Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 64 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

| ; | a ee 5 ee oe ee —_— a scone of painted faces looked down upon the captives, il shrunk from the sight with a half-sup- ressed shriek, but the boy’s eyes flashed fire at he Indians. ‘‘ White boy! white girl!” said one brave, in whose ears two great gold earrings were fasten- ed, «, 5 Shy squaw for Oregon Leon. Boy make nor :. P les gave the speaker an approving smile, but did not reply. ” ‘‘Boy tied?” asked the Snake, glancing at the aitor. _**T should reckon he was,” answered Luke. ‘Why, he’s a very young wildcat. A precious time I’d hev hed gettin’ here if I hedn’t guv him the cords. Stan’ aside if his hands git loose, my red covies!” **Good Snake, sure!” replied the Indian, with much apparent satisfaction. ‘‘ How boy like to be an Indian?” ‘* About as well as you’d like to see a company of United States soldiers at this minute,” answer- ed Dandy Jack, with spirit. ‘I tell you now that you’ll never make an Indian out of me!” The Indian and Whittles exchanged glan- ces, ‘* White brother right,” said the former, in his cea English. ‘‘ Boy got much wildcat in m The hideous faces were now withdrawn, and Luke began to search among the goods for some ular article. He climbed into the wagon and continued the hunt, but at last began to ex- hibit signs of chagrin and disappointment. ‘‘Tt war hyar when we s ” he muttered to himself, and then with the fire of rage in his eyes he turned upon the young couple who had been regarding him with interest. ‘*Whar’s the cask o’ brandy?” he thundered, looking at Estil. ‘‘No lyin’, girl! It war hyar when we started from the Oregon. What hev ye done with it? Speak! you little minx!” The captives saw the man’s hand tighten threateningly on the heavy whip. But Estil did not quail. ‘I threw it out long ago!” she said. ‘It is back on the trail.” . ‘You did?” roared Whittles, becoming ae with anger. ‘You did?” and he drew the heavy whip back. ‘“ Fur jist one cent I’d make a mark on yer purty face that’d last yer life out. I war countin’ on that cask to conciliate them chaps out thar, an’ hyar you hed to pitch it out. nfound yer! ef it warn’t fur my bar- gain I’d open yer cheek.” With a look that would have been creditable to an arch fiend, Luke Whittles turned abruptly away and addressed the savages in the Indi a bag is words made them yell like demons, and a rush was made for the wagon. Their hands quickly stripped the cover off, and they swarmed over the sides like peace attacking: a ship. Whittles, with shouts and wild ionladicne, tried to keep them back. The villain’s face was blanched to a deathly pallor. He raised the been menacingly several times but did not strike. His story of the loss of the cask had not been crediced. ‘*Don’t tech the young ’uns an’ [’ll let ye look ° oven Ive got!” _ Pe ar’s a x mi eav rought cl’ar through from the Bivtts.” ¥ + ; From the way Long oe guarded it I should say it war filled with go d. That’s right, ie wea keep ’em back an’ I’ll hand the out. his hand rested on a large tin-box brass-bound at the corners. It bore no inscription save the side. : He was in the act of lifting the mysterious voice was‘heard. Its tones were startling. ‘“There’s death in that ee Luke Whittles!” enough to blow us all up!” ‘“‘Niter glissereen!” gasped Whittles, starting from the wagon. ; ‘ Tke terror depicted on his pallid face is sim- seemed to have risen on end; his eyes almost started from their sockets. the Snake dialect to the Indians swarming about the wagon, and they fled in every direc- e Luke addressed the infuriated Snakes words: “Precious! Keep dry,” painted on one ket from the vehicle when Dandy Jack’s the boy cried, “It’s full of nitro-glycerine; back, and the next instant he leaped wildly ply indescribable. His mass of shaggy hair In a voice of frenzy he shouted something in tion with ejaculations of mortal terror. “I thought Lige watched thet box kind o’ keerful like!” Whittles cried ingly. ‘* Niter An’ to think thet I hev lugged that —— xed up death behind me fur twenty-four hours an’ never knowed it!” / Dandy Jack. Cold sweat stood on his brow, and he felt his blood congealing in his veins, en CHAPTER III. AN EXCITING RACE FOR