Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 340 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

they had rendezvoused in front of Judge Wal- ler’s office, and that gen‘leman was making a speech to them. He said that the time had come when the question had to be decided whether the law and order party or the outlaws should rule the roost in that region. The villains had shown their hand, and evidently intended to play their game for all it was worth. They had just com- mitted a most infernal outrage, combining mur- der with robbery, for which they ought to be hunted down and strung up, every one of them, He was sure that be at least knew who were the leaders of the gang that had attacked? Harry Venn’s party, and he believed that he knew where to find them. The gang must be exter- minated, or no man’s property or life would be safe in Montana. He hoped that his young friend Clip Saunders, whom he was glad te see there, had brought some information that would be acceptable to the citizens present, Clip bad some important and interesting in- formation, and he was compelled to mount the drygoods box on which Judge Waller had stood, so that all might hear it. He told how he had come upon the robbers when they were possessing themselves of the plunder, and had frightened them away. He rejoiced his hearers by informing them that Harry Venn was alive and expected to recover, and that part of the money was safe. “Tf you want to know who the robbers were,” he said in conclusion, ‘‘look at this pis- tol. I picked it up near the wagon, directly after they had gone away in aburry, and lam sure that I have seen it in the possession of Spence Symmes. Perhaps more than one of you will recognize it.” The pistol, which was of a peculiar style, was assed around, and was identified by several as he Property of Spence Symmes, who had been fond of showing it. The party of pursuit was at once organized so that it should be capable of its work, and not too cumbrous, Twenty-five brave and skillful men were se lected and officered, and Clip Saunders was per- suaded to mount a horse in order that he might accompany them. They set out on the road by which Harry Venn and his escort were to have arrived, and a number of other men followed them with a team as far as the Warner gap, to bring in the bodies of the slain epee From that slaughter-pen the expedition fol- lowed the road a few miles further, and ther turned off intc a trail that led toward the east. The most experienced trailers in the party declared that this was the route which the rob- bers had taken tke night before, and it was fol- lowed unti! it was impossible to pursue it any further on horseback. It was then a mystery what the fugitives had done with their horses, as they were not found there, and a careful search failed to reveal their whereabouts, But the pursuers were not after horses, but after men. Leaving their own in ebarge of a guard, the pushed forward, and began the difficult clim of a steep and rocky ascent, choosing the easiest route, rather than attempting to follow a trail that could not be found. Thus they went upward and onward until they came to a log-house on the summit of the hill—or perhaps it might better be de- gin as occupying a ledge on the mountain- side. Orders were quietly given, and the party surrounded the building as well as they could, keeping at a distance, but covering all points that were believed to be accessible. Then, at a noiseless signal, they began to close in, approaching the object of attack slowly and cautiously from all sides. But quietly as their operations were conduct- ed, the occupants of the iog house were watch- ful and quick to take the alarm. : Hardly had the leaders of the assailing party shown themselves when two men bolted out of the building. One of them was recognized as Spence Symmes, and Judge Waller was sure that the other was Cheyenne Charley. Several shots were hastily fired at them; but they ran at the top of their speed to the edge of a cliff, where they disappeared. Part of the sagan be followed them, while others hurried into the house, only to find it vacant. The cliff where the fugitives disappeared had been supposed to be entirely inaccessible, and on that account had not been guarded. A speedy investigation showed that there Clip, the Contortionist. 7 was a rope reaching from the top to the foot of the cliff, down which the robbers bad slid. Once at the bottom they were among rocks and trees that protected them from bullets. ‘‘ After them, boys!” shouted Judge Waller. ‘* We can run them down soon.” A few of the ome slid down the rope, and the others followed back the route by which they had ascended, and the chase began. But it was not so easy to run them down as Judge Waller might have supposed, In the first place, the trail had to be found, and it was easy fo losé when it had once been picked up. In the second place, the fugitives chose the roughest and most difficult ground—if the rocks and ravines of those tangled hills could be called ground—and, as they knew all the ins and outs of the region, they had quite an ad- vantage over the men who were toiling after them. As Judge Waller stopped on the crest of a ridge to take breath, the air was murky and full of a pungent odor, and dark volumes of smoke could be seen rolling upin the direction at which they were aiming. ‘The woods are on fire!” said Captain Tams, who had halted there wich him. ‘* Yes, they have been burning over yonder for two or three days, and the fire is coming this way right fast. ComeonTams. This is a hard chase.” It was indeed a hard chase, more toilsome than exciting, and the strangest part of it was that it led the pursuers directly toward the region that was devastated by the forest fire. hen it came to running, Clip Saunders easily surpassed the best, getting over the ground very rapidly, and never seeming to tire, Consequently he alone kept the fugitives in sight, and he was relied on by the others to act as their pilot. This close pursuit by one person was naturally annoying in the extreme to Symmes and his companion; and the former turned more than once to get a shot at the lad who was so persis- tently dogging them; but Clip was