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" vOLr^or YOBKVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1894. - ? BY CAPT. CHAk Author of Dunraven Ranc Portia, The Deserter \ Copyrighted, 1893 by Qhas King. CHAPTER. II. f.oto that r?iorVif uritVi iiwlrvl tt *"*v u'6u,i J"?-> > ? ^ little troop of cavalry Tmftoing westward acws*>*tue desert. The young iu.u/ moon was sinking to rest, its pure pallid light shining faintly in contrast with the ruddy glow of some distant beacon in the mountains beneath. Ever since nightfall the rock buttress at the pass bad been reflecting the lurid glare of the leaping flames as, time and again, unseen but busy hands heaped on fresh fuel and sent the sparks whirling in fiery eddies to the sky. Languid and depressed after a long day's battling with the fierce white sunshine, horses and men would gladly have spent the early hours of night dozing at their rude bivouac in the Christobal. Ever since 9 in the morning, after a long night march, they had sought such shade as the burning rocks might afford, Bcooping up the tepid water from the natural tanks at the bottom of the canyon and thanking providence it was not alkali. The lieutenant commanding, a tall, wiry, keenfaced young fellow, had made the rounds of his camp at sunset, carefully picking up and scrutinizing the feet of his horses and sending the farrier to tack on here and there a starting shoe. Gaunt and sunburned were his short coupled California chargers, as were their toughlooking riders; fetlocks and beards were uniformly ragged; ihoes of leather and shoes or iron ihowed equal wear. A bronze faced tergeant, silently following his young jhief, watched him with inquiring eyes and waited for the decision that was to condemn the command to another night march across the desertJ or remand them to rest until an hour or so before the dawn. "How far did you say it was to Ceralva's, sergeant?" "About 22 miles, west." "And to Moreno's?" "About 15, sir; off here." And the sergeant pointed out across the plain, lying like a dnncolored L1 ~ket far toward the southern horizon. "We can get barley and water at both?" "Plenty, sir." "The men would rather wait here, I suppose, until 2 or 8 o'clock?" "Very much, sir; they haven't been able to re6t at all today. I've fed out the last of the barley, though." The lieutenant reflected a moment, pensively studying the legs of the trumpeter's horse. "Is there any chance of Moreno's people not having heard about the Apaches in the Christobal?" "Hardly, sir; they are nearer the Tucson road than we are. The stage must have gone through this morning early. It's nothing new anyhow. I've never known the time when the Indians were not in the neighborhood of that range. Moreno, too, is an old hand, sir." The lieutenant looked long and intently out over the dreary flats beyond the foot hills. Like the bottom of some prehistoric lake long since sucked dry by the action of the sun, the parched earth stretched away in mile after mile of monotonous, life ridden desert, a Sahara without sign of an oasis, a sandy barren shunned even by scorpion and ij-.a. a i j- it-. ?1 cennpeae. Aireauy me giuw woo ujing from the western sky. The red rim of the distant range was purpling. The golden gleam that flashed from rock to rock as the sun went down had vanished from all but the loftiest summits, and deep, dark shadows were creeping slowly out across the plain. Over the great expanse not so much as the faintest spark could be seen. Aloft, the greater stars were beginning to peep through the veil of pallid blue, while over the distant pass the sun's fair handmaiden and trainbearer. with slow, stately mien, was sinking in the wake of her lord, as though following him to his rest. Not a breath of air was astir. The night came on still as the realms of solitude. Only the Jow chatter of the men, the occasional stamp of iron shod hoof or the munching jaws of the tired steeds broke in upon the perfect l silence. From their covert in the west| ward slope of the Christobal tho two " sentries of the little command looked upon a lifeless world. Beneath them, whiffing their pipes after their frugal supper,- the troopers were chatting in low tones, some of them already spreading their blankets among the shelving rocks. The embers from the cook's fire glowed a deeper red as the darkness gathered in the pass, and ever}' man seemed to 6tart as though 6tung with sudden spur when sharp, quick and imperative there came the cry from the lips of the farther sentry: "Fire, sir?out to the west!" In an instant Lieutenant Drummond had leaped down the rocky canyon, and In an instant Lieutenant Drummond was standing by the sentry's side. fieldglass in hand was standing by the sentry's side. No need to question "Where away?" Far out across the intervening plain a column of flame was darting upward, gaining force and volume with every moment. The lieutenant never even paused to raise the glass to his eyes. No magnifying power was needed to see the distant pyro; no prolonged search to tell him what was meant. The troopers who had spiung to their feet and were already eagerly following turned short in their tracks at his first word. "Saddle up, men. It's the beacon ?* oi ? 1 r\ao lr ' ' Ub blio Ol^Udl pvani Then came a scene of bustle. No words were spoken; no further orders given. With the skill of long practice the men gathered their few belongings, shook out the dingy horseblaukets and then, after careful folding, laid them creaseless back of the gaunt withers of their faithful mounts. The worn old saddles were deftly set; lariats coiled and swung from the cantle rings; dusty old bits and bridles adjusted; then came the slipping into carbine slings and thimble belts, the quick lacing of Indian moccasin or canvas legging, the filling of canteens in the tepid tanks below, while all the time the cooks and packers were flying about gathering up the pots and pans and storing rations, bags and blankets on the roomy apparejos. Druinmoud was in the act of swinging Into saddle when his sergeant hastened up. "Beg pardon, lieutenant, but shall I leave a smad guard with the pack train, or can they come right along?" "They'll to with us, course. _ We i KING, U. S. A. 7 h, Two Soldiers, An Army , Soldier's Secret, Etc. i I can't leav* tW.u'uere. We must head foj-.