Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 939 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

They steal and plunder in Mexico and carry their booty to the United States, and from here they run their plunder over into Mexico. But the party you saw may be horse-hunters like ourselves. There’s a dozen ranch-owners who covet the Black Robber, for he would be worth thousands at ithe bead of their herds,” ‘“‘By gingrickies!” exclaimed the Saddle Prince, ‘‘[ hope no one will meddle with the horse till I get a shy at him; and for fear it was a party of horse-bunters, ’m goin’ to say good- by to you, sefior, and pull out. Now, I may not see you again for a week or a month, and I may be around to-night or to-morrow. If I cannot catch the horse by a bold dash, I'll follow him day and night until I can get him into a cap- yon or some corner where I can rope him.” Desert Dan mounted his horse, adjusted his lariat, tightened his belt, and again saying good-by to Don de Vaca, rode out from the chaparral and down toward the grazing herd. By this time the horses were out of sight, be- hind a swell in the plaia, grazing up the wind. Don de Vaca, watching the fearless youth from his covert on the bank of the arroyo, his face wearing an eager, anxious expression, saw him disappear behind the swell that shut the wild horses from view. Desert Dan swept over the rise and was with- in forty rods of the herd when Black Robber espied him, gave a snort of alarm, and wheeling, dashed away like the wind, followed by his wild mates. The stam de was now on, and Desert Dan was in all bh glory. CHAPTER III, A DOUBLE CHASE, THE arroyo, on the banks of which Don de Vaca and Desert Dan parted, lay south of the Rio Hondo, It ran through the great pasture lands of the vast herds of stock belonging to the ranches located at intervals along the Hondo for the distance of a hundred miles. Beyond this range to the south, the plain became sandy, broken and seamed with canyons and the dry channels of streams. On this mesa, stretching away to the Sacramento Mountains, cacti, sage- brush and greasewood predominated. Down across the grass lands and into the great desert toward the south, Black Robber, the beautiful wild stallion, led his band of followers, and on behind, at a measured swinging gallop, followed the young Saddle Prince. Don de Vaca watched until he saw the wild x «herd and the gallant pursuer disappear beyond - “the rim of the horizon; then he remounted and tarted homeward. Deeper and deeper into the desert pursued the young horse-hunter. He did not attempt to crowd upon the herd, but only aimed to keep it in sight and on the move until it should take to a canyon or the channel of an arroyo. But, the ebon steed was a wary and a beast. He had been chased so often that he instinctively seemed to anticipate the wishes of his pursuers and thereby elude capture. Hot the noontide sun beat down upon Desert Dan’s head, but, both he and the noble mare he bestrode were accustomed to the fierce heat of the desert, and the occasional hot winds that swept up from the south like the breath of a furnace, The Saddle Prince knew nothing of the extent of the desert into which he was riding. All the country south of the Rio Hondo was new to him. But, for that he cared nothing. He made no note of his course, nor of the hours passing. He had but one object in view—the capture of Black Robber. The honor of that feat would be more to him than the great reward offered by Don de Vaca. : For hours the pursuit continued. Thepursuer did not gain materially on the wild horses, nor ~ he permit the distance to widen between em. Around many canyons and across an occa- sional arroyo the herd sped on, Desert Dan at times cutting across lots and thereby huscand- ing his horse's strength. en, twenty, and, for all the Saddle Prince knew, thirty miles were left behind, and still he rode on with the dogged patience of an Indian trailer. Finally he saw the herd suddenly disappear from view as if swallowed up in the earth. Urging on his mare he soon discovered that the wild horses had dropped into a depression trending off toward the southwest. Follo on, the depression deepened into a valley an then to a canyon, The discovery of this fact greatly encouraged the boy. In fact, it was just what he bad hoped for, although he knew nothing of the nature of Kit Bandy’s “Star” Engagement. a the canyon, nor whether it would afford him any advantage in his pursuit of the wild horses. Two or three miles’ ride up the defile brought | the pursuer to where the walls on either side of | him had become high and precipitous, the space between narrowing and widening at intervals with now and then a fringe of cottonwoods or cedars. Dan now gained slightly upon the wild herd, though it was not his aim to crowd it too hard until the proper time for a rush. The winding of the canyon at times brought the sun full in his face, and then the shadows of the walls first upon his right and then the left; and thus in and out of the light and shadows he swung, patient, tireless, hopeful. Suddenly his horse threw up its head and turned it slightly to one side, as though it had detected something approaching from behind, Dan glanced back over his shoulder, He | started with a cry of surprise at what he saw. | Not over a hundred yards behind he saw a score | of outlaws—white men and savages—wheel into the canyon from a by-way and ride furiously toward him, yelling like demons and firing re- | volvers, | Asa dozen bullets whistled over and around | bim, the young horse-bunter realized that his | situation was precarious—that the pursuer had | become the pursued, He had acarbine hanging | to his saddle and a pair of revolvers in bis belt, and he resolved to make the best of the situa- | tion. There was no turning back, nor to either | side now, and a sudden termination of the | canyon—something he had been wishing for— | would make his chances entirely hopeless. Despite the odds against him, the oye mani- | fested no fear. On the contrary, he drew his revolver, brandished it above his bead, and sent | back a yell of defiance to the robber-gang. It was not the first time he had been confront- ed by such danger. A year before he had re- | ceived his baptism of fire in a conflict with | Apaches. He had been wounded at the first fire of the foe, but fought on until the Indians had | been routed. He was as marvelous in the use of the pistol as the lasso, and in this skill now depended all hopes of escape from the pursuing foe. For the next hour an exciting race ensued. The outlaws gained little upon the boy, but kept | up a random firing, and with each fusilade came a demoniac