Beadle's Dime Library No. 309 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

The old scout, in the examination that he bad made of the ground, had not only discovered a colored handkerchief, which he knew belonged to Colonel Pemberton, but, near the ford, he had found the foot-prints of his employer, as he had returned to the north side of the river. Further on be made out the trail of bis horse, but was forced to bound quickly among the rocks, and conceal himself just above the base | of the guieh; for, with a wild dash, on came the stampede of the animals of Colonel Pember- toa, a terrified mass of brutes, plunging into the ford, and turning the river into a seething and foaming mass of waters—thbe spray almost concealing the brutes from view. Forced on from bebind, the leaders were shot forward, soon reaching the north bank, and thundering up the gulch; and Old Rocky wore a grim smile of satisfaction, as he saw numbers of the Indians’ mustangs, with their owners’ saddles upon their backs and their jaw-straps flying. With wild snorts, and thunderous clatter of hundreds of hoofs upon the rocky gulech-bed, on ‘went the wild stampede; many of the animals being killed or maimed, by being hurled against the bowlders and the sides of the gulch. ‘The latter was quite narrow at this point, which was but a short distance from the stream at the spot where Rattler first caught a view of his darling Pearl, as she was being lassoed by red raiders. Toen appeared the exultant, paint-daubed ‘fieuds, fresh from their bloody work, and yell- ing like demons; their long hair flying afar be- bind, while each brandished, and circled, and prodded the air in their front with their long scalp-decorated lances; striking at imaginary enemies, and throwing themselves from view alongside of their wild-eyed, snorting, battle- terrified mustangs. Their hideous faces peeped at each other beneath the necks of their horses and their long locks touched the very hoofs of the animals. Well the savages knew they could not head the stampede until clear of the gulch, on the ‘north plain; hence they cared not how much clatter, and what loud yells they made, Elated blood mad, and anticipating the torture of their captives, knowing too that they bad ample plunder to enable them to return at once to their villages, the Comanches strained every nerve and muscle, and their lungs as well, in ‘mad evolutions of war, and wild whoops of triumph. It was a terribly tantalizing sight to Old Rocky, knowing that without doubt some be- fore him had slain, or at least assisted in slay- ing, the brave teamsters, who, be felt assured, must have fought like desperate and daring men—like true Texans—before they fell, or were captured, He had proofs before him of the defeat of his friends, and he knew that the destruction of all the wagons would follow, All of Colonel Pemberton’s property would be swept away, like thistle-down before a *“‘norther;” while there was little doubt that Paul bad been killed, and Pearl was probably a captive! This last was worse than death, and most certainly the colonel himself would, if not ‘shot or captured, go insane, and make way with his own life! These thoughts flashed, through the brain of the old scout, as the red demons dasbed across the ford, throwing the water in wide-spreading ‘spray on all sides; and, when they had just passed his position, infuriated and reckless of co sequences, Old Rocky quickly drew bead with his trusty rifle, and pulled trigger. Then jerking one of bis revolvers, he let fly, with un- tailing aim, six shots at the savage cavalcade, Perhaps never before were a party of ex- -ultant red-skins, near the very point of a vic- tory that wasso complete, so dumfounded. There was but half a score of the savages, and five of these fell from tbeir mustangs to the bed of the gulch, uttering borrible death-yells; while two more sunk forward, clutching the manes of their beasts for support, end despe- rately wounded, The blood of Old Rocky was ‘now up, and bis success astonished himself, His war-spirit and thirst for revenge ruled ‘him, bis hatred for the painted fiends before him was ungovernable; and, leaving his rifle, he sprung into the gulch, rigbt upon the para- dyzed and awe-stricken Comanches, firing his remaining revolver as he ran; and, before one of the survivors, who recognized their implaca- _ ble, and, as they believed, invincible foe, could again dash on—they having made hait in their astonishment, hardly believing their senses— ' the spherical messevgers of death from the old -scout’s revolvers had pierced their vitals, Not one of those remained alive who, but a moment before, were so full of fiendish exulta- tion, practicing, in their mad glee, their maneu- “vers of war! Tne old scout succeeded in catching two of the mustangs at once, which be secured toa bush. He then quickly reloaded, his eyes blaz- ing with the light of battle and revenge, and a thirst for more worlds to conquer,.as he darted down the gulch to ascertain if more of the red foe approached. But none were within view, Old Rocky then proceeded to scalp each Raybold, the Rattling Ranger. 