Diamond Dick, Jr.'s Call Down; or, The King of the Silver Box — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

No. 175 ——— -. Making a detour around the building, they entered it from the rear. In front of them, as they came into the room, was a pile of beer kegs. ‘“‘This is good enough for us,’’ said Bertie; ‘‘we’ll stay behind here and keep an eye on proceedings. ’’ ‘‘Snakes an’ centipedes, Bertie!’’ whispered Handsome Harry, excitedly, “‘thar’s a chap with sparks enough on his clothes to open a three-ball establishment. ”’ Bertie looked out between the kegs and saw the Don, who had got himself up in a Mexican costume that fairly glittered with brilliants. ‘“‘They’re paste,’’ said Bertie. ‘‘Keep your eye on that fellow, Summers, and hear what he’s got to say.”’ At that instant the Don pushed his way to the bar. ‘“You’ve all heard of me, gents,’’ he cried; ‘‘I’m Dia- mond Dick, Jr., the Little Thunderbolt, an’ I’ve got a record in the south-west to back up my claim that I’m the biggest man of my size in the State.”’ ‘““You bet you have!”’’ cried some of the crowd. ‘‘Yer chain lightnin’, that’s what ye are!”’ “Hooray fer Diamond Dick, Jr.!’’ “Step up, boys, an’ nominate your pizen. As long as Bertie Wade has a dollar he spends it with the boys!”’ With loud yells and maudlin shouts, the men in the saloon crowded against the bar, and fora few moments the liquor flew right and left. When the Don settled his bill he did it with one of his bogus twenty-dollar notes. “What dc you think of that, Summers?”’ “T think Evans was right,’’ replied the officer; ‘‘I’ve made a big mistake. ’”’ ‘‘Do you know the fellow?”’ ‘“Yes; he’s the Spanish Don, King of the Silver Box.”’ ‘‘He has rigged himself up in imitation of myself and is using my name while passing his spurious money. ” ‘It’s a bad thing for you.”’ ‘“‘T propose to stop it right bere.”’ Just then the Don ordered another round of drinks. ‘Who says I’m not the cock of the walk?’’ he shouted, shaking a handful of bogus money above his head. ‘‘Who says that Diamond Dick, Jr., isn’t one of the finest?’”’ “*T do!” , It was Bertie who spoke. Leaping over the barricade of kegs, he confronted the King of the Silver Box. The youth’s sudden advent was startling to the gambler, who turned upon him and angrily shouted: ‘‘You throw the lie in my teeth, do you?”’. ‘You say you are Diamond Dick, Jr., and I say it is false. Iam Diamond Dick, Jr., myself.”’ ‘‘Perhaps you can convince these men that Iam lying,’’ sneered the gambler. “T have no desire to convince them, but if the bar- keeper will take a second look at the twenty-dollar bills you have been giving him, he will discover that they are counterfeit. ”’ A sudden pallor swept over the Don’s face, but only for a moment. “nose bills are as good as gold,”’ he affirmed, doggedly. The gambler’s hand was steadily creeping toward his hip-pocket, and Diamond Dick, Jr., watched the move with the eye of a hawk. He knew the gambler was about to make some desperate play, but just what it was the youth had no means of knowing. ‘“Tt’s now my starting forward. ‘‘Who the nation are you?’ a turn to call you a liar,’’ said Summers, ’ “T’m a United States detective, and I arrest you in the name of the Government. un “Hor what?”’ ““Shoving the queer.”’ 7 “If you craunt me, old man, you'll have to take me. As the Don spoke he drew his revolver. . He did not point the weapon at any one about him, however, but aimed it at the opposite wall. Quick as a flash Diamond Dick, Jr.’s eyes followed the ambler’s aim. . The electric lights in the Lost Pocket were turned on and off by means of two rubber buttons attached to the DIAMOND DICK LIBRARY. 7 wall, high enough up so that they could not be reached by any drunken reveller who might take it into his head to turn off the lights. Crack! Instantly the saloon was plunged in darkness, for the Prince of Sports had struck with his bullet the button that turned off the electric current. It was a magnificent shot. ‘‘Thore, Diamond Dick, Jr.,’’ shouted the Don, ‘‘if you can do better than that, I'll admit that there’s a chance of your calling me down.’’ From the moment his gaze had first rested on the rubber patuans Diamond Dick, Jr., had never taken his eyes of them. Even when the lights went out, he still kept his eyes fixed on that one particular spot on the wall. Quickly drawing his revolver, he leveled it. ~ ‘A moment later he fired, and the electric fluid sped to the carbon points, and the Lost Pocket was again illu- minated. For an instant all was silence; and then Diamond Dick, Jr., calmly remarked: ‘‘Which was the better shot? The Don turned off the lights with the light to aid him. I turned them on in the darkness.’’ ‘Little Thunderbolt, the Wizard of the Derringer!’’ shouted Handsome Harry. “The finest shot ever made in Colorado!’’ echoed Sum- mers. ‘“‘Diming Dick, Jr., kain’t be touched for fancy shoot-. in’.”’ ‘‘T believe you. But where’s the Don?’’ -The King of the Silver Box had taken advantage of the momentary spell of darkness and had disappearod. “That's what I expected,’’ said Bertie. A search high and low about the place failed to reveal the gambler’s presence. ‘‘T reckon we’ve mufied him,’’ growled the officer. ‘‘Never mind,’’ said Bertie; ‘‘I’11 help you capture him. His time is short—take my word for it.”’ ‘‘It will be long enough when he’s once inside the pen,’’ grimly replied Summets. ‘¢ Are you convinced?’’ queried the youth. ‘“Convinced of what?’’ ‘That I did not pass those bogus bills.’”’ | “Say no more about that. As I said before, I madea big mistake.’’ ‘‘Then I need not consider myself under arrest?”’ ‘‘T should say not.’”’ Just at that moment some one tapped Bertie cm the shoulder. It was Evans. “What can I do for you, Evans?’’ asked our hero. “Step this way. I’ve got something I want to show you.’”’ ‘‘Privately?”’ ‘‘You may bring your friend.”’ Calling to Handsome Harry, the three passed out into: the night. ‘‘Where are you going to take us?’’ asked Diamond Dick, Jr., as the cashier walked rapidly down the street. “To the place where I have my lodgings. Itis only a short distance from here.”’ ‘‘All right; lead off.”’ | Placing himself in the lead, the cashier hurried along, and in a very few minutes they were all in his room, seated comfortably and waiting for him to proceed with his information. . “You got me out of a bad scrape to-day, Diamond Dick, Jr., and I am anxious to render you a service,’ began Evans, slowly. ‘““You have already rendered me a service,’’ replied Bertie. : ‘‘However that may be, Ido not consider that I have offset the obligation I am under to you, andI am going to do something more. Your attempt to catch the Don at the Lost Pocket was a failure, wasn’t it?”’ é¢ Yes. 99 ‘‘T think I can put you onto a scheme by which you can run him to earth in mighty short order, and you can do ECOMICLOOOKS (Cc Con