Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1909-04-13

| InS teuuCT, SsOt LVOUyN utS fttttA, Jeet
from his horse.
prospector. already daZed by his wound.
fred wildly and missed his mark.
Quickly recovering himself. he fired
again and again. severely wounding
two Apaches These lay clawing the
ground within twenty yards Of the
wall. The four remaining Indians
were safely concealed at the same dis
tance. protected no less by the fortih-
cation than by the loose powders be-
hind which they crouched for the final
spring. Lane realized the fact that his
next shots to be effective must be at
downward angle and to 1re them he
must expose himself.
"This is my finish" he thought to
himself. Better be killed instantly
than tortured hope all four will
hit me. Goodby. .Tinny"-crack went
his rifle. "Goodby. Nance" = crack
again.
At the two shots. surmising that the
prospector had shot himself and his
horse. the Apaches did not wait for
the signal. but sprang forward and
climbed upon the wall before Lane
had had time to mount It, Two OF
them he shot rs they leaped down
within the inclosure. As he reversed
his Winchester to kill himself with
the last cartridge he noted that the two
remaining Apaches had dropped their
rifles and were leaplng upon him to
take him alive He brought his club
bed weapon down upon the bead OF
one Of them. crushing his skull. At
the same instant Lane was borne to
the ground by the other. Apache. who,
seizing him by the throat, began
throttling him into insensibillty. In
desperation Lane bethought himself OF
the cliff and by mighty effort whirled
over upon his captor toward the preci-
pice. The ground sloped slightly In
that direction. and the combatants
relied over and over to the very edge
Of the cl!ff, where the Indian, for the
first time realizing that the prospect
ors purpose was to hurl both OF them
to destruction, loosened his hold upon
the prospector's throat that he might
use his hands to brace himself against
the otherwise inevitable plunge Into
the valley below. In an instant Lanes
hands were at the Indians throat.
and In another turn he was uppermost
and kneellng upon his foe Mt the very
verge Of the precipice.
Both combatants were now thor
oughly exhausted. Lane concentrated
all his remaining strength in throttling
the savage. But Just as the tense
form beneath him grew lax with evil
dent Inconsistencies and the head
fell Imply back. extending over the
edge Of the cliff, his own head was
jerked violently backward by moose
cast around his lacerated neck.
When Lane recovered consciousness
he found himself lying on his back,
bound hand and foot by larint and
looking up into a grinning face that
he recognized.
Buck McKee!" he gasped. This Is
certainly white Of you considering the
circumstances of our last meeting.
Did you come with the ruralesr'
"No: I come ahead Nv 'em! In fact.
Dick Lane, you air jes' leetle bit Of
In yer idees about which party be-
long to. When you cussed me fer
thievin' half breed an run me of the
range an tole me to so to the Injuns,
whar belonged. ! TUX yer advice.
I'm what you might call the rear
guard Nv the outfit you've jes' been
havin' yer shootin' match with--or |
wuz the rear guard, fer you've wiped
out the whole battalion. 30 fer as
can see. Served em right fer detailln
me. the only decent shooter In the
bunch, to watch the horses. got one
shot in rs 1t wuz Well. as the last nv
the outfit own string Of ten ponies.
All I need now to set up In business
Is to have some prospector who hain't
long to live leave me his leetle pile Nv
dust an nuggets an the claims he's
located back IL the mountains. You
look q leetle mite like the man. It'll
save vallible time II you make yer
dear friend Buck Mckee administrator
Nv yer estate without too much per-
suadin'. You had some objection
oncet to my slittin' calrs tongue.
Well, you needn't be scared jes' yet
That's the last thing I'll do to you.
Come. whar's yer cache? know
you've got one hereabouts. fer ! foun'
signs Nv the dust In yer pack"
Lane set his teeth in a firm resolu-
tion not to say word. The taunts
Of his captor were harder to bear In
silence than the prospects Of torture
stubborn. hey? Well. we'll try a
little 'Pache persuadin'." And the rem
egade dragged his helpless captive up
to the thorny sahuaro and bound bis