The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1917-06-29

IN v0A nandl.ax or rye alruirs, uul.
their country had neede1 them, too.
and, true Americans, all Of them, they
had upf''nchingly gone forward to
avenge the wrongs that had been done
to American men, women sand chill
dren on the border. Instead, they
had given their lives. But, out there
In Diablo Pass, In the stiffness Of the
night. surrounded by the dead, the Ma
jor made a solemn vow that the death
OF every q OF his troopers would be
avenged. Lopez would pay for this
days work, with his miserable life,
and, unless the inevitable hand of
fate prevented him, the Major would
collect the debt and see to 1t that he
was paid In full.
These thoughts and the dishearten-
ing spectacle before him, together with
his wounds and long period Of fasting,
seemed to %unbalancc the mind of the
brave man. He managed to pull him
self out Of the pit dug for him by his
men and staggered to one of the bod
les. He stopped and taking the can
teen from the poor fellow, quenched
his thirst. It refreshed him. But it
did not ease his puzzled and tired
brain. His wound panied him, and he
was conscious Of q peculiar feeling In
his head. Strange objects seemed to
appear before his gaze. They came
quickly and departed as suddenly. Mys-
ferrous visions seemed to haunt him,
as he stood there helpless and alone.
It must be a sickness. Perhaps it was
the fever. He had seen thousands of
soldiers afflicted with this dreadful dis
ease; he had see hundreds die with
1t. Just then, he would have well
coined anything that would have re-
lieved him from his pain.
For some time he stood there won
dering In which direction to go. He
knew the canyon; for had he not led
his troops to this very spot? But, his
memory slowly failed him, and, though
he racked his poor fevered brain he
was at q loss to know which way
to turn. Finally, dazed and delirious,
he wandered aimlessly into the desert.
The poor slave Pedro, who had been
dragged to the torture chamber by
the Mexicans, had been tortured al.
most to the point of death. One of
the guards pressed a button, which re-
leased n Of the huge blocks in the
wall. They picked up his body and
threw it through the aperture. 1t
struck a large opening, and then slid
down between the walls into q pool in
an underground chamber. It was the
room where Liberty was being held
prisoner, and, just as Pedro's body
struck the water, she was about to
scoop up some Of the water to Quench
her terrible thirst.
As the dark object struck the wa.
ter she drew back in terror. Then, as
1t rose to the surface, she was startled
as she recognized the slave. He was
too injured to try to save himself,
and Liberty rushed tO his aid and
dragged him out Of the pool, and as
sisted him to his feet. But, the next
instant he fell in a heap on the ground.
During this time, Kutledge and his
comrades were out in the desert,
searching for some signs Of Winston's
troops. The insurrectos had been
completely fooled by the rangers. and
It was some time after Bob and his
companions escaped before they real.
lied the futility Of their fire. At first
the Mexicans believed they had wiped
out the remainder of Rutledge's men,
for their shots were not returned from
the mission. Finally one Of their
number was sent out to investigate.
He approached the ruins under cover
Of the Mexican volley. and, as he
neared the spot he dropped on his
hands and knees and crawled cautious
" up. Slowly he raised his head
above the ruined walls. It was q des-
perate move, and he was taking a big
chance Of having his head blown to
pieces. But. as he peercd over the
top all was silent within, for. all that
he saw was the bodies Of the dead
rangers, and Rutledge was not among
them.
He hastily returned to his compan-
ions and informed them Of the way
In which they had been bafled by the
Americans. They were enraged and
the order al given Immediately to
start In pursuit. After searching for
several hours for Bob and his men
the insurrectos gave It up and returned
to join Lopez and his band.
The morning Of the fourth day
found the Major still staggering on. his
body wrecked and his mind shattered.
His canteen "a empty, and In the
frantic efforts to find water he fell on
the sands and began to dig with his
naked fingers. Sinking coyotes how.
cred about, while overhead the ever.
watchful buzzards clrcled. Finally
from sheer exhaustion he stretched un.
conscious where he fell. There he lay,
impotent against the carrion-hunting
creatures Of land and air, which gazed
with hungry eyes at his PROSTATE