Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 328 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

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The horses were found to be safe, and, giving no further thought to the Comanche war-party, the scouts the wounds of Daring Dick, and supplied him with food and liquor to brace The mares were in good condition, consider- him up. ing. their rather rapid run from the Rio Leon. urtle, the Tonkaway, raised himself to a CHAPTER XVIIL standing posture, straight as a lance-shaft; his CHIEF MEETS GREASER, head poised, and his muscles gathered in great knots, as he clutched his long scalping-knife his TURTLE, the Tonkaway, when he parted from | black eyes shooting hatred toward the recum- Daring Dick at the border of the San Saba tim- | bent figure. ber near the bend to follow that half of the herd All the kindness that had in the days a of horses that was in sone! of the single Mexi- | been extended to him by the colonel and Lola can, swam his black s over the river and | was brought to the front in the chief’s mind, roceeded slowly on the trail, which was plain- | and served to infuriate him toward the treach- . defined, the undergrowth being broken and | erous Mexican, who, although in the employ of trampled. Colonel Landers, and tru by him, had stolen We must bear in mind that the timber of the | the herd of horses, for caring for which he was Rio San Saba extended for a quarter of a mile | paid and fed. in distance from the river-banks on each side of Turtle could have sprung forward and buried stream, the same being not only towering | his knife in the Greaser’s breast; but he scorned but dra with vines and moss; while beneath to take this advantage of a single foe whose the undergrowth, which reached nearly to the fighting qualities he held in contempt. Gather- lower limbs of the trees, was almost impassable, , ing his great strength he made two bounds and except by paths made by wild beasts, | clutching the vaquero by the collar of his Consequently, a regiment of soldiers could jaqueta, he jerked him up and forward, hurl- have, with caution, ed up or down the ing him some fifteen feet from where he had re- stream under cover of the timber on each side, clined. and the presence of one regiment be unknown to The Greaser was so dumfounded and terrified the other, except through side scouts. Hence it that he did not gain the natural power of his will be understood how easily the different par- muscles, and tell rostrate; but instantl ties of which we write could have passed through yay his feet and faced the chief, his blac the wood, or on the ‘‘ open,” without being aware eyes flashing with a murderous light, his of each other’s presence. — swarthy ii indolent manner. The Greaser was a low-browed, villainous- looking man, with eyes that were unmistakably treacherous in expression, his skin very dark, his face ugly; and, if painted and garbed like an Apache, he would have passed for one, even a the braves of that savage and relentless tribe. In fact, he was a “‘stab in the dark” charac- ter, as was evident at a glance. He was now gazing, with t satisfaction, at the herd of mares; all of which had, upon their hams, the Mexican brands, with the com- paratively fresh mark of Colonel Landers upon their shoulders, | Probably the Greaser was estimating the number of doubloons the animals would sell for Le Mexico, and calculating the amount of his share. curling away from his clinched Feast lik The Tonkaway had not the slightest idea of white teeth in a @ manner, as he the near presence of a Comanche war-party or | whipped out his knife, he would have been wild with a thirst for re | But, as he saw the proud muscular form of venge and scalps, and would have risked his life the Tonkaway, and recognized in him a friend to tify it. He would not have wasted time of Colonel Landers and Daring Dick, his dark face became ashen, and he actually, for a mo- ment, quivered from head to foot in terrified amazement, ‘*Francisco heap bad Greaser,” said Turtle, his keen paceeeng, the Mestizo to the very core. ‘Steal wg 8 orses. Eat Chief Lan- _ ders’ meat, Take Chief Landers’ silver. Live y on Chief Landers’ ranch, then steal all horses. This he could easily have done, and escaped. | ‘** Francisco heap bad, Must die, Turtle has Indeed, he had performed many more daring spoken. Turtle is Tonkaway chief, Lies build and reckless feats since his squaw and Uptpperse not nests on the Turtle’s tongue. It is good. had been captured and stoned to death by the , Waugh!” Comanches. As he ended