The Winslow mail., 1900-05-03

as her voice rose louder and louder:
she was suffering severely, and was
trying to drown the pain with her
song. Finally her voice weakened.
and grew fainter and fainter until if
died away in hoarse whisper, and
with a convulsive movement she
stretched at full length on the ground.
Tzistuntzan was dead.
Slowly the day wore on. The sun
had passed the meridian and was de-
scending to the western horizon when
the child awoke. He turned over. and
seeing his mother, crawled to her. COO
ing and goo-gooing just as would
have done baby of civilization. Now
he was reminded that he was hungry
again, and, pushing aside the blanket
his mother had unconsciously drawn
over her, he drew from her breast the
little nutriment that it yet contained
This accomplished, he pillowed his
head on the blanket and went to sleep
again.
The little fellows eyes were scarce
ly closed when the loneliness of the
desert was relieved by a moving fig
ure, which, drawing nearer, resolved
itself into a man. He was of the
frontier type, and not unhandsome,
but his face was marred by the lines
that come of dissipation and crime.
He carried rifle in his hand, and
from the well-filled cartridge belt
at his waist hung pair of revolvers;
he walked with quick, nervous step,
and occasionally turned his head to
look behind him. The large spurs at
his heels seemed to indicate that he
was more at home in the saddle than
afoOt, and so he was, but his horse
had fallen from exhaustion less than
mile back, and he had mercifully
ended the poor beasts suffering with
a shot from his revolver. He was
moving toward the range of noun
tains that lay to the north. Sudden
| ly he halted, and instantly sprang
| backward, at the same time cooking
his rife and pointing it at an object
that lay on the ground in front of
him. Then he advanced cautiously,
his finger on the trigger, and stopped
at the side of the Indian woman.
"Nothin' but a squaw, an dead at
that!'' he exclaimed, seeing what she
was. 'Wonder how she comes to be
here, an what killed her? An there's
a kid-alive, too, do believed"
He bent over the woman, and, TAX
ing the child by the shoulder, roughly
turned him over. Thus rudely reused,
the little Indian made no outcry, as a
white child would have done, but lay
regarding the other with wide-open,
suspicious eyes; the next minute,
brown hands to the man and cooed in
perfect friendliness.
"Well!" the man ejaculated; and,
resting his hands on his knees, he
again stopped toward the child. "Son-
ny, you don't take me for your daddy,
do you?" he asked, facetiously, burst
ing into loud laugh.
GOO, goo, goo," the little fellow an
swered, his face broadening into
grin in response to the others laugh
ter.
"Well, by gum!" laughed the man;
Thought L was too purity to be mis-
taken for red bucl1!" But his mirth
was soon ended and his face clouded.
Poor little devil" he said, kindly,
you've made "a mistake; you'll never
see your daddy again, [ reckon"
GOO, goo, goo," said the child.
"You don't sabe the case, young fell
ler, or you wouldn't be so happy" the
man returned. "It's come to show
down with you, an L reckon the best
thing 1 can do for you is to put
bullet through your head, same as |
did for the horse. That's the size of
it." he added, slowly, as though in an
swer to a question. Its that or the
kyotes, but-but- [ amt got the
heart to shoot a kid-even an Injun."
He became silent. and, straighten-
ing up, stood gazing sorrowfully into
the little brown face that was turned
confidingly up to his. The look in his
face encouraged the child to further
advances, and, reaching up, he grasped
his trousers and pulled himself to his
feet, where he stood with his little
arms around the mans leg.
"Blest if he amt huggin' my leg
just like little Dick used to!" the
man exclaimed. Poor little Injun!'
he went on, reaching down and talk
ing the child up in his arms, ''you
amt worth as much as a llyote, |
reckon, but blamed if 1 amt mighty
sorry for you, somehow
600, goo, goo," crowed the child,
tal<iOr the mans 1OrStacha in his fin
gers and pulling it sharply.
''Well," the man cried, with de-
light; ''pullin' my whiskers just like
little Dicl<ie used to, for the world!
Look here, you little imp, you've run
bluff on me that ! can't call. l just
amt got the heart TO leave you here
to be eft up by kyotes, so I'm goin'
to take you long with me. You'll be
right sharp load, an-an' maybe
you'll get me into a powerful lot of
trouble, but I'm going to take the
chances, just the same. Sabe that?
Now, come on over here an tell your
NANNY goodby; you'll never see her
again. ] reckon"
He held the baby close to his moth
er's face q few moments, then, wrap
ping him in the blanket, took him
back into his arms, and without an
other glance at the corpse strobe
away toward the northern range of
mountains. That he had not lightly
reached the decision to take the child
with him may be inferred from the
fact that he knew himself to be pur-