Beadle's Dime Library, No. 149 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

+ - - - : ' ~ 4 i . i Hod Pr " , . \ P : ~~» : a~— e- « - ~__ “T will go on the discovery,” Monkey-face said. **Good,” Black-deer answered, with a stern smile; “‘my brother is sklllful, he sees many things, he will inform us,”’ Monkey-face pre to leap on a horse which a warrior led him up, but suddenly Blac. -deer rose, Phe and laying his hand roughly on his shoulder compelled him to fall on his knees, The warriors, surprised at this sudden aggression the motive of which they did not divine, exchanged glances of surprise, though they did not make the sli ged movement to interpose between the two chiefs, Monkey-face quickly raised his head, . “Does the spirit of evil trouble my brother's brain?”’ he said, as he tried to free himself from the iron gripe that nailed him to the ground, lack-deer gave a sarcastic smile, and drew his scalping-knife. ““Monkey-face is a traitor,’’ he said, in a sullen voice; ‘‘he has sold his brothers to the pale-faces; he is about to die.”’ Black-deer was not only a renowned warrior, but his wisdom and honor were held in just repute by the tribe; hence no one protested against the accu- sation he had made, the more so, because, unfor- tunately for him, Monkey-face had been ne known, Black-deer raised his knife, whose bluish blade flashed in the fire-light, but by a supreme effort Monkey-face succeeded in freeing himself, bounded like a wild beast, and disappeared in the bushes with a hoarse laugh. one knifé had slipped, and only cut the flesh, without inflicting a serious wound on the clever In- There was a moment of stupor, but then all rose simultaneously to rush in pursuit of the fugitive. **Stay,” Tranquil shouted, in a loud voice, “it is now too late. ake haste to attack the pale-faces before that villain has warned them, for he is doubt- less meditating fresh treachery.” The chiefs recognized the justice of this advice, and the Indians prepared for the combat. : CHAPTER X, THE BATTLE, In the mean while, as stated a little while ago, ceptors Watt had assembled all the members of the colony in front of the town. | ms The number of combatants amounted to sixty-two, * including the females. ro Eu ladies may think it singular that we count the females among the combatants; in truth, in the old world the days of Bradamante and Joan d’Are have happily passed away forever, and the fair sex, owing to the constant progress of civiliza- tion, is no longer reduced to the necessity of fighting side by side with men. In North America, at the period of which we write, and even to the present day, on the prairies and the eames is not so; when the. war-yell of the In- dians suddenly echoes on the ears of the pioneers, the women are constrained to give up the labor of their sex, to take a rifle in their delicate hands, and fight boldly in defense of the community. as e could, if necessary, cite several of these hero- x ines with soft eyes and angelic countenances who, on oceasion, have valiantly done their duty as sol- —. and fought like perfeet demons against the In- Mrs. Watt was anything rather than a heroine, but she was the daughter and the wife of a soldier; she was born and brought up on the Indian borders; she ' already smelt powder several times and seen blood flow, but, before all, she wos a mother. As ar her. dren had to be defended, all her feminine ei timidity had aaa ppeeret and made way for a cold re and energetic resolution, , Her example electrified all the other women of the colony, and all had armed, resolved to fight by the side of their husbands and fathers. it We repeat here that, what with men and women, pier had sixty-two combatants around him. tried to dissuade his wife from ta‘ing part in ht, but the gentle creature whom he had seen ae o so timid and obedient, plainly refused to te ka eve oe project, and the captain was compelled i . et er do as she pleased. | therefore made his agreements for defense. Twenty-four men were placed in the intrenchments - wunder the orders of Bothrel. The captain himself took the command of a second party of twenty-four | ponte intended to act anywhere and every where. ch enelce. under the oiders of Mrs. Watt, were it _and the invalids were shut up, and the arrival of the - __._- Indians was then awaited. the e of the tower,in which the children It was about one in the morning when the Cana- dian hunter and the Pawnee chief left the colony: Re NS oe abiag half-past two all was ready for