panted up the steep hills, his high-heeled boots clattering among the
rocks in contrast to the silent footsteps of the Indian's moccasined
feet.
Running Rabbit stopped where the limestone hill had cracked, leaving a
crevice wide at the top and shallowing at the bottom.
"This is a good place for a white man who coils a rope so well, to rest,"
he said, and seated himself near the edge of the crevice, motioning Smith
to be seated also.
"Or for white men who shoot old Indians in the back to think about what
they have done." Yellow Bird joined them.
"Or for smart thieves to tell where they left their stolen horses." Bear
Chief dropped cross-legged near them.
"Or for those whose forked tongue talks love to two women at once to use
it for himself." The voice was sneering.
"Smith, you're up against it!" the prisoner said to himself.
As the others came up the hill, they enlarged the half-circle which now
faced him. Recovering himself, he eyed them indifferently, one by one.
"I have enemies, friends," he said.
"White Antelope had no enemies," Yellow Bird replied.
"The Indian woman had no enemies," said Running Rabbit.
"It is our friends who steal our horses"--Bear Chief's voice was even and
unemotional.
Their behavior puzzled Smith. They seemed now to be in no hurry. Without
gibes or jeers, they sat as if waiting for something or somebody. What was
it? He asked himself the question over and over again. They listened with
interest to the stories of his prowess and adventures. He flattered them
collectively and individually, and they responded sometimes in praise as
fulsome as has own. All the knowledge, the tact, the wit, of which he was
possessed, he used to gain time. If only he could hold them until the sun
rose. But why had they brought him there? With all his adroitness and
subtlety, he could get no inkling of their intentions. The suspense got on
Smith's nerves, though he gave no outward sign. The first gray light of
morning came, and still they waited. The east flamed.
"It will be hot to-day," said Running Rabbit. "The sky is red."
Then the sun showed itself, glowing like a red-hot stove-lid shoved above
the horizon.
In silence they watched the coming day.
"This limestone draws the heat," said Smith, and he laid aside his coat.
"But it suits me. I hates to be chilly."
Bear Chief stood up, and they all arose.
"You are like us--you like the sun. It is warm; it is good. Look at it.
Look long time, white man!"
There was something ominous in his tone, and Smith moistened his short
upper lip with the tip of his tongue.
"Over there is the ranch where the white woman lives. Look--look long
time, white man!" He swung his gaunt arm to the west.
"You make the big talk, Injun," sneered Smith, but his mouth was dry.
"Up there is the sky where the clouds send messages, where the sun shines
to warm us and the moon to light us. There's antelope over there in the
foothills, and elk in the mountains, and sheep on the peaks. You like to
hunt, white man, same as us. Look long time on all--for you will never see
it again!"
The sun rose higher and hotter while the Indian talked. He had not
finished speaking when Smith said:
"God!"
A look of indescribable horror was on his face. His skin had yellowed, and
he stared into the crevice at his feet. Now he understood! He knew why
they waited on the limestone hill! An odor, scarcely perceptible as yet,
but which, faint as it was, sickened him, told him his fate. It was the
unmistakable odor of rattlesnakes!
The crevice below was a breeding-place, a rattlesnakes' den. Smith had
seen such places often, and the stench which came from them when the sun
was hot was like nothing else in the world. The recollection alone was
almost enough to nauseate him, and he always had ridden a wide circle at
the first whiff.
His aversion for snakes was like a pre-natal mark. He avoided cowpunchers
who wore rattlesnake bands on their hats or stretched the skin over the
edge of the cantle of their saddles. He always slept with a hair rope
around his blankets when he spent a night in the open. He would not sit in
a room where snake-rattles decorated the parlor mantel or the organ. A
curiosity as to how they had learned his peculiarity crept through the
paralyzing horror which numbed him, and as if in answer the scene in the
dining-room of the ranch rose before him. "I hates snakes and mouse-traps
goin' off," he had said. Yes, he remembered.
