Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-01-06
FOES IN AMBUSH.
By Capt. CHARLES KING, U. s. A.
tCopyriEht, 1893, by Charles King.l
 CHAPTER N.

A uGlRIIS NucIC CNGGSlOld1 Ol D1I6 and cedar, scrub oak and juniper. seem ed the only vegetable products hardy enough to withstand the alternations of intense heat by day and moderate cold by night, or to find sufficient sustenance to eke out a living on so barren a soil. 1 Out to the'eastward, stretching away to an opposite range, lies a sandy des- l ert dotted at wide intervals with little l black punches of scrub mesquite' and blessed with only one redeeming patch of foliage, the copse of willows | and cottonwood here at the mouth of a | rock ribbed defile where 8 little brook, rising heaven knows how or where among the heights to the west, comes frothing and tumbling down through | the wlndings of the gorge only to bury itself in the burning sands beyond the shade. So narrow and tortuous is the | canyon, so precipitOus its sides, as to prove conclusively that by no slow proc ! ess, but by some sudden spasm of na- | ture, was it rent in the face of the range. And here in its depths, just around one of the sharpest bends, honey | combed out of the solid rock, are half a dozen deep lateral Assures and caves where the sunbeams never penetrate, wLere the air is reasonably cool and still, where on this scorching May morn | ing, far away from home and relatives, | two young girls are sheltered by the ! natural roofs and walls against the fiery ! sunshine and by little band of reso- lute men against the fury of the Apaches.
 Down in the rOomiest of the caves Fanny and Ruth Harvey are listening in dread anxiety to the sounds of savage warfare echoing from crag to crag | along the range. while every moment or two the elder turns 70 moisten the cloth she holds to wounded trooper s burning. tossing head. Sergeant Wing is fevered indeed by this time, raging with misery at thought of his helpless ness and the scant numbers of the de- fense. It is bitter pill for the soldier to swallow, this of lying in hospital when every man is needed at the front. At 9 O clock this morning a veteran In- dian fighter, crouching in his sheltered lookout above the caves and scanning with practiced eye the frowning front of the range, declared that not an Apache was to be seen or heard within rife shot. vet was III no wise surprised when, q few minutes later, as he hap pened to show his head above the rocky parapet, there came dipping dozen bullets about his ears, and the cliffs fairly crackled with the sudden flash of rifles hidden up to that instant on every side Indians who can creep upon wagon train or emigrant camp in the midst of an open and unsheltered plain find absolutely no difficulty in surrounding unSuspected and unseen a biyouac in the mountains. Inexperi- cnCed officers or men would have been picked off long before the opening of the general attack, but the Apaches themselves are the first to know that they have veteran troopers to deal with, for up to this moment only one has shown himself at all At five minutes after 9 o'clock Lieutenant Drummond, glancing exultingly around upon his lit tie band of fighters, had blessed the foresight of Pasqual Morales and his gang that they had so thoroughly forti- fed their lair against sudden assault. Three on the southern, two on the north ern brink of the gorge and behind inn penetrable shelter, and two more in re- serve in the canyon. his puny garrison was in position and had replied with such spirit and promptitude to the Apache attack that only at rare inter vals now is a shot necessary, except when for tho purpose of drawing the enemy and locating his position hat is pOked up on the muzzle of carbine
 
 that, as Drummond's men we'll know, means only look out for other devil ment.'
 Out on the eastward desert, still far over toward the other side, little party of Apaches is hurrying to join the fray. Two are riding. Where got they their horses: The Othcrs-over half a dozen come along at their tireless jog trot. It was this party that, seen but 'dimly at first, gave rise to such ebullition of joy among the defenders and defended. It was this party that, closely scanned through his tieldglass, oCCasiOned Lieu tenant Drummond' moan of distress. With all his heart he had been hoping for the speedy coming of relief over that very trail-had counted on its reaching
 
 could he nothing else when the corpo- ral reported something in sight, and so when he discovered the approaching party to be Apaches no words could describe the measure of his disappoint- ment and dismay. NOt-for himself and his men: they were old hands and had fine position to defend. His thought are all for those in whose behalf he has already made such gallant fight and for poor Wing, whose feeble moaning every now and then reaches his ear.
 At 10 o'clock he is able through his glasses to distinctly make out the num- Der and character of the coming party. Nine Apaches, all warriors, but one of them apparently wounded or disabled, for they have to support him on the horse, and this it is that hampers their ] advance and makes it slower. They are heading for the oasis at the mouth of the canyon. There they will leave their horses and their wounded, and then come creeping up the winding gorge or crouching among the powders from the east to join in the attack on the hated paleface. Drummond can have no doubt of that. New disposi- tiOns are necessary.
 Stay where you are"' he shouts to his men. You take charge up here, Costigan; l want to post man or two below at the bend" And down he goes, sliding and scrambling until he reaches the edge of the brook. Moreno, squatted against a rock, glances up at him appealingly.
 ''Senor Teniente, I pray you loose me and let me help. The Apache is our common enemy," he pleads.
 An idea comes to Drummond. Wings carbine can be utilized. He can post Moreno down the gorge at the second bend to command that approach and put little McGuffy, the recruit, at the next bend to command Moreno and ,,,,5 , I--I1o+ +I,-,,,,,I, I,;,,, ie ba sb;-l, ov