Beadle's Boys Library No. 54 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

aes = Nenana x Sama a ad Leet ee <> SS > =~ ca 2 . “a see es ne pe Be a, OP re “ae . . Ps Ww=aE - = aioe: : . =a ‘ing discovered, but didnot tarry on this ac- - ount in his rapid run until he had placed the _ point of the ridge between him and his foes. <% ik aie ® ravine a short distance before him, he _ turned into this and was soon brought to a halt _ hb its terminating abruptly. dle was about to retrace his way when the o- _ Yinging war-cries from the direction of the 1 - told him that his flight was discovered, siete ____ knew then that his situation was desperate. CHAPTER XI. JOE AT BAY. THOUGH matters certainly did look desperate a ‘or Joe, he did not lose his presence of mind. |. His eyes scanned the sides of the cliff in his ae aos but he saw that a squirrel could not scale _-Then he caught sight of what appeared to be abreakin the solid wall, and toward this he sounded. : _--—s «6 was where the ravine turned, but the walls were so alike, that Joe had believed he was at the end of the canyon, or gulch. Now he saw that it went beyond where he stood several hundred feet, but there ertainly did end, though the yawning mouth of a cavern extended on beneath the hill. i It took Joe but an instant to reach the cavern anddartintoit. - Ste Once within its dark shelter and he turned to - Jook back over his track, to seeif his foes were insight, and to his delight he discovered that _ they were not, though he could hear them -_--—« eoming upon his trail like a paek of hounds. ‘Before reconnoitering his quarters, Joe set to -_- work upon his rifle. He knew he had no time to draw the charge, so he began to pour powder into the nipple, ee cows into the barrel by thumping it with h ' Steadily he worked at this, although a loud, out told him the red-skins were close echoing s upon him. The next moment they appeared around the bend of the canyon and came to a halt, pointing at the cavern and gesticulating wildly. But Joe kept on with his priming until the tube would hold no more, and then he placed a in a it, and laying it down took up his re- volvers. From each nipple the cap was removed and a close examination made, and in several a few grains of powder were placed. “Now, I guess I’m ready,” said the picky boy, as he laid his weapons down ready for use, and, rising, unfolded his blankets and hung them upon the cavern walls, to let the water _ drip from them. — > = rg mean time ay Ect, a moore in ce tl Li aes all appeared in sight, and Joe recognized ae those he ‘geen upon the cliff, and who seemed to be now the ringleaders of the others. They seemed to be urging the others to make a rush upon the cavern, for they had followed Bees ad gee trail and knew he could be nowhere r 6 * ; soe “T guess that fellow on the spott:d pony is ‘wanted in the Happy Hunting-grpunds ” said _ Joe to himself, and he stooped for ‘his rifle. But hardly had he done so when a perfect _ ghower of arrows came flying into the cavern, ag the Indians having cunningly fitted them to ‘their bows unseen by Joe, and at a word from their leader, firod them. _-—s«sd@Had the boy not stooped for his rifle as he _ did, and which was laid upon one side of the cavern, he would have been pierced by half a _ dozen arrows. But, as it was, not ome touched him, though a several came dangerously near. . With this volley of arrows the red-skins gtarted upon a charge for the cavern, and in- . stantly the boy’s rifle went to his shoulder, his Breas ie caught the sights, and his finger drew on eae << — & e trigger. __—s 'This’time there was no missfire, and the war- rior on the spotted mustang went down. _ “T] knew they wanted him,” said Joe, as he _ whipped-up his revolvers and began to fire away. ; ers One, two, three shots, and no more were ne- —~--—s eessary, for the red-skins knew not then what _~—s the deadly revolver was, and imagined they had ese ee Ere other foes than the brave boy whom ‘they had brought to bay. A mustang killed, another with a broken leg,’ and a brave wounded, Joe saw were the results cf his pistol practice, and he could not restrain a burst of mocking laughter, as the red skins --_—-—« yan helter-skelter for the bend in the ravine. They sent a revengeful volley of arrows back dato the cavern, and then disappeared; but Joe _ knew that they had by no means given him up. “ ee see ae Se ace ro sted as ey > A Sie tas | bo California Joe, the Mysterious Plainsman., “They'll not come back right off, I guess, so | I'll look around and see where I am,” imuttered Joe, a8 he reloaded his rifle and then looked about him. ae A short distance back from the. entrance all was darkness; but Joe was provided with a tin box full of matches, and he quickly gathered u the arrows, heaped them together, whittled o splinters to kindle with, and behind a jutting point of the cavern lighted his fire to have a ook around him. In spite of Joe’s free-and-easy air in danger, and his great nerve, what he beheld by the aid | of the fire-light, caused a cry of horror to bréak from his lips. “ CHAPTER XII. THE DEATH-CAVERN. AFTER his firsé cry of horror at what he saw in the cavern, when his little fire blazed up, Joe uttered a light laugh, for he was not one to be nonplused for any length of time. ‘‘ Holy smoke! but the dead folks did scare me for a minute,” he said, and then coolly glanced around upon what had so suddenly and unex- pectedly met his gaze and disturbed his equa- nimity for the once. What he saw were rows of corpses in an al- most mummy state of dryness, ranged along upon a scaffolding on either side of the cavern. He knew that he was in an Indian burying- ground, and from what he understood of those red-skins in the canyon, he was aware that it was not a belonging of their tribe, even if they knew aught of its existence, which was doubt- ful. ‘I'd like to give ’°em. a scare that would last ’em,” said Joe, and he at once became lost in thought, a are sign with him that he was plot- ting mischief. At last he laughed, and that settled it that he had decided what to do. The air of the charnel house was loathsome in the extreme, but for this Joe did not then care. | Looking up the