American Fork citizen. [volume] (American Fork, Utah) 1912-1979, 1920-01-17

10 'housh IL was an effort to
talk. quite evidently whatever little
intellect he had ever possessed. now
refused to respond. Kennedy broke I'm
impatiently.
Il 1T takes tibet boy bout IN hour fer
ter tell enythlng, Cap" he explained
grufiiy. Il reckon he's skeered half
Ter death In the furst place, an then
ihar's sumthin' wrong with him eny.
now Howsumever, It's whit he seed
an heerd, Cap. tibet sounds mighty
queer ter me. He ser thar wus more'n
nifty bucks In tibet party. an that OIL
Black Hawk wus thar hisself, a leadin'
em--he done saw him."
turned, surprised ut this statement,
TO stare into the boys face. He half
grinned back at me, vacantly.
Black Hawk! He could scarcely be
down here; what did he look iikeP"
Bout six feet high. I reckon, with
a big hooked nose. an the blackest
pair o mean eyes. ever We saw. I
reckon he didn't hav' no eyebrows. an
he wore bunch o. eagle feathers. an
red blanket. Gosh, mister, but the
devil cudn't look no worse'n he did"
"Wus tibet him. Cap?" burst in Tim,
anxiously.
IT'S not bad description" admit
ted. yet not convinced. IL can't be-
lieve he would be here with n ralding
party. IL he was, there must be some
important object In view. Is that all?"
mo, faint; the boy swears thar was
white man long with 'em. Teller
with short mustache. an dressed in
store clothes. He want no prisoner
nuther, but he'd gun. an talked ter
Black Hawk. most like he wus a chief
hisself After the KILN wus all over,
he wus the one whit got 'em ter 90 Off
thar 10 the south, the whole kit an
kaboodle."
81 don't doubt that. There have al
ways been white renegades among the
Sacs and plenty Of half-breeds. II
Black Hawk. and this other fellow are
leading this band, they are after big
game somewhere, and we had better
keep out of their way. I favor sad
ding up Immediately. and travelling all
night"
$50 do l." and Tim flung a hnlf-filled
bag from his shoulder to the ground.
But vote we eat furst. 'Taln't much,
only few scraps I found out thar;
but It's way better then nuthin'.
Here you, Hall, give me hand. an
then wen 20 out, an round up them
bosses"
If the party OF ralding Indians,
whose foul deed we had discovered.
had departed In a southerly direction.
as their trail would plainly seem to in
dlcate. then our safest course would
seemingly be directed eastward up the
valley. This would give us the pro-
lection OF the bluffs, and take us more
and more out OF the territory they
would be likely to cover. Within
twenty minutes we were In saddle. de-
scending the steep hillside through the
darkness. Tim walking ahead with the
lad, his horse trailing behind, and the
long rifle across his shoulder.
i do not recall feeling any special
fear. In the first place was convinced
that we must already be ut the ex-
IRENE limit of Black Hawks radius,
and that. travelling as we We're east
ward. must before morning be well be.
yond any possible danger OF falling
into the hands of his warriors. The
other pursuers l had practically dis.
missed from thought. Shortly after
midnight my horse strained "a tendon.
and could no longer uphold my weight
On foot. with the poor beast limping
painfully behind me, / pressed on be-
side Eloise. both OF us silent, too ut
terly wearied with the strain for any
attempt ut speech.
The rising sun topped the summit
Of the blum, It's red rays seeming to
bridge with spans of gossamer the lit
tie valley up which we toiled. had
lost my interest. and was walking dog
gedly on. with eyes bent upon the
ground. when the girl beside me cried
out suddenly. q new excitement In her
voice.
"Oh. there Is a cabinl See! Over
yonder; just beyond that big oak,
where the blum turns"
Her eager face was aglow, her out
stretched hand pointing eagerly.
TIE logs Of which the little building
had been constructed, still In their ma
tive bark. blended so perfectly with
the drab hillside beyond. that for the
moment none OF us caught the distant
outlines. Tim possessed the keenest
sight, and his voice was first to speak
"Sure. miss. thet's cabin. all right.
he said grlmly. Zone room. an new
built; likely 'nOugh SUN settler Just
com In yere. | don't see no move.
ment, ner smoke"
"Fled TO the nearest fort probably,
I replied, able myself by this time Ia
declpher the SPOT. "Be too risky to
stay out here alone. Wen look II
over; there might he food left behind
even If the people have gone"
We must have been half I'M hour In
covering the distance. The cabin stood
well up above the stream, within the
shade of the great oak. and we were
confirmed, long before we reached II