Oll Coomes

“ Silvia was surprised by her manner of speech. She saw that the Indian woman entertained a feeling of intense dislike toward the chief.
“Then you do not respect the great chief,” said Silvia, “judging from your remarks.”
“No, I hate him!” she fairly hissed, “the inhuman, merciless outcast of his own race!”
“And do not his warriors like him?” asked Silvia.
“Yes; those whose hearts are vile as his,” Silver Voice answered, “and, dear girl,” she continued, coming closer and speaking lower, “if it’s in my power, and the power of Allacotah, you shall never, never suffer captivity at his hands!” ”

“ Before Black Bear and his savages could draw their attention from the Aerial Demon—which in a moment, almost, had passed over the camp and disappeared—the daring ranger leaned forward in his stirrups—placed his arm about Silvia’s waist—lifted her from the ground as though she had been an infant—whirled his animal southward and dashed away into the gloom of the forest, pursued by Black Bear and his warriors. ”

“ His long yellow hair and whiskers floated around his head and face like ragged streamers in the wild winds.
At the mouth of the cavern he paused and leaned upon his knotted club.
Just then a vivid flash of lightning revealed the figure of a man with a thin, ghastly face and hollow eyes standing before him.
He stepped back and raised his club, for sure was he that an apparition confronted him.
Another flash of lightning. The figure still is there. Solomon Strange started like a guilty thing, as he recognized the man’s features—the features of the renegade, Blufe Brandon. ”

“ Ralph raised the torch above his head and turned to Willis, speechless with terror.
At that instant a wild, demoniac laugh of triumph, that seemed to issue from the lips of a legion of fiends, greeted the young men’s ears as it echoed through the hollow chambers of the cavern.
They were entrapped in the den of mountain robbers!
In the meanwhile Ebony Jim, hearing the yells of laughter proceeding from the interior, quickly divined the cause, and knowing that he could be of no assistance to the young men, dashed off at a great speed into the forest. ”

“ In the vast expanse of mountain and plain, but a single living object could be seen. That object was a large bird poised aloft above a narrow defile, or valley, in the Black Hills. For some time it seemed to hang motionless on the air, then it descended down, down until it was lost in the mountain shadows; then it darted up again, with a wild scream from the valley, its keen eyes fixed on some object far below. And what think you it was that Echo, the eagle, saw there?
It was a beautiful glade in the greenwood valley. A camp-fire burning in the center of the glade. ”

“ I want the brave young Allacotah to take all my warriors and go away in the hills toward the rising sun and search for the white maiden. Should you find her, harm not a hair of her head, or the vengeance of the great Manitou will rest upon you. Should you find any pale-faces, harm them not, but bring them before Black Bear, even the great White Ranger whose sword has slain our braves in the heart of our encampment. ”

“ The renegade involuntarily stopped and turned around.
At this moment the tall form of Solomon Strange sprung from the forest shadows, and dealt the chief a blow with his club that felled him lifeless at his feet.
Bending over the prostrate form, he scrutinized it.
“Yes, life is extinct,” muttered he, and dropping upon his knees he began removing the bear’s skin from his body. This done, a low, triumphant laugh escaped Solomon Strange’s lips, and he lifted the lifeless form in his arms, and carried it a short ways into the woods and hurled it down into a deep, black gorge. ”

“ Silvia looked in the direction indicated by his burning gaze, and to her horror she beheld a Cheyenne Indian gazing in upon her from the door of the apartment.
Silvia uttered a low sob and fell unconscious to the floor with affright, the paper falling on the table by the lamp.
The savage, not seeing the panther, advanced into the room, but the next instant the beast leaped forward and dragged him to the floor.
A fierce struggle ensued. But it was as brief as decisive. The panther tore the savage almost into shreds. ”

