Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 272 — page 45: what you’re looking at

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

; + f and they know it. When it does they will make a break one way or the other.” ‘‘ And what shall we do?’ asked Slocum in the same tone, feeling a strange sense of mingled exultation and dread, as he looked at the pros- pect before them, * We've got to git into the herd and be ready to go with em,” said George, coolly. ‘‘ You’ve b’en in one stampede already, but that was a fool to this one. Got a halter?” ‘Tve got the same thong I used before, been in my pocket ever since.” ‘ Tt’s all yell want, and not much use of that, once we git started, till they begin to break down.” Slocum surveyed the herd with some little dismay, saying: ‘* How shall we get into it?” ‘Tll show ye,” said George. ‘‘We haven’t very much time to lose nuther, for here comes the stars. Look up now.” Slocum looked uP, and sure enough, the black edge of the great cloud in which the norther bad burst upon them stood like a wall overhead, clear and sharply defined, while outside of it the stars were blazing out with wonderful luster, though the wind roared louder then before. Almost at the same instant a cool puff of wind came round the corner of the wood, where all bad been a dead calm up to that moment. The instinctive glance of the young surveyor sougot for the North Star and found it. bigh in the sky, while the wind which had been north- by-east, was evidently shifting to the westward and increasing in coldness, That first puff set all the horses to shiver- ing and stampivg, when Montana Gorge cried out: “No time to lose. Climb on somehow, and keep near the head of the herd.” ith that, both men made a few steps back- ward, then a rush at the herd, and in two min- utes more were seated in triumph on as many barebacked ponies, huddled closely by the rest, They had bardly got there when another puff of wind came round the corner, this time icy cold, and all the ponies began to snort and plunge together, while a general shudder seem- ed to go through the herd, Slocum glanced toward the Indian camp where all was still quiet, and the third puff came, settling into a steady blast, icy cold, that seemed to chill his very marrow within bim., In that moment came a wild squeal from the windward side of the herd, and ponies began to break off and gallop to the front, ‘‘ Now!” yelled Montana George. Then came a trampling and squealing, fol- lowed by sbrill yelis from the Indian camp, as the men heard the horses and realized what was coming when it was too late to stop it. Then out of the lodges came tumbling a crowd of wild vs oe and came running and tripping, head-foremost, toward the herd; floundering in the drifts, but still coming on, waving their arms wildly, hoping to stop the stampede, but all in vain. Slocum realized that their efforts must be in vain, for already scattered ponies from the windward side of the herd were dashing wildly past him, and the whole mass had begun to move, pushed on from the rear, neighing, squeal- ing and kicking, all the way, as they moved. Already they had moved past the main part of the camp, when the wild blast of the norther came, fiercer than before, and the whole herd broke into a trot and gallop, moving straight down wind. Then came a howl from the Indians, and the stampede commenced in earnest, but not be- fore a number of men had got to (he ponies. CHAPTER XXIV. | THE WIND STAMPEDE. ONCE fairly started, it did not take long fos the stampede to develop its full force. No sooner had the frightened animals left the shelter of the woods, than they ran into the full wer of the wind, and dashed blindly on, go- ng down the valley, regardless of the windings of the river or projections of bluffs. Even a tree, standing in the way, was not heeded, and within the first five minutes Slocum saw horse after horse dash out its brains against such an inanimate obstacle, till the dead lay in piles in front of every tree and rock. Whenever he got a chance to glance round, he saw that he and Montana George were not alone in the herd. More than a score of In- dians bed scrambled on the horses as they , and could now be seen striving to get to the head of the herd and turn it back, but with- out success. Whether these Indians suspected the real facts of the case Slocum could not tell, and there was no one to ask, for Montana Geor WAS se ted from bim in the herd, and nothb- ing could be said in the thunder of flying hoofs. the young engineer was content hold his breath iid hand on as best he might, as the herd swept on down the wind, quite regardless of the deep snow which moreover, seemed to have been all blown into the river, in the broader parts of the valley. Within what seemed to him a minute, but It’s _qoust