Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 47 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

——— —-—- ——__—_—_——_—_—_--_ 9:90. _ ee ee — OOOO O8 OD ee — Gladly would the boy of the train sing for the tair While she looked into his eyes, he lifted his voice in one of those free, wild songs, which he could sing with such simple athos. Her cheeks glowed as he advanced, and conscious that her gaze-was upon him, his face flushed, but not a note quavered. In the song the boy suddenly forgot himself, and lifting his voice to a key which he dearly loved, he sent the song far into the forest, till a thousand wonderful echoes came back from its depths. That loud singing might be dangerous even there; but Violet forgot peril in her love for the song, and she did not interrupt it. When the boy concluded and looked into her face, she broke out in rapturous praise of the song and the singer. ““Shadow-Shot would scold me if he heard,” Nat said, with a smile. ‘ Can’t you sing?” “T would not attempt a song after such as yours!” she said, with a smile. . an I cannot sing. I picked the song up in the a What city? * Chi ‘ _ The girl started. ‘*T lived there once—I am sure I did!” ** Shadow-Shot says that you came from Chi- cago with your father—Captain Collyer. But bea * did you leave your mother—that puzzles me ‘*My mother—what do you know about her?” ** Not much.” “Nor I. Sometimes I think—no, I cannot tell you what I think. I donot recollect anything about my mother. There was a woman who called me child sometimes, but she never kissed me. I know by this that she was not my mo- ther. Father was never happy. I never saw him smile, and I have wondered if he ever smiled. ere must have been some great cloud between him and my mother. But do not let me talk about this. ill you not sing again?’ Sing again and for her? The boy was willing to give her another song; but before he could make a selection from his repertory, the tramp of a cavalcade was heard, and he seized the rifle that leaned against a tree. “Tt is the old luck!” he exclaimed, glancing at Violet. ‘‘I always sing the foe down upon me. Look!” The girl did look, and saw, despite the gloami which was settling down upon the forest, the ban of night -riders appearing suddenly to them. There was no escape. The eyes of the Vultures had descried the twain. ae ie will not !” the boy said, through clenched teeth, and there was dete tion histone. ‘‘ They are the fiends whoattacked our train; they fell upon your father, girl, in these very woods: I will fight them. back! fly quickly toward the cave. I will cover your re- ut Violet did not stir. ‘‘T will not desert you!” she said, firmly. ‘We are friends, and as such should stand by each other. At this juncture the Vultures of the forest suddenly drew rein, and the voice of the fore- most, a great brutal-looking fellow, fell upon the ears of the train, “Don’t fight, my birds!” he said. ‘‘ We kin cup yer wings in less than no time, an’ if you ‘a hand, 7 gimminy! Pll give the word what will do it. Drop the shootin’-irons, an’ we'll take ere of ye fur the cap’n!” Violet looked at her companion as the men- tion of his commander fell from the outlaw’s ps. . Did he mean Captain Dave? ** Aren’t you goin’ to give in?’ he said after a. moment’s waiting. The reply was the dropping of Nat’s cheek upon the rifle-stock. The Vulture saw the movement and fell for- ward on his steed’s neck; but as quick as he was, he was too late, for with the crack of the rifle his fingers slipped from the reins and he fell to the ground at the feet of his horse! A cry, startling in its ferocity, greeted the — iranger’s death-shot and like a missile — from a catapult the Vultures darted for- w Violet sent a ball among their ranks; but it succeeded only in wounding a horse and failed to break the force of the charge. In the . of an eye, as it were, the young couple were prisoners! They fallen into the clutches of the band of fiends whose deeds of and ferocity are still —s throughout the “ (e) r State.” the cap’n, now!” said the new leader of Nightingale Nat. the bandits. ‘‘ These birds ll make him open his eyes. Bless me! if they ain’t worth ten trains. We'll get the last bar’l open for this.” The Vultures were not long in riding from the spo and their gallop took them rapidly toward the south. The captives, separated, seated on different horses and closely guarded, had no chance to converse with each other. “Tl never sing again!” Nightingale Nat said to himself for the twentieth time. ‘‘ Songs get a fellow into trouble in these woods. I don’t care particularly for myself, but that girl has got into peril on account of my singing. Rock- ets and fiery serpents! I wish I never learned to sing. No! I don’t either, for it does.a person a powerful sight of good sometimes. Ill wait till ’m out of the woods after this.” After rapid riding for several hours, the forest pirates reached a spot illumined by several fires about which human figures were distin- guishable. The scene soon assumed the look of a camp, = the night-riders drew rein in the ruddy ight. ‘““Whar’s the cap’n?’ demanded the burly leader of the raid. “Thar!” was the reply of a white man, who inted to a hammock swaying gently beneath he boughs of a tree. The leader turned and advanced. ‘*Cap’n,” he said, to the ghastly but anxious face that looked over the edge of the suspended couch, ‘‘cap’n, we must open the last bar’! to- night, fur we’ve brought in two important pris’- ners. The eyes in the hammock flashed fire. ** Prisoners!” his voice was husky. “Yes,” and the bandit turned to a group at one of the fires. ‘* Bring up the birds!” he said. ‘‘Cap’n Dave wants to take a squint at the leetle ones!” Almost instantly Nightingale Nat and Violet were led from the group, and the eyes of the _ in the swinging-bed