Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 339 — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

Spread Eagle Sam. ao not a trifling task to get such an immense mass under full headway, unless the alarm be un- usually severe or protracted. Thanks to the haste with which Spread Eagle Sam _ shot down the cow whose bellow of alarm had caused the stampede, the tidings she un- doubtedly tried to convey to her mates by that fierce outburst, reached only those nearest her, and the panic was not intense enough to spread through the entire herd. As the part actually alarmed pressed on, the rest took up the motion, but it was purely mechani- cal, and lasted only until the waning sun brought thoughts of rest and food. The herd was still in a comparatively solid mass, the nearest portion of it being rather less than a dozen miles distant from the camp. Long before daylight, Morris Kirkendall had » the cook out and busily engaged in prepar- ing breakfast, which was eaten by the red light of the camp-fires. And the wagons were left under guard, while the party took saddle and rode out on the hoof-scored plain before it was fairly light enough to distinguish the level ground from the outlying rocks. __ Despite his wooden leg, Morris Kirkendall was a good rider, and his thirst for the fray was q'ute sufficient to keep him at the head of the little cavalcade until the point indicated b Laughing Leo was shown them by Dike Wid- eon. a He said mebbe he couldn’t be hyar to show ou the ropes, boss, but that he was willin’ to lot you pick your own place. He knowed you’d do nothin’ se hisidey his chainces.” The veteran ted by way of comment, but it was plain to be seen that this confidence did not seriously displease him. He carefully sur- veyed the lay of the ground, but as it was un- familiar to him, he turned to Spread Eagle Sam for guidance, : Leaving their horses at a safe distance, the huge hide-hunter led the party by a winding and sometimes difficult route through the broken ground, at times having to carry the blushing, laughing Luada in his mighty arms, After half oy ran sweating and grunt or growl of disapproval, Spread Eagle brought the party out on the high ground, from | whence they had a clear and unobstructed view of the plain, almost precisely similar to that on the past day. The herd looked almost exactly the same as then, though a little further away from their point of lookout. Just as then, a huge bull stood in a respect- fully wide circle of its wounded fellows, roaring out its sullen defiance. And both Kirkendall and Spread Eagle Sam looked sober as their glances met. “ That’s your doin’s, you pesky critter!” growl- ed Kirkendall, turning upon the grinning Wid- geon. ‘* You putt him up to that dodge, deuce grill ye fer a hedge-hog!” ‘‘Tt’d take a heap longer head nur mine to post him, boss, an’ you don’t want to let that slip your mem’ry,” chuckled the old hide-hunter. ‘What he don’t know about the tricks o’ the trade ain’t sca’cely wu’th knowin’, now I tell el” mM Healthy ole greenhorn he is, ef he did say so!” snorted Kirkendall, in huge disgust. ‘“‘Whar’s he gone to? Why ain’t he here to take the word an’ go ahead? ‘* Maybe he’s shown us another trick, by run- ning away from certain defeat!” sneered Jesse Purchass. Spread Eagle Sam turned upon his mate be- fore the old man could find words with which to rebuke his ere ; ‘‘ That ain’t white talk, an’ you know it, Jes’. T ain’t dead in love with the critter my own self, but I know he ain’t that kind o’ cat. He’s clean grit from top story to basement, an’ he won't squeal out whip while they’s a ghost of a chaince left to him. You know it, too, Jes’.” ‘* Whar is he then?” snarled Morris Kirkendall. ‘* He tole me ef it should happen so he couldn’t be here to meet ye, boss, fer you to set off a smoke puff o’ powder when you was ready fer him to begin.” The trader hesitated, half-inclined to resent this cavalier treatment. He swept the surface of the plain with his glass, a substitute for the one which he had ruined in his passionate fit the day before. ere was not much to see, save the closely- packed herd, some feeding, some lying down, others engaged in rough and clumsy play. The new monarch of the herd ina kept up his sullen defiance without an acceptor. There was a shallow coulee, almost precisel similar to the one which had stood Spread ae Sam in such good stead while he was making his offer for the precious prize at stake, but the wind had veered around to the southeast, and there was danger of the herd patching the scent of the hunter too soon should he try that cover. **Yit thar he must be!” muttered wr as he gave Dike Widgeon the signal to set o his powder-puff. ‘Tkey ain’t no other kiver nigh enough the bigness o’ the herd. He’s beat afore he pulls his fu’st trigger!” ' ‘* Mebbe he’s tuck to some other kiver, furder up the— Hellow! look at that, will you!” ex- citedly ejaculated