Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 20 — page 35: what you’re looking at

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

. -* the prairie, and marching one after the other, they spread like afan, in order to have a greater space to explore, and not lose the slightest indication. So soon as the scouts were at the arranged distance, the Mexicans mounted and followed them, being careful not to let them out of sight, as far as was possible. When Velentine told Don Miguel that he had followed more difficult trails, he was either boasting, or, as is more probable judging from his frank character, he wishec to restore hope to his friend. “In order to follow a trail, it must exist. Red Cedar was too old a wood-ranger to negiect the slightest precaution, for he knew too well that however large the desert may be, a man habituated to cross it always succeeds in finding the man he is pursuing. He knew, too, that he was followed by the most experienced hunter of the Far West, whom, by common accord, white and half- breed trappers, and the red-skins themselves, had surnamed the ‘‘ Trail-hunter,’’ Hence he surpassed himself, and nothing was to be seen. Although Valeutine and his two comrades might interrogate the desert, it remained dumb and indecipherable as a closed book. For five hours they had been walking, and nothing had given an embodiment to their suspicions, or proved to them that they were on the right track. rT. Still, with that patience which character- izes men accustomed to prairie life, and whose tenacity no word can express, the three men marched on, adyancing step by step, with their bodies bent, their eyes fix- ed on the ground, never yielding to the insurmountable difficulties that opposed them, but, on the contrary, excited by these very difficulties, which proved that they had an adversary worthy of them. Valentine walked in the center, with Cu- rumilla on his right and Eagle-wing on his left. They were crossing at this moment a level plain, where a considerable view could be enjoyed ; on one side stood the outposts of the virgin forest, on the other was the Gila, ranning over a sand-bed. On reaching the bank of a small stream, obstructed with shrubs, Valentine noticed all at once that two or three small branches were broken a few inches from the ground. The hunter stopped, and in order to ex- amine mere closely, lay down onthe ground, carefully regarding the fracture of the wood, as he thrust his head into the copse. Sud- denly he started up on his knees, uttering a wa joy. is comrades ran up to him, ‘““Ah, by heaven,’’ Valentine exclaimed; “now I have him. Look, look!”’ Ard he showed the Indians a few horse’s hairs he held.in his hand. Curumilla. examined them attentively, while Eagle-wing, without saying a word, formed a duke across the bed of the stream, which was only a few yards in width. ‘‘ Well, what do you say to that, chief ?”’ Valentine asked, ‘‘ Havel guessed it ?’’ ‘Wah,’ the Indian replied, ‘‘ Koutonepi has good eyes ; these hairs come from Red OCedar’s horse.”’ ‘‘T noticed that the horse he rode was iron- gray,” ‘“‘ Yes; but it halts,”’ ‘| know it, with the off fore-leg.”’ At this moment the Coras summoned them: he had turved the course of the stream, and the traces of a horse’s hoofs could be distinctly traced in the sand. ‘‘ Do you see?’’ said Valentine, ‘“ Yes,’? Curumilla remarked; ‘but he is alone.” ‘* Hang it, so he is.”’ The two warriors looked at him in amaze- ment. “ Listen,’’ Valentine said, after a few mo- ents’ reflection, ‘‘ this is a false trail. On stachia this stream, where it was impossi- ble for him not to leave signs, Red Cedar, ‘supposing that we should look for them in the water, crossed the stream alone, al- though it would be easy for men less accus- tomed to the desert than ourselyes to sup- nee that a party had crossed here. Look own there on the other side, at a horse's marks. Red Cedar wanted to be too clever; showing us atrailatall hasrained him, The rest of the band, which he joined again pres- ently, instead of crossing, descended the bed.of the stream to the Gila, where they embarked and passed to the other side of the river.” } The two Indians, on hearing this clear ex- planation, could not repress a ery of admi- ration. Valentine burst the dyke, and with their help formed another, one hundred yards be- low, ashort distance from the Gila. The bed of the stream was hardly dry, ere the two Indians clapped their hands, while. ut- tering exclamations of delight. —_, Valentine had guessed aright: this time they had discovered the real trail for the not dead; he le oe bed of the stream had. been trampled bya large band of horses. ‘Oh, oh,”’ Valentine said; ‘“‘I fancy we are on the right road.” He then imitated the cry of a swan, and the Mexicans, who had been puzzled by the movements of the hunters, and were anxious to hear the news, galloped up. ‘Well?’ Don Miguel shouted. ‘‘Good news,”’ said Valentine. “You have the trail?’’ the General asked hurriedly. ‘‘T think so,’’ the. hunter modestly re- plied. “Oh! said Don Pablo joyously; ‘in that case we shall soon catch the villain.”’ ‘‘T hopeso. We must now cross the riy- er; but let us three go first.” The three hunters leaped on their horses and crossed the river, followed at a distance by the others. .On reaching the other side of the Gila, instead of ascending the bank, they followed the current for some distance, carefully examining the ground, ‘Ah! Valentine suddenly exclaimed, as he stopped his horse, ‘I think the men we are pursuing landed here,”’ ‘* That is the place,’’ said Curumilla, with a nod, ‘‘ Yes,”’ Moukapec confirmed him; ‘‘it is easy to see.”’ In fact, the spot was admirably adapted for landing without leaying any signs, The bank was bordered for nearly one hundred yards with large flat rocks, shaped iike tombstones, where the horses could rest their hoofs without any fear of leaving a mark. These stones extended for a con- siderable distance into the plain, and thus formed.a species of natural highway, nearly half a mile in, width, Still, a thing had happened which no one could have foreseen,, and which would have passed. unnoticed, save. for . Valentine’s watchful eye, One of the horses, in: climb- ing on to the rock, had miscalculated its distance and slipped, so that.an almost im- perceptible graze, left by its. hoof on the stone, showed the quick-sighted hunter where the party struck the bank. The hunters followed the same road; but, sosoon as they had landed, the trail disap- peared anew, Although the scouts looked around with the most minute attention, they found nothing that would jndicate to them the road followed by the enemy on leaving the water. Valentine, with his hands resting on the muzzle of his rifle, was thinking deeply, now looking on the ground, now raising his eyes to the sky, like aman busied with the solution of a problem which seems.to him impossi- ble, when suddenly he perceived a white- headed eagle soaring in long circles over 4a mass of rocks, situated a little to the right of the spot where he was standing. “* Hum,” the hunter said to himself, as he watched the eagle, whose circles were grow- ing gradually smaller, ‘‘ what is the matter with that bird? Lam curious to know.”’ Summoning his two comrades, he threw his rifle on his baek, and hurried toward the spot above which the bird of prey still con- tinued to hover. Valentine imparted to the Indians the suspicions that had sprung up in. his mind, and the three men began pain- fully climbing the mass of rocks strangely piled up, one on the other, and which rose like a small hill in the middle of the prairie. On reaching the top, the hunters stopped to pant; the eagle, startled. by their unex- pected appearance, had flown. reluctautly away. They found themselves on a species of platform, which must infallibly have once served as asepulcher to some renowned In- dian warrior, for several shapeless fragments lay here and there, neara rather wide cavity, some ten yards in width. Valentine bent over the edge.of this hole, but the obscurity was so dense, owing to the shape of the cavity, that he could perceive nothing, though his sense of smell was most disagreeably assailed by a fetid odor of de-. caying flesh. ‘* Hillo! what is this ?’’ he asked. Without speaking, Curumilla had lit.a candle-wood torch which he handed the hunter, Valentine bent over again and looked in, ** Ah !’ he exclaimed, *‘ Red Cedar’s horse —I[ have you now, my fine fellow! but how the deuce did he manage to get the animal up here withont leaving any trail?” 3 After a moment he added: ‘*Oh, whata goose lam! The horse was it up here, and then forced it into the hole. By Jove! it 1s a good trick: I must confess that Red Cedar is a very remarkable rogue, and had it not be for the eagle, [should not have discovere the road he took—but now Lhave him! were he ten times as cunning he would not es- cape me.”’ And, all delighted, Valentine rejoined the Mexicans, who were anxiously awaiting the result of his researches. roll am babi he roughly : | ¢ © as ae = oishaeer tliee ~ ‘ ee pe ain Ms. i ie 395 ‘, —— —— SS —_— -— CHAPTER XXXIV. THE HUNT. “So”? Don Miguel asked the hunter; ‘“ vou believe, my friend, that we are on the Tight track, and that the villaincan not ¢s- cape us.”’ ‘‘l, am convinced,’ Valentine replied, ‘‘that we have followed his trail up to the présent.As for assuring you that he will not escape us, I am unable to saythat; I ean only assert that I shall discover him.” ‘That is what I meant,” the haciendero reinarked; with a sigh. They started once more. i wer The prairie became more broken, here anc there: clumps of trees diversified the land- scape, and in the distance rose hills; the first spires of the Sierra Madre, which jagged the biue horizon, and andulated the soil. The hunters reached at about an’ hour be- fore sunset the first trees of an immense virgin forest, which stretched out. like a curtain of verdure, and completely hid the prairie from their sight. ‘‘ Wah !’’ said Curumilla, suddenly stop- ping and picking up an object which he handed Valentine. ‘*Hillo!”’ the latter exclaimed, **if- Iam not mistaken; it is Dona Clara’s cross.” ‘‘Give it me, my friend,’ Don Miguel -said, hurriedly advancing. He seized the article the hunter handed him ; it was, in truth, asmal) diamond cross, which the maiden constantly wore. The father raised it to his lips, with a joy mingled with sorrow, | ‘* Oh, heavens!’ he exclaimed, “* what ‘has ‘ happened ‘to my poor girl?” ‘‘ Nothing,’’ Valentine replied; ‘‘ reassure yourself, my friend. The chain has probably broken, and Dona Clara lost it—that. is all:’’ Don Migue! sighed, two tears burst from his eyes, but he did not uttera word. At the entrance of the forest Valentine halted. “It is not prudent,’’ he said, “to go among these large trees by night; perhaps those we seek may be waiting here to attack us under covert. lf you will listen to me, we will bivouac here,”’ No» one objected to this proposal, and consequently the encampment was formed. Night had completely set in, and the hunters, after eating their supper, had rolled them- selves up in their blankets, and were sleep- ing. Valentine, Curumilla, and Eagle-wing, gravely seated around the fire, were con- versing in a low voice, while watching the “néighborhood. All'at once Valentine sharply seized Cura- milla by the collar, and pulled him-to the ground; at the same moment a shot was fired, and a bullet struck the logs, produc- ing myriads of sparks. he sleepers, startled by the shot, sprung up and seized their arms, but the hunters had disappeared, ‘“ What is the meaning of this?’ Don Miguel asked looking round vainly in the darkness. ““Tam greatly mistaken,’’ said the Gene- ral; ‘‘ if we are not attacked.” ‘““Where are our friends?” asked. ‘“* Here they come,” said Don Miguel. The hunters returned, but not alone; they had a prisoner with them, and the pri- souer was Orson, the Pirate. As soon as lie had him in the bivouae, Valentine bound him -seeurely, and then examined him for somé minutes with profound attention. ‘*Tium!’’ he said to himself, *‘ this fellow seems to be a cunning secamp; let me see if! What is your name, ruffian ?”’ asked him. Don Pablo “Orson.” ** Do you know Red Cedar?” ‘“Of course I do; I was going'to join him.”’ * Will you guide us. to him?” ‘“‘T shall be delighted,’”’ the Pirate said, quickly. Valentine turned to his friends. “This man is a traitor,’? he said. “ He was sent to draw us into a snare, in which we will not let ourselves be caught. “Curu- milla, fasten a rope to a branch of that oak- tree.”’ Orson trembled. *“‘One moment,” he said. * What for?” the hunter asked. * Why, I do not wish to be hanged.” ““And yet it will happen to you. You have five minutes to recommend your soul to heaven, and that is more than you de- serve.” Orson understood from the hunter’s accent that he was lost. ‘Hence he made up his mind bravely. ~~ Lae . ‘Bravo !’’ he said, ‘“*well played.” Valentine looked at him. “You are a plucky fellow,” he said to him, and I will do something for you. Curumilla, unfastén his arms.”’ Thé Indian obeyed. comic hi ; P ~~ ~ Ff "*, me S pa 900 —— <s.com