Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 293 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

-~ But, matters were now entirely changed. If | shades above the flood of crimson light from the | were jerked from view, and then there shot trailers were really below, their place of con-| setting sun, sbining between bushes and | through the timber, echoing and re-echoing, a cealment had been plainly announced to them. | branches from the west. most unearthly shriek. The fall of the whisky bottle had rendered use- The face was like that of a demon, contorted Tbis was followed by another, evidently from less all their precautions to cover their trail, and | witb fury—a villainous and murderous visage, a | the same throat, and then came a far-sounding their covert as well. Hence, their preseut ter- | gloomy and swarcby one. plunge and a great spattering of waters, as if rifi-d state of mind. It was that of bim whom we have known ; some heavy body had been hurled into the river Both the wretches fairly trembled, as they | as Count Biron Broquier, the friend and asso- | over the high bank, gazed downward. The busbes were not shaking | ciate of Major Duncan Dale—of him who had ‘Satan burn me! What’s thet?” as violently as at first; but, the eyes of the ab- | just been recognized by Lasso Lije as ‘‘ Dusky Such was Bill’s ejaculation. ductors, rendered more keen by peril and fright, | Dick,” an old partnerincrime! * Filled with wonder, her blood chilled by the detected the fact that the dead tree trunk was ‘ fearful shrieks, Dora panted for breath, still moving, and they felt that some one must be CHAPTER X, watching ber abductor, whose gaze was fixed climbing it. CALLING UPON THE DUMB. downward. ‘* Look! Look et thet dead tree,” whispered HERE was a fresh disappointment for Dora From indications, Bill believed that Lije was Lije; ‘*somethin’s onter hit! Satan tortur’ me, | Dale. pressing toward the river to ascertain the fate ef we-uns ain’t curral’d; an’ ef we'scrouge outen Instead of the man on the tree-trunk being a | of Dusky Dick; for the latter was, he could this without ther gal, we’re dang’d lucky! | friend in search of her, the words of Lasso Lije | not doubt, the man who had uttered those Watch ther dead tree! Cuss hit! I wish I was | proved that the new-comer was a cut-tbroat—a | cries, having probably been stabbed and then straddle o’ my critter.” boon companion, and old confederate! hurled into the river. Billi mentally cursed his As may be supposed, poor Dora was most in- ‘*Wa-al, I'll jist be etarnally bamboozled, an’ | pard for being such an idiot as thus to risk him- | tensely excited oy the words of her captors, and | befogged, an’ blindfolded, ef this hyer doesn’t | self. their mapner. Sne no longer breathed heavily, | knock spots outen anythin’ I’ve see’d ontil yit! He had no time for thought, however; for as if in slumber; indeed she beld her breath, ‘‘Cuss me, ef I warn’t plum sart’in Lije bed | but a few moments elapsed when a terrible and concentrated all the power of her senses to | gone lunified; an’I ain’t so ormighty sure thet | yell of fright and despair rung through the that of listening. Her friends must be near! hain’t what’s ther matter with him ontil yit! | timber, followed by another far-sounding She judged that they were on the trail, or had | Ef thet cuss air Lije’s ole pard, why we're ae into the river, in the same way as followed it as far as there was any ‘sign’ visi- | hunk, ef they doesn’t run in on us too thick. fore. ble; and had, since, lain bidden in the under- “* He’s gut a ugly figur’-head enongh ter be Then all became silent as death. f growth, satisfied that those they were seeking | p’ison, an’ he’s bout es swarthy es a Greaser! Cold perspiration stood in great beads on were not far off. “ Dusky Dick air a ’propriate cog’ fer him, I'll | the brow of Bill, and he could hardly maintain The horses of the outlaws had, doubtless, been | sw’ar! But, how in ther dickens did he happen | his position on the branches. His very hair discovered; which would be plain proof to the | ter turn up hyer, jist at this time; ’speshly | seemed to crawl upon his head, like scorched trailers that they had come up with their game. | ’mong this sorter biz? Somehow, I doesn’t like | snakes, If, thought Dora, this should be Stephen | bit. He had not the slightest doubt in regard to Speed, and he revealed himself, he would be ‘‘Lije air gittin’ off his cabase wi’ whisk’, er | the fate of Lije and Dusky Dick. Both he felt shot by these wretches, This thought was | I’m badly fooled! He’s boun’ ter ruinate | assured, had been killed and flung into the river agony to the poor girl. It seemed to her that, | things, ef thar’s any ranchers comin’ on our | by those who had followed the trail, no sooner had she the slightest ground for hope, | trail, Bill knew that be would be hanged like a dog than that hope