“ And now a wail of lamentation echoed through the cavern, as the savages gathered around the lifeless form of their young chief Allacotah. Victory had been dearly bought by them. Besides their chief, a dozen of the best warriors lay dead, while not one of their enemies had fallen. Though it would have been an easy matter to have tomahawked the captives, they dare not, for the great chief, Black Bear, had ordered that all captives be taken and brought to the village alive and unharmed. ”

“ Silvia felt a chill creep over her frame as she thought: “What if he is a robber, or an escaped criminal—a base villain, leading me into his lair; but no; it can not be possible that an evil heart lies concealed behind that noble, handsome face. He has saved me from the tortures of Indian captivity, or perhaps a worse fate, and I will not entertain, for a moment, one disrespectful thought of him. ”

“ Every man sprung quickly to his feet. Was it the Aerial Demon again? They glanced around them. No. It was not the demon, but a sight equally as horrifying met their gaze. Out from the deep gloom, into the glare of the roaring camp-fire—with the silence of phantoms, their painted visages aglow with diabolical triumph, their hands clutching a knife or tomahawk, came a score of Cheyenne Indians, surrounding our friends on every side like sheep in a slaughter-pen. ”

“ It was about two hours of midnight on the evening of the same day that Rodger Rainbolt had unexpectedly rode into the Indian encampment on Lodge Pole, that the figure of a man wrapped in a kind of military cloak, and wearing a broad-brimmed hat and pair of high-topped boots, and carrying a bull’s-eye lantern, might have been seen pacing to and fro beneath the boughs of a great pine tree that stood but a few feet from the head of the Devil’s Tarn. ”

“ She arose to her feet and turned quickly around. An Indian woman, whom she at once recognized as Silver Voice, stood before her. Silvia was the first to speak.
“Oh, Silver Voice! it is you, who were so kind to me!”
“Yes, dear girl,” the woman replied, with much sadness in her voice, “but you are looking happier than when I last saw you.”
“Really, Silver Voice, I should be miserable indeed if I had not found a friend,” returned Silvia.
“Ah! dear girl, I know why. You have learned to love your handsome rescuer and friend, the ranger, and he loves you. ”

“ The negro sat with his rifle resting in the hollow of his arm, gazing into the glowing fire with a kind of vacant look.
As the minutes stole by, his eyes grew heavy with watching, and, presently, his head rolled languidly upon his shoulders in a gentle doze. Soon, however, he was aroused by a sound—the sound of approaching footsteps. He sprung to his feet, and, shading his eyes with his hand, peered into the gloom. At this moment five human figures emerged from the forest and halted within the radius of light. It was Colonel Wayland Sanford and his four young companions. ”

“ Your wife lives, my lord, and seek you not another! Ay, you start, but it is so. And let me tell you more, my lord. Since God in his mercy saved you from death at the falls, you need have no fear of your fellow-men. Your shoulders bear the weight of no crime; you were the victim of a foul plot—the letter was forged by one Duval Dungarvon in hopes of having you hung, hung, my lord.”
As the strange man concluded, he turned and strode briskly away, leaving the ranger seated alone upon his animal, completely dumbfounded and mystified. ”

“ A cry of horror escaped each lip, for with a flaming torch in one hand and a tomahawk in the other, they beheld a score of savages, led by the young chief Allacotah, advancing toward them.
Quick as thought Frank and Willis raised their repeating rifles and fired. Allacotah fell dead, with a bullet through his heart. Again and again the young men fired until every chamber of their rifles was empty. A savage fell at every shot. The others recoiled, then when the war-whoop of another party coming in at the entrance rolled through the cavern, they rallied and closed in upon our friends. ”

“ Ah, Solomon Strange! a desperate game is yours, and for what?—to solve a dark mystery, and rub out the stains of a dark crime that lays concealed behind it, but—”
His musings were here brought to an abrupt termination, by suddenly entering the opening in which stood the Indian encampment, while a few paces off sat an Indian sentinel.
“Will he challenge me?” the false chief mentally asked.
Then he knew that the sentinel would see that it was Black Bear’s disguise, and allow him to pass. And so he did, with only a low, guttural exclamation at sight of the great chief. ”

