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

They had shot the fourth man off his horse
as he fled, but in the darkness they had not
seen him fall. He had bounded into the
shrubs, and those who passed had no idea
of his presence. Haskell found him as he
prowled around. and sought to learn If the
girl was prisoner or dead The outlaw
had been shot through the right hip, and
was slowly bleeding to death. He at first
took the officer for one of his gang, but
when he discovered his mistake he said:
so you are one of those who followed
after the gal. Ell? Wall. I hope yen find
her alive, but the chances are agin it.
When fell off the boss was headed right
on this way across the valley, and he'd
sure keep goin' till he reached the other
side. Thar's whar We want to look fur the
gall " 'Ao
Inc officer was anxious to do something
LOT Tie outlaw, enemy though he was but
the man replied that he wanted nothing,
gave the Indians his location He had
nved In his boots and was dying with them
on, and that was the way his Companions
had gone He knew that death was near
ana insisted on Haskell taking his guns
ana there was 10 tremor in his voice as he
SAID goodbye. and advised the officer to
hurry Th away In search of the girl.
Haskell and the girl sat side by side on tho
rock and conversed in whispers. At the
nrst signs OF daylight they arose and
moved away and when day had fully come
eney SNAPPED a their course for the trail over
Mhlch both had come during the night.
The dead horse had not been left mile
benlnd, however. when there came a ne
culiar cry which warned the officer that
t Inc tndia ans were on the spot. They had
tracked the footprints across the valley
and come upon the dead horse. They would
search for the girl-they would soon dis
cover signs Of mans presence. It was
I1ny TO nope to escape by flight. The thin
shoes on the girls feet had almost been
cut away In going that short distance. and
exposure and exhaustion had made her
weak AS the cry reached their ears they
were pushing along at the foot of a cliff
forty or fifty feet high, and the next morn
ing the lieutenant uttered an exclamation
of satisfaction. He had discovered the
mouth OF cave at the base of the cliff,
and lying about 1t were carloads Of howl
ders which had fallen from the crest
we must stop here and make a fight for
II, ne said, as he half carried her to the
opening. I'm with you an0 find a place to
sit down, and !! will block the entrance"
The tourist~who vfsits "Haskell's Cave"
as 1t is called, will find a narrow opening
Tor FEW feet, with turn to the left and
then chamber twenty feet square. There
are others and larger ones in the same
clins. but none with a history. The girl
passed through into the chamber and fell
on the rocky floor, and after ten minutes
hard work the officer had the entrance Sc
curely blocked against a rush. When he
mad seen to this he spoke a few encour-
aging words to the girl and then set him
self to watch for the Indians He had not
io.s ~ wall. rive Hdl-naKed and war
painted redskins came along on their trail
at run. and the first intimation they had
of the presence of the fugitives was a bull
let which tumbled one of them over Army
officers believe in getting in the first knock
down in fight, and Haskell had not wait
ed to be first shot at The surviving In
dams sought places Of safety and opened
fire on the barricade. while a messenger
was sent off to bring the rest of the band
up. BY 10 o'clock they were all there-Red
Deer and twenty or more warriors who had
broken away from the reservation four or
fve days before, and whose raid Of murder
and rapine had set 500 soldiers from differ
emit posts securing the country Red Deer
was fighter. The trail showed that only
a man and woman had passed into the
cave. The woman didn't count. Twenty
Indians ought to have him out at the first
dash. There should be no parleying-no
demand for surrender. When the officer
saw that an attack would soon be made
he went back to the girl and cautioned her
to keep clear Of the bullets which might
enter.
Are they going to attack" she asked.
II think so.'
Then my place is with you. Give me a
pistol"
they knelt behind the barricade, and they
were hardly ready when the Indians rushed.
To do SO, they had to leave any sort of
cover behind and expose themselves in the
open. No matter whether the girls shots
were all wasted or some Of them told-the
lieutenant had no lead to throw away
Crack! crackl crackl went his pistol, and
the rush was q failure. Four dead bucks
lay in full view as the smoke lifted and
there were two or three wounded to crawl
away. Red Deer was furious and his war
riors thirsted for revenge. but they dared
IRE from the besieged proved that the wo-
man could also handle pistol The red