Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 1014 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

to a party to besent into the interior next day, andthis provedtrue. Twelve men, under com- mand of the first mate, Bruce, were to guard the gold-dust carriers from the king to the ship. As the party were about to push off from the shore, the captain called to them to wait, and continued: ‘* Here, you, Horton! Getready to go along. You, too, Preble! You boys like to go ashore, if my. memory serves me right.” his was the first time the captain had referred to their running away, and the malicious grin accompanying the words, made both boys feel rather uneasy. “* There’ll bea couple packages for each of you to carry,” continued the captain, ‘' So you will not beableto takeany arms, The packages are in the cabin—burry now!” The packages were neither large nor heavy, and could have been divided among the men without thesligbtest inconvenience, ‘*That villain means mischief, and [’m not going to be'unprepared!” exclaimed Frank, as he . noted the size and weight of the packages. | There was@ small flat case containing a pair of pistols lying on a shelf, and, seizing this, Frank thrust if into the bosom of his loose . shirt. ‘*We have our knives, besides,” said Ned, as | the captain, withan angry oath demanded what was detaining them, and picking up the packages . ss hurried on deck, | he boatswain and Blood were standing aft : mear the captain, when the latter after a sus- | picious giance at the boys, said with the same malicious grin: ‘** Now, boys, I hope this run ashore will be enough until you get home. Hurry up—the boats are waiting.” With bis band on the haft of his knife, Blood | looked inquiringly at the boatswain, but the lat- ter shook his head negatively, and the next mo- ment the boats pushed off—Frank in one, and Wed in the other. The king’s quarters were one and half day’s journey from the river, and, the party having camped out one night, arrived late in the after- noon of the second day, During the night they were in camp, Frank extracted tho pistols and ammunition from the case. He also examined the contents of the packages, without being detected, and finding, among other things, several pairs of pistols, he selected two of the kind called horse pistols, to- gether with a quantity of ammunition, and di- viding the weapons with Ned said: ‘* It would be worse than foolish, not to take advantage of this opportunity, These heavy pistols are almost as good as guns, and will an- swer for wild animals as well as men,” ‘Why not run away from them, if you feel so sure of our being in danger?” asked Ned. ‘* We could get away easy enough, for they pay no attention to us—even when we are a hundred yards behind.” ; ** That is probably because they are so sure of as,” returned Frank, ‘' Asforour danger—I am mot sure of that, and, besides, it may not be so bad as having to choose between turning pirate, and walking the plank, ** But they are taking slaves aboard—that isn’t piracy,” objected Ned, ‘* No, itis not, but, Ned, you don’t know that fellow as wellasI do. He’s as cute as a rat, Why, if he sold his soul to the devil, and had one minute’s start after death, he’d beat the Old Boy out of his bargain,” ‘** But the slaves?” ‘“* Are, probably, only a blind. He has taken aboard twenty, and they will serve to keep up the character of a slaver, for when overhauled by a cruiser he can say the rest died, Whether be means to cheat this negro king, as he calls himself, and leave us to his vengeance, or has some other plan to punish us, I cannot, of course, tell, but we are not sent with this party for any good purpose,” | Ned had learned to respect the advice of his | grave old-mannish companion, and asked: | ** Well, what shall we do, Frank?” ‘* Watch and wait. The danger hanging over | uscan hardly be greater than those we would . encounter in running away into this dense for- ; est,” replied Frank, adding: “Hide your knife and pistols down the legs | of your trowsers, for these savages will steal | whatever we show, if we should be left at their 3 ace tt * ‘** What do you mean?” asked Ned, ‘I bardly know myself, Better doas [ say, and go to sleep,” Arriving atthe negro village, the king was found sitting fa front of a but of palmetto leaves, He made rather a curious appearance, Saw LLLP LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LL LC CL LL Nt ta, SS TT Middy Ned, the Runaway, wearing a cocked hat and laced coat, but no other garment of any description! Whatever inclination to mirth the king’s dress might excite, the diabolical ferocity imprinted on his grim countenance was more than suffi- cient to repress, He was raw-boned and lean, and of very large frame—a living type of brutal s:rength and barbarity, Behind him stood several grim savages, who held his weapons, and on each side, at a greater distance, were rows of negroes, with their heads bent down and their arms crossed, awaiting his orders, With tue exception of the king and four young negro women who attended him, all the negroes were quite naked, The four young women, (who were the king’s wives,) wore blue cotton gowns from hip to ankle, and another piece of the same cloth over the shoulders, while round their necks were rows of gold beads, As the party drew near, Bruce ordered them to halt and advancing with the guide, entered into conversation with the king, who directed many glances toward the waiting group, After some time Bruce returned to his party, and bade Ned and Frank kneel before the king, and open, and present to him, the contents of their packages, ‘* Kneel?” exclaimed Ned, ‘‘ I kneel only to God, Mr. Bruce.” ° Frank, if not thus incited to rebel against it, would not have objected to this, apparent- ly, mere matter of form; but, now encouraged by Ned’s stand, he said: ‘‘I’'m not going to kneel to that savage, Mr. Bruce,” Apparently, Bruce, who was a fitting repre- sentative of ‘his captain, did not wish to commit any act of violence in the presence of the kinz, for he contented himself with cursing them roundly and—wishing they were coming back to the schooner! ‘*When I give the signal,” he continued, **yvou, Herrick, bring up the packages, and do as I’ve told these mutinous dogs to do, But, they'll be glad to kneel to him before long!” With this order and threat, Brace left the party and again entered into conversation with the king. In a few minutes he raised his hand, and Herrick advanced, and presented the pack- ages inthe manner directed by his