Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 295 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

f So on a forlorn and hopeless quest by assuring bim that Bert would soon retarp, and all would be wight Every now ard then she took her station at tbe mouth of the cavern and looked down tho canyon, that sbe might be the first to announce the arrival of the Jost one. At length sbe ran in, clapping her bands ex- *eltedly, and almost in hysterics. “Somebody is coming up this way!” she cried, and ran back as fast as she had come. *T suppose it is Phil Henning,” muttered Darke, as he went to join her at the opening. But he had not reached that place when be was startled by ber joyful cry. ‘“Tcois Bert! Itis Bert! Heis safe! God!” And she covered her face, to hide her fast- flowing tears of joy. Dave hastened down to meet his friend, took care of his horse, and brought bim up to the cavern, where he received the warmest wel- come possible. In response to eager inquiries he briefly told the story of his capture, sentence and escape, “What bas become of Phil, thenf’ de- manded Mabel, when he had hardly finishe«|. ‘I don’t know,” sadly replied Bert, ‘ He isa wonderfully smart and daring young fellow, and I hope that he had a plan laid which would get him safely away from bhat gang; but I can't guess what sort of a plan it could have been, or what bas become of bim.” ‘(This is dreadful!” exclaimed Mabel. ‘ No sooner is one of us saved from a terrible dan- ger than another is caught iv a trap When will we get clear of our troubles?” She declared that she would be quite happy if she could only know that Phil was safe; but there was no happiness for ber while his fate was in doubt. So Jelt the others, and Bert Otis was the most uneasy of all, and the rest of the day was dismal enough. Darkness bad settled down upon the canyon, when a faint hail was heard outside, and Darke and Otis hastened to the mouth of the cavern. ‘‘ Who is there?’ demanded Dave, “Ts that you, Mr. Darke?” answered the well-known voice of Phil Henning. ‘ Please come and help me to get up there. | am played out.” | Thavk CHAPTER XV. THE RANCHMEN’S CAMPAIGN. Ir Phil Henning bad had any doubt of the estimation in which he was beld by bis friends, it would have been dispellid by the warmth of bis reception. He was made as comfortable as possible, and was given the best the cavern afforded to eat and drink, and questions and congratula- tions were showered upon him. But he was too tired and footsore and lame to give more than a very brief account of his escape. . “ After I jumped the bluff,” he said, I ran my best, and was soon pretty safe among the trees. I was not a bit worried when they came down und ran after me, as [I knew what my legs were wortb. ‘‘But when I bad passed the creek and crossed the bottom I ran against another bluff, and I knew it would never do to turn to the right or left, as they would be sure to cut me off. So there was nothing for it but to climb the bluff, and that was a mighty tough scram- ble, I can tell you, and the bullets struck too durned close to me before I reached the top. ‘* When I bad got up there I felt safe enough, and stopped to rest a bit. Then I only had to be careful not to break my neck or lose my way, and I am a pretty good hand (to strike the right course and keep it. “(TI aimed for the break in this canyon that took me to Mr, Vintrey’s ranch, and found it, but nearly brok= my leg in falling inte a gully, and it was I could do to get here.” ee ee Le ee es | ' started to Quartzville; but he bad not besn idle. | ————————— eee ee ee a a a aaa ae aaa y Fenass 5822 ele ere ew ay seomed that whenever one of us was saved from danger another waa sure to get into trouble, But it is a great blessing that you have come back to us,” ‘There is one of us gone, though,” replied Phil. ‘Who is that? We are all bere, except my father. Has anything happened to him?’ * Not that I know of, It is a four-footed fellow thatI speak of. Mr. Otis’s splendid dog, who made the fight that saved his master, had no chance in that crowd, They must have closed in on him and filled bim fall of lead in next to no time,” ‘‘My dear, brave dog!’ exclaimed Bert, as the tears came into his eyes. * Well, my friend,” said Phil, ‘he did the best kind of work, and made a glorious die of it. Let me sleep now, and I will be all right in the morning.” Nothing bad been heard from Mr. Vintrey, who bad left the cavern directly after Phil He pereeived the supreme necessity of com- bining the ranchmen for their own protection, and it was bis business that day to see as many of them as possible and induce them to rise io rebellion against the King of Quartzville, He found most of them ready enough to be persuaded, Under the rule of Arkansaw Pete, Quartzville had become a rendezvous for cattle- thieves and all sorts of marauders, and its rep- utation in tbat respect was daily growing worse, Tue ranchmen, whose herds of cattle were really the wealth of the district, were compelled to seck more distant and inconvenient points for their supplies. They bad suffered from de- predations until they were tired of being plundered, and the outrages reported by Frank Vistrey gave them to understand that the rule of the rascals might be forcibly impressed upon their homes and families unless they should combine to break it, The only difficulty lay in the large amount of country that bad to be covered in order to bring them together; but Frank Vintrey rode fast, and