became riveted upon em. In order to exhibit them plainly to his gaze, one of the freebooters carried a torch in the van. Captain Dave, for this was the identity of the man in the hammock, shut his ashen lips and kept his fiery eyes fix = the captives. he thrilling scenes of the past few days had told terribly on the once handsome leader of the Vultures. is cadaverous face, the deep-set blood-shot eyes, and the nervous twitching of the = led lips told of mental and bodily an iolet did not recognize him until she was at the very edge of the hammock. It is not a wonder that she started back with his forest name on her lips. **T am Captain Dave!” he said, looking at her. “Girl, [owe much of my present awful situ- ation to you. I have madly loved you, girl that be are. But there is a man abr who is ae Shame Do you know what you are worth to The fair avenger shook her head. ‘‘ Fifty thousand dollars!” was the reply. “I never wished to claim it—the werd. mean. He never will, I am sure. I wish I had that shadow-man here, who sent a bullet into my a P e eyes of the girl sparkled with the tri- umph of revenge. ‘“*It was my rifle that drop you on the neck of your horse. Captain Dave, you slew my father and his people in this very wood, and for five years you lived a lie to me, and kept me from the path of vengeance. Do you believe that I had‘no right to shoot you when I discov- ered that you were the leader of the Vulture band? I would have shot you in the midst of your men if I knew that death should come to me a moment later!” _ The girl talked in a firm tone, looking straight into the eyes in the hammock. Seay so it is your bullet that I carry with me ‘* Tt is mine!” : His bloodless hand crept over the edge of th “Darcy,” he said to one of the scourges, “ give me our pistol ” 5; @ weapon, one of the old-fashioned kind, was jerked from the outlaw’s belt and thrust in- to the are hand. _ “* What have you got to say?’ he said, turn- ing his burning gaze upon the boy. “You ran off with my horse not long ago, believe.” ‘And if it hadn’t been for certain things that night, you would not be here to take the life of an innocent girl.” Shadow-Shot did not shoot you,” she said. - 13 ‘Is that all?’ sneered wy to Dave. The boy pete A shut his lips. “T have a mind to make you sing!” the out- law said. “Try it!” was the banter. “Oh, you wouldn’t, eh? I guess you’d make the w ring if I held a pistol at your head and commanded you to treat us to a song. But I'll not bother you.” = fingered the hammer of the pistol as he e. “The same man who wants the girl wants you, but not for the same purpose!” he contin- ued, addressing the Nightingale. ‘‘I am going to see that he gets neither!” eo turned upon Violet as he uttered the last word. ‘*T lived a lie for five years, eh?’ he flashed. “Well, I lived it completely, didn’t I? Your bullet is going to be the death of me. Before many days Captain Dave will not live in these wets but in the minds of some people he will live forever. That shadow-man has left me— the only one of the twenty-three who fell upon your father’s train. Hemust have escaped that night. * ‘He did!” said Violet. “‘Talways thought so. Captain Rough sees fifty thousand dollars in you, but he'll never touch a dollar of it! ha! ha! It hurts me to the death almost when 1 laugh. My hands are get- ting tired of this pistol.” e said no more but raised the wea There was murder in the eyes of the dying bandit. ‘* Hold on, thar!” cried a rough voice. ‘I’ve tabead drawn on your head, Cap’n Dave. vy the saints! you’ve got more lives than a cat! The outlaws turned toward the sound of the startling voice. As for Captain Dave, he lowered the pistol and raised his eyes. ‘It is Captain Rough!” he said, and he low- ered his voice as he glanced at his lieutenant. **Darey, you must kill that man out there!” ““T want no fooling!” came the same strong voice. ‘‘ Vultures, if one of you move I'll burst our cap’n’s brain-pan! Cap’n Rough has meant tedavan all his life!” With one accord, the outlaws looked at their leader. What would he do? CHAPTER XVI. IN A TIGHT PLACE. THE man who uttered the threatening words which startled Captain Dave and his band, sat on a horse among the shadows that lay beyond the light afforded by the fire. His cheek rested on a rifle and the polished barrel of the deadly weapon was raised to a level with the Apollo’s head. The man was Captain rage a His movements since his ggle with Sharp Knife, the Crow, do not sufficient inter- est to lay them before the reader. Suffice it to say, concerning them, that he had not crossed the path of the Vultures, and that he had been able to elude the eager hands of Shadow-Shot and Jack Gustin. Darcy, the lieutenant, when commanded by his chief to get behind Rough and dispatch him, was prevented from moving by the last threat. If an outlaw stirred, the life of Captain Dave, even then hangin by a slim tenure, might be sna by the villain in’s rifle. ‘“What do you want?’ asked oo ane Dave, at last, looking toward the west and vainly try- ing to make out the exact position of the man. ‘Why, the gal, of course!” was the reply. “ And the boy, too?” ; “4 No! you may empty your pistol into his The Apollo looked at Nat. ‘* What do you think of that?” ‘“* He never liked me!” the singer said, with a smile. ‘* We couldn’t get along on the train, I wish I was out there for a few moments.” Captain Dave saw the flashing of the boy’s eyes and wished as much himself. ‘‘ What if I don’t give the girl up?” the White Vulture said, thn 3 his man. ‘Refuse and ]’ll burst your brain open!” The Apollo bit his li * Will you go with that man?” he said, turn- ing to Violet. ~ glanced at Nightingale Nat, but did not reply. t And leave my friend here?” ~ *T will not go!” ‘ “Hurry up!” cried Rough, growing impa- GEhooks,. Go com cS