Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 482 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

mal he rode away, a grim smile of triumph on his boyish face. And half an hour later, when the five free- booters of the prairie had regained the west shore of the river, they saw Stonewall Bob, the Boy Trojan, a mere speck in the distance, am- bling away toward the west. CHAPTER II. A MOAN OF DISTRESS, THE big round moon seemed to stand still in the valley of the Grand River, as once it had stood in ‘Ajalon’s vale, flooding the plains of Da- kota with a weird and mellow radiance. A soft breeze drifting up from the south, car- ried to the ears of a grim gray wolf that came loping over the plain from his haunts among the hills, a strange sound that caused the animal to atop, prick up his sharp ears and listen, A night-bird skimming along the plain flapped his wings above the wolf and uttered an impish ery as if in defiance to its grizzled, hungry foe of the night. f The wolf snapped at the bird, licked his chops and squatted upon his haunches. A fresh, strong breeze came sweeping across the valley, trailing outa faint sound like a moan of human agony. Quickly the sly old wolf rose from his haunches, thrust out his sharp nose and trotted off across the valley, sniffing the ground as he went along. He had not gone far when he stopped again, raised his nose and sniffed the air, turning his head from side to side, then sud- denly bounding away, going squarely up the wind. For more than a mile the animal loped along in this way, but when that strange sound again smote its acute ears, it again stopped, and uatting on its haunches, raised its nose in the air and gave utterance to several sharp, snappish yelps, the last of which was prolonged into a long, gibberish howl. It was immediately answered from over the plain by others of its kind. Again and again it sent forth that same dismal howl, and again and again it was answered. Finally it was joined by a second wolf, and these two howled together, and others came and joined them, and in the course of an hour a score of the animals had congregated, and they seemed to hold a council that lasted until that moan of distress was again trailed across the val- ley, when they began to scatter out and form a circle on the plain, then ge advance to- ward a common center, all the while keeping up a demoniac howl. In the grass—in the center of that circle of wolves—lay a human being in dreadful agony. The beasts could not see him, yet they heard his moans of pain, and these, with the scent of blood, seemed to aggravate their hunger, But with their characteristic caution and cowardice the scavengers of the plain continued to advance slowly, yet noisily, toward that common center where, prone upon the earth—the moon shin- ing in his upturned, blood-stained face—lay aman pinioned to the plain, His arms and legs were extended, and his feet and hands lashed to posts driven deep into the earth. A rope had been put around his neck and then erossedy and its ends secured to the same posts to which his hands were tied in such a manne” that any attempt to raise his head would be to tighten the rope. Who was this unfortunate man? and by whose ruthless hands had he been bound there in the solitude of that desolate valley, a living prey to the ravenous wolves? It could not have been the work of savages, for savages would never have left him, dead or alive, unscalped. But what difference isit to these hungry wolves whether the man is prince or beggar, hunter or outlaw? Totheir ever hungry maw the festerin carcass of a buffalo, or a hot, quivering flash o a living victim, is the same, The helpless man heard the beasts gathering arourd nim, but not until one of them came so close that he could feel its hot, fetid breath on his face, did he see its shaggy form that seemed to tower above him against the sky hke a great hairy monster. A‘cry for help issued from the man’s lips. The wolves, frightened by his voice, fell back a few paces, snapping and snarling at each other, but they soon rallied and again ressed forward. Again and again the man shouted for help. But where upon that great plain was an ear, suve that of the Almighty, to respond to this ap- peal? Nothing but the yelping of the wolves an- swered him. He tugged and tore at his fetters, but in vain. He shouted, he prayed, he cursed, He seemed upon the verge of madness, His face became rigid and ghastly. His eyes glared