The times., 1894-08-03
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CHAPTER XII.
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and cedar, scrub oak and juniper, seem.
ed the only vegetable products hardy
enough to Withstand the alterations OF
intense heat by day and moderate cold
by night, OF to find sufficient sustenance
to exc out living on so barren soil.
Out to the eastward, stretching away
to an opposite range, lies a sandy des-
ert dotted at wide intervals with little
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 q
rock ribbed defile where 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 PERCEPTIONS its sides, as to
prove conclusively that by no slow proc
ess, but by some sudden spasm of ma
ture, was it rent in the face of the
where the sunbeams never penetrate,
where 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-
lutte 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 to moisten the
cloth she holds to a 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. 1t is bitter pill for the soldier
to swallow, this of lying in hospital
when every man is needed at the front.
At o'clock this morning 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
rifle shot, yet was in no wise surprised
when, few minutes later, as he hap
pened to show his head above the rocky
parapet, there came tipping dozen
bullets about his ears, and the cliffs
fairly cracked 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
bivouac in the mountains. Inexperi-
enced 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 0 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-
fled their lair against sudden assault
Three ON the southern, two on the north
ern brink of the gorge and behind i'm
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-
walls now is a shot necessary, except
when for the purpose of drawing the
enemy and locating his position hat
is poked up on the muzzle of carbine.
The assailants' fire, too, is still, but
that, as Drummond's men well 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 others-over half dozen
come along at their tireless jog trot.
1t was this party that, seen but dimly
at first, gave rise to such ebullition of
Joy among the defenders and defended.
1t was this party that, closely scanned
through his fieldglass, occasioned Lieu
tenant Drummond's S moan of distress.
With all his heart he had been hoping
for the speedy coming of relief over that
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him during tEo day. He was sure it
could be nothing else when the corpo-
raj reported a5inathing in sight, and so
when he discovered the approaching
party to be Apaches no words could
describe the noasare 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, ana
then come creeping up the winding
gorge or crouching among the powders