YELLOW HUNTER

THE WINDING TRAIL OF DEA'l‘h.

BY CAPT. CHAS. HOWARD.

AUTHOR OF
No. 50. TIIE WOLF QUEEN. N0. 60. MEIICILEss M. '
No. 52 THE MAD CHIEF. No. 64. THE ISLAND TRAPPER.

No. 65. WOLF CAP.

NEW YORK.

BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS,
us WILLIAM STREET.

    

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873. by
FRANK STARR & 00..
In the once of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

\

 

    

 
   

THE YELLOW HUNTER;

on,

THE WINDING TRAIL OF DEATH

 

CHAPTER I.
BEBIEGED.

PONTIAC, the Ottawa, was dead!

Yes, the fearless originator of the greatest Indian conspir-
acy on record had received a death-blow at the hands of a
fellow red-man, and the promise of a barrel of English rum
had nerved the villain’s arm.

The bloody deed was committed in the forest of the Illi-
nois, not far from Cahokia, on the Mississippi, and when the
base-hearted Kaskaskia fled to his clansmen, with reeking
hatchet, they sided with him, and, without a word in pallia-
tion of the crime, drove Pontiac's followers from the hamlet.

The great Ottawa’s suchems spread over all the country,
crying “ blood for blood.” They fired many a savage heart
with the torch of vengeance, and inaugurated a war whose
horrors stand without a parallel on the pages of American
history.

From the bays and rivers that relieve the vast dreary west-
ern shore of Lake Michigan, rushed the Sues, Foxes and Men-
omonies, to assist in the extirpation of the Illinois and the
hated English who dwelt in the neighborhood where the con.
spirator was assassinated. Out from among the stately pines
that cover that mighty peninsula between Huron and her
western sister, came the intractable Ojibwa, the giant Ottawa,
and the proverbially treacherous but brave Pottawatomie;_ ‘
and being joined on the Wabash by the Wyandots, the Mi-
amies, and other more eastern tribes, they swooped down up-
on the Eden land that bordered the Father of Waters.

 

  

10 m YELLOW HUNTER; on,

   

Their motto was, ‘Death to the unprotected English and
the Illinois Indians, but life to every Frenchman l’ .

Before the war that followed, all other Indian conflicts
sink into utter insignificance, and over the grave of Pontiac
more blood was poured out in atonement than flowed from
the hecatombs of slaughtered heroes on the corpse of l’atro-
clns:

And through the dark and bloody labyrinths of that era of
t‘eath, the reader is about to follow the fortunes of red and
white—fortunes which pale the cheek and almost turn the
blood to ice.

“ Father should have been here ere this. He said he
would return at sunset. I wonder what keeps him. Surely
no danger has befallen him. No, I know he can not be far
away, and I will run toward the creek and meet him.”

The speaker was a beautiful girl about eighteen years of
age, and, as she uttered the last word, she bounded across the
threshold of a low-browed cottage, and hurried toward the
south. v
She trailed a light rifle at her side, which, with her long.
dark hair, and demi-Indian habiliments, gave her a decidedly
romantic appearance. A few moments served to bring her
to the stream, the Cahokia creek, which debonches into the
lordly Mississippi a few miles above the ancient hamlet of
like name. Paming at the water’s edge, she gazed far bc~
yond the ford with aniious eyes.

The evening was a balmy one, in the early part of May.
1769, and the country of the Illinois wore robes of surpassing
beauty. W'hile not insensible to the delights of the landscape
spread about her, Kate Blount continued to look for her fa-
ther, who had taken a large bundle of furs to Cahokia, and
had promised to return that evening.

Kate was not really fearful for her father’s personal safety, -

but she knew his failing, and feared that an indulgence might
detain him at the frontier station, and compel her to remain
in their solitary cabin through a long night alone. ,
' Of late, rumors of an approaching Indian war had reached 1
the settlers in the Illinois, and many had already sought shel-i
her in Cahokia and Fort. Chartres. But, Olivor Blount had:

 
  

  
 
  
 
  
 

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derided the stories of conflict, and declared that the avenging
Indians would strike no one save the Illinois, and their fel-
low clansmen.

“ They’re going to extirpate the Illinois, root and branch,’
he would say, “ but what have they to do with us? “ Wt
didn’t kill Pontiac !” I

“ But, father, English rum drove the tomahawk to tht
whief‘s brain," Kate had often replied, “ and I tell you that
here than one British scalp will hang at an Indian‘s belt
when the carnage begins.”

“ Pooh! girl, that‘s all talk. You ain‘t as old as your fa-
ther, who has no wish to show the white feather and hide
behind Fort Chartres. No l we’ll meet the war here 1”

Poor, deluded Oliver Blount 1 He soon paid dearly for
his stubbornness.

Kate felt that the war of extermination was near at hand,
and, like a brave woman, prepared for it. During her fath-
er’s journey to St. Louis and Cahokia, she molded a store of
bullets, and cleaned the little rifle which, a few weeks before
the opening of our story, she had nCCepted from the hands of
a young fur-trader, of whom, dear reader, more anon.

“.1’in going to stay with father,” she often murmured with
determination, “and when he is in danger there will he one
hand to save. Oh, I fear he will repent of his rashness when
it is too late I”

For many minutes she watched the path leading from the

ford; but the well-known form of the loved parent did not

greet her eye, and at last, the young girl turned toward her
home again.

“Father is tarrying before Kildare’s bottles, I fear,” she
muttered, “ and 1—. Mark ! he is coming through the wood I
lie has missed the path.”

Again she turned toward the stream, and a moment later,
not her father, but an Indian, burst upon her sight !

Despite the shades now vailing the forest in gloom. she
rec0gnized him, when his feet touched the water at the fold.

“ Swamp Oak l" she ejaculated, “ and he has been chased,
too, for I distinctly hear‘his pantings. Swamp’Oak i”

She spoke the Indian’s name in a louder tone, when, with

had‘. a light cry of recognition he plunged into the water.

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12 m mLow HUNTER; on,

 
 

A minute brought him to the girl's side, and he cast his

eyes over his shoulder before he allowed her to address him.

Then he turned to her with a significant look which told her

that the danger was passed, and that he awaited her pleasure.
“ Where did the Swamp Oak come from ?" questioned Kate

Blount, eagerly.

“ From the stonewalled fort,” was the quick reply.

    
  
 
 
 
 
   
   
 
 
 
 
    
 
    
  
 
 
 
 
   
  
  
   
  

. ..._.-‘<___‘.

The young Peoria could speak good English. 

“ Did you see my father ‘3" .

“ No; the white trader's shadow fell not across Swamp
Oak’s trail. He made many a leaf bleed, Lone Dove.”

A faint smile wreathed the boy‘s lips as he spoke the last
sentence.

“ You've been tracked, then ?" said Kate Blount.

“ The Ojibwa wolves were on the Peoria’s trail,” answered
the youth; “ but he proved too swift for them, and in the
great forest they lost him."

“ Then the hatchet has been unearthed ?”

“ Yes, yes," cried the Indian. “Between Cohakia and the 1
stone-walled fort the enemies of the Illinois outnumber the
leaves of the trees. The Ojibwa has sunk his boat, and now '
seeks‘ red and white scalps: the—”  Q

“Not white scalps, Swamp Oak ‘3” ‘ 5 V

“ White scalps, Lone Dove ! Swamp Oak run by a pale. :
face’s cabin, and he saw a white maiden dead by the well.” 1].

Kate Blount shuddered and thought of her father. u

“Swamp Oak’s people must die 2” continued the young

chief, sadly; “ but they will die like their fathers died. But, 8‘
Lone Dove, We must not stand here, and for three days
Swamp Oak has lived on roots. .

With a last anxious 100k across the stream, the young wo- 8.“
man turned toward her home again, the brave walking atJ hit
her side.

“ I saw him, White Flower," he said, suddenly.

Kate Blount started at the announcement, and a crimson
flush suffused her beautiful cheeks. I
“ And when is he coming?" she asked, when she regained
her composure. '

“ Even now he is on the way," was the reply. “ He sent 

. Swamp Oink before, and be and the Pale Giant will be but [I

after another sleep.” . '

    

  

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“Not before?" asked Kate, with a sigh.
“ If they are chased—yes,” answered the Indian.

“ Then tnay they be chased l” she ejaculated, inaudibly, and
a moment later the barking of a dog told the twain that they
were near the frontier Cottage.

I have used the word cottage simply for the reason that
the house of Oliver Blount was not a cabin, but in reality a
cottage. It was the work of the hands of a former owner—
a proud Frenchman, who left the Illinois paradise when the
English flag supplanted the fleur de lz's, after the peace of
1763; and for a nominal sum Oliver Blount purchased the
building, when he reached Cahokia, in the rear of the British
army of occupation. The cottage was quite small, but pic-
turesque in the extreme. It contained three rooms, two on
the ground floor, and one, a roomy attic, beneath the strong
clapboard roof. It boasted of broad eaves, covered with
climbers, and a pretty veranda, swarming with flowers, planted
in deep wooden bowls.

The young Peoria was not a stranger at the Blounts’ home,
for when the giant bulldog saw him he ceased his barkings,
and greeted the red-skin with a low, joyful whine. Kate
entered 'the house and began to prepare an evening repast,
while the Peoria leaned against the door and swept the land-
scape before him with his eagle eye. Night had fairly vailed
the earth now; but the Indian did not desert his position.
His eyes seemed to penetrate the gloom far beyond the
threshold, and when he uttered an expressiie “ ugh," Kate
sprung to him and touched his arm.

“ Father ?”

“No!” exclaimed Swamp Oak, and the next moment he
stepped back and gently closed the strong oaken door.

‘ Then he calmly proceeded to barricade it, Kate watching
his movements without a question.

When be deemed the portal proof against the foe, he
turned to the windows and secured them in like manner.

“Lone Dove, the wolves prowl about your nest," he said at
last, pausing directly before Kate, “ and ere long their steps

twill greet your ears.”

 He had scarcely paused when a footfall approached the
g has, and tell heavily upon the taboo floor 01 the veranda

' f

  

 

14 m YELLOW HUNTER; on,

It was greeted by a growl from the dog, who approached the
door with all his furious passions aroused, and with fire flash-
ing from his great gray eyes.

The next moment Kate darted forward and quieted Pon-
tiac with her hand, while the Peoria placed his car at the
foot of the portal to catch the import of the whispers on the
porch. '

All at once, while the Indian still remained crouched on
the floor, a hand struck the door, and in a firm tone Kate
Blount demanded to know who was there.

“Segowatha, the war-wolf of the Pottawatomies, knocks
at the pale-face's'lodge,” was the reply, in a pompous tone.
“He is not alone; his warriors are about him, and through
him they command the Englishman‘s daughter to deliver over
to them the Peoria dog, who kennels beneath her roof. \Ve
have tracked the Swamp Oak hither, and we seek the scalp
of the Peoria. dog, and not the Lone DOVe‘s. Let the pale
child be swift to speak, for Segowatha’s warriors are impa-
tient, and soon he can not hold them back from the work of
the evil spirit.”

Silence followed the chief‘s words. While he spoke, the
hunted Peoria. had risen to his feet, and now he stood with
bowed head before the girl Who held his life in her hands.
Kate Blouut gazed upon the demanded sacrifice, and- twice
she essayed to speak, but in vain. In the form of the young
Peoria she beheld the only true red friend she ever had, and
now to delivor him up to the torture seemed to her simple
mind the liight of ingratitude.

“Speak, Lone Dove," suddenly cried Segowatha, and be
supplemented the command with a. blow from his hatchet.
“ My warriors are drawing their weapons 1"

“Let them draw and use them if they wish,” cried Kate 7

Blount, starting toivard the door. “ I refuse to deliver the
Peoria to his hunters, and more, I shall defend him with my
own life.”

A yell of rage burst from the Pottawatomie’s throat, and he "7

drove his tomahawk into the door.

,That blow caused Swamp Oak to spring erect as an arrow, . _

and he griped the slender arm of the trader’s daughter.

“ Swamp Oak will die for the Lone Dove l” he said, wit-«if

 

 

 

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'rrm wrunan run. or Drama. 16 ‘

" mingled determination and emotion. “ Segowatha is full of

 lies. They seek the pale girl as well as Swamp Oak, for she
 is English, and in this war they strike all save the French.
5 A yellow-skinned dog is with Segowatha; he wants the dove
‘3, with golden plumage; 110— Ah ! the dog is going to
 whine.”

The Peoria’s sentence was broken by a Voice just beyond
5 the threshold, and the twain grew silent to hear what it might
i say. .
' “ White girl, you are rash," said the invisible speaker, in
. French. “ You are selling your life for a dog’s. The Indians
. don’t want you—only the Peoria lout.”
“No more, Jules Bardue I" cried Kate Blount, with flashing
v, eyes. “ I know you ; you can’t disguise your hated_v<iice. I
' know What brought you hither, and death is far preferable
to the life you have marked out for me. Depart immediately,
base creole dog, else, through this door, a bullet shall stop
,7, your whinings.”
ii A terrible anathema burst from the lips of the maddened
creole, and there was a hasty flight from the porch.
“ IIa, they run i" cried Kate, turning to the Peoria.
 “ But they will come again,” was the reply. “ The Yellow
i. Chief will have the Lone Dove or die 1"
I‘ The lips of the trader’s daughter met in terrible determina-
tion, and a low whine from Pontiac announced the return of
i the savages.
; A moment later a heavy blow fell upon the door; but the
. ; barricades resisted to good effect, and, throwing down the bat-
tering-ram, the savages poured a volley of musket-balls through
the planks. Suspecting their design, our friends had taken
5 1‘ shelter behind the heavy logs that nestled behind the plank
weather - boarding, and thus escaped the leaden pellets.
_ Scarcer had the balls perforated the door, when Swamp Oak
g’ sprung to his feet and tired through the prmection.
 A death-yell, similar to the yelp of the wolf, announced

 

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the result of his shot, and a moment later Kate Blount’s ride
7. sent an Ottawa to the hunting-grounds of his tribe.

, The lucky shots drew a chorus of demoniac yells from the
3.3.. savages, and while the brave twain reloaded their weapons,
 those outside rushed in a body against the door. ' -

to m mm m; on,
The first blow with the sapling which they had deserted I
moment before, sent a shiver over the structure, and the sec-
ond stroke drove the faithful door from its hingesl ‘

The ram was handled by demons now, and nothing could
resist their fury.

The broken barricades prevented the door from falling to
the floor, but the moonlight streamed into the room, and re-
Vealed the defenders to the Indians. Simultaneously with
their success, they essayed to enter over the stricken portals,
but the rifles of the besieged cracked again, and two more In-
dians fell dead on the porch.

The death-work momentarily drove the fee from the door,
and before they returned to their work, Swamp Oak had torn
the useless barricades away, and supplied their places with
new ones. A settler’s cabin is always supplied with two sets
of barricades, and in case of an attack the extra set is placed
beside the door.

     
 

   

  

 
  
 

When the enemy returned to the attack, they greeted the ' ‘

new defense with wild yells, and the renewal of the attack
was met with a volley from the besieged which sorely wound-
ed no less a personage than Segowatha.

In tones of rage and pain the stricken Pottawatomie or.
dered his braves from the attack, and for many minutes silence
reigned beyond the fort.

“ They are concocting something devilish,” whispered the
young girl.

“ Yes, the evil spirit is playing with their hearts,” said
Swamp Oak.

A moment later, they heard the Voice of the Yellow
Chief.

“You had better surrender; the Indians are mad now "
he said.

“ Let them eat themselves for rage,” cried Kate Blount, he-
roically. “ We will not surrender.”

“ Then die l" yelled Jules Bardue.

A moment later innumerable sticks Were hurled upon the
porch.

In the moonlight that stole into the room through a crevice
above the window, the eyes of the red brave and white girl
met.

‘M'w—hv..-

 

      
   
   
     
    
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
   
 
 
 
       
   
   
   

17

   

m mum nan. OF DEATH.

“ They’re going to burn us out i” said Kate.

The Peoria nodded assent, griped his rifle more flrmlythan
ever, and stepped to the door

The next instant the clash of flints greeted his ears. Kate
heard it, too.

C 11 A P T E R I I .
mum’s Domes.

THE brushwood which the Indians heaped against the door
of Oliver Blount’s home, had been gathered on the edge of
the clearing and was quite dry. The bark films were soon
ignited by the flints, and in less time than we can record a
single sentence, the little houghs were cracking in the ruddy
blaze.
Segowatha, who, on amount of his wound, lay at the foot
of a tree some distance from the cottage, commanded his
braves to draw back from the scene, and with a single excep-
tion they obeyed. That exception was Jules Bardue, the Yel-
low Chief, as he had been termed for several years. He had
suddenly disappeared, though Segowatha made no inquiries
regarding his absence, nor manifested any uneasiness about it.
The creole was a privileged character among the north-
western Indians. He had not always dwelt among the tribes
of the Illinois country. He had been an attache to Sir Wil-
liam Johnson’s estate in New York, and amid its beauties he
.' first encountered the girl he now sought—Catherine Blount.
t . Then she was a pretty little blonde of fifteen,and he a manly-
 looking fellow of one and twenty. lie tnrew himself before
Miss Kate whenever an opportunity presented, and when he
discovered that the beauty did not love him—when, in indig‘ ,.
nant tones, she bade him remain from her side, be obeyed the
instincts of a bad heart and grossly insulted her.

. As young as she was—a mere child in years—Kate Blount
’ v had imbibed to no little degree her father‘s resentful nature,
" y’Ild it was with great ditflculty that the creole wrenched from

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13 ' m YELLOW HUNTER; on,

   

her the pistol which had flashed from her bosom to avenge
the insult he had offered.

To what violence his passion might have led we can only
guess, for from among the shadows of the forest trees a ver-
itable giant sprung upon him; strong arms encircled him,
and, before he eould think with calmness, he found himself
stripped and hound to a tree. Kate Blount had suddenly dis- i
appeared, and before him stood her irate father, armed with 
a bundle of switches. Julius Bardue did not beg for mercy; i
he was not that kind of a man. On the contrary he gritted‘ j
his teeth until sixty terrible blows had stripped the flesh from t
his back, and he was unbound and hurled almost senseless to
the ground.

The next morning the creole, or Frenchman as he was i
called by many, did not make his appearance at Sir William’s
lodge; nor was he ever seen near it again. He feared the
wrath of Oliver Blount, and had left the country for his owu 
and the country’s good. ;

He fled to the new Illinois; lived at Cahokia awhile, then V
joined the Pottawatomies, and bee-tune their Yellow Chief. 
lle knew that Oliver Blount intended to emigrate to the Illi- I
nois country sometime, and the Yellow Chief‘s frequent in- ,
cursions into that Paradise told that he watched and waited
for father and (laughter—for his revenge. .

Fully thirty paces from trader Blount’s cottage the Indians
watched the progress of their devilish work, and when they
beheld the flames licking up the door with their forked
tongues, they exchanged “ ughs" of supreme satisfaction.
The besieged would not permit themselves to be roasted to
death, and every minute the dusky demons expected to hear
the submissive cry. A cordon of braves encircled the cottage
thus cutting 03‘ the retreat of the doomed ones.

But while this was transpiring, a merciful Providence was
lnterposing a saving hand, for a suddenly-gathered storm-
cloud burst over the cottage; the gates of the upper deep
opened, and threatened to deluge every thing. ,

The superstitious Indians, surprised and alarmed at this 5
sudden burst of lightning and rain, left their stations and 
gathered around the wounded chief. ‘J
Despite his wounds, Sogowatha sprung to his feet.

 
   
     
   
 
  
   
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

      

  
    
 

 
 
 

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“ Back to your places, braves l" he yelled, facing the shrink-
ing savages with drawn tomahawk. “ The Mauitou merely
Waters the earth, and he will smile soon.”

Sullenly the warriors returned to their posts, and again the
cottage was encircled by the tomnhawk and scalping-knife.

The drenching rain, driven in upon the porch by the wind,
effectually extinguished the flames; and when the storm at
last had subsided, an Indian approached the house, to discover
a door so charred that it must yield to a slight assault. ,

Not a sound proceeded from the cottage, and the Indians,
who now crept forward like snakes to the attack, wondered
at the silence. When they reached the foot of the porch
they rose in a body and threw themselves against the door.

It made no resistance, and the savages, with horrible yells,
rushed pell-mell into the cottage. Beyond the portal they
met a determined resistance, but it was from a dog. With
an almost human yell, Pontiac darted at the foremost Indian’s
throat, and dragged the torn wretch to the floor. The entire
band sprung upon the dog, and a minute later he was literally
hacked to pieces with their knives.

Where Were Kate Blount and the hunted Peoria?

The savages rushed into the second chamber; but it was
tenantless. The ladder which was wont to invite ingress to
the attic was missing, and with some ditflculty the red de—
mons gained the upper story. A moment later a yell of
mingled rage and disappointment pealed from their throats,
and while it echoed throughout the gloomy recesses of the
drenched forest, they congregated beneath an opening in the
roof, and gazed bewildered at the stars which seem to laugh
at. their defeat. ~

The birds had flown l

Segowatha greeted this announcement with a groan of
rage, and in angry tones he summoned the rear guards in-
to his presence. Tremblineg they approached, and told
him that while they guarded the house, the twain had not
escaped.

“ But while you acted like squaws they crept from the
lodge," cried the War Wolf with terrific mien. “ I will have
no such braves with me !"

As he spoke he buried his hatchet in the brain of the fore

   

    

 
 

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most guard, and turned with murderous intention upon the
second. But, his strength failed him; the weapon dropped
from his hand, and a sub-chief supported him with his arms,

“ Shall we throw ourselves upon the snake’s trail ‘r”

l “ No, no I” said Segowatha, his face suddenly growing
pale, and a convulsive shudder passing over his giant frame.
“ The War Wolf must go to his people; the Peoria's bullet
struck deep. Segowatha is near the dark river. But give
the snake’s den to the fire, and call the Yellow Chief back."

With the bare thought of their war-chief’s approaching
end, the savages gave themselves over to a rage which knew
no bounds, and defies description.

They flew to the work of destruction; they ripped the
weather hoarding from the cottage, and split it with their
hatchets, piling it in the lower rooms. Presently the flints
were applied again, and soon Oliver Blount‘s home was
wrapped in flames. While the tongues of fire licked up the
toil of years, a chief repeated the shrill cry of the night-hawk
three times in rapid succession. Then they waited anxious~
ly for the coming of some one, but, whoever that one was,
he did not come.

The demons danced about the trader’s burning home;
they tore down the neat fence that surrounded it, and cast
it into the fire; they applied their hatchets to the beautiful
silver maples which afforded delicious shade, and gave them
to the devouring element. In short, they spared nothing,
even tearing up the broad stones which led to the well, and
hurling them with terrible yells after the trees.

At last the cottage was destroyed, and, ready for more
hellish work, the Indians tumed to Segowatha for orders.
The dying chief, for it was plain that he was approaching
the river of death, smiled upon their work and inquired re-
garding the creole.

“ He comes not,” answered a young chief—the Lone Wolf,
“like a coivardly dog he has deserted us. We will whip him
with canes when he sneaks back to our lodges.”

“The ¥ellow Chief went to watch the spot where tie
fur-trader keeps his boat," said Segowatha. “ But SCBOWJ‘

«a can net dream why he comes not. He must have heard
the hawk cry."

 

 

 

THE WINDING TRAIL ( F DEATH. 21

“ He may have filled his ears with leaves,” said Lone Wolf,
who, though a Pottawatomie, bore no good thoughts for Jules
Bardue. “ He watches yet, perhaps. We will hunt the
dog.”

Touching a warrior's arm lightly, the young Indian hounded
toward Cahokia Creek, followed by the red-skin whom his
touch had summoned.

A path led from the cottage to the creek, which almost en
circled it, and the two Indians were not long in reaching th.i
stream. Suddenly Lone lVolf‘s companion uttered an “ ugh ”
expressive of horror, and dropped before a dark object which
lay near the water.

“The Yellow Chief l” exclaimed Lone Wolf.

A brief examination proved the creole to be still living,and
,just recovering from the deathly swoon into which a terrible
blow had hurled him.

A glance about the star-lit spot showed evidences of a fierce
struggle, and the missing boat told the result of the com-
bat.

The Indians lifted the Yellow Chief and bore him to Sego-
watha.

The War Wolf raised himself on his elbow, and for a long
time looked down into the creole's face without speaking.

“ Segowatha leads the redsmen of the big lake no more,"
he said, at last, in the calmest of tones, which the. Indian loves
to assume when he stands upon the threshold of'death. “ The
Manitou grips his band now, and the \Var Wolf must go.
Warriors—Pottawatomies, Ojibwas," his eyes swept the circle
of tawny faces, “who followed Segowatha hither, you must
swear.”

In the momentary pause that followed, thirty hatchets flew
aloft, and thirty hands Covered the hearts of their respective
owners.

“ Swear i" cried the dying War Wolf—“ swear to hunt to
earth the Peoria. skunk and the white house-snake who crawls
after him. Swear to tear the hearts from all whom she loves
-—her bearded father, the Pale Giant, and I the boy with long
hair. Segowatha hates them all E"

“ We swear i” cried Lone Wolf.
Mia‘s blood we swear all this."

