Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 119 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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10 level, and: then run away from the Indians?’ hesitated Edith. ‘No. It would take us full fifteen minutes to get down these cursed rocks. Before that the savages will have met, and then they’d spread out and cut us off, and so force us to fight or take to the hills again. There is only one thing loft us, that I see,” gloomily responded Day. ‘* And that is to die ?’ murmured Edith, bees. ing nearer her lover’s strong form. ‘* Though life has been very pleasant and sweet to me, promise me this, that you will not leave me, even in death—if the worst must come, that you will not die and leave me alive in the power of those, fiends!” and the maiden shuddered con- vulsively. “T will kill you with my own hand, rather than that,” he gloomily made answer. ‘Better death than the fate that would be yours in their wer. ‘‘T know—I have heard—and thank you for the Brom only tell me a moment before— that I may die with your face last in my eyes.” ‘‘ No—with your eyes upon me—looking into mine, IL could not do it—my hand would drop paral zed—” S this is very pretty talk, of course, but my motto is, sound sense before heroics ; are we to sit; idly here until those gentlemen in red come. up and.relieve us of our suspense and scalps, at the same time ?” a little impatiently interrupted Hamilton. ‘‘ What can we do? our retreat is cut off.” ‘In one direction—yes. But hereare the hills behind us. There are thousands of hiding- places. Among them all, surely we can lie con- cealed until. night, and then in the darkness, perhaps we can manage to give the heathen the slip, after all, and gain the desert. Once there, I Pink we can manage to rejoin our friends before daylight,” “You are right. I was a fool to give way so soon; but you know—she is in danger, and I—” ‘TI believe I can understand your feelings, Tom,” softly, whispered Austin, with a swift glance toward the now quitesubdued Ella Heflin. ‘‘ A black ending to our pleasure-ride! But one thing—those devils s not have much to boast of. If they push us too hard there will be more than one Apache lodge-fire extinguished forever |” During these hastily exchanged words, the two men were not idle. Every moment. was of value now. buckle and strap of their horse equipage was completely looked to and tested... The failing of any one of these when the trial came, might be death—or worse. ‘* Come!” cried Day lenping into the saddle. ‘¢ Now for the hills and rocks behind us!” ‘‘Wouldn’t it be better to keep on, right a ? We will be close to the been then, and our friends are out there,” suggested Hamilton. ‘¢ Wedon’t know the ground in that direction. Over this way we do—at least partially. I be- lieve by crossing the canyonagain, we can throw those devils off the scent... Then, while they are making for us, we can pick our way to the level around the point of rocks, and then ride after our, friends. Though a roundabout course, I believe that it is the safest one left us,” argued Day, and Arthur was silenced, if not convinced. But though so plain and simple in speech, this plan was found a difficult one to put into execution, The hard rocks had retained little or. no trace of their passage a few hours before, and more than once Tom Day checked his horse, gazing around with a bewildered air. In their haste to reach the open ground once more, the curlosity-seekers taken little or no notice of the winding trail. Here and there, upon every hand lay curious landmarks in the fantastic and grotesque mass of rocks, the same or strangely similar, to those the curiosity-seekers had in- spected, but. time and again, as he hastened forward with a ery of joy, Day found out his mistake, as some yawning chasm or frowning wall shut off further progress, forcing them to retrace their steps to seek another passage. All this, baffling, empre , being plunged time and again into doubt and despondency, even when at the highest pinnacle of hope, would have been trying and _heart-sickening enough under the most favorable circumstances ; what then must it have been, with the knowl- edge that relentless, bloodthirsty foes were even at that moment seeking for their trail, no doubt improving every moment that they were thus wasting in aimless wanderings? It was terrible —agonizing. With the