Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-28
CHAPTER v.
Alone With the Insane.

| CHAPTER v.
Alone With the Insane.
Beneath the shade Of uplifted arms Muir
phys eyes remained Enclosed. Whatever
terrors may have dominated that diseased
| brain, the one purpose OF revenge and es-
| cape never deserted it. With patient cum
ming he could plan and wait, scheme and
execute. He was all animal now, dreaming
| only Of how to tear and kill.
| And he waited long in order to be per-
fectly sure, unrolling inch by inch. and like
| a venomous snake, never venturing to with
| draw his baleful eyes from his unconscious
victim. He was many minutes thoroughly
| satisfying himself that Hampton actually
slept. His every movement was SLOW
| crafty. cowardly the savage in his pervert-
| ed nature becoming more and more mani
| fest. 1t was more beast than man that
| finally crept forward on all-fours, the eyes
cleaning cruel as a cats in the night. 1t
| was not far he was compelled to go, his
| movements squirming and noiseless. With
| in yard of the peacefully slumbering man
| he rose up, crouohing on his toes and bend
| ing stealthiy forward to gloat over his vic
| tim. Hampton stirred uneasly. possibly
: feeling the close proximity of that horrible
| presence. Then the maniac took one more
! stealthy, slouching step nearer, and flung
| himself at the exposed throat. uttering
| fierce snarl as his fingers clutched the soft
| flesh. Hampton awoke, gasping and chok-
I Ing, to find those mad eyes glaring into MS
! own those murderous hands throttling him
with the strength of madness.
At first the stupefled, half-awakened man
I struggled as II in delirium. scarcely realiz-
! ing the danger. He was aware Of suffering,
Of horror, Of suffocation. Then the brain
/ flashed into life, and he grappled fercely
! with his dread antagonist. Murphy snapped
but Hampton fought silently, desperately,
| his brain clearing as he succeeded in
wrenching those claws from his lacerated
| throat, and forced his way up on to one
knee. He felt no hatred toward this crazed
man striving to kill him; he understood
| what had loosed such a raging devil. But
| this was no time to exhibit mercy; Murphy
bit and clawed, and Hampton could only
dash in upon him in the effort to force him
back. He worked his way. inch by inch. to
his feet, his slender figure rigid as steel,
and closed in upon the other, but Murphy
writhed out of his grasp. as a snake might.
The younger man realized now to the full
his peril, and his hand slipped down to the
gun upon his hip. There was sudden CLINT
in the faint starlight as he struck, and the
stunned maniac went down Quivering, and
lay motionless on the hard ground. For
moment the other remained standing over
| him. the heavy revolver poised. but the
PROSTATE figure lay still. and the conqueror
slipped his weapon back into It's leather
sheath with sigh of relief.
The noise of their struggle must have
| carried far through that solemn stiffness,
ana no one COulQ guess now near at mana
might be bands of pfowling savages. Yet
no sound came to his strained ears except
the soft soughing Of the night wind through
the trees. and the rustling of grass be-
meath the tread Of the horses. With the
quick decision of one long accustomed to
meet emergencies, Hampton unbuckled the
lariat from one Of the led animals and
bound Murphy's hands and limbs securely.
AS he worked he thought rapidly. He
comprehended the extreme desperation of
| their present situation. While the revolver
blow might possibly restore Murphy to
degree Of sanity, 1t was far more probable
that he would awaken violent. Yet he
could not deliberately leave this man to
meet a fate Of horror in the wilderness.
Which way should they turn? Enough
food II used sparingy, might remain to
permit of a hasty retreat to Cheyenne, and
there would be comparatively little danger
in that direction. All visible signs indicated
that the scattered Indian bands were rap
idly consolidating to the northward, closing
in on those troops scouting the Yellowstone,
with determination to give early battle.
Granting that the stream they were now on
should prove to be the Tongue, then the
direct route toward where Custer was sup
posed to be would be northwest. leading
ever deeper into the lonely wilderness, and
toward more imminent peril. Then, at the
end of that uncertain journey, they might
easily miss Clusters column. That winch
would have been quickly decided had he
been alone became a most serious problem
when considered in connection with the in
sane, nelpleSS Scout. But tneN, mere were
the dispatches! They must be of vital i'm
portance to have required the sending of
Murphy forth on so dangerous ride; other
lives, ay. the result of the entire cam
paign, might depend upon their early de-
livery. Hampton had been a soldier, the
spirit Of the service was still with him, and
that thought brought him to final decision.
Unless they were halted by Sioux bullets,
they would push on toward the Big Horn,
and Custer should have the papers.
He knelt down beside Murphy unbuckled
the leather dispatch~bag, and rebuckled it
across his own shoulder. Then he set to
work to revive the PROSTATE man. The
eyes, when opened. stared up at him. wild
and glazing: the ugly face bore the express
sion of abject fear. The man was no longer
violent; he had become a child, frightened
at the dark. His oeaseless babbling his in
cessant cries Of terror, only rendered more
precarious any attempt at pressing forward
through a region overrun with hostiles. But
Hampton had resolved.
Securely strapping Murphy to his saddle,
and packing all their remaining store of
provisions upon one horse leaving the other
to follow or remain behind as 1t pleased, he
advanced directly into the hills, steering
by aid of the stars, his left hand ever on
Murphy's bride rein, his low voice of ex-
postulation seeking to calm the others
wild fancies and to curb his violent speech
1t was a weird wild ride through the black
night, unknown ground under foot unseen
dangers upon every hand. Murphy's aber-
rations changed from shrieling terror to a
wild. uncomfortable hilarity, with occa-
sional outbursts of violent anger when II
required all Hampton's iron will and mus
Gle to conquer him.
At dawn they were in a narrow gorge
among the hills, dark and gloomy hole
yet a peculiarly safe spot in which to hide
having steep, rocky lodges On either side
with sufflcient grass for the horses. Leav-
ing Murphy bound, Hampton clambered up
the front Of the rock to where he was able
to look out. All was silent, and his heart
sank as he surveyed the brown sterile hills
stretching to the horizon, having merely
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