Beadle's Dime Library No. 309 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

———— om we me a —_—-—— —~— -_—_——_—_—_ — It has been intimated, in a previous chapter, that Old Rocky felt certain a change would soon be rung in the svene below. And he was not mistaken, Rattler knew as much, and he watched keen- ly the Comanche chief, who cast glances of seeming impatience in the direction of the ford, as did also several of his warriors. Soon, along the track of the stampede, ad- vanced a line of mustangs, each led by a brave who held the jaw-strap in one hand, and not without great difficulty steadied on the back of tbe animal one of the corpses of the first party of warriors, sent after the stamped- ing animals, and whose scalps and ears had been, in so characteristic and original a man- ner, forwarded to their chief, A long line, one after another, ten in number, they advanced; the mustangs snorting and prancing, and at times bounding in affright, as the limbs of the dead, by the viclent motion, struck bard against them. It was a horrible sight! The gory and scalpless beads, and the bloody faces, which came of the old scout’s having split the noses of each, to indicate that bis work was but just commenced—the severing of an ear being ois usual mark when he was pursued, and by fine scouting succeeded in picking off the stragglers of the pursuing-party—were feerfuiiy revolting to look upon, The Comanches were well aware tbat Old Rocky was on t’e war-path; hence the careful guarding of the captives, in the absence of the ten braves, who had gone to bring in their slain comrades, When the hideous procession entered the northern portion of the cove, the circle of war- riors burst forth in weird howls, beating the earth with the butts of their lances, and laying their shields face downward tupon the earth, This was to show, that it was of the dead they were striving to think, to the exclusion, for the time being, of all thoughts of war. When the first mustang neared the uncom- pleted circle of corpses, which lay around the captives, a pocting signal caine from Big Foot; and four of the braves reversed lances, thrust- ing the points into the earth, and attaching their shields, with bows and quivers, to the cen- tral portion of the shafts. These then sprung to the north side of the cirele of warriors, to meet the new-comers; two ssing on each side of the animal, and grasp ng the corpse, two by the arms, and two by the legs; the brave urging on the horse from under its gbastly burden, the sight of the circle of dead before it causing the beast to become almost mad with fright. Thus were the ten mustangs relieved of their loads, the scalpless corpses beipg placed in the circle; but leaving, at each side, a much wider space than was between the bodies. A medicine-robe was then folded, and placed so as to divide the scalpless from their more favored brothers, The spirits of those who had lost their scalps were supposed to be hovering in the air, in torture, over their former tenements; and would, until such time as the living avenged their mutilation, when tbey would hasten onafter their more favored brothers, on the ‘‘ long dark trail,” to the happy bunting-grounds, The mus'angs, which had borne the slain, were led to, and secured on, the border of the undergrowth, beneath the very covert and Jook- out of our friends; and then the braves returned to their comrades. No sooner had the first corpse been laid upon the earth, than every lance in the circle of braves was reversed; its oint being thrust into the sward; this being intended to show that they had at length ban- ished entirely, for the present, the thirst for the blood of their enemies, and were meditating upon the merits of, and mourning for those who were gone. As the ten braves joined the main party, they took their places in the circle, according to rank; all Uplesing. det guttural howls, Then, atasignal from Big Foot which was the cir- cling of a medicine pipe about bis plumes, all squatted on the earth; the chief filling the pipe with medicine-tobacco, which is used only upon such an occasion. ‘** Dog gone my dorgs an’ cats, an’ ole palper- tator! Ef thar ain’t a show ter sling my keerd, an’ I’m goin’ ter do hit! Thar’s sperits in ther air, an’ jist don’t yer disremember what I as- severates, _ “ Keep a lookout, fer hit’s goin’ ter rain h’ar in big chunks, yer kin jist bet!” Old Rocky, as be thus spoke, stole away to ‘toward the trunk of the tree, and into the dark- ne s; neither Rattler nor Paul making com- ment, their faces expressing the agony that was beyond speech, and without remedy as yet, witbout hope of its being banished. Big Foot filled the medicine-pipe, which was along-stemmed, huge affair, strangely carved, and ornamented with teeth that had been pulled from the jaws of the enemies of the Comanche tribe, while they were yet alive, and at the tor- ture stake. This pipe was sacred, as was also