Beadle's Dime Library No. 411: The White Crook — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

18 creed had never been understood by him, and it was hard for him to understand it. That element was their deep-rooted disbelief in the ability or inclination of white men to speak the truth. The Psalmist said in his wrath that all men were liars, and the Apaches did not differ from him much. They said in their wrath that all white men were liars, and they stuck to it. Perceiving that he was utterly disbelieved the Apostle of Peace subsided Into a state of silence and melancholy. He might then and there have been subjected - to some- more rough treatment, if Eva had not gone beyond her duties as interpreter and vol- The unteered a little s h in his behalf. ' -_—--—s« Tt was brief and to the point. x As she more than once put her finger to her head with a significant gesture, if was easy to infer that she was representing the white man ___ a§ an insane person. fae This view found more or less favor among the _ Apaches. ' t was not difficult to persuade them that any white man who would deliberately, and of his ——— —- —. and teitiineen ae! — so 2 ye - a " « e ’ ‘ ; -i25. _ ’ - * = ¥ sé. Se a "« ee - ~~ 9 ae 7 « ~ “ . -- 773 — > a 4 * - a ‘ 7 nothing of the absurd sentiments he had ex- »* iD , must be somewhat shaky in the upper “story. _. .. They so far agreed with what Eva said to them, that they visited no more of their wrath upon the missionary at that time. rp He was allowed tosit or stand around in peace . and comfort, and when the little camp was established in the glen, he was taken there with ‘pk Se Mia! ya. , More important matters called the leading '_ ss warriors away, and the case of Ephraim Cronk- __hite was laid aside for future consideration, Meow CHAPTER XXV. “ae i THE EVIDENCE OF EARS, ne _ Wuen the defenders of Bella Vista were cer- tain that their enemies had abandoned the . lateau, the only wonder was that they had not + « bi ort - done so.sooner. Tt must have been evident to them, after the failure of their attempt to surprise the place, that they could not capture the stone house by ‘Soe 4 Ape or siege. |. Soh n came the disastrous failure of the attack 4 _. with the aid of a bunch of hay, and after that eer the presence of troops in the valley must have I strongly hinted to them that they had better get (ie 4 ; ae if seemed to have been reserved for the dynamite effort to determine their motions and send them off in a ral & As this must have been the last impelling ' cause, Hark Sarpy and his friends were natural- ___ Jy anxious to learn what damage had actually been done among them by the explosion, They hastened to visit the recent camp of the _. Apaches, but failed to derive much satisfaction | from tho visit. a apey found a big hole in the ground there, but Though there was nothing but an open field at the place, with no timber or rock to fly about and spread destruction, it was believed that the ae! losion of the gunpowder and the dynamite aati have been attended with a pretty serious Joss of life. No sign of anything of the sort was visible under the closest inspection. ee The*Apaches had put their dead out of sight, and had carried away their wounded, if any, | leaving nothing for their enemies to gloat over but what their imaginations might supply. Scouts were sent to the western and southern - sides of the plateau to examine the valley and ‘pass for signs of the departed Indians; but they fy were nowhere in sight. - Though they had covered their tracks so care- fully, they made @ has itting, and were h had made a h flitti 1 probably out of sight of Bella Vista at day- J > *B) . . + * ih was then bent on carrying out with the least possible delay his projecé of pur- _. suing ae Apaches and seeking to recover his -. He had only to mention it to secure volun- a tee . ae Beats man on the place offered to accompany him, and entreated to be allowed to do so. “Somebody must be left here to take care of + | | | — * The White Crook. t , ‘ ae. - 4 He was glad enough to go, as he was as fond of adventure as anybody, and he hastened to per bis strange battery and wire. © party as thus made up was com Hark Sarpy, Shawnee Jim, Captain Dunning and his son Bob, Jack Bunn, Joe Buller and Ben Boggs—seven in all, It was not pretended that they were strong enough to force a conflict with the Apaches; but it was expected that they would hang about the rear of the enemy and watch for chances. At the least they could keep the trail, and pos- sibly send information that would enable troops to head off the Indians, if, as was supposed, their destination was the Chiracahua Mountains, Their horses had all been taken from them, sed of but that was a matter of