Beadle's Dime Novels No. 231: The Texan Trailer — page 43: what you’re looking at

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

: AN ACCIDENT, — 73° §So far as he could do 80, Hans Bangslager advanced .with- out making any noise, for le Knew how sharp the sense of hearing was upon the part of the Indians. He plodded along in this manner, for the better part of an hour, when his fur- ther progress was checked by his coming upon the bank of the creek, to which Ihave made frequent reference. Here he paused in a quandary. — “I dink I kin wades across dat,” he mused, as he tiesyell the calmly flowing stream, “and den T gils on de oder side, and den I dinks I ought to be on dis side, so I won't slay here nor goes to de oder side.” This perhaps was a sage conclusion, but rather difficult of fulfillment. Very naturally he felt safer upon the other bank of the creek, further away from the plotting Tidians: but he was weil aware that the stream was quite deep in some places. He stood undecided some minutes, and then the point was settled by hearing the report of a gun at no great distance behind him. . “Doonder !” he exclaimed with a start, “ mebbe dey shoots dat at me! I dink I leaf !” Anxious as he was to advance, and warm as was the sum- mer night, he preferred to reacli the other shore in dry clothes ; so he sat down upon-the bank and carefully femoved his shoes and pants, and tying them into a bundle, slung them “over the barrel of his rifle, which rested oyer his shoul- dér, and then ventured into the stream. “Dish ish nice,” he murmured, as the thé cool water crept up about his bulky calves, “ dish ‘ain't deep.” Step by step he felt his way along, until he had reached the center of the stream, where the water was not more than eighteen inches. “Dish ish bettrixh goot,” he continued, “dish ish de way ~ to cross de brooks. I dinks dat I alway does—” Despite his care, at this juncture he went into a hole, up to his neck. As he sunk down, he gasped : “Oo —ov !” At the same time, he threw up both arms with such an in- voluntary suddenness that the bundle dropped from his gun, and began floating away from him. eS — ‘ comisibecke aot as