Beadle's Dime Library No. 417: Tucson Tom — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

8 in his madness, for he cast the loose grass all in a little pile. Dancing Feather utters a little cry. Her Indian education serves her well, and now she comprehends what the idea is that has sprung into existence in his mind. Speedily there is formed a little mound of dried grass. Over this the ranger bends. A light suddenly flashes up—the match is applied to the dry grass, and in another second the whole mass is in a flame. The wind must do the rest. It catches up the blaze, and sweeping it voracious appetite. Faster and faster it rushes along. Fan-like it extends rapidly on either side, and the flames leap higher into the air as they gain new force. It is now a solid wall of fire that goes ae rushing northward, and a low, roaring sound begins to make itself heard. ater having failed to destroy his enemies valiant Tucson Tom had now let loose on them an avalanche of fire, to see what could be done by this element. — **OCome, we must be off,” he said, hoarse- ly, as above the roar of the fiery billow, during a slight calm in the wind his ear caught a chorus of excited yells far away, Quickly both of them mounted. Buckskin went off like the wind, but his double burden soon began to tell, and he reduced his pace. The ranger now changed his course to some extent and aimed in a southeasterly direction. As the barranca was no longer in his way he could do this with impunity, More than once he looked back over his shoulder as though endeavcring to learn yy what the facts were with regard to their foes. Reig This was of course impossible. Reh, The prairie fire lit up the horizon, but it Ps was rapidly growing more dim, as though it he had come across a barrier in the shape of the 4 foot-hills, and was eating along their base, a ek piece of business that must come to an end By when the barranca was reached. es: Poor Buckskin was beginning to show de. 4 cided signs of fatigue, although the noble steed made many a spurt, and kept right they had taken, but the wily Apaches were _ -very apt to judge the course likely to be pur- -_- gued and regulate their own accordingly. ) The dawn came on. When the gray light had become strong . % aiong with commendable grit. ae He had passed through a serious pull of i ea late, and this double burden was the last SB Ihe straw on the camel's back. ‘Ree It had already become evident to the i ty ranger that a halt must be called. ‘ee Could he only sec his immediate surround- : ys: ines he would be better satisfied. ae =? low eagerly he scanned the castern + ‘horizon for traces of the coming dawn. alae It could not be faraway. % pat Unless his eyes deceived him it was even Bit & then on the point of coming. ae ‘Wearily the way was continued + ‘Phere was a chance that they might have $F oy thrown the Indians off the trail by the turn re wee we | -—--—— - = ee eee ! Half an hour before the rising of the sun _they were among the rocks, ucson Tom had been running the matter 'over in his mind, and by this time he had | settled upon his course. At first glance it appeared that of a mad- | man but there was deep wisdom back of it. To plunge into the ‘‘ bad lands” in their pres- ent crippled state, without a supply of food and water, would be seeking death, and the | chances were ten to one against their even coming out again alive. | Had they decided to skirt the edge of the } ; alcug the ground, finds more fuel to feed its | bad lands they must inevitably be overtaken by the Indians before the day was past. | It was because of this dilemma that the ranger decided upon a desperate plan which at least gave some hope of ultimate escape. The Apaches must be few in number. He would meet them in battle and try issues with them. ‘irst of all he rode a mile along the edge of the rocky wilderness before plunging into it, and when this was done he retraced his way, only keeping within the line, to the point where they had first turned. Here they hid. There were two advantages in this. They could look back over their trail and see for several miles out upon the prairie, Should the Indians come in sight and prove too strong a party for Tom to carry out his design, they could withdraw quietly, and be making the best of their way on through the rough country while their pursuers were reaching that point and following their trail a mile or so along the edge, and back. Tom looked to his weapons. They were all in good trim. Dancing Feather begged to take a part in the anticipated affair, but Tom would not hear of it, and insisted upon her remainins at a secure point in therear, where she woul be safe and could watch the conflict without any danger from flying lead. he time passed slowly. When the sun was halt an hour high, the girl called his attention to the prairie. Far out the glitter of lance-tips was seen as the sun shone upon them. The enemy was in sight. Soon they could be seen distinctly. When the ranger could count the Indians he found that there were seven of them all told. This proved them to be the party whom be had seen met by the brave mounted on the buckskin horse, and who had gone into camp just beyond the dbarranca near the foot-hills. lle decided to fight. If they followed the trail closely they would come within ten yards of his = of concealment, and he believed it would be possible fo clean them out so that there would be none left to tell tale. For this he relied almost wholly upon his quick shocting. How slowly the minutes passed. The Apaches drew nearer, and the man sere the rocks knew his time was close at hand, They had now reached the rolling ground. For the time they stood out in bold relief, : enough for them to see their surroundings, | and then vanished from his view as they rode pine they found that the face of the country had | down into the little