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Full Title
The Girl Cowboy Captain; or, The Skinners of the Carolina Swamps / by Jos. E. Badger, Jr.
Author
Badger, Jos. E. (Joseph Edward), 1848-1909.
Date Added
9 January 2014
Format
Journal
Language
English
Publish Date
1889-05-18
Publisher
New York : Beadle and Adams
Series
Beadle's Boys Library of Sport, Story, and Adventure > v. XXI, no. 266
Source
Dime Novel and Popular Literature
Alternate Title
Beadle's Boys Library of Sport, Story, and Adventure, v. XXI, no. 266, May 18, 1889. Skinners of the Carolina Swamps.
Topic
Dime novels > Specimens.
About
More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers
Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement
OCR
The Girl Cowboy Captain. : a 15
way toit, And he would bea dangerous enemy,
with his skill.”
“He won't feel it. You act as fri’ndly as you
kin, an’ throw him off his guard. Vil not let
him feel my watchin’, Kin you do it?”
‘SYes; because I’m inclined to believe him
sincere in his offers of service. He reasons
well,” laughed Maria.
“‘ Mebbe he is; I hope so!”
As further proof of his words, Winkle showed
the path he had followed as he went back to se-
cure his rifle. And nearly all of the Cowboys
felt that they had gained a noble recruit in the
swamp scout.
The camp of the Cowboys lacked the usual
merry jests and jokes that evening, for a long
and hard ride was before them for the coming
day, and they were only too willing to secure a
good night’s rest to prepare them for the work.
Just what object the Girl Captain bad in viaw,
Ham Winkle could not guess, and he was far too
cunning to make plain inquiries that might pos-
sibly awaken suspicion.
Together with several others he lay down to
rest, wrapped close in an old blanket that had
been furnished him. Never forgetting his cun-
ning, even in seeming trifles, Ham had chosen a
spot where the moonlight fell clearly through a
rift in the treetops above. Here he lay in plain
view of all, where his every motion could be
seen,
But with the passing minutes the moon rolled
on, and the edge of_the shadow crept impercep-
tibly nearer him, He lay motionless, breathing
regularly, and like one in the soundest of slum-
ber, but though his eyes were closed, his brain
was busy. He was only waiting for the time
when he might set to work.
- At le t one other was wide awake, though
~ counterfeiting sl ep—old Ben Duncan. Though
°
he could not have given any satisfactory reason
for so thinking, he believed that the swamp
scout was playing a, deep game; that his offer
was but a. mask to cover treachery. And ke
watched Ham Winkle with eyes sharpened by
__the love he bore his young mistress.
The glow deepened in his eyes as he saw Win-
kle move slightly, then cautiously raise his
aead, glancing keenly around upon the slumber-
ing Cowboys. All was still—all seemed
oblivious; nothing could be heard but the night
voices of the swamps, or an occasional whicker
from an adjacent island, where the horses were
tethered.
Noiselessly Ham Winkle crept from the blan-
ket-folds, and then crawled like a buman snake
toward the edge of the island, And like a sec-
ond self old Ben Duncan glided after, so skill-
fully that not a limb seemed to move,
Chuckling exultantly, Winkle stood his rifle
against a bush and tightened his belt. This
move opened Duncan's eyes. He knew that the
squatter would never leave his rifle unless in-
tending to return, and he altered his intention
of arresting.the man as soon 4s he should leave
the island. Instead, he would dog his steps and
thus penetrate his real purpose. .
Winkle glided noiselessly on, and after hin,
like a phantom, came Duncan. The old man
felt a peculiar exultation as he prepared for the
contest of skill, He knew that he had to cope
_his not being discovered.
quite as much by the spy’s footfalls as by sight,
with one thoroughly versed in swamp-craft, but
he himself had been almost reared in the
swamps. This feat, if he succeeded, would not
be his first triumph in that line.
Across the pond the two men glided, not a
rustle, not a ripple or splash telling of their pas-
sage, and by the ear alone need they fear dis-
covery, since they knew just where each senti-
nel was stationed. And now Winkle no longer
glanced behind bim, for he believed that his de-
parture had been unnoticed. Besides, he was in
haste. The hour of rendezvous had already
passed, and he must be back to the camp long
efore day, since an early start was the order.
To this haste, in all probability, Duncan owed
While be was guided,
Winkle heard nothing to alarm bim, And s0,°
undiscovered, like a bloodhound, Duncan’
tracked his game for full two miles through the
swamp.
Then Winkle suddenly paused and uttered a
low, peculiar whistle. This drowned the invol-
untary rustle made by Ben as he hastily paused.
Like an echo an answering whistle came, and
then Ben indistinctly saw a second figure upon
the little knoll. Crouching low down, he
strained his ears to listen.
“What the deuce makes you so late, Winkle?”
that man said, impatiently, and Duncan started
as he recognized the voice for that of the Skin-
ner chief, Will Dixon. ‘I was just giving you
up. Ten minutes later, and you would not have
found me here.”
“Tt’s lucky I’m here a-tall. I doubt whether
the pay’ll ekil the resk I run.”
“Then ro got in—you succeeded?” eagerly.
“Yes, [got in; but that cussed Ben Duncan,
I know, mistrusts me. On’y fer him, I’d be all
rizbt.
“ Never mind nim; is she there?”
“ Yes—in man’s clo’es. She questioned me .
close, but I fooled her. I showed her my back
—but'l said you did it, ‘stead o’ Arnold’s ran-
gers. I told her, too, that I rubbed you out
fer it.” : ,
“Your tongue will hang you yet, fool,” an-
grily cried Dixon.
gang sees me—then where are you? Parta lie,
they'll believe allisa jie—and then good-by to.
our plans!”
“No danger—we'll hev her safe afore then.”
“What have you learned?”
“ Or’y that they’re goin’ to ride in the mornin’.
Whar or what a’ter, {didn’t hear, an’ daren’t
ax. But by to-morrow night T'll hev it¢all
fixed. You be at my shanty at midnight, and ’f
I kin, Pll see you thar, ’F not, call every right
ontel you hear from me.”
“TJ Will, but—_ Hist!”
While conversing, the men had gradnally low-
ered their tones, so that Duncan could scarcely
follow them. Eager in his love for his young
mistress, Duncan cautiously ventured’ nearer, °
dragging himself along inch by inch until he
had gained a scrubby bush, around whose roots
grew a mat of swamp-grass. From here, only
a few feet distant, he could hear every word of
the plotters.
Crouching down beside the bush, one hand
ested upon the grass, Suddenly a cold thrill
Tee,
“Supposing some of her
pune pee et eet tee ee een