have been of course much longer, they Neth Slocum, Railroad Surveyor were out of sight of the camp, and bad come | 21 If it failed to do so, both would be dashed to out of range of the snow-cloud which had | pieces, unless the rift were much shallower ushered in the norther, for the country ahead was only sprinkled with little patches of white, and these patches were only a few inches deep in places, ut the force of the wind and the cutting cold- ness increased every moment, and only the fact that they were running away from it made it even tolerable. To have stood against it would have been an impossibility, and it made the speed of the stam- peded herd nearly thirty miles an hour, as soon as they got fairly into its power. Every leap of the ponies seemed to be made from a spring-board, and the animals were car- ried through tbe air at least six feet further than they intended at every bound, while their riders had to lean back to keep from being blown over the ponies’ beads, A strange effect followed the force of the wind, in that the horses with riders, baving most su: face to offer, found themselves forging ahead of the others, the riders actually carry- ing their animals with them, as they hugged them closely with their knees. The amount of lift was imperceptible save by its effects, and Montana George, who bad brought a blanket with him, in a roll round his body, managed to spread his, like a sail, behind him, and went ahead of the whole berd, lean- ing back against the wind like a skate sailor, his pony going on in long, lofty bounds, thirty feet or more at a stride, Slocum saw him sailing off like a buge bat, and imitated his example, for the young man had, in a momentary impulse, taken Sitting Bull’s painted robe as he Jeft the camp, expect- ing to find it of service in the cold, t was tied up in a bundle on his shoulders with leathern thongs, and he made sbift to let it down to his waist, take a firm seat on it, and spread it partially to the wind. The effect was immediate, for it seemed to him as if his pony began to fly, the moment it felt the sail, and he had to lean back at an angle of forty-five to the animal’s tail to keep from se blown over its head. After a few minutes’ riding in this style, the sensation of fiving became indescribably de- lightful, while Slocum found himself fast out- stripping the rest of the herd and nearing Mon- tana George, who still rode abead of all. Glancing back occasionally, the wind cut as fiercely as ever, and the dark mass of the herd could be seen rolling along the now bare val- ley, the landmarks all unfamiliar, showing that they bad gone a great distance, How long this Justed, Slocum could hardly tell: but it seemed as if the rush would never cease, while the dark figures of the Indians could be seen in the midst of the herd, riding near the head, but unable to stop or turn the tide of horses, passed, and the sky was per- Hour after bour fectly clear overhead, nearly black in its cloud- less profundity, spangled with jewels that twinkled down on them, cold as ice. The tremendous wind drove them on with its relentless force, and only the violent exercise they were undergoing, enabled them to resist the numbing influence of the cold air that sought every crevice. The horses seemed as if they would never tire, from the way in which they tore on, and still down the bruad Yellowstone valley they went driving, to the southeast. At ast, when Slocum began to wonder whether he were asleep or awake, in this so strange experience, he saw a dark line abead of him, stretching across the level plain, and no- ticed that, somehow or other, they bad got out of the valley, for there were no bluffs near them, and the river had vanished, Wher? it had gone to seemed mysterious; Lut a moment’s reflection convinced bim that the stream must merely have changed its course, while their own lay, straight as an arrow, about southeast. And what was the dark line abead of them, directly in their course? Patches of snow still sprinkled the level plain, and beyond the dark line Jay quite a broad sheet of snow,as if the capricious cloud of the nortber had shed another part of its contents there in passing; but the line in front of the snow was jet-black. A tbrill of borror ran through his veins as he realized that it must be one of the prairie cracks that go by the names barrancas, canyons and what not: but which are always precipitous and of unknown depth. ) There was no turning aside. The black line stretched directly across the path, as far as could be seen, on eitber side, and Slocum knew that the stampeded horses must inevitably go over it. He saw Montana George, ahead of him, lean back and spread out his blanket on either side, till be looked more like a bat than ever. George was goipg to try and leapit. How broad