Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1041 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

« } } ‘ <i) Cowboy Chris to the Fore. 13 left the building. ~As he approached the stable, | know it, you know it! ButI did not tell her some of the dogs came growling toward him, | one-half!” but he silenced them with alow word. cowboy on guard called out to him, and he made himself known. **Great Scott, boss!” exclaimed the fellow, in astonishment. ‘‘ You oughter be snoozin’ ef you’re goin’ ter hump roun’ ter-morrer.” “IT can’t sleep, Skidds. I am going to take alittle ride. Saddle the black stallion for me,” The cowboy aearly fell over in his amazement, and then, muttering something about some peo- ple being *‘ mighty fond of ridin’,” he hastened to obey his employer’s orders, As Cy Robinson stood with bis hand on the bit of the fiery stallion, ready to spring into the saddle, he said: “If IT am not back by sunrise, Skidds, you may tell the boys I started for the cabin of the Yellow Witch.” Then he swung into the saddle and gave the stallion free rein, quickly vanishing from the amazed cowboy’s eyes, being swallowed up in the darkness of a cloudy night. CHAPTER XV. THE YELLOW WITCH. In a cabin amid the hills an old woman crouch- ed silently beside a fire, over which was suspend- eda small kettle from which came a musical bubbling. The cabin door was flung wide open and the light of the fire flickered out into the night. ** Will he come?” It was the old woman who muttered the words, as through the mass of tangled white hair that fell down over her face she peered toward the open doorway. Scarcely a 4 aca of her face could be obtained, all because of that repulsive vail of tangled hair, Her clothes were soiled and ragged and her whole aspect that of abject verty. ce It wae the mysterious ‘‘ Yellow Witch ” of the ills, Afarin the night sounded a hoof-beat. The woman started and listened, then a laugh of ex- ultation came from behind the vail of hair, ** He is coming !” Upon the fire she flang a handful of powder which caused the flames to assume mingled tints of red, green and yellow, filling the small room with a weirdly fantastic light and making the old witch seem likeathing of evilas she stiil crouched beside the fire-place and began to croon a mournful chant. : The sounds of hoof-beats came nearer, nearer, nearer—then stopped at the door. A. few seconds later, Cy Robinson walked into the room, his hand on the butt of a holstered re- volver. With a low exclamation, he halted and stared at the strange figure cut by the old wo- man as she was revealed by strange-colored light from the flames, She seemed to heed not his ad- vent, for she did not stir or look up, but con- tinued that weird crooning. A feeling of repulsion seized upon the ranch- man, but he was nota man to be shaken by a little trickery, so he spoke: ** Well, Mag, I am here,” Still the woman refused to stir or look up; still that mournful crooning continued. With two strides, Cy Robinson wasat her side, and his hand fell on ber shoulder, ** You sent for me, Mag; I am here.” Then she started and looked up, ‘*T knew you would come,” she croaked—*‘ [ knew it!” ' ** Well, now Iam here, what have you to tell me? I have no time to waste, for I have not slept a wink in nearly forty-eight hours,” What do you want to know, Cyrus Robin- son?” harshly demanded the old crone, ** You said you could tel] me of my child.” “ And you have come to hear what I can tell?” ‘For what otber purpose would I take such a ride through the night, old woman?” came im- patiently from the rancher’s lips, ** Aud do you believe Old Mag can tell you anything of value?” . ** Had I not thought it possible, do you think I would have taken this ride through the dark- ness after a day in the saddle?” “But you have nota particle of faith in for- tune-tellers, Cyrus Robinson—at least, you have repeatedly said so. You told your child Old Mag lied when she revealed some of your past history to the girl, Do you deny that, Cyrus Robinson?” ‘‘T have no time to cme d anything,” and the ranchman’s face grew black at hearing the past spoken of by the strange woman of the hills, Old Mag lifted one yellow hand and shook it at him, crying: *“You know I told the girl the truth—you Li 7 o o oe : © +e) oe : . Ba ona | he £% r- ay Fy 7 i r, pratt Pe abe +> ate od aN oF Ne : na nll ve é > 4 BE aa _— se + tee oy . ae