Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-06-17

I'm doing my best to get there In
time"
'Oh, wish 1 could waikiki"
And tears stood ia the dark eyes Of
the crippled boy.
"Never mind, Frank" said Edward,
very tenderly. II like to look after
you"
And away he ran, his strong arms
drawing the little wagon along faster
than ever.
But, luckless fate! They had not
gone half the distance required to
reach Bill Skaggs' ranch, when, on
hurrying down rocky ravine, one of
the wooden pegs which held the wheels
on, broke, and the cart came to a
standstill.
The delay would be dangerous to
their escape, for Skaggs would very
likely be gone before the damage could
be repaired.
and he did not stop to bewail the ac-
cident, but set to work to make a new
peg as fast as his fingers and his knife
could work. For this purpose he
found a piece of charred wood, which
some emigrants had used for a camp
fire a few days before.
It was the best that he could DO ;
whiting away the charred parts, he
at last had peg made to remedy the
deficiency, and one that he believed
might be trusted to aid them In finish
ing their flight as far as Skaggs' ranch.
Patiently, yet full Of strange fore
bodings however, he kept
bravely to himself-Frank sat on the
grass and waited till his faithful
brother had the cart ready for him /;
then he got into 1t, and silently they
again started toward their neighbours.
Edward, too could not avoid feel
ing that they would most likely be too
late to catch Bill Skaggs' wagons.
He was puzzling his brain to think
what they would do in that event, but
he hurried on, and did not impart his
fears to Frank.
All at once a party Of horsemen,
pursuing a herd Of cattle off - the
south, appeared In sight.
They headed directly toward the
boys, and were riding madly across the
prairies.
"Oh, Eddie, they are Injuns!" cried
Frank, in a scared voice.
Eyes; but what can we do?" said
Edward, the surprise rendering him for
the moment quite helpless. cts plain
we can't reach Bills without being
seen by them"
They were indeed Cheyennes, about
a dozen OF them, intent on pursuing a
herd Of cattle to slaughter, after their
greedy, wasteful manner.
The number of cattle killed and
driven away by the Cheyennes during
their raid was very considerable.
On, on the frightened cattle came
across the prairie, their savage pursu-
ers riding furiously after them, evil
IDENTIFY trying to turn their course west
ward
Edward gazed at them for a minute,
as If the wild spectacle had fascinated
him. But he realized that immediate
concealment for himself and Frank
was the one thing now vastly neces-
sary.
Frank, we must hide, for the In
juns are coming like the wind" de-
cided Edward.
''Yes, we can't reach Skagg's now
said Frank, nervously. do you think
they have seen us?"
mot plainly enough to tell what we
are, from this distance. The prairie
grass Is too high"
But prairie grass would not afford a
very secure hiding-place from keen
Indian eyes. All around them it waved
in billowy luXuriance, as the breezes
swept over it, All was rolling prairie,
except just behind them the rocky ra-
vine, with bushes here and there, and
now and then solitary tree cotton
wood or elm. on its banks.
Some little distance up the ravine
was an old dug-out in the steep bank,
in which the Bassetts had first lived
when they came to Kansas.
11OhJCIu1lN G0W Oh lAOuSnI VI Tic OIU
dug-out, as a possible safe refuge from
the Indians.
Turning the cart around, he started
back to the ravine as fast as his legs
could take them.
If the Cheyennes saw the boys, es-
cape would be impossible.
The Indians were too completely en-
crossed with their mad chase Of the
herd to observe any dark objects far
out on the prairie from them. But
they were swiftly drawing nearer, and
the boys could not hope to escape OBJ
servation much longer without conceal
ing themselves.
Reaching the ravine, Edward started
toward the old dug-out, which was
fully a quarter of a mile distant.
If he had had only himself to look
after, Edward would soon have gained
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