Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 376 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

—_ * +) ° oF 1 | “which the Indians were concealed, without see- the latter, to all appearance, ‘he wily savages hid themselves as the riders advanced and came into pistol-shot of the Mor- mons, when the emigrants halted, as if uncer- ‘tain what to do, and one of them rode on alone crying out as he came: Who are you, gentlemen, and what do you want?” Nephi called out the answer: ‘‘We are Saints of the Lord, and we are on our land. What do ye here?” The leader of the emigrants seemed puzzled by the reply, for he called back: We want only a free passage, and no more, ~ If you are Mormons, we are your friends, and wis you no harm.” _ Come on then, and ride with me,” was the stern reply of the chief. “If it be the will of the Lord that ye shall all turn to the faith, it shall be well with ye. If not, not.” The stranger seemed to be puzzled by the language of the Mormon leader, for he allowed the deacon, who had been riding on all the time, to come close up to him, when Nephi grimly re- marked: ; . ‘‘Ride by me, friend, if thou valuest thy life.” As he spoke, he made an imperceptible signal with his hand, and Joe felt his next neighbor in the ranks nudge him. Looking that way, he saw that all the ‘‘ An- els” had drawn their revolvers, and were rid- fac with them down by their sides, Understanding the signal that he must do the same, the young bunter drew his pistol and rode on, with his heart beating wildly. He saw that somethin terrible was about to happen, and he could do nothing to help the r creatures, who were to be murdered, as he elt sure, from the expression of the chief’s face, ‘set in its sternest frown. The troop of Mormons rode on at the same slow pace, taking the unhappy man who had come to meet them along with them; and, as they came up to the rest, they motioned them into the ranks with silent gestures witb their pistols, that proved efficacious as words. One by one, the strangers fell into the ranks, and rode there, pale and frightened; for it was evident that they had been taken by surprise, by the coming of the Destroying Augels. As they came nearer to the tamp the men who bad been running to the defense of the wagons seemed resolved to shoot, and the Mor- mon chief said sternly to the young man who had come to meet him: ‘Friend, ride forward, and tell those mad- men that, if a shot is fired, every head in this camp shall be laid low in the dust; but, if they give up their arms, they shall besaved. This - . . s . . * AN a ee 8 ~ o bb” nd is the Lord’s and we are his pene’ but ye ee desire to slay any that will serve the 4or , The man who had come there, pale and frightened, immediately rode off, as hard as he could tear, to the camp, while the Mormons continued their measured and slow advance with the object of producing the greatest mora their imposing appearance. on ~ cssiteor the aver shouting out something in the camp, and a great confusion reigned there for the space of about three minutes, during which the Mormons continued to ad- Then they saw him coming forward again at full gallop, and as soon as he was near enough to be heard, he called out: “For God’s sake, gentlemen, promise not to hurt the women and cbildren, and we will sur- render,” ath The Mormon chief put up his hand, and the whole gs sa as if by magic. Then he said slowly: “Go back to thy people, and tell them that if they will send out all their arms, and pile them on the meadow, in front, my young men shall not bart them, But if it be not done In the space of five minutes, not one man, woman or child shall be left alivo to tell the tale that ye entered our territory without our leave.” The wagon-master of the train—for such he was—immediately dashed off, and the Mormons halted and waited sternly, the chief drawing his watch in an ostentatious way, that the men in camp might Ste it, while he waited for the quiet surrender h nearly sixty armed men. Joe, with bis ent 1D his mouth, wished thet they would defend t emselves, for he knew that if they did so, they would have a fair chance oy lives dear] _ of selling their 2 Y, and he had a notion that he bimself might be able to help them, in the confusion that was's8ure to ensue, - But, to his incredulous amazement and scorn, California Joe’s First Trail. ‘=> before the five minutes had expired, the wagon- master came out from the camp, followed by a number of men on foot, and they threw their arms down before the Mormon chief, who sat on his horse, with a cold and severe air, as if they were his slaves and he their master. As soon as this had been accomplished, Nephi beckoned to the wagon-master, who advanced, his face very pale, and took off bis bat humbly. ‘* Look me in the face, man, and if thou liest it will be the worse for thee,” the Mormon chief said, in his most distinct tones. ‘‘ Are these all the arms of thy men, or hast thou bidden any?” ‘* So help me God, sir, they areall we have,” was the trembling response, ‘‘and we claim your mercy. You promised us our lives, In- deed we had no idea that you Mormon gentle- men had any objection to peaceable emigrants crossing your territory, to find a short cut to the mines.” Nephi frowned at him. ‘‘Who told thee to speak, when thou rvert not bidden?” he asked sternly. ‘‘ Now, by the soul of the Prophet Mormon, I swear, that I will not eat or drink, this day, till thou and all thy men have become as we are, and the wo- men are sealed to my followers. Yehave come to our territory uninvited, and have stolen our goods. Are ye willing to join the church of the Saints, and give up all your goods to the bishop?” The wagon-master hesitated, and his face grew ghastly, as he faltered: ‘*' Why, you would not force us to change our religion; would you, sir? We are at your mercy, but you promised that, if we surrend- ered, we should have fair treatment,” ‘* And so shall ye have /” thundered the Mor- mon, as he rose in his stirrups and glared at the unhappy wagon-master, ‘‘Such justice shall ye have as the children of Israel meted out to the Canaanites, when they took Jericho, To your work, oh Angels of the Lord!” CHAPTER XIII, THE MASSACRE, Wits that, and without another moment of warning, he drew a pistol and