Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 560 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

: P| 4 i 4 ™ Be The Man from Mexico. 3 A groan came from the lips of Myra Weston, and then the low-spoken words: ‘* A quick retribution—so let it be—yes, it is better so, for had he lived I would have repent- ed of my mercy, become revengeful, and sent him to the gallows!” CHAPTER IIL A STRANGER GIVES A WARNING, Wuo he was no one knew; but he had*come into the mining-camps one pleasant Sunday afternoon like a whirlwind, and afterward had told the landlord of the ** Hash House” that his name was Merl, and that he hailed from Mex- ico, and,asa proof that he was a foreigner, he spoke with just the slightest accent, that was rather pleasant to hear than otherwise. His coming into the camps was unexpected, but very welcome to the miners. He had been descried some distance off, com- ing along a mountain ridge that was in plain view of the hundred or more cabins in the val- ley, and when first seen was fairly flying along at a terrific pace, unmindful that a trip of his horse would send him into eternity. He evidently did not know what lay before him, or be was a madman and did not care, Every eye, and there were several hundred miners in the valley that balmy afternoon, was upon him. ** Who is he?” That was the question of all, but no one an- swered, He dashed along at the same mad rate, while yells of warning came on all sides of: ‘* Beware of the canyon!” ** There’s death before you!” ‘** Hold up, hard, or you are dead!” But, the horseman heeded not the cry, and, in another instant, was in full view of a deep chasm before him. It was a split in the mountain, and every inch of fifteen feet wide—then down two hundred feet to death, But he reined his horse in upon the very edge, and gazed at the death-trap an instant, while a ine went up from the mining-camps below at is unexpected escape. But only for an instant did horse and rider seem a cast of bronze, so motionless they were, aud then the horseman wheeled, rode back a short distance, and once more dashed forward toward the mountain rift. A silence like unto death reigned in the camps below at this desperate act, and all eyes were upon the daring horseman. They saw him crouch low in his saddle, his rein grasped well in hand, and then sink the sek deep into the flanks of his splendid blood- T y. One second of suspense and the noble brute rose to the mighty leap and seemed suspended in the air above the chasm, Then he came down upon the further side dropped to his knees, recovered himself, and pe on, while the yells of the admiring miners made the mountains echo and re-echo again, Down the steep, winding trail he came, and dashed into the camp at the same terrific rate, ‘* Men, I am here to warn you of danger, for White Wolf and his warriors are riding toward your camps to raid them, . ‘‘Arm quickly and go to the Pass in the mountains and ambush them. ‘“*It is just three miles from here, and you have one hour to get there!” All was at once excitement, for the ren e pale-face chief, White Wolf, the leader of the recreant red-skins, was a terror in the land. But a voice called out: ‘** Who is you, pard, and where from?” “It matters not now who I am, or where from. Find that out afterward.” ‘* Maybe you ave Wolf’s spy, and when we leave camp ohe way he'll come in t’other way. A silence followed the words, for the speaker was a man but too well known in camp. He was a desperado, a bully, who answered to the name of Dick Deadly Hand, for when he drew on a man sudden, death followed. All eyes were upon the strange horseman, and he said quietly: ‘My, friends, I surrender myself to your keeping, to see if I have not told you the truth, and you can hold me as gallows fruit untii you find out. ‘Then, when you set me free, as you will do, I shall make that man eat his words,” and he glanced toward Dick Deadly Hand. ** You will, will you? Well—” ‘Hold! wait until you have proven my words false—then I am at your service,” ‘* That’s squar’, and my idee is we bad better be doin’ as the gent says afore it are too late,” said a miner to Gold Grip Sampson, the land- lord of the Hash House, and who was a man of great influence in the camps. ‘*That’s so! Come, lads, to the Pass! to the Pass !” and the cry rung out upon all sides, ‘I should like to go with you, sir, to lend a hand, if I am not to be held as a hostage to rove my words,” said the stranger, addressing | old Grip Sampson, who replied: ‘And