"Ha! ha! ha!" the outlaw laughed. "So, wildcat, it is you? I am glad we have met, for my vengeance must begin with you. Drop that gun, or, by the stars above, I will drop you!"
He dodged and drew his own weapons; but, in the same second, he was grabbed from behind by strong hands.
It was in vain he struggled.
"Did you hope to escape me?" asked Deadwood Dick. "You were a fool to think it. Do you know what is in store for you? Let me first bind your hands, and I will tell you."
Dick was not alone; there were other men besides himself, who held the prisoner while Dick bound him.
"There," he said, having tied the road-ruffian's hands, "now you are safe. Perhaps you remember what you did for me. Perhaps you remember this horseshoe. Perhaps you—"
Captain Joaquin uttered a scream.
"You do not mean to brand me!"
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," assured Dick.
"Anything but that—anything but that! Shoot me, hang me, but do not brand me!"