Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 303 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

2s; > =s * Ss — ro . ~ = — — * guard at the fence line next to the Collings- worth Ranch, heard them stop howling at a point on the prairie whence he had not expect- ed a visitor. He knew that the company had no men out there; for there was no fence in that direction, Save a few strips here and there to mark the claim. Thinking one of bis own men had gone astray in the night, he rode toward the place where the silence had come about, and his eyes strained to catch the outline of a horse, but in vain. The prairie in that direction was sprinkled with mottes of chaparral timber, and nothing could be seen outside. The sentry peered through the gloom at the ! nearest motte, and at last muttered to himself: * Reckon ’twas only a painter, or suthin’ of j the sort.” . Toe sound of a long-drawn wail, like the cry of a child in the night, convinced bim that he had interpreted the silence correctly, for he recognized the scream of the panther or cougar, a few of which still roamed in the county, | me their numbers were diminishing every i month, under the bounty for their ears, f The guard was a desperado from the city of Galveston, who was more used to playing poker } and shooting his man at sight in a bar-room, than the wiles of prairie craft; so he thought no ! more of the matter, and turned his horse to ride back to his post. th As he turned, two men looked forth from the screen of the coppice-wood, and one of them i said to the other, in the tongue of the ‘Kiowa i! tribe of Indians: } “What does Wild Cat think of it? Would it be best to kill the man or not?’ | The face of the man who spoke was white, but / he spoke the language with the ease of one who | understood it thorougbly, and his companion, who was a full-blooded Indian, replied at once: _ “Tf my white brother wishes, it can be done, The man is a fool, or he would have searched the woods for us. We can pass by these menas safely as if they were all blind.” There was a tone of strong contempt in the Indian’s voice, and Top Notch Tom answered bim at once: ** All I want to do is to see my wife, and as- sure her of m plone If we can pass without aS , | shall be glad of it.” ild Cat’s answer was eminently Indian. He was fond of his white brother, the only white * man he had ever seen, who wanted to learn the language and peculiarities of his race, for other than selfish purposes, He bad a great respect for bim, though he was eres what the young man could possibly want of all the knowledge he had acquired, like Cushing among the Zanis, ; of whom all the Indians had heard. Wild Cat oy had been accustomed to but two classes of men, om among the whites, with whom he had come in contact, before he knew ‘Tom Field. One class ow hated the Indians, and missed no chance to kill By o\ one, if it could be done with safety, on the plea ee that they were all ‘‘ Red Devils,” the other mar- ried into the tribes for selfish purposes, and es stole all that could be taken. os Tom Field had lived among the Indians for a mearly a year; had refused to ma ges of the a red damsels, thrown at his head with pro- -~—-—s fasion; had never asked for a single article: had He scrupulously returned the full value of every mio resent he had received from an Indian; and as e only thing he had been anxious to acquire ‘wer was, knowledge of the language and habits, the et eS ae hong 4 ~ _ a %, —— ee Pee ~ , 2 ——— - 2 . . = "et —_ —_ — —- A 7s rites and supergiitions, of the tribes located in ss the Indian erritory, into all of which he had i —s entered with respect and enth : i Wild Cat could not understand the desire for i ss knowledge in itself, but he laid his inability to ‘ee comprehend it to the difference of race; and when he heard Tom refuse the easy slaughter of a foe, he only said: “ My brother’s heart is like what the medi- cine-men say was the heart of the Great Spiri _ ‘when he came to the earth. But the scalp o i an enemy is not to be despised. One less ES. among the foes, is a thing to be desired. If the shay Looking Glass Fighter wishes, he can go out ee with me, now.” Bee Tom at once answered: ees “Come on, then, if you say it is safe. mes but a child, when you are on the war-path.” .Y Wild Cat smiled to himself with gratified eas vanity: for the odor was sweet to his nostrils, ss swhen flatte | was offered him. But then he Hh) ~ ed slightly, as he said: | ~~ Wild Cat went on the war-path once; but ‘¥ _ the buffalo are all gone, and there is no room for the red-man on the plains that once knew Hy = him. The agents are always ready to tell the ‘hie soldiers; and they run after us, and give us no _ gest. We are not on the war-path now, my ~~ brother; but, if we were, I would act as I act 4% now. Follow me, and do as I do.” a Their horses were standing in the