The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-09-02

were excellent, and my heart beat high
in anticipation of a renewal of a sport
loved so well. The northern ter
| minus of the line-El Altar-was some
| twenty-one miles distant. l had estab-
lished station one mile south, south
| east of that point, so that, following
the old trail, would thus have very
nearly straight-away of twenty miles
Next morning i was awake and up
| bright and early. What day it was!
The air was crystal. The golden sun
| beams danced and twinkled over the
earth like swift-fying arrows. l was
in The best of spirits. With some adj
| justing had succeeded in putting the
wheel, which had apparently been used
rather roughly, in tolerably good con-
dition. After hasty breakfast was
ready for the journey.
lnstructlng the Navajoe lad to follow
me the next day with the provisions. |
mounted and rode slowly out toward the
long stretch of country. ! executed a
few trick maneuvers and soon felt per-
fectly at ease. My actions were viewed
by the young Navajoe with open
mouthed wonderment. The use of the
strange two-wheeled affair that he had
been carrying seemed never to have
dawned upon his conception. although
during the journey to Maybelos | had
caught him more than once ogling the
concern, and handling it very ginger
~.
But to my story: rode out upon the
old path and found the soil as had ex-
pected hard and level. Striking an
easy rate of speed was away: my ride
had CONNIE need. | had ridden possibly
a mile, when | observed to the east and
a little way ahead of me. tiny wreath
of blue smoke-I had TO look twice to
distinguish it from vapor--rising from
a clump Of pines. knew what it was.
1t told me that there was a camp there.
i guessed the rest: rowing band of
| half-breeds and red-slin trappers were
resting Whereabouts. Whether my way
lay directly to this spot or not was at
loss then to tell. AS proceeded, how
| ever, this proved to be the fact l was
| not exactly satisfied what course to
pursue. but recollecting that since our
| stay in the region none of our party
had ever received bodily injury from
| the ringers" | resolved to continue
my way, attracting as little attention
as possible. Perchance l could pass
them unobserved. AS l neared the
| some twelve or more rods from
| where the camp was Under cover
of some shrubs which lined the trail
| for a 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 Under
Creoles | must confess that / would
have given little for the privilege of
altering the situation somewhat. How
ever, l saw that l was ''in for it,"
and placing my feet resolutely to the
pedals l continued at an increased
speed. / saw that | would be obliged
to leave the friendly cover of the
shrubbery ere long. and pass over a
stretch of about FIVE rods unscreened. If
could make this distance without being
discovered | was safe. ! resolved to
try. Setting the pedals rev diving mer-
across the intervening space at high
sped. l was half way across and be-
ginning to breathe much easier, when |
saw, coming along the trail few feet
ahead of me, a big Creole buck carry
ing huge gourd filed with water ev-
identity from a spring near by. At that
instant he caught sight of me. l will
never forget the look that came over
his face. With a yell that would have
made steam-w whistle blush in envy, he
sprang into the air, and, dropping his
gourd, fell headforemost 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 amazement at the strange
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 l had dis
| appeared into the shrubbery. the
reader may surmise that | did not dis
mount and return to ascertain whether
or not had crushed the breath out of
| the unfortunate Creole's body. On the
contrary put spurs to my steed, as it
| We're. and dashed on faster still
My approximations We're thoroughly
aroused. The question forced itself into
my mind: What will the result of the
occurrence be-wili the ringers give
| chase?" | felt sure that if 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 ears detected the sound of hoof
beats: ! was being pursued. l observed
that there was one fact at least to nv
advantage. my wheel left no mark upon
the trail as the earth was so unusually
hard. If 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 matter of con-
lecture; II was at present enough for
me TO realize that the clatter of hoofs
was becoming much more audible. |
was certain, though. that they had not
1 s.rlxa 6