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,
, _ life.”
Deadwood Dick, Jr., Branded.
— + T I Ss
il
“ Don’t do that; we’ll come to an agree-
ment somehow.” .
“ What do you propose, then?”
“You come down here with that cash,
and we "11 give you the chance I told you
about.
“The drawing for a white bean?”
“ Yes.
“ What assurance have I that I will not
be shot at sight?”
“None but our word. We’ll respect
that, if you are willing to meet us half
way. We are determined to have that
money.”
~ “ Joaquin?”
it was a woman’s voice that called.
“Dick recognized it as the voice of Su-
sana, and wondered what had brought
her there, .
“What are you doing here?” cried
Captain Joaquin, in something of anger.
“T thought I told you to remain at the
house.”
“Yes, but I could not do that, with you
in danger. I had to come out and find
you. Do not be angry with me; I could
not.help it. Besides, I was anxious about
your treasure.” ~
She had come out into sight, while
speaking.
Deadwood Dick’ was peering over the
edge of the ledge, at a point where a
shadow protected him.
He saw the young woman cast a swift
glance around, saw that she was nearly
out of breath from evident haste, and
that her face was flushed.
“What danger am I in?” was the an-
gry demand.
““No danger, I hope, but I could not
know that. .I could not remain there in
uncertainty. Do not be angry, Joaquin:”
“Well, sit down and rest yourself, and
do not interfere in this matter. Now,
Deadwood Dick, let me know at once
what you will do or what you want us
to do.”
“If you will return my revolvers to
me, in good order and loaded, I will
come down and turn this money over
to you; on condition that you let me
escape with my life, or give me a fair
chance to do so. It is for you to accept
or refuse; as you please.”
“We refuse.”
“Very well, then; this money goes up
in smoke.”
“Heavens!” cried the young woman.
“Do not burn the money, sir, I beg of
you!”
“Tt is the only weapon I hgve,’’*de-
elared Dick. ‘‘ Without it, I dould not
hold your cutthroats at bay for a-mo-
ment. With it I must bargain for my
'“ Perhaps you regret the chance you
- gave me,” suggested Joaquin.
“No, I do not. I was simply giving
you the benefit of a possible doubt,
though, in truth, I did not believe it ex-
isted.”
“And what do you promise him now,
Joaquin?” the young woman inquired.
“T have promised him this life if he
will come down here with that money,”
the Red Rover explained.
“You had better accept it, sir,” the
. young woman called out. “ You are at a
disadvantage, and cannot possibly hold
out there a great while. That is your only
chance.”
“But I have only the word of an out-
‘Jaw that my life will be spared.”
“That word will be kept, will it not,
Joaquin?”
“Of course it will be kept. But I told
you not to meddle in this matter. Keep
out of it, now, or return to the house at
once!”
The young woman gave him a sharp
glance, and leaned back against a boulder
that lay behind the stone on which she
‘had sat down. Dick believed that he
caught a look of pain on her face as the
torches lighted it up.
“It is all one-sided,” said Deadwood
Dick. “ Arm me, and make me an equal,
and I will leave the bag of money here
and come down and go away. Refuse,
and I will carry out the threats I have
made. There need be no further parley
about. it.” ,
“Well, I’ll do it, but I have not got
your weapons here.”
“Send for them.”
. “It will take time to get them.”
“No matter, we can call a stay of pro-
ceedings until your man returns with
them.” ‘
“And you will destroy none of the
money mean time?”
“No, I will not.”
“ Agreed.”
Captain Joaquin spoke afew words to
one of his men, and the fellow started off,
Deadwood Dick withdrew from the
edge of the ledge then, and put on his
thinking cap. The advantage lay with
the outlaws, there was no denying it.
He did not believe they would be fools
enough to arm him. :
There must be some trick in it, he be-
lieved, but what it could be he could not
imagine. He looked around for a means
of escape, but knowing full well that it
did not exist. He would ‘have to trust to
the word of the outlaw captain, and take
chances,
No word was passed between Captain
Joaquin and him during the time the man
was gone, and Dick waited eagerly for
the fellow’s return. He ‘had a scheme in
mind, but whether it could be made to
work or not remained to be seen. It
would be at the risk of his life, but ke
hoped to give them the slip and get
away with the booty.
At last he came,
Captain Joaquin called out to Dick, and
he responded.
“ Here are your weapons, now, but how
are qhey to be sent up to you? And
what assurance have we that you will
keep your word?”
“T have a plan to propose,” said Dick.
“ Let that lady bring them up to me, and
she may carry the bag down to you in
exchange, Then, when you find that it is
all right, all go away and leave me: to
come down when I please.”
That, however, was not his scheme.
“What is the sense of that?’ demand-
ed the Red Rover. “I will bring them up
myself.”
“And perhaps shoot me the moment
you come where you can get a bead on
me. I will not trust you that far, Cap-
tain Joaquin, for I do not believe you
mean to allow me to get away from here
if you can help it.”
- But you have my word that you shall
be allowed to go away alive—that is,
, that your life will be spared.”
“And he will keep his word, sir,”
spoke up the woman,
“You have nothing but his promise,
the same as I,” said- Dick. “He must
meet my terms, or I will carry out the
threat I have made. It can only cost my
life, anyhow and—”
A noise just behind him caught Dick’s
ear at that instant, and he turned his
head to see what it was, when a man
threw himself upon him and bore him to
the ground. Dick, already kneeling, was
taken at a disadvantage, and che was
shoved headlong over the ledge.
Even as he felt himself going, the
thought came to ‘him to protect his head
with the bag of money, and so he did,
holding it tight to his head and drawing
himself into as much of a ball as possi-
ble, for there was not the least use in his
trying to save himself the fall down the
rugged side of the cliff. And so he fell,
over and over, landing at the feet of
Captain Joaquin.
“ CHAPTER NIII.
DEADWOOD DICK BRANDED.
A shout of exultation had accompanied.
Dick’s hasty departure from the cliff, and
@ burst of laughter greeted him from be-
ow.
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 immediate-
ly, 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 re-
sponse,
“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 wo-
man, who had leaped to her feet at the
shout from the cliff. ‘‘ You promised him
his life, Joaquin.”
“Tf 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.
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 chim 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!”
i “But your promise,” she reminded, ris-
ng.
e "That for it,” with a snap of the fin-
ers,
“Death
“ 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.
- “Tam 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
“ Por my love—
“By heavens! I ” pegin to think there
is more to it than you would express,
Men, an example shall be made of this
fellow. Vil brand him before we hang
him!”
The young woman uttered a scream.
“Hat I thought so,” the Red Rover
sneered, “A woman's heart is as fickle
as the weather. This fellow’s make-be-