Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 1147 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

a * A — A al sia ¥ ov 4 5 ~ 2 a. ~ 2 . ; ses - =3 é . - se S« ys artes ~<« " 2 * —-+ : © » a+ ne ‘ aie ry oe wer pT —~ i - , * . > Pre He os es e «* * a | ag f . 4 Ins ' 4 aly a De ~ : ~* Po) Mp ity d. . ‘ hs Fi: 4 “tM, | Py A ute » L - 4 . 3 ‘> * ‘ Ay, i ; pee ae 7) OF. PO ere ee oss panes Oe em ete wih Pt Si a a. ’ A (Sel & ; * a —_— + st Ss * ot To ‘ ato __ _ “ete « Soa al tad 14 , darned Utes? An Ingin can’t stand a charge o’ as he realized that his friends—the has her mind been affected by the perils of the _ recovered the outlaws a 9 rs ct ee eo = — ee ee + eC were white men and, without a doubt, outlaws who had the release of their leader in vipw. But the Boy Hunter was on the alert. He de- voted his attention to the security of the bandit chief, and turned his rifle against those he mis- trusted of being the outiaw’s followers, Fierce and furious waged the battle. Neither side seemed to gain any advantage. They fought, Indian fashion, from behind cover of trees, bushes and rocks, ‘* Say, boy,” said Old Redwood Bill to the Boy Eunter, after the conilict had raged for some minutes; **s’pose we end this fight by we whites all makin’ a tumultvous charge upon them white men, and if we can get’em started on a run the Washoes can finish the fight. What do you say?” ~ ‘Tm ready for anything,” responded the boy ¢ and Pll speak to the rest of our friends about ib. He crept from one to the other of the whites and made known Old Bill’s proposition, in which all readily acquiesced; and at a signal from Bearslayer, every man sprung from his conceal- ment, and with a yell that sounded above the roar of conflict charged into the woods firing their revolvers as they advanced. The din and noise made by this little party was most terrific. Like incarnate thunder they hurled themselves into the very midst of the as- tonished Utes who, as the old hunter and In- dian-fighter had anticipated, broke and ran like so many sheep. The Washoes, with a yell of triumph, took up the chase and soon the sound of battle had rolled away into the distant hills. Our friends did not follow up the enemy, but at once turned back to care for their friends who had fallen in the charge. Of these one had been killed and three wounded. Bearslayer had received a painful flesh wound from an arrow in the arm, but catching sight of a white man endeavoring to take advantege of their absence to free Captain Cuba IJSidd, he dashed back un- mindful of his injury and shot the outlaw’s would-be rescuer down before he could escape. Kidd’s bonds had been severed and, but for the fact that his leg had been completely paralyzed by the weight upon it, the scamp would have made food his escape. In a few minutes he was in bonds again and tes—had been defeated, and saw the great numbers of the victors gathering around, his courage and hopes deserted him. Among the dead found upén the field were four white men. There were also three wound- e:l whites found, and these Webfoot Mose recog- nized as belonging to the party that had cap- tured him and tho girls. This discovery led him to examine the faces of the four dead men, and he felt assured they were also some of his late captors whom he had left less than two hours before. From the four dead outlaws, or renegades, Webfoot Mose walked over and looked at the face of the man Bearslayer had caught in the act of liberating Cuba Kidd andshot, At sight of the man’s face he started back with a cry of deep surprise. Judge Shannon who was-near him advanced and asked; : ‘What is it, Mose? or rather, who is it?” *‘ Judge, do you not recognize the face of that dead man?” Shannon scanned the face closely and replied: 4S Tnever saw the face before that I remem- Yr. ** Indeed!” exclaimed the fat man in surprise, ‘that is rather singular, judge, Yo that man was the husband of your niece, Hdith Baker!” CHAPTER XIII. & REVELATION. JupGE SHANNON turned and fixed his eyes upon Webfoot Mose with the look of one who had been grossly insulted, . ‘‘What do you mean, Mose, by that asser- tion?” he demanded. “ Exactly what I say, Judge; according to your niece’s own confession that man lying there was her husband.” “Ts Edith crazy, Mose?” exclaimed the judge; past few hours to make such an absurd and pre- posterous assertion?” ‘‘ No, judge, she’s as sane as you or I,” Mose replied; ‘‘I presume you are surprised—Eva was. At the very sound of that man’s voice Edith fell in a dead faint. Before