Copyrighxeu. 1894. by BEADLE AND ADAMS. ' ENTERED AB SECOND CLASS MATTER AT THE NEW YORK. N. Y., POST OFFICE. September 5. 1894.

N 0' 8 2 8 ' Published Every QBeadZe y fldams, @ublishers, Ton cm. s cm-  

w°‘h‘°’d‘" 93 WILLIAM STREET. NEW YORK.

Kirk King, [he Man rum Kirby;

$5.00 I Year.

 

 

 

 

 

SHfiRT-Gfifi) CHARLIE

At Boot Jack.

BY “'31. R. EYSTER.

AUTHOR OF “msTOL PARDS,” “ HANDS UP,
“THE LIGHTNING SPORT,” ETC.

7|

CHAPTER I.
THE KID FROM mum:
VANCE ULLMAN ran the stitfesc game at;

BootJack.
There were half a dozen other gaming-

“ HOLD HARD, THAR, GHNTs!" Excmunn KIRK mxu, llOLDL\(v THE PISTOL houses which ran wide open, but they all
IN ONE HAND, AND MOVING HIS HAT WITH THE OTHER. had cappers by the dozen to look after the.

 

 

2

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

interests of the proprietors, and VanCe lost
and won in a single evening enough coin to
bankrupt any two of them.

He was noted also as a bad man among
the worst when it came to shooting, or any
such foolishness, thc ugh he could afford to
be long suffering on occasion. Of late it
even took crowding to bring him up to the
scratch, though no one thought any the
worse of him on that account.

When a. man has a record as long as the
moral law, and is known to be as quick on
the draw, and as deadly on the aim, as the
best of his neighbors, it only takes a few ex—
hibitions of courage to satisfy the world at
lar e that he knows his own business, and is
loo ing after it according to the best way.

That was Vance Ullman, all over.

As handsome as 'a picture and as game as
a bull-dog, what he said went, according to
popular opinion, and he was supposed to
have Boot Jack under his heels.

That was saying a good deal, for before
the advent of the proprietor of “The Tiger
Saloon,” a man's life was not safe anywhere.
Lead flew thick of an evening, and a great
deal of it went wild.

The first night he opened out Vance lined
Jack Potts, and took off the tip of an ear.
Then he made Jack—who was a mighty
chief—hold up his hands while he laid down
the law.

“ Gentlemen,” he remarked, after his most
pleasant manner; “you can go out doors
and do. all the shooting you want, and I don’t
care where the pills fly, so they don’t come
my way.

“But in here Iwant you to understand
that if you miss your man I’ll mark you for
it; and if you hit the wrong fellow you’ll
suffer for it."

And he said it so quietly, and with such a
pleasant smile on his face, it was hard to tell
Whether it was jest or earnest until Jim
Began lost the end of his nose when his bul-
let went hissing over the head of “ The Sport
from Denver."

One evening Vance was standing at the
end of the bar in the drinking-room when
through the doorway stepped a. man who
looked as though he might have lost his
bearings, and got into the wrong pew.

He was frowzly and ragged. His boots
were down to their uppers, and his hat was
so disreputable no one would have suspected
it. had ever seen better days.

He had a thick shock of bright, red hair,
while his paws were huge, and dirt-be-
grimed.

“ IIoop-la! IIyer we be!” he shouted, as
he reeled forward.

“’I‘hcr high-heeled solligoster from ‘way
back. Bax-keep. sot ’em up fur ther house,
an’charge 'em all to ther Kid fruni Kirby.
You hear me, say?"

“ We hear you," said Vance quietly, turn-
ing slightly, and casting a keen glance at
the new-comer.

“ I believe you have no assets in this
bank, and we know nothing aboutany other.
Am afraid your face is not good, unless we
see sufficient collateral."

The Kid from Kirby was scarcely fighting
drunk, and Ullman spoke to him after the
manner of a man who supposed he was open
to reason. It seemed to be kindly meant,
but all the same it was a deadly warning.

“ Oh-weel Hark to ther man! Ez if I
war jest a. or’nary, low-down fyste, instead
ov ther rarin’, tearini snappin' torkle ov ther
Andes, w’ot hez a gold-mine onder his shell,
an’ loads 0v di’munds in each pocket!
Straight goods, an’ no gougin’, sot 'em up
fur ther house, an’ take ther change outeu
that!”

The whack with which he slapped down a
twenty dollar gold-piece on the bar could be
heard sharply all over the house.

"Look at it! Feast yer eyes on it, an’
then, ye thirsty souls. draw near while Mister
Man are settin out ther bottles. I've count-
ed noses in ther gang an' thar's ‘nuf thar ter
go ’round, an' leave me a clean leetle five
over, so spread out yer glasses, an‘ gi’mme
ther right change back.”

This was somewhat different from the
general invitation with which he began, and
yet it amounted to the same thing. It hap-
pened there was no great crowd in the Tiger
just then.

Vance gave a scarcely perceptible nod and
then turned away. Business was business,

 

and reprobates were not entirely barred out 1v

so long as they behaved themselves. The
principal question in his mind was, how
many of the men of Boot Jack would be
willing to drink with the stranger, though
he hardly thought it would be considered a
cause of war in case there was any general
refusal.

With all the skill much practice had given
him, the barkecper twirled out a row of
glasses which corresponded exactly in num-
bers to the roll of the men present, and while
be was doing it the ferward move began.
‘Vhether he was drunk or sober. the Kid from
Kirby found very few there who Would not
conquer a drink at his expense.

In fact, Doc Andrews, and the man with
whom he was talking, were the only ones
who did not step forward. Perhaps, if they
had not been so busy with their own affairs,
they would have come also.

The man with the red hair scowled, and
glanced over at the corner. '

It looked as though he was going to give a
more pointed invitation, for he made a step
in that direction, but almost immediately he
turned again toward the bar, and all hands
lifted their glasses together.

“ Good lit-ker makes strong friends, an’
that’s gospel truth. I’m yourn tcr command.
an’ when ary one 0v yer wants a favor don’t
be afeared ter whisper it to ther Kid. You‘ll
find him all thar in a heap. When Icome
tcr perspect at Boot Jack I hit it, f'ust clat-
ter. Thanks, gents all, an’ now you’ll see
me make ther fut fly when I tackle ther
great, big tiger thet lurks yonder in ther
jungle. It's my night on, an’ I’m goin’ fur
all thet’s in ther box.”

He gathered up his change, which amount-
ed to no great sum, dropped it carelessly in
his pocket, and wheeled away without fur-
ther leavetaking.

But he did not go straight to the gaming-
room, as he had hinted was his intention, but
swuggcred across the room, and dropped
heavily into a vacant chair, near to and al-
most facing I)oc Andrews.

“Evenin’. Doc. Glad ter see you've tied
up on thcr booze. At your time ov life one
can’t kerry e7. much (-7. he used to could,
an’ when you do git a load on—great
snakes!”

Next to Vance Ulhnan the doctor was the
best dressed man in the room, and though
they had never come together in any armed
discussion, some thought his record was a
shade the better. He looked coldly up, and
slowly replied:

“Excuse me, sir. I have no acquaintance
with you, and have no time for an introduc-
tion. You had better confine your remarks
to your friends.”

“Friends? Good thunder! Ef you ain’t
a friend whar will I look fur one? Why,
Doe, I knowed you frum ’wayback, an’ ther
more I knowed ye ther more I loved ycr.
Why, of thar war a man on airth ter whom
you could go with a sure heart fur backin‘
it would be to ther Kid frum Kirby. An’
you ter say you didn't know me! It cuts
me clean to the heart. Don‘t say yer dis‘
remember er it’ll make me want ter die,
right now.” '

“ You'll die right now whether you want
to or not, if you don’t vamose the vicinity,”
said the doctor, harshly, his hand dropplng
swiftly toward his hip. I
d “Move yourself, and that mighty sud-

en.”

" A-b-l-e. You spellitef you kin. Why,
Doe, I got you lined, an’ when you pull I’ll
plug. Thar ain’t ary corroner’s jury ever
sot in Aryzona ez wouldn’t bring it in a
clean ease 0v susanside. Don’t keep me
waitiu’, but show yer hand or throw to ther
middle.”

The doctor looked a little closer, and learn-
ed something. The one hand of the Kid
from Kirby was hidden from view in the
depths of a capacious pocket, and after such
a. warning it was safe to, believe it was bold-
ing a weapon. If appearances went for any-
thing the stranger held the drop.

“ After finding me a corpse the rest of the
findings of the jury wouldn‘t interest mea
bit.” was the cool reply of the doctor.

“ If it is all the same to you I’ll throw up
my hands, and pass out. But I wish the
Tiger joy of its new patron. If this thing
keeps on he’ll have the place all to himself
in a week.”

 

“ That’s good enough. Ef ou won’t
shake I kin rub me own paw an’ t en scratch
yer name frum ther roll.”

“Scratch and be hanged to you. But
look out for the next time.”

It was a way the doctor had, and it
made him all the more dangerous. Per-
haps he wasn’t dead game; but all the same,
the few who heard the compressed wrath
he managed to crowd into his tones felt
pretty well assured that Andrews meant to
shoot the stranger on sight if they met
again.

At any rate, he waited for no answer but
gathered himself up and strode out.

The Kid from Kirby looked around with
a puzzled smile, and then, without paying
any attention to the comments which he
might have heard for the opening of his
ears, stalked away to where, in the other
room, the game was just opening, with
Vance Ullman behind the table.

“Five dollars wu’th ov chips, an’ make
’em small. I‘ll feed ther tiger spratts awhile
afore I give him a chance ter nibble at a
whale.” '

Even yet it was not too late to bar out the
man with the red hair—of course running
the risk of a kick which would be more vigor-
ous than elegant, but again a nod from
Vance I'llman settled the question, and the
Kid begun to place his shoestrings with as
much style as the Sport from Denver, who
came into the game just behind him, and
seemed bent on playing for big money.

Loud as was the style put on by the
stranger when he made his advent at The
Tiger he played his game coolly enough
when he got down to actual business.

If anything, he was too cool. ‘

Seine of the bystanders began to think he
was playing a part as well as a game, and
that the ragged coat'he wore was not the
best'one he had to his back.

Whatever Ullman may have thought he
said and showed nothing, but went on pull-
ing the cards, though after a little chopping
sort of luck the stranger settled down into a
steady winner.

And with each winnin the amount of
his next bet was double ,until finally, as
he drew over a cool hundred, he suddenly
asked:

“ What’s ther limit?" -

“ The bank,” was Ullman’s cold answer.

“ Then, dog my cats ef I don't play it——-
when I win ther coin ter try ther riftle."

UIIAPTER II.
WON ON THE TURN.

THE exclamation of the stranger raised a
little laugh.

So far he had shown no capital beyond
the five dollars originally placed upon the
table, and as long as he was on velvet be
Well might make such a threat without show-
in any great amount of nerve.

It hardly seemed possible such a streak of
luck should continue to the end without a
single break; and a break meant to start at
the beginning again. There were still a few
more chips at the elbow of the Kid from
Kirby, but the bulk of his capital seemed to
be on the lay-out.

“Me an’ Vance kin smile, but I don’t see
ez you outsiders hez ary call ter laugh,"
grumbled the stranger. as he shoved the
hundred across to the ace.

“Ett takes time when yer begins small,
but stiddy goes. Ef yer know when ther
run changes ye’r’ bound to win, an‘ a feller
kin stand up to this sorter work fura blamed
long while. 1’11 button that pile down with
er copper, an' when it comes up ag’in it’ll be
twice ez big.”

Sure enough, the ace came out on the
side of the bank, and the Kid had won
a

sin.
g“ We’ll roll ther old cheryot along," he
snorted as he pushed the doubled bet on the
king and returned the copper to his little
stock of chips in reserve.

The shoestring had become something
bigger than an anaconda. and the looks of
the Kid no longer excited any interest or

amusement. His game was the grand at-
traction now.

Vance Ullman might have been a wooden
man for all the interest he evinced. His
fingers manipulated the cards with the

steady dexterity of a machine.

 

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

' 3

 

 

Now and then, when the bettors seemed a
'little slow, he spoke the stereotyped phrases,
“Make your game, gentlemen. The deuce
is in the door, and the bank is the flyer."

It might have been an automaton from
which the sound proceeded, for all the ex-
pression of tone or face; yet there was no
one there, unless it was the party who
claimed to hail from Kirby, who did not
know there was not a move made around the
table which was not taken in by those steel-
gra eyes.

he Sport from Denver had been playing
small stakes, in rather a listless manner.
Outwardly, he gave the stranger no more
attention than did the imperturbable dealer
on the other side of the table; but now and
then cast at him a swift glance from the
corner of his eyes. The stranger puzzled
even him; and there was no better judge of
his fellow mortals, young though he was,
than this same Sport from Denver—or Short
Card Charlie, as he was frequently called.
' Charles Turner was his address for the post—
oflice, but that out no sort of figure among
the boys.

“ I‘ve seen that sort of hog-luck last for a
week, and by the blazes I believe it has come
to him to stay!” was his exclamation as once
more the stranger won.

“Say, sport, if you have no objection I
wouldn’t mind taking a bite out of your
judgment. Between us I believe we can
bu'st the bank wide open, but I don’t want
to try it if you’d sooner carry the contract
alone.”

“ Ef you be clean gone broke, don’t mind
ter give yera stake,” was the careless an-
swer, without a look in his direction.

“ Ef I do I’ll draw out tell you kin try ycr
hand. I wouldn’t keer ter buck ag'in’ a hoo-
doo, of I bed a streak ez wide ez all out-
doors. But I don‘t give my jedgment ’thout
3. interest in ther proceeds: au’ I’ll lose money
at that. I got ther hull bank 07. good 07.
corralled, an’ what you git I'll lose.”

It looked as though what he said was not
altogether an idle boast, since at that mo—
ment he was once more a winner.

The sport laughed and shrugged his shoul-
ders as he answered:

‘ “You drive a hard bargain, but it’s better
than none at all. Ilalves-till you lose.
After that I’ll play my own game, for there
won‘t be much left of your luck to gamble
on.”

As he spoke he shoved over a hundred by
the side of the Kid’s pile, and awaited the
result without any apparent anxiety.

There was one thing the bargain (lid do,
and perhaps the stranger understood it.

When the Sport from Denver took any
one under his wing that party was supposed
to be free of the town so long as any inter-
ference was not brought on by himself.

At any rate, the partners won; and on the
instant the grimy paw of the Kid was
stretched over toward the sport.

“ Divvy 07. we go along. Then, of I hev
ter leave in a hurry thar won’t be no delay
getherin’ up thcr loose ends. Half. ef you
please—an‘ I’ll put it up on ther lucky nine
’long with my leetlc pile."

The face of the sport remained clear, and
a little lau h was permitted. It made some
difference in the size of his bet—and the size
of his winnings, when, certain as fate the
nine came along on his side of the piles.

.“ And now you have it!" exclaimed the
Kid, jubilation in his tones.

“ Hyer’s ther last turn in ther box, an’
when yer sees them come out ace, four an’
jack, an’ pard over thar payin’ four ter one,
you'll see a pile that it's good ter sit down
with.”

“ And where, oh, Where will I come in
at?" rueffllly exclaimed the Sport from Den-
ver.

“ Vance calls the size of his bank ten
thousand, and you have it as good as closed.
Butit’s just so. A man must have a ion},r
spoon to sup with the devil, and it looks as
though I can’t get even a finger in the pot.
Say, Ullman, won‘t you let me pile it up on
you for a couple thousand extra to-night? I
want to win or lose something after such a.
bargain.” .

“ Dro your money on the board and I’ll
see you on’t lose if you win. May as well
play this streak now as any other time.”

No one else had cared, or perhaps dared,
to follow thelead of the adventurous stran-

 , .

 

ger, and all the money and chips on the table
belonged to the two who had opened up such
a one-sided partnership.

For Charlie had thrown down a thick roll
of notes, which from the big figures on the
ends visible certainly equaled in value the
sum stated.

It would not take long to decide the fate
of the venture, and there were only a few
seconds of breathless silence while the two
cards were slowly and steadily drawn.

When the ace appeared there was a sub-
dued hum; but when the four appeared in
the door the feelings of the audience could
be restrained no longer. There was a general
shout of, “The Kid winsl”

And in the midst of the confusion
the stranger stood with immutable face,
working his fingers suggestively as he leaned
over and whispered in slightly husky tones,
“ Cash in.”

“ It’s just as good as wheat, old man!" cx-
claimed the sport, as he gave the Kid a. re-
sounding slap on the back.

“ For your sake I‘m mighty glad I won.
Don’t hurry Vance, because while he’s count—
ing it,all up you will be taking a drink with
me and the house. You can't most always
sometimes tell by a man’s looks, and I‘ll
swear high that you’re a heap sight better
than yours.”

“ Thankee, sport, but I’ll salt down me
plunder afore I git on ther oh-be-joyful. I
might furgit ter come back fur ther load
tell after ther shop had moved, but ef I once
git froze on to it all blazes can’t make me
drop it what it won’t be doiu’ ther most
good.”

“ Game closed; players cash in,” was the
cold announcement of Vance, without so
much as a glance at the winners, and he
swung through the crowd with the same
careless grace he had shown when he cleaned
up fifteen thousand to the good after an all-
uight struggle with Colonel Bangor, the
poker magnate of Magic City.

Johnny Tombs, the cashier, needed no fur-
ther instructions as to how he was to do his
duty, and before he turned to the bar the
pockets of the Kid from Kirby wore bulging
with financial fatness.

“Don’t be loud, old fellow,” whispered
the Sport from Denver, as he leaned over
the Kid’s shoulders.

“Vance is just as square 0. man as they
make them, and as long as you don’t go over
the chalk marks he has on the floor there's
no danger he will come backat you; but if
you make a. racket he'll have a funeral if he
has to call on all his heclcrs to help him.
And he has never done that yet, though I
have seen him at work with a merry sort of
a gang, that shot remarkably close.”

“You see ary thing emerald in ther eye
ov ther Kid frum Kirby ‘3" was the response,
given with a leer, and a pat of the pocket
which held the most dollars.

“I kim in a ragged 01d bloat, which hed
jest found a twenty-dollar shincr an’ war
hound ter hev ther wu'th ov it ef I died a-
gittin' it.

“ 1 go out ov ther Tiger a. man ov means,
a buddin’ millionaire. We’ll hev those drinks,
but after that—excuse me. I’m a gent ov
wealth, an’must be a-lookin’ after me proper-
ty. To-morrer, I’ll buy a mine; an’ next
week run fur ther U. 8. Senate."

The sport shrugged his shoulders, and
then led the way.

He did not feel the least call to doubt the
truth of the explanation nor did it trouble
him in the least.

The Kid had money now, even if, a few
hours before, there was not coin enough in
his pockets to pay for supper and night‘s
lodging. Perhaps, in the way of business,
it won (1 find its way into Turner's pockets,
and if so it would be none the less a legal
tender for having gone through the hands of
a vagabond and a tramp.

And on second thought Turner was not
convinced that the Kid from Kirby was
either of these.

Several rounds of drinks followed, at the
expense of the successful gamesters, and
then the stranger, who by this time was be-
ginning to be pretty well known, prepared
to go.

“ So long, boys.

Sorry ter leave yer but
I got business in ther mornin' an’ must be

gittin’ ready fur it tar-night. Ef ary in-

,quirin’ friend comes snookin’ ’round, tell

4 ,. r
. at .“_ t.,;,-,.:,x_:.‘ um  _ 

’em Isaid I'd be 'round ter-morrcr, an’ ef
they kin pay their bill they better wait."

And a wonderful! changed man did he
seem to be as he stalked out of the doorway
through which, scarce an hour ago he had
stumbled.

“ Reckon they’ll take me in at the Lion
Hotel fur ther night ef I show me pewter;
an’ to-morrer, when I’m all dressed up,
they’ll be glad enough ter keep me. I’ll try
it an' see.”

So he thought to himself; and
around to get his bearings he stru
the direction of the Lion.

At this time the streets of Boot Jack—un-
der another name—are well lighted; but in
those days, on a dark night, between the sa-
loon lights they were hideous with blackness.
The task of navigation which the man had
set for himself was by no means an easy one.
and before he had gone far he began to
think he had become bewildered, for it look-
ed as though he had left the town behind
him.

Then, there was the sound of following
footsteps, close at hand, and before he could
turn, a crushing blow was aimed at his un-
protected head, while a long shaft of light
shot from the suddenly opened slide of a dark
lantern.

lancing
(fi( off in

CHAPTER III.
THE GIRL ON THE LEDGE.

THE Kid from Kirby was no novice in
such matters, and instinct served him well in
the pinch.

One arm be cast upward, defending his
head as well as he was able, but that guard
would have come too late had he not at the
same time closed the joints of his knees, and
as it were shut himself up.

In this way it happened that the force of
the blow fell upon the hollow of his hand,
forcing back that member upon the crown
of his head, but doing no great damage.

Before the weapon could be withdrawn
his fingers closed upon it, and then he was
up and doing.

He wrenched the club away from the man
who held it, and bounding lightly to one side,
cast it straight at the lantern.

There was a jingle of breaking glass, and

a hoarse curse, as the light was extinguish-
ed, and then he was striking out, left and
right, at the shadowy forms he could dimly
see around him.
‘ They had evidently anticipated an easy
victory, and were not prepared for such a.
prompt and vigorous defense. There was a
prize in his pockets worth the fightin r for,
and if there had been half a chance not oubt
they would have done their very best to win
it; but the stranger hit quick. and he hit
hard. Whenever he struck a blow a man
went down. In as brief a time as it takes to
tell it he had vanquished the enemy, and
that without receiving any damage him-
self.

With the work in hand completed the Kid
did not wait for the chance to do it all over
again. He gave one look about him and
saw where the lights of Boot Jack were
twinkling, and then hastened away at a
pace that took him rapidly from the spot.
By the time the roughs had staggered to
their feet and gathered their wits sufficient-
ly about them to be ready for a renewal of
the fray their intended victim was stepping.
into the Lion Hotel.

The fame of his exploits at the saloon
had preceded him, and he was received
withagreat deal more cordiality than he
had expected. For the first time in a long
while he enjoyed the luxury of a fairly good
bed, and though as a matter 'of precaution
he placed his fortune under his pillow, and
laid a serviceable-looking revolver alongside
of it, his slumbch were not disturbed.
When morning came he was wide awake,
and ready for business.

Wealth had an ameliorating effect on him.

He scrubbed his face until it shone again,
brushed off the dirt from his clothing, and
combed his rebellious locks till they gave
some show of decency and order.

Then, he made his way to the breakfast
table, and found Charlie Turner occupied a
chair immediately opposite to him.

I The little gambler was not too proud to
own acquaintanceship, and nodded genially

 

"

 

 
   

  
 

  
  
 
  
  
 
  
 
  
 
  

  
 
  
   
 
  
  

  

  

* “how the land lay.

  
   
 
 

  
 
  
 
   
 

‘ 4

Kirk? King, the

' in
i

on from» Kirby.

'.. _-.'\ >91,“ -

 

 

at the meeting, but there was very little said
until the labors of the table were practi-
cally over.

Then, it was the Sport from Denver who
opened the C(lllVCl‘SflllOll.

“ You got here all right, I reckon. After
you had gone it struck me it would have

een just as well if I had offered to walk
this way myself. Folks think there is a
gang around Boot Jack, and I shouldn’t
wonder if there Was. Now and then they
find a man with his pockets turned inside
out. It never happens unless the job is
worth the doing, and if they had struck you
last night they would have made a rich
haul.”

“Yer level right; but it happened ther
other way. I struck them; an’ after that
that war nothin’ ter be said. It war fun
amazin' ter hear ’em drap. Too dark ter
see, but I could jest imagine.”

"Hello!
all. It’s the first time on record where they
failed to make the riflie when they tried it
on. And you didn’t get asight at them?
Pit , that. How did the thing go ?”.

ithout much waste of words the Kid re—
lated his little adventure, which was listen-
ed to with a great deal of interest if looks
went for anything.

“ I guess you are of full age and able to

' take care 0 yourself,” was the lau hing
remark of the sport as the history closed.

" That turned out all right, but keep an
eye peeled that they don’t come back on you
to get even for the thumping. They will
have it into their fool heads you can’t shoot
because you didn’t draw.”

, "Which are whar they’ll git left, bad.
I’m est a leetle bashful in a strange place,

I but don’t allow no galoot kin git ther
drop on me, an’ when do out loose—go
’way snakes!"

“Good thing to keep that in view, for
you will like as not have several chances
- to put it in practice. For a new man you

did seem to manage to stir up the high
'- and mi hty with a good, long pole. Vance
is. all ght if you don’t r'ile him up; but
'vfhat ever sent you to bucking against the
gocitor when there Wa’n’t a cent to be made

‘?l’ V

y“Oh, I didn't like ther looks ov his col-
lar, an’ I knowed we’d hev ter hev it sum
day, so I th‘ort I might ez well git ther bulge
on him at ther jump off, an’ sorter take his
measure.”

“ Well,you didn’t getit, b a long chalk,
if you think that is t e way 6 usually per-
forms.” '

“Mebbe yes, an’ mebbe no, but I’ll be
‘iookin' out fur him now, an’ of I hedn’t let
,him know I,war around he might hev found
‘lme some day when I warn’t lookin’ fur him.
{This 'way, you bet,I’ll be keepin’ both eyes
open, an’ ther drop all ready."

Charlie looketh him sharply.

“For a stranger in: the gates I swear you
are piling it up a little more rapid than most

  
 
 
 

Vance Ullman will hardly be 'our friend,
. the doctor willbe your foe,an the Round-
ers, who had the [little scrap with ‘you last
night, will be apt to camp right own on
.your trail. Team to me you didn’t leave
1- rsolf much room to make friends in.
ty much all of Boot Jack belon sone
pkoe or the other. There are only a ew of
.‘us sports who go as we please, and have
nough to do, fighting things out among our-
selves, without taking up for a stranger.
Don't you think it would bee. good move to
go on to the next town?” » 4

“Thankee, pard. You mean well, but I
don’ltoaee it in tlIiose laml s. Whel:I I stfiike
, ; epoes genera ystayrig tw ere
a5: up ag’in tell I make or break. (0v
r his I'been most frequent doln’ ther, latter,
"but Boot Jack seems to offer a openin’, an’
I‘ll-W'uk it fur what it’s w'uth.”

" All right, old man. I thought it would
Jae friendly to give an a sort of warnin

Iy can’t say but what

myonr pluck, though I can't swear to ad-

ringfiyour jud most. If you last long
Mug ,perbaps ’11 see you later. Salons.”
 Sport from Denver bad no great e-
site to promenade the town arm-in-arm with
the’new arrival, and noddln

_.s about his business, w e. the dun-
??edthoml>arhisleisura., , A, ‘
was. the onlymsa who '

So they did go for you, after ,

men would think was good for health.‘

jauntil slid ‘

 
 
   
   
   

 

him at the table, and when he went swag-
gering out into what was called the office,
the few men there gave him a cold nod or
two, While Billy Johnson. who looked afler
the Register, leaned over the counter with a
pen in his hand and a dubious sort of a
smile on his face as he remarked:

” We didn’t get your name last night, and,
if you please, will you put it right there.
We’ll try each other for a week—cash in ad-
vance, according to our regular custom—
and if all things are serene, then we’ll hope
to count you in regular for the Lion."

The Kid from Kirby did not seem at all
surprised at the double-headed request, and
taking the pen, signed, in a bold and rather
sprawling hand:

“KIRK KING, Tun KID FROM Kmuv.”

Then he paid his bill for the week, and
for the present was free of the house.

He waited for no further remarks, how-
ever, but strolled on out into the street,
where he stood for a moment as though un-
decided. and then struck off at along, swing-
ing pace, which soon carried him out of the
town.

The trail soon took a turn upward, and he
followed it like one who, without having
any very intimate acquaintance with it,
knew where he was going.

Finally, the trail grew narrow, and wound
around a perpendicular bluff, which towered
a hundred feet or more above his head, and
as it trended upward at every step it was
not long before the precipice at his left be-
gan to assu‘meaformidable height. Olin .
ing to the side of the rock, the path was onfy
passable for horsemen, or persons on foot,
and was really none too safe for them. .

" An elegant place fur a lay-out,” he
thought, as he lanced over at the abyss.

" It ain’t like y a flood will ever ketch ’em
up ‘hyer, but it would be dog-gonad on‘
healthy for git ther habit ov walkin’ in a. fel-
ler's s eep. Wonder ef I’ll find ther boss at
home?"

A light thud almost at his feet caused him
to look down first, and then up.

Some one had cast a pebble from above,
and he heard a low chuckle at the sudden--
ness with which he had been aroused from
something like a reverie. ,

” Ye'r’ thar, are ye, Little Mischi’f? Reck-
on you war lookin for me.”

The erson called ” Little Mischief " stood
on ale ge that was fully twenty feet above
the trail, and so narrow it looked almost im- '
possible to retain a. footin g on it. ,

Y,et she stood there fearlessly, though it
seemed as if a misstep must mean certain
death. ,

“ She ” was a irl just verging on women-
hood, and missed little of beingp. beauty.

Her eyes were a blue so deep that at a lit-‘
tle distance they seemed black, and her hair,
which hung over her shoulders in a tangled
mass of curls, was a dark chestnut. She was
dainty of feature and limb, but face and
figure gave promise of the rare development
which was soon to come. ’

" Can’t say that I was looking foryou, and
I am sure I didn't want to see you, for it
strikes me you are what they call bad medi-
cine. Have you lost your grub stake. and
comeback to get another one? Because, if

on havo, you can take yourself off again.
That was the last in the box, and if we don’t
have an extra good streak soon,.dad and I
can 0 starve. " i '

“ ot quite so bad cz that, little woman.
Thar’s meal in ther sack, an’ bacon behind
{ther door, an’ it won’t run short while ther
Kid from Kirby knows how ter rustle fur
bread an’ meat. 1s ther old man up at thér
shanty?” ' ‘

What answer she would have given re-
mained unspoken, for suddenly there was a
dull report, and the girl threw up hergrands
and dropped downward from the ledg . .

It was all so sudden that the Kid from
Kirby might well be pardoned for being
takenhnawares. There was just time for
him to think it was certain death for both of
them, and thenv’he agreed out his arms, and
bfi'acle‘d himself fort e almost instantaneous
s 00 . ' A “

 ensures. 1v.
. WINE ms any. .

 

  
   

BY. GUM

  

 

r... id“ vebsenabelle.

pliment to say she was the handsomest wom
man in Boot Jack.

The town was more highly favnretl than
the most of frontier camps, for half a dozen
of the responsible citizens of the place had
their wives and daughters there. and more
than one of them would have attracted at-
tention in Eastern circles.

But Miss Miriam was neither a wife nor a
daughter of any resident of the place, so far

’as known, but for some weeks had been

boarding at the Lion, and quietly pursuing
a quest about which the average citizen had
found out very little.

In the line of business she had interview-
cd, and was willing to interview, all sorts of
characters, but about her acquaintances and
friends she was known to be “ choicey.”

Among her friends however, she seemed
to number Doc Andrews.

Some trifling ailment, when she first came,
had caused them to meet, and when he was
done calling professionally he continued his
visits without objection.

If the doctor was at all rattled by his in-
terview with the Kid from Kirby he did not
show it when he called on Miss Miriam, a.
half hour later.

It was not a formal call, either.

He had the run of the house, although he-
only took an occasional meal there; and he
seemed to be wandering aimlessly throu h a.
room which served as parlor and wait ng-
room, when he met her.

“ Another stranger in the town,” was his,
casual remark, as he took off the hat which
up to that minute he had carelessly allowed
to remain on his head.

“ He hardl ' looks like a man it would be-
worth yourw ile to see; but, who knows?"

“ You had no talk with him, then, I sup-

one?”

“ Very little, and what there was of it
hardly was the style I would care to repeat.
You might think it did not redound to my
credit.”

He laughed as he spoke, and yet there was
something about the laugh which said the re-
membrance of the conversation was not al-
together pleasant. -

“ He certainly'did not get very far into
your good graces—is he still living ?"

“ He is, thou h I am not sure he ought to. '

be. Whether e will continue to draw
breath will depend somewhat, or a’ great
deal, on the result of our next meeting. Ad‘
interim, I thought if you wanted to speak
with him you might as well be hunting him

“ There mustbe something promising in
his appearance or you would not have been
so considerate. Thank you. I will try and
see him in the morning. What is his.
name ?” ' ~

“ Probably he has none he would care to'
own until he reaches some land where sher-
iffs never come. So far, he is known only‘
b the self-announced title of “ the Kid from
I irby.” I left him at the Tiger. If he has.
good luck there, he will probably gravitate}
this way before morning. It is just as likely
though, thathe will got himself perforated,
and be ready to make the journey to the hill
at da break.” s

“ hanks for telling me, and I will try to
look him up, since I am sure you must have
reasou’to believe it may be worth my while.”

“Even that is ahttle stronger than I _

would be willing to put it. He lookalike an
old‘ timer, who has been the rounds. That
is all I can say for him. In the course of
his wanderings he may have stumbled across
one Hugh Oathcait, or heard something in
regard to him." .

“ But you did not care to ask him?”

” Frankly, no. He looks like a man who-
would answer a lady freely and frank] , but
would be mum as a clam to». man. t the
same time. I would not advise you to put too
much faith in anything he ma say, provid-
ed you have an interview. ' hese fellows-
can invent the most extraordinary yarns on-

the very 'smallest provocations; and give '

them such an air of plausibility as to deceive.
the Old Boy himself. ‘ I am really curious to
know what answer he will give you in, case-
you meet." ' ‘ ‘ ‘ ’

. “ You shall know; land, oh,_if ' he should 1
be able to put me onlthe“ right track, Iishall

w h
iii-E 5

 

 

 

      
     
    
        
     
     
         
  

 

    
  
    

 

  

. --za~nno~‘fwflmnm.uv , :,. .. e. .

 

 



‘ KirkivKi‘ng', the ‘h/Iangfrom

  

litany;

 

5k

 

 

There was no more jest in her tones as she
spoke, and the bow of the doctor as he re-
ceived this promise,‘ was grave and even
Solemn. Perhaps he was discounting the in
telligence he expected she might receive.

“ I know you believe there is no hope,
but Icannot bring myself to that view. It
cannot, must not be, and- I will never give
over the search while life lustsaud I am able
to drag one foot after another, over the seem-
ingly hopeless trail.”

" Hopeless it is, if I must tell the truth.
Of that fact no one can judge better than
myself. Over all the region named by you I
have had men searching for traces of Hugh
Catheart. All the answers save one Were
alike. No such person had ever been knowu
there."

“ And that one?”

Breathlessly she asked the question, and
then turned away as though expecting to
receive a blow. ‘

“No such name had he ever heard; but
there was a man who, in some sort. answer-
ed the description. He went South with a
party—and every man of that outfit is be-
lieved to have died on the trail.”

"Then, Hugh was not of the party. I
will not believe it, even though one who
swore to being a survivor should tell it.
And yet—where was the outfit seen? Which
way did they go? I lnust know more, if I
have to follow the same trail myself."

She spoke with some exfiitement, and yet
there was a. coolness of purpose behind it all
which told she was uttering no idle boast.

“ Whither they were bound was unknown,
except that they were turned Southward.
They may have been bound for Mexico;
they may have been bent on prospecting
some of the mountain fastuesses which have
so long been a delusion and a snare. They
are like a few grains of sand on the desert,
a few drops of water in the ocean. They
have been swallowed up, and only by chance
will they ever be found again. "

“ I will be that chanco, then. Through
me fate will work out its strange ends.”

“ I do not think you fully realize what it
is you are rashly ven'ing to undertake. It is
atask far beyond your strength. I hesitated
to tell you what little I had heard for fearit
might , awaken some vain hope. Had I
known the wild scheme it seems to have en-
gendered I should certainly have kept it all
myself "

“And earned an everlasting hate had I
once learned the truth—as some day I should
have done. I have all along felt I was mak-
ing no mistake when I gave you my confi-
dence, and now I am more certain than ever.
‘Thanksa thousand times. I have at last found
something tan ible, something from which
to take a secon departure. ‘ At last, I know
which way to turn if I would be doing
something. And that is better than the
forced inaction of the past weeks. Where is
this man to be found, and who was he? 1
must see him myself; must be certain there
is no little detail wanting from his story,
which might throw some light on this dark
mystery of my life.” ’ . .

“ I am afraid you are destined to be balk-
ed at every step. The man W813 resident of
Gordon’s Gulch, but he left t ere the ve
day he told his story to my informant. His
name I did not learn. Had the news been as
favorable as it was the otherway I would
have been thankful for even as much as I

0t )9

“Then, to Gordon’s Gulch I will go. It
cannot be a worse place than this.”

“It may be a great deal worse. There,
you have your fnends all to make, while
here—you know the‘re is at_least one who
would die for you. It you must know
more, trust the matter in my hands. If need

. .be I will start tomorrow.”

" Hush! No more. of that. I cannot.
'must not hear it. It is my work, and I will
allow no one to share it unless it is as a paid
servitor.” .

“But, after my humble fashion, I have
been sincerely striving to share it with you
in the past, and if you will give me the right
to do~so,ywill be only too gladto make itthe
work of my life in the future; at least, until
.;an ending of the search’ is. reached.” ‘

. .“What! Again. ‘vlt shows how little I

yer}. Gohnovi'. P Such moms from

pain a ter w an ave to. vernal;
m -.ififisithan insult.

isoul,‘ yes.

‘ dozen times before, in Hugh’s letters.

 

  
 

Her anger was very real, and his penitence
seem deep and tru'e.

“Pardon me this one more time, and I
will leave it in your hands to say when I
may speak again.”

“I will try to forgive you, but you must
leave me now. To-morrow morning I will
try and see you, and without a doubt I will
be on the way to the Gulch before night."

“ I will accept my dismissal for the pre-
sent, and perhaps by to-morrow you will be
able to look at things in a different light.
Forgive meif I have ofl’ended. Good-night."

He spoke a little sadly, and yet with an
air of offended dignity which he intended
her to remember. The doctor was not al-
together unlearned as to the hearts of wo-
men, and he saw it was time to end the in-
terview.

Miriam Cathcart offered no objection to
his going, and if the doctor had known how
little he entered into her thoughts that night
he might have been ready to admit his case
was as hopeless as it seemed.

 

CHAPTER ‘v.
A DANGEROUS EXPLORATION.

IT was near to daybreak when Miriam
actually fell asleep, and that probably ac
counted for the fact that she was the last of
the boarders at the Lion to come to her
breakfast. , ‘

She was somewhat calmer now', and ate
with something like relish. By reason of
thinking all night that things ought to be
after a certain fashion she had almost come
to believe they must be so.

Forthat reason she was calmly getting
herself ready for the work before her, and
not a soul would have read in her face the
resolves she had just been making.

She had not forgotten the announcement
with which the doctor had opened the con-
Versation the night before. Billy Johnson
was to a certain extent in her confidences,
and to him she turned after completing» the

meal. -

“The Kid from Kirby? Why, bless my
Here’s his name on the register,
and if you had been an hour sooner you
would have had a chance to see him in all
his lory. He turned things upside downrat
the iger last night, and we corralled a week
in advance from him this morning before he
went out to graze. When he comes back I'll
let you know, and send him into the parlor
if he’s sober. He looks like a man who has
been the rounds, and ‘would tell you all he
knew for the asking of it."

From ‘force of habit he turned the register
around, and put his fore finger on the last
name written there.

The eyes oi Miriam followed the pointing
index, until she had made out what was
written. Then, she uttered a cry of de-
li ht. ' . r

g“ Oh, it cannot be; and yet it must. Kirk
King! Lknowthat name. I have seenIitia
t s
the man ' above all others I wish to see.
You are sure he will return i” , ,

“Just as sure as one can be of anythin
under a flush royal. Boot Jack has treats
him too well for him to sour on it straight
off. But right when he will come I ain’t so
certain. I don’t know the nature of the
beast, you understand. He may, come "in
like a. judge, with the fresh glory of a plug
hat and a b'iled shirt; or,‘ he may come
howling drunk, with all the rag-tag‘ and
bobtail of the town at his heels. These
rough and ready sports are mighty uncer-
tain about their style, and it’s just as the
tune hits them." I .

“ hen, I had better find him at once. and
make sure. Thank you, a thousand times,
and if he don’t lead me too questionable a
dance I think I will look for him myself.”

” Oh, hold on! don’t do that. I can send
a boy out, ”

“ Thanks again, but! won’t put you to the ,

trouble; And. besides, he might suspect a
trick, or something of that kind, and not
colme at all. Better go and prospect my-
“ H V >
She Was not so. anxio
Gordon's Gulch.
was on as good , __

‘ ‘ Instf v»: pillow

 

 

      

  
  
   

She doul) ed ha ~

,her stroll in the direction indicated by thei’

intention of stopping. and Miriam began to:

. .her the previous evening.
us novV‘to get It: ,

 
 

 

  
   
   
   
   
   
  
  
    
  
   
   
  
  
   
   
   
 
  
   
  
 
  
  
   
  
  
 
    
  
   
  
   
  
 
  
 
  
  
   
   
  
    
   
   
   
   
      
 
   
  
 
   
       
      
 
      
     
  
   
         
        
   
      
    
  
  
  
 
  
   

lowed the direction supposed to have been -.,«
taken by the Kid from Kirby. t

It was not until fairly started that she
realized the delicacy of the undertaking. , ,

This was evidently not the Kirk King of ’, :9
Hugh C-ithcart's letters. eyen though it.
might be the same person. He seemed to
have strangely deteriorated, if the testimony
of the doctor and Billy Johnson was to be '1»
believed '

However, it might be possible to locate
him, and after that it would be time to de-
vise means for drawing him out without
actually herself entering one of the dens in
which he might have found refuge.

If he was in a place of standard reputa—
tion, like the Tiger Saloon, the task would
not present much difliculty.

But though she glanced to the right and
left as she made her way down the street,
nothing did she see of any stranger who an-
swered the description she had received of'
the Kid from Kirby. ‘

The saloon doors were all open, and for
the most part the bars were in sight, but
the few loungers belonged to the same old.
stock, with which she had gradually become ‘
familiar during her stay in the town.

As there was practically but one street in ‘
Boot Jack, for all the places of business
were gathered on the main avenue, it was:
not hard to complete the inspection, and she‘
might have returned to the hotel quite (fit
couraged had it not been for a chance rev
mark, overheard when she had nearly reach;
ed the end of town.

“ Reckon he‘s gone up on therhill, yon-
der, ter look ther landscape o‘er. After ther
way he piled things up at ther Tiger last ,
night he'll think he owns all outdoors, an’. ;
he may be ivantin’ ter see how much ov ther.
earth he kin afford ter give away."

