Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 375 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

as" me eS te wat ~~ — ~ 10 o* "SxS akp & Sore ee > Chiota, the Creek. senseless beside the carcass of the bear, and the corpses of Chiota’s victims. And that, before his darling and Dancing Fawn, in the power of their merciless cap- | will save from Apache torture-stake.” tors, had reached a point in a line with the late camp of Chiota and his squaw, and the | the ears of the captives. scene of Bertie’s narrow escapes from death; Gaining a safe position, he spoke to him- self, in a hoarse whisper: ‘‘Let white brothers keep still. Low as this was spoken, the sound reached Great, indeed, was their joy: for they knew tuat the Creek first by the serpent’s fangs, and next from | chief could accomplish more, with the least the monster bear. danger to himself, than any other man they could bring to mind. CHAPTER XI. But the presence of Chiota in the tree over THE RESCUE AND THE ROUT. their heads, caused the captives the most in- CuroTa, the Creek, neared the camp of the | tense apprehension and anxiety; for they Apache war-party, while thoughts and plans | knew that their red friend intended, in some flashed lightning-like through his brain. | manner, to cut their bonds, and they were From the moment he had discovered his two | confident that, in their benumbed state, they white friends in their most perilous predica- | could not maintain a standing posture, as ment, he had resolved to rescue them, or lose | circulation had been stagnated by the tightly- Chiota | might depend upon a moment’s time. Steal- ing on amid the undergrowth, he made his way back to the same point where he had dropped to the earth from the tree. There he recovered the slender pole we have men- tioned. Five minutes after Chiota was again in the tree over the heads of Bill and Frank, and their relief and joy can be but faintly imagined upon finding again their revolvers in their hands. It caused the captives to breathe once more, free hope filling their late despondent breasts. Their bowies were also lowered by attach- ing them to the end of the pole by a piece of wire grass, the Creek retaining two of the revolvers for his own use. ‘These he had ex- amined and reloaded the empty chambers, his life in the attempt; and no one knew bet- ter than the chief, how hazardous this would | be. But he was not aman to hesitate, or to linger, after once making up his mind in what way to act. He, after a study of matters as existing within the encampment, realized that the | | Apaches had not the slightest suspicion of | there being an effort made to rescue the cap- tives; indeed, they did not seem to think that any whites, or other enemies, were in the vicinity. More than anything else, this was proved from the fact that not one of the mustangs was equipped; and it would have been con- sidered necessary, had the Apaches any idea of being attacked, to have kept as many as a score of their horses, and as many braves in readiness, the latter fully armed, to bound upon the animals at a moment's notice. Not only was this favorable to the purpose of the chief, but there were no Apaches in the rear of the captives; all being outside of, or beneath the outer branches of the line of timber. The chief of the war-party, Chiota recog- | nized readily, from the hideous ugliness of his deeply scarred*face, as the bloodthirsty and merciless Lone Wolf; and it was evident to the Creek that the Apache leader felt per- fectly secure from attack, he being very careless, especially when his location near | the border line of the ranches was consid- | ered. The roving, keen gaze of Chiota discov- ered, not only the two fleet horses of the cap- tives, but the saddles, carbines, and side- arms, which had been taken from his friends; the animals being staked on the border of the timber, away from the herd, and within weight, when he cut loose the wrist-lashings; account had blinded him to the important pense and anxiety, during the first few mo. fifty feet of his position—the arms and equip- | ments hanging upon the limb of a tree, quite near the bound men. These important matters were kept to the front in the Creek’s mind, and he greatly re- 'only by superhuman effort they threw off, | gretted that Dancing Fawn was not with | him, to create an alarm on the east side of | well with them. while he made an attempt at | hiss of caution, stole through the moss- The lives of the two | ” the ‘‘ open, rescue on the west. Texans clearly depended upon his own per- sonal efforts. torture would be their fate, unless he bent -a position where, within a few feet of him, every energy, and practiced every cunning, in their behalf. Then, too, he must act promptly. After once more gazing at the two cap- tives, whom he could not determine whether wounded or not, the chief crawled back stealthily through the undergrowth, circling Indeed, a terrible death by | | westward, and in a very short time was in | the thick branches of the trees between the | 2 got into a terrific fight, which threatened a | terrified mustangs Chiota had reached the river and the camp, through which he stole from tree to tree, high up from the ground, toward the captives. He drew after him, with extreme caution, a long, slender pole, he having ammunition in his bullet-pouch for his own revolver, which was of the same caliber. Having thus carried out successfully his well-arranged plans in an astonishing short time, Chiota bent downward and again whis- pered: drawn cords. To sink to the earth would not only render the