“ Warriors, by our chiofr

 

    

28 THE minow HUNTER; on,

With the last Word the young brave dyed his hands in the
warm blood that gushed uil't‘sh from Setzhwntlm’s wounds, and
the other red-skins foIIOWed his example.

“ I swear, too l" unexpectedly Cl‘lt' ! .-t voice in French, and,
raising himself with a mighty effort, the Yellow Chief thrust
his hand into Segowathn’s blood. “Hal ha! we will hunt
them down—the fugitives of the Illinois! Oh, that they Were
here now 1”

Exhaustion then again followed, and he dropped to tlte
ground, and a moment later a terrific yell, uttered simulta-
neously by thirty pair of lips, told that the mighty War Wolf
of the Pottawatotnies had stepped into the impenetrable fu-
ture.

Over Segowatha’s corpse an Ojibwa dropped with a groan,
and two others staggered to their feet to fall to the earth, a
second later, wounded to the death.

The uninjured red-skins griped their rifles; but not a foe
was to be seen. Everywhere the silence of death reigned su-
premel

C H A P 'I‘ E R I I I.
A MOTHER’S VENGEANCE.

FROM 3 trap-door in the roof of the cottage, Swamp Oak,
the young Peoria, had noted the approach of the delin-ring
storm, and had hastened to communicate the joyful tidings to
his beautiful fellow-prisoner. Well understanding the nature
of the summer storms which broke over the forests of the 11-
inois, they were alert at out-e, and when the cloud did dis-
charge its fury of wind and rain through the Stygian dark-
ness, they were in the attic, and by the flashes of lightning,
saw the awe-stricken guards desert their posts,just as the Peoria
knew they would do.

The young redskin then glided away to the edge of the
broad eaves, followed by the girl, whom he lowered to the
ground. Handing her the rifles, he sprung down. Then to.
ward the trader’s boat the fugitives of the Illinois hurried.

 

2‘.
1
t
J
I
i

    

    
    

 

 

  
  

  

28

run more mm or DEATH.

Suddenly, when they were very near the creek, the Peoria
paused, and griped Kate Blount’s arm.
“ What is it, Swamp Oak ?” questioned the girl, in a low
whisper.
“ The Yellow Chief,” was the reply, and then the Indian
left her standing alone.

A flash of lightning had revealed to Swamp Oak the figure
it the creole chief watching the boat, as though he Were cer-
ain that the besieged would escape, in which event they
would, of course, seek the boat. '

Several minutes of silence followed the Peoria’s departure,
and then the sounds of a desperate struggle were borne to
the girl‘s ears. In the gloom she stood and trembled for the
safety of her ally, and when at last the lightningrevealed the
two men locked in each other‘s arms, writhing and twisting
like tw0 panthers on the verge of Cahokia Creek, she sprung
forward to put an end to the conflict. The electric light had
told her that the Yellow Chief was uppermost, and Swamp
Oak‘s situation critical in the extreme.

A few bounds brought her to the spot ; her rifle flew above
her head to deal a death-blow to the coward who sought to
destroy her happiness, when she saw him roll from the Indian

‘and lie perfectly still on the bank.

“Ugh!” granted the victorious Peoria, springing to his
feet, and shaking himself after the manner of a dog emerging
from the water. “ The Yellow Chief is as strong as the buf-
falo; but he was no match for Swamp Oak.

“ Come 1” he said. stepping to the water, “ we must fly,
even as the wild geese fly from the gun of the white hunters."

“ But father and the others 'r" said Kate, inroluntarily paus-

‘3 'ng beside the boat.

;
t
i
i

  

 

“ They will come to the Lone Deve in time,” said the
Swamp Oak; “ she will nestle in her father’s bosom soon, and

' she will plait the young trader’s long hair before the dentn

of another moon. Come 1" .

Tints reassured, Kate Blount stepped into the boat, and the
next moment they were flying toward the head-waters of Ca‘
hokia creek.

“ Why did you not fly to the fort, chief i" asked Kate, at-
to: a lengthy silence. -

  

 
  

24 mmnow mm; on,

  
 
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
    
     
      

  

“ The Red Avengers were between the fur man’s cabin
and the English flag; and we must keep from them. Oh,
my poor people i" and a sigh escaped the Indian’s breast.  1
“Swamp Oak’s father is old; the evil spirits’ fiery arrows ‘
shoot along his bones, and like the Wounded dove, he will , 1
fall an -asy.. prey to the bad Indians’ tomahawks. But let
them kill him,” and the young brave gritted his teeth; “ yes,

o let them kill the old Peoria, and they shall unchain a devil ‘ f
fiercer than all the wolves in the country of the Illinois.” 9 n
Then the savage relapsed into silence, which was not bro- _
ken till, an hour later, he ran the canoe to the secure cover ‘ 3
of the frinng bank. t

“Now where do we go, Swamp Oak 2*” demanded Kate, Ic
as they stepped upon the bank. v~

“ The Lone Dove shall see,” answered the Indian, with a 0-
smile. “ Did she never know that Swamp Oak had a squaw ?" ‘w

“ No, chief,” said the girl, in astonishment. “ You never a,
breathed a word to me about a Mrs Swamp 01k.” 1

The youthful Indian smiled sadly, but proudly, and, having in,
sunk the boat, led the Way into the forest. 1g,

“ Yes," he said, in low (ones, while he guided the trader's ,
daughter over the rough ground, “ the Peoria has a squaw, a, :h.
beautitnl as the lilies of snow that kiss the lips of the great“
riVCr (Mississippi). Many moons ago, Swamp Oak's nation be
sent him to the lands of the Delawares to spy. He went fre,
with a fearless heart, for he wanted to win his first feathers. ‘
He wore the plumes and paint of an Ojibwa; he entered the un
lodges of the Delawares; he told them about the great lake to,
where the Ojibwas live, and they believed him, for the Mani- rm
tou closed their eyes to the fact that Swamp Oak was an Ii- 1 ,
linois.* Among the Delaware wigwams he met Ulalah, the b]
daughter of Coleulah, the gigantic Delaware prophetess, who tho
Wears a necklace of living snakes. He loved her star eyes, she
and when he left the Delawares, Ulalah walked at his side. i
He dared not take her to his people as his squaw—she a hated 0m
and aecursed Delawue, so he brought her—here l”

The young white girl looked up into the Indian’s face, he-
wildered.

 
 

' The Kukasklas. Poorlu'and Cahokiae were component tribe. of tho
Illinois nation. ~

   

m wnmme ram or mum. 25

 " Not here, Swamp Oak ?”
V “ Here, Lone Dove.”
 As the savage finished, he stooped and placed his ear to
'9 the ground. In this position he remained for some time,
% when, satisfied with his vigil, he stepped to a gigantic oak
. and thrust his arm into a dark aperture in its side.
Kate Blount watched him eagerly.
Vth Swamp Oak withdrew his arm, a portion of the
3 tree swung Open like a door, which unexptcted action drew
3' a cry of astonishment from the girl’s lips.
I “ So Swamp Oak and his squaw hve in a tree ?" she said,
’ ismiling at the novelty of the thought.
_ “ No,” murmured the Indian, “ they dwell below the tree '
3 Come l”
He caught Kate‘s arm and led herheyond the living thresh-
old of his strange home; and she stood against the inner
iwall of the tree, while he closed the door and made it secure
1' “again. \
1 Then he geri‘tly assisted her down a ladder formed of poles
3 land sinews, and at last Kate found herself upon firm, stony
iground, thirty feet below the roots of the tree.
5 i In the gloom the Peoria paused, and a loud bird-call peeled
af- from his lips.
“3 It received no answer. He called again, and in the sus-
’“ gpense that followed the cry, Kate felt a shudder flit over the
“t fired-skin’s tawny frame.
"8- “ Ulalah must sleep,” said Swamp Oak, in a tone full of
he uncertainty and fears. “Swamp Oak has not kissed her for
1"” ‘ten sleeps, and she has grown weary waiting for him. We
“2' Will awake her, Lone Dove. Come 1"
y" -The hand that stole to Kate Blount’s in the gloom trem-
-"'“'- 'bled like the aspen, and a terrible presentiment of cvi. crept
‘1‘" ‘0 her young heart. She could not shake the terror off, and
'99 She knew that Swamp Oak shared it with her.
(16' “ Ha l” Suddenly exclaimed the Indian, in a somewhat joy-
ted ous tone,“ Ulalah still keeps the fire bright for Swamp Oak.”
He quickened his gait now, and presently the turning of a
curve brought them into an apartment quite vividly relieved
by a fire that burned in the center. '
:3. The chamber was fit for the banquet hall of an eastern

W

"

v

be-

 

 

    

    

  

96 me YELLOW Hum“; 01:,

king, and the trader’s daughter was struck with rapture and 
awe when her eyes fell upon the myriads of shining stalac— '
tites that hung pendent from the arched ceiling, and the walls
that reflected back, with ten thousand beauties, the glow of
the fire. ‘

At first she thought the palace deserted; but when her ‘»'_
eyes became thCllslomt‘ti to the light. she, simultaneously with
the Peoria, beheld a figure upon a mat of doe skins, near the
bright. blaze. -'

With a light cry of “ Ulalah l“ Swamp Oak shot forward: r
and stooped, with his inborn gentleness, over the motionless
.body of his young wife.

But the next moment he started back with a cry that y~
drove every vestige of color from Kate Blount’s face, and,
with the eyes of a tnadman, he stared at. the form on the ‘L’
doe-skins. 3; 1

The trader’s daughter could not move. Horror glued her ,
to the spot, and her eyes continually'llitted between the mad 4
Peoria and his Ulalah. *

Suddenly Swamp Oak shot forward, and lifted the Dela- 1
Ware girl from the couch, and then without a word bore her ‘_
to the trader’s child, and thrust the cold, expressionless face ,
into hers. I,

“Dead! dead 1” welled from Kate‘s lips, in horrible 30- E
cents, and while she spoke she could scarcely believe that tho I"
beautiful being embraCed hy the Indian was a corpse. 4'

“Dead! dead 1" shriede Swamp Oak echoing the girl’s 
Words with a voice that was a wail ; and while the accents 1‘, '
still quivered on his pale lips, he staggered back and dropped
Ulalah upon the couch again. . 

“ Ile’s mad !" muttered Kate Blouut, involuntarily shriuk- 
ing from the intense glare of the frenzied Indian’s eyes.
“ This deed of blood has sent reason from its throne. What :
is to follow God knows. Heaven protect me I" 3

The Peoria approached with an unnatural smile.

“ Yes, the good spirits have taken Ulalah to their lodges,"
he said, “ and left the Lone Dove to be poor Swamp Oak's I
squaw. , Swamp Oak loved Ulalah; but when the winged"-
spirits came for her, he kissed her, and let her go. Ha! ha!
hat the Lone Dove will be lone no longer. Why does she,

 

 

 

 
  
 

g i

 

 

  

TEE WINDING TRAIL OF DEATH. ’1

TlDOuch with flowers.”
‘ But, with a shudder, Kate continued to retreat, and when
fiat last, unable to retreat further, the demented Indian’s hand
:5‘gripcd her arm, a fiendishly triumphant laugh came from a
*Edistant portion of the cave.
 Instantly Swamp Oak dropped her arm, and wheeled witl‘
 crazy cry.
' He turned in time to see a giantess burst from one of th
Etcot'ridors, leading from the further end of the chamber, and
pKate Blount echoed the Indian‘s cry of horror.
3 She at once rCCognized in the red ogress, the person of
' Coleola the prophetess of the the Delawares, for around her
~{neck writhed three snakes, pictures of horror.
f7 Several warriors followed the red queen, and she threw a
1r" furtive glance upon Ulalah’s corpse as she sprung forward.
“ Hal ha! ha!" she laughed again, tnore discordantly than
s over, pausing within a few feet of Swamp Oak, who regarded
her with an expression utterly indescribable. “At last Co-
;g leola has tracked the child-stealer to his den. At last she has
itfound her child—found her to punish her for following the
';Peoria dog into the woods. See l” and a knife flashed from
Ebeneath her tunic, “this blade is red with the blood of the
2f'ungrateful girl, and soon it shall drink the heart-gore of the
’Vf red hound. For five sleeps we have waited for Swamp Oak,
f’thc traitor. Coleola led her braves from the Delaware village,
.7; saying: ‘ We dye our knives in the hearts of the runaways
.I'or never return.’ Ha! ha! in the forest we saw a pair of
;eyes peeping from a tree! Ulalah watched for her red dog.
and Coleola came instead of he.”
l Again that hellish laugh broke from the murderess’ lips,
,. v and with eyes aflame with passion, she strode toward Swamp
‘;,'Oak, who did not seem to comprehend her intention. Kate
f“ Blount, still griping her rifle, shrunk nearer the wall, deter-
‘ :y mined to brace herself against ’it, and sell her life as dearly as
 possible. While Coleola addressed Swamp Oak. her eyes had
wandered to her, and Kate knew that She was doomed to die
'f by some terrible mode of death.
Nearer and nearer the dazed Indian came the murderess,
 and her almost naked followers; when to Kate Blount’s m

 

  
   
  

 

 

 
 

  

    

 
    
 

l
28 m mLow nema; on,

prise, SWamp Oak, with a terrific yell, dashed Coleola and
her braves from his path as though they were stalks of corn;
and, snatching up the corpse of his stolen wife, he disap-
peared in one of the corridors before the astonished specta-
tors had recovered from their confusion.

Coleola and her followers darted after the madman, and
Kate Blount was left alone. Then, with the instinct of self-
preservation, she retreated back through the passage which a
few minutes since she had traversed, and at last found her-
seif in the tree. Around her all was gloom, and she fum-
bled about for the fastenings with the wildest heart that ever
throhbed in maiden’s bosom.

Every moment was precious to her, and when she at last
found the sinews and threw wide the door, she felt a foot on
the ladder below!

She sprung from the tree into the day that was penetra-
ting the lllinois forest, and heard the triumphant yell of the
Indian behind her.

Impelled by her danger, she turned and beheld, rushing
from the tree with uplifted hatchet, one of Coleola’s braves.

Instantly her rifle shot to her shoulder; she touched the
trigger and the Delaware lay motionless on the leaves with
a bullet in his brain !

Again, with a prayer to God for safety, the fugitive turned
and rushed toward Cahokia Creek, loading her faithful rifle
as she ran.

From childhood the trader’s daughter handled the weapons
of the frontier, and about Sir William Johnson’s vHodge"
there used to be no deadlier shot than the then lal’u gin of
fifteen!

In her hands the rifle was a dangerous thing!

/,

 

 

 

  

I'll WINDING TRAIL OF DEATH.

CHAPTER IV.

THE HAUNTED TRADER.

“ SHALL we give the red-livered dogs another volley ?”

The questioner was a youth, apparently twenty years 0
age, and the looks which he threw upon the startled Indians
Was burdened with the consuming fire of hatred.

“No, Rob,” was the whispered rejoiner of a herculean
man who lzty behind the log at the young scout’s side.
“ Another volley would bring the hull 0v the red devils
down upon us before we could reload, an’ then thar’d be the
. very Old Harry to pay. They’ll not hunt for us as it is;
they’re pickin‘ up their dead now, an‘ ar’ goin’ to break fur
Cahokia. Wonder who dropped Segowatha ?"

“And I wonder where my daughter—my Kate—is ?”

It was Oliver Biount that spoke, and his face told of the
fearful anxiety and doubting that gnawed at his heart. He
Was enduring the greatest anguish that can amend a father’s
breast for the fate of his only child.

“ The Lord only knows where she is, Oil,” responded the
giant. in a sympathizing tone; “ and, b’lieve me, He’s goin’
to take care 0’ her until you see her again.”

A ray of hope lighted up Blount‘s eyes, and he grasped
Doc Bell’s hand.

“ Then you think her living, Doc ?”

“ Why, in course she’s alive,” said the hunter and Indian-
, fighter, confidently. “Ei them red devils had cotcherl her
why she'd be with ’em now ; but, you see, the only live thing
_' they found in yer house war Pontiac, an’ I’ll‘bet my rifle that.
’ he let out some red hound‘s bleed afore he yelped fur the

last time. Hal jest as I told ya; they’re :groin‘."
‘ A smile played with the giant’s face as he saw the savages
lift their dead from the ground, and move toward Cahokia
Creek.
__ “Look yonder l" suddenly exclaimed Oliver Blount, 1113
~ 1 eye- rivetod upon the Yellow Chief, who, with the assistance

 

  

  

  

   

    

80 rain YE:wa HUNTER; on,

 

of two Miamis, regained his feet. “ I know who the Yellow  ‘
Chief is now—Jules Bat-due.” g

“ That’s jest his name !" said Bell, “ an’ a devil he is, too?
Yer daughter did good work to—night, 011, but she ought to5
hev finished the Creole.” {

“But he will die,” said Rob Somerville, the young scout. L,
“ Look at his face; death is. riding over it now.” ’3

“ No, he ain‘t, boy,” said the giant. “ To kill Jules Barf
due you must send a bullet to his brain. I‘ll never forget
the night, near two years ago, when I met him near the,
’Wattomie town, and hacked him to pieces with my knife.»
I made that scar over his left eye; I cut the thumb from his?
left hand, an’ four times I drove my blade between the?
scoundrel’s ribs. I left him for dead. I piled brush ovor L
’im, an’- ran like oiled lightnin'. But as I live! a month ‘-
arterwards I saw the Yellow Chief on Lake Michigan. v
Somehow or other he had come to life, an’ doctored himself 7'
up in the latest style. But,l>oys, the next time I’ll finish“
’im ; thar‘s no remedy, you know, fur a bullet in the brain.”

When the hunter concluded, the savages were beyond r
sight, and after scouring the woods to see that none remain-7
ed behind, the trio approached the blasted sight of Oliver
Blount's home.

“They shall pay for this!” hissed the fur-trader, through
clenched teeth, and then he stopped before a ghastly object '
—the body of his faithful dog.

While he bent over it, stroking the bloody hair with the,
air and look of a. grief-stricken man, the giant and his youth- *
ful protege returned from a scout around the cottage. i

“ Yer daughter is safe, 011," said Bell. '

'l‘he trader started at the sound of the voice, for the two
l-lcn had stolen up behind him.

“ How do you know she’s safe ?” he demanded.

“ Because your boat is gone, an’ she an’ that young Peoria 1
ar’ in it.”

“ Gone down Cahokia right into the jaws of death.”

“ Not much. Swamp Oak ain’t a durned fool if he is
young. He's gone up Cahokia, to his mysterious home.” f

“ Do you know where it is '3” and Oliver Blount griped [a
the hunter's arm in his eagerness. ‘

  

£

~nm~Am~4~

m-m‘~JH

 

   

 
 

/

TEE'WINDING TRAIL OF DEATH. 81

   

"/Not exactly, but I kin tramp mighty nigh it. Ye see,
at young red chap stole his wife, an’ he won’t tell anybody
I'whar he keeps her. But we‘ll hunt for the place, an’ we’ll
D-tia‘tbegin right away. I‘d give any thing fur a boat now.”

'03“? But no canoe was to be had, and the trio were obliged to
Ei-Bet out on the hunt for Kate Blount on foot.

,. They had arrived too late to attack the Indians while
ithey besieged the devoted pair in the cottage; but they
'3'eaehed the spot from whence they slew the three red-men
in time to hear the Oath which Segowatha imposed upon his
L’foll‘owers.

at? Doc Bell and young Somerville had lately left Fort Char-
:tres for the purpose of Conducting the Blount family to a
6[place of safety, or to defend them should the father still per-
;v‘sist in his refusal to name. To warn the trader of his
Edanger, and to tell him that they would soon be with him,
-.f,tbey had dispatched Swamp Oak, the Peoria, before them;
and, as the reader has seen, the Indian reached the doomed
h{ricottage in time to render valuable assistance to its beautiful
,‘tenant.

‘1 l‘ A short distance from Fort Chartres the twain encountered
1' Indians, and accidentally ran across a young Delaware brave,
r ' with whom a meeting, in his own country, some years prior
ito the date of our romance, had placed Bell on friendly
I“ terms. The Delaware told them of the presence of the
i‘ favengers; that that night the blow was to be struck, and
that the home of every backwoods English settler would be
3 in tubes before dawn.

" This startling intelligence impelled our two friends for-
,Ward faster than ever, and when they struck the trail l-adin;r
-'-from Cahokia to the trader‘s house, they encountered Oliver
3 flying to the protection of his loved daughter. Ile had been
detained in Cahokia beyond his time, and be had much to.
: relate about the bursting of the storm of massacre. Ills path
’ .‘.had been illuminated by the light of happy homes, and he
,lnul had several narrow escapes while ,on his bomeward
‘ journey.

3 From the destroyed cottage the trio proceeded to the
‘ scene. of the struggle beeween Swamp Oak and the Yellow
if {'Chief ; and, with Doc Bell in advance, struck up the creek.

di"
.l’

 
    
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
   
  
   
  
   
    
   
 
 
  
 
   
   
 
 
   

  

'0
-

-cn&-Y-;-I

<7.

*4 fl ~ "<:

 

  

 
 

m YELLOW HUNTER; OR,

  

“ I tell you what,” said the giant, “ we're in an uncommon '
delicate pickle jest now. Thar’s a wall ov red meat all
around us, un’ unless we kin break through it, the circle will
narrow down to a point so fine as to be extremely disagreeable.”

“But, with Kate, we’re going to break through it i” said
Blount, with determination.

“ That’s jest what‘s the matter,” responded the hunter.
“ The red devils may surround me in a ten-acre woods, an‘
ef I don’t get out all right, they may marry me to the ugliest
squaw they’ve got. Bob an’ me’s been in tight places afore.”

“ And so have I,” said Blount; “ and we’re going to get
out of this. But we‘ll be hunted like deers. When the Red
Avengers deliver Segowatha to the rest of the tribe, they’ll
return and hunt us down.”

“ You’re right thar, Blount, an’ ef they catch any ov us .
they'll sarve us like they sarved poor John Senior, on the
shores of Huron.”

“ How was that ?" asked Blount.

“ They made him eat his ears, an’ then, with dull knives,
they skinned him alive.” s

Despite his manhood, Oliver Blount shuddered.

“I saw that done,” continued Bell, “ an’ the hellion who
proposed it swore this night to hunt us down.”

“ I know who you mean—Jules Bardue.”

“Yes, it was he.” '

The thought of ‘ Jack’ Senior’s fate, and their own peril
caused the trio to drop the unpalatable conversation, and for
a long time they skirted the shores of Cahokia creek in silence.
Far above them the stars twinkled with a dimmed luster, as
if they were sorrowing for the work falling from the hands
\f the demon Devastation, stalking over the Eden land of the
Illinois.

Oliver Blount walked along With bowed head—repenting,
when too late, of his stubbornness. Had he listened to reason 3
at that hour he and his daughter might have been safe be. 'y
hind the protecting walls of Fort Chartres; but now she was ‘
a fugitive from Indian vengeance, and lie rushing to death in :
the attempt to save her young life. He trusted to his more
watchful companions to warn him of the presence of toes,
and suddenly that warning came in the click of their rifles. ‘

   
 
 

 

   

 
   

 

 

 

   

. I
m WINDING TRAIL 0F MATE.

“ What is it 1" he asked in a whisper.

“ Down 1" returned the giant.

They crouched in the weeds that lined the bank of the
little stream, and the footsteps of a single person approached

' them from the recesses of the forest.

“ He’s making for the creek,” whispered Somerville. “ If
an Indian, We‘ll finish him.”

“ It’s a pale-face," said Bell.
he run like an Injun ?"

The young man did not reply, and presently the new-comet

“ Listen again, Bob. Docs

v crossed an open spot in which the trio caught a glimpse of

his figure. He was a tall man, clad in the garb of the En-
gliSh fur trader, and bore a long rifle at his side. His hag-
gard face told of a terror-stricken heart; and it Was not diffi-
cult for the trio to tell that he was flying from the blood-dyed
tomahawk of Pontiac’s avengers.

He paused on the bank of the stream, and resting his
sharply defined chin upon his shoulder, listened for the foot-
steps of his pursucrs.

The three hunters could almost have touched him with
their gun-barrels. ,

They watched him narrowly, and when he seemed about
to plunge into the stream, and break his trail by water, Doc
Bell spoke: '

“ Williamson ?" , I

The hunted man started, and a low cry of despair parted
his ashen lips. Our friends heard the click, click of his long
Weapon, and his fiery, blood-shot eyes seemed to pierce their
covert. '

“ Come on i" he hissed. “ John Williamson never surren-
ders. For three weeks I’ve been the most wretched man on
earth. Awake or asleep, I’ve been hunted by the ghost of
that mighty chief whose life I purchased for a barrel of rum.

~ , I want to die, and now come on, and let me take to Hades

with me a dozen red demons.”

“ We don’t want your life, John Williamson, though I
could take it without a guilty conscience,” said Oliver Blount,
who recognized the man who had precipitated the bloody
War upon the country, by compussing the death of the great
oonspirator, Pontiac. '

 

  

  
  

84 m YELLOW me; on,

The haunted trader recognized Blount’s voice, and a mo i
went later he stood before the three men.

