The Oklahoma miner. [volume] (Krebs, Okla.) 1912-192?, 1913-05-01

treaeherous stone, but the slight noise
died unnoticed in the night. 1t was
farther to the gully than he had sup
posed; his heart was in his throat
fearing he had missed it, half-believing
the depression failed to extend to the
base of the bluff Then his foot, ex-
ploring blindly touched the edge OF
the bank. Carefully he laid his bur
den down, placing his battered cam
paign hat beneath her head. He bent
over her again, assuring himself that
she breathed regularly, and then crept
down alone into the shallow ravine.
His nerves were like steel now, his
hand steady, his heart beating with
out an accelerated throb. He knew
the work, and rejoiced in 1t. This was
why he was a soldier. Silently, swift
ly, he unbuckled his belt, refastening
1t across the straps so as to hold can
teen and haversack noiseless, and
then, revolver in hand, began creep
ing down under cover OF the low
banks. He must explore the path first
before attempting to bear her along
in his arms; must be sure the passage
was unguarded. After 1t swerved to
the right there would be little danger,
but while it ran straight, some eau
tious savage might have chosen 1t to
| skulk In. To deal with such he need
ed to be alone, and free.
He must have crawled thus for thir-
ty yards, hands and knees aching hor-
ribly, his eyes ever peering over the
edge of the bank, his ears tingling to
the slightest noise. The tiny glow Of
the fire far away'to the left was alone
visible in the intense blackness; the
wind brought to him no sound of
movement. The stiffness was pro-
found, almost uncanny; as he paused
and listened he could distinguish the
throb of his heart. He was across
the trail at last, for he felt and traced
the ruts of wheels, and where the
banks had been worked down almost
to a level with the prairie. He crossed
| this opening like a snake, and then
arose to his knees beyond, where the
gully deepened. He remained poised,
motionless, scarcely daring to breathe.
Surely that was something else-that
shapeless blotch Of shadow, barely
topping the line of bank! Was 1t ten
feet away? Or five? He could not
tell. He stared; there was no move
ment, and yet his eyes began to dis
cern dimly the outlines-the head and
| shoulders Of a man! The Sergeant
crept forward-an inch, two inches, a
foot. The figure did not stir. Now
he was sure the fellows head was
lying fat on the turf, oddly distorted
by feathered war bonnet. The
strange posture, the utter lack of
movement, seemed proof that the
tired warrior had fallen asleep on
watch. Like a cat Hamlin crept up
slowly toward him, poised for spring
Some sense of the wild must have
stirred the savage into semi-conscio
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 a hoarse croak. From somewhere,
out Of the dense darkness in front a
voice called, sharp and cultural, as If
it's 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 bady until the
"ugh!" Of the fellows response proved
him without suspicion. He waited
counting the seconds, every muscle
strained with expectancy, listening
He had a feeling that some one was
crawling over the short grass, wig
Cling along like a snake, but the faint
sound, II sound 1t was, grew less dis
tinct. Finally he lifted his head above
the edge Of the bank, but saw moth
ing, not even a dim shadow.
"They are closing in, reckon" he
thought soberly, "and It 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, knowing
the passage, yet with no less caution,
finding the unconscious girl lying ex-
actly as 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.
"Vaa YES " he WhiSDered CIoSa to