the de- oF aiid t ; ’ ee The captain made a last round of the intrench- | hee, ae pent in order to insure himself that all was inforder, \ <a after ordering all the fires to be extinguished, tly left the colony by a concealed door in the of whose existence only himself and Ser- were cognizant. ank was placed across the ditch, and the cap- only followed by Bothrel and a Ken- e name of Bob, a daring and broad- tain cr - tuckian of t hae at shouldered fellow, to whom we have already had oc- ;, eae on to refer. ‘ The plank was carefully hidden so as to serve for _ their return, and the three men glided through the ess like phantoms, ‘When they had gone about one hundred yards _ from the colony, the captain halted. ' ~. **Gentlemen,”’ he then said in a voice so faint that _ they were obliged to stoop down to hear him; “I _ have chosen you because the expedition we are | about to attempt is dangerous, and I wanted re- t «solute men with me.”’ > “What is to be done?’ Bothrel asked. + 9 ee “The night is so dark that those accursed Pagans 4 _ could if they liked reach the very edge of the ditch and it would be impossible for us to notice them; ous _ therefore, resolved to set fire to the piles of | oe P and roots. A man must know how to make )-" Allong while will spread a brilliant light, enabling us 6 ame ong w read a , ena us _* to see our enemies for a long distance and fire at them with certainty. _ “The idea is.excellent,” Bethrel answered. _ “Yes, the captain continued, “ still, we must not a _ - pe ~Y fee 4 ' «ie Ve bs , 7 ER —, So) Pan |= : A . _ Se; - —— - —— hide from ourselves that it is extremely perifous; it y scattered ‘ © 4 \ H ° ee. sl 4 ; - p Py oe Pek ty « _ apes ; ~ _— Ta. ) b ‘ The Border Rifles. ie is plain that Indian scouts are over the prairies, pera very close to us, and when two or three fires have been lighted, if we see them, they will not fail to see us too. Bach of us will take the necessary objects, and we will try by the rapidity of our movements to foil the tricks of these demons; remember that we shall act sepa- rately, and each of us will have four or five fires to light, sO we cannot count on one another. To work!” The combustibles and imflammable matters. were shared between the three men and they separated. Five minutes later a spark glistened, then a second, then a third; at the end of a quarter of an hour ten fires were lighted. Weak at first, they seemed to hesitate for a while, but gradually the flame increased, gained consis- tency, and soon the whole plain was lit up by the blood-red glare of these immense torches. The captain and his comrades had been more for- tunate than they anticipated in their expedition for they had succeeded in lighting the piles of woo scattered over the valley, without attracting the at- tention of the Indians; and they hurried back to the intrenchments at full speed. It was high time, for suddenly a terrible war-yell burst forth behind them, and a large ‘band of Indian warriors peppers on the skirt of the forest, galloping at fu ea and brandishing their won like a legion of demons. But they came up too late to catch the whites, wha had crossed the ditch and were sheltered from their missiles. A discharge of musketry greeted the arrival of the Indians, several fell from their horses, and the others turned and fled with great goes The fight had commenced, but the captain cared littie about that; thanks to his lucky expedient, a | surprise was impossible, and they could see as well as in the daylight. There was a moment’s respite, by which the Americans profited to reload their rifles. The colonists had felt anxious on seeing the im- mense fires lit up one after the other on the prairie; they believed in an Indian device, but were soon disabused, by the captain’s return, and congratu- lated themselves, on the contrary, upon this app expedient, which enabled them to fire almost with certainty. The Paanbed. however, had not given up their project of attack; in all probability they had only retired in order to deliberate. The captain, with his shoulder leant against the palisade, was attentively examining the deserted plain, when he fancied he perceived an unusual motion in a rather large field of Indian corn, about two rifle shots from the colony. **Look out!” he said, ‘“‘the enemy is approach- ing.” River one put his finger on his trigger, All at once a great noise was heard, and the fur- thest pile of wood fell in, emitting myriads of sparks. * By heaven!"’ the captain shouted, some Indian deviltry behind that, for it is impossible for that enormous pile to be consumed.” At the same instant another fell in, followed imme- diately by a third, and then by a fourth. There could be no longer a doubt as to the cause of these successive falls. The Indians, whose move- ments were neutralized by the light these monster beacons shed, had takén the very simple method of extinguishing them, which they were enabled to do in perfect safety, for they were out of rifle range. o sooner was the wood down than’it was scat- tered in every direction, and easily put out. This expedient enabled the Indians to get very near to the palisades unnoticed. Still, all the piles were not overthrown and those that Sitained were near enough to the fort to be defended by its fire. — For all that, the Pawnees attempted to put them out. But the firing then recommenced, and the bullets fell in a hailstorm on the besiegers, who, after hold- ing out forsome minutes, were at last compelled to take to flight, for we cannot give the name of a retreat to the precipitation with which they with- drew. The Americans began laughing and hooting at the fugitives. Ri I think,’’ Bothrel said facetiously, “that those fine fellows find our soup too hot, and regret having put their fingers in it.” - , “In truth,’ the captain remarked, “they do not oe inclined to return this time.” e was mistaken; for, at the same instant, the In- dians came back at a gallop. Nothing could check them, and, in spite of the fusilade, to which they disdained to reply, they reached the very brink of the ditch. It is true, that once there, they turned back, and retired as rapidly as they had come, though not without leaving on the way a great number of their comrades, whom the American bullets pitilessly laid ow. But the plan of the Pawnees had been successful, and tbe whites soon perceived, to their great disap- pointment, that they had been too hasty in congrat- ulating themselves on their facile victory. Each Pawnee horseman carried on his croup a warrior, who, on reaching the ditch, dismounted, and profiting by the disorder and smoke, which pre- vented their being seen, sheltered themselves behind the trunks of trees and elevations of the soil so cleverly, that when the Americans leanéd over the palisade to discover the results of the evening's charge, ey were in their turn greeted by @ dis- charge of bullets and long barbed arrows, which stretched fifteén on the ground. There was a movement of blind terror among the whites after this attack made by invisible enemies. Fifteen men at one round was a fearful loss for the colonists; the combat was assuming serious pro- pele which threatened to degenerate into a efeat; for the Indians had never before displayed so much energy and obstinacy in an attack. No hesitation wag possible; the daring force must be dislodged at any cost from the post where they had so rashly ambushed themselves. Colteathe r oak tn oe . vole ite men, while oO some twenty resolu others Ried the palisades, he had the whbridge lowe and rushed out. The enemies then met face to face. me ¥ Ves! ~ 77 is or : et eae AS os 2 *, é ; 2 | The medley became terrible; the white men and red-skins intertwined like oor drunk with rage = blinded by hatred, only ought of killing each other. All at once an immense glare illumined the scene of carnage, and cries of terror rose from the colony. The captain turned his head, and uttered a shriek of despair at the horrible sight that met his terror- stricken gaze. The tower and principal bulldings were on fire; in the light of the flames the Indians could be seen bounding like demons in pursuit of the defenders of the colony, who, grouped here and there, were at- Semnene a resistance which had now become im- possible. | This is what had occurred: While Black-deer, Blue-fox, and the other principal Pawnee chiefs attempted an attack on the front of _ the colony, Tranquil, followed by Quoniam, and fifty _ the buffalo-hide canoes warriors, on whom he could depend, had got into silently descended the river, and landed in the colony itself, before the alarm was given, for the very simple reason that the | Americans did not at all apprehend an attack from _ the side of the Missouri. ——— “there is | to Quoniam, with whom fury of t Still, we must do the captain the justice of saying that he had not left this side undefended; sebtries had been posted there; but, unfortunately, in the disorder occasioned by the Indians’ last charge, the sentries, thinking