Beadle's Half Dime Library (no. 948) (1895 09 24)
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Malallaalallalalfalla \ ANN @.~ ? \Y Ww — ‘ " * a . LON \ \\ 8 \ \\ \Y ~ a . \ » ; \ 4 ' Y AW Ms ~ = e . 7i'| | \ Ni : —= el ‘ 4 - mT 7 i sf iH A ' \ bev ’ : g } : m . nade \ En : SL WY ~ , sin NM SRBs - Dc SS i a lt et atl a= a ct 2 Entered as Second Class Matter at the New York, N. Y , Post Office. Copyrighted 1895, by BEADLE AND ADAMS, September 24, 1895. 9 No 948 $2.50 PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY BEADLE AND ADAMS, Price, | lL XXXVI bd 4 a Year. No. 98 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK, 5 cents. 0 tl 1 K's TEXAN ‘TALLY. BY COL. PRENTISS INGRAHAM, AUTHOR OF “‘BUFFALO BILL’S CRACK-SHOT PARD,” “BUFFALO BILL’s BOY MASCOT,” ETC, . \ } ) H | , W \ Vi x(\\ N CHAPTER L iN SSS UA Dn WILD KID THE TERROR. | NN As * \ @ * Tuey mean mischief from their actions, AN AK A SN Z///>_— AL l for they seem to be preparing to ambush BUFFALO BILL LEVELED HIS WEAPON, SAYING QUICKLY: ‘‘YLL REDUCE THE some one. I'll get a closer look at them, for MAJORITY, BOYS.”
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Sa I suspect that they are some of the band of the Rio Grande Roughs.” The speaker was a youth of about eighteen, with a fine physique and a face that was a study, so much was there in it of deviltry, indomitable pluck and reck- lessness. It was a cClear-cut, handsome face, scorched brown by southern sun, but. il- lumined by eyes that were large, lustrous and full of expression. Looking alone at the eyes, one would say that the youth possessed a noble nature, but in the reckless expression of the mouth, with its cynical smile, young as he was, something that contradicted the look, almost pathetic, which haunted the upper part of his face. His dress was an odd mixture, but pic- turesque, for he wore fringed buckskin leggings stuck in the tops of high-heeled boots, on which were ringing spurs; a red silk shitt, black scarf knotted sailor fash- jon under the broad collar, and a velvet Mexican jacket, profusely ornamented with buttons, while his hat was an em- broidered sombrero. His hair was dark, worn long, but scru- pulously well cared for, and he was armed with an ugly-looking knife and pair of revolvers. Apparently having just awakened from an afternoon siesta, he had risen from a handsome serape spread upon the ground beneath the shade of the live oak tree, when his eyes had fallen upon three horsemen halting a mile away, just where a trail across the prairie entered the hills. Upon a lofty range himself, he looked down upon the three riders, and having decided by their suspicious actions that they were intending mischief, he gathered up his serape and was turning away, when his vision rested upon a horse and rider coming across the prairie at a canter, and following the trail which led to where the trio the youth was watching were now in ambush. At sight of the lone rider coming across the prairie, the youth started, uttered a surprised exclamation, and bounded back over the ridge. A short distance down the slope was a. spring and a plot of meadow land, where the grass grew luxuriantly, and here a pony was staked out. Of the hardy and fleet race of Texas ponies, this one possessed extraordinarily good points, for he was as clean-limbed as a thoroughbred racer, and had indica- tions of being very fleet and enduring. Lying near were a handsome silver- mounted saddie and bridle, much lighter than was the customary equipments of that kind, and a long lariat hung to the saddle horn. Quickly the pony was bridled and sad- dled, the serape rolled yp tightly and strapped to the cantle, and the youth was ready to mount. . But before doing so*he took his lariat from the horn, saw that the coils were not entangled, and then looked carefully to his weapons. Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. the daring devil men ¢call me; but I am Wild Kid, the Terror, and must keep up his reputation.” With this, having reached the valley, he put spurs to Lueifer and» went flying along the trail at a tremendous speed. CHAPTER ITI. CAUGHT IN THE COILS. There was no more beautiful girl in the ranchlands of Texas than was Marie Brasher, daughter of one of the richest cattlemen along the Rio Grande. Where other ranchers had cattle and horses by the hundreds, Major Donald Brasher owned them by the thousands, Where the homes of other ranchers were comfortable, the major's was luxurious, at least, for that far, wild land of the frontier. Where the daughters of other ranchers were pretty, Marie Brasher was beautiful and accomplished, and easily won the title of “Belle Marie,” and of ‘Lady Beauty, of Idlerest Ranch.” To one who saw “Belle Marie’ as she was cantering along oyer the prairie, mounted upon a beauitful black mare, that arched her neck proudly, as though conscious that she bore the loveliest girl among the ranches, she would indeed have been considered beautiful both in face, form and carriage. She wore a becoming riding-habit of blue, trimmed with silver lace and buttons, a light, embroidered sombrero with a long black plume, while her saddle and bridle were worth a small fortune. A lariat hung at one saddle-horn, and in a holster upon the other side was a re- volver. Her face was cast in a perfect mold, her eyes being large and expressive. Her hair hung in two heavy braids down upon the saddle housing, and was tied with a blue ribbon, On went her pretty mare in a swinging lope. The expression of the young eques- trienne’s face was earnest and anxieus, 2s though she was bent upon some special mission. “Puther would be angry, I know, if he ascertained that I went to Wild Kid's cabin to see him; but would I be doing right to resist his urgent call to come to him, now that he is wounded and per- haps may die? “No; I'll take the consequences, for I have not forgotten that he risked his life to save mine the day the Indians shot my pony and raided the trails. ‘ .“Tll try and get back before nightfall, but if I do not I will frankly tell father where I have been.” She had now reached a part of the trail where it wound from the prairie into the hill country, and drew her horse down to a walk, Ahead a few hundred yards was a cut through which the trail ran, the ridge on either side covered with small trees. *T am not suspicious, but I do dread passing through Death Pass, especially CC ————_ Mounting, he showed that his carriage in} alone, for so many times have men lost home there. As he turned his pony down the slope in a direction that would bring him around the range toward where he had seen the three horsemen dismount and go into ‘ambush, where the trail entered the Ifils, he muttered: ‘the saddle was perfect—that he was at i] “Now, Lucifer, you have got to Make ‘two miles to another's one, for I am - needed over yonder, and you must get me ” z ; SS e “Then, while a look of intense reckless- mess passed over his young face, he ¢oli- ‘tinued: oe dis _ “If I count odds now, then I am not * their lives there. I can see half a dozen graves yonder now,” and she glanced to the left, where was a little vale. In full view were a number of those little mounds, never to be mistaken, and about which a weird interest ever hovers, even to the most callous observer. As she rode into the cut, the banks of which were now fifteen feet in height, there suddenly shot out into the air three small, dark clouds. They were coils of lassoes, which, aimed true, and spreading out as they flew for- ward, settled down upon their victims, for the horse was caught in two, the maiden in the third noose. . With a snort of fright the animal had ; plunged forward, to be brought up with a grip that could not be shaken off, while the coil settling over the shoulders of Marie Brasher, had pinioned her arms close to her side. A startled, indignant ery broke from the girl’s lips, and her face paled as she glanced upon the banks to see who had thus captured her. Three forms instantly sprang into view, and two of them, slipping down into the cut, seized her horse and quickly slipped the fair rider’s revolver from its holster to thus disarm her. “How dare you seize me?” cried the in- dignant girl, as she glanced from one to the other of her captors, seeming to realize as she did so that she was in merciless hands. * Gold is the reason, for we were paid to eatch you, Lady Beauty, and we’ve earned our pay,’ answered one of the men, whose face Marie could not see, for all three wore red handkerchiefs tied over their heads, : with holes cut through for the eyes. “You are some of. the lawless gang about El Monte, I know, but who is the master you serve?” “That our master, aS you eall the one who pays us, will or will not make known to you as he pleases; but now, you go with us, Lady Beauty, and it will be a long, hard trail:I take.” ( The words were prophetic, for, as he ceased speaking, a bullet crashed through his brain and he started upon the long, hard trail of death! —_——. CHAPTER III. WILD KID CHIPS IN, “Hold ’em under sight, pards! We've got ’em corralled! TH drop down!’ These words followed the shot from the banks on the right, and down into the cut came a human form, catching upon his feet as nimbly as a cat, and with a re- yolver‘in each hand. At the first shot and the fall of their leader, the two others, hearing the words which indicated that others were above, had dashed through the cut with the speed of deer, firing, but at random, as they ran. The one who had dropped into the cut was the youth who had been taking an afternoon siesta on the mountain, an hour before, and from his point of lookout had seen the three men go into ambush. His handsome face was lighted up with an angry flash in his eyes, and his reck- less mouth indicated that he was there t# take all ¢hances with the odds against him. ; Released from the grasp of the men upon her bridle rein, the spirited and frightened horse of the young girl darted forward with’ a bound, but the severe Texas bit was drawn upon hard, and the animal, thus reined to a halt, wheeled about, and, on a run, passed the spot where the youth stood. ~— “T guess she’s frightened of me, too, though she oughtn’t to be,’ muttered Wild Kid, as he saw the horse bound away with its fair rider, and a bitter smile passed over his face: : But, with a smile, he turned to the fal- len desperado,, and, bending over him, snatched the handkerchief from his face that had served as & mask. 38 As he did so he saw that Marie Brasher was coming back, and turned to meet her, his face lighting up with pleasure as he courteously raised his sombrero, : “Bud Poisal, I believe you thought I had deserted you, but it was my mare’s fault, for she nearly ran off with me, she was so frightened.” mg “And you were not frightened, Lady er ee : Se i Ee, q ‘~ te -
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\\ Beauty, though they had you in a close place?” “Indeed I was! But when I saw the man drop dead by my side, from your shot, and recognized you, I forgot my fear. See, I have their three lariats,” and she pointed to the trio of ropes, one about herself, the other two around the mare’s neck. “Well, this fellow will not need a rope again, and the other two will get theirs yet—around their necks, for 1 think I know them, though I will wrong no man by accusing him until I am sure, Lady Beauty.” “T have seen that man before, Bud,” said Marie, gazing down into the up- turned face. “He is coyote food now, Lady Beauty, but he was El Monte Ed, who was one of the worst toughs about El] Monte, and that is saying a great deal.” “Yes, I have heard of him, and seen him, too. But, what do you think was their motive in seizing me, Bud?” “To make your father pay big to get you back, maybe; or, perhaps, to kidnap you for one of your many lovers, Lady Beauty,”’ and the last words were uttered half in earnest, half in a joking tone. “These are not the days, Bud Poisal, when a man wins a lady’s love by force, but rather by deeds of nobleness and dar- ing. But now, let me thank you for your gallant rescue of me, Bud, and at the risk of your own life, for you took no count of the odds against you.” \“ Would I be half a man if I didn’t do so, when you needed my aid, Miss Marie?’ he said, with an earnestness that caused Marie to quickly remark: “ Do you know where I was going when they halted me?” ““Por a run over the prairies?” “T was going to see you.” “To see me?”’ “Yes. Half Breed Joe came to the ranch early this morning and hung about until he saw me, when he told me that you bad been dangerously wounded at El Monte, but had been taken to your cabin and begged that I would come to see you. “J could not refuse, Bud, owing you my life, as I did; and knowing my father would ‘be angry if he found out where I was going, I slipped away from home and was OD my way to your cabin when those three men held me up, so now I know it was a plot to kidnap me.’ “You bet it was, Lady Beauty! And don’t you mind any more such calls, for 1 don’t intend to hand in my chips for many a long day, for something in my heart and brain tells me I will not. “T'll trail this plot to the end, and I only wish I had some good pard I could rely upon to help me, to be my friend, for, to all about here, I am only Wild Kid, the Terror, as you understand, and many think I ought to have cloven hoofs and horns, I’m so bad. But I don’t care what they think,” and he laughed recklessly. “T know that you are not what you are ainted, Bud Poisal, though I do not doubt foat you are wild and something of a ter- ror in your way. : “Why not trust Doctor Delmar as your friend, for he likes you and always speaks well of you?” The face of the youth flushed, and he ‘said earnestly: “No, indeed, Lady Beauty. Not Duke Delmar! I hate him; he is no friend of mine. But you had better ride back home, as your father will be angry with you for going out alone, and as I have no idea where those two men are, I'll go * with you a short distance. “The major will send out, IT guess, and ‘bury what's left of El Monte here.” ss “Oh, yes; father will see to that,” and Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. gathering up the lariats, searching the body, and telling Marie that he would meet her at the end of the cut, Wild Kid clambered up the steep bank, got his pony, waiting a short distance away, and, mounting, dashed on, to find that the young girl had come upon the herse of E] Monte, the others having left him behind in their flight, ea eevar re CHAPTER IV. THE OLD MISSION. Wild Kid accompanied Marie Brasher within sight of Idlerest Ranch, and then left her, declining her urgent invitation to go on with her and let her father and mother know that he had again served her so well. “No, Lady Beauty; your father and mother don’t like me, for they believe I am all bad, and I won’t go where I’m not wanted, “Why, the major wouldn't let me join his company of Texas Rangers, and when I warned them of danger one night he said I knew more of the Comanches than an honest man ought to, and only went to the camp and told them of the Coman- ches lying in ambush for them to keep from being run out of the country. “Yes, Lady, he even offered to pay me for saving you that time from the Indians, and that made me mad elean through.” “T know that my father distrusts you, Wild Kid, as many others do; but I have faith in your good intentions, and hope some day you will show your enemies how wrong they were. “Remember, Iam your friend, and ever will be. Good-by.” She held out her hand, which the youth grasped, and as he rode on his way, mur- mured to himself: ‘Now I’ve got more sense than to fall in love with a girl older than I am, and so far above me—she, beautiful, accom- plished, and an heiress, and I a waif of the prairie, an outcast; but, something draws me to her in a way I cannot under- stand, and I just vow she shall not be sac- rificed to any one of half a dozen fellows I know her father would marry her to. - “No, indeed! She can’t marry a dead man, and it will come to that if oue of those I have in mind is selected by the major, for she does not love any of ’em I have reason to think, from What I saw one night. ‘Now I'll take the trail of those two men from where they ran off, and ascer- tain just where it leads, and so learn what this raid means.” With this he rode back to the scene of the tragedy, took up the trail of the two masked fugitives, and followed it at a canter over the prairie. In half a dozen places efforts had been made by the two to cover up their tracks, but the young trailer lost no time in searching for the trace where he lost it, for he seemed to know just where to go to pick it up again, and did so, skipping at times the distance of & mile. “T thought so,” he had to say. “They wish to give the idea that they are going | to the Indian country, but they are noi, for, as they came this way, they are bound for old Carlos Trego’s Hacienda; so I'll go right there, for it’s getting too dark to see the trail now.” With this he urged his horse into a can- ter, and mile after mile kept the pace up across the great green plain. He seemed to know the country per- fectly, and to have directed his course,un- erringly, for, after an hour’s ride, there loomed up before him a long, low struct- ure, spreading over several acres of land. There was one building rising higher than the rest, and this proved to be a} pected to, when he listened to the threat — yl to kill Buffalo Bill, a man of whom he ~ igh chapel. Once the place had been an old Spanish mission, strongly built of stone and adobe, where the padres of a century before had had their home. But now the old mission was but a ruin, and only one wing of_it was occupied by a Spaniard, his wife, and son, who owned a few eattle, tilled a score of acres of land, with the aid of several peon sery- ants, and dwelt there seemingly satisfied with their humble tot. Some said that old Carlos Trego was a Spanish noble, exiled for reasons which he kept to himself; but, whether true or not, he lived in the old mission, and was never seen in the settlements, his son, Juan, going after supplies when needed. Travelers visiting at the mission were always most hospitably treated, andthe rangers, on their marches, found a wel- come whenever they camped there. Wild Kid did not approach the mission from the two trails leading to it, but to- ward a light that shone in one wing. He passed through the old burying- ground of the padres, and, as he rounded the wing, drew rein just beneath the window from which shone the light, Rising to his feet in his saddle, he peered cautiously into the narrow, open window, and as he did so, he heard a voice say sternly: “T tell you that your guest is Buffalo Bill, the great scout, Senor Trego, and he has come to this country on a secret mis- sion, of which I have been informed by letter, and you must do as I say—never allow him to leave this old ruin alive! Yes, this night he must die!” CHAPTER V. FOREWARNED., Standing upright in his saddle, Wild Kid was able to see all that was in the room into which he looked through the narrow window. Above him loomed the dark walls of the mission, and around him were the gravestones marking the resting place of many who had passed away generations before, : The window looked out upon this grew-° some abode of the dead, which was sur- rounded by a wall half crumbled down in places, and which Wild Kid’s pony had leaped, as his rider was determined to see in that window, and had an idea he would be high enough by standing up in his saddle to do so. Wild Kid thought he would like to see just who was at the mission before he asked for shelter, for if there were two strangers there he did not doubt but that they were the intended kidnappers of Marie Brasher. As they were masked he could not see their faces, but he had noticed their gen-., eral outline before he had fired upon their leader, and he had studied well the tracks of their horses, which he had also seen, before he sought his position of attack. If those horses were in the corral, and two men answering the description of those he had seen at the kidnapping were there, then he would not seek shelter in: the mission that night, but lie in wait for them the next morning and try and hold ‘them up single handed and taking them back to the ranches, turn them over to the band of Texas Rangers, whoge duty it was to protect the scattering settlement from raiders across the Rio Grande, the Comanches and bad characters in gen- eral. But Wild Kid saw more than he had an- ticipated when he looked through that — open window in the mission. ° He had heard more than he had ex-
