Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 81 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

A | eal ———$$ $$$ CHAPTER VI. LIGHTNING QO IN A SCRIMMAGE, Yes; Lightning Jo found that the Comanches were coming, and at a rather rapid rate, too, There was no flinging himself over the side of his mustang and pr cea him a shield against the blows of the red- skins, for the latter were on every side of him, The fact was they had recognized that peculiar yell of his, and hastily laid their plans to make him prison- er. But Jo wasn’t made a prisoner yet, by a long shot, and finding that he was at a disadvantage on the back of his steed, he quietly slipped off; looping his rifle by a contrivance of his own to his side, he whipped out a couple of revolvers, one in either hand, and the fun began on the instant. It wasn’t the way of Jo to await the opening of a game like this, but. to open it himself; and the in- stant he could cock the handy little weapons, he be- gan popping away right and left, the as unded Co- manches going down like ten-pins before the savage ** bull-dogs,’’ who had a ve of biting every time they gave utterance to a bark. But here were but ten such “bites” available, and carefully as the scout hushanded his ammunition, the barrels were pana emptied without any sensible diminution of ri There was no one Comanche, nor no single half- dozen of them, that would have believed it possible to secure possession of Lightning Jo, and so they went into the scrimmage in such overwhelming numbers that escape upon his part looked impossible. By the time the barrels of his revolvers were emptied tiers were fully fifty Indians surrounding him. Nearly, if not quite all of them, were mounted, and they were not the men to show mercy to such a character as Lightning Jo, who had worked more mischief omy the tribe than any dozen frontiersmen with whom they had exchanged shots. Had this indomitable scout been alone upon the prairie his fighting would undoubtedly have been of the most terrific nature, and he would have died, like Colonel Crockett at the Alamo, with an “ army of dead” about him; but with all of Jo’s wonderful prowess, he saw that the assistance of his friends was needed, and without any hesitation he gave ut- terance to his “ call,’ which reached the ears of his listening cavalrymen, who were equally prompt in responding to the cry. ut the time that must elapse between the call and the arrival of reinforcements, short as it was, was all-sufficient for the Comanches to encompass the death of a dozen antagonists, unless they were checked by a most stubborn and skillful resistance. aoe just that resistance and that fight now took place. Instead of clubbing his rifle and using the weapon in that shape, as almost any man would have done, Jo now had recourse to that wonderful science in which he was such an adept, demonstrating that to such a man there is no weapon at his command like the naked fist. It was a treat to see him use his powers, and had he only possessed a rock or wall to back against, so as to prevent an insidious approach from behind, he could have kept off the Comanche nation, so i - as pee lunged up to him in such a blind, headlong fashion as the present, The posture taken by Lightning Joe was aocord- ing to the latest ‘‘rules of the London prize-ring,”’ and consisted in having his arms up in front of him, the left 4 in advance, while he balanced him- self upon bis left foot, so poised that he was “ firm on his pins,” or ready to leap backward or forward, as necessity demianded. The foremost Comanche, who had dismounted, was almost up to Jo, when he thought —_a mustang had kicked him fairly in the face, and he made three back summersets before he could put the brake on. And then, just as he was getting up, he was knocked down again by a couple of his com- rades going over him, and then, as those arms be- o- working like piston-rods, and with a velocity a undred times as great, the cracking of heads was something like the going off of a pack of Chinese crackers ignited together. Heads were down and heels up, as the red-skins leaped from the backs of their animals and charged in upon the scout, who, as cool as when partabing of a leisurley meal, allowed every one to come just within reach of his iron knuckles, when he let drive like a cannon shot. Finding that it was impossible to take him afoot, several of the red-skins attempted to ride him down; but there was something in his appearance as he thusacted upon the defensive that prevented them from approaching too close, just as the bravest horse till recoil from the bear when he faces about, Then, too, as it became apparent that there was no capturing the scout in front, the Indians exerted themselves to the utmost to steal around in his rear, and to fling him to the ground. This kept things lively for the time, and the way Le oe spun around and danced upon his legs, 8 ee | incessant- ly and occasionally putting in a terrific kick now and tnep, was a marvel in itself. Now he seemed to be down and out of sight, but the next instant he popped up from some other »0int, and sent in a volley of blows with the same {; htning-like force and skill., The Indian that clutch- rs at him and was certain he had got him, clutched the empty air, and did get, along the head, in sucha way that he ever after held him in the most vivid remembrance. All this was thrilling