^eralvo's at once. How could those _ Indians have got over that way?" I "It is beyond me to say, sir. I didn't : know they ever went west of the Santa , Maria." "I can hardly believe it now,-but | there's no doubting that signal; it is to | call us thither at all speed wherever we may be and means only one thing ; ?'Apaches here.' Sergeant Wing is j not the man to get stampeded. Can they have jumped the stage, do you I think, or attacked 6omo of Ceralvo's { people?" '"Lord knows, sir. 1 don't seo how \hey could have swung around there, j There's nothing to tempt them along j that range until they get to the pass I itself. They must have come around ! south of Moreno's." "I think not, sergeant." | The words were 6poken in a very quiet voice. Drummond turned in sur' prise, his foot in the stirrup, and looked j at the speaker, a keen eyed trooper of middle age, whose hair was already sprinkled with gray. "Why not, Bland?" I "Because we have been along the j ; range for nearly SO miles below here, j sir, and haven't crossed a sign, and because I understand now what I couldn't I account for at 2 o'clock?what I thought must bo imagination." 1 * k Yxrv? of wroo + V* ot" Iff uab nao vuuu "Smoke, sir, oif toward the Gila, i north of Ceralvo's, I should say, just j j about north of west of where we are." I "Why didn't you report it?" "You were asleep, sir, and by the time I got the glasses and looked it had ! faded out entirely, but it's my belief the I i Indians are between us and the river, j | or were over there north of Ceralvo's [ i today. If not Indians, who?" "You ride with me, Bland. I'll I ! talk with you further about this. Come ! | on with the men as soon as you have j the packs ready, sergeant." And 60 ; saying Lieutenant Drummond mounted ! and rode slowly down the winding I trail among the bowlders. At the foot I | of tho slope, where the water lay. gleamj ing in its rocky .bed, he reined his horse ! ! to the left to give him his fill of tho | ; pool, and here the troop addressed as : Bland presently joined him. "Wherowas it you enlisted, Bland?" , ! was the younger soldier's first quesI tion. "I understand you are familiar j with all this country." "At Tucson, sir, six months ago, aft' er the 6tage company discharged me." j "I remember," was the answer as j the lieutenant gently drew rein to lift . : his horse's head. "I think you were so \ ' frank as to give the reason of your ; ! quitting their employment." "Well, there was 110 sense trying to , conceal it or anything else a man may do out here, lieutenant. They fired me for drinking too much at the wrong time. The section boss said he couldn't j help himself, and I don't suppose he j I could." j "Asl remember," said Drummond j presently, and with hesitation, for he j hated to pry into the past of a man who | spoko so frankly and who made no I effort to conceal his weakness, "you j were driver of the buckboard the Mo- i rales gang held up last November over I ! near the Catannas.'' I "Yes; that's the ti 1110 I got drank, | sir. It's all that saved mo from being j killed, and between keeping sober and losing my life or getting druuk and j I losing a job I preferred the latter." i " Yet yon were in a measure responsible for the safety of your passengers and mail, were you not?" "Well, no, sir; not after the warning , I gave the company. 1 told them Ramon Morales was in Tucson the night before we had to pull out, and wherever j he was that infernal cutthroat of a 1 . brother of his wasn't far away. I told j them it was taking chances to let Judge j Gillette and that infantry quartermaster try to go through without escort. I 1 ; begged to throw up the job that very j night, but they held me to my contract, and I had to go. We were jumped not i 10 miles out of town, and before any j one could draw a derringer every man | of us was covered. The judge might , I havo known they'd shoot him on sight ever since that greaser from Hermosillo ! was lynched. But they never harmed j the quartermaster." "Huh! The devil they didn't!" j laughed the lieutenant. "They took j i his watch and his .money and every- j 1 thing he had 011 except his underclothing. How long had you been driving ; when that happened?" "Just eight months, sir, between ' ! Tucson and Grant." "And diil you never serve with the cavalry before ? You rido as though you had." "Most men hereabouts served 011 one side or other," said Bland calmly, as his horse finished his long pull at the water. I "And your side was" "Confederate," was tho brief reply. "I was born in Texas. Here comes the ! troop, sir." "Come on, then. I want to ask you about that trail to Crittenden as wo ride. Wo make first for tho Pieacho pass from here." i "Why, that's south of west, sir," answered Bland. "I had thought perhaps the lieutena..t would want to go north J ward toward the Gila to head off any parties of the Apaches that might be | striving to get away eastward with their booty. They must have picked i up something over at the Bend." "They're more likely to go southj ward, Bland, for they know where we've been scouting all the week. No, ' ; I'll march straight to the signal. There they must know where tho Indians { have gone." "Aye, aye, sir, but then you can only pursue, and a stern chase is a long I one." j Drummond turned in his saddle as they rode forth upon the dark falda and | gazed long anil fixedly at the trooper by his side. Imperturbable Bland conI tinued to look straight ahead. Queer stories had been afloat regarding this new acquisition. Ho mingled but little with the men. He affected rather the society of the better class of uoi commissioned officers, an offenso not likely to be condoned in a recruit. Ho was already distinguished for his easy mastery of every detail of a cavalryman's duty, and for his readiness to go at any or all times on scout, escort or patrol, and the more hazardous or lonely ! tho task the better he seemed to like it. j Then he was helpful about the offices in garrison,, wrote ?1 neat hand, was often pressed into service to aid with the quartermaster or commissary papers, and had been offered permanent daily duty as company clerk, but begged off, Rjiviiii? ho loved a horse and cavalrv I work too veil to bo immured in an office. 