The Indians looked at his yellow skin and at his eyes in which the horror
stayed, and laughed. He did not struggle when they stood him, mute, upon
his feet and bound him, for Smith knew Indians. His lips and chin
trembled; his throat, dry and contracted, made a clicking sound when he
swallowed. His knees shook, and he had no power to control the twitching
muscles of his arms and legs.
"He dances," said Yellow Bird.
As the sun rose higher and streamed into the crevice, the overpowering
odor increased with the heat. The yellow of Smith's skin took on a
greenish tinge.
"Ugh!" An Indian laid his hand upon his stomach. "Me sick!"
A bit of limestone fell into the crevice and bounded from one shelf of
rock to the other. Upon each ledge a nest of rattlesnakes basked in the
sun, and a chorus of hisses followed the fall of the stone.
"They sing! Their voices are strong to-day," said Running Rabbit.
The Indians threw Smith upon the edge of the crevice, face downward, so
that he could look below. With his staring, bloodshot eyes he saw them
all--dozens of them--a hundred or more! Crawling on the shelves and in the
bottom, writhing, wriggling, hissing, coiled to strike! Every marking,
every shading, every size--Smith saw them all with his bulging, fascinated
eyes. The Indians stoned them until a forked tongue darted from every
mouth and every wicked eye flamed red.
The thick rope was tied under Smith's arms, and a noose thrown over a huge
rock. They shoved him over the edge--slowly--looking at him and each
other, laughing a little at the sound of reptile fury from below. It was
the end. Smith's eyes opened before they let him drop, and his lips drew
back from his white, slightly protruding teeth. They thought he meant to
beg at last, and, rejoicing, waited. He looked like a coyote, a coyote
when its ribs are crushed, its legs broken; when its eyes are blurred with
the death film, and its mouth drips blood. He gathered himself--he was all
but fainting--and threw back his head, looking at Bear Chief. He
snarled--there was no tenderness in his voice when he gave the message:
"Tell _her_, you damned Injuns--tell the Schoolmarm I died game,
me--Smith!"
TITLES SELECTED FROM GROSSET & DUNLAP'S LIST
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.
THE SECOND WIFE. By Thompson Buchanan. Illustrated by W. W. Fawcett.
Harrison Fisher wrapper printed in four colors and gold.
An intensely interesting story of a marital complication in a wealthy New
York family involving the happiness of a beautiful young girl.
TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY. By Grace Miller White. Illustrated by Howard
Chandler Christy.
An amazingly vivid picture of low class life in a New York college town,
with a heroine beautiful and noble, who makes a great sacrifice for love.
FROM THE VALLEY OF THE MISSING. By Grace Miller White. Frontispiece and
wrapper in colors by Penrhyn Stanlaws.
Another story of "the storm country." Two beautiful children are kidnapped
from a wealthy home and appear many years after showing the effects of a
deep, malicious scheme behind their disappearance.
THE LIGHTED MATCH. By Charles Neville Buck. Illustrated by R. F.
Schahelitz.
A lovely princess travels incognito through the States and falls in love
with an American man. There are ties that bind her to someone in her own
home, and the great plot revolves round her efforts to work her way out.
MAUD BAXTER. By C. C. Hotchkiss. Illustrated by Will Grefe.
A romance both daring and delightful, involving an American girl and a
young man who had been impressed into English service during the
Revolution.
THE HIGHWAYMAN. By Guy Rawlence. Illustrated by Will Grefe.
A French beauty of mysterious antecedents wins the love of an Englishman
of title. Developments of a startling character and a clever untangling of
affairs hold the reader's interest.
THE PURPLE STOCKINGS. By Edward Salisbury Field. Illustrated in colors;
marginal illustrations.
A young New York business man, his pretty sweetheart, his sentimental
stenographer, and his fashionable sister are all mixed up in a
misunderstanding that surpasses anything in the way of comedy in years. A
story with a laugh on every page.
