Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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^ : * lewis m. grist, proprietor.! fin Jndppfiulcnt Jamils ^mspappr: Jin; the promotion of this political, Social, g.jrjrultural and Ofomm?;tial Jnitrests of the j&raflt. |TERMS?$2.00 A TEAR Df ADVANCE. VOL. 38. YORKVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1893. NO. 38. " J J*1" " ' *" oiAnninof at nntmno arntru'i i . , ? , . mi u n? | ppinpurrw df fifty years A SOLDIER'; ???- ?? BY CAPT. CHAR] Copyright, 1892, by J. B. Lippinoott eon inent wil "Aim tt'cU, me^but fire lively." Before quitting this ambulance and its precious freight Ellis had made such examination of the neighborhood as was possible in the thick darkness, and dis covered that they were close to the edge ' of a narrow, winding ravine with abruptly toping banks, and it was in here - that those sagacious mules had sought shffltet flfam the force of the blast. The ambulance was standing on a veritable ridge, expdsed to the full fury of the 1 gale, the slope to the rapid running Wolf'jdst iu front, the ravine to the right- rear. Shouting to the ladies to fear nothing, he had no difficulty, when - aided' by ^-the driver, in starting the wheels, and the instant the vehicle was - partially turned into tho track of the storm-it was blown backward down into "the-eoft bed of snow, already thick and -deep. Sere, under the lee of the banks, - the stout wagon was comparatively sheltered, for the top of the canvas cover was just a trifle below the general level of the prairie. The mules, startled from their fancied security by the rattle of wheels and canvas as the ambulance was run down the slope into theirmidst, seised with one of their unaccountable panics tore blindly away up the farther bank and out upon the storm swept ldvel beyond. Then in the whirling cloud of snow Ellis had remounted, shouted again a ' few encouraging' words to the ladies ' within, assuring them he and his sturdy * troop horse would have no difficulty in reaching'camp and bringing aid, urging them meantime to keep snugly bundled in their robes, and .with Mrs. Berrien's brave voice and cheery "God speed you, ' sergeant!** ringing in hds ears, he rode ' gallantly away, forded the shallow * stream at the mouth of the coulee and their, facing the gale, sparred forth npon his perilous mission. The driver and the already somnolent Pete, with what was left of the contents of the depleted flask, crawled into the snowbed beneath the wagon body, rolled themselves into' * their joint stock of robes and blankets and prepared to spend a comfortable night. It was an old story to both. ' I But, despite all the driverVefforts on the way, the gale had forced them far to the right of the main road and those ~ which paralleled it,' the only ones at all fanltiM1 to the Twelfth, and when - Brewster and his little squad reached ' the ford, along toward twoo'clock in the ; % morning, they- sought in vain in every i - ravine and break?shouted, fired their carbines and sounded their trumpet, all to no purpose. Not an answering cry rewarded their efforts. From Ellis' description Brewster knew that the ladies were so muffled in furs that within their v canvas'shelter they could hardly suffer greatly from the cold. He was assured I that the driver and Pete were with them, also well provided with robes and blankets, and that they were in no immediate danger of freezing; but he could not bear the thought of the long, weary waitings the dread anxiety, the dark- j ness. the isolation in all that howling j wilderness? He could picture Winifred nestled in her mother's arms, wondering, wondering, as the hoars dragged by, when, if ever, human aid would come to their relief. At four o'clock he and his party had searched and scouted for half a dozen miles up and down the valley. Some of his beet and slanclicst men were giving out, and these, v. ii.'i Servant Brooks, he ordered to push along with the gale and seek neiws and shelter at the station. Three others he posted near the main crossing of the Wolf, under tLe lee of a little bluff, where they and their horses speedily stamped a hole in the snowdrifts around the hospital ambulance and huddled for warmth?fires they could not light, even had there been a vestige of fuel?and then, with three undaunted campaigners at his back, he ' had once again turned down stream, following its wanderings in the darkness and feeling for ravines he could not see along the southern -bonk. Time and again they dismounted and ran beside their horses to restore circulation to the i numbed and stiffened feet and fingers. Time and again they plnnged waist deep into drifts and the horses floundered to their girths in the powdery snow. ! At last Brewster noted that here and there far in the northwestern skies the stars were beginning to peep; the clouds were driving away, the dawn was nigh, -the hurricane abating. Broader and brighter .the daylight stole over the storm swept prairie, streaked here and i there with fleecy, winding veins, and' when at last the sun arose in its un clouded splendor the gale had died away to a mere ghost of its furious self, and they rubbed the icy fringe from their - " battered eyelids and gazed long and wistfully, up Mid down that shallow, i winding valley, all heaped and tumbled with the driven snow, and saw not' a sign of those whom they had rushed to save. Vouor fnr an instant did Brewster re- i lax his efforts. Giving each of his men a pall at the flask, he selected little: Murphy as aboat the most compact and certainly the lightest of the trio, and , bade him make bis yay to camp and tell the colonel that up to sunrise no vestige of the lost ones had been found, and suggest that additional parties be I sent out at once. J "Tell somebody to bring my field glass," he added, as Murphy was about to ride away. "If I had dreamed we would have found nothing of the ambulance until this time, I never should have left it. Good lock to you now, - corporal. Hide as lively as you can." Murphy turned promptly away, spurred his unwilling horse through the ice into the black and racing waters of the Wolf and was presently following a lit-' tie break in the north side which led by a more gradual ascent to the prairie be? yond. "Now, men, oue of you ride back toward the party at the ford, poke into every ravine to your left?they're all full of snow; it may be the ambnlance is so - deep in-the drift they could hear no o^nrul 11 vnii find anvthincr. the faiut est trace, ride up on the prairie and circle your horse to the left. Morse, you come with me." "Beg pardon, lieutenant, I think Mur?phy see's something now," said Morse, j indicating the farther shore with a nod i of his fur covered head. Whirling eagerly about, Brewster was surprised to sec j his little Irishman, a hundred yards or so away, crouching low on his horse's back, still in the ravine and up to his girth in snow, and peering cautiously j eastward, his eyes just level with the , bank. Then he was plainly seen to sig-' nal. In an instant Brewster and his men were plunging into the rapid stream. 