Frank Reade, Jr., With His New Steam Horse Among The Cowboys; Or, The League Of The Plains — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

—— = Swe ae. «yo ete . - ine nee el ee 7 ,~ a. (ee i . sp epee See ES rt re ee STE eee Ore ee el Soe a —- . a Ce ee i We SS eect a aoe ater Sarre earn geen a Sprecher mete oF a PES VET RIM ie RS ; pie pia % »/ Pre Gt Ai! ‘i 99 THE LEAGUE OF THE PLAINS. and, mounting mustangs, they galloped away. By the time they ‘reached the chaparral, darkness had settled down. Passing through this, they entered the canyon. ii Thus far they had encountered not one a -of the Star Ranch gang. oF 6 aie At this point they set their ponies } ~*~ loose, and sent the sagacious animals “Pee — back to camp. Then they. pushed forward te 0 on foot. a It was not long before they came to ot a ‘the opening in the mountain wall. made Fes aan bs by the dynamite. ink 3 Arthur now knew the way well. 1 Me gear “If the bucket is down,” he declared, te He + ““wecan go up through the shaft. It 1s Be aero Saker.” | Wives «et us go the safost way.” ct Beets ie We cant take no chances.” pt “ No.” fh ia Arthur led the way through intricate passages. ey Suddenly he paused, and struck a fo match, Frank saw walls about him, and Rie sah a huge bucket at his feet. Hofer): Good!” whispered Arthur. “The ‘bucket is down. I hear nobody about, 7) andi think we can get inside the lines ~~ without’a question.” coe “That is good news,’ whispered WE LA ena ay Though the darkness was most intense, a hit “Arthur clambered — into the bucket iy ae quickly. Peete War here,” he said, Gomky: “and I / ~-will pull you up later.” Frank was quite willing to wait. es : Bes Arthur caught hold of the bucket- rope; and began to pull eng up. be ante Up, up he went, the rope creaking dis- >. mally ; but, after a time, the rope ceased Si Aes cr eee Thon Frank knew that the bucket was aie 7a fe coming down through the gloom, When ae eh aaa struck the bottom of the pit he stepped baarerer sf) Arthur was at the windlass above, and _ quickly pulled Frank up. ~ overlooking the stockade and buildings oe Star Ranch. “ We are in splendid luck.” “T should say so.’ ) c We are now right inside the enemies cunes.”’ . “ Whist !”’ Both slunk into the shadows They stood upon the brow of the hill all the “ Flere we are,” said Arthur, jubilantly. | By Ae, ae ae gt oe i er " m aks 4 ‘ - Two men were coming up the path to the shaft, talking earnestly to one another. Every word was heard by the two interlopers, and, as it happened, was of vast information to them. “T tell “ye, Bill,” one of them was saying, “ that Harding j is a cool cuss, ain’t he P 4 “Yow bet!” | | Who'd ever think of catching a pooty gal like her, an’ locking her up until she acrees to marry him pn ! “«T dunno. I reckon it’s pesky mean bigness.” “ T dunno. other way, what’s he different ?” ‘7 never seen no luck come from it yet.” “ Jest ther same, it’s a clever trick.” “ He’s a dare devil.” “ Yow bet!” ‘ Where’s the girl kept P” “In that small lodge nigh their main house. Ther doors ain’t locked, an’ she could come out, but he keeps a man right at the door all the time.” * Foxy cuss !” ‘¢ Yew bet.” |, “ D’yer think them suckers from the Comfort Ranch are gwine ter lick us ?” ‘¢ Not for nix 1” “That Steam Hoss is a cussed funny arrangement, ain tate” s Waal, yas.” “Cur’us invention. I wonder what'll cum next? They'll hev a walkin’ bufiler on stilts. made out of polliwog skins it | { 77 ' a Their voices died away as they ascended the mountain side. But Frank and Arthur had listened with the deepest interest, The disclosure was of vast interest and value to them “She 1s confine din the lodge near the main house,” whispered Arthur. “That is luck tor us.’ “You're right !” “How shall we get rid of that fellow | who stands at the door 2” “ Leave it to me,” said Frank, grimly. “Pm willing.” ** All right! lf the gal won ar ee no going ‘clo Let’s go down into the ranch,” “T think we'd better keep low.” 7; “ Certainly.” They carelessly strolled down the , | mountain side, : 7 : 7 y re A 1 : J : . . ; pe u - 4 ; : i Pon %. a) | . : ” | % — 4. iy, >| ‘ sr 7 .* VY. ij ' Z F _ a IN a ‘ : 4 ; a> , ; * ‘ : * ‘ ‘ , teede AS; y $y 2 m Pop ( ~ OR ate tg My : . sh * ‘set ‘ j OF & & oe pee ele watt or ‘ase Ey Aree bi 4 aT «e* Py td . , zy ee f £ = y ee os) 1s *