Prentiss Ingraham

“ The horseman rode close up to the side of the coach, his hand upon his revolver.
"Harding, I see that you meditate resistance if opportunity offers, but let me warn you that you are a dead man the instant you make any attempt to escape or fire upon us. I would kill you now without the slightest hesitation, only I fear it would break up the line and travel to Last Chance, and that I do not wish. Dismount from that box, and, remember, my revolver covers you!" ”

“ He stepped toward Doctor Dick, and said:
"You, sir, have the ransom money for the return of this young lady?"
"I have gold amounting to the sum demanded."
"See here, Doc, I don't see why we should be robbed by one man, so let us run him in, now we have the young lady, and we will not have to pay the gold," and Harding suddenly covered the outlaw with his revolver.
"No, no!" cried Celeste. "That will never do."
"No, Harding, we must keep faith with him, even if he be a murderer and a thief. Put up your gun," said Doctor Dick. ”

“ Mounting then, Andrew Seldon set off on his lonely and perilous mission. He ascended the hazardous trail, stripped his horse of his trappings upon reaching the deadly cliff which he had to pass around, and got safely by with the animal. Then he brought his saddle and trappings around, led the horse to the top of the cañon rim, and, mounting, set off for Fort Faraway, taking the trail that must lead him by the deserted camp where he had killed Black-heart Bill in a duel, and where the desperado rested in his grave after his tumultuous life of evil. ”

“ Wrapt in admiration of the scene, the mist-clouds floating lazily upward from the cañon, the silver ribbon far away that revealed the winding river, and the songs of birds coming from a hundred leafy retreats on the hillsides, the horseman gave a deep sigh, as though memories most sad were awakened in his breast by the scene, and then dismounting began to unwrap a lariat from his saddle-horn.
He was dressed as a miner, wore a slouch-hat, was of commanding presence, and his darkly bronzed face, heavily bearded, was full of determination, intelligence, and expression. ”

“ The brave response of Celeste Seldon pleased the young miner, though he did not wish her to remain upon the box. He knew the merciless nature of the road-agents, and that if they fired without challenging him, she stood, in as much danger as he did of being killed or wounded. So he said:
"I would much rather that you should go inside the coach, especially until we pass the Dead Line."
"No; I remain here."
"You are determined?"
"I am."
"Then I can say no more, and I hope, recognizing that I have a lady with me, they will not fire upon me."
"You seem to confidently expect an attack." ”

“ The men disappeared, and Doctor Dick asked:
"Do you expect to keep up your lawless acts much longer without meeting the fate you deserve, Sir Outlaw?"
"Yes, for the money I get is worth taking big chances for, Doctor Dick, and, gambler that you are, you never do a better day's work than what sum this gold calls for."
"It is a long lane that has no turn, and the turn will come for you some day," said Harding.
A light laugh beneath the mask was the answer, and Celeste Seldon's face wore a clouded expression Harding was not slow to observe. ”

“ The crowd that he dreaded were five in number, and they were young men, bronzed-faced, brawny, and with an air of recklessness stamped upon them. That they were a dangerous lot their appearance indicated, and few men would care to face them where no help was at hand.
They had halted some dozen miles from W——, and gone into camp on a brook a few hundred yards from the trail the stage would follow. That they knew their way well their movements were proof of, for they rode at once to the camping-place, staked out their horses, spread their blankets, and gathered wood to cook their supper with. ”

“ Thus musing the hermit-miner sat upon his own horse listening to the echoes rumbling through the Grand Cañon, growing fainter and fainter, like a retreating army fighting off its pursuing foes.
An hour passed before the unnerved man felt able to seek a camp for the night, so great had been the shock of the falling cliff, and the fate he had felt had overtaken his comrade.
At last he rode on up the cañon once more, de [Pg 10] termined to seek a spot he knew well where he could camp, a couple of miles above his destroyed home. ”

“ Doctor Dick had made his début into Last Chance mining-camp, by bringing in the coach, one day, with the dead body of the driver on the box by his side, and two murdered passengers on the inside.
He had run off, single-handed, the road-agents who had held up the coach, and therefore became a hero at once, adding to his fame very quickly by showing that he could "shoot to kill" when attacked. ”

“ When Harding met with old Huckleberry, the stage-driver, who had so mysteriously disappeared, and whose fate was a mystery to the miners of Last Chance, that old worthy saw the coach drive on its way while he regarded its departure with the complacency of one not afraid to be left alone, and fully capable of taking care of himself. ”

“ Having completed his quarters, he strolled about among the saloons and gambling-dens, watched the playing, but neither drank nor gambled, and at last, tiring of looking on, went to his roost and turned in for the night, an object of curiosity to all, yet also of admiration, for a man who would volunteer to drive the coach over that trail was one to command respect in Last Chance. ”

“ The miners of Last Chance were too much excited over the expected ransom of Celeste Seldon, and the thought of soon having a young and beautiful girl in the mining-camps, to devote themselves to steady work, after the situation was known to them.
Then, too, they were greatly disturbed at the mysterious disappearance of Bernard Brandon, the young man whose mind had been destroyed by his wound, and which they could not comprehend, for not the slightest trace had been found of him, with all their searching. ”

“ Dave Dockery was as shrewd as he was brave, and bore many scars of wounds received in the discharge of his duty, his nerve and endurance, it was said, saving his life where other men would surely have been killed.
The coach out from Last Chance had gone on its dangerous run with a very large sum in gold-dust, but Dave had gotten safely through with it, and was congratulated by all who knew the chances he had taken of losing treasure and life. ”

“ Becoming confidential, Doctor Dick had told the scout a few chapters of his life, and he alone doubted that his foe from boyhood, Sergeant Wallace Weston—who had been reported as dying in the desert while seeking to escape—was dead, and the two, the scout and the gambler-doctor, had arranged to meet at the deserted camp and discover if the real truth could not be ascertained. ”