Beadle's Dime Library No. 411: The White Crook — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

oe 7 ~~ SE ee ee oe it af ——— «ne ae oe Aig oe ee - e -- a — LY ; 2 1-' - "' > | -, fe Less than a dozen troopers came trottin “toward them from the east, and soon joine “Captain Lang’s party. ui ** Where are the Indians?” demanded that of- ficer. **Hain’t seen any Indians,” answered the ser- - -geant in charge of the detachment. ** The deuce you haven’t! Here is their trail, ,_ and any man with half an eye can see where they have crossed the river.” b, ‘** That’s so, captain. It seems that they have got ahead of us.” x “T should say that they had. Where have you been keepi. g yourselves?” ** Several miles up the river.” ‘** Of course—that is the usual style. “well for you that you were out of the way, those Apaches would have been Kkely to whale -youand take you intocamp, if you had met them. You should have had men enough to “picket the river for miles. Cunfound a man who sends a corporal’s guard to stop a herd of But it is ee Apaches!” ee , * tion after me as soon as _ possible. Pa ) os 4 s ai: tack to the fort the best way you can. commandant to send some rations and ammuni- _ -tlismounted seven of his men, and headed $ _ ** He said he sent all he could spare,” protested “the sergeant. ey “Well, itis a pity, but it can’t be helped ' ss “mow. Some of you fellows will have to give up horses to these dismounted men, and get Ask the Wait—I will _. write him a note.” The sergeant received the written message, a __ ~disconsolate detachment as he led them back up the river. fel CHAPTER XXXI. ~~? ee HARK SARPY’S DISCOVERY. i B. os THE route which the flying Apaches would _ “take was well known to Captain Lang and 4 “most of them who were with him. It would lead them into Mexico, unless they _ »should conclude to take refuge in the mountains on this side of the line. WA - There was reason to hope that they might ___ *stop on the American side of the line, as even _ Apaches cannot stand everyting, and men and horses must both be pretty badly used up after _ the long ride from the camp where Hark Sarpy The pursuing party pressed forward, making rt er time, since each man had a horse to ride; and in course of time reached the mountains south of the river. _ To their great joy they discovered that the Apaches had gone into the mountains, doubt- _ less supposing that they would not be pursued “So far, or that they would be entirely safe in “the intricacies of that difficult range. This point’ being settled, the next thing on the opr mme was to follow and find the savages. Patan pursuers were somewhat in the fix of the _- former who considered his kettle not lost when it was atthe bottom of the well, though he did _ not see his way to get at it. _ Hark pork declared that he was well ac- - equainted with the region, as this was not the first time he had followed Apaches into those mountains, and Manuel was sure that he could pick y Thaage trail and follow it, no matter _ where they had gone. At the outset of the undertaking a serious ey conepnted them. __ They had been so long on the trail that they “had ran short of provisions and were entirely out of meat, _ _ It would be two or three days, at the least, be- 1 any supplies could reach them, and in the mean time they would have to skirmish about yand forage for themselves, - A camp was formed at the base of the moun- tain range, and Hark Sarpy and Manuel, with Ce n Dunning and his two ranch hands, ap- ) themselves a eommittee of five to pro- _~eure provisions for the party. In this employment they succeeded fairly, though game was not at all plenty, and though they were prohibited from going far into the _ hills, lest the reports of their rifles should alarm the Indians, who might be somewhere in the | ee aie rate they were in no danger of starv- g, but were not making any progress in the cove lishment of the purpose that had brought ere. Hark Sarpy, intensely eager to find and re- cover his lost child, had no idea of contenting himself with camp life or hunting alone. . After the first day, indeed, his hunting be- came a sham, and he brought in so little game that his skill in that line might be supposed to have deserted h’m. _His friends, however, were able to give a pretty good guess at what he was doing, and it was not yubted that under his pretense of hunting lay fact of scouting. It was his belief that the Apaches, being pret- “ty well worn out by their long journey and the labors and excitements attending them, felt the i = rest and proper food for themselves and Potncretore it was likely that. they had settled elves for a while in the first secure retreat had come