The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-08-29
The Man W no " ould
Not Be Saved.
BY HENRY OVEN.

AN almost dismantled, forsaken,
n adobe house stood alone near the
edge of the sand-plain in the midst
of world OF sand, sun and noun
tains.
To the east range of squalid
black rocks rose into PERCEPTIONS
mountain range, striving with their
dark foreboding presence to subdue
the exuberant gladness of the bril-
liant sunshine. To the west the mo-
notonous yellow level stretched out
like tawny carpet, to where slight
rise in the land caused it to meet
the sky as sharp and distinct as a
placid lake meets the sandy beach.
On the side of the shack nearest
to the mountain side stood new
freshly painted army ambulance; a
note of modernity interluded in a
world-old symphony Of sand, rocks
and atmosphere.
Crosswise on the tongue of the We
hicle, limp as half-flled grain bag,
lay the form Of man clad in the
stripeless trousers of private sol
der, and near him, in n tangle Of
gear and harness, lay pair of the
mule team that he had but recently
driven.
At first glance it was easily dis
cernible that man and mules were
but recently dead from gunshot
wounds. and here and there a bullet
had torn its way through the sides
Of the ambulance, ripping off splin-
ters and exposing the white wood be-
meath the dark paint. On every hand
were unmistakablc signs of strife.
Within the adobe house Second
Lieut.. Horton, recently Cadet Hor-
ton, of West Point, now stationed
at Fort Pratt, was hurriedly making
preparations to resist the band Of
Apaches who swarmcd amongst the
black rocks and took occasional pot
shots at the house, until the officers
at Fort Pratt would become alarmed
at the non-appcarance Of the ambu
lance, and send a force over the trail
and rescue him and the girl who was
with him.
The devoted mescaleros who squat
ted behind the rocks were in NO haste
to rush ia and finish the game which
they had so securely trapped.
They had two mute witnesses up
there among the rocks. two who
were just as dead as the private who
lay across the ambulance tongue, to
testify to the craftsmanship Of the
man in the house, and the rest were
in no frame of mind to risk their
lives by exposing themselves to his
fire. There was much time. There
was but one man i'm the house-and
a woman. Long before the troop
had arrived from Fort Pratt they
could have easily disposed Of the
man, looted the ambulance and scat
tered out over their almost untrace-
able trails among the mountains.
And the woman? Well, Suilateau,
their chief. would probably accept
her as his share Of the loot and add
her to his already generous list Of
wives.
So they crouched closely down be-
hind their shelters, and lcisurcly
satisfied their instincts for long
range shooting.
Horton, quite well aware that the
trait Of sclf-preservation-the terri |
BILE dislike to be the first through
the breach"-was exceptionally we'll |
developed in the race TO which those
among the rocks belonged, hoping
that by giving them an exhibition OF
his shooting he might cause them
to delay their attack at close quar-
ters until the dark afforded them n
cloak, and by that time--wcll, IL the
men from Fort Pratt had not put In
appearance before then, there would
be vacancy in the line OF second
lieutenants
So Horton carefully directed the
girl to corner where the walls mp
peared strongch and hastily began
- cut loop-holes, and organized