Copyrighted.1888, by BnDLI AND Ammo. Enwred at the Pan Dulce it New York. N. Y., as Second Class Mail Mutter. April is, IHBS.

 

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V01.  58%6513'. u 15 1:“ ggevgu‘ElAMySqung: Yugzi.Adams’ leargzefihl. N 0| 3.

 

 

FOETUNATELY TEE HANDW'RITING WAS LARGE AND PLAIN, AND CONRAD MASTERED IT AS IT
SEEMED WITH A SINGLE GLANCE.

 

 

2 Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

  

 

Hold Conrad’s Witch-Dogs;

The Two Pards of Vulture Bar.

BY '1‘. c. HARBAUGH,

AUTHOR or “ NICK-0'-THE-NXGET,” “ DANDY
JACK,” “Krr HAREFOOT," “MIDNIGHT
JACK,” “OLD FROSTY," 1cm, arc.

CHAPTER I.
A DELICATE ROSEBUD.

“ WHICH horse shall I take?” .

“The fastest of course. You must start in
five minutes. ’11 have the message ready.”

The oung Indian boy to whom these orders
were dressed sprung from the speaker’s pres.
ence and ran toward the stables no far away.

“ Horseflesh must warn the men at the Bar,”
said the man, nervously, as he watched the boy
dispatched to the stables. “ He didn’t come to
this country for any good. The eyes that blazed
in his head I have seen before but where?
When he told me that he was on his way to La
Tinaja, his own 6 es called him a liar. The
boys must watch im: they must kill him I”
and the dark eyes of the handsome man flashed
madly. - .

Conrad Gordon was this person's name. He
was known as the richest man in the San Juan
mining country, and was called “ Gold Conrad”
by many. His house was the finest in Lodeton.

He lived alone, wireless and childless. Hand.
some, cold and determined. he moved through
the silver world, 5 king to few and keeping
his own secrets. ive years’ sojourn in the
country where he had built his home had en-
riched him. His past life none knew; but a few
words which he had dropped when well-wined
caused a few to believe that his had been a wild
career, checkered like a playing-board, it not
tinctured with crime.

It was pretty well known, however, that he
could speak the Apache dialect, and then, his
bed servant, hostler and secretary, was a youth
of t at nation. _

When he had dispatched the ho to the sta»
bles, Gold Conrad did not turn eyes from
the structure until his Indian reappeared, lead-
ing a horse. Then Conrad entered the house
and picked up a message which lay on a writ-
in table.

' arrying it out. he went to the edge of the
porch and awaited the boy who was coming up,
wellvmounted.

“ You made good time," Conrad said. “Are
you ready to go?”

“ I am ready."

“ This message you will deliver to Colonel
Thunder, and in private. He will know how to
act; Should there be a seventh man at the
Bar when you arrive (but that will not be, I
think, unless people can fly you will not show
yourself to kink-the sevent man, I mean. Did
you see an body here this morning?"

“ I saw he man that called.”
“ Well, he is the man who must not see you at

 

 

Vulture Bar; above all things he must not know
that you brought a message from me to Colonel
Thunder.”

The Indian youth had taken the
concealed it beneath his ornament
jacket.

“Now, remember—my future and ’your life
‘depend on the delivery of that letter, Gordon
went on. “That wil -lookin man whose face
was covered with the yellow irt of the Arma-
rilla country is more than he pretends to be.
You saw him pin that woodpecker to the gate-
post with his knife?”

“I did.” .

“That very act betrayed him, for there is
but one man living who can do that at sixty
feet. I cannot be mistaken; therefore, my
message mnstreachColonel Thunder. If thflt
knife-thrower isn’t stoxped now, he’ll be unt~
ing for bi ger game. nd if he ever does hat,
you and . Catana, must arm ourselves. Now
go, and may success attend you} Take the .
blgtcl’r, Canyon road. It is the shortest and the

“ To-morrow Colonel Thunder shall read your
lletter,” said the Apache, as he leaped upon the

orse.

“ One moment. If you should, by any “0*
dent lose my letter—”

“ Has Catana ever lost one?" interruplied the
boy a flash of insulted dignity in his eyes.

I O_n

“ This one will not be lost 1”

“Good! You're worth your weight in gold,
Catana,” and Gordon had time to pat the m'es-
senger’s leg before he spoke to the home whlch
bounded away. ‘

A warm daiowas drawing to a close while the

per and
buckskin

conversation ust recorded was taking place be- '
fore Gold nrad’s house. The road .that

stretched from the porch seemed to lose itself

among the mountains of the San Juan range

that lifted their heads Skyward not very far

away.

It was narrow like all mountain roads, and a
cloud of yellowish dust soon enveloped the horse
and his rider. . _

Conrad Gordon watched it until' it disappea rv ~41
and showed him the road again, but with ro
traveler thereon. . .- .

Catana had passed out of sight.

"‘ I can trust Thunder. By George! I am
afraid to trust any one else in these parts. I
never thought that a woodpecker would make
me so uneasy. If it wasn’t so dark I’d go down
and see where be pinned it to the post. .expect
Cataua opened his 6 as at the feat; but If he is
the man think he , then I’ve seen him transfix
bi r game than Woodpeckers.”

ld Conrad communed thus to himself in an
audible tone before he retired to the house. The
sun had sunk behind the sage bushes of Indian
Knob, and the cool breeze, refreshing and
pleasant was stirring his locks, quite thickly
sprinkled with gray.

He turned abruptl and passed into the room
from which he had the message for Colo-
nel Thunder. He not on! closed the heavy
door behind him, but look it as it shut and

lowered the window, which had been up at his
writing-table. .

  

 

 

.,.- .v...

'I

Gold Conrad’s

a..." ...w.-, - .«a.~.—...-. m.

  

Watch-Dogs. 3

 

The room looked like an arsenal. In each
corner were several repeating-rifles and straight,
heavy swords, to handle which a, wrist of iron
was needed. A low bed on one side of the
apartment told that somebody slept in this well-

rotected room, and over the pillow hun a
eather holster, from which the silver butt 0 a.
“ Navy” protruded.

There was a restless, uneasy look in Gold Con-
rad’s eyes as he threw himself into a chair that
stood at the writing-table. Somethin perplexed
him :' he looked like a man, who in t e midst of
fancied security and prosperity sees the avenger
of some crime a 1' before him.

“ If Colonel under should fail mo— haw!
I’m starting at impmsibilities!" and ordon
lau bed. ‘ What! he fail me? When he does,
In ian Knob will go to the coast."

The next moment alight tap on the window
on the other side of the table made him start.
and as he leaned forward he caught up and
cooked one of the revolvers that lay on it.

“ Who are you?" he demanded st‘ernly. “I
see you! Tell who you are, or I’ll give you a
pass to the limbo of fools!”

The light of the 121mg threw a mellow glow on
the ground, and objec a few feet from the out-
side sill, and Conrad Gordon uttered a truth
when he declared that he saw the person who
had tapped on the pane.

“Out with it! Ha! you see I have you now!
Run if you dare! Draw and die!” '

By a quick movement Gold Conrad had thrown
up the lower sash and his revolver was covering
the head of the man in the light.

“ 0v course you’ve got the Rosebud of the
Pink Forks,” came in a rough voice, which was
fnllowed by the fearless laugh of the genuine
desperado. “ Yer pistol her. a familiar look that
makes me glad that I’ve come hyar. I say,
cap’u, jes’ hold it a leetle to the left so I kin in-
spect its caliber.’l

Gordon looked at the man amazed.

He was a perfect giant. Above the dark
heard that covered two-thirds of his face, a pair
of coal-black eyes glittered like carbuncles. He
was clad in a dusty suit of mining clothes, and
his antaloons hid their ragged ends in a pair
of irty boots. Arms, he appeared to have
none. rdon could see the belt that Went
round his waist, but it seemed to carry no wea-

pons.

The keen eyes of the mining king took in his
visitor physically in a minute.

“ I never saw him before," said Gold Conrad
to himself. “ I wonder whatbrought him here?
Maybe I can use him.”

Then he said to the man:

“ The Rosebud of the Pink Forks, eh? .Well
my good fellow, wont you come in? You want
to see me?”

, “ I would like to shed a little ov my perfume
"5‘ M house, that’s sartain,” responded the
in“). 'as Conrad lowered his weapon and
straightened ,u . “ Oh, don’t open the door.

. I’ve been a mu or flower More," and the next

moment the stranger had thrown himself into
the mom through the window, and towered be—«
fore Gold Conrad bigger and moreuncouth than
ever. -

' “Now I’m at your service,"  said, re

I

 

covering from his astonishment at the man’s
boldness.

“No, I’m at yours. You want jes' such a
flower ez the Rosebud ov the Pink Forks, an’
youlvziant ’im bad, tool”

“Yes, you, cap‘n. Thar war a man hyar to-
day—a man what pinneda Woodpecker to yer
gate-post with his knife.”

Gold Conrad started in s ite of himself.

“ I’m no fool,” laughed t e Rosebud. “I’m a
flower that blooms hyar to—day an' that to-
morrer. I’m at yer service. Shell I go an’
check thet man’s baggage through? Say the
word, cap'n.” ,

Gordon looked astounded.

" I don’t know you,” he said. “ To the best of
my recollection we never met before. Who said
that I want.that man with the knife?”

“ Yer eyes say so, cap’n. Mebbe I have never
seen you afore to-mght; but I’m yer man. Jes’
send me arter him once: yes, ,jes’ say ‘Gol’ to
the Rosebud ov the Pink Forks.’ ,

“ But what if I should refuse to send you?”
ventured Gordon.

“ You won‘t. You don’t pick up such rare
rosebuds in ever garden. I’m a hotbed flower
from Pink For s. but I’m a reg’lar crusher.
W hich shell it be—you er the man what killed
the woodpeckerf” .

From somewhere about his person, and in the
twinkling of an eye, the Rosebud had produced
a revolver, into whose barrel Gold Conrad could
look without difficulty, for it was on a level with
his eyes.

Gordon involuntarily shrunk from the wea-
pon, but a moment later he had recovered his
courage.

“ The man with the knife, of course,” he cried.
“ I would he a fool if I did not make this choice.
Go on your errand, and then keep on to the
coast."

“I didn’t agree to do that, cap’n,” returned
the bud, showin his discolored teeth by a
grin. “I'll come bac an’ tell you.”

The giant seemed to take great pleasure in
speaking the last half of the sentence, and the
rou h sarcasm in which it was clothed still
gra d on Gordon’s senses when the fellow leaped
through the window and was gone. v

For a moment Gold Conrad stood bewildered
and mute in his strong room.

“ No use to follow him,” he suddenly cried.
“ The devil sent him here, for I will swear that
I never saw him before, yet he knew why I sent
Catana. to Vulture Bar. B George! I’ll start
another measage to Colone Thunder yet this
night ” and hastil unlocking the door he was
gen flying down be dark streets of the mining

wn.

At the end of the narrow street he rapped on
the— door of a cabin. '

" Come in I" called out a rough voice.

Gordon pushed the door open.

A young man whose face wore an intelligent

look rose from a stool before a brush fire and

greeted him. '
“ Halleck,” said Gordon, “ I want you tostart
for Vulture Bar to—night.’
“ For you P" cried the young man. “ You said
yesterday that I was Catana’a brother, and his

 

4 . Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogn.

 

mother was a low Apache squan No! you in-
sult me by coming here. Get out of my cabin,
or by the gods! I’ll choke you, if you are as rich
as a diamond field.”

The young man’s eyes flashed madly as he
sprung forward, but Gordon suddenly retreated,
and saw the door of the cabin shut in his face.

CHAPTER II.
A NEW BOWIE A’l‘ VULTURE BAR.

Vumunn Baa was merely a small mining-
town situated on the westernmost rim of the sil-
ver district, and not far from the banks of the
Rio Dolores.

Not more than forty wooded houses, or shan-
ties, composed the place, and these were in-
habited r as rough-looking a. lot of men as was
ever seen yond the Missouri.

The town was built on a stretch of elevated
land which might have been thrown up by
seine ca rice of nature old ages ago; but above
it the 10 t peaks of the Sun J nan range rose
majesti ly, while on either side were dense
woods of sage bushes, and will canyons into
whose depths the sun seldom peeped.

The mountains around it were full of silver
deposits, and about one-half of Vulture Bar‘s
population seemed to take an absorbing interest
in such things. Mines were worked, and the
dark bowels of the hills echoed to the ringing
sound of the miner’s pick.

But there were six men at the bar who seemed
more like watch-dogs than anything else; they
inhabited a large on. in at the western limits of
the town. and their duty 8 peared to he to keep
an eye on the miners. heiieverarich vein
was struck one of these watch-dogs immediately
set out for Lodel'on, and Gold Conrad soon
knew its exact location, The six went every-
where; they penetrated the mountain mines,
watched every ounce of silver from the time
that it left the mines‘ until it reached Gordon’s
clutches, and “ ran the town.“

In short, Gold Conrad had struck it rich at
Vulture Bar: its tenants, desperate, dark-faced
fellows though they were, were his slaves. He
seemed to own the mountains; he paid the men

 

‘ ifor their labors: but the products of the secret

mines were his. Secret mines, we say, for no
one in Lodeton knew that on the borders-of the
Ute country this man was running one of the
richest silver mills on the globe. -

0n the afternoon of the day after the sending
of Catana from Lodeton to, the Bar with a mes-
sage for Colonel Thunder, six men might have
been seen seated on thrcedegged stools‘in front
of one of the cabins in the latter place.
They were the watch—dogs.
In t e entire lot there was not one prepossess—
ing face: all were dark, bearded and repulsive,
wolflsh in countenance, and bearish in strength.
They were dressed alike, in dark shirts and
coarse pantaloons, the ends of which were hid-
den in their boots.
. 0n the afternoon referred to four. out of the
six were whiling time away with a game of
whisky poker, and the greasy cards were col"
tinnally falling on the large flat stone which
served for a gambling table. .The other two
were looking quietly on. ' _

It was a scene not uncommon during the

 

 

warm days, for the gambling spot was well
shaded, and the watch—dogs were not needed in
the mines. ,

Presently the door of the cabin which was
partly closed was opened by a person on the
inside, and the game for a few moments had
another spectator. Senora] of the gamblers
looked u at the new witness, but soon returned
to the irty cards which fell faster and faster
onbthe “fortune stone,” as they had termed their

9.

The person in the doorway had a girlish con-
tour, although clad in male garments. The
eyes were a soft, beautiful blue, the cheeks ruddy
as, the color of a mountain rose, and the hair

was a rich auburn, full of natural waves, and

lovely. The hands and feet were petite and
girlish in every particular, and even a casual
spectator would at once declare that the person
belonged to the softer sex, des its the garb.

“ Esmcr didn’t sleep long, exclaimed one of
the two men, who had been watching the ame.
“ We've been sweai'in’ too much fur ’imi n‘t
you see, boys, how his eyes rebuke us?"

“ Rebuke. fiddlesticks!” was a. rough re-
sponse. “ Ef you don’t want the lamb to hear
us, colonel, why do you keep ’iin hyar?"

The man addressedas colonel darted a frown- 7

ing look at the speaker, and then stepped toward
the person in the door.

“ You didn’t sleep like a log, eh?" he‘ said, in-
tcrposing his body between the blue eyes and
the gamblers. “ Well, go inside. I want to
talk to you, anyhow.”

The young person did not reply, but obeyed,
and the two entered the cabin together. Un-
der a window was a, cot which the new charac—
ter had lately left, and the watch-dog pointed to
it as he closed the door.

“ Let’s sit down," he said. a v »

“No; I’ve been lying enough today,” was
the answer in a soft voice. “You will not care
if I stand l"

“Well, suit yersell’, Esmer. You don’t like
this life; you would rather live apart from Vul-
ture Bar? NOW, honest lnjun, wouldn’t you?”

,“ Where would I go if I had toleavethis
Elace? You know who I belong; but you

ave alwavs refused to tel me." ' '

Colonel Thunder smiled.

“ Of course I hev,” he answered. “ I hev
adopted you, an‘ you ar’ Colonel Thunder’s
child.“

“Not in reality?”

“ You ar’ ef I want it to be so. Jes’ stick to
me, and I’ll pull you through. Don‘t ax me to
give you woman’s clothes. I dasn’t do it. Es-
inci'; fur yer own good I don’t. ‘El’ I .did,
somebody Would hear store to—morrer night,
thet thar war a gal at the Bar, an’ then all my
hopes would be ruined. You make a stale-
lookin’ boy, an’ of. some tellers on the Bar. sus-
picion anything. they dasn’t come right out an’
say thet on ar’a gal; nor they dasn’t go an‘
tell him e ther!" ‘

“ Who do you mean by him?” asked Esmer.
“Why, the man what owns us, body an’
soul.” . _ f“ -v

“Gold Conrad?" r ,  .,

“Yes. You’re nothin' to him. 1119559; but
he mustn’t know-that a gal twins a moment ov

i

  

__~.

  

_ 125‘ b . accordl
.Itatement,forLa naja. Beforehe

. ._ W . _.—.. ..- ..

Gold Conrad’s Watch-bogs. . 5

 

l-is slzived time; he wants every second‘ 0v it,
the silver—eaterl Now, you understand. Will

- you stay where I am, er shall Colonel Thunder

turn you off?”

“i will stay!” cried the girl. “I wculd not

. know where to go if you should desert me.

One of these days I shall wear the garments
that belong to my sex; shall I not?”

“ 0v conrsel you’re not to remain a boy fur-
ever. Some day you’ll pick up a rich husband,

' an’ the cherub ov Vulture Bar will be the queen

ov some city."

The girl blushed, but her eyes sparkled.

“Yes, obey me an’ all will go well. Cross
me an‘ you maybe buried in the clothes you
wear. Thar! they’re callin’ me outside. Stay
hyar."

The face of the girl had grown pale at certain
words that Colonel Thunder had uttered, and
:he hardly knew that he had taken his depar-
ure.

W hen the acknowled ed leader of Gold Con—
rad’s watch—dogs reac ed the outside of the
cabin he found the game broken up. and the

layers were standing around an Indianfied
flicking boy who sat on a horse which had evi—
dently carried him a long distance.

“Catanal” murmured Colonel Thunder, re-
cognizing the boy at a glance.

‘ Something important’s in the wind, er the
cap’n wouldn’t send the dog that sleeps at his
bedroom door. ' , ,

Then a hasty stride took him to Catana’s side,
and the eyes of the pair met. Thunder’s had an
eager and anxious glitter, while the Indian
boy’s wore a look of disappointment.

‘ Go back to the game, boys,” commanded the
watch-dog captain to his men, as he laid his hand
on Catana’s bridle.

»“ The cap’u wants to draw on the bank, that’s
all. and the next moment he was leading the
horse toward the mountain.

He did not stop until he had putahill be-
tween him and the shantieg of Vulture Bar.

“ Now. what is it, boyl he asked, fixing his
eyes on Catana’s face.

“ I don’t know, exactly, sir, but here is what
my master says.” was the answer, and the

oung Apache drew forth the message which

nrad had the da before given him for the
man who now stood y him.

Colonel Thunder unfolded the paper as if such

messages were an every—dayroccurrence, and
Catrina watched him.
V For a moment his eyes betrayed no unusual
excitement; but all at once the flashed and
row flercer while he read on. atana might
ave scanned the message a thousand times
during the journey he had just made; but his
look told that the contents of the paper, were
entirely unknown to him.

It'rhe had looked Over Colonel Thunder’s
ibrowser hands he would have readthe follow-
ng: .

“To 001mm. W:.¥ .
“ This is to warn you that a certain man left my
house this momi gig to .his own
E

lube ginned a mountain woudpecker to; «319.909;
with'h knife from a distance-01 sixty feet! La
13111333 is not his destination. It in Vulture Bar! 1

ft the premi- \

 

am sure of it. and if he is not stopped at u/w. his
knifewili find bigger game. Ten years ago there
was but one living man who could handle a knife
that way. I say that In: has come to life, and that
he is now on his way to Vulture mgr Camg. He
is amned only vlth a knife, but In his ban 5 it is
worth ten revolvers. Meet him on his arrival, and
for Heaven’s sake get Ihebestof him! He has the
same i yes and the very same voice that the other
knife wizard had. This devil calls himself Arkan-
saw. He is your enemy, as he is mine. Spot him
before be fairly gets his bearings. Fail not, colonel!
“GORDON.”