out from their sockets like those of a dying beast, a —_ — a ee — - He writhed his body like a wounded serpent. His breath came quick and hard. The veins in his neck and face seemed ready to burst. Closer and closer drew the circle of wolves. Every moment the wretched man expected to feel their sharp teeth tearing into his flesh. Hope was dying in his breast and his brain seemed to grow dizzy when, mingled with the snarl of the beasts, he heard a new sound that he took for the throbbing of his own heart; but suddenly he saw the wolves fall back and then vanish from sight, while the clatter of hoofed feet breaking upon the man’s ears dispelled the sound of wolfish orgies from his hearing. The next moment a wild, terrified voice—the voice of a woman, fell upon his ears, and before he could fully realize the truth of the sudden change in the situation, a ile horse was reined in almost over him, and the lithe figure of a woman leaping from the animal’s back, fell upon her knees at his side. She was a young woman of not over seventeen summers, with a lithe figure and a face that was beautiful despite the look of fear and dis- tress it wore. Her long brown bair fell in a dis- ordered mass about her shoulders from her un- covered head, Dropping upon the breast of the prostrate man, her white lips parted, and she cried out: ‘‘Oh, my dear father! are you alive? Speak to me, father!” ** Mabel, my child, am [dreaming? Isit you, Mabel?” responded the man, like one half deli- rious. ‘* Yes, father,” replied the maiden, between her sobs; ‘‘I escaped from those human demons, but they are coming in pursuit, Oh, heavens! what shall I do?” ‘*Untie my bonds, child—quick!” the father exclaimed. ‘The maiden sprung to one of the posts and at- tempted to untie the rope, but the knots defied her feeble strength. She seized hold of the post and endeavored to draw it from the ground, but it stubbornly refused to yield, ‘*Oh, father! God help us! you!” ‘*Let me try it a clatter,” said a voice behind her, and turning, the startled girl beheld a strange man standing at her side. He was an old man, dressed in the garb of a hunter, and armed with a rifle, pistol and knife, and at sight of him a thrill of Joy. shot through the maiden’s breast, for in his kind voice and his rough yet honest face she recognized a friend. Without a moment’s hesitation after he spoke, the old man drew his knife, and stooping, cut the bonds that held his unfortunate fellow-being prone upon the earth, saying, in the unmistak- able vernacular of the border, as he did so: “Stranger, you’re pinned down here pretty solid, ar’n’t vee. Somebody’s been tryin’ to orna- ment the landscape with you, haven’t they? There now, rise up and tell a fellow who you be, and who staked you out here.” ‘*God bless you, stranger!” exclaimed the man, as he with some effort raised his numb body to a sitting posture; ‘‘ you have saved my life. My name is Joshua Thurston, and I was bound here, and left to be devoured alive, by a band of devils led by Black Bluford, the outlaw. This is my child!” @ Oh, kind stranger! I thank you with all my heart!” cried Mabel, falling upon her knees and kissing the old man’s hand, | ‘* You be entirely welcome, little gal,” replied the old hunter; ‘ but og gracious sakes, don’t waste any more kisses on that old hand. Kisses ar’n’t made to be squandered on a feller’s paw, don’t ye know, little one? But what's that comin’ yander?” ‘‘The outlaws! the demons that bound me here and fled with my child, who, escaping from them, is being pursued!” said Mr, Thurston, in great excitement. ‘‘ How many o’ them be they?” asked the old borderman. ‘‘ Six,” answered Mabel. ‘« Six—only six?” replied the old man, cocking his rifle and dropping upon one knee, “ that’s just Old Zadok’s number for a square leetle ht.” av Sir, are you really Old Zadok, the hunter?” exclaimed Mr. Thurston, eagerly, ‘‘T be that very old Mosaic temple,” was the hunter’s reply; ‘‘ but here, Mr, Thurston, take one 0’ my revolvers and help me chug a few 0’ them varmints if they charge us.” Zadok kept bis eye upon the approachin horsemen, and when they were about a hundr yards away he raised his rifle and taking steady aim, fired upon them. A cry of surprise came to the ears of the trio I cannot release Stonewall Bob, the Boy Trojan. | 3 NT, —_—___ ee ee —_ — ——”.)