Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 293 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

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He there- fore decided to retreat, and await a more favor- able time to avenge the insult, Added te this his thirst for revenge, he was almost beside himself with the consciousness that Dora, the maiden who he had sworn should be his and his alone, bad been stolen away and might never be recovered; thus defeating his t scheme, bis main object for a long time hay- ing been to force Major Dale to coerce his daugbter into a marriage with him, Almost maddened with these torturing emo- tions, the count drove spurs; but, as bas been shown, came toan abrupt and most startlin halt, suddenly finding bimself, as the report o a revolver rung in bis ears, flying through the air with great velocity, and rolling in the tall At first he thought that he was seriously wounded, and he struggled to a sitting posture, gazing backward after scanning his clothing for marks of blood and ascertaining that no limbs had been broken. Seeing bis horse laid out upon the ground, and apparently dead, be knew that the bullet bad pierced the animal in place of himself, and he also felt positive that the weapon had been aimed at the borse—that bad the scout wished, he could as easily have planted the lead in bis heart or brain. After recovering somewhat from his con- fused state, Broquier crawled near his horse, and peeped through the upper portion of the rass. The scout, major, and teamster, were in plain view; and so near, that be could distinguish every word spoken by them. The consequence was, that the count was treated with a full and truthful Cissection of bis own character and aims; and be was amazed, beyond limit, at the perception of this young man, who, having met him for the first time but a few minutes previous, could thus read him like a book. The explanation of Steve Speed, in regard to the danger of Dora, and ber rescue, was a sur- prise that was recog The maiden, whom ke so madly loved, had been, it seemed, saved from a fearful death, by this handsome stranger, bad fainted, and been revived by him; and, as a matter of course, bad some time in the company of her res- cuer, before the latter had departed to recover her horse. It at ae —- to the count, ~ oe charge cating the young scout w the abductors so thrown to the ground, by the fact that Steve bad repaired immediately to the camp for the purpose of regaining the maiden’s mustang; when, bad he been a party to the out- rage, he would have, at once, started off with his confederates and their captive. Well did the sneaking miscreant know, that the denunciations of Steve by the major were occasioned by the old gentleman’s. having t sigbt of him in the and the know- ledge that his words were beard. Major Dale would have been the happiest man on earth, bad the bullet of the scout pierced his brain, in — of merely hitting the horse, - This, Count Broquier knew. Perfectly fiendish was the expression on the swarthy face of the skulker; his white teeth be- close set, and bis thin lips curling away from them in a beast-like manner. Had he bis rifie with bim, there is no doubt he would have attempted to send a bullet into the brain of Stampede Steve. Once, indeed, be drew his revolver, with this intention; but, knowing it was doubtful in re- the shot, and that if he failed , be replaced the weapon in its scabbard, and resolved to bide his time. When Steve avowed his inten‘ion of follow- ing the trail, and rescuing Dora, manifesting at the same time such deep interest, even to the braving of death in the attempt, the count, in his fury, jealous rage, and thirst for vengeance, rolled in the grass, Longing up the same with bis teeth and hands, while bis eyes flashed, like the orbs of a mad panther. Suddenly, however, he became calmer; an exultant, cunning look came into his eyes, and he crawled some distance eastward, amid the and flowers, to a point where a small Bush, extended above the grass. From this he could look out with perfect security. He beheld Bob s forward, and catch the hand of the young scout in a friendly grasp; and, to bis intense joy, saw that the old ter “vet with his revolver pointed at Steve’s ast, It was evident that Major Dale thought the count was watching him, or else he really be- ~ = from a safe distance. He realized that | lieved the scout to be implicated in tho abduc- | tion of his daughter. This was a pleasing tableau to Broquier. But the pleasure thus occasioned was soon to be banished; for Steve started off on the trail, and was brought to a halt by a pleading