Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 154 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

. mal ridden by Carmela stumbled and almost pitched headlong. ness of coming death that caused the goodfhorse to miss its footing. One hoof struck upon a round stone, which gave he beneath his weight, nearly producing a fal have been fatal to the hopes of its new mis- tress. on the reins to lend it that support given in- stinctively by a good rider. The strain was too great on the weakened leather, and the maiden lost her balance as both reins gave way. A less practiced rider would have been hurled to the ground, but by a desperate effort Car- mela recovered her seat. Her face was pale as death as the severed reins fell to the ground, for now she knew that her wounded horse would be wholly beyond her control. furious curse as he saw the fugitive’s horse re- cover its footing and dash on with what seemed redoubled speed. Boiling over with rage, he resumed his firing, and once more a fierce yell of joy rent the air as he saw his flying target toss his head high, with a sharp snort of pain. lead!" then arose a general cry of dismay. More than one heart seemed to stop its beating, and bronzed faces erew pele as the outlaws saw the maiden raise her ha head, then sink forward on her horse’s neck, seem:ngly dead or dying! Scarce fact, when his own horse stumbled and fell. Castlike, he alighted upon his feet, but the un- expected shock sent him, with a rebound, end over énd into a clump of thorn bushes, The two nearest horses stumbled over his fallen animal, and the remainder were jerked u barely in time to avert the same fate from their masters. the thorns, noted the temporary check, and howled out in fury: forward in the deep-seated saddle, the pallor of death upon her face, intensified by the rill of blood which trickled along her brow. She was not dead, but hers had been a fearfully narrow escape. A bullet grazed her temple, breaking the skin and rang her brain such a shock that her senses fl can born and bred. To more northern eyes, it looks strange and indelicate to see a lady rid- ing astride, but Carmela followed the rule of her country, and to that she undoubtedly owed" her reprieve from death. Sitting astride, the deep-seated saddle kept her from falling to the groupe, which, at the mad pace her wounded tain death. spoken the truth, when he declared that the horse she rode was possessed Though tere its life blood at every stride, its speed increase rankling wounds acted as spurs, and like a demon horse, it rushed along the now winding trail, steadily gaining ground on its pursuers, though these were g free use of both raw- hide and cold steel. though her person seemed paralyved, and her will greatly weakened. She knew that she was in great danger of being hurled from the saddle at each one of the sharp curves in the trail, but she could not even try to raise her head, She was like one in a half-wakin Vaintly the yells of her pursuers fell upon hor cars, but she no longer felt dread of them. It was a strange condition of mind, one that words cvannot deseribe, eeptible flagging in either speed or strength. On thundered fh they were beginning to lose hope of ever over- bloody trail for miles, and race all the faster at the end of it never knew, but at length she was roused from her strange stupor by a human voice which re- peated her name—a ee begat geneg A recognimed—and with a #0 ery she rose erect in the saddle, ber blood ned arme outetretehed a ingly. Again that sara 8 then her eyes beheld him, ber hero, her loved one! Riding straight toward her, I lunging down steeps which a sane man would ‘ave deemed impracticable, turning aside fron 190 le, h the horse he bestrode was a exhausted, and only kept upom its fees soomg Uenerian, Jeaqui “MAMuEgTEs ts yo orian, Joe | ! loved name—then a blood-red mist seemed to Shut down between“them, What pain and fear 24 J oaquin, the Saddle King. Almost, but not quite; nor was it the weak- CHAPTER XXIL which would JOAQUIN TO THE RESCUE. Carmela felt his footing yield, and drew hurd briefly explained. hoping to reach the spot named by Don Man- Sanchez cut his exultant speech short with a less skill could enable the jaded animal to over- weary league since last leaving its corral, and endurance must be reached at last. The eastern horizon was growing rosy with the red rays of the rising sun as Joaquin reached a point of high ground and eagerly sought to * Once more! Fill the infernal brute full of A rattling volley was sent in response, and his men in charge of Carmela Felix. nds convulsively to her ckily, he had taken a trail which, once had Sanchez time to note this terrible time. rendezvous be Carmela roused up from her Sanchez, even before extricating himself from ‘*On, curse ye! Take her, dead or alive!” “Mother of Mercy!” he gasped, rather than