Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 150 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

se El Rubio Bravo, King 15 of the Swordsmen. raounted, stuck his lance into the sand, hurried- ly tied his horse to it, and said with compressed Fey will defend the pass till re bring back the men, general. My rifle and pistols are suf- ficient,” Ramirez frowned. “For what do you take me? Iam no run- away. If you are in danger, it is my eae to ire it. But I prefer the lance, after all.” e Dane shrugged his shoulders. “Two men cannot hold this place. We must have help, One must go back.” ‘‘Neither need do it,” returned, Ramirez,.a little sullenly. ‘‘ To tell the truth, I ordered Robaldo to follow us at the interval of a mile. As soon as he hears shots, he will hurry “The Dane looked immensely relieved. ‘You are a better soldier than I. Be it so. But at least off your horse and try a little shooting with me.” “I have no objection to that,” was the reply. Just as the Mexican general joined Olaf, the saw several horsemen ride into the pass, wit their backs to them. , CHAPTER XIX. THE ROUT. “Tamy have not seen us,” whispered Don “a0 his companion. nodded and they watched, crouching be- hind pillars of the black basalt of which the canyon was com e new-comers were mounted on small, beautifully shaped horses, and sat in high ked saddles of the old Spanish style, with eavy stirrups of metal. Ramires, "They have copied everything like irez. ey have co eve 8 children, And thoir dress. See, it & the very same Bernal Diaz describes. The wooden casques, the armor of cotton and featherwork. What would not some of our antiquaries give to see them!” The horsemen they saw carried long lances of cane, with bright copper points, and rode along at an easy amble toward the distant palm- tree. Olaf found himself trembling with excite- ment. Hoe was at last on the threshold of the Lost City, and its inhabitants were actually under his very eyes. Presently out came more horsemen, then a few warriors on foot, and npany came a regu- unifo lar body of men, in rm dresses of added white cotton, marching in unison, as if hey had been well drilled. “They have learned that too,” w Don Jose. ‘ Those fellows are no fools.” As he spoke he heard the clank of bt ae in the valley behind him, with the distant neigh of horses. “Go back,” he whispered to Olaf. ‘It is Robaldo, He will ruin all.” The Dane, full of anxiety, ran back ‘to the edge of the valley and waved his hands franti- cally to Robaldo fo halt. e Mexican obeyed, and Olaf came back, satisfied that his su was within a few hun- dred yards. When he se ase Ramirez the yoy the spearmen were 5s coming out, and the heard the sound of sin with the deep ‘‘bum! bum!” of a drum, from the valley of the palm tree. e leading horsemen were already going down into it. The spearmen were in a solid body, march- ing away down the pass, and they began to think the procession was over, when another up of horsemen came out, closely followed by a string of laden mules, conducted by In- dians on foot. : Ramirez uttered a low ejaculation. “ Prisoners! I’m sure of it. Probably white ople are coming. It is good for us to be here! Ranta Maria! we may be able to make a rescue. Call up Robaldo.” Olaf stole away, mounted his horse, and rode off to summon Robaldo, who came up at a walk, his men nervous and excited. It was indeed a strange position to be in. They found Ramirez mounted and sitting on his horse in plain view, had any one in the In- dian column turned round to look. He had his lance ready for instant use, and his handsome face was very stern. The Dane came up beside him and saw a sight he never f t. Two old white men, stripped, and bound wrist to wrist, but bedecked long garlands of flowers, were led in the midst of a procession of Indians, who had the endsof other garlands in their hands, and were dancing and singing us they went. The Dane understood nothing of the words of the song, but he the truth, The bound men were Mp orgel ga to the al- tar; the song a hymn to the But the procession was not over yet. ently came another little gap; then a mule’s head came out, and then— Olaf uttered a deep Danish curse in his ex- citement at what he saw. . Carmelita Ximenes and Pepita Garcia, scanti- ly clad in short cs of featherwork, crowned Mee e9 flowers and bedecked with lands were long black robes, riding on mules, eir black hair was floating down behind | moment was flying down the steep bill into the plain below, followed by showers of stones. How he got. to the bottom, or what was the led along on foot by two old Indians in | next thing that happened, passed like a dream over his mind. When he came to his full senses, he was riding them, their heads were bowed with shame as | at a slow amble over an open savanna, his horse | white with foam; but he was safe from pursuit, So did Charley Brown, who was close behind | and the arms of Carmelita were round him, them, and in a moment the hot-headed young | they walked; but he knew them in a moment. Briton had whipped out his two long navy re- ! volvers, and was crying out: ‘* Forward, for God’s sake, and cut those red devils to pieces!” It was mlt to say how the wild scene of confusion that followed originated. The three Rubios, headed by Olaf, went off at a tearing gallop down the pass, with shouts of rage, Charley Brown firi off his revolvers ; and in a moment the whole Indian escort, seized with a panic, let go their prisoners and fled down the pass, after the backs of the spearmen. Then Olaf turned his horse, swept up to Car- melita and called to her: “Up! gh There is no time to lose!” The girl understood him in a moment, caught his hand, and, setting her foot on his in the stir- rup, climbed upon the horse, while big Charley Brown took up Pepita behind him almost at the same moment. The lancers were spearing and shooting the Indian fugitives with as much zest as had the Spaniards some centuries before, and the whole pass was full of noise and confusion, when Olaf shouted to Ramirez: ‘We must get back. This will not last.” Ramirez nodded. In fact, he saw the tops of a forest of spears at the end of the pass, and saw that his own men were beginning to come back, as if they were getting frightened. They looked down the narrow passage whence the Indian army had come, and saw that it was empty but still hesitated to enter it. u denly came the loud blast of a trumpet high over their heads, and a t rock, weigh- ing over a thousand pounds, fell from the top of the canon and crushed Captain Robaldo, horse and all, into a bloody mass, : Ramirez glanced up, and saw the top of the canon lined with plumed heads. ‘*Into the caverns. It is our only chance,” he aie ge and rode away down the narrow a sem still unexplored, which ended in the tall arch of a cavern, Before they could gain this shelter, a regular shower of rocks came down, and three more of the lancers were crushed to death, while the Indian spearmen at the end of the pass raised a hideous yell and came rushing after them. Then ensued a wild and strange runnin contest, in which the elements of darkness uncertainty were added to the perils of armed enemies. Compelled to proceed pastry Dee only the knowledge that horsemen had been there before them, they rode on through winding caverns, not knowing at what moment they might come on some impassable abyss. Luckily for them, the caverns of the hill were not totally dark, and occasionally took the form of narrow canyons, while the floor was uniformly smooth, and they could see that they were ona ged used track of some sort. t although their passage might have been easy enough when alone, it was by no means so when they were followed and harassed by an active and vindictive enemy. The first ¢ over among the followers of the procession, the regular force of spearmen came running back, and made fierce and per- sistent attacks on the rear of the body of Mexi- can lancers. In vain did the horsemen try to drive off their foes by volleys of carbine shots; these men did not seem to fear gunpowder. Before they cleared the caverns they had lost more than half their numbers, and the two old men, Don Ramon and Don Carlos, had been re- covered from their grasp and carried away. When they at last rode out of the cave onto the great plateau which hung like an eagle’s nest over the plains of Chiapas, it was in a wild, confused mob of horsemen, and to confront a steady, determined-looking body of men, who stood waiting to receive them. | No undisciplined Indians were these, but a body of armen, ranged in just such a pha- lanx as they had learned from their Spanish foes three centuries before. The men of Iximaya, in their lonely retreat, had not changed in all those years. Coming out as did the Mexican horsemen in confusion, their ammunition nigh spent, the sight of this new body of foes, and