The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-03-16

| athWart the vast eXpanSe of bare yellow
| sand and revealed not an animate OBJ
| ject-not even a buzzard or q coyote
| The sand, which through the short night
| has remained unmoistened and uncooled
| by even so much as drop of dew or
| current of cold air, again sends UP scin-
tilattng waves of dry, whitening heat
! like blasts from q thousand furnaces
! If vegetable life ever existed in this
barren land it long ago succumbed to the
memorable heat and withered into moth
| in2ness; If there were springs and
| creeks their evaporation and eradication
has been complete, for there are no
ereviccs, no gullies-nothing to Indicate
/ that the sandy waste ever nurtured even
SO much or so little as sage brush or
! cactus.
Where, moment ago, all was COM
! plete desolation, there now appears a
| speck-there on the Western horizon,
| where the sky and sand meet; it may be
either jackal or a culture The sun,
seemingly fiercer in his wrath, shoots
| forth more furious shafts OF fire, as if
| resentlng the temerity of the Intruder
! Gradually the moving object assumes
! form, and the flashes and CLEANS of the
| suns rays Slancing from FURNISHED steel
might lend light to the Imagination that
! the approaching object is the spirit of
some mailed knight of old, come to
haunt the place OF his torment Seem
ing to glide along close to the surface
OF the baked EARTH 1t flashes silently
past, and as it passes reveals itself to
! be bicycle rider Whittier to, whence
from? No line of reasoning can explain
Alone and seemingly defiant of all the
cruel forces of nature which makes this
| place untenable for every living thing
1t was not all foolhardiness shat
| prompted Trooper Harry Greer to make
| the hazardous attempt of crossing the
| great American desert alone on his
| wheel, though he had in his makeup q
| certain degree of reckless courage that
some Of his friends declared would some
| day lead to his destruction He had left
! his Pennsylvania home less than two
Years before for g prolonged bicycle
| tour, Bong an ardent wheelman, and
| having Whcelman's love for outdoor
| life, travel and adventure Stopping at
| + rt Laramie, Wyo., on his way west.
| ward he was detained some DAYS py
/ stormy weather, and in the interim be-
came acquainted with the officers and
! men OF the post, who pressed him to
loln the service. And Harry, always
looking for experience, was readily per-
suaded to become a member of the
! United States cavalry. OF athletic build.
| JoVlal nature and keen intellect he was
at once q popular man in his troop an
unusual circumstance, for rockies gen
orally have a harder time of it at these
Western posts than do the "plebes" al
west Point. Entering into the new life
| with characteristic zest ana Whola-heart-
! edness, he readily assn1i1ated the prat-
/ teal knowledge that commands respect
on the plains Tie rough plain style of
living and active outdoor exercise add
ed fresh V1gor to constitution already
/ ROBUST from seasons spent in road riding
at nome, and he rapidly developed into a
! typical plains1nan-the ideal type of
| Western manhood
Inc garrisons at the various Western
| posts We're none too strong numerically.
ana 1t frequently happened that a post
| Wculd be almost deserted for weeks at
a time, While the entire command. with
| the exception of a corporal's guard.
| would be OFF on detached duty Enaigrant
! trains and mining outfits had to be es-
| corted and guarded, and an occasional
! Rand of hostile Indians needed rounding
| up. The only means OF communication
between the different posts was that OF
mounted dispatch bearers, and on the
| whole the garriSons spent more time in
the saddle than in barracks.
| In the early spring of 1G- Harry's CAP
tain received orders to send detail from
Fort Laramie to Fort Washable, on the
! border of the Wind River reservation
/ where the Shoshones We're holding high
carnival and scalping everything in sight.
| The situation there was a grave one. and
| the combined forces of the two posts
seemed Inadequate to quell the uprising.
The officer in command selected detail
OF six troopers, the best scouts of his
own command and those of the Laramie
reinforcement, to go over the trail to
Fort Ruby, New, and return with the
garrison from that post, and Trooper
Harry was one of the number. Cavalry
| horses and pack animals were to convey
the detachment over the intervening
country, and Harry secured special per-
mission to take his bicycle as part of his
| equipment, for use in emergency as he
explained. Proceeding with great caution
the squad arrived at the Cedar range of
mountains without encounteIing any In
| dams, but here their troubles began. They
! We're ambushed on the western slope by
band of fifty marauding Shoshones
and after a siege of two days the troop
ers were attacked at night. The fight
| that ensued in the rocky canyon LASTED
| five hours, the troopers fighting from
| behind rocks, like their assailants. Be
| fore daylight the Indians drew off UP
the mountain, taking with them the
| horses and pack animals and leaving all
the soldiers dead, as they supposed. BY
| some chance Harry escaped, but when
| morning came he found all of his five
| comrades scalped. He had the grim
| consolation of finding also a score OF
more of good Indians"
To take the back trail was suicide as
| the savages had gone that way, and tC
| proceed seemed equally as hopeless, as
the great American desert was before
| him and his horse was gone. His pack
| animal was dead and had not been dis
/ covered by the departing Indians. ant
| forced by necessity, he Eot his bicycle
| ready, made a pack of such provisions
as it was possible to carry back, ant
| stole cautiously out OF the valley o.
death and followed the trail to the west
| He discarded his carbine. but carried his
| cavalry revolver, and until he reached
| the desert kept himself provided with
! small game, in order TO save his small
| store of provisions. His experience or
! the plains had taught him many valu
able things, among them the use of herbs
/ and roots and with this knowledge he
| provided himself with a quantity of g
certain root used by plainsmen to over
come the effects Of prolonged thirst, am
with this and his supply OF brandy an6
| jerked beef, lessened the acuteness of his
! sufferings for time. The trail grew
more and more indistinct, and by The
/ second day out was lost entirely in the
! shifting sand. There were scores of miles
where riding was impossible, and The
herce sun, pouring down its blasting
| smothering heat, which. increased in in
! tensity, threatened at times to PROSTATE
! the plucky trooper, and the slimmcrins
expanse if unchanging, barren plain
nearly drove him frantic. The awful si
! lence and utter desolation made him
long for the sight of even an Indian
anything to break the monotony thai
| was rohbiing him of his senses. He
| came to some whitcned bones half buried
! in the sand-the remains of some mar
or animal that had persisted there al
/ HOLLIS