BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
 o- 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 








No. 23 
 
 BEADLE'S FRONTIER SERIES. 
 


(Printed in the United States of America)] 
 


Slastaway, the Fearless? 
 
 *c 
 
 OR, 
 
 The Hermit of Spectre Isle 
 
 BT 
 
 J. MILTON, HOFFMAN 
 
 The Fearless Ranger," "Button Hole Jack," "CaEfr 
 amity Joe," "Mournful Mose," "Gunpowder Jim," etc., etc,J J 
 
 {908, by James 
 All Rights Reserved* 
 
 Published by 
 
 THE ARTHUR WESTBROOK COMPANY 
 Cleveland, Ohio, U. S. A. 
 






 
 Slashaway, the Fearless, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE -i-OUNG MAN FROM NEW YORK. 
 
 tl AN odd chap, you are, and no mistake. What is 
 your name ?' ; 
 
 " Slash a way, the Fearless. Sometimes they call 
 me Saul.'' ; 
 
 "They? Who?" 
 
 "The redskins the palefaces everybody. Saul 
 Slaehaway. Is thur anythiu' wrong about the name ? >; 
 
 " I believe not/' 
 
 But as the young 1 man said this, he shuddered, an 
 ashy paleness overspread his face, and he took a step 
 backward, while his hot breath panted the stranger's 
 name. 
 
 " Retreating, are you !" exclaimed Slashaway, with 
 a hoarse, mad laugh. "A fine way to break company 
 with a friend. Suppose you come back." 
 
 An influence such as he had never before experi- 
 enced prompted the young man to retrace his steps. 
 
 " Well, what can I do for you now ?" he asked, 
 


JO SLASH AWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 trying 1 to appear unconcerned. " Do yoa want me to 
 tell you who I am f r 
 
 The angry look went out of the old man's eyes, and 
 bringing his rifle to the ground, lie answered quickly: 
 " I do j IM give the world to know your history, 
 for it must be mighty strange mighty strange. 
 Where do you live ? Who are you? What is your 
 name?" 
 
 The old man took a step forward. His eyes be<ran 
 to grow in size, and an ugly expression, amounting 
 almost to ferocity, gathered around his mouth. 
 The young man trembled. 
 
 " What do you want ?" lie said, in a voice anything 
 but steady. " Shall I tell you my name?" 
 li Yes, your name,- your name." 
 " My name is Hale Edward Hale," was the quick 
 reply. " Anything more ? v 
 
 i; How came you on the plains? You wasn'c born 
 k ere not here, at least. 1 reckon not. You don't 
 look much like a hunter a cussed sight too green. 
 A city swell, ain't ye f ' 
 
 The young man answered without hesitation. Ha 
 was gaining in confidence. 
 
 "I have always lived in the city " he said, "and 
 am now having my first experience on the plains. 1 
 am an artist by occupation, and drifted westward ia 
 the interest of my trade." I 
 
 "But how came you here, right, here, and alone V* 
 The old hunters eyes were looking the young man 
 through and through. 
 
 " Let. me explain," said the latter, in as firm a voico 
 as he could command. " I reached the settlement 
 nfty miles or so east ot here about five days ago. 1 
 *tayed there three days. Then I fell in with a man 
 who called .himself' Jasper Ellis. He was a trapper, 
 tee said, and lived up here somewhere lived in a 
 cave. He persuaded me to accompany him home, 
 and we started. We were both well mounted. My 
 companion was very agreeable. I snspicioned nothing. 
 " Well, nothing went aarts. until .about four 
 


8LASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. U 
 
 wb en some six or eight horrible looking men, 
 1 should say, suddenly swept down upon us, 
 end before I could hardly realize it, my horse was 
 iaken away from me, my watch and money stolen, 
 and the outlaws were gone. What became of my 
 companion? The robbers carried him off, of C3urse. 
 I didn't know it then, but I know it now he was 
 one of them, the biggest rascal of the crowd." 
 
 "And he called himself what t" questioned Slash* 
 away, half sneeringly. 
 
 " Jasper Ellis," was the quick reply, <* but the out- 
 laws called him Sandy Jim." 
 
 Slashaway, the Fearless, broke into a bitter laugh. 
 
 " Sandy Jim," he repeated, like a man handling 
 something carefully. '' Sandy Jim, the man with 
 cly one eye. Everybody meets him now-a-days 
 verybody but me; and what wouldn't I give to meet 
 iiim face to face. It's mighty strange he never stops 
 me on the road. Has he read my thoughts ? Is he 
 fra1d of met Sandy Jim, the outlaw. May the 
 curses of Saul Slashaway be upon him !" 
 
 The hunter shouldered his rifle, and, muttering to 
 Limself, moved slowly away. Suddenly he stopped, 
 turned, and beckoned young Edward Hale to his side. 
 A moment he glanced savagely around him, then he 
 gathered his breath, and hissed like an adder : 
 
 " You do not know Sandy Jim ; I do; that is the 
 difference. Sandy Jim is a murderer, almost a devil. 
 Should you meet him again, shoot him down; trample 
 on him as you would trample a snake ; cut his heart 
 out; kill him by inches, foul, miserable devil that be 
 is. Let me tell you something. If you do not hill 
 Sandy Jim, 1'tt Ml you." 
 
 " Heavens ! you do not mean it." 
 
 Slashaway, the Fearless, laughed the laugh of a 
 teaniac -it was almost a shriek. 
 
 His eyes glittered as he continued : 
 
 " You must kill Sandy Jim, or die yourself. Here, 
 this rifle, take it, and do your work. I meant to shoot 
 Jou wb*n I 'first saw you^ but you've' seen Sandy Jim, 
 


U SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 will see him again, and will shoot him down j there- 
 fore I save your life. Here, this rifle, take it, and be 
 off." 
 
 Mechanically; Edward Hale took the rifle from the 
 bunter's hand. He said nothing", he did not move. 
 
 " Why don't ye leave ?" cried Slashaway, fiercely. 
 " Begone, I sav." 
 
 " Til go at once." 
 
 And he started, and the hunter watched him until 
 he was out of sight. 
 
 He was a tall, slim young man this Edward Hale 
 twenty-five years of age, well-educated, an artist by 
 profession, and, at the time we write, was having, as 
 he had informed the hunter, his first experience wi 
 the plains. 
 
 l> - I don't know much about hunting," he had said to 
 Sandy Jim when the latter offered him the hospitality 
 of his home. " I can load a gun, I guess, and that's 
 about all. I know nothing of a hunter's life." 
 
 Cl But I'll show you a trick or two if you'll come 
 with me," said Sandy Jim, by way of encouragement. 
 " As sure as 1'rn a-livin ; , I'll astonish you." 
 
 As young Edward Hale found himself some time 
 afterwards alone on the prairie, the words of Sandy 
 Jim came to him, and he thought with a sigh, that Ge 
 had been astonished in more ways than one. 
 
 " I am at a loss to know what to do," he said, a 
 minute or so after his adventure with Slasbaway, the 
 Fearless. '* My situation is anything but enviable. 
 I am alone on the prairie, hundreds of miles from 
 home, unacquainted with rny surroundings, no friends, 
 o food, nothing. Sandy Jim ! so I am commissioned 
 lo shoot him, am I ? Well, we shall see, we sbali 
 see." 
 
 He looked back of him to satisfy himself that 
 Slashaway, the Fearless, was no longer in sight, then, 
 turning, directed his steps toward a belt of timber to 
 the westward nearly a mile away. 
 
 "I must get back to the settlement, if possible,*' he 
 began, as he jouvneyed along, " and in the meantime, 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 13 
 
 bar? file this rifle the best I know how. One thing in 
 particular, I must look to. I must avoid Saul Slash- 
 away. It won't do to meet the crazy old man a second 
 time. He's a dangerous person this Saul Slashaway 
 a very dangerous man. Sandy Jim, the rascal, told 
 me about him, said he was crazy, mad, a perfect fiend. 
 At the settlement everybody said : i Look out for 
 Slashaway, the Fearless, he is mad/ Strange that 
 the old man should want me to kill Sandy Jim. "Will 
 I do it 1 I think not, I am not a murderer !" 
 ? As the last word escaped the young man's lips, ho 
 stopped and looked back of Lira, for he thought ho 
 heard his own name linked with the word murderer, 
 and repeated close to his ear. 
 
 At first he was frightened, could not utter a word, 
 turned pale, trembled, and stood like a man in a 
 <!ream. 
 
 " I thought I was alone/ 7 at last, he whispered, 
 il but I am not. Some one is following me some one 
 M'ho knows my name. Who can it be? Slashaway, 
 or Sandy Jim ? Nonsense, it was but the wind I 
 lieard, I am frigljteded. I am nervous. Everything 
 startles me. I will go on.'' 1 
 
 He continued to advance, reached the timber after a 
 five minutes walk, and halting under the branches of a 
 stunted oak, remarked aloud : 
 
 " Only a clump of trees I thought it was a wood 
 
 of some extent, or at least a stretch of timber, I ain 
 
 disappointed. However, I shall not complain, but do 
 
 the best I can. If I am not mistaken, this timber 
 
 1 borders a lake or river of some kind. I think I can 
 
 see water through the trees. A little nearer and I can 
 
 ; tell." 
 
 j He stepped off briskly in the direction of the water, 
 i and had gone about a rod, when a circumstance oc- 
 curred which, for the time being, transformed him into 
 a block of marble. 
 
 A woman's voice was heard singing in the chorus 
 t>f a long-forgtten song. Tho v-oise was soft,, sweet, 
 aintive at times, then harsh almost to uu- 
 


j* SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 I. 
 
 ^pleasantness, and again, rising up and outward' la a 
 
 Beautiful nndulating wave of melody. 
 
 For a time it seemed to Edward Hale that he was 
 'istening to an angel's voice, or that he was dreaming, 
 for he could not make himself believe that the plain- 
 live notes borne to him on the summer wind were con- 
 nected in any way with flesh and blood. 
 
 " There are women who sing as sweet, probably," 
 be said, at last, " but w ? hat woman would live irt this 
 ont-of-the-way place, and living here, What woman 
 would sing? Strange, that I should be so deceived. 
 My imagination is running away with me. I 'hear 
 nothing but the wind, I am a coward." 
 
 To keep his spirits up he began to whistle and 
 tramp around among the trees j but the 'more he 
 whistled and walked, the plainer the voice of the 
 woman, singing so sweetly, singing so softly, sounded 
 iv, : his ears. 
 
 Edward B<*le was not a coward ; he was only a little 
 tnperstitious, or rather a believer in the Wonderful, 
 tind in this case all his superstitious feelings wf:e 
 aroused, and, without knowing it, he began to'tnof*^ 
 slowly out of the timber toward the prairie, leaving- 
 the sweet song-bird behind. 
 
 Reaching the edge of the wood he halted, and began 
 to look around him and listen, thinking, perhaps, he 
 might see something, or, at least, catch a few notes of 
 the song warbled so sweetly by the woman of his 
 inncy. 
 
 But the voice of the singer could not be heard ; it 
 l)Tid died softly away on the summer wind, and, foe the 
 time being, Edward Hale heard it no more- 
 
 In vain he listened, in vain he skirted the timber, 
 approaching nearer and nearer the water which he had 
 associated with the unseen musician ; but the Song- 
 bird had flown. 
 
 In a melancholy mood he halted at last by a clump 
 of bushes near the edge of the timber, and, seating 
 Limself on the ground, began to muse aloud. 
 
 " Can it be possible," he whispered, "that I heard 
 


SLASEIA.WAY, THE FEAHLES3. 2^ 
 
 nothing^ sLat-I have been dreaming? How strange I 
 feel j. how my heart beats, flutters, pauses. I wonder 
 what -is the matter with. me. I almost wish I had 
 gone on with Sandy Jim. Maybe he would have 
 murdered me ; he probably would, the blood-thirsty 
 rascal ! Anyway, I had better be dead than be hero 
 almost.' 
 
 He stopped speaking suddenly, for at this moment 
 a rabbit bounded across his path, and halting 1 a short 
 distance from him, turned and looked at him. in a 
 manner, as he thought, quite saucily. 
 
 "Impadent thing," cried tin- young man, "to stop 
 SO near me j doubtless knows I never fired a gun iu 
 my life, A good timo to begin, right here. Just liko 
 all the rest, don't fear me in the least j stands per- 
 fectly ilill, quietly watching me. We shall see, wo 
 shall ee." 
 
 Ho- raised his rifle to his shoulder, took aim as best 
 he coirld, and tired. 
 
 A.< soon as he had (i:ed he rushed to the spot, but 
 no rabbit was there, alive or dead he had missed tho 
 mavk almost by a rod. 
 
 -' It all comes by practice," he muttered, ad he re- 
 traced, his steps. '* I'll try again, the next oppor- 
 tunity." 
 
 The next opportunity came about rive minutes after- 
 ward, in the shape of a huge buzzard, who settled 
 himself on a rock a shoit distance away, and, all un- 
 suspecting, began to clean his bill. 
 
 " Til fix your apple-dumplings for you, old buz- 
 zard," remarked the young man, jocosely, as ho 
 brought' his rifle to his shoulder. " Prepare to die." 
 
 A loud report, keen and startling, rang out upon 
 the air, a blue wave of smoke curled up from the 
 wood; and Edward Hale, instead of seeing the object 
 of his aim full lifeless to the ground, on the contrary, 
 saw it rise from the rock, and sail quietly away. 
 
 'A tine artist, I aru, with a gun," grunted young 
 Hale, half sreeringly. "I could n''t shoot Sandy* Ji,:^, 
 if I TC^uted to. Suul Slashaway commissioned t&& 
 


26 SLASH AW AY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 wrong man to do his work when he commissioned me* 
 J^nt I may get up to it. There is nothing like trying. 
 Hi'.rk ! what did I hear then 1 Some one is following 
 ne. Listen I" 
 
 He halted, and turning his ear to the ground, lis- 
 tened intently. 
 
 But what he thought he heard a bitter laugh or 
 snarl was not repeated. All wa? sKll ; he could see I 
 nothing, hear nothing, but the thumping of his own * 
 heart. 
 
 " Surely I heard a laugh," he said, as he went on, 
 looking around him. " It was more like a sneer than 
 a laugh, though a little of both. I wonder if I can 
 again be dreaming. Nonsense; I am a nervous wight. 
 I heard nothing. ' ; 
 
 He began to whistle softly to himself, while hid 
 eves roved over the prairie; his ears caught at every 
 sound that fell, and he appeared, for the time being, 
 like a man who had much to fear, and sadly in nee<l 
 of a friendly hand to help him through. 
 
 Halting at last under the branches of a spreading 
 oak, he directed his eyes to a point in the prairie's 
 iloep expanse, and fixedly looked for several minutes, 
 when he quietly dropped to the ground, and ex- 
 cj.umed : 
 
 " A band of redskins as sure as I am living. In. 
 all I count just twenty-seven. I wonder if they are 
 on the war-path. I think I had better keep dark. 
 I'm not acquainted with the red chaps very much, but 
 what I know of them, I don't like them. Oh, they 
 are coming this way. Now I can take observations.^ 
 
 Hidden from view by a clump of bushes through 
 which he himself could see quite plainly, our young 
 friend watched and waited, fully determined to see 
 what there was to be seen, when the redskins passed 
 Lira by. 
 
 In single file the Indian horde approached the wood, 
 then turning, passed within a hundred yards of Ed- 
 ward Hale, and continued their silent march ovsr. the 
 prairie. 
 


SLASIIAWAY, THE FEARLESS. tr 
 
 ' " Ugly, scowling devils," whispered the young mfi:<, 
 ns soon as they were out of sight. u Good for me tl. >' 
 1 did not show myself. The rascals Lave been up to 
 their old tricks murdering 1 emigrants. If my eyes 
 did not deceive me, I saw three captives in the croud 
 two men and a girl, or rather, woman. I wonder 
 what they will do with them the captives. Buni 
 them at the stake, I reckon. Too bad, too bad." 
 
 With no particular purpose in view, young Hale 
 shouldered his rifle, and without knowing it, started 
 off in the direction of the water, out of which and over 
 -which had come the voice of the woman singing tlio 
 chorus of the long-forgotten song. 
 
 As he n eared the water he suddenly became con- 
 scious of what he was doing, and started back with a 
 feeling of alarm. 
 
 Then he urged himself foiw-.ird, saying angrily : 
 
 " Fool that lam to thii k of such a thing! A. 
 woman singing in this wilderness. All foolish: 
 I heard nothing more than I can hear at any time a 
 Woman of my fancy. Let me see what there is to 
 
 He was about to take a step forward, when to his 
 astonishment, the plaintive notes of a guitar we:e 
 borne to him on the summer wind, hung for a mom. 
 over him like a spell, then died away in a murmur < f 
 melody. 
 
 At first Edward Hale knew not what to do, he c 
 Dot speak, he could not stir, he could only look, lUtc , 
 and wonder. 
 
 At length recovering his courage, he determi: 
 come what would, to fathom the mystery. 
 
 So he struck out boldly, pushed from tree to t 
 from rock to rock, stopping only when he found hi...-- 
 eelf on the edge of a quiet lake whose waters spre;: I 
 o-ut before him so bright, so beautiful, that for an. - 
 ut-e he could but look aiound him in mute surprise. 
 
 But he looked in vain for the woman the wo; 
 of hid fancy ; she was nowhere to be seen, she La '. 
 disappeared. No song now, no music nothing ! 
 
 " No woman here," whispered the young man, sei-.t- 
 


18 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 in.<r h'iroseli on a rock near the water. " Still 1 Heard 
 a woman's voice, and the notes of a guit.ar. I am Hot 
 dreaming, I have not been dreaming. Some one is 
 on or near this lake, a woman, a man, or a ghost. 
 Heavens ! what do I see ? " 
 
 He was looking over the water, and his faoe was 
 pale as death. 
 
 He was looking at a man leaning over the edge of ^ 
 a small canoe a hundred yards from shore. $. 
 
 The man was fishing, apparently, and his face was 1| 
 turned toward his work. 
 
 But Edward Hale could see enough of his face to g 
 convince him that the man was black, also that he | ? 
 was no common personage. 
 
 The fisherman seemed unconscious of the presence 
 of a stranger, and Edward Hale was loth to disturb 
 Lim. 
 
 But at length ho cried out : 
 
 u Halloo, there ! halloo ! halloo !" 
 
 The fisherman looked up quietly from his work, 
 turned his eyes shoreward, grunted, then seizing the 
 oars in the canoe, began to move slowly away. 
 
 " Come back, you lunatic, come back/' cried the 
 young man, unwilling to have his curiosity thus easily 
 defeated. " What do you mean by leaving so sud- 
 denly ?" 
 
 The man in the boat turned and faced him in aa. 
 instant. 
 
 " " What'll ye have f v he growled, almost fiercely. 
 " Don't keep me waiting." ffi 
 
 It was some seconds before Edward Halo replied, f- 
 and in the interview, he gave the stranger in the boat 
 his closest attention. 10 
 
 The age of the man he could not exactly tell, | v 
 wliether he was fifty or a hundred, he had the appear- > 
 ance of a centenarian ; he was gray almost to white- '- 
 ness, bent nearly double, very black, very wrinkled, 
 very careworn, and in his actions very queer and 
 Btrange. Still, he looked rugged, and despite his age, 
 


SLA8HAWAY, THE FEARLES& If 
 
 iiTfcs f Doubtless, a person whom no common man could 
 
 In stature he was not much over five feet tall, though 
 he was so bent, his height could not.be well deter- 
 mined. 
 
 He iWas dressed in buckskin, was armed with a rifle 
 and a long glittering knife. The knife was in his 
 belt, the r^fle lay by him in the canoe. 
 
 "You seem very anxious to get away," at length 
 spoke up Edward Hale, approaching a little nearer the 
 water's edge. " Where do you make your home f" 
 
 The African pointed to a small, green spot, an 
 island in the middle of the lake, and said, by gesture, 
 that he lived there. 
 
