Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 1036 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

No. 7. ae ent tig - They found him to be a sep of more than or- | dinary character. His language was guarded, | arm of the red-skins, whose will they always ; but showed evidence of some educational refine- , aim to keep so pliable that it will readily bend - ments and good thoughts. But when asked | to their own purposes. | why he pursued such a course of vengeance, he | The country in and about Stony Cliff was in- replied: | fested with a band of these prairie freebooters, ‘I can not help it. This may seem an absurd | led bya notorious scamp called Pirate Paul. assertion to you, butitis true. Thereare times, | however, when my soul shudders with horror at | the deeds of my vengeance. Then again my | heart becomes fired uncontrollably with that | year Pirate Paul had reamed over a goodly por- maddening passion. I can not fight it back. It tion of the western territory, creating as much vomes upon me like the spasms of one addicted | fear and excitement, almost, among the settlers eo to periodical attacks of insanity. Yet, for all as Inkpaducah and his host. But, what was this, I feel that I have a just cause for my deeds | most singular about this pirate band, it could of revenge. And [I think sometimes, however | never be traced to any den or stronghold, and ‘< absurd that thought may be, that Heaven jus- | their ubiquity seemed marvelous. However, it it tifles me in my course. And there are other was generally believed that their head-quarters ee CE savages yet to feel the weight of my vengeance, | were somewhere in the vicinity of Stony Cliff. ie as I have felt and suffered the weight of their | They had been traced by experienced scouts to barbarity. The cries of a tortured mother and | the river’s bank within a mile of the village. angel sister ring in my ears in fancy as they did | Here they had always taken to the water and in reality, for long bitter weeks, while in the | further traces of them could not be found. It hands of these red fiends. And as I was com- | was very strange, too, where they went to. In lied to witness their suffering, agony, and | fact, the whole thing was clothed in a bit of shame, so shall their captors witness my re- | mystery that the shrewdest detective and most venge.” | skillful scouts could not solve. frequent at Stony Cliff than any other settle- ments along the river below, and for overa A deep silence followed this revelation of sor- In the meantime, Pirate Paul was apprised of row an Every heart had been vengeance, alike touched with pity and revenge. The | scorn their-every attempt at finding him. By a ; . Avengers felt that their own fates were in a | systematic procedure, and the assistance of a a, manner connected with that of the young Sp 'number of able spies, he was always ready to ~ Eiumter, and at once made known to him the ob- | defeat their plans; and upon one occasion he jeci that had led them into the country. managed to implicate his pursuers as the real When he had heard their nag of the murder | robbers, themselves. of their friends at the lakes, Death-Notch ex- On the night following that of the storm, a pressed his heartfelt sympathies for them, and | promised to aid them, as far as possible, in their endeavors to rescue their friends. Yet, despite | these kind-hearted manifestations, he would not | river. reveal his features. | The settlers of the latter place had, on the For over an hour the storm continued to rage in allits fury. Finally it began to break away, and by midnight the heavens were clear and the number of the settlers of Stony Cliff were met in. consultation with several settlers of Clontarf’s bery, and on the night of the storm two or three persons had been robbed at Stony Cliff. made. ~ ago, will bring the whole Sioux tribe upon us.” But, at the same time that the settlers were ‘*Then we had better not delay a moment in es em agg quarters,” said Fred Travis. i ‘The little band at once proceeded to act upon | in all fifteen, were in council, also. The apart-" _ +. Fred’s suggestion, and procuring their weapons, ment in which these freebooters sat was a spa- they left the deserted hut. It was, however, _ with great difficulty that the three wounded _.. youths journeyed through the forest without!) It is the hour of midnight when we would | assistance. : conduct the reader through mazes of tangled > se .. Death-Notch advised them to proceed at once | forests, and dark, echoless hill chambers into ~ ~~ to Stony Cliff, where the wounded would be , the hidden ranche of Pirate Paul. Sy “"" saf® and receive the proper attention. The vil- | Around