The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-03-18

TWO AFTERNOONS.

"A NOT Gay. Inc sun directly overhead,
glowing with a fire that made the air In
the shadeless canyon culver as if heated In
an oven Not q tree in sight, not bush
everything brown and barren. Every
where powders of lava immense In size
and sometimes split In twain, as if in rapid
cooling from the intense heat which gave
them birth. Here and there between the
gray green of the giant cacti. raising their
thorny forms fifty and sixty feet in the air,
assuming with their strangely formed
limbs the shapes of immense crosses or
trunks of trees from which ell leaves and
smaller branches have been torn. Between
the black and brown of the sunburnt lava
an occasional tuft of tall. almost coiorless
grass. Over all stiffness that 20 one IN
accustomed to the land would seem strange
and oppressive. Not a bird to break it
with its song. Even the lizards sought out
what shade they could, making with their
green, red and variegated coats almost the
only dash of color to relieve the monotony
of the all prevailing brown and black lava
that each moment grew more oppressive to
look at under the glow of the fierce heat.
Save these, not living thing was in
sight except where off to the west buzz
zard foated high in the air, and two men,
with burro lazily following, passing
down the canyon.
Prospectors and their outfit.
Opened shirts, showing red, hairy
breasts, while their loosely buckled belts,
heavy with long, bright cartridges, whose
tarnished surfaces, made doubly bright
from the rays of the hot sun, seemed
strangely out of place in such quietude.
Neither spoke Each walked along as if
alone, looking for the float" that might
indicate the presence of some mineral
ledge higher up, more from habit than
from hope, as the formation" gave but
little indication of treasure.
How hot the sum- The burro, patient
eyed, forgot his old trick of nipping the
tops of the long gazette grass, and coptented
himself with keeping closely in the trail of
the two men. whose worldly possessions of
blankets, cooking utensils and tools, capped
with an enormous canteen of water, he so
patiently bore. Not a breath of air STIR
ring, only the quivering heat that made
the eyes burn and ache. The men shifted
their rifles constantly from one hand to an
other, as if to avoid getting blisters from
the places where they touched the highly
heated metallic parts of their guns.
Crack crack crackl
Not fifty yards ahead, from behind doz-
en- powders leap out as many jets of fire,
while the snowy white puffs of smoke float
UP few feet and disappear in the CULVER
ing air.
One Of the men stous for an almost i'm
perceptible instant, as if to brace himself
His hands rise to the level of his chest, as if
to bring his rife to bis shoulder, and then
down he falls headlong to the ground in a
limp mass Deadl Shot through the head.
Not culver, not a motion; without a
sound, were it not for that made by his
falling rife.
AS he falls his companion staggers back
pace or two, catches himself, and then,
half crouching, half falling. drops behind
one of the many powders. 'Hitp' he
thinks to himself, 'but, thank Godl not
fatally, only scratch" Jdfe seems new
thing; to live, new joy.
Only q scratch. "Wheres" He hardly
has time to think as he places his gun
across the bowlder and fires at figure,
naked, dark, clothed only in breech clout
and with red scarf wound around the
mead. He notes almost unconsciously how
pronounced its color is against the dark
face and darker hair of its wearer. "a
missr' he mentally remarks as the figure
disappears. "But better luck next time"
he thinks as he pushes down the lever of
his gun and throws out the empty she'll,
replacing it with a cartridge. ''Short
range" he should have hit. 1t can't be
that he was losing his old cunning; that
his aim was bad. NO." he fired in haste
and was ratified" Another shot and he
eIoxx ha hot
fash through his mind as he peers cautious
ly ahead to discover his enemies.
None in sight.
For the first time be feels pain. Half
numbness, half fire; how it tears as he
raises his shirt and looks at little blue
hole hardly larger than pea near the right
side in the short ribs. only a scratch, or
it would bleed worse. Did it go through?'
he asks himself, as he passes his hand up
his back to find if there be an orifice of
exit. mo" THAT is bad, for there is no
surgeon to be had to cut the missile out
Pshaw, what matters it? Other men have
lived with bullets in them-why could not
he? Night would soon come, and then
with darkness he would go. He was not
losing blood sufficient to weaken him much,
and By morning he would be far away
After all it would only be close call, some
thing to tell about But poor Tom! he
was gone" and as he looked at the lifeless
form of his partner he could hardly keep
back the tears.
Crack! crack go q couple of shots off to
his left, and he sees the dust flying up
from near his feet. He tries TO draw his
limbs up to get them in a safer position.
Tries again, and the cold sweat breaks
from him. He cannot move theml
They are dead-paralyzed
Something like sob breaks from him.
II is all over In the first flush of possible
escape he had not thought of the spine
being injured. He knew it now. The game
was played A few hours longer at the
best. Tomorrow and the next day, and
the days and the years to come would find
him there. The end was only question of
short time. Yet he had only thought it
0 scratch.
With his arms he drags himself into a
safer position. This done, he unbuckles
his belt, and as he lays it before him TO
have il handy he thinks of the time away
back on the Platte when he had first put
enc on. How proud he then felt, as a strip
ling boy, of the outfit How bright the
future had looked! And now it was all TO
end. After all. life TO him had been hard
one. 1t had brought TO him few of the
treasures for which he had lopged. For an
instant he thought why not take the six
shooter and end it all?"
''Suicides'
NO." he would die fighting.
He would take some of them with him.
Yet, why kill at all, They were but saw
ages-Apaches. Their deaths would mean
nothing. would gain nothing. Better to
kill himself and keep from them the salts
faction of doing it. No; relief might come.
Some of the many scouting parties of cav
airy always in the field, or perhaps a
party of prospectors might hear the firing.