 " And what do you do in this wild place, and you 
 all alone?" asked Edward Hale, showing his surprise 
 in various ways. " How do you pass your time?" 
 
 " I fish and hunt," replied the man, as he gave hia 
 boat a sidelong turn, " and then I hunt and fish." 
 
 " And do you ever sing 1" questioned the young 
 man, suddenly remembering the voice he had heard. 
 tl I heard some one singing a while ago." 
 
 "It wasn't me," said the man, slowly j "I nevac 
 sing," 
 
 " Who was it, then t" 
 
 " I cannot tell you." 
 
 " You mean you will not tell me." 
 
 The African's eyes flashed. 
 
 "You are very wise," he said, half sneeringly, 
 though he smiled as he said it. "What is your 
 name ?" 
 
 "Edward Hale." 
 
 " And you live t" 
 
 " Nowhere just now. To tell the truth 1 am turned 
 around in this wilderness, I am lost." 
 
 A wild laugh, almost a shriek, came from the negro 
 as he heard this. 
 
 " I am sorry you are lost," he eslairaed, at length, 
 stopping abruptly in his laugh. "Hereafter stay at 
 home as I do, and fear nothing." 
 


80 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 For some seconds Edward Hale was silent. Hd 
 was looking at the island on which his strange ac- 
 quaintance made his home. 
 
 11 1 wouldn't live where you do for all the world," 
 at length he said, pointing to the island. " I'll wager 
 anything the place is haunted. What do you call 
 your island V 
 
 "I do not call it anything," replied the man-, " but 
 some folks call it, very foolishly though, Spectre Isle. 
 Have you any idea it's haunted ?" 
 
 Something in the negro's voice, in his looks or ae- 
 tions, or in the way he said it, caused the young man 
 to shudder; but he mastered himself directly, and re- 
 plied : 
 
 "I don't believe in spectres, but if I did, I should 
 come here to see them." 
 
 The stranger laughed. 
 
 Edward Hale continued : 
 
 " Do you live by yourself alone V 
 
 The negro gave his interlocutor a searching glance, 
 tli en replied : 
 
 "Folks have called me 'The Hermit' for many a 
 day ; and isn't that enough to satisfy ye? Who ever 
 saw any one with me?" 
 
 The African came a little nearer shore, rose to his 
 feet, hauled in his nets, then settling himself down in 
 his canoe, seized the oars, and bending his back to 
 the task, despite young Hale's entreaties, rowed 
 swiftly away. 
 
 " A strange man, whoever he is, v said the .young 
 man, with his eyes on the fast receding boat. " There, 
 be is out of sight ; a bend in the shore has hidden him 
 from view. What I know of him amounts to almost 
 nothing. And the woman whose voice I heard sing- 
 ing so sweetly, what have I learned ot her? Nothing, 
 absolutely nothing." 
 
 He lapsed into silence, and waited and watched, 
 hoping for the return of the strange, old man, but h 
 watched and waited in vain; the strange, old man. 
 was gone for good. 
 


SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 21 
 
 "Gone, gone/' said the youth, as he turned and en- 
 lered the wood. il Is it anything strange that I 
 should stand in awe of such a man? I know not 
 what to make of him. I only know that he is very 
 strange and queer Hark ! what is that I hear ? 7 ' 
 
 A slight breath of wind came up from the ravine 
 Inden with music the plaintive notes of a guitar, this 
 \ time- accompanied by a woman's voice of rare sweet- 
 j ness; 
 
 I For a moment Edward Hale stood as if rooted to 
 | the ground, then, with a hoarse cry and a look of 
 superstitious awe, he walked rapidly away. 
 
 In a few minutes the woman's voice and the notes 
 of the guitar could not be heard. 
 
 "'Tlie sooner I get out of this ghostly place the 
 better for me," said the young man, as iie hurried 
 along. "I'll wager my head a foul murder has been 
 committed in this wood a uotnan, likely, murdered 
 in cold blood. Did the weird old African have any- 
 thing to do with it I If he did not, I am badly 
 fooled, badly fooled." 
 
 Reaching the edge of the wood, our young friend 
 came to a halt, and, with his back against a tree, let 
 his eyes wander over the prairie, though to divert his 
 mind from that which had caused his retreat, he could 
 not do. 
 
 Still he continued standing with his back against a 
 tree, looking out over the prairie. 
 
 Presently he thought he heard footsteps approach- 
 ing. 
 
 He listened, w ith his head bent forward. 
 ! He heard nothing, saw nothing j he was foolishly 
 
 alarmed. 
 
 I "Always frightened, always trembling at my own 
 ( shadow," he said, as he straightened himself up, and 
 turned his eyes once more toward the prairie. u If I 
 am not a coward, what am I ?" 
 
 To this a reply was given, but Edward Hale did 
 Erot hear it. 
 
 A hideous monster, in plumes and paint, a scowling 
 


S? SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 savage, Closely followed by a vampire looking wretch, 
 was creeping up behind him. 
 
 The foremost rascal was apparently unarmed j the 
 fiend behind him held in his hand a huge, glittering 
 knife, the blade at least ten inches long. 
 
 Quietly, cautiously . the savage brutes glided from 
 tree to tree. 
 
 Edward Hale heard nothing. 
 
 Presently the dusky villains came to a halt, but di- 
 rectly, without a word, the one in advance moved for- 
 ward* slowly, cautiously, quietly, like a panther ready 
 to spring. 
 
 Pretty soon he stopped, crouched down, and ,with 
 Lis glittering eyes fastened on the tree against which 
 young Edward Hale was leaning, sprang forward with 
 the rapidity of lightning, and before the young man 
 had time to turn aside, he was fastened to the tree 
 BO tightly, that he could not move. 
 
 The redskin stood behind the tree, but his arms 
 were around it, and between the tree and his arms was 
 Edward Hale, fastened as in a vice. 
 
 At first young Hale was so frightened that he could 
 not speak, and so tightly was he crowded to the tree, 
 that to get away was out of the question. 
 
 At length he managed to speak, and what he said 
 was this : 
 
 tl Whoever you are, don't crush the life out of me. 
 I can scarcely breathe. Do you want to murder me f 
 
 The savage, whose arms were around him, did not 
 answer, but the savage who had lingered in the rear, 
 sprang forward at this instant, and shaking his knife 
 in the face of the helpless man, hissed like an adder : 
 
 " Pale rascal must die. Saul Slashaway told him 
 to shoot Sandy Jim. Sandy Jim listen, overhear all, 
 tell redskin to look sharp and kill young paleface 
 devil, belore he kill Sandy Jim. Redskin good war- 
 rior, he watch, he listen, he find young hunter, catch 
 him, and now he kill him as he would a dog. ;; 
 
 The eavage ceased speaking, sheathed his knife, 
 stepped back a pace, and drawing from his belt a 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 23 
 
 hatchet of polished steel, with a yell that was blood- 
 curdling in the extreme, aimed a blow -at the voting 
 man's head. 
 
 If Edward Hale ever thought his time had comb, it 
 was at this moment. lie saw the murderous imple- 
 ment flash in the light of the melting sun, heard the 
 fierce yell of the monster before him j and terrified, 
 bewildered, \ith a prayer on his lips, he closed his 
 eyes, and awaited the blow that would lay him coM in 
 deatb. 
 
 But the tomahawk of the savage monster fell not 
 on the young man's head, for, before it could descend, 
 the sharp, whip-like crack of a rifle rang out upon the 
 the air, and with a shriek, a gurgle, and a groan, the 
 would-be murderer dropped his weapon, threw up his 
 hands, and fell lifeless to the ground. 
 
 Not knowing whether he was in the world or out of 
 it, Edward Halo opened his eyes and looked around 
 him, and what he savv was this : 
 
 On the ground before him lay an Indian warrior, 
 shot dead in his tracks; to the left of him, the savage 
 who had held him to the tree, was shooting through the 
 wood like a frightened deer ; arid to his right, the 
 man who had saved his life was making for the lake 
 which lay beyond with all his speed. 
 
 As soon as he could get his voice, the young man 
 cried out to the latter to halt, but at this, for some 
 reason or other, the man redoubled his speed, and was 
 soon lost to view. 
 
 ' ; Anyway, I know who my perscrver is," said Hale, 
 turning his eyes on the fallen redskin " but why he 
 ehould save n^life is more than I can tell. I thought 
 I had more to fear from him than from any one else. 
 But now I know better. The Hermit of Spectre Isle 
 is a man, he saved my life. God bless him !" 
 
 He was going to say more, but at this moment the 
 cap or sort of hood that covered the redskin's head fell 
 off, revealing to the astonished gaze of young Hale, a 
 mass of hair, almost red. 
 
 *' An Indian with red hair !'' exclaimed the yoang 
 


U SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 man, excitedly. " I don't believe it possible. 
 Heavens !" 
 
 A terrible thought came to nim at this moment a 
 thought that nearly took away his breath. 
 
 "It may be so," at length he said, stooping down 
 and examining the man on the ground. " Ah f yes, 
 the man is white. The same, the verv same. Dead, 
 dead !" 
 
 The man on the ground was Sandy Jim. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SATJL SLASHAWAY AND EDWARD HALE. 
 
 SAUL SLASHAWAY'S home was a cave, and at the 
 time Edward Hale made the startling discovery that 
 the man before him was Sandy Jim, Saul Slashaway 
 was in his cave, preparing his evening meal. * 
 
 " People say 1 am crazy/ 7 soliloquized the old man, 
 " but t bar's wliar they're badly fooled. I ain't very 
 crazy, not very at least I think so. Howsumever, if 
 folks want to call me a leetle wild, I shan't object 
 it's their privilege." 
 
 The old man mumbled over something to himself, 
 then went on aloud : 
 
 "Edward Hale that's what be called himself, I 
 bleeve, and that's what I shall call biro when I see 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS 25 
 
 him, for I shall see him again. Mighty, wasn't he 
 frightened when I commanded him to kill Sandy Jim. 
 Blast me, if I haven't a notion that he'll do it. Sandy 
 Jim dead upon the ground, his throat cut from ear to 
 ear. Heavens ! wouldn't I feel happy. Sandy Jim 
 dead, and Slashaway, the Fearless, will worship the 
 man who killed him as long as life remains !" 
 
 The old hunter lapsed into silence, finished prepar- 
 ing his food, ate what was before him without a word, 
 then wrapping himself up in his blanket, lay down in 
 one corner of the room, and was soon soundly asleep. 
 
 He slept until broad daylight without waking ; then 
 be roused himself, ate a light meal of bread and cold 
 venison, after which he took down his gun, and started 
 out for a morning's jaunt over the prairie. 
 
 'Til find Edward Hale, if I can," muttered the old 
 man, as he journeyed along. " Who knows what the 
 young chap's been up to. Maybe he's killed Sandy 
 Jim. Well, we shall see, we shall see." 
 
 In about an hour the old hunter found hinself on 
 the edge of a dense forest of maple, oak, and ash, and 
 the first sound that greeted him as he entered the 
 wood, was the report of a rifle, sounding out but a rod 
 or two away. 
 
 At first the old man was startled, but immediately 
 he smiled grimly, and advanced into the wood with a 
 quiet rapidity that betokened anything but alarm. 
 
 "Edward Hale that's who it is," said Slashaway, 
 in a cheerful voice. " I told him to kill Sandy Jim, 
 and he has done it. Sandy Jim, the murderer, is 
 dead." 
 
 He stopped speaking suddenly, for at this instant 
 Le found himself face to face with the object of his 
 search. 
 
 On finding himself once more in the clutches of 
 Slashaway, the Fearless, Edward Hale was frightened 
 enough, but he controlled his feelings as best he could, 
 and said, in as strong a voice tss be -xould command : 
 
 " I didn't expect to meet you in this wood, old man. 
 Do yon live here t" 
 


36 SLA8HAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 f The hunter chuckled. 
 
 " Live here ? Of course I don't. I live five mile* 
 from here, maybe more j live in a cave. Then ye 
 thought ye'd seen the last of me when ye left me yes- 
 terday lioon ? Thought so, did ye ? Ho ! ho ! I'm 
 not a fool, young man, if I am crazy not a fool. 
 But you what have you been doing? Where did 
 you stay last night f 
 
 "In this wood, of course. Where else should I 
 stay r 
 
 "And you rested well, I reckon ?" continued the 
 Lunter ; with a touch of sarcasm in his voice. " Ye [ 
 look sort o' spry." 
 
 "But I don't feel spry, by any means/' replied the 
 young man, with a poor attempt at a laugh. " I 
 came near being devoured last night." 
 
 " By wolves ?" 
 
 "Yes, by wolves. I didn't sleep very well. 
 Wolves are not first-class companions." 
 
 The old hunter was silent a moment, thinking. 
 Then he roused up all of a sudden, his eyes flashed, 
 the muscles of his face twitched convulsively, and 
 bending forward, so that his hot breath touched the 
 young man's face, he fairly roared : 
 
 " Where is Sandy Jim ? You remember what I 
 told yon. Sand)? Jim or you must die. Have von 
 killed him 1" 
 
 At first Edward Hale did not know what to say. 
 Should he tell the hunter that Sandy Jim was dead? 
 Or should he wait, and tell him only on compulsion! 
 He concluded not to be in a hurry about disclosing 
 the death of Sandy Jim j so he answered the hunter 
 as follows : 
 
 "Do yon take me for a murderer? Why should I 
 kill Sandy Jim ? And if you want him murdered so 
 bad, why don't you do it yourself f For you to kill 
 him would be a very small affair, you are so used to 
 killing folks ; but for me to shoot "him, I couldn't do 
 it, I wouldn't do it, for the world." 
 
 41 Then you haven't killed him ?" 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 27 
 
 The way this was spoken, the voice, the manner, 
 sent a chill through the young man's frame, startled 
 Lira so that he could not say a word. 
 
 u I asked you have you killed him ?" said the hun- 
 ter, in the same peculiar voice, " have you murdered 
 Sandy Jim ?" 
 
 The young man felt that to keep the facts from 
 Slashaway any longer, would be to run the risk of 
 being killed himself, so he answered very quietly : 
 
 " Sandy Jim is dead/' 
 
 " Prove it," cried the hunter, flashing up in an in- 
 stant. u If you tell the truth, if Sandy Jim is dead, 
 anything you ask of me will I do." 
 
 " Then come with me." 
 
 Like a man whose mind is thoroughly made up, 
 young Hale shouldered his rifle, and with the hunter 
 at his heels, started for the wood in which he had. left 
 the outlaw's body the evening before. 
 
 " If the old man wants to think I killed him, let him 
 think so," thought Edward Hale, as they neared the 
 wood. " Mighty, what if the body has been devoured 
 by wolves ? what would Saul Slashaway say and do f 
 I am almost afraid to go on. Bad luck to the wolves !" 
 
 But the young man's fears were groundless, The 
 body of Sandy Jim lay where Edward Hale had left 
 it, untouched, undisturbed, even by the wolves, 
 
 " Now look for yourself," said the young man, as he 
 conducted the hunter to the spot. " Didn't I tell you 
 the truth ?" 
 
 " An Ingin warrior," muttered Slashaway, at first 
 sight. 
 
 " Look again, a sharper look," commanded young 
 t Hale, " What do vou say now ? Is it not the body 
 i of Sandy Jim t" 
 
 | The old hunter bowed his head, and answered 
 almost in a whisper. 
 
 " Dead at last, the fiend, the worse than murderer, 
 Sandy Jim ! God bless the man who killed him, bless 
 him forever r*' 
 
 Bending over the lifeless form of his sworn 
 


28 SLAS1-IAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 Slashaway, the Fea'rks-?, bowed his head, and for sev- 
 eral minutes seemed lost as in a dream. 
 
 At length be rose to bis feet, and with his eyes 
 nrimful of tears, extended his band to the young rnan 
 standing before him, and said, in a bnsky voice : 
 
 l ' You have done what I could not do, young man, 
 you have taken the life of Sandy Jim. Many a time 
 have I tried to kill him, but it was not for me to take 
 his life, not for me." 
 
 t: But you would kill a dog," said Edward Halo, bis 
 cariosity now thoroughly excited, " and Sandy Jim, 
 you say, was no better than a dog." 
 
 ".I wanted to shoot the villain bad enough, my lad, 
 wanted to, but I couldn't, I couldn't/' 
 
 " Why couldn't you ?" 
 
 "A woman was in the way, allers, alters. No 
 sooner would I draw bead on the monster, than the 
 woman would glide between us, glide arid stand thar 
 all white and angel-like, glide between us like a 
 shadow. I couldn't shoot the woman, so Sandy Jim 
 was safe." 
 
 As he was telling this, the hunter's eyes rovea about 
 him incessantly, looked wild, strange, unnatural, and 
 there was such a glitter in them, that Edward Hale 
 slipped back involuntarily, more convinced than ever, 
 that be was talking with a maniac. 
 
 11 But bow about Sandy Jim," be inquired at last, 
 determined, if possible, to sift the matter to the 
 bottom. " Had you nothing to fear from him ?" 
 
 The hunter answered without delay. 
 
 "Nothin' to fear from Sandy Jim I" he said. "It 
 was not his fault that he didn't kill me, for he has 
 tried to often enough. Once he met me face to face, 
 his gun sprang to his shoulder in an instant, but he 
 didn't shoot, and why ? because he couldn't. The 
 same woman that saved hi*n from me, saved me from 
 him !" 
 
 The hunter ceased speaking, great beads of perspira- 
 tion were on his face, and he had the appearance of a 
 man suffering terribly. 
 


SLAB II A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 20 
 
 Pretty soon he controlled himself and went on : 
 
 " Once I overheard a conversation between Sandy 
 Jim and a comrade. 
 
 " < Why don't you kill the old rascal, and be done 
 with it, 1 said the man, in a loud voice. ' Shoot him as 
 yon would a dog.* 
 
 11 i But I can't shoot him/ was Sandy Jim's reply. 
 ' The old wretch is haunted. No sooner do I draw 
 bead on him, than a woman glides in before him, and, 
 somehow, 1 cannot shoot, and I guess it's tlio same 
 with him.' 
 
 " So you see," continued the hunter, lowering his 
 voice, " what a woman, though dead, can do." 
 
 " And the woman who was she f" asked Edward 
 Hale, with a feeling of nervousness amounting almost 
 to dread, creeping over him. ' You say she is dead ?" 
 
 " Yas, she is dead," replied the hunter, in an ab- 
 stracted manner. " I was with her when she died, 
 more than five years ago." 
 
 " Was she beautiful!" 
 
 The hunter wiped away a tear. 
 
 " I thought she was," he replied, " and I had every 
 reason for thinkin' so. She was an angel. She was 
 known to both of us Sandy and I. I loved her, 
 Sandy did not, though she loved him dearly. But it's 
 over now, all past aud gone." 
 
 A strange thought at this moment camo into the 
 young man's mind, and he relieved himself of it at 
 once, though in a tone so low that the hunter was not 
 awakened from his melancholy musings. 
 
 " I cannot help thinking," he said, li that the woman 
 I heard yesterday singing so sweetly, is in some way 
 connected with Slashaway and Sandy Jim. Anyway, 
 things have a very singular look, and if I am not 
 careful, I'll find myself in a net out of which I cannot 
 very well escape. Wouldn't it be as well to question 
 the old hunter a little concerning the Hermit of Spec- 
 tre Isle? It maybe that he can make everything 
 clear. I'll speak to him at once." 
 
 Slaehaway, the Fearless, stood with his arms 
 


SO SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 and his eyes riveted on the lifeless form before him. 
 
 Edward Hale touched him on the shoulder, and 
 said : 
 
 " You've looked that way long enough, my friend j 
 BOW turn your attention to me. I want to ask you 
 something." 
 
 "Weil, ask away/' replied the hunter, as he turned 
 and stood face to face with his companion. " I am 
 ready to answer anything you may ask. Since what 
 luis occurred, I cannot do enough for you j I'm sure I 
 can't. 7 ' 
 
 "Well, then, answer me this: Do you know of a 
 lake a short distance from here?" 
 
