The Raymer enterprise., 1920-04-29

nut speak, I couhd only hold ner close
with my one hand.
"You are SUFFERING" she cried.
what can ! dot Is It this Indians
bodyr'
"Yes" / breathed, the effort Of
speaking an agony. HE lies directly
across my chest. dead weight"
1t taxed her strength to the utmost.
but, oh. the immediate relief! With
the drawing of full breath ! felt a
return of manhood. a revival Of life.
Another body pinned my limbs 10 the
floor. but this was more easily dis
posed Of. Then / managed TO lift my
self. but with the first attempt her
arm was about my shoulders.
NO; not alone-let me help you. Do
you really think you can stand? Why,
you are hurt. dear; this Is a knife
wound In your side. It looks ugly, but
Is not deep and bleeds no longer. Are
there other injuries?"
MY head rings. and this left arm
appears paralyzed. from blows. no
doubt; there are spots on my body
which feel like burns. No. am not In
bad shape. Now let me stand alone !;
that's better. Good God. what q
scene!"
The fire. by this time blazing bright.
~. gave us q full view Of the entire
dismantled interlo., The cabin was a
complete wreck. the roof practically
all gone and the upper logs Of the side
walls either fallen within or dangling
In threat. Clearly enough It had been
the sudden plunge Of heavy timbers
and the dislodgment of those upper
logs, which accounted for this havoc
of death. There were dead there
pierced BY bullets and Drained by rife
stocks. but the many had met their
fate under the avalanche OF logs, and
amid the burning glare Of exploding
powder.
Only between arched timbers and
sections Of fallen roof could we move
at all. and beneath the network Of
this entanglement the majority of the
bodies lay. crushed and mangled.
saw Kirby, free from his bonds, but
dead beneath heavy beam. His face
was toward us and the Kicker of flame
revealed dark spot on his forehead
his life had never been crushed out
by that plunging timber which pinned
him there; II had been ended by a bul.
let. My eyes sought hers. In swift
memory Of my last order. and she must
have read my thought.
no" she said, mot that. Steven.
It was the boy who shot him. Oh.
please. can we not go1 There is light
already In the sky overhead-see. Take
me away from here-anywhere. out.
side"
I'm a moment; all these surely are
dead, beyond our aid, and yet We
must not depart foodless. We know
not how far It still may be to Ottawa.
Wait. while search for the things we
need"
mot alone; I must be where / can
touch you. Try to understand. Oh.
you do not know those hours / have
spent In agony-I have died q thou.
sand deaths since that sun went
down."
"You were conscious-all night
longf"
Conscious? Yes, and unhurt, yet
prisoned helpless beneath those two
logs yonder. saved only by that over
turned bench. Elsie. poor thing, never
knew how death came, 1t was so swift,
but lay there. within a foot Of her
body unscratched. ! could think only
Of you, Steven. but with never dream
that you lived. There were groans at
first and cries. Some Indians crept
In through the door and dragged out a
few who lived. But with the coming
Of darkness all sound ceased and such
silence was even more dreadful than
the calls for help. Oh. / cannot tell
you." and she clung to me, her voice
breaking. IL dared not move for
hours, and then. when l did try, found
! could not; that I was held fast.
Only for knife In the hands of dead
savage, which l managed to secure,
! could never have freed m-self. And
oh, the unspeakable horror Of creeping
in the darkness among those bodiex
l knew where the fireplace must be !;
that there might be live Goals there
still. I had to have light; I had to
know II you were dead"
Don't think about 1t any more, dear
heart" ! urged. Eyes. we can 20 now
nothing else holds US here"
We crept out through the door, un-
derneath a mass of debris. into the
gray Of the dawn. Beyond little
grove we found some horses browsing
In the deep grass; they were those
that had brought Us from Yellow
Banks. and whinnied a greeting as we
drew near. Two Of them were at to
ride and the others followed, limping
along behind.
A half mile up the vallew we cane
to a beaten trail. running straight
across from bluff to bluff. and disap-
pearing into the prairie beyond. head.
ing directly toward the sunrise. We
stopped and looked back for the first