Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 508 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

“gna tions, and not only rushed forward, but fired | freely at the brave picket who was running in, They failed to hit him, as he had chosen his route so as to place trees und other obstructions between him and the fiying bullets, ‘“‘Tamso glad they fired at him,” said Blan- n. ‘* Why so?” inquired the old man, * Because it tells us just what they mean, and now we will not be obliged to order them to halt, or to hold any sort of a parley with them. It is business, now, Mr. Marlow, from the start.” The young engineer attended to it as business, and proceeded to make thorough work of the job he had undertaken. From the hight at the right of the pass he gave the order to fire, and the first shot from that quarter was the signal to the miners on the other side of the pass. Having instructed the men on the hights to cease firing and join him if the mob should gain shelter by getting inside of the pass, he hastened with Marlow down to the fortification at the rear, which was as yet out of reach of the enemy. The enemy were not without sense and discre- tion when they saw the bad box which they were likely to get into, Perceiving at once that the bonfire, by light- ing up their forms, gave their concealed oppo- nents a great advantage, they extinguished it as soon as possible. It was also evident that if they could get in- side of the pass, they would not be so easily reached, if at all, by the fire from the hights, which contained the only foes of whose presence they had yet been made aware. herefore they made a rush toward the pass, buta careful and considerate rush, sheltering their advance as well as tbey could with trees and rocks at the side of the road. Thus the boldest and most active soon gained the pass without serious loss or injury. Delighted with the discovery that they could not then be reached from the hights, they shout- ed to their comrades to come on, and shortly a considerable force was collected near the mouth of the pass. Knowing that the mine was but a little way beyond them, they rushed for it, but shortly they wished’that they had made no such rush. ‘Tne pass was sodark that they could not? see the fortification beyond until they were close upon if. “Blanton's men, in accordance with his orders, reserved their fire in order to make it effective, and then poured it in so rapidly that the mob were swept away and flung back into the YASS, There was no chance for them to rally, as it was impossible to withstand that murderous fire, especially as the men behind the fortifica- tion were being reinforced by their friends who hurried down from the hights. So they turned tail and ran away. Blanton perceived the necessity of keeping them on the run, lest they should recover their courage and make a stand at the foot of the pass. ne Come on, boys!” he shouted. We must drive them off. We must drive them clean off.” They jumped out from their shelter and fol- lowed him, their shouts counting as inuch as their shots in the easy task of keeping their ene- mies on the run, as the mob scattered toward Topnotch helter-skelter, each striving to be first in the race for safety. ; Blanton and Timothy Marlow, who were in the advance of the pursuers, halted when they believed that the pursuit had gone far enough, and consulted as to what they should do next. : The young engineer had hurriedly extracted some information from a wounded man, to the effect thet the forces of the Tycoons had been utterly routed, and the leaders were hiding from the vengeance of the insurrectionists, He concluded that the officers of the mining company werein danger, and that it was his duty to go to their assistance. : That task would of course be an easier one after the crushing defeat of the mob that had set out to capture the mine. thet Selecting a few good men who were willing to accompany him, and leaving the others to go about their business, he set out toward Top- notch. Timothy Marlow insisted on making one of the party, and they kept well in the rear of the disorganized mob which they had defeated. CHAPTER XXII. RESURRECTING THE TYCOONS. PrteR GaANNON—no more to masquerade in | Topnotch as El Paso Pete—was one of those who were the most enraged and humiliated by the defeat of the Tycoons. {mn addition to the displeasure that affected him on general principles, he bad special reason of hisown for anger, as be had been expo and had narrowly escaped with his life. It grieved him, too, that he had not been able to inspect the preparations for resistance on the floor below the room where he met with disaster and had therefore been unable to inform his aie of the danger that awaited them ere, Consequently they rushed into the jaws of i tiger, which closed on them and crushed em. Pete Gannon felt that he had failed in his main duty as a spy, and that his failure, with its accompanying humiliation and danger, were due to Dan Lasher, against whom he cherished a grudge which he was anxious to work out. hough he was as brave as a man need to be, he did not stay behind as a rear guard when his comrades ran away, vor had he previously been eager to expose himself to any peril that might as well be avoided. He was firmly of the opinion that ‘‘he who fights and runs away” may live to work out his grudges at a more convenient season, and therefore he fled as soon and as swiftly as the others when it was evident that the party of the Tycoons had got the worst of the battle. Wishing to keep himself posted as far as pos- sible concerning the subsequent events, be found a hiding-place from which, while he ran no risk of discovery, he could see and hear at least a part of what was going on. He heard the cry of ‘‘ On, to the mine!” and knew what it meant, and could make a pretty good guess at what happened after at. As matters became quiet in the neighborhood of his place of concealment, he sallied forth, discovering that the town haa been partially pghted again, and was resuming its ordinary aspect. oing about carefully in search of his friends, he came across Ben Eagleson, the marshal, who was on a similar quest. Togetber they sought Jacob Marvel and the superintendent, whom they succeeded in finding, but advised them to remain where they were for the present, Then they sallied forth again, a little bolder than before, to try to get their friends to- gether and inform themselves of the situation of affairs. Having got a pretty fair idea of the events that bad occurred since the defeat, and having picked up a few of those who had fought and run away, they returned to where they had left the chief Tycoons, Both were greatly depressed by the defeat and by the intelligence that was brought to them, and it was not long before their depres- sion was increased. ‘** Tf those rascals have got hold of the mine,” said the superintendent, ‘* that