was destined to be crushed out, ** Hit’s mighty easy ter be mistooken "bout a | if captured; and he saw little chance of esca And, she was not free from a terrible appre- | man’s mug, ’speshly in this hyer dub’us light. | unless he at once descended from the tree, while hension from another source. lll keep a eye open fer chances ter skute— | the searchers were near the river. Lije had intimated to Bill, that they might be | dang’d ef 1 doesn’t! I ain’t ready ter furnish a This he decided to do. forced to steal away without their captive. carkiss fer a lyncb-picnic jist yit.” ‘Satan tortur’ ther gal! She’s bin ther This brought a dread possibility before her. Thus soliloquized Bill Bowers, as he still | death o’ Lije an’ hisold pard. Ili let her sot If they who had stolen her, should now aban- | gazed downward; and his words were not such | whar she air, dang’d ef I sha’n’t! don her, they were fiendish enough to leave her | as to offer a gleam of hope to the eager listener. ‘* T won’t take ther gag outen ber mouth, fer t as bound and gagged, to starve! To Bill had come to the conclusion that matters | then she’d yelp, an’ I’d be a goner, dead sure!” probable that any one who might searching He had heard but little noise, as Lije had | ward the outer edge of the bottom-timber, and we. for her, would be unable to find her—they | climbed down the tree, and he watched very | fearing to descend to the earth near the point, cs might, in fact, pass through the tree-tops, with- | anxiously for what was to follow. He could | where he had reason to believe he would be in ten feet, and not discover her; she being | distinguish the rustle in the undergrowth be- | shot. aoe unable to guide them in any way, even by giv- | neath, and he knew that his pard was on the To describe the horror of poor Dora, as she : =| vent to her anguish by a sbriek or groan! way direct to the stranger. Another glance | heard the words of Bill, and the stealthy sounds he contemplation of such a fate was horri- | showed Bill, that the thicket beyond the stimp | caused by his departure, would be beyond the Ay ble; and so oppressed was the poor maiden by | was also slightly agitated. As there was no | power of language. Notwithstanding the con- 4% this seeming possibility, that she was, for the | breeze, the least movement of a leaf was very | viction that friends were in the vicinity, the un- time, totally unconscious of red! garners and | easily detected. happy girl fully realized that the chances were surroundings. Although this lasted, what seem- Yet the man on the dead tree, appeared not | very slim tbat she should be discovered, 4 ed to her a long time, it was but momentary; | to be aware of the approach of any one; for the She could not cry out. She could not answer , and she was brought back to actual realities by | very good reason, that he bad evidently discov- | them, if they called aloud to her. ; hearing a hiss of caution from Lije to Bill. ond that some moving object was in bis front. Hopeless as she had been when firstinthe The next instant, both miscreants uttered The stranger no longer Jooked upward. power of her abductors, she felt that her pre- i half-suppressed ejaculations of amazement and| His eyes were fixed upon tbe rustling tops of | sent position was far more terrible. Then there Sa terror. the Sederanowth: and Bill saw him climbing | was more chance of her being rescued; but now a. “Satan drag me inter tortur’! what’s thet?” | still higher, and caught the glitter of a knife in | she was bound fast, and hidden in the tree, a oo —— —— 2 Stampede Steve. to dangers from below; believing, and with good grounds, that, were enemies there, they would not dream of looking in the tree-tops for them; and, did they doso, there was little likeli- hood of any searchers inspecting the particular tree in which they were hidden. was, die a lingering death of terrible torture, witb- out the power to make an ess for, it was whispered Bill; and Dora, as the villain’s arm was now against her shoulder, felt that he trembled, and could hear his teeth chatter. _ Lije made no reply, but his labored breath- ing proved that he was terribly agitated. suddenly be heaved a deep sigh of apparent relief, and a moment after nearly lost bis clutch on the tree, shaking with suppressed laughter, Clinging to that huge stump was a man, the head and shoulders of whom were alone visible above the tops of the undergrowth. The face of this man was turned upward, his black and serpent-like eyes wandering in a searching gaze around the tree-tops, the dark were in a mixed condition, and he was 8008 destined to realize that he was about right. _ hand. He felt anxious, and greatly wor- ried. He could scarce refrain from calling aloud, in warning to Lije; but, on second thought, he kept silent. Then it was that, again the pro- longed neighing of a horse sounded, from down the river; evidently