Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 520 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

° ‘ ‘7 a2; “5 : “* — ° ae "t . ‘ A ' Yh >, ° ¢ cam c, 5 * oe ie oS os J, . urn *. ae ia ia gis Re ae * a '« - - =~" - x ry i a ‘ -- . "e eat adie -- a | y , be at , 7. ‘ : ‘ +, eo te dee +8. Y : ve Ky UBT ARS Pein tne he dode « . + Bey « . “t% i oa , wees P 7 ' 1 re 9~ - ’ 4) . ’ a - . A “4 . . A x ° a ' 3 . uy 7, : « . . : y ae CS et na”. Me ra? é a ASS , _ « ee . . * . . ‘ . . 2 . Pt | : . i thirty-five miles a day, so that it was a week on | dressing his comrade, and saying, in a low ‘“Snakes and goblins! I’m in luck,” he cried,. 7 the trail returning to the settlement, '. | tone: as he beheld a bow leaning against the tree, and: ‘y As the party still kept up their carousing, a ‘‘T’m about used up, Pard Dan.” a quiver of arrows hanging to it. Y quantity of liquor having beem brought along ‘* So be 1, for these ropes cut fearful,” was the hen he spied several pieces of buffalo-meat A by Pilot Pete, after four nights’ watching and | answer. lying near the fire, which was dying out, and he 5° working by day, Buckskin Bill and the two Several of the red-skins started up at the | threw them upon the coals, being hardly able to sober men were completely broken down, and | word, and one arose and hastily examined the | wait until they were cooked, ao hungry was he.. thyy had a pretty plain talk with the guide, | bands of the prisoners. ‘‘ Lordy! I’m done for,” he suddenly cried, as: wi promised that he would not touch another But, seeing that they were secure, and had | he heard a voice behind him, and turning, be- drop to drink for tue rest of the way, and would |.only been talking to each other, the red-skins | held an Inian brave, belaboring his pony for also sober up the others. again laid down and went to sleep. stumbling with him, as he came riding toward. | He also said he would stand guard that night, This caused Buckskin Bill to have the idea to | the fire, ‘and worn out-as they were, Buckskin Bill and) | speak to the two prisoners, and, stripping off —- the two faithful men were only too glad to seelx | a piece of bark, he dropped it down upon the rest, head of one of the men. CHAPTER VII. + Had Pilot Pete kept his word all would have At the same time he said in a low tone: BUCKSKIN BILL’S LUCK, gone well; but the moment the trio of faithful * Extet [" BucKsKIn BrLu, when he first beheld the : ie were sleeping soundly, ho left his post of Tho men did not start, even, mounted warrior, coming like a phantom horse- ‘ites uty, again took to his bottle, a fire was built, They were too good bordermen for that. man through the gloom of early morning, sup- | in spite of the danger, for the train was in the And yet they knew that some one other than | posed that he had at his back the entire band, “Sea most dangerous part of the trail jpst then, and | a red-skin had uttered the word. which a quarter of an hour before had left the a the carousers began once more to play cards. They kept their eyes upon the Indians lying | motte. =" fT The fire was shaded from the eyes of the sleep- | near them, and not seeing one of them move, The stumbling of the Indian’s pony had caused ers, and, worn out as they were, they did not | Dan Ellis said, in a tone as though addressing | him to utter an impatient imprecation upon the awaken until wild yells sounded in their ears, | his comrade at his side: animal, in his best style of red-skin anathemas, followed by shots and cries, : “Well, pard?” little dreaming that his voice reached other ears, sp Half-awake, bewildered, and not knowing ‘‘ It?s me—Buckskin Bill,” came in a hoarse | while his attention to the horse prevented his: e what was the matter, Buckskin Bill sprung | voice, to imitate that of a man. seeing Buckskin Bill’s sudden spring behind the J from his blanket and ran like a deer through “Waal, ef [ knows whar yer is, durn me,” | tree, f the timber. said Reuben Carter, The broiling of the buffalo beef did not seem ae It was all that saved him, for, when he col-| ‘*Muybe it’s Bill’s ghost, pard,” Dan Ellis | suspicious to the red-skin either, when the scent i lected his scattered senses, and regained his | added. reached his olfactories, as the braves were wont te nerves once more, he halted and looked back. ‘‘Not much ghost, you bet; but Buckskin | to toss their well-picked bones and leavings into. ee The camp-fire was burning brightly, and he | Bill, and I’m going to see what