Unconscious of all this, poor Carmela droo pany. their arms!” It was fortunate for her that she was Mexi- Straight ahead, paying no further atten- tion to the winding tra to take the obstacles as they came, rode utterly fearless man would ,have even thought of ing such a course; none but the king of was going, would have been almost cer- It seemed ‘almost as if one-eyed Sanchez had of the foul fiend. the form of his loved one in the distance—heard nothing save the rapid gage of revolvers— realized only that should he rather than diminished. The Carmela was dimly conscious of all this, rescuer drew closer, and as his horse descended a steep slope, the rise beyond. cutting off his To her it seemed as though hours were con- in that mad ride for life and liberty. | to be breasted, threatened prove the last to the creet. 4 wild ery burst from his lips as he leaped On sped the gallant horse, without amy per- e outlaws in pursuit, though this demon steed, which could law a —the name of her hero, her lover! e flercest es of Hades couki not have How long the mad race had lasted, Carmela eaping over bowlders and rite whom, unt# then, they had believed either dead ou ed arme, for the first time they noted , ealled glond his had wrought. Once more the maiden drooped | loud, fierce yel forward in her saddle, now wholly lost to con- | audacious fellow before he could entire] sciousness. control of his horse after that frightf Joaquin saw and read their actions aright, and once more that awful thirst for blood seize upon him. He knew that Carmela had recog- Ir was indeed Joaquin Murieta whom Car- | nized bim, and i mela Felix saw riding to her rescue, and how he | felt that she wo came upon the scene so opportunely, may be | that he stood between her and the enemy. He knew that he must kill these ruffians or be After leaving the curious home of the scalp- | killed, and without a second thought of the hunters, Joaquin rode hard and fast, pushing | long odds against him, he uttered a defiant his steed to the utmost extent of its powers, | shout and drew his revolver. | The trail was: neared, but the gallant horse uel Camplido before the tools of the latter could | which had borne the Saddle King so far and leave it with their fair captive. But the region | nobly had shot its bolt. lying between was so broken and cut up that | groan, its strained muscles relaxed, black blood very rapid progress was out of the question. | gushed from its mouth and nostrils as its More than once the impatient lover, in attempt- | heart burst, but Joaquin drove his spurs ing ashort cut ’cross lots,” found himself cut | and supported the dying creature with the reins, off by some barrier which not even his match- ed or recognize the spot where Don Manuel had left | He lit fairl swoon and was driven to temporary insanity by | quin so the sight of poor Tio Tomas’s mutilated corpse. | alighted As it was, Joaquin scarcely reached the high | which he was ground before the rapid firing of revolvers | on and he stumbled bebind the cover. came faintly to his ears, One breathless moment | moment he was stunned, but the exultant cries —then his eagle vision read the startling truth. | of the enemy aroused him, and like a ravening tiger hel up and confronted them, exclaimed. ‘'’Tis Carmela—she is fleeing, and wiftly revolvers exploded, and the two those hell-hounds.-are firing upon her—may foremost men fell dead almost before they could the fires of heaven blast their eyesight and | realize their pe in their animals, thus Moen, t them. eu, plung' orward in alarm. their sober senses ever undertook, and fewer | as their masters still ever came to the end without broken bones, | but Joaquin jumped out, and, graspin ‘There was only one chance of success, and | est one Joaquin made the most of it. sadd] : This maneuver consumed hardly. a momet.t, proving. fatal to the Sadcle 1 ving outlaws, knowi the young Sonorian in hopes of intercepting | they must either kill or be kil those in pursuit of his loved one. None but an | gained their self-control and dashe their foeman, firing at eve Joaquin felt a stinging pain rough-riders could have followed it for a hun- | der as he wrenched his new mount around, and dred rods. Even Joaquin would have hesitated | knew that he was wounded, but how badly he at some of the leaps had he. been in his cooler | neither knew nor cared. His bitter enemies senses, and even with a perfectly fresh horse | were before him. The mad thirst for blood had between his thighs; but now he saw nothing but ere complete possession of him, body and , bat forcing his mount | but it came near The surv view of the chase, Joaquin felt that he would | lent by madness succeed. But his moant was rapidly failing. Only the | volver and flashi superb riding of the young vaquero had kept it | slash—then the afoot this Ong and the steep which was