When Thunder had read through he looked up.
“ Pia you pass the man mentioned in this let—
ter? -

“ No,” replied Catana.

“ Good! he is to come, then,” and as Colonel
Thunder thrust the letter beneath his jacket he
turned and walked rapidly toward the town.

_The Indian hoy wheeled his horse and followed

1m.

“ Hello! what’s up?” suddenly exclaimed
Thunder. “ The boys hev some attraction in
front ov the shanty.’

“ Caramba l he has come i” ejaculated Cabana.
“ I feared that the fresh hoof-prints in the Black
Canyon were his.”

“ l‘hen he was mounted?”

“ Not when he left Gold Conrad’s; butI found
a dead Ute on my way; he had a knife woundin
the back of his neck.”

“A knife wound, eh?” and he showed his
teeth as he glanced at the young Apache.

The Indian suddenly drew rein.

“ He must not see me here. The master said
so,” he said, looking at Thunder who was won-
dering at the halt. I

“ Then go back below the hill and wait for
me. When war you to return?"

“ He did not say.” .

“I’ll hev a message fer you afore mornin’—
one that’ll make Gold Conrad sleep peacefully
fur a hull week.” v

Catana turned and withdrew below the hill,
whose brow they had gained ‘ while Colonel ‘
Thunder proceeded on.

As he neared the group of men before the
watch-dogs’ but his gait became a leisure walk,
and, apparently calm, he approached the
crowd.

“ Ninety mile to La Tinaja, eh?” said a voice
in the center of the crowd. ' “Wal, I mess I’ll
browse around the Bar till mornin’. Jome up
to the big hotel to—night an’ see me play with
this toothpick," and be displayed to the e. es of
Gold Conrad’s minions a. knife whose hla e was
at least fourteen inches in length.

He balanced it on one of his bronued fingers
for a moment, and then whirling it suddenly in—
to the air he threw his body back and watched

t.
The bowie whirled over and Over as it ascend-
ed, and came down in a like manner. For a
moment it seamed that the point of the blade.
would penetrate the jugglers face. but all at
once his mouth opened and he caught the hill:
of the knife between his teeth and held it
firmly! , -

I A murmur of applause broke from the breath--
less spectators; but Colonel Thunder muttered
if curse that sounded like a growl of rage.

I

  

 

6 Gold Conrad's Watch-Dogs.

 

“Come down to the Howlin’ Wilderness to-
night an’ see Arkansaw," the new-comer went
on, as he sheathed the' formidable blade. “ l‘m
sto pin’ at thet earthly paradise fur the resent.
I k 11 throw this toothpick through an njun at
sixty feet. Hunt one up an’ hey ’im on deck to-
night. Now, don’t shake the show, boys. It
sha’n’t cost you a cent; an’ of the performance
don‘t suit you, I‘ll give ye yer money back an’
set 'em up besides. Thet’s fair. ain’t it?” and
the knife-thrower laughed coarsely as he moved
away.

During this scene Colonel Thunder had looked
on from the outside of the' crowd with amaze-
ment in his eyes. Something—the stranger’s
eifrontery, perhaps—astonished him, and his
eye followed him with a deadly challenge as he
movad on.

But as soon as he could the colonel separated
his five companions from the rest of the crowd
and addressed them in a whisper, while his eyes
of evil still blazed.

“That man is more than he says he is. He
is the cap‘n’s deadly enemy. We’ll go down to
the Howlin’ Wilderness together. An’ don"t
furgit that he must give his last exhibition to-
night. His last, the cap’n says. I say so, too.
Now, what say you?"

' The answer came immediately from five
tongues:

" We will make it his last show!”

Colonel Thunder smiled and sent a glance of
triumph toward the hill behind whose brow
Gfplld Conrad’s red messenger rested from his
r1 6.

 

CHAPTER III.
was BOOTLESS ROBBERY.

“ BY Jovel his quick retreat kept my hands
from his throat. After insulting the memory
of my mother, he has the audacity to come to
my cabin and ask me to risk my life in order
that he may rake in or save a few threatened
thousands. Gold Conrad, I’d see you die first!
My face is darker than a girl’s, that I know; but
I am not a squaw’s offspring. Your thousands
shall not permit you to talk thus. I am your
equal in every way, save wealth. I have been
your slave With hundreds of others ever since I
allowed your gold to hire me, but from this mo-
ment I am free! I cut loose from you. Conrad
Gordon; you have not gold enough to hire me a
moment longer. Keep what you owe me. Some
of these days you shall acknowledge that my
mother was your su rior.”

The s aker was t 6 young man called Hal
lock, w ose cabin we saw Gold Conrad seek
after the departure of the Rosebud from his

case.

We have heard the burning words in which

‘ Halleck refused to carry the second message to
Vulture Bar for the silver magnate. and it is to
that same cabin that we have returned.

Gordon had not ventured to try the young man
again. He knew that words would only serve to
augment his passion. and a personal encounter,
when he was looking for another messenger, was
one of the last things desired.

Halleck apparently waited for him to enter
thewabin again, for he stood in the firefight,

upon the man who had called him Catana’s
brother.

But he waited in vain.

“ He sent one messenger to the Bar, I know,
to-day,” the young man continued, when his ire
had been somewhat calmed by thought. “I saw
Catana riding away on Gold-dust, and I would
swear that that was his destination. New, what
has happened that he must start another, and at
night, too? Something’s gone wrong there. Thi'
man of money is in a fix—the hound that called
me an Indian!”

A minute later the cabin was without a ten-
ant, although the brush-fire still illumined the
apartment.

Where was Halleckl

About two hundred yards from the cabin
stood a house almost as pretentious as the one
that Gold Conrad inhabited. Halleck was rap-
ping at the front door.

“ W he’s there i” asked a voice on the inside.

“ Me~Halleck.”

“ What do you want?”

“A horse."

“Go to Gold Conrad; he’s your master.”,

Halleck hit his lip. r

‘5 We have dissolved" friendship,” he said, to
the invisible speaker. “ I hate, despise, curse
him! I want a horse for the pur of getting
Even with him. I thought you ated him, too.

door was open and the most beautiful woman in
Lodeton stood before him, her face and figure
revealed h the lamp she carried in her hand.
Clad in a ark wrapper confined at the waist by
a silver belt, and with a mass of black hair
covering her shoulders, “ The Queen of Fate,”

,cinating.

The flashing of her eyes was intense as Hal-
leck gazed, and he found them studying him as
if their bewitching owner would read the very
secrets of his soul.

“So you hate him!” the Queen of Fate said
slowly. “ How much?”

“ Enough to ballie him if I get a swift horse.”

“ Whither would you ride?"

“ To Vulture Bar.”

“ Then you know—”

“ That he is rowing immense] rich by the
mines he is working there. Yes. I now that.”

Colonel Thunder will slay on sight.”

“ Of course ;” Halleck wasygrowlug impatient;
the minutes were slipping away. “Shall I have
the horse am ’ A

“Yes; 'I’n call Pines.” r ‘

“ No. I beg of you to let my expedition be
Secret," interrude the young man. -

The'Queen of Fate smiled. I

“ You’ll do,” she said. “ I want an ally one
of these days?

“ To fight him?”

U Yes."

“ Then call on me.”
Her answer was a. look of satisfaction, and as
She shut the door Halleck bounded down the

a .
Assisted by the hands of the woman, be sad-

 

ready to throw himself like an enraged tiger

died a fiery young racerthatappoared as fleet

 

Halleck paused and started back, for the.

as the woman was called, looked superbly fas-.

“His six devils are there to do his bidding.i

1:

.- -..u. .4“;

  

.c M... A, .1. ea... ..

 

.k
2’

.4" “7‘5. .\

 

6A.;

«.403 k... u“ A.

 

. ; was “I m;

 

1,

'by the Queen of Fate was a racer of good

wvw» -nm, 7 A

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs. '3

 

as the mountain wind and vaulted into the
saddle while she, strong for a woman, held the
bridle.

“ Ours is a common cause,” she said, as be ad-
justed his feet in the stirrups, and made a mo-
tion for her to remove her hand.

. “ I shall not forget that, but I shall avenge

myself first,” he answered, and then, before she
could reply, he touched the animal lightly with
the spurs, and was soon beyond ear-shot.
’ Halleck’s passion cooled when he found him-
self beyond the limits of the mining-town. Al-
though it was summer time, the sultriness of the
day Just passed had been succeeded by the cool
night winds of the mountains, which might al-
most be called chilling.

The young man had not uitted his cabin
without arming himself. He ew that a wild
waste la between him and his destination, that
ho woul have to ride over ground frequented
by the plundering Utes, and a band of desperate
road-agents whose crimes could not be counted
by the dead they left unburied. It was a new
road to him: but he knew ‘it almost as well as if
he had been a uent traveler. for his own
hands had drawn for Gold Conrad a map of it
after the magnate’s own survey.

“ What am I going to Vulture Bar for any-
how?” Halleck asked imself. “ To die! ihope
not: No! I am going there to act as circum-
stances may require, always keeping before me
the unending hatred that I have or im.”

The horse loaned for the nocturnal expedifégg
and splendid bottom. Surefooted like the ibex,
he bore young Halleck on, and the setting stars
saw him straining every nerve to reach the

goal.

All at once crack! went the girth, and the
rider uttered an exclamation of rage as he was
almost unhorsed.

. “ Somethin had to happen 1’} he said, dis-
mountmg. “ ate never grants a fellow a jour-
ney free from accidents, and I am getting my
share.”

He was riding throu h a wide canyon, well lit
up by the stars, when t e accident occurred. It
was near morning, and he was already beyond
the worst half of the road.

Drawing his knife, he was about to out a
strip from the broken girth, in order to unite
Elie two parts, when the sound of boots struck

is ears.

“ Gordon’s messenger !" flashed throu h his
mind. “ My repulse did not deter him. / won-
der who he got to carry his message?”

A horse was certainly enterlng. the canyon,
the bed of which was as hard as flint. That he

had a rider Halleck well knew. ‘
‘* 1 might have had the me e before this it
Vimd taken a second thought, but that would

havelmade mea traitor. I could pla road-
agent and get it new. B George! I wil !”
At that moment, the njury to the girth was

re ired.andfialleck» redtoactonthe
pa hehadtakeu. ESE"

resolve handkerchief
from his pocket and transformed. it into a mask
in a moment. Then he led his horse into the
shadows, and throwing the bridle over a bush
turned to the road. . ' ‘

 

He was not a moment too soon, for the second
messenger to Vulture Bar was upon him.

Halleck’s revolver went. up, and its barrel
gleamed in the starlight.

“ Halt !"

The man drew rein with a cry of astonish-
ment, and his steed was brought to a full stop
so suddenly that only an expert rider could have
he i; the saddle. J

‘Give me the message you carry to Colonel
Thunder! Quick!” said Halleck. “ If you do
not surrender it, I will take it from you.

The voice of the young man was stern and
threatful. The messenger could not mistake its
intonation.

“The writing. or death! Take your choice !”
h Allin 08.1%), the movefimetnt of an grin hit}; star-

' t, an a paper, u tering t roug e air,
£51 at Halleck’s feet.

“ Now I can 0 on?”

“ No, sir! heel ,and ride for your life. A
verbal messa e would answer the purpose of a
written one. on can’t go on to the Bar."

Another curse, but this time less bitter than
its predecessor. .

A moment later the new messen er was gal-—
loping back toward Lodeton, and alleck with
his prize in his hand, was again pursuing his
journey.

He could hardly keep hack the fierce chuckle
of delight that tried to reach his lips ’spite of
his en'orta, and when he debauched from the
canyon upon a high plain, he stopped his horse
and drew a bunch of lucilers from is pocket.

“Now, my amiable insulter. I’ll know why
you send two messengers to Vulture Bar sev-
eral hours apart,” he murmured, striking the
matches. ‘

He waited impatiently for the light to get
large enough to enable him to decipher the
writing on the pager he had already unfolded,
and when the i e torch blazed up sufiiciently
he strained his e es to read.

But the next nstant he uttered loud cry of
mingled rage: and chagrin, and wi h an oath
flung the paper awgg.

' This was what h rewarded his pains:

  

 

“ Rosnsun or ran Pma Foans, Da.
Tolhowie..    . . “$300
“ 1 gallon “ Old Snips’ .. 2 00
“ipairSantaFeboots.;.... 900
~ 14 00

" Settled in full this day. FIHNBIUKLI."

“I stopped the wrong man!” muttered Hel~
look, as he drove the spurs into his steed’s rowels
and cursed his first attempt to play the road-
agent. “The fellow wasn't Gold Conrad’s mee-
senger, but the owner of that worthless account
which he carried until it saved his life. I won-
der who the Rosebud ( f the Forks Pines is, and _
wh he is behind me tonight?” 

‘ alleck now increased his animal’s . and
more than once, before the shanties o Vulture
Bar greeted his eyes, a quiet smile la ed about
the corners of his mouth as he r l thellose-
bud and his motley purchases.

“ I’d like to meet the Rossbud of, the Pink
Forks. I owe him an apology,” said Balleck,
dismissing the subject. ’

He was destined to meet him soon enough.

 
 

 
   
   
  
  
   
  
   
  
  
  
    
    
  
 
 
     
  
   
   

. place he.

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

 

CHAPTER IV.
A KNIFE IN THE SHOULDER.

GOLD CONRAD’S watch—dogs were more than
twenty hours" hard riding from their master,
and ‘another day was waning when Halleck came
in sight of the shanties of Vulture Bar.

The si ht did not surprise him; indeed, the

E a familiar look, for he had more than
once studied the location of the cabins on Gor—
don’s map.

He knew that the first cabin he would reach
on entering the cluster was Colonel Thunder‘s,
and as he had often heard of, but never seen
that redoubtahle man, Halleck felt himself be-
coming curious as he neared the building.

If he had been listening attentively he might
have hearda slight ejaculation of surprise on
his right as he rode up the hill over which
Thun er had conducted Cstana to read Gor-
don‘s message, and if he had used his eyes bet-
ter than he did, he would‘have caught a glimpse
of a familiar figure among the sage bushes.

‘ The croucher was the Apache boy and with
the pupils of his fiery Indian eyes dis mind, he
gazed at the young man whom he had left the
day before in the mines at Lodeton.

“ Caramba! who sends him here—the mas-
ter?” hissed Catana. “Must he send one mes»
sage by Cabana and another by the young
Americano whom Catana hates?”

Halleok rode leisurely on, and when he had
passed the brow of the hill, the figure of the
Apache had left the bushes and was gliding
panther-like over the path after him. ,

Catana was devoted to the man he served, and
the thought that Gold Conrad had intrusted a
message to the young American was fiery food
for his jealous nature.

That portion of Vulture Bar which the youth-
ful horsoman was about to enter seemed de-
serted. He did not know that the man with the
knife was soon to exhibit his skill with the
bowie at the Howling Wilderness Hotel.

“ Colonel Thunder's house, eh? Well, it isn’t
a palace if it’s tenant does reign supreme here,”
said Ha leck to himself when he reached the
cabin. “ Everything is so quiet; surely the col-
onel is not at home.” »

He had 'ven utterance to his thoughts in an
unguard tone’as he soon|discovered, for the
door of the cabin suddenly opened and a voice

said:

“ No, sir, the colonel is not exactly at home;
but he isn’t far awn , if you wish to see him.”

The tone and th speaker startled Halleck.
He took in the sylph—like figure of the colonel’s

tegee at aglance, and found himself staring

n a ludicrous manner into the face before him.

A nameless thrill ran through his frame; but
hieI partly mover-ed his composure bya great
e or . " a,

“I beg your pardon,” he said. “ Did I ask

‘ for Colonel Thunder?”

“I thought I heard you,” was the answer;

‘ “ but one is liable to be mistaken. ’ You do not

wish to see him, then?”
“Not ust now. ,Are on his—1"
Hellec' paused and lushed to his ears, for
while he had ,no doubts concerning the sex of
the you creature before him, he felt that he
was on de cute ground. ' ‘
’ l

 

“I stay here," Esmer said, coming to his
relief. “ You do not want to see Colonel
Thunder just now, you say. Will you not dis-
inount and come in? He will come back before
on .

Afimost mechanically Halleck dismounted, but
held his horse by the bridle-rein.

“ Let me have your horse,” said Esmer, step—
Eingd forward and taking the bridle from his
an .

The young then watched her as she led the
animal around one corner of the cabin and
tossed the leathern reins over an iron pin driven
into a tree. Then she returned and led the way
into the cabin.

“ This isn‘t baffling Gold Conrad,” thought
Halleck. “I mustn't allow this siren to keep
me long, for the second messenger might slip
in, and then, I don’t knew why the first,

Catana, was sent. I shall make my stay short‘

here.”

Thus determined, Halleck gently refused the
stool which Esmer ofl‘ered, but leaned against
the oaken table near the door.

The interior of the cabin was quite gloomy,
but a candle soon sent forth its feeble light, and
Halleck had another opportunity to study his
new acquaintance.

If he had looked over his shoulder he might
have seen the face of a spy at the win ow.

Catana was there. i

“ You have never been to the Bar before?”
Esmer asked, breaking the silence.

“ This is my first visit; but I should have
known the place, for Gold Conrad’s maps which
I drew from his surveys have made us ac-
quainted.”

“ Gold Conrad l" exclaimed Esmer,
recurring to her late conversation wit
Thunder. “ Does he know me?”

“ I hope not."

“ But when you go back—”

“ I need not 0 back,” was the interru tion.

“ You will to 1 him that I am here. ' is com-
mands have been broken; but Colonel Thunder
will defy him if it comes to the worst.”

“ His commands? Oh,“ yes, I understand.
Then it is true—” \ '

Embany

“ That I am not What thy-garments would, I

have you believe? Yes,”and the young girl’s
fingers touched Halleck’s'arm, and her eyes had
a soft, pleading look, hard‘to moist. “ I am the
on] woman at Vulture Bar. His commands
for id the presence of one here ;' his slaves must
think of nothing but toil, tofu A woman’s love
even must not lighten their lites. Think‘of it!

isn’t that cruel; isn’t it devilish?” and the dark j

eyes of Thunder’s prote ea flashed indignant] y.
” It is just like him, he said. “ He-calls me
an Indian—the son of an A cbe new.”

A cry of astonishment who from Esmer’s '

ps. .
“ You an Indian?” she cried.
dark enough, and et—” 1., .

“And yet mys in is darker than “giggle—a .

good deal darker, I fancy,” said Ha L "nil—

in. '1,  r
The girl'did not replyimmediateg but

picked up the candle and held it close to his face
while her eyes seemed to devour him.

. 5," Mn

Colonel .

5"» I
,“ You are not >

Well, whetdo'you think?” asked megs mg

“swam—.2 Mn «mmmghmnn

   
  
  
   
   
    
 
  
    
  
  

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HIT

/ answer, spoken in a tone of resentment.

. a.» ...m..m..m.... -.... v, A» . ......,.

Gold Conrad's Wa’ch-Do’gs.

,9

 

man, when the candle had been returned to the

table.
“Gold Conrad insulted you,?' was the ‘ 
u
isn’t there Spanish blood in your veins?”

“ I don’t know,” admitted Halleck.

“ Where are you from?”

“ I came to Lodeton five years ago, at Conrad
Gordon’s suggestion. His message found me at
Ojo de Leon, New Mexico. I remembered to
have met him, or a man who resembled him be-
fore; but I was a boy then. When I got to his
mines he made me his private secretary, but an
Indian hay name Catana soon su planted me.
I continuod in his service, but he a cabin of
my own until he circulated the lie of which I
have spoken: that I am not only an Indian, but
that in addition to that, I am this Catana’s

brother. That is an infamous lie, I know. We
don’t look alike.”
Halleck’s passions rose as he proceeded, and

Esmer drew back and folding her arms like a
man watched him with glowin eyes. .

