The Raymer enterprise., 1913-10-02

with his troop. dismounted and
after soul and body wearying march on 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.
Inc troop was exhausted and practically with.
out water. the men having not a drop to drink
save what was IN their canteens. They had cut
ioose from river In the early morning expect.
Ing to find another when the day was done but
not as much as riyulet had they found There
was no coffee that night and there wasn't a light
heart In the whole outfit
tracy was unhappy. 1t wasn't wholly his sut
ferng 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 $ prison In a far northeastern state The
omcer had seen his home only once since his grad.
u"'oh He had stayed away purposely His
brother had been trusted bank employe Then
came suspicion. then conviction and n sentence
John Tracy protested his innocence OF the crime
charged against him. and his family, knowing the
iad' believed In him. but the crcumstantial eyl.
dehcc was overwhelming. and In spite OF the e,.
lor's 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 ,s
nose 10 the red.hot trail OF Geronimo there bad
joined as an enlisted man strapping Young Of.
hcer who said that he came from St Louis. His
name was Barlow. and he was assigned to tho
troop OF which Tracy was the Junior officer and
he went with II on It's chase across the border
after the Apache chieftaIn
Barlow on every occasion possible attached
himself to Tracys person Whenever there was
scouting party detached from tho main bodv
ana put under the second lieutenant's command
barlow asked that he might be assigned TO II TO
snare IN the scouting duty He was reserved
FELLOW and apparently Of superior odpca,Jor
There were no camp jokes for him He was
E'u'' ana taclturn. Tracy had noticed the ey,.
u'"' A'tachment or the man TO him and as he
was capable soldier and willing to dare and
10 90 anything he was glad to have him n nar,
OF MS outfit when on detached and danparon.
service ou'
oh the morning following the night ,b,, ,h
troop was practically without water and IN =
country devoid OF all green things save tho for
p'u"'hs cactus. the troop commander told Tracv
t"a' nc had better make a short reconnaissance
reel out the country for the enemy and obovo oI
Try 10 locate water To attempt a march undor
that not Mexican sun with the men, and with arv
iuoa OF effective service. was foohardy
Tracy told his captain that he would take hu,
one man with him: that they would strike south
'N'N - ""n 'HVubnl u Dbttpr PROSPECT n
water lay, and that they would return as soon aa
md was made. He selected Barlow for bia
companion, and the two struck out through tba
bHCk, sunseared country
lh"g went on for three hours Not n dron n,
the element OF which they were In search TheIr
tongues were bllstered They drank sparinpIy NJ
me water In their canteens pressed on for on.
other hour and then knew that they must return
BACK they started, They followed their onward
traiI as well as they could but at times Il was
ios'' ana then ctrcling was necessary to take II
up again At noon they lost It and could m,
hnd II again. There was a great Jagged rock r,s
Ing to the westward which neither recognized
Lieutenant" said Barlow, were roInr wro,,
we never came this way The sun doesn't hear
rishI II should be more to our right 1 belIeye
thht we are going almost directly at right angles
TO the camp"
Ihey circled again and again but no trace o,
the tran Then the conclusion forced Itself on
Tracy that they were lost They wandered on
un'lI the sun went down beyond the black rocks.
linen they each drank sparIngly of the precious
'on'e,'S oI 'he canteens and lay down on the
gray desert to sleep
The sun came up like n red.hot round sbo,
Tracy aud Barlow ate the Inst OF their sIryro
rauon. and took one swallow OF water apIece
Ihen on they went ngain Twenty.four hours
passed The sun came up once more. and with
ls coming they staggered forward The can.
teens were empty. They looked for the cactus
whose leaf Yields Juice that helps fight of tho
demon or thirst They could not find It. The
only veRcta'son were occasional clumps OF stunt
en pricky pear cactus, the Juice OF whose leovos
accentuates thirst
Another t"cntyfour hours. The men chccrea
each other on like the soldiers they were Trocv
began to feel the coming OF dclirum Oh for n
arausht OF water lie looked at Barlow The
man eyes were burning but they had n cour.
age In them, and something else in their deptbs
which Tracy never before had seen Their. On
and on aud on. They could 20 no further. sind.
denly Barlow turned to Tracy anl said IN n voice
that was choked from tho cutchtng OF thIrsts
hand at his throat: Lieutenant | was afraid
that we mlgh' be tempcted TO drink this long
aso, 10 ! saved II Tor the last extremity. Lieu.
tenant, ! have one goot drink OF water .n,ooa
left In my canteen"