Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 394 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

’ ‘ EE . fell into the routine of obeying their prisoner jJeader as readily as their comrades had done, - and the result was that while Brick, the negro, ' went to the side of his master, the band quietly — went into camp.- ' . Frank Powell’s first duty was to make Cap- ' tain Kit comfortable, and he ordered a tent made for him out of blankets. Then the horses were staked in a circle around the camp, and _ outside of these a guard was placed about every ; - Sin, “SE one Fat Es MSc tae e te hundred feet apart. The remainder of the band were assigned positions around their chief, with _ orders to have their weapons ready for instant | ase. r, Then in darkness and silence they sat down _. to eat their supper of cold meat, while they _ wondered and waited to see what would come - next. Presently over the dark prairie fell a glimmer | of golden light, and then above the horizon rose | the moon. As its silvery rays floated across the prairie, _ it glittered upon the arms of the soldiers as they ay 4 i were camped a quarter of a mile distant from - \. it | the outlaws, Upon the opposite side of the Red Angel bi- | vouac were the Indians, lying motionless upon | the prairie, while their ponies, staked out in a circle, were allowed to feed. _ _ But lying in the grass, here and there, were _ Indian sentinels, watching with eager eyes } every movement in the outlaw and soldier / camps. a It was certainly a strange sight, to see those : id oct. bands, hostile to each other, thus silently ) watching and waiting for the night to pass, n _ when the struggle for mastery must come. | When all was quiet for the night Frank Pow- _ ell sought the little shelter of the chief. ‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, as kindly _ as though he addressed a dear friend. i ** Rasier than I expected, thank you.” _ *T can dress your wound again, now the ‘LE ep is so bright, and I wish your servant to watch me well, so that he can serve you if r ‘ need be.” | ** You certainly do not think that I intend al- - Jowing you to leave me?” | _ “Oh, no; but bullets and arrows will doubt- . ess be on the wing to-morrow, and if I should be knocked under and you escape, it will be as | well for this negro to be able to take care of i True; but what do you think will be done You must not talk so much; but while I _ dress your wound I will tell you what J think.” is Well?™” ee tb The Indians and troops are your bitter __.The Indians and troops are the bitter foes | h other?” ’ “You, as an outlaw, and your men are at war | | with the world?” ) “Certainly.” “Have you a retreat?” “How do you mean?” he ee you a stronghold?” hs isi. NO, i zt “No rendezvous?” _ A hundred rendezvous; but I live on the _ prairies or in the hills.” toa \ These are not all of your band?” ‘| ae ol You know where to find the remainder” Do you know, Brick, where the pack-train and guards are?” and the chief turned to the negro, who answered: . * Yas, massa; I knows,” _ “Then my advice to you is to act on the de- ensive wholly to-morrow, and retreat to your Tet one of your men sl to it, having them meet yo er than they now are, and then take to the , hills until you are able to again be in the sad- # off to-night and go at some t near- ~“ uae is good advice; but you?” _ Will remain with you, as I said I would, until you are out of danger.” . Enough. Brick, Slick Sam here.” | ‘ sb enw negro obeyed, and that worthy soon ap- “Yer wanted me, chief?” | Yes, I wish you to slip away from here at id go with all speed to the pack-ti ain.” ; a? ms ; ’ n. o! “Then cave it come to Indian Head, and we will make for there in the morning.” “Pil git my horse an’ be off ter wunst, cap’n.” fa a a. on, my man; how far is the pack- _ train from here?” asked Doctor Powell. Bout twenty mile.” You don’t need a horse; but go on foot.” *T hain’t heavy on the walk.” “Well, I warn you that there are fast horses _ in yonder troop, and fleet Indian-ponies in the band there.” TT has a fast crittur, too.” ! f “Ail right; do as you please; but you had go on foot, and craw] on the prairie un- 7 til you get well out of sight of the Indians or ~ soldiers mag f 1 is like a Comanche, Pard Doc, I is brave ' ' 4 White Beaver, the ee —— ———— at as a billy-goat, on horseback, an’ skeery as a owl, on foot.” ‘You have been warned, so go ahead your | own way,” quietly said Powell, and as Slick