Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 376 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

CS That the deacon exercised control over them in some way was plain, but what was the nature of the influence h could not yet tell. As he brought the train to a halt by the stream, he | oped that the suspense would be ended by the appearance of the deacon, who had promised to meet him there. During the journey thither he had had many con- versations with the Scotts, and had learned from them much of what the deacon had told them of the tenets of the Mormon religion, as far as their igno- rant minds could explain it to the young man. He had heard all about the miraculous discevery of the Book of Mormon by the first Prophet, and the cruel persecutions to which the early convcrts of the new faith had been exposed in the various homes to which they successively fled, till they had attain- ei the wilderness, where no man could disturb 1em. He found that the only doubterin the camp, in the Scott family, was the mother of the whole tribe, who being an o d woman and set in her ways, could not yet see the propriety of her ' usband taking to himself another wife, if he pleased, Her husband, on the contrary, was full of the patriarchal argu- ments in favor of the institution of polygamy, and talked with an unction that would have done credit to a better educated man, of the advantages that would flow from its practice. Joe kept his mouth shut as to argument, and listened to all that was said; for he had determined to deceive those who had deceived him, and his uick wit told him that to do so, it was necessary or him to know the ground he was to traverse. He found out the ee 9 of the word which had puz- zled him so much, as to being ‘* sealed,’”’ and appre- ciated the bribe that would be offered to him if he would join the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Tn this frame of mind he saw the camp pitched by the stream, and wandered off to find some game for supper, for there had not been much visible during the last day’s march, The face of the country had changed, and the grass was scanty, with peace of sterile sandy ground as they neared the mvuuntains, that fore- shadowed the desert to come. The only anlmalsseen during the day had been the large sage hares, that fed on the sage grass, the only vegetation to be seen, and the water had been grow- ing steadily worse and worse all through the journey, on account of the strong alkaline nature of the soil. The river to which they had come was the first ex- ception to the rule, and the animals of the caravan had drank it greedily. ) Joe went off toward the foot-hiils, where he saw some timber at the mouth of a ravine, and before he had got within a quarter of a mile of the place, saw several black-tailed deer come out at a gallop, frightened by the sight of his horse, when they stopped to stare. e had an advantage in the fact that to get to the open plain they would be compelled to pass him, and the animals seemed to realize the same fact, for they did not attempt the passage. Joe had never seen a black-tail before, and the beauty of the ani- mals astonished him, For a few seconds they stood staring at him, and then the leading buck turned and made for the mountains—just too late. Joe, who had always been a quick shot, had taken a sight at the animal as it stood for that fatal mo- ment, and had the satisfaction of seeing it drop in its tracks, in the act of turning, when the rest of the herd vanished. Joe went up to the carcass and had begun to cut it up, when h‘s mule, that had become the best of all guards to him, uttered a frightened snort and began to tug at the lariat by which he had fas- tened it to the horns of the deer which he was skin- ning. tan had become so accustomed to relying on the senses of the animal that he immediately rose and took his rifle, while he peered round, He saw nothing, but the mule continued to snort and snuff the air, staring wildly in a direction which Joe, following, ascertained the cause of the animal’s terror. Coming down on him from the windward side, in aravine of the range, was a party of ten or twelve Indians in full panoply, riding at a walk and in full sight. ey had just turned the angle of a rock when he saw them, and the leader bore a red pennon on the end of his lance. Joe, for a moment, had an idea of toring flight; but he knew it would be useless, for the Indians had seen him. and his mule was too slow to run from their swift ponies. He therefore took his post by his mule and waited for them to come up, which they did with no sign of hurry till they were within a hundred yards, when the young hunter leveled his rifle over the back of his mule, using the animal for a shield, and called out: ‘Stop thar! No nearer, ef you don’t want to git your hides plugged!” Whether they understood his English or not, the action was one of a kind which a m.n in any part of the world would have appreciated. The