Evening journal., 1892-10-11

There are times when the tiger is of
his guard.
There is never an hour when the In
dian Of the plains is free from suspicion.
In his waking hours each rock or tree or
hillock may conceal an enemy. When
he sleeps it is to waken at the croak Of
q frog or the chirp Of q cricket, sus-
picious that the sounds were made by
enemies closing in upon him.
The Indian is a hypocrite and a dis
sembler. If lie suspects that an enemy
is hidden in u strong position he will
pass it carelessly by to return by stealth
and wait and watch.
Three or four days had passed since
the Indian band disappeared down the
valley, and it had seemingly gone away
satisfied that the train had escaped.
But the warriors were not satisfied.
They were mystifed, but not satisfied.
They had returned to play hypocrite and
dissembler. They had gone into camp
as part Of the plan. They had waited
for night-as another part of it.
White men would have advanced in q
body toward the mouth Of the canyon,
or at least sent slzirmishers forward to
Investigate. The Indian is a human
cat. He ereeps upon his prey-he wins
by cunning and stealth.
"Tell Joe to come down herev whis-
pered the captain to the man at his side
after watching the seeming figure a few
minutes longer.
The man quietly disappeared, and Joe
was at the captains elbow.
do you see anything on the ground
in line with my finger and perhaps two
hundred feet awayy asked the captain.
II do" replied Joe after a minute.
san Indian is creeping along to turn
the end Of the barricade and como into
the canyonp
"Sure?'
"I'll stake my life on i'll"
Word was passed for every man 20
fall back to the wagon, and after brief
consultation between tho captain and
Joe one took position to the right and
the other to the left Of the entrance, but
fifty feet back. If the Indian scout
penetrated thus far he must pass be-
tween them, and his retreat would be
cut off.
Now came a silence so profound that
it was positively painful. The grimness
of midnight in a city is broken by foot
steps-the barking Of dogs-the whistle
of a locomotive. On the open plains the
chirp Of crickets never ceases while
darkness lasts, and that very sound has
kept lost men and women from going
crazy under the great mental strain
The sound connected them with civil
cation and safety.
But in the grim and gloomy canyon
there was no sound. The horses, which
had been led TO the extreme end, peereC
about them and shivered with fear. Tn,
men lying down about the wagon felt &
weight upon them. If there were cricl1
cts in tho grass they were silent.
If man wants to find greater punish
rnent for criminals than the dark cell
of state prisons, let him turn TO the can
Won. No prisoner chained to a rock il
the gloom and silence and darkness
would keep his mind week. The very
silence would torture him until he would
cry out to heaven for mercy, and th'
sound Of his own voice would terrify
him to insanity.
The captain and Joe had not been de
ceived. 1t was an Indian creeping to
ward the mouth Of the canyon.
Creepl Creepl Creepl
50 a tiger creeps up to within strikin;
distance of man. So q cat creeps t,
within striking distance Of bird. TIT
lharpest ear could detect no sound. TIT
lhadows Of evening could not have crep
more noiselessly.
Now the human cat has reached tn
end Of the barricade. Now no turn
into the mouth Of the canyon. Now b
advances up tho center. 1t is so darl
in the rift that he cannot see his han'
when held at arms length. Instinc
guides him. A rock lies in his path. Il