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diff --git a/old/65528-0.txt b/old/65528-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d2b82bd..0000000 --- a/old/65528-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4978 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Island Trapper, by Capt. Chas. Howard - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Island Trapper - or The Young White-Buffalo Hunters - -Author: Capt. Chas. Howard - -Release Date: June 6, 2021 [eBook #65528] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: David Edwards, Susan Carr and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Northern Illinois - University Digital Library at http://digital.lib.niu.edu/) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ISLAND TRAPPER *** - - - - - THE ISLAND TRAPPER; - - OR, - - THE YOUNG WHITE-BUFFALO HUNTERS. - - BY CAPT. CHAS. HOWARD, - - _Author of the following Pocket Novels_: - - 5. THE ELK KING. 50. THE WOLF QUEEN. - 52. THE MAD CHIEF. - - NEW YORK: - BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS, - 98 WILLIAM STREET. - - - - - Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by - FRANK STARR & CO., - In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington - - - - - CONTENTS - - PAGE - I. THE YOUNG ADVENTURERS. 9 - II. THE GOLD GIRL. 17 - III. THE VENGEANCE-HUNTER. 23 - IV. CHARLEY SHAFER’S RIDE. 31 - V. RIFLE, FIRE AND LASSO. 37 - VI. WHITE LASSO’S CAPTURE. 45 - VII. TREASON. 51 - VIII. AN UNEXPECTED ACCUSATION. 58 - IX. “YOU’VE GOT MY HORSE.”. 65 - X. SHOT BY HIS OWN RIFLE. 72 - XI. A VOICE IN THE NIGHT. 79 - XII. THE BLOW FOR FREEDOM. 85 - XIII. THE SWOOP OF THE AVENGER. 89 - XIV. TECUMSEH’S VICTORY. 93 - - - - - FRONTIER SHACK, - - THE ISLAND TRAPPER. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - THE YOUNG ADVENTURERS. - - -“Whoa!” - -The Command was spoken in a low tone to a majestic iron-gray horse. - -Instantly the fore-feet were plunged into the loose earth, and the -animal became as stationary as a bronze statue. - -“Dash me! if I didn’t hear music. Tecumseh, ye heard it, too, for I -saw ye prick yer ears before I told ye to stop. Where is the white -man who has the audacity to be musical in the Pawnee country? Dash -me! I’d like to see him; I’d like to take ’im back to the States -and present ’im to Mr. Barnum. Listen! there it goes again. Music, -certain, no mistake, and it sounds like that which I’ve heard on -Broadway, comin’ from the dirty hand-organs.” - -With a smile on his broad, handsome countenance, the speaker leaned -forward in the wooden stirrups, with a half-doubled band behind his -left ear. - -“He’s struck up a new tune, and dash me if it isn’t ‘Hail Columbia.’ -I’m gettin’ uncommon curious, settin’ here on Tecumseh, and list’nin’ -to the first genuine music I’ve heard for five years, and dash me -if--Injun yells, by Joshua!” - -The iron-gray heard the new sounds, which seemed to emanate from the -same spot as the mysterious music, and turned his head to his master, -as if to ask what they meant. A furious light flashed from his dark -eyes, and a low neigh told how eager he was to court excitement. - -“Steady, Tecumseh, steady!” whispered the frontiersman “The Injun -yells come from the same spot as the music; but still, ‘Hail -Columbia’ remains unbroken. I can’t stand it any longer. Dash me if I -ain’t goin’ to inquire into that music. The old song goes all over me -like an electric arrow, and I b’lieve it affects my old horse. Now, -Tecumseh, for’ard!” - -With the last word the horseman settled back into the saddle, and the -steed bounded off like a frightened stag. - -Down the right bank of the Pawnee Loup the twain flew, through the -soft gloaming of that delightful May day, 1815. - -The horse and his rider were well mated. Both possessed courage, -strength and true nobleness of character, the brute none less than -his master. - -The occupant of the blanketed saddle was a medium-sized man, -about forty years of age. His hair, and he had an ocean of it, -was an iron-gray, and shone like silver. The face was smooth, -somewhat cadaverous, but healthy; and the brownish eyes, nestling -between long, dark lashes, were indicative alike of gentleness and -determination. He wore the often-described habiliments of the Western -hunter, and in addition to the long-barreled rifle that lay across -the pommel of his saddle, supported in its position by a great hand, -the only ill-proportioned member of the body, a brace of Colt’s large -revolvers protruded from his buck-skin belt. - -“Tecumseh, if ye see danger afore Shack does, stop,” he said, as they -neared the mouth of the Nebraska’s tributary. “We’re gettin’ close to -the place now. I hevn’t heard the red devils for some time; but the -music keeps up mighty well. He’s got out a new tune now--a tune which -the lame old Italian used to grind out before the ‘Arcade’--a tune -which nobody in creation could tell the name of. Wonder if that old -chap hesn’t come out here to amuse the Pawnee Loups? If he hes--” - -The sentence was broken by Tecumseh’s abrupt halt, and the -frontiersman spoke a few words which effectually quieted the steed’s -nervousness. - -“It’s jest over the rise, thar, on the Oregon trail,” muttered -Frontier Shack, glancing at his revolvers and lifting the deadly -rifle from the saddle. “The Injuns hev played smash with another lot -of poor emigrants. ’Twas but yesterday that they butchered everybody -in Davidson’s train, and now they’ve made new rivers of blood! Dash -me if these things don’t rile me; they run through my marrow like -fiery arrows, and if the Gov’ment would appoint Ote Shackelford -Injun agent, the Oregon trail would soon be as safe as Broadway. But -for’ard, Tecumseh, slowly, slowly, horse.” - -The faithful steed now walked cautiously toward a knoll well defined -against the darkening horizon, and when the summit had almost been -gained, a word from his master caused him to pause. - -“I’ll be back presently, horse,” he said, in low tones, as he -dismounted and crept forward. - -His ears were saluted by coarse but not unpleasant music, as he -executed the movement, and he knew that it emanated from a hand-organ -not far from the opposite foot of the knoll, and between him and the -Nebraska or Platte. The night was still, and the stars were beginning -to appear in the boundless firmament above the treeless river. A -light breeze blew from the water, and wafted the strains toward the -northern lodges of the Pawnees, between which and the river they had -encountered the frontiersman. - -Frontier Shack reached the summit of the hillock, and peered over -toward the stream. - -“Well, this beats any thing _I’ve_ seen since I’ve been in the West!” -he ejaculated, a moment later. “That’s what I call pursuin’ music -under difficulties. That young chap handles the crank well, but he’s -almost played out, and his friend can’t dance much longer. Dash me if -I didn’t get here in the nick of time; there’s goin’ to be some new -tunes played now--new tunes, by Joshua!” - -A moment later the scout rose and walked back to his untethered -and impatient horse, and while he is examining the priming of his -weapons, let us introduce the reader to the scene near the base of -the hillock. - -Seated about a fire lately kindled, more for light than heat, for -the air was not uncomfortable, though sharp, were perhaps fifteen -Indians--Pawnee Loups. Their arms lay at their sides, and proclaimed -that they were not dreaming of the presence of an enemy. Fresh scalps -dangled from the belts of the younger warriors, and a close observer -would have detected blood on their hatchets and bows. - -The scalps, the blood and their prisoners told, in silent but -unmistakable language, the fate of an emigrant train. - -The marauders’ captives were two youths, neither beyond seventeen, -fair-skinned and handsome, and bore a striking resemblance to one -another. - -Their garments were of the latest cut in the States, but quite -serviceable for the wilds of the West. They also proclaimed that -they were not the sons of ordinary emigrants, who, unable to thrive -among the populous lands of the East, were seeking homes, Boone-like, -beyond the verge of civilization. Their faces betokened intelligence, -and a bravery suited to the land and times they were in. - -One stood near the fire, turning, with a strange desperation, the -crank of a new hand-organ, such as the beggarly sons of Italy grind -on the streets of our metropolis to-day. Long playing had almost -exhausted him, his cheeks were flushed with fever, his breathing -came by gasps, and great blue veins stood forth on his hands and -forehead like whip-cords. He partially leaned against the organ for -support, and his eyes were upturned to a great red star that seemed -to pity him from the heavens. His companion was dancing for dear life -near by, ready to sink to the ground, and die beneath the reeking -tomahawks of the savages, who grinned and congratulated each other on -the tortures they were inflicting on the American boys. - -The youths were playing and dancing for dear life. Whenever one -relinquished the accursed crank for a moment, to catch his breath, -the leader of the band, a gaunt savage, would start forward with -drawn tomahawk, and eyes glaring with the most brutal of murders. The -other was not allowed to pause in his forced dance, and more than -once the Indian above-mentioned had thrown new but transitory life -into his tired limbs. - -“They will have to tomahawk me ere long,” at last groaned the youth -at the organ. “Nature is almost exhausted; my arm feels like a bar -of lead, and my blood is on fire. Oh! heaven, why did I allow my -adventurous spirit to lead me into the jaws of death? The sweetest -of all homes had I, the best of fathers, sisters--and a mother--in -heaven! Yes, mother! mother! I have journeyed here to meet thee. I -can hold out no longer--there! God help me now!” - -With the last words he pushed the instrument from him, and staggered -back with a groan of despair. - -The Indians leaped to their feet, and, with a wild yell, the gaunt -taskmaster bounded forward with upraised tomahawk. - -The youth could not resist; he sunk to the ground and looked calmly -at his would-be slayer. But a form threw itself between him and the -Indian. It was the form of his young companion. - -“Charley, we’ll die together,” said the youngest boy, through -compressed lips. “They shan’t kill you, and leave me. I persuaded you -to undertake this death-journey--” - -“No, no, George. The blame is mine! Heaven! the fiend is upon us.” - -The boys saw the fiendish face and gory tomahawk of the Pawnee above -them, and George threw himself upon the prostrate body of his friend. - -The savage shot an expressive “ugh” from his lips, and stooped to -tear the twain apart, for it was evident that one was to be spared, -when the sharp crack of a rifle rung out on the cool night air, and -the Pawnee staggered from his victims with a death-cry. - -The shot started the Indians into fiery life, and, quickly following -the report, a wild yell saluted their ears. - -“Scatter ’em, Tecumseh!” cried the hoarse voice of a man. “We’ll give -the Pawnee dogs thunder to-night. Cl’ar the way, ye red devils! I’m -right among ye--Frontier Shack!--and ye’ve see’d me afore.” - -Down the hill, like a dusky thunderbolt, came the speaker. He stood -erect in the stirrups, a revolver in either hand, the reins lying -across Tecumseh’s neck. He looked like a demon of destruction in the -light of the fire, and he added new and terrible life to the scene on -the banks of the Platte. - -“Trample the dogs down, horse!” he yelled, and as he reached the -foot of the hill, bang, bang, bang, went the chambers of his deadly -weapons. - -Not a bullet was thrown away; with each report an Indian fell -backward, and before the white, death-dealing whirlwind they -scattered and fled, every man for himself, toward the river. - -The horse was in his glory; he overtook several of the red fugitives, -and knocked two beneath his iron-shod feet, never to rise again. - -Bang! bang! and two more dropped dead at the water’s edge; another -shot, the last, and the Nebraska was crimsoned with the blood of a -third. - -“We’ve roasted ’em, Tecumseh,” said the hunter, as the steed paused -in the water to slake his burning thirst. “They can’t stand afore ye, -horse, they can’t do it, by Joshua! Now we’ll go back and look for -the boys.” - -A moment later Frontier Shack was galloping back to the fire. - -He found Charley Shafer on his knees, supported by his stronger -friend, George Long. - -Frontier Shack dismounted and knelt before the twain. - -“As weak as kittens, almost,” he said, in a kindly tone; “and dash -me, if I didn’t reach these diggin’s in the nick o’ time. Them devils -might hev’ known that ye couldn’t play and dance forever; but ye’ll -live to pay ’em back!” - -“I hope so, sir,” said George, his eyes lighting up with vengeance. -“Don’t you want to pay the dogs back, Charley?” - -“Yes,” was the feeble answer. “Every dog has his day, George.” - -“How came ye hare?” suddenly broke in the frontiersman. “Ye came out -with a train, I suppose.” - -“Yes; we were attacked this day about noon. It was a terrible -massacre.” - -“Who led the Pawnees?--for Pawnees, of course, the red dogs were.” - -“A white man--the ‘Dandy Demon of the Plains,’ I should call him.” - -Frontier Shack gritted his teeth. - -“We’ll talk about that scoundrel--Tom Kyle--some other time,” he -said. “How many escaped the butchery?” - -“Three persons, besides ourselves. They were Mr. Denison, Government -agent, his daughter Mabel, and his niece, Miss Aiken. After the -massacre the band divided; the larger portion went northward with -the three; we fell to the lot of the minority.” - -“Where did that organ come from?” - -“An Italian was crossing the plains with the emigrants, to try his -fortune in the land of gold.” - -“And he’s found it afore he got there,” said the hunter, with a -strange smile. “He’d hev’ done better on Broadway, I think. But, my -boys, ye weren’t emigrants; yer clothes--” - -He paused suddenly, ashamed to proceed. - -“No, we were not emigrants,” answered George Long, glancing at his -companion with a smile, which was followed by a mortifying blush. - -“We are runaways; our parents live in Cincinnati, Ohio, and are well -to do in the world.” - -“Then, why did you leave home and seek this death-land?” asked -Shackelford, the stern part of his nature getting uppermost. - -“I will tell you the truth,” said George, looking him squarely in the -eyes. “We came hither to shoot white buffaloes.” - -For a moment the old hunter stared blankly into the youthful faces -before him, then he rose to his feet and gave a long whistle of -profound wonder and astonishment. - -The boys watched him anxiously. - -For several minutes he look vacantly toward the south, and then a -ludicrous smile overspread his countenance. - -“Who told you about white buffaloes?” he asked, stooping again. - -“No one, sir. We read about them in Gregg’s ‘_Commerce of the -Prairies_.’” - -“And you believed it?” - -“Why--yes!” - -Another long whistle which ended in a laugh. - -“I’ve heard of wild-goose chases afore,” said the hunter; “but this -beats all of ’em. White buffler! Thet Gregg’s ahead o’ me, and I’ve -seen the plains and prairies from the Platte to the Santa Fe. And -I’ve seen buffler, too, boys; but nary a white one. We’ve got white -horses, white foxes, and the like out here;” but, a short pause, -“Gregg _may_ be right. I don’t call any man a liar till he is proven -one.” - -The young hunters took courage at this last remark. - -“I wish you boys war at home in Ohio,” said the frontiersman; “but -ye’re here, and I’m goin’ to take care of ye. We’ll strike Fort -Laramie one o’ these days, and then home ye go! But, we’re in the -jaws of death yet, and mebbe two more Ohio scalps and one Maryland -one, may hang at the Loup’s belt afore the week’s out. We’ll go now; -Tecumseh can carry three, I reckon.” - -“But hold,” cried Charley Shafer. “What will become of those -girls--they’re in a demon’s clutches.” - -“Yer right, boy,” said the scout of the Platte; “but I guess we’ll -let ’em be.” - -“No, no!” cried both boys in a single breath. “They shall not be his.” - -Frontier Shack smiled: - -“Boys, yer the true grit!” he cried, “jest the chaps to hunt white -bufflers. The girls shan’t be Tom Kyle’s long. He can muster three -thousand red wolves. We’ll face him--the terror of the Plains--and -we’ll free his prisoners, or--” - -“Die in the attempt!” - -The old hunter caught the spirit that animated the breasts of the -youths. - -“Yes! yes! I’m growin’ tired of this life,” he said, “and I might as -well die fighting the White Pawnee as trappin’ beaver.” - -The next moment he spoke to Tecumseh, and, despite the load he -carried, the noble horse dashed away like an antelope. - -“I’ll crease two splendid horses for ye, boys,” he said, “and then, -for Tom Kyle’s pris’ners and--white bufflers!” - -The last words were clothed in irony, and they set the two boys to -thinking anxiously. - -They had chased an _ignis fatuus_ over twelve hundred miles of -territory--to die, perhaps, at the Pawnee stake. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - THE GOLD GIRL. - - -While the thrilling scenes recorded above were transpiring on the -banks of the Platte, the fate of two beautiful girls was being -decided not many miles away. - -To this scene we turn, for it is time that one of the most prominent -actors in our wild western drama should appear in the mad, relentless -role he has to play. - -The somber shades of evening were prevailing when two score and six -horsemen entered the great village of the Pawnee Loups, situated -on the head-waters of the Loup fork of Platte. The hardy mustangs -gave forth evidences of fatigue, their flanks reeked with sweat, -and several seemed on the eve of dropping to the earth from utter -exhaustion. - -The mustangs’ riders, with four exceptions, were Indians, great -stalwart fellows, naked to the waist, and painted for the murderous -foray. - -Their leader--let me describe their leader. - -He was a white man, whose tanned countenance denoted a roving, -restless life. His face was faultless to the minutest particular; -his eyes were dark and piercing, like the eagle’s, and an ocean of -long raven locks fell ever his rich crimson serape. His head was -crowned by a black sombrero, whose snow-white plume swept his silken -hair, while his waist was encircled by a crimson scarf, worked with -mythological designs in gold thread. His fingers, as white and -delicately shaped as a woman’s, glittered with gems, set in hoops of -gold--jewels, which were, no doubt, the fruits of a raid upon some -rich New Mexican hacienda. The ornamented butts of two revolvers -showed themselves above the scarf, and at his side hung a short -Spanish sword, whose metallic scabbard, carved with quaint designs, -among them the Departure of Boabdil, proclaimed it a relic of early -Spanish days. - -To complete the fantastic costume of the Pawnees’ king - - “Spanish spurs, with bells of steel, - Dashed and jingled at his heel!” - -He possessed the air and bearing of one born to command; he could -have brought subordination from the most mutinous of Cossack bands, -with the flashings of his eyes; he was, to sum up all in a nutshell, -“half angel and half Lucifer.” - -Such a man, reader, once held the mighty Pawnee nation under his -thumb; they could go and come but at his bidding, he could inaugurate -a massacre with a word, and save a captive with the same. He was -still young, and an American, bred and born. - -He seemed proud of his authority as he galloped at the head of his -braves into the Indian village, and when he drew rein in the square, -if “square” the plot of ground that held the council-house can be -called, he raised his symmetrical body in the stirrups, and flashed -his eyes over the concourse of noisy people below. - -“Conduct the pale-faces to Kenoagla’s lodge!” he cried, suddenly -turning to his followers who sat immobile on the backs of their -exhausted steeds. “The River Wolf and his braves will guard them till -I come.” - -At these commands five Indians left their places, and three steeds -were led from the band. - -To one of these horses a handsome middle-aged white man was bound, -while the other blankets, for the only saddle belonging to the -marauders crowned the Pale Pawnee’s “buck-skin,” were occupied by -two young girls, whose pale, tearful, fearful faces were exceedingly -beautiful, and whose garments indicated wealth, but now, how -strangely out of place! - -“I demand, sir, our release for the last time,” said the gentleman, -looking into the dandy demon’s face, as he was led past by a Pawnee. -“The Government will not brook such an insult to one of her agents.” - -A contemptuous smile curved the white king’s lips, and that -smile grew broader when he glanced at the girls, just before his -mustache-crowned lips parted in speech. - -“_I_ am a _king_ sir!” he answered, proudly flashing the light of -his dark eyes upon the captive gentleman. “A free king, sir, at -that. I rule this country, as far as your eyes can reach, when the -sun has reached the meridian. You see my capital, my subjects, my -thunderbolts. Here, in my stronghold, or out on the plains, at the -head of my red-boys, I defy the Government that sent you hither. I am -an American! I am proud of the name; but I am a king, also. Lead on, -Wolf. I will talk to Uncle Sam’s agent at some future time.” - -“As sure as my name’s Frank Denison, you shall rue this indignity,” -hissed the agent, through clenched teeth. “My Government will not -submit to the hellish deeds of an Apache, the brutality--” - -“Father, do not imitate the fiend!” interrupted the silvery voice of -Mabel Denison. “Fiery words may send the bullet to your brain. We can -curse in secret, and it will avail as much as anathemas poured upon -his head in thunder tones.” - -Frank Denison became silent; but he grated his teeth, and bit his -pale lips as he moved on from the renegade’s sight. - -Kenoagla did not catch all the young girl’s words; but the -appellation bestowed upon him, in her first sentence, fell -indistinctly upon his ears, and he flashed a fearful scowl upon her. - -“My young lady, you’ll rue that, some of these fine days,” he -murmured. “You are completely in _my_ power, and all the gold in -the United States Treasury could not ransom you therefrom. And your -father--if he gets an opportunity to tell the Government about Tom -Kyle, then I’ll give my clothes to Red Eagle, and transform myself -into a squaw!” - -His white teeth met behind the last word, and the next moment he -turned to a young chief that sat near. - -“Ready, Red Eagle?” - -The Pawnee nodded. - -Then the renegade