effect of the gesture was to cause an immedi- ate halt of the party, and the leader waved his hand and called out something in a strange tongue, which Joe did not understand, but which he took, from the gesture that accompanied it, to mean that the In- dian was peaceably inclined. But Joe was too wary to be deceived by any tokens of peace into letting the Indians get near enough to strike, and he had heard, when he met an old trapper, near the Kansas, in the earlier por- tion of the journey, that Indians will always hesi- at California Joe’s First Trail. ee ee -_-— tate to charge a man with a full gun, when they will rush on him at once if the rifle be empty. So he kept his position, and the Indians seemed to appreciate the strength of his position, for they made no hostile movement, but drew off to a little distance, when the leader rode out alone, having left his lance behind, hoiding his hand up, with the palm to the front, in the signal of amity of the plains tribes, which even Joe could understand. The young hunter was puzzled what to do, but he concluded that the Indian wanted to talk to him and engage his attention, while the rest would steal in on him. He allowed him to get within about ten feet, when he leveled the rifle again, and called out: “That'll do! Stop thar, Injun!” And the red-man obeyed tie order, with a sudden- re that showed he understood English, while he said: ‘No shoot, no shoot, Injun want talk.” “Talk away, then, but keep yer distance,”’ said Joe sternly. The savage seemed at a loss what to say, and his hesitation increased as he tried to make himself un- derstood, “You white man,” he said slowly. ‘ Me friend of Saint—you know Saint—me come—Saint.”’ ‘I dunno what ye mean,” said Joe obstinately. * Who. sent ye to me?” ‘*Man—you call—deacon,”’ said the Indian as plain- ly as he could, Joe was a little surprised. The savage pronounced the word correctly, but the hunter was still suspicious as to his designs, so he asked him: ‘** What did he say to you?” The Indian seemed to be struggling with his ig- norance of English, but he managed to get out: ‘‘ He—say—he—come—when—sun—so high.” He pointed to a part of the heaven where the sun, which was then within about two hours of setting, would be, when it came to its couch for the night. “Very well,” said Joe curtly. ‘* Then, the sooner you git up and git, the better fur you.” And as be spoke, he pointed the rifle so fair at the Indian’s head, that the savage, who had no weapons but a bow and arrows, neither of which was in hand at the moment, wheeled his horse and gallopeé away, with every sign of confusion and fear, Then Joe saw him speak excitedly to his comrades and the next minute they uttered a yell, as if they were angry at the way he had been treated, when the whole party came tearing down on the young hunter—the first time he had ever seen such a charge—at full speed; their round white shields clattering against their lances, the feathers of their head-dresses streaming in the air behind them. Joe waited for them with a fast-beating heart, for it was the first time in his life that he had ever been in a fight, and the novelty of the position was enough to dismay and confuse a man of more ex- perience than himself, But he kept repeating to himself the old trapper’s warning, nol to jire too soon, and kept his weapon leveled over the back of the mule, the black tube pointing at the Indians, With wild yells they dashed down, as if to cver- whelm him; but, at the sight of the deadly tube, swerved off to one side, and passed by him, diving over the sides of their horses as they came within reigaace and dashing by at a distance of less than y yards. As they passed, Joe heard the whistling of arrows, and several shafts fell all round him, the points Sticking in the ground, but none of them actually hitting him. Then the Indians rose up on their horses again, and swept off at fuil speed toward the wagons, yell- ing more wildly than before, and Joe expected to see them dash into the camp. That the Scotts were scared, too, was evident from what he saw of them. They all rushed into the little corral that they had got into the habit of making every night, with the three wagons, in the form of a triangle, and the sharp reports of rifles came to his ears, while the Indians swerved from the flashes of the weapons, and went scudding off down the valley. But they soon came back on Joe, who was now separated from the camp by a distance of about a uarter of a mile, and in danger of being cut off. hat the Indians realized this state of affairs as well as himself, was apparent, from the way in which they came tearing back after him as soon as the attack on the wagon had fuiled of its success, CHAPTER X. TBE DESTROYING ANGELS, THE young hunter gave himself up for lost as the savages swept down on him for the second time, for there were twelve of them, and he was allalone, The method of their attack had also changed, for they no Jonger dashed at him