ravine, to see that the Indians were not in sight, he swung bis blanket before bim to catch the arrows they might fire at him, and at once set to work. meee Throwing his lasso up over a pole of the scaf- folding, he clambered up alqngside of the dead Indians and took a quiet survey of them by the light of his fire. ; ; e saw that they were ranged in rows upon each side of the cavern, the platform of poles upon which they were placed beginning about fifteen feet back from the entrance. Selecting a dozen of the worst-looking corpses —those from which the flesh had fallen from their skulls, leaving the bony face bare and white—Joe lowe them to the floor of the cavern with his lasso, one end of which he then made fast to the pole on one side nearest the entrance, and descending himself, he next fas- tened the lariat to the opposite side. _ With strips of buckskin and blankets, the be- longings of the red-skins, he then began to tie the corpses upon the lariat, so that they seemed to be standing up. Here and there he placed a pole at the back |. of a corpse to keep the lariat from sagging too much, and soon had his ghastly row of dead bodies extending across the cavern. It certainly was a hideous sight, but it amused Joe immensely, and he then gathered enough it from the scaffold poles to make a large This he built in a niche of the cavern in such a way that he could wholly shut out the light with his blankets, to the bottom of which he at- tached lines made of buckskin and carried them to the scaffolding overhead, where be took up his position, with his rifle and revolvers ready. It was now dark outside, and Joe knew that or foes only waited its gloom to creep upon ae : He understood Indian cunning enough to see that they meant for him to believe that they had gone, as they did not show themselves again; but he knew that they would not depart, leaving their dead ‘omrade in the ravine for him toscalp when tu. v had left the canyon. Lighting his fire, an. seeing that its blaze was wholly concealed by . 2 blankets. Joe drew ‘himself up on the scaffola nd perched there, his weapons lying before him ‘eady for use, and one hand holding the lines ac‘ached to the bot- ; tem of the blankets, the other grasping the | lariat which, by pulling upon it, would make the ghastly corpses seem to dance. ith pe pasence not surpassed by Job, the waited, watched and listened. : ithout he could see that it was light enough er for him to discover any one approaching the cavern, and there he kept his ear: . Presently g dark form came before his gaze, and then another, and another. _ They trod as softly as a panther creepin upon its oy and soon @ s@ore or more s in silence before the cavern entrance. Their bodies were bent, their heads pressed forward in the act of listening, and as still as bronze statues they stood. That was Joe’s moment to begin his perform- ance, and a strong pull, with one hand upon the lariat, set the row of corpses to sway and nod, while with a quick jerk upon the lines he sent a blaze of light into the cavern, revealing the ghastly sight to the gaze of the red-skins, just as they were about to spring into the dark cavern with their knives ia hand to meet what- ever foe they there might find. But that which their eyes fell upon, illumined by the red glare of the firelight, was more than their superstitious natures could stand, and they darted from the place with howls of terror, and fled with the speed of the wind down the can- -yon, each red-skin striving to lead in the mad race from the death cavern. CHAPTER XII. . A RECONNOISSANCE. THE sudden scampering of the frightened red-skins tickled Joe immensely, and half in enjoyment of the fun, half to urge them on to ‘greater speed and not to stop, he set up a series of most unearthly yells, as though to make the savages believe that they had -in- vaded the infernal regions, es “If they only knew who I was, that the Injuns below on the river call me a spook, this would help me tip-top, for I even am scared myself,” said Joe. | : But to keep his foes still going Joe ran after them, yelling as h3 went, and reaching the abrupt bend in the canyon found that they bad not tarried there. But at the entrance of the ravine they had, and Joe discovered that they had been rein forced by the entire band of hunters, who had doubtless been sent for to hurry back. They were building camp-fires, with evident intention to stop for the remainder of the night, and here and there, in the fire-light, Joe beheld knots of red-skins discussing the fearful sight they had witnessed, and telling their comrades, ‘“‘ They'll not come again until morning, and then they’ll come with a rush, or roll logs before ’em, which I can’t shoot through. “They have camped for business, and I’ve got to do something mighty quick, if I wants to keep my hair, and I do.” Cautiously Joe left then his place of recon- noissance, and proceeded back to the cavern, for he saw the utter impossibility of getting out of the canyon. . . - One thing gave him hope, and that was the wind came through tbe canyon, and the smoke from his fire had been blown back into it, and in some way disappeared. If it did this there yaust be another opening, and he must find it. : His blankets had dried by the heat of the fire, and he rolled them up and strapped them, with his other belongings, upon his back. Securing his lariat, he left the mummy-like corpses where they fell, lying in rows across the cavern entrance, and then, with a torch he manufactured; he set out upon his reconnois- sance. He followed the cloud of smoke through several winding passageways, and discovered that the cavern was indeed a perfect charnel house, or huge tomb, for hundreds of bodies were there. ‘ ‘“‘ Holy Smoke! hain’t I scared,” he said to himself, as he glanced upon the grim lines of ‘dead Indians, yet he did not certainly act as though he were very much frightened. After walking full a hundred yards he came to a Jarge chamber, or rotunda, and here he halted, holding the torch over his head to: have a look arovnd him. “Whew! this is the high mucky muck of all, and it looks as if the whole tribe bad died sudden like and been buried here. “Wonder if twas small-pox they had?