to, without giving themselves ' so any special uneasiness concerning their pur- suers. In that mountain range, which was then the favorite stronghold of the Apaches, there were plenty of places where they could defend them- selves against an army, if an army should hap- pen to find thera. This was a matter of experience, as soldiers had followed flying hostiles into those fastnesses, and had been unable even to reach them, to say nothing of conquering and capturing them. Hark Sarpy had his own opinions on these points. He did not believe in the fidelity, if he believed in the capacity, of the Indian scouts who served with the army on the frontier, and he bad an as | abiding disbelief in the usefulness of regular soldiers in such warfare. As a defensive body for the irregulars to fall back upon in case of disaster they might be val- uable; but to pit them against Apaches in those mountains was like setting a flock of sheep upon a gang of wolves, as their tactics and discipline and habits entirely unfitted them for Indian- fighting. At the same time the Hater was confident that the right kind of white men—such men as him- selfand Manuel and Captain Dunning—could cope with the Apaches on their own ground, and would be at leasta match for them at their own style of fighting. The trouble just then was that he had not enough men of the right sort. He recalled several occasions during the years in which he had been hunting the savages and seeking his child, when he had followed small bands of Apaches to those mountains, tracked them to: their retreat:, done them more or less damage, and got safely away. Those experiences had given him a good knowledge of the intricacies of the range, and on this occasion he was determined to use it for all it was worth. In the course of his scouting he came to a deep and narrow glen, leading upward at a steep in- cline, which had doubtless in the past been the bed of a watercourse, He followed it, as he had already followed other leads that promised to take him into the heart of the hills, but was disappointed in this as he had been in the others. He found no signs of the pa‘sage of the Apaches, such as he would have been sure to find if they had taken that route with their horses; but he kept on, curious to learn whither the glen would lead him. ° When he had traveled a distance of perhaps three miles from the camp, he discovered that the Apaches could not have taken that route wie their horses or 9" ot iy cere is progress was suddenly and sharply inter- wnmted by a cliff that formed a wall across the glen, i to the hight of more than fifty feet. The cliff was more than precipitous; it was an overhanging wall of bare rock, worn smooth by water, as if in the forgotten days of the stream there had been a waterfall over the rock which must bave been a sight worth seeing. A hole at the bottom of the glen had doubtless been dug by the falling water, and when Hark Sarpy reached the cliff a thin stream was trick- ling over the edge. Below this wall the glen was narrow with steep sides that supported scarcely any growth of vegetation, an climbing them was out of the question, Beyond the cliff, however, the mountain seemed to open and spread out, and the tops of large trees could be seen from the bottom of the glen, reat t a considerable space of good ground in that locality. Clearly it was not possible that the Apaches should have taken that route; but the scout could not a wishing that he might reach the top of the cliff and see what lay beyond, @ was gazing about with this thought in his head, when his quick eyes caught sight of some- thing vastly more interesting to him than what he had yet seen. It was the painted face of the red-man. This face looked down on him from beside a bowlder at the edge the cliff, Only for an instant was it visible there—then it was quickly withdrawn back behind the bowlder. That the scout was astonished at this unex- pected slght goes without saying. He was also startled; but not even by the twitch of a muscle did he show that he was dis- turbed. His active mind considered the matter and reached a conclusion instantly, It was evident that the spy was being spied upon, that the Indian was a scout who was watching his movements, ) Doubtless the red scout believed that his presence was unsuspected by the white scout, ha he was aware of every motion made by the other. Sarpy determined not to disabuse him of this belief, but to confirm him in it. Therefore he stood and sauntered about as he had been doing, gazing now upward at the cliff, and again at the sides of the glen, as if he suppoged himself to be entirely alone in that e. The White Crook. | rr ey : : SD Aes r er & : é Ne Fe ee ree Ne ee 4 as ao 9 ; Te Sear oe £ ¥ r. iS ae ” * ST, a ¢ De? Ae - ; vv, ~~ Y +5 . "4 f > *; —- J , eA i PN ~ + pr’ os ' ¥ a Pe! went ¥ Or + f are 4 a dew *) Peer, iia ame . aN ‘ . .