Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 472 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

| —— ee ~ testy or standing on a bowlder or fallen tree-trunk, enjoying the prospect. it was not long before Joe Moran overtook her again on her way home, but pausing at the roadside to dislodge bits of rock with they point of her sun-shade, and watch them bound down the declivity, filling the canyon with a re-echo- ing clatter. She turned and bowed to him as he ap- proached, but resumed her amusement without speaking, further than the conventional: ** Good-afternoon, sir!” Moran had not the courage to stop uninvited so nothing came of this meeting on which he ha built a wonderful structure of future possibili- ties. As is common with the magic castles of a lover’s fancy, everything tumbled in ruins at a touch. ‘* We’re a pack o’ fools!” he said to himself, bitterly. ‘‘ What doesshe care fur the like o’ me? Let ole Bummer Boggs serve her turn, an’ she don’t want nothin’ better.” But the next time she spoke to him he was filled with wild elation. She was so gracious, almost confidential, and she hurig upon his answer as if it would leave nothing further to be said. But need we follow her efforts to snare him in the spell of her witcheries? She toyed with him as an angler plays a fish that could snap his rod in a twinkling, if beld in an unskillful hand. This woman, who was the soul of sincerity and simplicity, had suddenly developed all the sub- tleties of a practiced coquette. She knew when he began to spend whole days skulking about to watch her, himself, as he fondly imagined, unseen. She did not undeceive him by the slightest sign of consciousness of bis vicinity, and, when he managed to overtake her, she would greet him with just a shade of reserve in her wonted frankness, and let him pass on. How did she manage to convey to him the idea that this was only the tactics of feminine prudence, which she thought it worth while to practice toward him alone The thought set him on fire, and, when she saw it in his eyes, she knew that he was ripe for the springing of her trap. That night, when the door of her shanty had closed between her and the observation of the curious world, she cast herself upon her bunk, clutching the blankets as if she would rend them with her nails, and even closing her teeth upon the ticking of her moss pillow, while with labor- ing breath she cried: * Ah, this will killme! HowIhatehim! How I loathe him! It is unendurable! But no! I would tear the soul out of my body before I would abandon my revenge! Ill lead bim through a hell of torture, and then Pll kill him, when I have won from bim the prize for which he stee his soul in my lover’s blood! ** Rob! Rob! Oh, my murdered darling!” But on the morrow her heart was a thing of stone! : CHAPTER IX. SPRINGING THE TRAP. On the following day Beth took her way out of the camp as was her wont, with so care-free an air that no one would have suspected her of any design more sinister than a foray into the realm of Nature, to rifle some of her secret beauties. On ner way through the camp she came upon old Bummer Boggs, who was making his way toward the Bucking Burro, having passed the night no one knew where, but probably under some shelving rock, or in some dry cavern, where he had, by an unusual stroke of industry, managed to collect a shake-down of mountain- moss, He depended upon wheedling his morning dram out of the good-nature of Dandy Dave, or some other who happed to be “‘ swelling” on the proceeds of a streak of luck the night before. When any of the boys was flush, he liked to play the host, and as the large-handed, princely way in which he ** blew in the gilders” was the measure of his rage as a gentleman anda good fellow, and the bummer knew how to play upon the vein of vanity thus cultivated, he fared much better than one would have sup- posed, for a chronic “‘ dead-beat,” It is proverbial tbat itis easier to get liquor than meat, and the boys who were readiest to ** set °em up fur the ole man” would have been the first to ‘‘ kick” and vote him a bore, if they had been taxed for his sustenance as well as for his drink. But he managed so that nobody ever thought of him in connection with eating. The fact was, that he knew his way to the kitchen of the Bucking Burro as well as to the bar, and with his wily tongue he, to a certain extent, got “‘on the blind side” of the cook. Once in a while, when it began to look as if he was *‘crowding the mourners,” he managed to find a few grains of gold dust somewhere about his clothes, with which to pay his reckoning. But