Beadle's Dime Library No. 417: Tucson Tom — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

> | ) | _ Tucson Tom, the Bowie Bravo. Every few yards of the adyance was mark- ed by a temporary halt. Tucson Tom would then raise his head above the surrounding herbage, and take a survey of the situation; then, satisfied that all was well, he would once more bow close to the earth and again advance. They were now nearing the spot where he | had seen the first camp of the Indians. At any moment it migh be expected that they would run upon a vedette. Tucson Tom knew how to put such a bar- rier out of their path. A patch of timber now loomed up. This had to be passed, for the horses were secured on the other side. It was not an easy task, for the keen eyes of Apache sentries were watching, and their ears were on the alert for any unusual sound that should disturb the silence of the night. Foot by foot they advanced. Tucson Tom felt a thrill of pride at the nerve shown by the young girl. She could not have won his admiration so thoroughly in any other manner. Looking to the south, Tom saw the dark figure of an Indian outlined against the low horizon line. The Apache was not more than twenty feet away, and yet so silently did the two crawi through the grass, that he appeared to have no suspicion of their presence. Other dangers there were, but they avoided them all, and finally gained the rear of the timber. By this they knew they must be close to the horses, and the quick ear of the ranger wus on the alert for some sign of their presence. It came at last. The unmistakable sound of some still hungry steed, cropping the shorter, sweeter grass that grew close to the ground, was heard. With this to guide them, they could not go astray, and still their extremest caution was not relaxed. The Apaches’ horses bad been staked out , aS was customary. Tucson Tom soon came upon them. They were watched by the guard. This guard, of course, must be disposed of before the desired end could be achieved, The ranger moved toward him. . He had the advantage of seeing his enemy, without himself being seen, and could thus watch every movement as he advanced. It was worth something to see the wonder- ful advance made by that man with the iron nerve, as he drew himself inch by inch over the intervening ground, his eyes glued upon the figure of his intended victim. Between his teeth the ranger held one of his bowies. Once he found an opportunity to make use of this, all hope for the Apache was over. Nearer and nearer he crept. The brave had his lance thrust into the oo and seemed to be leaning up against 1 Tom could not even be sure that he was not asleep, for he now saw that the man’s head seemed to be inclined forward. This would make his task so much the easier, and for this he was thankful. Once a little twig, blown hither by the recent wind from the motte of trees near by, a. sa under his weight. he sound was slight, but quite enough to reach keen ears on the alert, so that Tom looked to see some sign that would tell him the guard suspected the presence of danger. Nothing of the kind occurred, and soon the Texan rose up behind the horse-guard like a specter of the night. The horses were near by, and Tom even i alow whinny, which he knew full well as he reached out his left hand to close it upon the red-skin’s throat. othing could apparently save the doomed horse-guard, for, as the fingers of the ranger fastened upon his dusky neck, the bowie was drawn for the fatal stroke; but it was not given! ——_. + CHAPTER XI. _ INTO THE GOPHER TRAP. THe ranger had made an astounding dis- covery that, for the moment, palsied his arm. He had stretched out his hand to grasp a 7 living man, but like a flash came the fearful and Tom could afford to laugh when he knowledge that he had clutched the throat of | once more pressed his knees against the sides a corpse! No wonder he had stayed his stroke. What deviltry was this? The dead brave was lashed to the upright | of Buckskin. That the pursuit was instantly begun, he knew full well. It was a question of endurance and good lance, and in this way kept in a standing | fortune. position, Tom realized that it was not done without | a motive, and what the probable nature of this motive must be he could easily guess. far made any descent from his camp on the foot-hills, he would certainly aim for the spot where the horses were staked, as it would be impossible for him to get away on foot. Believing thus, he had prepared a dummy and made use of one of his comrades who had been drowned in the arroyo. Doubtiess the cunning savage crouched near at hand, watching and waiting. This flashed through the mind of the ranger. In truth, he seemed to bave hardly clutched the Indian by the throat than he realized his grasp and turned about. A rustling of the grass warned him that he was in danger. Even as he whirled around a dusky figure sprung upon him, but before the confident uard could realize that he had made a fear- ul blunder, be was in the clutch of the pale- face’s terrible left hand. Then there was a sudden upheaval, and the two men went down beside the phantom sentry— Tom on top. The tragedy was short: the brave was soon in the throes of death—a perfectly silent death. Tom arose, and immediately by low signal called Dancing Feather to his side. There is nothing like common danger, shared in company, to draw