The Dragoon Detective; Or, A Man of Destiny — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

24 The Dragoon Detective. ‘*Oh, but he’s a tough.” ‘* He better keep a civil tongue in his head this night.” : ‘‘You’re preachin’, pard, fer thet Dragoon hain't asleep,” ‘‘If he plays any sharp tricks he'll tune up thet soldier’s revolver.” ‘“ Dm ashamed o’ Matt Murdock.” ‘* He’s gone ter ruin, sure, since he’s been run- nin’ with Tempest.” ‘Waal, we'll see whoso toes is tarned up.” Such were the remarks upon all sides, yet de- livered sotto voce, for the speakers were not anxious to ‘‘rub the tiger ag’in’ the fur,” as one i ata it, by letting Tempest hear what was said, The Dragoon began to play in the same free- and-easy way in which he did everything. Tempest had dealt, and the game was with his pack of cards, Around the table was the crowd, ten deep, The first bluff was won by the Dragoon, who, when Tempest, according to his custom, placed his revolver on the table, simply said: ‘You are playing with gentlemen, Mr. Tem- pest, so return that weapon to your belt.” % T allus plays with it right thar, ready for use, ‘* You will not do so this time, for itis time enough to draw it when it is needed.” The applause that followed this remark caused Tempest to feel that he was worsted, so he said: ‘TH put it up, fer I doesn’t think either you | or ther landlord would cheat: but ef I has ter | use it, I'll do it.” ‘* My dear sir, no one will hinder you, unless some one draws quicker, and you have the repu- tation of being lightning on the draw,” ‘* T is, too.” **T do not doubt it; but this is a friendly game of cards between gentlemen—I speak now of Landlord Champ and myself—and cheating is not expected to enter it.” Tempest understood this, for the laugh that went round showed thatthe sarcasm was detect- ed very quickly, and he scowled and replied: ‘You don’t include me and Matt as gents, then?” ““T don’t know you two, so you will have to speak for yourselves.” ‘* Wal, we ts gents,” ‘*Proveit then by playing an honest game of cards.” The miners wondered, for Tempest was not wont to be bullied by any one; but there was something in the quiet manner of the Dragoon that seemed to cow him. “Come, let us play and quit talk. “*You lead, Tempest,” said Matt. The game was then begun, the landlord play- ing watchfully, Tempest slowly and with ap- parent thought, Matt in his off-hand, usual man- ner, and the Dragoon with apparent indifference as to whether he lost or won. He smoked a cigar the while, and yet he | seemed cognizant of all that was going on. Tho first game and the second were won by the Dragoon and the landlord, and the amount was two hundred on each game, fcr Tempest had set the sum. The third game Tempest and Matt won, the fourth went back to the other side, and from the fifth on the Dragoon and the landlord lost steadily. ‘‘Gentlemen, join me in a glass of wine,” said | the Dragoon, to those playing with him, and turning to the crowd he continued: “Step up, gentlemen, and call for what you wish.” Brindle brought the wine, and he passed around the table pouring it out in the four glasses, which the reader musé understand were by no means delicate ware, but heavy tumblers, though the wine was champagno at twenty dol- | lars a bottle. As Brindle came in between the Dragoon and Tempest to fill the latter's glass, when he stepped back a transformation scene had taken place, for, by a quick movement, the Darling of Des- tiny suddenly covered the desperado with a re- yolver in his right hand and Matt Murdock with one in his left. Ho sesmed to be glancing along both barrels, too, by some strange movements of his eyes, which gave him the power of looking in two directions at the same time, and what he said caused a. hush to fall upon all present and sent a chill to one heart. ‘‘Tempest, you and Murdock are infamous cheats, and if you move an inch [ will kill you both.” There was no mistaking these words, and Tempest was as pallid as death, while Matt Murdock’s face flushed crimson. . Tempest had one hand grasping his glass, his other was holding the cards he was about to shuffle. To attempt to get his hand down to his hip ou a weapon meant instant death, and he knew it. ‘* Landlord, take those cards, please, which Tempest has just placed beneath the pack. ‘* He has the highest cards there, to deal to himself