1 He was silence and reticence itself on , matters affecting other people, but tho , J soul of frankness apparently where ho was personally concerned. Anybody was welcome to know his past, he said. Ho was raised in Texas; had ! lived for years on the frontier; had been through Arizona with a bull team in the fifties, and had 'listed under tho banner of the Lone Star when Texas ! went tho way of all the sisterhood of j southern (not border) states, and then, j being,stranded after tho war, had "bull 1 whacked" again through New Mexico; ! had drifted again across the Mimbres and down to the old Spanish-Mexican , town of Tucson; had tried prospecting, 1 mail riding buckboard driving, gambling ; had been one of the sheriff's posso that cleaned out Sonora Bill's little band of thugs and cutthroats and had expressed entire willingness to officiate as that lively outlaw's executioner in caso of his capture. He had twice been robbed while driv- i ing the stage across the divide and had been left for "> JSiancopti""* ... .in which ho snid was <>* VJ/.WVSW .. ?? -- I ! the primal causo of his dissipations ' later. Finally, after a sirmmary dis- ; | charge he had come to the adjutant at j Camp Lowell, presented two or three ; , certificates of good character and brav- | j ery in the field from officers who bore : famous uames iu the southern army. and the regimental recruiting officer ; thought ho could put up with an occa- ( | sional drunk in a man who promised to make as good a trooper under the 6tars and stripes as ho had made under the stars and bars. And 60 he was enlisted, . 1 and to the surprise of everybody hadn't : taken a drop since. ! Now this, said the rank and file, was proof positive of something radically , wrong, either in his disposition or his J record. It was entirely comprehensible j and fully in accordance with human , i nature and the merits of the caso that a t I man should quit drinking when ho quit j the army, but that a man with the blot i I of an occasional spree on his escutcheon | should enlist for any other causo than i sheer desperation and should then bej come a teetotaler was nothing short of prima facie ovidenco of moral depravity. I '' There's something behind it nil, fellers," said Corporal Murphy, "and i mean to keep an eve on him from this out. If ho don't dhrink next payday, look out for him. He's a professional j gambler laying for your hard earned greenbacks.'' And bo while the seniors among the sergeants were becoming gradually the associates, if not the intimates, of this fine looking trooper, the mass of the regiment, or rather tho littlo detachment thereof stationed at Lowell, looked upon Bland with the eye of suspicion. There was one sergeant who repudiated him entirely, and who openly professed ; his disbelief in Bland's account of j himself, and that was Feeny. "He | may have testimonials from all Texas,'' said ho hotly, "but I've no use for that sort of credentials. Who can vouch for his goings and comings hereabouts before he joined us? I think Murphy's right, and if I was stationed at Lowell j and belonged to his troop you bet I'd watch him close." Now, in all tho command it would ; have been a hard matter to find a sol- { dier in whose favor appearances were so unanimously allied. Tall, erect. ; sinewy and active, he rode or walked with an easy grace that nono could fail to mark. His features were fine and clear cut; his eyes a dark hazel, with heavy curling lashes and bushy, lowarched brows; his complexion, naturally ; dark, was bronzed by sun and sandBtorrn to a hue almost Mexican. He shaved clean all but tho heavy mus tache that drooped over his firm lips, and tho sprinkling of gray about tho : brows, temples and inustacho was | most becoming to his peculiar style. I One prominent mark had he which i the descriptive book of his company ! referred to simply as "saber 6car on right jaw," but it deserved mention 1 more extended, for the whitish streak ran like a groove from just below the ear tip to tho angle of the square, reso- j lute chin. It looked as though in some . desperate fray a mad sweep had been j made with vengeful blade straight for i tho jugular, and, just missing that, ! had laid open the jaw for full four ' inches. "But," said Feeny, "what could he have been doing, and in what position I could he have been, sitting or standing, ' to get a saber stroke like that ? Where i was his guard? A bowie knife, now"? j and there the suggestion ended. But it was the scarred 6ido of Bland's i soldierly face that young Lieutenant ; Drummond was so closely studying as they rode out into the starlit Arizona night. He, too, had heard the camp chat about this apparently frank, openhearted trooper, and had found himself more than once speculating as to his real past, not the past of his imagination or of his easy offhand description, j By this time, in perfect silence save for the occasional clink of canteen, tho gurgle of imprisoned water, or, once in j a while, the click of ironshod hoof, tho troop was marching in shadowy col- j umn of twos well out beyond the falda and over the almost dead level of the plain. Far ahead the beacon still blazed brightly and beckoned them on. It was time for precaution. "Sergeant," said Drummond, "send a corporal and four men forward. Let them spread out across the front and keep 300 or 400 yards ahead of us. Better take those with tho freshest horses, as I want them to 6cont thoroughly and to bo on tho alert for the faintest sound. Any of our men who j know this valley well?" "None better than Bland here, sir," was the half hesitant reply. "W-e-1-1, I need Bland just now. Put some of the old hands and older heads on. and don't let anything escape their notice." "Begpardon, lieutenant, but what's to be tho line of direction ? When we started it was understood that wo wero to take the shortest cut for Ceralvo's, and now we're heading for tho Picacho.'' "No, we make for tho pass first; \ that's the quickest way to reach tho signal station, then wo learn whero to 6triko for tho Indians. Did you ever i hear of their being as far west as tho Maricopa range before?" "Never, sir, in the whole timo we've been here, and since the lieutenant joined they've never been heard of crossing the Santa Maria valley." "What on earth could tempt them out so far? There's nothing to be gained and every chance of being cut off by troops from Grant and Bowie, even if they do 'succeed in slipping by us." ; "That's moro than I can tell, sir. The men say tho paymaster's coming along this week; they heard it from the quartermaster's train we passed at the Cienega three days ago." Trooper Bland was riding in silence 011 tho left of the detachment commander as he had been directed. Tho sergeant had como up on tho other . flank. "What men hoard this?" asked Drummond, quickly. "Why, Patterson told me, sir, and Lucas and Quinn, and I think Bland hero was talking with the train escort and must have heard it." "Did you, Bland?" asked tho lieu tenant, as ho whirled suddenly in his saddle and faced tho trooper. "Yes, sir," was tho prompt reply; "several of the men spoke of it. It's about tho most welcome piece of news they could give to fellows who had four months' pay due." In the isolation of this mountain scouting business, when, as often hap- j pens, one officer is out alone for weeks with 110 comrades or associates but his j detachment, it