Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 1140 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

‘e's ~ > rent from that leading to the spot where _ Only a few seconds did this strange, savage . fight continue, when the dog eme from the a _ dense darkness, entered the cavern, and resum- _ @dhis place as sentinel. All this was done so Baiees): | Cape that not one of the three men stirred in his sleep, or gave evidence of tae slightest dis- tuarbanee. The dog lay with his nose resting on his paws, apparently in as deep slumber as an eg) Oe orn, but he was alive to the Paaprmitelier _ that rested upon him, and he had already proven _. how keen the vigilance was which he maintained im this lonely but dan region. The three men sorely needed such refreshing ng so _ sleep as this,and the two horses re | : upon the ground were scarcely less fa- i, so that it was a fortunate thing for all as the hours of the night wore away, they » guffsred no further disturbance, and it was not ‘+ a@atil the morning sun sent its rays into the . fo foe front of their quarters, that they open- or § and ro from tueir sl r. ~ Nick es’s knowledge of his dog Calamity was s) intimate and perfect that he knew the _ instant he cast his eyes upon him, that something ha 1 occurred during the night, and he de- of him what it was. e canine, by of reply, led him a hundred yards, beside of rocks and stones, where was stretch _ . the pacts ey Pie aor ee es it’s been some of them var- down in these : our t has stole up to find out there was about. You knowed and didn’t want to ’sturb us, so out yourself. Wal, it was very us, pup, though it wasn’t quite so as he would testity, if he = it’s dgne. you some ;."@ _ Pye noticed you’ve been sulkin’ for ee ~ sot Toads Cpiiyeeit in letting off, Flat-Nosed «* Billy when you gg foul, but,” continued us She , as seriously as if he were plains - his own case in court, “I explained the whole - to you, and wanted that to be the end of 5 P< ws a My me p A “ery = ; apa tee 25 Be, : , i.” oe now, pup, how do you want it to be?” —-—__ Cailamit around in such a wety that there be no mistake about his nature ___ and his master smiled in a fashion which showed aes That makes things then,” he added, "~~ ‘eavern, or rather, camp, ‘‘no more sulking, pup, - *eanse you know T’ve told you afore of the ter- ___rible fate of one of the Whiffles family, that got so deep into the sulks that they had to hitch a | of hosses to him to pull him out. Fact, sD ees. Oe eee fp had assembled in their Nick Whiffles had told the his three friends were sleeping. After his de- _ parture, all remained silent for several minutes, and then was heard a sudden fierce struggle, as if two animals had ped in a deadly embrace and wers rolling over and over among the stones : Se 3 Pera ny Gal ee or oe a low gees as . Vs Zoe ie doings of Calamity, it was decided to send him _-. outona little scout of his own, while the rest ae ae ‘Were encaced with their morning lunch, He eduld easily ascertain whether they were under Pans SArVv or not, and ij was all-important - that the matter should be settled on thespot. = Tue dog was gone scarcely half an hour, when he trotte1 to view again, his actions and manner >) showing t1.t he had found ‘the coast clear.” “<a Nosai ss now remained to do except to set | abou! tho wor’ that brought them thither. No better p!ace could be found for their horses, ee _ and they were left where they were, while -___‘ tiree mea moved out upon their stealthy search, separating i amediateiy and moving with suc’ erisy that ia tue spice of three minutes all She lost tosi nt of each other. ; _ We leave Mirunyd and Oregon Sol for the t, and folow Nick AVhiiiies and his dog ty, as fortune had wiiled that the; were 4 the curious events that were so soon to f pi it ni" be said that each of the three devoted _ himmselt with all the enerzy and skiil at his com- yaand to findng out whore among the moun- ¥ . s ie cde 4 * J les » 4 x 133) Tis tiins aroun tuem the captives were hid, for by “tus time the7 had all settled down to the con- ~ -¥iction that if was somewhere cloce at hand. ING) Maranyo nor Orovon Sol were in the york: Tae former was so’ nervous over tie eertaiity tuas he ot a5 being so near te ob- Sect of his love, and the latter was so “ fluster- at some trance thouzits that