little consequence to | Hark Sarpy, as he said that the Indians would not be likely to travel faster than they could, and in the event of overtaking them, horses would be more of an incumbrance than a help. They loaded up with ammunition and provis- ions, bid faxéivall and descended by the cut in the eastern side of the cliff to the pass. No signs of the departed Apaches were found own accord, put himself in their power, to say | there: but they speedily discovered the location of the little camp in the glen where the horses had been kept, and from that point the trail was easy enough to follow by the tracks of the horses. It led direct] in the hills on the other side, and there an unex- pected discovery was made. The party of Apaches had divided. That is to say, as it appeared to the searchers, one of the bands that had united at Bella Vista had struck into the hills, while the other had gone up the valley. As the object of Hark Sarpy’s party was mainly the recovery of Eva, the question then was, which band she had gone with, and this matter required close and careful investiga- tion. ‘Those who have gone into the hills,” said the ‘leader, ‘‘ probably mean to cross the range and then strike southward for the Gila; but I can’t imagine why the others have split off to- ward the north.” As this question did not need to be settled then, he requested his friends to stand back while he and Shawnee Jim made an examina- tion of the trail at the point of division. They found nothing to indicate the direction which Eva had taken, and that point was in- volved in an unpleasant uncertainty until Bob Dunning spoke up. uint at that trail,” said ** Jest let me take a he. ‘It’s likely that Eva rode her own pony. He was shod on the fore feet only, and I know his tracks.” This was valuable information, and Bob was at once put forward to search the trail. He speedily found the tracks for which he was looking, and followed them as they led into the hills, making it clear that Eva’s pony had taken that direction, and it was to be sup that she was riding him. ‘The party that she is with,” said Hark Sarpy, “‘ must of course be the one that raided Captain Dunning’s ranch and came down the valley. The other must be the band that Zeke Stebbins is with, or was with. 1 would give something to know why they have gone north- ward. But we needn't bother about them, I suppose, as what we have to do is clear enough, and the division of the bands makes our chances much better.” Following his lead, the party went forward hopefully. No effort was required to keep the trail, as the deep ravine into which the opening led would not allow them to get out of it. It was a very rough and difficult route, and parpy's friends agreed in the opinion that he had been right in saying that they could easily follow the Apaches on foot. The Apaches probably had seven or eight hours the start of their pursuers, and yet the latter moved as cautiously as if they expected to stumble upon them at any moment. This caution was quite justifiable, as the ravine had its intricacies and recesses where a crafty foe might lie in ambush and easily make an end of seven or eight men, One point upon which the pursuers relied for their safety was the presence of horses among across the valley to an opening _ the women-folks,” said he, ‘‘and I have already | the Apaches, as they might be expected to make ¥ anywhere. - Barney to stay here, for one, and I wish, Mr. _ Stepney, that you would stay here with him.” _. This was an unexpected proposition to Mark, but notanunpleasing one. . _ Though he was more than willing to partici- _ pate in the fatigues and perils of the pursuit, yet to stay at beautiful Bella Vista with Hettie Sarpy was vastly more to his liking. “How about Jack Bunn?’ he demanded, “Why don’t you take me and leave him?” om “Because,” bluntly answered the leader, “I AXE verre: he can be of more use to me than you can, ‘ r ‘<< ~ gnd I want him to go, if he is willing to.” ye We wi slags a telegravh line, you see,” ae Jac | ‘ _ an a Fy" . ao *) “a ; rare or ae" —_— a i f ' A * 7 o? oe} ¢ a*. * settled that matter in my mind, I shall want | more or less noise, however silent and crafty Sh AWwnee Jim with me, as there is no trailer like | their riders should be, hin As Manuel is away, that leaves | It was a fact, however, as the white men were before long led to believe, that the savages were jogging along easily, perceiving no occa- sion for any special burry or caution. When the first camp which they had made was reached, there was no evidence of hurry there, nor had they taken the least pains to cover their tracks, The ashes of their fire had heen left, and the presence of the horses was plainly visible, and everything