The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1901-06-13
alley back Of HE house two hours
ago. What does 10 nll mean?"
CHAPTER XVII.


for hundr>6 miles. Not q bridge
remained along the Platte. Not n
ford was fordable within two days
march Of either Emory or Fraync.
Not q courier crossed the Box Elder,
going either way, until the food went
down, and then 10 transpired that a
tide in the affairs OF men had also
turned, and that there was trouble
ahead for some who had thought TO
find plain sailing. For two days
watchers along the lower Box Elder
dragged out upon the shadows thc
bodies OF horses that once upon
time might have borne the ~. s."
brand, but were not girthed with
cavalry saddles now. Nor were there
lacking other bodies to prove that
the victims of the sudden storm were
not Uncle Sans men, much rs two,
Mt least, OF the drowned had been
wanted by the federal authorities but
a week before. What the denizcns Of
Gate City and Fort Emory dreaded
and expected TO hear was that Dean
and his little party had been caught
In the trap. But, living or dead, not
sign OF them remained along the
storm.swept ravine. What most peo-
pie Of Gate City and Fort Emory
could not understand was the evil
dencc that big gang Of horse thieves,
dcspcradoes aad rencgades had sud-
denly appeared about the new town,
had spurred away northward in the
night, had kept the Fraync road till
they reached the Box Elder, riding
hard long after sunup, and there. re-
enforced, they had gone westward to
the Swcctwatcr trail, and, old from
tiersmcn though they were, had been
caught in the whirl of water ut Can
on Springs, losing two of their num-
Der and Mt least n dozen of their
horses. What could have lured them
into that gloomy rift at such time?
What inspiration had led Dean out
of it?
Singly, or In little squads, many OF
them afoot, bedragglcd, silent, cha
grincd, the "outft" described by
Trooper Carey had skunk away from
the neighborhood of the Box Elder as
soon MS the storm subsidized. Solemnly,
rs. befitted soldiers, silent and alert
despite their dripping accoutremcnts,
the little detachment of cavalry had
pushed ahead, riding by compass over
the drenchcd uplands, steering for
the Swcctwater. Late In the after
room the skies had cleared, the sun
came out and they cnmped in a bunch
OF cottonwoods on the old Casper
trail and slept the sleep of the just
and the weary. Early next day they
hastcncd on. reaching the usually
shallow stream. with DEVILS Gate only
n few miles away, before the setting
of second sun. Here they feastcd
and rested well, and before the dawn
was fairly red on the third day o,I
from Emory they werG brcasting the
turbid waters and by noon had left
the valley far to the south and were
well out toward the Big Horn coun-
try, where it behooved them to look
warily ahead, for from every ridge,
though far to the west of their prob
able rni,ling ground, Dean and his
men could expect to encounter scout
ing parties of the Indians at any mo-
ment. and one false step meant death.
The third night passed without
alarm, though every eye and ear was
strained. The morning OF the fourth
day dnwned and the sun soon tinged the
misty mountain tops to the far north,
and Dean saw before him an open roll
ing country, over which 1t would be i'm
possible to march without attracting
Indian eyes, II Indian eyes there were
within 20 miles. And with proper eau
tion he ordered his men to keep In con-
cealmcnt, horses grazing under guard
In n deep depression near stream, men
dozing soundly by turns until the twi-
light came, and then the stars--their
night lights for long, long march.
Dawn of the NTH day found them hud-
died In n deep ravine of the southern
foothills, with Warrior Gap not 30 miles
away, and now, indeed. was prudence
necessary, for the faint light showed
the fresh prints of inhumerable pony
hoofs on every side. They were close
cn Machpealota's lurking braves.
Which would see the other first?
1t must have been somewhere toward
five o'clock In the afternoon that Dean,
searching with his feld-glass the sun
III slopes far out to the east, heard the
voice of his sergeant close at hand and
turned TO answer. Up to this moment,
beyond the pony tracks, not sign had
they seen of hostile Indians, but the
buffalo that had appeared In scattered
herds along their line of march were
shy and scary, and old hands said that
that meant they had recently been
hunted hard. Moreover, this was not u
section favored of the buffalo. There
was much alkali and snge brush along
their trail, and only here and there In
scanty patches any OF the rich, nutrI-
tious bunch grass which the rowing ami
mails so eagerly sought. The day had
| been hot and almost cloudless. The
simmer OF heat along the lazy roll OF
the land to the south had often bafiied
their blinking eyes. hut now the sun
was well to the west, and the rcfraction
seemed diminishing, and away over to
the northeast dull-colored cloud
seemed slowly rising beyond the ridges.
IL was this that Sergt. Bruce was study
ing when he murmured to his young
commander;
II think that means big herd on the
run, sir, and II 80 Indians started
them"
One or two troopers, doing close at
hand, sprawled full length upon the
ground, with their faces buried In, or
hidden by their blue-sleeved arms,
slowly rolled over and came crouching
up alongside. Dean d-opped his glasses
and peered In the direction indicated
by his comrade Of humber rank. Dust
cloud II was beyo n doubt, and "a long
peep through the blnocular proved that
u was slowly sailing across the horizon