* ” ’ , “é¥ ) This was a ticklish thing to do, and it required no little nerve, as the Indian was undoubtedly there and must be sorely tempted to shoot down the persistent foe of bis race; but Sarpy was firmly of the opinion that he would do nothing of the kind. It was his belief that the red scout was at or near the camp of the Apaches whom his party had been pursuing; and that, so long as he be- lieved that he had not been seen by the white man, he would not fire a shot, lest he should be- tray the hiding-place of the band to other white men who might be in the vicinity. Of the justice of this belief Sarpy was soon convinced by experience. He remained for the space of fully ten min- utes in full view from the top of the cliff, and no attempt was made to harm him, and he did not catch another glimpse of the painted face beside the howlder. But he knew that the savage was still there, and he had a game of bis own to play. He sauntered a little way down the glen, with his eyes down as if looking for a possible trail, and brought up behind a rock that effectually po him from the view of any person on the cliff. In one respect he had the advantage of the Apache. As it was already known that he was there, he need not fear to betray his presence or proximity by firing a shot, and he was deter- mined to have a shot at the watcher. Hardly had he gotten behind the rock when his rifle was raised, and he rested it against vg inside edge of his shelter, waiting for a shot. He did not have to wait long. The Apache, unable any Potter to see the white man from under the edge of the bowlder, suffered his head to protrude from behind his shelter, that he might get a better view. Seeing nothing of the white man, he advanced the greater part of his body from its conceal- ment and toward the edge of the cliff. This offered a fair shot; but Sarpy waited for a better chance. It was evident that the Apache was sure that he had not been seen, or he would not have ad- ventured so far, , Being settled in that belief, he adventured a little further. Seeing no person in the glen below him, he ap- peared to imagine that his foe might have gotten under the overhanging cliff, and must be looked for there, Holding on with his hands, he craned his body over the edge of the rock until nearly half of it projected out into the air, and took a glance at the under side of the cliff, This was Sarpy’s opportunity, and his rifle cracked, ‘ That was the last of the Apache, who pitched forward with a convulsive movement, and aroppes upon the rock below. If the death-shot had left any breath in his body, the fall would have driven it out. The scout kept himself close in the shelter of the rock, curious to learn what the further effect of his shot might be. If he was near the Apache camp, it would be sure to bring some more of them to the spot. His suspicion proved to be true, as three perriom shortly appeared on the top of the cliff. They looked about to see what had fired the shot, and looked for their comrade, but in vain. In his fall he had struck a rock at the bot- tom of the glen, which had ‘‘ shunted” him in under the cliff, so that he was out of their view, Another good shot was offered to the concealed scout. if not more than one; but he resisted the temptation. {f the Apaches should discover his presence there within easy rifle-shot, the chances would be decidedly against his getting away alive; whereas, if he should keep quiet and concealed, they might go way after a while. He preferred that they should regard the affair as a mystery, like thedisaster that befell them at the torture of Ephraim Cronkhite, and it was soon evident that they did so regard it, as they withdrew from the edge of the cliff after a brief consultation. When he was satisfied that they had departed the scout hastened down the glen until he was out of sight of the cliff, and returned to the camp of his friends. CHAPTER XXXII, A TOO FRESH TRAIL, Ir was dark when Hark Sarpy got back to camp, and he did not tell the story of his dis- covery and adventure until after supper, Eyen then he was in no hurry to spring it on his comrades, but allowed the usual chaff con- corning his want of success as a hunter to draw it out. “You seem to have had bad Inck again, Hark,” observed Captain Long, ‘‘ and I am sor- ry for you. Not that we need any of your help, as Mr. Dunning and Shawnee Jim and the rest comieboo! <A seed’ oO : < > . 1 + &. Berl ip tee A ae ee * 7 ® @g 7 LLL LLB LLL LE /