Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 67 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

—- he had seen his betrothed wife—the woman whom he had brought up under his own eye from her very infancy, until she should be ripe for his enjoyment. Berenice’s one word informed Arthur that he was confronted by her ian. He inferred from that that she was in no dan- ger, though toward himself he read murder, as lainly as if it had been written in letters of lood. He never dreamed of Patent-leather Joe in the light of a possible rival. He thought that his ca oe sprung from finding an intruder in the home he had kept so secluded, augmented by the fact that that intruder was one toward whom he had previous cause for hostility. Then too he would naturally be suspicious of a stran- ger’s intentions toward Berenice, whom he had reared with such evident care. To Arthur’s mind this a accounted for Patent-leather Joe’s anger. ad it not been so extreme, he would have tried to propitiate him; but he saw that the gambler was deaf to reason, and would kill him before he had a chance to vindicate himself. In that secluded valley, where even defense- less women were safe, Arthur, having been reared in the East, had not thought it necessaz to carry weapons; so he had now only his han to defend himself with, while Patent-leather Joe was armed with the accustomed bowie and revolvers, Fortunately they were not far from the mouth of the cave; and keeping his eyes fixed on those of his enemy, as he would have watched a wild beast, Arthur began to retreat backward to- ward where his weapons were. Patent-leather Joe, knowing his purpose, and having no intention to let him accomplish it, et willing to prolong the enjoyment of his evilish hatred, followed him with a creeping motion, step by step, neither increasing nor di- wminishing the distance between them. Terrified into utter helplessness, Berenice walked not more than a pace behind the gam- bler, and a little to one side, powerless to touch him or even to tohim again. Had he drawn a weapon it might have broken the charm, so that she could spring upon him and try to prevent the murder by embarrassing his movements; but while he ec forward hus, like the demon of hate that he was, she was spell-bound. At this moment the hound, Nero, issued from the mouth of the cave, and bounded toward his master with demonstrations of affectionate greeting. At sight of him a devilish idea lighted Patent- leather Joe’s face with a smile that the arch- fiend might have envied. ‘‘ Hah! Pl have him torn to pieces before my eyes!” he muttered. And crouching low, and glaring at Arthur with a savage grin, he clapped his hands and cried: ‘Take him, Nero! from limb!” With a bay, not of anger but of friendship, the dog bounded toward Arthur and put his nose in his hand, as if to show that he was a friend. “Good dog—good Nero!” said Arthur, patting him on the head. The animal bounded back to his master, evi- dently thinking that it was all right. Berenice’s heart, which for an instant had stood still, now went out to the dog in a great throb of love, and she murmured: ‘* Dear Nero!” As for Patent-Leather Joe, he nearly choked with rage. ‘* And he has won you too?” he eried. And turning, as the dog passed him to go to Berenice, he drew his revolver and shot the noble beast through the head. Without a whine, Nero fell to the ground, quivered convulsively, and straightened him- self in death. 3 “Qh Walt! What have you done?” cried Berenice, astonishment a dismay taking the lace of every other emotion. 5 And forgetful of all else, she knelt beside her dead companion. <nowing that his turn would come next, Arthur took advantage of the momentary di- version of the gambler’s eye from him, and turning, ran toward the mouth of the cave. With a savage oath, Patent-leather Joe whirl- ed around again, and fired at the rapidly-e- treating figure of his rival, and then started in hot pursuit. But Arthur gained the curtain of vines, and disappeared from view, H’s—s! Tear him limb Patent-leather Joe followed, almost at his heels, | ship, | thur Berenice was left alone, frozen with terror. She heard two mere pistol-shots. They were followed By sounds of a struggle. Clear and shrill above Patent-leather Joe’s hoarse curses rose Aunt Sue’s voice. The poor, insane creature was wrought to the highest pitch of excitement. What could Berenice do? She felt that Ar- (yet weak from illness, while Walt was in the full vigor of health) was bein and that she was powerless to help him. At that instant she heard the whinny of a and mining schemes oD parted company, with the understanding that they would meet again on the morrow, when the proposed partnership was to go into operation, and henceforth their prospecting i be prosecuted in com- pany. " ' , But feeling restless early in the morning, Ar- _thur had gone out ‘“ to look around a bit,” with murdered, | results which we have already learned. When Flash Lightning came to look for bis _“pardner ” he was not to be found; and by the horse that Patent-leather Joe had ridden into | the valley. Instantly she conceived the idea of going for Flash Lightning, to come to the rescue of his friend, She did not reflect that, for good or ill, the struggle would be over long before she could even reach her lover’s ‘ pardner.” but the one thought, to get him. She knew from Arthur’s description pretty nearly where he was to be found—that is to say, search for Arthur’s She had | ' if she were fortunate enough to find him at | home. Quickly she gained the side of the horse, mounted his back in spite of the inconvenient saddle, and urged him with voice and rein to his greatest speed. Out of the valley, and then up among the cliffs she sped, risking her life at every step, placing all dependence on the sure-foo beast that bore her so gallantly. Now scrambling up some steep incline, now slipping and sliding down some weather-worn declivity, now tearing through the under-brush, now coursing alcng a _ less-obstructed bridle- pom —on!