Beadle's Dime Library No. 417: Tucson Tom — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

7 4 22 At first he pricked up his ears at the sound and then muttering, let his head fall again. What a fool to think there could be any- thing in that. There was hardly an hour of the day or night that some mounted party did not arrive at or leave Tucson, so that he had no reason to draw hope from this quarter. A minute passed sb Then there suddenly broke upon the town a wild cry from the lungs of a man. ‘‘Indians! Indians!” The words rung out on the still night air with startling distinctness. They were followed by several shots, and after this nothing was to be heard but the rapidly receding sound of hoof-notes. Cortina had been fully aroused by this oc- currence, and was once more himself. He took in the situation. The little band of devoted Apaches had reached the town at about the time the other detachments had arrived. Perhaps one of their number as a spy, had witnessed the coming of Tom and the young girl, and had marked the room whither she was shown in the hostelry. Be that as it may, they knew the exact place where to look for her, as had been seme evident by the ladder below the win- Ow. The probability was that they had suc- ceeded in abducting their fair god, and had her safely mounted, when the three braves who had just been encountered, had been sent back for some purpose, perhaps to fire the building, first removing the ladder and thus leave no trace of their having been there. When the girl was found to be missing, the only conclusion her friends could arrive at outs be that she had been smothered in the smoke and perished in the fire. If this had been the design of the cunning Apaches, it was frustrated by the coming of Cortina and his band upon the scene. Too many cooks spoil the broth, and in this case it had come near being made a mess of by both parties. Cortina was not as angry as might have been expected. Each party had something to boast of. The Apaches had secured what they were after, though at the expense of their num- bers, for two had been stricken down. Cortina, on his part, though he had lost a man—Pedro having been choked and stabbed by the red-men as they drew him into the upper room—had reason to feel some satis- faction over the matter. The girl had been taken away from the Texan, and in the hands of the Apaches she was as badlv off as had originally been the case. By this time the Indians must. begin to realize that the Priestess of the Sun had not been an unwilling captive of Tucson Tom, and now that she was again in their hands they would doubtless watch her more closely. ‘ Should the chances seem to favor her fall- ing again into the hands of the whites, they would evidently rather murder her than let this occur. From this it will be seen that Cortina had some reason to feel satisfied with the way things were going. If he had not accomplished his object, he at least had the satisfaction of knowing that the Texan was defeuted. uickly he and his men left the place, taking the body of Pedro with them. The party then headed in the direction from whence had come those thrilling cries. Others were moving thither. Men from the town, heavily armed, in large and small squads were to be met with here and there, blazing torches indicating their presence to each other, A weak voice at last drew their attention: _ “This way, comrades, for the love of mercy. This way. Caramba/ I am a dead man!” Soon they were gathered around the man who lay upon the sward with several bullets in his body. Through the crowd there broke at this moment a man who seemed laboring under some excitement. It was Tucson Tom. He had just come from the tavern where the story of the landlord and the presence —_—=— OOO C—O ee a S———— of the two dead Indians had awakened ter- rible suspicions in his mind. Tucson Tom, the Bowie Bravo. old trapper named Arizona Abe, and as he glided along—his horse being led by one of The others gave way before him, as if.in | the party—he held a lantern so as to dis- the redoubtable Texan they recognized a | tinguish the plain trail left by the Apaches. man born to be a leader. Tucson Tom bent over the wounded man. The dull glare of the torches lit up the scene and lent a peculiar aspect to its com- ponent parts. There was that in the face of the stricken Mexican that told he had,not long to tive, and Tucson Tom saw that if any information was to be gotten out of him there was no time to waste. ° ‘What! is it ‘* Si, Senor man. ‘* What brought you here, my friend?” ‘* Apache bullets—curse them.” ‘‘How many braves were there in the band? Think, Carlos, for we shall avenge your injuries. How many warriors could you count?” The man was silent a moment, but it was only to catch his breath. ‘* About six, senor.” ‘‘One more question, my friend. These braves came here with a purpose, as you may suppose. Did they have a prisoner?” His heart seemed tu stand still as he waited for the reply. ‘‘I do not know—yes, I think they did, ou, Carlos?” om,’”’ feebly responded the | for I remember now, just as | shouted, I. saw a form among them, with a brave on each side, and the thought flashed upon me— that they had taken a prisoner; but those cursed bullets have riddled me so. Ah! carissima ! how they burn.” Tucson Tom was calm now. The man was dying, and he had not yet answered that question fully. ‘What made you think it was a prisoner they had instead of a wounded comrade?” This was straight at the heart of the mat- ter and could not but bring out the expected answer. ‘‘ Because it was a woman,” he groaned. That was enough. Tucson Tom