Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 256 — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

‘*« 6 a . 4 | 2 re. eae _— eee ee ‘* You are at my mercy! liacked you to pieces half a dozen times, Down dastara!” crushing Antonio to the earth, an placing his knee upon the bandit’s breast, at the same time Jaying the edge of his knife across the throat of the trembling wretch. ‘ Down, I ae gay! X Now teil me where is L> Grand, and where is the fair girl whom you two inbuman monsters - confined in that wagon and bound like a dog? ae — | Speak quick!” ‘‘Will the Senor Capitan spare my life?” gasped the terrified wretch. Why, I could have | “aE . »: oe , a 4 r* os; a ; — ‘Cap you blame me ior ibirsting for re- venge?” ** You shall hev it, pard,” said Big Foot, *‘ but fust off we’uns mus? find out what he’s did wi’ ther leetle gal. I’m opinin’ thet he foun’ her, brung’d her hyer-a-ways, an’ war calkerlatin fore he tuck ter spyin’ onter we-’uns ter jine Cap’n Antone,” —_—_-_--—" CHAPTER XXIX, THE NEW FOE. In a moment after Big Foot had spoken Le ‘Upon my soul, I never dreamed of it; but | Grand was bound fast by his former comrades, if lam convinced that you tell the truth, you shall go. Pll hurl you into the river, and you can take your chances; but you die when next | get my clutch upon you. \\ here is Le girl whom he stole from her home on the Brazos?’ ‘Both are on the San Miguel. escaped from the camp the river. Senor Le Grand is in search of 1er, This is true, I call the saints to witness!” Roy sprung to his feet, jerked the bandit up- ward, and then, with twu dexterous slasbes, severed both ears from tbe head of the howling wretch. The next moment Capitan Antonio { Out with it! | those into whose power he had Grand, and where is the poor | strangely. The senorita , was doomed, but he before you reached | shown him b but the wretch was so terrified that he was still speechless. No mercy was visibl» in the stern faces of fallen so He had expected to be stabbed to the beart by Roy Randolph, and he well knew that he Double Dan, the Dastard. meee ea ee ae eee a TT Oo near their weapons. Lut both hal premised the giant scout that tuey would leave the matter in his hands, Not for an instant did Le Grand hesitate. He answered promptly, in a hoarse, unnatural voice: ———— - _———_ - ——_— —_—--— a eee ‘**Promise, gentlemen, that you will spare my : life, and I will lead you to Rosa Ray. I know that you have decided that I shall die by your hands, and that to-night, and I would be a fool to confer a favor upon those who would, the next moment, torture me to death. ‘**T swear that I will tell you nothing, unless I have your promise that you will spare my life, and set me at liberty, when you behold the one you seek. Now, do your worst! ‘‘Kither promise to let me go free, or doom the girl to a horrible death, by starvation, or _ wild beasts; for sbe is fast bound, beyond the ‘‘orasped at the straw” | y the words of the scout, for he | saw that, by revealing the whereabouts of | Rosa Ray, he could for a time prolong bis life, and perhaps even vet be rescued. ; Tout one hope he might still cherish, for he knew that a number of the bandits were absent | when the release of the Texaus was eliected was hurled bigh in the air, out over the | and he looked for their return. undergrowth, and disappeared with a sounding | splash beneath the dark rolling waters of the Rio Frio, ‘1 promised to give vou your life, and I have kept my word. When next we meet [ shall not fail to recognize you. It is death now, a terrible death, to every miscreant who has been a party to the sufferings of Rosa Ray!” Like a maniac Roy rushed back to the camp, the blood-dripping ears of the bandit chief be- tween his finger and thumb. He then threw them upon an outspread blanket before Cap- tain Ray, the young planters, and Big Foot Wallace. ‘Heaven bless you, my brave and noble friend!” said Roy impulsively, extending his hand to the giant scout. “Allow me to thank you from my inmost heart for your having braved death so unselfish- ly to rescue us, strangers to you, from this borde of cut-throats. My name is Leroy Ran- dolph, ever at your service, and anxious to know to whom he is so much indebted.” | | | As the wretch recovered somewhat from his dread terror and his mind became clearer, bis old defiant spirit in a measure asserted its sway, and he resolved that, as there was but a faint prospect of his escaping death, be would use the power he possessed by forcing his captors to promise that they would spare bis life in the event of his leading them to Rosa Ray. He bad no doubt that Antonio still lived, although terribly mutilated by Roy, but, although he fels sure that the bandit chief would ba insanely desperate, would risk life to avenge himself-on Roy Randolph, yee be bim- self could not expect that Antonio would lift