Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 293 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

2 Stampede Steve; | The Doom of the Double Face. BY BUCKSKIN SAM, (MAJ. SAM S, HALL,) AUTHOR OF ‘‘ KIT CARSON, JR.,” ‘‘ MOUNTAIN MOSE,” ‘‘DANDY DAVE,” ETC., ETC. CHAPTER LI. A SWEET SURPRISE, ‘‘Hotp, Nero! You are trampling some of the most beautiful flowers I have found this morning. 1 must have some of those blooming eepers fora wreath. What a delicate pink! Ido think they are perfectly lovely!” The speaker sprung lightly to the ground be- fore the words had left her lips, proving by her movements that she was a skilled equestrienne, Beautiful were her surroundings ; but a love- liness thatis more striking must first claim our attention. The fair rider was a maiden of some sixteen summers; a og Seg of the Sunny South. Of caettain hight, ber form was well developed, and she was sprightly and graceful as a young antelope of the prairies. Her bair wasof a golden brown, and hung in rippling, wavy masses, to her waist, being aetiaily confined by a wide-brimmead Gypsy at, and a light blue ribbon, loosely secured below the ears in a jaunty bow. Her face was purely Grecian in type, and ber color was now deepened by a canter in the cool and bracing air of the morning. Eyes of a heavenly blue, and ripe lips, the form of a Cupid’s bow, which, parting as she spoke, dis- closed two rows of small and even pearly teeth. She was attired in a bar pee riding-habit of light green ; the skirt sufficiently short, so as not to retard her movements in mounting with- out assistance. As she now stepped gracefully forward, and lifted it partly from the dew grass, a pair of small French boots, with hig tops, were disclosed to view. A neat lace collar, turned over a ribbon of pink, was confined at her fair throat by a five- pointed star of gold ; and about her slender waist was a wide but carelessly crumpled scar- let scarf, the long fringed ends of which hung to the lower edge of her skirt. A gold-mounted riding-whip was secured loosely to her right wrist by a loop ; and at her left side, held in place by her sash, were a hand- some revolver, a Colt’s “ five-shooter,” and a miniature bowie-knife. Such was the maiden whose words.open this first chapter of our narrative, She was a Texan girl, Dora Dale by name ; and we introduce her to the reader at a short distance from that beautiful and romantic stream, the Rio Guadalupe, which courses” throvgha most fertile and lovely portion of the e Star State, rising north of Bandera ills, and emptying into Esp Santo Bay in the Mexique Gulf. “3 To the north of Dora’s position could be plaimly seen the timber of the river, toweri a dense, dark green, vine-tangled, m wall of verdure—above the scattering which fringed it at this point. This was buta short hour’s gallop from the town of Gonzales. Here and there were small. mottes of oak beneath the lower branches of which was t) undergrowth; and this fact prevented the lovely flower-gatherer from gaining a view of the far-stretching open prairie to the south. In such near Dinero to the river-bottom was Dora Dale that the grass and flowe rank and thick toward it, giving one grand of Nature’s most lavish luxuriance. | Bars of golden sunlight shot through the green enameled foliage of the oaks; and be- tween the same thesmall “ opens” were flooded with the golden glow—tbe first kisses of Old Sol, just from his sc ge st And where the light of the day-god shone, the tens of thousands of dew-drops—the tears of Nature— hung like pittering jewels from leaf and blade, lending a most brilliant effect to the scene. The horse from which the fair girl had alighted, was a medium-sized, clean-limbed balf-breed, of Spanish and mustang stock, and black as ebony. | The animal wasa beauty, and built fors and endurance», as are nearly all beasts of the blood mentioned. Its eyes were large and in- telligent, and its flery nature was wn by a continual stamping and tossing of the head. Well were maid and mustang suited to each other, the two forming a perfect picture of equestrian grace and beauty, A saddle and bridle of fine workmanship, and a neck-rope of borse-bair, artistically woven and secured in a coil to a loop on the saddle, made up the equipments; but Dora, in ber joy at discovering some rare flowers, had neglected to loosen the coil and retain the slack of {the rope in ber hand, as a precaution in case her restive animal should dash away, and leave her on foot, as the actions of the Mustang seemed to indicate — ——— mn ee ee ee | their range é to run into a corral, and brand, mark or’sepa- —E