Beadle's New York Dime Library (no. 98) (1880 07 14)
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~ iss ye i " > ane SANSA a APA TE RL ENTERED AT THE Post Orvick aT NEW YORK, N. Y., a8 SECOND CLass Mar MaTTreR. Published Eve ceHeadle E Idams, (Pr blishers Ten Cents a Copy. Vol. VILL. Two Weeks. 98 WILLIAM STREET, N. Y., July 14, 1839. : $2.50 a Year. No. 98 — ff y td THE STRANGE GIRL ANSWERED NOT IN WORDS, BUT POINTED UP THE PASS. | THE ROCK RIDER; THE SPIRIT oF THE SIERRA. if A Tale of the Three Parks. BY CAPTAIN FREDERICK WHITTAKER, AUTHOB OF “THE RUSSIAN SPY,” “THE RED RAJAH,” “THE rms OAPTAIN,” ‘“ DOUBLE-DEATH,” ETC., ETC. CHAPTER L THE COMRADES. In the very heart of the Western Continent lie the Rocky Mountains, dividing the land like a vast backbone, shooting out ribs of rock to either ocean. In the heart of the Rocky Mountains repose the Tbhres Parks, the hunter’s Paradise. Now they are inclosed within the bounds of Colorado, but not many qos age they were in that undefined rezion known as the “Great est." Then the white man was there only on snfferanes, and the red King of the sof] showed bim no m ff be found him away from the protection of some fri-ndly trike. Now the rule & reversed, and tha
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2 se. white. In_thoso doubtful days, not long ago, when _ tke Pacific Railroad was making its fir-t sluw approaches from San Francisco, derided by its foes as tho enterprise of madmen, and hamper- ed at every step by the want of money, con- sequent on the just-ended war; and when the indians, from the long absence of troops from ytkeir neighborhood, had become insolent and overbearing all over the plains and mountains a small party of white men were gathered around a little firein the center of the lovely South Park. To tho south-west towered the magnificent slopes of Piko’s Peak, once the scene of a min- ing furore, but now deserted and silent. Its lofty cummit, crested with snow, towered above tho somber growth of pine and spruce that clothed i‘s sides, through which the dark-gray volcanic rocks showcd rugged and naked in the red light cf tho setting sun. m7 The Rock rider. red-man only stays on sufferanco of the | hido sprinkled. with dirty gray, came running out from the shelter of the great live-oak, and came up to the German. *Yakop,” said Biinkerhoff, gravely address- ing the dog, *‘ you likes turkey, hein? The dog gave a short ‘‘ wuff” of assent, and wagged his tail, with his eyes fixed lovingly on the bone in his master’s band. ‘*Nein, das ist nicht recht,” said Brinkerhoff, shaking his head. ‘*You don’t got no sense to-night, Yakop. I’ve shot a turkey, you ole fool, und if you vants any supper, you £0 get him—Hein ?” Yakop seemed to understand every word, for be jumped up and took a long look all around, as if 10 discover the whereabouts of the turkey, and then turned inquirinugly to his master. * Ach, Gott!” said the German. ‘“ Yakop, you don’t got no sense to-night. Can’t you see vere I lay de cun, mit de parrel inted shtraight at bhim—Hein, you ole tovl? You go All around tho horizon the jagged peaks and | gets him, kvick, or | take von shtick mit you.” spurs of tho Sierra shut in the view, inclosing in their fruma oxo of the loveliest vall f Yakop immeaiately ran to where the gun lay, eys in the | and took a bee-line for the dead turkey, which wide world. Lofty perpendicular cliffs, crested { he brought back not ten minutes afterward, with pines, hung over smooth grassy knolls, ; dragged triumphantly by the neck. But his | tricks were not destined to be much more no- studded with clumps of trees here and there, with tiny pools scattered between the hollows, reflecting in their bosoms the far-reaching branches of live oaks, two hundred feet in spread of shadow. Littlo copses, gay with flowering shrubs, clustered near some of the clumps of trees, whence tho wild deer came fearlessly forth to drink ct the pools, while the golden eagle soared a Yer cliff to cliff, loth to rest in his eyrie for the nicht. Tho owe of white men were all young and wellarmed, while the remains of military dress on all, showed them to be soldiers of the great disbanded armies just let loose by the peace. They were three in number, two in blue, and one in gra y. Trank, hearty soidiers as they were, the war ovor, they scemed to have fraternized, respect- ing cach other’s valor. An additional reason for their companionship could have been glean- cd from watching the faces of the three. There was a certain family likeness that denoted that ee of them were, at least, near relations, who ad fought on opposite sides, and were now friends again. Coufederate and Union, both were kandsome young fellows, neither more than twenty-eight, all and slender, fair-haired and hazel-eyed, ‘ith the clear-cut aristocratic features that told of blood and breeding. - e third was a square, stolid-looking German, with a blonde » whose breadth of shoul- ‘der denoted immense strength, while his sleepy blue eye betokened also a placid temper. He was intent upon the proper broiling of a turkey leg, which he held over the tiny fire; and said nothing while the other two talked. Close behind them was one of the enormous live-oaks, draped with moss, its branches droop- ing to the ground; and as the wind blew toward it, the smoke of their fire became ey lost in the branches before many feet. Under the tree one could hear the occasional stamp of a horse, and the sound of munching provender, ““What’s the matter with Belcour this even- ing, Frank?” asked the young man in the gray coat. ‘He ought to have been in long ago, if he had any luck in shooting.” ‘That's just where it is, Jack,” answered his cousin, Frank Buford, of West Virginia. ** Gus- tave Belcour never will be a good shot. He’s too nervous and excitable tor long distances, al- though I'll admit he’s: not so bad with a revol- ver, in a close fight, not more than ten feet off. Then his quickness does him good service. He hasn’t shot a thing, you’ll see, and we shall have him back in a little while, with a long story of scarce game, “‘I should call game pretty thick,” said the ex-Confederate, dryly, looking round at the numerous deer and antelopes peily visible in the valley at no great distance, “A fellow has only to sit here, and let his supper come to ‘* Belcour hasn’t been here yet,” said Buford, laughing. “‘ He’ll scatter them when he comes, - you bet. Carl Brinkerhoff won’t be able to get another turkey to-morrow, once Belcour The quiet German made no reply in words. Broiling his bone, as he had been, his sleepy blue eye had nevertheless been roaming over “he valley ail the time. As Buford ended, he 1 rietly laid down his bone, and picked upa vautiful little sporting rifle that lay beside im. / Without a word hethrew up the muzzle, and glanced throvgh the sights at an object ahead of him, several hundred yards off. The crack of the little rifle was immediately followed by a confuse struggle and fluttering of the dark ob- ject, as Brinkerhoff turned round, saying: “You fellers vot don’t vant no turkey can go toah, I be de shampion turkey-eater in mye etly down; and almost immediate- . ly-a serubby-looking dog, of the most undeniable - , = breed, a yellow dog with a thick tail, bis ———————— ticed at the time, for Jack Somers suddenly leaped up from his place, saying: “By Jove! Frank, there be comes at last, and empty-hended as usual. But what’s the mat- ter with him? He rides as if he was in a hurry.” ‘* Indians, perhaps,” said the Virginian, cool- ly. ‘I’m not going to stir from here for an thing less than a whole tribe. Belcour’s a little scared, I guess, from his looks.” The German hunter said not a word, but picked up his rifleand threw open the breech, when be put in a new cartridge. It was his method of preparing to receive gore by Buford and Somers shaded their eyes with their bands, and looked up the Park. There, in the center of a cloud of golden mist, that half-filled the valley, the form ofa horse and his rider could be seen, coming at a swing- ing gallop. CHAPTER II. THE SPIRIT OF THE SIERRA, Tue tramp ofa horse, with the sharp click that told ofa shod hoof, disturbed the usually solemn silence of the passes of the Sierra. Presently, in the midst of those grand solitudes, a horseman made his appearance, coming down a dark canyon, on ainarrow ledge hbout half-way up its sides. Below him, far below, the hoarse murmur of the little stream, that bad formed that deep cleft in the course of ayes, only served to make the silence elsewhere more noticeable. The young man was of a face and form lke- ly to arrest attention even ina crowd and in those wild fastnesses he looked doubly hand- some. A little above the medium hight and with a form of remarkable grace, the dark rich beauty of his face, the large black eyes, curling raven hair, and trim glossy mustache, a token of his Southern race, and were set off by a costume exceedingly rich and picturesque, but very unusual in those wild fastnesses, The stranger’s dress was, in fact, more like that of an artist of the Latin Quarter of Paris, or a riding master ct the Hippodrome, than that of the rough and ready mountain man. He wore a broad Spanish sombrero, a velvet coat, allslashed and braided, natty white cor- duroys, and high, gleaming thigh boots of es tent leather, with Jong, silver spurs, while his arms, a carbine and revolvers, were all silver- mounted and of exquisite finish. The housings and furniture of his black borse (a thoroughbred of exquisite beauty) were equally sumptuous, the saddle alone, with its silver studs and Mexi- can trappings, being worth over a hundred dol- lars Such a gay cavalier had never before been seen in such a place. He rode slowly and cautiously along, fre- quently glancing downward into the bed of the stream, and then upward at the rocks around, and there was an expression of vexation on his handsome face. As he went, he soliloquized in a low tone: “ Baleour, mon ami,” he said, ‘‘ what is the matter with thee to-day, that thou hast shot nothing? The bighorns they laugh at thee, and thou hast not seen one since the morning. Why do they avoid me so? There is stupid Carl Brinkerhoff who goes off with his cur dog, and brings home game every time, and I cannot get so much as a single shot, except so far off, and they going so fast that I miss them. And then, there is Somers, who will be laughing at me for coming in empty-handed, and I— ! there he ‘oes!’ ¥ He ended abruptly. His discontented soliloquy was broken up by the sudden leap of one of those ceful moun- tain sheep, known as the “bighorn” from the huge curling ornaments of his frontlet. The pa came leaping down from the summit of the preeiyce on the Fg tae side of the pe yon, as a despera pow i or pursed, an Ugbhted on a pinnacle of rock, avout half-way * ' | down the side of the canyon, not fifty feet from the young cavalier. ere it stood poised for an instant, as if me rtd surprised and dismayed zt the n eeting with the hunter, and then, gathering itseif for a great leap, came flying over the dark canyon a light down almost in front of Lorse ard rider. ‘ But, swift ds the animal was, the aim of tle young man was as quick, His rifle was at lis ack, and he lad no time to get it out, tut a ica leaped fiom the bolster like a flash, : na eaning over his borse’s side, with the rey id sim of instinct alone, he shot the animal through tle heart, at five feet distance. The bighorn reared itself up fer a single in- stant, like a gcat, pawed the air wiloly, i1d fell back over the ledge into tle stream Lelew, stone dead, as Belcour joytully exclein ¢d: “Shot at last, and well shot, too, Gustave! My fri nd, thou wilt meke a Lunter yet. Nw, what will Scmers say? The animal is ccac, without doubt.” He seemed as much pleased as a child, end so he was, for Gustave Belcour, kandscme cava- lier as he wes, had been tke lutt of his ccm- anions all through their roaming expecition cr his bad shcoting. He was t-o 1 e1vcus and impatient, for the marksman must be ccol and ptiegnatic who hopes to be called a ‘‘ dead shot,” aid Gustave had become almust disheartened at his own want of success, w hich was owirg merely to tLe absence of a teacher to instruct him, His chence shot elated him tLcrefore in pro- portion to his previous tailures. The next minute, however, his countenance changed, as he Icoked down the piccipice Le- tween him end his game. He saw that the descent wasan impossibility, and thet the mountain tcrrent was ray idiy sweeping the body away toward tke lcwer ranges of the Sierra, “Ah, peste /” he exclaimed, angrily; ‘‘ but I have no fortune to-day, and shell Icse it all it I do not follow. Forwara, Eclair, ¢ ocd 1 ore, for- ward! We will tollow while ibere is icothvld lett. And he shook the reir, and trotted cn down the narrow ledge, his eyes fixcd on the bouy of the quarry, swept aling far below him, »:ow lodging tor a moment on a sharpicck,1.ow Lur- ried on again with increased rapidity. Atcove him, at the instant fired, a bead, with the long, curving horus of tle nm uniain sheep, was thrust forth tora moment over the precipice. It was migra withdrawn, aida slight, graceful figure went boundirg away «vcr rugged slopes of rock, lea) ing cover dark chasu.s with wonderful daring and agility, end follow- ing the same direction as the hunter, unseen by im. Gustave rode rapidly down the ledge, and his hopes began to rise, for he perccived that he was approaching the water every moment. The canyon pursued an irregular and winding course, and the ledge grew broadew, till at last be uttered a shout of joy, for betcre him laya steep slope which appeared to lead to tke edge of a waterfall, and there, on the shallow rim of the cataract, op against a pointed rock, ay the carcass of his recent game. ut he saw thut the sloping ledge was much too steep for his horse, and reined up to dis- mount. _On the opposite side of the canyon a succes- sion of steep pinnacles formed a sort of path- way of steps, of which each was some twelve feet in hight, and a little before him a cross canyon opened its narrow, dark rift, fiom which a second stream descended, making the watertall below into a curve. Just as he pulled up, hesitating how best to descend, the mellow sound of a horn struck on his ear from overhead, and he looked up, won- dering whence it came, He almost threw himeelf from the horse, with the violent start he gave, at the sight that met his view. On a lofty pinnacle of rock, relieved against the dark-gray backg: ound, looking straight down at tim, stcod a suow-white figure, of the woe unearthly a peters Cuaratter, com- ined with a strange beauty that c ly enthralled him. . J ae ed A girl, habited in a species of short, clese- fitting tunic of some fleccy white skin, which lef. all ber limbs in pertect freedom, with curls of the brightst golaen Lair floating behind her, was gezing at him, not twenty feet above him, from the most wouderful dark-blue eyes he had <tc the-ninet ghtiaeher diet "ek ks ut the most singular part of her attire was the head-dress that crowned those bright cur!s, a cap made of the head of the mountuin-sheep, and cerrying the same huge curlin horus, which descended to the wearer’s shculders. In one hand sle held the buele which she bad just sounded, and the other bore a double-pointed spear, which she seemed to use as an alpenstcck, As soon as Belcour could speak, he ejaculated in his native tongue the words: : “@rand Dieu! W ho and what art thour’ The strange girl answered words, bui porate up the pass, and him away, for- :
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. ee caeteten tt HRA NgOE AAARS pe Aes tree RR Ra Re cee ow eS Si i a “Nay! I will not gol” cried the ardent l'renchman, impetuously. “I will never go till i know theo better, bright, beautiful spirit! ‘ell mo who thou art?” Fer all answer the girl went to the sido of the cross canyon, and stood at tho edgo of the dizzy | Then sho waved him back onco | precipice, ) rnore forbiddingly, and mado asif to leap into the black gulf. ‘In God’s name, hold!” cried Belcour, fran- tically, and ho hastily leaped from his horse, as if ho would spring across the chasm that sepa- rated them. Tho next moment the whito figuro lea tho summit of the dew Ie into the the black canyon, and disappeared Viow, And not a sound disturbed the stillness of the mountain-sido, but the swash and roar of the torrent below him, from *€ Ah! mon Dieu, I bavoe killed her!” groaned | Belecur, as sho disappeared. Ho rushed madly down the slope to the water- fall, and looked up tho line of the cross canyon. Nota living thing met his view, but, a dee black pool at the very edge of the waterfall seemed to show him tho grave of the unfor- tunato girl, and Gustavo s!ruddered all over. **§> young, so beautifull’ he groaned; ‘‘and I havo killed her.” At that very insta-t the wild, solemn notes of | the horn camo to his car from a fresh quarter. Ho turned round, in greater amazement than ever, toseo whence it came, and faintly ejac- ulated: “Grand Diew! It must be a spirit.” Tho waterfall at whose edge he stood was at | loast a hundred foet in depth, and emptied into co tremendous gorge, a continuasion of the one ho was in, but far grander. Ciiffs six buudred fcot in hight shut in the gorge on each side, and below all was pitch dark, while above stunted | trees clung to tho crevices of the rocks and | climbed toward the narrow strip of sky. Standing on a jagzed stunted tree, dead and tars of leaves, that shot out horizontally from tho midst of the cliff, stood the mysterious | vrhite figure of the girl, waving her spear for- Liddingly at him. Lolcour imploringly extended his arms to her, crying: l{eaven’s sake, hear me!” No sooner had he uttered the words than | {19 white figure leaped from the bare tree into the giddy void like a bird, and seemed to swing lorself with perfect ease to another tree at | loast a hundred feet distant. Thon, as if to cap the climax, she turned and | c‘sappeared into the solid rock, into whose | ' :som she vanished as if she had never been ‘aere, and all that Beleour could see was the bare mountain-side, with the spike-like trunks shooting out here and there, and a vulture singing its way across the strip of sky above. With a strange sensation of awe and bewil- | dorment, the young man turned round, forget- tiug even his dead game, climbed up the path, mounted his horse and galloped away. His superstition was at last excited. ‘Tt must be the Spirit of the Sierra that the Indians toid us of!” he muttered. creature could leap a hundred feet from tree to tree.” And he never ceased his rapid was out of the dark shadows o Lat ay and into the free valley of the South ark. Th: re at last he tried to shake off the feeling | of terror that had overcome him, and galloped | as fast as he could to the live-oak tree where | him his friends were watching for him. With pale face and trembling accents he ejaculated: ‘*Mes amis, I have seen the Spirit of the Sierra!” CHAPTER III. THE ROCK RIDER. AT the moment when Belcour left the moun- / ‘ains and galloped up to the live-oak tree, he | was beheld, miles away, by an eye whose keen- ness few, red or white, Soutd equal. A man of remarkable hight, exaggerated by his excessive leanness, s at the entrance of a dark cave, that opened into a short gully, high up the et of er — 7 ‘ is face, with great burn lue eyes, hig aquiline features, thin to em tion seet fremed in straight black hair, with mustaches of very great length, strongly resembled the portraits of the famous knight of La Mancha, both in out- a ie expression. Aa? ical gure, lank and y, was y in keeping, his dress that of the mountain hunters, but peculiarly tight and scanty in cut. On his iad he wore a tall conical cap of fur, that in- creased his gigantic appearance, and he leaned ‘along lance while he carefully scanned the v ‘lev below. y This singular-looking man was soliloquizing in a low voice as he gazed. Strangers in the valley once more, and I Le SE OAT from | epths of | “Oh, beautiful creature, do not stay there! | ‘You will fall and be dashed to pieces. For | *No mortal | op till he | the solemn | eave j Pry { ) =s iho Rock Rider. | | prairie. They must be mad to come here thus, | when the chiefs of the South make their path | through the very place where they are sitting. Must I never rest from my labors? I thought so fondly that Heaven would send me my child, could I but remain one year without slaughter, and now I see the red blood coming in floods, and I must bathe in it once more, to save my own color.” His great, solemn eyes glared with the light of vied, She as he spoke the last words,and he suddenly threw himself flat on the ground, and seemed to listen intently. Ina moment more he started up, cryi } **T knew it! ng: 4 My visions never deceived me; calling tome: ‘Ride! ride! Blood comes! Heseemed to be dreadfully excited, for his senses, sharpened by insanity, had caught the sound of hoofs far away among the passes of the Sierra. He called aloud: “‘Cato! Cato! Bring out Mountaineer, quick! The Rock Rider must be at his red work again, for the heathen are about, and Lam the pro- tector of the helpless.” In answer to the call came stumping out of the cave a figure about as different from the other as could be imagined: a short, stout negro, with bandy legs, who appeared to be as stron ; as a bull, and carried on his shoulders a br good-humored face, generally on the grin. | Now, however, it bore an expression of super- | stitious terror, ludicrous to see, and the whites | of the eyes showed plainly in their wide glare, as he ejaculated: | “Ob, marse cappen! Oh, de Lord, sweet marse cappen! Js you gwine away again wid | dem horr’ble debbils?, Oh, marse cappen, don’t | ye do it, ef ve lub old Cato! Oh, marse cappen, | you doesn’t know nuffin’ ‘bout how I feels when / you is gwine away, and dem awful-lookin’ heads is a-lookin’ at me all de time wid deir shiny eyes, and grins wid deir teeth and groans so—oh-h-h! Marse cappen, don’t ye go, or else take me wid ye.” And Cato fell on his knees | by the side of the gaunt man, shivering as if he had the ague. : | ‘The other looked down on him with a stran | look, in which pity and remorse seemed to be blended with some overmastering ag | ‘Poor child of clay,” he said, * west thou not that when the tale of heads is complete, thou and I shall be free again, and once more 1 would that I could let thee go with me but thou knowest our enemies. The crafty wolf and the filthy buzzard would crowd | to the feast, and our heads would be gone for- ever if we both left. No, ’tis thy place to guard | the Cavern of Death, ’tis mine to bring in the victims, for I am the avenger of innocent blood. Bring out my charger, for I must ride forth.” He ended in a sterner tone of voice, with a slight frown, and Cato rose up, still trembling, and disappeared into the cavern. In a few minutes he returned, leading a tall mule, at | least sixteen hands in hight, of the same lank conformation as its master. | It was saddled and bridled, and the tall man mounted it slowly, and then sat there, looking at Cato for a minute. “Cato,” he said, gravely, “it is the duty of a | true squire to follow his knight, if so be there is a castellan to guard the castle. I have pro- moted thee, boy. Thou art castellan. See to | my castle. Bring me my buckler.” Once more poor Cato fell on his knees im- ploringly. “Oh, marse cappen, not dat, for de lub of heaven! Ask Cato anyt’ing but dat. Dat ar’ ugly t?ing wid de dead face on him, he send de cold shudders al] troome. And when you gets im you goes—oh! de Lord knows whar—and | nebber sees you any more. Yah! marse cappen, don’t look so drefful !” ‘*The buckler, dog! The buckler, or I pin thee to the rock!” suddenly vociferated the other, raising the long lance inanger; and Cato as suddenly lea up, and vanished into the cavern as nimbly as a squirrel. In a moment more he reap , bearin with averted face, a large, round Indian shield of buffalo hide, which was so unusually thick | as to show that two of them had been bound | together. ut the ornament in the center of the shield was of the most ghastly character conceivable. It was the face of a dead woman, pinched and white, with wide-open, staring eyes, and teeth revealed by parted lips. A few locks of gray hair were neatly parted on the forehead, and it seemed as if the whole mask of the face had been severed from the front of the head and set on the shield, preserved as a mummy, for a real face, and of a white woman it undoubtedly was. The strange being on the gaunt mule took the shield from the hands of his sable attendant and regarded the dead face silently for several minutes. Gradually the tears began to roll down his cheeks, and his gaunt features worked Nag beet gS **Cato,” he said, in a deep, broken voice, hove now withered an Sy was nage face of a bright, blooming Que t it, te this, "nee men would have re venged such wrongsen the whole race that bad his and last night I heard the voice of the Spirit | see our darling? - — TT 3 wronged him, but she had told me not to take life, save only ina righteous quarrel, to save life. Cato, 1] have obeyed her, and God bas taken care of me. While this shield covers me, all the red-men of the Sierra can not harm me, for they know the white face of her whom they have wronged. So God defend the right.” And he deliberately pressed his lips to those of the dead face, with a strange expression of religious fervor, mingled with knightly enthu- siasm. Cato shuddered and groaned, as he saw hi . master do it, and then the other threw the shiek. over his left arm and cried: “Now, I am again the Rock Rider of the Sierra, and let all the sons of the prairie beware! Forward!” The gaunt mule set off at once at a round trot down the gully, and turned sharp off to the right, where the way seemed impassable to any but a mountain goat. But, as if used to it, the animal kept up the same rapid pace, leaping from rock to rock, and bounding over chasms that seemed madness to attempt. And all the while the gaunt figure of the Rock Rider sat erect, with shield and lance, like a knight of old, regardless of the eccentric movements of his mount, and with seat undis- turbed, till he bad arrived at the summit of a cliff, looking down into a dark gorge that en- tered the valley. Then he halted and surveyed the gorge with a grim smile. ‘I knew it,” he said. A party of twenty or thirty Indians, all evidently chiefs, from their rich dresses, were descending the gorge into the South Park. The Rock Rider reined up and elevated his stentorian voice in the Comanche language, crying: ; The sons of the prairie are lost in the moun- tain. Back to your homes, or meet the wrath of the Rock Rider!” Then with a wheel of the gaunt mule, be held up to their view the round shield, so that the a ag the dead woman glared down on the chiefs. CHAPTER IV. THE WARNING. THE appearance of the Rock Rider, as he sat on his mule at the top of the rock, was singular] weird and a me The sun was setting di- rectly behind his back, and his whole figure stood out, black as jet, against the red glare. Over his head, as if scenting the slaughter to come, with the wild instinct of its race, a black buzzard hovered; and several others could be seen v inging their slow flight thither in the stil] evening air. A Comanche chief aimed straight at the heart of the stranger, and pulled the trigger. The Rock Rider uttered a taunting laugh, as the bullet struck the shield and glanced off again. “Too low, too low, good master chief,” he shouted across the ravine, in hollow tones. “The sights of a Spencer vifle were never made for a clumsy Indian to understand. Beware of the Rock Rider's lance, for the priest blessed it to a mission of vengeance. The Comanche’s race has been run.” Even as he spoke, three more rifles cracked, with better aim, for a ball from one of them passed through the tall cap and knocked it off. A peal of jaughter, louder than before, came from the grim stranger, as he shouted: ‘“* Fire away till your powder gives out. You can not hurt the Rock Rider of the Sierra, He laughs at the Comanche, and spits on tbe Cheyenne. Black Wolf is wanted in hell, to atone for the death of the white girl he slew in Texas three moons ago.” He cast down the long lance as he spoke, and Black Wolf, one of the Comanche chiefs, fell from his horse, dead, and pinned to the earth. ““The Rock Rider never sends lance twice,” shouted the stranger. ‘Beware of yer lives, for not one of ye shall return to the of his tribe, if he is found in the Sierra to-night.” Then he stooped from his mule with hardly an effort, picked up his tall cap, which he set upon his head, and glared down on them, sat calmly, exposed to the fire of all, the smoke curling 4 around him from the lately dis- charged rifles, as if holding them all in utter contempt. In truth, the glare of the sun in their eyes, and the deceptive distance, made him a most difficult target. A third time the Indians fired a volley, and a third time the wild Rock Rider laughed taunt- ingly, as he sat, statue-like, in the sunset. ‘ The bullet for me is not yet cast,” he shout- ed back, in the same hollow tonesasever. ‘ Let the chiefs heed my warning, and go back to their homes to-night.” The next moment he wheeled his mulearound. and was gone, the edge of the precipice hiding him from view. e Indians looked at onc another with awe-stricken faces, “The man has been punished by the Mani- tou,” said Red Lightning, in a low voice, “The Master of Life has clouded bis brain, and cast Severe see