“ Will you not savo me?" he pleaded, suddenly discovering
that he was not so eager to die as he seemed to be a moment
since. r

“I thought you wanted to die!" said the giant with a
sneer. “ Williamson, you deserve to perish like a dog—yon

, he devil whose hate of a noble Injun is deluging the lllinois r
' n innocent blood. tut they’ll catch you yet, an’ then you'll ‘
eXperience what Jack Senior did."

The terrible doom of Senior was known throughout the
length and breadth of the lllinois Country.

“No, no,” groaned Williamson, his knees smiting one an-
other. “ 1’” cut my throat first.” ,

“ They’ll never give you that chance,’ put in Somerville, -
who smiled to see the terror of the justly haunted wretch.

“We’re huntin’ a gal—Kate Blount," said Doc Bell, ad- V
dressing the Cowardly trader, “ an‘ we’ll take you with us if '
you promise to behave decently.”

“ I’ll do that,” was the response, “ and, sirs, I’ll flgbtlike a
lion, when it comes to. that.”

“ Well, it‘s coming to that,” said the giant, “ and then—”

“Hark!” whispered the youth, clutching his companion’s
arm.

The quartette listened, and heard footsteps in the forest. '

“ The Illinois is full of fiends,” Whispered Blount. '

“ And they’re coming up the creek!” groaned the haunted
trader, andibly. _ ,

“ Speak above a whisper again, John Williamson, an’ l’ll
toss you into the red-skins’ arms,” said the giant, as he laid
his hand upon the trader’s shoulder.

The sounds increased, and indicated the approach of a
large body of Indians. They were advancing up the oppo-
site side of the stream, and to our friends" surprise halted al—
most directly opposite their covert. "

The starlight enabled our friends to arrive at their number,
and they concluded that they were advancing against a some—
what exposed village of the Peorias not many miles distant.
Immediately after kindling a fire, which they did upon lialtr:

lug, the chiefs came together for counsel, and Oliver Blotmt'l~

n

1

 

   
 
 
 
 
   
   
   
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

Sir-o

3.

   

 

run wmorxo Tam. or DEATH. 33

 

'hnd the two hunters watched them with anxiety and inter-
est. They dared not move, for the least movement might
reach their enemies‘ ears, and, in a moment, two hundred
avengers would be upon them.

Therefore, they resolved to remain where they Were until
the conclusion of the council, which they knew would trans-
pire before dawn.

W'earied with his long tramp—tired of flying, no doubt,
from an imaginary foe, the haunted trader dropped into a
fitfui slumber, while his companions watched .‘he, council.

Suddenly they were startled by a most unearthly cry.

“ Avadutl avauntl I didn’t kill Pontiac! _ IIellions,
away! away i"

The trio were on their feet in an instant, and beheld John
'Williamson with frantic gestures trying to heat back the
phantoms that haunted him.

. Ilis aspect was enough to frighten the spectators; but their
peril and rage drove every thin;r else from their minds.

The trader's tone had reached the Indian camp. The coun-

" cii Was breaking, and swarms of painted braves \vere rushing

" to the stream with their eyes fastened upon the spot where

stood the seemineg doomed scouts. '

Doc Bell, the giant, realizing the danger, with a dreadful
anathema, sprung upon the dreamer like a tiger.

“ Curse you i” he hissed, as he clutched the haunted trad-
er’s throat, and threw him above his h xad as though he were
as light as a child. “You’ll never dream of your victim
t ~again—John \Villiamson—never l”

lie sprung to the edge of the cliti‘, and at a glance saw
every Indian in the water below.

‘V “ My God! he‘s going to kill John 1” cried Oliver Blount,
a. he darted toward the giant.

“ Spare him, Doc i“ ' .

“ Never !” and with his Word he_buried the body out into
the air, and it fell among the savages below, with a rushing
Sound. ~

“Now i" yelled the backwoods Ajax, turning suddenly
upon his Companions. For your lives, run !"

A, The next moment they bounded into the grayish forest.
" s. ' With a hundred fiends yelling at their heels!

w.

 
 

 

 

 

  

    
   
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
    

\

m "LLOIV HUNI‘ER; 03,

CHAPTER V. ;
IN THE HANDS or FATE. 5

THE Indians, consisting of representatives from each of th
aveuging nations, had reached the top of the bank in les ’
time than we could record the movement, and gained per—5
ceptibly upon the flying whitcs from the first.

The trio kept close together, and ever and anon glanced

, backward to behold their dusky foes nearing them with a ra-
" pidity which betokened swift doom. 1

Still the wood stretched before them, and no covert, no "
natural stronghold in which they might attempt a defense :
presented itself; and no succoring volley burst upon their If
ears. Had they been as fresh as their pursuers were, they ' 4
might hope to elude the red hands; but the respective tramps  i
from Fort Chartres and Cahokia. had fatigued them, and, *‘
even when flyi’m3 (or life, they felt the terrible luck of '
strength.

“They’re going a, catch us 1” said Bob Somerville, the
young scout, glancing over his shoulder at the howling le-
giou.

“If we say so—yes.” said the giant. “ What do you say,
Blount? As for myself, I’ll never throw down' my rifle, an’
cry quarter to that troop of man-Skinners. But you have a
daughter, an’ as they hear you but little hatred compared to
that which they bear old Doc Bell, p‘r’aps you'd better give
up—you an’ Bob, here.”

“What! I surrender to them i" cried the young scout
shooting a look of indignation at the giant at his side. it
“Never! I’m going to stay with you, Doc. Let us run

on i" ,-
On, still on they went, and all at once the big hunter

cried: ‘ ‘ '_
“ Tree! they’re goin’ to shoot.” r.

Instantly the trio sprung to trees, and simultaneously with 
their action a score of rifles cracked. The leaden pellet: ‘I

 

t 5- ' I 'm mum (mm. or 13mm. 87

thistled about them like bail, and, staggering from the giant
yak, which his hands had barely touched, Oliver Blount drop
taped over the trunk of a decayed tree.

“Let ’em hev it, Bob," cried the giant. “We might as
"Well die here as any place. They've finished 01], the red
dogs hev, nor shall one feel the pain of skinning.”

As the hunter finished, he thrust his long-barreled rifle for-
PWard, and the young sub-chief who was bounding toward
1310th with uplifted tomahawk, reeled with a death-yell, and
i fell dead, as a Comrade, a few feet in his rear, met a like fate
'- ‘by the ball from Bob Somerville’s rifle.

I “ Now load, boy, load for yer life !” shrieked the giant,
1 snatching the horn from his side, and with‘lightning rapidity
- proceeding'to load his trusty rifle. “Beavers! Blount’s not
5 dead. Brave fellar! he’s goin’ to give them a blister l”

) if The hunter in his rough manner had spoken truly.

a The sorely-wounded trader with closed teeth and aveng-
r 'ing eyes, had raised himself on his knees, and thrust his wea-
r f pon over the log—his invulnerable bulwark. The twain be-
! 7hiud the trees watched him as they reloaded their guns, and
, :‘when they saw the old man‘s finger press the trigger they
i .‘exposed their bodies enough to see an Ottawa brave spring
4 into the air with a death-shriek.

3 ‘ “ Well done, Blount !" cried Bell, as the trader looked up
with a smile of satisfaction, and then sunk behind the log to
reload.

. V The Indlans knew that their foes eould recharge their wea-
‘ pons before they could engage in a hand-to~hand conflict,
I and. therefore. after Blount’s death-shot they sought the pro-
’ tection of trees until they could draw another volley from the
whites. ’

With the agility so characteristic of the red-man, they
lided from tree to tree, gradually approaching their victims
" and trying to get in their rear. ‘ . .

. “We're their meat, Bob,” hissed Doc Bell. “‘It’s no use
'u‘ disputin’ the: point. Ef I only had that infernal Williamson
‘ . hyari But, I finished him; that’s some consolation. He 1”

r, With the exclamation, the giant's rifle touched his shoul-
1 der, and a yell told that some ill-fated red-man had exposed
5’ his body to the death-scout’s aim. An instant later the wee-

'x
,,.

 

J"!!!

88 run YELLOW HUNTER; on,
pone of the other whites spoke their deatlptidiugs, and the
chorus of yells that quickly followed would have done credit
to the choir of the lost in Pandemonium

The Indians to a man shot forward; and with clubbed
rifles and knives griped between their teeth, Doc Bell and
his companion sprung from the trees, and faced the red
horde with the look of men whose lives must be purchaset
at a terrible cost.
Oliver Blouut seemed to forget for what he had to liv..

l I I e 0 O ‘
and to have imbibed the spirit of his companions; for, de-

spite his wounds, which caused his lips to twitch with acute
pain, he threw himself over the log with drawn tomahawk.

“ Come on, devils l" he yelled at the savages. “_ Come on,
I say, and greet the edge of trader Blount's hatchet l”

The Indians greeted his speech with derisive yells, and
when they had almost reached the desperate men, who had
braced themselves for the battle to the death, a solitary rifle
cracked, and Big Fox-Fire, the giant of the. Delawares and
the leader of the avengers, su O to the ground without a groan.

Awe-stricken by the mysterious shot the savages executed
an abrupt halt, and their eyes, staring upon some object be«
yond the whites, drew the attention of the latter thither.

Near fifty yards behind thetn, and upon the trunk of a
newly-fallen tree, stood the slayer of the gigantic Delaware;
and when the eyes of the hunted whites fell upon the avenger,
a cry simultaneously parted their lips:

“ ’Tis Kate l"

Yes, in the person of the slayer, the form of Kate Blount
was easily recognizable, and with a light cry which reached
th father’s ears, she bounded forward.

“ Back, Kate, back !" shouted Oliver Blount, waving her
aloof. “ You Can escape the fiends l”

But she did not heed his voice, for she came on, faster
than ever, and with a joyful cry, in the presence of the
painted denizens of the wood, she sunk upon the bosom
where she had pillowed her head so oft in happier days.

“Kate, my own Kate!" cried Oliver Blount,,in a voice‘

tremulous with a father’s emotion; and then he looked
through his tears to the giant as if to say: “ Doc Bell, we'll
live for my daughter.”

 

 um mnma mm or» DEATH.

89

The giant understood that mute appeal. He dropped his
tifleto the ground, andcaused the blade of his scalpingdmife
to quiver in the bark of the tree.

“ I’m goin’ to live fur the gal—Eur Kate,” he cried, glanc-
ing at his protege, who had followed his example. “ That
gal nr‘ too brave to die, nn’ sutliin‘ might turn up.”

“ Yes, yes, We’ll stand by Kate Blount, so long as we have
life left,” snid Somerville, and his lustrous eyes, dimmed by
the meeting of {other and child, wandered to the beautiful
9wner of that name whom he had long in secret, and lute,
openly, loved.

Oliver Blount released his child after a moment’s fond
embrace, and his action broke the spell which had bound the
rude red horde.

They started t'orwurd, not with uplifted weapons, but with
empty hands, to take possession of their prisoners, for they
Could not mistake the meaning of the quivering knife and
grounded ritle.

“ Yes, we’re yours,” snid Doc Bell, addressing the Indians,
Is he held forth his arms to receive the twisted sinews; “ un’
ye may thqu yer Munitou that this gal came when slfe did.
She's SitVL'tl runny a life to-duy, she hez; un' we’re goin‘ to
lfltan’ by her through thick an' thin. Come, Bob, don‘t per-
YOke the Injun ; not decently, cf it ur' ag’in’ the grain. ’Tain’t
the first time We war tied."

The young scout was nbont to strike a fierce young Ojibwa.
Who bad spot in his face, but the giant's words unclinched

 

'his hand, and he told the red-man that they would meet
again. .

The Indians made no noisy demonstration over the sur-
render of the whites, but their lowering looks boded ill for
their captives ; and Doc Bell‘s acute senses heard the younger
Warriors whispering aboutdull knives, and he saw them mim-
icking the tidying process with fiendish contortions of face
nd form.

."But he did not communicate his observations to his fel-
low-prisoners; he would not horrify them with their doom.
The pale-face; were soon bound, and the victors turned
+holr faces toward Cahokia creek again.

1 The. "‘der found that the bullet in his thigh did not imo
. . , V

 

 

 

40 THE YELLOW nes'raa; on,

pede his progress, and flinging pain to the winds, he managed
to keep pace with the savages.

Big Fox-Fire and the fallen braVes were borne before the
party, and when the spot where the council had convened
the preceding night was reached, the band halted, and the
giant looked around for the haunted trader.

But that personage was not visible.

“lIe drowned in the stream !" he muttered, to him8clf.
“ Well, he is out of the world at any rate, an’ I calculate as
how the world is the gainer."

Almost. immediately after the halt the captives were bound
to separate trees, and the savages coolly proceeded to discuss
their morning meal. \

“ I’m as hungry as a wolf l” growled Doc Bell, throwing a
wistful look upon the huge slices of venison that surmounted
the sticks which the Indians held over the blaze. “ I could
gnaw my moccasins, an’ get a good meal out ov an Injun’s
scalp-lock. Ila! here’s comes a slice. Beavers l"

An Indian near six feet in hight, and as straight as an
A'ssiniboin arrow, whose raVen hair Covered his otherwise
naked shoulders, had risen from the fire, and was approach‘
ing the hunter with a huge slice of roasted venison.

Doc Bell had noticed him before he left the blaze, and he
felt assured in his own mind that he had encountered that
stalwart form before. But he never knew a savage of such
particular build, who owned such a mass of hair. A mo—
ment later, when the Indian wheeled and displayed his fea—
tures to the hunter, the exclamation which concluded his
mutterings escaped his lips. ,

“ The pale-faCe is as hungry as the nestlings whose mother
is no more,” said the Indian, pausing before the giant, V
whose sturdy eyes were filled with wonder and amaze- ,
ment. 1
“ Hungry t” he cried, in an overtone; “I should reckon I 1
was hungry," and then his voice dropped to a whisper._ '
“ Nehonesto, I could eat you, hair an’ all.” 

The hunter’s words threw a strange light into the Indian‘ "
eyes. He stepped forward quite impulsively, and his righ
hand jerked the unnecessarily broad deer-skin strap of hi 
paint-bag from its accustomed position on his tewn ' "

\
t‘ , I \;

 

 

 

Nun‘s—er

 

 

um wmnum man. or mum. 41

breast. A second later his hand dropped to his side, but the
giant had caught sight of a crescent star, again hidden by the
strap.

Then, in silence, Nehonesto, as Doc Bell had styled the
Indian, satisfied his hunger, and in like manner his fellow-
captives were fed.

“ There goes a friend 1” murmured the hunter, as Nehon-
esto returned to tl‘ fire,withont having spoken a hopeful
word. “ I thoueht the fellow dead, an’ it’s the Almighty't.
doin’s thet We’te come together again. Wonder where Tar-
pah is, an’ Mohesto an’ Otter Eyes, an’ the rest of our bro-
therhood? Thank God for Nelionesto, at least. But, sup-
pose the Injuns should take a notion to finish us to-day, what
could Nehoncsto do '3" and away down in his heart he an-
SWered, “ Nothing l"

But he kept his eyes riveted upon the Indian, who never
deigned him a glance, but ate his venison in stolid silence
among the congregation of chiefs.

The hunter Would fain have hidden his companions hope ;
but he was too widely Separated from them to converse in
whispers, and, besides, an Indian stood between him and them.
A word might seal his doom.

For two long hours the chiefs were holding low Converse,
and the giant hunter saw Nehonesto among them.

What would the Indians do?

All at once a wild yell came from the clifl‘ on the opposite
side of the deep creek. ‘

Evory eye turned to the elevated spot, and upon the very
edge of the deelivity stood a red Amazon, whose aspect was
niost terrible.

“ Who guided that she-devil hither ?” cried Doc Bell. “ I
know her an’ She-knows me, an‘ today I’d sooner meet a
thousand mad wolves than Coleola, the Snake Queen of the
Delawares. Thar‘ll he suthin’ dreadful to pay now. No

honesto, where are you ?"

  

C H A P T E R V I.
COLEOLA AND NEHONESTO.

AFTER slaying the Indian who had pursued her from the
hunted Peoria‘s cave home, Kate Blount continued her flight
anolested. She ran forward quite rapidly until her limbs
grew weary, and her gait dwindled down to a fast walk.
She had noted the ground over which she had passed a few
brief hours before with Swamp Oak, and now knew that she
was hurrying toward Cahokia creek.

Suddenly a chorus of wild yells burst upon her ears, and
with a throbbing heart she ensconced herself in the top of a
fallen tree, from whence she witnessed the conflict between
the war-party, her father and friends.

She saw that the Indians did not seek the lives of the trio,
and the conntenances of the whites told her that. they \veTc
going to fight to the death—that they, seeing their cause hope-
less, would force the red-skins to slay them for self-preserva-
tion.

And well, too, she knew that her presence would change
the tide of affairs, and to preserve the life of her father—pre-
serve it, perhaps, for a fate worse than death by the tomtb
hawk, she slew Big Fox-Fire, and became the avengers’ pris-
onen

When the yell which announced Coleola‘s appearance en

the cliffs opposite the war-party, and Kate beheld the mad ’

Snake Queen, a pallor ilitted over her cheeks, and she glancml
ther father, who was bound to asapling scarce five feet
away. .

“ An unpitying demoness has arrived upon the scene," he
said, returning her fearful look with one full of sadness.
“Coleola can rule the passions of this band of red-skins, an
supremely as the master the actions of his slave. Girl, ex-
pect no mercy at her hands; the bare sight of her has dissi-
pated all my hopes of escape.” J ,

While he spoke, the Snake Queen and her followers do
Icended, and crossed the creek by wading.

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
    

rainy“. 2V<

 

i
..

 

' 111m mum nun. or mm 48
Coleola‘s dark orbs flashed fire when they fell upon her
late captive, and scarcely had she emerged from the water,
when with a panther-like yell she darted forward and halted
before the fair white girl. _ '
Her passion kept the Indians aloof, and with distended eyes
they watched her wild, mad movements.

“ 'l‘he she white serpent crept from the hole in the ground
and slew Segagi !" she hissed, and with a. dextrous movement
she. unCoiled the serpents that encircled her neck, and thrust
them forward until their forked tongues almost touched Kate‘s
face. “ Yes,” she hissed, more fiendishly than ever, “ in the
areat forest, a prey to the wolf and panther, lies Segagi, Co-
leola’s most trusted spy. And does the White Snake hope to
boast of her shot, behind the walls of the great fort ‘3“

She paused, expecting a reply, but the brave girl rewarded
her with none, and striking her cheeks with the whip-like
tails of the snakes she, drew back a pace.

“ 'l‘he pale girl must talk to the Manitou !" she continued,
“for Coleola‘s snakes shall writhe in her bosom when the fair
skin has been torn away.”

A shudder swept to the hearts of the captives at this terri-
ble announcement. The face of Oliver Blouut grew white as
snow when he looked upon his daughter, and thought of the
fate that the furious Snake Queen had marked out for her.

The leaders of the watuparty did not attempt to interfere
with the, Delaware demoness; they feared her as they feared
the evil spirits; and there “'(‘l'e many who believed that she
was the natural daughter of Watehemenetoc, for no one, not
eVen the white-haired chiefs, cmtld tell how and when she
first appeared to the Delaware tribe.

From Kate Illouut her eyes swept to the form of the wood
Hercules, and 'a terrific yell pealed from her throat as she
sprung before Doc Bell, and glared upon hint with the fero-
Cily ()f the Witt‘lp-I'Ohltcd jungle tigrcsa

“Wal,” said the hunter, calmly, “I hup I see you. It’s
been a. long time since We’ve met. I_h’lieve I war aprisouer
in yet town then, and it fut’hermore occurs to me that I left
that old sorcerer, Conestoga, whom you called yer husband,
as dead as Indians ginerally become. Ye couldn’t keep Doc
Bell in the ring, eh, Coleola l"

4t m'mLow 31mm: 03,,

The Snake Queen remained unmoved until the hunter ut-
tered the name of his victim. Then a cry of rage parted her

lips and she stepped nearer, her eyes spitting their anger intn.

Bell’s face. But, the old hunter finished his sentence un-
daunted, and returned her insane glare with a look of calm-
ness.

He had raised her anger to the highest pitch attainable,
and when he saw her long knife flash from beneath the tunic
which habited her giant frame, 118 gave himself up for lost,
and smiled upon the deadly blade.

With a muttered anathema the Snake Queen threw the
steel aloft, seeing nothing but the slayer of her lord, forget-
ting, in her eagerness to drink his blood, the tortures she
could inflict upon him; and contrary to her vengeful resolves,
decreeing to him a Comparativer painless death.

The l'attlesnakes writhed around the tawny arm thrown
aloft, and seemed intent upon reaching the blade held far
above her bead—the blade that trembled on the scent of
death. For a second the mad-woman glared at the hunter
without striking, and then she stepped back to deliver the
blow with a tiger-like spring.

The Indians saw this, and held their breath. The other
captives could not aVert their eyes from the doom of the
giant, their Companion in misfortune.

“ White dog, die 2” shrieked Coleola, and like the panther
darted upon her victim.

But the knife never reached the hunter’s heart; an arm as
red as that of the Would-be murderess’ interposed, and when
she gazed upon the intruder. she beheld him planted asfirmly
as the oak between her and the hunter 1

It was Nebonesto! ’

“ The Snake Queen must reach the big man’s heart through .

Nehonesto‘s,” he said, calmly returning the flash of 'the
baffled woman‘s eyes.

“ He is Nebonesto‘s brother, and Nehonesto will die for
him. Now let Coleola strike! now let her throw her snakes
upon the Ojibwa.”

A c‘ry of rage welled from the Snake Queen’s throat, and
she retreated several feet, tearing the ‘snakes from her arm
as she executed the movement. Her eyes were fixed upon

.‘ls‘ -

 

‘1“.

ma: wmnme TRAIL or DEATH. 45

Nehonesto; she saw no other form than his, and as she
paused, with the rapidity of a flash of lighting one of the
rattlers went hissing through the air l

The Ojibwa saw it, but .did not move. He merely threw
his knife arm before his face, and flung the serpent aside

'with a dexterity that drew a shout of applause from the red

spectators. He flung the snake away with all his strength,
and with a shriek of horror he saw it wrap itself around the
throat of the trader’s daughter !

A shout of triumph cleft the air ;--—it came from Coleola’s
throat; and the second snake had left her arm when Nehon-
esto darted toward our heroine!

, IIe griped the immense serpent—immense for a rattle-
snake—with his bare hands, and tore it from its dreadful
embrace, with such fury that it snapped in twain, leaving
the tail dangling from his hand, while the hideous head clung
by the fangs to Kate Blount’s cheek !

At the sight of the maiden‘s peril a cry of horror burst
from the throats of the Indians, and even Coleola forsook
her station, and, with many others, sprung forward.

The white girl’s head had dropped upon her bosom, and
the pallor of death shrouded her face. Instantly Nehonesto’s
knife severed her bonds, and when the red-men crowded
around the spot, he had lou'ered her to the ground, and was
holding the mouth of his leathern flask to her colorless lips.

Pity instantly took the placc of vengeance, and upon
every face, save that of Coleola’s, that sweet angel sat en-
throned. ‘

Kate Blount was conscious. and she drank deeply of
the mntents of the Ojihwa’s flask. She knew that whisky
counteracted the effects of the poison of the rattlesnake in
the human system, and she felt its effects ere the flask was
drained.

“ The Lone Dove of the pale-faces will not tread the dark
wood,” said Nehonesto, noting with a smile the effect of the
fire-water. “She will live—live to become Nehonesto’s cap-
tive.”

“No! no t” cried Coleola, at this, “ the White Snake lives
to die—to be skinned alive by the blunt. knife of Coleola.
She caught her in the Swamp Oak’s cave, but she fled like

f~

46 mm YELLOW 11mm; on,

the hunted fox, while Coleola sought the red dog that stole
her child many moons ago. But ah! Coleola caught her
child, and from her month she has plucked her lying tongue.”

As she finished, Nehonesto rose to his feet, and faced the
chief—the leader of the war-band.

“ Chiefs, decide between Nehonesto and Coleola,” he said.
“ He claims the pale flower, and the giant hunter. Shall
they die by the knife of a mad-womau-——they and their
brethren,” and he glanced at the trader and Somerville—“ or
shall they becmne the captives of Nehonesw, the War Eagle
of the Ojibwas ‘3"

A fateful silence followed the Indian’s speech, and the
chiefs addressed looked into each other’s faces.

“ Decide for )oleoia !" cried the Snake Queen, “or the
plagues of Watchemenetoc shall fall upon the red-men like
rain-drops, and of all this band not one shall sleep in the
lodges again.”

The checks of the sachems paled at this, and trembling
at the dreadful threat, the warriors shrunk from the demoness,
shouting :

“ Give the pale-faces to Colcoia, and let her skin them,
else we fall like blades of grass in the country of the Pe-
orias.”

The chiefs were dismayed, and the captives and Nehonesto
read in their terror-stricken faces the decision. Suddenly
Odatha stepped forward to announce the decision, but be-
fore his lips parted, a shrill cry burst upon the ears of all,
and, turning, they discovered a. solitary Indian running to-
wm'd them, along the Cahokia's bank.

