Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 150 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

2 El Rubio Bravo, King of the Swordsmen. El Rubio Bravo, ring, and immediatel asped the musket s Gating fiercely : “i of taking Truxillo, but allowed Truxillo to take — in the most peaceful fashion. q ey we =~ bboy = quiet: pareiess, mer-| ‘* What the aan do. you ag chants, and what not else, come to see the coun- ‘** Treason,” yell aptain jumping u KING OF THE SWORDSMEN;; | try, and they submitted to be examined by Don | and grabbing a musket. ree. try Rafael Balderamos, who allowed most of them to re-embark and go to Balize, leaving a good deal of hard American cash in the major’s ‘ pocket, but very glad to get off even so as peace- e fair-haired man looked round and saw able citizens. them coming, when he uttered an impatient | There was only one P yd out of the | English curse and dealt the struggling Manuel Yankee steamer whom Balderamos would not | a kickin the diaphragm that doubled up that | pass over with a certificate. He pronounced | hero in a moment and made him relinquish his im a suspicious character, a soldier certainly, a ‘Help! murder,” roared Corporal Diaz as he followed his chief’s example, and then away they rushed for the prisoner. OR, The Terrible Brothers of Tabasco. A Story of Tropical Love and Adventure. BY COL. THOMAS HOYER MONSTERY, Champion at Arms of the Americas. AUTHOR OF “ IRON WRIST,” ‘‘ THE DEMON DUEL- — 9 ie ~- Ns . ~~ + _ proaching the condition of the Gari Wa over, revolutions were next in order, {eat this 5 ee a large steamer, Ist,” ‘‘THE ©ZAR’S SPY,” ETC., ETC. CHAPTER LI. | THREE TO ONE. Tuk independent State of Honduras in Cen tral America, lies between thiyteen and sixteen degrees north of the equator, and is traversed by several volcanic chains of lofty mountains, some of them covered with snow all the year round. Consequently Honduras enjoys a great diversity of climate. Down by the sea level, the atmosphere resem- bles a vapor bath most of the year, varied by furious burricanes in the rainy season. On the high table lands of the interior the cli- mate is cool and temperate, with pure bracin air that intoxicates the senses like a draught o wine, and up in the snow-line no one lives but the condors, who carry thither the prey they find below. The town of Truxillo lies on the coast, in the vapor bath region, but is cooled by the trade winds, or no one could livethere. As it is, there are only a few hundred people in and around it, and the houses have a dilapidated appearance. 1 spite of the fact that there is little in. But Truxillo to tempt an invader, it has a fort to it, and the fort contains a garrison. The fort is a ruinous structure of stone, built in the days when Morgan and his buccaneers used to raid Spanish America, and the garrison is proportioned to the monetary resources of the government which happens to possess Honduras at the time. The time is usually short; Central America having a cheerful habit of revolutions, which occur about once a quarter. At the time when our story opens, the Presi- dent of the Republic of Honduras was a half- breed Indian named Guartiola, and he had held | — for very nearly two years, without being illed. To be sure, there was a reason for this un- usual good luck, and it was not al ther ow- ing to Guartiola’s own abilities. 6 fact is that the people of Central America are a very different race from those who inhabit the United States, and cannot get along without ‘Bage to be plenty of fighting. They are the descendants of the old Spanish Conquistadores, or Conquer- ors, who were all soldiers; and they retain the tastes and habits of their ancestors. The facie ye United States come from a line of farmers and other hard-working colo- nists, who never aaet Sxcope from necessity, and got through it as soon as ible, with a view to the accumulation of wealth. he Seeeerse : went in to conquer the empi they found established with the saath rash t res 2 slaves and living in idleness, a ) e kept up the idea to the present day. nently, __ - Uni meg x grown in rich people passing their time in pitihe n, the Central Americans have been eq happy after their fashion, in fight- i ing outside enemies, the fight each other Bay ore Ler the result is that the are oy ap- Rilke Cats. tif any President give them an out- ide