Spread Eagle Sam, as the bull ' ur of this work, the one-legged vete- | go and foil him! anting but never giving | LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LL LC lS in the circle of his fellows pitched forward upon his nose, fairly rolling over end for end! There was not the faintest sound of a rifle-shot reached their ears, nor could they distinguish | anything like smoke rising from the coulee. Yet —beyond a doubt the huge bull was dead—slain in its tracks by Laughing Leo! ** Ef the ’tarnal critter ain’t comin’ of his hoo- doo business onto the bulls, [m a howlin’ liar right from Storyville!” muttered the excited and almost demoralized trader. Spread Eagle scratched his bearded chin in chless wonder, his keen blue eyes roving | along the course of the coulee, but without mak- ing aun Sepa olf to lessen his growing supersti- tion. azed another of the bulls fell as though smitten y lightning. ‘* Ef he ain’t the devil, then I cain’t guess!” he muttered, the uneasy light deepening in his eyes. | dall turned to her, catching her in his arms, himself trembling with fear of what he knew not. Spread Eagle Sam caught up the glass, but be- fore he could raise it to his eye another shot came from the hidden hide-hunter, and with a scream that reached even his ears, a mass of dry grass was scattered high in the air, and the form of a human being was revealed near the head of the coulee, flinging aloft its arms, then _ reeling back to fall headlong! o report, no smoke, and yet—even as he | And in rapid succession one after another of | the bulls fell suddenly or staggering for an in- stant, sunk uvon their knees, and laid down as though abruptly overpowered by fatigue. And still the mystery was not solved, further than that Spread Eagle and Morris Kirkendall became convinced that Laughing Leo could not have taken cover anywhere in the coulee. They had searched every foot of it with the glasses, and knew that the thin grass could not possibly ive him shelter sufficient to baffle their scru- iny. taiaie was pale as a ghost as she, too, breath- lessly watched the strange affair. As bull after bull went down in death before the hidden and silent marksman, her fears increased and she trembled like a leaf in the cover of her lover’s arm. No one thought of them. All eyes were fixed on the mysterious drama being enacted before them, and vainly searching for Laughing Leo. ‘* Jesse,” she whispered, her face white, her eyes filled with desperation strange to behold in one so young and lovely. “If that laughing demon wins, it will be my death! If you love ine—if you ever hope to win me for rot wife— t all risks—J bid you go!” He bent his head toward hers, a swift glance showing him that no eyes were upon them. His Se cen ns lips pressed hers, then he turned and stole silent- ly away. Luada crept up closer to her father, and hard- ly had she settled beside him, than he uttered a stifled cry of mingled wonder and excitement. ‘* Thar he is, by the *tarnal! Don’t ye see the bit o’ blue smoke risin’ frum the open—thar nigh the eae ar weed ?” ‘* Smoke it does look like, but whar’s the crit- ter? They ain’t kiver enough thar to—now I will be durned!” and Spread Eagle snatched off his cap and flung it to the ground, laughing harshly as he added: pesky critter! An’ he said he was a greeny at pe business! Ef he didn’t ought to win, ’m a iar!” ‘“That’s it—I kin see the grass move—look thar!” muttered Kirkendall, as a barely per- ceptible whiff of smoke, dim and haze-like, rose from the spot indicated. ‘I know it all now! The tricky critter! Ef he ain’t a holy terror!” ‘But I hear no report, father!” murmured Luada, saying the first thing that came into her mind as the trafler turned to cast a look of triumph on Jesse Purchass. ** It’s the new he Beauty-bird, made by Carl Dittmar. I’ve seen the pesky stuff, but who'd ’a’ thought o’ takin’ it to use hide-huntin’? Nobody but that y critter!” ‘* Ef it works like that, it must be the boss!” half-sighed Spread Eagle Sam, as he settled him- self to watch the her success of his rival. ‘* No smoke—no noise—no nothin’ but sure death TT PoP ot ** An’ he was the critter that got skeered an’ run away, you thought, critter!” sniffed Kirk- endall, turning his head and looking around to wither Jesse Purchass with a single glance. ‘*Hellow! Whar’s the critter skulked to? No matter. His better is down thar; will you look at that, Sam? Don't it work jes’ too sweet fer any use in life? Waal, I should remark !” ne by one the bulls were dropping, and so far as those watching the ‘‘ stand” could tell, not one of them all had called for an extra shot. And as Spread Eagle Sam counted the slain, he saw that his “ straight 'string” of the past day had already been wiahiowrs't ** It does beat the—Dutch!” he muttered, rue- fully rubbing his chin. ‘‘ Waal,” with a sigh, ‘‘ef Lam to go down this bout, I couldn’t be kivered over by a better man!” ‘** Mebbe ye won’t, mate!” suddenly ejaculated Dike Widgeon, in poy, suppressed excitement. ‘* Look at that gang o’ bulls on the other side o’ the coulee! See ’em toss thar heads an’ paw up the dirt! They smell somethin’; kin the wind hev shifted so much as that?” ‘**Tain’t his way they’re lookin’ at all,” mut- tered the veteran, turning his glass toward the coulee. ‘*Thar’s somethin’ in the draw that’s rousted them up. Yit I cain’t see—they ain’t reggae M2 that lkin— Beauty-bird, what is it, ga Divining the truth, Luada could not hide her emotions, and forgetting all else Morris Kirken- — r el oo .