Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1903-09-10

At daylight the three men camped
for a brjet rest upon trail which
they Judged to 10 ten or twelve hours
Ole, That day they rode rapidly over
mountains not so rough, and at night
the trail of the Utes was warm"
enough to warn them Of the necessity
of great caution,
S. they camped for needed sleep ana
rest At midnight they were up and on
again, and AT daylight they were close
upon the heels % the raiders. A littlc
later they came upon mountain
stream roaring with the flood OF re-,
Gently melted SHOWS, Here the UteS
hai turned aside to follow the narrow
valley to some known fording place,
Tim now cautiously led the advance
on foot, and the three picked their way
along the far slope of a ridge which
ran parallel with the course OF the
river. In little time he came within
sight Of the UIes, who had campcd
upon the bank at the foot Of a fringe
Of timber.
ponies in charge of the rauchero, and
stole forward to reconnoiter. They
Crept from rock to rock and from tree
to tree, wlln keen eyes on the lookout
for scout whom they believed the
Utes would have posted upon the ridge
This outlying picket they proposed II
possible, TO capture, and thus to put
themselves in position to effect an
exchange Of prisoners,
Such stroke would doubtless have
served their purpose in the end, but
the scout for whom they searched was
nowhere to be seen,
The raiders evidently felt themselves
secure from pursuit at last They had
reached their own country, and when
the prospCctors, from cover, looked
down on them, tho squad were content
eddy SQuatIer about their fires, cooking
and eating their meat Their horses,
with but single herdcr in attendance,
We're feeding below, a1cng tie verge OF
the river
There were at least thirty of the ras
discover whcuer the ranchero's hoy
was Of their number, Several wore
scmbrcros, which tapped about their
shoulders, hut one Of these WAS least
likely 10 be the young Mexican, whose
hat would have been promptly appro.
priated.
4 little study of the situation con,
WINGED the watchers that their best
chance of a rescue lay in a bold and
strategic risk They had entered hostile
camps ms big as this one, although
never upon so dangerous an Grand
When they had determined upon
their line of action Vesey returned
and brought the ranchero forward. Civ.
ing him instructions, in pautomime, as
they rode cautiously behind the ridge
Tho excited and anxious father was
filled with admiration at the boldnoss
Il their plan, but he could only muttor
Bueno, buenO. bucno.'
When the TWO had come up with
Tim the prospectors repeated the in.
structions minutcly.
Then, with rovolvers loosened in
their holsters, Tim and Henry boldly
showed themselves upon the bluff
With careless assurance, they began
to descend the steep scarp
When halfway down tho Indians
discovered them and Logan TO scramble
upon their feet The white men imme
diately made signs Of amity and walked
on to all appearance as unconcernei
as II approaching their own domicile.
The Indians could BIO seen keenly
scanning the crest of the ridge, but
they made no hostile move, save that
three or four walked down toward the
pony herd AS this was matter OF
common precaution, the white men had
no hesitan"y in going forward.
The rash holdnCss or unwilling sim.
plicity Of the strangers evidently sur
prised these inyeterate hostiles, for all
the ules ceased eating to stare at
them as they came on.
II was an exceedingly Withholding
lot of men who greeted their CHEEKY
"How--how, coldH with surly and con
temptuous grunts The eyes Of Tom
and Henry, rowing cIelessly among
the wayworn t.l fantastic crowd,
easily detected the figure Of tho lad
they had come SO far aud so fast to
find.
The boy was unbound. and apparent
ly had suffered no hurt beyond tho
necessary Ills Of captivity aud Of rough,
hard riding He had a piece OF cooked
meat In his hands, but was not eating,
Ills big. dark eyes were, for the mo
ment fastened upon tho strangers IN
hopeful bcwildcrmont Then, as
neither took any note Of him, the lat
face lost It's animation
For a minute or two the proepecSors
stood, awaiting an invitation 70 sit and
eat How how they repeated. with
great irieudliness.
For answer several Indians again
Rrunted sourly Some were busted
with eating, but al stared hard AT the
strangers. taking IN every detail 81
their dress, but with eyes resting long
ct upon the handles Of their shining
new weapons.
How" said a big Indian. presently.