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4 re the bullet fly wide, that never erred be-| ore, “Tet us return home,” said Black Arrow, an- other chief. ‘‘The Manitou has guarded the Three Parks, as the chief of the Cheyennes told | us. ‘Not till we have killed the pale-face fools | who have stolen in upon our ancient gga > grounds,” said Red Lightning, doggedly. ‘If they can enter, so can we. hat! Stall we et the squaws laugh at us when we come back | end tell them that twenty chiefs of the Co- mancbes fled from four hunters, who had never beenin the mouutains before? There are four scalps in yonder valley, and Red Lightning has | sworn to have one of them. Let who will stay. | I go forward.” e turned his spotted mustang as he spoke, and galloped down the pass into the valley of the South Park, just as the purple twilight be- gan to deepen. The other chiefs followed, as a matter of course, for although obedience on the war-path is wholly voluntary, yet the sentiments of pride and honor become equally binding under a re- | nowned leader. And Red Lightning was one of the most renowned braves of his tribe. Hoe had slain at different times six United States sol- , diérs, and was girt with a perfect armory of re- | ert from their spoils, besides wearing a sa- , i But, though a skillful warrior, the mysteries of the white men’s weapons were too much for | him, and more than half of his revolvers were custy and unloaded, or so much out of order as | to be useless. Still, he and his followers presented a formid- able se eri as they rode into the valley on che trail of the four comrades who had entered itso gayly but a few days before, having, by | wonderful luck, escaped danger so far. The Indians kept themselves bebind the shel- ter of a clump of trees, and went into camp, as the darkness grew on, without lighting any fires, simply hoppling their horses and turning them loose. It was too dark to follow the trail, and the chiefs spent their time in smoking the council- pipe. Red Lightning alone stole off on foot up the valley, gg to reconnoiter at the summit of every kno CHAPTER V, UNDER THE LIVE-OAK. Wauewn our four hunters heard the volleys which were fired at the wild Rock Rider, they were somewat disturbed. | They had been so quiet hitherto in the para- dise of the South Park that they had almost for- gotten the dangers that surrounded them. Not one of them had ever been on the plains before, and their whole knowledge of Indians was de- | rived from books, and from the degenerate specimens found in frontier towns. Still they were all active, keen-eyed young fellows, used to war, splenuidly armed, and reully ran less dangev than oue might have sup- “Boys,” said ' Jack Somers, ‘ there’s a row in the valley. What's to be done?” “Stay here,” said Frank Buf rd, coolly. ‘¢T’d like to see the force of Indians that can t+ us out of that tree, if we’ve a mind to de- nd ourselves. Whatdo you say, Belcour?” my stay here,” said the young Frenchman, firmly, “till I have solved the mystery of the Spirit of the Sierra, If the Indians come, I will soon send them Rocking back.” * How?’ demanded Somers, a little incredu- lously. ‘Do you think that your shooting is so superior? You haven’t shown it yet.” Somers was renowned for a specialty. That specialty was pistol-shooting. ® gloried in his proficiency, and was very jealous of any one who tried to dispute the og in that. Gustave Belcour smiled. “Nay, Jack, our best shot at a long range is | old Carl here, and thou canst beat us all with | the revolver. But Ihave a specialty, too. Be- | hold it.” | As he spoke he drew from his girdle a Colt’s | vevolver, put it to his mouth, and, toall appear- once, swollowed tt, “ Jack Somers,” cried a hollow voice, close be- ‘ind the young man’s head, at the same instant, ‘look out for your scalp.” The young fellow turned hastily round, star- tled out of his wits, and a high, squeaking voice verhead, in the tranches ot the live-oak, again { costed bim with the question: “ Does your mother know you're out?’ / Both Somers and Buford looked wonderingly _ound them, when Belcour burst out laughing. “You see, boys, I have a specialty, too. I’ve —_- you, and that’s nothing to what I ean do, WA te f are you a conjuror?” asked both ina “Pretty fair,” returned Belcour, modestly; “enough to scare an Indian. You see that I al- wa ked to amuse myself with magic, and ished wv a ees in that line under in Rew ork. I thought it might prove ml tome here, and we shall soon see if it | dem. The Rocx Rider. does not. I shall not be the least useful mem- ber of the firm yet, perhaps,” Brinke: hoff, who had not yet spoken, during the conversation was sweeping the line of the Sierra to the south with a powerful glass. He shut it np now, and quietly observed: *Fellers, { fights mit you, bote 1 dinks ve haf moch drowbles. Dere ist swanzig Indians comen hier, and der teufel on der rocks fightin’ mit You looks for yourself.” Buford took the glass and pointed it to the place indicated by the German. He could dis- tinctly see the weird figure of the Rock Rider, as he sat there, defying the Indians below. He saw, too, the stranger riding away along the edges of precipices, among sharp rocks, as if he bore a charmed life, till the darkness and the mouth of a black canyon swallowed him up together. hen the four comrades held a short consulta- tion, which ended in extinguishing their little fire, and faking to the shelter of the live-oak _ tree, where they secured their horses and retired to their respective nests for the night. The four had resolved to set a guard, how- ever, and Brinkerhoff offered to take the first tone of duty, accompanied by his learned dog, akop. For vious hours the German was undisturbed in his watch. He knew that the Indians were near, and had heard enough of their wiles to be suspicious of every sound. Still he knew also that the secrecy cf their retreat was ikely to save them from discovery for that night at least. as the moon was finish- ane er last quarter, and the nights were very dark. The hours wore on in silence, and Yakop was | quietly reposing by his master’s feet, when the watching hunter caught sight of a dark moving figure, standing out against the sky at the top of a knoll, not three hundred yards off. It moved as silently as a ghost, but the keen eyes of Car] were not to be deceived. The figure moved stealthily forward and halted at the summit of the knoll, revealing the plumed head-dress and long flowing buffalo- roba of an Indian chieftain. A moment before Carl had been nodding at his post, but the sight was too novel to him and too startling to permit longer inattention. It was the first wild Indian he bad ever seen. Softly he laid bis hand on Yakop’s back, and the intelligent dog started up in a moment, without a whine or bark. That he saw the Indian was evident from a certain stiffening of the back, and he kept his eyes intently riveted upon the savage. The Indian remained ‘on the summit of the knoll for a minute or more, peering round che valley. Then he turned and stalked away to- ward the Sierra at the eastern side. Carl waited till he was out of sight behind the knoll, when he rose up and softly wakened his three companions, to whom he told what had happened. he news woke them up effectually, and there was no more talk of sleeping that night. That Indians were near them and on the alert was certain now. How many were near, was another question, and one bard to answer. spor f they descended from their perches, and each man saddled his horse, leaving the bridle on the horn of the saddle. There was nothing further to do then but to wait for morning, and keep a good look-out, But when they came to look out over the val- ley, a circumstance was discovered which alarm- ed the four comrades exceedingly. Yakop was gone. In vain they looked around in all directions, and made low signals to attract the dog’s atten- tion. They dared not call aloud or whistle, for no one knew who might be near. But all the care and search they could make was unrewarded. Yakop was undoubtedly missing. * The stupid dog!” muttered Somers, wrath- fully. “If the Indians catch sight of him, it’s all up. They’ll know it’s a white mans dog, and follow him when he comes back. You ought never to have brought him here, Carl. He’s only in the way.” “Don’t you never mind ’bout Yokop,” said Brinkerheff, quietly. ‘You don’t got so much sense as Yakop to-night, mein herr. Yakop he go off to see vere de Indians vos sleep, and Yakop he come back mit de news, You see ferv soon, Shack.” “ Mes amis,” said Gustave Belcour, suddenly, “if a dog can do sich things, we ought not to be behind. I’m going to take a look at the In- dians myself. Stay here till [ come back.” “Und I be poing after Yakop,” said Carl Brinkerhoff. ‘De leedle cuss might get into a fight und get vipped by dems Indians. Sol goes to see after mein leedle tog.” And without more ado the German and the Frenchman departed on their hazardous expedi- tion, leaving the two cousins to defend the tree as they best might. _ CHAPTER VL BELCOUR’S LUCE, Wuen Gustave Belcour started on foot from the old live-oak tree where he and his compan- nn — —- ae enene. a TTS oT aT ions had built their nest in safety, he had neo very clear idea of where he was going. Had le been an American his native cawion would have reminded him that union was strength, division weakness, But Beleour was an impetuous Frenchman, young, brave to rashness, and endowed with a profound contempt for the Indians, a profound confidence in his own resources, All that he had seen of Indians, all that he | ad heaid irom the keen, self-reliant trontiersmen he had met, had made him think of the former as cowarely, degraded creatures, of whom a dozen were no match for a single determined white man, Moreover he relied on ‘their superstition and his own tricks of magic to fright\n them away it they became too numerous, Very rash, the reader will say. True, but fortune favors the brave, often when they don’t deserve it. Once away from the tree, Bileour advarecd with mingled boldness and caution that was very creditable to a man totally uneducated in wood -craft, He kept in the hollows between the diffcrent knolls, arpa 4 ay ne up against the sky- line, on the watch for foes, He moved siowly and noiselesslv, his gun ready on full cock, a pair of revolvers in the belt, close to lis hand, For nearly a mile he saw nothing. Then the snap of a dry stick in his immediate vicinity warned him that others were abroad, Instantly the young man sunk down to the earth, where be was, and remained perfectly si- lent, listening intently. For some moments not a sourd disturbed the silence. If it were a wild animal that had made the noise, it must have halted, alarmed at its own carelessness. If it were a human being the pause was just as significant. Gustave Belcour waited, with suspended breath, his ear close to tle ground, with a pa- tience worthy of an old bunter. Presently he distinguished a soft, almost im- perceptible rustle. It was the scund of a moc- casined foot on damp grass. It came trom the other sive of a kroll, et the foot of which he lay, and the kro!l was ercwned with a gigantic live-oak, with drcoping | renches. : pe feet breathless listening, he could ascer- ain that the st were approaching the sum- nit of the tele as rd Quietly he rose up to a kneeling perture, and repared himself to exercise the art which he ad studied so well. Ina moment more he was greeted with a view of tLe lofty plumes of an Indian warrior, rising over the summit of the knoll, as he lad exyceted. But there was more than that. To his surprise, mingled with apprehension, a score of dark forms rose up at tie same instant, and all were Indians. Ticre wes a low mur- mur of voices, as if the new-comer was being greet and questioned, and a great deal of si- ent gesticulation, | Then, too, for the first time, Belcour hcerd Sm a of a horse on the other side of the nol. He realized that, without knowing it, he had stumbled on the very camp of the Tdianis who bad ccme into the valley. They hadlcen askep till now, but their scout Fad returscd. Would he be able to get cff as quietly as Le had cre, now that the mervelously acute scuses of the wild warriors were fully aveke? The cold sweat stood on his brow, es lhe men- tally answered ihe question in the negetive, ‘These fellows that Le wes lockirg at, wero very different fiom the degererate Leli-i rutes ke had seen Jyirg diunk in the streets cf Oma- a. In spite of his danger, Be’cour could rot help a thrill of admiration, as le surveycd the ath- letic and graceful forn sof the Conan che chicfs cutlined egairst the sky. Tlere was rot cne that might rot have scived es a model tor an Apollo, and their stately and Cignified herring toward each other, as tle urseen ow: tcl er mark- ed it, would have ;ut to shan.e tke most courte- ous gentleman ¢f civilization. P.ainly these were the 1eal kirgs of the rorn- tain and pravrie, and hed never cuflered trom white contact. But Peleour knew well crough also thet ‘bey rourished a batred against } is race that 1¢recr- ed it a hezardous place fir lim. He nust set away from there somchow, aid now wes the tine to try bis art. With a preat ¢ffort be threw his yeice irto the tree. shove the beads of, tLe Idicns, uttcr- ing, in English, tre vores: -- wetere you dcing here #” The effect was in wecia‘e end rurprising, The Indians recoiled from the con ron enter as if e shell bad been diopred irto t) cir midst. and twenty wenpors wee reac y in erger Lands, poe up into the iv ; ainly they suspected on eremy just whe he wished them, and the ventrilcanisn followed up the stratagem by a diatolical Jaugh, which he contrived to send into another part of tho tree, at the further side of the knoll. Instantly the flash and crack of a rifle Waa.
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\ oe followed by the snapping of a bullet through the trees, in the very place where he had sent his voice. Belcour repeated the Jaugh in the very same place, and then started up. As he had antici- pated, half a dozen rifles followed suit, and sev- era] Indians caught bold of the branches to as- cend and examine the tree. Seizing the oppor- tunity with the marvelous quickness of the trained conjuror, the young man stole instantly off down the hollow, under cover of the roise and confusion, which prevented his foes from observing his footsteps, and very soon put a second knoll between him and the Indians. He could hear them rattling the branches, and talking aloud together, with a want of caution sikingty unlike his own notions of In- dian character, and which proved that the must have been greatly excited by the mysteri- vous voice, 4 And then, of a sudden, everything was quiet. Belcour halted instantly, laid down, and lis- tened. For some time all was still, and then he heard the low, muffled tramp of a tumber of horses. Covered by that, he started up again, and stolo off through the hollows, without any very clear idea of where he was going, except to get away from there. The noise of ahi epee hoofs grew more and more distinct, and the young Frenchmaff quick- ened his pace to a run, following only the line of hollows, and keeping between the knolls. As fur as regarded concealment, it was a wisa course. He remained perfectly invisible. But, unknowingly, every step took him further and further away from his camp, and when he rested at last, he found that he was in a part of the valley with which he was totally unac- quainted, Where the trees were much thicker, and where the only landmark he could recognize was the giant range of the Sierra, at whose foot he unexpectedly found himself. The discovery was something of a shock to the young fellow. : Had he had his horse with him, it would have mattered less, but on foot, and being quite out of walking practice lately, he began to feel tired and helgless. Under thecircumstances, he took a causible course. , : Ascending the mountain a little higher, where a belt of coppice and timber clothed the spurs of the Sierra, he ensconced himself in a shel- tered place, from whence he could see the whole e the valley, and silently awaited the coming of day. Ss hed not long to wait. His excursion had carried him over more ground, and through a longer period of time than he had calculated on; and already a faint, doubtful light began to steal over the landscape, the first precursor of coming day. ; From his position, a little elevated above the valley, he could see nothing in the gloom be- low. The tactics of the vidette by night and by day are very different. ut he could hear, every now and then, the distant snort of a horse and the dull trampling of feet, that told him that the Indians were stirring about Gra mally. the light became stronger, and Bel- cour looked up the side of the mountains. Sharp and clear stood out the rugged tops against : sky that was already blushing pink with early awn. Below him the trampling continued, and af- ter awhile he began to hear voices in low con- versation, Still the light increased, and as he looked down, he saw the whole valley covered with a thick white vail of mist, out of which the trees rose up like islands in a sea. Belcour rose and went higher up the moun- tain. Where he was, every thing was bright and clear. Only the valley was obscured with mist. The young man reasoned correctly when he thought the same mist would hide him from the observation of any one below. He passed through the belt of coppice, and emer, on the naked side of the mountain, at the edge of a steep, stony ravine, between two spurs of the chain, where a winter’s torrent had hewn its pathway down the side of the ravine. ; A few rocks formed a sort of natural breast- work, behind which, safe from observation, he could survey the valley. As he Jooked down and listened, the noise of horses’ feet, becams quite plain on the greensward. The vail of white mist seemed to be thicker and thicker, as the light strengthened. Every now and then a breeze would send clouds of vapor rolling along, curling into various fantastic forms, and be- hg ry he ie pont hear vo.ces quite pla i x to each other. But the Ghicas were not those of Indians. With a strange mingling of amusement and terror, he recognized bis friends, the two cousins, Buford and Somers. ‘“* Eh! Mon Dieu!” muttered Belcour to him- self; “but we are four fools, I must say. Here am I in one Brinkerhoff somewhere else, and Buf playing hide and Seek in the fog below, as if a war-party were nowhere within hearing. Ah, ab! there comes the at last!” Ate spoke, a byight crimson glow tipped Tho hock Rider. tho summits of the Sierra on the opposite side of the valley, and began to steal rapidly down over the rocks, The white mist in tho valley curled closer than ever. . Gustave Belcour turned away to look up the roountain side again, and the prospect was glorious. The sky was all aglow with scarlet and gold, and the rocks stood out as black as jet against it. Sharp pionacles of granite, like rows of needles, seemed to be too narrow to afford footing even for the mountain goat. And yet, there, in the very center of the glow at the summit of the pass, her statuesque form | Cato dropped on his knees trembling, and | ejaculated: | “Ob, marse cappen, honey sweet marse ca | pen, don’t you make me go in dar, sah! De | debbil in dar, shuah, for I hear um scuttering | roun’ dar quite lively, so I did, sab. Don’t you | go for to make me do no sich t’ings, marse ¢cap- pen, or fo’ God, I isn’t gwine to— Yah-h-b-h !” | He ended with a howl that might have been | heard a mile, as the’ Rock Ridér, without a _ word, lowered the ghastly head on the point of | the lance, till the cold flesh touched his cheek. Cato leaped up asif he had been struck with | a whip, yelling louder than ever, but his mas- relieved against the sky, stood the same beauti- | ter cut him short sternly. ful figure that he had seen the night before, the mysterious being that he only knew as the Spirit of the Sierra, CHAPTER VII. THE CAVERN OF DEATH. Tue shades of evening had gathered over the Sierra, and the Indians were gone from the pars where Black Wolf had been killed, when the cautious click of the mule’s hoofs broke the stil]- ness, and the gaunt, unearthly figure of the Rock Rider made its appearance at the summit of the gorge. In a moment more he came trot- | ting slowly down the pass, with the fearful pale | face on the round shield gleaming through the darkness. There, in the midst of the gorge, lay the dead warrior, pinned to the ground by tho unerring lance of the weird stranger, his sightless eyes | i glaring up at the stars in the evening sky, all alone. His companions had left him, an unusual thing with Indians, who are scrupulous to carry off their dead on most occasions. The Rock Rider went up to the lance, still standing in the ground, and muttered: ‘* Another life gone, another victim to his own crimes. Oh, children of the prairie, how often would I have eg ay ye my wrongs, but ye would keep at the foul task of murder and ra- pine. Black Wolf in name and nature, thou shouldst thank me that saved thee from the gal- lows-tree, and set thee among the nobles and kag that fell before the arm of the Rock ider, Ride on to the hunting-grounds of thy fathers in peace, and thy bead shall Le honored by a place in the Cavern of Death.” As he spoke, he wrenched away the spear from its place, and stuck it again in the ground. Then he stooped down from the saddle, wiib a long knife in his hand, with which he made but a single slash at the neck of the dead Indian. In another moment he was up again, and dangling from his hand was seen @ humun head! He replaced the knife in his girdle, plucked up the spear once more, and set upon the poiut the ghastly trophy. ‘It is finished,” muttered the Rock Rider. ‘God receive thy soul, and cleanse it from evil in the purifying flames of purgatory.” The strange being turned away his mule, and rode up the pass again, the round dark head on the spear-point relieved against the sky. The tramp of the gaunt mule echoed up the gorge to the summit, when mule and rider turned into a black canyon and Rirapronren, Minutes passed away in total silence, when the tramp was again heard, this time on the summit of the cliffs. Presently the two dark figures appeared acainst the sky, with the terrible trophy of death at the end of the spear. The Rock Rider and his gaunt steed appeared to tread on air at times, so closely did they approach the edge of the precipices, and then they went bounding over chasms, and stepping from point to point of needle-like pinnacles, till they both reached a broad slope that seemed to climb to the summit of a lofty peak, which was furrowed here and there with deep, black ravines. Into one of these ravines both jumped, and drew up before the entrance of the same cavern whence they had started a few hours before. é™ the deep voice of the Rock Rider shout- “Cato! Cato! Where are you, imbecile?” A faint, stuttering voice was heard from the gorge behind, some distance from the black mouth of the-cave. ‘ “Here, marss cappen. Oh! bress de Lord, you isn’t dead, and po’ Cato isn’t luff alone fo’- ever! Oh, bress de Lord, marse cappen!” Then the hurrying steps of the negro were heard up the gorge, and he came running out of the darkness to hold his master’s bridle. Ria How ott pag ; wer pecans the Rock ider, sternly. ‘ ave you left your post in the Cavern of Death? . ae dion: ug, Oh, marse cappen,” began Cato, shivering, “‘T done gone in once, but oh, marse cappen, twas awful, sah, awful! De heads dey groan, and de debbil he be at work at dem, shuth, for po’ Cato hear ’em a-groanin’ and talkin’ to each oder; yes, marse cappen, so be did now, shuah, and I isn’t no liar, sah,” “Fool,” said the Rock Rider, harshly. “’Twas but the wind groaning through the crevices. Go in and light the fire on the altar, for I have found 9 fresh guest for the Oavern of Death. \ | “Into the cavern, fool! Am I to wait all | night? Quick, or I will call forth the spirits to seize thee,” The last threat appeared to decide Cato, for he scudded into the cavern at a rapid pace, and the Rock Rider slowly dismounted from his mule and turned the animal loose, whenit walk- ed into the cave after the negro. Presently a faint red light glimmered from the interior, and almost immediately it was followed by a fearful howl from Cato, as some | black thing dashed past him, and ran out of the cavern. As quick as thought the long knife of the Rock Rider was out, and he made a bold cut at the dark object as it shot by him. A sort of agonized yell, instantly stifled, fol- lowed; end a dead wolf lay at the feet of the solitary, while Cato came running out, howl- ng. ** See, dolt,” said the Rock Rider, fiercely. “Nothing but a coyote, and thou bast let him intothe sanctuary. Back and light the flame, or T’ll cast thee over the cliffs into the valley. Quick, I say!” Again Cato entered the cavern, this time very slowly and unwillingly. Thrice he returned, and thrice did his master drive him in by | threats. At last he dashed desperately in, saying: “Well, den, marse cappen, if I’se a dead nigger to-morrow mornin’, *tain’t my fault—so now |” Ina few moments more the same red glim- mering flame was seen in the interior of the cave, and not till then did the Rock Rider ad- vance. He followed the) glimmer of that flame through a Jong, winding cavern full of side recesses, in one of which the sound of the mule’s teeth munching at fodder was plainly audible. Ahead was a low archway in the solid rock, and Leyond it stood a cubical block of stone, on th , summit of which Lurned a bright flame, thai’ seemed to iluminate a second cavern. Into this light emerged Catoy hurrying des- perately toward the entrance of the cavern, ae th an expression of ghastly fear on his black are, But the sight of his terrible master coming toward him, holding out on the presented spear the grinning bead of the Indian warrior, sem- ed to quench all desire in Cato to go further in that direction. The negro recoiled to the side of the aitar, where he fell on his knees, the_pie- ture of abject terror; and slowly the Rock Rider entered the Cavern of Death. It wes well named. A large, round cavern, with a lofty roof, the light of the fire was insuffic’ent to illuminate the intense blackness of darkness that brooded over every side and the ceiling, out of its influ- ence. The stone altar was made of a single white stalagmite, fashioned by the hand of man into its present shape; and the faint drip, drip ef water at long intervals in the recesses of the cavern announced that others were in the pro- cess of formation. Out of the black darkness overhead white, ghostly forms leancd down, which.were noth- ing but stalactites, and out of the darkness around a troop of pale statues seemed flitting, uncer the flickering light of the fire. But around the altar itself was the most ghastly assembly of all. Standing erect, leaning against white stalag- mites, and sppsrently as fresh as if just killed, a row of human becdies, all headless, met the view, dressed in the costume of Indian warriors. On the ground before each of them lay the head which had belonged to it in life>plumed and painted «s if on the war-path, and the be ons of each, all firearms, lay beside the eads. The Rock Rider stepped into the circle, and drove the butt of tke spear into a crevice of the rock, while the bead remained grinning | aloft, when the strange being addressed the motionless circle. y He leaned the rourd shield against the altar, where the pale face remained staring upat bum, and spoke in his deep, powerful voice: “Warriors and chiefs, once owners of this broad continent, I bring a fresh guest for your circle to-night. The black buzzard of the prairie flew to the mountain to-day and hovered above my head, and I knew from the voice of the wind that death was coming to Sierra. Chiefs and warriors, Rider has hated blood
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. Rider, in a strange tone of joy. belonged to man, have I not avenged thee? .@ better life. 6 heen conapelled to shed it. Tell me only where my little one has gone, and the red-man shall roam free of the Rock Rider’s spear. Refuse, and I must e’en go on with my task, till the last chief of your tribes bas fallen to avenge the death of my beloved one.” Then the wild being took up the shield and held it aloft, so that the face was slowly turned around the circle. “Look at them, beloved,” said the Rock ‘*Tf vengeance See the form of the Coiling Snake, the same that struck thee, my own. met him in fair fight, with the lance of a true knight against the stolen rifle of the pale-face, and he went down. I remembered thee, and offered him lifs, if he would tell me where he had hidden our little one. But the red liar said that he knew not, and I slew him. One by one they have fallen, Comanche, Cheyenne, Arapahoe and the tiger of the South, the cruel Apache. See where they stand, awaiting the resurrection. I slew them like men, and they died like wolves, And now I bring thee the worst of all, Black Wolf.” He laid down his shield as he spoke, and de- tached the head of the slain warrior from the spear-point, He held it up and addressed the silent circle once more. _ “Chiefs and warriors, behold Black Wolf, the Comanche chief. He was a coward and a murderer of women. Not many moons ago he led a ad to swoop down on a peaceful cottage. e brained the child in its cradle, and slew the mother, when the father was pay 8 Like the wolf he ravened. Like the wolf he died, impaled. His body lies in the pass to fatten the buzzard and the crow. His is fit eompany for wicked chiefs and warriors until verepent. Let him lie there till the trumpet sounds.” He laid the head down in the center of the circle, and then turned to Cato, saying: “Old servant and friend, we have finished for Mig a and the Rock Rider must awa again. Death is around us, for the night-haw screams in the valley. Cato, the time is coming when we shall find her, for I saw her in my dreams twice last night. God knows I would not slay more if I could, but they would not heed my command. The red wolves are in the valley to destroy the white strangers, and I taust save them. “Tis no sin to take life to save Come.” He took up the shield and lance as he spoke, and stalked from the cavern into the outer one. Cato had been kneeling there, shivering, all the while, his lips moving, as if he was pray- ing for erent his eyes fixed on vacancy. The airly benumbed with superstitious As the Rock Rider turned to depart, the poor darkey uttered a deep groan of relief, which was distinctly echoed from the back of the cavern. Cato’s wool bristled up on his head. He leaped to his feet, cast a single terrified glance round him, and rushed from the inner eavern to where his master was standing, watching the gaunt mule finish its feed. There the negro fell on his knees, and clung to the other’s skirts, crying: “Ob, marse cappen! Sweet, good marse cappen, don’t go fur to leave Cato dis night, when dat murderin’ red nigger'll be coming roun’, shuah, to look fur um head! Ob marse cappen, wait fur de mornin’! You'll done go an’ bruk you’ neck, you will, shuah, an’ I’se gwine to be luff all alone, fur dem ghostesses to ketch. I’se no coward, marse eappen, you know dat’s well’s I, but dem ghost- esses dem skeers de life out of po’ Cato, and ‘ou comes home an’ fin’ him dead some o’ dese ys, an’ all de ghostesses runnin’ off wid um heads under um arms, shuah, An’ maybe um take Cato long wid dem. Oh-h-h-h!” He ended with a prolonged shivering groan, completely overcome at the thought. The Rock Rider addressed him with much more kindness than usual. “Come with me, Cato,” he said, “and I will show thee why I must go.” Cato followed willingly enough, keeping fast hold of his master’s skirt, and the Rock Rider led the way down a side passage of the cave till the faint glimmer of starlight ahead of them warned them that they were approaching another exit. They came out on the mountain-side, looking down a precipice into a small valley opposite to the South Park. The whole valley was dotted with camp-fires, and groups of painted and plumed warriors moved about between them, “The Apaches are there, Cato,” said the Rock Rider, gravely. ‘‘They do not come all the way from Mexico for naught. The Comanches ave coming by the other pass, and there are four white men in the valley, Have two tribes united thus for naught? Come with me.” Cato followed silently back through the cave, till they emerged jy full view of the Bouth a Park, __ Poh at very RRoment the brilliant gape of & ‘ o ‘The Rock Rider. bursting rocket showed over a gap in the Sierra on the opposite side of the valley, and the Rock Rider started, with the exclamation: “1 bave it at last. ‘Tis a train from the northern forts, and the tribes have heard of its coming. Fool that I was not to think of it before! Now, indeed, I must away, Cato, In yonder train, perhaps, are women and children, and they must be saved. The mule, quick!” Cato made no more objections now. Perhaps | he thought himself safer where he was, than following his master. In a few minutes more the gaunt mule was on its way down the mountain, and Cato took his seat at the mouth of the ravine, mut- tering: “T isn’t gwine to go in dar till mornin’! Marse cappen may be crazy, but dis nigger knows whar him best place is, an’ he don’t stir a peg, ef all de ghostesses runs away wid um heads all night.” CHAPTER VIIL YAKOP, We must return to Carl Brinkerhoff, who left the tree of rendezvous on perhaps the most laudable errand of the three parties, in search of his faithful dog, Yakop. The cautious and phlegmatic German was also the best suited of the three to the position in which he found himself, for he was a mag- nificent shot, with nerves like iron. He walked quietly away toward a part of the valley where there was plenty of cover, and secured himself a way of retreat to the mount- ains before be did any thing else. Then he seated himself at the foot of a tree, drew from his pocket a small whistle, and sounded three short notes upon it. That done, he leaned back against the trunk of the tree, and waited patiently. He had not so very long to wait. ten minutes were up, there was an eager bust- ling through the grass; and Yakop, panting as from a long run, came up to his master and licked his hand. Then the dog sat down and looked up in Carl’s face, as if waiting to be interrogated. Brinkerhoff commenced the catechism with per- fect gravity, and realty seemed to understand Yakop as well as the dog did hiin. ‘“Yakop,” he began, ‘‘ haf you seen de Injuns, mein hund ?” “ Wuff,” answered Yakop. “Vos dere many of dem ‘round dere, Yakop? Nein. I knows you doesn’t talk mosh, mein hund, You says ‘yah’ odor ‘nein,’ and das ist all. Say, vos dere swanzig, (twenty) Y ib “Wuff,” answered Yakop. **Vos dere dreissig, (thirty) Yakop?”’ Yakop shook bis head and growled. ‘Ah hal Between swansig and dreissig. Das ist genug, Yakop. Now, mein leiber hund, s’pose you show me vere dey is. You knows de vay, I s’pose; hey, Yakop? “ Wuff,” said Yakop, joyfully, and the two set forth together toward the Indian camp, where they arrived just about the same time pero’ Gustave Belcour tried his ventriloquial cks. Brinkerhoff witnessed the arrival of Red Lightning from his scout, and noted the con- sternation caused by the mysterious voice in the branches of the tree. He sat by, laughing heartily and silently, as he saw the Indians firing up into the branches, and climbing up to search the tree; for, unlike them, he could see Belcour stealing off. But he noticed that the Indians did not remain dupes of the tree trick long, for, after a a short search, they came down and rushed for their horses, feeding in a hollow beyond, Carl lying down on the side of an adjacent knoll, saw them ride slowly away toward the east, as the first flush of dawn tipped the peaks of the Sierra. é Then the sweeping white mist began to rise thicker and thicker, and every thing was shu out from his view. But where the eye of man was at fault, the scent of the ye Baiting a guide. Pieceded by Yakop, Brinkerhoff set out to grope bis wa back toward the lonely tree of rendezvous, ri in hand, ready for action, CHAPTER Ix. THE COUSINS. Artrr the departure of Gustave Belcour and Carl Brinkerboff from the tree of rendezvous, Somers and Buford remained for some time near each other, conversing in whispers, and watching intently. But the sleepy influences of the night, and the apparent absence of all danger, speedily overcame their endeavors to keep awake, First one, then the other, began to nod, and finally both of them fell back on the grass, and — peacefully, in blissful unconsciousness of anger. As good luck would have ft, no harm came to them in consequence, Theip abode was perfect- ly shattered, re dunt the had entered ne yalloy In the Gare, 80 LAAy WeTp WH PO Prseee danger gf disgovery, ; Before | The first peep of dawn awoke both, and they instinctively started up, full of apprehension, only to find themselves ingulfed in a white rea of mist. Not a sound was to be heard whera they were, except the occasional snort of a hores under a tree. “‘T say, Jack,” quoth Buford, presently, “why shouldn’t we set out as well as those two other fellows? I don’t believe those Indians amount to much, after all said.” “Ym game,” responded the Kentuckian (Somers was a “‘ Blue Grass” man), *‘if you are. I was just thinking thet it wouldn’t do to let those two foreigners do all the work, and come home to blow about it. I’m good for twenty- four Indians, if they don’t 1 op me over before I get through my loads. But what can you do, old fellow? You never were very famous for shooting.” “‘T don’t believe in shooting on horseback,” said Buford, gravely. ‘I’ve seen too many shots thrown ved in that manner, Here's something worth all your pistols in a melee, if a man knows how to use it.’ And the Virginian tapped his saber as he spoke. It was his pet weapon, and he was tlic only one in the party who carried one, simply because he was a first-class swordsman and rider. Somers grinned. It was an old matter of ar- gument between him and his cousin. ‘You can keep your old saber,” he saic, * What’ll you do with it if you get shct down at twenty yards?” **T shall not get shot down at twenty yard Jack,” said the Virginian, quietly. ‘I’ve trie the experiment before this, and l’ve seen your fellows turn tail before ours in a charge, not because ours were braver, Lut because we had drawn sabers, and your pistols were empty.” “I can shoot a bullet into each telegraph pole in a line, at a full gallop,” Legan Somers, a little boastfully, but Buford checked him. ‘* Yuu may, perhaps, Jack,” he said; ‘* but In- dians are poor shots at best. Come, don’t let's blow our own trumpets. 1 believe in the pistol, inside of six feet, in a gallop, Lut only as a re- serve. Come, will you.mount?” ‘““Ay, by Jove!” said Jack, and they led out their horses, bridled them, and saw every thins; into its place. Belcour’s and Brinkerhoff's horses were left under the oak tree—an exceed- ingly careless proceeding, but exactly in keep | ing with the rashness of the whole party of ycung madcaps. Both of the cousins were splendidly mounted on blooded horses, able to run a four-mile race on very good time, and it was this very fact that had emboldened them to so much rash- ness. Jack Somers carried two revolvers in his belt, and two more in /.is boots, a favorite and con- venient Southern plan of beuring weapons. Bu- ford, on the contrary, had his pistols in the kol- sters of his saddle, and only bore on his person along cavalry saber, which he bad sharpened to a razor-like edge, and now carried in a leath- ern scabbard. They rode off into the mist just as the light began to gild the tips of the Sierra, which they could faintly see gleaming through the white clouds above them, with a rosy radiance inex- pressitly lovely. The trees were invisible until close by, when they loomed out with startling suddenness, like ghosts in the fog. Jack Somers rode headlong into the middle of a pool before he saw it, aud when he turned his horse to go out, a thick wall of mist swoo ed down, and before he knew where he was, he found himself separated from his compauion, and all alone. ; This was sufficiently puzzling, as there were no means of finding the true directions in such afog. The imprudent Kentuckian, heedless of danger, began 10 call out: : “Frank! Frank! where in the deuce are you?” “Here,” cried the voice of his cousin, come way off. ‘‘Don’t make such a noise; there are Indians about; shut up.” “Indians be hanged!” shouted the reckless youth; ‘‘l’m game for all the Indians in the—” Crack! came a rifle cut of the mist on the other side, and the dull red flash shone through the white cloud for an instant. The bullet flew far wide of the mark, having been only fired by ee gh but the crack of Somers’s revolver eralded a shot that was aimed straight for the place where the flash had been, It was answered by nearly twenty red flashes from different Nee , and even by guess-work as it was, the balls whistled disagreeably close, Then, as if by magic, a gust of wind came down from the Sierra, the sun showed his fiery disk between the peaks, and the mist began to thin and rise up under the influence of hie beams. And then it was that Somers saw a long line of mounted figures, in open order, coming through the mist like ghosts, and heard a fierce yell as they perceived him. The next moment they swept forward at ful) speed upon him, 4 ine of painted savages, on horses spotted like leopards, scarlet plume and hlankets waving, weapons glittering tn the gan,
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SS Lc . minute drove tho spurs into his horse, aud away he went across the front of «their line, heading for the middle of the valley. Ashe turned, he caught sight of Frank Butord, also at full speed, but on the other side of the Indians, with a single chief on a horse spotted like a jaguar, in full pursuit, Such a scampering over the valley as ensued | Jack never forgot. The Indians, flogging their ‘ pirited little horses to full speed, sent shot after shot at the single fugitive, fired wildly, and do- ing little damage, but trying their best to cut Jack off from his refuge, and hem him in be- tween them and the mountain. , But for the superior swiftness of his horse Somers would have been in an awkward scrape. As it was, he just mana to brush past the lett hand warrior within ten feet, dropping him with a pistol bullet as he passed, his first shot. After that he was comparatively safe, for the racing speed of his thoroughbred animal quick- ] distanced the small horses of the Comanches. Indeed they soon drop the pursuit, and turn- od away after Frank Buford, whom Somers perceived at a little distance off, turning round to charge his solitary pursuer. They were several hundred yards from the rest, in an open glade, shut in on every side by He saw all this in an instant, and then he , t ; / / i | | cousins rapidly left them bebiud. | sr camping-tree by the spring, a little to the | right. ie Let’s go there,”’ he suggested, as they gal- Tbe Rock nicer. we get there.” ‘“*Our horses are fresh,” said the Virginian, | “Those ponies can’t come near | hopefully. — a arace. We're safe enough, I guess.” ‘ The mitted: but what are we going to do about Brinkerhoff and Gustave? e red-skins will | bave them sure, if they haven’t already.” ‘‘ Every man for himself, and God for us all,” said Buford. ‘We can’t be expected to wait | for them. They went off on their own hook, | and we must do the same on ours. Come, let’s ride faster.” : The cousins swept off up the valley toward eee * and we'relucky if! “I say, ; ", after all. can run asmart streak,” Somers ad- | the north at a free gallop, but the body of In- | dians in the rear did not quicken their pace. It seemed as if either they had other game in | hand or were secure of their prey, for they | kept on at the same easy lope, and the two | Soon they were hidden from view by a cur- tain of live-oaks, and Buford beheld their own | pe ea **One of them or both may have got They swept past the tree at full gallop, call- | | ing out the names of their friends, but no an- | swer was returned. live-oak trees, with a little pool in front. Frank | Buford, baving reached the end of this glade, | horse to greet them. had turned back; and as Somers looked, he met | the chief on the jaguar-spotted steed in full ca- reer. Both were armed with sabers, and they met fatrly. : ' For a moment there was a clash and a glitter, and then the horses went circling round, while Red and White cut and hewed at each other. But the combat did not last long. Somers could see that Frank was only playing with the In- dian, who knew nothing of the proper use of a weapon like the sword. The other Comanches were coming rapidly up, when Buford suddenly pressed his korse close to that of the Indian chief, Red Lightning made an effort to cut him down, but the raising of his arm proved his ruin. As the chief’s blade went up, Buford de- livered a tierce point (in fencers’ phrase) right | at the wien! and Red Lightning threw up his | arms, and fell back off his horse. Then Somers saw no more, for, with a vengeful yell, the Comanches bore down on Buford, and the Ken- that surrounded bim in the glade. CHAPTER X. A HARD CHASE. Wuen Jack Somers galloped down to the aid of his friend, Frank Buford was hard bestead. The glade in which he had been caught wasa perfect blind alley, and his only exit was through the Indians. : ; As Jack charged down, his cousin dashed out. and for a few minutes there was a confuse melee, pistol bullets flying about in all direc- | tions, Somers was one of those cool hands who never _ fired too soon, the great secret of bis success in | pistol practice five shots left in his first revolver tell on a foo | and he made every one of the in as many seconds, when he got close enough. The Indians, on the contrary, full of excite- ment, fired wild, and Frank Buford, his swift thoroughbred bounding here and there in their | midst, his saber cutting, slashing, and guarding on every side, added to their confusion. The whole scene transpired in less than a and then the two cousins, both bleedin from slight wounds, had made their way out o she crowd, and’ were off at full speed up the | valley, twisting and turning from side to side to derange the aim of their antagonists. Three Indians lay dead on the ground by the pool, and four more were more or less wounded, some seriously. : Red Lightning bad not been killed. They saw him rise from the ground and remount bis xpotted steed, but he could not follow them. The remainder of the Comanches made but a | | said Somers. conscience.” There was not even the snort or whinny of a “Thank heaven! they must have got off safe,” ‘“Now we can run with a clear said the words when he heard neigh, and Gustave Belcour’s He had hardl a joyful distan black horse, without saddle or bridle, could be seen trotting proudly round them in a d’stant circle, his head high in air, like a wild mustang. “Brinkerhoff bas got back, and turned him loose,” said Buford. ‘Where the deuce can Gustave Belcour be?’ He was answered by the clear, sweet notes of a horn from the summit of the Sierra, that the echoes into a concert of delicious melody. Both instinctively turned round to the east. tuckian put spurs to his horse, and ga/loped / down to aid his cousin against the fearful odds | There, on the summit of a lofty peak, they could see the airy form of the Spirit of the Sierra, looking down at them. She waved her long spear, and pointed to the north with a warning gesture, and then waved it forbiddingly, as if to prohibit their further advance. ‘*By heavens, Jack, this is something very strange!” said Buford, halting. say there are enemies ahead.” | ™Weshall coon see, behind those trees,” was | all the answer the Kentuckian made, as he gal- | loped on to a little island of timber that shut out the view from the pass to Denver. Buford remained where he was, watching the mysterious girl. He saw her repeat the same warning gesture, as Jack disappeared in the | timber ahead, and then she suddenly turned and vanished from the peak like a dream. How she went be could not see, but a moment | after he saw ber reappear at the edge of a dark canyon, and spring down into its black recesses as fearlessly as a bird. tillery from behind the curtain of trees in front was followed by a distant crackle of musketry ; and Jack Somers came galloping back out of | the timber, heading for the west, and gesticu- lating wildly to him to follow. ord turned his horse and rejoined his cousin, from whom he received the panting ex- planation: ‘“* There’s a whole tribe of Indians blocking up the road to Denver, and a number of soldiers fighting them. Frank, we’ll have to make for tah. It’s the nearest shelter [ can see. The ha ng country seems to be up. Listen to that | was, the boom of the guns being incessant, the yells of the Indians louder than ever. They were answered by the Comanches com- ing up the valley below, and the sounds served as a guide to the two cousins, who galloped as ‘She seems to | seemed to float over the valley, multiplied by | | gorge, and rode along the edge of a cliff that 7 Ms oe - fellers, dem Injuns isn’t sueh foo's Dem makes us hunt our holes: pretty lively, I guess. You fellers don’t got no chance mitout me und Yacop, so ve shticks togeder after dis.” Even as he spoke, a tremendous yelling burst forth from the scene of action, at f a crowd of mounted Indians broke loose from the rest and came tearing toward them. In the midst ‘of the crowd the black top of an ambulance could be seen rocking about as if the horses were coming at a furious pace. a With one accord the three friends turned and dashed into the tin.ber, the yelling growing louder every moment, and the crackle of mus ketry fiercer than before. CHAPTER XI Ax the minth of Gepok tami of T the mouth of one of the upper the Sierra sat the gaunt frame of the ‘Rock Rider, on his tall mule, when the first echo of the guns boomed upon the morning air. i The Rock Rider turned his head, and bis Jarge | dark eyes lighted up with the excitement of an old soldier at the sound of artillery. : “A-ha!” he cried, aloud, snuffing the air, “the savage hordes have attacked, as [ thought they would, and the sound comes from the Wolf’s Mouth. The heathen are coming from far and near, to fatten on the spoil of the white man, and where will this little handful of men be, against the swarms that I saw gathering?” He sat still for several minutes, musing, when the third and fourth guns boomed out, ac- oe by the faint, distant crackle of musketry. ots ‘* And those girls,” he continued to himself: “‘must they, too, share the fate of so many others, bright, beautiful, and beloved as they are? Must they, too, be profaned by the ac- cursed touch of the lustful Apache, and the Cheyenne fiend that knows no mercy for age or sex? Not while I can wield a sword, and cast a lance. I will do what I can to save them, and God, will help my shortcomings.” + He turned his mule, as be spoke, out of the overlooked the valley below—a mere ledge along the side of the mountain, not over three feet in breadth. It was one of those peculiar steps or | terraces in which the Rocky Mountains abound, one of three grand stages, each separate from the other. The lower stage was that on which Gustave Belcour was still toiling along, bewil- dered by a number of cross-canons and impasse- Lle walls, that seemed to lead him further and further into the nest of mountains without any - | hope of ascending higher. ‘he second was the stage on which the Rock Rider bad his home, 2 separate system of ledges’ aud canyons, inaccessible from below, except at. ore or two points, which might be searched for unsuccesstfuily for weeks, and which was equally: separated from tke third or topmost: range—the: tcme of the mysterious Spirit of the Sierra, Fer this yassege to the last range the Rock Rider bad often seerched, with the patient cun- ning of insanity, but so far without success, Many atime he had seen the white, graceful figure. himself unseen, and the fancy that the | was the embodied fpirit of the Sierra had sunk Then, on a sudden, the boom of a piece of ar- | | ; : ; faint pursuit, and our friends slackened their | hard as ever they could tear toward the west, | pace to a canter, while the Indians halted. where a dense forest clothed the foot of the “We're well out of that, Jack,” quoth Buford, | Sierra, and offered them the shelter they | raging ruefully at his foaming horse. ‘A lit- cle more, and it would have been all day with us. Thoge fellows fight better than I thought they would. , Ay, there’s no skulk about them,” said Somers, proceeding to reload his pistol. ; He only nee six of his twenty-four shots oO . As they looked back the reeived the In- cians gathered about Red Lightning, and a sin- le chief was galloping away toward the head of the valley, whence they had all come. The co looked a him, and beheld a ight which made their bearts stand still 6 bY &, dans, all iar ” mid Seener’, vely, * we're made a rveak fools of gurselves. We Thali have to do #, TREY wre Imotr to eronpe from ibis, We end of the valley was crowded with In- coming down at av easy lope to meet | | Crave 4 | In a few minutes, so great wes their speed, they were out of immediate danger, and from | the edge of the woods 7 hanes ir the Comanches | bearing down toward the soldiers in the pass, heedless of the two fugitives in the wood. ‘So that’s what they’re after,” said Somers, | as he looked. different tous. I say, Frank, it looks like old | times to see that smoke there. How would you | like to be into it?” | “I’m just as well pleased where I am,” said | Buford, dryly. ‘This soldiering isn’t what it’s | cracked WE to be, Jack.” Just at that moment they heard # low wuff! at their horses’ feet. Looking down, there was little Yacop frisking abont, while the grave | voles of Carl Brinkerhoff addressed them from a neighboring tyes, hebind whiek bidder ‘“No wonder they were so in- Yo he bed been | / cecp into bis mind, cultivated and” poetical nature)ly, and now intensified in its imaginibgs by the epirit of mania. ae As he rode rapidly along the narrow ledge, his sure-footed mule stepping fearlessly, he ever aid anon cast his eyes upward, expecting to see her. The poor man scemed to cling to her prescnee as bis sole companionship in his loneli- ness, end hardly felt surprised when he heard the sweet tenes of the mysterious horn echoing among the cliffs. “Ob, bright Spirit!” exclaimed the Rock Rider, clasping his hands; “I know that thou must be kind, thou art so beautiful! Pity a nF | poor lonely father searching for his lost child, Indeed, the racket was becoming fearful as it | andsend her back to me, &pirit; give me my own darling little Evy once more!” . mu Bowm! Boom! Hum—m—m— Bang! °° The sullen echces of the guns were the only answer to the prayer of the Rock Rider. The tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks: but he urged on his mule faster, murmuring: ‘Tis just! A gentleman must die in harness if need be, doing his duty. I must do mine. and rescue these poor creatures from the de- veuring heathen. God may forgive me my sins at last, and restore my little one tome, pure as when she was taken.” ic: He rode repidly along the edge of the preci- pice in full view of the valley, the sounds’ of strife growing plainer ashe advanced. ly, turning an angle of the cliff, he came in sight of the exit of Wolf’s Mouth Pass, so ealled from the rows of jagged pinnacles, just like the se of a wild beast, that garnished its opening aws, : ae rushin rh wh | ro of musketry flash m the crow Ned t from the Wolf’s Mouth. fie , it bere he saw the steady blue lines of soldiers halted and keeping the savages at bay, while tee ertillerymen were laboring like madmen Present-
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8 Se nrg er ag ee — The Rock Rider. bring their pieces to bear correctly, and the | his face. When he looked forth agai the In- covers of several ambulances and wagons were visible crowded together in the rear. Just at that moment a wild yell from the valley below struck on his ear and he looked quickly round, with an air of intense interest. There, in the valley itself, and coming at full was a vast cloud of fresh Indian horse- men, whom he at once as Comanches, The yell was answered from far = the ; with a peculiar intonation, and the Rock Rider marted. “ All the tribes of the West are gathered to- ,” he muttered. ‘Apaches here too? 0 has gathered them to this place?” But he pressed on at a rapid trot over the perilous path, till he disappeared in a deep cleft, the other side of which led out on a rocky plat- form at the edge of the pass itself. In a very few minutes he was there, the yells wing louder as he advanced, mingled with e loud, continuous crackle of ce poe > When he drew up and sprung off at the edge of the rock, the scene below caused him to utter a shout of admiration and delight. All the old soldier blood in him boiled up, as he shouted down in tones of encouragement: “Keep et your hearts, brave boys! No eavalry can break you, if you are steady!” There, in the broadest part of the pass, the rear company, less than twenty men, had gath- ered into a ae ogy mass, bristling with bayo- nets, and vomiting fire, while a surging crowd of wild horsemen swept round and round the little group, yelling and shooting, but not dar- ig, So charge home. amoke and dust filled all the pass, through which the red flashes, the sparkling bayonets, and the gleaming lance-points, flitted ghost-like, But the Rock Rider could see that the little knot of infantry was slowly moving down the pass toward their comrades, halting to fire only when too closely pressed. He looked down the pass and beheld the rest of the detachment, now drawn up into a hollow surrounding the ambulances and guns, gg the man set to work to help his com- ra Loose rocks and bow]ders were plenty enough where he was, and with a great exertion of his herculean strength he sent one crashing down into the midst of the Apaches below, smashing men and horses alike in its terrible sweep. Then he heard, high above him, another sound, piercing the air sweet and clear, above 'the confused din of the conflict. ' Jt was the Spirit Horn of the mysterious xenius of the mountain! ‘Spirit, I thank thee!” cried the Rock Rider. yh * art angry with the savages too, they xhall flee.” He looked down and beheld the Indians halted, awe-stricken, and, as he Iéoked, a great bowlder thundered down from above, and its way into the midst of the crowd below. It came from the hands of the Spirit of the TTA. The Indians in the pass uttered a wild yell, and swept past the little group at full speed, going down the pass toward the rear of the soldiers en at its mouth. “ God of heaven, have mercy on them!” ejacu- Jated the Rock Rider. ‘‘They are taken be- tween two fires, and we have ruined them!” Watching intently, he saw them go tear- ing down the pass, right into the rear of the gaons and wagons, and in a moment the wildest scene of confusion ensued. All order disappeared among the soldiers, the = were abandoned, and the whole force hud- led up into a dense confused mass. He could see the wild riders spearing the plunging horses of the teams, and yet recoiling under the fire of the need & Then a dark-covered ambulance with gleam- ing dashed out of the press at full speed, the s ing behind the frantic horses, show- that the driver had gone from his seat. way into the dark masses of the Indians it plung a broad way opening as if by magic, e wily sa closing in behind, It fiew past the huddled mass of soldiers out into the middle of the valley, the Indians howling be- hind it like demons, the horses wild with the fear of a stampede. Then, when it was in the very midst of the South Park, afresh mass of mounted Indians dashed across the track, and the flashes of fire- arms followed in quick succession, shooting the ~ In a moment the ambulance came to a sud- den stand, rocked, le a and finally fell over on its side, when the Indians swarmed over it like a cluster of ants. “God help them, now, for the devils have them,” sroe a the a yr ne F 4 © white strugglin res were dragge forth from Seanabelancs, and one of them was immediately struck down. The other two were thrown on the backs of horses, and carried off at full speed. §, The flutter of robes told the tale ony too ‘plainly. The captives were women, ana they were in the hands of the most merci- jess savages on the American continent. With » deep croap the Rock Rider covered dians were retiring. The sullen defiant cluster of soldiers were slowly moving back to surround their guns and) train once more, leaving their dead on the soil to the mercy of the enemy. The Rock Rider looked up to the summit of the rocks. ag Spirit of the Sierra had disappeared from view. Slowly he turned his mule and plunged into the dark gorge and quiet reigned over the val- ley once more—the quiet of death. CHAPTER XII. THE CROOKED TRAIL In the afternoon of the same day Gustave Belcour, wandering on among the mountains, found himself hopelessly lost. Whichever way he turned, he saw nothing but a nest of s towering overhead in all di- rections, their sides furrowed with black ravines, and no perceptible way for him to get out. All the morning he had heard the boom of artillery, now in one quarter, now in another, according as the echoes bore it to his’ear. He was seeking for a means of ascent to the higher passes of the Sierra, which thus far seem- ed to mock his efforts. Everywhere be was con- fronted by sheer precipices, and the passages between them seemed only to lead him into deeper labyrinths. At last he eame toa standstill, in a little hollow basin, shut in by rocks on every side, from which there a ed to be no exit. He was very hungry and tired too. He had come away without food and his ex- ercise had been very severe. All the mountain sheep that he had seen had been far out of gun- shot. Leaping fearlessly from rock to rock, they would stop a moment to gaze at the toiling _ below, and then skip away as if despising m. Belcour came to a halt, and sat down in the valley to consider. As he sat down, weariness overcame him, for he had not slept.all night, and the tired youth fell snore his gun under his head. When he awoke, the valley was rapidly grow- ing dark, the sun con sloped downward many degrees. He heard light footsteps near him, pattering over the rocks, and remained perfectly still to watch. Presently the graceful form and great perme horns of a mountain sheep, or bighorn—call by the Indians ahsata—came into view not far from his feet. The animal was advancing tim- idly, as if lost in wonder at the novel sight of a human being lying there. Belcour slow y turned his head, and the ani- mal started back. Remaining perfectly still, he saw it gradually recover its confidence, and come forward to- ward the pool, where it stooped its graceful head and drank, watching him narrowly all the time. Visions of roast venison floated through the hunter’s mind, as he saw the creature so close to him, but they were doomed to disappointment in this instance, for as he suddenly sprung to vick up his rifle, the ahsata gave a tremendous bound, and darted across the valley into a cor- ner, where two walls of precipice seemed to meet. Straight up this corner the creature bounded like a cat climbing a tree, and Belcour forbore to fire, for he was already too late. But the intruder had done him a service bet- ter than food. He had showed him the way out of the glen. Without waiting, for he knew it would soon be sunset, Gustave ran to the corner where the bie horn had ascended, and beheld a way indeed, but suca a verilous one that he hesitated to try it. ‘ ‘Never mind, Gustave; courage, my lad,” he said to himself. ‘If you don’t go out this way, you stand a chanc. of starving to death in the mountains. So here goes.” : The way was a sort of natural staircase, whereof the steps were about five or six feet in hight, with treads from six inches square to a foot, and a precipice on either side. It was ticklish work going up such a place cnd the dark fast coming on: but desperation supvlied skill to Belcour, and after ten minutes’ hard work he stood at last on a level ledge of rock, with an overhanging — above him, and a steep ascent before him. ” Up this natural path he went, muttering: “Where a a, ag can go I can follow. And follow he did, with great daring, the light increasing as be rose higher, for the sun was not yet set and the higher he went the more he saw of it. J By a lucky chance he seemed to have arrived in the second stage of the Sierra, where he could continue on the middle level for a long time, without meeting any obstacles. The ledge led to a platean of rock, over which a stream of water, a few inches deep, bad spread itself out, after issuing from a dark canyon be- gona. and fell into the valley over aprecipice to le Into this canyon Gustave plunged, for he could distinguish that it wound upward, and that was where he wanted to go, Dests He began to fee] more hopeful now of mrving the mystery of the Sierra, and was determine to a advantage of the little daylight that re- mained. : From where he was he could see the sun hanging over the tops of the ks, on the op- posite side of the South Park, and if he had gone to the edge of the platform might have seen into the valley itself. But that was not what he wanted now. He was intent upon solving the mystery of the strange, beautiful girl, and up the narrow canyou he toiled, as bard as he could go, He found a sort of natural path by the banks of the torrent, now on one side,:now on the other, which carried him on, the sun shining up the dark gorge all the time, till the sound of a waterfall ahead of him warned him of fresh difficulties to be overcome. The waterfall turned out to be some twenty feet in hight; and a sloping ledge, on whic some earth had lodged, and where a little grass had sprung up, pointed him the way of ascent. The ledge was quite easy to pass by, and he was half-way up, when he suddenly noticed some deep marks in the earth. He examined them carefully, and beheld the unmistakable footprints of a mule. He remembered at once the gaunt figure he and the rest had seen the evening before, and came to the conclusion that it must be the same who had made these tracks. Who it was remained to be found out, and the idea of a connection between the strange man and the Spirit of the Sierra for the first time occurred to him, Musing on the presence of human beings in such unlooked-for places, he ascended the path, and stuod by the waterfall, when the sun was suddenly darkened by a black shadow of strange and uncouth form that was projected from be- ow. Belcour looked down. The sun was setting, and across the middle of his disk, stood out the black, tesque figure of the Rock Rider, coming up the gorge toward him, at a swinging trot. The young man drew back from the edge of the rock, and awaited the other’s appearance with some curiosity, for he had never seen such a Se before. me : fe) prepared against a possible enemy, he threw his rifle into the hollow of hie left ae ready to be Spree. at a moment’s notice, and quietly waited the other’s approach. In a few moments more the clatter of hoof« was audible on the ledge, and the Rock Rider made his appe’ rance, coming up like a goblin in the crimson glow of sunset. : The instant that he saw Gustave he wh- elec his mule round like a flash, the left side towarté the Frenchman, and covered him with the lony lance, saying, in deep, hollow tones: “Down with your arms! I am the Rock Rider.” CHAPTER XIII, THE FLAG OF TRUCE. Nieut brooded over the valley of the South Park, and all the dark greensward was alive with twinkling watcb-fires, around which the warriors of three ee tribes, the Comanches, the Apaches and the Cheyennes, were standing, sitting and lying. ; At the mouth of the pass, clustered behind the white tilts of their wagons, the remnant of the soldiers were sullenly gathered, cheerless and fireless, without a drop of water in camp, save what remained in their canteens from the morning’s filling, a scanty supply at best. The Indians seemed to have settled down to a regular siege, every avenue of escape keing closed up by their grim circle of fires, but no further attacks being made. The warriors had suffered too heavily jor their rash charges to be disposed to repeat them as yet, he soldiers, on the other hand, were sullen and dispirited. All ibeir animals had been kill- edor seer! alge and they had no resource but to defend themselves bebind the corral of wagons till help arrived, if ever help came. In the midst of the corral a group of officers was gathered, talking over the prospect before them in low tones. ‘We have plenty of emmunition, major,” said one, in reply to a questien, from a gray headed officer who seemed to be the commander, ‘*but the men to use it are not so plentiful. We have too many recruits, and half of them are down sick or vounded since this morning. That Cochise must have had spies out who knew all our weakness, or the devils would never have dared to attack such a force as we have.” ‘How many men can you report for duty ther. ?” asked the major, a little er cealy. “Don theorize about Cochise, but tell me how many men I cun depend on to cut through their line?” ‘‘Not more than seventy, sir, and half of them are green hands.” “Green or not, we must make the attempt at daybreak,” said Major Morris, firmly. “If we had horses or water I would send to Salven for help. As it is, we must cut our way through and spike the guns, so that the Indiang can’t use them.” ; “Allow me to suggest a better. method. major,” said another offleer, “ We have prove
