Beadle's Dime Library No. 411: The White Crook — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

ei If he was dear to her, then, it must be ad- 3 mitted that she took no pains to display her af- fection. The Dunnings had been very kind to her after their fashion, and she well knew that the raid upon the ranch and the subsequent pursuit meant nothing less than a relentless hunt for their scalps, and she naturally wished their lives to be spared. : Therefore her first word to Carroh after she “met him was an entreaty that the pursuit should be stopped and the white people allowed to go free. This was utterly preposterous. In Apachedom a woman’s wish always count- ed for little, if anything. In a band that was on the keen hunt for scalps it counted as worse than nothing. It was an impertinence—it deserved to be treated only with contempt. With the prey in sight such a request was simply amazing to the young chief, and he laughed in the face of the girl who made it, **'You do not know what you are saying,” was his contemptuous reply. ‘‘ Have the white peo- ple made a fool of you?” He turned away from. her, called to his com- rades, and rode off in pursuit of the hated whites, She also turned away, and let her horse wan- der about as it pleased, scarcely replying to the welcoming words of the warriors whom she met and who knew her so well. She had obeyed her impulse—had returned to her people, had at once been snubbed and laugh- ‘ed at, even by her lover. Bob Dunning, rough and uncomely as he was, would never have treated her so. Her slightest wish was always a command to him, and he had delighted in doing her bidding, no matter what the consequences might be. Very likely she then reflected upon the superi- ority of the white people and their ways—re- retted that she had left them, and would have een glad to return to them, If so, the way was no longer open. Between them and her was a barrier of In- dian warriors which she could not pass, and the white people were ascending the cliff by means of a remarkable machine, and the two sides were firing upon each other, and her lot was again cast in with the Apaches, It must have afforded ber some satisfaction to perceive that her white friends were safely out of reach of their pursuers, who sadly abandoned, at least for a time, the hunt for Gaps, When they made a temporary camp further down the valley, Eva went with them as ia her good humor, as the re nembrance of her se- vere snubbing rankled in her breast, The warriors came about her to congratulate ‘her on her escape—that was the way they looked at her desertion of her white friends—and to per- suade her to tell her story since she was taken from them; but she was not inclined to be com- municative, and gave it to them in as few words as possible. ‘arroh, who had made no account of the re- buff he had given her, considering it only a mat- ter of course and exactly the right thing to do, came about her with the rest, and was Inclined to be talkative and lover-like; but she treated him very coldly, scarcely answering any of his talk. He attempted some familiarity with her; but this was so displeasing to Eva that she suddenly started up and slapped him in the face. Tt was a slap that sounded through the camp and made his painted cheek smart. There could hardly be a greater insult to the young chief than this—to be struck by a squaw, and in the presence of his fellow warriors, The laughter of bis comrades emphasized and hightened the insult, which he might otherwise have easily forgiven, and made necessary some sort of punishment. ; As Eva was not yet his wife, if would not be acting a manly part to whip her, and he did the next best yb He tied her hands behind her back, and made | her sit down at a little distance from the others. | After they had eaten, and while the pipe was ‘being passed around, the warriors held a sort of | ‘a council to consider the case of the young wo- man—not because of evident sullenness and in- ‘subordination, but because she was a woman and in the way. | They were on the war-path just then, and also - expected to have some difficulty in joining their . bretbren in the south, and they did not want to \ be bothered with any such baggage, | Part of their women and children were on the reservation, others in the hills at the north, and others in the fastnesses of the mountains at the | south, and the only place to which Eva could be taken was their destination on the other side of the lower Gila, So ‘here was no help for it, and it was agreed that she should go with them, and Carroh prom- ised to be responsible for her safe-keeping and good behavior. Scouts that were sent into the mountain pass at the eastward to inspect the stronghold of the , -whites at Bella Vista reported that there