Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 778 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

- Highland Harry, the Wizard Rifleman. i) Ree. fe hands present to prepare food sufficient for the entire party ; and when at length their task was completed, and they had sested themselves on the earth to enjoy it, Harry almost trembled with suspense through fear that the impulsive, devil-may-care Ajax might take it into his head to spoil the outlaws’ supper by some de- monstration or other. But before the Giant could do s0,in case he had any notion of it at all, the keen ears of the entire four suddenly detected a sound like that made by the.soft tread of many feet. so dark they could see nothing. Every man held his breath and listened. The sound grew a little louder, then it grew fainter—seemed to ss them, moving in the direction of the out- aw camp. ‘‘By the shades o’ the temple!” whispered Uncle Bildad in evident confusion of mind, ‘‘that wor the tread 0’ ghosts! Boys, this spot is ha’nted!” ** Softly! softly!’ Harry commanded, bending low: ‘‘] see shadowy forms moving between us and the outlaws’ light--moving toward them!” Searcely had he uttered the last word when there burst upon the night a scream ** Asif all the fiends from heaven that fell Had pealed the banner cry of hell!”’ ‘*Ingins! Crows!’ yelled Ajax aloud, spring- ing to his feet. ‘‘ They're onto the robbers, and I'm going to have a foot in the frolic!” _And before his friends could realize his inten- tion and restrain him, the impulsive young Giant lunged away through the bushes and with a yell that sounded like a fog-horn above the tempest-like cries of the red-skins, he joined in the attack uvon the outlaws! CHAPTER VIII. AN INGLORIOUS RETREAT, ‘CONFOUND that big, wild bullephant!” ex- claimed Harry in vexation, as the young Giant, Ajax, tore madly away and joined the Crows in their attack on the robber gang; ‘‘he’ll get his head broke and all of us into trouble.” Highland Harry was not sure of the friendli- ness of the Crows There had been for a lon time rumors of an uprising among them, ant their appearance there, over one hundred miles from the’r usual beat, made him apprehensive. True, they may have only followed the outlaws there to recover their stolen stock, but if at war with the whites in general, Ajax would find himself in no enviable position. The outlaws had but fairly begun their repast when the attack was made, and never were men more completely surprised and terror-stricken. Feeling perfectly safe from intrusion in their knowledge of being guarded by the most trusty of men stationed in theapproaches to the valley they were enjoying themselves as if at a social banquet in their own stronghold. But as that horrible yell fell upon their ears, the food dropped from their nerveless hands, and as a man they sprung to their feet and vanished be- fore the foe into the darkness as shadows vanish before a burst of sunshine—leaving behind, in their headlong flight, their weapons, their sad- dles, their supper and two or three half-stunned friends, The Crows made no attempt to follow the frightened thieves, but at once took possession of the deserted camp; and the three watchers in the bushes saw Ajax, towering head an‘ shoul- ders above the red-skins, immediately surround- ed by the victorious followers of Old Plenty Cows, They trembled for his safety, and held themselves in readiness for action should his life be threatened, They saw the Giant swinging his fists about him as if to keep the red-skins at bay, and heard him talking in excited tones, but in the Babel of savage voices they could not understand what he was saying. When, however, they finally heard him burst into a roar of laughter in which the Crows joined him in yells of saya ge delight all doubts of his safety were dispelled, However, the three mountaineers remained secreted. They were notsure yet of the Indians’ friendship for the whites in general, which Ajax had won in particular by his service in their be- In a few moments the crowd about the Infant Giant dissolved, and all seating themselves upon the ground began devouring the outlaws’ supper like famished coyotes, Ajax included, For the time being the Giant seemed to forget the friends he had so unceremoniously left in the bushes, but they overlooked this neglect in the amusement afforded them by the Infant's antic performances. But there was one who did not enjoy the big mountaineer’s proceedings, and that was