“You hate him and you wil not betray me?”
she said. “ You are out of his service now.
you want new labor, Colonel Thunder may em—
ploy you. I have been keeping his books, but
the task is irksome, and a hundred times he has
promised to find a new hand. Let us go and
find him. Some stran link unites him and
Gold Conrad. I can tel you this much Without
violating any confidence, for I discovered this
in self. Come, we will 0.”

‘ Where is the colonel. ’

“ At the show.”

A shew at Vulture Bar?”

Esmer saw the youth’s questioning look.

“A wild-looking fellow and his bowie-knife
will be on exhibition at theHowling Wilderness.
He cameto the Bar this afternoon, and since
Colonel Thunder-has acted like a madman. He
got a message—’9. r .

“ Only one?”

“ I know of but one.”

“  was from Gold Conrad. What did he
X If I knew I might not tell,” was the answer.

” I might betray Gold Conrad, but I cannot go
bacglf’ on Colonel Thunder. Will you go with
m?‘ Yes.” ‘ ' l r ‘

The next moment Earner put out the candle
and step toward the door; at the some time
a ir o fiery o as left the window.

alleck was 1 8 first of the twain to step out-

side. and sells did so a figure crouched at the

foot of the cabin leaped at him with a short cry,
more beasgslike than human.

The young man threw out his arms to grapple
.with hp anta onist; but they sunk down when
'the blow dea by the assaulter was fiercely

struck, and Bullock staggered against the logs
With agroan. .

Colonel Thunder’s protegee was soon on the
pet. but the assasdfiave her but the sound of
, «is footsteps. If he lingered he might have

alien hbefgre the revolver griped in the girl’s
. 5;: (7 an . ' ‘ , _
«A W hen she wheeledon. the white race against

'fifi3'cabin, it was to cryth asunswhe mean

“ Who did this? Who is your fool—tell me!”
“ No! I rescrve for my own vengeance the
name of the devil that struck me,” was Bullock’s
reply, and he’smiled a forced smile as he stepped
from the cabin. “ See! I am not dead!” he con-
tinued. “ I am ready to go and see The Man
with the Knife.”

Esmer gave him a look of admiration, and
they moved away.

CHAPTER V.
THE FOURTEEN-INCE BOWIE.

Tnn Wildest, and we might say, the largest
crowd ever seen in the uncouth reception-room
and saloon of the Howling Wilderness Hotel
stood in the sawdust that formed its carpet,
while Halleck and his new acquaintance were
hastening to the scene.

This room was thirty feet long by twenty-five
wide, so that it was almost square. At one end
was a rough bar, presided over bya savage-l
looking fel ow, who dispensed the Vile drinks to
thirst crowds.

“ hisky Joe" had made re aration for
the unusual entertainment whic e knew was
sure to bring the entire population of the Bar
to the Bowling Wilderness. He had made a
platform out of half a dozen rough planks,
which extended from the top of the counter to
the weather-boards behind it. This stage he
had tested with his own weight, which was
somewhat remarkable, and smiled with satis—
faction when he saw Arkansaw spring upon it
and nod his approval.

The Man With the Knife looked down upon a.
sea of faces that almost filled the room to over-
flowmg. Thfiy were not all the property of
white men. ere and there were the hronzed
features of an Indian, Utes whose broad shoul-
ders rose five feet and ten inches above their elk-
skin moccasins. A kind of secret treaty unpaired '
to exist between these red-men and Go Con—
rad’s silver-hunters, for ever night their pres
ence lent variety to Whisky ose’s crowd.

Arkansaw’s costume had under one but lit-
tle change‘ he had merely dischr ed his dusty
jacket, and faced his audience in dark—brown
shirt and pantaloons. Tall and muscular, his
physique a peared to advantage in his simple
clothin . is mass of dark hair which had
probab y never known the invasion or a comb,
covered his head like the matted mane of a
lion; and his piratical beard, aided by a ir of
eagle eyes, that Seemed able to pierce a- b ock of .
marble, proclaimed him more than a—simple
tramp-juggler, if not a man with a mission.

Those eyes took in his audience at a giants?

He was standin above the crowd, so tha all
could see; and a the moment when he care-
lemly drew the lengthy bewie not an eye in the
“house was fixed" elsewhere than on him.

“Remember,” whispered,» Colonel Thunder
over his shoulder to one of his five. “This
must be that man’s last show. Pass the word
to the boys; they may forget it.”

He never took his eyes fromthe man with
the knife as he issued these commands, and the
watch-dog who heard them turned and whis-
pered them into the ear or a neighbor who gave
a s' iflcant nod. ,

' 9‘ no signal?” asked this man,

 

 

 

10

Gold Conrad’s

Watch-Dogs.

 

“ The colonel will give it. But we’re to see all
his tricks first.”

Arkansaw had made his bow to the house—a

bow whose very awkwardness was assumed,
and the next moment the bowie was whirling
through the air to be caught by the hiltbe—
tween his teeth on its descent, a trick which he
had already performed to the knowledge of at
least a few in the house.
‘ Then he went through annmber of strange
performances, such as throwing the knife aloft
and catching it between his shirt and flesh on
the back of his neck, hurling it with unerring
accuracy throu h a bullet fastened to the boards
at one end of tie stage; and transfixing little
cards in like manner by throwing the knife
over his shoulder. Arkansaw was en rapport
with his crowd, for the applause was frequent;
but there were at least six men who did not
join in.

“He’s a tearer, colonel," one of the fellows

' ventured to say to Gold Conrad’s manager.

\

“No; he’s a devil! This entertainment is
only a side show to the one he came hyar to
give ” was the answer. “ I know it.”

“ hen you’ve heard ov ’im?”

" I’ve seen ’im before today.”

“ I thought so.”

Thunder gave the man a mad look.

“ You thought so! What do you know 3”

“I thought you two War old acquaintances,
by the way he looked to-day when one ov the
boys told ’im that we war yer men. His eyes
didn‘t exactly flash, colonel, but they said: ‘ Oh.
yes Colonel Thunder; know ’im well!’ Thar!
the ‘s his last trick.”

, “Get ready. Tell the boys.”

The man step back and said a few words
tofonr rough-loo ing fellows who stood in a
group.

“ ow, entlemen, the performance ov_the
evening w 11 conclude by my best trick, of the
audience will furnish the material. I require a
live Injun, an‘ I promise to hand ’im back in
five minutes, in good condition.”

The whole house laughed at this, and here
and there several Indians were pushed toward

' the latform.

“ ever had any trouble in gettin’ an In un
on the San Juan,” continued Arkansaw. “ sed
to git one every night, an’ sometimes two.
Hurry up yer red-skins.”

“Come, let usgo. There are men here who
will e g on the sacrifice that madman de-
mands, ’ said one youth to another on the edge

of the crowd, only a few steps from Colonel

Thunder. :

“ 1 will stay. . I will see it out,” wasthe reply.

“ So will I. ’ \

Halleck and Esmer, the girl, had witnessed
the greater part of the performance given by
the man with the knife; but at times the young
man missed some of the tricks for gazing at
Colonel Thunder, who had been pointed out by
his companion.

“ Waal, when my audience refuses to furnish
me material, I g‘lnerally select it myself,” sud-
denly exclaimed the man on the platform,
whirling upon the crowd. “ Sometimes I take
an Injun and sometimes‘a white man. This

l

 

time I prefer the latter. Look out! hyar comes
a knife."
At that moment Colonel Thunder’s eyes met

those of the man with the knife, and with a wild i

oath he threw 11 his pistol-arm.

The words ‘ hyar comes a knife,” seemed
terribly earnest ones, and as Arkansaw uttered
them, he suddenly caught his bowie at the point
and started forward. At the same time he car-
ried his knife-arm threatenineg back.

The Indians dodged amid the booting laughter
of their white brethren; but a loud cry rose
from the throats of all as the bowie actually left
its owner‘s hand.

It whirled but once, and then shot downward
into the dense, awestricken crowd.

Those who turned their heads to watch its
flight were not quick'enou h, for with a roar of
&in strange] mixed wit yg’volley of oaths,

lonel Thun er staggered back with six inches
of the deadly blade sticking out behind his left
shoulder!

The work of the knife was received with a
cry of r that shook the roof of the bar-room.
Colonel: hunder had fallen to the ground,
killed as every one believed, and the crowd,
kgfe and pistol armed, made a. dash at the
s e.

or one moment The Man with the Knife sur-

veyed the scene beneath him with an eye that,

blazed like an eagle’s in a tempest.

He showed his teeth in a wolfish grin. He
looked like a man who knows that in his stren th
always lies his safety, and as if to prove t is,
he turned suddenly and threw himself against
the broad boards that formed the northern end
of the saloon.

The next instant crash! went the planks, and

asthe figure of the man with the-knife shot I

through the o nin a dozen revolvers cracked;
but their bul ets did’nothing more than bury
themselves above Whisky Jose’s head.

The smoke had not cleared away before men,
Indians as well as whites, were clambering over
the stage to the opening, while many were rush—
ing toward the main entrance. But one thought
fil ed the minds of all—to catch lArkansaw.

A few, among these Halleckr‘ and Esmer, had
remained at Colonel Thunder’s side, and when
the crowd had almost entirely left the room
J 086 shut the door.

Colonel Thunder gritted his teeth as the-knife
was withdrawn, and then fastened his'eyes on

it. r

“It looks like the same he used, ten years
ago,” he said, unconsciously speaking aloud;
“ only the one he hadthen had a red hilt. ' Jose,

have they caugbt’iml No? go out an! call ’em ’

01!; call my family ofl', anyhow. He came hyar
to giye me his knife. I hope he didn‘t _ see the

Y- ,

“Yer boy—the youngun kernel? He war
hyar just now,” said the rkeeper.

“ Hyar? 'Esmerr'.

“ I am here." ‘

Colonel Thunder turned toward the sound,
and fastened his eyes with a look full of rebuke
upon his protease. ' '

“What brought you hyari'? .he demnded,
fiercely. v. \

Wan-kn Mun-n: ~-.. Wrymfi ; flan—nun. a, .__ "a...

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Gold Com-ad’- Watch-Dogs'

1!

 

“ It was my fault. Blame me, sir,” said Hal-
leck advancing.

“ oul” and Thunder looked fixedly at Gold
Conrad’s young enemy, measuring him with his
flashing eyes from head tofoot. “So it war

our fault that Esmer came hyar, eh? Come

yar. I want to say a word in private.”

Halleck stepped forward, and as ~Colonel
Thunder’s right hand fell on his shoulder his
heavy mustache touched his ear.

“Leave Vulture Bar without my authority,
and the bumrds will pick our bones among the
sage—bushes!” he hissed. ‘ l’ve seen you store.
I knew you when you war the idol of the
Apache camp.”

A flash of fire lit nf) Halleck’s eyes, and his
face kindled with insu t.

“Colonel Thunder, you lie!” he exclaimed.
“ I have been insulted before in the same man—
ner. Take back your infamous words, or I’ll
 Arkansaw‘s work—finish it right here,

Halleck ste ped forward as he finished, and
his left hand shot at his insulter’s throat.

Colonel Thunder laughed the laugh of the
fearless desperado.

“ Don’t be a fool,” he said, calmly. “ Kill me
and never know who yer mother war.”

The hand dropped at Halleck’s side.

~ CHAPTER VI.
THE nosnmm AND ms Rem..-

COLONEL Tnunnss‘s word was law at the
Bar, and Whisky Jose hastened to obey the
command addressed to him. He went outside
and proclaimed in a voice that might have been
heard a mile away that Arkansaw should not be

pursued. .
. It had the desired etl’ect, for the hunters came

back one by one, and the saloon to fill.
‘ In the mean time, by the help of five stalwart

 

.men, his pards, the master of Vulture Bar had

been helped'to his cabin. The loss of blood had
weakened him, and given his face a pallor which
made him look like another person.

Halleck did not follow the little companyto
the cabin, beneath whose roof he had already
stood. He had pressed Esmer‘s hand before she
left the Bowling Wilderness, and caught, with
a satisfied smile, the friendly promises that
beamed in her eyes.

Henceforth, the young man believed, his fate
was to be strangely linked with that girl’s.

He did not venture back into the saloon,

' . where a hundred excited men were discussing

the startling egents of the night. He was 3

er, and as such would not only
attract ttention, but rouse suspicion. He had
reach _”‘ll5 simultaneously with The Man with
the Knife and there were not a few desperate

* fellows who would naturally regard such an

event suspicious.

Therefore Halleck left the structure and
sought the‘open air. . His wound did not pain
him now; his mind boon went back to the
short struggle before Colonel Thunder's cabin,
and, to his unitegiéonist.‘i be 5 ' '

‘ M assaia mus' attbeBar” hem t

y “I wish I could find him/and 'remn die

of his bowie. He never liked months

 

 

jealous red-skin, and I am sure that I have lost
no time loving him. He must be here some-
where.
might as well spend a little time in looking him

Halleck moved away, but his attention was
soon called to the statue of a man that was visi-
ble by a bit of light that streamed through the
opening which Arkansaw had made in the
weather-boarding of the saloon. The statue of
a man, we say, for the figure seemed planted in
the ground, and did not move a limb.

“ One‘ of my watchers,” thought the young
man. “ Colonel Thunder is going to our out
his threat if L attempt to leave the Bar without
his permission. He is king here. I must not
forget that. By Jove! .why couldn‘t I try this
fellow l”

The thought was no sooner matured than Hal-
leck moved off in full view of the statue.

“ Pshaw! my scheme doesn’t affect him,” he
said, as he suddenly halted and glanced over his
shoulder. “ He doesn’t seem to care a nickel
whether I go or stay. He hasn’t moved for ten
minutes; he— There! he’s going to exercise hls
limbs." I

The object of Halleck‘s attention had sudden-
ly left his post. ‘

5‘ By my life! it is Arkansaw!” exclaimed the
young man. “ He’s a fool to walk back into the
jaws of death. Maybe he has discovered that he
missed the heart he threw at and has returned
for the purpose of finishin a bungled job. Well,
my bowie-kin , sail in an give the colonel his
quietus. Hal eck will not interfere.”

The man so closely watched by Gold Conrad’s
enemy, walked toward the rear walls of the
Howling 'Wildemess and stopped as if to listen
to the liquor-loosened tongues inside. Halleck
meshanically crept forward and kept his eye on
him. If the man was Arkansaw, he had re-
turned to the Bar for a purpo-e, and that pur-
pose the youn man desired to know.

All at once alleck was forced to crouch to
the ground, for the figure of 'the listener had
wheeled toward him and was coming forward.

“ He got in a part 0v his work,” Halleck heard
a. voice say, that startled him. “ They didn’t
foller him fur, it seems; the very man he cut
called ’em off—all but the. Injuns. 1 wish I bed
got hyar sooner. I would of that roady hadn’t
stopped me in the canyon.”

Halleck thought that a strange laugh followed
the last word; but he was not certain.

The man had revealed himself; he was not
Arkansaw, but the man whom he had stopped
with the belief, that he was Gold Conrad's second
messen or to the Bar. It was the Rosebud of
the Pin Forks. ' v ,

He passed within a few feet of Halleck and
went toward the mines. Over the same nd.
as the young man had lately learned. '1‘ e Man
with the Knife had fled a few minutes before.

“ Me a messen r from Gold Conrad?” still
giving Vent to is thoughts. What did the
roadéotake me fur, anyhow? ‘ v

rdon told me to come to the Baron a'

mission. . I made the gold king take his choice
between two hearts an“, like a sensible man he
chose to kee his own in a healthy condi on.
Oh, you thievm’ tiger! the Rosebud will go back

As I am forbidden to leave the Bar I ,

x

   

 

12

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

  

 

More, long an’ settle a long-standin’ account with
you.

Halleck’s heart gave a great leap into his
throat.

He was not alone in his hatred of the magnate
of Lodeton. The man before him was an enemy;
he was going back some day and pay oil? the
debt of vengeance he owed. .

A strange idea flashed through the youth’s
mind. If this man hated Gold Conrad, he could
not love Colonel Thunder, his tool; therefore,
why could not he (Halleck) form an alliance
which would insure him a friend, an ally in a
land where he had but one friend, and thata
young girl? '

The thought fascinated our hero, and a mo-
ment later he had touched the Rosebud’s arm.

The man turned with a light cry, and Hal-
]eck heard the click of a revolver’s lock as a hu-
Enanarm shot up untilit was on a level with his

ace. -

But undaunted he looked over the barrel into
the bearded face of the Rosebud.

“ I have just heard you say that you hate
Gold Conrad,” Halleck said. “So do I; there—
fore let us be friends.”

The representative of the Pink forks, where-
ever they were, did not seem to hear the words.
His eyes, keen as an eagle’s, were measuring the
figure before him from head to foot. Halleck
had a 00d figure; if his face was extremely
youthfu , it was strong, well-knit, and full of
suppleness.

‘I say that I» hate the same man you do,”
continued Halleck, determined to make the
Rosebud hear him. " But, if you prefer it, I
will get my'work in first and leave you nothing
todo when you go back to Lodeton to cancel
the debt you have just been talkin about.”

This time the words roused the bud, and
his burning eyes met Halleck’s gaze.

“0hz ou want to become my pard, eh?” he
said. ‘ id 1 say that I hate Gold Conrad?”

“ I understood on so,” said Halleck. ,

“ Wal, mobbé did. In the first place, who
ar’ you?" ’

“ My name is Halleck’. It is all the name I
ever had.”

“ Yer haudle,ain’t as musical as mine, the
Rosebud ov the Pink Forks,” and the worthy
laughed. “ When did you come hyari”

“ Oh, I’ve been hijar some time," Halleck an-
swered, using some of the enunciation peculiar
to the rough class to show the Rosebud that he
had beensssociated with the desperate men of
the mines. r

" About two hours! should jud e,” said the.

Rosebud. “ What did you do wit my reseet?
.It doesn't amount to much, but I bed carried it
so long that I hated to part with it. I settled it.
Hyar, give it up, oung ’un.”

One of Rosebud 3 hands had fallen upon Hal-
leck's shoulder.

“The mseet first, the psrd bizness after’ards,"
came ovar the glitterin barrel. w

“ I haven’t it. was of no value to me,
and you woul have treated it just as I did if,
Instead of an important message, on had cap-
to red such a paper as it was. owe you an
apoloegé;0 but the receipt I throw away,”

The sebud's lower jaw dropped. ' I

 

“ Honest Injunl"

“ What Would I want to lie about such a. thin;
for?” flashed Halleck. “ I’ve never seen you be.
fore to—ui ht—"

“ But I ve seen you often, now that I‘ve been
lookin’ at you for five minutes.” replied the
Rosebud. ‘Wal, let the blamed old reseet go.
Ef you still want ‘to press the pard bizness, we’ll
go on a little further.” ’

“ Then we’ll go on.” .

The two men thus strangely met started away
together, and soon found themselves among the
mines nearest the Bar.

When the Rosebud stopped, it was in a gulch
whose bed was full of giant bowlders. It was a
wild place for a conference, and Halleck’s ear
was quick to catch a sound that startled him.

The next moment he caught sight of a head
surmounted by a tuft of feathers, and his hand
instantly drew his revolver.

“ What’s up?”

“ Indians 1”

“ Ar’ that all?” ' .

Halleck didn’t know how to reply. While he
knew that the men of Vulture Bar were on
half-friendly terms with the‘ Utes, he was also
aware of this fact; the mines were dangerous
ground after night—a real district of death,
made so by these very Indians.

Therefore, he felt himself justified in drawin
his weapon; but the Rosebud’s nonchalance ha
disconcerted him.

“ Well," said Halleck, biting his lip, “if you
can stand it, Ican. But there are Indians about,
I see them."

“I want on to see ’em," was the answer,
pnd 8. fami iar bird-call rose from the man’s
ips. '

The next instant six stalwart savages left the
shadows of the rocks and came forward.

" These pards or mine ought to have a say
when it comes to takin’ new members into the
firm ov Rosebud and company,” continued the
man, waving his hand at the new-comers.
“ Seen ’em afore to-night? Waal I should
smile." and the Rosebud displayed his yellow
teeth in a grin. “My pards ar’ re ’lar tigers;
they’re the red hollyhocks ov the to nation—
none 0v the thievin' Apaches what used to hold
you on their ponies when you war a baby."