cry from the major. Then, to the fury of the watcher, he beheld the latter rush forward, and clutch the hand of the poing scout in friendship, seeming to be pleading for pardon for his receut hostile act and words, A fierce oath burst from the count’s lips, bis hands became clinched, and he ground bis teeth in his rage, looking a very fiend in his:impotent ury. And thus he stood, until he saw the scout afar southward flitting amid tbe huge oak trees, soon turning eastward, and advancing down the river, and parallel with the same. Again the face of Broquier changed in ex- pression. Again it could be easily read. Fiendish exultation, and a longing for re- venge, mingled with intense joy, were plainly stamped upon if, Major Dale and his teamster were now stand- ing by the carcass of the steer. This the count saw, and a settled determina- tion seemed to have come upon bim. Sinking to the earth, be crawled rapidly east- ward througb the grass, for a distance of some yards; and then, half-bent, ran fleetly toward the bottom-timber of the river, within which he disappeared. But directly, on the verge of. the under- growth, the villainous spy halted; gazing south- ward, from between the branches, with insane eagerness. Soon, directly south from his position, he caught a flitting sight of Steve, the Scout; the latter, bent forward, bis horse in lead, and seepins a course parallel with the river. ith a.half-smothered yell of triumph, Count Biron Broquier, his dark face like that of a demon in expression, and his glance murderous, tore through the dense undergrowth, and down the Rio Guadalupe. CHAPTER LX. IN THE TOILS. THE mental and payee) sufferings of r Dora Dale, as, bound and gagged, she reclined in the tree-crotch, afar up from the earth, were bevond comprehension. ach moment seemed an bour, each hour a Cars and an age it appeared to the fair sufferer before the arrows of sunlight were cast aslant through the foliage from the west. The unfortunate maiden had heard the two miscreants decide upon continuing their jour- ney as soon as the mantle of night fell upon the earth, papineieues a darkness that would enable them to travel in safety; a darkness, as Dora felt, that would be as a blinding light compared with the beavy cloud that was now over her heart and life. She knew that in some manner ber captors had succeeded in binding themselves to the tree in a recumbent position; and that they indulged in sleep was evident from their snoring, Twice during the day bad they given her food and water; but previous to removing the ag they had threatened to kill ber if she made he least outcry—one with a drawn knife stand- ing beside her while she ate sparingly. She had pleaded, in a low voice, fo be allowed to remain free from the torturing gag; but she might as well have appealed to a stove, for the brute thrust it again between ber lips and teeth with an oath of impatience and anger. Once, to her extreme borror, she had heard the two ruffians speculating in regard to the robable amount of money they would receive or her in Mexico; their conversation inter- larded with oaths and obscenity, making the poor girl sick and faint with despair and terror, Sbe bad not dared to dwell upon the object of the wretches, through fear of unbalancing ber already overtaxed brain. They certainly bad not dreamed of abducting her until by accident they had discovered her by the motte, Had she not been so dazed and terrified by their sudden and unexpected advent she could have stolen into the thickets and easily escaped detection. But the deed was done, and could not be un- done without help appearing; and this seemed so improbable, as the time passed so slowly, that Dora was eventually plunged into the very den'hs of hopeless despair, N w that she knew the destination and object of her dastardly captors, there appeared no possibility of ber being rescued, When night came it would be impossible to follow the trail of the miscreants; and that would enable them to place sucha distance be- tween them and any pursuers that it would be im ible to overtake them. t was no wonder then, that, with sucb thoughts and reasonings ruling ber mind, the poor girl became well-nigh crazed with anguish and horror. She believed herself doomed to a terrible fate, with no possibility of rescue; and thoughts of the agony of her father, and con- jectures in regard to Stephen Speed, were per- By all that saved her from losing her reason. he was confident that her father and the young scout were on the trail; but she had no hope of rescue through them. They could not possibly find her and her abductors, in the tree- top where they