_ 0 EE aa ill, — from the lips of the outlaws, and this was soon followed by curses of rage, for Zadok’s shot had taken effect and the horse of the foremost out- Jaw had been killed, and its rider thrown so vio- lently upon the ground as to partially stun him. So greatly were the freebooters taken by sur- prise that they were almost thrown into confu- sion. They reined in their horses and two of them dismounted to assist their fallen friend forgetting that they had stopped within range of the unknown’s deadly rifle until another shot bad tumbled one of them out of his saddle, dead. Then the outlaws returned the fire with their revolvers, their bullets whistling in dangerous proximity overhead and around them. One of them finally struck the horse upon which Mabel had escaped, causing the animal to break away and flee over the plain. This was a serious loss to Mabel, and greatly enhanced the dangers of their situation. Hear- ing the maiden lamenting her loss, Old Zadok turned to her and said: ‘** Don’t worry one smidgeon, little gal, for ve a hoss over here by the * Sentinel” that’s good as ever thumped Dakota soil, and he’s at your sarvice,” ‘*Oh, you are very, very kind, sir, said Ma- bel; ‘‘but Zadok, see, those outlaws are hurry- ing away toward the river; what do you sup- pose they meen?” ‘*Gal,” said the hunter in a changed voice, rising to bis feet, ‘‘do you hear a strange noise up ther valley?” There was a moment’s silence, A low rumbling sound not unlike the roll of distant thunder came to the ears of the listeners. Mabel glanced up at the sky. Not a cloud was to be seen on all the starry dome of heaven. ‘**T do not understand it,” said Mabel, turning her fair white face toward the hunter with an inquiring look in her eyes, ‘It’s a new danger,” said the old borderer “and we must elude it or in half an hour we'll be ground into dust. It area herd of buffaloes a billion strong. I sighted the herd just before sunset from an eminence on the plain, and I cal- kerlated to swat a few o’ them in the mornin’, They’ve been stampeded either by Ingins or white hunters that are havin’ a moonlight hunt, But come, let’s make for the Sentinel over here whar my hoss is.” The old man led the way across the valley, Mr, Thurston and his daughter following. Over beyond a little swell in the valley some eighty rods distant they came to where a horse was lariated out to grass with a bridle and sad- dle upon it. And hard by was a great bowlder —the only ore that was to be found in fifty miles of there, It was a landmark on the plains of Dakota, and known among the white hunters as the Sentinel. It wasa point of convergence and divergence for white men and red crossing the lain. It wasa favorite rallying-point for the ndian hunters, ! The Sentinel resembled a monster egg lying upon its side balf-buried in the earth. Fron the small end pointing eastward it sloped upward to a hight of eight feet. There was not a flat spot upon its surface. It was round and sloping, and the hand of time had polished it off almost as smooth as glass. ‘Thar, folks,” said Old Zadok, “‘ are my hoss, Shuttle, and thar are the Sentinel, One o’ us three’ll have to mount the hoss and flee from the path o’ the buffalers, and the t’other two climb onto the Sentinel’s hump. It will not hold more than two,” ‘‘ Wather,” said Mabel, ‘‘ you mount the horse and flee, and I will remain with the hunter.” ‘‘T am ready to accept my share of the dan- ger, TI would not—” ‘* Friend,” said Old Zadok, interrupting Thurs- ton, ‘* don’t waste words—moments are precious. You are not aware of the danger that’s comin’. Mount Shuttle and fly. Go in this direction and go like the divil war arter you, and you'll clear the track o’ the beasts. Trust yer gal with me, and I'll ae her through safe, Join us here after the herd has passed.” Joshua Thurston mounted the horse reluctant- ly. He seemed to have a presentiment that something dreadful was to happen, and having kissed his child and bid Old Zadok good-by, he dashed away at the top of the animal’s speed, Mabel bore up bravely under the parting from her father and in the face of the coming danger, and Old Zadok, who was astonished at her won- derful courage and presence of mind, said, in hopes of still strengthening her courage for the ordeal to come: **Gal, you are a brave little soul, and I hope you'll be nervy till the danger is past. Its a slippery hold on that rock, and if we slip off while the buffalers are passin’ it'll be sure death, P ages » ‘ ve . ° a é 4 gy 1een exere) €osm ee | - ss = i= a eee - ee * < : * wy | ‘ 7“ a 4 ’ om >? .