Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 1102 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

20 The moment the word was given the red-men, who had been clustered in a knot like so many bees, rapidly separated, and while one remained motionless the other three struck off at the long, loping trot, the favorite mode of progres- sion of all savage nations. Two went to the north and one to the south, but when they got a certain distance away the three commenced to bend in toward the spot where the Californian stood, motionless, waiting for the attack. The strategy of the red braves was now ap- parent. : Using the Fresh as a central point, they in- tended to draw a circle around him, getting a man at each of the four quarters of the com- pass, and then close rapidly in upon him. Of course it was not in the power of mortal man to face four foes, coming from four differ- ent points, at the same time, and while the Cali- fornian was occupied with one, or two at the batt. the others, coming upon him in the rear, could easily accomplish his destruction. This peculiarly savage mode of attack had cost many a poor traveler over the vast prairies of the West his life, and inthis instance it really seemed as if the Californian, despite his skill and courage, would fall a victim to the cunning trick of his foes. But this was one of the instances where a eee of self-cocking revolvers were worth a hun of the common weapons which do not pessess the double action. Blake understood the game of the red chiefs the moment they commenced to play it as well as though he himself had had the planning of it. In this case the central point around which the savages circled was no emigrant train of ‘‘narked ” wagons, so situated that they could not be moved, and the besieged men must, per- force, remain quiet, and allow their wily adver- sary to play the game In their own manner. Blake was a free agent, tied to no stake, but could go where he pleased. So. when the Indians were well separated and had begun to circle around him, he surprised everybody, the bystanders as well as his savage foes, by making a sudden dash at the Indian who had remained motionless while his brothers hed set out to surround the white-skinned foe. Blake was an uncommonly good runner, and started for his man at a pace which made them all open their eyes. The red-skin was perplexed. This was a move in this gameof lifeand death which was entirely unexpected, and for a mo- ment he knew not what to do. The other three were equally surprised, and they came to a halt, uncertain how to act in this novel situation. ' ‘The first Indian threw a glance behind him, half inclined to retreat from the foe who was so rapidly advancing, his idea being that by re- treating he could draw Blake after him and so give the others a chance tp close in on him from the rear. But then the thought came to him that in this curious kind of a foot-race, if the white-skin chanced to be a better runner than he—and from the way the pale-face was coming on it looked es if he was—the enemy would be able to dispatch him with a shot in. the back and then turn and encounter the-others, who would not gain a single bit of ground by this movement. So the savage determined that the best thing to be done was to stand his ground and fight. He, stationary, would surely have a better chance for a shot than his adversary advancing at full speed. Therefore the young chief, who was the Black Musteng, the youngest of the brothers, set his teeth firmly together and awaited the onset. When Blake came to a certain point which the Indian judged was in revolver-range, the aoe raised his weapon, took careful aim, and red. In the excitement of the moment the chief miscalculated. Blake was not within range, and the bullet—a good line shot, by the way, although at least a ard too high—struck the ground some twenty eet in advance of the runner. Blake soon covered the twenty feet, and then, catching his fuot in a slight hole in the ground, tumbled headlong to the earth, just as the re- volver of the r -skin exploded for the second time, The timely fall saved the Fresh of Frisco from a wound, more or less serious, for the revolver- ball passed directly over him as he went down, so near that Blake could hear its shrill song as it whistled by him. A yell of ne came from the ek of the Black Mustang as he beheld Blake go down all in <! heap, apparently half stunned by the shock, The yell was echoed by the other three in shrill cries of triumph, for now the red-skins be- lieved that the chance of fortune had delivered fhe reckless white man into their power. The Black Mustang ran toward the prostrate man at his topmost speed, determined to. get so near that when Blake attempted