and Murdock from beneath, while to us be deals from the top. “*Ttis a clever sleight-of-hand trick, and he keeps his spare cards in his sleeve.” ‘*Tt’s a lie!” yelled the desperado ‘““T never cheated!” cried Murdock. ‘* You are the liar, Tempest, as I will prove, and your partner played the cards you gave him and knew your little game to win,” The cards proved to hava been “‘ fixed ” just as the Dragoon said, and spare ones were found in the desperado’s sleeve, ‘‘ Now, my precious pair, this money belongs to Landlord Champ and myself, and as cheats are not allowed to dwell in Gilt Edge City, if they are known, [ will give you until dawn to get out of these camps. “Tf you are within the limits of Gilt Edge City when the sun rises, I will lead a party to hang you on the Gallows Tree,” ‘* Hang ’em now!” shouted a voice, “Yes, string’em up!” ‘“No, gentlemen, 1 have given them their lives on condition, and told them their doom if they disregard it, and I will not only not go back on my word, but I will protect them against all odds, for I, not you, arh the one cheated.” ‘Bully for the Dragoon! he’s a darlin’,” cried one, and the crowd sided with him, C6 Go yo The word was stern, and the two men obeyed with alacrity, the look that passed between Matt Murdock and the Dragoon showing that they understood each other, though the young miner had been forced to place himself in a most awk- ward situation. As for Tempest, he had met his match, and ho was glad to get outfrom under that dread eye. Cee out of The Barracks, followed by the jeers of the crowd, Tempest said: ‘Now, pard, we'll git fer ther Road Raid- ers’ retreat, and when we gits ther captives, we'll be solid ag’in.” By midnight the two men had turned their backs on Gilt Edge City and were riding rapid- ly along the mountain trail. CHAPTHR XLVII, THE CAPTURE, I wILt now return to the ride taken by Kate Conrad and Parson Prim. The parson was always selecting ‘‘ church sites,” and had found a new one, ‘the very place of all.” : He wished Kate to ride there with him and give her opinion of it. Kate Conrad did not like the man, nor did she dislike him. He was clever enough, but she seemed to feel that he was more clever than he showed. He was young, too, though his glasses gave him a settled look, and his serious face added to it, The parson was not an awkward rider, and he tried to be entertaining. Kate did not want to go with him, but her mother requested it, for Mrs, Conrad had been quite won over by the parson, and so she went, Tho site chosen for the church was a good one, and Kate was pleased with it; but the parson wished her to see others, and then he had a cabin to show of a fancy kind, which would make a pretty model for the sacred edifice. This cabin belonged to a miner who had been an architect, and he had made a fancy little cot- tage of his home. It was situated upon the Hagle Cliff road, and the parson urged it so that Kate consented to go, though she told him she was sure they would be overtaken by a storm, 2 They had left the cottage and were about to take a short trail home when two horsemen came up behind them. It was just here that the miner had seen them, and so told Mr. Conrad. After the miner had passed on the horsemen appeared as though they meant to pass, one on either side; but when alongside of the parson and Lady Gold Dust they seized each a bridle- rein and leveled a revolver. ‘¢ Come, you are prisoners. ‘‘Cry out, and you shall be shot; but keep quiet, and no harm sha!l befall you, for if 1s money we want,” : The parson groaned, and Kate Conrad said, indignantly: : ‘“‘Unhand my bridle-rein, sir, or you will rue it.” ‘Come, Lady Gold Dust, you need not put on airs. ‘You are worth a sound sum in ransom, and the boys will pay well for this pulpit-pounder, and we want money. ‘* Keep quiet, and all will be well; but make a fuss, and we’ll gag and tie you both,” ‘Do not touch me and I will makeno outcry; but this is an infamous outrage.” ‘“Yes, it is indeed an outrage, and Heaven will never bless those who sin as you do,” said the parson. But for all that he was tied to his saddle, and a lariat was also passed about the waist of Kate Conrad and under the horse to the saddle-horn, so that she was held secure, It now began to rain in torrents, and the men, as though prepared for such an emergency, wrapped Kate and the parson up