 If a griake had suddenly sprang up into his face, 
 the old linnter would not have been more startled 
 than lie was when his young companion asked him 
 this. 
 
 " A lake, did ye say f ' at last he roared. " What 
 do ye know of the lake of shadows, or Spectre Lake, 
 jis ii's sometimes called ? Have ve been thar, voung- 
 man ?" 
 
 The eyes of the hunter were looking the young 
 man through and through. 
 
 ' iVe seen the lake of shadows, as you call it," re- 
 pliei young Hale, as quietly as lie could. "I was 
 ilerc yesterday. I was called there." 
 
 The hunter started. 
 
 " Tempted, war ve ? Who tempted ye to visit the 
 lake?" 
 
 "A woman." 
 
 The hunter's face turned pale. 
 
 "What was the woman like?" he asked, after a 
 moment's silence. 
 
 " I didn't see her.' 7 
 
 " Didn't see her, and she tempted you ?" said tho> 
 banter, slowly. *' I don't understand. Strange, very 
 Btrange." 
 
 " Strange to you, mavbe, but cot to me." 
 
 "Howl" 
 


SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 31 
 
 " I (lid not see the woman, I only heard her she 
 was singing." 
 
 " Then you followed her voice to the lake?" 
 
 Yes; I followed her voice, and the music of her 
 SiK^era she was playing the guitar.'' 
 
 The hunter was silent a moment, thinking deeply. 
 Then he asked : 
 
 <; What else did ye hear ? and did yo see any one 
 while at the lake ?" * 
 
 The young man answered without hesitation. 
 
 " When I approached the lake the music ceased, 
 the voice of the woman died away, and all was still." 
 
 ' What next ? Did ye see any one ?" 
 
 '' Yes, I saw a man sitting in a canoe, fishing. 
 The man was black." 
 
 4 Did he say anything to you ?" 
 
 ; I spoke to him, and he answered me ; he was not 
 very talkative." 
 
 The hunter's eyes glittered. 
 
 What did the mar. say T' he asked. " Anything 
 about the woman T' 
 
 " I asked him if he had heard the voice of a woman 
 singing, and he said he had not. Then I thought I 
 had been dreaming, or had imagined it all. A strange 
 dream, though, I think, very strange." 
 
 " Yes, very strange, very strange/' repeated the 
 hunter, musingly. '' I think you must have been 
 dreaming. You heard nothing; no woman was there. 
 I am sure no woman was there, and .that you heard 
 nothing, very sure." 
 
 But a minute afterward, Edward Hale heard the 
 strange old man whispering to himself, and what he 
 said was this : 
 
 " Marguret, my Margaret. God bless her and keep 
 her from harm." 
 
 Then he shouldered his rifle, and with a 
 " Come on " to his young companion, moved 
 away. 
 
 Retailing the prairie in a few minutes they halted, 
 w_i Slashaway 
 


82 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 '" This timber won't be very healthy for us in an 
 lour from now, so I guess �e had better leave. 
 Sandy Jim had a crowd of followers, and they'll bo 
 looking for 1/im, I reckon, before very long. The 
 redskins, too, are very likely to be around here pretty 
 soon. Come on. I will guide you to my home." 
 
 Without more ado, the two men struck out boldly 
 over the level plain, and soon the wood, with all its 
 mysteries, was so far behind as to be scarcely seen. 
 
 ' We'll come to a leetle river pretty soon, my lad/' 
 remarked the old, hunter, as they journeyed along. 
 " The land grows more mountainous every minute, 
 ana pretty soon we'll reach a strip o' timber, and then 
 a liver. You see I know this country very well. 
 The reason is, I've lived here ten years or more 
 Jived right here.'' 
 
 In a few minutes more the river spoken of by the 
 hunter, flowed at their feet. It was a beautiful stream, 
 quite narrow, but very deep and rapid. 
 
 " Now what's to be done," spoke up Edward Halo, 
 as they carne to a halt on the banks of the river. 
 li Shall we go down or up?' 7 
 
 il Down,' 7 replied r,he hunter, quickly C( but not as 
 we have been traveling afoot. I've got a canoe bore 
 somewhere, that we'll do well to use. We can't af- 
 ford to walk when we can ride.'' 
 
 Without much difficulty, Slashaway found the boat 
 which lie had hidden some time before, and without 
 delay the two men got into it, and the hunter, seizing 
 the oars, guided the frail bark down the stream. 
 
 But this was only for a little while. Before Edward 
 Hale knew what his companion was about, the boat 
 was turned into a sort of harbor or indentation in tbd 
 shore and brought to a full stop. 
 
 " Here's where we land/ 7 said the old hunter, quietly 
 dropping the oars in the canoe. " Follow me." 
 
 The hunter sprang ashore. Edward Hale followed 
 Ins example, and together the two men pulled th'a 
 cacoe ashore. 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS So 
 
 Then they started for the hunter's home, distance 
 about half a mile away. 
 
 "I live here part o' the time, and part o' the time 
 somewhere else," remarked the old man as they neared 
 his place of abode. "My residence is a hole in the 
 ground, or, if you please, a cave." 
 
 Halting at the foot of what seemed to bo a huge 
 pile of rocks, the hunter suddenly stooped down and 
 began to examine, though with considerable agitation, 
 a number of footprints in the sand. 
 
 " Mighty strange, mighty queer and strange," he 
 muttered, at length, rising to his feet and glancing 
 furtively about him. " 1 didn't think the red imps 
 cunning enough to find my hiding-place. Howsum- 
 ever, the rascals have been here, for look at the moc- 
 casin tracks in the sand. Thunder, I am almost afraid 
 to go in, for the sheband, for all I know, ID ay be 
 packed with redskins." 
 
 Several times the hunter walked around his ocky 
 fortress, but seeing nothing further of a auspicious 
 nature, he quietly removed a large, flat stone from a 
 narrow, upright fissure or crevice in the rocky ledge, 
 and closely followed by his young companion, made 
 his way within, closed the opening with a rock as 
 large as the one on the outside, struck a light, then 
 turning* to his young friend who stood an amazed and 
 silent spectator of the hunter's movements, said, with 
 a quiet smile : 
 
 u You see my dwelling is no one-horso affair. 
 Everything is dry, clean, and comfortable. Here I 
 -i live and ask nothing of no one. But I don't intend 
 j to live here always, I'm sure I don't, very sure !" 
 '] Something in the hunter's voice, or in the way he 
 ^ wound up his remark, brought to the memory of Ed- 
 J ward Hale, his first meeting with the strange, old man, 
 the facts that he had learned about him at the settle- 
 ment, the warning that had been given him couched 
 in the words : " Look out for Slash a way, the Fearless, 
 .ibe is rnad," and many other things associated in some 
 way or other with his strange companion. 
 


34 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 u Your cave is as comfortable as a cave can be,* 
 uaid the young man at length, tl bat I agree with you 
 when you eay you shan't live here always. In "my 
 pinion the redskins will assist you to remove, and 
 that, too, in a very short time. Mercy ! look at those 
 eyes. We are not alone. That black object what 
 is it ? Look, look !" 
 
 A low growl from one corner of the room broke 
 forth at this instant, and almost immediately following, 
 a monster-looking object, nothing less than a huge, 
 black bear, rolled from the darkness, and stood with 
 extended jaws and glaring eyes looking from one to 
 the other of the astonished men. 
 
 " A horrible monster," cried young Hale, as soon 
 as he could get his breath. " Let me put a bullet 
 through his brain.'' 
 
 But when he saw the old hunter rush forward and 
 throw his arms around the monster's neck and caress 
 liin as he would a child, he lowered his rifle and 
 stared at the man and the bear with a look of terror 
 and surprise. 
 
 " Mad as the wind," at length he said ; " Slash- 
 away, the Fearless, is mad, mad. I must kill the 
 brute, or the hunter will be torn into pieces before my 
 eyes." 
 
 The young man drew his hunting-knife from his 
 belt, and rushed forward ; but before he could thrust 
 it into the bear, the hunter caught him by the arm, 
 and fairly yelled in his ear : 
 
 " You young villain, what do ye mean ? Would 
 you kill my best friend ? Then murder this harmless 
 fceast." 
 
 " Mad, mad, crazy as a loon," whispered Edward 
 Hale, with his hunting-knife still uplifted, and his 
 eyes riveted on the hunter's face. Do ' you want that 
 ugly beast to strangle you ?" 
 
 " Harmless as a kitten," returned Slashaway, 
 quietly. " Young man, this bear is one of the best 
 friends I ever had, and though his name is Tempest, 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 35 
 
 he's as quiet and docile when unprovoked as any ona 
 could wish." 
 
 " And is he yours this bear, this Tempest ?". in- 
 quired young Hale, slowly sheathing his knife. 
 
 "Mine? No, he belongs to the Hermit of Spectre 
 Isle." 
 
 When the hunter said this, he turned his eyes on 
 
 his companion^ face, and looked closely to see what 
 
 effect his words would produce, and he was not sur~ 
 
 i prised when he s&w his young friend start ; and lose 
 
 jf for an instant his self-possession. 
 
 " He suspicions something the young buck does/' 
 whispered Slashaway, to himselt ; " but 1 think he 
 only heard her sing and play ; he didn't see her 
 Marguret, my Margaret. But I've no time to fool 
 away. Something's gone wrong over there, and I arn 
 wanted. How do I know ? Tempest, the Hermii'a 
 bear, brings me the news. I was badly fooled when 
 I thought my home had been visited by redskins; it 
 was the Hermit who made the tracks in the sand. He 
 entered my cave, the Hermit did, found me gone, then 
 he went out and left the bear in to tell me that some- 
 thing had gone wrong with Marguret. Heavens ! 
 what if the red imps have been there ? It frighten* 
 roe to think of it. I must be oft 1 at once." 
 
 He removed a stone from a niche in the wall to let 
 the sunlight in, blew out his torch, and started for tha 
 entrance of the cave without a word. 
 
 " Where are you going ? ;; asked young Hale, 
 quick ly f as the old man reached the door or entrance 
 of the cave. "What has happened to disturb you?" 
 
 The old hunter answered without looking up. 
 
 " I am going to Spectre Isle. The old Hermit has 
 [ cent for me." 
 
 * "And am I not going with you ?" asked the young 
 aoan, a little confused. 
 
 Slashaway replied in the same quiet tone as before. 
 
 *' I am going alone I and the bear. This cave is 
 t safe a place as you can find, and here you can staj 
 


86 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 as Jong as you wish. Plenty of food, plenty of every* 
 tiling 1 j make yourself at home." 
 
 Seemingly anxious to avoid being questioned, the 
 hunter pushed his way out of the cave, and with the 
 bear, Tempest, at his side, proceeded to the river, 
 launched his boat, sprang in, seized the oars, and with 
 a word to Tempest, seated in the prow of the canoe, 
 rowed swiftly and silently away. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FIGHT, FLIGHT, AND CAPTURE. 
 
 " I DON'T know what to make of him, I really 
 don't/' said Edward Hale, as soon as Slashaway, the 
 Fearless, was out of sight and hearing. " Sometimes 
 I think him sane enough, and then again I can't but 
 think that he is mad. Anyway, it's just as well that 
 he has gone, and that 1 am alone. Now I'll get my 
 traps together, and Slashaway shall see me no more." 
 
 But at this moment the woman of Spectre Isle, with 
 her beautiful, bell-like voice, came into the young 
 m-in's mind, and, for some reason or other, his deter- 
 'inination to leave all behind him, the woman included, 
 an;! be off,' was abandoned in an instant. 
 
 "I'll risk the old hunter's madness/' he said, "and 
 stay until the woman of Spectre Isle ceases to be a 
 ihnig of doubt. Ah, I have it now. I'll follow the 
 <:<! hunter to the luke, and do what I can at once to 
 si'lvo the mystery." 
 


STASIIAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 3? 
 
 Acting on this latter thought, the young man seized 
 Lis rifle, and quickly crawled out of the cave. 
 
 After looking around him a spell, he shouldered his 
 gun, and without knowing exactly what direction to 
 ake. ra oved rapidly away. 
 
 " I think I am going right," he muttered, after 
 walking a distance of several yards. "I guess I 
 know what I'm about." 
 
 But in this he was mistaken, for he was completely 
 turned around ; in fact, he was lost without knowing 
 it. 
 
 Still he continued to advance, wandered about for 
 several hours, and at last halted, with a feeling of 
 dread creeping over hi in. 
 
 After a short pause he went on, but swifter than he 
 lad gone before, in fact, on a full run, and for this 
 reason : A dozen or more well-mounted redskins were 
 in pursuit. 
 
 True, they were half a mile or so away, but they 
 were mounted, and being mounted, every bound they 
 made, brough them nearer the man on foot. 
 
 Knowing full well what it was to fall into the 
 clutches of such monsters, Edward Hale exerted him- 
 self to the utmost to escape , he fairly flew over the 
 ground, but it answered him not, the redskins would 
 soon be upon him. 
 
 " Heaven save me from them," cried the young man, 
 with his heart in his throat. " God help me I they 
 are almost up to me. What shall 1 do ?" 
 
 " Why run ye lunatic, run as tho 7 all the imps in 
 hell war arter ye/' exclaimed a voice at this instant 
 close to his ear. 
 
 As if he had been shot, Edward Hale stopped run 
 Diner, and stared mutely around him. 
 
 " Who's chasm' uv ye, my innocence f w said the 
 voice, louder than before. 
 
 This time the young man followed the- voice to his 
 source, and saw for the first time that he was on the 
 bank of a small stream, also that there was a canoe 
 


8S SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 right before him, and in the canoe a man tho maa 
 who bad spoken. 
 
 When be taw the man, our hero rushed to him and 
 cried : 
 
 " The redskins ! the redskins ! What shall I do ? 
 What can I do f ' 
 
 The stranger's face, which at first was pleasant, sud- 
 denly assumed a scowling aspect, but his voice said 
 softly : 
 
 " Pile in yer, sonny, an' we'll try tu git away from 
 ? em. I'm sorry the red varmints are chasin' uv ye. w 
 
 Edward Hale did not need a second invitation, but 
 got into the boat without delay, and not a moment too 
 soon, for the redskins, at this juncture, dashed down to 
 the river, yelling like fiends. 
 
 But when they got to the river's edge, young Hale 
 and his new-found friend were fifty yards away, rowing 
 with all their strength. 
 
 Wild with rage, the Indians sent a volley of rifle- 
 shots after them, but warned by the trapper, the men 
 fell down in the boat, and thus escaped unharmed;, 
 
 "Now take us ef ye kin, ye rascals," said the trap- 
 per, as the redskins began to howl with disappoint- 
 ment. "The red bucks are all in a muddle, they 
 don't know what tu do." 
 
 " But their horses are fleet/' suggested young Hale, 
 " and they may overtake us yet by land." 
 
 The stranger sai<l nothing; but tossed his head on 
 either side of him as much as to say. " Look at the 
 shore." 
 
 The young man rtid so, and for the first time noticed 
 that all along the river were trees, rocks, brush, and 
 little mounds, impassable barriers to men on horseback. 
 
 " The red cusses kiu foller us only by water, young 
 man/ 7 at length spoke up the stranger. li Ef they 
 hed a boat ,." 
 
 11 They've got one. Look ! look !" cried Edward 
 Hale, all of a sudden. "The redskins are right be- 
 hind v.s." 
 
 The trapper glanced quickly around, then ho settled 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 39 
 
 himself in the canoe, and said in a voice low but firm * 
 
 " Ye speak the truth, my lad, the red critters are 
 ehasin 7 us. I didn't think they could find thor canoe, 
 but they found it. Ther boat war in ther bushes near 
 ther stream. It was Saul Slashaway's boat Saul 
 Slashaway's and mine. Mighty Moses, how the red 
 bucks yell." 
 
 Yelling, screaming, and shouting, the blood-thirsty 
 Sioux worked like madmen at the oars, and every 
 sweep they made seemed to lessen the distance be- 
 tween their victims and themselves. 
 
 " It's all up with us," said Edward Hale, as he 
 noticed how rapidly the redskins were gaining on 
 them. " Look out there, my friend, they're going to 
 ehoot !' ; 
 
 As he spoke, the young man fell flat on his face in 
 the bottom of the boat, while almost instantly a volley 
 of rifle shots hissed above him. 
 
 Failing to bring them down by shooting at them, 
 the redskins redoubled their efforts at the oars, expect- 
 ing in a few minutes to capture them, or get so near 
 them that they could shoot them down at will. 
 
 But the whites worked gallantly, and for the dis- 
 tance of half a mile, held their own. 
 
 Then they lost strength, and the redskins gained 
 on them rapidly, until at last the fugitives, knowing 
 full well that to remain longer on the water was to 
 fall into the hands of their merciless foes, took to the 
 shore, hoping to find a hiding-place somewhere among 
 the rocks. 
 
 And they found one, or rather a place of defense, 
 and they found it not a moment too soon, for the red- 
 skins were sooii closing around them, yelling lika 
 fiends. 
 
 In a sort of recess or indentation in a rocky ledge, 
 the whites retreated, and by rolling three or four huge 
 boulders before them, a fortress, tolerably secure^ waa 
 made. 
 
 "It's the best we kin du, young man," whispered 
 the trapper, as he inspected the priming of his rifle. 
 


40 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 "It ain't at all likely thet we'll git off 'ithout * 
 scratch or two, but we'll fling a leetle lead at th 
 varmints jist fer fun. Look sharp thar, now, an' don't 
 shoot until ye git a darn good aim. Here they come." 
 
 Whooping and howling, the painted monsters 
 emerged from the rocks, and with a recklessness that f 
 boded evil to the whiter, dashed toward them but ! 
 when they saw the rifles of the fugitives gleaming 
 over the rocks, they halted abruptly, and, coward- 
 like, quickly withdrew to a safer distance. 
 
 " They don't like the locks of things, the rascals," 
 remarked Edward Hale, with some sfxtisfaclion at the 
 way the redskins scampered away. " It wouldn't sur- 
 prise me if they troubled us no more. Anyway, that's 
 the cast things have at present. What say vou ; my 
 friend f" 
 
 The young man turned on the trapper an inquiring 
 look, and for the first time noticed his height, general 
 appearance, and attire. 
 
 The man was over six feet in height, very slim, 
 quite muscular, long arms, long legs, long fingers and 
 hands, a beardless face, set oif with keen, grey eyes, 
 and a nose slightly aquiline and very sarcastic a 
 face at once cold, cunning, and determined, 
 i The trapper's dress was of buckskin, all but the 
 cap, and that was made of the fur of a wildcat, 
 i The name of his new-found friend, as Edward after- 
 ward learned, was Robert Blake, nicknamed, for some 
 unaccountable reason, Onion Bob. 
 
 , And "Onion B," as we shall call him, wns an 
 original character, as the reader will soon perceive, 
 "So ye think we're through 'ith 'em, do ye?" said f 
 the hunter, after surveying the young man from head f 
 to foot; " think they've dug out* tor keeps f \ 
 
 "It seems so/' replied Hale, quickly, " though I 
 don't know for sure/' \ 
 
 The hunter gave a laugh that sounded very ranch 
 like a snort. 
 
 " Yas, I'm quite sure ye don't know, myself,* ha 
 Said, whilo his eye twinkled merrily. " Why,. ye lea- 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 41 
 
 tV blubber, the red varmints hev jist opened tlie fray. 
 LX;n't. fool verse If about 'em leavin', but git yer popper 
 in sihooiiu' order, an' look out i'er squalls. The painted 
 murderers 'ill come in sight directly." 
 
 And the hunter ivas right. The redskins suddenly 
 fchowed themselves in quite formidable numbers, and 
 thinking to take the whites by a determined charge, 
 with blood-curdling veils rushed toward them. 
 
