Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 939 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

o> @ « y tn | al — - - a —— ~~ Kit Bandy’s * cession through the youth’s excited brain, and | he could arrive at nothing that seemed like a satisfactory solution of the mysterious where- abouts of Zulita. By following the outlaw’s trail back he might | be able to find some clew to the missing girl, and as this was the only practical thing he could do, he at once set off, leading his horse, Dia- mond Dick following patiently bebind. The tracks of Diamond Dick were quite easily followed in the yielding sand, but the lad’s pro- gress was painfully slow. However, he trudged cn hopeful and determined. ' ; He had thus gone perhaps a mile when his horse suddenly pricked up its ears in @ way that manifested alarm. Dan stopped and gazed around him. He dis- covered a horseman riding toward him from the north, He drew his revolver. It might be an outlaw with Zulita. The horseman came on, and stopped when about fifty yards away. To Dan he looked like Tom Rattler. He called to him. It was Old Tom, In a moment the two were together, ‘The gal, Dan’I—where is she?” were the first words spoken. ‘*God only knows, Tom,” was Dan’s answer. ‘‘Great Rosycrusians! didn’t you overhaul the thief?” ‘* And slew him; but he had no Zulita, Sure- ly, Tom, we were not mistaken in eee, ben have the girl in his arms as he rode out of Para- dise Vale,” ‘* Mistaken? no/ the varlet has sa her on the plain to save his own bacon. Did you have him in sight all the way!—follow his trail right along?” “‘No;I Jost sight of his trail, or rather the line of dust that hung on the air, for quite awhile, My horse gave me trouble.” ‘* Wal, we'll foller the varmint’s trail on back,” main Old Tom, ‘but, lad, be prepared for any- ing.” ‘To find Zulita dead?” the boy almost gasped. Old Tom made no response, but turning his horse’s head northward, began retracing his footsteps. CHAPTER XXV. ANOTHER HARD HIT, In a deep bowl-like sink or ‘‘ blow-out” in the desert, about two miles southwest of Paradise Vale, twenty horses, bridled and saddled, were grouped together and watched over by two They were horses that belonged to the Desert Pirates. They had been left there about dusk while all the outlaws, but the two, had stolen away on foot across the desert to Paradise Vale. Of the result of their visit to the home of Jean Balié the reader already knows. The two men left to guard the horses heard the sound of battle from where they were concealed, and were greatly surprised thereby, for no conflict had been expected. The scout who had discov- ered the vale had reported but three men there- in. He had also reported the discovery of a black stallion there that was the counterpart of Black Robber; and it was this horse, and if the right one, the secret of the Trinchera Mines, that had taken Captain Sangre to the valley. Nearly two hours had passed after the din of battle had died away, when the two waitin outlaws in the blow-out were suddenly aro by the sound of flying hoofs. Going to the top of the sink they saw a horse man approaching them at a gallop, and as he came nearer he waved them the signal of friend- ship. In his ; armed men, On the rim of the basin he drew rein. arms he held a humanform, The men recog- nized him as their friend, Swift-Wing. “Here, Keeler and Blaze,” the horseman eetiag said, ‘‘take this girl and take care of her. Shehas fainted. I must goon. I am be- ing pursued and must draw the attention of the enemy away from here until the men getin. If we lose those horses we're left afoot in the des- ert. Ihave here the black horse we've so lo been huntin’for. Guard well that girl. We’ get for her the ransom of a queen,” ‘* But what wasall that shootin’ about, Swift?” wan se _— ae ed a devil of a fight,” Swift-Wing an- yon 3, io : canbe = and gneen Genadarechioct Cc € and met t th door of that recluse’s house, | aaa knot bo it ended, but I suppose all right, of course. I was assigned the task of getting away with this horse and this girl, and eucdeatied.” But I ex- pect several o’ the band got hit hard,” One of the outlaws lifted the inanimate form of Zulita from the arms of the renegade and a tar” Engagement. 