The copper era and Morenci leader., 1912-02-09


 was riding with dispatches from Long street to Stonewan Jackson, and had; been shot through the side. The first of .Jackson,s troops he reached. was a brigade of North Carolinians, commanded by General Waite-Gen- eral Willis Waite. He had fallen from his horse at the outposts, was brought helpless to the Generals tent, and an- other sent on with the papers. And Mrs. Waite had dressed and bandagedE his wound. That was where he had. seen that woman's face before. with its haunting familiarity. He drew the locket from beneath his shirt, and gazed at the countenance revealed, with new intelligence. There could be no doubt-it was the face of her who had cared for him so tenderly in that tent at Manassas before the fever came and he had lost consciousness And that, then, was Willis Waite ly-, ing in that shallow grave near the Cimmaron Crossing, and for whose death he had been arrested. Twas q strange world and small one. What a miserable ending to a life like his a division commander of the Army oH Northern Virginia, a Lieutenant-Gov-t ernor of his state. What stranges combination of circumstances could ever have brought such man to this place, and sent him forth across thoseI Indian-scouted plains? Surely nothinEl ordinary. And why should those bor- der desperadoes have followed through sixty miles of desolation, to1 strike him down? It was not robbery,l at least in the ordinary sense. What then? And how was Black Bart" 'in-l volved? Why should he be sufficient-l ly interested to swear out warront,l and then assist in his arrest? There must be something to all this not ap-i parent upon the surface-some object. some purpose shrouded in mystery No mere quarrel, no ordinary feud, nol accident of meeting, no theory of com monplace robbery, would account for the deed, or for the desperate efforts now being made to conceal it. !.
 Some way, these questions. thus surging upon him, became call to- live, to fight, to unravel their mystery. The memory of that sweet-faced wom- an who had bent above him when the fever began it's mastery, appealed to- him now with the opportunity of serv- ice He might be able to clear this, 
 despair, and hand over to justice tho murderers of her husband It was up to him alone to accomplish this-no one else knew what he knew, suspect. ed what he suspected. And there was but one way-through escape. To re- main there in weak surrender to fate could have but one ending, and that swift and sudden. He had no doubt as to ''Black Bart's" purpose, or of his ability to use the "Red Light" outfit as desired The whole plan was clear i ly evident, and there would be no de-I lay in execution-all they wereA wait- [ ing for was night, and lax guard. He glanced about at the wells of the room, his eyes grown hard. his teeth .elenched. -- = a -lifs ssf | "Neb," he said shortly, "I guess that i was your outfit all right, but they3 were not killed by Indians. They; were run down by gang from thfE town-the same fellows who have put i you and me in here. I don't knowj what they were after-that's to hel found out later,-but the fight you put up at the camp spoiled their game fo4 once, and led to your arrest. TheE failed to get what was wanted fnl
 
 to the Cimmaron Crossing. Then Ii got on their track and fearing the re- suit, they've landed me also. Now they'll get rid of us both as best they can. These fellows won't want any trial-that would be liable to give the whole trick away-but they have, got to put us where we won't talk. There is an easy way to do this, and that is hU han Do paf m drift, NeD?"
 The whites of the negro's eyes were, very much in evidence, his hands grip ping at the bench on which lie sat.
 'efo' de Lawd, yes, Massa Jack, | sho' does. I corroborates de whole thing"
 Then you are willing to take a chance with me?"
 "Willin'l Why, Massa Jack, Tse overjoyed; I ain't gwine leave yer no, mo- Tse sho gwine ter be yo' nigger. What yo' gwine ter do?"
 Keith ran his eyes over the walls,i carefully noting every peculiarity.
 'Wen remain here quietly just as long as it is daylight, Neb,' he replied ! finally, "but we'll try every board and every log to discover some way out. Just the moment it grows dark enough ] to slip away without being seen we've got to hit the prairie. Once south of the Arkansas we're safe, but not until then Have you made any effort to 1 get out?''
 The negro came over to him, and bent down.
 q was layin' on a board what I'd worked loose at one end" he whis- l Q but I couldn't jerk it out wid'out 4 .