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had heard much, and who was his hero, but whom he had never seen. There were four men in the room, which was large and furnished only with a table and chairs. He recognized old Senor Trego, gray, grizzled and stern looking, and sitting next to him was the man who had uttered the dire threat against Buffalo Bill. Wild Kid knew this man well, as a hanger-on about the settlement town, as El Monte wes called. He was called “Captain,” as it was said, upon his own authority, that he had once been an army officer, and he had an erect, military bearing, but a face that was evil, sinister aud cruel. His intimates called him “Panama,” and he was a desperate gambler and known to be a man-killer, for he had established such a reputation in El Monte and was greatly feared. The other two men in the room were, Wild Kid was sure, the game he was in search of. One was short, the other tall, and they were dressed as the two kidnappers had been. ' They were unmasked, now, and the youth recognized them as two more of El Monte’s tough citizens, known as Mus- tang Matt and Half Breed Jose. Nominally, they were cowboys, but they spent most of their time in gambling and -idleness. The four men were within fifteen feet of the youth, some ten feet below him, and he could see them distinetly and hear all that they said. ’ Fortunately, a vine half obs¢ured the ‘window, giving shelter to his face as he Me; peered through. ¥ Like men who were cautious, from be- ing in daily danger, the men talked in Jow tones, but each word Wild Kid heard. It. was. Panama who had made the threat against Buffalo Bill, and in re- sponse Don Trego, as he was continually called, asked: # Are you sure that he is alone, Senor pes Captain?” pe _ “Yes, for he always travels that way, for I know him well.” “You have seen senor?” ' -#"Do you see this sear on my forehead?” a “Yes, Senor Captain.” rat “Well, he gave me that, and he thought 3.2" the had ‘killed me, but I have as many lives as a cat and hold on well. pe “T tell you that he has come to Texas '. .on a secret mission, and if we do not check his career right here, a number of us will stretch hemp, for I can pick out scores of men who are now dodging the gallotvs in El Monte alone, $ “What crime sent you hiding hére, Don ue “Trego, is none of my business, but I live here because I would die East, and Mus- -. tang Matt and Half-Breed Tose are, about mis in my category. him before, then, at the line of forts in the Northwest, and the has left them on a mission which means death to more than one man. in FF Hl Monte.” CHAPTER VI. THE PLOT TO KILL. ‘I got this letter by coach ‘this jsvareee and it was just in time, for But- falo Bill has traveled fast. - “ The letter is from a life-long’ pard, a 7" dier who is well trusted and a square ; = in, but he Pahog me his life on more tthan one occasion, o see me hang, so when he overheard “But Buffalo Bill is Chief of Scouts up. and he did not care | § + the scout was coming to El Monte he idea ed se out all he ae sat warn | Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. “So he played eavesdropper, and heard enough to know that Buffalo Bill was on a special man-hunt;: “T was not mentioned, for I am sup- posed to be dead, but he warned me, “He heard Buffalo Bill go over with the general his intended trail to Texas, and the latter told him to stop here at this old mission one or two nights, and he might gleam some information about the El Monte settlement before going there. “So I came at once to post you, and blow my soul if the man is not here ahead of me, for when I saw him I could hardly believe my eyes, and lucky I am that he did not see me.’ “T never allow my guests to see each other until I know it is proper, Senor Captain,” said the Don. “You are wise, Don; but tell me of Buffalo Bill’s coming.” “ He came this afternoon, mounted upon a splendid animal, and with its match fol- lowing with a pack saddle. “He told me he was on his way to El Monte, but wanted to rest a day or two. and gave his name as Fred Williams, a government courier.” “Yes, his real name is William Freder- ick Cody, and he has twisted his Christian names to suit, for he dared not let it be known that he was Buffalo Bll; but I know him, and forewarned is being fore- armed, as he shall know to his cost.” “T am to consider, Senor Captain, what you say about the general telling him to stop here, at my mission. “Tt must be General Carr, who coim- manded this district some years ago, and knows of me and the mission, and so it would be bad for his courier to meet his death here.” “Bah! he has come here through au Indian country, and who could follow his trail after a couple of days? “ Who would know that he ever reached here? *T tell you, Don, you are as deep in the mire as the rest of us, and when I got my soldier friend's letter I came at once to you. , “JT was sure that with your aid, and your son Juan’s, we could easily cut short the career of Buffalo Bill; but here I find Mustang Matt and Half Breed Jose, two more to aid us, for they are of our kind, and so I say down the scout this very night. “He's got money, which goes to you, Don, his ‘horses and traps Matt and Jose ean have to sell, and I claim only his life. “Now, Don Trego, do you intend to de- sert a pard in need? ” “I'm not that kind, Senor Captain, but this man, Fred Williams, as he ealled himself to me, came here to claim my hospitality. “You say he is & man-hunter, and will kill you, and others, at El Monte. a ‘Self-preservation is the first law of na- ture, 80 as you know that he is. going can fight him, for all know what you are. * And you show your ignorance by not knowing what and who Buffalo Bill is. “Why, that man carries a charmed life, | and no one dare face him, hoping to be on equal terms, for he is quicker than light- | is wholly devoid of fear. o; trap him, and we can kill | him, bus ye to og ee and we ill die, and he will go on his way serenel; ‘He is here in your home, and. Matt and Jose here will bog mes ree you ean snp him mor ee there, you will be prepared for him and ning, his aim is as true as death, and he | Pine: a 9° sce aie th onl g “Senor, I oe “he tes c at his supper. | | now, but he W 5-43 in the little meet: —~ ing room off the old chapel, for there is © where I put strangers. “The river runs under the window, just outside of the wall, aud a body dropped into it would be quickly carried. away. “You know the old mission well, Senor Captain, so make yourself at home, and with Senors Matt and Jose, breakfast with us, for I suppose the stranger will ” not be here,”’ BE “No, he will not.” Ke “Spread your serapes here, if you wish Fe to sleep, and Juan will care for your a horses, q “Good-night, senors,” and Don Carlos Trego left the room, and Panama and his: 5 pards went on planning just how they By would cut short the career of Buffalo Bill. % CHAPTER VII. BUFFALO BILL. It was an hour before sunset when & horseman rode up to the gate of the ruined mission, where Don Trego made his home, amid the memories and the graves of by-gone generations. x He was splendidly niounted, thorough- ly equipped, had a repeating rifle, re- volvers and bowie, with a pack horse trot- ting obediently along behind him, and car- | rying a well-stocked pack saddle, appar- ently for a long journey. q The horseman was one who could not go unnoticed anywhere, for he was tall | oo and) possesed an athletic and graceful } form, while his dress partook of the fron- tiersman, With the top boots, buekskin leggings, hunting shirt and _ broad- brimmed sombrero, aa } The face of the horseman Was one to : command instant respect and admiration, t for, added to its being a handsome one in a marked degree, it was stamped with in- }- domitable puck, character and w-il, while tad I his manner of addressing Carlos Trego, who met him at the massive doors leading iia into the plaza of the mission, was gentle het and courteous. f “Senor, do you speak English, for I ee, | haye little faith in my Spanish?” he said, = ae with a smile, recognizing at a glance that 5 if the Don was an American he was of ord oe Spanish or Mexican birth. Sot fern . “T speak English, and woulda know how I could serve the senor?” “Ts this the old Mission del Monte?’ Tt is, senor, what is left of it.” “T was told by army officers who knew =. of its hospitality, if I came here and found Don Carlos Trego still the ran- nae) Sa chero, I would receive good treatment at Raed ae his hands ,and I desire to rest for a day anh ig! or two, after a long journey, and before continuing on to El Monte, the settlement some forty miles south of here, I believe.” “Your friends told you the truth, senor, for I have a good garden, fruit trees, do- mestie fowl, with a well-supplied larder, and game for the shooting, fish for the catching. ~ You are welcome; but ‘may I alk the senor’s name?” * Prederick Williams, and army courier is my present occupation. “TI thank you, senor, and will look my- self to my horses.’ " say, The stranger was shown where he’ could place his saddle and pack, in his room, one connected with the old chapel, ue a and then led his horses to a bit of mead- i ow land on the stream, where he staked ie them out. yd oH He found his room more like a pr than a chamber, but there was ble and chair there, and he had no "reaison as to complain. BS lke A youth of twenty, with a. ark, hand: some face, was called by the. sere kine a to go off ‘and catch some mA deer for supper, and then he ae n showed : Rie th oN bi, ele e a
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§ i - be the ones to P the stranger through the old ruin, he Seeming much interested in it. wfter looking it over the stranger de- ided that but six persons dwelt in a ‘structure that at one time must have ac- commodated half a thousand, and these half dozen were. the Don, Juan, his son; and his wife, a woman of forty, with a face that held the traces of former beauty and refinement, and with eyes in which lurked a world of meaning. She seemed impressed with the hand- some stranger, and at once set the peon servants, a man and a woman, to work preparing supper, the sixth dweller there, also a peon, guarding at the time a small herd of cattle and ponies down in the meadow lands. With a glance at the garden, the domes- tie fowls, and having heard the orders given Juan, the stranger thought’ his chances for a tempting supper were excel- lent, and went to his little room to look over his traps, as Don Carlos received a signal that other visitors were coming. They were two horsemen, and the stranger, observing them at a distance, saw them engage in excited conversation with the Don, who led them away out of sight. Soon after another arrival came, and he alse was seen to hold an earnest conyer- sation with the Don, and was led away toward the living rooms of the family. But when night fell and the stranger was called by Juan to supper, he was sur- prised to see none of the other arrivals there. He saw the senora, who appeared to Thaye dressed up for his especial benefit, and Juan was there, with two of the peon servants ready to wait upon them. But the Don and the three men whom he had seen arrive were not there. The absence of the former was ex- plained by the senora’s saying that the Don was away with the cattle, but noth- ing was said of the others. “This is a mysterious household, and IT must keep my eyes open,” muttered the stranger. But the food set before him was of the best, from, the coffee and hot biscuit to the broiled. venison, bacon and eggs, and he ate heartily, enjoying everything, and asking many questions about the sur- -younding country and its people, little dreaming that in an old isolated wing of the ruin four men were then plotting to kill him, for the strange horseman, giv- ing his name as Fred Williams, was none other than W. F. Cody, Buffalo Bill, sent on a secret mission of desperate danger down into the danger land bordering the Rio Grande in the Lone Star State. CHAPTER VIII. THE USE OF A LASSO. - Wild Kid had heard enough. ; He cautiously lowered himself from his standing position in the saddle, dismount- , ed, and led his horse silently away - through the old burying-ground to the > shelter of some mesquite trees a few ‘hun- _ red yards distant, growing near the bank of the river, There was good grazing there, and in a sheltered spot the pony was staked out. | Then, with his lariat in hand, for Wild Kid was an expert in its use, and would have as soon left his belt of arms behind as it, he made his way back under the walls of the old mission. “J must save that splendid man I have hear so much about. _ ; “Tf I can’t, why, then I know who will hang.” : brave deter With this nation in his ind, be skirted around the walls, look- - dng for some place where he could enter. » a es arg _ —— = - —— Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. He well knew the danger he ran, for Don Trego had a pack of the largest and most ferocious dogs in the country, five of them, and they were turned loose in the grounds about the mission at night when the family retired. With several strangers there that night, Wild Kid hoped they would be kept in their pen until late, but at any rate he would take ail chances. The outer walls here and there had crumbled half down, but the inner inclos- ure about the mission proper, the plaza, garden and canal, had been well kept up. Getting within the outer wall, Wild Kid searched in vain for a break. The wall had been built for safety, and was all of fifteen feet in height, while no tree had been allowed to grow along- side of it. But Wild Kid suddenly paused and glanced upward, He was not looking at the stars, how- ever. Standing under the shadow of the rear of the chapel, his eyes had fallen upon the stone cross upon the apex of the roof. It was nearly forty feet above him, but his ingenious mind had hit upon a way to get into the mission yard. He would depend upon his lariat. In a word, he would lasso the cross. Stepping backward, he measured the distance critically, then swung his lariat around and around his head and launched it upward. It did not go up to the cross. Throwing a lasso upward was harder than in a straight line on a level, he found. Again he made the throw. The coil fell with a heavy thud, which he feared would be heard within the liy- ing wing of the mission, a hnandred yards away. Again he threw and failed. But he was not discouraged, a thuught came to him, and he darted away. At the river bank he halted, and he dropped the long lariat into the water to make it heavier. Then he returned throw. He nearly reached the cross this time. _ A second time he threw, but it did. not quite reach. With all his might he threw it a third time, but it hit the base of the cross. He needed about five feet more to en- circle the top with the noose. Again he darted away. But within ten minutes he was back again, leading his pony. Placing him in position, he went slowly to work to see if the extra height of some six feet would not help him reach the cea 5 and made another oal. But could he throw upward from his saddle as from the ground? That was the question that bothered him. ) But soon he was ready, and with a strong effort the coil went sailing upward. It struck the cross fairly, but two feet below the top. L Again he tried, and this time it went over one arm of the cross and hung there, But, drawing upon it, Wild Kid found that the noose had not caught: Nerving himself for another effort, he ‘once more launched the lariat toward the _ CLOss. ] ! The stars shone brightly, and he could see fairly well, _ Eagerly he watched the dark coj] in its flight, saw it soar above the cross, hoyer there an instant, and settle down... — ’ He gave the lariat a slight pull, It held.. : Then lte pulled hard, and it remained fast. He had been successful at last. - a) _ CHAPTER IX. IN LIGHT AND SHADOW. Wild Kid could hardly restrain a shout of triumph as he felt that he had been suc- cessful in his effort to lasso the cross. But he wisely forbore from doing 50, and rode his pony back to his grazing- ground. He was soon back again under the shadow of the chapel, and, grasping the lariat firmly, swung his weight upon it. It held tirm. Then he took off his boots and tied then about his waist. His next move was to seize the lasso pena and begin to walk up the chapel wall. The idea struck him that he might pull the stone cross over on top of him, but he grimly muttered: ; “T guess it would bury me and give me ~ i a tombstone all in one. But I’ll take the ; chances.” Soon he reached the cross, and caught his feet upon the apex of the roof. There he stood a while to rest, one arm clinging around the cross. With his hard efforts in throwing the | i lariat and his ciimb, he was tired, tough as a pine knot though he was. ae But he soon was rested, and drawing up the lasso, began to let himself down the steep roof. a Reaching the edge, he saw a light rao eating out of an open door beneath aa m. It must be from the chapel room which had been given to Buffalo Bill, he thought. But he must make no mistake. It would not do to find that it was a room occupied by Panama or the two men he had tracked there. ; The dogs might have been turned loose, ty 4 but he must risk that. es So he climbed up the roof again and ; went down the other side. aes All was dark there. = But the lasso was long enough to reach ug the ground, and so he lowered himself, Arranging the end, in case he came back to it in a run, he slipped cautiously along the wall of the chapel, came around in ~ front,, halted under the shadow of the tower for a moment, and looked about to get his bearings, He soon discovered that he was in one end of the large plaza, the chapel standing aloof from the mission house proper. , To his right, a hundred yards, was the 9 main entrance, in front of him, across the — plaza, was the night corral for the horses and cattle, and to the left he saw a light shining from an open door, 1 These he knew were the living quarters of Dor Trego and his people, for Wild : Kid had been to the mission half a dozen é times before, several times passing 2 ~_ night there, satay “The wing where those precious toughs are is right yonder, and they have put out their light; but they command a view of — the room over here by the chapel, so t \ ime must go slow, as they may be on the — watch.” aoa , a So saying, he kept along under the : . ‘3 shadow of the chapel until he drew near the stream of light that came out of the open door at one end. ie ee There was a window also, ‘a narrow — one, out of which the light shone, and a_ form passed between the light and the ~ door. gh AE ies MNEs pte Was it the scout? Sie or ee atag Again the form darkened the light in the — doorway and remained there, = 9 Then the youth glanced ggtte pee 5) pavement, and he beheld the shadow out- Ww line of the one who obscured the aa : bln
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| —— oo — _ eu Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. shoulders and a broad sombrero upon his head. It could but be the scout, and the boy, crouching in the. shadow of the chapel, whispered distinctly: * Buffalo Bill, don’t move, but listen to me.” There was a slight start of the shadow, the outline of a hand and arm bending to- ‘ward a revolver in the belt was seen, and then came the low uttered words: “Who are you?” “Are you Buffalo Bill?’ “You appear to know that fact, and I am not one to deny my identity.” “Other eyes than mine are upon you, and your life is in danger. “Pretend to prepare for bed, and put out your light, for I dare not be seen. “When it is dark in your room I will come there.” e “TI will do as you tell me, for, in light or darkness I am able to defend myself,” was the cool reply of the scout. Nae aR ve * sx for pk =a Petr aire Md: 38 o) LPI TE ROR wen CHAPTER X. WILD KID MEETS BUFFALO BILL. There was a movement of the shadowy form, the broad sombrero was taken off, the belt of arms unbuckled, a movement as ‘a vee A PRO Re ee aD “7 -! - 7 + . a though the high top boots were being re- As moved, and then the light went out. f As it did so Wild Kid glided from the shadow of the chapel to the door of the little room. Entering, he heard the — low-spoken 4 words: a) See “Now, pard, friend or foe, I am ready Bi: for you, for I have you covered.” fps The scout was not to be caught nap- a ¥ ping. i, | The thought pleased the Kid, and he ‘ laughed lightly and whispered: “ Good! -You are wide awake, I see. “T always am, when not asleep. “Now, who are you?” “Only a boy.” “Who else?” “Your friend.” “So I would judge from your coming here as you do; but appearances are de- ceitful.”’ “That's so; but you are Buffalo Bill?” “ Are you guessing?” yd ae No.” a “Why do you ask?” é “J did not wish to help the wrong man.” o" ” “So you are here to help me, are you “Yes, to save your life, for there is a plot to kill you to-night.” “Ah! Now you are talking business.” $ “T’m a business boy, for I'm dodging + death about half the time myself.” | “T cannot see you, but I rather like you, pard.” “T hope you will when you know me bet- ter; but I reckon I had better not preach too long, but get down to business.” “ Fire away.” . “You came here from the upper coun- ‘try, Where you are chief of scouts at the frontier forts, and you are in Texas on a special mission, but did not give yourself away, but told Don Trego that you were -—s &@ «government courier, and your name was ‘Fred Williams.’ ** Ah! you are Juan, the Don’s son.” ; “Tf I was I'd expect to be hanged, and Gres, for a good reason; but though I may die With my boots ‘on, I won't hang.” “ Who are you?” “A boy, an outcast, prairie waif, good- - formothing, terror, or what you will, ~ ehristened by the toughs of El Monte Wild ? _ Kid, but at camp meeting called by the -_- parson Bud’ Poisal, which name IT answer ‘to quick if anybody would say Bud Poisal _ ‘would lie or steal a horse. 4 “Now, you’ve got my family history, I ‘being the entire family outfit, and though it’s too dark to see me, I’m here, and to help you.” Buffalo Bill was decidedly impressed by this short and to the point explanation of the youth, and he felt at once drawn to- ward him, though he could not see a feat- ure of his face. “My brave young friend, I appreciate what you have told me, and also that you are here to aid me to escape some threat- ened danger. ‘“* What is that danger, may I ask?’ “*T'll tell you by a short traik “Three men tried to kidnap, this after- State of Texas, the only one who thinks I'm not as black as they paint me; but I saw their little game, chipped in, and sent one of them, the leader, El] Monte Ed, to round- up cattle in the happy hunting grounds, noon, the noblest girl in the and the other two got away.” **Good for you!” “I rode nearly home with Lady Beauty —the boys call her so, but her real name is Miss Marie Brasher—and then went back to trail the two nen who were with I] Monte Ed, “T tracked them here, and I came up to the mission on the river side, where there is an old graveyard. “T saw a light, and standing up in my saddle, I took a peep into the room, in an old wing of the old ruin. “There [T saw Don Trego, the two birds I was after, and a man who had just ar- rived, and who they call captain, as he was once an army officer, he says, but I doubt it, though he may have been a bad soldier. “His pards calk him Panama, and I heard him tell the Don, and the others, for they all belong to the same gang, that he had a letter to-day from a friend at a northwestern fort, te:ling hira to beware, as you were on your way to El Monte to look up certain men.” “ Tndeed, he is well posted.” “He seemed to be; but you know best. “Then Panama pointed to a sear on his head and said you gave that to him, and he was supposed to be dead; but if you saw him you would know him, and there were other men about El Monte you wanted.” “ He knows it all.” “Then it's time for him to die, as he can learn no more,” was the laconic re- sponse, and Buffalo Bill laughed, while Wild Kid resumed his story. CHAPTER XI. THE COUNTERPLOT. “ Now, what must I call you, for I want a handie for my tongue to get a grip on?” asked Wild Kid in his frank way. “Call me Buffalo Bill.” “T don’t want to, for you’re a man, and a great one, and I'm only a kid, for I can’t vote for several years yet.” ‘*My name is Cody, then.” “Then Mr. Cody goes, or is it captain, major, or eolonel, for titles are worth dol- lars in Texas.” “JT am plain W. F. Cody, chief of scouts, nicknamed Buffalo Bill.” “Then Chief Cody goes with me, for as there are no misters around this country I’m not used to the name. “But let me push on along my tracking trail, for 1 wish to tell you that Panama said the only way for him to escape, and the others too, Whom you wanted, was to call in your chips.” “I see.” 2 “He wanted the Don and his son Juan to go in with him, but Don Trego backed out for the boy and himself, yet did not say they should not do the work, for he’s \ / ee eS | ae a Boe time, ,only it’s catching before hunging, you know.” “Yes, like making a rabbit stew—youw first catch your rabbit.” ‘Sure. But the other three—Panama, Mustang Mott, and Half Breed. Jose, all hard ones from El Monte, plotted to come over here when you were asleep and open fire on you, as they said you would natu- rally keep the door open, and thus they would down you. “ At the wall a couple of hundred feet from here, is a stone room, the Don said, with a window overlooking the river, and they could drop your body out there and the stream would carry it far away.” “You heard all this?” “Oh, yes. I got it all down fine, and then I plotted to help you out,” “How did you get in?” “Well, I'll tell you. I got in by a way which wiil enable you to say that you were savéd by the cross,” “T don’t understand. Are you a trayel- ing missionary?” ‘Not to any alarming extent; but as I could not get over the wails I lassoed the cross on the chapel, shinned up the side and down the roof, and I’m here, arn’t 1?” “You certainly are in evidence, though I do not see you distinctly, “And now you are here to help me fight out this battle or aid me to escape— which ?” “See here, chief, I could help you to escape, but I’ve got an idea you could do ' more good fighting it out; in fact, I’ve an idea.” “Let me have it, then.” “Tf Panama is really posted, you’ve got work ahead of you in these parts.” * True.” : “Now, I’m not curious; but if you are playing a lone hand, but would like to have some one be pards with you, I'm with you for keeps.” 4 “You are just the one I need, from what. I've seen of you.” ‘You haven't seen me yet, only heard me, and maybe when you do get a sight of my picture by daylight you won't like it.’ “T'll take chances on that.” “Then I'll do the same. “Now, my idea is to go around the chapel, get my lariat, nnd hang the end over this side, so that I can be here with you in the fight, and then skip at a ‘quick- step outside of the mission walls, I mean. after che three men have passed in their chips. “T'll be on hand should Don Trego and Juan, with the peons, take a hand against you; but my idea is that they will not; but, as I said, they'll hear something drop from the chapel roof if they do, “Well, so far, good; but I think you'd better play ¢hat the three men must have followed you here to kill you, that they came from the northwest, not from El Monte, and make believe you think Don’ Trego is all right. “ He'll catch at that bait the same as a catfish will at a nigger’s toe, and he'll pre- tend not to know the men at first; but then come out and say they are from EL Monte, and asked for shelter for (he night, | which he gave them, little dreaming that they were here to murder you. “TI know the Don well, and he'll be giad to get out of it, while if you recognize the man Panama, you can give a reason for his attack on you, Stating that in some way he knew of your coming, “When I see all is serene I'll skip, and nobody will know me in the affair, only I'll have to borrow your lariat so as to tie it to mine, so I can draw them over after I am outside, as it would not do to leave mine fast to the cross, , “That's my game, chief,” a bad one, I’ve had my eye on for some Be x
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wee bs 7 u eA teins no: YoOSK IS Saat <—— yal wa ~ ‘eape Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. * And it’s a good one, and we'll play it to the end, be the stakes what they may,” was Buffalo Bill’s ‘stern response. : CHAPTER XII. WAITING. Buffalo Bill felt that he had one to aid him, who, if a boy in years, was a man in pluck and experience. It was a novel situation for him, he who had done so much to aid others, to save other lives, standing there in the dark in that old ruin, following the advice of a boy to save himself from death. Yet there was a ring in the youth’s tone that was sineere and true, and he trusted him implicitly, so said: “Well, Wild Kid, when do you think our friends will come to the ball?” “Not until they are sure that you are sound asleep, so I'll go after my lariat, for that will take me a little time; but if they should come while I’m gone, I'll get a shot or two in from somewhere to help you, and be about until I know all is quiet, only don’t sleep too sound there.” “TI never do, for my ears are on the watch when my eyes are closed.” “Good for the ears; but when you leave in the morning, take the river trail to El Monte, and I’ll be somewhere along the way. “ Now I'll take a break.” With this the boy glided out of the room, passed close along under the shad- ow of the chapel wall, and soon reached his lariat where it hung on the other side. He climbed up tothe roof, passed along the ridge to the cross, and tied Cody’s lariat to his own, passing them simply over the stone arm, and carrying the two ends down upon the other side. “This time he landed in‘a dark corner of the chapel and the wall, and not fifty feet from the room where Buffalo Bill was waiting. He arranged the ends of the lariat so that he could get hold of them in a hurry, and could, by pulling upon one end, when outside of the wall, drag the other over the cross after him. This done he moved gently forward to the door and whispered: . * All serene!” “So far. “Have you arranged your means of es- 9 “Oh, yes, and I’ve only got to crawl upon the wall, sit there in the shadow of the rear buttress of the chapel, and wait to see how the cards are played by the Don. “If the game goes square I'll drop over on the other side, pull the lariats off the eross, and glide out through the grave- yard to where my pony is feeding.” “You are not afraid of ghosts, then?” “I’ve been a long time hoping to see one, but it seems that only those that are afraid of ghosts see them, for I can’t, and I’ve been ‘round dead folks right much in my time, so I guess when the spirit leaves the body it don’t go fooling around any more where it left it; that’s my opinion, but then I'm only a kid, and SO green the cattle chase me.” ‘All cats are gray at night, so I can’t sc the green line you speak of,” replied ‘ffalo Bill, much amused at the way Wild Kid had of expressing himself. “It's just twelve o'clock,” said Wild Kid, after a moment, glancing out of the door. “How do you tell?’ “J study the stars every night, for I’m out as much in the darkness as daytime, and I get to knowing pretty well.” “Yes, you are a close observer, I see, and I'm lucky to have found such an ally, for I needed one, and hoped to find two gentlemen I have letters to be the ones to aid me.” “Who are they?” came the blunt ques- tion. “Do you know Major Donald Brasher?’ “You bet I know Him; it was. his daughter I saved from the kidnappers to- day, and a year ago I saved her from the Indians; but the major hates me, though I'm not growing thin over it. - “ He’s a good man, or would .be, if a certain fellow who is trying to marry his daughter would let him.” Buffalo Bill listened to what Wild Wid said with great attention, but making no comment, asked: “Do you know Doctor Duke Delmar “T guess so, and he knows me, but our friendship don’t pan out to any alarming extent, though I did keep Rip Fait from putting a bullet in his brain once.” “How did you prevent it?” *Kkilled Rip, of course. to, 999 “That was the only way to stop Rip, and he was on the war-path for scalps, was blind for gore, and I pulled my gun on him when I saw that he had Doctor Duke booked to kill.” “And yet Doctor Duke Delmar is not your friend?” ‘*No; nobody is, except Lady Beauty Brasher, and she dare not show she don’t think I’m the devil on a round-up.” “ Well, I'll be your friend, and I'll show at “Don’t, it will ruin your reputation even with El Monte toughs; besides, if you want me to help you down here, I can do more for you by not appearing to know you; but I think death has started on the trail, for I saw something moving over yonder, sure, though it might have been one of the Don’s savage dogs.” “He would hardly let them out of the pen with strangers here.” “You are right, I never thought: of that; but I see now that what I saw move Was not dogs.” “No, I see them—they are men, three of them, and they are coming 4his way.” “They better stop to pray a little,’ was the quiet comment of Wild Kid as he held his revolver ready for use, Buffalo Bill standing by his side, a weapon also in his hand, : CHAPTER XIII. * PLAYING A DEADLY GAME. If Buffalo Bfll had had any doubt of his young ally, he could do so no longer when he saw three dark forms creep out of the shadows of the old mission and come si- lently toward the little adobe structure adjoining the chapel, where he had been placed to sleep. The youth was as cool, the scout no- ticed, as though he were simply awaiting for a deer to come within range of his weapon. , Within the room it was intensely dark, but Buffalo Bill had placed the little lamp and matches where he could get at them readily when needed. Bound upon a most important mission, after hearing the boy’s story of the three men, and knowing thet the Don, his son and two peons, if not in league with them, might be prevailed to join them when he showed resistance, Buffalo Bill's plan would have been to simply escape with Wild Kid, as he had entered, and come back with a foree of ranchmen to gain his own and secure revenge. But Wild Igid had urged otherwise, and in a way that convinced the seout that his nlxn was best. If he eot.i down his three foes, and convince Don Trego that he thought him wholly innocent and that the men had tracked him there to kill him, it would be best, for then he would have material to work on in the future against a man whom he knew had been trusted by Gen- eral Carr and other army officers. Explaining to the Don that he had not slept, and saw the three men advancing toward him, he had protected himself, thus not letting it be known that he had been warned, or that Wild Kid was inter- ested in the affair, the scout felt that he would hold a secret that would be to his advantage for future action. “T'll halt them first, young pard, for I don’t wish to fire on a man without a warning, if he is coming to assasinate me.’ “ All right, sir; that’s my style, never to pull trigger unless the other party knows I am in the game. “But don’t hold ’em up until they get so close that none of the three can get away.” “Oh, yes, I mean to kill if I have to, but I'd like to cateh the man Panama alive to find out just who he is. “Can you pick him out?’ “He’s the tallest of the three.” “Do you intend to fire also?” ; “Well, it’s your picnic, but if I’m needed I'll chip in and it won’t cause me to lie awake nights if I aappen to kill Half Breed Jose, for he has tried the coward act on me several times, ‘* He’s the little fellow on the left.” The three men were now within thirty feet of the building, and advanced side by side on tiptoe. In the center was the taller of the trio, the youth had said was Panama. It was bright starlight, and they were distinctly visible now, for they were in the open, Well out of the shadows of the mission walls, and nearing those about the chapel and its annex. -There was no doubt but that the men were Coming directly toward the open door, for as Wild K‘d whispered: “ There was no other place for them to zo in that direction, except to the chapel to pray, and I guess prayer time hasn’t come yet.” Another moment and the three men halted near the door and listened. Buffalo Bill breathed heavily, like a man in deep slumber, The men seemed reassured as they heard the breathing, some low order was given, and they separated, those on each side stepping some fifteen feet apart from the center one. Instantly Wild Kid seized Buffalo Bill and drew him to one side of the door. The cot ‘was just in front of the open door, but the men had separated so that they could fire from three directions into the room, and thus make sure of wound- ing, if not killing the scout. before they’ rushed in on him. Wild Kid seemed to anticipate their act,' aml so drew the scout to the shelter of the wall between the door and the win-! - dow, * y He had hardly done so when three shots’ came together, almost as one, and the’ bullets sank into the cot. vn Then came a second discharge, and the' three men ran toward the door, firing as’ they did so. ' But two answering shots flashed from’ the darkness of the room, and Half Breed Jose and Mustang Matt dropped dead, while the form of the scout Babes from “i the door and his iron grip was upon the, throat of Panama, who was hurled to the ground with stunning force, while he heard the stern command: ' = oe | “Resist, and I will kill you!” his weapons torn from him, and hurled upon the floor, the door was closed, and “T give up,” cried the half-dazed man,and he was dragged by the scout into the room, _
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oe his foot upon the prostrate prisoner’s breast, while he waited for the coming of the Don, for voices were heard over by the mission, and forms were coming quickly to the scene. As for Wild Kid, he had glided away like a ghost when he saw his chance to do so. CHAPTER NIV. BUFFALO BILL AT BAY. Buffalo Bill was glad to see that his young pard had skipped out so quickly, he feeling sure that Panama had not seen him. As he stood by the narrow window, a revolver in each hand, and his. foot upon his prostrate prisoner, whom he had told that a move would be the signal for his death, he saw four forms coming toward ‘the chapel. Of course, they were the Don, his son Juan, and two of the peon cowboys. Determined not to let the Don make the mistake of firing, if he could head him off, the scout called out: “Ho, Don Trego, I have been attacked by men who must have trailed me here. “Two of them are dead and I have the third a prisoner.” The words w in uttered slowly and dis- tinctly, and wer > heard and understood, for the Don Satlod back “Oh, senor! It is terrible, and in my * home, too. j “T will hang the one you have made a prisoner.” : The Don then came running on to the seene, while Buffalo Bill called out: “Hold, senor! I have been attacked, as IT said, and I wish to be sure that those with you are not also my foes.” “Ah, senor, never! They are my sou, } Juan, and my peon cowboys, Pedro and f: Antonio. “We are your friends and will defend you, for it makes me sad that they should | -—s have attacked you, my friend.” F] The Don and the others were now out- , side of the door, which Buffalo Bill had not yet opened, for he asked: ie “Who are these men?” haa “Three men from El Monte, senor, who came late to-night and asked for parse even saying that they were friends of yours, but would not disturb you. “They must have trailed you here. senor; but the Vigilantes of El Monte w=! deal with the prisoner quickly, and I w:il guard him myself until daylight and go with you to El Monte on the morrow and see him hanged.” | “Thanks, Don Trego, but I never al- - low another to do that which it is my | duty to attend to, so I will guard the pris- ener myself,” and the scout opened the * door and then continued: “Phe lamp and matches are on that ta- ble, Don, so please let us have, som F es lig oF a. e ‘he Don’s hand tremb‘ed as he Ughited | the lamp, and Buffalo Bill, who was iH crimes 3 him closely, saw that he was _ very pale. — ‘The failure of the attack, and fear of be- v2 ing suspected of complicity in it had quite unnerved the Don. But appearing not to notice his fright, " “Bult lo Bill said: f course, Don, you are not responsi- thle for your guests; but it came very mear being a pi 2 call for me. sah T had not been asle felt their movem oo cious, and prepared for them. eG “When they fired into the room and f then rushed forward, I met them with my _—_ , I saw them ts Were. sus- revolver, and as’ the other two were y out of = game, I je this man oner-. him, whil r Fon, seek the rest you need.” Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot, “ Hand me my lariat off of my saddle, please, Don, and after I have secured him I'll have a look at his face, for perhaps that may tell me why I have been dogsed here—ah!"” and Buffalo Bill sprans for- ward and seized the pr.soner by the throat with one hand, while he wrenched from him a letter he had seen him trying to tear up. , The act of the scout showed the Don and the others that Buffalo Bill was a man of giant strength and tiger-like quick- ness, for Panama, they knew, justly boasted of his wonderful prowess, But in the hands of the scout he was but as a child. Thrusting the letter into his pocket, Buffalo Bill proceeded to search the pris- oner, all the time looking fixedty into his face, until at last he said, in a puzzled kind of way: “TI don't believe in ‘the grave giving up its dead until they are called officially at the bugle call of Gabriel; but if you have not been numbered with the shadows, I 2m greatly mistaken, for I will take oath that you are North Adams, deserter from the army, and murderer of Sergeant Fair four years ago. “TI thought I had killed you, but it seems I was mistaken—yes, you are North Adams, and you escaped my bullet to die on the gallows.” CHAPTEI R XV. ON GUARD. The scout could not but note the startled look of the prisoner at his recognition of him, as also his appealing glance to Don Trego and Juan. He acso caught the nod of response the Don quickly gave, but pretending not to notice it, said: “You need not appeal to the Don and his son for help, for they are honest men, and are on my side; but even if they were not I would fight them to keep you, and they would have to answer to the sol- diers who are following on my trail if I disappeared.” The shot told, for the Don hastened to say: “Yes, senor, we are honest men, and though we know this man, We never sus- pected him of being the wretch he is. “He came to our house last night with his pards, as I have told you, but he came to kill you, and thus get me into trouble. “But I will put him in irons at once and guard him until morning for you.” “No, Don, I will ask you to guard those two dead men instead, and this man I will keep here, for he cannot escape when I have secured him—my lasso not on my saddle horn, you say? Well, there is one on my pack saddle, so hand me that, please.” i It was given to him, for Buffalo Bill had forgotten that Wild Kid had his. lariat when he asked the Don to hand it to him. Those who watched the scout tie the prisoner felt that he had had experience ‘in that kind of work, and that Panama’s chances of getting free were very slim. But the Don, though appearing to side with the scout, and against Panama, was only too anxious to aid the latter to es- cape, He knew that he dare not refuse to 910° him, as Panama would ayenge himse’f by betraying him; and, little dreaming now that the scout was playing a waiting game in pretending to trust rata Don ‘Trego said: “Now, senor. I insist ‘that. you shall not watch the prisoner, | for you have al- ‘ready suffered enough under my roof,” a woe him to me and T will aire put upon the prisoner with the remark: | felt that he had may a mist < “Senor, I'm as wide awake as an owl a midnight, and I will keep the prisoner ere. * He is securely bound, as you see. I will draw my eot across the door, and sleep serenely until I am called to eat the tempting breakfast I know your good wife will have for me.” * But, senor—” “IT-am determined, see “I hope the senor trust me with the prisoner,” reproachfully * Why should 1? man?” i The sudden questions staggered the ‘ Don, and he gave the prisoner a quick glance, and Butfalo Bil saw it, as well as ! a’ Sga-in return. , That the Don understood the sign was evident, for he argued no more, and bid- ding Buffalo Bill good-night, was going to the door, when the prisoner asked: ‘May I have my blankets to rest on?” “Oh, yes; for I would not have you un- comfortable,” responded Buffalo Bill. ; The Don himself brought them, and in- sisted upon spreading them, while Buf- falo Bill, though pretending not to heed, heard the words slowly spoken by the prisoner: f “Juan and the peons on the trail to- morrow.” f The Don nodded, and left with his son Va and the peons, remoying the bodies of the , two dead men as they did so. ve Instantly Buffalo Bill. blew the lamp %, out, ‘ ; a He would take no chances ofa sliot in bs the dark, jand closing the stout door, he bolted it. x" Then Hy drew his cot under the window. where he could raise his head and look out. The “Now, North Adams, I'll take a nap, bt and I adv: ‘se you to forget yourself in am slumber, also.” “Tam not North Adams,” “Why lie, for your letter will prove ! that, as, though addressed to Gaptain Nien Palos Panama, I noticed that it began, Mires ‘My dear North.’ , v4 “Then, tod, Adams, I recognize you, ; and remember that you bear a scar on muy) your head I gaye you, and thought the gta wound was fatal, as it knoeked you off of - Aa the cliff into the river) but you escaped in M some way, and so we meet again. ee ig Don, so that ends does not fear to said the Don, Are you not an honest “ Now. go to sleep, for you cannot es- eles cape, and you know me well enough to | understand that the Don and his outfit ati ) could ‘not take you from me if they even ale felt inclined to do so.’ Bier Whether convineed or not, Paraiot ral it fo said no more, and the scout was soon Red 2 asleep, though he Was on the alert even i in slumber. f \ CHAPTER. XT. i THE TWO TRAILS. When Buffalo Bill awoke the sun was u ‘ i¢ Pobre lay h!s prisoner, Secure, as he had: left him. Going to his paek saddle, the scout tes out 2 pair of steel manacles, and these abil “The lariat binds you, I see, but these will be comfortable. “Understand, Adams, that I shall ale ef low no penser s $0 obey me,” a a “T will, Buffato Bill.” pylons feed The scout smiled, and asked quickly: “You have betrayed yourself, for. why did you call me Buffalo Bill? | “My name is Fred Williams, you know.” The prisoner bit his lip Merny ously, for he uy
