The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-08-30
Instructing the Navajoe lad to follow

DIV the young NdFdJOC
mouthed wonderment. The use OF the
strange wo-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
ly He was indeed puzzled. l rode
distance with my legs over the handle
bars, and then dismounted suddenly
la leap-frog. This capped the climax,
and the last ever saw of Navajoe he
was making his reputation as a sprint
err at a 2:2O gait in the opposite dlrec-
ton
But to nv 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 commenced | had ridden possibly
a mile, when observed to the east and
| d little way ahead of me, tiny wreath
of blue srneke-I had to look twice to
| distinguish it from vapor-rising from
| a clump Of pines. / knew what 1t was.
| 1t told me that there was camp there.
I guessed the rest; a rowing band OF
| half-breeds and red-skin trappers were
resting whereabouts. Whether my way
lay directly to this spot or not was at
a 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
/ 7 RI
nay way, attracting as little attention
as possible. Perchance / could pass
them unobserved. AS l neared 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 a considerable distance at this
| point, I 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 inder
| Creoles. I must confess that L would
have given little for the privilege OF
altering the situation somewhat. How
ever, | saw that / was in Tor 1t,
and placing my feet resolutely to the
pedals l continued at an Increased
speed. / saw that l would be obliged
to leave the friendly cover of the
shrubbery ere long. and pass over
stretch of about ave rods unscreened. If
could make this distance without being
discovered / was safe. l resolved to
try. Setting the pedals rev diving mer-
rily l flew out from the bushes and
across the intervening space at high
speed l was half way across and be-
ginning to breathe much easier, when L
saw, coming along the trail few feet
ahead of me, big Creole buck carry
ing a huge gourd filed with water ev-
identity from spring near by. At that
instant he caught sight of me. will
never forget the look that came over
his face. With yell that would have
made a steam 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 transhxed in
statue-like amazement at the strange
scene that must have greeted their
| L w
my machine had passed over the neck
of the PROSTATE Creole and l had dis
appeared into the shrubbery. the
reader may surmise that l 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 rny steed, as 1t
were, and dashed on faster still
NY apprehensions were thoroughly
aroused. The question forced itself into
nv mind: What will the result of the
occurrence be-will the ringers give
chaser" | felt sure that if l had seri-
ously injured the Creole MS companions
would certainly follow me, for by them
. the love of revenge is regarded as one
of the noblest 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 my
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 a matter of con-
lecture: it 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
caught sight of me yet.
| covered three miles without mate
rial change in affairs; in fact, thought
the sounds were hardly as distinct as
formerly. l had not proceeded mile
further before they sank away alto
gether. The ringers" had either
given up the chase entirely, or were OF
the scent. In either event was afford
ed the needed opportunity of rest fol
the unusual exertion was beginning 4
affect me- / continued at "a moderate
rate until coming upon clearing
was able to take a look about me-
detected far to the right, and severa
wards ahead of me, my pursuers
=, They were evidently trying to head III
off, and they were ahead II the race
too! In another instant l was dashin:
, down the trail fairly cutting the air Il
my flight
! For four miles rode on. My mus
;, cles were strained 10 their utmost ten
!, sion: the wheels of my machine SCENE
to hum as they revolved. The open
o ings became more frequent, and sal
e that while had gained considerable q
to relative, 7,ositicn, the ringers" wer