Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1892-11-30
CHAPTER XIII.

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he rtsesto hts feet.
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 OF
hillock may conceal an enemy. When
he sleeps it is to waken at the croak OF
q frog or the chirp Of cricket, sus-
picious that the sounds were made by
enemies closing in upon him.
The Indian Is hypocrite and q dis
sembler. II he suspects that an enemy
is hidden in strong position he will
pass it carelessly by to return by stealth
and wait and watch.
Three or four days had passed since
tie 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 mystiied, 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 a
body toward the mouth Of the canyon,
or at least sent skirmishers forward to
investigate. The Indian is q human
cat. He creeps upon his prey-he wins
by cunning and stealth.
"Tell Joe to come down hereT whis-
pered the captain to the man at his side
after watching the seeming figure 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 awsyY asked the captain.
II do," replied Joe after minute.
IAN Indian Is creeping along to turn
the end of the barricade and come into
the canyonw
"Sure?'
"I'll stake my life on it'll"
Word was passed for every man to
fall back to the wagon, and after brief
consultation between the 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 of.
Now came a silence so profound that
it was positively painful. The grimness
Of midnight in a city is broken by foot
.steps-ths 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.
zation and safety.
But in the grim and gloomy canyon
there was no sound. The horses, which
hsd been led to the extreme end, peered
about them and shivered with fear. The
men lying down about the wagon felt q
weight upon them. If there were crick-
cts in the grass they were silent.
If man wants to find greater punish
ment for criminals than the dark cells
of state prisons, let him turn to the can
yon. No prisoner chained to a rock In
the gloom and silence and darkness
would keep his mind q week. The very
silence would torture him until he would
cry out to heaven for mercy, and the
sound Of his own voice would terrify
him to insanity.
The captain and Joe had not been de-
ceived. It was an Indian creeping to-
ward the mouth Il the canyon.
Creep! Creep! Creep!
So tiger creeps up to within striking
distance Of q ,:an. So cat creeps to
within striking distance Of bird. The
sharpest ear could detect no sound. The
shadows Of evening conld nc: have crept
more noiselessly.
Now the human cat has reached the
end Of the barricade. Now he turns
into the mouth Of the canyon. Now he
advances up the center. It is so dark
in the rift that he cannot see his hand
when held at arms length. Instinct
guides him. A rock lies in his path. he
knows this before he sees it. He creeps
up and carefully passes lis hand over
it. If the white men came in there with
their wagons they might have moved
the stone.
No, they did not. He creeps to an
other and another. They have not been
disturbed. He shifts at the air. If there
was the least fire he would discover it.
He lies with his ear to the ground. The
stamp Of horse half mile away would
have been detected.
Creepl Creep! Creep!
Now he is within sixty feet Of the
wagons, now it is fifty. now forty. The
slightest cough-a sleeper's change Of
position, woman's signing as she
'dreamed-would reach his ear. He
heard nothing. Not stone has been
disturbed-not wheel print can he
find as he passes. For ten long min
,utes the red man listens with ears
strained to catch the slightest sound.
Silence-nothing but silence.
Now he is satisfied. He rises to his
feet and walks back to the barricade,
turns to the left and holds straight for
the camp on the opposite side without a
pause. He is satisfied at last. He finds
every warrior awake and alert for an
alarm. In few words he makes his
report to the chief, and in ten minutes
more the band is fitting down the valley
80 quietly that their departure is not
suspected.
Morning comes and the men in the
CANYON are filled with astonishment and
satisfaction. They could not know
what the scout would report, and not an
eye had closed in sleep during the night
"Now for breakfast and then we will
be off," said the captain after satisfying
himself that the enemy had departed.
An hour later every wagon was ready
to move and the train passed down the
valley couple of miles, crossed over
into the smaller valley in which Taylor
had encamped the day he was driven
out, and l leave them for time, as
they push ahead 10 nnd route tnrouSn
the foothills to the plains.
CHAPTER XIV.
Three days after discovering the cave
of gold the outlaw band was ready to
break camp and head for civilization
The contents of the cave had been
weighed and estimated, and the sum IN
dollars and cents was beyond their wild
est expectations. The precious metal
was stored in the bottom Of the wagon
and every one felt exultant and good
natured.
Every man but Taylor. He could not
fail to notice that he was regarded as an
interloper. From the hour Of finding
the cave the renegades made every et-