The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-09
CHAPTER XIII.

y Five days later the women and chill
rem from Warrior Gap, most of them
/ ereaved all of them unnerved by the
4 Experiences of that awful day, arrived
i old Fort Frayne, escorted by a
q ttrong command of infantry and all
\ nat was left of the cavalry troop at
/ he stockade. A sad procession it was
Us it slowly forded the Platte and as
Il ended the winding road to the post
4 where sorrowing, sympathetic army
y women met and ministered to them
A With them, too, came such of the
II wounded as could be moved, and at the
mead of the little squad of horse rode
\ Lieut.. Dean, whom the post command
er and several officers greeted almost
Il effusively.
= Yet almost the first quantion was,
iFF'Did you see any Indians?"
II mot one" answered Dear: "They
\ seem to have drawn away from the
\ Zig Horn road entirely. Why do you
ask?" he added anxiously.
There We're signal fires out at Eagle
Butte last night, and I've just had a
Il deter from old Folsom at the ranch on
Y the Laramie. He begs us to send a
man. There's been the devil to pay at
n young Folsom's place"
"A Deans face went q shade paIer.
"Whats happened?" he asked.
!. "a dozen of his best horses run off
by Birdsalls gang, probably to replace
those they lost in the flood, and Hal
4 himself was shot and left for dead In
/ the hills. He'd have died but for an
IL Ogallalla girl and a couple of half
i l0reeds who had a hunting-lodge out
Il near the Peak. There are letters for
Il Tou at the Office
y There were two-one from LOOMS
( at Emory; one from Jessie, of all places
II IN the world, at FoIsOm's ranch. This
he read first.
we got here late night before last, after
such an exciting journey, Marshall dear, u
said she, and 1 can't begin to tell you al
Z me strange things that have happened, fol
Mr. Folsom says the messenger must star
IGr Fort Frayne in twenty minutes. Thai
Villain, Maj. Burlegh, who dared to SPEAK
l1il or you, turned out to be bad as l ever
SAID he was. They haven't caught him yet
n, out they We got Capt. Newhall. Mr. Folsom
land Mr. Loring did that-caught him in the
backyard of our house. down by the gate
ana In some way Mrs. Fletcher induced him
I % come here, for he had the key of the safe
= 70 get the money Maj. Burlegh dared not
axe When he fed. cant understand it all
p and Pappoose doesn't like to talk about it
But Mr.: Folsom was robbed OF lots of money
by Maj. Burleigh. Mrs. Fletcher is mixed
I up IN 1t in such queer way, I can't explain
now. She was nearly crazy when we came
n away, and Mr.. Folsom was so good and kind
r TO her. left nurse with her, and made her
stay at the house, although she wanted to
pack her things and go to the hotel or the
let her.
! And right in the midst of it all Ned
Lannion, who came with news before gal
y ioped in to tell how Halbert Folsom had been
Y missing two days and Mrs. Folsom was crazy
\ with fear, so Mr.. Folsom left Lieut. Loring
& 70 attend to all the matters about the rob-
berry and started at once for the ranch and
PappoOse of course insisted on going with
him, and l would not be left behind. And
i here we are. Now l can see the hills where
you had the fight and wore Elinor's picture
and it was right out there among them that
lrtaIpert was found. Horse thieves had run
4 lon his best horses-the same gang of muir
(RreTs that they say, planned to trap you
( lind tina you outwitted OH Marshall was
4 ever, girl so proud of her brother. and
/ they shot Hal and he was found and taken
care of by some Indian people, tame ones
and one was a girl, Isizette, who had fallen
IN love with him four years ago. Wasn't il
\ romantic? And she's gone again. but Hal is
y safe here. although Mrs. Folsom is more than
half-crazy, and now old Mr. Folsom is wor-
RED to death, and says we must start back
4 for home tomorrow. It's seventy-five miles
II
eager to see you, and 1 heard-at least Mr.
LOOMS told me you'd be back any day. and
he has your troop till you come, and he's
so fond of you. Oh, here's Pappoose to
say this must 20 at once"
The colonel sat watching the young
fellow as he read. ''Rad news, Dean?'
he queried.
every kind of news, ST.. It's all a
} whirl. The devil seems to have broken
loose in Wyoming. Let me skim
through LOOMS note.
Dear Dean: In case the letter sent yes
terday passes you on the way l add a line
| to say that if ever said mean thing about
Loring when we were in the corps, 1 take 1t
| back. l thought him Il prig when we wore
the gray. He rather held us UNDER anyhow.
being class ahead, you know, but the way
he has PANIED out here and wiped up Wyo-
| ming with the only men l ever knew that
tried to wrong you is simply wonderful. He's
na6bed three of the Birdsall gang and is
away nov after Bur.eigh. The news from
| Poison ranch is more TeassTring. Hal was
| shot by horse thieves who were running off
/ stock, and was found and taken care of By
| friendly Indians. bat Mrs. Hal had an awful
scare and sent for the old man, who went
] OF course-hOth young ladies' going with him
I ThSy were miles away before we knew it at
] the fort. l tried to persuade old PecSsniff
\ that he ought to let me go with twenty troop
| ers to guard tho ranch and scout the Lar
' annie, and he threatened to put me in arrest
Of al The double-dashed, pig-headed cd idiots
he's the worst l don't want people at the
ranch to DO scared but if the Sioux only
would make some demonstration this way
that would give me a chance, I'd try to earn
little OF the reputation that you're winning,
old boy. and no man knows better how much
you deserve it than
'.Ycur friend and cassmate Hank L."
"P. S.-Ioring took ten OF the troop into
the Black HES to beat up Bur1eigh, but he
4 said il they struck Indian signs he meant
TO make for Folsom's ranch. Now, If we
could only meet there!"
The sun was we'll down at the west.
The days march had been long and
tedious, as only cavalry marches are
] when long wagon trains have to be es-
, cortod. Dean had not yet fully re-