The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-04-16

dark in shadows, and slightly in adj
vance of US Kennedy rode alone, hope
full of thus dislOdging some wild ami
NAL / could see the CLEAN of the pts
tol in his hand, held in instant readi-
ness, cooked and primed. Suddenly he
drew rein, and then, turning his
horses head sharply, advanced eau.
tiously toward the miniature forest.
| leaning forward to gaze intently at
| something unseen from where we were.
He halted his horse, which paved rest
! leSSly, and sat mOtiOnleSS, staring
down into a little hollow Immediately
in front of him; then he turned in the
saddle, and beckoned me. s
Cum over yere, Cap" he called, his
voice sounding strange. mo, not the
gurls; you cum alone"
rode forward and joined him, only
to stare also, the heart within me al
most ceasing to beat, as | beheld the
gruesome sight so suddenly revealed,
There, within the confines of that lit
tie hollow, almost at the edge of the
wood, lay the dead and mutilated
bodies of eleven men, in every distort-
ed posture imaginable, some stripped
naked, and showing CHASTITY wounds
others fully clothed but with the cloth
hacked into rags. 1t had once been
camp, the black Goals of a fire still
visible, with one man lying across
them, his face burnt and unrecogniZa-
BILE. With the exception of one only
a mere boy, who lay few rods away,
as though brought down in fiight-the
entire group were together, almost
touching each other in death. Beyond
question they had been soldiers
militia volunteers-for while there was
only one uniform among them, they all
wore army belts, and service insignia
appeared on their hats. Tim vented
his. feelings in smothered oath.
Militia, by Godw he muttereo
gruffiy. "No guard set; the bloody
Injuns jumped 'em frum out them
woods. Those poor devils never he'd
no chanel. Amt tibet it, Cap?"
mo doubt of it; the whole story is
there. None of them alive"
II reckon not-cudn't be, hacked up
like thet, an most o. 'em skelped |
Them reds never left a d. gun be.
hind neither. Why, say, this affair
must took place this yere very
maunin', bout breakfast time"
He stood up in his stirrups, and
swept his eyes anxiously about in
every direction.
"Good Lord! maybe we better be
gittin' long out o. yere right smart.
Thar amt nuthin' ter stay fer; we
can't help them men none, an only the
devil knows whar them Injuns hav'
gone. Yer git the gurls away afore
they see whut's yere-down yonder,
inter the valley"
] took one more glance at the sight,
fascinated by its very horror, then
my terrified horse, and rode
back. Heartless as his words sounded,
they were nevertheless true. We could
be of no aid to the dead, while upon
us yet rested the duty of guarding the
living. The young negress lifted her
head, and gazed at me duly, so thor
1ughly tired as to be Indifferent as to
what had occurred; but Eloise read in
;tantly the message of my face.
"You have looked upon something
.errible," she cried. "What was it, a
lead body?"
ELEVEN dead bodies" I answered
my lips trembling. "A squad
# militiamen were surprised by In
lians over there, and slaughtered to a
nan, apparently with no chance to
ven defend themselves. / have never
cen a more terrible sight"
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Rad luck occasionally happeus to ha