a rough deal table upon which were hy lage was some fifteen miles away, and acting | cards, dice, bottles and glasses, we see the rob- es." upon the masked youth’s advice, they bent their | bers sitting. Each of them, for some reason or footsteps in that direction. other, has a red head-band around his brow. . The Scalp-Hunter was to accompany them | To this is attached a small, white vail that tk s several miles, when his homeward course would | hangs down over the face, so that we cannot see lead him in another direction. | the features, Upon each of these vails we see a As they moved slowly onward, guided by red figure, and by these figures the robbers Omaha, Fred and the mysterious Death-Notch | know each other instead of their names. They followed on a short distance behind, conversing | seem to adhere to method and form—a form as ~ in low tones. They had journeyed in this man- ; old as that of the Senatorial Council of the ner several miles when those in front discovered | Roman Inquisition. that Fred and Death-Notch were nowhere in| Pirate Paul was known as Number One, and _ sight or hearing. So they stopped and waited | the flaming figure upon his vail told which the for them several minutes, but they did notcome | captain was. They sat around the table in the up. | Meanwhile they, were startled by what seemed | although there were but fifteen present, the last to be the wis pe of a pistol. The sound was be- | number was Seventeen. Why wasthis? Glance hind, though some distance away: _ around that circle of form and you will see that y _ There was something singular about Fred’s | Seven and Ten are missing. - ‘eee absence and about that shot. What did it all | They are not boisterous in their conversation, ; URC ‘mean? Surely they had not got into trouble | They speak in guarded ‘tones, as though afraid of the great Architect of the Hills. + fay se! with a band of skulking Indians, or other sounds | of being overheard. Cards and dice seem to St Lie would have been heard. Was it possible that | occupy the minds of the robbers as we enter; but oo year Death-Notch had dealt foully with Fred ¢ as the moments wear on, they hear a clear st A sas The Avengers sent Omaha back to investi- | young voice say: ok es gate. But he returned and Fred was not | ‘Number Ten seems to be detained for some with him. His face wore a clouded expression | reason or other.” Post—a settlement some fifteen miles down the | a welcome resort of safety under the strong | ! The depredations of this band had been less | —— eee | every miovement they made, and laughed to | Ee ' order of their numbers. One being first; and | | | | Death-Notch, the Destroyer. 7 ‘Lots of it. The settlers have been in deli. eration as to Pirate Paul and Co. The Clon. tarfers are terrible wrothy over that little affair.” ‘‘ Ah! what else ?” ‘Say that Scott Shirely, the Hudson Bay agent, has discovered and revealed to Sylveen Gray the fact that her lover, Ralph St. painixs is Pirate Paul.” Again the robbers laughed. ae oe on, Ten; what else ?’ asked the impatien$ chief. “They blame Death-Notch of El Pardou’s death. They say theGregory family have some little cash and valuables. The search for our ranche will begin just as soon as Scott Shirely and a apohe of his traders and trappers return from the Omaha country, where they’re gone for peltries. Theseven Young Avengers, under the Friendly Omaha, are still at the Cliff, though they are i¢ in a terrible stew about their cap- tain, Fred Travis, I think they callhim. They’ve been searching all day for him ; they think he has fallen a victim to Death-Notch.” “Well,” said Pirate Paul,” we'll have to lay quiet for a while. At least, until that general search for our ranche is over with; and we had better arrange it so as to take a part in the search, But while those avengers are about, we'll have to becareful. That Omaha isa cun- ning chap, with an eye like a cat and a nose like a hound. After all is quiet, we'll wait on the Cray family and see about their cash and valuables.” After some further remarks the council of robbers broke up. The vailed men arose from their seats, and sought their couches in various arts of the cavern. Pirate Paul and Number en, however, still remained in a private consul- tation. ** Now, Finchley,” said the robber chief, when night before the storm, sustained a heavy rob- | they were alone, ‘‘ tell me what you learned of Sylveen Gray—whether Scott Shirely is “a to win her from her robber-lover, bh ne stars were shining bright and sparkling. The; The settlers of Clontarf had tracked the rob- Leger.” yeas moon came up, and then Death-Notch turned to | bers within two miles of Stony Cliff, when the “It’s