Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 390 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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The Giant Cupid. Tf Bill himself could not answer the query, no one else felt able to do so. ‘Wal, I'll tell ye what it are,” Bill went on. ‘‘Thar’s no use in us a-standin’ heur an’ chinnin’ about it, an’ that’s sure; so we'd best part company ter wunst an’ git ter work. ‘* Now, Jem Patterson, you jest take yer * pick o’ any five o’ these heur boys, an’ then 4 ‘oller this heur trail thet strikes off heur to th’ left. ‘* Jest do yer best work, an’ ef ye find yer ou the trail, rescue that little gal—or die a-tryvin’.” ‘“T’li do it, you bet!’ Jem declared. And quickly he told off five of the men, who | joined him at once. * All right,” said Bill, ‘‘an’ now be off wi’ ye! Thar’s no time ter be lost, I kin tell ye It’s all unsartain whar Cibuta John are, an’ ef he’s been laid out, then th’ poor little gal depends on us alone, Ef Cibuta ar’ on th’ trail, though, thar'll be music in th’ air, you bet!” ' ‘You bet thar will!” Jem agreed. And being ready to start, he and his five followers struck out acioss the low hills toward the mountains some miles away. The moon was now giving a strong light, as we have said, and it was not very difficult to keep the trail, although it was much slow- ry me than it would have been by day- ight ‘* Now, pards,” said Bil), as soon as Jem and his party were gone, ‘‘ well be off.” And remounting his horse he led his men for- ward. It was an exciting trail. The success of their venture must be made certain, and they were just the men for the task. The bride must be rescued ere harm could come to her, and the trail must not be al- lowed to grow cool for a moment. What made Bill Twicker more anxious than all else, was the fact that he did not know where Cibuta Jobn was. No one had seen him since he had sprung from the pavilion in pursuit of the rascall abductors, and as Bill had seen his horse still in the stable at Ante-Bar, he feared that Ci- buta had come to grief. But, that had nothing to do with his pres- ent duty. Whether Cibuta had or had not come to harm, he must press on and rescue the unfortunate bride. It would have been a great satisfaction to him, though, to have known where the alcalde was at that moment, For an hour more he and his men pressed forward in silence. s rr then again they came to a sudden alt. ‘Great ginger!” cried Bill. ‘‘If this heur ain’t jest th’ wu’st old trail I ever tackled. Heur they’ve parted ag’in!” ‘What are they doing that for?” one of the guests of the ball asked. ‘Why, ter throw us off th’ track in case we took up th’ trail ter foller ’em,” Bill ex- plained. ‘‘ But,” he added, ‘‘they can’t do it. Our party is bigger than theirs, an’ we kin split jest ez often ez they kin. Oh! we'll make it warm fer ‘em, an’ don’t ye fergit it! ‘*Now, Jeff Parsons, you pick out five men, an’ then you foller tAés trail. Don’t fail ter overiaul: th’ p’izen cusses, an’ when ye do— Wal, you heard what I said ter Jem ?atterson, so you foller suit.” ‘All right,” responded Jeff. ‘‘ We'll do all that kin be done, pard, an’ no mistake. Come along, fellers, let’s be off.” And he and his men started. And then again did Bill Twicker and the remainder of his party press forward. Jn the mean time, Jem Patterson and his five chosen followers were hard at work. Instead of the trail leading them to the Hilis. as they had at first thought it would, it presently turned and directed them toward an open plain some miles away, in which di- rection, by the way, the main trail tended. It was plain that all the men of the ras- cally band were aiming to reach a common center point of rendezvous, and that, as Bill Twicker had said, they had parted company simply to confuse and delay pursuers, But Jack was proving quite as good as his master at the game, It was a hot trail, but as the followers had to move sc much slower than the leaders, there was really but little chance of their being able to overtake them until they came to a stop, or reached their destination. For considerably over an hour they pressed forward, and then, just as they rose upon a small hill which gave them a good view for some distance, Jem suddenly exclaimed: ‘‘ Boys, thar they be!” And he pointed ahead to where dark objects could be plainly seen just ascending another hill. The horsemen came toa halt, and all agreed that Jem was right. Now, what was to be done? To increase their speed and press onward was all that could be done, and that course was taken. ; ‘‘ Forward, now, fer all ye’re worth!” Jem cried. And away they flew. They had not proceeded far, though, when they discovered that the party ahead of them had stopped. ‘Hello! what kin thatmean?” Jem ejacu- lated. ‘‘ Hev they seen us, an’ are they pre- parin’ to slap it to us when we git thar? Ef that’s the’r game, pards, jest git yer old shootin’-irons out in hand an’ ready fer use, an’ we'll give it to ’em hot an’ strong, you bet!’ ‘You bet we will,” was the hearty re- sponse; and each man of the party prepared for battle. They meant business, every one of them. They ascended the next hill with a rush, and were about to challenge the party ahead when they were suddenly challenged by them ‘* Halt!” came the ringing cry. we fire!” Naturally they drew rein, and Jem Pat- terson demanded: ‘Who be ye?” ‘*No matter who we be,” came the retort. ‘Who be you?” “Say, Jeff,” Jem exclaimed, you?’ ‘‘it are, fer a fact!” cried Jeff Parsons in reply, for he it was, and his was the party _ which had been seen. ‘* What on airth are ye a-doin’ hewr?” Jem asked. ‘‘] might ax th’ same question,” returned Jeff; ** but I know what you are doin’ heur, You're follerin’ that trail ye set out on over an hour ago.” ‘*Right ye are, Jeff, an’ no mistake; but, how is it thet you're a-follerin’ it, too?” ‘Wal, lll explain. Th’ rascals divided ag’in not fur back thar, an’ I has ter take th’ trail same as you did. It struck across this heur way, an’ I was a-tracin’ it right alon when all ter wunst th’ tracks jest doubled. That is ter say, there kem jest twice ez many ez there was at fu’st. ‘The minute | noticed that, 1 stopped an’ went back a few steps; an’ then I see whar th’ trail I was after struck right into another one. Right heur’s th’ spot. An’ now, your comin’ sets it all plain thet this new trail was made by th’ men youw’re after.” “'That’s jest the size of it, swre,” Jem agreed. ‘‘ Now, let’s all push on jest ez lively ez the good Lord will let us.” And push on they did. | And sodid Bill Twicker, with the men still under his command. | But Bill soon became involved in an un- pleasant dilemma. The trail he was following suddenly came to an abrupt termination on the banks of a rapid little creek. Bill ordered his men to stand where they were for a moment, and then he alone forded the creek to the opposite side. But not a sight nor sign of the trail could he find. Perhaps he did not swear any, but we are ‘* Halt, or “is that saint to swear. ‘Wal, gol-dast my big sister’s he Thomas cat!” he howled. ‘‘ Don’t this beat th’ merry etarnally chawed by hungry cattymounts.” ‘‘Is th’ trail lost?” some one in his party asked. ‘* Tost? Great rip-raps! Would a gold dollar be lost in a pint 0’ quicksilver?” ‘“ Wal, | reckon it would,” the first ques- tioner responded; ‘‘ but it wouldn't be lost so bad that it couldn’t be found, | guess, when it kem ter be praperly b’iled down by the mill hands ” ‘By ginger, Benson,” cried Bill, ‘ thar’s | old hallalooyer? Ef it don’t, then may I be | sound sense in you ez big ez a hoss! We'll bile this heur trail down an’ find it ag’in, or bu'st. ‘* You come over heur wi’ me, an’ then two more 0’ you fellers on that side go each way along th’ bank, an’ th’ first feller ter find whar th’ trail leaves th’ crick kin jest give th’ hoot of an owl. D’ye see?” This was easily understood and obeyed, and Bill himself and the man called Benson ~ proceeded to examine the opposite bank, The daring marauders had evidently de- termined to defy pursuit, for it soon became apparent that the trail would not easily be found. ‘What luck?” the men on the opposite banks of the creek kept asking each other. And for a long time the answer was simply: ‘* No luck.’ To which would be added: ‘*“What luck there?” And then the same answer would be returned. At last, however, about a mile Gown the stream the owl’s cry was heard. The signal was passed along to the men who had gone in the opposite direction, and then all hastened to the place where the cry had first been uttered. There was the trail, and it came out of the creek on the same side from which it had en- tered. ‘‘Dast their p’izen picters!” cried Bill Twicker, ‘‘ they’ve made us lose so much time now that we can’t overtake ’em!” Nevertheless he did not hesitate to set out again in hot pursuit, and the nature of the ground now being such that he could follow the trail quite rapidly, he urged his men on at a lively rate of speed. Half an hour later, though, they all sud- denly drew rein, and then they sat and gazed ahead at an exciting scene which had just come into view. CHAPTER XVIII. A DARING PLAN, Wuen the bullet from the pistol of Don Juan Bartolo struck Cibuta John in the breast and caused him to stagger backward as though fatally wounded, a shade of horror for an instant crossed his soul. The pain was so great for the moment that he believed the shot had struck home, and that his hour had come. An instant later, though, he realized that his life had been saved—miraculously saved —by the silver dagger. And at the same time he realized that his bride had been rudely torn from his side and carried away. With a bitter curse upon his lips he drew his revolvers and sprung to the rescue, Now he saw the whole scheme, The fire had been started to draw the at- tention of the crowd and give the villains a chance to carry out their plans, In his haste Cibuta sprung to that part of the platform where there were no steps, and ere he could help himself he fell to the round with force enough almost to stun im. And this accident gave the daring abduc- tors a great start ahead of him. As quickly as he could, Cibuta sprung to his feet and hurried forward, but ere he could overtake the villains they were mount- 4 A horses and galloping away, ibuta was almost in despair. His own horse was in a stable lance away, and to go for it woul all sight of the marauders. And, to stay where he was meant nothing less. What could he do? He was not standing still by any means, be it understood, but was still rushing toward uite a dis- be to lose inclined to believe that he did, It was pro- | the spot where the horsemen were mounting voking and almost enough to have caused a | and starting. He longed to fire into their midst, but dared not do so for fear of hitting her whom he loved far better than his own life. To call for help was useless, too, for ere horsemen could be collected the evil-doers would be miles awa Suddenly he caught sight of the white gar- ments of his bride, as she was being lifted upon one of the horses, and quick as thought he raised his revolvers and fired, Knowing where Nettie was at the instant, he could fire without danger to her. And, his shot took effect. A loud groan followed, and a shot was fired in return. Geom (E| 00\(0) ‘S co