He wore the habiliments of a Piankishaw warrior, and
paused all breathless in the circle of red-men that surrounded
the white captives.

Then he was recognized.

“ Why comes the Little Coon alone to the war eagles of
the lllinois ‘2” demanded Odatha.

“ He comes from the Yellow Bloodhound,” answered the
new arrival, glancing around upon the prisoners with min‘
gled surprise and triumph. “ He ran before his people who
are coming up the deep creek in canoes. They seek what
Odatha‘has found," and again his eyes fell upon the captive:

 

T
n

 

t
_t

 

~ ‘m wmmxanrnsn. or sum 41

Odatha understood the sentence.

" Yes, Odatha has found the pale-faces,” said that worthy
“Why trails the Yellow Bloodhound them ‘2”

“ They slew Segowatha."

The Ottawa caught the runner’s arm and shot him a look
of blank a~tonislunent, while the other chiefs and warriors
contracted the circle with exclatnations of disbelief andwon-
der.

“ Yes, the pale-faced girl or the Peoria dog. Swamp Oak,
slew Segowatha. The Yellow Bloodhound fell beneath the
dog’s knife, but he leads his hand upon the trail again.
They have sworn by the Munitou to tear the pale-faces”
hearts from them; and let the arm raised to tear the white
snakes away drop before they come. Likea whirlwind, they
can not be. stopped.”

lle paused, and, glancing at. Nchonesto and Coleola Oda-
tha spoke.

“We must not thwart the Yellow Bloodhound,” he said.
“ He is a mighty whirlwind, and when he comes the pale-
fams must become his-—that he may avenge, according to
his oath, the death of Segowathu. Coleola—"

IIe reverted his eyes to the mad red-woman, but with her
remaining snake she was forcing a path through the throng
of braves, and her warriors were following in her Wake.

She heard herself addressed, but she did not pause, and
when Odatha sprung forward to arrest her progress that he
might tell her what he wished, one of her braves pushed him
back, and, transfixed with irresolution, be beheld her switn
the creek and climb the cliffs on the opposite hank.

“ When the Yellow Bloodhbound comes, Coleola tarries
not," she cried, looking down upon the war band; “ but had
Odatha given the pale-faced girl and the big hunter to her,
she would haVe stayed and faced the dog whose throat she
longs to cut. Between Coleola and the Yellow Bloodhound
floWS the river of darkness, and some day or some night she
meets him on the bank, and then the yelp of the dog will he
heard for the last time: Coleola goes, but she will come
again, and-the plagucs of the Manitou thall full upon Odatha
and his red snakes. The whites shall yet be Coleola’s; they
lhIll not be skinned by the Yellow Bloodhound. Whoever

o

(8 m YELLOW HUNTER; on,

slays one of Coleola‘s braves shall fall before her, and the
she White Snake shot Segagil Odatha, forget nothing that
has fallen from Coleola‘s lips. Snakes, into the dark woods.
Away l" ,

As she uttered the last word, she shook her snake at the
mute spectators, and, whirling on her heel, sprung from
sight.

“ Then the pale-faces are the Yellow Bloodhound’s ?” said
Nehonesto, addressing Odatha.

“ Odatha has spoken,” was the reply, and Nehonesto, with
a determined expression, turned to Kate again.

She had almost entirely recovered from the serpent bite,
and under Nehonesto‘s protection was permitted to pillow
her head upon her father’s breast.

“ Kate, Kate, thank God you yet live, despite the machina-
tions of our enemies,” said the old man, bowing his head to
receive his daughter’s kiss. “ I know now that He watches
over us.”

“ Yes, father, but whose arm will interpose between us and
the knife of the Yellow Bloodhound ?" asked Kate.

Despite his hopings, Oliver Blount groaneel.

“Oh, Heavenly Father, why does such a fiend as Jules
Barduc curse the earth? Oh, that Swamp Oak’s knife had
reached his heart.” '

If curses could kill, the Yellow Bloodhound, as the creole
was styled by his adopted tribe, would have fallen dead long
before the opening of our story, for the old trader had c'urscd
him as man had never before cursed his fellow.

As the moments passed, the Indians grew impatient for the
arrival of Segowatha’s Avengers. 'l‘lie captives had been
taken from the trees that they might not afford marks for
Coleola‘s rifles, for the savages feared that the Snake Quoen
would steal back, and satiate her vengeance by dispatching
the whites from the cliffs.

“ All together once more,” said Doc Bell, despite the savage
looks of their guards, “ an’ I’m gettin’ anxious myself to see
that ar’ Bloodhoum ."

“ We die when he comes!” said Somerville; “ but we’ll
tile like men." '

" That‘s talklu', boy; but we ain’t dead yit,” said the giant,

m'r

 

 

i; T!!! WINDING TRAIL OF DEATH. ‘ 49

with a faint smile. “ We didn’t die when Coleola came, and '
I’d sooner meet the Yellow Bloodhound than she—yes, by a
long shot. We’ve got one‘ tree friend in this pack of devils,
an' ye‘ve seen a sample ov his nerve. Nchonesho is the
only member ov the moon-scar band that I’ve see’d fur {our
years, and I war thinkin‘ erhout others awhile ago. Five 0v
us—fonr Ininns an’ me—formed that band on the Saginaw
six years ago—atom I see’d you, boy—an’ a part ov our onth
was to die if need be for one another. An’ I tell you Neho-
j nesto is j« st ready to (lie for us. Look how that cursed Lit-
tle Coon watches him; the little Ojlb\\a suspects his giant
brother, which is bad fur us. I’d like to know where we’ll
be lu-lnul‘l‘ow."
“ In eternity, perhaps,” said Oliver Blonnt, who had lis-
tened attentively to the giant’s words. A
“ Mebhe so,” said Bell ; “ but I’ve. never been thnr yet. I
_ don’t care fur my old self. My anxiety is fur your gal—your
L: Kale, Oil.”
“ And my Kate, too,” murmured Bob Somerville, inaudibly.

 

“ Fear not for me,” cried the trader’s daughter. “I Want:
~ my fate to be yours. I can die like a woman.” 7
 “ But the Bloodhound won’t kill you, Kate,” said the giant.
\‘ “ He reserves you for a fate worse than death.”
: A fearful determination overspread Kate Blount’s face,

and, through clenched teeth, she hissed:
“Never 1”

i CHAPTER VII.

TEE AVENGERS BAFFLED.

 

NIGHT in the forest of the Illinois.
Not a star is missing in the azure Canopy, and the notes of

the nightingale tinkle musically in the freshening breeze.

‘ t The cry of the panther is not heard; the owl seems to be

feasting himself upon some delicious moi-sol won by his my.
log eyes and sharp claws, for his hoot reéchoes not through .

‘ I . x i \.

 

50  Yr:me mum; on, - 

the star-lit wood, nor does the frightful howLof the wolf, the 7 l
terror of new countries, disturb the'slumbers of nature. ‘

But through the forests stalk the enemies of mankind,
proving that “ man is a human wolf.” The wily red-skin is

abroad, either as Pontiac’s avenger, reddening his hatchet 2
with the blood of his fellow-creature, or as the hunted Peoria, 3'
Kaskaskia or Cahokia, flying from the demons unchained by E
a barrel of English rum. t-

Not far from the scenes of our romance the war of extir-
pation had raged with terrible fury. Those English families
that failed to shelter themselves in Cahokia or Fort Chartres
had either been butchered by the crimson devils or were fugi-
tives with no spot whereon to lay their heads safe from the
tomahawk of the avengers. .

Upon the night described above an Indian was pushing his 
way through the forest, and following the Course of the fa-
mous Cahokia Creek, not far from its boundaries. Ills step
proclaimed him young, and well versed in the tortuous ways
of the wood, for in the dim light be avoided the dry twig or
the decaying log that cracks beneath the foot, and leaped
the treacherous root with the precision of one traveling in the
broad light of day.

He was following no trail; on the contrary, he seemed
careless regarding his whereabouts, but hurried on as though t
some UllSCt'll hand was leading him to a certain destination.

He reached a point at. length where a rivulet debouches
into the Cahokia, and there, for the first time in several Q
hours, be halted. "j

“They are not far from the Peoria now,” he murmured,
looking to the priming of the long-barrclcd rifle he had
trailed at his side. “ Swamp Oak knows that the Yellow
Bloodhound dares not carry the Lone Dove to the big hands ‘
of Pontiae‘s mad dogs, for they would tear her to pieces, ‘
even as the wolf reads the lamb, for she slew Segowatha. _
All his big talks would not save the Lone Dove; the red-men 
of the north loved Segowatha too Well. But—hist l”

The Peoria crouched at his self warning, and slunk into
the shadow of a tree.

A footstep had fallen upon his ears, and presently a giant .
form appeared against the whitened side of a deadened oak.

‘K ,rr-"F'r

 

 

 

 

Iij‘. .:

 

 

 

«ems—- 

 

 

.Y

 

O

m wmnmo nun. or 13mm. 51

It was theform of a man, and a close look told the Indian
that the person was the very one for whose whereabouts he
was searching.

“ Ha l” he muttered, “ the Yellow Bloodhound is abroad—
he has left his band, and stolen deeper in the forest for
what? The wolf never roams the woods for nothing; the
fox leaves his den to prey.”

For a minute the creole (for indeed the giant form belong-
ed to Jules Bardue) exhibited himself to the lone watcher, _
and then disappeared as suddenly as he had come upon the
stage.

Ile plunged into the mouth of the tributary above-men-
tioned, and waded to the opposite shore, followed, with the
cunning of the uolf, by the Peoria youth, who never took
his eyes from the form just visible in the dim starlight.

The Yellow Bloodhound did not, dream of the snake~
like form that crept on his trail, and when he disappeared
over the brow of a thickly-wooded acelivity, a short dis-
tanee from the Cohakia, an exclamation of satisfaction parted
the Peoria’s lips, and, rising to his feet, he bounded for-
ward.

The sight that greeted his vision when he gained the sum-
mit of the hill, elicited no manifestations of surprise, and,
calmly leaning against a tree, he viewed the scenes that lay
at his feet.

A fire was dying at the foot of the declivily, and its flick-
ering light Weirdly clothed alotof recumbent Indians. They
lay in all positions, unconscious of the proximity of a deadly
foe, and Swamp Oak griped his tomahawk vengefully as he
thought of their late deeds of revenge.

He saw the creole step ovor a sleeping chief, and speak a,
few words to a guard who leaned against a tree, with eyes
fixed upon three white men lying bound upon the ground not
far away.

“ Watchemeneloc is abroad to-night," muttered the Peoria, ,
as his eyes swept the camp for a particular object. “ Where ‘
is the Lone Dove? The Yellow Bloodhound bore her from
Odalha’s war-Draws but she is not with him now. Has she

taken her wing and left the lair of the wolf? No, no; .11.
would not desert. her parent.”

58 m YELLOW mm; on,

A puzzled expression appeared upon the Indiau’s face.
Kate Blount was not in the creole‘s camp. Swamp Oak had
witnessed the Bloodhound’s separation, late the preceding
(lay, from the war-party, and with the three male prisoners
he had taken the trader’s daughter. IIe declared that he in-
tended to convey them to the large body of red avengers who
were devastating the country round about Cohakia, and there,
over the putrid corpse of Segowatha, flay them alive. The
creole tried to induce Odatha to accompany him; but the
chief refused, and again resumed his march for the doomed
Peoria village.

Swamp Oak, whose thrilling adventures, since Coleola‘s
bloodthirsty murder in his cave-home, shall presently fall
from his own lips, did not at once, after the separation of Se-
gowatha’s Avengers and the war-party, throw himself upon
the trail of the former; but had followed the latter for rea-
sons best known to himself.

If he had followed the Yellow Bloodhound, he might have,

witnessed our heroine’s mysterious disappearance from the
band, while now regarding her fate he was left in the dark.

The white captives were wide awake.

From the summit of the hill Swamp Oak could see the
glitter of their eyes, as they regarded the Bloodhound and
their guard ~eonversing in low tones.

The remainder of the avenging band—twenty in number—
were sound asleep, and presently the creole glided from the
guard and dropped near the dying fire.

The Peoria was conscious now of the working of some deep
plot: he read it in the renegade’s appearance in the woods;
his conference with the guards, and his return to his blan-
keted couch, from whence he saw him casting sly glances at
the sentinel.

Presently a wild cry pealed from the guard’s throat, and
every Indian, roused from slumber, sprung instantly to their
feet with drawn weapons! They rushed to the dusky senti-
nel. loudly demanding the Cause of the startling cry; and be,
appearing half-frightened to death, slunk behind the Yellow
Bloodhpund, and pointed to the spot occupied by the captives.

Onc'glauee at the trio drew a wild yell from the A vengcrs,
I for they saw that Kate Blount was missing !

 

    

 

 

 

    
 
 

 
   

face.
had
(ling/
"01's
in-
vtm
are,
‘he
:he

 

 

THE wmnma TRAIL or DEATH. 58

“ Where is the she White Snake ?” demanded the creole:

 fiercely, and he clutched the red guard’s throat, as though’he

would choke the life from his body.

“ The wolf stole her while Ipigena leaned against the tree,
and with closed eyes saw himself a boy again,” stammered
the Indian.

Still clutching the Indian’s throat, the creole turned to the
maddencd crowd :

“ The red dog has slept !" he said,“ hut we must not blamzt
him. We have Walked many miles through the forest, strik-
ing here and there the enemies of our race, and Ipigena must
sleep, for he is weary. But, braves, the White Adder that
stung Segowatha must not escape. Search the Wood, for she
is not far away. -My eyes opened when the moon hung on
yonder limb, and she was beside her father. Go, Avengers
-——Pontiac‘s mad dogs—to the trail I”

An instant later the creole and Ipigena were alone.

“What does this mean I?" asked Blount of his companions.

“ It means simply that the most infernal deviltry is afoot,”
answered the giant hunter. “I see through every hit of it
now. That Injnn who came an’ took Kate into the wood
was nobody else but the Bloodhound, an’ that guard played
sleepy to deCeive us.”

“ But why did he take Kate away from the midst of the
band he rules?"

“ He rules this lot of red cut-throats, but he don't rule the
band around Cahokia—not by a terrible sight. Why, Oll
Blount, they’d tear yer gal to pieces on sight, an’ ther Yaller
Bloodhound knows this. Tharfore, he’s hid her away with
the knowledge 0v half 0' the red skunks with him now. Thar
be some here to whom he daren't tell his plans. Segowatha’a
Ions is with him."

‘ “ Will they not find Kate ?"

The father‘s words were closed in a fearful tone.

“No; Bardue ain’t the man to stow her away under a
brush heap, an’ then turn twenty Injuns on her trail,” an-
swered the giant; “my Word for it, they Won’t find yer gal,
011. It ’pears to me thet thar‘s caves around here.”

“Oh, God," groaned the anxious parent, “now that my
dear child is'ln the sole power of a fiend, protect her.”

 

 

54 um YELLOW Human; on,

“He’ll do it, Oll; he’ll do it," said Doc Bell. “ He’s
helped me out 0’ many a scrape; but the Injuns ar’ comin’
back, madder nor thunder. I told yer they wouldn’t find the
gal.”

Sure enough the savages, with disappointed visages, and
fierce scowls upon the captives, were returning from a fruit.
less search, and with wild yells that made the woods ring,
they gathered around the Yellow Bloodhound, clamoring for
a pale-face’s blood.

“ Blood ! blood I” yelled the son of Segowatha, a young and
fierce-looking warrior; “my father’s spirit calls for the red
tide of the white girl’s heart; but now that she has gone—-

now, that Watchemeuetoc has borne her away—the spirit that '

stands before Little Wolf points to the three pale men, say-
ing, ‘ Skin them i skin them and drink their blood to me in
the hollow of your hands.’ ”

His words threw a majority of the band into a frenzy im‘
possible to describe. They yelled “Blood! blood 1" like de-
mons, and danced about the captives before the Yellow Blood-
hound Could find his tongue.

“ We have sworn to bring the pale-faces to the unCovered
grave of Segowtttha, there to tear out their hearts and drink
their blood,” he said. “ Shall that oath be broken?"

“ Yes, yes," shrieked the blood-mad avengers. “The Yel-
low Bloodhound tnust close his mouth against us. The pris
oners must die.”

“ Then let them die!” hissed Jules Bardue, and in a lower
tone he added to the guard: “They might escape between
here and the big hand. But they‘ll never find the girl,
never l”

Willi bloodthirsty eagerness the savages, Ojibwas, Ottawas,
Pottawatomies and Miamis, headed by Little lVolf, made
preparations for the torture. A party brought a quantity of
stones from the creek, and upon them the devils proceeded
to blunt their knives, that the captives’ skin might be torn
from their bodies with the most excruciating torture.

The giant looked calmly upon the devilish preliminaries,
and a shudder stole to young Somerville‘s heart. A and ex-
pression wreathed the trader’s features, telling that he thought”
' not of himself, but of his daughter.

   

 
   
 

u ‘
I’v
tw

cu
ch

  

 

 

 

 

 
    

Ie’s
lin’
the

lid
tit—

T

 

 

m wnumm mm or pram 6t!

“We’re in for it now, I guess,” muttered the hunter.
“ What! Bob, first? No! not spare the boy; take me first.
I’ve killed the most ov yer dog-devils. I’ve scalped full
twenty ov yer chiefs !"

But the flayers paid no attention to the old hunter; they
cut young Somerville’s bonds, and proceeded to strip his
clothes from his body.

“ What a pretty skin I" exclaimed a young brave, striking
the scout’s breast with his knife. “ Ila! the red bloodcomes;
it flows like Segowatha’s flowed."

He sunk the point of his knife beneath our hero’s skin
but no cry of pain followed the brutal action; and suddenly,
stripped to the waist, the youth found himsclt‘ jerked to his
feet.

Two young braves held him, and amid the flourish of
knives and shouts of vengeance, they turned to the death-tree.

“ Shall I.die without an effort for life ‘3” muttered Somer~
ville; “ die when I might live to snatch Kate from the
BlOodhound’s jaws? Never i“

As his lips grated the last word through clinched teeth, he
hurled the two bravvs aside, and suddenly wheeling, dashed
through the circle of knives, and soon disappearedin the
somber recesses of the forest l

Ilis action disturbed the would-be tiayers; but they quickly
dashed away in swift pursuit.

“ You can’t catch Bob S nnerville i” cried the giant hunter.
“ He’s the best runner in the Illinois, an’ with the thought ov
bein’ skinned alive to grease his‘ joints, he’ll be worse nor a.
streak o’ lightnin‘.”

It was as the hunter had predicted. The scout‘s pursuers

~ mon returned empty-harmed, and turned their fury upon him.

l‘he Yellow BIOodhound,incensed at the young man‘s escape,
now aided them; hitherto, for show, he had stood aloof.

A dozen fiends carried the giant to the tree, an] the sinewy
rope Was passed around his neck.

But, as the son of Segowatha,attempted to knot the cord,
8 rifle-shot rose above the vengeful yells, and, dropping the
sincws, the young chief staggered from the tree with a dark
spot between his little eyes.

With ghastly features the braves shrunk from the fatal

56 was YELLOW mfim; on, I

flaying post, and the cowardly creole threw himself behind, a _ 

10
,v‘bl

tree.

A half-smothered cry burst from Dec Bell’s heart, and, as
Little Wolf struck the ground, he darted from the stake.
The afl‘rightcd red-skins drew back before him, and from the
trembling hands of one he snatched a knife, burying it in the
owner's breast Witlra backward thrust!

A single bound brought him to the spot where Oliver
Blount lay.

lIe stooped over the trader, and when he rose erect again,
a moment later, Oliver was at his side. ‘

They bounded forward together, as a deafening peal of
thunder broke over their heads! They looked up, and saw
above a canopy of inky durkne<sl

“ The Almighty's with us l” exclaimed Blount, as they
dashed away.

“ They won‘t foller now, 011," said Doc Bell; “ but they’ll
hunt us to the death yit. \Vondcr where Bob is ?" I

“And my child l" groaned the father, and a moment later
he asked: “ Where are we going ?”

“To a hidin’-place, in course,” answered the giant, and
clutching the trader‘s hand he abruptly turned aside.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE BLoonuouxn‘s nown.

“I WONDER where Blount and Doc are. But, why dol
wonder? I left them ready for that torture, the bill‘u
thought of which causes my flesh to creep, and no doubt I
am the ouly‘one left. The only one? No, there's Kate,
and my life-duty is now to find her-—-to track the Bloodhound
to his kennel, and snatch her from the fate he has in store
for her—a fate worse than death.

The speaker, as the reader has already surmised, was the

‘ young scout—Robert Somerville—nicknamed Bob, by his

giant‘tutor and companion, now, as he thought, dead.
, ~ 0

{ thr
be

 

l

rim mama run. or mm.- 57

7 The yomh ran several miles before he paused, almost ready
, 310 sink to the earth with utter exhaustion, and when he found
Ethat the red-skins had given ovcr the pursuit, he crept under

1 / the projecting banks of a ravine, and fell into a sound slum-

ber. When he awoke to the dangerous realities that sur-
’- rounded him, the sun was peering down upon him, and the
‘birds were singing among the bushes that hid his retreat.
But, he did not stir; he did not seek the food his stomach
écraved, for well he knew what number of red marauders
swarmed through the forests, and he believed that, as soon as
practicable, SegoWatha‘s avengers Would throw themselves
;‘ upon his trail, determined to hunt him to the doors of doom.
- During the day, therefore, he kept his retreat. Parting
I the bushes he watched the leaden clouds sweep across the

’ ‘ sky, and tried to forget the fate of his friends in the'twitter

of the love-making orioles and the calls of the finches. And
when at last the sun sunk below the ravine, and the shadows

.t deepened, he crept, like the hunted wolf, from his covert,

and reconnoitered the hollow before ascending to the wood
' above, when he spoke, as the reader has heard, regarding his

" friends.

Bob Somerville was not a novice in the ways of the
wood. Under the eye of Doc Bell he had mastered the hun-
ter and trapper’s profession, and he had facud the savage on
the banks of the Miami :1 year prior to the opening of our
story. The twain encountered the red-men with the bravery
so characteristic of the spirits of the new-found West, until
a whole tribe rose against them, and hunted them from the
fertile lands of Ohio. Then they came to the Country of the
Illinois, and acoident‘tlly, one day our hero met the trader’s
"daughter, to whom in love he became inseparany connected.
All unarmed he stood alone in the great woods, and longed,

 

actually sighed for the trusty rifle which no doubt rested upon
some ‘tawny shoulder, or lay broken at the foot of it tree.

“I must be about four miles from the mouth of Mink
Creek," he Continued, after a pause, during which he had
heard no sounds save the long howl of the wolf, a mile away.
“Kate is hidden near there, and in her hour of danger I must
be ‘near. Yes, I will save her, though Ibo flayed alive in tho
performance of my duty."

I

88 m YELLOW 817mm; on,

The thought of the fair girl’s situation impelled the young 

I ' ap'

, hunter from the spot, and a moment later he was hurrying ’dm“
toward the scene of the preceding chapter, and, perhaps, into  B
the jaws of death. , mm,

Almost immediately after his escape, a thunder-storm broke um
over the forests, and the leaves,still saturated with water, now'fi I
gave forth no sound. Bob Somet'ville was rejoiced at this. he
The prowling savage could not hear his tread, and_he blessed bd
the rain as he had never blessed it before. i he“

After an hour’s labor he found himself upon the scene of ca,
his escape, the night previous. I» in}

He listened upon the hill 8. long time before he descended. ,-
and then' it was with wildly-throbbing heart. He expected i k
to find the mangled bodies or charred bones of the giant and "E
the trader, but in this he was agreeably disappointed. He i
found nothing to indicate that they were dead; but he found 
their rifles with his own, battered out of shape against a tree. V x

Not a foe was in sight. The silence that brooded over ' ‘

him was the silence of death, and for many minutes he leaned , ,
against a tree and planned deeply for thefuture. .

“ They have not returned to Cahokia,” he muttered, refer-

ring to the aVengers. “They will not «leave this country
without me, nor will the Bloodhound desert Kate until the “
gust of war has left the land. Now, where shall I go—what ’h

 

do? Here I am as weaponless as the blind worm. Oh—"

A plash in the Water scu'cely twenty feet .from him broke
the chain of his murmurings, and he crouched at the foot of
the tree like the panther ready for a spring. His forest ex-
perience told him that the noise had been caused by a human
foot, and presently his keen eye detected a statue-like object
on the bank of the Cahokia.

That it was the ligure of a white man, our hero well knew,
for the head betWeen him and the stars that peeped through
a rift in the foliage was crowned with a fur cap, and not by
the plumes or scalp-lock of the Indian. The young scout
held his breath while be regarded the man, trying in vain to
fix his identity, and when, all at once, he heard the «mystec
rious one communing with himself, be bent forward with an
eagerness which almost proved his doom.

