The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-05-29
A RESCUE
PARTY
By EVERETT p. CLARKE

Three men in plains cUStulne-furry
trousers, WOODEN shirts and SOmbreros-
sat about Il campfire smoking when 4
horse was seen in the distance saIlOp-
ing toward them. 1t grew larger till
its rider appeared. larger still till that
rider was seen to be IL girl, and ut last
they recognized little Incz. Il "grcaser'
girl about seventeen years old, " nose
father and mother kept Il place that
might be called anything from IA board.
ing house to II tavern by the roadside
several miles away.
"What's the matter, Inez!' all asked
ut once.
Jim
She tried to go IN. but failed.
"What about JimY'
"The vigilantes! They got him. He
shoot Colorado Pete"
"When will he swing!'
II dOn't know. lie whisper to me
before they take him away: Go tell
the boys. Ill try to keep them from
hanging me till tomorrow. l tell them
1 hHp mere IIt'IIICH IL.
The listeners looked at one another.
Then one Of them said to the rest:
"WOuldnt IA shot anybody unless he
had Il good reason. There's been 80
much gun play hereabOuts lately hat
the committee has likely determined to
make an example. and they've bounced
on Jim. We've got TO help him out
that L. ~ %I,nv .ln,,'t sl> LS.,, l,$n.. ,.-.
get there or are too many for us"
"Are you Jim's girl?" Inez was asked.
Yes
well. you'd better go with us. We
may need to use some stratageln, and
you may help us. Show the way"
h men mounted. and the girl, lead
ing. rode over a distance Of several
miles, when they came in sight Of q
bivOuac ahead. To avert any suspi-
ciOn that might arise Of their being q
rescue party they diverged. The sun
had set. and dusk was coming on. They
o to Il point between which and the
vigilante am rose a slight eminence.
where they would not be seen, and.
hating, the men dismOunted. Inez re-
manned on her horse.
what you going to dO?" one Of
them asked her.
"Fm going to see IL Jim is alive"
Better wait till after dark"
1t was with difficulty that they per
suaded her to wait. The twilight had
barely faded when she set of in the
direction Of the camp. When she came
near 1t she dismounted and, picketing
her horse. crawled on her hands and
knees till she came near enough to see
by the light Of the campfire four men.
They were moving about. evidently
preparing for a night bivOuac. On the
ground lay a figure. doubtless bound
hand and foot. which she felt sure was
their prisoner. Then she went back to
her horse and, mounting him. rode to
her friends.
"Jim is alive yet" she said. I'VE
can do It. There are just as many
as we"
Three"
NO: four
"Oh. o cOunt yourself as one"
I'VE can steal on their camp. make
a big noise and stampede them. Then
We cut Jim's cords. give him a gun,
and we all mount and run away"
See here. boys" said one Of the par
ty: IL don't like this interfering with
vigilantes. It's all right for the time
being. but all good citizens will turn
out TO hunt us down. We must find
some other way of working it."
Il tell you what I'll do" said Inez.
You men go camp near by the vigi-
lantes. | steal up close by Jim. You
have u play among yourselves. The
vigilantes think they are attacked. l
cut Jim's cords. give him a gun, and he
shoot some at nobody. then run away.
Nobody know you have anything to do
with It,"
Good girl! That's a fine plan."
In order to give the vigilantes time
to get to sleep-that IS. all but perhaps
one OF their number. who would be de-
tailed to watch the prisoner-they did
as IneZ suggested. 1t was agreed that
she was to crawl to within some fifty
feet Of her lover with n sharp knife and
two guns-One for herself, the other
for finland when she heard a shot
among the rescue party she was to
push forward to Jim. cut his cords
and hand him a gun. Having given
her time to do this-abOut a minute
they. would begin a fusillade among
themselves without intent to injure
II another.
Inez. crawling forward, was soon
lost in the darkness. That she might
have plenty of time they gave her
half, Al hour. Then one of them fred
the signal shot. After counting sixty
slowly he fired again, and two other
shots were fired in quick succession.
Rapid firing followed. the men mount
ing their horses at the same time.
Presently several shots were heard
in the direction of the vigilantes'
camp, and a few minutes later jim ap-
peared among his rescuers carrying
Inez. The others helped him to mount,
put Inez In his arms. and. still firing to
drown the sound OF their horses hOOfs.