Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1167 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

_- J. S <> se = ow sc “4 4 ft age SS r > Lo Ss , . gars. * - >| CL) i aes > men ee as , - ole 7 ‘ —~ ar ao ee > ~~ ee, ae fore teme e buyle to his lips and blew a blast that made the distant mountains ring with delightful echoes. He blew but once, when the bugle fell at his side, and he rested on his oars at the edge of the shade. For several moments there was no response, d the boy, manifesting fretful impatience, was afting the bugle again, when a sound, like the plunge of some large animal into the water, Bausecd kim to desist. ‘‘Tara heard!” he said with satisfaction, as he eont forward to catch sight of the object that Was approaching through the water. Pres.vily the ripples sent forth by the swim- er eddiod to his boat, and then a dark shaggy ead was lifted from the lake, and two paws, drenched, but large and powerful, rested on the yunwale. . Two paws, not hands, for the swimmer was a qnonster dog! “So you héard me, Death?” the boy said, pat- ting the dog familiarly on the head. ‘‘ How is the master to-night, and the mistress, too? Do you want to rest before going back to tell them bat lam alone? No! no! Your limbs arestrong, andTI am impatient. Go back now!” As the last words fell from Piney Paul’s lips, . he thrust a ead wan Mare, stick between the dog’s jaws, and, with a look half human, the paws left the boat and disappeared. *T don’t know whether f am coin sight in trusting them,” the boy said, watching the dog’s head as it moved toward the island. “I match enough for Cecil Crane and his hire- gs. But the old hermit knows something about my life hunt, and without that knowledge i may never succeed. Let him tell me the secret, and Ill snap my fingers at the foes of the Adirondacks.” A few minutes after the dog’s departure, a singu cry came from the shadows of the Jsland, and the canoe instantly shot forward ringing from the barque the boy alighted on terra piioas and ntarted into the interior of the A few steps sufficed to bring him toa strange habitation built of pine boughs. It wasscarcely Jarge enough to comfortably accommodate a *ingle poe however few his wants, and re- sembled the lair-like abode of some barbarian. This habitation was revealed by a fire that blazed at the hovel-like door, and showed the coins who stood there waiting to receive his ‘wisitor, | In appearance the ogre of the island tallied _ exactly with his surroundings. He was old, amen gee and dwarfish, His skin looked like bur parchment, or the skin of a mummy, lifeless, dark and shriveled, Two little eyes diterally burned in his h and the em en ted, displayed two rows of wolfish-like fangs. Jf.clad, with powerful chest hideously tattooed as if to frighten the timid, the ogre of the island confronted Piney Paul. ; Place two bat-like wings at his shoulders, and the original of the ogreish portrait in the cave would appear. Standing beside this imp of the Adirondacks was the dog which had answered Piney Paul’s signai—a brute of unusual proportions, ferocious in aspect; a Nero of his species, The eyes of the ogre danced like serpent orbs ‘when they fell upon the boy advancing fear- Jessly into the lig t of the fire. | | **T am _ here!” Piney Paul said, halting at a 1 distance from the fiend of the _ “* You have promised to tellme to-night. There are bad mes on the One man’s ay has jhired the Indian chiefs to hunt the hidden girl. They must not find! Tell me, and inreturn you shail know where the ee ae yg hid the gold, away back when England and America fought enue ° The ogre’s eyes flashed with snowing _ that into his barbarous heart the love of gol penetrated. came forward stealthily like the panther, barry his eyes fixed beast-like upon the boy. don like those eyes; they may mean mis- chief!” a Piney "Paul, voluntarily re- ‘Tell me, , he said. ‘* Be as good as ‘your word. is the lost lodge of the al not an easy one, for the combatants, tripped Te ee Meee eel c - - - SN we ee eee” ~——. ~o . - ’ > . Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. ee eee ee ee; se = Tswear that you will never know where the mad Englishman hid his gold and jewels. Never, so help me angels!”’ The boy was aroused; his eyes flashed with indignation and anger, and he raised the rifle menacingly. | But ten feet intervened between him and the two savages—the ogre and his tigerish dog. He was a goodly distance from the boat, and away from the fire the path was beset with TOA unseen obstacles. ‘You have lied!’ he flung at the Indian. ‘““Apain and again I bave come here but to be put off. I believe you do not know anything about the hidden girl. If youdo, why do you repeatedly break your oath-bound promise ? I will never come here again.” e The dwarf, almost crouching at the boy’s very feet, replied with a laugh, devilish in sound, and the dog ground his teeth. “The solitary boy disbelieves Ocotoc,” he said, speaking for the first time and in a squeak- ish tone. ‘‘He would not tell him where the yellow pees are if Ocotoc showed him the: trail to the girl.” ‘‘Try me!” cried Piney Paul, eagerly. me, if you dare!” ‘* Then tell Ocotoc first, and the trail will be ade plain,” ‘* No,” said the boy. ‘‘I was to give my se- cret for ours—I was to have yours first—that was the bargain. The Indian gritted his fangs and looked at the dog, who caught his glance and then fastened his es upon the boy. ‘* Pelosee,” he said. The next moment there sprung from the door of the hovel a being so striking in contrast to the ogre that Piney Paul uttered an exclamation of astonishment and started back. : The new-comer upon the scene was an Indian irl, tall, beautiful antl symmetrical of limb. here was grace in her movements, and but for “Try m the mad flashings of her deep-set eyes of dark- ee might have been taken for the angel of e isle, _ The eyes of the astonished ot faa riveted upon the fascinating enchantress. They did not return to Ocotoc and Death, until his ve life hung by a thread as slender as the spider inning. " Peloses as she was called, came forward, straight toward Piney Paul, watched- by the ogre and his dog. ‘Behold the lost girl!” said Ocotoc, suddenly wavi is hand toward the siren. ‘*She stands before the mountain boy. Ocotoc’s secret lies at his feet. Now, where is the English- man’s gold?” ‘* What? that girl the inmate of the hidden lodge?” cried the mountain youth. ‘TI did not come here to be blindly hoodwi . Doyou think lama fool? That girl’s skin is red; she is an Indian. I know she is not Cicely ?” The forest girl who had halted before Piney Paul came forward oy Sars _ The boy retreated, for she seemed transformed into a veritable ‘*“ Now!” cried Ocotoc, springing erect. ‘He pots not. Pine, 1 Death! # on ough warn y the ogre’s _ ine Paul’s hasty preparations for de ense isp quickly dashed aside. Simultaneously the maiden and the doe sprung upon him! He grappled with‘ the latter, and retreating fought to keep the sharp teeth from his throat. It was a combat that seemed capable of but one oe The dog, held by ine line # ee stren a rodigious a a while the an igress, club in faind: tried to beat him into insensibility. But her task was un- expectedly, were on the ground, and a blow aimed at Pins Paul might brain the oe All at once toc with a cry called the girl off, and the two watched the fighton the ground. Tt was now a test of , for without of any kind at his command—his rifle ha been wrenched from his by Pelo- see at the commencement of the a he boy was forced to combat with the arms which na- “hating We awd animal, eager to partis at eaw , eager - te in the battle, the island girl was, with dif- wea ~ Sd nage go ER aod - . a a ee ee = eee SEAS SEITE IGT AONE EIEY AT ESOS SORE and the other striking furious blows at his eyes, Piney Paul fought with the courage of a ‘Turk The dog began to succumb at last. The gripe on his throat tightened like a vise, At length Piney Paul, with a sudden effort, threw him off and sprung to his feet. His victory was greeted with cries of rage, and he suddenly found himself confronted by Ocotoc and the beautiful tigress, Pelosee. The dog, placed hors du combat, was lying af the ogre’s feet, rolling his eyes and gasping for’ breath. The choking and the blows in the side had well-nigh finished him. Piney Paul was desperate! With a