Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 51 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

dozenth time, looking in the direction from which Abe must soon appear. And then her eyes wander- ed to where glimpses of the river could be caught among the hills. r ‘**Flo,”’ she said, suddenly, “‘there is a boat com- ing down the river! It must be more Indians.” _ Os ae up and joined her. The boat was plain- ly visible, though nearly two miles away, and was coming down the stream. ‘It looks as though there was a load of them,” an- nounced Flo, shading her eyes with her hand, and scowling her forehead into a perfect network of frowns. ‘* Wouldn’t it be just lovely if they should tip over and get a good ducking,”’ she continued, thinking of the ludicrous in the midst of the danger- a ‘Lend me your glass, Madge, and let me view them.” Madge drew the glass from her pocket and handed it to her companion. One look, and Flo uttered a little cry. nit Oh, Madge, it is! itis! Assure as “White men! you live!”’ Madge took the glass, hastily. Yes, there could be no mistake. They were too far off to tell much con- cerning them, but their whole air and appearance Degnoks them whites. . er dge !’’ cried Flo, suddenly, clasping her hands. ‘* They don’t know the Indians are there! They will all be killed! We must warn them of their danger!”’ The two looked at each other a moment, with white faces. Their own danger was forgotten now, when they saw others rushing so surely upon their doom. They didn’t stop to wonder whether they were friend or foe. They were white, and were un- conscious of their danger; what was the best plan to warn them of it?’ “We must make a defour, and come to the river beyond the savages,’’ explained Madge, hurriedly. ‘** And we must start at once, for there is not a mo- ment to lose, if we want to be in time.”’ They sprung upon their horses, and dashed off down the slope. They made a half-circle about the Indians, keeping all the time a good half-mile of ground between them, and struck the river, a mile above where they were before. They had urged their horses at the top of their speed, and they were reeking with sweat and panting heavily. ut it mattered little, if they were only in time. *T will dismount here and creep forward,” said Madge, as they reined up a few rods from the water’s edge. ‘‘And you stay in charge of the horses. No,’ she added, on second thought. ‘‘ You may go forward, and I will stay. It will be safer so, There may possibly be Indians near.” Before the words were fairly spoken, Flo had skipped from her seat, and was flitting forward like a water-sprite. Madge kept a keen look-out about her, but failed to see the form oe along through the copse- wood, and that halted a few yards from her. d all unmindful of the glaring, basilisk eyes upon her, Flo reached the water's edge, and peered through the overhanging branches. e next instant a little cry of thankfulness went up from her heart. Then she had sprung from the cover of the foliage toa huge stone that lay in the edge of the stream, an with her little form drawn up; her hair unbound and t in a golden shower behind her, her lovely face all aglow with excitement, was standing there waving her handkerchief with all her might; a glori- ous, dazzling vision, to the occupants of the boat floating serenely along a few yards above. CHAPTER XIII. THE YOUNG HUNTERS CONCLUDE TO MOVE, “Sere?” said Ranty, in exasperation. ‘‘ Of course I saw! Wasn't he a-looking over a big stone, and didn’t his whole top-knot show as plain as day, to say nothing of his face clear down to neck— ‘* His shoulders, you mean,’’ corrected Will. ‘‘ Will you keep still, say? Now you have made me lose where I was.”’ ** But you know his face does go to his shoulders,” insinuated Will, meekly. | Ranty gave him a withering look, and went on. ‘**And there he was gazing like Jeptha in the en- chanted castle, all eyes and ears to see where I would Fo. But he dodged back before you could say ‘ Jack binson,’ as soon as I looked that way. e old ameter If he had waited two seconds, I’d have fixed m 39 And Ranty sat down, looking about as wrathy as a ‘‘well-governed youth would be expected to look; a kind of ‘eat ’em up’ expression,’ as Will remark- ge eterwerd, and stared at his three companions as or a er. They been in their cave a little over a week; had hunted, fished, trapped; had had two or three slight brushes with the had come “ whole-skinned,”’ and altogether had had quite as lively a time as any four young and inexperi- enced hunters would have expected to have, “ un- der the circumstances,” Ranty said. But to-day that last-mentioned individual had been out to attend to some traps he had set on the river, and returning just before night, with several pelts and the saddle of a deer, had imagined that he had been discovered by some prowling savage, and was being followed. e had heard, two or three times, sounds that he was sure were not made by the wind, and just as he was about to enter the cave from the hill, he caught a ea of a dusky face aig epg at him from over a neighboring rock. Ranty had instantly covered him with his rifle, and when he dodged behind the stone, a down the hill oe a 1 ht tien pace, ess of consequences. n the sav. saw that he would have to take to his heels, or fight, he chose the former way from the difficulty, an leaping from