Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 870 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

An- ALT nin an eet me OSC cin iss ea- the hat fen OW es | fed | 1er it ild els im id- ith ad. on- it. yer the ng the ex: ed, tle In- in- oly rae <ill ere the su- | the | rol- } PTY || sin ous | in em ere nt, ng, en- of ed, | rm- | to i] ing | ple hat. im: | ans | ] foe | ars | a eee A > ! ® & v ¥ y er “a+ | Be dusky face of. he standing unmoyed be Norway Nels, the Big Boy Mountaineer. The entrance to the cave was low and narrow, and upon all-fours the fugitives had to crawl in, Dan going first and Norway bringing up the rear. About six feet from the entrance the hole widened and deepened until it assumed the proportions of a small cavern, and behind an angie, where they would be out of reach of an exploring shot from the entrance, Nels placed his friends, then, with a breath of re- lief he seated himself, saying: “There, now; they may have us bottled up, but I can defy the hosts of Satan to enter this hole and take us out, dead or alive!” ‘We hac a lively time o’ it gittin’ here,” remarked Dismal, ‘‘and ’ll have as lively gettin’ out.” Ls jont tae . ‘By the way, Dan’l,” Nels inquired, sa our ankle dislocated or sprained?” ‘‘Piscolated, Nels,” Dan answered in evi- dent pain. ‘‘it’s turned over on the side and paining me terribly.” ‘Then it must be attended to,” said Old Dave, and he proceeded to examine the young ranchman’s injured limb, He could only do so by feeling, for it was dark as Egypt in the cave. ' As Dan had said, he found his foot turned on the side, and the first thing to be done was to remove the boot. Dan_ suggested that he cut it off, but Dismal deliberately seized it by the heel and toe and began pull- ing, with the result that tbe ankle bone slipped into its socket with a snap and the work was done. ’ “There you are!” exclaimed Dismal, as though pulling people's joints together was a common, every-day affair with him. “Thank you!” breathing short, for the pain of the operation, brief as it was, had been most excruciating. Meanwhile, Nels was closely watching the mouth of the cave.’ The yelling of the foe had subsided, but well the hunters knew the search was going on. Several times feet had been heard hurrying past the cave, and it would only be a question of time until their retreat would be found. “Friends,” young Temple finally ob- served, ‘‘if you folks can get out of danger without me, don’t hesitate a moment in doing so. You have already risked—” . “Stop that, boy!” interrupted Dismal; ‘we're here to stay right by you. The Red River Rogues loves just such entertainments as we've had to-night. Norway, here, we find, isa young walrus among Ingins and outlaws, and’s furnished entertainment for friends and foes all this evenin’, ‘Thea, be- sides, Polar Sol got to hug that Ingin gal and it’ll do him more good than an elixir. He'll think *bout it, and dream ’bout it for a year to come, Polar always war easily ef- fected that way. No, boy, don’t trouble yourselves "bout us. We war never in sich a tight place but we managed to squeeze out, even if we had to starve ourselves as thin as Old Sol's jokes.” ‘Tf that consarned little heifer o’ a gal hadn’t interfered, we'd got along all right,” Norway declared. “Yes,” Dan added, ‘it was when she seized me and jerked me back that my foot was wrenched and my ankle gave way.” “Tam sorry 1 caused you pain !? — It was a low, gentle, feminine voice that uttered this expression of regret. “Belted. thunder!” burst from Norway’s lips, ‘‘there’s some one besides us four 1n this Gaye! Polar, watch that entrance, and, Dismal, you hold a pop ready! I’m goin’ to light up!” Taking a match from his pocket, Nel struck it, and shading it in his hands until it was in full blaze, held it above his head, To the utmost astonishment of the four nen, the light, as it illumined the gloom of the cave, revealed the lithe form_and pretty, fore them! ’ ' , < ’ , a. -. ; ‘ Nels Princess Ravyen-Eyes, CHAPTER XV. THE TIGRESS SHOWS HER TEETH. DAN TEMPLE was even more surprised than his friends on discovering Raven-Eyes in the cave. How she had gained adm.ssion there, and had maintained so profound a silence up to the moment she spoke, was a mystery profound to all of them. ‘“Raven-Eyes, is it possible that yow are here?’ Dan exclaimed, as the gloom succeed- ed the flash of light. ‘*T thought the pale-face knew I was here,” the girlanswered. ‘’lcamein here before any of you.” “Then you knew this hole was here ‘‘T did, and heard the big pale-face say you would come here,” she answered. “Then the Indians know of the cave, also?” ‘‘Some of them do. They will find you here. You are in great danger.” ‘But, Raven-Kyes, why did you come in here?” ‘““Did Raven-Eyes not promise to be a friend to the young pale face?” was her re- 9? . ply. ‘‘Did I not promise to keep him from harm? Am I not the daughter of Gray Fal- con?” ‘‘Yes, you promised mé all that, Raven- Eyes, and but for your kindness [| should have died of thirst in your camp. [Iam un- der éternal obligations to you for that kind- ness, and hope to retain your friendship forever. But now that [ am no longera prisoner, my friends can help me, and as you will nut want to remain in here, | will relieve you, for I know you can return to camp and do more for us through your influence there than you can here. But before you go, Raven-Eyes, can you tell me why Gray Fal- con is here with his warriors when his village is three suns’ travel toward