Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1063 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

i eee — een —_—_—_—_———— a OL 7 i Wild Bill’s Weird Foe. from that point, If I can reach those rocks up there—”’ He did not finish, but began making his way toward the rocks, ing for his red foe to expose himself, he time came, Bill caught sight of a dusky form that flitted from rock to rock. The crack of the white mun’s rifle was follow- ed by a yell of mortal anguish. CHAPTER XII, A CLOSE SHAVE AND A FEARFUL DISCOVERY. WILD BILL bad not missed bis bum .n ganie. ‘*? wonder if there are any more,” he mutter- ed, as he swiftly changed his position, ‘* There may be two or three others on the watch. It does not seem possible the reds would have left one man to watch the spot.” He took great precautions not to show himself too boldly, and, contrary to bis usual custom, he did not approach the body of the Indian he had shot. ‘* You may keep your hair,” he said softly; ‘*and much good may it do you on your trip to the Happy Hantiog-Grounds, I will ligut out of this, and so retain my own top-knot,” He stole swiftly away, and he was able to take up the trail of the stolen horses at a con- siderable distance from where they had fallen into the hands of the red-skins, He decided there had been a dozen of the reds in the party. In places he could detect the shoe-marks of the stolen horses amid the other marks made by the unshod feet of the Indians’ animals, ‘There may be a large hunting party in the Hills,” thought Bill. “If so, we shall be in great danger, for they will probably break into small squads and scour the section for the own. rs of the horses which have fallen into their hands,” He felt as if it were somewhat doubtful about getting possession of the stolen horses, but still @ was determined to make the attempt, provid- ing the opportunity was offered. The lone trailer was able to move forward more swiftly after discovering the auimals had fallen into red hands, for the Indians made no effort to conceal their trail, a thing which show- ed they were confident of their own strength, Bill knew well enough the red-men felt them- selves able to wipe out any whites who had strayed into the Hills, and be also knew they would promptly do so, While drawing their supplies at the Government Agencies, the In- dians would profess the most friendly feelings for their ‘‘ white brothers,” but let one of those light-complexioned brothers be found in the heart of the red-skin Reservation and his goose was cooked, His fate was liable to remain a mystery for ail time, Of course, the pale-faces had no right to pene- frate the Black Hills and mine for gold on the ground that properly belonged to the Sioux; but the yellow metal has a great allurement for the “‘civilized animal,” and he will drag his weary to the very ends of the earth if there isany eee. of finding and digging a fortune from the ound, I know of but one thing so fascinating as gold pts and that is gambling for high stakes, Wild Bill had seen so much of Indian treach- ery and deviltry, that he had become a hearty hater of the “‘ untamed savage.” Bull was natur- ally an bonorable and conscientious man, but, like many another plainsman, he had grown to look upon the Indian as having few rights white men were bound to respect, Of what value was the hidden gold of the Black Hills to the red-men? They were too lazy to ex- tract the precious metal from the ground, even though they kvew it would buy them every com- fort they could ask. The fodien takes no thought of to-morrow. When the summer sun bung bright ana warm over mountains and plain, they spent their days in idleness, the hunt providing them with game from day today. They would dream away the best part of the year. en winter came, they, rushed to the agen- cies, and there they would shiver and starve waiting for spring to break the white seal an unlock the ice-imprisoned land. It is certain the Sioux knew gold abounded in the Black Hills, and they knew it long before its existence there was made known to the civilized world. But what good did the knowledge do them? Occasionally a red-skin would be seen in ion of a valuable nugget he had picked up quite by accident, but they never made them- selves tired searching after the precious metal, But the red-skins were crafty, and they well * Re ay He reached them easier than | he had thougut possible, and then he lay wait- | een, ce me et EC AS ES LS SE — ee ee -— ga understood what a value the whites set upon gold. Those who were seen with the yellow nuggets told vague stories about their discovery, and never told the truth, The Indians also related awe-inspiring things | about the Hills being the dwelling place of the | Storm God, It is true, that, as a rule, the red-skins shunned the Hills for anything but hunting purposes, | and it is probable they were filled with fear by | the terrific thunder-storms which swept over the section. But it is also true they did their best to fill the white man’s mind with feelings of awe even greater than they experienced themselves, Allin vain! Their fears were well-grounded, When it be- came known that there were valuable gold dig- gings amid the Black Hilis, the pale-faces made a mad rush for the New Eldorado, Sitting Bull and the whole Sioux Nation, aided ip a measure by Uncle Sam’s_ blue-coated boys, could not stem the tide, The reds murdered and de- stroyed, and the soldiers ‘‘ arrested ” and turned back such daring men as they discovered bound for the Hills. But Uncle Sam was forced to open up the new country, and the red-men were compelled to become docile. But, reminiscences of ‘those exciting days have Jed me from the thread of my story. Wild Bil! moved swiftly forward on the trail. But something told him he was being followed. He was a man who was always governed toa great extent by his feelings and impressions, and he never disregarded a warning of this kind, “I’ve got to get to cover and wait for the copper-skinned party, or parties who are track- ing me,” he muttered, In a short time be reached a spot that was favorable for his purpose, and he swiftly con- cealed himself, He did not have to wait more than twenty minutes before be detected two crouching fig- ures that were coming swiftly along on his track, With a deadly light in his eves, Bill waited till they were so near there could be no failure, then bis Winchester spoke twice in