Читать книгу: «Deadwood Dick Jr. Branded: or, Red Rover at Powder Pocket.», страница 5

CHAPTER XIII.
DEADWOOD DICK BRANDED

A shout of exultation had accompanied Dick's hasty departure from the cliff, and a burst of laughter greeted him from below.

The instant he landed, for the moment more dead than alive, ready hands seized him and a pistol was clapped to his head, and Captain Joaquin snatched away the bag of money.

This the Red Rover opened immediately, to make sure that its contents were intact.

"What is to be done with him?" one of his men demanded.

"You know who he is," was the response.

"Yes, he is Deadwood Dick."

"And what is he to us? What is he to all of our class?"

"That's so. Death to him, boys; death to Deadwood Dick! Where is the rope?"

"Hold on," spoke up the young woman, who had leaped to her feet at the shout from the cliff. "You promised him his life, Joaquin."

"If he came to my terms, yes, but he did not do that. He is our foe, Susana, and he must die. The world is not wide enough to hold us and him, after this night's work."

"That's so," shouted the men. "Death to Deadwood Dick!"

"Hang him," said the captain.

Dick was jerked upon his feet roughly, and his hands were speedily tied behind his back.

Mean time the young woman had thrown herself upon her knees before Captain Joaquin, pleading for his life, reminding him of the chance Dick had given him for his.

"Get up, fool!" the Red Rover sternly ordered. "Have you taken leave of your senses? Let him escape, and we are done for. No, he dies, here and now, and no more fooling about it. Get up, I say, and do not anger me against yourself, Susana!"

"But your promise," she reminded, rising.

"That for it," with a snap of the fingers.

"But I had always looked upon your spoken word as sacred, and now – "

"See here, what is this man to you, Susana?" was the rough demand, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"I am not thinking of him, but of you, Joaquin. I do not want to think of you as a murderer – a murderer! I am afraid – I believe – I know it would set me against you."

"Bah! you are a woman. Get out of the way, now, for business is business. He has got to die – "

"Joaquin, for my sake – "

"No!"

"For my love – "

"By heavens! I begin to think there is more to it than you would express. Men, an example shall be made of this fellow. I'll brand him before we hang him!"

The young woman uttered a scream.

"Ha! I thought so," the Red Rover sneered. "A woman's heart is as fickle as the weather. This fellow's make-believe chivalry has stolen your affection from me – "

"No! no! no! Great heavens! how you wrong me!"

"Ha! ha! Then what is the matter with killing him, since he is my mortal foe, and it must be his life or mine sooner or later?"

"But, your honor, Joaquin, your honor," she reminded him. "He gave you your life, or a chance for it, and you pledged your word that you would do the same – "

"Bah! Choose between us, Susana."

"I choose you, of course," attempting to throw her arms around his neck, an action which he repelled. "He is nothing to me; I only want to see your honor preserved."

"Bah! You think to blind me. What can we brand him with, boys? He shall go to the devil with a mark of Captain Joaquin's compliments!"

"Hurrah! That is what he deserves!"

"Here is a horseshoe; will that do?"

"The very thing!"

"It will give him a mark for good luck!"

"Joaquin! In heaven's name show mercy! If you do this thing, you kill my love for you at a single stroke."

"Ha! ha! ha!"

He pushed her roughly away from him.

"At least do not torture him," she cried. "At least spare him that, I beg, I implore."

"And all because he has stolen your affection from me," he cried, with jealous intensity. "Yes, I will spare him; another word from you, and I will burn out his eyes!"

With a scream, the young woman covered her face with her hands and staggered away from the scene.

"Where is that horseshoe?" the enraged captain demanded. "Put these torches together, and lay it on them till it is heated. I will make an example of Deadwood Dick that will be a warning to all other detectives to steer clear of Captain Joaquin!"

The horseshoe was handed forward, and the torches were placed together as ordered, and the iron laid upon them. Then, while two of the cutthroats fanned the blaze with their hats, two more threw Dick to the ground and tore open his shirt in front, baring his breast.

Wonderful to say, Dick had received no broken bones by his fall down the ragged side of the cliff.

He had spoken no word, seeing the uselessness of it.

The young woman stood at some distance away, wringing her hands, but afraid to say any further word for fear that Captain Joaquin would carry out his more terrible threat.

All were silent, and the fire was fanned until at last the shoe began to take on the color of the flame.

"How hot do you want et, captain?" one of the scoundrels asked.

"That will do," was the answer. "How will you handle it, though? A stick will do, however."

"Yes, or a rifle barrel. Say when you are ready, and we'll give him sech a brand as will identify him hereafter when we meet him down below. Ha! ha! ha! ha!"

