Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 105 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

14 CHAPTER VIII. Three against— Many. Tue hunters had followed Meton hard, and, on the morning of his exile, were cau- tiously making their way up to the Panther mountains. The old hunter knew every foot of the ground, nearly as well as the “Indians themselves. They climbed the slope upon one side, and, from the crest shielding themselves behind the cliffs, they tooked down upon the village. They had been lookers-on upon the council. They . had seen, from far, the chief slowly leaving his native village. The telescope Dolf carried showed them that he shook a wrathful hand at the council as he departed. Plainly, - Meton had come to grief. But how? They kept the telescope on the village. The Hawk was receiving the oath of head chief. Charlie was there. “Jeaning against a post,” Dolf said; “ tied to it,” corrected the old hunter. They could make out his features through the powerful glass, and there was an expression of unmistakable pleasure upon it. “ He is all right,” said Rube, as he handed. the glass to Willie. ‘“ Come!” They followed him down the mountain side to a cleft which opened suddenly at their feet, and ran down toward the plain. {nto this cleft they walked, and kept on un- til they reached a small opening on the rock, looking black and grim in the shadow of the cleft. * Give me thet birch,” said Rube. A torch of birch-bark, which he had pre- pared earlier in the day, was handed to him by Willie. He lighted it, and at once passed into the black opening. They fol- lowed, and -found themselves in a beautiful little cave, about a dozen feet square, and high enough to admit of their standing up- right. The stalactites hung in great honey- comb-like naasses’ from the roof, and the Aight of the torch was reflected from a thou- sand ‘sparkling points. ‘What a capital place to hide,” said Dolf. “ Pretty good,” said Rube, “ but, not the pldce for: me.” » S¢Why, what are you going to do?” (“Look here.” | “He held down the torch in one corner of the’ cave. The others looked down, and saw another opening, as large as the first, uid from it an inelined plane led down- ‘ward into utter gloom. Dolf shuddered. 1“Ught) What a gloomy rat-hole! I hepé you don’t mean to go down there ?” ~»” Por answer, he tied one end of a lariat, which’ he suddenly produced, around his waist, and put the other end into the others’ hands. “If I jerk the rope three times,” said he,“ you may know there is something vrong, and pull me out.” He seated himself upon the sloping sur- face, and disappeared. The two remained above, and awaited in great anxiety for some time. At length the voice of Rube was heard. “ All right, lads, come down.” _“ How ?” “Do as I did; you will come quickly enough.” 'Dolf sat down upon the limestone, which inlined at’ an anele of about fifiy degrees, | a ea = Old Rube, the Hunter. and in a moment’s time, it seemed, landed at the feet of the hunter. Willie followed. Then both stood up, uttering an exclama- tion of delight. The room in which they found them- Selves was a vast circular one in the very heart of the mountain. Like the small chamber, it was of limestone, and its beauty can searcely be described. The floor was smooth and shapely, except where the sta- lagmites rose from it. The roof was an arch, and as the light flashed back from the many points, Willie thought of the “ star- chamber” of Mammoth cave. “ How did you know of this, Rube ?” he asked. “Wal, as we hev’ time, an’ can’t do any thing till night, I don’t know but I may as well teil ye all about it. You see it were two year ago, an’ I hed come into the Crow country, I may ez well tell ye, after that fellow Meton. I hed been larkin’ round the village, and at night I went in. “ Jest as luck would hey’ it, they chased me, and I ran down the mountain, and thought I would hide in the cleft. It were neck or nothin’ with me, nothin’ to spare either way ; so, as I happened ter see the hole in the rock, I went inter it. “T hed no notion how large the place was, and ran into onecorner tohide. Fust I knew, I was off my feet, and sliding down thet stun’. I tell yow boys, it were a scarey feclin’, an’ I never was in a tighter place. There I were, goin’ down, down, down, it seemed a year, and every mean thing 1 ever done in all my life kem’ up before