13 <a brave, in a dexterous manner; and cut off the | usually mild, tranquil, and rather pleasant look- right ear of each, besides splitting their noses. He then bound one of the corpses upon a mus: tang, using a large piece of deadwood to secure to the back, to keep it in a natural position; there being two lariats upon the saddles of the animals he had captured, which now came to good use, ~ Cutting strips of buckskin from the leggins of another corpse, be strung the scalps upon one, and the ears upon another. He then secured one to each of the wrists of the dead brave upon the horse, the mustang meanwhile being perfectly frantic with fright—a warning of that which might be expected to come, The old scout then urged this strangely- mounted mustang into the shades of the river- bottom from the ford, and then fastening the animal in a thicket, he stole toward the cave in the timber, in the direction of the scene of the gallant fight of the teamsters, and their heroic death—toward the howling, whooping mob of exultant red raiders, toward the remnant of Big Foot’s merciless marauders! CHAPTER XV, AT THE COMANCHE CAMP, OLD Rocky stole, os silently as could any of the Comanches themselves, through the under- growth, which was now quite dark, until he reached the vicinily of the wagon-camp; need- ing no guide, as Jarge fires were blazing about the wagons, and a perfect bedlam of sounds was reigning there. ‘The old scout lost no time in climbing upa huge moss-draped tree, on the border of the timber-cove, and crawled out upon the extreme portion of ove of tbe largest limbs, from a covert in the moss and foliage of which he could view tbe fearful scene below him. The mustang, to the back of which he had secured the blood-dripping victim of his re- volver—fastening the scalps and ears of the slain to the cor bad not as yet arrived in the ‘‘open;” doubtless for the reason thet the beast had been lashed most terribly in the head- long charge upon the wagon fort, and in pur- suit of the stampede, after a bard day’s ride, It would therefore be greatly fageed, and find- ing itself free from the cruel quirt, had slack- ened speed to a walk; but Old Rocky felt sure that the animal, with the strange burden upon its back, would join those of its kind, or naturally follow the track of the stampede, into the camp of the unfortunate teamsters, The old borderer felt the greatest satisfaction at having been enabled tbus to send bis ‘* card,” in the shape of “‘ ha’r an’ years,” to Big Foot, This feeling had been a great relief to the scout, feeling the self-condemnation that he did—though somewhat unjustly—tbhat he had not returned with Colonel Pemberton to the train, after ascertaining that Reybold, the Ranger, was on the trail to the rescue of Pear!; and leaving plain ‘“‘sign” that he was capable of effecting his purpose, if any one could be, in the saape of eight scientifically ‘“‘Iaid out” braves, which Old Rocky now regretted he had oo scalped, betore the stampede ‘‘sp’iled ther a’r, The scene that met the view of the old scout was hardly calculated to lessen the fury and “ot for revenge, which ruled him, and most justly. The wagons had been placed quite near to- gether, the small number necessitating this, when placed in an oblong, the tongue of each thrust under the rear of the next, and the force of the terrible explosion—there having been a large quantity of powder in the one fired by the teamster at the last moment—had, in some cases, thrown the wagon-body entirely apart, and overturned the remainder: blowing the tilts from the hoops, and scattering the goods upon the ground, *‘ very handy,” as a Yankee would say, for the inspection of the red raiders at their leisure. Boxes had been broken open, and goods scat- tered about; but this had, doubtless, been put a stop to by Big Foot, who had had tbe dead braves, slain in the fight, placed side by side in & row on the east side of the wrecked wagons. The bodies of the slain teamsters bad been hacked and mutilated beyond recognition, and the scalps of the poor fellows bung upen a pole, near to something which caused Old Rocky to shudder, and grate his teeth with pent-up fury. This was the bind axle-tree, with its whacle which bad been blown from a wagon by tbe explosion, for some twenty feet to the north of the wrecks, The pole alluded to bad been in- serted in the ground, touching the middie por- tion of the axle-tree; the scalps, dangling and blood-smeared, hanging some eigbt feet above, and tied to a cross-piece. But neither the scalps, nor the axle-tree with its huge wheels would have attracted more than a passing attention from Old Rocky; for the former owners of these trophies of savage war and cruelty were past all suffering, More, ay, far more, was there in that view which drew deep groans, and shudders, and a grating of teeth together, with