Stampede Steve. —E — wee a that it wished to do, although its evidently in- creased alarm bad not been noticed by its mis- tress. Sinking to the earth, Dora carefully brushed aside the dewy grass and drew long, wiry creepers from the same. No sooner had the young girl disturbed these vines from their natural position than a most fragrant odor arose from the flow-rets, causing exclamations of delight to escape ber lips, as she seated her- self and then removed ber hat, proceeding to decorate it in a tasteful manner with her glean- ings. * Lovely, indeed,” she said ; ‘‘ and so delight- fully fragrant! Why, [never bave seen such tiny beauties! And tbe perfume is as strange to me as it is sweet. Oh, I do hope they are to be found where papa is going! ‘¢] presume they are, and many others that I have never seen. They say the prairies west of San Antonio are covered with tne most beauti- ful ow fragrant flowers. How the birds do sing “ This is just lovely. Papa thought I would not like it, but it is a real pleasure excursion to me. ‘* However, I shall be obliged to remain near those horrid wagons, I suppose, after we get further west, or get ‘ corraled,’ as the teamsters say, by Indians, or torn to bits by bears and panthers. “T think Nero ought to be able to take care of me by running from any such dangers, if I were ever so far from the train, ‘‘Heigh-ho! IT'll not worry about rag yey being curtailed until the time comes, Then we shall see what we shall see.”’ Thus speaking, in a flute-like yoice and rapid manner, Dora proceeded to finish the floral decoration of her hat, breaking out, as she fin- ished, in a simple song with a lively air. As the maiden had ridden amid the oaks, she had at times cast sweeping glances through the vista of trees, but no moving object had she detected. Indeed, there was nothing within the scope of vision that gave evidence of life except the birds. We have mentioned, however, that Nero was more excited—in fact; showed symptoms of alarm—as bis mistress had sprung from the saddle; and had not Dora been so intent upon the rare flowers she had discovered, she would have noticed that ber favorite betrayed unusual symptoms of fright. Again, had she not spoken in soliloquy and then gave vent to her exuberant spirits in song, she would bave heard sounds that were alarm- ing to her as well as to her horse, and would a ogee fam and sped on the back trail imme- iately. The mustang, as his mistress knelt upon the sward, ali at once became motionless, facing the south, it being but a couple of rifle-shots in distance from the open plain. He then elevated his head and pointed his ears forward in a lis- tening attitude, while his large eyes, filled with suspicion and’ alarm, became fixed toward the plain. From that direction came a dull, rumbling sound, mingled with yells, which were, how- ever, barely distinguishable as proceeding from excited men, _ A listener, familiar with the stock-raising itricts of Texas, would have known at once at men were running cattle, perhaps lassoing or driving stock that had strayed from ; or, it might be, collecting a herd ould also have detected the ying hoofs of a single ani- 18 geveral din, and much ere Dora Dale was gather- proached, drew nearer and re age orb iat Nero ner ge to aged ~% nostrils became distended, his eyes flashed, and he | fi ped about in evident alarm. Then pe aa of affrigbt, the animal half- whirled and galloped madly toward the bottom- The young girl sprung to her feet, cast a bur- ed glance 1, east and west, but saw noth- ing to alarm her, and the noise made by the hoofs of her own horse mingled with the sounds of the same character which bad alarmed Nero. She, therefore, heard not the approach of danger until it was too late to avoid it. | Erect stood the beautiful maiden, gazing in — mishment toward her fast disappearing orse. This was only for a moment, however, for she was soon attracted by the sound of a crashing of bushes, and the slight pallor which before bad been noticeable in her face was now in- creased to ghastliness. And well might it be so, for the sight that was soon to meet her eyes was an ng one, | Just as she turned, out, crashing from an ad- i — 2k a ge and darting toward ber, came a r@ black steer—the animal maddened to frenzy |! The borns of the beast were long and sharp, its eyes like two coals of fire, and its tongue pro- truding from its frothing mouth. Onshot that ————_ <see— - —— _—_— —— massive black beast, its hair glossy and glitter- ing, while around the base of its horns was the tightly drawn noose of a lasso, the slack of the same flying bebind it. The