 But the whites were on the alert, and one of them, 
 Edward Hale, took a quick aim at the foremost sav- 
 age, pulled trigger, and, strange to say, brought him 
 to the ground. 
 
 At this the savages suddenly became convinced that 
 there was danger ahead of them, so seizing their fallen 
 comrade, they turned and sought safety by a precipi- 
 tate retreat. 
 
 " One redskin less to fight," gaid young Hale, 
 coolly leloading his rifle. " The tirst good shot I 
 ever made." 
 
 " A noble shot, anyway," it-joined OriK-r. Bob; but 
 lie added to himself: " I'm mighty ; fraid he can't di> 
 it agin; it looked wery much like an accident. IIou- 
 gumever, time will tell." 
 
 Not willing to expose themselves to the mnrderor.s 
 fire of the whites, the redskins remained quiet for 
 some time, doubtless deep in the formation of a plan, 
 whereby the fugitives could be brought to terms. 
 
 " It wou't last long, this quiet, ' ; said the tall hunter, 
 
 with his eagle eye taking in everything around him. 
 
 " They're too sharp tu attack us agin in an open 
 
 manner, so look out for tricks. Thunder an' lightniu' ! 
 
 , B'ars an' buffelers ! Lord !" 
 
 I "What is it? What do you see ?" cried Edward 
 f Hale, springing up and cocking his rifie. " Anything 1 
 cut of the way 7" 
 
 " I should think so. Look at that large rock yonder.'' 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 " Near thet scraggy tree." 
 
 "Well, what of It f" 
 
 h; I seed the bull tbing guv a suddint 
 


SLASH A WAT, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 an' roll right over. It is round, ye see, almost 
 round. Look, thar it goes agin." 
 
 And sure enough, the rock in question suddenly be- 
 gan to move, and being almost round, rolled over sev- 
 eral times without stopping. 
 
 " Some one's behind it pushing it," suggested Ed- 
 ward Hale j " an Indian warrior, likely. *' 
 
 "Five uv thej; red apes, more likely," replied the 
 trapper, quickly. " Don't ye see tbe rook ar mighty 
 big?" 
 
 " Big enough foi the purpose they have in view, no 
 doubt," replied the young man, after a moment's 
 silence. " There it goes again. Look !" 
 
 Once more tbe rock rolled over, then again and 
 again, and at every turn, Onion Bob uttered a quiet 
 curse. 
 
 " The miserable devils are comin' for us as straight 
 as a string," he growled, " an' what's more, I don't 
 know how to stop 'em. Ef it war a tree we could 
 shoot through it but a rock I'm mighty 'fraid it's all 
 up 'ith us." 
 
 It was a neat trick of tbe redskins this rock busi- 
 ness and completely upset tbe calculations of the 
 whites, and put them at their wits end, 
 
 " We can't stop the red rascals, in my opinion," said 
 young Hale, fixing bis eyes on tbe rock. " What 
 shall we do f Stick here and fight ?" 
 
 " I reckon thet's about all we kin du," replied the 
 hunter, with considerable nervousness in his looks and 
 actions. " Thar's no use o' runnin'." 
 
 " And if we stay and fight ?" 
 
 " Thar's a big chance o' us gittin' killed and scalped. 
 Howsumever, we mought as well stick to it, au' do the 
 best we kin. Thar's notbiu' like tryin'. What do ye 
 say" Shall we stick, run, or cave in." 
 
 *" Stick," replied Edward, shortly. " Let us die 
 fighting." 
 
 With this deterr.i 5 nation tho two men began to pre- 
 pare themselves for tho coming "truggle. 
 
 The hunter put asi^ big ^un. and t;.king from his 
 


SLASHAWAT, THE FEARLESS. 43 
 
 belt a long-bladed knife, and a revolver of almost 
 equal length, examined them both very carefully, after 
 which lie said : 
 
 " Keep yer eyes on the rock, young man, an* the 
 fust head ye see, blaze away at it. I ain't so much 
 afraid uv these chaps as I am uv tae fellers what's 
 waitin back vender in the brush. We may scare 
 these rascals off, but the others I don't know, I don't 
 know." 
 
 Determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible, 
 onr two friends waited the slow approacli of the rock, 
 and as it came nearer and nearer, they grew impatient 
 f*r the struggle, which they well knew would be ona 
 fc< life or death. 
 
 Five minutes passed. The wily redskins were well 
 aware that the palefaces were awaiting their approach, 
 so they made no attempt at silence, but as they pushed 
 and urged the rock along, curses loud and deep, shouts 
 and yells, issued from their throats. 
 
 " The painted imps make noise enough," said young 
 Hale, as the redskins gave a sudden yell. "Look 
 there, what do you think of that ? They can roll toe 
 rock no further, it has struck against a tree/' 
 
 It was even so. The rock had come in contact with 
 a low, dwarf tree or shrub, and lay, an immovable 
 weight, within a dozen yards of the rocky fortress of 
 the trapper and his young companion. 
 
 Finding themselves in a measure defeated, the 
 painted rascals began to howl at the top of their voices, 
 while the whites, overjoyed at the discomfiture ot their 
 savage foes, sent up a shout that made the rocks ring. 
 
 " I reckon we've got 'em," laughed Onion Bob, at 
 ] last, " an* in more ways than ono. What think ye, 
 sonny t ?; 
 
 " I think they'll find some trouble in getting back," 
 xvas the quick reply. " They can't hide behind a 
 rock in going back, not very much they can't/' 
 
 " Aft' it won't do tu git up an' run," suggested the 
 trapper, with a quiet chuckle. " In mv opinion, all 
 


44 SLA3HAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 they kin do is to lay thai and wait for re-enforc4* 
 
 ments." 
 
 " Which they intend to do, I reckon, by the look* 
 of tilings," put in the young man. " It would do rna 
 good to get a pop at one of 'em." 
 
 " You'll liev a chance pretty soon," rejoined the 
 hunter, quietly. t{ Do ye see anythin' tu yer left ?" 
 
 The young man turned his eyes in the direction in- 
 dicated by his companion, gave a quick glance then 
 turned and said : 
 
 " The red imps are coming to the assistance of their 
 friends. They will make a rush at us pretty soon in. 
 order to give these scoundrels, )mps, in front of ua a 
 chance to pick us off. "What shall we do?" 
 
 " Fight 'em, in course,' 7 replied the trapper, quickly. 
 " You see to the chaps behind the rock, watch 'e*n 
 clus, an' I'll settle the hash o' the others." 
 
 The foremost of the redskins, or chief of the band, 
 at this moment yelled something in the Indian tongue, 
 and at once dashed forward with a terrible cry, fol- 
 lowed by all his braves. 
 
 But he paid for his boldness with his life, for scarcely 
 Lad lie advanced a dozen paces, when the hunter's 
 rifle sprang to his shoulder, a quick aim followed, a 
 report keen and startling rang out upon the air, and 
 uith a shriek, a gurgle, and a groan, the painted 
 wretch threw up his hands, and fell to the ground, 
 dead as a stone. 
 
 Seeing their leader fall, the redskins did not, as is 
 usual in such cases, turn and run, but with maddening 
 cries of rage, rushed forward to avenge his death. 
 
 Then it was that the whites felt that the time of 
 life or death had come, and with a bravery unsur- 
 passed in Indian warfare, stood firmly at their posts. 
 
 A second of time went by, then Onion Bob agaki 
 brought his rifle to his shoulder, and once more a sav- 
 age monster bit the dust. 
 
 This time the redskins quailed, and \ith a wild ciy 
 of mingled rage and disappointment, turned and fied 
 pell-mell back to their retreat. 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS 45 . 
 
 The fight was over. The redskins behind the rock, 
 with the cowardly instincts of their race, moved not 
 in behalf of their more courageous friends, nor made a 
 single effort to leave their dangerous concealment. 
 
 This the Indians in the bushes noticed, and it made 
 them wild with rage. 
 
 The whites could hear them cursing among them- 
 selves, but what they intended to do to relieve the 
 redskins behind the rock from their embarrassing posi- 
 tion, or whether they intended to do anything, was 
 more than they could tell. 
 
 "It wouldn't surprise me if they went off and left 
 'em, the cowardly rascals/' at last spoke up Edward 
 Hale. " It would be paying them up in their own 
 coin. I really wish they would." 
 
 Five minutes passed. Then the hunter, noticed a 
 huge warrior coming toward him, bearing something 
 white in his hand, which he soon saw was a flag of ' 
 truce. 
 
 " They want ter make peace,' 7 whispered he to the 
 young man, as he called his attention to the approach- 
 ing savage. lt Howsumever " 
 
 The redskin suddenly halted, and cried out, in 
 broken English : 
 
 " Red man ready to talk. What say palefaces ? 
 Won't hurt nobody. Talk much, talk little, talk good 
 deal." 
 
 "What do ye want tu talk about, ole moonshine ?" 
 returned Onion Bob, in an angry voice. " Hev yo 
 got a pain somewhar, an' want td be relieved from 
 duty ? 
 
 "No pain, no nothing," replied the Indian, shaking 
 Lis head. " Red warrior mightv cross, feel mighty 
 ugly." 
 
 The trapper laughed sarcastically. 
 
 " Yas, I reckon ye do feel ugly," he said, at length, 
 " an' ye hev reason tu. Ef a couple o' my friends 
 bed been busted afore my eyes, I'd feel ugly, tu. 
 But say yer say, my posy, durued quick, an' be off. 
 Are ye hungry ?" 
 


46 8LASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 "No hungry, no nothing/ 1 returned-' the redskity 
 sharply, " only mad." 
 
 " What fer are ye mad f ' 
 
 "Big red cowards behind lock, no good, ought to 
 die. login help ; em no more, but let white chaps 
 kill 'em. Will doit!" 
 
 The trapper divined at once that the redskins in- 
 tended to abandon their comrades behind the rock, so 
 lie answered with a will : 
 
 "Kill 'em?' Of course we will. Jist you an' the 
 rest take yerselves off, an', an' we'll fix 'em. They 
 played'' it pretty low on yon, the cowards. Oh,' it's aH 
 right ; we'll see to 'em ; don't trouble yerself about 
 tliet." 
 
 Apparently satisfied, the savage returned to his 
 friends, and to the astonishment of both Edward and 
 the huntfer, the whole painted crowd in a few minutes 
 began to move slowly over the prairie. 
 
 At first the redskins behind the rock could not be- 
 Jieve their eyes, for none of them understanding Eng- 
 lish, and no one telling them in their native tongue, 
 it was not possible for them to know the why or 
 wherefore of the case in question. 
 
 But tli sy were not long in the shade; over the- 
 prairie their comrades in arms were moving, on, on, 
 until, in half an hours' time, they could no longer be 
 seen. 
 
 Then the abandoned redskins, realizing how matters 
 stood, began to wail and howl like dogs baying at the- 
 moon. 
 
 This was too much for honest Onion Bob, who 
 shook his fist at the rock, and fairly roared : 
 
 " Halloo { thar, ye miserable, whinin' devils. 
 What du ye mean by kickin' up sich a racket ? Kim 
 out, an' show yer greasy heads, an* we'll fight it out 
 hand tu hand." 
 
 The redskins did not answer, but one of them at 
 this moment a little too frolicsome in his grief, showed 
 bis head above the rock, whereupon Onion Bob quickly 
 took it for a mark, and,jjrawing bead, blazed away. 
 


SLASH A WAY, THE FEAKLESS. 4f 
 
 The shot proved effective, fur with an agonizing cry 
 tbe redskin sprang to his feet, reeled backward a 
 dozen or more paces, turned ouce and a half around, 
 then with a gurgle and a groan, fell forward a lifeless 
 wwfeht to the ground. 
 
 Then the remaining savages howled worse than 
 ever, and as they howled, the whites derided them with 
 mocking laughter. 
 
 " It's all very well to laugh," at length spoke up 
 Edward Hale, " but to come down to business, please 
 inform me what we're going to do about it. How are 
 we to get out of this trap f" 
 
 " Git out as we kim in, I s'pose," replied the hunter, 
 dryly, " walk out." 
 
 " And get riddled with bullets/ 7 returned the young 
 man, sharp]?. "The moment we attempt to 
 
 " They'll blaze away at us, yas.' ; 
 " And the moment they attempt to take themselves 
 off -- 
 
 " We'll blaze at 'em. So ye see they've got us an' 
 we've got 'ern ; au ; that's mighty leetle to brag uv on, 
 either side, mighty leetle. Heavings !" 
 
 At this moment the savages, without any warning, 
 sprang to their feet, and with yells that fairly curdled 
 the blood, dashed down upon the whites. 
 , Then a hand to hand conflict ensued, and though 
 t of short duration, it was a bloody strife. 
 
 With rare presence of mind Onion Bob seized his 
 
 revolver, and evading with wonderful alertness the 
 
 I flashing tomahawks of his foes, emptied every chamber 
 
 J of his weapon into the savage crowd. 
 
 " The effect was murderous in the extreme. One 
 
 hideously painted monster received A ballet through 
 
 bis head, another rolled to the ground his heart riddled 
 
 with balls, while a third wiUi a wild shriek and an up- 
 
 ward spring, a bullet wound in his breast, fell head- 
 
 ing to the ground. 
 
 Only one redskin was left, and as the trapper turned 
 


SLASH AW AY, TEE FEARLESS. 
 
 from his bloody work, the savage in 
 upon him, and bore him to the ground. 
 
 Then ensued a terrible struggle. 
 
 ',-' Yells, shrieks, curses, groans, rent the &;t, as like 
 
 I two blood-hbunda the hunter and the sa?age fonghr. 
 
 At length the redskin got in a blow ou the hunter's 
 
 head that almost killed him, but at the same instant, 
 
 ; the savage monster received in return a thrust from 
 
 the hunter's knife, that laid him cold in death. 
 
 Then the hunter did what he neve* did before, bo 
 i swooned away. 
 
 In a few minutes consciousness began to return, and 
 ! the first thing he thought of was Edward Hale. 
 
 < The young cuss whar is he f ' said the hunter, 
 feebly. 
 
 A groan answered him. 
 
 '' Dying !" stammered the hunter, looking around 
 ! him. " That he is, poor fellow, 7 ith his head busted." 
 On the ground within a few feet of the trapper, lay 
 Edward Hale, apparently dead as a stone. 
 
 Quickly the hunter approached him, felt of him, he 
 
 , was warm ; placed his hand on his heart, it flut- 
 
 : tered ; then he whispered half to himself, half aloud : 
 
 " The red buck war too much fer him, hit him on 
 
 the head, nearly killed him. But he'll kirn to in a 
 
 minute, fer his lips are on the move. Thar, he's goin 
 
 tu speak." 
 
 The young man's eyes opened, his lips moved, and 
 
 ke said this, looking straight into the hunter's face : 
 
 11 She plays the guitar and sings, and I thought I 
 heard her. Maybe I didn't, though. Her name is 
 Margaret !" 
 
 He said no more, but closing his eyes, fell back in 
 a dead swoon. 
 


SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 
 
 WHEN Edward Hale fainted, Onion Bob quickly 
 rose to hie feet, and half suspecting that bis friend was 
 dead, muttered sorrowfully : 
 
 " Too bad, too cussed bad. Thar's nothin' I hate 
 to see so much, as a young chap 'ith his skull busted. 
 Drtrn me, ef 1 don't feel like blubberin' right out. 
 But I must do somethin' for 7 im afore it is too late. 
 What shall I do ?" 
 
 It occurred to the trapper at this moment that there 
 was a stream of water at no great distance away, and 
 it also occurred to him that a little water on the head 
 and face of the young man might .revive him, so he 
 lost not a moment's time in procuring the water, arid 
 using it as above. 
 
 And that his remedy was a good one, the hunter 
 had reason to believe, for no sooner had he applied it, 
 than the young man began to show signs of life, tie 
 muscles 'of his face twitched convulsively, his hands 
 moved, and soon his eyes opened, his speech came to 
 him, and he muttered, as one in a dream : 
 
 " I have boon asleep, dreaming. I can see nothing ; 
 it is dark. Where am I, and who is Una bending 
 over me f" 
 
 The hunter placed his hand on the young man's 
 " > ' < tnil <ler, .and replied : 
 
 ^Jl's nil right, ujy lad. Don't bother yerself about 
 


60 SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 whar ye are, bat git ter yer pins as soon as possible 
 The fight is over, the red bucks are all dead, an' both 
 uv our hides, thank God, are tolerably compact* 
 Are ye feelin' a trifle better, my innocence ?" 
 
 The young man ans-wered in a voice a little stronger 
 than at first : 
 
 " Yes, I am feeling better. I'll soon be up, I 
 reckon, soon be on my feet. I must have had a ter* 
 xible fall." 
 
 The trapper corrected him in an instant. 
 
 " It wasn't a fall ye had, young man/' he said, 
 41 not a fall, but a whack over the head ; ith a darn 
 big club, tbet almost busted ye. Thar was a bloody 
 fought, ye know. Don't ye bleeve it ? Then look 
 aroun ; ye ; an' see what a greasy muss thar is, an' be 
 oon winced." 
 
 As Edward Hale looked around him, he shuddered^ 
 for he had never seen such a bloody sight before iii 
 all his life* 
 
 " Terrible, terrible," he muttered, half rising to hU 
 feet. "And you killed them all, every one of them, 
 did ye ?" 
 
 11 Thar's whar ye're right, young man," replied tb<$ 
 trapper, with a jubilant laugh. " I killed 7 ern. J did." 
 
 And I ? " 
 
 "You? Why, you got a crack over the head. 
 didn't see ye kill anybody, an' I guess ye didn't. 
 Howsnmever, it don't matter now who did the killing 
 one thing are sartin the red bucks are dead. Are 
 ye able tu move now, sonny 1" 
 
 The young man rose to his feet, and finding that W 
 could stand without trembling, replied as follows- 
 
 " I can get along, I guess, though I feel anything- 
 but strong. Where shall we go ?" 
 
 ' To the home of Slashaway, the Fearless," was the 
 quick reply. " I've got business 'ith Slashaway ." 
 
 "But he's not at home." 
 
 " How do ye know, young man ?" 
 
 "I was there not more than three Wvrs 
 Slashaway and I are friends." 
 


8LA8HAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 51 
 
 The hunter turned on his young companion a pier- 
 cing : look, and with more force in his voice than was 
 really necessary, inquired : 
 
 ".Do ye tell me that Slashaway and you are friends 1 
 Slashaway, the Fearless, is mad so the people say 
 BO how kirn ye to know him ?" 
 
 " By accident," replied young Hale, "and by acci- 
 dent I obtained his friendship. When we first met he t 
 was going to kill me, but he got over that after' 
 Awhile, and together we went to his cave. He was 
 very kind to me." 
 
 The trapper muttered to himself in an abstracted 
 manner. 
 
 " Strange, very strange," he said, " thet Slashaway 
 ehould take up 'ith a stranger. Still it's jist as well 
 thet the youngster an' he are friends." 
 
 The hunter wiped the blood from his knife, and 
 shouldering his rifle, with a quiet " Come on "to his 
 companion, stepped quickly over the bloody corpses of 
 the redskins, and soon the two men were moving 
 rapidly away from tho little fortress, wherein they 
 had fought so nobly, and so nearly lest their lives. 
 
 At length, it being nearly sundown, they came to a 
 bait, on the edge of a slight ravine, and while Ed- 
 ward collected chips and sticks with which to build a 
 fire, the trapper started out to see what he could kill 
 in the line of game. 
 
 After a while he returned, bearing upon his back a 
 deer, a portion of which he sofln bad roasting over the 
 fire. 
 
 The men were very hungry, and as the meat was 
 tender and juicy, they ate it with a relish. 
 
 After they had finished their repast, Edward Hale 
 made a move to go on, but Onion Bob remarked that 
 as it was nearly night, they had best remain where 
 they were until the opening of the next day, 
 
 To this the young man consented, so a quantity of 
 dry leaves were gathered, upon which they could 
 make their beds, and as comfortably as circumstances 
 would admit, the two men lay down to rest. 
 