superior. W hilethis was being done, the men, who were the worst of the new hands, were regarding the boys in a pitying way, and at length one said: ** You two are t’ be left here for slaves, Bet- ter cut ’n’run while you’veachance, We'll be blind for a minit or two—eb, mates?” The suggestion met with murmurs of appro- val; but it came toolate. Even asit was made, a half-dozen negroes advanced to seizethe boys, who, with an instinctive knowledge of their pur- pose, turned and fled toward the woods, It was useless, however, and as they were dragged past the white men, Frank appealed to them to save his companion and himself, Hardened and crime-stained as they were, the men were moved by his appeal; but while the stood hesitating, Ned decided the matter by call- ing them cowardly, treacherous hounds, who had led Frank and himself into a trap, and hop- ing that they soon would receive their just de- serts at the hand of the hangman! This caused the men to abandon their balf- formed purpose to rescue the boys—which would have resulted in a genernl massacre, as there were fully three bundred savages in signt—and Frank and Ned were bound and thrown into a hut, The door had scarcely closed on them, when Ned began to reproach his companion, asking how much better off were they than if they had taken their chances in the forest, ‘‘ There,” he said, ‘‘ we could fight for our lives, Here wearetied up awaiting the pleasure of that black beast, who can order our heads off at any minute—and probably will, without de- lay. Ob, yes, you’re very wise, but I wish you had kept your wisdom for yourself.” Frank did not reply, and after a whiie Ned, too, became silent and thoughtful, They werein a dangerous position—more 80, even, than they imagined, as they found, when a couple hours after they were thrown into the hut, the negro who had acted as guide to the party, and whospoke pretty good English, came and told them that the white men had returned to their ship; that they bad been taken in ex- change for twenty negroes because the king was tickled over the idea of having white slaves; and that the king—at the suggestion of the white chief (Bruce)—intended to sco them intosub- mission, and keep scourging them until they were killed, or cured of their dislike of kneeling to him, After telling them this, and advising them to —_—_—_—_—_—.eeesS.=.=.._QQ cm mmm crm eee ee eee SSS SSS 5 submit before the scourging was begun—which would be early next morning—their late guide withdrew, and was replaced by two negroes with calabashes of water and cusb-cush (corn boiled to a thick paste.) Neither bad any great desire for food, but Frank forced himself to eat, while Ned content- ed himself with drinking water, and watchin his companion in misery ‘*‘ out of the corner his eye. About the time the meal was finished, Bamwa, the guide, appeared, and asked if the boys wanted more food before their hands were rebound, Frank replied that he did not, and Ned’s un- tasted food was sufficient answer that he needed none, but, while the savages were tying his hands, the former complained bitterly of the tightness of bis bonds, and Bamwa ordered that the cords be relaxed. Had he not warned the prisoners of what was in store for them, Bamwa would have removed their bonds altogetber, for there was little chance of escape, and even if they did succeed, death in one hundred forms awaited them in the forest, It was dark now, but outside the door—which was nothing but a rude hurdle swung between two posts—the prisoners could see a negro guard sitting on a mat, smoking. Neither spoke, nor had addressed a word to the other since Ned had ceased reproaching his com- panion. The latter was engaged with a plan for their escape, while the former was reflect- ing on the injustice he had done his friend, who would never have been in bis present perilous position but for his devotion to him (Ned). While thus engaged, Ned fell asleep, and did not awake until roused by a rough shaking. Looking up, he found Frank bending over him, and, to his astonishment, both were free from their bonds. Not only that, but, after makib a sign for silence, Frank pointed to the rear o the hut, where an opening large enough to pass through had been cut in the woven twigs that formed the walls, Outside sat the negro on gg OY “gore at his huge stone pipe occasionally, and nodding continually, half asleep, and wholly uncon- scious of what was going on within. “Quick! Out through there, but don’t stand up,” whispered Frank, and Ned crawled out on bis hands and knees, in which position hé re- mained until the former joined him; then they took a survey of their situation. The hut from which they had escaped was near the center of the gladein which the vil- lage was situated. It was late—nearly mid- night; the fires built during the early part of the night were burning low, only a few of the savages were stitring, and choosing a path which seemed least dangerous, Frank laid him- self at full length and began rolling over and over toward the edge of the forest, Ned follow- aa his example, Stopping every few minutes to look about, and moving with the greatest caution, it re- quired a full half-hour to pass the line of fires, but after that they moved more rapidly, and in a few minutes stood erect within the trees on the edge of the glade, ‘* We are safe!” exclaimed Ned, ‘* Yes, for the present, but we must push on as fast as possible. At the latest, daylight will find the negroes in pursuit,” CHAPTER VIII. IN THE FOREST. WITHOUT a compass or the stars to guide them, ignorant of the country, and with only a vague idea of tho direction in which the river and coach lay, the young adventurers plunged into the dark, dense forest, and wuen ne ay came had placed many miles behind them, Both were thoroughly tired out at daylight, and Frank assented to his companion’s proposi- tion that they should rest for a few minutes, There had been no time for conversation dur- ing their hurried flight—avoiding the low hang- ing branches of trees, and the wild beasts whose cries rendered the night hideous, had occupied the attention of the fugitives,'but Ned was anxious totalk to his friend, and now that they were at rest, he opened witb: ‘*A drink of water would go good, now—eh, Frank?” ‘* Yes, it would—lI hope you'll not suffer—that is; [hope we'll soon run across some,” Frank spoke anxiously and turned to look at his companion, As his eyes fell upon Ned, he started and turned pale, but controlling himself by a powerful effort, he quietly continued: