Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 906 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

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Are you all right?” he. inquired of the young lady, “* Yes, ! am all right; don’t think about | Sam.’ 4 Well, keep firing, and hit the horse if you can, but take care not to fall. When you have emptied your own gun, reach downand draw mine from their holsters.” “All right; T’ll stop him, if I can, Sam. But, isn’t this a novelty, though! Were it not for the horror of what has taken place, I believe I should really enjoy it. Here’s another at you, Grat Benson!” She fired again, but, as before, without effect. : A shout of derision was the response, and a shot was fired inreturn, but so wide of the mark that it was plain the fellow had not in- tended it should hit. They were not close together, one party being just visible to the other in the dark- ness, and the young woman admitted that if she should hit the horse it would be more by chance than through skill. : Suppose . l slow up 5 suddenly and let him come nearer,” suggested Sam. “Tum not afraid to take the risk if you are not, Sam,” was the response. “There is little risk about it, in my opin- ion, He does not want to hurt you, Miss Fielding.” ts But, if I should hit his horse he would then open in deadly earnest, I can ima- gine.” ‘* That is true; I wil] not put you to greater danger than you are now in. You must live for your father and McKenzie,”’ The young woman fired a shot at that mo- ment, and made no rejoinder to the remark, as if she had not heard it, And that shot, unexpectedly, took effect! “Hal I’ve done it!” Fanny joyously ex- claimed. ‘‘ Hurrah! The horse is down, Sam!” It was even so, The bullet had struck home, and, with a plunge, the norse had started to fall, had caught itself, but only to drop the next moment. A howl of rage was heard, followed by a string of oaths, Immediately several shots were fired in quick succession, the buJlets whistling unpleasantly near but fortunately doing no harm. The Cycle Sport bent steadily to his task, increasing the speed if anything. Presently he made a turn to the right and laid his course toward the point from which he had started, the place where the band of outlaws had dispersed for the purpose of baffling the pursuers. CHAPTER VII, ORDER OUT OF CHAOS, Ir was a gay and merry party that had set out from Fort Fenton that morning for Sil- ver City. Fanny Fielding had not spent all ber life with her father at the fort, as hardly needs stating, but had been for quite a number of years away at school. She had been out of school about a year, at the time of our story, and had since been living at the post, which, cf course, was her only home, her mother having been some years dead, With her father’s permission she had in- _ vited some friends to pay her a visit at the My fort—two of her school-day chums, May ' eee. een See Bo eg he fe RR Bam Se Ble OpOrs, 68. ho Sam, the Cycle Sport. Harvery and Kate Masters, and Mrs. Mas- ters, the mother of the latter, had come along as chaperon to the party; for, to make it in- teresting, a young man was one of the num- ber. This young man, Alexander Longman by name—although he was anything but a long man in fact, wss paying his attentions to Miss Masters. He was decidedly a short man, but it was understood that he had a long pocketbook, and his stature was one of no account in the eyes of Mrs. Masters, in comparison with that more essential qualifi- cation, The little excursion to Silver City, then, had been arranged by Fanny Fielding for the entertainment of her guests. The party had consisted of Fanny and her affianced, Lieutenant McKenzie; May Har- very, Lieutenant Weaver, Kate Masters and her lover, Longman; Mary Kincaid, daugh- ‘ter of Commander Fielding’s housekeeper— who was the widow of an ofticer, and EHenry McLoyd, a young officer who was paying at- tention to her, Then they had the trooper, Shandy Graff, as we have seen. Setiing out early, they had reached Silver Cityin good time, and the day being a fine one, had pressed on to Gold Lode, the new mining-camp some miles beyond Silver City, where | a ‘* boom” was in progress. There they had taken dinner, setting out upon their return at a seasonable hour—or in time to reach home before dusk. Everything had gone off nicely, and it had been a joyous day. Some time after passing Junction, on the way home, just as they came to a place where some mesquite bushes grew at one side of the trail, they were sprurg upon by the outlaws and Indians. The horses were frightened and the wo men terrified by the yells of the cut- throat band and the firing of pistols, but the young officers, with their revolvers, opened fire upon the rascals, ‘They were outnumbered, however, and we have been told the result. The only man to escape -was Shandy Graff. Lieutenant Charley Weaver was killed, Lieutenant McKenzie wounded in the leg, and the others were taken prisoners. The prisoners, then, were