Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 20 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

“Phat entirely changes. the question, Bloodson is our most. cruel enemy. If I had known that at tirst, i should not have op- osed the enterprise as 1 did.” ‘*So,”? Sandoval ventured to interrupt. ‘‘T consider the idea excellent; and the sooner we put it in execution, the better.” ‘¢ Very. good,’’ Red Cedar exclaimed; ‘I felt sure that the Nina would support me.”’ The Gazelle smiled on him. ‘*Who ever could understand women ?”’ Sandoval muttered in his mustache. ‘* Now,”’ the young girl added, with extra- ordinary animation, ‘‘ let us hasten to make our preparations for departure, as we have not an instant to lose.”’ ‘*Caspita! I am glad we are going te do something at last,’’ said Orson, as he pre- pared to cut up the elk brought in by Red Cedar: ‘‘we were beginning to molder in this damp hole.’’ . | _** Leonard,’’? Sandoval said, ‘look the horses ; fetch them from the corral, and bring them to the subterraneous p e,”? ““ Hang it all,’ said Red Cedar; * talking about horses, I haven’t one.”’ ‘* That is true,’’ Sandoval replied; ‘* youar- rived on foot yesterday; but I fancied you had left your horse in the chapparal.”’ '“* No; it-was killed in an ambuscade, where all but left my hide. Since then, my dog has carried the saddle.’ , ‘* We have more horses than we want, so Leonard shall bring one to you.” “Thanks ; 1 willmake it up to you.” Leonard and another bandit collected the harness and went off. » When the meal was finished, which did not take long, as the Pirates were anxious to start, the separations forming the rooms were taken down, and two or three Pirates, arming .themselyes with powerful levers, moved an enormous rock, under which was the hole, serving as cache to the band, when obliged to leave its den temporarily. in this hole they placed any objects of value which the grotto contained, and the rock was then returned to its place. This duty accomplished, Sandoval shouted as he proceeded to the mouth of the grotto: “ff Some men to help.”’ At. a sign from Sandoval, half-a-dozen men seized the end of a tree serving as a bridge, lifted it, balanced it for a moment in the air, and hurled it into the precipice, down which it rolled, with a sound resem- bling the discharge of a park of artillery. The exterior of the grotto was then covered with shrubs, in order to conceal it as far as possible. ~“ Quf,’’ Sandoval said, ‘‘at»present all is inorder; we will start when you please.’’ ‘*At once!’ the girl said, who seemed a prey to a great: impatience, and who durin all these lengthened preparations had no ceased to scold the men for their slowness. ~ _ The band entered the passage without fur- ther delay; and, after a march of about half. an hour, entered a ravine, where the horses, under the guard of a Pirate, were nibbling the pea-vines and young tree-shoots. * Ali mounted. The White Gazelle allowed her comrades to pass, and managed to remain a little in the rear. Then, approaching Red Cedar she looked at him in a peculiar way, and lai her dainty hand on his shoulder. ‘‘ Tell me, scalp-hunter,’’?) she muttered, ina low and concentrated voice, ‘it is real- ly Don Miguel Zarate, the father of Don Pa- blo, whom you wish to crush ?”” ». , “Yes, girl,” the squatter answered, feign- ing astonishment at this question. ‘“‘ Why do youask me that?” . Nothing,” sbe said, with a shrug of her, shoulders; *‘ merely an idea.” And, spurring her horse, which bounded forward with a snort of pain, she rejoined the band, which started at a long trot. hes Why does she take such interest in Don Pablo?” Red Cedar asked himself, so soon as he was alone. ‘I must. know that! Perhaps it may help me.”’ oA sinlateriataile curled the corners of his thin lips, as he watched the girl gallop on, CHAPTER XI. THE APACHES, oT little band galloped silently through one of those primitive landscapes which owe nothing to art, and whose imposingend grand aspect) makes us understand the infinite a of the Creator, and plunges the soul a gentle reverie. It was one of, those fresh, but lovely au- tumn mornings, On Which traveling is so pleasant. The sun, gently rising in the ho- rizon, spread its vivifying heat over nature, which seemed smiling on it. When you look around you in the ere all seemed spotted with white and bl h gray. The bore on their crests enormous mush- rooms of grauite. which affected the quaint- The Bandit at Bay. est. shapes, The