Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-12-05

tumble-weed. Q rattle snake, and q ia
rantula. The tarantula scuttled OF, he
killed the rattlesnake, and the tumble
he had the armOr done up In q shelter
tent and put upon q pack-mule. After
which, the column moved on. 1t should
not have halted at all, for it was In
pursuit Of a band Of Indians. But there
were bands Of Indians every day, and
the finding Of a full suit Of armor lying
| under a mesquite bush beside their trai.
was rare.
Certainly HartpOle had never heard
| Of such q thing. And, SO far as he
knew. 1t was the only suit Of armor
plains, but his lore on the subject was
not profound.
| When he got back to his two-cOm-
pany post on the banks Of the ella. he
| found the interest In life. which had
been lacking for him up to then. in en-
larging that knowledge. He sent East
for books and histories and treatises
concerning coats Of mail and the men
who have worn them, and he even went
SO far as to write to the Smithsonian
Institution, at the risk Of having gov
ernment commission sent out at once
| to seize his treasure. And In the inter
val Of two months which elapsed be-
fore he received a reply-fOr the rail
road was only to Kansas In those days
he set about cleaning the armOr HIM
self. and with his own hands Joining II
| ;ogether.
| He was SO occupied, what with that
and the histories and the other books.
that he forgot to have Gila-bOttOm ma
laria and had no time TO worry about
the flies. Then, when the steel was
once more bright as the azure shield of
Achilles, and he had proved to his own
aud to every ones satisfaction that II
| must once have protected the body OF
one OF COronado's men, and must date
from the middle of the sixteenth cen
tury. or thereabout, he hung II up In
his one-room adobe quarters. along
with the Indian trophies that were as
nothing now and the bottled reptiles OF
many sorts; and the fame Of 1t spread
through the land. An English lord, In
| pith helmet and gray linen. who was
going about the country, Travelled miles
out of his way to look upon 1t; and
scientific party from Boston did the
same. Hartpole was beginning to be
very proud, when, one day. he had a
visitor of another kind.
1t was q man he had seen sometimes
nnnging around the agency and the
post-a small, 1.-the fellow, part Coyo-
tero Apache. part Mexican. possibly
very small part white, who had some
reputation as q medicine-man with tho
! tribes, but not much as anything else
Hartpole was sitting under his ra.
mada on a late summer afternoon, read
ing a book whose covers curled up with
the heat, when something came be-
tween him and his light. and. looking
up, he saw the medicine-man peering
In the opening He said, "HullO, Ciego.
and added. What do you want. ehT
Ciego was so called because he was
blind In one eye. He came In undeI
the ramada, and stood SO close to him
that Hartpole moved little. The Coy
otero's cast-off uniform and red head
band were not clean.
Ciego spoke excellent Spanish, and
as HartpOle did, too, he had no trouble
about making himself understood. Il.
explained that he would like to see the
suit of iron clothes which he had beer
told that the lieutenant possessed. The
lieutenant was so pleased to think thai
1t had been spoken Of even In the fast
nesses Of the Sierra Blanca and Of the
Tonic Basin that he forgot how dirty
Ciego was, and straightway rose ant
invited him into the one room.
The medicine-man stood looking a
the armor with an interest and eviden
appreciation that touched Hartpols
very much. After the manner Of hi.
kind, he said no word, but presently ht
went nearer and felt Of the plates ant
chains with his finger-tips, and put hi.
good eye close and looked inside. Thel
he turned to HartpOle. where die
you find it7" he asked
The lieutenant explained at somt
length.
.Is 1t very oldY'
Aartpole said 1t was at least three
hundred and thirty odd years old. ant
went into a little history.
Ciego nodded his head. Il know" h,
said. But that was SO manifestly alb
surd that HartpOle did not pay any at
tention to - 1T is very fine." sale
Cieso. For how much will you sell l
to meY' Naturally. Hartpole ONLY
laughed. but the Apache was In ear
nest. nevertheless. NO." he insisted
looking him sharply in the face. mo
de- yeras, l wish to buy 1t from you"
"Well. l don't wish to SELL" answered
tho lieutenant, rather vexed at the mer,
idea.
II have five hundred dollars" sait
the Indian.
"If you had thousand you could no
have it."
81 have a thousand.
Hartpole laughed again. q little i'm
patiently.
lyon do not believe me-look here
Ciego drew a buckskin bag from I'M
folds of his sash. 1t was full OF COLO
, ..There are five un1red dollars here
In three days can bring you hve hun
, dred mOre.'
Hartpole guessed how he had com
nv n and his temper rose. THAT Il
! stolen money" he said. angrily; put
nm You can't have the armor. Uka
= shee."
.1You let me have It" begged Ciego
E 81 w,s.: it very much. will do many
0 things for you
Hsrrpo,e swore this time-mean
:. snanish oaths. mo-" he said, yo'
!, can't have it. Go to the DeviiEge
{ out" ATT,
Even though Cieso was only = Dirt
Indian. the White-Eye should have re
: : membered that he probably mao zee,
: lines which could be hurt IL 10 ven
however, for those who have tne %les =:
z aon o. children and ssvaSes u tnsA