Beadle's Dime Library No. 204 — page 30: what you’re looking at

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30 real or imaginary, and he laughed fiendishly at Big Foot Wallace. . ** Did you know that Belle, your sister, was the thought, imagining bimself the owner of a | one of them?’ grand hacienda across the Rio Grande, with the beautiful Belle as his mistress, and pesos at bis command without number. With these pleasant anticipations, Capitan | Until this moment, such had been the anx- iety and excitement of Sharp Eye, that he had forgotten what Wallace had told him in regard to Colonel Bowen and Belle being in the vicin- Caramba rode stealthily on, calculating the | ity and in danger; but all was now recalled, location of the captives by the sounds that he and he trembled with emotion at the thought had heard previous to the attack, and from the point at,which the Comanches had left the timber to charge over the plain. Rolling Thunder and his three braves also took to the timber, with the intention of carry- ing away the captives, supposing, of course, that the eight warriors were still guarding them. The three scouts also, as soon as the battle was won, sped in haste to the rescued maidens in the tree; all filled with anxiety in regard to what must now be their critical condition, after experiencing such horrors, and also fear- -ing that stragglers from among the bandits or Comanches might discover, and perhaps mur- der them. The absence of George Adler, as well as of | Colonel Bowen, was amystery; but the scouts ‘were forced to the conclusion that all three bad been killed. Consequently, while the victorious and exultant Wacos were scalping the slain, these three parties were, at different distances, all stealing up the river toward the Comanche camp; and, while Warnona sat ensconced in her mossy retreat, watching the pallid faces of the two half-dead girls, Maggie and Belle, and witlvut the slightest thought or premonition of danger, two parties were approaching, and both alike eager to secure her unconscious charges. CHAPTER XXXVI. ‘NONE BUT THE BRAVE DESERVE THE FAIR,” CAPITAN CARAMBA was the first to come upon the heap of dead braves, slain by the scouts, aud above which were the captives and Warnona, the bow of the latter half bent, and arrow fitted to the string, ready at any mo- ment to send the deadly shaft into the heart of the bandit chief, should occasion require it, However, the Waco squaw was not called upon to do such an act, for the outlaw hearing horsemen approach spurred his mustang into a thicket, and halted, secure from view. Presently Big Foot Wallace, Post Oak Bill and. Sharp Eye dashed up, and paused under the tree where the girls were hidden. Gazing up the tree, Sharp Eye asked quickly: * Warnona, are you there?” **Warnora, here” was the answer; “and the white lilies heap sick. No talk. No see.” ‘“*We must get the girls down, and out of this terrible place,” said Sharp Eye, “or they will die.” ‘Hold yer mustang a minnit,” advised Big Foot. ‘Thar mought be a sprinklin’ o’ hell- yuns a-skutin’ ’roun’ permiscu’s like till yit.” Post Oak Bill had stepped quickly to the trunk of the tree, and while Big Foot spoke he was gazing upward; but the whisk of a horse’s tail in the thicket near him, warned him of danger, and he quickly fired his revolver in that direction. . Instantly there was a loud shriek, and out from the undergrowth rolled a horse in the agonies of death, crushing its rider beneath its quivering body, as its hoofs beat the air, Big Foot jerked the man out from the dying horse, and set him against a tree. The face of the stranger was pallid, and blood was issuing from his lips, while his eyes glared wildly, * Dog-gone, my panther-cat!” exclaimed the Giant Scout; “ef thet ain’t the cantankerous cuss, Capitan Caramba, I'll chaw bugs an’ snakes fer grub, for ther nex’ six months.” Sharp Eye and Post Oak Bill looked into the face of the apparently dying man, the horn of the saddle, as the horse reared upward and fell backward, having crushed through the ribs into his vitals. As his eyes now became fixed upon the young scout, he said in a hoarse whisper, which blew & Dutbg qeag So Dood from bis lips: “Come here; bend down to me, Eddie Bowen, or Duval, if you so call yourself.” “In Heaven’s name, who are you?’ asked Sharp Eye,,in astonishment, as he bent his ear to the mouth of the outlaw. ‘El Capitan Caramba, once Dudley Duncan, the adopted son of Major Frank Adler; but never so black as I have been painted. Where are the captives?’ ‘Safe in that tree over our heads,” was the reply. earth, who had been in such f+ arful peril. | of the two who were dearest to him of all on As he was about to spring up the tree in this fresh excitement, a gasping whisper again came from the dying man, who asked: ** Where is George Adler?” ** None on us knows,” put in Big Foot Wal- lace. ‘‘ But we hopes he ain’t gone up jist yit!” “Tell him to look in the trunk of the old oak, where he fought me for robbing the birds’ nest long ago. There—is—his—father’s— gold!” At the last word a spasm shook the frame of the dying bandit, blood gushed from his mouth and nostrils, and his head sunk forward, his eyes glaring wildly for a moment, then turning glassy, as the soul of Dudley Duncan, alias | Capitan Caramba, went—God knows where! As soon as the three men realized that the noted outlaw was dead, they all went to work with a will to revive the captives, who were brought tenderly down, and carried out on the plain, there being laid upon blankets, Warnona bathing their heads, and doing all in her power to relieve them. But the poor girls were so prostrated with fright, horror, and physical suffering, that when they did revive, and found their friends around them, only low moans came from their lips. The horses were caught, and harnessed to the Dearborn, which was found at the bend but slightly injured by bullets, blankets were spread in the bottom of the vehicle, and the maidens were conveyed under an escort of Wacos to the ranch of Post Oak Bill. Black Bear, who arrived too late for the fight, he having galloped up the Medina too far to dis- cover the Wacos in time to avoid a trip to the Bandera Hills was now dispatched to Pleason- ton for a physician. Big Foot Wallace and Fost Oak Bill, after the departure. of Sharp Eye with the maidens, and the greater number of the Wacos, set