in india-rub- ber cloaks, so that they were enabled to keep perfectly cry. One man then led the way with the parson by his side, and the other followed with Kate, Thus they rode on through the storm and gathering darkness, and after a ride of some distance came upon two horsemen, whom, in the pitch-like blackness, they could barely see the outlines of. It was here that the Dragoon had found the trail of four horses. On they went into the heart of the wild moun- tains, until they came upon another party of horsemen, who had evidently been waiting for them some time. Then all moved on at as brisk a pace as was possible in the storm and night. From the words of her captors Kate found cut when they turned from one trail into another, and feeling certain that they would be pursued, and knowing the storm was effacing all tracks, she dropped first her glove, then her handker- chief and next her whip, Had the Dragoon gone on he would have found a vail, her cuffs, with the sleeve-buttons in them, a ribbon and the other glove, Kate was determined that she would leave a trail which the storm would not destroy. It was a long, fearful ride through the hours of the night, and after midnight when they at last reached the retreat of the Road Raiders. Then Kate was aided to alight at a cabin, and within there was considerable comfort and a warin fire, A supper also was upon a table for her, and a trunk, containing the fine wardrobe of some un- fortunate lady traveler, and which she had been robbed of, was open, apparently for her use. She had kept comparatively dry, in spite of the driving rain, and she was both very hungry and tired. One to make the best of a bad situation, she immediately ate a good supper, and then threw herself down upon the cot-bed to sleep. Her guards had in the mean time reportes to the chief. He sat alone in his cabin, and the leader of the ena ying potty came in, accompanied by none other than Tempest, the desperado. The leader was the young lieutenant of the Road Raiders, ‘‘Well, captain, we are back again, and we bageed the parson as well as the lady, “’T have placed her in the cabin prepared for her, and this man is the one from Gilt Hdge City who was won over to our band.” ‘You have done well, Dudley; very well; but I hope this man can be trusted?” “*Oh, yes, chief, for he knows it is gold one way, rope another,” “Tt is indeed; but, my man, I wish you to re- main as my spy in Gilt Hdge City, and here you: have a paper that will give you fullinstructions, for Tam anxious that you should get back to- night, so as to avoid being trailed, and the rain will destroy your tracks. : ‘‘T will send a couple of men to guide you back to a point that you know, aud vide hard to get in by dawn.” ‘¢TN do it, cap’n.” “« And just find out what reward will be given by the miners for the parson, and the amount that old Conrad will pay for his daughter, “Ride out to the brook, on the ‘Eagle Cliff road, the third day from this, and a man wilh meet you to get your report, and I willnegotiate for the return of the captives. ‘“‘Here is money for you, so do your duty well. ‘Disappoint me, and you shall be hunted ta your death.” ‘- Good-bight, my man.” Tempest turned and departed, and, as the reader knows, reached his cabin about dawn, As it was still raining he felt no anxiety about his trail; but almost immediately after the storm ceased, and the evidence remained against him. Such was the story he told Matt Murdock, as the two rode along, and he continued: — ‘‘Now, pard, we has got ter convince ther chief how we was druv out 0’ Gilt Edge, and we will jist light ont at night with ther leddy and hide her somewhar ontil we gits ther reward, “Tl let you work it yer own way, fer I be- lieves you kin do it,” “Dif try; but it will be about dawn when we arrive at the retreat.” ‘“ Jist about, but we don’t want ter crowd ‘ent ontil sun-up, fer it might not be healthy.” So the two pressed on, both plotting against: the Road Raiders, and Matt Murdock engaged ina plot to thwart the desperado in his little game for ransom for Kate Conrad. CHAPTER XLVIII. THE EXILES. Tre trail to the secret den of the Road Raid ers was so complicated that Tempest, only hav- ing been over it in the night, was soon at a loss to follow it. : ‘I’m done up, pard,” he said, as he camo to = alt. ‘*-You don’t know the way?” GEomichooks:e = Ne del