“ That ’cowardiy insult a ain!" flashed Hal- '
i...

leek, instintively laying.r his ad on his revol-
ver. “It has been flung in my teeth three
times within the last twenty-four hours." '

“Isee it kinder r’iles you ’3 was the reply.
“ But you’re not goin’ to say t at I never See d
the Apaches’Ao that, ar’ you? Why, yer mother
war the purtiest—” , . . i

“There!” cried Halleck springii'fi‘ forward,
and seizing the Rosebud’s arm. “ _ at will do!
I know what you are going to say;‘bnt it 158.
lie!»-—'an infamous lie I” \ *

“ Yer a reg’lar mountain lion. I like yer
stile. By hokevl you’d' be an ornament at the
Pink Forks. We’ll take you in ez a full pard."

“ Never!” cried Halleck. “ A moment ago I
wanted your friendship-flour aid; but new I
wouldn’t accept it for the world. I will goto
my vengeance alone. I will work my own way
in spite of Colonel Thunder» and his paras, an
yen and yours!” 4 y ‘

  

 

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' Gold Conrad's Watch-Dogs.

13

 

With the last word, which was accompanied

gy 1?. look of lofty disdain, Halleck stepped
ac .

“ Hold on, my cooler! J es’ one minute—"

“Not one second! Attem t to detain me
here, and I’ll deprive the Pin Forks of their
ornament.”

“Hothead must sto i” said a new voice.
“ Him must listen to Ifosebudl” and one of the
Indians 5 run between Halleck and the man
from the ink orks.

“ Back! You are near enou h now I” threat.
sued the youth, retreating. “ don’t wantto
kill, so don’t step on my toes.”

The Indian’s eyes seemed to blaze as they,
glanced quick] at his companions.

“ When the lack Coyote speaks, young fools
must bear!"

Halleck raised his weapon, but at the same
moment something whistled through the air,
and the Indian staggered back with a. cry that
made the gulch ring.

Gold Conrad's young enemy could not repress
an exclamation of horror, for a large bowie—
knife Was quivering in the breast of the stal-
wart Ute!

He turned and looked in the direction from
which the strange and killing missile had come;
but though he saw nothing, he knew that The
Man with the Knife was not far away.

The next minute Halleck was flying toward
Vulture Bar. ‘ ,

CHAPTER VII.
COLONEL THUNDER GETS MORE ORDERS.

“‘WHO is there?”

The girl, Esmer, asked this question. with her
hand on the latch of the cabin-door and her ear
at the crevice.

_A rosifh mountain rap had startled her. and
she b cleared the space between Colonel
ginger-’3 couch and the door with a single

un .

The summons had awakened him; Thecolw

ouel’s eyes had a mad, maniacal lare; he seem-
ed totbink that The Man with he Knife had
come back.

There was no reply to Esmer’s eguestion;
the person outside seemed confound
musical voice.

“Who’s tharl” suddenly cried the voice of
Gold Conrad’s man. “‘ Answer, or git a bulletl”

“ I’ve jes’ arrived from. the cap’n. I’ve got a
message for e,” was the re ly.

_ “Anotherl‘r' murmured hunder. “Hand it
in as Esmer opens the door.”

“ All right. ’ -

“All? wait whar you ar’ till I know what it
38- 8.

mar opened the door several inches, and a
Kraut hronzed hand that clutched a bit of paper
was thrust inside. As the girl relieved it of the
3163899, it was withdrawn and the door was
Shut mm, . ' ,
mggogel‘g'lzgnder {awaited thadghvegy of tlhe

mans eyes t ou incam
fines Mold Esme:- to bar the door rst or all

ings. ,
Earner held the candle while her ardian
leaned over the adiabatic unfolded bugger)“.

a

n.

 

by the ‘

 

For a moment he glanced at its contents, and
then crushed it quickly in his hand.

“They are al gettin’ hyar about the same
time,” Esmer heard him say, half—aloud, while
his eyes flashed with the old. tiger light. “So
the last one seems to be huntin’ the first, eh?
Well, I’ll do my duty, cap’n. I’ll go an’ put my
pards at work right off."

He sprung from the couch and looked at
Esmer.

“ I’m going outl” he said. “ Don’t stir till I
come back.” and as he finished, a twinge of pain
in his shoulder made him grate his teet . '

Esmer did not attempt to interfere; she knew
ggetnature of the mountain lion too well for

a .

He seized his bat which lay on the floor of the
couch and strode toward the door; the next
minute he was gone. -

Just beyond the threshold of the cabin the
messenger confronted him, a man whose gar-
ments were muddy and wet. , .
h.“You are tired i” said Thunder, addresng

1m.
“Kinder,” admitted the man.
“ Do you know where Silent Sam’s is?”
' “No; but I must see Sam.”

“ Then come along.”

The two man went oll’ together.

This was all that Esmer saw and heard.

As she turned something white caught her
eye; it was a piece of crumpled gaper, and it
In midway between the door and he couch.

cognizing it with a singular cry, the girl
sprung forward and picked it up. A second
later, with bated breath, and a wildly—beating
heart, she was trying to decipher it in the weird
candle—light.

Her face, flushed with expectation when she
began, was as white as ashes when she finished,
for she had read as follows:

“ ComNEL Tnunnnn:-— _

“ Another devil has just started for Vulture Bar.
He calls himself the Rosebud of the Pink Forks and
wants to kill, first, The Man with the Knife, and
then me. Now you have two to interest you. Also
—-I have just learned io—Halleok'(you know him!)
has taken one of the Queen‘s'horses and left Lode-
ton. We have quarreled. If he gets to the Bar,
treat him as you would my worst enemy—hut do u
quielly/ Let nothing he k you; forget who his
mother was. I have forgotten. GORDON."

Esmer read the foregoing with feelings which
no u can describe.

he cared nothing for the individual men—
tioned in the first part of the message; his name
told that he was but another desperado. .

But Halleck was the youth who had lately
bade her adieu on the scene of Arkansaw’s fatal
exhibition. He hated Gold Gordon, he had
told her himself that they had quarreled, and
that he had come to the Bar for the express pur-
pose of having revenge in some manner. '

Now his life‘ was in danger—he had been
handed over to the tender mercies of the six
men who were known tar and wide as the Six
Revolvers of Vulture Bar.

Esmsr’a eyes suddenl flashed lndignsntly
while she thought. eck had tulle!) anion
wolves: he was helpless in the tails whic e
that night would be thrown finally around in.
Andhe knewitnot. . r ' ‘

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs,

 

All at once the girl sprun to the door and
threw it o n. Since the thr' ling events at the
Howling ildernesss, a full round moon had
planted her shield of silver in the heavens, and
the girl flittod away with a revolver within
edgy reach of her hand.

he went up to the “hotel” and peeped in.
Whisky Jose was closing for the night, and the
flickering light of his lamps fell only on his bur-
ly figure.

A few rods awa Esmer paussd before Silent
Sam’s cabin, and ooked in at the window. The
man who seldom spoke was looking at his new
guest, 3 Person whose nether garments were
muddy. twas Gold Conrad’s second messen-

gel:

” Not there i" muttered Esmer, in tones full
of anxiety. “ Merciful heavens! I wonder if
they have run him down alread ?"

She went back again, but a at once when
half-way between Silent Sam‘s and her own
home, a wind from the mountain mines brought
a course laugh to her ears. Esmer stopped; so
did her heart.

“ I’ll find them now," she cried, and turning
to the left she darted away.

She seemed from the first to know the exact
location of the man who had laughed. for with-
out turning either to the right or tothe left she
pressed on‘ until she reached a dark opening in
the side of a hill. '

“ The ’re (loin their infamous work under
ground ” she sai ,as she went in.

Her manner of procedure told that her entire
life had not been passed in Colonel Thunder’s
cabin for she hurried on, avoiding the rough
howlders in the walls pf the dark corridor, as
well as if it had been daylight.

Far ahead several lights, like distant stars,
greeted her eyes, but she knew that they were
torches held aloft by the man-tigers among
whom fate had made her 3 nd her life.

Esmer halted at last; ut it was to bug a

gloomy wall for a moment and gaze on the scene
before her.
‘ The Watch-Dogs of the Bar had found one of
the new arrivals. If he was not stalwart and
desperate-looking like Arkansaw and the Rose—
hu, , he had at least a dangerous eye in his head,
and carried a steady hand. ‘

Earner counted five men in the large cave—like
room before her—five demons. They stood be—
fore Halleck. '

The fortitude of the young man gained a look
of admiration from Esmer. He was looking
into the faces of the Revolvers with a calmness
that should have subdued the light that fleshed
in their eyes. r

Esmer looked everywhere for the colonel; she
penetrated the shadows of the cavern in vain.

“ He sent his minions! he dared not come him-
?glf,””said the girl. “ Well, I am glad he is not

re. . ,

The thought had hardly been exprewed When
' a voice so near Esmer that she wheeled suddenly

broke the silence: w 5 r

, “ What brou ht you to the Bar. Hallecki"
“ Need I to ' on twice? Vengeancel I

won’ted to strike h m where his greatest interest
“ How would you have done‘itl" I

 

 

“ I do not know. I had not completed my
plans."

“ Who came with you?”

” I came alone.”

You hed company to the Barfly“ ' ,
“ I had not: the Rosebud Washehind me."
Esmer heard Halleck’ ' ""t'ioner utter an

oath which did not reach ears.

How did the youth know that the “ company ”
referred to was the representative of the Pink
Forks?

“ You were not to leave the Bar without
Colonel Thunder’s authority. He’s goin’ to give
it now, an’ you’re goin’ away.”

Halleck’s reply was a contemptuous sneer for
the coarse wit intended by the last sentence.

“ I know you, Colonel Thunder ” he said.

“Bewarel don't pass in yerffihecks a‘lyin’h

“By killing me you help your master, Conrad
e

Gordon. You dare not t me'live.”

“ We will notl" and a brutal laugh followed.

“ It is a pity that Arkansaw’s bowie missed
its mark tan-night. It will not miss the next
time.”

u Ha I"

“ I know it. He told me so.”

“ Since the throw?”

Halleck smiled and shut his lips defiantly.

The interrogator stepped from the shadows
into the light of the torches.

It was really Colonel Thunder, tall, stalwart
and angry! '

“ You have seen him since the throw! Good!
Where is he?" V

“ Halleck’s eyes said: “ Find out if you can!”

“ 0h, silence is your‘gamev" grated Thunder.
“ Well, as you like it, I will make you keep it
forever. Ready!"

Five bronzed fin ers lided to the five revol-
vers in the Watch- 5’ ands. .

Esmer had not watc ed the imperiled young
man for several moments; she had seen no one
but her guardian, ani with almost devouring
impatience she waited for the command that
would kill.

All at once his hand was uplifted, his lips
parted and the signal was about tofall from
them, when our heroine sprung over the inter—
vening space and threw herself before Gold

Conrad’s foe.
“ Drop your wea us!” she cried, as she faced
the swarthy five. ‘Down with them, or die!”

Her revolver moved reetlessly right and left
gators her pale face; her eyes emitted flashes of

nine. '

The Watch-Dogs involuntarily started back
and lanced at their leader. »

‘Co onel Thunder started forward and stretch-
ed forth his arm.

“ Nothing must stan’ between us an’ dntyl”he
thundered. “ Shoot yer way to Halleck through
the body that covers him. Fire!"

CHAPTER VEIL r
“‘ron ran alumna i”

Warm these thrilling evonts were transpn-iag
underground, others most as exciting were
taking place in the starlight and the lamplight
not far away. I V .

We have mentioned that Esther, while'hunt»

 

in; Colonel Thunderand ‘hinipards, saw the ‘

    

 

 

 

  

Irr—

cHN WV‘ .

7V— not H- HI‘BW

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4....

a.

4';

 

. M..- ..,.-u- m“.-. ... . -..... .m.

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

15

 

second messenger sitting in the. light that re-
vealed the interior of Silent Sam’s cabin.

Establishing his identity by a glance, she
moved away, and,,her lace at the window was
althost immediately filFed by a wild face cov-
ered with dark hair.
looked into the cabin now saw the same scene
that the girl had just left.”

Silent Sam was one of the characters of Vul-
ture Bar; he seldom kc, and when he did his
words were nionosyl ables, but spoken to the
point. His cabin consisted of two apartments,
the larger one of which, at the time 0 which we
write, was occupied by Gold Conrad’s messen-
ger 'and himself; a strong door, secured by sev-
eral strong iron bars, led to the other room,
which did not have a single window.

This dumb man held a responsible position at
the Bar.

Let us see what it was.

The man at the window kept an immovable
position for many minutes.

After awhile the messen or from Lodeton
looked up and encountering am’s expressionless
gala, drew a fuse tram his ket.

At the same time he :11 e a sign that caused
Sam’s eyes to twinkle.

“ The cap’n sent this,” he said, extending the
fuse, which Sam eagerly took. “He said thet
you hed better fit th one on right away. Suth-
in’ might require its use, afore long.”

Silent Sam. nodded and
barred door. Without a word he removed tw0
of the bars, and opening the door, disclosed a
dark room, into which he motioned the messen-
ger to follow him.

J ast inside the room hung a lantern, which
Sam lighted. The messenger looked disa
pointed, for the little Iroom was comparative y

em ty. 7
» ‘ I don’t Beewhar you’re goin’ to fix yer fuse,”
he remarked. ‘
“ I’ll show you." «
Sam stooped and lifted a trap-door in the
floor; this action showed the messenger an ap-
parently solid iron rod driven into the ground,
but Sam unscrewed a brass top. and proved it to
he hollow. Then he drew forth a. fuse which
felt quite damp; the messenger shook his head

“I when he had examined it.

p “ How long hasthis fuse been there?" he ask—
edz glancing at the rod. ~
‘ hree months.”

“ That’s too long for one fuse. You had no
other?” .

8am shook his head.

,“Thls one would have failed. Put the new
one in; right awn , the cap’n said."

The guardian o the mine stooped, and in a.
minute had fixed the [use to the .top of the
hollow rod.” Then adjusting the shrass cap. he
was about to return the tra to its lace when
themessengertouchedhis oulde . gum looked
up inquiringly. '

.“How doesithe blamed thing work? What
all one up when you-lire it!”

“ verythingl” said Bamfihowinglm teeth in
a. n. ' ' v »

.r . fThet’s a good deal,” was the reply. “It

. ‘thurt the Bar, does it?"

_ ,"“ o; hutthemines. Now i will~tell~youv,"

 

The pair of eyes that-

moved toward the.

 

Sam continued, growing talkative. “What it
we should have trouble? What if the Indians
or some white men should try to take the mines
from the ’n? I would re the fuse when,
whiz! crash the old mountains would fly apart,
and the mines would be useless.”

“ Not with powder?"

‘6 N0.”

“ Dynamite?”

Sam’s eyes sparkled as he nodded.

At the same time be shut the trap.

“ I would be safe hyar,” he said; “ the Bar
would shake that’s all; but the mines! ah! they
could never be worked ag’in.”

“It would ruin the cap’n.”

“Yes; but his foes would die poor.”

“ By George! that’s a, complete thing i” sud-
denly exclaimed a voice at the door which Sam
had eft open. “ I’m anxious to see how the
fuse works. I’ll jest tap the cap with the hilt of
mg bowie.”

ilent Sam and the messenger stood before
the speaker like persons suddenly struck dumb.
Their eyes seemed ready to fly from their heads,
and all volition appeared to have left them as
they stared at the burly man who was steppin
toward the trap-door with a bowieknife clutch
at the point. ‘

“ I’ll jest giv it one tap,” he continued. “ I
don’t believe you kin blow up the mines with
sich a thing as you’ve rigged up hyar. You've
been givin’ this fellar a game 0v wind—Sam,
you’ve been] in'!”

The man w 0 was none other than Arkansaw
was at the tra door before Silent Sam recov-
ered. As for t e messenger, he had retreatedto
the door with a face as white as ashes.

“ Stop!" commanded Sam. laying his hand on
the intruder’s shoulder. “ Stop!”

There was a threat in his eyes.

“ Stop? I will when I’ve tapped the cap!” said
The Man with the Knife, turning away.

Silent Sam said no more. but hasti y collect-
ing his strength, he threw himself upon Arkan~
saw. ~

The two men went to the floor together, and
for a moment; having been taken at a disadvan-
tage, the bowie-king seemed in'a perilous situa-
tion. For the guardian of the mine of de-
struction had produced a revolver, with which
h? twas hunting in the dim light for his antago-
n s . .

But all at once Arkansaw whirled and knooked
the weapon up, just as Sam’s fln r was about
to rose the trigger, and the ne moment the

y of the uurdian tell in a heap in the dark-
est corner 0 the room.

“I’ve got the same kind ov a dose fur you of
you want it!" cried Arkansaw, turning to the
door: but the sentence concluded abruptly, tor
the” messenger from Gold Conrad was one.

For a moment a contemptuous look V med in
Arkansaw’s eyes; but Without expressing his
thoughts, be, bent over the trap-door and ex-
amined the fuse. Below. the cap, which he
remOved, he discovered a little Wire, which he
drew out and out ed with his bowie three inches
below the top, thus destroyinghthe connecting
current of electricity which a explosion or
firing of the fuse would send to the mines. so
be replaced the cap, shut the trap-door, and

Gold Conrad's Watch-Dogs.

 

glanced at Silent Sam. That worthy was lying
on his face, and consequently had not witnessed
the tampering with the train.

“ I’ve got things pretty much in my own
hands,” he Man With the Knife said, with a
malicious grin, as he left the room, the door of
which he left open. “ I’ll go an’ see how Colonel
Thunder ar’ gettin’ along. I’m kinder lad I
missed him since I diskivered the mine. If the
widowed Jingo! I never thought he hed gged
up such a th ng ez that to keep sech fellers ez
Arkansaw from gittin’ the best ov ’iml”

There was a broad smile of triumph beneath
the profuse beard and mustache that the bowie-
king sported, and the next minute the cabin
was left to its unconscious tenant.

Out in the starlight a, figure standing at the
window drop d suddenly to the ground and
followed the nife-thrower. Presently another
Itsnd‘I another appeared, until six were on his

rai .

Arkansaw, apparently unaware of this es-
pionage glided ong the cabins until he reached
the one occupied by Colonel Thunder, and 'his
protegee. For a moment he applied his ear to
the crack between jamb and door and listened.

“ Not at home—not even the gal thet he calls
aboy,” muttered Arkansaw. ‘ Suthin’s up. I
see’d 'em all at my show. Ef I thought the
kernul’d come home alone I’d go in an’ wait.
I’ll go in anyhow, an’ take a squint at the in-
terior of the nest.”

He lifted the latch and stalked in. At the
same time the six figures sprung to the door.

Five of them were Indians, the sixth wasa
white man; but one who might have been a
king among desperadoes. He laid his left hand
on the latch, and listened while he looked over
his shoulder at his followers.

He was waiting for Arkansaw to strike a
li ht as certain words told him that the bowie-
]: ng was hunting for a candle. All at once an
exclamation told him that the object had been
found, and then (same the cap—like report of a
pair of lucifers.

“ Ho! ho! blood on his head!” exclaimed the
man in the hut. “ I winged the Vulture. Con-
found it! when I go back to Arkansaw I'll never
say a word about the man I missed at twenty
feet. Neverl"

The next second crash! went the door, and
Atrtlflansaw saw the six human tigers that leaped
a 1m.

' The candle fell from his hands, but alighted
right side. up on the table, and continued to
burn, but a second later the naked arm of one
of the Indians swagt it off and put it out.

But not before rkansaw had recognized the
bronzed leader of the scarlet wolves.

“Waul, Rosebud, you’ve gone cl’ar back on
the Queen I" he cried.

These words had a magic effect.

The Rosebud of the Pink Forks whirled upon
his own followers and with one sweep of his
gland-arm dashed aside the arms that were try-

g to get at Arkansaw. ‘ . .

‘Backl back!’ he hoarser shouted. “The

n 0v Arkansas is sacred! He is still in
he sag-vice ov the Queen. That makes us bro-

than! I
The Utes stared into the face of the speaker, .
r...“ l

 

and shrunk back, but not without many a
menace.

