Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 519 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

——w ee ——_—_— > <n meer 0 wr ee ee ee ee eee Old Riddles, the Rocky Ranger. Li ** 'You’re away off th’ mark, old man,” blurted some talkin’ an’ onwind a leetle tale fer us, so’s the leader, ‘‘an you had better let us go right on or you will be getting yourself inter trouble.” ** Ho, ho, ho! you are in a purty fix ter talk about puttin’ any one else inter trouble, now ain’ ye. Ye had better git out o’ yer own fix fu’st.” ‘Well, what are you going to do about it, then?” ‘*That is jest what I am about ter show ye now. Kingsley, you jest step out to ’em, an’ take every weepin’ an’ bit o’ ammunition you kin find on ’em, Sich things will come in power- ful handy ter us. Th’ rest of ye keep ’em cov- ered with yer guns, an’ th’ fu’st one of th’ p’izen critters that pulls his hand down one inch, jest plug him. I reckon that is plain talk enough fer you fellers ter onderstand, ain’t it? Jest be | keerful not ter let yer hands drop, fer it will be sure death if ye do.” Kingsley laid down his rifle and drew a re- | volver, and stepping forward he began to take the outlaws’ weapons away from them with a will. Hetook not only their weapons, but, as ch old guide had directed, their ammunition as well, It took him but a few minutes to do the work and the rascals were completely disarmed and helpless. he weapons and ammunition were laid ina heap upon the ground before them, ‘* How d’ye feel now?” the old ranger asked. ** Don’t ye feel ruther cheap? It is a case of th’ biter bit, Iruther reckon, Now git down off’n them ’ar hosses, every mother’s son of ye, an’ don’t be long about it, nuther.” ‘* What, ye don’t mean ter take our bosses, do ye?” the leader demanded, ‘** That is jest what we do, so there needn’t be any misunderstandin’ about 7f, You’ didn’t hesertate ter take ’em from th’ wimmin the other day, an’ [ reckon it is jest about as fair one way as it was t’other,” Very reluctantly the men dismounted, and stood by in a group while Kingsley secured their horses, When this was done, the old ranger re- marked: ‘* Now, my posies, you kin take th’ back trail fer yer den jest as soon as ye want ter. Weare done with ye. An’ don’t fergit that it won’t be very healthy fer ye ter come round here again.” ‘“Tf you do,” added Kingsley, ‘“‘we may take something that you think more of than you do of your horses and weapons,” ‘Jest so,” supplemented the old man, “ an’ don’t fail ter bring a supply 0’ rope with ye, fer mebbe we won’t. have enough fer neckties all around.” ‘* You shall answer fer this,” the man threat- ened as they walked sullenly amey. ‘‘an’ an- swer fer it dear, too, You will find that it don’t pay ter tread on th’ corns o’ the Night Hawks,” Like so many whipped curs the outlaws slunk away, Old Riddles and his party laughing at and sneering after them as long as tkey could be seen. Then they gathered up the weapons and returned to the cabin, leading the horses after them. Socrates Sniffin leading the way and whistling ‘‘ Behold The Conquering Hero Comes.” CHAPTER XIII. NIGHT VISITOR, ‘“TrHatT is what I would call a mighty clever trick, my old friend,” complimented Kingsley, addressing Old Riddles, as they walked along. ‘It will pass as sich, perhaps,” was the re- sponse, * Do » you think they will trouble us again?” inquired Woodland. _ “I don’t reckon they will trouble us ag’in ter-night,” was the answer, ‘but I ain’t pre- pared ter say what they will do ter-morrer or ter-morrer night.” ; ** Then you think we shall have more trouble with them, do you?” ‘*T should be s’prised if we hadn’t. They ain’t th’ sort o’ men ter let us git away with them in this style without tryin’ ter square th’ account, We sball have ter be on th’ lookout fer em fer all we are worth. We are better fixed than we wur, though, fer we have got more arms an’ ammernition.” ** Don’t you think it will be well for me and | my party to set out immediately for some point of safety?” Woodland anxiously asked. ** With a lot o’ wimmin, an’ at night; no, sir, I don’t. You couldn’t lay enough distance be- hind you to put ye outo’ their reach, an’ they might git ye in a worse place than thisis. You had better stay right here, till we see what kin be done, an’ it will give us time ter arrange fer leavin’ when a better chance turns up. hen they come ter tackle us ag’in I have an idee that they will git a stummick full o’ th’ job, an’ will be glad ter leave us alone.” ** Well, it must be as you say, of course, but it seems to me that it is all our fault that you are in danger.” “That is where you make your mistake. They had begun