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THE MASTER'S VIOLIN By MYRTLE REED
[Illustration]
A Love Story with a musical atmosphere. A picturesque, old German virtuoso
is the reverent possessor of a genuine Cremona. He consents to take as his
pupil a handsome youth who proves to have an aptitude for technique, but
not the soul of the artist. The youth has led the happy, careless life of
a modern, well-to-do young American, and he cannot, with his meagre past,
express the love, the longing, the passion and the tragedies of life and
its happy phases as can the master who has lived life in all its fulness.
But a girl comes into his existence, a beautiful bit of human driftwood
that his aunt had taken into her heart and home; and through his
passionate love for her, he learns the lessons that life has to give--and
his soul awakens.
Founded on a fact well known among artists, but not often recognized or
discussed.
If you have not read "LAVENDER AND OLD LACE" by the same author, you have
a double pleasure in store--for these two books show Myrtle Reed in her
most delightful, fascinating vein--indeed they may be considered as
masterpieces of compelling interest.
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THE PRODIGAL JUDGE By VAUGHAN KESTER
This great novel--probably the most popular book in this country
to-day--is as human as a story from the pen of that great master of
"immortal laughter and immortal tears," Charles Dickens.
The Prodigal Judge is a shabby outcast, a tavern hanger-on, a genial
wayfarer who tarries longest where the inn is most hospitable, yet with
that suavity, that distinctive politeness and that saving grace of humor
peculiar to the American man. He has his own code of morals--very exalted
ones--but honors them in the breach rather than in the observance.
Clinging to the Judge closer than a brother, is Solomon Mahaffy--fallible
and failing like the rest of us, but with a sublime capacity for
friendship; and closer still, perhaps, clings little Hannibal, a boy about
whose parentage nothing is known until the end of the story. Hannibal is
charmed into tolerance of the Judge's picturesque vices, while Miss Betty,
lovely and capricious, is charmed into placing all her affairs, both
material and sentimental, in the hands of this delightful old vagabond.
The Judge will be a fixed star in the firmament of fictional characters as
surely as David Harum or Col. Sellers. He is a source of infinite delight,
while this story of Mr. Kester's is one of the finest examples of American
literary craftmanship.
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A Few Of Grosset & Dunlap's GREAT BOOKS AT LITTLE PRICES
WHEN A MAN MARRIES. By Mary Roberts Rinehart. Illustrated by Harrison
Fisher and Mayo Bunker.
A young artist, whose wife had recently divorced him, finds that a visit
is due from his Aunt Selina, an elderly lady having ideas about things
quite apart from the Bohemian set in which her nephew is a shining light.
The way in which matters are temporarily adjusted forms the motif of the
story.
A farcical extravaganza, dramatized under the title of "Seven Days"
THE FASHIONABLE ADVENTURES OF JOSHUA CRAIG. By David Graham Phillips.
Illustrated.
A young westerner, uncouth and unconventional, appears in political and
social life in Washington. He attains power in politics, and a young woman
of the exclusive set becomes his wife, undertaking his education in social
amenities.
"DOC." GORDON. By Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman. Illustrated by Frank T.
Merrill.
Against the familiar background of American town life, the author portrays
a group of people strangely involved in a mystery. "Doc." Gordon, the one
physician of the place, Dr. Elliot, his assistant, a beautiful woman and
her altogether charming daughter are all involved in the plot. A novel of
great interest.
HOLY ORDERS. By Marie Corelli.
A dramatic story, in which is pictured a clergyman in touch with society
people, stage favorites, simple village folk, powerful financiers and
others, each presenting vital problems to this man "in holy
orders"--problems that we are now struggling with in America.
KATRINE. By Elinor Macartney Lane. With frontispiece.
Katrine, the heroine of this story, is a lovely Irish girl, of lowly
birth, but gifted with a beautiful voice.
The narrative is based on the facts of an actual singer's career, and the
viewpoint throughout is a most exalted one.
THE FORTUNES OF FIFI. By Molly Elliot Seawell Illustrated by T. de
Thulstrup.
A story of life in France at the time of the first Napoleon. Fifi, a glad,
mad little actress of eighteen, is the star performer in a third rate
Parisian theatre. A story as dainty as a Watteau painting.