passage of every mo- ment they .e to hear the cruelly-exultant ell of the es, and behold them spring ha view, eager to avenge the death of their fellow-warriors. ' ‘‘T believe this is the right trail at last—see! Mustang Sam. is not that where a hoof has slip upon that soft rock? If we are deceived here, may God have mercy upon us all!” With these words, Tom Day urged his ani- mal on, and a few minutes more brought him upon the edge of the canyon, at the point where ee crossed it that day. Though without finding audible utterance, the hearts of each one of the little party breathed a prayer of thanksgiving for thus being guided aright. As before, Tom Day led the way, and this time neither Edith nor Ella showed any timid- wipers following, though Arthur caught him- self half-wishing that the latter would. The greater peril robbed the lesser of all its dread, and Ella urged her horse to the leap. ‘¢ Make haste—around this curve,” earnestly said Day. ‘‘ They may come up at any mo- ment, and if they set syes on us now, nothin remains but a stern fight till death. Once hid- den, they may not find the crossing, and then we will be comparatively safe.” ‘* We could make a good stand here,” quietly said Hamilton. ‘‘ From behind yonder pile of rocks, we could command the leap, and keep it clear of red-skins as long as our weapons hold out—until they were empty, I mean.” ‘* But you will not—?”’ ‘‘No, darling—not unless we are forced to it,” soothingly replied Day. ‘‘For your sake we will be doubly cautious. Would to God that you were once more safe with the train.” ‘‘But it may be in danger, too. Think what a large force of those hostile Indians are now riding almost direct for the wagons. What if they should attack it, and—” ‘*Then—let us hope for the best, while we may. But look, Arthur! Isn’t this the place we passed before—this valley? Surely yonder stands your bottle of gin?” ‘* Tt looks like the same—but I can’t tell. I’m ali mixed up. If anybody was to declare that I was my own grandmother, and at this mo- ment feasting on rats in Hong Kone, I'd _ hesi- tate about denying it lest I should tellalie, I feel like a flea with its legs cut off. This is the enchanted valley; from this time henceforth I’ll swear that Aladdin’s Lamp is no fable but Bible truth,” lugubriously muttered Hamilton, staring around with a puzzled air. ‘‘ Don’t bea fool, man—if you can help it,” angrily retorted Day. ‘Is this a time for such nonsense? Rouse up and help me look around for some place of concealment. If we roam around here much longer, the Indians will stum- ble over us.” “Tll do the best I know, but I feel dazed- like. Every half-minute I catch myself looking around to see if the old boy himself isn’t peek- ing at us from behind some one of these carica- tures. I’m a fool, I know, but 1 can’t help it. It’s my nature maybe; use nerd own judgment; tell me what to do, and I’ll do itor die; but don’t ask me to think reasonably here. Despite his anxiety, Day could not help smil- ing at the ludicrously doleful tone in which these words were spoken. They sounded para- doxical, coming from the usually sober, matter- of-fact Hamilton. For some minutes more they rode on, eagerly looking for some covert in which they might hope to lie concealed until the shades of night favored their escape. Then, with one accord the party halted, interchanging glances of won- dering alarm, The s report of fire-arms came to their ears, oe with shrill yells, that could on- ly pr from savage throats. And these sounds came from directly in front, apparently at no great distance from the little f fae Indians have attacked somebody; but w ‘‘A conundrum—I give it up,” muttered Hamilton. ‘Our friends—they have missed us, and have come to hunt us up!” eagerly exclaimed Edith. ‘‘ No—that can scarcely be. They would not desert the train, and a small force would have been picked up by those red-skins we saw chas- ing that single horseman.” ‘* But if it should?” d Ella. “And we standing idle here, while they are being mur- dered !” ‘‘T fear we will not be idle long, then!” and Day wrenched both his own and the horse ridden by Edith around. ‘To cover—quick! Those are Indians ahead of us in the valley! Quick—or we are lost!” ‘*Take it coolly, Day. The harm is already done. Hear them yelp! The devils have sighted us!” | a mile or more down the valley, several dark figures could be distinguished among the