Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 961 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

~~ = —s —- < ax, ST : ' pee : Ss 5 ed F "7 4 é 17 =" 10 ee repulsive-looking fellows—very scantily at- tired, and with dark, almost black, faces. The Indians were evidently much en- raged, and flourished knives and clubs in a harrowing fashion. “Looky heret”’ the tramp begged, as one of the knives cut dangerously near his cheek. “A little less of circus-actin’ would suit me. We're your friends, we air; leastways, we want to be. We didn’t come hyar of our own notion, and we'll go away tarnation quick ef you'll only p’int out the way.” He was much seared, but thought it best to put a bold face on the matter. The Indian leader stared at Smith, not comprehending ‘his outburst. But another Indian stepped forward, speaking poor Spanish. e Isett’s countenance brightened. “If you'll tell us now to get out of here, we'll go away. We came in by the river, without intending it. We thought we should be drowned, but found ourselves in this cave.” The Spanish-speaking Indian interpreted this, but little attention was paid to it, and they motioned on along a passage leading away from the cavern. Then they heard a great outburst like the sound of many voices, and discovered a number of Indians ahead of them in the passage. These gathered around and mingled with the escort, and, when the end of the pas- sage was reached, which was ten minutes later, they found more than a hundred In- dians grouped at the entrance. As they emerged from the darkness of the cavern the bright sunlight smote them blindingly. They were pushed further out, and saw below them a wide valley, rimmed in by towering mountains, whose walls rose sheer toward the heavens. Through the midst of this valley flowed the Rio Perdidas. It burst out of the eave a short distance to the right, and dis- appeared again at the valley's further end. Perhaps it did not again rise to the sur- face, but from thence flowed on under ground to the sea. The whole was a mystifying revelation. It was plain that here was a valley un- known to the people of Carretas, and the Mexicans of the neighboring regions, per- haps wholly unknown to the remainder of the world. Yet it was equally plain that these In- dians knew of that outer world which knew not of them. Otherwise, there was no explaining the knowledge of Spanish which one ef them enjoyed. However, the trio were not given much time for speculation, as the Indians gath- ered about, with cries of anger and ex- ¢citement, and conducted them toward the rude adobe town in the heart of the valley. CHAPTER XII. THE TRAMP’S SLEIGHT-OF-HAND. Suddenly the tramp coughed very loud and succeeded in drawing attention to himself. It was apparent that many of the In- dians had never before seen white men, and this was particularly true of the women and children, who were hurrying out of the town in considerable numbers. Bazoo picked up a pebble with a quick scoop of the hand, held it on high and made many violent gestures. The Indian escort stopped and stared. They would have crowded closer, but the tramp motioned them back. Then he again coughed loudly, held up _the pebble and thrust it into his mouth. It was a very large pebble, and he -writhed and choked, and pressed it down —phis throat by rubbing his neck, until it _ Seemed to have passed into his stomach, The Tramp’ s ee After this he drew open his mouth to show that it was empty; then reached down and pulled the pebble out of his ankle, It was but a sleight-of-hand trick, but to these simple Indians it was a marvelous exhibition of magic. Their amazement was staring and unfeigned. The tramp purpled with pleasure and ‘hope. “Gents and ladies, when you got hold of me you didn’t know that I was the high-muck-a-muckest of the high-muck-a- mucks! If you'd like an exhibition of my power, why, I’m at your service. “And I want you to understand, ladies and gents, that this is not mere legerde- main, but a power conferred on me by oc- cult forces. My father was an East In- dian mahatma, and my mother—” They were gaping at him, not under- standing a word. “Stow your English!’ cut in Isett. “What's the use of givin’ ’em that kind of a song’?”’ p Seeing Bazoo hesitate, Isett lifted his voice in Spanish, like a crier, “This is the great medicine man of the American nation! The gods are with him. He can work wonders, perform miracles, heal the sick—” The juggler was swallowing another pebble, which he pulled out of his ear. Then he put a pebble in at one ear and drew it out of the other, and. leaning for- ward, drove a pebble into an Indian’s head and drew it out of the Indian’s mouth. The captors fell back agape, and Bazoo, much encouraged, tackled some of his best tricks. He combed a whole handful of pebbles and sand out of an Indian’s hair, and then, to the astonishment of all and to the fright of many, he opened his mouth and began to spit fire. Not even his friends had seen him twist off the top of one of the buttons and crowd a portion of the stuff that was in it into his mouth. Following the fire, he reeled out a dozen yards of fine white ribbon, which, after it came out, he gravely passed to the nearest Indian for examination. Isett watched him curiously, and con- tinued to call out his wonder-working pow- ers and to point dramatically to the pres- ent remarkable performance. A number of runners were hurried away, and then, to the surprise of the whites, the Indians sat down in groups around their prisoners, as if in anticipation of a contin- uance of Smith’s miracles. To the credit of the tramp be it said he wis equal to the occasion. He was famil- iar with a number of clever tricks, having been connected for a time with a traveling show, and whenever his ingenuity of pow- ers failed, it Was only necessary to repeat something already shown to Keep the In- dians in a maze of astonishment. He was in the midst of one of his most elaborate and taking tricks when the meas- ured thump of drums was heard, accom- panied by shrill and qnuneerly-cadenced chanting, Looking across the valley, a procession Was seen advancing, from which came the chanting and the drum-beats. The Indians arose as the procession Ap- proached, and one of them, pushing for- ward, with the Spanish interpreter, cast on the shoulders of the tramp a gorgeous red robe. Then a rude chair on a litter was brought up, and to the chair the tramp was lifted bodily. The interpreter said very little, for he seemed to stand in much.awe of this won- der-working white man, but what he said mude it clear that the juggler had been in- vested with priestly insignia. an a ee ew, tee ee Bazoo’s assumption essence of comicality. He winked broadly to his friends, who were s‘-l afoot, as the chair was lifted and borne on the shoulders of four stalwart Indians. ‘ Pardners, luck never goes back on me! Better to be born with a gold spoon in your mouth than with a promise of all the riches of the Indies! I’m in the swim!” He seemed to be, certainly, for now, the crowd collecting around them, Bazoo was borne in state to the adobe town, in pomp. with much chanting and the thumping of drums, In the largest and finest of the adobe houses he was installed, with priests to wait on him, and in a smaller house, which seemed a sort of anteroom to the larger one, were placed the Isetts. But, before the day was out, that, they oners, The tramp demanded an explanation when the interpreter drew near, and the interpreter, questioned by Isett, went away to seek some one in authority. He came back with a priest and a chief, who, prostrating themselves before Bazoo Smith, implored him to shine on their poor lives, to protect them from their ene- mies, to give them rain, and to forgive them for this deprivation of liberty. “For we are much afraid of the white men beyond the mountains,” the priest de- clared. “We have treasures here, gold and silver, and pearls and diamonds, and all realized no matter with what consideration were treated, they were still pris- the “white men, if they knew it, would destroy our town and kill us. Oh, mighty one! Even in your dreams. you might whisper the secret! Therefore, we must not let you go!” Nor could they be shaken from this de- cision, though the tramp spat fire and threatened them all with destruction if he: and his friends were longer held. CHAPTER NIITTI, THE JUGGLER INVOKES HIS POWER. ' For two or three days they were closely confined and watched, after which there was a relaxation of the vigilance of the Indians, The juggler found that he was expected to give daily an exhibition of his powers, to which was to be added a supplication, for rain, as the valley was suffering from a prolonged droug rht. He taxed his ingenuity for a novel form of rain ineantation, and, though no rain came, the prie§ts and the people seemed. to be satisfied, doubtless believing that time was required to bring about the need- ed downpour. Al and his father thoroughly explored the village, which they found to much resemble the mud or adobe villages of the Pueblos and other similar Indian tribes. Near its center was a Circular council- house, or estufa, sacredly guarded from intrusion. From this council-house, early one morn- ing, Aztee Al heard terrible screams issu- ing. The voice was that of a woman, who seemed to be in mortal fear or agony. Al leaped up the ladder that led to the flat mud roof, and would have dived down into the structure through the well-like opening—the only entranee—had he not been seized and hurled back. The Indians who drew him away Were in a fury of rage, brandishing knives and clubs, Other Indians came instantly out of the council-house, bringing the woman with them, She was an old woman, and the whites soon knew that she was the daughter of one who had been a chief, and that she was to be burnt as a witch. Seeing her screaming and writhing in f i OR of dignity held the Sick PeCmicbooks. Cor