Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story, and Adventure, No. 37 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

Old Tar Knuckle and His Boy Chums, ed the nails had been wrenched out by a hard push | dow, toward the interior. This track had evi- and by twisting the planks. dently been left by the Indian, who was last He was about to spring to the door and open it, | wounded. when he beheld a pair of savage eyes gleaming ‘* Lads,” said Knuckle, thoughtfully, “ this upon hinmr through the opening of the window. | won’t be the last time we hear from them ac- The tawny face to which these eyes belonged | cursed Ribs, now that one of their number has was that of an Indian, whose long, black hair | been so badly wounded. They nat’rally take to streamed down from under his pointed bearskin | revenge as ducks take to water, and we must be cap, and whose face, grotesquely painted with | on our guard,” blue and black streaks, had huge copper rings As he spoke he looked up at the lofty hight, dangling from the ears and nose, Ere Charley | near the of which the little house was could utter a word, the savage, as quick asa | erected. flash, bounded into the room, and caught the “There,” he continued, ‘‘ is a good place for a fort.” ‘A fort?” cried Hasler. ‘‘Ay, not a reg’lar fort, but a kind of a stronghold, do you see, to which we can retreat and hold out, in case we are pushed to extremi- ties. It is of the greatest importance that we secure that position, as it is the place from which we can signal our craft. First, however, we must fix things so that the savages can only come up to us on one side.” ‘* How are we to do that?’ said Tom. ‘They can come up on two sides, although the other sides are too steep to be scaled.” Knuckle pointed out to the boys a huge rock, near the summit of the elevation. “That,” said he, ‘‘ we can roll down to the rocky shelf you see about twenty feet below, and that shelf having ridges on the side of it, will hold the rock there when it comes down by the run. The bowlder once there, I’d defy the infarnal imps themselves from gittin’ over it.” “Ay, but how are we to dislodge it from its position?’ said Nye. ‘*By blastin’, of course. You can see it is jist held in its place by a branch of rock, about as thick as a ship’s mainmast. When we blast that away, down goes the bowlder.” ‘*Good!” said Tom. “Then, again,” said Knuckle, ‘we all know that there is a big hollow near the top of the ele- vation, which will sarve for a cave—will make us good enough quarters when we are pushed. The very first thing to do now is to git some prevision up there; but we must do it cau- tiously, so that neither the Injuns nor the Skee- mos will know that we stow it there.” ‘*Do you really think things have come to this pass?’ inquired Tom. “Ay, ay; I can see which way the wind blows. Depend on it, them Injuns won’t forgit that shot in a hurry.” ‘** But would not the Esquimaux help us fight the Indians?” said Nye. ‘*No. Them chaps is afeared of Injuns, and they’d make a poor fight ag’in’ them, even to defend their own oily carcasses. Remember, my lads, that here we are, only four of us, now on a hospital (Knuckle meant hostile) coast, from which we must trust to being picked up by our own craft, which may be delayed, for that matter, the Lord only knows how long.” These words made a deep impression on the boys, for they knew that Knuckle, as brave as a lion, was not to be frightened at shadows. When night came the four seamen at once set about conveying provisions to the hollow, near the summit of the rock. With lumber and can- youth by the throat with an iron grasp which nearly suffocat: d the young sailor. At thesame time he raised a long knife, and aimed a swift blow at the boy’s heart. As the blade descended, Nye pressing the muzzle of his revolver against the ribs of the savage, fired. But the wily Indian, the moment he felt the cold iron, hadtwisted himself sideways likea serpent, so that the bullet instead of passing through his body, went whizzing slantingly up- ward, tearing along the flesh of his forearm, and Sahat the band which held the knife. From is stiffened fingers the blade fell clattering to the floor, but the savage, although he must have suffered great pain, made no outcry, and still kept his other hand on the throat of his adversary. , Before the latter could again fire, the Indian clasped him round the body with the strength of a bear, keeping so close against him that Nye could not move his pistol, and endeavoring to hurl bim tothe floor. Although Charley was nota bad wrestler, he was no match for the native, who possessed twice his strength, and who at such close quarters, succeeded in hurling him down. In an instant the knee of the savage was upon the hand which held the pistol, his other knee pressed upon the boy’s breast, and bis left hand again upon his throat. While the youth was vainly struggling to free himself, the door opened, and another Indian appeared, loaded with plunder. Dropping the articles he held, the moment he took in the situation of affairs, he sprung for- ward, and pulling from his belt a heavy stone hatchet, he raised it above the head of the pros- trate boy. In another second it would have crushed through the forehead of the lad; but as it was about to descend, the loud report of a gun was heard, and the savage dropping his weapon, fell forward toward the wiadow, through which ho quickly scrambled and disappeared. The other native sprung after him, and the half-choked boy staggered to his feet. ** Ahoy! there!” cried Knuckle, who had been awakened by the noise, and who now came bounding into the room with his smoking gun in his hand, ‘* What’s up, here?” “Give me your gun!” cried Hasler, who had also come, and peering through the window at the two receding forms, which were not yet quite out of sight in the darkness, ‘*No,” said Knuckle, ‘‘ we haven’t any too much ammunition, andjthere’s no use of wasting it. A shot in the dark is not often a sartin | vas Knuckle ik me a good depository for one.” their stores, which were carefully concealed by ‘Are you hurt, Nye?’ inquired Tom, anx- | pieces of rock piled in front of the rude cup- iously, as Charley still gasped for breath. | board, “No,” said Nye, smiling; ** but it seems to me A few days later, the bowlder, by means of as if I can still feel the fingers of that fellow on | blasting, was also sent down to the rocky plat- my throat. His hand was like iron.” } | form below, thus