a finger toward rescuing bim, as he hed been the direct means of the destruction and death of the band by bribing their leader to serve bim in his plan of escaping with Rosa and consummat- ing a marriage with her, After Le Grand bad been secured, Big Foot, Roy and Captain Ray held a consultation, while the three young planters secured the arms of the dead bandits, and also their own, which had Roy had been somewhat puzzled at witnessing | been taken from them when captured. the looks of respect directed toward the scout | The horses they had ridden were separated by Captain Ray and his young friends; one of from those of the Mexicans, and removed to whom, as the scout besitated, spoke up as if another ‘‘open” near at band; the camp proud of the honor, as indeed be was: ‘* Roy, allow me to introduce to you our pre- server, Big Foot Wallace, whose modesty is a plunder being ‘“‘cached” in a dense thicket at some distance to the east. They then all par- took of a hearty meal from the stores of the fault, for we bad no easy task to ascertain to , cutlaws, for they were nearly famished. whom we owed our lives,” Again Roy grasped the band of the scont, seeming too deeply affected to express his pleas- ure and gratitude; Big Foot exclaiming, ina voice that showed bis great embarrassment: ‘Hit pears ter me thet ye’re all makin’ a heap o’ fuss "bout wipin’ out a few Greasers. Vm cbuck-full o’ glad ter run ag’in’ yer all, *speshly when yer war in a tight box an’ needed ther ole man’s help. Howsomever, Pm reckonin’ thet thar’s a power o’ biz on hand yit. “IT kuows purty much how ‘tis “bout ther leetle gal. I war purty well posted by listenin’ ter ther yaller hellyuns. Does yer see thet limb? Waal—” Big Foot was here interrupted by a shriek of terror, sounding trom the very perch that he had occupied when acting thespy, and to which he bad just pointed. All now gazed upward in alarm; when, amid a crashing of limbs, a man was seen falling, clutching frantically at moss and foliage. The next moment he fell with great force to the earth, directly in the midst of the Texans, and there lay, limp and senseless, face down- ward on the sward, In an instant Roy rolled the body over, re- vealing a brutal, deathlike face, comtorted with morta! terror. Then our hero yelled: ** Le Grand, the miscreant! The assassin!” as he raised his blood-stained knife over the pros- trate man’s heart. Captain Ray and Big Foot sprung forward, clutching Roy’s arms, the former exclaiming: ‘‘ Hold, Roy Randolpt! For your life, hold! Kill him and Rosa is lost, He, and he only, can tell where my child is.” ‘‘Thet’s ther way ther trail p’ints,” put in the scout. ‘ We’uns bes ter glide easy er mebbe so we won’t find ther leetle gal. Yer kin scarify, skin an’ bang ther cuss fer all me arter we scrouges ther gal’s locate outen him.” “Tie him up then, and cover bim up with a blanket,” said Roy in suppressed fury, ‘or lL shell kill bim.” Then, fearing he had shown too much feeling, which might be attributed to too deep an inter- est in Rosa Ray, our hero displayed the wound on his bead, saying: ‘Gentlemen, you see on my skull the track of abullet. Tbe wound is fresh and the lead was from the rifle of that coward, who shot me frow bebind, that being his third attempt to kill ‘me. His last crime, as you know, is more damupable than murder. The meal ey - finished, several Jariats were secured, and at the suggestion of Big Foot Wal- lace, all of the slain were hanged by the neck to the limbs of the trees on the margin of the opening, as a warning to the remain- der of the gang, who might return to the camp, althongh they had resolved that the ban- dits, who bad departed under the guidance of Double Dan, should die. In other words, that _ the band of Capitan Antonio should be “ wiped | out, slick an’ clean,” as Big Foot expressed it. Both Roy and Captain Ray were in terrible mental torture during these prep2rations. They wished toimmediately force Le Grand to reveal the whereabouts of Rosa; but Big Foot bad in- sisted upon this slight delay, reasoning that Le Grand, when he bad had a little time to recover from his fright, and witnessing the hanging up of the bloody corpses of the bandits, would be more likely to tell the truth in the matter. ** Ther cuss’s life ain’t wo’th shucks,” the scout had reasoned; “ an’ when yer hes let his bestest bleed out, sendin’ him ter Topbet suddint-like, ther chances ‘ll be thin ter locate ther leetle al, en Fact air, she mougbt git tored by panther- cats, er some sich critters, while we-’uns war stompin’ ’roun’ huntin’ her, Yeou ‘low me ter work this byer game wi’ ther condemned kiote, an’ I'll do bit, soon es things air straightened,” And it took but a very sbort time, under the giant scout’s directions, to ‘‘ straighten things ” as described. Then, followed by Roy and the captain, Big F..ot approached the spot