and, in a certain sense, amus- ing; but after all, despite the extraordinary skill and quickness displayed by the scout, it could not really extricate him from the difficulty. A man has but two arms with which to guard himself, and when Le s pressed from every point, with an increasing pres- * Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. sure, no human being can keep such a swarm at a Pegg He is like the man set upon by thousands of rats. Furthermore, although Jo knew that his friends were making all haste to his rescue, yet he saw Genes could not remain as they were even until en. He therefore determined to make a desperate at- tempt to break through the surrounding lines. CHAPTER VIL. THE ANGEL OF THE PRAIRIE. In the awful sufferings to which communities and companies are sometimes doomed, it is often found that the most delicate and refined females — the greatest fortitude and the truest heroism. When the terrible calamity came upon Captain Shields and his party, it was generally supposed that the first to succumb from sheer terror alone, would be the frail, blue-eyed, laughing Lizzie Manning, whose gentle- ness of heart, and mirthful ways, had won the affec- tions of all, before the journey from St. Louis was fairly begun. There was a blanching of the damask cheek, a faint scream of fear, when the half-naked Coman- ches suddenly burst forth to view, and sent in their first volley, and she scrambled nimbly into the ‘* fort,” as the refuge wagon was terme!, thought- ful enough, however, to be the very last one to en- ter. By the time she had taken her place upon the straw-covered floor upon the bottom, her courage had returned to her, or more properly pibphtate oe rose to the situation, and displayed a lofty courage and a rare good sense that excited the wonder and compelled the admiration of all. By her aid, the screaming, terrified children were y quieted, and the scarcely less frantic mo- thers were made to realize that their own safety lay in retaining their self-possession, and keeping them- selves and their children out of range of the rifle- balls that were clipping the canvas covering of the wagon, and burying themselves in the planking all about them. By this means something like order was obtained in the crowded little party, and they had nothing to do but to watch furtively the fighting going on all round them, to look at_the horrid Com- anches circling back and forth, with wonderful con- tortions upon their horses, to see their frightful grimaces, and the flash of their rifles almost in their very faces, as they seemed to be rushing down as if about to overwhelm and crush the little party out of existence, It was a thrilling sight that they looked upon, as they saw these Indians pitching cera | from their saddles: but their hearts were wrung with anguish as they saw more than one of their own number fall, some at full length beneath the wagons, and others among the floundering horses, where their deaths were frequently hastened by the hoofs of the frantic “"guddenly Lizzie Mannin from th uddenly Lizzie Manning, sprung from the wagon and heedless of the Rartiiee bullets, started My run across the open —_ inclosed by the irregular cir- cle of wagons, She had taken but a few steps, when a young man dashed out from the rear of one oa lumbering wagons, and excitedly waved her ‘For Heaven’s sake, Lizzie, back this instant !"’ he called out, walking de. age toward her in his anx- iety; “it is sure death to advance. Wait not a second!” She paused, as if the voice had a familiar sound, and stared in a bewildered way at the speaker, a fine, manly-looking, youug fellow, whose hair was blown about his face, and whose pale countenance and flashing eyes showed that he appreciated the danger, and had the courage not to flinch before it. Only for a moment did the yo maiden pause, if vararitig and then (only a few feet separ them, as he had continued advancing from the first) she pointed to the prostrate figure of a man beneath the wa- gons. “There is Harrison, who has beer so kind to me, ever since we started—he fell just now, and stretch- ed out his arms for help. I must go to him.” “He is past all help,’ said the man, solemnly, “and you will only lose your own life if you venture meee yesh he took one of the most dangerous sts 0 ie Pie Nevertheless, he may be alive, and I may be of help to him,” And as she spoke, the maiden hurried on to where the prostrate and now silent figure of one of her de- fenders lay. The distance was short, but as Egbert Rodman had declared, it was encompassed with death; and for one moment he meditated seizing the arm of the girl, and compelling her by main force to return the shelter of the wagon; but something in her manner and appearance restrained him; and, forgetful of his own peril, he gazed with an awed feeling, as he would have watched the tread of an angel upon this sinful earth of ours. With a somewhat rapid tread, but without any un- due haste, and certainly without any fear, Lizzie ad- vanced straight to the wagon where the poor fellow lay, flat upon his back, and directly between the — motionless and with one knee drawn up, as eep. Rnesku down she took the hand still warm in her own, and with the other brushed back the dark hair from the forehead of the man, and asked, in that wonderfully sweet voice of hers: y Oh, Mr. Harrison, is there nothing I can do for ou?” He opened his eyes, and looked at her with a dim wildness, his face ashy pale, and then something like a smile lit up his ghastly features, as he pointed to his breast. “My wife—my babe—darling Nelly—” She understood him, and drew from his breast- pocket a photograph of his wife—with a rosy-cheek- ed, smiling cherub of a little girl, laughing beside her knee. “Tell them—my last thoughts—my last prayers were of them—”’ he sthzameeaetl. ‘ ” ‘“‘T will—I will,” said the girl. ‘Is there nothing more I can do—?”’ He made an effort to speak, but the words were choked in their utterance, and with his eyes fixed upon hers, he died without a struggle. But that one soulful, grateful look of those dark eyes, as they faded out in death, amply re the brave-hearted Lizzie Manning for the noble deed she had done, and she rose to her feet, glad that she had heeded the mute call of the dying man, who could have scarcely hoped, at such a time and under such circumstances, any heed would have been paid to it, unless it were the mocking taunts of the merciless Comanches. CHAPTER VIII. A DARING DEED, In the meantime the battle was raging with infer- na! hotness. All of Captain Shields’s party were un- erring marksmen, and they were so accustomed to the most desperate contests with the red-skins, that despite the terrible strait in which — were placed, they preserved their coolness and equipoise like true veterans, and loaded and fired with such rapid sure- ness, that to this alone may be attributed the severe check which kept the Comanches from making an Crary Renal CUES, that would have carried every- thing before them. The first night with little disturbance, as we have already shown, and the second day the bat- tle was renewed and kept up with scarcely an inter- mission until nightfall. This day, —— the latter portion, was very warm, and the suffering of the little band was ter- rible—so much so, that many of the living envied the dead, who had been so speedily released from their distress. The thirst felt by all was a perpetual torment, from which there was scarcely the slight- est relief. Many of the men, despite the great dan- ger, dug into the ground, until the damp soil was reached, which they scooped up and one in their mouths as a slight assuagement of their anguish. The females stood the trial like martyrs, for their own greatest suffering was that of seeing the half- dozen moaning children piteously begging for water, when there was none to give them, The history of the world has proven that men will run any risk, no matter what, for the sake of satis- fying the maddening thirst that threatens to drive then raving wild; and it was this that was the cause of one of the most daring deeds ever recorded, upon the peas of young Egbert Rodman, The Comanches could not but be aware of this | fearful distress of the whites, and with a fiendish arses nf characteristic of the Indian race, just at nightfall, when the Dead Man’s Gulch was bathed in mellow twilight, one of the red-skins was seen to leap off his mustang and walk toward the encam ment, with a large tin canteen in his hand—a relic undoubtedly of some massacre of United States soldiers. There was a lull in the firing at this moment, and the whites, at a loss to understand the meaning of the proceeding, stealthily peered out from ata wagons, to learn what new trick was n the ¢apis. It looked as if he were going to summon them to surrender, or call fora parley, as he walked ae forward until he was within a hundred feet of the nearest wagon, when he paused and held up the can- teen before him, conto his face into the most grotesque grimaces, and shaking the vessel in front and over head. . The stillness at this moment was so profound that more than one distinctly heard the gurgle of water in the vessel, and, if any doubt remained of the red- skin’s purpose, it was disai pated by his calling out, in broken lish: as Yengese—come— muchee drink—hab muchee drink—’ - These words were scarcely uttered, when crack, crack went two rifles almost simultaneously,’and the foolhardy wretch made a scrambling leap, and his taunting. words ended in a wild howl, as he fell rostrate across the can that he had brandished so rmentingly in the faces of the sufferers. It is stra that such a dog should not haye known the risk he ran in making such a taunt. The Indian had scarcely fallen when several of his comrades started down the declivity to bring away his body. At the same moment, Egbert Rodman, who was in one of the wagons, sprung out, and was seen to run at full speed in the direction of the fallen man. “Come back! come back! or you’re a dead man!”’ eta Captain Shields, divining his purpose on the nstant. But the young man’s lips were set, and he was determined upon possessing that canteen, if it were within the range of human possibility. He saw a horde of Comanches swarm down the guich on a full run, screec like demons, and evidently certain of securing the daring Yengee, whose torturing thirst had stolen away his senses. But op book was not to be deterred by any such ap- — anger as this. Now that he had undertaken a task, nothing but death should turn e In far less time than it requires to be narrated, he ad sped over the intervening und, and was at the prostrate figure. He was eet of foot, and he ran as he never ran before, reaching it, however, only a few seconds in advance of the rescuing Co- | GOMERDOOKS- EO E =>