Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 81 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

2 out much longer. But we have women and chil- dren with us, and we shall fight to the last and die game. Send help without an hour’s doled, or it’s all ~ up, HIELDS.”’ Covered with dust, and reeking with sweat, with bloody nostril and dilated e e, the black mustang thundered up to the gate of the fort, staggered as if drunken, and then with a wheezing moan, shivered from nose to hoof, and with an awful cry like that of a dying person, his flanks heaved and he dropped dead to the round, his lithe, sinewy rider leaping edhe the saddle, just in time to escape being crushed eath Searcely less frightful and alarming was the ap- pearance of the horseman, so covered with dust and grime, that no one could tell whether he was Indian, African, or Caucasian; but, whoever he was, he showed that he was alive to the situation, by run- ning straight through the gate of the stockades, into the parade-ground, where, pausing in a bewildered sort —, way, he glanced hurriedly around, and then *Where’ s the commandant? Quick! some one tell Solonel Greaves chanced to be standing at that moment in converse with a couple of his officers, and upon hearing the cry, he moved toward the sr with a rapid tread, a but with a certain digni- beration that always marked his move- ments. Knowing him to be the man for whom he was searching, the messenger did not wait for him to approach, but fairly bounded toward him, and thrusting a iece of dirty paper, scrawled over with lead pencil, looked gad in his face, while he read the words given a And as the colonel read, his brows knitted and his face paled. He felt the urgency of that despairin comply and he saw the almost utter impossibility o complying with it. en was this written?’ he asked, of the dust- begrimed courier. ** At daybreak this morning,’’ was the prompt re- ‘How far away are your friends?” “Forty miles as the crow flies, and I have never drawn rein since my horse started, till he fell dead just outside the gate.” “How many men are there in this fix?” “There were twenty men, and a dozen women and children. When I left about half that number were alive, and whether any are still living God only knows; I don’t.” “T hope it is not as bad as that,” said the colonel, again glancing at the paper, and involuntarily si b- eter despite his schooling upon the frontier, keenly the anguish of this wail that was barns re" him across the sad prairie. ‘*‘ Not as bad as that, I trust; for if they have held out two days, we may hope that they are able to hold out still longer. But rowel is it that you succeeded in reaching us, when aoe not?’ ling that some explanation was expected of him, wd ee spoke hurriedly, but as calmly as Ptwenty of us were conveying a party of women and children—the families of merchants and officers at Santa Fe—through the Indian country, on our way to that city, when the Comanches came down on us, in a swarm of hundreds, and finding there was no escaping a fight, we ran our wagons in a cir- cle, shut the women and horses inside, and then it seemed as if bw “te let. loose upon us. pin A shouting, screeching, charging was up a a (ay into the ont.” We picked off the red devils with every shot, but the more we killed the — they came, seeming to spring up from the ery ground, until the prairie was covered with them. At night we had a little rest, and we thought a ‘haps they would draw off and let us alone. hy they didn’t make a charge upon our camp that night, Ican not tell; but they only sent a few ay! shots, more than one of which was fatal, and at aylight the fun began again, and never stopped till the sun went down, when there wasn’t much of a pause then. That was yesterday, and we had it all through the night, and since we halted the day before yester- day, there hasn’t been a drop of water for horse, man, woman or child sO that you can see what an poe 8 strait they are in,” aeearet about the this time a group had ~ quite a _ y the thrilling tale he told, meee en the truth of which was a4 eloquently attested by his manner and appearance, ““But you haven't told us how you got here,” re- minded the colonel, as the man paused for a mo- ae “You have succeeded at least in insuring our safe o “We + up our minds about midnight last night that something of the kind had to be done, as it was our only hope. Two of our men tried to steal canght crawling on hands and knees ‘but both were within a hundred pn of the cam ne and the mma so y tomahawked, that hin an hour of getting back to tous. So I told i Shields to let me have his mustang, which is the fieetest creature on the plains, and would either through or do as the others did. So, just about I crammed that slip of paper in the side of my shoe, stretched out flat on the mustang’s back and give him the word. Away he went like a thun- derbolt, with the rifles crac all about my ears, and the Comanches thundering down _ upon me like so many bloodhounds. I felt more than one bullet in my one and I knew the horse was hurt pretty bad—it didn’t hinder his going, and the noble fellow kept straight along till he brought me here. But you ect as if you didn’t know me.” “Know you?” re the amazed colonel. ‘I never saw you before.” Beadle’s Halt Dime duel La EORTC CHAPTER 11. THE ANSWER. THe powdered, begrimed face was seen to e nd into something like a grin and raising his hand, the courier literally scra the dust from his cheeks and eyebrows, and t <3 as he removed his hat, a general exclamation of amazement escaped all. ** Jim Gibbons! is it you?’ called out the command ant, as he recognized a man who had been employed at his fort a year before. ‘I thought your voice had a familiar sound, but then your own mother would not have recognized you.’ ‘“But come,” added Gibbons, moving about un- easily, “ we'll talk over this matter some other time. ‘I've ‘brought you the message, colonel,”’ he added, making a graceful military salute. “I had heard in St. Louis that you had been sent to another com- mand, else I would have known whom to ask for. Now, can you help us or not?”’ The officer folded his arms behind his back, and walked slowly over the parade-ground, signifying by a nod of his head that Gibbons should do the same. “‘T must help you,” he said, in a low voice; “ such a call as that can not pass unheeded. But, Jim, te see my fix. We ought to have a full regimen arrison this fort, and the Government allows hs ut six hundred. Two hundred of these men are on a scout up toward the mountains, and won’t be in till dark. Do you know, there issome reason to fear an attack upon the fort, from a combination of several tribes under the-direction of the infernal Co- manche, Swico-Cheque?" “Why, he is at the head of the devils that have our friends walled in. I know him too well, and have seen him a dozen times, circling around on his horse, yelling like a thousand panthers, and firing about a dozen shots a minute. I have » fired at him five or six times, but never grazed him once.’ “Well, I think it is more than likely that we shall have an attack from him. Now, you know some- thing of life on the plains; tell me how many men you need to bri ing your friends into the fort?” “ We ought to have a hundred, at the least.”’ ‘You ought to have five hundred at the smallest calculation. I tell you the Indians in this part of the country are among the best core and hunters in the world, and if I send a hnndred men out into the country, where the ¢ are sure to come against old Swico and his band, the chances are that they will all be served as were Colonel Fetterman’s men at Fort Phil Kearney, a month or two ou know that overa hundred of them went out, and never a one was ever seen alive again.” ‘*But, if I understand t matter right,’’ replied —— Dead Man’s Gulch, and the release of the beleaguer- ed ones was now the question above all others. It required but a veryshort time for the party to complete their preparations. Out of the ceemingly inextricable confusion of stamping horses, and men run hither and thither, all at once appeared full one hundred men, mounted, armed and officered precisely as they had been direc An orderly stood holding the horse of Colonel Greaves, until he was ready to mount, while another was at Gibbons’s disposal. The next moment the two latter had leaped into their saddles, and placing themselves at the head of the cavaleade, rode out of the stockade upon the open prairie, Which had scarcely been done, when a new and most graty ing surprise awaited them. The march was instantly halted, and the face of Col- onel Greaves and of Gibbons lit up with pleasure. CHAPTER It. LI ee NING JO. Tat which arrested the attention of the company riding out of the stockade of Fort Adams, was the sight of another party of horsemen coming through a range of hills about half a mile distant, one glance only being sufficient to identify them as the scouts already referred to as under the guidance and mg ge of the great western celebrity, Light- nin “Now, that’s what I call lucky,” exclaimed Col- onel Greaves, “Jo is the very man of all others that we need.”’ The horsemen rode down the declivity at an easy gallop, and shortly reined up in front of the stock- ade, with a graceful salute, and an action that indi- cated that he awaited the command of his superior officer. The scouts, or hunters had turned their time to good account, as was shown by a number of buffalo carcasses, or rather the choice portions of such, supported across the saddles of their animals; the 8 eng oe of the beasts, too, indicated that many a them had been subjected to the hardest kind of riding. A few words explained to Lightning Jo the busi- ness about to be undertaken, and he at once assum- ed his position as leader of the com any that had i ust P geckos pared to start, the colonel withdrawing into Raga k ain, where it was his manifest duty to re- @ the Me ager attempt to relieve the be- tated party in Dead Man's Gulch was being e, The scout did not take a fresh horse, and when ressed to do so, he declared that his mustang was eal m Gibbons, who was becoming impatient and uneasy at | as capable ofa fifty- mile tramp, as he was upon the the delay, ‘these men were entrap and mas- | morning he started upon the hunt from which he sacred ; don't think there is any likelihood of that | had just returned. in our case. But, colonel, wish to know your decision, either one way or the other, at once, If you conclude that you cannot s a hun- dred men to go forty miles away to e this party: then let us have a fresh horse. I will return, sail and go under with the rest.” And Gibbons attested the earnestness of what he said, by starting to move away; but Colonel Greaves cau ht his arm. old on! you shall have»the men you need. I att been trying ever since I heard your story to decide whether I ought