shot down the wagon-master, before the unhappy man could defend himself or even gre for mercy, while the Destroying Angels, at the signal opened a fusillade on the cowering and unarmed men before them, and charged the camp at full speed, shooting like fiends into the people, who ran from them in all directions, while they were hunted down like wild beasts by the in- furiated Mormons, As for Joe himself, he hesitated for a moment as to what to do, when the stern voice of the chief came to. him, like a trumpet-call: ‘* Strike and spare not; but touch not the women or any female child.” Joe saw that he would have to do as the rest did, or be shot down like a dog; for the hideous fury of the Mormons was fully aroused; so he set off at full speed on his old mule, shooting right and left as he went, but taking care to send all his bullets over the heads of the un- happy fugitives. - 6 had this in his favor that he was not used to his new rifle and pistols, and had no idea how they shot, so that his misses did not attract at- tention among the men who surrounded him, ily his wild yells were louder than any of em. But he could do nothing to save any of the men, who were slaughtered without mercy by the fierce riders of the Mormon apostle, as they huddled together, realizing, too late, the shame- ful trick to which they had been subjected. One young man, swift of foot, took to flight and managed to get to the woods before he could be shot down, but the Indians had spied him as they hung on the outskirts of the mas- sacre, and they ran after him into the wood, and soon came out, howling in triumph, bear- ing the bloody scalp to show they had suc- ceeded. But the slaughter of the men was not to Joe the worst feature of the whole affair, for it was after the Mormons had entered the camp that his blood ran cold to see what they did. There, cowering under the wagons, were a number of women and children, and the men dismounted from their horses, rushed into the shrieking groups, avd deliberately picked out every boy they could find, even those of three or four years old, whom they slaughtered with as little compunction as if the poor little things had been sheep. . But the noise and bloodshed did not last long, and Joe soon heard the stern voice of the Mor- mon apostle, crying from the midst of the camp: ‘ What, ho, brethren! The men are gone that feared not the Lord, Bring forth the wo- men, and let the lots be cast,” Then the young Kentuckian, hardly knowing if he were asleep or awake, saw the women driven, with the few female children that were left after the hideous slaughter he had just witnessed, into the open meadow outside the camp, the Destroying Angels waving their long whips over the heads of the trembling creatures, and not by any means sparing of blows to those tbat lingered or hesitated. When a gw mother, who had seen her chil- dren killed before her eyes, wept aloud and refused to go forward, the whip was savagely used, till the poor distracted being rushed into the meadow, screaming wildly as she went. Then the Mormon apostle rode out alone, and called out: ‘‘ Let the women be counted,” At the word, a stalwart Mormon came for- ward, and called out to the trembling captives: “Hyar, you-’uns, git in a row, so we kin caount ye, this-a-way.” He indicated a line in which to march, and they were compelled to move outin file, while the next man counted them, as they passed, in full view of the Mormon chief, to the number of sebiy fF women and thirty-seven girl cbil- ren, It was a pitiful spectacle to see them, the corpses of their dead fathers, brothers and hus- bands, covering the ground all round them; but the face of the Mormon leader showed not the slightest sign of pity, or any emotion other than a certain grim satisfaction; and when thecount was complete, he said quietly: **'We will cast the lots for choice,” Then he took off his broad hat, and Uzziel came forward and cast in it two little balls, when Nephi cried out: ‘Let the brethren advance, and take the lot of the Lord.” The men seemed to know what was coming, for they rode up to the leader at a foot-pace, two by two. Each man, as he passed Nephi, put his hand into the hat, took up a ball, drop- pe it and rode on, diverging to the right or eft, Joe did not understand what they were doing or what the lot consisted in; but he took his place with the rest, having a companion with bim, and happening to be nearly the last man of the file, When he got to the hat, he saw that the men who had preceded him had divided into two bodies, one of which had gone to the right, the other to the left. As he neared the apostle, Nephi recognized him, and said, with an approving smile: ‘Son Joseph, thou hast done well this day. Take the lot of the Lord. If the ballis white, take thy place on the right hand; if it be black, then go with the men who'are waiting for the second choice,” Joe did as he was ordered—lifted the ball which he could not. see in the way Nephi held the hat, and saw that it was white. ‘‘Go to the right,” said Simplicity Fox, and Joe obeyed, When he got there, he found a group of about fifty men, and Uzziel said to him, with a grim smile: ‘‘The Lord hath been good to thee to-day, brother, for there are old members of the church 5 will have to be satisfied with no wife, to- ay. Joe, puzzled at the remark, asked: ‘Why, what air we doing?” ‘We air choosing our wives, after the man- ner of the children of Israel, when they spoiled the Canaanites,” replied Uzziel, gravely. ‘“‘There are eighty-five women to a hundred and ten men, besides the allies, so that the lotis necessary. The first choice is the next lot; for Nephi hath no love for these things, having ten women sealed to him already,” Then the men who had. been left out in the first lot rode out again in pairs, till they had chosen a second company; and each, as be pass~ ed in at the gate of success, was called aloud by the number he occupied in the line, by one of the Mormon sub-chiefs. Joe found bisown num- ber to be forty-nine, and was cautioned to re- member it. ™sen, when the number of eighty-five had been completed, the chief called out: ‘‘Tet the Saints of the Lord advance and choose each one a wife, from the captives of the Lord!” Then the sub-chief called: 1 ‘* Number One!”