Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 303 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

_—_ eee ae ——* 4 - a > ee Bin 3 ee ED aS ae a — - "? i oni] es, o.L - ea * sight, for now he thoug their horses mages | i 24 ~in Top Notch ‘Tom, the ee ae _ ~ — ra = a — =< Cowboy Outlaw. _ oe at him, in the reckless fashion of their ind. Wild Cat was a friend of Top Notch Tom, and would not be riding to meet him at such a speed without a reason. The reason could be no other than a discovery of some kind, and Berkeley knew the keenness of Indians to discover signs of danger. If the plan had miscarried, there was still the chance that Tom might be in the crowd before him, and with that thought he fired at Wild Cat, and rode into the fray with his Winchester on his saddle-bow, firing shot after shot, almost touching the mark at every flash. The three with bim were equally desperate, while the men on foot ran on, developing into a regular line of skirmishers; firing into the mass first, and the individuals afterward, with a deadly precision that justified Berkeley’s saying that ‘*‘one man on foot was worth ten on horses to shoot in the moonlight.” Before a minute had passed the whole body that bad come from town was fleeing in dis- order, and the company’s men, who had been prepared for just such an er came out of the wood in squads, mounted, leading the horses of the men on foot, so that the pursuit was taken up within a very short time, just as if the place bad been in a state of regular war. Berkeley was an old soldier, who had seen active service in India and elsewhere, and had all the caution that is necessary for the com- mand of partisan troops, like the desperadoes he had under him that night. He took care to make no move fill he had his men well together, and then be moved them on in a body. He had got between two fractions of bis foes, and the body with bim was superior in num- bers to either of the bodies that he had to fear. His men were sober, while his foes were.for the most part drunk; and in this he had another advantage, for it made them stupid and left them almost at his mercy, as he thought. But all this time he had not come across either Top Notch Tom or Hank, the Nailer; and the fact left a veers sense of uneasiness on his mind. The Indian had also disappeared in the con- fusion of the fight, after the first volley had been fired, and before Berkeley could make sure of having his men out together. Now commenced a wild pursuit, wherein the flashes of rifles and pistols were incessant, and the yells of the combatants resembled the howl- ing of a pack of wolves, The unfortunate victims of the carefully planned ambush, demoralized by the sudden- ness of the attack, bewildered, alike by the fumes of the whisky and the confusion of the fight, raged around, too plucky to retreat, but getting the worst, of every conflict. Even the whisky ceased to sustain them, after a little: and they fled in ae in all directions; while the company’s men followed as Berkeley directed, keeping together, and aware that their action of the night would leave them no chance before the law, unless they could manage to dis- pose of every witness of the way in which the fight had opened. It was a case where self-defense had to be es- tablished, at any hazard, and the Englishman knew that he had made a ‘mistake, in firing at Wild Cat in the first instance. But be had to take the chances of war, and he rode on, with the one idea in his head of catch- ing Top Notch Tom and the marshal, in some ey that would enable him to utilize the con- 0 fusion of the affair to kill them by surprise, be- fore they had an opportunity to do anything. But, as be rode on, and found no trace of _ either of the men he was looking for, his heart began to misgive him, The cowboys had been coming home; but neither Top Notch Tom nor the Marshal of Sa- tanstown had come with them. They must have either gone back to the town, or passed off by some other route; and which they had done was the problem that he had to solve, if he hoped to save his own head, Already the rapid course of the fight had car- ried him to the near neigborhood of the town, when he saw a disturbance in front; and the cloud of dust that had hid the fleeing cowboys opened, and revealed three figures, coming rap- idly. toward them, in whom he recognized Top Notch Tom, Hank, the Nailer, and the Indian, Wild Cat, all three running their horses at the utmost speed they were capable of, as if going _ to charge the enemy. contain his joy at the t be had them fairly. hey were only three men, and the ¢owboys Berkeley could rape! 3 did not attempt to follow them, while his own men were firing with tremendous iy tet 8 as soon as they spied the well-known figures in the oat t. On the¥ swept, without replying to the fire, rather like birds on the wing, from the rapidity with which they came on. But po seemed