faced his band, and the next moment every steed was -riderless. - -He, however, retained his perch, and made up to Red Eagle, who was -standing on the ground beside his white mustang. - -“Up.” - -Red Eagle vaulted nimbly to his old perch. - -“Follow!” - -The renegade touched the flanks of his “buck-skin” with the heavy -silver spurs, and through the Pawnee village the twain galloped, -toward the river. - -Not a word was spoken by either until they drew rein on the bank of -the western stream. Then the Pale Pawnee spoke a single word, and -they leaped to the ground. - -The night had fairly thrown her vail about the face of nature now, -and the clear water glittered beautifully beneath the stars, as it -pushed its way, with more than one sweet murmur, to the broad bosom -of the Platte. - -“Now we will settle about the captives,” said the renegade, as they -threw themselves upon the rich grass that thrived to the very edge of -the water. “I speak truly, chief, when I say that I don’t care which -falls to my lot. If you have a preference, speak it, and you shall -have my hand on my satisfaction.” - -“The pale flowers are beautiful,” answered the Indian, quickly, -and with a dash of admiration. “The eyes of one are as blue as the -Manitou’s carpet, and her hair shines like the stones which the -pale-faces seek for toward the setting sun. Her sister’s eyes are -like the night; her hair as black as the crow’s wing. Red Eagle could -live with either; but he and the Pale Pawnee will play for them.” - -“I am satisfied. Go, get your sticks, chief, and let me guess as soon -as possible.” - -His tones proclaimed much impatience, and he watched the Indian move -up the stream in the demi-gloom. - -“Playing guess for a wife!” he ejaculated with a smile, when Red -Eagle had passed beyond hearing distance. “I’ve got to humor that -accursed red-skin, too. He’s becoming uncommon popular--too popular -for me! I have more foes in this village than I ever had, and I -find it pretty difficult to rule them. If that chap was out of my -way! He’s doing all the mischief, and doing it so infernal slyly, -too. He’s the best dissimulator this side the Rockies, and I can’t -circumvent him. I know I stand over the crater of a volcano, and the -fire that burns under my feet is his heart--his accursed scheming -heart.” - -“Who Pale Pawnee talking to?” - -Tom Kyle started, and almost sprung to his feet. - -The chief stood before him, his left hand gently clenched. - -“Red Eagle could find no sticks,” he said, smiling at the renegade’s -surprise. “But he has found a black stone and a yellow one. The black -stone is the flower with midnight hair; the yellow stone is her -sister.” - -Then Red Eagle suddenly whirled and dexterously changed the pebbles, -while his face was turned from his white companion. - -“Now!” he cried, facing Kyle again. “Each of Eagle’s hands holds a -stone. Let the Pale Pawnee touch one. If he touches the hand that -holds the yellow stone, the fairest skinned is his, the black-haired -one Red Eagle’s.” - -The great red hands were outstretched toward the renegade, side by -side, and the guesser stood before them, a statue of indecision. - -He had a preference--his face told his red companion that--and he -did not want to guess the girl he desired into Red Eagle’s hands. He -inspected the fists a long time before he raised his hand, and then -he held his finger over the chief’s right member, unwilling to see it -descend. - -All at once he threw a slight glance upward through his long black -lashes. - -The Indian’s eyes were riveted upon his finger, and a strange smile, -which the renegade deemed one of triumph, toyed with his handsome -lips. - -“I’ll catch him!” mentally ejaculated the renegade, dropping his eyes -to his hand again. “I’ll cheat him out of the blonde, yet.” - -The next moment his finger took a great leap, and alighted on Red -Eagle’s _left_ hand. - -The Indian laughed triumphantly, and opened his hand. - -The black stone glittered in the red palm. - -The Pale Pawnee could not repress a cry of rage and disappointment. - -“Kenoagla wanted the Gold Girl,” said Red Eagle, calmly; “but she has -fallen to the lot of the Pawnee. She shall build his fires and warm -his couch when the snow comes.” - -Tom Kyle bit his nether lip till the blood dyed his chin. - -“Would not Red Eagle have been content with the dark flower?” - -“Yes.” - -“I will give him the dark flower, then, for the gold one.” - -The Indian drew back. - -“No, no!” - -“I’ll throw this serape into the bargain. You have coveted it for -five years.” - -“Red Eagle won’t sell the Gold Girl.” - -“Not for the darker flower, my serape and sword?” - -“_No!_” - -“Then he shall keep her! The Pale Pawnee will love his captive, and -he hopes that the gold flower will thrive in Red Eagle’s lodge.” - -With the last word, he put forth his hand, and in the soft starlight -the palms of red and white met. - -It was the grip of a Cæsar and his Brutus--the silent pledge, beneath -friendship’s cloak, of hatred and treason bitter and intense. - -“The fate of the pale flower is settled now--settled forever, chief. -One is mine, the other yours. _I’ll_ settle the insulting agent’s -doom hereafter.” - -A few moments later the arbiters of others’ fates remounted their -steeds and rode toward the Pawnee lodges. - -They did not cast their eyes behind as they galloped from the river, -therefore they did not see the figure which suddenly appeared on the -scene, and stood between them and the silver of the starlit waves. - -“The Gold Girl is his,” said a woman’s voice, stern with terrible -sarcasm and determination. “Winnesaw thought she was his. But who is -this Gold Girl? Where did she come from, and where is her father’s -lodge? Ha! Kenoagla has returned from the war-path; his band has -struck the pale-faces who travel along the big river to the land of -yellow stones. He found two girls there--dark and gold. They played -for them here to-night. Kenoagla wanted the Gold Girl, but he got the -dark one. But he shall have the Gold Girl--at least Red Eagle shall -never see her asleep, like the fawn, on his couch. Winnesaw is Red -Eagle’s--the Gold Girl is not.” - -The slender and beautiful Pawnee girl grew into a very Pythoness as, -with clenched hands and gritted teeth, she stood on the spot which -the secret enemies had just vacated. - -Several moments of silence followed her last word, when she suddenly -tore herself from the river-bank, and darted toward the village, -hidden by the darkness. - -“The Gold Girl--the Gold Girl!” she repeated, in an audible tone, as -she bounded over the ground. “Winnesaw is going to see the Gold Girl, -whom Red Eagle won to-night.” - -Poor, unloved Winnesaw! - -She never dreamed what would follow her meeting with Lina Aiken, the -“Gold Girl.” - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - THE VENGEANCE-HUNTER. - - -The occupants of the Pale Pawnee’s lodge awaited, with fear, anxiety -and impatience, his return. They had witnessed his departure with Red -Eagle, and they felt that something terrible was about to transpire. - -Mr. Denison now knew that the renegade defied the American -Government, and he believed that it was Kenoagla’s intention to make -short work of him. He had heard of the cruelties of the Pawnees; -their treatment of the emigrant trains had reached the ears of -the authorities at Washington, and measures were being adopted to -chastise the red marauders and protect the trains. But the Government -was snail-like in its operations; and while it hesitated, while other -measures not so important as the lives of our emigrants retarded the -humane step, the Pawnee tomahawk was reeking with blood on the banks -of the Platte. - -The Indians would submit when the iron hand of the Great Father at -Washington closed on them; but they would massacre so long as the -blue-coats kept out of sight. Train after train was halted by the -savage whoop; and the poor emigrants were suddenly called upon to -sell their scalps at the price of blood. Seldom mercy was shown, but -now and then some lovely girl was spared and carried to a dreadful -captivity, in the lair of the Pawnee or the giant Sioux. - -The train in which Mr. Denison and the dear ones under his charge -had taken passage, was attacked near the banks of the Platte, ten -miles below the mouth of the Loup Fork. The force that bore down upon -the caravan was overwhelming--it could not be resisted. The train -was feeble in point of numbers--too feeble, in fact, to cross the -plains; but the men fought bravely for themselves and families. But -their bravery availed them naught, for the Indians were armed with -Government rifles and revolvers, which they could handle with deadly -effect. - -Finally the defenders surrendered. Kenoagla--Tom Kyle--had promised -quarter, but he broke his word. He did not attempt to restrain his -red fiends; but he saved the lives of the Government agent and his -charges, while an inferior chief belonging to a Pawnee village -situated many miles toward the head of the Platte, succeeded in -rescuing the brace of white buffalo-hunters from the vengeance of the -tomahawk. - -After the massacre the bands separated. - -“Father, some dark work is brewing. The white Ogre of these beautiful -plains and his red ally are plotting mischief somewhere beneath the -stars. I fear your words have irritated him to a fearful degree. -I heard him grit his teeth when I rode by. I do not fear for -myself--no, no; but for you, father, for you!” - -It was Mabel Denison who spoke, and in the darkness that reigned -throughout Tom Kyle’s lodge, the fearful girl crept nearer her -parent, and threw her arms about his neck. - -“I have not thought once of myself, Mabel,” he answered, searching -for the pale cheeks, which his lips found, as he spoke her name. “I -have been thinking about you and Lina, there. He has saved you for a -purpose--he and his red ally.” - -“But he shall not carry out his purpose!” returned Mabel, fiercely. -“I am not to be this Ogre’s wife; sooner than bear such relation to -him I would fly, if I could, to the brazen doors of perdition and -knock for admission there!” - -“My fair lady will need wings ere long, then.” - -The trio turned at the sound of the voice, and saw a dark form -between them and the stars. - -Though the face of their visitor could not be seen, the great feather -that fell gracefully over his head, and the glitter of silver -ornaments on the shoulders of his serape, told them who he was. He -had parted the skins without noise, and no doubt had listened to much -of the conversation which had lately passed between his prisoners. - -Mabel Denison uttered a light cry as she beheld the renegade; but her -father gritted his teeth in silence. - -“I say you’ll need wings ere long, Miss Denison, if you intend -carrying out your resolve,” continued Tom Kyle, and a light chuckle -followed his last word. “Your father spoke truly when he said that I -spared you girls for a purpose. And I will inform him just now that -he, too, has been spared for a purpose, differing widely from the one -for which his child has been spared.” - -He paused as if expecting Mr. Denison to speak; but, as no word fell -from the agent’s lips, he continued: - -“Ladies, I must separate you.” - -“No! no!” and Mabel threw herself upon her golden-haired cousin. “If -we are to remain your captives, let us, at least, enjoy, if we can, -our captivity together. Do not tear us apart; if you still retain -a spark of respect for womanly affection, you will change your -resolution.” - -“I am not the sole arbiter of your fates,” the renegade replied. “I -have been compelled to divide the spoils of our last excursion. Mabel -Denison, you are mine; your cousin belongs to Red Eagle.” - -A trembling cry parted Lina Aiken’s lips, and she sunk senseless into -Mabel’s lap. - -“Sir, you are blighting the purest, the sweetest of lives!” cried the -agent’s daughter, forgetting the passions of the man who confronted -her. “Sir renegade, let me tell you, now, that I am not yours. I -loathe you, as I loathe the scaly folds of the serpent, and--” - -“Girl,” and the word sounded like ice-drops falling on red-hot iron, -“I beg of you to desist. I am passionate--a word makes me a devil!” - -“No, no! you have ever been such.” - -The Spanish sword leaped from the gilded scabbard, and Tom Kyle -sprung forward with an oath. - -“Girl, curse you! I can find a wife in the next train, or the Gold -Girl--” - -His vengeful sentence was broken by the entrance of an Indian, and -the renegade found himself hurled to the furthest part of the lodge. - -“Kenoagla would kill Gold Girl!” cried the new-comer, snatching Lina -Aiken from Mabel’s embrace. “Gold Girl belong to Red Eagle. Kenoagla -die if he touches her!” - -“Leave me Lina, Red Eagle,” cried Mabel, springing to her feet, to be -met by the broad palm of the Pawnee chief. - -“No, no, Gold Girl Red Eagle’s; dark girl Kenoagla’s. The sisters -meet often in Pawnee lodges. Gold Girl must go to chief’s wigwam; she -still sleeps.” - -With a painful groan Mabel Denison sunk back and dropped into her -father’s arms. - -At this juncture the renegade regained his feet, and came forward, -gritting his teeth with rage. - -“Who, in the name of the furies--” - -He paused suddenly when he found himself face to face with Red Eagle. - -“Kenoagla let the storm rise in his heart. He sought Gold Girl’s -blood; but Red Eagle came, and he pushed Kenoagla.” - -“I didn’t seek the Gold Girl; the dark one made me mad.” - -“Then Red Eagle did wrong!” - -“No, no, chief. I am glad you pushed me. I wouldn’t kill that girl -for the world now. All the venom she can fling can irritate me no -more. But I’m going to show her, in more senses than one, that she is -mine! mine! mine!” - -He bent forward as he hissed the last words, and Mabel Denison felt -his hot breath scorch her pale cheek. - -“Red Eagle, and his Gold Girl go now,” said the Pawnee, breaking the -silence that followed. - -“Yes, go.” - -The next instant the Indian turned on his heel, and hurried away with -the unconscious Gold Girl in his arms. - -“I’m not going to disturb you with my presence longer to-night,” said -Tom Kyle, addressing his captives. “But I would bid you, before I go, -to prepare for another separation. Mr. Denison, you leave the Pawnee -village to-morrow.” - -The agent and his child were silent. - -“Did you ever read the story of Mazeppa?” the renegade asked, after a -long silence. - -A low “My God, Mabel,” told the villain that that famous ride was not -unknown to his captive. - -“So you have heard of that ride,” chuckled Tom Kyle. “Well, Mr. -Denison, to be brief, we’re going to make a Mazeppa out of you -to-morrow. I’ll have some of my fellows to lasso or crease a wild -horse, and perhaps the beast may bear you to Washington, where you -can lay your wrongs before the Government. So prepare for the ordeal, -I say.” - -He stood a moment longer in the doorway, then turned abruptly on his -heel, with a fiendish laugh, and walked away. - -“I’m going to see what Red Eagle is doing with the Gold Girl,” he -murmured, walking toward the chief’s lodge. “By heavens! she shall -not belong to him. I had marked her for my own long before the train -surrendered, and Tom Kyle can’t be balked by a red-skin. Let me -get her in my clutches once, and a buck-skin shall bear me to the -Apaches. I’ve been among them; they are ready to follow my white -plume. What a beautiful white queen the Gold Girl would make! Red -Eagle, she shan’t be yours long. I mean it, I swear it!” - -A certain light now attracted the renegade’s attention, and his voice -ceased altogether. He walked more cautiously than ever, and at last -knell behind a wigwam, the build and decorations of which proclaimed -it the habitation of a chief. - -He lay like a corpse on the ground, and his eyes, flashing like fire, -almost touched a crack, through which he was drinking in the scenes -that were transpiring in the lodge. - -Red Eagle bent over Lina Aiken, who lay upon a couch of skins, pale -and motionless. - -The red-man was watching her intently. - -“Gold Girl sleep long,” the Indian murmured, and a look of fear sat -enthroned upon his anxious face. “The Pale Pawnee’s words chased -her near the dark river. He wants Gold Girl; he tried to cheat Red -Eagle to-night, but she shall never warm his couch. The Indians hate -him; they would give Red Eagle his plume, his serape, his sword; -but Red Eagle say, ‘not yet.’ But,” and a dark scowl overrode the -fearful expression, “let the Pale Pawnee touch Gold Girl and he get -this--this.” - -Significantly, as if addressing some one, the chief touched the hilt -of his knife, and the silvered butt of “Colt,” then clenched his -hands and gritted his teeth till they cracked. - -The passions that bubbled and hissed in the spectator’s heart cannot -be described, and once he drew his revolver and cocked it, and put it -up again. - -“Curse you, Indian!” he hissed. “It’s diamond cut diamond now; you -won’t live ten days, I swear it, by my hopes of eternal life! and the -Pawnees shall be kingless before the expiration of that time.” - -For several moments longer Red Eagle watched over his beautiful -captive, whose insensibility had created some alarm in the breast of -his arch-enemy, lying at the base of the wigwam, watching and biding -his time for revenge and success. - -“Red Eagle go bring Medicine,” suddenly cried the chief, starting -to his feet. “Gold Girl sleeps too long. Red Eagle can’t wake her; -Medicine can.” - -Then the Indian, after casting a long look upon the marble form on -the couch, walked from the lodge, and Tom Kyle heard him bounding -away toward the Pawnee doctor’s wigwam with the fleetness of the deer. - -“Now I could rob him of his Gold Girl, and rob him effectually,” -ejaculated the renegade. “One blow could constitute my revenge; but -I would have to fly for my life, and leave my captives here. No, I -won’t do it. I will bide another time; then, if I can’t wed her, I -can strike.” - -Again he turned his eyes to the crack, but started from the wigwam -with a low ejaculation of surprise. - -The figure of a girl stood over Lina Aiken. It was Winnesaw. The -renegade recognized her in a moment, and he almost cried aloud when -his gaze dropped from her flashing eyes to the slender-bladed knife -that glittered in her right hand. - -He saw, too, that the girl had just entered the lodge, and that the -beauty of Lina had riveted her, as it were, to the ground. - -He gazed upon her, too horror-stricken to dissipate the striking -tableau! - -Suddenly the Indian girl stooped over her rival; the passionate fire -vanished from her dark eyes, like mists from a morning sun, and the -light of love and pity supplied its place. - -Nearer and nearer the red face approached Lina Aiken, and at last the -lips of the strange twain met. - -“Poor Gold Girl!” the renegade heard Winnesaw murmur, as she slowly -raised her head. “Winnesaw came here to kill; but the Gold Girl is -too pretty for her knife.” - -For an instant she knelt over Lina, admiring her unconscious form; -then the knife suddenly flew aloft again. - -Tom Kyle, the watcher, started, and held his breath. - -He saw the firm set lips of the Pawnee girl, by the light of the fire -in the center of the lodge; and he saw the glittering blade descend -like a bolt of lightning! - -It grazed the Gold Girl’s head and severed a shining tress, which -rolled from the fox-skin pillow. - -Winnesaw’s hand darted upon the severed lock, and the next moment it -was hidden away in her bosom. - -Then the Indian started to her feet, and Lina Aiken was alone again. - -Slowly her eyes unclosed, and with a look of bewilderment she rose to -a sitting posture and gazed about the apartment. - -The sleep of insensibility had been broken, as it were, by the rape -of a lock. - -The watcher hailed her recovery with an exclamation of joy, and, -simultaneously with the return of Red Eagle, accompanied by the -Pawnee Medicine, he was brought to his feet by a yell. - -“The Platte Pawnees have entered the village!” he exclaimed. “What -can it mean?” - -He bounded to the council square, and found a crowd of red-skins -swarming about several wild-looking men seated on jaded steeds. - -In an instant his voice quieted the Bedlamic uproar. - -The new-comers sprung erect on the backs of their horses, and in -thundering tones told the story of Frontier Shack’s victory on the -banks of the Platte. - -A thousand yells of vengeance followed the narration. - -“I must lead them,” muttered Tom Kyle. “That infernal trapper has -been too fresh of late; he hasn’t heeded my summons an accursed bit!” - -Then he called for his horse: but a savage had anticipated the -command, and the renegade turned to find his steed at his side. - -A few moments later two hundred Pawnees sat astride their horses. - -At a motion from the renegade they sprung erect, uttered a thrilling -war-whoop, and then galloped from the village, shouting like demons, -standing like statues on the backs of their steeds. - -The Pale Pawnee was ill at ease, and he bit his lips till they bled, -as he rode, like a fantastically-dressed circus performer, at the -head of his red band. - -He felt that his reign was drawing to a close, and he was acting -through policy now. - -“Curse that Indian!” he suddenly hissed, and, while the words still -quivered his lips, he heard his followers divide for the purpose of -allowing a horseman to gain the front. - -A moment later that horseman joined the renegade. - -It was Red Eagle. - -“Red Eagle help punish the island pale-face, too,” said the chief. -“We catch and burn, or tie to wild horse, the beaver-catcher and the -pale boys.” - -“Yes, yes, chief,” said Tom Kyle, but he added, under his breath, -“Mr. Red Eagle, you’ve seen the Gold Girl for the last time; that is, -if I can shoot straight enough to-morrow night, and, for ten years, I -haven’t missed a mark.” - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - CHARLEY SHAFER’S RIDE. - - -“Dash me, boys, if we ain’t in sight of the old place already,” cried -Frontier Shack, abruptly terminating a silence which had lasted for -many minutes, during which time Tecumseh had borne his riders rapidly -from the scene of the trapper’s victory. “Things look remarkably -quiet about the shanty, and I guess we’ll find everything in apple -pie order--just as I left ’em yesterday.” - -The horse knew that he was near the trapper’s home, for he gave a -shrill, joyous neigh, and sprung forward with new zeal. - -Daylight now flooded the plains once more, every vestige of darkness -had disappeared, and the scene that stretched before the young -hunters’ vision filled their souls with rapture, and caused them to -forget that they were riding over dangerous ground--that this fair -land was still inhabited by the