mark, too, of the branding-iron could be plainly seen. This was large and fresh, and a stockman would at once have known that the steer had but recently been lassoed. hurled to the eartt and branded, Not only this, but the anima! was a “* Maverick,” which proved it to be wild and fierce, and of extraordinary strength. Had this not been the case, ib would have been branded before it bad reached the age of four years, and its ful] growth The long, slender horns of the beast were sharp-pointed and lance-like, the flerce bead peneng- Caan Wards und the brisket and lolling tongue brushing the grass. It had, witbout doubt; escaped its skilled captors. lectric-like flew the boofs, ‘The steer, frantic with rage and pain, dashed directly toward the young girl, bellowing madly ;.its bloodshot eyes glaring upon her, and its legs spread, to give power to its terrible charge, and to prevent being overthrown by the expected sbock, Strange to say, the maddened brute stopped witbin fifteen feet of the poor terrified girl. Then, with fiercer bellowing, it pawed the sward, and tore up the earth, doubly enraged when it caught sight of the scarlet scarf that was worn by the maiden. So horrified and dumfounded was Dora at this totally undreamed-of and deadly danger— there seeming no possible way to escape death— that she stood in her tracks, dazed and unable to move. She was, indeed, paralyzed with terror, her fixed position having doubtless been the cause of the beast’s halting, as it recognized an upright form, resembling those of its recent persecutors and torturers. Only for a moment did the mad steer pause. The red scarf about Dora’s waist appeared to doubly infuriate the beast; and, ceasing to paw the ground, it lowered its head, gathered all its immense muscular force, and shot forward with a terrible and uneartbly,roar of frantically furious madness! Like as if suddenly transformed to stone, ghastly as the dead, her eyes fixed and starting, glassy, and filled with dread terror and deathly despair, her tongue cleaving to the roof of ber mouth, powerless to move or speak. Thus stood Dora Dale! An instant more, and the long lance-like horns would be plunged through that fair form, and she be tossed in the air, and then fall, and be gored and trampled beyond the semblance of humanity! But, in that one brief instant, the sharp whip- like report of a rifle sounded on the still morn- ing air, and the huge black brute fell dead, the blood gushing ‘from mouth and nostrils, at the very feet of its intended victim. And, as an echo to the report of the rifle, out from the lips of the maiden came a soul-search- ing shriek of mortal terror and deathly borror; but with that wild cry, was banished all sense, for the time. Up in air went her arms, in hopeless despair; and forward, prone between the horns, and upon the very neck of the dying brute, fell Dora Dale! CHAPTER II. NO OFFENSE MEANT AND NONE TAKEN. But some forty paces to the west of the point where Dora Dale bad dismounted from Nero, to pluck the flowers, was a small but dense motte of live-oaks; and, to the southwest, abcut the same distance from both, was a larger clump of trees, the undergrowth being legs thick. From this last it was, that the mad steer bad 1 1d into it from the south side, as it dashed through the scattering trees from the open plain. : Before reaching this shelter, it had been seen by one, who was riding slowly from the timber of the Guadalupe obliquely from the north- west, This was a young man, of perhaps twenty years of age, and one who would.com- mand attention and admiration in any assem- blage, even in one of distinguished men, ' e was above the medium hight, his form a t of perfect manhood, bis face handsome, and his eyes clear and hazel; while the eager lance, and the instantaneous clutch and coil of Camo when he perceived the infuriated beast, as ted that be ee life on rushed, having plungs well as bis costume and arms, indica was one who was accustomed to the the plains. symmetrical form hinted at unusual strength, and his movements were grace itself. Long dark-brown hair bung, in wavy masses, low over his well-rounded shoulders, while a goatee and mustache, silky in fineness and gloss, added to the manly beauty of his face, which was tanned by sun and wind. | Buckskin breeches, fringed, and ornamented with silver buttons down the outer seams, were sustained about bis waist by both belt and silk- en rec sash. The breeches were thrust into the tops of high-legged boots of calfskin, upon the heels of which were buckled a pair of silver spurs, with but medium-sized rowels, Gomice JOOKS —_ < a