the It was | luckless Bruiser Bill. Singled out by Ajax at the beginning of the attack, the outlaw was stricken down by the Giant’s fist half-uncon- scious, and, being unable to escape, he sat a pee under a Crow tomahawk, a silent, sul- en witness of his big enemy’s enjoyment, After the outlaws’ supper had been devoured, Old Plenty Cows, the chief who bad led in the successful pursuit of the robbers, seated himself near Ajax and the two conversed together for some minutes in low tones. Finally Ajax arose and, waving the red-skins a graniiJoquent adieu, left the camp and re- _joined his friends chuckling with suppressed laughter, ‘** Well, you’ve played thunder and got your supper into the bargain, haven’t you?” Highland Harry said. ‘‘Oh, King Peter!” exclaimed the Giant, be- tween fits of laughter, ‘‘ [ never, never had such stacks of fun as I’m havin’ this blessed old August night. But I didn’t forgit you, pards, and brought each of you a slab of broiled, juicy steak big as a saddle-skirt. Here, treat your stomachs to a bit of Belshazzar’s feast. And then you want to look out for morefun. Plenty Cows is going to send Bruiser Billy out into the darkness to invite the horse-thieves back into camp and give them their horses and lei ’em ‘* What does the old fool mean by that?” asked Harry. ‘Why, Death-Pop, don’t you know that a Crow Indian prides himself on his skill as a horse-thief, and has the greatest respect and ad- miration for others of the same accomplishment, be they red or white? But the Crow that gets catched at stealing a horse, or loses it after it’s been stolen, is eternally disgraced. Now, he thinks that by gettin’them outlaws back and givin’ them up their horses, they’ll be so humili- ated, crestfallen and disgraced that Jack Hart’s hull band will feel the blow and never visit an- other Crow horse-corra].”’ ‘* But perhaps the outlaws won’t feel the dis- grace like the Crow,” Harry observed, ‘‘ nor even venture back by invitation into camp.” ‘* Of course not; what’s an outlaw care about disgrace and the honors of a horse thief, as the Crow does#? As to venturing back to camp, they'll do so if they think they can get posses- sion of their’weapons, take the red-skins off their guard and clean’em out. But hark! negotia- tions have already opened. ‘Listen to the mocking-bird,’” Sure enough, from the darkness of the wooded bluff they could hear a voice calling to Plenty Cows. The latter answered, and then for fully an houra conversation was carried onin the Crow jargon. At first it was at long-range, but gradually the fellow in the darkness approached the camp until he was faintly visible in the camp light. Theresult of the. conference was that, in a short time after it had ended, some fifteen rather sheepish-looking horse-thieves came marching into camp, though endeavoring to appear cheerful and indifferent. The Indians at once set up a loud laughing, and pointing their fingers at them, began utter- ing the most exasperating jeers and taunts, The robbers, however, seemed to take it all in good part, but at once endeavored, by parley, to obtain possession of their deserted weapcns; but this request was refused them. The Indians were cunning enough to mistrust that if the villains got possession of their arms they might endeavor to retrieve their honor by a bloody assault upon them. However, they continued their jeering—calling the robbers ‘‘ squaw horse- thief,” and other exasperating epithets. Bruiser Bill kept walking about among the red-skins as if looking for sometbing or some one, as he up- doubtedly was; and while thus engaged he was followed by a little weazen-faced warrior, who ever and anon would kick out at him and neigh like a horse, This the Indian kept up until, losing control of his already inflamed temper, Bruiser Bill slapped him in the face, . Instantly the unlucky outlaw was set upon by the Crows and pounded most unmercifully. His friends attempted to rescue him, when the whole gang was attacked by the red-skins and kicked and cuffed about so savagely that they were forced for the second time to beat an inglorious retreat to the hills, minus horses, arms and reputation,* CHAPTER IX, IN THE TETON BASIN, AMONG the most remarkable landmarks of the great Rocky Mountains are the ‘‘ Three Te- tons,” a range of needle-pointed peaks, extend- * This incident is substantially true. ’ Pm Age-o & + rr ae om i we . q : SS. ing from the grand canyon of the Snake River on tte east, and Pierre’s Hole on