Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 1147 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

. e : > 7 < era J CSA ear AS . “Se .. — =" it © af : oy "3 : “as ¥ ; * @4 Pa? baad - , “Y, bite “a buh - - ; _— a SOSH A - a te a’ S Om ae od 7 oh 5 - . aah y € d . ? fy ran Nae a! “ -* : <<? i a7+>) tse’ AAG es ry ai a 4 - ~~ *) To or M eet r. fs noes in ay > 1s ro BT Wek 5 7 5 Ti . 4 - > ape 4%? ‘ahr \y « . 4 ee bp ‘ * * 7 . * a = “Ss a @ 7 a ce g, SEM. . m | ; PERT es - er eo. Al ay ate F ye wet * by Ky. > . % ; 7 . oe i > oa 4 ¢ (ee 9 Webfoot Moss, ee + eo “And when you find out will you come back and tell us?’ asked Webfoot. ‘* They may be our friends and if so we are a he glad for them to find us for theyre lost if they’re friends.” ‘t Little-Fox come back—he friend of pale- face. You wait here?” ‘* Yes, right here,” answered Mose. ‘Then watch out heap for Ute—he sneak like wolf,” cautioned the Friendly as he turned and departed, ‘That’s a bit of good-luck striking that red- skin,” said Webfoot, ‘‘for 1 unders and he’s a sworn friend to the whites, a personal friend of Bearslayer, and a famous scout. But, girls, I don’t want to scare you, but there’s no less than a hundred Utes over yonder and they’re hostile, too. But if we keep still here till that Washoe gets back we'll get away from them. So be ient and brave as you have been, and all will be well.” After conversing awhile with the maidens Webfoot walked out to the end of the ledge from whence he could command a view of the zoat-path leading down into the valley. He stood there but a few moments when he caught a glimpse of a stealthy figure among the trees below. He started back and glanced around bim. His eyes fell upon a great rock lying half hid among the drooping vines at the upper side of the ledge. With another cautious dance into the valley the fat tramp turned and astening to the rock laid hold of it, and sum- moning all his strength, succeeded in moving 1t out into the middle of the ledge. The maidens saw him and, filled with curti- osity, arose and advanced to where he sat upon the rock, great beads of perspiration rolling down his face, his hat off, and the wind toying with his thin, flaxen locks, Before either of the girls could speak he put his fingers to his lips significant of silence, and shook his head. . A look of fear whitened the faces of the girls and stopping they stood silent before their friend. ‘‘T don’t know,” said Webfoot, leaning for- ward and speaking just above a whisper, ‘ but what there’s some one at the foot of the hill try- ing «o follow our trail, and if it’s an enemy, and he undertakes to come up here, I'll bat him on the head with this stone as sure as I’m a moun- tain ‘ tourist,’” The girls could see that he was uneasy des- pite the manner in which he spoke, for he at once arose and creeping back to the end of the ledge cautiously peered down the cimmaron rath. ‘ In a moment he turned and hurried back and again laid hold of the stoneand pegan working it toward the spot. where the ledge dropped off so suddenly into the goat-path. He labored with all his might and when at length he had reached the edge of the ledge he was almost out of breath. But he did not stop to rest, but glanced down the path, uttered an exclamation of sur- , which was answered by a subdued savage war-whoop, then bending over the rock again he rolled it off the ledge and sent it bounding down the path. eS Four Ute savages were ascending the hillside evidently upon the trail of the fat man, They were following one behind another in the goat- path and, unaware of the deadly trap the white man was setting for them, they glided up the hill. But suddenly they saw the great stone leap over the ledge and come bounding toward them following the depression worn by the hoofed feet of the mountain sheep. The fore- most red-skin leaped out of its way, but the others were struck down and crushed to death in a twinkling, their bodies scarcely checking e deadly missile in the least. On down the hill swept the great stone, landin in the valley with a sullen boom, while a clouc of dust rose upon its track and drifted away upon the breeze. The esca red-skin glanced at the crushed and mangled bodies of his comrades lying quivering in the path, then with a cry of baffl rage he bounded off down the hill. But he had hesitated a moment too long, for he had gone but a few steps ere the revolver in the hand of Webfoot Mose rung out, the bullet struck him on the back of the neck and he plunged head- _ long down the steep hill lifeless, : Ag