Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-11-30
CHAPTER XVI.
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wv ~ Il greeting lull OF feElrI,
ETI1St partly an eager inquiry, as
lEgzAJ Colonel Cummings came hur-
rying out of his library to meet C.iger
in the entry.
The latter Strengthened a little, but
hesitated deprecatingly before taking
the colonerS hand. I've nothing to
report but failure. SIR he said
The singing wind that had blown
the command home into barracks and
scourged the bumped shoulders of the
men and the thin TANKS of their mounts
had cut the flesh over the captains
high cheek bones until it was red and
raw. The lower part of his face was
hidden under growth that matched
his dropping mustache. On his fore,
head and about his eyes the skin was
dark sallow, marked by a lattice of
deep lines-lines of worry and weari-
ness.
Nothing to report but failure" he
repeated, and let the orderly pull off his
stiifened overcoat.
THE troop asked Colonel Cum
mings anXiously,
"All safe The other hung his cap
on nail, his belt upon his overcoat
Thank heavenh Thaa sterm-I was
afraid. Where did it catch you?"
ION the Knife. We put up with
some half breeds. 1t was hard on the
horses. but rest for the meI."
The colonel led the way into the IL
brary. 'r
On his entrance figure in the dusk
hnlnf ind In. ct,
questioning cry. 1t was young Jamie
son.
Easy, easy, for Gods sake" begged
the captain. He put out one arm as if
to ward off a blow.
Jameson brought up. He saw the
look of defeat in divers bloodshot
eyes, and his voice quaked, his body
shuddercd in mortal terror of what he
was to hear
ITS bad news. but not as bad as it
might be-" began the captain. Colonel
Cummings offered him a chair. He
dropped into it. 1T is said that your
mother and sister are alive, and will
be delivered up TO us i'll the spring, pro
vided there are no executions here.
Butt didn't see, them, and | don't
know where they are s.. VIII .r
Jamieson coughed down ieartbro-
ken protest, and, as if stunned, tottered
weakly toward the stove. l
Colonel Cummings knotted his hands
together. Where's Matthews?' he
asked. ,s ...r 81 g.
He was answered by the slamming
of the outside door and by voice In
tho rnOuat,t Ia fLc,.a
sharp tattoo on the library door The
colonel opened it and answered the in
terpreterS salute.
With Matthews seated on the army
cot and the commanding officer pacing
to and fro, Captain Oliver made his re-
port. He stood at the window, his
arms folded, his eyes following his su-
perior.
we located the camp easily" he
said. The directions given by the
hostages We're exact. But that is about
the only thing that did come easily.
The rest was all procrastinatiOn.
at noon on the tenth day out we
saw ahead of us on a ridge a single In
dian / selected four men to make a
swift detour, thinking that perhaps
they would discover hunting party
just over the crest. But the slope be
yond was unoccupied. and there We're
only the marks of one pair of mocca-
sins | concluded that the solitary
brave was scouting, and l was right.
"A few miles farther we sighted g
half dozen Indians. They We're watch
ing us from a hill. | called Il halt
NT, al
thews and made forward. We carried
truce flag. They let us come within
talking distance. They knew. | an
sure. why we were there. but they ask
ed no questions-just told us that thu
command was expected to advance III
farther than grove that lay Il littl'
ahead, to our right. l assented to tina
and said | wished Il conference Will
their head chief They promised M
an answer later on and ut once with
drew to rise mile behind. Their
they stayed until, after careful re
connoiter, we entered the grove.
Late that afternoon Mr.. Matthew
and again rode forward to speak to
trio of warriors. One of them. a bic
bony fellow in a splendid bonnet, ask
cd what we wanted. The interprete
told him. The Indian said that tn
head chief was very sick and that h
could not leave his lodge. He told u
we might accompany them to the vi
lage. which lay a few miles farther VI
OF course l rejected the proposal.
"Well. saw there was no use t
haggie in that fashion l ordered til
interpreter To go into particulars. II
proceeded TO state your terms"
At this point in the narrative Colont
Cummings stood still. Captain Olive
advanced toward him step and me
his eyes in curious. helpless way.
1T was queer" he continued, "bu
what Mr. Matthews told them didn
seem to scare them any"
"Oh. it didn'tr' cried the colon'
angrily and once more began to pace.
mo, they grinned at him and cha
tered together Then they rode ava,
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