"Get ready."

"All ready, cap'n."

"One moment, then. Susana?"

He called out to the young woman.

"I hear you, Joaquin."

"Come here and see how I treat a rival when I catch him."

"No, no! Spare me that, Joaquin, spare me that! He is no rival; it was only of you I thought!"

"Bah! you lie to me. I'll fetch you – ha! ha!"

He made a dash at her, but with another scream she turned and fled from sight.

Captain Joaquin returned laughing, and ordered the hot iron to be laid upon Deadwood Dick's bare breast, and a man brought it from the fire on the end of a rifle barrel.

"Anything to say, Deadwood Dick?" the Red Rover inquired.

"Only this," said Dick: "If you do this thing, you will be the object of my vengeance even in another world – I swear it."

"Bosh! Put on the brand, my man."

The barrel of the rifle was lowered, and the hot horseshoe slipped off and fell upon Deadwood Dick's bare skin.

The victim gave a convulsive movement as the hot iron touched his skin, and struggled furiously, an involuntary cry of anguish escaping his lips, but he was firmly held.

A second – perhaps two, and the report of a rifle rang out, and Captain Joaquin uttered a sharp cry and staggered. But only for a moment; he recovered himself, and, with hand pressed to his side, ran in the direction whence the shot had come, shouting back:

"That wildcat did it! But I will have her; you hang that fellow and come at once to the cabin." And he disappeared, while those who had been holding Deadwood Dick to the ground jerked him upon his feet, and the iron dropped off and fell to the ground, leaving its imprint upon the fair flesh of the intrepid prince of detectives!

CHAPTER XIV.
SUSANA TO THE RESCUE

Deadwood Dick believed that the end of his eventful career had come at last.

There was not a ray of hope for him, and he was faint and sick from the intense pain of the hot iron that had been laid upon his breast.

With his hands tied, and his head swimming, he was powerless to resist his foes, and the rope was quickly placed around his neck and he was dragged in the direction of a tree near at hand.

He was not even asked if he had a last word to say. The end of the rope was thrown over the limb, the cutthroats caught hold of it and pulled, and Deadwood Dick, the fearless, the generous, was swung clear of the ground and the end of the rope was secured to the body of the tree.

"Is he to be shot as well?" demanded one of the villains.

"No, he ain't worth wastin' good powder and lead on," was the response from another.

"That's so," said a third. "Let him swing and think about et while his speerit is workin' itself loose in ther shell."

"Come on; ther captain said come to ther cabin at oncet."

"Hooray! Good-by, Deadwood Dick!"

With whoop and yell they hastened from the scene of their dastardly outrage, and followed in the direction Captain Joaquin had taken.

Barely had they gone when a panting form sprang out of a crevice in the rocks.

It was Susana.

With a suppressed cry she ran to the tree with all speed, and with a single sweep of a keen knife severed the rope.

Deadwood Dick dropped to the ground heavily, all limp and apparently lifeless, and the young woman was at his side instantly, her eager fingers at work at the noose.

It was quickly loosened and removed.

"He must not die, he shall not die!" she cried to herself. "I will save him for his revenge. You accused me of loving him, Captain Joaquin, wrongly accused me, but I will love him now, love him with my whole heart, for you have made me hate you – hate you!"

She lifted Dick's head and pressed warm and passionate kisses upon his face, believing he was wholly unconscious.

To her surprise her last kiss was returned.

She sprang up with a startled little cry, and released her hold instantly.

"I owe my life to you," said Dick, in low tone. "I shall not soon forget the obligation, I promise you."

"I regret that I could not save you the torture you had to undergo," was the response. "You heard his threats; I was afraid to say another word in your favor."

"I am glad that you did not do so. But release me quickly and let me get hold of my weapons – which they left yonder on the ground. They may return, and not only my life, but yours, is now at stake. There will be another reckoning before the account is closed."

She freed his hands even while he was speaking.

"Yes, there will be another reckoning," she said, in low, intense tones, "and in it I will be on your side. I hate him – hate him now as much as I ardently loved him before – or thought I loved him. How blind I was to his true character!"

"Do you know what is good for a burn?" Dick asked.

"Yes, yes; why did I not think of it? How you must suffer! Wait, I will dress that wound in a moment."

Snatching a brand from the fire in which the horseshoe had been heated, she sought eagerly around and plucked here and there a kind of weed that grew in the rock crevices.

While she was thus engaged, Dick secured his revolvers and also the horseshoe with which he had been branded.

The latter was still hot, of course.

Having gathered some of the weeds, the girl laid them on a stone and pounded them to a pulp, and, tearing a strip from an article of her linen, she spread the poultice upon it.