52 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 But before he was quite asleep, Edward Hale in- 
 quired of the hunter, who had risen from the ground, 
 and was sitting with his back against a tree, whether 
 there was any danger of being disturbed by wolves. 
 
 *' I've been told that there are more wolves than, 
 redskins in this part of the country," he said, " and if 
 that is the case, wo are liable to have a pack of the 
 hungry monsters down upon us at any moment. How 
 is it? Are there an)' wolves hereabouts ?" 
 
 Onion Bob snorted out an answer in these words : 
 
 11 Wolves, young man, did ye say ?" Why, blast 
 ye, the timber is full uv 'em. Wolves that chaw, 
 wolves that howl an' snap, and try to devour ye big 
 wolves. Howsumever, I don't think we'll see any to- 
 night, an' why ? Jist fer this reason : Thar's four or 
 five dead red bucks not more'n three miles from here, 
 an' thar's whar the wolves will go. The critters will 
 kirn from miles aroun', an' go right thar, straight as a 
 string." 
 
 " And is it safe for us to go to sleep f ' asked Ed- 
 ward, with a little show of alarm. " Are you net 
 afraid ?" 
 
 " 'Fraid ?" replied the hunter, scornfully, " no I am 
 not afraid, but ye are, an' tharfore ye'd better go tu 
 sleep. I'll stay awake a spell, an' watch things, an ; 
 ef anythin' suspicious turns up, I'll call ye. Go tu 
 sleep, I say, tu sleep." 
 
 Being very tired, the \^oungraan re-arranged his bed 
 of leaves, and with his rifle by his side in easy reach, 
 was soon sound asleep. 
 
 u He kin sleep the little cuss but I can't," said 
 Onion Bob, as soon as the heavy breathing of his com- 
 panion told him that the latter was asleep. " The 
 youngster are mighty tired, I know, as well as weak 
 from the lickin' he got, an' I want him tu sleep a long 
 while an' get rested, fer thar's no knowin' what's afore 
 us." 
 
 The hunter ceased speaking, and for several minutes 
 remained perfectly motionless. 
 
 Then he took a heavy, dark-colored pipe from his 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLKS3 53 
 
 pocket, and filling and lighting- it, remarked, as be 
 put it to his mouth : 
 
 " I'll smoke and watch and watch and smoke, an' 
 the deeper I smoke, the closer I'll watch/' 
 
 An hour passed by. Onion Bob, as good as his 
 word, still pulled at his long, black pipe, while not a 
 sound, not even the dropping of a leaf escaped him. 
 
 At length about midnight, the hunter suddenly put 
 aside his pipe, and turning his head, listened at what 
 be thought was the distant baying 1 of wolves. 
 
 After listening awhile he straightened up, and 
 knocking the ashes from his pipe, whispered in a voice 
 almost inaudible : 
 
 " Thar's music in the air, and I hear it, it's the 
 howlin' uv wolves, an' cuss me, ef I don't b'lievc the 
 red-tongued devils are comin' toward us. Yas, I'm 
 sure they are, I hear 'em now 'ithout listenin'. I 
 reckon I'd better guv the boy a punch an' notify him 
 uv the coming danger." 
 
 Taking the young man by the heels, the hunter 
 cracked the two together, and in this very original 
 way aroused Edward from his slumbers. 
 
 " What's the go, my friend ?" asked the young man, 
 as soon as he was able to speak. " Has anything 
 gone wrong f" 
 
 "Listen sharp, an' ye'll know 'ithout assistance 
 from me," answered Onion Bob. " Do ye hear any- 
 thin r ' 
 
 " I hear a variety of sounds/' was the reply, after a 
 .short silence. 
 
 " Wai, do ye hear wolves ? I do/' 
 
 "And they're comin' toward us," said the young 
 man, with no apparent notice of the trapper':? \orus. 
 " What shall we do ?" 
 
 " Stay whar we are, I reckon," replied tbo hunter. 
 " Your shooter is a good one, an' so is mine. V'o 
 thrashed the Ingins a while ago, an' now we'll lick 
 the wolves." 
 
 Attracted by the fire, as well as by the meat the 
 hunter had roasted, a pack of ferocious timber wolves 
 


64 SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 carae up the ravine, and goon our two friends had 
 almost as much to fear from them, as they had ffom 
 the redskins from whom they had so recently and so 
 miraculously escaped. 
 
 " I hadn't calculated on so many." growled Onion 
 Bob, as ho counted at least a dozen red-tongned boasts, 
 growling and snapping at various points not over a 
 rod away. " Burn 'em, how they howl. Yer, take 
 this and begone." 
 
 Quick as a flash the hunter seized a burning brand, 
 and with a yell meant to startle the wolves, hurled the 
 red torch in the midst of the hungry crowd, which had 
 the effect of scattering them in every direction. 
 
 But they soon came back, and fiercer than ever be- 
 gan to show their glistening teeth at Edward and the 
 hunter, while at the same time they rushed in and out 
 of the darkness, howling and snarling, snapping and 
 barking, in a way that convinced the men that to fall 
 into their clutches would be an affair serious in the 
 extreme. 
 
 " It's only the fire that keeps 'em back, young man," 
 said the hunter, as Halo tossed a stick or Uo more on. 
 the glowing coals. " It's a risk tho' this fire for the 
 red bucks might see it, an' then " 
 
 " It would be, all day with us/' put in the young 
 man. "Come to think of it, suppose we let tUe fire 
 go out, and climb a tree. What do you sav ?'' 
 
 "It might be a good plan, and it might not," re- 
 plied the hunter. " It ain't so easy climbin' a tree 
 7 ith a gun.' ; 
 
 "If we manage it right, it won't be much .of a 
 trick," responded Hale, with great confidence in big 
 voice. "You get up first, I'll hand you the shooters, 
 then I'll follow you. Come on." 
 
 Onion Bob thought the plan of his young friend a 
 good one, so he prepared to act upon it at once. 
 
 About a dozen yards from the fire stood a large qak 
 tree, whose branches grew very low and thick, and ; on 
 this tree the hunter had his eye, though how to reach 
 it without being devoured bj the hungry moutere 
 


SLASH A WAY. THE FEARLBSa ft 
 
 gathered around it, was a problem which the hunter 
 
 could not solve. 
 
 " We mought make a rush fer it," said he, " but ten 
 
 chances tu one we'd git chawed inter strings afore we 
 
 got Ihar. Kin ye think uv any thin', my lad? Ef ye 
 
 kin, spit it out." 
 
 j Edward Hale did not reply, but seizing a brightly 
 ] burning stick from the fire, gave a startling yell, 
 
 (while At the same time he rushed for the tree around 
 which the wolves were gathered, waving his brand as 
 > tie ran, 
 
 ' The ruse was successful. The wolves seeing the 
 flaming brand coming toward them, scattered in every 
 direction. 
 
 Then the young man cried out : 
 "Don't you see how easy it is? Pick up another 
 Stick, and come on." 
 
 The trapper did not wait a second invitation, but 
 seizing a fire-brand, made a rush for the tree, which 
 he reached just as the feet of his young fiiend disap- 
 peared'in the foliage above him. 
 
 " Give me the rifles," said the young man, reaching 
 down his hand. <; Hoist 'em up, quick." 
 
 The two weapons were in the speaker's hand in an 
 instant, and in an instant more the hunter was climb- 
 ing the tree like a squirrel. 
 
 " Pretty good, pretty good," chuckled Onion Bob, 
 
 very well pleased with his new position. " Now 
 
 we'll sit yer an' pop ; em off 'ith nobody tu say aught 
 
 agin it. Thar, look; the hungry varmints are begin- 
 
 < nm' tu show thai teeth n'read^. Wai, let 'em growl 
 
 I an' fight j we don't care." 
 
 I Snapping, snarling, growling, snuffing the air, the 
 
 | "wolves came slowly toward the fire, and seeing no one 
 
 1 there to molest them, made quite bold at length, and 
 
 began to devour that which the men, had left of their 
 
 evening meal. 
 
 At first there was enough for all, but soon the pick- 
 ing got so poor that the hungry beasts began to fight 
 


6fc SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 among themselves, creating a horrible din, to whiol. 
 the men listened with a sort of grim satisfaction. 
 
 At length Edward Hale thought it about time to in- 
 terfere, so he took good aim at the seeming leader of 
 the pack, and fired. 
 
 The wolf struggled a moment, then rolled over on 
 the ground, and was quickly pitched into by his com- 
 panions, who tore him to pieces, and devoured him in 
 an instant. 
 
 " The bloody devils," exclaimed the young man, as 
 he saw the ugly beasts picking the bones of their 
 comrade. " The wolf was scarcely dead when they 
 began to snck his blood. Well, here goes again." 
 
 Once more the young man's rifle sounded, and a^rain 
 a dusky brute rolled to the ground. 
 
 Then Onion Bob put iu a shot with a like result. 
 
 But the hungry monsters would not be frightened 
 away, but devoured one another with a relish, that, to 
 young Halo, was sickening. 
 
 "Oh, they're durned nigh famished, the critters,* 
 remarked the hunter, as he rammed home the charge 
 in his gun. "The best way tu feed 'em, is to kill 
 T em. So load up, my lad, an' blaze away." 
 
 As the hunter spoke, ho leveled his rifle at an open- 
 jawed monster, and, without any particular ,aim, blazed 
 away. At the same moment Edward Hale put in a 
 shot, and, almost simultaneously, two howling brutes 
 keeled over in the throes of death. 
 
 "We raought as wel) let up on 'em," said the hun- 
 ter, after a moment's silence, " fer we're only gittin' 
 away 'Hh our ammunition to no purpose. Drat me, ef 
 1 aiirt afraid we'll hev the red bucks down on us ef 
 we continue this rumpus. S'pose we roll up, an' go 
 tu sleep." 
 
 This proposition struck Edward Hale as being very 
 comical, and he laughed, as he replied : 
 
 " I've had all the sleep I shall get to-night, and as 
 for roosting in a tree, I couldn't possibly do it." 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS 57 
 
 " But ye kin sleep on the ground V queried the 
 bunter, in a low voice. 
 
 "Yes.* 
 
 " Then let us git down. Look, thar's not a wolf tu 
 be seen." 
 
 With a doubtful expression on his face, Edward 
 Hale did as he was bid, and true enough, not a wolf 
 could he see. 
 
 "Gone, every rascal of them," said he, looking to- 
 ward the fire. " What could have frightened them 
 away ?" 
 
 "I don't know, I am sure," answered the trapper, in 
 a voice that sounded very cold and strange. " I am 
 * 'fraid tho', mighty 'fraid " 
 
 " Of what ?" quickly interrupted the young man. 
 f " Of Tngins !" was tlie reply. "ThoVolvsa left us 
 very suddint, ye know, thet's suspicious." 
 
 " But the redskins what have they to do with it?'"' 
 
 " Wolves don't like redskins very �eJl, and redskins 
 don't like wolves," was the odd reply, " tharfore the 
 two don't kim together.* 1 
 
 "And do you think the red fiends have discovered 
 us ?" questioned the young man with considerable 
 alarm. "Have the} 7 taken the place of the wolves T 
 
 The hunter's reply was emphatic. 
 
 " I think the red bucks are watching us from the 
 ground," lie said. " In my opinion we are done fer !" 
 
 Edward Hale was silent a moment, thinking, then 
 be asked : 
 
 " Is tl ere anything we can do ?" 
 
 "Nothin' but stay whar we are/' was the reply. 
 
 " Ef we could reach the ground '"' 
 
 j " But we can't if the redskins are watcliin' us. The 
 : l moment we attempt to descend, we'll et positive 
 f warning that it won't GO. Really, 1 know not \liat 
 ;: to do in this emergency. Have you nothing to sug- 
 gest r 
 
 The hunter answered quietly, though in a voice full 
 of determination : 
 
 " Thar's nothiu' we kin do but tu roost yer atu^ tl? 
 


58 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLES& 
 
 break ol day. In two hours from now it will bo 
 
 light." 
 
 With this the hunter pulled his cap over his eyes 
 and refused to say another word, while Edward Hale, 
 with many gloomy forebodings pressing in on his mind, 
 watched and waited for the coming of the moming'a 
 dawn. t 
 
 An hour passed by. All was still, all was silent, f 
 not even a leaf rustled, and Edwai'd began to think 
 that they were surrounded by perils only imaginary. | 
 
 But he was soon undeceived. 
 
 At the first, appearance of light the report of a .rifle ; 
 rang out upon the air. and the men heard the. whiz of 
 a bullet a foot or two above their heads. 
 
 "A warning said the trapper, quietly. u We'll 
 hear some more of the same music prectv soon. 
 " Thar P 
 
 Again a rifle cracked, and again a bullet whizzed 
 over their heads, this time in such close proximity to the 
 hunter's cap, that he involuntarily gave a start which 
 caused him to lose his balance, and he fell headlong, 
 rifle and all, to the ground. 
 
 At first the trapper thought that every bone in bis 
 body was broken, but this point he had but a moment 
 to consider, for in less than no time three or four 
 screaming redskins were upon him, pounding and ham- 
 meiing him into the ground. 
 
 The trapper turned and twisted, struggled haxd.fco 
 get away, but failing, at length he cried out : 
 
 " Havings an' yearth ! are ye goin' to murder me f 
 Pile off, ye nasty brutes, an 1 let me up. I'll surren- 
 der, 1 will, by mighty. Git off, I say." : 
 
 Satisfied that their prisoner would not attempt to 
 get away, the redskins ceased pounding him,. and rising, 
 with more than brutal ferocity, pulled or rather hoisted , 
 him to his feet. i 
 
 "Durn pretty cusses, ye are," growled the hunter, 
 as he wiped the blood from his face. " What in thun- 
 der d'ye mean by treatin' a gentleman trapper r ith so 
 much rudeness ?' ; 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEAltLBSa 59 
 
 If Onion Bob expected a satisfactory answer to this, 
 fie was mistaken in the men with whom he had to deal 
 All they did was to laugh and yell, and punch him ia 
 ibe side and breast with their guns. 
 1 5 At length the seeming leader of the band got off 
 \ this in tolerable English : 
 
 "I " Big white cuss tumble from tree, almost break hia 
 '; bead. How like fall, eh ?" 
 
 " I don't like it very much," replied the trapper ia 
 a voice anything but pleasant. " An' then tu hev a 
 pack uv miserable skunks ready to massacre ye, ar 
 another thing I can't appreciate. What are ye goin 1 
 tu do ? ith me, ole man ? I am re.ady to travel. Come 
 on." 
 
 The redskin grinned. 
 
 " Another feller in tree," he chuckled, as he peered 
 through the branches. " Don't s'pose warrior going to 
 leave him ?" 
 
 Onion Bob's countenance fell. He had hoped tho 
 redskins would pass his young friend by. 
 
 " I thought maybe the devils didn't know he war 
 tbar," whispered the hunter. "Wai, let them take 
 ; im." 
 
 Edward Hale saw at once that the best thing he 
 could do, was to give himself up without delay, so he 
 quickly came down from the tree, and allowed his 
 hands to be bound behind him. 
 
 A few m?nites the redskins waited, then, driving 
 their captives before them, they moved swiftly and 
 *way. 
 


SLASH AW AY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 CHAPTER, V. 
 
 THE WOU AN OF SPECTTcE ISLE. 
 
 THE village of the redskins was about fifteen mile* 
 from the wood in which Edward Hale and his trapper 
 friend were taken prisoners, and to this village the 
 whites were driven with all possible speed. 
 
 They reached their destination a little after midday, 
 and were greeted by a noisy crowd of savages, who 
 could not heap indignities enough on their defenceless 
 captives. 
 
 At length Onion Bob was taken in tow by four or 
 five stalwart rascals, who thrust him into a sort of 
 rude hut, ami chained him to the ground. 
 
 Then ; returning, they seized Edward Hale, and 
 soon he, too, was thrust into a dungeon-like arrange- 
 ment, and bound securely to the floor. 
 
 The jail or dungeon in which Edward Hale -was 
 imprisoned, was divided into two wings or compart- 
 ments, and the partition was of logs rudely hewn and 
 put together. 
 
 The jail was also quite light and dry. The floor 
 was of sand. 
 
 For several minutes after his captors had gone, the 
 youug man remained very quiet, thinking ; then he 
 thought he heard a sound that resembled very much 
 the regular breathing of a person asleep. 
 


ELASEIAWAY, THE FEARLESS. ffc 
 
 But be could see nobody, and to investigate while 
 h: t;u- present position was out of the question. 
 
 u 1 believe there is another prisoner here some- 
 where/' whimpered the young man, as he attempted to 
 arise. " If 1 could reach the wall, I would soon find 
 out who it it. Suppose I call out." 
 
 Suiting the action to the word, Edward exclaimed 
 aloud ; 
 
 li Who's there f Friend or foe ; answer me. I am 
 a prisoner." 
 
 The breathing stopped almost instantly, a moment 
 of silence ensued, then a voice, low and sweet, in* 
 quired : 
 
 " Who are you? Am I dreaming, or did some one 
 speak to me ?" 
 
 " Some one spoke to you, I reckon/ 7 replied Hale, 
 dryly. " It was I." 
 
 *'And who are you?' 7 inquired the voice, in the 
 same low, sweet tones as before. " You are a man, 
 I know, but your name " 
 
 " Is Edward Hale," was the quick reply. " I am 
 a prisoner, the same as yourself, I suppose. But tell 
 me your .name." 
 
 A full minute the silence was unbroken, then the 
 voice said sweetly : 
 
 " It will do you no good to know my name. We 
 shall never see each other." 
 
 " But 1 must know it; do not deny me." 
 
 There was a moment of silence, then the voice re- 
 plied ; 
 
 " My name is Marguret." 
 
 Edward Hale started as though a rifle-bs.il had hit 
 him, and for full five minuteR could not speak for 
 the varied thoughts that filled his mind. 
 
 " And her name is Marguret/ 7 thought the young 
 man, " the same name that Slashaway, the Fearless, 
 so often repeated. The woman of Spectre Isle 
 Margaret, Marguret. I wonder if she plays the 
 guitar^ and sings. 7 ' 
 


62 SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS 
 
 lie stilled bis throbbing heart by an effort of hia 
 will, and asked: 
 
 il Your name is Margaret, you say. Now answer 
 me' this : Do yon play the guitar, and do you sing?" 
 
 It was an odd question, but the woman answered it 
 at once. 
 
 " 1 play, the guitar/' she said, " sometimes, and 
 sometimes I .sing." 
 
 Edward Hale, more perplexed than ever, closed his 
 eyes, and began to think. It seemed to him that he 
 had been holding converse with an apparition. He 
 thought of the golden-haired woman of whom Saul 
 Slashaway had spoken the woman who had so sin- 
 gularly stood between the hunter and Sandy Jim. 
 
 " You mustn't think me a ghost," spoke up the girl, 
 after a while ; " I am only a young thing, and a cap- 
 tive, like yourself. You asked me if I play and sing. 
 "Why did you ask me that?" 
 
 The young man replied at once: 
 
 " Because I heard some one playing the guitar the 
 other day, and somehow I thought, I thought " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 tl That the musician was yourself. I do not know, 
 I really do not know. Tell me if I am right." 
 
 The woman spoke up with sudden earnestness. 
 
 '* It was ny guitar that you heard, and I was the 
 player, I saw you, but you did not see me." 
 
 " Then you are the woman of Spectre Isle you 
 live there t" 
 
 " I live with Black Nathan, the Hermit of Spectre 
 Isle. My name is Marguiet." 
 
 " And your other name " 
 
 " You shall not know ; at least, not now. I do not 
 know you.'' 
 
 Determined to find out all he could, Edward Hale 
 continued : 
 
 "'I heard you sing and play, and I saw Black 
 Nathan, as you call him. It was he who saved my 
 life;" 
 
 " No, you are wrong." 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEAHI^ESS. 63 
 
 *HOW,P 
 
 " But for me, Black Nathan would not have raised 
 a finger in your behalf. By accident I discovered 
 Sandy Jim's 'intentions, I entreated the Hemrit. to -fol- 
 low- him and save your life which he did. What think 
 you now ?" 
 
