Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1158 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

Ss oe ee KOS ‘‘ Shall we attack the whites?’ asked one of the braves. ‘* No,” answered the White Wolf, ‘‘ the white chief, nglegs, is as cunning as the beaver; like the wolf at bay, he fights hard. The Black- feet would kill the white chief Longlegs, who traps the beaver by the lodges of the red-men; but, if the red-men give the white chief a Beadle’s HalfDime Library. ee ae ee + eee ee ee ee eee oe eee ———— | prey; they struck him as the forked light of | To the looker-on—could there have been om the Great Spirit strikes the big tree captive in the red-man’s lodge.” *‘Where?” questioned the girl, eagerly. “ There,” replied the warrior, pointing to the | wigwam from which he bad come, and in which | the helpless prisoner was confined. ‘* Would — ; he sunk | stationed in the sky—the wilderness would Lave beneath the arm of the Blackfoot, and is now a | presented a singular sight. First came W hite olf and his three Blackfoot followers, track. ing patiently the footsteps of Courtney, ex} «ct- ing each moment to pounce upon the caamp of the whites; in their rear came the old trary er, following their trail with all the patience of a chance, he will run—and his legs are long like | the White Bird look upon the pale chief, let | sleuth-hound. the elk's. fight, and his rifle shoots many times at once. our Blackfeet are not enough to fight Long- legs. The red chiefs will see where the paiec- facc 3 have campel; then they will return to the Blackfoot lodges, get more warriors, and burst upon the white-skins like.a panther.” The other chiefs gravely nodded assent; they had all witnessed the prowess of the tall hunter, and the quick-repeated shots of his death-deal- ing rifle, and they had grown to look upon the white trapper as a very dangerous, subtle foe, and one ee force of numbers alone could crush. The reasoning of the White Wolf ap- peared good to them. Their chief’s courage no one of the Blackfoot tribe could gainsay; it had been tried on many a bloody war-path against the whites, proved on ety. a fierce raid in the Crow country. So, silently, the red chiefs fol- lowed the White Wolf, ac’ e advanced cautious- ly up the stream, follewiag the traces of Court- ney’s steps. @ will leave whe Indians—like so many bloodhounds, following the white man’s trail— and return to thx Young Bear, and who bore thé form of the senseless Courtney along on his shoulder, as though it were the carcass of a deer. On through the wilderness with a long, loping stride, went the muscular savage, over hill an dale, through brush and brier; the darkness de- scended upon the earth, but the savage halted not; onward, straight forward toward the In- dian village he went, nat turned from his path by rock, brush or streamlet, and some three hours after the time of Courtney’s capture, with his helpless burden on his shoulder, still insensi- a pas Young Bear strode into the Blackfoot ge. The Indian deposited his prisoner on a couch the center of tho village, then he bound the hands and legs of his captive ether tightly with stout bonds of deer-skin, and, having thus insured his sufety, he left him. As the Youn r stepped from the lodge, he was confron by the figure of the young Indian girl, whom we have seen with the ite Wolf in the frontier settlement. She was call- ed by the Indians White Bird, and in their fan- ciful manner further named the ‘ Flower of the Blackfeet.” The full moon, now sang threw a flood of pure, soft lig village. By the rays of the moon the Indian girl per- ceived a blood-stain upon the hunting-shirt of Young Bear, caused by the blood that had ket gi down from the wound in Courtney’s ead. “ The | young chief has been wounded?’ the girl asked. She had rightly gu.sed that, by this time, the party to which her lover was attached must be near the Indian village, and the blood-stain on the hunting-shirt of the young brave alarmed her. She feared that a meeting already had taken place between the Indians and the whites. That that meeting would be a bloody one she knew too well, for she had overheard the conver- sation between the White wolf and the Spotted Elk, the outcast. Blackfoot brave, in the white | settlement. That the purpose of the whites | had been betrayed to the Indians, and that the red braves were already on the watch to sur- rise the long-legged trapper and his compan- ne she also knew. Little, though, did she think that, even then, her lover was wounded and a prisoner in the hands of his foes. How could she guess that Courtney, the young white chief, the first man who had ever pressed the warm passicnate love-kiss upon her red _ lips, was now bound, hand and foot, with the un- | yielding withes of deer-skin—that life and | death even now contended which should possess | him. * No,” responded the chief, proudly. ‘‘ The | blood’ on the hunting-shirt of the chief is | white.” | clear in the sky, The girl’s heart sunk at the words of the oung Bear. | “The young chief has fought with the whites?” | she questioned, fearing the worst. | ‘No: the warriors of the Blackfeet came | wpon the white brave like the eagle upon his | ndian who was named the | If the red braves hem him in he will | her enter and she shall see the foe of the Black- | feet, crushed beneath the foot of the red-man.”’ | Saying which, the warrior stalked off toward | his own wigwam. The Indian girl entered the wigwam that held | the white prisoner. All was dark within, yet, | despite the gloom, she could distinguish a dark | form, extended on the buffalo-skins, and hear the heavy breathing as of one in pain. With a heart sick with apprehension, the | White Bird knelt by the side of the helpless man, | hair back from his feverish temples; the dark- | ness was so dense she could not see his face, but | her heart told her that she knelt by the side of | her lover. | to his heavy, painful breathings; then she arose, | and with a light step flew to her own wigwam:; with it she returned to the side of the captive. nigra she bathed his forehead; she loosened the tight bands that bound his wrists; his breathing became easier; he turned restlessly upon his side; his senses were returning. ‘Where am I?” he murmured. His voice told the girl that she held her lover in her arms. ‘* Harry!” she cried, softly, ‘‘ dear Harry!” Courtney knew the voice. ‘* White Bird!” he exclaimed, as with rapture | he pressed her to his heart. CHAPTER VI LONGLEGS SHOWS FIGHT. HARDLY had the White Wolf and his war- | riors left the little glade where they had suc- | were ‘hid by the bushes, as they followed the of buffalo-skins in one of the vacant lodges in | ceeded in capturing Courtney, and their forms trail that led up the little stream, when, forth from one of the clumps of trees—the same covert | that had hid the savages—stepped the Giant Trapper. He, too, like Courtney, had followed the streamlet down; he, too, had heard the crack of the dried twig that had snapped neath the foot of one of the Indians; but, unlike Courtney, the sound had excited his suspicions; he had sought the thicket for the cause of the be- | | i The trapper was gaining slowly, but surely, upon the Indians. Snce cr twice he had caught sight of their dusky forms as they glided from bush to bush, intent on conccaling their persons from the expected foe in front, not dreiniing of | the deadly toe in their rear, Who was cach mo- | “wind She pushed the tangled ringlets of his | ment gaining slowly but certainly upon them. The shrill cry of a horse broke upcn the still ness of the twilight hour. The cry came irem the trapper’s pony. The sagacious enimal bid aA ” the approach of the red-men. ‘The old trapper l:ughed silently to hin self at the | sound. A moment she remained by his side, listening | there she procured a small vessel of water, and | | | | | | | | | | ! | ‘*T knew the little beast would smell ’em cut soon. Now, Mudhole ought to know what tlat air means ef he’s got the seise of an owl. Ah! the red devils are deliberating, cuss em! Thar’ll be a dead Injun round byer in ’bout twe minutes,” The trapper drew from his belt the keen-edged hunting-knife; carefully ran his finger over the edge; it was sharp as a razor. As he bad said, the Indians had paused at the shrill cry of the horse, and were clustered to- gether, apparently in council. Noiselessly and with the stealthy caution of the panther stealing upon his prey, knife in hand, the lion-bearted traprer approached his foes, taking advantage of every tice, each piece of rock to shelter him from the gaze of the Ir- dians, should they chance to look behind thcm . The warriors were holding a council. ‘Tt was the neigh of a horse,” said the White Wolf. ‘‘We are then near the camp of tle whites.” “Good,” answered the warrior who stood ncxt to the White