The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1909-03-06

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was holy or mysterious. The broth
crs avoided answering as to wht
they were, and had gone by out o
certain shooting range before III
Crows had decided that they were
enemies
The wild fellows acted promptly
enough upon decision, and charged
after the daring pair, yelling Sioux
Sioux"
Yellow Horse and Iron Arm gave
the quirt to their ponies, and look
ed behind to see the Crows racing
upon their heels, and behind them
the eros Ventres in chase of the
| Crows.
1t was quickly evident to the
! brothers that the enemy had better
mounts than themselves, and that
| they must fight or dodge. And some
how the trail they were riding up
on seemed suddenly to have become
very crooked 1t made several
sharp turns among the river bluffs.
. and was no longer the safe Trail Of
the Good.
At the top of the bluffs, with the
Crows pressing them hotly. but out
of sight for the instant, they wheeled
to the right, dashed in at the head
of another coulee, and like a pair of
foxes, doubled on their tracks.
1t was cunning manoeuvre, cum
ningly executed, and what with those
Gros Ventres on the heels of the
enemy, ought certainly to have sue
ceeded. But the foremost Crows,
knowing the lay of the ravines. had
OWNED what they would do. Three
of these had turned off the road.
climbed swiftly to the crest of a
ridge, and now came blowing down
upon them reckless,y in a tempest
of dust and loose stones.
Too late the brothers saw these
foes coming down the sleeps. They
could only rein in their ponies to
avoid collision. The foremost Crow
was almost upon them when his pony
stumbled, and it's mad rider was
flung nearly to the bottom Of the
gulch, where his lifeless body lodged
against the trunk of a small pine.
The brothers had but one gun be-
tween them, Iron Arms carbine,
which they carried for the killing
~f CT, Of
the second riders horse and fired.
The pony turned a somersault, land
ing its rider among some rocks. and
the Crow was SC badly hurt that, in
attempting to rise. he pitched for
ward helplessly upon his face.
The third rider attempted to turn
his horse up the gulch, aud so es-
cape, but fatality attended the Crows
This animal also lost its footing, and
the rider, losing his weapon from
his grasp, was rolled to the bottom
Of the gulch.
The brothers dismounted and
sprang upon him. The Crow made a
fierce struggle, but the wiry young
Sioux got him down and tied him
fast
They rose, painting. to look and
listen for further enemies. But
they saw no one, and heard only the |
of the exultant eros Ven
tres, chasing the Crows upon the
prairie above
When these sounds fell away,
hey turned their attention to their
had suffered a hemorrhage at the
mouth, and had died at their feet.
IN his terrific struggle with them he
lad burst a blood-vessel.
They booked at each other, awe and
wonder in their faces. "Hau! haul"
hey said. at is the doing of the
Most Mysterious of all-the white
mans God"
Their enemies lying dead or help
ess, themselves unscathed, all this
with what the missionary
lad said of these who truly seek the
Trail of the Good.
They now went to the relief OF
he injured rider, whose back was
lurt so that he could not stand They
made him understand that they were
lis friends, not his enemies; that
hey no longer wished to fight with
ny one.
Then in their rude way they band
ged the mans body, stiffening his
INJURED spine, got him up on his
orse, and set out for home They
AIRED not leave the Crow, for they
we're now certain that the Gros Ven r
res would be able 10 chase his fell
ows out Of the country, if they did
~ 1yilI than,