Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-11-09

OI Une ClliICc WISH VI ClcTSy lllttu dlll Ut
married in the middle of July
At this juncture Rowland was being
sent away, and he grew desperate.
Nevertheless he said goodby to little
Miss Trowbridge with exemplary calm
ness and was more careful than she not
to show depression.
"You'll come back surely, won't your"
she begged.
''Of course will, goosey Don't 1 go
to the agency on an average of twice a
month nearly all the timer"
81 know. But, some way, this seems
different
Rowland agreed with her, but he
laughed at her for all that.
''It's like the legend of Sir Olof, isn't it2
He went away the night before he was to
be married, and an erl maiden made him
die.
'Therc's nothing so fascinating as an
erl maiden at the agency, more S the pity"
he told her.
Then he went and rode off under the
searching sun in cloald of dust, two sol
diers behind him and all we'll mounted.
The girl watched him until she could
see him no longer and went back into the
tent to sit with white face and closed
lips and dry eyes, looking at the sands of
the parade ground
Rowland held long council with the
chiefs and very nearly succeeded in set
Ting the difficulties before nightfall. They
talked sitting under q shelter Of willow
sticks and branches. There was a half
cured OK hide ON the ground, upon which
they squatted
Two of the Indians played monte with
pack of grotesque rawhide cards, and one
whitfield stick for an arrow shaft They
liked Rowland, and they trusted him.
This was known, SO missions of the sort
usually fell to him He talked now and
waxed very eloquent, and the chiefs grunt-
ed as the interpreter translated They
were almost won to him, but they post
poned their decision until they should have
time to talk matters over; so they bade
him return after dark. Rowland went
away after having given the daughter of
one Of the bucks a bright handkerchief and
having said a few words to her out of his
scanty vocabulary. The girl looked at him
| intently, with her little, birdlike eyes
twinkling, and said nothing in reply, but
smoothed the bandanna on her knees.
When he was gone, she arose and stood in
front of her tepee to watch him out OF
sight, as the fair haired white woman had
done few hours before
After a time she put the handkerchief on
her head and went in the direction he had
taken.
When she found him, it was dusk, and
the coyotes had begun to whine and bark
all about them, and one faint star glim-
mered in the purpling sky. Her eyes were
wonderfully bright, and her wild graceful
ness would have been alluring to another
man.
She went up behind him and touched
him on the shoulder. He faced about and
asked what she wanted. But for the bright
kerchief on her head he would not have
remembered her. When he saw that, he
smiled, and the girl, encouraged, began q
protestation Of desperate, savage love in
the most even of voices and broken of Eng
lish, interspersed with Apache and Mexi-
can.
Rowland answered her kindly, and to
her calm toned pleadings smiled in her
tense face and turned away.
"Poco tempo, you come, she said, glid-
ing after him and grasping his hand. She
followed him for few yards still holding
his hand. "You Gomez" she insisted.
eyes, POGO tempo, I come see your IA
ther'
She flung the hand from her and hurried
off into the shadow, with a low snarl.
Late at night, as Rowland left the coun-
Gil of the braves 100 yards from the camp
woman strobe up to him and without
any preface dropped at his feet and caught
his hands and repeated the story of her
savage passion in the same monotone, az
tinkling and musical as the sound of a
crystal bell.
But Rowland had completed his embassy
successfully and was in haste to return to
the camp during the night and compare
tive GOODNESS, SO he pushed her away with
disguised "Vamoose!' and hurried on
Years ago there were still poisoned ar
rows used occasionally, weapons deadlier
than the more popular rifle or carbine, for
their scratch was fatal. The head was
dipped in poison curiously made A bit
of liver, quite putrid, was held before a
rattlesnake until he had injected his venom
into it time and time again. After a few
more days this virulent substance was put
upon tho points of the arrows, to carry
agony and dissolution to whatsoever they
touched.
Itwas one of these arrows that Rowland
jerked from his arm a few moments latel
as he went into the hut where his two sol
diers were waiting.
He held it in front of the candle and ex
amined it intently, while the blood drippet
over his dusty boot. One of the men asked
him how it had happened, while he cut
open the sleeve. "a mistake, very likely
It was not one of the bucks We parted
good friends" The woman he did moi
mention. He looked at the arrow again
cts poisoned, I guess. Rather hare
luck" he said. He passed one hand across
his face YEARLY and repeated Hare
luck!" Then he gave the men detailed
account of what he had done and accom-
plished that they might tell the major IL
case he himself should be past speaking
The agency doctor was off on a two days
hunting trip, so the soldiers bathed ant
dressed the wound and made Howlant
drink the contests of large flask of whis
XIV. But he ordered his horse and wen
back to the post nevertheless across tn,
long, cleaning plain Of sand under tn
purple arch with its stars of glimmerint
gold-three weird, dark figures following
the road through the night
And just as the gray Of dawn came owe
the faroff black mountains, just as tn
dawn breeze sprang up and blew on hi
swollen and burning face, just as the frs
call for reveille shrilled through the valley
two dust whitened riders, supporting hin
In his saddle, drew up at the hospital.
At 2 O'Clock stretcher carried the bod,
of Lieutenant Rowland from the hospita
TO his quarters, and the flag was put a
half mast. -Gwendolen Overton In Argo
naut
English Royal Women.