to bear charmed lives, for, in spite of the fire, there was no symptom that any one of them was hit, and even their horses went skiniming on, like swallows. rkeley spurred to meet them; but the whole a on). ——. ee eee . three swerved to one side, as they came, so as to | him if he will come with us, if we are ready to avoid the main body of the company’s men, and | go.” pass in front of them. It may seem incredible that seventy men should be able to fire at three, from modern re- volvers and repeating rifles, at short range, on a bright moonlight night, within a distance of less than fifty yards, and yet miss them: but those who think so are not acquainted with the uncertainty of fire from horseback, at night or day, when all parties are excited, and the ani- mals are running wild, not in full control of their riders. 3 The best shots in the crowd of desperadoes that followed the fortunes of Berkeley that | night, tried their skill at the men as they passed | in front of them. Some managed to get their horses quiet; but, when it came to the critical moment of pulling the trigger, the animals were sure to wince or start, in some way just —e to destroy the exactitude of aim necessary in such an emer- gency. Berkeley himself, who was the coolest man in the crowd, and in his element, now that it was not an affair of single combats and stratagems to secure an advantage in shooting, found that he had emptied the magazine of his Winchester, and when he bad got bis pistol raised to take a steady aim, the foe was nearly out of range of the weapon. Yet he fired, as angry men will fire, every shot in one pistol, as fast as he could revolve the chambers, with the result that he saw he had missed every shot, and was riding like a madman after the three men, with an empty pistol in his hand. CHAPTER XXVIIL THE MAN-WITH THE-BIG-SCALP, THE reader wiil easily understand how the In- dian had come on the scene, when they revert to what he had said, as he left the Collingsworth Ranch, The fact was, he bad been on the roof, soon after Helen and her sister had gone down- stairs. He had been attractcd by the sight of the two girls gazing thrcugh the long tube, and had sneaked upafter them to take bis turn, with an idea that he should see some magic view, for he was as iznorant and superstitious as most In- dians, and thought the telescope a peep-show. But tbe first look he took showed him the group of horsemen in front of the ranch, of the company, which he knew, from Tom, to be the home of his enemies, and his quick wits enabled bim to understand what was going on, as soon as he set eyes on them, The mystery of the xlass revealed to him, he took no further trou- ble to explain it. It was to him like all the de- vices of the white people, inscrutable. He ac- cepted as a child does, wondersit cannot explain, and acted on what he saw. He remained at the glass till he saw the last group of men come out of the house, after they had been treated, and then stole down stairs, just in time to escape Helen Collingsworth, as she came running up to look again. When she saw him leading out his pony, it was in the execution of his simple Indian plan, to follow the trail of his foes and find what they were doing. He rodeaway from the house, and placed him- self in ambush, where he could see what tran- spired without being seen. He we divined what the company’s men were at when hesaw them go into the wood, and he brought out his pony and made ready for a dash, as soon as he heard the ranchers coming. His only fault was that he did not get out be- fore the first group of men had been allowed to pass in peace. He had expected to see them fired at, and to make his dash in the smoke. When he saw them come by safely he hesi- tated a moment too long, and the consequence was that he had bis pony shot by Berkeley. His salvation was the instant running out of the men in the woods, and the smoke and con- fusion that followed. Hidden by this, he man- aged to get into the midst of bis friends and to capture a horse, on which he sped to the rear in search of Tom. Like most Indians, he had no shame in run- ning, and had the cowboys followed his example the result would have been better for them. But, being of the bull-dog, Anglo-Norse race, they stuck to it after they were whipped, and lost several men, killed or wounded, before they realized that the battle was against them to such an extent that they had no resource but flight. Wild Cat, s ing on as bard as he could encountered Tom Field and the Marshal of Sataustown, at the very entrance of the streets, whence they were riding out, attracted by the sound of firing. He dashed up to Tom, and hurriedly told him: “The Looking Glass Fighter must not go further; the enemy are in the way and they are too many for us to-night. They bave killed many of our men, and they are coming this way, It is time to scatter and run.” Hank Kimble heard him speaking and asked what he said. When Tom told him he observed: “The Injun is right, according to Injun notions; but this is the State of Texas, k Wild Cat understood him and his pride was touched, for he answered instantly, in hi sown tongue: ‘*Tell the Man-with-the-big-scalp that Wild Cat is not afraid to go where he goes,” He called Hank the ‘‘ Man-with-the-big-scalp ” on account of his beautiful flowing beard, which was just the kind of thing to attract the admi- ration of one who had been brought up to the idea that a handsume scalp was the highest prize to be found in the game of war.