fierce aborigine of America. - -They were on rising ground, and the beautiful valley of the Platte -lay at their very feet. The water shone like silver in the strong -light that preceded the rising of the sun, and the islands that -dotted the stream--the cotton-wooded islands--resembled rich gems in -a magnificent setting. Far beyond the stream a black mass, imbued -with life, moved westward, like some giant cloud creeping along the -horizon’s bar. - -That living blackness was a herd of buffalo. The young hunters had -encountered the emperors of the plains before, but not in such -numbers; and they could not repress an exclamation of wonderment when -they gazed upon the mighty bisonic legion. - -“Yes, them’s buffler,” said Shackelford, “and they’re all brown -fellars, too.” - -The boys exchanged looks and curious smiles. - -“So you think there are no white ones in that herd?” - -The frontiersman laughed. - -“Nary a white one,” he said; “but look yonder--up-stream I mean. D’ye -see thet conical island?” - -“Yes.” - -“Well, I live there.” - -“I see no house.” - -“Ye’ll see it d’rectly. The cottonwoods hide it now.” - -“How long have you dwelt yonder?” - -“Nigh onto six years. I was with the ’Paches awhile, but we hed a -slight difficulty, so I came north, and squatted on Pawnee territory. -Tecumseh and I hev enjoyed life splendidly here.” - -“Unmolested by the Indians?” - -“Well--no. If it hadn’t been fur thet Tom Kyle, I’d hev been scalped -long ago. The red greasers caught me when I first squatted here; but -thet white devil happened to hev a streak of mercy on then, and he -made ’em let me go. Then he gave me liberty to trap on the Loup, and -its branches, so long as I behaved myself. But I haven’t done thet -of late. Tecumseh and Shack have helped more’n one emigrant out of a -scrape, and I’ve been looking for Tom Kyle every day for two months. -It’s human natur’ to help a suffering fellar human; and I’ve killed -nigh onto as many Pawnees as beaver within the last thirty days. But -the safety jig is up now, I feel it in my bones. Tom Kyle won’t keep -off much longer, and he is a reg’lar thunderbolt, he is, by Joshua!” - -By this time the river had been reached, and a small hut was visible -on the island, that lay in the center of the glittering water. - -“Every thing’s snug,” said the trapper, when a great mastiff bounded -from the cottonwoods and waded a short distance into the stream. “If -any thing was wrong, ye wouldn’t see Massasoit there.” - -The next moment the steed had plunged into the water, which scarcely -touched his flanks, and after a brief spell the trio found themselves -on the island. - -“This river beats all for quicksands,” said Shackelford; “but -Tecumseh understands ’em. If he’d hev stopped for one moment the -infernal sand would hev caught ’im, and then good-by, Tecumseh. I -shot a prowling Pawnee in this river about four years ago, and the -sand took him and his horse down, down, and he never come up again, -dash me! if he did.” - -It was a relief to the white buffalo hunters to find themselves under -a roof once more. Everywhere they saw the fruits of the trapper’s -industry. A large quantity of valuable pelts was stored away in the -cabin, and the larder was well stocked with meat, and firearms also -abounded. - -The hut was divided into two apartments on the ground, and a rough -unfinished dormitory lay above. One of these rooms served as -Tecumseh’s stable on stormy nights, or when horse-stealers infested -the neighborhood; and then Frontier Shack lay at the threshold, -guarding the noble horse he loved, while Massasoit slept in the -hollow trunk of a tree just beyond the cabin door. - -The sun scaled the horizon and added a myriad of new beauties to -the Platte, while the western trapper and his new-found companions -discussed the contents of the cabin’s larder, with zest mingled with -merriment. - -The frontiersman was in the midst of an exciting narration of life -in the Apache country, when a sharp bark from Massasoit saluted the -trio’s ears. - -Frontier Shack sprung to his feet and griped his rifle. - -“Wild horses!” he exclaimed, as handing the weapon to Charley Shafer, -he jerked the Spanish saddle from its pins, beside the door. - -“Boys, select a rifle from the corner, and be quick about it! Mebbe -you can get good horses now, and God knows we’ll need ’em when we go -after the girls.” - -The next moment the youths were well armed, and Tecumseh stood before -the cabin equipped for a battle with his wild brethren. - -“They’re coming up the river,” said the trapper as he drew the boys -to a place behind the saddle. “I believe it’s the lost band.” - -“The lost band?” - -“Yes; the wild horses don’t belong to this latitude,” he answered; -“but, somehow or other, a gang hev been cavorting around here for -several months, and I b’lieve thet they’re actually lost. I’ve tried -to crease a black stallion among ’em, fur several weeks; but they -won’t let me get within range. Now, p’raps--dash me! I’ll get Blackey -this time.” - -A word drove Tecumseh into the water, and amid the thundering of the -wild cavalcade, the bank was gained. - -“Something is chasing ’em!” said Frontier Shack, listening to the -noise of the unshod hoofs which momentarily grew louder. “Mebbe it’s -Pawnees, and they’ll cheat us out of a horse if they can.” - -The thunder of the curbless steeds seemed to shake the ground beneath -Tecumseh’s feet, and it was with difficulty that Shackelford could -restrain his horse from rushing forward. With arched neck, flashing -eyes, and distended nostrils the iron-gray stood on the river’s bank, -trembling from head to fetlocks with intense excitement. - -Nearer and nearer, though still unseen, came the wild army, and it -was evident that they would pass the base of the rise that hid them -from the trio’s vision. - -“Quiet, Tecumseh!” hoarsely commanded Frontier Shack. - -“What’s got into ye to-day? Ye’ve heard wild horses afore. I creased -ye once, and now, mebbe, yer thinking of old times. Be still! I -say! Now they’re passing the round hill,” he said, addressing the -boys, and the next moment, cocking the rifle he carried, the trapper -ordered his steed forward. - -Tecumseh obeyed with a snort. - -The top of the rise was gained, and the magnificent sight at his base -burst upon the trio’s gaze. - -Three hundred wild horses, black, white, iron-gray, and piebald, were -sweeping along in the glory of majestic beauty and strength. Uncurbed -by bit, and unbled by spurs, each looked like a monarch, as with head -erect, and flecked with foam, he rushed westward toward the land of -the setting sun. - -“There’s my horse!” cried the trapper, “there’s the black, and on -the edge of the band, too. I’ll crease him now. Be ready with your -rifle, George, for we must have two horses to-day; and when I drop -the black, poke the gun over my shoulder.” - -Frontier Shack had creased more than one wild horse, and for six -years he had not fractured a single vertebra. - -_Creasing_ a wild horse consists in shooting him through the upper -crease of the neck, above the cervical vertebrae, when, the ball -cutting a principal nerve, he falls as suddenly as if shot in the -brain, and remains senseless for a few moments, during which he is -secured with a rope. He is easily tamed after this, and the wound -heals without leaving any physical injury. - -For the first time the “lost band” was passing within rifle-shot of -the trapper, and with a countenance flushed with mingled pride and -triumph, he raised the rifle. - -His eyes were riveted upon the coal-black stallion; he seemed to see, -to think of nothing else, and the two youths watched the doomed horse -with an interest truly indescribable. - -All at once their ears were saluted with a sharp report--they saw the -black horse stop, shake like a storm-tossed reed from head to foot, -and then drop to the ground! - -“Dash me if I hevn’t dropped ’im at last!” cried Shackelford. -“No--no! I don’t want your rifle, George; the black can carry double -well enough. He’s as strong as a lion. Tecumseh!” - -As the iron-gray shot forward toward the prostrate horse, the trapper -unloosed the coil of rope that hung at the saddle-bow, and presently -he leaped to the ground beside his victim. - -“Now, Blackey!” he cried, in tones of triumph, but the next moment a -wild cry of horror followed. - -He had scarcely touched the ground when Tecumseh, finding himself -masterless, reared on his haunches, then bounded forward with an -unearthly snort. - -George Long dropped from his perch and fell at the trapper’s feet, -while Charley Shafer clung to the reins with the grim tenacity of -despair. - -The “lost band” was yet in sight, and Tecumseh seemed to fly toward -them on the pinions of the wind. - -He tried to unhorse his young rider; but the youth griped the gray -mane with his teeth and incircled the strong neck with his arms. -His hat and rifle had fallen to the ground at the outset of his -wild ride, and the horror-stricken spectators knew that he did not -possess a single weapon--not even a knife. - -Tecumseh was beyond rifle-shot before the trapper recovered from his -fright, and George Long covered his face with his hands to hide his -young comrade’s doom from his sight! - -“Curse that horse!” grated Frontier Shack, breaking the unearthly -silence. “He never had the devil in him afore like he hes to-day. -Them horses made ’im think what he was once, and now he’s gone back -to his old life.” - -“And Charley--poor Charley--is riding to his death.” - -Frontier Shack shook his head dolefully, as he gazed at the horse and -his despairing rider, now a dark speck in the distance. - -“I wouldn’t give that for the boy’s chances,” and he snapped his -fingers at his side. “If Tecumseh catches the lost horses, may God -help Charley then. God help him, anyhow!” - -George Long repeated the prayer away down among the deepest and -holiest shrines of his terror-frozen heart. - -The next moment the runaway and his victim disappeared! - -A snort from the black steed startled the couple, and with ready -rope the trapper sprung forward. But, before he could secure his -dearly-won prize, George Long touched his arm, and uttered a wild -shriek. - -“My God! Indians!” - -In an instant Frontier Shack was on his feet. - -His hurried look north-eastward showed him a line of dark forms -between him and the horizon. - -“Pawnees, by Joshua!” - -The savages were distinctly visible, and the rider of the foremost -horse could be easily recognized from the spot where the couple stood. - -“Tom Kyle wants me,” said the Westerner, gritting his teeth. “The -upper Pawnees hev told ’im about the fracas last night. We’re in for -it now, and blood hes got to flow!” - -He snatched the rifle which had fallen from the ill-fated boy’s -hands, and then sprung to the black horse. - -“They shan’t have Blackey!” he ejaculated, striking the animal’s rump -with his open hand, and the next moment the horse was flying over the -plains, free once more, but marked for life. - -“Now for the river, boy!” - -A wild yell broke from the Pawnees’ throats, as our friends sprung -toward the stream, and the red-skins were seen urging their horses -into a faster gait. - -But they could not overtake the trapper and his protege, and at the -brink of the river they halted, afraid to trust their jaded steeds to -the mercies of the ingulfing sands. - -“Poor Tecumseh!” sighed Frontier Shack, as he closed the cabin door -and barricaded it firmly. “I feel like one who has lost his best -friend. That horse was the only true friend Ote Shackelford ever had, -and if he gits out o’ this scrape, he’s going to hunt Tecumseh till -he finds him, dead or alive!” - -George Long saw the trapper’s lips meet with terrible determination -behind the last word, and his mind was called from the contemplation -of Charley Shafer’s fate by the report of a score of rifles and the -thud of bullets, as they buried themselves in the cottonwood logs. - -“Fort Shackelford is attacked,” said the trapper, with a grim smile, -“and the odds are somewhat enormous--two hundred against two.” - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - RIFLE, FIRE AND LASSO. - - -Several minutes of silence followed the thud of the Pawnee bullets. - -Then the voice of a white man came from the brink of the stream. - -“Shackelford!” - -The trapper glanced knowingly at George Long, and ascended to the -uncouth dormitory. In the gable that looked toward the besiegers a -small window was situated, and to this the frontiersman applied his -face. - -“Well, what do you want, Kyle?” - -“Reports which reached my ears say that you slew eight Pawnees last -night. Is it true?” - -“I suppose it is,” was the reply, “though I counted but seven.” - -“I fear that your deeds have sealed your doom.” - -“You don’t fear any such thing, Tom Kyle.” - -The renegade bit his lip, and said a few words to Red Eagle, who sat -on his horse near by. - -“Shackelford, our errand here can not be a mystery to you,” he said, -turning toward the cabin again. - -“It is not, Tom.” - -“The odds are against you!” - -“Decidedly so.” - -“Then you had best surrender without further bloodshed.” - -“What are your terms?” - -“I have left all to the Indians; but I will do all I can for you.” - -“We won’t surrender.” - -“Consider, man.” - -“We won’t surrender.” - -“Shackelford--” - -“_We won’t surrender!_ we’ll fight you and your cutthroats, Tom Kyle, -so help me God!” - -Then the renegade consigned the inmates of the cabin to the depths of -perdition, and turned to his followers again. - -The trapper remained for a few moments at the gable loop-hole, and -then ducked his head and disappeared. - -“Did you hear everything, George?” he asked, as he struck the ground -before the youth. - -“Yes.” - -“Do you want to surrender?” - -“No!” - -The young lips closed emphatically behind the monosyllable, and -additional emphasis flashed from the young speaker’s dark eyes. - -“You’re a man, by Joshua!” exclaimed Frontier Shack, grasping the -boy’s hand. “We’ll fight the hounds to-day, and when night comes -we’ll do suthing else, probably.” - -After his failure in effecting a surrender, Tom Kyle moved his forces -further up-stream, and halted just beyond rifle-shot of the cabin. - -He evidently did not care to trust himself within range of -Shackelford’s rifle, nor was Red Eagle loth to leave the spot where -they had first halted. - -From his dormitory Shackelford could note the movements of his -foes. He saw them lounging about carelessly, or overhauling their -ammunition-pouches, and cleaning their weapons. He knew that they -were preparing for the darkness, that his island home would then be -invested, and stormed by the treacherous two hundred. - -“I half expected that the hounds would wait till night,” he said, -addressing the boy adventurer, who was engaged in cleaning the -chambers of a revolver. “Tom Kyle is not going to attempt to reach -the island so long as I can cover his heart; but if they get to this -grove to-night, they’ll hear the biggest noise they ever heard.” - -The youth looked up, inquiringly. - -A minute later the trapper rose and unbarred the door. Opening it -boldly, he stepped out, and, in full view of the savages, walked to a -giant cottonwood which stood perhaps fifty feet from the cabin. - -His movements, which, to say the least, were mysterious, caused the -Indians to suspend operations, and watch him. - -He walked around the cottonwood several times, not appearing to -notice the Indians, then suddenly hastened to the cabin again. - -He smiled as he barricaded the door, and George Long could not -restrain his curiosity. - -“What do such movements mean?” he asked. - -“You’ll see to-night if they come to the island.” - -“They will come; I feel certain of that.” - -“Of course they will.” - -The day wore wearily on and as the shades of night gathered about the -scene, the Pawnee band seemed to gain new life. Ammunition-pouches -were carefully inspected, and adjusted for the last time, and Tom -Kyle was seen in the midst of eight or ten sub-chiefs, holding, as it -were, a pacific council of war. - -When, at last, the council broke up, a young Pawnee, bearing a white -fabric on the point of his lance, ran down the river. - -Opposite the center of the wooded cove, he hesitated. - -“Pale faces give up now?” - -“No!” - -The undaunted reply caused the brave to whirl on his heel and dart -back to his brethren. - -Then night, as if eager to witness appalling deeds, suddenly swooped -like a black eagle down upon the earth. - -“They’re swimming the river!” said Frontier Shack, from the loop-hole -in the gable. “They were afraid to trust their horses among the sand. -Now look out, boy, for they’ve reached my island.” - -For the last time Shackelford descended from the gable, and prepared -for the attack. - -Large numbers of the attacking party had remained on the river banks -for the purpose of intercepting the white-faces’ escape, should they -be so fortunate as to leave the island safely. - -The cabin was almost noiselessly surrounded; but the cautious -footsteps had been heard by Massasoit, and the faithful animal would -follow them around the limits of the hut, with flashing eyes and -bristling back. - -“I hate this suspense,” said George Long, looking up into the -trapper’s face. “I wish the ball would open.” - -“They’re hatching up something devilish. I know Tom Kyle, and what he -can’t think of, that Red Eagle can.” - -At this juncture Massasoit sprung to one corner of the hut with a -fierce growl. - -“The devils’ work has commenced,” said Shackelford, calmly. “They’re -burning us out!” - -Without another word he began to ascend to the eaves, with the aid of -the rough logs that formed the cabin. George Long watched him by the -fire, that cracked in the center of the room. - -Presently he heard the report of a pistol, and the sound of a heavy -body falling on brushwood quickly followed. - -“One Pawnee won’t kindle any more fires,” said Frontier Shack, -descending. “First blood for Ote Shack. Next!” - -A wild yell drowned his last words, and again a volley was poured -against the door. - -The hunter sprung from the logs and snatched a torch from the fire. - -“Dash me if they ain’t standing around the tree!” he exclaimed, his -eyes lighting up with fierce triumph. “I’ll make a scatteration ’mong -their ranks now, by Joshua! I will!” - -He sprung toward a heavy tinned box which sat in one corner of the -apartment, and threw back the lid with his left hand. The next moment -he stepped back, thrusting the torch into the box as he executed -the movement. A slight noise, like the explosion of a few grains of -powder succeeded, and a white smoke rose from the recesses of the box. - -But the noise that followed the explosion of the fuse was most -terrific. It shook the cabin from gable to foundation and drove our -young buffalo-hunter from the crevice by which he was standing. His -eyes, too, were blinded by a bright light, and before the noise died -away he heard the shrieks of Indians, frightened, wounded, and dying! - -“By Joshua! it set the tree on fire!” cried the trapper, gazing at -the large cottonwood, now terribly lacerated by the mine which so -long had slept in its recesses. - -From behind the magnificent trees, the Pawnees were now raining balls -upon the cabin, and burning arrows were hissing toward the dry roof. - -The destruction must have been fearful, for the burning tree revealed -more than a score of forms, mangled and motionless, on the ground, -while others, badly injured, were crawling from the spot. - -“Listen!” - -The dry stuff that formed the roof of the cabin was crackling beneath -the blaze of the fiery arrows, and the object of the Pawnees to fire -the cabin seemed at last attained. - -“They’ll burn us out.” - -“Yes; the old house is bound to go, and we’re going, too, presently.” - -“Going where?” - -“To Fort Kearny, mebbe; p’r’aps to the Pawnee village.” - -“As prisoners?” - -“Yes, if we go thar at all, _to-night_.” - -Then the trapper suddenly walked into the apartment which had served -as Tecumseh’s stable. - -Three minutes later he returned and startled the youth with cocked -rifle near the door. - -“Did you shoot?” - -“No.” - -“But you heard the report?” - -“Yes; it seemed to come from a spot above us.” - -Frontier Shack lifted his eyes, and placed his index finger on his -lip. - -Somebody was on the burning roof. - -Frontier Shack climbed up the logs, and waited at the aperture -between the eave and the uppermost log, for the person on the roof. - -Presently he heard the unknown person descending, and sustaining -himself with one hand, the trapper cocked a revolver. - -But he hesitated; the person might be a friend, for the shot, which -had been fired from the roof, had killed an Indian, and who among the -Pawnees would attempt such a deed? - -The unknown let himself over the eave hurriedly yet cautiously. - -The legs first descended, then came the body, and when the head -appeared between the trapper and the stars, a low hiss sounded: - -“I hit him between the eyes; the Gold Girl is mine now!” - -Frontier Shack raised the pistol, but the head had disappeared before -he could scatter the brains he wished to. - -“Tom Kyle was on the roof.” - -“Tom Kyle?” echoed George Long. - -“Yes, and he shot an Indian, too.” - -“What can he mean?” - -“A girl’s at the bottom of the thing,” said Shackelford. “He shot -somebody important, for listen at them Indians.” - -Loud cries, which indicated the death of some Indian of distinction, -came from beyond the burning tree, and dark forms could be seen -moving wildly in every direction. - -“Dash me if he hasn’t audacity!” suddenly exclaimed Shackelford, who -was watching the savages from a crack near the door. “After killing -the Pawnee, Tom Kyle walks right among ’em, no doubt swearing I -plugged ’im.” - -Almost wholly absorbed in the scene before them, the twain continued -to look until a burning brand fell at their feet. - -“By Joshua! it’s getting too hot here, boy. Now for Fort Kearney or -Pawneedom.” - -“I’m ready.” - -“We must hurry. The Indians won’t do much till the chief dies, I -calculate; but we must move rapidly.” - -For a moment the trapper disappeared in Tecumseh’s stable, and when -he faced the youth again he held a light boat in his arms. - -“I hev two boats, but, of course, the dirty dogs found the one at -the western point of the island,” he said, standing the canoe on end -against the logs and clambering to the eaves. “The renegade’s bullet -has drawn the Indians from behind the cabin, and now is the accepted -time.” - -His strong hands tore the heated roof timbers aside, and almost in -less time than I can record the fact, the couple had safely landed -themselves with the boat on the island. - -George Long breathed freer. - -Frontier Shack picked