The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-07-07
TAKE HIM IN!

Mrs H. tity. When last heard
ID E from was ns. making aons;I for the
By the time the read
er had finished, crowd
of half a dozen or more men surrounded him.
| CHOW if that Teller is headed for the Tonic
Basin country, it wouldn't be much of trick
to take h m," said the first speaker refectivey,
as if debating with himself the ACCESSIBILITY Of
making the attempt.
of you hear me, he amt going to be taken
| in, and the Teller that tries it is going to have
his hands full. They have been after him for
two or three years and amt got him yet They
say he's right on the shoot" remarked another
of the crowd.
well felle. ought to know him as soon as
he sees him. from that description" hazarded
the first speaker, " if he got up close enough to
see the scar; and then all he'd have to do
would be to turn loose at him if he didn't
| throw up his hands when you told him. Be-
sides, nobody but him would try to cross over
| the mountains into the basin with this snow
on the ground. Blamed if don't think I'll 60
| after him."
| well, somebody ought to round him up"
asserted some one in the crowd he's been
fooin' roun' hyah long enough. jes' havin' his
| own way, sorter as If the country belonged to
him. burned if wouldn't 60 with you, Hi if
didn't have to take this grub over to the boys
| in camp"
"Well, if any of you want to go, all right.
I'm going" replied the man add ressed as Hi.
1t was not the first time that Hi Lansing had
! been on such expeditions. He was one of those
men for whom danger seems to have fascina-
| tion. At his remark, Frank Crandall, young
fellow who had been standing quietly by, vol
unteered to accompany him. The crowd
turned toward him with more interest than
| they had thus far evinced during the entire
| proceedings. 1t was but few months since he
had come among them, fresh from the East, to
take charge of one of the mines which had
been closed down by the Winters storms. For
| weeks he had been cooped up in the isolated
settlement, and he longed for something to
| break its monotony.
| "Well, get your horse and gun and come"
| replied Hi and in an instant the two men had
left the room to arm and equip themselyesfo for the
chase, while the loungers gathered around the
stove to discuss the probabilities of their success.
In a few minutes the two men rode past the
| door, each armed with rifle and six-shooter,
and the crowd, stepping ont. babe them good
| by with the oft-repeated warning: Be keer-
full. and don't let him get the drop on ye."
The crust of the unbroken snow cracked
crisply underfoot as the two rode on fast, leav-
ing the little settlement in their rear. For
some time neither spoke, but at last the silence
was broken by Lansing asking his young COM
panon: Did you ever try this kind of thing
before?"
NO" replied the young man; II never
have"
"Well, then, you want to be keerful. If you
| don't lose yer head you're all right. The only
danger is that we may run on him before we
know it."
"And if we do, what them" asked the young
man.
well, he will probably commence shooting,
and if he does, and you aren't hit the first rattle
out of the box, why you want to git OFT n your
horse and git behind something and shoot back.
If Their amt anything to git behind, keep your
horse between you and him, and keep a-shoot-
ing Whatever you do, don't let go Of your
gun; but what we want to do is to see him
first, and then we've got the play on him, and
all you have to do is to tell him to throw up"
"And if he don't throw up?" asked Gran
dali.
"Why. then, you let him have it. The re-
ward will be paid just the same"
The apparent Indifference with which Lam
sing spoke of the entire matter, much as if he
were discussing the best method of hunting
wild animal, shocked the young man, but he
had committed himself too far to withdraw.
Besides, he had that feeling that all men have
when they are young-the curiosity to know
whether not he could rely on himself when
danger threatened.
"We should strike his trail on the hills here
If he is really headed for the basin country"
eral hours in silence through the snow, I'M
broken by aught save the scattered pines that
here and there dotted the mesa. Before them
lowered the mountains through whose passes
the man whom they were after would have to
pass in his search fer safety in the half-settled
wilds beyond.
AS the two men rode along, scanning in each
direction the snow -covered mesa, Lansing sud-
denly wheeled his horse to the right, and,
when Crandall joined him, he pointed to a mar
row trail where two horses had passed through
the snow.
"That's him. He's driving one horse and
leading another, and he hasn't passed by very
long either. See, the snow hasn't had time to
drift in it," said he.
With the discovery his whole demeanor had
changed new look came into his eyes, and
his voice sounded strange He even grasped
his weapons in a manner different to that he
had heretofore displayed, Hes right ahead
and we want to look out" the older man con-
tinued. as they began to follow the trail AS they
approached the summit of each hill they would
stop their horses, and Lansing would dsmount
and crawl to the top, SO that he might look
without being discovered, into the valley be-
yond, in order that they might not come on
the fugitive too suddenly,
They had travelled this way for several
miles when, refining in his horse, Lansing
pointed to what seemed an old road leading
VIZ w ~ A46"SoA WY "iAS WY "0Ao A0Ao"AnSS
and said: -
THAT'S the cutoff into the basin.
thought he would take it, but he probably
doesn't know the country. You had better
take it and ride on ahead until you strike the
road we're on again. Then if you can't find
his tracks, you had better ride back to meet
me until you do. will follow the trail up"
The young man tried to expostulate with
Lansing for the great risk he was assuming, in
thus following the trail Alone but his COM
paniOn was obdurate, and cutting the argument
short by again warning the young man to be
on his gulrd, he rode on, following the trail
in the snow, while the younger man, finding
objection useless, took the cutoff" road. He
had no difficulty in following it, and he Won
dered why the man they were in pursuit of had
not taken advantage of it.
The whole pu suit seemed almost like
dream to him. The snow, unbroken save by
his horses football, stretched away mile after
mile in every direction, with here and there
pine through whose branches the wind seemed
to sob and sigh, making the only noise that
broke the stiffness of the wintry afternoon. 1t
added to this feeling. Not thing in sight.
Ho tn nd