the north?” ‘‘T know not,” she answered. ‘Did Kamas Kit and his men come with ou?” ee No; they came to our camp to-night.” ‘Do you know what became of Alfa, the daughter of Doctor Dave?” ‘‘She escaped from them when in sight of our camp-fire,” the girl responded. ‘* Alfa is cunning as a she-fox and swift as a deer, They have not found her yet, but they will. Strange things have happened to-night. Enemies lurk in the darkness and frighten our horses and strike down our warriors, yet they cannot be found.” ‘* Raven-Eyes,” said Dan, *‘ before you go eR to camp I want you to promise me one thing.” ' ‘‘ What is it?” eagerly asked the maiden. ‘That, if Alfa Bond is brought into your camp a prisoner, you will be as good and kind to her as you have been to me.” ‘‘Why do you ask this of me, pale-face?” rather pointedly. ‘Because, Alfa is a good and noble girl like yourself.” ‘‘PDoes the pale-face love her?” and there was a tremor in the maiden’s voice. ‘Well, I—I like her, [ll admit, Raven- Eyes,” the young ranchero answered, some- what embarrassed; ‘‘I like here because she isa good girl, and if you'll see that no harm comes to her [ will forever bless you.” “ Bless? what's that?’ was the surprising interrogative. i ‘Oh, il’s to pronounce a wish of joy and happiness upon you,” answered Dan. ‘Then,’ the girl exclaimed, a little terse- ly, ‘’you’ll love Alfa, and d/ess me!” ‘Will that not be fair to both of you?” Dan evasively responded, somewhat at a loss to know what the shrewd little savage was aiming at, | ‘‘Yes, it will be fair, if you think so!” cried Raven-Eyes, her voice rising with each word into a fierce passion of jealous rage; “but, if Alfa ever comes into our camp, I will kill her! and you, pale-face—al} of you, shall die like dogs in this cave!” Had a thunderbolt burst over them in that | * cave, the poor men could not h startled than by this outburs before Dan could offer a wor girl slipped from the cave out in ‘* Belted thunder!” exclaimed die is cast! The love-sick maid¢ ly in here—an enraged tigress 1 Dan’, that gal war mad in love and when she cornered you ’bout the demon 0’ jealousy was aroused, ‘*FWriends,” said Dan, serious f may think, from her remarks, thi en- couraged her in her regards for me, but L assure you that L said more ‘sweet’ things to the girl here in this cave than while in camp, for I never met ber before. If I'd ever dreamed of such a thing, | would not have said what I did. She hag been all kindness and attention to me since I found myself in that camp, but, that she was prompted by any other motive than wo- man’s sympathy and kindness for a suffering mortal, never entered my battered, aching head.” ‘‘ Tt was a clear case o’ love at fu’st sight,” declared Nels. ‘“‘And the outcome of it may be suffering and death for you folks as well as my my- self,’’ said Dan, regretfully. “Boy, don’t—don’t, 1 adjure ye, peste your head ’bout us,” demurred Dismal. ‘‘I we’re to die here, why, die it is, and we'd a well laugh and make merry as to weep an grow sad. We've no reason to feel dis tressed yet. Let that little heifer kick u all she wants to. But, dear me! how | wis she’d fallen in love with Polar Sol ’stead o you! Sold recip’ted in a holy bat o’ ye eye. But Sol never was in favor with th ladies. Years ago there lived an old squay in Minnesota named ‘Sugar.’ She wa blind o’ an eye, and owned a pet coon. Th coon 1 wanted—wanted its pelt to make m acap. Loffered her Old Sol, anda chaw tobakker to boot, for that coon. But sh said she didn’t want him—‘he heap hungr look—git en Sugar’s side where blind eye n see, and steal all the dog-soup.’ I got th coon for a drink o’ whisky.” Norway Nels broke into a chuckle o la laughter, in which he was joined b an. ‘*But, why don’t you tell it al, Dismal?’ Old Polar asked, ‘‘ The fact is, boys, w mutually agreed, years ago, that one coulc swap the other off to any woman that'd hav him, whenever the chance was offered Now, I offered to give Dismal to that sam one-eyed ole squaw, Sugar, and throw in pair o’ ole suspenders, a fine comb and a ba 0’ soap. It war a temptin’ boot I war givin’ but after lookin’ at Diss round, fat face moment with that one hungry eye, sh shook her head, sayin’: ‘Don’t want hit nudder; his face got heap too much body,’ It was only by an effort that Norway r strained himself fons an outburst of hear laughter. But, despite the efforts of thegtw jolly-hearted, whimsical old Rogues to driv despondency from their retreat, Dan Temp] could not forget that Alfa Bond was, if not captive, wandering alone through the hill And finally Nels, too, became restless, an after a moment’s reflection, he said: : ‘Friends, it seems to me a golden oppo tunity is bein’ lost here in inactivity.”- ‘‘What now, Ajax, isthe matter?” que tioned Sol. ‘Do you want to stir up th varlet nest ag’in?—flip a few more peb into their camp.” : Po. ‘‘No; but, as there’s no tellin’ when Dan * be able to leave here, I b'lieve I'll slide o and drop down to the ranches for a band cowboys and come up here and wipe thes varmints out of existence.” ie ‘That's easier said than done, Nels,” sa Temple. ‘‘I do not wish you to run a risks for me.. The savages are no dou watching this place now to riddle with bu lets the first man that shows his he You’ve already risked enough for me.” ‘ Ff “ a * aR JS GR ae ~era +, Y ’ - way ym ° . « _—' 7 ay 5 * ” ey ’ Z . ae t i ‘| se Py wt te vl eee. a See) fend | gel a eee ay, at Tf "RO LAMEOI CRG Gy rairee ite Cprh tae (ie SM ee Eee Mae fe i, $i { ~ ; ~