Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-06-26
THE GROUND DRIFT.

rem" he said, land I'll arrest every hall
breed between here and Battleford
And so he rode away from the post on 6
crisp January morning, with his little
squadron jogging through the snow be
hind. 1t was a long ride, so good miles
over the not too we'll broken trail along
the river bottom, and it was dusk before
the troopers halted within carbine shot Of
a long, low, rambling building, which
stood in the middle of the prairies, sur
rounded by several other structures that
served as barns and wagon sheds. Light.
shown in the lower windows Of the house.
and as Henderson paused to reconnoiter a
door opened, and man, with muller
round his throat and his coat buttoned VI
to his cars, stepped out with q lantern in
his hand. AS he did so he raised his head,
and his eyes rested on the little knot OF
mounted men halted over on the crest OF
the hill not moro than 300 yards away.
Then, bounding back to the door, he lifted
the latch and disappeared within the patch
of light beyond.
Two minutes later Hendersons fui
gauntlet came down with crash upon the
rude panels of the door. Sergeant Warren
was right behind him, and Troopers Har,
vey and Fields stood on either side, witt
their wicked looking carbines full cooked
Vat eos it?' came in cracked half breed
accents from behind tho still quiverine
wood
"Open the door, or I'll kick it in p said
Henderson decisively. "You know who
am, and you know what want"
Slowly the door swung back on 1t.
hinges, and the inspector and his men en-
tered together. There was no trouble
The men they wanted, smugglers and cat
tie stealers, gave themselves up withou,
SO much rs an effort at defense.
"Michel Rene, John Fidele, Joe Snake
Dominick Levine, Angus Mclean ant
Philip Leseur," said Henderson half tt
himself as he ran over the Names keeping
tally by short mods in the direction of eacl
man mentioned
six in ALL" he repeated slowly, anG
then wheeling sharply on his heel so that
his spurs jingled as he turned he faceG
the owner of tho house.
"And Big Martini" hoqueried. "Where
is hep
Old Simon Michaud, whom his halt
breed friends had nicknamed Simon the
Crane because of his long thin legs and
great bony nose, wriggled under the ques
ton and shifted uneasily from one foot tc
tho other.
He ees not in ze house, sair. He hal
not pass zis way since Crissimas We haf''-
"That will do" interrupted Henderson
II know you're the biggest liar in tn,
northwest and l believe you're lying te
me now. Sergeant Warren, take Harvey
and search the place, barns and all Fields
you stay with me and mount guard ovel
the prisoners. -
The sergeant and trooper did as they
were bid, and Henderson settled himself in
a chair by the table to await their return
Ho was determined man, and when any
hard or difficult work was to be done Com
missioner Lawrence always sent for In.
spector Henderson, and the trust was never
misplaced. Henderson invariably fulfilled
his mission to the utmost, and that was
why in the present instance he chose to
consider his raid failure, because the
prime outlaw of the lot had eluded his
clutches.
Half an hour later Sergeant Warren re
ported to the inspector that a search Of the
premises had failed to disclose any trace o.
Big Martin. A watch was set on the pris
oners and Inspector Henderson threw him
self on long, hard settee with tho inten
tion of taking nap. 1t must have beer
midnight when he awoke with the startled
feeling of man who has seen horrible
vision in his sleep. The wind was whis
Ting around the house In the maddest fash
ion, and as Henderson raised himself or
his elbow some fine particles of snow
drifted in through the crevioes Of nearby
window and fell upon his face. The floor
creaked in the noxt room, and through the
half open door Henderson saw, or thought
he saw, Il hugo shadow G Tide past He was
on his feet in an instant and gave the
alarm. A moment later there was click
ing of carbine locks as Warren and Harvey
answered the inspectors signal. Then a
crash Of glass from the next room and 9
gust blew cloud of snow in the faces Of
the three men, who sprang to the shattered
window. A man was floundering along
through the drift a good hundred yards
from the house. A sharp tongue of fire shot
out into the darkness, and remington
bullet sung past the fugitives head. But
HO u6NtI puuStu LUZ uu luSUuuu.
A minute later the entire establishment
was gathered around Inspector Henderson,
who stood with his hand on the door latch.
sit amt safe, sir, to go after him such
night as this" demonstrated Sergeant
Warren in his usual respectful fashion
cts a-blowin hard from tho nor west,
and man 'ud freeze to death on the
prairie"
"Zat is so," promptly interposed Simon
the Crane, IAN beside re groun dreeft--
he is drefful bad
"You rascal! - snapped Henderson, turn
ing upon tho last speaker. "You had him
hidden here all the time waiting to let
him loose when we left. No, Warren, I'll
do this thing myself There's no need to
risk any one else, and I'll catch Big Mar.
tin, ground drift or no ground drift" and
with last glance at the cylinder of his
pistol he passed out into the night
He was as good as his word. He caught
Big Martin half a mile along the edge of
the trail that led from Simon Michaud' s
house, and here, two days later, Captain
Jackson, with squad of six troopers
found little hillock Of drifted snow, from
which gaunt white hand protruded
When they dug Inspector Henderson out,
his other hand was fastened on Big Mar
tins throat, and the halfbreed S face looked
up at the winter skies with an expression
of unutterable agony frozen upon its dis.
torted features.
~ thought Henderson had more sense
than to try to face ground drift at mid
night" was Captain Jackson's comment
as he escorted the bodies back to the post
"Ze groun dreeft," moralized Simon
the Crane. "He ees tree times as bad as
40 snowstorm. "-Chicago Times Herald.