"Now, let me fix it," she said to Dick.

Dick sat down and bared his breast, and she applied the cooling pulp to the wound, the contact causing Dick to give a sigh of relief.

"That feels good," he said.

"It will soon draw out the fire," said the girl, "and it will aid the wound to heal quickly, too."

Securing the poultice in place as well as possible, she fastened Dick's shirt over it, and when she had done Dick took her in his arms and embraced her, returning the kisses she had given him.

"You have given me your life," he said; "what can I do for you in return?"

"Give me your protection," was the response.

"You shall have that, to the death."

"And let me aid you in your revenge against that monster. Ugh! how I hate him now!"

"But, he is your husband – "

"No, no, he was not my husband; I am free, as free as a bird. I loved him, and would have wed him, but I am thankful my eyes were opened before I was linked to him for life."

"Then you desire to escape him now?"

"Heavens! he would murder me now, after what I have done. Yes, yes, I desire to escape; I want you to protect me."

"Enough said," agreed Dick, giving her another embrace and releasing her. "I'll try and do something in return for the risk you have taken for me, and together we will hunt him down."

"At once?"

"No, we will let him feel secure for a time, and the blow will be all the greater when it falls. But – "

"What?"

"Are you to be depended on?"

"To be depended on? I do not understand you, sir."

"Call me Dick. I mean, will you hold out to the end, when it comes to the test?"

"Will I hold out – "

"Perhaps your love will rekindle, and you will balk my revenge when it comes to the hour – "

"No, no, a thousand times no! My hate is even more intense than was my love. No, no, I will not falter; I am now yours, if you will let me be yours, and our purpose is one."

"It is a bargain," said Dick. "Here is my hand, little pard."

The girl placed her hand in his.

"Hands up! both of ye!"

The voice was so near that both were startled, and Dick felt a gun behind his ear.

It was so sudden that Dick obeyed before the thought came to him to resist, but perhaps it was as well, for that might have meant his instant death.

"It is Booth!" cried the girl in dismay. "We are lost – lost!"

"Bet yer life ye are," said the man. "Ye forgot to reckon me, I guess. Et took me a good while to worm up into that peak by the crevice inside and take this galoot by surprise, and et has took me a good while to git down again, but hyer I am and hyer you be, too."

"And what do you expect to do with us?" asked Dick, grimly.

"Take ye straight to Captain Joaquin, of course."

"Never!" said the young woman.

"I'll show ye. You turn – Ugghh!"

Deadwood Dick's foot had suddenly caught the fellow in the middle, and over he went with a grunt terrific.

No sooner had he fallen than the girl was upon him, and her knife was buried in his breast, straight and true, and the cutthroat stiffened out to rise no more.

"There is one less," she said, rising. "I never killed a human before, but I would kill a score rather than be taken back to that man. Thank heaven, we are free yet, Dick. Do you want further proof of my devotion to you? Can you ask it?"

"I did not ask anything more than your word, Susana. You are a pard worth having. We will hang this fellow to the tree where they hanged me, and should they come this way again they will believe that Deadwood Dick is still there where they left him, and the surprise will be all the greater when the blow falls, as fall it must."

CHAPTER XV.
BANKER BROWN OF POWDER POCKET

Meantime, Captain Joaquin had gone straight to the cabin.

He believed that Susana would go there to gather up some effects before trying to run away.

Of course he knew, or believed, that the shot had been fired at him by her, and that only confirmed the suspicion he had formed against her.

Had he caught her, a horrible fate would have been hers. Smarting under the wound she had given him – for the bullet had lodged in his shoulder – he was in the right mood to wreak vengeance.

But he failed to find her.

There was no sign of her at the cabin, no indication that she had been there – in fact, the servants declared that she had not been there.

Back he started, and had gone but a little way when he met his men coming, and he scattered them all to look for the missing young woman, with orders to take her dead or alive.

They went out by the various trails – rather possible avenues, for there were no trails proper there, but they failed to find her. And when Captain Joaquin and two of the men came out at the place where Dick had been hanged, they found his body swaying to and fro in the breeze.

Nor was she found. And when, later on in the night, others of the band came in in haste with certain intelligence concerning the sheriff and his posse, Captain Joaquin deserted his cabin and took to the hills, and was not seen in that section again. On the following day the cabin was discovered and looted and burned, but the birds had flown.

Meanwhile, Deadwood Dick, with Susana, was making his way to the south, keeping to the hills in order not to be discovered.

Dick wanted it to appear that he was dead.

He learned enough from Susana to give him a suspicion as to what Captain Joaquin would do, and he felt that he could afford to give him time.