had begun to Ce) ey ta ee ee 33 the ed ae themselves justice in the emergency that was likely to come upon them at any moment. And so it was fortunate that it came to the lot of Nick Whiffies, who was as cool and col- lected as he always was, to unravel some of the m v by which he was surrounded. ick, assisted by Calamity, spent many hours in the search, but when noon came and pee neither dog nor master had made the slightest advance toward the diseovery which all were so anxious to make. , Nick had not forgotten the oO ean of signals that had been agreed upon, and now and then he communicated with Marunyo and Oregon Phe res from neither came any message denoting Sabine? well advanced, when Nick suddenly de- scried upon the rocks above him a small ante- lope that seemed to have paused and stood gazing into the depths below, without noticing ag er and dog who had fixed their eyes up- on , Nick was debating whether it. would be pru- dent for him to risk a shot, when he caught the faint sound of a gun, and he saw the animal make a sudden desperate leap, falling lifeless to the ground almost at his very feet! a (CHAPTER XI. A SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE. THE instant the antelope fell, a crushed and shapeless mass, to the bottom of the ravine, Nick Whifflesastepped back, concealed himself, and waited and watched. He was not kept long in waiting, when he descried the Indian making his way among the rocks until he reached the place where the creature lay, over which he ‘stooped and be- gan cutting some select portions to take away ‘* He’s a Modoc,” said Whiffles to himself; ‘* and one of the very dogs I’m look®hg for. We'll foller him, pup.” | This was a matter of considerable difficulty ; but the trapper was accustomed to such work, and he set about it with all the skill of which he was master. It was really Calamity himself that was the pursuer, Nick sending him ahead while he followed and kept himself out of sight of the Modoc, who would be much less likely to notice a quadruped than a biped, The route led up among the wildest fastnesses of the mountains, and Nick was beginning to mutter to himself, and wonder whether he was gn. § up among the clouds to find his friends, when the dog stopped with a low, al- most inaudible whine. ‘* Tts there, is it?’ he exclaimed, looking about, and unable to see the Modoc, or any thing re- sembling a retreat or hiding-place. He was near the highest portion of the moun- tains, with rocks and crags and stunted pines all around him; but, if there was any place in which a man could hide, he was determined to ‘root ” it cut. The trapper had formed the conclusion, with- out any tangible ground to base it upon, that there were no more than three Modocs that had been left in charge of ‘the captives by Captain Jack, and since the death of one of the number during the preceding night, there could be but two, unless Flat-Nosed Billy had returned. It followed, therefore, that if the guard could be engaged in a fight, there was no reason why they should hesitate to attack them; but it was like assailing a party within the walls of a fort, where every advantaze was in thcir favor. In case the Modocs were driven to the wall, there was no question but what they would turn upon the females and put them tra horrible death. The object of Nick Whiffles, as a consequence, was to get, in the “rear” of the red-skins, or between them and the cap- pope and prevent any such terrible coup d’etat as thi ‘* Where is the spot that. that varmint disap- peared?’ he asked of the dog, after both had stood several minutes, and the master was still cpenre to locate the vanishing-point of the red- skin. The > Medio in the most intelligible len- | pointed | make their way again without ouisice assis at command. His nose was —— us matters stood, and the afternoon was_ ee ee RR | | as rigidly as a ramrod toward the broken rocks | that rose beyond and above them, and he gave out a low whine to siznify that he was pointing | stairs,” said Nick W hifues, at the very spot where the man had been last scen., y , “Pil be sxulpet if there ain't another con- demned diffiziit;,” grovled the impatient tra r. ‘*This must bo the piace where my uncle ound his real estate located among the clouds.” | ‘ : agitate him, that they were not likely to do} The only