Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1155 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

aoe + oung protector. : * Hate aimed the lance so as to pierce the batants ) ct. Poor Nora! Sho sat alone, peat with | eee ee great pains to rearrange the reeds to their natu- ral Aros when they passed to the rear of tho craft In this manner he drew the canoe over two rods from whers the dcadarrior lay, and. at last pulled the canoe into. a little glade-like spot | near): yet where the reeds and i er, and their long, slencer blaces, courting the sunshine and free- dom of the opening, inclined inward all around the edge of. the glade, thus forming a perfect canopy of blades and stalks overhead, and a beautifnl retreat. In this place the young trapper again took his stand. But such a dense yvof stalks now intervened between them and the foe that the Jattcr could not be seen. Here the fugitives would have to remain un- til tho: Indians left, or they were enabled to raake their escape under cover of darkness. The day wore away, and the shadows of even- ing began to/gatheralong theriver, Our young friends beran, to breathe more freely. The would soon be enabled to move from their peril, although the Indians, still retained their posi- tion upon the river-bank. The wind bad sprung up, and by dark was blowing a brisk gale from the south, The sky was overcast with clouds that foretold a dark night; if not one of. drizzling, autumnal rain, so common at this.season of the year. | Being to the windward, Harry could hear an occasional sound above the rustling of the reeds that told. hina the Indians were still onthe riyer- bani,” and.at the moment when the young ranger was about to begin his retreat. from the s, he heard tho plash of oars ‘in the middle of the bayou; not, ten paces from where they were concéaled., The red-skins were searching either for. them or the absent warrior—perhaps both! The plash of oars, continued ,along the reeds inthe bayou, and finally grew more numerous, but. not a word could be heard from the lips of the occupants. Finally he heard the raking of a canoe in among the reeds, and knew from the location of the sound that the Indians had found where their dead. comrade had entered the thicket, and were following his trail,,. This fact Was soon Co ed by a,low exclamation cf surprise and suppressed indignation, which told Hasry that the body of, the savage had been found. . Not a. sound saye.the rustle of the dry reeds ani stalks could be heard after this discovery; but the silence boded ill,, Warning Nora of their impending peril, the young ‘ranger. put every faculty upon the alert. ~, An hour stole by, when his keen ear detected a light plash on the water near the.cance. He fixed his.eyes upon the darkness, and was not. a little surprised to see two dull, scintillating orbs if fire glowing through the darkness nob, over three yards from the canoe, They were close upon the surface of the water, and just back of them ‘he could see,a dark, spherical object which he was satisiled, was the head of an Indian, whose body was submerged in the water, Silently Harry grasped. the dead warrior’s lance, with the determination of using it upon the cunning red-skin. nits Drawing the, weapon back, he thrust it for- ward with all his strength, A savage yell of agony pealed out upon the ten feet in diameter avs grew much tall night-air, almost chilling the blood in Nora’s, like a heroine; she utteréd no word veins. But but nestled closer to the of affright, form of her savage’s breast, and from the desperate tugging at the weapon he knew his aim had been true, He quickly relinquished his hold upon the lance, and seized the, oars to flee, for he knew the death-wail of the savage would soon bring others upon them. But, at, this instant, Nora caught the outlines of a pair of long arms that were thrust oxtward from the reeds behind him; then she felt Harry dragged from her side out into the water with a crash, where a fearful struggle at once DPRED. The brave and noble girl, obeying the injunc- tion of the young ranger, never uttered a sound, but with her hands clasped over her heart, she mentally prayed, with all the fervenc of her » goul, for the merciful Father to spare e lite of Hawkeye eae ¢ The struggle between the youth and the un- known foe—which was a savage, of course—be- came desperate. Neither uttered a word or cry. But the fidcundering in the water: the crashing of'the reeds; the dull thumping of the blows; the gasping, and labored breathing of the com- told that it was a deadly —— — a a Hawkeye Harry. fear, and when she had invoked Heaven’s pro- tection on the young ranger’s life, she leaned forward and strained her eyes through the dark- ness, in hopes of seing if she could not help Harry. Butshe could see nothing. She could only listen to the awful sounds and pray—pray for Harry’s deliverance. Oh! it wasa fearful moment for that young girl—a moment of agonizing suspense—such as is never erased from memory, For several moments the struggle continued, but, finally, the blows came fower and feebler. Then there came a quick, heavy gasping, a low, curgling sound, and the noise gradually ceased. Gh. beavers) one of the combatants was drown- ing, . Which one? Was it the Indian? was it Hawkeye Harry? Nora asked herself these questions, that were echoed in agony from her heart, were the victor, but her presence of mind told her thatsuch an act would only increase Harry’s danger if ke wero alive, : She waited... Oh, what moments of tortur- ing agony! The wind had. ceased. rustling the reeds, as if to lend silent terror to the moment, A deep silence reigned—a silence as dread as that of the grave. Ten. minutes passed by... hen to the ears of Nora Gardette came a faint sound; like that of a living creature dragging it- & - ling the self through the water... It was approac canoe in which she sat, Was. it, an Indian, or was it. Harry? was it either? She tried to speak the. youth’s name— to ask.if he were alive—but her tangue refused to perform its office; it was, paralyzed with ter- ror and suspense. Motionless, and with dilated. eyes, the maiden sat.and, listened and watched. She knew not whether she would be seized. the. next moment by. a savage, or receive the joyful tidings of Harry’s, victory and escape:, It was a struggle between hope and. fear—the most terrible mo- ment of, her young life, Closer and closer she heard that dragging sound approach,. Then