The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-12-13

! uoh KNOW Wnere the main crowd S
located, but it's sure to be near the
narrowest and bushiest part of the
pass"
Abe" said Tom Granger, you'd
better take command of the party till
this things settled; and III be full
private. | want a chance to fight with
out being bothered giving orders. Be
sides, you know what ought to be done,
and l don't"
All of us seconded Toms request,
and the old soldier finally consented to
the arrangement
While this talk went on we'd moved
away from the foothills, and on reach
ing little creek in the vicinity where
there was not a tree, shrub or rock to
shelter an enemy, we corralled the
wagons, tethered the horses out to
feed and got our own dinners.
Then johnson said: BOYS. l want
nineteen volunteers besides myself for
this job" Every man of us jumped up
on the instant, and Abe smilingly con-
tinued: well, since you all want to go,
We'll draw lots, SO as to give every one
an equal chance. I'll put twenty-nine
numbered tickets in my hat, shake EN-
up, and the fellows that draw the first
nineteen will go with me. The other
ten must stay to guard the camp"
All right. That's fair enough. Go
ahead, Abe" we agreed. And the
little pieces of paste board, cut from
an old book cover, were placed in the
hat, each man shutting his eyes, after
wards Withdrawing one. Both Tom
Granger and | were among the lucky
nineteen, and the disappointed ten
submitted gracefully.
| In addition to his muzzle-loading
rifle each one of us carried a heavy
| Colts revolver--a mighty costly weap-
| on at that tiIne-so twenty of us could
! fire, in all, one hundred and forty shots
without reloading.
Friends" thong htfully observed our
new captain, 'of course the redskins
have scouts out watching us. They've
marked our change of position and
will reckon on us staying right here
and sending squad into the pass to
hunt for our comrade. If we were
fools enough to do that not man
would ever come back. Then they'd
! try to wipe out the rest of us and cap
ture the stock about day break to-
morrow morning. If they don't see
us make move all the warriors am
pushed in this end of the pass will fall
back on the main body before sun
down, and not one of the band will
ever think of being attacked from the
! further end of the gorge.
| ''NpyU bara'C NV r1op. Tho h E
! this creeks high enough to hide us
| completely, and We'll sneak along its
bed till we get to the timber this side
of the Big Sandy. Then we'll worl1
our way round the spurs to the west
end of the pass and take the rear.
It'll be twelve or ffteen-mile tramp,
! reckon, but nothing else can save
Bill Somers."
do you think we can get there in
time, Abe?" l asked.
Easy enough, DAN" he replied.
| There's seven hours of daylight left.
The way were going, though impassa-
| BILE for wagons, will likely be not bad
! to push through on foot, and we ought
| to reach the far end of the pass in four
! hours. Thatll leave us three to creep
up on the reds. They can't be any
| great distance from the west opening,
! but We'll have to crawl like snakes for
| the last half mile or so. There's sure
to be good cover, though, and if we
get there before sunset We'll save Bill,
even if there's hundred of the muir
dering villains. So, stick hunting
knives in your belts, recap rifles and
pistols; take plenty of grub, and let's
start. I'll pocket a flask of brandy in
case it should be wanted"
| Shaking hands with our stay-at-
| home comrades, who were hardly like
ly to see all of us again, we entered
the bed of the creek, our movements
| being perfectly screened by the high
topped wagons until that purpose was
served by the bank itself.
Sometimes wading in the water
sometimes skirting its edge, we safely
| gained the timber
Then for three hours we struggled
through an underground so dense that
| our progress was necessarily SLOW but
| the sun was still high w hen we arrived
at the end of pass, which a fresh trail
of pony tracks at once proved to be the
right one.
Carefully examining the telltale
hoofmarlls, Abe said: There's from
fifty to sixty warriors in this band,
boys. Our only hope of saving the
guide is in "a surprise 50 sudden and
complete that they won't have
chance to kill him, which, if not too
busy saving themselves, is the first
thing they'd do on being alarmed.
On either side of the trail and well
up on the slopes of the pass was a
heavy growth of trees and bushes,
now in full leaf Spreading ourselves
out, each one wormed his way as if all
depended upon his individual caution,
though the whole twenty of us kept
almost within touch of each other
! For hours, silently as shadows and in
tently listening. we crept on and on;
but during all that time had probably
not advanced over one mile.
Then, as if by word of command, the
line stopped; for, right before us, the
gulch opened out into kind of am
phitheater, nearly bare of under
growth, and we heard the gentle
stamping of invisible ponies, and