Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 484 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

en | observed that they were aiming toward a high prominence in the prairie—a sort of hill, which a almost like a cone to the hight of a hundred eet. Its seemingly smooth, even surface, and its regular ascent and descent, gave it the appear- ance of an artificial construction—one of those Singular monuments, perhaps, which are found here and there scattered over our entire conti- nent, although less seldom met with in the South- west than further North. As they continued their advance at an easy gallop, the Comanches did not change their course. Further and further they receded into the distance, until only a faint cloud of dust marked their appearance, and finally this van- ished, and the hunters were with themselves, and with no one else in sight. The eminence, which seemed only a short dis- tance away proved further than Middleton an- ticipated, and nearly an hour was spent before the party reined up at the base. *“‘Here we make a short halt,” said Black George, springing off his mustang. “Git off | yer hoss and give him a little rest, fur he needs | it ”? Rather curiously, this mound-like eminence appeared to contain an unusual quantity of moisture, as the grass at the base was green and succulent, and the animals made a rich feast upon it. Black George and Long Eph immediately began clambering up the side of the mound, which was, in tact, so precipitous that it was a work of no small difficulty; but they persevered, and, after considerable labor, placed themselves on the summit, whose bregdth was about sufficient for a half-dozen men to stand side by side. Their principal, and, in fact, their only object in making such haste to this spot, was that they might ‘‘take an observation,” and they now proceeded to do this with a carefulness which showed that momentuous results depended upon the knowledge they thus expected to obtain. The result was what they had expected, and was another confirmation of the sagacity of these men of the plains. Looking to the south- west, they saw distinctly the party which had vanished from their sight a short time before. But beyond these, and just in the bar of the horizon, was a second party, and it was these Comanches that were journeying in a some- what different course, who held the three pris- oners, and who had thrown out those in the rear for the purpose of misleading their pur- suers, CHAPTER VIII. THE STRANGER AT THE FEAST. Aut of us have our failings and besetting weakness, and Ephraim Hopkins, who was a bachelor from New England, was not exempt from them. . His particular failing was the uncomfortable one of always being hungry. He had frequent- ly declared he never saw the time when he was really ‘‘ full,” and. when he would not have felt better by taking a little more. The reason why he gave over his gastronomic efforts when in civilized regions, was sai de out of fear of at- tracting wonder and remark. When he got beyond the settlements in north- ern Texas, with his nephew, Walter Middleton, he had more opportunity to gratify this long- ing, and he performed some feats in the way of eating, which startled even his relative. Op- kins was aware of it, and he, therefore, ceased his indulgence at the very moment when his ap- petite was leading him on to greater exploits. The truth of the maiter was, that, when the proposal was made for him to remain and take care of the sheep, be accepted it not only through his unwillingness to meet the red-skins, but also because he had an almost irresistible long- oh provide himself with a breakfast. opkins waited until the hunters were out of sight, by which time he was in the vicinity of the immense sheep-drove, and then he ex- claimed: “Tf 1 ever was sart’in of one thing, it is that I’m hungry, and I ain’t such a fool as to stay hungry, when there’s such a quantity of jamb and mutton about me, not if Ephraim Hopkins knows himself. Th here is ordained to grace my table,” Even while he was muttering this soliloquy, his keen eye was searching for some dainty | horse. animal among the myriads around him, ‘* Hello! there’s jist the critter!” e choicest lamb | ing innocent: lamb,” which, with a bleat of agony, turned over on the grass and died. In a twinkling Hopkins was off his horse, had whipped out his hunting-knife, and had it at the throat of the creature. He was used to this kind of business, and he handled his knife with a dexterity that showed he was a master of the art. In a trice the fleecy skin was removed, and the drover’s mouth watered as he contemplated the juicy joints which were coming intoshape under is manipulations. The rest of the drove ap- peared so accustomed to the presence of man, that they continued grazing in an indifferent manner as usual. The drover’s horse also stood by, so tired and exhausted from his hard drive, that he needed no attention, and in fact received none, ‘*Jimini! ain’t that splendid chops! Hea- vens |—” Had the Lightning-Express train, going sixty miles an hour, on a down-grade, collided with Ephraim Hopkins, he could not have been more astonished than he was. As he was bent over in a stooping position, something struck him in the rear with such terrific violence that his hat flew high in air, while he himself was hurled fully a dozen feet forward, performing a complete som- erset in his progress! As soon as he could recover himself, he looked about him, and saw that if the majority of the animals around him were unconcerned at his motions, there certainly was one enormous ram that was not, for he stood over the slaughtered remains of the lamb, with his head partly low- ered, his great twisted horns pointed threaten- ingly toward him, as though debating whether to repeat his charge or not. ‘Thunder! it was you, was it?’ muttered Ephraim, rubbing his injured parts. ‘‘I didn’t think I was going to offend you, Confound you! [ll soon settle your hash!” And he arose to pick up his rifle to give the warlike Aries his quietus; but, unfortunately, the gun was not only unloaded; but it lay at the very feet of the infuriated animal. The moment the Yankee rose to his feet, the ram took it as a challenge to a renewal of the combat, and, lowering his head, he made a rush at him the second time. **Good heavens! what is going to become of me?” exclaimed the thoroughly terrified man, looking about him for some avenue of escape. But, seeing none, he adopted the rather original expedient of making a leap up in the air, so as to allow the furious brute to pass under him. A