The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-11-16

garment again would b. imperyious t.
the bullets of the White-Eye. would be-
come the greatest of medicine men, and
rule not only. over his own people but
the plains of the North. And the very
founder of the family to which Ciego be-
longed was reputed to have been the
white chief in the coat of iron.
The Coyoteros believed these things
and so did the medicine man. So wh-n
the news of the armOr suit had reached
him. ne had levied heavy fees for his i'll
carnations for some months, and, adding
these to the gold he had exchanged for
Mexican dollars, collected from many
raids, he took himself down to the camp
Of the soldiers to obtain fairly by pun
chase that which was his very own Bat
fairness and the offers of purchase had
failed.
Ciego looked the Eye officer over
from his scalp to his toes, and up again.
and then with no sound, save just one
grunt, went out from the quarters and
from the post.
But Ciego did not-as Hartpole ought to
have foreseen.
>, One night an Indian. his body naked as
it was born, poisoned knife in his hand,
stole across the sandy parade-ground
when the moon was under the clouds Of Il
coming storm, and slipped, as silently rs
none but savage can, under the ramada
OF Hartpoles quarters, and thence
through the open door. The Indian had
missed nothing when he had been in that
one small room 4 month before. He
knew, where everything in it was, from
the chrome in a blue frame on the wal;
70 the cot IN the corner, across from the
piece Of calico that curtained off the
nook where Hartpole S clothes hung, and
waited until the moon showed for Il mo-
ment through a break in the clouds, and
ne could see the figure on the cot beneath
the mosquito-net. When the room was
the knife in his hand went straight
through the heart of the man asleep.
Then he took the rafting armor from ITS
nails ana wrapped it in the calico curtain,
and fled through the night, us silently
and swiftly as only an Apache can.
NOW It happened that Hartpole had
to the east that Very day, and he had
left his striker to sleep in his quarters
and keep guard over his things. So it
was into the luckless soldiers heart that
the knife was driven, and the next day Il.
telegram appraised Hartpole that his
striker was murdered and his suit Of mail
was gone.
The day after that all the department
knew that the Coyoteros were on the
Warpath, and, having cut the reserva-
ton, were killing right and left. They
were led by medicine-man called Gle
go, and the scouts reported that he was
dressed III garment of white iron which
no White-Eye's bullet could pierce. They
also reported that the Chiricahuas and
the Pah.Utess and the Sierra B!ancas
were joining him. 1t promised to be an
interesting time for the territories.
Hartpole began to have dim idea of
Why the medicine-man had wanted his
Spanish mail. now. He was ordered out.
Of course. Most of the department was.
Trouble of the sort that this promised to
be had to be checked at once, if at all.
1t was serious already; but there was
one thing in favor of the troops, which
was that the hostiles showed no desire
to get away. Their fanatical faith in
their medicine-man led them to seek bat
tie rather than to shun it.. And, twice,
having done so, they beat off the troops,
because there were, as usual, too few
But the third time they were caught in
pocket Of the Mogalions, and there
were no less than six troops against
them Hartpoles was of the number.
The Indians fought from dawn of the
first day until twilight of the second. in
the open at first, then from behind shell
low cave high up on hillside, and there
was no getting them out. A mountain
howitzer might have done it: but there
was none with the command. All day
the troops fred volleys into so much of
the mouth Of the cave as showed be-
tween the pine trunks and the walls of
rock: They knew that the slaughter
within must have been pretty severe, but
there were no signs of surrender, never
theless. The hostiles might hold out un-
til the last one was dead: they certainly
would until their medicine-man should
fall The medicine-man could be seen
from time to time, a cleaning figure,
moving clumsily among the trees and un-
derbrush. And for al that it went so
slowly and was so bright, no bullet
seemed ever to hit it. Even the white
men began to consider it with ave-
At sunset of the second day, when the
sounds from the cave had all but ceased
and the Indians within it were without
ammunition and at bay. the glistening
form came clambering deliberately to the
top of high rock. whooping and yelling,
calling the remnant of its followers on
It~stood SO, for moment. the red SUI.
rays striking through the pine branches
on the denied steel, a weird sight IL the
depths Of the mountain Businesses OF the