not follow- ing them for the purpose of being shot, and he prudently cps out of range. As he reached the summit of a steep slope he saw the robbers scudding over a long stretch of level and heavily-timbered ground, ana at the same time he found himself face to face with the forest fire. A stiff breeze from the west swept the flames forward, and they came on rapidly, roaring and hissing and crackling, licking up the rank er ae and wrapping their fiery tongues around the tall trees, one of which every now and then fell with a crash, sending up clouds of smoke and sparks. Yet the two fugitives pressed steadily on to- ward the heart of the fire, as if they were una- ware of its presence. ‘‘Come on!” shouted Clip to the men, who were a little way behind him. ‘* We will catch them between us and the fire.” He went on, keeping the two men in view, and those who came toiling up the slope put new vigor into the pursuit when they also caught sight of the fugitives. ymmes and his comrade could be seen keep- ing their course until they must bave heen ceed enough to the fire for the flames to scorch em. Then they were lost to sight in the heavy un- dergrowth, In a few minutes the deluge of fire bad swept over the spot where they were last seen. Their pursuers, startled and amazed, were compelled to fly before the advancing flames. ‘It looks like suicide,” said Judge Waller. “But who would bave thought of such a sui- cide as that? Of course, they have been burned to a crisp before this.” “Tam not so sure of that,” responded Clip Saunders. CHAPTER IX. HOW ORODIA WAS RAIDED. THE hunters of men returned to their homes, They had been vanquished by the forest fire and compelled to postpone the search, but had no idea of abandoning it. Clip Saunders, who had his own opinion of the fate of Spence Symmes and his comrade, returned to the spot where they had disappear- ed as soon as the fire had passed over it. He got there before the ground was fairly cool, and turned up hot embers among the ashes as he walked over the burned district. It was difficult to locate the exact point where he had last seen the two fugitives, as the ap- SS eeeoeoeoeoeoea=®@®@oananseesSssSseee 55 Ew ————eee_—_——_e_—ererereee—_ eo pearance of the region had been so greatly changed by the forest fire; but he found no cUarred boaies and no bones, and was certain that the men had not died there. They could not have gone on, as it would have been impossible for them to go through na burning fire, or even to pass the edge of the re, What, then, had become of them? This was the mystery that the lad was dete» mined to solve. A bare and high rock rose among the blac ened stumps and trees, and it occurred to him that the robbers might have found shelter on its leeward side, or possibly under it. Clip hastened to the rock, and the mystery was no longer a mystery. At its base was a hole, abundantly large te allow aman to pass in by stooping, and evi- dently leading downward, He made a torch and lighted it, and entered the hole without hesitation. The passage grew Jarger as he went inward, and at the bottom was a small subterranean stream. Of course the stream must have an outlet somewhere, and the lad went forward boldly, believing that although the robbers had takem refuge in that hole, they had not remained there. This belief proved to be correct. He found nobody in the passage, but found the end of it without difficulty. It debouched at the side of a ravine, and from its mouth he easily scrambled down to the valley below. The fugitives had doubtless done so, and had laughed in their sleeves at their discomfited pur- suers. Clip went to Orodia and told his story, which bad the effect of starting a new and more ex- tensive search for the outlaws. It was not only certain that Symmes and bis comrade had escaped alive, but that the secret and general rendezvous of the band bad not been discovered. Those two, as Judge V§aller said, had prob- ably been found b¥accidént at the lone house on the hight, baving stopped there for some un- known purpose while they were on their way to or from their usual hiding-place. Therefore, as bas been said, a new and more extensive hunt was organized. It was not one party alone that was sent out this time, but several parties, ail strong and well led. ? Their orders were to search the bills thor- oughly, to capture and bring in every nan who was known to bea member of Spence Symmes’s gang, and to arrest all suspicious persons whom they might happen to meet, In the temper tbat the people then manifested it wes easy to find elements of suspicion, and suspicious persons were liable to be treated to already rope and a short slwift. The several parties set out from Orodia, each having its district and plan of operations laid out, and performed their task to the best of their ability; but the general result was unsatisfac- tory; except that a number of undesirable cbaracters who had iufested that region took the alarm and made themselves scarce, The robbers who were hunted were entirely invisible, and no trace of their hiding-place was discovered. But the first party that returned to Orodia found undeniable traces of them in that settie- ment, Their surprise and consternation were ex- treme, and nobody doubted that the outlaws must bave bad full and accurate information of their plans and movements, or they would not have been able to elude them so successfully and strike such a savage and effective blow in their rear. The fact that the settlement was nearly emptied of its able-bodied citizens had been taken advantage of for a raid upon Orodia. It was noon—a hot and slumberous noon— and the man-bunting parties bad been several beurs away, when Spence Symmes and his merry men, to the number of a dozen or more, dashed into Orodia. The settlement seemed to be almost deserted, and even the business of drinking was sus- pended. The few chronic loafers who were out of doors smoked their pipes and whittled their sticks on the shady sides of the two saloons. When the clattering of boofs was heard it was at first supposed that one of the parties that left in the morning had. returned with a prisoner or with important news, This idea was soon dissipated by repeated | 900 com Cc