Beadle's Dime Library No. 411: The White Crook — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

i a ; 4 —- a hy oar e =i t ~~ hs 4 4 ** ca, e & Fhe t-J «showering tears and endearing epithets upon hi im. W hen she had followed him up to the plateau, their common grief brought the sisters into close communion at once, and they fell into each other’s arms and wept. * This completed the civilization of Eva, so far _ that he mig " at. ert Mr. Sar as her family was concerned. Thenceforward she was her father’s daughter, and her sister’s sister, and Bella Vista was her home, and she was glad to be there. It was evident to Hark Sarpy’s friends that and the soldiers wanted to hang him, Perhaps that would have been the right thing to do; but it seemed to me to be too cruel, and—I am afraid I did wrong, Mr. Sarpy—but I talked the matter over with Hettie, and we agreed to just turn the scamp loose and let him ‘**That was right,’ said Hark. ‘If I had ‘been here, I suppose I would have joined in with the soldiers and strung him up; but I feel - slide.” differently now, and am glad you let him go. Is that all you wanted to tell me? I thought that perhaps you had something to say about _Hettie.” ‘* T wanted to say something,” answered Mark, ** but I was afraid of oe you, Ilove your , and— ark. I had supposed that at will do, ad to hear there with bim, Hark set caused himself to be propped up, t speak to them. *‘Don’t cry, girls,” he said, ‘‘ You mustn’t > . ~>--2 @& -— wee - 4. Se ——— ae ~ » » i? 4 The White Crook. deeds which had gained him the name of rs Hark, the Hater,” should change her love to ear, She had lately had some insight into this - * a7 a. i om x where . | fer of his character, and when the truth of | is long search and his exciting career was dis- experience some knowledge of mining matters, and he knew enough to easily decide that they bad been taken from a rich vein. The old man had said that Shawnee Jim could tell his young friends about the mine, and both he and Manuel were ready to give all the infor- closed to her, she was not greatly surprised, nor | mation in their power. did it diminish her love and respect ther who had been so faithful to his own. It was a little strange, perhaps, but not as wholly unreasonable as it appeared to some of those about her, that the first effect of the story | floodgates of her sorrow. To bring Eva fully back to civilization and make her one of themselves, it was thought pro- per that she should discard her Apache apparel and assume an attire that was better suited to her present position. As no mourning goods were available at Bella Vista, Hester prepared for her sister, with the help of Mrs. Dunning, some of her own gar- ments, and Eva was easily induced to wear them, Her transformation from a wild girl into a young lady not only improved her appearance vastly, but assisted the civilizing process which had been so well begun, It was admitted by her friends, however, that Jack Bunn could be better trusted than any- body else with her education in the ways of civilization. the house on the plateau as long affairs would allow them to do so. Bob Dunning returned to the ranchin the valley with Joe Buller and Ben Boggs, discover- as their own or the fa- | The mine was not far from the plateau and the house; but the difficulty with its practical and profitable working was found in the fact that the location was so inaccessible to make it almost impossible to get in machinery for reduc- settled plan or doing any regular work at the mine. Before the necessary agricultural operations at Bella Vista were quite completed, Manuel made a hasty visit to the mine, to inquire into its condition and that of the tools which had been left there, work having been intermitted since the close of the preceding fall. He came home with a gloomy countenance and a puzzled look that provoked inquiry. He seemed to be loth to speak, and ‘the cause of his hesitation was found in the fact that he considered his tale so improbable that he could not expect it to be believed. Yet, when the pressure of curiosity compelled him to tell it, it proved to be a very simple matter—at least, in one aspect. His report was that a portion of the ore which they had taken out and broken up had been hy _—s you would want to say that. [amg : reer it, and [ have no doubt that she loves you. Let ‘* She loves him,” said Hettie, ‘‘and she will | carried away. iw “ae me alone now, and keep the girls away from | learn more from him in a day than we could This was not at all wonderful, inasmuch as aa me, [am sure that I am going to last through | teach her in a week.” valuable ore that was left unguarded was always (Wey er 4 the night, and in the morning | will have some- Hark Sarpy was buried on the plateau of his | liable to be stolen, provided it should be discoy- anh! thing to say to you.” beloved Bella Vista, and Mark Stepney, who re- | ered by rascals, and there was always plenty of | ieee The wounded man did last through the night; | membered somewhat