The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1909-01-09


them group of horsemen suddenly
appeared to him In the distance and az
suddenly vanished in thin air.
'Rurales" CALCULATED Lane. II won
der II they are chasing Apaches. That
internal mirage gives you no idea Of
distance or direction. II the red devils
have got away from Crook and slip
ped by these greaser rangers over the
border. they'll sure be making straight
for the Ghost range and by this very
trail. II so, I'm at the best place on 1t
to meet them, and here ! stay till the
coast is clear" Turning to the red
cross on the rock. he reflected. Per
haps. after all. it's a case Of 'Nebo's
lonely mountain"
Lane had hardly reached this conclu-
sion before he found It justified by the
sight Of a mounted Apache In the re-
gala Of war emerging from a hidden
dip In the trail below the fertilization.
Lane dropped behind the parapet. evi-
IDENTITY before he was observed. as the
teadily increasing number and loud
ness Of the hoof beats on the rocky
trail indicated to the listener.
Crawling back to his horse and bur
70. be made them lie down against the
upper wall and picketed them with
short lengths Of rope to the ground. for
he foresaw that danger could CONS
only from the mountain side. Taking
his Winchester, be returned to the par
apet and. half seated. half reclining
behind It. opened ere on the unsuspect-
ing Apaches. The leader. shot through
the head. fell from his horse. which
reared and backed wildly down the
trail. Other bullets must have found
their billets also, but because Of the
confusion which ensued among the In
dams the prospector was unable to
tell bow many Of them he had put out
Of action. In q fash every rider
had leaped OF his horse and. protect
Ing himself by its body. was scyam-
bling with his mount to the protecting
deciivity in the rear. The prospector
was soreiy tempted to pump bis car
tridges into the group AZ 1t poured
back over the rim Of the hollow. but
he desisted from the useless slaughter
Of horses alone. knowing that he could
be attacked only on foot and that every
one of his slender store Of cartridges
must 6ud q human mark II he would
return to the States alive. They've
got to put me out Of businessA before
they can 60 on" be ruminated. IAN
Apache IL a good deal. Of a coward
when he's sighting for pleasure. but
just corner him. and. great snakes and
spittin' wildcats. what a game he does
put up: ! must save my cartridges. for
one things sure-they won't waste any
Of theirs. They're not as good shots as
white men. for ammunition is too
scarce with them for use in sun prac.
tice. so they won't fire till they've got
me dead to rights. Let me see. There's
about a dozen left in the party. and
have fifteen cartridges. That's three In
reserve for my own outfit If some of
the others fail to get their men. Those
red devils enjoy skinning an animal
alive rs much as torturing Il man. and
you can bet they won't save me any
bullets by shooting Nance ard jimmy"
Reasoning that the Indians would
not dare to attack by way of the open
trail in front and that Ii would take
some time for them to make the de-
tour necessary to approach him from
above. since they would have to leave
their ponies below and climb on hands
and knees over jutting lodges and
around broken granite blocks. Lane
coolly proceeded to drink his coffee
and eat his lunch of hard bread and
cold bacon rind. After he had finished
he gave lump OF sugar to each OF his
animals and pressed his cheek with an
affectionate hug against the side of his
horses head.
"Old girl" he said. I'm sorry we
can't take a parting drink. for I'm
afraid neither Of US will reach our
next water hole. But you can count
on me that the red devils won't get
you"
Then. going to his pack. he undid It
and took CT double handful Of yel-
low nuggets and number Of canvas
bags. These he deposited in the pot
hole and, pryfng up the fat stone Of
the fireplace, laid 1t over them and
covered the stone with embers.
Its a ten to one shot that they fn-
ish me-" he reflected, "but the wages
I've paid for by year of hard work
and absence from her side stay just
as near Echo Allen as l can bring
them alive and. If there's any truth in
what they say about spirits disclosing
in dreams the place Of buried treas
ure. with the chance of my getting
them to her after am dead
Taking the useless powders from
the edge of the cliff. but carefully, so
as not to expose himself to the fire of
the Apaches. he piled them on top Of
the upper wall in such a fashion as to
form little turrets. He left an open