Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 52 — page 1: what you’re looking at

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

il} Mit ni WN fmt Ua Wa a ca 224 S ] Number. “The White Buffalo. A TALE OF Strange Adventure in the North-West. BY CHAS. E. LASALLE, AUTHOR OF “BURT BUNKER,” ETC., ETC. CHAPTER IL. A MARVELOUS YARN, THE storm was raging, and the wind was beating against the panes and slamming the shutters of the ‘ Travelers’ Rest,” a small tavern that stood at the end of one of the border villages of Missouri; and on this same tempestu- ous night, there was quite an assemblage gathered here, smoking, drinking, chatting, and rer a themselves r the manner character - n the istic of such assemb A fire crackled upo huge hearth of the fireplace, —— the air was thick with smoke of the numerous clay pipes that were in the mouths of the different individuals in the a nt. Some were stretched out upon benches, sipped beck aguinat the ‘wall, ti against the wa while the corpulent landlord was perched behind his bar among his bottles and vil- lainous compounds, sound asleep. There were three men pres- ent, upon this same night, with whom we have some- thing to do, and who, at the time we introduce to our readers, were total strangers to each other. The first of these was known as ‘‘ WAUFY,” a pon- derous man, of broad shoul- ders and Herculean frame, with ed hair, long, griz- zled beard, that grew almost up to his very eyes, with a face scarred and seamed by wounds and exposure, small, twi gray orbs as keen as a lynx’s, tremendous mus- cular development, and a physique that would attract attention anywhere, He was tipped back in his chair, with one leg thrown over another, and each in- cased in enormous — reaching boots, while the upper of his body was cove with a great-coat made of bear-skin. A coon- skin cap rested upon one knee, while, assuming as easy a position as possible, he smoked his short black pipe, and amused the com- oy with stories of his past © ‘‘Waufy ” was one of the most noted trappers of the border, and his experience was an eventful one. He & scapge ’ thee: nie ; ii relile ' fils || i} i if] Pihitt : ’ Th Mae ; : H : ' ii ; : ; Mi iff Tit ’ : - tibia j ’ ii : ; [ ; ’ ’ : , ' Ta i it iiil ‘| ; if " ; file eetll eeire ; j ' i : if! a ita bed tt tiiib i ij ‘ Cc) : ’ : : ; i} | ’ ' teil fiihia : ‘ i Hil if | : ; ; : HTT i | nD P. j WHEL HATE we : i ih ; slit iat Freie ; ; : ; TLD oy sf i some - el ‘ ii wt HG j ve tA Ue aa @ ft ty . _ e jl * e A, ‘= [| || | | |) | la, Ly CO d \ X Cr Tiree Copyrighted in 1878, by BEADLE AND ADAMS. BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHER No. 988 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK. ee ee was a man without any family, and as it was about late enough for him to be thinking of starting for the beaver-runs again, he had come from somewhere in the interior to wait at the ‘Travelers Rest” for the storm to subside before starting on his journey to the Far West. Nearly opposite to Waufy sat a young man, dressed in partly military costume, who, during the early part of the evening, had busied him- self in examining some maps and charts in his possession, but who had laid them aside, and was listening to but not joining in the conver- sation around him. This young man had ridden up just as it was dark, and Senountiiie from his horse he had entered the bar-room, and asked if any one had been there inquiring for him. ‘Who are you ?” asked the landlord, survey- ing him with no little curiosity. ‘Il am Lieutenant Putnam, of Colonel Mc- Havens’s Exploring Party.” ‘0 y 2 ; a ‘ . ~~ =| ~ \ = | a a *.4 == \ == =\ == — =. alltel Malalalalalalalalaley Z ‘~ A ~-Co Jc .— OR \ ~ ||! | Cum. —Gimianw - Dy 5 Cents. “You are, eh? What are you doing here, then, when ae hy been gone over a month out on the peraries?’ ‘‘T was sent as bearer of dispatches to W ash- ington, and am now on my return. An escort was to meet me here, but I see nothing of them.” “There hasn’t been any escort here, nor any one asking for you.” “That settles that point, then,” said the young officer, as he bowed; “they were to be ere on the eighteenth, and to-day is the ee so that they are two days behind ime. ‘How many of ’em were there to be?” “Only three, as Colonel McHavens could not spare any more. I will wait here a day or two, and then if they don’t appear I will go it alone.” And so Lieutenant Willard Putnam made himself as comfortable as possible, and sat quietly listening to the rude and ignorant men around him, for the simple reason that he could find nothing better to do, The third man wasas differ- ent from the other two, of whom we have ken,as the were from each other. e also was tipped back in his chair, but he was smoking no pipe or cigar, and was doing a considerable ee of the talking, although he had not seen one of the company un- til this evening. When standing erect, Ja- bez Spikes was fully six feet in hight, very thin, lank and active, with a peaked nose, clean-shaven face, that was very red, with yellow, sandy hair, and the sharp, ~wide- awake look of the genuine ‘* Yankee.” He was dressed in a long, yellow, buck-skin coat, corduroy pants cut very close to the skin, and wore a very tall black silk hat with a very narrow rim, and with its nap brushed the wrong way. e also had on a flaming red neck-tie, and was one of those men who are at home in any part of the world. Jabez Spikes was a man who, had Queen Victoria offered him her hand to kiss, would have given it a hearty gripe and shaking, and in- uired how she was getting ong; who would have slapped Pius IX on _ the shoulder,and asked for a chew of tobacco, and would have left Vesuvius in disgust if it didn’t ‘‘bile over” for his edification. Jabez was at home; he had his jokes and yarns to tell, and became quite a favorite with the company. Even the grave, handsome face of JABEZ SPIKES, CHARGE ON THE WHITE BUFFALO. Eomiuchbookssco