Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 525 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

»“So has you, and maybe it won’t be long afore it, nuther, Mister Nick Rawlings.” Again the shot struck home, for the man pal , and with a muttered oath, threw the ariat end he heli from over the limb of the tree, and theu took the coil from about the neck of the negro. ‘* { was only tryin’ ter skeer yer, Scraps,” ‘* Waal, yer scared me considerable.” ‘* Yer has grit.” *T has grit ter do what I knows am right, if I gits kilt for it.” ** What’ll yer do fer me ef I saves yer neck?” “Ther boys will be bere afore long.” “That's sure.” ** And iuey’s) hang you, onless I says no.” ** They'll bang me anyhow.” ‘ Not ef lL says no.” ** Yas dey will, for dey hain’t gwine ter come | way here for nothin’. ‘*Sim Lucas bab told ’em dere was to bea | hangin’ picnic, and dey wants ter see what dey comes for,” ‘** ll have ’em hang ther Injun.” : _ ** What bab be done?” ‘* That’s what you is goin’ to hang him for?” 4 Yes.” ‘‘T is guilty ob de same; but you jist spare dat Injun, as dey hain’t no reason for hangin’ him and me too,” ‘ The cowboy was about to reply, when far off across the plain, he caught sight of several borse- | men, ** The boys is comin’!” he cried. ‘*Oh, Lordy!” groaned Scraps, and he swept the prairie with his glance. Then he beheld a party of four horsemen com- ing over a rise, and in another direction were ‘** There’s not enough of ’em fer a jury, but that don’t mind—you’ll hang, both of yer!” said “" Nick Rawlings, with a malicious smile, while f Scraps, turning to the Indian, shook his head sadly and remarked: ee Wolf, 1 guesses we hab got to die.” ‘** Die one time, no more,” was the laconic re- ply of the Comunche. ‘Tl wish I had never left old Alabama,” mur- a bw : As they were in too dangerous.a locality to e to light a fire, Night Hawk and Broncho ill hunted up the spring, watered their horses, and filling tueir canteens, rod The horses were. staked out to short lariats, Tittle, and the bits taken out of their mouths, Wy Sa * Then the two scouts spread their blankets and at sat down to eat a cold supper, consisting of — at wagou-train from Lieutenant Dana, for their | supplies had run down to jerked buffalo meat a: and cold water, | After their supper, which they enjoyed as such | men will, who can rough it wheu need be, they went off on two separate scouts, each walking out for a distance of several hundred yards, and then walking ina circle around their camping- until they met. “7 dou’t think taere are any Indians aro | _ George,” said Broavhy Bill ane the circle. LS i} Sat 5 oe : es , oe,’ such that they cannot ride very near to our | camp, so here’s for a sleep,” replied Night eve — : ped in their blankets, fasv asleep. | suddenly rose to a sitting posture, | “Did you tear it, too, George?” asked Bron- | cho Bill, in a whisper. | ve be a Something waked me, but I do not know | Ler cee hat. Beef Then let us get to our horses and be ready.” — — Pheir blankets Were quickly rolled up, and gliding to the side of their horses, which we Still eating were slipped i Ant es Se " , mouths of the animals, and bot re nade to ' ; > : : \ “—T ’ nN a + > : ‘inn : . i re ‘ ‘ f fs ie . Wr ps e~ oS, “4 ,r" re eng “ -* ; » Td | | ‘ Nothin’.” | | ' three more. ‘ready saddled, the girtas being only loosened a | some provisions which they had procured at the | “Nor i; and the nature of the ground here is | Hawk, and five minutes after they were wrap- | rift ‘* it was tne cough of a horse, or of a buffalo, | sides, lying flat down, and placing themselves | _ at their heads, the scouts held their hands lightly upon their nostrils, | Then came a sound from off on the prairie, | lé was a human voice, | Soon after was heard the swish, swish of | horses going through long prairie grass, and the trained eyes of the scouts saw through the darkness the outlines of horses and riders, They were coming almost toward them, and | yet both Night Hawk and Broncbo Bill knew | that a wash ia the prairie would cause them to | round it, thus carrying them some two hundred . ** How saves me?” feet away. In silence they waited, half lying across the heads of their horses, to prevent their rising in fright, or neighing, and with their rifles ready to fire should some keen-eyed Indian detect them lying there. That they were Indians the scouts knew at a glance, They were riding in single file, and in silence, | thougb one had spoken a moment before, doubt- | ' less ointing out the motte to his comrades. ‘They are going to the motte to camp,” whispered Broncho Bill, ** Yes, let us count them,” They had now come to the water wash, or divide, and after a short halt began to bear away to the left to round it. ‘There seemed a long string of them, and as ‘they passed within two hundred feet of the scouts, each man was counted, -\t last the column disappeared, winding on ward the timber, nearly half a mile away. ‘* T counted thirty-seven,” said Broncho Bill. ** And I the same; but did not our horses be- ‘have well, Will?” A Like little gentlemen,” returned Broncho ill, T'ben, leaving their horses lying upon the prairie, the scouts hastened on up the rise and gazed after the retiring savages, They were filing into the timber, and soon disappeared within its shadow, “Going into camp,” laconically said Night Hawk. ‘* Let us give them a hint that they had better move on.” _ to | ‘* Fire upon them?” i to -mured Scraps, and into his large dark eyes ‘6 Vos.” vt Be came tears as. de apie up from his heart ‘Well, if we throw a dozen shots each, in ’ rs of the olden time on plantation, | rapid succession into the timber, they will think * ae te diane we are a party of soldiers; but we must fire be- ';, oe Spe our blankets, so that they won't see the S ve , A : ' flashes, k