Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 464 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

-Sandycraw, the Man of Grit. would rush into trouble simply for trouble’s sake, or who would recklessly put himself within the possible grasp of the law. Whatever Le might be, he was not that kind of a man. There had always been plenty of money for him in his trade as a professional gambler, and outside of the tricks of that trade he had never been known to display a proclivity toward any crookedness or common villainy. Therefore, when he not only coolly and delib- erately, but at a heavy personal expense, made adrid, and bitterness, or even more cruelly than the dead man had intended. If the young man refused to remain a gam- bler, he should become something worse, To accomplish this, Crawley was willing to go to any expense that his object required, and even to sacrifice himself. The cost of his expedition would probably be more than repaid by his share of the bank plunder; but it was still a serious question whether he had not greatly damaged himself, running into the very teeth of the law. 17 This was a very convenient and comfortable arrangement, but there was much to happen be- fore it could be carried into effect. Just then it was necessary to tie up, as the creek was so small and shallow that even the Gazelle could not navigate it at night. Early the next morning a start was made, and the crooked and difficult stream was slowly and carefully ascended until ifs source was reached. This, as has been noted, was a lake, though if it had been situated somewhat further south it might have been called a bayou. It was about three acres in area, irregular in EE a burglarious expedition to New Yet the gan.e had been played perfectly, and actually ordered and joined in the commission | it was impossible for the schemer to find any | shape, its shores mostly marshy, and the body of a bank burglary, there could be no doubt that | fault with the working of the scheme. of sluggish water surrounded by immense trees he was actuated by some motive beyond the de- It was a pity that Clifford Darrell had acci- | hung:with vines and draped with moss, alto- sire for plunder, though it may be supposed that | dentally become aware of the abduction of | gether a very lonesome and eerie looking | he was willing to make his project pay by tak- | Jack Jones; but that young gentleman could | place, ing his full share of the proceeds of the crime. not know what bad become of his companion, Lonesome as it was, and probably the abode ‘he death of old man Scatchell, with the cir- | and there was nothing to connest Jack Jones | of fevers and other miasmatic diseases, it was cumstances that led to it, which had been so | with the Gazelle, or to connect the Gazelle with | still inhabited, a fact which was speedily made | fully and widely published, might have a ten- | the bank robbery. evident when the Gazelle steamed out of the dency to make people shun him as a gambler Of course when Jack was caught he would | creek into the lake. with whom it was dangerous to come in contact; | talk, and would tell his story to suit himself; She landed at the shore where the bank was but no such apprehension would be sufficient to | but there would be two men in New Madrid to | the highest, and there it was that the habitation ciive him to crime, contradict his statements, and all the circum- | was discovered. Of course he had an overpowering motive, and | stances would be dead against him. It was a long and low log cabin, near the it is necessary to go back some twenty years in He would easily be convicted of being an ac- | water’s edge, very rudely built, and with no his life to discover that motive. cessory to the bank burglary, and hast he | signs of comfort or care about it. 4 Sandy Crawley had been the partner and the | should once be lodged ina penitentiary for a Plenty of signs, though, of slouchiness and ne- ; most intimate friend of Dave Wenham, the high- | term of years, his future would be marked out | glect, which spoke of chills and ague-cake, toned sport who came to grief at the hands of | for him, and such a future! Plenty of signs, too, of bumen life in a queer Colonel Tazewell. He would graduate froma college of crime, | state of activitv, showing that the malarious lo- He had not only admired Wenham, who was | and would thenceforth be a convict and a vaga- | cality was not fatal to the population, though considerably older than himself, but had looked | bond, if not a confirmed scoundrel. their appearance was by no means indicative of up to him with absolute reverence as the bright- His father would be welcome to him then, | health. est and nerviest man he knew. and Dave Wenham would be avenged. They were a numerous family, too, to occupy . When Wenham came to Crawley with his tale It seemed, then, that the schemer must have | one house, and they represented three genera- of the terrible indignity be had suffered at Col- | proved a fine success, if