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a ene Pe ald ne en i that the Indians dare not attack us while we | stick together. Our fire is too heavy. Why | not take the guns with us, and move down to one of those pools to-night? The men arechoking with thirst and desperate. We have nothin left to lose, and everything to gain. The moral | effect on the Indians must be incalculable, if we move boldly and surprise them. They think we are disheartened at the death of tle ladies—” ‘* Hush, Taylor, hush! don’t mention them.” said the major, shuddering. ‘It’s a fearful dis- grace to five companies of United States troops | that we should have let shose devils carry off the general’s wife and daughters, without being able to fire a shot to save them. It has near broken my heart, and I shall demand a court- | martial and resign if Lever getout of this scrape | alive ” ) Crack ! went a rifle from under the wheel of | aw posted, and all the officers were on the alert in a moment, while the men jumped up on all sides from where they lay dozing. “ Who fired that shot?” demanded the major, ony as everything still remained quiet out- side. The Indians did not appear to have noticed it, ‘T fired, sir,” responded a voice from under the wagon. ‘“ There’s three Injuns a-comin’ this way a horseback, and I’ve sto ’em.” “Don’t fire again till I tell you,” said the as a ‘*T want to see them.” e went down between the wagons, and peered out. The forms of three horsemen were distinctly visible, standing out black against the firelight; and the center one bore a square white flag on his lance. : “A of truce, by Heavens!” exclaimed the major. ‘ We must not be the first to disgrace it, gentlemen. Let us hear what they have to say. Boys, ae your eyes skinned - all round. This may be only an Indian trick after all. I[ am going to hear their message.” Unfolding bis white handkerchief, and dis- laying it for a counter-flag, the major advanced | rom the shelter of the wagons a few paces, | when he halted and signaled the others to ad- | vance. A number of Indians could be now seen stand- ing by the fires, watching the advance of their envoys with apparent interest, and the fires, brightly blazing all round, made it a matter of difficulty for any one to cross the open ground | without being seen. At thirty paces distant one of the Indian en- voys stuck his flag into the ground, dismounted, and advanced to meet the major. He proved to be a magnificent chief, with scarlet plumes in his hair, dressed in the extreme vf Indian dandyism, and heavily armed—no other than our frievd, Red Lightning, with his left shoulder freshly bandaged from the wound ot Buford’s sword. He executed a smart military salute to the major, for Red Light»ing was proud of his proficiency in white customs, and then observed : “* How do, white chief?” ‘‘Badly,” said the major, sternly. Being an old army officer, he knew ali the prominent chiefs by sight, ‘and recognized the other. | “Very badly, Red Lightning. The Great Father | has treated you and Cochise well. What are or doing here to-day, then, killing his children? myself saw rifles and powder issued to you not six weeks ago, and now you use them on us. Where is Cochise, the Apache chief? He is with you here, too.” ‘ ‘Cochise is here,” said a deep voice; and one of the Indians dismounted and came forward. Like Red Lightning, though only of medium stature, his chest was enormous, and he seemed to be possessed of unbounded strength. The ex- | pression of his face was that of ferocious, brutal | insolence, which he cared not to conceal; and bis weapons were more numerous, if possible, than those of Red Lightning. Such was the infa- mous Apache chief, Cochise, noted for more than a hundred cold-blooded murders. ‘ What does the white chief want with Co- chise?” he demanded, sneeriagly. ‘‘ Men seldom call him twice.” “What do you mean, Cochise, by attacking us in this manner?” asked the officer, putting a bold face on matters to deceive the Indian. *‘ Are you not ashamed to break your treaties? You will get no more rifles and blankets from the Great Father, when he hears of this.” ** Bah! Squaws talk. Men kill,” said Cochise, roughly. ‘Much powder, plenty of rifle in wate: Cochise take ’nuff for t’ree, seven year. Go on war-path. Den make peace with Great Father when tired and hungry. Good.” The cool audacity of the savage took the other aback for a moment, but Lightning addressed the third Indian in the rear, saying: ‘‘Keche-ah-que-kono, chief of the Cheyennes, come forward and tell the white chief what we want!” came forward, a gray-headed chief, of dig- | agon, the place where the sentries were | cuss | jor, excitedly. ' an unconditional surrender o | coolly. | plainly visible. _ The Rock Rider. _ “Maybe so I not besorry, major,” said Keche, | quietly. ‘‘ We got you here so thaf you never get out and we pot two little white squaws, too, that belong to the general. What you say dat, major? ao Gracious God, Keche! Are they yet alive?” demanded the major, excitedly. ‘We thought rahe they were all scal when you took them, “One was, major,” said Keche, coolly. “I got up in time to git two odders, We hab ’um safe, and now we want to trade ’um!” ‘‘Thank God, Keche, you’re not as bad as the rest,” said the major, fervently. ‘‘ What do ou want for them, man? I’ll give you each a yarrel of powder when you come to the fort, and fifty blankets—” ‘“No go,” interrupted Cochise, coarsely. “No go. White chief much mean; not wortha , scx 99 What little English Cochise understood, it | will be perceived, had not been learned on Fifth | avenue, Major Morris colored deeply with vexation at the chief’s insolence, but he contained himself, | as many another gallant officer has been forced | to in a similar helpless position. ‘“Keche,” he said to the Cheyenne, ‘tell me | then how much you want to restore General | Davis’s daughters back to my care unharmed?” | Kecbe-ah-que-kono smiled in a benevolent | manner. His face bore a strong resemblance to that of the great Beore Ward Beecher in his saintliest mood, as the Cheyenne chief softly ob- served: “White Father very rich. Got plenty guns, plenty powder, plenty wagons. White chief | give up all his guns and wagons. Then Injuns | give back the two white girls.” ‘“ What! Give up the very train I was order- ed to escort to Fort Steedman!” said the ma- ‘“*Keche, you must think - a ive coward to make such a proposal to me. up my train indeed!” “Dat not all,” said Keche, —. “You got to Jeave train anyhow. We have him safe to-morrow. We want all the guns your men hove got, big gun, little gun and powder. You pile your arms. We give up squaws, and | take you back where come from.’ ‘*Tn fact,” said the major, angrily, ‘S you ask | all my force. | Well, sir, You won't get it. I could not face my | general again. if I ever did such a thing. You can go back, sir. If I tell my men your propo- | sition they’ll fire on you now.” “ Maybe so they not fire,” said the Cheyenne, | ““You get shot yourself first, major. We go back. You t’ink better of him to-mor- | row morning. We bring little squaws down to | see you. If so you say give up all, we send you back. If not, you see what happens to ’um be- Sore your eyes.” Without another word the Cheyenne chief | turned on his heel and stalked to his horse. | Cochise laughed brutally, and observed: “Little white squaw nice. Warriors like | ’um. Ugh!” Then he too stalked away, and Red Lightning said, very reetieryy “You do what Keche say, major. We like | white chief, but must have big guns to fight | soldiers. Good-night.” He saluted very politely, and turned away. Major Morris returned to his men in dire per- plexity. The indian had put him in a fearful dilemma between the duty of a soldier and the feelings of | a gentleman, for he had not known to that mo- | ' ment that the two girls under his escort were alive. / On his return, he at once called his officers to- gether, and stated to them the Indian proposi- tion and its fearful alternative. CHAPTER XIV. THE USE OF A CUR. On the same night three men on foot, leading their horses, were slowly emerging from the woods on the west side of the South Park, and ascending the dry bed of a mountain torrent that led up the steep slopes of the Sierra. They trod cautiously, and seemed to be aware that they were in danger, for not a quarter of a mile off the fires of some outlying Indians were In front of them ran the little dog Yakop, and the party therefore is easily recognized as our three friends, Somers, Buford and Brinker- hoff. KS seenied to be acting as a Ypres: for the intelligent little creature frequently ran back, as if asking them to follow , and al- ways received a kind word fiom his master. Before they had gone far up the ravine, the rocks shut out the view of the fires, and then the German spoke to the dog: . ‘Vat for you go disser vay, Yakop? Is de Injuns all gone?” ‘Wuff !” answered Yakop, as plainly as if he said, “ es.” ** But vat shall ve do mit ourselves up bier, Dere i bein?” eee Yakop? is nopody vat life hier, Again Yakop gave a short, “* 3" “Vat to des hund, poys™ asked. / | pehint, de Injuns catches you.’ ein freund, too. You see Yakop he be righ! before ve gets troo.” “But bow can we be certain thet we don't get caught in the mountains?” asked Somers, | anxiously. ‘‘ Your dog’s a wonderful dog, Carl, but be can’t know the way out, when he’s never been here before.” **T don’t got no fears "bout Yakop,” said Car], confidently. ‘‘ Yakop he got more sense dan all of us put togeder. ou see, meinherr. He tell me, piain as hund can sbpeak, dat dere is vif« man up dieser berg. I goes dere. You stay. oJ ‘* We had better follow the dog, Jack,” said Buford, gravely. ‘‘ Remember that his scent enables him to distinguish between people. He has probably struck the trail of some white huuter. You know there are somein the moun tains, and the dog may be right. We can’t be ' much worse off than in that valley, full of In- dians as it is, with every pass occupied. I vote to follow the dog.” : Here Yakop, who had been listening to the conversation as if he understood every word, leaped up on the speaker, wagging his tail; and then went off up the pass, gamboling and frisk- ing, frequently looking back to see if he war followed. The three friends took up their line of march after the dog in silence, and after awhile mount- ed their horses for greater convenience. The ravine became narrower and steeper, till it climbed a species of stage in the mountain side, when it ran on, nearly level, for some distance, ending in three diverging canyons, each as black asink. Into the right hand one of these Yako ran without hesitation, and the horsemen fol- lowed. The floor of the canyon was smooth, and covered with sand and gravel, which shone white through the darkness and made the of following so much the easier. At last, however, their ate a was suddenly cut short by a perpendicular wall of rock, whic seemed to forbid turther advance; and Somers fretfully exclaimed: ““T knew how it would be, following that dog. What are we to do now?” Carl Brinkerhoff dismounted and looked round, Yakop had divanpeared. The German called him in a low voice several times, and soon they heard the eager panting of | the little creature, coming back to them. “Vat for you fool us dieser way, Yakop?” asked Carl, sternly. ‘‘ How ve go to get out of ne rma you ole own eo fr ¥ akop gave another “ wujf,” w tail, and started forward into a oer Boek cavern in the rock, which they had hitherto not seen in the darkness of the canyon. Before entering, the German struck a match, | and lighted a tiny dark-ilantern, which he took from his saddle. No sooner had he turned its light on the white sand than he said, in a low, eager voice: **Fellers, ve don’t got so much sense as Yakop now. Dere be a mule’s hoofs as plain as der sun, mit shoes on too. Now vat you dinks?” The other two were down in a moment, and beheld the track plainly; but the impressions of the mule’s shoes were pointed ouiward, and Somers observed, coolly: “Talways said that dog was a fool. Here the brute’s been taking a back scent, and didn’t know any better. This only proves that some one on a mule has come out of here into the valley. We ought to have gone the other way.” ** Vell, den, if you likes to go pack, you may,” said Brinkerhoff, dryly; ‘‘ but I doesn’t like dem Injuns so mosh as ali dat. Vere dieser feller came from dere ist no Jnjuns, und I goes dieser vay. You follers if you likes.” So saying the Teuton advanced into the cavern, throwing his light ahead, where Yakop appear- ed trotting forward with his nose down. After a moment’s hesitation the two comrades followed, leading their horses down a long and narrow winding cave, which at times seemed to be open to the sky and a mere cleft, at other times widened out into a large cave, shut in above them. All the while the mule-track a at in- tervals in patches of sand, till at the stars shone in front of them, and they e on the bare mountain side, having right through a gap in the Sierra. A narrow ledge, forming a sort of irregular oe the Sierra, seemed to be the only way ahea It was practicable for men on foot, and Yakop seemed to find no difficulty in , but the horses, led as they were, took a long time before they mustered courage to follow. In places the ledge became a ridge not two feet wide, with a sheer “hla oneither hand, overlooking a black gul So they toiled along in the darkness for near- ly an hour, over the same path which the Rock Rider had traversed on a trot on his sure-footed mule — oe aes ; and rv lest wil dark gorge opened its jaws before them, at the ex- — end of so ter ae ogni red =~ “ 3 was reflected aintly om the als © the Cavern of Death gt Le was miduight when thay cusln die sarge : : f Xow wa gary f-2 ;
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q dl q \ | i 10 and the sight of the red fire puzzled them all, for everything round was deathly still. Yakop went trotting quietly up toward the cavern, and the three friends slowly followed, keeping a cautious look-out ahead of them, with rifles poised and cocked. Nothing occurred to disturb them till they were near the entrance of the cuter cavern, when Yakop suddenly stopped, snarling, and at tne same moment a dark figure leaped up from ) she side of the ravine, yelling out: “Golly sakes alibe! Wurra dat! Git out of dis, you mean t’iefs!” ithout the slightest warning Somers was »rostrated to the earth, asif struck by a cannon- ball, by the brawny fist of Cato, which knocked him senseless before be could utter a sound. Then came the flasn ‘Go. a rizc, as Buford, in the sudden start, let off his gun accidentally; and before Carl Brinkerhoff could collect his senses, he received a blow on the back of the head that sent him headlong to the earth, while Buford was pitioned as if in the grasp of a vise, and Cato’s knee struck him in the back like the blow of a trip-hammer. All the breath was knocked out of his body as he came flat down on his back on the hard rock. Like an angry lion the herculean black leaped upon Car! Brinkerhoff, who had staggered up, confused, and before the German could point his rifle Cato had clasped him in his arms, and was bearing him down. Then Car! roused all his strength, which was also tremendous; and white and black rolled over and over on the ground, tugging and straining at each other in grim bulldog silence, while Yakop danced about outside, snarling, Ne his opportunity to snap at Cato’s hee CHAPTER XV, THE CONJUROR’S PLAY. How long the struggle between Brinkerhoff and Cato might have lasted, and which would have finally conquered, is uncertain, for both were men of herculean strength and nearly equally matched, while Somers and Buford had been effectually put out of the fight by the sud- den attack of the negro, and were incapable of helping their friend. - In the very hight of the struggle, when both were panting for breath, the oe: ring of hoofs ata trot came up the glen, and the deep voice of the Rock Rider shouted: “ ord aay ails you all here? What's the matter, Jato In a moment the black wrenched himself away from Car!’s grasp; the latter being nowise loth to release him, and draw a pistol. Then the German covered the figure of the Rock Rider with his weapon, and vociferated: “You sew « back now, or I shoots you! T’ousand teufels! Vat sort of beeples is dis, dot lifes hier? I dinks dey must pe crazy!” “ Brinkerhoff, is it thou?’ cried the familiar voice of Belcour. ‘How in Heaven’s name came you here?” ‘And the light form of the youth sprung down from the croup of the gaunt mule, where he had been sitting behind the Rock Rider. “Oh! marse cappen, is dat you?’ bellowed Cato... “‘I’se so glad youcome. I’se been fight- in’ mid free ghostesses, and I isn’t no coward, marse cappen. Glory be to God!” “Vas in der teufel’s name ist all dieser?’ de- manded Carl, in amazement. ‘‘ How you commen hier, und vas ist das man on der mule?” “T)] tell thee in good time,” said Belcour, hastily; ‘‘but where are Somers and Buford, and what were you all fighting about?” ** Mein Gott, how should I know?’ said Brin-: kerhoff, ruefully. ‘‘ Wir commen up hier, all on the tiptoe, und das nigger he shump out, und he bit me ein crack on der kopf, und send me flyi Den he knock down Somers und Bu- ford in a minute, und wir begin to fight, und das ist all, till you two fellers comes.” - Beleour began to Jaugh. ‘Well, well! do you know that you have been fighting with the servant of our best friend? But by Heaven, he seems to have kill- ed Buford and Somers.” * Not quite, but very near it,” said the faint voice of Butord, as he sat up. ‘‘ You’ve got strange friends, I must say, Belcour, That nigger’s as strong as a bull, and I believe he’s broken my back.” “Oh; marse cappen,” said the voice of Cato. se done gone ani done, it, sah. Golly, how ‘em f Hers dropped! Yah! yah!” 1 ‘‘Peace!” said the deep voice of the Rock _, .ider, wlio now spoke for the first time. ‘ You / id right to guard the cave, but you struck too quick, Thése gentlemen are my friends.” ““Oh, de Lord, marse — how’s I to know dat?” said ‘Cato. “ yar we lib all de time, and nebber see a soul. How I know dat dem’s you frien’s, come snoopin’ ’round hyar, dis time o’ night? Why dey no call out, to let ole Cato unr ce conte a l’se v f urt ye, seein’ ye’s ole marse cappen's ‘trien’s, but what a por nigeer. to do when he can’t see ye, and:dem marderin’ Injuns all round, jess as thick’s flies on a dead mulcf Butd’se mortal sorry, I’se shuab. Hyar, marse, courteous words of the Rock Rider. ‘Gentlemen, I regret exceedingly the unfor- tunate mistake of my awkward servant, which I beg you to excuse. Cato is a faithful fellow, but I have found it very difficult to teach him manners, and he had the excuse of not knowing who you were. Lhope your friend will not be found materially injured. I will see to his cure myself. And now, gentlemen, allow me to welcome you to the poor habitation that time and ruin have left to a gentleman who once had the honor to draw a sword in the service of his country. Your friend, Monsieur Belcour, met me accidentally in the Sierra to-day, and I re- joice at the opportunity of seeing you. And now, gentlemen, enter my castle and be wel- come.’ And the gaunt figure stalked in, before them to where Cato was already putting on fresb wood to a fire in the outer cave. The portal of the Cavern of Death was black and silent, and no traces were visible of its ghastly occupants. Buford and Brinkerhoff gazed with surprise upon the gaunt figure of Rock Rider, as he stood thoughtfully by the fire, leaning on his lance, with the pinched white female face on the round shield staring at them from its sight- less eyes. : : Belcour. had become used to him during their ride, but the other two were full of amazement. Everything in the cavern, from the Rock Rider to Black Cato, was weird and uncouth. Somers, under the care of Cato, slowly re- covered his senses, and stared round him in a confused manner, not knowing where he was. Then the Rock Rider, suddenly turning round, said: ‘*Gentlemen, we are five resolute, well-armed men, and in the valley are two delicate girls, tenderly nurtured, who were taken prisoners to- day by the most merciless men on earth to wo- men. Ihave suffered from those men myself in former years, but I could forgive them all, if they would only spare those women. Gentle- men, what say you? Who will follow. the Rock Rider to rescue two Christian ladies from. the power of the heathen?” ‘*{ will go, monsieur,” said Gustave, simply. ‘* We will all go, if need be.” ** How you know dot de leedle kirls haf been taken by de Injuns?” asked Carl Brinkerhoff, cautiously. Carl was not an enthusiast. “IT saw them captured myself, sir, from the summit of the Sierra,” said the Rock Rider. And he told them of the attack, the runaway ambulance, the slain woman, and the captive girls, in short, nervous wo “Den dot’s vot ve see diesser morgen,” said Carl, reflectively; ‘‘ven ve ron so like der teu- fel. It vas de Injuns catchin’ de leedle kirls. Vell, fellers, I goes mit you. I likes de leedle kirls, und I keels all de Injuns in de falley, $0 I gets dem pack to deir faders und mothers.” * It is settled,” said the Rock Rider, solemn- ly. ‘*To-morrow morning we. will go forth, and wo betide the tribes of the valley if they refuse to give up the maidens.. Who will get out alive is a different matter.” ‘*Stav!” said Beleour, suddenly. ‘I have an idea. If weall go, we are too many for craft, too few for strength, I, monsieur, am a con- juror, and you seem to be a person of influence among the Indians. I propose that we go to- ether, and try to obtain these girls by artifice. e have not far tocarry them, only to the camp of their friends, who have beaten off the Indians, but lost their horses. Well then, let one of us, the best mounted, ride through the passes and go to Denver for help. No doubt monsieur bere will show us the way to do that. They will send troops and horses, we shall beat: off the In dians, save the ladies, and all be happy. What do you say to that, my friends?” ‘*The plan is good,” was the universal re- sponse. Whether it was feasible, the next day would decide. CHAPTER XVI. THE APACHE CAMP. THE morning dawned, brilliant and glowing, over the summit of the Sierra, and again the white curtain of mist covered the surface of the valley below. The principal chiefs of the Indian tribes were gathered in the Apache camp in front of Co- chise’s bivouac, talking together in low tones. They seemed to be discussing some appearance that perplexed and awed them, for even the bold, brutal face of Cochise was clouded with a down three of the enemy’s soldiers. _But.-when Red Lightning was a boy, he beard the tales of told him that he had seen them once. What is a chief, to strive against the Manitou: «nd who shall deny that the Spirits of the Si rra are angry with us? Were not five of cur warriors crushed by them in the Wolt’s Mouth only yes- terday? eta Pag Sede that Le saw two, a white spirit and a black one, rolling down rocks on our warriors. You know yourselves what we saw last night.” “T saw a figure crowned with flames leap from rock to rock ov+r our heads,” said Cochise, in a low tone. ‘‘It thundered out words in an unknown tongue from a trumpet. Maybe the Manitou is angry, and wishes to preserve the pale-faces, e had better go.” “You ere fools and weak,” said Keche-ah- ue kono, the Cheyenne. “I have been emong the white men to see the Great Father, and have seen many wonderful things, but they told me they were all tricks, I have seen a mule cut in half, and one man ride off on each half, end this flery figure is nothing to that. Let us per- severe, and the train is ours.” Keche had, indeed, on one occasion visited the Evstern cities with a delegation of chiefs, and had seen_the marvels of a pantomime, Since that time he flattered himself that nothing could astonish him, , But. Cochise and Red Lightning were both skeptics as to his wonderful stories, while »bun- dantly superstitious as to what took place under their own eyes. — “ We have heard the wild se scream and the coyote howl,” said Cochise, conten ptously ; “but never such tales as Keche tells about what he has seen. What trick can it be that cloflies a man in fire, and czuses him to leap over black canyons like the wild ashata? We know there are spirits, or they could not have taught the white man to make his fire-weapons. We be- lieve our eyes. They tell us that the spirits are og : ““And is the great Cochise afraid?” asked Keche, sneeringly. ‘‘When we have tiupped a whole train of the white men, and have a chance to give guns and powcer to all our tribes, will Cochise fly before the tricks of a cunning pale-face? Then let the Apaches go if they hist. The Cheyennes will reap the reward alone. “Cochise fears nothing,” said the Apache angrily. ‘He will not fly today. We wi st as we agreed to last night, to make the white soldiers ‘give up their train, tut another night finds us out of the valley. Cochise fears not the daylight, Lut the night is the kingdom of the bad spirits of fire, who dwell in the Sierra, We can not stand snotber night like the last.” ““Then the Cheyennes will stay,” said Ki che, firmly. “The Comanches and Apaches may go ‘if they. will.” “The Comanches will stay,” said Red Light- ning. “ Let ali of the spirits of mountain and plain unite to help the pale-taces, they shall not escape from us. e train is ours. say. They may give up. without fighting, to save_their women. These white fools will do “Then so much the worse for them,” srid Cochise, savagely. ‘“‘ We will torture the girls to ceath before their feces. They will charge out, for these whites are all fools, and then we shall have them.” | . As he spoke, the sweet, solemn notes of a hcrn rung out from one of the peaks in the Sicrra, and all three of the chiefs started and looked at each other. The valley. was still deeply shrouced in. white mist, through which the red gleam of fires shone ghostlike and taint. Above them the yellow glory of the morning sun seemed to fill all the air, for the mist was still too thick to distinguish the distant peaks of the Sierra, and the sunlight came in a broad flood, lighting up the fog. And out of the mist: glory overhead came the sweet, c’ear Lugle notes, echoed from gorge to gorge arcund and. across the valley in a hundred reverberation, ei it seemed impossible to tell from which side. came, Pai ; , ‘‘ There it is again,” whispered Cochise, turn- ing pale. ‘It is the seme horn that we beerd yesterday, when the rock came down and crushed five warriors. Who shall doubt thers arespirits now?” |. Red Lightning looked fearfully up, and even the Cheyenne chief was a little uneasy, in spito of his bravado, To explain the terror of the Indians it must. be known that. the night before strange roises had been heard in the Sierra, and a fiery figure had pen seen among the precipices at several POUDKS.. 4 sty bcs Geet The superstitions. of the warriors, never ver hard to rouse, hen beak worked teed toa ereet extent and the whole encampment was exceed- y.uneasy. ... — a “And now. the sound of the same mysterious n, in broad. daylight, brought a ciowd of yn fe out, looking up intone ‘air to tee whence itcame, .. - apes Slowly the mfst thinned above them, as thi >
