Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 439 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

a ae sa <—_ ee oy s eS ~ |. . — = . a a _ t {= “— 4 ’ Ss . Patten ty & a wo a . ‘>t a. ‘ * sd » = ‘ % = -? it «4! _— - 4 ’ => all th. eo. ss ; . - . ‘ * - ~;, yb - , > Sat >s seaadipnartnen- Si henn— plil rn a ae =e ae . io ~~? * “as os -_-- --oOororwmrnoe CS lagoon and rowing close to the side opposite to that on which the camp was lopated? until he could consider himself safe from pursuit, Even if he should be seen by the enemy, they would not attempt to fire upon him in the dark- ness, and he would have time to rest and reflect and form plans for future action. As he sculled along, making as little noise as possible, he became aware of the fact that there was a strong smell of smoke in the air, which every moment became stronger and more pun- gent, and before long was accompanied by a roaring noise that also increased rapidly. Looking about for the cause of the smell and the noise, he perceived a lurid light at the west- ward, and was soon convinced tnat a fire had caught in the forest, which was spreading and running swiftly, as such fires always do. Sam had never had any experience of forest fires, but he had heard them spoken of in the surveying party, and understood pretty well their perils and the means of avoiding them. He perceived, much to his delight, that the fire seemed to be considerably below him, and judged that it was working its way down the agoon, herefore he believed that he would be able, by holding his present course, to keep well out of the way of danger, and he was sure that the fire could not cross the water and reach his friends and foes on the other side. He might expect to be driven somewhat fur- ther from the captured camp than he had ex- pected to go; but that would perhaps not be an unmixed evil. Having passed the points where he had looked for the ducks, he found himself out of his lati- tude, and then two very untoward events trans- pired. The rushing and raging fire, as forest fires are wont to do, present started out in a new direc- tion, having probably founda reach of dry grass and stubble and brushwood that gave it a good chance to spread, and perhaps being influenced by a change in the wind. It happened, also, that Sam, prevented by the darkness and the bother of the smoke from pick- ing and choosing his way as well as he might otherwise have done, had run his dinghy into one of the branches of the lagoon at a point where it er not easily distinguishable from the main Though narrow at the entrance, it widened after he had gone into it a little distance, and at its termination formed a small and nearly circu- lar pond, en Sam got to this point he quickly per- ceived that he had reached the end of his tether, as there was no thoroughfare for him in that direction. No sooner had he discovered his error than he also discovered sormething else, and this dis- covery was a very unpleasant one, as he per- ceived that the fire was suddenly and unexpect- edly rushing right at him, early that was a good place to get out of, and he hastily turned the dinghy with the inten- tion of pulling back to the lagoon. ' As he did so, a heavy crash forced upon him another discovery, and he saw a tall tree fall across the mouth of the branch, completely cut- ting off his escape by water. . n attempt to escape by land was out of the uestion, as the fire was already bursting and umping across the branch where the tree had fallen; so there was nothing for it but to stay where he was, and he considered himself rag in having that much of water space, small though it was, between him and the flames. He had no time to reflect upon the situation, as the fire was upon bim, and what he could do to save himself must be done immediately. Ina few minutes the little pond would be nearly surrounded by it, and be would be no better off at one side than at the other; he there- fore placed the dinghy in the middle of the basin, believing that it would stay there, as there was no current to move it from its ition. Fortunately there was a blanket in the little boat, which had been left there by the forget- fulness of one of his comrades, and he at once struck upon a way of using it. As the smoke grew denser and the heat great: er, he dipped the blanket in the water, wetting it thoroughly, and threw it over him, comp'etely aivering bis whole form, especially bis head and hands, and Jeaving very little space for breath- ee jn ing purposes. . ; Then he crouched down in the boat, waiting for the storm of fire to pass over, He speedily perceived by the crackling and roaring of the flames that they had invaced the banks, and he was obliged to close up the breath- ing space he had left to prevent himself from being smothered. ash Then he had a strange and startling experi- ence, which at first he could not comprehend, but which