Category: Adventure

The Lost Mountain: A Tale of Sonora

The man who thus exclaims is seated in a high-peak saddle, on the back of a small sinewy horse. Not alone, as may be deduced from his words; instead, in company with other men on horseback, quite a score of them. There are several wagons, too; large cumbrous vehicles, each wit...

Chapters

7. CHAPTER SEVEN.

Parting from the despised carcase of the ram the hunters press onward, the younger with mental resolve to return to it, come back what way they will. Its grand spiral horns have...

5. CHAPTER FIVE.

The phrase, "_ojo de agua_" (the water's eye), is simply the Mexican name for a spring; which Henry Tresillian needs not to be told, being already acquainted with the pretty poe...

6. CHAPTER SIX.

Early as are the white men astir, yet earlier are the red ones. For the Coyoteros, like the animal from which they derive their tribal name, do more of their prowling by night t...

1. CHAPTER ONE.

The man who thus exclaims is seated in a high-peak saddle, on the back of a small sinewy horse. Not alone, as may be deduced from his words; instead, in company with other men o...

16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

A thrill of delight sweeps through the heart of the English youth at beholding Crusader in this attitude, as if the horse said, "You see, I've not forsaken you." Satisfaction al...

14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

"If I haven't settled his hash," pursues Vicente, "then a man may get a bullet through midribs, and live afterwards--a thing not likely. Or I'm much mistaken, mine went straight...

22. CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

Another day dawns, and as the earliest rays of the sun light up the Cerro Perdido, an unusual bustle is observed in the camp of the besieged. Men are busy collecting the leaves...

10. CHAPTER TEN.

The "stone artillery" has been got together; a huge pile of it, forming at the same time protecting parapet and battery of guns; the men have desisted from their work, and havin...

31. CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.

The dialogue is between Colonel Requenes and Henry Tresillian; the latter acting as guide to the expedition _en route_ to release those imprisoned on the Cerro Perdido. Others a...

2. CHAPTER TWO.

The moving miners are not the only travellers making for the Cerro Perdido on this same day. Just as they have sighted it, approaching from the south, another party is advancing...

12. CHAPTER TWELVE.

By El Cascabel's orders, repeatedly are the big muskets re-loaded and fired into the _corral_, till every wagon has had a bullet through it, and the tent is pierced in several p...

32. CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

Not an hour of daylight now passes, scarce a minute, without Don Estevan Villanueva or Robert Tresillian having the telescope to their eyes, scanning the plain southward. For da...

26. CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

Finding himself clear of the Indians, Henry Tresillian's heart beats high with hope; no mischance happening, he can trust Crusader to keep him clear. And now he turns his though...

13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

It is midnight, and darkness over mountain and plain; pitch darkness, although there is a moon in the sky. But she is not visible, obscured by a bank of thick cumulus clouds, th...

3. CHAPTER THREE.

Meanwhile, with many a crack of whip and cry of "_Anda!" "Mula maldita_!" the miners have been toiling on towards the Lost Mountain. At slow pace, a crawl; for their animals, ja...

4. CHAPTER FOUR.

Morning dawns upon the Lost Mountain, to disclose a scene such as had never before been witnessed in that solitary spot. For never before had wagon, or other wheeled vehicle, ap...

17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

The scene, all action and excitement, has nevertheless occupied but a brief space of time: scarce two minutes since the grizzly bears first showed themselves on the edge of the...

21. CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

Needless to say that the failure of their scheme with such fatal consequence has deepened the gloom in the minds of the besieged miners, already dark enough. Now more than ever...

24. CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

Henry Tresillian has hardly advanced a hundred yards from the cliff, when the Indian party, turning northward, passes close to the spot where he had been let down. Luckily not s...

27. CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

Than the rest of that night no more anxious time has been spent by the beleaguered miners. If their new messenger fail in his errand, then they can never dispatch another. No ch...

8. CHAPTER EIGHT.

The excitement in the camp, already at full height, now changes to a quick, confused hurrying to and fro, accompanied by cries of many kinds. Here and there is heard the terrifi...

28. CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.

Colonel Requenes is the speaker, he spoken to being a gentleman of middle age, in civilian costume, the dress of a _haciendado_. It is Don Juliano Romero, brother of the Senora...

18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

The exciting events above recorded, as occurring in quick succession, are followed by a period of repose lasting for days. Alike reigns it on the mountain summit and around its...

9. CHAPTER NINE.

On again reaching the summit Henry Tresillian finds his father there with Don Estevan and most of the men. These last, under the direction of the _ci-devant_ soldier, are collec...

11. CHAPTER ELEVEN.

The _gambusino_ has guessed everything aright, if words spoken in the confidence of knowledge can be called guesses. True they prove, to the spirit as the letter; for it is just...

15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

In the great desert land of Apacheria there are Coyoteros and Coyoteros; some, abject miserable creatures among the lowest forms of humanity; others, men of fine port, courage,...

33. CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.

They have got several miles out from the mountain, and almost within charging distance, when they see that which brings them to sudden halt-- a thing above all others dreaded by...

29. CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

In an instant after Henry Tresillian is inside the room, warmly received by both the Colonel and _ganadero_; less so by the young officer, though the two had been formerly bosom...

30. CHAPTER THIRTY.

Another ten days have elapsed, and they on the Cerro Perdido are held there rigorously as ever; a strong guard kept constantly stationed at both points where it is possible for...

19. CHAPTER NINETEEN.

About ten days after the commencement of the siege the besiegers have their force increased, a fresh party coming down from the north, evidently in obedience to a summons, which...

23. CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

It turns out just such a night as was wished for--moonless, still not obscurely dark. Too much darkness would defeat the end in view. They need light for the lowering down, a th...

20. CHAPTER TWENTY.

It is a day of anxious solicitude. If the night turn out a dark one, the messengers whom fate has chosen for the perilous enterprise are to set out on their errand. They know it...

25. CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

Not until they have closed together and taken counsel of one another is this question resolved. The wiser of them affirm that in some way one of the palefaces must have got down...

34. CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

The last scene of our tale lies in the _pueblita_ of Santa Gertrudes; a mining village chiefly supported by the _minera_ bearing the same name, whose works, with the specialitie...