Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 207 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

A Navajo Nick, the Boy Gold Hunter. —— EE eet) tion that opens the present chapter occurred, | Dagobert was seen to start as a girlish figure | of the building as the wild men, roused from leaped from a corner behind several men, and | their lethargy, darted forward. . Dagobert turned to the DOF be eyes of the giant bad a strange flash in em “* Comin’ still, Navajo!” he said. ** Certainly. He’s tollowed us from Mohave. Ive heard him every night.” “You hev? Then why didn’t you post me?” *“‘Because I thought you heard the same sounds.” ‘‘T war thinkin’, plannin’. I heard nuthin’.” When Dagobert paused the two listened but the unknown trailer had stopped. ‘When we stops he stops also,” whispered Nick. ‘‘ Captain, I should have told you some- thing before this. I have kept it back from fear of being laughed at. rider.” Captain Flash did not start. He seemed to say with his eyes, ‘‘ I’m of that opinion, too.” “That rider is my enemy’s spy—the Boss Cactus.” That unsealed Dagobert’s lips. “* How do you know?” he said. “IT saw him at your window before we left Mohave.” The Man with two Names slid from his horse, drawing his revolver as he did so. “Take my hoss an’ go on straight ahead,” he said to Nick. ‘I’ve got some private business with the Boss Cactus.” Navajo Nick moved forward, leading Dago- bert’s horse, and his ears were set to hear the nn eng behind him, and not for noises in nt. Suddenly a wild peal of laughter struck his ears. He drew rein as if the laugher had given vent to his humor directly under his horse’s hoofs, But he hadnot. The sound came from a little valley into which the boy was about to descend. He looked anxiously over his shoulder as if he could pierce the uncertain moonlight and cali Dagobert back. He hoped that his friend had heard that laugh. “Who laughed? you, Navajo?” suddenly said a voice at his side, and Nick was looking down into the giant’s hairy face. ‘It came up from below, didn’t it? al, we'll go down and let our trailer go fur the present.’ The descent of the mountain, although diffi- cult, was soon accomplished, and when once in the nameless valley below, Captain Flash ut- tered an exclamation of surprise. ‘* Hyar’s the last place whar I expected to find a tavern!” he said. **A tavern?” echoed Nick, opening his eyes. A reply was not needed, for Dagobert had al- ready halted before a large and uncouth shanty through whose cracks and open door came Jaughter, oaths and snatches of drunken song. ““A nest of wolves!” said the boy. “Or men-grizzlies!” added Dagobert, and then in a lower tone: ‘* They’re too near the bonan- va to be left hyar without inspection. They may be in these parts fer a purpose.” ick instantly thought of the carrier pigeon set free by the Cactus. Might it not have borne the spy’s message to this mountain den? His reflections, however, were soon cut short for Dagobert had slid to the ground. ‘‘Stay thar till I want you,” he commanded. Nick watched the burly figure of his compan- ion as it approached the shanty and held his breath when it crossed the threshold. How would they greet Dagobert? _ For a moment the laughter continued, and then it ceased as if a ghost had entered the place. Dagobert had disappeared. If the young gold hunter had peeped into the shanty be would have seen ten or twelve wild ooking men staring at the burly intruder, who had ventured to disturb their revel. More than one bronze hand rested on the butts of cocked = or touched the hilts of the Arizonian That horse has a It was a striking tableau. There was one noticeable feature about these men which the captain could not fail to notice. They were dressed alike, dark brown shirts and corduroy pantaloons held up by wide leathern belts which contained their weapons. Not onl were they clad alike, but on the breast of eac man was the sign of some mystic order—a re- volver crossed by a bowie. ** Hello!” cried one at last. ‘‘ Ar’ you buntin’ our ‘find? Wal, we’re glad to git rid ov ’er.” Dagobert did not seem to understand. “T’m huntin’ whatever1 kin find,” he an- swered. ‘‘ Whar’s yours?” The men exchanged glances. “Bring ’er out!” ordered the leader of the twelve to some one behind him. **Don’t touch me! I am here.” =r ge in the middle of the room to stare at im. ‘* @h, heaven! you are no better than my res- cuers,” she exclaimed. belongs to another band.” The men burst into a fit of coarse laughter at Dagobert’s expense. ‘But [’m a stray wolf,” he answered ad- dressing himself to the girl although he glanced at the same time at the roughs before him. ‘* Whar did you come from?” There must have been a gleam in Dagobert’s eyes that instantly won the girl. She came forward with a good deal of confidence. ‘‘T am the survivor of our little train. The Navajoes attacked us; they killed all but me with their arrows, and 1 would not be here alive if those men had not come up.” “They saved you; stay with them,” said Dagobert. ‘*No! no! You are going away from here. Take me with you!” It was an appeal which only a heart of stone could have resisted. “T’ll take your find,” speaking to the men, ‘Allright. We don’t want’er. Which way ar’ you goin’?” ‘* North-east.” ** Alone?” Dagobert did not hesitate. ‘* Alone!” he answered. At that moment one of the men who had been leaning carelessly against one side of the room was seen to start. He turned half-way round as if he had received a communication from some person on the outside. A stride took him to the leader of the band; their eyes met. Dagobert pushed the girl toward the door. ‘““Go out!” he whispered scarcely moving his a ‘* Find my boy pard; mount and fly with m. Icommand it!” The girl gave Dagobert a look and slipped away. She had hardly disappeared when the head of the band said: ‘You are Captain Flash, from Mohave.” Dagobert did not start; he seemed to be ex- pecting such an accusation. **You are not here alone,” he continued in the same accusing tone. ‘‘A boy is waiting for you