— —- * | shower of rocks and Sam — mass of bellowin toward the fallen man! “* Jes’—-it’s the boy, by—” Fiercely the words broke from the lips of the huge hunter, as he leaped to his feet, grasping his rifle. ** My love! they have murdered you!” shrieked Luada, then sinking limp and lifeless into the arms of her parent. It was as well that oblivion came over her as it did, for she was spared a torturing sight. ad of turning in headlong flight, the beasts turned their wickedly- started at full speed directly If the bullet of his rival spared aught of life, the remnant would y vanish beneath those terrible, tramp- hoofs! nly a mifacle could save Jesse Purchass now! armed heads an had lin CHAPTER XVIII. STORMY SCENES IN CAMP, YELLING at the ver of his voice, Spread le Sam plunged down the steep, rocky slope at the risk of his neck, slipping, sliding, starting a gravel to bear him com- pany in that mad effort to gain the plain and the front of the charging herd in time to save the body of Jesse Purchass from being tram- pled. to jelly beneath the hoofs of the buffaloes. But, desperate as were his actions, they must have failed in their iP Se only for the prompt and generous action of Laughing Leo, He flung aside his ingenious cover and leaped out from the hole, sending forth a swift succession of ter- rific yells as he dashed toward his fallen rival. He sent one shot from his rifle as he ran at full s , and whether it was owing to chance, or through his marvelous skill, the leading bull dropped headlong in death. Its companions mechanically checked their blind rush as they struck the kicking mass, and this gave Laughing Leo time to cross their front and reach the motionless body of hisrival. One look he cast upon the bloody face, then, with a revolver in each hand, he confronted the bellow- ing beasts, shooting as rapidly as he could Se Eke the weapons, shouting and screech- ing like mad the while. ‘**'Whoop ‘er up, good boy!” yelled Spread Eagle Sam, as he came near enough to use his _ pistols with effect. ‘In a hole an’ kivered over with grass, the | And then, with his mighty lungs giving birth to the wildest, most ear-splitting shrieks, the herculean hide-hunter fairly charged the bulls in turn! Struck in ae and blinded by a pistol bul- let, a leading bull gave a fierce bellow of pain and rage as it whirled toward the wounded side, rushing off with tail up, frantically. And the remainder of the “ bunch” followed his example | ] lo ———— rc a ~_— a. hd M tee OO sheering off when twenty yards more would have carried them over the senseless hide-hunter and his two bold defenders. The laugh of Leo Laughlin rung out clear and distinct, even above the increasing uproar of the grew iis stampede, as he cried to his gigantic rival: “Let up, Sam, or you'll scare them clean out of their hides; and as this is my stand, ri claim them all as part of my score— sure | Spread Eagle Sam turned and strode back to the head of the shallow coulee pausing and staring into the bloody face. His own face bt pale and hard-set, his voice husky as he said: ‘'You_played the fool an’ the raskil, Jes’, an’ though I tuck ye nigher my ole heart then I ever did a man afore, I’d be lyin’ ef I said ’'m sorry to see ye layin’ thar! It was a dog’s Sa ee played, an’ it’s fitten you met a dog’s pa | A clear, metallic gum smote upon his ear, and turning, the big hide-hunter saw Laughing Leo standing with keen blue eyes fixed intently upon his face. Only for a moment; then the younges man stepped forward and extended his d, saying: “T beg oe on, Mr. Ingalls, for I can see now how bitterly I wronged you at first. When I first caught sight of that—that fellow, I be- lieved it to be you. For that reason I creased his skull, instead of boring it through and through. And yet, even as I pulled trigger, I could hardly think you were mean enough to play sucha dirty trick on a fair rival!” Sp read Eagle Sam’s face flushed hotly, his eyes fairly pea d , as he grufly replied: ‘I'm white, what they is of me, critter, Ef I couldn’t beat ye fa’r, I wouldn't t ye at all. An’ the breath hain’t hardly got cold yit that I wasted in warnin’ Jesse Purchass he wouldn never no more be pard o’ mine ef he tried any underhand tricks to beat you in thismatch, He's done it. You salivated him fer it. I’m only Eomicbooks (E() She °