Beadle's Dime Library No. 417: Tucson Tom — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

' ¢¢ What now, Abe?” he asked. «‘'T rail forked,” returned the other. Abe never wasted words. His breath seemed too valuable for that. The Texan knew they had reached a crisis in the game, and he understood full well that if a mistake was to be made at all now was the time it would be likely to occur. That the girl had gone with one of the two parties was evident. _ It simply remained to discover which they should follow. ‘‘What is that yonder?” he asked, point- ing to a small object that floated from a mes- quite bush to the right, and past which one of the trails seemed to run. Old Abe snickered. ‘‘That’s an old trick o’ ther reds. It’sa art o’ the gal’s toggery, but it war put thar es ther hands o’ a brave.” He glided forward to examine the spot and in a minute called Tom to his side. “Ts it as you thought, Arizona?” «Look thar!” Tucson Tom, looking down could see the imprint of a moccasin in the soft soil. One of the Indians had leaped from his steed to fasten the piece of cloth upon the twig, no doubt trusting to the hoofs of the horses that followed to obliterate the imprint. *T see,” said Tom, quickly, ‘‘ they want to make us believe the girl went with this party: The trick’s thin as water.” Arizona Abe gurgled with suppressed laughter and his beady eyes glittered as he raised them to the face of the bowie Bravo. ‘‘That's whar ye mistake, Tom. Them crit- ters air sly devils, I tell’ee. They reckoned as how they’d be follered by some half-way trackers, an’ right hyar they laid as neat a trap as any I ever see’d.” ‘* A trap!” ‘That's what I calls it. Ye see they didn’t know Ole Arizony war behind ’em, They reckoned that ye’d jump onter this hyer racket, an’ sure that the gal war wid ther other party, go arter ‘em helter-skelter, an’ a fiend’s own race they’d lead ye all.” ‘Do you mean to say the girl is with this party?” demanded Tom. «“That’s the heft o’ it, pard. The game war a good one, and it w’u’d ’a’ succeeded wid such as are generally found along the border, fur ye critters jest know about enough o’ Injun tactics ter fall inter ther trap.” “Be positive Abe, right here. Prove it in at least one other way. I comprehend now all that you say, and believe you are right, but to make a blunder at this point would be fatal to the success of our plans,” ‘* Jest so.” : The trailer got down on his hands and knees just beyond the mesquite bushes, and with the assistance of the lantern seemed to be examining the marks left by the horses of the little company. He spent almost five minutes thus, during which time the party near by sat upon their steeds watching him curiously, and con- versing in low tones among themselves. At last the trailer arose. ‘¢ Well?” asked Tom, Seles ‘‘ It er all right,” responded Abe. ‘‘She went this way?” ‘‘T’]l stake my sculp on it,’”’ groaned the other. ‘‘ What new proof have you found?’ ‘‘This. Ye see thar are three hosses come this way, while four went that. It er easy ter think ther fourth carried ther gal, but ’twa’n’t so. That hoss war empty. ‘One o’ these three carried a double load on his back—an Injun an’ ther gal.” Tucson Tom now saw that there was every reason to believe what the old trailer said to be the truth. The Apaches were exceedingly cunning, but they were not equal to the task of de- ceiving such a veteran Indian-fighter as Abe. This knotty problem having been solved, the pursuit was resumed. The night was far spent. In another hour daylight would be at hand, and then they need no longer go for- ward at this snail’s pace, but at a rapid gal- lop. he thoughts of Tucson Tom, as he rode along were strange indeed. ei How singularly had the position been re- versed within the last score of hours. Then he was the fugitive, bearing Dancing ' Tucson Tom, the Bowie Bravo. TT Feather to civilization—now he was one ofa | There were a dozen men in all, without hunting-party in pursuit of the Indians who | counting himself or Abe. were carrying the young girl back to the | Among them wereseveral well-known hun- captivity she dreaded. ters, and the Mexicans present showed just He remembered what awful catastrophes | as much eagerness for the success of the ex- had overwhelmed the red-men, and could | pedition as any of their comrades. not but admire the devotion and heroic; Several Tom did not know, but just then courage that had taken this little band to the | he had no suspicion of foul play. very borders of civilization in order to wrest His eyes had fallen more than once on the from the grasp of the pale-faces their fair | strange snake-charmer. ; priestess. Francisco rode with the rest, and had not That they were men without fear, was | a word for any one. proven already. Those who had seen his method of dispos- Then the three who rode off with the | ing of the assassin who had tried to murder horse of the girl—they could expect nothing | him in the casino, gave him a wide berth, but death if the ruse succeeded and the hun- | fearing the deadly serpent which they knew ters followed them, yet they had shown no | was hidden securely on his person. hesitation, and were doing their utmost to Several times Tom was tempted to enter draw the pursuit. into conversation with this man. While they rode along, the darkness grad- He knew the secret concerning Mabel, and ually gave way to a gray atmosphere, and | of all men was the one who could sweep they realized that the longed-for morning | away the cloud of mystery connected with was at hand. her past. The pursuit now began in earnest, andthe | Each time, however, he controlled himself, little band thundered along over the level | and allowed his thoughts to run in different prairie with but one purpose