The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1894-03-01

1
neighborhood Wing would not be con-
tent with starting the fire, but would
surely signal whittier to go in search
of them, and that no vestige of signal
torch had appeared. Old Plummer
vowed he could never again know q
moment of peace if he neglected to do
anything or everything in his power
to save the girls Most reluctantly he
agreed that Feeny should remain in
charge of the safe and the two drugged
and helpless men. Murphy and all the
others were ordered out forthwith to
march rapidly northeastward until they
struck the trail of the pursuit and then
to follow that. In Is minutes. with
four pack mules ambling behind, away
they went into the darkness, and all
that was left to man the ranch and de-
fend the government treasury against
all comers was the phlegmatic but de-
termined paymaster, his physically
wrecked but devoted clerk, Sergeant
| Feeny, raging at heart, but full of
| fight, and a half breed packer named
| Pedro. The two senseless and drunken
troopers were of course of no use to any
body.
Even as the detachment mounted,
Latham with it, old Moreno appeared
at the doorway shrouded in his serape
Approaching Murphy by the side far
| thest from Plummer and the sergeant
| he slipped fat canteen from under his
cloak and thrust it into the corporal's
| ready hand "Hush-h--no words"
| he whispered "All is WELL keep
my promise. And so saying he had
| skunk away, but Feeny was on the off
| side quick as shot. quicker than the
| corporal could stow the bulky vessel
| in his saddle bags. Wrestling it from
| the nerveless hand of his junior, Feeny
hurled it with all his force after the
Mexican's retreating form. 1t struck
Moreno square il the back of the neck
and sent him pitching heavily forward
Only by catching at a horse post did
| he save himself from fall, but, as he
| Strengthened up. his face was one not to
| be looked at without a shudder; grind
ing teeth, swapping, flashing eyes, venge-
full contortions of brow and jaw, hate,
| fury and revenge. all were quivering
with the muscles under that swarthy
| skin, and the cleaning knife was
clasped in his appraised hand as, driv-
ing into the ranch and out of sight of
the hated 'gringos, he burst into
the room where sat his wife and
daughter, and raging aloud, through
that he leaped like panther to another
door, fastened on the farther side,
| where one instant he stood before ad-
mission could be gained, and through
| panel in which there warily peered
bearded face, swarthy as his own. And
then Sonora Moreno hurriedly banged
| the shutter and took up her guitar.
| Something had to be done to hush the
uproar of Dlasphemy and imprecation
mingling with the shout of exultation
| that instantly followed her lords ad-
mission to the den.
Nine O'Clock came. Murphy and his
| party were gone. Tie hencon still
blazed at the westward pes i'l,2twang
| of the guitar had ci Silence
| reigned about the ranch ,..,4 1,iU,nmer
with anxious face ploddt,i s!awly up
and down the open space III iiGnt of
the deserted bar. Feeny with three
loaded carbines close at hand and his
| belt bristling with revolvers, was di-
viding his attention between the safe
and the still sleeping troopers. Every
once in while he would station the
major at the safe, which had been
hauled into the easternmost of the
rooms that opened to the front instead
of on the corral, and, revolver i'll hand,
would patrol the premises, never fail
ing to stop at a certain window behind
which he believed Moreno to be lurking
to warn that impulsive greaser not to
show his head outside his room if he
didn't want it blown off his shoulders;
never failing on his return to stir up
both recumbent forms with angry foot,
and then to shower in equal portions
cold water and hot imprecations upon
them.
To Pedro he had intrusted the duty
of caring for the horses OF his PROSTATE
comrades. Every faculty he possessed
was on the alert, watching for the
faintest sign of treachery OF hostility
from within, listening with dread but
stern determination for the first sound
of hoof beats from without. 1t must
have been about 10 O'Clock when, leav-
ing CIR. Dawes, the clerk, seated in the
dnrl: interior beside the safe. Feeny
stepped forth to make snother round,
stopped to look at Mullan and his part
ner, now beginning to twitch uneasily
and moan and toss in their drunken
sleep, and then turned to seek the pay
master
Whatever lights Moreno had been
accustomed to burn by way of lure or
encouragement to belated travellers, all
was gloom tonight The bar was 81
lence and darkness. The bare east room
adjoining the corral was tenanted now
only by the clerk and the precious iron
box of "greenbacks. No glimmer of
lamp showed there. The westward
apartments, opening only one into
another and thence into the corral, were
still as the night and even when a
shutter was slowly pushed from within,
as though the occupants craved more
air, no CLEAN of light came through.
| Don't show yOur uply mug ont