naturally results that a I greater freedom of intercourse and speech is developed between tho commander and some, at least, of his party J than would ever bo tho case in years of garrison life; and so it happened that for tho moment Drummond forgot tho j commander in tho man. "It is most extraordinary," ho said, j "that just when a paymaster is anxious to keep secret tho date and routo of his ' coming tho whole thing is heruh^^^ ahead. W6 have no telegraph and tliroo days ago we kflew that Ma^H ? I Plunnnor was starting on his lirst trip. ] Ho ought to have boon at Ceralvo's last night. By Jupiter! supposo ho was ; ?and had hut a small escort? What else could that signal (iro mean? Here! j get thoso men out to the front now at t once; wo must push ahead for all wo'ro j worth." And so at midnight, with steeds panting and jaded, with tho pass and T the Pieacho only four miles ahead, tho I little Attachment was tripping noiseIes^i^rthrough tho darkness, and, all i "'alert capper, i/. was riding i In'o onnnfa nrtfflf* U11U YY C1J UCl ? CCii UIO otvuio uwu vnv m *. body bo that 110 Bound closo at hand . might distract his attention from hails . or signals farther out. Suddenly he j heard an exclamation ahead, the snort ! of a frightened horse, then some muffled objurgations, a rider urging a reluctant steed to approach some suspicious ol ject, and, spurring his own spirited charger forward, Mr. Drummond came presently upon the corporal just dis- ; mounting in the darkness and striving 1 to lead his boon companion, whom he ; could not drive, up to some dark object , lying on the plain. This, too, failed. A low whistle, however, brought one of the other scouts trotting in to the res- 1 cue. "Hold him a minute, Burke," said j the corporal, handing up tho reins. "There's something out here this brute ! shied at and I can't get him near it again." With that ho pushed out to the front while tho others listened ex- 1 pectant. A moment later a match was struck, and presently burned brightly in tho black and breathless night. \ Then came tho startled cry: "My God, lieutenant, it's Corporal Donovan and his horse?both dead." And even there Mr. Drummond noted that Bland wjis about the first of the column to come hurrying forward to , tho scene. Ten minutes' investigation threw but i little light upon the tragedy. Some ! stumns of candles were found in the saddlebags and packs, and with these ; the men scoured the plain for signs. I Spreading well out from the center, j they closely examined the sandy level. From the north came the trail of two j cavalry horses, shod alike, both fit the lope, both draggy and weary. From ; the point where lay Donovan and his steed there was but one horse track, j Whirling sharply around, the rider had ! sent his mount at a thundering gallop i back across the valley; then 100 yards away, in long curve, he had reined him to the southeast. The troopers who j followed the hoof marks out about an i eighth of a mile declared that, un- ' wounded, both horse and rider were making the best of their way toward i Moreno's ranch. Farther search, not ; 50 yards to the front, revealed the fact ! tliat?at the edge of a little depression j and behind some cactus bushes three | human forms had been lying prone, , and from this point probably had sped I the deadly bullet. "Apaches, by God!" muttered one j of tho men. "Apaches, your grandmother!" was | the sergeant's fierce reply. "Will you | never learn sense, Moore? When did ! Apaches take to wearing store clothes j and heeled boots? There's no Apache i in this, lieutenant. Look here, sir, and here. Move out farther, some of you j fellows, and see where they hid their i horses. Corporal Donovan was with | C troop down the Gila last week, sir. j They wero to meet and escort the paymaster most like. It's ray belief ho was one of the guard and that tho am- ! bulanco has been jumped this very j night. These are road agents, not i Apaches, and God knows what's hap- j peued if they've got away with Patsy. Suro ho was one of tho nerviest men in j frnnn Civ " Drummond listened, every nerve i a-tinglc, even while with hurried hands 1 he cut open the shirt at tho brawny | throat and felt for fluttering heart beat j or faintest 6ign of life. Useless. The ! shot hole under tho left eye told 1 plainly that tho leaden missile had ' torn its way through the brain and ! that death must have been instan- 1 taneous. The soldier's arms and ac- ! coutermcnts, the horse's equipments, i were gone. The bodies lay unmutilated. Tho story was plain. Separated in some way from the detachment, Donovan and his companion had probably sighted the signal blazing at the pass and come riding hard to reach the spot, : when the unseen foe crouching across } A mutch teas struck ami hunted brightly ill the black and breathless uiglit. their path had suddenly fired tho fatal , shots. Now, where was the paymas- ; torr1 Where the escort? Where the men who fed the sign.il fire?the fire ! that long lief ore midnight had died utterly away? Whither should the weary detachment direct its march ? Coralvo's lay a dozen miles olf to the northwest. Moreno's perhaps eight or nine to the southest. Why had the escaped trooper headed his fleeing steed in that direction? Had there been pursuit? Aye, 10 minutes' search over the still and desolate plain revealed the fact that two horsemen lurking in a sand pit or dry arroyo had pushed forth rt i top speed and ridden away full tih across the desert, straight its the crow flies, toward Moreno's well. Even while Drummond. holding brief consultation with his sergeant, was deliberating whether to turn thither or to push for the signal peak and learn what lie could from the little squad of blue jackets there on duty, the matter was decided for him. Sudden and shrill there came the cry from the outskirts of the now dismounted troop clustered ' about the body of their comrade. "Another lire, lieutenant! Look!? out here toward the Santa Maria." Tho sergeant sprang to his feet, | shouldering his burly way through tho excited throng. One moment more and his voice was heard in louder, fiercer tones; "No signal this time, sir. By God, , tlifivVn ftn.,1 Afiit-cmi'.