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= 2 es . that the comical tricks of De RE AR AT « a Se a glow of sunlight became sone, and still the eben at Tobe the peas at Blot beonie’ pha en at last the ms D, | not a soul was fo be seen any where. ® And, as the mist lifted, the sound of the horn’ ceased. Then there was a sudden stir through the camp, and cries of surprise, for a angie white man on horseback, a broad powerful man, with a huge tawny beard, was seen in the pig? Bi midst of their camp, riding toward the chief's bivouac, Running by the horse’s side was @ small dog, and both had halted in front of Cochise before any opposition was made. CHAPTER XVIL YAKOP’S BEHAVIOR, Tux stranger, who was no other than Carl Brinkerhoff, seemed to be quite at his ease in his dangerous position, although he was entirely unarmed: de drew up bergre Red Lightning, saluted litely, and sai mt Gut morgen.” The Comanche chief answered, in broken English — How do, brudder?” Cochise scanned the other from head to foot, and observed: “‘ What do here?, Ugh!” “Ich bin commen to see Cochise,” said Carl, cool'y. © You bin him, hhetin?” e@ Cochise,” replied the Apache, proudly. ‘Great chief of the na Apaches. All white men hide when see Cochise “But you don’t got men genug to take ava de_ rifles from: de soldiers, hein?” said Car “*- You comes mit me, and I shows you how, to catch dem, shoost so easy as tumble off a log.” “Who a ae ou?’ demanded Keche-ah-que- kono, the nglish scholar of the party, very suspiciously, **T bes a deserter from der ve OO said Carl, gaa: “T haf ein quarrel mit Major Morris, e vite chief over dere, und I commen hier to show you how to take dem, guns and all, ven- efer you The chiefs Tooled from one to tlie other. _ Carl’s dress was obviously military to a ‘cer- tain extent, as much so as that of most deser-, ters. He rode a stout Government horse, in a McClellan saddle; but then he had no weapons, a ra? icious circumstance, here are your Fins a eae asked the Cee oune. chief, der cook,” said Ha Briokechor cdieaty. “We ba no guns, not’ings but dieser messer, oe a a My knife, a yard aig ay. men und deo, und I ot nice ey till dem wants for to put edart, amt Picks Ss ot him fm, nd 1 tales till kets’ ‘into tide pes as Hae pee al “And when did vor come wieat asked Keche, ** Yesterday, ven de fight d the German, “I don't got no lot to gh shentle- men, und I rons ven de first fire be, ie "Bote I — de two leedle kirls vot vas in der camp mit ldiers, und 1 vants to get dem for mein- soit So you. proaie ty r pte ys I shows you. how you kets into te der’ camp mit de soldiers, shoost so easy as not‘in “White than big fool,” said Cochise, graffly. “Squaws no What for want "squaws? How can get into cam ia ‘‘ You gifes. me de leedle kirls, und I shows you,” said Carl. ‘How know squaws here?” demanded Co- ch - xakop ‘he tells me,” said Carl, phlegmati-. ac. aS is Yakop?” asked the chief. st “Mein leedle tog,” answered Carl. Yakop commana zie hier, mein hund, und make a pow chief, like a leedle shentleman.” ikop i frivcrieeti jiately rose up ‘on his hind d ‘legs, walked f forward, and made a very polite bow to Cschiso, ‘who had ‘never seén such a thing peters. wonderfully volar the sagacity Cael eh and involu y held out his “How'do, brudder? he'kaid, ded his paw, ‘o his t delight Xako e aitnindbrod withe steers sta Cochise laughed. x sproarowly as the other Reha ape Sotokthed in ape eR ay n me . oa phitontfne ae them much. more than the most m aispla splay of scenery, and learned animals ie ptive at once. "soit it was with Cochise and the 04 chiefs. i y were of the German, fer be Peeates eooned th break the ice remove all dog,” said Keche, w! 5's 1 $U wl ‘ite man Paecae a ae Ue ee pipes Sake Ha oe apesen oon, es et, et natn ine oe ef various kinds, in the midst of a a) “There ‘com tour. | neither, He’s coming here, What can it mean The Rock Rider. great, circle of sdaiiainis Indians. The news of hite man and “the dog who was a great medicine,” spread. with lightning s through all three camps, till the ring was closely packed all round with thousands of heads, and Carl and Yakop were the observed of all obser- vers. Then the German remarked to Cochise: “You ask me how I know leedle kirls in dieser camp. Yakop he tell me. Now you leds him go, und he vinds vere dey be, und gifes dem message, votefer you blease.” Cochise was half-incredulous, but delighted ef oe 0 opportunity of seeing another trick. So e said “Teli little white squaws Cochise want dem.” “All recht answerd the German. Then he called Yakop, and made a long speech to him in German, to which the dog lis- tened attentively. He told him to hunt about till he found two white girls, and give them a letter, and Yakop answered “ wuff. ‘** Say, mister shief,” said Carl, in conclusion, * Yakop is a gut tog, bote de leedle kirls don’t ot no sense to understand him. S’pose I writes jeedle letter to dems, to tell dems you vants dems. Den he carry it to dems.” “Good,” said Cochise, unsuspiciously; and | h Carl pulled out his pocket-book and wrote as | follows on a blank leaf: “Come with the bearer where he will lead you. Friends are near you, and we will try to rescue you. But show no surprise whatever you see. “A FRIEND.” “Dere, mein hund, yo uu takes dat, und you prings back de leedle ‘kirls,” said Brinkerboff, addressing the dog. vaits lee shoost as I ie a Yakop took the letter and trotted off in a circle, snuffing the ground. the Comanche camp, the crowd opening before him, and Cochise exclaimed: dog, White man great medicine. Dog go straight to squaws.” HD PTER XVIII. CAPTIVE GIRLS. Iv the midst of the Comanche camp, reclini under atree and twining their arms aroun each other, were two young girls, pale and mis- | erable-looking, but very pretty. One was a brunette, the other a blonde and yet no one setae have hesitated to call them anything but | sisters. They were the two unfortunate young ladies who had been taken captive the day before, ow- ing to the sudden stampede of the two ambu- lance horses. In the same vehicle with them | had been their mother, the wife of General | pe be (commander at "Denver,) and a single | river, ses started, and been cut'down before the eyes oti. the shrieking | girls, who had expected nothing else but to | re the same fate. The Cheyenne chief, Keche- ah-que-kono, had galloped up just in ‘time to save them from death or works: and bad carried them ‘off, since which time theyhad been left comparatively alone under the tree, the Indians k g at some distance from them. The girls were listening to the frequent yells of Pon a that greeted Yakop’s performances, and drparily ly wondering what it was all about. “*Oh! Blanche,” sai and scalped The latter had been shot dead ‘before the hor- | d Mrs. Davis , ae i} Oe Ae e ; ii in front of them, a Hae as So dig as a judge, ax de cto the reading of the note. dians in the rear had halted halted to watch the proceedings at a respectful distance, ‘and a great chattering ensued among thém, Blanche opened the letter, and’read it throug! twice. Then she My sane it to her ‘sister, and pressed her hand on ber heart to still its excit«:! pulsations. “Did T not ot Sy. God would protect us, Clar: she whi “Some one ‘is co to cu. help. Tee the : aad Who can it ” «murmured ‘as she Clara,’ looked at the ins German hand in whic! the letter was written. “‘ He tells usto follow the bearer, and $oghgw. no surprise whatever we see. What ean it mean?” ba were favor rapes by a short ee from Yakop, who. ha and was | back as if inviting th Mord to fellow tim. ““ What a Sue dog!” ‘said Clara, innocently. “ Are we reacty, follow him?” “Wulf,” said Yakop, em ally ; and he went off two steps atid looked back. ‘He really seems to understand,” said Blanche. “This is a strange thing. A ‘dc brings us a letter telling us to follow him, and e seems to understand all about it, too.” : Again Yakop barked nape, and the girls rose to their feet. Immediately Yakop frisking - | boling to expres his a wht and te ee slow trot toward the Indians. ‘Oh! Blanche. Are you not “afraid ‘to go | said Clara, a aarp ‘aS she noted the ' hideons war-pa = Now, mister shief, you i time, ‘qr you ‘see dat Yakop do | nt of the braves. “ Asmuch as you,” answered sefisible Blanche, ** But it must be done, That letter must have come from a friend, and we ought to follow bis advice. There is some ‘mystery hidden here, "and what it is we stall ‘soon know. See! they Presently he struck off in a straight line for | ward the bivouac of | | / Clara Davis, the dark § air of the mad are opening a way for us.” The circle of braves parted as ‘she spoke; and the two sisters, hand in hand, walke slowly to- through’ a lane of | Indian warriors, with ie Bit hod cast down to the earth in mortal terror, bu | expression of their ryeg tn as well as they could. CHAPTER. XIx. ECLAIR. Wuite these events were ‘in the Indian camp, four men Neore Sverld t from a lofty pass of the sh three of them mount. | ed and one afoot. ‘rian was Gustave Belcour; and the Rock ider was speaking to a and Buford. his wads “Beyond you, gentlemen,” said, oo are no doubt free of ‘Indians ‘in any force. have watched them coming for more’ than a week, and they are only numerous a - Pe: er passes. Any you ee 8 wit Ce Denver you ean Siena a few roving sn epom ° * entes mountains to Vig re Shy i eoue x the Middle Park. ~ astraight road to ea ipod anid ‘tar Sade of several regimentsthere, “Wi Wnts ornare to keep the Indians in san, vale engl ily help. Spare the metas: want if at night. Farewe He dismissed them ‘with ‘a wave'df his hand like a king sending away his vot ihe Gaunt and meager as he was, scantily dressed there was et that in. the c ge and Rider that told of the © habit sister, shuddering; “ whatever will become of | of command. us! Bas to those fearful monsters! Perhaps Instinctively the two cousins ‘bowed low, as they ste, Preparing for another attack on our | they had so often done on receiving orders on 8 it n both sight of the very wagons that shelter our soldiers, eh that we are as helpless as if we lay in P “Let us trust in God, Clara,” said Blanche, trying to put on‘an air of hopefulness. “He can not mean to kill us, or we should not have been left alive so long. Help may come yet. It is impossible that so many soldiers as were in our escort can be conquered by these wretches of Indians. You know how contemptuously the officers always spoke of them.” ‘But they could not drive them off, Blanche,” said Clara. ‘‘See, the wagons remain just as they ran them into the corral; and you .know terrible to be left here, in | some general, and how many horses were killed “before ours ran | ” away. “T know it, Clara; but the Indians must have been beaten off, otherwise the wagons would have been burned before this; and they seem to be afraid to attack the soldiers again. no more firing. Just at that moment they heard .a it yell- ing and the crowd of Indians pa: in front f them. Out of the crowd came running a a ont little cur dog, ugly, and common-looking, who came pi strai Sy toward them, fol- lowed by his ye adm. ‘Look, Clara, 100k { !” said ia Blanche eagerly, es a di and _ no. Indian’s dog see There is | rode arity down the | Pass toward the north, ata rapid Exe Then the Rock Rider turned to Gustave. ” Now, monsieur,” he said, in perfectly pure French, “let us proceed on our ‘errand fo save what lives we can. You have no horse. What shall we do about that?’ ““T must go on foot, I suppose,” said Belcour, mournfully; “but I ‘vegret it much, for m horse is such a creature as few men ever own and I have taught him all the tricks of the cir: cus. He will come to me like a dog, but no one else can catch him, ‘and woe be de. the man that tries to lasso him. Tf he is only loose and hears my voice, he will come to me. “Took down into the valley,” said the Rock Rider, “ and tell mie if you see your borse.” Belcour advanced to the ge of the whence he could ‘see the whole of the valley, and looked down. The South Park was full of Indians and graz- ing ‘horses, but it was not le at that dis- tance to distinguish the in “ What color is your horse?” asked the Rock Rider. pita: the Frenchman. “I do not see He, feeds by himself, and He Donita to's of the ¥ | ‘Yakop bounded wu up, wageing his thick, Sey | of the Mierra, whe te eter or be AE pall, ap laid a little white note in the Gis iis wip of green tom the ra ot . ‘tien he ‘gnve three or four short barks, ex- pressive of satisfaction,and sat gravely dowa Ponte had » ea 'thie Rook Rider, er he is, ogg Sahay. borne was to be seen there, ie faading ** Mount behind ma” sald the Rok Rider.
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' \ { ; SS a SS Pr ee a , was upon him, rearing u * about, whinnying loudly for joy, and 1e singular cave or cleft by which the dog had od the three friends the night before. : Emerging into a broad, easy ravine, the Rock lider pointed to the green meadow below, and vbserved: .“ There is your horse. Call him.” Beleour uttered acry of delight. It was in- deed his lost animal, which the piercing eye of the Rock. Rider had detected, when its own mas- ‘er could not recognize it. Belcour leaped from the mule’s back and ran down the pass. He was about to call to the ani- mal, when he heard a loud yell at the other side ot the meadow, and two Indian warriors came valloping in. They had obviously ana sight £ the horse, whose general contour and beauty of form marked him for a different creature ‘rom their own ponies, and thought that they had a prize, Relooar, stopped and crouched behind a rock, taughing. ‘Now, mon beau cheval,” he muttered, ‘‘ we shall see the fun., Let us see what thou wilt do to those eager gentlemen, Eclair.” As if to answer the inquiry, Eclair threw up his head with a shrill neigh, and came trotting loftily toward the Indians, till within some fifty yards, when he wheeled about and galloped round them in a circle, _ Boch warriors in desperate haste, went racing at bim, swinging their lassoes round their heads, nd soon intercepted the horse. .. First one lasso flew, and hovered over Ec- lair’s-head, With a knowing shake the horse ‘necked his head clear before the noose fell, and votted away, neighing as if in derision. The second lasso flew, and descended over his head and neck, while the Indian uttered a shout of triumph. He was too fast. No sooner did the black horse feel the noose _on his neck, than he wheeled short round, and eune at the Indian like a tiger, squealing vi- viously. . Ina moment mustang and rider rolled on the grass, while the .urious stallion seized the war- rior in his teeth, shook him as a terrier would a at, and then came down on him with both fore- sect, striking like a prize-fighter. The loosened n ose fell off as he shook his . head, and Eclair turned and dushed at the other warrior, who was gathering up the coils of his iasso for another cast. The amazed man fitted an arrow hurriedly to lis bow as the furious stallion flew at him. He was too late. . Before he could draw it to the head, Eclair and striking with those terrible forefeet, and down went the war- ‘ior, in’an instant, crushed to death. ‘Then Belcour ran swiftly down the pass into the meadow, followed by the Rock Rider, and called out: “Tei, Eclair, ici.” In a moment the lately savage stallion turned came ‘\earing up to his master at full gallop, whinny- ing all.the way, when he ran his nose into Belecour’s hand, and rubbed up against him with evident pleasure. “ Ohut, Kelair, silence, mon garcon,” said the Frenchman. ‘ The Indians will hear thee, and we don’t want that ae till we are ready. Well, monsieur le Rock Rider, what think you of my horse?” a a nobie animal,” said the Rock Rider, admiringly. ‘* What can he do?’ ** Hverything but speak,” said Belcour. ‘ But you shall seo soon. He shall be my passport into the Indian camp, as Brinkerboff has taken nis dog. Will you come, monsieur?” He spoke to clair. The noble creature knelt down, and allowed his master to mount him withcut requiring any exertion beyond throw- ing his leg over. Then he rose up without sad- dle or bridle, guided solely by the clasp of the logs of his rider, as gentle as a lamb. leour ‘as proud of bis horse, and with good reason, tor the animal did his teacher credit, and the Rock Rider remarked: “Sir, you are one of the few men in these ‘legenerate days that practice the noble art of uersemanship, as it was in the days of the k ughts of old. I honor you for it, sir. In a few nioments more our perils will begin. Let us : wie ourselves like men, and trust to the God of vabttles, Even as he spoke they turned the angle of the 'wood, and came in full sight of the Indians, who were scattered about all over the valley, on horseback and afoot. “Trot out,” said the deep voice of the Rock itider; and into the midst of the camp they rode, to where a dense crowd proclaimed to them, that Yakop and Carl were the objects of sone. ond aud the Indians rem te arms all ever the | EE acarcnacion ifom wath wo mh | THE WHITE MAGIOIAN. Wen the Rock Rider and Belcour had ar- rived in the midst of the camp, matters looked decidedly menacing. Several hundred Indians were galloving toward tiem from all sides, and the indications seemed to be that they would both be shot down without any opportunity for an explanation. Still they trotted solemnly on, looking neither to the right nor left, straight toward the bivouac | iefs; and their impos- | As theIndianscame | near them, they gradually slackened their pace | and fell into a sort of procession on either side | of the three principal ing attitude had its effect. and in rear, while the shouting and yelling easually ceased, and gave way to the mutter- | gs of surprise. id 3 ndeed, many things had combined within the twenty-four hours to rouse the superstitions of the Indians. Some of the chiefs recognized the gaunt | figure of the Rock Rider, who had foiled them so mysteriously two nights before. As he sat upright in his saddle, with the stiff military seat he affected, the ghastly-white face on his shield struck terror into the souls of many there. There was something so weird and unnatural in his appearance, that all shrunk back from him in ill-defined awe. The young Frenchman, in his brilliant cos- tume, riding without saddle or bridle, was | also somewhat of a puzzlo to them, snd asthe two seemed to be secured from escape as they were, the Indians left them alone. So they proceeded in silence until they neared | the fire of Cochise, where all the principal chiefs were by this time Carl Brinkerhoff quiet]. chiefs, placidly smoking his long meerschaum, and just as they approached, the two captive girls were seen coming toward the fire, foilow- ing the lead of Jittle Yakop. : e new arrivals for a moment seemed to dis- turb the attention of the Indians, for the chiefs all looked up. The Rock Rider halted and of his spear, when he remained staring stonily at the Cheyenne chief, without a word. Keche-ah-que-kono seemed to be uneasy under the gaze, for he shifted his seat and averted his | eyes, which yet, a moment after, as if by fasci- nation, returned to meet the stony gaze cf the Rock Rider. Belcour, on his part, dismounted and advanc- ed to the chiefs, when he turned round and spoke to his horse in French: “Up, Eclair, up! and show them what you can do.” Immediately the perfectly trained animal stood upon its hind-legs,and walked gravely for- ward to its master, holding out its fore-foot as bas A as a dog would perform the same feat. ** Down then, Eclair, and guard the circle,” roceeded the conjuror, making a signal to the | orse, Instantly the black stallion came down and began to trot around the circle of chiefs, lashing | out with his hind-feet whenever an incautious dian came too close, and preserving the sanc- tity of the circle as perfectly as a chain of sen- | tries could have done. And all this while not a word had been uttered , by one of the chiefs. Belcour now turned to them, and addressed | them in English. “ Hail, chiefs! I am the king of the medicine- | men, and I can catch all the bullets you fire at me, and throw them back, I can call the spirits | from the mountains, and do all wonderful things, andI come in the name of the Great Spirit | to demand that you give up the two pale-face maidens that you captured, and return to your | own homes and bury the hatchet.” The chiefs listened in perfect silence to this effusion. The two girls,confused and astonished, stood hesitating whether to come forward or not. | Yacop sat gravely down by the side of his mas- | ter, and Carl Brinkerhoff smoked as placidly as if not a soul were near, Cochise was the first to speak, and bis blood- shot eyes rolled fiercely. “White man fool and liar. Not come from | All three join togeder. All liars. | Spirit. ill all.” He looked from one to the other, and it was ran that he suspected collusion between the ree. Belcour made no answer. He stood still, fac- ing the chief, as if about to speak, when gave a violent start. : The sound of the magic horn could be plainly heard, echoing from_rock to rock of the Sierra, and Cochise trembled. “The spirits sound their horns to tell of my coming,” said Belcour, solemnly. ‘If you think I am mortal, fire at my breast, and you will see.” He opened his coat as he ke, and stepped back a pace but Cochise wae not to be con- Vin “White man liar. Me show him,” he said, eanud drew forth a revolver from the numerous pears lesat his girdle, aiming streight at Belequr’s ark, é , gathered. They beheld | installed near the | ounded the butt | although his face paled somewhat, and be seemed to be in great pain, for every bullet struck fair. | When Cochise lowered his pistol, in great sur- | prise, the conjuror deliberately cast back the four bullets, each one striking the Indian’s bare bust sharply, and Beleour smiled. =. At the same instant a hollow, demoniacal laugh echoed close to Cochise’s ear, and as the Apache chief turned his head sharply to see whence it came, a voice growled: “The grave of Cocliise’s is being dug, for he has tried to harm my servant.” In unconcealed agitation Cochise rose to bis feet, and Red Lightning followed suit. The Cheyenne chief was more obstinate. He curled his lip and observed: ** White man’s tricks. Me seen much better.” **Keche-ah-que-kono,” said the deep voice of | the Rock Rider, in the Cheyenne tongue, ‘ dost thou remember the day, many summers ago, when thy band took the life of a woman from | the fort, when the soldiers were away? I know thee for the man that slew the mother and stole the child. Where is the child with the golden | hair, Keche-ah-que-kono? Where hast thou hid- den her?” As the deep tones rolled through the circle, again the Cheyenne looked uneasy. He evident- ly recognized the other, for he answered, trem- blingly : ‘TY can not tell, white chief. Keche was not there. It was a party of young Lraves hunting for scalps. I never saw the child.” “Liar!” thundered the Reck Rider. “ Look | on this face, and deny it if you dare!” And he held up the round shie!d as he spoke, with the pale, ghastly face glaring down on the | Cheyenne, Something in that face seemed to awe and terrify the chief, for he rose to his feet, trem- | bling, and stuttered in English: * White lady very good to Keche. He never —she know—’ ‘She knows it indeed,” said the deep voice again. ‘‘ When Keche’s child was sick bbe toe and his lodge was empty of food, who succo the chief and saved tie child’s life, but the white lady of the fort? When the captain of the soldiers went on the chase, who promised to | guard the white lady from harm? Keche-ah- | que-kono. When the captain came back from | the hum, what met his eye? His lodge was in ashes, his child gone, and the white lady lay dead on the und. And v.here. was the Cheyenne who had grown rich on the bounty of the whites, and become a chief through the Great Father’s presents? Gone, with the scalp | of the white lady at his girdle, with the child _ of the man who had befriended his race, and who has now come to punish him. Keche-ah- | que-kono, mount thy horse, for I have found ’ thee at last, and thou and I must fight.” | The rest of the Indians stood listening in won- | der to the dialogue, carried on in their own | language as it was; and all seemed to be sur- rised at the humble demeanor of the usually Poastf Keche. | When the Cheyenne chief bowed his head to _ the request of the Rock Rider, the other chiefs would have spoken out, but for their attention being claim voice crying: i “Let the men fight. The Manitou decrees i 7 Then Belcour advanced, and in his turn ad- dressed Keche. ‘*Chief of the Cheyennes,” he said, “‘I can tell thee whether thou wilt be slain or no in this fight. The Manitou has spoken, and said that the winner in this fight is to have the white girls delivered to him, this will tell us who will | win.” He drew forth a pistol as he spoke, and point- e hs at the white face on the shield of the Rock er. ** Behold,” said he, ‘‘the divining pistol of the white magician. I fire a shot for my com- rade, } He fired, and no change was visible in the , face. ‘** Now one for the Cheyenne chief,” said the conjuror, solemnly. | e fired; and a round patch of blood ap- _ peared on the white forehead. | Take thy horse, chief,” said the deep volce of the Rock Rider, ‘Tis thine own blood thou seest, to mark the forehead of her whom thou slewest.” Without another word he backed his gaunt mule into the crowd, which gave way before him, and Keche-ah-que-kono mounted his mus- tang. Neither of the other chiefs offered the least | opposition, for their superstition was thorough- ly aroused by the magic tricks of Belcour, and moreover there is a natural Jiking in the hearts | of all men to see a fair fight for their amusement. A huge ring was formed in an incr: dibly tbort | ong of time, about a hundred feet across, in ' the midst of which the Rock Rider sat siatue- like his his lance Keche-ab. on que-kone, again by the same mysterious with pistols ieee aud. @utry ug @ saber and rifle, yet Hence Wiccediy’ Se te
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} — Seg or aa downcast, as he mounted his horse and rode in- to the arena. His conscience seemed to trouble him for the past—a proof that his crime must have been | more than ordinarily atrocious, for an Indian’s conscience is very elastic. All the whils that this scene had been going forward, the two girls had been standing by, looking wonderingly on, and Carl Brinkerhoff had been smoking as placidly as if they were all | . | wheeled his mule to meet bim. Now, however, as the two champions rode | perfect strangers. out, Carl rose up, stretched himself with a yawn, and quietly approached his horse, which stood by. The German slowly swung himself into the saddle, as if to get a better view of the expected combat, and sidled up closer to the s. KO Ket reaty, kirls,” he atypped out from his lips, in a careless tone. ‘‘ Der time ist com- men,” A soft voice, that “ame from the air to allap- rance, spoke to them at the same time in neh, cg ba ** Suivez le rheval noir, mesdemoiselles, Soyez pretes a fuir.” And the girls knew it said: ‘* Follow the black horse. Be ready to fy." Clara trembled #nd turned pale, but Blanche blushed scarlet. She caught the eyes of the strong, grave-looking German fixed on her own. t that moment the black horse, obeying a whistle from his master, ceased to keep the cir- cle guarded, and came trotting up to the young man, And Keche ah-que-kono entered the arena of combat, CHAPTER XXL THE TRIAL BY BATTLE. VeERy soon the whole concourse of Indians was gathered into the great circle, in the midst of which the Rock Rider and his opponent were confronting each other. In one place alone the circle was thin, where the two girls, the Ger- man and the conjuror were near each other. The Indians had retired from their vicinity in consequence of the fierce antics of the black horse, which assaulted with tooth and hoof everybody who came too near. And thus Belcour found himself standing near the two girls, sheltered by the body of the horse, and able to indulge in a little conversation, un- seen by Cochise. The latter was indeed too busy looking at the opening contest to see much else. Belcour’s lips were apparently closed, but for all that the girls could hear a voice close to their heads, eueeking. “Young ladies,” it said, ‘‘ be ready to separ- ate. One of you will be carried off by my friend, one by myself. We will try to gain the soldiers’ camp, but we may have to go to the mountains. brave, and all will be well. If you are willing to fly with us, bow your heads.” Both girls looked bewildered, but for all that they bowed slightly, and Blanche murmured: ee where, away from these wretches!” ** It is well,” said the mysterious voice, ‘Be ”» And then every one forgot them in the inter- est of the combat. The Cherenne chief, splendidly armed, and | horse, seemed to have an. mounted on a fier easy victory in his hands, and yet he looked troubled. be The Rock Rider, on the opposite side of the circle, had not moved. He sat like the statue of a knight errant, with his shield in front and the point of his lance up. Keche-ah-que-kono slowly walked his horse forward, and then halted. He drew his saber and slung it to his wrist, pulled out a pair of re- volvers, and then yelled out his fierce war-cry, and darted down at the gaunt mule, full speed. ‘As he started, the tall mule, before so gaunt and still, suddenly became a marvel of quick- ness, Bounding forward like a goat, and then leap- | ing from side to side so as to distract the aim of the Indian, the Rock Rider and his singular charger came to the battle. Shot after shot flashed harmlessly Cheyenne was firing from a galloping horse at a target that perpetually shifted, and his aim was flurried and too quick In five seconds one pistol was empty, and the | other half-gone, and then the two combatants | met, ‘ The lance of the Rock Rider would have pin- ned the other but for the dexterity of the C “y- enne, who threw himself half off his animal one side, and firei three more shots at a few feet distance. Every one struck the shield fair- | ly, and not one pierced it. Keche had no time to draw another pistol, as his mustang sprung out of danger with him. He onl on the er, It became a fair duel between saber and lance. The Rock Rider maintained the same erect seat, the same severe gravity of appearance as ever, seeming to be quite jaditerent to the issue | of the contest. His mule was as active asa cat, wheeling roved like 9 top. anc bringing the In- for the | | lance, and darted outof the crew | and unpursued, bey up his saber, and wheeled round | k Rid | after their horses, and he could see two moun y The Rock Rider. omy aretha ee his lefé side, Keche-ah-que-kono whipped his mustang around, erdcavoring to close with the other on the strong one for the right, but wherever he went the sharp lance | was presented to deter him. At last, by a great effort, he reached the | right side of the Rock Rider, 2nd closed in with a fierce vell. The Rock Rider laughed scornfully, and ed auimal reared up in the air, and his master at the same moment swung the point of bis lance alott. He held it all this time couched under his right arm, pressed ciose to his l ody, but now he swung the point aloft, and brought | it down with a sounding blow on the shoulder of the Cheyenne chief. Keche tried to guard that blow, but the long, heavy Jance-staff came with too much impetus to be denied. It beat down the saber, and ‘the | lance-heac cut a deep gash in the chief’s shoul- | aer, casting bim out of the saddle to the earth in a moment. Down came mule and lance together, as the | Rock Rider set the point against the breast of his fallen foe, and thundered out: “‘Spcak, Cheyenne, ere I slay thee! Plead for mercy for my child’s sake! Where hast thou hidden her? Teli me, and I give thee thr life. Refuse, and thy heart’s blood stains my lance.” The mule kept shifting its feet nervously, so that the lance-point quivered and shook around the Cheyenne, ready at a moment to be plunged in, at the first forward step. Keche-ah-que-kono was half-stunned by the The well-train- | 13 LSS. ET TE TEE SE EO OD. ATR