Iron County register., 1899-04-06
Sergeant Kay's Capture
By Bleasden Cameron 4

4hSI post had gone on the tuoIe a
i Fort Saskatchewan. and the ma IN,
"aS sltuEg on the porch of his quar-.
te1s' discusslng with his adiutaut fhe
''-iis OF practice march arranged
ne ioIIowlng week for B troop. The
nara blue of the sky changed TO nur.
PIE then to steel-gray, and Saturn an
peared low down on the western bori.
-<on. over the level stretches Of the
prairie the night wind blew eoftIv
'hng the yellow grass. 1t was pc
eoilariy soothing to the two officers
smoking in lazy contentment after an
arduous day in the blazing August sun.
IHey paused in their chat, and their
thoughts drifted to other lands: they
"a" faces, the pensive faces of women
anu the laughing ones of little chill
GFen, while they watched the stars
come out, one by one. in the deepening
Gnsh. Ihey remembered that those
same stars shone over the homes which
Sheilered those women and children:
'hey seemed like sentinel eyes keeping
'ireleSs vigil over those loved ones.
separated from them by long leagues
Of dill and plain and by the vicissitudes
OF soldiers calling; and their hearts
warmed 10 their friendly twinkIing.
1t length the majors vagrapt
thoughts reverted to the matter in
hand. Thirty miles will do for the
hrst day, he resumed. THAT will take
You into the Beaver Hills. where
there's good camping, now the cool
nights keep the flies down. How's
regimental number 2.142o"
''All right again. SIR said the adiu-
tant- slight attack of influenza. the
veterinary surgeon said it was
He'll
The door of the guard-house across
the square opposite swung open. and a
bugle rang out shrilly on the quiet
night air. The two officers sprang to
their feet. A shot went off. followed
ny another and another. Forms fitted
back and forth through the bars of
light which streamed across the
parade-ground from the barrack win
dows. The officer of the day hurried
up, touched his hat. and said:
II have to report. sir. that the pris-
- oners McCorkle and Milligan have
nverpowered the guard and escaped"
The major muttered something not
on record, took three strides up the
porch and two back. and then rapidly
delivered his orders:
Detail Kay and Hatherton TO scout
south toward Blindman's river: they'll
probably work round to that vicinity
sooner OF later. Send Smith ard Ed
monds north to the Athabasca Land
ing, and Murphy and Kraus east as far
IL, 1,1- I
son can take the north bank of the
Saskatchewan as far as Lac Ste. Anne"
Twenty minutes later the four de-
tails pulled out of Fort Saskatchewan
on a blind search for as choice a pair
os hlacklegs as might have been found
anywhere within a hundred miles
Up to the winter before. some of the
Saskatchewan fellows had cultivated
the idea that they knew little about
the game of poker. but after Cracker
box'r-baptized William McCorkle-
had dwelt among them for a month
they had been driven stubbornly to the
conviction that somehow they had
made an error of Judgment. \ little
earlier, Calgary had been flower, n
night-blooming cereus. from the pro-
the bloom had worn off: it had become
too slow and staid. and CrackerboN
had heard of the Saskatchewan game
and moved north. He thought there
might be profitable opening for him
there, and he was correct. His opera
tions at the green-table had been quite
satisfactory to himself. and necessarily
anything but satisfactory to anyone
else. Still. the game went on. and
Crackerbox continued to pull down his
jack-pots with complacent regularity,
until one night things happened. 1t
had been his deal. of course. He was
discovered with four mines in his hand.
and as three were held among the
other players round the board. Crack
erbox was called on for explanations.
which he gave-at the point of six
shooter. They carried the wounded
man home and Crackerbox to the
guard-house. He had done fatigue
duty on the woodpile and round the
kitchen sink under the eye of an 'un-
sympathetic sentry. and. while he did
not say so. thought it was no sort of
occupation for a gentlemanly profess |
siona1 gambler. He had been awaiting
with feelings of deep distrust the de-
parture of the next stage. which should |
carry him to the territorial pen to
abide events while the sick man |
Perhaps they would even |
show so little Difference to his cloth |
and sensitiveness there as to put him !
on the stone-pile with absconding |
bank officers and other low vioIators |
of the law. The thought made. his |
nostriIs curl But now as he said TO |
himself on the night of his escape. 1--WE |
have changed all that" The stage /
depart without him.
Milligan. the other fugitive. was Il |
promoter; and Milligan was in trouble.
as promoters now and then are apt to
he. He had been the chief instrument !
in the mutiny that had occurred in
B troop three months before. and was
serving n year at hard labor in the
guard house for his zeal in cause
which had been promptly frowned
down.
Early in the morning on the third
Law after the escape. two cavalrymen
we're riding across the prairie toward
1 distant log shack beside the trail
which connected Calgary with Sas-
katchewan 1t WAS stopping place
for travellers and the only house in 20
niles.
They'll sure stop at Bennet's and
at" said Sergt. Kay. Wed best not
tide too close They drew aside into
/ bluff of poplars, and fastened their
4