The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-24

an hour; then came hurriedly into the bunk
!. We're goin' to play seven-up, two best
n thite, to settle pint: on which we diff
its peg lighted It and "a placed lace # on the rough
slab table. Reckon twon't disturb your
Eis.urb me! Well, hardly. ! wanted to go
"r'ir.." that / had feared for weeks would
eve tally be settled in bloodshed. and be-
two msn - who he Mere closer than
by few games OF "seven-up" I knew
what the point was; the loser was to drop
field. grant you that the situation was
;,i 4, put you would not have iaugned
Heart were e too Terribly in earnes and the
value which they placed on the stakes was
too painfully apparent in their drawn faces.
over which the lanterns light played mt
fully. To add to the dramatic features OF
the occasion, the tinkle of a guitar came
floating down the night from the Tanc g,
some Italian love song, a shaky barytone
joining in the chorus. Jerry won the first
game and Pete the. second. The third gsane
was played i'll silence that was painful;
each had six points, when jerry turned
Jack Pete laid down his hand, arose quick X
the house. filed his pipe and smoked for
little while; then, turning, walked to the
cards in an aimless sheepish sort of way.
Pete, without a word, held out his nand
Jerry grasped it quickly.
Pete, old man. mebbe you stan a better
Shown I do, am
NO, Jerry. you won fair an square. Lu *
to vou, and Pete walked out into the night.
From the window saw him go TO the
house, take up his sack of roots, ana neard
him dump them behind the n and s nouss
for quite while before coming to bed The
two slept in bunk adjoining mine There
was silence for quite bit, and then
Jery the old man might kick, SO you
take all the money we got Tor them steers
Il 'v Won't do any such thing
Eyes. you will. old man There's enough
take it all. Now shut up. I'm goin 10
sleep" But I know he didn't fer hours
idea that the two were srnitten, joked Pete
for allowing Jerry to cut nm out ana ne
bore their 5bs WITH SURPRISING gTes na,uf
was suddenly hushed.
Jerry's my partner" said Pete. quietly.
that he's fool has got me to. fight and
his eyes glttered and glanced from one
anxiously. / thought, with the butt of his
six-shooter. Jerry was no fool. why or
course. not. He was, all right and knew
seen Pete sip off rattlesnake's head at
ten paces and put bullet through rum
Rl se ar boss gr APPROACHED
the clubhouse or corral Pete, if he was in
the vicinity. suddenly found urgent duties
at some other point
BATTLES WITH INDIANS.
The following Sunday she and the lord"
decided to rid across the valley and through
a pass to butte that stood out on the
mesa twelve or fifteen miles away. Two or
three hours after they started a neighboring
rancher from some twenty miles down the
valley came up to spend the day and after
greetings were exchanged asked If we had
been bothered by the Kid and his band.
No. why? He had been sighted in the
neighborhood and everybody ought to be on
the lookout. Knocking the ashes from his
pipe Jerry arose. and going to the corral
saddled his bald-faced Pinto. broncho
noted on the range for his speed and en-
durance. Riding to the bunkhouse he
buckled his Winchester to the saddle and
was ''going for scout around the range,
ana rode in the her dTeetion 5nnn By
snorted Pete, as he got up from the bench.
Five minutes afterward, fully armed, he
was galloping after Jerry.
Shortly after dinner the woman and man
rode rapidly up to the house, their horses
We saw that he was riding Jerry's bald
faced Pinto and knew that something was
wrong.
white lips and trembling arms lifted ner
from the saddle.
.'Where?" He asked quickly and sterniy or
the girls companion ..7,,,.
pursued us and we met Mr.. Jerry and Mr..
Pete just my horse broke his leg in a
hole and gave me nawsty header don't
what you dom on Jerry's hossT'
II asked Mr. Jerry to let ct him him take ke. IT,
the girl bida aa as II hos roug
bre asts had been Jared. They are used TO
fighting Indians, you know" she added, half
apologetically.
INF. Pete staid out there with him. don't
We .l know - course 10 staid They're men ;.
but they take it as a jolly lark, don't We
know. AS we rode away they smiled at
man glanced at the holster revolver and
handsome repeating rifle on the man sad
die and turned away with something that
sounded like an oath and 'cowardly cur.
Every man of US realized the situation.
When asked by the. girl to give his horse
to his noble rival. Jerry mad compiled s, ed
knew it meant death to him. Then. as the
two rode away, Pete held out his :. hand d, in
sympathy and goodbye, and then they
turned to die like men.
The boys did not want me to go with the
party, fearing that was not strong enough
for the ride, but I thought of that time in
the Chiricahua canyon and went Many's
the time I've wished since that had packed
my mules and gone in the opposite direction
without knowing the result. We rode hard
and fast, and it was well along In the after
noon when we rode to the top of the mesa
and saw dozen Indians about half a mile
away galloping in circle of 300 or 400 yards
in diameter, with Pete's horse as the axis.
They saw us as we came over the brow of
ing but harmless volley at long range, and
they rode away toward the hills to the
east Our horses were badly blown, while
theirs were comparatively fresh, and pur-
suit was useless. We found the two men on
the ground on either side of the horse.
Jerry had been dead some hours but we
had evidently arrived only a few minutes
too late to save Pete, his body was still
warm and bleeding Scattered about the
mesa we found the bodies of four dead In
dams. We tied the bodies of the two men
across the horses and rode slowly back to
the ranch. We buried them the next day
at the foot of cottonwood to the right of
the trail below the coral, but, the girl and
the "nobleman' were not present She had
such a horror of DEATH.
That morning the Lord sauntered down
to where we were digging the graves, and
said if there was any expense he would
WHAT shouted the foreman. .'Great--'
Then he shut his jaws with snap, his
eyes blaZed and he clenched his fists until
his nails left deep imprints in his hardened
palms, but he checked himself and turned
away. That ''nobleman'' can never know
how narrowly he escaped having his face
smashed with a rght-hand blow. The
boss examined the effects. of the two
men, found their true names and two GER
itficates of deposit for s., 500 each on a
Phoenix bank These were mailed to their
relatives, whose addresses were learned
from their old letters.
The day after that the party started East
again, the girl and the ''nobien1an" chat
ting gaiy they rode down the trail, with
out even a glance at the two mounds of
fresh clay to the right. / watched them