showed that they were inclined to take their ease. | Sarpy and the Shawnee were able to judge from the signs pretty closely at what hour they had made the camp and how long they had re- ' mained there, to their friends at Bella Vista, | | | | As they were unaware of Hark Sarpy’s in- terest in the girl who had come back to them,, they doubtless supposed that the people at Bella. Vista would welcome their absence too gladly to care to pursue them or bother with them any further. Though it was not doubted that Eva was with them, the white people searched in vain at that og for any sign of her presence, and her horse ad left no perceptible trail on way. They discovered, however, somethin made them sure of one point and enabled them to infer another. Drops of blood were scattered about the re- cent camp of the Apaches, and at one point the: red stains were quite plentiful. All the party had the same conjecture as to the cause of this unpleasant sight, but no person: mentioned it for a while. Further searching resulted in the discovery of an ear, and then of another ear. They were the ears of a white man, and had been cut off with a sharp knife close to the head. This accounted for the blood, and there could be no question of the identity of the white man. ‘*Poor Eph Cronkhite!” exclaimed Captain Dunning as he sadly gazed at the ears. ‘1 was hopin’ that he would pass among the ’Paches fur a crazy man, and that they wouldn't burt him; but I reckon they must ha’ set him down fur what he was, a squar’, stiddy-goin’ fool. It’s mighty hard on him, but nothin’ to what’s a-comin’, I’m afeard.” ‘* They baven’t killed him yet, anyhow,” sug- gested Sarpy. ‘* No—better if they had. They’re jest takin” him along to have fun with him whenever they feel in the humor fur worryin’ a white man, and they'll be likely to make him last as long as they kin. Poor Eph!” ‘‘As we are certain that these Apaches have got him,” said Sarpy, ‘‘ we may be pretty sure that the girl is with them too, as they both be- longed to this band.” ‘** Thar’s a leetle comfort in that, anyhow.” ‘If we ron on we can easily overtake them, and may able to save his life yet. They can’t get out of these hills inside of two days,. and we will want to strike them at night. Now, my friends, I am going to call on your legs to do some good work.” The spirits of all were willing, and their flesh was not weak, The next day there was ample evidence to show that they had succeeded in getting close to the savages, In fact, the trail was so fresh that it was deemed advisable to slow up, lest they should lose more than they might gain, by overtaking their enemies too soon. When night set in, asthey were creeping cau- tiously along the narrow and difficult gorge, they espied a light ahead. ey were evidently near the camp of the Apaches and Hark Sarpy called a halt, CHAPTER XXVI. **A CAMPAIGN ALONE.” FRoM the position of the light that was visi- bie at no great distance it was evident that the canyon took a rise at the place where the Apa- aches had made their camp for the night, They had stationed themselves, probably from: the force of habit rather than in the exercise of caution that was believed to be needed, where el could look down upon the trail behind em. Thus they occupied an excellent defensive posi- tion, as a direct attack could only be made by climbing the rise, and the sides of the gorge were by no means favorable to flanking movements. The strength of the position was speedily re~ cognized by the pursuers, in spite of the darkness, and their spirits sunk as they looked ahead and wondered what they were to do next. It seemed to them at the moment that their labor and care had gone for nothing, as they had reached the enemy only to find them un- assailable. , Hark Sarpy had a different opinion, and was: not at all set back by the position of the Apaches. . hat was unexpected to the others seemed to. he to him just what he had expected and hoped. for. He led his followers forward a little further, and carefully posted them so that they could not he visible from the rise, and would be fully covered by the rocks, “What are we goin’ to do here?’ demanded ‘This don’t look a bit like Captain Dunning. business to me.” ‘‘But it is business!” replied Sarpy. ‘“ You must let me manage it in my own way.” a rs eee your game, then?” | am going make a campai alone against those Apaches,” ae “The thunder you are! I don’t see much chance fur the seven of us, and none at all fur: one, “* There is a chance for me, my friend, as you will be likely to admit before long. I have been here before. I know all about that rise where the Apaches have cam I know it better than they do, Iam goiug up there on the right. vere C the stony path-- — that: -