motte, and he the Ipdian tied his own pony to a tree, and ss gtole out: on foot: , Tom Field followed his example, and the two i, Doe men stole forward, in the shadow of the trees Ree and coppice wood, till Wild Cat suddenly . ee used, and sunk down into the long grass, <% Frith a low hiss like that of a snake, when Tom > _ gank with him The Indian laid his hand on the arm of the other, and pointed forward, to where the head of a man on horseback could be seen, outlined against the stars. There was a strong expression of contempt on the face of the red warrior, as he pointed at the unconscious sentry of the cattle company, and whispered to Tom: “If we were on the war-path what a fine scalp he would make for the belt of the brave who wanted it.” The sentry was not fifty feet away from them, and the fingers of the Indian closed involuntari- ly over the haft of his knife, as he watched the ure of the man and horse. ut he managed to resist the temptation; and, ulling the sleeve of bis friend, crawled off hrough the grass, toward the house of the old judge, which was the object of the expedition, and, in a very short time, they were outside of any danger of discovery from the guard. he Indian kept a little in advance of the white man, and occasionally stopped to givs him' some of the sage maxims that were ug gested by the incidents of the trip; for Wild Cat was very fond of giving advice, and the docility of his pupil made him particularly pro- fuse of his counsels, He stole on through the grass like a snake, till he had reached the shelter of another motte, through which they went more rapidly, and at the other side of which he uttered another hiss, and sunk down again. “What is it?” asked Tom, seeing the Indian did not stir for some moments, Wild Cat seemed puzzled what to say fora little while; but at last he observed: “Wild Cat bas been on many a war-path; but he never saw a bottle left on the ground full of whisky before.” So saying, he turned round and showed Tom a bottle, which seemed to be full of something and which he had just are up at the foot o a post, where the line of the barbed-wire fence of the company, which they had crossed when they first struck the range, again raised its ugly head at the edge of the motte. The bottle had something in it, but was it whisky? Wild Cat wanted to try at once, but he hand- ed the thing to Tom first; and the young man, after a short examination, said to his companion in a grave tone: “Wild Cat, this is no whisky-bottle. It is lucky you did not try to openit. It is a trap.” The Indian instantly shrunk away from him with the air of one who fears that the trap wil catch him, and asked: “What kind ofa trap? Is it poison?” “T think not,” answered Tom slowly. ‘‘ From the Aedes % and weight, I should judge that it had something solid in it. The fact of its bein laid there shows it must be a trap; but what, do not know. I will put it in my pocket, and we will go on.” The Indian, before he went any further, ex- amined all around him with great care to fin something else, but without success. They nly through the fence, and found themselves in the domains of the old judge—a fact which Tom announced to Wild Cat, who ——— arose to his feet, with the observa- ion: “Then the war-path is ended, for we are in the land of our friends. It is my brother’s turn to lead now.” Tom, very glad that he had advanced so far without, meeting anybody, rose and walked across the prairie toward the judge’s house, which he could see as soon as they cleared the motte. The house had, at the top, a small Belvidere, from which the judge, who was something of an amateur astronomer, was wont tosurvey the stars at night, and a light was burning there, which made the young man’s heart leap within him; for there is something in the sight of a light in a window, when one is coming home, that is very comforting to the wanderer. “Come on, Wild Cat!” he said. ‘‘We are expected, and they have lighted up the signal for me.” Then they went rapidly across the open fields, the Indian glancing from side to side with the caution of bis race, the white man holding up his head and almost running in his eager- ness, They reached the door-yard in a very short time, and out came, open-mouthed, a number of bounds, for the judge was still somewhat of a sportsman, and very proud of the breed of bis dogs, which made a pack famous through the country. Wild Cat stalked forward when he heard the dogs, as if they were not there, for he disdained to show any fear when in the presence of his friend, and trusted to him. Tom, fearful that Wild Cat would be bitten before the dogs could recognize his voice, ran in front and waved his arms, calling: ‘‘Here, Trip, Towler, Sweetheart! Here, px what are ye about? Dor’t ye know me?” he angry bay of the bounds was changed to yelps of delight, for the young rancher was a great