What had come over their leader?

They saw him turn to Arkansaw and put for-
ward his right hand.
, “ Fur the Queen?" he asked, hesitating just
the leash,

“ Put ’er tharl" and the hands of the two men
met.

“ I came hyar to wipe you out," the Rosebud
Even: on. “ thought you had gone back .on

er.

“ If you think, I hev give me the hull length
ov yer toothpick, Rosebud," was the answer
and Arkansaw tore his shirt ogen with one In
wrench of his right hand, and ared his breast.

But the man from the Pine Forks shook his
head and sheathed his knife.

 

CHAPTER IX.
PARDS ONCE MORE.

" Go down thar an’ wait fur me,” said the
Rosebud, turning to his red comrades, while he
still grasped Arkansaw’s hand; “ down whar I
foun on." ' '

The ndian departed and the two men were
alone in the cabln.

“ The Queen sent me down hyar,” he contin- '

ued,1iftin his eyes to Arkansaw’s face, new
visible int 9 mellow light that the moon was
throwing into the room. “I‘ll tell you why I
war huntin’ you paid. She said jes’ afore I
left: ‘ Ef you fln 3 any traitors at the Bar giv’
’em no quarters. An’ I know that she thinks
you that kind ov a chick.” . ‘
“ Me? Stan’ by me until I prove thet a lie,
Rosebud.”
“ I will do thet—so will m red boys." '
“ They ar’ yours, then!’ killed one an hour
0

“ The knife went clear through him. You’ve
kept in practice. 1 see."

‘ Ef you had seen my throw at the Howlin‘
Wilderness you’d hev t ought that I had lost my

gn .” -

‘P I came too late; but I heard 0v that throw.
The kurnel doesn’t oh act to it bein’ his shoulder
that took the bowie, reckon?”

“ 0v course, not,” and Arkansaw smiled.
“ You saw the Queen—”

“ Yesterday at sundown.” '

“ I war at Lodeton yesterday; but I didn‘t
call. Why? We], Rosebud, I thought I would
wait until I could go back an’ throw at the last
man I want to hit."

There was a fiendishetgleam in the e es of the
bowie—king as he title the last wo . , “ But
how does our Queen look?”

“ Purtier than ever, of I’m a jedge ov woman.”

“ [ hevn’t sot eyes on ’er since I 'put her on
the mustan on the Rio Pecos, an' told her to
hunt until 6 hed enough of vengeance.’

“ Thet war ten year ago.”

“ Nearly so. She’s found him? What a trailer
she hez been i”

“ An’ he, the ’tarnal fool, sleeps within a hum

dred yards or thet mine ov dynamite. I've. ., y ~
time.” , "' '

been helpin’ 'er all this

  

 

  

 

 

I

   
   
 

   

 

 

 

 

- an. - .»;-.~:-:’r. ‘ ~~ - ‘- ‘5; w

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

1’?

 

“ You, Rosebud?”

The eyes of the
flushed with pride.

’ “What hev you been doin?" Arkansaw went
on before he could speak.

“The water flooded his mines last year; the
dams broke, I war tha'r! His big boss, Strong
Dick war found dead in the mine, I war thar!
One night the secret diary which he hed kept
for twenty~flve years turned 11 missm’. Rose-
bud war thar. Arkansaw. ehu! pard, ou
oughter hev see‘d the Queen’s eyes flashw en
them hooks fell inter her lap. Thet war the
hardest 0v all blows.” ’ .

“ Wait till the Queen turns an’ sa 5: ‘Finish
the play, Arkansaw.’ But her chil —the little
one whatwo used to miss turn-about?”

“ Still missin’l Didn’t he play his cards well
thari‘"

Arkansaw said nothin , but while his eyes
shone strangely, he led t e Rosebud toa door
that led into the other compartment of the
cabin. The candle, overturned by one of the
Indians, had been relighted, and was in his

hand.

0n the threshold of the second room the burly
figure of The Man with the Knife came to a
halt, and his long arm pointed to a narrow cot
thalt touched the rough logs that formed the
we .

His lips said nothing, his look and gesture
were enough, and the Rosebud gave a gasp for
joy as he g anced into his pard’s face.

‘The gal? Jehosa hat! I hev hunted fer
nuthin’ fer ten year, ut you hev not hunted,
yet found i”

“ I am not sartain. Colonel Thunder calls it
a boy, hut I’m too old fer thet, Rosebud.
You’ll see somebody’s eyes an’ bear the voice we
used to foller away down South when you see
the wrson what» sleeps on that bed.”

“ bar is she?” v

“Not hyar; that’s certain,” and Arkansaw‘
shut the door. '

The two men left the cabin, but did not see
the figure squatted in one corner of the main

room.

The light fell but partially on the spy, whose
face was dark, like an Indian’s, and whose eyes
glared at them like a hyena’s.”

Beyond the door of Colonel Thunder‘s cabin
all was still. Although the night was lovely,
and the hour notgfar from dawn nobody seemed
abroad butcthe twain so strangely met.

“ The boy I saved from yer Injun 1” suddenly
asked Arkansaw. “ Did you know him?"

“ 0v course.”

“ Does the Queen?”

“I think so. He came hyar on her horse.”

.Arkausaw drew his bowie and balanced it on
his finger in an abstracted manner. The 
bud watched him out of the corners of his eyes.

All at once the bowie-king started 01!.

‘ “ I’m gettin’ the fever again,” the Rosebud

man from the Pink Forks

heard him mutter. “ I want to break suthin’——
to smash things!”
The Rosebu sprung after him, and tried to

‘ stop him, but in vain;‘Arkansaw was hu ng
- toward Silent Sam’s cabin as test as ong
‘wldes could take him thither. ., ’ v- r

 " Holdioni” hallooed the Rosebud.

 

Arkansst jerked loose from his hand and
strode on.

With a. muttered oath the irritated man
threw himself before him.

“In the name of Queen Merta, I command
you to stop i” he said stern] .

Arkansaw came to a sud en halt.

“You go on like a. mad wolf an’ never look
behind ou,” the Rosebud continued. “ Yer
eyes ar' ike nn owl’s. Look over yer shoulder
an’ tell me of you see anythin crouched by the
clumE ov sage we’ve jes’ asses.”

Ar ansaw obeyed, and is eyes flashed as they
dilated.

4“ I’ll tell you in a minute Rosebud."

_As he spoke he whipped out his bowie and
Etching it by its sharp point whirled tor a.

row.

“Jehosaphat! it might be one ov my red
he s," exclaimed the Rosebud.

at The Man with the Knife pushed the arm
of intervention aside, and before It could return
to intercede further, the bowie shot through the
moonlight.

A sharp cry answered the throw, and a figure
sprung up only to fall back and lie perfectly
still beside the clump of bushes twenty feet
away.

The two friends looked into each other’s eyes
for an instant, and then Ai'kansaw bounded to‘
ward his target.

“It was small game but the bite of young
rattlesnakes is death," said Arkansaw answer—
ing the Rosebud’s look. “ We must get outcn
this. Thet cry roused the diggin’s,” and strid-
ing away he led his friend a rapid heat toward
the gulo . '

As they were obliged to cross the road that
led from Lodcton to the Bar, Arkansaw sud-
denly halted and pointed toward the distant
minin town. V ‘

“Ag!” exclaimed he, “ef the Queen of Fate
knew who my bowie killed back thar, she’d
smile in her sleeE to—night, an’ the man in the.
armory ’d mount is horse an’ come hyar.,’

The Rosebud was almost bursting with im-
patience. . _

“ Who did you strike?” he cried, as his great
bronze hand tightened on the knife-thrower’s

arm. ’ r

“ His right bower i—his life—guard—the young
In 'un !“ A

‘ latana i”

“ Wal, I should smile.”

“ Thet blow will strike ez deep ez the tqeft 0v
the secret diary' did,” the Rosebud laid. “ When
we go back—J’ , r

“ Another man from Lodetonl” he interrupt-
ed. “Mehbe it ar’ the cap’n himself.”

The two worthies looked down the mountain
road. The were so near together that not only
their shoul ers, but their mustaches touched.

The road to Lodeton was hard, almost flinty.
A horse was coming on at a gallop-a horse
whose feet were accustomed to mountain ‘ 'sses,
for his gallopwas uniform; not shoot xpped.

All at once the men separated and, like the
sentinels of ‘an army, they watched and listened
for the enemy. - y

“ He must/stop hyar,” cattle Arkansaw‘s voice
across the narrow way. “ The old Signal,

 

    

18 Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

 

bud. It does me good to ive it to you ag’in.
If it is the cap’n we‘ll go bac an’ git her blessin’
tn—iiiorrer." "

On came the night rider, apparently eager to
reach his destination, and all at once he and his
horse loomed up between the two men like an
ap arition.

t the same instant two fl ures darted at the
bridlerein, and the horse wit a snort of terror
reeled from the sight.

“Draw or die!” cried the comrades in one
breath.

A laugh full of music was the answer, and
from the slender figure that leaned forward to
peer into their faces the men started with ejacu-
ations of astonishment. '

“ The Queen ov Fate! by the jumpin' jingoi”
foil from Arkansaw’s lips.

“ Queen Marta!” cried the Rosebud.

Just then the moon emerging from a curtain
of cloud showered her soft light upon the scene,
and the handsome face of the woman in the
saddle was revealed. /

“ So you have met again?” she said, glancing
from the Rosebud to Arkansaw, on whom her
dark eyes rested. “ I thought—”

“ Thet Arkansaw hed gone back on ye, eh?”
interrupted the bowie-king. “ No! Queen;
Look at that toothpick,” and his eyes blazed as
he held the bowie up in the moonlight. “ I
hevn’t forgot in old cunnin’. I war jes’ sayin’
to the Rosebud het ou’d smile in yer sleep ter‘
night, of you knowe whom Istruck.”

“ Well, who was it?” asked the woman, eager-
ly, but with some emotion.

“ The young Injun—-his right bower.”

The Queen of Fate seemed to frown.

“ I wish you had spared him a little longer,”

she said. “ We’ll all be together before long.”
“ Will he come hyar?”
l‘ Yes )1

Arkansaw’s eyes fairly sparkled.
h “  gittin’ back to my normal condition !”
e sai .

CHAPTER X.
HALLECK AND ms FOES.

GOLD (Donna's enemy, the Queen of Fate,
had ridden from Lodeton to Vulture Bar for a
purpose.

She had encountered, unex ctedly, as we
have seen, the two men who ha served her be—
fore. The meeting, if not foreseen, was not an
unwelcome one, although the announcement of
Catana’s death had brought a frown to the wo—
iiian’s face.

“Then,” she said after along use, lookin
ntIthe Rosebud and Arkansaw ‘ then, if we
thinvs have happened at the 'Bar, perhaps I
should not keep on just now.”

“ I think you should not, Queen,” the Rosebud
said, in which opinion The Man with the Knife
concurred with a look. “ Things ar’ terribly torn
up thar jes’ now. I would wait awhile—until
he comes, mebbe. We ar’ Eittin’ things lna
pie—pie order. Arkansaw ez diskiver'ed t e
“$153K; " M

l interrupted arts, 0 nin her 9 on.

“An’ I’ve ‘flxed’ it, too,”pesaidgArkai)i’saw.

“They can’t work it; but,‘let me tap the cap

 

once, yes, jes’ let me tap it, an’—-whew! I’ll
make these old mountains shake."

The woman smiled, but it was the smile of an— -

ticipated ven eance. It added a new and more
intense spark e to her wonderful eyes.

“ If I must not go on, now, whither must I
go?" she asked.

“ I’ll show yer," said the Rosebud,
the bridle and leading the steed toward t e gulch,
fvhither, an hour before, he had sent his red al-

ies.

Arkansaw followed the couple with his ene-
trating and thoughtful eyes fixed on the gure
in the saddle.

“ Ef the Queen only knowed what I think I
am sure 0v, wouldn’t she be fur oin’ on to the
Bar? Why, the Rosebud ,an’ Ar ansaw, strong
92 they ar’ couldn‘t begin to hold ’er back,” and
the bowie— ‘ng grinned as he spoke.

A few minutes later Merta’s horse, still guided
by the man from the Pink Forks, entered the
rock gulch.

“ ou’ve never seen my pards?” the Rosebud
i{localizing up into her face as he halted.

o

A 51' a1, a mere bird—call as it seemed fell
from his lips, and the‘ waiting Utes sprung rom
their hiding-places.

Marta only sli htly started.

“This is yer ueen ez she is ourn,” said the
Rosebud by way of introduction, as he waved
his han toward the woman on the horse.

~ “ You ar’ in her service like Arkansaw an me

ar’, an’ of necessary—an’ it may be—you must

shed yer last drop ov blood fer‘her.”

The Indians gathered around the woman and
swore to devote their lives to her.

“ I am not going to lack for allies,” she said
under her breath. “I have more than I want.
But I sent a certain person ahead. Have you
seen him?"

The question was addressed aloud to the two

ers; they exchanged rapid glances.

“ Yes, we’ve both seen him,” Arkansaw au-
swered. ~ .

“ Where ishe now?” asked the Queen.

“ Back yonder among the wolvss. But never
mind him; he’ll take care ov himself." .

The answer was vague. It is true that Hal—
leck was “back yonder,” as Arkansaw termed
it; but the exact situation of the young man
was unknown to him. Had it been known, he
mi ht not have replied to Merta’s question in
sue reassuring words. _

“ Shoot your wa§to Halleck through the body
that covers him. irel"

These were the last commands we heard from
Colonel Thunder’s lips. ‘

The reader will recollect the event that called
them forth.

Esmer had tbrOWn herself between Bullock
and the leveled ’Weapons of the colonel’s men
and, startled for a moment her guardian, mad
with rage; had uttered the fatal word:

“ Fire! I

But not a pistol-shot filled the mine with its
thousand reverberations, not a hand went up to
level a revolver at her heart. , y .

‘1‘ Ar: on traitors?” thundered the irate colo-
ne .

rasping .

net the life‘ov a boy stan’ between yang.
an’dutytotbecap’nl’f' \ ' ‘ A“? '

    

 

enraged uestioner.

 

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Bogus

 ..  ,. “Valium ... «H

19

 

“A boy, cunnell” ventured one of the boldest.
“The most ov us hev knowcd furs long tune
thet Esmer is‘o gal, anltwe can’t kill sech acme-
tur. Ef it- ar’ ag’in’ duty, why, we can’t help
it!”

The man’s words didnot allay Colonel Thun—
der’s. excitement; he was still a tiger, seeing
nothing but the prey that was about to be torn
from his clutches. .. a » _ I

“ I’ll do it myself 1” he exclaimed, cockmglns
revolver as he sprung forward. “Sfan’ asrde,
Esmer, an’ let me at the Queen’s sgy. ’. -

The gil 1‘s answer was a. defiant ashmg of her
restless eyes; but she did not stir. ‘

“Touch him if you dare!” she send, steruly.
“ I am here to defend him, and to kill the per—
son who attempts his life.”

Her istol covered the man she addressed; the
light? the torches enabled him to look into the
barre .

All this scene had passed in the short space of
three minutes, during which time Halleck was
recovering his bewildered senses.

“ But one life is sought here: two must not be
sacrificed!” he suddenly exclaimed as he- pushed
Esmer gently aside and stepped to the front.
“"Now, if you, coward-like, take the life of an
unarmed man, I am at your mercy. But they
say, and I have helped to confirm the report,
that Colonel Thunder fights only those equally
armed with himself. Pardon me if 1 have

. lied l” »

The eyes of Gold Conrad’s man sunk tothe
round abeshed; but only for a second.
“Throw him a weapon!” he said to his men.
Wye hands went forward simultaneously, and
five revolvers fell at Halleck’s feet.
The young man did not disdain the offer of

assistance, but stooped and caught up two of the

weapons. _

A look of superiority beamed in his orbs as he
rose and faced Colonel Thunder. ' ‘ ’

“ I am ready for you,” was his challenge.

” But Ium not for you,“ was the strange re—
ply. “ If you Will restore 'the '1'evolvers I’ll
promise to meet you at some future time."

“ Agreed I” said Halleck, throwing down the
pistols. “‘ I didn’t come to the Bar to fight you,

' particularly, Colonel Thunder; but as you are

his friend, you will always find me readyto
meet you."

A mad flash of Thunder’s eye was the only
answer.

Suddenly they fell upon his protegee.

r “What ar’you goin’ to do?” he exclaimed!

“ Ar’ you goln’ to take up with the Queen ov
Fate’s spy, or nr’ you goin’ to stick by me?”

“ We will meet again,” said Esmer in a hasty
undertone to Halleck before she answered her
“ But for your sake I hope
that mes lug will mot take place here. I am
grogger bound to that man. *r‘ I must go to

m

“be!” merely said Halleck.
Esmer’s hand touched his asshe'ntarted across
the space that - , ' her from Colonel

The men had already recovered’ their mole.
era. and Thunder had turned away. “

‘ Thunder.

5,,“ 1d ht Gold GOnrad Imustfi ht
,, HI W011 fig Wk: 3

r follows as Well,” mmmumd.

 

‘ over.

 

“ Well, I will not Shirk. The Queen‘s spy? I
can ufiford tribe called that since she hates the
same man I do. ’7.

The torches disappeared. but Halleck had fol-
lowed them to the o suing of the mine. He
was once more house the canopy of the hen—
vens, and not far from the Spot where Thunder
and his minions had recently seized him. '

He paused in the starlight for a few moments
and listened to the noises made by the depart—
ing band. ‘

‘1 am not safe here at present,” he murmur»
ed. “ I will seek the hills. Among them I can
plan in safety, and then I must be near the girl
who risked her life to-night for me.”

Halleck hurried away, but a short time after-
ward be halted suddenly, and then s rung back
from an object that lay in his path. his object
had a human shape, and, as it lay still, the
youn man ventured to examine it.

“ but!” he exclaimed as he turned the body
“ Catana? Who has taken coveted ven-

eance from me? Ah! I see. The Man with the

nite has been here. Then he hates all who
served Gold Conrad. The Queen of Fate hates
them, too, as I do. What is this mystery?” and
Halleck gazed strangely and with a perceptible
shudder into the cold face of his young Indian
enemy.

 

CHAPTER XI.
HOODWI‘N'KED.

IT was the evenlniof the next day, and eighty
miles from Vulture or a' man with an anxious
face stood in the shadcw of a great hill and
looked eagerly westward. ‘ ’ ,

He was apparently waiting for some one, for
he was growin restless, and every now and
then he cursed t e ill-luck that brought nobody
to his side.

In short, this man was Gold Conrad, and
he was waiting and watching for Catana. his
landian, the bearer of his first message to the

or. . . v

Night fell, about him, the stars came out, and
over the rim of the far-aWay httizonpeeped the
resplendent moon. “ ‘

‘ Curs‘e the laggard!” cried the magnate of
Lodeton. “‘ He'was to have been here before
this hour. What keeps the scarlet dog?”

His uestion was answered by the, sound of
boots t at came from the west, and a gleam of
satisfaction lit 11 his eyes. ‘

“Coming at est, the rascal!” he exclaimed,
startin forward: but a minute later bewth
bnctlélwmh a cry of astonishment and drew a
pls . 

The person was not Cutanu, but a stalwart
fellow, who sat astride of a heated horse, and
Gordon had. seen at a glance that this man‘s face
was concealed by a mask.

The eyes that glittered beneath the dark fabric "
that formed the mask saw Gold Conrad at the
very moment of his discovery. _ V t _

, “ Hello!” said the two men simultaneously, ‘
and the rider drew rein and leaned forward.

“Gold Conrad, by the stars l”_ he exclaimed.

l“ You must hey knowad that I war comin’,"and

the s or chuckled. , ‘

“ o, sir: I was not waiting for you," Gordon
answered; and, with a proud curling of his lips,

’o, w \

 

20 ,- Gold Conrad's Watch-Dogs.

 

he added: “And besides, I never make engage-
ments with people who hide their faces.”

“ Oh, you don’t! Then I’ll go on an’ you kin
wait fur the next man from the Bar.”

The tone was a careless one, and the hands of
the unknown guietly gathered up the reins.