8 SECRET." LES KING, IT. S. A. many and published by special arrangetli them. crushing the ice that skirted the shores and bounding out upon the frozen ground beyond. Again Murphy held forth a hand?a warning gesture, not a a beckoning one. "Keep down, keep down," he signaled, and wondering, the little party of troopers cautiously followed into the ravine. "What do you see?" queried Brewster, eager and agitated. "Upon my soul, sir. I wish 1 knew; but it's more like Indians than anything I can think of." "Indians? where, away?" And with a wild fear at heart Brewster gazed over the bank in the direction indicated. Indians, and coming this way. sir, or I'm a tenderfoot," muttered Morse, a man who had served in the Twelfth ior many a yea' "What op earth can they. htMloing so far south of the agency? xou dorxt hint nnv nf the hostiles have eot down this way?' "They're all hoetiles, sir, when there's only three or four ag'in them. It don't matter whether these are from the agency or tho Bad Lands now, if they can catch a white man a-napping, and something has bronght them out here." "My God, man! you don't suppose they've heard of the ambulance?" "They hear things quicker than we do, lieutenant. Day or night, calm or storm, those fellows can all around beat us in getting news." "And they are coming from the northeast, lieutenant," chimed in Murphy. "That means if they are from the villages near the agency they've circled j around our people." Breathless the little party watched the coming dots. The stream bore to the northeast after a deep bend about half a mile away, and on the farther bank, moving nearly parallel with the valley, atout a dozen dark objects could be seen moving at rapid lope, the springing, tire- | less gait of the Indian pony. Ponies they were unquestionably, and each with his rider. Every moment brought them nearer and nearer, until, as they spread out in extended order across the level surface, it was possible to count their number, eleven; possible to note that every now and theu some one of the number in front or on the flanks would rein in suddenly and circle around and stop, as though examining tracks upon the prairie. , "It is not possible, the ambulance can { have got so far over as that/' muttered Brewster. "It is not possible that they ! can have heard of it in all that fearful ! storm. Why, Morse, it's madness to 1 think of it!" "I don't know how far the team may 1 have been driven out that way, sir, but the blizzard came from the northwest, from tbeir leit rront; it Deat across tueir Jiath all tbe way and mules won't face t, and if it isn't tbe ambulance they're after, what can it be?" "My God, if we only knew where it was!" groaned Brewster. "Come what may, men, we've got to stand 'twixt it and those scoundrels. Here, Murphy, lively now, slip back down into the valley and ride for all you're worth to the ford and bring those fellows back with you, every man of them. Tell them to keep under the bank and ride like hell. Off with you, now." And this time there was no recall; Murphy was out of sight In a flash. Nearer and nearer rode the savage horsemen, now about a mile a 'ay. Already Morse and his silent coin ude had swung their carbines out of leir leathern buckets, thrust a cartridj. > in the chamber and loosened others in the woven thimbles. Brewster never for an instant ouit his traze. but his hand had stolen batek and loosed the flap o( the holster at his hip. The movements of - the Indians had puzzled him; they were riding not as though moving on rome point already determined, but rather as if searching, feeling their way. Every now and then, too, some of their nnm- t ber cantered to the edge of the bank and seemed to scrutinize the valley. "Snowdrifts are too deep and plentiful in there, around that bend, sir. That's why they're up on the prairie." Brewster's heart seemed almost to Btand still. All on a sudden the lenders swerved; the blanketed riders couM be seen bending low and over as they swung their nimble steeds in circle to the right. And then, then, an instant more, aiid, tossing the powdery snow all in a fleecy white cloud, there came tearing up out of th^ depths of Borne unseen coulee a lively herd of Indian ponies rejoicing in their unwonted freedom and determined not to be herded back to slavery without a struggle. It was hard to repress the shout of joy that sprang to the soldiers' lips. Then it wasn't the ambulance after all; nothing but this frolicsome band of riiscals that, after breaking away from the Indian boys the evening before, had doubtlooo ViaLon driven hefnro the cale. de manding the sending forth of quite a party of the yonng men in search, even before the storm had fully abated. For a moment the troopers forgot their mission as they watched the chase. # Fresh and unhampered by weight of any kind the scurrying band came sweeping along the edge of the distant bluff, following an active, mischievous leader and', leaving their jaded pursuers far behind. The Indian knows too much to chase a running horse; he leaves him to his own devices, well knowing he will more quickly stop when unpursued and can then more readily be headed off and turned back to the ways he should go. On came the nimble herd full tilt toward the elbow in the shallow valley, where a broad white 6treak told of deep drifted snow, and there the leader veered to the left and south and would doubtless, have stretched away at racing speed on that course but for one young warrior on a dun colored pony, who with the sj-eed of the wind came darting out across the level surface beyond, gamely, skillfully heading him. Around went the leader once more in a wide circle westward, around the southernmost edge of the fleecy drift, and then, with thundering 1 ? ?-U OOOIS, UltJ WXIU1U UUVJ) ncii? away to the west without a living soul to interpose between them and the bald, rolling heights at the far horizon, miles and miles away. "Go it, pony! I'm glad to see a redskin done for once!" was Morse's jubilant shout. And then, suddenly and sharp, "Good God! What's that, Lieutenant? Look!" Not six hundred yards away, now, the little band of ponies, following their spirited leader, had suddenly halted at the very edge of some dip or sink in the prairie that lay to the southeast of the 6nowy rift in which the troopers were crouching, still hidden, they and their Viorsos from fVifl KtiRrn ovv>? of the irhafi ing Indians. Then as suddenly, tossing high their scraggy manes, as though with one accord, the nimble brutes whirled to the south, their leader indulging in a fine flourish of heels as he - sped away. And now Morse lay against the bank pointing eagerly to a couple of black objects startlingly outlined on the glistening white of the snow, two objects that came plunging up from the invisible depths of the hollow, struggling breast deep in the drifts, and at last reached the edge of the prairie, and, followed instantly by another couple, with their long ears erect, with outstretched neck and eager brayings, clattered away in pursuit of the herd. Brewster know them at a glance?Sterrett's ambulance mules. Indeed, the broken polo was still dangling between the two in rear and bounding with them over the frozen turf. And that swerve, tint sudden halt and ! turn to the south end, had cost the band their liberty. Darting along abreast of them, but nearly half a mile away to the south, the warrior on the dun colored pony had shot far out beyond them, and now, sweeping around in a wide circle to his right, rode between them and the broad wastes to the west. Two other InI dians were circling in their front, bar} ring the way to the low hills to the south. Others still, straggling far out eastward, reined up so aS not to interfere with the "rounding" of the herd, and in a moment or two more these thr? experts had turned their runaway property in wide sweep back into the shining track of the sun, and in a very , few minutes the matter was settled; the ponies were sulkily trotting along the J bank beyond the bend, headed for home ! and hard work again, with the ainbu! lance mules braying at their heels. Here the younger Indians, the boys, took charge, and from the distant slopes, from south and east and from the prairie to the west, the others came cantering toward that sharp angle half a mile away and gathered in eager consultation about one who seemed to be their leader. All this, and much more, Brewster , and his men were watching with bound! ing pulses, in breathless excitement, Brewster with feelings of mingled hope j and despair. Now he knew that the ambulance must be somewhere near at hand, possibly up that long ravine on the south side that slanted in from the prairie not a hundred yards away below them. Surely the banks looked as though there were a good ford at that point, j Might not that be the very one of which Ellis spoke? Now, if it were but possible to drop back out of the drifts in which they were hiding and recross the stream, they might yet creep unobserved into the mouth of that gully and feel their way afoot until, somewhere in the snow, they came upon, as he now felt sure they must, the stormbound wagon with its precious contents. From their crouching place it was impossible to 6ee across the ridge that separated them from the ravine referred to; but to the southeast the prairie lay before them, and the keenest eye could detect no sign of hollow between that which lay so near them and that from which those vagabond mules had emerged far out upon the plain. Somehow