T. C. Harbaugh

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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!” ”

“ 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 [14] whirlwind they scattered and fled, every man for himself, toward the river. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ The renegade glanced over his shoulder and saw the motionless forms in the starlight.
[71]
“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. ”

“ 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!” ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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!” ”

“ After watching him a moment, she turned and threw herself [55] 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”