was finally forced upon him with fearful distinctness. Under the blanket he heard a splashing about him in the water—first one, then another and another, and then an almost continuous splash- ing, as if a number of somethings were Jumping Gite the basin in all directions He knew of no savage wild beasts in that re- / ————— menses ee ee es ek ee he ——— Mr"! —--rrOoOowW0OO$ sss ee sss sss sc sss Salamander Sam. fqn noting more dangerous than the reptiles; | reach of their launch it would be difficult ever ut those were numerous enough, and it was possible that even they might do bim great dam- age by upsetting the dinghy. Every now and then the little boat was jarred as if something struck against it, and occasion- ally one end or the other was strangely lifted up, iving the occupant very peculiar and uncom- ortable sensations. He felt that the water hed entirely evaporated from the blanket, allowing the smoke and the heat to penetrate to him, and it was to be feared that the dry and hairy surface might catch fire; hence it had become an absolute necessity that he must give it another good wet- ting. For this purpose he threw it off suddenly, in- tending to dip it in the basin and cover himself again instantly; but the sight that was disclosed to him by his first glance nearly paralyzed him and rendered him incapable of action. He was surrounded by a wall of flame, in the midst of a furnace of fire; but that was not the worst of it. The basin was alive and literally crowded with reptiles of every description, from the largest alligators to the smallest serpents that infested the woods and swamps. So thickly were the alligators jammed and packed into that small 5 that they could scarcely stir, and it was doubtless to this fact that the dinghy owed its immunity from upset- ting. Their presence had raised the water to a level with the bank, and the intervals between alligators, so to speak, were filled with snakes and above all with the dangerous and dreaded moccasins, Sam would hardly have believed there were so many moccasin snakes in existence, He had only a glance at this menagerie; but the glance was more than enough, as it filled him with horror if not with terror. To save himself from being stifled by the heat and smoke, it was necessary to wet the blanket immediately, and he did so hastily but resolutely, choosing the clearest spot he could see, and fearing to excite a commotion among the alligators or to pick up one of the snakes, Fortunately they were so occupied with their own preservation, or so frightened by the fire, that they took no notice of the lad or his act, He succeeded in wetting the blanket, though not so thoroughly as he would have wished to, and covered himself with it again, a feeling of nausea taking hold of him as he did so. That he conquered, and drew the blanket over his head closely, and dropped down in the bottom of the boat, almost in a swooning con- dition. Half-stupefied he lay there, scarcely able to breathe, and having no idea of how the time passed or of what was going on about him, ex- cept when an unusually heavy bumping of the boat, or an unsually extensive litting of one end or the other, recalled him to a sense of the perils of his position, and produced in him again the peculiar and unpleasant feelings which he had experienced when that sort of thing began, At last be involuntarily made an opening in the folds of the blanket through which he could breathe more freely, and then he fell asleep, He was awakened by asensation of oppressive heat, and threw off the blanket to lock about him; but the sensation had been produced by the heat of his own body during his sleep, and he erceived that he no longer needed protection rom the flames and smoke. The forest fire had nearly burned itself out at that partof its course, though its remnants were still smoldering and smoking on the banks and bevond, The number of alligators in the basin had sen- sibly diminished, and by the light of the points of fire that were left he could see the snakes nos- ing at the bank and warily wriggling up if, as if anxious to return to the haunts from which they had been driven. With a great effort Sam took one of the oars from its place, drove it down into the mud, and tied the dinghy to it; then be laid down in the bottom of the bbe to sleep in earnest, and then his slumber was sound and refreshing. lt was the sun that awoke him in the morning, and when he sat up and looked ahout he perceiv- ed that the basin was clear and undisturbed, with no vestige visible of the menagerie of the previous night. Thankful for his escape, he prepared for de- parture, Pulling down to the mouth of the branch, he discovered that the narrow passage was still blocked up; but it was an easv matter for bim to mount the trunk of the fallen tree, pull the dinghy up on it, and launch it on the other side. Then with a sigh of relief he floated