Brewster felt certain that noyv at last he was actually within pistol shot of the ambulance, within speaking distance, almost, of the girl he so fondly loved, whose very life at this instant depended not only on his courage, but also on his judgment. One false move would ruin all. " A% r-- 3' 1 1 a.1 bo long as me inaians Kepi up men powwow at the bead, so long was Winifred safe. The longer they delayed the nearer would it bring Murphy and the men from the main crossing three miles away up stream. Then, she to six, he could laugh at the Sioux. But any one who knew Indians at all knew that the discovery of the mules would only set them to work to find the snow camp from which the animals had broken away. Aye, even as these things flashed I through his mind, Brewster could see ! that they were signaling "halt" to the herd guard, and.that two of the youngsters were lashing their ponies out in front of the band and gradually bringing it to a standstill. Almost at the same moment, too, those in consultation separated, three riding swiftly after the herd, while the other three, slowly and cautiously, began to advance toward the hollow whence the mules had emerged. Evidently they expected to find the white man's wagon there. "Now is your time, men," muttered Brewster. "Quick! Off with your side lines and double them about your horses' fore feet so that they can't even hobble out of the drift. Keep them here. Take your lariat and hopple my horse, one of you. Throw him if need be. I'll watch those beggars down stream. Ah, I thought so," he muttered, "they've grabbed the mules and are examining the harness; that will tell them easily enough they were cut loose after breaking the pole. Quick, men! throw snow by the bushel all over your horses. Roll | in it yourselves. Get all the white on you can; then run down the gully as ; soon as you have your horses hidden . and watch for my signal. The moment I say go, bend double and scamper to the ice yonder, then make for the bluffs. Til follow instantly." Meekly the two troop horses, after having been led to a deeper point down the coulee, bent their heads and submitted to the lashing together of their i Proufafnr'o 4iT^lay?lr .Toolrw IUIV lUUbI UUV *>4V nuw? D VUVM was of different mold. He would not yield. "Over with him, Morse. No time to lose now. Lash him tight or he'll break away," called Brewster. And poor Jack's plunging availed him nothing. A moment more, with a dismal groan he was on his side in the soft, cold bed, the lariat wus being lashed and knotted so that even furious struggles could not free him, and then, to add to the indignity, his erstwhile friends and comrades were heaping new insult and a storm of snow upon him. Jack couldn't understand it. "Ready, men! They're just peeping I over in the hollow now. The moment i they're fairly in it, I give the word." Twenty?thirty seconds of breathless silence. Then a quick gesture; a quick, low toned, but imperative "Go!" Go they did, skimming: over the pool above the rapids, leapmg the narrow , chasm where the black waters, dancing and frothing, had defied the ice king; ducking under the opposite bank; car: bines in hand, revolvers at the hip, car! tridges gleaming in every belt; and after j them, leaping, yet bending low, went ' Brewster. Another moment and they reached the mouth of the ravine, burst | through the powdery drift, and then, i Brewster leading, eyes everywhere, almost on all fours, they scurried along half way up the opposite slope, keeping j well under the crest and just at the edge of the deep drifts to their right. Fiftysixty yards they made their rapid way, 1 on/1 fVionnrmm/1 ft Utile bend and ainonir great heaps and mounds of glistening, i shimmering white there rose an oduI shaped heap, only a trifle higher than its fellows, and from the midst of it there projected a dingy, whity-brown canvas, slanting to the north, and with ! a cry of delight half stifled in his lips Carroll Brewster leaped into the snow, i floundered to his armpits in the powdery drift, and in a moment more had forced j his way through the fragile white wall before him, had seized the handle of the door and Winifred Berrien, starting from ; her mother's clasping arms, blinded for an instant by the glare of radiant sunshine, barely able as yet to rally from the stupor like slumber into which she had fallen, heard her name called in the joyi ous tones she knew so well and 6aw her lover, a stalwart, glowing, rejoicing ! young snow god, all sparkling with the white crystals, all glistening in the glorious beams, gazing upon her with a love light in his brave blue eyes that ! brought instant glow to her own wan and pallid cheek. And then, l>efore she | could even speak, before her mother could emerge from the enfolding robes, a shout was heard, then the sudden ring I of a rifle shot, followed instantly by another, the spat us of a whiplush on the j canvas top. Something tore its way through the roof and front with spiteful "zip." "Down! down upon the floor! both of you, quick!" shouted Brewster, as ho j slammed the door, and the next instant I they heard the order in his ringing tones, half stifled in the snow, i "Fire, men! Keep 'em off! Fire!" They heard the quick bang! hang! of carbines close at hand, the prompt response of rifles distant as were the first, the whistle of lead through the icy air, | the shrill yells of battling Indians, the furious gallop of bounding hoofs. Everywhere to their front tho rapid fire ini creased. More yells, partly of triumph, partly summoning additional warribi to the spot, then the muffled beat c coming hoofs, and in the inidst of it ai Brewster's stem voice, calm and steadj "Aim well, men, but fire lively. Don let them again get so close as to have shot at the wagon. Watch that abov i all." Two?three minutes the sound c battle raged about them,increasing at th front. A soldier voice was heard to saj "There's more of them coming, 6ir. Yo i can see them down there to the east. I And Mrs. Berrien's heart grew fair with fear. Winifred had buried he face upon her breast and closed her eai I to the horrid sounds. And then, all o I a sudden, the yells of the charging Ir I dians seemed to grow fainter, the sounds of dismay arose among then then the cries were drowned ia the clai ter of ironshod hoofs and the chorus c soldier cheers. Murphy and his littl squad came whirling up the bank, an ! Mrs. Berrien's heart poured forth i j praise and thanksgiving at the joy or { Milesian hail: "To hell wid 'em, fellers! Sure all ] i throop's comin?not two miles behind! CHAPTER XIII. / z-~.? -\\ "Oh, God! My little ones!" There was silence and anxiety in th ! long range of winter camps about th ! agency. The Twelfth were gone, nc body knew just where; but over to th north, over toward those frowning "Ba Lands"?all the more wild and treachei ous now that the snow had filled ever rift and crevice, for the jagged surfac was one mass of pitfalls?other batta i ions of horse were also gone, and th vigilant watch over those Indians sti : clustering about their old haunts in th ! valley was redoubled. The heavier gun of the field battery commanded th smoky lodges, the lighter pieces wer away with the cavalry. The infantrj muffled to their eyebrows, manned th . rifle pits and guard line and threw thei sheltering wings over the deserte ; camps. For good or for ill, the crisi was at hand. Whatsoever doubt ha existed as to the almost universal hoi I tility of the Sioux was banished by th I events of the preceding week. The ai i tempted ambush of Sergeant Ellis, c Berrien's advance guard, the attac i upon the scouts and couriers at the Poi j cupine, and, lastly, the affair at th i Wolf, in which Brewster a second tim | had gained distinction, all pointed ur | erringly to one conclusion: whatsoeve I might be their assurances to official I high in rank, to agents whose powe ! would be at end were war to ensue, t ! self constituted framers of public opir i ion, every 6oldier on the spot knew, an well knew, that the Indians would b peaceable only in presence of a formida ble force of bluecoats, but that nothin, but ambush and massaere awaited th whites who ventured forth unguarded Up to this moment, however, of all thos gathered at the scene the only troop * * * ' - " "? J * - "l-i li.L J.X. which naa. naa