The Red Cloud chief., 1892-09-02

loved so well. The northern ter
minus of the linc-El Altar-was some
twenty-onc miles distant. had estab-
lishcd a station one mile south, south
east of that point, so that, following
the old trail, l would thus have very
nearly q straight-away of twenty miles
Next morning | vas awake and up
bright and early. What u day IL was!
The air was crystal. The golden sum
beams danced and twinkled over the
earth like swift-Aying arrows. was
In the best of spirits. With some ad-
justing had succeeded in putting the
wheel, which had apparently been used
rather roughly, in tolerably good con
dition. After n hasty breakfast l was
ready for the Journey.
lnstruct,ng the Navajoe lad to follow
me the next day with the provisions. /
mounted and rode slowly out toward the
long stretch of country. executed u
few trick and Dor felt per-
fcctly Mt ease. My actions were viewed
by the young Navajoe with OPEN
mouthed wonderment. The use of the
strange two-wheelcd affair that he had
been carrying seemed never to have
dawncd upon his conception, although
during the journey to Maybelos I had
caught him more than once ogling the
concern, and handling it very ginger
ly.
But to my story: I rode out upon the
old path and found the soil as had ex-
pectcd, hard and level. Striking an
easy rate Of speed I was away; my ride
had commenced. had ridden possibly
n mile, when / observed To the east and
Il little way ahead Of me, n tiny wreath
of blue smokc-I had to look twice to
distinguish it from vapor--rising from
u clump of pines. 1 knew what il was.
II told mi that there was u camp there.
i guessed the rest; n rowing band of
half-brceds and rcd-skin trappcrs were
resting Whereabouts. Whether my way
lay directly to this spot or not / was at
u loss then to tell. As I proceeded, how
ever, this proved to he the fact. l was
mo- exactly satisfied what course to
pursue. but rccollecting that since u
stay In the region none Of our party
had evcr received bodily injury from
the ringers" ! resolved to continue
my way. attracting as.littlc attention
as possible. Pcrchance / could pass
them unobserved. AS l nearcd the
place ! found that my course was
some twelve or more rods from
where the camp was. Under cover
of some shrubs which lined the trail
for n considerable distance at this
point, ! was able to ~reconnoiter. There
were fifteen ringers" in all. Four of
these were half breeds, five native In
dams, three Apache and the rema indcr
Creoles. ! must confess that l would
have given a little for the privilege Of
altering the situation somewhat. How
ever, l saw that / was sin for it,"
and placing my feet rcsolutely to the
pedals l continued ut an increased
| speed. ] saw that I would be obliged
to leave the friendly cover Of the
shrubbery ere long, and pass over Il
stretch of about FIVE rods unscrcened. II
could make this distance without being
discovered | was safe. l resolved to
try. Setting the pedals revolving mcr.
rily | flew out from the bushes and
across the intervening space ut IA high
speed. ! was half way across and be-
I'M w biuIAi NaSltT, Ntlth Il
saw, coming along the trail u few feet
ahead Of me, n big Creole buck carry
ing n huge gourd filed with water ev-
identity from n spring near by. At that
instant he caught sight of me. will
never forget the look that came over
his face. With II yell that would have
made II steam-whistlc blush in envy, he
sprang into the air, and, dropping his
gourd, fell hcadforcmost in the patch.
This was a beautiful state Of affairs
for me! Hearing his cry of alarm
his companions had jumped as one
man, and stood gazing transfixed In
statue-like amazcmcnt at the stran ge
scene that must have greeted their
eyes. The next minute both wheels Of
my machine had passed over the neck
OF the PROSTATE Creole and ! had dis
appeared into the shrubbery. the
reader may surmisc that I did not dis
mount and return to ascertain whether
or not l had crushed the breath out of
the unfortunate Crcole's body. On the
contrary ] put spurs to ISy stecd, a. it
were, and dashed on faster still.
My a~pprchensions were thoroughly
aroused. The question forced itself into
my mind: what will the result of the
occurrence be-will the ringers give
chaser" ] felt sure that II l had seri-
ously injured the Creole his companions
would certainly follow me, for by them
the love of revenge is regarded as one
of the uoblest instincts, and the great
est incentive to belligerent effort. |
had not long to wait for an answer. My
alert ear detected the sound of hoof
beats; ! was being pursued! / observed
that there was n fact ut least to my
advantage, my wheel leftn no mark upon
the trail us the earth was so unusually
hard. II the ringers really meant
business they would be obliged to en-.
ploy every tactic available to their
versatile minds in order TO follow me.
Whether they would follow me for any
length of time was n matter Of CON
lecture; it was at present enough for
Inc to realize that the clatter of hoofs
was becoming much more audible. l
was certain, though, that they had not
caught sight of me yet.
covered three miles without mat,-