mow | on the other! bod again into the saddle—a@ cry that reached ‘the | and dash ears of Carmela and fora moment drove the | pearance car benumbing stupor from her brain! Her droop- | outlaws, who had ing form was raised erect, her arms stretched | fully understand what was go out appealingly, and from her lips came a faint Oa tbe wild clamo t rvin It was fortunate checked J then. Nerving his failing | such was the case steed with pur and , he dashed straig. eould e il, more Nke a demon rider than | cession, and live to tell the tale ugkt of mortal blood. But swifter still sped | gave ne thought to e open trail, and | cating thirst for blood vanish Joaquin saw that §e would be unable to inter- | came the memory of Carmela’s appeali ore the pain-crazad eveature, and gesture, , our of the outlaws were riding in a clump, | victims of his insane fu having ce far ahead of their fellows, than peril he was leaving on his trail, Joaquin shook . to the greater speed and bottom of their horses, | the blood from his hands-as he replaced his . They saw the astonishing revival of the maiden Fits and wheeled or d and following the direction of her | spurs and surged his tad did curva, an ae were. unable to wholly accomplish, great joy | of their master, their indecision fled and with — they spurred on to meet the recover descent. orant of the real facts, he d soon come to a halt now The other co “th s With an almost human come, Joaquin felt sure he was losing precious | strike the man they feared | And so it proved. Only for this last | they hated—only to see bim rise up from behind vexatious Gelets he would have gained the | the bushes, a leveled revolver in each hand! ore It was not wholly through \design that Joa- ectly deceiv ry erce yell of eat ome ing his feet from the stirrups and preparing Only a dozen yards more of the leap. The noble creaturé had covered many a | steep slope and the level trai would be reached. Down plunged the dying—the dead animal, though its generous spirit promptly responded | for the last few strides were purely mechanical, to each call upon its powers, the end of equine | and only the taut reins kept the poor beast in an upright attitude. ‘Then the leve) was struck, and the dead horse lunged heavily upon its head, shooting Joaquin rom the saddle as though hurled by a catapult. upon his feet, but a exultation burst from the four outlaws as they Almost instantly his trained eyes caught the | saw him rebound and fall behind a clump of t, far away to his right as he had suspected. | bushes. Unla Feeling confident that he was either dead or entered upon, could not be left save at one end | hopelessly crippled by that frightful fall, they or the other, and long ere he reached the out- | rushed on, each one eager to be the first to uite as much as jum in of a gia ded the avenger, but led, speed d straight at Bis left shoul- his enemies. enough, but the impetus with urled from thesaddle forced him He For a le wrenched e lead that 6 two hors s, iant. g een y the mane, swung himself into tho; jthat. re- soul, With a hoarse, snarlin he hurled his ail her now, the | horse upon them, Wuruettnd Hebi of his re- fate of her whom he held far dearer than life, | volver into the face of the one on his right, was sealed. Both man and animal seemed shattering the skull of the doomed wretch to inspired by more than mortal powers. Rock | atoms, while his left hand fastened upon the and rift were taken in their stride. Rapidly | throat of the second ruffian, tearing him. from the lines followed by the fugitive and the | the saddle as with the gri A pistol] shot almost b the outiaw never fired another. With asiyength Joaquin drew ais e1emy across the pommel of the saddle, dropping re- forth his knife. One furious: y fell on one side, the head. In a moment, as it seemed, the tragedy was feather, but Joaquin lea from the saddle, | begun andended. Four men against one—and thus easing the noble al, and urged it up | now that one drew reis in the midst of four fear, the three horses wheeled along the back trail, their ap- 5 Recaps to the other en too far in the rear to ’ them. The fi or no mer ely od swiftly ahead as he pMed the . new mount along, but the . only not reward hi the mad rider, in advance the curiously walled-in ti Moechanicaliy they drew rein, for there could | an abrupt i be no doulst as to the intention af the new-comer | eut off. on the seene, but as they saw that he was alone, |.zeemed to him, bad and reeognived him ss the bitteuly hated enemy | Joaquin realized, and unless halted in some . d beyoad the struggle, eonrumed ithous a second (E(@) m Cc ing on in fron x of fighting eame ae mo man , xpect to win two such victories in suc.. Besides, he. IntoKi- - . and in tis stead. g cry. ce at the. ry, or a thought of the zane foe, fits his view was was brief though it more ri ‘S ar 0)(0)(0)