actual common wnu m Sioux were of Berrien's battalion. Far away south at the Pawnee ol Kenyon had been doing his utmost t still the anxious fears among the fami lies of the absent soldiers. There ha been lively excitement when the paper arrived giving sensational details of Bei rien's wound and of the affair at th Porcupine, but it was as nothing to tha which prevailed over the tidings of th imminent peril in which Mrs. Berrie j and Winifred had been placed. That i j was just like Mrs. Berrien to insist o: joining her wounded husband at one was conceded by all, but opinions dil fered as to the propriety of her course i: taking Winifred with her. This th major decided by prompt assertion tha Miss Berrien doubtless refused to be lei behind. "And, being a very lovel blending of the characteristics of bot! her parents," said he, "it would hav been decidedly unlike Miss Berrien t have stayed at home." And then came the dread news that j great band from the . northeast, reir | forced by a reckless gang of fanatica ] young ghost dancers from the Ba | Lands, had broken away, and that al j the regiments had gone to head them ofl I Far, without a fight, they could not gc j The question was which regiment woul i be the first to meet them. Then th ! Dext night's mail brought the next day' papers, and tho Twelfth, having swun, ; loose and being absent from the neigli borhood whence were derived the item on which correspondent* oaseu meir it i ports and editors their comments, share the usual fute of the absentee, and htn I ing sustained the only casualties and ir 1 flicted the only punishments yet hear ' of about the agency, was now coming i for its share of the "toujours tort" t which it was, of course, justly entitlec I Kenyon first glared at and then explode ! over a dispatch which read somewhat o follows: "All hope of bloodless solution of th j difficulty is now at an end. Even th most peacefully disposed among the re: ervation Indians are furious over whs they do not hesitate to term the slaugl ter of their clansmen in the three uffaii that have recently occurred, and it is a open secret that at general headquartei I the gravest annoyance is felt over th ' total overthrow of carefully laid plain all caused by the injudicious conduct c certain hot headed officers of cavalry The friends of White Wolf, the princ pal 'brave' shot by Major Berrien troopers, declare that he and those wit him were friendly and were only strivin to reach the major with the news ths couriers were coining, hoping thereby t earn something to eat, for they wei cold and hungry when they were fire ' on without warning, and even whil i making signals of peace and friendshi j White Wolf was 6lain. Then the Bruh who were with them could not be n strained and attacked the couriers in r< venge. "As for tho utfair at Wolf creek aft< the blizzard there is unspoken denuncii tion among the Indians, and the 'damm ; tion of faint praise' in other quarters < j the conduct of a cavalry officer presOn The Indians declare they had gone 01 only to gather up their ponies. The sigl of the mules told them there must be n ambulance stalled somewhere in tl drifts, and they wero eagerly searchin ; for it to render succor and aid whe they were fired upon from ambush t ' the lieutenant and his men, and two < ' their ponies wero killed and one youn Indian shot through tho leg. The Ii dians declare they could easily hai I killed Major Berrien, but merely stroi to defend themselves and explain, nr that had they been hostilo they cod have finished the lieutenant and his litt squad at tho Wolf creek crossing lor before reinforcements came. Altogethe there is something so plausible in the statements that it is understood that tl conduct both of tho major and at lea one of his subalterns will bo mado tl subject of official investigation." ; "Well, well, well!" said Kenyo i "Thank God I'm not serving a gratef nation in tho heurt of the Indian cou try. It's bad enough to bo shot ai worse to bo lied about, and that is t the comfort theio is in being a cavalr man, if I do say it who am nothing b a cross grained old crank of adoughbo If this is what tho Twelfth is to get f 'a mere affair of outposts,' what tl devil will bo said of them if they sliou 1 get into a regular pitched battle? Ilei '8 ' Mr. Adjutant, dump that paper '' fire, and don't let a womun at tl know anything about it. Knov Ti ! ready? How the mischief could t "There were half a.doren of th a at Mrs. Hazlett's reading anotln e i of that paper as I came down. A Mrs. Thorpe is cryingjfier eyes on 6 been utterly upset since the nev r: ( that the Twelfth had been sei a Good God, sir, she's coming in n< It was indeed poo/ Mrs. Thor] entered, pallid, her eyelids swolli sr weeping. Old Kenyon was on '8 in an instant and leading her to i n "My dear madam, my dear m l" he began, "you must not give wa n ! assure you there is no cause fc ' 1 dread and anxiety. Do strive to ^ yourself." ?f "I cannotl oh, Major Kenyon, 6 i notl 1 have been through so muc ^ fearful scenes!" she sobbed, w u her nervous hands, rocking to i 18 in an acronv of trrief. "Oh. it for those who have nQflived the B i had to live in the old days to : patience, calmness. I was only then, kneeling at my mother's sid the news came in that widowed 1 women in the post. Jfcpent my g in the regiment, flpjrihany are the officers who sfr good then? Mother was only one of i whose hearts were broken?bro oh, God! 1 feel mine is to be. Th my father long years ago, now t ' mand my husband, my babies' my all, their all! 0 God! 0 God "Sobbing, rocking to and fro uncontrollable grief, the poor gii ' to Kenyon's hand, and the old 1 eyes blinked and smarted with tl he could not quite force back. ] the other hand upon her bow swaying head. "My child," he said brokenl; your babies' sake try to bear i your father's daughter. I- knf e loved him well?knew you wh e rode your first pony at the old 1 >* the Missouri. You know well 1 w e try to deceive you. I can't thi d Twelfth is to bear the brunt i business. They don't belong in 1 y partment at alL They are on e rowed from here, and surely thi 1- troops enough there, more than e t to overawe that pestilent gang. 1 11 j is necessary will be to surround e dians, let them see what a fo a have, and they'll knuckle down. - ' mi j IX e j cry so, airs. inorpe; 110111 uj ? child. Let me take you over hon i Just get the little ones around ; ? ' night, and I'll bring over some T j oranges that came today, andd | don't believe the Twelfth will ] ^ pull another trigger. Think hov d i other regiments and commands tl >- i there." e "I do, I do, and I pray and pr t- j no comfort comes. Did you eve I | a time when they were not in tt k 1 of the fight? Did you ever hear > 1 time when the loss did not fall 1: e on usr e : "Don't think of that now," hep i- "Don't borrow trouble from eith r or future. Come, let me take yot there's a good girL I tell you r band hasn't surrendered they'v 0 j tered all over creation, and you i more catch them than you cat & you can?a newspaper lie. Thi 6 ; strongest simile I can think of. I ^ | hear what they were saying abo E> rien and Brewster?" he queried, e ? divert her thoughts from he k misery. 6 i "I did. Isn't it cruel? But 6 j Berrien has his wife and Winni 6 i M?n onrl thov'r? hrirHrini? him but if poor George is shot, wb 1 I dor 0 "Do? Why, you shall go right l~ if I have to give myself a seve ^ leave and take you." And so, so 8 comforting, as best he knew h j veteran major led her home to hi 0 j dering brood, to the laughing, c baby leaping in the nurse's ar 0 lighted to see the little mother a( a the joyous children romping in t ^ light, innocent of care or fear, ai a j striving for their sake to still he 0 j to dry her tears, he left her to ] ! little ones to bed, to clasp their a hands in hers as the wee, white i 0 girlies knelt at her side echoin 1 only knew with what piteous ent * , the lisping prayer for his divine y i tion for the loved father, the < " I husband, the gallant soldier w 0 very day had fought bis last fij 0 ' lay lifeless on the frozen sod. Over the eastward bluffs, cc a I gray, the morning light had slow l" j to the zenith. Over the sky was jj | one limitless pall of cloud, cheerl repellent?a pall so dense that i j* I friendly star had peeped, not one sunshine now could force its wo below, bleak, frowning and si a i bare and blasted landscape; lo 6 and ridges east and west, low lyii 8 low and swule between, cheerlei ? less, shrubless, not even a veil o l* to hide its nakedness, to lend oi 8 ing touch to break the dull, dead V nnv nf ifn wintrv flPKoldtioil: V* ?