The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 333: what you’re looking at

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einen sort ; and so cabby came tothe conclusion that he _would throw the body into the canal, iastead of » making a hue and cry about it.” -“ And did he do.so?” 8 ol ike “And what became 4 yo have heard that the body was discovered next day, and in three days afterwards identified by a gentleman as that of his only child, The loss of his daughter preyed so much upon the father that he blew out his brains, and strange to say the title and estates went into the hands of some old lawyer.” | _ “Did you hear his name?” ‘I did, but forget. All I know now is that cabby received a small parcel shortly afterwards, in which the unknown gentleman thanked him for the wise and discreet manner in which he had acted. The parcel contained, among other things, £100 in gold. “And what did cabby do with it 7” “Drank it, or gambled it away.” For a few monients Gale did ‘not speak, but at last he said, “Did you hear whether these estates were in _ England or the continent ?” A __ “ T know that the title and estates were both foreign.” | “The gentleman’s title, then, would be Count Schmidt, would it not?’ asked’ Gale, referring to his note-book. ‘And the estates are or were situated near Manheim ?” “ Now I come to recollect, I think you are right)’ “This old gentleman must have been a lawyer, then?” ey “Tbat I know not.” _“ But Iam sure of it,” said Gale, “and his true name is Flint. I am after both father and son. When they are captured all my work is done,” _ Whether the brave and restless detective Gale succeeded in his designs and wishes, we shall pre- 'sently see in another chapter of startling incidents and revelations, of the affair? do you artnet — CHAPTER CXI. FRANK FORD’S LETTER TO HIS BROTHER TOM, WHILE Captain Tom Ford was roaming the high seas in quest of adventure, and capturiog or des- _ troying everything which bore the flag of Maximi- lian, the usurper, and would-be emperor of Mexico, his brother Frank, and his brave band of Boy Sol- diers, were much occupied in guarding the upper fords of the river, to prevent the French from cross- ing, and cutting off the supplies of men and mate- rial from the brave little army of liberation, under President Juarez. Frank, by a private letter, learned that his brother Tom was cruizing about in the Atlantic, and, instead of sending his letters to England, as he had been in the habit of doing before, he wrote to Tom, and directed his epistle to the Island of St. Thomas, in the care of the American consul there, with in- structions for it to he left there until called for. Now Tom was of an active turn of mind and body, and when he had nothing particular to do on sea, he invariably put into some near port in order to ascertain, if possible, the movements of Maximi- lian’s vessels, When, therefore, he called at the Island of St. Thomas for fresh water and provisions of all kinds, he was delighted to find awaiting him a long letter i THE BOY SOLDIER; OR, GARIBALDIS YOUNG CAPTAIN. 327 from the brave leader of the Boy Soldiers, which, Im substance, was as follows :— * DEAR ToM,—Since last. 1 wrote to you from this, our station, on the upper falls of the river which we are guarding, we have had very strange adventures, not with animals this time, but with men—real live Comanche Indians, . “After our battles with lions, bears, wolves, and such like, we were allowed a little peace and leisure from the ‘varmints,’ as our tall American. trapper persists in calling them; but in a few nights we were doomed to a great surprise, “The tall Yankee who had. been out hunting one whole day, returned without killing or bringing anything home with him, 10% “This very much surprised us all, for,. to speak the truth, the trapper is a dead shot, and one of the best hunters I ever heard of, | : ** Instead cf bringing home any game he returned dusty and weary, . ‘“ His head was bound up with a handkerchief, “ He was bleeding from several flesh wounds in his head, arms, and thighs, : . “His mustang pony was blowing and all covered with foam, and quivered, poor beast, in eyery limb, and almost tottered from weakness as it hobbled into our Camps. : ‘The trapper had used all his powder and ball, “He had but one charge, and that was already in, his rifle, ready for use. “Ikcew that something was up ;.so, after.giving him some fresh meat, I questioned him .in private, in order that the whole camp might not be aroused unnecessarily. | “* You look very tired,’ I said to, him, ‘‘* Yes, I gness.I am,’ said Long Legs, yawning, and stretching himsel—f on my bed of dried. grass. ‘T calculate as how any one would. be dead. beat if they had gone through what I have to-day.’ “Why, what happened?’ I asked. “*Ob! nothing much,’ he grinned; ‘I've only had a right smart brush with the red deyils,’ “* How did that occur 2’ : | ee Why, when I left our camp early this morning, I took a path by the river, and went up about fifteen miles. ‘‘* When I halted, and began to,look about for game, which I knew was plentiful, up there, I per- ceived, not fifty yards from me, a;party of redskins crossing the river. _ : “* In fact, [ had almost ridden right, into an, en- campment of redskins without being observed by them. : “ «There was no. way. to escape except the path I had come by, and I thonght,,of retracing, my steps, when, lo and behold! the path, was.occupied by half-a-dozen powerful redskins, | “¢ Fillo!’ thought I, ‘they must have discovered me, and perhaps are now. surrounding me.’ ‘““¢ There was nothing for it but a determined fight, I imagined, so made up my mind for the worst, “*T heard them jabbering away among themselyes like alot of monkeys, and, as 1 understood. some- thing of their lingo, I listened.’ ““‘ What Indians were they ?’ , “ ¢ Comanches—d—d_ cut-throats every one, I knew them well of old.’ «“« And what did they say ?’ ‘““« From what I could gather of their patter, it seemed that one of their chiefs had been across the river, and had got into communication with the French, and the Indians had made a bargain with them to destroy us.’ ““* Very polite of them, 1’m«sure—very,’ «<The redskins had new blankets and new rifles, Comicboool C©