Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 656 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

' — | ———— + ae 3 , BY . ” 4 ernisets 2 : A Sf x \. °) ‘ A Le - | “ : a » asked : H —*. >. wor 4 4 “ 5 * . “ Well, Billy, what have you discovered?” he “Trails that are fresh, of an iron-shod horse, some two miles from here, and which does not follow the Overland ‘Trail, but goes parallel with it, tapping it every half mile or so,” ‘‘It was made by the horse of the Giant General,” ‘“ Ah! you have mado some discovery?” ** Yes, 1 have seen the Giant General.” ‘Thank Heaven!” _ “Tcould have killed him, for he passed with- In easy range of my rifle; but I refrained, as you told me that he must be taken alive.” ‘** Yes, he must be, for upon what he tells me much depends.” ‘** Very well, you have got him placed at least for I tracked him, after he passed, to where I am certain he has his lair, “It isonaridge thatis hard to climb, and there seems to be but one way to get up, though he must have a means of retreat also, ‘*To-morrow early I will guide you to the ridge, and you can goon up and sec him, and you may be sure that I will be within call if wanted,” “You noble fellow; but did you see a of his red-skin scouts, that White Buffalo let him have?” ‘* Nota sign of one, and we must be on the lookout for them.” _ ‘Yes, we must, but the Giant General is my first love, and to-morrow I strike his trail and leave it not until it ends in his death or mine, if he does not tell me what I would know, for he alone can do it,” and the youth spoke with an earnestness that convinced the scout that he meant all that he said, After a hearty supper they sought their blankets, and slept through the night. It was dawn when they arose, had breakfast, and soon after started on their way to find the trail of the Giant General, Butterfly Billy went on horseback, riding the Indian pony which they had brought along as a pack-animal, and which was the large spotted mustang which White Buffalo had ridden away from the Sioux village, || He had also on the pony an Indian saddle and bridle, and in his rig of a red-skin certainly ’ looked the young warrior to the tepee born. “ He is still on the ridge, Billy, unless he has Zone away by some other trail, which I do not believe, for this is not stage day and there is nothing to call him out of his den,” said Buffalo ill examining the trail closely, “* My good frienc, I intended to te] you last night a secret, but had I talked over the matter it would have gotten me to thinking and I would have lost a night’s rest, which I needed, — ‘‘ Now I wish to tell you, so that you can un- derstand ek: Idid not wish to kill the Giavt General, and also, if I should be killed, to beg of you to take up the trail where my death would leave it off,” “Command me, Pard Billy, and I am your pard unto death,” **T know that well; but to my story. “* My father I do not remember, for he died when wee a mere egy ewe mother, from some sad happenings in her life, sought to hide herself from her kindred and friends, ‘and found a home in Texas. ‘‘She made a lovely home there, and I was happy, and I believe that she was too, ‘But one night our home was raided by a band of outlaws from across the Rio Grande, and who were known as the Wolves of Mexico, “Their chief had won tha name of Captain Coyote, bis real name being Wolf, 1 believe, _“ Well, an old friend, a lover of my mother’s, whom she had been forced to discard to marry a ch man, at the command of her parents, went to California and dug a fortune in the mines, ‘Then he came and settled near us, and was seg captain of our company of Ranchero Ran- ¥ One night the Wolves of Mexico, led by Captain Coyote, attacked the settlement, It would have been a surprise had I not been out hunting and discovered the camp of the out- |. laws, while they were waiting tocomein to the attack, “Warned by me, we were on our guard, and beat off the raiders, but my poor mother was kidnapped by them, and so, also, was the friend I speak of, Major Mabrey, he of the outlaws, by name Yankee Ross, _ Tsaved from being hanged, and he made his es- _ cape; but I took the trail, and after three years came here, as you know, “The man Yankee Kit, was he whom I had _ known as Yankee Ross, and he was but the lieu- : ae te ‘ 4 bee" - 4 * * ~ Man. ak . a 2 - an 7a a so i ae 4 Ag Wasa > Billy’s é * p>. © oe << _ 7 s A “ t . hs : e 1 2 re « ” F = ie ss : »* * « es ‘ >» . A ’ a» . : ” > ie “vy ‘ = a ten 8 . if . ox Sys- ~, ; aN aes . tenant of Captain Coyote, who was the power | black animal, and a splendid specimen of horse- behind the throne. ‘*T captured the Giant General and he told me that my mother was dead, and that Captain Coyote had buried her in the mountains near Castle Rock. ‘* Because he told me the truth, it was I who aided him to escape from Fort M——, and I am ever so glad that the soldier whom he wounded that night did not die, and now you can under- stand why I gave the poor sentinel a present of a few hundred dollars,” ‘Yes, I understand now,” replied Cody, quietly, ‘* Well, the Giant General did not meet me as promised, but wrote me a note and left it at the place where he was to meet me, ‘‘ With this note, telling me all, I started to find my mother’s grave, and who should I dis- ad there but the poor man who had been our riend, ‘‘His captivity had nearly turned his brain, and he was living in a cabin there, guarding the grave, ‘*] have seen both the grave and the cabin, Billy, but little did I know of its history, that your mother lay buried there,” ‘“* She does not.” sc Ah” ‘No, for I went to Texas with my friend, Ma- jor Mabrey, and we returned to our old work as rancberos, ‘* But some months ago a peddler came along, and I recognized him as Yankee Kit, and made him my prisoner, ‘Then he told me, under fear of death, that the Giant General had left the band, spent his money and he had given him funds, so that he ha come back to the Overland and begun again his life of outlawry, ‘Ie told me too that my mother was notdead, and that Captain Coyote was the secret chief of the Mounted Miners of the Overland, and the pard of the Giant General, who knew just where to find him. ‘‘T left Yankee Kit with Major Mabrey as a prisoner, until I discovered the truth, and set out again upon the trail. ‘I went to Castle Rock and opened the grave, and instead of my mother’s long golden hair on the one buried there, were the short black locks of a Mexican woman, justas Yankee Kit had told me I would find.