Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-12-26

5 6he s
/ p OW Woman /
: By ELEANOR GATES,
Author of 1.-The Biography a Prairie Girl"
COPYRIGHT. MCCLURE PHILLIPS e COMPANY.
By ELEANOR GATES,
COPYRIGHT. 1906 by MCCLURE. PHILLIPS e COMPANY.
observation-disclosures
CHAPTER XVI.
Author Of 1.-The Biography of a Prairie 81

Sying out Of his library to meet Oliver
In the entry.
The latter Strengthened little, but
hesitated deprecatingly before taking
the cOloncrs hand 1--WE nothing to
report but failure, sir" he said.
The singing wind that had blown
the command home i2to barracks and
scourgad the bumped shoulders Of the
men and the thin ilaaks of their mounts
had cut the flesh over the captains
high cheek hcnes Until it was red and
raw. The lower part of his face was
hidden under growth that matched
his dropping mustachc. en- his fore
head and about his eyes the skin was
a dark sallow, marked by n lattice Of
deep lines-iines of worry ard weari-
ness.
Nothing to report but failure" he
repeated, and let the orderly pull or his
stiffened overcoat
''The troop?" asked Colonel Cum
mings anxiously.
"All safe" The other hung his cap
On nail, his belt upon his overcoat.
THANK heaven! That stornl-I was
afraid. Where did it catch your
ION the Knife. We put UP with
some half breeds. 1t was hard on the
horses, but rest for the men,"
The colonel led the way into the Ii
brary
On his entrance figure In the dusk
behind the stove sprang up with
questioning cry. 1t was young jamie
son.
Easy, easy, for Gods saker' begged
the captain. He put out one arm as If
TO ward off blow.
Jameson brought up. He saw the
hook of defeat in divers bloodshot
eyes, and his voice quaked, his body
Shuddered in mortal terror of what he
was to hear.
Its bad news, but not as bad as 1t
might be-" began the captain. Colonel
Cummings offered him q chair. He
dropped into 1t. 1T is said that your
mother and sister are alive, and will
be delivered up to us in the spring, pro-
yided there are no executions here
Butt didn't see them, and / don't
know where they are"
NOd6hGd uOWh u hGdIIDIO~
ken protest and, as If stunned, tottered
weakly toward the stove.
Colonel Cummings knotted his hands
together. where's MatthewsY' he
asked.
He was answered by the slamming
OF the outside door and by voice In
me entry. A moment later there was
. sharp tattoo on the library door, The
colonel opened 1t and answered the In,
befpreter's salute.
With Matthews seated on the army
cot and the commanding officer pacing
20 and fro, Captain Oliver made his re-
port He stood at the window, his
arms folded, his eyes following his su-
perior.
I'VE 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 representation.
"At noon on the tenth day out we
saw ahead of us ON a ridge single In
dian. 1 selected four men to make a
swift detour. thinking that perhaps
they would discover a hunting party
5ust over the crest. But the slope be
yond was unoccupied, and there were
eniy the marks of one pair of mecca
sins. l concluded that the solitary
brave was scouting, and was right.
"a few miles farther we sighted a
half dozen Indians. They we've watch
ing us from a hill I called a halt
Then I took two men and Mr.. Mat
thews and made forward. We carried
q truce flag They let Us come within
talking distance. They knew, / am
sure why we were there, but they ask
cd no questions-just told US that the
command was expected to advance no
farther than a grove that lay a little
ahead, to our right. assented to that
and said | wished a conference with
their head chief. They promised me
an answer later on and at once with
drew to rise a mile behind There
they stayed until, after a careful re-
connoiter, we entered the grove.
"Late that afternoon Mr.. Matthews
and again rode forward to speak to a
Trio of warriors. One of them, big,
bony fellow In a splendid bonnet, ask
told him. The Indian said that the
head chief was very sick and that he
could not leave his lodge. He told us
we might accompany them TO the VII
lage, which lay a few miles farther up.
OF course l rejected the proposal.
well, saw there was no use to
haggle in that fashion. l ordered the
fntarurpfpr to on into DarticuIarS Ha
proceeded to state your terms"
At this point in the narrative Colonel
Cummings stood still. Captain Oliver
advanced toward him a step and met
his eyes in a curious, helpless way.
"It was queer" he continued, but
what Mr. Matthews told them didn't
seem to scare them any"
"0h. 1t didn'tr' cried the colonel
angrily and once more began to pace.
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