The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-04-23

= sit takes tibet boy bout an hour fl
ter tell enything, Cap" he explaine
F; gruff1y. II reckon he's skeered hal
ter death in the furst place, an the
thar's sumthin' wrong with him en-
how. Howsumever it's whut he see
an heerd, Cap, tibet sounds might
, queer ter me. He SEE thar wus more
fifty bucks in tibet party, an that o.
Black Hawk wus thar hisself, a leadin
'em-he done saw him."
turned, surprised at this statement
to stare into the boys face. He hal
grinned back at me, vacantly.
"Black Hawk He could scarcely b.
down here; what did he look like?"
"'Bout six feet high, 1 reckon, will
a big hooked nose, an the blackes
pair o. mean eyes ever We saw.
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.
Its not bad description" / admit
ted, yet not convinced. 81 can't be-
lieve he would be here with raiding
party. If he was, there must be some
important object in view. Is that all?'
'No, faint; the boy swears thar was
white man long with 'em, a Teller
with short mustache, an dressed in
store clothes. He want no prisoner
nuther. but he'd a 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 go off
thar to 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. If
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. l favor sad
ding up Immediately, and travelling all
night"
$50 do l." and Tim flung half-filled
bag from his shoulder to the ground.
"But vote we eat furst. 'Tain't much.
only a few scraps l found out thar;
but it's a way better then nuthin'.
Here you, Hall, give me hand, an
then Wen go out, an round up them
hosses"
If the party of raiding Indians,
whose foul deed we had discovered,
had departed in a sOutherly direction,
as their trail would plainly seem to in
dictate, 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.
l do not recall feeling any special |
fear. In the first place | was convinced |
that we must already be at the ex-
IRENE limit of Black Hawks radius, |
and that, travelling as we were 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,
anG could no longer uphold my weight.
On foot, with the poor beast limping
behind me, l pressed on be-
hnf Of nc I1f-
rerly wearied with the strain for any
attempt at speech.
The rising sun topped the summit
IF the bluff, its red RAYS seeming to
bridge with spans of gossamer the lit
lie valley up which we toiled. / had
ost my interest, and was walking dog
sedly on, with eyes bent upon the
ground, when the girl beside me cried
)ut suddenly, a new excitement in her
roice.
ooh, there is cabin! Seel Over
IOnder; just beyond that big oak,
where the bluff turns"
Her eager face was aglow, her out
stretched hand pointing eagerly.
The logs of which the little building
lad been constructed, still in their ma
i've bark, blended so perfectly with
he drab hillside beyond, that for the
none of us caught the distant
Tim possessed the keenest
sight, and his voice was first to speak.
Sure, miss, thet's a cabin, all right"
ne said grimly. zone room, an new
Duilt; likely 'nough sum settler just
,om in we're. l don't see no move
nent, ner smoke
FILED to the nearest fort probably"
replied, able myself by this time TO
lecipher the spot. BE too risky to
',ay out here alone. Wen look it
'ver; there might be food left behind.
wen if the people have gone" Il
We must have been half an hour in (
covering the distance. The cabin stood ,
veil up above the stream, within the
shade of the great oak, and we were .
Confirmed, long before we reached it,
n our former judgment that it was
No sign of life was visi-
lie about the place; it had the APP
of desertiOn, no smoke even
urllng from out the chimney A faint
rail pui1antIxy