"Come here and see how I treat a rival when I catch him."
"No, no! Spare me that, Joaquin, spare 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 another 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 vengeance even in another world—I swear it."
"Bosh! Put on the brand, my man."
The barrel of the rifle was lowered, and the hot horseshoe slipped off and fell upon Deadwood Dick's bare skin.
The victim gave a convulsive movement as the hot iron touched his skin, and struggled furiously, an involuntary cry of anguish escaping his lips, but he was firmly held.