the cries of a men behind them, completed their demoral- tion. They scattered and rode hither and thither in a mob, and the spearmen made a wild charge, butchering them almost without resistance, Olaf, who had retained his pistols to the last saw that all was over when Ramirez went down, struck by a stone from a sling, and he dashed away to the e of the plateau, still carrying the behind shot down an In- dian who tried to intercept him, and the next i | mm ee ee eee CU ee SU OO OO CHAPTER XX. THE DEAD JAROCHO. THE swordmaster was recalled to himself by a faint sigh from Carmelita, more like a sob; and he pulled up his horse abruptly. He saw that the girl’s face was deadly pale, and a little stream of blood had trickled down from under eo Aha hair, over her temple and into her neck. i ge anything strike you?’ he asked anx- iously. ‘* A stone,” she murmured. “I did not feel it at first; but now, how my head hurts!” He looked back over the savanna and at the mountain-side. No si was to be seen of pees but a single horseman was coming slowly out of the forest, half a mile off, | He took out his field-glass and uttered an ex- clamation of grief. | ‘It is ses4 Charley, and he is bit.” Carmelita clung to him and hid her face, “Take me awag. Let no one see me!” she murmured. ‘They took away my clothes, and only left me this.” ut Olaf kept on looking. ** Pepita is with him.” Carmelita uttered a cry = rr. ‘*Pepita! Thank God! I am not alone!” They watched the approaching horseman, and, as he came nearer, saw that it was indeed the oung Englishman, drooping over his saddle- w, with Pepita behind him. The girl seemed to be unhurt; for she was half supporting him and guiding the horse as it came on. When they at last came up, it was evident that Brown had been wounded and was sick and dizzy. His head was bound up with a handkerchief, and his left arm was all dripping with blood, though it was tightly bandaged at the elbow. Charley smiled faintly. “We shall never see—the Lost City, old fel- low,” he muttered in Sa e- _“ They’ vo routed us—horse—foot and—dragoons,” ‘* What hit your head?” asked Olaf. | ** A stone—that’s nothing— but my arm—one of the devils ran it through—mi my body— it’ll be all right ifi—we can find a—house.” Olaf looked round in despair. “There are no houses for miles. Not till we get to Chiapas. What shall we do?” ‘Go into camp—next best thing—getting late a peel soon, Treesand water—nevyer mind The wounded man spoke faintly; but he evidently retained his senses, Olaf took his horse by the bridle and led him on some distance, till they came toa grove of palms, To their ret joy a patch of bananas was near the palms, sure evidence of some effort at cultivation not long before. : They found a spring in the grove and made their little camp for the night, the girls, with in- stinctive modesty, keeping a iong way off from the men, Olaf attending to his comrade. Bananas were plentiful and ripe, and Gaupves are the main stay of the tropics; so that le was soon made quite comfortable and fell pep. Then Olaf went roaming round the grove to find the owner if possible, and was soon fe- warded by coming on a small jacal or hut, covered with palm leaves, But the jacal was deserted and silent, nota living creature within. He struck a match to examine it and started back with a cry of horror. In the middle of the floor lay a man’s body, the throat freshly cut, while the absence of any offensive odor showed that the murder had been recent, | The sight impressed him so much that he ran out and did not dare to go back for some time, till he had mastered his nerves. Then he lighted a dry stick for a torch, went in, and examined the hut closely. | It was an ordinary jacal, without any fur- niture but a low table and a few stools, with a rude pottery in a corner, full of oil, with a floating wick. is he lighted, and then took another look at the dead body. | It was that of an pppnary arocho or peasant. dressed in a waist cloth as if at work when he was killed and otherwise naked. © | On in the wall hung his Sunday dress of velvet, jacket and calzoneres or loose trowsers, buttoned up the outside with silver buttons, It was evident the man bad not been robbed as D ha “on pot a * ow he came by this en prbegh Nesidig 9! ; but one which Olaf did not try to solve, that he thought of was that he had found a Gress GOMIEGEROOKS r SL OS TE (E(@) —_— Oe « ~ + ee Se See ee eee me. are er Se