arene Beleour and the German, while equally in. ] | tei t, ren embered thet their part was the next to be performed, and kept cool. Gradually and imperceptibly they edged cut of the circ e, the intelligent. trained stallion aiding thcm asif he understood their wishes. When the Rock Rider unhorsed the Cheyenne chief, Belcour th ew his voice close to the girl’s | ears with a great effort, and said: ““ The time has come. Separate !” The Injians were ail hushed and eager. watchirg the duel, and their attenticn wascom ' pletely distracted for a moment. : In that moment Car] Brinkerhoff gathered his horse with rein and spur, so that the animal pawed the ground nervously, ready to start, and sidled up close to little Clara Davis. At a silent signal froin his master, Eelair came up and stationed himselt opposite to Blanche Davis, and Belcour walked up to him, At that moment the Rock Rider lifted up the Cheyenne’s body and began to heck the head off, and witb a universal yell, the Indians rush- ed at him. ‘*Now!” cricd the Frenchman, eagerly, and he seized Blanche round the waist with super- human strength in the excitement of the mo- ment, and swung her up to Eclair’s back, Brinkerhoff stooped down from his saddle, and picked up little Clara as if she bad beena doll, setting her on the saddle in front of him. Then Belcour leaped up behind the girl, gave | a great shout, and away went both horses ata | thundering gallop from the crowd of Indians, Little Yakop scudded off, stretched out | straightin des; erate hurry, and the whole party fall, and moreover seemed to be overcome with | was a hundred feet away before the Indians bad superstitious terror. ‘I do not know, captain,” he faltered cut. “The Great Spirit knows the truth. The girl fled from us, and escaped to the mountains.” “Liar!” said the Ro-k Rider, sternly. ‘* Tell me where she is, or—” He pricked him with the lence as he spoke, and the Indian, desperate at his position, grasp- ed eagerly ut one of his pistols. In an instant the mule bounded forward, and the Cheyenne was pinned, writhing, to the ground by the sharp lance. ‘Another liar gone, curses upon him!” said the Rock Rider, savagely, his lip writhing fear- fully and covered with foam. ‘Ye will not tell me where ye have hidden her? Then your blood on your own heads!” He seemed to be moved out of his usual calm into the white heat of fury all at once, by the - denial of the Indian, and looked the maniac all over from that instant. Leaning down from the saddle, with amazing strength he picked up the body of the Cheyenne, threw it across his saddle-bow, and deliberately hacked off the head with his long knife. Then the spell seemed to be broken which had held the surrounding crowd of Indians. They had watched the combat in perfectly breathless silence, and had uttered a kind of groan as they saw their well-armed warrior go down before the lance of the stranger. But the Seog aceon of the body seemed to rouse them. ith one accord the whole circle sprung up, and rushed forward to take ven- geance for the insult. The Rock Rider seemed hardly to notice them, so perfect was his disdain, but as they came rushing in, firing and yelling, he suddenly dropped the y, spouting blood as it was, and catching the head by the scalp-lock waved it aloft in triumph, shouting: “Death to the Cheyenne, Apache and Co- manche! The Rock Rider defies ye all!” In another moment he kad wheeled his mule, and went shooting through the crowd like a meteor, with the terrible lance far abead of him. _ Not an Indian had yet mounted. It seemed impossible that a single man could escape from two thousand Indians, even on foot, surround- my toa closely. ut into the crowd he darted, his lance hug- ged under his right arm, with his bridle hand brought up close to support it. Into a dense mass of yelling and shooting warriors he drove, with the keen lance-point always directed at their faces; and whenever he struck it was always in the face or forehead, the blade splitting the skull and glancing off, without being engaged. The mule aided its master, biting and kickin furiously, and clearing a ; assage wherever went, so that a broad lane quickly opened, along bt sg the Rock Rider sped toward the moun- ins. And then, amidst the turmoil of yells and random shots, rose a cry of warning and rage om the rear, and the crowd swayed to and ro. The Rock Rider shouted defiantly, waved his unharmed As he looked back the Indians were awn | fleeing toward the soldiers’ camp! CHAPTER XXL 4 RIDE FOR LIBERTY. Warr the wild duel went on, thy gipis had yatched it with intense interest, Pp | to intercept him. before them, and through the clear space they fully comprehended the trick played them. Then, indeed, the racket was tremendous, A rattling volley saluted them, as every sav- , whether in the crowd or outside, snatched | his rifle and let fly at a venture. The whole valley was full of scattered, outly- | ing parties, and every man, after firing a single | hasty shot, ran for his horse, and galloped to | intercept them from the American camp. | Their very numbers were in the way of quick | suecess, for, several men being .wounded by | random shots of their own friends, the Indian: became afraid to fire. But, all the same, it scon became evident that the fugitives could not reach the camp withou' being intercepted, for Comanches and Ap- | aches were tearing across their path by lun- dreds. | First Carl Brinkerhoff swerved off, and ga} | loped down the valley to the only opening h« | saw, and then Belcour was compelled to turn. As they turned, a tremendous volley burs’ | from the soldiers’ camp, and told with fearfu) effect on the dense crowd of Indians who scat- tered like sheep in an instant, but only to dae): at Belcour with vengeful yells. The young man shouted to Eclair, and mad for an opening in the Sierra, the only chance hc could see. Even to get there he would have to ran the gantlet of several stray Indians, who galicpeé But the warm eastern blood cf Eclair was up. and the pace at which he wert was tremendous. | It was as much as Delcour could do to maintain his seat, and keep his fair companion from fall- | | ing. They shot through the air so fast thet breath- ing became difficult, and both could hardly see. There was a sort of whizzing vision of fierec painted faces, and spiteful flashes through the white smoke and whistling bullets, and ther Blanche Davis hid her face on her preserver’s breast, clinging closely to him, as they scraped | through a scattered group of Indians, every ma | of whom shrunk from the shock of the black racer. Open green plains, studded with trees appeared skimmed, with the speed of Lirds, and stil! Eclair did not scem to labor, though carrying double weight, The yells of their pursuers sounded fainter and fainter, for the thoroughbred stallion was running as he never ran at a race before, anid the little Done ot the Indians seemed to be dis- heartened. Before them rose the Sierra, and a great broac ravine, ascending at an easy slope spread befor« them at last. Belcour spoke to his horse, and slackened hi: pace to a hand-gallop, as ke looked at thx ravine. “Now, mademoiselle, we shall soon be evi: paratively safe,” he said to Blanche. “Wee escape our pursuers in these mountains, ! ui fear you will have to undergo much hurc.t., yet, before you can rejoin your friends.” Blanche looked shuddering back. Twve Indian: were still following at some distance, but at « slow, easy lope. They seemed to bave given up all hopes of being able to outrun the fugitive. y_ Speed, Car] and Clara Davis were nowhere to be geen. “Oh, sir!” said Blanche, earnestly, “I woule suffer any hardship to be delivered from these terrible wretches; any thing rather than b PAPYS ; rete es a ee ee eed A SS a ee Se
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4 ‘walk as he said this, and he turned round to look _ and he felt that be could depend on his aim. It ‘You sball not bo captured, mademoiselle,” raid Gustave, eernestly. ‘Sooner than give you up alive, L vill blow out your trains with my own hands, if all other chances are gone, But things ere not so kopelcss. Two of my comrades have gono to Denver for help even now, and no doubt will bring back enough | troops to rescuo tlio train ere long. If we can | manage to live in the mountains for a few days, wo shall hosaved. The Indians have nothing to ect» and cannot maintain such a crowd as they heve by hunting more than a few days. “herefore, courage, my friend, and trust in Heaven.” He spoke much more cheerfully than he felt, for all alone as they were, with the whole valley full of enemies, and not a morsel to eat, save what he could find in the mountains, the pros- pect was gloomy ati best. But Blanche seemed to be comforted, for she rmiled hopefully, and began to thank Belcour : 3 they entered the ravine, “But oh, sir,” she added, ‘‘ while we are safe, what has become of poor Clara and your friend? Do you think they have escaped? Was his horse a good one?” “Vory good, mademoiselle,” he answered. “Tt was only a Government horse, it is true, but ene of the best: a stout animal who could run,well, and be must have distanced the In- cien ponies ere this.” They were slowly climbing the ravine at a at the valley. 1t was full of scattered Indians galloping in three streams on the track of the three fugitives, and the heads of the two oppo- site streams were close to the Sierra on the other side of the valley. But the Rock Rider and Carl were nowhere to | be seen, | The inference therefore was that they had es- | elcour looked down at his own pursuers, and they were already within gunshot again, for they seemed to be determined to keep up the pursuit till fatigue should do what superior speed could not. Several flashes were followed by the whiz of bullets close to them, and Belcour jumped off bis horse. “‘The ravine turns a little above us, made- | moiselle,” he said. ‘ Halt there, out of danger, and I will defend this pass.” As he ke, he unslung his rifle from his | back, and faced toward his pursuers. CHAPTER XXIII. A SHOOTING EXPERIMENT. Wuewn Belcour turned round, it was with the deliberate purpose of shooting his very best. All the nervous excitement which usually dis- turbed his aim seemed to have vanished in the crisis. He knew well that life and death lay in his steadiness now. Eclair walked off up the pass, carrying the girl, till a jutting rock hid them from view in the valley, and then the intelligent creature halted, and waited for his master, as quietly as if he understood the necessity. Meantime Bel- cour called to mind all the instructions he had | received from Brinkerhoff on the subject of shooting, and knelt down on one knee to steady his aim, resting bis left elbow on his knee. At the sight of the presented rifle, the Indians halted instantaneously, and every man dodged | behind his borse. Belcour took a steady, careful aim, but it | seemed to him that the fore sight of his rifle had : never tremb'ed so much before. He knew that | he fired now, every shot must tell or be _ wasted, | With a coolness that did him credit, he de- liberately sat down on the und with his | knees up in front, rested his elbow on the left knee, and took a fresh sight. To his great joy there was a perceptivle increase of steadiness. The muzzle sight of the rifle ceased to tremble, was a good lesson that he was learning in a grim school, In the midst of the Indians was a particu’arly | handsome spotted mustang, which be cnepe a} had said—one of the best of the Goverpment wust be the mount of a chief, and he too steady aim at the animal, fora lump sticking | out of its side told him that an Indian was | ude there. Crack! went the rifle, and Belecour watched for the effect of his shot with eager anxiety. He uttered an exclamation of exultation as the tted mustang reared up with a squeal, ‘wheeled round and ran away, while the dark | figure of ite rider fell to the earth in full view, | and lay there motionless, “1 have done it at last,” he muttered, ‘' Now | I know how to shoot.” But the sound of bis shot had roused the In- | dians. With one accord they uttered a loud | yell, and sprung up on their horses to make a | dash up the pass. The young man hastily | crammed a fresh cartridge into the breech of Mert: Indian halved ceit ourock by lighten , n halted as if struc ig Po und ducked down, Ore of therm fired a besty shot, and the billet ) Ts was ane | of .be young man’s rifle, | etyuck the roou by Bele u's side. sweree by the a. 8 - a and the Indian threw up bis arms and feil from / The Rock Rider. his horse. “ Again!” said Belcour, delighted. ‘I must be growing a famous shot.” He crammed in another cartridge, as the In- dians made a fresh rush, and again they halted as he leveled bis piece. Then Belcour roso up, confident and smiling. ‘“*T have mastered the secret,” he muttered. ‘¢ One must keep cool and attend to the sight. That is the whole science of shooting.” wey tf he retreated up the pass, halting every now and then to present his rifle and threaten the Indians, who began to follow him again at a respectful distance. Once or twice one of them fired a shot, but their aim being taken from horseback, was hur- ried and uncertain compared to his own, and he was unhurt. Very soon he reached the jutting rock, be- hind which Eclair was stationed, and felt safe. As soon as he had disappeared, however, the Indians, seeming to think him gone, came - ing up the pass. Belcour leaned his rifle on the rock, and shot down the foremost without diffi- culty, through the heart. In a moment the Indians were down again and halted, while Belcour could see them, him- self unseen all but the head. A second shot from his cover killed a horse, and caused a quick re- treat of the Indians to a safer distance, when a spiteful rain of bullets came skipping over the rocks all round his head. He kept remarkably cool, considering his general impetuosity, and replied at intervals, sheltering himself behind the outer edge of the jutting rocks, where his head was all that was visible. After a few such shots he began to think over some way of escape, for it evidently would not do to stay there till night. He tried a ruse, therefore, leaving his bat to represent him, while he pokes up a small rounded rock. When he put up this rock and pulled the hat down, he was gratified to hear the patter of a dozen bullets all round, convincing him that the _ Indians supposed the stone to be his head. Soft- ly he withdrew himself out of sight, and turned round. Eclair was standing close by and | Blanche Davis had not spoken a word all the time. ‘‘Now, mademoiselle,” said Gustave briskly, ‘tit is time we were off, I think.” He turned away up the ravine, followed by Eclair, who sidle up to him to allow him to mount. Ten the gallant charger trotted away as sure-footed as a mule, up the steep pass, and in a few minutes had turned an angle of the rocks, and was entering one of the numerous dark canyons that intersected the mountains. Down this Belcour galloped at full speed, wheeling into a cross ravine at the end, that ran up for some distance, when it emerged on a broad ledge of rock, and the fugitives found themselves oxce more in full view of the val- ley. iowa, several hundred feet below them, they could see the mouth of the up which they _ had first come, and the Indians were still gath- ered below, evidently the victims of the ruse Belcour had played them. The rest of the valley was all in commotion; and as they looked, a violent attack was com- mencing on the train, corraled in the midst of the valley. But Brinkerhoff and the | Rider were still invisible. As the two fugitives galloped out in full sight on the ledge, they were saluted by a vengeful l) and a shower of bullets from below. But i heer ee oe He sprung off the horse in a moment, assisted is companion to dismount, stripped off the bridle, and gave his anima! a lash that sent him careering away toward the Indians. Then turn- ing to the steep rocks, he addressed his trem- bling companion. “Fraulein,” said Carl, gravely, ‘‘ we are ina pad vay, if ve ao not ket oop dieser berg. Canst du climb?” c “Oh, yes, sir,” said Clara, trembling; “‘any- thing to get away from those wretches! Let us go at once.” ““Yakop,” said the German, addressing the dog, ‘‘ show de vay, mein bund.” And little Yakop, with a low whine of joy that told bow be relished the fun, darted up the — ahead, followed by bis master and Clara avis, It was a terrible bard climb up that bank of rocks. Nearly as steep as the side of a house in places, there were others where the crags cropped out in rude steps,and where stunted bushes and tuftsof grass afforded a precarious rasp to the climbers. Onthey went, little Ya- op seemingly gifted with superhuman sagecity in finding out the right way, till at last they reached the summit of the ledge, nearly two hundred feet above the level of the forest, and saw above them the bare mountain-side, fur- rowed with ravines, just as the Indians arrived within sight of them below. Without a word, Brinkerhoff seized the gir) round the waist, and threw her flat on the ound at the summit of the cliffs, cowering own himself beside her. He was only just in time, for a whole volley of bullets came whist ling by them as they went down, the Indians yelling savagely. Brinkerhoff turned and crawled tothe edge of the precipice, when be looked over. The brutal face of Cochise was upturned to- ward him, and the German felt that when he led the chase, escape would be a hard matter. Several of the Indians bad dismountcd, and were advancing toclamber up the rocks on foot; and Carl saw that something must be done. “If Thad but mein gewehr,” he muttered, re- gretfully, ‘‘1’d fix dem fellers as makcs such a noise down dere. Wasist to be done!” He peeped over, and saw how slow and toil- some was the upward progress of his foes, at the same time that it was perfectly fearless, They clearly supposed him to be unarmed, save for his knife. He looked back, and saw a dark, narrow ravine a little way off, that promised to afford a ready means of escape into the moun- tain recesses, could he once get rid of his {ves below. ‘ Fraulein,” he said, burriedly, “‘ von goes mit Yakop up dere, und you keeps quiet; den I keeps dese fellows below from commen ap hier. You go quick.” But Clara wouldn’t go. She said she didn’t dare to leave him, and begged Lim with tears not to make her go, so that Ca1l was compelled to al.ow her to stay close to him, though he grumbled fearfully at ‘‘ de leedle kirls vot don’r got no sense, dey doesn’t. Sbe vant to get killed und leave me. Vell, you shailstay den, Maybe you be sorry.” He peered over the cliffs, and lo! an Indian warrior was already within five yards of the top! Carl whipped out his revolver and sternly awaited the approach of the other, ready to shoot him down the moment he should get to the edge of the platform of rock. Clara Davis said not a word, but lay still, alpitating, while Yakop was licking her hands, e Belair was not going ab speed, and the lead | just as if he was entreating her uot to be whistled harmlessly by. In a few minutes more they wheeled round into a fresh canyon, and heard the ee of the Indians coming up the first pass in full pursuit. CHAPTER XXIV. A COOL HAND. When Carl Brinkernoff turned off from the direct route to the camp, he kept a steady gal- lop toward the same woods in which he and his companions had sought safety the day before. His horse was a good stout animal, as Belcour horses, and ableo outrun the ordinary mustang with ease. The Indians followed close on his heels, but they could not Begg him from reaching the woods ahead of them, when Car] turned intoa narrow path, dug in his spurs, and made for the mountains at full speed. Out of sight of his pursuers, in the wood, he gained much more rapidly, as they were forced to go slowly, in onier to follow his tracks. Ina very few minutes’ rapid gallop he bad reached the mountains, and brought up at the foot of a deep, dark ravine, too steep to be as- cended on horseback, For a moment Carl was nonplused, as he glanced to either side and beheld the same im- passable barrier everywhere. But there was no time to be lost, Wnlike Belcour, he could not keep his pnarners at bay, for he had ly Jett his in the mountains to avoid ex- citing the suspicions of the Indiane, and 3 revolver hidden noder shirt wes Wis only wearos. bypides the long buteher-kaife, afraid. Carl drew back from the edge of the preci- pice now, and knelt down on one knee, An ex- ression of great anxiety was on his face, for e was about to td a desperate experiment. They could both hear plainly the labored breath of their foe as he rested at a stuntéll bush below the edge of the platform. Th» sounds of panting a little way beyond announced that others were following him. The Indiars seemed to have no fear of a man whom they deemed unarmed, and came steadily up, pisi«! in hand. Presently the plumed scalp-lock of the first Indian showed over the edge, and in a moment more, the whole face made its appearance. As Car] Brinkerhoff started up, an expres+ion of terror came into the savage’s face. He bad not expected tofind the other waiting for him, and be came his hand with a revolver in it in- stantly. The stalwart German stepped forward and caught the long black hair in his powerful clutch, when be blew out the savage’s brains v ith his pistol, before a notion could he formed of his intentions. The body would undoubtedly have fallen down the precipice, but for the firm gripe of the German's left hand. As it was, he dragged 't hastily over the oom amid a shower of bullets tel id {t down. from below, and Ja The Indian, as he had sn , wes lorded with weapous, being a chiet of rank, and his rifle had been slung at his back, “Mow. you tammef tiefs, lase mie eco reg goucmen hier new.” 21 on ded Carl Vib jpop labty ’
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as be leaned over the edge of the rrecipice careless of wasting any more shots now, an began to pick off the rash warriors who were we the perilous climb, ignorant of the anger. The very first shot brought down a man and caused such a remarkably hurried scramble cown of the rest, that it seemed as if they, too, had been shot. ‘¢ Dot vill do,” said Carl, quietly, as he put up his pistol. ‘‘ Dem von’t come dieser vay no more, fraulein, so I vill dake dis shentleman’s arms, and ve vill go.” He stooped down as he spoke, and removed the ‘ema from the dead body of the Indian caler, Then, turning with his fair cng ae gran they plunged into the canyon and were lost to sight, just as Cochise gave some order to his men, which sent the whole of them galloping along the foot of the Sierra, searching for an opening, CHAPTER XXV. AHSATA, At the moment when Belcour and Blanche Davis left tie ledge on which they had been riding in full view, and dashed into an unknown canyon to escape from their pursuers, a light, graceful figure made its appearance among the upper peaks of the Sierra, where usually oniy the ahsata roamed, and paused to overlook the strife in the valley below. It was the same lonely and supernatural vision that the Indians worshiped as the Spirit of the Sierra. q There she stood in the midst of those wild soli- tudes, beautiful and ethereal as ever, but we who are near Ler can see that she is, after all, u deniable flesh and blood, cast in a mold of un- common beauty and vigor. ’ She might have looked the huntress Diana of distant ages, swift as the anteloje, pure and white as the crescent moon that crowned her forehead, aud so she looked, this bright, fairy- like being, who seemed to tread on air at times, so perilous was ].cr path among the dark chasms, Sue stood at the very Lrink of a padrice a thousand feet deep, at the entrance of the same tremendous gorge where Belcour had first seen her. For neurly a quarter of a mile it opened its way into the Sierra, a perfectly perpendicu- lar charm, with a black torrent, streaked with wiite foam, far, far below. Her orly footing was one of those stunted. ragged trees that grow here and there out of the siues of the precipice, and she stood there as fearlessly as if on level ground, looking down inlo the valley, herself unseen. Behind her was a narrow cleft in the rocks that seemed to open into some cave, for she had just emerged from - it, and tbe foliage of the tree entirely concealed Ler slender figure from view at a distance. She looked upon a scene of wild commotion in the valley. The Indians were engaged in a {furious assault upon the camp of the feeble remnant of the soldiers, which was girt with a ring of horsemen gallopmg round at full speed, anu firing volley after volley in among the wagons, rning her eyes to the Sierra, she could command a view of many of the gorges, and saw Belcour ride into one of them with his fair charge, while a strong party of Indians were galloping up a neighboring ravine to yg them, The gir] looked anxiously after them till botb had disappeared, when she turned and van- ished into the narrow cleft. That clett, instead of conducting to a cave, roved to be ashort tunue) of nature’s make, that pierced the ridge of rock, and emerged on the other sido into a circular basin, once the crater of a vulcano, in all likelihood. Now it had lost all the stern aspect of its origin, and had become a perfect paradise of beauty, The southern side of this basin was quite low, admitting the sun into its inmost recesses, while wails of rock rose on the north to protect it from the icy blasts of winter, The character cf its vegetation was quite as luxuriant as that of the valiey, and wild vines, loaded with grapes, seemed to bave been trained by human lands ty cover the otherwise naked rocks. In the midst of this singular basin grazed a little flock of mountain sheep with curving horns, all guite tame, for bells were on their necks, and they — to be quite fearless of the approach of the ri, A ae building, a sort of hermitage of rough stone, stood in the midst of the basin, and seated on a bench by the door was a venerable old man, with long hair and beard, white as snow. Like the girl, he was dressed in a garb of the wild sheep-skin, and he seemed to be hale and vigorous oeyond his years. The girl addressed him in perfectly pure English, saying: __ ‘Father Clement, there are strangers in dis- tress in the mountains. The two girls that we saw the Indians take yesterday seem to have escaped, for the wretches are now pursuing one of them, and their course will soon bring them to the same place where I saw that youth the night before last. What shall we do?” ““What can we do, Absata?” said exed “Tf the chase therm they are They can ne? clink WRT TERE xe Tes; Oe BET Ges iP The Rock Rider. who have passed these | such exploits. Even I | ten y: ars here, fear to find the time coming when | my foot will not be as firm, my eycs so sure, as | Of vore, and I shall be compelled to remain here, | while my daughter is compelled to hunt to main- | tain her poor old preceptor ” | ‘She will do it cheerfully, Father Clement,” | said the girl, affectionately. ‘‘But we shall | see many happy years first, my father. Your | arm is as strong as ever, your eye as clear as of yore, is it not?” Lae Better far,” returned Father Clement. | “Blessed be the day, my daughter, when_we | fled from the tents of wickedness to dwell in | the mountains. We havo found health and strength in the wild struggle for existence, such as I never had in all my life before. But these strangers, Ahsata, where are they?” “They rode into the middle canyon that leads into the cleft of the cataract,” she answered. “There is another one, you know, that comes in higher up, and if the Indians strike on it, the poor fugitives will be hemmed in.” : “ Let us go there, then, and do what we.can,” said Father Clement, rising. ‘‘ We may frighten | off their pursuers, but remember that our own secret will be a secret no longer, if we admit the strangers to our home. Have you thought of that, Ahsata?”’ “‘T have,” said tho girl, firmly, ‘‘ and Tam re- solved. We cannot remain here forever, and I must see the world. Who knows, Father Clem- ent? I may find my kindred there, the father and mother I have never seen since I was a bab 2 The old man looked shrewdly at her. * And some ono else besides,” he said, with a half-sigh. ‘You have not forgotten the hand- some stranger, I sec.” i — blushed crimson, and turned away astily. ** Come, let us go,” she said. seuse, Father Clement.” And she tripped rapidly away to the cleft through which she had entered the little basin, while the old man followed. Through the cleft she flitted, till she stood on the roots of the stunted tree, and then she stood still and listened. The rattling of musketry in the valley grew less every moment, and, peeping through the branches, she could see that the Indians were retiring from the vicinity of the camp, beaten back by the fire of the soldicrs. At the same moment a yell arose in the gorges of the mountains, and Ahsata exclaimed: “T thought so. The Indians have caught sight of them.” en she turned round, and detached from a branch above her a cord. This cord was thin, no thicker than a fore- finger. It was compcsed of the transparent sinews of animals, marvelously strong, and yet almost invisible on the gray face of the rock. It was hung over the branch of the tree, with a stone fastened to the end of it by a hole bored through it. The cord, as the girl strained upon it, proved to be fastened to another stunted tree, that projected out of the rock some sixty feet away from them, and a little above the level on which they stood. Suddenly, with a bold spring, the girl leaped off into the empty air, still holding the cord. She swung downward over the Cizzy void with the smooth, graceful motion of the pendulum, rose again far away, and alighted, like a bird, on a third tree, more than a hundred feet off. The mystery was explained. It was simply the application cf the flying trapeze to the problem of crossing that void. She turned round with a gay wave of the hand, standing alone on the perilous post in mid- air, and cast off the rope, with its weight. Smoothly and evenly it swung back to the hands of Father Clement, who stood waiting to receive it; and the old man prepared to essay the bold task in his turn. As he did so the girl gra asecond cord, which was stretched on still turther, and again she descended, and rose agin, in that graceful, eazy-looking curve, which was yet 80 perilous, while the muscular form of her aged preceptor was swinging over the first gap. The two seemed like swallows on the wing, so silent and gliding was the motion, and the second swing brought Ahsata to a pin- nacle of rock overlooking the same black gulf into which she had disappeared when first seen by Belcour. As she paused there, and sent the long cord swinging back to her companion, the sound of shots in the ravine beyond quickened her mo- tions; and she swung across the dark chasm by a third cord, and stood on the same pinnacle of rock on which the conjuror had first seen her. At that moment he burst in sight on his mag- nificent black horse, bearing the form of Blanche Davis in front of him, and coming at breakneck a along the narrow ledge toward the edge of 6 waterfall, Absata shrunk back ont of Sgt behind a rock, and saw him halt. He looked pale and comparste, for the elatter of horses’ feet in the in “You talk non- . @ above told of pursyers hard at hand, and oa eens Sen Tbe He hed arrived at the edge af the wate; : afsll, | Re Aemovnted theve ous Rueliediy Mtted We | Apact wah girl off. Abhsata blushed crimson, even in her concealment as she saw him,-and heard him say: “Stend still, young lady, behind the horer, His body and mine will shield youircm the Lui- lets. I can keep them off any time Lere.” Then she saw him run up the pass to a pl ce where the ledge turned round a rock, and the young man Celiberately sat down on the rocks and awaited the enemy. He had noé long to wait. Yelling savagely, and whipping their mus tangs, full of cxultation at heving cornered tk: | fugitives, a long line of savages cane gallcpin, down the ledge in full view. No sconer di they come in sight than Belcour’s rifle cracked, and the foremost mustang bcunded into the air and fell over the precipice with his rider, stone eead, But the rest were not daunted. They seemed to realize the nature cf the desperate task Lefore them, and came on as fest as ever, Again the rifle cracked, and a second horse- man fell, Lut the rest swept on, so fast that be- fore Belcour could load again, they were close to him. He leaped to his feet and pulled out his revol- vers instinctively. For a few moments the confusion on that ridge was terrible. So narrow was the step of rock that only one could pass at a time, and the conjuror's pistol dealt death to three in as many seconds, each one falling over the precipice as he sunk under the shot. Then there was a rattle of pistol bullets in re- turn, and Belceour felt him self battered all over the breast on the secret cuirass that he wore, which had saved him from the bullets of Cochire, when he astonished tke Indiansin the Mora? The battery of asseult wes so severe that staggered and fell back nearly senseless, while his joes, with a appaay mies yell, pressed for- ward to slay him. ummoning his failir ¢ strength, as he lay on the ledge, he raised Lim- self on his arm and emptied his pistol as fast at he could revolve tke cLanikers into the Lreasts of the foremost horses. He was sensible of a crashing es one of them fell forward on him. and then the rider grap- led him fiercely, With his Jast sho: Belcou lew the Indian’s brains out. At the same mo- ment he heard rt aba ery as of dismay fron the Irdians, and a white figure came flyin; through the air overhead like a bird. He Grew it in an instant for the Epirit of the Sierra. It lighted on the rocks overhead, and ke sav the figure poise a lance. As the weapon descended and trarefixed o3 Indian, the rest fled with every aj pcarance o! terror, ard Pelcour fainted dcad away under the pain of the numerous bruises he had re- ceived, When he came to himself he feurd Eclai: standing over Lim licking his face, and the In dians were all gone. He wasal ne in the gorge. The Spirit of the Sierra bed vanished, anc with ler had also vanished his fair charge, Blanche Davis. CHAPTER XXVI. THE OLD COLONEL, Ar noon of the next day the steady tremp of along column of horsemen echoed among the rocks in a bioad gap of the Sierva Jecding from the Middle to the Fouth Park, and still nearly a day’s journey from tbe Jatier. The men who rede in that column were perfectly silent, the only sounds audible t cing the monotonous tiem] of the horses, and the cccasicnal clink of a tabea scabbard egainst a spur. There were several hundred men tbere, a) well armed, and in tke center of the colur1 were four Lrars guns, bright and polished, with their dark, somber limLers and caissons, stern and grim-looking. At the head of the detachment rode a stout turly cfficer, with a short, gray beard, the sil- ver leaves of a lieutenant-colonel on his shoul- cers In other respects his dress was 1ude and romewhat slcvenly, consisting of a blue tailor’s shirt, common soldier’s trowsers and high boots, lorg guiltless of blacking; while his steeple crowned hat was battered and dented. He rode a splendid horse in a stiff feshion, bis legs quite straight, in the extreme fork seat: but, such as he was, he looked a man to rely o1 in o heavy fight, safe and cautious to enter, but sticking ike grim death when once there. Such was Colonel Davis of the Eighth Cay - alry, aman who had command d brigades ora divisions in hard service a few months |: fcrc, and who now, like so many others of our roi soldiers, had quictly assumed his subere*: :. position in obedience to orders, as chciivty as if he had never worn traps of «. = eneraL } ; y his side rode the two cousins, Somers an« Buford, in earnest converration with the cole nel, who looked anxious and prececupied, but as stern and commanding as ever, No one who saw his squere, burly figure would have gures- ed that under that grim exterior was beatin; a heart torn with the keen anxieties of a fu- ther, who knew that hic darlings were in th: power of euch faplecsble wygtghee ag thy het, * . Py eed sl ——— a A