outside.” The captain’s eyes flashed cepeatly. ‘*So the Boss ‘Cactus has just told you!” he said calmly. It was the men’s turn to start now, and re- volvers glided from their belts. al ad “The pigeon found you I guess, but it didn’t tell you old Alapatha’s secret. Not much!” A grin lifted Dagobert’s mustache; his eyes were twinkling merrily—laughing stars they seemed, ‘* Don’t go back on the pigeon,” he continued, seeing that his allusion to the Cactus’s messen- ger had created a sensation. ‘‘liknow it war sent, an’ you got the message, too. I am Cap’n Flash from Mohave. I am hyar alone now /” Now ? That meant that the person who had been waiting for him had departed. The Marked Shirts understood him and started toward the door, . “Not yet!” warned Dagobert, quietly, but with a firmness that conveyed a threat to his au- dience. ‘ You can’t leave this shanty now.” His long arms left his side as he spoke, and the mountain band looked into the muzzles of his deadly revolvers. ‘‘T never kill only when I hev to,” were the words that passed between the leveled weapons. ‘** T possess the faculty ov usin’ two revolvers at once, an’ killin’ with each. Lift one ov yer weepins an’ I’ll show you how I do it. I didn’t Varn the art in Mohave. I could shoot before I saw its shanties, ez one man before me knows.” He did not single out the man referred to, not even by a glance; but the band with one accord looked at their leader. He had grown pale above his rough beard, and his eyes were glar- ing tigerishly at Dagobert. ‘“*Good-by!” said the Man with two Names. ‘‘ We'll meet ag’in. I kin shoot over my shoul- der ez if I hed an eye in the back of my head!” He stepped deliberately from the door as he finished, and nota pistol was lifted to bring him down. The mountain band seemed unnerved or thun- derstruck. “Thunder!” suddenly cried a man _ who sprung into the shanty. ‘‘ What use hez all my spyin’ been? You've let ’em both git away.” it was the Boss Cactus of Arizona. A howl of vengeance almost shook the roof | shoulder. But a figure—their leader’s—leaped between them and the door. ‘Don’t be fools!” he cried, sternly. ‘‘ We ‘“You are a wolf that | have the worst man west of the Rockies to deal with.’ He is called Captein Flash now, but I used to know him by another name. I am the man he referred to when he talked about his shootin’, He hez an eye in the back of his head. Look there!” The speaker turned into the strong lamp-light as he uttered the last word and tore open his shirt. The mountain wolves gathered before him and stared at the ghastly bullet scar on bis bronzed flesh. ‘One of Captain Flash’s valentines!” he said, grating his teeth. ‘I got iton the fourteenth ov February. Oughtn’t I to recollect him?” ‘Ov course, but thet doesn’t stop the boy an’ his secret!” retorted the Cactus, ‘* No!” yelled the crowd. “Tve follered ’em all the way from Mohave. They’re goin’ straight to the mountain ov gold. I know it. The bird war in our hands a minnit ago. Now it’s back in the bush!” | CHAPTER IV. A LAS#0 AND A HORSE’S TAIL, Navaso Nick told the truth when he said that Alapatha the white-haired war-chief of the Navajoes was dead. The famous warrior had met his death by the claws and the teeth of areal mountain grizzly, just as the young gold hunter had related to Captain Flash. It was well known to the Navajoes that their chief had at some period of his life accidentally discovered a vein of gold whose wealth border- ed on the marvelous. But knowing the greed of his people for that metal with which they could purchase ‘fire-water” and ammunition from the whites, he had persistently refused to di- vulge his secret. For years his every movement had been watched by the red go'd-seekers of his nation; they had dogged his footsteps, and on every war-trail his momentary absences from the band were watched by the keenest of eyes. But the old chief had baffled them all. The tribe viewed with a good deal of mistrust the white boy who rode into their village one | y day and boldly declared his intention to become a Navajo warrior. Not afew believed that he came for the purpose of worming from Alapa- tha the important secret, The chief adopted him, took him into his lodge, and from that day Nick became to all in- tents and purposes a Navajo. If the boy wasa spy he certainly played his cards well; he in- gratiated himself into the chief’s good graces and the two became inseparables. — A light akin to triumph burned in the youth’s eyes while Alapatha, dying from wounds re- ceived in his tussle with the bear, told in gasps the secret he had guarded from his tribe so well. The Indians had long believed that the boy was to become the custodian of the secret. As Alepatha fell back dead, Nick started up with a cry of victory. At last!” fell from his lips. ‘* At last, Dago- bert, the secret is ours! I have not risked my life among these savage cut-throats for nothing,” Then the boy had been playing a deep game? Yes. ‘‘Nothing ventured nothing won,” had been his motto. A few minutes later he was flying from the Navajo country. Wehave seen how he reached Mohave City to find the man he sought, and how he and Dagobert found the rendezvous of the mountain men. Now let us seek other scenes. Not a great distance from the shanty in the valley a score of statue-like figures occupied the backs of as many horses. They were Navajo Indians, who mentioned, as they conversed in low tones, the Indian name of our hero—Coresquah. eps. The majority of these braves carried in addi- tion to gun and bow a stout lariat which la ina coil-on the right-fore shoulder of their steeds. A few had feathers twisted in their scalp-locks, but all had a band of dried buffalo- skin about their left arm between elbow and This seemed to be a distinguishing mark, like the bowie and revolver on the bosoms of the mountain men. It was such a mark, for if the entire Navajo nation had been inspected at that time, but twenty arms would have been found that bore that band. ‘ We will-call that scarlet twenty by the name GOMRGROOK | “com