The Oklahoma miner. [volume] (Krebs, Okla.) 1912-192?, 1913-08-28

Uelt you are q miserable sueaking
cur. and ! am going 20 trust you Just
so Tar as ! can watch you. / suppose
ought 20 shoot you where you are,
and have done with H. You killed one
Of the best men who ever lived. a
friend Of mine. sam Wasson-"
Who"
sam WassOn, a government scout"
Hughes dropped his face into his
hands.
Good Lord I knew him!"
The Sergeant drew a deep breath.
and into his face there came a look
almost Of sympathy
Then you begin TO realize the sort
ot fool you are he went on soberly.
They don't make better men out here;
his little finger was worth more than
your whole body. But killing you
won't bring Sam back. and besides
reckon you've told me the straight
story. an his shooting was an acct
dent in way. Then you're more use
ful 20 ne just now alive than you
would be dead Ny name is Hamlin.
sergeant Seventh Cavalry. and I am
here after that man lie Fevre We
trailed his outfit from Dodge until the
storm struck US. and then came
straight through travelling by com
pass. I did not know the mans name
was lie FCvre until you told ne; up
in Kansas be is known as Dupont"
That's IL; that's the name he took
when he sold the cattle"
Tho rnS~r- -0AA~d r-srr-a
Major Mcdonald and it is his dzuc!.-
ter they hold The fellow Dupont
/ Quarrele1 with and shot was q desert
ct named Connors We found the
body. Now where do you suppose lie
! Fevre is?"
Hughes stared into the fire, nervous
/ ly pulling his beard.
Wall, I'd say In west yere some
/ whar along the CimaIrou 'Tain't like
/ ly he had a compass, an the wind
wus from the nor'east. Best they
could CO he ponies would drift The
I InJuns would keep the gineral direc-
tion, O. course, storm 'er no storm, an
Gene is some plainsman himself, but
thet blizzard would sheer EN- of all
the same. l reckon they're under the
/ banks ten Rile, er more, up thar An
soon as there's a change in weather,
they'll ride fer Black Kettles camp.
| Thets my guess, mister"
Hamlin turned the situation over
| deliberately in his mind, satisfied that
/ Hughes had reviewed the possibilities
correctly. II lie Feyre's party had got
| through at all, then that was the most
/ likely spot for them to be hiding in.
7 They would have drifted beyond
/ doubt, farther than Hughes supposed,
I probably, as he had been sheltered
/ from the real violence of the wind as
\ il ragged on the open plain. They
/ might be fifteen, even twenty miles
away, and so completely drifted in as
/ 10 be undiscOvera except through
accident. What course then was best
| 20 pursue? The storm was likely to
/ continue violent for a day, perhaps
! two days longer. His horses were ex-
/ hausted, and Carroll helpless. 1t
might not even be safe to leave the
| latter alone Yet If the frozen man
/ could be left in the hut to take care
/ OF himself and the ponies. would there
/ be any hope Of success Ia an effort to
/ proceed up the river on foot? He
/ could make Hughes go-that wasn't
the dimculty-but probably they
/ couldn't cover five miles a day through
/ the snowcrifts. And, even II they
/ did succeed in getting through IN time
/ to Intercept the fugitiyes, the others
/ would possess every adyantage-b
/ position for defense. and horses on
which to escape Hughes. lighting his
/ pipe, confident now in his own mind
/ that he was personally safe. seemed
| 10 sense the problem troubling the
Sergeant
81 reckon ! know t,hs kentry well
'nough, be said lazly, ter give yer a
. pointer or two. I've rounded up long
horns west O. yere. Them felIers
ain't goin' 70 strike out fer the Cana.
dian till after the storm quits By
thet time yer ponies is rested up in
better shape than theirs win be, and
we kin strike cross to the sou'west.
/ We're bound either 10 hit EN-, or ride
cross thar trail
But the woman. protested Han
lin. stridug across the floor What
may happen 70 her in the meanwhile?
She is an Eastern girl unaccus.
toned to this life-a-a lady"
Yer don't ne3d worry none bout
;het Ff she's the right kind she'll
stan more'n man when she has to
4 ragkon II u.,p't D., r.-.- -