Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-10-10

playing the br1gand In the west, but they
had figured that it would be safer and more
profitable than train robbery There was
just one man on the platform who had real
lied what had happened and did not lose
MS mead Without word to the father
without wcrd to the excited passengers
rushing about and asking what had hap
pened, ne ran down the platform to where
a cowboy stood holding a broncho.
Il am Lieut.. Haskell of the -th cavalryr
said the officer. as he approached. "A wo-
man has been run off by gang of outlaws
want your horse and guns!'
You bet!'' was the brief reply. HERE'S
good criter, and here are two guns and
fifty spare cartridges. I'd like the fun. but
can't 60 Whoop EN- up, old man.
who's that-theres another Of 'emr'
shouted the excited crowd, they caught
sight of the officer dashing away in the
darkness on the trail of the outlaws.
The cowboy explained and the conductor
shouted: "All aboardr' He could not hold
his train longer. The thing to do was for
gang to go in pursuit 1t might take hours
but that was his only show. If the outlaws
could not be overhauled, then they would
expect to find him there when It came TO a
traps were bundled out of his car and the
train went on, and 1t was daylight next
morning before a gang of ten men picked up
the trail and rode away in pursuit Of the
outlaws.
Lieut.. Haskell was not over fifteen min
utes behind the abductors as he rode away.
He had acted on the impulse of the mo-
ment. and yet he knew what he was about.
He had been sent with a detachment to
guard the men building the branch road
touching the main line right there. and had
hunted and fished and pretty thoroughly
explored the country for twenty miles
around. He also knew more or less of the
various outlaw gangs scattered along the
railroad, and had helped to run down and
break up several. 1t had come to him like
flash that this ives Blue Pete's gang, who
NM I,xyar in, x,olla
ty miles away. He gave no thoughts to the
odds against him, but sent the broncho
straight down the rocky trail-over the
creek-up the long hill and then straight to
the north along the crest of the ridge. He
hoped to overhaul the outlaws and have it
out with them, and, as IL eager for the fray,
the horse under him did his level best. Had
the officer stopped TO think he would have
been more careful. The men before him
were as cunning and crafty as Indians.
As he rode at headlong pace the wind was
at his back The ring of the iron shoes
against the rocks would he carried in adj
vance of him. The outlaws would naturally
wish to make sure if they were followed,
and it would be easy to set a trap. One
was set. In single file, riding at a hard
gallop they covered ten miles of ground
without drawing rein. Then one rider drew
Up and dismounted and the others kept on
at more leisurely pace. Ten minutes later
the broncho came laundering down the
trail with the lieutenant peering ahead into
INC Nei4 hieSS anu "OHOeTiHS IL ne was not
close upon the gang. There was a fiash-a
report, ard the horse leaped high in air,
uttered a scream almost human, and when
his feet touched the earth he fell in a heap
and rolled over, sending the officer twenty
feet away among the stunted bushes. He
was half stunned by the fall, and it was
five minutes before he sat up and realized
what had happened. He had ridden into
an ambuscade and been done for While
he was unhurt, his horse was dead, and
without horse there was no hope of over
taking the outlaws. He had seen the flash
and heard the report, and he knew that he
had been ambuScAded. Was 1t only by one
man or the whole gang? Must he give UP
the quest and return to the town without
news? Horseless and alone, could he hope
to accomplish anything? He answered the