-W "" "* J ~ " a | and elopes rolling away unbroke: r" frowning horizon at the west, i l" harsher lines among the blufft ^ the tortuous stream bed, betweei 11 ragged banks an icy, lonely and 0 rivulet is curdling now, spread L* into frozen shallows at the flats ^ ing and complaining around its 18 and sudden bends, desolate as rounding desolation, deserted e Dead sea, its banks repellent > e such sharers of Dakota solitude! =- coyote and the cottonwood, shu: it man or beast or tree?a stream oi i- and gloom at the dawn of this D( s day, and so cheerless is its ev n rounding, so appalling the un s ; hush, that ono would never di life upon its blasted banks. 3, Yet, listenl Unseen, but do; >f the sun has risen above the eastei and, as the light broadens even t i- cannot warm, there floats upon 's from far away at the 60uthwef h i and clear, a cavalry trumpet ci g at first, then crescendo, it ceaj it denly in shrill high note. It o through and through a rare atm e unruffled by the fleeting wing fl diest bird. Like the wistful call le tered quail it seems to say, "\V1 p ' you?" And prompt, expectant ?8 coining of faithful mate, listen u- From the dim recesses to the 3" somewhere among these bare i olate slopes, the answer rises, ?r ringing, even imperative, and th a _ nfPl.i . ?? ' ill the 11 lieeu were, tu juiu uia uicu. he post Stern and silent Rolfe is standing at v it 'al- ?' *he Btream, wearied enongh, they?" }'et certain that there is no rest before em sir ! tbem. bim a3 senior the command ;r cony baa devolved in tlie absence of the bend poor loved now being tenderly nursed t. She's i anc* comfortably trundled homeward in ,'S came I tlie wanu interior of a Pullman. No Qut excitement, no cheer attends the coming 3wj.. of the column now at steady, soldierly pe wh0 gait winding into the shallow depression, an with knows that without Farquhar and his feet bio re-enforcements attack upon or intera chair Terence with so formidable a band would adain n be worse than desperation. He knowe ty so. 1 *bat with Farquhar his own position.will )r such ! k? on^ *bat ?' subordinate, and that he control i must ^y- Ho knoyra how, were he suj preme, a thousand troopers at his back, I can- would conduct matters now. Bui :h such ' Farquhar is a soldier long accustomed ringing both to obedience and to command; Rolfe and fro I one to wb?m obedience comes with i laggard grace, to whom command is op it) etfco v | ?? life we ' P?rtunity for lavish vent of his imperious counsel a child Orders or no orders, if he had the le when i P?wer l'e would deal death to the rabid lalf the 1 renegades before him. Orders to "bring irlhood on the Indians, but not bring on a fight," i left of , to thinking are orders like those to me i whichjshould forbid a man's going to i dozen water "until he had learned to swim, ken as, Orders to disarm but not molest are iey took simply something to be laughed to scorn, hey de- When were the Sioux ever known to father, surrender those precious arms? Such [!? j things when reported in years gone by in her turned out to be as rusty shams as the i clung I arma turned in. Rolfe was in mood as fellow's ' 6U^en as the morn, and the signs about le tears the now bustling village were not to his Se laid , liking. Over among the tepees blanketed and ^ squaws were scurrying about, their shrill voices suppressed, but their black yr, "for eyes flashing hatred at the silent squads lp. Be ?' troopers, carbines ready in hand, jw and watching every move within the guarded en you lines. Young women and boys were fort up belaboring the gaunt and dejected ponies, ouldn't Eager gestures and low exclamations nk the called attention to the coming force, and of this ! in groups-the warriors, shrouded to the :hat de- ver7 Hps in their heavy robes, stood 01 --i. 1 ?. ?n /loi-Hnn ly bOr- Wl1 1U WUWUi uuii an viaxj ftimvf u?tvuiQ ere are ^rom point to point with fierce declaim inough, atory gesture, went Mephisto himself U1 that ^ the Indian "medicine mnn." Mark! the In- wheresoever he goes eager ears are benl rce we to hear his exhortation. Don't I "^7 t*od! why can't I arrest him al ryi my least? With that old scoundrel done foi ie now. the rest might not bo so hard," is Rolfe's pou to- impatient exclamation, famous "Simply because the attempt would -why, I lead to instant fight," is Hazlett's cool liave to replyr many "But, man, he's putting them up tr lereare organized resistance. He's giving them some instructions now; you can see ii ay, but ' just as well as I do." r know i VWho doesn't? but"? A suggestive ie thick shrug of the shoulders indicates the of any brother captain's opinion. "You know leaviest the old saying, Rolfe, 'Ours not to make reply."' leaded, f "Who's in command of those advanced ier past men fronting that part of the village?' i home, asks Rolfe after a moment's gloom} if that pause. e scat- "Brewster. Don't you see? He's talk can no ; 1?? witb Sergeant Ellis there now." l?than Rolfe grinds his heavy boot heel int< it's the the frosted bunch grass not more harsh )id you ! ly than he grinds his teeth. "By heav ut Ber- I en! Hazlett, bear me witness to this, fo1 ager to : there's no telling how things will tun >r own j out today. If I had my way those tw< ' men would have been brought to bool Major ! &nd made to explain instead of having e with ' posts of honor here. Farquhar refuset homo; i to listen to anotner wora on me suujee tat can ' nntil we got home again; then it may b too late." to him ! "Well-1,1 can't understand what yoi n days' j have against them both or either," i othing, : Hazlett's reply. ow, the j "And I can't explain here or now, bu 3r won- i wait till we're home again, Hazlett, i rowing j we ever get there." inn, de- Farther down to the left two othei fain, to troop commanders have been watching he fire- j the symptoms among the swarming ad then lodges. >r sobs, j "There'll be the devil's work this day >ut the Thorpe," says Gorham at last witl folded gloomy brow, jowned And Thorpe only bows his head, g?God ' Three hours later look upon the scene reaty? The open prairie on the hither side oi protec- i the village is no longer tenantless, as ii levoted j was at dawn. Two parallel lines con ho that | front each other there, flit and ! In'dogged submission to the orders ol ! their captors and the mandate of th< ?ld and big white chief which has been laid he ly crept j fore them, silent, sullen, muffled to th< spread eyes in dingy robe or blanket, the brave! less and ; have slowly moved out from their lurk not one ' ing places among the tepees and shufflec i rift of I down the gentle slope until well awaj ,y. All from the outskirts of their town, ant illen, a just in front of a long, silent rank if dis w hills mounted troopers they squat upon thi ig shal- ground. No word is spoken by eithe: 3S, tree- Bide. Here crouch the savage leaders o: t the hostile tribe, and, in long extendec i- 1 reaus, vvu^. i- Groping through tho bitter cl jf of the December night a cavalry t. has sought and, just at tho ojm it this cheerless Decernlier day, ha it its mate. Tho comrade batta ii tho Twelfth are within hail. **" H" n'.mnl t le "rorwarut uu^uiuoiKuui i ig southwest. Forward with thci in around that point at tho low blui >y front, and in the ghostly, gf jf light tho scene is before us, tli ig almost told. a- There, thickly dotting tho pru *e covering tho low ground, its w ,'e smoke begrimed and dingy, lie.1 id dian encampment; but even Id shelter as tins the hostilo ho le fared far better than they who ig the long, freezing night have kej r, ami ward lest again the wai ir , should slip through tho meshes. jo come at last. The big warrior*! st ical braves have made their ru ie rien'a men tho tackle. Back f signal with tho setting sun. Up n. tho night came Fanpthar wil ill guards." n- Hero in front tho four old tr< id know so well have shivered fc ill about tho village. Here, alert y- termined, Rolfe and Hazlett, Tin ut Gorham, have clung to front, fl y. ( rear, well knowing that so sooi or colonel