15 ee —— carried her down into the basin and laid her up- on @ blanket, Swift-Wing was greatly excited, and after a few more words, turned and doubled back upon his trail until he caught sight of his pursuer, then he veered off tothe right and bore away toward the southwest, and thus was Desert Dan thrown off that part of the trail that led to the basin where Zulita had been left. Zulita soon recovered from her swoon, and sit- ting up she regarded her situation with surprise and bewilderment, The outlaws were very kind to her, her pretty, innocent, girlish face appeal- ing to their better natures. Patiently the two guards awaited for some further news from the hidden valley. The hours went by. The moon drifted up toward the zenith, About midnight they saw a single per- son slowly coming toward the blow-out from the direction of the valley. Blaze challenged him ashe cameup, He was a comrade—one of the party that had gone on the raid to Paradise Vale. His face and clothing were covered with blood. He was a sorrowful-looking object, ‘* Good God, ‘ Pecos’ Smith!” exclaimed Keel- er, ‘‘ what has happened?” ** Death and distruction!” was ‘* Pecos’s”’ re- sponse, ‘* What do you mean?” demanded Keeler. ‘*[ mean just what I say,’ Pecos answered: ‘the expedition reached the little valley o’ Paradise all right, and lined up in royal shape before the stranger’s ’dobie; but alas! the val- ley was swarmin’ with devils. They attacked us in front, in the rear, on tke sides, from above and below—hundreds of the hot-eyed, fliery- mouthed demonz—some with two heads and a dozen hands, every one of which wielded a wea- pon. Just how many of the band escaped— whether any besides myself, indeed—I don’t know.” ‘*Swift-Wing escaped, for he was here,” said Keeler, “‘and brought a prisoner—a young girl that he left with us. He was mounted on that black stallioa, and said it war the one we war after. But Swift war fearfully excited— Ah! there comes another of our men! This strag- gling in singly tells of defeat itself.” The second man came up sad and dejected. He told about the sams story as Pecos Smith. The third man finally straggledin from the fatal valley. He bad seen Captain Sangre fall. Ha bad recognizedold Jaguar Head in the fight. They had been defeated, More than this he could not tell. Zulita took courage from what she overheard. That the Desert Pirates had been defeated there was no doubt, but how her friends had fared in the struggle she knew not. The moon crossed the zenith and went slowly swinging down the western sky. Uneasily the outlaws to and fro, watching off toward the hidden valley for re- turning comrades, They were afraid to depart lest others, wounded, might come in and perish for want of assistance, Finally the east began to redden with morn- ing dawn, and the five outlaws began active preparations for departure. ey were nearly ready to mount, The horses were all untied and so many assigned to each man, when suddeniy a of rage was heard to come from the west side of the blow-out, and ee in that direction, the outlaws, and Zu- ita also, saw two forms on the edge of the basin, swaying to and fro in a hand-to-hand struggle, plainly outlined against the sky. That one of the two was a friend and com- rade the outlaws had no doubt, and were in the actof going to his assistance whrn the com- batants toppled over into the basin and came whirling in rapid evolutions down the slope directly toward the awe-stricken freebonters. Almost at the very feet of the five men the combatants came to a stand, and then, asif by magic, both of them sprung to their feet, stepped apart, threw up their hands in which were revolvers, and began pouring a deadly fire into the very faces of the astonished outlaws. f : ‘ Three of the men went down in their tracks, and the other two undertook to dodge among the horses, but the animals themselves had be- come frightened, a panic ensued, and the whole mount fled precipitately out of the blow-out, trampling beneath their feet the two remaining outlaws. Zulita, too, had become frightened, and would bave been trampled to death had one of the two men not seized and dragged her back al- most from under the trampling hoofs, saying as he did so: ** Zulita, fear not!” The girl looked up into the speaker’s face. A _————- Se eae ee ee -_—— - — ED cry burst from her lips, She threw her arms about his neck and sunk almost fainting upon his breast. It was Desert Dan, the .Prince of the Saddle, that had rescued her! And flying to end fro like a bugon a hot grid- dle was Old Tom Rattler, determined that no outlaw should escape if he could help it. Finally when he discovered that the blow-out held no living foe, he waltzed around and re- ceived an introduction to the smiling, weeping Zulita. ‘*Great Rosycrusians!” were his first words, ‘‘ and this is Zulita, the waif o’ the night—fairy o’ the desert, I’ve hearn Dan’! here talkin’ ’bout so much, And I don’t blame ye, Dan’l, a bit for worryin’a little. If I war a century younger and as big fool as Old Kit Bandy "bout weemin, I'd cut you outen this gal or snap atug. But, jokin’ aside, didn’t we foolish them pirates nobby, beauchifully?” ‘* It was a complete surprise to all of us,” re- plied Zulita, ** Yes, | observed that you got a bit skart and swarmed away,” Old Tom observed, “but I think the coast’s clear now o’ danger. We've been maneuverin’ all night to rescue you, and have had an eye on ye here for ’bout two hours tryin’ to hit a scheme to rescue you and at the same time preserve our own bacon, Finally Dan’l’s tricky brain suggested that we git a- fightin’ and roll into the pit with horns locked— hop up, and—well, you know the rest—see’d how the trick worked?” “‘[6 was a very clever scheme,” Zulita de- clared ; *‘ and I thank you with all my heart for all the trouble you have been to on my account. But can you tell me whether my father and friends are safe?” ‘** Your father,” answered Dan, “received a slight wound in the fight, but the Desert Pi- rates were routed and Captain Sangre wounded and made prisoner.” ‘“* Poor father! I hope he is not worrying about me,” Zulita said; ‘‘ but, Dan, what became of that strange, funny old man—” ‘** Old Kit Bandy ?” interrupted Old Tom. sé Yes, sir.” ‘““Old Kit Bandy,” Rattler answered, “‘is on the turf there happy and smiling—the biggest liar, the voluminousest old fraud and best double-action fighter in New Mexico, Kit’'s a daisy—a lilly-lipped hummer, and I love him as a long-lost brother. ButITlU tell you all ’bout Old Kit, gal, some other time, for he’s a hull anecdote, e’d better be gittin’ away off this desert afore the sun comes up and broils us. Come, children.” So saying he led the way to where they had left Black Robber, Diamond Dick and his own horse hitched among the sage-bushes. Zulita was mounted upon her father’s noble black, and then the three rode away through the morning’s crimson dawn in the direction of Paradise Vale, CHAPTER XXVI, CAPTAIN SANGRE THROWS ON SOME LIGHT. WE left, Jean Ballé’s bedside just as he had introduced Ben Mead and his sister, Lucille, to each other. It was the first time the brother and sister ever met, In fact, the first Lucille knew of her being an adopted child, was when she had heard Jean Ballé’s story. It wasa startling surprise to the girl to learn that the good man, Jean Ballé, was not her father, and brought to her — heart a deep and painful regret, but the oss of him as her father was in a measure com- ser te by gaining brave and handsome Ben ead as a brother, Ben briefly told Lucille about the death of his mother, and of bis father going to Santa Fé, where in a year or two he married a lady whose mother wasa Spaniard. That new mother Ben bad never seen nor the sister born in the second marriage. His father had written to him and told him of his step-mother, and when *‘ Dolly” was born he wrote of that event Finally news reached him of the massacre of his father, mother and sister, and he knew none of the particulars of that massacre until Captain Rufus Clarke, an old friend of his father’s, had written him to come at once to New Mexico and aid in investigating the dying confession of one Carlita Bond—a confession which, if certain facts could be established or evidence found would bring to justice his father’s murderer and perbaps restore to him a sister. The sister he had now found, but, so far as he knew, his father’s murderer was at large. Jean Ballé.witnessed the meeting of the bro- ther and sister with no little degree of pleasure, and aoe awhile he said, with a voice full of emotion: com 900kKsS.com