Sam walked off to get his horse, he con- | tinued: ‘‘ Chief, send for another man you can trust, and who is a good runner, and let him start on foot in the opposite direction from yonder | fool,” A second man was called and given his or- oop and he started a moment after Slick Sam did. The latter mounted, and riding through the “tow op line of guards, urged his horse into a gal- Op. ‘All watched his course eagerly, and believed that he would not be noticed by either the In- dians or the soldiers. But suddenly, as if by magic, up sprung two forms from the grass, the one to the right, the other to the left of him, and the messenger was heard to utter a cry to his horse, which bound- ed forward at full speed. Then the moonlight showed the horseman fall heavily to the ground, and next came a flash and the dark form on the left dro yped, With the fall of his rider the horse stopped and the form on the right, from whence bad come the flash and shot, bounded forward, sprung upon the animal, and riding toward the spot where the other had disappeared, halted there an instant. Then he dashed away for the bivouac of the soldiers, which, with the Indian camp, was now a scene of excitement. ‘*'Well, Doctor, what has happened?” asked the outlaw chief, as the Doctor Scout coolly re- sumed the dressing of the wound. ‘*Simply that your silly messenger was shot by an Totten sentinel with an arrow, and his slayer was then killed by a scout from the sol- dier camp, who was on duty off yonder on the prairie, and the red-skins and troops are excited and ready for a fight if either moves.” ‘* Sam Slick was a fool, and deserves his fate for not following your advice; but the other messenger?” ‘‘Has doubtless gotten through without trouble.” ‘* And what is to be done?” ‘* Nothing, but remain quiet and wait. ‘Now go to sleep and do not worry yourself,” and with this cool reply the Doctor Scout wheeled on his heel and walked over toward the spot where the outlaws sat grouped to- gether, one of them talking in a low earnest voice, and seemingly urging his comrades on to some act of deviltry. | CHAPTER XXVI, THE WIZARD DOCTOR HOLDS HIS OWN, As the Doctor Scout approached the group of outlaws, and was recognized, the one who was speaking suddenly becanie silent, and a still- ness fell upon all. A few were standing, others lay upon their blankets at full length, several were seated upon the ground, and in their midst was Van, the outlaw, And he it was that had been so earnestly talk- ing when the Doctor Scout approached, and who now became silent. Walking directly up to the man Doctor Powell said apres ‘*T overheard your threat against me, sir, and I have come to tell you now, that if you try to create trouble in this camp you shall have it to your heart's content.” There seemed no anger in the tones of the Doc- tor: but their very gentleness in utterance car- ried more weight with them. Van, the outlaw officer, had been urging the men to aid him in placing the Doctor Scout in irons, and then forcing him to serve their chief. He was fearful of losing his own eae with the band, and saw that he had to act boldly, The new-comers had been told how affairs stood, and a few of them were willing to back their comrade, Van, in whatever he might un- dertake. But there were others who felt that, if the Doctor was their foe, he had certainly saved their chief’s life, and had led them in safety thus far, prisoner though he also was. ‘*We can watch him to-morrow, an’ if he don’t pan out squar’ while he are with us, we kin jist put a bullet inter him,” said one of the men. ‘* No, we must not wait until to-morrow, for he will betray us before. Has he not already sent two of our men off to die, and thus cut down our number by two? I tell you, pards, the chief is all right, now that the bullet is ex- tracted, and we know enough about wounds to look after him, and I say just seize the cursed Doctor and hold him as hostage to keep the sol- diers at bay. If gg Boe on, kill him, but if they don’t come on, kill him anyhow, I say; and I will do it, too.” These were the words of the outlaw Van which the Doctor Scout overheard as he walked toward the group, no one noticing his approach | until he stood in their midst. Taken wholly by surprise, Van was thrown >. te > | Exile of the : ‘ Platte. - ; _ off his guard, and when Powell addressed him he _ had him covered with his revolver. ‘**'You have the drop on me, so talk brave,” said Van, doggedly. _ ** Yes, I have the drop on you, and I intend | to keep it, for you are a snake that I must keep | under my heel, I see. Men, does this fellow speak your sentiments against me?’ and the Doctor Scout addressed the group of outlaws, all of whom were now on their feet, some of them with their hands on their weapons. For an instant there was silence, and then a voice said: ‘* It’s ag’in’ ther run o’ things fer a army offi- cer ter boss a gang o’ outlaws, an’ ‘specially when we has officers among us ter do it.’ ‘*T admit that it is against nature for an hon- est man to be the leader of a band of cut-throats: but [ shot your chief, was taken prisoner, and he promised me my freedom when I got him out of danger. As that man,” and he pointed to Van, *‘ wus going to allow the Indians to mas- sacre all of us, I, for one, objected, and your chief asked me to assume command. I did so, and led a few of your number here in safety. Now yonder are honest comrades of mine, ready to attack you when daylight comes, and there are your red-skin foes, too, who want your scalps, and you are between two fires, ‘* But I have advised your chief as to what to do, and he has said that I am still:to lead. The troops you can keep at bay by threatening to kill me; but the Indians you cannot stand off with any such threat, and I have no desire either to be shot by you or scalped by Indians, so I shall do my best to lead you toa place of safety as soon asI can. What do you say? The outlaws had listened to every word ut- tered by the Doctor Scout, and one said in re- sponse: ‘Tam sart’in, Pard Doe, that I speak for all, when I say we is willin’ ter hev yer lead us, fer we hes confidence in yer, but yer must be con- tent ter be tied up.” ‘““No, sir, Dll be free, or take the conse- quences,” was the defiant reply. a ‘* What does yer say, pards?”’ called out the one who had before spoken. ‘* Tsay, put the irons on him, and then if the soldiers come on, kill him!” cried the outlaw an. ‘* Yas, we kin do thet, Pard Van, and thet nm aes blue-coats off; but how about ther In- gins ‘They won’t tackle us,” Van declared. “Waal, I dunno ’bout thet, fer ef they was skeert they w’u’dn’t hev stayed round heur when they see’d ther sojers, but lighted out fer thar camp in ther hills. But thar they stayed, an’thar they is, an’ my idea is thet they hes other Injun fri’nds already sent fer, an’ when ther sojers goes off, fer fear we is ter kill ther Wizard Doctor, then we'll git wiped out by ther red-skins, onless we sarcumvent ’em in some way, an’ it are my opinyon thet ther Doc are ther pilgrimas kin save us from bein’ scalped ef he are our foe, for he are takin’ good keer o’ his own scalp at ther same time. Does Old Joe talk horse-sense, pards?” and the man looked around upon his comrades whom he had harangued. , A chorus of voices answered in the affirma- tive; but then followed the words: “Tt is all right if we puts the Doc in irons for safe-keepin’.” ‘Yas, yer must wear ther irons, Doc, tho’ we won’t do you no harm.” ‘‘T will not submit to it!” was the calm assur- anc. ‘What are you going to do about it?” cried Van, now feeling that he held the winning hand. ‘“‘T will send a bullet through your heart, then fight it out right here!” was the ringing response, and the Doctor Scout faced the Red Angels, a revolver in each band. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE ASSASSIN, ' THe Red Angel band were well aware that they had a most dangerous man to deal with in the person of Surgeon Frank Powell, of the United States Army, They were also acquainted with the fact that ot rg took such big chances against death as e did. But they were wholly taken aback to see_him boldly confront them all, when the outlaw, Van, | backed by others, said that they would put him in irons. Now Captain Kit went well supplied, although he had no regular retreat, and among bis equip- ments were those terrors of evil-doers, hand- cuffs, more generally called “ irons,” The Doctor Scout had seen these implements among the useful articles of the Red Angel out- fit, and he had no desire to have them put upon his wrists, nor did he intend that they should be if it was in his power to prevent the humilia- tion. He knew that the Red Angels wished to see him in his grave, and once they got him wholly | in their power, it was more than likely that their | wish would be gratified. ' The chief was his friend, as he felt hi: life de- pending upon the Doctor’s valuable services and comicbook