LIFE. A KNIFE, Jack! a knife! This cry suddenly welled from Estil’s throat, and with exultant mien she held before the boy’s eyes a buck-horn handle hunting-knife which she had discovered in the bottom of the wagon. The weapon had probably fallen from the girdle of one of the savages. Dandy Jack’s eyes glistened. ‘‘ Cut me loose, Estil!” he cried, ‘and we'll show these fright- ened fiends a trick.” Estil severed the cords svhich for four-and- twenty hours had held the youth in thrall, and he Vg Sag with a cry of joy. ** Lift the box upon the rim of the end-gate and hold it there! It is not heavy!” he shouted to the girl in tones easily heard by Luke Whit- tles and his companions, who had withdrawn to what they considered a safe distance. ‘‘If they approach near enough, throw it out and blow e whole of us to atoms.” Estil sprung to the box, whose weight did not exceed twelve pounds, and easily lifted it to the position indicated. ‘* Now, hold on!” Jack cried, glancing over his shoulder at the daring girl. ‘‘ Please Heav- re we'll go back to Lige now, without acci- ent. Quitting the Seve Dandy Jack threw himself into the saddle lately — by Luke Whittles, and seized the leathern lines secured by a half-hitch to the horn of the saddle. He had no whip, for the one which had done service from Council Bluffs was in the hands of the treacherofs teamster; but he soon learned that none was needed. Atthesound of his loud halloo, the mules lifted their heads from the cone grass, among which they were trying to d some nourishment, and showed a willing- oO on ness to ain. “We'll try the back track!” murmured Jack, as he whirled the team about, and the next mo- ment the wagon was thundering toward the Oregon trail again. A chorus of savage yells greeted Dandy Jack’s act of daring, and before Luke Whittles could interpose a hand, a shower of arrows fell around the team. ‘* You'd better not follow!” shouted the boy, who, standing erect in the stirrups, was urgi the animals their topmost speed. “If you come near, Estil will fling the death-box out and there’ll be a terrible explosion. Keep off! keep off! There’s two revolvers on this saddle, thanks to Luke Whittles.” It is doubtful if any of the boy’s words reach- ed the ears for which they were intended. The rumble of the wagon was nearly deafening, and the almost human cries of the mules, tortured by the alkali dust, were pitiful in the extreme. Dandy Jack had one hope,and that was that the fear inspired by the mysterious box would keep the pursuers aloof. until he was able to rejoin Long Lige, whom he believed to be following the trail as rapidly as ible. Estil held the box firmly on the top of the end-gate of the vehicle, She looked like a veritable wild daughter of the — her wide blue sleeves waving back over er fair arms, and her hair streaming behind her like ag pennons. Her eyes were full of fire, her face flushed with excitement, and de- termined in aspect. The unwearying animals seemed to compre- hend the thrilling situation, At least the voice of Dandy Jack was not unfamiliar to them, for upon many occasions during the march of the caravan westward he had occupied the saddle much to their aqperens Joy. or when he had charge of them the heavy lash did not cut their ears, and they h — eard good-natured words of . command, instead of curses. And now it seem- | ed that the mules wanted to repay their young master, They did not exhibit one sign of lag- ing, but kept on at a gait that was gratifying to the youth. Darkness had fairly settled over the, to the we pnb totally unknown country. But it did not deter them in the least. They knew that their enemies were following, for dark shadows that flitted behind, as yet at a respectful dis- tance, and the whiz of an occasional arrow told them as much. That box so firmly held by Estil on the rim of the end-gate still inspired the terror attached to the most x aera explosive in the world, and which the lans knew as new thunder. The saddle filled by the boy was provided with ‘a brace of holsters, each one of which was filled | 8 eee ee ee - - ee ee _— — me SE with, a Colt revolver of the ‘‘navy” pattern. These weapons Whittles had left in their places when he leaped among the Snake fiends, nor did he again think of them until