Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 41 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

' : 4 = a oe penises, - silent manner; “ this hends our halliance, Mr. Terror. You're ha bigger fool than hl took grou to be. AI worked my ropes well, hl must had- mit. AI was satisfied the girls would be gone be- fore we got ‘ere, else hI would never ’ave fees the villain ’ere. hI ope the girls Aare in : ‘ands. But what’s to become fof this poor AEn- = vagat ond? Well, well, Al guess AI will ake these four ’orses hand lean Aout for tall timber, ha4 my friend, Daniel Dorne, says.” He mounted his horse, and with the other three, set off toward the north. He had not ridden over two hundred yards when the clat- ter of hoofs, and the jingle of what seemed to be sabers, fell upon his ears. The sound came from the west. He halted and gazed back. He saw a number of horsemen galloping along the plain, and from the flashing of their arms, their uniforms, and the trappings upon their horses, he was convinced that it was a pare of sol- diers; and he had not a doubt but that Lasso Jack was at the head of them, coming to the rescue of the maidens, So turning about, Sir George rode back to- ward the party. CHAPTER XV. A JOYFUL MEETING. . Henry St. Eximo sat like an image of stone and gazed upon that white hand and arm, pro- truding upward through the ground. It wasa oP hat e could not solve—something that filled him with a strange awe. And that voice, coming, as it seemed, from everywhere, sound- ed like a voice that he had heard in a wild, yet pleasant dream. He sat motionless for several moments, and watched that hand. He saw what was pos- sessed of life. He saw it move, and finally dis- appear, down in the earth. en to his ears came another ery. Henry ssed not a tithe of superstition. After seeing and hearing—all the evidence he could desire—what he did, he knew all could be readily fathomed. So dismountin , he ad- vanced to where he had seen the hand. He found a small, circular hole—like the hole of a ground-squirrel—but there was no other sign of the earth having been disturbed. This was very strange indeed. ‘Is there anY one about here in darkness?” he asked ° , A cry of joy ted his ears. It issued from the earth,at his feet, and it was a woman’s cry. Henry felt strangely impressed. How had any one been buried alive there, without there being some evidence of the ground having been broken? ‘*“Who are you, and where are you whom I can hear?” ‘Oh, Rosalind!” came in plain, excited words to his ears, “‘itis surely his voice—the voice of Henry St. Elmo!” Henry started. It was surely the voice of his darling, Mabel Garfield.. Still it seemed impos- sible, and he cried: “Yes, IT am Henry St. Elmo; but who are you, and where are you?’ ‘Oh, Henry! It is Mabel!. Weare fastened up here in the earth and eee Bee out!” The truth began to force i upon the mind of the young mustanger. The train had been attacked, and to elude being captured, the mai- dens had been concealed under the ground. Quick as thought he sunk down upon his knees, and began tearing at the earth about the hole. The turf came up easily in blocks, revealing a wooden support beneath, One by one he removed the blocks of sod, un- til the whole top of the maidens’ box retreat was laid bare. en, like one in a mad frenzy, he tore off the boards, and moonbeams stream- ing. down into the box, revealed to him the white, sad faces of Mabel and Rosalind Gar- field, upturned to his. With a cry of surprise, he reached down and lifted them from their retreat. ‘“ Mabel, my darling!” he cried, ‘‘ what does this mean?” ‘Oh, Harry!” moaned Mabel, as he folded her to his throbbing breast, and imprinted kisses of the wildest joy upon her pale brow. ‘* Dear Mabel,” the young mustanger replied, scarcely knowing what he said, ‘‘ this surely is not reality—that we meet thus.” ‘Yes, yes, it is reality, Henry, and but for rour coming we would have perished in a liv- ing tomb.” “Tell me, darling, why it is that you are here? Has trouble befallen your train? Have you seen my friend, Lasso Jack?” Mabel stayed her emotions of joy, and nar- rated the terrible trials and troubles through which they had passed since Lasso Jack first f Lasso J ack. 11 made his appearance in the camp on Clear Creek, up to that hour, Henry received the news with a feeling of sorrow and anguish. He then narrated his own adventures, from the time he had separated from Lasso Jack, up to the moment be heard their imploring cries for help. t- was a joyous meeting, and they talked on for some time. Finally Rosalind asked: ‘Where will we go now, Henry, for safety?” ‘I will take you,” replied Henry, ‘‘to a set- tlement, north of here, from which we can to Fort —— and from thence to Santa Fe.” “Tis fortunate for us that we have met you, Henry,” said Rosalind, ‘‘for I fear Lasso Jack and his friends will never come back.” ‘“Why not, Rosalind?” ‘‘T am afraid they have all been killed.” ‘‘ It may be possible, but it will take a good many Comanches ever to catch Lasso Jack.” A light of joy beamed in Rosalind’s dark, lustrous eyes, to hear Henry speak thus of her ero. ‘But, should Jack ever come back and find us gone, what will he think?” “He will no doubt be uneasy, but it will not do for us to leave a note here telling him where we have gone, for an enemy is just as apt to get it as heis. I will take you to the settlement, then look after Jack and his friends.” Rosalind could scarcely suppress her emotions of joy, while Mabel cried and laughed by turns when she realized that her lover, whom she had mourned as dead, was alive and by her side. At length Henry said: “ We must not tarry here longer, girls. There is no telling what dangers are lurking around us. You two must mount my horse and ride. I will walk, and guide you across the plain.” The maidens prepared themselves as well as possuale for the journey. The remainder of heir food was packed for future use. Henry then assisted them to the back of his pony, and taking the rein, turned northward and began their journey. Nor were they a minute too soon, for they had gone scarcely twenty rods when he heard horses coming up the road from the west. “ai He glanced back and saw two horsemen ris- ing upon a little swell in the prairie against t moonlit sky. He knew at once that they we not friends, for one of them he saw wore a broad-brimmed