Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-07-04

! of course, by their absorption IN the
approaching quarry on their right
; front.
Something over an hour we held
J them at short range. the plain silent
/ as. the interstellar space above US
, save for the occasional shrill call Of a
coyote
| At last we heard low, whispering
murmufs in the north, that presently
, resolved themselves into the gfoans
of axles and creaks Of OK yoke bows.
On came the teams, drivers all un.
suspecting. no scout out ahead, like
men cropping blindly at deaths door.
And so, in fact, they were, fer every
last man Jack of them was certain TO
fall the moment they reached the
front of the Navajo's position. No
men ever strobe nearer death and
escaped it,. ,
/. On they. came. out of our sight but
easily located by this thump of OK feet
end the rattle of gear. Then when. ~
length. their lead team was nearly mp
to the head OF the Navaio's ambuscade,
forward we crept another ten yards
and rushed them Those Indians were
the most surprised bunch. ! reckon
since the whale eoughed up Jonah.
Our rifles ratified. and then it was in
apaong them with the pistols. 1t was
all over inside of FIVE minutes. their
survivors lost in the shadows of night.
One OF Fountains men got lance
through tbs shoulder. one of mine a
belt over the head with an empty
gun Tint was sl'--no dear price 10
nav for eleven scaips and the gear OF
thnjr weafsfs. lass 1
2 The 1ash,in.the-pan little action
ever 1t took nearly ten minutes OF
yelling to convince the freighters that
thew were sti'' safs en- the hithef side
Of ynrdan end eersrahe them to stop
the randar,. badly ratified fire they Lad
crened the moment the first gun
ror'.ed 2 81
All that saved us from injury At
their hands WIS that most Ct rs Wara
covered from their fire behind the
rocls throughout the affair.
OF course they were Pratified TOT
their delirerance. and profuse in their
thanks. We brought I'D onr horses.
had supner with the freighters and
canned there for the night. |
Dawn found us I'D and awav. back !
tracking the band on search for frag-
ments OF the mail. !
And talk of ryral delivery; that was
q fancy end impartial one those IN
dian counterfeit nostmen had made. |
Hardly sage brush or mud puddle for
miles that had not drawn at least one
letter out OF their shuttle. Few of the
letters were torn, The Indians had |
evidently omit opening them when they
found the little packets held nothing
but worthless hits Of paper scrawled
with incorlnrehensiblo signs.
But, euriouslv. all the illustrated pa
pers and ma gazines were torn to frag- !
ments. Their illustrations doubtless
had been mistaken for modification |
of the cruder style Of picture-writing |
the Indians themselves practiced. !
CHAPTER X.
An EventfuI Honeymoon.
It was late in my enlistment that
last met Fountain and had again the
privilege; of following him.
A few weeks earlier I had heard,
from the gossip OF two officers at
STABLES" that while detailed at Mes
lila on court martial he had met !
woman from Chihuahua at ball OF The !
local quality. whose first glance had !
served to hobble and stake him at her
tent door for all time. She had re-
turned his fiery attachment from the
first glance 1t was said !
And it was a prize. in every sense, |
that the Mesilla bell yielded the young |
lieutenant. For not only was she of !
the bluest blood of Chihuahua, but |
daughter of an old don whose cattle |
were numberless.
She was not one of your kittenish !
sort, the kind that purr themselves
hoarse when you pet them, but scratch /,
like furfes when by chance their fur is
rubbed bit the wrong way. Instead
she was one of the rare types, the only
type Of woman worth tying to, with
a character and temper; none of your |
forgivers-and-forget but the sort |
that can love as hard as they can hate. |
Fit mate was she for a fighting man /
like Fountain, Happy the destiny that
brought together two such indomitable
spirits.
Never dallier, the moment he could
obtain a leave OF absence from his
commanding officer, off for Chihuahua
our hot-foot lieutenant was whipping
and squirting, his mission there proba-
bly, the hardest he ever tackled.
Among Mexicans the memories were
still green of the then recent wars that
had stripped her of California and of
her immense territory extending
thence far to the east of the Rockies, +,
territory she had held for nearly three
centuries by right OF discovery and
conquest.
: The hatred OF Mexicans for Texans
in particular>and Americans in general
was never more bitter than when
Fountain crossed the Rio Grande and
rode south to win from her father his
sweetheart.
But, handy with his tongue as with
his arms, winning of way with men as
with women, he took the wall Of racial
hatred at full gallop, sweet aside all
opposition of the don and his family
and within a week of his arrival was
racing back to his post cuddling close
to his heart their consent and blessing.
A fortnight before our meeting, he
had been married at Chihuahua, a we'd
ding the old den made the talk OF the
STATE for wears