to rise he could seal hisdoom with asingleshot, The bystanders thrilled with excitement. The Stranger Sharp. With open mouths they gaped. Never since the founding of the old town of Santa Fé, dating away back to the early days when Montezuma reigned—or even before his pitched forward, falling heavily upon his face, and when he reached the ground he rolled over ' on his back, clutching at his breast likea manin mortal agony. time, when the strange people, whom we only | know through tradition and earth-covered relics, now brought to light by the patient toil A long, hard-drawn breath came from the lips of the bystanders as they witnessed the sight. | of the ardent explorer bent upon delving into the mystery of the past—was such a contest | witnessed in the neighborhood of the ancient city. The Fresh of Frisco was on the ground, had rolled over half on his back, evidently stunned by his heavy and unexpected fall, and the ex- ulting savages, with brandished revolvers and loud cries of triumph, were closing rapidly in upon him. What could save the dauntless Blake? CHAPTER XXIX. PLAYING ’POSSUM. ‘‘ Ana!” cried the old chief, in savage glee, to the doctor who held him up so that he could | Never had any one of them seen a more thrii!- ing scene, and yet there were old pioneers in the throng who bad set eyes on many a strange sight in the wild Western wilderness. A groan was wrung from the lips of the aged chief as he beheld the downfall of his eldest born, in his opinion the equal of any warrior that the. a te land had ever known, ese two effective shots had wonderfully changed the character of the contest. Instead of four to one, it was now one man against two. It did not, under these altered circumstances, seem to be such an uneven thing. Indeed, after the display which they bad wit- nessed, there was hardly a man among the see the fight; ‘‘the Great Spirit has given the | Jookers-on who did not consider the fight about bold white man into the hands of the red braves. Soon their bullets will pierce his heart, their knives will drink his blood and his scalp will hang and blacken in the smoke of an Apache lodge.” Doc Limberlegs looked doubtful. | } as good as ended, although, under ordinary cir- cumstances, two to one would be considered. great odds for any foeman to contend against. But the easy manner in which the Caiifornian had disposed of two of his. enemies had thrown a glamour over the senses of the witnesses, and ‘*Mebbe your bucks will scoop in the ‘ pot,’” | they were now in a condition to believe that he he remarked. good deal like it now, but this is a mighty on- sarti’n world, and you can’t always tell which cards will come up trumps in the deal, or which one is most likely to slip out of the faro box a winner. ‘*You see, chief, ’m a mighty good judge, for I have wasted many an hour and many a ducat trying to solve these hyer problems; but ! “T must admit that it looks a | could do almostanything. Jimsonweed was the most extravagant of them all. ‘* It’s all over but the shouting!” he declared, using the old expression so common in the mouths of the racing men of the olden time. ‘‘ Tl] bet a thousand dollars to a cent that he will lay out these two red bucks alongside of the first two, and he won’t have to more than half what puzzles me ’bout this hyer affair is how on | try, either.” earth did the cuss get such a tumble as to lay him out stiff as a paket Jerusalem |!” In utter astonishment came the abrupt ex- clamation from the lips of the doctor. And the incident which had occurred was enough to call forth the cry of amazement. The Black Mustang was within a hundred yards of the prostrate man; the other three about two hundred yards away. + All of a sudden there came a flash, followed by a sharp report from the revolver in the Fresh of Frisco’s right hand. And now the bystanders understood it all. Blake had been playing possum to lure his ad- versaries within easy revolver range. | A thousand dollars to a cent wasbig odds, and yet not one of the crowd manifested any dispo- sition to accept the bet. Upon beholding the unceremonious way in which Long Wolf had been stricken out of the figbt and compelled to bite the dust, the other two red-skins came to an abrupt halt. Thesamethought had simultaneously occurred. to both of the young warriors. They were quite near encugh now to such a wonderful shot, and there wasn’t anything to be gained by getting any nearer. The only chance for them was to come fo @ standstill and endeavor, by taking careful aim, to disable or kill the foe who had proved to be And being such a master of the weapon it | so dangerous. was as easy for him to fire with accurate aim from his reclining position as though he stood upright. Down went the Black