Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-24


| barrels and found not more than
! half q barrel of dirty, brackisb, i'll
! Favored fluid in all. The darkness grew
| black and impenetrable. Heavy clouds
| overspread the heavens, and moaning
| wind crept out of the mountain passes of
! the Big Horn range and came sweeping
| down across the treeless prairie. Every
now and then they could hear the gallop-
ing beat of poneY hoofs and knew they
were closely invested in their hillock
citadel, and at last, about 10 % CLOCK,
sergeant who had been sent with couple
/ of men to see what was going on at the
wagons, came running back breathless.
| The wagons were gonel Every one of
them had been run off by the Indians
under cover of the wind and darkness,
and presently half a mile over TO
the southeast, n glare of bame
arose, and the white tops became for
a moment visible, and dancing, capering
naked forms around them, and then the
cotton duck attracted the eager, fiery
| tongues and in another moment the
! flames seemed to leap high in the air,
/ but the performers in the aboriginal
ballet scurrIed for shelter. The soldiers
sighted their rifles for nine hundred
| yards and the little hill blazed and sput-
/ tered half minute with a rapid dis
| charge that sent leaden messengers
whistling through the burning wagon
covers and humming about the ears OF
! the jewellers.
Fifteen minutes later Hatton resolved
on bold move Mounting his wounded
men on mules and leading his little party,
soldiers, teamsters and Guadrupeds, he
| slipped away from the hilloek, and keep
! ing well to the east OF the road, CROPPED
| through the darkness back to the high
range overlooking the valleys of "Old
| Woman IS Fork of the South Cheyenne
! and Hot Greek to the eastward, and
morning found him bivouacked at a little
! spring not ten miles from the stockade.
Thither, of course, the Indians trailed
and followed at daybreak. There again
! they attacked and beseiged and were re-
| pulsed, again and again, AID there at
| dawn on the second day, after an all
| night march, the trumpets Of the caval-
| ~ rang the signal Of rescue, and the
| charging troopers sent the Sioux whirl-
! ing in scattered bands over the bold and
| beautiful upland. The little detachment
was safe, but its brave commander was
| PROSTATE with rife bullet through the
| thigh and another in the shoulder. DR..
! Weeks declared it impossible to attempt
| to move him back to Laramie, and in
litter made with laTiats and saddle
| blankets the men carried their wounded
| leader back to the stOCkade at the head
| of Sage creek, and there, wrote Weeks,
! he might have to remain q month, and
there, unless otherwise ordered, the
other wounded men would remain with
him, Weeks himself attending them in
his improvised field hospital.
Mai. Miller and DR.. Bayard after brief
consultation, had decided that the young
j.. "a, c4ns
ade was well guarded and provisioned
Medical and surgical supplies we're
promptly forward I'd under strong cavalry
escort, and that same day the entire
cavalry battalion struck its tents and
moved away northward over the route
Hatton had taken. Once more was Lar
annie left with only handful of men and
hardly a company officer for duty.
Old Bruce turned out, despite his
rheumaties, and announced that he was
game for any garrison service under
the circumstances. Roswell Holmes,
who had slowed box of VINE and sew
eral boxes of cigars in tie supply wagons,
with his compliments to Dr.. Weeks and
his patients, ana who had remained at
Laramie instead of going to the front
solely because of an odd turn in local
events, now declared that he must be
and besought DR.. Bayard IS permission
to visit his patient, Mr.. Mclean, to
solicit the loan of his uniforms, swords,
etc. Major Miller laughed gleefully
/ at the idea and all the garrison was be-
ginning to pluck UP heart again, for Hat
ton g wound was pronounced not danger
GUS, though painful, and all the infantry
people were proud the way he and Nc
Lean had upheld the honor of their corps.
JEANNE Bruce and Elinor had had long
hours of who knows what delicious
condolences and fearful exchange of SYM
pathy. Mclean was reported doing
very we'll; Blunt was improving; Miss
Forrest was taking the air on her gallery.
Everybody seemed in better spirits de-
spite a certain constrait and mystery
that overhung the garrison-everybody
with one exception DIR. Bayard.
'tMr. Mclean is recovering so rapidly
that he is able to sit up already and will
need his uniform himself, - was his re-
Spouse to Holmes laughing suggestion,
but both Major Miller and the gentleman
addressed looked at the speaker with sur
prise. One might have hazarded the as |
sertion that it was a matter of regret to !
the post surgeon that his patient was on |
the mend. Miller eyed him narrowly. |
Ever since the strange conversation held |
with the doctor the post commander had |
become almost distrustful of his motives.
What could he mean by intimating that |
Mclean was the guilty party in these
recent mysterious larcencies? What |
could have put such ideas |
into his head? For the first time in sew |
eral days the major was tempted to re- |
open the subject which he had practically |
forbidden his wife to mention again. He |
longed to know what she would say or I
think If she knew what the surgeon was |
trying to divert suspicion from Miss For |
rest to the wounded and unsuspecting {
officer. Now that the cavalry had gone |
out to the front and more troops were |
marching up from the railway all anxiety |
as to his immediate surroundings was dis |
PEELED and the major could not avoid |
drifting back to the strange COM
plications in which two Of the prom
inent people of his military bailiWick
were involved. He had taken a great I
liking to Mr.. Holmes, and had striYeu |
to open the way for that gentleman in
case he had the faintest inclination to
speak of his losses, but though the civil
ian instantly saw what the siugle-minded
old soldier was aiming at he ehantpd the