up the canoe and bounded toward the eastern -extremity of the cottonwood cone. - -They reached it safely, and the boat was launched. - -“Silence,” admonished the trapper, in the lowest of whispers, and the -next minute a noiseless stroke sent the light craft with the speed of -a rocket down the quick-sanded river toward Fort Kearney. - -The oars were lifted from the clear waves for a second stroke, -when a score of rifles sent their leaden contents after the daring -fugitives. But the bullets whistled harmlessly past their heads, and -George Long uttered an ejaculation of joy. - -“We ain’t out of the frying-pan yet,” whispered the Westerner. -“There’s a sunken island hyarabouts, and if we strike it, there’ll be -the deuce to pay.” - -With the utterance of the final word, Frontier Shack suddenly guided -the canoe to the right, and the next second several rifles flashed on -the bank. - -An oar dropped from the strong hand that griped it, and the boat was -borne around by the rapids. - -Suddenly it struck! - -“The island, by Joshua!” - -George Long sprung to his feet, and the following moment the light -craft capsized, hurling him out into the water! - -He could not repress a shriek, as he struck the sand, and felt it -ingulfing his nether limbs, drawing him, slowly yet surely, down to a -terrible death! - -Frontier Shack had suddenly disappeared, nor was Massasoit to be seen. - -The unfortunate boy struggled bravely; but the accursed sand -continued to drag him down. He could not extricate himself. - -Suddenly he saw two Indians spring to the water’s edge. The stars -revealed their forms and actions. - -He saw the tallest of the twain whirl a rope above his head. - -After three circles, the noose suddenly shot from the Pawnee’s hand, -quivered for a moment in mid-air, and then dropped over the boy’s -head! - -A quick jerk, which almost threw the young Ohioan on his face, -tightened the lasso around his body, and he saw the savages grip the -lariat tightly, while a yell of triumph pealed from their throats. - -It was now a battle between the Pawnee and the quicksand! - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - WHITE LASSO’S CAPTURE. - - -“Heaven help me!” broke from Charley Shafer’s lips, when he found -himself in the perilous situation described in chapter _fourth_. - -As Frontier Shack sprung to the ground to attend to the black -stallion, Charley immediately assumed the saddle. He feared that -Tecumseh’s restlessness might result in some wild freak, and he hoped -to reach the bridle and curb his ire while his master secured his -new prize. But the boy’s hand had not disengaged the bridle from the -thick mane, when the iron-gray bounded forward. - -Young Shafer felt his comrade hurled from his perch, and found -himself jerked forward by the bridle which his fingers tightly -clutched. - -Still, however, he retained his presence of mind, and discovering at -once that he could not stop Tecumseh with the bridle, he grappled the -long gray hairs of the mane with his hands, and held on for dear life. - -Tecumseh was conscious that he had a rider, for he tried to shake the -youth off as he bounded over the prairie like a rocket; but he found -himself unable to do so. - -On, on, still on; the horse actually seemed to gain strength as he -proceeded, and, by fearful glances ahead, the young Ohioan saw that -he was nearing the lost herd. - -“I can’t hold out much longer!” he gasped between the clenched teeth, -“but I dare not release my hold. In a moment I would be trampled to -death by his hoofs, and father would never see his runaway boy again.” - -Strangely Tecumseh would turn his head whenever a word fell from -rider’s lips; the horse seemed to think the voice that of his master; -but the desire to see his free comrades overruled the obedience he -had loved in days gone by, and kept the demon in his eyes. - -All at once the boy saw the wild herd execute a sudden halt, but -the next moment they wheeled to the right, and dashed northward as -swiftly as before. - -The halt enabled Tecumseh to approach very near the lost horses, and, -as he “cut corners” at break-neck speed, his rider saw the cause of -the horses’ sudden change of route. - -A long line of dark forms appeared between him and the gray horizon. - -They were Indians, scarce a mile away. - -How Charley Shafer’s heart sprung into his throat at the sight. - -If they could but see him! - -He released one hand from Tecumseh’s mane, waved his handkerchief -above his head, wildly and with frantic gestures. But he found that -he occupied an insecure seat, and was soon forced to clasp the mane -again. - -He groaned, as well he might, when he saw that his exertion for -salvation had accomplished nothing, for the Indians turned toward the -river and he soon lost sight of them. - -At last Tecumseh reached his lost brethren. With wild neighs they -welcomed him back, and he returned the salute with sundry plunges -which almost unhorsed his despairing rider. The horse’s strength did -not seem weakened in the least degree, and this told Charley Shafer -that, in bygone days, he had been the monarch of some great equine -family. - -For he skirted the edge of the wandering herd like a meteor, and -boldly threw himself in the van. - -Now the boy clung closer than ever to the iron-gray, for eight -hundred hoofs were thundering behind him, and the sound fell -doomfully upon his ears. - -He was riding, helpless, at the head of death. - -The sun descended toward the grayish clouds that crowned the horizon, -and still over the rolling land the lost herd, and its new leader, -thundered on. - -The boy at length became so weak and discouraged that it seemed as if -he must tumble off the horse’s back, and Tecumseh himself seemed to -know that his rider would soon drop from his perch. - -Suddenly he thought of the Pawnee village, which Frontier Shack said -was north of the Platte; and he knew that the horses were running in -a northerly direction. Might they not encounter the Pawnee Loups, -and then might a lasso not fall near Tecumseh’s head, and he be saved? - -He scarcely dared hope for such a finale to his wild ride, and yet he -prayed devoutly for it. - -The prayers for such a deliverance still rose from his lips, when -Tecumseh snorted with rage and sprung to the right. - -Almost unhorsed by the unexpected movement, the young white -buffalo-hunter raised himself, and uttered an ejaculation of joy -commingled with anxious fear. - -The lost band, in scaling a prairie hillock, had suddenly come upon a -Pawnee village, and a band of Indians! - -The latter were near, while far away he saw the former, resting idly -by a shining stream, which he felt must be the Loup fork of the -Platte. - -The Pawnee horsemen, perhaps thirty in number, at once drove their -spurs into the rowels of the fresh animals, with a yell which the -lost steeds greeted with neighs of astonishment. - -Charley saw lassoes made ready as the Pawnees rushed forward, and he -saw, too, with infinite joy, that they were gaining on him, at no -insignificant rate. - -“God help them catch me!” he cried, for captivity was preferable to -the doom which had stared him in the face so long. - -The singular turn which affairs had taken threw new strength into -his limbs; he reached forward, and griped the bridle which lay -on Tecumseh’s neck. Then, sitting bolt upright in his saddle, he -“see-sawed” on the Mexican bit with all his might. - -His action bothered the horses that pressed in his rear, for Tecumseh -could not push forward with the alacrity he had known, and the others -crowded against him, much to his disquietude. - -They tried to pull the brave boy from the saddle; they caught his -garments with their teeth, and lacerated his limbs with their frantic -exertions. - -But, finding that Tecumseh’s rider was delaying his progress, they -suddenly divided ranks, and, without mercy, left the iron-gray in the -rear. - -Charley Shafer could have shouted at his victory, but he was still -in the midst of great perils, and he realized his situation. - -Still with the strength born of desperation he “see-sawed” on the -bit, each moment making the iron-gray more frantic than ever. - -He did not look backward for the Pawnees; he feared that a backward -glance, like that of Lot’s wife, might prove his destruction, and he -was bent on conquering the trapper’s runaway. - -Tecumseh tried to regain his position at the head of the band, but -failed, and at last he found himself quite a distance in the rear. -Foam now completely covered his fiery body, and he seemed more a -white horse than a gray one. - -On, on, he pushed with splendid resolution, and so intent was his -rider in the work of conquering, that he did not hear the hoofs that -crushed the new-born grass in his rear. - -But Tecumseh heard the sounds, and put forth every effort of strength. - -“What ails the bridle?” suddenly cried the young Ohioan, discovering -that the reins had suddenly lengthened. “By my heart! the bit is out -of his mouth!” - -He spoke truly; his eye had not deceived him. - -Now the steed was ungovernable again, and the boy dropping the reins -fell forward on Tecumseh’s neck, too weak to sit upright. - -Where were the Indians now? He turned, but could not see clearly. A -dazzling mist floated before his eyes, and the air to him suddenly -became dense. - -He saw not, felt not, what Tecumseh did--the whirling rope, the -sudden tightening of the strong cord, and the throttling that quickly -followed. - -He felt his hands unclasp, then came the sensation of being hurled -through the air--then insensibility! - -He opened his eyes amid thirty anxious Pawnee Indians, and his -recovery was greeted with yells of delight and triumph. - -“White boy ride hunter’s horse like young brave,” said the giant, who -had lassoed Tecumseh, kneeling beside the youth he had rescued. “How -he get off with the big steed?” - -In a few words our hero acquainted the Pawnees with the circumstances -attending his perilous ride, and they admired his pluck in sticking -to the animal. - -“Pale boy brave enough to be Pawnee,” the Indian, who was evidently a -chief, continued. “He made White Lasso catch him, by making hunter’s -horse tired. If gray horse stay at head of band, White Lasso no catch -’im and save boy.” - -The youth smiled, and thanked the Pawnee for the life he had saved. - -He felt that his pluck had gained him a friend among the Indians, and -the thought was further strengthened by the Pawnee’s words. - -“White boy sleep in White Lasso’s tent,” he said, lifting our -weakened hero from the ground. - -“Red Eagle got Gold Girl, Pale Pawnee keep the darker rose, and White -Lasso make the young rider great chief.” - -The youth instantly comprehended the Pawnee’s words. A division of -the captives had already been made, and Mabel Denison had fallen into -the hands of the renegade. He allowed a flush of mingled fear and -shame to overspread his face, and he clenched his white hands till -the nails blued the palms. - -Perhaps he already loved the fair girl who had been his companion -across the plains, and well might he fear for her safety, if such was -the case. - -“I will be near her,” he murmured, “and perhaps I may yet thank God -for my fearful ride through the jaws of death.” - -The Indians watched the youth and the disappearing horses -alternately, until White Lasso strode toward his own steed, panting -near by. He bore our hero in his arms, and seated him on the -foam-flecked mustang, before vaulting into the Spanish saddle himself. - -“White Lasso love white boy,” the Indian whispered to his charge. “He -had a boy once; but the Apaches scalp ’im ’fore he won his feathers. -Pale-face take that boy’s place now.” - -The next moment a middle-aged Indian rode up to the chief. - -“Upper Pawnees will want white boy. Kenoagla give him them other day.” - -White Lasso’s face darkened, and fire flashed from his midnight orbs. -His hand flew to his knife. - -“White boy is White Lasso’s son now. Upper Pawnees no git ’im again. -The Pale Pawnees can not give ’im back. Kenoagla not Pawnee’s true -king!” - -He shot a glance burdened with passion around upon the band, and the -eyes which he met told that Tom Kyle’s days of mastery were drawing -to a close. - -Charley Shafer shot a look of admiration into White Lasso’s face; but -the next words that fell from the Indian’s lips blanched his cheek. - -“White Lasso cut boy’s heart ’fore he give ’im back to upper Pawnees.” - -The night closed about the party before they entered the Indian -village, and without exciting many of its inhabitants. Charley Shafer -reached his captor’s tent. - -“White boy tired; he sleep now,” said the chief, pointing to a couch -of buffalo skins, in one corner of the lodge. “Nobody hurt ’im. White -Lasso stand ’tween ’im and Upper Pawnees, Red Eagle and Kenoagla.” - -The boy started. - -If those three evils should combine against him, what could White -Lasso do? The answer to this interrogative came to him in the echo of -the Pawnee’s words. - -“White Lasso cut boy’s heart ’fore he give ’im back to Upper Pawnee.” - -With a sigh that indicated the prostration of a human frame, -the peril-environed Ohio youth threw himself upon the skins and -immediately went to sleep. - -He dreamed of home in that peaceful slumber--not of his own danger, -nor of his young comrade, who, during his sleep, was being ingulfed -by the treacherous quicksand with a Pawnee lariat around his body. - -After watching his captive awhile, White Lasso stole from the lodge, -on tip-toe, and walked away. - -Scarcely had he disappeared when the skinny curtain slowly parted, -and a face was revealed by the fire which lighted up the small -apartment. - -“How come pale boy here when Kenoagla still far off?” murmured the -secret visitant. “Where White Lasso find him? Ha! he pretty as river -lily; his skin fairer than Red Eagle’s.” Then, after a long pause, -“Red Eagle not so pretty as pale boy. But Winnesaw go tell Gold Girl -that her fair-skinned brother sleeps in White Lasso’s lodge.” - -Then the face disappeared, and the curtains met again. - -A new love was born in the Pawnee village that night. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - TREASON. - - -Winnesaw, the Pawnee girl, could not conjecture how Charley Shafer -had fallen into the hands of the thirty braves. She had witnessed the -departure of Tom Kyle and his red marauders, the previous night, and -the upper Pawnees had informed her that the young pale-faces were -with Frontier Shack, and under his strong protecting care. - -The return of the renegade was not looked for until some time the -coming day, for the savages knew that the trapper would defend -his charges to the last extremity, and that the cabin could not -be attacked successfully until nightfall. Bent on solving the -mystery that enveloped our hero’s appearance in the Indian village, -Winnesaw did not immediately return to Lina Aiken, the Gold Girl, -but proceeded to look up some brave who had composed a part of White -Lasso’s party. - -She saw that individual himself talking in low tones to a young -warrior. Both stood in the gloomy shade of a lodge, and all at once -Winnesaw grew into a statue not far away. - -She felt that she was the subject of the Indian’s conversation, and -with every sense on the alert she watched the half-naked twain. - -“Wolf Eyes will do it all?” she heard White Lasso say in a half -interrogative manner. - -Wolf Eyes answered, “Yes.” - -A moment later the Indians parted in the shadows, and Winnesaw glided -after the younger, who walked toward the lodge occupied by Mr. -Denison and his daughter, Mabel. - -She saw him approach the guard with a boldness for which she was not -prepared, when she knew that a secret hatred existed between the -sub-chief and the renegade, and, parting the curtains, Wolf Eyes -stood in a listening attitude a long time. - -Some dark project was ripening; the girl felt it no longer now--she -knew it. - -All at once Wolf Eyes turned from the door, and, in the moonlight -that bathed his dark but finely-chiseled face, she saw a smile of -triumph, dark, sinister, triumphant, which a Lucifer might covet and -be satisfied. - -He said a few words in an undertone to the guard, who looked up at -the moon, pointed to a wall of black clouds, and nodded his plumed -head. - -Then Wolf Eyes walked away, dogged by the form of the Indian girl. - -She watched him to the door of his lodge, saw him enter, and, -approaching as near as she dared in the stillness of the night, she -heard the overhauling of revolvers, and the clicking of a rifle-lock. - -“What must Winnesaw do now?” she asked herself, with a puzzled -expression. “Shall she go back and tell the Gold Girl what she has -seen, or shall she watch the traitors?” - -Several times she repeated these puzzling questions, and in the -end she slowly walked away. A few moments later she passed two -Indians, who lay before a large lodge, conversing in low tones, and -disappeared beyond the skinny door. - -The fire in the center of the apartment was burning low, but it -revealed the form of Lina Aiken, stretched upon Red Eagle’s couch, -fast asleep and dreaming, with a smile on her ripe lips. - -For several minutes Winnesaw stood undecided over the sleeping one, -and then, stooping, she gently touched Lina’s rosy cheek. - -The Gold Girl started up with a frightened look. - -“Why, Winnesaw, how you frightened me!” she exclaimed, smiling, as -she recognized the face above her. “I was dreaming, and you broke my -dream in the most bewitching part.” - -“Winnesaw sorry to wake Gold Girl,” said the Pawnee maiden; “but she -may dream of spirit-land again when she has told her white sister -what she saw to-night.” - -Lina Aiken instantly became on the alert, and Winnesaw smiled at her -eagerness, which drove every vestige of slumber from her eyes. - -“What has Winnesaw seen?” she questioned, grasping the girl’s arm, -and speaking in a tone which caused the Pawnee to shake her head. - -“Guards not asleep,” she whispered, glancing fearfully at the door. -“The Pawnee village is full of red traitors; they seem to outnumber -the flowers of the prairies. Winnesaw saw and heard them to-night; -they talk low, but are as bold as the Sioux.” And then she told Lina -Aiken about the conference between White Lasso and Wolf Eyes, and the -subsequent actions of the latter. - -“What does it all mean?” asked the Gold Girl. - -“Cheatery.” - -“But who is to be cheated?” - -“Kenoagla and Red Eagle.” - -“Explain, Winnesaw; your astounding declarations have confused my -poor brain, I can not comprehend you; explain, I say.” - -“Wolf Eyes loves the Gold Girl’s brown sister,” the Indian went on, -“and White Lasso’s heart beats in fire for--for you, my fair-skinned -sister.” - -“What! am I beloved or rather coveted by another red-skin?” groaned -the captive blonde, a pallor flitting over her face. - -“White Lasso wants Gold Girl,” said Winnesaw. - -“But, girl, may all this not be a plot of Red Eagle’s planning? You -know he hates Kenoagla, as your people call the renegade, and may -not the two chiefs be in his employ to rob him of Mabel while he is -absent?” - -Winnesaw shook her head. - -“White Lasso and Red Eagle disputed a deer once, and since that time -their lips have been scaled to each other and Wolf Eyes is White -Lasso’s brother’s son.” - -Lina Aiken did not speak. - -“If they waited until the war-party returned, they could not tear the -pale-face girls from their captors,” continued the Indian girl, after -a brief pause. - -“Then you think that they intend to carry out their plots to-night?” - -“Yes.” - -“What of my guards?” - -“They are the chief’s friends; they too are traitors!” - -“Then why did Red Eagle place them here?” - -“He did not. The Big Medicine put them where they stand.” - -“Would he betray Red Eagle?” - -“He would.” - -“What dark-faced treachery! I have fallen into a den of traitors, and -treachery fills the very air I breathe. But the boy?” - -A blush suffused the red girl’s face. - -“White Lasso will take him along if he goes to-night.” - -Lina Aiken was silent for a long time. - -“I wonder where George is!” she murmured. - -“The other pale-face?” - -The white girl started and it was her time to blush. - -“Did you hear me, Winnesaw?” - -“Yes; Gold Girl loves other pale boy.” - -Lina’s blue eyes dropped to her feet, and the crimson mounted to her -temples, and tarried there until the Indian girl arose. - -“You are not going to leave me now, girl?” said the blonde, -imploringly. - -“Winnesaw go watch traitors; she come back soon,” was the reply, and -before the last sound died away, Lina found herself alone. - -The Pawnee girl soon perceived that her footsteps were dogged by a -black shadow, and she walked directly to her lodge. After dropping -the curtains, she turned, and saw the black detective approaching -with the tread of the cat. - -After watching him a moment, she turned and threw herself upon her -couch like one who would soon yield to the wooings of the drowsy god. - -The moonlight stole faintly into her lodge, and a stray beam fell -across her face. She threw an arm across her cheeks in sleepy -abandon; but peeped out under the bridge of the elbow, and saw the -eyes that regarded her from the outside of the wigwam. One of the -Indian’s hands clutched a silver-mounted revolver, but she had no -occasion to use it, for the eyes soon disappeared, and she heard -their owner walking away. - -She arose and gazed upon the retreating form. - -It was Wolf Eyes; the peculiar gait, the crest of hawk-feathers, -proclaimed his identity beyond question. - -He disappeared among the shadowy lodges, satisfied, no doubt, that -the object of his espionage slept suspicionless and sound. - -The girl had completely deceived him, and when his form no longer -obstructed her vision, she snatched a rifle from a corner, and left -the lodge. - -“The traitors shall not carry out all their plans,” she muttered, -with determination; “they may have the pale-face girls; but they -shall not carry the white boy away. The Great Spirit made his pretty -face for Winnesaw, and he shall not be taken from her now.” - -These words meant much, and the red lips closed over them with -fearful emphasis, which told what a woman would dare for love. - -Once the Indian girl thought of arousing the village, and thus baffle -the designs which were to be carried out when the dark clouds settled -over the disk of the moon; but when she recollected that desperate -men would do desperate deeds, and that the entire village swarmed -with plots and counterplots, and traitors of the deepest dye, she -relinquished all such intentions and resolved to do it all herself. - -She hurried toward White Lasso’s lodge; but now two Indians guarded -it, and the chief was not to be seen. - -She felt that she was