Beadle's Dime Library, No. 13 — page 1: what you’re looking at

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

t | Ih _ i Matt || + Aa a ' »l "i, “an \4 \ : \ 4 ' 1 ti | HN} } : Wi / ay | ' tajbj alts < Mi jah ' Mi —_—_— = i j TST AIMS HMDA OA i ——=— | ' Or YTRIGHTE rf im. 7) ‘ QT Cc NE Nick Whiffles, the Old Trapper of the Nor’west. BY DR. J. H. ROBINSON, CHAPTER I. THE SILENT TRAGEDY. — dark when the hunter reached the spot where he had set his traps the day be- fore. It was one of those singular places that are found in the mountain-ranges only, shut out from the usual haunts of men by impassable barriers, and towering ramparts of earth and rock. But to the Northern trapper, all places areaccessible. His practiced eyes find the thread- like passes, and his experienced hand unlocks the secret gates of the mountains. His feet are familiar with hidden paths; and the moss upon IT was the trees, as well as the stars in the sky, direct | his ae The hunter reached the inter-mountain soli- tude, to which we have referred, by a cul-de-sac, which he had believed was known only to him- self; but, having recent] lost several traps, whic he had set upon a deep, narrow stream that wa- tered the basin, and found its way out to a more open country, by some inexplicable way, his opinion in regard to the immunity of the spot from other human vis- itors had chan o ie was not dis to bear his losses without an ef- fort to solve the mystery. He approached the mar- gin of the dark stream not without a feeling of curiosity, which was soon chan to rise, by the discovery that his traps were again missing. Having well assured him- self of this fact, he searched, as thoroughly as the darkness would permit, for some clue to the authors of this mis- chief, but was unable to obtain the faintest evi- dence that the spot had been visited by a white or red man. The trapper mused a- w hile, and then concealed himself in the rank grass and weeds near the water, vrhich, at that point, ccemed to flow out of the mountains, from beneath an arching roof of solid rock. The hunter stretch- ed at his length upon the soft verdure, listened to the murmur of the stream ©, long time, undisturbed wondering where |i came from, and how it forced its way through OE, 1h pi y i il “ty 4 / f y “ Y : r 4 | : ’ ry LB 1a ah! ii) ™ Uy 4 . SS — i GU JA hy =~. Ss _——— 4 i ST —— KY ’ p52 ry, | \ = ; wae tit > 23 a ee = )}) ANNAN AMT Hi} Hh PATHAWAY: = = w))! a ey | Sa ae ~Q ~~ « SS y | SS » ave, ev , y y AM bbl le Dip. s Liss bl bad YIELD Pa ee (tens ee SaeCR ew os ee eee No. 93 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK, ered the solution of the mystery stood there, holding brilliant torches over their heads, ahd endeavoring, by their light, to ob- tain a view of the stream below. These men were clad something like Mexican banditti. They wore the deer-skin hunting-shirts of the northwestern trappers, with plain leggings and moccasins. The larger of the two wore a red ‘. sash around his waist, with flowing, jaunty ends. Beneath this were thrust a brace of cavalry pis- tols, a dagger in a handsome sheath, a hunting- knife with a silver handle, and an ivory call of large size. He carried in his hand a double- barrel carbine. He was of medium height, thick- set, and the corporate members compactly knitted together. His head was covered by a skin cap. is features, as they appeared to the trapper by the light of the torch, were strongly marked, coarse, and hard. His companion was of lighter make, but dressed much in the same style, with the excep- tion that he wore a black leathern belt instead of sash. Two persons Peadle a Adams, Prblishers, A og ATT vf y We ils | =. é ; ' TUT . Lulull ; | THEA Wie AHA alll pe RL EADLE & ADAMS. ._ ee © Price, 3 Ten Cents. N OF 1 manifestly difficult and dangerous, For some ten minutes he watched the light moving eccen- trically to and fro, sometimes totally disappear- ing, then flashing out clearer and nearer. Anon, _they were near enough for the trapper to see The two remained there but a few moments, | and disappeared as mysteriously as they came. This circumstance, perplexed the trapper. It ap- ared to him that something out of the or- Binary course of events was about to happen. THE WOUNDED TRAPPER. | that they were followed by four others, bearing a burden which looked like a human fi wrapped in a cloak. He instinctively drew aig self further beneath the rocky arch that span- ned the stream. The strange nocturnal visitors reached the bottom of the ravine, and the man with the sash led the way to the margin of the water, when the four men, in obedience toa slight gesture from him, placed their burden upon the ground, and fell back into a group by themselves. The cay Legal began to feel an indefinable in- terest in the motionless object they had thus de- ited. What was it? A human being? Was it dead or living? These questions were imme- diately answered. A young and feminine figure sprang up, casting aside the cloak that had en- velo er. The glare of the torches lighted up the rocky basin, and gave the hunter a full | view of her person. Her face was pale as win- ter snow, and lovely beyond expression. The forester had never seen beauty of so high an or- der. It seemed to his rough and honest nature, that an angelic creature had suddenly descended from the sky to thrill and awe him, for a moment, with her supernal charms Her hair, long, dark, and shining, like wavy threads of jet in the torchlight, hung dishev- eled over her graceful neck and rounded shoul- ders. The symmetry of her person was marvel- ous. She gazed about her wildly, then cast herself upon her knees at the feet of the man in the sash. She threw up her arms, so white and u- tiful; they waved to and fro—they beat the air in anagony of ny mS The trapper heard her cry: ‘“‘Save me—save me!” The words struck him like the thrusts of a dag- ger. He was tempted to rush forth and die in de- fence of such transcend- ent beauty. But they were six, he but one; he would wait. Providence would, perhaps, give him the privilege of doing something for that help- less and a ergs wo- man. He had fiend some one say, or he had read it, that Heaven’s time was the hour ofé man’s hopelessness. The rangy = did not profess to a religionist after the pretentious manner of fashionable Christi- anity, but he had the true instincts of the child of Nature, who, all un- / . i "7, —-¢ i yy ; bd Ne é. f z, » bi Up Wy y ty Ae} lif a / Wi . Saas hi l™ LT / t 4 yas ‘3 m . ° i . }} V wh ph y / () i y ULL) y / / Wj VAG, ; Uy), Hi A We ily LIV ME} ; pi Ni | The faces he had seen troubled him. He beat | known to the world, spontaneously worships in a tattoo upon his forehead with his fingers, | spirit and in truth. Honest men do not entirely formed numberless conjectures, and grew more | forget God in the wilderness, for he has placed confident that the last was the furthest from | so many mementoes of His presence around the truth—a significant hint that those which | them that it is impossible to forget them. might follow would be still less satisfactory. | _The trapper’s sympathies were terribl Startled at the phenomenon, the trapper looked | While he was thus cogitating, the torches ap- | The fair supplicant took. a chain m her tor its cause, and had made up his mind | peared in another direction, slowly descending | neck, drew the COM W C(O) Was a flash of lightning; when, upon the | a steep and difficult pass on the same side, but them at the man’s feet. de ge a em * * directly opposite, he discov- | lower down the strea Thei rogress was | up in gilence, and dropped them into the the flinty fastnesses of the ranges. he night crew darker. The blackness seemed to be rolled and compressed into the basin, till it resembled that Peyptian darkness that could be felt. Presently a light flashed across the ravine. awoke. ’ ”