For his foot, which he moved to secure an easier position,

I,

  
  
 
  
  
  

run We run. or burn. ' 59
e 
aiming , apped a tiny twig and caused the stranger with hastily-
ps {mg .drawn knife to step directly toward him. .
’ mo ' But still ten feet distant he paused, and after listening a
.moment, sent the hoot of the little horned-owl from his

I b
mks throat.

Pr 3 . ~ ' '
1’33: Bob Somervrlle almost started forward at $1113 Sign“: f0?

Hess d he had often heard it from the lips of Doc Bell, and now he
6 A believed that the Hercules before him was his old and tried
“6 of friend. But, notwithstanding this belief, he resolved to b

; cautious, and answered the signal with the notes of the night-

i in gale.

 

3333' At this the giant stepped forward, paused within gun’s-

and A ' leagth of the scout, and whispered :

He  “Nogawa l" - I ‘ I

mad A strange thrill darted to young Somervdles heart. .

tree. v The voice had betrayed the speaker—had declared him the

Wet Yellow Bloodhound ! I

fled For a moment the young scout did not move; but he was
__ concentrating his strength for a spring. _

hr. ' He answered the creole's whisper with an Ojibwa “here,”

try ‘ and, as the villain moved forward, he shot upward and struck

he , him with all the strength he could summon.

at _ So sudden and unexpected was the assault, that the knife '

, : dropped from Jules Bardue’s hand, and when he struck the

’ earth he found the scout upon his breast, and saw his own

‘8 glittering blade in dangerous proximity to his craven heart.

if “ I’ve got the upper hand now, Jules Bardue !” hissed Somr
erville, glaring upon his enemy with the ferocity of the tiger;
“and no doubt there’ll be a dead Frenchman hereabouts
when I stand erect again. Now, sir devil, answer what
questions I choose to put.”

The creole did not reply; but smiled sardonically in his
foeman’s eyes.

“ [n the first place, where is the girl—Kate Blount ?”

No answer.

The question was repeated, and the knife flew aloft—~drawn
upward by deadly intent.

“Ila! ha! ha l" laughed the Yellow Bloodhound, with
forced gayely. “ How sweet it is to die revengedl The
girl is hidden forever from your eyes—she never meets her

.,

'

 

60‘ m YELLOW numn ; ‘on,

father again. She refused to beware Madame Bardue once»

and old Blount slashed my back till it bled like a deer’s throat. m

Now I’m almost even with him ; but I’d like to get the old
hound into my clutches again.”

“ He is out of them now 'P”

“ Yes, curse him!"

“Thank God!" ejaculated Somerville. “ But I will not
talk with. you. You’d talk here till morning. Where is the '
girl 1’"

The creole laughed devilishly with his steel-gray eyes, and
the scout gritted his teeth with rage and disappointment.

“ Then here ends your accursed villainies l” he cried. “ 1!
Kate is dead, I‘ll avenge her; if living I’ll find her without
you to baffle me.”

 

' d a I“
Your
tend W"

n.

~ {anothel

heard l
which

Inst
self f:

5.

 

The lips closed with determined emphasis over the last
Word, and a second later the shining steel descended.

It entered the broad breast of the Yellow Bloodhound, and
with a shriek, scarce half-human, he sprung upward, hurling
our hero from him as if he were a‘ child. Upon his feet, the
fiend reeled a moment as though he would fall, and then,
seemingly having gained control of himself, he wheeled and
darted toward the creek from which he had lately em«
erged.

It was the pain shot tin-oughout his body by the penetrating
steel that drove him to his feet, and soon, no doubt, he would
fall, like the death-wounded stag, when the gush of strength
had spent its force.

The scout noted the effect of his blow with a cry of horror,
and darted after the wounded creole, determined to put an
end to the life he had but partially stricken.

The Yellow Bloodhound gained the deep creek a yard or
two in advance of his pursuer, and plunged in. He sunk im-
mediately, for his strength seemed to have deserted him; but.
a minute later he rose to the surface of the blood-tinged wa-
ter, a short distance below the spot where Bob Somerville
stood.

“ Ha! there he is l" cried the young man, and he darted
down-stream, with his eyes fastened upon his foe.

A minute later the avengiug knife might have found the
heart it had missed a moment before, had not a dark object

‘

 

_4-Q

 

 

 

once,

I'
»: k

i

t

urns wrunnse TRAIL or onsrn. 61

rung from the rushes, almost beneath the scout’s very feet,

51.0“. d a red hand griped his arm.

3 old 

Young Somerville turned upon the intruder with a low cry,
nd threw the gory blade aloft to descend upon a search for

‘ mother heart, when a strange laugh greeted his ears, and he
' heard his forest appellation—Young Hunter—spoken in a. tone

not '
the ~

which he had heard tefore.
Instantly the knife dropped to his side, and he found him

, self face to face with Nehonesto!

ind

 

CHAPTER IX.
THE FOES AT BAY.

“ HISTL Young Hunter !”

These words dropped in cautious tones from Nehonesto’s
lips a moment after his recognition by the young scout.

Bob Somerville listened, and heard the panther-like tread
of an Indian. Suddenly the Ojibwa touched his shoulder, and
together they crouched to the ground.

“ "l‘is Nogawa," whispered the scout.

“ Noguwa ‘3" returned Nehonesto, interrogatively.
nesto has seen him among the lodges of the Ojibwas.
comes he here ‘3”

“ He belongs to the Bloodlwund's party,’ said Somerville,
and then, in a few words, he told the giant savage how the
creole sought for Nogawa when he (the scout) sprung upon
him.

“ Hal Nogawa knows where the Lone Dove is," murmured
Nehonesto, in tones. of uneoncealed delight. “He has heea
spying for his master, and—"

A bird-signal hrokr. the sepulchrnl stillness of the night.

It was now patent to the twain that Jules Bardue and
Nogawa had promi-n d to meet‘ncar the mouth of Mink Creek,
and that the Indian had been tardy in keeping his appoint-

“ Neho-
Why

)

ment.
Nehonesto smiled, and from his throat came the croakin‘

of the great emerald frog.

\

   
  
 
 
    
 

83 m mmw mm; on,

' ‘3 chm“

Immediately the footsteps which had ceased, were hea  C “om
nearer than before, and presently they saw the lithe form‘  a“ m

Nogawa approaching.  megs"
Suddenly he halted, signaled, and heard the-frog croakfi; ten 12-,
again. ;_ , “ A
Then the two friends heard him exclaim, “Yellow Chief !" _ der C,
and with his eyes bent upon the spot where they crouched his 1‘.
he walked boldly and unsuspectingly into the snare! “1
Nehonesto sprung forward, and Nogawa found himself it ~ ..
prisoner! ._
“ Who holds the eagle’s pinions ‘3” he demanded, trying to i’

 

tear May from the grip of his own countryman. d“:

“ Who? Nehonesto! Noguwn came to meet the Yellow T.
Bloodhound, and if he would find him, he must dive benenth w“
the water and hunt among the fishes. Yes, the Yellow Blood- a\ El“

hound has stepped upon the trail of death; he scents blood
no more in the woods of the lllinois. Nogawu knows where

 

he hid the Lone Dove, and to the den he must lead Nehonesto  ht
and the Young liunter.” '

The last Words were couched in a determined tone, but the k
captive did not reply. He looked into Nehonesto’s eyes, as 8
though he but half-credited the words regarding the fate of
his master. ‘

“ Nogowa,” and as Nehonesto spoke, he drew his scnlping-
knife from his wmnpum girdle, “ you must lend us to the Lone
Dove. Nehonesto, like yourself, is an Ojibwa, but unless you
do 218 he bids, the door of the lodge in the dark land will
open to reCeive un Indian's spirit. Speak, Nogawu—what
will you do?"

For n moment the young Indian’s head dropped upon his
breast, and when he raised it, his captors read the decision he
had tnude in his dark eyes.

“ Nognwn will obey his brother "—ghtncing at the knife;
“ what else should he do ‘3”

“ Then, quick upon the tin-til I” cried Somerville, who thought
of the brave girl whose life, at that moment, might be in im-
minent danger.

 

The young Ojibwa obeyed by moving forward, his-arm still 
encircled by the long fingers of Nehonesto. "'1
“ Where did the Yellow Bloodhound send Nogawa i" asked '

 

 

 

m meme mm or burn. 68
I ehonesto,.as they walked cautiously down the bank of the

ahokia. ,
“ He sent him with a band who hunted for the three pale-

‘faeesf' replied the Indian, “ and Nogawa was to return and
.‘tell him if his eyes had fallen upon the dire Snake Queen.”

)

“ And did Nogawa sce Coleola i” asked our hero, u. shud-
der creeping to his heart, as the dread woman appeared to

v his imagination, clothed in the hideousness of vengeance.

“ He did i"

“ And where was she?”

“ She was on the bank of the creek, where the muskrata“
dwell.”

Somcrvillc looked at Nehonesto.

“ The red' bag is going to work us trouble,” he said. “ She
will not leave this country without the scalps of all whom
she hates. She hunts the Bloodhound now.”

“Anti she hates Nehonesto as the Indian hates the copper-
head,” grated the Ojibwa. betWeen his set teeth.‘

“She may even now be 11 air!"

“ Nehonesto saw her not when he approached,” replied the
long-haired chief, “ and Nehouesto‘s eyes are as sharp as the

,9 n

eagles.

Thus, with dark forehodings to keep him continually alive
to their presence, Bob Somervrlle walked on, venturing no
more to question Nogawa, who seemed to be reconciled to
his fate.

At length they reached the beginning of the high banks,
but instead of ascending, NogttWa stepped into the water and
waded on up the stream, carefully notingr every thing around
him. At the water‘s edge a thick growth of willows thrived,
and bending, kissed the ripples in the center of the. stream.
Their Wt'll-lctu'tfti branches prevonttd the sharpest eye from
beholdng the stalks, and when the forced guide paused be-
fore the king of the woepers, Nehonesto griped his arm more
tightly, and in a whisper bade him proceed.

“ The Bloodhound‘s’ cave is here,” replied Nogawa, and he
looked up to see that no heads were peering over the cliff.

“ Here i" said Nehonesto, exhibiting some astonishment, and
parting the bushes, he could discover nothing that. indicated
'theIpreaence of a hidden home.

 

64 g m YELLOW mm; on,

The young Ojibwa did not reply, but stepped forward, and V '5'

a moment later the trio had vanished.

They found themselves in a gloomy passage, whose walls
and ceiling they could touch with head and hands.

Nogawa led the way, unfettered now by his clansman’s

hand, and Bob Somerville brought up the rear, with cocked . -

rifle and ready knife.

“ Who guards the Lone Dove when the Bloodhound has
left his kennel ‘3” whispered Nehonesto.

“ The Big Moccasin,” was the captive‘s reply, and a second
later he continued : “ lie and Nogawa know the Lone Dove’s
hiding-place. The Bloodhound would not tell his other
braves."

011, on they went in silence, until young Someryille touched
Nehonesto’s arm.

“ There‘s feet behind us,” he whispered

They listened. ‘

“ No," suit the Ojibwa, at length, and the march beneath
the wood was resumed.

All at once a groan penetrated the gloom the trio were
piercing, and they became as marble statues.

Instantly Nogawa, the traitor, shrunk back, exclaiming:

“ ’Tis the Yellow Bloodhound!”

“ Impossible !" said the scout. “ I cut him to the death.”

A second groan, more prolonged than the first, now reached
their ears, and again they started forward. As they did so,
the sound of footsteps in the gloom which they had traversed
fell upon the Young Hunter’s acute senses, and he was about
to warn Nehonesto, when he thought of his first warning.

Presently a light greeted them, and they drew back from
ts glare to crouch in the shadow of the gigantic stalactites,
hanging from the roof of the Corridor.

Looking ahead with eager eyes, the trio beheld three flgurcn
occupying a dramatic position.

Upon the rocky floor of a large cavern, and opposite the
mouth of the corridor, lay Jules Bardue, his head propped up
by a bundle of furs. lIis cadaverous face was deathly pale,

and his blood-shot eyes wandered about in their sockets like
lost stars. His clothes were covered with blood, and it was
Big Moccasin’s unsurgical examination of the rent in his breast

 

 

   
  
 

run wnmme man. or burn. 06
:‘ hich had drawn forth the groans our friends had heard.
, hrinking against the wall of the cavern, in the full light of
» the blaze, the spectators beheld Kate Blount, as beautiful as
1"- .ever; but her face wore the hue of death, and the look which
.‘she cast upon the wounded renegade was tinged with triumph,
While she trembled at the volley of oaths that rung from his
' _' lips.
' “ Nehoucsto loves to hear the Bloodhound groan l” grinned
..the Ojibwa. “ The Young Hunter did not reach his heart
i but we must trap the dogs. Nehonesto wants [to torture the
“ Bloodhound.”

“ He is suffering enough now,’ said the scout.
casin must be rummaging among his vitals.” .

A moment later'the long-haired Ojibwa rose and stepped
forward.

“ Shoot them i“ said Bob.

,_ “ No!” said the chief, sternly ; and then he cried: “ White
and red dog, Nehonesto and his friends are in your kennel.”

The startling announcmnent caused Big Moccasin to dart to
his feet, and, despite his prostration, Jules Bardue followed
his example, snatching a brand from the fire as he did so.

Then he staggered toward the captive girl, and suddenly
paused over a piece of funnelshaped bark, protruding from
y  the junction of the wall and floor. The rim‘of the funnel
‘ : Was as large as that of a panama hat, and directly over it the

renegade held his torch. '
, “ Ha! ha i" he laughed, turning his hideous eyes upon the
in trio, who had pressed to the mouth of the cave and covered
1‘ him with their rifles. “Shoot, if you dare! Though dead,
s, Ican blow you to atoms. I hold this torch over a lot of
' ‘ powder that communicates with a giant heap buried beneath
, 4 La, and in a moment with Jules Bardue, the greatest devil
‘- 5 that ever Walked the earth, you’d be in eternity. - Now, shoot,
, ,. shoot it you dare I” ’
' ‘ He laughed again, and the trio gazod upon him, transfixed

4' with horror. 

With throbless hearts they saw the torch blaze over the
deadly composition, expecting each moment to be ushered
1M0 the presence of the stern Judge, for the separation of one
.mrk from the flambeau, would seal the doom of all.

md ‘
rc’s
lel‘

,

“ Big Moe-

ed

 

 

\\

 

THE YELLOW Km; 03,

Instinctively Kate Blount shrunk from the desperate mum:

and in the center of the caVern stood Big Moccasin with fol-
ded arms, and stoical of countenance.

“ What shall we do ?” questioned the meet, feurfnlly.
~ i What could they do?

Nehonesto was silent.

A footfall in the corridor broke the spell, and a moment
s nter n quartette of rifles cracked.

Kw.

 

Nehonesto’s right hand dropped to his side, and Nogawa,
the traitor, fell forward with a death groan. Bob Somer-
ville, uninjured by the deadly pellets, turned, but ere he did

so, he saw the renegade reel over the funnel of death, and, _ ‘

springing forward with a cry of horror, Kate Blount snatched
the torch from his hand as it trembled onkits descent into the
powder l”

Instantly the young scout saw who confronted him, and
with the cry of “ Kate l" he wheeled, and sprung toward the
woman he loved.

He reached her side, and folded her to his heart in a loving
embrace ; hut ere he could raise an arm to defend her, as he,
with set teeth had determined to do, and that; to the death,
she was snatched from his embracc, and held from him by
the snake-encircled arms of Coleola!

And lie—ht" found himself griped by two red Titans, and,
against thefurther wall of the cave, he saw Nehonesto being
bound with strong sinews !

Then his heart sunk to immeasurable depths in his bosom,
and when Coleola saw his look of despair, 11 devilish shriek
of triumph peeled from her throat.

 

 

 
  

Hy,

Doment ,.

ogflwa,
30m".
18 did
1 and,

0 the

and
the

  
  
   

tched ‘ I

 

, I’m going to leave all to Hint.

at: mum mm. or mm.

CHAPTER X.
ON THE TRAIL.

Doc BELL the giant scout was well versed in the geOgra.
pity of the Illinois. He had trumped that vast country at the
dead hours of darkness, and, whenever pursued by a foe, he
knew where to hide himself from the foeman’s keen eyes,
He often boasted that he could secrete himself .in certain
places, and rest securely there, while the combined tribes of
the North-west hunted with the vindictiveness and keennessof
the wolf for his scalp.

Therefore, when he suddenly turned aside with Oliver
Blount, as related in a preceding chapter, he knew exactly
where he was going, and loin:r before the gray light of dawn
the twain found lltetnselvt's in a cave almost directly beneath
one of the hush fringed tributaries of the Mississippi.

“ This cave is none of the best of hidin’ places,” said the
Indian—hunter; “ but it was the nearest, an’ seein‘ you grow-
in‘ weak, 011, I thought best to take it fur the present. 'l‘hat
bullet in yer thigh ar’ goin‘ to trouble you somewhat.”

’l‘he trader admitted the truth of the hunter‘s observation
with a-grmtn.

a My log is getting stiff now,” he said. “ \Vhilc I ran it
did not bother me, but now, since exertion has ceased, it. is
going to make up for the past. Oh, if that aceursed ball had
missed its mark! Kate! Kate, my child, where are you ‘3"

9' “Kate will turn up all right, Oll,” said the hunter; “ such
.. gut as she ar’ not goin’ to be harmed by such a dot,r as Jules
i} trdue. When she becomes his wife, look for cats and
snakes to drop from the moon. They‘ll do it then, sartain.
But don't go on about her; think of what I’ve said,and take
matters calmly. There’s a God, 011 Blount.”

" A God ! Yes, Doc, there‘s a God, and from this minute
He has saved our lives. and
He will certainly watch over Kate. Now, Doc, look at my
hurt, and get me on my feet against night, for Iwant m

  

68 m YELLOW HUNTER; on,
snatch my child from the bound I
death.”

“I tell you beforehand, Oll Blount, that you won’t git out
0’ this hole tonight,” replied the hunter, stooping to examine
the trader‘s wound. “ You must be quiet for a day or so, an’
while you rest here, I‘ll hunt for Bob an’ the gal.”

admitted the truth of Doc’s remarks, confirmed by an exam-
ination of his injuries. The series of actions that followed
the shot had irritated the wound, and a serious look over-
spread the hunter’s face when his eyes fell upon it.

“ The army doctors would say you've got to die, Oll," said
Bell, “ but. 1 don’t say so. You‘ve got the worst lookin’ leg
I ever did see—no, no, don’t look at it—‘twould make you
sick. I guess you'll git along, but you’ll be a cripple. There l”
after a long silence. “I‘ve fixed you as best Ican. I’ll
stay with you till night, an‘ then— IIark! what was thet ‘3"

The trader started from his pillow of green branches, and
looked at the giant hunter, whose eyes Were turned toward
the gloomy mouth of a corridor, almost directly opposite the
main entrance to the cave.

“I didn‘t hear any noise, Doc,’ said Blount, still gazing at
the hunter, whose right hand had noiselessly lifted his rifle
from the ground. “ You must have been mistaken i”

The giant did not reply, but suddenly started forward. A
moment later, however, he returned, leading a young girl by
the hand. ‘

“ Look here, Oll,"_ he cried, addressing the wounded trader,
“ this is' what I heard a moment ago. Look at her. Snakes
and lizards! ain‘t she a beauty! I wonder why she came
here, who she is, an’ what she wants.”

“ Ask her i" said Blount. “ I have never seen her face be-
fore. She's not a Peoria.”

“ Nor a Kaskaskia or a Cahokia," replied the hunter, look-
ing into the black eyes of the Indian beauty, who stood be-
fore them as immobile. as a statue.

Her face told of immense suffering at no remote time, and
her large eyes confirmed the silent story.
clad for an Indian, and reminded the twain of the savage
belles to be found in every aboriginal village.

1

once almost whipped to , 7:
' ‘ aide
g whc

k

 

She was richly '

“4

I

 for

I  the
Oliver Blount uttered a groan of disappointment, which 

dit1

11‘:

' .. n7 *vfli". .

 

)Wed
Wer-

said
leg
You
0 I”
I’ll
P”
ad
rd
ie

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
  

 

1 side, touched her faultless hand.
‘ who you are.”

 for the red beauty spoke not.
Vmch f the hunter’s face, and not until he had addressed her again

X3111.

  

 
 

m wnmme nun. or DEATH. 60

“Girl,” and the hunter's arm, which had dropped to his
“Girl, tell the pale-faces

A deathlihc silence filled the cave after Doc Bell‘s words|
Her eyes were riVeted upon

did she make motion or sign.

Then she shook her head, and put her fingers to her lips.

" What does she mean, 011 ‘3" asked Bell, turning to the
trader with a troubled expression.

“ She must either he a mute, or the stubbornest Indian girl
I ever saw,” replied the trader. “ Make her talk, Doc, or
see what ails her."

Intent upon obeying his companion, the Hercules of the
forest turned to the Indian girl again.

“ Does the red girl hear what the pale hunter says ?” he
asked.

A nod answered his question.

“ And why don’t she answer him ?”

The Indian’s lips parted now, but not a word broke the
silence; and as she stepped nearer the hunter, her mouth]
opened to its utmost capacity, and for a moment he gazed
therein.

Then he started back with an expression of horror, and
gazing into the trader‘s anxious face he cried :

“ Great heavens! Blount, she‘s tongucless I”

All exclamation of genuine horror escaped Oliver Blouut’s

throat.
“ It's true as gospel i" said Bell, “ an’ more, her tongue has

been freshly cut out."

For a moment the two men gazed with pity upon the
tougucless creature, that confronted them, and Blount was the
first to speak.

“ What motive could have prompted such a hellish deed ?”
he cried. “ It surpasses all the cruelty I ever heard 01’. Doc,
can’t you tell what tribe she belongs to ‘3"

At this the giant‘again approached the girl, and taking her
hand gazed scrutinizineg into her firm. Then he examined
her hand.and when he dropped it, he said:

“ She's a Delaware."

 

   

  

70 mm YELLOW HUNTER; on,
“ And she’s far from home, too,” returned the trader.
“ She must have fallen in with some fugitive Peorias. Oh,
God, I wish site could tell her story.”

The hunter did not reply. He leaned upon his rifle and
covered his eyes with his tawny hands. The trader knew
that he was thinking deeply, for when he gave himself up
wholly to reflect ion and study, he invariably assumed his pres
ent attitude. For several minutes the giant remained silen

amehen he raised his head it was to fasten his eyes upo.‘

the speechless ludian girl.

“ \Vhere‘s Swamp Oak ?" he asked.

At the “willle of the name the girl started forward, and
griped his arm, while an expression of anxiety and fear
overspread her face.

“ Ha l" he said, glancing at Blount. “I have hit the right
trail. I just happened to think of the girl Swamp Oak
sneaked from the greasy Delawares a long time ago, an’ I
knew, too, thet thet very gal had enemies who would tear
her tongue out, of they got half a chance, an‘ so I thought:
might not this gal be the one? If you don’t b‘lieve it now,
Dll, you will d'rectly.”

Then be confronted the mute once more.

“ The red girl met her mother, ch ‘3”

The maiden’s eyes flushed with tire, as she nodded assent,
and her hands clenched in vengeance.

“Don‘t you see, 011? Her mother, that infernal Snake
Queen, caught her, an’ tore her tongue from her head. It:
won't. go well with that she devil now if she stalks within
range of Dec Bell’s rifle. Curse me if Ieouldn’t cratn her
heart down her throat, although I have sworn never to harm
a woman. I'm afraid I’m goin‘ to break thet oath soon."

The terrible Condition of the beautiful girl before him but
raised the hunter's anger to the highest pitch attainable, and,

‘as he clenched his hands, he fairly frothed at the tnouth.
\Vhen Doc Bell was mad, he was a terrible beiwr and for a

or

minute he paced the floor of the cave swayed by the uncon-
trollable passion of anger.

“Girl,” he said, halting very suddenly ,before the mute,
“ I’m goin‘ to hunt for your mother, au’ by Heaven I‘m goin’
You must stay with

to serve her precisely as she served you.

 

.hmyf

3 his [3
Elm
1 tinu
/ for

we

’ not
for

sh r

 

 

 

 t TEE wmnms man. on DEATH.

I ‘ t
V I

71

* lmy pale frioml till I return, for he carries a red-skin‘s ball in

h

his body. an’ needs your nursin’. You will stay with‘ ’im ?”
The girl—Ulalah—nodded assent, and knelt beside Oliver
.Blount, asking with her eyes a thousand questions.
“ I’m glad you've got some one to stay with you, 011,” con-
, tinned Bell, addressing the trader. “Now only keep quiet
'_ for I’m goin’ to bring Kale right here, an‘ then we’ll see if
we can’t git to Fort Chartres.”
The trader smiled joyously at this thought, but he Could
'not obliterate the terrible doubtings which had within the last
few hours traced deep furrows in his face.
The cave in which the trio had taken refuge from the

I sharp eyes of their foes, proved to be one of the several situ-

ated in the Illinois which the giant hunter had often visited,
and among its gloomy recesses he had established a cache.
To this, after speaking to the tongueless girl, he made his way,
and soon returned to the fire with an iron kettle and several
pieces of venison. A lot of this he divided between himself
and the trader, while he converted a portion of the remainder
into a broth for the victim of a mother‘s vengeance.

