Gentleman Joe's Double Eagle; or, A Dance at Frog Back Curve — page 27: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

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A CLOSE CALL. ‘\ When Gentleman Joe heard the masked men slipping away through the forest after the end of the bloody fight with the Rocky Rangers, he decided to. attempt to follow them to their hiding-place, which he believed to be located not far away... : | While he had found the Hamp Hull Mine and the secret entrance thereto, he believed that as long as these desperate outlaws were at large there would be more or less danger attending any effort to take and hold possession of the _ property. e ; He now had abundant evidence of the character of the men, and if he could succeed in locating them, it was his plan to capture the whole gang at once. He had by this time arrived at a conclusion regarding | the leadership of this band, which, if he could prove to be a ~,¢ a a, | s , > 5 THE LOG CAR those of the Rocky Rangers who had succeeded in getting | at They rushed up to the camp-fire, and, scattering the} —— —_—— att ‘, ° ‘ a cake. rt, . J vo fi <, ‘ rs ry : - at? : - ; = . “> s Ma (hep oe Oe ; ¥ sv “frs i | y ~~? S 4 : 7 7 ae > “ 4 it. tte . ooh te :G - 4". is wt ee. Z a J ‘7 i” » [Ps ‘ o> Bim y - . * 7 * | LIBRARY. ing himself into the tree, followed close in the footsteps nf the outlaws. Zi : fF When he reached the shelf-like ledge on the side of the cliff he found there a well-beaten trail, showing that it had been used by the gang for many months. The narrow. path wound sharply around the great wall of solid rock which towered a hundred feet above, and in some places it was so narrow that the walking was diffi- cult and dangerous. ti ae A single misstep and the man making) *would plunge headlong down into the ravine fifty feet L“sjw. The outlaws were still out of sight, but Gentry knew from the character of the path that they could not have — turned aside. i He hurried forward as fast as possible, expecting to overtake them or at least come in sight of them again in a very few minutes. The narrow trail wound along the edge of the cliff, gradually ascending and growing wider until it: reached © the point half-way to the top of the hill. of There the cliff, which up to this point, rose perpendicularly, became broken and uneven. Gentry now crept forward with great care. . he ledge followed by the trail at this point spread out to a width of a hundred feet. : Bowlders that had broken off and dropped down from the cliff above and a few tangled vines and small under- brush made the trail rough and uneven, and difficult to follow in the darkness. Picking his way along for a hundred yards, Gentry 7 a e a ‘ ¢ ” IN ee eee ee almost true, he knew would insure him all the aid necessary to'heard the sound of voices onl y a short distance ahead. run down and capture every one of them. When the shadows slipped away in the darkness from the wrecked camp of the Rocky Rangers, ‘the Gilt-Edged Sport followed close upon their heels. , While if was dark and the way rough, if was a compara- tively easy matter to follow them. They were twenty in number and, naturally, made con- siderable noise as they hurried along through the woods. They could nof hear the cautious footsteps of the man who was on their trail. | _ Gentry soon discovered that the outlaws were following | a trail which led back to the ravine in which the mine was located. : Sie | It was an hour’s walk to reach this rift in the hills, and by that time the moon was up above the mountain-tops and shining brightly. — ‘ By the light that struggled through the tree-tops he could catch an occasional glimpse of the men he was fol- lowing. © | They hurried along apparently not suspecting pursuit. When they reached the ravine, they started right up the * trail, in the direction of the mine. | f When within a few hunded yards of the opening in the cliff which led to the rich deposits of gold, the outlaws - came to a halt. | Stee _ They were in an open space which was partly lighted hy a few straggling rays of moonlight-and keeping in the _ - shadow of the cliff on his right Gentry was able to creep up within thirty yards of where they were standing. He saw the outlaws remove their masks and strange- looking disguises, which they rolled, up in bundles and strapped on their shoulders, are Their next move took him completely by surprise. A tree with spreading branches stood close by the foot . of the cliff at the point where the outlaws had stopped to unmask. APT : * One of the lower branches of this tree hung down within * ‘a few feet of the ground. | _ The men who had just removed their masks caught hold £ of this low hanging branch one at * themselves up into the tree. , _ Climbing up hand over hand some twenty feet along the _ trunk, they reached a point where one of the larger _ branches reached out over a shelving ledge of the cliff _ which was rough and broken in many places. __ As soon as all of the men had in this way climbed up ~~) ; A ma ‘ the side of the cliff, they started off single file along the cE narrow ledge of rock, and in afew moments were out of thout much delay, Gentry ran forward, and, swing- >". 4 Ps -_ 4 i x \ F ~~ + oe o - " OA; ee See . A} 9 ie . ¢ . ps ; p “ ~« : : - ww 5 Y Nifoas “ : ~ . . ; ’ ee a , I ‘ a * es od, oe a P s% - ae eas a . e » , 4 ore, Ms Gee Maps > Pog SF Tee | a time, and = The talking seemed to come out of the side of tlre hill or from the cliff above. | At first it was difficult to locate the direction of the sound. Lying flat down on the ground, Gentleman Joe stopped for a few minutes to await developments. The sound of the talking seemed to be going farther and farther away. Then he knew that his presence had not been discovered. Again he rose and crept slowly forward, this time more careftlly than ever. The moon was on the other side of the cliff, and the trail was in the shadow. The light was so dim he had to almost feel his way along. ; As he felt his way around a huge bowlder which at first glance seemed to block the entire passage-way, he caught a glimpse of a faint ray of light a short distance ahead. The light seemed to come from an openinz in the side of the hill. ; ‘ He got up close enough to it to make out that there was a wide opening in the wall of rock, and a short passage- way which led to a big cave beyond. It was from the interior of this cave that the light came. A fire was burning somewhere within, and the blaze - threw a narrow line of light out through the passage-way and across the trail. Gentry knew that he had at last found the hiding-place of the gang of outlaws who were known as the Shadows of the Hills. °~ He was determined to get a look at the interior of the cave before he turned back. He felt that he could do so without risk, as he was satis- fied that they had no suspicion of his presence in the vicinity. - As he started forward toward the opening, he was able to make out in the dim light the form of a sentry pacing back and forth along the trail, with a rifle across his shoulder. | For a moment the Gilt-Edged Sport hesitated. If the sentry discovered his presence and gave the alarm the entire gang would be upon him in a moment. | He could not well afford to risk a fight against such odds at that time. yeernin, Retreat along the narrow dark trail with the outlaws in pursuit was out of the question. | But Gentleman Joe was nota man to turn back when once he had set out to accomplish a purpose. | For a few moments he watched the sentry closely. YS books.com e ~ ~ iy ae “a s q> . . » \\e ee f ; a - ; ") on Y's oO. > . - ; be 2 0 ais . &%. “ad t as a ot . <ah id . . SSIS ea ila ole ee BRT han Re he PL pe tek”