Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 939 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

< fn him an acquaintance whose sympathy his proken spirit sought in the hour of his subjec- tion! Desert Dan madé no effort to stop him, and in a few moments the two horses stood nose to nose, the weary black whimpering in a manner expressive of joy in having met one of his kind, even though a stranger. ut of this the young Saddle Prince took little notice, for he sat his horse like one bewildered, gazing into the face of the strange night-rider—a face as seen in the yellow moonbeams that was radiant in its tran- scendent beauty! It was the face of a young girl! For awhile Desert Dan seemed to doubt his own sense of sight, and the beautiful stranger seemed equally surprised and astounded. And if ever the man in the moon had occasion to smile it was then. The fair, strange Loe could not have been over sixteen. She wascladin black. Her head was bare and a wealth of dark hair hung in twolong braids at her back, Dan caught the flash of a jewel on her breast and the glitter of a ring on a finger of her ungloved hand. She was mount- ed upon a horse that showed signs of hard riding. For fully « minute the two gazed in 8 hless surprise into each other’s face. Desert Dan was the first to speak. ‘** Great gingrickies!” he exclaimed. **T should say so,” was the prompt and laconic reply of the maiden. ‘ Who on earth be you, girl?” the boy asked; **and where did you come from? and ain’t you lost?” ‘*] come from home and am not lost, as you must be, surely,” was the answer he received; ‘“my name is Zulita,” ** Zulita,” repeated Dan, pleased with the name and its owner’s soft. sweet voice; ‘‘ Zulita, where do you live?” ‘* At home,” she responded, with a little, girl- ish laugh; ‘* but, where are you going?” ‘“ Wherever this horse takes me,” he respond- ed; ‘‘ this is the famous black wild-horse known as Black Robber, and I—” ‘*What! you riding Black Robber without bridle and saddle?” the girl interrupted, as she first at Dan and then the horse he rode, ““ That’s ng what I’m doin’, Miss Zulita,” the boy proudly answered. “I caught him ina trap to-lay and boarded his back. He couldn’t t me off and so heran away with me into this esert almost over from the Rio Hondo,” ‘* You must be as t a rider as Desert Dan Saddle Prince, of whom I have heard,” said ulita. ‘*1'm that very rooster hisself, Miss Zulita,” Dan informed her, proud of the compliment just received. The girl uttered a little cry offsurprise. ** And, where are you sone! she again asked, ‘With this horse, I have no means of guid- ing him and so I go where he goes,” ‘** Accept this,” she said, taking a lariat from her saddle and tossing it to Dan. “Thank you!” the boy exclaimed, and taking the rope, he tied one end around the stallion’s neck, and then threw a Slip-noose around his nose. But, Black Robber did not propose to meekly submit to this additional restraint, and struck viciously with his hoof at the encircling cord on his nose, and then started away at a trot, shaking his head and snorting angrily. Desert Dan, with some effort, succeeded in stopping the horse and turning him around, facing, as be supposed, Zulita; but, to his sur- prise and deep regret, the girl had disappeared —vanished in a manner so silent and quickly, that te would have doubted his riebny seen more than an apparition, had it not been for the lariat hg held in his hands. He gazed upon all sides, but nothing except bristling cacti and the crouching, assassin-like e-bushes could be seen. n hopes his horse might follow that of the girl’s, the boy removed the lariat from the ani- mal’s nose and lashed him forward at a weary gallop. But, Black Robber was completely fag- out, and he soon came down to a walk, and an’s rey am of finding that desert fairy faded reast. from his The youth had something in particular to think of now. That fair, girlish face had awakened in his breast an emotion beside which all others were as nothing. He had not a singje doubt that some mystery surrounded her presence there in that desert and at that hour. He could not think she was the daughter of an outlaw, and yet her actions were sufficient- ly strange to have created doubts in the mind of any one