the tobacco, and sacred must be the fire that ignited it—the punk taken from the medicine- bag, together with flint and steel, that had, with great ceremony, been rendered fitting to LO LG TT I Om strike the sacred fire, by the incantations of the Great Medicine-man ‘of the Comanche tribe. The pipe was lighted by the chief next in rank to Big Foot, the latter holding the stem in his mouth, Then, to the four points of the compass, the chief sent puffs of smoke; passing the pipe to his next neighbor, who followed his example. As the pipe was thus passed, the last smoker bowed his head forward, gazing, with a fixed stare, at the ground. It would seem that this would have been a fa- vorable opportunity fora dasb into the camp with a view of rescuing tke captives; buf, just opposite eacb Indian were his lance and sbield, while at their backs were their bows and ar- rows. Besides, at the first sign of an enemy, braves, appointed for the service, would bound, wuLree in hand, to slay the captives, and scalp them, The pipe had gone about half-way around the circle, the Eoocan heads being upon the eastern side of the same, when boti: Rattler and Paul, who were on the watch, saw a dark object, with a waving tail, describe an arch bigh up in the air, and descend with great, velocity toward the strange and terrible tableau—the thing striking, with a hard thud, directly in the front, and not ten feet from Big Foot, exactly upon ube spot where the chief’s eyes were fixed. This object was nothing else than the scalp of the young brave, who had held Paul Pember- ton captive, whom Rattler had slain, and after whose scalp Old Rocky bad waded into water. With it, was plainly to be seen, the ear of the ill-starred Comanche; a lock of hair being run tbrough a slit in the same, and then knotted. +« But, anenge this »was most stertling, and well calculated to awaken the vengeful feeling and whoops of the savages, yet. not a muscle in the stoical faces moved—not a brave moving bis eyes from the spot, as the last puff of smoke left his lips, All heard the thud upon the earth, yet none knew what had caused it, except the chief; and the same fixed stare ruled Lim as it did his war- riors. Those who had not smoked, gazed as they hed done ever since the pipe bad been lighted; that it directly upon the face of the corpse nearest im, tas pipe continued to be passed around, but All was still as death in the camp, except the occasional stamping of the musiangs on the border of the timber-cove. Poor Pearl remained in the same position. She might bave been dead, for any indication there was to the contrary. At length the medicine-pipe reached the next sub-chief to Big Foot, baving passed around the circle; and he, after taking the usual puffs, laid the calumet across the knees of the Prince of the Pirates of the Plains. All heads were now bowed, At that instant, another of those strange ob- jects was observed by Rattler and Paul circling high over the fiendish circle; and down it came, this time striking on the bowed head of a brave, and crashing in his skull with a fearful sound, his body falling forward upon the face, with- out a single outcry. Still there was no change in those stoical faces. All eyes were fixed as before, for it was death to him who broke the spell before the signal was given by their chief, Had any one been perched in another tree, some fifty yards nearer the ford than that within which the two young Texans were secreted, they might have beheld the old scout, and heard him, in his usual soliloquy, interrupt- ed by copious ejections of tobacco-juice, ‘“Dang an’ double dang ther cantankerous cusses. Dog-gone ther smoky, painted, pirati- cal sonso’Saten! Ef I doesn’t let’em know, frequent an’ often, thet I'm ’roun’, an’ on ther buzz whiz, they’ll go ter sleep; an’ thet’ll just suit this hyer ole raw-hide ripper, pervidin’ they’ll all snooze tergether, an’ don’t wake up so dang’d suddint as they ginerally does. *‘I laid one out, sorter slick, but hit war a befty stone what I hed in thet sculp, an’ I kim nigh capes n flip flop down. ter grass, a-chuckin hit. Ef they’s goin’ ter hev a death dance, ther more game I furnishes fer ther funeral ther bet- ter, es hit saves ’em from bein’ bothered ag’in, “IT reckon I'll glide down, an’ scoot back ter ther boyees. I’m ormighty glad thet ther Jeetle gal hain’t come back ter Texas, fer this hyer bellisbness’u’d drive ber plum crazy. She’s gut no sorter idee whar she air now. She ain’t dead, thet’s sartain, an’ ther ole man’s stock o’ hope bain’t run out ontil yit.” As the old scout glided down from the tree, Big Foot sprung erect, and gave a most terrific vengeful yell. Then he jerked his Jance point from tbe sward, and kicked his shield face up. Then, as ifthe yell acted upon an electric battery, which gave a powerful shock to every brave, allsprung as one to their feet, kicked selon, one jerked lances; as, from the throat of each shot