enemy to fight, is a barey, until s over, secure from revolutions. President Guartiola’s luck to give e an outside enemy in the person of 2. . - e 4 All the factions in Honduras were as one in their hatred of ‘‘ Los Yanquis” and when the enemy came in the form of the ‘“‘ Filibus- tiero” Walker, the people were happy in a real ar of their-own and Guartiola was happiest of But at last came the day when Walker thanks to the American Government ships and was and shot, and then to uneasy for himself. one soldier, ' flic alker had been shot, and that all filit were to be treated in the same way, aid of the English and American premised to the government, they sail 7 filibuster probably; ar him to be closely confined to the ‘** Castle,” and killed if he attempted to. escape. The reasons for this severity in the passenger’s case were two. First, the stranger had no money to bribe Balderamos; second, bis baggage consisted of two huge chests labeled “* ARMS.” So the steamer with the disappointed would-be | filibusters sailed away, and the solitary prisoner watched them off from the summit of a ruined tower in the castle limits, and said to himself, in a mournful sort of way: ‘* Olaf, my boy, you were a fool tocome to this dog-hole of a place, where they will kill you with as little glory asaratinatrap. You will never see your Carmelita again.” He was a man about thirty, straight as an arrow, with a slim waist and an appearance of slightness that was very deceptive. Had you seen him stri , you would have noticed a forty-inch chest, with lean, muscular arms and legs as hard as iron, and a wiry appearance indicative of unusual strength and activity. He stood about five feet ten, and looked taller, while his complexion and hair were remarkable among the dark, sallow men of the tropics, with their black hair and €yes, This man was a regular white blonde such as the Spaniards call a ‘‘ Rubio,” with fierce blue eyes and hair so light that it looked like spun flax in the sun, for he wore it long and curly. His dress at the time he — to himself about his fate consisted of a white shirt and trowsers, both the worse for the heat, and a battered old straw hat. His feet were bare, and so were his arms to the shoulders, The garrison of the castle was lounging about, paying no attention to the prisoner. That is to say, the captain and the corporal were smoking together, and the solitary sentry was standing by the broken gate, looking out to sea. The prisoner also looked out seaward and watched the vanishing column of smoke of the steamer till it faded away to the north-west, when he turned away with a sigh, went down to the court and a ched the shady corner in which mye ramos had caused his bag- aced. e unlocked one of the huge chests, labeled ‘** Arms,” and showed that it contained a good deal of clothing, in the shape of uniforms and handsome dresses of all kinds. Captain Don Domingo Senas was sitting so that he could see the open chest, and his eyes Ettered with cupidity; but he said geen, He he captive pulled out a box of cigars, put two or three in his pocket, and then began to smoke another. . | Then he locked the chest, and paced in a ecomny manner up and down the court, smok- g, and never deigning to notice the captain and the corporal, though the commissioned officer coughed thrice. “The man is a low Yanqui without manners,” observed the captain, my pres ‘*He had six boxes of cigars there. I saw them. And he has not offered me—the acting commandante—so ‘much as one,” “We can have them allin five minutes, senor,” sug the corporal, with a favor-currying smnile, *‘if the prisoner only gets near enough to Manuel.” The or nodded and grinned. Several guns, with bayonets on, were leaning against the corner in which they were sitting. Meantime the peiscurer was walking up and down, muttering to himself in English: ‘*]T could lick these three like children, but I can’t lick a whole nation, and they’ll all be down on me. Iwas a fool to be led a by those fine stories about Walker. The whole country is not worth stealing.” | He paused in his walk, and looked out to sea in a wistful way. He was standing by theopen gate, which had only one leaf, and nothing pre- ited his walking out but the presence of “Manuel, who was leaning on his musket, half ee } . “With a gullen pos of his cigar the prisoner resume his stroll; and as he