realized that ail his good work had been for naught—that the young girl was again in the hands of the Apaches. The affair would have to be done over again. It was a fortunate thing that he was a man of such iron nerve, for to meet such an oc- casion he needed all his grit. Pursuit was the first thing on the pro- gramme. The Indians had come a loug distance and their mustangs must be weary. In that party of rescuers was one man whose presence was a continual threat and menace to Tucson Tom. Cortina had sent a spy to do his work! CHAPTER XXXII. ARIZONA ABE, THE TRAILER. THEIR progress was necessarily slow. They could not hope to come up with their red foes during the night. Such a thing was beyond the bounds of all reason, for the Apaches could get the best speed possible out of their animals, while the traitors were compelled to move along ata speed equal to a dog-trot in order to conform with the pace of the man who led them. Arizona Abe had seen long service on the plains and among the mountains of the Southwest. Few Indian raids had been carried out without his being of the number. He cherished a hatred for the Apaches that was like burning timber—no matter what the number of those slain, this terrible prejudice was never assuaged. Upon the stock of his old rifle he had long rows of notches. Each of them meant a death, and the part devoted to the Apaches equaled all the rest. Many had speculated upon the cause of the old ranger’s hatred, but the truth was known to a few. It was a purely personal matter, Abe may have lost friends from time to time in his various affairs with the Indians, but he was not avenging them in thus fol- lowing his many trails. Once he had himself come very near death at the hands of these red-men. That he escaped was a miracle, for he was _ left for dead, having four bullets within the corporate limits of his body and as many lance wounds. With wonderful tenacity of life he had crawled to a brook, revived himself with water and subsisting on the stock of dried meat he had on his person, managed event- ually to gain the camp of some Mexicans. Mounted on fresh horses the pursuers | would be able to overtake them ere long. Tom immediately asked for volunteers. There were a number who offered their services, and soon a gatherin near the spot where Carlos lay dead. Horses curveted around, men shouted to each other, and the jingling of weapons made merry music upon the night air. Among the little party thus crganized were several Mexicans. The hatred borne by this people for the Apaches is something terrible. As far back as we know anything of them they have been at war with each other, and the fierce forays of the Indians have met re- prisals at times in daring expeditions to the heart of Apache-land by parties of rangers and jaguar-hunters, who have spared none in their mission of vengeance. Many a Mexican home had mourned over the loss of some child carried away in one of these Apache forays, and whenever the op- portunity came to strike a blow in memory of the past, men were not found wanting. Old Captain Sams was one of the party and Francisco, the snake charmer another. took place | Even this in itself was not the reason of his unquenchable hatred. Arizona Abe wore a tight-fitting cap made of the skin of a gray wolf. Had this been removed one would have seen a singular and horrible spectacle. The man had been scalped. Only a narrow fringe of iron-gray hair surrounded his cranium—the balance was rough and of a peculiar hue once seen never forgotten. his was the reason of his malignity. While he lived he would never get over the deep sense of humiliation which continually came upon him whenever he heard the name of an Apache mentioned. Many a time had he gone out with the avowed purpose of recovering his lost scalp, but years had passed, and the object which had become his dearest in life was no nearer its fulfillment than when he began. This then was the man upon vhom Tucson Tom most depended. There were others in the party fully as valiant as Arizona Abe, and whose motive in coming upon the expedition would no doubt bear a more rigid examination than his but none of them had such a wonderful fund of experience to draw from as the scalp- less oid prairie ranger. As a trailer Abe had no equal. He was perfectly at home in this respect, and it may be set down as certain that he he was never happier than when leading a Tucson Tom feared that the little party of party upon the trail of Apache marauders.’ Apaches might, before they could be over- As the hours went by they moved along hauled, meet with a larger band, and if he slowly yet surely. started alone upon the trail, he might thus have reason to regret the step. He rode a mustang, and led Buckskin, for Once in a while the human hound in the lead would halt and examine the trail at a point where some suspicion had been aroused, the latter was not as fresh as might have been only to go on again as before, at that tireless wished, after the terrible strain of the past few days and nights. The others of the party all had fresh mounts and were heavily armed, It would be a bad time for the little band — | dog-trot. ft was about an hour before daybreak when he came to an abrupt halt, This time he meant business. There was that in his demeanor that told of Apaches should they be overtaken before Tucson Tom something was amiss. they had been granted an opportunity for a coalescing with a larger party. At the head cf the party rode a leathery the saddle, touched him on the arm, \ 7 } ' Halting the party he rode up to where | Arizona Abe stood, and bending down in Cc S) eom 0)(0 0) (E(0)