St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1892-12-31
CONTINUED
a He did it quickly and deftsu.
CHAPTER XIV.

- sSsS
He did it quickly and deftty.
1t mas long past dark when suppe
had beeneaten. That the outlaws medi
tated some evadwas clear to Taylor from
their demeanor. He had been repeated,
snubbed and insulted during the day
but now that they had arranged thei
plafto kill him they greeted him with
hearty good will.
They mean murderp he said to him
self as he looked from one to another
and it occurred to him that they must
have planned to kill him while he slept
He, however. returned joke for joke and
laugh for laugh, and to have seen the
five sitting about the campfire one
would have thought them the truest
friends.
II don't calkerlate we shall even see
an Injun on this trip" said the outlaw
leader, as he finally knocked the ashes
from his pipe, "but in course we can't
S9e sure of it. We must tharfore post a
sentry, as usual. Say, Taylor. I hope
ye ar feelin good natured?'
"Oh, yes"
didn't know but / riled ye back thar
at the old camp. | wasn't feelin well
when ye jumped on me about the gold.
We sheer and sheer alike, in course.
You get a fifth"
"But as you have the team, and as
You are four to one in case we are at
tackled, l shall be satisfied with less
than that, !" replied Taylor.
"Well, you jest sot your own fggers
and 1t will be all right" continued Bob.
"Now, then, let's get to sleep"
Taylor went to the wagon after his
blankets. He had planned just what to
do, and he did it quickly and deftly.
Had the men been watching him he
would Got have been detected. He re-
moved the cork from the jug, emptied
the poison from his bottle therein, gave
the jug few shakes, and returned to
the fire humming a jolly air and evi-
IDENTIFY in good spirits. The outlaw Sc.
lected to stand the first watch took his
station under the cottonwoods hun
dred feet away, the blazing brands were
scattered and in fifteen minutes the
four men wrapped in their blankets ap-
peared to be buried in slumber. Three
OF them perhaps were, but Taylor was
never SO wide awake in his life. His life
never before depended on it. He noticed
that the three outlaws lay down close
together, leaving him alone and several
feet away, and he figured it out:
"They have arranged to kill me, and
it will be when the sentry is changed.
When he comes in to wake the other
man up he is to do the deed. must be
wide awake and prepared for him."
And now came night and solitude on
the plain. Men who have not expert
enced it can have but a faint under
standing of its weirdness- awful
solemnity-the fear that creeps into the
heart of the wakeful listener and un-
nerves him.
Chee-weel Chee-weel Chee-weel
It is only the voice of the tree toad,
but it makes every nerve tingle and the
breath come shorter. The notes broke
In on a silence as profound as the grave;
they cease and the silence whichreturns
IS appalling.
Step! stepl Step!
1t is only the footballs of timid rab-
Dit yards away, but they reach the
strained ears with terrible distinctness
Ind make the perspiration start from
,very pore.
Rustic! Rustic! Rustlel
The listener almost cries out as he
tarts up. 1t is harmless snake MAX
ng his way through the dry grass, but
he sound might have signaled an In
liam creeping into camp to do bloody
work.
He-wichi He-wieh! He-wich!
1t is only the note Of queer, wee bird
which fits at night over those vast soli-
udes, but it hasH~mades hundreds of
,raye men shiver with alarm,
An hour has gone by in the camp on
he Big Cheyenne. The AsentinA, does
lot close his eyes, but feeling quite Sc
ure from danger he leans against
rec and gives himself up to his thoughts. !,
'aylor has thousand wild thoughts
score of plans-a longing to have time
lurry up and bring the worst.
A wolf comes skulking over the earth r
o sniff and smell and growl and won
er, but the sentinel neither sees nor
ears.
The wee night bird ceases its notes
nd alights on a branch over the SEN
inel's head and looks down upon him
nth curious eyes.
A rattlesnake which has been in hid
ng under brush heap on the bank of
be stream now comes forth and races
Witty past the rear end of the wagon
> another hiding place.
The awful solitude affects the horses
5 much as the men. They have laid
themselves down to sleep, but they are
neasy and wakeful. Their ears work
ack and forth. Their eyes are strained
, pierce the gloom, and nothing keeps
aem down but the fear of breaking in
d the solitude if they should get up.
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