Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1898-09-14

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surveillance. Years ago the sur,
vcillance would occasionally relax,
and then there would be an outbreak.
A trail of blood would be marked OUT
toward Mexico, and the vultures
would come in crowds, as if from all
over the West, to enjoy the banquet
prepared for them in the dead, whose
bodies would elisten when first killed
with snowy whitencss in the dazzling
sunlight, so that you could see them
dotting the plains from afar of, while
the hot winds from the south that
tanned your face would be heavy with
the smell OF human carrion.
1t is not so now, for better watch
and ward is kept by the soldiers. But
when it was so, there were four men
who went into this Apache country tc
prospect for the mines from which, in
the old days, the indians obtained tho
silver out of which they would mold
bullets when they could not get lead
Many q man has lost his life searching
for these mines, and many more will
doubtless do the same before they arc
discovered. This, though, will never
deter men from making the effort, sc
long as men have the right to take
their lives i'll their hands and wager
}bou, oroinct waa1th
Of these four men, one was Harry
Barrett. He was young, and had, as
many young men have, and as all young
men should have, q girl with whom he
was very much in love, and to whom
he WAS engaged to be married. It was
probably this more than anything else
that made him so desirous of growing
suddenly rich by finding the treasure
mines OF the Apaehes, for. when q
young man is truly in love, his great
est regret is that he does not own the
wealth OF the Iudies and possess tie
power of the Gear to augment his i'm
portance in the eyes of the woman in
whom he is so deeply interested. This
was SO with Harry Barrett, and when
old jeff Bramlett, who had prospected
Tor these same mines for twenty years
or more, came to him with his map of
the country in which they.were sup
posed to exist, Harry was not long in
growing enthusiastic, and believing
what was told him, for the prospect Of
great wealth is always Intoxicating.
The map was old. and frayed. and
faded, foc many another man had
fingeredit, to his sorrow. That counted
for naught, though, with Harry. When
the day came for the party to start out
on their search, he was the most light.
hearted of ell, especially when he
Jagged behind to kiss his hand to the
girl for whose sake he desired wealth,
and who stood ut the door of her fathers
house watching him, while she saw III
vision the beautiful things that the
future had in store for them both. The
wealth that Harry might discover was
not necessary to make her pictures OF
the future bright. If she only could
have Harry, that was sufficient, and,
when he passed from her sight, she
turned away, humming the song he
most liked, while thinking of the pleas
ures that awaited his return.
For months there had been nc
rumors of Iudian disturbances There
had been peace on tue reso lion SC
long that men had ceased to give its
dangers thought, as men who live in
the shadows of volcanoes live day after
day unthinking of the hour that will
find them buried beneath its lava. Tc
the undertaken, nothing is SO common.
place as death, while the headsman in
time sees nothing notable in an execu'
tiou, save whether or not the ax finds
its way through one neck easier than
through another. And so it is with
danger, for when it is ever present,
men grow callous to it, no matter how
great it may be. SO it WAS with Har.
ry Barrett and his comrades. While
the girl who was awaiting his return
might have occasionally thought OF
the risks that the little party ran,
the men never felt any anxiety, or, il
they did, subdued it without openly
expressing it.
For the first few days they found
indications of rich silver deposits-in
dications that were SO rich that they
made permanent camp, intending tc
examine the ledges that criss-crosset
the country thoroughly. They had
seen no Indians, and expected none
One day, though, as they sat at din
ner, shot came from oat of the
pines, and before the echo had died
away it was followed by n score o.
others. Old jeff Bramlett, who wa:
to have led them to untold wealth.
dropped the tin plate-from which ht
was eating-on the ground. No
abruptly, but SO gently that it hardly
made sound; and, as it fell, he ap
parcntly mado an effort TO rise to Iii:
feet, only to fall face forward in5o tht
fire, where still simmered the uncatcr
portion of the MONDAY meal.
The three remaining men sprarg t.
sheir feet unharmed, and rushed t.
seek cover behind trees aud powders
picking up the arms that came neal es
to their hands. As Barrett passed tht
fire, he drew from it the body Of t:.t
old man, Ihe face WAS eQYege1 Wit