suspected. - -For several minutes she watched the lodge, but the Pawnee did not -return. She crept to the base of the structure, and heard the regular -breathings of a sound sleeper. - -Charley Shafer was still there. - -While she listened, the whinny of a mustang reached her ears, and -drove her to her feet. - -The next moment she was hurrying cautiously toward the western -suburbs of the village. - -The whinny had told her much that was startling, and presently she -saw an Indian holding three horses by the bridles on the banks of the -Pawnee Loup. - -Treason was hatching, and the shell would soon be broken by the giant -offspring. - -The girl crept near the horses, taking good care to keep to windward, -and all at once she dropped in the grass, and griped the silvered -butt of the revolver which Pawnee ferocity had torn from the hand of -some murdered emigrant. - -It was near midnight now, and the darkest hour was at hand. The black -cloud wall had blotted the moon, as it were, from the heavens, and -but four stars, toward the east, still illuminated the skies. - -The horses were fresh and eager to rush over the prairies, in the -face of the cool breeze, that came from the west. They pawed the sod, -and arched their noble necks, until the Indian curbed their ire with -his voice, and made them seem statues in the darkness. - -Winnesaw watched and waited with bated breath. - -The consummation of treason seemed never to dawn. But what seemed -hours to the girl were but minutes, and at last footsteps broke the -ghastly silence. - -The click, click, of rifle and revolver were drowned by the noise of -the swaying grass. - -Three forms joined the single Pawnee, but two bore human-shaped -objects in their arms. - -The next moment two Indians vaulted to the mustangs’ backs, and the -steed-watcher lifted the girls to their arms. - -“Now the boy!” - -It was White Lasso’s voice, and Winnesaw was near enough to see that -a tight bandage covered the boy’s mouth, and that Mabel Denison and -the Gold Girl were similarly secured. - -The Indian addressed by the chief caught Charley Shafer in his arms, -threw him upon the back of the third horse, and then leaped up after -him. - -“Now good-by Pawnee Loup,” said White Lasso, waving his hand toward -the river. “We ride to the Sioux, and with them we’ll hunt the -buffalo, and fight the Pawnee if he comes for White Lasso and his -friends.” - -Quickly, then, the mustangs’ heads were turned toward the north, but -before the spurs touched the scarred rowels, a pistol cracked and the -Indian who held Charley Shafer groaned and dropped to the ground! - -The boy still retained his seat, and as the horses started forward, -a slender form sprung from the grass, and threw herself before the -horse’s hoofs. A hand clutched the bridle, and the flash of powder -drove the animal back upon his haunches. Then, before he could -recover, his rider was jerked to the ground, and the hand released -the bridle. - -White Lasso and Wolf Eyes did not pause; but the chief turned and -sent a bullet after the Pawnee girl, who darted forward as the weapon -cracked. - -She stooped and snatched her rifle from the grass. - -“Don’t, girl, you may shoot Mabel!” - -Charley Shafer’s hands griped Winnesaw’s arm; but he could not -prevent the shot. - -A wild cry came back over the prairie, and in a ray of moonlight -which shot through a break in the cloud wall, they saw two forms fall -from a horse. - -The remaining horseman dashed on. - -The young twain rushed forward. - -White Lasso lay in the grass quite dead, and Lina Aiken stood over -him, transfixed with horror. - -Charley Shafer snatched Winnesaw’s rifle from her hand; but the next -instant he threw it away with a despairing cry. - -Wolf Eyes and his beautiful captive had entirely disappeared. - -The young adventurer staggered back with a groan. - -Lina Aiken stole to his side. - -“Poor Mabel,” she said; “they killed her father but an hour ago, and -now the second sorrow of her life begins.” - -The boy gritted his teeth. - -“I would have been with her, to comfort and save perhaps, had it not -been for that red-skin,” and, as he turned to Winnesaw, he hissed: -“Girl, I hate you; may Heaven increase that hatred!” - -Winnesaw dropped her eyes and turned away. - -“Don’t hate her, Charley, don’t! she has been very kind to me.” - -“Hark!” - -The Indian girl started forward, but paused and turned to the couple -again. - -“The Pawnees come!” she said. “The clouds gather, but Winnesaw will -stand by the pale faces through the storm!” - -The next instant they were surrounded. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - AN UNEXPECTED ACCUSATION. - - -We left George Long among the devouring quicksands of the Platte, and -now, after a brief absence, we return to him. - -His weight, though not great, seemed to take him down, and the -Indians, seeing this, set up wild yells for assistance. Meanwhile, -they tugged with all their strength at the lasso, and the boy thought -that they would rend him in twain. Tighter and tighter grew the -lariat about his body; his arms seemed to be forced into his sides, -and his breath became mere gasps, and brief ones at that. - -“Let go! let go!” he shouted to the savages in the agony of mingled -pain and despair. “You can’t get me out! my knees are below the sand -now; my feet are lumps of ice. Drop the rope, and let me sink!” - -But the savages did not obey. On the other hand, they braced -themselves anew, and pulled in quick, torturing jerks. The -unfortunate boy’s body lay on the water now, and the jerks would -submerge his face in the cold fluid, which seemed destined to be his -grave. - -All at once several Pawnees joined the red twain, and presently five -pair of hands griped the sinewy rope. - -“Steady!” shouted a new voice, and the next moment Tom Kyle, the -renegade, appeared on the scene, at the head of a score of warriors. - -George looked up and saw the Pale Pawnee doff his serape and plumed -hat. Then he handed his pistol-belt to an Indian, and urged his horse -into the fatal river. - -“Pull steady!” he cried, glancing over his shoulder at his red-men. -“We’ll get the boy out yet--the boy who shot Red Eagle!” - -If George Long could have uttered an intelligible word, he would have -flung the lie into his would-be-rescuer’s teeth. He saw the motive -that prompted the renegade’s action; he would rescue him for the -purpose of covering up a dastardly crime of his own, for, as yet, the -youth had not shed a drop of Indian blood. - -Nearer and nearer came the renegade. His steed sunk at each step, and -Tom Kyle spurred him out of the devouring sand before it could clutch -its victim, and at last he drew rein beside the youth. George had -sunk but a few inches since the tightning of the lasso; the Indians’ -strength had counteracted the work of the sand; but they could not -extricate him. It wanted a strong upward pull, and that was coming in -the arm of the renegade. - -“You’re in a bad fix, boy,” cried Tom Kyle, reaching down for the -motionless form lying on the water. “The Indians were about giving -you up when I came, and you couldn’t hire one to ride out here and -try and pull you out with all the scalps in Christendom.” - -He caught the young Ohioan’s shoulder, and shouted to the Indians on -shore to loosen the tension of the lasso. Instantly it was done, and -steadily Tom Kyle rose in the heavy Spanish stirrups, pulling the boy -upward with all the strength he could command. - -While he exerted his strength, his noble horse was sinking, and -thus loosening the sand about the boy’s legs. It sprung to its new -victim--the horse--and as the spur-scarred flanks touched the water, -George Long felt himself being pulled through the waves, while a -thousand hellish cries filled his ears. - -The renegade saw that he could not save his horse, and stripping the -accouterments from him, he sprung into the water and swam ashore. - -A few frantic struggles settled the brave steed’s fate, and at last -the water rushed over the sandy grave. - -George Long fainted in the water; but four Indians rubbed him back -into life, and he was jerked upon his feet. - -“Where’s white trapper?” - -George pointed to the river, and the Indians who had fired the volley -which resulted so fatally to the voyagers, declared that Frontier -Shack had disappeared in one of the quicksand whirlpools which abound -in the Platte. - -“I guess you’re able to sit on a horse,” said Tom Kyle, turning to -our hero. “We’re going home now.” - -The boy declared that he felt stronger, and presently the party were -riding in a full gallop toward the north. While they were mounting, -a bright light illumined the cove, and several Pawnees, loaded -with pelts, rode up and joined the band. The island home of Otis -Shackelford was in flames, and it looked as if the entire island -would be devoured by the scarlet demon, fire. - -“Where is the trapper’s horse?” questioned Tom Kyle, of the youth, as -they rode along. - -George replied by relating the story of Charley Shafer’s sudden -departure. - -“I wanted that horse,” replied the renegade, “and you must know that -I am terribly disappointed. There is no such steed as the trapper’s -in my nation; I would have given a thousand dollars for him, any day.” - -Tom Kyle never dreamed that that coveted horse was to prove his death! - -They rode into the Indian village an hour after midnight. Confusion -filled the square, which was illuminated by torches elevated on -poles, and a strange sight greeted George Long’s eyes as he took in -the wild scene. - -He first saw Charley Shafer standing beside an Indian girl, while -Lina Aiken clung to his arm, looking with pallid features upon the -dark mob, which surrounded them with knives and tomahawks. - -Near the chief who was haranguing the boisterous multitude, when -Kenoagla’s party rode into the village, lay two dead bodies. The -whitish lasso lying on the throbless breast proclaimed the identity -of one, while the absence of plumes from the other head, proclaimed -its owner a common warrior. - -Tom Kyle’s eyes swept the entire scene in an instant, and he drove -the spurs into his animal’s flanks with an oath, which was a frequent -visitor to his lips. - -The speaker ceased, and a shout of triumph pealed from his lips. He -had attained the object of his harangue--time; and at sight of the -returning band the red-skins divided, and the renegade halted in the -“square.” - -“The other boy, by heavens!” exclaimed the renegade, his eyes -recognizing Tecumseh’s young rider. “Where’s the horse?” - -“Safe in the Pawnee village,” answered an Indian. - -“Good! he’s mine.” - -The savages crowded about the band to learn the particulars of their -expedition, and terrible shouts rent the air when the bursting of the -cottonwood was made known. Fierce looks were shot at George Long, who -sat on the white mustang at the renegade’s side; but the red-man’s -anger reached its loftiest pinnacle when a certain corpse was brought -into the circle. - -Tom Kyle had tried to prepare the savages for bad news; but his words -shot bitter arrows at the youthful captive, and when the warriors -laid the corpse of Red Eagle beside that of White Lasso, his secret -enemy, there was a perceptible movement toward the boy. Winnesaw bent -over the body. - -“Back!” cried the renegade, rising in his stirrups. “Do not slay the -boy in the heat of your anger. The upper Pawnees are here; they claim -the two pale boys; we gave them to our river brethren when the white -man’s trail fell into our hands. We must listen to the upper Pawnees.” - -At this harangue the Indians paused, and looked toward the group of -Indians whose peculiar garments told that they did not dwell on the -Loup fork. Fifty stalwart fellows composed the group, and all at once -the plumed heads of the chiefs came together in low conversation. The -Loup and Platte Pawnees were not ancient enemies, though, at times, -they had met as foemen on the battle-field; and a few words were -sufficient to rupture any peace that might exist between them. - -The young white buffalo-hunters, as captives, belonged to the Platte -Pawnees, and when the survivors of Frontier Shack’s victory besought -their Loup brethren for aid, they thought that the boys would be -delivered over to them without a word. - -But things had turned out strangely, to say the least. Frontier Shack -had not fallen into the Indians’ hands, and a ball had entered Red -Eagle’s brain. The chief’s death had, in the event of the trapper’s -disappearance, been charged to the young adventurer, and the Loup -Pawnees now clamored for his hot young blood, and for the gore of his -white comrade. - -The Indians whom Charley Shafer tried to signal while flying over -the prairies on Tecumseh’s back, had proved to be the band of Platte -Pawnees, on a buffalo-hunt, and they had joined Tom Kyle’s avengers -a few minutes before the terrible explosion of the cottonwood. After -the siege, they had been persuaded to accompany Kenoagla’s band to -the Pawnee village, where a final disposition of George Long should -be made. - -The whispered consultation of the Platte chiefs did not last long; -their lips closed firmly over certain words, and, at length, the -Samsonian leader of the party advanced from the group. - -“The chiefs say, ‘Give us our property!’” he said, in a firm tone; -“give us the white boys and we will seek our lodges in peace.” - -Tom Kyle saw that he stood on the crust of a crater, and his eye -calmly swept the sea of red faces beneath his perch. - -The fifty mounted Plattes regarded him with anxious faces and their -hands clutched the rifles with terrible determination. - -“Braves of the Loup, shall two pale boys dye Pawnee ground with -Pawnee blood?” asked the renegade, hurling his voice above the -clicking of a hundred rifle-locks, and the testing of twice as many -arrows. “This pale spawn will die in our brothers’ hands, and Red -Eagle will thus be avenged.” - -“No! no!” shouted White Lasso’s brother, springing to his horse’s -back. “The slayer of Red Eagle shall die by his children’s hands. If -Kenoagla is a Loup no longer, let him go to the Apaches, in whose -lodges he may be safer than here.” - -It was the first outbreak of treason, and the yells of approval that -followed it, blanched the renegade’s cheeks. - -One glance at the Gold Girl, and he hastened to remedy his mistake. - -“I spoke for peace,” he said; “not for the life of Red Eagle’s -slayer. The Plattes and Loups are brothers now; shall all brotherly -ties be severed?” - -“If they do not say to the Loups, ‘Take the white boy and avenge Red -Eagle’--yes!” cried the Little Buffalo. - -The fifty daring fellows in the midst of their three hundred mad -brethren bit their lips, and shook their heads resolutely. - -“Then, Pawnee Loups, we keep the pale-faces or die!” cried the -renegade, as the fifty threw the deadly weapons to their shoulders. - -The women and children, with wild shrieks, fled from the dangerous -ground and cowered in their lodges, pitiable objects of abject terror. - -But still the red fingers refused to press the triggers. - -Neither party seemed willing to inaugurate a conflict which might -grow into a war of extermination, and the silence which reigned could -almost have been _felt_. - -The feelings of the captives at this dread moment can not be -described. Their lives hung on delicate threads; death, like the -sword of Damocles, quivered over their heads, and they waited with -throbless hearts for the volley of fire and lead. - -All at once, after three minutes’ silence, the Platte chief spoke: - -“Shall we have the pale boys?” - -“_No!_” - -The little monosyllable pealed from three hundred throats as from the -throat of one man. - -Then the eyes that covered broad, bare breasts, dropped nearer the -rifle-barrels and bow-strings; but a voice, and the springing of a -girlish form from the body of Red Eagle, stayed the hand of massacre. - -“Stay your hands, Plattes and Loups!” she cried, pausing between the -divided tribes. “The pale boy did not slay Red Eagle. The ball that -reached his brain came from Kenoagla’s rifle!” - -The effect was electrical. - -Every rifle was lowered, and every eye fell upon Tom Kyle. - -His face became as pale as death, and, trembling visibly, he rose in -his stirrups. - -“The red snake who basely shot White Lasso hates the Pawnee King. -She would save the pale boys, and see him die. The warriors will not -listen to her false tongue when they can read her heart.” - -The red-girl’s voice quickly followed the renegade’s: - -“The Pale Pawnee’s rifle shoots a big bullet,” she said, calmly, -firmly. “It will not enter the muzzle of the white boy’s gun. Take -Kenoagla’s lead and try it. It will not fit the white boy’s gun; but -it will fit the hole between Red Eagle’s eyes. And then, Kenoagla -hated Red Eagle because he got the Gold Girl.” - -Three Pawnees sprung from their steeds and griped the rifle which -George Long had retained with a deathly grip while sinking in the -quicksand. - -Tom Kyle tossed them a bullet. - -“Take it!” he hissed. “That girl can make the Pawnee believe any -thing.” - -The savages who were prominent actors in the cabal which existed -against the renegade, carried on the examination. - -Tom Kyle’s bullet would not fit the boy’s gun; but it could be placed -in the hole in Red Eagle’s brain. It fitted that death-wound to a -nicety. - -The examination concluded with a yell. - -The renegade handed his rifle to a chief. - -“If I slew Red Eagle I would fight; but, knowing that I never aimed -at his head, I surrender to my people.” - -The next moment he sprung from his horse, and, guarded by a score of -warriors, he was hurried away. - -“Curse that sharp-eyed girl!” he muttered. “I’ll have her blood -for this yet! And the Gold Girl shall be mine in spite of all the -red demons of the prairie! Though dethroned, the Pawnee king is not -friendless!” - -In the jaws of death, villains plot anew. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - “YOU’VE GOT MY HORSE.” - - -Tom Kyle was thrown into the only strong wooden structure that the -Pawnee village contained, while the young adventurers were placed in -a lodge and guarded by equal numbers of Platte and Loup Pawnees. - -Lina Aiken was taken to the Medicine’s wigwam, while Winnesaw was, -also, closely guarded, for she was guilty of the death of two of -her people, and she must certainly atone for the crime with her own -blood. But she had baffled White Lasso, and succeeded in keeping the -white boy from the smoky lodges of the Sioux. That, at least, was a -source of comfort to her, when she knew that the Plattes would regain -their captives, and that she would die with her lips far from his. - -Such a state of affairs had never before reigned in the Pawnee -village, and the Indians consequently were greatly excited over -it. The guilt and innocence of Tom Kyle were discussed everywhere -during the day; the Platte braves being obliged to remain to await -the result of the renegade’s trial, which would take place the -following day. The treason smothered so long had now broken forth, -and, in its strength, it swept every thing before it. The conspiring -chiefs chafed at the delay; they demanded an immediate trial; but -the majority of the oldest sachems counseled the postponement of the -crisis, and they prevailed. - -Tom Kyle still possessed many true friends, and it was true policy -that their words should produce some effect. - -The afternoon was rapidly fading away, when a solitary Crow Indian -rode into the Pawnee village. His rifle was thrown across his -back, as the sign of peace, and his scalping knife and tomahawk -were inverted in his belt. A single feather comprised his head -dress, and it was interwoven in his scalp-lock, in a curious and -somewhat artistic manner. He was an Indian of middle age, but the -thick painting hid many wrinkles, and several vermilion lines on his -massive breast revealed the presence of arrow or lance scars. His -leggings, as well as the sides of his horse, dripped with water, -which proclaimed that he had crossed the Loup fork at its deepest -point, and he busied himself in arranging the drenched fringes of his -nether garments, with a view to enhancing his appearance in the eyes -of his Pawnee brethren. - -He found himself besieged by hundreds of women and children, long -before he reached the council square; but he resolutely pushed his -animal through the masses, nor did he draw rein until the warriors -gathered about and demanded his name and errand. - -A singular smile played with the Crow’s lips as he gazed into the -fierce faces that surrounded him, and, all at once, he shook his head -and put his finger over his lips, which he drew close. - -The Pawnees exchanged looks of wonder and awe. They seemed to -comprehend that their visitor was a mute. - -Then one of the chiefs undertook to discover the Crow’s errand, and, -with a few motions of his hands, the visitor bade the Pawnees form a -great circle, which was done. - -Instantly new life seemed to inspire the Indian; he performed a -buffalo-chase so admirably that the Pawnees clapped their hands, and -made the air ring with “wewas,” their word for “good!” - -The Crow’s actions told his auditors that he and a number of his -countrymen had embarked upon a great buffalo-hunt, which had proved -quite successful, but disastrous so far as the Indians’ welfare was -concerned. They had lost a number of their party, and he had pursued -the buffaloes to the borders of the Pawnee country. His comrades, -grieved by the loss of two sub-chiefs, who had been killed by wounded -bulls, had returned, while he had embraced the opportunity of -visiting his Pawnee brethren for the first time. - -His looks, his carriage, pleased the savages, and they gathered -about him with delight, mingled with profound respect. The American -Indian always respects an unfortunate person; they pity any one whom -the Great Spirit has touched, as they express affliction in any form, -and they received the mute Crow with dignified courtesy, mingled with -sympathy for his loss of hearing and speech. - -After performing his journey from the Crow village beyond the Black -Hills to the Pawnee lodges, the Indian produced several pieces of -white bark, and charcoal pencils. - -Upon the former he drew the picture of a sleeping bear, and then -pointed to himself. - -Then he sketched Tom Kyle; held the picture up to the Pawnees, and -looked inquiringly around. - -This was not a strange question, for the renegade’s person and -position was well known to the Crows, and it was quite natural for -the Indian to inquire about the king of such a great nation as the -Pawnees. - -His question was answered by signs and picture-writing, and he -expressed great surprise at the unexpected turn affairs had