Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 523 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

ant eet ee - - : si) ~ * oh O — Reynard of Red Jack. ment as if half resolved to let him have his way without further interference, but suddenly he darted forward and said with his eyes afire: “You will pardon me again, I hope, but I can’t keep my hand out of this affair, The diagram you have just held was drawn for this peg in Red Jack after your arrival. The and that traced its lines belongs to a man who hates soldiers as the guilty hate hell’s pains. It was drawn to dupe you and the men you lead, and here you are obeying the very wishes of the rascals. There is nothing for you at Vulture Gulch unless it be annihilation. A regiment can ride into the place and be at the mercy of fifty men.” Raymond looked as if a thunderbolt descend- ing from the cloudless summer sky had passed across his face, ** Why haven’t you mentioned this before?” he exclaimed, looking straight at Reynard, whose tace ought to have impressed him with the truthfulness of the warning. ‘*T was waiting,” was the reply. **T wanted to see what you intended doing.” Raymond thought that this man had warned him once before, that he had told him if he did not quit Red Jack before a certain dawn, his life would pay the penalty of refusal, He had defied the warning, had remained at his post, not quitting the camp till the sun was high in the heavens. These thoughts passed through Raymond’s mind in the space of a second of time. Who was Reynard? A citizen of Red Jack, and a mine boss in Don Diamond’s employ! Why had he taken a sudden notion to accom- pany the command across the mountains? Raymond colored as certain suspicions took hold on him, This man Reynard wanted to Se bim back from Vulture Gulch. e was the spy, the secret agent of the men who held the secret of the detective’s fate! It could not be otherwise, “I'm sorry, sir,” Raymond said, at length. **Tam going to the Gulch for the clew that is there, Gallop!” The trail was wide and clear at that point, and away went the troop, boots and saddles, toward destruction. CHAPTER XII. INTO THE TRAP. In all that wild country embraced within the general name of the Yellow Hills there was no wilder spot than Vulture Gulch. It lay some distance south of the main trail leading from Red Jack to Fort Meade by way of Cut-throat Canyon, and was more tban a mile in length, taking in its irregularities. The sides of the gulch were rough walls of rock which towered several hundred feet above the dry and in some places dusty bed. These walls were deeply seamed in many places as if by the action of water torrents at some remote m, age. Nearer the bottom were a number of open- ings, some large enough to admit of the en- trance of a man on horseback. These were the doors to vast caverns of darkness, some of which, as Tough Talbot had told Captain Ray- mond, had passages of communication like tie rooms of houses, Sometimes above these openings where they did not rise to any great bight, were natural latforms, behind which the wall seemed to have been hollowed out by giant chisels, In these places scores of men could bide, and from their retreat could murderously attack large numbers of people in the gulch without any in- Jury to themselves. uch, in ‘brief, was the spot toward which Carlos Raymond and his soldiers were riding. Reynard’s interference, coupled to the sus- icions which had risen in his bosom, had heated fis blood to boiling point, and for once in his life, Uncle Sam’s soldier detective had “ lost his head.” After his last warning, the strange man fell back and looked in silence at Raymond. ‘Ts the man mad?” he asked himself, ‘‘ Does he want to lead all these men to death? By Jove! T half believe he suspects me of being a spy.” That was exactly what Raymond thought, and if Reynard had remonstrated again just at that time, he would have been placed under arrest, : For some time the troop continued its gallop. At length the trail narrowed and became too rough for marching of that sort, and the men had to fall back into the usual cavalry jog. The sun dropped lower and lower toward the horizon, and at last al Svat altogether, Not a dozen words had passed between Rey- nard and Raymond since the latter’s last retort. The men had noticed this silence, and were commenting on it in whispers and by side-long glances, The moon was full but not yet wis There would be several hours of comparative darkness, and then the full shield of silver would be hung in the heavens, and by ten o'clock it would stand directly above