The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-01-10
FOES IN
AMBUSH
BY CAPT. CHAs. KING, us. A.
Copyright, 1893, by Charles King.
CONTINUED from last Sunday
CHAPTER III.

I
little troop of cavalry was pushing
westward across the desert. The young
May moon was sinking to rest, its pure
pallid light shining family in contrast
with the ruddy glow of some distant
beacon in the mountains beneath. Ever
since nightfall tho rock buttress at tho
pass had been rejecting the lurid glaro
of tho lcaping flames as, time and
again, unseen but busy hands heaped
on fresh fuel and sent the sparks whirl-
Ing i'll fiery eddies to the sky. Languid
and depressed after long days bat
cling with tho fierce white sunshine,
horses and men would gladly have spent
the early hours of night doing at their
rude bivouac in the Christobal. Ever
since in the morning, after long
night march, they had sought such
shade as tho burning rocks might
afford, scooping up the tepid water from
the natural tanks at the bottom of the
canyon and thanking providence it was
not alkali.
The lieutenant commanding, q tall,
wiry, keenfaced young fellow. had made
the rounds of his camp at sunset, care
fully picking up and scrutinizing the
feet of his horses and sending the far
rier to tack on here and there starting
shoe. Gaunt and sunburned were his
short coupled California chargers, as
were their toughlooking riders; fetlocks
and boards were uniformly ragged;
shoes of leather and shoes of iron
showed equal wear A bronze faced
sergeant, silently following his young
chief, watched him with inqtscring eyes
and waited for the decision that was to
condemn the command to another night
march across the desert, or remand
them to rest until an hour OF so before
the dawn.
"How far did you say it was to Ger
alvo's, sergeant?"
About % miles, west"
And to Moreno's?''
About 10, sir; off here And the
sergeant pointed out across tho plain,
lying like duncolored l. ket far
toward the southern horizon
I'VE can get barley and water at
both?"
Plenty, SIR
1.-The men would rather wait here,
suppose, until or o'cloclS?'
Very much, sir; they haven't \ cen
able to rest at all today. Two fed out
the last of the barley, though"
The lieutenant reflected moment,
pensively studying the legs of the trum-
peter horse.
lis there any chance of Moreno's
people not having heard about the
Apaches in the Christobal?"
~,
son road than we are. The stage must
have gone through this morning early.
It's nothing new anyhow. I've never
known the time when the Indians were
not in the neighborhood Of that range.
Moreno, too, is an old hand, sir"
The lieutenant looked long and in
tently out over the dreary flats beyond
tho foot hills. Like the bottom of some
prehistoric lake long since sucked dry
by the action of tho sun, the parched
earth stretched away in mile after mile
OF monotonous, life ridden desert, Sa-
nara without sign of an oasis, IL sandy
barren Stunned even by scorpion and
centipede. Already the glow was dy-
ing from the western sky. The red rim
OF the distant range was purpling. The
golden CLEAN that flashed from rock to
rock as the sun went down had van
1shed from all but the Hottest submits,
and deep dark shadows We're creeping
slowly out across the plain Over the
great eXpanse not so much as the faint
est spark could be seen Aioft, the
greater stars were beginning TO peep
through the veil of pallid blue, whilo
over the distant pass the suns fair
handmaiden and trainhcarcr, with slow.
stately mien. was sinking in the wake
OF her lord, as though following him
to his rest. Not II breath Of air was
astir.
The night came on still rs the realms
OF solitude. Only tho low chatter of
the men, the occasional stamp of iron
shod hoof or the munchng jaws of tho
tired steeds broke in upon the perfect
silence. From their covert in the west
ward slope Of the Christobal the two
sentrles OF the little command looked
upon llfeless world. Beneath them
winning their pipes after their frugal
supper. the troopers were chatting ~
low tones, some of them already spread
Ing their blankets among the shelving
Ahc eiiiDcIS from inc COOK flro
glowed Il deeper red as the darkness
gathered III tho pass, and every man
seemed to start as though stung with
sudden spur when sharp, quick and
imperative there came the cry from tho
lips of tho farther sentry:
Fire, sir-out to the west!'
In an instant Lieutenant Drummond
had leaped down the rocky canyon, and
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