the Tonkaway stepped forward It was quite a distance from the swell of the | toward the Greaser; both arms hanging by his bend to the neck or entrance of the same, andas_ side, the muscles drawn, his hands clinched, the the way was difficult, it was fully an hour anda right about the handle of his knife, the long half before the chief reached a point near the blade of which was held projecting up the back herd of horses, the presence of which he could portion of his arm. easily detect by their stamping and the whisk- Instinctively the Mexican stepped backward, ing of their tails, | but realizing that there was no escape, that he . The animals were in quite a large natural was doomed to death did he not have the luck opening in the timber, and had not thisclear to getachance for a mortal combat at his red space been ‘‘ struck” by the Greaser, they would foe—he became desperate and again assumed have undoubtedly scattered in the timber—some his beast-like expression as he jerked his thick, of them making their way across the river and | stiff sombrero from his head toserve as a shield, into the neck of the bend. and held it in his left hand, his eyes glittering In such an event the Comanche war-party, | murderously as he hissed: which over the soft sward into the bend) ‘‘Carajo!/ Francisco will split your heart, about the same time that Turtle arrived in the and hack your ears off!” vicinity, would have discovered the animals| ‘‘I’rancisco will die with lies on his tongue,” and halted to ,secure them, and Daring Dick | said the chief, in a deep, impressive voice. would have escaped capture. In short, it would Then he bounded directly in front of the have changed the run (cf affairs very greatly. Greaser, who was a powertully formed man, But this was not to be. with sinews of steel. Not more than a pistol-shot ahead the sounds; The bright moon shone into the ‘‘ open,” but caused by the herd were noticed by the keen- | the combatants were within the e of the eared Tonkaway, who sprung from his black | towering trees; and, as their knives clashed as steed and secured it within a thicket. Then se- panic. as one could count, sparks of fire flying creting his rifle, he stole forward toward the | from the blades, glances of hatred and fury shot *‘ open,” his scalping-knife tightly clutched, and | from the eyes of the pair. his eyes blazing at the thought of the treacher- Both were skillful with their wea s, but the ous Mexican who had been a party to the theft | arm of the Tonkaway was nerved by right and of the herd from his white friends, justice; and soon his blade slashed a deep ga h From the time he had parted with Dick, Tur- the left arm of the Mexican, whose sombrero tle had resolved that the Mexican should die, shield flew from his hand. Stealing through the bushes, panther-like, he ** Caramba !” hissed the Mestizo, as he sprun drew nearer and nearer to the ** open.” forward, and caught at the bear-claw collar o Small bars and arrows of moonlight shot Turtle with his left hand, the arm of which be- through the foliage, partially illumining his | ing now bleeding profusely. He then threw wav. back his knife arm, the blade being over his As he neared the “‘ open” the chieftain caught | shoulder; he, at the same instant, gathering his scent of a cigarette, and knew that he would | strength, and with electric-like velocity, he soon discover the traitorous Greaser, eae at the painted turtle on the breast of the Sinking to the carth he wormed his way : through the thickets until on the border of the | But the Tonkaway was quicker, and warding opening off the blow with his arm, nearly oA that of his antagonist, he buried his blade deep in the very heart of his yellow-skinned foe; the Before him, and not ten paces from his poe tion, the vaquero, who was a Mestizo or - steel grating horribly, as it severed the ribs in its fatal course, breed, lay upon an oufspread blanket of many colors; his saddle being placed upon the same, on the trail of tho Mexican and the horses, but would have watched the war-party; and when the latter left their mustangs under guard of some few of the young braves, to witness the lowering of Daring Dick from the cliff, Turtle would have stampeded them, killed and scalped many of the tm, “eaguyi and demoralized the Comanches gene ‘ and he reclining against it, and smoking in an | Turtle ' t | | ——— ' | ' a nn a ————— eee _—— sprung backward, jerking free his knife from the breast of the Mexican; an arch of blood spurting from the gapin ron and owers, falling in red spray upon grass an The Greaser fell