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a: eh ity ad y The Don now appeared and told the scout the senora had breakfast ready, and he would guard the prisoner while he ate. he “No, Don, I’ll take him with me,” was , tthe reply, and this was done. 4 The senora was all smiles, and con- gratulations when Buffalo Bill appeared, and, turning to the prisoner, said re proachfully: * And to think he has been our guest, and would treat you thus. “For shame, Panama. “I fear the Vigilantes will hang you j When you reach 1] Monte.” Ft st But her kind heart enabled her to heap the plate of the prisoner with a good breakfast, and the Don’s offer for his wife to guard the prisoner while he and the seout went out to get the horses ready being declined, Panama was taken along i also to the corral. iy “ My son is looking up a stray horse of his, and the peons are guarding the cat- tle,” explained the Don, without being asked, and Buffalo Bill-made a mental note of the fact, as also that the three were missing. The scout’s two horses were gaiidied, that of the prisoner also, and the Don refused decidedly any pay for the night’s i lodging he had given, but seemed most feck particular in his directions to Buffalo Bill as to the trail he should take. t ie Telling the Don that he would pay the, peons for burying the two dead men, upon his return, he bade a courteous farewell to the senora, shook hands with his host, and rode away with his prisoner upon the oe trail the Spaniard had directed him to 4 ’- take. Ban i But Buffalo Bill was not to be caught Pasi napping, and he recalled that Wild Wid had told him to be sure and take the river f (ae trail, tt That certainly was not the one he was iy then on, he felt sure, so he asked the pris- oner if the other trail was not the short- est. “No, the longest,” said Panama, shortly. Hp | “This is the direct one, then?’ ‘ ae Yes.” “The other lies yonder, does it not?” **No, in this other direction.” a That agreed with the advice given by Wild Kid. So he said, while he watched “ral ig the prisoner closely: ey ' “ We will take the other trail, then.” Buffalo Bill had observed looks pass be- of taking the other trail caused the pris- “You will have a hard ride of it, if you take the river trail, and are just as likely as not to run upon a band of redskins a: ai tat way,” urged Panama. . I've met ‘yedsking — before, and ol Pretty avell armed and mounted, so I can ‘tun if 1 cannot fight, and your horse is a - brought forward several strong ar of why the scout should not tak was pees as tance, rendering it considerably country from the old mission. Naa his: own way. and ' to cross country a) - none, ~The moment he did so oo ij showed that the 5 i ii eres yal i he . tween the Don, the senora and the pris- | >. oner, which he ‘felt were intended to con- Fes vey to the prisoner certain information. | ae He now saw that his avowed intention oner to start and grow anxious. “ am Bod one, too; but should TI have to leave ‘ou behind it will save you from being neve as you certainly will be, North e prisoner was white faced now, and ents. e what the river trail, as "it fol- lowed along the stream for several miles, and. crossing: it, recrossed after ear ‘dis- onger than the one that ran directly across But Buffalo Bill was determined to go d out of the trail ie or hd to the other os of Be did not see you last night, you: are just Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. himself from an ambush and kept Pan- ama from being aided in an escape. A muttered imprecation in Spanish from the prisoner told how deep was his disappointment at the action of the scout in regard to the two trails. CHAPTER XVII. A SIGNAL AHEAD. Buffalo Bill soon came into the other trail, and turned in the direction he had been going on the first one. He was sure that was the right one, as Panama told him it was not. “Tl chance it,” he said, with a smile. Then he was bothered as to his meet- ing with Wild Kid on the trail. The youth had said he would meet him, but nothing had been said of having the prisoner along. Would Wild Kid think it wise to show himself while Panama was along? That Buffalo Bill determined to leave to the boy to decide. He would naturally see him, and that he had a prisoner with him, before he al- lowed himself to be seen, and so would know best how to act. So the scout continued on his way, watching only that he was not surprised by any one on the way, as he did not know but that the Don’s people might have guarded both trails. Then, too, the prisoner might have been right in his dread of meeting a band of Indians. Some ten miles from the old mission the scout came upon a little prairie, a mile across, and with a range of hills in the distance. There the trail crossed the river and “wound along the banks, which the scout’s knowledge of the lay of land in general cony:nced him that the river must wind around and run along at the base of the distant hills. He asked his prisoner, but the latter Wis in a mood not to reply. It was evident that Buffalo Bill had taken the wrong trail—for Panama. The river was easily forded, the trail were approached the trail seemed to lead away from the stream. As the slope was reached Buffalo Bill's eyes were upon the trail ahead, going among the hills, and his keen eyes caught sight of a form ahead, appearing for a moment, and then gliding out of sight. *T think I shall reconnoiter on ahead alone, Adams, but I'll see that your horse does not run away with you,” and Buffalo Bill proceeded to tie the animal ridden by the prisoner securely to a tree. The prisoner was already bound secure- ly to his saddle. Riding on ahead Buffalo Bill advanced with caution, though he felt sure the form u Se caught sight of must be the Wild sid. If mistaken, then it would be man against man; but great odds never dis- turbed Buffalo Bill to any alarming exX- tent. After several hundred yards the trail wound into the timber belt along the ‘range of hills, and as he was lost sight of to the sharply watching prisoner, he be- held ahead ge Wild Kid, for it was a 79 th he sa ere he! retail: in the trail, upright, handsome-faced. and waiting. The scout was at once impressed with the Appearance of the youth, just sueh as he would expect to find his "friend of the night before to be. “I'm the Wild Kid, Chief Cody,” in- formed the youth, with a smile. “Yes, I am sure of that, for though I ) heard and saw all. followed down the bank, and as the bills. te) will talk freely before me. | about like what I pictured you, and I have kept a searching lookout along the trail to find you.” “I saw you several miles back, but . dared not signal,.as I perceived that you deg had company, so I came on here and took Ya the chances. “It is Panama you have, I suppose, but did he see me?” ¥ “No; and I simply explained that I (eaa would reconnoiter on ahead.” ba “Good! Now, you were going to El ‘ai Monte with your prisoner?” “Yes, he really is North Adams, a de- le Serter from the army, and a double mur- om derer and thief. I thought I had killed ae him, but was mistaken.” “So I heard you say last night to him.” “You heard me?” in surprise. “Oh, yes; for I was on the roof and “You see I didn’t know just what the Ba Don and his layout might be tempted to a do, so I lay low until nearly dawn, and I ay know that Juan and the peons went out a as day to ambush you on the other va trail. ¥ ““T therefore kept near and was glad when you took my advice and followed the river trail, for you missed the am- bush. But if you had been attacked, Wild Kid would have been in the game for all I was worth.” “You are a true friend, Wild Kid, as I have had the best of proof.” “Then take the advice I now give you. If you do not you'll get into big trouble.” eS “Tll do it, for I feel that I can trust Td ce you,” was Buffalo Bill's earnest reply. > CHAPTER XVIII.’ yok WILD KID’S ADVICE. nA RBsisy, “Now, Chief Cody, I don’t know what La your business at El Monte is, but you are + f a brave man to come alone, though L ag heard ,your bluff to the Don last nig sht i about Soldiers following.” 7 ee * You are a keen one.” . =a “If you needed soldiers here you'd get them from the fort, sixty-five miles south t of (eet ~~ where I wish you to. go now.” ee + Vh ” } tore fF Weil, the prisoner you have is a de- Fae: serter, you say?” “ Vos. ” “Down here he is a gambler dict a secret member of a very dangerous band. “I’m not dead sure, but I think the Don is in the gang also, but by pretending not to suspeet him we can catch him in a trap, is my idea.” “The yery thing, Kid.” Wai “Now, if you take Panama into El 2 tt Monte, brave as you are, and a man to face any danger, he will be taken from _ you, for his gang is a strong one, and the good men there will not put their lives Hy) ving jeopardy, and their homes, too, by taking sides with you. aa “You might kill half a dozen, but a bul let will kill a buffalo, and you are but human.” ‘You are right, Wild Kid.” ek “So I say to you to skip this trail right ‘a here, follow the range right along. I'll” sketch you a map of the country and trails, and get into the fort as quickly asi | you can. iS “Leave your prisoner there, and m mee your way back ¢o this point by day ee A to-morrow noon, and Vl be on hand’ te | join you ‘ “Ti go into, El Monte and hear | wh story the Don has sent in of ae and see just how the humor o stands, for they think Lam a bad “Tl see how matters stand, i i i ike the attack on Lady Beauty, of , Ranch, and. Raper ys: Fach
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H £ a) ‘across to still ambush them. cA se oner, ' - ‘wondering if Juan Trego and the peons, finding that they had not taken the trail REE pare EES w ie 7 —_ ¥ > ‘do for the night to my layout and put you on the trail for the homes of Doctor Duke Delmar and Major Brasher, whom you say you have letters to, though I would advise you not to tek your business here to either one of them, for I'll say flatfooted I do not trust the Doe a little bit, and if he has not got the major on a string I'm willing to be licked for. lying.” Buffalo Bill laughed, and then said: “Well, my young friend, I will take your advice and deliver my prisoner for safekeeping at the fort. “Then I will return and meet you here, and, after all you have done for me, I will be guided by you in regard to my future actions, for you know the country, people, good and bad, and. I do not be- lieve you are half as bad as you paint yourself.” * Give a dog a bad name, and he'll soon begin to think he’s the meanest cur in town, for, save the Lady Beauty and four boy pards who will tie to me to the end, I’ve got no friends; but they say even that we boys are road-agents and all that is bad, though the Vigilantes have never been able ‘to catch us in a single lawless deed. / ’ “We call ourselyes Boy Rangers, and though we've fought the Indians and Rio Grande Renegades hard, several times warning the’ ranches of trouble, they won’t believe we are honest, simply be- cause I am said to be a young terror. “Why, the ranchers keep a closer count on my cattle and ponies than I do myself, to see if I don’t add to them by stealing splithoofs and mustangs.” Buffalo Bill eyed the youth fixedly as he was speaking, and seemed to dwell upon every word he uttered. Then he said: “So you have a little raneh of your own ?’’ “Yes, a baby layout, with a couple of hundred longhorns and thirty-odd ponies.” “And you have some pards?” sas “T’'ve got a young Mexican pard, Rico Sanchez, though he’s a year older than I . am, living at my layout with me, along with Sable, a negro boy I picked up, and whose heart is full of good blood, if he has got a bad face. “Then, on a little ranch below El Monte, I’ve got two boy pards whom I ¢an call on when I need them, and that is all. “You see, Rico Sanchez had to leave ‘Mexico or be killed, and was followed across the Rio Grande and wounded; but I happened along and helped him out, and took him-to my ranch, while Sable was stood up for a target one day in El Monte ’ ‘by a desperado, and I took his part, so he’s stuck to me ever since. “The other two boys I also helped out of a‘scrape, and when I call they’ll come; but folks will call me a terror, and maybe I am, in a quiet way.” “Well, pard, you are just the one I want to help me, you and your Boy Rang- ers, and when I return from the fort I'll tell you my business at El Monte,” and Buffalo Bill warmly grasped the hand of the “Young: Terror.” CHAPTER XIX. . NOT FOR SALE, After talking together a short while longer, and the scout receiving from the youth a pencil-sketched map of his way, the two parted. Buffalo Bill at once returned to his pris- who was anxiously awaiting him, they were expected to take, would run He knew well that if he did not, his only chance would be to raise trouble in BE Oar Daa eee Ie the’ eee n e t _ i 7 q 16. 7 ’ TR me eer TRE SS en mm re ipo gh ate nmr: | | ee Tea Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Sh«t. El Monte, and have his comrades free him from the power of the scout, who he feared might make sure of him by killing him, : He could not blame Don, Trego, for he felt that he had acted as best he could; but Panama was not one to be taken back a prisoner by Buffalo ‘Bill to the fort from which he had deserted, no matter what the cost might be to others. So when the scout returned he eyed him closely and asked: “Did you find anything suspicious?” “Yes.2’ ** Indians?” =< NOs “What then?” “Enough to make me leave this trail.” ‘““Ah! I told you sd, and you can go back to the other by a five-mile ride—” “IT know the way.” “Thanks, but I do not need your aid, nor will I go back to the other trail.” “Then you return to the Mission Ranch 7” “ No.” ““T don’t know what you'll do, then.” Buffalo Bill had now untied the pris- oner’s horse and the pack animal, and tak- ing them in lead, to the surprise of Pana- ma, he turned short off of the trail to El Monte, * Where in the name of going?” cried the prisoner. “TI thought I would go was the calm reply. Buffalo Bill saw the start given by the prisoner, and that his face became the hue of death. “That is not the way ‘to the fort,” he faltered. “1 think it is.’ “Tt’s over a hundred miles.” “More or less, as you will see when we reach there by night, for I shall jash along rapidly.” *“My God! man, don’t take me there,” “Tt is just what I intend to do.” “You accuse me of being North Adams, but I am not.” * Quit talking, Adams, for I know just What you are, and that you killed the sergeant who arrested you for robbing the paymaster’s quarters, and then shot the guard over you and made your escape. “As I reported when I followed you that I had killed you, and [ believed i¢ to be true, that ended the matter; but as it was my mistake, I will now be glad to atone for it by returning you to Genera: Carr, and to do so, I wiil take you to Fort Rio for safe keeping, for I know what to expect should I carry you a prisoner to El Monte. “Come, we must quicken our pace.” Panama groaned, and then gave vent to a string of oaths in English and Spanish. But Buffalo Bill paid no heed, but kept the horses at a Steady trot for several hours, following the direction in which he should go with an exactness that surprised the prisoner, who knew he was a stranger in that part of the country. At noon Buffalo Bill halted at a small stream for rest. The grass was plentiful, the water clear and cold, and there was wood in plenty for a fire, But the scout contented himself with a cold lunch from his supplies, the prisoner eating sparingly. After a rest of nearly an hour, as Buf- falo Bill began to saddle up preparatory to starting on, Panama said: — “See here, Buffalo Bill, every man has Satan are you to Fort Rio,” his price—what is yours?” “T haven’t got anything for sale just now, Adams.” , ~ _ “Nonsense! You understand me well. . “Tf you carry me to the fort you'll have me safe. thousand dollars in gold if you will let me go.” “Tt is not enough.” “T’'m not rich, but I’ve won some money with cards and trading cattle—”’ “And cutting throats.” “T didn't say that.” “No, but I did.” “Well, then, I have that more reason to wish to escape, so if two thousand will not buy you, name what will, and I'll try and meet your price.” ‘ “Call it as many millions as you did thousands, and I guess I'd surrender.” “Bah! Do you think I am a fool?” . “Oh, no, and neither am I for sale, Adams,” and the journey was resumed. While resting Buffalo Bill had glanced. over Wild Kid’s map, and saw that he had made no mistake, and if he continued on a couple of hours more he must get into the trail leading from the south to Fort Rio. This he did, and pressing on, just as the sun set he caught sight in the distance of the Stars and Stripes fluttering down from the flagstaff a¢ Fort Rio, and heard the sunset gun echoing among the hil's, But what was a great satisfaction for him was despair for his prisoner, CHAPTER: XX. THE MASKED PURSUERS. When Wild IXid saw Buffalo Bill return to his prisoner he watched until they had turned off along the range and disappeared from sight. Then he moved up to where the scout had halted his prisoner, “while he came forward on the trail to speak to him. “T'll just halt here for a while, for Juan and the Don may come along in pursuit, and I can chip in if needed,” he said.’ So he waited for an hour or more, and then, aS No one appeared, began to ride along toward the old mission, He had gone about a mile, when his pony, which he had named scamp, pricked. up his ears. “Some one is coming—yes, I hear hoofs, and they are in a hurry, and more than one, : The hext moment sighe four masked men. ; ‘They Were riding hard, and their horses suowed that they had been kept at a speedy gait for some distance, “The Don and his itmps—imasks don’t fool ne a littie bit,” muttered the youth. A moment more and they had halted, while one ealled out: - . “Ho, Wild Kid, did you see two men pass along this trail?” “Yes, Don Trego. One was Panama,’ and the other was a large, splendid-look- ing man.” : You call me Don?’ “Yes, for i'm onto you, and Juan and the two Coppers. Masks don’t go with me, Don Trego, and I didn't know you portent them. Thought only bad men did iat, ; “4 “We had a purpose for Wearing them for that tine-looking man you Speak of has there dashed into killed ¢wo men at my ranch and has [ Panama a prisoner.” “Pan did look tied up.” * How far ahead of us are they, Kid?” “Well, I shouid say too far for you to catch them, for it's been, over an hour since I met them, and the big man was. pushing jis hoofs for all they were — worth.” ; *Caraniba! ejaculated the Don, and Juan echoed the said innocently: “If it is so important for you to over- take him, Don, I'll lend you my pony, for f “Now, nobody knows that I am alive ™ save you, and I will pay you a clean two — oath, while Wild Kid at . 5s Eg en ae ne | .
