The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-09-30

upon the trailer she saw big clot Of blood
on the back of the dark shirt, and by 10
was clean cut bullet hole. With a shud-
der she let the body fall. Then she looked
at her hands. There was blood upon them
and upon the sleeve of her dress.
"Claim tumpersi"
! She set her teeth hard when she thrust
forth the words, and clinched her hand
till the nails dug into the palm
They had killed him, then, while he
was at work. He had crawled as far as
the rock and had died. 1t was a strike-a
big one-and 1t had cost him his life.
But
She looked up the canyon with awful eyes
and smote the air with the clinched hand.
Then she bent down. and taking long
halter strap fastened the body securely to
the top of the trailer, and mounting her
fathers horse she led Old Jim carefully
down the canyon and out upon the night
chilled plain. The coyotes followed her
and almost rent her heart by their bowls,
but she kept on. and before midnight the
sad little procession reached the cabin.
The mother was still up, and she ran to
the door when she heard the sound of the
hoofs .. ~"
us that you, Lishf" she called ont.
Did ye bring pap homer Is it dead sure
striker"
Lish slid from her horse and ran to the
door.
"Maw, NAV, mawi' was her cry. NAV,
they've killed himi They've killed poor
ole papl"
1t was a month after they had laid the
old man in white earth, and the wind was
whispering through the sagebrush and
scattering its gray leaves on his grave.
Lish was mp in the canyon behind the
very rock where she had found her dead
father. The canyon draft was grateful to
her after the hard ride over the heated
plain. She drank in long breaths Of It, but
all the time her eye was on the hole where
her father had made the one great strike
Of his life and had died for IT,
Strange he never comes 'roun-that
greasy faced Jose Garcia. Twas him that
did it. P'raps he's waiting fer us TO move
away. He'll wait long time-till he's
dead"
Shs let her glance fall for an instant to
the something that CLEANED along the top
Of the rock. That something was the bar
rel Of her fathers rife. The wind rustled
a snakeskin on the rock at her side, and a
swift darted into the shade and looked
at her with unwinking eyes.
Then dark, squat figure stole out of
the canyon depths and up to tho mine.
The girl did not start, but a smile passed
her lips. The figure moved about as 81.
lently as a shadow. 1t turned a swart
face toward the spot where she lay hid,
but there was more Of interest for it in the
hole in the canyon side than for aught else,
and on this the eyes were bent.
BY moving the muzzle of the rifle two
inches along the top of the rock it covered
the flap of the pocket in the left breast of
the blue flannel shirt.
Further than / Thought for" the girl
said to herself; NEARLY $50 yards. The
middle sights the best"
She squinted through the pin point hole
and lowering the muEzle the smallest
fraction Of an inch she smiled as the small
round dot Of light rested on the very center
of the pocket flap. At that instant dark
shadow made an inky patch on the scarp
near her, and looking up she saw a big
buzzard wheeling in the air. She smiled
again and Rugged the rifle butt, which
l fitted closely against her shoulder. Her
right hand went forward a little. Her
slender forefnger. held straight, smootbed
the black trigger lightly, almost lovingly
The man Strengthened up a little. The
finger crooked, there was a sharp crack
and the man fell upon his face
Then she pressed home another cartridge
and clambered up the rock, rifle in hand.
She leaned over the body. 1t was motion
Hess.
! "You oughter "a ben shot in the back,
too" she said grimly; "but Lish amt no
greeser."
She moved away with light step, hug
ging the rifle under her arm. And the
bunsard circled a little lower.-Frank b.
Willard In San Francisco Argonaut.