 Edward Hale could but utter his thanks in broken 
 words, for it seemed to him that he was dreaming a 
 wild, rnad dream. 
 
 j "Strange, strange," he said to himself, at. length. 
 
 j " I am not mad, I am not dreaming, still I scarcely 
 
 4 know what I am about. I never heard a sweeter 
 
 vice than Margaret's, I never felt my heart beat as it 
 
 does now. If I could see her angel face, how happy 
 
 I should be. I wonder if sho is bound, at> I am, to a 
 
 rock. I will ask her." 
 
 He spoke to her tenderly, and asked her if she was 
 bound, but though ho repeated his question several 
 times, not a wortf reached him in return. 
 
 Then he began to wonder what had become of her, 
 whether or no he had said anything to offend her, and 
 somehow his mind turned on angel visitants, and it 
 occurred to him that maybe Marguret was one of them. 
 
 " Still she spoke to me," he said, trying to shake off 
 tbe feeling of dread that was creeping over him. 
 " Maybe she is sleeping. I'll call again." 
 
 He cried out louder than before, " Marguret, Mar- 
 guret," but no one answered him, the adjoining room 
 was still. Then he said to himself in a whisper : 
 
 " She is gone, Marguret, my angel, gone, gone." 
 
 Just then the clanging of a heavy oaken door, and 
 
 the rapid tramping of feet reached his ear, and with 
 
 i this he thought he heard the rough voice of Onion Bob, 
 
 ' the trapper, approaching from a point to the left of 
 
 liirn, several yards away. 
 
 And he was right. Onion Bob was soon thrust un- 
 ceremoniously into the dungeon adjoining the one in 
 which Ed waul Hale w bound, and with his hands 
 laetened behind him, his feet securely tied, he was left 
 to hirosel, 
 


64 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 But before many minutes had elapsed, he let his 
 presence be known, by exclaiming, in his usual, bluff 
 way : 
 
 lt Thunder an' Gnakes! I don't like this arrange- 
 ment one bit j the varmints hev tied my paws tighter'n 
 lightning an' my hoofs I can't budge. I'll be smashed 
 ef I kin do anythin' but roll aroun' like a chicken 'itk 
 his head off. I wonder whar Edward is." 
 
 T^e young man lost no time in informing the hun- 
 ter wvere he was. 
 
 "I am here, old boy," he said, loud enough for the 
 huntei to hear him. " If you can come a little nearer, 
 do so, ror I want to talk to you." 
 
 The trapper rolled himself over and over, until he 
 reached the partition, when he vociferated, while he 
 pounded the logs with his head : 
 
 "Te don't tell me thet ye are in thar, does ye, Ed- 
 ward ? Why, gosh, I thought the red bucks had 
 killed ye. My lightnin' ! but I'm glad you're yer. 
 How does ye feel ?" 
 
 11 Not much like crowing," replied Edward, dryly. 
 " I should like to get out very well." 
 
 " And so should I/' replied the hunter. " Do ye 
 know what they're goin' tu do 'ith us the red imps ?'' 
 
 " No, do you ?" 
 
 <'Yas; "I seed 'em pilin' brush, an' dry wood, an' 
 chips over thar ; an" I reckon, wal, I reckon " 
 
 " That they're going to burn us alive, roast us?" 
 
 " Thet's what I've concluded." 
 
 There was silence a moment, when Edward Hale 
 remarked : 
 
 " What time of day should you call itf ?; 
 
 il &bout four o'clock in he arternoon, I reckon," 
 replied Onion Bob, without much consideration. 
 
 " And how much longer have we got to live f* 
 
 " Ef it's roastin' they intend tu guv us, we'll git it 
 about midnight. Oh, they'll hev a roarin' time the 
 devils." 
 
 The young man thought a moment, evidently not 
 


SLAS3AWAY, THE FEARLESS. 65 
 
 very greatly impressed with the hunter's laconic ob- 
 servations. He spoke at last. 
 
 " I don't like to die this dog's death," he said, " and 
 hall not, if I can help it. How are you bound 
 tightly?" 
 
 " Tightly ?" grunted the hunter, " I should say so. 
 All I kin do is tu roll over an' over like a barrel. 
 'I'm up a stump/ as they say, completely." 
 
 Edward Hale made no reply, but began to work his 
 | hands back and forth, half believing he could free 
 J them in a short time by a succession of twists and 
 pulls. 
 
 The hunter heard him at his work, and divining 
 what he was about, urged him on by saying : 
 
 " Ye kin du it, my lad, I reckon, ef ye try hard 
 enough, fer these cussed leather straps sometimes give 
 like thunder. So pull an' twist, an' yank an' jerk, an' 
 may the good Lord help ye." 
 
 The young man worked until he was tired, which 
 was very soon, then he lay quiet a few moments, after 
 which, the woman suddenly coming into his mind, 
 he said : 
 
 " You and I are not the only prisoners, Onion Bob ; 
 there is a woman to keep us company." 
 
 " A woman !" echoed the trapper. " Whar is she, 
 whar is she ?" 
 
 The young man hesitated a moment, then replied : 
 
 " I do not" know, I really do not know; I did not 
 see her, I only heard her voice. She was in the room 
 j where you are j at least I thought so, I thought so." 
 
 " But don't ye know, ye leetle cuss ? Whar was 
 | she, I soy, whar was she ?" 
 
 " She. was in there, but she disappeared suddenly, 
 | and you took her place. You must have seen her, 
 ' certainly," 
 
 " But I didn't, by a darn sight," answered the hun- 
 ter, sharply. " Did ye learn her name, ye monkey ?" 
 
 The young man winced under the hunter's sharp re- 
 torts, 'but controling himself, he replied : 
 


T66 SLASH AWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 "Her WHOM) is 'Margaret, and she is a resident of 
 Spectre Isle." 
 
 * For some reason Onion Bob was silent. Five min- 
 utes passed, then be spoke, but what he said was to 
 Lira self. 
 
 " Saul Slashaway, poor devil, he has more trouble 
 nor any one else. Ef I war he, I'd go crazy, too- 
 crazy as a bug. I hope the redskins won't kill her 
 fer Slashaway 's sake. He thinks a heap o' her, he 
 does, o' 'Margaret, an 7 I don't wonder at it, fer she's a 
 fine lass, a mighty fine lass." 
 
 The hunter ceased muttering, and for some minutea 
 buried himself in silent thought. 
 
 ; He was aroused at length by Edward calling out 
 excitedly : 
 
 " I'm free, old man, I'm free j that is, my hands are 
 free, and I'll soon loosen my feet, then I'll come to 
 you. Glory, glory, glory." 
 
 Tho young man was as good as his word, for his 
 feet were soon untied, and he was on his way to the 
 assistance of Onion Bob. 
 
 But here arose an obstacle that for a moment ap- 
 peared nnsurmoantable, and the obstacle in question 
 was the log partition. 
 
 Edward examined it, but at first could see no way 
 of getting through it, and his heart began to fail himj 
 when Onion Bob suggested : 
 
 " Ef ye can't git over, maybe ye kin crawl under,; 
 the floor is urv sand, ye know. Begin to dig an f 
 scratch like the devil, my lad, an' I'll wager my hat 
 ye'll succeed/ 7 
 
 The suggestion ot the hunter was a good one, and 
 the young man lost no time in useless argument, but 
 began' to work with a will. 
 
 After digging in the sand a while, he whispered^ 
 just loud enough for Onion Bob to hear : 
 
 " I am doing bravely, old fellow, bravely. I'll soon 
 be through." 
 
 " It was a pretty tight squeeze, but Edward Hale, 
 ot be defeated, got right down to business, and soon 
 


SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 9f 
 
 ftis lithe, slender form pushed into the light of the 
 room where Onion Bob was bound. 
 
 The old hunter was delighted at the success ofbis 
 old friend, and when the latter untied his hands and 
 feet, and assisted him to arise, he exclaimed with en- 
 ergy : 
 
 " Ye are a bully boy, Ed'urd, an' worth a dozen 
 common fellers. Gosh o' mighty ! yer right up an* 
 com in'." 
 
 The young man acknowledged the liunter'g compli- 
 ments with a sruile, but he quickly changed the sub- 
 ject, by saying : 
 
 " So far so good, but what are we to do nest ? The 
 redskins may corne in at any moment, then what would 
 become of us ? We must do something at once, what 
 shall it bef 
 
 Before replying, the hunter gave the room a careful 
 examination. 
 
 u I don't see any way fer us to git out/' he said, 
 " fehet is, at present. We mought burst, a holo in the 
 roof, but we can't do ic no�, the red bucks' ud see .us." 
 
 u But to-night we can, I reckon," quickly rejoined 
 the yonng man, " and it will soon be dark. But 
 should the redskins visit us before then, what are we 
 to. do?" 
 
 The hunter picked up from the floor a couple of 
 stones weighing about a pound each, and giving ouo 
 of them to Edward, he said, while his eye. 1 * glittered : 
 
 u Ef they come, the red imps, don't stop to think, 
 knock 'em down, brain 'em, then run lor yer life tu the 
 woods, any \har. The red murderers can't more than 
 kill ye, an' ef ye give in, they'll kill ye suro." 
 
 But fortunately the redskins did not trouble them, 
 and it was dark almost before thay knew it. 
 
 "I believe a storm is brewing, I hear.it thunder," 
 uhispered young Hale, as he crouched down in one 
 corner of the room. " Anyhow, it .is going to.be- verv 
 dark." 
 
 " The darker it is the better fer us," grunted the 
 


68 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 trapper, as he groped aronnd the room, " and ef it 
 thunders good and stiong, I'll be satisfied." 
 
 Edward Hale was about to reply, when at this mo- 
 ment the heavy, oaken door sung open with a clang-, 
 and the black figure of an Indian warrior stood con- 
 fronting the captives. 
 
 In one hand the savage held a brand of fire, in the 
 other, a piece of meat of about two pounds in weight, 
 which he thrust forward with a giunt. 
 
 u Won't kill white cusses to-night, kill to-morrow,' 1 
 snarled the painted imp, as he offered the meat ta 
 Onion Bob. " Paleface devils burn like prairie grass. 
 How like to burn, eh ?" 
 
 For some cause or other the heavy, oaken door at 
 this moment swung to, and as the savage turned as if 
 to open it, the hunter, with the nimbleness of a pan- 
 ther, sprang upon him, and grasping him by the throat 
 so that he could not scream, bore him heavily to the 
 ground, then quick as a flash, he pulled a long knife 
 from the redskin's belt, and with one powerrul stroke 
 ended the monster's life. 
 
 Then he said, as he grasped young Hale by the 
 shoulder : 
 
 " The time has come, my lad, fer pluck an y fight. 
 Thar are at least a dozen red bucks guardiri' this she- 
 bang, an' what we're goin' to du, is to bust right 
 through 'em. So gather a rock, my innocence, an. 1 " 
 f oiler me." 
 
 Fear to delay lest the guards should suspicion that 
 all was not right, Onion Bob quickly opened the cfoor, 
 and closely followed by Edward Hale, pushed boldly 
 past the growling sentinels, who at first did not know 
 tbem from their dusky friends. 
 
 But they soon discovered their mistake, and with 
 blood-curdling yells, started in pursuit. 
 
 And then ensued a very lively race, which, but for the 
 darkness, would have resulted in favor of the redskins. 
 
 As it was, one of the whites, Edward Hale, was re- 
 taken, but not by the rascals in pursuit. 
 
 The way of it was this : As Edward and Onion Bob 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS OS 
 
 were bounding along, tbey became separated, and in 
 the darkness, took almost opposite directions, and tL* 
 first that Edward Hale knew, he ran plump into some- 
 thing, which at first he thought was a tree, brit which 
 he soon discovered was a redskin. 
 
 But he made this discovery too late, for the redskin 
 hurled him to the ground in a twinkling, and being a 
 very powerful savage, held him down, while he howled 
 lustily for help. 
 
 And help appeared in about ten seconds, in the 
 chape of a score of dusky brutes who soon jerked the 
 young man to his feet, and as tbey drove him along, 
 kicked and pounded him in the most shameful manner. 
 
 So in ten minutes from the time he escaped from tbe 
 jail, he went back to it, bruised and bleeding, and 
 thinking, and not without reason, that he would neve* 
 come out alive. 
 
 As for Onion Bob, he out-distanced his pursuers, 
 and escaped to the woods. 
 
 " The old trapper will help me if he can," said the 
 young man to himself, as the redskins left him, bound 
 to the floor of the jail. " I am afraid, though, very 
 much afraid it's all up with me." 
 
 An hour passed. It was very dark, and the night 
 was creeping on. Still the savages did not go to their 
 wigwams, but kept up a continual howl outside the 
 jail. 
 
 " What do they mean, the rascals ?" questioned Ed- 
 ward Hale, at length. "It cannot be that they in- 
 tend to torture me to-night. Still I hear the crackling 
 of flames, and the smell of burning wood comes to xrie. 
 Merciful Heavens ! my flesh fairly creeps. Hark ! I 
 hear them corning. God help me, lam lost!" 
 
 Howling, screaming, yelling, arid shouting, half a 
 score of blood-thirsty knaves suddenly made a rush 
 for the prison-house, and bursting down the door, 
 seized young Hale, and with more than brutal ferocity 
 dragged him to the stake of torture. Then they begaa 
 to dance around him, scream their horrid music in Lia 
 cars, thrust burning brands into his face, kick 
 


30 8LASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 pound him, until, goaded to desperation, lie cried out 
 for them to kill him at once, and so end his misery. 
 
 But this the savage brutes did not intend to'do; 
 they preferred rather to murder him by degrees, and 
 with this purpose in view bound him to a fire-charred 
 stake, and began to heap brush-wood and dry leaves 
 around him ; then firing the pile, they shrieked; yelled, 
 and danced about the slowly creeping flames like so 
 many demons. 
 
 It was a horrible mcment foi young Hale ; he fully 
 realized his situation, and as the hissing, crackling 
 fire approached him nearer *nd nearer, writhing, 
 twining, squirming, he set hi* teeth firmly together, 
 as if determined to die without a murmur. 
 
 But the redskins were equally determined that he 
 should show his agony j they renewed the tortures, 
 kicked, and struck him, and to make the horror more 
 intense, blistered his face, hands, and arms with burn- 
 ing brands. 
 
 His agony was frightful. He felt as if he would 
 instantly expire. Every fibre of his frame shuddered, 
 and he knew that he was rapidly sinking into uncon- 
 sciousness. 
 
 Still the fire raged, blistered, and burned ; the skin 
 was beginning to crumble away, shriveling up like 
 parchment, and gaping cracks appeared in the flesh, 
 from which blood spurted forth, and hissed upon the 
 glowing coals. 
 
 This was more than human nature ouH endure. 
 
 The young man fainted. 
 


/S&A8HAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 31 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TO THE KESCI7E. 
 
 TH moment Edward Hale's consciousness left him, 
 and be sank, as it wore, a helpless lump into the fire, 
 the Indians, satisfied with the tortures, kicked aside 
 the brands, and cutting the cords with which he was 
 bound, carried him to the nearest wigwam, and there 
 tried every means in their power to bring him to. 
 
 In a short time they succeeded, and the young man 
 opened his eyes and talked aloud, and so vividly did 
 the horrible past come to him, that he shuddered in* 
 Voluntarily. 
 
 "They almost roasted me, the devils, and I wonder 
 very much why they saved me," the young man said. 
 " I am horribly burned." Then turning to an old, 
 weather-beaten hag, who seemed to be the only person 
 In the room, he asked : " Who are you ?" 
 
 The old squaw looked up with a wicked scowl, and 
 
 " My name is Sleeping Wave. I am almost a 
 devil. Don't ye believe it ? Then try to get away, 
 and see." 
 
 "And did you dress my burns?" questioned tli 
 young man, as he pressed his hand to his face. 
 
 The old hag answered at once. 
 
 "I did; I rubbed some ointment on them; th* 
 


72 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 braves thought you would die ; I said no, I'd malt* 
 you live. I wanted yon to live, for 1 wanted to se* 
 you burn again. Next time no one will help you-** 
 burn to a crisp." 
 
 i Edward shuddered, for it now occurred to him whj 
 the red fiends had saved his life. He was to be tor- 
 tured at the stake a second time he was to be burned 
 alive. 
 
 The thought was a horrible one ; too horrible to be 
 long entertained, and Edward Hale wrestled with it 
 until his heart fluttered wildly, and he groaned aloud. 
 Then he spoke. 
 
 *' It was no kindness in yni, then, to save my life,* 
 he said ; " I wish you had let rne die. I was strong, 
 then, now I am weak. I am a coward. Heavens! 
 how the thought makes me shudder," 
 j The old witch laughed a horrible laugh, and her 
 wild, vindictive merriment, so out of place, so terrible, 
 geemed to Edward Hale a species of devilish mockery. 
 
 " Ye don't wan't to die, then afraid, are ye ?" 
 sneered the old hag, approaching so near the young 
 man that her breath touched his face. u Just like all 
 the rest afraid of death. I know the palefaces well; 
 I've lived among them; they are cowards/' 
 
 The old witch spoke such good English, that Ed- 
 ward was not surprised when she informed him that 
 she had spent several years among the whites. 
 
 " And did they ever treat you ill the whites f" he 
 asked, a singular thought at that instant coming into 
 his mind, " did they try to burn you at the stake ?" 
 
 The old hag scowled, and a bitter laugh escaped 
 her. 
 
 " The paleface are dogs," she snarled, "and I hate 
 them. Look at this scar and ask me if they tried to 
 kill rne. Dog ! devil ! wretch, look !" 
 
 She bent her neck, and Edward saw thereon a scar 
 extending half way round an ugly wound it must 
 have been, and the young man lost no time in asking 
 her how she got it. 
 
 *' He almost killed me, the white devil, tried to cut 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 73 
 
 my throat," replied the squaw, and her eyes glittered, j 
 " Shall J tell you how it happened V 
 
 11 Yes, tell me all about it," replied the young man, 
 impatiently. " Your face startles me, it looks so 
 familiar. Have I not seen you before to-night, some- 
 where ? I think I have. But let me have your story, 
 now, at once. What! you think I can tell it better? 
 '. Well, then, listen, for here it is." 
 
 I " Ahout seven years ago, as near r.s I can remem- 
 ber," began Edward, " I was visiting friends in a large 
 western city, and while there, had occasion to render 
 assistance to an old Indian woman, who was selling 
 bead trinkets and so forth, on the streets. The way 
 of it was this: It was near nightfall, and the old 
 woman was on her way to her lodging-house, when 
 she was met by three or four drunken scoundrels, who 
 attempted to possess themselves of the articles in her 
 basket, without paying for them. Of course the old 
 woman resisted, and a scuffle ensued in which the squaw 
 was roughly handled, she cried, ' jklurder ! murder 1* 
 then something in the Indian tongue: and I, who hap- 
 pened to be near at that time, ran to her assistance. 
 And I was just in time. One of the cowardly rascals 
 Leld a knife in his hand, and I noticed that it was 
 covered with blood, and when I rushed up, he was 
 about to strike a second time, which no doubt would 
 have ended her existence. But I was too quick for 
 him. Before his knife could descend, my cane, which 
 was a heavy one, carne down on his head with such 
 force, that his knife flew out of his hand, and he him- 
 self fell sprawling to the ground. What happened 
 uext, you know as well as I, for you are the old In- 
 dian woman whose life I saved." 
 
