The Irish standard., 1895-10-05

HzsIStAsELy "&sS~F n
aNo, sir, it was lighting up a little at
the cast and Id fallen into q sort of
doze, and the boy, suppose. thought
everything was ell safe and he went
out TO let the mules out Of the stuffy
box. in which wea penned them for the
night The next thing Mrs. Kelly and
/ heard was the firing. It was down
the hillside toward the water and
could only shoot at the flashes
Exactly. What / believe is that
.hose two bands of thieves = Apache
.nd .lexican-ran afoul each other in
the dark. Muncey and his party,
Scared 20 death, perhaps, have fled
porthws-d into the canyon, and the
reason you have had no more trouble is
that the apaches put out after him. We
have cot the whole field ahead OF us at
this minnie. l only wish we knew who
has Leon
Mount. then, and come on," said
tke major eagerly. Turner, you're
probably right" And then. as if in
confirmation of the theory, far to tho
irort again the crack Of cavalry car
bines echoed along 'the mountain
gorge.
And here, four miles out from the
lower gate, the walls of the canyon
seemed to fall away Still Jagged and
steep where the Sandy lashed at its
rocky banks, the cliffs were but dozen
feet or 50 in height, and thence the
pine-covsred slopes rose and rolled in
bold upheavals with sheltered valleys
between each mountain wave. Along
through the pines led the Tonic trail
Along in single file. now at rapid trot,
low at easy lope, but often climbing
and sliding clun1sily, the sorrels fol-
lowed. Far down in the gorge the old
canyon trail could be seen. ''It's just
around the point, sir, said Kelly pres
entity, his eyes swapping with excite
ment. 'sCuld Sanchez and Icons
father were drowned out. We knew it
because when the nood went down you
could find mules and men, saddles and
apparejoes, rifles and blankets lodged
among the rocks and trees for miles
below, but nothing above. They were
swept out just Like SO many arts in a
milirace."
There's mule down there now,'
cried keen-sighted trooper, riding
close behind the captain.
"He's killed this morning then-and
yon's horse. i;ee" cried Kelly, point.
ing eagerly down into the depths Of the
canyon. 'The first tackle must have
been right along here somewhere"
Once more ahead of them the cliffs
began to narrow Once more the trail
ascended to projecting point, and
then slSirtcd rocky palisade command
ing view Of the canyon for two miles
the Sandy lcaping i'll foaming rapids
five hundred feet below. One after
another the troopers reached the point,
and then, following the leader, spu1red
into lope, for TurDer and Kelly, fore
most now. had caught again the sound :
of firing, and presently out from the
sockets whipped carbines- the fight
was in view ahead.
But what fight! Down in the depths
OF the gorge, sheltering themselves as
best they could from occasional bullet
and frequent bowlder hurled from up
the heights, some forty blue uniformed
troopers were falling slowly back be-
fore the ceaseless onslaught of foe
they could neither see nor reach. just
as Kelly had feared, Lieut.. Crane had
been lured into a trap. and the sup
porting platoon, reaching him, could
only share his predicament. just how
fnr up the canyon he had succeeded in
following the trail was now a matter
OF little consequence. Crane and his
men were making the best of their way
4los 5oS1
it was the first lesson, bitter one, and
one that would have been far moro
tragic but for the coming of their bet
ter led comrades along the upper trail.
Long before Turner and Kelly could
''siPht" a single Apache, the Apaches
had caught sight of them. Darting from
rock to rock, Sinking from tree to tree,
nway sped the 1.-THE, sinewy fellows out
Of rifle range. Only a few long dis
tance or random shots were exchanged
between Turner and the invisible scat
sering foe. and Cranes fellows, sending
up stentorinn cheers from the stream
bed below. drowned for the moment
The roar of the waters. Throwing out
souAe keen shots as sl1irmishers to pre-
sent the temperance of the Indians,
thornton and his troop leader signaled
Crane to fall back to a point where
the Sandy flowed in smooth tran
auil reach for q hundred yards
or So and there, one side climbing
down the heights, the other climbing
M, the officers were able to compare
notes. The first question was as 70
Cranes losses. Several horses killed,
three abandoned and two men " ounded.
But" said he, they've cleaned out
sone Mexican outfit mile up stream.
We almost caught them atsit.''' And
SO. leaving the wounded with the guard
and attendants to make. the best Of
their way back to the old post, the two /
commands again pushed on up stream,
Crane on the lower and Thornton fol-
lowing the upper trail, both parties9in
single file. Turner. kept the front well
covered by a few skirmishers Haf
on hours march brought them around
n wooded point, and there deep down
in the gorge, Just at the spot where