Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 148 — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

-4- - others in torturing me, b | a bhe last one of that accursed set,” ere he broke suddenly off @nd hen he started sud- | “Indeed,” said Captain North, ‘‘ bat you are trembling, Alf—shaking as if with an ague-fit.” ‘*T know it, but never mind. This air around us is chilly,” replied the scout; “ yes, I saw g Phat Indian’s face years ogo, friends: I remem- ber it well, for it was he tbat “ag ascore of ly CUTT RIG Are ained ARM OFF! And now, friends) he mtst quiet for full a minute. denly up again, and said, thast ‘Friends, the Spirit of fhe"Wilderne you—you shall know him—he will sla savage—behold!” ee : y ¢ ee *> lerness ear y yonder As he uttered the last word, he raised his” long cane and pointed it with calm delibera- tion toward the listening red-skin. Our friends wondered at this movement, but when they : | well, I believe it woul saw a little jet of fire issue from the end of the cane, and heard the sharp, whiplike craek of a fire-arm, something of the reality dawned upon their minds—One-Armed Alfwas the Spirit of the Woods, and his lon disquised rifle with which he slew his victims! Acry of mortal agony followed the report, and the savage was seen to drop forward over the side of his canoe, where he bung, his hands beating the water in the convulsions of death. ‘‘ There, friends,” the scout said, ‘ with that red-skin, dies the secret of the Spirit of the Woods. Iam that avenger, and this cane con- tains the rifle with which | have wreaked ven- qpenre upon those who destroyed my home, hen essayed to torture me to death by cutting off my arms and feet. But, thank God, I es- ca when they had deprived me of but one limb, and since then I have made it my sole ob- ject to slay those demons, and you have seen the last one expire.” ‘You have kept your secret well, friend Alf,” said Captain St. John, ‘for the name of the Spirit of the Woods has been spoken b every lip, red and white, in the North-w The t of the conflict at your cabin, I sus- oe arcy Mayfield of being the avenger; ut I see now I was mistaken. I suppose no one knew that you were the ave id ‘‘Yes; Darcy Mayfield knew it, and so did our old friend Jabez Muggins here, who is none other than my African servant and companion, Ethiope.” ‘Hol hot ho! ho” laughed Mugging, slappin 0! ho! ho! ho” laug u slapping the captain on the shoulder; “ ba tbe ; Cap I’m the very chick that peddl whisky, and alers ed to git dead drunk at.councils and sich like, whar thar war lots to be heard.” “Yes,” added the scout, ‘to Jabez is owing all my success as a scout. Through him I have been anaviess time and again, to give the settle- ment such information as saved them from de- struction; and to me I will say he has been a true and noble friend.” “ Well, really; this is singular and surprising news to me, Alt; but w iat. connection has Darcy Mayfield with your work of ess ae “‘ He is interested as deeply as I, for the same demons that deprived me of an arm deprived him of a young wife. She was also my sister, and with her disa a young brother, neither of whom we have ever heard of since the night the Indians, under one Lieutenant Mackclozan, attacked our home.” . ‘*Poor Darcy!” said the captain: “I knew some great sorrow rested upon his heart; but I suppose death has relieved him of all,” 3 presume he perished in the flames of my cabin, that terrible night, captain.” ‘But that rifle of yours—how does it work, anyhow?” : “Tt is a slender stee) barrel, with a thin bore, concealed inside of this cane, and is loaded from the breech, and fired by means of a concealed spring, all of which is effected by a pressure of the fingers without any one suspecting the truth. The muzzle of the piece is concealed by this silver ferule, which you see drops upon @ con- cealed hinge by pressing a certain head of the cane. Under each of these little knots here isa spring, and alongside of the barrel is a receptacle which I can carry a score of cartridges. The gun was the work of an in- genious Yankee gunsmith, living in Pennsyl- vania. And so now, friends, you all know the secret of the Spirit of the Wood amounts’ 6o nothing my pend all. When the secret of the Specter Skiff, and Maid of Michi- gan, is fully known, you’ll find it is no more of a nya than the Spirit of the Woods.” ‘‘ Well, really, this revelation is something more than an everyday story—something that will cause no little surprise to those who have know you and heard of the Spirit,” said Cap- tain North. ‘‘Then it was you who slew the traitorous Malagua, the night we were decoyed from the old I'rench fort,” said Margery Bliss. ‘““Jt was. After he had left you with Captain North, he started to follow you down the creek. I knew his intentions were to murder North, andso I— Hark!” The deep and sullen roar, like that of a can- non, suddenly rolled athwart the night. “ Je-rusalem crickets!’ exclaimed Jabez Mug- gins, ‘what on ’arth war that bu’sted!” ring in the | rude cane was the | | which | — ————— —_ —— ! : One-Armed Alf. ee —eeee ‘IT think it was the reportofacannon; and, ‘“ No, Alf, I was carried away by two English- as it came from over the lake, I daresay it came | men a prisoner; but of this hereafter. l have from the English cruiser, which I learn is | another joyoussurprise for you. I have found patrolling this part of the lake,” said the scout. | her—Maria, and my darling wife, and brother ‘* Ah!—there epes that boom again.”’ = sullen boom of a cannon | True enough, d#iin rolled across the lake and went crashing | Amos, to+,” ‘* Brother Charles, is it possible that we meet once more?’ cried Maria, running ashore from in..thunderous, echoes back among the» forest |.the little sailboat, and throwing her arms bills. This time, however, a path was plowed through the reeds, by a cannon-ball that came | skimming along the surface of the lake, and spent its force .in the bank not.fifty paces from where our friends were concealed. ‘‘It. can’t be, possible that if is the English cruiser endeavoring to drive us from our covert?” asked Captain St. John. ‘It looks .that way, captain,” replied the scout; ‘inasmuch as they have the range pretty be well to change our position.” All favored this idea, and so the seout took up the paddle and headed his canoe around toward the west. In doing so, he was compelled to swing out into the moonlit opening; and the very instant that they were exposed to the light, a long bateau, filled with a dozen savages, glided out into the opening, and came to a stand, directly upon tbe path of the hunted party. CHAPTER XXXII A LUCKY SHOT. THE presence of One Armed Alf and his friends in the opening appeared to be as great a surprise to the savages as was the latter’s resence to the former. Both boats came to a sudden halt, and for several moinents their occupants glared at each other, asif paralyzed by the sight. But the savages soon discovered the almost helpless condition of their enemies, and an ejaculation d from lip to lip, that finally deepened into a wild, vindictive yell. Knives and tomahawks leaped from their sheaths and fastenings. The long bateau was swung slowly around; a dozen oars dipped as one, and the craft shot alongside of the whites’ canee. Before a savage, however, could rise to his One-Armed Alf was leveled u a red-skin’s breast, and the next instant he sunk lifeless with a bullet through his heart. arose a fearful yell upon the ht, which had scarcely died upon the savages’ lips, when the thunderous boom of that unknown cannon rent the air; a ball came crashing through the reeds, andstruck the Indian bateau astern, splitting it from end to end, and hurling the savages, torn and mangled, in every direction, and enveloping those in the canoe in a slpwer of spray. If was a lucky shot, for it had saved the fugi- tives from a merciless death, ‘‘Judas Iskarat!” exclaimed Jabez Muggins. ‘‘ Warn’t that an’’ell-screecher? Whoop tee doodle! Didn’t it rarefy them red touch-me- nots into the air witha ay poring, Ho! ho! ho!” shot,” said Captain feet, the cane o “It was a God-send, tha No ““Ay, Cap, you bet yer gizzard it war, for it witcnd ’em like huckleberries all over Lake Michigan,” returned Muggins. “And now, friends, is the time to make our way from this place,” said One-Armed Alf. _ “ Yes, yes,” replied St. John; ‘“‘ pull for the open Su. and then head away to the south- ward; that will take us out of two perils.” Jabez Muggins seized the paddle, and at once sent the canoe across the glade and crashin through the reeds. In a few minutes they sho out into the lake, and then turned southward. The scout now swept the waters around him, and was not a little surprised to see a little sail- boat, scarcely a hundred yards distant, coming down before the wind, while far behind it he could see a large boat evidently in pursuit of the little sail. And even while his eyes were upon the pursuer, he saw a tongue of fire shoot out from the prow of the craft. A heavy boom rolled across the waters and died away among the hills in sullen intonations. “TI tell you, friends,” said the scout, ‘that little sail yonder is that famous Specter Skiff, and I am almost positive it is being pursued by the Englishman.’ . ‘“We are bound to know soon, Alf,” replied North, for that little sail is fast coming upon ‘Yes: and for fear it contains enemies, we had better put ashore at once,” said the scout. ‘* Ashore she goes!” replied Muggins; and he turned the craft shortly around with the ease of a skilled boatman. In a few moments they had touched upon the beach, but before they had all landed, the little sail turned directly upon their wake, and came rushing in alon e their canoe, upon the beach. t!”’ suddenly demanded One-Armed Alf: ‘‘ who comes there?’ “J, Alf—Darcy Mayfield,” was the reply. “Oh, thank !” burst in accents of joy from the scout’s lips, as he sprung forward and his supposed dead friend by the hand; ‘this is a joyous surprise to me, y; forl supposed you had died that night at my cabin, and had ea consumed in the fire that burnt the house.” about the giant scout’s neck, ‘‘Oh, brother! brother! Heaven bas heard my prayers at last! And here, brother, is Amos, too.” Lhe.giant..scout embraced his sister and | - | brother, too full of emotion for expression; and | while he was thus engaged, Darcy Mayfield, or rather Walter Garfield, and Captain St. John exchanged words of joy over their reunion. The meeting was followed by introductions allaround. This led to the discovery that Mrs. Maria Garfield was the cousin of Captain St. John, or Robert Imbercourt—the same whom Sir Joshua Pellington had tried to persuade Robert to marry, in order to bring about a union of their English possessions. The brothers and sisters and friends, all hastily narrated the events that had transpired since they had last met: and One-Armed Alf, or as he really was, Charles Bradbury, was not a little surprised when he learned that his sister Maria was the mysterious Maid of Michigan. The approach of the English cruiser down the coast, soon put an end to the conversation of the little band of friends. To elude whatever dangers might be lurking in the forest, the party took to their boats a and by hugging the sbadows of the shore closely, they succeeded in eluding the cruiser, and Af daylight the following morning, they turned into the mouth of the Muskegon, and landed at Point Michigan. CHAPTER XXXTII. THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH. Op Jack Eller and Colonel Bliss were the first to greet the arrival) of the fugitives under One-Armed Alf, at the settlement. The colo- nel’s joy ~y" no aaeene a bod was ype once more to clasp his darli to his breast; and when he cakeniie ind eo from the treacherous Malagua was all owing to Captain Paul North, the young officer became the recipient of a shower of thanks and praises. But he was not willing to be contented with these. Nothing but the —. of Margery herself would ever sati:fy him, though he did not tell the colonel so at that time, for he knew that his English uniform would be a sufficient: incentive to a t refusal by the loyal old American patriot. But, like the noble youth that he was, he took up arms in defense of the land, which from infancy he had claimed as his home—the land which had been a home to his father when England re him. Side b side with Ca St. Jobn he fought throug the terrible war that followed, and when peace was declared, he went back and claimed in wed- lock, the hand of Margery Bliss. And then the old colonel did not co for he felt proud of the noble Major Paul Nerth. Captain St. John and Hellice Arvine were married at the close of the war, and took up their home in the territory of Michigan, along with most of their friends, who have been par- — in our romance. les Bradbury, or One-Armed Alf, as we have known him, served as a scout through the war of ’12, and at its close received an appoint- ment as civil officer of the territorial govern- ment of Michigan, in which capacity he won new distinctions and honors. Colonel Bliss and old Jack Eller took an active pore in defense of their country, and Jabez , served with One-Armed Alf,to the last. For a long time the mystery of the Firefaces, who rescued our friends from the Indians at the old French fort when attacked there, puzzled Colonel Bliss as to its cause of secrecy; but in the course of time, the mystery was solved. A band of lake pirates had been traced to this point, and there captured in a spacious ".nde ground apartment which had probably bee used as a secret powder-magazine by those wh had first erected the fort. The object that th Firefaces had in view, in rescuing our frien will never be known; though it was in order, no doubt, to save themselves from dangers. For, had the fort fallen into the bands of the savages at that time, they would doubtless have found their secret rendezvous. Sir Joshua Pellington roamed Lake Michigan in his ion in search of the Maid of Michi-r n, for several days after the mystery of the Skiff had been solved and the little craft had disappeared from the lake. Some way or otber he bad learned that the object of his search, Maria Bradbury, was aboard the craft, and he resolved to put forth every effort to a her, as well as Robert Imbercourt, alias Philip St. John. But the villain was doomed to ee ow ment; and one day while his vessel lay off the eastern coast of the lake, he took a small boat and put ashore to meet 7 a tment, one of his Indian spies; and while there, he was shot through the heart by an unseen enemy; and at last he had reaped the wages of sin— THE END, (E| 0\(6\(6) com cS (E(0)