the man drew his ragged serape around him with the air of an emperor and absolutely re- fused to accept a penny, so, with a hearty hand-shake, our hero went on his way. He had little dread now of encountering the outlaws, as he reasoned that they would not be apt to dare to venture so near to El Paso, par- ticularly after their attack on the stage on the preceding day. He went on for about an hour, and was be- ginning to look ahead for some signs of the town, when a stage-coach came in view. It made its appearance around an abrupt bend in the road, and the driver was within twenty feet of the sport before he had any idea of the Fresh’s presence. ~ It was the same coach and the same driver that the marauders had stopped. The surprise of the man was wonderful. The Fresh had halted when the coach ap- peared, standing stock-still in the road, and the driver grew white in the face, pulling the horses up so abruptly that they were Sonat back upon their haunches. A maneuver which caused the two passengers —both men—who were in the coach to thrust their heads out of the windows in great alarm. The Fresh was amazed at the consternation so plainly exhibited upon the face of the driver, and for which he could not account. ‘* Hallo, what’s the matter with you?” the sport asked. The sound of the voice seemed to recall the driver to himself. ‘* Curse me, if you ain’t alive!” he cried in a tone of profound wonder. ‘Of course 1 am alive! Why, man, what cranky idea have you got in your head? Is ita common thing for dead men to walk the trails - dowa in this section, particularly by daylight?” ‘Well, no, I reckon it Ain’t,” the driver re- plied, by this time becoming himself again, but surveying the sport with a puzzled glance. ‘““And I say, what on earth put into your head that I was dead?” the Fresh asked. ‘* Well, | dunno; nothing as I knows on,” the other replied, evidently confused by the ques- tion. ‘*Oh, yes, there was something. Why do you try to creep out of it in that lame way?” the sport exclaimed, ‘* | suppose that on account of my being car- ried «ff by that party you thought it would be the end of me.” ‘** Yes, yes, I reckon so,” the Jebu replied, evi- dently much confused by something. Gomichboo | ~ 7 . A -