< raiwll !" CHAPTER III. Shortly after sunset on this same hot evening the sergeant in charge of the little signal party at the Picacho came strolling forth from his tent puffing at a battered brier root pipe. Southward and a few hundred feet below his perch the Yuma r -ad came twisting through the pass, and then disappeared in the gathering darkm ss across the desert plain that stretched between them and the distant Santa Maria. Over to the east the loftiest crags of the Christohal were still faintly tinged by the last touch of departed day. Southward still, beyond the narrow and tortuous pass, the range rose high and preeipi- ; tons, covered and fringed with black masses of cedar, stunted pine and juniper. North of west, on the line of the now invisible road and far out toward the J Gila, a faint light was just twinkling. There lay Ceralvo's. and nowhere ! else, save where the embers of the cook fire still glowed in a deep creviceamong the rocks, was there light of any kind to be seen. A lonely spot was this in j wrhi/'li t/i Knt>nit olio's vet the sol- ! *1'" dier in charge seemed in no wise op- , pressed with sense of isolation. It I ^vas his comrade, sitting moodily on a | HMH rock, elbows on knees and I brown hands, who seemed brooding over the desolation of his surroundings. Watching him in silence a moment, a quiet smilo of amusement on his lips, Sergeant Wing sauntered over and placed a friendly hand on tho broad bluo shoulder. "Well, Pikey, are you wishing your- ; self back in 'Frisco?" 'I'm wishing myself in Tophet, sergeant; it may be hotter, but it isn't as lonely as this infernal hole." i " No, its populous enough probably,'' was the response; "and," udded he, | with a whimsical smile, "no doubt j yotrYeriot?^"iri^lJ^-^Pike." "Maybe I have, and maybe I haven't. At all events, I've none here. Why in | thunder couldn't you let ine look into i that business over at Ceralvo's instead ; r\f .Tn^Vcmt ' Hfl rrt?fa Avprv'thinry wnrfVt i having. I'm shelved for his sake day i after day." "Couldn't send you, Pike, on any j such quest as that. Those greasers have J sharp eyes, and one look at your face | would convince them that we'd lost i our grip or were in for a funeral. Jackson, now, rides in as blithe as a ! May morning? a May morning out of Arizona, I ineu.i. They never get the best of him. The only trouble is he stays too long; ho ought to be back here now." "Humph! he'll bo apt to coino back j in a hurry with Pat Donovan and thoso 1 C troop fellows spending their money ' liko water at Ceralvo's." "You still insist they're over there, j do you, Pike? I think they're not. I ; flagged old Feeny half an hour ago that they hadn't come through here." j "Who was that fellow who rode back here with the note?" asked Pike. "I don't know his nailie. 'Dutchy' ; they call him in C troop. He's on j his second enlistment." "More fool nel too man wnc re-en- i lists in this territory must be either i drunk or Dutch." And Pike relapsed j into gloomy silence again, his eyes fixed upon the faint flicker of the bar j lights at Ceralvo's miles away, but i Wing only laughed again, and still j puffing away at his pipe went on down j the winding trail to where in the deep j shelter of the rocky walls a pool of j water lay gleaming. Here he threw j himself flat, and lying aside his pre- j cious pipe drank long and eagerly; then with a sudden plunge ho doused his hot face in the cooling flood and came up dripping. "Thank the Lord I have no desert j march to make today?all on a wild I goose chase," was his pious ejacula- ! tion. "What on earth could have in- I duced the paymaster to send a detach- j ment over to the Gila?" He took from j his pocket a penciled note and slowly J twisted it in his fingers. It was too j dark to read, but in its soldierly brevity j he almost knew it by heart. "Tho major sent Donovan with half the escort back to the Gila on an Apache scare this morning. They will probably return your way. empty handed. Signal if they have passed. Latham knows your code and wo have a good glass. Send man to Ceralvo's with j orders for them to join at once if they haven't come, and flag or torch when they pass you. It's my belief they've gone there." This was signed by Feeny nnd over and again had Wing been speculating as to what it all meant. When the escort with the ambulauce and paymaster went through before the dawn, Feeny had roused him to ask if anything had been heard of Indians on the warpath between them ancyihe Sonora line, and tho answer was both prompt and positive, "No." As for their being north or north of west of his r.tation, and up toward the Gila, Wing scouted the suggestion. Ho wished, however, that Jackson were back with such tidings as ho had picked up at Ceralvo's. It was always best to be prepared, even though ? ? nmntr fvnm fV?n Ill IS WHS BUIUU uisiuuuu <*>vaj iiuui vuv customary raiding ground of tho tribe. Just then there came a hail from aloft. Pikey was shouting. "All right," answered Wing cheer- | ily; "l)e there in a minute," and then j he went springing up tho trail as though | the climb of 400 feet were a mere bag- \ atelle. "What's up? Jackson here?" he j asked, short of breath, as he reached the i littlo nook in which their brush covered ; tents wero pitched. There was no reply. "Pike! OPikel Where are you?" ho called. And presently, faint and far, some- ! where down in the dark canyon to the south, a voice replied: "Downhyar. Something's coming I up the road." Surely enough. Probably a quarter t mile away a dim light as of a swing- i ing lantern could bo seen following the winding of the rough and rock ribbed road. Then camo the click of ironshod \ hoofs, the crack of tho long mule whip, j and a resonant imprecation in Spanish leveled at tho invisible draft animals. Bounding lightly down the j southward path, Sergeant Wing soon j reached tho roadside, and there found Pike in converso with a brace of horsemen. "It's old Harvey's outfit, from Yuma, j making for Moreno's," vouchsafed the j soldier. "Oh, is that you, Sergeant Wing? I ought to have known you were here. ! I'm Ned Harvey." And the taller j horseman held out a hand, which Wing grasped and shook with cordial fervor, j "Which way, Mr. Harvey, and who ' are with you ?" "Home to Tucson. My sisters are in j Concord behind us, going to visit the : old folks for a few weeks before their trip to Cuba.'' "You don't tell me!" exclaimed Wing. "They're the first ladies to pass j through hero since I came on duty at the station two months ago. You stay . at Moreno's, I suppose?" "Yes; the governor meets us there with relays and four or five men. Wo j knew there would bo no danger west [ of the Santa Maria." " W-e-1-1, did you stop at Ceralvo's ' or see any of their people?" "No, I never put in there. Father's very suspicious of that gang. Why do , you ask, though?" Wing hesitated. "There was some story afloat about Apaches," ho finally said. "The paymaster's escort threw oft' a detachment toward the Gila this morning, and I sent one of my two men back to Ceralvo's to inquire. You must have met him." "No, we made a circuit?came by the old trail around tho head of the slough. We haven't passed anybody, > have we, Tony?" ho asked of the si- j lent horseman by his side. "None, senor; but there were many hoof trails leading to Ceralvo's," was | tho answer, in tho Spanish tongue. "Then you'll need water here, Mr. Harvey. It's a 10 mile pull across to j Moreno's," said Wing, as the four mule ; team came laboring up to tho spot and willingly halted, tho lantern at the for- ; ward axle slowly settling into inertia j from its pendulumlike swing. "Where aro we, Ned?" hailed a ! blithe young voice. Sweet and silvery j It sounded to tho trooper's unaccus- I tomed ears. "Surely not at Moreno's yet?" "Not yet, paquita mia. Is Ruth : 1-_o m?11 l.,?. 