the west north- ward a distance of forty miles to the southern boundary of the National Park of the Yellow- stone. They area part of what was once term- ed the Wind River Mountains, which region among rape bore the deserved reputation of being the most rugged and impenetrable of all the ranges of the great backbone of the American Continent. In the Teton Basin, a wild and secluded mountain recess, impossible to reach except by aid of experienced guides, a band of outlaws, composed ot white men of various nationalities and a few Indian balf-breeds, made their head- quarters. The place is alittle paradise abound- | ing in wood, water and grass; and at the time of which I write many of the outlaws were liv- ing there in houses with their families, and raising crops of grain and vegetables for their own sustenance, as well as levying heavily upon the horse and cattle ranches for two hundred miles around them. And this they did with perfect impunity. They were so thoroughly and systematically organized that, with all the care and vigilance of the settlers of Montana, as well as some of the Indians—aided by the most experienced scouts and mountaineers — they were unable to reach their rendezvous, known to be somewhere about the base of the Tetons. Many a brave scout kad started out to follow these villains to their lair, taking a trail made lain by the tracks ‘of stolen stock, but if e ever got back at all, it was to report of a trail lost in the labyrinths of black defiles with- in the shadows of the Three Tetons. But no one believed that all the outlaws of Northern Montana rendezvoused in Teton Ba- sin. There was no doubt that the band had Pi and agents right among the stockmen of the Yellowstone Valley, and the valleys of its tributaries, whom it was more difficult to detect than it was to catch the operators. It has been estimated that, during the year of 1884, two thousand horses were stolen in Montana alone by these Teton Basin outlaws, under the leadership of the notorious Jack Hart *—also known as ** Seven-up”—and one Windy Campbell. It is supposed that they ran the stock southward from the Basin and sold them.in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Of the general history of this outlaw band, however, we have nothing in particular to do, and will now conduct the reader into the Teton Basin—the outlaw retreat—without attempting to describe the tedious and perilous passage by which we gain admittance. lt was mid-afternoon. The shadows of the great Shark’s Tooth was slowly creeping east- ward across the range, when, from’ the wooded spur of the environing hills on the northern ex- tremity of the Basin, two persons looked down into the smiling valley upon the homes of the outlaw band. These two persons were High- land Harry, the Wizard Rifleman, and Ajax, the Infant Giant. After two days and nights of almost constant creeping and climbing among the hills, suffer- ing many a bruise from falls, deprived of both food and water, these two brave and deter- mined young mountaineers had at last pe trated the robbers’ stronghold undetected, hav- ing left their old friends, Uncle Bildad and Spokane, far back in the mountains to watch ~ certain pass leading in the direction of the asin. From their elevation the scouts could over- look almost the entire valley and see the out- laws’ homes. The latter consisted of about a score of single and double log cabins, all of which stood at the edge of the timber skirtin the valley. Most of the buildings were groupe together at a point two miles or moreaway, but ata point about half that distance stood three cabins within a short distance of each other. Besides these, there were two or three buildings standing off entirely alone. building of the larger group some kind of a flag was fluttering, and this was evidence to the young scouts of that building being the head- quartersof the band. Many cattle and bundreds of horses could be seen scattered over the green, grassy vale, while nearer the cabins were fields of growing grain and small patches ef vegetables. Nota person could be seen moving abroad in the valley, butin and around the larger group of cabins considerable activity seemed to pre- vail. Many men, and even women and children could be seen moving and flitting about; an finally, from the three cabins nearest to the *This outlaw was captured finally in 1886, . On the tallest y ' ‘ — rm -e Ow a - ¢ % . ies ry ‘9 ane es 7 be! 1 4 ‘ Lad ' a * ’ a ” > * « . 4 . ‘* * ay