The Winslow mail., 1913-10-04

I
Geronimo trouble, and Tracy,
with his troop, dismounted and
after a soul and body wearying march the
trail of the willy Apache, found himself in the
heart of one of the dreariest, most Godforsaken
mountain countries in the whole range Of the
southern country.
The troop exhausted and practically with
out water, the men having not drop to drink
save what was in their canteens. They had cut
loose from river in the early morning, expect
Ing to find another when the day was done but
not as much rivulet had they found. There
was no coffee that night and there wasn't light
heart in the whole outfit
Tracy was unhappy. 1t wasn't wholly his suf
ferlng condition and that of his men which
weighed upon him. Just before leaving the
Arizona post he had received news that his
younger brother, John, had been committed to
state s prison in far northeastern state The
ofhcer had seen hfs home only once since his grad
uatlon. He had stayed away purposely His
orother had been trusted bank employee Then
came suspicion, then conviction and sentence
John Tracy protested his innocence of the crime
charged against him. and his family, knowing the
lad, believed in him, but the circumstantial evil
dence was overwhelming, and in spite of the ef-
forts of the aged father who spent his time and
MS money in the boys defense, he went to
prison.
Before the troop had left Fort Banks with its
nose to the red-hot trail Of Geronimo there had
fcer who said that he came from St Iouis His
name was Barlow, and he was assigned to the
troop OF which Tracy the junior officer and
he went with it it's chase across the border
after the Apache chieftain
Barlow on every occasion possible attached
hlmseH to Tracys person Whenever there was
a scouting party detached from the main body
and put under the second lieutenants command
Barlow asked that he might be assigned to it to
share In the scouting duty He was reserved
1elloW and apparently of superior education
There were camp jokes for him He was
grave and taciturn. Tracy had noticed the evil
dent attachment of the to him. and as he
was capable soldier and willing to dare and
to do anything he was glad to have him a part
OF his outfit when detached and dangerous
service
On the morning following the night that tbe
troop was practically without water and in
country devoid of all green things save the for
Dludlng cactus the troop commander told Tracv
that he had better make short reconnaissance
reel out the country for the enemy and above all
Try TO locate water. To attempt march under
tnat hot Mexican sun with the men, and with anv
idea OF effective service, was foolhardy
Tracy told his captain that he would take but
one man with him; that they would strike south
west, where it was thought better prospect OF
water lay, and that they would return as soon as
a lind was made. He selected Barlow for his
companion and the two struck out through the
black sun-seared country
They went on for three hours Not a dron Of
ene element OF which they were in search Their
tongues were bllstered. They drank sparingly of
the water In their canteens, pressed on for an.
other hour and then knew that they must return
Back they started. They followed their onward
trail as we'll as they could, but at times it was
lost. and then circling was necessary to take it
up again At noon they lost it and could not
nno IL again There was great Jagged rock ris-
Ing to the westward which neither recognized
Oontn
We never came this way. The sun doesn't bear
right. 1t should be to our right believe
that we are going almost directly at right angles
to the camp
Ihey clrcled again and again, but no trace of
the trail Then the conclusion forced itself on
Tracy that they lost. They wandered on
until the sun went down beyond the black rocks
Then they each drank sparingly of the precious
contents Of the canteens, and lay down on the
gray desert to sleep
The sun came up like red-hot round shot
Tracy and Barlow ate the last of their single
ration, and took one swallow of water apiece
Then on they went again. Twentyfour hours
passed. The sun came up once more, and with
its coming they staggered forward. The can
teens were empty. They looked for the cactus
whose leaf yields juice that helps fight off the
demon of thirst. They could not find it. The
only vegetation were occasional clumps of stunt
ed prickly pear cactus, the juice of whose leaves
accentuates thirst
Another twentyfour hours. The men cheered
each other on like the soldiers they were Tracy
began to feel the coming of deIirium. Oh for a
draught of water He looked at Barlow The
mans eyes were burning, but they had cour-
age in them, and something else in their depths
which Tracy never before had seen there On
and on and on. They could go no further Sud-
denly Barlow turned to Tracy ard said in voice
that choked from the clutching of thirst's
hand at his throat: Lieutenant | was afraid
that we m1ghs be tempeted to drink this long
ago so | saved it for the last extremity LIEN
tenant, | have one gooG drink of water apiece
left in my canteen."