Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 721 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

ay: Maverick Mose, the Arizona Detective. 7 the barren summits of the Sierra Madre Moun- | twenty rods wide, and it was only during a tains, Southward stretched/a succession of jag- | short portion of the day that the sunlight pen- h “All right,” returned the marshal; ‘‘if we | ©} capture the rascals we'll see that you get your he a ee if we find it in their possession.” ged peaks, whose sun-scorched and blackened , etrated its gloomy depths, i ank ye—thank ye, nded the old | rocks seemed fresh from some volcanic fire. | Cautiously Nat peered from behind the rocks, be cha ae will be ever so much obleeged ter ye if | From east to west lay a narrow, winding can- | through the foliage of a bunch of mesquite ye ao. 4 yon, dark and deep, where scarcely a ray of | bushes, that lined the front; but failed to catch at The marshal then withdrew. At the Desert | sunlight ever fell. This is known as Urkos | a glimpse of the foe, though well be knew they , Fountain he met Mockton, and drawing him | Pass, were hidden in the rocks not sixty yards away. 5 aside, said: Frank Hammond bad removed the false| Slowly the hours passed, but not a sound ee ‘“‘Some boy has robbed the two men at the | beard worn at Desert City, but Barker still | broke the stillness to indicate the presence of any aa hotel, and the question is who did it” wore the disguise he bad employed in the | human being in the canyon, savo the two men a “That’s just what’s been puzzling me,” ad- | character of Zeke Hunter at the hotci the day | who lay there, clutching their weapons, waiting mitted Mockton, Re before. for the attack, | a ‘Of course, the people think it was thetwo| ‘ Nat,” said Frank, breaking the silence, | ‘ Nat,” whispered Frank, ‘* what does it mean? j- prisoners, but, we know better. I reckon ghosts | “ there is one thing that’s been puzzling me.” | There has been no sound for ‘hours to indicate - don’t do any robbing,” and the marshal give ** What is that?” asked Nat, | that the savages are in the canyon. Can it be : vent to a low laugh. ‘ ** Regarding the blowing up of the jail.” that they have crept away, and are goue?” ‘* Nary gone!” responded Nat, ‘‘ Them Apache < devils don’t do that kind of business.” ‘‘ Then you think they are still here?” ‘ “It must have been some of the men,” ven- yi tured Mockton. 1 ** But, they had no orders?” ‘* Maybe Mockton bad a hand in it.” “‘That is likely. He could easily have mur- dered us, | am quite sure; but, it was not he sha “Near at hs a ‘‘No; that is what puzzles me. I must in- quire into the matter as soon as possible.” The Sowing oo men were set to work re- moving the rubbish, preparatory to Pe pnerso, the shattered jail. Mockton and the marsha were on the ground, and when the debris had all been removed, and no trace of the supposed mangled prisoners had been found, the two men looked at each other, speechless with astonish- ment, A moment later they discuvered the hole in the floor of the jail through which the prisoners had escaped, th looks of baffled rage upon their faces, Mockton and the marshal turned and walked in the direction of the town. ‘*Curse us for idiots!” hissed Mockton, “‘ we have failed, and that devil is free again!” _ ‘* Yes, and we have lost all chance of overtak- ing them,” answered the marshal, ‘If we had only known this at first—” ‘** But, wo didn’t,” broke in Mockton. ‘‘ We “must warn Merto and the men at once, We have made a fools’ job of the whole thing.” ‘“‘Mockton,” said the marshal, suddenly, “I have just been thinking about the two men at the hotel who were robbed.” “* Well?” **T believe their whole story was made up.” ‘** For what purpose?” “To keep us from suspecting who they were.” ** What! you don’t think?