Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 4 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

Se s No, 4. —_——-——-—-_ young man start; ‘only the mark of her. foot —CGod bless her pretty picter! ['d know it among a thousand.” In the fight by which trey must rescue Blanche the men could not be trammeled by | the care of woman. So, hiding her in a coppice, | they left the tortured wife with her face in her — hands and her heart pouring out a fervent rayer for the protection, not of herself, but of | hee husband. i While looking down at the delicate footprint, which Ben recognized by the impression of so of his own handiwork in mending Blanche’ _ shoe, they were startled by the sounds heard by Walter Weston and Bantam in our first chapter —two rifle-shots, an interval of silence, a chorus of wild yells, a third shot, and a woman’ shriek | risitig clear and shrill. Mr. Burbank laid a tremulous hand on the arm of the scout. ‘* Ben, my child!—they have killed her!” he whispered with bloodless oe A strange look came into Harry’s face. It. was of anger and disappointment, rather than — griof. CHAPTER IX, AN UNSEEN TERROR. A DEAFENING, reverberating roar, that seem- | ed to rock the earth to its very center—a blind- — ing flash, as if the heavens had rent in twain and envelo the world in a flood of lurid flame—a sickening horror of ‘suffocation—a | crash like the felling of meaty forests—a pan- | demonium of .sounds, like the growls and > snarls of wild beasts, blended with warning | cries of human beings—then the clear ringing | report of a rifls, followed by the death-cry of an animal and a heavy fall in the bushes—and Blanche Burbank awoke to perfect conscious- ness, to find the sun shining with dazzling ~ brightness Laptig | into her eyes. She was ly- ine all in a heap at the foot of a steep declivity, | her clothes wea hands and face covered wi h | sand and dust. She lay between the rocky es- | carpment and a screen of bushes and interlaced | vines, so that she would have been hidden from — enlarged subterraneous chamber. | eo reached an abrupt wall, and then | When the shuffling sound ceased, she knew The Kidnapper; or, the Great Shanghai of the Northwest. - i a her heart into wild activity. There was a slight rustling of the vines and bushes, a a murmuring sound, mingled With a low sibila- tion. Presently there was a shuffling noise, as of something dragging itself into the passage. Had her enemies found her out? Was it Swanton, or the savages? Might it not be some wild beast of the forest? It could not be the bear that had pursued her; he had been shot. Trembling in every limb, the sorely-beset girl | retreated further into the cave. lts unknown | terrors must he braved, to escape the certain | peril that followed her. She missed the sides of | the passage, and knew that she had reached an ere she rose her feet and made her way over the smooth sandy floor, feeling before her with her foot, lest she should run ~ oe something and | make a noise which would betray her presence. burned at. that the object had reached the sand. ‘Then there was an a use—a silence that seemed to assume tangibility and envelop her like a dense fog. Presently it began to vibrate. The walls of the cavern caught up the heavy breath- ing of the object, whatever it was, and flung it back with quivering iteration. The girl could not guess m what direction it came. It seemed all about her. She shrunk against the wall and waited. Oh, it was’ horrible, this waiting for the touch | of that hideous monster—she knew not what! —— Perhaps it could see her, itself unseen. Perhaps it was creeping toward her, She shuddered. Suddenly a flashing eye, it seemed to her ex- cited fancy as big as a dinner-plate, blazed ‘out through the gloom. An agony of terror thrilled through every nerve; a horrible creeping sensa- tion came upon her flesh, and a nauseous loath- ing took possession of her, as her heated imagina- tion pictured some foul monster like the devil- fish of which she had read. With the faintness | ~ _— upon her, she leveled her weapon and | The flaming eye vanished. A sharp cry quite near; but the blinding blended with the deafening detonation that any one in, sunlight falling upon her face came through a> break in the foliage. | For hours she had lain in a swoon, less from | the shock of her fall than from the thorough ex- — haustion resulting from her long tramp through | the forest. When she now struggled to her feet, she could scarcely stand. Every muscle in her body seemed -. eo of be ene Violent ac- tivity, follow y long repose in a cramped osition and e fa the damp night-air, d made them stiff and sore. But a sound of voices reached her from just above her head. Had her ca traced her so soon? With a deathlike faintness of apprehen-’ sion, she gazed about for some place of conceat- ment. A