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16 ot ee And yet, for all that, the old _ecloncl did rob hurry the pace of thocolumn. He rodo steadily on a} tho élashing waik ct tho old troop horse, but never attempted to quicken the pace, which might Cistress tho animals. Ho knew that a long march was beforo them, end that it was essential that the horses should arrive as fresh as possible. So the rescue party rode steadily on toward the South Park, Would they be in time? Colorel Davis stowed no fears, whatever he felt. He was talking to Buford on subjects ap- parently unconnected with their cxpediticn. “You see, maj vr,” he was caying, ‘I can not but think it is the came, from your descrip- tion. Poor Beckford was just such a looking man, tall, thin and bony, with a face like an old bald cagle’s. Wo used to call him Don Quixote in those days. Ho was a splendid offi- cer, though, as brave as a lion, cnd full of en- thusiasm for his profession. It was a terrible loss to us all when he went crazy.” “But what was the cause, general?’ asked Buford, curiously. Coloncl Dav-.s was a brevet major-general, and according to the logical (?) custom of our army was “ general’ in society, while only ‘ coloncl” on duty, which made his address e puzzlo to tho uninitiated. “The come cause,” answered the old colonel, vravely, ‘‘which has ruined so many happy homes on the fronticr, the infernal wretches of Indians. Tho peace commissioners come here and pamper tuem up with high living, issue muskets and ammunition to them, nominally to hunt with, and the hounds use them on us when we are off our guard. Poor Beckford was one of those frank, generous fellows who detested cruelty, and always treated the In- dians kindly. His wife and one child were at our post—l was his first lieutenant in those cays, major—and Beckford persisted in having his quarters outside the stockade. He had a theory about putting confidence in the Indians, and certainly for a long time they seemed to deserve it. His wife was a perfect angel of roodness to the squalid wretches, Ma.y a time have seen her among their filthy lodges, nursing the sick, and carrying little delicacies cooked by her own hands to some squaw dying with the small-pox. The Indians all seemed to adore her, and she seemed to have a wonderful influence over them. But it was all a sham. One Jay Beckford and most of the garrison were out on a buffalo-hunt, and I was left in commend, with only a dozen men, Well, sir a band of Cheyennes, led bya wretch whom I saw Mrs. Beckford rescue from the jaws of death when he lay sick of the small-pox, burst iu upon us, attacked the stockade, and put us to cur utmost to defend ourselves. Mrs. Beck- ford and her little girl, only three years old, were caught outside the fort, and we saw the chief himself brain and scalp her, after—well, 10 matter—you know what devils they are. She was killed at last before our eyes, and the ruffians carried off the child. Beckford came back that night, and found his house in ashes, and his wife’s body half -burned up.” “Poor fellow!” exclaimed Somers, involun- a / “Well, sir, he dro ped like a stone, and we thought he was d said the old colonel, in alow voice, ‘*We brought him to at last, but he was quite stupid, and the doctor told us he had brain fever. We did the best we could for him, but he lay delirious three days. The third night, when his nurse, an old negro—his body-servant—was asleep, he disappeared from the fort, and wandered off into tne prairie on a bitter cold night in his shirt. We did not discover it till he had been gone several hours, and the falling snow had com a hidden his tracks, We hunted him for t ays, and lost two men, frozen to death no doubt, in the search, one of them the black nurse. Till you told me what you did, I believed him cer- tainly dead, for I have never set eyes on him since that night.” “Did you ever hear any thing of him from the Indians?’ asked Bufo: ‘Never a word. If they knew, they kept the knowledge to themselves, If, as I suspect, this is he, bis madness must have proved his salva- tion, and he must have reached the mountains alone and on (foot, nearly naked and suffering from fever as he was. But I can hardly be- lieve it, It’s thirteen years ago now, and it seems impossible, only nu two men like Beck- ford ever lived.’ | They rode on silently, musing over the strange story. tli Colone! Davis abruptly inquired: “What makes you thivk that the two girls were not killed?” He spoke in a harsh, unnatural tone, the only indication of the burning anxiety which he wa; so resolutely hiding, but bis eye had a haggard. wild look in it, that told of the fears that hac devoured bim. “Lhe strange being, who called Ifmself the Rock Rider, insisted that he saw them taken captives,” said Somers. he who pro- posed a rescue, and when we left him, he was bout to enter the valley te attempt it.” “What gould tio alone?’ asked Co} Pauds, balfdneredileu:, «tf honetal, “Tt was ‘ The Rock Rider. “Tio scemed to Le quite confident,” said Bu- ford. ‘*Iio Lad with Lim a friend of ours, who is quite a skillfcl conjuror, and they both seerm- ed to rely on thcir powers of frightening the In- cians more than mcre—” Boom! camo a distant gun among the moun- tains, interrupting their conversation, and the coloncl started and listened anxiously. “They are fighting again,” he muttered. ‘““Wo shall have to hurry up. The horses can stand it.” Ilo turned round in his saddle, and shouted, in his deep, hoarse tones: ‘Column trot! March!” And away went the rescue party on the trail of the distant battle, just as the distant mutter of thunder echoed through the Sierra. CHAPTER XXVIL IN THE SIERRA. Tue gaunt, somber figure of the Rock Rider, on his tall mule, stood like the genius of the | place at the summit of a sharp crag, overlook- ing one of the loftiest passes in the Sierra, the heated air trembling around him as from a furnace. He was watching with his eagle eye the movements of a party of Indians in the ss below him, who advanced slowly, examin- ing the rocks as if tracking some one; and on the point of his lance was the fierce, grim-look- ing head of the Cheyenne chiet, Keche-ah-que- ono. As he looked down, his face lighted with ex- ultation, and he muttered: ‘Keep on, red servants of the Evil Oue, and see how soon ye shall run into the snare that is laid for you! The toils are set, and the hunters are coming. Ye follow but the lure which shall lead you to your destruction. Have ye no ears to hear the horse-hoofs? Be it so. hom God would kill he hardens in wickedness. Your end approaches. The enemy and the storm are com- ge Sg mil e turned his mule away, and rode along the edge of the crags at a rapid pace, every now and then pausing to look down. The Indians kept on at their task, aid soon he perceived a cleft in the sierra running at right angles to the main pass, toward which they seemed to be tending. “Whom have they there?” muttered the Rock Rider, to bimseif, as he trotted on. ‘Surely they cannot bave been drawn into such atrap. Yonder ravine ends in a sheer preci- ao and if any are in it the savages will have em. In a moment more he had arrived in front of the opening of the ravine in question, and uttered a low cry of apprehension as he looked. | As he had said, it was a short cleft in the | mountain, ending in sheer precipices, and there at the end of it, in plain sight, were two figures, | aman and a woman, both lying on the ground, | some distance apart from each other, apparent- | ly pee. The k Rider from his lofty station could see them plainly, but he noticed that a pile of rocks lay in front of them, which would no | doubt shield them from the view of any one on | the same level. In front of the rocks, lying down, was a small animal, that his quick glance at once recognized as little Yakop, Brinkerhoff’s dog. “ Mercifu) heavens!” muttered the Rock Rider, to himself, “they never reached the camp!” He looked back at the Indians, and saw that they were still some distance down the pass, | slowly but surely advancing. He dismounted from his mule in an instant, and unwrapped from bis girdle a long cord, which proved to be | nothing but.a sling. All bis weapons were sim- ple and primitive like himself. Pi-king up a stone, be placed it in the sling, and cast it with all his might toward the sleeping Brinkerhoff. The distance was nearly a quarter of a mile, but the cliff was high and the slinger strong. The stone dropped with a clatter close to the unconscious German, who started up in a mo- ment. He saw the Rock Rider when the Indians could not, and when the wild being waved bis arms and pointed down the pass, be seemed to realize the meaning of the warning, for he look- ed to his arms, and took bis station behind the pile of rocks immediately. The Rock Rider made a signal of encourage- ment, and then mounted bis mule again, turned round and trotted off among the peaks at a fast ait. . He had not far to go. The summit of the pass was already reached, and he looked down among a wilderness of | peaks, through which ran a sort of rude road, traversed for millions of years perhaps by the buffalo in their annual migrations. At the top of the peak he halted, threw him- self to the ground and listened. “The tramp of horres and the rumble cf uns,” he muttereé. “They are close at hand. I reach them in time?” Boom! came the echo of the same had startled Colonel Davis on his vegeus, nnd the Reek Rider started. “They az¢ ettacking the onmp that to the agals.” he Daren - oman — 5 ES NS A TT en RN a — muttered. ‘'Do the fools kope to take it, o¥ are the soldiers short of ammrnition?”’ Then, as he listened, ugain his face brightened. ‘“* They hear it, too!” he said. *‘ They are trot- ting.” And indeed, even an ordinary ear might have detected the deep rumble of guns at a gellep, and the rapid tramp, tramp of the trotting cav- alry. The Rock Rider leaped 2 and eegerly rean- ned the wilderness of the Sierra in Lis fiont. Soon he began to distinguish a white cloud of dust rising between two of the peaks far al ead, He shook the rein of his mule ard went cff at a keen gallop among the rocks down places where it seemed impossible to find a footing, til] he finally stood in the n.idst of the great natural road that connected the Three Parks. Away he went then at a gallop, the trotting cf the cavalry becoming plainer every moment, till all on a sudden they burst out of the pass akead, and came into full sight, their weapons glitte- ing out of a cloud of dust. e Rock Rider uttered a skout of joy and put his mule down to her steady trot of twenty miles an hour, at which he dashed up to the column with his lance bi They did not seer to be surprised to see him, for not a man stirred cut of the ranks to meet the strange figure, till he kad abruptly hilied in front of them, when Colcnel Davis raised his saber, and shouted: ‘“ Halt!” Then the Rock Rider slowly edvanced, an expression ot wonder ard dcubt on his face. at variance with his usual demeanor. He sreem- ie to be half-puzzled, half-disappointed at some thing. He threw his lance behind his back, letting it hang on the sling, the grinning head stil! poised aloft, and abruptly demanded: ‘* What troops are these?” To Buford, who bad seen him before, the change in his manner was ten og ory ‘rom a wild, half-crazed mountaineer he hed sudden- ly been changed to a stiff, soldierly-looking cfficer, slightly imperious, as one accustomed to command, Colonel Davis gave a military salute, and answered, as he eyed the other with great a A “ Bighth United States Cavalry.” The Rock Rider repeated the words with an accent of slight wonder. “ Bighth United States? These men regu lars? hy, sir, when I left the Second Dra- goons years ago, they looked like gentlemen, and these are a parcel of dirty ruffians.” * Colonel Davis laughed. “T know it, sir, but Captain Beckford of to- day is not the trim Beckford of yore either, is he now?” The Rock Rider started and eyed the other sh: rply. - o are yeu?” be said. ‘Your face is changed, but I know ycur voice.” “ Have you forgotten Tom Davis, Beckford!” said the other, holding out his band. ‘Forgotten Tcm Davis? No,” said the Rock Rider, looking hard at him. ‘But you are rot Tom Davis: If you were, you would be younger than 1, and you look older.” “Years have passed hardly with me, old friend,” said Davis, gravely. ‘‘ Remember that it is thirteen long years since then. It bas turned my hair gray, and yours is as black as ever. The Rock Rider was about to answer, when the sound of shots in rapid succession from among the cliffs in the rear startled both of them. Then he sudcenly threw forward his ear, and, with an abrupt toss, sent the head of eche-ah-que-kcno flying among the rocks, when he wheeled round. “Tom Davis,” be skouted, “if it be you, in- deed, follow me! Ycur daughter is in danger, nota mile away. You lost me mine thirteen years ago. Try to save your own now.” And away he went, at full speed, toward the distant firing, with his lance couched straig)} i in front of him. The father needed no second invitation. Ee shouted out: “Column forward! gallcp! March!” Then, with a rush like a whirlwind, away went the whole column of horse, while the biack, spiteful-locking carbines were thrown forward by every man, and eager eyes were fixed on the pass. Somers and Buford, on their swift therovgh- breads, were far abead of the column by this time, and shot by the tall mule of the Rock Rider with ease, swift though she was. In a very few minutes they bed c'attered up to the mouth of the pass from whence the shots proceeded, and wheeled inward. The ravine was full of shouting, shooting savages, gallop- * Lest this remark should be deemed out of place, it may be observed that it is couched in the very words of General Phil Kearney, who returned to his old regiment at the beginuing of the rebellicn, after @ long period of peace. The contrast between the neat uniforn of past times and the hideous mon- strosity now inflicted on the U, 8. troops cauecd the exolametion. Since the. fall of 1872, however. the mare hideous features have bean ebel shed cuit the LG. uniform yestored to deeck ), Lod, bet, WTR, ' o_O
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Fn AE NITE I, EN OI ing to and fro, yelling, but yet held at bie by the determination of a single man, Carl Brin- kerhoff, who was firing from bis shelter right and leftintothem. _ The appearance of Somers and Buford put a new face on matters as they galloped in. The Indians, taken by surprise, wavered and faltered,and the moment was sufficient to bring the dreaded Rock Rider among them. He came with his sharp lance aimed at the faces of the warriors, who all dodged it in terror, but that lance was too skillfully wielded to miss its aim, and foe after foe was hurled from the saddle, And then, with a mighty shout of vengeance and triumph, the gy Sere came sweeping into the defile, and the Indians, hemmed in and overpowered, threw down their arms in all directions. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE LAST CHARGE. Tae sun was hanging only a little distance above the pag pis omg: of the Sierra, and the air was hot and , ominous of approaching tempests, when Gustave Belcour emerged from the shelter of the mountains and checked his horse with a word, at the entrance of the South Park. He had lost his way in the mountains and | wandered about till chance had brought him | to the Wolf’s Mouth Pass, at whose entrance the contest had taken place two days before. The little corral of wagons remained just | where it had been first hurriedly formed at the | close of that attack, not two hundred yards | from the mouth of the pass, and in full sight of | a glittering pool of water, which only mocket the sufferings of the yee 2 soldiers. Twice had they spay ages to reach that water in their desperation, only to b. driven back to their shelter by the overwhelming numbers of their foes, Beleour noticed that, with fiendish ingenuity the besiegers, while maintaining a close biock- ade of the camp, carefully left the way open to the tantalizing i. It seemed as if a rush there might easily succeed, and yet there were hundreds of warriors waiting for just such a movement, They had concentrated from all parts of the valley into that grim watching circle, and, as he looked, a slow, Gesultory fire was being kept upon the camp. He noticed that 46 was not returned by the soldiers, . The question arose in his mind at once: “‘ Are they out of ammunition, or all dead?’ But they could not be either, or the Indians would have charged, and they seemed to have a great respect for the soldiers still. ; “Tt is lucky they cannot see me,” he mutter- ed. “They would never think of searching this pass. I wonder whether Somers and Bu- ford got clear through, and where they are now. If they are coming, they must needs be near by this time. Messieurs, stay where you are but a little longer, and you will get all you want, if the American soldiers are what they used to be when I saw them last year.’ Like his friends, Gustave had n an officer of the Union Army, and trusted in its prowess against innumerable Indians. While he looked, a long shadow swept across the valley, as the sun dipped the edge of his disk behind one of the western of the Sierra. That shadow seemed to be the signal for the Indians to move. Those who had been standing by their horses instantly mounted, and a furious fusilade was opened on the camp, under eover of which a cloud of warriors swept down on the beleaguered soldiers, At the head of the storming party Belcour re- Cochise, who led in person. The attack was made with a reckless despera- tion such as Indians seldom exhibit. It seemed as if they knew that the chances of a rescue increased every moment they delayed, and were determined to capture the train with its veipelie freight before the rescue party should arrive. Belcour watched with intense anxiety the for- tunes of tho little party, for he knew that on their salvation probably depended his own saf»- ty. Nothing had prevented the Indians sepa- rating to scour the mountains in search of the fugitives but the superior attractions of the val- ley. , w them aash forward up to the very He, firing and yelling, and noticed with dismay that the answering fire was of the fee- blest ription. Had he Saas that the defenders of the cor- ral were to a man fainting with thirst, and so weak as to be unable to fire without a rest, he would not have wondered. And as the attack commenced the sun set. Already Cochise was hacking away with his aaber at a cord which united two of the wagon: and a crowd of dark figures was cluster around the corral, when the young conjuror horse’s teet in the be started ueard the quick of a bebind ve : So a temesting to woo an Indiau, and instead | cognized the burly form ard scarlet plumes of _ The Rock Rider. of it beheld the well-kmown figure of the Rock Rider, dark and fierce-looking in the rapidly gathering shades of ni He was mounted on tall mule, which was all covered with foam, and he waved his lance impatiently as he drew up beside Belcour. What do you‘ here?” he asked, ey woe “Why stand gazing when every arm and heart is needed in yonder melee? Help is coming, sir, and every moment is precious. Follow me, and I will show you what a Christian knight can do against a million of heathens.” Without another word, be turned and plunged into the valley shouting: “God and the saints for the Rock Rider! Down with the heathens!” Belcour hesitated but a moment, and then he drew his pistols. **T can but die once,” he muttered; and down he galloped into the thickening fray, just as a crash announced that a wagon had been over- turned, and as the brief twilight ceased as sud- denly as if a pall had dropped over the earth. CHAPTER XXIX. THE FIRE SPIRIT. in that tranquil valley the contusion was fearful around the overturned wagov. The sudden darkuess which fell over the earth was ominous, for a huge black cloud had risen al- most at the moment of sunset, with a sudden- ness born of the sweeping mountain tempest. | The day had been hot and sultry, and now the rumble of thunder, and the dismal howling of a storm gust rose in the western passes, while the black Sova rushed out over the sky with the speed of a whirlwind. Gustave Beleour found aimself tearing down upon the Indians, a revolver in each hand, perfectly regardless of the rashness of the deed, and only inspired by the heroic daring of the Rock Rider, the mad Captain Beckford of Davis's story. With all the fearlessness of mania, that single | man plunged into the midst of the dark, strug- sling mass of combatants, the long lance dashing its keen point here and there, while the wild war cry rung forth: “* God and the saints for the Rock Rider!” Then Belcour was into the midst of them himself, Eclair rearing and plunging, kicking and biting, while Gustave scattered the shots of his revolver in all directions. He was sensible of a terrible commotion, wherein he could hardly tell who was getting the best of the battle. He felt himself struck in the body on the secret cuirass, which had saved his life so often, and reeled upon his charger under the severe blows. He saw the mad captain, his lance broken, laying about him fiercely with the shattered staff, the Indians bearing back from his tre- mendous blows. And then, all at once, a broad glare of red flame lighted up the whole valley, and he saw the faces of his painted antagonists as plain as by at ipo But the Incians looked frighten- and overcome with awe at tbe great light. Asif by magic the firing ceased, and every man looked up to the eastern Sierra, whence the light proceeded. The sight that there met the view was per- fectly astounding. The black cloud had covered the whole of the sky with its inky pall, the wind had hushed for a few moments, and a dead silence, oppressive and awful, reigned over every thing, save for a low, far-off moaning in the gorges. From the mouth of that very gorge where he had first seen the white figure with the horned head-dress, a great sheet of red flame pro- ceeded. It was kindled in two huge fires, one on each cliff that formed the sides of the gorge, which overhung the very spo on which they were fighting a moment before. Out in the full light of the flame stood two human figures, the one a man, with a great white beard, the other a girl, with long golden hair, and both wore the same fantastic garb, thew the curving horns of the ahsata on their eads, The male re waved its arms, as if in men- ace, and shouted down to them through a long trumpet, in the Apache tongue: ‘Begone, wretches! The Spirits of the Sier- ra are angry, and your end is at hand! Flee from the wrath of the Manitou!” He stooped, and lifting a rounded rock sent it hurtling through the air into the midst of oe apace crushing a horse and rider in its At the same instant the girl flitted to the edge ot the precip:ce, and a bright flame sprung up between the horns of her strange head-diress. She leaped out over the edge of the rock, and walked across the chasm, as if she trod on air, although Gustave could tell from the springy motion that there must be a cord stretched there, invisible to those below. Arrived at the other side, again she seemed to poe. into empty air, and swung off, with the graceful motion of the pendulua, toa pinnacle | - eve - Oe er ry ere A Le CT IITA — Se es 2 tipped with flame upon the amazed savages, wale the white bearded male figure sent an- other rock whizzing into the midst of them. The short pause of open-mouthed wonder was succeeded by yells and cries, as if hell had broken loose, amidst which the rapid gallop of a number of horsemen, with the clatter of weep- ons, became distinctly audible in Wolf’s-Mouih Pass. And then, louder than all, came a sonorv tis peal of thunder, and a forked stre k of ligh:- ning shattered a live-oak tree close by the cam}. In an instant the Indians broke and fled, ana Belcour was thrown irom his horse and over- whelmed by a rush of panic-stricken fugitives, just as the rain came down in a blinding tor- rent, and the fires on the cliff-tops disappeared as if by magic. But through the thunder of hoofs he heard ringing out a clear bugle-blast, sounding the well-remembered call of the rescuing cavalry: “ Forward!” is CHAPTER XXX. CATO, CLEAR and bright broke the dawn over the romantic Sonth Park the morning after the storm. The mist that filled the valley was thicker than ever, but when the sun cleared it up the scene was beautiful. Every leaf and flower held its gem, and the songs of birds filled the groves. The Indians had disappeared entirely from the valley, but a trail of dead bcdies showed what a merciless slaughter had pursued them during the previous night, even through storm and darkness, to the passes of the Sierra. The corral of wagons still remained where it had been, but the fires of a numerons body of cavalry soldiers dotted the greensward around the pool that had so long mocked the defenders of the train, and rewarded all their sufferings with its cool waters. High up on the mountain-side, in the western Sierra, old Black Cato was standing at the mouth of the gorge that led to the Cavern of Death, watching with wonder and alarm the progress of a riderless mule that was coming up | the pass toward him. “Golly sakes alive!” muttered the negro; “wurra dat fur? Dat ole Mountaincer come back all alone, and whar’s marse Cappen Beck- ford? Hyar he been done gone fur two days, and nebber a word come to ole Cato, and now byar come Mountaineer all alone. Suffin’ must ‘a’ happened to marse cappen. Mebbe he want Cato, and send Mountaineer to fotch him. Whar’s you come from, ole gal?” It was strange all this time Cato seemed to have no suspicion that anything more than 4a mere slight accident bad happened to his master. Danger he seemed not to think of. His con- fidence in that master’s prowess was too com- plete and unswerving. And now he waited quietly for the mule to come up, anticipating some message from the hand cf bis baloted captain. Such messages had come to him before. The mule walked slowly up, and as she came close, began to bray as if in recognition. “Ha! ole gal, you knows Cato!” exclaimed the negro. ‘‘He gibs you de nice wile oa don’t he? an’ you want moab. Well, you sha hab ’um, ole gal, so you shall Now what news you bring?” . The mule came up and rubbed her head against the negro, who cast a hasty glance at the deep Mexican saddle. That glance was sufficient for Cato. The next instant he uttered 4 sort of yell of anguish, and tore bis hair in despair. he whole of the left side of the saddle, froin ommel to cantle, was soaked in blood which ad freshly dried there, and presented clear evidence of harm to bis master. Cato fell on his knees in a moment, with the ious habits of his race, and prayed aloud with ervor, strangely mixed with despair, **Oh, Lord, what for you done cis? Oh, Lord, please don't take away good, sweet marse cap- pen from po’ Cato! Oh, wurra is I gwine to do, ef marse cappen’s dead? Whar shall I go? Wurra isI to do? Ob, merse cappen, marse cappen, don’t you done go die, ’way from po’ Cato! Little Missy Evy she gone, missis she gone, an’ is you gwine, too, to leave po’ Cato? Oh, it can’t be! It shan’t be! I’se gwine arter him, ef it kills Mountaineer. Oh, Mountaineer, good ole gal! take me to marse cappen, vu. Dat’s a good ole gal, and I gibs you ail de corn you wants fo’ you’ life, ef you does it, shuah !” He jumped up from his knees with ne:vous hurry, as he said the last words, and tightened the mule’s girths. Mountaineer seemed to kno» what was required of her, for she turned romnnd and trotted off with Cato as cheerfully as if fresh from,a stable, and soon brought him into the valley of the South Park, by the same glade ag Belcour had found Eclair, two days be- ore, Cato was quite unaware of the changes thet had taken shoe in the valley the previous night. The driving storm had drowned the sounds of the rifle-shote, and he knew not but what the of rock that shot out of the side of the cliff. | Indians were still there. In any be hed From thence, standing like a spirit of fire | only one o in view, and that was to se bis against a black background, she east down dari. waster, aad die with kim if need be. Oo Wi
