San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-11-22

ralnIlke divide and goes Swimming over
a level stretch toward the lowlands of
the valley. Berrien's glasses seem glued
10 his eyes.
Twenty of them in that party! What
do they see? What's their hurry? They
would not expose themselves to our
view unless there were urgent need for
haste"
The old road comes in from that di-
rection, sir answers Ellis. 1--WE left it
few hours out from the cantOnment,
as you remember. Can anything have
been seen along that road to give rise to
signal smokes?
Berrien turns half over and looks
keenly into the sergeant's intelligent
face.
That road has been abandoned for
weeks past. Everybody to the east of
us has taken refuge at the railway long
since. Nobody would be coming from
that direction"
Il know that, sir; but would not any
detachment coming from the agency to
meet us, for instance, be apt to keep
the road? | understood we were to
strike for it in the morning and follow
it i'll"
Again Berrien gazes long and earnest
ly through the binocular. They are
certainly heading for that road and
riding at full speed. How many men
have you at this 'front.' he quickly
asks.
Just eight, sir, all told, but eight
more are almost within call over on
our left flank. Yonder is the ridge
where my men are posted" And Ellis
points to their left rear where lies the
low crest.
Just keep good lookout here, SER
geant. will move them over this way
and then ride to the left flank. My
horse, orderly" And, thinking deeply
over the matter as he rides, Berrien
spurs into lively canter across an in
tervening dip in the prairie. "Some
mischief ahead" he mutters. They
are not speeding up that valley for moth
ing. We may have to saddle and get
over there"
Not two hundred yards has he ridden
when from the point which he has Just
quilted there comes a sudden yell of
warning, followed almost instantly by
two shots in quick succession. Then
bang bang! another two, and, as he
whirls about, the first object that meets
his startled gaze is Ellis handsome black
horse plunging to earth almost at the
cd, Of Cho1ln,ty rnN HSCtonnn
out in front Of the butte.
My God. SIR" cries the orderly, Ser
geant Ellis is killed.
Berrien's heart bounds. There, face
downward upon the sward, motionlcss,
just few feet away from the plunging,
death stricken horse, lies the sergeant,
his carbine dropped from his nerveless
hand. At the same instant red, glitter
ing, bedaubed with paint, bespangled
with cheap tinery, two young Indian
braves lash their ponies into furious gal
lop as they shoot up out of the shallow
ravine, and rifles in hand, coupsticks
advanced, race madly toward the strick-
en- trooper in eager effort to secure the
trophy of their proves, the coveted
scalp Of the fallen foe
Your carbine, man!' yells Berrien to
his orderly. Quick! Shoot that lead
er" And putting spurs to his snorting
horse, reckless of the fact that he IS
armed only with revolver and that the
ravine may be full of Indians, the vet
eran soldier drives full tilt at the charg-
| ing braves. He thinks only of the fact
that one of his men lies PROSTATE and
! helpless before them. They are almost
upon Ellis before Berrien has galloped
rod. They ere within twenty PAGES of
him when, with a shout of delight, the
major sees him whirl suddenly over,
grasp his carbine, and, all in a second,
the flame leaps from the bronzed muz-
zle, the foremost warrior drops his
rife, whirls up a clinching, cOnvulsive
hand and topples headfOremOst out of
the saddle. Scott, the vedette, echoes
with another shot that kicks up the dust
close under the second ponys flashing
heels. Its red rider veers in broad circle
to the right, and in the twinkling of an
eve the feathered war bonnet bows low
over the pOny's stretching neck. Ber-
rien's bullet whizzes harmlessly above,
and the major himself, borne by the
rush of his ,,alf maddened steed, dashes
on past Ellis, now kneeling for another
shot, and goes crash into the midst Of a
little knot of yelling warriors just
bounding up out of the gully to the res.
cue of their stricken cOmrade. "Bess
my wife; Winnie" are the only words
he has time or thought to mutter, for
instant death seems inevitable.
But all the old fighting instinct is up