The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-01-09

and at last out into the uruau, u.vAvn
valley the slow marchers wound. It
was hard travelling in the dark, and
| Pedro bad never been thus Far west
before. Bat his sense OF locality was
| we'll developed. and. steering Dy the
FAMILIAR stars, he pushed l,rayeIv
olong. Great owls SKINNED just above
! bis head, hoe..ng iismaiiy, and now
ana then along the side of the vast
mesa he was skirting shrilled the ap-
palling cry OF the mountain lion. He
carried the carbine in his hand, now
peerlng through the darkness e. t!:a
dim. white mass ahead ard anon stop.
ping to listen for sounds from the
| rear.
Just as tie dawn blossomed to red
In the east they descended short,
steep draw" crossed deep but wa
terless river bed and emerged upon
smooth. circular plain. In the very
center Of 1t Pedro could see the high,
ragged walls OF the mysterious Pueblo
Alto, md In few minutes more the
dogs were holding the sheep in tired
clump ut the foot of the ruins, while
De.-c climbed up 10 explore.
1t was wonderful place, the rnins
OF an ancient Pueblo stone city, de-
serted before Columbus discovered
| America. 1t lay in the great Navajo
reservation, 80 miles from the nearest
settlement Few white men have ever
seen 1t oven to thia day The town
was built IN the shape Of rectangle.
200 feet long, with the houses terraced
| nj ri
| piazu OF square. The outer walls were
still standing, 10 to 20 feet high. and
on the west side part of the fifth story
of great tower, square outside and
round within, rose nearly 80 feet.
Doors and windows there were none.
/ and the ladders by which the wAlls
were once scaled had crumbled tc dust
centuries before. Luckily there was a
breach In the wall of one of the rooms,
and, driving his flock through this,
| Pedro walled up the gap with the big,
fiat rocks which had fallen from the
! upper stories. A little bunch grass
| grew in the plaza and on the mounds
Of debris Water there was none near
er than the pools in the Canyon de los
Osos, si:- miles away, but the sheep
had been watered only a few hours
before and were used to water only
once In two days. On pinch they
| could go without for four.
AS for himself, there was water in
the little keg on the pack saddle and
food enough for week with economy.
Pedro cooked breakfast over n fire Of
chaparro dnd, having eaten. sat down
! SC wait.
| There were no signs Of danger as
yet. Had he been too blind and made
mistake? If his fears were ground
less, It was bad mistake to come to
the Pueblo Alto, for 1t was In the right
full country Of the surly Navojoes, who
would certainly make trouble IL they
found him there.
But while these uncomfortable
thoughts were passing through his un-
kemnt head his sharp eyes sighted q
figure. outlined against the sky, on the
top Of swell six miles away. Civilized
eyes. which are little called upor for
such use, could hardly have disccrned
it ut aI!, but Pedro saw plainly that it
was an Indian on horseback and COM
Ing toward him.
The figure disappeared, and another
came in sight and then another and
another till the frightened boy had
counted 81 Of them. He wiped his gun
carefully with a niece of buckskin and
counted the long heavy cartridges in
his belt-just o. Truly here was no
chance for poor shooting. If the In
dians attacked him, he must make ev-
cry bullet count. Esqufpulo had been
a famous Indian fighter In his day, and
the boy had often listened to his stories
Of struggles with Apache, Navajo and
Ute.
used to say, (which fhon must always
remember-an Indian Is the most see
Ing man in the world. He will know
as well and as quickly as .thyself if
thou art frightened. When he attacks
thee in strong place, he will first
make feints Of charging to see what
thou art mnde Of. If thou art cool and
waitest to make every shot count, he
Will Mt once change his ways and try
to pick thee off from 0,tance, In
which there Is small danger if thou art
watchful. But If thou miss n shot or
two Mt first he will charge Into thee
and over thee and shoot thee down
from near. ~.
Pedro did remembersall this, which
4 ne had heard q hundred times, and,
/ though he was trembling with excite
meht md fear, he fully resolved TINT
he would show n cooi front But even
II he repulsed their immediate attacks
what then? They could hold him
besicsscS Indefinitely. and there was no
chance of help except from his father.
SAh, his father! Alone and on foot,
why, the Nayajoes would have no trou-
BILE withhim. ..3.sS :
The more Pedro thought Of this the
more alarmed he became. Esquipulo
would be back now in day or two.
He would follow the sheep tracks and
/ come unsllsnectingly tn his death R1lf