were hidden, Still, it was some consolation to be confident that efforts were being made toward rescuing her, by those whom she loved, even though she had no hope of ever again seeing them. Tears, at times, stole through her lids, and dropped from her long lashes, running down her pallid cheeks; and these relieved, somewhat her overburdened brain. Thus the time passed, through that long and never to be forgotten day, and the slanting bars of sunlight, from the West, proclaimed to poor Dora that the time approached, when the dastardly wretches would tee her onward to- ward the Rio Grande; each step separating her further and further from all that she loved— from love, and hope, and happiness—each step drawing her nearer to a dark doom, that caused her to shrink within herself in horror, and mentally pray for death instead. Dora reasoned that, had the trail been follow- ed, and not lost before reaching the vicinity of the river-bottom where sbe was, her friends would, long since, have betrayed some eviden- ces of their presence, hence all hope had van- ished. But, unknown to herself, and her cap- tors, other human beings were in the near vi- cinity; each, however, being brought there by very different motives and objects. Slowly the sun sunk, lower and lower, flood- ing with a fiery hue, the space between the tops of the undergrowth and the lower limbs of the huge trees. Dora could hear the two miscreants makin their way along the branches toward her, aa she shuddered, with as much horror at their approach as that of venomous serpents would have created. She felt assured that they were about to pre- pare for the start; that it would soon be suffi- ciently dark to insure their safety. She closed her eyes, feigning to neeP. | The abductors crawled with caution, makiug but slight noise. This caused the maiden to decide that they were apprehensive of danger; and this awakened a slight hope, where none had previously existed. Soon, they stood directly by her side, ‘* She’s sleepin’,” whispered Lije. ‘Let her snooze awhile, ontil we're ready. Squint keen ’round ther bottom, Lije. Dog ef hit ain’t too ormighty still ter suit me!” “ Whist, Bill! Ye’re so dod-blasted hoarse yer can’t whisper ‘thout bein’ heerd furder’n I kin sling a bowie. I'm sorter s’picious o' things down yonder myself. Isee’d rabbits gittin’ on ther jump, one’t er twicet, an’ hit mought be bumans thet hed started them outer the bush.” ‘* Keep a-gazin’, Lije! Hit’s ormighty strange ef anybody air "bout this hyer locate, “ Hit air sorter—” Lije was here interrupted—both men, in fact, being so startled that Dora heard them as they clutched wildly at the limbs—by the loud and prolonged neighing of a borse, quite near them. The sound seemed, to the poor girl, as encour- aging as the shout of a friend, A ray of hope shot through the despairin gloom that enshrouded her; but it was destined to become fainter by the words hissed by Lije:— ‘**Satan cuss ther condemned hoss! We-’uns hedn’t orter left ther critter so nigh hyer. Ef thar’s any sneakin’ trailers ’roun’, ther nag hes guided ’em. I'd like to back bis cussed nose off!” ‘* Hu-s-sh !” came from Bill, in caution, ‘ Ye’re gittin too riled upter whisper, pard. A dang’d eetle noise kin be heerd a consider’ble ways, in this h er ne ser Don’t git one ! iif e-'uns’ll git outen byer O. bet yer life! Whar’s ther whisk’? I feal like errigatin’.” With asigh of satisfaction, Bill removed the cork from the bottle that Lije passed him, and the gurgling of the liquor was plainly heard by “oa who still kept up the appearance of slum- r The conversation of the ruffians kept her wav- ering between hope and despair. Soon she saw Lije peering downward, in evi- dent amazement and apprehension, Bill, at once, edged up beside his pard, and the latter, in bis excitement, dro oad ha bottle: which fell, striking a huge limb, and was shat- tered to pieces. The two villains into each other’s eyes, furious, as well as frightened. ‘* Does yer want ter run our necks inter a lar- iat noose?” hissed Lije, with an oath; ‘ dan my heart ef yer hain’t spilled our gravy es w es ther whisk’! I swa’r I fergut shiek see’d!” Bill was speechless with fright and self-con- oryust then hi Just then bis comrade caught his arm, and ointed below. Some ematy feet from the 4 of the tree, they saw the undergrowth rust- ing. Above the tops of the bushes, which were now being disturbed, proj sted the "wag deyh trunk of a dead tree; the broken top of the same project- ing but a couple of feet above the thic':et. revious to the fall of the bottle, Lije and Bill had been comparatively unconcerned in regard I —— wu . ee ee