Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-02-01

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got much farther,
A momcntlater tworine shots cracked
from among tho boulders of to his
right, and he heard the whiz OF tho
balls, But there seemed 10 hc neither
break nor crcyice in tho solid lodges
form Ing the wall Of the canyon along
the verge of which he was running,
A second or two after, However, he
came where the brink of the cliil' shcv-
cd on somewhat, and down over the
sloping rock he caught sight Of the top
most boughs of q pine tree reaching
slightly above the rocky wall of the
canyon. 1t flashed across his mind
that there must be fooihold at the roots
of this tree, u path perhaps by which
he might escape.
Creeping to the extreme edge OF the
bluff he pcered over, There vas little
there to encourage him. About forty
feet below some large rocks jutted ont
slightly from the face OF the cliff. A
crack between two of these had become
filled with earth, and in this the pine
had its roots.
1t was Il desperate venture, but Bent
ley determined to swing off into the
tree and trust to finding place Of con-
ccalment. He would assuredly be
killed if he remained many moments
longer in his present position, for the
yells of the approaching enemies were
drawing nearer and nearer. 1t could
be no worse to be killed mt the foot of
the tree than at the top, he thought.
With his carbinc buttoned within his
blouse (his pack of vcnison he had
already thrown away, he lay hold Of
the pine boughs and scrambled down
its trunk as fast as he could.
But when about two-thirds of the
way down the pine he noticed an ir-
regular hole in the face of the precipice
almost within reach from the trunk.
An inspiration came to him. Here
was his chance of concealment. Sup
porting himself by limb he contrived
to back himself into the hole, which he
found to extend for twelve or fifteen fee
backwards into the rocky wall of the
canyon.
Once inside, his spirits rose. The Ind
ians would surely never seek him here ;
and even if they did no one would be
hardy enough to poke his head in at
the hole only to receive Il bullet.
The only apprehension which now
troubled him was the prospect of a
siege, and as he had still little coffee
in his canteen, and three "hard-tacks"
left in his sack he felt that his chances
were good for at least couple of days.
So with renewed hope he lay quiet
and listened. The Indians, evidently,
were approaching the place Of his dis
very cautiously; their yell
ing had ceased. 1t was nearly an
hour before he heard anything father
of them.
AT length he became aware that
cultural voices were in earnest conver.
sation overhead. These sounds con-
tinued for Il few moments, when sud-
denly he was startled by grating,
noise on the rocks above,
followed Il moment after by the violent
swaying and cracking of the pine boughs
and a thundcrous crash below.
The savages had rolled large boul-
der over the edge of the cliff directly
above him. 1t had fallen through the
limbs of the tree, and striking one Of
the projecting rocks below, among
which the pine was rooted, had broken
away nearly half of it.
An appealing thought crossed Bent
ley's mind. What if the savages were
to keep on rolling down boulders till
they carried away the rocks below,
tree and'all?
The sweat rolled down his face, and
he felt faint and sick at heart as the
of this event dawned up
on him. For how could he ever es-
cape from his hole in the steep, bare,
lofty wall of the canyon!
In great suspense lie waited for some
time, hearing occasional noises above
him.
Not daring to shov ' himself, Bently
in his close prison all that
night, and next day, until late in the
afternoon, when, having heard nothing
Of his enemies for fully twenty-four
hours, he ventured to peep forth and
then to climb back up the pine to the
top of the cliff, which he regained after
a good deal of effort. No Indians were
there awaiting him much to his relief !;
and he at once set off to find his way