Beadle's Dime Library No. 170 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

——E——— 7‘e * + Sweet William, the Trapper Detective. CO ————— ———— —————— e oe So far, all had progressed smoothly enough, but at the first stroke of the pick, a deep, hol- low groan broke the silence, proceeding appar- ently from the mouth of the slaughtered ram. The four men stood as though petrified, and as they stared at the sacrificed animal, articulate words seemed to issue from its open jaws. “Ye have wantonly murdered me—beware! The hour of thy doom is near at hand. Doomed —doomed!” Even as the closed, the hea still. Gladden alone seemed capable of motion. Unlike the others, he had really expected and was prepared for something supernatural, and so long as the interference of the unseen enemy was confined to words, he would not flinch. His blows followed in quick succession, and the soft dirt flew in every direction, nor did he cease his labors when the mysterious voice again greeted their ears: ‘The storm is rising. Three of the four shall die the death ere the new moon is full. The fourth shall be saved, if he will open his eyes and abandon the crooked trail pointed out by the blaspheming impostors. Be warned—be warned in time!” The solemn voice seemed to fill the air, now floating above the heads of the treasure-seekers, now coming from behind, and again from the steadily growing hole ; but Gladden toiled on with dogged perseverance. He had been warned what to expect, and he felt no surprise. Had he only cast a look upon the pale, terrified faces of his companions, his feelings might have undergone a change. Then the sounds changed, From the bushes just ahead of him came Ihe wailing cry of the deadly panther, and as he cast a startled glance in that direction, he saw, or fancied he saw, the twin eyes glaring savagely upon him. A wolf howled to the right; the loud sniff of a bear came from the left; and then the shrill skirr of a rattlesnake sounded in their midst. That was enough! With loud yells of terror the Prophet and his two accomplices leape across the fiery circle and took to their heels through the black night as though a thousand fiends were close upon their heels. A shrill, taunting laugh followed them; then the fierce chorus of animal voices broke out afresh. With clubbed pick, the giant stood within the fiery circle, stern defiance in every feature—a glorious picture of undaunted courage, even when the strange voice added: ‘‘Flee while you can, but shun those cow- ardly criminals, unless you would share their fate. Go! death awaits you here!” Not a word did the giant speak, but his ac- tions were plain enough. He shook his fist in- scorn at the warning, then drove his pickax to the helve in the ground. A dull, peculiar sound followed, and a wild, almost agonizing thrill flashed along his nerves, for he knew that the treasure was at his feet. He flung himself into the bole and tore the dirt aside with his naked bands until a wooden box was half wncovered. He grasped the end with maniacal force. The stout wood splintered and gave way. He flung the cover aside and— merciful heavens! Instead of gold, a huge serpent lay coiled up in the box! The warning rattle sounded—the flat, loathe- some head lanced forth and struck him full in the face. The fearful spell was broken. With a cry of horror and despair he sprung from the pit, fol- lowed by the angry reptile. . From the darkness came a repetition of that taunting laugh. Wild with baffled rage and despair, the giant glared around him. The laugh was repeated, and he fancied that the leaves of the bushes just before him were stirred. With a howling roar of angry defiance, he plunged forward, but scarcely had he entered the bushes when a heavy weight seemed to éall upon his head, and he knew no more. CHAPTER XIII. JOSEPH SMITH, THE PROPHET. But very few of the present generation know anything definite about the founder of Mor- monism, and nearly every one who has written about him goes to one extreme or the other, making him either an injured angel or else a fiend incarnate. This chapter does not pretend to be history, but if does con truth, and some portion of its contents are strictly essen- tial to the full oe amen of what follows, as well as to what gone before. With this preface, 1 venture to quote from the mbes 4 published novel of a certain well- known poet: “The murder of Joseph Smith, the so-called Pro- het, meant more than any other similar event in story. This man, as well as his brother Hiram, was notonly an honest, brave gentleman, but also a man of culture and refinement. Nothing in the New World ever so intensified the minds of men as the life and death of this singwar man, Joseph Smith. On the one hand he was hated to death, on the other he was adored while living, worshiped while dead.”’ stood, the open jaws slowly turned half over, then all was Thus writes the Poet of the Siesras, Now let _us take a glance at the other side. The father of Joseph Smith was one of that peculiar class popularly known as money-dig- gers, and neighborly tradition hath it that ht not only coveted his neighbors’ property bue more than once