oe t. om ahr oh = | Broncho Bill hastened back and got the horses és . | up, ready to mount, and staked them close to- gether, Then the oldest blanket they had, one that | had seen the hardest service, was carried back and fillin; 7 @ out upon the | to the top of the rise and their horns, which the prairie, where there was a hollow in the land, | scouts always carried, were made to do duty by being stuck in the ground and the blanket made | fast to them. ‘ In the timbers now a light glimmered, and soon several fires flashed up. ** Those fellows are bold, for I hardly believed they would light a fire,” Night Hawk said. ‘* They'll wish they hadn’t,” was Broncho Bill’s response, and he took his stand behind the blanket.. The distance from where the scouts were to the timber was within range of their rifles, and tuey bad that confidence in themselves that they could give the Indians a severe fight, mount — their horses, ride down the slope and get away, _if purs ed, Ready, Will? and Night Hawk crouched on the ground behind the blanket, the rifle muzzle when they met on | | close to it. ‘ ‘* Yes,” and Broncho Bill took the same posi- ion. | ** Fire!” _As the word left the lips of Night Hawk, the es begun to rattle forth, and the bullets went pattering into the timber, for the scouts had so gauged their range and taken aim that they me ii lead right where they intended. There was a wild chorus of yells, the neighing and snorting of frightened mustangs, and witbin half a minute of time over twenty bullets had | failen into the timber, some of them finding & | target either in a warrior’s body or a mustang” though tbe distance was too great to do g damage. the tramp of hoof ; ae seized their bows and the blankets and ran back to their horses. Springing into their saddles they rode toa ion to command a view of the prairie, and horses dropped upon their lacing his hands to his mouth, Broncho Bill partners, Sim: and me, ter keep house re- nig ter us th us our Wages and we kin ee | + eas thet surprised, pards, I were choked; but ther Sort show . | papers, — _ were his instructions. rolled out an exact imitation of a bugle sound- ing. the rally. he effect was electrical upon the savages, for, though they had hastily mounted their ponies 'to prepare against an attack, they now felt that a large force of cavalry was upen them, as following the bugle-cal) of Broucho Bill came the trumpet tones of Night Hawk ordering | troopers into line to charge. _ Away through the timber tore the Co- | manches, out upon the prairie at full speed, ex- pecting each moment to see a body of soldiers in full chase, ‘* Stampeded!” quietly said Night Hawk. ‘Yes, we skedaddled the entire outfit,” and _ the two scouts laughed heartily over the funny affair, while, galloping off to another camping- | place a mile away, they siept quictly for the ance of the night. CHAPTER XII. : A MOCK TRIAL, Wirn a hurrah and a yell the cowboys, which had been seen coming across the prairie by Nick Rawlings and his two prisoners, dashed up to the door of the ranch, and were answered with ¢ a wild war-cry by the gaunt individual, who had so nearly choked the life out of poor Scraps. _ Among the cowhoys of the plains—come they from Montana, Culorado, or Texas—there are a great many noble specimens of manliood; but ' then there are a number who do duty as such, who are little better than horse-thieves and horseback tramps, | They stick to no work when they can steal, are ever ready for a fight, if they can make any- | thing out of it and their evil deeds reflect upon the honorable men who are known as cow- boys. These whites are the ‘‘chaff” amidst the wheat, and law is doing much to root them out | now by putting its heavy band upon them where . a few years ago they could terrorize a commu. ay | nity. | Those cowboys whom Sim Lucas had brought ' to the ** hanging ,’ as he had called it, were certainly a bad lot. | They herded upon the ‘disputed ground,” where they could dash into Mexicoif need be, _ or run a drove of cattle across the river, which- / ever would pay best. . . They were under employ, and yet a wild, des- c _ perate set, ' Sim Lucas bad picked his men, seeming to know them well, _ §So when he rode up to the ranch, accompanied. | by six comrades, they were ready for any deed that might turn up, To add to their recklessness, Nick Rawlings ' greeted them with an invitation to drink, brin ing out for the occasion a bottle of fine o do brandy that had belonged to the ranchero, The liquor was dashed off, the ponies we | staked out, and one buge fellow said: t ‘* Now tell us what’s up, Pard Nick, fer Sim only axed us to a hanging bee.” ‘*Waal, pards, thar has heen a foul murder committed,” said Nick Rawlings, in a tone that was meant to seem distressed, ‘‘ A murder!” cried a number of voices, «es Yas.” ‘* W bar’s ther corpse?” ‘* Ther corpse are buried.” | ‘““Who were kilt?” asked the big buy, wit? appeared to take upon himself the duty of qu tioner, and which noue of bis comrades, for ‘sons best known to themselves, questioned might NO eg kilt, the hand : fel- * Our s were ; andsome yo e nd Sim in fn ler as owns this ranch, and tuk me and as partners only last week,” * Who kilt him?” ‘‘ Waal, pards, | kin git onter it. Yer see t’other day thet Injuan come along here, and he and ther nigger held a powwow over yonder in ther woods. a * T sees em and | wondered what it were all about. wy ‘Then ther Injun he lit out, and soon a the boss, Pard Henry we calt him, said he w goin’ ter buy some more cattle, | “So off he rid, with ther nigger, leavin’ r | rand ther Injun, and the black imp tel! _ boss are dead, kilt by Injuns, and he will ° a wants ter tell yer nigh as I i arter the critters. ‘‘ Waal, last night who comes back but and he ‘ t 4 s inde’ py » SB PE wg Jp vo 3 ae. -