Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 420 — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

ee ee oe zac | I shouldn’t wonder if she has taken the best The Old d River Id River Sport. Ci =_- the young man. ‘** 1 don’t see anything to laugh at. “You must excuse me, Cap. I was jest a-thinkin’ about that durned fool, Sam Wilsey.” ‘“Who i; he, and what is the matter with him?” ‘‘He was on guard up thar till midnight, and when I went to take his place he told me tnat he had seen a ghost, and a she-ghost at that. I laughed at him then, but now 1 am beginnin’ to think that thar wes suthin’ in it.” ‘* What was in it?” ‘* Why, that them gals had slipped by him and gone out that way. | When they had got by the sentry in the little pass they imagined that their troubles were end- ed, whereas in fact they were just begun. They had escaped from their enemies, or Eva had, and were presumably safe; but w here were they: ? It was evident that they were in a narrow pass from which there was no exit at either side, and therefore they could only g0 o straight ahead: but it was as dark asa rat hole in there, and they could only make their way by feeling, not being able to see, as the saying is, the hand before the face. They kept as close together as they could, for Sam Wilsey was called in and questioned, and | the sake of company, though there was no fear when he told his story as he had toid it to his | comrade, Mark Hannafin was also of the opin- | that they would lose ‘each other, and were con- tinually running against trees and into bushes, ion that the fugitives had passed him and gone | and stumbling x over rocks and other obstructions, out, +S | don’t believe a durned word of it,” replied Wilsey. ‘‘ Anyhow, thar was only one of ’em, and that I'll swear to.” ‘‘ That’s the way with folks who see ghosts,” declared his comrades, ‘* They cither sec a durned sight too much, or not nigh enough, Them gals | shave skipped out t, and that’s the way they went.” ‘“Mur my part,” broke in Mrs. Shropshire, ‘ I don’t keer a cuss how or whar they went, That gal of mine ain’t no good, nohow, and t’cther one was more trouble than she’s s wu ‘th to us. Jest let ’em slide; but if L ever do ketch holt of that Lindy, Vl make her suffer.” Mark E annafin was not at all disposed to “‘ let them slide,’ and prepared to go in search of them immediately. Pocketing a little bread and meat, and taking his rifle as well as his rev olver, he hastened to the narrow pass at the head of the hollow. There he was stopped by the sentry on duty, who positively refused to allow him to go fur- ther without a poe from Colonel Rapp. So he was obliged to return to the ts below, and there he had to tell the story of the disap- pearance of Miss Talcott to the chief moon- shiner, who kept him “‘ hanging around” for some time before he would comply with his re- uest. ne I can’t see that we owe you any favors,” said Colonel Rapp. ‘* You have not lifted a fin- er to help us when we were in trouble, and why should we help you?” ‘‘T don’t want any help,” answered Hannafin. ‘‘T only want to get nig 3 from here.” ‘To hunt that young lady, I suppose. Well, course for herself, and if she is well out of your waynow. Here is your pass, and good riddance to'you!” the old man made a mark on a chip, which served Mark Hannafin as his pass out of the den of the moonshiners. It was then pretty late in the afternoon, and shortly after the young man had left him Col- onel Rapp received a surprise in the shape of an event which to him and those with him was quite incomprehensible. The party opposed to him had not only with- drawn the shar ‘pshooters who had been gy flank his position and pick off his men but had started a fusilade of scattering shots, none of which were fired at moonshiners or horse- thieves. There seemed to be, indeed, a regular fight going on down there, and who could the con- tending parties be? This was a puzzler to Colonel Rapp and his friends, and with their best efforts they were un- able to solve it. Bob Shropshire who was an adept in the arts of creeping and sneaking, undertook a scout in the direction of the sc nmage, but succeeded in discovering nothing further than the fact that the men who had been fighting his comrades were firing vigorously at some men further down the pass, who were answering the fire quite as freely. ‘‘ Now’s our time, colonel!” said the moon- shiner who was next in command to Colonel Rap and in charge oftbe defenses in SF my ae ow’s our time, old man! ose cusses are fightin’ t’other cusses sone te below, all we've got to do is to gat down on ‘em Po wipe ’em out without half tryi * We'll do nothing of the Pind. ” answered the chief. ‘‘ Weare here on the defensive, and