People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1892-06-17

before.
'Ah! at lastr' whispered Andy, ex-
citedly.
He dropped the spade and seized with
both hands a dull, white object that
had just been thrown to the surface.
what is it," | asked
"A piece of bone" he replied, IF
we dig carefully we may find all the rest.
An Indian skeleton, complete, would
be rich prize. Come, now, get to
work. Under the bones we'll find
other things-beads and tomahawks,
and all the articles that used to be
buried with the Indians"
1t needed no stimulus from Andy to
urge me on. and pick and spade were
soon making the dirt fly in concert.
We turned up bones in abundance,
large and small, and, strange to say,
they were in an admirable state of
preservation. We did not take time to
examine them, but tossed them to-
gether in pile that grew constantly
larger.
Finally we struck a vein of a differ
ent kind, and deep stroke of my pick
brought up some curious fragments of
earthenware, and the lower half of a
bowl in good condition.
Neither Andy nor | had seen Indian
pottery of this kind before. 1t was
brown in color and smoothly glazed,
nor did it have the usual criss-cross
lines and queer concentrations.
That's rare find" assured Andy.
Don't lose any Of the pieces. Per-
haps they ali fit together"
| laid them carefully aside and went
on digging. During the next five min
utes nothing rewarded our search but a
few more fragments of pottery, and
finally we dropped our implements with
one accord and wiped the drops OF
perspiratiOn from our faces.
This is hot work, said Andy. Sup
pose we stop for awhile now, and be-
gin again when we are rested. Let's
take the bones and the crockery down
to the boat, and bring the lunch-Jaskets
up here. I'm hungry as a lear, and
must have something to eat before l re-
sumo digging We may have to go
pretty deep, too, before we strike the
more valuable things"
Andy's suggestion was a good one,
and we speedily carried it out. The
heap of bones and pottery was safely
deposited in the front locker of the
boat, and we returned to the orchard
with the lunch-baskets. When we had
devoured what little supply of food
there was, Andy proposed taking a
peep at the house.
| reluctantly consented, and we eau
tiously approached the rear door, pass
ing under a rickety grape arbor
Andy mounted the one step and sud
denly drew back the lantern-slide,
shedding flood of light on the cracked,
painless old door.
Hold on" l whispered. catching
hold of his shoulder. I'm sure |
heard something move inside Just now. -
Nonsense" replied Andy. "Only
imagination"
He boldly threw open the door and
entered, and l followed timidly at his
heels.
Hardly had we crossed the threshold
when the lantern was dashed from An.
dy's grasp by an invisible hand, and
then Andy himself was thrown with
stunning force to the floor.
A blow over the head sent me reeling
on top of him, and, as lay there stupid
with fright, | heard a hoarse exclama.
ton and scurrying footsteps, followed
by the loud banging of the door. Then
all was still.
Fortunately our unknown assailants
had given the door such a jerk that il
few open on the recoil, and when We
staggered to our feet, little stunned
and dizzy, we caught sight of the dusky
gray streak.
We nearly fell over each other in oul
haste to get outside. We were under
the impression that more enemies were
concealed in the dark room
Just as we put foot upon the bricl
walk that led under the grape arbor /;
light flashed through the trees a shor
distance away, and loud voice called
Here they are! Come this way!"
Then we heard men calling in cage
tones, and the hurrying tread of fee
tramping down stubble and dry bushes
We stood stock still for moment
too frightened to move. The men cam,
rapidly nearer, and the lanterns the,
were carrying threw glimmers of ligh
almost to our feet.
Into the house, quick" Whispered
Andy, huskily. ITS too late to reacl
the boat"
We turned and darted through tn
open door. Andy closed it noiselessly
and pulled me across the floor. H
struck match so that we could fin,
the way into another part of the house
and, just as the little blaze flared ur
there came a rush of footsteps and
tremendous crash.
The door flew open and in rushed
dozen men, every one armed in som
way. They dragged us roughly GU
from the corner where we had take
refuge, and for a moment or two
thought our lives were in danger.
One young fellow, wearing a flame
shirt and corduroy trousers, made re
peated attempts to strike us with
, heavy club.
LET me get at Them" he cried-'le
me get at themr'
The others had to drag him away b
main force and disarm him.