4-V.n* JlWilKU I1UI IU j?uivo iuuv vuiij . pato of hers out of the door. I want you to know Mr. Wing, Sergeant Wing, ; who has chargo of the signal Btation I hore." Almost instantly a slender hand, hold- j ing a littlo brass hurricane lantern, ap- : peared at the opening, followed by n j sweet, smiling face, while just behind j it peered another, only a trifle older and i more serious, yet every whit as pretty. Wing raised his old felt hat and mentally j cursed the luck thfi*?had sent him down j there in his ragged shirt sleeves. Pike, | the cynic, busied himself in getting tho buckets from underneath the stout ! spring wagon, and bumped his head savagely against the trunk laden boot as he emerged. "1 never dreamed of seeing ladies tonight," laughed tho sergeant. "It's tho rarest sight in all the world here, but I remember you well when you came to Vtuna hist year. That was when you were going to school at San Francisco. I believe." "That was whon 1 was in short dresses and a long face, sergeant," merrily answered the younger girl. "1 hated the idea of going there to school. Fan, here, was willing enough, hut 1 had never know anything but Arizona and MeTitSU All I could think of was that I was 1i i7i"1iih V "llr " "She was soon rprrwTtEw _ Mr. Wing," said Miss Harvey; "there were' somo very pleasant people on tho steamer." "Oh, very pleasant for yon, Fan, but what did they caro for a chit of 14? You had lovely limes, of course." "So did you, Ruth, from tho very day Mr.Drummond helped you to catch your dolphin." "Ah! we were more than half way to San Francisco then," protested Miss Ruth promptly, "and nobody had taken any notico of mo whatever up to that minute." "Well, Mr. Drummond made up for lost time from that on," laughed the elder sister. '' I nevor told of her, Ned ?wasn't i good??but Ruth lost her young heart to a cavalry cadet not a year out of the Point." "Is it our Lieutenant Drummond who was with you?" queried Wing. "Oh, yes; why. to bo sure, ho is of your regiment. He was going back to testify before somo court at tho presidio, and?wasn't madamo mean?? she wouldn't allow nun to can on xvum at the school, even when I promised to play chaperon and insure strict propriety and no flirting." Ruth Harvey had, with quick movement, uplifted a little hand to silence her sister, but the hand dropped, startled, and the color rushed to her face at Wing's next words: "Then you're almost sure to meet the lieutenant tonight or tomorrow. He's been scouting the Santa Maria and the Christobal and is due along here at this very moment." And now Miss Harvey had the field to herself, for the younger sister drew back into the dark depths of the covered wagon and spoko no more. In 10 minutes the team was rattling down the eastward slope, and Sergeant Wing turned with a sigh as at last even the sound of hoof and wheel had died away. Slowly ho climbed tho steep and crooked trail to their aerio at the peak. No sign of Jackson yet, 110 incssago rrom the ranch, no signal fires at Mofeno's or beyond. Yet was he right in telling Harvey with such precious freight to push on across that open plain when there was even rumors of Apaches in the air? The loveliness of thoso two dark, radiant faces, tho pretty white teeth flashing in tho lantern light, the soft, silvery, girlish voices, tho kindly, cordial handclasp vouchsafed him by the elder as they rolled away?these were things to stir the heart of any man long exiled in this desert land. It had been his custom to spend an hour in chat with his comrades before turning in for the night, but with Jackson still awav and Pike still plunged in gloom?with, moreover, new and stirring emotions to investigate and analy2e?Wing strolled off by himself, passed around the rocky buttress at the point and came to the broad ledge overlooking the eastward way to the distant range. Here a mass of tinder, dry baked by weeks' exposure to the burning sunshiue, stood in a pyramid of firewood ready to burst in flame at first touch of the torch. Close at hand were the stacks of reserve fuel. "Never light this until you know the Indians are raiding west of the Christobal," were his orders. But well ho knew that once ignited it could bo seen for many a league. Here again he filled his faithful pipe, and moving a safe distance away lighted its chargo and tossed the match stump among the jagged rocks below. Ho saw the spark go sailing downward, unwafted from its courso by faintest breath of air. Then he heard Pike's growl or something like it and called to him to ask if ho heard Jackson. No answer. Sure that he had heard tho gruff though inarticwlato voice of his comrade, he hailed again more loudly than before, and still there came no reply. Surprised, he Btepped quickly back around the rocky point to where the tents lay under the sheltering cliff and came face to face with three dark, shadowy forms, whose moccasined footsteps gave no sound, whose masked and blackened faces defied recognition, whose cocked revolvers were thrust into his very faco before a lariat settled over his shoulders, snapped into place; and yelling for help when help was miles beyond rango of his ringing voice Sergeant Wing was jerked violently to earth, dragged into a tent, strapped to a cot, deftly gagged and then left to himself. An instant later the Picacho was lighted up with a lurid, unearthly glare; the huge column of sparks went whirling and hissing up on high, and far and near the great beacon was warring all seers that the fierce Apache was out in force and raiding tho Yuma road. Away out across tho desert its red glaro chased the Concord wagon wherein, all unconscious of the danger signal, tho sisters were now chatting in a low tone. "Drivo your best,r' had Harvey muttered to his Mexican jehu, sis ho leaned out of tho saddle to reach his ear. "Not a word to alarm tho girls," ho cautioned his companion, "but he ready for anything." Far out beyond tho swaying, bounding vehicle; far