Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 484 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

a EPA FY a a that we've turned our noses toward. har’s whar they keep thar squaws and pap- pooses, and thar’s whar you may depend on tinaing ’em at all times; and thar too,” said Black George, raising his finger in an emphatic manner, ‘‘is whar the Comanches won’t run, but will stand and fight.” ‘‘ Hallo! what’s up?” exclaimed Jake, who was riding beside the two men. The ye anation was caused by a sharp whis- tle from Long Eph, who was galloping about a rod in advance of the others, and whose horse instantly descended to a trot, then to a walk, and then stopped as did the rest, Eph sunlicd by pointing toward the south, and following the direction of his finger, a thin column of smoke was seen rising perpendicular- ly in the air, and growing fainter and fainter toward the top, until it finally mingled with and was absorbed by the blue atmosphere. ‘* What does it mean?” inquired Middleton, ‘‘Tt means deviltry,” was the muttered reply of Black George. ‘‘Thar are red-skins thar, and thar’s something goin’ on that hadn’t orter!” As yet nothing could be seen except the thin, stationary column of vapor, but the hunters shared toward it at the highest rate of speed to which their horses could be urged. As the prairie rose on their sight, the suspi- cions of the hunters were confirmed. What ap- peared to be a dozen Indians, some mounted and some on the ground, could be seen gathered in a knot, while from the center ascended the fearfully suggestive column of smoke. ‘‘They seem to have encamped early,” was the remark of Middleton, put for the purpose of receiving information. ‘‘They haven’t encamped; they’ve got a pris- oner thar, and they’re burnin’ him or her, as the case may be,” replied Black George, hisface of a ghastly paleness. The young man almost fell from his horse in the excessive terror that thrilled through him at these words; but he pressed his lips firmly steeled his heart with superhuman strength, an put his animal on a full run. As the hunters drew near, the Comanches scattered; but they left behind them a poor miserable wretch tied to a stake, his fearful shrieks rising on the air, as he was in his very death-struggles, tormented by these inhuman fiends. ‘“My God!” gasped Black George, ‘‘1T’s Co- MANCHE Dick!” CHAPER VII. A LONG RUN, A TERRIBLE scene was before the hunters! There are few of our readers who have seen a man burned to death at the stake. Suchas have can never forget the sight, and have no desire to witness it again. No pen can depict the horror of the four men, as they galloped up to the stake, where the poor wretch had just ceased his struggles in death. To Walter Middleton there was a faint thrill of relief when it was announced that it was a man and not a woman who was thus impaled and tormented. But the soul-horror of the young man was none the less, as he urged his horse to his utmost speed, and was a yard or two only in the rear of the others in reaching the spot. Black George was the first; and before his mustang had halted, he sprung to the ground, dashed the burning grass and sticks aside, whip- ped out his knife, and cut the thongs which eld the poor fellow prisoner. He then drew him away from the smoking, smoldering em- bers, and laid him tenderly on the prairie, “My God! it’s Dick!” gasped Long Eph, ap- proaching and bending over the body. “So it is!” returned Jake and George to- gether, and the latter added, ‘‘ that is his coat— what is left of it—and that piece of his pants around his waistarehis. Poor feller! he fell in- ter the wrong hands this time.” The man could only be recognized by his dress. His legs, to a short distance above the knees, had been scorched and burned until noth- ing but the blackened bones remained! Only here and there a shred of seenne was left, and the wonder was that the man had lived so long under such torment. Great, indeed, was his physical endurance, The face and head were as black as ink—the smoke and fire having caused it—while the whole body presented such a sight as would make the strongest shrink, and which gave a most graphic picture of the inhuman ferocity of the Indians of the Southwest. The three hunters were accustomed to the o« °—-* ~ ‘ —- —— -_ - ~ ad ° “ee = =a ee eR ~ seen on most revolting scenes ie aR but they had never witnessed anything that had affected them like this. The sight of their own proud leader, so daring and chivalrous, so utterly fearless—he whom they had left at the hacienda in such roe spirits, only the dcy before; he who scorned to receive the help of his friends when overtaken by calamity—the sight of him, or rather of his remains, in this plight, was enough indeed to appall the stoutest heart among them. ‘Tf that is the way they served him, what has been her fate?’ asked Middleton, breaking the oppressive silence that rested upon all. ‘*The Lord only knows,” was the answer of Black George, in the same suppressed voice. ‘* Wal,” he added, with a sigh, *‘it’s something we’ve all got to come to, and Dick has gone a little sooner than we expected—that’s all. The hunter stooped down to raise the head of his fallen leader, when he started back, and a grim smile lit up his countenance. ‘*'Wal, thar! they beat us that time!” ‘*Sart’inly they did,” replied Jake, who was rather disposed to resent this levity at sucha time, ‘‘ but what’s the use of grinning at it?” ‘** ‘You don’t know what [ am grinning at,” re- turned Black George, looking sharply at him. ei kin tell you something that'll adie you grin too, Seeing that his words and manner were mis- understood, the hunter added, pointing to the prostrate body before them: ‘*That war a sharp trick of theskunks. That poor fellow thar ain’t.Comanche Dick !” The three looked at him more curious than ever. ‘*1t was a sharp trick, 1 say, in them, when they took all the clothes off of Dick, and put them on another chap, and put his on Dick, and then burned t’other feller, so we’d think it war our man.” ‘* ‘What reason could they have for doing such a thing?” inquired Middleton. ‘*None at all—only deviltry. They knowed we'd be close behind ’em, and so they tried this yer trick. Likely they thought they’d skeer us out from going further, but likely as not they didn’t think that either.” ‘* How can you tell that it is not your leader, when the clothes are his?” Black George turned the blackened face so as to show the profile. This, as a matter of course, was no help to the young man, who had never seen the famous hunter; but the others observed such a decided