Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-07-30

That scamp Hanrion liked to so to watch
them wasl1-a fancy like any other. He
declared that the tallest and the shortest
Of them winised at him sidewise as they
passed by him; and that always pleases
a man, wherever he may be, my cap
tain"-
"That is enough!" said Cabarousse
and he gave the order to saddle the
horses.
Thirty men were left in charge of the
tents. The others were galoping in the
bright moonlight, and by the clear rays
horses and riders projected gigantic
shadows, scattered by the haste OF
march, but equal in their dimensions
the lines being maintained strictly. The
thirst for battle and the joy of vengeance
| impelled the squadron; besides, any ex
element is welcome which comes tc
break the monotony of long days of idle
ness. Then forward Uprose and fec
from the road the marauding jackals
whose shrill squeais insult from afar their
natural enemy, man, once he is safely
past them. Now and then a sabel
sounded against stirr1p, or horse
which left his place was by force of hand
! returned thither; but always the troop
continued advancing with spectral as
pect, forming an ever retreating picture.
| The soldiers were content with the ex-
| petition, perceiving that the death of
one among them was not to be passed
over indifferently. and that all bloody
memories would find prompt vengeance.
Little by little, sparse vegetation spread
+ beneath the feet of the horses; then the
way was streaked by the silhouettes of
palm trees; farther yet, land the Kabyle
village stood confusedly out from the
earth, with its mud novels, low, narrow
Widowed, whose doors were too small
for human stature: and round about the
Enclosures for cattle, now vacant
At a brief word of command, the
squadron halted. No light shone, all
was dark; no one moved, nor anything
whatever. Only few vagabond dogs,
seeming the strangers, barked upon the
dung heaps. The troop surrounded, at
a walk, the village, still silent, still
dark. DismountI They entered the first
hut, and it was vacant; vacant, too, the
second; the third vacant; all were va
cant-the inhabitants had fed, taking
their effects and weapons. This was
their guilty confession. More than that
all farther search was now useless and
without purpose.
But what was that? Lying across a
doorway, with its face in heap of filth,
was the body of man, with its throat
cut, its face bathed in blood. 1t was
Hanrion. Then, on the vast night, arose
ciamor of rage, which presently sinks
into grief-a tone of unspeakable sad
ness, Of supreme pity. Afar stretch the
unduiating plains; and the inperturba-
bic chain of hills, black now, seemed in
solently to bar the way to reprisals.
Stiff upon his horse, gloomy and for
bidding in the clear night, Cabarousse
shook his clenched hand at the invisible
as one who dreams of vengeance
''Lieutenantr' he cried, at hast, s'take
fifty men and crush that brood of mag
G0ts until not two are left livingi Oh,
that I must stay at my post! that l
might so with your"
When the ranks were formed, the sub
lieutenant, Philippe Vaudras, saluted
and started with his fifty men toward
the Unknown before them, while Caba-
rousse and his squad returned at a foot
pace, in their own despite, to the camp,
with heads bent, with hearts saddened,
bearing, laid across two horses, the
bloody body of the murdered Hanrion.
Tau, slender, a leonine blonde, with
clear blue eyes, when he left the mill
tary school, Philippe Vauslras had chos-
en- Africa as field for adventure, and,
in a year OF camp life, he had made him
self noted for his bravery, and this in a
wild squadron where every man was
valiant. Because Of his white hands,
his sweet voice, and his youth, the sol
diers called him "The Little One"
Mile. Vaudras," or else t'Nly Lady Sub
Lieutenant" but, when he charged
across the plain, that little one" glad
dened the heart; his horse had splendid
legs and was always first in the combat;
and-what powerful fist had ''iny lady
sub-,;eutenantr' His soldiers were fain
to follow Vaudras, since they could new
er get before him; and they followed
him with enthusiasm, drunken with his
wildness, and, above all, SO that nothing
of Ill should befall him He seemed pre-
cisely the chief necessary for that 70
mantle expedition, for that tragic night,
for that setting extraordinarily tragic;
after him his troops would follow blindly.
At the head of the vanguard and on
the fianks of the squads, the guides. the
explorers, the pathfinders bent over their
with their gaze fixed on the |
ground, directing their course by tracks |
almost invisible by the pale light. Across
a width Of forty yards there appeared in
the sand deep marks, footprints of men
and beasts, whose wide spaces attested |
the tumultuous fight, the disorder of de- |
feat, beneath the furious lashes of the /
kabyie drivers, terrified by that corpse
they left behind them,
The horses of the pursuers were pant
ng. Haiti commanded Vaudras. The |
,hasSeurs camped as web as they could;
hey lay down to sleep with an arm
through the bride, and in spite of the
erks and pulls of the animals their sleep
vas deep and dreamiess, At last faint
White streak appeared on the horizon;
lawn was breaking; and suddenly a
,rowing light dispelled the shadows and
discovered distant objects. Then on the
lank of the hills appeared the tribe they