will make things very bad for us.” ‘* What good will it do them,” inquired Gan- nen, “if they can’t keep it and work it?” ‘*Tt may not do them much good, but may do us much harm.” ‘* Mr. Blanton is there,” observed Jacob Mar- vel, ‘‘and there are plenty of arms and ammu- nition for the miners,” ‘*But they may not care to fight for the mine, and it is not at all likely that they ex- pected any attack from Topnotch. It was generally understood that we were going to succeed in what we undertook to do, and I told Blanton myself that we were sure to carry it through,” ‘** We have made a great mistake somewhere, and I suppose we overestimated our ability. But Iam glad that Blanton did not come to Topnotch to help us, as he is sure to be of more use at the mine. I have great confidencein that young man.” ‘*T hope he deserves it,” rather despondently. ** Well, we must do the best we can with affairs as we find them, and the first thing to do is to go to the office and see if that is all right, I told my son to stay there and take charge of things; but of course be could not be expected to stand off a mob. I hope he has kept out of the trouble.” They did not find the office all right—quite the contrary. | The door was wide open, and Simon Marvel was not there, and the scene of wreck and ruin was decidedly discouraging. The safe 1n which the valuables were kept w intact, but it was evident that some of the in- surrectionists had been in possession, and that they had vented their spite upon everything they could get at. Jacob Marvel was sadly troubled by his anx- iety concerning the fate of his son, the onl certainty being that Simon had not been killed on the spot, **T hope that the boy was able to get away before they came here,” he said, but was obliged to admit that his hope lacked much of being a settled belief. Ben Eagleson suggested that it was about time for the arrival of the valley men who had been sent for, and that the best thing to do just then was to go and meet their friends, With the aid of the recruits from Tolbert, and in the absence of a large body of the ia- surrectionists, they foight be able to take the a remarked Eagleson, town again and hold it against their enemies. So the defeated men who had been collected AN » % = * ‘ 4 Topnotch Tim, the Mad Parson. a> > Ue AR Se a ee er ee 17 there set out, leaving Topnotch quietly and un- obtrusively, as they did not consider themselves strong enough to risk a row. Indeed, it must be admitted that their de- parture looked a good deal like sneaking away. Fortune favored them, and Ben Eagleson’s calculations proved to be correct. They had gone not more than a mile down the road that led to the valley, when they met the friends they were looking for. The Tolbert contingent was even larger than it had been expected to be, as the men down there were anxious to rescue or avenge their comrades who had met with disaster. | Therefore the spirits of the Tycoons rose rapidly, as they began to believe that they would be able to retrieve their fallen fortunes, Ben Eagleson put bimself at the head of the combined forces, and marched them back to- ward Topnotch, On the way they struck a portion of the dis- organized and demoralized mob that bad been driven back from the mine. Scarcely knowing who they were, and of course not understanding the disaster that had happened to them, but having no doubt that they were enemies, the marshal ordered a charge, and the insurrectionists, surprised by the unexpected attack, were easily routed and scattered. Burch Blanton and his miners, with Timothy Marlow, hearing the noise of firing, hurried for- ward and joined their friends, Blanton related the occurrences at the mine, © and was highly complimented by Jacob Mar- vel, who was more than glad to learn that the attempt of the insurrectionists in that quarter had failed so completely. The Tycoons, again triumpkant, and elated by their easy victory, chased their foes into the town—those of them, at least, who had not es- caped in other directions. CHAPTER XXIII. ‘* 4 POUL GRIP.” Tue return of the remnant of the mob that had gone out to capture the mine spread con- sternation among the insurrectionists who had remained in Topnotch. Though Dan Lasher and the other cool heads had regarded the expedition to the mine as a rash and hair-brained piece of business, they had supposed that the fighting was over, that they had gained their point, and that 1t would be a long time, if ever, before the defeat- ed Tycoons would make another serious effort to molest them. Consequently their surprise was complete when the broken mob came scampering into town with the news not. only of severe punish- ment at the mine, but also of pursuit by a large force of their foes. No doubt they exaggerated the numbers of those who were pursuing them, but the actual state of affairs was bad enough. Messengers were at once sent to the saloon- keepers, informing them of the change in the situation; but it was scarcely to be supposed that they could get ready in time to meet the expected onset, even if they should be willing to close up and take part in the fight again. The headquarters of the insurgents were still at Dan Lasher’s establishment, and many of them were gathered there when the news of dis- aster arrived. | Among them were Deadwood Dave and his partners, who were still enjoying the festivities of the occasion, Handsome Dan’s whisky bad worked them up to the fighting pitch, judging by their talk; yet it was not likely that they could be depended on | when the pinch came. Dan Lasher was the man for the emergency. — He took in the necessities of the case ata glance, and speedily determined upon a plan of action. } If be and his friends should not be able whip the Tycoons again, and it seemed likely just then that they would not be, he could at least bring them to a halt and worry them into a compromise, thanks to the fine work of Dead- wood vel, That young man could be used not only as a hostage, but ina more aggressive manner, and it was the intention of those who held him to work him for all be was worth, Handsome Dan began this second campaign by making a bold move. He was determined to let his enemies know at once that he was not to be scared, and that he held the whip hand, Therefore, instead of shutting his men up in the house and fighting from that fortress, he or- dered them all into the street, and arranged them there in battle array. As fast as the defeated members of the mine expedition came in he caused them to be rallied, refresbed in the manner that was most satisfac- tory to them, and formed behind his fresher and more reliable forces. = Thus the insurrectionists showed quite a for- ‘s midable front when the victorious Tycoons arrived. | al The most important measure, however, was com A ave in getting possession of Simon Mar- — ebooks co fe 7 Ai . 7% - Pa. 4 9 : doi «s ome i