From the M? A messenger from Colonel
Thunder, perhaps. Gold Conrad started.

“ If you are from the Bar, you are for me,”
he said, quickly. .

“ J es ez you like it. I didn’t swear thet I
lwould give you the message I hev on my kar-

153.

Curiosity was almost devouring Gordon.

“A message! Quick! let me have it.”

The eyes' under the mask seemed to have a
triumphant twinkle, and eagerly watched Gold

V Conrad, as he snatched the piece of paper from
the hand that extended it.

“ You can’t read it b er!” said the mask.

“ We’ll see i” and onion glanced over his
shoulder at the moon. “ I haven’t lost my eye—
:ight’,’ and besides I’ve read by moonlight be-

ore.

Fortunately the handwriting was large and
plain, and Conrad mastered it as it seemed with
a single glance.

It was a short message but one that made him
grow pale.

“ You are wanted here at once.
hand. Catana is dead!

Gold Conrad looked up at the eyes that re-
garded him.

“ What has happened at the bar? Tell me."

“ I am obs in' orders. I was not to tell you
an hing. he cunnel will do thet."

ordon looked disa pointed.

“ But my faithful ndinn is dead. Was be
murdered?”

“The found him with a great big bowie
stab. he knife must hev been thrown at him.”

Gordon shudder’ed and grated his teeth.

“The man with the knife!” he muttered. “By
Jove! [will make short work of him! So the
crisis is at hand? Good! I saw yesterday that
it was coming. Now I will not shirk it. I will
go at once." i ,

The last sentence was s oken aloud, and to the
messenger from Vulture ar.

“ I thought you would,” was the reply.

“When can you go hackl” Conrad asked.

“Any time; but not on this horse.”

“ Of course not. I’ll furnish the horses.
Come."

Gold Conrad turned and walked rapidly to-
ward Lodeton which was not far away.

He entered this house, put some private
Wpers in his bosom and went to the stables.

hile lie was in the house the messenger, still
masked, stood on the porch waiting for him.
All at once a toad hopped into the moonlight
from beneath_the house and began his usual
, quest for food. The eves of the man sparkled
at sight of the little animal, and when it stopped
about twenty-five feet from him he drew a huge
bowie from his belt and threw it carelessly at
the little creature. 1

Over and over went the blade its polished
surface scintillating in the moonli b and a
moment later it cruelly pinned the to the

The crisis is at
THUNDER."

q

 

ground! The knife-thrower seemed to rejoice
at his feat, and taking several hasty strides
toward the spot, he quietly resumed his weapon.

A short time afterward Gordon appeared,
mounted and leading another horse y the
bridle.

“ We will go now.
sundown to-morrowl”

“We kin try,” was the response, as the mes—
senger vaulted upon the back of the horse
brought from the stables for his use. “Now
we’re 01f, cap’n.”

Lodeton was asleep, or apparently so. Not a
figure was seen by the two men as they began
their journey. ,

As they galloped by a. certain pretentious
house Conrad turned his head and looked at it.
His face had a mingled expression of contempt
and triumph, and turning quickly u n his
companion, he found his eyes fixed on t e same

hon. . ,

“l0 wonder how Queen Marta gets along?”
Conrad said, smilin . . I

“ Oh, the Queen? Is thet her shant l”

“ That is where she lives, but one oosn’t see
her much of late. She doesn’t like me, I fancy,”
and Gold Conrad tried to laugh, but it was no
parent that his thoughts were far from the sub-

8(

Cali we reach the Bar by

Side by side, when the mountain road was
wide enough, the two men galloped toward the
Bar. Conrad no longer paid attention to his

uide. The hours sped away, but they did not
Ealt, and morning found them still among the
silver mountains of the San Juan country.

Daylight showed Conrad the figure and dress
of his guide—the former was burl and strength
itself. the latter commonplace an unsuspicious.
Wheg the road was narrow, the messenger went
ahea .

The day witnessed a few brief halts to rest
themselves and their steeds, and night overtook
them near their journey’s end.

All at once the guide drew rein.

“I must leave on hyar.” he said, looking at
Conrad. “ Yon er isthe Bar,” and be stretched
out an arm famous for its great length.
know whar the colonel lives. “ ion‘ve been
hyar afore, I believe.” .

Gordon nodded.

“I will pay you for your work” he said. i

“All you have to do is to mention this service
to me, and—” ,

“ Oh, I’m paid already,” was the interruption.
“I obey orders; that’s m duty."

A wave of the bronze and that had held a
rein for forty—eight hours bade Gold Conrad
adieu, and the next moment he was alone.

Eagerness- carried him quickly forward, and
haltin a few minutes later before Colonel
Thnn er’s door, he shouted for its master.

The summons was almost immediately an:

swered. for the door flew open and the stalwart ,

flzure of his man appeared on the threshold.
There was a strange. mad flash in Thunder‘s
eyes, and for a moment he stared at the face be-
fore him.

Then recognizing it all at once he uttered an
oath of surprise.

I “Stay back!" he threw over his shoulder in '

whisperstosomeoneintheinioflorottheosb‘n,

 

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Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dog's.

   

21

 

and then, shutting the door, he sprung to Gor-
don’s side.

“ In the name of Hades. what brought you to
thsBar at this time t” he exclaimed. “ They’re
all h or, an’ the crisis hez come, an‘——”

“ hat’s what you said in your message."

“ Wy what, cap’n?”

“ hy, the message you sent by the man who
wore a mask.” .

Another start and a maniacal stare that paled
Gold Conrad’s cheeks. _ '

“ I sent no message 1 hevn’t written a line
fur a year! You've been hoodwinked, cnp’n.”

Gordon seemed about to fall from his horse.

“ I ’lowed they war up to suthin,” Colonel
Thunder went on. “ 1’ ve met the devil with the
fourteen-inch bowie, an’ hyar’s his mark,” and
the speaker smiled as be exhibited a bandaged
shoulder to thestaring eyes of his master. “ He
missed his mark; but poor Catanal he didn’t
miss!”

Gold Conrad roaned.

“ They’re all yar, 1 say.”

“ All? ’

“ Yes, Arkansaw the Rosebud. an’ his red
pards the boy Halleck, an’ the Queen uv Fate.”

“M’erta here?”

“ Hyar, on I'm livin’! But since you ar‘ hyar,
cap’n, we will face ,‘em understandin’ly. A
man with his face hid fetched you a. note from

me e
. ‘3 Yes: your name was signed to it.”

“ It’s the Queen’s work. The man war either
Arkansaw, er the Rosebud.”

“Would to fortune that I had suspected as
much,” sighed Gor. on.

“ Too late now. We must face the music.”

“ And win!” and Gordon’s hand descended on
Colonel Thunder’s shoulder, with an emphasis
not to be mistaken. “Stand by me, colonel,
till we sweep this league of reptiles from our
path. I‘ know, or I. bought, his da would
come, and I thank my star that it nds me
 for the fray. No mercy! not wan to the

“He's a brick, cap’n. I’ve seen ’im tried.
His mother’s blood fires his heart. Beware 0v
that young tiger. ”

“Pshawl”. and Gordon laughed. “ Where are
your men?"

“Near by. We’ll hold a, caucus about mid-
ni ht. You’re tired.”

‘ Yes. I’m not used to such long rides. . You
have a cot in your cabin, colonel?” and Gold
Conrad began to dismount.

“ Thet cabin isn’t the place fur you even ef it
a)" mine!” said Colonel Thunder hastilyas he
canon anxious glance over his shoulder at the
(30613815111 closed. “Silent Sam hez an extra
r a 81", besides, his shanty ar’ the best place
fur “‘9’ caucus,” and before Gordon could re-
Ply Thunder was leading his horso away.

The 01ing of the watchdogs would have
disputed is mllfiter’s entrance to his cabin with
the bowie and the revolver, and that, too, when
its only occupantmflsmer. '

CHAPTER. XII.

1‘“ “if” um caucus.
THE “080W WWW .Colonel Thun-
der had Wed1°mldfim§5moportions by

 

twelve o’clock that night. One by one the des-
peradoes of the Bar arrived at Silent Sam’s,
and were greeted by the penetrating eyes of
Conrad Gordon. He eyed each one as if he
would read his very thoughts, and if a face had
been masked he would have exposed it if death
had followed the next minute.

Some of the watch-dogs had never Seen Gold
Conrad before, and first impressions were not
favorable ones. They did not like his looks al»
though he was their master. They wanted only
one leader—Colonel Thunder.

When the colonel came he introduced his
master separately to the swarthy five, and told
them that he would open the meeting.

Gold Conrad gave the crowd a quick .but
searching glance as he left the three-legged stool
upon which he had seated himself af rthe in-
troduction, and began:

“ Uur interests are at stake l“ he said. “ If we
do not strike first we will be struck and de-
stroyed. There are those in our midst to-night
who seek to wrest Vulture Bar from us; they
have already killed, and the knife of one of their
number has pierced Colonel Thunder's shoulder.
We came together to counsel in re ard to our
safety; we must step on the serpen heads; we
must crush them, and to do this we must strike
first and effectually. I came here not to lead
you, but to be led by the man’ you love to fol—
low—any old companion of other days—Colonel
Thunder. ,

The colonel smiled grimly at this compliment.

“ We were together when the chief actors in
our proposed destruction formed a league—ten
years ago. They did not succeed then becausa
we buifled them. We had silver mines then just
as we have now, we—"

Conrad Gordon paused, for Ice had catight
Colonel Thunder’s glance which, rapid as a flash
of lightning, had spoken volumes. It seemed to
5,, .

I xDon’t tell too much about our past, cap’n.
The boys went back on’me the other night.
Kee ’em in the dark.”

“ his is what the colonel’s lips would have
said if they had uttered the sentiments of his

eyes: ,

“ Well, in short we have been follbwed,
dog ed by an avenging triad for ten years.
Gor on went on. “A fourth has been added to
the league, also some Indians from the Tinaia
country. Two of this number, I learn, on have
seen—the demon with’the bowie and he boy.
The other two are not far away. As I said be-
fore, we must crush this league. ’

A kind of, applause followed the last sentence,
and Thunder’s eyes said: ,

“You’ve said enough for the present, cap’n.
Now, let me sail in.” r .
Gordon stepped back-and resumed his seat as
the stalwart 'figure of his head watch-dog strode
to the center of the rooom He shrugged his
broad’shoulders much after the mannerof a.
beer, as he halted beside the barrel on which
stood the several .contributions from Whisky
J ose’s bar which had been “sampled ” previous
to the opening of the caucus.

“We must have revange!” he exclaimed, in
his hoarse tone. which so well suited his rou h

 

personnel. “They want the cap’n’s bl g

' \

 

22 ,

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

 

they’ve hed some ov mine; they wantfio ruin
the Bar. Shel they do it?” >

The speaker’s eye took in the group before
him as he put the question, and as five men
sgrung up a thundering “ No l" seemed to shake
t e roof.

“Swear to spare none!” continued the colonel.
“When I say none, I don’t exempt the b0 .
We war fools the other night: we bed the we f
in the trap and opened the door for him.”

Gold Conrad’s eyes gleamed with intense sat-
isfaction. The beauty of Queen Mex-ta would
not turn the Six Revolvers from the path of
vengeance; and when he recollected how pow—
erful it had been in days gone by, he rejoiced
that the time had come when it could not make
traitors of his adherents.

All at once something that had a glitter
passed like an arrow over the uplifted bowies,
and with a dull thud buried itself in the ace of
hearts!

Those who looked a moment saw that it was
an immense knife whose blade would have
measured fourteen inches!

A wild cry greeted this startling interruption
of the proceedings, and with one accord every
man wheeled toward the door.

To the surprise of all it stood wide open, and
in the light of the cabin lamp appeared two
giants whose broad shoulders touched each other,
so close their masters stood together.

Arkansaw and the Rosebud! Gold Conrad
knew them well. .

A defiant smile lurked iu-Arkansaw’s eyes, as
well as under his dark mustache, and several
bowies son ht the Revolvers’ belts. At the
same time osebud’s arms rose displaying two
immense “ navys ” at their end.

" Ef it isn't fight, mebbe, this will r’ile ye,"
said The Man with the Knife, and he tossed a

iece of paper toward the barrel. “It ar’ fur
onrad Gordon; but it ’tain’t no secret.”

Gold Conrad went forward and mechanically
picked up the pa er. He seemed to know
whence it,came for is eyes flashed as he took
it up. - “. ‘

The next moment he had unfolded it and read:
" Mr ENEMY:—

“ We are all together once more, You have kept
your secret well for ten ears. Tell me where my
child is before I strike. Ea'rA, Qvaax or Fara."

Gordon threw the message at Colonel Thunder
witha contemptuous sneer which to the two

I pards at the door meant defiance. V

Thunder glanced over it and a strange 1i ht
beamed in his eyes when he mastered the net
sentence.

“Here, take it back to its author,” cried
Gold Conrad, and an instant later the rejected
messa e fell at Arkansaw’s feet. “ My answer
is the atred l have given her through the ten
years of which she prates. Let her find her
child—4f she can!” and the speaker laughed vic-
toriously; ' -

‘ffiev it yer own way,” answered The Man
with the Knife. “I’ve got back to mi normal
condition, and I’ve uit throwin’ the nife fur
amusement. Ask 00 one] Thunder ef Ihaven’t.”

Thunder hit his mustache and looked death at
the s eak’er through his dark eyelashes.

f‘ ow, good—night, my honeysuckles,” con-

 

tinued Arkansaw, “Take my advice; go on
with yer meetin’ an’ don’t fuller us, fur you
might accidently run ag’in’ the pint ov a
bowie.”

The two men backed slowly from the li ht.

Not one of the conclave ventured to allow,
and for several minutes after the twain’s de-
parture pale face looked into, pale face speech—
ess and awestricken. "

“His knife can’t kill all!” suddenly cried
Gold Conrad, flushing when he thought of the
pards’ escape. “We stand here like abancl of
fools frightened by a shadow. Follow them!
trail them! they will lead us to the Queen’s hid-
ingiplace; then for the vengeance‘that satisfies.”

e strode toward the door, but as he passed

Colonel Thunder a hand touched his arm and a ,

voice whispered:

“Don’t make a fool ov yerself, cap’n. You
an’ me wouldn’t git ten steps from Silent Sam’s
before~whizl whii'rl an good~by Lodeton and
Vulture Bar.”

The colonel’s words had the desired effect.
Gold Conrad stopped. -

“ What would you do?” he asked.

“ In the first place, adjourn the caucus.”

“ And in the second place?—”

“Go to sleep and think until I see youto~
morrow.”

Gordon stared into Thunder’s face a minute.
before he spoke.

“I will,” he said, at length.
you__n

~ “ To—morrow.”

Fifteen minutes later Silent Sam and Gold

Conrad were the sole occupants of the cabin.

“I willsee

Colonel Thunder and his men had departed, ,

and Queen Merta’s enemy pretended to doze in
the cabin. _ ‘

All at once he rose and glided to the door.
ll'ilifhténg the latch, he crept out into the moon-

g .

“ He says I mustn’t see him till to-morrow;
but I can’t wait. I saw the strange light that
came into his eyes when he read that sentence
in which Merta spoke of her child. I believe he
knows something, and if he does I shall know it
before morning.” ' , , ‘ '

Conrad Gordon moved toward Colonel Thun-
der’s cabin and soon afterward tap ed on the
door. A sound inside responded, an the oaken
portal was ogened, ’not by the leader of his
watch-dogs. ut'b Esmer.

The girl star and uttered a cry of surfin'ise
as her eyes fell upon the figure in the moons lne,
and she was _ bout to shut the door when Gor-
don darted at‘ or and grasped her shoulder.

“ What] you alive?” he cried, dragging her
into the light. “ You’ye got her face, her eyes;
in short, her infernal beauty!” By Jovel I ought
to finish the job I did years ago, and then \I
ought to dispose of the man who has deceived
me. Let you live that she may embrace you

when she has Completed her. revenge? Neverl.

that shall not bcl” _
Esmor saw the revolver that flew from her
assailant’s belt; she heard the ominous click of
the lock, and then—- ,
A tigerish or of rage at her left, the descent
of a human ya on V ,
sharp reportot :a p atoll ‘

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Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

23

 

\

The next moment Esmer, released, staggered
toward the cabin, while Gold Conrad reeled
from the smoking weapon clutched in Helleck a
hand.

 

CHAPTER XIII.
TWO REVELATIONS.

“Mnncmun Heaven! is it you? Go! do not
let him find you here when he comes back and
I’ve been lookin for him for an hour. do! it
is Esmer, the wait, that talks. He and his tigers
must not find you. I say they must not!”

Halleck looked into the eyes of the beautiful
speaker ins. dazed sort of manner. The girl’s
hand was on his arm, and her orbs were full of
resistiesa pleading. .

The young man  no notice of the person
who had staggered With a cry of pain from the
muzzle of his revolver. He saw Gold Conrad
no lon er, saw nobody but the protegee of Col-
onel T under.

“ I owe you my life!” she went on. “ I can-
not tell you all my gratitude new, for you are
in danger while you stand here. I could not
repeat the experience of the mine and live.
The have taken a new oath—the colonel and
his volvers. You belong to the league—to
Queen Merta’s avenging band—and you have
the same enemies that she possesses. But I keep

on here—to die, perhaps! Go! go! let me meet
im alone when he returns.”

Halleck found himself pushed from the ex-
cited ker, but still he lingered.

. “ I t ink I could tell you something ” he said.
“ I think I have discovered a secret that might
change your whole life.”

Esmer bounded toward him, and was about
to uestion him when a sound came over the

_ me e hill.

“Keep it!” she exclaimedu “Keep it, I say,
and go now, that you may tell it to me to-mor-
row or nextvday. They are coming back—
Colonel Thunder and his minions.”

Determined to drive Halleck from the fit,
she turned toward the cabin and threw]: a
fglance of love and command from the door he-

ore she disappeared.

At that moment a coarse laugh greeted the
youn men's ears.

Ha leek hesitated no longer, but sprung away
and hurried toward the mines.

The events of the last few moments had blot~

‘ ted Gold Conrad from his memoryasit were.

He did not think of him until he was a goodly
dis‘ance from the spot.

Then he came to a halt. ’

“What have I done?” he asked himself. " I
have killed Gold Conrad. I have robbed eon
Marta of her revenge, balked all her plans ’

To Halleck the situation was b no means
Ieasant. HeJooked back toward t e Bar, and‘
hen forward ,at the lofty hills whose depths

were silver and (gold-mines,

To go forwar would be to encounter the wo-
man Whom b511ij robbed of ven eance; to
fore the
six Revolvers bound now by 9, new oath,

He went 0n until he [Quad himsel! in the
presence of a handsome  Who stood in
the light of a fire that gaminguw mine,

n11“,  1 (your, > p .

 

 

 

Halleck tried to avoid her piercing orbs as he
went forward lest they should read in his looks
the events of the last few minutes.

“Come here 1” she said, in a tone of command,
as she smiled faintly at his strange action.
“ Arkansaw and Rosebud are not here. I
want to tell you somethin -—something about a
being of whom you have t ought and dreamed a
thousand times.” . -

Halleck started with a cry which it would
have been hard to have suppressed.

“ My mother!” he exclaimed, as he came for-
ward. “ Tell me something about her; but oh!
tell me the truth. He, the man whom we both
hate, calls me the son of an Apache woman, and
Colonel Thunder, learning the lie from his mus.
ter, has intimated the same thing. ' But you will

‘ve the lie to all such slanders. You will vin—
icate her character.”

Merta watched Halleck strangely while he
spoke, and at the same time she seemed to be

utting her story into proper shape. The old
ight—the flashes of revenge that lit up her dark
eyes gradually gave place to a softer look that
rendered her none the less beautiful.

“ It is a lie,” she said. “ I knew your mother,
and I know too well the man whose son you are.
You were born in an Indian lodge, your godfa-
ther was Running Wolf, the war chief of the
Apache nation, and your earliest playmates
were the naked children otthat mighty tribe.”

Halleok’s head fell in shame.

