The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-01-24
FOES IN
AMBUSH
BY CAPT CHAs. KING, US. \.
Copyright, 1893, by Charles King.
Continued from last Sunday
CHAPTER VI.

drag over the sandy surface, and the
awful sense of the calamity that had
befallcn HIM and the dread and doubt
as to the fate of his beloved ones seemed
to rally his stunned and bewildered fac
ulties and bring him face To face with
the horror of the situation. Barely able
to breathe, he found himself rudely
gagged. Striving to raise his hand
to tear the hateful bandage away, he
found that he was pinioned by the ell
bows and bound hand and foot by the
very RATA probably that had dragged
him thither. No doubt us to the ma
tionality of his unseen captors here.
The skill with which he had been
Topped, tripped, whisked away and
bound-thc sharp, biting edges, even the
odor of dirty rawhidc ropc-all told
him that, though Americans were not
lacking in the gang, his immediate an
tagonists hailed from across the Sonora
line Who and what they were mat
tered little, however. The fact that
after hours of repulse in open attack
the foe had all on a sudden carried their
castle by damnable ruse was only too
forcibly apparent. Writing. struggling
in miserable effort to free himself from
his bonds, poor Harveys burning eyes
were maddened by the picture before
him only couple of hundred yards
away.
There in the fierce light of the flames
now bursting from every window and
roaring and shooting high i'll air from
the brush heaped roof of Morcno's
ranch-there stood the Concord wagon.
stalwart men clinging tn the heads of
the plunging and excited mules, big
ruffian already in the drivers seat,
whip and reins i'll hand; there beside
1t was the paymaster's ambulance, into
which three of the gang We're just SHOW
ing the green painted iron safe-the
Pandora's box that had caused all their
sorrows-there Moreno's California
blackboard pressed into service and be-
ing used to carry the wounded, drawn
by the extra mules, and thcn-G0d of
heaven! what n sight for brothers eyes
to see and make no sign then one big
brute lifted from the ground and hand
ed up to a fellow already cnsconccd
within the covered wagon the scnsclcss.
perhaps lifeless, form of pretty little
Ruth his fathers idol. The poor child
lay unresisting III the rutfiln's arms,
but not so Paquita. 1t took two men,
strong and burly, to lift ana force her
into the dark interior, and one of these,
to the uttermost detail of his equip
ment, was to all appearance trooper
OF the United States cavalry.
There stood his painting horse with
hanging head and faded withers the
very steed whose rush they had wei
coined with such exceeding JOY. sad
died. bridled, blankcted. saddle Jagged.
lariatcd, side lined, every item complete
and exactly as issued by the ordnance
department. The trooper himself wore
the field uniform of the cavalrv-the
dark blue blouse, crossed by the black
Tarbinc sling, whose big brass buckle
Nod could even now see cleaning be-
tween the broad shoulders AMI gath
cred at the waist by the old fashioned
"thimble belt the troop saddlcrs used
to make FOR field service before the
woven girdle was Devised Even
more. Harvey i'll his misery remcin-
bercd the thrill of Joy with which he
had noted, as the splendid rider rcinod
i'll and threw himself from The saddle.
the crossed sabers, the troop letter :" c.
and the regimental number cleaning
at the front of his campaign hat.
Who-who could this be, wearing the
honorable garb of IL soldier of the United
States, yet figuring as a ringlcadcr ia ii
band of robbers and assassins now add
ing rapine TO their calendar of crime ?
Edward Harvey's heart almost burst
with helpless rage and wrctchedncss
when he saw his precious sisters
dragged within the canvas shclter-saw
the tall, uniformed brigaud leap lightly
after them and heard him shout to the
ready driver Now, off with you"
Crack! went the whip as the men
sprang from the heads of the frantic
mules, and with Il bound that nearly
wrcnched the trace hooks from the stout
whippletrce the Concord went spin
ming over the sands to the south, whirl-
ing so near him that over the thud of
hoofs and whirl of wheels and crcak of
spring and woodwork he could hear
poor Fannys desparing cry-the last
Sound he was aware OF for hours, for
now in dead earnest Harvey swooned
away.
Half an hour later, the raftcrs of the
ranch having by this time tumblcd in
and turned the interior into glowing
furnace, there came riding from the
west slender skirmish line of horse
men in the worn campaign dress of the
regular cavalry. With the advance
there were not more than six or eight
a tall, slender lieutenant leading them
ON and signaling his instructions.
With carbines advanced, with eyes
pecring out from under the Jagged hat