me, It seemed as ef I saw my whole life while I were slidin’ down, an’ yit, you know, it don’t take searce a minnit. Wal, I struck bottom after a bit, an’ when I found it I were safe—I begun to breathe. “Taint mever very dark here—see.” He extinguished the torch, and although objects in the cave looked indistinct, still there was sufficient light to move easily and quickly to all parts, The hunter went on with his story: “T thort I c’u’dn’t never git back up ther slide, an’ I begin to cast about fer other ways to getout. Just then! c’u'd hear the Injins come into the outer cave, an’ goin’ to ther mouth of ther slide, I c’u’d see their torches. Then I knew’twan’t very fur up. One of ’em kem’ to ther slide and looked down, but it didn’t suit him, so he wen‘ away. “ When I kem’ out, I hed a notion to see whether the place hed been explored by the Injins. I hed my lariat with me, as I al- ways has, and when I left I tied it acrost the movth, in sich a way thet a man c’u’dn’t slide down ’thout runnin’ into it. When I kem’ down, I found every thing straight, jest as I left it. Now, then, you stay here, while I go out and see to the hosses.” “How do you get up ?” “Ther sides of the slide ar rough, an’ you kin take hold with both hands and go up thet way. You keep still.” He left them, and they began to wander about the spacious room. All at once, it came into the head of Dolf that it would be a@ good idew vo find where so much light came from. Climbing up the western slope a few feet. he came to a sort of ledge, per- i — haps five feet wide, and up this he clam- bered, until he came to the opening from which the light entered. The village lay in full view. The open. ing was in one of the rocky clefts common to these mountains, and in a spot inacces- sible to the foot of man, or it would doubt less have been discovered before this time. | Just before the opening the rock widetied | into a sort of platform,on which they could - stand while observing the village. “This is grand!” said Willie. “ Wecan see every thing they do from this.” “ Where did Rube leave the horses ?” “In a clump, just at the mountain foot. think he means to lead them into one of f hese clefts and feed them from time to time. It won’t do for us to stay here long, though.” “ We must save Charlie.” “Yes, we must save Charlie and her. If we save one, we must save the other. Isn’t it strange that he should escape heart-whole from the pretty girls in the Empire State to find his fate out here ?” “Tt isn’t wonderful that he loves her,” said Dolf, warmly; “how could he help it ?” “Aha! my lad, is it there you are?” laughed Willie. “Take care, for you can’t cut out Charlie, you know.” “Neither do I wish it. You will not misunderstand me. Ifshe were not in love with him, I would raise heaven and earth but I would win her.” “Indeed! Well, let it pass. Both of them need our help, God knows. When they are saved, then let her judge which is the better man. As for myself, Dolf, I can only say that I don’t want her.” “Willie, do you remember the fable we read of in sop, about ‘ Vulpes et Uva ? How the fox found that he could not reach the grapes, and went away, saying, ‘ But, even now, they are sour; neither would I touch them if found in the way ?” “Sour grapes for me! That will do for you, Dolf. Ha! what is that?” “ Voices in the outer cavern, as sure as I am a sinner. Look out!” Two bodies, joined in deadly conflict, came rolling down the slide. In the dim light they could only make out that one was Rube, and the other an Indian in the dress of a Crow brave. Their strong arms were about each other, and each muscular right hand closed like a vice upon the wrist of the other. A grim determination settled upon cheek and brow. Deadly strife is awful, when loud words mingle with steady blows; but more fear ful still is the strife where teeth are hard set, and those lips are silent, and nothing heard but the panting breath and the heavy blows. | So the two forest men fought. Their | toughened muscles stood out like ropes, — their faces worked fiercely, and the breath of each grew shorter. As the two white men stepped forward to aid their friend for the first time, he spoke: “Keep back !” There was concentrated earnestness in the tone of his voice. They understood it. His rough code of honor would not allow more to come against one not more thap Eomilcboo his match. gs)