she felt a vibratory shock of the canoe, such. as would be produced by @ hand coming in,contact with it.. Then she saw a dark form rise above the rim of the sane closely followed bytwo dull, glowing The ono she readily saw was a human head and the other the eyes, Was it Harry? She leaned forward, and involuntarily bent forward until her face almost camo, in contact with that.of the unknown, and peered into the scintillating eyes, She started quickly back. It was. the head and face of an Indian—a hideous-painted In- dian! Unable to restrain her emotions longer, nature broke beyond its bounds,and a scream of terror pealed from the lips of Nora Gardette. CHAPTER XII. WAS CLOUDED HEART A. TRAITOR? THE morning sun arose clear and warm ina cloudless sky, and shone with unusual brilliancy upon the little Indian village of Red Wing. The villagers were astir quite early, for the chief, with a number of his warriors, was to accom- pany Old Optic and the masked stranger, Cloud- ed Heart, to the Sioux village to assist in rescu- ing their children from captivity. “he chief had selected thirty of his best war- riors for the expedition, and had them “‘ rigged ” out in all the panoply of the war-path. Each braye was provided with a pony, and well armed for the occasion. Old Optic, provided a pony for Clouded Heart, who made his appearance soon after daybreak, muffied and masked as on the previous night. The party was soon mounted, and filing out of the valley, took their course northward through the woods in single file, with the exce tion of Old Optic and Clouded Heart, who rode side by side in the rear of the cavalcade. The old trapper was now enabled to scan the form of his masked companion more closely. He was rather under medium sizo, and was dressed in a half-civilized and half-savage garb. The hands and feet were small, yet the former were bronzed to the hue of an Indian. The head was still covered with a kind of hood, and the face. with a leathern mask, through the holes of which the eyes gleamed like balls of fire. The mask was so fastened to the hood pe neither wind nor accident could To the old trapper it was strange that this still stranger being would not permit his face to be seen, He wondered to what extent the man’s She longed to call out to Harry to know if he ——_— —— ee eee ee eee success. in rescuing his child depended upon ’ Tis Sa his face concealed. In fact, it was a little mysterious to the old trapper, and he could not, for some unknown re think otherwise than that the fellow would bear watching. He would not have put any confi- dence in him at all, had it not been for the truthful revelation he had made to him of his past life. It was. this. also that forced the con- viction ppon him that his story in regard to his child being a captive in the Sioux village was true. The two conversed as they rode along on:in- cidental topics, though the masked stranger was \ not overly communicative, and seldom entered upon any new subject. At times, however, Old Optic caught his glowing eyes fixed upon him through his mask with a strange, mysterious light. “Have you any hopes of us recovering our children, Clouded Heart?” the old trapper - ly. asked, | ‘“Thave, friend trapper,” replied the stranger; ‘the majority of the Sioux warriors, under Black Buffalo, are away on the’ war-path now, and if we.reach the yulage before their return, we may accomplish the object of our expedition without much trouble.” “Trill take nearly two days to réach their town,” said Old Optic, in a tone devoid of all his former rudeness; “but, by traveling after nightfall, we would gain much time, But Clouded Heart, how did you learn that my child, is a captive among the Sioux?” ‘*] learned it from the lips of the destroyer of your.home and papinesss said Clouded Heart, and he fixed his glowing ,eyes upon the trapper with a steady, inquiring gaze. 7 “Ah! then you know who it was that won the affections of my false-hearted wife?” ** False-hearted !” ‘*Friend trapper, you do the memory of your wife injustice, Ske was not false to you.” ‘‘Man!” exclaimed the old tpapper, “what authority or proof have you for this assertion?’ ‘The authority with which truth endows every mortal, and the proof, of many. No; your wife and child were lured from their home on the Ohio by a man whom she rejected she wedded The villain knew that oni il i d the opportunity for revenge upon you and your wife.. He forged a letter Des aie | to dive from yeu, Tt. stated that you were Mans ye illin the town. of Nauvoo, on the isp, and that you wanted her to hasten forthwith to your bedside, She started, poor deluded woman, to nurse her beloved husband, But, when near her destination, she was seized b outlaws and carried away and sold to the In- dians, What was the result? You returned home and found your wife and child gone; and such false evidence as convinced you that she bad forsaken you for the lové of another. But it was all a lie, friend trapper, a damnable lie.” ‘And this you know to be a fact, Clouded Heart—a solemn fact, do you?” ‘“‘A’ solemn fact,” responded the masked stranger. i ‘Oh, God!” groaned the trapper. ‘Tis sad,” added Clouded Heart; ‘‘ for, friend trapper, I have experienced a sorrow similar to. yours in many Vy gp tan " | “Then, Clouded Heart, you have my heart- felt sympathy. But, did child were sold to the Indians?” *“T said so, but it was only the child that was sold, Your wife—” ‘“ Where is she?” gasped the.old trapper. “Tf you succeed in rescuing your daughter, whe has grown to womanhood, they say, she will tel) you what has become of her poor, per-* A » pe all secuted mother, and will probably co that I have told you.” much like a fearful dream, Clouded Heart, that But what surprises me most is it startles me, how you know all this,” “Tt may, friend trapper; but, as I told you before, I learned it all from the lips of the man who destroyed your home and happiness.” ‘* Does that person live?’ * He does.” | ‘* And do I know him?” , Pe: name Festi y's roche, er groan rom the trapper’s li c) had known Roche in the ns as an atin but.as a gambler and profligate. A cloud of vengeance : one t cise ' and = silent, tho were pr y of the mysterious Clouded Heart. It was quite probable that he had been in some manner leagued with | and had finally become another of his victims, repeated Clouded Heart. . rou. | eomk home on business, and toot a band of ou say my wife and thered over his face; then His | eo?