go you shall, pard, for I are your friend, ** Come, lads, who leads?” **T does! Dll be cap’n,” cried Dick Deadly Hand, ** Permit me to offer my services, if you care to trust me,” and the stranger rode forward. A cheer greeted bis words, and Dick Deadly Hand muttered: ** You kin lead, but I'll be nigh yer, if yer plays false, and yer’!] find me when yer gits back ter camp, too, my game-cock,” The stranger now rode forward with Land- lord Sampson, whose horse had been brought to him by one of the servants of his hotel, and soon after, three hundred well-mounted, well-armed men set out for the pass in the mountains, three miles distant. It was the very place to lie in ambush, and scouts sent ahead ata run were there to report as the force rode up that a large band of Indian horsemen were winding around the trail on the mountain-side, The stranger placed his men in position, with their horses back bebind a ridge, and, soon after, the Indians came in sight. It was just sunset, and it was evidently the intention of the chief to camp at the Pass for several hours, and then dash down upon the camps by the valley trails. The order was given to camp on the trail, and just then came the ringing command: ‘* Fire!” Rifles and revolvers rung out, and red-skins and mustangs bit the dust. To surprise had been White Wolf’s intention, and when surprised, he could but retreat, for the volley told bim that he had a large force to deal with, and perhaps he had been flanked. So, in wild confusion, the red-skin cavalry turned and fled, carrying off some wounded and a few dead, and mounting, the miners gave hot chase, But night soon fell upon the scene, and the larger force of miners returned to Last Chance, as the mining-camps had been named, not in- appropriately by the first miners who had visited the valley and knew thatit was sink or swim with them, The stranger had gone with Landlord Samp- son to the Hash House, and been given the best room in that establishment, and as he entered the social hall, later, on that night, he was greeted with three rousing cheers, followed by the words: "Ts you lookin’ fer me, pard, fer I is jist starvin’ to eat them words o’ mine you was goin’ ter feed me on?” The speaker was Dick Deadly Hand, and he held a revolver covering the heart of the stranger. CHAPTER IV, ‘“*LAST CHANCE.” LAST CHANCE was a mining-camp pure and unadulterated, It had not ** panned out” in sufficient quanti- ties to set people wild, but the miners that worked got a handsome sum for their labor, and business was always brisk. There were other camps down the valley, but Last Chance was the center of attention, and was noted for its half-dozen good stores, black- smith shop and “ hotel,” which last was kept by Landlord Sampson. He had won the name of ‘‘Gold Grip Samp- son,” because all he took hold of made money for him, and he had, with a very proper appre- ciation of his establishment, bestowed upon it the name of Hash House, re had come West to make a fortune and his daughter, Stella, a youn 1 of eighteen, and a very beautiful girl, had come out to Last Chance to make it her home also. Tbe Hash House, under her influence, was much better than it otherwise would have been and there was nota manin the camp that did not worship Stella Sampson, Back on the hillside from the hotel she and her father had their cabin home of four rooms, and no one dared intrude there, Each day she was wont to receive wild flow- ers, specimens of gold-dust and ‘ ore,” and many other little souvenirs the miners picked up in the mountains, She knew every mine, and was wont to ride alone often through the mountains and val- leys. Ver father had told her of the stranger’s ar- rival, and hinted that Dick Deadly Hand intend- ed to make trouble for him, he feared, That night Stella had looked in through the window, when the stranger went in to supper and she saw a man six feet in height, straigh as a soldier, and with the bearing of one, He was dressed in the garb of a Mexican caballero, and his black hair was worn long, falling upon his broad shoulders. He had a mustache, with long silken ends, and his face was one to see and remember, 80 handsome was it in every feature. ** How handsome! who can he be? “His is a face to ruin heartse—yes, and to break them,” so murmured pretty Stella Samp- son, as she stood gazing at the distinguished- looking Mexican, and she gave a sigh as though the one glance she bad gotten into his dark, b liant eyes, large and sorrowful in expression, had touched