The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-04-11

that he was we'll educated and spoke
Spanish like a native. Still, such was
the prevailing faith. az it ever is among
veteran soldiers, that the old style was
the best, twas long before he won pro-
motion. No one who has not known
both car begin to imagine the differ
ence between the army of a quarter cen
fury age and the army Of today. Just
as Feeny was a resolute specimen Of the
old, SO was Wing a pioneer of his class
in the new. At the moment when the
latter struck spurs to the wearied TANKS
of poor Dick and called on him for one
more effort, the stalwart and handsome
sergeant sped away on the path of duty,
confident of the fact that by this time
every man in his own troop and every
soldier who knew him at all would
stake his last dollar on Bob Wings tao
king the problem before him as fear
lessly and intelijgently as any veteran
in the regiment.
Having ordered the ambulance up the
gorge. he himself spurred away to gath
er in all stragglers within reach, 80 as
to reinforce the little garrison al the
caves in tie event Of attack from the
Apaches. To his practiced eye no YES
tige Of doubt remained as to the char
acter and purpose of the signal smoke.
Not a moment was to be lost. Within
that very hour perhaps unseen Indians
would come skulking, spying, "snak-
ing".upon their refuge, would be able
infallibly to determine the number and
character Of its occupants, and if their
W force were considerable and that
Of the garrison weak God alone could
help those innocent women.
When last noted, the westward signal
was putting slowly up into the cloudless
sky from a point in the range perhaps
six miles below Patterson's station in
the rocks. The three wearied troopers.
dragging slowly back from the chase,
could be seen coming up the valley prob
ably four miles away, some distance.
therefore, ahead of the supposed position
of the foe. Wing well knew with what
goatlike agility the mountain Indians
could speed along from rock to rock and
still keep under cover, and every man
who had served a month in Arizona
could have predicted that if Indians in
any force were within a days march Of
those three stragglers ambush and death
would be their fate, perhaps ven when
within view of their longed for goal.
That they had not seen the sign, that
they were ignorant of the possible pres
ence of Apaches in the range, was man
ifest simply because they rode close
along under the foot hills, often over
the bowlder strewn outskirts of the
falda, and, though still far from them,
such was Wings anxiety for their safe
ty that he rode furiously along, signal
ing with his left hand as though to
say:"Keep out! Keep to your right
Don't go so close to the rocks!"
In this way, urging Dickt to his speed
and never thinking Of his W safety,
intent only on saving his comrades
from possible death, believing, too,
that no Apache could yet have worked
his way so far up the range, Wing was
riding, straight as the crow flies, frona
the little oasis at the mouth Of the
canyon toward the ambling laggards to
the south. His course led him along
within 100 yards of many a bowlder or
,'suwarrow," though his path itself was
unobstructed. The sun had gone west
ering, and he was in the shadow. Pres
emily, however, as Dick painted painful
ly, heavily, up a very gentle slope, and
the sergeant came upon the low crest OF
a moundlike upheaval, he saw some
400 yards ahead a broad bay of sun
light stretching in from the glaring sea
to the east, and glancing to his right
noted that there was a depression in the
range-something like a broad cleft in
the mountains, possibly a pass through
to the broader desert on the other side.
He gave it little thought, however.
There, only a mile or SO away now,
came his fellow troopers, two In front,
another tagging some distance behind,
riding sleepily toward him and danger
ously close to a number of sheltering
rocks. Intent only on them and still
wishing to attract their attention, he
swung his broad brimmed hat, waving
it off to the left, but with no apparent
result. Confound them! Were they
sound asleep? Could they V be
made to see? Poor Dick was able now
only to strike a feeble canter, so utterly
was he used up, and just when Wing,
looking only to the front, was thinking
chat he might as we'll discontinue the
spur and let his poor horse rest, they
labored forth from the sheltering shade
full upon the tawny, sunlit sand. Then,
while the sergeant's eyes were tempo
rarily blinded by the glare, there came
from the rocks to his right a sudden
fash and report. He felt at the same
instant a singing pang in the leg. He
had just tine to grasp his own carbine
and to attempt to swing off when the
second SHOT echoed loudly from the
-ao7,e HI fa14 ocor Dinly cforf ond