such swift succession that the reports were almost as one, Both of the unfortunate red trailers went down. Quietly slipping some fresh cartridges into the mayzazine of his rifle, Bill watched till both the dusky bodies lay perfectly still and rigid, then he once more took up the trail, For reasons unknown to himself, he did not touch their scalp-locks, The sun was slipping down the western sky, and the trailer had not eaten anything since morning, Once he paused at a spring to drink, Steadily on the trail continued the scout till darkness was at hand. Witb each passing min- ute the tracks grew fresher, and he knew he was close on the reds, However, darkness came down and concealed the trail before he bad overtaken them, Thoroughly getting thelay of the land, so he felt sure he could return to the trail in the morn- ing, if necessary, he struck out through the gathering shadows, Within half an hour he found himself looking down into a pocket where a large band of Indians were encamped, There were nearly a bundred of them in all, Lodges had been temporarily erected and big fires built. From his position, Bill could see the Indians moving about by the light of the fires, end be was able to form a pretty accurate estimation of their number. It was a bunting party, but he knew they were none the less dangerous for that reason, ** There will be weeping and wailing and gnash- ing of teeth when they discover their three com- rades have gone up the flume,” thought the scout. He was disgusted by his discovery, for he now saw the borses were gone for good, True, he might recover them by some daring venture, but it was équally true be would ruin their prospect of making a fortune from the placer of Moaning Gulch, if be did so. | Bill knew what bloodhound-like trailers the Indians were, and, if he recovered the horses and attempted to make his way back to his com- rades, he would be followed every inch of the way. All bis arts would be unavailing in throw- ing the reds off the track amid the Hills. Had he thought it best to leave the Hills at once and give up the attempt to make a golden fortune there, he would have secured the horses at any risk. Then he would have depended on his own cleverness to cover the trail enough to uzzie the reds for a time and give himself and is friends a fair start. om ~ cS cams >" sa crcl ii CT LL LL LL LL LLL ALLL LLL LLL! LLL REC LLLLALALLLLLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL 11 rr He puzzled over the matter for some time, bu& finally decided te let the horses go for the time being. It was not likely the Indians would leave the Hills for some little time, and there would be another—perhaps better—opportunity to regain possession of the animals, Having arrived at this conclusion, Bill deter- mined to immediately retrace his steps. He crept back from the edge of the bluff and start- ed away .n the durkness, Ragged clouds were trailing across the sky, now and then permitting the moon to show her- self for a brief space of time, The Pistol King had not gone a great distance before the moon suddenly came out, and he found noimself face to face with eigbt or ten red- skins, who were making their way to the camp. They saw him, and a yell of surprise went le The next moment bullets rattled about Wild Bill’s ears, Dropping on one knee, the caring man began: to work his rifle, and a perfect stream of fire seemed to pour from the muzzle of the deadly weapon, A veritable hail of lead was poured upon the amazed Indians, The rapidity with which Wild Bill worked his rifle was something astonishing. A black cloud drifted across tbe face of the moon, and the fusilade ceased as abruptly as it had begun, Then Bul started to skulk away amid the rocks, But it suddenly seemed as if every shadow re~ solved itself into a red-skin, He knew they were on every side of him, and the camp had certainly been aroused by the shots, If he escaped at all, it must be at once and wi hout delay. With his rifle in bis left hand and a knife grasped in his right, be darted here and there, weaving bis way through the mass of moving shadows his keen eyes detected, Suddenly a dark figure seemed to rise out of the ground, and ccnfront him; long arms were outstretched to grasp bim., With a movement that seemed electrical, Wild Bill’s right band rose and fel). The dark figure reeled backward, the death~ yell of a savage pealing out on the vight air, Bill did not tarry in that vicinity. He heard answering yells on three sides of him, and he knew he was almost surrounded. He made toward the point from which ne ery had come, and be nearly fell over the brink of = precipice. ‘“* Trapped |” He hissed the word, feeling he was truly snared, Wild Bill was a man to die game, and he again sunk on one knee, ready for bot work. As he did so, one hand touched a mass of vines which grew on the brink of the precipice, A thrill ran through bis beart, ‘‘ There may be a chauce here!” be whispered, **T will try it!” an anotber moment bis rifle was slung at big back, snd both hands were revealing what big eyes could not see, He discovered the vines trailed over the preci- pice, and, without a moment’s hesitation, he swu,g over and went down, clinging fast to them, , His peril was something awful. He knew not if the vines reached anywhere near the foot of the precipice, which might ex- tend downward for bundreds of feet. Then the vives might give way beneath his weight end let him go whirling down to death on the rocks, The vines grew thinner and thinner as he de- scended, but the rocky wall beneath his feet pro-- jected out and gave him some support, At length he was able to descend by clinging to the wall alone, abandoning the vines. In a short time, he reached the bottom im safety, and a breath of relief came from his lips. At the same moment, yells of disappointment and rage came from the tricked Indians above, “Whoop as much as yeu like,” thought Bill as be hastened into the darkness. ‘* Much good may it do you! You and [ will part company rigbt bere,’ Another day was breaking when Wild Bil} reached the little valley where the cabin had been built near Moene Gulch. He hurried forward, eager to greet bis comrades, When he came out in sight of the spot where the cabin had stood, be suddenly halted snd an exclama- ee of astonishment and dismay Ps | : The cabin was gone ! | a “Comicboo : A oe 4 < wa ia 4] , we eS eae ite , , ’ : ’ oY. * ta) broke from his = ‘a