THE RED WIZARD:
OR,
THE CAVE CAPTIVE.
BY LIEUT. NED HUNTER.
NEW YORK:
BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS,
98 WILLIAM STREET.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by
FRANK STARR & CO.,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
THE RED WIZARD;
OR,
THE CAVE CAPTIVE.
CHAPTER I.
THE YOUNG SQUAW.
"Ef yer strike that gal, by ther heavings erbove I'll send er bulletthrough yer skull or bury my knife in yer heart," and the speaker'sdemeanor told that the words were not idle ones.
"You are uncommonly tender of a squaw!" was the sneering reply, thoughthe man drew back and restored the hatchet he had drawn to his belt.
"Am I?" and his black eyes flashed fire.
"Yes, for I have heard that you trappers and scouts make it a point tokill every Indian you come across."
"It may be the case with some, but it hain't my way, man. When it comester fightin' I always try ter do my share of ther killin', but murderin cold blood ain't in my line. No, sir! An' what's more, no man ain'ter goin' ter do it while I am erround, without he calkerlates ter fightwith Wash Lawton."
"Lawton is right and you wrong, Parsons," said a third man, breakingin upon the conversation. "The squaw has done us no injury, and thewholesale butchery that so many appear to delight in, is not onlyagainst reason but the most common humanity."
"Yes, I know I'm right," answered the confident scout. "Ef it war erspy now, and thar war er party of Injuns out-lyin' eround, ther casewould be different. But this am er gal, and er young and pooty one ferher tribe, and I hain't goin' ter see her erbused, nohow."
"And I am on your side," chimed in the physician.
"You'll see what will come of it," growled Parsons, as he turnedsulkily away. "Even if it is nothing but a girl, she has eyes and earsand feet, and can carry the news far. You might just as well spare arattlesnake because it was little. They all have poison."
"Wal," returned the unabashed scout, "I never knew any harm ter come bydoin' er good action even ter er Injun. And, let me tell yer one thing,mister; those who are ther most bloody-minded always come ter tharworst and most sudden end."
"And now," continued the doctor, as Parsons disappeared, "suppose youtalk to the girl and tell her she shall not be injured. I presume youunderstand the lingo?"
"Thar isn't one between heah and ther mountings that I hain't hadsomethin' ter do with, fust or last. Ther gal am er Sioux."
"How can you tell that?"
"Jest as easerly as kin be," and he turned to and began addressing herin her native tongue.
The little train of emigrants had been about camping for the night ina little belt of timber by the side of a river when George Parsonshad come suddenly upon a young squaw lying, ambushed as he presumed,in a thicket, and the girl would have been brained had not the scoutinterposed.
When spoken to in her mother tongue, by the scout, she arose andconversed freely, and for the first time the physician saw one with ared skin that had some claims to beauty; for her form was straight, hereyes soft in expression, though fire was hidden in them, her hair longbut finer than the generality, and of intense blackness, her featuresregular and the mouth small and lips thin, her complexion a lightolive. To add to all, she was neatly dressed.
Her story, as told to the scout and interpreted by him, was a simpleone