Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1912-05-30

except lot us VIII beauty. men he
perceived something which instantly
startled him into ttention-yonder
close beside the river just beyond /
that ragged bunch of cottOnwoods.
slender spirals of blue smoke were .
visible That would hardly be a camp |
Of frcighters at this iour of the day. /.
and besides. the Santa Fe trail along
here ran close in against the bluff, /
coming down to the river at the ford
two miles further west No party Of
plainsmen would ever venture TO build
fire in so exposed a spot and no
small company would take the
chances Of the trail But surely that
appeared to be the Zap of a canvas
wagon top little 20 the right of the
smoke. yet all was so far away he
could not be certain He stared in
that direction a long while. shading
his eyes with both hands. unable to
~ ide There were three or four NOV
,nC black dots higher up the river. but
so iAr away he could not distinguish
whether men or animals Only as out
lined against the yellow sand dunes
could he tell they were advancing
westward toward the ford
Decidedly puzzled by all this. yet
determined 10 solve the mystery and
unwilling to remain hidden there un-
Ill right. Keith led his horse along the
Start of the ridge until he attained
sharp break through the bluff leading
down into the valley 1t was a rug
ged cash nearly impossible. but
half hour OF toll won them the lower
prtirie. the winding path preventing
the slightest view of what might be
meanwhile transpiring below Once
safely out in the valley the river could
no longer be seen. while barely
hundred yards away winding along
like a great serpent. ran the deeply
rutted trail to Santa Fe In neither
direction appeared any sign of human
life As near as he could determine
from those distant cottonwoods out
lined against the sky. for the smoke
spirals We're too thin by then TO be OBJ
served the spot sought must be CON
sidera bly, TO the right of where he had
emerged With this idea in mind he
advanced cautiously. his every sense
alert searching anxiously for fresh
signs of passage or evidence Of a
wagon train having deserted the beat
: itself. dustless and packed hard. re
; Vealed nothing. but some FIVE hundred
yards beyond the ravine he discovered
y what he sousht-here two wagons had
turned sharply TO the left. theiI
wheels cutting deeply enough into the
prairie sod to show them heavily
laden. With the experience of the
border he was able to determine thai
G these wagons were drawn by mules
two span of each. their small hoofs
clearly defined on the turf. and thai
they were being driven rapidly. on
: sharp trot as they turned. and then
hundred feet further. at a slashins
gallop Just outside their trail ap
: peared the marks of galloping horse
a few roGs farther along Keith cam,
to confused blur of pony tracks
= sweeping in from the east. and tn
whole story of the chase was revealed
as though he had witnessed il with hi
own eyes They must have beer
crazy. or else impelled by some gray.
necessity. TO venture along this trai
q in so small a party And they wer,
travelling west-west, Keith drew
deep breath. and swore to himself
n of all the blame FOOLS"
IS He perceived the picture in all II
Il grewsome dotails-the two mule
't drawn wagons moving slowly alon
the trail in the early morning: tn
II band of hostile Indians suddenl
$ svooping out from some obscure hit
'd Ing place in the bluffs; the discover
"a of their presence: tho desperate eaor
w. 40 escape; the sworving from -
j. open trail IN vain hope Of rcachin
20 HE river and finding protection VI
r. lcrneath its banks: the frishtene
u mules sallopre wildly lastod into
u frcu7v by the man on horseback e..
49, rounding of the ponies boots nu0'
'h tuatod by the. oNultant wells of q.
IS rursuers Again he swCrc:
o. OF all the blame fools"
II ,TO BE CONTl&UEDn
"a