grayish rocks and fantastic figures, and now their yells came quite distinctly to the ears of the fugitives. The cries were long drawn and peculiar. Day clenched his teeth and con- tracted his brows, as he divined the truth. They were signaling their more distant com- rades, to tell them the game was afoot. ‘*If this is the valley we first entered, those rascals must be upon the same side of the can- yon that we are. If so, we can cross over and vid them at bay there, until nightfall,” sug- gested Hamilton. “They are afoot—can’t we run away from them? Our horses are not very tired,” said th. **Over these rocks a footman is fully if not more than equal to a horse, And yet we can’t desert them, for once upon the level, beyond, by their aid alone could we ever regain the wagons. Come, then, we will go back. At least we will place the canyon between us and them; after that we can decide upon our future course.” “Not straight back—make a detour, and those imps may be baffled afterall. The canyon is too wide above this, for them to leap it. Perhaps they’ll believe we are still on this side, creeping away among the rocks.” *Yowre right, Arthur; I am the fool just now,” said Day, acting upon the suggestion, leading the way with Edith. The savage yells sounded still nearer, as the uartette leaped the canyon, and trusting that the detour would throw the Indians off their trail, Day decided to press on without delay and endeavor to reach the desert, running the risk of meeting enemies in their front. If risky, it seemed the best course left them. But the fates seemed conspiring against them. Searcely had they wound through the rocks half’ a mile, after leaping the canyon, than Edith’s horse, a high-spirited mustang, tossed its head aloft and uttered a shrill neigh. Like an echo came an answering whicker from behind a distant point of rocks, and the next moment a mounted savage bounded out into full view. It was an Apache warrior, in all the glory of his national dress; a helmet-shaped cap with a plume of parti-colored feathers, a blanket or serape flying loose from the shoulders, a calico shirt, a skin breech-clout, and a pair of long boots made large and loose in the Mexican style and showy with dyeing and embroidery. In one hand was an iron-tipped lance, eight or igh was slung a nine feet long; across his thigh stout bow, over a yard in length together with his waist, the a well-filled quiver of arrows; at inevitable knife and hatchet. The savage yelled loudly, as he brandished his spear, devilish exultation imprinted upon every feature of his coarse, repulsive face. Answer- ing yells came from beyond the mass of rocks, from the higher ground to the left, and from beyond the canyon. Only one route seemed open to the fugitives; and that led them still deeper into the labyrinthine recesses of that gloomy, awe inspiring region of nature’s weird, most fantastic mood. ‘* At least one devil shall not live to exult over us!” gritted Day, his rifle muzzle rising. A sharp report, then the mustang leaped snorting away, riderless, The Apache brave lay upon the rocks, a tiny stream of blood trickling from beneath the painted helmet, ead, “Lead the way, Tom—no more fooling,” sternly cried Arthur Hamilton as Day recocked his rifle, a deadly glow filling his eyes—the ar- dor of battle upon him—the thirst for blood tingling in every vein and tearing at his heart. ‘‘ Remember who is depending upon us,” Thus reminded, Day gras the rein of Edith’s horse and trotted rapidly along in the only direction that seemed left free for their e. After them came Arthur and Ella close behind each other. And now on in ful view yelped a score of Apaches, urging on their half-wild ponies at reckless, br eck : It was a wild, terrible race. The horses stumbled over loose stones, leaped across jagged bowlders, squeezed through narrow ges where the trail was scarce broad enough to ac- commodate a single footman, leaped across deep pits and yawning chasms, more than once narrowly escaping a fall that could only be death to both horse and rider; at times they trotted along a narrow trail where, upon one side rose a high and precipitous wall or cliff, upon the other yawned an almost bottomless abyss or canyon. Yet the animals seemed to have caught the infection from their riders, forgetting all fear, only striving the one to dis- tance its pursuer, the other to overtake the fugitives. | SONG) (G com