got tho news ho would ] tie speed tho second battalion on Id but, gathering any other forces 1 e, 1 hnd, would ride tho long night t le pity- line, scores of their fiercest and bravest monot- Others still lurk among the squaws am sweeps lodges. Others peer with glittering n to the malignant eyes from under heaps o sterner, ! foul smelling robes or parfleches. Thosi i across in the outing glance but furtively at thi 1 whose blue line before them. They are silen dismal as the dead, yet the war cry trembles 01 ing out their lips. They wait, but wait expectant , moan- They crouch, but it is the tiger' warped crouch, ready for a spring. The won the sur- bas been passed that all arms must 1> as the ! surrendered, and every arm is there even to 1 ready, hidden, but "with the lightninj s as the sleeping in it." nned of Back umong those brown, dingy te ' silence j pees, breathless with excitement, squaw .'cember are scurrying to and fro; children an ery sur- being huddled away to the farther side natural "Look at that, Curly," mutters Warrei earn of tinder his frozen mustache, as he passe rapidly along in rear. "Isn't that enougl minant. to show they mean mischief/" Some o rn hills, j the Indian police and interpreters an vhere it I still searching for warriors in hiding the air Yet has not the old chief bowed his as it, fuint j sent to the orders and given his direc all; soft i tions that his people should comply ies sud- Nothing must be, can be done so long a thrills the Indian makes no overt move. Th osphere dismounted men of two troops are ii of bar- louff single rank. Some of the mei of scat- j shiver a little, for cold and excitemen here are ar? telling now, as in many cases ovei of the i coats have been thrown aside, but bruv i again! men tremble ofttimes until the first sho north, | comes, and then the nervous strain i ind des- gone, for the hot blood leaps and tingle quick, through the veins. Back 6omo distanc e signal i the horse herders are aligned. Off t the flanks and rear comrade troops gaz larkness j silently on the scene. From the ores column of a low bluff the black muzzle of th suing of Hotchkiss gun peers from its knot o s found watchful butterymen. Farquhar, vigi lions of lant and grave, has just sent Warre: with other orders. A halfbreed India; torn the ! Bt?ps forth, as though to carry its ia ;n, then, port to tho chief. At him the eyes c (T to our the old maniac of a medicino man glar ithering with tigerish fury. lie lowers his feat! 0 tale is ! erecl head. lie crouches. ! Then, suddenly, a catlike leap, a wil irie und i yell- Off goes every blanket, as thougl igwams ! hurled by tho explosion from witliii: 1 an In- ! In simultaneous crash tho flame an in such lead have leaped uj>ou tho troojier line rde has aQd now through tho veiling smok through I ?very Indian is fighting like a demon it watch ; Down goes many a sturdy soldier, vel y chief ) ?ran sergeant, brave faced l>oy. Th It has j Huo reels with the sudden shock, but i i fanat- ! au instant men like Thorpe and Brewt sh, Ber- i ter and Randolph leap forward anion, lew the I the men and their voices ring with th through ' clamor of battle. Back up tho slopt Lli "the I scurrying, stooping low, firing, droppin, to tbplr tracks, the Indians are makin, oops we ' for tlio shelter of their tepees?for t)i ?r hours skirts of the squaws. What Sioux won and de- J 'L'ars 1? 'lie in defense of her brim irjie and What Sioux warrior disdains to sliiel ank and himself from foeman's blow and to eliix i us the I from the covert of the sheltering fori not only i 'llri devoted wife? its way, j "For God's sake, men, head 'em of le could | Don't hit them back among the women, hrough, ' hi the yell, lint Indian tactics, stoopin | Sieaa piuiu. 111? uiu vuuouiuuuu rran , on her mettle. Our train was actually i I swaying and rocking with speed like a : j ! yacht on the waves. The telegraph | poles, upon which the light from our 2 windows would glint in the dense darkness, were flying behind us -at j d every second. The sound of our ; wheels as they struck the end of the ; g I rails was a continuous hum. But, do ! the best that it might, our engine with | t] its heavy train was no match for the j light-weighted one behind that was 4 gaining upon us, and was not the eighth of a mile oflT. The glare from 3 its lantern shone brightly in our faces; I thought Jake's face looked a bit pale, ^ and perhaps mine did, too. Now that g our pursuer did not halt at Jamaica, we were entirely off" our reckoning, ^ and we could make no guess to the ; 5 cause of our chase, nor when it would end. The prospect seemed that he y ; might be driven to the end of the road, 1 if we were not overtaken and smashed j before it could be reached. n " 'That's the Franklin, sure,' broke ! out Jake, once more. 'No other en- ; 3 gine on the road could overhaul us as c we are going now. What can that fool i of a Simpson mean by driving her at j a such a rate? He must be drunk. If ( the boss don't break him tomorrow, he f won't get his deserts. He will be into us in two minutes.' j, " 'You are right.' said I. 'Go forward and see if you cannot get up a j( little more headway. Empty a few of those petroleum cans on the wood, and 0 pjtch in and see what can be done.' "While Jake was forward on his f, errand I thought over our situation. Here I was with a hundred or two ^ passengers under my care, all ignorant of the danger which I knew they were in. If we should be overtaken, and j] crushed in the rear, the disaster would be a serious one, and would probably j ' cause the death or injury at least of some of the passengers. If we were tl 1 not smashed in this way, there was ! I another and DerhaDS a greater danger ! n IV ttUJ bUlU{j) ?r? MWV?~ol ? ~ -? much for men trained to fight only as soldiers and gentlemen. Already sqnaws are rushing forward, knife and revolver in hand. Already the hidden savages ! are firing from under tent or travob'. Already a score of the beat and bravest of the Twelfth have bit the dust. Curly Brewster's arm is smashed by rifle bullet; Thorpe, cheering on his men, head-, ing them in their rapid return fire, plunges suddenly to earth with one gasp ing cry, "Oh, God! My little oneaP Rolfe, riding like mad a dozen yardo ahead of his men in wild effort to cutoff the backward move, tumbles in senseless I heap at the very .feet of a knife wielding fury Qf a woman, who is only laid low just as her clutch' is on his hair, her gleaming blade at his throat. Aye, on this bleak and barren and cheerless field, under these leaden skies, beside the black waters, streaked now with curdling red the battle fiend is loose; there is, indeed, I "the devil's work this day," but where the blame lies as between the soldier who must fight or die and those who, far and near, east and west, so promptly lashed him as. squaw shooter, babe slayer, let the God of battles decide. I [TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.] Sftisullaueous pwtfojj. CHASED BY AN ENGINE. A THRILLING EXPERIENCE, i "Well, said the conductor, settling down in the cushion, and bracing 1 his knees against the back of the seat in front, "many years ago I was running the night express on Long Island from Brooklyn to G., u distance of 1 ninety miles, the entire length of the road. The Long Island road was then a one-horse affair, having only a single ' track, with switches at the different stations to allow trains too meet and ' ; pass. On the evening to which I now refer I started from Brooklyn at ten [ o'clock with the old Constitution, long since broken up, but then the crack engine on the road, with a baggage or | freight car and three passenger cars. , i The night was just as dark as a pock' | et, or, if anything, perhaps a little darker," he added, as if he had accurately tested the internal obscurity of ! that useful portion of the dress. . j "It must have been very dark," I i said. L "We were the only regular train upI on the road that night, with the exception of the G. express to Brooklyn, i which was to start at ten o'clock and | meet us at L. statiou, in the middle of t the island, switching off there to allow 1 us to pass, j "Well, we were perhaps six or eight . j miles on our way", when I stepped out p on the back platform 01 tue rear car 10 > see if it was growing any lighter. We ! were then going over a part of the I , road which was as straight as an ar? i row for a distance of four or five miles. r | As I was looking back over this stretch ; I saw behind us, at a distance of three . j miles or so, what I knew was the head , light of an engine, as it was too bright ) ! for anything else; for of course I did . | not suppose the government had been . putting up light houses along the r road." i "Probably not," I said. ) "You may be sure I was a little surc pri:;ed," said the conductor "for there j wasn't an extra train once a week up1 on that road, and I knew that there fc was nothing going out from Brooklyn a that night, anyhow. I waited for a ; few minutes, until I saw that it was i really an engine coming, and what 3 was more, that it was gaining rapidly j on us, although we were going at our t i usual rate of speed. When I was satf isfied of this fact, I hurried forward and said to the engineer, 'Jake there r is a train close behind us." r, : "Jake dropped his oil-can and his ; lower jaw at about the same moment, and looked to see whether I was crazy , | or joking. i j " 'Well, let the fireman attend to ; matters here and come back and see,' : I said. "We hurried to the rear, and in a f moment Jake saw as well as myself c that if there was any joice in me inai* ter, we were the victims of one, and of , rather a serious one, too, for the train f in the rear gained 011 us a full mile 5 ' while I had been forward. The red * j cinders were pouring out of the smoke3 ' stack as if from a blast furnace; the 3 i head-light threw a glare along the " ; road, burnishing the irou rails to our * j very wheels. Close as he was upon us, r I the engineer of the advancing train 1 i had not given the slightest signal to warn us of his approach, and made no 3 response to our repeated whistles of ? alarm. He was violating all ruilroad rules, and if he had determined to secretly run us down he would act j just as he was then doing. Jake at j first seemed to be struck dumb?not 1 i so much because he then thought of danger, but at the cool impudence of | the engineer behind. He looked us if j. he would like to throttle him. His a tongue after a while got in working order, and he broke out: ' " 'What does thut crazy fool mean?' " 'The engineer must be either crazy 9 or drunk,' said I. 'If he keeps on in that way ten minutes longer, he will J surely be into us'; and I signalled the 9 fireman to put on more steam. 'What business the train lius tonignt uj)on 8 the roud at all is what puzzles me.' a ! "I wonder if it isn't an engine the old man is sending down to Jamaica j to the shops for repairs?" said Jake. g 'I saw the Ken Franklin standing on ^ the side track with steam up just as f we started. From the way she overe hauls us, there can't be much of a train behind her.' *'I did not know but that Jake might be right, for I had seen the ? Franklin standing in the depot when g j we left. That engine was just as fast a as our own, and if it was without a a train attached, as Juke supposed, a might easily gain on us, as it seemed t to he doing. 'At any rate, we shall - see when we puss Jamaica Station o whether Jake's theory is correct,' I t thought and said so to him. s "By this time the fireman, acting as a engineer, had given our engine all the e steam she would take, and we were o slashing along at a lively rate, I tell e you. The good people along the road t who were out of their beds must have e thought that a railroad Gilpin was f riding another race, according to the i- new style. 1 was angry enough to a have sent a bullet at the crazy engina ecr following us, and I determined i- that my first business the next day ' should be to complain to the superin6 tendent of his foolhardiness. I thought l" that possibly, being for the moment his own master, and no longer under il <t... i.rinn./liuti. unices of a conductor, ^ he was indulging in a kind of a rail' road spree, and for a lark was driving l* us to the toji of our speed, expecting to end the race and the day's work at e Jamaica. [* "Well, we tore through that sleep"" in^r village, without stopping for re0 freslunents. 1 can assure won, and then Jake and I looked to see our comical * friend in the rear pull up to the station k and take lodging for the night. Bui 1 we were mistaken in our guess. Not '' a whistle was given hy our pursuer as a signal that he intended to stop; not ^ a sign of slackening was shown : hut on ^ the contrary he was gaining upon u? , even when we were doing our very ^ best. Sometimes a curve in the road would shut him for a moment from our view, but he would round it in an instant, and every new turn brought j-i him more closely on us. i "Jamaica had been left far behind ,, | and we were out on tin- wide Hemp j before us. The train of which I have j i spoken, which left G. when we left 1 d Brooklyn, was on its way to meet us 'on the same track.- It should switch q of at Lakeland in the middle of the j ! island, and allow us to pass, an hour i after we started, or at eleven o'clock. ^ It was now half-past ten, and we were close to Lakeland already, and would a pass there long before the arrival of the G. train, which ordinarily got v there first. The result would be that j we should meet the train beyond Lakeland without warning of our ap- 1 j proach, and a collision in front as well as the rear would be the consequence. ! "We reached and flew through the Lakeland depot nearly half an hour j j, ahead of time. Of course, the train 1 was not there yet, but was coming i p down the road. Our speed was now a i little ahead of any before made upon a the Long Island road. The telegraph c ; poles fairly danced behind us, and the j ! bushes on either side of the track j j seemed a continuous wall of fire as i i they were lighted up by the flame j c I which was pouring out of our smoke- 1 j ; SIHCK. JJUl UUUgeruus uo u nun IV | keep on, it was just as dangerous to t slacken speed, and so on we went." The conductor rolled his quid from j f one cheek to the other, raised the window by his side and expectorated into j the outer darkness, and became silent f for several moments, as if burdened by the recollection of his former perils. ^ After waiting a reasonable length of time for him to resume his story, I g said: r "When the collision occurred, was it with the train in front or in the rear, f or with both." ] "Oh," the collision?" said the con| ductor. "Well, now you come to the s ! ridiculous part of the story. The col| lision did not take place at all," he f ; said, in an apologetic tone, as if there ought to have been a serious accident ! j | alter so much preparation. "While I , was standing on the platform, thinking whether I had better warn the passen- j t gers to hold themselves ready for a j i shock, Jake came from forward, drag- r ging after him two large petroleum r 1 cans, each of which would hold a c quarter of a barrel of oil. g j "'Now then,' said Jake to me,'if you will oil one side oftbetracK,i wilt oil the other.' "I saw at once what his plan was. ! We each brought the mouth of an oil ' can as near to the polished surface of | j the rail as possible, and commenced j | pouring on it the kerosene. In less | j than a minute a half mile of the iron rails, on both sides, were nicely oiled , ' and slippery." | "You have raised my expectations of a catastrophe so high that you have been obliged to grease the track so as to let me down again easily," said I, j for I felt a little nettled at the uuex- j pected turn the story had taken, and l was inclined to believe that the conductor was drawing largely upon his j ! imagination for the facts. "Why, don't you know that an en- j gine can no more make headway on a i greased track than a tom-cat can climb j a steep roof covered with ice ?" said . the conductor, with a pitying glance j at one so profoundly ignorant of rail- j g ! road matters as myself. "I slapped ' j j Jake on the hack, and said, 'Old fel! low, your cuteness has brought us all i out of a bad scrape.1 "In a few seconds the lantern of the j train behind us was getting dim in the ^ distance. We slackened speed and backed down, to see 'what the matter . was with Simpson,' as Jake said. { There stood the old Ben Franklin putt- j I ing and snorting and pawing like u , mad bull; the driving wheels were j j buzzing around on the greased truck j like all possessed, but not gaining an inch. We sanded the track and bore down upon the old machine. Jake j ( was the first aboard, spoiling for a 1 j good chance at the engineer, Simpson. ( But no sign of an engineer, fireman, or ; j any other living being, was to be found. , The engine had only a tender attach- , ; ed, and although there was still a full | head of steam on, the fires were getting | I low. Wc made short work in pushing , back to Lakeland. We reached the | 1 station and got fairly upon the switch, ( , . when the (*. train, which we should 1 1 meet there, came in, and we wero } , waiting as if nothing had happened, , and as if we had not been fifteen miles , out on the road to meet it a few min- , , Ukl'O I/U1WI v. ,, "The telegraph operator at Lakeland j , handed me a dispatch which read as , , follows: ] Conductor : The Hen Franklin | has broken loose, and is coming up the 1 road. Turn switch at I.., and run her otf the truck. Hahto.n, Supt. Hrooklyn, 1".0."