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} : ; } } f ss Sema ePaenT NOE reas trates ‘ Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. gn ; “We took the wrong trail, and had to eross from the other one to this, and have pushed our horses too hard. “Juan, we must give it up, for they'd reach £1 Monte before we could head them off. But you, Wild Kid, can do something for me if you will,” said the Don. “You bet I will, for I have not forgotten the good suppers the senora gave me when _I stopped at your ranch, Don.” “Ail right.. Come when you will, for you are welcome. “In fact, Wild Kid, I’m anxious to have a talk with you some time, for there is money in it for both of us,” “Don’t forget me in the deal, Don, But what can I do for you now?” ‘Go on to El Monte and tell Brimstone Bill that Buffalo Bill, the great scout of the Northwest, is the man that has Pana- ma a prisoner, and that he is not Fred Williams, as he calls himself.” “Ge! but I'd like to see Buffalo Bill!” cried the boy, with enthusiasm. “You did see him, for he was the one you met with Panama.” * But how was I to know it then “Well, you'll see him at El Monte, and you tell Brimstone Bill that I sent you to say that Buffalo Bill stopped at my ranch last night, as did Panama, Mustang Matt and Half Breed Jose. “They had a’row of some kind to settle, and Buffalo Bill killed Mott and Jose, and took Panama a prisoner. “Of course, as I knew Buffalo Bill was a Government officer, I could do nothing. put you tell Brimstone Bill who he is, and that he is in this country for scalps, but to keep it dark, for if they don’t know who he is they won't know him as an officer of the army, and so if Fred Will- jams gets killed it will be his own fault for not saying who he was. “Do you understand, Kid _ “You bet I do, and I'll tell Bill.” “ All right; but remember you tell no one else but Brimstone Bill that I sent you.” “No one else but Bill, Don.” “Well, if you have any big news to re- port come out to-morrow or next day to the Mission Ranch and let me hear it, for you will not forget it.” “You bet I won't,” and, wheeling his pony, Wild Kid dashed back on the trail jn a Sweeping gallop. 9? . 999 . CHAPTER XXI. THE THREAT. Wild Kid's expression would not have pleased the Don, could he have seen it, as he rode back on the trail. The youth kept up his rapid pace as Jong as he was in sight of the Don and _ those with him, and then drew rein, going at a walk. When he reached the hills he halted and waited. Fo - He wished to see if the Don would change his mind and go on to El Monte himself or send Juan. | . ‘. But he soon felt convinced that he had left the mission wholly in his hands. _ _ Then he mounted and rode slowly away ty ae to the right, muttering to himself: “Well, its about time I had something last wrestle with grub. _ “Now I’m glad I headed that gang off, for they’d have seen that the trail they were on led to the fort and guessed why, and maybe they could have headed Buf- - falo Bill off somewhere by hard riding, knowing the country as they do. _- “Now I’ll go to Ranch Lookout and tell Ricoand Sable just what has happened, and -qyhen I’ve made up for lost time in eat- ee. are . ‘ to eat, for yesterday’s dinner Was my | P te’s fresh, and you're horse could never do ee Sa _they can find me if I’m wanted, Rico. ing, I'll mount Skip and make for El} Monte to tell Brimstone Bill. “Oh, yes; I'll tell him all the Don told me, but in my own way, and I know a Bill I'll tell in the right way,” With this he urged his pony into a can- ter and kept him at it mile after mile. At last he turned from the prairie to- ward a wooded ridge, and just after noon came upon a little house nestling away under a cliff that ended abruptly at the prairie that spread out like the ocean from its base. There was a log cabin of two rooms, stoutly built, and with a stockade cor- ral -behind it. A spring flowed: out of the cliff, and had been turned to run through the corral, which was a couple of acres in size. Along the front of the house was a brush shelter forming a piazza, and from there the country around: could be seen from three sides for miles. On the prairie the other side of the ridge were a herd of a couple of hundred cattle feeding and two dozen or more pones, Lying before the door of the cabin was a huge dog, that arose as the youth rode up, while upon the cliff, fifty feet above the little home, was a match for the savage brute below. The latter seemed to be on watch, for he kept his eyes continually roving around the country, and though the youth had come along the base of the range, the point of lookout had enabled him to see him when a long distance off. “Ho, Catechem, where are Rico and Sable?’ said Wild Kid, as he dismounted at the corral gate. But as he spoke a dark-faced, slender youth came from behind the cabin and called out, with a slight Spanish accent to his Engiish: “Ho, Kid, I'm awful glad to see you, for we were getting anxious about you. “Watch signaled you coming half an hour ago, and Sable will soon have dinner ready.” “I’m glad, Rico, for I have had noth- ing since I cooked my own dinner in the mountains yesterday, but I won't com- plain, for I’m loaded to the muzzle with news,” and Wild Kid turned his horse loose as he spoke, while the young Mex- ican, who had a handsome face, that only his black mustache kept from being ef- feminate, said: “and I have news for you, for Major Brasher, Doctor Delmar and half a dozen cowboys from the latter’s ranch were here after you this morning.” “What did they want with me, Rico?” quietly asked the youth. “They said that you had put up a game to pretend to kidnap Lady Beauty, so you might gain favor by a supposed rescue, and pretending to kill one of ‘the men, while the other two escaped.” “Is that the “latest lie against me, Rico?” asked the youth, while a bitter smile crossed his face. “Yes, and they came after you, they said, to take you to El Monte and have the Vigilantes take you in charge.” “I'm going to El Monte to-night, | 50 “T told them that you were away, had gone to Hacienda del Norte day before Yesterday, with some ponies to sell, and should have been back last night; but that if you had met the Senorita Brasher and rescued her from kidnappers, it was no sham rescue, as I would vouch for,” “What did they say then?” “That they wanted you to know they were aware of your trick to win favor with the senorita and her father, and they would drop the matter with a warn- ing that you would get into trouble if you 11 ever went near Idlerest Ranch, or spoke to her again. “Tt was Doctor Delmar who did all the talking and threatening.” “I thought so; but I should have thought the dead man, El Monte Ed, Would prove that it was no sham rescue, as well as Lady Beauty’s report of it.’ “Doe Delmar said no one was killed, that he and his men went to the scene and nobody was there, and that the man fell at your fire, pretending to be shot, while, of course, he said that I was in it With you, and our two ranch pards, Mer- ton Calder and Ham Goldsby.” “Rico, I'll tell you now that Texas is not large enough for that Doctor Duke Delmar and me tolive in. One of us must quit,” said Wild Kid, with deep feeling. CHAPTER XXII. ABOUT EL MONTR AND ITS PEOPLE. Ere more was said between Wild Kid and the young Mexican, a negro youth came from behind .the cabin, whence an odor of broiling yvenison«nd coffee had been wafted for some time. The negro was of stout build, had an in- tensely black face, teeth as white as milk . and large, expressive eyes. He was of stout build, and seemed fond of dress, for he wore a Mexican. jacket, buckskin leggings, stuck in top boots, and a sombrero embroidered in sil- ver, and with a stuffed rattlesnake around it as a cord. “ Lor’, Mars’ Kid, I mor’n glad to see you back, for we was beginnin’ ter worry *bout yer, “ But dinner is all ready, and I guesses. you is hungry, so come right along, for I knows senor is ready and I allers is.” Wild Kid grasped the hand of the negro boy and they went to a sheltered nook behind the cabin and under the cliff, where a fire burned, and a rude table and seats were set beneath a shelter, Wild Kid needed no urging to eat, and the appetite he had brought with him was : peta to both Rico Sanchez and Sable, But proyisions were plentiful in Look- out Ranch, and Sable was only too glad to see Wild Kid eat, helping him bounti- fully. The story of the youth’s adventures, from his returning from the Hacienda del Norte, and rescue of Marie Brasher, to: his leaving the Don and his party, whom he had turned back from the pursuit of Buffalo Bill, was all told to his Mexican und negro pards, the two listening with the deepest interest. “ Well, Kid, you have had a time of it, and I only wish I had been along, for I would so have liked to see Buffalo Bill, whom you have 3erved so well, and of | whom I have heard so much.” . “You'll see him before long, Rico, for he will come by here with me day afte to-morrow, when I meet him.” “But do you really intend to go to El ne to-night, Kid?’ “ Better not, Mars’ Kid, for I reecom- Member what d’em fellers is there—I doesn’t like ’em a little tiny bit, and they don’t like you.” “That's all right, Sable, but I wish to - go particularly, to get on the trail of cer-_ 'tain things I have in mind, and which Ill vall on all of you to help mein when Iam — ready to act.” BEE ag better go to El Monte with you, “No, Rico, it will be best for me to go — alone, especially as I bear a message from Don Trego to Brimstone Bill, and I'll start. pretty soon,” [i . Ten minutes after,
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12 fresh pony, and one equally as good as Scamp, he started off on his ride of twen- ty-five miles to El Monte, the settlement “made up of a few stores, a couple of blacksmith and wagon repair shops, a dozen drinking and gambling saloons, a combined school-house, court-room, church and publie hall, which had been the scene of deadly encounters, with a score of log cabin houses and an alleged hotel. The regular dwellers in El Monte num- bered some three hundred souls, the ‘floating population,” of wagon train peo- ple, emigrants passing through, ranchers and cowboys, with a mingling of itiner- ant gamblers and fugitives from justice jmore than doubling the number of those ‘who were pround to call themselves El JMonteites. With half a hundred ranches within a radius of as many miles, and employing from two to twenty cowboys each, El Monte had a large number to draw upon in the way of frequenters of its saloons, and they were wont to make things lively there at times, and, keep the place ‘ton the jump,” so to speak, from noon until day- break. It was Wild Kid’s wish to reach El {Monte after nightfall. He considered it safer, as just then he ‘was anxious to avoid trouble, He was never before afraid to go there at any time, for Wild Kid was not one to avoid danger, and he had made his mark even in such a community as that of El Monte. Who the boy was no one there knew, and he often said that he did not himself know; that he was a product of the prai- rie, like a weed, and just grew, but wheth- er he told the truth in this nobody could say. He had been known in El Monte for four years, stopping there with a number of people from a wagon train that had been terribly cut up in a fight with In- ‘dians. The boy wrote a good hand, was bright, ‘quiet, and got work in the hotel as clerk, -being cashier of a gambling saloon at night. His first display of “border talent” had been when a couple of roughs tried to rob ‘him, and he shot one dead and held the other up, the Vigilantes hanging him an hour after. Then he had distinguished himself by taking the part of Sable, the negro boy, ‘whom some desperadoes were torturing for fun, and in the stand-up fight that fol- lowed the boy won the admiration of all by his nerve and deadly aim. On another occasion he took sides with ‘two youths, Merton Calder, and Ham Goldsby, who had come to Texas to seek a, fortune, and he helped them out of a yery ugly scrape, as afterward he aided Henrico Sanchez, whom he ealled Rico. Giving up his clerkship, he had gone off beyond the border of the settlement proper and started a ranch, with Rico Sanchez and the negro Sable as his pards, and he had prospered. Thrice had he warned the settlement of araid by the Renegades of the Rio Grande, and again saved the ranches from being surprised by Indians, for he was ¢con- stantly on the trail, being a devoted hunt- er of large game, iver ready with his revolver if imposed on, a sure Winner if he gambled, utterly fearless, suspected of many crimes he twas guiltless of, Wild Kid gained the name of a young terror and desperado, and those allied with him, and who called themselves Boy Rangers, were regarded ‘by many as no more than a band of young outlaws. » It was just as dark had set in that ithe boy rancher saw the lights of El ? OE yy > Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. . Monte loom up ahead, and soon after he rode into the corral of the Lone Star Hotel. CHAPTER XXIII. WILD KID VISITS GOLD MINE SALOON. El Monte was in full blast when Wild Kid rode into the cortal of the Lone Star Hotel, the latter being a rambling struct ure of adobe, which at one time in the dim past had been a mission house. About it was a thick growth of timber, evidently planted by the good padres of generations before, and scattered along the one street, or trail, that ran through the place were the stores, saloons and cabin homes of the citizens. Off on the prairie on either side were the stockade corrals where horses and cattle were kept for sale, and upon the stream that ran around the hiil or mount, upon which the settlement was located, and from which it took its name, were the ruins of a fort built by the United States troops back in the fifties, and here was the camping ground of army and emigrant trains passing through. The story had already been told in Fl Monte of the attempted kidnapping of Major Brasher’s beautiful daughter, and her rescue by the Wild Kid, but following upon the news had quickly come the report that it was a fake affair gotten up by the Boy Ranger to win the regard of Lady Beauty. There were some who believed the report of a fake rescue, others who did not, for be the faults of the Wild Kid what they might, he was not one to seek cheap noto- riety. El Monte Ed, a rough citizen ot the place, was said to have been killed by the boy, but yet if it was not true, the man did not show up, though his friends said he had gone northward with a large herd of cattle, It was certain, however, that the body of the man said to have been killed could not be found, nor could his horse, while the two with him were not known. What Lady Beauty said of the affair could not be learned, though Doctor Del- mar, the man who had the inside track in her regard, it was believed, asserted that Miss Brasher believed that the man who fell at Wild Kid’s shot was playing pos- sum, the others running off to carry out the boy’s plot, to get the credit of a daring rescue. It was while the affair was still being discussed in the “Gold Mine,’ the most popular gambling. den in El Monte, that Wild Kid appeared, strolling into the crowded place in his free-and-easy way, and glancing about as though anxious to find some one. “There's the fake hero now, doc,” said a large man, With long, fiery red hair and beard falling to his waist, who was stand- ing by a table where two.others were play- ing cards with a large pile of money up as the stakes. One of these Men was a Mexican who was said to be an army officer and very rich, and who often crossed the river to visit El Monte to gamble. . He had a dark, refined face, and seemed to enjoy playing, which was a passion with him, though he almost inyariably was a loser. He was known in El Monte as El Capi- tan, but at Major Brasher’s ranch, where he visited when coming across upon Tex- an soil, he was called Captain Miguel Munoz, and, if Doctor Duke Delmar was not his rival, many thought that he would be the favorite suitor for the hand of Lady Beauty. His companion now at the card-table, and to whom the red-headed and bearded, man had spoken when Wild Kid entered, was Doctor Delmar. He was one who might more readily be taken for a clergyman, for his handsome face was clean shaven, his hair clustered in short ringlets about his temples, he wore gold-rimmed eye-glasses and dressed in black broadeloth, well-polished _top boots, with silver spurs and a slouch hat. His frock coat was open, however, and beneath it was a belt of arms, and he had more than once shown that he knew how to use them, He was a fine surgeon and physician, and generally popular, while he owned a large ranch and was rich, for he added to his income by being a most successful gambler. Though rivals, the doctor and Captain Miguel Munoz were devoted friends. Glancing up at Wild Kid when Brim- stone Bill, the man with fiery red hair and beard attracted his attention to him, he said: *T'll see him later, Now I’m playing for big money.”’ CHAPTER XXTYV. SHOT FOR SHOT. Something of a hush fell upon the room as Wild Kid entered. All felt that he had made a mistake in coming there, for he would be accused of putting up a fake rescue of Lady Beauty, and he was not one to submit to ridicule. Brimstone Bill was known as the friend of El Monte Ed, whom, it was said, Wild KXid had either killed or bribed to play possum for his sake, and the aforesaid William had justly won the prefix of Brimstone to his name. He was the most dreaded man in the settlement, and one who was a dead shot and full of nerve. When Wild Kid caught sight of him, he walked straight up to him and said in a low tone *T’ve got a message for you, Brimstone Bill.” The man had never liked the youth, and he now said with a sneer: “From my friend Ed whom you claim to have killed, I s’pose?’ “No; it is from your friends Mustang Matt and Half Breed Jose,” was the cool reply, and the boy looked quickly from the face of Brimstone Bill to that of Doctor Delmar, He saw the start of the former and the quick look that Doctor Delmar gave, fol- lowed by a sign that no one else caught. “ All right, young feller, I takes mighty leetle stock in you, but if my pards has sent you to me I'll hear what yer has ter say.” “TI don’t ask you to take any stock in me, Brimstone Bill, and don’t care for your love 6r hatred; but I was sent to you, and if you care to hear what I haye to say you can follow me outside.” “Tll.go yer,” and another strange look passed between Brimstone Bill and Doe- tor Delmar, the latter urging the man to go, as Wild Kid interpreted it. “Do not go, Senor Beel, for he weel you assassinate,” called out Captain Miguel Munoz, in a tone that all heard, and a silence followed the words, Instantly Wild Kid faced him) and said: “1 Capitan, none but a coward would give such an insult.” The Mexican sprang to his feet, draw- ing a weapon as he did so, and, with a savage oath, upsetting the table and spill- ing the money, while the crowd scattered in all directions out of the line of fire. Wild Kid did not move, and even at such a moment he seemed to see the ri- diculous side of the affair in the men tums bling over each other, and laughed, .
