Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 743 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

em _——. re of the firelight, and the brightness ahead of them illumined their foes distinetly. Up the hill they went, until the keen eyes of the young leader detected the ponies of the Co- manches grouped not far ahead, That they were guarded, Buck Taylor knew, but the Indian watchmen were busy just then, noting another plot to rush in upon the defend- ers of the ruin, and were not expecting a foe in their rear. ‘* Dash in and stampede the ponies, pards, and then make arush for the riders, after we give them a volley, ‘Use your rifles for the volley, and short guns at short range,” These were all the orders given, all that were needed, and as one man the rifles went up to the shoulders, the triggers were touched, and twen- ty-one bullets went into the band of red-skins upon the ridge, Then the rifles were swung at their backs by the straps, and with a revolver in each hand and yells infernal, the cowboys charged upon the Indian ponies, The stampede was complete, and the cowboys swept on to strike the astounded and frightened Indians, who were just preparing for their grand attack, which they knew must win, It was an ingenious affair, for they had rigged up with their lariats a movable fence, which they could push before them as they advanced, and the logs of which would catch the bullets intended for them, With such a breastwork of movable logs, the Comanches could reach near enough to the ruin to dash in with tbeir main force and end the fight, for they bad been kept at bay so long by the few defenders, that they feared help would arrive before they could make their swoop down upon the rancbes, And help had come, and all through Buck Tayvlor’s dream that that his old pard Bible Bill was calling upon him for aid, The first move of the Comanches was to rush for their stampeding ponies, and down the bill they went as the cowboys dashed over the ridge, their rattling revolvers bringing down war- riors here and there, And off upon the prairies came from two quarters the wild war-cries of Car! and Gor- don’s bands, and the Comanches felt that the ranchmen bad also come to the rescue. Who their first foes were they knew only too well, for the war-cry of Buck Taylor’s Boys was well known to the whole Comanche tribe. What their force was the Indians did not know, but they did know that they had come upon them from the trail they had followed from their own village, and cavalry might also be pursuing on hotly in the rear of the Herder Ran- gers. ; Their aie were stampeded, they had been thwarted in the very moment of their success, and cries from two directions out on the prairie showed that other pale-faces were coming to the rescue, while the little band at bay who had fought so bravely through half a day and the night, had now come out to fight on the aggres- sive, lt was very fortunate for the red-skins that Buck Taylor’s small force held bim back from a hot pursuit, for with half a hundred mounted men the Indians would have been cut to pieces, As it was, they left a score of dead warriors upon the hill, and a number of badly wounded, whose resistance to the last caused them to be slain without mercy, Some’of the braves had managed to get their ponies, and these aided them in heading off others, so that when the dawn came the demor- alized band of Comanches bad reached the tim- ber-belt and were pushing on in flight, many of their horses carrying double. As the rear guard of warriors, among whom was the chief, glanced back over the prairie, they saw no large force of ranchmen hastening toward the bill. All who had come to the rescue were on the bill, and as no pursuit was attempted, the chief gritted his teeth with rage to feel that they had been put to flight by a force too smal! to follow up their triumph. But they dared not go back and fight it out, for help from the settlements could not be long delayed, and then fully one-third of their ponies and one-fourth of their warriors had fallen in the attack on the old chapel, on the rush of Buck Taylor’s Boys. So, doggedly they continued their retreat until afar off was visible a columnof horsemen, and they knew that the ranchmen Were hasten- fing to the scene, Then the Comanches quickened their pace, for with Buck Taylor’s Boys reinforced by half a Buck Taylor’s Boys. hundred men from the settlements, they knew that they would be hard pressed in their re- treat, and it was a long trail before them to the shelter of their bills, And that they were wise in quickening their pace was soon shown as down from the hill upon their trail rode Buck Taylor and his men, while, leaving the old Mission upon their left, the other rescuers pressed on after the Cowboy Rangers, CHAPTER X, THH RED TRAIL, THE cowboys had kept up their pretended pur- suit until only dead Indians remained upon the hill, and they were sure the whole band was in flight. Light was at hand as they moved from the bill, and not wishing to expose their weakness, they returned to the timber, Two of the brave band bad fallen, under the Indian arrows, and half a dozen had received wounds, 80 that Buck Taylor’s first duty was to them, But, as ha rode back to the old Mission ruin, now visible under the light of early dawn, he found there Car] and Gordon’s squads, who had come in, and about them were gathered the brave party who had so long stood at bay. ‘‘A woman among them?’ said Buck Taylor as he drew near, aud as his eyes fell upon the splendid form of Ruth Redmond, Bible Bill be- held bis old pard and rushed toward him, ‘*Pard Buck, old fellow, you have saved us from death, and we are yours to command, ‘*' We fought’em off for all we were worth since yesterday afternoon, and fortunately found logs to burn and keep them in view during the night; but we had not another round of ammunition, and had you and your gallant boys not come when you did, our scalps would not be on our heads now, ‘* Bless you, Buck, my pard,” and Bible Bill, with his left arm in a sling, from an arrow wound he had received, wrung the hand of his old-time friend, as he led him up to where Ruth Redmond and the brave heroes about her stood. ““Captain Ruth, this is my old pard Buck Taylor, of