Fi “ ‘ The | ° a . . . . + . ri , a . » ‘ C ‘* | have not come here to listen to your prat- ings of the past, old woman! If you can tell me anything of my child, tell it, and I promise you that you shall not go unrewarded.” ‘*Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the Yellow Witch. ‘You will reward me—you will reward Old Mag, eh? I wonder how much you will give her if she will tell you where you can find your child—I wonder, I wonder!” “Give!” came hoarsely from the man’s lips— **T will give enough to make you comfortable the rest of your life,old woman! Speak up! If you know anything, tell it!” ‘** What if the gir] is dead?” The ranchman reeled back a step, then sprung forward and clutched the crone by the shoul- der, almost snarling: ** Don’t fool with me, Mag! I will not stand it! Nina isnot dead!” The witch Jaughed sneeringly, and Cy Robin- son saw a pair of coal-black eyes which gleam- ed through the mass of hair which fell down over them—gleamed like the eyes of a serpent. Something tempted him to brush that vail aside and get a fair look at the face behind it, but he resisted the desire. It would have been better for him, perhaps, had he obeyed the impulse. ‘‘T have not said the girl is dead,” croaked Mag. ‘Il only asked that to discover how you would stand the revelation I am about to make, Oh, it is a strange revelation, Cyrus Robinson— a revelation that will freeze your blood with horror!” ‘*Ido not care to listen to any of your wild tales, old woman; I did not come here for that purpose.” ‘If I am going to tell you anything, you will have to let me tell itin my own way. AndI ean tell of the present and the future only after I have told of the past. Sit down in that chair, Cyrus Robinson; sit down and listen,” He hesitated a moment, then obeyed, The fire had assumed its natural state, the tints of green and yellow having disappeared. The witch arose and threw a handful of some- thing into the bubbling pot, and inan instant a sound like a whispering of many lips came from the vessel, The old woman bent her head and listened witb her ear close to the kettle. Till the whispering sounds had quite ceased she remain- ed thus, then she turned toward Cy Robinson, laughing shbrilly. ‘Oh, it is a jolly tale the spirits have told me!” she declared, bobbing her bent body up and down—‘‘a jolly taje! And it is true—it is true, for 1 have listened to it many times be- fore. I am going to tell you what the spirits revealed to me, Cyrus Robinson. **Many years ago there were two beautiful Spanish girls who fell in love with an American adventurer. The girls were twins and looked so much alike that their own friends and relatives were sometimes bothered in telling one from tke other, One’s hair was a trifle lighter than the other’s, and that was the principal distinguish- ing feature about them. The one of the light hair was named Inez and and the other Juanita. ‘* Now these two girls were living with their parents in Old Mexico when they first saw the American adventurer and fell in love with him. Naturally, their parents opposed their becoming friendly with the American, but both of. the twins were wildly infatuated, and they would not listen to reason, There were secret meet- ings at most of which both maidens were pres- ent, and it was difficult to tell which the Ameri- can preferred, In truth, he was undecided on this point himself, ‘The rivalry between the girls was of the most sisterly nature, and each assured the other she would hold no hardness if she was unsuc- cessful and her sister won the American. Each rotected the other from discovery in any secret interview indulged in with the adventurer. ‘Inez of the light hair was the successful one in the end, for to her the American avowed his love. But, when she told her sister, there was a tempest, for to that moment Juanita had felt confident of winning in the end. Then Juanita broke her pledge and revealed everything to her parents, The storm of wrath that followed was terrific, and Inez was confined to her room, while the father watched for the daring Ameri- can, swearing ha would shoot the dog. But, Juanita still loved the adventurer, and she man- aged to warn him of his danger. ‘*This American wasa most daring and clever fellow. How he conveyed intelligence of his plans to Inez no one ‘ever knew, but one night she escaped from her room and fled with the waiting adventurer