a contortion of vengefol fury upon the old scout’s face, as well as flashes from his keen eyes; rendering his ing countenance, almost fiendish in expression, And, we must admit that it was no wonder, But, to explain; . Secured to each wheel, their backs against the same, their arms ovtstrerched, and their legs spread to the utmos’—all bound firmly with raw-hide ropes, body, iegs, and arms; the ropes cutting dep into the flesh—were the two surviving teamsters. Their heads were bent over the upper portion of tbe wheel, their necks being bard pressed against it, and the backs of their heads held tightly to the broad portion of the tire by a raw-bide band which was drawn about their foreheads, Thus the faces of the sufferers were upturned, the strain keeping their mouths agape. Suffering the torments of the lost were these unfortunate Texans, who bad been defeated in their determination to die fighting the red foe; they having escaped death by the explosion, by being thrown prostrate to the earth, at sume distance from the powder-wagon. The fiencish ingenuity of this original pre- liminary torture can at once be seen. The wretched victims were forced to gaze u ward, at the blood-reeking scalps of their slain comrades, who had, bappily for them, lost their lives heroically, fighting to defend the wagons and other property of their employer. Probably there was not one of the number, who thought for a moment of fleeing; although escape was open to all, had they started at once, upon the first appearance of the war- party around the corner of the cove, By a run to the dense undergrowth, thence to the river, and crossing it—the party taking refuge in the cliffs on the opposite side of the stream—they could have deferded themselves against even the fearful odds that bad menaced them, It was presumable to suppese that some one of the number knew of the cliffs on the op- posite side of the San Saba; or, at least, that the same formation existed at different places along the river. Certainly they all knew that they were doomed when the horde of Big Foot rounded the corner of the timber-cove. True and Joyal to the last, bravely these men stood their ground, and died in their tracks with arms in their hands; with the exception of those who, as we have just seen, were reserved for a more fearful fate. No human being would bave cared to look upon the scene which has been but faintly de- scribed—the victims of a torture which was as naught to that which they bad yet to undergo, were they not rescued—except possibly one who was cursed with a morbid curiosity to a deformed or unusual extent, and be not more than once if he fully understood the awfully suggestive scene, and realized the agony that the poor teamsters were enduring. Old Rocky instinctively clutched at his rifle, and came near falling to the earth; probably, hac he done so, to have met the same fate as bis friends. Then he closed his eyes, tore off a huge quid of *‘ nigger-bead,” and chewed snappishly and wolfisbly, ejecting tobacco-juice rihontanes the Comarches; the same, luckily for him, being absorbed by a festoon of mos3 which bung at a convenient distance, However, the old scout was not one to lose a single feature of the scene, He had one important object in view, He now counted the number of the slain, they having been separated, and hacked and mutilated by different small parties of braves, in order that each one of thesavages might dip bis hands in blood, and taste the same, dividing and ce- vouring the hearts of their victims. This was their bellish custom, as they performed a fiend- isb, but short and “epen ance, To the relier of Od Rocky, he found that neither Colonel Pemberton nor his son were among the slain—for only the number repre- senting the teamsters was there—and certainly . they had been captured. Neither had Rattler nor Pearl been taken, unless by those who had been detached as dismounted scouts, and taken to the main camp. This greatly relieved the old scout’s mind, ~ Big Foot, in all bis hideous fiendishness and parapbernalia of war, strode provdly about the camp, for such it was; a mule having been kill- ed, tbat happened to be secured by a neck-rope on the border of the cove, and the Indians were now devouring the flesh, jerking the same from the coals, after merely scorching each side of the steak, A bcx of hard biscuit had been discovered among the freight of the wagons, and these were devoured with the horseflesh, with evident relish and delight. Only a few seconds sufficed for the old scout. to ‘take in” the scene as it has been described, and to make note of another and somewhat im-. portant fact. That was, that many of the mus- tangs of the red raiders were secured to the branches of the trees, or the outer undergrowth beneath him. Of this fact be soon made a mental note. Just then be gazed somewhat anxiously to- ward the inner end of the cove, and immediate- ly a great change came over him, : —_—-—- ee Eomichbooks.co 8 ——— —- = _ ee em —_ a SS