wild exclamation of defiance, he sprung for his rifle, which, as he touched it, was snatched up by Peloseé. But the boy with a quick movement wrenched it from her grasp and hurled it above his head. The mad siren did not retreat from the threatened blow. She sprung upon him with the bound of the. jungle king, uttering a half- brutish cry, and the mountain boy struck with all his might. But a stout pine limb arrested the blow, which otherwise would have crushed the vixen’s skull, seh pe rifle, shivered at the lock, fell from his nds! Piney Paul uttered a cry of horror, and before he could recover, he found himself in the arms of the red giantess. She held him out to the hideous Ocotoec in triumph, and her laugh rung in the boy’s ears like the knell of doom, CHAPTER V. THE PIT OF WOLVES. THE situation of the Adirondack hermit was now critical in the extreme. : Weakened by his long struggle with Death the dog, he was as a child in the sinewy arms of Pelosee. The witch of the island held him out at arms’ length until Ocotoc had glutted his curiosity upon him, Bite? Fant did not resist; he looked into the eyes of his captor and saw no oa of mercy there. If Pelosee was Ocotoc’s child, she had inherited the nature of her sire. “Will the mountain boy tell where the En- glishman’s yellow rocks are now?” cried the satyr, coming forward with that avaricious e miser shooting from bis ely yearning of eyes, ‘He is a caught bird, and Pelosee oody the feathers on his throat if he tells not,” The threat found confirmation in the eyes of the witch. The twain understood one another perfectly, “Do you_ think I would tell you, when you would say I lied, and kill me anyhow?” the lit- tle hermit said to the Indian. “tT am not the fool for whom you take me—not by a long shot! Stars and garters! I don’t give secrets away. Where is the lost white girl?—where is the hid- desea Tell me that, and then ask about the othe boy seemed to forget that he was in the power of the spirits of the island. : The ay Reged his life rose paramount to death in that perilous hour. He thought re of discovering that secret which the wild rondacks kept studiously hidden somewhere in their r gloomy, recesses—a secret for which he had buried himself from civi on, trailing the In- dian, the wolf, and the bear, with the hope of — solving it, and righ & monstrous wrong. For a brief moment Ocotoc did not rep] to the boy’s demand, which, considering his situation, smacked strongly of the ludicrous. Piney Paul saw the dry skin darken, and the wrinkles of the brow contract, A thunder-cloud seemed to lower itself upon the ’s face; the flashing of his eyes were the arrows of light- that constantly cleaved the gloom. x, ‘* There is a pines where the mountain wild, cat will tell!” he said mysteriously and with rancor. ‘‘ goes not there, for his limbs are weak, and he ae fall. Pelosee will take the boy thither, and he shall tell her where the gold is or—be left alone!” The words “ be left alone” seemed indicative of some terrible doom. 3 ted by the Indian's Anger, wad Piney Paul ca an’'s ; an 4 a gp himself borne from the spot by his cap- A ? Nedee r The ogre did not reply. His fingers played re by Ocotoc. Her eyes flashed; ‘‘If I live to leave this infernal island alive,, mervously on the short club which he bold in his fire; her hands clutched nervously ab her side, | you'll pay for this night’s work!” he cried over ere and her bosom heaved with the excitement o is shoulder at the dwarf, whose look told how ia : belly ‘9 cougar-like crawl. The two antagonists were almost equally | “Snakes and spirits! Fr nine CODES Sie cree aaa ae : Paul, eaetenty thor- | matched. The dog Death, powerful as he was, | you as you deserve. There'll soon be no Ocotoc, : ee 3, y oe tat there was op the ac- aes fee meceees at bin euetal in Rea liptle ber: ph er el | i : a cs eo As) eae : n before him. ou are | mit of the se The of a fiend followed him, Gros Mace” Gite ae | — eee Comicbooks.cor “~ - > . - 4 a : - > ° ; . a : — . , = -* ote sg ‘s —. <—- . — Sp ~ Ve Pe. - a _s a - ~~ - - wa gid ” P ~~ — ° < = ~—. x * CT bilig ay O28, OF et 5 nl Ma SS te ee teed SE : te Sve Se => == — Se at eo wh 7 - é _