Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 795 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

4 { ; « af} 4 a * > * Kit Bandy in Red Ruin. nn ee ee but of this he was promptly relieved by another | crowded back off the rock. and the next moment villain who appeared from the bushes, also, The outlaw who had seized the boy in his arms supposed be had the youth at his mercy, but, in this he was mistaken. Like an eel the Young Whirlwind wriggied out of the fellow’s strong arms, turned, and dealt him a resounding whack on the nose that brought the blood With furious oaths the two villains closed in againupon him. And theman whose life Frank had spared, recovering his senses, joined in the struggle with the boy, whose capture alive they seemed determined upon. The trio of villains grasped the lad by the arms—by the legs, or wherever they could lay a hand upon him, but now fully aroused, the youth lashed himself about like a young panther —slipping from their grasp, and striking right and left terrific blows, One moment they were up on their feet, the next down, rolling over and over upon the ground. A veritable whirlwind indeed did those three burly outlaws find the wiry, supple youth, for the longer the struggle lasted the more desperate he seemed to grow, ‘* Stay with theslippery young devil, Achilles!” panted the wounded outlaw; ‘*‘ we'll wear him out yet! Give him one in the ribs, Hector, and oo. o’ the breath out o’ the snaky young cuss The leader’s words had hardly passed his lips chen the heel of the Young Whirlwind came in contact with his stomach, doubling him up on the ground; the villain ‘*‘ Achilles” recaived a terrific slap in the face that, for a moment, blinded him, while ‘‘ Hector” was thrown heav- ily forward upon his face by Little Fury darting between his legs and tripping him up. ‘Shoot the young devil!” yelled *‘ Achilles;” ** Shoot him, ‘Hector,’ and be done with him!” ‘* Hector ” would gladly have done so, but by the time he could recover his feet and draw his revolver, the boy was thirty paces away. His pony, having run off during the struggle, Little Fury was compelled to trust to his legs, and getting out of the outlaws’ clutches he leap- ed upon the rocks below the pool and began climbing the mountain-side. The outlaws firing several shots, started in pursuit. When hesaw them coming he uttered @ laugh of defiance, and, with a wave of the hand, called them on. His expressions of defiance were answered by a sound that, for a moment, fairly stunned him. It was an Indian war-whoop that seemed to burst suddenly out of the earth below him! Stopping, he looked back, and to his surprise and horror he saw, at least, three-score of Ute savages, hideous in war-paint, swarming up the hill in pursuit of him, the three outlaws cheering thern on. » Flashing a look of fierce disdain at the yelling horde, the young mountaineer continued his nd up the mountain, gradually bearing to the eft. The acclivity was steep and almost barren of vegetation. Only a few stunted pines, and now and then a bunch of sage-brusbh were to be seen, but everywhere, like great welts and blisters ridges and points of rocks harassed the face o the hights, Little Fury was never fora moment out of sight of hispursuers, There was no chance to elude them. This he knew, but, confident of his own power of endurance, he resolved to lead them to the very summit of the rangeif they chose to fullow him so far, The boy found no difficulty in keeping out of range of their fire-arms, He even found time to seta loose stone rolling down-hill now and then, and this, in its rapid descent, would start others. Im eluding these flving missiles the ad- vance of the red-skins was somewhat retarded. Thus the pursuit had continued for more than an hour, when it was brought to a sudden and tragic termination. Little Fury had reached a bench on theaccliv- ity some three or four feet high. Along the top of this bench, resting against a fringe of sage- brush, wasa bulging heap of dirt and stone of nearly an acre in extent which seemed ready to shoot down the acclivity at the least disturb- ance, This, however, the boy did net know and reaching up, he seized a bunch of the sage-bush and endeavored to draw himself up. The bush, already bending under the pressure of the *‘sleeping” landslide, snapped off and the youth fellback. Springing up, he caught hold of an- ether bush, when, to his horror, he heard a grinding sound above him and saw the earth in front moving toward him! _ Before be could realize his danger he was an avalanche of dirt aud stone swept over him and went crashing down the mountain, gather- ing force as it went, catching up several red- skins and grinding them to shreds, and finally janded in the canyon with a crash that mad the very mountain tremble. CHAPTER VI. IN A CHAMBER OF HORRORS. For several minutes the outlaws and the sav- ages who had escaped death stood appalled by the calamity that the Young Whirlwindseemed to have hurled upon them, Darkness, black almost as night, fell around them as the dust and dirt from the landslide filied the air; and a panic would have ensued among the red-skins but for the presence of mind of the three desper- ate outlaws, e Recovering from the shock the villains gave a yell of defiance and started up the bill in pur- suit, the Utes rallying and following. They soon reached the starting-point of the landslide, but there was no sign of the fugitive. Satisfied that he had beeh caught in the ava- lanche, they retraced their steps to the valley to look for bis body among the debris, Little Fury, however, lay buried alive at the very starting-point of the slide. Whencrowded back off the bench, he flung himself at the base of the rock which was slightly projecting, and the mighty mass shot over him, But the angle of the bench was filled level full with dirt and stone, and he found himself buried, he knew not how deep. Egyptian darkness was round and about him and the narrow space in which he lay crowded was filled almost to suffocation with fine dust. In fact, for awhile it seemedasif he mustsmoth- er, but, the dust settling, he breathed freer and hope once gy sprung up in his breast. He could hear nothing of bis enemies, but de- cided to allow sufficient time for them to depart before venturing to the outer world, While thus waiting he pushed his hands beyond his head and found more space there, so hewdragged himself into it. Again he felt around bim. The passage seem- ed to continue, and by following it he now hoped to reach the open