The Oklahoma miner. [volume] (Krebs, Okla.) 1912-192?, 1920-05-20

All pbOut was lUUonrlihbI' U'"'
and the pllcncc ~ the grave. I"uh'.
,pvs,lf uuublo to move my b""y nu'
vb,p dcppcrntoly attempted 10 u"
%, oven the slightest motion br'ukh'
,,,, hccnmc conscious also of
weight crushing down upon me- un'
s,inlng my brcnth. one Of my nIIn'
WINS free; could move II nboul "l'''"
nnrrow limits. although IT n'hc" Il,
from n serious hurn. By us" "i u
endenvorcd through the black dhrhh'H'
IN Ioprp the uuture Of That heavy oD-
iect living ncross my chest frrIlhR IT,
II cautiously. My fingers tou'h'u ,o'i'
dend flesh. from cOntnct with "hl'h
they shrunk In horror, only 10 eh
counter strand Of cOnrse hnlr. Inc
frs, terror of this discovery was over
whelmng yet ! pcrscvcred, snuSiyIhs
myself that II WINS the hnlf-nakcd body
of nm Indiana very giant Of fellow
which lay stretched across me- an
immoyublc weight. Something else
perhaps another dcnd man, held my
feet as though IN wise, and when
ventured 20 extend my one free arm
grOplngly 20 one side, the fingers en-
countered n moccusined foot. Scarcely
daring 10 breathe, ! lay staring up
ward and, far above, looking out
through whut might be a Jagged, over
| hanging mass Of tlmbers, although
scarcely dlsccrnible, my eyes caught
| the silver glimmer Of star.
was alive-alivel Whatever had
occurred IN that fateful second to de-
feet that murderous tOmahawk, ITS
keen edge had failed to reach me. And
what had occurred? Then 1t was that
the probable truth came to me-that
| fash and roar; that last impression
! imprinted on my brain before utter
darkness descended upon me, must
have meant an explosion, an upheaval
shatterlng the cabin, bringing the roof
down upon the struggling mob within.
! the heavy timbers crushing out their
lives. And the causel But one was
! pOssible-the half-keg Of blasting
powder Kennedy had placed in the cor
ner as a last resort. Had Tim reached
II In flnal mad effort to destroy, or
had some accidental flame wrought
the terrible destruction7 Perhaps no
one could ever answer that-but was
there alone, the sole SURVIVOR Had
those others Of our little party died
amid their Indian enemies, and were
they lying now somewhere in this
darkness, crushed and mangled In the
midst of the debris?
Kennedy, Elsie Clark, the half.
witted boy Asa Hall-their faces
seemed to stare at me out Of the black
ness. They must be dead Why. had
seen Kennedy fall, the Needless feet
crunChing his face, and Asa Hal
tossed into the air and shot at as he
fell. ElOise ElOise l covered my
eyes with the free hand, conscious thai
was crying like Child-Eloise. My
God, ElOise! l wonder If l tainted;
knew so little after that; so little, e1
cept that I suffered heiplessly. If
did not faint, then I must have beer
upon the verge of insanity, for ther,
was a time-God knows how long
when all was blank.
Some slight, scarcely distinguished,
noise aroused me. Yes, 1t was actual,
a sound. as though someone moved Il
the roOm-moved stealthily, as thOugl
upon hands and knees, seeking a pas
sage in the darkness. l imagined
could distinguish breathing. Who, wha
could 1t be? A man; a prowllng will,
animal which had scented blood? Blu
for my dry, parched lips l would hav
cried out-yet even with the val
endeavor, doubt Silenced me. VIII
could be there-who? Some sneakinG
cowardly thief; some despoiler Of th
dead2 Some Indian returned throug
the night to take his toll Of sCalps
hoping to thus proclaim himself
mighty warrior? More likely enem
than friend. 1t was better that l II
and suffer than appeal to such a fen
for mercy.
The slight sound shifted to the rIgh
Of where 1 lay, no longer remlndn
me of the slow progress OF mOvln
body, but rather rs though someon
were attempting bllndly to scrape t
gether ashes in the fireplace. presse
my one free hand beneath my necl
and thus. by an effort, lifted myse
so as to see more clearly beyond tn
shoulder of fine dead Indian. The fr,
tiny, flickering spark of fire had caugl
the dry wood and was swiftly burstln
into flame. In another moment th
had illumined that STOPPING figure, nm
rested In a blaze Of light upon III
lowered face, bringing out the feature
= as though they were framed ngnini
the hlnck Wnll hnNnnn-n runrnnn m