whom you have often heard as the Wild Rider of Texas, and we Owe it to him that we are alive, ‘** Buck, this is Captain Ruth, as we call her, but Miss Redmond, the owner of Sunset Ranch, for she buried her last kin yesterday, and that’s what brought us here where the Comanches corraled us,” Ruth Redmond turned her grand eyes upon the young prairie hero, and taking bis hand said in her full, rich voice: ““T have heard much of you, Mr, Taylor, and am glad to meet you, while we do indeed owe you our lives as the end was at band when you arrived, ‘*But how did you learn of our desperate position, may I ask?” ‘‘ You may laugh at me, Miss Reamond, but I learned it in a dream,” ‘Tn adream?” ‘‘-Yes, and it seems I dreamed of your danger before it actually occurred, for it was night be- fore last that I saw in my sleep Bible Bill and the face of a young girl—it seems to me now that it must have been your face—and I heard my old gard calling to me to come and save you,” ‘¢ This 1s remarkable,” ‘‘ It made an impression on me, Captain Ruth, that I could not shake off, and I told it to the boys, and they said we must start at once,” ‘** But how did you know where to come?” ‘*T knew Bible Bill was chief of cowboys on Sunset Ranch, and so we made for this place, coming around by the range to see if the red- skins had come down from the bills, ‘We struck their trail, saw they were in large force and pushed on— What is it, Carl?” ‘There is a large party of horsemen coming from toward the settlement.” ‘* Good! then we can push those red-skins bard; but let us first see to our dead and wounded,” ** Your wounded I shall claim, Mr. Taylor, for I have an ambulance bere in which they, and my OWN Wounded can be removed to my ranch, for I lost two men killed, and “our wounded poor fellows,” ‘** It was fortunate that it was D0 worse, miss,” said Buck, and he at once called his men to get ready for the pursuit of the Comanches, while a courier was sent to head off tbe party coming to the rescue and have them cut straight across to the belt of timber and push on as rapidly as pos- sible after the cowboys, Four of Ruth Redmond’s party, among them Bible Bill, joined Buck Taylor in the pursuit, so that the young cowboy captain had thirty men 5 with him, as thoee who had been but slightly wounded insisted upon going also, The party of coming horsemen were seen to number all of half a bundred, and when joined by the courier all but three or four obliqued to the right to follow on after Buck Taylor, and they pressed on more rapidly as though anxious to make up for being late in arriving upon the scene, As Buck Taylor entered the timber the other party were not half a mile behind him, and he a on his horses in pursuit, he Indians had seen their mistake in delay- ing, because not hotly pursued from the first, and now went as rapidly as they could, But some of them were wounded, many were on foot, and their pursuers gained rapidly and by noon brought them to bay. From there on it became a retreating fight, one that would have been utter destruction for the Comanches but for the worn-ouf condition of the horses of their pursuers, But, as it was, they were driven until night- fall, and many a warrior was left to mark the deadly trail, while they were given a lesson they would long remember and dread, And while the ranchmen parted with Buck Taylor and his Boys with cheers for their pluck and heroism, the latter took up the trail back to their posts of duty, their ranks thinned by the loss Of half-a-dozen of their comrades, who had ‘pare graves along the red trail they had fol- lowed, CHAPTER XL THE WOUNDED COWBOY. Ruru REDMOND was one to act promptly, and when the cowboys had gone in pursuit of the Indians, along with the ranchmen the two couriers had brought to the rescue, she at once had graves dug for the dead, and the wounded cared for, The latter were started in the ambulance for Sunset Ranch, Primus and Nannie accompany- ing them, and only too happy to be on their re- turn home after all that they had passed through. The slightly wounded rode off with the am-~ bulance, as an escort, and those who were able remained behind to bury the dead, The Indian braves who had fallen were also decently buried, but apart from the cowboys and then, a8 noon had passed, Ruth Redmon mounted ber horse and rode homeward, accom- panied by her companions, The face of the beautiful woman looked pale and haggard, after the terrible ordeal through which she had passed, and yet she was not one to spare herself in the least while she could serve others. She realized fully that but for the coming of Buck Taylor and his daring followers, she would have been taken or killed, and all with her, and her home and many others swept away by the relentless savages. Tbe ranch was one of the best on the border, the building being commodious and comfortable, and Ruth at once bad the place prepared for the wounded and the reception of others, for she expected others to be bronght there, should the cowboys overtake the Comanches. To do all in her power for them, she sent two of her cowboys with the ambulance to follow the trail, loading it with provisions and piace it at the disposal of the men severely wounde to bring them back, It was the next morning when the ambulance came in sight, followed by the returning ranch- men, The latter were jubilant over their victory, and cheered as they came along. To many of them Ruth was known, and she received them all with the greatest hospitality but was surprised to find that Buck Taylor not returned, but had gone back to his post in- stead. She had "ou to get another o Portantey of thanking the brave cowboy leader for all he had done for her. In the ambulance were two badly wounded men, whom the doctor, who had accompani the ranchmen, said could not survive. One was a cowboy from Sunset Ranch, and he said, faintly: ‘‘T asked them to bring me back home to die, Captain Ruth, for [ wanted to have you near me when 1 go out of life,” “T will not leave you, Kendrick; but I hope it is not so bad as you think,” said Ruth, and she turned to the other wounded man, He, too, was a cowboy, one from the ranch of Thonias Harris, and be, too, bad begged to be taken in the ambulance with his dying comrade, cor -books-eom