out across the blistered plain, the glare and gleam fell full upon the brown adobe walls at Moreno's, and glittering eyes and swarthy faces peered through the westward aperture, whilo out in tho corral tho nicht lights wero dancing to and fro, anil Feeny, sore perplexed, but obedient to orders, was hurrying the preparations of his men. Murphy's wild announcement had carried conviction to the major's soul, despite all Fceny's pleadings, and the sight of that beacon furiously burning, the thought of thoso helpless women being borne off into the horrors of captivity among the Indians, had conspired to rouse the paymaster to unlooked for assertion of himself and his authority. In vain had Feeny begged him to think of his money, to remember that outlaws would resort to any trick to rob him of his guard and might have even overpowered Wing and his party and then lighted the beacon. The chain of evidence, the straight story told by his morning visitor, the awful news contained 111 the penciled note brought in by Mullan, were considerations too potent to be slighted. In vain did Feeny point out to him that if Apaches were really in the neighborhood Wing would not bo con tent with starting the lire, but would surely signal whither to go in search of them, and that 110 vestige of signal torch had appeared. Old Pluinmer vowed I10 could never again know a moment of peace if he neglected to do anything or everything in his power to Bavo the girls. Most reluctantly ho agreed that Feeny should remain in charge of the safe and the two drugged and helpless men. Murphy and all the others were ordered out foithwith to marcli rapuny nortnenstwarv^uu iney etrack the trail of the pursuitmil then to follow that. In 15 minutes, with four pack mules ambling bchJnd, away they went into the darknosk and all that was left to man thej|^H^nd defend the government c* * all comers was the phlegmatic but <le- j T termined paymaster, his physically ; sc wrecked but devoted clerk, Sergeant K Feeiiy, raging at heart, but full of ai fight, and a half breed packer named j Pedro. The two senseless and drunken I pi troopers were of course pf no use to any- a< body. ; h Even as the detachment mounted, P Latham with it, old Moreno appeared a* at the doorway shrouded in his serape. n: Approaching Murphy l.y the side far- j v< thest from Plunimer and the sergeant, 1 tc he slipped a fat canteen from under his j cl cloak and thrust it into the corporal's ready hand. . "Hnsh-h?no words," ho whispered. "All is well. I keep si my promise." And so saying he had j ol slunk away, but Feeny was on the off ai sido quick as a shot, quicker than the r"cffrtfflca! -c0?ld stow the^ bulky vessel I in hissjSrMe Tiggs. '^Vresting'IflTOTii ? ! the nerveless hand of his junior, Feeny i . hurled it with all his force after the i ; Mexican's retreating form. It struck | i Moreno square in the back of the neck > < : and sent liiri pitching heavily forward. ! j Only by catching at a horse post did j he save himself from a fall, but, as he : straightened up. his face was one not to i j lie looked at without a shudder; grind- j 1 ing teeth, snapping, flashing eyes, venge- | ful contortions of brow and jaw, hate, { J fury and revenge, ull were quivering i i with the muscles under that swarthy skin, and the gleaming knife was j 1 j clasped in his upraised hand us, driv- ( 1 ing into the ranch and out of sight of i i the hated "gringos," he burst into 1 J ! tho room where sat his wife and i daughter, and raging aloud, through ; that he lory >d like a panther to another 1 i iloor, fastened on the farther side, i where one instant he stood before ad- 1 mission could bo gained, and through a 1 ! panel in which there warily peered a t ! bearded face, swarthy as his own. And 1 I then Senora Moreno hurriedly banged 1 i | tho shutter and took up her gnitai. , < : Something had to be done to hush the , ' I uproar of blasphemy and imprecation | 1 i mingling with the shout of exultation I i that instantly followed her lord's ad- ^ mission to tho den. Nino o'clock came. Murphy and uis j party were gone. The beacon still 1 | blazed at the westward pass. The twang I of the guitar had ceased. Silence j reigned about the ranch. Old Plummer i i ; with anxious face plodded slowly up , 1 and down tho open space in front of 1 ; i the deserted bar. Feeny, with three j 1 loaded carbines close at hand and his 1 I belt bristling with revolvers, was di- 1 | viding his attention between the safe j ] and tho still sleeping troopers. Every once in a while ho would station the major at the safe, which had been i hauled into the easternmost of the i rooms that opened to the front instead i of on tho corral, and, revolver in hand, ] would patrol tho premises, never fail- i ing to stop at a certain window behind which ho believed Moreno to be lurking I ] to warn that impulsive greaser not to j ] show his head outside his room if he 1 didn't want it blown off his shoulders; ! < never failing on his return to stir up i both recumbent forms with angry foot, j and then to shower in equal portions | ] cold water and hot imprecations upon j < them. ^ To Pedro he had intrusted the duty i of caring for the horses of his prostrate j comrades. Every faculty he possessed | i was on the alert, watching for the , ] faintest sign of treachery or hostility 1 from within, listening with dread but , stern determination for the first sound < of hoof beats from without. It must I . have been about 10 o'clock when, leav- j ing Mr. Dawes, the clerk, seated in the | dark interior beside the safe, Feeny j stepped forth to make another round, j stopped to look at Mullan and his part- i ner, now beginning to twitch uneasily j and moan and toss in their drunken ; sleep, and then turned to seek the pay- j master. Whatever lights Moreno had been j accustomed to burn by way of lure or . encouragement to belated travelers, all , was gloom tonight. The bar was Bi- j lence and darkness. The bare east room adjoining the corral was tenanted now only by the clerk and tho precious iron j box of "greenbacks." No glimmer of I J lamp showed there. The westward | apartments, opening only one into j ( another and thence into the corral, were i still as tho night and even when a ! ( ! shutter was slowly pushed from within, j j ; as though the occupants craved more j , I air, no gleam of light came through. , ( "Don't show your ugly mug out I here, Moreno," cautioned Feeny for the j | fourth or fifth time, " and warn any 1 d d cutthroat with you to keep in , i hiding. The man who attempts ^to , i come out gets a bullet through hiin. i There had been shrill protestation in i f ' Mexican Spanish