Ulalah‘s eyes thanked the big-hearted hunter a thousand
times, and drank the broth with an avidity that told of long
fasting.

The day passed away at length, and when Doc Bell re-
turned from a reconnoissancc beyond the cave, and declared
his readiness to begin his hunt for his friends, and, may be

 

-. too, for the she fiend, Ulalah griped the trader's rifle and

sprung to her feet.

“ What! girl, ain‘t you going to stay with 011, as you pro-
mised to do ‘2“ cried the hunter gazing in amazement upon the
paSsion ruled form that swayed before him like the wind be-

: let sapling.

\ , . -
She shook her head, and gritted her teeth With determination.
“ The white man may die," said Doc. calmly, gently touch-

 ing the girl’s arm, “ an’ then what would his Lone Dove do I

’ .q'

‘1 God helpin’ ine as destructive, tool

 
  

A;

: ‘ Girl, you will stay with him, to bathe his brow when the

;.

fever comes, and to moisten his lips when they cry for water

I will not be long away; I'll be as swift as the lightning, an'

Yes, girl—poor tongue-

' lass gtr' stay with the week men tillthe hunter comes back."
i 8

'. : 3,: ,
4"», 5.,

O

72 m mnmw HUNTER; on,

His pleadings availed the hunter naught, for Ulalah shook
her head more resolutely than ever, and brought her foot
down with a firmness that said :

“No more words; I am going with you i”

Doc Bell read the action correctly.

“ She won‘t listen to any thing, 011,” he said. “She wants
to meet that mad mother ov hers, an’ she’s bound to go with

me. I hate to leave you alone, but I’ve got to do it.”
“ Go, Doc—go. I can get along. Go and tear Kate from
him I”

“ Curse the girl—no, I won’t curse her, either, for were I
in her fix, I’d want to settle for my stolen tongue, myself.
Good-by, 011. I’ve fixed every thing handy for you~—rifle,
meat, ammunition and all. Something tells me—”

He suddenly paused and rose to his feet, leaving the sen-
tence incomplete.

He was going to say that an inward monitor told him that
.tliey were never to meet in life again, but he would not sor.
row the parting will: such words.

“Come, girl," he suddenly cried, turning to the Indian. “ If
you must go, I’ll take you; but God knows I wish you'd stay
with Oil.”

Ulalah started forward at the hunter‘s command, and a
minute later the stricken trader was the sole occupant of the
can i

And as he saw them disappear, the. terrible presentiment
that they were never to meet again came over him ; and the
thought of his daughter‘s fate drew a groan from his heart.

Then in silence he lay in the weird light of the dying fire,
wishing God-speed to the twain who were hastening through
the forest, toward a spot already tragic in the eyes of the
eader.

t.

t

an. .

. paw-v

 

 

 

 

\

m WINDING TRAIL ‘01" DEATH.

CHAPTER XI:
WHAT HAPPENED IN A CAVE.

IT was far from “oleola‘s intention to leave the country
when she parted in rage from the war-party on the banks 01
Cahokia Creek, :t‘ described in chapter sixth. She retraced
her steps to the hunted Peoria’s hidden home, where for many
hours, like the jungle-tiger, she lay in wait {or her prey. But
that noble prey came not; some unseen power held Swamp
Oak aloof from the snare, and, when tired of lying in am-
bush, the Snake Queen left the cave, and sought for the Yel-
low Bloodhound and his pale prisoners.

Between these two ferocious characters an inseparable gulf
had ever rolled, and each succeeding year it grew wider.

For a long time the Bloodhound and Coleola had lived at.
I knife-points, and even in times of peace had attempted each
other‘s life.

She found Burdue’s trail without any difficulty, for she was
an expert trailer, and came up with her great enemy in his
'own cave, when the rifles of our friends covered his cowardly
heart, and when he held thelives of all in his hands.

The Snake Queen did not comprehend the situation, else
she Would not have fired without sober second thought. She
did not realize the danger she was in, and flushed with anger,
hightened by the presence of those whom she hated with all
the bitterness of a mad-woman’s hatred, her rifle spoke the
Words of doom. '

Well might Boh Somervillc’s heart sink into the slough of
despair when he comprehended his hopeless situation—when
’ he saw Kate in the gripe of the mad Snake Queen, and found
himSt-lf hound. ‘ 1
~. “ Ha! ha! ha I" laughed Coleola, fastening her balet’ul eyes
f uupon the trader‘s daughter, whose cheeks had suddenly as-
sumed the hue of the undriven snow. “The Lone Dove is,
' 'Coleola‘s at last, and her mate with the long plumage is hers,
too. Coleola and her braves saw the Ojibwas and the white

 

74 um YELLOW HUNTER; on,

Hunter creep along the willowed banks, and when they en-
tered the bushes she followed, and 10 I here she is. Yellow
dog 1” and tossing Kate Blonnt to one of her giant followers,
she turned abruptly upon the prostrate Frenchman, who was
glaring at. her like a tiger. Ila! the yellow dog is in the
folds of the Snake Queen, and they are going to squeeze him
to death. The pale-faees will hear him yelp with pain, di-
‘ ectly, and then they shall yelp themselves. loleola’s ene-
mies are all here save one—Swamp Oak, the Peoria dog. Oh,
if he were here, and oh, if there stood at his side the girl who
has no tongue I” i

A moment’s silence followed Coleola‘s bitter words, and
then one of the braves jerked the creole to his feet.

He was dragged across the cave and stood upright against
the wall composed of Vt‘l‘y soft limestone rock. 110 made no
effort to escape; he knew that his strength would accomplish
nothing, but he glanced wistfully from the tire to the powder-
funnel. Oh, if he Were free a moment! How quickly would
he spring to the tire and hurl a torch upon the explosive heap
—thus, at one fell swoop, sending his enemies as Well as him-
self to eternity.

Coleela saw his glance, and laughed fiendishly at his de-
spair.

“ The black dirt. shall not become fire by the Yellow Blood-
hound’s claws," she cried. "Warriors, nail him to the
stones!"

Jules Bardue groaned aloud at! this announcement of his
doom, and he saw the Snake Queen’s Indians snap the steel
ramrod belonging to Big Moccasin‘s musket, and approach
him, griping the improvised nails and their tomabawks.

They were going to nail him to the soft rocks!

Then he knew the knife would be resorted to, and he
would be flayed alive !

At. the thoung of such a terrible doom, his limbs quaked
like aspen leaves, and that cowardice which always nestled in
his heart now rose up and bubbled from his throat.

“ Mercy! mercy! Coleola,” he cried, his face as white as
“hes. “ Spare! am” will leave this countr , never, never to
return. ‘Womsn !—”

“ Nail the white dog to the stones l" was the uupitying

, ~71»)er "~33 

 

 

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l

* wmmand that rudely Interrupted the creoie‘s pleadings. “ To

the hound’s cries Uoleola is deaf; she couldn‘t hear him were
he to cry as loud as the great cataract far toward the big ice-
seas.”*

The renegade hit his lips till the blood trickled over his
chin, and in silence he permitted the warriors to push him
against. the rock.

IIe shrieked like a dying fiend when the first stroke of the
omahawk drove the pointless nail into his palm, and each
succeeding blow was followed by a like shriek, until Coleola

'sprnng forward and choked him into silenCe.

Under the Snake Queen’s gripe, and the pain ocmsioned by
the nails, Jules Bftl'nltlc lost his senses, and when he hung
from the wall by both hands, Coleola stepped back and
awaited the return of consciousness.

“ The creole‘s doom is terrible, but just i” murmured young
Somerville, who had witnessed the red-men‘s work in horri-
fied silenCc, not knowing how soon he would be subjected to
the same fearful torture. “ I am doomed to Some fearful
death, but I Can die more like a man than that dog gives
promise of doing. For myself I care not, but for Kate yon-
der, l care much-all. I wonder where Doc is? ‘Oh, if he
knew that we were in the hands of that mad snake-walnut),
he’d hasten hither and with his own strongr arm tear us from
her. Freedom! freedom! Oh, were ye mine for one mo-
ment 1" ‘

As he uttered the exclamation, the young scout tugged at
his bonds; but across the cave he saw the wish which had
.lately leaped from his heart traced upon Nehonesto’s face.

While the Snake Queen waited for the return of conscious-

1083 to her great enemy, not a word Wu; spoken. \

Bob Somcrvillc gazed into Kate Blount's face, and in her
eyes saw hope encircled by despair. Her dark orbs twinklcd,
too, with terrible determination.

\Vhat did it mean? ‘

\Vhy should the girl hope when not a ray illumined the
cavern—when a speedy and horrible doom stared .her in the
face with all the grinning horror it could assume ?

She was not bound; but the arm of her jailer encircled

' Niagara.

70

Tim mmw RENTER; on,

her Waist, and his fingers griped her arm like the jaws of a.

Vise. .

She saw the wish for freedom with the determination that
accompanied it in her lover‘s eyes, and she seemed to be wait-
ing for a certain moment.

Kate Blount was not the girl to submit tamely to doom.
She resolved to make a desperate struggle for freedom, and a
glance at Nehonesto and the scout told her that she would be
ably seconded. ‘

Their enemies numbered four—Coleola and three braves,
and the trader’s daughter felt confident of overcoming them
by a sudden attack. She waited for the right moment.

At last a groan escaped the Yellow Bloodhound‘s lips, and
he raised his head !

Coleola sprung toward him with a cry of joy.

NOW the devil’s Work Would begin.

Kate Blount noted this, and threw a look at her lover—a
look which he understood, for he returned a Slight nod, and
Nehonesto also proclaimed himself ready to help, so soon as
he was set at liberty.

The eyes of the Indians were fastened upon Coleola now,

and the gripe of Kate's captor had suddenly, and to no little
degree, relaxed.

The brave girl saw the opportunity, and seized it with a
determination worthy the braVest of her sex.

» - \Vith no cry she sprungr from the Delaware‘s arms, snatch-
" ing his scalping-knife from his girdle as she executed the
movement.

The savage with a shriek started forward; but suddenly
,he was hurled backward by the young scout, whose bonds
Kate had severed at a single stroke.

All now was confusion l

Coleola uttered a wild yell and darted toward the trader‘s
daughter; but all at once a dark object shot upward from the
floor of the cavern, and, despite her struggles, she found her-
self in the grip of Nehoueslu. lie tore the twin snakes from
her neck, and before they could bury their fangs in his tawny
arm, he hurled them into the tire, where they hissed like de-
mons in the agonies of death. ’

The savage who had guarded our heroine received a death

\

 

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I of 8, 
- blow at the hands of the youthful scout, and another of Co-

1 that
Wait-
oom,
nd a
Cl be

.VCS,
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ind

g

m meme TRAIL or DEATH. 77

, leola’s red followers dropped at the Yellow Bloodhound’s im-
[prisoned feet, wounded to the bitter end.
The third brave received reinforcements from the corridor
'_ which led to the river!
The Snake Queen had penetrated the willows with seven
. braves, four of whom she had left to guard the entrance, as
1 She feared the return of the trader, Doe Bell, or the avenging
i lover, Swamp Oak.

Now a peculiar shriek from the third savage who followed
Coleola to the cave caused the guards to leave their posts;

5 and all at once, like a quartetle of devils, they rushed into

 

l: the cavern, just as victory was declaringr for our friends.

Then the Conflict was renewed again with tenfold fury.

Despite his arm which hung shattered at his side, Neho-
nesto caught a warrior, and hurled him against the wall of
the rave, at the foot of which he sunk with a Crushed skull.

Kate Blonnt, too, performed prodigies of valor. She stood

' "with clubbed rifle before the Snake Queen, beating back the

 

savages who tried to free the mad-Woman.
Suddenly a brave kicked the tire hither and thither, and

i. then the tight continued in the semi-gloom.

At length, tripping over a dead Delaware, Bob fell to the
earth, and before he could rise, a tomahawic, hurled from a
red-skin's hand, stretched him senseless and bleeding upon the
stones again.

A moment later, as a tirebrand caused brave Kate Blount
to reel, three dusky forms darted from the corridor, and she
heard yells of despair‘well from the. throats of the now almost
Victorious savages. New and unexpected antagonists had
appeared upon the scene of action, and when Kate had col-
lected her scattered senses, she found herself in the arms of
Doe Bell, the Indian-tighter!

“Well, now, we got liyar jist in time!" cried the giant,
looking down into Kate’s colorless face. “ It ar’ a good thing

' thet we heard ye tightin’, fur cf ye hedn’t made sech a racket,
I guess we‘d be a, good piece from hyar now.
Bloodhound's kennel, eh, girl ?“

“ Yes,” answered Kate.
“ An’ where might the yaller dog he I”

This is the

...

78 m mow mm; on,

“ Yonder, nailed to—” ‘

Kate Blount interrupted herself with a blank stare, and all ' .

exclamation.

“ Why, he’s gone I”

Yes, the white rocks to which the renegade had been nailed
exhibited all their wonted ghostliness, and the Yellow Blood-
hound was nowhere to be seen!

“ How did he git away ef he war nailed ?” cried Doc Bell
springing to his feet “ The spirits don’t ginerally help sucl‘
fellars., But he’s gone—gone to come back to us ag’in some
day. Yes, that devil is far from dead.”

“No, he is not, Doc,” said Bob, who had regained his ’

senses, and was wiping the blood drawn by the tomahawk
from his forehead. “I cut all around his heart with my
knife. Coleola’s (ball entered his body, and her red devils
drove a ramrod through his hands. He can’t get over all that.”

“ Boy, did Coleola’s bullet take .’im atween the eyes ‘3”
asked the giant hunter, anxiously.

At No."

“Then the yaller dog won’t die.
him up once? Nothin’ under heaven but a half ounce of lead
atween the peepers will ever finish ’im. He’ll turn up in a
few days again, afore we call ourselves safe.”

A brief examination told the victors how the bloodhound
had effected his escape. Alone he could do nothing, but dur-
ing the conflict Big Moccasin must have freed himself, and
borne his master from the cave, for the giant guard too was
missing.

I have said that tw0 persons came to the rescue with Doc
Bell.

The identity of one the reader can easily fix; the other
was the hunted Peoria—the vengeful Swamp Oak.

The giant and his tongueless companion had encountered
the young chief in the forest, not far from the Bloodliound’s
cave. Upon the night when Swamp Oak had saved the lives
of the trader and the giant by shooting Segowatha‘s avenging
son, he had followed the twain but had failed to overtake
them. Still be searched the forest, but the storm that burst

Ye know how I hacked

above the trees immediately after their escape, had completely»

obliterated their trail, thus befiling the young Indian.

w'ww-_,x.,v,.."4_" " ‘z<)'"14

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mm mm mm or mm #9

 The meeting in the forest, m‘entiOned above, Wile, no doubt,
 the strangest that ever took place in America.

, y The young Peoria. clasped Ulalah to his heart, but started
-  back to find her silent.

 x. 1 i .o

,0d_ r He then called upon her to spew, but still Silent, she took

53 his hand and put it into her mouth.
' He utterel n cry of hon or, and then the hunter-giant told

in

 

:en  , _ _
m1. ' him all he knew about Unilahs terrible misfortune.
me  The hunted lover listened in silence, and when he bird flu-

3‘5 ished, in the din: light of a star, Doc Bell Sth the Indiun’s
face grow black with rage.

_ For a. moment the Peoria. could not belieVe his senses, hut
 when they assured him that the object of his vengeance nc-
" tually stood before him—when he heard Coleolzt laugh lri- _
I umphantly as she glanced from hlm to her mutilated child—-
'mntilnted by her own mad hand—he shot toward her with

» .1 uplifted knife. .

 A single bound brought him face to face with his mud red
mother-iu-lnw.

“ In whose power is Coleolu. now ?" he hissed. “ Ay, into

, whose hands has she fallen? She has hunted long that she
5‘ I‘ might stund within arm's-length of Swamp OJk, and she -
‘ ‘ Stands thus nt lust. She found the Peorin's cave, hutfirst she

 found Swmnp Otk‘S sister, whose face is almost like Ululnh’s.
,  She bore the Drooping Willow through the forests until site

:1, found the Peori L's eawc ; she entered it ; she slew the. Droop-
 ing Willow, and tore Uhduh‘s tongue from her head. ‘ When

Swwnp ()nk returned with the Lone Dove,” continued the In-

dinn, glancing at Kate, “ he found whom he thought to be his
‘Ulalah. He caught her in his arms, and her decaying body

drove his brain on fire. Then Coleole came, and he darted
' away. Ah! the Snake Queen could not cathh the Peorimaud

7" when he stopped he found that he bore Droopi'ug Willow, not

I - -:

 A  Again he kiesed Ulnlah, whispered “ vengeance," and she rc-
uy .vv plied by pressing his hand.

Us I i The revengeful pair did not see 9:11eoln until the tight in
n F the cave had entirely ended, and Ululuh was the first to recog-
in ; him her mother.

I  With a guttural noise, LLG sprung to her lover‘s side and

 pointed to the apparition.

 

 

80 m mow names; on, 

Ulalah. Vengeance then he swore, and vengeance now he":
will have. Ulalah." ' ’

The speechless girl sprung forward, and, with wild eyes 
and trembling knife, confronted her unnatural mother. ‘

The Snake Queen faced her eXecutiom-rs with dignified V
mien, and upon her facc still gleamcd that devilish expression a _
of triumph. . ‘

Without a word Swamp Oak releascd one of Coleola’s
hands, binding the other fast to her body. Then he pushed
' her against the rock to which she had lately nailed the Yel- ,
low Bloodhound, and placed her arm against it. p

“Coleola shall see her limbs torn from her trunk,” he 
hisset , “ and then her tongue shall be plucked from her mouth
even as she tore her child’s away ; and when she has seen all
this, then shall her eyes fly from her head as the arrow flies \
from the Indian’s bow. Ulalah, come—the tomahawk I This
hand plucked out your tongue. Cut it off!”

A look of triumph flushed from the wronged girl‘s eyes,
and she snatched from her lover‘s hand the tomahawk it ex-
tended.

A second later she darted toward her mother.

The tomahawk flew above her head, and in the twinkling
- ‘ an eye it descended, severing Coleola’s right arm a few
inches above the hand i

A soul-pierclng shriek followed the avenging blow.

The mad queen shot forward, despite Swamp Oak's strength
and it was a giant's. '

He might as well have tried to hold a crazy rhinoceros.

Coleola darted toward the Corridor in which the Blood
bound and Big MoCCaSiu had umlouhtedly disappeared.

Kate Blouutstood in her way, and notiCed that her left tun
was free.

“ Back, Kate !” yelled the young sc-mt.

Our heroine needed no summons to spring from the (it
moness‘ path ; but ere she Could shrink away, the left arm en
circled her body, and she found herself lifted from the grount

She shrieked, as Well she might. ‘

Four brave men sprung forward to rescue her from til
mad Snake Queen; but their has ls close] on emptiness!

Coleoia and her beautiful captive had oludel them i

 4 m mute mm or burn 81
V he [7
yes
5“"  CHAPTER XII.

10]] r
j," HUNTING THE HUNTED.

In," ‘3’, ‘ Doc BELL, the giant, headed the horrified quartette that
{ed sprung after Coleolu.

01' F He rushed down the dark corridor as fast as his strong
, limbs could carry him, and suddenly found himself submerged
 in a lake of Slygizm water.

m  “ llall !" he shouted to those who had follOWed at his heels,
m  and the trio paused on the brink of the liquid death as the
. » hunter emerged therefrom.

Is a “ Ilcre‘s a deuced pretty go, ain’t it?" he Cl'ltd. “What

, kind of a (rave do you call this, anyhow? Git, a light; We’ll
’ f s’areh this place. \Ve’re not goin' to let that gal git clean
away from us, not of old Doc Bell knows himsel'.”

.‘ Bob Somerville sprung back into the cavern, and soon re-

”, appeared with a. torch, which threw a ghastly glare around
[ . -. ’ upon the water.

" “ There hev been a boat moored hyar,” said Bell, suddenly
stoopiug and designating a certain spot withhis finger. “ But
it’s gone now : that’s sartin, but who took it?”

“ Coleola.”

“ No she didn't,” replied the hunter, looking up into the
young scout's face. “Ther Bloodhound an’ Big Moccasin
came hyar first, an’ they vamosed in it. Coleola war forced
to swim, then."

“ Where could she swim to ?" questioned Someerlle, With
eagerness.

“ Where, but to the other side of this 'ere black water 1’"

“ And where is the other side? I see nothing.”

“ I should reckon you didn’t, boy,” said the Indian-fighter.
, _ ‘ V“ But, I‘m the {cum what's goin‘ to find out. Snakes! I
’ «- wish that Indian gal’s hatchet had missed Celeola’s arm, and
L 1' took her accursed throat."

‘~ As he uttered the last word he handed the torch to Nchov
' acute, and he and Swamp Oak stepped into the lazy water.

-

 

82 me mmw mm]; 03,,

A moment later there sounded the plush of expert swim-
mers, and the twain soon disappeared from those whom they
left on the bank. They swam side by Side along distance
in silence, and almost simultaneously their feet struck earth.

Then they Ceased swimming, and drew themselves up on
a cold, stony bank.

Looking in the direction from whence they came, they saw '
the glimmer of a torch, so far away that it appeared like a
little star, in the milkmaid’s path.

“ We've come a great distance, Swamp Oak, said the gi-'
ant, touching the Indian‘s shoulder, in the Stygian gloom that
surrounded them. “ Coleola is more than a woman if she
swam this far with one arm, an’ the burden of a girl to weigh
her down.”

“ Coleola is in league with \V'atchemcnetoc,” returned the
Indian, the superstitions part of his nature gaining the ascent]-
ency. “ Bot,” and he grittcd his teeth, “ Swamp Oak will
catch the hag when Watchetm-netoe is far away. Then I”

In the gloom Doc Bell smiled at Swamp Oak’s thirst for
revenge, and turned from the Water.

The bank extended a short distance back without interrup-
tion, when our adventurers brought up against a wall of rock,
containing many gigantic indentations.

_“ Ef we had a light i" cried the hunter.

A light was soon found.

The rough walls were covered with a network of creepers,
which no doubt had perished for lack of sunshine, for a ray
of the life-giving planet ,ncver penetrated this .place. The
Peoria tore a quantity of the dry creepers from the wall, and
wrapped thetn around his scalping-knit’e. Then he had re-
course to the invaluable flints, and presently the knife was
crowned by a bright, crackling blaze.

They resumed their search, and found that the indentations
I have mentioned extended out a few feet into the wall, and
they were on the eve of relinquishing the quest. when a start-
ling “ Ugh l" burst from the Peoria’s throat.

The giant sprung toward him and found him htilfling the
torch over a dark spot on the gray stone over which they had
trod immediately after emerging from the water.

It was blood—bleed freshly spilled.

H

 

swim.
they

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rtb.

P 0n

 
   
   
 
 
 
 
   
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  

 

  
   
  
 
  

  

TEE WINDING TRAIL OF DEATH.,

“ On the right trail at last," cried Bell, in a hoarse whis-
per. “ We can track the she devil by her gore now.” ,
A step further on revealed a second drop of blood, and
presently they trailed the wounded person into an obscure
corridor, which had hitherto escaped their eyes.

Doc Bell almost uttered a shout of triumph, as he sprung
into the dark passage, for he would soon come up with the
Snake Queen, and rescue Kate Blount from her vengeance.

The passage proved a tortuous one, but no corridors led
from it, and at length the hunter felt a breath of air fan his
cheeks. Ile paused and gripcd the Peoria’s naked arm.

They listened, and heard the low sound of rushing wa-
ter.

" Go on, hunter," said the red-skin. “ “'0 will trail the
mad queen to the wood.”

They proceeded again, and at length, emerging from the
corridor, found themselves standing up to their knees in a nar-
row stream that boasted ot‘ ptl'pt‘ntiit‘ttittl‘ banks. '
“ Buflled !" said the Indian-hunter, biting his lips with cha-

“ I‘ve trailed many a t'ctlskin before, but I confess that;

grin.
Back,

I’m crawling out o’ the little end ov the horn now.
Swamp Oak, back to our people in the cave.”

The, Indian turned with reluctance, for he would faiu have
hunted for Coleola in the forest above them. He believed
she was at that hour threading its recesses, in the gray light;
of dawn which was beginning to make objects visible. But
he was mistaken.

He said nothing when the hunter stepped upon the back-
wtml trail, and they hurried on in silence.

They had traveled a great distance under ground, and, when
no glimmer greeted their eyes as they regained the edge of
the black lake, an exclamation of surprise parted the hunter’s
lips.

" Whar are our friends!“ he cried.
wait fur us whar we left ’em; but now they’re gone.”

“ They may be there in the blackness," said Swamp Oak. ‘

“No, they‘re not there,” persisted Bell. “Ef they war
they’d hev thcr torch up so we could see whar to swim to.
Suthin’s happened to thun ; now mark my words, Injun."

A shade of paleness overspread Swamp Oak‘s face as the I

“They promised to

 

  
 

 

84 mm YELLOW HUNTER; 03,

thought of peril to Ulalah crept to his heart, and he was about
to rush into the water and solve the mystery, when the ham
ter‘s hand restrained him.