it had not been for Mrs, | tions of mony onel Tazewell’s plantation, the wrath of the lat- | Crebbs, who had overheard Crawley’s plot, and There was old Hiram Hitchley, whom Sandy ter was aroused as fully as that of the former, | had put Colonel Tazewell and the others on his | Crawley had known from bis boyhood, a portion and he was hot for revenge. track. of tbe gambler’s poverty-stricken ans harum- : ‘*T have already settled that,” declared Wen- Fortunately for the plotter’s peace of mind, | scarum youth having been passed near that ham. ‘“[ have taken a vengeance which will be | he knew nothing of that, and so he sailed away | very piece of water, which was known to the 3 | deep and lasting, and which will make that man | gayly in the Gazelle. scanty inbabitants of the region as Spoon Lake, we | repent his shameful deed to the day of his There was Hiram Hitchley’s wife, a thin and se | death.” CHAPTER XXHI, hard-featured woman who was seldom seen P | ** What have you done to him, Dave?” THE SPOON LAKE TRIBE, without a cob pipe in her mouth. : | ‘‘T have stolen and carried away his only son, THERE was a jolly time on board of the little There were Picstn Hitchley’s three sons, with 4 | | his baby boy, and I mean to keep the child and | Gazelle after she left her hiding-place in the | the wives and children of two of them, and | i use him to suit myself.” bend above New Madrid. there was his daughter Sally, with her husband, ¢ | | ** How will that be?’ She steamed quietly across the river in the in- | Joe Dillenger, and their children, — es ‘‘] shall bring him up to bea gambler, or | tense darkness of the early morning, getting as Quite an imposing array they formed, though ag ) worse—surely no better—and when he isa man, | close as possible to the Tennessee shore, and | there was nothing interesting about them, ex- | with all the deviltry I can teach him ingrained | there was hardly a chance that at that hour and | cept for such as can be interested in ignorance | into him, a candidate for the penitentiary or the | the circumstances tue departure or passage of | and ugliness and uncleanness. Stan allows, I think I shall send him to that high- | the small craft would be noticel by any person All the men and women were tall and gaunt, Be. anded Mississippian, to be the comfort. and de- | at the town below the bend. with yellow skins, and with clothing that a rag- A light of his old age.” Yet she was seen from the Missouri shore by a | man would have scorned to pick up, and the se el Crawley pronounced his friend’s scheme of re- | pair of sharp eyes, and thus thestrange state- | most unclad children, who tumbled over each wy venge, a sweetly diabolical one, and cheerfully | ment made by Jack Jones was partially con- | other in their eagerness to cee the wonder on the 4 promised his valuable aid in carrying it out. firmed, water, were copies in miniature of their elders. yt Dave Wenham did not live long enough to It is by such little incidents and accidents that Dogs were there, too, in abundance—bounds, i make his cy, me a& SUCCESS, the most skillful plotting and the most careful | yellow dogs, coon dogs and curs—ana it looked af When he learned that Colonel Tazewell was | scheming are often overthrown, as if there must be a dog for every member of a) hunting him and was hot on the trail, he con-| S§andyeraw and his partners had good cause to | the numerous family. ex fided to Crawley what proved to be his last | be jolly over the splendid success of their The Hitchleys were squatters, of course, and * ~ | words and wishes on the subject of the boy. — marauding expedition and their apparent con- | bow they lived was known only to themselves, rs ) ‘‘That man is bound to find me,” he said. | dition of perfect safety. as they cultivated the soil to a very small ex- a ‘‘One who travels as much as [ dois sure to be The plunder whieh they had secured was | tent, and that very badly. ¥ overhauled. I could hide from him; but I} found, when it was fully examined and its value In the woods there was game, however, and ee might as well give up my life as do that, and | figured up, to amount to a sum that was worth | peltries were to be had for the trapping in the A hiding and running away are not in my line, | a big risk, and yet it seemed to them that they | marshes and along the creeks, and whisky was ‘ anyhow.” bad run but little risk in getting hold of it. cheap at a neighboring still. | a “ Nobody ever knew you todo anything of There was enough to make a big divide all There were sheep and cattle, too, on farms 5 that sort,” suggested Crawley. around, considerably more than they could have | not far distant, which sometimes mysteriously. ** And I am now too old to begin. That man | expected from such a ‘ job,” besides allowing found their way to the Hitcbley homestead, ; | and [ are sure to meet, and when we do, one of | for the expenses of the trip and giving the lion’s | where they disappeared. : us will have to die. Perhaps I will be