They crossed the border into Mexico, where Dick quietly rested for a season to recover his full measure of health and strength, and where Susana was his devoted slave and companion.

Inquiry was being made in every direction for Deadwood Dick.

It was known that the last case he had undertaken was the hunting down of Captain Joaquin, or the Red Rover, and it was feared that he had met his death at the hands of that cutthroat and this band.

Dick remained in hiding, and thus Captain Joaquin, wherever he might be, would be lulled into the confirmation of his belief that Deadwood Dick was no longer to be feared. In fact, that worthy was chuckling to himself, whenever a newspaper item concerning Dick met his eye. He believed that he alone, and those of his men who had been in the secret, could solve the mystery.

And so time passed on.

Powder Pocket was a roaring camp.

It was at the top notch of the biggest kind of a boom.

It had been a paying camp from the first, with rich mines on every hand.

New finds, too, were being reported almost daily, and people and money were flowing in as freely as water flowed down from the snow-capped peaks.

The newest institution of which Powder Pocket could boast was a bank. It was a private concern, had been opened on a grand scale, and was being conducted on a paying basis. Money could be had in almost any amount, on big interest and bigger security.

The head of this institution was one Sigmund Brown.

He had come to Powder Pocket about six months prior to the time of this introduction of the camp.

Settling down quietly, he had rented one of the best buildings in the place, refitted it in fine style, and one morning his sign was found adorning the front – S. Brown, Banker.

He had a game in contemplation.

He had money, the other fellows had the property. They could not do anything without money.

His money was on call, as said, but every loan was vouched for by an iron-clad mortgage, and it was his boast that in five years he would own the town.

The interest was high, the loan was not sufficient, in most cases, to develop beyond the mere beginnings, and on the day when the interest could not be met nor the principal paid, he would foreclose.

He was there to double – to treble his pile, and he made no secret among his intimates of his means.

One day a miner entered his private office in an excited state.

The private office was always open to those who came on particular business, and this man had announced that his business was of the utmost importance.

The clerks in the main room had seen his kind before, often, and he was readily admitted. He was, undoubtedly, a man who had struck it rich and was eager to mortgage and begin working the claim.

He was a bearded fellow, roughly clad, and was begrimed from hat to boots with mud and clay.

"You aire Mr. Brown?" he eagerly demanded.

"Yes, sir, I am Mr. Brown. What can I do for you, sir?"

"I have struck it rich – so all-fired rich that it has 'most turned my head. I want you to look at my find, which I have registered all correct, and lend me a loan on it so I kin open et up."

"That so? I congratulate you. Where does it lie?"

"Hardly out of gunshot from the camp, and it is the prince of 'em all, I'm bettin'."

"It will be a pleasure to me to look at it, the first opportunity, and if it is what you think, there will be no trouble about your getting a loan, I guess."

"No trouble at all, I'm bettin'. You will open yer eyes when ye see et."

"What do you consider it worth?"

"Seventy-five thousand, if a cent."

"And how much of a loan would you want?"

"Twenty-five thousand – "

"Whew!"

"What's the matter?"

"That is steep. I have never gone over ten thousand into the best of them."

"But I tell ye this is the best of the bunch. You will say so when ye see it, and you won't hesitate a minnit to fork et over, either."

"I must see it first of all. In a day or two – "

"Can't wait. I am in a fever. You must come with me to-day – right now!"

"Impossible; I can't – "

"I will pay ye, boss. Why, it opens up bigger'n that Castleville Bank shelled out a year ago, and I ain't hardly cracked the ground yet."

The banker had become suddenly pale.

He was a man with long hair, and wore a mustache and goatee, and was altogether a good-looking man.

"What do you mean?" he asked, huskily, striving hard to remain composed. "Where is Castleville? What do you suppose I know about any bank business at Castleville?"

"Castleville? Why, they closed the bank, you know, and set out to remove the funds to 'Frisco, but Captain Joaquin got wind of it and held up the train and scooped the pile. Not only that, but it is believed that he murdered a detective about the same time."

"A detective?"

"Yes; a chap they called Deadwood Dick."

The man's face had grown paler, and he was eyeing the caller sharply.

"Well, all that is nothing to me," he declared. "I will go with you to-morrow morning, start at eight o'clock."

"And then I'll show you the richest thing you ever saw in your life, if Captain Joaquin don't gobble it mean time and get away with et – Why, what's the matter?"

The banker's face was deathly.

"Nothing," he answered. "I am not exactly well to-day. Come in the morning, and I will be prepared to go with you. Then, when I have had the property passed upon by experts, your loan will be advanced. You must excuse me, but I am very busy to-day – Great heavens!"