appropriated it to his own use in the shape of horses and cattle. Joe was his favorite son, and a worthy chip of the old block. He was stated to posssess the ‘‘second sight,” and made right good use of his reputed talent, in one instance gaining a wife thereby. He was then in Philadelphia, while the fair object of his affections resided in Harmony, in the same State. He had no money, could not borrow, and would not work for it. He selected a simple-hearted man named Lawrence, told him that he had, by second sight, discovered an immensely rich silver mine on the banks of the Susquehanna river; that they would divide the treasure if Lawrence would pay all the ex- | penses incurred in reaching the spot. As an earnest of his truth Smith signed an agreement | binding himself to serve Lawrence three years _in case the mine did not prove to be exactly as _he represented it. Like many another before and since, Law- a es On their way they paused at Harmony, where Lawrence, who was an old and trusted friend of the family to which Smith wished to ally himself, very warmly recommended Joe to the | parents of his inamorata. | After a brief stay here the treasure-seekers rence was beguiled by that plausible tongue. | | | | resumed their journey. The silver mine was sought for but not found. Joe repudiated his bond and hastened back to Harmony. The parents refused his suit, but Barkis was willing, = the young couple made a runaway match of if. A few days sufficed to exhaust the small sum which Mrs. Joseph had brought him, and his whole mind was turned to getting back to Man- chester, N. Y., where his relatives were living. A credulous Dutchman named Stowell enabled them to accomplish this. Smith told him that by his wonderful powers he had discovered in a cave on the banks of Black River, in Jefferson county, N. Y., a bar of pure gold three or four feet long and as thick as his leg; that it would be too heavy for one man to manage, and that he, Stowell, should have one-half of the treas- ure if he would pay the fare of the three to Manchester. To this the good Dutchman con- sented, but when, a few days after reaching Manchester, he ventured to remind Smith of the promise, Joseph flatly denied the whole story, and defied Stowell to produce any wit- | ness. So much for his honesty and gentlemanliness, Again the poet writes: ** Nearly a hundred men, heavily masked, movin down upon a prison with its half-dozen inmates. little tussle; one struggle at the door. Then a few shots. Then a few men lying in their blood upon the prison floors. Thena “7. from the window, a fall; a man lying dead in the jail yard. Some masked men pick up the body. They sit it up against a pump in the yard, and then they, as if to be — certain, fire at the dead body of the Pro- phet as they file out of the jail yard and disappear. ‘‘A pendulum must swing aboutas far one way as it does the other. Blood means blood. From the stains on that prison floor sprang the dragon's teeth. Out of that awful day came forth a singular conception: the Danites—Destroying Angels,”’ The story of the assassination is true enough, but, though few persons seem aware of the fact, the order of the Danites was established in 1838, a full year before the Mormons were driven out of Missouri. This society was or- ganized in Caldwell county, Mo., at Far West, the Mormon capital. Its object at first was simply to drive dissenters out of the county. The members of the society were bound by an oath and covenant, with the penalty of death attached to a breach of it, to defend the presi- dency and each other unto death. They had their secret signs by which they knew each other either by day or night, and were divided into bands of tens and fifties, with a captain over each band and a general over the whole. Among those driven from the county were John and David Whitmer, Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery, all witnesses to the Book of Mormon, and Lyman Johnson, one of the twelve apostles, Captain Marryat gives a brief history of the Danites in a novel which was published before Joseph Smith was killed. Joseph Smith is generally regarded as the author of the Mormon Bible, whereas the fact is that the book had passed into the hands of at least three persons before Smith knew anything of the matter, and ere he had even heard the name of Mormon mentioned, The original ‘‘ Book of Mormon” was written by a native of Connecticut, named Solomon “eaten, Ye dreamy, fanciful man, who died a beggar. The manuscript fell into the hands of Lambdin and Patterson, printers, of Pittsburg and lay for years upon their shelv unthought of and uncared for. The firm failed, and some- time after, among the undi of rubbish, Lambdin came across the ‘ uscript Found’ —its original title. He was hard up, and seeing, as he fancied, a quaint humor in the work, he me 11 resolved as a last resource to print it. With this intention he intrusted it to one Sidney Rig- don for revision, but died shortly afterward. Rigdon was struck by a sudden idea. Instead of a work of pure fiction, he would produce the book as a new code of religion. It was easy for him, from the first planning