in view. - channels, though they always came back to Mabel and the peril threatening her. CHAPTER XXXIII. How tedious were the hours. IN THE SADDLE. Again and again did Tucson Tom rise in THE sun arose. ' his stirrups and survey the land ahead. Eagerly Tucson Tom scanned the prairie, They no longer rode over the level prairie. ahead of them. In this direction the ground had first be- He could hardly have told what he hoped ; come rolling, like the billows of the ocean, to see, but whatever it was he certainly found | and then, elevations were reached. himself doomed to disappointment. | The Indians had kept their wiry little mus- There were small groups of antelopes in | tangs at it persistently. sight, and a herd of bison far away to the An Indian can get a great deal more out northwest, but not a human being. of a horse than any white that ever breathed ‘Arizona Abe noticed his action, for the | and they were proving this now. two were riding side by side. When the rolling land had been struck, ‘No go, cap’n, an’ it’s as well in ther end. | the trail led along one of the depressions. S’pose we war ter sight them critters now. | There was much wisdom in this course, as What d’ye s’pose they’d do?” | it saved the mustangs of the Indians and at ‘* Fight like demons,” the same time kept them out of sight should ‘‘Yas, sell their lives all-fired dear, arter | any hostile party be upon the plain. they’d put it outen our power ter resky ther | Arizona Abe was not averse to it either. gal they worships.” So long as they were riding along this hol- ‘“What! do you believe they’d murder | low their chances of discovery by those they her?” | were pursuing, should the Apaches have ‘‘T know it.” | struck the mountain spur, would be lessened. ‘* But she is sacred to them,”’ | How many miles had been put behind ‘See hyar, Cap. Rather than have her | them it would be quite impossible to say, but fall inter yer hands ag’in, they’d stab her ter | pursuers and pursued had passed over an in- ther heart. Ye don’t know these hyar reds | credible distance since the chase began, al- like me. I say, go slow, and git within a | though they were perhaps not thirty miles respectable distance so ye kin crawl up on | away from Tucson as the crow flies. ‘em like over night.” | Once Tucson Tom expressed a fear that ‘*T see, old friend. Doubtless you are | they might be treading too closely upon the right. At any rate, 1 leave the whole busi- | heels of the fugitives. ness in your hands. Manage it as you; The old ranger assured him however that please.” , those they pursued were at least two hours Never fear but Ole Arizony ’ll bring it about all right.” There was confidence in the old prairie- man’s voice, and Tucson Tom might have felt better only for the thought that came to him ever and anon respecting the young girl and her terrible situation. What if some accident were to occur? A thousand such were at least among the possibilities. Whatif they should come upon the trio of | ‘‘Thank-ee, Cap. Apaches unexpectedly at some time during ahead and their mustangs gave no indication of breaking down as yet. Had it been desirable for our friends to have overtaken the Indians, such a thing could have been done by this time. It was not their policy to do this. If possible they desired that even their presence should not be discovered, though this might prove rather difficult to conceal. The afternoon was more than half over when Arizona Abe brought them all toa sud- den halt. “See,” said he, ‘‘hyer they halted. One o’ ’em rode up ther bank ter takea peek. He called ther rest an’ up theyswept. Then the course war resumed.” ‘* What did they see?” asked Tom. “*] think we'll find out further on. my ’spicions though,” grunted Abe. They rode along. Before a mile had been passed over there were sudden explanations from those who were in the advance The trail of the three Indians could no lon- ger be seen. It was swallowed up in a multitude of the day? The result would be terrible should the Indians do as Abe prophesied and kill their captive before sacrificing their own lives. He had much to engage his thoughts as he rode on with the rest, and when he noticed from time to time that Arizona Abe was slackening their pace, he offered no objec- tion such as might have come naturally from his impatient lips had he not been conver- sant with the true inwardness of the case. Thus the time passed. Noon found them pushing onward, though they halted for an hour beneath the shade of a timber growth to rest their horses and themselves. Both were sadly in need of food, and the time was passed in satisfying their hunger and the cravings of thirst. Again they were on the way. The sun scorched them, and their steeds panted with the heat like dogs, yet brave I has thought would be thata herd of mustangs had swept down into the depression and fol lowed the course taken by the fugitives. Arizona Abe knew better than that. True, there had been mustangs there, but every one of them bore a red rider on his back. The fugitives had been met by friends, hearts were there, and those men were ready Tucson Tom now realized the wisdom of to encounter more difficulties than this for the sake of overtaking the daring Indians who had even invaded Tucson itself in order to carry out their bold plan. More than once Tom’s eyes had ranged over the little band. J stead of starting off alone. Had this former occurred his hopes would be small indeed, but when he looked alon the line of his valiant comrades, he believe Eomilecbooks “4 ~.. pep 2 a. 2 4. a An ahh sé teeny vy i hates aa af® hoof-prints, looking at which one’s first his course in waiting to gather a party in- / « - * a: ae, Ps - a ya "ies baad rd s 2 -" a * id era 4; ro ~ 7% — = * ‘i, ° . : * s a a ;