Creek’s attempt futile, but Would endanger his life, and cause them to be more thoroughly bound, and better guarded than before. Their suspense and anxiety was now the source of a terrible strain upon their minds, which previously were in a very sad and ‘¢ White brothers keep still. hopeless state. mustangs. Apaches are squaws. They had great confidence in Chiota, but | will spit in face of Lone Wolf.” they feared that his zeal and anxiety on their | . The Creek then disappeared among the ranches. particulars connected with their condition | It seemed hours to the impatient young and position. But they soon saw that they | Texans before again they knew anything in had misjudged their friend. regard to the whereabouts of their red res- Securing the scalping-knife by the handle | cuer; but when Chiota did put in an appear- tightly to the end of the slender pole he had | ance, it was in a most unexpected, imposing brought with him, Chiota quickly thrust the | and startling manner, and from a direction same down behind the huge tree-trunk, which | totally undreamed of by Bandera Bill and concealed it from the view of the Apaches, | Frio Frank. He then quickly cut the cords that bound | When the chief had whispered _ his inten- Bill’s ankles to the tree. Then drawing up- | tions the young Texans had been dumfound- ward his pole, the Creek passed into the | ed. They feared to whisper, or even to look next tree, moving with great caution, when | upward; for the snake-like eyes of some of he severed the ankle-bonds of Frio Frank. | their captors were fixed upon them with Both young Texans at once saw that their | vengeful hatred. red friend had his wits about him; for the | Both maintained still the same position as bonds, which held their arms around the | when they had been bound to the trees, trunks, assisted in holding them in a stand- Had they but dared to speak they would ing position. Had their wrists been freed | have pleaded with Chiota not to take fur- first, they would have sunk to the earth. ther risks to secure the horses, but to make Watching well the Apaches, who were en- | a dash with them back into the shades, trust- gaged in voraciously devouring meat, Chiota | ing to Bandera Bill's knowledge of the cow- waited until the muscles of the captives had | paths to elude their pursuers, or else to their recovered sufficiently to maintain their | revolvers to prevent the Apaches from re- capturing them. The success of the Creek chief up to that time had been simply miraculuus, and they felt that it was tempting Fate too much for him to endeavor to recover their steeds. Chiota, however, had been encouraged by his remarkable success, and believed that he could accomplish almost any desperate act, he holding the Apaches in contempt more and more as he had succeeded in each of his plans. His pride of tribe was deep, and his strength of will and purpose was strong. He, draped branches toward the river, to a point | therefore, resolved that his hated foes should where the undergrowth was dense. | know who it was that had outwitted them. Then he dropped to the earth, securely | With this in mind, he proceeded at once in screened from view, and wormed his way to | the direction of the mustangs. Gaining the ' desired position, he crawled forward, cl@tch- hung the two belts of arms belonging to his | ed the brave who was on guard by the long, white friends. This time he held in hand a| black hair, jerked him quickly backward shorter and stouter pole, which he knew | and plunged his long knife, hilt deep, into would reach to the limb, upon which hung | the painted breast. the indispensable weapons. | The howl of death that followed brought The Fates appeared to favor the efforts of | every brave to his feet, all rushing toward the noble, self-sacrificing Creek at this par- | the point whence it had proceeded; but be- ticular moment; for two of the mustangs | fore they could make their way through the Chiota go for hiota leaving the two young mep, with difficulty keeping up ‘he same attitudes. The torture | they both suffered, from the agonizing sus- ments after being cut free, was simply ter- rible, causing a deathly faintness, which more on account of Chiota’s peril than their | own. The chief waited only to see that all was | Then he quickly, with a | stampede, and thus drew the attention of all ; spot where the horses of his friends were the braves. This fact was instantly taken Jariated. A moment after a bird-like cry, advantage of by Chiota, who thrust forward | the meaning of which the Texans knew, was which he had cut on the bank of the stream. | his pole, and slipped the belts of arms off the | heard by the latter. In ten minutes more, he found himself | branch. | within the branches of the very tree, to the trunk of which Bandera Bill was secured. but, before proceeding far, he drew his bowie, and bound the handle fast to the end of the pole he had cut. Without delay, Chiota stole downward; | his hand two brace of Colt’s ‘‘ sixes” and a ‘“Come, Frank!” exclaimed Bill. ‘‘ Chiota He could hardly repress a yell of exulta- | is on hand, and the time for escape has ar- | tion, as he cast aside the pole, and held in | rived.” ‘ All ready, Bill! Hurrah for the Creek!” pair of bowies. Both sprung and clutched saddles and The chief, however, lingered not; for life | bridles, the chief bounding toward the af- and death to himself and his white brothers | frighted herd of mustangs, and <pringing ee et | TE Or” os ake 2 oF — quill a Ve _ } 7 plea] ate meng] bores , (a @ \ | ’ | yo | ‘ é ‘ | | | eee /\ Pa “ » » . “ee . 7 . “a 7 a