The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-08-25
CHAPTER xxv.-continued.

oack WoodSman took he checkmate
nsaeldly' n began to set the pieces
Tor the second game in Which the
horses We're the stake, hiding his use
less rifle in a hollow tree-his powder
had been soaked and spoiled liz the
early morning plunge for > life IND
drawing his %hunting- knife to feel its
edge and point.
hoss-lifting," he said, in his slow drawl.
Their he laid his commands upon us.
"ordly, II in sojer-fashion now; no
whooping and yelling. If the hoss-cap-
tain's got scouts out a-s'arching for us,
one good screech from these here var
mints were a-going to put out'n Misty
I'D fix our tints for kingdom come. L
mint none afeard o. our nerve,"-this
10 Richar and me-"leastwise. not
when it comes to fair and square soier-
fghting. But this here onfall has got
to be like the shifting O. the Male
kites-root and branch; and if ye're
tempted to be anywise marciful. jest
ricollect that for the sake O. them VIM
men-foiks we've got to nave these
hosses!"
You are not to suppose that he was
holding us inactive while he thus ex-
horted us. On the contrary, he was
posting US skilfully beside the trace
like the shrewd old Indian fighter that
he was, with a rare and %practiced eye
to the maximum of cover With the min
Gnum of thici.et tangle TO impede the
rush or to shorten the sword-swing.
But when all was done we We're at
this disadvantages; that since the enc
nly was close at hand we dared not
cross the path to give u trap a jaw
on either side. To offset this the Ca
tawba dropped out of line and disap-
peared; and when the C~herokees We're
no more han a hundred yards way,
Jncanoola came In sight like a dis
~,1-1 IT, Ia ,,N~-;t ~et ,-,.
ming easily down the path to meet the
Gpcoming riders.
Richard let slip an acknowledgements
under his breath. There's a fine bit of
strategy for you!" he whispered. That
willy Jack-at-a-pinch of ours will be-
fool them into believing that he is a
runner from the Cowee Towns. Ills
our cue to lie close; he will halt them
Just here. and there will he rowing eyes
" the heads of the two who have nou
to talk"
We nae not long to wait. Our un-
ming ally timed his halting of the ennis
Baries to a nicely, and when the three
cherokees drew rein they We're with
IN easy blades reach. The powwow,
heightened by Uncanoola till we We're
near bursting with Impotence, was
'pun out worldly, and presently we
saw the pointing of it. The Catawba
was affecting to doubt the protests OF
WV i NE GIN oAA nav III
1ismount and prove their good faith
by smoking the peace pipe with him.
l give you fair warning, my dears,
that you may turn dow the page here
and skip What follows if you are fain
20 be tender-hearted on the score of
these savage enemies of ours. 1t was
II the very summer s~olstice Of the year
of violence, a time when he who took
The sword was like to perish with the
tword, and we thought Of little I'VE
hat Margery and her handmaiden We're
~ deadliest peril, and that these In
Mans had FIVE horses which we must
have.
AS for my w part in the fray, when
recognized in the five-feathered chief
Jain CT the three that copper-hued imp
IF Satan who had been the merciless
master of ceremonies at the torturing
Of my poor black Tomas, the decent
need of mercy which eve a seasoned
soldier may cherish died within me.
snd l mad sure the steel would find
is mark.
So, when Uncaloonla drew forth his
tobacco pipe and made the three
ioomed ones sit with him in the path
to smoke the peace-whiff all around.
we picked out each his man n smote
70 slay. The sckthe-like sweep of Jen-
uifer's mighty claymore left the five
Gathered chieftain the shorter by a
aead in the same pulse-beat that the
a SC&Olld vi llC olCal1A
70 yell with: though now I recall it,
he gurgling death-cry Of the poor
wretch With the steel in his throat vas
more terrible to hear than any war
whoop. AS for the old borderer, he
was more deliberate. Being fair behind
and Within arms reach of his man, he
seized him by he scalp-lock, bent the
aead backward across h knee-but,
laugh! these are the merest butcher
setails, n l would a you-and
myself. as we'll.
While yet this most merciless deed
was adding, the Catawba bounded to
mis- feet and made sure of the horses,
which We're rearing and snorting with
Alright. That done, he must needs
gloat, ~Indian-wise, over his fallen adj
fersary turning the headless body with
his foot and gliding at it.
''Wah! Cal hisself the Great Bear,
hey? Heap lie; heap no bear; heap
nothing now. Papoose bear no let his
self be trap that way. No smoke peace
pipe-'
But now .Ephraim Yeates, standing
EAR a-cock and motionless. like some
Jim short with a sudden, Hist, will
gel" and a twinkling instant later we
nad other work to do.
onto the bosses with this here In
iura-meat, ez quick ez the loving Lordll
let vel" was the sharp command.
"Ihere'S a WnOle CldnJdmIrey o lne
varmints a-coming down the trace, and
4 reckon ez how we'd better scratch
gravel immejity, if not sooner!"
CHAPTER XxVI.
WE TAKE THE CHARRED STICK
FOR A GUIDE.
Luckily for us the new danger was
approaching from the westward. So,
by dint of the maddest hurryings we
got the bodies of the three C~herokees
hoist upon the horses, and We're able
20 etface in part the signs Of h late
encounter before the and of riders
coming down the Indian path was upon
us. But there was no time to make
an orderly retreat. AT most we could