she had full tured all of us includ- ing that man, Daniel Florrin—that’s his name out West. Idid my level best to lick the whole t~ » eT TT ST TO Webfoot Mose, the Tramp ~— ei ee eee eee ee —_—_— eee + outfit but this bruised face and soiled dress were the result. ‘The outlaws hustled Florrin away as soon as he had been disarmed, and when Edith came to her senses she gazed around her and inquired for him—calling him Walter Chase. When told by myself that he was gone she seemed easier, though the presence of the outlaws and her dis- covery of our predicament proved another ter- rible blow to her. ‘* We were at once hurried away, and about a mile from where we were taken we were con- ducted into a dark, secluded place at one side of the pass we had been following, and which puts into the main canyon about two miles below here, Having bound my hands, the outlaws withdrew a few paces to hold a conference, and while they were thus engaged Edith told us of her secret marriage with that man five years before she became an inmate of your house—a member of your family. ‘‘Her story was substantially this: that, while she and her mother were living in Virginia somewhere, she met and became acquainted with young Chase. He called to see her a timo or two, and when her mother saw that she was infatuated with the dashing Chase, she forbade his further attentions to her daughter because the old lady did not like him. She mado up her mind he was a scamp, notwithstanding he came to the village from Canada with recommenda- tions of good character signed by a minister and Members of Parliament, which were undoubted- ly forgeries. But Edith was blind with infatua- tion—girlish infatuation—and so one day she ae away, and was secretly, clandestinely mar- ried. ‘*Of course, she went back home, saying nothing to her mother of the marriage. Her husband remained in the village. ‘* About a week after this, her mother’s house was burglarized and nearly every dollar she had in the world stolen. The burglary was traced almost straight to the door of Walter Chase’s boarding-house. Suspicion was fixed upon the handsome Canadian, and, getting wind of it, he skipped for parts unknown, and Edith never saw him or even heard of him again till to-day. , “She kept her marriage a secret, Her mother died soon after the robbery of her house, and Edith then went to New York to live with ou, and brood over her secret which, she says, as been a gnaw ¢ canker at her heart ever since, But the Boy Hunter's bullet has divorced her from the villain!” ‘*My God!” exclaimed mae by the revelation; ‘ this seems like a forrible lream, and yet Edith would not utter a falsehood. I knew nothing of her life until she came to live in my family, and while she has been a gentle, loving girl, at times happy and joyous, there have been times again when she be- came silent and melancholy. But this we al- ways attributed to brooding over the death of her sainted mother of whom she always talked when in these moods. Poor child! God knows what she must have suffered in all these years, Terrible, indeed, has been her punishment for heeding not the request of her mother, And you say that is the body of the man who de- ceived her—W alter Chase?’ * ‘Yes, though he was known in Gold Hill as Daniel Florrin,” said Webfoot; ‘‘and what's more, he was a high-flyer there—one of the prominent citizens. Hewas called on to preside over a meeting the Jast night I was there.” ‘* But what is he doing here in these hills?” ‘* Helpi g to abduct your daughter and noth- ing else, judge! That man has been a follower of Cuba Kidd. His capture to-day was all a pretense—I thought so at the time; and since he endeavored to liberate that outlaw-chief I’m satisfied of it. But his was a rather sudden taking off. But, judge, I haven’t told you all. After the outlaws had held a conference, they came back and told me they’d a message to send you, and wanted me to carry it to you; and they agreed to furnish, and did furnish mea horse, The message was that for fifty thousand dollars in gold, or its equivalent, they would return Eva and Edith to youunharmed. While I was fone they intended to hide the girls away in ga different place from where I last saw them, so that any attempt at their rescue would be futile. If you agreed to pay over the money I was to return and let them know, when the arrangements for the ranson would be made. To guard against further surprise I was to re- turn Lo aha route, and at some point or other I would be met by one of the band. I could do