Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 936 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

B* us exe » f se * ‘ 4.9" » =e 7 ; > Ce,» hel Suv ‘e soe «at o> * > Py che ae! 8 * ~~ \ -? * wy at ee ‘ > ae ae \ = 7 oe Te. LS 4 , a 7 7. : ~ ~ a ll - J : aad 2 ¢ * « . #3 ~~ =. 2 * 45 “i 1% ye > dF ot _ & ee “€ = _ » - a tow de’ le "* me a ~~ = ~—e7) we . o *"S s e.." wi ay so ye "Buffalo Bill's Boy Mascot. Osmond, and with Joe Jarvis went in to supper. The boss had his own table, where he entertained passengers and special guests, and there always sat Joe Jarvis and Night-Hawk George Powell, who took his meals at the Good Cheer. It was said of the boss that he never told a lie to any one, or implied one, and he kept up this record with his hotel, for the name did not belie it, as his table was the best that could be set in that region. Captain Luke was a good liver himself, and he kept several men out hunting and fishing all the time for game and fish. He had a German settler over in the ralley raising vegetables, and his wife caring for a large chicken yard and dairy, while his store was well supplied with ba- con, hams and groceries not expected to be found out there. 7 So the supper at the Good Cheer glad- dened the heart of Ned Osmond, who, pboy-like, kept his healthy appetite con- stantly with him. ‘“Muchee Little Billee Buffalo,” said the Chinaman waiter, Hop Along, when he saw Ned, and he seemed much pleased in obeying Captain Luke’s instructions to “stuff him,” Ned meanwhile enjoying the stuffing process. Half a hundred miners took their meals at the Good Cheer, and Ned Os- mond had a chance to see just what wild life was in a border mining camp. In turn, he was the object of general at- tention, yet he took his notoriety quietly. All had heard of Joe’s last run, the hold-up of the youth, his going to the fort, meeting Buffalo Bill, saving the great scout from an ambush, his brush with Indians, and narrow escape from hanging on his way to Mountain City, going with the Overland driver, and the second hold- up on the return. So he was a young hero, even in the eyes of those stern men, and when they looked at his handsome, fearless, boyish face, and knew that he had been called Little Buffalo Bill, quick to recognize nerve and pluck, the whisper went the rounds to give him a welcome, and all waited until the last man had finished his supper, when one voice called out: “'Three cheers for the Boss Boy, Little Buffalo Bill!” They were given with a roar like a erash of thunder, and Hop Along, who did not hear the words, but met the cry as he eame in with a huge coffee pot in hand, dropped it in terror and fied, has- tened by oaths and shots sent after him by two men the hot coffee had scalded. But Hop Along hopped fast enough to escape the bullets, and stampeded the whole kitchen brigade as he fled yelling through on his way to safety. As for Ned, he was startled by the furore in his honor, and, rising, bowed po- litely, and said, in his clear, resonant voice: “T thank you, gentlemen.” After supper Captain Luke told Doctor Night-Hawk and Ned to come with Joe Jarvis and himself to the office, and there the whole story of the holdup was gone over again, and it was decided that Little Buffalo Bill should start for the fort before dawn in the morning. ' CHAPTER TX, . NED’S SHADOWER. - Ned Osmond was ealled in time for his ride to Fort Vidette, some forty miles dis- tant. He found one of the horses he had cap- tured from the outlaws, in his first ex- eriouse with those worthies, saddled and fe vi for him, and a good animal it was. — With mt own cea gered and a bag of » at < ‘ ‘att ca Ls ol - S212 ary P56, - - os? ** La ‘> ww rail a (4, : y ’ te provisions, put up for him by Captain Luke's orders, he expected no difficulty in reaching the fort on time, as he had been over the trail once. Hop Along had orders to show the youth out of the camps to the trail for the fort, Captain Luke having retired, and Joe Jarvis having gone early to bed. The youth rode away from the Good Cheer fully equipped for a stay of some days, if necessary, and Hop Along guided him through the darkness and along the deserted trails. ‘Here Melican boy all O. K. “Trail takee allee lightee,” said the Chinaman, halting where he came out in the well-defined trail to the fort. Ned thanked Hop Along, slipped a dol- lar in his hand, and started on his way. It was not yet dawn, but he recognized the cabin where the men dwelt, who, but for Buffalo Bill’s timely arrival, would have hanged him. All was dark and silent there, but the tree which was to have been his gallows Ned Osmond rode by with a shudder, as it was pictured in his mind, never to be erased. After going a couple of miles upon the trail the gray of dawn began to lighten, and the boy was about to quicken his pace when he heard the sound of hoofs behind him. Instantly he drew rein, not knowing whom he had to meet, and in the dim light he beheld the form of a horseman. Determined to await his approach, rath- er than have a man behind him, for sevy- eral times before he thought he had heard hoof falls, Ned was surprised to hear the sharply given command: ‘““ Move on as