— . ** Yes—it was the two prisoners in disguise as Bure as you are living” **You are right!” he cried, his voice hoarse with baffled rage, ‘“‘ They have duped us; but, come! they may be in town yet—they think we will suspect nothing.” Swiftly the two hurried to the hotel. But they discovered that the two strangers had left town,\the landlord informed them, They had purch some arms, a couple of horses late the evening before, and had left with the ex- ressed determination to hunt the robbers own; but, whether they had gone to put this determination into effect or had simply returned to Tombstone, none could say. CHAPTER VII. |. A MARVEL! As the reader has already surmised, the two strangers who arrived in Desert City, claiming to have been robbed were none other than Nat Barker and Frank Hammond. : escape, Nat had bit upon the plan of returning to rt City under disguise, us throwing their enemies off their guard, ‘The suits worn by the two men were the discarded garments of some prospector who had inhabited the little cabin Sateke Nat’s arrival. These they had hastily slipped on over their own clothes, Then : aioe inside pocket of his coat, Nat produce the false beard and wigs worn by them on their _Teturn to Desert City. | How well their ruse worked, the reader has 8 seen. | Having ping arms and a couple of Mexi- | Yanch, By daylght the following morning, | they had entered a spur of the Sierra Madre _ Mountains, where they halted for the day, now | festing cure from pursuit. and young Hammond lay under the dow of a small tree, while a short distance 9. 8 away their two at the end of the riatas, small s bubbled up from 8mong the loose wee Bisin stealing down its Poe out once more for Hammond’s. : ponies were industriously crop-. who did it.” ‘*T know it wasn’t,” was the calm reply. **That is the most puzzling part of the whole business,” ‘‘Tbhen you suspect some one else of having done the deed?” Nat nodded. ** You believe it was the guard, then?” queried Frank. “a Yes,” “That is my opinion; but Mockton must have planned it.” ** He’s the onery cuss that set the trap; there ain’t no doubt about that; but, here is the point; the guard done the work when he came in the jail jist before we escaped,” ‘* Exactly; that is the conclusion I have ar- rived at.” — ‘* Now, the question is, how did he get the officers to go into the plot? They ain’t got no reason to want us out of the way, while there are reasons to believe that Mockton bas,” ‘There is a mystery behind it all.” averred Frank, ‘‘ and there is a greater set of villains in Desert City than has been dreamed of by most of its inhabitants,” ‘* You’re right, my boy, and some day there’s goin’ to be a big roundin’-up there—jist see if there ain’t!” ; Suddenly a look of alarm swept over Nat’s face as he sat gazing idly across the narrow canyon, though not a sound came from bis lips. Only for an instant did his countenance betray the slightest emotion, then it was calm again. Presently be spoke in a low tone, without look- ing at his companion: “Don’t you move till I give the word. We are in deadly peril. We are surrounded b Apaches ; if you make a false move we are lost. Now, when I give the word, grab your gun and run to the north side of the canyon, and drop behind the big bowlders, Then don’t waste a shot!” Frank Hammond was thunderstruck with sur- prise, though well he knew the danger of betray- ing himself by any suspicious movement, and without even glancing at his companion, he re- The word had scarcely left Nat’s lips when both men, grasping their rifles that lay in easy reach, sprang to their feet like a flash and darted across the canyon. But, scarcely had they taken a dozen ste when a chorus of savage yells broke the still- ness, and from rock and bush, a score of Apaches rose as if by magic, and darted in pursuit. The fugitives heard the report of firearms be- hind, and a dozen bullets whistled about them. But, in a few moments, they had reached the mass of huge bowlders near the north side of the canyon, and leaping across these, they quickly threw themselves behind the sheltering wall. Tho next instant the muzzles of their Winches- ters appeared over the rocks, followed by simul- taneous reports, and two of the advancing savages went down with the death cry on their lips. . With howls of baffled rage, the whole gang of reds swerved to one side and took refuge behind ‘the rocks, knowing that it would be death to face the two de te men, intrenched as they | were behind an impenetrable fortification. ‘‘There’s two of the cusses that won’t bother us again,”observed Nat, grimly; *‘ but, l reckon we're in a mighty tight.box.” ‘*So we are!” returned Frank. ‘Let us keep a sharp lookout, and make ever shot count,” | **T know it.” ‘‘ Do you think they will attempt to starve us out?’ ‘* No; that ain’t their game; it’s worse ’an that. They’re waitin’ for dark to come,” “Cy see now. Unless we can manage to escape them before they attack us, we are lost,” ‘“‘Tt looks perty black for us, boy,” admitted Nat, ‘‘ but, there is jist one chance left,” ‘* What is that?” ‘¢ They are goin’ to wait tell night before they attack us again. It will be nearly two hours he Yes.” ‘* Well, we must try to git out of here before tbat!” ‘* But they are watching us, and any attempt on our part to leave this place will be sure to bring the » hole pack down upon us,” “Tf they see us—yes; but they may not expect us to attempt an escape before dark, and if we could crawl up the canyon, we might beable to give ’em the slip around a turn in the cliff.” " But may they not be one guarding that int? ‘‘That’s what I’m goin’ to find out, Don’t move till I tell you,” and Nat began crawling cautiously up the canyon, keeping close to the base of the cliff, Ten minutes passed, and Frank saw his com- panion returning. “?Tain’t no use!” muttered Nat. “The red devils are all around us. We can’t do nothin’ but stan’ our ground and fight it out. When it gits dark we’ve got to make a dash, and fight our way through their lines.” ‘‘Whenever you say the word, I am ready,” responded Frank. A silence fell between the two men that was only broken by the low murmur of the wind along the summit of the cliffs, Presently the sun went down, and the dark shadows of night rapidly began gatbering over the canyon. ‘The two men had examined their rifles, and filled the magazines with fresh cartridges. ‘‘ When I give the word dash up the canyon, and I will be by your side,” whispered Nat. They waited in breathless silence. Deeper and deeper grew the darkness about them; then— Then came a succession of guttural ejacula- tions from the darkness across the narrow pass, In a morrent the two men were on their feet, expecting the red “horde to swarm about them; | when, suddenly a gleam of red light flashed through the Sarkisces, followed by strange, startled cries of terror from the savages, and the next moment, as if moved with a common impulse, the whole Apache band rushed head- — — down the canyon! at Barker and Frank Hammond stood as if. thunderstruck with astonishment, . What had happened to cause the panic among the savages? Neither of the two men could an- swer the question. | ; 4 The sound of the terror-stricken Apaches could be hesrd far down the canyon, as they rushed — pell-mell through the bush and over the jagged rocks, Nat, ‘“‘ what in the name of al] that’s mysterious did them devils pit scared at? '’Pears like they must ‘a’ gota g self, | i “Took!” cried Frank, suddenly, ‘“‘ What in the name of Heaven does that mean?” A strange red light had — : i along the summit of the towering cliff, casting a ruddy glow down into the gloomy depths of the pass. Then it disappeared, and al ‘Great Christopher Columbo!” ejaculated = impse of the Ole Feller bim- enly flamed up _ Ping the short gr Silence now reigned over the gloomy . | ness. | mS Shits , With ejaculations of astonishment the two narrow, rocky channel, sent up a murmur on | the sultry air. | The sun eat Gee behind the towering cliffs that jaculati 3 Ms eS To 6 north towered a long chain of cliffs, | rose ere cuiarly for over 100 feet above men ani sng te beg oe ‘f Ae ae Oy etnias with stunted cedars, while beyond rose, them, The canyon at this point was not over | — Come, rank, WRIEPSEOE NOU, | 2e8 us git Pi hoe hy Ey TP A Dro Ue gts Sar ' : ’ : . \ 2)“: ‘ a > “4 : ; pS Se Uke = ie as t aby ul Why oliiget r ak Vie, " . a eee, FE ” cher, 4 Pie dope YP Pop a ee jas AN) ea } OS COESIRNE ED BUT aa Sea Tea ed ae Ee area cee ge ee je RS Sp a ORIG ST OBC tars IE RR 8 1 Se a a a TE EY ath a co 0 ae oe a JOOKS.cCOmM