Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 256 — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

a ms ioe] serted him, an chief darted at terrific speed toward the Frio, and the mules stampeded with the wagon, Grand almost shrieked with joy; becoming in- sanely exultant as the team dashed into the barranca, he believing that the delay caused by an inspection of the wreck, would insure An- tonio’s escape. The young planters, he felt sure, were not able to cope with the bandit, in either speed or the use of arms, However, as Roy was forced _to ride up along the bank of the barranca, in order that he might find a passage down to the bed of the same, Le Grand, at the sight, turned ghastly, and trem- bled with apprehension; for he feared that he would now be discovered and recognized. But, the attention of Roy and those with him was upon the crushed wagon; their brains bein tortured beyond endurance, for they looke only to behold the crushed remains of poor Rosa Ray, amid the wagon wreck. In this, as we know, they were happily disappointed, When all, soon after, regained the plain, Le Grand was once more beside himself with relief and exultation; for he now realized that Cap- tain Ray, Roy, and the young planters—es- pecially the two former—had suffered the tor- tures of the lost since the stampede of the mules, and that they must have been horror- stricken when the wagon disappeared into the barranca, believing Rosa to be in it. Not only did the consciousness of the terrible agonies the pursuers had endured, correspond- ingly rejoice Le Grand, but be now fully be- lieved the Fates were most kindly favoring him; for, all his most hated and dreaded ene- mies were, he knew from the disclosures and directions of Antonio, galloping directly to- ward the camp of the bandits, If the youn hea overtook the Mexican, the latter would shoot them; at all events there would be. revolvers fired by one or the other, and should the bandit chief be slain, the report of fire-arms would alarm his followers, who would ride en masse from the timber, now in plain view, and avenge their leader, But, in that case, he himself would be badly off; for he had no pronts of the friendship of the former, and would, without doubt, be slain or captured, by the infuriated Mexicans, . There- fore Le, Grand was extremely anxious, as the ursuers closed in nearer and nearer to Antonio; but he was soon filled with delight once more, as the Greaser fired bis revolver, and soon after disappeared into the dark shades. Most eagerly now did Le Grand watch the Texans, and he was much puzzled when be heard more pistol-shots, and saw all of his enemies disappear in the timber of tke Rio Frio. Could Antonio have been mistaken as to the loa of his camp, and had he now been slain Most certainly the few reports of arms, the disappearance of all the Texans into the timber, indicated this; especially as no Mexicans were to be seen. As Le Grand proceeded on, aiming to enter the timber some two-thirds of a mile west of the point where Antonio and his pursuers had dis- appeared, he was amply repaid for having in- dulged in hellish glee at the agony and anguish he well knew his enemies to have suffered when the wagon toppled over into the barranca; for he trembled in abject terror, expecting each moment that the avengers would dart from the timber—perhaps at a point directly ahead of him, and have him at their mercy. And he well knew that no mercy would be extended, Having so far outwitted his pursuers at every int, having had an extraordinary run of luck, it was not strange, toa gambling man like Le Grand, to judge that Dame Fortune had de- that his doom was sealed, his cowardly crimes at an end, and retribution star- ing. him in the face. “ep qguneng & there was not, at that time, on earth a more terrified wretch than Le Grand as he spurred headlong over the soft -sward toward the dark timber, that seemed to him ominous of death—that seemed filled with hid- eous fiends, who beckoned him onward, stretch- ing out their repulsive arms to clutch him, He feared to turn back over the moonlit plain; for, well he knew that, did his pursuers dart out from the timber, their attention being now no longer directed to the wagon or Antonio, they would sweep the plain with keen gaze, discover him and his burden, and give chase—a chase which would end with his capture. His one chance, therefore, was to gain the timber as quickly as possible, regardless of the dangers which he had, with reason, imagined ahead of bim—running therisk of meeting those who sought his life—and secrete himself in the shades, Jerking bis horse to a halt on the mar- gin of the timber, he gazed, with revolver cocked and presented, into the gloomy wood. But no sound met his ears, and he instinctively glanced east, down the river, toward the point at which the avengers had disappeared. At that very moment, Drew and Gould, the two young planters, permitted by Antonio to go to the Brazos for the ransom money, galloped out from the bottom timber, and over the moon- lit plain, causing Le Grand to shake in his boots, asif stricken with an ague-fit; a most fearful a Double Dan, the Dastard. Cee ee SL (ate eee cl ee hs Me dete eae dread coming over him, that chilled the blood in his veins. Well he knew, even at that distance, those well-known forms; the poise of the heads, the movements of arms and bodies, as they sped on, were too familiar to be mistaken. And that both might be the more fully identified, they turned their faces up the river, and the moon | shone full upon them. And the guilty, terrified miscreant, although he tmaghiod they were looking directly at him, and could recognize him at that distance, could not move a muscle to urge his horse into the undergrowth. There he sat, his eyes frozen upon the two horsemen, asif he had been turned into stone, There was not the slightest doubt now, in the mind of Le Grand, in regard to the state of affairs down the river. He fully believed that Antonio had been mis- taken when he reported bis followers as en- camped at that point. He was positive that the Mexican had been shot, cae 2 adly wounded, and that Roy and Captain Ray were forcing him into a confession of the whereabouts of Rosa and. himself, Gould and Drew, he argued, had been sent out on the plain to keep watch for any persons who might approach from the San Miguel. Had not Double Dan, and the bandits who accompanied him, kept on the margin of the timber in the dense shade, and proceeded down the river for a long distance, in order that the as ge take a shorter course to the San Miguel, and thus avoid exposing themselves for a great length of time on the moonlit plain—had not this been the case, Le Grand would have known that all was well; that those on his track for revenge and to recover Rosa Ray were either all dead or else captives. But it was to be as it was, and the miscreant, quaking with terror, clutched his whisky-flask and lowered the contents considerably. He then urged his reluctant horse into the dark shades, the animal seeming to share the fright of its master. Fearful of making the slightest noise that might betray his presence, Le Grand proceeded but a short distance. He then lowered the limp form of Rosa Ray to the earth, in a small clear space amid the undergrowth, the poor maiden being still in a comatose state. Quickly sliding to the ground, Le Grand placed Rosa in a natural position upon a blanket, wrapping the same about her form, and then led his horse to the river, allowing the animal to drink, After this he removed the equipments, lariat- ed the horse in an ‘‘ open,” some distance from the one first selected, and then, securing another blanket from the cantle of his saddle, he stole cautiously back, taking also a canteen of water. | P . : ~ . ; 23 party of rancheros, and ‘clean out’ the ban- dits, who had just set out to take the wagon- train. He could, he believed, save the wagons, mules and slaves and capture the renegade white, who could then be forced to disclose the whole mat- ter of the abduction and reveal the intentions of his employer. He also was in great sympathy with Rosa Ray, whom he Peeve wandering the dark bottom timber, of the San Miguel, in a helpless, half-crazed state, hunted by her would-be de- stroyer and liable to be torn to pieces by wild beasts. These thoughts and imaginings tortured the scout, and he felt that he ought to go to the assistance of the maiden, but at the same time five brave Texans were bound and lying below him, liable to be butchered in his absence; for he well knew the treacherous Mexicans did not intend to set their captives free upon receiving the ransom money. He felt sure that they would be butchered in cold blood before the messengers reached the Medina on their way for the money, and that the latter would be Nee ogee robbed and murdered upon their re- urn. Big Foot knew the character of the bandits too well to suppose that they would free a Texan after once getting him into their power. Thus it was that the giant scout wasin a most anxious and perplexing position; but when the Greasers rolled themselves in their blankets to sleep, after having posted three sentinels, Big Foot not only knew that the lives of the Texans were safe for the night, but that there was a chance for him to rescue them, although the at- tempt must be made in the most secret manner poe a as the least disturbance or alarm would e the death-signal to those bound fast to the trees. A sentinel was, he noticed, posted on the verge of the timber overlooking the plain. Another was at some distance in the rear of the bound Texans, guarding against the approach of foes down the river; and the other was immediately within the crescent of captives in front of them, and watching their every movement—a seemin unnecessary precaution, as all except