> p. in." "You see, we did not have much j time for turning switches at L.," he i \ continued, "so we did still better, and , saved the old Hen?which was not re- , sponsible after all?from a smash-up.'" , BaT The madstone story is going the | rounds again, but the doctors say there is no more mystery in its sticking to a , wound than in a piece of dry clay or shale sticking to the tongue. ?)ne doctor adds than in ninety cases out of a hundred dog bites are harmless and there is no poison to be sucked out, while credulity is one of the most ef- ' fectivc cures in the materia niedica, L and ought to be used oftcncr when people have 110 real disorders. > How To Hkkathk.?Teach your ' children to breathe through the nose i I and not through the. mouth. Mouth1 breat hing children are liable to wander1 ing minds, feeble memories, headache, impaired sight, deafness and lung trouble. Kuropean physicians are just , now urging attention to this upon the J part of parents. The second European cholera epiemic, 1847, lasted seventeen years. Yellow fever at New Orleans in 1847; ,350 deaths; 30,000 cases. Cholera in England in 1848 ; 53,293 eaths in six months. In 1848 cholera followed the emirant route to San Francisco. A mild form of cholera prevailed, in ae United. States in 1849 and 1850. In 1849, 13,161 persons died in Lonon of cholera; 120,000 in England. In 1849, cholera appeared in London ; ,183 deaths in one week. In 1849, cholera appeared among oops in the Hungarian rebellion; reat fatality. St. Louis visited by cholera.in 1850; lethodist General Conference disanded. In 1853 New Orleans attacked by ellow fever; 7,848 deaths. Outbreak of cholera in England in 854; 20,097 deaths daring the sumler. In 1854 allied English, French and 'urkish army at Varna attacked by holera. In 1854 cholera very severe in Italy nd Sicily ; 10,000 deaths in Naples. A severe visit of cholera to the Tnited States in 1855. The Virginia coast visited by yel>w fever in 1855; great suffering. In 1855 yellow fever at New Organs ; 2,670 deaths. In 185& epidemic diptheria carried ff great numbers in the United States. In 1858 yellow fever at New Orleans ; om Vera Cruz; 4,845 deaths. In 1862 Wilmington, N. C., was aticked by yellow fever, which spread lto the country. In 1865 and 1866 the cholera raged broughout France, Spain and Italy. Scourge of cholera at Alexandria, 865; 11,000 deaths in six weeks. In 1865 cholera was general along be whole Mediterranean coast. Cholera in Constantinople, 1865; ver 50,000 deaths in three months. The third European pholera epiemic (1865) lasted ten years. In 1865 cholera fearfully fatal at !onstantinople and throughout Asia linor. In 1866 an incurable disease called lack death appeared in Dublin. The black death of 1866 was characterized by purple spots on the skin. General but not very destructive isit of cholera to the United States in 866. Outbreak of cholera, 1866, in East London ; 346 deaths in one week. In 1866 terribly fatal cholera pestiance at Naples; 53,000 deaths. House to house collections first made n London for cholera sufferers in 1866. In the cholera of 18C6, 738 in 10,000 , lopulation died in Constantinople. In 1866 cholera followed railroad ,nd steamboat routes all over this ountry. In 1867 cholera very severe in Rcrae, saples, Sicily and Spain. The outbreak of 1867 caused by exavating a plague cemetery of Nero's ime. In 1867 plague and cholera appeared ogether iu Rome; great mortality. In 1867 black jack at New Orleans, rom Havana; 3,107 deaths. In 1871 there were 26,300 deaths in iuenos Ayres in eleven weeks ; yellow ever. Cholera general in every quarter of Vienna ; thousands of deaths in .1873. In 1873 cholera in the United States pread over nineteen States in eight nonths. Savannah, Ga., suffered severely rom a visitation of yellow fever in 876. In 1877 measles broke out in Russian irray on the Danube ; 10,000 died. Black vomit at New Orleans in 1878, rom Havana; 3,977 deaths. Memphis almost depopulated by 'ellow fever in 1878 ; 5,160 deaths. National Decay.?De Toqueville, he great French historian, in searchng for the causes of the downfall of lations, after exhaustive research fornulated what is known as the "Law >f National Decline," which covers even successive stages. The first cause is primary in its naure, and if continued in operation ne:essarily produced the seven stages iuccessively. The first and primary :ause is the concentration of wealth n the hands of the few. Prevent this ind continued progress is assured. Permit it without interruption and lational decay is inevitable. Its first fruit according to DeTocque/illo iu pnirmarative increase ill mnkruptcies, or business failures. 2d. An increase in petty crimes and leniteutiary offenses. 3d. An increase in the number of nurders. 4th. An increase in insanity. 5th. An increase in suicides. 6th. An increase in divorces. 7th. And lastly, the assassination of ulers. To this might be added the statcnent of Daniel Webster that? Liberty cannot long endure in any :ountry where the tendency of legislation is to concentrate wealth in the muds of a few. Let any cundid person who has kept ip with the current news of the day or the past ten to thirty years, think bra moment on these propositions und he fact of an increase in these several conditions will certainly appear >lain. An examination of statistics, lowever, discloses a startling increase ar beyond the most extravagant estinate which should stand as a warning nonitor of the dangers which threaten :his nation. The Chautauqua Salute.?'The * drowning beauty of a Chautauqua girl s her pocket handkerchief. She has iozens of handkerchiefs, and they are list too sweet for anything. She has jmbroidered them herself, and they match her dresses and ofter bear some beautiful little legend which starts you talking upon what soon becomes a very xbsorbing conversation. "The Chautauqua sulute," she will tell you "is the ivaving of a pocket handkerchief. When we come together our leader silently lilts his handkerchief, and jvery one in the big auditorium waves i handkerchief at the same time. The , fleet is ever so impressive; it is our national salute, and we take great pride n having pretty pocket handkerchiefs ready for it. This one is marked 'Mizpah.' which means, 'The Lord watch oetween me and thee while we are ibsent one from another.'" ? "What's in a Name?"?A Third [inrty man asked the editor a few days igo why the News always refers to that party us the "Third Party," instead of the "People's Party." The answer was, "your party is not entitled to the name it lnus taken and the name is a misnomer." All parties are people's parties, because the adherents of all parties are a part of the people. Whoever heard of an anti-people's party, or a party without people? A political party with more than one ad herent is a people's party in the true meaning of the term, and no one political party has the light to arrogate to itself the name of "People's Party." ?(i ra n lm ry N e ws. 8When Sunol trotted a mile in 2.084 and Nancy Hank went under the wire in 2.0"?], both horses were shod with aluminum shoes. The horses making the best time this year were all shod with the new light metal. They call a bicycle "the devil's chariot" in Turkey, and the Sultan forbids its use.