he saw Dandy Jack gathering up the lines. ‘The moon! by Jove, that’s good!” the youth suddenly exclaimed, as a light in the far east told him that the full-orbed queen of the skies would soon sail above the horizon, and flood the scene with her silvery light. This was to his advantage for it would enable him to watch the movements of the foe, who, in the dark, might perpetrate some deviltry that would put an end to the flight. Early in the chase Jack had thrown the flaps of the holsters back, and the butts of the grim pistols were exposed to view, and ready for in- stant use. He felt—a something that he could not define told him—that he would be compelled to use them before day. The vast expanse over which the wagon flew was unbroken. The timber which Luke Whit- tles had skirted while directing his course to- ward the Snake country was left to the left, and Dandy Jack seemed to be guiding the across the surface of a boundless waste. He did not know to any degree of certainty in which direction he was going; but he did know that he was pursuing a course Seay, opposite the one taken by Whittles during his triumph, and this to Dandy Jack seemed the only road to safety. If he hailed the appearence of the moon with delight, the sight of her was none the less wel- come to the Indians, The bright light which swept over the barren like a flood, enabled them to see the team and note its course hitherto traced by its ceaseless rumbling, With the gf nwa of the light the red de- mons of the plains began to describe great cir- cles about the team. Their fleet. ponies bore them ahead of the jaded mules, and their wild cries told Dandy Jack and his fearless com- panion that they were anticipating a speedy triumph. ‘‘No stopping while the team can go!” cried the boy. very minute brings us nearer Lige, and he’s worth a tribe of these red fiends.” He shouted at the mules, but shouts were not needed to urge the faithful animals on. They were doing all that bottom could do, straining every nerve to take the young fugitives back to the Oregon trail. But that circle of living flesh gradually con- tracted. The Indians, seeming to believe that the explosion of the box would not spread death before the team, were concentrating there, and Dandy Jack saw the barbed arrow fitted to the string. They were going to rely on their stone- tipped shafts as the repeating rifles, purchased at the nearest Indian agency, were not taken from their backs. Whiz! came arrow after arrow through the moonlight, falling at first harmlessly around the team or piercing the bed of the Conestoga. But their aim would soon become fatal, for every discharge of the shafts lessened the distance be- tween pursuers and pursued, The boy not near enough to let fly his revolvers with effect, drop- pee *tween the saddle mule and its mate, holding the lines and thus shielding his body. But he had not resorted to this strange but effectual breastwork before calling to Estil to lie down in the wagon, which command was obeyed. Like lightning on the edge of the storm-cloud the red men of the plains hung about the doom- ed team and its occupants. Luke Whittles was not to be seen. It will be recollected that the traitor, having been abandoned by the team, was left without a horse, and there was not an extra animal in the Snake band. Had the In- dians deserted their white ally? Even so it seemed. Fast and furious rained the arrows now; the animals, struck but not badly wounded by the darts, increased their speed under the pains thus occasioned, but the increase could not last, All at once the foremost mules shied at a dark object lying in the moonlight, and among the short grass, and before Dandy Jack coul right them the wheel struck the ill-omened thing, and the wagon, lifted from the ground for a moment, fell heavily on its side! A fiendish yell from the throats of the In- dians ted this accident, and at that moment they let fly a volley of arrows, which, falling among the animals plunging about in wild dis- order caused them in their frenzy to break from all control, leaving the Conestoga a wreck on the plains. All now seemed over for the unfortunate pair! The race for life maintained so gallantly for three hours had come to an end, and the vul- epee <€om gS} (E(0)