the report of the weapon rolled in pro- - longed echoes through the hills, Webfoot’s brows contracted, and with a dissatisfied look he growled: . | ‘‘Smother me! that pistol-shot’s a bad job. ee ee eC; NE nn LLL LLL LLL LLL LL LLL LLL LL the Washoe, and since we’ve been paddling our own canoe chad well since we disembarked from that old coach I guess we can continue to do so. Let’s follow this ledge on around and see where it does lead to.” The girls were only too glad to be moving, and the trio at once started off along the ledge, Webfoot Mose leading the way. They had gone perhaps half a mile when turn- ing the abrupt angle of a great rock Mose found himself face to face with a white man. Both started back in surprise. The hand of each involuntarily sought a weapon of defense; at the same instant the stranger’s face li hted up with a smile of Bs PON i and he said: ** Webfoot Mose, as I live!” ‘Yes, sir, I’m that tourist,” replied the fat man; ‘‘and if ’m not mistaken, you are Daniel Florrin, whom I have met more’n once in the salons of Gold Hill.” ‘¢ Exactly,” replied the man, with a low laugh, glancing restless gers the valley. Eva and Edith had not yet come in sight of the man, for the angle of the rock concealed him, nor could they see him when they finally stopped a few paces behind Mose to hear what the men were saying. At the sound of Florrin’s voice Edith Baker started as if suddenly aroused froma frightful dream, and when the man spoke in a clearer tone her face turned deathly pees her eyes star- ed wildly, and her bloodless lips parted as if to speak, She clung nervously to Eva for support, and finally, with a moaning gasp, sunk uncon- conscious to the earth! CHAPTER XI. CUBA KIDD HAS TO COME DOWN, As Bearslayer’s demand for Captain Cuba Kidd’s surrender fell upon that worthy’s ear, his jaws dropped apart and he glanced at his friend in the tree before him, his face the very picture of baffled rage. Both the outlaws held their revolvers in their hands, but the young dare-devil, who had so suddenly turned the tables upon them, was over a hundred yards away, ensconced behind a tree, with his own unerring rifle in hand. He could shoot them both while descending to the ground, and figure the matter out as they might, the result was the same—they were at the boy’s mercy. ‘* Surrender, old cappies!” the young hunter again demanded, seeing they hesitated, *‘or Pll ve no quarter. Remember, that it'll be shot or shot from this on ” ‘* Captain, the young heilion has got us foul,” said Kidd’s companion in a woful voice. ‘*Tt’s a most humiliating position, Dug, for men that occupied the place we did a few min- utes ago,” said the robber chief, a look of abject misery upon his dark, ‘" piratical ” face. “Ghost of, Lazarus!” exclaimed the man “Dug”; “if the boys that went in pursuit of Gosper’s slayer would only return now and take that sardonic youth from behind, you and I captain, might think this wasn’t such a bac world after all.” ‘Ten to one Gosper’s slayer was a Washoe savage,” said Kidd, ‘‘ and, that he’ll draw Nick and Tiger-Tooth into a death-trap. It begins to look as though we were doomed, Out of twenty men that started into the Shannon-Abduction scheme half are already dead and—” ‘But, don’t you see, the ‘divy’ ll be all the greater, captain?” interrupted the cold-blooded wretch on the limb before him; “ fifty thousand divided among ten men’s better than ’mongst na ‘Well, man! but you’re a cool one,” declared Captain Cuba, ‘' You talk as though we had the girl in our power and the gold was on the way for her ransom, instead of our sitting here like a pair of grinning apes liable to be shot down dead at any instant. Hear that? does that sound much like ovr doing a banking busi- ness on Shannon’s gold?” It was Bearslayer’s voice again demanding their surrender that led to the bandit’s facetious interrogative. ‘*Let’s parley with the murderous youn scamp in hepes of gainin’ time till Nick an Tiger-Tooth can come to our relief,” said the cunning Dug Tarr. You've the brain-fertility of a Napoleon, Dug,” said Kidd, ‘and Pil try your scheme though it may cost us our lives.’ ‘There'll be that much more for the other boys on the divy if we are sacrificed in the cause,” was Dug’sreply. Cuba Kidd could not repress an oath at the Tramp-Detective, — ee ee es ne eee 6 —— -- — a tions of the outlaw chief, and in mocking we're at the mercy of,the bear and your cow- ardly self?” ‘* Don’t be afraid of that bear, Mr, Kidd,” re- turned the boy in the most aggravating way, ‘* for he’s dead as you'll be in about fourteen sec- onds ‘less you surrender. If the bear’s all that keeps you up there like a pair of ‘ possums, just try to get down without my permission—just make one shadow of an attempt. I want an ex- cuse to plug youtwo. Oh, you royal mountain- cers! Pve got thedrop on youthistime. Lexpect it makes you hot but I can’thelp it. I’m a little lord of all I survey—and that’s you bold, bad buccaneers—and I want you fellows to be digni- fied about your surrender.” ‘You infernal whelp!” exclaimed Kidd, ‘‘ do you want us to give up and set here like warts on these limbs till we rot?” ‘* No, not exactly,” replied their young tor- mentor, ‘‘ but each of you have a pistol in your hand. I want you to drop them—toss them out this way.” The discomfited outlaws looked at each other, spoke in a low tone, and then tossed their re- volvers to the ground. ‘*There, that’s very eae did,” shouted Bear- slayer, ‘‘ but you'll next unbuckle your belts and fling them down. You might have another shooter there.” ‘We have not,” was Dug Farr’s reply. iy. i throw them down anyhow,” ordered e boy. . The belts were thrown to the ground. ‘*Got anything dangerous in your pockets?” Bearslayer demanded. ‘“A jack-knife,” answered Dug Tarr, ‘** Drop it,” commanded the youth, The knife was dropped. ‘Got any thing else?” ‘* No,” Captain Kidd answered. ‘Then one of you climb down and advance into the opening yonder with your hands above your head,” said Bearslayer. ‘‘ Remember now, only one at a time; and I want him to get down slowly, and with the fear of the Lord in his heart. Any hasty movement will be to invite a shot from me. Steady now.” Dug Tarr began to descend, a sinister gleam in his eyes. Captain Cuba whispered something to him as they parted. The boy knew, by, their very actions, that they had some suddenly con- ceived scheme on foot, Tarr soon passed the last limb and in ‘‘ craw- fishing” down the trunk he ecged around so as to place the tree between him and the boy, But the pie was too small to cover the villain’s en- tire body and Bearslayer called cut: ‘Say, old horse, if you think you're safe just say so and li show you how easy I can shoot a lung or bu’st a shoulder for you.” With apparent reluctance the man stepped from behind the tree and advanced into the opening indicated. . Ugh!” It was a low, guttural ejaculation that fell eg Bearslayer’s ears. It came from behind im, Quick as a flash the startled youth turned his head and saw an Indian warrior standing near him, a triumphant gleam in his eyes. Two reeking human scalps hung at his girdle. ew it Little-Fox, the Washoe,” the bey said. : from one to the other of the outlaws. Bearslayer turned quickly and saw that both bandits were endeavoring to take advantage of the diversion the Washoe’s coming had created in their favor. Captain Cuba Kidd was nearly down to the ground while Dug Tarr wasmaking for the nearest thicket on the doubl i ) Seeing that one of them was bound to escape the young bunter leveled his rifle on the outlaw — chief Phin as that worthy’s feet touched the ground. The villain saw the deadl rifleman’s move- ment end believing the fatal shot wasaboutto _ be fired at him he threw himself flat upon the earth, | 5 | Little-Fox sprung forward a few paces, fixed © an urrow to his bow and quickly sent the missile after the fleeing Dug Tarr. But the distanco | was long and the arrow fell low piercing the _ calf of the villain’s leg and causing hi with barb buck. , _ Bearslayer laughed outright at the eee “ nes, © ain. But scarcely halting he jerked the rom the limb and sped onlike a frightened called out: ‘* Come, rise up_there, William Riley; I’m no | : ag a2 : ‘Tt will be heard clear up to British Columbia; | man’s reckless bravado; then turning his head | idol that you need prostrate yourself in the dirt at 4 Bei ae Se ‘but I had to do it. There’s one thing certain, he shouted to ; ayer: before me, Come, the-escape of your chum’s _ “S Pr Be) aa though; we can leave here, Washoe or no “What more do you want? don’t you see | not going to make the situation any better for o : ‘ - - 42,29 2 ‘ + 7 P ——> a a oi. » es ’ — a —* ‘“Yes—look!” responded the Indian, pointing ” * . : i, =< e = -4 , gh eo (+ eee - > EF hd *# ‘ aes -_ ec | pa 7 ! «- — “—s . - “a > . ~ ———— i, ->—% ’ i, ao "9 - on . — a andes foes a rhe —_—= - - ; ee ee Bs * %. 1h D,! a ex: mtorear — -s r e” ry : me . os 7 a ‘Ald roe? +4 here Gre, STs. § ot 1 at i+ , *. roe Wy) ols 4 af ? 4) : <3 Rte te <° 7 7 . 4, x " — . ~ ’ * - , thet rf ; . 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