souls together, and these two, however much they may have thought of each other in the past, now grew dearer because of the perils surround- ing them. abel shuddered when she saw the dead horse-guard, and then looked with pride upon her companion, as she anxiously scan- ned him. Had he been hurt in the encoun- ter? Being assured that her hero had not re- ceived a scratch, she quietly followed him among the horses. Tucson Tom speedily found Buckskin. The faithful animal was greatly pleased at the meeting, and manifested. his feelings by rubbing his velvety muzzle against the ran- ger’s cheek. Buckskin, strangely enough, still had his saddle and bridle on, as if for instant use. As the horse Dancing Feather had ridden was not to be found, it was supposed that the animal had been overwhelmed in the water avalanche, This being the case she decided upon a steed that seemed to possess good points. On this beast Tom quickly flung the Indian’s bridle and saddle. But Tucson Tom had no intention of Jeav- ing the other five horses behind, so he fast- ened them by a lariat in a string to the sad- dle-horn and having assisted the young girl to mount, sprung upon the back of his good Buckskin. At that moment there came a flash from the grass near by, accompanied by the report of a gun. The bullet whizzed by within an inch of the daring ranger’s head. They were discovered! A shrill shout rung out as the unseen marksman realized that he had missed his mark. No longer was there need of caution. Safety now Jay in the heels of their steeds and the sooner they left the vicinity of the timber the better, Already answering cries were heard from the camp close by, and in several quarters more remote. ‘‘Now for it, little gal!” cried the Bowie Bravo. Off they started Jike a young whirlwind; the very air seemed to exhilarate them. Behind they left their deadly foes, part of them mounted, the rest on foot. Neatly had the Apaches been outwitted, ~ a We et hs Dancing Feather shared his light spirits, and kept ever at his side. Behind came the string of five mustangs; these Tom intended to cut loose when they | had gone such a distance that there would The horse-guard had believed that if the | bold white man who had defied them thus | be no possible chance of their falling into the hands of their owners, in time for them to take part in the pursuit. The general direction taken by the fugi- tives was almost due south, and in the teeth of a strong wind. The reason for this was because the bar- ranca ran that way, and in the darkness of the night an attempt to cross this could only meet with disastrous results, How many pursuers there were it was 1m- possible to tell; but the ranger knew that the Apaches were holding their own, and this was something that did not please him. After a time he let one of the led horses drop off, and then another, and a third, until all were gone. The fugitives were now able to increase their speed a little. As mile after mile was passed over they gained upon their pursuers, and at last no sounds from the rear were heard. But Tom indulged in no wild hopes. He knew the wolf-like tenacity of the Apaches too well to think they had given up. So long as the slightest chance of over- taking those they hunted remained, the red riders would push onward. That was their nature. . He had hunted Apaches more than once, and been chased by them, so that experience was not lacking in his composition. The horses responded nobly to the de-: mands made upon their powers from time to time. It was not Tom’s policy, however, to urge them to too great a speed, as such a course would no doubt prove fatal to their hopes in the end. He was satisfied with the progress they were already making, for if it could only be kept up until dawn they would have such a start of their pursuers that escape would bea settled fact, uniess some unforeseen accident occurred. That was nearer than they thought. Dancing Feather’s mustang set his left fore-hoof into the burrow of a prairie dog, and although it only sunk a portion of the we the shock was great. t was only through the fact of her bein an expert rider that the girl saved herse from a fearful fall. As it was, the mustang was found to have broken his leg just below the knee, This was a preity kettle of fish. One horse now remained for the two of them, and strong and fleet as Buckskin un- doubtedly was, he could not maintain a suc- cessful race against the wiry mustangs of their pursuers. What was to be done? How Tom wished they had retained one of the five led horses for some such emer- gency. It was no use crying over spilled milk. Some way out of the difficulty must be found, and no brain could conjure up a ee more readily than that of Tucson om. CHAPTER XII. THE PRAIRIE FIRE. DaNcInG FEATHER stands near the ranger. Her eyes are upon him, for she realizes that another crisis in their affairs has been reached, and she is anxious to see what her companion will do about it. / Net that she for a moment doubts his ability to cope with the situation and snatch victory from seeming defeat. She has too sincere a faith in her hero. Only for che space of half a minute Tom stands thus. Then he makes a quick move. | The girl sees him bend down and@*feel of the grass around them. Then he begins to tear at it like one gone mad, bat ftir Yo SF 3 b ; = a IW +2 \" 4 j ~ = = I | ha 2 o* . ) -* *s . *. F i a -