Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1913-01-02

feet awayg Or 1--WE? He could not
tell. He stared; there was no move
ment, and yet his eyes began to dis
Germ dimly the outlines-the head and
shoulders of man! The Sergeant
Tcrept forward-an inch, two inches. a
foot. The figure did not stir Now
he was sure the fellows head was
lying flat on the turf, oddly distorted
by a feathered war bonnet. The
strange posture, the utter lack of
movement, seemed proof that the
tired warrior had fallen asleep on
watch. Like cat Hamlin crept up
slowly toward him, poised for spring.
Some sense of the wild must have
stirred the savage into semi-conscious.
ness. Suddenly he sat up, gripping the
gun In his hands. Yet even as his
opening eyes saw dimly the Sergeant's
menacing shadow, before he could
scream his alarm, or spring upright,
the. revolver butt struck with dull
thud, and he went tumbling backward
into the ditch, his cry of alarm ending
In hoarse croak. From somewhere,
out of the dense darkness in front
voice called, sharp and cultural. as If
Its owner had been startled by the
mysterious sound of the blow. 1t was
the language of the Arapahoes, and
out of his vague memory of the
tongue, spurred to recollection by the
swift emergency, Hamlin growled a
hoarse answer, hanging breathlessly
above the motionless badly until the
"ugh!" of the fellows response proved
him without suspicion. He waited,
counting the seconds, every muscle
strained with expectancy. listening
He had feeling that some one was
crawling over the short grass. wig
Cling along like a snake, but the faint
sound, if sound it was. grew less dis
tinct. Finally he lifted his head above
the edge of the bank, but saw moth
ing, not even dim shadow.
"They are closing in. reckon" he
thought soberly, ''and lit isn't likely
there will be any more of these gentry
as far back as this; looks as though
this gully turned west just beyond.
Anyhow I've got to risk IT,
He returned more rapidly, moving
the passage, yet with no less caution,
finding the unconscious girl lying ex-
actly AZ he had left her. As he clasped
her form in his arms, her lips uttered
some incoherent words, but otherwise
she gave no sign Of life.t
Eyes. yes," he whispered close to
her ear, hoping thus to hold risilent.
1T is,all right now; only keep STILL
| He could feel her breathing, and
realized the danger of her return to
consciousness If she should be fright
ened and cry out, their fate would be
/ scaled. Yet he must accept the chance
now that he knew the way to be clear
He held her tightly in both arms, his
revolver thrust back into its holster
Bending as low as he could with his
burden, feeling carefully through ths
darkness before advancing a foot, hi
moved steadily forward Where tn,
gully deepened their heads were a
the edge of the bank, but much of tn
way was exposed, except for the dar
shadows of the slope. Fortunatel
there were clouds to the west, alread,
| obscuring that half of the sky. but t.
the east nothing was visible agains
the faint luminousness of the skyline
Once, far over there to the left, gun
was fired, the flame splitting the nigh
L DC nd tot no
Election black figure rose up be
tween, only to be instantly snuffed GU
again. Hamlin put down his uplifte,
foot, and waited, Il Anse. motionles
silence, but nothing happened, excep
the echo of far-away voice.
"A dozen feet farther, some four
footed animal suddenly leaped to tn
edge OF the bank, shifted, and disal
peared noiselessly. So taut were hi
nerves strung that the Sergeant SAM
upon his knees, releasing one hand t
/ grip his revolver, before he realize,
4 prairie wolf. Then, with teeth grim
i ly locked, bending lower and lower
Il he crept across the rutted trail. an
Il past the dead body of the Indian No
until then did he dare to breathe mai
urally or to stand upright; but now
4 the gully, bending to the right. lie
away from danger, every step game
adding to their safety. He was conf
dent now, full of his old audacity. we
awake to every trick of plainscraf
The girls head rested against hi
shoulder, and he bent his cheek t
hers, feeling it's warmth The touc
of his unshaven beard pricked her il
J, to semi-consciousness and she spok
SO loud that it gave him thrill of al
prehension. He dared not run in tn
darkness for fear of stumbling. We
moved with greater swiftness. unit
-.e depression ended at the rive