“ Ilist i” he whispered. “ Ther devil’s takin’ a ride—ther
devil an’ some ov his imps.”

As he spoke, he took the torch from the Indian’s hands
and noiselessly extinguished it.

As he did so, the noise of paddles assailed their cars.

A boat was abroad on the inky tide, and for the first time
in many years, superstition reigned in the old hunter’s heart.
It was an admirable place for ghosts to float their specter
barks, and sail with their phantom brides locked in their arms.
Involuntarily Doe Bell shrunk from the water, and turned his
eyes toward the plush of the ghoulish paddles.

Nearer and nearer came the craft, and though he could not
see it, he knew when it. was opposite the spot where they
crouched.

All at once, voices came from the boat, and the hunter
clutched the Peoria’s arm.

“ Curse you, faster, chief i" they heard a hollow voice say,
in a tone of command. “Heavens! if I were stronger i"

“ The watery track is dark,” was the reply, which stamped
the speaker an Indian.

“ Faster, anyhow!” was the hollow and grated rejoinder.
“ The deVil is guiding his own now, and you can not wander
from the path. The girl will wake soon.”

Doc Bell griped Swamp Oak’s arm tighter than ever, asth
last sentence came to their ears.

“The gal, Injun ; those devils hev got Kate Blount l”

The Peoria did not reply.

He was thunderstruck.

The trader’s daughter had been spirited away by the Snake
Queen; but now she was in the hands of Big Moccasin and
the hated and hunted Yellow 3loodho11nd.

Had fate guided the woman into the hands of those devils?
Even so it seemed. ‘

The boat seemed a long while passing their station, and it.
was not until the voices were dying away in the gloom, that
Doc Bell recovered his firmness.

“ Swamp Oak, we must outwit those devils,” he said, in his

old

 

   

THE WINDmG TRAIL OF DEATH. 85

old firmness of tone. “My mind kin scarcely hold all that

m" lies happened to-night, much less b’lieve it. But come, we’ll

un' . foller thet ghostly boat, an’ when ther Bloodhound runs ashore
 he’ll find somebody he won’t be lookin’ for.”

let ,- They rose to their feet and glided down the bank of the.
:4 subterranean lake, :1 short distance in the rear of the boat.

as ‘4 All at once a peculiar llUer told them that the pmw of [11,.

canoe had turned, and was making toward the shore, a short
8 distance ahead.

“ Be ready, lnjuu," whispered Doe Bel. “ ‘u’e’ve got the

.. (logs now, an’ the gal, too I” .

) Unsuspicious of danger, the ot-cupants of the boat ap-

: proaeheti the shore at the very point where our friends, with

drawn knives and determined Visages, lay waiting to receive
them.

“ Land, at h st !" the)‘ h and Jules Bardue say, with a breath
of relief, as the boat struck the rocks. “ Furies! what along
ride that was. Ilere, chief—here's the girl ; no, take me out
first. My legs are stiff, hut once on Sli()l't‘,] can walk. Jules
Bardue ain‘t dead yet; no, and he's not goingr to die while
his enemies live. Be Careful, Moceasin; don’t touch my
hands; hroken ratnrods hurt like a. wolf‘s teeth.”

IIe paused, for the giant chief was lifting him from the

* boat, and, strain their eyes as much as they could, the watch-
ers of the debarkation could not distinguish the forms of the
voyagers. "

However, their voices disclosed their positions, and as Big
Met-easin laid his living burden on the ground, Swamp Oak
sprung,r upon him.

The chief uttered a ety of terror, and as he reeled under
the strength of his antagonist. a keen blade shot into his
breast, and he fell, with a death gurgle, into the water. ,,

Swamp Oak's work of death was inaugurated and finished
in less time than we have recorded it, and, like a lion, he
turned to the spot where the helpless renegade lay !

'l‘he hunter had shunned the creole for the boat, intent
upon saving our heroine. .

up, knew that Jules Bardue was too weak to resist,and at
ter he had rescred Kate, he would finish one who had al-
itadt cursed the earth too long with his loathsome presence,

a

 

 

 

$3 Tm: YEILLOW HUNTER; on,

He clutched the eanoe as Big Moccasin torched the water.
and quickly jerked it. too aid him, for, umiioored, it had drifted
from the bank.

The next minute his long arm sltot over the gunwale, and
his fingers closed on Kate Blount‘s slender arm.

Ile lifted her from the craft, with a try of delight; but ere
‘ie could gain his feet with his prize, a noise like the explo-
sion of a thousand pounds of powder bewildered his senses,
and, with the girl in his arms, he staggered back, bereft of
consciousness !

The lake of darkness felt the unseen blow; its sleeping wa-
ters sprung into life, and rocked with a hissing noise in their
little basin.

For many minutes three forms lay motionless tn the gloom,
and at last the uplifting of a head was followed by a voice.

“ Almighly Heavens! what did that meani ’

It was Doe Bell who spoke.

“Ten thousand earthquakes must have combined in one
big bu’st ; an’ it war a bit,r one, too. Kate !”

Ile shook the girl, who still lay in his arms, and heard her

voice.
I “ Yer alive, thank God !" he ejaculated, with fervor. “ War-
n’t tl:ct a noise ? \Vhar‘s Swamp Oak '3”

“ IIere, hunter; his head is full of sounds yet.
rivers rush through his brain.”

“ I should reckon they do.
dog '3”

“ Swamp Oak’s knife was raised when Watchementoc spoke,
and snatched him from the Peoria."

“ “'hat! did he git away erg'in '1"

“‘IIe is gore, white hunter.”

“ It beats the Jews !” exclaimed Bell.
charmed life.

“ No."

“ The shock must hev thrown him somewheres. 'I‘hat
shock! it cracked every bone in my body. I know what it
war now. Somebody dropped fire inter ther Bloodhound’s
But our people—what

A hundred

Did ye finish thcr yaller

“ That dog bears It
Ain‘t he nowheres,about, Injun ?”

funnel, an’ blow’d his cave to shivers.
war they ?"
A groan burst from Swamp Oak’s lips

 ago“
A, friei

over
the

DOV
(he

 

m WINI'ING TRAIL OF DEATH. 87

, “ Where is Swamp Oak‘s tongueless bride ?” he cried, in
I agony; and when the hunter thought where he left our
jfi friends with injunctions to await his return, a cold shiver shot
,9" over his frame, and he feared that the future would confirm
 the horrible belief which had taken possession of his mind.

“ Come, Injun," he said to swamp Oak, “ We’ll go back.
, now ;” and he added, in a lower tone—“ go back an’ look fut
their bodies 1”

CHAPTER XIII.
THE mmnxn. COMPACT.

WITH Kate Blount, the Sturdy old scout and Swmnp Oak
finally made their way out of that gloomy world, now made
doubly horrible by the tremendous explosion which they be-
lieved had sent all their friends to their destruction. This
belief Doc Bell had to impart to his fair charge, and she
was terribly shocked over the thought of her lover’s presumed
awful fate.

But they were not to reach the cave, where Blount was
left, without trouble. A careful reeonnoissance by the old
Indian-fighter revealed the presence of nineteen ()jibwas in
the woods, right over the exit from the corridor leading frotn
the lake. This compelled the trio to remain under close Cover
until nightfall should make it safe to Il‘ttVt‘i.

in the quiet of their secure retreat, Kate related her nd-

' ventures with the terrible Snukc,Qucen, and how in the dark-
. ness the old hag had been stricken down by some unknown
hand, but which she now learned was that of Jules Bardue,
who, with Big Moccasin, bore her'away. She had then be.-
come unconscious, and knew no more until aroused by Doc
Bell’s touch. .

That. the Snake Queen was dead Doc did not believe, but
110' time was given for further speculation, for Swamp Oak
reported some one Coming tip-stream in a canoe. Doc was
too amazed to speak, for in that canoe sat John Williamscn!

 

88 m; YELLOW 301mm; 0:,
Had he not flung the wretch into the very midst of the sav- 4
ages, and how could he have escaped his doom ? "

I

No time was offered for questioning, for, discovering the L +
opening in the hill, the haunted man, with almost a cry of I

gladness, turned the prow of his cnnoe into the opening and
sprung ashore. The trio crouched back in the darkness, and
John plunged down the corridor, as if to escape the light
forever; and when the shades of night darkened the woods

the three hastened from their Cover to reaclrthe cave where A ‘

Blount had been left.

“ Now for yer father, gal," said Bell, addressing Kate, as
they gained the forest above the creek. “\Ve‘ll hurry up,
fur I know ther old man ur’ anxious to see his gal, an' she’s
sorter anxious to see him, too."

They lruvursed the forest at a rapid gait. Doc Bell knew
the way, and he could trail as Well beneath the stars as the
sun.

A number of miles had been traversed, when several rifle~
shots saluted their ears.

Doc Bell halted.

Crack l crack ! crack 1

“ By my soul I there‘s bloody work goin’ on at ther cave I”
he cried, suddenly starting; forward. “I heard Oll’s rifle
jest then, an’ I b‘lieve he’s got help; but who on uirth kin it
be? Held out, old man, till we git to yer! Hold out, I Sny.
Doc Bell’s comin’, an’ he‘s north or stone wall an‘ ten can-
non l”

The hunter ran at his utmost speed, and Kate Blount and
Swamp Ouk kept at his side. At length the yells of infuri‘
ated Indians made the night. hideous, and drowned the eras".
of the death-dealing rifles.

“I knowed it! I knowed it l” cried Doc Bell. “ Bloody
work’s goin’ on liyar, an’ I‘ve been sp’ilin’ fur a fight. Now
look to yer rifles for the last time I"

Creepng forward they beheld at least forty savages grouped
at. some distance before the mouth of the’ cave. These In-
(lians'were listening to the harangue of a tall chief, standing
in the broad glare of the tire which tl.ey had kindled near
the aperture.

Stretched upon the ground, as motionless as stricken sta-

a

‘ ue
 he
hgt

 

“ -» , m wnmme Tam or DEATH. 89

luv-

the

0f 

nd
nd
{ht
Lls

re

as
I).

‘

8

V _ es, lay seven warriors, who had fallen beneath the rifles of
' he besieged, and the chief was firing the hearts of the sav-
‘ . es, who seemed inclined to relinquish the conflict.
' “ Shall the hunted dogs drive the hunters from their ken-
‘ Inel 1’" he cried, “and shall Segowatha sleep unavenged? The
,- pale (log whose she whelp slew our great chief is in our
r‘powur, if we but stretch forth our hands and take him. And
' those who fight with him are enemies to Pontiac’s red war-
 dogs. Warriors, will you be squaws? Shall Tall Hickory
*' ' go back to his people and say his men slunk like whipped
' . hounds from a hole in the ground ‘3"
The close of the speech had the desired effect; a chorus
.V‘uf hideous yells followed it, and the red demons demanded to

v f ; be led once more to the conflict.

“Ready,” whispered Doc Bell, with his eyes fastened upon

‘ ubfthe red aVCngers. “ If they rush into Iher cave in a body we

“must foller suit. Ha! there they go—determined to do or

Edie, an’ I calkilate some on ’cm will die.”

:1 Un_mindt'ul of the doom that, surely awaited him, Tall
1. Hickory threw himself before the mad warriors and sprung
f toward the gaping mouth of the cave. He reached it, when
7 the muffled reports of two rifles broke the suspense, and with

 a yell he reeled from the death-opening.

“Now let them hev it i" cried Bell, and in second later

. 1 three rltles cracked.

 

_ A trio of Indians tottered against their fellows, and, ere

{ they could touch the ground, the giant hunter was dashing
toward the besiegcrs with uplifted rifle.

I “I’m hyar! ye red devils, I am!" he yelled. “ Hyar's
CDoc Bell what’s sp‘ilin’ fur a fight; an’ now let ’im hev a
 fair shake.”
(, The Italians turned upon the mad hunter with a yell, and
j the next instant his heavy rifle stretched a Miami on the
a, BWard, while others were shrinking from the second blow.
:f‘ “ Back! back !" he yelled. “ I‘m yer master, I am. I’ve
_ i whipped ye on the Miami, an‘ I kin whip ye hyar. There!
g you'll never chase hufiler ag’in !"
a lIe rained his blows right and left, and beside him, ably

,v

x seconding his death-work, fought Kate Blount and the young
, Peoria.

The trader‘s ‘dsughter resembled some queen of

00 mm 'mLLow- Imam; on,»  
tragedy. Her long tresses had esoaped from the backvm o ’  ‘
comb, and streamed down her back in wanton abandon, 2,? an
her body SWayed to and fro under the blows she delivered 39!
with clubbed rifle. 7 4‘

The savages soon recovered the equilibrium lost by the, .
trio’s unexpected attack, and, with thinned ranks, but more gth
infuriated than ever, returned to the combat, and hemmed our 315‘):
friends in on all sides. : 

“ Fight like catamounts l” yelled giant Doc Bell, above tin-1;, , h:
din of battle, as he hurled a savage, who was about to fell the “
brave girl, to the earth. “Snakes an’ lizards, but this is a
tight place ; but they can’t whip us—never l”

‘ The savages felt certain of victory, for their faces were
flushed with anticipated triumph, and they contracted their‘
ranks and rushed upon the defiant trio with deafening yells. V

But suddenly three forms sprung from the month of the _
cave, and the Indians discovered that they possessed a trio of v
new antagonists l

Bob Somerville, Nehonesto, and Ulalah had joined our
friends, and before the six at last the red-skins gave way!

“ Boy i" cried Bell, springing to his protege, and grasping ;
his hand, “ I thought ye war~ a ghost. when ye darted from ‘
ther cave, but thank fortin‘ye’re flesh an’ blood l We thought .-
ye an‘ Nehonesto an‘ thet dumb gal war blow'd all to pieces .v
in ther cave.” ~ ‘

“ Ours was a narrow escape from death, Doc," said our
hero, as a perceptible shudder swept his frame, “ and I am
much surprised to see you here. We waited for yourself and
SWamp Oak a long time by the black lake, and at last res '
luctantly reached the conclusion that you had lost your lives 
through the accursed machinations of Coleola or the Blood- .:
hound. Then we hurried from the cave, and had scarcely ~- ‘
reached the forest when a deafening noise assailed and hurled ‘V. '
us to the ground, bereft of consciousness. Ulalah led us \
hither, and after we had greeted Blount, we found that the
accursed fiends had trailed us. How they managed to do so,
I can not conceive; but they flocked hither like vultures to
a cart-ion feast, and for several hours we fought more like do
mms than human creatures.”

“ And how is Blount ?" questioned Bell,~eagerly.‘

 

 
  
 

r, ’r‘m

'2,

  
   
 
   

m mama mm. or 13mm. or

“ “ Dying, poor fellow i” said our hero, with a sigh. “ He’s
aid dearly for his stubbornness. But let us hasten to him.
ate should close his eyes."
Doc Bell turned to the cave.
'.Y “19, “ It‘s no use," he said. “ Oll‘s dead ; when I left ’im some-
moro 'thin’ told me that I would never see ’im erlive ag‘in; an’ it
d our ‘,-hasn’t lied."

.  Kate Blonnt was eager to greet her parent, and with her
i :11“? .4. hand clasped in that of her lover, she descended into the cav

0 1* ern.

  
   

‘9 3 During the descent, Bob had told her that her father had
received a severe wound from a stray ball, during the siege,

Vere _  and bade her prepare for the worst.

mi? Reaching the bottom of the cavern, her eye caught sight of

’ ~ a figure lying in the light of the fire, and with a cry of joy
she sprung forward.

. “ Father !” she cried, bending over the loved form. “ Fa-
 ther, speak ! ‘Tis I, your pet—your Kate !"

Oliver Blount heard the voice, and opened his dying eyes
spasm‘odically.

Then he tried to clasp her to his heart, but failed; his arms '
fell pOWerlcss at his side, and, as he gasped her beloved name,
- his orbs closed again, and a longcdrawn breath told the tra-
3 ~* der‘s child that she was an orphan! "

“I know’d it—I know‘d it 1” murmured Doc Bell, ap-
proaching, and dropping a tear over the weeping girl. “ When
Doc Bell‘s heart talks, it never lies.”

Then he slowly turned to Somerville and the twn chiefs.

‘. ' “ We are not out o' ther woods yit," he said. “ I tell yer,
j‘ it’s a long way to Fort Chartres, and it ar’ a black way,
'1 too.” '

 

“ ‘ “Full of fires," said Swamp Oak.

'.  “ An’ dull kniVes," added Doe Bell. V

v i“ “ Bat we’ll get there,” said our hero, confidently.

‘ 1 “ Not without bloodshed; We’ve got to see Coleola an’ ther

Bloodhound ag’in.”
“ You don‘t mean it, Doc,” said Somcrville, glancing at the
woman he loved, while a chill crept to his heart.
lie thought of peril for her, not for hitmelf.
, «I do menu it, Bob. Them twn demons ain‘t dead yit,

 

 

92 mm YELLOW HUNTER; on,

mind I tell yer.
woods, or my name’s not Doc Bell.”

“ I‘Ieaven forefend," returned our hero, fervently.
hoped, for Kate’s sake, that they were dead.”

The giant did not reply, but looked to the priming of his
rifle, and walked to the month of the cave.

“ I had

“ Halt! White Snake l”

A yell of horror pierced the almost palpable gloom, that
brooded everywhere, and n groan quickly followorl.

“ For Heaven’s sake, spare this life of mine! Mercy!
mercy! I don’t want to die now—no, no. I’m not fit to
stand before the Great Judge to-day. Spare! spare! for the
love of life l" .

The words were couched in the most abject accents, and
the teeth of the unseen speaker chatteer like dice in the si~
lenee that followed the utterance of the last.

“I’m going to spare you, dog !” hissed a voice, so near the
coward that he instinetiVely shrunk away. “I mean that I’ll
spare you on one Condition.”

“ Name it—quick, for mercy’s sake I"

“ You must do my bidding.”

“ Whatever it he, [’11 do it—only let one live who is not
prepared to die. \Vho are you ?”

“Jules Bardue—the Yellow Bloodhound of the Ojibwas,"
Was the reply. “I do not ask your name—I know it. You

are the most wretched man in these forests—John William-

son, Pontiac‘s murderer."

" Yes, Goal has cursed me with that name i” groaned the
haunted trnder.

A minute's silence followed.

“ I nm hurt," said Bardue, at last, “and you must carry me
to the woods, when night comes. I dare not seek the forest
now. In the gloom I can, by signals, bring trusty red pee.
ple to my side.”

“ But tne ?" groancd the haunted trader, from the depths
of his craven heart. “They will torture me when they know
who I am.”

“ Only do my bidding, and they shall not harm you," said Bar-
due, quickly. “ I rule the savage hearts. Oh, now the hour

We‘ll see ’em ag‘in afore we git out 0’ these I

 

: the

5 ffitlie
 I, lie

4» ca‘

 

1’ aka: .* ,;< ,.“ .

 
   

m wmfima TRAIL or DEATH. 98

{101 vengeance is at hand. They have stabbed Jules Bar-due;
they have shot him; they have nailed him to a rock; but
the Yellow Bloodhound lives yet to bite. Here, John WilJ

:j liamson, stoop down and pick me up. I’ll tell you where to
r  carry me."

Tremblineg the miserable man obeyed, and the creole

, hoped that he would he Strong enough to walk when he
‘ ‘ joined his red associates in the forest.

A The trader bore the Bloodhound to a dark cavern, ant
soon a tire illumined the place.

Then, at the renegade’s request, Williamson related the
st :ry of his flight and wanderings from the jaws of justice.

If ever a truly wretched man trod the dark paths of the
forests of the Illinois, it was John Williamson, and when
night came he supported the wounded renegade to the woods,
illy lighted by the scintillations of the stars.

For a long time Jules Barduc signaled his braves, who
he knew could not be far away ; but no answering footsteps
greeted their ears.

At length the distant crack of rifles was faintly heard, and -
they listened more intently than ever.

The conflict at the cave was raging furiously, and as the
twain listened they heard the deathly sounds die away.

. " Williamson, we must hasten yonder,” he cried. “Pick
s me up and run like lightning. If you do not obey, remem-
; 'ter you’re a dead man.”

". Witu an inward groan, the terror-stricken man lifted the
[enegade from the ground and started forward.

But his knees smote each other, and he feared that his bur-
: den was greater than he could hear.

He ran a few rods, and then, utterly exhausted, sunkxto
the earth.

5"
a.
I

 

i It was in vain that the creole cursed his slave and in the

midst of his anathemas a hasty footstep was heart. tnproach-

I ing them.

 ' The Bloodhound clutched his knife, but the next moment
3  it was hurled front his hand. .
:1  “ Ila! ha! ha i" laughed the new-comer. “Coleola and
k " ' the Yellow Bloodhound have met again i"

 The renegade groaned.

 

 

 
   
    

M m mflmw am; on,

"Spare!" he hoarsely plead. “I will help Coleola 9]
her enemies."

The Snake Queen bent eagerly over him.

“Then the Queen of the Snakes and the Yellow Blood-
hound bury the hatchet,” she said. “ She will help him eat 
up his enemies; he shall help her crush hers”

“I will, heaven help me! Where are they ?”

“ Below the ground," answered Coleola. “They have
driven the braves before them like the strong wind blows the I; ,
dead leaves away. lVe will kill the dogs. Can the Blood
hound walk ?" -.

The sudden change in his fortunes drove Burdue to his I 3
feet. '

“ Walk?” he echoed. “ I’m as strong now as ever.
Lead the Way, demoness. I’ve a blade that cries for blood.”

Coleola laughed again, and, springing up, strode into the
deeper gloom.

It was the strangest league ever formed in the Western
wood. I

Neither Coleola or Jules Bardue could accomplish their di-
aboliCal plans alone; so, throwing aside the bitter hate of
years, they had crossed hands over the “ bloody chasm,” each
resolving to massacre the other, when they had satiated the
demon of revenge.

t

 

John Williamson, the haunted trader, went with them- ‘ ' a
never dreaming that he would soon cease to be a ghoul-chased
man i " ‘

 

 

 

a“
(

 

 us, but we’ll trap ’em.

 

 

.V him, and the soughinbr of the forest trees.

'1 “ands boded danger.
,_  noted this, for years, and he was remarking it in a low tone
{when the crackingr of a bough startled his trained senses.

"m wmnme run. or mum 95

CHAPTER XIV.
THE BITTER END.

Tm: giant hunter guarded the .mouth of the cave alone un-

'1 ‘11 midnight.

He heard no noise save the Voices of his friends below
The ghostly
The half-superstitious hunter had

Instantly he was on the alert, and presently his sharp

.f'eyes distinguished three (lurk bodies approaching the cave.
»._ They looked like pauthers, but he knew at once that they
L_ Were human beings.

Stepping back into the corridor he called Nehonesto, and

i the chief was soon at his side.

“ Didn’t I tell ye so ‘3” he asked, looking into the Ojibwa’s
face in triumph. J

“What does the white hunter mean ?” questioned the eav-
age in turn.

“ Ye’ll see d‘rectly, chief,” said Doc Bell; “they‘re after
Back l"

He pushed the Indian into a natural niche in the wall of
the corridor, and quickly followed him.

A minute later the mouth of the cavern was obscured by a

' black object, and they heard low voices.

“ They are gone; curse the dogs 1”

The voice was clothed in the deepest chagrin.

“ But we will see l” returned another voice, which‘the hhi»
den listeners at once recognized.

Then, once more, they saw the stars,but knew that a brace
o! lnlnmu panthers were crawling down the corridor.

The third had been left to guard the orifice.

“ We‘ve got 'em now I” whispered Doc Bell to Nehonesto.
u'Re‘dy tn

4

u L

A gutturnl “ Ugh " served as an affirmative reply, and Bill ‘

Bald:

“Chief, take the foremost, and, mind ye, hold the she-devil
fast !"

A moment later the twain realiZed that the intruders were
opposite them, and a. low “ Now ” from the giant’s lips im-
pelled them forward.

Nehonesto’s hands closed on Coleoln, and Doc Bell threw
the Yellow Bloodhound to the ground! '

“ I calkilate how a purty mess hez been spiled," laughed
the hunter, in tones of triumph, and a cry drew our hero and
Swamp Oak from the cavern.

“ Here, Bob, hold this devil i” cried Bell, relinquishing the
renegade to Somerville. “ I went thet fellar what they left
above us.”

He sprung toward the mouth of the cave, where he stum-
bled over the crouching form of a. man.

“ Mercy 1" gronned a trembling voice as the giant regained
his feet. ‘

“ John Williamson 1”

“ Yes, but spare. Oh, spare l"

“ X'Vho said l thl' goin‘ to kill ?" cried Bell. “ I’m willin
to spare; but I'm desp’rutly Men-d somebody else won’t.”

The trader groaned, and followed Bell buck into the cave.

Coleola and thrdue had been conducted to the large chum-
ber, where, sullen and silent, they stood before many an eye,
flushing with vengeance of the (lil‘t'st nature.