where lay Le Grand, pallid as the dead, but deter- mined to carry his point as he had decided; that is, that be would refuse to reveal the whereabouts of Rosa Ray, unless they promised to spare his life. “Now, yer black-skinned, skulkin’ coward, an’ stealer o’ innercent gals!” exclaimed the scout, as he grasped Le Grand by the collar, and stood him upon bis feet. ‘t Now, what hev yer did wi’ this hyer ole man’s darlin’ darter, Spit hit out squar’, er we’il skin yer alive, an’ hang yer up wi’ ther yaller scum o’ ther Grandee, what, ef anythin,’ air a heap more decenter an’ ’spectable than yeou, that war fotched up ter be civerlized! * Thar’s no time ter scout ’roun’ ther bush. Talk straight an’ lively, er say a pray, an’ git ready ter go hum ter yer master wi’ ther buffs an’ long tail!” Roy and Captain Ray stood, with folded arms, as if they dared not trust their hands and Captain Ra power of getting free, and seereted where you will never find her!” Roy grated bis set teeth, bis eyes glaring, and his form trembling with the intensity of bis most furious longing to cut the wretch to pieces: roaned aloud, as, in his _mind’s eye, be beheld his beautiful and loved — LT child, bound in a cruel manner, in a wild spot, ng and with savage and hungered beasts craw toward ber. He even imagined he could hear ber piteous, agonizing shrieks for help, and he cried out: ‘Lead us to my eclild, for God’s sake! Lead on! We promise everything!” “Yes,” agreed Roy ; ‘“Jeal on! I promised Captain Antonio his life, and he has it, but—” With a firm tread, Roy stole back and forth, as if to relieve his almost ungovernable fury; Le Grand failing to note that last significant ** but” of his. Stooping quickly, Big Foot severed the cords which bound the miscreant’s ankles, drew his revolvers, and placed the cold muzzle against the back of the wretch’s neck. He then said: ‘‘ All right! Ther buys hes said bit, Lead on; an’ ef hia gits in any funny biz on us, yer’ll be a perforated perrarer pirut ther next breathe! ‘*Hev we-’uns gut ter take ter our critters, er buff bit?’ “Tt is not far. We can walk,” replied Le Grand, striding from the camp, westward, along a path near the stream; followed by the scout, Roy, and the three young planters, Nearly three-fourths of the distance between the bandit camp and the thicket, where Le Grand had left Rosa Ray bound, and more dead than alive, bad been passed, when suddenly Big Foot clutched the villain by the collar of his coat, and jerked him backward, bolding bim in an iron grip; causing the wretch tocringe and ape with terror, expecting his death-blow. e would have uttered a cry of fright and re- monstrance, bad not the scout clasped his broad band tightly over his mouth, At the same time, Big Foot turned his bead, and gave a snake-like hiss, causing all to halt suddenly; and then, slowly and silently, to crawl forward, in the utmost amazement and wonder, ‘*‘ Tbar’s somethin’ wrong ahead, pards,” whis- pered the giant scout, in a warning manner, ‘Roy, tell yer young frien’s thar ter bold onter this hellyun, while yeou, an’ ther cap’n, an’ me kinder ’vestergates things. Ef thar ain’t a war party 0’ ’Paches within two shoots, I’m a roar- lo’, ravin’ afferdavy-bu'ster!” ‘‘ What causes you to think so?” inquired Roy, anxiously; while Captain Ray stretched for- ward to listen to the answer, in the greatest apprehension, e Grand was held tightly by the young plan- | ters, one holding each arm, and the third stand- ing in front of him with revolver presented at bis breast. But there seemed no need for it; for all stren at h appeared to have left the wretch the mention of Apaches, he being now unable to stand witbout assistance. Big Foot sunk to the earth, and placed his ear upon the bottom sward, rising quickly; then, im the same cautious, much concerned manner, returned, ‘‘IT know’d hit! Leastways I war ormighty sartain; an’ now I kin hear ther stompin’ o’ thar critters, an’ a big b’iin’ on ’em air comin’ on et a gallop!” ‘‘ What caused you to sup them to be In- dians?” asked Roy. ‘For God’s sake, let us on, or Rosa will be discovered by the red cae if you are rigbt in what you say!” ‘“*T doesn’t s’pose hit—I knows hit!” said Big Foot, in some impatience. ‘* Reckon J knows ther sound o’ Injun nags. Reds doesn’t ride like white men, straight an’ squar’, but every which way; sorter flighty an’ oneven. But come on! We'll strike fer ther edge o’ ther timber, an’ mighty soon find out.” eeming to have been struck with a suddep idea, the scout, however, whirled about, and placed himself directly in front of Le Grand, : whispering: ‘See byer, yer cantankerous cuss; how far from this air ther leetle gal? Spit it in a baby whisper, er I'll split yer wizzen!” ‘Not more than a rifle-shot,” answered the miscreant in a choking whisper, ‘Jumpin’ Jerusalem!” growled Big Foot, as EGomicbooks (E(o) te. 7 “ree