soil of these hills was ger white, and was only covered with a ew faded plants already in seed. In the plain the vegetation was yellow; here and there in the distance a few male buf- faloes were scattered over the prairie like black dots. The flying locusts, some with brown wings, but the majority of a light ellow color, were so numerous, that they iterally covered the earth at certain spots. . At a slight distance off rose the loft Bear’s-paw mountain, whose crest was al- ready covered by a slight layer of snow. The crows formed vast circles in the air, and the buffaloes, elks, aud bighorns ran and bounded in every direction, bellowing and lowing. The Pirates, insensible to the charms of the seenery, and a no other moving prineiple than greed, galloped in the diree- tion of the village of the Buffalo tribe, of which Stanapat (the handful of blood) was the sachem, gradually approaching the Gila, which was still invisible, but whose course could now soon be traced, owing to the mass of vapor that rose from its bosom, and float- ed majestically over it, incessantly drawn up by the sunbeams. Toward midday the band stopped to let the horses breathe, bat, owing to the impa- tience of Red Cedar, and specia!ly of the White Gazelle, soon started again. After descending a very steep hill, and marchin for some distance in a deep ravine, tha formed aspecies of cayion, the band at length debouched on the banks of the Gila. A strange spectacle was the result: on both sides the stream a number of Indians, apparently encamped. at the spot, oe their village stood a little distance off at the top of a hill, in accordance with the fashion of the Pueblos, to eonvert their habitations into little fortresses, were running and seck- ing in every direction, shri¢king, gesticu- lating, and making the most fearful distar- bances. -»Bo soon as they eng strangers ad- yancing in a straight line toward them, and not attempting to conceal themselves, but marching in perfect order, they uttered fren- zied yells, and rushed to meet them, brand- ishing their weapons, and making ready for a fight. ‘“Confound it’? said Sandoval, ‘‘the In- dians do not seem in a good temper. Per- haps we do wrong in accosting them at this moment: from their present appearance they may play us a trick, s0 we will keep on our guard.”’ ‘* Bah! let me act. I take every thing on myself,’ Red Cedar answered, with assur- ance. ‘‘T ask for nothing better, my friend,’ Sandoval remarked; *‘do exactly what you lease; deuce take me if I try to mterfere. know those demons too well to get into trouble with them es ‘Very good! that is agreed ; do not trouble yourself any further.” ‘At. a sign from Red: Cedar the Pirates: stopped, waiting impatiently what was goi to happen, and vesolved, at any rate, wi that brutal egotism characteristic ef scamps. of that sort, to remain unmoved spectators. The squatter, not displaying the slightest trepidation, threw back his rifle on its sling, and taking, off his buffalo-robe, which he waved before him, advanced toward the Apaches, i197 The latter, seeing the strangers halt with their hands on their guns, and this man ad- vancing alone as ambassador, hesitated for a moment, They formed a group, and consulted; after a hurried deliberation, two men moved forward, and also waving their buffalo-robes, stood about ten paces in front of the hunter. »“ What.does my brother want of the war- riors of my nation ?”’ one of the Indians said, , ina haughty voice; ‘‘does he not know that the hatchet has been dug up between the pale-faces and red-skins,or has he ht us his sealp, to save us the trouble of going to fetch it?” **Is my brother a chief ?’’ the Pirate an- swered, displaying no emotion. “‘l am a chief,’ the Indian replied—t my brothers call me Black Cat.’’ ** Very good,” Red Cedar continued. ‘I will therefore answer my brother that I have known for many moons that the hatchet has been dug up for a long time between the ‘Great hearts of the Enst’:and the Apaches. As for my scalp, I am weak enough to set an enormous value on it, gray is itis, and Il have no intention of letting it be raised.” ‘*In that case my brother acted. very im- pauientty in coming to deliver himself up.” “The future will prove the truth of that. Will my brother hear the propositions 1 am commissioned to make him ?’ ne brother can speak, but he must be brief, for my sons are impatient.’ 