favorite in the pack, and the dogs crowded round him and welcomed him, while they snuf- Top Notch Tom, the Cowboy Ranger. fed round Wild Cat, with low wls, till Tom scolded them, when they subsided into silence. Then the two men proceeded toward the house, but were met, before they could get there, by a white figure, which came flitting through the darkness, and the voice of Diana whispered, as she threw herself on the breast of her busband: “Tom! Tom! I knew it was you as soon as the dogs stopped. I knew you would come; I knew it! IThavebeen watching for you every night for the last week. And are you well ere hes hurt badly when I saw you? Oh, you don’t now how I bave worried about that wound, Where was it, darling? You are sure it was not dangerous?” As soon as Tom could speak, he said, softly: “* My darling, and did you know I would come? No, dearest, 1 was not burt much. It was only a flesh-wound in the shoulder, but I lost a good deal of blood from riding so hard, and if it had not been for my friend, Wild Cat, here, I might have had abad time. But these Indians are the best doctors in the world if you will only do what they tell you and trust in them, Iam all right now, and Sandy Bill is a sound man, and won't toueh another drop of liquor—till he gets a good chance, I guess. And how are they all? And especially how is Helen and your father? What have they done about my case? That is the principal reason I have returned, to tell you the truth, after seeing you.” Diana clung to bim, as if she could not see enough of him, but his question startled her; for it showed that he was in ignorance of what had hap ned, and she asked him trembling: ‘What? don’t you know, Tom? Isit possible? Why, the whole county is full of it, and every- body says it is a shame,” ‘‘T have no doubt of that; but what is it which is a shame?’ asked Tom, as he kept her closely pressed in bis arms. “It seems to me to-night, Di, as if I didn’t care what happened, as long as you are here, darling.” She could not help a quiver of pleasure at the sweet words; but if died away in her alarm, as she told him: “Tom, dear, bear up. They have indicted you in Satanstown, for—what do you think?’ “For shooting that scoundrel Bruce, I sup- pose. Well, I thought they would, What is the indictment for? Murder, of course.” ** Yes, Tom, and gba Aaa says it isa shame, and thatitis all a pack of lies; but what are we todo about it? Poor Jim gs, who was there, and saw the beginning of it, was killed, you know.” “Are you sure?’ asked tine outlaw, with a change in his tone. ‘“‘ Why,I thought he was only wounded. I saw him fall from his borse, and I can swear that he was only shot through the leg, and his horse killed by the same bullet.” Diana shuddered. ‘Tom, I saw the poor fellow myself, for I would not let any one else do that. He was shot all to pieces, with nearly a dozen bullets in his body. You can hope for nothing from his testimony.” Tom Field was silent for a moment, and then he said in an altered tone: “And I was so happy coming home, Di! What a change there has come over me since you told me. They must have killed him on purpose to swear me down. But they don’t know Top Notch Tom, yet. 1 was a lamb, be- fore the beeen to chase me, but, if they bunt me too far, they may find that Top Notch Tom will deserve his name. Come into the house, I want to see the judge, and tell him what he can do for me before I go.” “Go!” echoed Diana. ‘“* But surely you will not go to-night?” *“ What else is left to me?’ demanded the out- law, in a bitter tone. ‘I bave no home now.” CHAPTER XII. HUNTED DOWN. An hour later, when the clock on the mantle pointed to the hour of twelve, and the parlor of the Collingsworth Ranch was sbut up outside, so that no one could see the lights from the prairie: while it was all ablaze, inside, with the lamps that bad been lighted in honor of Tom’s return; the judge, Helen, Diana, Tom, and Wild Cat, sat round a table, while the judge was writing, what Tom told him of the fight which had cost him hisoutlawry. The outlaw looked in excellent health, though rather thin; but the bronze on his cheek was of the hardy hue that tells of a vigorous constitu- tion, his eye bright and clear as ever. His young wife kept gazing at him, as if she could never see enough of bim, and Helen Collings- worth was listening intently to what he was saying about the fight; when Wild Cat, who had been sitting pert from the rest, lacking inter- est in things he did not understand, suddenly startled the company by uttering a sonorous Indian grunt, and saying, in his own language, to Tom: ; ‘* Horses coming—fast.” The others did not understand him; but Tom told them, and they were all very mucb excited; for they were in that state of nervous tremor, when the least thing terrified them. The old judge hurried to put away the papers Eomicbooks.c -_ - ee