of the Episcopalian ritual, | rascals. ie but in the morning he found himself sinking | added a solemnity to the occasion by repeating At the same time it was quite surprising, be- HY _—ss vapidly, and it was evident that he had but a | portions of the service tor the dead. cause the mine, if it should happen to be discov- ma bent little longer to live. Under the circumstances—it being settled that | ered, was so difficult of access, and because it ate At his request he was carried on his couch out | Mark Stepney and Jack Bunn should remain | could hardly be a profitable business to thieves +» «nder the trees in front of the house, so that he | at Bella Vista until it should be deemed proper | to transport the ore a long distance. might see before he died as much as possible of | and feasible to bring to pass certain events in Therefore Manuel’s story was received, as he " ~~ his beloved Bella Vista. aah. which they were jointly interested with the two | had expected it to be, with expressions of incre- eats = Hettie and Eva were sobbing at his side, and | sisters—it was thought best that Mrs. Dunning | dulity, especially on the part of Shawnee , ; of course Mark Stepney and Jack Bunn were | and her husband should protract their stay at | Jim He stuck to it, all the same, positively declar- ing that there could be no doubt of the disap- earance of a portion of the ore, and that the indications atone | showed that the removal had tg wh w about me. Itis better as it is. I have | ed that it had not been materially injured by | been recently made, ~~ always expected to die in this way, and the | the Anache raid, and set at work to straighten On these points he insisted so strongly that wonder is that [ have lived so long. T am satis- up things and continue the plan which had been | Mark Stepney resolved to visit the mine as soon ae, ae a, 3 - - fied now, and am quite willing to go, as I have at last found my lost child and brought her home. Mark, Iam glad that I found you and | ~Jack. “You came just in time to be a blessing to laid out for the season’s employment. Captain Dunning visited them occasionally to note their progress and give directions; but the greater part of his time was passed at Bella as possible and investigate the mystery. he next morning he set out for that purpose, accompanied by Manuel and Captain Dunning, leaving Jack Bunn and Shawnee Jim in charge y _his days were numbered, if not his hours, that was told to her was to cause her to dislike | ing the ore, and difficult to carry the rock away of That was his opinion, and he expressed it | her new-found sister. for that purpose. bh Be! Se freely; but he suffered no pain, and he seemed Eva as it seemed to her at the moment, was ‘* That don’t matter,” suggested Mark Stepney, i + to await the end with resignation if not with | more or less directly the cause of her father’s | ‘‘If the ore averages anything like as well as Bb ee =< Sepa ts rg death. the specimens we have here, there can be some | aN, The girls were both anxious to be with him If she had not obstinately gone back to the wen found to get the metal out.” ag and to help attend upon him; but their tears | Apaches after she had been rescued from them, 0 such way had yet been discovered, though mes’ 4 and agitation were such that his nurses would | he need not have gone in search of her again, | Hark Sarpy had an idea that if he could get his ee? , permit them to be near him but a little while, and would not have been slain by her Indian | machinery in he might work it by means of a eae Mark Stepney had something on his mind | lover. flume stream from the pond in the mountain ot which he communicated to the wounded man as In justice to Hester, however, it must be said | that supplied the plateau with water. eae soon as he was allowed to do so, that this mood lasted but a little while. As yet the discoverer and proprietor of the is “ee “You remember, Mr. Sarpy,” said he, ‘‘ that After the first severe outburst of grief she was | mine had done nothing except, with the help of ia there was a white man among the Apaches who | quick to perceive the injustice of ber thought, | his few men at Bella Vista, to tap the vein and ‘! 2 first attacked us here. You knew him, and } and to recognize the fact that Eva was entirely | take out a little ore, which had been broken up Aga gave his name as Zeke Stebbins, He must have | innocent of any intentional harm. for the purpose of transportation or other ae come back when the second attack was made, as The reaction naturally came in the form of an | use, ty ae we found him hiding on the plateau after Cap- | almost extravagant affection for the sister It is to be supposed that his frequent and hee ‘tain Lang had gone away, and made a prisoner | whom she had wronged in her mind, and this, nem absences, occasioned by the search for ee of him. I didn’t know what to do with him, | more than anything else, helped to close the | his child, had prevented bim from forming any — ~~ me, +Ileave my girls to