from the front, as before, but began to circle round him in single file, at a gallop, shooting their ar- rows at him, and trying to draw his fire on one of their ponies. Joe was so much possessed with the idea that they would get bim at last, as they kept up their hideous yelling, and sent the arrows closer and closer at every discharge, that he began to get confused, and had thoughts of rushing out to meet his fate in hand-to-hand fight. He was saved by the sudden appearance on the scene of no less a person than the mysteri- ous deacon himself, no longer in the solemn black that had bidden his true character so [oa hed ee ee Ne he es long, but attired in a gorgeous habit of scarlet cloth, covered with gold lace, thatresembled the gala costume of an Indian chief. ! He came galloping up on a magnificent, horse, © Bi covered with the spots that sbowed Indian blood, and was followed by a number of horse- men—all white men—who wore wide hats of | gray and a sort of uniform, while their belts were loaded with arms, and they bad the ap- | pearance of being desperate men from the ex- pression of their faces. No sooner had these men made their appear- ance, headed by the false deacon, than the In- : dians, who bad been circling round Joe, quit- ted tbeir little game and drew cff, as if well known to the new-comers, while the deacon rode up to Joe, as the hunter stood behind his barri- cade and called out, in stern tones: ‘“Young man, what meaneth this? Did not the Canaanite deliver my message?” Joe stared at him in his new glory, and could not but confess that the Mormon chief looked, now that he had come out in bis true character, every inch a man and a warrior, His long locks were waving under the shade of a broad white hat, in which was set a plume of the brightest blood red, which seemed to be a symbol of authority. / 6 wore a sort of open jacket of scarlet and gold, with broad, Mexican-shaped trowsers of the same color, and a tunciful white shirt, cov- ered with ruffles, under the jacket. The gleam of precious stones from the bosom of the shirt showed that the deacon, so sober when among Gentiles, could be as great a dandy as any man,in the midst of his own familiars, Joe was holding the fort—that is to say, the | side of his mule—with the grim expression of a man who has made up bis mind to die at his post, and the dauntless young fellow hailed the enemy sternly: yt ‘*S‘op thar, ef ye don’t want a hole bored in ye. Ye kin kill me, arter; but Ill drop you re re err A I tt uot,” And, as the deacon was in full sight and had ‘a not even taken the precaution to draw a wea- 7a pon, the Mormon chief halted, With an act that was not entirely easy, he cried out to Joe: ** Young man, what meaneth this? Knowest ! thou that these are the Destroying Angels of the ; Lord and that I am their captain?” ‘‘Tdun’no and I don’t keer,” was the reply, as Joe kept his piece leveled on the deacon, ‘J know this, that those Injuns wanted to git me; but nuther they nur you don’t doit, ithout a fight. Socome on, with all yer darned Angels, ef | ye want to git wiped aout.” | Deacon Simplicity compressed his lips as he looked at the dauntless youth behind the mule. He knew enough of human nature to be aware | that, if he went on, Joe would shoot, and he knew! | that the aim of the young Kentuckian was | singularly accurate, Making discretion the better part of valor, he said blandly: | ‘‘Itisenough. We mean thee no harm, It was but to test thy courage,that I sent the Canaanites before me. Thou hast done well. Now come from thy post and surrender to the Lord’s | forces, or it will be the worse for thee.” Joe shook his head, ‘Not by a darned sight, deacon. I’ve b’en fooled too often. Haow am I to know that, ef I ) eome aout, you won’t tell them fellers to shoot | or hang me on sight? Ef that's got to be did, | { want to know it, and hey a little fun fu’set,” The deacon turned round to his men, and the expression on his face changed to one of stern } decision, as he called out: ) “Brethren, let Gabriel and Uzziel advance, | and take that ungodly man from his place.” Two of the Mormons — big, savage-looking men—as soon as they heard the order, put spurs to their horses and were about to ride reckless- ly in, when Joe leveled his rifle at the deacon and called out: ‘‘ Order ’em back, or ye die!” His tone was so upmistakably that of a reso- lute man that the deacon saw he meant what ho said, and raised his hand, when the two Mormon “ Angels” pulled up, with their pistols drawn, their stern faces frowning at Joe, but obedient to the slightest signal of their chief, a the — called out: ‘“What is it thou wishest, rash man? Be- think thee that, if a hair of my head is bars, thou and all these will be killed without mercy!” ‘“And bethink you,” retorted Joe, “that. ef those fellers don’t git back, Pll settle your hash fur one. That’s talk, ain't it?” The deacon looked puzzled, ‘‘ What does this mean?’ he asked. ‘‘I tell im ya IcCDOOKS;CcOM .-