West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1898-03-17
CHATTER XVII.

taking the plain trail left by the In
dian,. h. followed IL To the river bank.
Pushing forward. he fordcd the stream.
rCgained the trail on the opposite side
and dashed away into the sandhills i'm
eager pursuit of the captors OF her
whom he so dearly loved.
lie formed no definite plan of action.
His every effort was bent in the dircc-
tion of locating the Indians where they
would camp for the night before dark
ness should blind the trail. lie was
thoroughly familiar with the country,
having often secuted il with his troop,
and knew that at the Dripping Spring, /,
about forty miles from the river. n fa-
voritc camping ground of the tribe WAS
located. There he hoped to- find tho
camp Of the band. of which the captors
of Alice were but fragment.
On and on he sped through the hills
which border the river. and out into
the great .Jornalod del Mucrto. or Jour
rcy to Death" that great desert once
a terror to those who were obliged TO
traverse It's drrary. watcrlcss wastes
beneath the burning suns of summer
Far ahead i'm the distance the san
Andrcas range doomed mp before him,
the eastern side of the great frame Of
mountains which incloscd. the desert.
The shades Of evening were rapidly
cclipSing the light OF day as he en-
tered the first range cf foothills and
sped along the trail into tie bosom of
| the mountains. Dark. thrca tcnipg
clouds began 60 ga thcr over the tower
ing peaks as lac reared the Dripping
| Springs. and distant growlings Of
! Thunder prcSaGcd n coming storm.
! Di;'nounting from his horse he
crawlch to the brow Of hill from
! which view of the spring could Lc
secured. and his heart gave a great
! throh of satisfaction when the smoke
from number of camp fires met his
eyes. Grouped about near the SPRINGS
WAS u village Of about twenty lodges,
! and near by u herd OF ponies rouin,d
over the hillside cropping the sparse
grass which spruutcd out from between
the rocks
His searching eyes failed to- discover
the presence of u f.uard on an- of the
surrounding hills. and he rightly i'm
tcrprttcd this go mean that the In
di;inH. having travelled with great speed
| 80 their present camp. knew that they
! ncci fear no pursuing party before the
following day. Even had the capture
been discovered shortly after the poor
| girl WAS seized. the cavalry horses
could never carry their equipment
laden riders more than half the dis
| lance from the fort to the mountains
before darkness came upon them. and,
not being able To follow the trafl. the
troops would camp until daybrcalS.
Fully satisfied that there were no sen
tincls To discover his presence, his hope
of being able 10 gain an entry i'm the
village was greatly strengthened.
lie must now wait until darkness
should come to conceal his movements.
Lying down upon the brow Of the hill,
he c:gcrly scanned the distant camp.
OslSy forms moved TO and fro about
the nicltering fires. but the one beloved
form for which he sought with aching
eyes appeared not. Although the ap-
preaching storm materially aided In
driving lack the gray light of day. 20
his nnXious. impatient soul the night
fall came with all too tardy footsteps.
The great black clouds rolled rapid
~ toward him. at times splitting out
vivil flashes of lightning followed Jy
pcals Of angry thunder. These prcmo-
nitiona of tho coming storm filed his
breast with unspcalSablc satisfaction,
and lac almost shouted with Joy when
the storm burst upon him IN all It's
fury. The inlSy darkness which ac-
cOInpanicd it would hide his move
incnts. anh the rain beating down upon
the lodges Of the Indians woeild drown
tho sound Of his stcalthy footsteps.
rs nc lay there, his brain was busy
formulating n plan Of action. lie must
enter the village, u perilous venture.
and when ones there how could nc dc
tcrininc i'm which ono Of the twenty or
more lodges his loved one was con
fined? lie could but 90 ahead and
trust TO Providence for guidance. Not
one man in thousand would under
take such hazardous task: but the
light of hia lifc-all he cared TO live for
-was in that viii &c of deadly, treach-
crOus foes. and u he could not effect
her rescue IL was his desire that he
might die with her.
When the storm struck the village
the Indians hastily sought shelter in
their lodges. and the drcnching rain
soon cXtinguishcd the camp fires lic-
ing driven Go shelter. tho waiting sol
dicr knew tho savagcs would soon seek
comfort in their blanket beds. and
after waiting about an hour. that TO his
impatient spirit seemed an age. he re-
mounted his horse and rode toward tho
village
Securing his horse to a bush behind
an embanlsment which marked the bed
OF an old crock near the village, the
soldier took the pistols from The hol.
sters and thrust them through the belt
above his waist. and taking a hunting
knife from one Of the saddle pocket 7
moved stcalthily into the camp. All
was quiet, save the beating OF tho rain
ana the occasional volleys from hoav-
ems artillery overhead. Evco The
snarling. hali-starved ours with which
every Indian village Is infested had
crawiod into the lodgos for shelter
fltom the storm, and did not discover
his presence.
How would he ever be able to locate
the object Of bis scarch2 His lips moved
ia prayer - Heaven for old. rs 10