Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1909-03-31
CHAPTER XIII.

through cities that are forgot 1
ten. Jared Dick Lane. Tricked
u nv his friend, with the woman
he loved lost to him, he wandered on
ward
Automatically he took up again his
quest for buried treasure. That which
in the flush of youthful enthusiasm
and roseate prospects of life and love
| had seized him as passion was now
| a settled habit, and fortunately so, for
| it kept him from going mad. He had
| no thought of gain, only the achieve
ment of fixed purpose, monoman1a.
With this impulse was conjoined
| more volitional motive-he wished to
revenge himself upon the Apaches and
chiefly upon the renegade Mckee,
whom he supposed still to be with
them. Somehow he blamed him rather
than Jack Payson as being the chief
cause of his miseries. eff he had not
stolen the buried gold l would have
returned in time" he muttered. HE
is at the bottom of all this. AS walk
ed away from Jack in the garden l
felt as if it was Mckee that was fol-
lowing me with his black, snaky eyes"
Accordingly Dick directed his way
to a region reputed to be both rich in
buried treasure and infested by hos
tile Indians. He wandered westward
to Tularosa, then down to Fort Grant
and toward the lava beds of south
western Arizona In all that arid land
there was nothing so withered as his
soul
Jack, well mounted, with q pack
mule carrying supplies, had picked up
Dicks trail after it left Tularosa from
scout out Of Fort Grant.
Slim Hoover headed for Fort Grant
in his search for Jack. Although the
ranchman had only brief start Of
him, Slim lost the track at the river
ford. Knowing Dick had gone into the
desert, Jack headed eastward, while
Slim supposing that Jack was break
ing for the border to escape into for
s eign country, turned southwark
From the scout who had met Jack
e and Dick the sheriff learned that the
two men were headed for the lava
s beds. which were occupied by hostile
e Apaches.
e Detachments of the Third cavalry
were stationed at the fort, with Colo
s. mel Hardie in command of the famous
d + troop, a band of Indian fighters
e. never eQualed.
In turn they chased Cochise, Victo
" ria and Geronimo with their Apache
u warriors up and down and across the
Rio Grande. Hard pressed, each chief
tain in turn would fee with his ban(
first to the lava beds and then acros:
the border into Mexico, where tn
United States soldiers could not fol
"a low. Hardie fooled Victoria, hOweve,
Texas rangers had met the Apach
chief in an engagement on the bank
~ of the Rio GranGe. Only eight Amer
cans returned from the encounter
H. Hardie took up his pursuit and TO
st lowed Victoria across the river In
Indians had relaxed their vigilance
so not expecting pursuit and despisin
of the Mexican rurales. Troop + caugf
he them off guard in the mountains Ih
he fight was one to determination. Vict'
clx ria and his entire band were slain.
This was the troop which was avail
nd ing orders to go after the Apaches.
Colonel Hardie told Slim that tt
Or Indians were bound to head for tt
lava beds. If the men for whom
was looking were in the desert Il
lid troop would find them more quick
than Slim and his posse.
ed Slim waited at Fort Grant for order
writing back to Sagebrush telling hi
ne of his plans.
Fort Grant followed the usual pls
an of all frontier posts. A row of officer
N | 10
rectly opposite were the cavalry e
y" racks fort. On one side of the qua
e. rangle were the stables, and the four
line consisted of the quartermastel
i'm. buildings and the post traders stOl
she Small ranchmen had gathered near
his fort for protection and because Of t
OF desire of the white man for cOmpa1
to In days of peace garrison life was n
notonous. But the Apaches need
ex- constant watching.
MS AS a soldier the Apache was crl
~ and cowardly. He fought dismount
never making an attack unless at
own advantage. AS ,infantryman
was unequaled. Veteran army offic'
adopted the Apache tactics and
stalled in the army the plan of mou
ed infantry, soldiers who move
horseback, but fight on foot, detail
one man Of every four to guard
NJ horses.
Mounted on wiry ponies Injured
hardships, to picking up living
the scanty heritage Of the plains,
~ ing without saddles and carrying
~ equipment, the Indians had little tt
BILE in avoiding the soldiers. Leav
'<i the reservation, the Apaches wo
IA commit some outrage. and then, swi
I'M ing on the arc of a great circle, wo
W,I be back to camp and settled long
VI fore the soldiers could Overtake tn
AMI Hampered by orders from the war
N partment, which in turn was moles