Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 376 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

f en en pen ee nee ~ id a. ; 9 ae 2 10 ? ; ~ ‘aS : ao @ is c=, “a Pas . it~ + » ay eu > bs ssa ae toe . ee wale ® “) ett 8 - eae ary was A 7 , i S » 5 * “ F ; “ - Cae | i ° * yi there, hardly able to stand, for the stiffness and pain in bis limbs. : Thea the Mormon chief raised his eyes; the chiefs who were with him did the same, and stared at Joe with a steady, unwinking gaze that awed the prisoner. Joe tried to brave it out, but his eyes sunk, in spite of himself, before the gaze which he met; at which the Mormon leader smiled slightly, and broke the silence, which was becoming op- pressive, by saying: ‘* Well, Gentile, what bast thou to say ?” The other chiefs said not a word, and Joe’s guards stood silently by, with their bands on his elbows to support him, in case he should fall. The young hunter flushed as he answered, in a voice that trembled in spite of himself: ‘* What d’ye want me to say, sir?’ ‘Tell us what was thine intention in coming to this place, sacred to the Saints of the Lord; and thou but an unclean Gentile?’ asked the other slowly. Joe threw back his head, ‘*Why did I come? That’s a queer question fur you to ask, deacon, when yo1 was the man who gave me the route, and told me haow to come. Il come ’cause you told me,” ‘*Andin so doing, thou hast done well. But I ask thee again, why didst thou come at all to the plains?’ ‘*'To make my fortin, ef I could,” replied Joe. The deacon nodded his head slowly. “It is well. But now thou knowest that this is the Lord’s land, and that we are the Saints of the Lord, what is thy wish?” Joe hesitated a moment. He knew that there was some test in the apparently fair question; and he answered, in the spirit he had resolved to show: ‘*T want to j’ine your craowd, ef ye’ll let me, deacon. It seems to be a pretty good one.” The deacon frowned, and the chiefs did the same. as the leader said, in his sternest tones: ‘* Young man, thou knowest not what thou sayest. Dost thou know what it is to join the army of the Lord, and to do the acts that we do?’ ‘No, I don’t,” said Joe, boldly; ‘‘ but I hain’t see’d the man yet, in your crowd, that I couldn’t tackle, and I ain’t afeard but what I c’u’d hold my own with the best of ’em.” His answer seemed to please the deacon and the men who were with him, for their faces softened somewhat. Fox inclined his head. “Tf that isthy spirit, it may yet be well. But knowest thou the vow that these men are ob- liged to take on them, to become the Destroying Angels of the Lord?’ ‘* No, I don’t,” said Joe. ‘‘They swear to obey all orders, coming from the captain of the Lord’s host and his officers, no matter if to do so is to kill the man who obeys the order. Canst thou take that vow on thyself?’ “Tl kin,” said Joe tome ys with the mental reservation that he would keep itif it pleased him. ‘* Release him,” said the deacon. In a moment the two guards of Joe had un- done the handcuffs from his wrists, and he stood a free man, but unarmed, in the midst of the ‘‘Destroying Angels.” Then the deacon made a signal of his hand, and the men, who had been furtively watching the scene by the light of the fires, rose and made a great circle round the young man, while the deacon and the chiefs rose and turned to the circle. “ Angels of the Lord’s host,” said the Mor- mon chief in a solemn tone, ‘‘ ye bebold before ye a Gentile. What isthe doom of a Gentile when he cometh on the land of the Saints of the Lord?” ‘*‘ Death !” was the answer, in a deep tone, in chorus, delivered by the whole circle. Even Joe, brave as he was, could not help a slight shudder, which he instantly suppressed, as he heard the stern answer, ‘“‘Tt is well,” said the chief; ‘‘ but when the wicked man turneth from the wickedness that he hath committed, and believeth the word of the Lord, delivered to the Prophet Mormon, what should be done to him then?” “ Test him,” was the answer, delivered in the same chorus as before, and the eves of every ‘man in the circle were fixed on Joe, while the clicking of gun-locks was plainly audible. ‘¢ He shall be tested,” said the deacon, slowly and solemnly. Then he turned to Joe, and con- tinued: ‘‘Dost thou believe the word of the Lord, de- livered to the Prophet Mormon, and Joseph Smith, the Martyr of the Lord.” Joe, who had determined to go through the California Joe’s First Trail. whole performance without exhibiting any doubt, was shrewd enough to answer: “I believe all ye tell me, deacon. I ain’t the man to go back on what [’ve said,” ‘* Art thou willing to enter the army of the Lord, and fight manfully in his battles?’ asked the chief, in the same solemn way. ‘*That’s what I come to do,” said Joe. **Then thou art willing to take the oath?” the Mormon asked. ‘*T am,” said Joe; but this time not without a slight quiver in his voice, for he knew not what he might be called on to swear. Then the deacon made the prisoner repeat after him an oath of the most tremendous character, in which the man who took it was obliged to call down on himself the vengeance of heaven, in this world and the next, if ever he disobeyed the order of the captain of the Lord’s host or any of his officers, Even Joa, bold as he was, shaddered as the oath was repeated, and the circle of Mormon “ Destroyers” round him at every sentence uttered a solemn ‘‘ Amen,” and repeated the formula ‘‘ Damned be the traitor to time and eternity,” with a ghastly earnestness that left no doubt of their sincerity. When at last the oath was over the chief gave his right hand to Joe and asked him the final question: ‘“‘Brother Destroyer, is there any doubt in thy heart that thou wilt keep what thou hast sworn to?” ** No,” responded Joe stoutly, for he felt that his life i ps on his going through every- thing, thick and thin. The chief turned to a man near him. *¢ Arm the recruit,” he said. The tall man with red hair whom Joe had heard called *‘ Brother Uzziel,” came forward and handed Joe a revolver at once. Then the chief said to the recruit: ‘* Brother Joseph, thou art now one of the Lord’s bost and bound to obey all orders, Cock that pistol.” Joe did as he was bid, ‘“Place it to thy head and slay thyself and great shall be thy reward in the next world,” said the deacon quietly. ‘‘The army of the Lord hath need of thy death; therefore slay thuself.” Joe hesitated for one instant, and then, with the words of the deacon, that the test was not one that would hurt him, ‘‘if he only showed Me fear,” be did as he was bid, and pulled the gger. The flash burned his thick hair and the sbock of the weapon stunned him so that he nearly fell; but, the next minute a wild yell of ap- proval rung out from the throats of the De- stroying Angels, and Joe was surrounded and caught up in the strong arms of a dozen men who bore him aloft in triumph, while the clear voice of the chief was heard above the tumult, crying aloud: ‘Great is the mercy of the Lord, and he has accepted his servant, Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” And California Joe realized that his ordeal was over, and that be was accepted into the ranks of the terrible Mormon band, ofjwhich, at that early date, nothing or next to nothing, was knowu by the world, outside Deseret. He bad passed all the tests, had shown that he had the unflinching nerve required by the fanatic successors of Joseph Smith, and from the moment he fired the pistol the Destroying Angels recognized him one of themselves. ‘CHAPTER XII. THE WAGON-TRAIN. THE rest of the night was passed by the Destroying Angels in quiet in the shelter of the ravine, and Joe found himself treated with honor, in spite of his new arrival in the band. The chief, whose Mormon name he now learned was Nephi, took him apart from the rest to his own fire, and gave him a long series of instructions in his new faith, in which the point that Joe found to be insisted on was the absolute necessity of passive obedience, in a member of the band, to all orders, rather than any tenets of faith, which, as Nephi told bim, could be learned at any time, when he had op- portunity to read the Book of Mormon through and be taught by the priests what concerned his soul’s salvation. This was a relief to Joe, who had been afraid that be would be compelled to learn long texts, which, as he was but a poor scholar, would cost bim more trouble than anything else. After the lesson had been delivered, the dea- con—as Joe continued to call him at times, from want of ability to remember his true title— gave the new recruit a set of arms, similar to those in the hands