air. He knew it could not go beyond the track of the landslide, anc with no little difficulty hecrawled and ‘*wormed” along untilit seemed he must have gonea full half-mile, He thought it strange, indeed, that he could never reach the end of thetunne], He felt of the walis and to his utmost surprise found they were solid rock! Then he discovered why there was no end to the passage: he had crept into a tunne) leading back into the hilli—perhaps to the jair of some wild: beast! The “rainy at once began to retrace his steps by backing down the passage in hopes of reach- ing the point where he had turned into the hill. To his surprise he suddenly found himself in a place he knew he had not been in before. It was a roomy chamber where hecould sit upright and the walls were beyond his reach! A grim smile passed over the boy’s face, for he now realized his situation—that he was lost in a network of subterranean passages, After resting awhile he moved on. Hesoon found himself in a passage so narrow that with difficulty he squeezed through. It zigzagged first to the right and then the left, but finally landed him in a spacious room that was per- vaded with a strange, sickish, musty odor. It now occurred to Frank that he had a safe- fulof matches in his pocket, and withdrawing one, he litit. As the flame grew bright it light- ed up the dismal hole and revealed to his gaze a buman skeleton lying in the center of the place! A shudder convulsed his frame at sight of the grinning, repulsive object, and he felt relieved when the light went out. But, the dreadful thought rushed through his mind, in an instant, that he was not the first person who had been lost in those delusive passages. Leaving that deatb-chamber he crawled away, resolved to find his way out. For an hour or two—it seemed twice that long to him—he drag- ged along the gloomy tunnels that wound and twisted among the rocks, and finally entered what he found to be another large room. He lighted another match, when, horror of horrors! there Once again before him lay 4 grinning skeleton |! A feeling akin to despair entered his breast; but he quickly banished it, plucked up his cour- age and renewed his determination to find his way out of those chambers of death. He was not certain that the skeleton before him was not the same one found before, nor was there any way to determine the fact. But, marking the ——— eC - E —————_ 0808&&EO®O§”“COO_0Q0— a - eee — ee TT LLL LLL LLL LL _ place so as to be able to recognize it should he wander back, he moved on. Sige? he began to feel tired and drowsy and realizing the necessity of a clear mind an vigorous strength, he laid down in the passage and went to sleep. W hen he awoke he felt refreshed, and at once resumed his tramp through the dark and silent hall. He traveled what seemed miles, but al- ways only to find himself back in that chamber of horrors with the skeleton! This was enough to have discouraged the strongest heart, and a less plucky spirit would have yielded to despair, as was doubtless the case with the spirit that once animated the now fleshless frame before him. But not so with Little Fury. He was determined to escape or, at least, keep on trying until forced to succumb to hunger and thirst, EHow long he had been in the cavern he knew not, but it seemed a week. Three times he laid down and slept. Finally be began to feel the pangs of hunger, and tbis was followed by thirst. Still he kept Steg + and when, for the fourth time, he wandered back to that death- chamber, he. began to feel discouraged. His hands and knees were sore from Novae in contact with the rocky floor. His strengt was failing for want of food,and his whole body was becoming hot and feverish. His mind, however, remained perfectly clear, and upon this the youth still based strong hopes, . Slowly he continued his wanderings. His thirst became more aggravating. For the fourth time he laid down to rest, and then, for the first time he heard, or imagined he did, a sound—the sound of dripping water. He sprung up and listened. He heard nothing. After all it was only a delusion of that horrible place—a delusion that rendered keener his pangs of thirst, Almost in total despair the boy laid down again, when he heard that sound repeated, He listened with his ear to the floor. 6 heard the steady drip, drip of water without doubt. It was a blessed sound,and he was almost afraid to stir lest itstiGuld cease. In a delirium of hopeful excitement he lay prone upon the ground, listening like the en- chanted mariner to the siren’s song. To locate the spot, or even determine the direction whence the sound came, he found was a difficult thing to do. He finally concluded, however, it came from down the passage before him, and he crept for- ward, counting his steps as he advanced, After going ten paces he stopped and listened. Blessed sound! he could now hear ini cmanteh t And hark! another sound greeted his ears! It was the sound of human voices! Atlast his hour of deliverance from the Cham- ber of Delusion had come! An He forgot his hunger, his thirst, his pain. He » stood up on his knees and was in the very act of uttering a shout when his better judgment pre- vailed, and his lips remained closed. The voices he heard might be those of enemies, A light suddenly shone out before him, It was a dim, artificial flame—not that of day. Those voices he could now hear distinctly. He crept along the passage toward the light and soon discovered that the tunnel opened into a large cavern. Venturing still closer, the boy cautiously ered into the lighted chamber, then drew. ack, thankful that he had not uttered the shout which that first impulse of joy had prompted. For in the cavern he saw no less than six men, among whom were the three vil- lains that had attacked him at Bethesda Pool! Nor was that all he discovered. At one sida sat a female form, her head bowed upon her hand, her slender form shivering as ever and anon a low sub «scaped her lips! CHAPTER VII. IN THE DEN, Ir had been khown for some months that a band of outlaws calling themselves Trojans in- fested the hills lying between Leadville and Red Ruin. . , That he had at last found their stronghold Little Fury had not a doubt. , When the youth looked in upon them they were eating a lunch, atthe same time carrying on a discussion in which there seemed to be some difference of opinion. But, who could the woman be? This the young scout asked himself overandover He was satisfied she was there against her own ee for she appeared to be weeping and in great d tr