SHE THAT HESITATES. By Harris Dickson. Illustrated by C. W. Relyea.
The scene of this dashing romance shifts from Dresden to St. Petersburg in
the reign of Peter the Great, and then to New Orleans.
The hero is a French Soldier of Fortune, and the princess, who
hesitates--but you must read the story to know how she that hesitates may
be lost and yet saved.
Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York
TITLES SELECTED FROM GROSSET & DUNLAP'S LIST
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.
A CERTAIN RICH MAN. By William Allen White.
A vivid, startling portrayal of one man's financial greed, its wide
spreading power, its action in Wall Street, and its effect on the three
women most intimately in his life. A splendid, entertaining American
novel.
IN OUR TOWN. By William Allen White. Illustrated by F. R. Gruger and W.
Glackens.
Made up of the observations of a keen newspaper editor, involving the town
millionaire, the smart set, the literary set, the bohemian set, and many
others. All humorously related and sure to hold the attention.
NATHAN BURKE. By Mary S. Watts.
The story of an ambitious, backwoods Ohio boy who rose to prominence.
Everyday humor of American rustic life permeates the book.
THE HIGH HAND. By Jacques Futrelle. Illustrated by Will Grefe.
A splendid story of the political game, with a son of the soil on the one
side, and a "kid glove" politician on the other. A pretty girl, interested
in both men, is the chief figure.
THE BACKWOODSMEN. By Charles G. D. Roberts. Illustrated.
Realistic stories of men and women living midst the savage beauty of the
wilderness. Human nature at its best and worst is well protrayed.
YELLOWSTONE NIGHTS. By Herbert Quick.
A jolly company of six artists, writers and other clever folks take a trip
through the National Park, and tell stories around camp fire at night.
Brilliantly clever and original.
THE PROFESSOR'S MYSTERY. By Wells Hastings and Brian Hooker. Illustrated
by Hanson Booth.
A young college professor, missing his steamer for Europe, has a romantic
meeting with a pretty girl, escorts her home, and is enveloped in a big
mystery.
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B. M. BOWER'S NOVELS THRILLING WESTERN ROMANCES
Large 12 mos. Handsomely bound in cloth. Illustrated
CHIP, OF THE FLYING U
A breezy wholesome tale, wherein the love affairs of Chip and Delia
Whitman are charmingly and humorously told. Chip's jealousy of Dr. Cecil
Grantham, who turns out to be a big, blue eyed young woman is very
amusing. A clever, realistic story of the American Cow-puncher.
THE HAPPY FAMILY
A lively and amusing story, dealing with the adventures of eighteen
jovial, big hearted Montana cowboys. Foremost amongst them, we find
Ananias Green, known as Andy, whose imaginative powers cause many lively
and exciting adventures.
HER PRAIRIE KNIGHT
A realistic story of the plains, describing a gay party of Easterners who
exchange a cottage at Newport for the rough homeliness of a Montana
ranch-house. The merry-hearted cowboys, the fascinating Beatrice, and the
effusive Sir Redmond, become living, breathing personalities.
THE RANGE DWELLERS
Here are everyday, genuine cowboys, just as they really exist. Spirited
action, a range feud between two families, and a Romeo and Juliet
courtship make this a bright, jolly, entertaining story, without a dull
page.
THE LURE OF DIM TRAILS
A vivid portrayal of the experience of an Eastern author, among the
cowboys of the West, in search of "local color" for a new novel. "Bud"
Thurston learns many a lesson while following "the lure of the dim trails"
but the hardest, and probably the most welcome, is that of love.
THE LONESOME TRAIL
"Weary" Davidson leaves the ranch for Portland, where conventional city
life palls on him. A little branch of sage brush, pungent with the
atmosphere of the prairie, and the recollection of a pair of large brown
eyes soon compel his return. A wholesome love story.
THE LONG SHADOW
A vigorous Western story, sparkling with the free, outdoor, life of a
mountain ranch. Its scenes shift rapidly and its actors play the game of
life fearlessly and like men. It is a fine love story from start to
finish.
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