taken. - -Then he dismounted and confided his horse to the care of the -officiating chief. This announced his intention of remaining to -witness the renegade’s trial and doom. - -A lodge was given him, food placed at his disposal, and the curtain -fell upon the Crow all alone. - -He did not seem to hear the loudest sound, for a gun had been -discharged close to his head, and he had not exhibited the least -curiosity regarding the shot. - -After remaining in the Pawnee lodge for the space of an hour, -Sleeping Bear raised the curtains and stepped out. The shades of -night were gathering from the four cardinal points, and the mute -wandered aimlessly, as it seemed, about the village. - -He encountered a warrior whose age reached his own, and they walked, -at the Crow’s request, toward the corral, which contained perhaps a -hundred horses. These animals were newly captured or stolen ones, -while the old Pawnee steeds were browsing along the banks of the Loup -fork, or sleeping on the prairie near the village. - -The Crow’s companion was suspicious, and he watched his nation’s -guest narrowly, as they walked along, conversing by signs. Sleeping -Bear did not notice the Pawnee’s suspicious nature; he seemed intent -on telling the story of a famous chase after the wild horses, and at -last they reached the corral. - -The horses were biting and fighting each other like wild beasts, and -many already bled from wounds inflicted by hoof or teeth. - -Prominent among them appeared a magnificent iron-gray whose fore -shoulders were branded with the letter S. This horse seemed the -king of the corral, for the others fled around the inclosure at his -approach, and many were cowed by his flashing eyes. - -The two spectators watched the conqueror in silence, and the Pawnee’s -eyes dilated with triumph, when the horse suddenly galloped toward -them, and poked his neck forward at the Crow with a low whinny of -delight! - -The next moment the mute found his throat griped by long fingers, and -the Pawnee was bearing him to the ground with quick ejaculations of -success. - -“The horse has betrayed the white hunter,” hissed the Indian. “He -never leaves the Pawnee village, never!” - -The keen edged scalping-knife quivered over the tufted head before -its owner could recover his equilibrium, for the Loup’s action was -the work of a single moment. - -All at once the Pawnee felt his antagonist’s muscles swell to the -bulk of mill-ropes, and the next minute Sleeping Bear sprung to his -feet like the upward flash of the rocket, as sudden and as resistless. - -The Pawnee tried to shriek; but the cry died in his throat and the -Crow’s hand choked him into the realms of insensibility. Once the red -hand opened partially, but suddenly closed again, held the Pawnee at -arm’s length, then let him drop. - -One dead Indian lay at the edge of the corral! - -During the conflict the Crow, as he styled himself, did not utter a -word, and after the victory he maintained the dogged silence which -had kept his lips sealed since his entrance into Pawneedom. - -The iron-gray still stretched his neck over the corral, and the -victor approached and patted it affectionately, but did not utter a -word. - -The tarry of the Crow in the village, and the scene at the horse-pen, -had occupied several hours, and the night was well advanced when the -last incident occurred. His absence was not missed; several Indians -had seen the Pawnee join him, and they, no doubt, thought that they -were yet together about the corral. - -At length Sleeping Bear walked slowly back toward the village, and -entered his lodge, but a moment later he emerged again. - -But few Indians were to be seen now, and the hunter joined a small -group standing near the lodge wherein slept Lina Aiken. The savages -noticed him and proceeded with their conversation. The expression -on the Crow’s face told them that he was a true mute, for they said -words designed to startle him, but without effect. - -“The Plattes will take the pale boys to-morrow,” said one Indian. “We -do not want them. We will say that Kenoagla killed Red Eagle, whether -he did or not, and his blood will satisfy our people.” - -It was agreed among the conspirators that, guilty or innocent, Tom -Kyle should die on the morrow, and it was evident that none of the -conspirators believed him guilty. They argued that he dared not slay -Red Eagle, when the chief had been a professed friend, and they could -not tell what kind of rifle George Long might have used while in the -trapper’s hut. - -After a while the group dispersed, and the visitor returned to his -hut, or lodge. - - * * * * * - -Half an hour later the door of Tom Kyle’s prison opened slowly. It -was opened by one of the guards, and an instant later the renegade -came forth unbound. - -“Where’s the girl?” he asked, in a low tone. - -“At the corral.” - -“Good! now let us hurry. If Kenoagla is found here to-morrow, he’ll -be roasted or shot, as sure as fate.” - -“And the braves who help their king.” - -“Yes, Indians, the traitors would scorch you, too.” - -With stealthy steps the trio moved toward the corral in the darkness, -and when they reached the inclosure, they were joined by another -Indian who held Lina Aiken in his arms. - -“We’ll succeed better than White Lasso,” whispered the renegade, -when his eyes fell upon the Gold Girl. “He can’t steal women worth a -curse. Tom Kyle’s an old hand at the business. Now,” he said, in a -louder tone, but the savage who had waited for his coming clutched -his arm. - -“Hist! Kenoagla.” - -“What’s up?” - -“Somebody’s among the Pawnee’s horses.” - -“The devil!” - -“Rattlesnake heard him when he came here; but he has not heard him -for a minute.” - -“It’s some thieving Omaha,” hissed the renegade, “and he has stolen -away ere this. Catch the animals.” - -In a few moments four horses were captured, and led from the corral -at the furthest side. Among them was Tecumseh, the iron-gray. - -“By heaven! the gray is mine at last!” exclaimed the renegade, in a -low but exultant tone, as he fondly caressed the steed on whose back -the marks of Frontier Shack’s Spanish saddle were plainly visible. -“Here, Rattlesnake, hold the horse till I mount, and, Big Eyes, you -take the girl.” - -The Indian grasped the bridle, and Tom Kyle threw himself upon the -iron-gray’s back. The next instant he gave Tecumseh the spurs, and -the horse dashed away, leaving the three Indians standing beside -their steeds. - -They dared not follow Tom Kyle! in the last moment their courage had -signally failed them, and they looked into each others’s faces with -mingled shame and cowardice. - -Tom was going to the Apaches, but they dared not ride into those -southern wigwams. They had stolen Apache horses; they were known, and -Tom, they now feared, could not protect them there. Perhaps, when -they had served his purpose, he would desert them. They knew the -treachery of the man they had served. - -The renegade glanced over his shoulder and saw the motionless forms -in the starlight. - -“The greasy cowards!” he hissed. “That’s Pawnee nature, to desert a -fellow when he needs help; but I don’t turn back now. I’m riding from -a stake, to authority over a thousand Indians, who will not conspire -for a fellow’s gaudy clothes.” - -He sunk the spurs deeper than ever into Tecumseh’s rowels, and -glanced down into the pale face that looked up to him with a smile of -malicious triumph. - -Flying from a stake to a kingdom! - -It was a proud moment for Tom Kyle. - -At last he reached a small tributary of the Loup fork and plunged -into the water. - -Tecumseh gained the furthest bank, when three dark objects sprung -from the grass. - -“Ho!” - -Tecumseh halted suddenly, as if stricken by an arrow. - -Tom Kyle drew a pistol. - -An Indian sat bolt upright on a horse, not twenty yards in his front, -and he saw that a rifle covered his heart. - -He discovered more than this. He recognized Sleeping Bear, the Crow, -whose visit to the village he had lately witnessed from his prison. - -The Crow had seemed a mute; but had not the exclamation which brought -Tecumseh to a halt fallen from his lips? - -The mental interrogative was soon answered to the renegade’s -satisfaction and astonishment. - -“Tom Kyle, you’ve got my horse!” - -The fugitive king saw all now. - -Sleeping Bear was Frontier Shack! - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - SHOT BY HIS OWN RIFLE. - - -“Tom Kyle, I say you’ve got Tecumseh!” - -The reiteration of the trapper’s declaration followed a minute’s -silence. - -“Well, what if I have?” hoarsely grated the White Pawnee. - -“I want ’im.” - -“You do?” - -“Certainly; get off!” - -Tom Kyle gritted his teeth till they fairly cracked. Then he lowered -half unconscious Lina Aiken to the ground, but remained on the -iron-gray. - -“There’s the girl!” he said. - -“But I want the horse. Tecumseh is worth more to me than all the -girls in America.” - -“What will you do with me? Shackelford, I have saved your life.” - -“And you would have saved it night before last if your devils had -caught me, too,” was the sarcastic rejoinder. “But to business; get -off that horse.” - -Shackelford’s voice was as stern as a winter storm, and the renegade -saw his head drop once more to the rifle-stock. - -“I mean business, Tom Kyle. We can’t wait here. If you will be -stubborn--” - -The fugitive from Indian vengeance interrupted the hunter by -springing to the ground. - -Frontier Shack now rode slowly forward, the remaining horsemen -following his example. - -“I pulled wool over the Pawnees’ eyes this time, Tom,” he said, -familiarly, and with a broad smile. “The water tells me that I make -a handsome Indian. You see I can play the Crow pretty decently, for -I’ve trapped with the varmints but I never caught enough of their -lingo to gabble it off to advantage. Wonder what them Pawnees ’ud say -if they could hear Sleeping Bear talking like any other folks?” - -He paused, and Tom Kyle saw fit to put a question. - -“How did you know I was escaping?” - -“I’ll tell ye. I first put an end to the two greasers what guarded -the boys, hyar, an’ then I sneaked around for the girl, fur one o’ -these chaps wouldn’t budge a peg ’thout her. I found her nest empty, -an’ I knew that you had a hand in the pie. I knew that you would -take my horse, because you’ve wanted him for these several years. I -daren’t go back to the corral, for I thought I would run ag’in’ you, -and there’d hev been a game blocked. We caught Pawnee horses on the -prairie, and struck out for the Platte.” - -“But how did you know that I would ride southward?” - -“I knew your situation, Tom Kyle. The Pawnees hev told me about the -volcano that they were manufacturin’ beneath your feet, and I knew -that you had good inducements to join the Apaches. So we came here -and waited. This is the old Apache trail. You war a fool for takin’ -it to-night.” - -“I know it,” said the renegade; “but what can’t be cured must be -endured, I suppose.” - -“It seems so; but we must be movin’. Allow me to tie your hands.” - -The Pale Pawnee submitted to the operation with muttered curses. - -Then he was placed upon the horse, which the trapper had ridden from -the Pawnee village, and his legs were lashed to the sinewy girth. - -“Where are you going?” he asked, as Frontier Shack vaulted upon the -back of his favorite steed once more. - -“To Fort Kearney.” - -A pallor flitted across the renegade’s face. - -He did not want to go the frontier station. - -“Shackelford, this is the lowest kind of revenge.” - -The trapper smiled. - -“I can’t take vengeance for the Government,” he said. “Tom Kyle, I’m -going to turn you over to the authorities, and I hope that they will -deal justly with one who has massacred so many helpless emigrants.” - -“Well, do as you like, but let me tell you now, Otis Shackelford, -that, should I escape, I will take your life if I am obliged to hunt -you a lifetime.” - -Another smile curled the hunter’s lips, and then the ride over the -prairies continued in silence. - -Fort Kearney, at that time, was a weak frontier post; but it awed the -savage in its vicinity, and kept him classed among the comparatively -harmless denizens of the West. The cannon had a terror for him, and, -as yet, he had not learned to laugh at the blue-coated soldiery, who -stood between him and the great father at Washington. - -The western post, in question, was situated about sixty miles from -the point where Frontier Shack arrested the flight of the Pale -Pawnee, with his prize--the Gold Girl. - -Shackelford took a trail not much frequented by Indians, but noted -for being crossed and trodden by buffaloes. - -The quartette rode rapidly beneath the stars, which dotted the azure -vault, and wore a senescent aspect, which the trapper noted with a -half frown. - -He almost wished that the night might be interminable. - -At last day broke upon the vast prairie, and found the fugitives -still many miles from Fort Kearney. - -Objects assumed shape gradually, and the first one to speak was Lina -Aiken, who sat before the trapper on his old steed. - -“We must hurry,” she said, her eyes riveted upon a dark mass which -seemed to rest against the eastern horizon. “A storm will burst upon -us soon.” - -“A storm, girl? Why, where’s the clouds?” - -“Yonder.” - -“That’s buffalo.” - -Lina uttered an exclamation of wonder. - -Presently the thunder of hoofs was heard, and the army of buffaloes -advanced directly toward the Platte, almost within sight of whose -waters our fugitives were. - -The herd contained thousands, and the noise of their feet as they -rushed over the plain almost drowned the voice of the spectators. - -“They’re makin’ for water,” remarked Shackelford. “There’s a place -hyarabouts where the river’s cl’ar of quicksands, and them knowing -beasts hev discovered it. It is further down river, though, so we’ll -sit hyar till they pass in our front. Now, boys, look out for white -bufflers! If thar’s any in this world, ye’ll see ’em in that herd.” - -A crimson flush stole to the cheeks of the young adventurers, and -they exchanged smiles without glancing at the trapper. - -Suddenly the line lengthened, and excitement faded from the young -Ohioan’s eyes. - -They turned to the trapper. - -“We’re in danger!” - -Frontier Shack did not reply, but watched the animals whose extended -ranks endangered their lives to an imminent degree. - -“We stand between them and the water,” said Tom Kyle, coolly, and -with infinite pleasure, despite his situation. “They are coming like -lightning, and they could catch us before we could reach the river.” - -“I know it,” replied the hunter; “but we must not die here.” - -“We can’t fire the prairie, although the wind is in our favor.” - -“No; the grass is green now.” - -“Then what will we do?” - -It was Lina Aiken’s question. - -“I can save the party. I could show you the Pawnees’ plan for -baffling buffalo.” - -“We can ride through the ranks.” - -“You can not, Shackelford: those ranks must be three hundred deep. -Through the ranks of a common herd we might ride to safety; but not -through those ranks.” - -The hunter reseated himself in the saddle, after surveying the -bisonic legion, that rushed forward, completely infilading them, -crazed for water to cool their tongues. - -Such a horde threatened to drain the Platte. - -“That’s so, Tom; we can’t ride through them. If they war wild horses -we’d fix them, but--heavens! what thunder!” - -“We’ve got to die when we can be saved,” grated the renegade. - -“No! there!” - -Tom Kyle stretched his limbs, and uttered a low ejaculation when he -found himself free. - -“Now show us the Pawnee plan.” - -“I will, God helping me,” said the renegade, with determination. -“Your rifle.” - -Frontier Shack did not hesitate, but tossed Tom Kyle his rifle. - -With a “Now,” which sounded terribly triumphant at that perilous -hour, the fugitive king rose in his stirrups and surveyed the -approaching herd, whose glaring eyes and long red tongues were now -distinctly visible. - -What would the renegade do? - -The spectators held their breath and fastened their eyes on him. - -He seemed to be looking for a break in the dark-brown ranks. - -Suddenly his eyes lit up with a strange, fierce fire, and Frontier -Shack, who also had risen in his stirrups with a revolver clutched in -either hand, saw what had rejoiced the renegade. - -The buffaloes had extended their ranks until the files were not -dangerously deep, and two huge bulls, who were fighting most -furiously, promised to divide the herd. - -“Now, Tom--” - -The trapper suddenly paused, for the renegade had wheeled in his -stirrups, with an oath. - -“This is the Pawnees’ plan!” he hissed. - -There was the report of a rifle; the revolvers fell from -Shackelford’s hands, and he dropped on Tecumseh’s neck without a -sigh--without a groan! - -A cry of horror burst from the lips of the spectators of this brutal -deed, and Lina Aiken found herself dragged from beneath the body of -her preserver by a hand that griped her like the jaws of a vise. - -With the girl in his arms, the renegade wheeled toward the buffaloes. -He rose in his stirrups again, as he executed the movement, and -a moment later he was standing on the saddle with the ease of a -circus-rider. - -One arm supported Lina Aiken and the trapper’s rifle, while the other -held his magnificent serape aloft, and flaunted it in the faces of -the thirsty herd. - -Straight at the quadrupedal ranks the Pawnee “buck-skin” darted, and -the renegade accompanied the waving of his serape with yells that -might have frightened the fiends in Pandemonium. - -The young adventurers’ eyes looked over white cheeks, and George -Long’s first intention was to cock his rifle. - -“Don’t shoot!” cried his companion, putting forth his hand. “Our -safety lies in following him. If he rides through the ranks, why can -not we?” - -The hammer fell gently on the percussion-cap. - -“Forward!” - -With a glance at Frontier Shack, whose hands griped Tecumseh’s mane -with the tenacity of death, the two boys shot forward in the wake of -the renegade. - -Their safety did lie in following Tom Kyle, who uttered a light laugh -when he glanced over his shoulder and saw them giving their Pawnee -horses spur and rein. - -The two heroes imitated the flying king as nearly as possible. - -They stripped themselves to their jackets, and rising in the -stirrups, they waved their garments at the bisons. - -For many moments it seemed that they were riding to a terrible death -beneath short horns and stony feet; but all at once, that dreadful -thought gave place to a wild cry of safety. - -The renegade rode almost directly toward the rising sun, and the rich -gold trimmings of his Spanish cloak dazzled the eyes of the beasts; -and at length the brownish ranks divided. - -A yell of triumph pealed from Tom Kyle’s lips, and a minute later he -passed the jaws of death! The young buffalo-hunters followed him, and -at their side dashed the iron-gray, as eager to bear his motionless -master through the dark ranks as horse well could be. - -The renegade’s steed was no mean racer. He distanced the other -horses, and when the buffaloes had been baffled, he was almost beyond -rifle-range. - -He shouted something back which the young Ohioans could not catch, -and then they saw him drop into the saddle again and turn his horse’s -head in a south-westerly direction. - -“We can’t overtake him, George,” said Charley Shafer. “We must stop -here.” - -They curbed their mustangs with little difficulty, for the beasts -were jaded, and a quick “’Ho!” brought Tecumseh to a sudden halt. - -“I wonder if he’s dead,” said young Shafer, riding up to the trapper, -while his comrade gazed, with gritted teeth and clenched hands, at -the villain who bore from him, with terrible rapidity, the beautiful -being whom his young heart had learned to love. - -Frontier Shack still lay motionless on the iron-gray’s back, and the -horse turned his head with a softened look as the youth put forth his -hand. - -Tecumseh’s neck was crimsoned with blood; but the boy raised the -trapper’s head with flutterings of hope. - -That head seemed a lump of lead; but as Charley lifted it high from -the blood-clotted mane, the expressionless eyeballs seemed to move. -He looked again, this time with an exclamation of joy! - -The dark eyes moved again, and the hands released the horse’s mane. - -“George! George!” cried the overjoyed boy, “he lives! he lives!” - -Called from the contemplation of the dark speck oscillating against -the distant horizon, George Long bounded forward. - -“Where’s the bufflers?” - -“At the river.” - -“Where’s that devil?” - -“Out of sight now,” said George, with a sigh. - -Frontier Shack was silent for a moment. - -“He’s showed me the Pawnee mode of beating bufflers,” he said, at -length, with a smile which, on his bloody face, looked ludicrous -in the extreme; “but if I don’t show him Frontier Shack’s mode of -beating renegades, then may the wolves howl over my grave when the -grass dies ag’in! Are ye ready, boys?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then we move.” - -“To Fort Kearney?” asked George, who saw that the trapper possessed -no weapons. - -“I don’t see Fort Kearney nor the Stars and Stripes till I wipe out -that cussed pale whelp.” - -“And save Lina?” - -“Yes.” - -“And Mabel?” - -“Yes!” - -The boys grasped the trapper’s hands. - -“Boys, look hyar,” said Frontier Shack, solemnly, “you’ve got fathers -and mothers; I haven’t. I had parents once, but they’re up yonder. I -kin do what I’m going to do alone. I might get along better without -you; I really think I could. Now suppose I guide you to Fort Kearney, -and that you wait till I bring the girls back. I’ll do it, so help -me Heaven! I want yer parents to see ye once more, and I tell ye -truly that yonder, across that river, lies the valley of death, and -yonder,” pointing toward the land of the Sioux, “the highlands of -destruction.” - -“Sir, dangers can not frighten us,” said Charley Shafer, breaking -the profound silence that followed the trapper’s last words. “We are -going with you, for we have determined to rescue our friends from -the red-skins or die in the attempt. You can not guide us to Fort -Kearney; there!” - -The old trapper slowly shook his head, and muttered in a low tone: - -“If white bufflers hed a-kept out o’ yer heads! Si Gregg hed no -business to write sech a lie!” - -He loved the boys. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - A VOICE IN THE NIGHT. - - -Near the close of a beautiful day, an Indian sat in a saddle on the -banks of the Arkansas, not far from James’ Peak, and gazed at an -object which rapidly approached from the north-east. - -That object appeared to be a horse, and the Pawnee watched it -intently, with shaded eyes, as it rose and fell like a ball on the -plain that separated them. - -He did not speak or look at the beautiful girl whose waist his bare -arm encircled, and held before him on his black steed. - -She, too, saw the object which had attracted the savage’s attention, -and when its identity was plainly revealed, the Pawnee started and -uttered an exclamation of wonder. - -Mabel Denison looked up at him, questioningly, curiously, but did not -speak. - -“The Pale Pawnee seeks the Apaches,” said the Indian, Wolf Eyes, in a -low tone, which still bore traces of inward astonishment. “Why does -he ride thither now? Has the storm of the chiefs broken overhead? and -has he stolen from the Pawnees at night, and ridden like the wind -from the lodges where he once reigned like a king?” - -The approaching horseman answered Wolf Eyes’ questions, for when he -suddenly checked the career of his beast, the Pawnee saw the burden -the “buck-skin” bore. He glanced at Mabel, but, seeing that she had -not recognized Lina Aiken, he kept his lips closed, and executed the -Pawnee signal of peace with the rich sash which he had plundered from -some New-Mexican hacienda in days gone by. - -A peculiar motion proclaimed his identity, and presently the renegade -rode forward again. - -They met on the river’s bank, and a sharp cry of recognition rose -from the throats of the captive girls. - -Lovingly they put forth their arms for an embrace; but the distance -was too great for them to feel heart beat against heart. Tom Kyle saw -this and rode nearer Wolf Eyes. - -“There, Lina, embrace your friend,” he said, softly, lifting his -captive forward. “God knows I wouldn’t deprive you of such happiness -at this hour. I thought Wolf Eyes far away from this spot, and I -expected to meet the Old Harry here as much as the chief.” - -The girls encircled each others’ necks, and mingled their -tears--tears of joy at meeting in the darkest hour of adversity, when -not a hand was near to chase the clouds away, and show them the sun. - -“I thought you were with the Sioux,” said Tom Kyle, addressing the -chief, who watched the captives with a stoicism that proved him as -devoid of feeling as a stone. - -“When Wolf Eyes saw White Lasso fall, he knew that he dared not ride -into the wigwams of the Sioux alone; so, he turned his horse’s head -toward the Apaches’ land, and, behold! he has met his white brother -journeying to the same place.” - -“Yes,” answered the renegade. “The storm broke at last over my head, -and for my life I had to fly. The Apaches have waited for me long; -Tarantulah has sent me offer after offer, and I told him that, in the -hour of need, I would fly to his lodge, and teach his people war, as -I have taught the Pawnees. Oh, the rich haciendas I can ride through! -Oh! the golden crosses I can snatch from gilded shrines!” - -Wolf Eyes caught his king’s enthusiasm, and uttered an exclamation of -joy. - -“If Gold Feather still lived, Wolf Eyes would not ride to Apache -land,” said the Indian, suddenly relapsing into seriousness again. - -“Gold Feather is dead?” - -“Yes,” and there was a flash in the midnight eyes. “Wolf Eyes found -him wounded once on the banks of the Platte--wounded by a buffalo -bull; and he tossed him into the water. The Manitou’s lights shone -then, and Wolf Eyes saw his enemy sink to the swallowing sand. He -rode toward the Pawnee lodges to slay Wolf Eyes, but the buffalo -stretched him by the clear water. - -“Then, of course, you’ll be safe among the Apaches, and I will stand -by you. But, if Gold Feather was alive I could not rescue you from -his vengeance.” - -The Pawnee shook his head. - -A moment later the girls, who, during this time, had conversed in low -tones, were gently separated by the renegade. - -Before departing, they surveyed the land that stretched from them to -the north and east, and the last rays of the setting sun fell upon -the two captors fording the Arkansas, with their horses’ heads turned -toward Apachedom. - -Long, lone and drearisome days had intervened between Tom Kyle’s -escape from Frontier Shack, and meeting with Wolf Eyes on the bank of -the Arkansas. - -He had encountered wandering bands of Indians; but, aided by his -knowledge of plains life, he had managed to elude them. Once he -narrowly escaped running into an emigrant train, which Lucy Aiken had -signaled, hoping thereby to escape from his clutches. The signal was -seen, a number of men had pursued the fugitive, but he outgeneraled -them completely. - -After leaving the Arkansas in their rear they did not fear pursuit. -Tom Kyle knew that the boys would not attempt to follow, when their -friend the trapper was dead, for he believed that his ball had -penetrated Shackelford’s brain, instead of merely grazing his temple, -and rendering him half-paralyzed, as was the case. And, with the -start which he had from the Pawnee village, he felt assured that his -red enemies could not overtake him, even if they were to ride their -swiftest horses. - -“They didn’t want my blood, particularly,” he would murmur, when he -thought about such matters as I have just penned; “they wanted me out -of their way, and they ought to be satisfied now. Ha! didn’t I outwit -Red Eagle! I never shoot at a creature twice. He won’t step into the -Pale Pawnee’s moccasins, and that leads me to think that blood will -flow over the question, ‘Who shall succeed Tom Kyle as ruler of the -Loups?’” - -The renegade and his red companion gave their steeds but little rest. -They crossed the mountains in safety, and at last descended to the -beautiful plain-lands of New Mexico. - -Here they were compelled to catch fresh horses, a duty which the -rifle and lasso performed, and after breaking the steeds, an -operation which lasted several days, the journey was resumed. - -One morning, as the sun crept lazily over the mountains that border -Apache-land, the riders reached their journey’s end. - -Boldly they rode into the great Apache village, amid demonstrations -of joy, for the renegade’s rich clothing had caused his recognition, -and Tarantulah had bidden his braves receive him as a great ally. - -The council-square swarmed with savages of all ages and conditions, -and when the twain drew rein, a loud shout of triumph broke forth. - -But, suddenly, Wolf Eyes uttered a low but terrible cry of terror, -and drawing back, he threw his horse upon his haunches. - -The cause of the Pawnee’s agitation was easily discoverable. - -A young chief, whose head-dress consisted of a single feather, dyed -to an ocherous tint, was fitting an arrow to a bowstring, and his -dark eyes were riveted upon Tom Kyle’s red comrade. - -Tarantulah saw the action and sprung forward with a sharp, quick cry -of command, to arrest the frenzied arm. - -Wolf Eyes still forced his horse back; but when he discovered that -stalwart Indians blocked his way, he tried to shield his heart with -Mabel Denison. - -But the shaft left the bow as he threw the murdered agent’s daughter -before his brawny breast, and he fell from his horse with a loud cry! - -Gold Feather complacently unstrung his bow, while he watched -Tarantulah snatch Mabel from under the mustang’s feet. - -The old grudge between Pawnee and Apache had been settled at last. - -Tom Kyle surveyed the sea of upturned faces. There existed, so far as -he could see, no enmity against him. - -It is an Indian’s right to slay his enemy wherever he meets him, and -Gold Feather had exercised that right. He could not be arrested, by -savage law; it was justifiable homicide in the red-man’s eyes--not -cold-blooded murder, needing an expiation. - -Tarantulah found a lodge for the pale captives, and when Tom Kyle had -departed, after wishing them happiness in their new quarters, they -came together in a sweet embrace. - -“Now, Mabel, captivity begins in terrible earnest,” said Lina Aiken. -“The day for rescues has passed, for who is there to hunt us now?” - -Mabel Denison looked up into the pale, sympathizing face that bent -over her, and answered, in a calm, determined tone: - -“I do not despair, Lina. While there’s life there’s hope. We have -friends among these savages.” - -“Friends!” echoed Lina Aiken, astonishment depicted on every -handsome lineament. “Friends among fiends! No, no, Mabel! You take -wishes for reality.” - -Fair-eyed Mabel Denison glanced at the shadow of their guard, which -fell into the lodge, and drew nearer her sister. - -“We have one friend, at least, among the fierce Apaches,” she -whispered, “and that friend is the chief whom we have heard called -Gold Feather.” - -The night that succeeded the second day of the captives’ sojourn in -Apachedom was most beautiful to contemplate. - -For hours Mabel Denison and Lina Aiken stood behind the lodge -curtains, and gazed through the narrow opening at the stars that -glittered in the azure deep of the sky. - -They thought of friends who, secure in happy homes, far toward the -rising sun, slept and dreamed, perhaps of them. - -Such thoughts sent more than one tear down the girls’ cheeks, and, as -they turned to the skin couches which red hands had prepared, a sigh -for the hopes, the joys, the pleasures of the past, escaped their -lips. - -Sleep quickly followed their lying down, and near midnight Mabel -awoke from a strange dream, wherein home and deserts were wildly -commingled. - -A slight noise, like the scratchings of a ’coon, against the back of -the lodge, saluted her ears. With her heart in her throat, she crept -from the couch without disturbing Lina, and put her ear against the -side of the structure directly opposite the noise. - -Now she knew that a knife was at work, and at last the thin blade -slipped through the bark and grazed her cheek. - -Then came a low voice. - -“Do the pale girls sleep?” - -“No!” - -A slight exclamation of joy followed. - -“Gold Feather’s mouth is full of good news. The pale-faces who love -the silver lilies are in the mountains! Can the pretty squaws be -ready to run for the hills?” - -“Oh, yes, at once!” they both cried. - -“Can the white squaws strike down the guard, if he opposes the way?” - -“Try me!” said Mabel, with sudden fierceness which showed how much -she was willing to dare to escape. - -“Then when you hear three owl-hoots, come forth, and Frontier Shack -and myself will be near at hand for the rescue,” and with that the -mysterious visitor glided away. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - THE BLOW FOR FREEDOM. - - -A half-hour passed, of intense anxiety to both girls. Then they -distinctly heard a noise again in the wigwam’s rear. - -“Gold Feather is not able to take the girls out through the village. -The guard sleeps soundly. Go forth; take his gun, and if he wakes -not, make for the hills with soft steps. Gold Feather will guard the -way.” - -Parting the curtains, she peered out, but clouds obscured the stars, -and the blackness of darkness brooded over the village like some -monster eagle. The guard sat beside the door, half-asleep as it -seemed, for his head had fallen between his knees, and his rifle lay -on the ground. - -A moment later the curtains were drawn aside, and Lina stepped out -into the pure night air. - -Mabel followed, and as she dropped the curtain she stooped to deprive -the guard of his gun. - -Her slender hand clutched the barrel of the weapon; but the butt, -which she did not see, struck the Apache’s foot as she drew it toward -her, and starting from his sleep, fully awake in an instant, he -leaped to his feet. - -Lina Aiken uttered a low cry of horror and sprung backward as the -rifle shot upward, held by hands which, though a woman’s, were nerved -with fearful determination. - -The Apache took in the situation at a glance, and, without a cry, he -strode forward. He saw the clutched rifle, and perhaps he caught the -dark eye that fell upon him warningly, for he threw his hand up to -break the blow. But the girl was too quick for him; the butt of the -weapon struck his head with a dull thud, and he staggered toward the -lodge. Once he tried to recover, and had almost succeeded, when the -rifle descended again, and then he sunk to the earth like a stricken -bullock. - -“Now, Lina!” - -The girls joined hands in the darkness, and started for the -mountains. They had miles to travel before dawn, and the path to the -fastnesses were beset with dangers. - -An unseen hand seemed to guide them, for they avoided the somber -lodges with an ease scarcely ever equaled, and had proceeded to the -suburbs of the village when the barking of several dogs, quickly -followed by the yells of Indians, attracted their attention, and -riveted them to the earth. - -“They’ve discovered the guard!” whispered Lina, breathlessly. - -“No,” said Mabel, as the yells increased, “they’ve caught a white -man. Hark!” - -“By heavens! Shackelford, I thought I had finished you! I never -missed a shot before, in all my life; but we’ll take care that your -life ends now. Where are the boys?” - -The girls heard a coarse laugh, which Lina Aiken knew came from -Shackelford. - -“What shall we do now, Mabel?” - -“Continue our journey. They have not caught the two boys--only -Frontier Shack, as the hunter is called. We may yet escape.” - -Again they started forward; but soon realized that all was lost. - -Every lodge was pouring forth its living humanity, and the fugitives -suddenly dropped to the ground, where, with wildly-throbbing hearts -they awaited developments. - -The winds blew from the mountains, and brought distant sounds -distinctly to their ears. - -Suddenly they heard the tramp of horses, and knew that some persons -were flying from the Apache camp. - -“Mabel, listen! we were so near _them_!” - -A sigh, a low “yes,” told that the fugitives were on the brink of -safety and yet did not know it. - -Charley Shafer and George Long were hurrying back to the mountains. - -In the shadow of a lodge the girls continued to crouch, until -every Indian seemed to have reached the spot where the daring -trapper was held in durance vile. Then they rose to their feet and -started forward again; but were quickly seized--this time by the -squaws themselves, who, prowling around the lodges, had discovered -the girls, and a minute later full twenty furious hags surrounded -and held the girls, while a legion of feet approached with quick, -impatient strides. - -Foremost among the warriors was Tom Kyle, minus serape, sword, hat -and moccasins. A pistol barrel glittered in either hand, and he -pushed his way through the captors with a series of oaths. - -“So my birds tried to get away!” he said, with a grim smile of -satisfaction, when the torches revealed the pale faces, whose cheeks -touched each other, almost. “Well, you find it extremely difficult to -fly from Apachedom, eh, my eastern finches? Here, women, give me my -own. I return them to the cage, and take good care that they shall -not escape again.” - -He tore the girls from their captors, and he and the Apaches started -back toward the center of the village. - -“By George! girls,” he exclaimed, stepping nearer Lina Aiken, “that -trapper is in the village. I thought I had finished him; but, somehow -or other, I didn’t, and he has guided them two boys to Apache land. I -tell you that he never sees another night. He’s got to die to-morrow, -as sure as my name is Tom Kyle, and that, girls, is a fixed fact!” - -The girls were silent, and, after a long period of quietude, the -renegade spoke again: - -“Who killed the guard?” - -“I did, sir.” - -It was Mabel Denison who spoke. - -“If the Indians find that out, it may go hard with you. Even Tom Kyle -may not be able to save you. Among the Apaches, it is an eye for an -eye and a tooth for a tooth. If they accuse you, girls, of the death -of the guard, deny it to the bitter end. They do not know that he is -dead.” - -The girls soon afterward found themselves back in their old lodge -again. Then the renegade departed, after whispering a few commands -to the three Indians who now guarded the captives. - -Borne to the council-square, Frontier Shack was soon pinioned to -the single post ever ready there for its captive, and the horrid -fire-torture. The old hunter well knew his danger but flinched not, -nor betrayed the least sign of uneasiness when the howling throng -pressed around him. - -The death of the guard immensely excited the chief Tarantulah. _Who_ -had killed the warrior? This secret he tried to wrest from Shack, but -the white man only laughed in his face. - -“As if I would tell, even if I knowed!” was his contemptuous answer. - -“And you have been helped by some red-man in your visit to the Apache -land. Who is he, that we may burn him with you?” demanded the chief, -fiercely. - -“What do you take me for, Indian?” cried the trapper. “A durn fool, I -s’pose. When I go back on anybody, call me a craw-fish.” - -Tarantulah bit his lips, and started toward his braves. - -“The traitor is Gold Feather!” he cried, “and he has not been seen -to-night.” - -“He rode to the mountains when the Manitou’s light hung in the sky,” -answered a sub-chief. - -“But he returned,” said another. - -“To his lodge, Squatting Bear! Hunt him down, warriors! He is the -traitor! The red-man with a treacherous white skin!” - -“What’s that, chief: Gold Feather not a true red-skin?” asked the -renegade, with evident surprise. - -“Gold Feather is a white man!” - -“I would never have dreamed that. How long has he been with you?” - -The chief studied a moment. - -“Twenty summers.” - -Tom Kyle started at the reply. - -“I had a brother once,” he said. “My father took him to Mexico about -twenty years ago, for he and mother quarreled and parted. But the -Comanches caught and killed them. No, Gold Feather is not my brother; -he--” - -An Indian suddenly paused before the twain, and broke the renegade’s -sentence. - -It was Gold Feather. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - THE SWOOP OF THE AVENGER. - - -“Gold Feather is here. Is the chief angry with him that he should put -the warriors on his track?” - -“Yes,” he cried; “why did Gold Feather ride to the mountains, and -meet the pale-faces in the shadows of the crags? Let him speak the -truth, for Tarantulah knows all.” - -“Gold Feather’s skin is white,” was the firm reply, “and when he -accidentally met the pale-faces among the hills, his heart went out -to them, and he resolved to help them, even against the Pawnee king.” - -“Then Gold Feather told the trapper where Kenoagla slept?” - -“Yes.” - -“Traitor!” hissed Tarantulah; “the Apaches shall mete out a terrible -punishment to the dog that betrays.” - -With yells a score of Indians set to work to plant another stake, -which operation was completed in a short space of time, and the young -traitor was quickly lashed thereto. - -“This is quite a change of fortune, Shackelford,” said the renegade, -approaching the trapper, and facing him with a devilish leer. “I -guess I will not go to Fort Kearney with you. I am quite content -here.” - -“Had it not been for those bufflers you’d ’a swung in Fort Kearney -ere this,” responded Shackelford. - -“What are they waiting on?” he cried, impatiently, turning to an old -chief who stood at his side. “I’m getting anxious to see the fun.” - -“Gold Feather wants to die a pale-face,” was the reply, “and the -paint of the Apaches must be washed from his body before the strong -fire comes.” - -“Well, it’s natural for him to want to die decently,” grated Tom -Kyle, “and I shall curb my eagerness for the burning with the -impatience to see what kind of a looking white man the traitor makes.” - -Presently several warriors advanced to Gold Feather, and applied -strong alkali-water to his person. Then, after thoroughly soaking his -skin, as it seemed, they rubbed him with coarse skins which served as -towels. - -Beneath this operation a startling metamorphosis manifested itself. - -Gold Feather was a white man once more! - -Tom Kyle stood off, and gazed on the singular spectacle; and stepped -to Tarantulah’s side. - -“Now let them die!” - -“When the pale-girls come.” - -“What! must those sensitive creatures witness this horrible sight?” -cried the renegade. “No, chief, rather let them remain in the lodges, -and when the fire dies out let them view the blackened trees.” - -“Tarantulah is sachem of the Apaches,” was the stern rejoinder. -“Kenoagla is an ally, not yet a great Apache chief; but he will be, -soon. The pale girl must fling the lie into Gold Feather’s teeth -before he dies. Ha! they come.” - -The next moment the Apache ranks divided, and Mabel Denison and Lina -Aiken were led into the circle. - -Though daylight was not far distant, it was very dark, but -innumerable torches revealed the terrible scene, and clothed it in a -garment which day could not own. - -“Sir, must we witness this torture of two brave men?” asked Lina -Aiken, when the renegade stepped to her side. “Have you no authority -here? I find your boastings to be lies; yourself the lowest of -men--an Indian’s slave!” - -Tom Kyle bit his lip, and muttered a few words which the Gold Girl -could not comprehend, for his voice shook with passion, and could -scarcely be heard. - -“Girl,” cried Tarantulah, at this juncture, suddenly pausing before -Mabel Denison, and griping her slender arm, “who slew Long Arrow, -your Apache guard?” - -“These hands,” was the undaunted reply, and Mabel put forth her -hands, which touched the sachem’s wampum. “I killed him--struck him -twice before he fell.” - -“Long Arrow saved Tarantulah’s life.” - -The chief’s whole frame shook with emotion. - -“Another stake!” he cried. - -Tom Kyle stepped between him and his new victim. - -“The pale girl’s mind is wandering,” he said. “The minions of White -Lasso, the Pawnee, slew her father, when they drove her from the -lodges. Her head is cracked; she does not know what she is saying. It -was the trapper who slew Long Arrow.” - -The executioners, who had caught the renegade’s words, paused and -looked at Tarantulah. - -The chief heard Tom Kyle patiently, and his anger fled, when he -turned to them, slowly, deliberately. - -“Another stake!” - -The Pawnee king turned away with an oath. - -“By George! I’m nobody here, after all,” followed the evil word. “I’m -no better than a dog in Tarantulah’s eyes, when the devil creeps into -his heart. To-morrow night, Miss Aiken and I will take another ride -into the city of Mexico. They will burn Miss Denison; I can’t help -her longer.” - -When the words “another stake,” uttered for the second time, fell -from Tarantulah’s lips, Mabel Denison crept forward and threw her -arms about her fair, tearful companion in misfortune. - -“Lina, we part forever here,” she murmured, as Lina’s lips touched -her cheek, and glued themselves there. “The stake is my portion; what -yours is, Heaven will disclose!” - -“No! no! Mabel; if you die here, so will I,” was the determined -response, couched in a calm tone. “What were life to me without you, -girl? No, no, dear Mabel; our