your care, trusting in | Vista. of Bella Vista. your truth and honor. There will be enough They went on foot, as they had buta short dis- |» for all of you, as I have a mine in the hills here CHAPTER XL. tance to travel, and were well armed, as it was _ ~~ which has scarcely been coer into. Shawnee TROUBLE AT THE DEAD MAN’S MIN@. possible that they might encounter some of the | _ _. Jim will tell you all about it. Be good to Jim AFTER the death of Hark Sarpy the thread of | thieves, though it was reasonable to suppose that | ~~ and Kate. There—I—God bless you!” life was taken up at Bella Vista by its old and | the depredations were committed under cover of hey These were the last words that were uttered | new inmates, the intention being to carry out | the night. by Hark apg the wishes of its late master as far as they had} Mark Stepney was surprised at the character i. He sunk into a state of unconsciousness, and | been expressed or could be inferred. of the route that led to the hidden mine. . ~, 4 €;, . ‘ a «. S jab “where there was ample room for his big soul to “in that condition died within an hour. He died, as he wished to, in the open air, The first thing necessary was to take care of the bas ae on the plateau, which had been neglected and to some extent trampled and It was a continuation of the narrow pass or crevice which led from the main pass. through the mountain range, and from which Hark Sar- pv had diverged with his young friends by the ae escape. otherwise interfered with during the recent in- ae coe At his side were his two daughters, and near | cursions. cut in the rock which took them to the top of him were all his friends, and Eva, the recovered |__In this the advice and assistance of Captain | the plateau. ne, whom he had sought so long and faithfully, under ing so many hardships and | _ through so many perils, knelt by his couch an held his hand until it was lifeless, J a¥ ty A The half-wild creature, lately the pride of the ___. Apaches, mourned sincerely for the father whom f she had lost almost as soon as she had found him; but her sorrow was not to be compared to ae _ that of her sister. To Hester Sarpy her father had so long been Dunning were very valuable, and thetwo young men, though quite unused to agricultural labor, oe up by zeal for what they lacked in know- edge. ; Eva Sarpy took such a lively interest in this oe of civilized existence, that it was with ifficulty she could be persuaded from taking a hoe and working with the rest. Among the Apaches, she said, the squaws did such work as that, and it was necessary to re- This crevice continued in a northerly direc- tion, cutting off the plateau from the rest of the range. At a point which corresponded with the upper end of the plateau, Manuel stopped and pointed out the place where the Apaches bad ascended to make their first attack on Bella Vista. Stepney examined the location, and suggested that with afew charges of blasting powder he could make the plateau impregnable at that alll in all, and she had so admired him for his | mind her that she was not a squaw. point. manly qualities and loved him as her dne friend | Though she was not allowed to labor in the The narrow pass shortly made a bend to f | ¥ and protector, that’ his death gave her a shock | field, she was not prevented from accompanying | the right, leading to the basin in which the mine ? . from which she did not soon recover, and she | the others, and she naturally attached herself | was situated. } rae Sj ba as one who could not be comforted, to that portion of the work in which Jack Bunn | This basin was an irregular oval in shape, and Her friends applied themselves to the task | was engaged. _ | in extent comprised about two acres of some- __. f solacing her sorrow, but did not easily suc- | There was one other of Hark Sarpy’s enter- | whatrocky ground. | 9). cead. prises which required the attention of his present | _ Its sides were mountainous, lofty and general- | To divert her mind from its present grief | representatives, and that was the mine of which | ly inaccessible, the eatern end being a sheer cliff . aie Hark Sarpy’s life which had been pa * x they made her acquainted with end ig of apart om her, and which he had carefully concealed he had spoken to Mark Stepney. Hester knew of the mine, though she had never seen it, and had in her possession some specimens with a slight overhang. The western end was the side of a steep moun- tain peak, the same which closed in the upper from her lest she should be too anxious con- | of the ore which her father had given her. .¢erning him during his absence, and lest the judging pretty accurately the location of ‘aw, ‘ - “\ i es She showed them to Mark, who had gained by i " * a ’ J ry " ' ou : end of the Bella Vista plateau, and Stepney, ) Thy 4 a a ea oe (hel e 4 a | “as ; By + P Pad me ) cared . why “ pi teed eS gt. ot aa & ; . os Pa; . + 4 | NE AES "SA “- i" v .e al a Va oa* S4 4 ae a. ee :. re oe, . ae ae ip Ee ee Shears ee ay See of plete’? Ss Web ee se