I can do for you, | the fire. ; A ee Bb saw that there were half a hundred wild | pards,” came from the tree. It took Buckskin Bill just a second to gain the: cee Apaches yelling and bounding about like de | ‘‘ Whar is yer, Pard Bill?” shelter of the tree, another to glance out through: i mons, and that they had slain hiscomrades he | ‘‘ Treed,” was the significant response, the timber and discover that the horseman was: ‘ia felt assured. . Then the chief moved, and silence followed. alone, and a third to understand why the brave ‘if Without a weapon, he knew not what todo at{ Soon after the eastern sky grew gray, and, as | bad returned. ‘ ts first, if by instinct, the red-skins awoke. ‘“‘ He wants his bow and arrows which he left _ Ps: ‘ But, as the Apaches continued their wild Those on watch came in and reported no dan- | here. la orgies of delight, Buckskin Bill came to the con- | ger near; a fire was built and Buckskin Bill had ‘*T won’t be mean, for he shall have one of the aa ] clusion that the best thing for him to do was to | to again suffer torment with the smell of boiling arrows,” he muttered, and ere the warrior had | lace all the distance possible between them and | meat beneath his nose, ridden three lengths of his horse, the youth had ae imself, | He felt happy, however, that he bad caused | fixed an arrow to the bow and had it aimed. yA So he bounded away in flitcht, and did not | his two comrades to know that he was near A moment more and the red-skin was almost. a stop running until he was a mile away on the | them, and not a prisoner, and he knew that it | upon the boy, and then the arrow, drawn back Bis prairie, ! would give them hope that he would, as soon as | with all the strength of his arm, was let go. a Then, tired out, panting, he dropped down to | he could, get pursuers on the track of the red-| Buckskin Bill’s aim was for the throat, to kill ete rest and think. skins. instantly and to shut off a war-cry that might. Peay “The train is captured and the boys are| Buckskin Bill had*been very anxious to learn | be heard by the others, hardly more than a mile wiped out! the Indian Janguage, and he had picked up con- | away. . ‘There’s no denying that,” he said at last, siderable Apache, while Comanche he spoke The arrow-head, sent true to aim, was buried. “Tt’s all Pilot Pete's fault, too, for he prom- | quite well, after his imprisonment among the | in the Indian’s neck, and, hardly had it touched ey ised to quit drinkirg and stand guard, and now I | latter tribe. the flesh ere Buckskin Bull, with a spring like a. Ru remember hearing him and the others laughing He heard the Indians discussing their plans, | panther upon its prey, was out from behind the oe and playing cards, and seeing the firclight; but | and learned that they meant to go to the south- | tree and had seized the lb ridle-rein. ‘Se I was too sleepy to wake a ward and hunt buffalo for a couple of days, The pony, startled by the sudden appearance, fy ‘Well, the Indians waked me up, that’s a | when they would be joined by a larger party, reared wildly, and his red-skin rider fell heavily ae fact; but my poor pards are gone—all dead and | and then go and attack the Comanche village up to the ground. . . ei scalped, that’s sure. | in the mountains, But Buckskin Bill held on to the pony like 50 a ‘¢ And [ arn’t so very happy, neither. The buffalo hunting Bucksin Bill found out grim death, and his voice soon quieted the ani- an “My! but didn’t I run!” and the youth ac- | was but a blind to their intention of a raid upon | mal. | > fe tually laughed at his own fright, while half- | the Comanche village, and the red-skins then in Making him fast to a tree, the brave youth at. es asleep. | the timber had simply comeahead as anadvanco | once stepped to the side of the fallen Indian, aig ‘‘Nothing to eat, no weapons, no blanket, | party to look over the ground, who was dead; there was no doubt ofthat, The Aaa nothing. The capture of the store train, killing of | arrow had pierced the jugular vein and the war- ney ‘‘T'm in a bad fix, and the sooner I strike for | some of the men, and capture of Dan Ellis and | rior had not known what killed bim, -s wen ) the settlement the better. Reuben Carter, was also discussed with delight, For a moment the boy stood in an attitude of i . There’s the camp-fire, so letme get my bear- | and the mules and horses thus taken they then meditation, and he looked down upon the red- paz, ings, and then I’m off.” had with