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Deadwood Dick, J Yr, Branded.
“You will. fight?” .
“YT said I would not. No, but I will
give you an even chance for your life,
as promised.”
“Well, I accept it. What is it?”
“No matter whether you accept it or
not, it is yours. Some of my men will
‘be here during the night, and when they
arrive I will carry out the plan.”
“You do not mean to let me know
‘what it is?”
“Tf it. will do you. vany. good, I will
tell you.”
“T am somewhat personally
ested.”
‘The outlaw laughed harshly.
““Yes, I guess you are, too,” he said.
“Well, it will be an even chance for
your life, I promise you that,” he added.
“ An equal number of white and of black
beans will be put into a bag, and you
will be required to draw one out. If. it
be white, you live; black, and you die
at midnight.”
Dick smiled grimly.
- “ Suppose-I should draw a white one,
does that give me my liberty?” he
asked.
“Not at once. You will be taken away
from here blindfolded, and detained ten
days, at the end of which time you will
be set free. Meantime, I will have pulled
up stakes here and given you the slip.”
“ And you will give me no other chance
whatever?”
“No, sir.”
“‘All right, I’ll have to take what is
offered, of course, and be glad to get it,
I suppose,”
“You may be thankful for it, for, if
you should draw the white, as you say,
yi will.mean a deuce of a lot df trouble
for me, and all because I feel bound to
give you this chance.” :
“You are in honor bound to do that,
no matter how small the chance may be,
after the way I risked my life against
yours, giving you the benefit of a doubt
where I did not believe that a doubt
existed at all. I'll expect you,. then,
when your men arrive.”
“ As soon as they get here; I will not
keep you waiting.”
inter-
CHAPTER X.
DICK IN A DEATH-TRAP.
Deadwood Dick was again left alone.
A grim smile came over his face as he
Jooked at the door that had just closed.
“Tt is a bitter pill for him to swallow,
this giving me a chance for my life,”
he said to himself, “and I'll bet ten to
one that I don’t get it on the square.”
_The chances were that he would not.
*“T was a fool, perhaps, to take the
risk I did with the fellow, when the
Jaw was all on my side, but I took him
so utterly by surprise that it did not
seem exactly fair. The trouble is, my
‘heart is entirely too big and too soft for
the profession I am following.”
It was not that; the trouble was, he
was too honorable with the desperate
veharacters with whom he had to deal. |
But, that was Deadwood Dick’s way.
The day waned and night came on at
ast. Dick had been well fed, by the
old negress, and he felt grateful toward
her.
He had seen nothing more of the
young woman, but had heard her sing-
ing at different times during the aft-
ernoon. He had no reason to look for
any assistance from her.
In the evening she and Captain Joa-
quin sang together in the main room,
and it was singing well worthy atten-
tion.
It caused Dick to sigh for a life so
misspent,
Finally, after some time, the door of
the room Dick was in opened, and a
flood of light streamed in.
Captain Joaquin entered, and Susana
came as far as the doorway, where she
stood framed in the light, clad in a
gown that made her appear beautiful
in the soft radiance.
“JT suppose you are still here, eh?”
said the outlaw.
He could not see at once, coming out
of the lighted room.
“You might be sure of that,” -said
Dick. “I would remain, even were I
free, to listen to your singing.”
“YT have not come in for flattery nor
praise, but to make sure that you are
secure. Let me feel of those handcuffs
before I retire for the night.’ My men
may not be here till morning.”
“ Here they are; feel to your satisfac-
tion.”
He did so.
“No getting out of them,” he said.
“You are as safely my prisoner as I
was yours once to-day, if not more s0,
Deadwood Dick.”’
‘You need not remind me of it,” said
Dick.
“Well, good-night. If the men come,
I will call you up, for some deeds are
more agreeable in the dark than in the
daylight.”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“T mean, if you should have the ill
luck to draw a black.”
“TI understand you, I, guess, captain.
