The Prairie Detective: Secret Service Series No. 24 — page 85: what you’re looking at

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

THE PRAIRIE DETECTIVE. 83 from the captain of the hunters. What did it mean? The oncoming horses were almost upon the men lying in wait. Heavens! it would be too late in another instant. Ah! at last it came, clear and calm through the crisp air, spoken like an ordinary, com- monplace word upon an every-day occasion of quiet and peace. “Hire !’’ A blinding flash of flame, running along the en- tire front; a sound like the simultaneous. crack of a hundred whips; a wild yell of dismay on one hand, followed by stirring, triumphant cheers on the other; and then cheers, curses, yells, and oaths com- mingled with the sounds of clashing arms, the pain- ful cries of wounded horses, and the bitter groans of mutilated and dying men. ~ The black night was livid with the bright streaks of discharging fire-arms, and bullets whizzed through the air in every conceivable direction. The solid front of the robber force shuddered, wavered, and drew back. ‘“Hooroar boys!’’ yelled Ryan, urging his men to _ renewed efforts. ‘“‘They’re beat! Up, an’ at ’em agin afore they kin git over the dose we’ve ie -em!’’ But he had miscalculated the nature of the foe with whom he had to contend. The repulse only re- - doubled their fury. Although they had never been met by such a determined resistance, they had been so often in battles which required perseverance and desperate fighting, that their organization was com- plete. The hunters labored under circumstances that were quite the reverse. All winter they had been separate, undrilled, and idle. They had not yet comicbook