Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 328 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

EE TD -—— —~- -— om 10 The Sky Detectives. large, elegant steam-yacht, which was even ad puffing lazily away toward the north- east. ‘* Ahoy!” eed Harley. But they didn’t hear him on board the vessel, and Harley made up bis mind to go after them. His boat, too light to be inj by the force of the collision, was floating on the water near at hand, and in a short time Harley had col- lected his seat and the oars, and was once more seated in his fleet craft. Bopetng ko his work with a will he chased the yacht with such good success that within ten minutes he had overhauled it, and was regarded with astonishment by a young man who stood at the stern of the vessel, who, apparently, was amazed at the vreat speed of Harley’s at, ‘* Ahoy!” yelled Harley, again. ‘* Ahoy,” answered the young man, who was richly dressed in a fancy costume and wore eye- lasses, ‘‘ Throw me a rope.” “é J will,” And then he yelled for one of his lazy crew, and a rope was thrown to Harley, who made his boat fast and clambered on board, .. ‘*Good-afternoon,” said the young man_ with the eye-giasses. ‘“’m Captain Bernon Dyer, and this is my yacht, the Corrigan, from San Francisco,” ‘*Glad to meet you,” said the aeronaut, ‘‘ ’m Captain Harley Willis of the Sky Traveler.” “That's an odd name for a boat,” rejoined Captain Dyer. . odd name, indeed, for a It would be an boat,” said Harley, ‘‘ but it happens to be the name of a balloon.” _ Ob, a balloon!” ac tl] ve ‘‘ And bave you got one?” _ “Thad one a few hours ago, and fell out of it, leaving five friends bebind me, including a most beautiful young lady.” ‘Obo! then it was your balloon that I saw.” rece did you see it? When?’ excitedly asked arley, sl bout half an hour ago, and then if was passing along abcut on our present course. Of course, it went out of sigbt in a few minutes,” ‘‘Then, Captain Dver,” earnestly said the young aeronaut, ‘‘I beg of you to take me with alls to the coast on this present course, I shal prapaely find the balloon somewhere near the shore, and be united to my friends again. If you are not bound elsewhere I beg that you will do me this favor. What do you say, captain?’ “ Why,” said gallant Captain Dyer, ‘'I’d do it if only for the sake of the pretty girl you left behind ycu.” Then he gave orders to put on a full head of steam, an Laver they went at a rate that proved the rrigan fast. ‘* The distance is about thirty miles to the coast on this course,” said capien Dyer, ‘‘and within two hours from now I'll land you.” Merrily onward bowled the Corrigan, and Harley improved the time by accepting Captain Dyer’s invitation to have a bite, After a splendid dinner with the captain the sailing-master and one of the officers of the yacht, Harley came on deck again and had a ous talk with the young owner, who proved bea warm-hearted, liberal young gentleman, with all the wealth he could spend, and nothing to do but amuse himeelf. ; ‘““‘We may be able to see something of the Sky Traveler,” said Captain Dyer, picking upa fone ts scope and focusing for the shore. . ‘‘ By ‘Is it there?” cried Harley. **'Yes,” said Dyer. ‘Just look fair over our quarter and you'll see it on the beach,” ‘Tin so glad they have come out of the scrape all t,” said Harley, and then he took the glass, pointed it in the direction named by ns Dyer, and brought his eye into range. , moment Jater be dropped the glass, an ex- pression of dismay on bis noble face. “Haste, captuin!” he said, ‘‘the balloon is there, but deserted! What can be the matter? _- +e CHAPTER X. THE AZTECS, Unprr the really competent handling of Dennis-Malone, the Sky Traveler hovered over the ocean, making short trips to the north, south, east and west, searching for Harley illis, The air-ship was cleverly kept at about a quarter of a mile above the water, and all eyes eagerly scanned the surface of the ocean. ——— — —. COO -— oS +e - CY CO OOrwO0OV0VW0W0UOOOOOOOnRE es ee ee SS... — - —__ -_ _-_- -— --—__ — - --—---— The telescope, too, was constantly in the hands of some one member of the little com- pany in the car, and the ocean was swept under the powerful lens with no better result than had been achieved by the naked eye. ‘‘Poor Harley,” said Ben. ‘‘I wonder if he bas been drowned?” “Tt was a terrible fall,” remarked Brown. ‘And he may have flopped on his back and had the wind knocked clean out o’ him, you know,” put in Slasher. ‘“Be Heavens, an’ ye’re all wrong,” averred Malone, ‘‘The gossoon axed me to throw the box, didn’t he?’ ‘<c Yes. ”? “Thin, be Heavens, he knew he was going, so be did, and it’s not Masther Harley that wouldn’t be Jandin’ in the wather in proper sthyle. And thin, do ye moind, he can’t sink,” And he told them all about the wonders of ne oil-skin jacket, and the sectional boat in the a ‘‘ We're off the coorse,” said Malone, ‘and that’s the throuble. It don’t nade more nor a few minutes for a balloon to thravel a dozen miles away.” ; ‘Then you think that we may be many miles from the spot where he fell?” The detective asked the question. ‘Very loikely,” said Deuny. “Then we may hunt all day and not find him,” said Brown, ‘‘Now we certainly were a number of miles out from land when we saw that water-spout. Harley was AN em at that point. It is probable, according to Malone, that the lad has now got a boat, and one re- markable for lightness and speed. I think the boy will make for the shore, guiding himself by the sun, and that is about the best thing we can do, We shall both strike the coast within some miles of one another, probably, and he certainly Could 52 the Sky Traveler at anchor, and come to it, The proposition seemed so sensible to all that they begged of Denny to follow it, so the brave Irishman, not without a regretful look at the oceap, sought a current to the east and bore away for the coast. The balloon descended upon a broad strip of bbly beach, back of which was a belt of wood- d and a range of pretty hills. The country looked as wild and natural as could be. ‘‘Do you know what part of the coast this is, Denny?’ asked Brown. ‘‘Tndade I do not,” said Malone. “T see no signs of life,” remarked Annie. ‘* This pore of the country must be perfectly deserted.” | ‘Yes, I'll wager there’s not a house or a cabin within ten miles, at least,” said Ben, “Tt certainly looks wild,” added Brown, ‘¢ Guess I'll take a stroll in the woods.” Of course, six or seven people in the car of the balloon had made rather crowded quarters for all hands, and they were now averse to stretch- ing their limbs. They had nothing to do but wait for the possible arrival of Harley Willis, so they scattered about.. At first Annie Bradley walked along the beach, picking up some rare and pretty shells, but later on she strolled off to the cool looking woods, They had not seen a sign or trace of human beings since the Sky Traveler was made fast, therefore it was with a careless step that Annie entered the woods, and began searching for fruits and flowers, At first sbe kept near the edge of the woods, but gradually penetrated deeper and deeper. Then shadowy forms began to rise behind the unsuspecting girl, flitting from tree to tree, and from bush to bush, all the time keeping out of vi ew. So long as the girl wandered away from the coast, the hiding forms followed without molest- ing her, but the instant she turned to go back, they acted. we A score of savages closed in about ber, and the astonished girl found herself in the center of a human ring. She screamed lustily, drew her revolver with a swift motion, and without at all being particu- lar in her aim, fired at one part of the ring. A tall savage caught her wrist at the moment, and the bullet flew harmlessly away. Then a number of hands grasped and held the a view of attracting her friends to her rescue, and ag led furiously with ber captors. what could even a robust and plucky girl do against twenty men? In a moment she was irl, She uttered shriek after shriek, with the sole. —_— —— captive, the ep men an hurled to the grass, her hands were tied to her body, her ankles lashed together, and then poor Annie was helpless, Then one of her red captors placed her on his back, and the whole lot started off at a brisk ace. While journeying on the back of the man who had shouldered her, Annie bad time to think and compare matters. * At the first moment of ber surprise she thought she had been attacked by some Digger Indians, natives of Cahfornia, and the lowest, meanest wretches of their race. Now that she had time to think over it, she recalled to mind that her foes were more olive than red, that they bad both chins and fore- heads that receded; that they bore themselves nobly, and very much different in mien to the degraded ‘' Digger,” and additionally, they wore gold and silver ornaments, and bore spears in their bands that were tipped with gold, and ornamented with jewels, Reviewing all these facts in her mivd, Annie Bradley soon made a“guess at the identity of her captors. She was in the power of a remnant of the once powerful Aztecs, once the rulers of Mexico, the worshipers of the pagan god Huitzilo- htli, to whom for centuries past they had een making human sacrifices, Formerly they had occupied towns and cities in Mexico only, but since they had been con- quered by the invaders of the land they bad be- come scattered, and bad sought some remote and wild corners, where they could live as their ancestors lived for centuries before them. Annie knew that there were some few Aztecs in California, and heard strange stories con- cerning their wonderful temples, their gods, and their sacrifices. Therefore, it is not to be wondered at that Annie Bradley, brave as sbe naturally was, felt a cold shiver run through ber young. bones when she thought of being sacrificed by her idolatrous captors. ‘‘My brave brother and his friends will not desert me,” she said to herself more than once, but for all that she felt cbilled with horror, now that she was satisfied that her foes were, indeed, members of the Aztec race, There were twenty-two members in the band that bad captured Annie, and they were all fine-looking and intelligent in-their way. One after another took turns in carrying the cap- tive, and so the band was enabled to travei with considerable speed. Fully five miles into the interior they pene- trated, and at length reached their village, a group of twenty odd houses lying ina valley surrounded by a high range of hills. When the band was seen approaching with a women, old and young, rushed out into the sole street of the ane and at their head came a man with a long robe, This was a priest, and in the original language of the race he shouted: ‘* A sacrifice!” The people took up the cry, appearing to go almost wild with joy. — A sma!l body of soldiers came forth from a temple; they were well - drilled, splendidly dressed, bore shields and spears, and also short swords. . The captive’s feet and bands were then re- leased, and she was placed before the doors of the temple. Barbarous instruments were played, and & procession was formed of the yillegers, who — slowly before Annie and made a low w, uttering words which were unintelligible to the girl, and seeming to treat ber with great ee ishes of solid gold and silver were then placed before her, containing food that appeared good and well cooked. : The whole thing seemed like a dream to the girl, who could scarcely believe that she was awake. But when she saw the long roted old priest draw a keen, plittering knife from beneath bio dress and hold it aloft, she shuddered, for she felt that the knife was intended for ber. — ‘‘My people,” cried the priest, ‘‘ once more shall the blood of a beautiful sacrifice purify the floor of the temple and make glad the beart of the mighty, gracious god, Huitzilopochtli. ‘Prosperity will once more smile on Us In this retreat, far from the land of the great Montezuma. | ‘* Let all prepare for the hour of sacrifice, for it comes with the setting of the sun.” A number of women came forward at the conclusion of bis remarks, took up the captive ooo} ‘S (Glo) » ». MUNG ee co