sombrero, with a large plume attached to it. He recognized by these, the wearer of the hat and plume. It was the Mexi- Pam mootnaeet a moe Ras e young m er quicken pace un- til the Snleedl that caret the girls was hurried into a slow trot, and in this manner they soon put quite a distance between them and the prai- rie pirates. ey traveled steadily onward in silence, and at a goodly speed. The night wore away, and, just as the sun streamed across the ciel per, the trio de- scended into the deep, wooded valley through which wound the San Saba river, © ‘‘When we reach that timber,” said Henry, ‘“‘we will rest a few minutes, girls, for 1 know you must be greatly fatigued.” They descended into the valley and entered the timber. Under a green, shady oak they came toa halt. The maidens were assisted to dismount, and the mustang lariated, to browse among the teuder foliage. Their meager supply of food was produced, and eaten with relish. Feeling greatly refreshed hy their rest and morning meal, the little party was about to re- sume its journey, when the watchful eye of Henry St. Elmo discovered a number of mount- ed Indians riding ange summit of the bluffs eastward of them, about half a mile. They were out upon the prairie, and although our friends were concealed from their view in. the timber, Henry’s fears became great, for he saw that the savages were traveling eastward, and would cross their trail at right angles. He knew that the trail would not escape the keen eyes of the warriors, for it was plainly defined through the dew-wet grass. In breathless anxiety the young mustanger watched them, and when he saw them reach the trail, stop, and gaze away to the north, and then the feed his worst fears were realized—the savages had discovered his trail! He watched them a moment. He saw one of them dismount and examine the trail, then the whole band, a score or more, turned on the trail and rode directly toward the timber. Informing the girls of the crisis, the next min- ute aey had resumed their journey at a rapid speed, Ten minutes’ journeying brought them to the river, and the sight of a canoe lying empty on the bank rm the idea of abandoning the ing tothe water. He knew it would be an er matter for the lynx-eyed sav- ages to follow the hoof-prints of the mustang, while the canoe would leave no trail. Assisting the girls to dismount he turned the pony loose, having first placed the burr of a cactus under the saddle. ricked the ani- mal and sent him flying down the river, as Hen- ry desired, for he felt in hopes the savages would overlook the division of the party, and follow on after the flying mustang. The young man now launched the canoe and desintiod the maidens into it. He then took the paddle, and driving the craft out into the river, turned and moved up its course. They found this manner of journeying less fatiguing than on horseback, and the spirits of the maidens began to revive. The air was cool and bracing, and came laden with the sweet perfumes of the wildwood, and this, together with the easy, gliding motion of the canoe, the regular cme plash of the oars, lulled the sis- ters into a dreamy, delicious forgetfulness, such as es sleep of a worn, fatigued mind. iran d the languid eyes of Mabel were lifted to those of her lover, and a low cry es- ca her lips. he saw that his head was bent in. the atti- tude of listening, and that hisfface denoted sud- den fear. “What is it, Henry? Are we in danger?” she asked. ‘‘T fear we are discovered, darling,” he re- sponded, as he turned his canoe abruptly in to- ward the southern shore of the river, under a low rock that projected several feet over the water, and from whose face a curtain of moss and wild vines had grown down, trailing almost to the water’s surface. It was an admirable hiding-place, but just such a place as an Indian in search of them would be sure to look. How- ever, Henry had hopes that if it were Indians coming down the river, they were not in search of them, and so would on by. Still they were being detained, and every moment lost by them was the rhino gain. - The shadows of the rock and curtain of vines made it dark almost as twilight gloom where they were concealed, but within ten feet of them the broad glare of light lay upon the placid bosom of the river, in which were reflected the trees that lined the shore and the ragged edges of the rocks above them. An hour of anxious waiting wore by, and the young mustanger had deci to resume his journey, and was in the act of pushing out into the stream, when Rosalind’s hand was laid upon his arm in a quick, excited manner. ‘“Look there,” she said, in a whisper, point- ing through the curtain of vines down at the water where the rock above them was mirrored in the glassy waves. Henry looked as directed and saw the figure of aman reflected in the waters. He was evi- dently standing on the edge of the rock above them, and so plainly was defined, that our friends had no trouble in recognizing him to be an Indian warrior. The fugitives scarcely breathed, so afraid were they of being discovered, for they knew the panther-footed savage was not over ten feet from them, and the least sigh or plash would catch his practiced ear. They watched the figure in the waters with bated breath. They saw it advance to the edge of the rock and, gag peer down. This sent the blood in icy ctrrents through Henry’s veins, for he believed the savage sus- ecg: some one being concealed under the rock. A moment later they saw the mirrored figure stretch out an arm, then a pebble dropped in the water within four or five feet of them. What did this mean? Henry was at a loss to understand, and while he sat pondering, he saw the figure disappear. This gave him a relief that was only momentary, for he at once saw a dozen or more Comanche warriors appear from the woods on the opposite side of the river and move down toward the bank. They were a hunting-party, This Henry saw from the loads of fresh meat they carried. They proceeded down almost to the water's edge, then stopped and deposited their game on the green, grassy < with an exclamation of re- el. This convinced Henry that they had halted there to rest, and his conjectures were soon veri- fied by seeing a number of the party throw them- selves upon the earth, and assume an attitude of ease and listlessness. Henry felt sorely vexed. He was bound to i <€om €VDOOKS Se —