Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1909-01-22

II 81. y
j than tortured. Il i hope all four will
hit me. Goodby.s jimmy crack went 3
his rife. 81, .Goodby.y Nance ~ crack
again. ~. A SsS .s5 u
At the two shots, surmising that the
prospector' had shot himself and his
horse, the Apaches did mot wait for
the signals but sprang forward and
climbed upon the wall before Lane
+ had had time to- mount It. !, Two Of 4
them he shot as: they leaped down
|. within the inclosure. As he reversed
his winchester to kill himself with 4
| the last cartridge he noted that the two
lsremaining Apaches had dropped their
rifles and. were eleaping upon him to-
! take him alive. He brought his club
lSbed weapon down, upon, ii the. head lead s Of Il !
one Of them, crushing his skull. Az !;
| the same instant Lane was borne to \
| the ground BY the other $Apac he, who,
selling him by i the throat Ut began
throttlingz him into! insensibi lity. In {
desperation Lane sbethought himself Of
the cliff and BY 9, mighty effort whirled
over upon his captor toward the preci-
| pice The ground sIoped slightly In
that: direction. and the combatants
rolled over and over to. tie. very edge
of&the cliff. where the Indian, for the,
! first time realizing that the prospect
| or's purpose was to shurl both, Of them
1. to destruction, Ioosehed his hold upon
I the prospector's throat that he might
use HIS hands to brace himself against
the otherwise Ainevitab BILE plunge into
thevalley below. In an instant Lanes
! hands were at the Indians throat, +
! and in another turn he was uppermost
and kneeling upon his foe at the Fery
| verge Of the precipice. & -. 81. 3ss5
both complaints were now thor
oughly exhausted. Lane concentrated
all his remaining strength In throttling
y the savage But just as the tense
form beneath him grew Lax with evi-
dent Inconsistencies, and the head
fell Imply back. extending over the
. edge Of the cliff, his own head was
jerked Violently backward by a moose
cast around his !acerated neck. l%} rs RI
i When Lane recovered consciousness
i he found himself lying on his back,
( bound hand and foot by q lariat and
| looking up into grinning face. that
! he recognized. =, ~. q = Is s. .5s
/! "Buck McKeev' he gasped. This Is
certainly white Of you considering the
circumstances of our last meeting.
/ Did you come with, the rnrales T.,
''.No; come ahead nv 'em! In fact,
Dick Lane, you air jes' e. leetle bit on
10 yer fdees about which party i be-
long to. When You cussed me fer d:
4 thievin' half breed an. run me or the
range an atolet me to go to the sInjuns,
whar l belonged, il TUX yer advice.
| I'm, what you il might call the rear,
guard nv, the outfit you've jes' been;
haYin' yer shootin' match Will =
/ wuz the rear guard, fer you've wiped.
ont the whole battalion, 90 fer as /.
can see. Served 'em right fer detailin'
me. g the only decent shooter Ia the;
II bunch, 10 watch the horses. IL got. ona
/ shot 10 as IT wuE. Vel. aa the last nv
i the outfit I own a string Of ten ponies;
All ] need now TO set up In business
Is to have some prospector who hain't
Il long to live leave me his leetle pile NV;
dust an nuggets an the claims he's
located back ID the mountains You
look Sleetle mite like the man. It'll.
save vailible time IL you make yer
dear friend Buck Nc Kee administrat
Il nv yer estate, without too much per.
4 suadin. You had some objection
oncet IS my slittin' q calf's tongue.
Il Well, you needn't be scared jes,. yet
i That's the last thing I'll do % you.
i Come. whar's Il yer cache2 know
q you've got one hereabonts, fer foun'
d signs nv the dust ID yer pack 4 S
Lane set his teeth IN q firm reaoIu-
IL ton not to- say a ssgordl aI,nts
4 OF his captor were harder Ia bear Iin
! silence than the prospects 81 torture
ubborn. hey ii Try d
IL little 'paehe persnadi lin !. Ri And the rem
q ssgade dragged his helpless captive up
Ito the thOrny sahuaro and bound his
81 back against It with the dead horses
II bridle Mckee searched through
4 Lanes pockets until he, found Il match.
y Last one hey Kind ,propriate.
Il Las drink from the Old canteen, ias,
Il ca'tridge, las look ats the scenery an,
n las will an testyment Oh, tines
4 precious, but I'il spare yon enough to
map out IN yer mind 15es, where Their,
A claims Is located The r,irales Won't
u be along Ter an hour vet ifs they hain,t
q q turned hack af tier our ot her party
Nc ee pulled on Lanes boot 1T
Il hain't decent fer 4 man to die with ,em
A on, he said & He then died ore Oh
the stone, beneath whit Il if he but
&. knew II. lay the treasure he sought.
.SS $s q & returned with q burning brand to
HI be captive q For the first time he Oh
ia ferved the snake Imp aled son tho sal1as
scoatinued "a pass eight,