Originally published: 1914
Genres: Western
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/70204138-buffalo-bill-s-best-bet-or-a-sure-thing-well-won
Gutenberg link: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63568
Chapters: 56
Warning: This may include outdated and derogatory language and attitudes.
CHAPTER I
TEMPTED
“One thousand dollars for my life.”
“You holds it cheap, pard.”
“It is all I have with me.”
“Guess not, fer men say as how you hes dimints ’bout yer clothes, ef yer goes broke with gold dust.”
“I have diamonds with me; two splendid ones, and you shall have your choice if you aid me.”
“And the thousand dollars, too, pard?”
“Yes.”
“Say both dimints and nine hundred dollars, an’ I’ll aid yer, an’ yer’ll then hev a hundred dollars to speckilate on, an’ yer is a born gambler, men say, so won’t go broke long.”
The speakers were standing in the shadow of a large tree. The scene around them was picturesque in the extreme, for the open prairie stretched upon the one hand, with twoscore horses lariated out to feed upon the rich grass, and upon the other was a grove of timber, now illuminated by a dozen campfires, around which sat a dashing, reckless set of men, smoking and talking over the dangers they had known.
The bivouac in the woods, with the red glare of the fires, the horses picketed upon the prairie, and the silvery light of the moon casting a halo over all, made up a scene for the brush of an artist.
But the two men standing in the shadow of the tree that stood alone, as it were, a few yards out of the grove, cared not for the scene of beauty before them.
Their eyes were bent on each other, and their thoughts were bent on some stern purpose. One was a prisoner, the other his guard.
The prisoner was none other than Kent King, known as the Gambler Guide, whom the Texas herders had taken prisoner, and were carrying with them to the Lone Star State, where the doom of death awaited him for crimes committed in the past.
Now, as he stood by the side of the man, who was that night his guard, and who was known as Poker Dick, the glare of the firelight on the one side and the radiance of the moonlight upon the other showed that he was securely bound hand and foot.
A bivouac or two more and the Revolver Riders, as the band of herders was called, would be in Santa Fe, toward which gay place they were destined, that they might pass a week or two there in spending their money, gambling, and catering to their enjoyment in various ways.
Once in Santa Fe, Kent King knew that he was doomed, for, thence down into Texas the herders would doubtless go in company with trains, and all chances of escape would be cut off forever from him; or, perhaps, the Texans, in the height of their revels in the town, might take upon themselves to hang him, and try him for his crimes afterward.
A man of indomitable will and undisputed courage, he would meet death bravely, looking it squarely in the face, come when or how it might.
But, possessed of a fascination of manner that made him a dangerous friend to women, a talent for card playing that kept his pockets always full of gold, and a love of life that was as strong as his disregard for the lives of others, he was determined to make a bold attempt to escape.
To do so by physical force and daring he knew was impossible among the men who held him prisoner, and he therefore must use strategy.
“You look blue tonight, pard,” Kent King had said to Poker Dick in his pleasant way after the other herders had assembled around the campfires.
“I is blue,” was the answer.
“Why, I should think you would be happy, as we will soon reach Santa Fe, where you expect a good time, and after that, you are going back home.”
“Home is what makes me blue, pard. I hes lost to ther boys all I got fer my leetle drove o’ hoof critters, an’ I’m going back to ther old folks without a dollar unless I kin win some dust in Santa Fe.”
“I have some money with me,” said the prisoner.
“Guess yer will keep it, too.”
“Not if you want it.”
“Pard, I isn’t ther man ter take gold from a corpse, fer yer is leetle more, seein’ as how yer’ll be h’isted soon as we reach Texas.”
“That is just what I wish to avoid. I have gold with me, and if by any chance I could escape, why, then, you wouldn’t have to go back poor.”
The guard started and turned pale, for the wily tempter had touched his sordid nature.
“Well, Poker Dick, what say you? I have gold and you have none.”
“What will yer give me, pard, fer ter drop off to sleep an’ let yer skip?” asked Poker Dick, in a whisper.
Then came the answer that opens this story:
“One thousand dollars for my life.”
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