forming an insurmountable Knuckle brought a little rum, and gave it to | barrier on that side. the youth, who was nearly prostrated by his | After that, Knuckle and his companions bu- late exertions. | sied themselves making the cave as comfortable ‘It was all my fault,” said Charley, ‘‘I should | as possible for their reception. Blankets, cun- have mg a better lookout.” vas, oakum, a lantern, and many other things “So long as there’s been no mischief done,” | were conveyed there—in fact, the hollow was said Knuckle, as he picked up the articles which | made habitable, although it might prove to be the savage had dropped, ‘‘ we can’t complain, | a cold residence. but my advice to you is, for the futur’, to keep | On the fourth night after the party com- your weather eye open when you are op watch, | menced to furnish the cavern, Tom Hasler was seein’ as you might have been brained at your | ascending the rocky elevation to convey thither ost, had them natives seen you there on the | a bag of oakum, with a musket and some am- ookout.” munition, which Knuckle thought might be ‘‘ Still worse, you and Hasler might bave been | spared from their stock for the present. slaughtered in your beds,” said Charley, ‘I It was a clear, moonlight night, and as Tom could never have forgiven myself had that | climbd over a spur of rock, which afforded him happened, as IT would have been to blame,” a view of the opening of the cavern, he fancied ‘* Flukes and flippers! it was perfectly nat’ral | he could detect a moving shadow, thrown out for you to feel a little careless. To tell the | on a rugged platform extending from the base truth, I had about given up all idea of them | of the rock in which the hollow of the cave was Injuns bein’ consarned in the robbery, and | situated. begun to feel sartin that the Skeemos, in spite The shadow was an uncouth one. It was like eee eee i of their yarn, were the thieves.” The night | that of a human being, with two points project- having nearly passed, the party did not again | ing from the head! It oscillated to and froon think of again seeking their beds. the platform, in a singular manner; and the Early in the morning, they went out, to see a A ay fancied he could hear a gnawing sound, track of blood leading off from under the win- | like chat made by eating. ‘* What the deuce is it?’ thought Tom. 7 “Ip looks as if it might be Old Nick of the infernal regions! Whatever it is, it has evidently got at our provisions, in spite of the stone wall we put up in front of the cupboard.” Tom now approached the cavern quickly and satan ae but when within a few yards of the 1e shadow, thought it best to pause and load his gun from the ammunition pouch at bis side. As careful as he was in loading it, it was evi- dent that the noise of the rammer had been heard, for all at once the shadow disappeared. CHAPTER VII. A CALAMITY, —_—- Tom approached the cavern and peered be- hind the rock, where the object which had thrown the shadow must have been stationed when he first saw its reflection. There were a few rifts and hollows in the rock beside the cavern. He searched among these, but he found nothing. Then he moved toward the cavern, As he did so, a gaunt, shaggy animal of a brown color emerged from the hollow, with part of a ham in its mouth. ‘*A brown bear!” cried Tom. has been at the provisions!” * The fellow As he spoke, the animal dropped the morsel it held and approached the youth, who was in the only path by which it could descend from the elevation. The moonlight falling upon the a rim beast, distinctly revealed its ag wea t was about five feet in length, wit patches of earth and pieces of gravel clinging to its shaggy coat. From its drooping head its round eyes lared savagely, and its tongue partly pro- ruded from its red mouth, in which its long, sharp fangs were plainly visible. Tom at once brought his and aimed it at the head of the brute. The latter, as if divining his intention, gave a low growl and bounded toward hi ™m, un to his shoulder Hasler pulled trigger, but his weapon did not go off, He sprung backward, attem fresh cap on his piece. pting to put a But his heel struck a protuberance of rock be- hind him, and he fell upon his back. When he gained his feet, the bear was stand- ing upon its hind-legs, ready to grasp him for the fatal hug. He struck at it with the butt of his the stock was broken on the hard beac of the monster. Tom, as quick as a flash, rammed what was left of it into the mouth of the beast, which, however, caught the iron barrel in its teeth and flung itaside. Not having even his knife with him at present, the young man’s sit- uation had became a perilous one. un, but To attempt torun must insure his destruction, as the bear would be sure to overtake him. There was an elevation of rock risin inn jagged column at his side, and clutching this, he swung himself to the top of it, at the same time shouting for assistance. He could now see Knuckle, gun in hand, emerge from the house at the base of the bight, followed by Yonkitt and Nye, who were also armed, Meanwhile the bear, which was a ood climber, had placed its fore-legs on top of the column, and was drawing itself up to the sum- mit of it. Tom looked behind him. On that side, the column was even with the steep and nearly perpendicular wall of the precipice. “Vm afeared to fire!” shouted Knuckle, ‘est I hit you, my lad!” ‘‘] must stay here!” answered Tom. is no way to climb down the other side.” All at once the thought occurred to him to make use of the mae of oakum slung to his y back. It hung loose served as a sorf of handle. “There by a small rope which Quickly disengaging the bag Tom threw the bight of the rope over the beur’s neck, which a Sen over the edge of the rock rute was about to draw itselfup. A piece of rock baving given way under the hird feet of the heavy animal the latter was still scrambling in its efforts to mount the column, This delay gave Hasler time to pull from his pocket a metal match-box, which he always carried with him for the purpose of lighting his ipe. Igniting one of the matches, he now set e tothe bag of oakum which he had hung upon the bear’s neck, and which, in a moment blazed up into a lurid mass of flame! ec the loosened Seorched and half-blinded by the flemes that now rolled over its head and body, the brute, with a of pain tumbled from its position, ogee The blazing bac which base of the eclumn. had been hung loosely to its neck and EOmic IO fo the the rope Ss) (E (0)