 Sleeping Wave, the old Indian witch, heard the 
 young man through without a woid, but when he 
 turned on her to verify the truthfulness of his story, 
 she said : 
 
 " The young paleface speaks the truth. I am the 
 old Indian woman whose life was saved by. the white 
 boy several years ago. When they brought you 5n^ 
 


74 8LASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 the bravea I knew I had seen you before. 1 
 thought, I studied, I wondered, then your face came 
 to me, and I was satisfied. You saved my Life, now 
 what shall I do for you ? Sleeping Wave never for- 
 gets a kindness. 77 
 
 Edward Hale did not answer for some minutes j 
 he was revolving in his mind how he should proceed 
 with the old witch, for, if it was her purpose to befriend . 
 trim, he wanted to be sure of everything beforehand. \ 
 
 "I saved your life, you say," he begun- at last, | 
 "now what should you do for me save mine, of I 
 course. I am in a tight box, am doomed to a horrible * 
 death, am friendless, alone, only you can save me. I 
 helped you when you needed it, now help me." 
 
 The dark, scowling face of the old hag bent over 
 the young man, and her eyes glittered savagely, as 
 ehe replied : 
 
 " The paleface is a coward, he is afraid to die, he 
 wants Sleeping Wave to gave his life. Sleeping Wave 
 is a squaw." 
 
 "She is a woman," returned the young man, " and 
 the paleface boy saved her life, that is enough he 
 will die." 
 
 The old squaw paced the room back and forth sev- 
 eral times, then stopping by the side of the young 
 man, she bent her head, and said in a voice firm, but 
 scarcely audible : 
 
 "Do not fear, Sleeping Wave will see that the 
 young man escapes. Bloody Knife is a great warrior, 
 and would kill the old squaw, if he knew what is in 
 her heart. There is plenty of time, the braves are sat- 
 isfied, they say you shall live a week, then die. I 
 say you shall live longer, and I speak the truth. But 
 beware what you say, what you think, what you dream 
 Sleeping Wave is a devil, and if you betray her, 
 you die the death of a dog. Beware !" 
 
 Edward Hale had no disposition to betray the old 
 witch ; in fact, all he cared for was to escape/ so he 
 answered her unhesitatingly. 
 
 "Do not fear that I shall do anything to betray 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FBARLBS8. 75 
 
 you. .Art I ask of you is to give me a little lift in 
 the direction of freedom. You are kind, very kind, to 
 help me. I thank you. w 
 
 The old bag said nothing, bat seating herself in 
 one corner of the room, doubled herself up in a sort of 
 
 > $eap, and apparently went to sleep. 
 
 j But she was only dozing, as Edward soon oiscov- 
 
 | ered, for the moment he would move or make a noise 
 
 { in any way, her eyes were on the alert, aad her ears 
 
 : ready to take in every sound. 
 
 In this way matters continued until morning, when 
 the old hag aroused herself and began to look to the 
 wants of the young paleface captive, who certainly 
 weeded her assistance, for his burns were hurting him 
 considerable, and he was very sore and lame. 
 
 " No sleep, no rest, no nothing," said the old 
 woman, as she bent over him. " Next time sleep bet- 
 ter, then get well." 
 
 Pouring some ointment frcm a poach, the old bag 
 dressed the young man's burns, and soon he felt 
 easier, besides being very thankful for her kindness. 
 lie would now get well. 
 
 The. old woman built a fire, baked a sort of bread, 
 roasted a venison stake, and with a little herb tea, 
 brought Edward his morning meal. 
 
 The young man was very hungry, and ate what was 
 set before him with a relish, not did he care very 
 tm'Cii when the old hag gave him a wicked bcowl, for 
 he fully believed that she would aid him to escape. 
 
 ; Time passed on. The sun came up full of beauty, 
 and its welcome light stole into the wigwam, danced 
 
 ! over the young man's face, toyed with his hair, and 
 seemed to speak to him. 
 
 At -length Sleeping Wave went oat, and Edward 
 rose partly to his feet, and looked around him, for to 
 discover, if he could, how many red devils were guard* 
 ing the building, was his intention. 
 
 But he could see nothing, hear nothing, but a noisy 
 yelp of dogs, the cry of children, and au occasional 
 whoop of eome last? warrior returning from the chasa 
 


?8 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 " They are going to let me rest awhile, I guess, the 
 imps," siiid the young man, as he returned to his conch 
 of furs. "However, that I am closely guarded is 
 plain enough, for the redskins know their business too 
 v;ell to give me a single chance of escape. I am 
 afraid that Sleeping Wave cannot help me, very much 
 ;t f raid." 
 
 The old squaw returned after a short absence, and 
 Edward saw at once that her mind was ill at ease j 
 something had gone wrong j she was sullen, morose, 
 and little inclined to speak. 
 
 Determined to learn what had induced this change, 
 Edward asked : 
 
 "Are 3*ou ill, or have you seen something to dis- 
 turb you? What are the warriors about this morn- 
 ing F 
 
 The old witch looked up with a frown, and an- 
 swered between her teeth : 
 
 " The captive girl must die I" 
 
 The young* man sprang up with a sudden bound, 
 and for a moment his heart fluttered, his eyes looked 
 Mildly around him, and it seemed to him that he could 
 Fee the fair girl-captive Margaret, he supposed -suf- 
 fering all the horrors through which he himself had 
 passed, then falling a charred and sightless lump to 
 the ground. Then he tried to speak, but he could not 
 lie could only groan. 
 
 " What ails ye, lad f. said the old squaw, at length 
 " Is the white girl anything to you T } 
 
 "More than any one can tell," replied Edward, with 
 liis eyes full on the old hag's face "She is young 
 and beautiful, is she not? 7 ' 
 
 "She is young," answered the old witch, scowling, 
 " and she may be beautiful I don't know what beauty 
 is. Anyway, she burns to-night. Bloody Knife has 
 spoken j that is enough." 
 
 Edward was silent a moment, thinking. The first 
 thrill of horror and surprise had passed, and he was 
 taow coolly calculating on the chances of his own 
 escape, and wondering how he coald be of service to 
 


SLASH AWAY, THE FEARLESS 7T 
 
 the beautiful girl-captive, in this her day of trial, won- 
 dering if he could not rescue her from her cruel cap- 
 tors, or in some way induce them to save her life. 
 
 " The redskins are very cruel to kill her, a girl, 
 innocent and beautiful," said the young man, at 
 .length. "She has been with them several days; it 
 seems strange that they should kill her now." 
 
 Edward hesitated, and look at the old hag, who 
 answered him in a sort of fiendish satisfaction. 
 
 )" The young braves make fools of themselves," she 
 began, " they think the pale squaw beautiful, and they 
 quarrel and light, and kill one another just for her. 
 Bloody Knife is wise, he loves to see peace among his 
 warriors, and he knows how to get it he will put the 
 young girl to death." 
 
 " And you say she dies to-night ?" put in Edward, 
 gtill calculating on the chances of her escape, "she 
 dies by fire to-night ?" 
 
 " Bloody Knife says so, and he always speaks the 
 truth," replied Sleeping Wave, with a bitter, unnatural 
 laugh. "I wanted to kill her myself, but they 
 wouldn't let me the warriors I wanted to tear her 
 limb from limb, I hate her 1" 
 
 -" Then you have seen her, know how she looks, and 
 can describe her. I know her, and still I do not know 
 her. My eyes have never beheld her." 
 
 "Then why do ye whine so about her, ye devil?" 
 yelled the witch. " What if she does burn* what id it 
 to you ?" 
 
 ; " A good deal, I love her." 
 
 ' The old hag laughed loud and long, she seemed to 
 enjoy the young man's discomfiture, appeared to glory 
 in his distress. 
 
 " Ye love her, do ye ?" at length she sneered. 
 4t Maybe ye'd like to see her before she dies. Shall I 
 bring her here." 
 
 The young man's face flushed, his heart fluttered 
 wildly, and hoping that the beautiful girl captive 
 might be bronght to him, he answered : 
 


78 8LA8HAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 " I should like to see her very much. Cannot yon 
 take me to her f 
 
 The old witch laughed mockingly, and there was a 
 savage glitter in her eyes as she replied : 
 
 "The little paleface squaw must die. Sleeping- 
 Wave cannot save her cannot even see her; she is 
 guarded by the braves of Bloody Knife, and to-night 
 she burns at the stake. Do ye wish to see her? 
 Then come with me to-night and you shall see her as 
 she writhes in the flames, shrieks, screams and yells ; 
 she will be lovely then, and her screams of agony will 
 be as music in your cars.'' 
 
 She seemed to take especial delight did this old 
 she-devil in depicting the agonies of a captive at the 
 stake, and not til) Edward shrieked out for her to 
 cease her devilish jargon, did she stop talking of the 
 coming horror. 
 
 " She's as blood-thirsty as the rest the old heathen,* 
 muttered Edward, as the hag, with a savage grow!, 
 left the room. " I expect every minute to have her 
 thrust a knife into me. I am not satisfied that she is 
 my friend, that she is sincere in her promises of assist- 
 ance. I distrust her, she is an Indian/' 
 
 The young man was still a moment, listening j he 
 thought he heard a scratching, scraping sound coming 
 from the outside of the wigwam, and apparently 
 againsMhe logs near his head. 
 
 A moment he listened, the sounds were a great deal 
 more distinct, a voice was whispering to him too low 
 to be understood it was only to attract his attention. 
 He placed his ear to a chink in the wall and listened, 
 while his heart fluttered as though it would burst its 
 bounds. 
 
 "Who speaks to me?" he said at length, " the 
 white or the red ?" 
 
 The man on the outside whispered through the 
 chink : 
 
 " It is I, Saul Slashaway, and I have come to . 
 you. Are you bouad f " 
 


8LA8KAWAY, THE FEARLESSL 79 
 
 It seemed to Edward that a mighty weight had been 
 lifted from him, and he replied, joyfully : 
 
 " I am not bound, I am badly injured. The red- 
 skins did it attempted to burn me alive. Come in.*' 
 
 "Where is the old witch ?" 
 
 " " Gone I don't know where. Are ye not afraid of 
 the redskins f ' 
 
 "No, Pm a redskin myself, just now. I killed a 
 red buck and changed clothes with him, and painted 
 toy face I'll pass, I reckon. But you shall see for 
 yourself." 
 
 The hut of Sleeping Wave was ot conspicuously 
 situated, and as a consequence, Slaehaway got into it 
 unobserved, though, had the redskins seen him they 
 would have suspicioned nothing, so cunningly was he 
 disguised. 
 
 " I look pretty well, don't I f ' said the old man, 
 taking young Hale by the shoulder. " I'll pass, I 
 reckon/' 
 
 Edward looked sharply into the hunter's face, then 
 surveyed his eccentric costume, after which he ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 '" A perfect Indian ! I wouldn't have known you 
 had you not told me your name. How did you find 
 me out f who guided you V 
 
 " I needed no guide," replied the hunter. " I know 
 every wigwam in the village, I am almost an Indian." 
 
 " But you left me in your cave ; how did you know 
 of rny capture by the redskins ?' ; 
 
 " Onion Bob told me." 
 
 u Then you have seen Onion Bob ?" 
 
 w Yes j he is waiting for me now on the outskirts of 
 the village ; he was near you last evening when the 
 red varmints had you at the stake ; he told me all, 
 and here I am to save J T OU and and Murguret. 
 Have you seen her, my Marguret, anywhere V 9 
 
 With downcast eyes the young man answered : 
 
 " No, I have not, but her voice 1 heard j we were 
 prisoners together. She spoke of you," 
 
 What did she say ? 
 


80 SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 u She said she knew you, and and- -loved 
 I wondered that she should say so." 
 
 The old man's voice quivered. 
 
 Why shouldn't she love me ?" he said, at length} 
 '*' Bhe is my daughter." 
 
 Edward had suspicioned as much, but now he knfrw 
 for a certainty that Marguret was the daughter of 
 Slashaway, the Fearless. 
 
 " She did not tell me her name that is, only Mar* 
 
 furet," said the young man, thoughtfully. " But now 
 know her name, and who she is; she is your daugh 
 ter ; and you love her." 
 
 " Better than my own life." 
 tf And the Hermit of Spectre Isle who is he?" 
 " A strange old negro, very kind, very good, and 
 as true as steel to Marguret and I. The redskins call 
 him the ' Black Wizard/ and, until now, have kept 
 away from him, thinking him a spirit of evil. When. 
 Marguret got back she goes to school, she does ; I 
 send her thar- I let her stay 'ith Black Nathan, for I 
 thought she'd be safer there than 'ith me. But some- 
 how the red bucks discovered her, and new she is a 
 captive, and the Lord only knows what she has suf- 
 fered." 
 


'BLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS 81 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ESCAPE. 
 
 THE hcnter brushed away the tears that gathered in 
 bis eyes, and to a remark of Edward's concerning" 
 Sandy Jim, went on : 
 
 " Ef you'd like to know how it happened, I'll tell 
 you. Sandy Jim was my wife's brother. One day 
 Margaret that is, my wife and Jim got into a dis- 
 pute about me Jim hated me when what do you 
 think he did ? He up and shot her dead ! 
 
 "Then he jumped the country, but 1 followed him, 
 and tried to shoot him, but it wasn't for me to do. 
 Every time I'd draw on him, a woman in white, a 
 beautiful woman, Marguret, 'ud glide between us. I 
 couldn't shoot her, so I couldn't shoot him. But now 
 he is dead, thank God ! and I've nothing to fear from 
 him} still 1 am not yet out of trouble. Marguret, my 
 daughter, is a captive in this village j for aught I 
 know, she is doomed to die. I must save her. Can 
 you tell me where she is V 
 


& SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 Edward lost no time in informing the old hunter all 
 te knew concerning the captive girl. 
 
 Slasbaway Lad not imagined the savages would de- 
 liberately torture his fair daughter at the stake, so 
 ^dien Edward informed him of the intentions of the 
 Tedskins, it seemed to him that he should die of the 
 very thought. 
 
 " Marguret dies to-night," he repeated. " It cannot 
 foe, it shall not be. I'll save her, or die myself. | 
 Merciful God ! what shall I do ? I cannot think of t 
 losing Marguret, and such a death, too, so horrible, i 
 At midnight, you say, young man ? TV ell, we shall f 
 ^ee, we shall see. Are your feet badly burned ?" 
 
 " I can walk, 77 said the young man, inquiringly, f 
 " Why do you ask ?" 
 
 " Because you must get away from here to-day. 
 tThere'll be a row to-night tl at'll make things hum." 
 
 "But I am safe; the redskins won't harm me 
 Sleeping Wave, the witch, is my friend j she owes me 
 her life." 
 
 The hunter stepped toward the door, for at this 
 moment he heard the tramp of feet approaching the 
 house, but before he could get safely out, the old 
 witch had her eye upon, him, and her voice was ring- 
 ing in his ears. 
 
 "Who are you?" she screamed. "Fool, wretch, 
 scoundrel ! what do you mean by sneaking into my 
 house? A paleface dog dressed up as a redskin. 
 Ha, ha! you deceive no one; you are a fool!" 
 
 At first the hunter did not know what to do; 
 should he answer the old witch, or should he go on, 
 ;and let Edward explain away his presence in the 
 house as best he could ? He decided almost instantly, 
 and left the old woman without a word. 
 
 Sleeping Wave watched him until he was out of 
 then she went into the house, and her eyes 
 glittered savagely, as she said : 
 
 " Ye are a traitor, ye devil! A white rascal just 
 left my house. What war he doing in here 2" 
 
 * Nothing ; he fe my friend," 
 


SLASHAWAT, THE FEARLESS. 83 
 
 11 i r oar friend/*' repeated the squaw, sneeringly j 
 41 so am I your friend, yet I would cut your heart out 
 at the slightest word. Listen, now. To-moiTow I'll 
 set ye free, then we'll be even. You saved iuy life, 
 BOW I'll save yours." 
 
 Edward was silent. The old hag went about; her 
 work and said nothing. And so the day wore on. 
 
 At length evening came, and the village which had 
 all day been very quiet, began tc ring wiih the -shonts, 
 whoops, and howls of savage warriors, and goon 
 Edward was convinced that preparations were being 
 made for a grand war-dance, at the end of which, 
 Maguret, no doubt, would be brought forth to meet 
 her doom. 
 
 In a fever of excitement the young man watched and 
 waited. The hours went by. He could hear the 
 savages as they ran wildly about, howling and sure;mi- 
 ing like so many demons, and as he thought of Mar- 
 garet and the horrible death that awaited her, he 
 groaned aloud. 
 
 After a while Sleeping Wave, the old witch, caught 
 the excitement, and without a thought of Edwnrd 
 rushed out, and soon she too, was as busy as the rest 
 In preparing for the coming horror. 
 
 At length Edward could stand it no longer, lie 
 determined to make his egress from the wigwam, and 
 if necessary, die by the side of the suffering girl. 
 
 With this purpose in view he rose to his feet, and 
 notwithstanding his burns pained him severely, hob- 
 bled to the door. 
 
 Then he bethought himself of a weapon, and halt- 
 ing, looked around the room to see what he could iiud 
 that would aid him in case of emergency. 
 
 A small hatchet proved to be the only weapon in. 
 the room, and this he appropriated. 
 
 Quietly, cautiously, he crawled out of the wigwam, 
 and took his way toward a clump of bushes just back 
 of the council-house, and a little way off from a huge 
 fire, around which the redskins were congregated. 
 
 He reached the bushes in safety, he secreted himself 
 


&i SLASHAWAY, THE FEAt.**3. 
 
 be could see the redskin?, but the redskins could not 
 Bee him he was comparatively safe. So he watched 
 and waked. 
 
 An hour passed by. The savages were still dancing 
 around the fire, they were wild with excitement a 
 horde of ferocious, drunken brutes. 
 
 At length the hour of midnight drew near, and at 
 once a score of howling, besotted devils, made a rush 
 for the council-house, and before half a minute had 
 passed, Marguret was at the stake of torture. 
 
 From bis position in the bushes Edward saw all 
 that was passing, and as he thought how weak he was, 
 how little he could do to help the beautiful captive, he 
 groaned aloud. 
 
 " I have only a hatchet,' 7 he said. " I can do noth- 
 ing. God help her ! There, she screams, they are 
 putting her into the flames F 
 
 With an infuriated yell, two monster redskins sud- 
 denly seized the fainting girl, and lifting her above 
 their heads, made a rush for the burning pile as if to 
 throw her in. 
 
 As the horror struck him, Edward held his breath, 
 but to his surprise the two. savages, with the girl still 
 in their arms, leaped the fire and bounded into the 
 darkness which lay beyond. 
 
 At first the savages were stupefied, they knew not 
 what to think, but directly the truth dawned upon 
 them. The two stalwart men who had carried the girl 
 away were palefaces in disguise. But who they were, 
 their names, the savages did not know. 
 
 But it was all the same to Slashaway and Onion 
 Bob. 
 
 They were the men I 
 


SLA8HAW AY. THE FEA&LE3& 85 
 
 \ 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 THE PURSUIT. 
 
 As soon as tlie redskins discovered the deception, 
 their rage knew no bounds, and as they started in pur- 
 suit, such a howling, cursing, and screaming, Edward 
 nor the hunters never heard before. 
 
 For some minutes Marguret was unconscious. 
 Slashaway and Onion Bob carried her a short distance 
 into the darkness, then laid her on the ground, where 
 she quickly revived. 
 
 But even then she did not know where she was nor 
 what had happened, she only knew that some one was 
 beading over her, and speaking kindly to her a 
 j friend. 
 
 4! Pretty soon the men lifted her up and carried her 
 1 to where their horses were concealed, then mounting 
 , them Marguret in front of Slashaway, the Fearless 
 
 the little party rode swiftly and silently away. 
 I It was the "object of the hunters to make their way 
 etraight to the habitation ol Black Nathan, which they 
 could reach, they thought, by hard riding, in about 
 three hours. 
 
 And the time was well calculated. In about an 
 hour tUe moon appeared, the clouds drifted away, and 
 


86 SLASH AWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 in two hours more the little party of fugitive* had 
 reached their destination. 
 
 But do not think that all this time the redfikins 
 were idle. On the contrary, they had exerted their 
 utmost to overtake the whites, and when morning 
 came, they thought they almost as good as had them 
 in thsir power. 
 