her little heart, which so far had been fancy free, though many feared that hand- some Dick Deadly Hand would some day carry out his threat to make her his wife. Last Chance gvas certainly a lawless place. There was not a week that several men iid not *‘ die with their boots on,” and gambling and drinking seemed to be really the industries of the camps, The ‘* Live and Let Live Saloon” was the fa- vorite rendezvous in the valley, and Boss Samp- son was the proprietor of it also, It wasa gambling den and drinking saloon combined, and would accommodate a couple of hundred people at a time. The bar was built of logs, and had no opening on the saloon side, so that it looked like a minia- ture fort, and there were exits by means of the cellar, so that if besieged the ‘‘ gin-slingers,” as the bartenders were called, could make a quick and safe retreat. This was an idea of Gold Grip Sampson, and he kept a perfect arsenal behind the bar ready for use, while he never employed an attendant who was not ‘full of sand,” ‘‘on the shoot,” and ready to *‘ chip in” when called on. aoe Gold Grip’s crders to his men were ex- plicit: ‘* Don’t be bullied, and put a man out to save trouble; while, that he may not feel offended at being fired, kill him first.” This advice he gave, and set the example himself, so that even the desperadoes of Last Chance knew that the Live and Let Live Saloon was not the place to bully the landlord. There were other ‘“‘ hotels” and other saloons in Last Chance, but the establishments of which Gold Grip Sampson was the ‘“ boss,” had the call on popularity and style. he Hash House was not a mean place either, for its rooms, though small, were clean, and a cot bed was in each one, witir the brook outside for a wasli-basin. Every miner was expected to furnish his own blankets and towels, but the hotel furnished a worn, fine-straw pillow cot, knives, forks, and dishes, with plent of substantial food, for. there was no French cook at ‘‘ Sampson’s,’ it was lucky for the cook there was not. ‘ There were some rooms furnished for stran- gers, as there was a weekly stage in and out of the place, that sometimes carried ‘‘ tenderfeet from the East.” One of these rooms had been assigned to the stranger, and he found that it was by no means uncomfortable, His worldly possessions be had with him in a horse, saddle, bridie, weapons and a pair of well- filled prac etes ge He unpacked his things as though he had come to stay,and made his room look quite cozy, while upon the shelf under the small mirror he placed a few toilet articles, a razor and ay comb, brush and tooth-brush; and some towels. Having arranged his toilet with much care he went in to supper, which had been delayed for the return of the miners from their attack on the red-skins, He ate heartily, lighted a ip 29 and strolled into the saloon, to be greeted by the Sue of — present and the words of Dick Deadly and. Stella Sampson had, after seeing him at the supper-table, gone into the office and looked at the register. She saw there simply the following: “ MERL—Mezwico.” It told her nothing more than that he was a Mexican, and the writing was almost delicate — to have been written by a feminine and, Then Stella had gone along the path toward her own quarters, and which led her by the open windows of the Live and Let Live Saloon. Suddenly she halted, for the words of Dick and Deadly Hand came to her ears, As the desperado ke he had covered the stranger with his revolver. But the one thus under the revolver’s muzzle did not flinch as he turned and faced the des- perado amid a breathless silence speaking: **T told you, sir, 1 would make you eat your words, ‘**T have proven that I spoke the truth, and if you were a true man you would retract your in- sult flung upon me.” : ‘‘1’m a true man, and yet I retracts nothin’. ‘* You was ‘to make me eat my words, so just do so, pard.” It was evident to all that Dick Deadly Hand had chosen bis position with a view to trouble. His back was to a window tbat was open, and be faced his man and the crowd in the saloon, so could see every movement. He was a splendid looking fellow, strong asa lion, qn asa panther and handsome withal, though ignorant, ¢ } He dressed better than any miner in <— oiled his hair and beard and wore a white s every cpg he He was a deadly shot, a desperate hand with the knife, and besides his great strength made him feared by all, for there was no one in the KS — : camp who cared to cross him. comicboo he —— a . ‘ ~ a - @s2° 5 he