The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-08-18
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
CHAPTER SHORTCOMINGS.

Oh edCu udlA LL0 IlOu1lldluS IOSO
precipitous. the one on the left swell
Ing unbroken to a bald and rounded
summit, forest covered save for Its tom
sured head high in air, while% taat on
the right was sleeper n lower, with
a line OF cliffs at the top. AS we Jared
on, the valley narrowed to a mere
chasm, with the river laundering along
the Indian path hugEing the cliff on
the right.
In the gloomiest depths of this denle
we came upon the hunters stumbling
block. A tributary stream, issuing
from a low cavern in the right-hand
chasm at a bound and plunged noisily
into the food OF the larger river. On
the hither side OF this barrier stream
the trail of the powder convoy led
plainly down into the water, and, SO far
as one might see. that was the end Of
1t.
AS we made sure, we left no stone
unturned in the effort to solve the mys-
terry. No horse, ridden or led, could
have live to cross the pouring torrent
of the main river, or to wade up or
down its bed; and If the cavalcade had
turned up the barrier stream Its prog
ress must have ended abruptly against
the sheer wall Of the cliff at the en-
trance to the low-arched tavern whence
the tributary came into being. But If
Falconnet and his following had ridden
neither up nor down the bed OF the
tain that no horse Of the troop had
crossed 1t. The Indian trace, which
held straight on up the gorge and pres
entity came out above n a high up
land valley, was unmarked by n hoof
print, new or old.
here amt about the beatin'est thing I
ever chugged up ag'inst," was
the old borderer's comment. lei we
had logged our wits to small purpose
In the search for some clue to the mys-
terry. Whats your mind about 1t. hey.
chief?"
Uncanoola shook his head. Heap
plenty slick. No go upstream, no go
down, no cross over no go back. Meb-
be go up i smoke-w'at?"
The hunter shook his head and would
by no means admit the alternative. "Ez
I allow that would ak for a merricle;
and / reckon ez how when h good
Lord sends a chariot o. fire after sech
a clanjsmfrey as this'n O. the hoss-cap-
rain's, it'll be mikhty dadblame' APT to
go down stead of up"
We were standing on the brink Of
the barrier stream no more than a fish
erman's cast from the black rock
derground nav. While the hunter was
speaking, the Catawba had lapsed into
statue-like lis~tlessness, his gaze fixed
upon The eddying flood which held the
secret Of the vanished c~avalcade. Sud-
denly he came alive with a bound and
What he retrieved was only a small
piece of wood, charred at one end. But
Ephriam Yeates caught at it eagerly.
Nov the Lord be praised for all His
marcies!" he exclaimed. ut do take
an Injun to come %a-running whenst
,,,a.,l-l, Alec ;c r1,,o,h haot 01,f1 Na'ar
another one of us had an eye sharp
enough to ketch that bit G. sign a-hoat-
ing past. What say, Cap'n John?"
1 shook my head, seeing no special
significance in il token; and Dick
asked: What will it be, Ephriam, now
that it is caught?"
The old man looked his pity for our
dullard wit, and then set a moiety Of
1t in words.
.Well, well. now: I'm fair ashamed
Of We! What all dye reckon black
ened the end O. this bit o. pine
branch?"
why, fire." says Richard, beginning.
as 1 did, to see some glimmering Of
light.
I'm course. And it come from yon-
Ter. didn't it?" pointing to the cav
ern under the cliff. More than that,
Of it-no longer ago than last night.
at the furdest; the pitch hat the fire
tried out'h 1t Is all soft and gu1nmy, yit.
Gentlemen all; whenst we find where
this here creek m out into daylight
again we're a-going to find the hoss-
captain and the whole enduring passed.
o. redskins and redcoats, immejitly, II
not sooner!"
What comment this startling an
nouncement would have evoke I know
not, for at the moment Of its utterance
the Catawba went fiat upon the
ground, making most urgent signs for
US to do likewise. What he had seen
we all saw a fitting instant later; the
painted face of a Cherokee warrior as
a setting for a pair of fierce basilisk
yes peering out of the low-arched
cavern whence the stream issued, an
apparition looking for all the world like
q dismembered head floating on the
surface of the o%ut-gushing flood.
Twas the old borderer who took the
Initiative in the swift retreat, and we
followed his lead like well-drilled SOL
diers. A crook in the stream. and the
thtckets underwood, screend us for a
moment from the basilisk eyes; and In
a twinkling we had rolled one after
another into the mimic torrent and
were quickly swept down to Its mouth.
Here death lay in wait for us in the
mad plungings OF the main river; but
we made shift to catch at the over
hanging branches of the willows In
\ RcSS1AA6t " NAoW W. OulS y
scramble up the gorge and to gain a
great boulder On h mountain side
whence we could look down upon the
scene Of our late surprisal.
By this we saw, from the wings, as
1t were, the setting OF the stage for a
tragedy which might have been ours.
One by n a score Of heads with paint
ed faces fioated silently out Of the
spewing rock-mouth. One by one the
lglistening, pioneered bodies appertain-
ing thereto emerged from the water,
each to take its place in an ambuscade
encloing the stream-crossing of the
Indian. path in a pocket.like line of
crouching figures, with the mouth Of
the pocket open toward the lower val
ley.
Ephriam Yeates chuckled under his
breath and smote softly Upon his thigh.
"They tell ez how the good Lord has
a mighty tender care for chillern and
simples," he whispered. "Whenst we
was a-coming a-rampaging up the
trace a hour r two ago I saw the moe
casin. track o. hat there spy, and was
too dad-blame' biggity in my w con-
sate to AK what 1t mought mean"