to risk the safety of a hun- dred men to save one-tenth that number; but I can’t think. It seems to me that I hear the wailing cry of those women and children coming over the prairie, and if I should turn my back upon them, their voices and moans would follow me ever afterward in my waking and ee hours. Yes, Jim, you shall have the hundred men will lead them myself, and we bt mo hot work in that gulch before we get rough.” The colonel, having made his decision, did not hesitate for a moment, Turning sharply upon bis heel, he beckoned to the adjutant, and gave him per- emptory orders to make ready a hundred men for a scout into the Indian country. They were to armed with rifle, revolver an ‘cavalry swords, and to be mounted on the best horses at the fort. on me; As he turned about to say a few words to Gibbons, he saw the tears making egintnist down his cheeks. He attempted to sp seconds was unable to articulate. of the colonel, he finally said, in a choking voice: “T thank you, colonel, and God _— that this may not be too late. Oh, if’ you could have seen those leading faces of gh women, those cries of the elpless children for one swallow of water, the dead bodies of the men that we had drawn in behind the wagons out of reach of the red-skins, and the screeching devils all around, you would send your va garrison to their rescue. Where is Lightning o? 7? ‘He went out with the scouting party this ‘morn- ing, and that is what caused me to hesitate about sending the company to the re of your friends. I but for a few oa Raking the hand **Come, boys! business is business,’’ said he, in his crisp, sharp tenes, as his steed carried him by one or two bounds to the head of the cavalcade he was to | **Come, Gibbons, keep yer place alongside me, and yer can explain as we x1 é along.” And as the company of re men gallo to the southward on their errand of mercy, eac heel a hero, and all with set teeth and an unalterable determination in their hearts to do all that mortal man could do to save the despairing little band that had sent its wail of anguish across the prairie, we will improve the occasion by glancing at the remark- ~ man who acted as their leader. Lig htning Jo had gained his appellation from the wonderful quickness of his movements, and his almost miraculous skill as a scout. His celerity of movement was incredible, while his equall aaa ishing strength excited the wonder of most famous bordermen of the It was a pull-eatah- lished fact that Lightning Jo, a couple of years before, at Fort Laramie, had been forced into a personal encounter with a rg ny pugilist, who was on his return to the States from Cali ornia, and who had the reputation of being one of the most scientific hitters: at had ever entered the prize ring, and who on the occasion referred to was so com- waged polished off by Jo, that he ~~ fejurl a or at he fort before he recovered from It was said, and there was every bode. ~ Ptekaves it that he was ble of running miles with the speed of the Cineet mustang of the prairie: that he had traversed the Llano Estacado back and forth, times without number, on foot, passing through the ve heart of the Comanche ‘country, without any 4 — 1 ben ge ge himself, or conceal his identity in a Mag 2 Ber et there was not a mark upon his the danger et which he had sitions and unharmed. His horsemanship was perfect in its way, and no West Comanche—the most wonderful riders on the ern Continent—had been known to exceed, and er few toequal him. For the amusement of those gat ered at some of the posts which he had Wg town e had ridden his mustang at full speed and bare back, throwing himself from one side to the other, always feel tolerably comfortab when I know that | and firing from beneath the neck or belly of the ani- he is at the head of the men.’ mal, picking up his hat from the earth whew gallop- While the bustle of hurried preparation was goi ing, at the same headlong rate, epin d a match on within the fort, Gibbons accompanied the colonel | upon a stone on the und and ¢ the blaze to his lodgings where he washed the dust from lighted in his hand. He had thrown rs 0, with person partook of water and refreshments, and ex- | such skill, as to catch the hoof of the 1e plunging buf- lained more in age? the particulars of the misfor- | falo, and then by a flirt of the rope, the kicking une of his friends. e was equall gio — brute flat upon his side, as the + fe ecg er thunder- the wonderful scout, teehee to. shoul ed t, and slapped his hat in the eyes of the terri- fie animal. He could fling the coil with the uner- party, as he was a host of himself, and Pee ego m earliest childhood in the South-west, he was as thorough an Indian as the great chieftain, Swico- Cheque himself, and the daring Comanches held him in greater terror than any other living person ut the case was one that admitted of no d y— even if it was certain that Jo would be in at the end of an hour. Half that time might decide the fate of the little Spartan band struggling so bravely in = Pp Pp I h pare ry be d grimy person his a rifle-shot, and would manipulate ring certainty of fantastical convolutions as a the rope into as many Chinese conjuror. His prowess with the rifle was equally marked, and the tales of his achievements with his favorite wea- pon were so incredible in many instances, that we would not be believed were we to repeat them. He carried a long, murderous-looking weapon, the Eomicbooks (E(0)