“ Give away nothin’,” retorted another. , .
“He ain’t that kind. He‘ll git all he kin,
an’ keep all he gits. Bet yer he’s gone ter '
take a look at ther Copper Bottom claim
Ef he buys inter that he’ll whoop it up fu
the doctor, an’ them as owns ther Oriental. .-
Thar's bin some janglin’ heretofore, but of
he gits inter it thar‘will be perfect war, an‘ "
don’t yer furgit it." ;

These words ~ seemed to apply to none",
other than the Kid from Kirby, and sund
looks made it certain in which way he ha '
gone. .

Miriam was a good pedestrian. and had
frequently taken long walks unattended say
by the revolver she always carried. Though}
the speakers saw her as she passed they
thought nothing of it when she continued:

 

 

S

talk, and finally passed out of sight, over
the crest of the rise in' front of them. . 
When she had reached a spot where she '
could command a further view of thotrail ’
she saw in the distance a man striding alon . 3
and as well as she could make out he looke I
like the object of her search. .
It was, in fact, Kirk King. As she fol
lowed him with her eyes he turned said
from the broader route he had been put
suiililg. and began the ascent of a narrow

pat . .
He walked like a man who had no

present

doubt the utilit of followin him further
She knew he ha left the r which led tag
the Copper Bottom claim, or mine. and!
looked'ns though he might be. bent on spree-{5
pccting tour somewhere among the hills'aud?
gulches in the direction taken. \ . i ,
To follow further seemed of no - use; he
was too far away to call to; and the chances..
ofsuccess were too uncertain to attemptfufi‘
overtake him by running. She decided *
walk on until the branch from the roadway."s
reached, and then, if the case did not. 100
more hopeful, to return to the hotel, and; "
wait for his reappearance. l , ,
Of one thing she was certain. She wank)“
not start for Gordon's Gulch that day. 5*...
There were several hundred dyards to coy
before reaching what she had ecided shoui
be the limit of her stroll, and in t rat time,‘
hadthe first opportunit for the y tot
of Doctor Andrews. on what he had 0 _

  

  
  

  
   
  

  

    

 

  
  
   
 
  
  

.It wnsmot the first time the doctor , 
more, than vorged on that sentimental
sh begs, -n,to study’how she should'i‘n
" maisoneng eth ‘ wrinsz

  
   

6

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

He had been so kind and helpful to her in
her quest, he had been so earnest and yet so
modest in his suit, that she could not help
but have more than ordinary warmth in her
friendly feeling for him; but she knew he
could only be a friend, and nothing more.

She had promised to see him that morn-
ing; but now was sorry for it, because she
wanted to see Kirk King first of all. What
the latter would have to say might direct all
her movements, or bring this search to an
end altogether.

She inwardly decided that on reaching the
Lion again she would confess and avoid. In
other words, she would send an indefinite
sort of note, excusing herself from the en-
gagement for the present.

Thinking all this over she turned involun
tarily into the side path, and followed it for
some little distance before looking up to note
her surroundings.

The track led directly upward until it was
lost against the sky, appearing to go, right
on into nothingness.

This could not be so, since Kirk King had
gone on before, and it struck her at once it
had only bent around the side of the cliff.

Curiosity urged her forward, while com-
mon sense told her she might as well stop
and retrace her steps.

While she hesitated she heard the distant
re ort of a gun.

t was no strange sound to hear, and yet it
startled her. The Kid from Kirb was in
that direction, and it might mean anger or
death to him. Without any great amount of
belief that anything serious had happened,
or that she could be of any great assistance
if there had, she hastened forward, though
in cooler moments she might have hesitated
to explore the somewhat dangerous path be-
fore her.

And then, scrambling down over the steep
face of the cliff, more like a monkey than a
man, came a strange figure, that would have
looked more wild beast than human had it
not been for the gun it carried, and which
leaped lightly into the path immediately be-
fore her.

 

CHAPTER VI.
ans AT LAST.

THE Kid from Kirby had a quick eye and
a strong arm, and it was well for him, and
well for the girl, that he had both.

It would require wonderful skill or super-
human luck to prevent both of them drop-
ping over the precipice; and even an un-
broken fall to the narrow trail on which he
stood must of itself amount to her almost
certain death.

The suspense could be measured by sec-
onds only.

The Kid eased himself from the shock as
he caught her firmly in his arms, swayed
stoutly inward, and the two came down to-
gether. but at a safe distance from the edge.

For an instant both lay motionless.

Then, Kirk King staggered to his feet, and
as he rose his revolver came out, and he
peered around as well as he could with his
blurring sight, in search of whoever it was
had fired the craven shot.

As far as he could make out there was no
one in View, and in the glance about him he
realized the spot could hardly be in range of
the assassin, who was no doubt shut off by
the overhanging walls.

Once certain that he was safe from attack
and his attention was turned to the girl.

Unless badly wounded before falling he
was sure she was unharmed, though she
might have fainted from fright. Ashe stoop-
ed over her he saw the faint line of some-
thing like a scratch upon her neck, and was
reassured. It was only a graze, and not a
very bad one, after all.

He raised her head from the ground where
it had rested, and carefully pressed aflask to
her lips, only allowing a few drops of the
liquid contents to fall between her half—
parted lips.

He did this several times, meanwhile chaf—
ing her wrists and temples, and narrowly
watching her face for signs of returning
consciousness.

Before long they were visible.

The vanished color returned, and her eyes
opened.

The first thing she saw was the homely
face of Kiri; King, as he bent over her, and

,1 _ « . » » ‘ . wtatir'swnt..mMiriam“.-..it:'#:,=.[,,;.v.ératl.ia..§ms3i‘u9:x...g». «a... A  5 . .,  ...--e

 

h

an instant later she realized she was resting
in his arms.

The position certainly had no charms, and
she drew herself away with an angry sniff,
propping her back against the rock, while
she stared at him in uncertain disgust.

Then, she remembered, and shot a glance
upward in search of the ledge from which
she had fallen, and from there her gaze
roved along the face of the cliffs until it
ended at the blue sky which marked their
trace-line.

She gave her head a shake of weary dis-
gust.

“ I saw him,” she whispered, more to her-
self than to her only auditor.

“ He was taking a resting aim, and I don’t
see how he came to miss. At that distance
I wouldn’t have done it.”

Her hand went up to her neck as she
ceased speaking, for she had just felt the
slight sting of the graze, and was hardly
able to comprehend exactly how badly she
was hurt.

“Don’t worry, leetle woman; it’s only a
flea-bite, and won’t sp’ile yer beauty. But
of I could ’a’ got a. sight at him when he was
pullin’ trigger, you bet I’d held a. heap sight
straighter. Who was he?”

“Crazy Coon. if it was not his ghost. I
thought he was dead. Who could have
imagined he would shoot at me? And if——”

She came toa full stop, and looked around
more dazed than ever. For the first time
she fully realized that she had faced another
danger as deadly as the bullet of Crazy
Coon.

“ Does seem kinder queer,” said King, re-
assuringly.

He saw she was beginning to comprehend
it was a double danger from which she had
escaped, and could understand the return
shock the knowledge would give her.

“ Never mind that, though. Scramble
up and see whether you are hurt. I don’t
believe you are, an’ ef you ain't thar’s no
time fur foolishness. I want ter see ther old
man soon 07. I kin.”

“ The old man, as you call him, can wait.
Do you think I ar‘n worse than I look that I
cannot show common gratitude? I'll take
back more than half I have said against you.
You saved my life.”

“Looks kinder that way,” answered the
Kid, with a glance upward to the spot'from
which she had fallen.

“ But thar's no call ter faint over it. You
wouldn‘t ’a’ hed me do ther other thing?"

“ Scarcely, for I'm not tired of life yet, by
a long ways. And I'm not going to faint.
either. I’m just going to thank you ever so
much; and if the chance ever comes to do it,
I‘ll repay the favor with compound interest.
You are sure you are not hurt yourself?”

" Dead sure. When a butterfly came
flutterin’ down an’ lit on my thumb, I jest
laughed an’ flung it up in ther air ter take
wing ag‘in.”

“ A pretty solid butterfly! I can't believe
you altogether, and yet, it must be so.
Why, when I had fallen twenty—five or
thirty feet I must have weighed a ton.
\Vhat sort of Hercules can you be?"

“Ask the old man. He can tell you bet-
ter than I. He knows me of old, and he be-
lieves in me. If he hadn’t he wouldn’t have
given me his last shiner for a grub stake,
knowin’ jest how I'd invest it. But I want
ter make up my accounts with him, an‘ git
back ter business. Now that I’ve struck a
streak :I’ll work Boot Jack fur what it’s
w’uth, an’ ef I don't turn it inside out I want
ter know why not.”

“ Come, then. He can thank you better
than I, and you will let him do it, too,”

In spite of what he had said, Kirk King
had not been altogether unscathed, and it
was as well he had been allowed time in
which to recover. He was almost himself
again by this, and was about to lead the way
when a sudden shadow, and the slight sound
of a low footfall, caused him to turn sudden-
ly, his hand to his hip.

If he was looking for the Crazy Coon of
whom the girl-woman had spoken he was as
much disappointed as he was surprised,
since the breathless person who fluttered for-
ward was a young woman.

Of course, the young woman was Miriam
Cathcart. She came in haste, and if she had
looked terrified there would have been noth-
ing strange about it.

 

The queer looking being who had leaped
into the path in front of her, and barred her
upward way, caught suddenly at her wrist-
with hislong, bony fingers, and as she drew
her right hand away they settled on her left,
while he bent forward and stared into her
face.

Miriam knew without telling that the per—
son before her was a lunatic, but she did not
altogether lose her courage and presence of?
mind.

Her right hand was free, and it darted to
her bosom in search of the weapon she
always carried there.

Few sane men would have overlooked the-
motion, but it passed unheeded.

“Not her, not her!” mumbled the mad-
man.

“I held true and saw her fall, but I
thought it might be her ghost. Pass on, and
if you come across a girl lying on the trail
don’t heed her. She isa female devil with
the eye that is evil. G0 and forget that you
have met Crazy Coon.”

He flung her hand away, and darted down
the steep path without a backward glance.

Miriam had her revolver in her hand, and
if she had been the least flurried b the
strange adventure she would have use it.

“ Who did he take me for? What has he
done ‘2” she murmured, as for a little she
watched his retreat.

“ Was it all a fancy of his crazy brain. or
has there been a murder committed? Per-
haps I can be of use. And the affair, whatever
it was, may have brought Kirk King to a
halt. I will go on and see.”

Thus it happened that she came around
the sharp turn just as the Kid from Kirby
and the young lady he had saved were about
to leave the spot where they had so uncere—
moniously come together.

She recognized the man on sight, though
she had never seen him before. This was at.
least the Kirk King of the Lion register.
Whether he was the Kirk King she hoped’
and believed it was remained to be found.
out.

She came forward fearlesaly, looking from
one to the other.

“ You are safe, then,” she said, addressing
the young girl.

“ I have but just met a strange looking-
being, and from his wild talk feared he had
murdered one of my own sex. Your cool-
ness reassures me. There cannot be another‘
who was his victim, and I am glad to know
my fears were groundless."

“They might not have been, though, if
my friend, here had not been near. You
met Crazy Coon, no doubt; and if I am still
living it is no fault of his save that he did

not shoot as true as he hoped for. And he-
does not generally miss his mark.”
“He did not know it, though. He took

me for your ghost when he first saw me.”

“Blessing, then, he did not care to try
conclusions on a spirit. It was a dangerous
meeting, and you ought to be thankful you
escaped. With him wandering about these-
hilis this is no safe place for you, and if you
are wise you will take your walks in some
other direction for the futdre "

“I will take your advice, no doubt, though.
I really think he was in more danger than I.
He came upon me quite suddenly, and by
the time he had made up his mind what to.
do I was debating whether to leave him
alive or dead. It was the escape of my life.
Ought The idea of having such a corpse to-
dream over! I cannot be too thankful that
I held my hand. Are you Kirk King?”

She turned abruptly, and shot her question:
at the man Who had been silently studying
her face.

“That’s what they call me when I‘m at
home; but down hyerabouts they’ve made it
inter ther Kid frum Kirby fur short. You
lookiu’ fur me?"

“ I was, which was how I happened to be‘
here. Did you ever know a man by the
name of Hugh Catheart?”

The quostion seemed to cause no surprise,
and the answer was slowly, deliberately
dropped out.

“ Hugh Cathcart? Sorter seems 97. though

I ought ter recommember a name like that, ,

an’ yit, I won’t swear toit. Friend ov yourn,
was he?”

“Man alive! don’t trifle with me. Say yes
or not There ought to be no doubt about,

your answer.”

 

 

 

 

 

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

7

 

 

“ Level your head is, an’ mebbe it’s yes I
orter say, an’ mebbe, no. Thar war ayoung
man, now. back some two er three year,
thet I’m suspectin’ orter answered to that
name, but he never said so. You think I
orter give his affairs away to a stranger?”

“It must have been he, for he mentioned
your name a dozen times in his letters, and
always as his best friend. Tell me something
of him, quick! I have been waiting so long
1 am dying to know.”

“ He kin beat that, though. That that
young man are dead.”

CHAPTER VII.
TWO OLD mans.

“DEAD!”

Miriam seemed overpowered by the an-
nouncement, and just that one word was
wrung from her lips before she had stagger-
ed back to the wall of rock and was resting
her shoulder against it while she stared at
the Kid in a dazed sort of way.

“ ’Pears ter hit yer hard, mum. War he a
relashun 0v yourn?”

“ My—my husband!"

She spoke under her breath, and as though
she was communing with herself rather than
answering a question.

” Sorr , mum, ef so be be war ther man
you bin ooking fur, but ther truth got ter
he told ef it hits ther raw places ever so hard.
Ef he told you arything about me you must
know I never lie.”

“ Yes, yes, I know. But tell me more.
Where was he when he died? Under what
name was he passing? How did he come to
meet his death? Why did he stay in the
West when he had promised me to come
home? And why did he cease to write?
Surely he did not die until long after that?”

“ Not knowin’ when he wrote last I can’t
say about that part, but I reckon he passed
in his cheeks ’bout a year er more ago.
He war at Alasky when he went up ther
flume, an’ ther cause ov it war, he war shot.
I knowed him as Hart Thorne which he al-
lowed ter me wunst war not’ his right name,
an' him, an’ me, an’ another war pards down
that way in ther diggin’s.” .

The Kid from Kirby spoke very deliber-
ately, as if weighing his words; though if
these were facts he was telling it did not
seem that it should require much‘ reflection
to get at them.

“ How did you come to suspect his name
was Hugh Catheart?”

“ Wal, he war gittin’ letters from some
one back East, an’ we never see ’em, fur he
hed some sorter ’rangement with ther post-
master, or somebody, an’ one time I found
one 0v ’em a—floatin’ round. which he hed
dropped it; an’ ther name on it war that,
same. I didn’t say nothin', fur it warn't
my chip, an’ I didn’t keer of my pard called
hisself Beneriick Arnold, er Abe Lincum,
’long ez he war square ter tie to—which he
seemed ter war." ,

“And who shot him?”

“ Now ye‘r' askin" whatI can’t answer. I
warn't thar. Him an’ me hed kinder split
off, ’long ov a run ov bad luck, an’ he Went
on ter Alasky, whar I hev heard he struck
it rich. An’ then thar war some land ov a
racket, an’ ther galoot what told me didn‘t
seem ter hev ther rights ov it, but I allow
it war s’uthin’ ’bout a gal, though why he
come inter it Icouldn’t see. An’ they plant-
ed him in style, an' somebody jumped his
claim, which shortly after petered out, an’
thar you have it.”

“But was nothing done about it? Was
there no trial, no showing whether it was a
just deed, or a cold-blooded murder?”

“ Oh, they both dropped together, an’
thar war a lively ruction at ther fun’ral, fur
half ther camp took sides one way, an’ half
ther camp ther other; an’ thar war halfa
dozen more stiflEs ter be planted on ther day
follerin’. A man might git ther drop on
my pard, but he couldn't pull trigger afore

Hart would have him lined. Very neat work -

it war, so they jest agreed that it served ‘em
all right. an’ let ther thing quit."

Miriam covered her face with her hands
and remained silent for a minute or so.”

When she looked up again her e es were
red, though there were no traces o tears in
them.

“ Do not think for a moment that I doubt

- I. . , , 7.: ' v .- ..
-=,_='«,,v',.g..' W, .‘w 1- r.,a:'\r~-*1‘ ._2L!~

 

.  "‘7": 'L“'  ' V.

the truth of what you have been telling,
but I must know it all beyond peradventure,
and in such shape as to be able to convince
the rest of the world. Can this thing which
you have been telling me be proved?”

“It might be, an’ then ag’in, it mightn’t.
You kin prove it all about Hart Thorne,
right ernough; but whar Hugh Cathcart
comes in at are what it mightn’t be so easy
ter make plain. Icouldn’t swear to it; an'
of I couldn’t it don't look ez though thar
war much room fur ther rest 0v menkind.”

“ But some one in Alaska must have
known. His letters?”

“ Reckon he’d stopped writin’ ter his gal
in ther East afore that, an' he didn’t git none
frum nobody else. Ef he did they war to a
man by ther name of Thorne. It ain't ez
plain sailin’ ez might be ”

“True, true. It may never be proved,
even to the satisfaction of myself.
was that clue at Gordon’s Gulch. I will
have to follow it up. Unless I do I will
never rest satisfied; and yet, somethin tells
me that this man holds the true solut on of
the mystery of Hugh's disappearance”

“ Gordon’s Gulch? \Vhich clue war those?”
asked King, showing more interest than he
hadbefore manifested.

“It‘s a likely place ter hear ov him; an’
of you can't hear 0v him you kin ov most
anybody else. They all seem ter git through
thar, ’t least wunst 1n a year.”

“The clue was only a trifle, and yet I
thought it might amount to something. A
man answering to the description I gave of
Hugh Cathcart passed through there with a
party going South. Nothing was ever heard
of him again. It was only chance he was
noticed, and no one knew his name or destin-
ation. They tell me he is no doubt dead.
Even the postmaster who handled those let-
ters is dead. Death always seems to stop
the trail.”

“Most ginu’rally docs, out hyer. Some
wants it to, an’ some don‘t; but it don’t seem
ter make no differen’s. They dies all ther
same. Sorry fur ye, mum, but you got ther
best I hed in ther shop. I‘m stoppin’ in Boot
Jack, now, an’ ef I kin think ov arything
else I’ll give it to yer straight. I kinder got
a appointment ter day, an’ onless yer wants
tcr come along I'll hev tcr be leavin’ yer
now.”

“Thank you for your kindness so far.
Perhaps it would be as well if I listened to
no more at present. It takes my strength
away from me. I will see you again, and
ask you more about the life of the one you
call Hart Thorne. Till then, farewell.”

She turned with a wave of her hand, and
the Kid from Kirby bowed and said noth-
ing. '

Both of them seemed to have forgotten
the presence of the girl, who only a little be-
fore had been so deeply an object of interest.

She stood watching Miriam, listening to
her questions and Kirk King’s answers, but
never once hazardng a word. As the young
lady turned away she uttered something like
a sigh, and that was all.

“Might jest ez well not say nothin’ov this
yere interview to ther old man. Et‘ he hem-s
some’un war pryin’ an’ peekin’ ’round terv
day, nothiu’ ’ll convince him she won't be
back ter-morrer. An’ weemen folks, allers
’ceptin’ yerself, are mostly bad medicine fur
Dave Brady. Don’t furgit; I knowed him
0v old.”

“ Yes, yes, an’ I was glad you didn’t tell
her what I know you might have.”

“ What war that, little mischi’f‘?”

“That the name of the third pard was
David Brady. Am I not right?"

“ Right you are, though I don't know how

yer came ever ter ’spect it. Yer never see
me afore yisterday, an’ I dunno oz yer ever
heared ov me; an’ I’m bettin’ high Dave
never menshuned Hart‘s name in yer hear-
in'.”
” That is all so; but I knew it all the same.
Now, we had better be going. Da_ve may be
getting anxious; and if you have good news
for him the sooner he hears it the better.”

Side by side the two went up the trail,
turned a jutting rock, went on some dis—
tance, and then came to a cabin, perched in
the mountain side.

“Hyer we be!" exclaimed the Kid, as he
went softly through the door.

“Back ag’in, an’ I tole yer how I’d be
comln’. Ef thar ain’t a brass band an’ a

 

There.

 

torchlight percesshun it’s ’cause I didn’t give
Boot Jack chance ter freeze on to a here.”

There was a bed in one corner of the room,
and from it came a weak voice.

“ Luck didn’t play you any tricks, then?
It was the last chance m the box but I knew
you’d make the riflie or die tryin’ it. Tell
us the good news, old man ”

" Monst’rus easy to do that. I blowed in
fifteen ter make me solid with ther boys. an'
then tackled ther Tiger. Oh, lhithim ri ht
whar he lived, an' I bu’sted his den W de
open. I dunno but what I ’cumurlated a hull
carnerval 0v shootiu’ fur ther future. but
that don‘t count. I ot away with Vance
Ullman’s bank, an’ t er Rounders ez tried
ter do me up afterwards, an’ hyer's yer lcetle
pile. Count ther total an' gi‘mme half."

He threw down a bag of old and a thick
wad of bills as he finishet speaking, and
then sunk into a seat by the side of the bed,
watching with a grin the eager way in which
a slender white hand reached for the money.

“ It seems too good to be true,” went on
the man on the couch.

“ You are a true pard, if ever there was
one. This will set me on my feet again——
the half of it I mean. As soon as i get over
this cursed hole near my liver I’ll be out,
making things hum at the Copper Bottom,
and if they don’t hum I'll be able to ask the
reason why."

“ Ov course yer will. But I bin a—thinkin’
over what you tole me last night, an’ though
I ain’t a—yearnin' ter settle down hyer yit, till
you gits able ter be ’round, mebbe I better
take a hand in at the mine. I kin keep
things a-goin', an’ thar won’t be much dan-
ger ov it’s bein’ jumpedvlong ez thar’s a man
ter hold."

“ Good boy. You have put about ten
years of new life into me. I was gettin
away down in the dumps when you turned
up. Let me think it all over. It seems too
good to be true. Lill will get us some din-
ncr, and after that we will talk it up. If on.
ly poor Hart was here yet, we'd make things
hum after the fashion of the good old times.’

Kirk King caught at the name, thou h he
gave no outward sign of the interest he felt.

“ That’s so. 1’ve bin a-thinkln’ ov Hart
of‘fen 0v late. He was a mighty good pard
ter tie to, an’ it looks like I o’rter bin to his
fun’ral. You sure he’s dead ‘2”

“ Without a doubt. I have already told
you all that I know."

“ Pity, ez yer say. We got room fur him
right now.”

“ But I wouldn‘t have cared to trust him
with the last dollar in the chest. He never
knew when he was in luck, and the worse
his run was the harder he tried to buck

against it."
“ That’s what. Ef he hed knowed when

.ter stop I reckon he’d bin a-livin’ yit.”

“ Yes, and that reminds me. Did
anything of the man who potted me? '

“ 'I‘her doctor? You bet I did. An’ 1 laid
it onto him in fine shape. I war jest a-itch-
iu' ter read his pedigree, an’ ex he wouldn’t.
gi'mme no chance I made one. I knowed
we‘d hev tcr fight sooner er later, an' thar’s
'nothiu’ like startin’ in squar’.”

So as dinner was ready—for it was a very
simple one—King began to eat, and between
mouthfuls gave a description of his adven-
tures at the saloon and afterward.

I'le madca pretty fair story of it, and the
eyes of Dave Brady listened as he heard how
his friend had held t e drop on the doctor.

“But all the same,” he said, with a sigh,
“ I am afraid we must down him hard, or in
the long run he will kill us both. "

011 see

 

CHAPTER VIII.
A nanoer FOR A MURDER.

DAVE BRADY was in his bed, but he was
decidedly on the mend, and the si ht of the
wealth his pard had won the prece ing night
was about as good a medicine as he could
have.

The conversation given in the preceding
chapter has told the situation of affairs so
well it is not necessary to enter into a longer
explanation.

The Kid from Kirby had found him quite
incidentally. as it seemed. and had been in‘
trusted With his last dollar to try the des-
perate fortunes of the gaming-table for their
united interest.

   
   
 

,M M. 1. o

i.

8

 1‘ r.‘ v. . .', 

' Kirk matte Man "from Kirby.

 

 

    
 
   
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
   
 
   
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
   
     
      
    
    
    
   
   
    
 
     
      
     
    
        
  
           
     
      

Their conversation went on for awhile,
and men the division was made, carelessly,
and as though it was a thing of— no particular
moment. Each had a little fortune now at
his command, and between them they had a
mining property which. if Dave was to be
believed, might turn out a. veritable bonanza.

“ If they have jumped it, well and good,
but I ought to have heard it before this,”
said Brady, finally.

a

it would have been done long ago; but being
as I am living they will have to let it alone
for looks till they can have another back at
me. They were better friends than I thought
for. There art) a couple men holding it, but
all the some, Iwould just as soon you got
the rest of the boys together, if you can find
them, and look after it a little. Work may
as Well he going on, and when you see the
place you will know as well as I just what
ought to be done.”

“Funny e‘l“ I didn’t, long ez we worked
tergether. You give me ther lay ov ther
land an' I‘ll try an' find ther hole terrday,
, , un’ stmighten things up terqnorrow. Guess
~ ; I kin git time ter give yer another call, then,

an’ let yer know how ther game's runnin’.”
“ All right. Perhaps you had better take
the most of this coin along and use what you
need out of it. There's all I want there to
start me, and I don‘t want you spending
your wealth. I’m only too glad to give you
V ~ the half of the Copper Bottom to have you
' in with me.”

“ Not much, pard. T har’s streaks, an’

‘ tlmr‘s other Streaks. I can't clean draw
. outeu ther swim, an’ of I should strike one
ov them other ones I’d bufst ye down ter bed

. rock in no time, an’ you‘d be wuss off her

. when we started. You had a twenty then.”

" What ov it?" almost fiercely asked Dave

, Brady.

I“ We pulled together once before, and we
would have been pulling together all the
time if you hadn’t said you were hoodooing
my luck. For the man who saved my life
two 0r three times over I can stand a power
of hOodoo. Lose it if you want to: and
when. we get down to bed rock well find
some way of making the rifllc again.” '

“ Thanke‘e, Dave. I might ’a’ knowed it'd
be that way, but I guess we won’t try it.
Hold tight ter what yer got, an' we’ll see of
we can't double it ’thout a bu’st. Jest
shake. un’ say it‘s ther same old pards, an’.
we'll let it go at that."

The men shook hands quietly; and after

; some further talk in regard to the mine and
~ its location, the Kid from Kirby took his de-
parture. ‘
The girl had been present during the
Vest of the conversation, though she had
token-no. rt in it. When King had gone
she look
a frown on her handsome little face.
“He‘s a good
asked-still, listening to the sound of his
o'etiring footsteps.

, *“The best 1 know,” was the ready an.

QWBI‘: ‘ l y y

a; ".He saved my life two or three times in

’ days, and now he has come mighty. near

doing it again." i

- "And you can trust him, sure?" v

.,‘,‘ With rev‘er thing I have. He is not

unuch’for han some, but he is all there for

I . "Well. he don‘t look like it. He can blow
his own born for everything that’s bad, but
. 'whcn it comes to anything vgood he‘s too
coafounded modest to ive. hy, confound
him; he saved my life out there, a bit ago,
"and never told you a word about it. He
must'think I am of no account whatever."
Brody laughed, though a. little anxiously,
at the outburst.
Don’t be jealous, Little Mischief. Such
kings her-does as he goes along, and thinks
' more about them. Perhaps he was afraid
outliequ want mé to know. You were in
Wainscth or other, and he might think
uhl see you didn’t have a chance to get
 like again. 'How was it?" -
he got his hands full doing it, and
the truth. I on! plumped. right

 

   

  

  

  

 

   
 
   

  
  

   
  

  

       
        
       
      
  
      
    
   
     

  

    
  

   

     
  

  

the trail around the bend. v And if

   
 
 

timd.“ 
as V“. v
I  on down a cwplc hundred fee

as

“ I reckon if they had killed me outright ,

after him with something like‘

3
man. is he. Dave?” she

sewn thirty feet. straight or his head. as he‘
at} stand remarkably steady we would, _
"wouldn’t had" anyone which ,

Dave knew the spot she spoke of, and
shivered in spite of himself.

“ Foolish child, what possessed you to put
yourself into such a dangerous position, and
how came you to fall?”

She touched the scratch on her neck which
could still be faintly seen.

“ If the thing that made that had come an
inch or so in a different direction I don’t
think it would have made much difference
whether he caught me or not. Crazy Coon
was higher up on the rocks than 1, and he
sent me his compliments with his Winches
ter."

“The villain!”

“ Yes, and the idiot, and the fool, and
the dangerous maniac, and all that, but the
fact is, he did it. I lost my head for just a
second, and that was when I tumbled. And
Mister Owleycs caught me, and said I was a
butterfly lighting on his hand, and that sort
of rot, and for at all about it. I’ll show him
if I’m a butter y.”

It was a little hard to tell whether she was
really angry, or whether she was only tak-
ing this line to enable her to tell Brady of
the danger she had been in.

Dave chose to think it was the latter.

“ That is Kirk King, ever day in the
year. If he saved your life a ozen times he
would say no more about it. But if he had
tumbled Crazy Coon off the rocks he would
have told me so, in case Ihud to look out
for breakers. He might have told me in his
own way, but I would have known of it.
Did he see him ‘2” t

“ No. Neither of us saw him after he
pulled trigger, and I only for a second be.
fore. He bad brains enough to keep out of
the way. But I suspect we will hear more
of him before we get through. If we want
to be safe We will-have to take our guns and
hunt him down, though that seems tooknuch
like murder. I wonder what we will do.
The villain can shoot if he is a fool.”

Dave Brady made no answer. 'Hc was
considering the problem, and from the un-
easy look on his face he was not finding any
ready answer.

Meantime, the Kid from Kirby was strid-
ing down the trail, 'busy with his own
thoughts, in which the saving of the girl
who was called Lily was cutting no figure.

He knew Dave Brady had always been one
of the sanguine kind, and was considering
if all he had said of the Copper Bottom was
to be believed.

There was one thing which seemed to
point that way, and that was the bullet-hole
which Dave was engaged in nursing.

A man didn't get such things without a
reason, and the one which Brady offered was
good enough until a better one could be
found. If the doctor was after the mine,
and couldn’t get it any other way, ‘no doubt
he would be willing to put its owner out of
the way; but then, the thing must have con-

lengths. .
f‘ Let her go at that," thought the Kid, at

ast.

“ I’ll know when I see what's in that hole
in the ground. E1 she war a bit older I‘d
think maybe there war trouble ’bout ther gal;
but she are only a kitten Iyit, an’ her mis-
chi'f don't do no harm. don‘t keer who
she be, she are a good one ter stick by Dave’
ther way she’s done. ’Pears ter hev nu’ssed
him stiddy ez though she war his gran'-
mother. He’ll tell me all erbout it some day,
an’ till then it ain’t no use tcr worry ’bout
her. But I‘d ez soon thar \varn’t a woman
in ther case, of she be next door to 3 k1 .”

Dave Brady had given him directions how
to find his claim, and with a man like Kirk
King it would have been hard to miss‘the
spot. He did not have to look for it, but
went, straight toward the placcwhere the
mine was located.

“ Right overthar she lies,” was his thought
as he reached the crown of an elevation, and
looked downward. V ' v

“ This hyer, I reckon, are ther Occidental,
,an‘ that looks like ther doctor- hisself.‘ Go
slow,_Kid. Him an’ that. man ,looks ter be
comin: this way, an‘I dunno ez I keer tor
meet him  It wouldn’t be, healthy tor kill
him out layer, ’anf I’ll swear-I don’t want him

,.

     

 

siderable value to induce .him to go to such,

heads together, and were talking low, and
after an interested fashion.

Although they would come near him, yet,
if they followed the faint path they were
treading, it was not likely they would
actually come in sight, and the Kid threw
himself down and waited.

It would not have been hard for. him to
have withdrawn altogether, but running
away was something he despised.

The steps sounded nearer, and soon Were
so plainly to be heard that the Kid began to
think the two men were going to come upon
him after all.

Fortunately, that was not the case.

They finally ceased, and he knew the men
had seated themselves not a dozen paces
away. Had he been standing up instead
of lying down they would have been able to
see him plainly enough as they gave a glance
around before settling themselves to the con-
versation which they certainly did not care
to have overheard.

The first words he heard were from the
doctor:

“ No, the fool is going to get well; but it
will take some time yet, and there would be
no hurry if we could wait for him to be out
and around again.

“But it looks as though he was going to
have a pard; and that same pard will be a
tough one to manage.”

“‘If he were willing to sell Why not have
bought in thyself? It would have been the
easier way.”

Fronf his accent King judged the second
speaker was a Spaniard or Mexican.

“ Because he would not sell—to me. This
is an old pard of his, and now he has the
coin with which to develop. He cleaned
things up at the Tiger, last night.”

"Yes, I have heard, and a bad man he
seems to be." ‘

“One of the worst, except that he’s not
for sale. The Kid from Kirby is straight
goods to tie to, and if he starts in to back
Dave Brady’s hand he‘ll stay with him till
the last horn blows.”

“ Better for thee, then, that he were
dead.”

. “ Good heavens! What do you suppose I

brou ht you out here for? Of course it
won] be; and you are. the man who isio
take him off. What will be the damage 1’”

CHAPTER IX.
nurse A MADMAN.

THE announcement made by Doctor An-
drews did not appear to be any particular
surprise. The man with him had been sus-
pecting what was to come, and was ready
for it.

“ hou hast told me he was a bad man to
‘deal’ with, and as it can only be the truth it
will make it come somewhat! the higher.
There is the danger from him, as wall as the
risk afterward. As it is, the way’seems
open for thee, why not do it thyself?"

“Oh, come, Manuel,- 3 man of your age
and ex crience should not ask such a ques-
tion. ‘ e 'is so thoroughly on his guard
with me that I doubt if 1 could manage to
start off with n. shade of advantage. and if I
had too much it would look bad. You open
the ball from the start, and he’ll just want
to maul you and let you go. While he is
trying that on you can be getting in your
work in great shape.” =

“It mav be; it may be. .But perhaps he
strikes quick and hard. I have known a
blow fromone of these American brixers to
break a neck, and you say the man is almost
a giant. _ ‘
night, and a knife put between his ribs. I
could have that done for a hundred and
fifty, and I be not near the spot." '=

“A hundred for you, and fit _for the
man who does the workl’f laughe the doc-
tor. I ‘ r

' once, and I
not." » I . , 1., i
" Afraid! ‘ Manuel is never afraidhuthc.
'would be, a. fool who looked 'nct'nfu; in
safety. Give 'me five/hundredde 1'13]er
uh YWlt‘wrfigmrand‘mfifl?

 

\

 

dorm '

Better. that he be that of a dark .

care not whOdOes it so that it {3%
done, and done quickly. ‘ If you are really 
afraid to tackle" the fellow best tell me Boat 4;
msyyfind some one else whois, >

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I“,

‘r

five hundred will be ready when I know the
game is complete, and no chance of suspi-
cion falling on me through any fault of
yours."

“The notice is short, but the wages are
good. I will be there.”

“ \thre?”

“ Wherever he is. Most likely he will
come to the Tiger again. He has tasted
blood there and could not keep away from
the place ifhe would. I will see him.”

“ Be careful, then; for Vance Ullman is a
man who allows no foul play unless he hap-
pens to have a hand in it. I. think I would
have come back on him myself last night, but
Vance was watching like a hawk. He has
no great love for the stranger, if I am not
mistaken, but all the same would give him
an even chance for his life or kill the man
who got away with him.”

“ It may come Vance Ullman’s turn some

time. Better for him not to meddle with
Manuel. Is that all?"
“ Yes. In the other matter we will wait

until this is settled. Brady’s men have
drawn out, and there is no use to put one of
ours in for the present. If any one else tries
the game We will checkmatc it. But till
Brady is around and out, and dealt with
again, I don’t propose to crowd the thing too
hart .”

“ Perhaps it may be a bait that will catch
the man from Kirby.”

“ Perhaps, if we can find no better.

The doctor spoke absently, as though he
thought the conference was over. In a mo—
ment more King heard their departing foot-
steps.

The information which had come to his
cars did not disturb him much.

He had expected to be met in some such
fashion, and it would hardly even put him
more on his guard. He would sooner face
the two men in a fair fight—or even in an
unfair one—than be caught hcre eavesdrop»
ping, and it was on that account alone that
he heaved a sigh of satisfaction when the
murmur of their voicos at last died away.

“Guess I won’t take just this route to
getter ther Copper Bottom,” he thought
as he glided away from the spot with
footsteps wonderfully soft for one of his pro-
portions.

At first he had intended to strike directly
for the Copper Bottom shaft, though he
would have to pass within easy pistol range
of the Occidental, in which he knew Doctor
Andrews owned a. controlling interest.

Now, he did not care to take that course,
since, if he was noticed it might be suspected
that he was near enough to at least see if not
hear the secret conference.

It cost him a. detour of perhaps a mile, but
that was a trifle with a man whose limbs
never seemed to tire, and the twenty minutes
which he lost counted for but little. He had
no other work for the day, and there was an
abundance of time to finish his inspection
and get back to Boot Jack before nightfall.

He had heard enough, however, to give
him an inkling of how things were at the
mine.

Dave Brady had told him that there werea
couple of men there to look after things, and
that he had reason to believe there would be
no move made against the mine until he had
first been disposed of.

It looked as though these men had been
bought or frightened off, and that the‘ shaft
was lying open for the first man who came
along with the nerve to drop into it.

“ Reckon ef ther doctor don't moveright
lively he’ll be a shade late gittin’ his men in.
I don‘t know much about Boot Jack, but I’ll
bet ther fellers Iput thar will stay, onless
they’re kerried out. But, mebbe it won’t be
so good ter be seen perspectin’ around.
Andrews are no slouch, an’ he’d be gittin’
riddy for me on sight. Good thing thet I
dropped to that bit of buzzin’.”

The Kid from Kirby was as wily as an In-
dian when the notion took him. He ap-
proached the mine with all the caution pos-
sible to prevent being seen, and yet never
allowed himself to put on a. suspicious ap-
pearance. If any one had seen him he would
have been ready to swear the Kid was march-
ing boldly along,

There was the shaft, just where he looked
for it, and the rope and Windlass, but to his
experienced eye it looked as though they
had not been used for several days, if not

w

 

more, and the whole place had a deserted
appearance.

He leaned over the shaft and sent his
voice downward, but there was no answer.

After waiting a little he called again, and
receiving no response he prepared to de-
seend.

lie looked sharply at the rope, to see that
it was fast to the windlass, and that it had
not been tampered with.

Then, he lowered it until the box on the
end touched the floor below, made the handle
fast, and seizing the rope with his hands
swung himself over the shaft, and slowly
began to slide downward.

The depth of the shaft was not great.
Dave Brady had told him, and he had meas-
ured it for himself.

The rope was strong, and everything be—
low remained silent.

There seemed no particular reason why he
should be nervous. The bottom was plainly
visible, and the mouth of the tunnel which
ran back for some distance under the hill.

Yet, nervous he was, and he came down
with his face toward the drift, and just as
he reached a level with its upper arch he
suddenly swung himself back and then flung
himself feet forward at the tunnel.

He grazed the arch atits highest part, and
landed two or three feet from its mouth.

But most surprising thing, he landed full
against some one who was crouching there,
and there was a low. savage cry, which
sounded as though it might have been forced
from the lips of a wild beast, which was ac~
conipanied by the sharp report of a gun.

The bullet flattened itself harrnlessly
against the rocky wall of the shaft, and Kirk
King, as active as a panther, and almost as
savage, had his assailant by the throat, and
was bending over him, before the battered
lead had fallen to the floor of the pit.

Hands like his took little time to do their
work. If he had been the least bit excited
he might have. torn the life out of the lurker
before fairly learning what he looked like.

The pressure was just sufficient, lmwever,
to bring temporary insensibility, and in a
triee the Kid knotted a cord around the
wrists and ankles cf the fellow, and dragged
him to the shaft.

So far, in the gloom of the tunnel he had
only been able to see a human figure, whose
limbs he found more. by the sense of feeling
than by that of sight.

And though this person was possessed of
a wonderful strength, which would have
overcome most any one but a Hercules, such
asthis into whose hands he, had fallen, he
fought like a wild beast, with no sound save
now and then an angry snarl When the
case became altogether hopeless he fell back,
living yet a dead weight.

The face was a strange one, but Kirk King
read it with interest, staring straight down
into the savage eyes that were glaring up
full at his.

“ ’Pears ter me, sonny, I’ve heared ther
crack ov that gun afore, an’ ef it hed bin out
in ther open I’d ’a.’ bin sure ov it. Thar can't
be two loonys wanderin’ ’round hyer with a
Winchester, an' so I reckon you must be
Crazy Coon. What in blazes be yer doin’
down hyer?”

There was no answer save a gritting of
teeth: and the eyes continued to glareinto his
own. Knowing as little about this creature
as he did Kirk King was not sure whether
he could talk.

There was not however a trace of anger or
resentment in his tones as he continued:

“ I don’t reckon yer ed’dycashun hev bin
entirely neglected, but mebbe yer mind
wants freshin’ up a bit. A kid ez kin shoot
plumb center kin learn ’most my thing else,
an’ ez I hev time by ther bushel I’m countin‘
on givin’ yera few lessons in ther Inglish
langwidge. Now, you keep on a-lookin' at
me, an‘ lissen right sharp ter what I got ter
say next.”

He held up his forefinger with an impress-
ing gesture, and silently returned the stare
of the lunatic.

After a little it seemed as though the fel-
low would gladly withdraw his gaze if he .
could. The fierceness went out of his eyes,
and there was less of a snarl about his hang

 

ing lip.
.“ Yer open ter reason, be yer? Now, I’ll, ,
say it ag’in, an’ say it slow. Who be yo?”

:1-

KirkflKing, the Man from Kirby. 7 9

“Crazy Coon,” responded the imbecile,
with a grin.

“ What do yer want ’ronnd hyer?"

“ This is my mine. There is blood on it,
but it is mine. See. I wade around in it
till my feet are red, and my hands dripping,
but I don‘t care. There will be more blood
in it, blood till it fills the drift, but the gold
under it is mine.”

“ Gosh ter blazes, but yer kin reel it off.
when yer gits started! I don’t see no sich
marks ez them, but p’raps thar‘s s’uthin’
wrong with my eyesight. \Vho's blood is
it?"

“The blood of Crazy Coon’s father, and
of his mother, of his brother, and his own.
See. There is the hole the made, and it’s
running yet. Don‘t you t ink it ought to
stop soon ‘2"

lie bent his head forward, and Kirk King
could see a long, ghastly eicatrix, extending
over the crown, growing fainter on the fore-
head, until it was lost near the brow of his
right eye.

 

CHAPTER X.
MANUEL MEETS A MAN.

“ THAT war a nasty lick an’ no mistake:
who gave it to you?”

“Dave Brady, and Dave Brady’s girl,”
answered Crazy Coon, sullenly.