Nackward Oe the sward his arms thrown upward, his fingers clinched, and his face contorted in the agonies of death. A moment Turtle stood erect, his knife drip- ping blood. Then he dexterously removed the scalp of his victim, circled the ome! over his plumed bead, and sounded, but with low voice, the victory whoop of his tribe. Hesitating not an instant, the chief swept his over the herd of mares, that had gathered in a huddled mass on the opposite side of the ** open,” snorting with fright, but too weary to stampede unless urged on. en the Tonkaway rushed to his horse, sprung astride, and crossing the river, passed through the timber, to the verge of the same; where, still sitting his steed he parted the bushes, and gazed over the leve ass-grown plain—the entrance to the great nd—but no indications could he perceive of the other portion of the herd, or of Antonio and his pard., en his gaze wandered instinctively east- ward, and down into the great bend; when, from his lips, in the utmost of Indian amaze- ment, mingled with concern, came his custom- ary exclamation: ‘Waugh!” The next moment, his ¢yés were filled with satisfaction, but this soon changed to the most intense fury. The war-spirit of his people rushed to the front, and he urged his horse back over the San Saba; hastening to the trail of the herd, down which he sped as fast as the nature of the ground would admit, toward the swell of the big bend, and the Comanche wer aie which he had discovered from the body of the timber. We have seen that Turtle arrived soon after Old Rocky and Single Eye had released Daring Dick from his fearful position. When the chief crossed the river, he recalled the fact that the trail of the other half of the herd of mares had led out from the timber on the plain; and as the war-party had without doubt headed eastward, they would, even when at a gallop, perceive this wide, bard-trampled trail, which would not onlv cause them to halt, but to follow the plain “sign” back to San Saba. This would, of course, jeopardize the lives of his white pards. He therefore hastened, at an Indian lope, through the belt of timber, in place of joining the scouts and Dick on the cliff. When he arrived at the border of the wood he congratulated himself at having thought of the probability he had entertained and acted upon; for the Comanches had indeed discovered the trail as they sped to the eastward, had halt- ed, and were now galloping along the trail to ward or back to the San Saba. Turtle immediately hurried to join the scouts, and reported this, to them, unexpec , as has been recorded. Then, for some distance, he followed his white friends toward their camp, but being anxious in regard to his horse which he had left in a thicket on the west side of the river when he had approached the cliff, he plung- ed into the undergrowth and started to recover his favorite black steed and his rifle. The Comanches, with exultent yells, aug om at speed along the trail of the herd, and they knew that the white man they had captured _ been on that trail when he was seen by em. They also, by examination, when they ‘“* struck ” the soft bottom-sward and Lt torches, discovered that there were but two men driv- ing the mares. pon finding this their yells ceased, for they also detected that the trail was fresh—that the herd could be but a short distance away. This fresh discovery caused Rolling Thunder to order his braves into camp, and they crossed the river some little distance west of the swell of the bend, and encamped at the point where he had left their mustangs when witnessing the the lowering of their captive down the cliff. A half-dozen warriors were at once dispatched on the trail of the herd, with orders to kill the two men who had the animals in charge, and then drive the beasts down the bend and into the camp. , Another brave was dispatched to ascertain if the suspended captive was suffering sufiicient- ly, and he soon returned with the startling re- port that the young Texan had es a Rolling Thunder was furious, and at once or- dered a half-dozen braves to scour the bottem- timber in search of the captive, whom the Co- moenches were determined to retake and torture. The camp of the war-party was situated in the extreme swell of the timber-line of the big CHAPTER XIX. IN THE COMANCHE CAMP. ‘TURTLE, the Tonkaway, succeeded in reaching his horse, mounting the same, amd gaining a tion on the south portion of the swell of the d, just east of the point where the Comanches crossed the stream andencamped. = Indeed the war-party crossed within fifty Ecomicbooks