The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-08-25
THE MASTER OF APPLEBY|

BY Franc. Lynda.

move to pry into the cause. So far
from it, they flogged the shying ponies
into line and rode on stolidly; and thus
In a little time that danger was over
past and the evening silence Of the
mighty forest was ours to keep or
break as we chose.
The old frontiersman was the first to
speak.
well, friends, I reckon ez how we
mought ez we'll thank the good Lord
for all His marcies afore we go any
furder." he would say: and he DOTTED
his cap and did it forthwith.
1t was as grim a picture as any linn
ner of the weird could wish to look
upon. The twilight shadows were en-
purpiing the mountains and gathering
in dusliy pools here and there where
the trees stood thickest in the valley.
The hush of natures mystic hour was
abroad, and even the swiftly flowing
river, rushing sulienly along it's rocky
bed no more than a stones cast be-
You'd the Indian path, seemed to pre-
termit its,low thunderings. There was
never a breath of air astir in all the
wood, and the leaves of the silver pop
lar that will twinkle n ripple in the
lightest zephyr hung stark and motion
less.
Barring the old borderer, who had
gone upon his knees, we stood as we
We're; the Catawba holding the pack
horses. and Jennifer and I the three
that bore the CHASTITY burdens of NOR
tality. The bodies of the slain a been
flung across the saddles to balance as
they might; and to the pommel of that
saddle which bore the trunk Of the five
feathered chieftain, Uncanoola had
knotted the grisly head by it's scalp
lock to dangle and roll about with
every restless movement of the horse
a hideous deathmask that seemed to
mop and NOV and stare fearsomely at
us with it's wide open CLASSY eyes.
With his background fit for the stag
ing of a scene in Dante Alighieri's trag-
ic comedy, the looming mountains, the
upper air graying on to dusk, and the
solemn forest aisles full of lurking
shadows, you are to picture the old
frontiersman, b~areheaded and on his
knees, pouring forth his soul in all the
sonorous phrase of Holy Writ, now in
thanksgiving, n now in the most
terrible beseechings that all the Walls of
Heavens wrath might be poured out
upon our enemies.
His face. commonly a leather mask
to hide the man behind it, was now
ablaze With the fire of zealotry: and
truly, in these his spasrn-fits of sup
plication he stood for all that is most
awe-inspiring and unnerving, asking
but a little stretch of the Imagination
to figure him as one of those old iron
hard prophets of denunciation come
back to earth to be the herald of the
wrath of God.
Twas close upon actual nightfall
when the old man rose from his knees
and, with the rising, put off the beads
mar and put on the shrewd old Indian
fighter. Followed some hurried coun-
selings as to how we should proceed,
and in these the hunter set the pace
for us as his age and vast experience in
Woodcraft gave him leave.
His plan had all the merit Of sim
plicity. Now that we had the horses,
Richards notion Of an approach from
the head of the n k valley became
at once the most hopeful of any So
Ephraim Yeates proposed that we be-
take ourselves to the mountain top and
to the head Of that ravine which the
Catawba and I had discovered. Here
We should leave the horses we'll hidden
and secured, make u way Town the
ravine, and. with the stream for a
guide, follow the sunken valley to the
camp at it's lower end. Once IN the
ground without having given the alarm,
we might hope to free the captives
under cover of the darkness; and our
retreat up the valley would be far less
hazardous than any open flight by way
Of the uneXplored roa the powder
train had used.
So said the old backwoodsman; but
neither Dick nor I would agree to this
in toto. Dick argued that While we
We're killing time in the roundabout adj
vance we should be leaving Margery
wholly at the mercy of the baronet, and
hideous menace to her. Hence he pro-
posed h a three of us should carry out
the hunters plan, leaving the fourth to
take the hint given by the charred stick
and the swimming ambush crew, n
SO penetrating to the valley by the
stream cavern. be at hand to strike a
blow for our dear lady's honor in case
Of need.
"'Tis a thing to be done, and I am
with you, Dick" said I. Should there
be need for any, two blades will be bet
ter than one. If it ome to blows and
we are killed or taken, Yeates n the
chief must make the shift to do with
out our help"
AS you would guess, the old hunter
demurred to this halving of our slender
force, but we over-persuaded him. If
all Went we'll, we We're to rendezvous
on the scene of action to carry out the
plan of rescue. But if our adventure
should prove disastrous, Yeates and
Uncanoola were to abide their time,
striking in when and how they might.
Touching this contingency, I drew
the old man aside for a word In private.
"If aught befalls us, Ephraim-if we
should be nabbed as we are k to be
you are not to let any hope of help
ing US lessen by a feathers weight the
rescue chance of h m You'll
promise me this?"
"sartain sure; We can rest easy on
that, Capt John. But don We go for
to let that rampaging boy of our'n up
sot the fat in, the fire with any O. his
foolishness. He's love-sick. and there
amt nothing in this world so ridiculous
foolish ez a love-sick boy-less'n it's a
love-sick GAL"
I promised on my part and SO we
went on separate ways in the gathering
darkness; though not until the lashings
Of the packs had been cut and the pow
der and lead, save such spoil Of both
as Ephraim Yeates n Uncanoola
would reserve, had been spilled into the
river. AS for the bodies of the dead
Indians, the old hunter said he would
let them ride till he should come to
some convenient chasm for a sepulcher;
but I mistrusted that he and the Ca
tawba would scalp and leave them once
we were safely out of sight.
At the parting we took the rivers