Smyrna times., 1889-06-05

the Navajos lie heard Francisco re-
counting the wrongs Of his people; how
often their pastures had been Wrcstcd
from them, their horses and cattle stolen
And uuw they were being followed
into the desert Only one moon before
two comrades had been murdered on the
plain, and by whom but these men: To-
day pony had been driven from the |
mountains Tomorrow what outrage .
might be clpac,ed. What should be
done. They were thirty braves, the /
white men numbered seven. Horses I
were here, food, rifles and powder; one /
h.!l stroke and all would be theirs
The boEsl.ad ac.H sleeping some hours, I
wn.u iiau!.u uaE.ued the nearest one /
with a touch ''5-h-h-A" he whispered /
"Uan-er." Ia an instant every nerve
was strung aHd lac would have risen T.
bu- the Mormon pressed him down The
3nNicans were already Whispering to- /
gelhcr, and soon the entire party was
| ON the alert
We were still in the shadow, though
the moon was shining now. My first
/ glance was toward the fire. All the In
/ t.aus had vanished hut two. who were
/ squu;tiug before the sm0ldcring cmbors
1 Is they bad been earlier in the night
The Navajos have gone behind the
ridge we were presently told, "and
these two remain lest we should suspect
something wrong, and be on our guard
/ OF gct away Then the Mormon told us
what he had overheard. Francisco had
planned to attack us just before day,
. when most likely the entire party would
be sleeping They had Withdrawn the
more surely to take US uuawares. and
had crossed the ridge in order to conceal
their fire
lie had heard more, news had most
probably reached the fort of the murder
Of the two Indians, and a squad of sol
dieca been dispatched to investigate the
matter, for detachment was in camp0t
the Chcz-a-kia spring, only ten miles
away 1t was then II o'clock; q man
must start Off at once to notify tie lieu
tenant Even if the troops did not arrive
before the Indians returned we might be
ablo 20 defend ourselves for awhils till
succor should come.
One Of tie boys was selected as mes
sauscr None Of Us lad yet risen from
thcgroGnI, the Navajo JOS thought US sleep
ing. The lad BEGAN to slide off in the
grass, and presently reached the edge of
Il little gulch undiscovered. There he
dropped over anl mjcr shelter Of the
rocks made good his escape 1t is need
less to say We did not sleep again. Every
eye and car WAS on the alert and every
rifle in hand. Now and then coyote
slunE near and the uncertain shadow
gave our nerves thrill, or If his mate
called we tanci,i the Edvu JOS were ST.
ua.in. Tie suspense SO wrought upon
tue nerves Of the party that they wouG
gladly have followed Hdmiin to surpri.y
thr Indians in their camp; but the watch
cra were near. y Suspicious movement
on oar part, and tl.ey would have van
ishcl like phautoms Or the cracl, of a
rifle the whole band would be upon US.
Hamiin, TOO, grew restless as we lay
there, and presently crept near TO us.
He had been considering the chances OF
the troops arriving IN time to be of serv-
ice The Chez-a-kla was ten miles away
} and even were the detachment still there
they could not reach us before 3 O'clock
1t was the day before when the Indians
had seen them, but had they remained:
, Il was doubtful if the lad could follow
! the trail Alright, and, besides, the Nava-
, JOS might attack us at any moment.
j llamln had nerves like the rest of us;
e perhaps me had more. lie was a gaunt,
{ muscular man, who had been reared
among the Piutes, where his father had
e been sent Mormon missionary. Hav-
. ing cnjoined us strictly to lie quiet, he
e raised up and yawned, as though but
). Just wakencd from sleep
it Hello. there! If you are going to sit
/ by my fire, why don't you keep it burn
It ing he called out to the pair who were
yet sJuuttnis .bout the embers. "YoI
4 titliug, lazy buck, now you keep thai
g nrc up till day, or III take my cowh!..,
S and drive You off,
% The blaze cracked and the sparks flew
Is up as hc piled the fuel on, while the two
d moved back somewhat. Drawing hi
n blanket about his shoulders, Hamlu
a squattcd near them, shiveripg and pre-
tending to be cold. Presently he spoke
ID iuquigiug after some Mormon friend
le who had been among the Navajos.
re Are YOU Mormon man. one of then
N asked 1t was Just the question h
le wanted Certainly he was Il Mormon
r. and knew so and SO, and his father wa
I'd old lIamlin, whom all the Navajos knew
b. Then YOU ought to he ashamed,
a Mormon man. to work for Pellicanoes
n said one "Pcllicanoes are thieves; the
&C. steal Indians ponies"
n; With this, conversation began i'll \;
IS vajo fashion, and as they talked, IIamli
co moved slowly nearer until they WEI
nd face to face. The bright fire threw the
ed in high light. and beyond were the u
at certain shadows From the darkne
as came the long. wavering call of the co
ote. and ever and anon we were startlC
he as some browsing pony clinked the pc
mt hles IL his way The suspense grew /
nd tolerablc as the moments slipped pa
in and the time drew near when the Naval
to would return And what could Haml
he mean: Was he seeking favor on his ov
ne account? Was he about to desert Us:
he \ comrade touched me, and pointed
1st the place of the two drivers little W;
N. oil in the shadow. Their blankets we
a on the ground, but peering intently
to saw them to be empty. The MeXicans h
re- slipped of in the darkness undiscovero
if llamlin must be informed at once, a
ng raised on my elbow to call. Perha
nv. he heard me move, for the next nome
the he sprang at a Navajo's throat like
ON wildcat. His companion uttered a sins
ms 'Yipr and leaped to his feet, but bef(
ned his weapon could be used was piniou
TO by the two MeNicans. Hamlin h
red seized the larger. and as we ran up I'll
bod were clcnched and struggling.
ed; Tie two were quickly gagged a
bound. The MeXicans wished to {
old patch them at once. but milder couns
mp prevailed.
the We were uncertain if the camp
leir yond the ridge had heard the warm
,ith note, and with all haste threw the S
had dies and more valuable packs upon
kets animals, sprang to our places and h
ACC ried along the obscure and difficult tr
was We rode with whip and spur throl
rom sand and sagebrush, over stones
the gulches, across fallen timber; m
,un- wild race, as fast as beasts could str
gle. After the intense night of wat
ndi- ing action was relief; we could h
and jumped from precipice. charged a
e to terry or fought band Of grizzly bear
lay On and on we urged the train;
e. | Ahov, Nv