6 “ What I have to say only concerns Black at. ‘My ears are open,’ [| Jotud oe _ sparkled like carbuncles, he leaped ceive. — ‘“*T have come to offer my brother the help of my comrades and my own—that is to say, the eleven best rifles in the prairie. By the council-fire, I will explain to the chiefs what we can do to deliver them from their im- placable enemy, Bloodson.”’ ‘*Bloodson is a cowardly dog,’’ the chief answered ; ‘the Indian women despise him. My brother has spoken well, but the whites have a forked tongue: what proof will my brother give me of his sincerity ?”’ -**This,” the Pirate intrepidly answered : ‘‘Tam Red Cedar, the sealp-hunter,’’ ‘‘ Wah!” the chief said, his eyes flashing. The squatter continued without any emo- tion : ‘*T have to avenge myself on Bloodson— to succeed in it Ihave come to you, who, till this day, have been my enemies, and on whom I have inflicted 50 many injuries, and 1 place myself in your hands, with my com- rades, frankly and unreservedly, bringing you as proof of my sincerity a skin-full of fire- water, three plugs of tobaeco, and two fe- male buffalo-robes, white as the snows of the Bear’s-paw. My brother will decide—I await his answer.”’ The Indians, who display meena] A te- merity, are good judges of courage. A bold action always pleases them, even from an enemy; on the other hand, a present of fire- water makes them forget the deepest insults. » In the meanwhile Black Cat consulted for some minutes with the chief who accompa- nied him. _ After a long discussion, cupidity doubt- less gained the victory in the Apache’s mind over the desire for vengeance, as his counte- rance brightened up, and he held out his Lind to the squatter, saying: ‘*The chiefs of my tribe will smoke the ‘alumet with my brother and his compan- ons.” ‘Then, taking off his cap of antelope-hide, adorned with feathers, he piaced it himself on Red Cedar’s head, adding: ~ “My brother is now sacred; he and his companions can follow me without fear—no insult will be offered them.” The Pirates had anxiously watched the hases of this conversation. Though too ‘far off to overhear it, they followed all the gestures of the speakers. When Black Cat placed his cap on their comrade’s head, they immediately advanced, without waiting for him to give them the signal, They knew that from this moment they had meg to fear; but, on the con- trary, they would be treated with the great- est respect and utmost consideration by all the members of the tribe. ' “A strange fact, worthy of remark, is the way in which the Indian race understand and practice hospitality. | The most ferocious tribes, aud those most addicted to pillage, respect in the highest degree the stranger who takes a seat at their fire. This man may have killed one of the members of the family which shelters hlm; he may have the most precious articles about him, and be alone, but no one will dare to insult him; every one will strive to do him = all sorts of services, and supply him with every thing that may be useful to him, re serving the right of mercilessly killing him a week later if they meet him on the prairie. The Pirates were, consequently, received with open arms by the Apaches; a tent was put wp expressly for them, and they were supplied with every Fe, they could want. he first care of Red Cedar was to carry out his oo. oe with Black Cat, and pay him what he had promised. ang The chief was delighted; his little eyes , gesticu-' lated, and was half out of his mind. — . The squatter had paid him a royal ransom, which he was far from expecting ever to re- Hence he did not leaye his new friend again, whom he overwhelmed with attentions. | = When the Pirates had rested and had their food, Red Cedar turned to Black Cat : “When the council assembles,” he said, ‘*] will point out tothe chief the spot where - Bloodson now is.” : ) ‘My brother knows it?” = **T suspect it.” <p ‘In that case I will warn my brother, that he may assemble the chiefs round the council-fire.” | “Why not light the fire here, instead of returning to the Village, which will occasion a great oss of time. * My brother is right,”’ the chief answered. He rose, and immediately quitted the tent. A few moments after, he mounted a : of hillock, and shaking his chickikoui with all his strength, invited the chiefs ot the nation to assemble in council. pees 5A taco The same announcement was made on the other side of the Gila. An hour iater, the principal Apache chiefs were crouching round the council-fire, lit in the prairie at a short distance from the tent of the white meu. - Ecboo —_—=