Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 823 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

camp with the outlaws that night; but, whether this was so or not, the best of feeling seemed t exist between them : and the only deduction the Young Patrol could make was that the futrre would find them acting together, and that, too, against Pilgrims’ Bar. Determined to lose no time in retracing his footsteps, and putting the camp on its guard, he arose to depart. As he did so he received a blow on the head from a bludgeon in the of an unseen foe, that sent him reeling back- ward through the undergrowth into full glare | of the camp-fire where, striking his heel acaines,| a rock, he fell to the gr ound. Haulf-dazed by the blow the his feet when, to elude a secone assailant who lunged through the bushes upon him, he sprung backward, drew his revolver and fired, The man fe Ikdead. Saul madea bound for tho shadows, but was met by no less than three outlaws, whoseized upon him and crowded hirn back into the light. By this time the whole camp was aroused, and when, by superhuman efforts, Saul suc- ceeded in getting free of his three assailants, he was surrounded by the entire party, a dozen of Ww hom had him covered with hate’ revolvers. ‘Stand!” shouted a man before him, ‘‘ or you'll be riddled!” In the struggle with the three men Saul had lost his revolver; but now drawing his knife, he flashed a look over the excited faces before him that involuntarily widened the circle around him hands outh sprung tio blow from his “Ww ell, what in the name of the prophets has broke loose?” asked Darral, as he pushed his way into the circle. ‘We caught a feller spyin’ round camp,” re- peed one of the three men with whom Saul had ‘ome in contact, *‘ but the sneakin’ varmint hs finished poor Joel Sands, and now defies us a ** Ugh!” ejaculated a little, ferret-eyed In- dian, as he caught sight of Saul’s face in the light of the cump-fire, ‘he Still Spirit—big shoot! He kill Wolf-Foot when Wolf-Foot go to camp and git white squaw and ride away!” ** You're right, most noble Cobra-Head,” de- clared a dark-visaged man of undoubted Span- ish blood; and then turning to Darral, ho con- tinued : ‘‘ Sefior Darral, behold Silent Saul, the Mountain Patrol, whom you’d just expressed a wish to see.” Bishop Darral uttered an exclamation of sur- prise when, for the first time, he looked upon the Young ‘Patrol; but when his eyes met those of the youth, he started back as if’ with sudden fear. There was something in the light ef those flashing orbs that none but Darral seemed to realize. It sent a shiver Lmpje “be his frame, and he turned we ee escape the boy’s gaze. Half a dozen outlaws brought flaming torches from the fire and held them aloft. In their wavering light the figure of the Young Patrol stood fully revealed—tall, erect, his head bare, and his Pals, stern-set features framed in by his long, disheveled, yellow hair. “Lord!” exclaimed Darral, who, having re- covered his composure, once more turned his eyes upon the youth, * don’t he do the tragical in fine style? But, boys, that’sall bluff. I com- mand you, in the name of the prophets, to take him prisoner.” Quickly Silent Saul turned and waved the human hyenas back, His face grew white as death, while the circles of his eyes seemed to burst into wheels of consuming fire, CHAPTER IV. THE WHIRLPOOL TRAGEDY AND MYSTERY, THE ruffian assailants of Silent Saul hesitated and drew back asif awed by that terrible look. It was plain to all that he meant to fight, and that to attack him would be certain death to some of them before he could be overpowered, **Tt’s no usefirin’ up, young man,” expostulat- ed Darra!, ‘* You've overdone the thing te-day in shootin’ twoof our men, and you must an- swer tothe Avenging Ange Is for those deaths, Furthermore, we propose to know who Silent aul is that we’ve heard so much about,” The mute threw back his head, exposing his white, smooth neck, and pointed to the red scar upon his throat. Then he touched his lips, shook his head, and again motioned the mob back with a quick, nervous sweep of the arm, Some of the wretches laughed at him and made light of his infirmities; but there were a few others who experienced a strange feeling of terror creeping over them whenever cheer mie the burning glances of the Young Patrol’s e ‘*Say, men,” suddenly spoke up