@ver on, she sped, wide-eyed with a rrible dread, panting with nervous sobs, with her long hair streaming in the wind and adding to her wild look. Foam flew in white flecks from her horse’s lips, dappling his reeking breast and flanks. His legs were torn and bleeding, rent by thorns and cut by the jagged edges of rocks. His nostrils were distended and his eyes round and wild with the exertions he was making. On! on! unconscious that her hands and face were lacerated and her dress torn, and every muscle so strained that she could scarcely cling to her saddle! The noble girl had but one thought, that con- nected her imperiled lover and the fiend who alone could save him. Then occurred a terrible accident! She heard a fierce buzzing sound. Next her horse uttered a screaming neigh, vaulted high ‘in the air, and kicked wi dly, nearly unseating her; then coursed madly away, kicking and bit- ing, no longer picking his way, but frantically endeavoring to rid himself of the swarm of hornets that had attacked him at every point. In that place of pitfalls and perils without name, the girl knew that the animal she rode was now wholly beyond her control. Worse, he was so occupied with the torments that gave him no rest that he could exercise no caution | whatever. She, too, felt their terrible stings, as they | hung in a cloud about her, striking now here, now there, until she felt as if on fire. She could make no effort evento protect her face. next day his prolonged absence excited serious anxiety. Patent-leather Joe too had disappeared; and Flash Lightning began to fear that the coinci- dence poited to foul play. True to his friendship, the you r. if Jen a victim to the ambices rese . For days he devoted himself to the self-ap- pointed task, searching every nook and cranny within miles of Vi -inia City. He was almost in despair, when one day he heard the clatter of a horse’s hoofs along a ledge which he was traversing. A moment later, horse and rider burst into view, and he saw a young girl, with hair stream- ing in the wind, clinging to the back of an ani- mal whose headlong course jeopardized her life at every bound. Instantly he realized the inevitable destruc- tion to which she was dagen! Standing against the face of the wall, he cried: “Jump ! Iwill catch you!” As the horse neared him, threatenin him down, he fired at his breast, then t his arms with a wild yell. The animal leaped high, as the bullet pene- trated his body, swerved outward, struck the verge of the precipice, and toppling over, went hurtling down to the rocks below, to lie a quiy- ering, gory mass of mangled flesh, But the rider had thrown herself from the saddle! True to his promise, Flash een | caught her in his arms; but the impetus of her body hurled him from his feet; and, having saved her from death or mutilation, he lay stunned and bleeding on the very brink of the cliff, over which he came near rolling with his bur- den. . For a time Berenice too lay unconscious; but her fall had been broken, and her swoon was one of over-excitement, rather than from the shock. When she recovered, she found herself lying across the body of the man who had saved her life, and so near to the precipice that her arm hung over the verge. In terror she started back, and then sought to drag her preserver to a more secure distance; but her exhausted energies were unequal to the task. She next sought to restore him to conscious- ness, but failed. He lay likeadead man. She feared that his skull had been fractured. She felt that she must go for assistance. But if he recovered while she was gone, in the first gropings of returning animation he might roll over the cliff! To obviate this danger, she removed from her to ride w up | waist a silken scarf which Arthur Hamilton had In that mad ride, where to relax her hold | but an instant meant certain death, she could | but cling desperately to her horse’s back, and await the uncertain issue. More and more precipitous became the way, until she was ridiug along a narrow ledge, with a wall of rock on one side, and a sheer descent of a hundred feet on the other. With a great heart-thrill of terror she recog- nized the place, and knew that a little further on was an angle round which it required a sure- footed horse to pass at a walk. Atthe mad pace she was going, she must inevitably be hurl- ed over the precipice, to die a mangled corpse on the rocks below! Wildly she clutched at the bridle-rein. She nearly lost her seat, and her horse swerved so near the edge of the cliff that for one terrible moment she thought that all was over. Half-blinded by the sting of a hornet, and nearly swooning with terror, she dimly saw some obstruction in the path—heard a warning cry, followed by a pistol-shot—felt her horse leap high, with a neigh of pain and terror, and threw herself from his back. There was a rush through empty space—then oblivion! CHAPTER VIL A LEAP FOR LIFE!—A NEW PERIL! ON the night of their suddenly-formed friend- Flash Lightning and Arthur Hamilton worn, and with which he had playfully adorned her that morning; and securing one end of the scarf to a bowlder, she tied the other end about Flash Lightning’s wrist. Being thus anchored he could get no nearer the precipice. Then to her tremulous ties she set the tack of bearing her whither she knew not—anywhere in search of a fellow-creature who could be moved to pity. For perhaps half an hour she toiled amid the rocks, with leaden feet and swimming head. _ Then, while dark spots floated before her eyes, in and her ears rung with a dull, humming sound, she saw directly in her path a large rattlesnake, coiled, ready to spring at her. She saw the vibrant tail, the head rising from the coil and drawn ominously back, the glitier- eyes, the forked, restless tongue and the white fangs. All the horrors of a death by the _ poison of that deadly reptile came over her with _acreeping, sickening sense of loathing. SEE She would have leaped back, but her feet seemed glued to the rock. She would hav cried out, but her tongue lay like a lump of lea in her mouth. Everything faded from view but those glitter- ing eyes and the vibrant tongue. She felt as if she were floating in space. All about her seem- ed suddenly pervaded by a strange, weird music. : ; Then all died out with nothingness. She sunk down, once more unconseious! Gomicbooks Cc -_o- ae. ’ ;