not blinded by admiration of her bewitching beauty. Riding on, the boy's ears were finally greeted by the barking of a coyote some distence before him. As he rode on others joined in, and soon it appeared that a dozen or two wolfish scaven- ers had massed in front of him and were hold- ; a nocturnal concert, of preparing for a east. Suddenly a sound, like that of a human voice, came to Dan’s ears, mingled witb the demoniac yelping of the coyotes. ‘* Heavens! what if Zulita has been thrown from her horse and is at the mercy of those ravenous beasts?” As Dan asked himself this question a chill ran through his form, and he urged his horse into a trot. Plainer and plainer grew the frightful snarl- ing and wrangling of the coyotes, and finally above the din, a human voice, true enough, wailed out upon the night—a voice of some one in distress and agony! Leaping to the ground, Desert Dan tied the free end of the lariat around the base of a big sage-bush, and Black Robber, for the first, found himgelf a captive in every sense of the word, for he was firmly held in his tracks by the Tro o Catine the animal, the boy drew his re- volver and ran on toward the coyotes which he could now see, not far away, circling and snarl- las at ys some ok on the ground, s he approached, the beasts manifested a disposition to give him battle; but a shot from his revolver sent them scampering off, and as they retreated, two round, dark objects became visible lying upon the white sand a rod or two before him. As the boy advanced to within a few feet of the objects, he suddenly stopped short and started back, a cry escaping his lips. Those dark, round objects lying there before him on the sands were human heads ! They were upright. The moonbeams falling upon their white faces gave them a ghastly aspect, and when Desert Dan saw the eyes of one of them move, and heard a sound issue from the pale lips, he recoiled with a horrifying shudder, and turned from sight of the trunk- less, yet apparently living horrors! CHAPTER V, THE BOY TOURISTS IN TROUBLE, ‘‘ Boys, in yander chaparral thicket o’ scrub cedars, whose tops you can jist see "bove the plain, is § ring n, but, by the great Rosy- crusians |! tm afraid thar’s some one thar ahead ous, and it may bea gang o”Mescaleros, or a band o§Desert Pirates! The speaker was Old Tom Rattler, the brave and eccentric hunter, with whom we have so often met. He was dressed in his suit of fringed buckskin, armed with rifle, revolvers and knife, and to all appearances of as much life and vigor as when we first encoun- tered him a quarter of a century ago. Those to whom his remarks were addressed were Ben Mead and Frank Warfield, young fel- Jows of about twenty Beeb: whose garb and general apparent told they were strangers in a strange land. They were bright, intelligent- looking yuung men. They were well armed, as was the universal custom of that wild region, All three wore sun-helmets and vails, and were mounted upon ponies. Two pack-animals followed, with supplies and camp siege That morning the three had left Bonito, a ar Paty in the Sacramento Mountains, and g on, a trip across the desert lying to the northeast, expecting to strike the Rio Hondo 9 i forty miles from its confluence with the ecos, Old Tom had made the trip once, and the young pleasure-seekers, as Mead and Warfield represented themselves to be, had engaged him, in preference to one Jacarilla Jim, who had been recommended to them by a friend, to con- duct them to the Hondo. Their way lay over a burning desert, without trail or landmark, and with water obtainable at but one or two points en all the long and shadeless way. In truth, it was a dangerous journey at the time of which we write, not only on account of the excessive heat, and the lack of water, but of the Mescalero Apaches and white outlaws who, like vultures, were in constant search of prey. Old Tom Rattler, as we know, was an Indi fighter, and disposed to take great chances for the very love of adventure,and young Mead and Warfield being adventuresome spirits, they had oT on’ the journey without misgivings or ear. Fifty or sixty miles north of the mountains, at what was known as Spring Basin, was to be Kit Bandy’s “Star” Engagement. their first camping-ground, and it would