dark orifice inthe rock, within a yard of where she stood, met her eye; and sinking upon her hands and knees, she crept into it. en she waited breathlessly. Faintly there came to her a chorus of yells, | then the report of a rifle and a woman’s pierc- |: ing scream. It was unmistakable—the shrill, | penetrating shriek of agony or terror. She > shuddered. What had happened? Had her ene- mies been attacked in turn by savage foes? Had Mrs. Swanton been shot? She little cause to love the shrewish wife of William Swan- ton; but her heart thrilled at the peril of even a foe, and that foe a woman. But, where was her husband and son? Blanche listened for some sound to indicate their presence; but all was still. Yet they could | not have been killed outright; for she felt sure | that only one rifle had been discha Sorely | puzzled, yet with her apprehensions but little augmented by the vicinity of savages (for | what foes could be more’ ruthless than those “from whom she had just escaped?) she waited. | —|—the stock of a rifle! ° ‘thrill of satisfaction. She could form no estimate of time, in her | present state of excitement and suspense. It | seemed an age. Then she felt, rather than | heard, that something was approach her place of concealment. Breathlessly she Renin ed her attention. A twig sna , and there | was a slight rustling of leaves. In panic she crept further into the cave. A little way in, the bottom of the passage became sandy. Suddenly she was startled by a dull, | heavy thud directly in front of her. At first, | she could scarcely ress a scream; but a mo- ment’s reflection told her that she had displaced some object, and it had fallen to the sandy ‘oor. She reached forth her hand and touched “Thank Heaven!” she murmured, with a ‘Here is protection, for a time, at least, if only it is loaded.” | With trembling fingers she opened the pan, to see if it was primed, It was. But with the | discovery came the question, who had left it there? Was the cave ted? If so, by whom? She strained her eyes to penetrate loom; but all was as dark as Erebus. t Ferrets might be hidden by that awful night! © and desolation A sickening sense qf loneliness an‘ peril came over her; aad she nearly fainted | spe tage cer mengate wle with disay terre, f | about to beat a -acommand from the chief, the _ letting Sidney take the other, they each made a | as they went. The first attempt was a failure, | shook the cave. There was a dull thud, as of a body falling in the sand. Then the silence of the grave! The smoke gradually diffused itself through the chamber. A thin, white curl crept out through the passage, and found its way to the light of day. In there, where no ray of the glad sunshine ever came to dispel the Cimme- rian gloom, lay a limp form, the still, white face pressed into the sand, and the now nerve- less fingers relaxed from the barrel of a rifle. CHAPTER X. A STRANGE SIGNAL. A Party of Indians were grouped on the of a bit of stony ground, where a woian’s trail, which they had been following where the yield- ing forest loam bore plain wore disappeared? In their midst, her face clouded with the dejec- tion of hopeless grief, a white woman was seat- ed on a horse. e few days of her captivity | had made deeper inroads into her matronly | beauty than all the forty years of calm content that had gone before. Atacommand of their chief the savages di- vided into three parties, two skirting the stony und on opposite sides, while the third, con- ing the prisoner, remained where they were. One of the former soon came to an escarp- ment, and following its verge, were interrupted by a deep growl. The next moment a sarge black made his appearance from the bush- es, and seeing the number of his disturbers, was rudent retreat, when he was overtaken by a bullet. Enraged at the pain, the animal turned and cha his assailants, but a second shot stretched in the agonies* of death. Meanwhile, a sound in the direction from which they had come reached the quick ears of | the party which had halted on the border of the | stony ground. A savage was dispatched to look | into its source. Presently he returned; and, at | party dispersed | on either side of the trail. In ten seconds the spot seemed a mid-forest solitude. Blanche would have been disappointed, had she seen how easily her stratagem was over- no trey ee a poe oe re fault. en he passed beyon secon tof ston und, and taking one direction himself and ee wide circuit, carefully examining the but a still wider range on the second trial re- warded them with success. Scarcely two miles farther on they came toa point where the trail they were following was erossed by another, which the renegade had no difficulty in discovering to be Blanche’s. “And here was the secret of their ove soon. The circuit which had cost her hours of weary toil, they did not have to