was no 4 * - | | , a ee ‘ | « visible way of getting at it; but beforedusk they reported some better news. he news was that a strong party of Apaches was coming through the pass from the other side of the range, and with them was their white | friend, Zeke Stebbins. Communications were opened between the two parties, and it was learned that Zeke Stebbins | possessed the key to the stronghold of the whites at Bella Vista, knowing a means of secretly and safely reaching the plateau. As he happened to have at that time a grudge of his own against Hark Sarpy, he gladly made | known the secret of the approach to his Apache friends, who were above all things eager to secure | the scalp of the hater. It was decided that an attempt should Le made | to take the white people by surprise, and that attempt might have succeeded, if it had not been for the vigilance of Manuel and his timely warning. Before the movement upon the plateau was | begun, a small camp was established in a seclud- | ed glen, anda few Apaches were left there in | charge of the horses that_had been acquired by ers party, together with Eva and Ephrain Cronk- ite. CHAPTER XXIV. THE APOSTLE AND THE APACHES. It is poesia’ that by this time the Apostle of Peace had-also regretted the sudden impulse that caused him to put himself in the power of the Apaches. His reception among them had been by no means flattering—not at all such as he might have believed to be due to the dignity of his mis- sion, and the righteousness of the cause he rep- resented, The Apaches were not surprised at the return of Eva to their ranks. They knew her, and she knew them, and they patos glad that she came to them of her own ac- cord, But when they saw that tall white man, mounted on a bony horse, riding toward them and gesturing with both hands, while he spoke in a loud voice words which they did not under- stand, they did not know what to make of it, and expressed their amazement by grunts and stares, To them this performance simply meant that a white man’s scalp hunted and uncalled for, but none the less wel- come, ‘**Let us have peace!” he shouted as he rode down the siope. Refrain, my red brethren, from pursuing those white people! Leave them to the punishment of their own consciences! I matter of course; but she had not recovered | am the Apostle of Peace, and I entreat you to hear me, for your own sakes and for the sakes of your wives and children!” He might as well have addressed the Apaches in Greek, The riders who were pressing the pursuit al- | lowed him to pass them without question, as he could not escape, and might be attended to at any time. t was not until he had crossed the creek, and reached those who were on foot, that be began to experience rough usage. A stalwart Apache seized his horse by the bridle, pulled him from the saddle, throwing him violently upon the ground, mounted the horse, and hurried away to join his comrades in the advance, This performance was painful as well as hu- miliating, and the missionary from Michigan grieved inwardly and groaned audibly. His mortification must have been increased by the fact that the horse which had borne the Apostle of Peace on his mission of mercy was seized as a war-steed, and hurried off on an er- rand of blood, He was picked up and dragged to the rear, where a few savages were sadly watching the safe arrival of the white people at the top of the cliff, and the return of their discomfited comrades, When they had all gathered near the little stream, and the fact was apparent that they had lost more than they had gained by the morn- ing’s work, they were wrathy enough to give their solitary prisoner a hard time, Though he was not allowed to rise, and the position in which he was seated was unfavorable to oratory, he proceeded to haces them on the blessings of peace, telling them how he sym- pathized with them in their misfortunes, how he blamed the rapacious white man for the wrongs that had been inflicted upon them, and that he had trusted himself among them for the purpose of benefiting them mentally and morally and physically. He might as well have talked to the trees and the stones. Some of the Apaches understood a few words of English—generally the worst words—but none of them could begin to comprehend the wasted eloquence of Ephraim Cronkhite. It is more than likely, considering the fact that he spoke forcibly and with many gestures, that they supposed him to be abusing and de- nouncing them as a set of thieves and m r- derers. At all events, they knew what to do with him, \ 1 + The White Crook. had come to them, un- | 17 { | without puzzling over his own opinions, and they proceeded to give him a foretaste of the _ tender mercies he might expect among them. | When they brought his bares to him, he im- agined