“Then,” he said, forgetting the Queen’s first
words, “ then my mother, was—”

“ She was not i” was the interruption. ‘»“ And
he should be the last man to call you an Indian.
There is Spanish blood in your veins.” -

“So Esmer thought.”

“ Esmeri” asked the Queen, mechanically, as if
the name had some strange attraction ,for her;
but seeing that Halleck made no reply, she con—
tinued: ‘You first saw the light of day in on
Apache Wigwam because your mother was driven
from home b the fiend who had already blight—
ed her life— he ' villain who, not content with
such infamy, robbed me of all that I held deer
in life——-a little child. Your mother was beauti-
ful; she clung to you until one ni hhamong the
mountains that overlooked the pache camp,
she was found by a few warriors, dead! She
had taken you with her, and you had disappear-

. You cannot remember?”

“ No,” said Halleck. “ My recollection does
go back to an Indian cam ; but it belonged to
the Comanchea, not the paches. I wandered
up and down the Rio Grande until I fell in with
our enemy and became his slave.”

“ Yes; you became his slave and I his hunter,”
said Merta, as her eyes flashed again. ‘.‘ I bided
my time, for I knew that you would become his
enemy. He hates you because "-she Caught
Bullock’s arm and almost hissedw“ because you
look like our mother!”

“ And Ihate him now because he killed her!"

Queen Merta step ed proudly back and gazed
at the oung man w 056 blood she had made as
hot as boiling water. I ~

“ Ahi” sbe exclaimed, " if you knew another
thing your bate mi ht vanish and before. mom
ing on m ht his Side and tell him that \
you orsave. ’ ‘ ‘

 

24

 

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

 

, “ Neverl"
‘ “ You, might turn from me and leave me to
carrv out in reven e alone.”

“Never, now! know enough to make my
hate eternal. You could not strengthen it, nor
could any revelation break its force. ”

“ Do not be too hasty,” Marta said, advancing
again, with her eyes fixed on Halleck. “Rash
vows are bad ones. Would you hate your
:father with a. hatred that seeks blood?”

" My father?"

“Conrad Gordon l”

The Queen of Fate uttered the name in an im-
pressive tone and at the same time eagerly
watched its effect.

Halleck had ex ected the revelation; he did
not start back an utter any cry; but stood still
in his tracks and dropped his head. But Merta
saw his eyes through his long, black lashes.

' “ Your father l” she said, touching him gent-
ly. “ DidI stun you?"

He looked up.

“ No!" was the answer. “ I am not sorry
that I met him an hour since.”

“What! you met him?” she exclaimed.
“ Where?”

“ Buck there—at the Bar. Fate made me the
avenger.”

There was a strange, wild look in Halleck’s
eyes. ' I

“You met him——myvold foe? You encoun-
tered him. you mean! you had words!—you—”

“ I killed him !"

These three words fell on Queen Merta’s ears
like the knell of death. 3

She staggered from the speaker and stood a
few feet away like a statue of horror. Her e, as
seamed ready to burst from their sockets. al-
leck lost his color, too.

“You kill him? you? you?” suddenly broke
from her lips. “He wasgninel I swore that I
would take his life. He Wronged me more than
he wron ed you. He slew our mother, but he
widowed; me and stole my 0 ild -my little Inez.
I have shadowed him for ten years, and in
‘a thousand Ways I have stabbed him to let him
know that vengeanco slept not. I had a motive
in all this." I still hoped, that he would reveal
the secret he has guarded so well; but now
you have sealed his lips—you! Do you know
what my second great oath was? I swore that
I would slay the person that took his life, and
{on have baffled me, you have made the life-

unt of Queen Marta one that will last for.
ever!” ,'

She sprung at Halleck as she uttered the last
,word. He recoiled, but the flashin eyes before
him told ‘him that. it would be deat to attempt

to draw. ' ,

“ Yougflalleckl hisflsoul" she cried. “ You

- would not spare him for me. Why did yen kill
him? Did you discover that—”

“ No! .1 killed him to save your child’s life—
the life of our Inez—the Esmer who told me i
had Spanis blood in my veins." 1.-

The effect of these words was magical.

A cry walled from her lips, and“ her look .once
more became a wild stare. é

“ What do you say 1” she suddenly cried.
“ You killed him to save my child—my IneZl
Where is she?”

I

 

Before Halleck could reply, two burly men
sprung into the cavern, and he heard the rough
voice of Arkansaw.

“ We’ve got to hurry up matters, Queen," he
said.‘ “The wolves hev been fallin’ out 'mon
themselves. Gold Conrad hez been wingedg,
fur Silent Sam ar’ dressin’ his wound at his
shanty.”

Queen Marta and Halleck exchanged signifi-
cant looks.

“Vengeance, I thank you!” she ejaculated.
“ You are still preserving him for the Queen of
Fate. Halleck, your very revolver is in my
service. Remember: he is mine!” and with the
last word she turned to the two men.

f‘Hyar’s yer note Queen]! said the bowie-
king extendin his hand with a piece of paper
in it. “ The osebud an‘ I carried it down to
the korkiss, but he sent it back, an’ without his
compliments, either. However, I left mine
thar~a toothpick stickin’ in one ov Sam’s lucky
herds!” and the man finished his sentence in a
broad grin. ’ .

Queen Marta took the paper, and, tearing it
up, threw it at her feet.

CHAPTER XIV.
A BOWIE FINDS A HEART.

THAT same night three Indians well mounted
rode over the mountain road toward Lodeton.
They were no plumes; but their long black hair
hung undressed down their backs; they were
clad, too, in garments demi-civilized; but out of
their eyes looked the fiery nature of the savage.
Each carried a rifle "across the saddle-bow, and
within reach of their red hands was the deadly
revolver which they could handle so well.

Their general make-up told that they had set
out on an im rtant expedition. The last words
of the beautiful woman who had just dismiSsed
them still rung in their ears; and they still saw

 

.

in imagination the flashinggyes and the heaving v

bosom of the Queen of Fa

Silence now reigned in the cavern which we
have just left. The only figure in the flickering
flrelight belonged to Gold Conrad's female foe.
She set one rock and appeared to be watching
the flickering of the fire; but if her look was a
strange one, for one of her temperament, it was
evident that thought was at work.

“Inez! Inez! is it truethat you are near me?"
she suddenly exclaimed, starting up.
is he? I will ask him more. He shall tell me all
he knows.” "

Stepping ba ck amongilgie shadows of the mine,
she called the, name of lleck several times, but
received no response.

“ He Walked by me while I was thinkiulz; he
could do that,” she said, withdrawing, disap~
pointed. “Why did I notsee him? If he has
found my child, he has gone to her. I will find
her, too.” ,

A moment later the figure of Queen Merta
went toward the Bar. The place was not un«

~ .kn0wn to her. for once or twice she had visited

it in disguise and knew it as well as Halleck did.
This time she did not look like herself her face
had been purposely blackened with ,lJB dirt of
the mine. and her upper lip was ornamented by
a. jet-black mustache which did not appear out
of place. Clad ’ in the suit which she were 59

l

“ Where '

  

.a......_a._»—-~_i._....__._i_ ,. “A”

“whswgwu,

rut,

 

 

 

     

  

i 

 

 

 

 

began to open.

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs. 23

 

 

 

Welland in which she had made the journey to

the Bar, she .looked like a young miner. But
beneath her Jacket 3. heart which she could not
control was beating wildly, and above the mus-
tache a pair of handsome eyes were burning in-
tensely.

Silent Sam’s cabin wasnct wholly unknown
to her, and going up to its little window, Marta
ventured to peer into the room. She saw the
bowie that still perforated the ace of hearts,
and then her an fell upon the figure of a man
on a stool.  forehead was bound by a red
handkerchief, and as he sat m the light of the
lamp still on the barrel, the Queen of Fate
studied him with blazing orbs.

It was Conrad Gordon.

Lying on a cot in the darkest corner of the
room was Silent Sam, the guardian of the fuse,
apparently asleep; but the avenger at the win-
dow saw only the man on the stool.

"‘ Tc-morrow and to—morrow night!” she
hissed as she withdrew. “ Dream on, plan on,
my enemy; the vengeance that has not sle t for
ten years strikes the blow that ruins an kills
tn-morrow night.”

Unconscious of the presence of the Queen,
Gold Conrad continued in his abstracted mood,
while she with a lighter step hurried away.

Suddenly she ca , to a halt, and stooped in
the shadow of a 61%}: of bushes—a shadow cast
by the moon. ‘

She saw a figure emerge tron: the last cabin.
and as it passed near her, her watching eyes
saw thatit was Halleck’s. _

Queen Merta bounded toward the but when
the young man had disappeared; but when near
the door, she stopped and surveyed her mas-
culine dress.

“ I must see her!” she said, going on again.
“ She cannot know me in this arh, even if Hal-
leck has told her all. Inez, nez, I am nearer
than you dream." .

She went on and halted at the door of Colonel

v Thunder’s cabin. For a moment she listened

there. and then rapped lightly. ' v r

“Who’s there?” came from the interior of the
cabin. _ , _

“ Halleck,” answered the Queen, imitating
the young man’s tone to perfection. “ I forgot
something which is very important.”

The Queen of Fate held her breath as the door
She knew that Esmer’s face
would be in the moonlight, while hers, in the

v shadows, would not betray her emotions.

The next mdmant the bewitching face of

'Colonel Thunder’s protegee appeared in the

 

doorway.

“Come in l” Esmer said. “ You must not
3t,” %, for——- Oh! you are not Halleck. I
am d wed."

The Queen of Fate thrust forth her hand to

"579“ the closing of the door, but vainly, for

film? bad film back with an exclamation of
111 Mo and t t 9 door in her very face. And
be ore 8‘13 crumoover she heard the fall of the
iron bal‘ W 16h. her that the door was so-
cured agfilgfi  entrance. ~

Marta 1 no Wilhelm several seconds: her
dilated orbs stared at the don

- r r, and her white
gogwldthatshe.h%~a.~, shoe. manser dear

  
   

 

“ You cannot come in," said Esmer from the
inside. “ And if you do not wish to meet
Colonel Thunder, you had best move on at
once.”

The voice roused Queen Merta, and instead of
retreating, she went forward.

“ I am not Halleck, that is true; but I am his
friend,” she said, with a. pair of pale lips at the
crevice. “ We hale the same person. In revenge

.We are inseparable.”

“ Then. if you do not want to fail in your ven-
geance—if you do not want to com romise me,
you will go away," Esnier answer .

“I want to see you: I must.”

“ You shall not, now.”

“ You do not know me.”

“ That is true." ,

M ei'ta smiled. Then Halleck had not revealed
the secret.

“ It you‘ knew me you would open the door,”
she continued, turning to her wor again.

“ No, I would not,” was the rep]

For a moment the Queen of Fate seemed to be
fighting a mental battle.

“ Put. your car as near my lips as you can,”
she said, as she put her hand on her bosom, as if
to still her throbbing heart. “ Are you listen-
ing?” 1

‘I am.”
~Marta drew a lon breath.

“They‘ call you smer,” she said; “ but you
are Inez—yes, Inez! And I am your mother I”

The Queen heard a half-stifled cry on the in—
side, a gasp, and then a groan, and the next mo-
ment 3. body seemed to sink at the foot of the

door. ..
Then all was still.
“Heavens! I may have killed her!” 3

the avenger, listening With all her might. “ nd
my little Inez, ton!” . .

She dropped to the ground and listened at
the crevice between ~step and door. Her heart

seemed to beat no longer; her eyes had that .

mingled expression of fear and anxiety.

“' have killed her!” she cried, and then.

springing up, she threw herselg’a ainst the door

with the ferocity of a ti ; ut the heavy

Berta], protected by the iron, bar inside, stub-
ornly refused to yield.

Again and again she assaulted the door, only
to be received in the same manner, and, at last,
she drew off. _

- Then she cast her eyes up at the cabin, as if

she would demolish it in order to reach the young ,7

girl within. But it was too strong for her, an
she could not force her way to Esmer. .

All at oncea footste greeted her car, and she
turned to start violent y back, as her hand dart-
ed toward the'revolver near on her person.

“Draw an’, drbpl” came from the lips of the
man who stood, giant-like. behind the revolver
leveled at. her heart. “ You ar’ my pris‘ner.
Stan’ still I” k , ._ .

Queen Merta obeyed, and a single stride
brought the man directly upon her.

Then his hand encircled her arm, the pistol
crept nearer and she looked over it into the face
of Colonel Thunder!

“ Who ar’ you?” he asked. “ Bold onl I like
toanswer my own questions.”

A

‘ ‘fla

26 Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

 

As he spoke, he turned Merta until the moon-
light fell on her face.

“ A false mustache; I kin see thet,” he said,
after a moment’s scrutiny. “ An' I think—-
Wall by the bones ov my ancestors! I know
you now. Them eyes ’d betray you anywhar,”

M crtu. did not reply, although she saw that her
disguise had been enetrated. She stood before
Gold Conrad’s toolp in her true character.

“ 1 knowed you war in these parts; but I
di ln’t expect to find you hvar,” and he glanced
anxiously at the cabin. “Now I want to intro-
duce you to a sartain man.”

He started off; but the hand of the Queen of
Fate touched his arm.

“ One moment. We are enemies," she said.
“ You did not expect to find me here, you say.
Where else should I be?"

Colonel Thunder’s eyes dilated. _

Then she knew that she had a right to the girl
he had guarded so well. ’ I '

“ We’ll talk about this another time,” he said.
“ I want you to see somebody. I’m in his sar-
vice. as ov old.”

“ When he killed and stole!" flashed the
Queen.

. Thunder did not reply; but hurried Merta.
away. A last glance and one full of longing
she threw at the watch-dog’s cabin, and unre-
sistingly went with him.

Not a word fell from their lips until Colonel
Thunder halted before Silent Sam’s shanty.

Merta glanced into his face as if to say: “ I
know I am about to meet my great enemy.”

A lamp was still burning in the room and the
avenger’s quick look saw a man sitting on a
stool in the same posture that Gold Conrad had
last appeared to her.

But Colonel Thunder did not give her time to
prepare for the meeting close at hand, for

' throwing wide the door that was never locked

he dashed inside with her. At the same time
he uttered a cry of triumph that caused two

. man tospring creek—Silent Sam from his act,

and Gold Conrad from his seat.

“ Ha! ha!” laughed the colonel, hoarsely.
“ I’ve found the boss nug at! No dirt on this
lump, cap’n, but all 5011 gold. Look at ’er!
isn‘t she a beauty?”

Conrad Gordon fixed his eyes on his watch-
do‘g’s prisoner.

What ar’ yer 9 es?” exclaimed the colonel.
” I knowed ’er in t e moonshine. Them eyes 'd
betray her in the dark.”

At that moment a cry of recognition fell from
Gold Conrad’s tongue, and whipping out a re-
volver he sprung at the Queen of Fate.

“ Settle it all, that’s right! she’s yournl” said
Thunder, releasing Marta and stepping back.
“ I’ll tend to the others—the young ’un an’ the
two pards. Thar she stan’s. ca ’n, the Queen of
Fate, almost too purty to kill: nt too danger-
ous to live!”

The last word had ust fallen from Colonel
Thunder’s lips, when erta stepped suddenly
back and tore the false mustache from her lip
and threw her hat at his feet. Then her mi -
night hair fell over her'shoulders. and her eyes,

' flashing as of yore, rendered her beauty striking

to a. degree.
“ Yes!” she said. “Strike as you have struck

 

before, coward, an unarmed woman. I am
yours, and if you were in my power, I assure
you that the revolver of the Queen of Fate would
not spare you one minute—not one second. I
am a most at the end of my trail. I have found
my child and I have killed herl”

Colonel Thunder uttered an exclamation of
horror, which drew Gold Conrad’s e es to him.

“ Whatl” he cried, springinge ward the
Queen. “ Did you kill Esmer fore I found
you at the cabin?”

“ Go and seal She was mine."

“ Then I’ll end yer trail hyar, she devil!"
roared Thunder. ‘ Stan’ back, cap’nl" and his
ri ht arm pushed Gold Conrad away. “ Now
1’1 and one act ov this play.”

Marta heard the click of his revolver and saw
his arm dart upward; but the next second
something arrow-like shot over her shoulder, and ‘
Colonel Thunder reeled away.

At the same time she saw a figure at the door
and heard a rough voice say:

“ Come hyar, Queen.” *

She turned. ‘

The burly figure of the Rosebud was in the
doorway.

“Draw an’ dropl” he said, uietly, to Silent
Sam and Conrad Gordon, as erta sprun to-
ward him. “Me an’ Arkansaw left the owl-
in’ Wilderness in the nick 0v time didn’t we,
can’n?”

Gold Conrad did not reply, for Marta had
joined the two figures without, yes, two, for one
was The Man with the Knife. But he did not
hold any bowie in his hand know; the one last
heldlhad just found the man he had missed be-

ore

Silent Sam’s first action was to spring to
Colonel Thunder’s side. Strong as a lion he
lifted the desperado, and Gordon saw the bowie
in his breast.

He was silent for a moment.

“ Sam, is the fuse fixed?” he asked.

H Yes. 3! ’ "‘.

“ Good! Now for death and victory! He is
dead; her child killed by her own hands; but I
live—I Conrad Gordon, demonessl I live to
trium‘fh at last.”

fin with the last word he walked from the
cu in.

 

CHAPTER XV.
wou- nouns wow.

“I! she killed the girl she killed her at the
cabin,” said Gold Conrad to himself when he
found himself in the night air and a few feet
from Silent Sam’s. “ But might she not have
lied to deceive me? Ah! I know the sement
with whom I have to deal," and he started off
toward Colonel Thunder’s headquarters.

His face wore the expression of the desperado
who. when apparently driven to the wall, sees
or thinks he sees new blows for the future—new
death—strokes for his enemies.

To his surprise the door stood wide open, and
he went in. A flood of moonlight permeated
the lace, which was deserted. '

“ at here,” he ejaculated “I must hunt
her elsewhere," and with but a moment's inspec-
tion of the room, he turned away.

 

 

i?
‘4

. ovthe. r go more’n an ounce 0v dust on ye.”

 

Gold Conrad's Watch-Dogs. 2'?

 

He had not been gone ten minutes, certainly
not fifteen, from Silent Sam’s; but that short
space of time had proved sufficient to hrmga
new and wild scene into being there. Loud
voices, fierce oaths, and vengeful utterances,
were home to his cars from that locality.

The Queen’s enemy knew what it all. meant,

I Tihe watch-dogs had discovered their bow1ed
ea er.

He listened for a few moments to the bedlam
Wafted to his ears by the mountain Winds.

It seemed as if all the Bar was there, such was
the indescribable din. . ‘

“I wishI could hurl her into the midst of
that mad pack!” said Gordon while he heard.
“Ah! wouldn’t they make short work of her?
What’s that? By Jove! they’re coming this

1. way; they’re on the hunt.”

He was not mistaken; the mob was rushing
toward him headed by Colonel Thunder’s five
pards. Wild and uncouth though those Colo-
rado wolves were, they almost worshi ed their
leader. Linked to him by a thousand esperate
deeds, woe to the man or woman who had in
any gay helped him in his bloody exit from this
worl . '

“ They must not see me now. I will wait
until they 0001 down. They will not find the
Queen and her friends to—night.”

Therefore, Gold Conrad Erepared to leave the

t where he had halted;
eulv arrested him.

“ Hold on thar!” was the cry.
we’ll drop you."

He stopped with an oath.

The mob was nearer than he thought: the
moonlight had betrayed him, and so he faced
the avengers and waited.

After all, what had he to fear? Was he not
the employer of all those men? They owed him
for the bread'they ate, and a flash of satisfac—
tion lit up his eye‘s as he thoufht that by one
blow of he hammer he could estroy his mines,
and send them away breadless, each one to shift
for himself. .

“By George! it’s Goldy!” exclaimed a dozen
men as the mob brought 11 before him. ’

“ That’s just who I am, ’ he answered. “ Do
you want me?" I ,

The leaders exchanged questioning glances.

' Suddenly one of the Five said:

“ You war thar?” 9

“ I was.” V

“ What did on do to save the cunnel?”

" What can d I do? Did I know that that
devil and his bowie were so near? If Silent Sam

“ Run an’

- Were here—”

“Byar he is!” and several hands pushed the
man in uestion forward.
Conra turned to the keeper of his mine of

ruin.

“Tell them what I did, Sam; and tell the
truth.”

The mob fastened its, tiger-is}: eyes on Sam,
and more than one pistol crept toward his
breast. , W

“ he truth: that’s what we want. We’re
80mm) wipe out all that bed a hand in the cm»
nel’s death, an’ We’re goin’ to be squar’ with
you, ca ’n, for we say that never did the men

*5

ut a loud voice sud-i

 

For a moment Silent Sam stood between Gold
Conrad and the mob, afraid to speak.

“Wall” began the stalwart leader. “Wal,
Sam, give us the story.”

Thus commanded, the silent man related for
the second time that night the story of the
colonel’s death. He had told it before to the
mob congregated at the Howling "Wildeiness,
where their oings had been witnessed by Ar-
kansaw and his companion. He told it in a.
manner intended to shield Gold Conrad, but a
€9w words brought forth several startling ques-
ions. ‘

“Didn’t he hev a chance to wipe out the
Queen afore the cunnel interfered?"

Sam admitted by a look that he had.
h‘q‘vd‘hen the bowie would hev pricked him,
e . .

Sam did not answer; he saw the aim of the
interrogators.

“What do you say now, cap’n? Youhesitated',
on let the cunnel interfere, an’ be got the
nife. An” when he got it, did you hunt us 11 ‘1

No. You came down hyar towards the cunne ’s
shanty. What fur?——the gal what he swore war
a boy? ' We’ll hev to take you in charge,
ca ’n.”

here was a general assent to this decision,
and Gordon, with sudden flashes in his eyes,
stepped back as if about to resist the arrest.

But twenty bronze hands shot forward, and
as many revolvers instantly covered him.

“ We kin run the Bar without ye!” came over
the wicked barrels. “I! you bed stayed at
headquarters the cunnel would be alive in his
boots now. You bring death with ye every
time you come hyar. Last summer you came
to see us an’ the same day a shaft accident

'killed ten men. He’v ye fui‘gotteii thet, cap’n?”

The meaning of these words could not be mis—
taken. ,

“ in order to get me out of your Way!” said
Gold Conrad, so you can take possession of my?
property, I you say that I might have saved the
colonel and make your lie an excuse for my
death. Well, I am ready when I have given
my‘ last instructions to Sam.”

he mob stepped back.

Gordon was not to be feared now; hehad been
disarmed.

Silent Sam came forward and Conrad whis-

pered:
“ You will obey me, Sam?”
The guardian of the fuse nodded slightly.

“Go back to the cabin and hit the cap with ,
your hammer." _. '
The eyes of the listener sparkledwhich as-
sured Gordon that one man at least in the mob

respected his commands. v
“ That is all, Sam. Do your duty well."
Silent Sam straightened again and stepped '
back. ' .
“ Ar’ you ready, cap’n?” asked the leader of
the mob. . .

“I am ready.”

The next moment he was seized and marched
away.
' Sam did not follow, but turned and glided
toward his own cabin, ‘

At a rapid pace Gold Conrad was conducted

>

28

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

 

toward the hill not far from Colonel Thunder’s
cabin.

When the men of Vulture Bur saw the door
standing wide open they exchanged significant
glances and then looked at their victim.

- “You war hyar since the cunnel’s death,
cap’n?”

“Find out if you can!” was the defiant an-
swer.

“The gal war suthin’ to you. We allus
knowed that, fur the cunnel ’d never let you
see her. You came hyar an’ found her. Did
you kill her?”

“ Find out l”

A dozen fierce oaths replied, and it the arm
of the leader had not dashed as many lifted re—
volvers aside the life of Gold Conrad would
have ended then and there.

But he passed the cabin safely, and was
taken over the brow of the hill and halted un—
der a tree whose giant limb had evidently borne
the hangman’s fruit before.

In amoment a lasso-like rope was dangling
over his head, and a noose fell upon his shoul-

ere.

“ This is fur the cunnel i” said the chief of the
avengers, stepping back. “ We own the Bar
from this night. cap’n. The cunnel'wara. brick;
he war our fav‘rit’, an’ to Davy Jones’s with
the man who stepped back an’ let him die!
Pull, boys!“

The noose tightened and the rope grew taut
above his head. Gold Conrad felt his body leav-
ing the ground, and he was bracing himself for
the terrible ordeal when a strange thud was
heard and he fell almost upon his knees.

The three men who were pulling on the rope
staggered hack, and fell upon each other ina
ludicrous heap, for the cord had been cut in
twain, and that by a huge bowie-knife which
quivered in the tree!

“That man belongs to me! I am the Queen
of Fate, and I am here with my death angels to
enforce my commands!”

These words, clear and distinct, fell upon the
ears of the startled mob.

Every eye was turned toward the speaker.

‘ She had spoken truly; she was not alone.

She stood between the stalwart figures of Ar-
kansaw and the Rosebud, and at the latter's
left stood two Indians.

Ei ht revolvers covered the mob-eight in-
stea of ten, for one of Arkansaw’s hands
clutched that terrible weapon which seemed
equal to an arsenal—bis fourteen-inch bowie.

Halleck was not to be seen.

 

CHAPTER XVl.
“ QUEEN MERTA’S REVENGE.

Ten tableau displayjed to the mob was enough
to make it recoil. he wolves of Vulture Bar
knew that the hands that griped the outstretch-
ed revolvers Would not hesitate to send death
into their midstif another arm was lifted against
Gold Conrad.

The words “ He is mine!” also meant “ let that
man alone -” and the threat that followed was
almost use ass. '

Conrad Gordon saw his deliverers, but not

like the explosion of a. cap of a toy

 

until he had glanced up at the knife in the tree
—the bowie which had cut the lynchers’ ro 9.
But while he stared at Queen Merta an her
companions, he was listening for a. sound that
would make his heart lea for joy.
Silent Sam had reache his cabin before thi;

then, why had he not carried out his (Gold Con- g ‘ 

rad’s) commands?

Sam had reached his cabin, tenanted only by
the dead, for the body of Colonel Thunder, cov-
ered by a buffalo-robe, lav in the middle of the
iioor. Theylamp was still burning, and taking
it up Sam unfastened the door that led to the
fuse room.

The next moment he had raised the trap-door
and was bending over the fuse, a hammer in
gislhgnd, and his dark eyes beaming with wild

e 1g 1;. '

Suddenly he lifted the hammer and dealt the
cap a smart blow which produced using? report
is .

As he struck Sam leaped up an listened at
the open door. A second passed away, another
and another, a minute waned, five went into
eternity; but no result!” ,

What was the matter? Why had the fuse
failed? -

Sam’s face grew long and full of disapgoint—
ment as he listened. ~The explosion ha not
taken place; the mines were still in 00d work-
ing condition, and the demons o the Bar
would find them so when they had lynched their

owner.
With a mad oath Silent Sam sprun to the
trap again and examined the cap. is blow

£18131 «afiploded it; then, why had the great scheme
ax Bl

After a while he raised the cap, and saw—the
severed wire! His eyes suddenly dilated; he
stared and gas .

Somebody had destroyed the current. He
thought a moment, and then bounded from, the
cabifn,I muttering the name of The Man with the

m e

Meanwhile, the mob under the death tree had
been rendered prisonerless. , .

“Conrad Gordon comes here I” the Queen of
Fate had commanded. “ Men of Vulture Bar,
let him obey me!”

A singular light flashed up in Gold Conrad’s
eyes at this command, and the next moment he
walked forward and heile almost against the-
muzzles of the eight revolvers. ,

He seemed more than ready to exchange the
lynchers"cord for the pistols of the averaging

league. » _ .

When be halted, his eyes encountered the burn-
ing orbs of Queen Marta. She was victor now;
an hour ago she had stood before him awaiting
the blow which he had nearly dealt.

The hate of years was in t 6 eyes of each; but
the Queen of Fate mastered her passing thoughts,
and glanced over Gordon’s shoulder.

“ Go back and bury your leader,” she said to
the mob. “ I will. attend 3to this man. on
follow us a step at the peril of life. Go back!"

“.We will on one condition,” said the leader.

“ Well?"

“ Give us thet man,” andthe speaker’s hand
described Arkansaw, beneath whose mustache a.
smile was lurking. , - " ,

   

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Gold Conrad’s

WatchéDogs. 29

 

“ Ask for .my right arm,” replied Queen
Merta. “However,” she added, with a smile,
“it Arkansaw desires to become your captive
I shall not obJect.”

She glancod at The Man with the Knife as
she finished, and he stepped forward. At‘the
same time his right hand went up and all saw
the blade that glittered in the moonlight.-

“ Ef you’ll let me try my new bowie I’ll j’ine
yer ranks,” he said, in a tone that made the
stoutest rufl‘ian shudder. “All right. Silence
gives consent they say, so I’ll jest pick out my
man.” _ .

The next moment the mob was falling back in
3 00d deal of confusion. and the glowering

100 in Arkansaw’s eye became a twinkle of
humor. _
“ Hold on! I can’t pick ’im out while ye’re

movin’ thet way,” he cried.
But the wolves of Vulture Bar did not obey.
but stood not on the order of their going and

' . continued to fall back.

The Man with the Knife laughed as he turned
to the Queen and her companions.

“ N o knife—p'int in theirs ef you please,” be
said. “ A)" you ready, Queen?”

“ I am ready.”

A moment later Conrad Gordon was being
conducted from the s t where his life had near-
ly been choked out o existence.
~ Not far from the tree the rty halted beside
four horses upon one of whic Gold Conrad was
helped by the arms of the two yards. He looked
at M erta, but the Queen of Fate averted her face
as iii? determined to tell him nothing before-
han .

The cavalcade gulloped toward the mines.
Scarlet hands held Gold Conrad’s bridle-reins,
and their owners never took their midnight eyes
from his person. ‘

Vulture Bar. was left behind, and no rein
was drawn‘ until the road to Lodeton was

reached.

Gold Conrad looked around“ 7119 saw the jug-

, ged rocks of the, overhanging,r cliffs, and the

stunted trees that grew on the brink of the
canyon. As he took in this wild scenery, he
saw the Rosebud draw a coil of rope from be-
neath his capacious jacket. The next minute
he baddrawn one end of it over the point of a
rock forty feet above. . ,
“ My time has arrived!” sold the voice of the
neon. “ Ten years ago you had your day.
a were happy among the mines of Armosfllo,
and my husoand, your partner worked for your
interests as hard as he did for his own. But
you wanted all. You had to get him out of
your way and Colonel *Thunder was to take his
place. hen you formed the league of two—
you and Colonel Thunder. 1 need not tell you
ow my husband met his fate in the mines. By
your arm. I cried for vengeance: but you
turned and struck me the meanest of all blows-—
ou stole my child—my little Inez. Before this,
owover, year beautiful: wife stood in your wu y
to greed and. gold;- they (Quad her dead one
morning among the mountains, and her child——
your son—Conrad Gordon. you afterward made
our slave. and taunted him with the name of
ndian. l have never lost sight of you; for ten
years I have been near, striking all the time—the

 

. flooded mines, the theft of your private diaries——

it was my work.

“My eague was a ainst yours. I made
Armosillo too hot to bod you; I followed on
like the bloodhound follows the assassin. ou
held a secret. I wanted to know what you did
with my child. I know now. You thought her
dead; all those years you thought that Colonel
Thunder had killed her, when, in truth, be was
raising her to make her one of these days a gold
queen or a silver princess. 1’ found her without
robbing you of any secret. ‘ Inez is mine once
more.”

“You said an hour ago that you had killed
her,” he retorted.

_“_ So I did. I thought I had; but Heaven
pitied the mother, even if it does frown on the
avenger. I did not intend to strike until to~
morrow night; but circumstances make me
strike now. I sent three Indians to Lodeton to

night. My last command was: ‘Spare nothing
Eliot is his? You know what that means, Gold
om‘ad. ’

The listener hit his lip, and the Queen of Fate
turned her head.

“ Now!” she said to the Rosebud, “ I am
through. Do your duty.” ,

The next instant something fell upon Gor-
don’s shoulder and rested there. . It was a rope.

All at once Merta’s right hand wavedasig~
nal and Conrad was suddenly lifted from the
saddle; The red giants pulled steadily on the
rope and his body shot into the air.

Queen Merta’s triumphant eyes gazed at the
sight for a moment, and then ~turned toward
Ai'kansaw.

“Bring them here,” she said. “Take these
with you and use them before 'you reach this
place," and she placed two silken handkerchiefs
in the how ice-king’s hand.

The avenging party almost evenly divided.

Arkansaw and the Rosebud rode toward the
Bar, while the Queen of Fate and the two In-
dians went on toward Lodeton.

Her revenge was almost complete; the skies
that bent_ above ' eton eighty miles away
were to witness the finale. ‘

 

CHAPTER XVII. .
rm: LAST THROWOF THE Bowm.

“ No one yet?”

“ I hear nothing.”

The first speaker a beautiful: young girl, sighed
as she looked at the handsome young man, who
had walked into the firelight that illumined the
cave which she occu ied.

“Oh, Halleck. al these wild events seem a
dream to me." she exclaimed, a momentlater,
“ That beautiful avenger my mother? Tell me
again that . I am awake—that I am Colonel
Thunder‘s protease no longer. When the voice
at my door saic : ‘ I am your motherl’ I gasped

for breath-I could not cry, and I fell like one , A

dead at the bottom of my door. And when I
awoke here and heard that voice again, and felt
the burning kisses that she gave, I could not be- .
new, 111ml was in this world. No: it rrnst 1on

paradise. My mother! the woman “Lo tells

herself the Queen of Fate my—J’

x...

 

30

Gold Conrad’s Watch-Dogs.

 

Halleck held up his hand and commanded
silence; then he left the girl and went to the
entrance of the mine and listened.

After a few minutes he returned. His face
had a new expression; he had heard sounds.

“Everything is quiet now,” he said, answer—
ing her anxious look. “ They will soon be here."

At that very moment Silent Sam was bending
over the fuse which, if it had not been tam-
pered with, would blow them to atoms with the
rocks of the mine.

But Arkansaw had been there, although Hal-
leL-k and Esmer knew it not, and the hammer of
Sam had exploded a cap—nothing more.

An hour of anxious waiting passed over the
heads of the anxious pair in the mine. '

Then both uttered a. cry of joy for Arkansaw
and the Rosebud stood before him.

“ Hyar's the young pigeons l” exclaimed the
latter, and the couple followed the pards into
the moonlight.

There they found two horscs beside the ones
which the triends had ridden to the mine and
were soon on their backs.

“ Hyar, take those,” whispered Arkansaw,
slipping the handkerchief into the Rosebud’s
hands. “The young ’uns ar’ not to see the
man in the canyon. I’m goin‘ back to see ’em
plant the cunnel of they do it to-night.”

The ards separated and the Rosebud of the
Pink orks conducted Halleck and Esmer away.

“ Halt! they‘re coming.”

At these words seven horses came to a halt
among, lofty mountains, and their riders listened
to the noise of boots that momentarily grew
more distinct.

All at once three Indiansburst into view, and
in a few moments drew rein before the waiting

rou .

“ ll done!” said one of the braves. “The
War white chief must build new 10d es.”

The eyes of Queen Marta sparkl . '

She knew that her revenge was com late, that
the torches of the Indians had reduce to ashes
the property he had accumulated at Lodeton.

Here we drop the pen, gentle reader; but, if
you wish. you may follow us to one of the proud
cities of the oung West and see the Queen of

’Fate give a lushiu bride away. And if you

stand inacertaiu p ce, you will hear the re-
mark that two burly fellows are sure to pass
about the young couple at the altar.

Vengeance and justice have triumphed, and
love has won.

“Come, Rosebud, let’s go and drink to‘the
two pinks the person tied together,” remarked
Arkansaw after the ceremony. “ An’ ef we kin

it an audience I’ll show up in a bit 0’ knife
andlin’ that ’ll open the‘r eyes. : But geshl
Rosebud, I’ll never be able to sheer up in this
town the appreciative crowds I use to hev at

the Bar! never!” and the bowie-king heaved a
regrettul sigh.

The two pards went away together, the obi
served of all observers as they passed down the

street.
was END. ,

 

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141 Vobby vak ul’Vevudn. Hymn-m1.1mm)". =. 208 impou- ’10"! u (ufitlc Mn‘ulcry. By on
148 Thumh-rhulx. 'l‘mn. By Hurry St, Gui-rue. ‘ i ('(""I'l9>“ Hi
{.13 lliiyb {llou‘kwln the Bilink‘k'uufi- I?" C- Mm’iv- ‘ 209 The .‘Ie-«eugcr-Boy Demetlvc. By 03an n,-
5 ' ‘ lo, M . nor. y L 'u l n mwne. . V _ W. , m
151 1"“. mm 'rrflncr‘ [5y (1.”. menu“ hmm‘mm' I!" 'lhe. lllulvhhkekoi’thc Mine» 15,» 3. I . laitLir.
152 {Milli Iy ‘lzhtrrkc: or, The Tigers or High Pine. By 2!! Little Glam. und‘llln Band. 153' P. S. Wnruu.
\‘i Ilmn . .yslur. . - u :. ~ ' ...
158 Wild Fr‘uuk, um Buckskin “mm.  L. “'hoaler. 21" The J!“‘L““." ‘ Mr" I" I": L' “."c‘l‘."
1511 Tim Buy Trullé’rn. By .. E. l“.1|l||_'1er,Jr. 218 The l lrutc «1 Prize. By C. Dunning (Wk.
1155 “Old Plume, the Roy ha .H; 0", Thu lel~GInve 214 Dandy 1),.w."hr “mam, m T‘ C_ “urbwgh‘
' H mm. By (717]. l‘remim huzrnlmm. c l ' n i I 15:0” C
156 \ 'lll wmmre In the wumh. n," a. 1mm. 2‘5 The ’D'm’" "W" W- -‘ "W"
 ficll il‘hllii‘fi: "Le. "Rik" Bnr- L ‘iggnrhlnugh. 216 The Cowboy (fnpmin. By Cu]. 1'. Ingrnlmm.
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15. Pntcni-Lcnt Ier Joe‘s Del‘ )5 Phil} . S. U‘ ‘ ' - ' y‘ ‘ ' “ -
W rm. 3 *r y p 218 The Minor Spot-L By Edwnrd}. Whaler.
100,}:Iiy'flxl Hilly, (119,811,; Bullwhnchcr. By Col. P. 9319 Buck, me nmwuvc. By LwflAmml
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161 Huh Rockqll, u..- arm-mm... By C. Mnrris. 220 Crick-Sm“ l‘rnnk- 1‘) Chm“ N “19
162'Llltle llnrrlrnne, Hm Boy Cupmiu. By 011 221 Merle the “Add. By Cal. Pllrllliss Ingmham.

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168 Iren‘flwnud Dlvk - firnam. n; E. L. “hm-Yer. ~
H. 'I'nrnudofi‘u’m.B By Té(‘.(j'ixlrbnlluli. [ h 223 Gold (‘mu-nd‘s Watch-Donn. By T.C.Hubnnph_
55 lhlfl'ulol ll :4 01-. ,\‘ ,ul.PrenLiu nzm run. V a. ‘  WV“. ,1 , ._ . ' _
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Frank Marion. 0113:1111): Hurculm. Hv OllCoolnu. 227 ficfikhfl‘nu"! ‘3
10v 'nnkea Rnnger. By Edwin mmnu. W9, ‘ y, ' > . »
Dh-k "lurk. mt. ByEilward 8, mm. 228 T116 J’YQI'H‘IICI‘ llct‘metlvu. By an Comm... »
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Beodlo’IPncket Library in fur Mlle by all New".

mailers, five conu per copv, l'l' sent by nmil nu rustein of I x
1H1 The Ronpggriu-c Emu. By Charles Murrla. can“ “ch. ,_ V

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1” minty?“ sun“ 8‘0"“ y e" " IIEADLE¢QVADAME Puhllaheu,

193 Jul," Burt, Detecjlva. By 011 Coomu. _  ' . ‘ 98 Wllllnm Street, New Yoik.

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