Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 1140 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

> - 9 “~ - ~ <.* eight feet in width: _ ee - “a 4 - Py ie + a | ory eS i Me Ty io : +. 4h’ 4 7 , Pao a t wn» o * ~ r. a $ o . $4 ‘ee & eve To oe ht continued to increase as they cauti- ‘nee ¥ ¢ sly advanced, and by-and-by he detected the mo . z thn * - < sit ae ee a Oregon Sol. much a stolen. When his wife had to daughter caught sight of the hunter and his dog | Nick moved a few Bm further back, where. down it didn’t take her long, but it wasonhandy | standing near them. - there was no possibi ity of his beingseen,and sy *bout pulling. hor up, as they had to let down a Juliette gave a slight scream at sight of the | had scarcely done so, when the Modoc, who had — a hook and rope, and,fasten it in her back hair stranger, and the trapper, fearful that their | killed the antelope, came to view, bearing in his al but come, let us arn something instead of foolin’ | fright might defeat every m@asure looking to hand some meat that had been coo upon. - away our time.” It was very certain that whoever spent their time in those underground quarters did not re- Main around the opening, and Nick and Calam- ity began moving forward, groping their way along with great caution. By stretching out his arms, the trapper found that he was fo had a passage some six or ut, as it extended in both 4 =, directions, it was uncertain whether he was going "ate . oem, “= toward or from the point he wished to reach. ‘Unaware of what pitfalls a xe in front, he let Calamity take the lead, knowing that the instinct. of the brute was far more reliable in erhaps fifty feet had been manner, when a vi sound reached the ears of Nick that seemed. like the moan of waters; but as it instantly ceased again, he suspectéd that it was the voice lineautine. a ing. ae stood several minutes li i ut not hearing it, he moved forward. By this time, he was out of t of the opening, and look in whichever on he chose, it was black, starless night. A short distance further the dog uttereda faint whine, as an indication that he had dis- covered something. Nothing, however, could be seen, and the twain moved forward again for a few steps, when a faint lighting up showed they were approaching some sort of o **I guess we're going to l’arn something,” said . +) Nick fo his dog, as he felt that he was upon the of making some important very. lig , of something like a fire, but he could ot make certain what it was until he had pene- trated some distance further, when he saw that - asmall wood fire was burning at one side of the - Such bei case, was proof that those who had kindled it were not far away, though Nick for a time was unable to discover them. Still advancing with the silence and stealth of shadows, with his xf Sar and ears as wide open as they could be, the was seen to flash up sud- denly, as though some one had thrown additional elu it. — At vhis creased illumination, two figures _. Were instantly revealed—the figures of two wo- —-Mrs. De Long and her daughter Juliette— whgitbee for whom Marunyo and the trappers were They were strangers to Nick Whiffles, he hav- “ng never set eyes on them before, but the cir- - .eumstances wander, which he saw them could leaye no doubt of their identity, and as he look- ed upon the beautiful face of the some, as by the firelight, he could not ane * Shat Marunyo had n so hopelessly in love that he was willing to risk his life a hundred times over, for the sake of rescuing her from her dreadful captivity. ” Tt was Juliette who had stirred the smoldering embers, and thrown some other sticks upon - them, and the flame showeéd-that the place where she and her mother stood was an expansion of the into something like a room, which had tted up as a sort of Indian lodge. The first effort of Nick, after recognizing the two, was to ascertain whether any other In- ‘ dians were in the vicinity. Looking hither and on, he conld see nothing of them, although that was no reason for supposing they were not in the immediate ve: gent ood. After ing an the fire in the stirring replenishin manner mentioned, J uliette sat downi beside her mother, upon a flat stone, and he could hear the - murmur of their voices, although unable to dis- ha word: ick Whiffles, wrapped in impenetrable dark- ness, stood for fully fifteen minutes’ looking upon the two, and endeavoring to make certain whether he could open communication with them without giving the alarm to their jailer at the same time. He kreéw that one of these Modecs had gone down the opsning a few minutes in advance of him, and the question was as to what had be- come of him. Finally Nick coneluded to make an attempt to rise them of his presence, and his desire to help them out of their ‘‘condemned diffikilty.” He therefore moved.forward until he was with- in a dozen yards, and just beyond their sight, when he paused. At this very instant one of the burning fagots fell forward, and made a sudden increase of their rescue, called out im*a cautious under- tone: ‘** Don’t be skeart; it’s mie, Nick Whuffles and Calamity. We've come to make a call onto yer, and ax you if you wouldn’t like to take a promenade out of this condemned diffikilty, and go back to your home ag’in.” | There could be no mistake about the friendli- | ness of that voice and person, and both mother | and daughter wereready to leap for joy at the knowledge that some one had to them. Before ret ition of the in the same guarded voice: ** Are there any red-skins close by?” _**No,” answered Mrs. De Long; “‘ you need not be afraid to come forward.” **T ain’t exactly afeared of ’em except on your account. Me and Calamity kin generally man- age to take care of ourselves among the var- mints! but if any of ’em are hanging ’round loose it’s best to know it.” As he uttered the last words, Nick Whiffles came forward by*the camp-fire, and saluted the ladies with rough but genuine courtesy. ** You both look purty well,” said he, as he looked from one to the other, as he gave way to his c ristic sense of humor. “If young gals want to git pale and interestin’ like, thar ain’t nothin’ better than to keep out of the sun- light—though I think you didn’t come down here of your own free willand accord. How many of the Injuns are here watchin’ you?” he asked, abruptly. _. ** There is nearly always one here or close by but the rest are on the outside guarding that point,” replied Mrs. De Long. **How many of them are there?’ ** About half a dozen.” ** Helloa!” exclaimed the surprised trapper; ‘**T hadn’t counted on finding so many as that: could more than realize the dis- trapper, the latter asked them, | ; come to their | rescue, even though that persun was a stranger | but there was one of the p’ison noosances that | sa down here ahead of me. What's ’come of ‘*He was here and passed on by toward the qutlet. I do not think he is within sight or hearing.” ~ I thought there must be some place where you could git out better than the condemned one by which I come in. It was only the ae Lord that saved me from breaking my neck.” ‘**Oh, we are so rejoiced that some one has followed us here,” said the lady, devoutly. ‘ Ju- liette was in despair, and I. was almost; but I told her that Heaven would not forsake us, and it has not. I am so glad we are going to be rescued.” ** Don’t be too sartin of that,” replied Nick Whiffles; ‘‘ that’s the business that brought me and Oregon Sol,and Marunyo here; but the thing ain’t done yet, and may be it won’t be done.” CHAPTER XII. THE SURPRISING SURPRISE. Nick WHIFFLES was un because he knew that he was standing directly in front of the fire, exposde to the treacherous shot of any Modoc who might be coming in, while he was deprived of the power of returning or prevent- ing such a shot. ma ; y explaining position of things to the ladies, he deadened the light of the fire as much as roe 9 ag jthey moved back, until he was protected by the gloom from which he had first eme ‘ Now, gals,” said he, in his , business- like manner, *‘I want to l’arn just how things Se — do you*get out.of this condemned place?” Mrs. De Long answered the questions prompt- ly and with intelligence. A hundred feet beyond the fire, the cavern opens into the outer air. The passageway is quite narrow, and night and day, there are three or four Indians on» the look-out there. It is the only way by which this place can be left.” The back door then is to come.in by and not to goout. That puts the matter in a condemn- ed bad shape, and there’s going to be a diffikilty afore we kin get.out. side, we col | | If I was only on the out- | haul you, up through the hole | overhead,- \out as-that can’t be done we'll have | to take the Ratees—hello, pup, what is it?” He paused but. a moment, when he said in a whisper, “ One Of the varmints is coming. step back out of the way, and be keerful not to light, by the aid of which both mother and | act so that they'll spect I’m about.” PH | ' | | with the intention of firing, when he made _ that had shot the antelope and that had the outside. He threw a piece to each, and then stood with his hack to the fire and hiseyes ~~ fixed upon them, waiting to see them make their. evening meal, m8 Standing thus, he offered the best target - ble to Nick, who drew. his rifle to his shoul that in his fall into ro the lock against some ob- struction in such a way as to Tender it useless. Calamity appeared to comprehend the discover ad struc mortifyin cavern he and made a move asif he were anxious to 2 ahead and take the place, of the bullet, but his ! master restrained him. a The Modoc remained but a few minutes, when he turned about and sauntered away in the di- | rection whence he came. Nick Whiffles waited — until the sound of his footsteps had died out — when he came a little nigher. As he did so, Ju- an moved 94 ~— him. being’ with as La ** You e of Marunyo you,” ‘ said she, in a timid voice; “why is he not in £ the cavern with you?” ¥. ‘“* He is here.” It was the low sweet voice of Marunyo him- self that uttered these words, as he walked forth from the gloom and took his Place beside astonished Nick W hiffles, and delighted liette, explaining as he did so, that he had covered the place where the tapped tad ee | descent, and after a careful examina Ne of the spot he had eel the truth and had = | ow thout waiti summon Oregon , as he should have done. ’ Neither Marunyo nor Nick knew exactly | where the egress from the cavern was, after 1% a hasty consultation they decided to the 4, attempt to escape without any more delay. Pay =o The plan upon was very Mrs. a De Long and her daughter were tomovefor- — ward to the outlet, as if they had , cA upon making the attempt on theirown accoun6 — ‘ wf the Ju- dis- ~~ ee. ee, ee Pet ~. exclusively. U reaching the outside of — course they would be sto by the Modocs, ‘ — who would be likely to gather about them in such a way as to enable the ladies to decide how great the force was that they weuld have to en- < counter in making the rush, and if there : no more than three, Juliette was to | Mile. nal, and her two rescuers would a and overwhelm them. If there were more than three fully armed and waiting, the captives agreed toturnbackin = the hope of speedily gai a better ty,.when the two ne take the at a ter disadvantage. ree t took only a few minutestocome to anum = of her daughter, moved off in the rae yt en by the Indian who had them their A few steps only and the passage made B Res curve that e light of the ope was seen. Be was narrow and some dozen feet Re Pa an ing in a slanting dit so that Seoaah her BS ae for a stranger to discover it from theout- ‘ e. aN Nick followed a short distance in the rear,and when they were still about twenty feet from the _ a e halted, Marun immedi- he meant to strike them with the u | hawk. As +e no other Indians had ap one whom they saw before them was » 2 5 8- in ahead of the rescue ko At this instant Mrs De Long made thesiymal to the latter that all was favorable. Me Shoot him down,” whi Marun ae Nick Whiffies raised his fun, but ree: the mishap that had befailen it, instantiy ered it again, with the announcement t was powerless to fire. ict See Marunyo then threw up his own weapon, took a ay aim and fired. ate 3 e distance was so short that he could é vl eno. ee a * rhe ree “ 2 ot t , ie ees oa "+. ¥ § ees ime aS ral (4) ; om ieee ae a) as _— A : a 2 =? a . * oe :' % -, ra so < ’ ad, 3} = ae, | e* > ms " 4 5 * = . ae apts A " - - “ , Re an Vv ar wet “a : Pier de. f ‘ 200! com Cc : ee ~aly | ty - t s ale id * : bs a a tb : a/) ones i f Os 7 ~ ee wae fe | Re. ee by od a) ve! - ‘ oe i ; . ee OP ‘ ¥ rCaee ae Fy