 As the reader knows, the home of Black Nathan 
 was in the centre of a lake, on an island called Spec* 
 tre Isle. It was a small island, and from the shoie 
 looked more like a huge boulder or a rocky ledge 
 than anything else. 
 
 The house was a cellar-like arrangement, walled in 
 with stone. It was large, roomy, and very light and 
 dry, and fitted up in a manner as comfortable as one 
 could wish. It also commanded a good view of the 
 lake in every direction. 
 
 As soon as the fugitives had reached the island, 
 and were admitted into the Hermit's house, a confer- 
 ence was held as to what should next be done. 
 
 It was decided at last to stick to the house, and let 
 the savages take them if they could. 
 
 "We kin lick 'ein, I reckon, t�o hundred uv'em,* 
 exclaimed Onion Bob, taming to Slashaway for an 
 approving word. " What think ye, old uu ?" 
 
 "We'll do the best �e can for 'em," replied Slash- 
 away, dryly. "For myself I'd as soon fight as not, 
 but Marguret " 
 
 "Don't worry about me, father/' interrupted the 
 fair girl. "Iain used to bloodshed, and can "gtand 
 most anything now. But yon spoke of a young man 
 named Edward where is he ?" 
 
 The old hunter's face darkened, but the cloud passed 
 away in an instant, and he replied : 
 
 " He is among the redskins, poor bo} r . However, 
 I think he is safe. Sleeping Wave will take care of 
 him." 
 
 " And who is Sleeping Wave f asked Margiift't, 
 
 "An old Indian witch," replied her father. '" Ed- 
 ward once saved her life; she will repa^y him/' 
 


SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 87 
 
 'At tliis point Onion Bob changed the subject by 
 saying : 
 
 " I heerd a howl jist then, Slashaway, a howl, an 7 
 I reckon it war a painted varmint. Ye see it's day- 
 light, an' the red scalawags 'ill be 'round pretty soon, 
 thicker'n thunder." 
 
 The old hunter went to the door and looked out 
 over the water. At first he could see nothing but the 
 black, jungle-like wood bordering the lake; a second 
 look, however, and as many as twenty savage warriors 
 appeared before him on the shore. 
 
 "A savage crowd/' said Black Nathan, who, : at 
 that moment, was looking over the hunter's shoulder. 
 " It would do me good to kill them one by one j 
 but," he added, " they may kill us !" 
 
 The hunter did not reply: he. was thinking whether 
 there was a possibility of keeping the redskins from 
 landing on the island. " Ef we can keep them from 
 landing/' he said, "we may tire 'em out; "but let 
 them once get a foothold, and the blood 'ill flow like 
 water there'll be a thunderin' fight." 
 
 The men lost no time in making preparations for 
 the coming struggle, Everything that would aid the 
 redskins to gain a landing was removed, and as many 
 obstacles as possible were thrown in their way. 
 
 Full of fight, and knowing that they were powerful 
 in numbers, while the whites were but few, the blood- 
 thirsty savages launched their boats, two in number, 
 and pushed boldly for the island, expecting, no doubt, 
 to effect a landing unopposed. 
 
 But in this they were mistaken. 
 
 The whites bad their eyes upon them, and con- 
 cealed, as they were, behind rocks, had every oppor- 
 tunity of doing some bloody work. 
 
 And they did it. The savages, confident of suc- 
 cess, pushed boldly forward, and, as they soon dis- 
 covered, right into the jaws of death. 
 
 As they Reared the shore, Slashaway and Onion 
 Bob took deliberate aim at the apparent leaders o 
 


88 Bit ASH A WAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 the savage crowd, and sent two rifle-balls crushing 
 
 into their skulls. 
 
 ; The painted monsters dropped like lead into the 
 
 water, and the rest, seeing their leaders tall, with 
 | feowls of disappointment, rage, and fright, whirled 
 1 their boats around, and beat a precipitate retreat. i 
 ! Once out of range they halted, and began to wrangle 
 
 among themselves, howling, screeching, yelling, then 
 i they would shake their guns menacingly at the men 
 I on the island, while at the same time they cursed and 
 ' swore with all their strength. 
 | But the hunters paid no attention to their jeers and 
 
 fiendish threats, they charged their guns, and waited 
 
 quietly for the rascals to return. 
 
 i But the redskins had no intention of making any 
 
 more reckless advances, the murderous skill of the 
 i whites had taught them that a little prudence in the 
 i way they managed things would not be out of place. 
 ! " They won't disturb us just at present," remarked 
 
 Slashaway, as the savages moved toward the shore. 
 < I wouldn't wonder if we didn't see 'em agin to-day, 
 
 but to-night we'll catch it." 
 
 And the hunter was not far frora right- The 
 
 savages stationed themselves on the shore in plain 
 I view of the whites, and for several hours not an ag- 
 gressive move was made by either party. 
 i And so the day wore on, night came at last, the 
 i moon and stars took their places in the sky, and for a 
 
 time silence reigned supreme. 
 
 At length Slashaway, whose watchfulness never 
 I left him, discerned a movement among the redskins 
 i that aroused his suspicions. 
 
 About a dozen painted rascals were seen to cross the 
 ; lake and move up within a short distance of the island, 
 | while the remaining savages drifted to about the same 
 
 distance on the opposite side. 
 
 But the movement, though good enough, was plain 
 
 enough to the hunters. 
 
 Evidently it was the intention of the redskins to try 
 
 4o effect a landing at two distinct points, which, k*w- 
 


SLASIIAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 89 
 
 ing the strength of the fugitives, they thought they 
 could accomplish with ease. 
 
 With courage that never flinched, firm, resolute, de- 
 termined, the two hunters assisted by Black Nathan, 
 constructed a rude breastwork near the house, and 
 stationing themselves so as to obtain a good view of 
 the water on either side of them, watched and waited 
 the approach of their savage foes. 
 
 It was a moment of extreme peril to the hunters. 
 They had little hopes of driving the redskins back. 
 
 " We'll do the best we kin, fellers/' said Onion 
 Bob, " but ten chances tu one they'll drive us inter the 
 house. What do ye conclude, SI ash a way ?" 
 
 The hunter answered by pointing his rifle at the 
 redskins, and nodding significantly. 
 
 Onion Bob and Black Nathan understood L-isn, and 
 cast their eyes upon the savages, whom they saw were 
 now within easy rifle range. 
 
 " Shall we let drive at 'em V whispered the negro, 
 as he cocked his rifle. " I'm anxious to spill a little 
 blood." 
 
 " An* so am I," rejoined Onion Bob. 
 
 " Then go in l w exclaimed Slashawayj bringing his 
 rifle to a dead aim ou one of the redskins. " One, two, 
 three, fire ! 
 


90 8LASEAW AY. THit FEARLESS* 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The men selected their game, and almost stauil- 
 sJy three reports, keen and startling, rang out 
 on the air, and three dusky savages, with* agamxiog 1 
 screams, threw up their hands', and i'eli headlocg into 
 the water. 
 
 At first the savages, seeing their comrades foil, 
 tarned as if u> retreat, but their hesitation was b&fc 
 momentary; with howls, yeJls, and screftms, -'tfafey 
 pushed i>>r the shore, while at the same time they sent 
 & volley of rifle balls in among the locks which con- 
 cealed our friends. 
 
 A haud-to-hand conflict was imminent. The men 
 did not have time to reload their guns, but fortunately, 
 Slasbaway carried a revolver, Onion Bob a keen -edged 
 batchet, and the negro a long, glittering knife. 
 
 Yelling, screaming, howling, shouting, tfce savage* 
 advanced ; they were determined, they were tall of 
 fight, and ready for acy deed oi tiood however 
 atrocious. 
 
 The men waited a moment to let the redskins get a 
 little nearer, then springing to their feet, wito load 
 and startling yells, rushed upon them Just as the/ *ere 
 leaving their boats. 
 
 Ofiioo Bob and the negro made a rush for the boat 
 


SLASH A WAY, THE FEARLESSL 01 
 
 nonrest the shore, while Slashaway started for. the 
 other, and be used his revolver with terrible .effect. 
 Six shots in quick succession fell on the savages, 
 sending four of thein to their long homes, and wound- 
 a .fifth. The others replied with their rifles, then, 
 turning with wild yells of rage and disappoiiifment> 
 rowed rapidly away. 
 
 But it was different with Black Nathan and Onion 
 Bob. They met the redskins just as they were leav- 
 ing their boat, and waiting not a moment, pitched into 
 them with all the fury they could command. 
 
 Then a terrible hand-to-hand conflict ensued. 
 
 Whirling his hatchet above his head, the hunter 
 struck right and left, and, for a moment, the way the 
 blood flowed, the brains scattered, it seemed that ho 
 would vanquish them alone. 
 
 But the savages were resolute, and with tomahawk 
 and Bcalping-knife, pressed around the men, howling 
 like demons let loose. 
 
 Black Nathan opened his part of the fight by 
 plunging his long-l>laded knife into a redskin's 
 breast ; then clubbing his rifle, he gave a mad whoop, 
 and rushed into the thickest of the fight, where he 
 dealt out vengeance right and left. 
 
 Pretty soon a blow from a tomahawk felled him, to 
 the earth. Then the whole eavajro crowd tamed oa 
 Onion Bob, and but for the sudden arrival of Slash- 
 away on the scene, would have killed him, and torn 
 him liuib from limb. 
 
 The old hunter came up with a rush, and seizing a 
 tomahawk from the hands of a fallen redskin, knocked 
 two savage monsters to the ground at a single blow* 
 Then, seeing that defeat was certain, he cried outs 
 
 41 Boys, run for your lives I to the house!, to .the 
 " 
 
 The men obeyed, Black Nathan bringing up the 
 vear, and just as the house was reached, Margaret 
 wimg open the door, and the tired and blood-alained 
 vrtcn rushed within. 
 
 Not ten second* behiad, the savages thundered up, 
 


02 SLASH AWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 but the door was fastened, barricaded from fvithia, 
 and for a time the fugitives were safe. 
 
 The men were all more or less injured. Sla^hawar 
 was badly wounded in the arm ( Onion Bob's face was 
 covered with blood, while Black Nathan received a 
 concussion on the head that almost killed him. 
 
 Just how many redskins were killed the hunters 
 could not tell j probably a dozen, maybe more j any- 
 Low, not enough to frighten tho rest asvay. 
 
 " They fought like devils, the redskins," said 
 Slashaway, as Marguret bandaged his wounded arm. . 
 (t But the worst is to come. How are we to get out o* 
 tins trap without being picked off like squirrels? 
 We can do nothing but sit still and starve /" 
 
 "Which ain't my style," quickly rejoined Onion 
 Bob. wiping the blood from his lace. " I'm goiir* ter 
 fight!" 
 
 But as he said this he turned pale, and shaking his 
 powder flask, which was empty, looked at Slashaway, 
 and inquired : 
 i " Ammunition- hev ye got any ?" 
 
 The reply startled Onion Bob as he was never star- 
 tled before. The hunter said : 
 
 11 1 left everything outside my rifle, powder flask, 
 and all ! I have nothing, and Black Nathan is no 
 better off. There isn't a charge of powder in the 
 house !" 
 
 Onion Bob sank in one corner of the room perfectly 
 helpless. In a second he muttered between his 
 teeth : 
 
 "We're done fer, we're busted! Good-bye! The! 
 red bucks i'll gobble us up now fer sure 1" 
 
 And there was reason enough for the hunter to \ 
 think so. 
 
 The savages were howling around the house, clam- j 
 bering over it, pulling at the stones, and trying very 
 way to tear it down. 
 
 Then they tried to burst down the door, but it was 
 of oak, and withstood the shock. 
 
 In this way they worked until near morning, when 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS 93 
 
 tney succeeded in making a hole in the roof of the 
 bouse, large enough to admit the body of a man. 
 
 But none of the redskins cared to venture in, nor 
 did they enter, but instead carried great quantities of 
 smoking coals, which they scattered in as promiscu- 
 ously as they could. 
 
 " Ef they can't kill us one way they can another/ 1 
 said Slashaway, as he saw what the redskins were 
 about. " Might v 1 the smoke is almost suffocating 
 a'ready." 
 
 Howling, screaming, yelling, the painted devils 
 worked like beavers j burning, smoking faggots with- 
 out number were tossed in, and heaps of smouldering 
 coals were showered down on the now frantic pris- 
 oners. 
 
 What conld be done? They were dying by inches, 
 Five minutes more and they would be suffocated. But 
 to open the door would be instant death. The sav- 
 ages would shoot them down without mercy. 
 
 At length Marguret, who ull along had said noth- 
 ing, now spoke up. 
 
 "Let us burst down the door, and be killed at 
 once," she said. "This is agony j I can stand it no 
 longer." 
 
 Slashaway clasped his daughter to his bosom, and 
 groaned aloud Then he started up with a sudden 
 exclamation, and cried out : 
 
 "Listen! I hear the cracking of rifles* The red- 
 skins are running away. We are saved 1" 
 
 A chorus of yells, this time not of savages, but of 
 whites, burst out upon the air, and breaking down the 
 door, the men saw coming straight toward them a 
 dozen stalwart fellows, headed by no less a personage 
 than Edward Hale. 
 
 " Saved ! saved V cried the fugitives, in one voice. 
 * Taank God ! we are saved !" 
 
 The trappers, for such they proved to be, gathered 
 around Marguret and the rest, and in their rough way 
 joined with them in thanking God for their escape. 
 
 Then Edward Hale told his story. 
 


8LASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. 
 
 old witch spirited me away/' he said, u gave 
 me a good horse, and started me in the rig-lit direction* 
 Last, evening I met these men, and I traveled with 
 them- awhile, when wo run against a wounded redskin, 
 who gave us intimation of what was going on. And 
 didn't we eome here in a hurry? I guess we did, 
 we got here none too soon. The painted brutes w 
 
 were 
 
 doing their best to kill you; but it's over now, and 
 yon aro safo." 
 
 "With most of the trappers Onion Bob and Slash- 
 away were acquainted, and for a time the questions 
 and answers that passed between them were numerous, 
 but the question that principally concerned Margaret 
 and Edward was asked by the hunter, Onion Bob. Ik 
 was tins: 
 
 " Will ye help us git the gal an ? the young feller 
 tu the nisbcst settlement will ye chaps go in fer t?j 
 fcelpus!" 
 
 And the trappers said they would. 
 
 And they did. 
 
 What happened nest we can soon relate. The red- 
 skins did not think it to their advantage to attack so 
 large a party, so our friends safely reached their des- 
 ttaation. 
 
 On the way Marguret and Edward became very 
 well acquainted, and a mutual attachment sprang tip. 
 
 By the advice of Edward, Marguret was returned to 
 school, where the young man visited her 
 In a year's time they were married. 
 


SLASHAWAY, THE FEARLESS. to 
 
 For a time Slashaway lived with them, bat he soon 
 tired of the restraints of civilization and went hack to 
 fcie traps and guns. As for Onion Bob and the negro, 
 they live together on the island so sveli known to our 
 readers as Spectre Isle, and tbree mcths out of evoty 
 year, Slashaway, the Fearless, is with them, and defy* 
 the redskins, they hunt and fish at 
 40 we bid them 
 


The Long Lost Friend, 
 
 X CONTAINING X 
 
 HGIIEM.X 
 
 0>F THS 
 
 Wonderful 
 
 ANO 
 
 Valuable- 
 
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 y part of the wor 
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I 
 
 BEADLE'S FRONTIER SERIES 
 
 1. The Shawnee's Foe. 
 
 2. The Young Mocntaineer. 
 
 3. Wild Jim. 
 
 4. Hawk-Bye, the Hunter. 
 
 5. The Boy Guide. 
 
 6. War Tiger of the Modocs 
 
 7. The Red Modocs. 
 
 8. Iron Hand. 
 
 9. Shadow Bill, the Scout. 
 
 10. Wapawkaneta, or the 
 
 Rangers of the Oneida. 
 
 11. Davy Crockett's Boy 
 
 Hunter. 
 
 12. The For CM t Avenger. 
 
 13. Old .lack's Frontier 
 
 Cabin. 
 
 14. On the Deep. 
 
 15. Sharp Snout. 
 
 16. The Mountain Demon. 
 
 17. Wild Tom of Wyoming. 
 
 18. The Brave Boy Hunters 
 
 of Kentucky. 
 
 19. The Fearless Ranger. 
 
 20. The Haunted Trapper. 
 
 21. Uladman of the Colorado. 
 
 22. The Panther Demon. 
 
 23. Slashaway, the Fearless. 
 
 24. Pine Tree Jack. 
 
 25. Indian Jim. 
 
 26. Navajo Nick. 
 
 27. The Tuscarora's Vow. 
 
 28. Deadvtood Dick, Jr. 
 
 29. A New York Boy Among 
 
 the Indians. 
 
 30. Deadwood Dick's Big 
 
 Deal. 
 
 31. Honk, the Guide. 
 
 32. Deadwood Dick's Doxen. 
 
 33. Squatty Dick. 
 
 34. The Hunter's Secret. 
 
 35. The Woman Trapper. 
 
 36. The Chief of the Miami. 
 
 37. Gunpowder Jim. 
 
 38. Mad Anthony's Captain. 
 
 39. The Ranger Boy's Career. 
 
 40. Old Nick of the Swamp. 
 
 41. The Shadow Scout. 
 
 42. Lantern-Jawed Boh. 
 
 43. The Masked Hunter. 
 
 44. Brimstone Jake. 
 
 45. The Irish Hunter. 
 
 46. Dave Bunker. 
 
 47. The Shawnee Witch. 
 
 48. Big Brave. 
 
 49. Spider-Legs. 
 
 50. Harry Hardskull. 
 
 51. Madman of the Oconto. 
 
 52. Slim Jim. 
 
 53. Tiger -Eye. 
 
 54. The Red Star of the 
 
 Seminoles. 
 
 55. Trapper Joe. 
 
 56. The Indian Queen's 
 
 Revenge. 
 
 57. Eagle-Eyed Zeke. 
 
 58. Scar-Cheek, the Wild 
 
 Half-Breed. 
 
 59. Red Men of the Woods. 
 
 60. Tuscaloosa Sam. 
 
 61. The Bully of the Wood*. 
 
 62. The Trapper's Bride. 
 
 63. Red Rattlesnake, The 
 
 Pawnee. 
 
 64. The Scout of Tippecanoe 
 
 65. Old Kit, The Scout. 
 
 66. The Boy Scouts. 
 
 67. Hiding Tom. 
 
 68. Roving Dick, Hunter. 
 
 69. Hickory Jack. 
 
 70. Mad Mike. 
 
 71. Snake-Bye. 
 
 72. Big- Hear ted Joe. 
 
 73. The Blazing Arrow. 
 
 74. The Hunter Scouts. 
 
 75. The Scout of Long Island. 
 
 76. Turkey-Foot. 
 
 77. The Death Rangers. 
 
 78. Bullet Head. 
 
 79. The Indian Spirit. 
 
 80. The Twin Trappers. 
 
 81. Light foot the Scout. 
 
 82. Grim Dick. 
 
 83. The Wooden-Legged Spy. 
 
 84. The Silent Trapper. 
 
 85. Ugly Ike. 
 
 86. Fire Cloud. 
 
 87. Hank Jasper. 
 
 88. The Scout of the Sciota. 
 
 89. Black Samson. 
 
 90. Billy Bowlegs. 
 
 91. The Bloody Footprint. 
 
 92. Marksman the Hunter. 
 
 93. The Demon Cruiser. 
 
 94. Hunters and Redskins. 
 
 95. Panther Jack. 
 
 96. Old Zeke. 
 
 97. The Panther Paleface. 
 
 98. The Scout of the St. Lawrem 
 
 99. Bloody Brook. 
 
 100. Long Bob of Kentucky. 
 
 THE ARTHUR WESTBROOK CO. Cleveland, U.S.A. 
 
















108