simultaneously, a most fearful whoop of vengeful fury! Raybold, the Rattling Ranger. SS SSS ~stesneeee - ee ee — ST CHAPTER XXII. TURTLE, THE TONKAWAY. Every brave faced outward, as the terrific whoop burst from their throats, shield and lance in hand, while their snake-like eyes seem- ed to pierce the shades. Yet none could tell from whence those scalps. and ears, with stone attached, bad come. Seemingly they bad dropped from the skies, yet all knew that Old Rocky, the terrible aven- ger, the skillful white scout, whom they so feared, was at that very moment gazing upon them. But who could tell where the old scout was? —4+ Another brave had fallen by his hand, when engaged in the pipe ceremony for the dead, And whose scalps were those that bad fallen so'strangely ard awfully among them? Certainly they did not belong to any of the Wee Parra who bad charged the wagon-fort. All knew that the young braves, sent down from the upper camp to capture the white squaw and those who bad gone on ahead of the train, had been slain by some mysterious en- emy—at least eight of them had—this having been done beyond the ford, as the party who had brought in Pearl, had discovered the re- mains which had been trampled by the stam- pede. Four were pe who were supposed to have captured the white squaw; yet, as she bad escaped—Lbough since recaptured—if now seemed probable that these four braves had been killed, else they would have reported to their chief. The body of one young warrior had been | found near the wagon-camp; and this left five to be accounted for; the two scalps being, pro- bably, from two of these, left but two of the arty that bad come down on foot with Black ox. There was something mysterious about the slaying of the young braves under Black Fox; for all knew that, if Old Rocky bad, with bis fast- shooting guns done this, be would have sca]ped them. But, mutilated though their bodies had been by the hoofs, it could be seen that the scalps were still upon their heads, although the eku!ls had been literally smashed flat. All this had been reported to Big Foot, and it worried him not a little, although he had quite a respectable force yet remaining. A moment after the vengeful whoop of the Comanches, their chief gave a signal, and half a dozen braves left shield, lance, and bow tightened their belts, drew scalping-knives and strode to the shades on each side of the timber- cove, in which they rapidly disappeared. At the very instant when Rattler saw these braves lay aside the weapons that would bave incommoded them in the thickets, be bade Paul remain where he was,and stole, with great care, down the tree to the ground. At the foot of the tree, Rattler came upon Old Rocky, and the two grasped hands, the scout sv, pd ‘*Cuss my cats! I war just’bout ter sling a whip-will signal et yer. Thar’ll be red meat floatin’ ’roun’ hyer loose purty soon. I baited ’em with sculps an’ years, an’ gut ole Big Foot’s by gerpho bie up, es | opined I would, ‘*We’uns hes gut ter thin’em out, pard; fer they needs hit—they needs hit bad. Don'tmind whether they gi’ns thar yelps or not. I’d a lee- tle ruther they'd make a rumpus, but yer must skute like a alligator gar soon es yer hes split a palpertator; an’ don’t yeou skin ahead fer £ wants ’em ter know I hes a boss keerd with me. ‘*They doesn’t know ye’re byer, and we doesn’t want ’em tu fera while. Yer kin skute up, an’ I’)l Junge down; but giv ‘em range afore jumpin’ ’em—then they’ll git keerless.” The only reply of the young ranger was a grating of bis teeth. and a grip of the band that almost caused the old scout to yeil, as the latter ended bis cautions and directions, Instantly both glided like serpents into the thickets, pointing away from the Comanche camp; neither of them making the slightest noise, any more than if they were upon the open, grass-grown plein. No trail could be followed in that wood, ex- cept by daylight; consequently they could not be surprised, and could: only be discovered by accident. When they were, if it was to be so, the discoverer would certainly be speedily appbag upon the great unexplored here- after. Pau] Pemberton kept his position in the tree, his gaze fixed, with anguish unspeakable, upon the still senseless form of his sister. The circle of braves pussed for perhaps ten minutes about the captives and the dead, then standing still and silent, and leaning upon their lances for a moment; all listening intently, in the hope of hearing the silence of the forest broken by the report of fire arms, or the vic- torious yell of some one of their scouts—the for- lorn hope who departed—knowing that some one of their number would, without doubt, fall a victim to the terrible Old Rocky, Both tbe latter and Rattler were on the west side of the timber-cove; and Paul, asa matter of course, listened, with terrible anxiety and dread apprebension, for some sounds from them and Eomicbooks | ; . » : eis by ] ‘ Vv , ij = - y, eo 4