about a thorough search for the colonel and George Adler, the bodies of neither of them having been discovered among the dead; and not long was it before the horrible spectacle in the bottom-timber broke upon them, Although not as dread and terrible as when illuminated by the moon, it was sufficiently so to fill the scouts with cold chills, and cause them to halt in their tracks in amazement. Before them were the Mestizo and Frank Ames, both stone dead. Near at hand was Colonel Bowen, secured to a tree, senseless but alive, and tbe key to the hcrrible sight and the puzzling position of the three bodies, lay be- tween the same; outstretched upon the sward, knife in hand, was none other than George Adler. His face burned with fever, his heart was beating like the rattle of a drum, and his eyes glared vacantly up among the en leaves, while his parched lips muttered childish texts and prayers, or laughed wildly, as insane thoughts controlled him. The old scouts could not repress a tear, as they saw what must have been the sufferings of the young man and the colonel; and they felt positive that it was the former who had killed the balf-breed whom he had caught in the act of murdering Frank Ames. Colonel Bowen and George Adler were both taken to the cahin of Post Oak Bill, which, for a number of weeks, was more like a hospital than a cattle ranch, as the doctor from Pleas- onton was forced to remain during the run of brain fever, with which both the colonel and George were afflicted. Maggie and Belle, however, speedily recov- ered, and were assiduous in their care of the sick, acos eticamped just above the corralg permanently, at the request of Post Oak Bill, | But, dear reader, we must now wind up this tale, so truly descriptive of border life. George Adler was not long in finding the immense sum of money that Dudley Duncan bad secreted in the oak, it baving been too heavy for him to carry away. The box containing the fifty thousand dol- lars, thrown from the wagon by Colonel Bowen, was found on the prairie, and immediately upon the colonel’s recovery was given to Sharp ee Eye, who, to please Belle, as well as the old gentleman, agreed to be known in future as Edward Bowen, The scouts, with the aid of Wild Wolf buried from sight forever the mutilated bodies of the three men, Barnes, Walker, and Stephens, who met their terrible fate through being induced by the flattering promises of Frank Ames to aid the latter in his cowardly and criminal project to gain the band of Belle Bowen in marriage. Frank Ames and Ignacio the Mestizo, to- gether with Dudley Duncan, or Capitan Ca- ramba, were buried side by side in the same grave, and Big Foot Wallace decided that it was a “purty propriate plant.” All the horses of the Comanches and the ban- dits, with the plunder of both camps, were allotted to the gallant Wacos, the squaws of the slain receiving the share that would have fallen to their braves, had the latter survived. Great was the surprise and relief of Edward Bowen, on ascertaining that he bad not killed Frank Ames in the duel; and that his forced wanderings, under that impression, had been unnecessary, although he was very glad that in consequence of this belief, he had met his great happiness, in gaining the love of Maggie Moore, whom otherwise he might never have known. The experiences of George Adler, during his temporary madness, were as a horrid nizht- mare, more than anything having the sem- blance of reality, and they were never referred to, either by himself or by Colonel Bowen, When the colonel and Belle were informed of the real name and character of Capitan Caramba, they were no longer surprised at the knowledge he had displayed in regard to them and their affairs, when they were in his power. The remains of poor Rose were laid to rest beneath the drooping moss of an oak, far from the last terrible scene of her earthly suffer- ings; and the horrors of her death were never made known to either Maggie or Belle. The stock of Post Oak Bill was purchased by Edward Bowen, and the ranch was deserted, although Bill and Big Foot often climbed up to Maggie’s nest in the old tree, and conversed about the daring and heroism which their dar- ling bad displayed amid the fearful dangers she encountered, and the bravery and faithfulness, even unto death, of the Mexican boys, Juan and Antonio, both of whom were buried where they fell, at the foot of the giant oak. Often, in after days, when Maggie and Belle together visited the spot to decorate their grave with prairie flowers, the former would recount their desperate deeds of daring in her defense. After Colonel Bowen's recovery, he was a changed man. He really believed in his own mind that George Adler had been informed by Frank Ames, previous to the death of the lat- ter at the tree—the knowledge of Frank's death, and the place and manner of it having been communicated to the colonel, dispelled the notion he had taken up of the ghost of Jack Ames—in regard to that note for twenty- five thousand dollars, and possibly much more from the buried and unhappy past; so he offered no further objections to the marriage of George and Belle. Indeed, he expressed himself as strongly in favor of ‘it, after he ascertained that George had recovered his father’s gold. George Adler, however, had some cause to be jealous, as Edward Bowen, who, with Maggie Moore and the two scouts, accom- panied the colonel, with Belle and George, back to the Trinity, was almost continually monopolizing the society, not only of Maggie, but of Belle, from whom he had been so long separated. In due course of time, the double marriage was celebrated with great eclat, the seouts and Wild Wolf being present, and all of whom received handsome gifts from the old colonel. The latter, soon after, at the earnest request of Belle, seconded by George and Edward, and encouraged by the scouts and the Waco, sold out his plantation and all his effects, and lo- cated with his children, at a safe point on the Medina, where they prospered in the stock business, were made happy in the love of each other, and doubly so, when they were visited, as they frequently were, by Wild Wolf, War- nona, and the scouts—Post Oak Bill, who, after Maggie’s marriage, “‘ parded ” continually with his giant friend on the plains—and the celebrated King of the Post Oaks, “Big Foor WALLACE.” * 7" THE END. ; JOO es) EO (E co