Yellowstone Jack: Trappers of the Enchanted Ground — page 43: what you’re looking at

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

- “ge Bak airs: “IN STRANGE 7 COMPANY. a ' ie? yy space whirled the body of the scream. of : agony—a_ dull crashing . ee as the body reached the tree-tops. tae he brittle pine bouchs splintered and 2 = beneath the weight, though offer- ing more and more resistance as the body neared the jagged boulders that so it ickly strewed the canyon bed, until, at last, the bruised, bleeding, senseless emi- | x Me oe only a few feet above the ja rgced A ‘The life-blood trickled from his temple nd showed in a dozen places upon his _ person, where the cruel bouglis had torn Bes his garments and Jacerated his skin. And | thus us, with oreiual y decreasing undu- “puel the ghastly figure hung doubled across the limb, while the last "eleam of arbing day faded. ° ; Mth. perk shape stole silently along my: ne he bottom of the canyon, gliding in and out, noiselessly_ passing from boulder to __ Rones pausing nearly at every step to er keenly ahead, above, around, as 4 cugh dreading some enemy’s attack, : - silently the shadow slides on, then | Me ‘pauses directly beneath the now motion- less body. Again that quick, burning glance around, then upward. A drop : RoE blood falls upon the upturned: face. 1 ee shadow flattens itself to the ground, and the muzzle of a rifle instantly covers a the: shapeless mass suspended im mid air. _ Fora few moments, he stands staring atthe gently swaying body, then drops ae rifle, and nimbly scales the tree that bears such strange fruit. The limb bends and creaks beneath its double weicht, but the adventurer manages to grasp the ; ue emigrant’s collar, and then, with con- siderable address, draws the senseless i |? form toward him. He brushes back the tong, matted hair, and eagerly peers into the blood-stained face, a strange, snar- - ling sound rumbling from the massive we chest. | ‘. Bee the ‘man eaten worked his e 7 a roe eR sumatva GE otras, Peron. winding between or around thes | ragged masses of rock with an ease and celerity that proved his thorough know- = 7 OWN Se throu sh the- empty | "helpless young emigrant. A pierc- | "grant: swayed up and down upon a sturdy a ee - " . et trickled from the young man’s head, fall- — ing upon the rocky ground, and leaving — 2 a bloody trail behind them. For fully half-an-hour the stranger bore Frank Maynard on through the night, then turned abruptly to the left, as though about to scale the almost per-— pendicular wall. After scrambling up a vine covered several stunted pines, | Ne lowered the body from his shoulder. | A few embers smouldered at some dis- tance, and by aid of these, the stranger soon lighted a ruae wick that was stuck into the hollow of the rock, filled ae . Tease. _ Dragging Maynard whero the fechle. light fell upon his face, the stranger hurriedly wipod the blood from his pale — features, and gazedlongandkeenly upon ~ A half-sigh par ted his lips, andas = them. if unconsciously, he muttored : “ Not yit—not yit! ae ~~ ~s a | ledge of the trail, and still the red drops — : - Biche ~ - - ee ay “a - > few steps, he stooped low Ccown and part pe ing a leafy screen where the wild grape- - <= = — ' al a - oan swab -* i How much longer Ce must I wait? When’ll the devil put him ; z in my grip? “Pears like I'll go crazy ef this lasts much longer. lied. Could a.erazy man do what I did? — No-—-no ; I'd ‘a’ burnt up, too, like they — did---but 1 fooled ’em ! They thought Crazy-—ha!ha! _ : = They did call me crazy once; but they ‘twas my bones they found; jest’s though - s I could die while he lived !” and the man aS laughed harshly. A feeble moan parted Maynard’s lis, The cold water used in cleansing the blood from his face had partially restored his consciousness, for despite his frightful n, : fall and the outlaw’s treachercus shot, Frank Maynard was not dead. This sound seemed to calm the stranger, and he bent over the body for a moment eagerly. He could feel the faint flutter- ing of the heart, and the bright surface of his blood-bladed knife was dimmed. ‘He ain't dead yet. Who knows? Mebbe the good Lord sent lim to tellmoa 5 whar { kin find him !” For nearly an hour the stranger worked before his efforts to restore life were rewarded. And then, after a few inco- herent words and a dazed stare around | him, the young emigrants head sank back and he slept---a “sleep: that closely resembled death. And the stranger ECOMMIE DOO! KS.(€)