But even as he spoke his eyes tried to drop
from those of the Kid from Kirby.

“ Why, you tearin’ idgeotl That scar was--
n’t put that this year, er last year either, an'
Dave’s only bin in these diggin’sa few months.
You hev got things mixed.”

“They have the mine, and the men that
took the mine killed us all,” was the stubborn
answer.

“ Thar does seem tcr hev bin a ’hullsnlo
slaughter, an‘ you wants ter keep it a-goln’.
I don’t prezaekly onderstund how ler stop
it. but stop it I got ter. See hyer, I'm goin’
ter take this hyer eontrack off yer han’s. Ef
thar's ter be ury shootin’ round hyer I'm
goin’ for do it.”

“ Crazy Coon can shoot,
enough."

“ Wal, it might be efI war dead sure you‘d
pick out ther right mark ter practice on, but
I can’t hev no sich off-hand work 02 you bin
tryin’ yer hand at."

He reached over and felt carefully but
firmly around the scar.

All there seemed solid now; and without
further hesitation he picked the lunatic up
by the heels and set him head downward
against the wall of the shaft.

“I37. I told yer, I’m goin’ tor run this thing
now, an’ I ain’t keering much fur blood,
either, so it’s ther right color. Ef you think
you know more about it than I do, all right.

ut ef you bother me, er Dave Brady, er
Little Mischi’f, I'll jest sot yer up that way,
an’ I’ll let yer stay thar. Thar ain’t no way
fur ye ter git down tell I say so, no man kin
pull yer down so ez you’ll stay down, and ef
I war a hundred mile away, an’ you were
drawin’ a bead on ther man ez killed yer
mamm , of I jest snapped my finger, so
you’d op right up, heels on top, tell I ea'
git down. Now see ef it ain’t so?"

He waved his hand gently, and Crazy'
(‘oon rolled down to a sitting posture.

He snapped his finger and thumb, and
the young man rolled up against the W11“
onee more, standing erect, like a reversal
statue.

“That's good ernuf. You‘re a fair sub-
jeck, an’ I think I see ther right way ter
take held ov yer. You b’long ter me now,
and I kin trust yer fur ther present.”

He turned Coon around again. and then
carelessly cut the cords with which he had
bound him.

" Jest let that gun lay a hit, an’ you‘an’
me ’1] look ’round. I want ter see ei,,tl:is
hyer thing are wu’th ther eshuns 0v blood
ez are like ter he spilled over it."

For the present, at least, Crazy Coon was
quite a changed individual.

He followed close at the heels of his mas—
ter, never casting a glance even at the gun
which lay where it had fallen, at the side of
the drift.

Probably the eyes of the lunatic had some-
thing of the properties of a eat, but Kirk
King was not one of those men who could
see in the dark, and he looked for something
to make a light before going further.

and that is

 

 

.11 O

 

 

 

 

 

On one side of the drift, 'ust after it left
the shaft, was a little cham r, and this he
examined. There was a sort of couch there,
and hanging on a peg driven into the wall
was the very thing he was looking for, a
, ‘ lantern.

‘ Taking it down he struck a match, ap-
plied it to the wick, and by the light thus
obtained began his exploration.

When he came back to the shaft he had
been an hour away from it, and had not gone
very far, either.

" It’s w'uth ther reesk, Crazy, ef looks
don’t lie, but ef it's a unlucky mine thar’s no
tellin'. Ther bottom may drap out when
. we got our lass' dollar in ther drift. Thar’s
,1.” a heap sight in luck, but I never heared ov
 r Dave Brad bein’ a pertickler lucky sort ov

a man. e'll try it a whirl, aryhow, jest

fur ther sake of bein’ old-time pards, an’ it

may be we hev struck it rich. Now, see
hyer, Craz ."

Coon loc ed at him like a startled dog, and
nodded.

“ You got a place ter sleep, an' plenty ter

L?”

The lunatic nodded an assent.

“ Mebbe yes, an’ mebbe no. Hyer’s a few
dollars. Ef you know how ter use ‘em.
they’ll do yer at a pinch tell I see yer ag’in.

- I'm goin' ter look inter this story ov yourn,
an’ of there’s ary truth in it I’ll take yer in-
ter this thing on a full fourth sheer. That’s
half 0v what I war ter git, an’ mehbe it'll
take ther cuss off. You sabhe?"

‘ Perhaps he did. He gave a nod, and

sogething more like a growl than anything

e .
“ Then, yer wants ter run alon home fur
' ther" prpsent, an’ see thet, they on’t git a
" glimp’ ov ye, over at ther Occidental, ez ye’r’

goin’. ' We'll hev this hyer thing runnin’

_ wide open, with a great big boom, in less

than no time, an’ ef you kin behave yerself

you kin loaf 'round an’ see it’s done on ther

* squar'. That’s all. You kin git out ov this,

. now." ~

Whatever else he may have, or may not
have understood, the permission was evi-
 dently no mystery. Crazy Coon turned to

.the rope, and shinned his way up.

‘ As he went King saw he had his Winches-
. ,ter again strapped. over his shoulder, [but he

' said nothing.~ He had [been trying an ex—

periment, and if it was successful t e fellow

.conld be trusted with the gun.

,'If it was not it would make little differ-

'. ence. Sooner or later the young man would
be able to obtain fire-arms. again.
' There was one idea which struck him
when it was toolate to ask any questions
fabout it.

I .».When he came to the Copper Bottom he

«had certainly found the rope drawn up.
How then had the lunatic descended the
shaft? .

.. He knew Coon could climb like an ape,

*"but'it seemed hardly possible he could have

. scrambled down the perpendicular sides of

' theshaft; while there was no other mode of

“entrance. so far as he had seen.

 “Let her go at that,"he muttered.

1 “Thar's no use ter call him back, an’ ef
" ‘thar’s another shaft, er way 0v gittin’ in, I
kin find it myself. It’s gittin' along in ther

hank ov the a'rternoon. an’ it's time I War
showin’ up at ther Lion. Ef I want ter
make ’

 

 

  
 
   
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
   
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
  
 
   
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
   
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
  
   
  
 
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
   
    
   
   
  
  

, fur loss’ tune an’ git a double squar’
V eal I at ter russel ’round lively. Thar‘s
hat ’p’mtment with Manuel. I mustn't be
jfur ttin’ that, either.”
a twisted himself up the rope as easily,
I not as gracefully, as Crazy Coon had done,
and when at a level with the surface took a
cautious look around.
. an one watched the spot he was not
visible, ut the Kid exercised the greatest
.ésre in moving away, and it was a fact that
1119 was seen by no one from the Occidental.
in due course of time he arrived at the Lion,
. and proceeded to put himself outside of a
substantial supper. v
Doctor Andrews had been, correct in his
theory that the Tiger Saloon would have an
,almost irresistiblemttraetion for the Kid from
Kirby and since the latter had heard the
conversation he was more than ever decided
nnfviaiting the place that night. though he
knew in do so was playing into the hands of
Memes ’
a...

l:

  

from the sup n his

 

“gsgas'earlv for the Tiger, however, wig: .

King was undecided just how to fill in the
t me.

There was one thing which caused him to
want to get away from the hotel, and that
was, he did not care to interview Miss Cath-
cart again, until he knew a little more about
some points which he had not as yet taken
the leisure to study out.

He went out quietly, and turned down the
street, to finally bring up at a saloon which
he had noticed on his way out of the town
that morning. a

He walked straight toward the bar, yet be
cast a glance around; and saw two or three
faces which he knew without telling were
not friendly. One of them belonged to a
Mexican. and if he was not much mistaken
he was the very Manuel who had been bar-
gaining with Doctor Andrews.

“By the mighties, of he sees his chance
he’ll be wantin’ ter mount me hyer, an‘ I
sw'ar I'd sooner not hev ter fou't him on his
own dunghill. I kin git away with him all
right ernuf, but how about ther crowd, arter-
wards. Kirk, me son, yer may ez well go
slow, fur wunst in yer life.”

The situation was only unpleasant from
the fact that as a stranger there. it was more
than likely in case of any trouble not only
would the crowd be all against him, but the
rights of the affair would never be fairly told

‘ by the bystanders.

And as he thought it highly likely that
before the evening’s amusements were over
Manuel would be a very sick man, that was
a matter of some importance.

“ Go slow, Kirk,” he thought to himself,
and he laughed as he thought it.

“ It ain’t oifen yer shows ther white feath-
er, but I wouldn’t blame yer in this hyer
diflikilty. Recommember yer hez a pard ez
may not be dcpendin’ on yer, but orter. Ef
arything happens ter ye now what would be-
come ov him, an’ Leetle Mischi‘f? An’ it
wouldn’t be a bad move ter be leadin’ ’em on
a leetle. It’ll give twice ez‘ good a chance
ter make up me case. Fur the present, Man-
uel, I reckon I kin spare yer.”

The thoughts went through his brain like
lightning, and then he was leaning at the
bar, takimr a solitary drink, and apparently
unmindi‘ulof thescowls on the. faces near
him. ’

. The appearance had been a surprise to
Manuel and he was not ready at once for
action. ‘

He made an almost inperceptible motion
which was a signal understood by his friends,
and after a momentary hesitation strode to-
ward the Kid from Kirby.

King was on the watch, and, expecting
foul play if he oficred the chance, drew him-
self around and faced the Mexican. _

“ Thou art the man who cast insult upon
us of the Occidental, and the man who owns
it. A warning to thee which it will be well
to heed. Such a thing cannot be done twice
without blood. 11" thou art wis‘e this camp
will be free of thy presence before he meets
thee again.”

“ Thankee, friend, but ther Kid kin ’most
gin’rally sometimes take keer of himself
every time. Ef ther doctor wants ‘ter see me
I'll be on hand an’ be kin speak fur hisself.
An’ I reckon he won’t be sayin’ much, either.
Ef he can't do his own talkin’ I ain’t so sure
it's ary one else’s put in. Er, does he hire
you ter do his talkin’?”

“ Little does he say to such as thou, un-
less it be with lead or. steel. And thou art
not the man to wait for him to address thee
with either." ,

“ Ye’r hittin’ it off about right. I go slow
when a man talks, an’ ther Doc are a man, of
it areamighty bad one. But what be you ‘I”

“ A man, too; and thy equal in any. way
thy choice lies. If a friendly warning sticks
in thy craw take something else.” I
_ ,“ All right. Boom her along; I'm a-wait~
m .Y) , r
With a savage oath Manuel sprung at him,
a wicked knife flashing into his hand as he
sprung. . l .

l

CHAPTER XI. " '
THE  AT THE DOOR.

Tim attack was not unexpected, and Kirk
King was ready for it. '

  

‘ . He:knew how hard he' could hit, and he

 
 
     

 

'  the risk *ofgettingyin a

 

 

 

Without waitin for the attack to reach
him he stepped bofidly in to meet it. His left
fist shot outin a crushing hit, and Manuel ,
fell, the knife dropping from his grasp. {

“ Stiddy, boys!” he warningly uttered as '
he saw something like a movement for a ;
rush. " This are yer frien’s picnic. an’ you ,
better let him git ther wu’th ov his ticket
afore ary one else tries ter chip. If yer be- ,
gins it now thar won’t be nobody left tcr ker- {
ry him out. You hear me? An‘ you better i
would: fur ther rest ov what I got ter say ’11 i
be done with these. all ther same ez if 1 war .
ther doctor hisself.” ‘ l

Long before he had finished speaking he i
had whipped out his two revolvers, and had ;,
their muzzlcs turned toward the crowd. It
made little difference to him if several pistols
were already drawn. He had the drop on
the gang, and they knew it. {

Manuel lay motionless, save for a sli ht .
quiver of his limbs. The blow was inten ed
to knock him out, and it had done the work
most effectually. - g

“ If thou hast slain Manuel thou wilt l
never go out of this place alive.” was the
fierce answer from the nearest man he held
covered.

“ It wasa foul blow, and if thou hath kill- 3
ed, Boot Jack will hang thee.” 5

“ Foul nothin'. He war only doin’ what i
be war paid fur, and he didn’t finish his job.
He’ll be up an’ swearin’ shortly, and you kin
tell him I’ll be waitin’ fur him at ther Tiger.
Ef this thing goes furder it'll be apt ter
make him tired.”

No one cared to interfere with the Kid
from Kirb , further than in the way of a
side rcmar . King felt sure Manuel had in-
tended to work the matter alone, and have
no pards with whom to divide the profits.
Hestalked out of the room without a single
backward glance, and there was no one there
who had nerve enough to send in a bullet
frombehind.

“ Mebbe he won’t be jest so anxious ter
settle it with ther knife when we meet ag’in.

“ An’ I can’t say 02 I’m sorry. Ef he hez
ther nerve-I think, he’ll be ’round to ther
Tiger afore long, howlin’ fur blood; an’
Vance'll see thet he hez 9. even chance ter
hev it; an’ nothin’ more." ’

Of course, that meant Manuel would fol-
low him' for the purpose of attacking him,
which was just what Kirk King was after.

Once get Manuel to make an attack wit-
nessed by half a dozen square men, and he
thou ht it would be safe to send him back to
the d tor on a shutter.

He did not steer for the Tiger at once,
however. I

He strolled around the town for a little,
eagerly watching to see if he was followed.

“ Guess he be layin’ back, nu’ssin’ his
eyes up ter hev em in good order afore he
comes out ter hunt ther Kid,” was his thought
as, half an hour or more later, he entered the
Tiger, and found the lay-out had just been
spread, and the crowd was beginning to as-
semble, a full twenty minutes earlier than
was customary.

Among the unemployed he found several
of the men he had met there the night be-
fore, and they nodded, and even drank with
him, but they looked askance at the rough ’
clothes he still wore, and he saw that friends 
who would be willing to stand by him were
scarce. .

” They d’unno thct I’m sich a heap-sight 3 3
better than I 'look,” was his mental con— v
solution. -

“ Any fool kin bu’st a bank of he keeps a-
prcssin a streak ov hog-luck; but it takes a
man ter keep his end up n’rtcrwards. When
they’ve seen me crowded wunst er‘ twiste
they’ll set a bigger flgger on thernew ad-
dishun Ier ther popuslashun.”

Nothing of this appeared, in his conversa-
tion, however, for he rambled on in a self-sat-
isfied way. just loud enough to show he was
on verygood terms with himself, and not so
loud that Vance Ullman could find anything
to object to. v '

Manuel ap cared to be slow about coming,
and the Ki began to think his Mexican
blood ran colder than he had judged; It
might b‘e'he would prefer an ambush, and a
shot. from behind. afler'nll.

While he was talking at'the bar a.~.rnan
came through the door, and King recognized
him asthe Sport from Denver, . y ‘ x ,

Theirs’port had. tsho' ‘ '

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‘ now!”

I ’Kirk King, the   I.

 

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cordiality, so far, but then, he had shown
nothing in the other direction, and had given
him a friendly hint or two that morning. It
was not altogether good for a new-comer like
the Kid from Kirby to play a lone hand if he
could find a partner to assist, so he greeted
the sport with a nod, and a word or two that
were not too familiar.

“Still living ‘2" asked Turner, with a
laugh.

“ Don’t be discouraged. The night is
young yet, and we may have cold meat for
breakfast before Vance puts up his shutters.
I just heard your friend down street inquir-
ing for you. He‘s a bad man from ’way-
back, and if you are going to run you had
better begin now.”

“ Thankee, pard, further tellin’ 0v it. I’m
nothin’ but a pore. lone infant, an’ 1 don’t like
ter be crowded. P’rhaps I better go afore he
comes an’ takes me all apart.”

The Kid gave a glance at his ownatalwart
proportions, and the exaggerated look of ter-
ror he managed to crowd into his face raised
something of a laugh.

“ A healthy leetle infant he be,” said“ one
in his hearing.

“ Ef he’s good accordin’ ter size I reckon
one man wouldn’t have much ter do with
him.”

“ That’s what Manuel Perez must have
thought shortly after he went for him with
a knife. It took ten minutes to bring him
to, and he’s not very steady on his pins

etll’

This was the first intelli ence of the fracas
which .had reached the ger; and it was
heard with interest. Manuel had a record,
made since he came to Boot Jack, and
there were few there who would have
cared to gain his enmity, even though they
would have been willing to meet him in
an open fight which should decide once for

all.
“But he’ll be on ther road shortly,” sug-
gested the man who had lately spoken.
“He’s round Boot Jack fur some time.
an' he’s never bin known ter let a blow

pass. Stranger, yer wants ter be on ’yer
guard.”
“I reckon. An’ ther town are lierable

ter lose aornament she ain’t fairly used to
it.”

The Kid spoke sadly, and perhaps theline
he took was not in good taste, but he
shrewdly reasoned that unless he provoked
an immediate attack from Manuel’s friends
he would be apt to make two parties,
anlcii in so doing gather up friends for him-
se .

If there was no blood in sight it would
not be in human nature for the men not to
take sides. . ‘

That might give him a following when the
pinch of war should come. '

It was the Sport from Denver. who spoke

 

u .

p“ Or, the Occidental lose one of its best.
fighting men; and I am willing to put up a l
small stake it will be the latter.”

“ You’ll soon find out, fur hyer he comes

One of the outsiders gave the warningr
and without another word the little crowd
around the bar opened out, leaving a lane
{rom the door to where the Kid was stand-
ng.

 

CHAPTER XII.
'rrrn HAZARD on THE DICE.

THE announcement proved to be a start-

lin one. a

hat is, there was a dramatic bush for
an instant after . the almost involuntary
movement had been made, and an air of ex-
pectancy in the eyes of every one but the
Kid from Kirby. . ‘

He was as unconcerned as though he had
never heard the words. ,

And yet. it seemed as though his eyes
were turned straight for the door. and hard,
1y a man in sight but Would have thought
that he saw no one save Manuel, lingering
for. an instant at the threshold. \ -

In that they were just as broadly mistaken I
as a crowd generally is. , !

Kirk King was really watchin Manuel
closely enough, but he was doing omething i

 

more. ’ ,
an unnoticed sOrt of.way hemanaged‘
hegaawv 

 

 

in the whole room,

I that half a dozen rough-looking men start-

ed up from different ireetions, and turned
his way, _

There were more of the same sort near
to him, and it only took that first look for
the Kid to decide that he was environed
by enemies.

They were all strangers to him, but he
had not a doubt but that they were healers
from the Occidental.

Whether they had been put there by the
doctor to back Manuel’s ame, or whether
they were pards of the exican, and had
been stationed by him in advance, he could
not tell, but to him it made no difference. So
that he knew they were there he was ready
for them all.

Manuel came gliding across the floor with
the sinuosity of a snake, and the savage
silence of a tiger.

When he was a few paces from Kirk King
be halted and glared at him, while his lips
parted in a snarl. '

The Kid was looking at him as though he
had never seen him before, and every one
could observe that he made no movement for
a weapon. Either he was very careless, or
had a solid faith in his own prowess.

-“ A blowl this man has iven me a blow 1”

He glared up at the Ki , and there was a
deadly passion in his tones.

" Kinder looks like it,” softly murmured
King, looking critically at the side of the
Mexican’s face.

“ A blow, and to Manuel Perez. Such
thing never happened before. It can be
wiped out only with blood.” .

" Correct—in your lamps. Go fur it.”

The Kid was as cool as a cucumber, and
as yet had made no movement to draw a
weapon, though his hand hung within easy
reach of the revolver at his hip, for his
wrist rested carelessly on the edge of the
bar. The invitation was cordial. but Manuel,
in spite of the froth on his lips was in no
hurry to accept.

He had some little experience of Kirk
King on the defensive, when assaulting him
with a knife, and had an idea that he was as
quick on the draw as the worst of the bad
men he had seen—and some of them were
more rapid than Manuel. That was his
weak point, and he was aware of it.

“ I go for it, but if thou art a man of
courage, and not the ragged coward thou
lookest, it will not be like a wild beast, but
as a man of honor. Manuel Perez never yet
slew without there was equal chance for life
or death to the two.” I.

“ One ov us kin die, an‘, one ov us kin“ live,
an’ that’s what yer means by ther chances
bein’ equal. That’s jest ther way I want it.
You fix ther circus ter suit yerself an’ you’ll
be playin’ all ther time inter my han’s; but
don’t keep these gents waitin’. They’re a
lot hungn‘er fur ther fun than you be fur
blood.”

“It is well for thee to talk when the two
revolvers of Vance Ullman protect thee. but
dare to follow me out to the street, and with
pistol or knife thou wilt see how vengeance
falls on him who insults Manuel. ”

“Oh, Mister Ullman don’t want no glass

broke, er a gang mussin’ up ther floor; but
fur two real gents ter settle a leetle matter-—
of it ain‘t done with a scrappin’ match, er a

jinglin’ ov ther winders—I don't think he,

would kick. Howare it, boss?” '

He turned carelessly to Ullman. It looked
as though Manuel had his chance just then;
but he had measured his manI and . had no
confidence in himself as a snapshot. For an
attack with fist or knife the Kid believed
himself ready.

'Manuel being face»to face with the bar,

had been able to see better what was behind
it, and had noted that though Vance was
quiet, he was watching affairs with a curi-
ous smile. .The wonder was the proprietor
of the saloon had not already uttered a warn-
ing, though Vance seldom called attention
to the laws he had laid down at the start.
Quietly came the answer: '
" I don’t object to two gents settling things
quick and lively if no lead goes wild, but I
may as well tell you it’s a brace game they
will set up on you. and I‘malittle curious
how they want to work it.” '
The fact of the case was,_Vance did not
like the doctor. and had»
connected with theO entaL ,‘
I W  v v v u .

  
 

 

»- oi

 

no love, forany one  the:- run ov luck."

  
 
 
 
 
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
 
 
 
 
    
 
    
   
 
  
   
    
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
    
  
   
   
  
    
 
  
  
   
    
  
 
   
    
    
   
   
  
  
   
   
    
  
    
   
  
    
   
  
   
 
   

“ There is some courage in the thing. At
any distance, and the closer the better.

“ Suits me to a charm. Across ther table
are about ther clostness I gin'rally prefer.
Stan’ back fur back. an’ turn at ther word
go, an' let drive. How does that strike yer,
pard ‘3”

“ The back of Manuel never turns toward
a foe. It is his face always. Face to face.”

“ ’Tain’t much fur ood looks, but I ain't
prezackly a child, an’ it can’t skeer me. But
it’s throwin’ away yer one chance."

“If thou darest, let there be but the one
chance. Let there be but the one wea on.
and fate to decide in whose hand it is to e.”

“ Ther furder it goes ther more interestln"
it gits.”

“ One shot, and if that settles not the duel
let knives end it, for to death must it be.”

“ 0h, git it all down fine. Range er
tables, load yer Pistols, an’ throw ’round ¥ur
deal. Git it al fixed up, an’ then let me
know. This hyer chin are beginnln’ tor ,
make me tired. I want ter rest.” ‘ .

“Rest shalt thou soon have, but it will be ,
in the grave. Tomasso is my friend; nam‘e,
Elie for thyself, who shall see that all. is ‘ 

r.l, a . ‘
“ Oh, I dunno ez I keer ter bother my one '
here ter go ter trouble fur a stran er. To~
masso might work fur me, too, an that’d be
fair fur one ez t‘other. An’ I wouldn’t mind.
payin’ him livln’ wa es fur ther time. "I"
couldn’t ask him ter 0 it fur nothin‘, could
I now i" , r ’

“ Come, now, old man, don't put on alto.
so many frills,” interposed the Sport ton)
Denver, who had been lounging to one side”;

“ Tomasso might be a healthy gentleman"
to have on your side, and then, again. he; ‘
mayn’t, and I Wouldn‘t advise you to lie
runnings the risks. If you can’t make?!
better suggestion I’ll take it out of your
hands, an attend to the details m if. You
and Perez are talking about aving in
element of luck in it, and I’m an authority
on such things." * -

“,Thankee, pard. I ooaldn’t have axed“
better man of Pd gone twicte "round ther!
room. You let him have his own way but.
see thet he sticks ter what he sez. Then I’ll‘s
know how ter meet him, an" it’s all I wants.

“ So it’s a square deal. You’ll get. the
cards as they ought to come to you or, I’m ~
not Charley Turner. Tomasso, step to‘
front, and we’ll fix this thing in no time.”

Tomasso glided out from thelcrowd
out having to be called twice. ' »

He looked as cruel and treacherous as d
Manuel, but his face lacked the lines?
courage that a student could trace in that of
his principal.  j”

“Little is there to do. Across the ,
the one who fires cannot miss. Manuelhas
his own pistol—there is but one bullet iota,
for the barrel is single. Let the other. . ‘
all the balls from his save one. I 'will
the one, thou shalt hold the other. Pike!
the men on either side of the table, and let
them draw cards, or throw dice, and the
who wins, to him hand 3, "Weapon.
count three, and the unlucky man shall ,
Manuel is a fool, but such was ’the gain
chose, and it is not my head in range.

“ All seems to be fair enough, ’t t .
what Manuel wants to use such a bunnies!
buss for at close range, is more than I can 06%
Itvcarries a ball four timesas heavy as '
of my man. ‘and you could put a flstth
after it when he potted Bark Barber." '

“ Let the man who wins the shot use
weapon of the other!” called out Manuel.
“‘ If I had but a needle I would let blew
blood out for \that blow, and I ask a
vantage. If I win the shot ’tis enou bl.

There was something, in what t
said, about the disparity in caliber-s, h’
was not sure he had done the right thin
calling attention to it. This was one. of,
times when a miss ,was well-nigh, an"
possibility. and yet he was not alto
satisfied. I , " ‘ .‘

He‘ might have expressed himself to u.
eflect, but the crowd, as if ,wearied with 
preliminary sparring; took it a .. ,

" That‘s ther , talk! Kim ther;
Git down ter biz l” ' , a,

“ Let it go fur that," chimed in: them,

"Itfs good on wheat' an’. it's me 13'! ‘

 
  
 
 
  

   
 
  
  
 

    
   
 
 

After that the weigh

m

  
    

12

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

Two or three tables were hastily shoved
together and the Kid from Kirby was
stationed on one side of them, while Manuel
faced him from the other.

With whatever coolness Manuel may have
undertaken the assassination there was no
question about his feeling in the matter now.

He glared at his antagonist, and there was
murder in his eyes. The mark left by the
fist of the Kid did not improve his looks,
either.

The third side of the table was occupied
by the Sport from Denver, while Tomasso
stood on the fourth.

“ Now pitch yer bones, an’ le’ss see who’s
ther winnin’ man. Hyer they be!"

A man edged through the crowd, holding
a box and dice, and placed them in Charlie
Turner’s hand. Some one else supplied the
same to Tomasso.

It looked as though the real duties of the
seconds were beginning. Each examined
the dice of the other, and aftera few trials
seemed satisfied they Were true. Then, they
placed the two boxes in the hands of the
principals, and straightened up to watch the
coming throws. The real chances of the
duel were to be tempted then and there.

With a greedy silence men moved up and
craned their necks over to catch a glimpse
of the little cubes when the boxes were
raised.

“ Only one throw each." sternly suggested
the sport, “and the highest total takes the

ot.”
p The dice rattled, the boxes came down on
the table with a thump, and then were slow-
ly and simultaneously lifted.

“ Sixes,” said the Sport from Denver, as
coolly as though they had been pitching for
pennies on a rainy day.

“Give my man the pistol."

Manuel had lost, and though the specta-
tors had seen more than one duel to the
death, something like a shiver ran through
the crowd as Manuel braced himself, and the
Kid from Kirby coolly turned his back to
the Mexican.

' ' One—two—three! Fire I"

 

CHAPTER XIII.
RECRUITING AN ARMY.

MANUEL had objected to turning his back
on his fee, but the Km from Kirby had not
withdrawn his proposition, and no one said
aword to hinder. It was only Charlie Tur-
ner who understood just what it meant. .

At the signal the Kid wheeled in his
tracks, but his gun came up in a singular
manner, for he held it by the barrel, and ex-
tendin himself over the table he delivered
a crus ing blow upon the head of the Mexi-
can,‘ striking with the iron-bound butt.

At the same time a shot rung through the
room.

“ Foul play!" yelled a half-dozen voices,
and the men whom the Kid from Kirby had
already marked pushed forward.

" He give ther Greaser no chance fur ter
use his knife!

“ Knocked him down f'ust, an’ shot him
arterwardsl"

" Lynch him!"

“ Hang him i"

It looked as though they were about to
tear the Kid limb from limb, for the bowl
was savage, and it seemed at though the en-
tire crow was on the forward move. Had
:they been dealing with curs it is easy telling
'what would have happened.

Kirk King never hesitated, and he had a
man beside him.

Each with a bound was on the tables, and
confronting the men who were so clamorous
for blood.

“Hold hard, that, gents!" exclaimed the
Kid, holding the pistol in one hand and
waving his hat with the other.

“ Jest a word ov truth afore you fellers
kim in ter git yer gruel. I sent my bullet
in butt—eend furmost acause—he played me
foul, an' that wa’n't no lead in it. Ef ther
cop's bu’sted on this hyer iron I’ll agree you
kin hang me an' I’ll never kick."

A scornful laugh went up from half a
dozen throats; and it sounded as though it
Ind come from twice as many. A rush
should have followed, yet it did not.

If Kirk King had stood there alone it might
have been they would have tried to tear him

 

down. He was a stranger, and as yet had
shown but little of what he could do, and
was a no account looking giant to boot.

But right alongside of him stood Charlie
Turner. He was saying nothing, but he was
silently facing the crowd in a way that made
some of them feel uncomfortable.

They knew him, and that not a snap shot
could be taken, or a hand raised, that he
would not see. No weapon was there in
sight, but in the twinkling of an eye he could
shake out a pair of double (lei-ringers from
some hidden receptacle, and shoot to the
breadth of a hair. It was as well to listen to
what he might have to say. 4

Under that steady stare men grew silent,
and when he (lid talk they all listened.

“Men, I reckon you know I’m not hunt-
ing chips to knock off people’s shoulders, but
that when I do commence to chip into a
game I'm ready to go my whole pile if the
cards seem to call for it.

“ This party here is a pretty hard looking
nut, but I've undertaken he should receive
fair play, and by the rolling wheels he‘ll get
it. If )Ianuel attempted to juggle with him
so much the worse for Manuel, and there‘s
nothing to hang the Kid for,”

The fact that Manuel lay in their way had
perhaps something to do with the checking
of the rush. By this time, Tomasso and
several of his friends had dragged the luck—
less Mexican away to aconvenient bench and
were examining him. If his skull was not
cracked it was a wonder.

lle lay as though dead, and nearly every
one thought he was (lead. Tomasso pro-
claimed so in a voice loud enough to be heard
all over the room, while some one added:

“That war the same gun ther poor feller
shot Mart Mallock with, an’ ef ther stranger
didn’t know how ter handle it it are his own
fault. He orter found out afore ther fun
bergun.”

“ Ef tbar warn’t no lead in it warI tcr
fool ’round tell he got his knife out? All
I‘m a-askin’ is fur yer ter make sure ther
cap’s thar, an‘ ther powder’s thar, but he jest
tricked ther ball out, an’ I’m bettin’ now ez
I kin show ther way it war done. A’rter
that, squar’ men ‘l1 keep out, an’ ther rest
kin pile in ez fast ez Vance Ullman ’11 let
’em. I ain’t a—beggin’ fur meself, but I‘m a-
sheddin’ tears fur you.”

“And if this riot keeps up much longer
I’ll be taking a hand in mysolf," interjected
Vance Ullman, from his favorite position be-
hind the bar.

“It’s spoiling business, and the stranger
has the right pig by the ear. I saw the man
who fired that shot, and he didn’t intend to
miss our friend from Kirby, either. Give
the Kid 9. chance, or take the three of us.
The fellow who shot will keep; I ve got him
marked.”

Ullman’s voice was clear and piercing,
and reached every earin the saloon.

It had its effect. With two such good
men on the side of the stranger it was no
wonder he was accorded a hearing, or that
the story of the Kid was received with belief
by the fair-minded.

When he showed there was no bullet in
the pistol, and explained how the trick was
worked, Manuel’s stock was further below
par than ever, and his friends saw’it was too
late to get in the work they had attempted.

The Mexican was carried off to where he
could receive better attention, while Charlie
Turner and the Kid leaped down from the
table, and fearlessly mingled with the crowd.

However much the explanation had quiet-
ed the would-be lynchers, Kirk King knew
they were thirsting for his blood just as
much as ever, and Only held their hands be-
cause they could go no further with safety.
The intention had been to kill him openly,
but with such a shadow of justification that
there would be no danger of afterclaps.

Now, the leader of the game was out of the
way for some time, but there were enough
left, and they would be apt to try to finish
the work in some treacherous way. He
would have to continue on his guard at all
times.

“ All ther same,” he muttered to himself
with a. shrug of the shoulders, “I got ther
crowd down fine, and ther ain’t a face thar I
won’t know ernough ter look out fur ef I‘m
a‘meetin’ ov it in a lonesome place arter sun-
down."

There was some drinking at the bar, some

.met ‘ - <~  v3
-..,. ., ,-  .,« . I, - 1

 

, Brady.

[talk which was more or less warlike, and

then the excitement died away with decided-
ly less damage than had been looked for.

The Kid did not wait for all this to happen,
but after a few moments of waiting to show
he was in no hurry to leave his dangerous
company, he sauntered into the other room.
and began to watch the games with a solemn
interest, as though he might be yearning for
a hand.

When, after a little, the Sport from Denver
came near, he gave him a glance which the
sport imagined to be one of invitation.

He answered it with a short laugh and a.
shake of the head.

“ Sorry to disappoint you, old man, but
it wouldn't do. I‘ll admit I was aching to
have a hack at you when I saw you gather
in the shekels at Ullinan's bank, and I
thought I’d save you up for my own private
picking, but tonight it wouldn't do.”

“ How ‘2” '

The Kid questioned after the guttural
fashion of an Indian chief, and not very good»
humored in hislooks, either.

“ Oh, there’s not much fun about me, and.
when 1 start in I want to play the limit, and
stay there till one side or the other goes
broke. And how would that look after the
way I was backing your game this evening?
Fact is, I’ll give you a little bit of advice that
may be good for your wholesome, and then-
draW out. The best thing you can do is to
stroll around a bit to keep your credit up,
and then go home. You got through once
to-night by the skin of your teeth, and if
they come back on you later on they’ll be
apt to make the rifile.”

“Thankee, pard. Yer means well, but.
yer don‘t seem ter kctch on to the fuck thet
no matter how I’m trav’lin’ I take keer 0v
meself c7. I go erlong, an' it's ther other fel—
lers what’s in danger.”

“Oh you can hit, jab, and come again
with the—best of them, and I have no doubt
your shooting is gilt-edge, but you don’t
seem to remember some men can hold very
straignt from behind. If you hadn’t been
on the jump to-night just when that party
pulled trigger his lead would have found
your knowledge-box.”

“That’s wlmr luck kims in. But Iain't
goin’ ter linger long, fur Ireckon you hev
it down fine. I got inter a good thing ter-
day, an’ I must ’member my pards cf I don‘t
keer fur meself. When I gits on my pn’ple
an’ fine linnin they won’t be so apt ter be
tryin’ snide games on the Kid. But, reely,
I o’rt ter make a record hyer, afore I settles
down."

“ Never mind the record if you can put
money in your purse. After the little
sample they have seen the boys will take
you on trust.”

“ Mebbe yes, but that 'minds me. I want
ter git half a dozen good men. thet are
squar’ ez times go, ter begin work at ther
Copper Bottom. Kin you put me onto
’em ?”

“I just can. Johnny Seams quit work
on the Eldorado to-day. and his gang are
out for a job. They will do to start w1th,
and over yonder is Johnny now.”

“Then, jest ez a favor, pard, kin you ax
him ter kim over to ther Lion in erbout half
an hour, ter see a man? Do it keerless like,
an’ tell him ter keep mum. Ef it war know—
ed it might throw things endways.”

 

CHAPTER XIV.
AN EMPTY CABIN.

IN spite of his braggadocio, Kirk King
could be as prudent as the best of them,
and Boot Jacki knew nothing of his inter-
view with Johnny Seams, or the engage-
ment which followed, until after they had
been duly installed at the Copper Bottom.

And just when and how they were placed
there was more than the outside world
could have explained, though it was sim-
plicity itself. .

They went out the next morning before
daybreak. and dropped into the shaft with-
out interference.

They were by no means certain they
were working for the interests of the actual
owner, and sometimes suspected they were
being paid to jump the property of Dave
They were ,‘ust the sort of men
Kirk King had asked or. They werehonest

 

(a

5  " ~l'~

v ,not changed his location.

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

13

 

 

as times go, and would stick to the fortunes 
of the man who paid them.

The Kid from Kirby found enough to do r
to fill up the morning.

He had to judge what ought to come next
from his ObSCi'V‘li ions, and then start things
running. He had promised Dave Brady he
would try and see him some time that day,
but since he had learned more of the desper-
ate way he might expect to be fought he was
not sure it would be good to leave the mine
until he found out what was to be the next
move.

So, the day wore on, and there were no
further developments.

Not from the outside, at least, though
Johnny Seams said he never saw a hole/in
the ground which seemed to be more likely
to pay for the digging of it a little deeper.
And Johnny knew a good prospect when he
saw it.

“‘ Looks ez though things war runnin’
“bout right,” said King. when the afternoon
11nd pretty well advanced.

“ They’re a-movin’.”

“Think yer got ther nerve ter hang on
'iiyer ef they kim over frum ther Occiden-
‘tal?"

"Long ez I’m inside. Tell they git ther
law on me they know my claim are jest ez
good ez ary other, an’ all ther corpses ez are
piled up are paid for. You bet I kin hold
on 1'

“Then, do it! I ought to go up an’ take
'a look at Dave. He ’peared yisterday like
he would be ’round in a day er so. but you
-can’t allers take looks fur gospel when a man
hez a hole nigh ter his liver.”

"‘ You sure Dave wants ter see you ‘2” ask-
ed Johnny, with a shade of suspicion in his
tone.

“ See hyer, Seams, don’t you git it inter
your head this ain’t a square deal; ’eause it
are. Dave an' me war pards at ’wayhack,
:m' we opine ter run tergcther yit. Ef he
comes hyer you’ll find that what he says
gws an‘ of he tells yer termaroh out, you
march. Ther blamed gerloots he thort he
hed hyer watchin’ things hez skipped, or we
wouldn‘t ’a' found things a-lyin’ open. Thar’s
jest one thing ter caushun ye about.”

“Thar are a caushun, then,” said Johnny
with a smile.

He was not sure but that he had half-sus-
pected what was coming at last.

“ it's jest this. Thar's a cuss slinkin’
’round these hyer regions they call Crazy
Coon. I want ter give him a fair shake; an’
yit I don't want you ter run too much
chances, fur he seems ter want ter slaughter.
Ef he comes good humored, treat him nice;
’but ef he reely shows murder, try an’ rope
him, an’ hold him tell I comes. I can man-
idge him like putty an’ it’ll save a heap ov
trouble. It’s ailers blamed bad luck ter kill
a loony."

“You got onto that a'ready? Most ov
ther boys don’t take much stock in ther yarn
about him, but somehow I allers did think
thar might be s’uthin’ in it. I’ll treat him
white of he’ll let me.”

“ That's all, then. I’ll find out more about
'his story afore I git done; so long. ”

He went up out of the shaft, and this time
cared nothing whether he was seen or not.
but boldly made his way toward the trail
wliiich led up to the cabin on the mountain-
su e.

As he went along he puzzled his brains to
make out why Dave Brady had built his
shanty up there instead of down near the
mine; or, if he had built it before he became
owner of the Copper Bottom, why he had

There was one reason which might ac-
count for it. and that was, the capacity of
the place for defense.

Moreover, in case there was occasion for
retreat, there was a way open down the other
:side of the mountain, and having traveled
over it he was aware of the fact that Brady,
if he so chose. could, with little trouble,
barricade the path behind him.

“Looks ez though David warafeard 0v
s’uthin’, but of it‘s ary more than Doc An-
.drews an’ his gang I’ll never tell till I know
more. Thor’s on’y one thing I’m dead sure

 

about it. He ain’t in no condisi‘nn now fur
:a. foot race, an’ he ain't bin much better «if i
ez fur oz 3. f’out might go. I’ll pump him ,
judishus, fur mebbe thar‘s s'uthin’ that l
.orter keep an eye open fur. Little Misch’if

,“V ,a‘ I ,> will: ‘ ,l P  H;

w   v. a

are a good one, but ef it come tcr knives an’
shootin‘ I shouldn’t think she'd be 0v much
force.”

As the reader has already learned, the girl
was something of a mystery to him, and all
he knew of her was what he had seen during
his two visits to Dave Brady’s cabin.

He was thinking these things over as he
climbed the trail, but his senses were as
much on the alert as usual, and he suddenly
stopped and threw a revolver to a ready as a
man came around the bend, just a little
ahead of him.

He might not have been so quick to pro-
duce a weapon had it not been for the fact
that he caught sight of the muzzle of a
Winchester before the person who carried it
came into view.

There was no use in being so cautious,
however, for the new-comer halted suddenly,
gave one glance, and then swung the rifle
over his back by its strap, and held up both
hands.

The action was a surprise, though just
what he had been willing should be done; and
the man was Crazy Coon.

Kirk King slung his pistol away with
equal rapidity. It seemed his influence con-
tinued, and it would not do to let the lunatic
know be doubted the fact.

“ Hello, Crazy! Loafin’ ’round hyer
ag’in? Don’t yer think you better keep
outen temptashun?"

” I remember.”

“ Mebbe you remembers a heap too much.
I war lookin’ fur ou ter turn up at ther
mine. We’re gittm that a-goin’ in great
shape."

“ I was coming. There is blood up there,
too. Perhaps you will be blind, but Crazy
Coon can see it, knee deep. If he is your
friend on had better come sooner.”

The unatic pointed up the trail and then
looked holdi at Kirk King.

He wante his intelligence to be believed,
and be challenged inspection.

The Kid from Kirby heard him with a
start. if there had been red work at the
cabin, knowing the murderous attempt
Crazy Coon had made the day before, how
could he help but think it had been renewed?
His glance was a question understood as
well as though it had been spoken.

“Men have been there, but Crazy Coon
was not with them. He lives yonder in the
rocks but he would not have been here had
he not seen there was no smoke to-day.
Look and his footprint will not be found;
the blood was not spilled by his hands.”

King did not linger to ask further, for he
doubted if he could wring anything reliable
from those lips, willing as they seemed to be
to speak.

With a gesture of anger he hurried away
to see for himself,

The cabin was there, and the door was
open as he approached, but he could see no
signs of life. and though he called Dave
Brady’s name there was no answer.

Hastin he entered and looked around.

The bed in which he had left Dave was
empty, andthe hat of the irl no longer
hung from the nail where Kir had last seen
it. Things had a desolated olr, though
there were no marks of a fray.

“ Suthin’ hcz happened, but what?” he
asked himself as he looked around.

