Beadle's Dime Library No. 204 — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

sb Big Foot Wallace. upon finding he could not control bis steed, en- deavyored to Jeap from his saddle, his object being to rur. on foot, and alone to save the idol of his beart, ‘¢Ts Water Warr or a child? Is my white brother e fool that he would hold his head down for a Comanche to scalp? Listen to Warnona! The white squaw shall not burn at the torture stake. lodge of a Comanche. My white brother shall walk with his squaw among the log lodges of his people; but he must listen to the words of ‘Warnona.”” As the young squaw said this, George calmed down, but his mind was still in a most demor- alized condition. head beut down, and watching the plain; and had not observed the Indians. They, likewise, being engaged in watching the plain in the di- rection of the bandit camp had not observed the white man and the squaw. So, when they had surrounded their strangely secured cap- tives, they paid no notice to aught else, except to glance up the stream toward the only point He had been riding with his | She shall not sweep the | pation, and rushed out for a view of the plain to the east. “Dang’d ef Capitan Caramba hain’t made a ten strike this trip!’”? exclaimed one burly scoundrel ‘‘He’s corraled scme hosses an’ mules, an’ a wagon, an’ I reckon thar’s some- thin’ in hit, er be wouldn’t be skutin’ back quite so speedy.” ‘‘Thet’s the Cap, all over,” agreed another. “Thar ain’t no soft sodder bout bim, an’ he’d ‘a’ gone cl’ar through ter San Antone, afore he’d ’a’ come back without bis freight. Hyer _he comes, jist a-b’ilin’, an’ he looks es though ‘somethin’ hed struck him—struck hard et | thet.” Capitan Caramba galloped at full speed past | the sentinel, his followers looking on in admira- | tion. from which they felt they bad any need to | dread danger to themselves, ‘‘Come,” said Warnona; ‘‘ Water Warrior must wet his head in the river, and the mus- tangs must drink. The trail of the Comanches may lead to Rio Frio.” George Adler lifted his sombrero, and placed his hand upon bis bruised head. His hair was thickly saturated with blood, and he knew the flow must be stopped, or he would not be able to travel. His brain seemed like molten lead, strange fancies and depressing feelings causing him much concern in regard to his strength of mind and being equal to the requirements of the occasion. He had lost a large amount of blood, while lying at the foot of the tree on the Medina, against which he had been thrown; and he re- alized the necessity of applying cool water, and bandging the wound. He therefore sub- mitted himself to the guidance of the Waco squaw who led him into the bottom timber, some three thousand yards above the place where the red marauders had disappeared with their captives. She then left Water Warrior to bathe and bandage his head; and then, securing her horse, Warnona stole through the dark timber to gain intelligence of the movements of both the Indians and the bandits. CHAPTER XIX. ROGUES FALLING OUT. Tue bend in the San Miguel, toward which the wagon and the bandits under Capitan Caramba were headed, was a position admir- ably chosen for defense; at this point it was a matter of impossibility to ford the stream. At the neck of the bend, which was narrow, and very easily guarded, a path had been dug away, in order to procure water for cooking, and to lead the animals, one at a time, to drink, A few rough cabins of logs, which were green, proving that the same were of recent construction, were located in the edge of the timber, which hid from view the southern end or swell of the bend, the middle of the same being clear of tree or bush, Previous to the arrival of the main part of the band, who had waylaid the wagons, there were half a score of brutal-visaged, desperate- looking men, engaged in cooking, and in clean- ing arms; while at the neck of the bend, a sentinel sat upon a log of deadwood, with rifle in hand, scanning the plain. Half of these men were whites, of the most depraved and reckless character, and the re- mainder were Mexicans of the Rio Grande, the most lawless, cowardly, and cruel set of men on the American continent, assassins by trade, bandits by nature. The cabins were well furnished with spoils taken from ranches in their numerous raids; although it was evident that they had but re- cently established themselves, and for the time being only, at this point, it being a position ~which they could not hope to maintain, being so near the settled portion of the Medina and San Miguel. A large number of horses of various brands were lariated to the grass in the natural opening, plainly proving the character of the camp. As the sentinel arose to his feet, with a yell of pleased surprise, when he caught sight of the returning members of the band, and the wagon in the distance, each man left bis occu- “ Viva, muchachitos! Hurrab, boys!’ he yelled. ‘We've struck arich streak! Fifty thousand in oro, besides provisions, blankets, ammunition, mules, and horses, and the hand- somest girl in Texas, a captive. We've got her father, as well, who’ll be forced to shell out heavy before we'll allow him to scoot toward civilization. However, we’ve lost two men, Big Jim and Garcia, both shot by the beauty, Belle of the Brazos! You better believe she’s got grit.” Wild cries burst from the lips of the brutal | horde, their rage at the death of their com- _rades being appeased by thoughts of the gold, - - — 0 EEE EEE eee eee — the distribution of which would enable them to gratify their one great passion—gambling at their favorite game, monte. “ Boys,” continued the captain, as he grace- fully dismounted, ‘‘this girl is the one I’ve been promised a large sum to capture, but I’ve taken a fancy to her myself, for she not only is a beauty, but a regular devil when aroused. In fact, she is just the girl for a prairie rover’s wife, Hello! What’s up with that Mestizo? I forgot to say that we owe our luck to him, and that the scouts and citizens hung Miguel in San Antonio. Our spy has got his hand shot to pieces, and you see it hasn’t improved his temper. He is boiling over with fury.” The Mestizo