at all times he requited favors more freely with the coin of gentle speech than with that oe LDL LL LLDCS ee Six-Foot Si. which bore, or might be made to bear, the im- print of the soaring eagle. This morning Beth stopped him, with an ad- dress which the little knot lounging about the door of the Bucking Burro could not hear, When she passed them, every man Jack had stood hat in hand until she was by, and now Bummer Boggs was showing her the same de- ference, W hat she said to him was: **T am now ready for action.” ‘** An’ you better believe I'm about ready fur a change. This bummin’ around, with nothin’ todo but to sleep an’ lie, looks mighty easy from the outside, an’ it may agree with some constitutions better’n it does with mine, Ef it don’t, thar’s some mighty hard-workin’ men as gits abused fur laziness.” And, lo! the speaker had the voice of Mig- glesie. His disguise was indeed most complete. ““Tam glad to see that you are so keen for something to do,” pursued Beth, ‘I hope you will display an equal intelligence in carrying out my wishes.” . ‘*Rest easy, mum,” was Migglesie’s positive assurance. ‘‘ Ef you don’t over-size my pile, Pll ante an’ pass the buck, an’ef you do, Pu cave an’ no growlin’.” ‘‘Have you the nerve to risk being shot?’ asked Beth, with the cool indifference of a Lucretia Borgia, The fact was, that her lust for revenge was so absorbing, and her contempt for this man so great, that the thought of the possible sacrifice of him to her purpose did not rouse her blunted sensibilities. But Migglesie was not at all lacking in a due sense of the importance of his life—to himself! While he lent himself to Beth’s revenge, he did not lose sight of his own, nor of the prospect of being on hand at the division of the spoils. So he replied, with all humility, yet with due firmness: ‘*T reckon I’ve got the grit, mum, to face the music what ary galoot you’ll scare up in a day's range is sp’ilin’ to jig to, but thar’s one privilege what ye must leave open to my hand.” ‘What privilege?” ** At the third an’ last call, when I see myself gotw’! goin’! you must leave me free to put ina bid, ef I kin, before the hammer falls at gone! That’s human natur’ an’ hoss sense.” It was a very reasonable request, in all cor- science, yet for an instant Beth looked at her petitioner much as the great Frederick must .have scanned his soldiers, when he demanded: ‘What! Would you live forever?” However, she let the decision of the matter go by default, saying to him coldly: ‘* Be at the rendezvous at three o'clock, and I will give you full instructions.” During this dialogue Beth had made a waving motion with the point of her parasol in the di- rection of a certain cliff, as if indicating a pos- sible line of ascent, and Bummer Boggs had seemed to reply, if not to much purpose, certain- ly with great volubility and commendable anx- iety to oblige. hey now parted, Beth going on her way, swinging her sun-shade with the girlish grace that distinguished her, while Bummer Boggs stood staring after her with the admiration that all men accorded, and bowing repeatedly with the obsequiousness of a drunken old humbug. Not until she was out of sight did he turn and make his way to the Bucking Burro, with a well-satisfied grin on his dirty phiz. ** You blasted ole stoughton-bottle!” was Dandy Dave’s not ill-natured greeting, “‘ you feel mighty good, don’t you?” ‘**Oh, waal, boys, you hyear me!” was Bum- mer Boggs’s reply, ‘1 ain’t so young as I used to be, but in my time I was a screamer with the adies,” Everybody laughed at his absurd pretensions, and somebody, asked: ora did she want o’ the like o’ you, any- way? Bummer Boges rewarded the questioner with a knowing wink. ‘‘ A gentleman,” he answered, ‘‘ never betrays these hyar leetle confidences.” Dandy Dave denounced his impudence round- ly, with the contrast between expression and real feeling which is usual in reproving a privi- leged character, Among the loungers stood Joe Moran, not joining in the banter that was tossed about from side to side, but uneasily observant. Of course he was not jealous of the old bum- mer, but he was curious to know what Beth had said to him, and where she was going. ‘**What’s the reason you young laddiebucks leave her to go ramblin’ around all alone by her- self?” asked Boggs, looking from Dave to Joe. ‘**Ta my day, we done better’n that. But then, to be sure, the fellers don’t pan out nowadays as they use’ to did. _“ Why, gents, when I was on the sparkin’- list, the calf o’ leg measured nineteen inches straight, an’ jig the shoes off'n ary thing in the count aybe we didn’t whoop ’er up in them ole days! Oh, no! But the girls didn’t have to go a-beggin’ of somebody to see ’em home from a shiredig: an’ when they went —_-_-egj"v_wCOOwOC———— NT 3 l-¥ 9 abroad to take the air Sunday afternoons, you bet thar was a strappin’ gossoon along fur to help ’em pass the time. ‘* But them ole days has gone'tup the flume!’ added Boggs, with a prodigious sigh, and. a re- gretful shake of the head. ‘* Tt makes a man’s mouth water fur to think of ’em,” was his meditative conclusion, ‘‘ but it’s dry work a-chinnin’ about ’em to a loto’ galoots what looks on with their mouths open an’ their han’s 1n their breeches pockets, while a ginooine, A 1 high-stepper—” But the old fellow fell to coughing, as if his throat were too parched to proceed, ‘* Maybe we ain’t so fur behind them times as we have the look o’ bein’,” observed Old-man Crocker, dryly—‘‘ eh, Sutter?” This was aimed at Dandy Dave, at whom the speaker cast a sidelong glance, to see the affect of his shot. But Dave was equal to the occasion. Secret- ly annoyed, he contracted his eyes with a know- ing look, blew a curl of tobacco smoke trom his pursed lips, and watched its ascent with a well- satisfied air. Joe Moran too shot a covert glance at his sup- osed rival, and the contented serenity of the oss of the town stung him to the quick. Instantly his soul was swathed in a flame of jealousy. Was it possible that ‘‘ yon galoot,” as his jeal- ous rage styled Dandy Dave, could be stealing a. march on him? It did not occur to him that he was so watch- ful of Miss Falmouth, that it would have been quite impossible for any one to have very extended interviews with her undiscovered by m. He only thought that, with the ladv favorable, it would be an easy thing for a subtle rival to elude his vigilance. He instantly resolved to push his claims to Miss Falmouth’s notice, but masked his pur- pose behind an indifferent answer to Old-mam Crocker. \ ‘*Tt’s by me,” he said. |“ Makeit to suit yer- self. Meanwhile, suppose we act on the ole man’s hint. It ts gittin’ to bea long while be- tween drinks, Step up, gents, an’ crook yer elbows.” ‘*Me noble senor!” was Bummer Boggs’s tri-— bute in return for this timely invitation, ‘‘ the gents o’ these hyar times—some on *em—kin double discount the gents of ary other time, when it comes to settin’ ’em up with a royal hand. Ef Tom Duffy had the stuff what ’u’d shine along o’ the whisky we use to swig in ole County Claire, ’stid 0’ this byar ackifortis an” bilge-water, we’d be lords an’ ladies from sun-down till sun-up in the mornin’!” As the crowd filed into the saloon, Old-mar Crocker sent a final shaft at Dandy Dave. ‘* We ain’t a-lettin’ on,” he observed, with an insinuating smile. So it happened that Bummer Bo whisky, and Joe Moran, alias Sam ‘*a bee in his bonnet.” The former kept his appointment with Beth, and received detailed instructions as to the part: he was to play, which will be developed as our- story progresses. The latter put ina day of feverish anxiety, and finished by walking blindly into the trap set for him, From previous experience Beth knew about the course he would pursue—where he would let her pass him, and where he planned to overtake s got his utter, got er. She had stationed Migglesie, and all was readiness. At the last moment, as if to prove the correct- ness of her plans, she heard the dislodgment of a. stone by his foot as he followed after her, Just as he was ‘‘ screwing up his courage,” and going over for the hundredth time what he was to say to her, and how he was to act if she failed as heretofore to open the way to an interview, he heard her voice raised to a key of sternness, in sayi ce ng: No, sir! Stand out of my way and let me ! Upon this followed the rumble of a base voice, ble. Then came a piercing scream, and the cry> ** Help! help!” With a shout of encouragement to the girl, and of warning to her insulter, whoever he might be—and Moran thought only of Dandy Dave— the lover snatched out his revolver, and bound- ed down the path to the rescue. He met Beth fleeing toward him, so precipi- tately that she rushed fairly into his arms. ‘*Oh, Mr. Sutter,” she cried, clinging to him, cae aia breathlessly, ‘I am so glad to sea you CHAPTER X, FOOL’S PARADISE. WHILE detained by Beth Crawford’s clinging” hands, Moran heard the rattle of stones dis— lodged by some one fleeing down the mountain road, It was unmistakably the heavy tread of a man, but what man he was unable to say, since the road at this point was so crooked, and the the articulations of which were not distinguisha- EONNIE OC KS eC! ‘, i” kaye PV gn J Ar