The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1922-12-08

- "a AsAaa . =
apparently death.strlcken man.
The greeting between Mercedes and
Th0rne was strangely so, it
SEEMED ITO Gale. But me was now
calm himself. Ladd smiled at him,
and evidently would have spoken had
he the powerlH Yaqui then Joined the
group. and his piercing eyes roved
from one to the other, lingering long
est over Ladd.. Is.
Dick, Tn figger'n' hard" said Jim,
family. 'In' a minute it'll be up to
you an Mercedes. Tve about shot my
bolt. Reckon you'll do-best by
bringin' up blankets-water-s salt
firewood. Laddy's got-one chance
in a hundred. Fix him up-first. Use
hot salt water. If my legs broken
settiit best you can. That hole In
Yaquionly'll bother him a day.
Thorne's bad hurt. 0.a. /. Now rustic
Dick, old-hoy." Y
>Lash's voice died away in a husky
whisper, and he quietly lay back.
stretching out all but the crippled leg.
Gale examined it, assured himself the
bones had not been broken. and then
rose ready to 60 down the trail.
Mercedes, hold Thorne's head up,
in your lap-so. Now I'll 60"
On the moment Yaqui appeared to
have completed the binding Of his
wounded shoulder, and he started to
follow Gale. The descent to the ar
royo was swift and easy. Gale hasti.
put rogerner the things ne needed;
and, packing them all in tarpaulin,
he turned to retrace his steps up the
TRAIL. &C.
Darkness was setting in. The trail
was narrow. exceedingly steep, and IN
some places fronted on preeipices.
Gales burden was not very heavy, but
it's bulk made it unwieldy, and it was
always overbalancing him or knocking
against the wall side Of the trail. At
last they reached a level, and We're
soon on the spot with Mercedes and
the injured men. - es.. & ..-&ss
Gale then set to work. Yaqui's part
was tofkeep the fire blazing and the
water hot, Mercedes to help Gale in
what way she could. Gale found Ladd
had many wounds, vet not one of them
wass directly vin agvital place. Evi-
IDENTIFY, the ranger had almost bled to-
death. He remained /, unconscious
through Gales operations.
Jim Lash came out of his stupor. A
mushrooming bullet had torn a great
hole in his leg. Gale, upon examina-
tion, could not be sure the bones had
been missed, but E;there was no bad
break. The. application of hot salt
water made Jim groan.l ,, When he had
been bandaged and laid beside Ladd,
Gale went on; to the cayalryman. A
furrow had been splowed through his
scalp down to the bone. When it had
been Z? dressed, il Mercedes collapsed.
Gale laid herewith the three in row
and covered them with blankets and
the tarpaulfn. 80 >.55..7'',
;: Then Yaqui submitted to examina-,
tion. A bullet had gone through the
Indians shoulder. To Gale it appeared
serious. Yaqui said twas flea bite.
But he allowed Gale to bandage it.,
and obeyed when he, was told to lie
quiet, in his blanket beside the fire. e.,
Gale stood guard. The hour had
come for him to face his great prob
lem. 1t was natural that he hung back
little at first; natural that when he
went forward to- look at the quiet
sleepers he did so with grim and
stern force urging him. sYaqui stirred.
reused, yawned; got up; and, though
he did not smile at Gale, a light
shone swiftly across his dark face.
His shoulder dropped and appeared
stiff,. otherwise he was himself. Mer-
cedes lay in. deep slumber. Thorne
had a high fever, and was beginning
to show signs of restlessness. Ladd
seemed just barely alive. Jim Lash
slept as if he. was not much the
worse for his wound.
Gale awoke Mercedes. Swiftly she
sat up. - @.-.,...%
"Mercedes-come. Are you all right?
Laddy is alive. Thorne's not-not so
bad. But we've got job on our
hands. You must help me-" ~
She bent over Thorne and laid her
hands on his hot face. Then she rose
"a woman such as he had imagined
she might be in an hour of trial.
Gale took up Ladd as carefully and
~---------------