out on the lagoon. Well had he earned the sobriquet of Salamander Sam,as he was thereafter called, through all that region where his terrible adven- ture became known, CHAPTER XVII. DISGRACED AND IMPRISONED. A MORE surprised, astonished, and utterly confounded trio of men than Rush Powell and his comrades when they were captured within to discover. It may also be safely asserted that a more deeply humiliated set of human beings could scarcely exist. Their sense of shame and disgrace in connec- ticn with this easy capture was such that there was no room for fear, and Powell and Boney Priddle would have rushed madly upon their foes in an insane desire to exterminate them, if it had not been for the cool and warning voice of August Engel, who cautioned them to stay where they were and keep cool. Their rifles, and even their revolvers, had been left on the launch, and they were quite defense- less against the four hunting-rifles that threat- ened them. The launch had been within such easy reach of their camping-place, and the possibility of any force springing up between them and the water had been so utterly out of the question, that they gave no thought to the point of secur- ing their arms, So there was nothing for them to do but to yield quietly and submit to the demands that might be made upon them, mentally reserving the ny ye to strike if they should get a chance to deal an effective blow. Though the difficulty with the Hyleys was still fresh in their memories, they had forgotten or overlooked the secretand silent methods of the swampers, who moved as noiselessly as snakes and struck as viciously. While they were preparing the camp and build- ing the fire they were continually passing to and from the Wave, and hardly a moment elapsed when it was not under the eyes of at least one of them; yet their enemies had crept, unseen and unheard, into the position of vantage, appearin before them as suddenly as if they had risen ou of the ground. Foremost among them was Jim Summers, py says rxcineit a visit to the camp mz evi- dently been that of a reparatory to the in- tended stroke. ebdih bi He it was who gave the orders that completed the capture of the Wave’s party. One of his comrades stepped up to the survey- ors while the rest continued to cover them with the | unting rifles, This man was well supplied with thongs of deerskin, with which he secured the captives singly by tying their hands behind their backs, beginning with Rush Powell, who bad been the > yeep and appeared to be the leader of the rty. At the same time he searched them for con- cealed weapons, even taking from them their pocket-knives. . Then the leader came forward, and Powell at- tempted to take him to task for his treacherous behavior. ‘* What do you mean?” demanded the engineer, ‘*What harm have we done to you or any of your people? You came to us a while ago as a friend, and we welcomed you and treated you as a friend. You even wanted to act as our guide,” ‘* Wal, ain’t I har ter guide yer?” replied the swamper. ‘* That’s wot I’m yer’ fur. Jest wait and see whar I guide yer to—that’s all.” Jim Summers looked about, as if searching for some person who was not visible. Powell knew well enough what he was looking for, but waited for him to speak, and presently he did so. ‘* Whar’s the boy?” ‘There is no boy,” answered Rush, and the statement was true enough at that time. “Thar was a boy, though. ’Tain’t no use ly- in’ to me, mister. Didn’t I come yer’ afo’ and hain’t I got eyes?) Whar’s the boy gone ter?” “Tf you know so much, you ought to know that,” answered Rusb. He perceived that the swampers had been so occupied by the business of crawling up quietly to effect the capture of the camp, that they had not noticed the departure of Sam, ‘‘ Thar was a leetle canoe in tow of the big ’un,” resumed the leader, ‘“‘ That’s gone, too. The boy’s gone, and the canoe’s gone, and they went together. He’s gone off on the water.” Sy Mr. ‘ Jim Summers” had a logical mind, ‘* Whar’s the boy gone ter?” he demanded, * When’ll he git back?” None of the captives were disposed to furnish him with any information on these points, and they could only hope that some way might be found by which Sam could escape from this gang. Was this one of Morley Plympton’s schemes to get rid of the heir who stood in his way? Though they had considered themselves far beyond his range and out of his reach, Powell was inclined to believe that he might be respons- ible for the attack, ’ They had not at first thought of him in con- nection with the Hyley difficulty, but subsequent indications had led them to suspect that he might have had a hand in that. On this oecasion, as on that one, Sam happened to be out of the way when the blow was struck; but it must be admitted that his chances for es- cape were less than they had then been. ‘No matter whar he’s gone ter. He’s bound comilebooks ¢ ram me 4 =2