“ Ef Dave war lyin’ that, dead in his bed,
I‘d be apt ter say ez it war Crazy ez got away
with him. But how he done it thar's no
sign ov, an’ I better look furder afore I make
up my mind.”

It was hard to find an thing to point the
manner or cause of the isappearance.

It did not seem possible Dave had gone of
his own accord, but there was nothing to
show a struggle, or that the body had been
carried away.

Had Coon had anything to do with the
matter there would have been visible the
blood of which he spoke. for the young man
would not have the wit to so thoroughly
conceal his work. Nor could he have car-
ried both bodies away so carefully that no
drop of blood, or trail on the ground, would
be left to show.

“Ef he hed gone hisself he‘d hcv left
some word fur me; an’ yit, it looks mighty
much like it. onlcss I kin git a glimpse,
somewhar, ov Doc Andrews’s fine hand.
Looked ez though he bed 02 big a contrack
ez he wanted las’ night when he war strug~

= .L. 0‘; .-.-"‘ . ;- $.33... 5r _,'.-;y.‘, ‘. 3'.» i.

 

glin’ with yourn truly, but who kin tell? Ef
Dave slid out, ez maybe he did, he won’t
want no huilabaloo riz, an’ I'll see furder
More I make more fuss.”

Crazy Coon had followed him to the
place.

He stood outside, and his face expressed
little of curiosity, but seemed rather to be-
long to one who was patiently waiting.

“Kim in, Crazy, hut step lightly. Your
eyes may be keeuer than mine. Sec of you
kin tell me how they left."

Coon stepped gingerly forward. IIc evi-
dently had no fear, superstitious or other-
wise, nor did he appear aware that Kirk was
studying his face intently, trying to read the
little that was written there.

Since entering the cabin it had certainly
changed. He was only intent on solving a
puzzle, the depths of which he hardly had
the brains to comprehend. King knew the
cunning with which a madman is usually
credlte , but he did not believe it could de-
ceive him in such a matter. Crazy Coon
was innocent here, whatever he may have
been elsewhere.

The condition of affairs which had puzzled
the one baflicd the other. After a little they
came out and went searching along the
trail.

Still, no signs

Down along the narrow road they went,
now and then stopping and stooping. Un-
fortunately, there was no dust there, that
might show a foot-print, and it would have
been hard for the Kid to tell just what sign
he looked for.

He stopped, at length, nearl on the spot
where he had stood when Lillie dropped to
his arms from the led 6 above. First. he
let his eyes roam upwar . Then, he turned,
and leaning over, gazed far downward, at
the jagged rocks below. Nothing strange
was there to see, and he partially turned his
glance over his shoulder, looking backward
at the trail.

And as he turned he saw Crazy Coon
springing toward him with outstretched
hands, and a strange look in his wild eyes.

 

CHAPTER XV.
SHORT-CARD CHARLIE INTERVIEWED.

CHARLIE TURNER was not at all charmed
over the part he had taken in it when, the
next morning, he thought over the affair at
the Tiger.

He wasa sport at large, and willing to
take a fly at anything which came along, but
for the most part he played alone hand. As
a general thing, too, he was soft as silk, and
not given to treading on other people's toes
unless they first tramped on his.

He could hardly understand what limited
species of insanin had led him to back up

the game of the Kid from Kirby in such an

uncalled for manner.

“ It must have been," he thought, ” that
he got my sympathy from his being alone,
and my respect for his being a blamed good
man, but why the hades should 1 hm"; com.
menced to kick before any one had a hoot
pointed my way? if they had had him
down, and been prancing over him, it mi ht
have been Well enough; but, confound h m,
be Was all the time on top. Why couldn't I
let him alone till the other fellows had their
turn. Now, it's dead sure I'll have to be
bucking against Doc Andrews and all of his
gang without making a red cent out of it.
I’m disgusted."

That was the way he talked to himself
when he came out to the breakfast table, and

learned that the Kid had eaten an early meal, -

taken his dinner with him, and started out
before any of the other boarders were slit-
ring.

1t was a little aggravating for him to hear
more or less of comment upon his part in the
row of the night before: and to receive a
friendly warning or two to look out for him-
self if Manuel ever recovered enough to be
up and around for business.

As he strolled out into the street he was
unaware of the fact that Miss Cathcart was
looking at him from the further end of the
hall: nor did he know that a few minutes
later she stepped out of the Lion and fol-
lowed in the direction in which he had gone
for a constitutional.

Of course, the sport knew Miss Miriam was
sojourning in Boot Jack on a mission.

'8

y”

.' My »..

’ ‘ Kirk  thei'vMan from Kirby.

 

 

 

   

About there his knewlcdge stopped. He
did not know she had caused him to be inter-
viewed. and had decided he could not help
her any.

He was not exactly the style of a man—at
least in her eyes—with whom she wanted
anything directly to do until she was sure
there was something to be gained thereby.

There was a handsome devil may-care look
about him that might have attracth many
women, but which had no charm for her.
She would rather have promenaded the whole
t0wn hanging on the arm of the Kid from
Kirby. than be seen to nod once to Short-
Card Charlie. She would not be so likely to
be misunderstood.

But this morning it seemed to her possible
she had been mistaken. .

‘ She thought she had read Charlie Turner
Eetty thoroughly; and believed he would not
ve been so ready to stand by a stranger.

. 3 The two men might not be willing to pose
' atom friends—rake could understand the
reason why—but when the pinch came they

stood to ether.

Andi they had known each other in the

‘t, what was the matter with their having

d a. mutual acquaintance with Hugh Cath-

cart? . '

The sport might be a bad man from Den-

' ver, but he certainly could assume the man-

ners of a entleman, and she decided she

JV ' ld span to him herself.

so, she (set off on her walk, fully equipped

 

  
 
   
      
    
  
   
 
   
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
   
      
   
   
   
 
   
    
  
   
   
 
 
  
   
 
 
    
  
    
   
 
 
   
 
   

. .

  

damseldid she appear. and the man whodid
not, give her all the information she asked for
mustcither know nothing, or have a heart of

no. .
KCharlie' walked to the limits of the town,
and .then turned to come back, when he
 himself face to face with the charm-
~ boarder at the Lion, who gave him a nod
“ a’ pleasant smile.
Hishat was up in an instant,’though he
as pretty well satisfied she had more reason
19 noticing him than his own good looks.
"Pardon me, Mr. Turner, but perhaps
you have heard 1 am not staying in this
{musical town solely for the sake of my
LN“). Could I have a few words with you
.on m1 own business?”
‘ . thousand of them,” was the gallant
answer. .
’ “‘I have understood you had a mission,
13! ugh what it was no one seemed to know.
i have :time at my disposal by the ocean. and
[the most willing heart you ever heard of.
but can I do for you?’
, Answer a few questions. I am not sure
mjcan tell me anything I desire to know,
it would not be strange if you could,
as I understand you are well acquainted
infith 3111 the region of country roundabout

£3: Know‘it like a book,‘miss. There is
rdly scamp to be named in this section
{WWI have not risked my money or my
for bath. Of course, you are aware of

toiyou was your intimacy with a
who goes by the name of the Kid
by.” Is it true that you knew him
2’ ‘

 hesitated, and a erplexed look
‘ ' (shields face. p
. haveknown him somethinglike thirty-
_§ohrs. ‘If it will be any special lac-
_ , tion to you I shall be happy to
‘ "him; What hasvhe been doing?"
Thanks. If that is as far back as your
- e goes I have nothing further to;
Excuse me for having troubled you,
neider my guestion confidential." ,5, 1 ‘
gem ‘ nly at there is one thirty-I
“divBefore he struck this camp-I"
d of him, and though he is a rough-,
case. and a queer looking case, the.
wopicks him up fora fool will be apt to:

  
  
  
   
  
 
   
  

squarer pard never drew breath. When
' his heavy harness on some folks will
on't'mi‘ss being good looking by so

our offer was hardly intended. to
on would not care to send

  
 

 
 
  

   

Conquer, if need be, and a very dainty -

' ‘him‘for something else. 'A better man '

 

spoke I was a little out of humor with him
for roping me into his side game. The Kid
is nothing to me, yet every man, woman and
child in the burg will be willing to swear he
is an old pard. And that sort of notion is
not going to do me any good if I want to
continue living at peace with my neighbors.
Why, you must know how it is yourself?”

Charlie Turner was fresh and airy. but re-
spectful, and Miss Miriam felt perfectly at
home with him before he had uttered his
second sentence. At his appeal she laughed
good-naturedly.

“Yes. Had I not thought you knew
something about him and his friends I would
hardly have addressed you. He was able to
tell me a little; I was in hopes I could find
some one who would say a great deal.”

“ Perhaps I can,” was the prompt answer.

“ The Kid has led a harum-scarum sort of
life, of course. but there’s nothing in it to
send him to State Prison] If he has any
actual friends they are pretty much the same
stripe.”

“ Then, perhaps, you knew a man by the
name of Thorns, who lived in a town called
Alaska."

Turner’s careless smile disappeared, and
there was a shadow of trouble in his face,
ashe answered:

“ Perhaps I did, but I never knew he was
a friend of Kirk King."

” He was shot, I believe.”

“ He was so reported.” '

“Was the cause of the shooting one which
will bear mentioning?"

“ Oh, yes. It was quite the proper thing.
Woman in the case, though I don’t know
that either professed to be much struck on
her. One word brought on another, and
they pulled together. Both“ of them were
subjects for the coroner a. minute later, or so
the crowd thought, for they rose with a
how], and had a regular Donnybrook Fair.
Alaska was a city the evening before, but if
the census had been taken the'ncxt morning
the man With the statistics would have
thought it wasn't much of a. town after all.”

” The same story he told me; the same
story," said Miriam, impatiently. ‘

“Both of them buried, the man with the
longest arms and the biggest revolver ad-
ministered on their effects, and the world
went ’round on wheels, the same as it had
done before.” ‘

“ You have caught on the western ways
of things, but you are not altogether correct.
One of them went under for good,'all right
enough; but if I am not wide off, the other
came around in good time, and I‘ve never
heard of his being dead again.”

" And the one was Hugh Cathcartl I
knew I would be on the right trailwhen I
spoke to you. Something told me so.
Hu 0h Cathcart livesl" A '

“rifle may live, for all I know. He certain-
ly id not go up on that load of poles. He
Was not in it. at all. ” _,

“ Not in it? Did you not tell ‘me tha
Thorns—describe him.” . ' ‘

“Easy done. Tall, gray eyes, brown

hair, step like a panther’s, weight about a'

hundred and sixty, and age say, thirty~five.
He was very dead.” ,

- “ And the other man. the one who killed
him? You are sure he’did not ever hear the
name of Cathcart?”

“Very sure." '

" You speak confidently, and yet, how
can you know 7’“ i .

Miss Miriam was excited, and let it be
seen, but Charlie Turner was cool as usual,
as he answered with due deliberation:

“ I ought to know, for I am the man who
dropped Thorpe; I shot him myself. There

a was a Hugh Cathcart, but he went South 9.

year ago, and as far- as I know, has never
been heard from since.", ‘

 

, CHAPTER XVI. '
THE DOCTOR EEARS IT, STRAIGHT.

“ I DO not understand," gasped Miriam,
staring at the man before her with something
like horror. ‘ "

“ *‘ What had hedone to you, or what had

you done- to‘ him; that you could—but, I for-
got. .Xousaid-thorstwas a women in the
cue, .‘ V ,.  '

   

 

He had the four gentle ladies, and I had a.
straight flush, so you see she was an impor-
tant card, and when we showed down neither
of r. ; Hopped to consider, but both let drive.
Om- of the boys remarked afterward, it was
a lively time over one woman, and before
long every one remembered the riot, and no-
body knew much about the rights of the
case, and so, we let it go at that. He run
his chances when he raised that queen, and
luck turned against him.”

“ You must have known something about
him to be able to say so positively that
Thorne was his true name.”

“ I did, indeed, and I ought to have been
kicked for dropping into a game with him.
I had been dodging it for two or three years.
Oh, I knew him well enough, but the trouble
was he didn't know me.”

“ Yet this Kid from Kirby thinks it was a
friend of his, and described him as a man to
tie to."

“ If that is so, madam, it would be an ac-
commodation if you consider what I have
said as confidential until he gets straighten—
ed up on it.”

“ If this be so, he can be nothing to me.
It is Hugh Cathcart I am searching for.
You have given me apointer, and it is in ac-
cord with one I had before. I was thrown
off the track by the story of the trouble at.
Alaska. Now, tell me how I can learn what.
became of Cathcart. and I will be everlast»
ingly your debtor.”

“ Wish I could. madam. Down South is
abig country, and it swallows up a lot of
men that you never hear of again, or if you
do they bob up in quite a different section of
the country. Asia, for instance; or some.
where along the sources of the Nile. They'
don’t very often get back here after they
once turn up missing.”

“ And you think he is dead; it seems to me:
I can tell that much from your tone.”

“ I don’t think much about it, but I’d take-
two to one if I could see any earthly way to
settle the bet. If you truly want to see him,
go home and wait till he drops you a line.

And if it’s the other way, strike the nearest ‘

town where there's a paper. and serves. no—
tice by publication. And now I think of it,
that’s the best way, anyhow. If he don’t
come it's a sign he's dead, or ain’t worth;
fetching.” .

Miriam’s face flushed a little, for she was.
aware that the Sport from Denver gave her
a searching glance, though it was sidewise,
and altogether incidental as it appeared.

“ Thanks. Your advice is better, even
than you know, though it is not likely I will
take it. Forgive me for troubling you about
my own affairs, and unless you can give me
the names of Cathcart’s companions when he-
left Gordon’s Gulch—I heard of that expe-
dition before, you see—I will trouble you no
further.”

“ Sorry I am, but I know nothing further‘
than I told you, and that only came to me
by chance. A side pard, of mine mentioned
having seen such a party at'the Gulch, and
without giving names told me who the
leader was. ‘He was a, man with whom my
pard , had had some dealings once, which
turned out uncomfortable—and served him.
right. If I can help you at all, at’an time,
you understand I am at your disposa . Un—A
til then I am just where you put me. ” .

He raised his hat gallantly, and stood‘
waiting for orders. Though she knew he-
had one killing on his hands, and possibly a
dozen more. she thought. as she bowed to
him a little stifiiy. that she rather preferred
him to Doctor Andrews. aftpr all.

“ Thank you," she said, frankly.

“ Unless you can remember or learn some-
thing morc of Hugh Cathcart I do not know
thatiyou can be of further servicef—you have
done me. a great one already. ,For the pres-
,ent, I have no time to make friends. so you.
will not misunderstand me when‘I bid you
good-morning.”

And she accompanied this blunt dismissal
with a sad little smile, and a nod, which
drew the sting, if there was any, from her-
words. ' > , , , ,

.Turner passed on, while she wheeled, and
went back to Boot Jack. ‘ I , , ’

“,Wonder what the doctor. would say to
that if he heard, it

  
 

2’_' was his thought,ashe: ‘
stepped djauntily away. = » . ‘
: ,,.;!,‘rf.trgb he; _

 

l

 

  

' W3fl= ~nwww.m-..w

  
  
   

      
  



 m t ‘ mm...“ I a-

 

' me am not slow about telling it.

Kirk! King, the Man frombKirby‘. ‘

l"

“15‘

 

 

 

AnyhOW, he would be apt to think I was
trying to poach on his preserves. If things
keep running this way he will have it in for
me, good. And me all the time only trying
to' make an honest living.”

People express curiosity, now and then,
about things, when they really don’t care to
have that curiosity gratified.

It was pretty much that way in this
case.

Charlie Turner did not want to hear what
the doctor really would say, and would a
good deal sooner only imagine it. It was as
much to his disgust as surprise that. before
he had taken a taken half a dozen steps, he
discovered the doctor had possibly heard,
and probably would have something to say
about it.

He was seated carelessly on a rock by the
side of the trail, and there Was a larger rock
which had hidden him.

Perhaps he was skulking, and perhaps it
was only chance, but, anyhow, he was not
so far off that the voices of the two, in the
utter silence which prevailed, could not
reach him.

He nodded carelessly, and from all the
sign he gave no one could tell whether he
was in a. bad humor or not.

“Been answering a few questions, have
you?” asked the doctor..

“ I have been under the rack myself, and
know how it works. Wonder is, she didn't
get ’round to you sooner.”

“Keeping the best till the last, I suppose.
Brought me in as a toothsome dessert. These
young ladies whoxgo into business have a
little taste after all." '

“Couldn’t tell until I knew what sort of
a meal she had been making. If you had
anything to say about Hugh Cathcart you
might as well have opened it out some time
ago, when you were asked about him.”

“Thanks, but I’m not a deputy sheriff,
and I’m not given much to talk in such
cases till I have seen the plaintiff.”

“ Not a bad theory, but sometimes, when
you come to practice, it don’t work so well.
I have an interest in the quest of the young
lady, myself, and I would like to know
whether the information with which you
have been loading her is to be relied on.’

“ Thanks for the insinuation. Does that
mean fight? If it does I suppose I will have
to refer you to the Kid from Kirby. He ap-

‘ pears to know how to manage most things,

yourself included.”

“I am willing to take any meaning you
choose out of it, and allow you the same priv-
ilege. At the‘same time you are mistaken if
you think I want to crowd vou. I only want
to give you a warning.” - ,

“ Don‘t try to be solemn, Doc. Spit out
what you got to say and be done with it.
You look as though you had something on
your mind, and maybe I can help you.”

Charlie Turner certainly did "not try to
avoid difficulty; but that was his way.

“I have this on my mind, and this only.
You have managed to scrape up a speaking
acquaintance at least with a young lady in
whom I have a certain interest. So far, that
is all right. I know about what uestions
she askedyou, and doubtless she wi 1 tell me
what were your, answers.

“But right here is time for you to stop.
When she comes your way I would advise
you to go another. Let Miss Cathcart alone
or you will hear from me. .And when you
hear it will be after a fashion you will de-

l .” .

p“ Thanks. You lay it down very straight,
and if you really wanted me to have an in-
terest in the young lady you could not have
chosen a better way to start the notion. She
was not in my line. and if she had so chosen
I would not have been apt to speak,to her,
bad she remained in the camp till .the crack
of doom. She thought I might be able to

' give her some information, and 301 could

and did. Whether she tells you what it was
or not makes no difference to me, since it
was for her-benefit it was given, and shelwas
welcome to make What use she chose of it.
If you are in the same line of business you
want to keep your end up or see me go ahead.
'I know a heap, and when the notion takes
And the
fact is, if you want to shoot, the sooner you
be u the better. If

' youwm drag. iss .Cathoant‘s name
~. .1311 that w

on keep 'on‘- in this.

 

ould be internally? w v

after my lights on the subject, though I don’t
suppose you can see it in yours."

" You have said enough,” said the doctor,
white with rage.

“ You will see that the lady’s name will
not be dragged in, and I will place you in
such a position you will either have to fight,
or leave the town.”

“Nothing like keeping down your angry
passions. I didn't think you could do it so
well. But I guess I’m safe till Manuel gets
well, and then I can look out. Much obliged
for the warning, and meantime Igueos l’ll
go along cultivating the young lady. She
seems to be liberal-minded, and if she is sure
the income is all right I don’t believe she
will object to the man.

“ That’s the benefit of having a good repu-
tation,” thought Charlie. as he strode away.
" He wouldn’t pull while Ifaced him, and
he dared not shoot at my back, but after this
I want to look out for his heelers.”

"fi— )

CHAPTER XVII.
CAPTAIN sums TALns anrxnss.

TIIE‘ Sport from Denver had guessed
pretty shrewdly what the doctor would like
to do; but he did not know how near he was
to putting his wishes into effect.

“Curses on him!” growled Andrews, with
a savage scowl; “ He thinks I dare not fire

' at his back, but if I knew for a surer that

he is bent on mixing in my game I would
dare the risks. At this distance I could
make a sure shot of it—a‘nd, by heavens,
I’ve a notion to try it! There would be one
out of the road, and his internally handsome
face haunts me.‘ I’d like to spoil that cursed
beauty, so that, Miriam herself wouldn‘t
know it.”

His revolver was out, and he was holdin
it level with his waist, the muzzle trains
on Charlie Turner. He had the exact range,
and had practiced that kind of shooting.

Then he gave a short laugh, and dropped
the muzzle, though he did not return the
weapon to its scabbard.

“ Of all tools a jealous fool is the worst.
\Vith a dozen ruflians ready to do the job for
a handful of chips, I was almostidiot enough
to run the risks just to get his face out of
sight a shade sooner. I must be getting
wild.”

“ Rather think you are, pard."

The voice Wat right at his elbow, and the
doctor turned with a sudden start, his pistol
hand rising instinctively. It looked as
though the mania for shooting had not altou
gether left him.

“ Oh, go a little slow," continued the
voice, without a single touch of nervousness
or fear in its jeering tones.

“ You know if you really were to try it on
in earnest I’d haVe you down before you
could crook your finger. Of course, you are
fair with the tools as long as you are in
second rate company, but I hardly think
you want to come my way."

" True as preaching," responded the'doc-
tor, as he hastily thrust the pistol away.

“ You must make a little allowance for a
man who is taken off his guard. Of course.
when I saw who it was I knew better; but I
wouldn’t have cared for any one in Boot
Jack to have heard me express my thought.
just then.” . ‘ -

" But . you oughtn‘t to express your
thoughts if you don’t want them heard.
'Great Scotti Suppose I were to get to
talking out loud when I thought there was
nobody around. How long would it be be-
fore some one would bob up from behind a
bush. and take a sitting shot at yours truly.”

“ Very true; but then, as I am not in the

,sameline of business I have not made it

quite so much a study to restrain my feel-
ings.” '
“Come. come, old man! That‘s thin.
You and I get all we can. and we’re not par-
ticular how we get it, so we happen to want

it.‘ Where’s the difference? I confess, I'

am a little more open about it; but that is
the force of early education. If I had want-
ed that fellow out of the road I wouldn’t
have taken so much time to consider about
it, and I certainly wold not have thought

about the fellow who would do the job for a»

handful of chips. ' I would havecrooked. my
Land it '0 ,_.ha e '

 

-in .

 

me to have the job done? I'm open to an
enga ment.”

“ hat is the matter with the 8 tags
coaches? Regular business must be getting
poor.”

_The doctor gave a suspicious glance at his
ms-a-m’s. '

“ Oh, the old story. The empty traveler
can whistle in the face of the robber, or
something like that, as Horace hath it. If
Captain Slyme and his worthy gan don’t
get some outside work to do they wil be apt
to go burst before long. Honor bright, the
commissary department is so low that a.
square meal is the rarity nowadays. I am
wasting away to a shadow, and my men are
beginning to gnash upon me with their
teeth.” ,

“ In that case I am not sure I am in safe
company,” laughed Andrew's, his hand. go-
ing into his pocket.

” Perhaps, like Captain Scott‘s coon, I had
better come down.” . . r .
“ Oh, Come now, you don’t mean that.
There is some honor among thieves, and ,I
profess to he an exponent of'the higher life.
For the sake of old times, pard. don’t be, sus-
picions. I am not sure I could forgive it.” y

“ For the sake of old times,'if you need a '
friendly loan why don’t you say so? Of
course I am ready to help you over the rip:
plc. I’m not supposed to know that Hart '
Thorne of half a dozen years ago has bless
somed into the Captain Slyme of the'present
time. Will a. hundred or two help you?
That is all I have on me at present, butlit 1
won‘t be hard to let yon have a little more."

” Thanks, but I’m not robbing my friends.
I am liable to climb a tree at any moment
and I wouldn’t care to go oil the hooks ow-
ing you. But, if you actuall want that
little job done, I wouldn’t min accepting‘a
hundred on account and coming in from the
woods long enough to attend to the business..
1 have done no ‘business in the immediate»
neighborhood and can pass for a British capv
italist, or something of that sort. I’ll show
you how he ought to be drilled before to:
morrow morning.” .  , :

Captain Slyme talked as coolly about ltfas
though he were proposing to go rabbit-huh ‘

  
 
  
   
   
  
   
  
    
  
   
 
 
    
  
   
  
 
  
 
   
    
  
 
 
 
    
  
 
  
  
   
 
 
 
   
   
 
  
 
  
   
    
  
    
  
 
  

I‘ You have your m‘en where the iter
available ‘2" aske the doctor, as he row at
few twenties from his wallet, and gave/ a
swift glance around before placing them "he
the hands of his companion. ‘ ‘
“ 0h. es. a dozen of them; but you don '
suppose want to rush them into town just
to get away with Charlie Turner?” .
“ Ah, you know him, do on?” ~ “‘
“ It would be strange it didn’t. Every;
body does. He is a very good man wheh‘
you get him to going, but this time I thinkI
can fire a shade the scones ,” , i
“ I haven’t adoubt of it, but—see h
Thorne. If you'have no reason for corn.
intolBoot'Jack beyond ridding me of the 8 i r
from Denver I could use you to a glen , "
better advantage elsewhere. Besides 
not sure he is so much in m way. 
just myinfernal nonsense“ ere is j ,
man—but I have provided for him.” ‘
“ Handful of chips, eh? Well, I
to slaughter Turner some ,da
account, if you won’t pa for, thed I
it; but that can wait. YI’ , V ‘
“oh, and howhmuch is there in it
now I have got to make things straig I _
the bays-‘since you seem to expect to
them. The have avote on all cohtem
raids, thou after that 1am a
'of all the ussias. While I

 

“See here. orne. I'm not exactly 
of money, though I rate fairly well
financial standing at Boot Jack. “I 
been scattering a few chips already,‘.a¢Q;
have promised more. I am not doing 
without expectln to have them all, ‘
back, but I must ave enough at my‘o ’
to meet an unexpected raise. How,
would appear an object to that gem
yours?” . ' >

“They come moderately high. oldie
Idon’t think they would care to mov

nch less than a thousand in a Jump,- to
divided among the survivors after the ‘
Over.” ' ‘. .‘

“ Oh, I can manage that, and have
thing over for yousbesides. You 
Wm wsgnm..dxdn't your.

 

 

 
   

16

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

“ With me, yes. "

“Well, I'm not afraid to trust you with
my game. There is half a million in the

distance, and Iam willing to do a heap of
wading to reach it. I am not going to offer
to share it with you, or any of that kind of
tot, but I’ll give you a cool ten thousand for
yourself, and another thousand for your
gang, besides the money down, if you will
help me to pull it off. It will be at least a

' year before I can touch the principal even
if things go for the best, but it won‘t take
long to assure success, and when that is done
I’ll provide for your payment."

“ I'd agree to do twice the work for half
the money, and you haven’t told me yet
what it is to be. Suppose you open out.”

“ In the first place, there is a man and a
irl, living up on the mountain, pretty much
ike hermits. As far as I know there is no

one interested in them except a. wandering
tough, who has made a host of enemies since
he has been here, and who is liable to go
over the range at any moment. That man
and irl ought to disappear."

“ ust why?"

" Because, if they don't they may stand
between me and the half million.”

“A very good reason. Consider it done.
What next?”

“There is a lady in the camp who may
have to disappear also. If so I want to see
that she oes where I can find her. It might
be a go thing if she and I went together,
and were captured by a band of outlaws.
and had various trials and tribulations. You
have come upon me so suddenly I have not
had time to think it all out, but I can arrange
the scheme while I am getting that thousand
dollars you want to have in hand."

“ Consider all that done, also. What
next?"

“ Nothing, if other matters as planned
work all right. If the don’t you may have
to come into town an finish 011‘ the sport
after all. "

“ That will be done as we go along. Now,
the name of the man of the mountain? Give
me his location, also. There may be other
men there, and the mountain is a big place."

“The name he goes under here is Dave
Brady. and as I don’t think you ever had
anything to do with him it’s not worth while

digging out what it has been elsewhere.”

" Dave Brady let it be. Meet me here
with the thousand this afternoon at two and
I’ll tell you what the best scheme is, that I
can hatch up."

CHAPTER XVIII.

CRAZY (‘OON CAN IIE BETTER THAN IIE
LOOKS.

THE sight which met the Kid from Kirby
as he turned his face over his shoulder was
one which might have unnerved another
man, for it seemed as if Crazy Coon was
about to dash him, if not both of them, to
destruction.

There was perhaps a second bttwcen the
instant of seeing this, and the young man‘s
clutch on his collar, yet in that second he
had time to save himself by the one way in
his power—and refused to do it.

In a great emergency it was natural for
his ban to go to the trigger ofa revolver
like clockwor , and he would have barely
had time to stretch Crazy Coon at his feet
with a bullet through the brain.

And yet he did nothing of the kind. His
finger hesitated on the creek and then there
was no need of it.

The hand of Crazy Coon tore at him; but -

it was to urge him. away from where he was
standing, and added to his own instinctive
impulse was strong enough to fling him
against the wall of rocks on the inner side
_ of the frail, while at the same time he heard
2 {he rcpo tof a gun, and the whirr of a bul-
et.

Then, Coon was unslinging his own gun,
and stepping out carelessly, to where he
could again command a view of the rocks
above.

As King staggered up, and stared at the
lunatic he could not but admire the fearless

grace with which he threw up his gun; but
he was not ready to trust his judgment, for
in fnci, he didn’t believe the young man had
any.

" Shoot ter cripple, Crazy. Don‘t kill tell
We see what we got in ther box 2"

 

He was barely in time, but he saw the
quick movement by which the aim was
changed; and then followed the report.

The gun dropped down into the hollow of
Coou's arm as quietly as though he had been
shooting at duck, and Kirk knew he had not
missed his mark.

A moment later he had evidence, if he had
needed it.

From above there came strange cries,
mingled with oaths in Mexican, and curses
in English.

“His arm—it is broken at the shoulder.
Had you not spoken it would have been
through his heart. Shall he die, or will you
look at him? He would have had your life
had I not seen him. He does not fall like the
girl did, and we must go up if you want to
reach him."

“ I’ll hev ter trust you ter take me ’round;
I ain‘t’ posted on ther way among ther rocks
up thar. Better git a russel on, for I don’t
want ther critter ter bleed ter death. Not
until 1 git onto his game, nohow. ' He may
know suthin' 'bout Dave.”

“ This way, then. Crazy Coon knows the
ways and the trails. It will not be hard to
reach him, and I will go first so that he can‘
not take a shot with his other hand till I have
him covered.

It seemed to the man from Kirby that his
lunatic had more than a grain of sense in re-
gard to some thin gs,and he followed him with -
out hesitation, by a path which he might
have had some trouble himself in finding.

He saw the man in ambush had a position
which no one man could have turned from
that side, without running the almost certain
risk of death, and it was only an incautious
disclosure which had enabled Coon to spot
him from below. As the groaning and the
cursing continued he advanced without hesi—
tation, though it was his companion who
saw the wounded man first, and promptly
covered him with his rifle.

“Bless my soul, ef it ain't Tomasso, arter
all! Let up on that, old man. I'll do you
good if you’ll let me; an’ of yer don’t you ll
be apt ter bleed ter death afore I kin git
down to ther trail ag’in.”

Tomasso had stopped his groaning, and
was feeling vaguely with his left hand for a
revolver. His gun lay beside him. where it
had dropped from his hands when stricken
by Coon's shot.

“ First Manuel, and then me! Satan him-
self cannot slay them!” he gritted between
his teeth.

“ Better to die now than a little later on."

“ You know best, but I ain’t so sure ov
it,” was the grave answer of the Kid, as he
stooped over the Mexican. and while he felt
of his wounded shoulder with one hand,
with the other dextrously relieved him of his
weapons.

“It's a nasty break, Tomasso; but nothing
a little time and gumstickum won’t mend
more or less. I won’t say it’ll ever be (32
good 02 new. but it'll be better than no arm
at all. An' ef yer don’t let me ’tend ter ye
now ther bone '11 hev ter kim off of we kin
save yer life at all.”

"In the heads name, attend to it then, if
thou hast the courage. Sooner or later To-
masso will slay lhce if he lives.”

“ I‘ll tend ter that part ov the circus when
ther time kims,” responded the Kid, without
the least symptom of anger.

“ I'm glad yer kin see I’m squar’ ernuf ter
trust me long cz yer can’t do better. Arter-
wards you kin hev a reg’lnr sawbones ter
finish ther patchin', but I don’t reckon he
kin do yer better than I kin. It would ’a’ bin
my trade of I hadn‘t bin Switched ofi onter
things that suit me better."

Kirk King had not forgotten Dave Brady,
but that did not. interfere with other work
which came to his mind, and could not be
deferred, He had Tomasso's shoulder ex-
posed, and was following the course of the
bullet before his explanation was half end-
ed.

The bullet had made a clear passage,
breaking the bone as it went along, yet after
a hasty inspection Kirk did not believe the
fellow's life was in any very great danger.

“ Tomasso, of you war a good, honist
man, with or fambly ’pendin‘ on yer fur
s'port,I might be afeared; but you’re too
w’uthlcss ter die. aryhow. an' ther chances
are in yer favor ef I kin git yer out ov hver
afore ther reackshun kims on. I’ve bundled

 

 

i then. ag'in. thar war ther lady.

ye up some, an’ now I’m goin’ter git ye
down ter Brady’s shanty. After that, I want
or few fucks in ther case, an’ of you won’t
give ’em it won’t make no great diifer’n’s.
You give me his name an‘ I’ll send one ov
yer pards ter look after yer, an’ in a day er
so you‘ll be out with yer arm in a sling,
lookin’ pale an' intercstin’ ”

It was an ugly sort of a task, but one
which Kirk King thought should be attemp~
ted. and the sooner the better.

Tomasso had been losing a good deal of
blood, and had received a shock. This was
no place to leave him, and Brady’s cabin was
the nearest, and the only place to which he
could convey him.

There was risk enough about it, but To-
masso was in no condition to object, and if
he had any thoughts on the subject, they
were fears that the Kid from Kirby would
not carry out his intentions. It was grow-
ing late in the afternoon, and to be left there
would probably be his death. He was not
too weak to see that.

There was danger enough in it, too; but
Kirk King managed his burden as easily as
many a man would have done a child, while
Crazy Coon looked on in silent disapproba-
tion.

King did not think it the fair thing to in‘
stall the Mexican in the bed of the absent
owner, but he made him a couch that would
be fairly comfortable, placed a bucket of
water by his side, and then looked him over
critically.

“ Guess I‘ll have to leave you, but I’ll try
and send one of your pards cut if I can
strike any, an’ of I can’t I’ll git some one
else. . In course I know what yer war squat-
tin' up thar fur. an' I can't feel jest ez sorry
ezI m’out. Ef I tho’rt you could tell ther
truth onder ary condishuns I’d ask yer whar
Dave Brady are, but you’d jest say yer didn’t
know. an’ I ain’t got ther heart ter tortur’ a
cripple ter wring ther facks outen him. But,
of I find you hed ary hand in skullduggery
with him, I'll come back on yer, an’ kill yer
sure."

The Mexican had been very quiet, and
the Kid was turning away without expect-
ing any answer.

“ A moment. Thou hast been better to
Tomasso than he would have been to thee
and he will not lie Some men might have
carried him like a log; thou hast held him as
though he were a child. I would have shot
thee since it was why I dogged thv steps,
and that thou knowest. But no evil have I
done or intended to the man who lived here,
nor has he come to any harm as I know it.”

“Thanks, old man. I believe ye’r' tellin'
truth, a’rter all. Can you give a hint (‘Z ter
whar he’s gone, an’ why he went? It may
save a heap 0v time an’ trouble.”

“ In the lan uage of thy race, he hath lit
out. Why, I now not, but he has gone,
and taken the girl with him. This I know,
as I knew that thou wast to visit him this
day.”

“Gone, ehl And left no word for Ire?
Blamed strange, an’ mighty hard ter swal-
low; but ef you say so pard—"

“ Perhaps he thought if he left that word
it might come to some one else, and I know
that he went in fear.”

“Like ez not he saw yer snoopiu’ 'round,
an’ thought ther doctor war comin’ fur him
ag’in: but it ain’t like Dave ter be afeared
ov ary one man, ef he hez ther biggest kind
ov a gang behind him. He didn’t talk that
way yisterday.”

“ It was no fear for the doctor, but of
something the girl told him. More than
that I know not. He went on over the
mountain, and that is all Tomasso knows."

” Thankee, ag’in. Yer needn’t say 'nother
word. He kin run his own meat wagon. an’
when ther time kims he'll let me know what
it’s all erbout. So long. Fur a Greaser
you ain’t a had kind."

Although, on general principles, he was
not inclined to believe a word the Mexican
would say, there was an accent of truth in
Tomasso’s voice which he could not get over,
and he stalked slowly down the mountain-
side running it over in his mind.

“War it Crazy Coon, er war it ther wo-
man ‘2” he asked himself.

“ He wouldn’t skeer fur hisself but he"
might be afeared fur Leetle Misohi’f; an'
P’rhaps he
didn’t want ter break her heart all up, tellin’

 

 

’#

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

1'7

 

 

her what he knowed about Thorne. IIe's i If the Sport from Denver had not been tell-

a gentle sorter a feller, :when it tims ter

that.

“He Won‘t be apt ter go fur, an’ with ther
’Copper Bottom ter draw him, I’ll hear frum
him ef it’s all right. EfI war only sure
thet it war right. Ida’ssn’t go monkeyin’
too much ’round his trail er I might set
some one on iher trail e7. he wants ter keep
off. Guess I’ll hev ter slick to thcr mine,
,an’ let him take his own time ter ’xplain.”

Crazy Coon was at his heels, and as King
reasoned it all out he listened. Finally, he
spoke:

“ I can follow, and no one know. If he
has gone down the mountain it will not be
far before I strike his trail. How shall it
be?" '

“Go; but if you cut up any didocs—
stand from onder.”

He snapped his finger and thumb and
'Crazy Coon nodded. He understood the or-
»der and waited for nothing more.

While Kirk King descended the mountain
on the one side, he was going down on the
other, looking keenly around for traces of
the fugitives.

CHAPTER XIX.
rm; BREWING or A CYCLONE.

Kink KING was worried enough over the
strange disappearance of his friends, but
as he was inclined to believe Tomasso had
told the truth it seemed more important
than ever for him 'to hold on at the mine.

He had some doubts whether Crazy Coon
was the safest person in the world to put
-on the trail of the missing pair, but then he
knew the lunatic could follow it with less
danger of beingr noticed than any one else,
.and until sufficient time had elapsed for him
to make a report the Kid decided he would
do nothing further himself in the matter,
though he made his word good so far as send-
;ing assistance to Tomasso went.

He had forgotten all about Miss Miriam
and her quest, and it was a surprise when,
after supper, Billy Johnson asked him to
step into the parlor and have a word with
her

He went, of course, and the first thing
said to him was a still greater surprise.

“ Do you know, I have found out today
that the Thorne who was shot at Alaska
was not the man who was once your pard?
At least. he was not Hugh Cathcart, for that
gentleman was alive when last heard of, and
on his way on some uncertain expedition to
the Southern country. How could you
have made such a mistake?”

“ A man’s ez likely tcr be wrong ez right
when he bets on s uthin’ he can’t see; an’ this
may be sich 0V 0. case. I ot it mighty
straight; who war tcllin’ yer ( iff'rent?"

“ A man with whom I know you have
:some acquaintance, Mr. Turner, the Sport
from Denver. I met him by chance, and I
found he knew more about Hugh Cathcart
than any one I have yet interviewed."

“ An’ it war honest Injun? He don‘t look
like a sport ez does his shootiu’ with his
mouth. I jest told yer ther best I bed
in ther shop, an’ I ain’t sayin’ thet I warn’t
right. I give it to yer straight oz 1 got it.
from my old pard, an' I axed him ’bout it
ag’in arter I seen you, ter make sure."

“ Another one of the three?" asked Miri-
am, with an accent of surprise.

“ Who was it? ButI need scarcely ask.
If he hears the same name he did in the old
time it must have been David Brady."

“ Kayrect you be; but it ’pears kinder
sing’lar thet yer never dropped onto to him
afore. He‘s bin hyer longer than you hev, cf
I ain‘t mistook, an' posted ez you be I’d ’a'
thunk you’d ’a’ ’membered ther name."

“ But I never heard iti And it is strange.
I thought I had gone over the name of every
man in the camp, and located his past as well
as his present. Do you think I would ever
have neglected him? Where is he? It may
be that Mr. Turner was wrong; and if he
was—i”

She stopped suddenly, almost confused.
She had just remembered Charlie Turner had
confided to her in his light and airy way that
he had shot the man who had been posing as
Thorne at Alaska, and she had tacitly agreed
not to mention the fact, while King contin-
ued to believe the defunct to have been his
old time pard. ,

 

ing her the truth?

There might be some unpleasant complica-
tions; and she had no desire the Kid from
Kirby should be in them.

The Kid was thinking, too.

It was possible the disappearance of his
pard might be connected with this lady, and
it did not seem exactly square to give away
any more information than was necessary
illiltii he knew more about the affair than he
(id.

At the same time, if Dave wanted him to
keep mum he should have given a hint; and
he had an idea his pard was really equal to
any emergency.

“ It’s on’y his counfounded narvousness,
along ov his lyin' in bed fur a week or so.
Ef it warn’t fur that he'd face a hull reegi-
mcnt ov skirt-y-coats, an' never wink wunst.
Plain truth are ther, best band tcr hold,
though I ain't sayin’ nothin’ ’bout Lily on-
less she ackts me. ”

Miriam appeared to have for otten her
questions for the moment, and at englh she
looked up, repeating:

“ I must see him; where will I find him?”

“ Sorr , mum, but jest now I'm afeared

e'r' tho ate. He‘s bin lyin' off with ahole in

is side, but he’s better now, an’ hez gone
ter look after biz. I can’t say when he'll be
back, but when he comes I kin let yer
know.”

“And such a thing could happen here
without my knowing it! What could the
doctor have been thinking of that he did not
mention it to me?"

“ Probably he war thinkin’ ov what war
goin’ ter happen when Dave kim out ag’in.
on ther war-path. I ain’t sayin’ it warn’t a
squar' deal, but it does 'seem queer thet he
could git ther bulge on my pard, an’ drop
him ’thout a scratch hisself. He’d be too
all-fired modest ter 'xplain it to yer, ’speshul-
ly ef he thort Dave war a man ez you war
huntin’."

“ Another murder—or the next thing to iti”
exclaimed Miriam, with something like hor-
ror, as she clasped her hands.

“ Blood everywhere, and always, just as I
seem to be coming near to the trail. And
what was this about?”

“ Jest a racket. sich ez men git inter over
an ace high, an’ a pa’r ov spades. Dave, be
are runnin ther Copper Bottom, er war git-
tin’ riddy ter run it, an’ ther doctor hez a
centerest in thcr Occidental, which are jest
next door on thcr vein. Some say ez he
war anxious ter be ‘p'inted Dave's ’minis-
trutor, an’ it looks a bit like that. We’ll
soon find out, for of he war ever goin'
let‘ jump ther claim he’ll hev ter try to do it
now.”

“He shall not do it—not, at least, while
Mr. Brady is away. I should think the
whole town would rise to prevent it.”