the one to | share to the ‘‘ promoter” of the enterprise. Tbe appearance of the Gazelle on the quiet | under.” As the boat was abundantly supplied with pro- | water of Spoon Lake was as astonishing to the 2 “*Not if you play your game for all it is | visions and liquors, the successful raiders found | grown folks as it was to the youngsters, and . worth,” plenty of occupation that pleased them, and had | none of them knew what to make of it, \ ka ‘There is no telling what may happen, Sandy, | nothing to do but enjoy themselves until they | The men and some of the women bad seen i and I have something like a presentiment that I | should reach their destination. steamboats on the Mississippi, but never an by ; am to go off the hooks, If Ido, I want you to} What that destination was was known only to | such mosquito craft as the Gazelle, and their a f promise me solemnly that you will take up the | Mr. Alexander Crawley, and be was in no hurry | wonder grew as they gazed at her, the object of if contract where I drop it, and that you will | to disclose it to his companions, and they were | her existence, and her purpose in seeking that wil train that boy asI meant to train him and make | not anxious to be informed, as they trusted him | secluded locality, being beyond their compre- e him what I meant to make him. If his father | implicitly. hension. , a should kill me, you woul be more than ever} The Gazelle kept close to the Tennessee shore They brought out their rifles, long-barreled bound to do this.” for a considerable distance, and then passed over | muzzle-loaders of an antique style, and stoodas = | Sandycraw gave the promise that was re-| to the Arkansas side, gliding down the river | if they expected a hostile demonstration onthe — Pe quired of him, and shortly afterward the vio- | swiftly and almost silently, and making no land- | part of the intruder. aa | lent death of his friend added to the obligation | ing for any purpose. Their wonder and apprehension were changed = h a feeling of personal revenge. his steady progress was kept up during the | to joyous greetings when Mr. Alexander Craw- oo a ae Yet he was not as successful as Wenham had day and part of the night, and finally the little | ley appeared and made himself known to them. oe ad, Ul at him to be, and as he had fully intended | craft was tied to the shore just within the mouth e was the first to step ashore assoonas the — to be, of a creck, where it was not possible that she | little gang-plank was run out, and he bastened = =—s_—} As the young man grew up, his guardian and | could be seen from the river, to ate ands with Hiram Hitchley and his _ ide in evil ways became fond of him and_ less Crawley then explained to his confederates | wife and sons, to whom he spoke asif they were nelined to pervert and harm him, though he {thatthe poiat he meant to reach was a small | his oldest and dearest friends,acd he hadlong = steadily persisted in training bim asa profes- | lake at the head of the creek, about a dozen | been anxious to meet them, fa] sional gambler, miles in the country. ‘Why, Sandy Crawley!” exclaimed the o Le Jack Jones, too, had inherited from good| There they would be as safe as a snake in his | man, beaming with delight at seeing af . stock, a disposition that did not readily fall into | hole, as robody would think of following them’| from the outer world, Wi crooked ways, and the life that he led, in spite | up there, and noother river craftcouldg> where | ‘* Why, Sandy Crawley, this yes enough to x of its excitement and variety, grew daily more | the Gazelle could go. make a feller’ shed his eye-teeth. Never seed — distasteful to him, They would find friends there, too, and Ben | the like afore. and wouldn't believeitnowefI It was the encounter with Colonel ‘Tazewell Somes and Jim Hanley, who knew how to reach | hadn't see’d it. Never allowed to set eyes onto “4 on the Emperor, combined with Jack’s sudden | the spot, would make their way down there | youag’in in this mortal world, and here you but firm resolve to quit card-playing as a busi- | when they had got Jack Jones safely settled in | are, puttin’ on style enough to make an old ness, that renewed in Crawley the sense of his | the New Madrid geil. man’s head swim. How di ou bappen fur to. ae ob mn to his dead friend, as well as an ar- Then they would divide the plunder, and the | ‘light down onto us, and what is that purty a, dent desire to work out his personal revenge. Gazelle would be run down to New Orleans and | thing that you come in?” Sura 4 He then determined that Dave Wenham’s | sold, while the marauders could separate anden-| ‘‘ That is 1 siearaboat, Uncle Hiram, and my x * - aye? Fe ~ fa, . . » ¥ scheme should be carried out in all its original joy their easily earned gains. — property. She is youug and small yet, but L s - ’ ig > 4 +, i aS le L , “ef wo * Jie 7 3 cS Eom com a oF od (Gj oo jo) _ . . + : * - , Or a ‘ he ur i ; » at . s - ; -, Mu? ° ' : * . s "oa! - a a < 1 . 7 in r Cie