The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-06-02
FATE or JOHN DRIFT.

colt A. r. He lived with his tvo.cbtl-
dran uirl. and Flora And Dick was
the mine boss
On lime go. some wears ago. the old
man left c7rp and started for Denver.
Col. The trim was undertaken SOLELY
for the rgruasa Of -qp.rng accounts
with "a ,nrr.tq Su..tar -1 which for
The INST Six months Ha had sbfpped his
ores as fast as they eould he taken ont.
What was the CONSERVATION in camp.
therefore. when fl week later cattle
man came I'm from The range and said
that he had found john Drifts mauaied
remains i'm the wilds of the Moeollon
Mountains.
Al once the cages STONED I'm mid
shaft as If ulraiyzed. And as the as
founding news flashed from level to
level the Burnley drills ceased 90 whir.
the mules brayel i'm she drifts. the men
by scores spraug 70 the ladders and
poured from the manhole. to crowd
around the cattlcman and listen
breathIess as he told his story for the
twentieth time They could hardly
believe their ears. The old cowpun-
cher must surely be out of his head.
How could John Drift get from Dem
yer over into Mogullons in so short
time?-a hundred miles from a rail-
way, fifty miles to the nearest stage
road.
But DICK. the mine boss. left them to
settle the matter as they might while
he FASTENED to Prescott and notified
the sheriff Without delay posse was
summoned. Among them was an In
dian trailer named Barking Wolf. The
catt'emen led them 10 the spot-on old
background ON top of Deer Ridge,
near the summit of the MogolIons,
And there was the body lying fun
length beside a clump OF wild dates.
A glance at the up'ufned lace left not
shauo" oil uouDt IN anyone nina
'hal II was Johh DrlIt s. Tor the fea-
lures were perfect. But the clothes
puzzleu them 40 one had ever seen
the Ola man IN snch riga suit of
DIue denim oVeraiIs' And the jumper
was SUN win pIoou. An eNaminalNn
showed Ouiel wound near the heart
vi 'i''' more lne IIsHt arm ana three
rlos were broken Inc White men
having luiN" OUT dlt lhey could Bark
Ihs Won part o. the program oegoh.
he looked the Dody over from head to
root examined the eyes and the wound,
then began circllng round and round,
wider and wider, over ground covered
WIN sVu ana Oloheu Took After
searching Tor an hour up and down
each slope OF the ridge, ne came back
with startling Information lie could
ma only one jFall-that OF someone
coming on horseback from the dlrec-
tlon OF lohto BASIN ana going away
again IN the direction OF Prescott,
Twas evident to everybody that this
was none other than the one made by
the cattIeman when ne discovered the
murder ana brought the news 70 camp,
lor ne I'Vea IN the lonto basin coun-
try. 10 make sure OF II, ne Jumped
on his horse and galloped him a short
distance along the ridge. The Indian
carefully compared the tracks and de-
clared them to be the same. In obed-
lence with the sherihs orders, how
ever ne searched the ground over
again ana AGAIN out with the same
resuit-'here was not the least sign OF
any other tralI' here was a mystery
tnat aumoiouhded the othcers and
reused Barking Noils superstltlous
fears.
How did the dead man come there
without leaving footprint OF some
sort? And because no one could an
swer the question. the sherlH placed
the cattleman under arrest on clrcum-
stantlal evidence. Ihen they dashed
the BODY OF John DRIFT TO a pack horse
and took 1t to Prescott for burial.
And the case came up at once for a
preliminary hearing. But it was dis
missed for want Of sufficient evidence,
ed that there was no sign of any strug-
gle having taken place on the ridge
and that John Drift had been dead
about three days when the cattleman
discovered his body.
But Flora and Dick were not salts
fed to let the matter pass. The muir.
derer of their father must he found and
captured at any cost. So they sent 10
San Francisco for an expert who hired
a guide and went to the fatal ridge
After spending several DAYS in the vi
cinity without finding the ghost Of \
clew he pusbed on "a, tbe nearest rail.