came dashing from the plain, with his mutilated hand uplifted, and yelling like a fiend, as he waved his arm toward the north. All now cast quiek glances in the direction indicated, and discovered four horsemen ap- proaching at a gallop. The alarm became general. ‘“ Who are those men?’ demanded the bandit chief. ‘Senor Ames,” was the reply of the half- breed. “ Aha!” exclaimed Caramba. “ Frank is eager for his bride, but as he has been too late to take a hand in the fight, I think I shall have to disappoint him. He has pards enough, some of the old Brazos boys, I reckon, and I propose to ring them all into some scrape that will pre- vent them from returning to flip cards and suck champagne down country. Cook some grub, boys, for we are all hungry as bears.” Four of the Mexicans hastened back to the camp-fires to obey their chief, who stood lean- ing against the shoulder of his borse, his arm over the saddle, and a proud, triumphant look upon his face, mingled with something of con- temptand disdain, as be watched the approach- ing horsemen, who, if they noticed the wagon, did not for a moment suppose that it was the vehicle of the Bowens, as there was but one team to be seen on the plain. ‘“Carajo!’ yelled the Mestizo, furiously, grinding his teeth together, as he slid from his saddle and held his mutilated hand in the air. ‘‘Senor Adler shall die the death of adog! I will laugh in his eyes, I will spit in his face, when I cut out bis heart!” “TI judge,” said the outlaw chief, “ that George Adler is a hard man to kill, Ignacio. He has got the best of you every time, and I advise you to steer clear of him. You can’t do much with one hand. I reckon he will give us trouble yet. If he knew who Capitan Caramba was, he would be mighty apt to put a ball through me. Did you say he was with a Waco Indian?” “Si, senor.” “That means mischief. Especially when we consider that he was with noted scouts in San Antonio. Those two could run in a crowd on us at any time if they knew where we camped. I’m inclined to think we shall be forced to re- turn to the Frio. But here come 9ur visitors.” Frank Ames and his friends now rode into the opening, their horses showing hard usage, —" and their own faces being flushed with drink and excitement. ‘Dudley, old boy, how are you?” said Frank, in a voice of extreme relief and pleasure. “We have had a long and rapid ride, and are not sorry we are at our journey’send. I have some of the old boys of the Brazos with m=, you see. Don’t you remember Burke Barnes, John Walker and Jobn Stephens?’ As Frank spoke he walked his horse toward Capitan Caramba and extended his hand to the latter, whose manner, however, was far from being as cordial as the visitors bad been led to expect. The bandit chief somewhat reluctantly took the hand of Ames, who was not slow to notice the coldness of his reception. ‘You are welcome to the scant accommoda- tions of my camp, gentlemen,” said the captain, rather haughtily. ‘* Did you receive the information in regard to the movements of the Bowen outfit, Capitan Caramba?”’ asked Frank, thinking that possibly he had offended the outlaw by addressing him in too familiar a manner. The bandit chief, by way of reply, pointed to the Mestizo. Frank recognized the half-breed, and asked quickly: “Who wounded you in that manner, my friend?” ‘Senor Adler. But I will have his heart's blood. Ignacio Valdez will not sleep until he is food for wolves.” The expression of pleased surprise on the face of Ames was noticed by the chief, who curled his lip in scorn, for he detected his cow- ardly thoughts instantly. ‘Have you seen the wagons, Ignacio, since the Bowens left San Antonio?’ asked Frank, with some impatience. There was an angry glitter in the eye of Capitan Caramba at this. He did not permit the spy to answer, but raised his own hand and pointed. Frank Ames gazed out across the plain, and saw a scattering line of desperate-looking men riding toward the bend, and about half a mile in their rear was a wagon. All this he and his comrades had before observed, but had not dreamed that the wagon could be one of the two owned by Colonel Bowen. ** Can it be possible?” he said, in surprise and joy; ‘‘ that you have captured the Bowen out- tit so soon is almost too good to be true. This will be a rich haul for you, Dud, for I’m a lib- eral paymaster.”’ **T generally pay myself, sir,’ returned the bandit chief, curtly. ‘‘1 seldom trust to the promises of others.” Ames was greatly worried in mind by the words and manner of his old associate. The letters which had passed between them for some years were in the most friendly language, and he had placed the gold of the Bowens in the hands of the outlaw, so to speak; for the latter would have known nothing in regard tc the movements of the old colonel bad he not informed him. Frank was extremely puzzled, and those whom he had induced to accompany him were in a very embarrassing position, not having been even invited to dismount. “Did you find the gold?’ Frank next inquired. ‘“Yes,” was the laconic reply of Capitan Caramba. Slowly the bandit band now rode into the opening, and sat their horses near their leader, all looking with surprise and curiosity upon the new-comers, who could scarce keep from shuddering, as they found themselves in the midst of such a ruffianly horde. ‘Did you secure the colonel and Belle?” asked Frank. ‘* T secured the colonel and Belle,” answered the captain, with a peculiar empbasis on the name of the young lady which increased Frank’s perplexity. ‘“‘What has come over you, Dudley? You do not seem to be as friendly to me, as I expected I would find you. Judging from your letters, I thought you would be pleased to meet me, and especially after I had placed in- formation in your hands which enabled you to enrich yourself and band more thav a dozen dangerous raids would have done. Fifty thousand in gold is not picked up every day, and besides there is more for you in prospect, when I get the Bowen estates into my hands.’ ‘‘ Fifty thousand dollars is a mere bagatelle with me, sir,” said the bandit chief. ‘If you were so anxious to capture the outfit why did EomMmicboo (E ‘Ss co | ) | —_