into the United States, There—” : / ‘ , a, Fs 4p a Ay ’ ; f j a) 2 os : : PAS Wee Sk dl LS a Oe © re on Or ee TTF. ue o0 aaah = « a*« a » « a <) “There, that is quite enough!” exclaimed the ranchman, ‘‘ What do you suppose care about this fairy-tale of love and adventure! i have not the time to waste in listening, and I did not come here for that purpose. If you cam tell me anything of my child, tell it at once, and I will depart. ‘‘T told you I could only reveal the present and future by speaking of the past. Have pa- tience a little and I will come to the part that will interest and astound you. I will tell you something of your child that never entered your wildest dreams. Have patience, Cyrus Robin- son, have patience! **Of course Inez’s fatber and mother were fearfully angry, nor was Juanita any the less enraged. They all declared Inez was nothing to them from that moment; she had cast her lot with the American, and she might stay with him. They would have nothing to do with her, ‘*Inez was happy with her husband, even though his worldly wealth was small and he proved an adventurer indeed. He was well- educated, and after a time, the wife discovered that ber poor knowledge of English and imper- fect pronunciation of the language were un- pleasant to him. Then she set about mastering the tongue of the man she Joved, and she suc- ceeded so well that in a remarkably short time she could speak and write correctly in his lan- guage. “But, as I said, the man was an adventurer. He was engaged in all manner of wild schemes, One of these finally took him to South America, and he was forced to leave his beautiful wife behind, although it nearly broke her heart to part from him. ‘* Now it happened that Juanita still loved the husband of her sister and she sometimes dreamed of winning him from Inez, At first she consid- ered them nothing but dreams, but gradually the desire to test her power grew upon her, and the sudden death of both of her parents left her plenty of money and opportunity to follow her inclinations, As a result, sbe traced ber sister into the United States and finally found her, Juanita seegoeysr to be very sorry for having treated Inez as she did in the past, and the lonely wife was only too glad to accept her sister as a friend and companion in her husband’s ab- sence, Just then she did not know her husband’s address, and thus she was prevented from in-~ forming him of the reconciliation. ‘* Shortly after this reconciliation the young wife became a mother, And now comes aston— isher number one for you, Cyrus Robinson, Listen: ‘* The mother lived less than two hours after the child was born !” For a moment the ranchman seemed dazed, then he cried: ** Old woman, you lie!” CHAPTER XVI. OLD MAG’S REVELATIONS. THE Yellow Witch laughed shrilly. ‘Ob, I lie, do I, Cyrus Robinson? I am @ fool, am I, Cyrus Robinson? What would be my object in telling you anything but the truth, © man?” ‘*T do not know your object, but I do know what you have just stated is false, Inez was living when I returned from South America.” ‘*Ha, ha, ha! Whata fool you were, Cyrus! oh, what a blind fool you were! Inez now ?” ‘* She is dead—thank God!” **' Why do you thank God for that?’ ‘* Because she was false—talse as hell!” *“‘And now you are the one who lies, Cyrus Robinson! was true to you—ycu, the adventurer of my revelation |” ** Bah! bade 4 do you tell me this? My own eyes witn her guilt; my own band struck at the life of her lover! That he escaped death then, only to perish afterward, as he justly de- served, was not my fault. That Inez, whom I spared, killed herself at his death, I know. IL. have stood beside ber grave.” ‘*But, you saw not her dead body. Oh, how ou have been deceived, Cyrus Robinson! isten; 1 will go on with the revelations,” ate I will hear no more of your foolish es am not half done, and you must listen if you would know the fate of your child, Yourchild! — Ha, ha, ha! You love your child! 1 wonder how it will be when you learn the truth. Sit | still and listen, Cyrus!” She put up her yellow hands and pushed them — out toward him. He felt as if they had touched him and crushed bim down into the seat, He — q ‘ <T >) hae pee + me yap 2c a A or ees ia ~~ Comicpoo — is ae ‘ > SAS eee eee Te e 4 sot i oe oe And where is. ; As there is a Heaven above us, Inez. - But. | ‘** Oh, yes you will, Cyrus—yes, you will! I os t + an 7 7 a o., Wad