“ So ye thought we wurn’t byztr, ch ‘3” said the big hunter,
fastening his eyes upon the creole. “ lVal, ef your red devils
hadn’t ’tacked this hole nn’ killed Oll Blount, ye wouldn‘t ’a’
ound us hyztr, either. 'I‘her folks war buryiu' Oll when ye
com *, :111’ now I (:ulkilute us how thnr‘s goin’ to be Some more
funerals. \Vomnn,” and he turned to the Snake Queen who
was regarding Swamp Oak and her dumb daughter with flush-
ing eyes, “ how did you git out o’ that cave !"

“ Coleoln crawled forth like the snake," she answered, sud-
denly finding her tongue. “ The Big Moccasin struck her
when she bore the Lone Dove through the darkness; but she
crept away, and they did not hunt her long. The big noise

filled her head with thunder, and when she opened her eye: '

96 ‘ m mumv HUME-11,03, 

 

 

’ m wnmma run. or burn. 97

Ashe crawled into the woods. She saw the big hunter drive

- 'the red-man from the cave, and then she flew back to find the

Delaware-s. But she met the Bloodhound in the woods, and

 _ they are here—Coleola and the Yellow one."

.in

“ An‘ what does Coleola expect?” asked the hunter.

She answered, quickly:

“ Death 1”

“ Yes, Coleola shall step upon the death-trail I" cried Swamp
Oak, darting forward. “ She has torn Ulalah’s tongue frou
her mouth, and Ulalah shnll visit the same punishment upon
the she-panther whom she once called mother.”

The doomed woman uttered a terrible shriek, as the Indian
halted before her with drawn knife, and when he commanded

" the avenging child to prepare for her horrible work, a whirl-

wind of passion SWept aeross the Snake Queen’s frame, and

, she wrenched her only hand from the thongs which held it

captive.

The next instant she shot upon her daughter, and clutched
her throat with the fiendishness of despair.

But, Swamp Oak darted to the rescue ! He sprung upon
the mad-woman ; but was hurled against the wall of the cave
by Ulalah, whom Coleola had suddenly transformed into her
battle ax i

“ Snakes au’ lizards, what a devil !” cried Doe Bell, and he
sprung at the Snake Queen, who was retreating toward the
corridor, with the imperiled girl describing fearful circles be-
'fore her.

“ Back 1" yelled Coleola.

But the daring hunter Would not obey.

IIe flung his rifle above his head, and the. blow descended
Upon the arm of the infuriated woman. Ulalah, speechless
fell to the ground. _

The Snake Queen reeled, but ere she struck the ground,
Swamp Oak was upon her.

He thought not of slow torture then. He thought Ulaiah
dead, so motionless she lay on the floor of the cavern, and his
knife sunk to the hnft in the red-woman’s bosom! Then,

while she gasped for life, the reeking blade tore her tongue
from her mouth, and he sprung aloft with a hideous yell of
, triumph l

98 l

m rs.me Herman; on,

The spectators shuddered at the awful sight ; but they at

Were soon called Upon to witness other scenes. ,

Doc Bell turned to Jules Bardue as Swamp Oak bent over.
the woman he loved.

“ You’ve got to die !" he said, sternly.
day.”

The creole did not reply, but fiercely eyed the speaker

1'

would hev still been livin’.
ye go ?”

There was no reply, and the hunter turned to our friends.

“By whose hand shall the dog die ‘3” he asked.

A painful silence followed, and at length the hunter step«
ped aside, and picked up a handful of small stones. He
then turned to our hero:

“ How many, Bob ‘2”

“ Twenty.”

“ What’s yer guess, Swamp Oak ?"

The Peoria indicated fifteen with his fingers, and Nehe-
nesto twenty-five.

Slowly Bill opened his hand, saying “ Twenty-two ” as he
did so. A careful count told that he had guessed the exact
number of the pebbles!

“ I knowed it war to be thus,” he said, slowly, and stepped
back looking to the priming of his rifle.

Jules Bardue faced him with pallid countenance, and wildly
beating heart!

He knew that the end of his bloody life was at hand.

The. spectators shrunk from the doomed man, and turned
their eyes upon llli executioner.

For a moment the hunter‘s eyes glanced along the pol-
ished barrel, and then a jet of fire leaped from the bore.

The Yellow Bloodhound shrieked, and dropped to the
ground—stone—dead !

"‘ I told ye that nothin’ but a bullet atween the eyes would
finish ’im," said Doe Bell, turning to the spectators, “ an’ he’s
got it at last 1” *‘

For a moment silence reigned, and then the cry of
“ Mercy” echoed throughout the cavern.

Hev ye got any thin’ to say aforo

It

; "sue

 ance

,.

“ You’ve made the earth run with innocent blood,” contin- .5
Jed Doc, “ an' hed it not been fur ye, he whom we just buried, ;

“ All (logs have their "

 

.l
t
. c,

 
   
  

I

THE WINDINT TINY; 33‘ ‘J'EATII.

i It came from John \Villintnson's throat, and Bob Somer-
, =lle sprung forward to save him from the Peoria’s venge-
fence.

But he was too late l

He saw the Indian’s knife dart toward the trader‘s breast,
‘ and when he touched the hare red arm, the knife, reeking
'i with blood, had been withdrawn.
“ "hrongh him has Swmnp Oak’s relatives fallen,” said the
._ savage, releasing the corpse. “ He killed Pontiac ; he brought
K the torch and scalping-knife to the forestsof the Illinois; and
 the squaws and pappooses of the Peorias fall before the red
dogs as fast as the rain falls from the black clouds. Now
the demons of the dark land will chase the pale-face no
longer.”

“ Now for Fort Chartres l" said Bell. “We mought as
Well start at once, fur it’s er long jourm-y, an’ ther way is
black with death. But I think we've hed enough ov scrim-
mages to last er lifetime, an’ I h‘lieve tlret God at" a-goin’ to
keep us all safe now, titl we see ther old fort erg’in. I want
ter leave this kentry, an’ git track to ther Miami. I’m used
to ther lay ov thet land. an’ they don't talk erbout skinnin’
erlive thar, either."

A few minutes later the entire party left the cave, and
i stepped upon the long trail. "

, We need not follow them, for their journey would not in-
' terest the reader, who has followed their fortunes over the

 

winding trail of death.
\ A mighty hand guided them through the new dangers,
=" and at last the English lltg rose upon their vision.
A cry of joy burst from the little hand.

9 Now they could enjoy peace, for the last peril had been
_" r' , :S‘Cd in safety, and they Could thrill the hearts of others
I I with a narration of their adventures. ,

 A few days after the return to the fort, Boh Somerville
‘t called Kate Blount “ wife,” and after the interesting ceremony
Doc Bell turned his face toward the death-regions of Ohio,

'3 5 ,where, in a forest drama. as startling as the one just penned,
the reader shall encounter him again.
' Ulalah remained in Fort. Chartres till the close of the

Iveugers’ war, when Swamp Oak returned from the bloody

 

100 THE YELLOW HUNTER.
« )
forest-paths, and took his silent bird to a home far from th' 
ruins of his tribe’s wig-warns. . V a; ’
Nchonosto followed Doc Bell to the valleys of the Miami. . :
And now, rczttler‘ the pen must be thrown aside again! For.“
But first, let me say that the mystery that cnwrups the (:1? 
plosion 0f the Bloodhountl’s cave, and John \Villimnson’s (3.5%: :Be2
cape from the Indians on the Cahokia, remains to the humble ’
writer a mystery still. ‘
.- It may never be penetrated.

 

 

\\

      

Igai .
B 019
8 6:”
table

 

STANDARD

IME DIALOGUE

For School Exhibitions and Home Entertainments.

l 01.13021 melanin. 15 tn H5 Pnplllnf Dialogun and 'DI’AMflI In each bank. Etch volume I“
': Mum pug“, scuL post—paid, on realm. of price, lcn cent...

Beadle & Adams, Publishers, 98 William St., N. Y.

~  volume; has be." nrcpurenl \\ ith eiilgrinl ro-I'x-rL-nro Ito their Availability for Exhibmmm,
hung minimal .0 schools and vmriurl With or Without llll‘ iurmlure vi' .1 Hum-mull lulled lo SCHOL
' ‘R: AND YOUNG I’EUP E of every rumbolh lllhld nn-i leznnla. it in 1::ir to Mnume thin. no

 

vi

 

, " ‘1 bank. in um mmkeg, a; any price, contain In many useful and .wniiubit diuloguu and dram.

 

.

 

 

‘. TheGifl of the F’iry Queen. Several females.

 

v It. puth’u, humor and unilumut.

DIME DIALOGUES, N0. 1.

"g o..i,hg Mug", Fm nine young ladies. illulumbhing. For live I enkerl.
log n Live Engliahman. For 1‘ rec lmyl. l'l'lus Scrreluf Success. 'ur my“ .penkcnh

. 4.0'. Caron-lion. For 'nale lud female. IYuung Alnerim. 'l'lurce mnch nnii two female:

' 4M0". F.” “yo ladies. Josephine] Destiny. l"uur leumlu, onenvuiu.
f ,- “ Barman“. Fur “x b“... l'l'he Folly of the Duel. l-‘ur llu've lllllt Iplulnom
X Which will ynu Choose! For two boys. illiigmmism. For tixrw mnle- speaking

' 110 Queen of Mav. For twu little girl» i'l'hc lgnurnnt (‘nniuunm-d,
The Tenfnrw. 'Fnrluur indies. {The Frnt Young M in. Fur qu mij
.I'hrea Scenen'ln “'O1llldtllolf€'. Mnionnd femnlo."l‘he Year‘s llw-lmnin‘; l') Ienmics i. .1 l "n.1,.
‘ 'Mrl. Sniffins' Culllculuu. Fur mule mud Minnie. The Villnur with Um: Gentlcumn. lo, “gm 1'.
Tim Minion oi' the Spirit:. Five ynung indim. mulcs r..nl one male.

DIME DIALOGUES, N0. 2.

Thu Geninl nl’ Liborh‘. ’1 males anti 1 femnle. linw tn Write ‘ I‘npnlnr ’ Sim-in. he mglu.

Clmlemiln; or, vl'liu l.illl~- (Slum Slippy)“. 'l'im5vw1|mitimilld. For two mule:

Doing Guud and 3.1) in: 15ml. Sen-mi rimrnclen. A Si-nnuliun m Lib-l. Fur twannlrl.

Tho Golden Rul-r. ’1‘“ 0 male: and two iemuiul, The (-‘uwnimrn. Fur lwu mules,

The Throw. Men of Sricnrr. For four main.
Ikvn l1 and ma For. For lwn chum-tern. Tlia'Olii Lilli)": “'ill. Fur iuur Innlen_ ,

The Co xn|ry Auul'l Vin t. to the City. For 507- The Little l’h‘l snplien. For two liul- (ll-la.
ernl cimmtm. How to Find an lleir. Fur five mules.
he Two llomum. For two main. line Virtues, Fur nix young lndleh

frying tho Churnvtern. Fu' limo mules. A Connuhinl Eclngue.

the HA p_\' anilv. Fnr uvuml ‘ uni halt.’ The l'uliiiv “Hurting. Fivamniu and on. hunt.

The Rn ubow. For Ievernl elmmnvn. The English Tnn'elcl’. For two main.

DIME DIALOGUES. N0. 3.

nu an Queen. For An enllro N‘llhnl. The Gmleel Col-k. Fortwo main.

llreu Refirln (‘onveminm Fur ten nannies. \lih'lt-rplet‘t'. For two male! and two femnlol.
Keeuing Bud Cmnpnn)’. A Farr-u l": r five main. The Two Rmumu. For two Innlel.

Cunning Under Dilflcullieu. 9 mules, ‘. {q-nmlr. The Same. Srtnnd Irene. For two main.
National Reprnenlnlival. A linrlwulum 4 x:mlel.l ‘iiowin: llic “'luilv: Feutluer. 411ml“, l {Hm-J."
Leaping the Draft. For numernus :nul: u. [Th-w Halli. (‘nil. A Recmuive. For one umlu.

DIME DIALOGUES, N0. 4.

The Front King. For ten or mom 1 "sons. The Ftni-h‘otown \‘oiunhrr. 9 malts, ] fom').
Martin}: in Life. " inn-c lllfll“! 'lllll lwu Mimics.  S. . n» lv'nln " l’nul l‘ry.” For {our “mlu‘
ultln, H.- )e mud Clmrilv. F1 r llll’m! iiHl-a gill». inc ('hnrnN. fur 1hr». ninlrl nnll nne 1mm!“
ar'rv In Joan. For him nulm «mil 0!“! (Mimic. i’..-o,(‘ir 1k and Broom. lmr Elm-f Illtle girls.
filo an. A '31an Vii-w. For xix lift 9. girls. 'i'im l lL'l|l \\ njr. ACtnllnfluy. [my two he)“
The limilrmmd l’vxn'ev. 9 xnnlumn-vvml f-‘nmlm‘ \\ iml llm l.:-(i::n~r Says. 1‘ 1r two "ML-l,
"onur to \Vimm chu- in Duo. 7 main. 1 {Pilhllv The (’rian : t Drug. A Colloqug. Far In. my
I 'iL-nlie Clio-It. Formvu-il ll‘l'lll'!,1iil|‘. fq-mnix I‘ve :v'W'rrIl oi limluvnlu-nro. l-or foul gunk,
miogy. A Diuuas‘ou. For twmly "mics. 'l‘lm lxllvr. l‘ur two Mullen.
. DIME DIA 1.03UES, 110. 5.
. hrve Gun-en. For nr‘iMi nr rarinr. ‘T‘vvit‘nw ~n ,‘iir'. A (‘nllnqmg Fm- n.
rl'imvnt. A “ Threo l’rl'l'flll’ ” Fm we. ,Tll' H-: ‘2' M -rl(. For non-ml in u:
hm d the (‘uriuim F6! main.- and {rm-in. Twa i-leua l'l Liiu.‘ A Cniluquy. For ll; girl;
rho Em l’l Sociuly. Five hm": rnd .1 tmrixer. Fxrrml frmn Mann" l‘nilern.
lmninu'io‘ Dav. For nevenil female rbnruclul. .‘ln m rllvvnvi‘. Ar] Ar. iv L'Chnrmir'.
“ding in -‘ Tm ” For “uni main, The Six Virtuu. Pnr » Ix E'oun: indies.
Th0 School Buy: Tribnnnl. F-rr ten how. The lrixinnnn at. Home. Par t‘wr» "nah-u,
I400“ Ting-m. Savern‘v main and frumln, Fnuiuiunnhlu Raquiremtnh. I-nr llirrelrlrls.
Haw Not ‘0 Gal. an Amwu. Fur two icumiu. ‘A Hwy of ['0 (Eyes). For eight or less lull. pr).
\

DIME DIALOGU 8, N0. 6.
")0 Way Tlny Kort a Ram. Mala and trmnlu. T‘m Twn ("nun-tiara. FM titre-o main.

‘ Tho Poo: undor Difllcultin. Fm- flu main. Tim V-lnriun or Folly For a number offifhll‘
Wllllnm Tell. For A wholo ulnooi. \unt Bouy'l Bmx. Your {oi-ulna und two mules.
annn'l Right Bonn fowl" and two mnlu. The Libel Suit. For two fomnlol and on. mule.

ll in 1:.» Gold Ila“ Gillian. Halo and hunk. Sum Chum. For a number of boys.
t 0 GM- ow. For nix min. Chrlulmu mm... For nun! um. (it)...
4 we. all on. “do. The Tun Elan. For We all.»

Fur [no blys-

 

 

~:nlo‘

 

J
and» Fun!»

DIME SCHOOL SERIES.—leea.keu and Dialogues.

 

DIME DIALEC'I‘ SPEAKER, N0. 23. '

01V: wlt'n do matter, {All about I bee,
Tue Min ulppl mirncle,1$cnnil:.l,

Van to tide comm in, IA dark Iide View,
Dune hm vot Mary hail'l‘o user way, Peggy Md‘unn.
am > ()n earning Hannah, ‘Spraya from Jnlh Bil Legends of Ania.
PM. (S’Flnlierty on wo-lMary'a slmmll vitalamb: lingl, Thu now-pi De tragedy
man‘n rights, A healthy «lilcmu'u, ‘De cirt'umsuncu ob (MA dokelor‘l S ruhlllus,

Th: lln‘l‘n. fillers, how glol‘li‘1Ilt‘iepUfili, IDIitleifgn. d  coming innn,
ev spa es | . n. xrxmu, r ur a nu n new an er‘ a
llezukinli Dav/icon on i parody, Q d» mn, Muldnnn‘s,
Motlivrl ln-lnw, Mars and (M9, TA Neurn religious poem, That lilllo baby round
He didn‘t «H Um farm, Mill Unilm-wmul, pilot, 'l‘hnt violinY the curm-r,
The true story of Frnnk- Old (x‘ranley, l’icnic (ii-lighu, A genewino inference.
lin’l kit», The pill peddler‘l om» Uur candidate} vlewl, An. lnvitnlivvn w :;

ll.3“l‘ Chinese outrage,t My nolglibovr’l dngl,

the lrillunnn, ictul,

The Noreldoa,

I would i were A boy tin”, lhinilrenry'n wimlmn, bird of liberty,
nguin, “'iddcr Green's inn l’lnin lnngunga by llei- The cruw,
A pnthetlc story, wurda, ul June, Out want. 1

DIME DIALOGUES No. 26.

Poor cousinl. Three lmllos nml twn gentlemen. lThn lunch of mercy. Two very Imnll xlrll.
Mountninnnnd mule-hills. Six l .dies and several l‘nirrim- wlml yuu prenrh. Four ladies.
spec! ilur'n. ,l‘nlilicinn. Nuniermil charnrlurn.
A tell. that did not fnll. Six lmts. ’Tlm cnnvming agent. Two main and hm
Two way: Ll luring ‘liinux Two little alrll. families.
Don't. count your chicken: before they nre :Grub. Two mules.
batched. Four indium and a buy. , 1A alight scare. Thru females Ihll one mile.
All is fuirln love and war. 3 lmlirs, 9 gontleanrnJEmhodi «I sunshine. ’l‘hreu young ludiel.
How uncle Josh gm. rid 1-! this legacy. 'l'wu innlcl, ‘ How Jim Pam died. Two male--
with lovers! traulfurmnnunu. ‘

YT 1‘30 aha" Dhaka .n. .01.! by Nowulonlon everywhere, or will be unt, poll-purl, to say
“in... on nceiyl 0‘ price. )0 cunts (mull.

BEADLE J; ADAMS, Publishers, 98 William Sh, N. Y.

l

illignm nflnir at. I

The manileu destiny oiiCundeused Mythology, v x

\

 

 

\‘th‘ _

5- \.

‘ v11

_ M

DIR'IIC I’()C]{]C
l’l'BIJNIIlCD 5E)” MONTHLY.
;~ llnwlwyo ll::_rr.\\-I.‘ H'r ‘jl

143-?—

Nut \anl'\'.
The “'hllt- 'l'rublu-r. .

» 'l'lu-"ullnu'n “ll’r. \l-~. -

'l'lu-Tull 'l'r.xpp(-r. I~ -‘. .
Lightning J“. x: t --
' ‘In- I-Iluml l’lrntr. -'
The Buy “:1an l'-.
"on. lln‘ 'I Hunter.
The Fl‘l'lll'll 5p). )<-:
1mm: 5h01. |r\ Mud. " "
'I‘hq- “IIIIIIIHLPF. It .'
Rod "and. “x A. 4-. 1'-
lh‘n. the 'l‘rupm-r. IL.

8- “'lld Run-n. l-x H I t' n

19—'l‘he Spot-tor (‘hlcfi [h Sun'm Y! ‘ v-.

20A’l‘ho H‘nr-Klllor. lh' INN. ('mnsl-u..

2| JVIM Sm. m w”. 11‘ hwy.

22 lndlun J0. Ha 1w“ » \\‘_1‘nv- n.

23 "Ill Kent. HH- Hunger. Li M“ .‘ I
The "nu-l5) (-(I 'l'rupm'r. “m 1. (Hm: --i
Godlmld.!l.1- Spa. |1 \. V I‘-
'I'h(‘ Hlm'k Ship. 1' J
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lmllun .llm. w
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Th0 (inqu-n "an-pun".
'l‘ln- M'ulp klng. I?
"M Lulr. ’i'» 5.. '-‘-.
Hulnlmll. Hunurr. "»
'I'In' Buy I’lunrrl‘.
(‘ur-un. tho l-nldv.
The "0an I'Tlllrr.
“'vlzrl. llu- M-uul. 2 ‘ ' v I’---=»- up.
'l‘ln‘ Ilugv Hunter. 7‘ lv.~ I . .
“'Hd Nut. lln- 'l'rupprr. l‘.‘.l )‘vu: :14
Lynx-mun L ' ‘ ».

The “'IIHv "Izllnu. H ii ' '

- «The ling 'l'rnilvr. 'h In :rv

-lb’)~'l‘|n- I'Ill. Klnu. Ii ‘ 'r t

l“ .\1|rlull. HH- I’llnl. I ‘

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4" The I'lmnlum 'lrm'lu-r. '
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'l‘nm "nu L. IIH' 'I‘rn”:
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3'5 IHIII'Lln-urd. I". E". 111 “w

.36 'l'hv Rlu-r Iu'le-I. ‘2 1

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in! ('Inudn'uml. ‘ \ ‘1.\l. \'

.39 'l'lu- 'I'q-Vu- Hun Lu

IND ‘lfl‘t'lll'l‘ \lel. l; I

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'l‘ln- LIIrMI-n- ’l’ruppt-r.

'llll‘ I’lurhln ‘1' III.

The I‘lund 'l'rullpvr. ' '

“'oll'C‘aIp. M 1 ‘13‘

IhlltIhIzIHc-k. l‘. H -v

\lmrp-I’Mu ‘-, \1 > - ‘

Il“|lle':IlI1l. " |' 1-7

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'l‘ln- I’lmn'om Iilnf r. ‘.1 v I

lM-lunun- 'lnm. 1 I ~ H 7 7'

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'l‘h~- 'l‘anu‘lml ’l'ruH.
'l‘lw l’n-m-n "and.
'l‘lu- lmnv Indian. h) 1mm, Ht
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rliilly Bon'lv- s.ll|1'§0llllll0lv
’l‘lw Yullv)’ St nul. Bv Stu-1m [in
—l£od .lurkot, [Inc Huron.

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Tutu"! #4. WIN.
RV Mnjwr Flux 3111mm.

41st Hum-ml.

By Paul Hxlflw.

' 7 1 ' 1

'11 N()‘ lulu‘».

A'l‘ TEN CENTS EACH.

IJHIO “"10. I“ I 1|}1v‘ll‘4‘l'wy' Avl‘IH :.

'l h:- “Fmd \Y Ill‘ll. 1“} Elm m H 1 w

"M lhllf. lhu 'l'rnp u-r. “l?vv1‘lw”/\I|w 'r

'l'hq- hrurlrl leulcgorn. Hmu Hunter

'l'lu- Murder IHIll-nmn. L. \\ . ( “mm.

0|IHH“ JIH'L. |?\ H:.H_\Hnrvr.1.

'l'lgcr-Tnll. Ilu- N-Iulmzlo. R. lth gu m d.

lh‘ulll-Ih'ulrr. H} [\thH L. .‘It-H-TH',

KCIIIIZII. tln- -' r. H) Um. ‘lnuPHL

'l he hjn -~'.rr lluru-nmn. hm L hrun'}

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kllh‘ulhll. l~ '.'. In: x. 8! H“. r. ' .5

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l'hll Ilunlcr. l‘»1n}L(‘hmH(unrd.

'I'ht- llulllul hull”. l4" llnrrj Hrmm.

The (-lrl 1\\('llfl(‘l‘- l»_\(l:-.]Iru1mh

The lh-«l Hermite-I. Ii) J‘mJJCiml».

‘lur-l‘hm‘. lho M11) or.

The Ann-lope HO). 1") (Jon L. Min-v

'l‘lu- I’hnntom Hunter. 1%} 1‘; [21:14“-

Tmn I’lntlt‘. Hm I'Iiol. I} M. Mann

1 he lh-(l “'iiurd. 1*) NM Hmtnr.

'l he lx‘hul 'l'rupporl, 1h 1.. W. rum-m

'l he Mum“ hp). lh ('w \t, l'hm Hr unrf.

I’m-L) Illrk. M .l.»«, L in.|um..lr.

( “lulu-l {'rnrld'll. |'\('luk.li.11mnH-V
Uld “our I'n“. 1’9 mer Mnx Mnxllm.
lh-ulln“. H'- .| «. I‘. ‘
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\(rurrrd I‘ nulr. |'\ ‘u m. u lmnln m.
\l/uk “0310. H» 1'.H:mnhw Muw.

’i In Indlnn fipv, 17x .1‘ ~. 1-. TmiLrvny.
Juh Donn. lh "Lush Mn!“

1 IM- “ and King. I’m . )C [HI-Ix"). .-
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\lnh! v? [hr )hmninln. I” H-mihm.
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Ron‘lhy Apr” SOIL.
{wuly May-1.
Rvudy May 18th.

J
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by “4-114! 1 an.

Him».
( lalvl.

MIN.

"EADLI‘Z AND ADAMB, l’uhIl-In-ru, 98 \Vllllum Street, hew York.