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Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. 3 volver in hand, Wild Kid had his weapon ready, and seeing that the man intended to kili him, he touched the trigger a sec- ond in advance of his foe. It was enough, for it saved his life, his shot striking the Mexican in the left side, While the latter’s bullet cut through the tim of Wild Kid's hat. Doctor Delmar caught the Mexican in his arms as he staggered back, and cried; “You have done for him, boy. I'll see you later,” Again came the boy’s reckless laugh, and then the words: *“So you said before, doc. the present.” Whatever Doctor Delmar would have done, a quickly whispered word from Brimstone Bill checked him, and he ealled for aid to carry the wounded Mexican to ‘his room in the Lone Star Hotel. Wild Kid had replaced his weapon, but stood his ground, until Brimstone Bill grasped him by the arm and whispered: * Come with me, boy, or the Vigilantes will hang yer up.” “No; the Vigilantes may make mistakes now and then, but they won’t hang a boy for kiling a man who insulted him, and fought a fair stand-up fight.” “He did start it, that’s a fact. But yer wants ter see me, yer said?’ and Brim- stone Bill seemed a trifle nervous. As Wild Kid moved toward the door some one shouted out that he had only defended himself, and called for a cheer, and Brimstone Bill joined in the rousing shout that followed. ‘Now, boy pard. what has yer from Mustang Matt and Half Breed Jose fer me?’ asked Brimstone Bill, as the two walked away out of earshot from any one near by. “Don Trego sent me to tell you that they were both dead.’ The man almost staggered under the blow, end cried, in a hoarse voice: “What kilt ’em?”" “Buffalo Bill, the great scout of the Northwest,” was the quiet response of the boy. i CHAPTER XXYV, WILD KID LEARNS SOMETHING. The words of the youth seemed to im- press Brimstone Bill strangely, for he mut- tered to himself over and over: “Dead! and Matt knew the secret only. No time like I've been a fool, for El Monte Ed is: dead!” “Yes, Brimstone Bill, I killed El Monte Ed, as you know; but he was masked, as were also Matt and Jose, and all I saw Mit. were three men with their hands on Lady done if you had not then known how it all was, and was not in the secret of who they were, and supposed they were raid- ers from over the Rio Grande. “But when I saw who El Monte Ed ‘Was, then I did not understand just what to do, after seeing Lady Beauty home, - ITcame back to take their trail, thinking ‘om all I knew, they had gone to the Mis- ee inch, ( |. they found fo’ So. = ® S a a % g a= you. Beauty, so I acted just as you would have | | not - But, as the Mexican got to his feet, re-| killed Matt and Jose, and took Panama alive,”’ ‘ “'The deuce he did! *““T would not believe any man alive, not even Buffalo Biil, could get the best of those three men,” and in his excitement Brimstone Biil had dropped his dialect and incorrect way of speaking. “Well, he did, and he’s gone off with Panama to the fort.” **My God! can he not be headed?’ ““No; for I tracked him, and he’s there now.” “And he'll come back with a troop of cavalry to back him?” “No, I guess not; for, you see, he goes as Fred Williams, and was only recognized by Panama, “He has come here on some secret sery- ice, and will come into El Monte alone, you bet!’ “Then he goes under right here, for we ean fix it,” “You see, I was with the Don, Juan and the peons on his trail, and the Don sent me on to tell you. “But Major Brasher and Doe Delmar were hunting me, so I had to keep in hid- ing and was late; but I determined to put you on your guard against Buffalo Bill, as the Don asked me to do, so I braved trouble with the doe and came here to- night, and yet I got into it with both feet, for I could not let Captain Munoz say what he did to me, and he did not know I was one of you, I guess, or Doetor Del- mar, either, and he says he’s got to settle with me after a while.” “No, he won't, for I’ll go right in and have a talk with him, and tell him you come from the Don, who vouches for you. ““T guess the doc would like to have a talk with you, for we want you, boy, and we didn’t just know how to take you and . your gang.” “What made the doe say that was : fake rescue of Lady Beauty, and cart El Monte’s body off to prove it?” . * Had to, Wild Kid, had to; but the doc didn’t think you could be trusted then, you see,”’ c “Well, I can.” *T should think so; but I'll go in and see Doc Delmar and tell him the news you bring, for he knows Buffalo Bill, as I do, and we don’t want to see him until we know just what to do.” “Well, you just ¢ell Doc Delmar, if he's got anything against me, I’m in the Gold Mine Saloon, and we can have it out; but I'm not going to let him or any other man put me up for a fool.” “You bet you won't, boy pard; but I'll fix it, and I guess the doc will want to see But,. Lordy! how you did scatter the money in yonder, and call on El Capi- tan to hand you his chips—for I guess he’s cashed ’em in. “But I'll see the doe, but don’t get into another row, for we need you, Wild Kid.” “All right,” and while Brimstone Bill hastened to the Lone Star, Wild Kid saun- tered into the Gold Mine, where all was in full swing once more, as a tragedy in their midst made but little impression on | the men gathered there. “T guess I’ve learned something, and I’m on the trail to learn more,” muttered Wild Kid as he entered the saloon, where he | was greeted with a shout by some of his admirers ana a scowl by those who did ey a - CHAPTER XXYVI. THE DYING MEXICAN, } Refusing a score of invitations to “take something,” for Wild Kid never drank anything, never touched tobaeeo or ut- tered an oath, in spite of his wild life, he walked up to a table where half a dozen } so as ter let him lie easy in ther grave.” Grande, : |} Mexico. ; men were gambling heavily, and took a position that gave him equal command of the two doors, in case Doctor Delmar should return to carry out his threat to “see him later,” He had not been there very long before Brimstone Bill entered hastily, and called BS out: “Here, boy pard, I wants you. No, ae gents, this hain’t no fight, but business, is for a dying man has got something to say ie to the Wild Kid.” ae The crowd seemed disappointed, while ee Wild Kid walked quickly to the door and. a joined Brimstone Bill, who said: : “T has seen Doc Delmar and it's all om right. A “He wants to talk with you later, Kid; ag but just now El Capitan is crowdin’ along = on his last trail, and he has got something . Sa to say ter yer, he says, and there's no £ time ter lose, e. “Yer see, I thought he wanted ter kill Wet yer, but he hain’t got a weapon, and it’s something he wants ter git off his mind, Brimstone Bill had hastened, Wild Kid = along to the room where El Capitan had Res been taken, and there lay the dying Mexi- ae can upon a cot, Doctor Duke Delmar, the a landlord and his wife by his side. se i As the two entered the room Brimstene ey Bill called out cheerily: . ae “Hold on, El Capitan, he’s here,” a ‘The Mexiean muttered a prayer in Span- aed ish, and Doctor Delmar stepped forward. > Os and extending his hand, said in a low SSA tone: Sa “Tt's all right between us, Wild Kids oe we are pards.” Bea “Tf you say so,” was Wild Kid's re- Ex sponse, and the next instant he stood by the man whom his bullet had brought down. The pallor of death was already creeping over the face of Miguel Munoz, and he said, as-he raised his hand with an effort: “T brought it upon myself, Wild Kid, and I forgive you, as IT hope you will for- give me, for I meant to kill you—I had a reason more than others knew.” i “Don’t mention it, senor, for I never ‘te hold ill-will—you played your card, an@I held a winning hand. “What can I do for you?’ A “JT wish to be alone with you.” Doctor Delmar led all from the room, and, seated by the cot, the youth hear@ — what the Mexican had to tell. sty ass 'I¢ was a long story of crime, of a man born to riches and good name, who had gohe wrong because he Jost the woman — ; he had loved, and who had sought to kill => his rival, an American officer, Who mar- ried the fair Mexican, who had discarded =: him, her cousin, Miguel Munoz. SS ane Dismissed from the army, he had gone from bad to worse, until he had become an outlaw, and was then chief of the Mexi- can band of the Renegades of the Rio But he had sought revenge upon his — rival through his son, who had been kid- napped in youth, discovered after years to find his mother dead and to be told also. that his American father had cruelly de- serted his Mexican wife. meat But Miguel Munoz had not then ended | his revenge, for the boy, taking his moth- er’s name, had been falsely accused of crime of which he (Munoz) was guilty, © Bie and he had been forced to fly from ie That boy was then with Wild Kid, — \ known as Henrico Sanchez, and the com- fession of Miguel Munoz, with the proofs he would give Wild Kid, would enable — the young man to return to Mexico and claim his just inheritance. 3 But there was more to tell, and that that the American officer had not d
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AEE ae FOR 14 Buffalo Bill’s Snap-Shot. his Mexican wife, but had been led to be- lieve that she had deserted him, all through the plotting of Miguel Munoz, and that he had learned of her death and soon after married an American lady. - : But Miguel Munoz still dogged him with his revenge, for the two children of the American officer by his second marriage had been kidnapped from a fort on the Rio Grande, and the sorrowing parents 4 had never been able to find them since, i nor could Munoz give any clew to them or & their fate. Such was the confession of the dying Mexican, and Wild Kid promised that he : would seek the American officer, then a PY colonel in the United States Army, and ey stationed in the Northwest, and place be- fore him the papers and proofs’ of the story told, and also let Henrico Sanchez know of the fortune in store for him. Calling Doctor Delmar and the others into the room, Wild Kid resumed his seat re: by the dying man, and there remained . until the spark of life had fluttered away ‘ into boundless space. CHAPTER XXVIL THE MEETING. : If Wild Kid was impressed by the re- markable scene through which he had passed with the man he had Eilled, his face did not show it. There rested upon his countenance the same determined, reckless, half-bitter look natural to him, and he turned from the dead Mexican to have a talk with Doctor Delmar. * With the latter he felt his way as clev- ce. * erly as he had with Brimstone Bill, and ’ from what he got out of the latter, then from the dying Mexican, and last from Doctor Delmar, he felt that he had ma- terial enough to act upon, and act he would. He first expressed his determination to return to the Don, according to promise, and tell what he had done, as requested, am bear back. the news of what the doctor and Brimstone Bill intended to do as re- garded Buffalo Bill’s coming to El Monte. *A. long talk was held, and then Doctor Delmar said: = “Tell the Don of the death of Munoz ss and how the killing of El Monte Ed, Mus- =! tamg Matt and Half Breed Jose, and the ; capture of Panama cut us dogyn to him- self, Juan, and the peons at the old mis- 3% sion, Brimstone Bill—four men here and i. myself, in El Monte, and you, Wild Kid, for I do not suppose we can count on . Sanchez, now he is‘an heir, and there is no time for you to get Calder and Goldsby to help us. « “But Brimstone and his men will go with me to head off Buffalo Bill on his - return from the fort, and we will ambush him in Black Rock Canyon. “Tf we miss him, why, we will come on to El Monte, and the Don and Juan, and you, must meet us here two nights hence, and we'll show that the great scout can be killed as easily as any other man. “Now, you will start back to-night, of eourse?” - “Yes, Doe Delmar, at once; and if Rico Sanchez does not get the big head when he hears of his fortune, he'll come with me -Teady for business. If you don’t down _ Buffalo Bill on the trail at Black Rock, why, it can be done in El Monte.” “Tt must be, for that man knows enough to hang half of the men in El Monte,” was _ the emphatic reply. aos ; ood Jf an hour after, having had a mid- night supper, and with his pony well vested, Wild Kid was dashing along di- rectly for his ranch, He arrived before dawn, his advent be- ing signaled by the barking of the two ; of the American band of Renegades of the Rio Grande, with Brimstone Bill as his |: members, Panama being secured, and El Monte Ed, Mustang Matt, and Half Breed Jose having passed in their chips. others are laying for you, and if they miss you, the Don and his gang are to meet them in El Monte and do you up there, so my idea is that you go home with us, send Sable: here on this led horse to the fort for a troop to come to El Monte, arriving at a certain time. will all be on hand to go in with them and bag the game.” write a note at once for Sable to carry to Colonel Gibbons, at Fort Rio; meet the troop and just take El Monte in to-morrow night.” dogs. What he had to say was the cause of three horsemen dashing. away from Lookout Ranch in the early gray of dawn, leaving the dogs only in charge, for the three were Wild Kid, Henrico Sanchez and Sabte. There was a led horse along, a splendid animal, who carried not even a saddle, The ride Was a hard one, no halt being made, and several hours after. sunrise they: had ridden twenty-five miles and drew rein at a secluded spot on the trail from Fort Rio to El Monte. There the horses were stripped of their saddles, as soon as Wild Kid had closely examined the trail, and the party partook of a cold breakfast. Hardly had they finished when hoof- falls were heard, and soon after a horse- man appeared in sight, riding at a canter. it was Buffalo Bill. fie was ready to fight the instant he caught sight of the three youths, but, recognizing Wild Kid, he came on. “I’m behind time, Wild Kid, for I was delayed by a brush with redskins a few miles back; but this is not where you were to meet me?” “It’s a better place, as six men are lying in ambush for you at Black Rock Canyon, half a dozen miles ahead. . “But I’ve got lots to tell you, as soon as you know that this is my Mexican pard, Henrico Sanchez, and this is Sable, the boss of all the darkies I ever crossed the trail of. We are all here to fight it out with you, if you say the word, or to do just as you think best, for we are in it to stay.” Buftalo Bill smiled, shook hands with the young Mexican and Sable, and said: “T think it is for you to say, Wild Kid, from aH I have thus far seen of you. “Now, what is the racket? Spit it out and I’ll know what to do,” and the four sat down for a talk. . — HAPTER XXVIII THE FIGHT TO THE FINISH. |. Buffalo Bill listened attentively to the whole story Wild Kid had to tell, of his meeting with Don Trego and his party, and how he had played his cards; of the visit to his ranch and ride to El Monte; of the duel with Captain Miguel Munoz, the dying confession, and his talk with Brimstone Bill and Doctor Delmar, end- ing with: “Now I told you, Chief Cody, not to trust Doctor Delmar, and I meant it, for I've long had an idea he was playing a double game, though I could not spot him. “The major is not