You will find me here when you want
me. I may be a little hard to awaken,
but shake me hard and you will bring
me out of it,”
“You will be awakened, never fear.”
The outlaw withdrew and closed and
secured the door, and after a time the
cabin was dark and silent.
A little longer, and Deadwood Dick
rose silently to his feet.
Lifting his wrists to his face, he was
occupied for some moments at some-
thing, and presently there was a faint
click,
He removed the handcuffs from his
wrists and put them into his jacket
pocket, and took a key from his mouth,
where it had long been concealed, and
_put it into the pocket of his vest.
Taking care to make no sound, he
moved to the window and carefully
worked the sash open to its widest ex-
tent.
That done, he put a chair under it and
prepared to take leave.
He listened.
No sound was to be heard within.
Putting his head out he listened again,
and all wag silence the most profound.
Satisfied, he began to worm his body
through the small opening, and presént-
ly had succeeded:in getting his head and
shoulders through, with his face up-
ward.
Pausing a moment, he continued
pressing through, and at last came as far
as his knees, holding fast to the lower
sash with his -hands the while.
In that position he stopped a moment
to rest and listen.
Hearing nothing, he let go with his
hands and swung down, hanging by his
legs, and his hands came in contact with
the ground.
It was an easy thing, then, to let go
with his legs and turn over and land
upon his feet, and he did it with scarce-
ly ly any more noise than a cat would have
made.
He was without his wecpons, but he
was free.
Knowing the direction he must take,
he set forward immediately, taking the
greatest care that his steps were too
light to be heard.
In a few moments he was out of
hearing distance from the cabin, so far
as his steps were concerned, and he
then struck out at a rapid pace in the
direction of the gulch.
He was going straight to the treasure
cache to secure the treasure, and would
then put all the distance possible be-
tween himself and the outlaws before
daylight.
He could cache the money again, and
in due time return with a posse and
secure it.
“There will be something of a.sur-
prise when they find that I am gone,
I imagine,” he said to himself. “I would
like to be there to see Captain Joa~
quin’s face at the moment.”
Not as a prisoner, however. He knew
he would have no chance whatever for
his life, or so, at any rate, he be-
lieved.” .
The night was dark, but there was
enough light to see general outlines.
He pushed on, keeping to the trail as
he remembered it, and he had taken
good care to fix it well in his mind.
At length he-came to the place where
the duel was to have been fought but
where he ‘had been cut down by the
bullet that had plowed the gash in his
scalp.
Still on, and at last he came to the
rough way that led to the top of the
little peak on which the treasure had
been cached, and here he had the hard-
est climb of all.
In daylight, it was not easy, but by
night, and unfamiliar as he was with
the ground, it was doubly difficult.
But it was at last accomplished, after
an hour’s work.
He stood on the plateau.
Sitting down on the edge of the table
to rest, before proceeding further, a
sound presently reached his ears,
It caused him a start, and he was on
his feet instantly...
Again he hard it,,and knew that he
was not mistaken this time; it was:
voices.
With all haste he turned to the boul
der and applied his shoulder to it at the
point where Captain Joaquin had put.
his strength to it some hours before,
At first it did not move, but remem-
bering how the Red Rover had put. forth
all his strength by surging against it,
Dick now did the same, and presently
the boulder moved and finally turned
over,
Lighting a match, Dick looked into the
cavity, and there was the bag of money
exactly as it had been deposited.
He had it out in a second, and did not
stop to replace the stone.
If he could get away from the top of
the peak before discovered, he would
have a chance.
It would take Captain Joaquin some
time to climb up to look for the treas-
ure, and while he was doing that Dick
could be putting distance between him-
self and them.
What was the best of all, he would
leave no trail that they could follow,
having nothing but bare rock for his
footing.
He readily imagined what had taken
place at the cabin.
The men had come, and Captain Joa-
quin had entered the room to bring him
forth and discovered him gone,
/