troubles end together. Chief! Tom Kyle -is my captor, I know; I am his, by your Indian law; but he is a white -man, and has no right to me; so give me leave, chief, to perish here -with my friend. Better--oh, a thousand times better this than a life -with the outlaw, Tom Kyle!” she cried, with a touching pathos. - -“Kyle! Kyle!” cried Gold Feather, from his stake. “Is your white name -Kyle?” - -The renegade was too astonished to speak for a moment, during which -time he moved nearer Gold Feather. - -“Yes, my name’s Kyle--Tom Kyle,” said the renegade, at last. “What’s -your real name?” - -“Ned Kyle, if I haven’t forgotten the past,” was the reply. - -Tom snatched a torch from an Indian and shot forward like a startled -horse. - -“If there’s a scar on your shoulder, you’re my brother,” he cried; -and the next moment a loud cry welled from his throat. - -He dropped the torch, which revealed a scar on Gold Feather’s -shoulder, and his knife began to sever the young chief’s bonds. - -This action was met by furious yells, and the Indians drew their -knives and tomahawks in a menacing manner. The dread circle, -bristling with iron and steel, also contracted. - -“Gold Feather is a traitor--he shall die!” - -“He’s my brother!” grated the renegade, in a fierce, determined tone, -and he shielded the marked man with his body. “Apaches, listen to me. -Many moons ago--” - -The vengeful yells drowned Tom Kyle’s words, and he stopped in the -beginning of a narrative and cursed the red fiends from the depth of -his heart. - -“I’ve been a devil, I have!” he shouted; “but I won’t desert my -brother. I’ll stand by him to the last, and if you get him, ’twill be -over the King of the Pawnees.” - -“Tom Kyle, you’re a man once more. I wouldn’t shoot you now for the -world.” - -It was Frontier Shack who spoke, and over the flames that were now -lighted up before him, he looked upon the striking tableau. - -The Indians were furious. - -Tom Kyle had not a red friend in the village now, and over all the -monster death spread his black wings and slowly descended. - -The chord of life was being rent in twain for many. - -Nearer and nearer came the Indians; the outer ones pushed the front -ranks, and Tom Kyle saw that he was to be taken alive. - -His days of sovereignty were ended. He who had controlled a nation -could not now control a single man. - -“You’re near enough now!” he shouted, raising the revolver which his -right hand clutched, and a click, click at his elbow told him that -Gold Feather was about to use the weapon which he had thrust into his -hand. “We’ve got twelve loads for you, and twelve wigwams shall be -without warriors, by heaven, if you come two paces nearer.” - -The determined visage awed the Indians, and several involuntarily -shrunk from the muzzles of the weapons which the red-man dreads. - -But the outer circle, with wild yells, still crowded their brothers -forward, and the renegade’s finger touched the trigger, when a war -cry, which palsied many a savage heart, drowned every shout of Apache -vengeance. - -Tarantulah turned; the red circle broke, and in places disappeared -like mist before the sun. - -The tramp of hundreds of horses was mingled with war-cries of the -most startling nature, and the flaring of torches revealed Pawnees, -Ogallahs and Omahas riding like demons of destruction through the -village. - -“Great heavens!” cried Tom Kyle, as he cut Frontier Shack’s bonds, -“what an hour of destruction this is!” - -“I never saw its like,” was the reply; “and if we’ve got to die, Tom, -let us die like men!” - -“We will; but look yonder!” - -Shackelford looked, and beheld Charley Shafer and George Long lashed -to horses whose bridles were held by a giant Ogallah. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - TECUMSEH’S VICTORY. - - -The confusion that followed gave the precious moment for action to -the whites. - -“Now, Tom, be a man, and help us out of this!” cried Shack. - -“I’m with you, Shack, now, to the last!” cried Tom. “Take the girls -and make at once for the boys on the horses. I’ll revolver every -red-skin in the way; so come on!” and forward they all started. - -True to his promise, Tom Kyle shot down the Ogallahs guarding the -boys, and in a few moments more all were mounted for a desperate dash -for the hills, miles away. - -Already the cries of the victors were ascending from the field of -slaughter; it was wonderful that the Apaches had withstood the -avalanche so long, and the shouts of the northern barbarians drove -the whites from the scene of their little victory. - -Tom Kyle rode a fiery black mustang, and held Mabel Denison before -him, while Lina was encircled by the strong arm of Frontier Shack, -who rode beside Charley Shafer. - -“How did the greasers come to catch you chaps?” he asked, as they -dashed over the plain that lay between life and death. - -“We waited for you last night until we knew that something terrible -had transpired in the village,” was the reply. “Then we thought of -rescue, but a thousand feet drove us back to the mountains, but ere -we could reach them, the Pawnees came out from their fastnesses, and -we fell an easy prey. Not so easily after all,” and the boys’ eyes -lit up with pride; “we fought the whole troop for a while, and five -empty saddles told the story of the battle.” - -And while they conversed as they rode, Tom Kyle and Ned were making -their explanations. - -Gold Feather thus questioned his brother: - -“Whither do you wish to go?” - -“I want to see mother once more.” - -“Then we go to Mexico.” - -“To Mexico? I left mother in Baltimore, Maryland. Why should she be -in Mexico?” - -“She would not believe that the Comanches had killed you. She yearned -to see her stolen boy again, and came thither to hunt you.” - -A tear stood in Ned Kyle’s black eyes. - -“But these people with us? They do not want to go to Mexico?” - -“No, we go without them.” - -“’Tis well; I know the trail, and we will safely reach mother’s side. -Oh, Tom, I never dreamed of such a meeting.” - -The renegade smiled and glanced at Mabel Denison, who had been -transferred, at her own request, to a seat before the youth whom she -loved. - -“Look here, Ned,” and Tom Kyle’s voice sunk to a whisper. “Don’t you -want a wife?” - -“I leave one in the Apache camp.” - -“Of course,” responded Tom, “but I’m talking about a white wife.” - -“I may find one in Mexico.” - -“Pshaw! can’t you see what I am driving at? I say, don’t you want -that black-haired girl behind us?” - -“I don’t know. She has a lover already.” - -“Don’t be so accursed conscientious. The other girl is mine, and you -might as well take the brunette.” - -Gold Feather was silent; the battle between right and wrong was going -on in his mind, and when he looked up, the keen eyes of his brother -were fastened upon him. - -“Tom, we can’t get them without spilling pure blood, and then we have -no right--” - -“Pish! who cares for a little blood?” interrupted the Pawnee king. -“You didn’t the other day, when you dropped Wolf Eyes. Come, Ned, -don’t be so infernal scrupulous. Work with me. I owe that trapper -one. He tried to take me to Fort Kearney, and if I ever get there -I’ll swing, p’r’aps. He’ll try to get me there now, and you, too, -boy. He’s a veritable devil who smiles when he plots against us. I -hate him; he hates us both!” - -“True, Ned?” - -“As true as mother’s heart. We’ll take the girls?” - -“Ned will help Tom.” - -A sigh followed the youth’s words, and his lips closed with the -fearful determination behind it. - -Half an hour later the party reached the mountains, and, far above -the level plain, Tom Kyle drew a highly ornamented field glass from -beneath his jacket, and turned it toward the Apache village. - -A moment later an oath burst from his lips. He had descried a black -mass moving toward the mountains. - -Shackelford took the glass. - -“Chased, by Joshua!” he exclaimed; “but if we manage it right, they -won’t catch us.” - -“No,” said the renegade, “but we must prepare for a long race. -They’re far away, as yet, and we have a few moments here.” - -The next moment they had dismounted, for the purpose of tightening -their steeds’ girths. Frontier Shack was busily employed in this -operation, when a loud neigh saluted his ears, and looking down the -pass, he beheld a great iron-gray horse trotting forward. - -“Tecumseh, by Joshua!” he exclaimed. “Boy, I thought he was captured -with you.” - -“No!” answered young Shafer. “I should have told you. Tecumseh broke -from us when we rode from the village last night; and his wild -neighings soon died away to our left.” - -“Dash me! if we ain’t lucky,” ejaculated Shackelford, leaving the -Ogallah mustang, and a moment later he griped the bridle of his own -dear horse. - -In the exuberance of his joy, he was stroking Tecumseh’s neck, when a -shriek, followed by Tom Kyle’s stern voice, saluted his ears! - -He turned and beheld Gold Feather covering the young buffalo-hunters -with a brace of revolvers, while the renegade’s rifle was aimed at -his own head. Kyle sat bolt upright in the saddle. - -“Shackelford, we’re going to part here,” said the Pawnee king, “and I -guess we’ll leave you to the buzzards. Curse your heart! you tried to -take me to Fort Kearney once, but I didn’t go, eh, Shackelford? Now, -say your prayers. Ned, count twenty-five in the Apache tongue, and, -at the end of that count, we’ll empty our weapons and go to Mexico.” - -The White Apache began in a low tone, and the doomed ones looked at -each other in silence. - -There seemed no escape from death now; it had grown into a palpable -monster and was very near. - -Frontier Shack stood beside the iron-gray whose jaws champed the bit -impatiently, and his eyes regarded the determined renegade. - -Lina Aiken and Mabel Denison stood spellbound in the mountain pass, -feeling that they were the innocent cause of the dreadful tableau. - -The “count” had reached the thirteenth numeral, when Frontier Shack -slowly stepped from his horse. As he executed the movement, his broad -palm struck Tecumseh’s shoulder, and, with a fearful plunge, that -would have overthrown the best human equilibrium, the horse shot -forward! - -Tom Kyle blocked the narrow pass; his brother stood beside his horse, -and they uttered ejaculations of horror when they saw the trapper’s -steed’s intention. - -Gold Feather lifted the revolvers from the boys, and poured two shot -at point blank range into Tecumseh’s front. - -The brave horse reared, as blood spirted from the wounds, then -staggered forward, on his hind feet, and came down with a crash upon -Tom Kyle and his horse! - -The renegade shrieked at the top of his voice, when he saw his fate; -but the cry was broken by Tecumseh’s attack, and he found himself -beneath his steed, crushed as it seemed, into the stony earth! - -“Back, hunter,” cried Gold Feather, as Frontier Shack sprung forward -with drawn pistol; but the trapper would not obey. - -Once, twice, the White Apache delivered his fire; but ere he could -send a third shot after the heart he would cleave, a report that -came from a place above their heads, saluted the ears of all, and he -staggered back upon the dying horse. - -“Tom Kyle, you’ve deserved all this,” said Frontier Shack, drawing -the renegade from his terrible position. “I intended to part from you -in peace, for I owed you much; but all is over now. You are dying!” - -“I know that, Shackelford. Your horse’s foot struck me squarely in -the breast. I never dreamed that he would prove my death. Look out -for the Indians.” - -The trapper took the field-glass, and brought it to bear upon the -plains below. - -“They’re not far off, now,” he said, lowering the instrument. “Tom, -we must go. They’ll never find you alive.” - -“Thank Heaven for that!” - -Then he tried to rise, but in vain; he fell back again, his hands -clawed the bloody earth, and he died, gasping: - -“_Thank Heaven for that!_” - -Tecumseh was already dead. Ned Kyle’s shot had finished the career of -the noble horse, and Frontier Shack clipped a bunch of the iron-gray -mane, ere he turned away: - -“The old horse remembered his training to the last,” he said, -proudly. “He knew that that slap on the shoulder meant ‘charge!’ and -dash me! didn’t he go for them rascals lively?” - -He brushed a tear from his eyes, as he thrust the lock of equine hair -into his bosom, and a few moments later they had left the spot. - -But they had scarcely cleared a hundred yards when the trapper -suddenly drew rein. A human figure had dropped into a clump of bushes -beside the dusky trail. - -“Indians!” he ejaculated, riding slowly forward again; but a moment -later he uttered a new cry. - -The figure had crept from the bushes, and, with their support, was -standing erect. - -“Winnesaw, upon my life!” exclaimed Charley Shafer, recognizing the -Pawnee girl who had loved him during his captivity. - -The party soon reached the girl’s side, and saw at once that she -stood on the brink of the dark river. - -“Winnesaw escaped from the Pawnees,” she said, in feeble tones, -“and she sought her mother who lives among the Apaches. She reached -the mountains, and in the darkness she met the bear. They fought; -Winnesaw conquered with her knife; but the beast tore her limbs. -She is dying; she shot the pale Indian when he fired at the white -trapper.” - -She sunk to the earth from exhaustion, but Frontier Shack raised her -up. - -“Gold Girl,” she gasped, her eyes falling upon Lina Aiken, “Winnesaw -love you. She loves boy with black eyes, too. But she give him up -now; she go to light the fires in Red Eagle’s lodge in Manitou -lands!” - -Frontier Shack sprung into the saddle again. - - * * * * * - -“Look here, youngster, don’t this mean you?” - -The speaker was a United States soldier, and he thrust a small piece -of paper into the hands of a handsome youth who sat near an old -hunter within the walls of Fort Kearney. - -The boy held the paragraph before his eyes, and read: - - “STILL UNKNOWN: We learn that the whereabouts of the sons of - Messrs. Shafer and Long importers on Fourth street, still remain - unknown. It is generally believed, now, that they have reached St. - Louis, and joined some emigrant caravan at that place. A standing - reward of $1,000 is offered for their persons, or for information - that may lead to their recovery.” - -“Read that to me, boy!” said the hunter, as the youth looked up with -a tear in his eye. - -The youth complied. - -“Well, I see you’re worth five hundred dollars to the old folks,” -said the old man, with a smile. “And I guess I’ll claim the reward. -But, I do wish you could take some white buffler hides home with you, -anyhow. This hes been a wild-goose chase, Charley, hesn’t it?” - -“Yes, so far as white buffaloes are concerned,” replied the boy, with -a deep blush. - -“Well, what have you gained by it?” - -The youth drew nearer the hunter, and glanced at two beautiful girls -standing in the little barrack yard, conversing with a youth of about -their own age. - -“Oh, I see!” exclaimed the man. “You needn’t tell me, Charley. This -has not been a wild-goose chase for you two boys. You’ve gained -something worth a million billion of buffler hides, and I’m going to -stay in Cincinnati till I see you hitched.” - -“Oh, Frontier Shack, we owe you so much!” - -“If you talk that away, I’ll be dashed if I go back with you. You -don’t owe me any thing. Boy, I thought that this thing was going -to turn out all right, when the boat struck the sunken island that -terrible night, and throwed George among the quicksands. I can’t tell -how I managed to git into the boat again, but heaven helped me, I -guess. The water carried me too far down-stream to help George then. -Golly! how ’stonished I war to find him in the Pawnee village, with -you at his side. But every thing has turned out right. I’m a lone man -now,” he continued, after a pause. “Tecumseh and Massasoit are gone; -they war my brothers. Peace to their ashes!” - -A month later a happy reunion took place in the Queen City of the -West, and smiles came back to faces to which they had long been -strangers. - -The runaways had returned, and when their overjoyed fathers asked to -behold the results of their escapade, they led the plain-found girls -blushingly forward. - -“These girls are better nor white buffler-skins,” said Frontier -Shack, in his rough way. “The boys hev won ’em, and if they don’t git -’em, Frontier Shack will raise a rumpus and clean the ranche.” - -Into the palatial homes of the Cincinnati merchants the fair girls -were warmly welcomed, and, in due time, a double wedding proved a -fitting sequel to the wild hunt for white buffalo-skins. - -After the grand affair above mentioned, Frontier Shack returned to -the Plains, but, several years ago, he left them in disgust. - -He said that the railroads were “spoiling a trapper’s fun” in the -wild West, and so, seeking retirement, he came to spend the remaining -days of his life with those whose lives his bravery had saved. - -I need not say that he met a hearty welcome in two stately mansions -in Ohio’s proudest city, and to this day he relates to attentive -children the thrilling story which has called forth the service of my -humble pen. - - - THE END. - - - - - DIME POCKET NOVELS. - - PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY, AT TEN CENTS EACH. - - =1 Hawkeye Harry.= =83 The Specter Horseman.= - =2 Dead Shot.= =84 The Three Trappers.= - =3 The Boy Miners.= =85 Kaleolah.= - =4 Blue Dick.= =86 The Hunter Hercules.= - =5 Nat Wolfe.= =87 Phil Hunter.= - =6 The White Tracker.= =88 The Indian Scout.= - =7 The Outlaw’s Wife.= =89 The Girl Avenger.= - =8 The Tall Trapper.= =90 The Red Hermitess.= - =9 Lightning Jo.= =91 Star-Face, the Slayer.= - =10 The Inland Pirate.= =92 The Antelope Boy.= - =11 The Boy Ranger.= =93 The Phantom Hunter.= - =12 Bess, the Trapper.= =94 Tom Pintle, the Pilot.= - =13 The French Spy.= =95 The Red Wizard.= - =14 Long Shot.= =96 The Rival Trappers.= - =15 The Gunmaker.= =97 The Squaw Spy.= - =16 Red Hand.= =98 Dusky Dick.= - =17 Ben, the Trapper.= =99 Colonel Crockett.= - =18 Wild Raven.= =100 Old Bear Paw.= - =19 The Specter Chief.= =101 Redlaw.= - =20 The B’ar-Killer.= =102 Wild Rube.= - =21 Wild Nat.= =103 The Indian Hunters.= - =22 Indian Jo.= =104 Scarred Eagle.= - =23 Old Kent, the Ranger.= =105 Nick Doyle.= - =24 The One-Eyed Trapper.= =106 The Indian Spy.= - =25 Godbold, the Spy.= =107 Job Dean.= - =26 The Black Ship.= =108 The Wood King.= - =27 Single Eye.= =109 The Scalped Hunter.= - =28 Indian Jim.= =110 Nick, the Scout.= - =29 The Scout.= =111 The Texas Tiger.= - =30 Eagle Eye.= =112 The Crossed Knives.= - =31 The Mystic Canoe.= =113 Tiger-Heart.= - =32 The Golden Harpoon.= =114 The Masked Avenger.= - =33 The Scalp King.= =115 The Pearl Pirates.= - =34 Old Lute.= =116 Black Panther.= - =35 Rainbolt, Ranger.= =117 Abdiel, the Avenger.= - =36 The Boy Pioneer.= =118 Cato, the Creeper.= - =37 Carson, the Guide.= =119 Two-Handed Mat.= - =38 The Heart Eater.= =120 Mad Trail Hunter.= - =39 Wetzel, the Scout.= =121 Black Nick.= - =40 The Huge Hunter.= =122 Kit Bird.= - =41 Wild Nat, the Trapper.= =123 The Specter Riders.= - =42 Lynx-cap.= =124 Giant Pete.= - =43 The White Outlaw.= =125 The Girl Captain.= - =44 The Dog Trailer.= =126 Yankee Eph.= - =45 The Elk King.= =127 Silverspur.= - =46 Adrian, the Pilot.= =128 Squatter Dick.= - =47 The Man-hunter.= =129 The Child Spy.= - =48 The Phantom Tracker.= =130 Mink Coat.= - =49 Moccasin Bill.= =131 Red Plume.= - =50 The Wolf Queen.= =132 Clyde, the Trailer.= - =51 Tom Hawk, Trailer.= =133 The Lost Cache.= - =52 The Mad Chief.= =134 The Cannibal Chief.= - =53 The Black Wolf.= =135 Karaibo.= - =54 Arkansas Jack.= =136 Scarlet Moccasin.= - =55 Blackbeard.= =137 Kidnapped.= - =56 The River Rifles.= =138 Maid of the Mountain.= - =57 Hunter Ham.= =139 The Scioto Scouts.= - =58 Cloudwood.= =140 Border Renegade.= - =59 The Texas Hawks.= =141 The Mute Chief.= - =60 Merciless Mat.= =142 Boone, the Hunter.= - =61 Mad Anthony’s Scouts.= =143 Mountain Kate.= - =62 The Luckless Trapper.= =144 The Red Scalper.= - =63 The Florida Scout.= =145 The Lone Chief.= - =64 The Island Trapper.= =146 The Silver Bugle.= - =65 Wolf-Cap.= =147 Chinga, the Cheyenne.= - =66 Rattling Dick.= =148 The Tangled Trail.= - =67 Sharp-Eye.= =149 The Unseen Hand.= - =68 Iron-Hand.= =150 The Lone Indian.= - =69 The Yellow Hunter.= =151 The Branded Brave.= - =70 The Phantom Rider.= =152 Billy Bowlegs.= - =71 Delaware Tom.= =153 The Valley Scout.= - =72 Silver Rifle.= =154 Red Jacket.= - =73 The Skeleton Scout.= =155 The Jungle Scout.= - =74 Little Rifle.= =156 Cherokee Chief.= - =75 The Wood Witch.= =157 The Bandit Hermit.= - =76 Old Ruff, the Trapper.= =158 The Patriot Scouts.= - =77 The Scarlet Shoulders.= =159 The Wood Rangers.= - =78 The Border Rifleman.= =160 The Red Foe.= - =79 Outlaw Jack.= =161 Beautiful Unknown.= - =80 Tiger-Tail, Seminole.= =162 Canebrake Mose.= - =81 Death-Dealer.= =163 Haak, the Guide.= - =82 Kenton, the Ranger.= =164 The Border Scout.= - - =165 Wild Nat, the Gulch Terror=; or, The Border Huntress. By W. - J. Hamilton. Ready - - =166 The Maid of Wyoming=; or, The Contest of the Clans. By James - L. Bowen. Ready - - =167 The Three Captives.= A Tale of the Taos Valley. By Edward - Willett. Ready - - =168 The Lost Hunters=; or, The Mohave Captive. By Capt. J. F. C. - Adams. Ready - - =169 Border Law=; or, The Land Claim. By Mrs. Frances Fuller - Barritt. Ready - - =170 The Lifted Trail=; or, The White Apache. By Edward Willett. - Ready - - =171 The Trader Spy=; or, The Victim of the Fire-Raft. By J. - Stanley Henderson. Ready - - =172 The Forest Specter=; or, The Young Hunter’s Foe. By Edward - Willett. Ready - - - BEADLE AND ADAMS, Publishers, 98 William Street, New York. - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - The Table of Contents at the beginning of the book was created by - the transcriber. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation such as “buffalo-hunters”/“buffalo - hunters” have been maintained. - - Minor punctuation and spelling errors have been silently corrected - and, except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the - text, especially in dialogue, and inconsistent or archaic usage, - have been retained. - - Page 33: “A large quantity of valuaable” changed to “A large - quantity of valuable”. - - Page 38: “young lips closed emphatically behind the monosylable” - changed to “young lips closed emphatically behind the monosyllable”. - - Page 55: “but she had no occason” changed to “but she had no - occasion”. - - Page 56: “two bore human-shaped objects in ther” changed to “two - bore human-shaped objects in their”. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ISLAND TRAPPER *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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