before. “Do not mind me, for I am following you for a purpose.” There was something in the voice that caused Ned to at once obey, and he rode on, urging his horse to an easy canter. Looking behind him several times as the day brightened, he gailed to see any one, though the trail was winding then, the timber thick and the way rugged, so that he could not see far behind him. But several times when he halted to lis- ten, he heard faintly the sound of hoofs, Who was it that was thus following him, he wondered. Was he being shadowed for good or evil? Unable to answer the question he asked himself, he rode quietly on his way, feeling that it was certainly a most un- pleasant situation to be thus ‘followed for cause,” when he could not understand what the cause could be. Coming to a long, winding and narrow canyon, ‘through which the trail ran, Ned remembered what a good place’ he had considered it for an ambush when he passed through it on his way from Fort Vidette to Mountain City. But who was there that knew of his in- tended ride to the fort, and knowing, who was there to follow him? The walls of the Canyon arose on either side over a hundred feet above his head, and it looked like a mighty chasm split- ting a range of hills in twaim In fact, that was just what it was, and the canyon swas not over twenty feet wide its narrowest places, and a hun- dred feet at its widest. It was about two hours after leaving Mountain City, and Ned Osmond consid- ered that he was about ten miles from the camps. The end of the canyon wag at hand, and he could see a pretty valley before him. Suddenly, as he neared the end of the canyon, apparently from the clouds, a eter commanding hte Jepsen out; Py ; Ler ' ; fh i a boty . a he iy s eo 1 4 t i : . : <? e @ ’ . ; 3. gl " * : Ol ie if : s e. i ‘ ai * re pat ? : b a” 4 \ me etree He se of hres ae BN . . eee bit aia Uh Ohl i) Te Sacre a : . “wh ¥ he uN " ‘ SP : as a 4 tne Px : pee Pr 2! et yal ines ts tig cit the Be Re ie bese i a)» a sb we) nk op ia ‘at ny fat i* ee oF on : he Te Ad v7. , Lie mite aN Hi) a) nh, f se ; ree, ul ey cs i) - ey gh aD Cu | ba srt ty att ied , . ta oe ne S08 7 ry Fe) sev als ati \ a) “Lie low, there, you murderers, f Sn sal - TF" Sa4 205 T.. . — 2 She : Ee | in : ~ Ms pp é * ~ - - . 7 “ - have you covered!” Wiss. Ned’s horse was startled, and, squatting Ys low, wheeled quickly to the right, about. — to run away. But Ned was a splendid rider and kept his seat, and, checking his horse, he brought his rifle around for use. for though not appropriate to him, it seemed that the command must be meant for him. This movement of the horse had been but the work of a couple of seconds, and When he had faced the music again, so to speak, the boy saw that he was not the one to whom the command from above had been addressed. Just at the end of the canyon, on the left, there was a large bowlder tha had fallen from the cliff above at some remote. period. It was eapable of concealing a dozem men, and commanded the trail both ways, in the canyon and the approach to it. Behind that bowlder was the man, or men, to whom the words had been ad- dressed: “Lie low, there, you murderers, for I. have you covered!” Ce CHAPTER -X. THE MYSTERIOUS FRIEND. Ned could not see who it was behind the bowlder, but a glance upward showed him a man’s head and shoulders peering over the riage and he held a tifle that pointed straight down at some one who fas lying in hiding there. Why should they be there but to be in ambush for him? Who were they and how many were there? Who was the solitary man upon the cliff, or were there others besides that one? Was it his strange diadower. and was. he there to protect him? If his shadower, then he had ceased to follow, had taken to the range and headed: him off, for a purpose. His face he could not see, for the rifle stock and arms concealed it. | But the weapon was pointed with evi- dently deadly intent at some one be hind that rock. These thoughts flashed through Ned’s, brain in a few seconds of time. He kept his eyes upon the bowlder and was ready to defend himself. Then came another command from the | cliff top, and it was in the same terse, determined tone as before: “Flat on your faces, all three of you, and quiek about it!” These words told Ned that the eyes of the man on the cliff rested upon three persons behind the bowlder. If they were his foes, the odds were: big against him, he knew. Even in that moment of suspense and danger it flashed across the boy’s mind — that the outlaws of that country generally traveled in trios. Then Ned heard quickly a shot. from behind the bowlder, and saw a shower oft dust fly from the cliff where the bullet — struck, but he had no time to consider how close a call it was for the man up — there before a stream of fire poured out Of his rifle and a wild yell followed it. . Then came the words: “Down, both of you, or die!” The men evidently obeyed, for quickly followed the words: “T have a repeating rifle here and will kill you if you do not obey—ah! you are wise—raise your hands shore your racine as you lie thus, and make no move if OR, *: value your lives!” Ned was more than interested, us i i | “comicbooks.con *