The Washington times., 1894-10-14

coarse bunch grass that spotted the up
heavals or hlllocks with the same eIlgerness
and delightful anticipation experienced by
the half-staryed heroes of Slim Ruttes when
discovering the jerked beef and dried fruit in
the lodges of the followers of American
Horse. But no hat was made: on they
push and at length we see the head of the col
urun beginning the ascent Of the mammoth
natural parapet with It's different colOred sec
tions. or strata, showing, as the scientists tell
US. its age as unmistabably as DO the rings on
g COW S horn and the wrinkles under horses
eye.
ut this moment Lieut.. Clyde was suffering
from an attack OF melancholia, together with
that sense OF nausea We al have EuOWn, con-
sequent upon a lonG-delayed breakfast as
he reached the mountain base be drew out
OF line dismounted. and led his horse TO the
mouth of a narrow canon a short distance 10
the right. Quite nearto the opening there
were little patches Of buffalo grass. which the
horse gratefully cropped, while his rider
wandered onto a mesquit tree of really i'm
posing size. 1t looked rather cool and inyit-
ing there under its crooked, thorny branches.
and it had been his intention TO avail himself
Of an unlicensed rest. But this resolve was
abandoned upon the discovery of the dead
body Of a man lying in the very place he in
fancy had reserved for himself.
Though clothed roughly. as everybody was
IN llCst QdAS IN AIlLOnd, Vel llcT6 was a re-
fnement about the well-cut. handsome feat
ures. a certain delicacy about the small,
shapely hands and bootless feet of the dead
man seldom met with in the large army of
miners and prospectors familiar to all who
have lived upon the border Good hearted.
brave, generous, and loyal are most Of those
stalWart seekers OF the metals that constitute
our heavier currency. yet rough and unpol-
ished as the minerals they seek. But there
was something about this dead man that
breathed of the manor and hereditary estates
No trace Of the previous presence of knife
or bullet as Clyde drew his hand over the
hunting shirt covering the body Of the hand
some sleeper; not mark upon the face or
head to show that he had been one Of the
many victims of the Apaches or the target of
some Whisky-selling greaser. Not a hand
kerchief or scrap OF paper in his pocket to
breathe his name or whisper whence he
came That his horse or mule was missing
did not strike Clyde as peculiar, for the brute
naturally would have wandered off in pursuit
Of wafer But the utter absence OF all weapons
and also OF his boots seemed to imply that the
lieutenant was not the first visitor to the
lonely sleeper, for in those days men put on
their pistols TO 90 TO breakfast.
But why was this peculiar ring left upon the
hand thrown carelessly above his head?
Why this chain and mosaic locket left about
his neck? To be sure, Ii did not show above
the tightly buttOned SHIRT collar. but would
not the earlier discoverer DO as CLYDE had
done-open the shirt for some evidence of
identity or for some sign Of the cause of
death? He unclasped the chain-plainly
Woman's-from the manly throat. slipped the
ring OIL the cold, slender finger and trans
ferred them to his pocket.
you look like a gentleman, and I should
like to bury you, the young man muttered
as he stood there looking down upon the
dead. But the fact is, l have nothing to dig
with. and If had the coyotes can go down
deeper in one night than | could in a week.
1t is queer that they have spared you this
long. but there is no knowing hoW long you
have been dead. There is not the slightest
indication OF decomposition, but in this
beastly land we dry up like mummies In
fact. the only rot we know here comes to US
from Washington via the Indian Bureau"
Bangl
The report of an Apache's rifle ringing out
from the opposite wall of the canon. causing
a peculiar singing, whizzing sound in his
ears, brought Clyde's soliloquy to a sudden
termination And, throwing himself into the
saddle with far more activity and agility than
he had displayed since he joined, the lieuten-
ant galloped after his comrades.
4 shall not mention this little side scout
be muttered. as he caught up with the pack
train, and. when the trail permitted, pressed
forward TO his proper place in line. 1t should
be remarked that for a youngster Clyde
showed unusual discretion ana wisdom in
this resolution, for it was the first dead man
he had seen during his brief service in Ari-
zona. and besides he had been shot at. Fancy
what might have been made out of this little