sent Stepben Hersey to some places, and hurried the most influential of bis recruits off to otber points, so that a good deal of work was done in the course of the day, At an early hour a reliable man was sent into Quartzville to sound the business men there, and learn if they would support the out- siders in an effort to rid the town of the raf- fians who ruled it, It was supposed that if Arkansaw Pete in- tended to carry on the war he had begun, be would strike a blow at Frank Viutrey’s ranch, and that place was appointed as the rendezvous of the gatbering clans, Before night numbers of ranchmen and cow- boys had come in, and had begun to fortify the ground about the house, Others arrived during the night, and amoug them came the agent who had been sent.to Quartzville. He reported that the respectable citizens of that town were anxious to be emancipated from the rule of the roughs, and would gladly co-op- erate With the outsiders if an attack should be made, The ranchmen then considered themselves strong enough to assume the offensive, and a forward movement was ordered for the next day, At an early hour the next morning Frank Vintrey appeared at Wild Jim's hiding place. He had ridden down three horses, and had scarcely taken a cat’s nap since he began his task; but he seemed to be still fresh and hearty, and fit for anything. When he had welcomed and congratulated Bert Otis and Phil, he told of what he had done, and of the preparations that had been made to clean out Arkansaw Pete ard his “Tt is an infernal shame,” he said, “that I don’t dare to take my daughter to my own house, and that she is forced to hide like a rabbit ina bole. But sbe is safo here, [ be- oe _——e- ee aor Ag a a Sls | eee ee eee ee ee : | --- ~_- eon — <n ase te ere mem er eh em oc eee + - ad ed things. If any of you young men want {io go with us to strike those scoundrels, you are wel- come to do 50; but I don’t press ft on you,” They all volunteered, and set out with Mr. Vintrey to join the force that was moving on Quartzville, When the ranchmen and cowboys were united, and were joined by these welcome allies, they were seen to be a formidable band of good fighters, and it was believed that they would be abundantly able to do the work they had set out to do, if the assistance of people in the town was to be depended on. So they rode forward confidently, dividing into squads and choosing officers as they went. But they were still more than a mile from Quartzville when they were met by & man trom the town with bad news. Their purpose was known, be said, and the roughs were ready for them. One of the business men who had been , trusted with the secret of the expected attack, doubtless wishing to curry favor with Arkan- saw Pete, had told bim of the movement and explained its object and plan. The result was that the King ot Quartzville and his gang had ordered all tbe peaceable citizens to shut up their houses and remain within doors under penalty of being shot on sight, and had even taken possession of some of the more substan- tial buildings for defensive purposes. This bad news caused the leaders of the ranchmen’s party to hold a conference, and it was unapimousiy agreed that since they had gone so far it would never do to back ouf. If they should retreat without a fight, Arkansaw Pete and his followers would be encouraged to commit greater outrages, and the decent peo- ple would be correspondingly dispirited. The messenger from Quartzville suggested that in case of failure, the people of that town would be treated more rougbly than ever. ‘We can’t help that,” replied Frank Vin- trey. “If those Quartzville folks are too cowardly to strike a blow for themselves, they deserve to be sat down on, Come on, boys! We wil] give those rats a shaking, anyhow!” CHAPTER XVI. A DRAWN BATTLE, WHEN the ranchmen’s party reacbed Quarts- ville, the truth of the information that bad been conveyed to them was made evident, Quartzville was as silent and apparently as empty as a dead town, The main street was deserted, the business houses were closed, and even the drinking saloons and gambling places were as quiet as death. There could be no doubt that the roughs were concealed in the houses, ready to open fire on the invaders from their sbelter, as soon as they should fairly enter the town. This state of affairs called for consideration, and the ranchmen held a consultation, at which it was decided to enter and clean out every honse as they reached it, on both sides of the main street. Thus they would leave no ene- mies on their flanks, and might finally force their foes to an open fight, The plan worked very well for a while, and was carried forward easy enough, the houses that were entered being either deserted or oc- cupied by peaceable peop-e. It was not until the assailants bad nearly reached the center of the town that the trouble began, ‘ A saloon that was broken into contained several armed men, aud a brief fight began at that point. The men in the saloon were soon Overpower- ed, part of them making their escape by the back dvor; but the battle bad then become general, and from windows and doors along the street there came a hail of bullets, To make matters worse, severa) of the reughs tumbled boxes and bales out of a store, making a°barricade from which they could sweep the street with their fire, The attacking party soon hegan to brleve ; lieve, and we will seon change the style of | that they were getting mose than they bud Jf | 900 Gcom (E cS