The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1901-09-11


faces standing out of the gloom In
grim contrast with her refined beauty.
The captain. with his superior breed
Ing. served as link between her and
his men, keeping them In check and
stimulating their admiration by his
own. II Jack Jagged for n moment be-
tween her stories and her songs. Helen
wns quick to suggest new ones, ana Oc-
cnslonnlly both were relieved by little
Buck. who would throw In some quaint
rcmark typical of that peculiar crea-
turc. The American boy.
SO long ns the songs and stories last
cd there was nothing to preclpltate
trouble. but the entertainment could
not go on all night, and | began to
dread the moment when the girls
should attempt TO take their departure.
Presently Helen In n firm voice said:
Come. It's time for us to GO"
Shouts of "NoW "A dancer IA song!"
greeted the proposition. and the guer.
rlllns began to form In groups to resist
nm exit. Helen, selecting the nolslest
| knot of men. drew revolver from her
pocket and cooking IT, moved toward
them with her eyes fixed upon them,
calm and steady Whether II was that
| they were cowcd by the weapon or ad-
mired this evidence of woman's pluck,
they opened way. The captain, SELF
Ing the opportunity, quickly took Jack
| by the hand and led her after her
cousin. Once beyond the ring, he as
sisted the girls to mount. then. mount
/ Ing himself. the three rode away, fol-
| lowed by cheer. As for me. breath.
cd one long sigh of relief.
"Well. Ginger" said Buck. reckon
Of we uns air goln TO git TO Sparty to-
morrcr wen have to travel all night"
SIS the niger takln yo' to Sparty or
mir yo' takln the nlggerT asked one
OF the men.
"Dat amt gwine to max no differ"
said Ginger. MARS Buck an | don
never had no trouble. Mars Buck. he's
my mars till gifts to de new one"
Buck led his horse to the log and
mounted. giving me n significant look.
as much as to say. III won't desert
you" then rode away. followed by Gin
ger. with the remark:
"Goodby. yo' fellers. Much 'bllged
TO the good time"
The restraint of the girls presence
being no longer felt. the mems behavior
changed In II twlnkllng. The captains
absence left Pete Halliday. the worst
man In the gang. free to foment trou-
bic. and he began to do so by sncering
at his chief for being brought. as lie
fhent There appeared to be two fac
tions In the band-the one headed by
Halliday or Jaycox and the other by
Captain Ringold Halliday set about
lnstigntlng the guerrillas, or. rather.
his adhercnts. to 20 after Helen and
Jack and bring them back for another
dance. To make matters worse. one
of the men found some applejack. and
II was not long before the gang were
half drunk. Meanwhile the captain
returned and received n hearty curslng
from Halliday and his ndhercnts. Sew
eral of them started to bring back the
girls. but Rlngold drew upon them and
threatened to shoot them unless they
returned. They staggered back, grum-
bling. and the captain adroitly pro-
posed another pull at the npplejack
This diverted them. and after finishing
the liquor one after another sank into
n drunken slumber.
1t was midnight. Every member OF
the band was asleep save the man who
was deputed to guard me. He was sit
ting on piece of tlrewood. so placed
that he could watch me across the
flame. lay on my back looking up al
the stars and featherllke clouds that
now and again 1onted across the great
blue dome. the only motion apparent
save the tree tops bending under an oc
casional breeze. The fire flickered. the
guard nodded. and an owl In the dis
tancr gave nm occasional hoot.
! heard something stir In the under
brush. CHANGING aside. saw u smal
light disk over bush. 1t was the fac,
of little Buck.
Now. In the name of all the gods, will
those devoted friends never give ovel
risking their lives In these useless at
tempts? What Is to happen now?
scowled an order to the boy to &c
away, but he paid no attention to II
Something came sliding along thu
ground and lodged against me. The
guard heard 1t. started. cast quicl
glance at me. then about him. but
seeing nothing, relapsed into his for
mer quietude. felt for what hat
struck me and clasped jackknife.
Meanwhile Buck disappeared. but
soon appearing again In his place. helt
up carbine. He had doubtless stoler
1t from one of the men who slept oil
the edge Of the circle about the fire
Again he disappeared, and | watched
eagerly for his return. The guard wal
still awake. though nodding, but hat
he been more watchful he would no
likely have discovered Buck. for tn,
underbrush. both where the boy ap
pcarcd to me and where 1t sklrted til,
sleeping guerrillas. was so thick tina
In passing around the camp he wa
comparatively safe from observation
Besides for most of the distance Bucl