Wolf. ‘Shall we surprise tke white-skins in the night?” ** No,” answered the White Wolf, “ weere toe few. nglegs and his braves have rifles ti at fire many times. One of my warriors sha)} watch the pale-faces; the rest shall return with me to our lodges, and at daybreak, when tle light comes we'll hunt the white warriors to death. Is it gocd?” “It is good,” replied the chief, who had aeked. the question—a tall, muscular brave who was known among the Blackfeet as Tall Bull, The other two Indians nodded assent to the words of sound, and he had found it in the persons of the | the chief. Indian braves. ‘*Wal, we’rein fur it now!” cried the tra per, as he stood fora moment thoughtfully in the center of the little glade. ‘‘They’ve captivated the young feller, true as preachi ow on airth did the red devils know that we were in this neighborhood, or did they stumble on us, jist by luck?’ The trapper pondered on the matter for a few niements. ‘‘ Not much chance to carry out our idees now.” It'll be all we kin do to look after our top-knots. I don’t intend that they shall hang mine up to dry in the smoke of any Injun village, ef I know myself; but, ef we ain’t mighty keerful, they'll gobble us in jist like a toad eats frogs.” The trapper looked for a moment in the direc- tion that the Indians had taken; not a sound ! could be heard denoting that there was life | within the rocky wilderness. - “To think of the painted se’*ents comin’ right on top on us, in this ’ere \ wy! Why, it riles me right up like a big flood does one of our rivers. [I’m gittin’ mad! S’pose I should run across one of these heathen devils—wouldn’t I be justified in goin’ fur him?’ and the trap- per thought for a moment over the knotty int. ar By Cain!” he cried, slapping his thigh noise- lessly. “Vil go fur ’em, tooth an’ nail! The red heathens have got Courtney; they know we're hyer; we’ve everything to make an’ noth- in’ to lose by a fight. i'll give the pomtes imps a chance to tote another carcass off to their vil- lage, but it shall be a red instead of a white man this time, an’ thar won’t be any doubt as to whether he’s dead or alive.” And the trapper shut his teeth together with a determination that boded ili to the White Wolf and his band. “Now, I mustn’t run in too close on’em,” | muttered Sol, as he followed carefully in the | | track of the savages, ‘‘else they mought lift my | ‘*One will stay and watch the white-skins?’ nemo — Tall ute f ee ‘The chief has en avely answ the White Wollen 0. l. sa ‘“‘The Tall Bullis a t brave of the Black- feet; he can look a bear to death!” said the chief, prone; ‘he will stay and watch tke e-faces till the White Wolf comes Lack with is braves. Is it good?’ “It is good!” replied the White Wolf; “n brother shall stay.. In the night, when the Tal} Bull hears the cry of the cowl, let bim leck for the coming of the warriors of the Blackfeet.” Then, swiftly and silently, the While Wolf and the other two Indians retraccd their stcys, leaving Tall Bull to watch the wv bites. The Giant paige had Tab eived the cernrcil, and had, concealed himself carefully tebird a dense clump of bushes; extending himself at full length upon the ground and farting the bushes before him, he could easily watch the Indians. The White Wolf, followed by tke two war- riors, came by the hiding-place of the trayyper. taking a course, kuwever, that led them wice of his trail, which they would surely have dis- covered — although it was now gettirg quite dark, and the discovery might have led to tr¢u- blesome conscquences for the indcmitab!e Fel, es he would have Lcen ¢vrrcurded Ly ile In- dians, front and rear. Now he had kuta tin- gle foe to deal with—the Elackfcot brave, ile Tall Bull, who kept watch between bim and tke camp of his associates. ‘*)’ve got to git past that air feller to git irto the camp,” raid the tray;per, musingly; “the Injuns know that we air hyer; they'll prcbsetly be down onto us hide an’ hair fore the morn- ing; we’ve got fur to make a run fur it, en’ how on airth air we a-goin’ to do it with this critter watching vs? at’s the cvesticn, an’ ha’r instead of my lifting thar ha’r, which I cal- | thar ain’t any dodgin’ it that I kin see.” Then | culate to do.” On went the old trapper, slowly amd noise- | fore him. lessly. | the trapper took another Icck at tke Indian he In the dim light, Sol eculd distinguish that the warrior was leaning carelessly against comicbooks.com