difference in the forehead and nose, as to confirm in their minds, at once, the declaration of their companion. If the horrified grief of the hunters had been great, their relief was none the less at this de- tection of the trick of the Comanches. It proved that their leader was still alive and well, and that for some reason his captors had no wish to put him out of the way at present, What they intended doing with him in the future could only be conjectured; but, clingin to the belief that he could take care of himself, the hunters determined to turn all their efforts toward the discovery of the females. As the Comanche party moved away, they had been narrowly scanned by the hunters, who had satisfied themselves that neither Josepha Navarro nor the wife of their leader was among them. This might have brought matters to a standstill had the pursuers been less experienced men than they were; but nei- ther of the three were deceived. The smaller party which had the two captives in custody had gone on ahead, while the rest had lingered behind, to indulge in tormenting some poor prisoner that they had captured. This fact proved further that there had been a junction of the entire body, else it would have een impossible to exchange the clothing of Comanche Dick for those belong to another man. It, therefore, looked more than probable that the three prisoners were now companions in captivity. It was rather curious that the place of junction of the Comanches was not noticed by the rangers, who were so quick to observe every thing; but had it occurred at a point af- ter the discovery of the tormented prisoner, it will be readily understood how their eyes saw nothing but the sight ahead of them, and took no notice of the ground over which they were hastening. There was nothing that could be done for the unfortunate victim of Comanche atrocity, so he was left to lie upon the open plain, to be rotted by the elements, a prey to ravenous animals and the foul birds of the air. Once more the heads of the mustangs were turned toward the southwest, and they were put to the highest speed that was safe in animals of ie ee ee Comanche Dick, and His Three Invincibles. 1 : : * % ? = >. which so much was expected, and that had al- > ready undergone such hardships. During the few minutes that had passed while the hunters were dismounted, the red-skins had improved their time to the utmost. It cannot be said that the red-skins were fleeing out of fear of their pursuers, but they were doing so simply as a matter of policy. The time would probably soon come for them to turn and strike. Not one of the whites, who were journeying in such haste, had tasted a mouthful since the preceding day, and their animals had undergone considerable fatigue; but both man and beast were capable of enduring a great deal more, and the former had no thought of hunger. A distance of several miles separated the pur- suer and pursued; and, as both were well mount- ed, the chase bid fair to be a long one, in case a ‘*dead run” was to be made. The plain became so dry and parched as they advanced, that the Comanche mustangs raised a great cloud of dust, which at times effectually shut them from sight of those behind them. Up to the hour of noon, the day continued clear and sunshiny, but at that time the ex- perienced trappers saw the omens of a coming storm. They were faint at first, unaccompanied by thunder, or any sudden darkness of the firmament, but they were nevertheless decided and unmistakable, ‘*Tt won’t come till fur inter the night,” said Jake Jaggleton, who was the weather prophet of the party, as he turned on his horse so as to sweep the entire horizon, ‘* butit’s comin’, fur all that, and it'll be what I call a reg’lar ringtailed snorter.” ‘‘ Where then will be the trail?” asked Mid- dleton, whose whole interest centered upon the object of their pursuit. ‘It'll be whar it is now,” replied Black George, “Yer don’t s’pose we’re follerin’ of it now, do er? **T certainly did.” ‘Then you're powerfully mistook, that’s all. The trail ain’t good fur nothin’ any longer, and I’ve been thinkin’ fur the last half-hour that we war on a reg’lar wild-goose-chase arter all.” ‘* You have no idea of giving it up?’ demand- ed the young man, in alarm. ‘In that case, I shall continue italone. No, I cannot believe it.” ‘¢ Should think it would hurt your stummick a little to swaller that,” was the contemptuous reply of the hunter. ‘‘ You ’pear to have some ZOOC Peat about you, younker, but you’ve got one thunderin’ bad one, of thinkin’ you know what I think, when you don’t know nothin’.” agi | beg pardon; but my feelings are so worked up that ge help being hasty at times.” ‘‘What I Meant,” continued Black George ‘Cis that thar ain’t much to be gained by makin’ a dead chase of it in this style. It’s "bout time we guy it up and fell back on original princi- es. Middleton was certainly far from being en- lightened by this declaration, and he waited for his friend to declare himself more explicitly. ‘*'You see the reds know we're arter ’em, and all they’ve got todo is to keep out of our way, What I meant war, that it’s time we begun meet thar tricks with tricks, an’ fight ’em on that line.” ‘‘ Ah! I see—by means of stratagem?” ‘*That’s the ijee. I mought take the time to explain it, but my advice is fur yer to wait and see. As it was impossible for Middleton to do much of anything else, he thought the advice was at least unnecessary, Black George now fell back somewhat, and consulted his friends, their horses almost sinking to a walk while ney. did so, during which youn Middleton remain beyond ear-shot, and ained as good a view as was possible of the Indian party ahead. Now and then, through the clouds of dust which marked their progress, he could catch a glimpse of the gaudily-dressed horsemen, but could see nothing that bore any resemblance to the one object he was seeking. As near as he could judge, the progress of each party was about the same, so that there was good cause for the belief that the chase would be a long one indeed, if continued in thig manner. Black George’s council with his friends lasted but a few minutes, when he gaveasharp whistle as a signal for the young man to turn round, The latter did so, and saw that they bad made a decided change in the diréction they were pur- suing—turning abruptly to the left. He saw at once that a change of tactics was decided upon, but he forbore questioning, wait- ing for events to explain themselves, But they had gone but a mile or so, when he ~ te ayn 4M LPs a7 a - Ls , yx Pe - _. *s : A io thy At 2 . AF — ; {4 ‘Ane *