Wildcat Bob, the Boss Bruiser — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

a aw cel | POO Ra ee ———— ij si The N ) ew Lork Library. ‘watched ther anti-rumsellers burn ther hamlet. cfg § gd he, an’ more’s ther good fer me. | y name’s bin handed down from high pos- | nately taking turns in the saddle, thus making their journey less tedious. They were within about three miles of the terity, an’ is ashinin’ light on my anshient fami- | mines, when a party of masked horsemen were escutcheon. Now, en, my ’arnsoine Dian- | discovered bearing down upon them. ners, et ar’ my resolved ter hevasatis- | The girls were nearly frightened out of their faction uv kisses afore { sot ye free, an’ w’ats. wits, but ter hinder o’ eg ea ther saintly ceremo- be right, qui cho answers, in intonashuns mado to await their app | nies to onc’t? tamt, ‘ W’at? An’ I, in accents stentorified, ‘ans’er nothin’. Tharfore, it behooves mo to be- ae Lerer tly. Wahoo! I onty wish sum o’ b’yees war heer ter take a hand in ther re- fined amoosement, ’ca’se I’m afeerd it'll blister aoe ee ter do all ther delightful smackin’!” saying, the ruffian arose from his seat and #®epped toward Ma Belle, she being the nearest enptive to him. But before he could oifer to pollute her with a single touch, Wildeat Bob : inu the scene, and, with the strength | ots Heronies, ured hitn to tho earth. “You accursed brute!” he cried, ing one fnct on the buliy’s breast; agg os wretch! pa have gone quite far enough. Now, that you ill see that you go no further!” * Held! do not harm him!” screamed sag Ayma rushing up. ‘‘Do not kill him. He ¥?’s the papers that hold the secret of my birth.” ‘“*you inhuman | ve run the length of your chain, we | 's ; ‘‘he whom our chief calls the Boss i i ‘ “Ha! curse yous foamed the giant, as he | eaught sigh* of sor, hev ye? gone back on yer bestfriend, hey ye? Waal, new, let’s see ye get yer clutches on them dockymeuts, that’s ye can bet yer boots! I will have then!” shrieked Kitty, looking like an infuriated tig~ss, ‘‘and your life in the in.” She leaped forward and hurled Wildcat Bob @ girl; ‘“‘so ye’ve turned trai- | ell be older | aor Methusaler’s soup-t’reen afore ye git ’em, | } ; the pugilist’s assurance that all would Bab erik fears, and a halt was roach. They soon rode up, and as Wildcat Bob had surmised from the first, were a company of De pense Bo Lawless Rangers, under a chosen sub-chiet. His eyes burn with restless fire, and the | sion on his visage is not the most pleasant. It is Charles Seton, aud when last we saw him | he was teeth deep in the quicksand in Frog Par- adise. Things have changed since then, however. Last in the cast is Jake Corrigan, perhaps the ' most cruel and heartless man of the two or three-score who held a reign of terror under the | name of the Bloodhounds. Age has made his hair as woe as rt snow Lie the crest of the sier- ras, and liquor an neral d>pravity have em- | bellished 4 tikences Of tis Black hone. in his fur- ** Are you Wildcat Bob?” asked the latter of the pugilist, es he reined in his foam-flecked rowed, ere face; yet he stands on the Bruiser?” Il am . Yuu i a come from Wild Carlos, the Gold Robber.” ** Wild Carloc, yes—but the Gold Robber no longer. Henceforth the Lawless Rangers will | tinguish an ignorant : verge of 8 grave, ® sullen bull-dog look on hig that very plainly delineates how little | he fears his God and His judgments. True, some ruffians are ignorant and in a good measure pardonable, but you can generally dis- from an educated hold forth in Texas, instead of Colorado and the | one. Northwest, and Carlos de Monterey will not con- | trol their actions. J shall havo the honor to call | myself their chief, and I hope to prove as good | ern we need sa het | more in this life dra a commander as Wild Carlos. My name is ees E ay ‘Yes, Isuppose you have a motive in en- counteri us?’ ‘Exactly. Iam commissioned by Wild Car- los to hunt you up, and conduct you to the Cave | | reveal w. of the Petri; also one Ma;-r Bloodgood anda | female ro * Allo Carlos’ Life Drama we are to wi walker, named Ma Belle.” wiom are here. I Seine it is Wild ess, is if not?’ “T beliove itis. Here are saddled horses for | you three. Mount and let’s be off. Oneof any men can see these girls safe to Pompeii.” And so itwasarranged. In less than an hour the outlaws and our friends were far away to- | to one side, and the next instant had pounced | ward the north. 