the middle of -Vulture Gulch. To an old campaigner like Raymond there _ wasnot much danger of one losing his way, Serer a a a a a — - = = even though the sun was down and the ground in the grasp of night. The trail to the ambush was plain enough for the keen-eyed horses to follow, and the men were apt to see it quite as well. On, on went the troop, turning now and then as the trail zigzagged, and surely, though not very rapidly, approaching the slaughter-pen. Almost suddenly the long lances of moonlight fell here and there, cheering the soldiers and rendering them more secure, Raymond drew forth his watch and leaned forward to consult the dial. Reynard heard him say ‘‘nine o’clock,” and then saw him look up at the moon which was now riding the cloudless heavens in all her sil- very brightness, Everywhere tree, rock and grass were touched with a beauty indescribable, and the tall peaks which almost lost themselves in aerial space seemed tipped with cones of white. ‘* By heavens! something must be done!” ex- claimed Reynard who for some moments had been watching the troopers over first one shoul- der and then the other. ‘‘I will see if this hot- headed captain can’t be convinced.” He was a head bebind Raymond’s saddle, and as he came up the army captain looked around and caught bis eye. ‘‘ For God’s sake, turn back,” said Reynard touching Raymond’s arm. ‘ Vulture Gulch has been chosen as the grave of he and your command, I don’t want to see fifty of Uncle Sam’s bravest soldiers massacred like sheep. AsI have said before, the diagram which you have followed was backed up by an adroit lie planned by the hater of blue uniforms, You'll find nothing in the gulch but death.” Raymond flushed again, and his hand tight- encd on bis rein. ‘‘You have not particularized, sir,” he said rather stiffly to Reynard. ‘* You say the diagram was made to deceive. Who made it sir?” ‘*Tough Talbot!” promptly answered Rey- nard; whereat a smile spread over Raymond’s ace, ‘“No such man gave me the map,” said he with a dash of triumph in his tones. “From whom did you receive it?” The army officer shook his head. ‘* [ betray nobody. sir,” be replied, haughtily, and with an air of offended dignity, ‘* No?” and Reynard seemed to bite the word off between bis teeth. ‘‘ You don’t know that Cadron was Tough Talbot—that the miner who spun the web for you—the web of lies—is Tough albot the desperado whose band is against every soldier,” ‘This is but your unsubstantiated charge,” observed the trooper like a person who is de- termined not to be convinced. ‘‘I will want something better than this.” Reynard bit his lip with chagrin. He looked in amazement at the man who thus refused to be warned, and then turned his gaze upon the men at his back. The moon was shining on the repeating-rifles which they carried across their saddles, and the strange man of Red Jack seemed to burn at once with an intolerable desire to save them from death. “ For the last time, Captain Raymond, listen to me!” he exclaimed, almost commandingly. ‘“‘T know what you think. Iam, in your eyes, a spy, an agent for a certain man, because I am a mine-boss, I am no such person. Beyond the salary I draw as overseer of the Chained Tiger, I am in no way connected with Red Jack, its plots and conspirators. You will not listen,” Raymond had thrown off Reynard’s hand. ‘“You are determined to lead these gallant fellows to destruction, Ishall appeal to the men themselves,” In an instant a flash, which said plainly, ‘Tf you dare!” lighted up the cavalry captain’s eyes, but before he could answer Reynard in words, that person had spurred his horse for- ward, and all at once bad whirled him so that he sat facing the soldiers in the full moon- 2 ymond was thunderstruck by this crown- ing piece of impudence. The astonished troopers involuntarily drew rein, and looked first at their captain and then at the daring, defiant Reynard, Riya om at captain will not listen to reason!” cried the man on the black steed, throwing up his hand. ‘ There is death—anni- hilation—ahead, and closer than you think. You are men of courage, but also men of dis- cretion, The Government cannot afford to ‘‘ Arrest that man!” interrupted Raymond, with the vehemence of passion. ‘‘ By the eter- nal, I won’t submit to an indignity of this nature! First rank, cover that man yonder.” The regular army is a military machine, ac- customed to obey at all times without whys and wherefores. Captain Raymond had barely uttered the command when the foremost men threw their weapons to their shoulders, and Reynard was “* covered” in the twinkling