target practice at me afore you kem around at all. An’, by th’ way, that reminds me that that priz’ner has got ter do we will know what they mean by all their kind- ly attentions.” ‘ es you think you shall be able to make him alk’ ‘“*T ruther think I shall. He will be glad enough ter wag his jaw when I git at him in earnest.” * You will ary sion with him, Kendrick. ‘*That is about th’ idee,” the old man ac- knowledged. All bad more or less to say on the subject, but the old ranger did not reveal what his plan was. When they arrived at the cabin they found the women all up and anxiously awaiting their return, and they were all badly frightened, for hearing the horses coming they thought that their enemy was at hand. They soon heard familiar voices, however, and were then more at ease, **Open the door,” called out Mr. Woodland, ‘for itis we. Weare all safe and sound, and have had a bloodless victory.” Still whistling, Socrates Sniffin advanced to the door, knocked, and said: ** Yes, the victory is ours, and here we are with our spoils of war. Come out, fair ladies, and congratulate us, More worthy warriors never returned to Rome,” The door was opened as hurriedly as possible, and Miss DeVere was the first to come out, The others were right behind her, for it was a relief to them to know that the danger was over and that it was safe for them to show them- selves. “Brave men!” exclaimed the gushing Miss DeVere, ‘‘ brave men, indeed! If I bad a wreath of laurel, Mr. Sniffin, [ would hang it on your brow. I would, indeed; pray believe cig Allow me to congratulate you, one and all. The other ladies were not slow to express their thanks, and the men of the party felt well paid for what they had done! ° All the credit of the affair was given to Old Riddles, and each of the ladies had to take his hand and thank him a little extra, a proceeding which made the old ranger very ill at ease,” “Thar, thar, that will do,” he exclaimed, ‘that willdo. We ha‘n’t done no sich great thing, fer it was as easy as nothin’, Don’t say nothin’ more about it.” ‘*T am so glad it was no worse,” observed Bar- rington Duff to Miss Flint, ‘ If barm bad come to you I would never know peace—” ‘**There, now, don’t go to getting soft,” the elderly maiden interrupted, ‘‘ for if there is any- thing that I do hate in a man it is softness.” ** Surely you will not consider it softness if I tall you how glad I am that we kept danger away from you, will you?” interposed Major Kendrick. ‘You needn’t say anything about it,” was the retort. ‘‘ Really ldo not know which of you is the softest. I wish you would not anno me all the time with your attentions, for if there is any one thing that I hate, it is a spoony man, Old Riddles happened to be standing right near when these remarks were made, and he looked at Miss Flint as though he would like to say: if You have got hoss sense, you have; more hoss sense than any other female critter that I ever see.” Mr. and Mrs, Woodland, with Philip rt Jey and Blanche Drayton, formed a group by themselves, and whatever they had to say was not heard by the others, Terrill and Priestly, with Sniffin and Miss De- Vere, made another party, and there was again a tilt between Priestly and Sniffin, into which German literature found its way as a matter of course. The old ranger put up with all for some time, though be had little patience with such ‘‘ squaw palaver,” as he mentally termed it, and then he called out: ** Soon as th’ rest of ye kin git away from th’ wiminen, boyees, it won’t be a bad idee ter git th’ rest of this work off’n our bands. Don’t hurry yerselves in th’ least, howsumever, fer it won't take long ter stand out here all night.” This raised a laugh, but all took the hint, and the ladies soon retired into the cabin again, after which the old ranger and the others of the men who knew anything about such work, pro- ceeded to secure their horses for the night. Stakes were driven into the ground out in the rear of the cabin, and there tethered. It was a safe place, for there was no way in which it could be approached from the rear, and the front was to be guarded, When this had been done, and well done, as the old ranger made it his business to know, and their prisoner bad once more been attended to, to make sure that there was no chance of his getting away, all sought the cabin, except the guardsmen, and in a very short time all was silence, The guardsmen for this part of the night were Priestly and Terrill, after whom came Kendrick a little Western style of sua- have no doubt,” observed Mr. 6 animals were . : . , ewes S a. + .