Frank in the Mountains

a matter I do not like to talk about. That man," he added, nodding his head toward the outlaw, and speaking as plainly as a mouthful of fish would permit, "is a walking illustration of what b

listening to the story of his adventures in the mines, and was never easy unless I was in his company. But things have changed of late. I

o have been equally prosperous, for he received half the profits; but somehow he never had a cent of money in his pocket, but was continually asking assistance from father, of whom he borrowed, first and last, several thousand dollars, which he has never taken the trouble to return. He said he was buying up claims; but when he had a quarrel with a

ses of amendment, and, for a while, held manfully to them; but it requires moral courage to resist temptation, and that was something William did not possess. It was not long before he was as bad as ever; and when he could go no farther for want of money, he came to

de in breaking open the safe aroused grandfather, who slept in a room over the store; and not recognizing William in the darkness, he gave him a shot from his revolver. The ball took effect somewhere, for the next morning there was blood on the floor, and William was nowhere to be found. Every one wondered who the

after that before people began to talk about Black Bill-the leader of a band of robbers who infested the mountains between Placer City and Sacramento; and in less than two weeks father fell into his hands. He recognized the chief, if other

ay you do not think of. I shall not lift a hand against you, but keep an eye o

ther, who, becoming weary at last of living in constant fear of losing me, sold out his claim in the mines, and removing to this wild region, erected the house in which we lived until last night, and began business as a fur-trader. It was there he made the acquaintance of Capt. Porter. No sooner had we become fairly settled in our new home, tha

entively to the story. "You're free now, an' I'm a pris'ner; but it won't

y you captured last night was not Adam Brent

last time I seed him the Black Fox

the Bla

ou run that race with. I told him that if he would take good care of that boy, an'

't belong to you, as it happe

im. One of my mates, Jack

had my oth

w him that he hadn't got Pete quite so safe as he imagined; but he stopped when he reflected that the mustang

aptured, they went up and attacked the Indian camp, in the hope that during the confusion he might see a chance to get away. That was, probabl

I knew the Indians would never ca

yelling when we cut o

u gave Archie into the keeping of the Black Fox. I met the Fox about three miles ba

oking thoughtfully at the ground. "Meb

he is well off, he will get help before he tries to capture him, for Archie is plucky an

was to throw the camp into confusion, and give Dick a chance to do something for himself. But he had already escaped, and about fifteen minutes after the trappers left, he came into the fort, puffing and blowing like a porpoise. The trappers were more successful than they expected to be. Finding the village nearly deserted,

ees and shooting at the fort-they came on in a body, like soldiers, approaching so close to the palisades that we could touch them with the muzzles of our guns as we thrust them through the loop-holes. They expected, no doubt, to find the fort in the same defenseless state in which they had seen it in the morning-with the gates gone and the walls broken down; but in this they were disappointed. The major had paid some attention to Captain Porter's warning, and the old trading-post was as strong as it had ever been. That was a fortunate thing for us, for, even as it was, it was all we could do to prevent the savages from affecting an entrance. They fought like tigers, climbing up to the top of the wall and throwing their tomahawks down at the soldiers, and even tearing out the palisades in some places; and I saw more t

ite men. If there was one place in the fort more dangerous than another, those two trappers were sure to be there. On one occasion, when the Indians had cut down a portion of the palisades, and the soldiers were doing some desperate hand-to-hand fighting to keep them from entering through the opening, Dick seized one of the savages, and, whirling him clear over his head, threw him back into the fort, calling out: 'Ketch him, s

the Mexikin war; an' as fur Injuns, I've been in a heap of skrimmages with 'em, fust an' last. But we'll hav

like hail-stones. A new danger threatened us now, for some of the arrows had bunches of burning leaves and pine-knots attached to them. They came over the

Porter. 'All my men turn to

ch they could see all that was going on inside the palisades; and no sooner did the trappers fall to work in obedie

were engaged in fighting the fire, I can not tell; but, at any rate, he got in, went into the officers' quarters, and after piling a quantity of clothing in one corner, set it on fire. I was standing at one of the loop-holes, watching a chance for a shot at a warrior who was concealed in the top of a tree about fifty yards from the fort, when I heard a yell, and, turning quickly,

soon discovered his mistake, for when somebody opened the door of the officers' quarters, a thick volume of smoke rushed out. The trappers were ordered to the spot immediately, but it was too late. The fire had made

s he hurried past me. 'Shovels aint no more acco

walls, and ride out of the fort under the very noses of a thousand yelling Indians, with nothing but the speed of my horse to stand between me and their fury-I tell you, Frank, the bare thought was enough to make my old fur cap rise on my head as it had never done before. While I was standing inactive, the soldiers had sprung into their sa