“ Ther town hev. crnough ter do with its
own ’fairs,” answered the Kid, dryly; “but
I don't reckon he’ll git furder than thcr
shaft, of he tries at on. I’m Ithar meself."

“I might have known it. Excuse me for
doubting it. But if your friend comes back
let me know at once. I would see him be-
fore I go, but I cannot wait more than an-
other day. Then, Iwill go to learn some~
thing more of the man named Cathcart,
who went South. His fate shall not remain
a mystery.”

“ See hycr, miss. I can't think it war my
old pard. but it may he. Ef I lied time I’d
make sure ov it, but I’m looking out fur an-
other pard, an’ I can’t throw up his job tell
he gits back. It’s only advice I kin offer,
an’ I won‘t give much ov that. Jest go slow.
That‘s all.”

“But when he comes—could I count on
our assistance then? And I need not say

could well reward you for time and labor
in my cause.”

“Thankee; but I'd hev ter knowahenp
more about yer cause aforesaid, an’ life,
hyer, are mighty onsart'in. i got more

friends ’round town lhan I kin shake a stick I

at, an’ it ain’t sure they won’t down me.
Ef they don‘t it won’t be fur the want ov
tryin’.”

“Thanks. I might have known you
would never forget a friend, or be willing
to do what might be to his interest. I
shall not ask you to aid me blindfolded.
I would tell you all my story first, and after
that you could decide. But I cannot do

- ¢

 

it now. Perhaps there will be time and
reason for it when we meet again. Good-
evening."

Kirk King was very well satisfied to ac-
cept his dismissal, and went away without
delay. lie believed he had gained more in-
formation than he hud given, and was glad
of it. Miriam was handsome and fascinating,
but he could not make up his mind altogether
that she was to be trusted, He was glad it
was not Dave Brady concerning whom she
was inquiring. He was honest in all the
answers he had given, but did not know
yet that he would like to bring the young
lady face to face with the pard whom she
desired to meet.

So Kirk King went on out, and brought up
at Vance Ulhnan's saloon, where he played
draw with varying fortunes for several
hours, all the time keeping his ears open
for any intelligence he might be able to pick
1)

Then, there was an arrival. Two or
three rough-looking men came pushing
through the doorway, and the foremost
came straight behind his chair. placing his
hand upon the shoulder of the Kid while he
growled:

“Whar's ther boss, dog-gun yet What
hev ye done with Dave Brady?”

 

CHAPTER XX.
VANCE ULLMAN GETS ms onus.

KIRK KING was not taken b
though he had given no sign 0
trouble till it came.

He saw the men at the door as soon as
they made their appearance, and noted that
ther eyes were turned toward him. Just
what they were going to do was more than
he could guess, but he knew their presence
meant trouble of some kind for him.

The grip on his shoulder was very solid,
and many a man would have received a
good shaking under the clutch of that
nervous hand.

surprise,
expecting

It did not move the Kid, however. He

looked up lazily, and without either anger
or astonishment in his tone.

“ What's bitiu’ yer, pard; an’ fur that
matter, who ther thunder be ye, anyhow?”

“I’m Jack Rakestraw, boss ov ther (lop-
per Bottom gang, an’ I'm wantin’ ter know
whar Dave Brady are, an’ what yer bin
doin’ to him ‘2"

“Boss ov ther Copper Bottom, chi Why
in thunder ain’t yer thar, then? ’Penrs ter
me, fur boss ov a vall'yble property you
might be puttin’ in yer time ter better
’dvantage than mckettin’ ‘round ther Tiger,
axin' fool questions."

“ That hoss won't trot. I’m right whar I
think I kin do Dave ther most good. Ther
Copper Bottom hez bin jumped, an’ you‘re
ther man ez engineered [her job. We’ll
hev Jonny Seams an' his gang outen thar to-
morrcr mornin', jest too quick, but tharain’t
that much time ter spare about lookin‘ fur
Dave. He ain’t up at his ranch, an’ you bin
seen snookin’ ’round that, an’ we want ter
know what yer done with him an' ther gal
what war thar a-livin’ with him. You want
ter talk slow an’ mighty straight or ther
boyees ‘11 set yer ter climbin’ a tree an’ go
ter look fur him on the’r own hook."

An ominous growl at the speaker’s
shoulder told that the men who came with
him thought the same way; and there were
a half dozen other men gathered around
whose faces were familiar. They had been
among the loud ones when Manuel Perez
fell to the stroke of the Kid.

The Kid from Kirby was willing to talk
slow and straight, but what he said was not
after lines Rakesth intended to lay down
for him.

“Im takin' it on trust thet you’re Jack
Rakcstraw. ther man what Dave hired ter
see ther Copper Bottom war guarded night
an' day. You sold him out, mine an’ body,
an’ now yer find yer can't d'liver ther goods.
\Vhat Dave’ll do with you when he gits back
I dunno, an’ you wouldn’t keer to, fur ,it’ll
be oncomfortable, sure. But Dave an’ me
war old pards in ther ’wayhack, an' I’m
holdin‘ his mine fur him, ’cordin' ter his
orders. When I went in, ther wa'n’t nobody
thar,'an’ hadn’t bin for two days, aryhow.
You throwed up ther job ter take sumbod
else's money; an’ now, yer want ter leave 3];

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18

.7. is

 

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

 

throwed up or thar will be cold meat fur

breakfast. Sabbe?"

“ Yer can’t squirm ’round it that way,"
put in a rugged voice from the center of the
crowd.”

“\Ve know Dave Brady, an’ we know
Jack fur his right-hand man; but who set
you up fur a jedge in Israel? We ain’t fly-
ln’ ofl ther trigger, ner tryin’ ter'raise no
riot, but we're goin’ ter put yer whnr we
kin hev yer; au' to-morrer, when it's day-
light, an’ everybody is jest ready ter give
fn’r an’ squar’ jestice, au‘ nothin’ else, you'll
hev ther chance ter tell what yer did with
ther bodies. Tor-night e are goin’ tcr sleep
in ther lock-up—cf ye kin sleep at all.”

“ City marshal, be ye?”

The Kid was cooler than ever as he asked
the uestion.

“ hat's what. Name, Sid Dorian; an’ a
terror ter evil-doors. IIan's up now, an’ no

- foolin'. We wants yer ter him right criong.”

" Don‘t admire yer pluck. You let Rake-
.straw taste ’ronnd fur quite a spell store
you could make up ycr mind it was safe ter
takeabite yersclf. An’ you’re wide 01f ef
yer count on tukin’ me ter ary lock-up, er
callyboose. I’ve seen how that thing w’uks
afore. The Lion are good ernough fur me,
an’ I count on sleepin’ thar tor-night. You
kin go ’long of yer hcz a mind,to, an’ to-
morrer mornin' kin talk to me an’ I‘ll be a
iam‘ ez long er. I know it‘s a fair shake. But
in ther dark, tor-night, not any. Take yer
han's ofi, Jack."

King was meek as a lamb while uttering
his ultimatum. He was not at all like the
boisterous giant who had been ready to turn

 evorything upside down. His request was
so mildly spoken it was even achanceif

. Rakesth heard it-

x" You ain’t shoutin’ jest so loud ez you
‘ war, an’ it shows yer good sense,” exclaimed

the" err-boss of the Copper Bottom.

‘ “ Kim right erlong, an’ on kin arg'y them
_ p’ints in the .mornin'. id. are marshal, an’
‘we be his deb’ities. Git a move on store we
(’ histe ye’r. Ye’r’ big ez a mount’in, but we
‘ got ther crowd.”

Half a dozen men were holding drawn re-
volvers. and no doubt were ready for shoot~
ing, but Dorian, Rakestraw, and some of the
others who were closest, had never shown a
qweapon.

_ The Kid rather suspected there was a trap
in the arrangement of afiairs.

.About the time he drew on the city mar-
' shal, no doubt some one would try to take
, advantage of the opportunity to shoot him
I 1 down, and he did not care to take bigger

/ chances than was necsssary when the odds
were so great against him.

'» ‘But two or three more were taking cour-
age from his inaction, and Were stretching
out their hands to,aid Rakestraw. Unless
'he intended to surrender at discretion it
v was time the Kid from Kirby was doing

somethizg. ‘

, He h given his warning, and, he did
not intend to repeat it..'

   
 
  
 

. Suddenly, one of his big hands shot out
“and caught Rskestraw at the belt which
Went around his waist. '
5 Just one tremendous wrench and he had
Ballastraw swung from his feet. and steady-
.ing a second with his other hand on his
shoulder he cast him into the throng. It
.was done as he rose, so that he had the
leverage of his legs to aid him, but the efiort
was a magnificent one. and created a con-
tusion in the ranks of the enemy equal,
almost, to the explosion of a bomb.
 One or two pistols went OR at random,
, 4th fortunately their mnzzles were turned to
.tbe floor. as their holders kept them hidden
“their sides until the ri, ht moment should
g come for production. he bullets did no
dlmage. ‘ ‘
, 0n the contrary, the accidental shooting
was rather an advantage to the Kid.
Those who only had the interest of curi-
aity in the game mostly wanted to put
.fiomselves out of close range, and they
E’Wed- very quickly. '
' I Then. the smoke, and the reports, and the
mash of Jack Rakestraw as. King let go
profshlmrflmixed things up momentarily, so
chum one! could see very clearl what was
going on, and though a rush came immedi-

 

».it‘wasa blind one. karma. never o'ok‘, 

The instant he had flung Jack into the
crowd Kirk King gave an agile spring
which carried him sideways toward the bar.
Following it up by a few quick steps be
planted himself in position, with the wall
behind him, and a window convenient for
retreat in case he should want to take a
speedy departure.

There he stood. watching the crowd keen-
ly, asryet not offering to produce his Wea—
pons. but his hands held low down, and it
would take but a twist of the wrist and a
turn of their muzzles to have his revolvers
trained.

The movement had gained him a decided
advantage, though he did not apparently
care to crowd it for all it was worth.

Jack Rakestraw sprung up more angered
than hurt, though the shaking down he had
received. was far from being a pleasant
one.

“ Hyer! Let me at him!” he shouted.

“ Thar ain’t aman iivin’ ez shall sling me
’round that way, an’ I’ll lay him out of I
swing fur it.”

“Be you talkin’ cz Jack Rakestraw, or
oz 3. dep‘itty marshal? Ef ett’s ther fu’st
you'll be apt ter git more ov ther same sort;
an’ of ett’s ther last ther gents kin see good
reason why I don’t want ter trust my preshus
neck ondcr your fingers.”

“ Jack Rakestraw's a-talkin’ now. Ther
dep'itty marshal kin wait!" yelled Rake-
stmw, and though half a down hands were
outstretched as if to restrain him, and sev-
eral voices called to him, “He's too big
fur ye, Jack!” he pitched straight forward
for the Kirby infant.

It would have been a strange thing to
Kirk King that the shooting had not already
commenced had it not been for aside glance,
which told the reason.

VanceUllman was saying nothing, but he
was watching the game with the eye of an
eagle, and as he leaned lazily over the bar
his hands pushed out two revolvers in front
of him, so that the muzzles covered the
crowd after a complete fashion.

Those muzzles were talking for him, and
they said plainly:

“ Go ahead Wllh your amusement, but if
you miss, or hit the wrong man, I’m waiting
for you. Those random shots don’t count,
but just you get down to business.”

The Kid waited for the attack without
flinchiug, and as Jack came within distance
his arm stretched out as though to push
him back,- or ward him off in an awkward
fashion. ‘

But it was neither a. push nor a shove. By
a quick movement from the elbow down, he
delivered a rousing smack on the face of the
assailing party, which sent him staggerin
back once more, almost as much bewildere
as ever. ‘ ‘

Before he could recover himself, the Kid
from Kirby had filled ’both hands.

”‘ This hyer thing hez gone ’bout fur er-
nough, an' tggdgit ter playin’ earnist might
give some g ,‘honest man a iass’ sickuiss.
You ain‘t a-keerin ’bout Dave Brady, ’cause
you sold him out.
’cause ye’r’ paid fur ther job cf ye kin send
me up thcr‘flnmc. Ye’r’ ther third man ez
hez tried it in. two days, an' ett’s beginnin’
ter make me tired.” '

t‘ That's a lie outen ther ’huil cloth-"be-
gan Sid Dorian. '

From the first he had not seemed anxious
to get too far forward. He had about as
much courage as the average man, but he had
a wholesome respect for Kirk King, and be-
sides, was not certain that he was acting in
the line of duty. So far he only had the
say-so of Jake Rakestraw for his authority,
andythat was not every thing needed when it
came todealing with a man like this.

The charge against Jack did not strike him,
as he was honest enough when he started in.

though he was inclined to make a personal

matter out of it now. ’

If he had not been interrupted. he would
have said enough to make it such and per-
haps a good deal more, But, before he
could get any further, Rakestraw’s pistol
cracked, , ‘ ' i

 ' tenement. . '
‘ or

 

    

An’ ye'r’ pitchin’ inter me'

tools, and just now he was in no good con-
dition for fine shooting. .«

He was in a terrible rage for one thing, and
the smack he had received on his face made
his eyes water until his sight was blurred. i
If he had been the least bit cool he would '
have waited until he could have made a. 
sure thing of it. t

Then, perhaps, he would not have fired r
at all.

At any rate, the Kid from Kirby remained
to all appearance untouched, and as un‘- .
moved as ever. What he would have said ‘
or done was lost to the crowd through an
echoing report, and the sight of Jack stag-
gering back with his hand clapped to his
head: ‘

“Sorry, Jack,” interposed the crisp voice
of Vance Uilman.

“I haven‘t any great love for the galoot;
but you know the rules. The mark of
your lead in the wall is a. full foot high, and
that is something I won’t stand. This thing
has been going on long enough, anyhow.
Such a. lot of chin that leads to nothing I
nevor did hear, and this sort of work kept.
up would break me up in a week. I missed
my game last night because I was thinking
too much of what the head-centers were
doing, but Idon’t propose to do it again, so,
if there are any more of you counting on
doing wild shooting. you know what you’ll
get. And every time I’ll bite a little deeper.”

Vance had some friends mixed in with the
crowd, and they were ready to stand by him, ‘,
though it did seem he was crowding things. 

In case like this :he. might have risked a t
suspension of the rules without much future
danger to discipline.

Two or three of these men edged into the "-
thick of the crowd, and though they pro- 1;
fessed the greatest sympathy with him they
were waiting to Checkmate any movement;
Rakestraw might make against the pro
pn'etor.

From the first it was seen the man was .
guly barked, and no real damage had been 

one. it

Sid Dorian turned from the Kid to Ullman. ti;
He was a trifle cooler now. and was not; .
anxious to have the battery of the saloon»
keeper turned‘on him, though he thought it
as well to .know exactly what Uilman meant.
to do.

“ You must make allowance. Vance. We
b’in tryin' ter do ther thing up without
wreckin’ ther shebang, but we got ter hev
him.’ ’ . ,

“ Don’t exactly see why. I wouldn’t bc- i
lieve Jack on oath, and the stranger seems to
have made out a pretty fair case; besides
giving you as square an offer as you ought. .
to want." ' '

  

“But if he’s killed Dave Brady, an’ scoop- '7»
ed in his mine, I don’t reckon he‘s the sort of 1".
man to listen to; an’ it looks ez though he 7 '
had'done both.” ' ‘ r

“ Don’t you worry about his killing Dave.  _
There wasn’t all this fuss over Brady when 5' ,
he was otted not long ago, and it looks to ‘
me as hip there was reason for it now. I’d
advise the square men’round here to keep
out of the mix. I know something about
Dave,'and I've heard. something about the 
Kid, now that I’ve had a chance to think it r ;
up. They used to be old pards, and there’s at
novreason why they shouldn’t be yet.” ‘

 

“ That’s ther whitest kind ov talk, sn’ you  ‘
do me proud, though ett‘s nothin’ but ther 
truth." chimed in Kirk King. l}

"Ef Dave war ’round, ter look s'rte‘ryhis
’fairs, I’d hev bed a holy circus hyer‘, nn’
you bet yer wouldn’t hev hed no reason .4.
ter be crackin' at me. When Iidraw I file, i
every time. But, tell Dave gits’ back, I’m.  p,
goin’ jest as slow ez 1 kin,'nn’ ou’ii find me 1
permeable ez a mule. I’ve di what blame _ t
few men would ’a’ done. I've stood an’ took A 1

. U
i

ther shootin’l ’thont usin’ my, irons, hopin’
thcr crowd id lisfsen ter reason, an’ give me
rights ter git even with that gaioots ez are
tryin’ t r run it,” ‘- ‘ —
“E ye’r’ sich a blamed nice man why
didn't yer throw up yer ban is when Jack
called yer. A inner-cent man ain’t got'noth—
in’ ter fear in Boot Jack " 1‘ . ' I A
This from some one in the crowd, but the
speaker kept himself carefully out otsight. '
“ ’01th i war-nit iettin’ ther man esnxnts

  
 

   
 
 

     
  
 

   
    

  

 

I «an: outen that, way gitaé lead? if

Ive flee

e

 m V“"!« t,

7 «we? - . ‘ ,.,._ ,4,

 
   

 

..v..\,  ,V

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

  

19 U

 

 

with me. An'I might ez well be dead ez
crippled right now. Ef you men ez are
howlin' loudest ’11 make it a fair fight, and
ther best man win, I’ll take yer one at a
time, er all tergether, an’ you kin do yer
dirty best. But ther way yer come at me I
hed ter go slow tell I could convince thcr
white men ov ther camp it war a clean ease
0v erowdin’.”

Ullman thought it was about time all this
was brought to a focus. He did not like the
looks of Jack Italu-straw,,who was listening
to the apparently disinterested advice of two
or three men, with a face that was altogether
too deadly cool.

He turned to Sid Dcrlan, who, after all,
was the responsible man of the outfit.

“ Now, Sid, own up. Do you know that
Dave is dead. or have you any proof of it at
all? Isn’t it only Jack’s say so?"

“ That's about ther size cv it, Vance.”

“ And has Jack ever looked over the
ground himself, to see if there were any
signs; or, did he take it from the say~so of
some one else? I'm getting this down a
little fine becauseI want to know where I
stand, and I've made a mighty big guess at
the real way the land lies.”

Sid scratched his head, and looked a. little
foolish. '

“ Ihcdn‘t thought 0v that, but I b'lieve
ye’r’ right. Jack ain’t bin out to ther wicky—
up, ’cause, now I think ov it, he didn’t hev
time sencc I seen him afore.”

“ Well. my opinion is, the Kid has just as
much judgment as pluck, and. that all you
fellows who were browsng around would
have been paid for if he had taken it into
his head to blaze away. If he wants to go
peaceably with your crowd it‘s all right; but
if you try to kick up any more of a bobbery
here—I’m on his side for the present.”

Vance laid down the law just as coldly as
though he were calling the turn, and the
cards were running in his favor.”

“I b‘lieve yc’r' rig’ht," said Dorlan, who
had taken a calmer view of the subject.

“ I'm keepin‘ an' eye on ther stranger tell
I know more ’bout this thing, but I ain’t
makin' no furder move right now. So long.”

Sid turned abruptly, and‘made his Way
through the crowd. \thn he got to the
door he threw back a word of warning.

“ I hope, bovs, thar won’t be no rackettin’
’round hyer. fther are, an’ Vance calls on
me ter keep order I’ll hev ter help him.”

“And now, Jack, how is it with you?"
asked Vance. coldly staring at the ex-boss
at the Copper Bottom.

Before he ansuvereerack glared around at
the faces of those about him.

He saw there were men there who would
stay with him; but he saw too, there were as
many who were willing to follow Vance
Ullman’s lead, and that the rest could not
be worked up to any high pitch of enthusiasm,
one way or the other.

“I’m holdin’ ther edge. I kin see thar
ain’t ernough byer ez keers fur jestice ter
make it a object an’ I'll do ez Sid done, an'
la low. When ther truth kims out I’ll hev
al ther backin’ I want. I got ter. recom-
member thet cf 1 don’t look after poor Dave‘s
eenterests ther jumpers 'li git away with the
Copper Bottom."

Then he took his departure, and three or

four men went’with him.
- “They are after you,” said Ullman in a
low tone. addressing the Kid, who was
watching the intermission with a smile on
his rugged face. *

" It just happened I knew a little about
the game beforehand, and though it is not
my custom to mix in these outside affairs
further than to protect my property I gave
you the full benefit of my rules,”

“ Thankee. pard. I‘m tryin' mighty bar/d

,terla low on? run me’own clamvwa on but
. g .

it ,pfars oz though they didn’t want ter let

“ Oh, you are getting along all right. By
the time they try a few more hitches at you,
people will. begin to see you are only on the
defensive. and then you can afi'ord to cut
loose, But your nerve tonight will be Worth
a dozen Corpses. They will be slower about
piling in for the future; but if it does come
again it will be in dead earnest”. ' .

The Kid understood the somewhat obscure

and returned his thanks briefly. sit,
, in onhis :,

to pad ‘to‘ have“ Ullman
«W

  

the other way, but evidently the saloon-
keeper held no malice over the result of the
game in which he had got away with the
bank. It might be, indeed, that he was
saving up the stranger until the hour should
eomc for his revenge, but if so he gave no
hint.

There was. considerable talk about Dave
Brady and his disappearance, and the Kid,
without dwelling on the mystery of it, told
a pretty straight story in regard to that, and
the occupancy of the mine. The weak
point in his case was that he had no papers
to show, and he steered clear of that part of
the subject.

" That’s jest one thing,” he added.

“They talked ’bout takin’ thcr mine in
the mornin', an' like ez not they war willin’
tcr do most arything ter keep me frum bein'
thar when the circus kims off. Bless yer
soul! Johnny ’11 hold on tell thcr cows' tails
drap off. When they git down ter biz you’ll
see a heap ov fun thar, an’ they won’t jest
be tryin’ ter mount one lone stranger, either.
I’m goin’ ter turn in,”

And all alone he swung away from the
crowd, and went out into the night.

 

CHAPTER XXII.
THE RAID on THE aoonnnns.

one, but perhaps it was not as dangerous as
it looked.

.From what he had said, Sid Dorlan had
dropped the case for the. present; and as
everybody knew how the land lay. Jack
Rakestraw would think twice before trying
a. shot from behind, or, indeed, attempting
to crowd King.

Still, there Were some who shook their
heads, and were more than half inclined to
follow after,to see the fun which they thought
likely to happen.

It was quite a little step from the saloon
to the hotel, and the Kid knew from ex-
perience that danger might lurk by the
way. ‘

He knew the road better now than he did
the first night of his arrival, and as the night
was cloudless it was not likely he would again
get ofl’ the track. *

Before he had gone very far he heard a
rapid footstep behind him.

There was nothing alarming about that.
for the firm. quick tread did not suggest the
assassin. He never turned his head until the
individual was at his shoulder. I

Then he heard a. voice, which he recog
nized at once as belonging to the Sport
from Denver.

"‘Howd'y pardl If you have no objec:
tions to company I wouldn't mind going
along' for a, piece of the‘rway. I have just
been hearing about the racket at the Tiger,
and mighty sorry am I not to have been
there when the fun was on. If I am not a
heapsight mistaken on and I are in this
thing together. and 'd just admire to get
first crack at them.”

“ I won’t deny but what you’ve bin stand-
in’ by me, pard, jest ez well ez though l’d‘
axed yer, but I reckon, onlcss yer sp'ilin’ fur
a fight; you hed better pass by on ther other
side. It ain't likely that Manuel an' his
gang’ll'eome fur you tell they git good an'
rid ov me; an’ I think I kin keep ’em busy. "

"Manuel—humbugl He dances ez Doc
Andrews fiddles, to say n’othin of the
beautiful head you put on him. e wonit
be able to squint through the hindsights for
.a month, and by that-time the clean-up will
be over, and somebody high-coo 'alorum." ,

“It ’11 be all ri ht'ef I war actooally play-
in’ a lone, hand;
arter. which ther f’ust letter ov his name are
Dave Brady. Mebb‘e you won’t care ter back

profit are ter back mine.”
“Perhaps I want to get a back at the
doctor. If I do you must know I couldn’t
hit on a better way.
all right. Pretty square man, and the more
you know him the better you like him.”v
“ Wal, ef you want to I can‘t hinder.
Don‘t shoot my, wa an‘ I Won’t p’int yourn.
That’s on good ez kin sayjlst now."
,‘,‘ enough; Now look
be; are main

 

THE movement of the Kid seemed a bold‘

ut 1 got». pard ter. look

his game, an’ I’ll swmir I can't see whar yer.

And as for Dave—he’s ,

  

 

shanty, which looked as if it was tenantless-
and as the Sport from Denver gave the warn 1
ing he made a quick side spring, which car-
ried him well into the shadow. As far as.
the Kid was concerned it was a complete and
almost mysterious disappearance.

He had no time to think about it, how-
ever. He heard the some soft footsteps at
which Turner had taken alarm. and laughed
to himself at the excess of caution which had
defeated its own object.

It was that very softness which put both
men on guard. Half a dozen men might.
have come within striking distance without
attracting more than.a passing glance: but.
men who approached so carefully had an ob-
ject, and not a very worthy one either.

Kirk King might have taken to flight
without much danger of being overtaken,
or he could have followed the Sport from
Denver into the concealment offered by the
shadows, but he did neither. He simply
strode on at the same gait, and waited to see
what was coming. .

Meantime he was thinking that the man.
who had lately insisted on being his pard had
showna wonderful discretion for one with
his reputation. Had he retreated altogether,
or was ita dodge to get in the rear of the
enemy?

The steps came more softly than ever, and, ,
at last they were Very near. The Kid was-J
scarcely willing to believe the the evidence
of his own senses.

“Now!” exclaimed a voice; and the men.
sprung at him.

A man like the Kid from Kirby, taken by
surprise, and under such circumstances.
would be apt to turn around quick to see
what the word was given for,,and that was.
just the way the attacking party had figured
it out.

Unfortunately for them, King was not
surprised a bit. By the way they stole to-
ward him he had made up his mind they in- .
tended to come to close quarters, and that . ‘
suited him as well as anything. ‘- ’1‘

He did wheel, but he (gave a great spring, 
forward first, that carrie him Well heyon 
the reach of theclubs which actually n histled;
as they fell. It was a narrow shave, but he"
balked the first rush by that one efiort, and
then started in on the offensive before they -
could fairly recover. i

As near as he could see there were half a
dozen or more in the gang, and he was in
the midst of them like a flash, hitting out.
right and left so quickly that not a man of.

-them had time to raise a bludgeon before'hls’ '

first blow fell.‘ ‘ . .
The blows of the man from Kirby fellas
though his fists were trip-hammers. and be
bowled over a couple of the assailants, and
evidently had made up his mind to get awe . I, ..
with the rest in the same fashion. If h e
luck had stood to him he might have done
it.

in trying to get but of the way, and the
thought he had fallen. ‘ , .. 7
0n the contrary, he was wide awake. and"
darted to his feet again under King’s guard
resting his face closely against the Kidisa.
breast, while he wrapped his arms around”-
himkiu a grip that a giant could scarcely have
bro e‘. t ‘ ~
“ I’ve got him, boys, pile on!” growled. in
voice, and the crow was not slow to tnlr'eq
the advice. Three of them, all stout, bin-ii '
fellows, flung themselves on the hampcrc ;
man, and with one prodigious effort pulled
him to the ground. -’ ’  i
“The bag, quick! Slug him for keepa.
while we hold him! If he gets the bulgeonr.‘
us once he’ll do us all." t . ' ._
The fellow who had first clinched with thee‘ '
Kid retained his hold, and three stout merr'
were adding their weight and strength to 88' ‘
sist in keeping the prisoner downhwbila a“
fourth poised a sandbag of formidable?
dimensions, hesitating just an instant: :to‘
make sure he knew exactly where by the
head he wanted to reach. . 
If the blow once fell even the .‘arth»
of Kirk King could not resist it. 
It was actually coming—but so was some-
thing else.
Out of _t

Unfortunately one of the fellows slip§c§.’,

     

he darkness ‘st and side drith

shadow. The Sport from Denver had slain
k ' low long enough
_ , pt

allow them to develop 4.
a: who

to
ion: and'thenwurend

20

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

As he came near he shot up in the air
and lunged out with both feet.

The fellow with the sandbag went flying.
If there was a rib on one side of his body
which was not broken he did not, for the
moment, know it, and he fell in a huddled
heap with a smothered screech, while Char-
lie Turner, recovering his balance with a

1 graceful effort, began to pay his attentions

4‘

to the rest.

The surprisers were surprised, and had a
rank bad time of it. The sport seemed to be
a complete master of the savatte style of
fighting, and in the present instance to pre-
fer it to straight hitting.

His foot found the head of one of the men
crouching on Kirk King, and the latter need-

~ed no more help to dispose of the rest.

The moment his right arm was loose his
hand found the neck of the fellow who was

.so tightly hugging him, and as his fingers
[closed around it they seemed like talons of

steel, fairly digging into it.

The man gave a shriek of pain, and his
rasp relaxed. Then, the Kid sprung to his
eet, dragging with him the third man, who

had not as yet let go.

This man King. with his left hand, held
at arm’s length, and with his right planted a
.straight hit on the corner of the jaw.

If he had hit as hard as he knew how the
result might have been fatal, but he temper-
ed it according to his knowledge; and when
the fellow dropped away from his opening
fingers he knew he had simply given a knock-
out blow.

“ All right, up to the present time,” laugh-
ed the Sport from Denver, surveying the
battle-field. “I thought I'd make sure of
who they were, and what they were after,
before I mixed in. It’s nothing but the
Rounders, after all.”

“Thankee. pard. They war doin' fa’rly
well when you chipped, an’ I reckon I owe
ye another. Ther dead, hyer, kin ’tend to
ther badly wownded, an‘ you an’ me kin be
moggin’ along. Ther fun are over fur ter-
night.”

“I hope so. At first I thought it was a
different gang altogether, and that they
might be after me. I'll take that back for
the present, though they may turn up after
a while. If I’m not mistaken there is a new
hand in the game, and he’ll turn out to be
the worst of all. Eyes open, Kid. I don’t
like to tackle Grant Thorne myself.”

And as they went along Turner told some-
thing of his interview with the doctor, and
what he had seen shortly thereafter.

 

CHAPTER XXIII.
norm) AT THE anunnzvous.

THE sport had eyes which were, if any-
thing, a trifle sharper than those of the doc-
tor, and he was using them all through that
meeting at the edge of town.

He had justaglimpse of the face of a
man peering from behind the rock which
had sheltered him, but that glance was
enough. He never forgot faces; and this
faice he had at one time been well acquainted
w th.

Fortunately, perhaps, his eyes did not
meet those of Slyme, who was craning his
neck to get a view of the doctor, so that his

"discovery was unnoticed.

Yet, long after, a quick look over his

shoulder, just as he was dropping out of

sight, enabled him to see the two men in
conference. It might be a hold-up, but
to him it looked more like a meeting of old
friends.

It was not on account of this discovery
he had proposed to the Kid from Kirby to
stand by him. He was slow to shoot unless
the time for it had really come, but no man
was better able, or more willing, to fight his
own battles.

He did not explain his reasons for the
present, but told Kirk King of the new ele-
ment which he thought was going to be in-
troduced into the game. For, he had
shadowed the doctor that afternoon, and
knew a second meeting had taken place.
He would have given a good deal to have
overheard their conversation, but not hav-
ing been able to do that he had made a guess
at its subject which did not come amile wide
of the truth.

“So, you see,” he finally remarked;

“there is a good chance for some elegant
villainy to be afoot, and I don’t know whe-
ther it is going to be for one of us first, or
both together; but I’ll wagerhigh the young
lady boarder at the Lion will come into it
somewhere.”

“What’s she got ag’in’ us?” asked the
Kid. incredulously.

“Oh, nothing. It’s the other way. We
will have to be on her side. That infernal
doctor is dead gone on her; and she don’t
care a continental for him. That will grind
him so when he finds it out there will be no
telling what he won’t try to do.”

“Maybe ye’r’ dead gone on her yerself,”
remarked King, suspicion in his tone.

“Me? Not much. She's not my style,
and is a couple years older, to boot.‘ But
she's a handsome woman, and very much in
earnest about something or other that might
be a runaway husband as well as anything
else. Say, do you know anything about this
Hugh Cathcart she’s asking about?"

“ Nothin’, onless be war a ard ov mine
what I told her about. An’ reckon he’s
dead; though she sez you bin tellin’ her
diff’rent. I war sure Hart Thorne went up
ther flume at Alasky. but I didn't see it.”

“Hart Thorne! That’s something else.
It was a thorn off a different rose bush al-
together; and to show you how internally
uncertain all things are, he isn’t dead, either.
And I thought I ought to know because I

L shot him myself.”

“What's this, then, ’bout Hart startin’
South? Seems you loaded her up with some
sich news.”

“ Not much I didn’t. She was asking af-
ter Hugh Cathcart, which is a. horse of a
different color. He’s the man who went
South. I had an interest in him of my own,
but if he wanted to go, confound him, I
wouldn’t have stopped him if I had the
chance.”

“ But Dave seemed ter know. In course,
it’s hard ter keep ther run ov things out
hyer, but Dave war down thar shortly
after. an’ be orter knowed.”

“Dave be hanged!. He ought to have
known better. If you really want to find
Thorne I could put you onto him a deal
closer if I ain‘t wide off. But that’s neither
here nor there. What you going to do
about Doc Andrews and the Copper Bottom?
He is going for it if he can see his way clear.
You ran a kink into his Nata to-night. but
he’ll straighten that out and try a throw in
the morning. Ile sees his mistake by this, I
guess. He ought to have been. on the
ground himself. Those fellows are good
enough men when you can get them to the
scratch, but unless there is some one to drive
them they don’t seem to have any too much
sanr .”

The sport rattled on without waiting for
an answer to his various suggestions, but
when he got out of breath the Kid spoke
gravely:

"Ther trouble are, Dave hes lit out fur
some reason er other, an’ I dunno whar ter
look fur him. I begins ter think it’s more
important tcr find pard than it are ter bother
about ther mine. Johnny Seams kin take
keer ov that ez good ez a better man. an’ ef
they smoke him out, all Boot Jack ’11 be apt
ter know how they done it. I'm goin' for

pard in ther mornin’."

“ Wonder you lost the time. I’d have
thought you’d have struck out on the trail
first thing. ”

“ Thar warn’t much trail ter speak about,
an’ thar didn’t seem much ter lose by waitin’,
jest then. 1 put a keener on the scent,
though, an’ counted on his lettin' me know
which way he went. It war runnin’ a reesk,
too. I better be seein’ what he’s about if he
don’t show up.”

“Something tells me in my boots thatI
have an interest in it all. If you start in the
morning I’ll go along. If Johnny can’t hold
the Copper Bottom we’ll run the thing right
when we get back. What do you say, old
man?"

“I ain’t sayin’ a blamed word,” said the
Kid, his voice suddenly fallen to a whisper.

“ Go slow a minnit tell we git our bearin’s.
Thar‘s yer lady now.”

They had been strolling leisurely along.
talking in a low tone, and seeing to it that
no one got within hearing distance.

 

Having almost reached the Lion thev no
longer looked for a, renewal of the attack

\ .

I, __ I. ,3 ,vl‘.i.‘.,:

which they had baffled, but they were jl at
as anxious not to be overheard.

It was on account of this, and the fact
that the Kid was always on the lookout,
that they caught a glimpse of a female
figure flitting from the front door of the
hotel.

“ Ain’t kinder what I ’xpected, rackettin’
’round town this time or night. Wonder of
she knows whar she's goin’?"

“ Wish I did," replied the Sport from
Denver, impulsively.

“That’s the disadvantage of not being a
saint. It wouldn’t do at all for me to go
along. She’d better go alone and take her
chances.”

“That’s about so, but it wouldn’t hurt
nothin’ ef I war ter git an eye on her, an'
keep et thar tell I found she warn’t comin’
ter harm. Ett’s kinder more. in m way
than yourn, an’ ef you’ll go long in ’ll see
her safe, an' let yer know how it war when I
kim in.”

“ Trot along, but if you let her get into
trouble I'll take you over my knee, and break
you all apart.”

With this parting shot the Sport from
Denver strolled on again, while the Kid from
Kirby settled himself to the task of follow-
ing t e young lady of whom they had been
talking.

Had Turner been along it would not have
been long before he would have had his sus-
picions, but there had not been time to ex-
plain everything fully to the Kid from
Kirby, and the latter followed without even
a hint from the direction in which her foot-
stems turned.

She was going directly toward the spot
where she held her interview with Turner.

It was by no means easy to follow at all
close, for at any moment the young lady
might turn around. The Kid had to be con-
tent with scouting in the direction, trusting
to being able to close up at any time if his
services seemed to be needed.

Finally, when she reached the rock behind
which the doctor that morning had been
hidden he could see she was joined by a
man, and that the two at once engaged in a
low and earnest conversation.

The murmur of their voices reached him,
but he was unable to make out a word.

“ Oh, wal. I reckon thar ain’t no call fur
me ter be in ther front row. I’ll watch thet
all goes square, an’ they kin philander to
the’r hearts’ d’sire. I ain’t like young Tur-
ner. Et would ’a’ bin gaul an’ wormwood
ter him, now.”

He threw himself down by the roadside,
rested his head on his hands, and stared at
the two.

It was too dark to make out who the man
was, or if a stranger, even. Once, a little
exclamation, pitched in a louder, higher key,
fell on his ears, and the Kid raised himself a
trifle. feeling somewhat uneasy.

“She’s gittin’ infurmashun by ther cart-

tcr know what sort ov truck he’s loadin’ her
up with. Thar's plenty ov bad men ez
might lay a scheme, an’ ther bigger ther
yarn they reel off ther higherit’d come. An’
ef she showed wealth—laws help herl They‘d
ez soon slug a woman ez not.”

The Kid from Kirb never dreamed he
had been proceeding w th less than his usual
caution, or that he was in as much danger as
the woman over whom he was watching.
He had eyes only for what was in front of
him, and so, left his rear unguarded.

He had hardly come to the unpleasant
conclusion in regard to the safety of Miriam
_when—swish! came a noose, that settled over

his head, and tightened on his neck before
he had a chance to cast it off.

After that there was a confused struggle,
in which his great strength seemed well-
nigh able to accomplish the impossible. He
sprung to his feet, only to be cast down
again;and as he was fairly dragged along
the trail a brace of ruflians leaped upon him,
trampling, bruising, and knocking from his
hand the revolver he had instinctively drawn.

It was all done in a moment. A shrill
whistle called away the party in haste or
Kirk King would never have opened his
eyes again.

A man with a knife was bending over
him, who hastily thrust once and then hurried

 

air.

load now, but blame me of I wouldn’t like .

away as a woman’s scream rose on the night

»  51‘ x 

 

 

'31}:—

 

 

 

4.  .‘......,_. 0......

 

 

‘ been done, senor.

Kirk King,

 

'.i»'.:,-‘ 

 

21‘

 

the Man from r

 

Then, there was the rapid thud of horses'
hoofs, and the Kid from Kirby was lying
there alone, with his bleeding, pallid face
upturned to the moonlight.

CHAPTER XXIV.
VISITORS FOR TOMASSO.

THE milk of human kindness was pretty
thoroughly omitted in the construction of
Tomasso, ut when the Kid from Kirby had
made him as comfortable as possible, and
gone away and left him in possession of the
cabin, he felt rather more friendly to him
than he had thought was possible.

The Kid was not exactly lamb-like in his
appearance, and when the Mexican had so
signally failed in the attempted assassination
he expected the worst of treatment.

Instead of that, Kid had bound up his
wound and carried him gently to a resting-
plaee where he could be as comfortable as
was possible under the circumstances. He
saw no reason to doubt that his friends
would be notified according to promise, and
he confidently looked forward to their com-

1n .

glut the time went woefully slow, and now
and then the suspicion that the Kid might
forget all about him, and go off on the trail
of his friends, would obtrude.

He stood it reasonably well, however, and
as it began to grow dark only thought the
time of his solitude was nearly at an end.

It was; but things went slightly different
from the way he had expected.

He heard the first faint sound of approach-
ing footsteps which could possibly reach the
cabin, and his eyes turned on the door with
an eager, longing look.

They came nearer and nearer, and at last,
ashe was about to call out to quicken the
steps, several men with masks on their faces,
and drawn revolvers in their hands, bounded
into the cabin.

It was too dark to obtain a view of the
room, but the intruders seemed to feel that
it was not a vacant one.

" Steady there, you Davei” shouted the
leader.

“ Don't you try to put on frills or you will
never have time to ask how they look.
Hands out, and fingers empty! We mean
old business.”

While he spoke another man was lighting
a match, and looking around in search of
the lamp which was easily found.

With the light so quickly obtained there
was no trouble in seeing Tomasso curled up
on his couch, staring at them. with, wonder.

The leader swept around the room with the
muzzle of his revolver, finally bringing it to
bear on the Mexican.

“ Who the thunder are you i” was the sav.
ager asked question, as the man glanced
down into the face of his prisoner.

“ You are not Dave Brady. Where is
he, and what in brimstone are you doing
here?" ,

" I am only Tomasso, at your service.
Where is the man Brady Iknow not. He
and the child are gone.” _

"‘I see they are, but when did they go,
and what started them? If I thought you
had anything to do with their skipping I’d
blow you cold.” ’ ‘

" Something very nigh to that has already
Some time this afternoon
was it they left. It was before I came here,
and it was of their own notion they took af-
fright.” , _

“If you are his ‘fl‘lend he ought to have
left word with you which way he went.
Spit it out before I break your, neck." .

“ No friend to Tomasso is be; but of the
man who brought me here." ‘ V

"-‘And who was he?" . ' ,

" Him they call the Kid from Kirby."

“The deuce you say. If you're a friend
of the Kid’s the best thing we can do is to
lay you out, and let him see what he can
look for when he falls foul of Ins," , ‘

" “But,- no friend was I to the man from
Kirby. I would have shot him, but while I
lingered to. take sure aim some one else fired
at me. , Hard hit. was ‘I, but the man nursed
me up, and brought me hither to wait for

'  ‘ those I hare called my» friends. ‘When he, v

hem r come.” ‘
star

   

What

I well and there wasno call for a surgeon, or

“ He came ni h to killing Manuel Perez."

“And Manue belongs to the gang at the ‘
Occidental—one of its fighting men. Guess ‘
you are all right. Now, you want to tell us
all you know about where Brady went to, 
and you want to cut it mighty short and l
square. There is no time to lose, fooling
here.

“ Nothing can I tell you save that which I
told to the man from Kirby.

“ They left, carrying with them a bundle,
and the man was weak so that they be tot-
tercd. They went along the trail to the
west, and when I knew they were gone I
cared nothing more. They were not my
game.”

“That‘s good enough, and you want to
keep your hands off them. If anybody asks
you the reason why you can tell him they
belong to Captain Slyme, and he don’t want
any one interfering with his property. I’ll
look around to see if they left anything be-
hind, and then leave you for your friends.
You don’t seem in a very bad way so of course
they will be along shortly. If you were dy-
ing they wouldn‘t be here before to-morrow I
morning.”