valley. | changed in a wonderful manner. When they came up again they had de- ere: No longer did tie level prairie confront | creased the space by half, bas Pi them. at was this? ee _ The land was first rolling and further on | Instead of seven there were but four! ee rough and rugged, with traces of volcanic | The little party kad divided! | _-—~—' + upheavals in the dim ages gone by. Tucson Tom could hardly repress a cry of << e Such places are of frequent occurrence in | chagrin when he noted this fact, for it must _ -—-——s Arizona, and are known as the ‘‘ bad lands.” play havoe with his plan. ae, foes In some respects they resemble the famous ad the other three turned to one side to Mepis + ‘bad lands” not far from the Black Hills. roceed down the depression, or were they te iy For more than one reason the ranger was | loitering behind because of some little thing glad to see this section. that had occurred to delay them? ts, He had been looking for it. This latter proved to be the case. ieee The coming of daylight would of course | When the leading fourarrived at the point —s«gerve the fugitives well, but in another sense | where the trail turned sharply to the left, the «it could be looked on as a misfortune, for if | three ptm the rear guard had just come | See their enemies ware within seeing distance | in sight upon the little elevation thirty yards they would be apt. to sight them before they away 1 ae could take shelter among the rocksof the| T ny bitterly disappointed, nothing re- 4. ‘bad lands.” mained but for Tom to open fire. ate Then again it would give the Apaches an | Poe opportunity to follow their trail if they were CHAPTER XIII. . ataloss tc tell which way those they were TEXAN TACTICS. _ ss Seeking had gone. THERE was now no time to lose. ioe Buckskin was urged on as fast as his con-| If the four Apaches once got past his place dition would allow, 6) wl VS. * * ¢7ear é : &., : > o ii ey - ts eb tik “3 ~ he. Fe of concealment, they would give him serious i : ‘Ge ‘ + ‘ ‘ Gs CARR Ft ha 2 hs s “a atin a wes oe he “— ¥ i din = eee ‘Tucson ‘l'om, the Bowie Bravo. ‘| trouble, and might even gain shelter among the rocks before he could snuff them out. They had just turned with the. trail, after Se glance toward the rocks, when Tucson ~ om let his first revolver speak, It was a death-shot, The nearest Indian gave a shrill cry, and dropping his lance, fell forward upon his horse's neck, As the animal, startled, darted away, the fingers of the wretched brave clutched a por- tion of its mane. To this he held with the awful grip of death, and when he fell from his seat, was dragged along for a score of yards until the hoofs of the now stampeding animal tore him from his frenzied hold. Tucson Tom paid no attention to this side- scene of the drama. IIe was wholly wrapped up in what was going on in front, and he had no little task in hand to dispose of his foes. No sooner had that first shot sounded, than each of the three remaining Apaches hastened to throw himself on that side of his mustang away from the rocks, The action was lite lightning, for the braves were as skillful in the maneuver as any wild Comanche of the Texan plains. Despite their agility and readiness for action, the flight of lead was even more rapid. om caught another fellow just as he was going over the back of his animal The bullet took him square in the middle of the forehead, and he dropped like astone, while his steed ran wildly about. This left two enemies in the immediate vicinity, and both of these were hidden from his view behind their mustangs. Tucson Tom had understood this would be the case. His long familiarity with Indian tactics had told him that at the first alarm those of the red-skins who were able, would fall out of sight behind their steeds, An old Indian-fighter alone would know how to meet this emergency, and he proved his claim to that title by sending a couple of leaden missiles into the horses that sheltered with their bodies the red riders, The idea was a success. One of the mustangs made a wild leap, and falling over, crushed the human spider that had been clinging to his side, under him, pinning the rascal to the ground. The other fell with simply a shudder, Teav- ing his master, who had saved himself from the fate of his comrade by a quick leap, ex- posed to the fire of the pale-face. He had his senses about him, and as the next best thing to do under the circum- stances, bounded off eccentric angles, hoping in this manner to confuse the aim of the erim man who stood among the rocks, and looked along the shining barrel of his re- volver. He did not know his man, When that revolver spoke it meant death. The last of his four enemies went pitching forward and lay doubled up in a heap. So far al) was well, Tucson Tom now turned his attention to the other part of the drama. As he looked toward the spot where he had last seen the three Apaches, he was sur- prised and chagrined to find that they were no longer in sight. Short as had been the time during which he was engaged with their companions, they had taken advantage of it. Where had they gone? ; /As his eyes swept the stretch around, he saw one of the horses standing at a certain point, and this told him where his enemies were, Tom now realized that he had work of a new order before him. These three foes must be disposed of else they would make way with him. They would not long remain idle, and once they managed to get in his rear, the game would be ended. ' He kept as bright a lookout as was possi- ble under the circumstances, but there wer plenty of chances for those dusky snakes to slip over among the rocks without his being aware of the circumstance. The first thing he really knew about the matter came in the shape of a scream from Dancing Feather. Turning, he made a, | <¢om break for choo 4 fhe spot _ 3 ee it a | |