that they had been affected by his elo- _ quence, and were about to return that skeleton of a steed to him with their humble apologies; but they speedily got that idea out of hrs head. They mounted him on his horse; but the man- ner of the mounting was not such as he had tng accustomed to, nor was it atall pleasing to im. He was mounted with bis face to the rear the animal, and that was not the worst of it. The Apaches had a pleasant way of their own of making a prisoner secure, and they de- monstrated it to the entire satisfaction of this one. 7 His legs were passed around the horse’s neck and tied at the ankles, and his body was bent down until he lay with his chin touching the animal’s backbone, and then his arms were tied ky the wrists under the belly of the bony beast. _ As the horse had a very sharp and evident _ backbone, this position not only rendered it im- ‘ possible for the prisoner to escape, but was very , | | | wearisome and uncomfortable. As the architectural steed sterted off with him, occasionally kicked or punched by the say- ages, the jolting motion made his case much "4 worse, and he may well have felt sorry for him- = self as a martyr im the sacred cause of peace. : Fortunately for the victim, the journey at that time was of short duration. The Apaches encamped at a little distance down the valley, and the missionary from | Michigan was dismounted and seated on the | ground. | Again he had an opportunity for airing his eloquence, and hastened to avail himself of it, though he was hampered by the impossibility of geeticulg ting: his hands being tied behind his | ack. Ss His oratory was unheeded, and the truth fin-— ree dawned upon him that it was notunder- sto , ‘ "se. >, *] t we Deeply as he sympathized with the savages, his knowledge of them, as may be sup Sn, was theoretical rather than ctical, and he had not previously seen enough of them to ap- preciate the fact that the languagehe spoke was not known to them. oe When he had got this point fixed in his peta +>" it was natural for him to believe that be could get along with them better if he could have the... Be’ aid of an interpreter. ag van Ay ee ee ~! If he could make them understand why he was there and how kindly were his intentions toward them, they surely would treat him with consideration, and he might be enabled to do Baars much good among them. > eae When the council concerning Evahad come to 4 conclusion, and its result was announced to her, Ephraim Cronkhite called the girl and re- speech | ‘is quested her to act as his interpreter in a RE which he desired to make to the Indians. She was slightly acquainted with him, having met him twice at Captain Dunning’s ranch, and _ the acquaintance had not prepossessed her in his __ favor; but he was a friend o the white people __ who had tried to be good to her, and she could not refuse his request, though she knew pretty well what his talk would amount to, and could judge how it would be received. « a It happened that the Apres were curious _to know more about that very peculiar ‘white man, and they gathered about him © _and the girl when he again began his oration, He substantially went over what he had pre- | viously said, with the exception that bis recent _ rough treatment had shown him the necessity of dwelling more emphatically upon his wha te 2 pares: with the savages and the good results which he hoped to secure for them, ‘<> > ae Eva translated this oration after a fashion of | | her own. cs Lae : She did not understand all thatthe missionary _ said, but caught the drift of hisremarks,and —_ gave it to the fe sa Pay in a condensed shape, __ omitting much of the diffuse and high-flown language which he used to explain his parete< i's : The Apaches, seated in a sort of semicircle, listened with a fair degree of patience, but with evident incredulity. > Se |. When the white man had finished his talk,the leader of the band aroseand delivered hisanswer | through the interpreter. Sony 2) _. He said in effect that the talk was plausible, but it deceived nobody. The white man was _ lying, like all other men of his color. They ha + heard such talk before, and its only effecthad been to delude the red-men into giving up their lives and liberty and property forempty prom- | ises that were never kept. The Apaches there | present had no idea of surrendering their arms — and ponies for the sake of a peace that meant — nothing shortof slavery. They did not believea _ word the white man said, and it would be use- — _ less for him to weary his tongue with moretalk. -_ He did persist in talking, in spite cf this re- uff. 7 ‘ He loudlv protested his h and hisinno- cence of any evil intention; bht he was not list- ened to. \ *., Se One of the leading elements of the Apache ay Comicbooks.com