the lead- ing spirit of the five, Roy Randolph, had al- lowed their heads to drop forward on their breasts, and were now sleeping the sleep of ex- haustion, In a very few moments, spent in deliber- ation, Big Foot had decided as to his proceed- ings; he being positive that a search on the San Miguel after Rosa Ray would be a wild-goose chase, as he had not the slightest knowledge in regard to what point on that stream, she had succeeded in making her escape. Should he be successful in releasing the Texans, then there would not only be a good rospect of his finding the young girl, but also —_——_— -— Upon reaching the place where Rosa lay still of recapturing the wagon-train from the ban- unconscious, Le Grand bathed her head with | dits. water; and then diluting some whisky in a tin | cup, he raised her bead and poured a quantit of the liquid into her mouth. She swallowed it spasmodically, and soon after opened her eyes, but only to close them again with a shudder; for an arrow of moonlight, falling upon them, had revealed to her the hideous face of the fiend who bad torn her from home and friends. Le Grand was not in a mood to talk. He could not express the exultation that he did not feel; in fact, he was now feeling more of de- oper and dread than ever he had known throughout his life, As upon previous occasions, he now had re- course to his whisky-flask as he sat upon his blanket, now and then drinking, and at all times casting suspicious glances around, and starting in terror at the hoot of an owl or even at the slightest sound. CHAPTER XXVIII. REDEEMED WITHOUT MONEY. Bia Foot WALLACE, from his perch in the tree was greatly mystified at the discovery of a white man among the Texans, who was fast bound to a horse, as the latter dashed into the bandit camp; and this feeling was not lessened when he noticed that Capitan Antonio protect- ed the captive of the Texans from harm and re- leased him, However, from the words which he had heard, and the orders of the bandit chief, as Double Dan and a dozen of the outlaws prepared for a night ride, afterward spurring out of the camp, Big Foot decided that not only was this white man in league with the abductor of the maiden, but that they had entered into a com- pact with Antonio, and had a wagon-train with slave teamsters encamped on the Medina. The scout reasoned that the Texan pursuers of this Le Grand mentioned by the bandit cbief, had followed the train and captured the wagon- master, but had failed to recover the lost maiden, she having been taken on in advance of the train to the San Miguel. Rin S Foot was in a quandary and greatly per- plexed. His services were needed in three different lo- calities which were wide apart. He wished to gallop to the Medina, raise a ‘4 ee If the plan he had arranged in his mind, could be carried out, the career of Capitan An- tonio, the notorious bandit and stock-thief, would be at an end. Thus decided, Big Foot Wallace proceeded to return by the way in which he came; but he was obliged to use more caution than previous- ly, as the attention of the outlaws, when he ap- proached their camp, had been centered upon the capture of the Texans, but now all wasstill, and the sentinels on the alert. The scout well knew that the least miscalcu- lation, the slightest sound or disturbance meade by him, unusual] to the night, might lead to his discovery, and the immediate murder of the Texans; as the bandits would pose him to be the advance scout of a party of whites, bent upon their capture. He also knew that the sentinel in the rear of the captives, as well as the one near the plain, must be disposed of, be- fore he made any movements toward stealing upon the Greaser who sat immediately opposite the Texans. This last would be a feat difficult to accom- plish, as be would be forced to craw] across the moonlit Tih in the rear of the guard, prunce upon, and kill the Mexican, without awakening the other bandits. Proceeding as stealthily as a panther, Big Foot crawled from branch to branch, and from tree to tree, until he believed himself near the nost of the sentry. Then, with care, he lowcred } mself from limb to limb until at the lower- n ost branches, when he peered through the foiiage downward; confident of his being di- rectly over the Greaser, as the unmistakable smoke of a shuck cigarette floated upward to bis nostrils, To the scout’s great relief, he saw that he had happened upon the most favorable point for the accomplishment of his purpose; for the Mexi- can was seated directly below him, ona log of deadwood, placidly forcing the smoke through. his nostrils. Knowing that delay was most dangerous; that nye: f valuable lives, and the ridding the country of a number of murderous outlaws depended upon his every move, the scout slipped ually over the limb which bad supported him, without making the slight- est noise. The head of the Mexican was about six feet (EIU S) 6)(0)(6) Gom