Revenue ee . wie i. Aeon, Ae “li ” Silent Saul, the Young | Mountain Patrol, a ee the bandit, ‘tisn’t this matter hanging fire? If | you're afraid to attack the Patrol, let him de- part. He’s no coward, you can rest assured.” ‘‘ Closein on him, men!” shouted the ‘‘ Bishop,” at a safe distance from the defiant, fearless foe. The circle began to move, Those on the out- side crowded the others inward. Cobra-Head, the Indian, dropped forward on his hands, and by a quic k ‘movement essayed to seize the youth by the ankles from behind; bui, quick as he was, Silent Saul was quic ker, and | rested upon the face of the Bishop. with a downward and backward sweep of the arm, the keen blade of his knife dashed across the red-skin’s neck with such force e as to almost | sever the head from the shoulders The mob, however, took A Scotia of the mo- mentand rushed in upon the young mountaineer likea pack of wolves. But witha giant’sstrength the mute plied thatterrible knife and fought like a madman until, by sheer force, hé was over- powered, borne to theearth and bound hand and foot. Saul’s hands being tied, the Bishop had no hesitation in facing him, and taunting him with vile epithets and curses. ‘What shall we do with him, Bishop?” one ‘*Rocky ” Lnke finally asked, eager to avenge the death of bis friends. ‘*Cook him!” cried the “Saint.” ‘' Away with him to the Devil’s Stew-Kettle, and plunge him in alive, with a stone about his neck! He'll make good Satan’s broth. Away with him to the Kettle!” With a wild shout of approval, and the pros- pect of some excitement more to their taste, the infuriated mob hurried away through the woods with the prisoner to the edge of the whirlpool, a dozen men with flaming torches, leading the wa fo make sure of the depth of the pocl a man tied a stone to the end of a lariat and lowered it into the water. It was fully fifteen feet deep. vf ‘Oh! it’s a noble ole pdt-hole!” declared the man making the measurement, ‘fand’ll hold its secret till doomsday.” While three or four stones were being tied to the stalwart form of the Young Patrol, Darral confronted him, saying: ‘* Youngster, this comes of your nosing around in other people’s affairs, and of being too handy with pistol and knife, You’ve long been sus- pected of being a spy and scout of those who would destroy the Cnurch of the Saints and all its believers. But Mormonism is deep-rooted, and is here to stay, despite the power of its ene- mies. Yours is to be the fate of many others who have crossed the path of the Avenging An- gels; and if you have anything to say—to com- municate before you go, you can now have the Opp rtunity of doing so.” silent Seul drew himself proudly erect, his browscontracted and his lips curled with scorn, Then he flashed a look of defiance at Darral and at the mob around him, while an expression of cold disdain settled upon his face, ‘Oh, but he’s gamey!” observed an outlaw; “it seems like a pity to waste such rattlin’ good pluck!” A frown clouded the brow of Darral when he heard this remark, and through fear that too much sympathy for the doomed youth might be created by further delay, he ordered two men, named Conklin and Bard,1o put an end to their work. Stepping forward, the two, one on either side of the Young Patrol, litted’ him bodily from the ground and advanced to the edge of the rock eat ReDEAnG the whirlpool. As they did so, the doomed mountaineer, as if eager to meet death, threw himself forward with such force that, before the man Conklin could release his hold upon him, he was thrown out of balance on the edge of the basin, and, with the silent youth, plunged headlong into the whirlpool! A cry of horror burst from the outlaws and Mormons as they saw their confederate disap- pear beneath the boiling flood with their vic- tim Throwing himself face downward, upon the rock, with head and shoulders hanging over the whirlpool, Bard watched for Conklin to rise to the surface. He had but a few moments to wait. The man was suddenly thrown to the surface of the boiling caldron and whirled around and around, bis face wearing an ex- pression of appalling agony. The swirling wa- ters carried him close to the basin’s rim, when Bard seized him by the arm, and, with other help, the victim was lifted from the “ Kettle.” VA the surprise of his friends, Conklin could not speak, nor could he stand or sit; andas he sunk beavily