of an eye, ‘Lieutenant Swope, take charge of the pris- oner!” continued Raymond. . s é - ~~ * . - ay * +> 24> nh tin, * . A a” “Poel Jee PS. Fxd4 Ree, TO Oe ee es CV Re rae "Es 9 Covered as he was by the Winchesters of the troopers, Reynard submitted to the arrest which followed, ‘*' You deserve to be wiped out of existence for your bull-headedness,” he said to Raymond, as he was brought toward that officer, with the rifles of the soldiers still at the shoulder, ‘* Silence!” roared the army captain. ‘' Lieu- tenant, dispossess the prisoner of his weapons, tie his hands at his sides, and, if he persists in talking, silence him in the usual manner.” This startling episode had halted the whole troop. With the assistance of a sergeant the lieu- tenant carried out Raymond’s commands, with the exception of the gag, and the command ‘‘ Forward” was again issued, The sudden transition from freedom to cap- ey was enough to astound Reynard of Red ack, He colored deeply till his face was a dark crimson, and with his eyes ina blaze he leaned toward Raymond, while his bands below the thongs clinched madly, ‘‘The outcome of this stubbornness fall on our head!” cried he. ‘‘I wash my bands of it. ou cannot find a clew in Vulture Gulch, be- cause, firstly, there is none there, and secondly, Uncle Sam’s detective is worth a regiment of dead men!” Raymond, with poorly-suppressed indigna- tion, waited till the last word. ‘“This caps the climax!” he exclaimed. “TI will have no more of this double play. Lieu- tenant Swope, you will have to gag the pris- oner. A large handkerchief, deftlv twisted by the lieutenant, was thrust into Reynard’s mouth like a bit, and, in a moment, he was silenced, He was then taken back into the first rank, where he could be guarded, and the command proceeded. Thirty minutes later the mouth of Vulture Gulch was reached, and Raymond, with a triumphant glance at his captive, pushed to- word the center. . He was looking for the mass of broken rock described by Tough Talbot, the decoy, * Halt!” rung out suddenly from Raymond. The men reined in their horses, then dropped the lines. Then the two sides of the gulch seemed to burst forth in flame, and fifty men appeared to fall at once from their saddles! CHAPTER XIII. THE MASSACRE. DURING the next few moments there was a constant firing with results that beggar descrip- tion, From above the dcomed soldiers where the walls of the gulch were broken by recesses came the merciless bullets which emptied saddles on every side. Raymond must bave realized when too late the worth of the advice he had rejected. He could see no enemy to charge, though all the time the deadly rain of lead was kept up with ss a horses in confusion in the bed of the gulch. It was a perfect pandemonium, When the army captain recovered a portion of his self-possession after the first volley, he looked for Reynard, his prisoner, but that per- son was not to be seen. He had not time to look twice, for his men were tumbling hither and thither and something had to be done quickly. ‘‘Down with the blue-coated hounds!” cried a loud voice, ‘*Slay and spare not! Death to the soldier minions! Wipe them from the face of the earth!” If Raymond had paid close attention to all this he might have recognized the voice, and if so it would have been a startling revelation, The man who thus urged the assassins on held a smoking Winchester in his bands while he leaned against a rock and gloated over the scene below. His face was concealed by a grayish mask which dropped to the chin, but the blazing eye- balls behind it told that it belonged to a fiend in human shape, In almost less time than it has taken us to describe the’scene Raymond was apparently the only member of the troop not dead, as if he had been singled out for some special fate, He still occupied the saddle directly in front of a large opening which led into the wall itself, This was the cavern indicated by Talbot, the decoy, and the truth flashed across Raymond’s mind in the midst of his peril. All at once his horse, stung by a bullet that plowed its way along his neck, plunged for- ward, and before the army captain could draw rein or curb the maddened animal, he had assed into the opening and was in cavernous ae a A wild yell of disappointment sounded behind Raymond, and he did not see the many figures that began to scramble down the serrated walls like apes. These were men with arms in their hands whenever they could use them thus, and some had bowie-knives between their teeth. It was a race to the soldiers in the bottom of ; | comicbooks. by - ad » SS er E> F.