of the rest of the band, and told him to prove them, the next day, for he might have need of them. "heh eee ith this he dismissed the new recruit to > sleep, and Joe, who had suffered much fatigue — and pain since his capture, was glad to seek re- pose, which was not disturbed till the rays of the morning light shone in at the entrance of . the ravine, showing that it faced the east. Then the whole band rose, with a silence and [a discipline very different from anything oe had yet seen, when breakfast was hastily prepared, and the chief gave the order to de- part. Joe found that bis faithful mule had Jbeen brought along with the train, and he was glad to see his old companion again, for he had fear- ed she would be left behind, astooslow,. But, now that the morning was come, he saw that a good many of the Destroying Angels rode mules instead of horses, though the chief himself bad as handsome a steed as he had ever seen in all his life. The band arose before the sun had risen, and the chief mustered them in aline, when he said: ‘Brethren of the Lord’s host, to-day is the day of the vengeance of the Saints. The man that speaks a word, till he is bidden, to-day, will be put to death. Follow me.” With that he rode out of the ravine up into a cleft of the mountain, and Joe, who was natur- ally very loquacious, followed in the ranks with the rest, in the midst of the most oppres- sive silence ho had ever felt in hislife. The grim ‘‘ Angels” rode on with their eyes fix on their horses’ ears, while the Indians, who had the advance and seemed to be employed as flankers and scouts, rode ahead, and the caval- cade entered a maze of ravines and steep as- cents, from which they did not emerge ti!! mid- day, when they came out on the other side of - the range, and saw helow them a beautiful green vale with a running stream that ran through the midst of it, by which a wagon- train, consisting of forty or fifty wagons, was camped, the white tilts of the vehicles arranged in the universal ‘‘corral,” that is formed at every encampment. As the Mormon Jeader saw the sight, he stop- ped his horse and pointed to the wagons below, with the stern remark, to the man who rode next to him in the leading file: , ‘¢Brother Uzziel, the Lord hath delivered them into our hands,” Then Joe began to realize what he had not done before, that there was more work to do, and that he, the new recruit, was expected to take part in it. . The train below was evidently inimical to the Mormons in some way, and was to be de- stroyed. Who were they, these strangers, and what were they doing there? He had no time to think over this, or what he should do, for the Mormon leader waved his hand, and the whole band set off down the de- scent to the valley at a slow trot, The Indians seemed to have vanished in the earth at first, but as the Destroying Angels rode on, Joe caught sight of the plumes of the savages at the side of a thicket, where they were sheltered from view of the emi- grants in the train, awaiting the coming of their white allies before the work of destruc- tion began. But the coming of the white men was not © disguised in any way, and the emigrants caught sight of them at once, and could be seen running to and fro in camp, as if pr paring for them as they came, while the flut- tering robes of women and children were plain- ly visible, as they clustered in groups at the edge of the camp to look at the gayly-attired horsemen. The descent to the valley was not long, and the column of over a‘hundred men debouched in the green plain, in full sight of the wagons, at less than a mile therefrom, when a small party of horsemen rode out of the camp, and came at a gallop toward the “ Destroying Angels.” The Mormon leader turned to his men, to say, in his stern tones: ‘Not a word from the ranks, The Lord will give his servant words to say to these Gentiles, Hold ye your peace,” Joe, intensely excited now that the crisis was coming, yet congratulated himself that he was within a few files of the leader, for he could © hear all that went on. He kept still and watched. The men from the camp were only about five " or six in number, and they passed the thicket in — ~ .- ¢ ' (2 = Ce * . BER EES > eo ee . 4s x= x rere ee %, o Weis | 7) | * i Md | - ; _. 7 we , Soe 2 he ip Ss . ee . oo | N a bie 4