*, ~—" € em + nad Sa ee a . ————— ® and Sniffin. The last watch was taken by Kingsley and the old ranger. There was no further excitement during the night, and in due season the sun rose bright and clear, Allcame forth feeling very much refreshed, with a hearty good-morning for one another and all were chatting away merrily in front of the cabin, when suddenly their attention was drawn toa notice that was posted on the door, and which no one had until this moment seen. It read as follows: “You had better not try to leave the valley for a time. You will only place yourselves in the hands of the Hawks if you Ko. I will try to let you know when it will be best to start.” There was some excitement then, as may well be imagined. How had this notice come on the door when there had been a guard posted con- stantly? Priestly and Terrill were positive that no one had been around during their watch, and it is needless to say that the old ranger and Kingsley were the same. Kendrick and Sniffin, too, made the same statement, but the other four looked upon their watch with suspicion, This raised the ire in the major’s breast, and he vowed then and there that he would never again watch with Sniffin, Sniffin, therefore, had to stand the brunt of the suspicion, though Priestly tried to lighten it for him by remarking that no doubt the peculiar importance of keeping awake when on guard duty had got out of bis mind during his active business career. This was greeted with a howl, and as the vis- itor had been a friend instead of a foe, the mat~ ter was overlooked, There was no signature to the notice, but the writing proved it to have been put there by the same person who had sent the message of fire on the previous evening. ‘*There is a leetle more mystery goin’ on ’round here than I am used to,” commented the Rocky Ranger, later, ‘‘ au’ a good deal more than I like. There bas got ter bea grand clearin’ up, an’ that afore many moons, too.” ‘“*T am agreed with you on that point,” de- clared Kingsley, ‘‘ and I think the sooner we take some steps to clear it up and get this party safely out of the hills, the better,” ‘Right you are, but, as [ said last night, an’ as our mysterious friend has told us, it won’t do ter venture out o’ sich a good place as this till we bave a good chance o’ gettin’ clear. Them Night Hawks is too many fer us, with th’ material we have got ter back us, Some onus on us bein’ wuss’n that,” The ranger and Kingsley were speaking now in private, ‘** What do you mean?” Kingsley asked. ** Jest what I say.” “You will have to make it a little clearer than that, for Ido not catch on atall.” _ ‘* Well, then, there is one man in this camp that I wouldn’t trust out o’ sight, an’ that is th’ giit-edge truth,” ; * Who is that?” ‘Tt is that one called Terrill.” one then you think he is not to be trusted, “That is jest it, Not that I know anything about th’ man, but Old Riddles don’t come fur wrong, as a gen’! rule.” _“* Well, we sball have to keep our eyes upon him, then, But, have you any idea who this mysterious friend of ours can be?” ‘*“Nary. I can’t offer no more of an opine than I did before. It must be a traitor in their camp, or else some feller that is rannin’ inde- pendent on his own hook. I ain’t prepared ter say which it is, but I ruther think it a traitor in their den. I would like ter git hold o’ him, or her, whichever it is, an’ mebby I’d be able ter git some infermation out o’ bim.” ‘Well, for the present, old man, let us see [tbere was a stream just back of the cabin], and you seeif youcan get enough off of that bear meat for breakfast. No doubt all are bungry enough,” ‘I reckon they be, ter judge by my own feelin’s on th’ subject,’ the old man responded, and preparations for breakfast were begun at once. It did not take long to make it ready, and all ate heartily of the plain fare that was put be- fore them, and were as lively as though there was no danger near them, nor had been any. went out and fed the prisoner, informing him that as soon as be bad eat be would try to teach bim to talk a little, a statement which the man did not seem to relish, CHAPTER XIV. MAKING THE DUMB SPEAK, WHILE the prisoner was eating, the old ra was busy at work preparing what he called his ‘* gentle preswader,” Kingsley, understanding what his plan was, was assisting him, while all the rest of the party, except Terrill, who had volunteered to go out with his rifle in the hope of finding something in the way of game, were looking on. The first thing the two men did was tofixg 4 : ain’t none too brave, ter say nothin’ about some about something to eat, I will go for water As soon as the old ranger had had his fill, he comicbooks-con - “ © = —- ee. Fe ——— = 5 = —==