the same animal that had previously broken the silence of the timber. . ren rT SSS sss 9 of the man who, Lije had asserted, was one of themselves—his pard, Dusky Dick. Suddenly the face of the latter seemed to be- come ghastly, and his head twitched spasmodic- ally as he strove to gaze downward and back- ward, The next moment bis shoulders and head Without further delay, Bill clambered along the limbs, passing from one tree to another to- witbout the power to speak. Then she was furnished with food and water, but this wasso | no longer. What a fearful fate stared her in the face! Doomed to suffer the tortures of the lost, with a thirst which she already felt wr : doomed to cie by starvation, and that w te red-jowled buzzards perched upon the limbs | which nearly choked him, especially when he | This sound seemed to startle the stranger. over her head and around her, awaiting her again attempted to whisper to Bill. It certainly startled Bill; but, in a moment | dissolution. ve | The latter groaned in horror, saying, hoarse- | more, they were all still more so, for an answer- | All this was torture, almost beyond the forti- | ly: ing “‘ whinny ” came from up the river. tude of an Indian brave; and she was but a By ‘Dang an’ double Whe i Lije! Air yer Bill knew on the instant, as well as if he bad | young and delicate maiden, who had been pet- ~~ gone plum lunified? What d’yer see ter laugh | seen them, that parties who had followed their | ted from her infancy, her every wantantici- — } et? , trail were near at hand. pated, and must she die thus? ; “I sw’ar, I b’lieve I'll git an’ go hit alone! All Both his horse and that of his pard were down It was horrible, most horrible. Sat ie i Isee air a man’s head, an’ ef he ain’t on ther | the river, secured in a natural ‘“open.” The wonder was that she retained her senses, *7 parter we-’uns an’ ther gal, I'm a liar by He trembled as if in an ague fit, but after | that she did not faint or fall into a comatose :, her watch! Air thet a laughin’ matter?” a moment’s reflection, decided that he was in a | state; and she doubtless would have done so - “Satan burn yer, Bill! Yer kin stay right | far safer position than Lije. He longed fora} bad she not known that if help weretocome, — hyer alone wi’ ther gal. I’m goin’ down ter | drink of whisky to brace his nerves, as he mut- | it must come this blessed night. Already the “4 j’ine thet cuss on ther tree. tered: sun had disappeared, and darkness and horror ‘Why, dang yer, Bill, thet’s my ole side- ‘ Cuss ther luck! I'll hev ter skute alone. | seemed to bave confederated to smother out ard, Dusky Dick—Dick Dunning—what I | Ther game air up, an’ ther ranchers’l] rake | her young life, ingulfing ber in wretchedness. ain’t see’d fer nigh two year! Ef this hain’ta | ther board. But they she’n’t git ther gal ef But, at the very moment that threatened the lucky trail, I’m a bamboozled idiot! they hurts Lije er captur’s him. Dang me ef | dethronement of the poor girl’sreason,a yell ‘‘ Why, man, he’s a high-fi cuss, an’ hes cut | they do! sounded on the night air, but a short distance ae a heap o’ throats, though Ph ‘low he allers gits ‘She shell stay hyer fer buzzard-feed, fer | toward the south. She knew the directionby , ther deadwood on bis game fust off. ittin’ me an’ my pard inter sich a kittle o’ | the glow of the sunset, which she had previously ‘*Pard we're hunk ef we gits in wi’ Dusky | fish!” noticed. Vinee Dick. Why, I'd know ther face 0’ ther cuss| Poor Dora took in the whole borror of her| Bill Bowers had stolen away, in that direc- ow a mile through ther fire in Tophet !” situation, but her cowardly captor paid no | tion; and, as the yell was expressive of mortal | The amazement of Bill was far too deep for | attention to her; in fact, except in words to | terror, Dora believed it must proceed fromhim, _ words. himself, he seemed oblivious of her near pres- | and that be bad fallen into the hands of them, | He cou!d hardly believe his senses; but before | ence. or been slain by them. <i he really comprehended the words of his pard As matters had thus far proceeded, it was Had he been captured? Oh, bow she hoped in their full meaning and extent, that worthy | evident to Bill that the climax must soon | and prayed, from ber inmost soul, that be bad; had vanished, crawling in a stealthy manner | arrive—that something, yet more startling, | for, then, be would be forced to reveal her down the tree. was soon to occur. And the miscreant was not | whereabouts! oy The ae of Bill became once more fastened wrong in his conjecture. He had not long to Even this he might not be able to do,since a the limbless trunk of the dead tree below | wait. darkness had fallen upon the earth; but he Ys His eyes were fastened upon the swarthy face ! could do so, if they waited until the morning, = ene: = by ; "Pat F : eA UES a AE a ee, He : Comicbooks.corr ei yah: es |