yell, Desert Dan, urging his horse to renewed exertions, gained upon the wild horses that | were now being impeded in their flight by the | contracting walls of the canyon. Had the boy been familiar with the true nature of the | canyon, he could have made his calculations ac- | cordingly, but, as it was, he was compelled to | meet every emergency just as it arose, | Tbe lad gained more rapidly upon the wild | horses than his pursuers did upon him, The > narrowness of the canyon in places accounted | for this, and as they sped on this difficulty seemed to increase. Once the herd became wedged between the narrow walls, and Desert Dan was at their very heels before they had ex- | tricated themselves, | Bullets from the outlaws’ weapons were still | coming Dan’s way, and suddenly his horse gave | a quick snort and shake of the head, which was | followed by a new burst of speed. Then, as the noble mare began to show signs of lameness, the | boy knew she had been hit with a bullet, and that the race must soon come to an end. The sight of the canyon walls coming close | together some distance ahead set the youn | ranchero to thinking. He urged on his faithfu little mare. They were crowding close upon the wild herd, when the latter reached the nar- | row space, and a blockade ensued. The herd | became jammed in between the walls, and Dan. | dashed up to the heels of the snorting, squeal- | inx, struggling mass. Heran his eyes over the herd. He saw Black Robber well forward, to | ail appearances the very key to the jam. A few of the terrified animals backed out when Dan rode up, turned and started awa down the canyon. The boy fired off his revol- | ver and shouted aloud in hopes of breaking the | jam; but all in vain. The outlaws and savages were now coming close, ee and shouting like fiends. It was | ' ' ' a terrible moment for the Prince of the Saddle. He could not forward, back, to either side. But his fertile brain was the most active when danger was mostimminent. A thought flashed through it—a very dangerous expedient, but the only one now open to him for escape, Black Robber was still in the jam, with two or three horses on either side of him, and sud- denly rising to his feet in his saddle, Desert Dan made a leap for the stallion, springing over the intelligence and 3 ole | backs of the struggling animals between. Nim- | bleasa oung panther and:sure-footed, the dar- ing boy landed squarely astride the black, he stallion, terrified by the presence of a man | upon his back, uttered a sound, half-neigh, half. groan, crouched down like a tiger gathering for a@ spring and then, with a fierce snort, leaped in- to the air asif in an effort to go over the backs of his followers, His powerful lunge was the means of breaking the blockade and he shot | forward like a mete r, and dashed furiously |away up the canyon,a rider upon his round, sleek back—a rider he could no more dislodge by his frantic leaps and cavortings than the flowing mane upon his siender neck, to which the fearless young ranchero clung. Away with the speed of the wind flew the herd, the frightened and maddened black, how- ever, leading by many lengths and gaining at every single bound. With yells of dismay and a volley of shots the outlaws came on in hot pursuit. A mile or two further on the canyon began to widen and the walls became less precipitous— gradually falling away on either side and sloping upward to the mesa, Desert Dan made no attempt to guide or con- trol the flying wild stallion. He had left his lasso on Lis saddle, and had not so much as a string with which to restrain the horse, The outlaws and the herd were soon left far behind, and finally the game and tireless desert steed bolted up out of the canyon and headed across the dismal waste, stretching far away to the south west! By this time the sun had dropped to the sum- mit of the Sacramento Mountains, and now blazed full in the face of the boy; but this for only a few minutes, and then the shadows of | night were flung out and the great expanse was mantled in darkness. Yet still on into the night and the arid waste sped the black stallion and the young desert rider, the Boy Saddle Prince of the Rio Hondo. CHAPTER IV. MYSTERIES OF THE DESERT, THE moon hung full and bright in the mid- night sky, and flooded the desert with a soft, dreamy light. Only the occasional cry of a dis- tant wolf, or the soft whirr of a nocturnal wing disturbed the ear of the lonely horseman that was drifting southward over the plain in the direction of the Sacramento Mountains. The horseman was Desert Dan, and he and Black Robber still held to the companionship formed in the distant canyon. The rider was hatless and his face begrimed with dust. The horse was still without bridle or saddle, and moved along at its own pleasure and in its own course, But alas! it is not the spirited, gamy stallion upon which we saw the sun go down. It moves along now at a swinging walk, its neck in line with the back and the head slightly drocping. Its spirit had been subdued by the indomitable Prince of the Saddle. No longer does the horse object to the presence of the rider upon his back. It hears the sound of his voice speaking kindly toit and is no longer affrighted., It feels the touch of his hand kindly stroking its mane and flinches not. Animal instinct has succumbed to the superior wer of man. Desert Dan is master of Black Robber! But, Dan has no means by which to guide the animal. He knows not the extent of the desert nor into what danger he may be drifting. Yet, for al) that, he lets the horse take its own course. Somewhere he knew their tramp would end, and if that end brought troubleit would be time enough to meet it then. It was a lonely ride, however, down that desert, and Dan began to keenly feel the pangs of thirst and hunger. But endurance and fortitude were characteristics of the dauntless boy. Self-denial and sacrifice had, in connection with his pluck and energy, helped to make him the peerless young plainsman that he was, As he rode on, the monotony of the midnight was suddenly broken by the sight of an object that came floating up from the south like the shadow of a passing cloud. But, it was no shadow for, even though no sound could be heard, Desert Dan discovered that the object was a horseman. Quickly the youth’s hand dropped to his pistol- butt. ho but a foe could the unknown rider be? Who, else, but one of the outlaws that had pursued him from the canyon? Black Robber raised bis head and looked at the stranger, stock-still and uttered a weary neigh. Then hestarted forward at a half- trot, and went whinnying straight toward the approaching horse as though he had recognized cbooks com