nothing was to be feared from the river, deserted their post to’ go whither they im- agined the danger greatest, and help their comrades in repulsing the Indians. This unpardonable fault ruined the defenders of the Shee Seal Tranquil disembarked his party without firing a shot. The Pawnees, when they had once entered the fort, threw incendiary torches on the wooden build- ings, and, uttering their war-yells, rushed on the Americans, whom they placed between two fires. Tranquil, Quoniam, and some warriors who did not leave them, hurried be to the town, Mrs. Watt, although taken by surprise, prepared, however, to defend the post confided to her. The Canadian approached with hands upraised in sign of peace. , ‘Surrender, in Heaven’s name!" he cried, “‘ or you are lost; the colony is captured!” “No!” she answered, boldly, ‘‘] will never sur- render to a coward, who betrays his brothers to take the part of the Pagans!” ‘You are unjust to me,’’ the htnter answered, sadly—‘* | have come to save you.”’ **] will not be saved by you!” , ; ‘“Unhappy woman! if not for your own sake, sur- ey on behalf of your children, See, the tower is on fire!” The lady raised her eyes, uttered a thrilling shriek, and rushed wildly into the interior of the building. The other females, trusting in the hunter’s words, attempted no resistance, but laid down their arms. Tranquil intrusted the guard of these poor women e left a few warriors, and then hurried off to put a stop to the carnage which was going on in all parts of the colar. Quoniam entered the tower, when he found Mrs, Watt half stifled and holding her children pressed to her heart with extraordinary strength. ' The eee? negro threw the you lady across his shoulder carried her out, and collecting all the females and children, led them to the banks of the Missouri to get them out of range of the fire, and await the end of the fight, without exposing the prisoners to the he victors. It was now no longer a combat but a butchery, rendered more atrocious still by the barbarous re. | | _ treaties and braving a thousand finements of the Indians, who attacked their un. happy evemies with indescribable fury. e captain, Bothrel, Bob, and some twenty Ame- ricans, the only colonists still the center of the esplanade defending themsélves with the energy of despair Sgoroe a cloud of Indians, and resolved to die sooner than fall into the hands Tranquil, however, succeeded, by roneeee en- them to lay down their arms and thus put an end to the carnage. Ajl at once cries, groans and entreaties were heard from the river-side. The hunter dashed off, agitated by a gloomy pre- sentiment. . Black-deer and his warriors followed him. When they reached the Le ay where Quoniam had collected the women, a fearful sight presented itself to them. Mrs. Watt and three other females lay motionless on the ground in a pool of blood, Quoniam lay ex- tended in front of them with two wounds, one on his head, the other in his chest, It was impossible to obtain any information from the other females as to what occurred, for they were half mad with terror. The captain's children had disappeared. 7 | Of their ferocious enemies. CHAPTER XI. THE VENTA DEL POTRERO. Usrn@ now our privilege as a romancer, we will transfer the scene of our narrative to Texas, and re- sume our story about sixteen years after the events recorded in the prologue. Dawn was beginning to tinge the clouds with its opaline rays, the stars went out one after the other in the gloomy depths of thesky, and on the extreme blue line of the horizon a bright red reflection, pre- cursor of sunrise, showed that day would ere long ap- pear. Thousands of invisible birds, hidden Somearh the foliage, suddenly woke up, and melodiously be- gan their morning concert, while. the yells the | wild beasts quitting the watering places, and return- | ing slowly to their unexplored lairs, became gradual- ly more dull and indistinct. At this moment the breeze rose, burst into the dense cloud of steam which at day ht exhales from the earth in these intertropical regions, whirled ; | it round for an instant, then rent it asuuder and scattered ié in space; thus displaying, without any apparent transition, the most delicate landscape the the | dreaming mind of poet or painter could imagine. It is, before all, in America that Providence ap- pears to have taken a pleasure in lavishing the most striking landscape effects, and in infinitely varying mi¢books ys os (ee) | $42 a, : ad : aeety i alive, were collected in |