conclusion that he could come to was that the Modoc had clambered. up the rocks and gone on beyond an aos them: but if such were the case, the action | of Calamity was altogether out of keeping with the sagacity which he was accustomed dis- ‘ Nick Whitfles scratched his heaw and iooked. at the dog, and then looked at the rocks and didn’t know how to explain it. ‘‘ That's jist the place for one of them critters to lay flat down on his belly and pick off @ gentleman like me as he undertakes to walk if I want to try it. hy don’t you move on, a ut the dog refused to budge an inch, and eget impatient at the the failure to accomplish anything; Nick cocked his rifle and moved cautiously forward.” He literally felt every step of the way, keep- rs, Mas his senses on the alert, for he roailinad , as fully as could any one, towhat personal danger Beatoaty twositty yards Ol Gcodieatiyely inal cely twen of comparatively lev surface Penmeee hetweett him and the spot where the massive rocks were tumbled each other in the wildest confusion, and Nick Whiffles bad advanced three-fourths of the way across this without detecting anything un- usual, except that the dog Calamity seemed to be very uneasy. 4 He had remained standing like a pointer unftiE his master had passed a few feet beyond, when he followed, but with sych a hesitati tep, and such manifest disapproval, that Nick’s con- science caused him to turn round more than once and debate within himself whether he ought not to turn back altogether, and seek some sheltered spot where he could sudy out the field more at his own leisure. _/ He felt that the only reason his faithful friend changed his poe was to keep him company, and protect him, if possible, from the peril tha was increasing every moment. . ‘“T spose I’m making a fool of myself,” he thought, as he stood motionless a moment, and then started forward again, ‘‘ but there allus had to be some one in the Whiffles family to make a fool of himself for the benefit of t’other ones, and I may as well be one for the benefit of myself—” 4 ‘ He was still moving about, and. rygern:: ad- enly vancing. toward the rocks, when he sud ri upon vacancy and disappeared like a ash. : Nick Whiffles fell a distance of about twenty feet into blank darkness, alig’ ting uporm his feet and receiving a severe shock, © He was con- fused for an instant, but his shrewd intellect told him that in moving about and looking up- ward he had stepped into an opening, of which he had no seep and which must have been used by the Modoc in going to and coming from his retreat in the mountains. With the trapper’s extensive knowledge of the ways and deviiments of the Indians, it had never occurred to him that the Indian had disappeared into the ground instead of above it. Rallying his senses, he looked. about in the darkness in the effort to gain some idea of where he was. Leoking upward.he could see the ir- regular opening over his head, through which he had just fallen, with the dog, Calamity, peer- ing down in the gicom upon ~him, ss if inquir- ing how his master had made cut. “s “Oh, I’m here, pup,” ke said, im a voice just loud enough to be heard by the Urute, *‘4ind I'm shook up a considerable, but it’s 2.1 thésanie, LL, guess ros better come down herewith me, fur I think I shall need your help to get cut of this condemned diffikiity.” He had scarcely said the words, when down came the dog, narrowly missing striking him upon the head and shoulders. ; Master and dog now being together, there was need of all the wits at ther command, a fact which was fully understood by both. ; The trouble was that as they stood upon the hard, flat surface of .the rock, they could not catch the slightest glimpse of ecny thing like daylight, in any direction, except ty locking upward at the hole through which: hoth had de- scended, but through which it was imrcssibleto tance, ‘“* That’s what I call a rather cnhandy style of “ Twenty ieet down at one step is inconvenient to persons with a weak constitution. it makes me think of the cellar stairs an unc-e of mine once made. It was quite that sty.e, and he said, when explain- ing it, that it woud keep people from down thar too often, and he wouidn’t have so m ks passage of time, and _ % ba up in a square re and Ill be condemed’ “ i ex 5" Z _— . ok “ a i » . * , ~ pa he +-7 a ie he