it was, none could tell in the dark; but Slocum realized that his only chance was to fol- low George’s example. Tbe strength of the norther might jus’ carry them over. than they bad any reason to fear it must be. Slocum leaned back over his pony’s tail, spread out the painted robe of Sitting Bull vo its full dimensions, so that it almost blew him off the animal’s back, and uttered a wild yell, which increased the fright of the poor creature, so that it bounded higher than before. The black line increased and yawned before them in a gulf of mystery that seemed to grow broader and broader, as they neared it with huge springs. Tbe wind had become a perfect burricane, and the riders were lying back, almost on the tails of their animals, the icy air whistling past them as if they were standing still, so great was its speed. ‘*A hundred miles an hour, peas thought Slocum, as be ground his teeth and leaned back against it. Then came a Rotter of feet, light as the rustle of leaves, and Montana George on his pony, sprung into air and was carried over the vast abyss, like a bird or bat, with his blanket spread out on either side by his extended arms. Slocum saw him going, gave a yell to his own pony, and the next moment found himself high n the air, really flying. There was no mistake about it this time. The force of the wind actually blew him and his companion over a gulf some fifty feet in diameter, as it seemed at a passing glance; and then on over the level prairie, hardly able to keep their seats or the horses’ feet, driven along as resistlessly as dry leaves, Whether the rest bad got over the chasm they could not stop to inquire, They had spread their sails and could not take them in without danger of being carried off their horses, And in the hearts of both riders wus a vague, shuddering sensation that to do that was to be dashed to pieces instanter, So away they sailed over the prairie, the ponies hardly seeming to labor at all now, so much were they helped by the tremendous force of the wind, till before them rose a dark belt of woods, and they knew they had come to the course of another river, some tributary of the Yellowstone, in all probability. They had not long to look at it before the wind drove them headlong into the midst of the wood, escaping, as if by a miracle, the trunks of the trees, and, crashing through the under- brush, tore them off their horses and sent them beadlong down the sloping bank, the ponies tumbling after them. By an instinct, Slocum, in falling, threw bis arms over his bead with the stout buffalo-robe round him, and found bimself rolled over and over like a ball, tillhe was pitched into a thicket of tough brambles and mesquite bushes, where he lay still, in perfect calm at last. Yes; he could bardly realize it, but when be managed to struggle out of the buffalo-robe in which he bad been entangled, be found himeelf lying in a thicket under a densely wooded bank, completely sheltered from the wind, which was howling overhead, flercer than ever. He was safe out of the norther at last. He struggled out and surveyed the prospect around him. On one side a lofty bank, on the other, be- neath him, a foaming river, on either band dense wood and underbrush, A crashing in the wood near him showed him his pony, that had just struggled to its feet, looking puzzled and scared. The creature seemed to be glad of human companionship in the terrible elemental war around it, and nestled close to the young sur- veyor, who, on his part, was equally glad to see the horse, Remembering that be might vet need its services og hig # took out bis leathern thongs and manufactured a rude bridle which he used to secure the pony, then set bimself to find Montana George. . He had not far to go to look for him. His first low call brought the answer: ‘Hist! Don’t talk.” He found his comrade in a thicket of brambles, and George pb pga! ‘ They’re coming, all that’sleft. Wind don’t pick and choose, you bet. We're in a box, and we'll have to fight as soon as it’s light. Keep close now. Mebbe we’ll have a chance. Listen, they’re a-coming.” ey were crouched under the shelter of bank and thickets, the cold no longer so piercing, now they were out of the wind. Thei’ ponies, stand- ing beside them. felt warm from the change, and were already beginning to crop the twigs of the cottonwood trees. High dverhead the norther howled, and every now and then they heard the crash of a fallung tree, torn up by the roots and sent plunging througb the underbrusb. Occasionally a small tree was torn up bodily and carried ho the air like a bird, falling ‘into the river, which, they could see from the glimmer of foam, was broad and shallow, Then came a thundering of feet on the bluff above, and over the bank came crashing the stampeded ponies, all in a mass, cComicboo cS