nothing else but. consent to bear the message to you, and have done so, though I didn’t expect to meet yousosoon.” ¥ ‘The murderous devils!” hissed the judge; ‘I Shannon, deeply Detective. ET oe i —_— hate to compromise with such wretches but wil} do anything to save my child.” ‘*But see here, judge,” said Mose; ‘ great changes have taken place since I left them out- laws. There were ten of them, not counting Florrin. No less than four of them lie dead out pone and three of them are wounded and will e killed by the Ingins and scalped just as soon as our backs aie turned. Now, there can’t be over three left in charge of the girls—four at furthest, and we might swoop down upon them and rescue the women before their guards hear of the death of their friends and spirit the girls away. Moreover, we've got their captai whom they’ve been expecting to join them all morning with Bearslayer a prisoner. It seems the captain and a few friends came around through the hills cn horseback after leaving Grizzly Pass, and they were to meet over here somewheres this morning—they never once dreaming that the frisky Bearslayer would get away with the whole boiling of them. But with the help of Little-Fox, the friendly Washoe, it seems he has demolished the outfit and got the captain foul.” ‘Well, what do you think, Mose?—what shall I do?” the distracted father asked. ‘“We might effect an exchange of prisoners, judge—give Captain Kidd up for the two girls. But then I think I’d better make haste back to where I left them with the girls and see how many of the gang’s left. I’m afraid if they git wind of the result of this battle they'll spirit the girlsaway. Ill call up Bearslayer and Red- wood and get their opinion abcut my plans.” The two hunters were called up and con- sulted. s Why 2:06 march our forces, Indians and oll, down there, aad deliberately rescue the girls and be done with it?” said Bearslaycr. “That might do in one :sense,” said Old Red- wood, ‘‘ but if the outlaws have got wind o’ the way things stand wp here ruther than bo cefeat- ed all around they may kill the girls or turn ‘em over to the Utes who'd slay ’em too quick jist for revenge.” ‘ That’s all very true, Bill,” said the impulsive Bearslayer, whose youthful blood was running hot in his veins. ‘*Men,” said Shannon, ‘ Webfoct Mose has shown himeclf equal to any emergency £0 far, and I am willing to let him carry cut his cwn dlans. : “That settles it,” said Redwocd; ‘ perceed, Goosefoot Moses, and anything that I can do will be cheerfully did.” ‘Then ’'m going back to the outlaws’ rendez- vous and try an exchange of prisoners,” Co- clared Mose; ‘‘ that'll be the quickest done if accepted; but if not Pll make the arrangements for the ransom,” Without further delay the fat man struck out sees his horse having broken away Curing the atiie. As he proceeded down the canyon he was met every few rods by a Washoe warrior ogee J from the chase of the foe, some of them wi scalps at their pe As few, if any of them had ever seen the pussy man before, they stopped and deliberately gazed at him in emezement. They had never seen the likes Lefore and some ot the younger and more curious’of the warriors” turned and tollowed him aways like boys follow- ing a pet bear through the street. Their curi- osity was highly amusing to Mose, and yet he was quite glad when he got rid of them, and had turned from the main canyon into a narrower passage on the right. | Half a mile further on he came suddenly upon a wounded outlaw trying to make his way back to the rendezvous. He had sunk with exhaus- tion by the way, but as Mose came up to him he © looked up and said: “Hullo, fatty, you're gettin’ around pretty — uick.” ary’ Yes, had ueees are ao I SRDRC tae Re the judgo up the gulch cn his wey north,” re- lied Mose: “but ot seems to me that you're urt.” “That's no name for it, fatty; I was all shot to pieces in the fight 4 the eee. Didn't you hear the din of the battle? Utes and Washoes there by the thousand, and I tell ycu it was an awful fight, The Utes got licked but they never would if it hadn’t been for about a thousand white mountaineers—all old Ingin-fighters—that charged them with bayonets. sand a bayonet charge.” : ‘““T was present at that fight, old man,” eaid Mose, amazed at the fellow’s monstrous and de- liberate falsehood. ‘Ob, you was?” rejoined the outlaw; ‘then you can tell my friends that most of the bo) s are killed, and, tell one of them to come down ' re 5 . - " wz ~~ nicbook Tm ~ =< of if / : « . - ‘wa tie An Ingin can’t | * ‘,. ¥ 7 2