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. respect struggling with a desire to recognize i8 (06 eS ag ee eee oe PO a ERT aT ARE one of the old type of slaves, faithful to death; wud to him and his master, buried in those : olitudes for thirteen years, the war and its re- vulting emancipation were entirely unknown. His surprise then was no greater than bis joy, at seeing the valley clear of foes, and the United —_ flag floating over the wagons in the corral, ‘*Oh, bress de Lord!” cried Cato. ‘*‘Mebbe marse cappen not dead, affah all. Dar de deah ole flag once moah, an’ de sojers what Cato »ebber see no moah for ten, twenty yeab. Oh, }ress de Lord! I’se gwine to see marse Cappen tseckford once moah, like a rel cappen ona hoss, *:ot on dem po’ trash of mules, An’ den I gets Mountaineer, mebbe ” ‘he revulsion in his spirits was as great as had been the depression. For a moment be had for- cot the ominous blood-stains on Mountaineer’s saddle, and rejoiced at the sight of arms, as none but an old camp-follower can do. He gal- loped into the cainp, with a broad grin on bis black face, showing every tooth iu his head, ith delight, and yelling: ‘*Bress de Lord, oh my soul! Whar’s marse Cappen Becktord¢ Ob, gemmens, isn’t I glad to ee ye, jest ? Oh, whar’s marse Cappen Beck- ford? | Somebody tell me, or I’se gwine to ou’st!”’ The soldiers looked up laughing from the fire, end a roar of merriment spread through the camp, as the grotesque-looking negro, in his ‘arb of skins, mounted on the scraggy mule, vareered through the camp. But Mountaineer vig oe es to know where the was going, for she held on steadily till she walted by the fire where a group of officers vere standing. Cato jumped off as the officers turned round, and peored anxiously into the face of every one shere. ‘Then he turned away disappointed, «uttering: ‘**He’m not dar. Whar de debbil is he?’ ‘Here, my man, what do you waut?’ asked stern voice, as Colonel Davis beckoned him -orward from the group. Instantly, as with the long forgotten habit of liscipline, Cato doffed his cap respectfully, and tod, twiddiing it between his hands, as he besitatingly said: “ Piease, marse colonel, Ise coms to—see, marse colonel—ef [ kin find ole marse Cappen Ueckford ’moug you gemmen—I begs parding, <emmen—” The colonel advanced e2 rly @ pace, and aid both hands on Cato’s shoulders, whom he scrutinized attentively. Then be let go and muttered: ‘““My God! It’s Caio! Aliveand well! Won- ders will never cease,” ‘*-Yes, marse colonel,” said Cato, doubtfully, ‘ne other, ‘* Cato is ‘live, sah, but I doesn’t quite ‘zactly ’member you, sah. ’Scuse me, sah.” “What, Cato, have you forgotten Lieutenant Davis, you rascal? Don’t you remember who caught you stealing his whisky, and kicked you ‘iown the quartermaster’s steps?’ asked the .olonel, with a half-laugh at the recollection. Cato changed instantly, and set up a counter- yell of his own laughter. “Oh, nowI recklex, marse Davis! Golly! how ‘nad you was, marse Davis! An’ how we black tellers got square for dat kickin’, de ve’y nex’ day! Yab! yah! yah! marse Davis, how you id go on, suah, when you foun’ all you’ hams and chickens gone, an’ nobody do’no’ nuffin ‘bout it, oh, no—’twar de coyotes as steal ‘um. Yah! yah! yah!” The how] of laughter with which, Cato greet- *d the remembrance was contagious. It set all the officers laughing in turn, whether they un- - erstocd the joke or not, and the stout colonel jaughed as loud as any. But Cato suddenly re- wembered his manners, and pulled up short «ith remarkable promptness. * Beg parding, marse Davis,” he observed, “but l’se forgot. Does you know whar marse Cappen Beckford is, sah? I’se come fo’ to see m. The colonel’s countenance instantly grew crave. A sudden, painful memory seemed to come over him, and he said, kindly: ‘Your master is dangerously wounded, Cato, and he lies in yonder tent, attended by my daughter. Goto him at once, and some other time you shall tell me how you escaped when we thought you frozen to death, and where you avd your master have been all these years.” Of all this address Cato only seemed to re- :'/ze the first sentenee. He stood stupidly, mut- t. ring: sb Dan ously wooned. Oh, Heavenly Fa- der! Wurra dat for?’ But he seemed to understand where to go, for le moved off slowly toward a large wall-tent, pitched close to the wagons, and raising the flap, entered, to find his beloved master extend- «don a camp-bed, pale and half asleep, with Ulood-stained bandages on his left thigh, while u pretty young lady sat watching by the bed- side, weeping softly to h ; Cato u a jow groan of mortal grief and | terror at that sight, and poor Beckford opened | Those eyes had lost the wild, exelied kek a ie LLL LLL LL LLLLLLLLLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LOL LO i psy a = The Rock Rider. they formerly wore, and large, dark and seri- ous, they gazed on Cato, as the wounded man said, in a low voice: “Phe dream has come true, Cato, but not as I thought. be in Heaven, for my eyes are opened, and I am dying.” Cato dropped on his knees and burst into a tempest of convulsive sobs as the wounded cap- tain spoke. CHAPTER XXXII. RED LIGHTNING’S STORY. CoLonEL Davis was standing thoughtfully gazing at the fire. He had regained one of his € ment of Belcour, who had told him of the mys- terious disappearance of Blanche Davis, when he himself was struck down senseless by the In- dians. Belcour and Brinkerhoff had gone off that very morning with Somers and Buford to had accompanied them, in the hope that canine sagacity might discover a clew where human wisdom failed. The biuff colonel, full of concealed impatience, was yet to all outward appearance impassive and calm, while awaiting the result of their dis- shot that was to be the signal that they had ar- rived at the glen. In the meantime he issued the necessary orders for patrolling the valley and the neigh- boring passes to guard against annoyance from any lurking Indians who might be disposed to revenge their recent discomfiture. There were some twenty prisoners, besides—amon the Comanche chief, Red Lightning, who. had been badly wounded in the charge the night be- for2—and the colonel wished to examine them. He sent for Red Lightning, and the chief was brought up on a stretcher. He bad been shot through the lungs, not far from the heart, and and clear, bis face as calm and impassive, as if he was free from pain. His voice, too, though swered the cflicer’s qu: stions like one not afraid to die. The colonel bad been long enough on the plains to talk all the Indian dialects. se Red Lightning,” said the colonel, in his gruff but by no means unkindly tones, ‘‘I am sorry to meet you here. received many presents.” Red Lightning smiled faintly. ‘*Tf I have done wrong, kill me,” was all he said. ‘Red Lightning is not afraid to die.” ‘You are dying now,” said Colonel Davis, sterniy. “It is the end of all bad Incians. Who tempted you on this war-path?” “The Comanche is poor, and needs guns,” said the chief, laconically. ** And you thought to take them from a train coe by the soldiers of t e great father? 6 what you have got by it. Where is Cochise? He was with you, and there were Cheyennes among the dead.” An expression of anger flitted across Red Lightniny’s face. “The **Cochise is great in talk, but he flees when there is work to be done. Had the Apaches a Colonel Davis looked earnestly at the Indian. A — thought came into his head as he sked: * And the Cheyennes, what did they?’ was dead. Keche-ah-que-kono fell by the lance of the Black Spirit that rose among the rocks. They feared the Spirits of the Sierra, and shrunk from the contest. Was Keche-ah-que-kono the Cheyenne chiet ?” asked Colonel Davis, in a tone of interest. ‘See here, Red Lightning, you know now who the Black Spirit, as you call him, was, and you re- member when the captain shot his wife and pry rig xe is on the way to the hunting grounds of and did the deed of a coyote. He bit the han that bad fed him. No Comanche ever did that.” ‘Tell me, then,” said the colonel, anxiously, ‘do you know what became of the girl?” lived with them for two years,” said the chief. ane she escaped, along with the Black Fa- er. “The Black Father! who was he?” “The Black Father who spoke big words from the Great Spirit. He came from the East, all alone, and taught the Apaches many won- derful things. stop taking scalps, and Cochise wanted to him, but was 14. because the warriors him. But one night the Black Father wavmilss- had not long to live; yet kis eye was as bright ' low and husky, was perfectly steady, and he an- | I shallsoon see Evy now, but it will | 0 enema mentee tee sineahiisinneseaiensiiemnenetinis be emcee cbt ope me siete a A 2 eee een ing, and with him went the little white flower. No man has ever seen them since.” While the colonel was musing in silence over his stran ‘** Black Father,” that the chief spoke of (prob- ably some Roman Catholic missionary from the —— | description), the sound of a rifle-shot echood aughters, but the other was as yet missing. | His only clew to her whereabouts was the state- | explore the glen where the wonderful Spirit of | the Sierra had been first seen, and little Yakop | coveries, and listening attentively for the rifle- | from the gorge in the Sierra above them. With an instinctive start, the old colonel turned to look up. There was the tremendous gap illuminated by a flood of early sunlight, which made a glitter- ing rainbow of the watertall at the end, and shone upon the group of four figures clustered above it. The four searchers were at the foot of the fall, and simultaneously with the rifle-shot, out on the stunted tree in .he midst of the preci- pice ene the light, fairy-like figure of CHAPTER XXXII. THE MYSTERY SOLVED. GUSTAVE BELCOUR was the first to reach the waterfall at the mouth of the haunted glen, and it was he that discharged the rifle-shot which announced their arrival to the camp below, The next to follow was Carl Brinkerh« ff, and little Yakop came bustling pet the horse’s feet and halted at the edge of the waterfall, whining, as if he wanted to go over but dared not. The four comrades (for Somers and Buford | were close bebind) looked doubtfully at the them | sheer walls wok ely te before them, and Brink- erhoff observed: ‘Himmel! How ve ever leedle kal must be vonderfu hier.” At that very moment Beleour uttered an ex- clamation of satisfaction and delight, for the figure of Ahsata made its appearance in full ets up dere? Dis leedle kal to life | sight, and, for the first time, the four comraces The great father trust- | ed you asachief of your tribe, and you have | | mured pone salutation, and addressed Ahsata, say- } | ai ‘The Cheyennes were no use, for their chief I alone had the heart | big enough to meet him, and I shot him down.” | had not expected such an easy conquest of the | fathers, and the white medicine-men can- | | had a full view of that wondrous beauty, which they had hitherto only seen by glimpses at a distance. Not a word was uttered as they stood gazing spellbound at her; and then, all of a sudden, the girl came flying toward them, graceful and e arless, a hundred feet at each swing, till she stood on the pointed rock above the waterfall and looked down in silence on them. Then the spell was broken, the mystery re vealed. Slight and almost invisible as were the sus- pending cords, they could yet trace them like spiders’ threads, and understood it in a mo. ment. **Der flying trapeze,” muttered Carl, who was an old “turner.” “Why did I never think of it before?’ mur- elcour. Then be raised his hat ina f Mademoiselle, whoever you are, believe me, it is not bag Dream curiosity that has drawn us here, esterday I wes overpowered and stunned by Indians in this pass, and, when I came to, the young lady who had been with me was gone. Tell us, mademoiselle, did the In- ians carry her off, or bave you rescued ber?” The girl stood looking earnestly at him, all this while. When he had finished, she answer- paches are howling coyotes,” he said. | ed, in a sweet, clear voice: “She is here. What would you with ber?” ‘*Her father, Colonel Davis, arrived in time seconded us, I should not be here now at your |, to rescue her sister, last night,” said Belcour. ‘He is very anxious to see his daughter if you will permit it, mademoiselle.” Ahsata seemed to hesitate a moment. Then she said: **Can you follow me by the road I came, sir?” “T think so, mademoiselle.” “Then lay down your arms, leave your com- panions and come to me.” Belcour was off his horse in a trice, and de livered over his weapons to his comrades. shy creature. Re threw down to him the end of a rope, by which he ascended to the rock on which she stood, and she addressed him in a cold, busi- ness-like tone: daughter, for your band visited us the day be- _“‘Swing over to ser tree,” she said; “and fore. Tell me what became of the child, and I then throw me back the rope.” give you your liberty.” | Belcour was a pretty fai muast, but he Red Lightning looked at the otber. hesitated a moment to take the leap over sucha “It is too late, white chief,” he said. ‘Red | frightfulchasm. Ahsata laughed. "Give me the rope,” she said. “T will first.” ud not stop him. Keche-ah-que-kono was a dog; In a moment she was swinging over the gidd v | oid, and in another, back came the rope full swing. Belcour, ashamed of himself, caught it and followed her. All that the feat required was “Keche sold her to the Apaches, and she | boldness, and he lighted on the tree beside the girl in safety. She smiled encouragingly and al ty: gingly rved: ‘¢-You do well for the first time. I remember when I was afraid. But now we must take the second swing. Hang the stone over that branch and then come on.” He obeyed her in silence and the recond great pice But he told Cochise that he must | swing took him to the midst of the prec kill | where the girl had ey left the ‘Of the cleB, : tion stood at the entran te back fle rope. story, and trying to identify this- . .
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In two minutes more he stood by her side at the entrance of the crater of the extinct volcano, and beheld Blanche Davis and father Clement advancing to meet them. CHAPTER XXXIII. CONCLUSION, A MOURNFUL group was gathered at sunset around the tent which held the couch of the wounded Beckford. The sides of the tent were looped up to admit the cool breeze, and the in- jured man was prone up with pillows. ajor Colonel Davis orris, and one or two eray-headed officers, all old comrades of the poor captain, were clustered about him, with sad faces, while the colonel’s daughters su orted him on either side, weeping unrestrained- ly. At the foot of the bed stood Father Clement and Ahsata, The girl seemed to be medigney & moved, as she gazed at the dying officer, and he, on his part, was looking back at her with eager intensity while Father Clement spoke: “Tcan not say for a certainty, sir, who she is. Thatshe comes of white parents you can see for yourself, but the Apache chief, Cochise, owned her for a slave at the time that the sn- perior of our order sent me on a mission to the tribe ruled over by that chief. I noticed the poor child in her lonely degradation, beaten, abused and overworked, and tried my utmost to better her condition. I had some success with the warriors of the tribe, but Cochise him- self remained stolid and fierce as ever, and finally my life was threatened by him unless I left the tribe. Now, you know that a mission- ary is bound to suffer martyrdom if necessary, if thereby he can save asoul; but, alas, gentle- men, I could not say for certain that a single warrior of that stubborn tribe had been fuily converted. The cnly creature who had listen- ed to me with clear understanding was this cap- tive child, and her I felt bound to save if I could. I fled in the night with her, and sought refuge in the mountains, where we have now lived for nearly twelve years in peace. “Tt had been my fortune in my youth to become a skillful gymnast, and I put the lessons I had learned in gy now, and taught them to my pupil. Like Alexander Selkirk, long 0, vigorous health and constant practice en- abled me to run down the wild goat of the mountain, when the powder and lead I had brought away from the Apache camp failed us. Making ropes of the sinews of animals, I suc- ceeded in swinging over chasms that otherwise no human being could have faced. It was well for us that I mads those ropes, for their use finally enabled us to reach an otherwise inac- cessible retreat, where the Apaches could not ursue us. They hunted us very closely at rst, but God gave us strength to keep out of their way, and the mystery of our final de- parture aroused their superstition. I took ad- vantage of this by frequently appearing at night, and swinging along the face of the oe cipice with a pine torch fixed in my cap. y pupil and I put on our present garb, partly for convenience of climbing, partly to increase the mystery. She has become far more active than I was in my best days, as much at home among the rocks as the Ahsata 1 have named her after. epee b since the white people have visited the valley, we have staid in our own retreat to avoid notice, living on the milk of our little flock, which we increase from time to time by capturing kids. If it had not been for the Indians chasing yonder young lady to our very doors, you would never have seen us; but we could not stand by and see her murdered. So we took advantage once more of the Indian superstition, ees them away, and carried off. the young ady with some difficulty, for I had to carry her in my arms on the grea patho. 9 But now I suppose our retreat is discovered, and we shall have no more peace till we return to civilization.” “ Certainly not,” anid Colonel Davis. ‘“‘ You have done me too much service to be allowed to rusticate there any longer; and as for this young lady, if what Red Lightning tells me, be true. Beokterd, you are right in your conjecture. I see it in both your eyes The Cheyenne dog who stole your daughter sold her to the Apaches, and beyond a doubt the little white captive who escaped to the mountains, and became known as the Spirit of the Sierra, is none other than—” “Evelyn Beckford! My own lost little Evy!” cried Beckford, half rising from bis couch. The girl started as she heard the name, and seemed to be struggling to remember some- Fro calls me Evy?” she murmured, faintly. Then, suddenly, old Cato leaped 3 from where he had been crouched at the bead of the bed, unseen, and yelled out: * Miss Evy! iss Evy! Don’t ye know ole Cato, what used to carry i bout when you was little pickanninny? Oh! bress de Lord, marse cappen, for you ain’t crazy no mo’, and we'se foun’ little Miss Evy ’t lest! Beckford did not die, reader. Joy saved him, even with a shattered -bone, the most dan- getous of all wamnds. But bis recovery was The Rock | ids z: ! very slow, and the assiduous attentions of Bel ! cour, who was a physician among his other ac- complishments, went far toward saving him. But he recovered and became rational again, retiring from the army, and living in New York with bis son-in-law, in peace and quiet. Who that son-in-law was is easily told, The mutual admiration that sprung up in the bosoms of Belcour and Evelyn Beckford, when they first met in the haunted gorge, bore its fruit in due time, in a wedding. mers and Buford are still bachelors, farming in California, but honest Car] Brinkerhoff has settled down asa practicing architect in New York, and has married Clara Davis. Little Yakop is grown fat and lazy now, and sneaks under the sofa when you ask him to perform any of his tricks; but, as old Cato remarks: ‘* Ef it hadn’t’a’ been fur dat ar’ dog, Marse Brinkerhoff wouldn’t nebber have got off wid him wife so easy, and Marse Billycur wouldn’t nebber have found out de way to get ’nudder fur heself, fur ef Miss Blanshy Davis hadn’t ; been dar, Miss Evy wouldn’t nebber have'tome | down out of dat ar’ hole in de rocks whar dem | ignorant red niggers of Injuns used to, call her not’ing but de Sprair OF DE SIERRA.” THE END. . * , . The Half-Dime Singer's Library. | 1 Waoa, Exma! and 59 other Songs. 2 Captain Curr and 57 other Songs. 8 Tue Gatnszoro’ Har and 62 other Songs. 4 Jomnyy Morcan and 60 other Songs. | 5 Tu, Strme You Wirn a Featruer and 62 other Songs. | } | } 6 Grorer THE CHARMER and 56 other Songs. 7 Toe BELLE or Rockaway and 52 other Songs. 8 Youne Feiian, You're Too Fresx and 60 other Songs. 9 Say Youne Grex and 65 other Songs. 10 I'm THE GOVERNOR’s ONLY Son and 58 other Songs. 11 My Fan and 65 other Songs. 12 Comin’ THro’ THE Rye and 55 other Songs. 13 Tae Roiiickine IRIsHMAN and 59 other Songs. 14 Otp Doe Tray and 62 other Songs. 15 Waoa, CHARLIE and 59 other Songs. 16 In ters WHeEat By And By and 62 other Songs. 17 Nancy Lx and 58 other Songs. 18 I'm _ Boy THAT's Bound To Biaze and 57 other ngs. 19 Toe Two OrpHans and 59 other Songs. 20 WHat are THE Witp Waves Sayine, Sister? and 59 other Songs. 21 InpiGNanr Potty Woe and 59 other Songs. / 22 Tux Op Arm-CHare and 58 other Songs. 23 On Coney Istanp Beacu and 58 other Songs. / 24 OLD Simon, THE Hot-Corn Man and 60 others. 2% I'm ov Love and 56 other Songs. 25 PARADE OF THE GuaRpDs and 56 other Songs. 27 Yo, Heave, Ho! and 60 other Songs. % 'Twitu Never po To GipiTr up So and 60 other / Songs. / 2? 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By John Milton ........ . 10e. 4 Tae Lapy or tor Lake, Sir Walter Scott 10c. 5 Lucite. By Owen Meredith . 10c. 6 Unprixz on, THE Warer-Sprarr. From the German of I'riederich De La Motte Fouque... 10c, For sale by all newsdealers, or sent. postage paid, | on receipt of twelve cents for single mwubere double numbeg twanvy-four cent ! ADAMS, VIOTOR & 0O., Publishers, | ee % William street, N. Y. | the choicest oratory of the times. | @ | the unlearned. | found in the market. 19 BEADLE & ADAMS’ STANDARD DIME PUBLICATIONS. Speakers. Beap.ix and ApamMs have now on thefr lista the {::'- lowing highly desirable and attractive text-boo'., prepared ressly for schools, families, ete. Ea: ': volume contains 100 large pe ee from cle: °, open type, comprisin, e collection of 1b logues and Hoci tations, (burlesque, cor) : and otherwise.) The Dime Speakers for the sea’: of 1830—as far as now issued—embrace twenty-th«< volumes, viz.: 1. American Speaker. 18. School Speaker. 2. 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82 Large Three-Column Pages. 1.A Hard Crowd; or, GENTLEMAN Sam’s Sister, By Philip S. Warne. 2. The Dare-Devil; or, THz WinGED Wiren oF THE Ses, By Col. Prentiss Ingraham. 8. Kit Carson, Jr., Tur Crack Suor or tex WEsT. jor ai Sam. 4. The idnapper; or, THe GREAT SHANGHAI OF THE NortHwest. By Philip S. Warne. &. The Fire-Fiends; or, HERCULES, THE Honcupack, By A. P. Morris. 6. Wildcat Bob, Tur Boss Brourser ; or, THE Borprr BLoopHounps. By Ed. L. Wheeler. . Death-Notch, Thx Destroyer; oR, Tae Sprrir Lake Avencers. By Oll Coomes, 8. The Headless Horseman. A strange atory of Texas. By Capt. Mayne Reid. 9 Handy Andy. By Samuel Lover. 10. Vidocq, THz Franca Poxtcs Spy. Written by himself. 11. Midshipman Easy. ryat. 12. The Peath-Shot; or, TRackED TO Daata. By Capt. Mayne Reid. 13. Pathaway; on, Nick WHIFFLes, THE Oup Trapper or tap Nortuwest. By Robinson. 14. Thayendanegea, THe Scourcr; or, Tae War-EaGte or THE Monawks. Ned Buntline. 15. The Tiger-Slayer; or, EaG.ez- ‘leap To THE Rescur. By Gustave Aimard. 16. The White Wizard; or, THe Great ’ROPHET OF THE SEMINOLES. By Ned Buntline. 17. Nightshade, Trr Rosser Prince o# Hounstow Hrata. By Dr. J. H. Robinson. 18. The Sea Bandit; on, Tux Queen ov THs Istx. By Ned Buntline. 19. Red Cedar, Tur Pramim OuTLaw. by Gustave Aimarc. 20. The Bandit at Bay; or, Tr Pr- RATES OF THE Prarrics. By Gustave Aimard, 21. The Trapper’s Daughter; or, Tas Ovtiaw's Fare. By Gustave Aimard, 22. Whitelav7: oR, Narris ov THE Lake éaore. By Dr. J. H. Robinson. 23. The Red Warrior; or, STELLA OmLorME’s ComANCHE Lover. By Ned Buntline, 24. Prairie Flower. By Gustave Ai- mard, author of “ Tiger-Slayer,”’ etc. 25. The Gold-Guide; or, Stexn Aru, vas Reouuator. By Francis Johnson. 26. The Death-Track; or, THe Ovt- LAws oF THE Mountain. By Francis Johnson. 27. The Spotter-Detective: or, THE Grats or New Yorx. By Albert W. Aiken. 28. Three-Fingered Jack, Tu Roap- AGENT oF THE Rockies. By Joseph E. Badger, Jr. 29. Tiger Dick, Toe Faro Kino; or, Tus Casnier’s Crime. By Philip 8. Warne. 80. Gospel George: or, Fiery Frep, Suz Ovttaw. By Joseph E. Badger, Jr. 81. The New York ‘Sharp ;’ or, Tae fuasH or Licatrninc, By Albert W. Aiken. 32. B’hoys of Yale; or, Tar Scrarrs ow A Harp Ser or Coituecians. By John D. Vose. 83. Overland Kit. By A. W. Aiken. 34. Rocky Mountain Rob. By Aiken. 85. Kentuck, the Sport. By Aiken. 86. Injun Dick. By Albert W. Aiken. 87. Hirl, the Hunchback; or, THE SWORDMAKER OF THE SANTEE. By Dr. J.H. Robinson. | 388. Velvet Hand; or, Tux [zon Grip or | fxsun Dick. By Albert W. Aiken. 39. The Russian Spy; or, Tat Brotu- ws or THE STARRY Cross. By Frederick Whittaker. 40. The Long Haired ‘ Pards;’ or, ‘Tus TaRTARS OF THE PLains. By Jos, E. Badger, Jr. 41. Gold Dan; or, THz Wuitr SAvaGE or THs Great Sarr Lake. By Albert W. Aiken. | 42. The California Detective; on, ‘Swa Wrrcenes or New York. By Albert W. Aiken. 43. Dakota Dan, Tue RecKiess RAnGeR; | By Capt. Mar- _ of, Das Bae-Howrers’ Excursion. By Oll Coomes. | 44. Old Dan Rackback, Tur Great ExtaRMINATOR. By Oll Coomes. 45. Old Bull’s Eye, Tue LIGHTNING Suor or THE Piamns. By Joseph E. Badger, Jr. 46. Bowie-Knife Ben, THe LITTLE Hunter or THE Nor’-west. By Oll Coomes. 4'.. Pacific Pete, THE Princk oF THE Revo.tver. By Jos, E. Badger, Jr. 48. Idaho Tom, THE Youna OvTLAW or SILVERLAND. By Oll Coomes, 49. The Wolf Demon; or, THE QUEEN oF THe KanawHa. By Albert W. Aiken. 50. Jack Rabbit, Taz Pramm Sport; By Jos. E. Badger, Jr. 51. Red Rob, Taz Bor RoaD-AGENT. | Gurca; or, By Oll Coomes. 52. Death Trailer, THe Cnrer oF Scoors. By Hon, Wm. F. Cody, (Buffalo Bill.) 63. Silver Sam; or, THE MystERry oF Deaiwoop City. By Col. Delle Sara. 54. Always on Hand; or, Tat SporTIvE Sporr or THe Foor Has. By Philip 8. Warne 55. The Scalp Hunters. A RoMANcE or THe Piatins, By Capt. Mayne Reid. 56. The Indian wa pe ot or, THE Map Man or THe Piams. By rt W. Aiken. 57. The Silent Hunter ; or, Taz Scow. Haut Mysrery. By Percy B. St. Jonh. 58. Silver Knife; or, WICKLIFFE, THE Rocky Mountain Ranaer. By Dr. J. H. Robinson. 59. The Man From Texas; or, THE OvutrLaw or Arkansas, By Albert W. Aiken. 60. Wide Awake; or, Tue IpIoT oF vor Buack Hits, By Frank Dumont, 61. Captain Seawaif, THz PRIVATEER. By Ned Buntline, 62. Loyal Heart; or, THz TRAPPERS OF Arkansas, By Gustave Aimard. 63. The Winged Whale. By Aiken. 64. Double-Sight, the Death Shot. By Joseph E. Badger, Jr. 65. The Red Rajah; or, THz Scource or THE InprEs. By Captain Frederick Whittaker, 66. The Specter Barque. A TALE or THE Pacipic. By Captain Mayne Reid. 67. The Boy Jockey; or, Honesty versus CrookepNgess. By Joseph E. Badger, Jr 68. The Fighting Trapper; or, Kir CARSON TO THE Rescue. By Capt. J. F. C. Adams, 69. The Irish Captain; A TALE oF Fonrenoy. By Captain Frederick Whittaker. 70. Hydrabad, Tue STRANGLER: or, ALETHE, THE CHILD oF THE CorD. By Robinson. 71. Captain Cool-Blade, or, THz Man SHARK oF THE Mississiprt. By Jos. E. Badger, Jr. 72. The Phantom Hand. A Srory or New York Heartus AnD Homms. By A. W. Aiken. 73. The Knight of the Red Cross; or, THe Macicran or Granapa. Dr, J, H. Robinson. 74. Captain ofthe Rifles. A RoMANcE o¥ THE Mexican VALLEY. By Captain Mayne Reid. 75. Gentleman George, or, PARLOR, Prison, STAGE AND By Albert W. Aiken. 76. The Queeu’s Musketeer; or, TaissE, THE Princess PaLmist. By George Albony. 77. The Fresh of Frisco; or, Tne Heiress of BUENAVENTURA. By Albert W. Aiken. 78. The Mysterious Spy; or, GoLpDEN Fearurr, THE BuCCANEER’s DAvcuter, By Grainger. 79. Joe Phenix, THe Pouice Spy. By Albert W. Aiken. 80. A Man of Nerve; or, Calman, tar Dwarr. By Philip 8. Warne. 81. The Human Tiger; or, A Heart or Wau By Albert W. Aiken. Kach Number Complete. | | | * oo ee Price 10 cts. 82. Iron Wrist, the Swordmaster. By Col. Thomas H. Monstery. 83. Gold Bullet Sport; or, tar KnieutTs oY THE OVEBLAND. By Buffalo Bill 84. Hunted Down; or, Tax Warm Wiren. By Albert W. Aiken, 85. The Cretan Rover; or, ZULEmAR THe Reavutirou. By Col Prentiss Ingraham. 86. The Big Hunter; or, THE QuEES or TH¥ Woops. By the author of “Silent Hunter,” 87. The Scarlet Captain; or, TH Prisoner oF TH“ TowER. By Col. Delle Sara. THe GIANT OF TH 88. Big George, HE Five OvutLaw Broturrs. By Badger, 89. The Pirate Prince; or, PREetTy NeEwiy, Toe QuEgN os THEIsLE. By Vol. Ingraham. 90, Wild Will, Tnz Map RancueEroa, or, Tag TerRm_e Texan. By Buckskin Sam. 91. The Winning Oar; or, Tne Inn KEEPER's DavcuTe:, By Albert W. Aiken. 92. Buffalo Bill, Tux Bucksxmy Kxno; By Major Dangerfield Burr. 93. Cnptats Dick Talbot, Kiva THE Roap. By Albert W. Aiken. 94, Freelance, Tor Buccs¥rrer; or, Th. Warr or tHE Wave. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham. 95. Azhort, THe Axman: or, I'nk SECRET or THE DucAL Patace. By Anthony P. Morris, 96. Double-Death; or, Tax Spy QurEy or Wyorra. By Capt. Frederick Whittaker. 97. Bronze Jack, Tur Ca.irorar THoroveHBRepD. By A. W. Aiken. 98. The Rock Rider; or, Tre Spmy oF THE Siterra, By Capt, Frederick Whittaker, 99. The Giant Rifleman; or, Wup Lire IN THE LumBER Recions. By Oll Coomes, 100. The French Spy; or, Toz Brmy 7. 1b ean A Story of the Commune. By A. P, 0 101, The Man from New York; or, Ph mati or A Rich Youne Woman. By Alber’ : en, 102, The Masked Band; or, Tax Man Wrrnovur a Name. By George L. Aiken. 103. Merle, the Mutineer; or, Tur BRAND oF THE RED Ancnuor. By Col. P. Ingraham, 104, Montezuma, the Merciless; or, Tae EaGux AND THE Serpent. By Col. P. Ingraham. 105. Dan Brown of Denver, THE Rocky Mountratw Detective. By Jos. E. Badger, Jr. 106. Shamus O’Brien, Tur Bou.tp Bor or Gure@aL; or, Irtseh Hearts anp Irish Homes By Colonel Delle Sara. 107. Richard Talbot of Cinnabar; or, THE BroTHERS OF THE Rep Hanp, By Albert W, Aiken. 108. The Duke of Diamonds; or, Tam Frower or Carcutta. By Capt. Fred, Whittaker, 109. Captain Kidd, Kine or tHe Brace Fiac. By Colonel Prentiss Ingraham. Nov, *th. 110. The Silent Rifleman. A Tale of the Texan Plains. By Henry W. Herbert. Dec. 1st, 111. The Smuggler Captain; or, Tar Sxreper’s Crvisx, By Ned Buntline. December 8th, 112. Joe Phenix, Prrvarz DerectivE; or, THe LEAGUE OF THE SKELETON Krys. B Albert W. Aiken. Ready December 15th. oj 113. The Sea Slippers or, THR Ama- TeUR FrRresoorers. By Prof. J. H. Ingraham. Ready December A new issue every week, Beadle’s Dime Library is for sale by all Newsdealers, ten cents per copy, or sent by mail on receipt of twelve cents each. BEADLE & ADAMS, Publishers. 98 William Street. New York,