very good idea, but Hopkins didn’t jump high enough to clear the sheep entirely, and when he came down, he landed astride of it, with his back toward the head of the ram; but the momentum of the latter carried him so power- fully forward that his rider remained on his back but a moment, and then fell again to the ground, This mishap, however, placed Hopkins be- tween his enemy and his gun, and he improved his advantage to the utmost, Springing in- stantly to his feet, he darted forward, and had caught up the weapon before the ram could re- turn to the charge, Had it only been loaded, all would have been well. Not until the Yankee had brought it to his shoulder twice, and attempted to fire that many times, did he recollect the truth, and then it was too late to do anything, as the ram was bearing down upon him again. Fairly vanquished, Hopkins now turned and ran with might and main. The build of the New Englander was well suited to pedestrian- ism, and, in the common parlance of the West, he did some “ tall walking,” his long coat-tails streaming far out in the wind, and his long hair, unconfined by his hat, did the same. But after all, his pursuer gained steadily upon him, and, as a dernier resort, Hopkins turned for his horse, that was quietly grazing, a hun- dred re or so away; but, every animal seemed in league against him, and the horse, frightened by the impetuous approach of his master, raised his head, cocked up his ears, gave a faint neigh, and then trotted away. ‘* Blast your old hide!” yelled the exasperated fugitive, ‘‘if I had my gun loaded, I’d shoot you. Whoa, darn you!” The horse seemed in doubt what to do, but he finally held up enough for the toiling and pant- Hopkins to reach him, just as the ram was again in Ais rear. But he avoided the brute by Jeaping behind his The ram, having no special ill-will against the horse, fetched up, and glared about him to decide upon the next move for the anni- And raising his gun to his shoulder, he sent the | hilation of his foe. bullet crashing through. the head of the little This was the golden moment for Hopkins, and Comanche Dick, and His Three Invincibles. i i es a Se a em a 9 catching his horse by the bridle, he swung him- self upon his back in a twinkling, leaving the ram master of the field for the time being. Revenge is sweet, and the pleasure of reload- ing his piece, and sending a bullet through the skull of the quadruped, was one of the greatest that the New Englander had ever experienced, ‘*There! consarn you!” he exclaimed, as he cautiously descended to the ground again, ‘You're done for, sart’in. You’ve l’arned to leave pong y folks alone, when they’re peaceably zitting of their dinners. My gracious! ef he 1asn’t run over my hat!” He hurried away to where his hat was still lying, it baving a rather suspiciously crumpled appearance from where he stood. As he feared, when he came to pick it up, he found that by some means the ram had driven one of his hoofs through it, thoroughly ‘’ ventilating” that use- ful piece of head furniture, ‘Too darned bad,” muttered Hopkins, as he carefully readjusted it to his head again. ‘‘ That cost four dollars to hum, and I cale’lated on making that much on it, in a trade here in Gal- veston, but that ’ere spec’ is now out of the question. Wonder if there’s any more rams about?” He looked carefully around, but seeing none of the flock that appeared to have an eye upon him, he again approached his almost prepared dinner, his mouth watering at the luscious feast before him. ‘* Now, I think it’s about time I had something toeat. Ido believe if I wait much longer I sha perish,” As there was little or no opportunity to cook his meal there, he shouldered his meat and be- took himself toward the hacienda, where there still remained enough smoldering embers to have cooked a hundred sheep. Several of the dogs scanned the new drover as though they were not exactly satisfied with his movements, and did not understand who he was, but they showed no disposition to molest him, and he reached the still sinoking ruins without being disturbed by them. The coast was now clear, and Hopkins lost no time in going to work. By stirring and draw- ing aside, he found a quantity of live coals, upon which he spread several pounds of the choicest part of the lamb. The crisp, juicy meat soon sent up an appetizing odor that was enough to set a hungry man wild. ‘What a fool I'd been to’ve gone off with Walter and them feilers, and like enough I’d been hungry all day.” By this time a portion of the lamb was done ‘* rare,” and Hopkins prepared to ‘‘ throw him- self outside” of it. The piece was quite small, not more than a pound in weight, and the gusto with which he devoured this tid-bit, and the Jus- cious enjoyment with which he swallowed mouthful after mouthful was a sight to behold. The mill fairly started, the gormandizer kept it going by throwing piece after piece upon the coals, and devouring them as they became cooked. This was continued for perhaps fifteen minutes, when all at once— ‘*T say, old hoss, no objections, 1 s’pose, to a feller takin’ a bit. with yer?” 5 Ephraim Hopkins’s shock was fully equal to that which he received from the ram. He dropped the piece of meat which he was in the act of raising to his mouth, and springing fully two feet from the ground, glared around to see the owner of the fearful voice, which had been like the shock of an electric battery to him. One glance at the individual satisfied the New Englander that he was confronted by one of the most terrible desperadoes of the Southwest— that country which for thirty years seems to have been the chosen home of outlaws and crim- inals, He was dressed partly as an Indian, and his face was smeared with paint, which had been somewhat rubbed off, making his countenance ten times more hideous than it otherwise would have been, and Heaven knows that nature had steps it badly enough. He had black eyes, with long, black hair streaming down his back, a broken nose, and a mouth which looked as if, when an infant, he had been hung up on a peg by it. Hewas tall and muscular, and had every appearance of being an ugly customer when driven into a corner. He had walked up silently behind the drover, who suspected nothing of his approsxch until a pe by his rough salutation. He stood with is rifle in hand, having left his horse a short distance away, secured near the stables that had escaped the fire. At the girdle around his waist gleamed his large bowiseniin aud in short he was a desperado, armed to the teeth. Hopkins stood staring at him a few moments