of his intended im- posture, to publicly discuss, in the pulpit, many strange points of controversy which were event- ually to become the corner stones of the struc- ture which he wished to raise. With him Mor- monism was a mere speculation by which money might be made, and he resolved to shelter him- self behind some fool who might bear the whole odium, while he would reap a golden harvest and quietly retire before the coming of the storm. But as is often the case, he reckoned without his bost, in selecting Joseph Smith as his tool. He wanted a compound of roguery and folly; Smith was a rogue and an unlettered man, but he was also a man of bold conception, full of courage and mental energy, one of those unprincipled, yet lofty and aspiring beings who, centuries past, would have succeeded as well as Mahomet, and who did, even in this more en- lightened age, ee that which is wonder- ful to contemplate. Ina word, Rigdon became a slave, Smith the father of Mormonism. As for the magic or sacred stone which has been alluded to in this story, it came into Smith’s possession in the following manner. The affidavit which I give is a genuine one, as almost any old citizen of Manchester can tes- tify. ** MANCHESTER, Ontario Co., N. Y., 1833. ““T became acquainted with the Smith family, known asthe authors of the Mormon Bible, in the year 1820. At that time they were ‘engaged in the money-digging business, which they followed urtil the latter part of the year 1827, In the year 1822, I was engaged in digging a well; I employed Joe Smith to assistme. After digging about twenty feet below the surface of the earth, we discovered a sin- gular looking stone, which excited my curiosity. lL brought it to the top of the well, and as we were ex- amining it, Joseph laid it in the crown of his hat, and then put his face into the top of the bat. It has been said by Smith that he got the stone from God, but this is false. “The next morning Joe came to me, and wished to obtain the stone, alleging that he could see in it; but I told him I did not wish to part with it, on ac- count of its a a curiosity, but would lend it. After obtaining the stone, he began to publish abroad what wonders he could discover by looking into it, and made so much disturtiance among the credulous part of the community; that I ordered the stone to be returned to me again. , He had itin his —— about two years, wo gp Men some time in $25, Hiram Smith (Joe’s brother).came to me and wished to borrow the same stone, allegin at they wanted to accomplish some business of iniportance which ‘could not very well be done without the aid of the stone.’ I told him.it was of no veyy particular worth to me, but I merely wished to kee curiosity, and that if he would pledge me and honor that I should have it when called for, he might have it; which he did, and took the stone. I thought I could rely on his word this time, ashe had made a profession of religion; but in this I was dis- appointed, for he disregarded “boty his word and onor. " “In the fall of 1826, a friend called upon me, and wished to see that stone about which so much had been said; and I told him, if he would go with me to Smith's (a distance of about half 4 mile), he might see it. To my surprise, however; on asking Smith for the stone, he said, ‘ You cannot have it.’ I told him it belonged to me; repeated to-him the promise Hiram had made me at the time of obtaining the stone; upon which he faced me with a malignant look and said: it as a ‘“** 7 don't care who the devil it belongs to; you shalk — not have it.’ ** Cou: Nanum Howarp.” It was through this “‘sacred stone” that Jo- seph Smith claimed to have discovered the ‘‘gol- den plates” upon which were written the books of Mormon, but it was three years after the first announcement that he ‘‘ unearthed ” them, and at his third attempt, he only being allowed one trial in each year. Thus he passed awa the time until Sidney Rigdon had completed his work, and all was in readiness for the tremén- dous imposition. . CHAPTER XIV. A LOVE SCENE CUT SHORT. Two days bad passed by since that eventful Fourth of July. During the first of these two days, the woods and bills had been scoured in every direction by armed men, eager to earn the reward offered for Leo Friend, dead or alive, but each passing hour served to cool their ardor, and by sunset of the second day, all those in quest of the outlawed man eotd be numbered upon one’s fingers. And even these an to believe that the object of their search had fled the State, as the only hope of preserv- ing his liberty and life, and, naturally enough they also began to relax their efforts. As the reader is aware, Leo Friend had never . once contemplated voluntary flight, but was taken captive while on his beh Mn deliver him- self up to the Vigilance Comm * His captor would not hear to this, as a volun- tary surrender would render his claim for the reward null and void, but upon other points he was more compliant. First extracting a solemn ledge that Leo would fight to the death rather an submit to be captured by any other rer- son, he accepted his parole for one week, during Gomicbooks is word 4 com