The overhauling of the cabin which fol-
lowed was rapid but thorough, and no care
was taken to conceal traces of the work. If
Tomasso was blamed for having a share in it
they did not seem to care. I

Nothing of any great value was found,
and the papers which were taken out of a
rough chest were only glanced at and then
thrown aside. In five minutes or less the
whole gang trooped off without even a
parting word to the wounded Mexican, who
had curiously watched the whole perform»
ance. v

' “Captain Slyme—the road bandit,” he
muttered.

“And these be his men. The virgin be
praised they were not after me. They will
put a throat with the worst so there be money
n it.” '

In speculating whet interest Slyme hndvin
Dave Brady, Tomasso was almost able to
forget his own trouble, ,and he was still
thinking it over. and trying to draw a certain
conclusion, when a half-dozen men arrived,
who greeted him in an entirely different
fashion from that of the outlaws.

The majority of the newcomers were'
friends and croniesof the Mexican; but several
had been, picked up, and who came along
out of curiosity.

One of them, too, had been with Jack
Rakestrawin the Copper Bottom; and he
came to learn how the land lay. He did not
venture into the cabin until he was sure from
an outside investigation that Dave Brady
‘was no longer there.

Tomasso sized up the crowd at a glance,
and was cautious. ‘ ‘~

With his pards he had no objection to tell-
ing the whole line of fact but he had a
modesty about mentioning the name of
Captain Slyme to those who might misun-
derstand him. He had been suspected of
,‘being a road-agent himself, and thought the
less said promiscuously of the guild the bet-
ter it would be.

So, at first, he spoke generally about the -
disappearance of Brady, without iniimnting
that he knew any particulars of his depart-
ure. and this was the report which was
carriedto Jack Rakestraw. If he had not
already‘beenplanningl for an opportunity to
take a hack at the Ki from Kirby he might
have followed the course he did in all
honesty. « ' r y I .

Tomasso’s condition excited some sym-
pathy, but no alarm.

The Kid from Kirby had done his work

 

any other appliances. He was in much bet-
ter plight than his friends had expected to
find him, and it seemed useless to attempt to-
move him. Had 'not the Kid taken the pains
to openly announce that he knew all about
Tomasso‘s accident, and had left him at the
cabin himself there might have been some
danger that the Mexican would be connected
with the disappearance of Dave Brady. lbut,
though his presence in the neighborhood
might have a suspicious look the very
on ,

   
   
   
  
   
  
 

 

    
 
  

   
 
 

I

 

39"

 

‘ some one bolting into the cabin, the click

the Brady—though I would have.

 

  
    
  
    
    
   
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
   
 
    
  
   
   
  
  
   
   
  
   
    
   
   
    
  
    
  
   
     
    
 
  
  
     
      
   
  
   
   
  
  
   
    
   
    
   
    
        
  
    
     
   
  

main with him over the night, while the rest).
went back to town. R, .

It was only after the overflow had left that. :"z
Tomasso told the whole story; and various 
were the conjectures as to what Captain. '
Slyme wanted with Dave Brady.

Time wore on, however, and Tomasso
dozed while the two watchers played cards
on the table at the opposite side of the room. *
The game was not very lively, but it kept
them awake. They were getting tired of it,
and had agreed to quit after the next hnnd.

Before that was reached they heard a
trampling outside, and on the instant were
scizrd with a panic.

The new-comers were in front, so they
made their retreat by the rear window, and
paused. They knew something about the
location of the cabin, and that in the dark—
ness they could make good their retreat still
further up the mountain—side.

Almost instantly they heard a sharp
whistle from the other side of the house.

Of course, there was no answer.

After a brief silence a voice shouted:

“ IL). there, Roddy, is your work done?’

No Roddy answered, and the two heard.

/

of his revolver sounding sharply as he
went.

The watchers fell back. They did not be~
lieve harm would come to Tomasso, and the , ’
force here was too great for, them to attempt
to cope with it. But as they went they
heard a voice which certainly sounded as
though it had fallen‘from feminine lips. Was ,
this another mystery, or only a part of the.". a
old one? -

CHAPTER XXV.
THE TRAIL AT LAST.

IT was a feminine voice the two"watchers
heard, and that voice belonged to Miriam.‘

Had they been close enough they might;
have seen she was a prisoner, though'not a.
des airing one. w , y l

0 great harshness was being used, and
she sat her horse with a firm and, fearless ai
The way for her to make an effort at' cheap
was 0 en—but she knew in her own heart,
tlmt e ort would fail. Besides, some things-
had been told her which made her a ,lessro
luctant prisoner than one could have dream
ed of her being, bad they not known he?
side'of the story. ‘ .- t

The man who entered the cabin was Caps
tain Slyme; and he glared around in it much»
She same way Roddy—his lieutenant-whack

one. .

The place smelled of villainous tobacco
and he saw the table on which lay the ace ,
tered cards of the interrupted game. Hook
so saw Tomasso, staring up at him like, a
wild beast. He had been suddenly awake
ed from a restless slumber which had been.
haunted by adream none too leasant, and.
for the moment imagined the ynchers had.
come. ' v ~'

Sharp and quick came the questions, 0!,
gaiitain Slyme; and they ware the same Red

3'

 

5d asked but a few hours before; , ,
They received the same answers in 
stance, though more briefly ven;nnd with
out waitin to hearthem to t e end, the our
tain Itur to thio door. nyi "
“ am: sorry say on are p n
hard luck!” was his exclamation. - "g
“The man was here twenty-four hours
ago, just- as I told you, but he must have
ota pointer from some direction, {atheist
§um d the game.” . , ‘_
'. " ot gone?” was Miriam’s cry; and those
were the words which the two men shaking,
‘up the hillhad heard. ' , ‘- ‘ ‘
After-that there was only (murmur, for , ,
two lowered their voices. ‘ ‘
“ Yes, he seems to have g)
as you said he had done. I ,
tol use little sooner, “might have In
this wild, chose; and 1 ,
admire ‘ ng such a ride forku fun.»
There was a chance for an ugly tumble
But 1 said Icould put you face to beam
the man you wanted to see: and bytho great;
horn spoonlmenn to-do it.”- t * 
" But this is not the mam—this W

  
 
 

‘ ,

   
  

  
 

 
  

   
    
   
    
   
      
  

   
 
  

  
    
  

   
 
 

v - Ito: ve heard what.inte genet‘ ‘
V; h“Emma -Itjuth has

 
   

22

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

Grant Thorne was the name b which he was
known to the other two; an they claim he
was killed at Alaska in some gambling-house
brawl. Others have told me. however, that
he went South, and has never been heard of
since."

“ Oh, I know all about the Alaska busi-
ness—a million curses smother the man who
downed me there! You have said something
about it already, and it's no use ti) go over
the ground again. I was the Thorne who
was pinned up in that racket: and a mighty
close call it was. But neither of us died
there. And it wasn’t Grant Thorne who went
South. either, though it was the man you
want, right enough. He went, but he doub-
led back, and this is the shanty where he
hung up at at last. Ten thousand is the

 

 ’ figure we agreed on. and ten thousand it
2” I shall be. And I don't let you go out of my
2"" I :si ht till I earn it and you pay it.”

ad Doctor Andrews heard his man talk-
ing just then he would have thought Slyme
had added a point or two to the game. for in
ver dead, savage earnest was be speaking.
his time Miriam was moved.

Her quest had seemed to make such little
progress, she had been so baffled by contra-
dictory information, she had begun to realize
so clearly the difliculties in the way of her
search that this announcement almost took
her breath away.

“ 1f 1 only could believe you!" she gasped.

“ Surely, his own partner would know him
better. And this—this must be an elderly
man—older far than the man I seek."

“Don’t be too sure of that. If you had
ever seen him you would know he wasn’t old
enough to hurt, even if he has lost his colt-
teeth. Just about the age of the man you
are wanting, and so you would say if you
had a glimpse of him at his best. Perhaps
he looks a little ragged just now, but I don’t-
aee how you can know It.”

“ But I saw his daughter. Hugh Oath.
cart could never have a girl of her age."

"Might have a'giri; but she mightn’t be
‘ his daughter, I don’t know anything about
' sher, though chances are he has picked her
‘ up for a blind. You can have her in the
I ' bargain. Just wait a bit. It may be I can
‘ get you proof :right here. Reddy has been

rummaging around and seems to have
' brought things to light that may have a
,,/ meaning."
 ‘ t- He turned back into the cabin, and picked
.up some of the papers which had been cast

 

  
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
  
   
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
   
   
 
  
 
    
  
 
  
 
  
  

asuie.
He. held them up, looked over them, and
smiled grimly. If he was not mistaken he
‘ had found what he wanted. He was turn-
, .. ing again to the door when he felt a nervous
~ gnpe on his arm.

Miriam had entered as silently as a ghost
 and was looking over his shoulder at the
3 creased and crinkled letter he held in his

’ fingers.

» “ Kind of hits you where you live ?" chuck-
led Slyme, .never wincing under that touch.
V “ I thought it would be a queer start if I
.oouldn’t find some proof around the ranch.
’ Must have been in a" mighty big hurry to
leave such things run to waste after toting
“them around all these years. What sort of
‘3‘, burr under the saddle do you suppose it
. was started him off on such a dead run?”

Miriam was excited. That was to be seen
with half a glance.

, But she held her emotions so far in check
that she was able tothink lucidly after a mo-
ment’s effort. '
= . "‘It must be this. He knows I am on his
trail at last, and fears to meet me.”
 “That may b‘eall right, but how did he
’drop onto it? A fellow up here, with a
, bullet through his ribs-Was there abullet,
though? By heavens! that may have all
been a sell to account -for his keeping quiet
glad] you left this neck of woods.”
" v "ho. You are 'wron there. Wounded
- hewas. or, at least, so I have. But there
was more than .one way in which he might
,,have found out. Ispoketo the Kid from
Kirby. in regard to his old time pards, and
told him I was hunting for the one who bore
, the name of Hugh Cathcart. And I saw the
girl . who I supposed was his daughter.
Either couldhave told hirn._ and conscious
it, would allow him to loseno time in get-

  
      
     
 
    
    
  
  
   
    
  
   

 

  

  

 
 
 
  
     
    

     

   
  

to bettin he wasn’t as bad hurt-as he let on;
but Red y will find out all about that."
” And who is Roddy? I have heard his

name several times already. Can he be de- -

pended on? Does he understand?"

" You bet he understands. I sent him
here to scoop in our man, and have him all
ready for the interview."

“And who is this ‘2”

She wheeled. and darted the tip of her
finger toward Tomasso.

“He is a side issue. Somebody shot him
—who it does not seem so clear and he was
toted here as the nearest place where he
could die in comfort. He don't seem a. half
bad sort of ruiflan, and if he has told the
truth, as I believe he has, the boys will have
his trail down fine by the time we overhaul
them. That is, if you are up to the jour-
ne .” .

‘3: Oh, yes. I can follow if it takes a week.
Should I lose him now who can tell when
traces of him can again be found. He will
change his name and his garb. and hide him—
self in some retreat where only chance can
find him. Yes. I will go with you. With
the money at stake I believe I can trust to
your word.”

“ All right. We are ofi in a minute. The
first move will be to a s at where I can have
word from Reddy. I he has found the
trail he will let me know there. But first, I
must settle what to do with this—carrion."

“Better for thee to do nothing with To-
masso,” said the Mexican, with a wolfish
showing of his teeth.

“Nothing can be, or will he, do against
thee if left alone; and if he be harmed what
good will it do to thee. His friends marked
thee down as they left, and they are up there
watching. Find them if it can be done but
if they hear that trouble is coming to me
they are of the kind who would hereafter
tell all they knew, and send a few shots
down to help thee along.”

The fingers of Captain Slyme lingered a
moment longer on the butt of the revolver he
had half-drawn. If look and action could be
believed he had more than half a thought to
send the Mexican along the road to the other
world. ,

The cool answer helped more than he
would have liked to have acknowledged to
change his intentions.

“ I reckon you can’t say much that won’t
be guessed at, and you would only put them
on the trail a few hours earlier if any one is
anxious to follow it. I‘d swear you in to
keep silent altogether if I thought there 'was
any depending on your oath.”

‘.‘ I wouldn’t swear,” simply remarked To-
masso. . ‘ ‘

“ Well, I won’t ask you to, but if you tell
a word more or a word less than the truth as
you have seen and heard it here I swear to
hunt you down and send you ovar the range
in great shape. Remember, the lady goes
with me of her own free will and wish.”

“It is nothing to ’Tomasso. He has his
own concerns to.look after. Take her and
go. There is but one who has the right to

uestion me, and to him I tell the truth.
be man who owns the Occidental can tell
whether Ihave lied.”. .

“ That’s all right, and the sooner you let
him know the facts of the case the better.
He won’t blow you up for keeping your
mouth shut to the rest of the world.”

The words of the Mexican were a revela-
tion, but he did not care to show it too plain-
ly, or lose more time.

He gave a careless nod, and followed by
Miriam left thecabin. .

,2

 

'.OHAPTER XXVI.
THE CAMPAIGN FAIELY OPEN.

THE window of the room occupied by the
-Sport from Denver commanded the approach
to the Lion, and when Charlie Turner threw
himself down he could look out and see who-
eVer entered the house. ,,

The light was none too ood, but it was
enough to enable him to isting‘uish man
from woman, or tell the Kirby Kid from
little ,Billy Johnson. , . ‘

When he threw himself, all dressed as he
was, on his bed, he bad‘nointention of keep-
' watch. Ill“. be looked

  

 

in r uln-
s I§nkinc fifths way 

 

out list-

 

The s ort was not a ladies’ man at all, and
up to th 3 morning had not troubled himself
about the feminine boarder, about whom he
only knew in a hazy sort of way that she was
looking for some one, who, so far as he
knew, was not in his books.

If she had not spoken to him it is not
likely he would ever have troubled his head
about her; but since that interview he had
found her face intruding on his thoughts
more than he considered reasonable.

“ Confound it!" he thought to himself;
“she’s not in my line and I don’t see any
reason why I should trouble my head about
her. Unless, of course. I saw her drifting
into trouble. If she cares for the doctor it is
none of my funeral: and if she is going out
to meet him at this hour of the night let him
take care of her.
want me to be trying it on. The Kid can at-
tend to the job and I’ll go sleepuns." '

Nevertheless he did not go to sleep; and
the longer be looked out of the window the
less he felt like it. He began to wonder if
anything bad hapdpened to the lady, or
whether the Bonn ers had come back at
Kirk King a second time.

“ When a fellow feels this way he may as
well do what he takes a notion to. A little
walk will do me good; and perhaps the Kid
needs me after all."

He got up, lit a cigar, and went out. He
had no certain idea of which way he ought
to go, but his steps naturally turned in the
direction they had taken that morning.

That was the wayhe came to stumble over
the Kid from Kirby: and at first sight he
thought he had come upon a corpse. ,

“ A pleasant condition for a poor orphan
to find himself in," was his thought, as he
threw away his cigar.

“ Is he dead or only wounded? If I have
to carry him back to town I’ll begin to
wish I was an elephant before I get through
with the job.”

But a cursory examination showed him
King was far from being a dead man; and
tibe chances were, no great damage had been

one. '

“ It would have snuffed out some men
like a candle in a gale—and I reckon a regu-
lar cyclone must have struck him—~but the
choking seems to have been the worst part
of it. The fellow who used a knife was in
too great a hurry to see how straight he had
held. Just ripped along outsider-f the ribs,
and lets little blood. No bones broken, and
he’s beginning to gasp already.”

So be summed it all up, and without haste
or flurry began to aid the Kid to recover
consciousness. '

A little later and the man from Kirby was
sitting up, gazing around him in a daz
and helpless manner. '

“ You are coming around all right, old
man. Get a brace on and tell 'me what has
happened. Did any of them get away ‘l”

“All or ’em, pard; that’s what’s hurtin’
me.”

After such a lucid answer as that there
was not much danger bht what Kirk, King
would be able to talk along the schedule on
prompt time before very long. He swal-
lowed a strong dose of the medicine in the
flask in his hip-pocket, which Turner ex-
tracted and held to his lips, and then wob-
bled to his feet shaking himself like a lately-
risen horse and with the movement threw
off much of the Iassitude which had chained
him. ‘ ‘ ' . ‘

“They roped me, pard, and they did it
slick. It’s amighty big blessin’ it warn’t
Manuel, er any ov his v gang. They'djhev

stopped ter see they finished ther job. ‘

These war on’y keerin’ ter git me outen
ther way tell they got cl’ar with [her
game." ' ‘ -

“And their game was the little woman
who has been hanging out at the Lion. eh?"

" That's what. ’Peared kinder 92 though
she knew what she war a-doin’,’ an’ I would-
n’t sw’ar she didn’t set fem at me. Whether
theykerried her off. or whether she went
wilin'slte’s’gone. I’d jest like ter know
what.
drop all other holds an‘ foller.” : ,

“ Of course I can’t tell you much about

»

it, but Ithink. I could make ‘a mighty good

 

ess "

 

   
  

” Guess'erlong; att‘s‘bgtterner within? .

.fl . .

"t‘standstoreasonfihhgléfihe __ ’:

amen on there
.. “it

It’s dead sure he wouldn’t

Gould tell then whetheraman dds; 1

.x“#’=‘é€P’“ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

‘ easy skeered, er they don’t know who hefs
‘ got behind him," he thought to himselL.

4' Kirk. mg, the a... nomrinirby. ‘

 

 

 

have convinced her it wasn’t safe for him to
be seen around Boot Jack by daylight.

“And I know of just such a' man. He
is as bad as they make them; and I saw him
loafing around here this morning, holdin a
confab with Doc Andrews. Maybe I’m
'wrong, but I think they call him Captain
Slyme; though when I knew him he sailed
along as Grant Thorne. I told you some-
thing about him a bit ago, and that he was
going to take a hand at the bellows."

“ An’ you thinks—what?”

" They have coaxed her off, or carried her
ofi. Either way it amounts to about the
same thing. Hugh Cathcart is the bait they
are using, and what I‘m wondering is,
whether they’ve got him in a box, too.”

The head of the Kid was buzzing still, and
his limbs were in a nervous tremor. It was
hard for him to bring his thoughts right
down into working order.

“ Cathcartl Yaas. Ef I only knowed
which war who. I begins ter think ez I
might ’a' bin mistooken. Ef so, Dave war

layin’ ett mighty fine; an’ both trails run
inter each other. 0v course I don’t hear
hard feelin’s on 'count ov a bump on ther
head, an’ a scratch along ther ribs. Them
are all in ther line ov business. But when it
comes ter kerryin’ ofi a female, then I’m
drawin’ a line. I tell yer, honor bright, I’m
a- oin’ fur ’em, pard.”
e took a long stride as he spoke, and be-
came once more fully himself. a
“ That’s right enough. pard. Glad to hear
on shouting. And if it's all the same to you
’11 go along. Si me will be after me, soon,
anyhow, and I' rather meet him a little
more than half way.”

He fell in by the side of the Kid, who
scarcely noticed what had been said, but
muttered to himself:

“ Ef he means ter bring ’em tergether ther
scheme are ter foller Dave. When I find
him I’ll git her. I’ll try ther cabin fu’st.

'Mebby Crazy Coon hev brought in some

news.
“ That’s all good enough," interposed the
sport; “ but it won’t hurt anythin to have
a haversack along. It may be a litt e trouble
to get it filled this time of night, but I
can work it. If you don’t want to wait run
along. but let me know which way you are
going and I’ll catch up some time before
morning."

“ That's sense, an’ yit, I would ’a‘ forgot
it. Do yer know whar ther trail branches
ofl fur ther Copper Bottom?”

“ I’ve been out that far, but I might miss

it in the dark.”

' “ Yer can’t, fur I’ll be waitin’ fur yer thar.

. Yer can’t git past me ef yer don’t wait too

long. Kim right ahead. I want ter run
over an' give Seams a hint how ter run
things. an' I’ll make it afore you git ’round."

Without further arrangement the two
separated, the sport going to the Lion, while
Kirk King made his way toward the mine.

“ Ett won’t do ter let Johnny git too deep
inter a hole an' me not ’round ter back him
up. In course, ez long ez he kin keep ther
gang out, ett’s all right; but he don’t want
ter be too bloodthirsty. I’ll give him a hint
that wages ’11 rise ’cordin’ ter ther length 0v
time he hun s on. .but thet of they it too
hot fur him ain’t goin’ ter growl s’ ong ez
he does his duty."

He had arranged matters this way in his
own mind and was turning off to make a.
short cut and avoid passing near the Occi-
dental when he became aware of the fact that
in front of him was a band of men who we‘re
going in the same direction.

They went along very quietly. and march-
ed with almost the precision of an army.

 

CHAPTER XXVII.
run KID JUMPS 0N m mamas.

I'r took no second thought to enable the
Kid to guess what it meant. ‘
A gang was on the way to jump the

Copper Bottom, and be rather smiled at

the discovery. He had a sharp ear, and de-
spite the regularity of the step he thought he
could estimate the numbers of the force.

“ They must think Johnny are mighty

 

 
   

     

 

r "We kin ve ems shahin’up‘ seam

   

that time me an my ard ’ll be back, an’
takin’ keer ov things. ’ll flank ’em, an’ git
’round in time ter wake J ohnny.”

The lay of the land was favorable for de-
fense, and the Kid hastily mapped out some-
thing of a programme.

Fortunately, the route he proposed to take
was considerably the smoother, thou h a lit-
tle longer, and once he had droppe to one
side there was little doubt about his going
two yards to one made by the gang.

He stole along quietly enough until he
thought he was at a safe distance. and then
began to get over the ground at a rate which
soon brought him to the mine.

No one challenged him. and no one was
in sight. He leaned over the mouth of the
shaft and called softly.

For the moment e almost believed that
Johny Seams had deserted him. '

The call did not have to be repeated.
Johnny Seams was there, and so were his
men. They had taken up their quarters in
the side chamber, and were sleeping, each
with an eye open.

At a hasty order the came tumbling into
the shaft, and egan t e ascent of the rope,
hand over hand. The had not been expect-
ing such a sudden ca 1, but were ready for
the emergency.

With a few hasty words King explained
that an attack was threatened:

“ I don't want no bloodshed ef I kin help
it, not tell Dave gits back,” he said; “but
ef yer 'game ter stan’ by me we kin send ’em
ter town with a flea 0v big size in the’r ears.
What does yer say?"

“ We’ve ’listed fur ther war, pard; an’ we
got ther right on our side. Ef ther’ ain’t
more ov ’em than that, we‘re able fur 'em. an’
not half try.”

“ That’s what I like ter hear, an’ we’ll
give ’em ther s’prise ov ther season.”

“ That‘s what, for they reckon in findin’
no one ’round ter-night. I slip ed in ter
townabit, an’ I wouldn’t won er of they
thought I d throwed up ther 'ob,” chuckled
Johnny, who, by the way, ha no particular
love for Jack Rakestraw.

“ Thar will be some hard raps, mebbe; but
we won’t be ther ones ez are gittin’ them. I
count on downin' a few ov ’em, jest in fun;
an’ then, when they git up ag’in, they'll
be meek ez lam’s.”

With that the Kid led his men to the side
of the trail, and after a few words of ex-
planation as to his intentions all crouched
down. It, was as pretty a little ambush as
the man from Kirby could have desired.

Before long the tramp of the approaching
party became audible. though they were
moving more cautiously than ever. The
time for work was at hand.

Everything remained quiet until the
enemy was fairly on the ground of the Cop-
per Bottom claim, and then the ambuscaders
flung-themselves on them. striking as they
came. And the Kid struck for adozen.

There was no signal given which might
have warned the men from town of the com-
ing attack, yet the movement was almost
simultaneous, for when Kirk King leaped
ggrward the rest of the party sprung with

m. ' .

The Kid counted for three or four, so that
the fact of his party being outnumbered by
about that many did not make any'differ-
enee.

Right and left he struck, and with each
blow a man went down, while Jack Scams
and his followers were about as successful.
Four or five men were actually knocked out,
and the rest were so confused and mixed up
that they had no thoughts for resistance. It
seemedto them the earth had opened out and
disgorged a whole army of men. a '

” Some other ev’nin’, p’rhaps. but not this
ev’nin’, gents," shouted the Kid as he forced
Rakestraw‘s hands behind his back, and deft-
ly bound them there to stay.

_ " Dave Brady owns ther CopperIBottom,
an’ he’ll keep on ownin' it. We letyer down
easy this time; but ef yer don’t stay let we
kin sheet, an' shoot ter kill. We got three
men to yer one, hyer. an’ more a-comin’.’”

The Kid thought this was a time to work
a game of bluff; and he did it, too. Stunned
bythe surprise, and disheartened by the fall
0 their leader, the greater part of the men

   

 

‘ a. were ready for flight or surrender. ' ’
git, (“Obs let u I. that? uted

‘ \veu‘e of

 
 
  

/

 

  
 

“ We have no business here, and we know
it. We thought you were tired taking care
of the Copper Bottom, and we’d be p you
out of the job. If you say so we’ll take the
back track. This one don’t seem healthy.”

Menaced by a drawn revolver the man
said no more than he was thinking, and his
surrender was voiced by several more who
were still standing. It was just what the Kid . i
wanted, a bloodless victory. Jack Rake. 
straw was there, and would not be likely to "
give in quite so easily if he had the choice,
but Jack was a prisoner, and had no choice.

This was nota permanent defeat,’but it
disposed of the surprise, and there was not
the least likelihood of the attack being re-
newed for the night. And if the doctor was
interested in the by-play in regard toMiriam
Cathcart it was strongly probable he would
have enough business on his hands to prevent
him mustering another army until it was too
late. The Kid felt very happy.

“ That‘s ther way ter talk it, an‘ of ye kin
on’y git Jack ter think ther same we he
won't hev nothin’ more ner a sore hea to-
morrer mornin'. I got him nipped jest now
’cause he’s apt tcr be brash, but I don’t want
him goin’ inter town that way. Say you’ll ,
hold him stiddy an’ I’ll throw ther strings
ofl, ri ht now.”

" e'll do the best we can," responded
the self-constituted spokesman; “but maybe A
you had better leave them on till we get him ‘

a little art of temptation.” r .

’ The suggestion was 1:. thoughtful one. and
exactly what the Kid would have liked to
have proposed: With a few words the ar-
rangement was completed.

It must not be supposed that the surrender
was made without some grumbling; but the
Kid had worked everything so well his men ,
were now holding the drop. and there seemed
no reason to doubt their earnestness. With f
Seams and his men ready to fire at the word ;
there was nothin else to be done. The .
party marched o with the honors of warp"
save for the position of poor Jack, who was 5
really too much dazed to do more than lift '
his feet in an automatic manner, and move
on with the crowd. ‘ .

A whispered word or two from the Kid
arranged things with Seams. A couple of 
his men went with Kirk King. to see the
paroled prisoners on the way to town; while
Johnny and the rest remained at the mine.- i
Not a shot had been fired. and so little noise‘j}
had been made that the Sport from Denver
when'he came suddenly upon the cavaleade
was more than surprised. ‘. I 3.»

He drew out of ~the way, but not 80‘ sud-i
denly that he was not seen by the Kid. ' ‘ ,

He was ready to allow the baffled jumpers
to proceed on their way attended; and none
objected.- The sport could hardly believe
the trouble had come and gone in thebrief-
time they had been separated. .

King waited until the men were out of,
ear shot, and then called to his ally; who v
came out of the shadows. ,, , \

They lost no time, but strode on and up
the narrow trail toward the cabin. Tomas“;
seemed fated to be blessed with visitors ‘th _ ,
night. If rest and seclusion were what he’
wanted he had got into the wrong shop. ‘

The Kid did not go through the formaliftmg
of knocking. When he reached the li I
building, he went straight in, followed»
closely by the sport. ,

Tomasso’s friends were snoring; but the
noise awakened them, and they sprung...to_
their feet. They imagined Captain 81 ' ’
and his men had returned. and were rather
relievedwhen they saw the Kid from Kiri)
confrontin them with a grin on his in
but a revo ver in his hand. =' U , ‘

It was surely 'a stroke of inspiration "which
brought him there. These men could inst
load him down With information, nor were
they slow {about doing it. A few judiciou'fl‘
questions started them. and» they went; We!
the whole storyns already detailed. ~ ‘ . ' , ;. .

i‘ Just what 1 war afeared ov. A sortd!
kind e_r. willin’ pris‘ner. goin’ ter bezfooled
’thout end of we don’t git a chance tar-chi _’
But Dave-Lland sakes! What setters. an:
are this? Do they want ter findflrimf Q
thev do they may diskiver what it ureter?
fool ’round a healthy old cyclone,‘ 
mild on milk to a woman; but I cant;th

 

  
  
  
   
   
  
    
 
  
 
  
 
  
   
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
   
 
 
   
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
   
   
    
    
 
  
    
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  
   
     
  
  
    
  
  
   
  
  
    
   
   

E

   
   
  
   
 
  
 

    
  
   
   

  
  
  
    
   
   
  

 
 
  

 

  
  
    

back on my pard. ‘Who are she. an‘w

 
 

24

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

—and don’t you forget that last fact. I‘l

don’t go much on the sex at large, but I’ve
had several relatives of the sex, and they
want to be handled carefully.”

“Talk to yer gran’father. I’m savin’ 0v
both. Ef we hed bin 21 leetle sooner we'd
’a’ had a better chance, but they can’t go
fast, an’ ef we put on steam we may git on
ther hind end afore mornin’. An’ ef we
don't it ain’t countin’ much. I kin guess
whar they will hold up at; an’ Crazy Coon
are ter hear frum yit.”

From what the Mexicans said the out-
laws had little more than an hour the start
of them; and they could not move for the
most part out of a walk. The two threw
themselves without hesitation into the pur-
suit, encouraged by the thought there was
but the one route which the outlaws could
have taken if they went far in the direction
assumed on leaving the cabin.

 

CHAPTER XXVIII.
A LEAF FROM THE PAST.

KIRK KING knew something of the route
which led away beyond the cabin, for it
was from that direction he had been jour-
neying when by accident he stumbled upon
his old-time pard.

He had reasoned it out that unless Dave
was a great deal sounder man than he gave
him credit for he would hardly seek to reach
the nearest settlement in that quarter of the
compass without a halt. ‘ It was a long
journey for a ,sound man; but for one who
had lately been wounded sorely, and with a
girl for a companion, it was more than a
wise head, like that on Brady’s shoulders,
would decide to undertake.

But, if he really was a fugitive, he would
not halt unless in some hiding—place, where
he would have facilities for both defense and
retreat.

Just such a country was open to him, and
though King only knew it from a distance,
he had made no mistake when he located the
spot his pard would strike for. Dave was
there; and Little Mischief was with him.

Dave was a trifle paler for the jaunt of the
previous afternoon, but he looked better
than three or four dying men; and Lill was
fresh as a mountain pink, as the two sat by
the side of a carefully extinguished camp-
fire shortly after sunrise the following morn-
mg.

Brady did not anticipate immediate pur~
suit, for he did not know Tomasso had been
lurking in the neighborhood when he started
out on his retreat. Had he fancied the tale
the Mexican would tell—and to whom—he
might have taken more care to obliterate his
trail, and would have hesitated to leave
traces which might tell of his presence.

“ I’m sorry to have had to bring you on
such trip as this bids fair to be,” said Dave,
reflectively, as he glanced over at the fair
young face.

“ It is hard lines for you, and no mistake;
butIsaw nothing else for you to do but
come along. I could not leave you in “18
cabin by yourself."

"No, no, Dave! Anything but that. I
would have died. And do you suppose I
would have let you come alone? Never.
Why, I wasn’t sure you would not die on
my hands the first mile. You leaned on me
part of the way, you know you did.”

“ I hope I was not very heavy," answered
Dave, with a twinkle in his eye.

“ I had to keep up appearances as well as
I could. Of course, I was reasonabl sure
no one was watching; but if there ha been
he hardly would have believed I could get
very far. And it was no joke of a march
we made, either.”

“No. And now that we are here what
are you going to do about it?"

"Stay here, I guess, till we are starved
out, or driven out. 1 don’t want to give up
Boot Jack and the mine unlessIhave to, and
perhaps in a couple weeks it will be safe to
venture back. By that time we will have
had picnic enough and to spare.”

“ But suppose it is not safe?”

Lill was persistent, and her curiosity not
easil satisfied.

“ ing will take care of things till we get
back, and we’ll stay away a while lon er.
But I can't keep you here forever, or rag
you around from post to pillar. If the mine

I

 

has proved a failure I’ll take some of this
coin I will have no use for, and send you
where you will be better looked after, until
I can give you something like a home ought
to be.”

“And suppose I will not let you 0? Do

' you think I am going to leave you as ong as

you need me? And you do need me—honor
bright, don’t you, now?”

“Honor bright, I am afraid I do. You
have saved me from despair, to say nothing
of having turned me back at the lastmoment
from an expedition of which there seems to
be no survivors. But we can’t have every-
thing We want in this world, nor all we need,
and for your own good I must give you up
for a season. And when I do that I will
provide so that if the worst comes to the
worst with me you will have at least a living
chance.”

There was no mischief in the glance of the
girl as she looked over at her m’s-a-m’s. She
seemed near to tears, and there was a de—
cided tremor in her voice as she spoke:

“Come, dad, you know better than that.
When you go up I’m not sure I care to
havea living chance. And until you do I
am bound to be with you, to take care of you.
I’m not going to forget you gave me my
life back again when it was gone, and have
been making it over again, day after day. I
make you laugh sometimes when I feel like
crying myself, and I have more in my brain
than mischief. If I could make you happy
I would do it if it took my life. There, now,
you know the whole truth, and I‘ll never
speak it again.”

She tried to close with a laugh at her little
joke, but the laugh was not much of a suc-
cess. There was too much of a sob in it.

“ I believe you, my girl, and I won’t part
from you sooner than I can help it, but I am
afraid the hour will not be long deferred. I
have done the best I could for you; now that
I can do better I must perform my duty. I
have the money to do it, in a modest sort of
we .and if the present cloud blows over,
an the mine should prove what I think it, I
will see you have your share in the good
things money will buy.”

“But that cloud—what is it? Why have
you bolted? What are you afraid'of? You
can trust me; and if you couldn't no one was
ever hurt by telling the truth about himself.
And I want to hear your side of the story be-
cause I will always believe it. Don’t make
yourself any better or worse than on are.
Remember, you will always be goo to me ”

” You have been guessing more shrewdly
than I supposed; and yet, I might have
known. But it seems so pitiful to be saying
to a child, ‘ I am innocent,’ when, perhaps,
in a few short weeks all the world will be
saying, ‘the wretch was guilty,’ and as
many of them as can be tugging willingly
at the end of the rope.”

“ It is not that bad ‘2" exclaimed Lill. trou-
ble in her face. “That means something
more dreadful than I could stand.”

“ Yes; that some day they may hang me

—if private vengeance does not claim me
sooner. If they once get me in the net it
will be 'a net indeed. Things are not what
they seem; but all the seeming is against
me."
“Well, the cards do seem to be running
against you, and I guess you are getting
near the end of the deal. Would you sooner
I would hear what they have to say without
being able to tell them what it ought to be?
Perhaps, some day, even I might not believe
in you.”

“You are right. It is a tangled skein,
and I won’t try to unravel the whole of it,
but I’ll reel off a few threads as straight as a
strlng can be reeled, and from them you can
judge of the rest.”

“ It is something which ha pened before
you met me, of course,” sai the girl en-
couragingly, as she watched Dave sink down
until his clasped hands supported the back
of his head. \

“ Yes, long enough; and if it had not been
for it, I would probably never have met

01].)! A

y “ Then it was lucky for me, so you have
one thing to make you feel encouraged.
For, if you had not met me, you know I
would have died. The good made a be in-
ning of coming out of evil, and I woul n-‘t
wander if it would all straighten up in the
en .’

 

” Perhaps: and that is what makes me
think you must have a future before you.
But what I was going to tell you will not.
take many words.

"When I came to the West I did as a,
good many others before me, I changed my
name. I was under a cloud, not through
any fault of my own as I could see it, and I
did not care to have the old name rising in
judgment against me.

“ In course of time I fell in with ayoung'
man, scarcely more than a boy, and we join-
ed our fortunes because we were attracted to
each other. I would have died before I.
would have harmed him, but my miserable
luck seemed to be against us both, and I de-
termined to go away and leave him.

“ I went, leaving a note for him, explain-
ing whyI went, and making him a free gift;
of my share in our claim, if it should ever
prove worth the giving.

“ That note was never found, and that
very night the boy was murdered in our'
cabin. I did not know this till long after,
and even'then it was not at once that I found
I was believed to have done the deed for the
sake of a few thousands which he had won
at cards before he returned to our shanty.

“ Well, nothing I could do could help the
matter, which was almost forgotten. If I
had attempted to hunt up the real murderer,
I would only havu got myself in the tangle,
and so simply drifted alittle further from the‘
spot, and kept on with my hand to mouth
luck. Once or twice I thought I had struck
it rich; but the lead always petered out, or
something happened.”

“ But if that matter was altogether forgot-
ten, and no one ever gave you any trouble;
about it, what is the use to worry now? By
this time, like enough, they have hung the
guilty man, and you have just been borrow-
ing trouble in heaps.”

“ Sometimes I used to think it might be
that way; but I knew better all the time.
And now there is a woman on the trail who
will never know rest till she has hunted me
down. I was the Hugh Catncart she asked
after. When you told me of that interview
on the road-trail Iknew it was time to leave,
even if I could not hope in the end to escape
her.”

“ Why under the sun didn’t you stay and
tell her just what you have told me? She
looked square as a die, and willing to listen
to reason. That might have settled the whole-
thing. But what a confounded fraud she.
must be 1"

Lill broke off suddenly, and there was an.
angry little ring in her voice. She remem-
bered now that she had her suspicions at the;
time, though how it came she could not then
have told.

“ No. She would not believe me," said
Dave sorrowfully.

“ I sometimes wish I could die by some
one else’s hand, just to have it made sure
once for all that I am not to die by hers.”

“ Fiddlestickl You are not going to die
at all—at least ‘till your time comes. And
that is going to be a good many years from
now. You are not a coward, and you can’t
make me believe you are. ”

“ No, not a coward, for a coward would
be afraid to die. I only object to ,being
murdered by the one person who is bent on
doing it. I am not coward enough tobeg,
and for proof of innocence—I have none. I
feel it in my bones that the warning I had
is no idle threat. When we meet there
will be a pause for explanation; and when
1 can give none worthy of the name I must.
die."

“ Well‘, fight, then. I know what you
have done; do it again.”

“I cannot. My hands are tied.”

” Then I will fight for you. You gave;
me my life when I had lost it altogether, I
will save yours in spite of you.”

She jumped up with her eyes lsming,
and her hand on the butt of the revolver
she carried. Knowing her as Dave did he
was aware this was no empty boast. Little
Mischief could be ve like a kitten in her
play. but in matters 0 the life and death of
her and hers she could be as savage as the
full-grown tigress.

“ No! For Heaven’s sake, no l” he ex-
claimed, half rising, and holding out one
warning hand.

" That would be the worst of all. If it is
so cruel that I should die by her hand, what

 

 

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I  

> 1.1. Egg/1,. , i. A‘

the -

1.\ w

an:

 .- V

  
     

.25,

 

 

think you it would be if she should die by
v‘ mine? Let her and her tools work their
{ will when I can no longer avoid them. So
‘ I can save you from the wreck I shall ask
nothing more. I will flee, but 1 will not
fight.”

“Ah, hai You care for her, then! You
think more of her than you do of yourself
and me!" cried Lill, clapping her hands to-
il gcthcr, with what she intended should be a
laugh, though there was a fierce glitter in
" her eyes.

A “ You are as big a madman as the worst
, . of them. and I will have to be your keeper.
3 \Vhen she comes it will not be alone, and I
will attend to the rest of them, if you won’t.

)1 Then, you and she for it till I see you can’t
*‘ take care of yourself. _And, if Iam not mis-
,_ ‘v. taken. there they are now. You didn’t leave

the cabin a minute too soon.”

She pointed straight at the narrow vista
which the spot commanded.

Dave had chosen his camping-ground
well since right here he would be able to
catch a glimpse of those who should follow
his trail, and without much jdanger of being
seen himself. it was fully a mile down to
where a little party was picking its way care-
fully along. One by one, a dozen figures
passed across his range of vision, and one of
them belonged to a woman.

 

gt. CHAPTER XXIX.
3",, DAVE BRADY SEES A SNAG.

DAVE BRADY‘ watched the procession with
breathless eagerness, never aware that Lili
was watching him in turn with an interest
every whit as great.

It was true her glance went from him to
the party in the distance and back again,
with the rapidity of a flash, counting out
each several member as it moved across the
plane of her vision; but it was Brady she
was studying. She marked the little shiver
which went through his firame and knew
that it was the sight of the Woman which
caused it.

Her sight was as keen as the keenest but
at that distance faces could not be read or

‘ recognized, and it was only by guess she
knew it was the individual who had under-
taken to caiechizo the Kid from Kirby. It
was not fear which forced that shiver
through the frame of the strange man at her
side; and though Little Mischief did not
understand it, she had a double reason to
"hate the woman who was so obstinater trail-
ing down her only friend, her more than
'faiher.

It Was almost a certainty the two fugitives

‘ had not been seen. ».

* . The men were looking downward rather

‘than up, and had one of them chanced on a

glimpse of the lurkers an exclamation, or a

 

would have tried to share his discovery.

“I knew it would be so. When she\got
that near. her own soul would tell her who
the hermit was who lived just beyond. Or,
a chance word from the Kid might have
yo ned her eyes. How. she came to think

-» home was the man for whom she was
searching I cannot guess, but she has given
'up that trail now andis after me.” 

“ And what are you going to do about it?”

“Run. Little Mischief; run like blazes!
We’ll play hide-an’-coop with them till the
cows’ tails drop oil. and it’s two to one they
don’t catch us. I know a thing or two
about this country, and unless they get us
surrounded there is always aghack door
where one can slide out at when they .get
too hot in front. Oh, I’ve not given the
game up yet if I am badly scaredi”

Brady had braced himself after the shock.

a He did not intend to let his companion

I lose heart, and it was necessary for both

of them'to keep up their courage if he want-

ed to pilot the girl safely out of this laby-

‘ 'rinth. and have time to make the arrange-

ments he was counting on, for her future
welfare ' r >

"That's more like your old self, dad.

And when we , get tired of runnin' and they

come t00 close for comfort, if you don’t want

"to I’ll fight. - There's only a demon! them.

But if you know of a better place we had

. better get there. We ‘ can move now with-
_ out being ‘
than}, trormgettingasight in the game

v v _ .« . . . A r .- ,. i» i

.- ““{'_2':‘./‘."
Was .4

or!» mfiw’wnwxwwe

 

word would have caused a halt and others .

V sum you promised ins would have begun to‘

seen. and the longer We, we  ,to come)

twillrbe: we
, k, P“?