Mustang with a bullet through the chest. A yell of age escaped from the throats of the other three red-skins as they witnessed the dead- ly accuracy of the white man’s aim, a buzz of astonishment from the amazed crowd, and a grunt of anguish from the old savage. ‘‘ The snake—the snake!” he cried, in bitter, impotent anger. ‘Didn't I tell you that you had better not count your chickens before they were hatched?” the doctor cried. “T tell you this is a mighty onsart’in world, and it isn’t safe to yell until you are out of the woods!” Brief time though had any of the spectators or actors in the scene for reflection, for no soon- er had the Fresh disposed of the Black Mustang than he turned his attention to the others. Blake did not attempt to rise, for such a real- ly wonderful marksman as he was, used to all sorts of fancy shots, it was just as easy for him to draw a deadly ‘‘ bead” extended on the round, sprawling on the flat of his back, as or an ordinary marksman to shoot in the usual way. Long Wolf was the nearest one of the three, and Blake marked him for the next victim. But while the Fresh was taking aim, for the Californian was acting as deliberately in this matter as though it was merely a_shooting- match at a target for rt, the red-skins en- raged at the fall of their rother, who bad gone down like a lump of lead and had never moved after falling, so that it seemed probable that the bullet had slain him, discharged half a dozen shots at the prostrate man. The Apaches were tolerably fair marksmen, but they were not used to shooting at such a pe- | arm culiar target, and then, too, as they did not stop to take aim, but fired as they ran, none of the The Fresh of Frisco, though, was up to their game, and took immediate measures to frustrate it No sooner bad they come to a halt, and before either one of them had time to draw a “‘ bead” on him, than the sharp crack of his death~ieal- ing revolver rung out on the air he two chiefs were about equally distant from him, and equally distant from each other, the three forming an almost perfect triangle. Funny Bird was about two hundred yards from Blake, in an easterly direction, and Little aoe about the same distance away to the south- The Californian had marked Little Grn for his prey, but this time, through some defect in the cartridge, the bullet did not go as straightas it should, and instead of receiving the ball in the chest, as the Fresh had intended, the Indian got it in the thigh. The wound brought him to the ground in short order, as Blake had designed it should, but it did not disable him, as the Fresh had intended. “Aha! ‘the snake is scotched not killed!” yard geod guessing from the peculiar wey in which the Indian fell that he had received the bullet in the lower fad of his body. “The reptile will be able to use his revolver the moment he recovers from the shock, about as well as though he was uninjured. ‘*T will have to waste another ball on him.” And while he had been thus soliloquizing he had been taking aim at the remaining warrior. The chief on his part had been doing his best in this line also, and as a result the two fired so nearly at the same time that there was bnt one report. Ranvy Bird was the poorest shot of all the four brothers, and nore, he had seid | of time to dwell on his aim, he only succeeded in hitting Blake in the fleshy part of the left But the bullet of the white man, on the con- trary, pierced the chest of the savage, and with bullets damaged the Californian, though some | a gasp of pain he tottered over backward. ‘Ho of the leaden missiles buried themselves in the ground dangerously near to his person. As we have said, six shots the red-skins fired, but the seventh report thet broke the stillness of the air came from the trusty six-shooter of the Fresh of Frisco. And when the bystanders witnessed the result of the shot it seemed to them as if the skill dis- played by the Californian was something more than human and that some invisible demons of the air must be aiding the stranger. The moment after the shot was fired the Apache chief, Long Wolf, threw out -his arms ' ’s cleaned out the hull gang, by gosh!” Jimsonweed exclaimed, unable to Pet his amazement. ; But the fight had not ended yet, for the wounded chief, Little Gun, rose to a sitting por ture, and, taking deliberate aim, fired his revol- ver. The shot was wel] aimed and designed te pierce the stomach, but the chapter of accidents willed that it should strike the handle of the bowie-knife in Blake’s belt, and although it in- flicted a\severe bruise it did no material dam- convulsively, and then with a groan of pain Quickly, though, did Blake return the favor, os COMICDOOKS.C } had 5S lr De ek io : w - ew . : ° ~~ - Pee {eer Se