Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1902-02-28

J 0ut on the Pampas !
- . q
CHAPTER X1I1.-(continued.)
BY q. A. nENTy


CHAPTER XIII.-(ContinuedO
We will, Charley; we will, my boys
MI. Hardy said earnestly, and rousing
himself at the thought. II must go up
and break it to your mother, though how
shall do so know not. DO you give
what orders you like for collecting our
friends. First, though, let US question
this man. When was itY'
Last night. signor, at eleven O'Clock. l
had just lain down in my hut, and I no.
ticed that there We're still lights down.
stairs at the house, when, all of Il sud-
den, 1 heard a yell as of Il thousand
hends, and / knew the Indians We're up
on us. l knew that it was too late TO
fly, but l threw myself out of the win
dow, and lay fiat by the wall. as the In
dians burst in. There were eight OF us.
and I closed my ears to shut out the
sound of the others cries. Up to the
house, too, l could hear screams and some
pistol shots, and then more screams and
cries. The Indians were all round, ev-
erywhere, and I dreaded lest one of them
should stumble up against me. Then a
sudden glare shot up, and l knew they
were firing the house. After a time all
became quiet; but l dared not move till
daylight. Then, looking about me care
fully, l could see no one, and l jumped
up and never stopped running until YOU
met me-"
MIR. Hardy now went up to the house
to break the sad tidings to his wife.
Charley ordered eight poems to saddle
horses instantly, and while they were do
ing so he wrote on eight leaves of his
pocketbook: "The MERGERS house destroy
ed last night by Indians; the MERGERS
killed or carried off. My sister Ethel
with them. Meet at MERGERS as soon as
possible. Send this note around to all
n%cighbors."
One of these slips of paper was given
to each peon, and they We're told to ride
for their lives in different directions, for
that Miss Ethel was carried off by the
Indians. This was the first intimation of
the tidings that had arrived, and "A per-
feet chorus of lamentations arose from
the women, and Of excavations of rage
from the men.
MIR. Hardy and the boys kept up as
we'll as they could, in order to inspire the
mother and sister with hope during their
absence, and with many promises to
bring their missing one back they gallop-
ed off. They We're scarcely out OF the
gate when they saw their two friends
from Canterbury coming along ut full
gallop. Both We're armed to the teeth.
and evidently prepared for an expedition.
An exclamation of rage and sorrow
burst from them all, as only II portion
of the chimney and IL charred post or two
showed where the Mercer home had
stood. The huts of the poems had also
disappeared: the young trees and shrubs
around the house We're scorched up and
burned by the heat to which they had
been exposed, or had been broken off
from the spirit of wanton mischief.
With clinched teeth and faces pale
with rage and anxiety, the party rode
past the site Of the huts, scattered round
which were the bodies Of several of the
murdered poems. They halted not until
the house itself.
In half an hour they We're able to say
with tolerable certainty that no human
beings had been burned, for the bodies
could not have been wholly consumed in
such a speedy co%ntlagration.
Perhaps they have all been taken pris-
oners,' Hubert suggested. as with n sigh
of relief they concluded their search. and
turned from the spot.
Not as yet could they see into the
ditch. AT ordinary times the fence would
have been an awkward place to climb
over; now they hardly knew how they
scrambled over, and stood by the side of
the ditch. They looked down and Mr..
Hardy ave n short. gasping cry, and
caught at the fence for support.
Huddled together in the ditch was a
pile of dead bodies, and among them
peeped out u piece of a female dress.
Anxious to relieve their friends agoniz-
ing suspense. the young men leaped down
into the ditch and began removing the
upper bodies from the CHASTITY pile.
First We're the two men employed in
the house: then came Mr.. Mercer; then
the two children and an old woman SER
want; below them We're the bodies of Mrs.
Mercer and her brother. There were no
more. Ethel was not among them.
Charley and Hubert turned toward
each other and burst into tears of thank
fulness and joy. The suspense had been
almost too much for them. and Hubert
felt so sick and faint that he was forced
to lie down for awhile, while Charley
went forward to the others. He was ter
ribly shocked at the discovery of the
murder of the entire party, as they had
cherished the hope that Mrs. Mercer at
least would have been carried off. AS.
however, she had been murdered. while
it was pretty evident that Ethel had been
spared. or her body would have been
found with the others, it was supposed
that poor Mrs. Mercer had been shot ac-
cidentally, perhaps in the endeavor to
save her children.
The bodies were now taken from the
ditch and laid side by side until the 9TH
err settlers should arrive. 1t was not long
before they began to assemble, riding up
in little groups of twos and threes. Rage
and indignation were upon all their faces
Mt the sight of the devastated house, and
their feelings We're redoubled when they
found that the whole of the family, who
were so justly liked and esteemed. were
dead. The Edwards and the Jamiesons
were among the earliest arrivals, bring
ing the gaucho Martinez with them.
Perez. too. shortly after arrived from
Canterbury, he having been out on the
farm when his master left.
A grave was dug in the center of the
space once occupied by the house. In
this the bodies Of Mr.. Mercer md his
family were laid. And Mr.. Hardy hav-
ing solemnly pronounced such parts of
tie burial service as he remembered over
them, all standing by bareheaded, and
stern with suppressed sorrow, the earth
was filed in over the spot where a father,
mother brother and two children lay to-
gether. Another grave was ut the same
time dug near. and in this the bodies of
i L L. Il ~