require a forced march to reach the place. Spring Basin was an oasis in that desert where, as the name implies, was a spring of water. It was a basin or sink of considerable area, 80 far below the level of the plain, that the tops of the cedars that grew therein were just visible above the surrounding waste. Rattler had stopped there on his way south. It was a good camping-ground, for, in addition to water, there was grazing in the valiey for their animals, They were within two miles of the Basin when Old Tom, looking northward through Mead’s field-glass, uttered the words mentioned. ae Why, Tom,” replied young Warfield, ‘‘do you see Indian zigns?” ‘¢T see an Indian on the rim o’ the Basin,” the old hunter answered: ‘‘ he’s seated on his pony and |’ll bet a polar region land title he’s a senti- nel, and that thar’s a hull band o’ Mescaleros ’Pachas in the Basin for the night.” ‘¢ Well, if that be true,” said Sasa: “it’s going to place us in a bad position if the Indians are hostiles.” ‘*’'You can rest sure on a ’Pacha bein’ a hos- tile,” Tom r nded; ‘‘and all we can do is to keep clear 0’ their clutches. As it’s only a short time till night, we'll hold off until dark and then I’ll make a reconnoiter 0’ the Basin. Meantime we'd better move slowly on as though we meant to oe to the right o’ the spring without baltin’, and just as though we weren’t aware o’ their presence; then, soon as darkness covers the desert, we'll double back this way so’s to throw ‘em off our track if they be in force, and should take a notion to our crseeg ‘yl poy om,” sai arfield. ** We leave all to you The three moved slowly forward, bearing gradually away so as to leave the Basin a mile to the left. The sun finally went down and darkness in due time, followed; then the three doubled back and passed around to the west of the Basin, and at a point a mile or so distant from the spring they halted, and dismounted in the open desert, ‘* Now, boys,” said Old Tom, ‘‘ I'll slip over to the Basin and see what is reallythere. Keep your position right here and I'll be back in less than an hour—soon as I gain the information as I’m hankerin’ fer.” Pea saying, the old hunter-guide departed, afoot. Ben and Frank tied the horses to sage-bushes and began pacing to and fro, for their long ride had ne their limbs and stiffened their joints. The moon had not yet risen, but there was bright star-light and the tall cacti and sage- bushes scattered here and there were plainly visible for some rods around. ‘This is something we had not calculated up- on, Ben,” Frank Warfield remarked, as they walked the treeless expanse; ‘‘and if we don’t get to those springs in the Basin our animals will h for want of water.” ‘‘In that case,” replied Ben, ‘‘ we'd have a fine old time getting out of this desert afoot. But, then, we mustn’t borrow trouble. Let us trust to Old Tom and the Lord. ‘ But, say, Frank, it struck me to-day as be- ing very singular, at least, that our friend, Captain Rufus Clarke should send for us to meet him at the Sacramento Mountain mining-camp, then leave at the very time we were expected to arrive, and rush over to the Rio Hondo,” ‘* Well, didn’t he give his reasons for depart- ing so suddenly? and didn’t he make arrange- ments with that ranchero at the Sacramento camp to guide us to Aztec Ranch on the Hondo?” ‘‘That is all true enough, Frank,” Ben ad- mitted, ‘‘ but I can’t help thinking Rufus could have waited another day or two, at least. More- over, the very countenance of that ranchero he’d engaged to pilot us across this desert made me tired. He may beall right, and I presume is, but Jacarilla Jim had the look of a Villain to me,” ‘© And so had he to me, Ben; but, what of it?” responded Frank; ‘‘ we refused to accept his service and took Tom Rattler, and so here we are, and there comes the old moon,” An hour had passed since Rattler had left, and as the moon lifted slowly up into the azure sky,’ the young tourists frequently glanced off toward Spring Basin, asif growing anxious for the return of their friend and guide, Suddenly Ben. Mead stop short, and, glancing quickly around him at the low, squatty sage-bushes, observed: ‘Frank, it looks to me as though the rising moon has shoved those sage-bushes up closer to us. Gomicbooks co Ts