go over. _ ee 5 take. stopped. Here’s where she w alked aleng the ee ' flying missile, and - ¢ame to his her so | i ) h ‘fles wooderaft rae | nn as many rifles whnweg = * @ a — —_ But a noise at the mouth of the cave thrilled | ‘Tt must have got cloudy so as to hide the moon,” he said; *‘ for she could not have made this first two miles so straight, without using a guide. And see, she discovered her own mis- Oh, she’s asharp one! Here's vhere she first trail to examine it. And here’s whcre she setoff onarun. She ought to be the wife of a scout. Demy! I wish I was young myself!” Mrs. Swanton, who bad overhkcard this re- mark several times of late, gave a snort of jcal- ous rage. . ‘** Bill Swanton,” she said, in a rasping voice, “maybe you think you're the cnly cne what wishes they was young eg’'in. 1 reckon if tley was, there’s some as wouldn't throw theiselvcs away on no such loafin’, trampin’—” : “Shut up, cle wer an!” intcrrvy ted her bus- band, lapsing in his spect at her, into the tn- couth dialect of the bkoider. ‘her's Irjirs on this hyer trail. en’ if ve dent want yer lar lifted, jest keep that mill-tail-o’ yourn beitwecn yer teeth.” : ‘Lhis ay peal to the fears of the shrew ard the pointing cut of a moccasined fcotprint had a marked efiect. ‘*] wish to the Lerd, Bill &wanten,” rhe whined, ‘that I'd never kcen fcol ere gh to fel- ler such an unconscionalle tramp cl’ar cut here in this howl{n’ wilder ners, whar—” “Shut up, will yer!. Or do ye want to fetch the hull lot cov n cn us to orc t?” ‘*T move that we tack out o’ this here jcb,” said Sidney, rot a little ayyrebensive at the evicences of indiars in the vicinity. “Lock a-heie,” said Ewantcn, with white rage overspreeding his face, ‘‘ did you swear to stick to this thing,.or dicn’t you?” “T reckon follerin’ this here trafl is polin’ our heads into a hornets nest,” replied hicaney, kily. | “3 That's nothing to do with it! Did you swear to foller the thing through?” “T reckon I didn’t swear to foller no trail inter no Sioux emLush, not if I knows my self?!” The form of the reregace wes trembling with —— but he held it uncer restraint while he ““Do you think I’m a fool? Wheat ’vd I lead you into ambush fur, sey /—tell me that!” “T reckon this is cne o’ your blind docges,” said Sidney, after looking at his father a mo- ment in siJence. Swanton’s eyes flashed and he set his teeth with a snap. He could ill brock his son's s) mp- toms of rebellion against his will, ‘‘Look a-here, Sidney,” le said, ‘‘ you know me. |] reckon in over twenty year you've larnt that I don’t take no foolishin’ from no livin’ man, when I’m in’arnest. I’m in ’arnest now, an’ I say I’m goin’ ter foller this trail if it leads straight through brimstone! An’ if you claw- fishon me now, Ill let daylight through your cowardly carcass, without no more palaver than if you was a dog!” e threw his rifle forward as he spoke and looked fully capable of carrying out his threat, Had he expressed his thoughts aloud, Sidney would have known why. ‘They ran: “A life—a whole life of hatred—a life of waiting, waiting, waiting for revenge! and to be thwarted by a boy’s whim! Cursehim! Id shoot him, if he was a million times my son!” Aloud be ecntinued: | ‘*There’s merey in this here thing fur you. There’s nore then money in it furme! Ireckon lain’t iecl ercvgl to Jose all, by riskin’ my scalp in tLe Lergain.” ““T reckon you're ceeper than me. But I kin stand this as long as you kin.” | Sidney vielded with not the best grace in the world; but his father was satisfied. Without a word he turned to follow the trail, only sto ping to secure the horses to trees, the ot way being made on foot. ey bad advanced but a little way, when a rifle-shot resounded through the forest. Almost pa ec a second followed. Mrs. Swanton evinced a disposition to a but a black scowl from her husband awed her into silence, The renegade quickened his steps, and Sidney followed weed resignation. Twenty rods further on, and there was a sud- den ing among the bushes, the air rung with fiendish discord, and a score of ¢ forms, hideous in paint and feathers leaped into view. Mrs. Swanton’s by means feeble scream was drowned in their deafening uprear. The usually stolid Sidney was stung into ac- tivity. He leaped before his mother and brought his rifle to the shoulder. ** Fool!” cried his father, as he knocked up the weapon, so that it exploded harmlessly in the \ A tomahawk glanced in the straight for the head of the Mh who was rash enough to offer such hopeless resistance. The mother uttered a wild shriek and threw herself , knocking him out of thé course of the erself falling over him eshe knees, her prompt action perhaps saving his life. . Half a scere of knives and tomehawks were on the point of taking their fight from only too » Wanton ‘“S , then swept upon him comichoo ee =o ae iP (E(0) ‘a ae