hard tellin’, capt’in. Miss Gray is no Pe SA the Young Avengers, and said: storm came on and obliterated every sign of | fool. True, Shirely told her that you, capt’in > ae ‘Friends, the storm is over. We are only | their trail. war Pirate Paul—that is, Ralph St. : bub about ten miles from the Indian village, and if The two parties were met in order to take | she don’t seem to believe it. She and Mar- \ we remain here any longer, the mkt or who- | some steps for a more general and thorough | tha Gregory are thick as a swarm of bees, and T > ever it was that attempted my life a while | search for Pirate Paul’s den than had ever been | heard Miss Martha tell her that she did not like the looks of Scott sae he Ce ‘““What kind of a looking girl is that Greg- in council, Pirate Paul and his men, numbering | ory ?’ * Young—about twenty. She’s handsome, | and got sweet blue eyes, pretty ripe lips, and a cious subterranean room, bearing the handiwork | heavenly form.” ‘*Quite a vivid description,” laughed Pirate Paul; ‘‘ but what seems to be her objection to Shirely ?” ‘*Don’t know. Acts as though she’s knowra him before.” Pirate Paul started, and Finchley noticed that he became uneasy. ‘*Finchley,” he at length said, ‘‘ I want you te —— a close watch upon the movements of that girl. She may be an enemy of mine, and at tempt to defeat my meetings with Sylveen Gray. If I find that such is the case, then will I do what I have long contemplated: c Sylveen away by force, and compel her to wed me. “Till keep a watch out, Capt’in Ralph,” re- turned the imag | ‘*Then hasten back to the Cliff, and appri me from time to time of the movements of the settlers.” ‘* All square, Cap. Good-night,” replied the ; and rising from his seat, he glided away y | ehrcugh the cavern like an eel. Pirate Paul, the young robber chief, now sat alone, and he at once became deeply absorbed in thought. As the moments wore on, he reste his elbow on the table and his head on his palm. In this position he fell asleep. Something like half an hour had passed, when” a figure wrapped in a blanket, with a white vail over the face, stole on tip-toe from the shadows of the cavern toward the sleeping robber. When within reach of him it stopped, and frors the folds of the blanket put out a small, white It was a woman’s hand, without a doubt arefully it lifted the vail that covered the face ‘= _ that spoke louder than words to hiscompanions, | ___‘* Give him time, Captain Paul,” said Number “" Fred Travis could not be found ! ae “You know it’s a long way to Stony | hand. am = 2, CHAPTER VIIL A low, half-suppressed laugh “followed this “aaa eae THE HIDDEN RANCHE. remark, For more than a century past, white rene- gades, outlaws and prairie pirates have been one oe of the most active elements of evil of the fron- ate oR tiers, and have been almost as detrimental to the Pe a advancement of civilization as the red-man bim- ‘Probably the settlers are on the alert, or some one is at the cabin; and can’t get away,” said Five. ‘‘ Never fear. Thespy will be here at the proper tinte.” “Yes, if he hasn’t turned traitor, like El Pardou,” said Six. ‘**In that case,” replied Pirate Paul, ‘‘ we'll ardou: take him to the ee ae eee eee self. 7 They are usually composed of a class of men | who, haying become the droge of moral society | serve him as we did and not being able to live without violating the | woods and hang him, and put Death-Notch’s jaws of theircountry, flee from the vengeance stamp upon him. But then I think we need of that law to the frontier, where they can have | have no fear.” ample scope for their wicked inclinations. And ‘* Not a bit 0’ it,” growled Thirteen, ‘ for he’s here within the dominions of the red-man, they | comin’ this blessed minit.” gather into bands, and although there may bea | True enough, footsteps were heard d eertain code of honor mesbotis themselves, that | a fli yon escending rtair flight of steps, and a moment later the person honor does not extend their own dens. , | Spm in question appeared in their midst, with vailed [In their piratical raids apee e ee — em | % © a - @nd emigrant parties, these freebooters are sel- | was the umber Ten. _ cage Any news ay ee =o . Py : “* ~— - Cc | of gazed handsome features of the robber, expressionless ref Pirate Paul, and the figure ¢g upon the in slumber. | For a moment the figure remained thus, a parently transfixed by the face of the yx age ramen then it turned and glided away ig direction it had come. 7 And Pirate Paul slept on. CHAPTER IX, «sa A BLOW IN THE DARK. LET us now return and look after Fred , ate whom we left with Death-Notch, in a preceding ter. Hunter followed on without .h ree LL. > ME and the A ) ae