« ‘Then I went to Omaha, saw the manager of the Overland, and took the trail again, nominally asa Pony Rider, but really as a detective, “If I capture the Giant General now alive, then [ shall know all. ‘‘Tf I am killed, then T beg of you to take up my trail and rescue my poor mother’from the fearful life she must endure.” ‘* I. will do it, Billy, I swear it.” ‘* Tell her how I strove to find her, and bid her return to the old ranch in Texas,” ‘I will; but» I do not have an idea of your dying, for you are not built that way, Billy,” cheerily said the scout. ‘‘T am only preparing against accident, you know,” “te All right, now go ahead and stir up the tiger in his den, and if you need me, call, and I’ll be The youth shook the honest hand of che noble anu and mounting his horse, rode on up the ridge. _—_——— CHAPTER XXY. A CONFESSION, Up the steep trail rode the disguised Pony Rider, until at last he dismounted, to s his horse, and Jed bim up to the top of the ridge, As he was about to mount to ride on, he sud- denly beheld the tall form of the Giant General not thirty feet from him, and his rifle was at a ready. ° He turned and called out; ‘‘ The great chief, White Buffalo, leads me to his Sete brother the Gold Shoulders.” This was the name the Sioux had given the outlaw on account of the massive gold epaulettes he a th . ‘Iam glad to see the young chief, the friend of my BFother, White Buffalo,” replied the Giant General in very bad Sioux, for he knew little of the language, and this the Pony Rider was delighted to discover. “i hen motioning to the supposed Sioux to fol- low him, he led the way back along the ridge for a hundred feet to where there was a small cabin near a spring of water, while, hitehed not far away, was the steed of the outlaw, also a flesh, Knowing something of the customs of the Sioux, the youth, when he dismounted, raised his hands above his head, and then taking off his weapons, a revolver, tomahawk, old-style rifle, and bow and arrows, laid them on the ground, The Giant General at once did the same, as a proof that be also meant to have peace, and then led the way toa log and sat down, the sup- posed red-skin doing the same, Taking out his pipe, the outlaw lighted it and ave a few whiffs, and handed it to the Black or e Rider, who did likewise. ‘Now, what has my red brother to say?” he asked. é “* That you are again my prisoner, General J” and the disguised Black Horse Rider covered the man’s heart with a revolver, A yell of rage from the giant outlaw as he thrust bis hand into his bosom, and it returned witha revolver. Then, in self-defense, Butterfly Billy pulled trigger, but he lowered the weapon so as not to pierce the man’s heart. The outlaw fell at the shot, but he pulled trig- ger, too, and his bullet cut its way through the shoulder of the youth, but, unheeding his wound, he knelt by the side of the man he had shot, and cried earnestly: ‘Sol Soule, death is upon you, and for the love of God tell me what you know of Captain Coyote and my mother, for she is not the one at rest in that grave near Castle Rock?’ The outlaw answered in a low tone: ‘**I believed so when I told you, now I know that she was not dead then.” ** But is now?” * Yea.” ** You swear this?” ‘ Yes,” ‘*' When, and where did she die” ‘I believe that Coyote killed her, though he said she took her own life—that she sr rung from a cliff into a mountain river; but I believe he threw her off. At any rate, she is avenged, for I killed Coyote.” ‘*My God, man,I can grasp your hand in friendship for this act, and—” Butterfly Billy said no more, but reeled and fell, just as Buffalo Bill came rushing upon the scene, Cody looked to his boy pard closely. ‘‘The wound is not dangerous, but he bas fainted from the loss of blood. I must get him to the fort,” decided the scout, So saying he dressed the wound as well as he could, and not until then turned to the Giant General, ™ And he is dead; so that ends it all, I sup- se, With this the scout, with real humane regard for the dead outlaw, in spite of his crimes, bastily set to work and dug a shallow grave, in- to which he placed the body, and laid logs over it to prevent the wolves from digging it up. Then he saw that Butterfly Billy was feeling stronger, and aided him to mount his horse: while he, after a hasty search of the cabin, sprung upon the back of the outlaws steed and led the way down the ridge trail, The ride back to the camp took half an hour, and then the two rode slowly on their way to the fort. The scout was as tender of his young pard as a nurse is of an infant, and halted often for him to rest, for the youth had’ lost so much blood that he was painfully weak, At last the fort appeared in sight, and an bour after Butterfly Billy found bimself in oreo DeLamater’s quarters, for the lovely wife of the surgeon insisted upon having it so, saying that the hero could have the better care. [t was long weeks before Butterfly Billy arose from his bed, for fever set in and his life at times was despaired of. But, at last, he became himself again, and had the pleasure of knowing that he had been ordered to Fort M——, asa lieutenant on the staff of Colonel Carter; and, better still, that he had really had the heart of his commander’s beautiful daughter, He wrote to Major Mabrey to jet Yankee Kit go, for he had told him the truth, and that he might expect him home when ho got his first leave of absence, And out at Fort M—— Butterfly Billy is still remembered as a young hero, and always spoken of as Buffalo Bill’s protege, THE END, Prey. |! see