Frank Reade, Jr., With His New Steam Horse Among The Cowboys; Or, The League Of The Plains — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

a ea eeaET eae —S eee se —_ on — . = -- _ e ou . te i SES e423 ey w= " ~ . : —— fa a. =~ a“ Le eee te ug os ; eum . ; : > Bi ae ty Bes: i) ie iG, THE LEAGUE OF a ee machine as that. My father could not ay _ have sent anyone to my rescue better " o qualified to cope with the perils of this LOE Seer Frank looked, gratified with this warm be Mae tribute to his genius. HO | sai res Aa CHAPTER, VIL nee ps A NARROW ESCAPE. Ties My aa te \ RTHUR BENTLEY was carried ty ie h\ away with the wonderful me- te 9 Wee iP chanism and workings of the New A as Steam Horse. ie 1 tee Its like he had never dreamed of, and a | eee several times he pinched himself to make oie sure that he was really awake. ibe 26 The time consumed in his conversation Oy Meigs | with Frank, however, had been consicer- te ea ‘able, and neither had stopped to think of 7. the risk they were incurring in remaining ‘) (ic. wpon the spot. cet Mane Neither did they make a move to leave’ eS i 33 until Juan Almado suddenly gave a warn- he? iecry: , = =~“ Beware, senors! There is danger !” et — Instantly both’ were recalled to their igs { BeNses. ae “Be jabers, the inimy are comin’,” cried Wie, if aBarney. | “Golly, Marse Frank !” yelled Pomp, Mio}. “ dar ain’ no time fo’ to lose.” > Frank saw this at a glance. The sound ' of the explosion bad reached the ears of ¢ the outlaws in the Mills beyond, and they had at'once entered the secretmine. ites They had poured into the gap now aliare made in the canyon wall by the dynamite, ~~ and then opened fire upon the party in Nae the canyon, and they had barely time to 75) get beyond range. | ri Into the waggon!” cried Frank, ex- HEEL 0 Juan Almado fled down the canyon So upon his fleet mustang. | He iy _ The others, however, sprang into the ~~ ‘waggon, and down the gorge went the -. * $team Horse at breakneck speed. ie ae , The cowboys could not pursue, for they t= ~were on foot, and to keep up with the ~~. Steam Horse would have been an’ utter : ee ~¢ AMS ‘ sf aid ae “ry ‘ ~ ) ‘ 7 : : i q ry re. i % (3 iy , et te ’ i La bre : ; ' 7B 2k — ‘, . ae A . Be r] } Be. ». en ho ee) awk“. ¥, “ Esih « a? A eS elt ee Mt 2 ere toa 9 ae eee es 8S . Ae nt ar eo a Se ob hg ny 8 nes Chen ee pe mm ~V~ -~» ex? ei el he Tt ai Seat ee eB Om _* - a ~ t ; - impossibility. The Horse was soon out of range, and ‘omg kept on for the prairie. ' Frank Reade, jun., was greatly elated. ba aM ~ ‘He had acconyplished the object of his, ae ae , mission a great deal easier, and in much less time, than he had reckoned upon. . : Wt: ;* 40} aa | s * > . . P 1 iy i4 a Ys z y, ~~, / ~ bi a \ = ¥ ty : —" * N+ ~ Ye 4 “) t st . os , sa ‘ yt & : ¥, pe s | » o ‘ , Fe akl 4 de A Pak ‘. “ SS Sa a ee Tere mmr - tte” Fs we Sere THE PUAINS, Arthur Bentley had been rescued, and it now only remained to drive the usurpers from the Star Ranch. Frank considered that in order to da this, it might be necessary to send to the nearest fort for reinforcements. With thé aid of the United States soldiers, there.could be no doubt about ousting the league from the ranch. Thus philosophizing, Frank held the Horse on its course down the canyon. Upon reaching the plain, his purpose was to at once strike out for Comfort Ranch. There, the first move would be to weed out the element supposed to' be in favour of the league. Then measures should be taken to establish a kind of fortress at the ranch so that any attack might be repulsed. All this, and much more, was passing through Frank’s mind. Suddenly the Steam Horse emerged from the canyon. But just as the Horse was about to pass through the chaparral which led to the prairie, Frank applied the brakes and closed the valve. } So sudden was the stop made, that all on board were thrown to the floor of the waggon. “Och hone, 1t’s cried Barney, wildly rubbing his bruised skull. “Golly, dis chile am clean done fo’!” shrieked Pomp. bis “ By Jupiter! What was that P” gasped Arthur Bentley. But the explanation was visible just ahead, and Frank had seen, just in time, a number of forms in the chaparrel path. Sc Nearer view had disclosed them as a strong body of the cowboys. The passage through the chaparral was completely blocked. | “We are cut off!” cried the youn inventor, by way of explanation, “ te that is why I stopped so suddenly.” “We've got to fight our way out !’ cried Arthur Bentley. “It looks like, it.” “All right ; give me a gun.” A shower of rifle-balls rattled against the mailed sides of the waggon. But they did no harm, : ‘In return, Barney, Pomp and Bentley began to work with the. Winchesters. In rapid succession they sent volley’ after volley into the chaparral. | ' v . , y' ’ . % ar as” . : » » e ‘ 7 ‘ ‘ vi, Vf; Ns - “4 rt - — 7 ae ‘. - ua] micbooks. ** as g - 4, Oy ae ‘ ) . oe ; es kilt intoirely I am,” —