behind the pone diac ed his rifle at Ranty, and then before the latter could “ pull up,” Alana, out of which they” The Boy Rifles. as he expressed it, and draw a bead upon him, he had vanished from sight. “But you can just depend that he knows we are here,’’ declared Ranty, after they had discussed the matter pro and con. ‘And before we know it, there'll be all the Indians in the Red River valley, stewing about this hill. And they'll make it a warm place for us, too. ‘**I don’t see but what we shall have to change our quarters,”’ putin Albert. ‘‘It is too bad, too, for we were getting along finely here. I think it a mere chance if we find another place as well calculated for a ‘house’ as this.” “If we had only thought and brought along afew cans of nitro-glycerine,’’ Fred suggested. ‘* With them we could no doubt have remained in undis- turbed mage sg of our domicile, as long as we wanted to. We would have let them attack us, and then we would have rolled a can down among them. boss bi gpm have dispersed.”’ ‘Well, what will we do? Wait till they move us, or move ourselves, in anticipation of such an event. It will come, now they have found out where we are and perhaps sooner than we want it,’’ and Fred looked as if he rather favored the idea of vacating at once. **T won't go for all the Indians in North America,” protested Ranty, stoutly. ‘Here just as we have ot nicely settled, and are living like kings. If the ndians want to come rampaging around, let them rampage; I reckon we can do a little in that line ourselves.”’ “Oh, yes,” suggested Will, ‘“‘ you’d eat up three or four tribes, let them come one at a time; any of us could. But what if they should find both entrances, and a lot of °em lay around each one, to pop over aga fellow that came out. Then where'd you “In the cave, of course!’’ returned Ranty compos- y. “Yes; and there’d be a famine the second day! No-sir-ee! I vote we pick up traps and march. I don’t fancy being roasted or starved out, myself.” ‘‘ All right,”’ returned Ranty. ‘I want to go, too, but I thought I'd wait and see if any of you fellows had spunk enough to stay. But I see you haven't. Oh for 0 spirit of ’76,"" and Ranty heard a lugubri- ous sigh, ‘You do need some of it sadly,’ returned Will. ‘*But this isn’t business. When had we better start?”’ ‘If we really conclude to go, I think the sooner the better,”’ answered Albert. ‘And I really think we had. Laying aside the fact of to-night’s dis- covery, it would bean advisable plan, in my opinion. The Indians are thick as bees, and we are not safe outside the cave. No doubt that savage could have killed Ranty to-night, had he not wished to follow him tothe hiding-place of his companions. And oH being settled the next thing is where will we go oF) It took some time to decide this. Finally, they all settled on some point further down the river. ‘“It-is lucky we built that canoe,” said Albert. ‘It is exactly what we want, now. I think I had better go and see if it is safe, while the rest of you attend oO spacking up.” nty volunteered to accompany him, as it would take but a short time to gather up the things, and the two other boys would have ample time. The darkness had fairly settled down as they pass- ed out the back entrance of the cave. But they picked their way carefully along, keeping eyes and ears on the alert for any enemy that might be lurk- ing about. heir canoe was a huge, birch-bark structure, made after one they had found floating down the river, only much larger. It was of sufficient size to hold the four, and their accouterments.. They kept it in a little sheltered cave on the river, where it was securely hidden until within a few feet of it. They were gratified to find it reposing snugly where they had left it. “That difficulty is over with, then,’ remarked Fred, as Ranty and Albert entered the cave, and re- ates everything right. ‘Will and I have been hinking,’’ he continued, as they gathered around for supper, “‘ that we had better leave a lot of our stuff ere, I don’t see how we can take it all with ‘‘ Nor I either,’ concluded Ranty, making a fresh attack on a venison rib. ‘‘We have got so many hides and pelts, to say nothing of the dried meat.”’ ‘We can’t take all those, that is a sure thing,” decided Albert. ‘Well, here is the plan Will and I have,” continued Fred. ‘* You know that little square cave that opens off the ‘stairway? The entrance to it isn’t more than a foot-and-a-half Square and we have found a stone that is a perfect fit. We crowded it in till it wa® just even with the wall, and I'll wager you might look at it fifty times, and never mistrust it wasn’t a part and parcel of the solid wall. That cave we can leave our extra thi in, and if we don’t come back in a year, they will be there safe.” They at once commenced moving the extra things into it, Then the remainder was made up in com- pact bundles, and every thing put in trim for depar- ture. They concluded, however, to remain at the cave till toward morning, giving themselves just time to et nicely away from the neighborh before the anwa. ooordingly they took turns in sleeping and watching, one remaining on guard all the time, at the back entrance of the cave. It chanced to be Ranty’s watch last, and at a quarter-past two he roused his companions. ‘*What’s up?” asked Will, as he felt Ranty’s ener- getic pokes. ‘Murder, fire, thieves, and the Old Nick let loose © genes answered Ranty. ‘‘Come, turn out! orning has spread her gauzy mantle over hill and — — by the time we get breakfast, it will be ten o'clock.” ‘* Looks like it,” returned Will, poking about after a missing moccasin. ‘Darker than the under side of a coal-mine shaft. Darn the thing, anyhow! Where's it gone?” ‘**Softly, my lad! Disturb not the peaceful silence by the melodious cooing of your voice,”’ drawled Ranty, as he brightened up the light. ‘‘ There you are! When I get some breakfast, I shall feel bet- ter!”’ “Thought you had the stomach-ache,”’ averred 1 a n any Indians?”’ ee. an Indian. Every thing quiet as a lamb. ark!"’ The tone in which he uttered the last word enjoin- ed the strictest cf silence upon his companions. All four listened for fully a minute. ‘“*T heard something,’’ Ranty whispered. ‘ You stay here; I'll be back directly.”’ ile their things were all in the cavern that opened from the ledge, they had come to-night, to sleep in the one nearest the entrance from the hill. Ranty glided silently along to the narrow passage that opened into the air, at the place mentioned be- fore, as resembling a disused cellar, and peered cautiously out. The darkness was not so intense, but what objects were distinguishable some feet away, and for a moment his heart beat rapidly, as he gazed upon the scene before him. But dauntless Ranty, with a courage and assurance equal to half a dozen ordinary boys, was undecided but for an instant—the next he was creeping to a spot, where, raising himself up a little, he could ob- tain an unobstructed view. Within a dozen feet of him, in the hollow before alluded to, a number of shadowy forms were con- gregated, while more were climbing silently over the rocks! CHAPTER XIV. A FIGHT UNDER GROUND. ‘* Now there’s the tallest kind of a fuss brewing,” muttered Ranty, with more force than elegance. ‘*‘ And the size of it will greatly depend on Randolph Hazelton, Esq., who is a most remarkable and extra- ordinary youth, but who isn’t given to boasti when there is any one around to hear,” he add with a sang froid that was refreshing. “ But the best thing you can do now is to get back and let the balance of the company know what’s up.”’ Moving as light as a cat, Ranty reached the cav- ern. The ‘ balance of the com —_ ” were standing where he had left them, every faculty on the alert. ‘*‘ There’s murder in the camp, and Old Nick to pay generally!” declared Ranty, in a shrill whisper. ‘The cellar is half-full of Indians, and more coming in all the time! What will we do?” ‘Block up the entrance!’ exclaimed Albert. ** Here is a rock that will go far toward it, if we can only get it in position, Move careful—that’s it! Now we'll throw some of these torches over in the sage, and two of us will take our position behind the stone, while the other two get more rocks to furnish the barricade!” His orders were carried out in a twinkling. The blazing torches lighted up the e beyond, and while Fred and Will took up their position behind the rock they had rolled to the mouth of the en- trance, Ranty and Albert commenced carrying rocks to finish the obstruction, But, before they hard- ly made a beginning, a Babel of shouts and yells arose, and echoed through the cavern. The sav had discovered the light, and saw that the surp was not such a one as they had planned! There was an instant’s silence; then with the most diabolical screeches spay were capable of ut- tering, they rushed pell-mell along the narrow pas- e ut a terrific reception awaited them. The blaz- ing bark lighted up their brawny forms to the best advantage. Over the rock behind which the two brave boys were crouched, the frowning muzzles of two double guns appeared; a cloud of smoke for an instant concealed them, then came a report that seemed to shake the whole cavern, 80 deafening and terrific was it! The loud yelling of the savages was drowned in the prolonged roaring that filled the place; then came another flash, and a report seemingly more terrific than the first! ‘Come right along, don’t stop to knoek!” out ee = eee voice, as leveled his revolver upon the st ing mass in the pas way. Albert stood heaide rs his ares blazing; his manly young form drawn to its fu hight, his own revolver on a level with his companion’s. They had sprung to the rock on the first alarm. Blinded by the smoke that filled the passageway, confused and panic-stricken by the terrible recep- tion, and by the sight of their dead and wounded companions, the dians rushed in a body back along the rocky way, pulling each other down in their mad retreat, and yelling and screaming till the very walls trembled with the terrific uproar! “ Hurrah!”’ shouted Ranty, wa his smoki revolver around his head; and ‘hurrah!” an hurrah!’’ echoed around the cavern till it seemed as if a sence voices had taken up and repeated the sound, And then almost a silence reigned. Not an Indian was to be seen save those dead and dying in the paemnee. The boys examined themselves critically, ut not one had received a scratch. “That is what I call being fortunate!” exclaimed Albert. “But we mustn’t stand idle. They may make another rush soon.” Every one sprung to the task of barricading the GOMIIEDOO gs) (E(0) — — ——_— = >. ee ee eee - —_ ay oe ey ie ee ae Seto: ae ee — — -_——— ——— ~ so —we —_—_———_. 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