not a shot must be fired or a move made except in self-defense. The fight that is going, on down there is right into our hand, and the two sides, whoever they may be, may hammer away as long as they please for all we care, I only ope that they will make an end of each other.” When darkness had closed down upon the scene it seemed as if they must have made an end of each other, to judge by the cessation of firing and the intense stillness that prevailed. ‘'That’s all there is of it for to-njght,” said Colonel Rapp. ‘If they haven’t wiped each other out, they will begin the game again in the morning, ‘and we are safe, anyhow.” CHAPTER XXX. BABES IN THE WOODS. Eva TauLcoTt and Linda Shro hire in the . meanwhile were not having a bit of a good , time.” 7 .. ‘ / * ee SS mee ere lea LL LL LL IO LLL | so that their progress was not only slow but painful, At the same time they were oppressed by two fears, both of which were entirely OAIOOET but were not on that account any the less vivid. Eva Talcott was afraid of wild beasts, though it would have been hard to find in that re gion any*hing that was more dangerous than a ’coon, and Linda Shropshire was afraid of chosts, though Eva solemnly assured her that there were no such things as ghosts, Though it was oe a short distance to the head of the little pass, it took them a long time to travel it, and w hen they were through they were so worn out by toil and anxiety that they were obliged to stop and rest. They knew when they had got out by the fact that they were able to see each other and to discern objects at a little distance, though it was dark enough where they were. Yet they were ‘but little better off than when they were in the rat hole, as they had emerged in a rough and broken country, a tangle of hills and ravines into which they did not dare to venture in the absence of day: light. For a while they actualiy miss sed and regretted the narrow and dark pass below, as they could not go astray there, and the only ‘drawback was the difficulty of going at all, whereas after they had got out there was no road, nor any trail as they could see, and they were liable to go astray and lose themselves. This was just what happened, though they were not aware of the fact at the time, as they wandered off into a ravine that led them in a different course from that which they wished to follow. They bad not gone far when daylight came to cheer them if not to help them, and they were then obliged to admit that they did not know where they were or whither they should go. ‘Do you know a town or place called Rocky Bluff, Linda?” inquired Eva, Linda did not know any such place. ‘I believe there is such a place, though, and that is where I would like to go to, if I knew how to reach it.” The solemn truth was that Rocky Bluff existed only in the imagination of Mark Hannafin, who had not only manufactured the telegram, but had invented the place at which he claimed to have received it. ‘*T reckon our best. chance,” observed Linda, will be to keep goin’ straight on until we strike a ee and find some ople who will tell us whar to go and what to do.” ‘* But we must bave been missed by this time from the place we left, and of course they will follow us. They will expect us to go straight ahead, and we had better deceive them by turning aside, so that they may not be able to find us.” This dzep design was put in execution, and the result was that the two girls, who had al- ready turned aside without knowing it, made another turn in their course, which bid fair to become a circumbendibus if they should keep on traveling, bringing up at the point from which they started, ut they did not keep on traveling, as an ac- cident occurred wich upset their plans, In going down a rough descent Eva was trip- ped by a vine and fell, bruising her arm and side, and spraining her ankle b It was immediately manifest that this was a most serious accident, as the young lady was utterly unable to walk or even to rise, The sadness of this trouble was fully a ata ciated by both of them, and Eva broke and began to cry. ‘Please don’t take on so, Miss Talcott,” en- treated Linda. ‘‘ You'll eo over it arter awhile, and then you'll be all right ag’in.” ‘*‘A long time, I am afraid, and what will we do until then? How will we live?” ** Well, I reckon we'll have to git you into some sort 0’ shelter, whar you can rest and take oe easy, and then I must skirmish around and hunt some victuals, Linda found a pleasant spot near by in the shelter of a clump of bushes, and without much difficulty got Eva there. Then she gathered some leaves, which she bruised and bound upon the injured ankle, mak- ing an embrocation that had a cooling and ‘ soothing effect. — a. a’ vis alin wl > 2 ‘ 25 Having made her friend as comfortable as possible, she prepared to go away in search of food and wat aps of help, though Eva dreaded es left alone. am so afraid,” said the young lady, “‘ that you will get lost and I will never ‘see you again.” ““You needn’t be a bit afeard o’ that, miss,” answered Linda. ‘‘I can find my way anyw har about the woeds in the daytime, and I'll fetch back here to you, jest as sure as shootin’, no matter whar I go.’ Eva gave her friend scme money with which to purchase what was needed, and summoned all her strength of mind to sustain her during what she feared would be a long siege of soli- tude. It was a long siege, and all her powers of en- durance were needed to —_ ort her, as she was worried in mind and weakened in body by pee, as well as exhausted by lack of food and slee Noon had come and passed before Linda re- turned; but when she did at last arrive, she was so joy ful because of the success of ber expedi- tion that she did not seem to feel the fatigue of the long tramp. She had found a little log house in a clearing, where the people, poor and ignorant as they were, had been so kind and obliging that she was greatly cheered and encouraged. They had not only furnished her with a basket of food and a Lipmng ‘up, for which they refused totake any pay, but had offered, when Linda had told them as much asit wasad- visable to tell, to send their team to bring away the sick lady and take her wherever she wished oO. s Linda did not know how this proposition might strike her friend, she declined it for the present, promising to bri ing Eva to the house in the clearing as soon as she was able to trav el, or: to return and claim the cffered help. “‘T don’t raally beliey e, Miss alcott,” said she, ‘‘ that that wagon 0’ theirn could be fetched in here anyhow through the hills and the timber; but, if you don’t git well enough to walk afore long, I'll make a try fur it.” “We need not hurry,” answered Eva. | “I think that we are safe in this hiding-place from any search that may be made for us, and, as we. have enough to eat and drink, we may as well wait until to-morrow morning. If | am not able to travel then, you may go for heip.” In the morning the condition of the young lady's ankle was sensibly better; but she was not yet able to walk, and it was not considered safe for her to. make the effort. nearly finished the contents of the basket, it wes agreed that Linda should go to the little farm- house for help, and she started off cheerily, promising to return as soon as possible. hings do not always turn out in this world according to our calculations. Frequently the outcome is worse than we expect, but sometimes it is better. The help which Linda Shropshire found was vastly different from that which she expected to bring to her friend. CHAPTER XXXII. SURPRISES ALL AROUND. Ir Eva Talcott could bave known how near So, after they had eaten their breakfast and — help was to her at that timc, and what sort of © help it was, she would have crawled toward it on her hands and knees. » Ever since she had received that welcome rev- e’ation from Colonel Rapp, she had been great- ly comforted and strengthened by the belief that her brother was alive and peebabty Henig ng but she could not have imagined near to her as be happened to be just then. When Gerald Talcott slip pped up, or down, cn his ambitious little scout, and fell into the mon of the enemy, be was seized by an active bin man who gripped him finnly: but he mig t pos: sibly have extricated himse ‘from the grasp of his antagonist if the friends of the latter had not promptly answered his call and come to his as- sistance. They did come, and the spy was easily secur- ed; but when be arose and faced his captors tke © effect was startling and sensaticna). +3 EA Talcott!” exclaimed the man who | bbed him, ‘Is this really you?” PAE thet you, then, Lawrence’ ” replied the Rtn Dae: captive. ‘* And there is Colonel Bas- trep, too! How cn earth did you ever get here? res does this mean?” lanations were interrupted by a commo- tion Sorter up the pass, Gray Gordon, who had noted the absence of his young friend, and was looking for him when the shout was raised below, jumped instantly to the conclusion that he was the captive who had fallen into the hands of the enemy. Hastening in that direction, he shouted at the top of his voice: ‘* Look out what you do there! If you hurt a hair of that young man’s head, we will hound you to the death!” The answer that came back was surprising in the extreme. ‘“‘Tt’s all right!” yelled Gerald. a6‘ Come covn here, Mr. Gordon! Those are friends!” Gordon scrambled Cown the slope as fast as : , (@l@) a = : ’ oa i€ eS} Comicboo a3 =< } Faye ee bs %) < m ™e, E Pad