1 ap the outstretehed form of the ruilian, as if meant to destroy hin And it soon ap- red quite evident that suc* was her inten- n, for she clawed and tore at his repulsive face until the blood spurted from ‘¢ in streams. He fit her off as best he could, avd at last, in an ed moment, he whipped 1 log knife from With a piteous da dying E ith ap cry anda itty Aymer sunk back upon the { ‘The blow bad done its wor ae So quickly had it been administered, that neither Bob nor the major had time to vent *%. But now, as he beheld the terrible issue Wildcat Bob drew a revolver, and sent a bullet srashing the bully’s brain. With a howl o ag and rage he to a sr pee aba ut the next instant fell back, 4 corpse Thus ended the career of Hank La Verge, the ehiet of the inhuman Bloodhounds, and one of the most cruel and unfeeling wretches that ever went toward blackening the criminal record of the great West. te paper m a the grass. The major picked it up. ret is a confession of py who ‘was recently killed,” he said, as he ran over the tlosely written ** It goes to say that you are not guilty of the murder of General B——’s hnter, and— Ha! better it is that the girl er is dead, for such a shock as this would ve killed her, doubtless, anyhow. In heaven she will be free from the grief that this confes- sion would have caused her on earth. My boy, this Robert Beecher was—” the sentence was finished in a whisper. Wildcat Bob bowed his head and groaned: ithaep sours then, that she was not alive to the ground a roll of waistcoat ket out ieely But, let : spoken, m 4 come; 8 free these girls from ag : Bob quic Desig a and naturally turned his attention to Ma Belle, while the major was Se eae citi ents, o «maz . ing,” saic pugilist, as a momen later he was locked in the embrace of the beau- tiful girl, ‘‘i thank God that you nave again been restored to me, safe andalive. Without you my life would be a blank!” And her answering kiss made him think that on ee realize the bright side of a. } is belt and drove it to the hi'* in her | CHAPTER XXII. WILD CARLOS’ LIFE DRAMA—CONCLUSION. ONE more scene, dear reader, and the curtain falls to close this truthful picture of ‘ occasional’ life in the mines and out of them. A long cavern in the solid rock, rg | with | Re eet oe kin 4 | thing found on person, when a many fancifully ornamented skins, and lighted by myriads which we would draw the general attention. And such a scene! Here in this cavern are many faces that we recognize, for the owners of them have figured more or less all through this veracious narrative. This audience is alon cavern. on one side, like a c of scholars, while aleng the opposite side is also posted an- oo line of persons—Chet Dormer’s Lawless angers. In the cente.’ of the apartment is a desk facin g the first-mentiored line of faces, and behin it is seated, on an -levated stool, a dark, half- | . yish man, with long flowing hair mus- ie. of the raven’s oa, who is busily é writing and cage | fror a roll of manuscript. Commencing at the left hand, we will care- fully go over the cast of characters, and see if we know them all. First is a man,—one whose face and form are perfection,—the face being nobl thing extrao ’ croft, alias Wildcat Bob, notable for his pugi- listic skill in battle. His face now wears & placid expressi it is quite 1 ewe that he is not a prisoner | his A 6 is at the head of the line. Next to him stands a maiden—a beauteons blonde, noticeable for the gay, vivacious expression of her bright countenance and the perfectness of her form. Suggesti = ig and yet appropriate is her name— Next to her is another man—asstalwart, good- natured looking a fellow_as you often come across, but just now a pallor is resting on his features that bespeaks of a sickness of but re- cent date, ae left his constitution somewhat impaired. We make no difficulty in recogniz- a as Thorpe ein ig 77 y his side is a piquant little maiden, whose mouth and eyes are e ive of a resolute will when p beyond the bounds of reason. She, too, is a Corrigan ends the cast. Of the rangers on the opposite side of the cav- nothing, as they will figure ne ma, The man at the desk is De Monterey. He is arranging the curtains that are to rise and t has hitherto been comparatively For perk hour th wrapt or perhaps an hour the cavern is in silence; thent the handsome outlaw looks up. ‘** The date of this drama we will place back at the beginning of a former generation. I have here before me documentary evidence of part of what I am about to say, the documents having been obtained from the following per- : sons in the affixed order: **No. 1 was procured thro one of my spies; is the life co Lamonte, and h the agency of ession of Thorkan was obtained, together with twenty-three old nuggets, from a place where ' both were hidden by an old miller, William of flaring torches, is the