, 1897-04-03
Red Tom took his pipe out Of his

READY Inc blBuS IOT tue Aot " mlI0
has been bad. There's a million O. them
red varmints hereabouts, and they amt
goin, to leave one o US to go back an
tell who done It,"
Well. we'll be careful" said the tall
man, but I've undertook to see this en-
cheering party through. and 1t is too
late to turn back now"
That ended the conference. The three
went back tao the camp.
The tall man was Walter P. Lane. who
II Texas with hosts Of other young
men from the states to help Sam Hous-
ton fight The Mexicans. He arrived too
late to reach the Alamo to die with Ira
took part in the battle on the banks OF
the San Jacinto, which broke Santa
Ana's power and gave Ike to the strug-
Cling republic. He had lc:. Liberty sew
eral weeks before in command OF the es-
cort Of an engineering party bound for
the Brazos country to stake out claims
oh Il iiSh iohoo.
The land wanted had long been the
Kickapoos' favorite hunting grounds,
and, although they had always been
friendly to the whites, they watched
this intrusion with sullen anger. Dodge
was a frontiersman and also a veteran
OF San Jacinto and an experienced In
dian fighter. Some OF the other mem
bers OF the party were Indian fighters.
too. but most OF them had had no ex-
%perience on the border warfare except
against the Mexicans.
When Lane went back to camp he
doubled the sentries and cautioned the
men to keep a sharp lookout. No at
lention was paid to the Indians who
were in the party. The men were asleep
by midnight and the camp was quiet.
Nothing disturbed the stiffness Of the
night except the chirping Of insects in
the chaparral. The chirping became
more and more noisy as morning drew
near. 1t seemed as though the %chaparral
was alive with insects. Dodge would
have noticed il had he been awake, but
Dodge turned in for a nap at 2 o'clock
and the drowsy sentries thought moth
ing of it.
Along toward the hour Of daybreak
three dark forms arose from the sleep
ing group and peered cautiously about
them. Everything was still and quiet.
One Of the forms chirped like a cricket.
and answering chirps came from the
chaparral all about them. Then the
three forms crept ~noiselessly over the
sleeping bodies to the place where the
horses were picketed. They were the
Indians. 1t took but a few moments to
cut the tethers.
Then each Indian mounted a horse
and, giving u wild whoop, darted over
the hills. First n and then another
Of the frightened animals followed un-
til the stampede was complete. The
yells Of the Indians and the thunder Of
400 hoofs reused the camp. Then men
staggered to their feet and grabbed for
their rifles. Instantly there was a rattle
Of rifle shots and a dozen men dropped
Then came the yells. Hundreds of In
dams 3 out of the chaparral and be-
gan to pour bullets into the camp. Their
craftsmanship was not good at best, and
the darkness vas an additional handi-
cap, but they had the location OF the
camp pretty we'll fixed, and there were
so many Of them that somebody fell at
every volley. Hall the frontiersmen
were down before they recovered from
their surprise. Two dozen or more
gathered around. Lane and Dodge, and
a feeble attempt vas made to return the
fire. But the white men were under a
greater disadvantage than the Indians.
The Indians knew where the white men
were. The white men saw no Indians,
and could only fire at the flashes, and
the flashes came from all sides. When
they fired the white men did not know
whether they killed any one or not.
I'VE can't do nothing here" said
Dodge to Lane. after the fight had gone
on for half an hour. Wed better make
for the river before sunup, or we'll all
go under. Thes Kickapoos ain't going
to leave any one to tell who done 1t, l
tell ye."
Dodge's right arm had been broken
by a rife bullet and was hanging limp
at his side. Lane had been struck by
q bullet, and his flannel shirt was sat
urated with blood which had run from
the wound.
II hate to leave any one here" he pro-
tested.
Don't poster yourself" said Dodge
shortly. There amt more'n q dozen O.
US left"
Then we'll 60" said Lane. The dog
en- men started down the dry creek bed
for the Brazos. 1t was a half-miIe
journey over rocks and powders. About
500 yards from camp Lane stumbled ov.
err a body. II was one Of the sentinels
His throat had been cut and his head
scalped.
"That's what happened to all Of EN-"
said Dodge, and they crept on in the d.
rection OF the river. Five Of the fugi-
tives were 30 badly wounded that they
were unequal to the tssk. They drop
ped oqt one after the other and lay
down to die or to be scalped alive when
khA T~@{.~A A~~>A 49, - -