 

"‘ Right, my child.” answered Dave, with
a last keen glance around the spot.

“If we had missed them, and they had
seen us, it might not have been healthy to
have lingered. for they could have got us in-
to something like a box; but the way things
are there is time enough to make a sure thing
of it; and if we go at once we can hide our
tracks altogether, besides leaving them
where they won't be apt to get in our wake
for another twenty-four hours.”

He gathered up the traps with which he
had been loaded, Lill picked up hers, and the
two went on up the mountain-side.

It would have been a disagreeable sort of
surprise could some one have told them the
truth as it was. Captain Slyme generally
slept with one eye open, and when on the
trail it had to be a very slight thing which
could escape his attention.

He alone of the party caught a glimpse of
the two watchers.

Had it been any one else a little crv would
have come to his lips, even if he ad not
halted for a better view.

But Slyme was always willing to trust his
eyesight, and he needed no second look to
tell him what was to be seen. Up, through
the marvelously clear atmosphere he had
been looking, and though they made but lit-
tle more than two points on the mountain~
side he was sure he had seen the recumbent
figures of a man and a girl.

It was the one spot where such a view of
the upper mountain could be had, and he
had been ready for it; to linger would have
been for no good purpose. He knew where
they were now, and if they turned away
there would be no seeing in which direction
they were going. '

What he wanted was to prevent their sus-
pecting they had been seen; and in that he
was successful.

When they had gone on for perhaps a score
of yards, and were hidden from above by
the straight walls of a narrow defile, the cap-
tain held up his hand, and at the signal the
cavalcade halted;

“ Knowledge beats luck every time! but
when you got ’cm both there’s nothing else
in the game!” laughed Slyme as he turned to
Miriam. ,

” You have reasonably keen eyes, but I’ll
wager big money you didn’t see what I did,
and it was the sight you are dying for."

“ What was it?" exclaimed Miriam, who
guessed. yet hardly believed; \

“ Dave Brady, of course. And the best"
of it is.,we‘ve got him. He will never sus-
pect we saw him, until it is too late. Then
we can take him in style, and you can hang
him at your leisure.”

" Hang him?" v -

Miriam shrunk before the harsh word, re.
peating it over with an accent of terror.

” Thdt's what it amounts to. Unless
you have been doing a heap sight of bluff
and bathos you mean to kill him, and that’s
the right way to settle it, unless you mean
shoot on sight.” '

“ Perhaps you are right. I, certainly meant
that justice should be done when I found
him, and if there is no other chance for it I
vowed I would undertake the work myself.
Having got this far on the way. I certainl
will follow it to the bitter (and. Yes. i:
was best for you to use the'proper word. It
brings me face to face with the duty I have
sworn to perform. If there is no law that
will avenge the double wrong my hand is
ready for the work." .

'“ Then you mean it? That is what I
wanted to know; because if you didn’t, the
hope of corralling‘a certain generous little

grow hazy. There won’t be any going back
now, because we are going to keep you up to
the collar. and if you happen to row weak,
we’ll finish the job ourselves. gYou under-
;tand we are not running this thing for I
un. ’ ‘
“I understand, but what matter sodongas
I gain my ends? I have made you a promise,
and that promise shall be kept if you keep
faith with me. If nothing comes of it all the
fault will not be mine." '
‘ “, And you bet ,it won’t 'be‘ ours,” smiled
the captain. - ' . .
“ I’m only getting you ready
,e havonftsgctghim
' i weds

    
    

:for wbst‘ is;
at and;

  

 

‘ be in sight. .

» £3.91

  
  
  
  
   
   
    
  
   
  
   
   
   
  
   
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
    
      
    
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
  
  
  
   
  
    
    
   
  
   
  
   
   
     
  
  
  
    
 
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
      
    
  
  
 
 
  
  
     
   
  
    
   
         
     
     
   

we won’t be apt to have much of a chance
before sundown. From what I know of him
he shoots straight, and without much coax-
ing, and as we don‘t intend to lose more men
than we have to, I would prefer a surround,
and a capture by strategy in the first place,
with slow starvation to fall back on if that
fails."

Taken altogether the conversation seemed
to be satisfactory to the captain, for he
gave the order to advance cautiously, but as
rapidly as it was possible forhim to lead the
way. Their coming could not, of course, be
long hidden, but after a certain point had
been reached, to the mind of Slyme it made
little difference whether it was discovered or
not. He could reach the spot he was aiming
for before Dave could pass it, and that was
all he asked for the present. . ’

For some time the silent march continued,
winding along through the bed of a crooked
gorge, and gradual] trending upward. At
length, just when it iriam gave a sigh of re-
lief at the thought they Were about to leave
the sunken path and try one which was less
monotonously lonesome another halt was call-
ed, and at a gesture the men spruu g from their
horses, while Slyme, approaching, held out'
his hands to help her down.

“ We’ve reached a spot where, if we are
not too late to bagjourjgame, I can give you a
sight for our meney. We couldn’t go any ‘
further With the horses, and I am going to ' '
send them back a ways. I'll have things all
arranged in a minute: Y

He gave a few hasty orders, which result-4 1 ‘
ed in part of the men taking the animals and
starting back on the trail, while the rest got; ,
ready for the work here. , j ‘* ‘

After that, the captain took Miriam and
led her up the natural road which led out of
the gorge. It was steep. but practicable for
an active scrambler. When they had reach» .
ed the bank’s upper edge they crouched lowV
while Slyme directed Miriam's gaze. There
was but one course along which Dave could r
come; and if he had moved promptly afte
being seen by the outlaw he ought soouio'

 

 

 

“ You want to lie mighty low.” said th,
outlaw, as he pointed from the lurking place '
where Miriam could see with little chance of,
being seen. - <  '.

“#I want to make right down sure we
onto your man or I wouldn‘t risk those‘ keen,
eyes of his. After that we must slide back,
and wait for him to walk into the trap.”

“ And if he sees?” .

“Then. it will be too late for him to
back. By that time the boys I outwith the
horses will swing in on h
He will be in a 0001;,
up at our leisure. f .
we catch him, if. he stays in he starves, to
say nothing of the want of water. If he was
alone he might stay rusty till the last. but
with a girl in tow he will have to throw n
his hands sooner or later.” . - -,

Themeniion of the girl did not soften the
tense lines in Miriam‘s face. She seemed i
be part of Dave Brady’s sin, and he? hm,
grew darker as she ed. 3 ‘ '

I An hour, perhaps had passed while the
waiting couple crouched in the ambush. v

Then, their patience was rewarded. ' 
the distance two figures could beseen. 'loiter 
ing along. One or the other appeared (of ‘ ’
weak. for their progress was slow,‘and it
titude went for anything, it was some
painful. ' J -‘,

The view was not a close one, but to ,,
am's staring eyes the man for whonrsho We
been hunting seemed ve near. .

Perhaps imagination ai ed her [unrest
she knew, for she could trace the hard I , '
which cars and his late injury had mark '
on his face, and under them all see the co
tenance of the man she had sworn to hunt, '

down. , \ i
“ It is be. It is Hugh Cathcart," shag ,
ed, unable to tear her eyes away from t ,
face. .' “v V» 
“He is years older than I couldlz
dreamed. but I could swear to him in up
light and'at any distance.” - v ; ' ‘
“ Good enough. than. 0W6 kmkm ro'
sendin a boyto In reep yin "
carefuighow ou‘do it. [If he 
gaifiwggnake a heap of tron
~ t

“7911 matte; ,
M to summer

‘ 4k3¢~

  
      
    
   
 
   

  
    
       
 
 
  
 

26

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

will never be a fool, even if he was a mur-
derer.”

“ Of course he won’t, but he wouldn’t act
after the lines you lay down for him, either.
One man! Great Scott! One man with a re-
volver up there would be good for two or
three, anyhow, on the theory of chances;
and as I always have to keep in the front
rank I would be more than apt to be one of
the elect. Not any of it in mine, thank you,
while there is a better way. I can pick him
off for you with 3. Winchester, but that you
say you won’t have. Get down, and don’t
waste an infernal other minute talking about
it‘ll

The outlaw’s tone was stern, and there was
an angry low in his eye as he turned on
Miriam. he saw he intended to be obeyed,
and as there was nothing to be gained by a
conflict just then, she slipped away as cau-
tiously as she knew how.

The chief lingered, for a reason of his
own, and she heard a bitter curse from his
lips as she dropped to the little path below
the ledge. Cautiously as they had moved
they had been seen.

The two loiterers halted suddenly, Lill
with one hand holding Dave Brady’s wrist,
while with the other she pointed at the spot
where for an instant the figure of the outlaw
was visible.

“By the heavens!" exclaimed Slyme.

“ That cake’s all dough, and we'll have to
set another batch for baking. We hold both
ends against the middle, but it’s going to
take time now for the game to come our

wa .”

is he spoke he dropped at full length and
brought around the Winchester from his
shoulder.

Like magic the two above disappeared.
They had dropped behind a huge bowlder,
but from behind it was thrust the barrel of
the rifle which Dave Brady carried, and its
muzzle promptly covered the spot where
Slyme was lying. A touch of the trigger
and the captain would be booked for over
the range.

 

CHAPTER XXX.
AN INSURRECTION IN THE RANKS.

S0 thought Slymc, at least, and without
waiting to develop more thoroughly the in-
tentions of Dave Brady he wriggled himself
backward, and came tumbling down the
bank to the side of Miriam.

“Oh, he has seen us; and What it worse,
he knows we have seen him. That settles
the business for the present. There isn’t an
atom of hurry now, unless he gets it into
his head to hunt us. Then, he may make it
lively for a season. I’ll wait a bit to see if
that fool notion does strike him. If it don't
I’ll look after businessa little. There will
be plenty of time, and you can run the gang
till I get back.”

” Thanks for the offered honor,” responded
Miriam, coldly.

“I firmly decline, however. I know
nothing of your gang, save as a party of
men who have come out to help me hunt
down acriminal. Let them do their work
without my running. My dealing is with
you alone.”

“Nevertheless, as they are a somewhat
uncertain lot,‘ I will leave you a six-shooter,
and certain advice. If things don’t go al-
together to your liking don’t linger too long
on your aim, but shoot to kill. I have had
to exterminate two or three sets before I
could gather one which was at all safe to live
with. I wouldn’t wonder if you had to do
the same.”

The captain was more in earnest than
Miriam thought. He handed her the re-
volver, and made a few earnest remarks to
his men, as to what he expected them to do.
Having done this he took his departure,
striding down the gulch at a great rate.
Before Miriam Cathcart well knew what
were his intentions she was alone with the
tigers.

The captain was not altogether easy in his
mind, but he shrugged his shoulders as he
went along.

“It looks like a risk," he thought; “but
it can’t be helped. I’ve got to straighten
out the tangle with the dear doctor, and as
this is not exactly the lines we laid out he
will never find me unless I hunt him up. I’ve

 

got 'em both corralled, and now I want to
make sure there will be no hitches in the rest
of the programme."

In the course of half an hour he came
across the horses, guarded by one of the
men; and mountin his own steed he set ofl?
again at a pace which would carry him out
of the rugged defiles before very long. He
Was no saver of horseflesh, and was willing
to risk his own neck; no wonder he could
make speed.

Still, Miriam did not refuse the weapon
tendered her, though she had one of her own
well hidden away. This would do for pres-
ent use, and the other might remain unsus—
pected for an emergency. When Slyme had
placed himself and men at her service for a
certain price she had become reconciled, or
almost so, to being his prisoner: but she be—
gan to see that it had. its dangers as well as
its disadvantages.

Had she been alone she would have gone
straight to Dave Brady, and charged him
with the worst. When she tried to do that,
however, she was warned back with no un-
certain earnestness, and she found herself
compelled to obey.

She stared at the man who stood in her
way, but made no answer. When he had
finished his order she went a little further
up the canyon, and seated herself wearily on
the ground.

This waiting was tiresome work, though
she had been waiting so long. Here
was the object of her quest close at hand,
yet they seemed as far apart as ever. She
closed her eyes to think it over, and that
gave the overmastering weariness a chance
to take hold of her. Before she realized
whither she was drifting she was asleep.

She must have slept a long time, for when
she awoke the direct rays of the sun were no
longer pelting down into the canyon; it seem-
ed cooler and darker. The needed rest had
strengthened her, but she began to feel the
demands of appetite.

She had been glad enough to get away
from the rough-looking men who trained
under the captain’s orders, but that was
when she did not need them. Now, she put
her pride in her pocket and turned back to
where she had left them.

The very fact that they had allowed her
to stroll away up the canyon uncautioned,
and apparently unwatched had convinced
her there was no practicable outlet in that
direction, but she felt sure she could not go
far in the other Without coming across at
least a guard, and she was not disappointed.

The men were there, but they were talk-
ing about something more important than a
meal. .

Their heads were together as though they
belonged to a circle of plotters, and some-
thing told her she was the subject of their
conference. As she approached they faced
her; and it was not with pleasant looks,
either.

At that she thought of the revolver which
Captain Slyme had given her, and remem-
bered she had left it where she had taken
her rest.

It was very careless. and she wished she
had it now; but she (lid not allow the regret
to appear in her face, nor did she give the
least sign of confusion or alarm.

“What is it?” she asked briefly, as she
saw by the way they looked at one another
that something was to be said.

“ Beggin’ yer pardon, miss,” said the man
who stood nearest to her. '

“ We don‘t want ter make it rough lines
fur you ef we kin help it, but we bin a-talk-
in’ it over, an’ it strikes us the boss ain’t
gittin’ ready tor do ther square thing by us,
ez does all ov thcr work, an’ runs ther most
ov ther reesk. \Ve don’t know jest what
sorter a bargain he made with you, but we’re
mighty sure there is a heap ov money in it,
an’ we've ’bout concluded that we’ll git that
coin, an’ leave him out in ther col‘. He’s a-
wearin’ sorter a man, anyhow; an' you look
cz though you might mean what you said.’

“ I certainly mean all that I said,” was her
firm answer: “but I must be treated as I
bargained for. I recognize no one save your
captain in the deal, and you meddle with me
at your peril.”

“ Ten thousand is a heap ov money, an’
you kin save jest half ov that by dealin’
with us, pervided you play squar’ from A
to ampersand. We got ther inside track, an’

i

‘ ’ "»' . . , . - ‘ ~
Jp ' 1." -""‘l~‘. 7. -‘ ' JE‘L'V‘W‘} “E21 “it'f'rji’? .» rai‘ul‘fiv‘ir“  '- vV‘ iu 

 

we jest mean ter bluff ther captain off, an’
set up fur ourselves. Ez fur that cove up
thar ez we‘re s’posed ter watch, you don’t.
want him ez bad ez yer thought yer did, an’
we don’t want him at all. We’ll move outer
this afore Slyme gits back, an‘ it won’t be
healthy fur him ef he finds it‘s us ag’in.”

Miriam’s hand Went swiftly to her bosom
in search of her weapon, but there was no
quiver in her voice as she answered:

“ I refuse to have anything to do with
you save through your captain, and 1 do not
move from here until he comes. I have told
you that much once before, and I do not in-
tend to repeat it again. Come near me at-
your peril.”

" Thar‘s whar you made yer big mistake,

ladybird. It’s a daisy bluff, but it won’t.
win. Stiddy, boysl I’ll handle ther wild—
cat.”

He sprung at her like the animal he had
named. She had thought she could draw
and fire before he could reach her, but
his one hand caught her wrist before the
hand which belonged to it had left its hiding-
ing-place. Under that iron gripe the blood
stopped coursing through the veins of the
captured member, and the fingers of iron
seemed to be sinking into the bone. She was
too weak to resist and too proud to scream
yet she felt more than ever the deadly dan-
ger she was in.

Then—from some eyrie not far away—
thcre sounds the crack of a rifle, and the
man staggered back, shaking his fingers, till
the blood spattered thickly over the body of
Miriam’s dress. A bullet had all but severed.
two of his fingers.

As he glared around, uncertain from
whence the shot had come, there was a peal
of shrill laughter floating down from among
the rocks to the right—the rocks which from
tlcilat spot in the canyon could not be reach-

“Ha, ha, ha! Back there, all of you!
Touch the lad again and there will be more
than scratche fingers. I can shoot to a
hair’s breadth, and I‘m watching you all.
Ha, ha, ha! How you dance; and the music-
stopped playing long ago.
some more of it? Forward one, or a dozen,
and the band strikes up with Crazy Coon for
the leader. ”

Of all the men there only one had ever
heard of the crazy youth, but when that one
spoke the rest were ready to believe him.

“ Slide back, boys,” said this one. in a.
low tone, and swiftly suiting the action to-
the word.

“ It’s the lunatic who haunts the Copper
Bottom, and he‘s not lying when he says he
can drop anything he gets a bead on. If you
can catch a sight of him drop him, but you
want to be mighty careful while you are
doing it."

In some respects the position of Crazy
Coon could not have been better for all
parties concerned.

\Vheu the first speaker dodged back he
went behind the angle of rock which was so
convenient; and the rest followed him with-
out hesitation. They had no desire to stand
the fire from the batteries of a crazy sharp-
shooter.

But if Crazy Coon could not get a shot at
them, no more could they hope to draw a
head on him; and Miriam, who had fallen
back promptly when released, was out of
range and reach. Unfortunately, she was
not certain which side she would sooner
trust, for she remembered her previous meet-
ing with the wanderer, and that at that time
he had no particular compunctions about
killing a woman.

On the other hand, she did not care to re-
treat up the canyon, the wall of which seem—
ed to reach higher, and its, depths become
gloomier, the further she advanced. She
crouched closer to the wall of the gorge, as
nearly as she could under where Crazy
Coon was in hiding as she could locate the
spot from the sound of his voice.

The immediate danger had been averted,
but how long would she be safe? She cer—
tainly did not wish to trust herself to the
guidance of the lunatic; and she had already
tested these outlaws, and found the were no
safe companions. She thought 0 making
her way up toward Dave Brady, but a single
glance showed her that she could not reach
the only practicable path without putting
herself again within reach of the road-agents,

Do you want _

. _ - r . 4 y‘ 4
‘ sak‘v v. .:"'»’z‘&§%}s1 

.\ _ --

 

 

 

H-_.. ..__

 

 

44". -h- .v . ..

a» -

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

27

 

 

and the only course open for her was to wait
for the return of Captain Slyme. She had
little faith in him:save as he was controlled
by his interests, but she thought she had a
hold on him that would be good enough for
the present emergency.

While she was considering the silence
was broken. Some one else had been think«
in .

g‘ Say, miss, kin we have a word with

r,"

“A hundred, so they are spoken with
proper respect; but I have got my revolver
back, and the first man who approaches me
after the fashion you did dies. 1 have used
such weapons before, and I know how to
hold straight."

“That is all ri ht. We want ter make
a fair barg’in. e didn’t mean you no
harm, but we wanted ter find out sure what
war Slyme’s game, so we could tell of he
went back on us on ther divvy. If you’ll
promise not ter mention it we’ll treat yer
white tell he comes, an' things kin go on
same as they war goin’. Ef you don’t,
we‘ll hev ter bolt, an’ I reckon ther chap up
thar’ll git away with what’s left ov yer."

“I can only speak for myself. The men
above are beyond my control, and if they
fancy war I cannot call them to peace.
But, because I need you, I am willing to re-
main silent with your captain when he
comes provided you furnish me something I
can eat. If you can’t, I must go a-foraging,
and I may forget to come back.”

The treaty was soon made, for the men
were only too willing to avoid the wrath of
their chief. They might have been willing
to risk it with the prisoner in hand, and an
opening for a deal if the worst came to the
worst; but failing in that the time was not
yet ripe for mutiny.

After that there was a sort of armed neu-
trality. Crazy Coon gave no further sign,
Dave Brady did not appear, and Slyme was
slow in his coming.

CHAPTER XXXI.
'rwo VILLAINS TALK.

CAPTAIN SLYME was notorious for earry~
ing through any thing he might undertake
in a thorough, business-like way.

He would have been business-like enough
if he had simply carried off Miriam in con-
sideration of what Doctor Andrews would
pay for the job. The thoroughness of the
operation consisted in not only making her a
prisoner, but arranging it so he might re-
ceive pay from either side, and possibly
both, while at the same time he would be,
to a certain extent, helping along his own
private affairs.

He was in no particular hurry to get back
to the young lady, since he believed he had
her safely caged; and he had work to do from
the other end of the line.

“Work it was, too. Many a man would
have pounded himself to pieces making the
ride the captain did, and it was late in the
evening when he got back to the canyon
where he had left the detachment who were
guarding the rear, and looking after the
horses.

He had explained everything as he went
along—for he brought the doctor With him
—aud when darkness came down was ready
to start this contingent on the trail of Dave
Biiidy. His idea was to have them fall
upon the owner of the Copper Bottom from
the rear, while he, and the men he had
left with Miriam, engaged his attention in
front. _

If either party once got within shooting
distance, and could gain a parley, there was
little danger but what a surrender would
follow; but the strongest hope was that the
doctor and the men who followed him, would
take Brady by surprise. .

Altogether it was work of a very ticklish
kind he had laid out, because they were liable
to come upon Dave anywhere between the
two points where he had been keeping guard,
and the surprise might work the other way.

Still, the possible trail was narrow, and
offered little chance for hiding, so that there
was not much danger of missing their man.
He could follow this course no further than
the spot where Miriam and he had lain in
wait for him. and the outlaws controlled the
only route down to the bed of the canyon.
Slyme knew the ground well, and he thought

 

he had his game in as good a trap as he could
wish for.

It was time he was getting back to Miri-
am, however. The truce between her and
the outlaws had been well enough kept, but
the men began to grumble at the delay. and
there was no telling how soon they would be
ready again for mutiny; and another time
she would not have Crazy Coon on hand to
save her. As it grew dark in the canyon he
would no longer be an object of fear to the
men who had quailed before the known ac-
curacy of his aim.

It was a great relief to the waiting girl
when she heard Slyme’s approaching foot-
steps, and she greeted him with more pleas-
ure than she had ever thought she would
take in the appearance of a captain of road—
agents.

“ Getting nervous, were you?" he asked
lightly, as he came into her presence.

“ I stayed longer than I intended, but I
had to start things going at the othereud. If
David really intends to show fight, it will
make things very sultry unless there is some-
thing to divert his attention from the front.
As long as his ammunition lasted he could
hold that path against a hundred men. We
couldn’t get up any more than he could get
down; but I think I have fixed all that.”

“ A dozen to one; you must think he is a
wonder,” answered Miriam, with something
like a sneer.

“ Were it not that I want to have a word
or two with him before he goes I would climb
up myself by daylight and pick him off with
a rifle.”

“ Perhaps you would, and perhaps you
wouldn’t. if things go wrong to-night we’ll
give you the chance to-morrow. Come now.
Everything is ready, and the time has come
for us to move. We want to get into posi-
tion before the moon rises.”

There were places in the upward path
which had been ahard scramble b daylight,
and Miriam would have begge to be ex-
cused from passing over them by night had
she not been so terribly in earnest. A miss
step and a slip would mean a fall, and per-
haps serious injury, or death.

Side by side with each other whenever it
was possible, the two led the way, and though
expecting at. every step to be halted by a hail
from above they won their way along until,
panting and breathless the woman threw her-
self down on the upper edge of the canyon,
which they had reached at length.

Behind them came the rest of the outlaws,
and it seemed quite like the presence of an
army, lying there.

All was silent, however, and if danger
lurked in the shadows they could see no signs
of it, nor, for some time, could they hear any
sounds whatever, save the breathing of their
own men. r

Then, at length, they heard advancing
steps, which sounded altogether too loud to
belong to the wily fugitive of whom they
were in pursuit.

“ Something wrong, whispered Slyme,
who, so far, had kept Miriam close to his cl—
how.

“I judge those are the rest of the boys,
coming to join us. Dave could hardly have
found cover, or slipped by them, yet it looks
as though he had done one or the other. Re-
main herc a moment while I go to meet
them. I may draw a shot as I pass through
the open.”

The captain crept away, leaving Miriam in
hiding. At his movement the advancing
party suddenl stopped, and there was a
clicking of locks which told how keenly they
were on the alert.

A low signal prevented anything like mis-
chief, and a single man came cautiously for-
ward to meet him.

Something in the dim outlines of his figure
seemed familiar to Miriam. A suspicion
darted through her brain; and without hesi-
tation she determined to verify it. Even
more cautiously than Slyme had done she
wormed her way toward the two men, the
murmur of whose conference was already
reaching her ears, though no single word
could be distinguished.

Before she had gone far. however, odd
words began to be distinguishable, and soon
she had gained a position from which she
could obtain. a fair idea of their conversation,
especially as they had raised their voices
somewhat. .

n

 

But the surprising thing to her was that
in one of the speakers she recognized Doctor
Andrews.

It ave her more than a surprise. She
was [1 bad company herself, but that was
not from choice, and though she was making
the best of it she cared not how soon she left.
it.

But there was no doubt the doctor was
here of his own free will, and that he was on
more than intimate terms with the chief of
outlaws. What it meant she did not stop to
consider. She was more interested in catch»
ing the gist of their conversation.

“Your scheme don't pan out worth a
cent," the doctor was saying.

“ He may have been here; but it’s dead
sure he’s not here now. He must have got
past you somehow, and by this time he’s.
half way across the territory.”

“ You say. He was up there and tl‘erc was
no way for him to get by, so he must be
somewhere in the trap, if we can only find a
way to dump him out. There is no use to
think of long range firing in the dark; but the
boys have orders if they come across him at
close quarters to down him and be done with
him. His corpse is just as good as we want."

“ Yes, so the woman don’t understand the
orders. And keep her where she will not be
apt to get sight of me. It might make
itihings harder. I’m trying fair means

rst.”

“ Mighty fair they are," grinned the out-
law, amused in spite of himself.

“ If it wasn’t your game first, and you an
old pard to boot, I don’t know but what I’d
be willing to try a few of them myself. I’m
not sure yet who is the better looking man.”

“ None of that, Slyme. I've trusted you
right along because I knew your word had
always been good. If you kicked over the
traces, I might not be able to hold you; but
you ought to know I'd die mighty game and
trying to make my teeth meet. You’ve seen
something of that style in the old time.”

“ That’s all right; as long as you play me
fair I’ll treat you square, but I'm making all ,
the coin I can out of it, and don’t you forget ‘
it. I’m as anxious as you are to keep you
out of sight of the lady. We have a private
bargain betwixt us, and until that is fairly
guaranteed I’m in no hurry to deliver my
goods.”

Miriam cared to wait for nothing further.

The doctor was playing his cards from a
stacked pack, and whichever way luck went
it was not intended that he should lose. She
crept back shivering. Much as she wanted
to find Hugh Cathcart she would just then
have been willing to forcgothe chase forever
to have been put safely back at the Lion.

The captain had spoken very confidently
about the inability of Brady to go further,
but she was not so certain.

The wallof rocksrosc on upward, seeming
to bar progress along the brink of the can-
yon, but was not there a thread of path'
along which Dave might have made his
escape, and which she might follow? She
made up her mind it was worth the trial,
and while the two were deep in their con»
ferenee crept back once more, and passed
without. question the line of men who still
lay where their captain had placed them.

By daylight she had marked this upper
region as well as she could.

Beyond the broken face of the canyon
wall where they had found difficult footing
for their ascent the side was perpendicular,
and rose on up into the air a hundred feet or
more. And there seemed no other break as
far as she could follow the trace line, though,
on the other side, the conformation was
entirely different. True, the canyon wall
was as steep; but once in the upper air and
the ground offered no serious obstruction to
retreat in any direction. Unfortunately,
there seemed no way of reaching that side.
from the bed of the canyon, even could she
pass the men who lay between her and it.

Eyesight could help her but little, now.
for soon she passed within the deepest
shadows of the overhanging rocks. The
brink of the precipice was perilously near,
and, as she felt her way along, her retreat in
this direction seemed the height of madness.
Slyme had spoken as one who knew, and
certainly he was risking much on his knowl-

ge.
Painfully slow was her progress, and
every moment added to the chances of the.

a.»

J

28

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

discovery of her flight, yet she dared not at-
tempt to hasten her speed.

Down below her in the darkness she knew
lay the ragged rocks of the canyon, and an
unlucky slip, or an incautious movement,
meant the agony of falling and the certainty
of death.

An age seemed to elapse as she wormed

‘her way along on hands and knees; then,
she made a discovery.

The dangerous path she had been follow-
ing ended here, and she was on a narrow
ledge where there was not even room enough
to turn around.

1But her hand had found out something
e se.

The butt of a tree rested on the ledge, and
the top stretched out toward the opposite
side of the canyon.

Did it reach all the way across, and was
this the means Dave Brady and his cun-
panion had taken to flank their besiegers?

She tested the firmness of its lodgment,
and estimated its length from the size of the
butt as she felt it. Yes. It might reach
across; but at the further side it would be
perilously slender.

CHAPTER XXXII.
FALLING.

IF Dave Brady and the girl-woman with
him could cross there, Miriam felt she
ought to be able to accomplish the feat.
She could not, and dared not, go back, or
remain, and her only way to advance was by
this frail and dangerous route. Without
stopping to think whether Brady himself
had not dropped in the mad effort to escape,
she tested the tree once more, and then
crawled cautiously away.

One thing she had noted. Though not
felled that day it had been lately cus, and as
she crept along its springy length she had
no longer doubts of its strength! It had
been put there for a purpose, having been
dropped, no doubt, from some nook in the
rocks above, where it had taken root and
grown.

It swayed under her laborious progress,
and now and then she had to bait and wait
for the motion to cease. She tried to keep
from thinking of the awful chasm beneath
'her, and fought back the dizziness which
tried to come over her brain.

In one of those halts she heard sounds in the
darkness she had left which made her thank-
ful for the darknessin which she was hidden.
Her absence had been discovered, and a
searchhad already begun. There was little
time to waste, for she could not doubt they
would find her line of retreat before many
minutes.

She set her face resolutely toward the fur-
ther bank, and though the tapering, slender
cedar top sprung and bounded beneath her
she never allowed herself to fear.

She knew, at last, she could not be far
from the goal, but there came a sudden
tremor not communicated to the tree by any
motion or efiort of her own.

In front, all was silence and darkness, but
she felt sure some one stood there, tugging
at the tremulous bridge, and like a flash
divined his intention.

It was the work of a giant, but, as she
:nerved herself for one despairing effort, she
was lifted slowly, and then the whole thing
began to slew around.

Silence could no longer serve her, and
:as she gave a blundering spring, her lips
parted in a cry that was strangely choked
'by terror.

Then, a hand shot out and caught her,
dragging her to the solid ground while the
loosened tree went crashing down into the
chasm.

“Happy Hezekiah, it's a woman!” ex-
claimed the Kid from Kirby; and that, for
the moment, he was astonished went with-
out saying. Until he heard that cry he had
not the faintest idea there was a human
being on the tree.

The knowledge shook even his stolid
nerves, and he trembled slightly as he swung
get into safety on the face of the rock behind
, 1m.

By the time he had turned he was himself
again.

“ I reckon ett’s ther lady frum ther Lion,
turned up jest when I warn’t lookin’ fur

A:

 

But it war a clost squeak. You
Speak up, fur

her most.
ain‘t damaged any be you?
I’m a-dyin‘ ter know.”

An inarticulate gurgle was the response.
)liriam’s heart was in her mouth as all the
terrors of that midnight journey through the
darkness of death came back to her. She .
could not have spoken if her life had depend- I
ed on it.

“ I know how yer feels, but thar's no use
ter git ther high strikes now, when ther
fun‘s all over. An’ ez sure ez yer do them
gerloots '11 take ter chuckin’ lead along over
this way. We'd better slide out afore they
ketch on ter which way yer have left.”

More by guess than by sight he reached
out, and caught her arm with a friendly
grasp. She yielded to the pressure, and al-
lowed herself to be silently guided away
from the dangerous neighborhood.

W Len they had gone some little distance
they reached the real crown of the bank,
and were out of the shadows. The moon-
light was bright, and the sheen of the st rs
sifting down upon them helped to ma e
things visible. Miriam saw a man waiting
for them, and he was evidently on guard.

Coming closer he spoke to the Kid, and
she recognized him as the Sport from Dena
ver. He recognized her, also, and the sight
seemed to bring him satisfaction.

“Good enough, Kid. You wer’n’t off a
mile when you said we’d find them all in the :
same box. If your pard had only waited we
could have halted right here as well as any-
where. I don’t see how the gang could get
across to us, but if they did we could keep
them mighty busy.” '

” That’s gospel, pard; but misfortunate- I
ly, Dave didn’t wait, an’ I ain’t stoppin’ tell ;
I ketch up with him. I‘m afeai‘ed he’ll keep ,
a-goin’ tell he drops. He wa’n’t fit ter take 
sich a trail, an’ afore he knows it he‘ll be all i
broke up.” I

“ We‘ll strike him before that. We can't }
be much behind him, and if the lady—I sup-
pose she intends to go along—can keep up
with the procession there isalikely chance of
overhauling him soon.”

Miriam answered promptly:

“ Yes, I will go along. It was to find the
man you call Dave Brady, but for whom I
have been inquiring under the name of Hugh
Cathcart. that I came to this country. It
was through my wild willingness to leave no
stone unturned to attain the desired end that
you find me here.”

“ That’s all right. Dave are kinder
moultin’, an’ onder ther weather, er I guess
he wouldn’t ’a’ led yer sich a dance. Ef we
kin git that we’ll take yer to him. I dunno
what yer wants with him, butI do know
thet Dave ain’t ary real cause ter be afeared
ter meet ary man livin’, or woman either.
But he may not be jest so easy ter find."

“Just one question, miss,” interposed the
sport.

“ You speak of Dave Brady and Hugh
Cathcart being the same person. Are you
sure of it? There are some awful queer
kinks in life out here, but somehow I can
hardly believe it."

“ 1 know I am not mistaken. I thought
differently until last night, but then I ob-
tained the proof which could not be dis-
puted.”

“Good enough, then. I’ll be happy to go
along, for I want to see him myself.”

Miriam made no answer. She had said all
she had in her mind at present to say, and
was content to glide along in silence.

The Kid said nothing, but led the way.
He did not appear as hopeful as Charlie
Turner about finding the fugitive Brady.
There were several routes he might take; i
and if his strength proved equal to his in- '
tentions it would not be so easy to catch up,
even if they followed the right trail. As
yet, Dave had no knowledge they were com-
ing to his aid, and in the darkness he would
not know who was behind him. At the first
sign of their presence he might take to
cover; and there was no dearth of that in these
regions.

The men asked Miriam no questions in re-
gard to how she came to be in this wilder-
ness, and she seemed to think the general
explanation already given was sufficient.
Fully fifteen minutes passed before the silence
was broken by Turner.

“ You‘re sure you know where you’re go-
ing, pard? I Blamed if I do.”

 

 

 

 

r

_‘.,,v  ‘1‘]: . N

“ I’m sure about whar I’m goin’ ter-night,
fur of I don't find Dave when I git that I’m
goin’ no furder. I’ll camp on ther trail
whar I kin do ther most good, an’ wait fur
Slyme an‘ his gang. Suthin’ tells me they’re
up ter all ther wrinkles, an’ ’11 find a way
ter git along hyer afore mornin’.” .

Again they made a yet longer stretch in
silence, and then the Kid called a halt while

i he carefully made an examination for sign.

One of two routes had here been open to
the fugitives; and it was important to know
which one had been taken, because after
passing this point on either course the other
could not be reached from it without return-
ing here.

Finally the Kid shook his head gravely.

“ I wouldn't ’a’ thought he’d ’a’ done it,
but ez I read sign he‘s gone dcwn inter ther
kenyon. He must ‘a’ bed a reason fur doin’
it, an’ I'm beginnin’ ter be afeared ez his
wound are gittin’ ther better 0v him. It hez
bin a nasty racket fur a man jest outen a
bed ov pain."

“Perhaps he counts on their coming up
out of the canyon here, while he goes down.
That would throw them off the trail.”

“Wish I could think so, but I knows
better. This hyer are a fork ov ther main
gash, an’ that‘s no conneckshun. No; ct
looks ez though Dave hed jest crawled in
hyer ter die an’ we wants ter move keerful
like. Ef' he‘s off his base a bit he may try
all he knows ter take a smart sprinklin’ along
with him.”

“ Was he really so badly wounded as all
that?" asked Miriam, with something like a
shudder in her tones.

“ I have suspected that he had been mak-
ing more of that shot than he would have
done had he not known there was one looking
for him whom he did not care to meet."

“Dave ain’t ther man ter play off,” re-,
torted ther Kid, speaking with more coldness
than he had yet shown.

“ Ef he don’t want ter meet you et's more
like ter be on your account than hissen; an’

' ef I didn't think thar hed bin 3. big mistake

somewhar I wouldn't be ther one ter bring
yer tergether. I want yer ter see him, though;
an’ arter that Brady kin say of he wants ter
run er stay. Ef he runs he ain’t no more no
pard 0v mine.”

They had lingered a moment while this
sort of explanation was oing on, but as the

' Kid turned away after his outburst he made

a gesture which commanded silence, and
then led the party down the .steep incline

, which only prayions knowledge could have

told him was a practicable path.

Miriam could see that the Kid looked at
her with no great love; but it was difierent
with Charlie Turner. To him, at least, she
was a handsome woman, and her position
made him feel a sympathy which was rather
foreign to his cold-blooded nature. He said
nothing, but he accommodated his pace to
that of the woman, and was at hand to help
her more than once when the way was diffi-
cult or dangerous. There was no thrill
when their hands met, as they often did, he
had no words of encouragement or advice,
but before that descent into the bed of
the canyon was completed she felt that some-
how she had made a friend in whom she
could trust.

There were places here where the moon-
light fell, broad and full. There were other
places, too, where the night was thick with
darkness. A hundred men might be lying
unseen, yet able, from time to time, to catch
a clear view of the little party. It seemed
almost like madness to go blundering through
nature’s gash, guided only by the uncertain
remembrances of the man who led them.
Once or twice they turned aside from a pit-
fall which might have slain. To Miriam it
was all nearly as dreadful as daylight and
the mutineering outlaws.

When she was finding, at last, that it was
breaking down her courage, and taxing her
strength beyond nature’s power of endur-
ance, there was a sudden halt at a gesture
and a touch from their leader, who sunk
down where the moonbeams were shining the
brightest, and a sharp click arose from the
darkness beyond, followed by the shrill
tones of a girl-woman:

“Halt, you, there!
makes no difference.
rifle talks.
goes down.”

One or a dozen, it
Another step and my

‘ i \
1., ..:,.5~.

And when it ,talks something

 

a!“

 

" 5‘ . .i'i' 
.iw' An ‘ .3159 v

r. N.

 

 

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

29

 

 

 

“ l-‘rien‘s, Leetlc Miscbi’fl Frien's fur
you an' Dave Go slow or you'll hev‘ yer
sorrows. You orter know Kirk King when
yer hears him talkin’.” - h

The caution came none too soon, for Lill
was already aiming at the squatting figure,
and she might have pulled trigger had it
been delayed fora moment. She recognized
the voice, and though she still kept her
Weapon poised she felt sure there was no
mistake.

“If that is yOll, Kid. come forward with
your hands up, till I can see you, sure.
Dave is in a mighty bad way, and I’ve got to
hold the ranch all by my lonesome self.”

Promptly the Kid stepped forward with
his hands up; and doubt was ended as he
was welcomed with a joyful cry.

 

CHAPTER XXXIII.
WHAT DAYLIGHT BROUGHT.

“Husnl” exclaimed Lill, after she had
led them some little distance.

“ I think, maybe, he is asleep, and I tell

on, he needs it. He oughtn’t to have tried
it, and so I told him; but what could I do?”

“ You better go ahead, leetle one, an’ let
him know what’s comin’. Idon‘t want ter
throw him off his base, er he’ll be openin’ out
on us with his sixes. He wouldn't waste
much lead, an’ then, whar would we be?”

The caution appeared to be one worth
minding, and Lill crept away, and was ab-
sent a moment or two, when she returned as
silently as she went.

“ Follow me, now. You will have a little
climbing to do; but that won't hurt. With a
gang like this to hold it, I expect a dozen
couldn’t take the place We have camped in.”

They trailed in behind her without a word,
and soon saw she had made no empty boast.
Acube of rock jutted out from the wall of
the canyon, its sides almost perpendicular
save for the narrow path which cut down
through its upper edge, and along its face.

Alon this path t ey scrambled for well
nighadozen yards, until they reached its
end. to find themselves in a bowl-like exca-
vation, over which jutted the overhanging
wall above. .

It was almost a cave, and save against a
lengthened siege its capacity for defense was
almost inimitable. In the rear, already sleep-
iéigmtihe sleep of feverish exhaustion, lay,Dave

r y.

All this they did not see at once; for though
the moonlight in the canyon showed them
what they had left behind, about them every-
thing was hidden in thick darkness. .

When they had stood there a brief period.
listening to the short breathing that told of
the presence of the sleeper, Dave moved un-
easil , and then awoke.

“ ill!” be exclaimed.

“Where are you?" _

“Here, dad. All things are gomg just
right. I am sure we have dodged them for
good, and the Kid is coming to see you
through if we haven't.”

“The Kid! Where is he, Lill? I must
see him.” '

“Right hyer, pard. Ef thar’s arythrng
ter start a fire with you shell see me; an’ _ef
thar ain’t, on kin git along with ther grip
ov me hand. That'll hold yer stiddy while
we it things straightened up.”

“ ill can find something, can’t she? And
if she don’t—it’s nigh to morning, isn’t it?
It won’t belong till we can see. Give me

our hand, anyhow.”

Straight to the side of his pard the Kid
from Kirby glided, and reaching out. felt the
hot palm of the other fall into his own.
Then, there was a sigh of satisfaction, and
both men were silent.

While they communed with their own
thoughts there was a rustling near and
around them, and after that the striking of a
match. Lill had performed her duty as she
had heard it and the little blaze which leap-
ed up along the side of the cliff threw its
glow upon the faces of the men.

Miriam had halted when the crown of the
path had been reached, and had listened like
awoman ina dream, to the words of the
pards. Now, a cry escaped her lips as she
leaned eagerly forward and glared upon the
face she had been so long anxtous to see.

The sight was more than a surprise, and
Worse than a simple shock.

 

“ Great heavens!” she muttered; “ can that i going with it. A foot further to go and I

be be? This man is mad 1”

l would never have seen the morning dawn

She put up one hand to ward away the again.”

sight, and reeled backward.

“ It is more than I can bear,” she muttered,
as she stumbled down the path up which
she had just climbed with such weary steps,
and once in the bed of the canyon set her

“ Well, you defeated your own ends when
you wandered off, since we have spent the
most of the night looking for you. Fortu-
nately we could read signs as we went along,
and now that we are on our own particular

face firmly in the direction whence she had v stamping-ground, it will not take long to run

come.

“Vengeance I would have, but not now,
and on such as he is; yet if they find him
they will slay him, and he will never know
why the lightning struck. He. must be him-
self again before I can see the ax of justice
fall. Until that time I would protect him
even from myself.