to the ground, he was seized with a violent fit of coughing, which was followed i 3) le lle es © ot eT Waar oF a - ¢ eee St—S by a gush of biood from his mouth and nostrils that almcst strangicd bim, ‘* He’s ruptured a_ blovud-vessel!” Darral, excitedly. “Open his collar, and loosen his belt!” cried another. This was done, but it afforded the man no relief, and, a few moments later, he was taken with convulsions and in two minutes was dead, An expression of genuine sorrow and pain He took a | tore hand advancing to the edge ef the whiz * | pool gazed down into the vortex of waters. No sign of Saul could be seen, and the fact seemed. to afford bim some relief. Meanwhile Bard examined the bo dy of his pard. He could not believe his death had been caused by drowning, for he had not been in the water to exceed forty seconds. His friends dic not share in this belief, but when he revealed to their gaze two wounds in Conklin’s breast, that looked asif they had been made by knife- stabs, they were forced to accept the truth, startling asit was. exclaimed. Bard probed the wounds with his finger: - Both were clean-cut and deep. The outlaws and Mormons stood aghast. ‘There was some frightful mystery connected with this tragedy, for it seemed utterly impossible for the augry waters to have hurled him against any hidden knife-like projections that would have inflicted such a clear, deep and mortal wound. And yet, what cise could have done it? They were dead sure the mute Saul had not dealt those blows, for, with both hands and feet bound, and weig ‘hted with stones, he had gone to the bottom cf the pool like a bullet, and had never appeared again! ¥or the second time, Darral, accompanied by Revenue Bill, went back and ’ razed down into the waters which seemed laughing and gurglim with conscious, fiendish glee; but they,coul discover nothing that would even suggest a. so-- lution of the myste ry of Conklin’s death. With the body of their friend the party final- ly took their departure for camp. Darral was the last to leave, and when but a few paces away he stopped, turned around and went back once more to the edge of the whirl- pool. He was under a horrible fascination. He could not resist it, although conscious of the subtle power that enslaved him, On the edge of the fo he stopped, and as he gazed down into the waters, holding a torch above his head, he heard a voice-—a strange, hollow voice that seemed to bubble up from the very depths of the whirlpool, saying: “ Lafolette! Lafolette! thy doom is sealed!” A shiver ran through every fiber of the frame of the Bishop. He reeled, turned and fled the ot asif to escape the wrath of an avenging CHAPTER V. THE MAIDEN’S STORY. THE disappearance of Old Mahomet had a tendency to throw the entire camp off its bal- ance, for never since his advent into Pilgrims’ Bar until this time had they felt such an inter- est in the strange and eccentric old man. Bloom still delayed calling on the maiden in hopes that night would send Mahomet in, or at least that Silent Saul might bring some inform- ation regarding his unaccountable departure from the settlement. In the mean time every miner in camp pro- ceeded to clean up bis fire-arras and load ther ready for any emergency. As soon as night set in four men were sent to guard Bloom’s cabin and the Protégée of Pil- grims’ Bar, Most of the men were assembled at the City Hall discussing the events of the day and specu- lating what the morrow would bring forth. Two or three hours thus passed when thesilence, so unusual in that place, was broken by the sudden appearance of Old ‘Mahomet, who came bounding into the room as chipper as a yout: of twenty, and without the least apparent concern marched up to the bar and called for a drink. And not until/he had reccived and quaffed the liquor did he deign to answer eny of the volley of questions cr criticisms fired at him. ‘*Now, pards,” he said, as ke placed the empty glass on the bar, “Dm ready for you. By the way, some 0’ you ' chaps seem to mistrust mein goin’ out to take an evenin’ramble. Is there anything ’bout my classic face, or gym- nastic form, or stoic garb that savors of Druidi- cal mystery? DoT look like an unfathomable abyss in which are concealed deep, dark and woolly secrets? Do I look like a Danite league, or a gnome of darkness that feeds and fattens on spirits of the night washed down with moun-