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lieve chivalry has stolen your affection
from me—”
“No! no! no! Great theavens! how you
wrong me!”
“Ha! ha! Then what is the matter
with kiling him, since he is my mortal
foe, and it must be his life or mine soon-
er or later?”
“But, your honor, Joaquin, your hon-
‘or,’ she reminded him. ‘“ He gave you
‘your life, ora chance for it, and you
spledged your. word that you would do
the same—”
“ Bah! Choose between us, Susana.”
““T choose you, of course,” attempting
to throw ‘her arms around his neck, an
-action which he repelled. “He is noth-
ing 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 Captai
.Joaquin’s compliments!” -: :
“ Hurrah! That is what the deserves!”
“Here is a horseshoe; will that do?”
“The very thing!”
“Tt will give him a mark for good
luck!”
“Joaquin! In heaven’s name show
mercy! If you do this thing, you kill my
Jove 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 jeal-
ous intensity. ‘Yes, I will spare him:
another word from you, and I will burn
out his eyes!” :
With a scream, the young woman cov-
ered her face with ‘her hands and stag-
gered away from the scene,
“Where is that horseshoe?” the en-
raged captain demanded. “Put thése
torches together, and lay it on them till
it is heated. I will make an example
of Deadwood Dick that will be a warn-
‘ing to all other detectives to sieer 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 dis-
tance 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
‘tthe 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!
hha! ha!”
“Get ready.”
“* All ready, cap’n.”
~“ One moment, then. Susana?”
He called out to the young woman.
“*T hear you, Joaquin.”
- “Come here and see how I treat a
rival when I catch him.”
“No, no! Spare me that, Joaquin, spare
{..
Deadwood Dick, Jr., Branded.
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 an-
other 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 ven-
geance even in another world—I swear
t
“Bosh! Put on the brand, my man.”
The barrel of the rifle wasJowered, and
the thot horseshoe slipped off and fell
upon Deadwood Dick’s bare skin.
The victim gave a.convulsive move-
ment as the hot iron touched his skin,
and struggled furiously, an involuntary
ery of anguish escaping his lips, but he
was firmly held, a
A second—perhaps two, andthe re-
port of arifle rang out, and Captain Joa-
quin 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 Dead-
wood 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 THw RESCUE.
Deadwood Dick believed that the end
of his eventful career had come at last.
There was not a ray of hope for him,
ad
‘and he was faint and sick from the in-
tense pain of the hot iron that had been
laid upon his breast. . °
With his hands tied, and this 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 Dead-
wood 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 pow- |
der and lead on,” was the response from
another.
“That’s so,” said a third. “Let him
swing and think about et while his speer-
it 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 out-
rage, and followed in the direction Cap-
tain 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 imp and apparently lifeless,
and-the young woman was at his side in-
stantly, 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 uncon-
scious. .
To her surprise her last: kiss was re-'
turned.
She sprang up with a startled little
ery, and released: her hold instantly.
“T owe my life to you,” said Dick, in
low tone. “‘I shall not soon forget the .
obligation, I promise you.”
“T regret that I could not save you the
torture you had to undergo,” was the re-
sponse, “ You heard his-threats; I was
afraid to say another word in your fa-
vor.” : 33
“Tam glad that you did not do so. But
release meé 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, me
“Yes, there will be another reckon-
ing,” 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 ardent-
ly loved him before—or thought I loved
him. How blind I was to his true char-
acter!” oo
“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 se-
cured his revolvers and also the horse-
shoe 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 pound-
ed 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.
“Tt 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, re-
turning the kisses she had given him.
“You have given me your life,’ he
said; ‘“‘what can I do for you in re-
turn?”
“ Give me your protection,” was the re-
sponse. .
“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.”