Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1893-10-12
THEM TWO TWINS
BY FRANK B. WILLARD.

I it in their own Apache way. The world
may seem big 10 a white boy Of ten, but
it is all out of doors to the brown boy Of
the desert, and especially if there are
two of him; and most especially after a
raid such as there had been that morn
ing, when the white folks blood had
flowed as freely as water For be it
known that, because of the raid, there
were wonderful new things to play with
the things that the white children $
father had bought for his little ones last
Christmas
1t was evident that the whole Thack-
er family had been cleaned ont. The
Thacllers had known that Geronimo had
left the reservation and was tearing off
scalps all over the country but they
had watched for him until they had
grown weary; and in the early morning,
when one sleeps so soundly on the des-
ert, they had been set upon with true
Apache fairness, and had, to all appear
ances, been wiped off the face of the
earth-the whole six Of them. !,
OF course the twins had not actually
participated IN the slaughter. They had
been over the ridge with Squaw Mary,
their mother. when it happened; but
Father Jose had had big bloody hand
in il, so it was all in the family. And
when the loot began the twins were not
far away. and they scampered in among
the ruins with the rest of the braves and
took what they wanted.
SO now they were making merry in
Coyote Canon, half mile from the ash
pile that had once been the Thacker
cabin, footing little dead Johnny's trum-
pet and shaking the baby's rattle, while
they flung bits of poor Mrs. Hackers
finery TO the breezes Astrip of the dead
woman 5 pink ribbon s'as tied around
each bare, brown waist, md to il hung a
silver plated table knife
And they danced. ant yelled. and
footed, and ratified as only TN year-old
Apaches can. telling each other, over
and over again, that the white folks
were all dead-all dead, and that the
brave Indians ruled the whole world
But they were not all dead-not quile
Up behind that rock twenty feet FROM
where they stood, lay John Thacker
himself. with bullet in his leg and a
great black hate in his heart. that al
ternated there with terrible rawness
that was the rawer because il was so
very new 1t was all so frightfully
fresh. this awful scourge that had made
raw his heart--all SO frightfully fresh
and new If it were only the end of
next month. But it was now. 1t must
still be present to him, and perhaps for
ever, that awful picture. 1t was still
before his eyes; he could see nothing
else.
/" And it ran down her side-poor dead
Barb'ras side-the blood of the poor lit
tie baby And then they-they re all
dead now-all five of my darlings
Oh. how eyesearing was the picture,
all set in red. Even when he covered
his eyes, there was still before them that
red. The whole world was red.
The sun crept around the edge of the
rock and stabbed down upon his naked
head and neck He moved a little
further aside, and. moving, the corner
of his eye took in the twins. They were
so near at hand and so Enthusiastically
Apache that another SILVER shot through
him. 1t was only for an instant that
his vision cleared. and then the red
danced before him in great waves and
blotches, and it was some little time be-
fore he could see the small Indians
again. But unwinking stares and keen
" shot glances did clear things mp again,
and he saw that the dread enemy was
before him. making merry after their
feast of blood.
Why, it's them two twins of old
Marys,' he said.
Then his leg drew up suddenly, for a
greet throb of pain shot through it and /
made him vince and groan.
"Wall. they're jest ordinary. common
Apaches. he remembered. land it |
won't be more'n a year or two before I
they'll be shoutin' and cuttin white
folks.
He slid the barrel of his rife over his 4
body, turned little ON his left side, his
elbow resting on the ground. The I
black. stubby barrel grated along the
lip of the rock. sliding and dipping until
the pin point SIGHT stood precisely on /
fine imaginary line running from the
man right eye to the nearest twins
brown breast The boy was blowing
the trumpet in desultory way. the new
ness of the thing having worn off. His
black ewes were dancing under the
tangled mat of black that crowned his
ugly little head. In those eyes, the man
behind the rock saw the same light that
he had seen in the eyes Of the slayers
that morning. and his cheek Rugged the
butt of the rifle lovingly. while his fore
finger reached forward an inch and
lowered about the trigger. That the
BOY should still have stood there
at the end of a min
ate was astonishing to the man as it
would have been to any on-looker who
Knew what was in his heart and could
Zee the raw of it reflected in those blood