Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 51 — page 1: what you’re looking at

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

+ seed sae ew = Jalal ioLLiia) © Te : LLL iH \ | os . * ~ om ‘ - ON \ ANS RRMA? SAN ON : ww Ww » a a akan oy! Ie | ii ae x ; | : —~< Copyrighted in 1878, by BEADLE AND ADAMS. Vol TI Single BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS, Price, No 51 : ; Number. No. 98 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YO 5 Cents. , ° © ‘ tache, jet black in color, ornamented his upper lip, The young man did not reply to his companion at e O ] es but the rest of his face was cleanly shaven. The | that instant. Somet had come on the air that 9 two made a handsome picture against the dark | sounded like a faint shout. He could not tell OR, background of green. for certain, it was so far off and indistinct, but “I wonder where Ranty and Will are?" said Albert | his ears did not deceive him, for a moment after The Underground Camp. suddenly. ‘‘ They'll be to camp before we are if we | it was repeated, followed by a second rifie-shot, 1? paad ¢ el : ve 4 a . eg My ees. of shouts that seemed to . e wind breezed up strong as he cea speaking, | echo from ban ank, and from bend to bend A Romance of the Red River of the North, swaying the trees across the river till their tops fair- | of the river, till it finally died away among the —— ly danced in the bright sunshine. And at the same | hills. BY ARCHIE C. IRONS. instant the distant report of a rifle came to them The ny looked at each other in bewilderment —— —— up 4 nem ale ool ee or a then Fred said: “There!” exclaime rt, suddenly. ‘Tha “Tt must be In Albert. What if they should CHAPTER t. must be they, now! And it must be Ranty, himself, | see Ranty and Will? Hark! hear them shout! They A RIVER RACE. for he said he was going that way on his own | are coming down the river, too!” “Wen, Fred, part at least, of our dream is real- | hook.” “ Yes, and we must get out of this. Do you see ized, for we are ‘In the Land of the Dacotahs—are | ‘No it ain’t,’’ said Fred, decidedly. ‘‘I know the | that thicket — above us here, that almost over- actually standing on the banks of that famous, | crack of Ranty Hazelton’s gun better than that. | hangs the bank? That will be a capital place to romantic stream, the Red River of the North.” _ | Nor it wasn’t Will, either. I'll bet you it’s Indians. | hide and we will be where we can see.’ The speaker, Albert Arlington, stood balancing | You know that old trapper at the settlement told us With one accord the two sprung down from the himself on the crest of a rock, and gazing off over | we'd see more Indians than anything else if we come | rock, and ran with the fleetness of deer along the the bright sheet of water that lay below, and that | off up in here.” brow of the bank, When they had gone a hundred rippled along in the bright, yards, they reached the thicket morning sunlight, seeming to and halted. The bank here was very steep, and from where they stood it was nearly one hun- dred feet to the water's edge. A — network of scrubby lined it from top to bot- tom, and scarce a ray of sun- light could pierce their thick n foliage. At the brow o e bank was a thick cluster of small pine and white oak trees, and in this the boys halted. * We've got a good view from here,’’ said Albert, peering out from between two low-limbed pines. ‘‘We can see the river over the tops of these cedars till it gets almost under us. They are certainly coming down it, and we'll soon see who and what they are.” The shouts continued at in- tervals, and each time seemed nearer than before. The boys lay quiet in their hiding-place, and watched and waited. While they could command an unobstructed view of the river for some distance, it would re- —e a keen eye to detect them, screened as they were on all sides by the thick foliage. The shouts grew plainer and lainer, The boys strained heir eyes to catch the first glimpse of the comers when they should 2 apes They were evidently following down the river and were yet some distance off. Albert drew himself up among the limbs of one of the small pines to enable him to see Over a low, bushy treetop that overhung the river on the point of a bend some distance up. He had been up there but a moment when Fred heard a muttered exclamation from him, and looked up. Albert mated as he thought of the | was shading his face with his giand fun in store, wras WS “AY ae | APRA ' hand, and his black eyes were Now that they stood close MLO . , Lene ha intently fixed on a point above ) 5 \ sing a song of welcome to the two —— standing on its banks; one with cap in hand, and his dark curling hair blown back from his forehead by the breeze that reached him in his elevated sition; the other fair-hair and fair-skinned who leaned listlessly against a tree a few feet below, seeming- ly oblivious to everything save the river flowing at his feet. He was not over sixteen, and his face still held its boyish look, and was soft and smooth as a girl’s. Though his dress was not rich, it was strong and durable, and was fancifull ornamented with strips of col- ored fur. The belt about his waist which confined his clothes, so as to show his lithe, sinewy form in all its perfectness, held a handsome silver-mounted revolver, belt size, anda buckhorn-handled hunting-knife in a neat sheath was in close proximity to it. On the other side was a light hunting-hatchet with the handle through a loop attach- ed to the belt. In short, from the cartridge-box at his side to the double, breech-loading rifle in his hand, he wasa boy's ideal of a *‘ full-rigged " hunter. His companion’s voice arous- ed him, and turning, he clam- bered up the rough sides of the rock till he reached the crest. ‘** Yes; and it’s more - ficent than anything I dreamed of. Look at that big, steep rock on the other side. It’s straight up and down, and up-stream from it are the coziest woods imaginable. I'll bet you there’s no end to the deer that hide in them, ” and Fred's boyish face Ww ani- > Ces nn? 4 % 7 a . vis > Pia ayy a ‘ ‘? . y “e \\ ‘ \ difference there was in the \ \ ‘““What is it?’ he asked in two. ‘Their dress was similar, \ a whisper. ‘‘ Do you see them?” and their accouterments iden- \ ‘It's Ranty, as sure as you tical. Albert was twenty-one rears of age, and was half a head taller than Fred. His complexion was clear and ruddy, and his face manly withal live!" answered Albert, exci- tedly. ‘‘He’s coming down the river in a canoe, and a- paddling as if the Old Nick was ter him! There he . A very slight mus- THE RECONNOITER. comes; see?”’ EOPMICL CO KS, COMn