Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1889-09-05

On the l~iieless corpses VIII not bear
recital.
The mighty oath which Dick Prater.
f0rgetfuI alike OF hunger. thirst and
fatigue. ground between his sst teeth.
will, I hope and trust. never be re-
corded agaias, him on high
While his pony was eagerly shaking
is thirst. Dick looked about him. hop
ing To- find among the scattered debris
some overlooked weapon. with Heaven
only Knows what. wildly-vaSue plans
for pursuit. and vengeance
Bot. all in vain Even the bodies OF
The slain had been plundered Of their
reviewers and hunting-SHiyeS
A., sick ut heart. Dick turned away.
his loot encountcreI a hard substance
in the short grass. It was a very
uew and acknowledgements hunting
knife with n six-inch blade aud ivory
haf.. ia uhich WIS inserted a silver
pIa.e bearing the no~t-unfamtliar name
OF Cv-I. Manning. e tho Esq
se;.linEits ownership beyond the shad-
ow " "a doubt.
Then Dick remembered having once
heard Millionaire Manning declare his
Intention % building n huntingIOdge
ia the wilds OF Nebraska. where be
owned a few Thousand acres " land
~scme day.
some dag had come. and presumably
on 1is way 10 the lodge. the train was
att-eked. his guide aud wagon crow
were ma-sacred. and he himself taken
away a prisouer-PerhaPs with others
DICK revereatly covered the multi
lated fragments Of humanity with wha;
Wa left Of the wagOn-tilt. Then the
claims OF a very healthy appetite as
sertsd themselves vigorously.
Toe red men had evidently not been
educated up to canned provisions.
Iirs Of various comestibles strewed
the ground on every side. Cold
chicken. ham and a dessert of English
plum padding. with preserved peaches.
made Il ost satisfying meal for a man
who had tasted nearly twenty-four
hours And Dick arose from = cracker
box like a giant refreshed
As he turned his eyes in the tw ilight
toward a nor distant range os bluffs
be saw the dark base iIlumined by a
sudden ruddy glow That it vas q
irc-the campfire OF tae Indians who
had attacked the wagon. was his most
natural conjecture.
Dick was no hero Of the Roaring
BIZ BE- Of the Range order Far from
it. But he had pluck and determine
tiol. and lis blood was az n white
heat Of wrath by reason Of what lay
under the slit wagOn-tilt. And with
no very definite purpose in mind he
tethercd his pony. after which. imitat-
ing a. far a. possible the steaIthy
steps Of the old trappcr. who has done
duty for 50 many years In dime and
half-dime literature. he made his way
through the night shadows in the di-
rectIJu Of the distant campfire
This proved 10 be built in a deep
rift Of the irregular-shaped bluffs. and
It was but the reflection that he had
The tall form Of a half-naSed
Indian. rifle in hand. standing sentinel
like in the entrance. was uupIeasautlv
silhouetted against the blaze. which
e~Hcetuaily prec,ulcd a further RI
counOis>auce in that direction.
Now. with the going down Of the
sun. the sky bad cleared And a. Dick.
erouehed behind a elump Of sage
brush. watched the sentinel with a
thorough sense OF his helplessnes. %
Do more, the fun moon began creeping
slowly up ever the edge Of the wide
plain be bad traversed but n few hours
before.
Higher and higher climbed the
great oval shield which. to use a
strictly original phrase. .-bathed every
thing in a food OF silvery light
i clump Of sage bushes included
But the same moon-ruys iIluminat-
ing the face of the bluff show Dick
how. concealed from the eagIe-eye Of
LO. he might ascend to the top and look
directly down on the campfire. 30.
having wormed himself cautiously
around a convenient angle, Dick be-
gan his upward climb.
Like most things it was far easier OF
accomplishment in theory than in
practice And to accomplish it noise
Icssiy was most difficult of all. owing
to bits of shaIe and rock that woala
90 rattliHg down the irregular steps
he was climbing.
But Dick finally reached the summit
with ''harkedr knees and tori cloth
ing Resting n little while to get his
wind he crawled forward till ne
reached a point which should directly
overlook the camp below.
But to his disappointment a sand
stone boulder. dislodged By some con-
vulsiou of nature. rested almost on the
verge Of the bluff just where he had in
tend to peer over.
Getting round to one side. Dic!- Art
tened himself out on the brow Of the
hluf and. eraning his neck forw ard.
looked down
IN
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- NH