scene to | the wall of the | Wood by name. In this manuscript I have been able to find that which has rendered fur- ther knowledge necessary of the case in hand: “Document Number 2 was obtained years ago from Robert T. Bancroft, it being the only found in the streets of Chicago. He confided it to my care, whenI promised to search out the origin of his paren That I think I have successfully done, | man, who in an insane condition came to me about a month since, and sought my protection. ae witing ond fifth sete a8 are of buts recent w and are sign orpe C, and Major Anderson Bloodgood; yet they enable me to get at the bottom of the whole affair; and as this is not an acting drama, and only one character speaks, the position of relator has been assigned to me, and I will endeavor to os - enon” x the best of my ability. ew a e beginning, and dro; | the curtain at the close. ' - | **One Aaa og 8g, an resided in the pic- | turesgue little village o an aged farmer. | his wife, anda family of two stalwart sons, | **These sons were christened Charles and handsome, | Thomas Lamonte, and frew to manhood two as and the physical developments of form some- | ae fe) i i . His name is Robert Ban- | with. The oung fellows as often you meet ther started them in busi- gs 9 me they prospered. | Thomas was a good-na going on, ant | fellow, and was the more esteemed of the twain, for Charles was habitually irritable and close- fisted, and not, as a general thing, a favorite among his fellow-men. At last came the time that both voung men fell in love with a maiden of tera’ native village, whose name was Myra | haps ges honest and sin- cere in their affection, ye Myre loved aay fon and Thomas Lamonte was the lucky man. They were betrothed, and when Charles learned the fact a terrible scene ensued, in which the disappointed suitor showered curses and threats on his brother rival ana the beauteous Myra. “But this did not deter the happy couple from consummating their vows in the bans of bas frm, fhe riage usband ¢ , © mar , and whex the h ,and wife were happily settled in tscir home, londe, and when she changed Charles Lamonte came to them ana humbly her name from Amber Seton to Amber Blood- | begged their forgiveness, which, they believing good, she made a good choice. Next to her stands the modest little flower of the flock, rosy, bright and lovable—Iris Wood. Tt has been somotime since we have seen her, As soon as arrangements could be completed, | but in that lapse, she seems to have grown only the remains of Kitt terred under the and Big Hank were in-| the more charming and ow of the cabin, and then | anon the dark eyes of the man at the desk seek Ever and him truly repentant, was freely gran *‘ From that day the outrivaled “ron ntl took up his residence with the husband and wife, and ek ee had Spperently forgotten the love for | ate sister-in-law. oe Ef *““ At the end of the year old Mr. Lamonte the whole party set out afoot for Pompeii—all | her face, and she meets the gaze with a pre died, and then came except Ma Bello and one of the bar-girls, who | blush and a drooping of the eyelids thai tell | whole of the old family por Oiled were mounted on the two horses. | where her heart is. | to Thomas, leaving only an insignificant pit- t was broad daylight ere they arrived at the | Beyond her we come to a sturdy, beaming- | tancé for Charles, which was barely saificten t spot where the scoundrel Leek had fallen. But, | faced gentleman, with a high forehead and a | to purchase his cigars, strange to say, his body was not there. Ritaer he not killed, as supposed and hed excaped, or some beast of prey hi dragged him off. tee round, Wildcat Bob concluded that he only been wounded, and had soon after crawled awny. The party again trudged on, tho girls alter- | After a careful scrutiny of florid complexion, and in ciated with a considerable bump of s Major Bloodgood we | | behold a man of standard good principle asso- lative- | There was a long lawsuit subsequently, and | although Thomas Lamonte offered no objection why his brother should not share the wealth, ness. Age has touched him but lightly, for the | the will was a powerfal advocate, and the re ma jor is toxlay ‘just as young ashe used ter was!" Two more yet, and the line of characters ter- minate. Next to the majcr, we behold a man! _ alt was that Charles was finally cut off without | 2 penny, mnore than what had n left him in the last will and testament of his father. After thia, although Charles still micboo Vol. L | whose face wears a look both savage and hunted. baby he was | ** Number 3 was found on the body of a wo- <S (e(0) (Eo) on sg ee petal