them, loaded down with the plunder of | skin with an air of regret. GA ee 2 e stood for a while ae toward the dis- | the wagons, the latter sy En burned, ‘He'd have killed me, if I hadn’t shot him, pect" tant camp-fire, before which he saw forms of | It wasa bitter thing for Bill to see the red- | he mused, as if to palliate his act in his own i ana f red-skins constantly moving, and then, having | skins feasting off of the provisions taken from ; mind. : ; S discovered which way he should go, he visi pte the train, and to feel that he was actually The bra¥e was a small man, with painted face; off at a trot, anxious to get as far off as possible | starving. he carried a knife in his belt, his bow and. iy before day should break, when he feared the In- He was, however, glad to find out that they | arrow werd, been left beside the tree, and thus: got, dians might find his trail and follow it. had) not suspected his presence with the train, | cost him his life in returning to get them. It was two days after, when half-starved, | and believed that they had killed and captured | The day had now dawned and the east was. 2 beme worn down with tramping, and suffering from | the entire outfit, P getting rosy-hued under the sun, and the y : . the cold nights, that Buckskin Bill is presented ‘¢ You've got me up atree, but I’m all right so | gazed eagerly about him. . to the reader, when the same band of Indians who | far,” muttered the youth. It did not take him very long to make up his. had attacked the train, and with Dan Ellis and Then he added, as he saw that they gave the | mind, as to what he should do, and gathering up Reuben Carter prisoners, entered the timber | two prisoners only a small piece of buffalo-meat | his broiled steaks he hastily thrust them into a ~ . ~~ : e “y 7 motte tocamp for the night, and by so doing | apiece: pouch which the red-skin carried, and which. ae sent him hiding up in a tree like a squirrel to es- ‘*Oh, you stingy varmints.” already held some provisions taken from the . i cape from his ceadly foes. It was just daybreak when the party left the | store train. | | £ Gr ened motte, greatly to the boy’s delight, for he knew Then he tied up the neck of the Indian, to pre- f | CHAPTER VI, that he could not hope to escape being seen in ; vent the dripping of the blood, and raising the ee + AN UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL, the glare of the sunlight. body in his strong arms, threw it across the: Never before in his life, and never since, we | _ He thought he saw both Dan Ellis and Reuben | back of the pony. ORG . y will candidly admit, did Buckskin Bill pass such pier look up sot 7 a then 6 ae stains on the Back of the nn rok > something to each other; but he kept ve ose | and springing np on the : € pon eet, « i skin Bill get ae of the timber, taking | a long night. : | A. ! Sectienl times he caught himself dropping off | to the limb of the tree, and watched the de- *, — to sleep, and, as he h to constantly balance ‘4 himself to keep from falling off, he would start pay. Wi A at the danger he was in, and keep awake for an never pepeeneeee at any event that had hap- | the evening before, 50 85 to have the tracks of th the others. | pened in his life before his horse confused ye ie so 5 seen upon the ee hour, when again bis heavy eyes would close Hardly had the last red-skin departed, when | Not a sign 0 Rohe. 3 eee ‘once again he would ear y fall off of his Buckskin Bill began to descend from the tree, | prairie, and Buckskin Bill pressed. on grote Py A ORCR. |. He was ravenous with hunger and h to | along the trait until he came to 4 ian gerbes, At last, as he was again napping, Bucksk find some scraps left by the Indians whi h he | timbered, anc of Ww ch woun ss Bill heard the sound ofa voice, could eat, though he was aware that they were berg y ln tes Mister ~ ‘i gemma "patos seh geo nh BPEL ONS ‘@ which gene ally, so to speak, gi aig d nd riding the Ry ie t was voice of one of the prisoners ad- platter clean” pacne, sai % | BS , Pat 2 4 eye hs > oth parture of the red-skins with a delight he had | trail by which the band of red-skins had come : P wt , . $ : f bd * 4 : y ” J JS : P \, 2 } pe Y 4 ac 5 Md > " . : ; Pa a é Mv) rd ; r » se ow “ ail» - ‘to . * » * ; P . ‘ aSy ad ‘ t “ & : ’ ‘ f? s sy Fs Py 7 : . ¥, sik i eu . 7, or 7° a : t eh, > ; (] q| Cc TS To oar ar Ora ee Ade a PST e 2 oe PL dee TI a, SPS apes Ltd SP igtted, Cc A 4 f ae = . 1% q -%, e a 4 . anf : ae .* + ode e by ae