bad, I think, but the Doc has a pull on him of some kind, to make him do as he says. . “Doctor Delmar, in my opinion, is chief right hand man, Don ‘Trego and his gang as allies, and four men in El Monte as “The Doc, Brimstone Bill and four We “Right you are, Wild Kid, and I'll then we'll The note was written, Sable saddled up the led horse, and with his own following - 7 ' ‘ tele ‘tin 4 ° . t Pes . other dead man was while Captain Plummer, for a change, Started with all speed for Fort Rio. After his departure the scout and his two boy backers mounted, and under the guidance of Wild Kid they started for Lookout Ranch. Leaying the hills, they were crossing the prairie, when suddenly they saw a party of horsemen dash over a rise, : Both parties halted, and Wild Kid said, coolly: “It’s all up, for it's Doctor Delmar and his gang, six of them, and they see us.” “They were late in getting into Black Rock, which lies four miles west of them,” “ Then it’s a fight at two to one, boys— or is It a race?” asked Buffalo Bill, with a smile, “Td rather fight than run any day,” Wild Kid remarked, arbi “I've fought odds all my life, Chief,” suid Henrico Sanchez. : “Well, then. young pards, we'll snake forts of our horses and fight it out, Here they come!” f With a word and a touch on the legs, Buffalo Bill’s horse dropped down flat on the prairie, he having left his pack ani- mal at Fort Rio as his base of operations. tions. ' The ponies of the two boy rangers obeyed the command of their riders, and lay down also, and the three dropped be- hind! the horses, resting their rifles over their saddles, for the six men were com- ing rapidly forward now, having recog- nized Buffalo Bill, and also that, as they meant to fight, Wild Kid had trapped them. Buffalo Bill was upon the right, Hen- rico Sanchez next to him, and Wild Kid on the left, as they waited their coming foes, two to one against them. The attacking party began to fire at long range, their rifles, however, doing no damage, but when Buffalo Bill leveled his Weapon he said, quietly: se ri reduce the majority, boys.” With the crack of his rifle Brimstone Bill fell from his saddle, and as the party, finding the superior range of the scout’s weapon, turned to fly, a second shot brought down Doctor Delmar’s horse, the death-stricken animal rearing and falling backward upon his rider, Up, boy rangers, and at them! Tt is our time to strike now!” cried Buffalo a 4s he saw that the doctor did not rise, “Even as he uttered the words there, came a shout in their rear, and there the three beheld Sable, guiding a troop of cavalry. _Tnstantly the troop deployed into a long line, and the four outlaws found them- ' selves hemmed in; but, trying to break through, were at ouce shot down. “Colonel Gibbons wags anxious about you, Cody, so sent me with my troop to follow you té El Monte, and meeting your black courier, as your letter was open [j read it, 80 he led us right back on your, trail,” explained Captain,Plummer, as jal ao to Bill. Vat ou Were in time to catch th ; outfit here, sir, for I killed ° fae i Delmar is badly «i by his ng upon him, I see; but these, Rangers, will guide you. to Don ieee Mission Raneh, where four more of the outlaws await capture,” said Buffalo Bill Doctor Duke Delmar was found to be mortally hurt, but he would utter no word: other than curses upon Wild Kid, who ap- peared not to heed them in the least. _ An hour after he had been crushed byt the fall of his horse he died, and with the taken on to El Mor led by | and accompanied, and Henrico Sanchez, one, and Doc-. horse fall- | a 21 Monte, ws ild Kid
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183) ra i. ae pete ee as + ay ee = Ry Buffalo Bill and a dozen soldiers, ' Went on to the Mission Ranch, where the Don, finding the game was up, shot him- self. Juan, being absent with one of the peons, escaped, and the other peon was killed, while the senora, professing ig- norance of her husband’s and son’s evil life, declared she would remain still at the ranch with the Indian woman. ~ And she did. CHAPTER XXIX, CONCLUSION, The soldiers camped that night at the Mission Ranch, and, for the sake of the Woman, the Don was decently buried, Buffalo Bill promising to send out from El Monte a couple of cowboys to care for the cattle and place. On the way to El Monte they halted at Lookout Ranch, and saw how the boy ‘angers lived, Sable exerting himself to set before the party a splendid dinner. From there ‘the troopers were sent on into El Monte, while Captain Plummer, Buffalo Bill, Wild Kid and’ Henrico San- chez started for the ranch of Doctor Del- mar, That the doctor was all that was bad— that he was leading a double life, they had ample proof of from what Wild Kid knew, but no one at his home seemed to be aware that he was other than he pro- fessed to be. The home was a comfortable one, well stocked, and he had there everything to make him contented with life if he had not possessed @ heart of evil. Among his papers were found docu- ments which proved that he had always led a wild and sinful life, and had fled from his boyhood home on account of for- gery and other erimes, though he had graduated in medicine high in his class, and would have made an honored name for himself but for the streak of bad he had in his nature. Enough was also discovered from his papers to show that the hold he held upon Major Brasher was one of fear. ‘The major had killed a man long years before, under circumstances of justifiable homicide, but with only one person to prove this. That one was the father of Duke Del- mar, and hating the major, for some cause, he allowed him to become a fugi- sitive. The elder Delmar’s. papers fell into the s0n’s hands, and thus Duke Delmar held the secret, and thus compelled the major to consent to his attentions to his daugh- ter, the beautiful Marie. That the major knew Doctor Delmar as ‘he really was, all felt sure was not the case; particularly was Wild Kid convinced of this fact. Captain Plummer and Buffalo Bill were glad to learn these facts, as Major Brash- er had once been an honored officer of the army. ope the Delmar ranch they rode over to Idlerest, Wild Kid acting as guide, It was a surprise to Major Brasher, his wife and Lady Beauty, when they saw Wild Kid coming to the ranch, accom- panied by the splendid looking scout ana er 8 meg tt 4 ts hey were in igno ee oO e happen- ‘ings of the past forty-clcht hours, and the major looked suspiciously at Wild Kid, while both Mrs. Brasher and Marie ‘stepped forward and greeted him warmly. othing abashed, Wild Kid did the “in- ‘troduction act,” as he called it, and pre- Buffalo Bill's Snap-Shot. to be a distinguished young officer at Fort Rio, so they received a warm welcome. It fell upon Captain Plummer to tell of the late happenings, and all noticed the start of pleasure Major Brasher gave as he was informed of the death of Doctor Delmar. As for Marie, she did not change coun- tenance—a proof that she was not in love with the wicked man. That it was Doctor Delmar who had planned the kidnapping of “Marie, to force her into a secret marriage with him, ‘ame out, and also that the proofs. existed of the major’s having killed the man he had slain purely in self-defense. Then it was Buffalo Bill’s time to say a word, and he reported that he had letters to the major and also to Doctor Delmar— that he had come to Texas upon a double mission, one being to track certain de- Serters from the army guilty of other crimes, and that in Panama, Brimstone Bill and Mustang Matt he had found the men he sought. His other mission was to look up the children of Captain Kidd Poisal, stolen in their younger years. One of them he was sure he had found, from all he could learn of him and his past, in the waif of the prairies, known as Wild Kid, the Texan Terror. The girl he had yet to discover. With a glance at his wife, Major Brash- er then spoke: “TI must tell the truth, sir, for the daughter of Colonel Kidd Poisal is before you, in this young lady, supposed to be our own child. We bought her from a Mexican woman when she was a very lit- tle girl. She had a little brother, as we then knew, but we took only the girl, and now a resemblance that has often struck us is explained, for Wild Kid there is Marie’s brother, beyond a doubt.” It would be hard to tell of what fol- lowed, all being excited save Wild Kid, who presently remarked: of Lady Beauty and myself, then Rico is our half-brother, for his father bore the Same name and was first married to a Mexican lady, Senorita Rita Sanchez, as Captain Miguel Munoz told me in his dy- ing confession. : “We are getting located and labeled all around, but, much as I like Sable, I'll draw the line at having him tabbed as one of the family, and I guess Lady Beauty and Rico are with me there.” It was not hard to induce the party to remain all night at Idlerest Ranch, and a very pleasant evyéning was spent, the sis- ter and: two brothers, so strangely met, getting acquainted, while handsome and young Captain Plummer was congratulat- ing himself that the Boy Rangers were really the brothers of the beautiful “Belle Marie.” The next morning the party of men all rode to El Monte and the story of the doc- tor’s double life and the fate of the Rene- gades of the Rio Grande became known. El Monte at once put on an air of vir- tue, and when the troop under Captain Plummer started for the fort there: was talk of sending for a parson to come and do missionary work there, j As Henrico Sanchez was in-no hurry to claim his fortune, he consented to return to the Northwest with Buffalo Bill and Wild Kid, and the three set off together one fine morning, There, at the fort where Buffalo Bill was chief of scouts, the boys found their father, colonel commanding, and he was in truth, Cody’s good their return very much pleased to hear story of them, and said upon ‘sented Captain Plummer and Buffalo Bill | he would go with them to Texas, ‘to the major and the ladies, Buffalo Bill was well known to all by ‘name, while Captain Plummer was known | This he did, and the meeting between father and daughter was, as we may, well infer, an affecting one, and it was decided, “Tf Colonel Kidd Poisal was the father. . 767 F 208 k 444 kK 4 84 148 & 218 T 28 . . 15 as the colonel was a man of ample means, that Marie should remain at Idlerest Raneh until he had gone East and found a home for them all, as he intended to re- tire from the service and enjoy his later years in the society of the children from whom a cruel fate had so long kept him apart. While he went East, Kid Poisal, Jr., as we must now call Wild Kid, and Hen- rico Poisal, went to Mexico together, where the latter received his inheritance without a word being raised against it. So it was that a year after the meeting of Buffalo Bill and his Boy Rangers, the scout again crossed their trail, this time in the elegant home in the East of Colonel Poisal, to which the great scout had been invited as a special guest for an especial occasion—which was the marriage of Belle Marie to Captain Plummer. As for the two youths, they had given up their wild.life, and, with Sable for a valet to both, they were content to live a quiet but eminently useful existence in the East, few who knew them ever dream< ing of the eventful career they had led in the Lone Star State in years gone by. THE END. Next HatF-Dme Lisrary, No. 949, The Three Lieutenants: GENTLEMAN GEORGE ON DECK. BY T. J. FLANAGAN, Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. BY T. 3. FLANAGAN, 909 Midshipman Dare, the Pirate Catcher, 9 925 The Voung Cowboy Captain. 988 The Two Midshipmen; or, The Corsair-Chaser’s Firé Cruise. BY DAN DUNNING, 746 Quiet Jack, the Secret Service Spy. 6 ae and Jack, the Invinetblen or, The Diabotical Threw. ¥ 875 Detective Dave's Close Call. SS4 Farrel Fox and His Girl Ferret. 898 Farrel; Fox’s Sweep-Stakes, steve BY OLL COOMES, 146 Kit Bandy, Detective, or, Silver Star, the Boy Knight. 168 Kit Bandy In Texas; or, The Young Mustanger. 8% Kit Bandy’s Catch; or, The Boy Hercules, 422 Kit Bandy’s Right Bower; or, Baby Sam,the Boy Giang Kit Bandy’s Swoop; or, Little Buckskin, tne Centaurs 478 Kit Bandy’s Slick Scheme; or, Old Tom Rattler. - 661 Kit Bandy’s Deliverance; or, Banner Bsn, 680 Kit Bandy’s Pard; or, Dauntless Dan, the Freelances rigude in Arizona. tar Engagement. 158 Jack Drew, the Nemesis; or, Eagle Kit, the Boy Demons 182 Jack Drew’s Drop; or, Little Hurricane, the Boy Captatas 202 Jack Drew in Deadwood; or, Prospect Pete, Keen Knife on Guard; or, Antelope Abe, the Guide. 37 Keen-Knilfe, the Prince be Prairies. 5 ate , & Vagabond Joe, the Young Wandering Jew, 18 The Dumb Spy. 2 Lasso Jack, the Young Mustanger. 8 The Border King; or, The Secret Foe. 71 Delaware Dick, the Young Ranger Spy. 74 Wawk-eye Harry the Young Trapper Ranger. 88 Rollo, the Dar anger; or, The Heiresa, 1 Sure Shot Seth, the Rifleman, car-Face Saul. the Silent Hunter, 178 Old Solitary, le Hermit Trapper. iger Tom, the Texas Terror, 224 Dashing Dick; or, Trapper Tom’s Castle, 228 Little Wildfire, the Young Prairie Nomad. 8 The Parson Detectives or, The Little ” 248 The Diaculsed Guide; or, Wild Raven, the Ranger, 280 Dare-Devil Dun, the Young Prairie Ranger, 272 Minkakin Mike, the Boy Sharpsheoter. 290 Little Foxfire, the Boy Spv; or, Old Caleb Arbuckle. 00 The Sky Demon; or, Rainbolt, the Ranger, King re Bo Ranchero. 9 Hereu er, Dick, the Boy * an Webfoot Mose, the Tramp Detentive, Wingedfoot Fred; or, Old Polar Saul. 8 884 Whip- Al? 457 68 Tamarac Tom, the Big Trapper Boy, P qeesewall Bob, the Boy ‘ase, a i 6 lundering Basil, the Hermit Boy Trapper. 652 Don Barr, the Plains Freelance, 670 Norway Nels, the Big Mountalneer. fy 778 Highland Harry, the Wizard Rifleman. sy 828 Poker Jack, the Detective Sport. A New Issue Every Tuesday. + 32) - : The Half-Dime Library all Newsdedlor fi esata por copy, orenat by maf] on be Fart Bf a " BEADLE AND ADAMS, Pu 98 William Strect, : v3 . ae Now York. a, Je certs: jin oe A