Fanny Fielding, May Harvery, Kate Masters and Mary Kin- caid, together with Sergeant McLoyd and Alexander Longman, Longman was the most terrified of all. Had it not been for the horror of their situa- tion, and of what had taken place, the others must have been amused, for the little fellow almost cried, and some of his appeals to the ‘* higher and nobler feelings” of the outlaws and Indians were ridiculous. At the place where the band dispersed he broke down completely, He was taken off alone by one of the In- dians and about as evil-faced a cut-throat white as the band could show, and he screamed aloud for the others to save him, as if they were not in the same dilemma, The amusing part of it was, though none saw amusement in it at the time, that all day long he had been posing as a hero, and had been telling of the heroic exploits he had heroically exploited—so to put it—in times past, making up, as it were, for his lack, in stature, by his boldness of spirit. All six prisoners were separated and each was taken in a different direction, although the general trend was toward the hills, The object was plain. Night was at hand, and the rascals thought oy this means to baffle pursuit, as before ex-. a ined, Meantime General Fielding had hastily ordered Up a detachment and taken the trail, making all haste for the Junction, and he was. not a great while behind the Cycle Sport, When he came to where Shandy Graff was awaiting him, Shandy’s horse was so much rested that the trooper mounted and rode along, telling his story as they dashed for- ward, and General Fielding’s face took on a hard, stony look that Soded ill for the ruffians, one and ail. Coming to where the attack had been made, it was nearly night, and by the time the commander heard what McKenzie had to say it was becoming difficult to follow the trail. It was, however, impossible to think of giving it up; the prisoners must be rescued. Leaving enough men to assist McKenzie, and to carry the body of Weaver to the fort, the commander pressed onward, himself and and an expert trailer running ahead on foot in order that no mistake might occur, By dint of patience and careful’ work they made good time withal to the spot where the outlaws had dispersed, and there the commander gave vent to his exasperation in language stronger than we care to quote. ‘What is to be done, general?” asked Lieutenant Russel. ‘‘We have got to follow every trail, if we have to do it on our hands and knees!” was the sharp direction. ‘“ We'll do it,” said the lieutenant, simply. “That we will!” cried a trooper, ‘And the guid Lord help them when we get them!” spoke Shandy Graff. ‘“Well, here are no less than six trails,” said the commander, “* and he have about five or six men for each one,’ ‘Yes, sir.” “Detail the men quickly, Russel, and start them; I will take four with me and follow on after Sam Hoffman.” ‘Yes, sir,” With all haste the order was carried out, and slowly, carefully, the work of trailing the cut-throat band was carried on. ‘* Halt! who comes there?” ‘Oh! papa! itis you?” With a glad cry Fanny Fielding left Safety Sam and ran forward and threw her- self upon her father’s breast, She and Sam had dismounted from the bi- cycle and were walking for a change and for a little rest, for both had begun to find such riding tiresome, The young lady, having to stand on one foot, and the sport, with a double load to carry—it was, in fact, the second time they had made such a change since we last saw them, Sam came quickly forward, and the gen- eral grasped his hand, “God bless you, Sam!” he exclaimed. ‘You have saved the life of my child, and V’ll not forget the service.’ ‘Thank you, general,” responded Hoff- man. ‘‘ But, the work is not done yet; there are the others to rescue, and we must make all haste about it, I should say.” ‘‘ You are right; come, get up here, Fanny, and we will not stop here a minute. You can tell me your story as we go along.” ‘‘And, papa, the leader of the outlaws is. Benson.” ‘Yes, curse him, so McKenzie said. Let me get hold of him, and he will die by the rope. Shooting is too good for him!” Briefly the story of the rescue was told, Sam Hoffman allowing Fanny to relate it in her own Wa That done, the young lady told her i Ge what sbe knew of the plans. of the outlaws, By daylight they were to meet again in the hills, at a point called Devil’s Basin. They believed they could not be followed by night, and with such a start they had the idea that they could escape so far into the hills as to make rescue impossible, and then. they would force a ransom, That was to Say, all but Benson were to rendezvous at that place. 4 . eS . « = — -o = ee — - —_ : : — _— oe he = “ - ‘ 4 o./ > ‘The deserter in-— tended to carry his prisoner south into — Mexico and there make her his wife, and — est, %, ae ebook S. col ni —— ~~ . - é “ft 2 —— A re — 7. = - i A ie — . ~ a. ° - ee | eee = —- yarn ‘we ] = > > = nM —_ ‘ 7 1 i > ip ny yt erie te WS ll eds fe ... as be A Ses * PA