“ He looks as though he might have stiffer-
ed for ages, and the strain at last have been
too great for him. If he dies thus vengeance
ought to be satisfied.”

It was more instinct than reason which
brought her safely to the only spot where
she could ascend; and it was fortune that is
usually classed as blind luck which enabled
her to toil to the summit of that.wall with-
out a backward slip, or an instant of danger.

She would have thrown herself down, but
her work was but half done.

To halt here would be but too plain a
guide to those she expected would soon be
there.

She resolutely advanced alon the trail—
or what passed for such, thong foot-mark
of man or beast there was none. After go-

ing some little distance she dropped a hand-
kerchief. which she had been twisting in
her hands. It was intended as a plain guide
as to the way she went, and as well as she

could she left a trail wherever she could find,

a soft piece of ground.

“ If they came before daylight it will all be
in vain,” she thought.

“I dare not have them find me nearer;
they would guess at once. But if they fol-
low me here I may throw them off the trail
altogether. ”

As to her own danger Miriam had little
thought. Perhaps she knew in a hazy sort
of way that to a certain extent she would ,be
safe so long as Dave Brady lived, but on
that she did not greatly count. She had
caughta glimpse of a man, haggard, fever-
stricken, wild, and at the sight the womanly
sympathy in her rose up and conquered what
ihe had all along believed was an undying

ate.

Crouching and quivering she tried to wait
for daylight; and it came sooner than she
expected.

At least, it seemed to. Utterly worn out
with mingled emotion and fatigue, she took
no note of the passing of time, and if she did
not sleep her mind was a blank until certain
sounds, such as she had hoped to hear, came
to her; and she stared straight up into the
face of Captain Slyme.

A little group was huddled in the back-
ground; but she had no eyes for them while
she was staring eagerly at the captain.

The night had told upon him, too, he look-
ed wearied, and in none of the best of
humors.

“ What infernal nonsense got into your
fool brain to try to give us the slip? After
the bargain was made did you think I was
going to have any flinching? How did yeti
get here?"

“ I followed him,” gasped Miriam, still
uncertain what she would say, and allowing
her lips to fashion the words which seemed to
come most patly to them. “ But I could not
keep up, though I thought, when I heard his
voice 1 could follow him to the end of the
earth. I am worn out, and when I sunk
down here I thought I was about to die.”

It was an explanation no harder to believe
than the truth, and Slyme did not altogether
doubtit, though he put little faith in any-
thing which could be told for any other rea-
son but the truth.

“ You followed him, did you? I suspect
you must have done so, and followed pretty
close to get away from us. How did you
get to this bank of the canyon? I did not
believe it possible for any one who did not
know our secrets.”

“ Don’t ask me,” was her response, given
with a shiver.

“ They tried to throw me down. On my
hands and knees I went across, and when the
tree began to start from its moorings I was

 

him down. If you can go a little further I f,
can furnish you a much better place to rest.”

She was really feeling stronger; and the
thought that she must keep her wits, and
some of her strength, about her, helped her'
out of her despondency. She arose quickly,
and announced she was ready for a ‘ourney
to the ends of the earth, if it was nee ed.

The captain did not intend to lose sight of
her again, and the caution he gave his men
when they had joined him, toltl’that she was-
more of a prisoner than ever.

The march was on foot. now; but it was
not much further continued, and the way led
along the brink of the canyon. When, at
last, they halted, it appeared to be. for a.
long stay. The men threw down whatever
they were carrying save their arms, and she
herself was led away, a little to one side. .

Little appetite had she for breakfast. and‘.‘
the very thought of the cold coffee offered.
her from their canteens sickened her.

An exclamation from the captain startled
her. He was standing near to the edge of
the canyon’s bank, and without waiting for
reasoning to convince her, she knew the bid
ing-place of Dave Brad and his companions.
had been discovered. She would have gone
nearer, but was sternly warned back.

Seeing it was needless to attempt getting
nearer she listened with intense eagerness.
What would be the next move on the car-
pet?

Slyme gave his orders in a low tone, for
his excitement lasted only a moment.

In haste several men took their position at
some distance along the canyon, peering over
the wall, into the gulf below.

Several others took their stand by the side
of the captain. All of them had Winchester-s
in their hands, and with thumb on hammer
and finger to trigger were ready to shoot at
an instant’s notice.

‘It was only a chance which did all this.
The Kid from Kirby had advanced just with-
in rangc of vision from the overhanging
rocks, and was staring wistfully down thc
gulch. It was not carelessness so much as a
miscalculation, for he had thought himself
screened from the keenest eyes. Then, he
heard the voice of Captain Slyme:

“ Ho, you, down there! This time we
have you in a box. Surrender, or diet”

CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE LIGHTING on THE FUSE.

THE disappearance of the man below was
instantaneous.

He did not wait to hear the finish of the'
challenge. because the moment he hearda
voice he knew what it meant, and without
hesitation threw himself backward, his
heels twinkling an instant in the air as he
rolled over. . '

Swiftly as he had acted his wits were all
about him, and as he sprung up, well under
cover of the rocks. he whipped out his pistol
to be ready for what should come next.

He remained silent, however, and aftera
single anxious glance at the spot where
Dave lay sleeping, with Lill hanging over
him, he stared out gulchward, waiting for
the next move in the game. Captain Slyme
had located them, and the sooner his inten-
tions were developed the sooner the Kid
would know the nature of the work that was.
cut out for him]

“ It's no use,” came the voice again.

“ We have you in a hole and if we sa so
there is no way to get out except feet rst.
You may as well come while the door is
open."

“ Et‘ we can’t git out you can’t git in; so-
there, now. We have grub for a week, and
there’s a spring of water right hyer, so, we
are ready fur a siege. Ef you can’t show it
’11 pay ter throw up our han's, down they’ll
stay tell we git ready ter raise ’em with sixes
in ’em. You better ’tend ter yer own knit-
tin’, an’ we’ll look arter ourn.”

“That’s the platform we are on. You

30

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

 

 

folks down there are our meat. and we mean
to have you. You can tell the gentle David,
the law is reaching for him, and we are its
humble ministers.”

“Men, angels, ner ther law kin have him
tell I say so, an’ by that time he’ll be able
ter talk fur hisself. Ef yer ain’t got nothin’

‘ better to say, dry up, an' let us alone.”

“We’ll do the first pretty soon if you don’t
hark to reason, but as for the latter—when
you are dead and buried will be time enough
to think of that. Last words, now. I’ve
nothing much in for you, but the gent who
goes by the name of Brady I want, and if
'we find Short Card Charlie there I’ll have a
thin or two to say to him on his own per-
sona account. You think you are safe
there till you can wear us out; but that is
just where you are going to be left. We
may not be able to drag you out without
losing more good men than I care to spare,
.but there are other ways to fix you.”

“ Try ’em, pard; try ’em!"

“Why, blast you! sooner than miss I’d
roll rocks down there tillI filled that can—
yon even full. But there’s a shorter way
than that. \Ve‘ve gunpowder hereabouts in
plenty, and we’ll drop a few barrels over
with a fuse all lit and fizzing. You can
have just thirty minutes to chew that over.
Then, if you don‘t come out, with hands up,
we’ll strike you where you live. I might
let you off. and see Dave Brady go clear;
but I'll never lose the chance to take in
Charlie Turner. So-long till we see you
later.”

The Kid said nothing, but turned to look
once more at his pard.

As he did so he saw Lill quietly stealing
away. He called to her in a low tone to
keep under cover, but she held up her hand
and waved him back, while she muttered:

“ He saved my life. I told him I’d fight
for him and I mean to do it.”

In her hand she carried a rope which Dave
had brought with him. The middle of this
she slung around a rock which offered itself
for the very use she needed. and tossed the

‘two ends down, so that they almost reached
.the level of the canyon. Then, she slid
-down the doubled rope, drew it after her,
'and carrying it coiled in her hand stole along
the base of the wall, all the time keeping
herself well concealed from the view of
those overhead.

Before she had gone a hundred yards she
stopped suddenly and looked upward. Then,
she flung the coiled rope, making a cast
which astonished the Kid; who was still
more surprised when he noted that one end
of it appeared to be caught from somewhere
above. Without hesitation she swung her-
self from the ground, and began the ascent,
.hand over hand.

He stared at her, and muttered;

“ I orter hev stopped her, but how could I
an’ not leave pard? Thar’s some ’un up
that hez made mo’shuns to her, an’ she’s a-
.trustiu’ him. Ef ett's Crazy Coon I reckon
he kin help her ez much ez ary one ez long
ez he totes fair, but what does ther gal ea;-
pecter do? A locnytick an‘ a child ter fight
.our battles, an‘ me an‘ Dave cooped hyer
whar we kin only wait ter die. We might
crawl out same way ez Mischi’f did ef he
war fit ter travel. but we couldn’t go fur till
we’d git inter range ag’in. Wonder jest
what Slyme means ter do, an‘ of he’s ez bad
es his rep’ertashun."

Lil! bad swung herself out of sight, and
Dave was calling for her. The Kid went to
his side and soothed him with low words.
He had time for that now, but he was afraid
he might not have later on. Charlie Turner
was not there, in spite of the suspicion of
Slyme, Dave was worse than no one, and
Kirk King was alone to defend the fort.

Captain Slyme was making no idle threat
when he gave dis ultimatum. He knew the
sort of man he had to deal with. and he meant
every word he said.

His sharp-shooters were left on guard, but
he turned to several of the men who were
near at hand, and gave a few orders which
Were immediately obeyed.

Up to _this time, though Miriam felt she
was a prisoner, nothing had been said direct-
ly to her, that might convey the idea. She
had simply been treated like a lost wanderer
who had been found.

Atleast. so it was in 213° earance, thou h
.she might have suspected .hat one of e

 

men who was constantly near had received
his orders, and that he was in fact her jailer.

Now, two of the outlaws approached.

“ Sorry, miss, but it looks as though there
was going to be a sultry time around here,
and the captain thinks you had better be out
of the way of anything like harm. It‘all may
go right, but till we are sure of it you had
better be where it is safer, and you are to go
along with us. The distance is not great,
and you will know almost at once if any-
thing happens.”

The fellow was politeness itself, and there
seemed nothing to do but to accept the in-
vitation. Resistance there would be useless:
while escape might not be altogether impos-
sible if she could separate from the main
force.

“ I am willing to do as the captain thinks
best, but I hope I will not have far to go. I
an) very tired.”

She spoke quietly, and without concern.
Whether she deceived the man or not her
ready assent was evidently gratifying, and
with a word or two of encouragement he led
the way.

Their course turned away from the can-
yon, toward the still higher ground which
lay to the right, and it did not take them long
to come to the present end of her journey.

She could not help but look around with
some degree of curiosity. The place looked
like a mining site, though there was no sign
of any one at work. There was a cabin
against the hillside, and broken rock, and
scattered debris, which told of an excavation
somewhere near, though the exact spot
might be concealed.

The outlaw who had been her guide ap-
peared to think some explanation necessary.
He waved his hand at the indications
around.

“These don't count,” he said, with an un-
mistakable accent of regret.

“ There has been a heap sight honest work
wasted, but it turned out to be barren rock,
after all. Still we would a little sooner no
one knew of it, and first off the captain
didn’t mean any one of our visitors to see it
If they went back and told what they had
seen there is no telling how many fools there
would be to f‘oin a rush; and that would be
uncomfortab . We don’t yearn for neigh~
bors. Guess he means to swear you in when
you go.”

“Fear nothing,” answered Miriam, as
lightly as she could.

“ Once away from here, and all connected
with it will best nightmare dream I will only
strive to forget. Let me rest now or I will
die.”

“ Rest you shall. Here’s the shanty, and
there’s a decent bunk or two in it. No one
is going to intrude, but I may as well tell
you there is always a man outside on the
watch. If he saw you moving away With-
out orders he would be apt to shoot. You
sabbe ‘2"

“I understand; but if my life depended
on it I would not think of movement.”

“ So you think,” said the man, doubt-

‘fully, but he saw that she staggered as she

spoke. She had undergone enough physi-
cal toil to break up the average woman, to
say nothing of her mental exhaustion.

Several men who entered the cabin behind
them said nothing, but went to the great
chest at one end of the room, and Minerva
was at least wise enough to know they
were handling explosives when they sorted
out the nitro and the powder which it con-
tained.

She watched them go away with their
loads, but said nothing. This thing had gone
beyond her, and she was hardly surprised
when she found her sympathies veering to
the other side.

Slyme knew what he was doing, or, at
least, thought he did, when he sent Miriam
away. She might be willing to pay for
work which she had not watched, that would
shock her beyond pardon could she see it as
it was.

The moments of grace had expired, and
the captain had found time to make his
preparations, but still there was no sign
from below. Kirk King was bending over
his pard with an anxious look in his eyes,
and without a thought of surrender in his
brain. He scarcely looked up when once
more came the voice from above.

" You,‘ down there. Have you made up

4"”) .i .‘.

 

your minds? because if you haven’t, we have.
And there is just a little sample of what will
be dropping after, to blow you all to king-
dom come.

With its short fuse hissing and spitting
viciously, a cracker came whizzing down,
and so nicely timed was it that it exploded
with a great report as it struck the ground.

The Kid never winced, but Dave Brady,
as he heard the sound started up, grasping
for his pistols.

“Hold them level, pard!” he shouted,
shrilly.

“ They are after the mine but they sha’n’t
take the Copper Bottom while we live. It’s
my last throw, and if fate plays me false
again I’ll go out of the wet trying to hold it.”

His voice never reached the canyon’s edge
above, where Captain Slyme was bending
over, peering downward for signs of occu-
pancy or surrender.

“Yes, or no, Kid?” he shouted for the
last time.

“ You ought to know I would never think
of a pure bluff game with you. You can
have your choice. Surrender or we com-
mence the good work.”

“Let her roll!” yelled back the Kid,
hoarsely, as with one arm around the shoulder
of his pard he tried to soothe him back to the
sheltered spot where there might be at least
a chance for life.

“But sooner er later I’ll hev a bead on
you; an’ that’ll mean death."

The sharpshooters were waiting for their
game, should he come forward, and the cap-
tain tested the fuse to the immense bomb he
had fashioned from one of the powder kegs.
Then, be lit the match, and they stepped to-
ward the escarpment. .

And at that moment, from over the ledge,
right where she had worked her way upward
by the help of the ape-like Crazy Coon,
bounded Little Mischief.’ '

She came, breathless with her toil, silent
as a ghost, and all unseen until she sprung
in front of the captain with outstretched
hands that each grasped a pistol.

“ Back!" she shouted. “1 want no blood
on my hands, but he saved my life, and I
swore I would die for him if needs be. Back,
or perish !"

Captain Slyme gave one look, and then a
great cry. He tore off the sputtering fuse
from the bomb which in another second
would have been tossed, and then stood
silent and white, though not from fear.
Lill, too, had suddenly grown ghastly, and
with wide open eyes they stared at each

other.
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE DEAD ALIVE.

ALONE in the cabin, Miriam sunk back,
too full of thoughts to rest, and yet too tired
to think. A numbness was creeping over
her, body and mind, and the nearby report
of a pistol hardly startled her. When a man
bounded into the cabin she scarcely looked
up till she heard a. glad cry of joy, and a
caressing hand fall upon her shoulder.

“ I have found you, Miriam!” he exclaim-
ed, raising her gently as he spoke.

“It was a blessed chance put me on the
trail, and, thank Heaven! I am here, just in
the nick of time. Have you strength to
make one effort? If not, I will die with

ou.”

y Her wit and wisdom came back to her like
a flash. and she tried to wrench herself from
his arms.

“ You villain!
know you as you are? Hands off. sir! You
are falser than the man I thought I hated,
and more cruel than the wolves outside. I
heard your conversation with the outlaw
when you were searching for Dave Brady,
and I know enough of the nature of your
bargain. I would sooner be Captain Slyme’s
prisoner than walk a mile in freedom with

on.”

It might have been better to gain her free-
dom first. and talk her mind out afterward.
The gripe of the doctor tightened, and his
beaming face grew dark.

“Ah! You know all that? Then you
must know that Slyme is my friend, and you
are as much in my hands as his. Reserve to
the winds! Ihave you where Iwant you,
and I’ll bend your stubborn spirit, or I’ll
break it.”

“ Never!” she cried. striving to break
away, and as she struggled to do so, a.

\

Do you think I do not

 

Kirk King, the Man from Kirby.

31“

 

 

man leaped through the doorway of the cabin,
and struck as hard as he knew how at the
head of the doctor.

Andrews went down, and Miriam, without
Waiting to see who had come to her rescue,
bounded through the open door.
tude was gone, and she was flying blindly
toward the outlaws at the can on.

That one blow knocked An rews senseless
for the moment, and the man who gaveit was
the Sport from Denver. .

He lingered only long enough to think he
saw that his work needed no repeating, and
then hurried out to join the young lady.
Had he come in time he would have led her
in a different direction; but seeing her flit-
ting form in the distance he followed after.
He was no great distance behind when she
came upon the tableau at the canyon’s edge,
and when she suddenly halted he drew
nearer.

He had his pistols, and a trifle the advan-
tage in the ground. As he then felt he
would not have gone far out in his way to
avoid a dozen outlaws provided he could
start fair with them.

Yet, he halted at Miriam's side, for just
then he heard from Slyme’s lips the exclama-
tion: .

“Great heavens, is it you, Lily? Can it
be possible you are still alive?"

Lill came forward a step or two until she
could place a hand on the captain‘s shoul-
der. It was certainl flesh and blood she
touched, and she stare more confidently into
the eyes she could so well remember.

The tableau interested Short Card Charlie,
though he took time to glance aside at a
form which stole along at a little distance.
It was the crouching figure of Crazy Coon,
and he was going in the direction of the
cabin.

“And they told me you were dead and
buried,” she said, softly.

“ Surely, they did not lie to me on pur-
pose. Dave would not have done that. It
was he who nursed me back to life, kind asa
woman, and there were tears in his eyes as
he said it. And he burdened himself with
with little, worthless me, and turned back
from what he hoped would be a fortune be-
cause he couldn’t leave me in the poor family
which was the only place he could find for
tie. Dave Brady never knew, I am sure of
t at.”

The arms of the outlaw went around the
one thing he had ever cared for much in this
world.

“ It was no lie he told you, for there were
many who made the same mistake.
friends carried me away to bury me, and
when they found I was living they took me
further to the hills. And when I came to
enough to tell them of the little girl I had
left out in the cabin under the pines, who I
thought would die without my care, they
went there, and came back empty-handed,
They were sure she had died, for there was
little chance of the lonely spot having visitors,
or of your having had strength to find help.
And Dave Brady saved your life?" ‘

“He did indeed, just when I was starv-
ing. I’m not sure whether I wasn’t partly
dead, already. You and he are friends,
now, ain’t you ‘2"

"YES, by heavens. we are frlends! I.

have bargained with a woman to bring her
face to face with him, and that bargain I’ll
keep. for the man who saved my little girl
can’t have a bad streak in him; but I’ll round
up on the cursed doctor. He is at the bot
tom of the trouble.
back again I can forgive even Short Card
Charlie, and the whole gang of your friends
can go home rejoicing."

“Give me your hand on that. dad!” ex-
claimed the girl, partly drawing herself from

, his arms; an be grasped her offered palm
with a hearty clasp.’

Then she broke away from him altogether,
and ran to the brink.

“ Hello, down there, you Kid!
believe in me?”

“ Ef it’s Leetle Mischi’f that’s talkin’ I
should say you war a girl ter tie to,” came
back the prompt answer. Dave was once
more quiet, and he had been listening for
sounds from above, and wondering why' the
attack had been so long delayed.

" Then let your old bones rest easy, and
tell the good news to Dave, if he can bear it.
I‘ve got this thing all fixed up straight as a

Her lassi- '

A few ,

 

Now that I’ve got you ,

'Do your

 

‘ string. This is my old dad up here, and I

want him to see what he can do for my new
one.”

“ Are that gospel?” queried the Kid, who
felt relieved, and never was astounded by any-
thing.

“ Gospel according to Saint Lill, and she
never lies.”

” Then hustle down hyer soon ez you kin
fur he needs yer awful bad.”

“ Hands off everybody, boysi” exclaimed
Slymc, turning to his men.

“ Your coin will come in all the same, but
just now I’m going to oto see what Icau do
for the man who save my little girl's life.
If she had stayed down there—great heavens!
I would have murdered her myself.”

He shouted down a word or two confirma-
tory, and then, without waiting for further
parley with the Kid, he took Lill‘s hand in
his, and moved away. He was bent on reach-
ing the bottom of the canyon, but not along
the route by which Lill had come. He shud-
dered when he thought of that.

Miriam had kept in the background; but
she was not far distant, and when Slymc
started off with the avowed determination of
seeking Dave Brady, she followed; and
Charlie Turner went with her. Not a word
had passed between the two, and the woman
appeared oblivious of the presence of her
companion; but from time to time the sport
eyed her curiously, and once or twice was
about to speak. Her newly~found strength
did not desert her, but had it done so she
had help all the time at her elbow, ready to
offer itself as soon as needed.

Half an hour was lost making the journey.
Then Captain Slyme and his daughter were
at the side of Dave Brady; the Kid from
Kirby was standing nigh, a smile on his
face but his hands near his revolvers, while,
in the background, and a little apart from
each other, were Miriam, and the Sport
from Denver.

Dave was better again, and he understood
What the outlaw captain was saying, yet his
eyes rovcd beyond and rested for a moment,
not on Miriam, but on Short Card Charlie.

He gave a start, his eyes dilated, his lips
moved, as he beckoned:

“Can the dead be alive? You—you are
Charlie Parkhurst! Great heavens, pardl”

“ That’s what they name it, old man,”
said the Sport from Denver, coming for-
ward.

“ Don’t get weak on the strength of it,
for I’m the pure flesh and blood. Ah!”

He grasped the hand of the man known as
Dave Brady, but he looked back over his
shoulder in time to see Miriam faint and fall;
and Willi a bound was by her to raise her up.

“Who in heavens is she?” asked Slyme.

. who seemed for the first time to be aware of

her presence.

“I’ve been suspecting for the last hour or
so,” exclaimed the Sport from Denver, “she
was my sister—and now I’m pretty sure of
it, though small blame to us both if we
didn’t recognize each other sooner. I ran
away from home when I was a kid, and we
haven’t seen each other since.” .

“ And she was my wife though the world
knew nothing of the secret marriage. I left
her to come West and make a fortune,”
groancd Dave.

“ I knew nothing of her brother, and when
I came across him under an assumed name I
cared for him for himself alone. Yet, she
believed I killed him! She wrote me that he
had been murdered by a man with whom he
had been working, and asked me to hunt the
wretch out for justice, threatening in case I
refused she would one day do the work her—
self, and never recognize me afterward.
After that, how could I bear to face her
without the impossible proofs of my inno-
cence. Had she met me a week ago she
would have slain me.”

“Never that, Hugh; never that. But
when you failed to defend yourself, how
could be blamed for doubting?”

A thin voice piped the words, and Miriam,
wresting herself from her brother’s arms,
dragged herself slowly to the side of the
wounded, and perhaps dying man.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE HOME RUN.
AFTER that Dave Brady—or. rather, Hugh
Cathcart, since under his true name he was
henceforth to be known—did not die.

 

There was something to be pardoned on
both sides, between husband and wife, but
they got bravely over that. Tender nursing
by a handsome woman can do a great deal
witha sick man, and for some days it was
uncertain whether Hugh Cathcart was to
live or die. .

It happened, too, they were left a good
deal to their own devices. Lill, strange as
it might seem, was not too much horrified
over the evident outlawry of her father to
take great delight in the reunion, while he
was taking a strange comfort in her society,
though all the time an idea was working n
his brain. Miriam had taken occasion to ex-
plain to him that she was more than able to
keep her promises to him, and vowed that
she would.

He had looked for Doctor Andrews, under
the hope that he might be forced to use
some of his undeniable skill for the benefit
of the wounded man; but the doctor was
dead with a. knife wound in his heart.

The Sport from Denver was the only one
who suspected that the doctor was the man
who had slain the father of Crazy Coon, and
that the lunatic had taken his vengeance
when he found him. Afterward, that was
found to be the case, but by that time it
made no racket, and Hugh Cathcart pro-
vided for him, as he said he would, out of
the Copper Bottom Mine.

“Et’s all fu’st class, no doubt,” thought
the Kid from Derby, watching husband and
wife growing more and more together.

“Ef I war them I’d do jest so, but I
reckon Dave are outen danger, an’ ct are
time some ’un looked arter ther mine. Sence
Slyme hev give us ther cabin, an’ left us
purty lunch ter our own selves he don’t
seem sich a bad feller, but blamed of I like
this picnicking with a road-agent, of he be
Little Mischief’s dad. Et‘s time I war work-
in' in to‘rads Boot Jack. Fu’st thing yer
know Johnny Scams ’ll be jumpin’ ther
Copper Bottom on his own account.”

Having once got the idea into his head
the Kid proceeded to announce hls inten-
tions, and, somewhat to his surprise, Slyme
offered no objections, while he seemed
rather glad to have the Sport from Denver
depart.

“For the sake of Lill, and the man who
saved her life, I’m overlooking the fact that I
once had a rustle with Short Card Charlie,
but I’m just human enough not to have al-
together forgotten it. For fear we might
start fresh and fare worse I would just as
soon he was at a distance. You understand,
I am trusting both of you with my life; but
then, I know you are white from the ground
111)."

“Perhaps ther trust ain’t all on one side,",
was the answer of the Kid.

“Ef we tried ter work roots on you I’m
afeared ycr nat’ral love an‘ ai’feckshun
wouldn’t be ernough tcr save my pard an’
his wife.

“ But, ye’r' right ’bout one thing. We’re
both white, an‘ you kin slccp easy.”

The next morning they started.

They got to the Copper Bottom all right,
and found the mine unjumpcd, and Johnny
Seams still on guard, but he had not been
altogether without his alarms.

“A lot ov tough citizens came out from
Boot Jack,” he explained, “an’ made as
though they war goin’ tcr jump ther lay-out
whcihcr er not, but Vance Ullman he came
out, too, an’ brung his double-barrel shot
gun along, an’ swore he’d salivate ther fu’st
man ez broke ther peace, and that settled
them. Doc warn‘t thar to egg them on, an’
they jest naturally wilted.”

After that, things had been moving along
all right, and the Kid, after explaining that
his pard had been sick, but would be alon
in a few days, paid up a week’s wages, an
went off to town, the Sport from Denver go- ‘
ing along. King wanted to see Vance Ull-
maéi; and the saloon-keeper was not hard to
flu .

“ Dog-gone ye!” exclaimed the Kid, as he
l’i‘eld out his hand to the proprietor of the

1 er.

gI bin a-wonderin’ why you war sorter
chippin’ in on our side ov ther pile, an' now.
sence Charlie hez bin givin’ me a wrinkle, I
know. You’r’ Hart Thorne. Ett’s jest
amazin’ thet me mother’s eldest didn’t know
yer sooner. but so it war.”

“Oh, it’s nothing surprising,” answered,

\

 

32

Kirk King, the Man'from Kirby.

 

the other, cordially.
changed my name, painted my hair and
talked like another man. Dave never came
into the Tiger, and when you didn’t recog-
nize me at first sight it wasn’t likely you’d
think of it later on. For old times‘ sake I
gave you as fair a shake as you deserved,
and if you don’t believe I love you both as

well as ever, bring Dave along and you’llsoon ‘

see.”

“Dave hez bin onder ther weather, but
I’ll fetch him to yer in a few days, fine oz a
fiddle. He’s jest bin j’ined by his wife,
\which war ther likely lookin’ female ez war
lately at the Lion, axin’ ’round fur Hugh
Cathcart. Lucky she didn't know ther
name er used ter kerry, fur she thought
Hart home war ther man. an’ jest then she
wardown on him like a thousand ov brick,
thou h that‘s all straight now."

“ ucky she didn’t find me, sure enough.
You didn’t see any thing of Dec Andrews,
did you? He’s jumped the burg and left a
lot of anxious mourners wondering where
he has gone to.”

“ Guess he heard a sheriff was comin’,”
was the careless answer.

“ I’ll tell you later on ef' I git ary news.”

So, in course of time Miriam got back to
the Lion, and Dave Brady came with her.
It was understood he was the man she
had been seeking as Hugh Cathcart, but
not much was said about that, and one name
in Boot Jack was as good as another.

They remained lon enough to arrange the
affairs of the Copper
East. Miriam had a fortune, now, in her
own right, and wanted a husband back
where it was. to look after her and it.

Temporarily, Lill disappeared; and about
the same time Captain Slyme—or Grant
Thorne—was heard of no longer on the
trails. Whether the love for his recovered
daughter would work true repentance and a

change of heart was a question Lill’s other =

dad was slow about answering, hilt he was
willing for the sake of the girl whom he had
reall learned to love almost like his own
chil , that the trial should be made.

With his half of the money promised by
Miriam they slipped off to the States, and as
Little Mischief was looking fairly radiant
when she next met Hugh Cathcart and wife,
the experiment was probably that far suc-
cessful.

The Copper Bottom went into the hands
of a company, and Kirk King went with it
as manager, and half-owner.

Short Card Charlie, the Sport from Denver,
was included in the bequest which had en-
riched his sister, and gave up the profession
which for some years he had been following
with varied success. As he gambles in
stocks now, perhaps he has not changed so
much in principle, but the life he leads is
certainly less dangerous than that of the older
time.

Manuel recovered, Tomasso got well,
Vance Ullman continued to run the Tiger,
and the rest of the characters either died or
continued to live, and that brings the reader
fairly to,

THE END.

NEXT DIME LIBRARY, NUMBER 829.

A New York Dunk Mystery!

In which the master~hand story~teller, Harold

Payne, brings out a remarkable expose of the
Crowless Craft of Bur-ling Slip 1

A mystery that all the skill of the noted Trun
Burn, the CENTRAL OFFICE SPECIAL fails to solve
until the

Frisco Sharper-9s Cool Hand!

helps to match and master the Rookery Crooks—a
very dangerous and daring coterie of rogues who are
even yet the terror of the water-front and the police-
man's dread.

It 8 a stay of mar-kl Don‘t fail to secure it! ‘

“I shaved my face, I

ottom, and then went .

Beadle’s Dime library.

BUFFALO BILL NOVELS.
By Colonel Prentiss Ingraham.

. 812 Buffalo Bill’s Death-Knell.
794 Buffalo Bill’s Winning Hand.
‘ 787 Buffalo Bill‘s Dead Shot.
781 Bufi‘alo Bill‘s Brand.
777 Buffalo Bill‘s Spy Shadower.
769 Buffalo Bill's Sweepstake.
i :65 Edgar  1‘Illllozen: or, Silk Ribbon Sam.
461 a o i s ascot.
‘ 757 Buffalo Bill’s Double.
750 Buffalo Bill's Big Four.
743 Buffalo Bill’s Flush Hand.
739 Buffalo Bill’s Blind: or. The Masked Driver.
735 Buffalo Bill and His Merry Men.
721 gugalo gills gegglas; or;i Silk Lasso Sam.
,7... u ao i’s 0y uar.
l 722 Buffalo Bill on the War- nth.
i 716 Buffalo Bill’s Scout She owers.
' 710 Buffalo Bill Baffled; or. The DeserterDesperado.
i 697 Buffalo Bill‘s Buckskin Brotherhood.
i 691 Huffalo Bill‘s Blind Trail; or, Mustang Madge.
i 667 Buffalo Bill’s Swoop;nr, The King of the Mines.
I 649 Buffalo Bill’s Chief of Cowboys; or. Buck Taylor
644 Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza; or. S: ver Circle Knights.
‘ 362 Buffalo Bill‘s Gri ; or. Oath Bound to Custer.
329 Buffalo Bill’s Pie ge: or. The League of Three.
, 189 Wild Bill‘s Gold Trail; 01-, The Desperate Dozen.
' 175 Wild Bill‘s Trump Card: or, The Indian Heiress.
168 Wild Bill, the Pistol Dead Shot.

By Buffalo Bill.

I 807 Wild Bill. the Wild West Duelist.‘
i 800 Wild Bill. the Dead-Center Shot.
I 639 Buffalo Bill’s Gold King.
599 The Dead Shot Nine; or, My Pards of the Plains.
', 414 Red Renard. the Indian Detective.
5 401 One-Armed Pard; or, Borderland Retribution.
897 The Wizard Brothers: or. White Beaver's Trail.
2 394 White Beaver. the Exile of the Platte.
| 319 Wild Bill. the Whirlwind of the West.
304 Texas Jack, the Prairie Rattler.
. 243 The Pilgrim Sharp: or. The Soldier’s Sweetheart.
8‘3 Gold Bullet Sport: or, Kni hts of the Overland.
52 Death-Trailer, the Chief o Scouts.

i
! By Leon Lewis, Ned Buntllne, etc.

778 Buffalo Bill‘s Ban; or. Cody to the Rescue.

682 Buffalo Bill's Secret Service Trail.

629 Buffalo Bill’s Darin Role; or. Daredeath Dick.

517 Buffalo Bill‘s First rail; or. The Express Rider.
1 158 Buffalo Bill, Chief of Scouts. ‘

117 Buflalo Bill 5 Strange Pard; or, Dashing Dandy.

92 But!an Bill, the Buckskin King.

. BY \VILLIAM R. EYSTER-

i 783 The King-Pin Tramp.
i 767 The Sport of Silver Bend.
718 Uncle Bedrock’s Big Bounce.
707 The Rival Rovers.
68? Double Cinch Dan, the Sport With a Charm.
677 Mr. Jackson. the Gent from Jaybird.
659 Gilt»Edge Johnny: or, Roldan and His Rovers.
650 Lucky Lester’s one Hand.
. 634 Old Handcart‘s Big Dump.
v 622 The All Around S orts.
603 Desort Alf, the an With the Cougar.
590 Gentle Jack, the High Roller from Humbug.
578 Seven Shot Steve. the Sport with a. Smile.
568 The Dude Detective.
558 Hurrah Harry. the High Horse from Halcyon.
549 Belsnazzar Brick, the Bailiff of Blue Blazes.
5‘33 Oregon. the Sport Witha Scar.
525 Fresh Frank. the Derringer Daisy.
503 The Dude from Denver.
478 Pinnacle Pete; or. The Fool from Way Back.
459 Major Sunshine, the Man of Three Lives.
429 Hair Trigger Tom of Red Bend.
402 Snapshot Sam; or. Tile Angels’ Flat Racket.
396 The Piper Detective; or, The Gilt Edge Gang.
375 Royal George, the Three in One.
356 Thr >e Handsome Sports; or, The Combination.
344 Double Shot Dave of the Left Hand.
333 Derringer Dick. the Man with the Drop.
300 A Sport in Spectacles; or, Bad Time at Bunco.
268 Magic Mike ‘lie Man of Frills.
i 229 Captain Cursleeve; or. The Little Sport.
‘ 214 The Two Cool Sports; or, Gertie of the Gulch.
l 192 Tile Lightning S iort.
l 182 Hands Up; or, T e Knights of the Canyon.
1 160 Soft Hand, Sharp: or. The Man with the. Sand.
i 145 Pistol Pards; or, The Silent Sport from Cinnabar

} BY HAROLD PAYNE.

l

. 806 The Grand Street Gold-Dust Sharpers.
798 Detective Burr’s Luna ic Witness; or, The River-
‘ side Drive Death-Mystery.
‘ 792 The Wall Street Sharoer’s Snap.
784 Thad Burr’s Death Drop.
742 Detective Burr Among the New York Thugs.
734 Detective Burr’s Foil; or, A Woman’s Strategy.
728 Detective Burr. the Headquarters Special.
713 Detective Burr’s Spirit Chase.
1 706 Detective Burr‘s Seven Clues.
698 Thad Burr, the Invincible; or, The “L " Clue.
i 690 The Matchless Detective.
; 680 XX, the Fatal Clew: or, Burr‘s Master Case.

I
I BY LIEUT. A. K. smrs.
i

i 804 The King Pin of the Leadville Lions.
l 786 Chicago Charlie’s Diamond Haul.
! 376 Chica 0 Charlie. the Columbian Detective.

58 The izarl King Detective.
723 Teamster Tom, the Boomer Detective.

709 Lodestone Lem, the Champion of Chestnut Burr.
695 Singer Sam, the Pilgrim Detective.

688 River Rustlers; or. the Detective from ’Way Back
673 Stuttering Sam the Whitest Sport of Santa Fe.
660 Old Adamant, the Man of Rock.

618 Kansas Karl, the Detective King.

5'52 Prince Primrose. the Flower of the Flock.
528 Huckleberry, the Foot-Hills Detective.

l

 

ALBERT W. AIKEN‘S NOVELS.

Dick Talbot Series.

7:11 Dick Talbot's Close Call.

7337 Dick Talbot in A iache Land.

7‘2 Dick Talbot. the anch King.

729 Dick Talbot‘s Clean-Out.

'7 Dick Talbot in No Man‘s Camp.
 Dick Talbot in the Rockies: or. Injun Dick.
354 Dick Talbot: 01, The Brand of Crimson Cross.
319 Dick. the Gentleman Road-Agent.

107 Dick Talbot. of Cinnabar.

93 Dick Talbot. King of the Road.

41 Dick Talbot in Utah: or, Gold Dan.

38 Dick Talbot’s-lrou Grip; or. The Velvet Hand.
36 Dick Talbot: or. The Death-Shot of Shasta.

35 Dick Talbot at the Mines: or, Kentuck. the Sport.
34 Dick Talbot’s Foe; or, Rocky Mountain Rob.
 Dick Talbot at White Pine; or. Overland Kit.

Aiken’s Fresh of Frisco Series.

660 The Fresh in Montana; or, Blake's Full Hand.
652 Tne Fresh‘s Rustic at Painted City.
647 The Fresh at Santa Fe; or, The Strange" Sharp.
556 Fresh. the Sport: or. The Big Racket at Slide Out-
537 Fresh A ninst the Field: or. Blake. the Lion.
529 The Fres of Frisco in New York.
497 The Fresh in Texas; or. The Escobedo Millions.
461 The Fresh of Frisco on the Rio Grande.
173 The Fresh in Arizona; or, California John.
130 The Fresh in Mexico- or. Captain Volcano.
97 The Fresh in Big Walnut Camp; or. Bronze Jack
77 The Fresh of Frisco.

Aiken’l Joe Phonix Series.

799 Joe Phenix’s Great Blue Diamond Case; or, The
New York Sport at Long Branch.

793 Joe Phenix’s Decoy: or, The Man of Three.

760 Joe Phenix’s Lone Hand. '

749 Joe Phenix‘s Big Bulge.

745 Joe Phenix's Mad Case.

708 Joe Phenix's Siren; or, The Woman Hewkshaw.

700 Joe Phenix’s Unknown; or. Crushing the Crooks

681 Joe Phenix‘s S cials‘ or. The Actress Detective

637 Joe Phenix in razy amp.

632 Joe Phenix‘s Master Search.

628 Joe Phenix‘s Combinl- ;or,the Dandy Conspirator

620 Joe Phenix‘s Silent Six.

601 Joe Phenix’s Shadow ; or.the Detective’s Monitor

419 Joe Phenix., the King of Detectives.

391 Joe Phenix's Still Hunt.

161 Joe Phenix’s Great Man Hunt.

112 Joe Phenix, Private Detective; or, The League.
79 Joe Phenix. the Police Spy.

Alken’l Misc ellnneons Novels.

775 King Dandy. the Silver Sport.
758 Gideon’s Gflgiat Babylon Bar.
717 Captain Pat cGowen, the Greencoat Detective.
674 Uncle Sun Up. the Born Detective.
670 The Li htweight Detective.
665 The F sco Detective; or, The Golden Gate Find.
613 Keen Billy, the Sport.
607 Old Benzine the “ Hard Case " Detective.
594 Fire Face, t e Silver King’s Foe.
596 The Silver Sharp Detective.
577 Tom, of Calif (mm; or, Detective’s Shadow Act.
570 The Actress Detective; or, The Invisible Hand.
562 Lone Hand. the Shadow.
520 The. Lone Hand on the Caddo.
490 The Lone Hand in Texas.
475 Chin Chin, the Chinese Detective.
465 The Actor Detective.
440 The High Hor e of the Pacific.
421 The Lone Hand; or. The Red River Recreants.
408 Doc Grip, the Vendetta of Death.
381 The GyBsy Gen tleman: ( r. Kick Fox. Detective
376 Black cards: 01. The Rio Grande High Horse-
370 The Dusky Dete ctive: or. Pursued to the End.
363 Crowningshield, the Detective
320 The Genteel Spo tter: or The N. Y. Night Hawk.
252 The Wall Street 1 lood: or. The Telegrar h Girl.
20‘! The Double Detective: t r.’ihe Midnight Mystery.
196 La Marmoset. the Le trclive Queen.
101 The Man from New York.
91 The Winning Oar: or. The Innkeener's Daughter.
84 Hunted Down: or. The League of Three.
81 The Human Tiger: or. A Heart of Fire.
75 Gentleman George: or. Parlor. Prison and Street.
7'3 The Phantom Hand : or. The 5th Avenue Heiress.
63 The Winged Whale: or. The Red Rupert of Gulf.
59 The Man from Texas; or, The Arkansas Outlaw.
56 The Indian Mazeppa: or, Madman ol' the Plains.
49 The Wolf Demon; or. The Kanawha Queen.
42 The California Detective: or, The Wiiches of MY.
31 The New York Sharp: or. The Flash of Lightning.
27 The Spotter Detective: or. Girls of New ork.

BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID.

$7 The White Squaw.

234 The Hunter‘s Feast.

2% The Maroon. A Tale of Voodoo and Obeah.

21% The Wild HuntreSS' or. The Squatter.

213 The War Trail: or. The Hunt of the Wild Horse.

208 The White Chief. A Romance of Mexico.

200 The Rifle Ran ers; or. Adventures in Mexico.
74 The Captain 0 the Rifles; or, The Lake'Queen.
66 The Specter Barque. A Tale of the Pacrflc:

55 The Scalp Hunters. A Romance of the Plains.
12 The Death-Shot: or. Tracked to Death.
8 The Headless Horseman.

LATEST AND NEW ISSUES.

82? Detective Walden‘s Web; or Max Marling. Head.
Center of the Silver Gang. By Jackson Knox.

828 Kirk King. the Man from Kirby; or. Short Card
Charley at Boot Jack. By Wm. R. Eyster.

829 The Frisco Sharper‘s Cool Hand: or. Routing
the Rookery Crooks. By Harold Payne._

830 Buffalo Bill‘s Boys in Blue; or. The Brimstone»
Band‘s Blot-out. By Col. P. Ingraham.

831 Shadowing the London Detective: or. Harvey
Hawks‘ Short-Stop. By Capt. Howard Holmes.

A new issue every Wednesday.
Beadle’s Dime Library is for sale ly a!
Newsdealers, ten cents per copy, or sent by mail on
receipt of twelve Cents each. BEADLE & ADAMS,
Publishers, 98 William street, New York.