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1 20 28 185 a2 49 57 $j wz 100 104 109 129 188 149 156 195 201 205 217 862 405 816 822 sBa - S58 868 910 916 928 Published Eve BY Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadweod Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Gold-Duat Deadwood Dead wood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwoo Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood } Deadwood Dead wood Deadwood + Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood 5 Deadwood Deadwood Veadwood Deadwood Peadwooa Deadwood Deadwooa Dendwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Dead wooa Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwoo Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Dead wood Dead wood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood > Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Dead wood Dead wood Dead wood Deadwood Dead wood Deadwoed Dead wooa Deadwood Peadwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadweod D Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Pens wood Dead weod Yeudwood Deadwood Dendwood Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood 984 Deadwood Dick, 940 Deadwood Dick, Jr.’s, Shake-up, d Dick, EDWARD L. WHLEELHR. Deadwood Dick Novela. Dick, the Prince of the Road. Dick’s Deflance; or, Double Daggers. Dick in Disguise; or, Buffal, Ben Dick in Hix Castle. Dick’s Bonanza; o,, The Phantom Miner. Dick in Danger; or, Omana Oll. Dick’s Eagles; or, The Pards of Flood Bar. Dick on Deck; or, Cuiamity ¢ me, the Heroine Dick’s Last Acts or, Corduroy Charlie. Dick in Leadville, Dick’s Device; or, Phe Double Cross Sign. Dick aa Detective. Dick’s Double: or, The Gorgon’s Gulch Ghost, Dick’s Home Base; or, Blonde Bill. Dick’s Big Strike; or, A Game of Gold. Diek of Deadwood or, The Picked Party. Dich’s Dream}; or, The Rivals of the Road, Diek’s Ward; or, Tie Black Hill’s Jezebel. Dick’a Doom: or, Calamity Jane’s Adventure, Dick’s Dead Deal. Dick’s Death-Plant. Mek. A Romance of Rough« and Tonghe, Dick’s Divide; or, The Spirit of Swamp Lake. Dick’s Death Trail. Dick’s Deals; or, The Gold Brick of Oregon. Dick’s Dozeny or, The Fakir of Phantom Flats Dick’s Ducata; or, Days in the Diggings. Diek Sentenced; or, ‘I'he Terrible Vendetta, Dick’s Claim. Dick in Dead City. Dick’s Diamonds, Dick In New Vorky; or, A “Cute Case.” Dick’« Dust; or, The Chained Hand. Pick, Jr.; or, The Crimson Crescent Sign. Dick, Jr.'s, Detiunec, Dick, Jr.’s Full Hand. Dick, Jdr.’s, Big Round-Up. Dick Jr.’s Racket at Claim 10, Dick, Jr.’a Corral; or, Bozeman Bill. Dick, dr.’#, Dog Detcetive. Dick, Jr., In Deadwood, Dick, Ir.’s, Compact. Dick, Jr.’s., Inheritance. Dick, Jr’s Diggings. Dick, Jr.’a, Deliverance, Dick dra Protegee. Dick, Jr.’«, Three. Dick, Jdr.’s, Danger Ducks, 4p? a dre, Death Hunt, Pick, Jr, Dick, Dick, Dick, Dick, Dick, Dick, Dick. Dick. Dick. Dick Dick, Texas, » the Wild West Vidoog Jr., on Hila Mettle. Jdr., in Gotham, dr., In Boston, Jr., in Philadelphia, dr., in Chicago. Jr., Afloat. or.. in Denver. Jr.a, Decree, Jr., in Reclzebub’s Basin, dr., at Coney Island, dr.’x, Leadville Lay. Jr... in Detroit, Jr. in Cincinnati, Jr., in Nevada. dr., in No Man’s« Land, Dick, Jr., After the Queer. Dick Jr... in Buffalo. Dick, 3r.’«, Chase Across the Continent Dick, Jr., Among the Smugglers. Diek, Jr.’s, Insurance Case. Dick, Jr., Back In the Mines, Diek, dr., tn Durango; or, * Gathered In.” Diek, Jr.’s Discovery; or, Fourd a Fortune. Dick, Jr.’a, Dazzle. Dick, Jr.’«. Dollars. Dick. Jr., at Danger Divide, Dick, Jr.’s, Drop. Dick, Jr., at Jack-Pot. Dick dr.; in San Francisco, Dick, Jr.’s, Still Hunt. Dick, ’a Dominoes, Dick, Disguise, Dick, Double Deal, Dick, Deathwatch, Dick, dr.’«, loublet. Jr.’s, Deathblow. Desperate Strait, ,» Lone Hand, lhefeat. Resurrection. 4 ; 4 Days. res defied. Dick, Jr.'s, Double Device. Dick, Jr’.a, Desperate Venture. Dick, Jr.’«, Diamond Dice. lek, Jr.’*; Royal Flush, Ree ies Ota ek, Jr.’a, val, Dick, Jr.’*; Boom, Dick, Jr.'s, Scoop. Dick, Jr.’ tersk 5 . ma Dick, Dick, Dick, Dick, $40 Deadwood Dick, Jr.’«, Clutch, ges Resdweed Dick, Jr.’s, High Horse, Dick Jr., at Devils Gulch, Dick, Jr.’s, Reath-Hole Hustle." Diek, Jr.’s Bombshell, Dick, Jr., in Mexico, Dick, Jr’s Deeoy Duck. Diek, Jr.,1n Silver Pocket. Dick. Jr’s, Dead-Sure Game, Jr’s, Double Drive. Jr’e, Trade-Mark. Jr., at xp. T op. Jr.’« Double-Decker. Jr., at Dollarvilie. Jdr.. at Flush Flats. Dick, ck, Dick, BY WILLIAM K. EYSTER, 190 Dandy Parke; or, The Tigers of High Pine, 210 Faro Frank} or, Dandy Darke’s Go-Down Pards 818 The Hustler Rogue-Catcher, S51 The Tie- BY n, the River Sport; or, Foiling the Frisco Sharp, wery Ben 11 Bowery Bob, the East-side Detective, S88 Poker he Double Dodge, ° SSS Monte Saul, port. 901 Diamond Da ve, the Gilt-Edge Shooter, 919 Crack-Shot Datsy’s Drop, 981 The Spert in Velvet; or,, Big Burk’s Blaff. $B rt; or, High Hustling at Sinners’ Flat, the 8 HAROLD PAYNE. in Chinatown, BY BUFFAL®# BILL (Mon. Wm. F. Cody). | BS9 Yreka Jim’s New BEADLE'S« H ALF- DIME*[_IBRARY. ry Tuesday. Hach Issue Complete and Sold at the Uniform Price Other Novela by E. L. Wheeler. 80 Rosebud Rob; or, Nugget Ned, the Knight. S84 Rosebud Keb on Mand; or, Idy), the Girl Miner, 88 Rosebud Rob’s Reappearance; or, Photograph Phil. 121 Rosebud Rob's Challenges or, Cinmamon Chip. 277 Denver Doll, the Detective Queen; or, The Yankee’s Surround 281 Denver Doll's Victory; or, Skull and Crossbones, 255 Denver Doll's Decoy ; or. Little Bill’s Bonanza. 296 Denver Doll’s Drift; or. The Road Queen. S68 Yreku Jim, the Gold-Gatheérers or, The Life Lottery, 872 Yreka Jim’s Prize; or, The Wolves of Wake-Up, 885 Vreka Jim's Joker; or, The Rivals of Red Nose. q heoies or, Bicycle Ben. 894 Yreka Jim of Yuba Dam, 209 Fritz, the Bound-Boy Detective: or, Dot Leetle Game, 218 Fritz to the Front; or, The Ventriloquist Hunter 244 Sierra Sam, the Frontier Ferret: or, A Sister’s Devotion, 248 Slerra Sams Secret; or, The Bloody Footprints, 255 Sterra Sam’s Pardy; or, The Angel of Big Vista. 258 Sierra Sam’s Sevens or, The Stolen Bride. $84 Kangaroo Kit; or, The Mysterious Miner. 889 Kangaroo Kit’*s Racket; or, The Pride of Played-Out, 69 Death-Face, Detective; or, Life in New York. 69 The Boy Detective; or, Geld Rifle, the Sharpshooter, 96 Watch-Eye, the Detective; or, Arsbs and Angels. 117 Giit-Edged Dick, the Sp wt Detective 145 Captain Ferret, the New York Detective. 16! New York Nell, the Boy-Girl Detective. 226 The Arab Detective ¢ or, Snoozer, the Boy Sharp. 201 Turk the Boy Ferret. 825 Kelley, Mickey & Co., the Detectives of Philadelphia, 848 Manhattan Mike, the Bowery Detective. 400° Wrinkles, the Night-Watch Detective, 416 High Hat Marry, the Base Ball Detective. 426 Sam Slabsides, the Beggar-Boy Detective. 484 Jim Beak and Pal, Private Detectives. 26 Cloven Noof, the Buffalo Demon; or, The Border Vultures, 82 Bob Woollt’s or, The Girl Dead-Shot 45 Old Avalanche}; or, Wild Edna, the Girl Brigand. 58 Jim Bludsoe, Jr., the Boy Phenix. 61 Buckhorn Bill; or, The Red Rifle Team 92 Canada Chet ; or, Old Anaconda in Sitting Bull’s Camp, ; 118 Jack Hoyle the Young Speculator. 125 Bopanva ill, Miner; or, Madam Mystery, the Forger. 138 Roktitob the King of Bootblacka, 141 Solld Sam, the Boy Road-Agent; or, The Branded Brows, 177 Nobby Nick of Nevaday or, The Sierras Seamps. 181 Wild Frank the Buckskin Bravo; or. Lady Lily’s Love. 286 Apollo Bill, the Trail Tornado; or, Rowdy Kate. 240 Cyclone Kit, the Young Gladiator; or, The Locked Valley. 278 Jumbo Joe, the Loy Patrol: or, The Rival Heirs. 29 A No. 1, the Dashing Toll-Taker. £08 ‘Liza Jane, the irl Miner; or, the Lron-Nerved Sport. 880 Little Quick-Shot 3 or, The Dead Face of Daggersville. B58 First-Clasa Fred, the Gent from Gopher. 87S Nabob Ned; or, The Secret of Sinb City. B82 Cool Kit, the King of Kids; 488 Santa Fe Sal, the Slasher; 456 Seal«kin Sam, the Sparkier 918 Kit Keith, t .¢ Reverue Spotter. 922 Sol Sharpe, the New York Night-Hawk, 948 Old BayseedgAmong Bunco Men. or, A Villain’s Vengeance, A Son’s Vengeance. The Tribunal of Ten. BY LIEUT. A, K. SIMS, 5689 Tom-Cat and Pardj or, The Dead Set at Silver City. 622 Tom-Cat’s Triad; or, The Affair at Tombstone. 681 Tom Cat's Terrible Task; or, The Cowboy Detective. 688 Tom-Cat’s Triumph; or, Black Dan’s Great Combine. 546 Captain Cactus, the Chaparral Cock; or, Josh’s Ten Strike 568 The Dandy of Dodge; or, Rustling for Millions. 676 The Silver Sports or, Josh Peppermint’s Jubilee. 688 Saffron Sol, the Man With a Shadow 601 Happy Hana, the Dutch Vidoeg; or, Hot Timesat Round-Up 611 Bildad Barnacle, the Detective Hercules. 646 Cowboy Gid, the Cattle-Range Detective. 657 Warbling William the Mountain Mountebank, 665 Jolly Jeremianhy the Plains Detective, 676 Stenal Sam, the Lookout Scout. 689 Billy, the Gypay Spy: or, The Mystery of Two Lives, 699 Straple Sim, the Broncho Buster: or, For Big Stakes. 712 The Meamertia«t Sports or, The Mystified Detective, 788 Toltec T » the Mad Prospector, 745 Kansaa Jim, the Cross-Cut Detective. 761 Marmaduke, the Mostanger Detective, 778 The Ruatler_of Rolling Stonc, 785 Lone Mand Jee, the Committee of One, 801 Kent Kirby, the High-Kicker from Killbuck, 882 The Doctor Detective in Texas, S72 Two Showmen Detectives in Colorado. 987 The Texan Firebrand; or, Brazos Billy’s Snap.Shot. BY JO PIERCE, 897 Bob o’ the Bowery : or, The Prince of Mulberry Street, 415 The Vagabond Detective; or, Bowery Bob’s Boom, 452 Hotspur Bob, the Street-Boy Detective, 460 The Lawyer’s Shadow; or Luke’s Legacy, 472 Jaunty Joe, the Young Horse-King, 494 Surly Sim, the Young Ferryman Detective, 504 Five Pointa Phil, the Pavement Prince, 509 Jack Jaggera, the Butcher Boy Detective, 516 Tartar Tim; or, Five Points Phil’s Menagerie, 526 North River Naty, the Pier Detective, 588 Wrestling Rex, the Pride ofthe Sixth Ward. 541 Jeff Flicker, the Stable Boy Detective, 551 Niek Nettle, the Bos Shadow; or, The Old Well Mystery, 559 Harlem Jack, the Office Boy Detective. 569 Brooklyn Ben, the On His-Own-Hook Detective, 577 Pavement Pete the Secret Sifter, 588 Jack-o’-Lantern, the Under-Sea Prospector, 808 Wide-Awake Bert, the Street-Steerer, 614 Whistling Jacob, the Detective’s Aid. 628 Buck Rumblebee, the Harlem Hummer. 689 Sunrise Sau), the Exprees-Train Ferret, 649 Gamin Bob, the Bowery Badger; or, Scooping a Slippery Set. 658 Sky-Rocket Rob, the Lite-Saver. 688 Saltpeter Sol, the New York Navigator, 694 Spicy Jim; the Only One of His Kind, : 706 Tom Thiatle, the Road-House Detective, T17 Moaquite Jack, the Hustler Gamin, 726 Dennia Duff the Brown Sport's, Rid. 744 Dick of the Docka, the Night-W atch, 765 Flipper Flyon, the Street Patrol. TTl Fexy Fred's Odd Pard; or, The Keener’s Huge Hustls,*} TS1 Onat-OfF Cale, the Scapegoat Detective, 824 Rowery Billy, the Banco Bouncer, 887 The Rig Four of the Rowery. 846 Buck, the New Vork Sharper. 850 The Grand A&treet Arab, 855 The West Broadway Gamin, 860 The Boat-Club Mascots or, Dan Decker’s Double Deal? 864 The Union Square Haggage Boy. : S78 The Street Arab’s Blind. S86 The Five Potnts Lodging Mouse Janitor, 890 Ace Migh, the Tromp Card Detective. 895 Fifth Avenue Fred, the Valet Detective. 899 Basement Bert, the Boy Cobbler Detective, 908 Billy Blue-Blazes, the Dodger of the Docks, 907 KR usher, Bell- Boy 4-11.44, 915 FI lusher, Ferret, of East Broadway. 988 The Sport of Two Cities; or, Jingo Jim’s Jamboree, of Five Cents, by all Newsdealers.. BY COLONEL PRENTISS INGRARAMN. Ruffalo Bill’s Tough Tusale, Buffalo Bilis Boy Mascot; or, Joe Jarvis’ Hold up. Buffalo Bills Crack-shot Pard. New York Nat’s ree? or, Ex-Ferret Sykes’ Bold Case. New York Nat and the Traitor Ferret. New York Nat Trapped. New York Nat’« Three of a Kind, New York Nat’s Double, New York Nat’« in Colorado, New York Nat in Gold Nugget Camp. New York Nat’s Deadly Deal, New York Nat's Crook-Chase, New York Nat’« Trump Card, New York Nat and the Grave Ghouls, % New York Nat's Masked Mascot, New YVerk Nat, the Gumin Detective. Dick Doom’s Kidnapper Kuock-Out, Dick Doom’s Ten Strike. Dick Doom’s Flush Hand, Pick Doom’s Death-Grip; or, The Detective by Destiny, Dick Doom’s Destiny; or, The River Blackleg’s Terror, Diek Doom; or, The Sharps and Sharks of New York, Dick Doom in Boston; or, A Man of Many Masks, Dick Doom tn Chicago. Dick Doom in the Wild Weat. ‘ Dick Doou’s Clean Sweep; or, Five Links in a Clue. Dick Doom’s Death Clue. Dick Doom’s Diamond Deal, 942 986 819 Dick Doom’s Girl Mascot. 829 Dick Doom’s Shadow Hunt. 835 Dick Doom’s Big Heul. 749 Dashing Charlie; or, The Kentucky Tenderfoot’s First Trali. 756 Dashing Charlie's Destiny; or, The Renegade’s Captive. Dashing Charlle’s Pawnee Pard. Dashing Charlie, the Rescuer. Buck Taylors King of the Cowboys. Buck Taylor, the Comanche’s Captive. Ruck Taylor’s Boyan; or, The Ped Riders ot the Rio Grande. Pawnee Bll, the Prairie Shadower. Pawnee Bill; or, Carl, the Mad Cowboy. Pawnee Billa Pledge; or, The Cowboy's Doom, Pawnee Bill; or, Daring Dick, Redfern’s Curtous Case: o, The Rival Sharps. lkedtern at De vil’s Kanchj or, The Sharp from Texas. Redfern’s High Mand; or, Blue Jacket. Redfern’s Last ‘Trail: or, The Red Sombrero Rangers. And Fifty Others. BY J, ©. COWDRICE, Brondway Billy, the Bootblack Bravo. Broadway Billy’« Boodle; or, Clearing a Strange Case Broadway Billy’« ‘Diikilty.” Broadway Billy’s Peath Racket. 579 (Broadway Billy’«s Surprise Party. 605 Broadway Billy; or, The Boy Detective’s Big Inninr. 628 Broadway Billy’s ead Act: or, The League of Seven 669 Broadway KBilly Abroad; or, The Bootblack In Prin 675 Broadway Billy’« Beat; or, Beating San Francisco's b nest. 687 Broadway Billy in Clover. 696 Broadway Billy in Texas; or, The River Ruatlere. 708 Broadway Billy’s Brand. 711 Broadway Billy at Santa Fe; or, The Clever Deal. Billy’s F'ull Wand; or, The Gamin Detective. Billy’s Business, Billy’«s Curious Case, Billy in Denver. Billy’s Kargain; or, The Three Detective, Broadway Broadway -§ Broadway Broadway Broadway 769 Broadway Billy, the Retriever Detective, 775 Broadway Billy’« Shadow Chase. 788 Broadway Billy’« Beagles; or, The Trio’s Quest. 786 Broadway RBilly’« Team: or, The Combine’s Big Pull. 790 Broadway RBilly’s Brigade; or, The Dead Alive, 796 Broadway Billy’« Queer Bequest. Billy Rafited, Bily’« Signal Scoop. Rilly’« Wipe Out. Billy’s Bank Racket. Billy Among J Th y Amon ersey ugs. Billy’« Raid, Billy’« Big Boom, Billy’s Big Bulge. Billy’« #100,000 Snap. Billy’« Blind; or, The Bootblack Stowaway. Billy in London. Billy Shadows London Slums. Broadway Billy’s French Game. roadway Billy and the Bomb-Throwers, . The Trump Dock-Boy. , Train Boy Trist’« Hot Hustle, 906 Satety Sam, the Cyele Sport. 900 Jumping Jack's Jubilee. SS7 Battery Bob, the Dock Detective. 860 Milver-Mask, the Man of Mystery; or, The Golden Keys. 869 Shasta, the Gold King} or, For Seven Years » 420 The Detective’s A owen ties: or, A Boy Without a Name 424 Cibuta Johns or, Red-Hot Times at Ante Bar, 489 Sandy Sam, the Street Scout. 467 Diaco Dan, the Daisy Dude £06 Redlight Ralph th Prince of the Road. 524 The Enginecr Detective; or, Redlight Ralph’s Resolve 548 Mart, the Night Express Detective. B71 Air-Line Luke the Young Engineer; or, The Double Case 592 The Boy Pinkerton; or, Running the Rascala Out. 615 Fighting a 4 the Chief of Chained Cyclone. 640 Bareback Reth, the Centaur of the Circle. 647 Typewriter Tilly, the Merchant’s Ward. 659 Moonlight Morgan the ** Pizenest’’ Man of Ante Bas. 894 Arizona Dick's Wipe-Out. 924 Big Boots Bob, the Fire-Laddle. 980 Kustler Ralph, the Boy Spotter. 985 The E ewseboy Detective’s Chum. Broadway 5 Broadway Broadway Broadway Broadway Broadway Broadway Broadway Broadway Broadway Broudway Broadway Broadway Ux-N 941 The Bowling Green Detective’s Drop. LATEST ISSUES. 944 Cowboy Charlie’s Double; or, The Warbler from Whistleville. By J. C. Cowdrick. 945 Billy Bird’s Bonanza? or, The Rook-Rayons’ Root-Out. y Wim, R,’Eyster. 946 Deadwood ‘Dick, Jr.’s, Double Drop}; or, The Droll Showman’sa Blind. By Edward L. Wheeler, 947 The Bowery Wrestlers or, The Butcher-Boy'’s Backer. By J, C. Cowdrick. NEW ISSUES. 948 Ruffalo Bill’« Snap-Shot ; or, Wild Kid's Texan Taliy. By Col. P. Ingraham. 949 The Three Lieutenants; or, Gontlemau George on Deck, By T.J Flanagan, 950 The Steeple-Climber'’s Close Call; or, Tho East Side Ronghe of the Tower. By Jo Pierce. 951 Deadwood Dick, Jr.'s, Right Bower. By Eaward . Wheeler. 952 The Clreus Detectives or, Baroback Billy's ‘Big Round- up, By Harold Payne. A New lssue Every Tuesday- The Half-Dime Library is for sale by all newsdoalers, five gente per copy, or sent by ance Sosdigt ot pp tiee Bow a BEADLE AN DAMS, Pu 9s Iftecs Biveote ew York,