* Hank laughed as he heard himse’f described? by this singular appellation, and said,as he shook’ his bridle: “We'll hope no one will get it to-night, Wild Cat. Come on, and doasI do. I’veseen worse rushes checked before this, my lad.” Then the three horsemen set off at speed to cross the path of the enemy diagonally,in the execution of which maneuver they were suc- cessful, as we have seen. | Hank’s object was to draw the fire of his enemies, knowing well that every miss would tend to impair the confidence of the desperadoes in their own marksmanship and render the next shot from the same man more nervous and un- certain. It was a terrible risk to run, but if it succeeded, the three men would be able to keep their foes at bay. They had good horses—better than those of their foes—and they were fresh, while the: enemy had been galloping to and fro, as hard as they could; and nothing exhausts a horse so soon as a battle, where it has to charge fre- quently. For a few exciting minutes the chances of’ | being hit or having their horses lamed, were. about evenly balanced; but then they found - themselves ahead of the whole crowd of their foes, rapidly getting out of gunshot, while the deceptive light of the moon made the fire be-~ hind them more and more uncertain, ) Then, when they found that the bullets were whistling round them, and overhead: but not so close as before, Hank remarked to Tom” Field: i ‘* Naow, then, Tom, it’s time to see what we kin do. Kin you make that ’ere back trick by, this light, think ye?” 2 Tom’s auswer was to bring his Winchester rifle over his arm, with the muzzle pointing backward, and kept his eye fixed on the mirror that he had inserted in the back-sight, so that it could be elevated at pleasure. ; “What's the distance?” he asked Hank, quietly, as he looked down at the mirror and tried to catch sight of one of his pursuers in the little oval. Hank turned his head to say: ‘¢ Abaout a hundred and fifty yards, I reckon,’ Ye can’t do it, hey?” Tom shifted the sight a little, and the sudden flash that came from the muzzle of the piece, as it lay over his arm, showed that he had caught. sight of something. Be fank was watching the enemy behind him all the while be was talking, and he uttered a low ery of delight. “Ye hit him, boy,” he exclaimed. one of ’em throw up his arms.” Tom made no answer but to bring the lever **T seen of his rifle forward, so as to eject the shell, and fixed his eye on the mirror again. In another minute came a second flash, and the Marshal of Satanstown cried: “Thar goes another one, and the rest of ’em’s pullin’ on thar bosses,” In the excitement of the fight, Hank had re- sumed all his Texan accent, which be bad par- tially dropped when he was ae to Helen Collingsworth and her father that morning. The Indian was riding, looking back as he went, and leaving his horse to pick the road. A third flash, and Wild Cat uttered a shout; while Hank pulled up bis borse, crying: ‘They're pullin’ hard. Naow for aour side.” And the three men stopped their ponies at the word and wheeled round, seeing the‘'r foes halted in the trail, hag” cowed by the exe- cution of this man, who fired shots from his back without looking at his foes. Then Hank and the Indian opened fire from the Winchester rifles carried by both, and be- fore the flashes had fairly begun to spit forth from their muzzles, the enemy were scattering on either side, trying to escape from the deadly aim of Hank the Nailer. * Scalps are not taken, as many suppose, entirely from the top of the head, by the Plains Indians, but they seem to attach some mysterious virtue to any’ rtion of the human skin which is covered wit caine heavier the better. The bodies of bearded men slain in an Indian fight, are almost always found with the skin of the jaws taken away, to fur- nish a fine large scalp. The aim of the scalper seems, on the whole, to be esthetic in securing a handsome: waving tassel to sew to his leggings, or hang on the headstall of his horse. Women's scalps, with the long hair, are, therefore, especially prized, The costliness of the ornamentation is probably another element in the pride with which it is regarded, just. as the ladies of our shoddy millionaires delight in Sea their hundred+thousand-dollar sets of dia~- mon IOO GomiGe — / Ss ; ; ; . - * a: