Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-05-22
CHAPTER XXI.


The attention of the two bordermeD
was now entirely Centcrcd upo1 the Tree
that had crossed the ravine.
At G, actIy the place whence the scou'
had first seen the house in the air, sew
eral savages were visible. lhe eXplo'
sion in the cave had evidently only tenn
porarily blocked their progress.
20 far, apparently, they had not seer
the occupants of the cabin, but as they
regarded the strange hut and pointed &c
it, the hermit knew that they medltateo
a visit
"ihey NUT not come here" he said
to his conf anion.
"Of cour not" replied the scout:
abut how are we going to prevent
them?"
"Gct your revolver ready "
"All right"
"NCw take position by TINS rock.
TaDger Ralph did as dircct2d-
"Ir any OF them attempt 10 cross fire
at them," said Walford.
"And YOU"
81 am going TO destroy the means OF
access to our place Of refuge
and cut off our own retreat.
"Not at ALL There IS an outlet by the
other rock"
Tho scout remained on guard behind
the rock. The old hermit crept eau
tiously toward the spot where the dead
tree rested on the first cliff of stone
Ranger Ralph could oh erve all the
movements Of the sayagcs without being
seen. He saw one Of them finally make
a movement as if to cross the impromptu
bridge. Tue scout drew bead on aim
and fired.
The astoni,hcd Modoc fell back with
a CRY of pain. His companions, TOO,
rctrcatcd further into the cave. They
we're comp etely mystiied at the strange
attack. Their bcwiderment increa cd
when they saw the tree go hun ting down
the ravinc.
The hermit had pushed o..e end Gear
CT the rock, and it fell, dcpriving the
savagcs of any opportunity of crossing
TO the rock. A minute later he rcJolncd
| the scout.
"They can't cross that gap" he re,
marked "Lct us return to the caoln'
"Thcre is no danger to be apprehendeo
from or enemies that way?"
"NOne."
"Thcy may fire at us,
"The rock intervencs, and they cannot
reach us No, they will soon retire from
the cave as they came.
"And thcn?"
can attack from below, presume"
"That won t amount to much
81 don't know" remarked Walford
concernc1ly. an they have diScov-
cred u, they will exercise all their cum
ming to dislo1ge and destroy us"
For o,cr an hour, however, there was
no especial commoton visible in the val
lev below. The Modocs had moved
their camp farther down the vallcY.
Quite a party of them had sought
she,t,r behind some rocks directly under
the cabin. From thoir frequently point
ing to the cabin the hermit and the scout
realized that they were forming some
| plan of assault.
Ranger a'ph looked anxiously but
vainly among the SavageS for some sign
of White Fawn. lie believed that she
could induce Shadow Snake to cease
hest ities If she was there. The Modoc
nrincess however. was nowhere to be
seen.
AS the scout learned later, she had
mot with adventures that pr rtvented her
appearing to her friends for many a
long day.
Finally, just at dusk, the Modocs be-
low were Joined by several more say
ages , !.
"They are the Indians who triei tc
cross on the tree" explained WalGord.
Their enemies seemed to discuss tRe
ouestion excitedly. They separated
but the watching men in their strange
cyrie could see that they were disposlng
themselves for combined attack upon
the cab in the air.
The hut was perhaps a hundred ICE
from the ground. The savage5 first BE-
gan to fire at the windows Of the cabin
Then, realizing that this was useless
cxrcnd ture of powder and ball. they
ceased al hostilties for some time.
TO DE CONTINUED.