passed the captain | and corporal, cast a scornful an glance at them, as if they were noxious nt When he came back toward the gate he walk- Vh | as suddenly yelled: be "Manuel, he prisoner is escaping! Kill him! = 1070 further, when Cap- a Mee | who was a squat em looking Indien. uttered a fierce Spanish oa and made a jab at the prisoner with all his force. The stranger evaded the thrust by an active d, anyhow, he ordered limits of the .bappened to cast his eyes to the gun. . Then the stranger turned and met Don Dom. ingo, who made a vicious thrust at him with his gir t was parried by ‘“‘El Rubio” with a slight motion of his own bayonet that sent the other whirling round, and the next moment the whole garrison was fiercely stabbing and cursing at the active stranger, who had to leap from side to side to keep his enemies behind each other, while he parried their thrusts, whirled them round, knocked their muskets flying out of their hands, but never offered to thrust back. He adopted the easiest of attitudes, with his musket butt on his right hip, where it rested im- movable, and always parried witha slight mo- tion of the bayonet, which sent the opposing bayonet far out of the line with apparent ease. e volted from right to left, disarmed all his opponents successively, but inasmuch as he never offered to kill one of them, though he could have done it over and over again, they returned to the attack. And three to one, with the thermometer at a hundred in the shade makes it pretty hard work on the toughest single man. The fair-haired stranger got red in the face, then pale; the sweaty was pouring off him, and he muttered des- perately: ‘*T must kill them all, or J’ll be killed.” He leaped back for the last time, with a shout in Spanish of ‘‘Goaway, I tell you,” when he ate, in the hope of running out, and there be eld a tall dark man with a huge mustache, who stood with his arms folded, critically watching the whole scene. It was Don Rafael Balderamos, the supreme commander of the noble garrison, The persecuted stranger gave a last which sent Don Domingo’s musket flyin fifth time, out of his hands and Balderamos, crying: ** Senor Mayor, salva me, por Vamor de Dios!” (Mr. Major, save me for the love of God.] Balderamos threw up his hands with a cry of intense surprise, as he saw bis captain disarmed, and exclaimed: SS 5 ene Maria, se pued’un hombr’ aprender eso z Jesu Maria, cana man learn that?] 8 ee wheeled round and flun musket full in the face of Corporal Diaz, ing that worthy before he answered. Then he went up to Balderamos, ran bisarm through that of the Spaniard and replied coolly: ‘*Certainly, senor, it is my business to teach it. [am & master of the sword.” The garrison had stopped to wipe its face— for only Manuel was left armed—and Baldera- mos, with an expression of the most reverential admiration, answered: ~ 7 or the over to his oor- ‘Senor, you are a king Of all weapons, and we thought you were a cotptbon Yanqui filibustero. This is amazing. What is your honorable name?” . 2 The stranger smiled. “Tf you will come to my arms-chest, I will show you.” ~~" - Belderatibe followed him in silence, the dis- comfited garrison wiping its face and staring, and the prisoner opened the chest, disclosing, besides the handsome dresses, a number of ’ swords, foils, breastplates, and the other appa- ratus of a fencing-master. — et From the corner of the box he produced a couple of large parchments, which he opened and spread out. potent ror of Russia. I held that post tillI rt. of his Majesty of pain, eee that of uctor-General in Cuba. le Honduras are fond of the exercises 0: oner.” os “Behold, senor,” he said, “first my as colonel, swordmaster-general, to the . , igned it. Here is my commission as Colonel Instructor- at-Arms to the y je i resigned in consequence of yellow fever, and came here because | heard that your people.in came in search of my fortune, and my ns | Olaf Svenson, ‘at your service, and | our ‘Prisoner no more; my guest, my friend, my hero!” cried Balderamos, tntivonlantieally. ‘Senor Don Olavo Sovensone, have the honor of knowing 1 ten h 10 shall he; ou shall be invited to Com- ayagua; you s » anything you like in onduras. arms, we adore you!” And Don ‘huge He eon pris- oner, while “Captain Senas an garrisop waved their hats and roared “Bl Rubio Bravo forever! ecoim ooo) cS _~. —— i i