“ Save yourself for the girl’s sake!” and turning, the man glided away into the forest.
At this instant, Echo, the eagle, appeared over his master’s head, and uttered a wild scream which the ranger knew to be his signal of approaching danger, and speaking to his animal, he dashed away down the stony hill with a score of mounted Cheyennes thundering after him.
The ranger shaped his course back toward his hidden home, for the language of the madman, Solomon Strange, had so fearfully impressed his mind that he could not pursue the search for Silvia’s father until he had had time for reflection. ”

“ God knows I never could love another as I do you, my angel, Florence.”
Before Silver Voice could reply, Echo, the eagle, darted down through the forest with his warning cry of danger.
Turning quickly around, the ranger and his wife—for such she was, dear reader—saw a number of savages coming directly toward them.
“Oh, Warren,” the woman cried, “they are savages! fly for your life. They hate you—they will kill you!” ”

“ Silvia’s face brightened; then it became clouded again as she said:
“But he told me he was going to sell me to a robber-captain—that the robber had promised him a great reward for me, but how a robber-captain here in the Black Hills knew me is quite a mystery.”
“Did he mention the robber-captain’s name?”
“Yes; I believe it was Dungarvon—Duval Dungarvon.”
“God have mercy!” exclaimed the woman, frantically. “Duval Dungarvon! Duval Dungarvon! Oh, dear girl, better take your own life than fall into the hands of that man. He is a fiend, a devil! ”

“ A cordial made of some wild herbs was administered, and by a vigorous chafing of the limbs and temples, Silvia was brought back to life.
“Put her in there,” said Black Bear, pointing with his claw-clad finger to Silver Voice’s lodge; “the presence of so many warriors might excite her too much. She must have rest and food.”
Allacotah lifted her in his strong arms and carried her into the lodge where Silver Voice had arranged a neat, comfortable couch of skins. Laying her upon the couch, the chief went out, leaving the two women alone. ”

“ There being no way-stations, the train rolled rapidly on, never tiring, never halting, gliding into the dark cut, by roaring cañon, over the yawning gorge, beneath the beetling crag, through dismal tunnel—on, on until it had entered the environs of the Black Hills. Then the evil-eyed passenger from Julesburg glanced around, and, seeing no eye upon him, placed his hand in his pocket and drew therefrom a small packet which he at once tossed out at the window with considerable force. ”

“ Rainbolt spoke to his animal and dashed away in pursuit of Solomon Strange, but he had gone but a short distance, when a lithe figure glided suddenly across his path, frightened his animal, causing it to rear and plunge wildly and throw its rider to the ground, and unfortunately, in the fall, the ranger’s head struck upon a sharp rock, completely stunning him.
As the unfortunate man lay thus unconscious, the figure that had frightened his animal glided from the undergrowth and bent over his prostrate form. It was the Indian woman, Silver Voice. ”

“ Sanford, would break your arm as though it were a straw. I have known him to carry in his talons a weight of a hundred pounds. Ah, a noble bird is Echo, my eagle. He hates a red-skin with all the bitterness of his master.”
“You must have had great patience in training him, Mr. Rainbolt.”
“I do not claim all that honor. He was partly trained when he came into my possession. He was given me by an old Californian named Barker.”
“Barker!” burst involuntarily from Sanford’s lips; “Gustave Barker?”
“Yes; Gustave Barker,” replied the ranger, eying the colonel sharply. “Do you know him?” ”

“ By this time it was nearly dark, and, inasmuch as Flick was to play the part of a deaf and dumb Indian, he felt perfectly safe in his daring feat to rescue his friends, but, when he saw the savages emerge from the woods and approach the canoe, his heart almost ceased to beat through fear of being detected. ”