and Senora Moreno's j strident tones when first he conveyed his | l i orders to the master of the ranch, but Moreno himself had made no audible | , reply, and, as was conjectured, had ; enjoined silence on his wife, for after ! that outbreak she spoke no more. f "I've got this approach covered anyhow, '' muttered tho veteran. " Now if I 0nly had men to watch those doors j into the corral, I could pen Moreno and ] whatever he has here at his back. It s j j I that gang of hell hounds we passed at ( Ceralvo's that will pay us a call before j ] morning, or I'm a duller." ( i Once again he found the paymaster j | ' wearily, anxiously patrolling his self- | assumed post out beyond the westward , wall. The presence of common danger, j the staff official's forgetfulness of self t and his funds in his determination to ^ i aid the wretched women whom he { firmly believed to have been run off by . , C tne Apacnes, I1UU WUllirUJii mo pci^caui. | the tribute of more "respectful demeanor, even though he held the story of the raid to be an out and out lie. J "Any signs or sounds yet, sir?" he y questioned in muffled tone. j | "Why, I thought?just a moment { ago?I heard something like tho crack ^ of a whip far out there on the plain." "That's mighty strange, sir; no stage j is duo coming east until tomorrow night, and no stage would dare pull out on this stretch in face of tho warning there at Picaeho." ' a "Well, it may have been imagina- 1: tion. My nerves are all unused to a i this sort of thing. How do you work f this affair when you want to reload, t sergeant? I'm blessed if I understand t H- T nnvno nurn'uil o rovnlvor liofnfrt 1T1 ! fl my life." |l Feeny took the glistening, nickel j I i plated Smith & Wesson, clicked the | '> hammer to- tho safety notch, tested the ! tcylinder springs, and touching tho i lever showed his superior by the feel i rather than sight how tho perfect me- | 1 chanism was mado to turn on its liingo (] and thrus^tho emptied shells from their h chamber. "The Lord grant we may have no h call to shoot tonight, sir, but I mis- j doubt the whole situation. That fire's t beginning to wear itself out already, : (_ and any minute I look to hear the hoof beats of tho Morales gang, surround- a , ing us hero 011 every side. If they'll a only hold off till toward morning and I J can brace up these two ]>oor devils J they've poisoned, we can stand 'em off f awhile until our fellows begin to como 1 back or Lieutenant Drummond hears [ i of the gathering." "And do you still believo there are _ 1 no Apaches in this business?" asked | * tho major. I j "Not out north or west, sir; they're \ thick enough ahead in the Santa Maria, j ,, but not to the north, not to the west?1 * can't believe that. Thoso Morales fel1 lows know everything that is going on. j t They knew that just about this time ^ INod Harvey was expected itlollg Wl'Ul'l- y ing his sisters home. They knew you I I had never seen him and could easily I; i be made to believe tho story. Every- ^ thing has been done to hold us back, j first at Ceralvo's and afterward here,^. until they could gather all theii^|^^Hj in force sufficient to attackj!H|BBS Hist! listen! Ajot ucsoii' roacf, east. GotT "grant it's | me of our fellows coming back! i !eep watch here, major; I'll run out ad challenge." Hastily picking up a carbine, as ho assed the door, Feeny ran nimbly out :ross the sandy barren, disappearing i the darkness to the southeast. Old lummer's heart beat like a hammer i he listened for the hail. A moment lore he could hear hoof beats and tlio Dices of men in low tones; then, low >ned, too, but sharp and stern, Feeny's tiallenge rose upon tlio night: "Who comes there?" Instantly the invisible party halted, lrprised, but with the promptness born E frontier experience back came the aswer: "Friends." "Who are you and where from?" "George Harvey and party from Tucson, looking for ilortfotjlj!- Who are you?" "United States cavalry on escort i luty. How many in your party?" "Only two here. Wo were delayed by Apache signs in the Santa Maria, rhe rest are some miles behind with relay mules. Are we near the ranch? What's that light out to the west?" "Never mind that now. Dismount md come up alone, Mr. Harvey. I must recognize you first." Feeny wanted to gain time. His l brain was whirling. Here was partial ronfirmation of the story told by the vlleged Ned Harvey in the morning. Here was the father coming with guard ind relay mules to meet his children just as their morning visitor declared le was expected to do. Was it possible lfter all that the tale was true?that he children were there at the Gila, ? uaking a wide detour around Ceralvo's'* ind taking the northward route around that ill favored ranch ? If so, what iwful tidings had ho to break! Stout soldier that he was, Feeny felt that he was trembling from head to foot. Up through tho gloom strode a tall figure, fearless and confident. "There's no Irishman in all tho Morales gang," laughed the coming man, 'and I know a cavalryman's challenge when I hear it, and so honor it at once. Where are you, sentry?" "Here; this way," answered Feeny,' standing erect and peering sharply through the doom. "I've never met pou, Mr. Harvey, bat we all know you by reputation. Just tell me your business and how you happen to bo riding tho desert this timo of night, and then ['11 tell you why I ask." "I am expecting my son and daughters coming up from Yuma. Wo were to meet at Moreno's this evening, but a scouting party in the mountains warned us to hide until night, so we're late. Have they reached Moreno's? Wo must be close there." "You're closo enough to Moreno's. It's not 100 yards back there, but that light across tho valley is the warning beacon at Picacho. They would hardly irenturo across, knowing what that means." "Why, my God, man!" exclaimed Harvey, "that says the Apaches are out (vest of tho Santa Maria or tho Christobal. Have you seen?have you heard anything of them?" "For the love of God, sir, don't ask ? ? ? oinr I JiU HOW. V^umu to tliO A aui.iii iimju* Plumxner'sthere?the paymaster. He'll ;ell you all we know." A moment more and, with glaring jyea, with agonized, ashen face, the Arizona merchant stood at the entrance Up through the gloom, strode a tall figure, fearless and confident. )f the ranch, clinging to the horse rail ; for support, listening with gasping j breath to Plummer's faltering recital )f the events of tho morning. "Are you sure it was my son?my ! Ned?" he moaned. "I never saw him before, Mr. Harrey, but some of xny men were sure, unl old Moreno here" The wooden shutter behind them iwung open. From the inner darkness Moreno's voice, tremulous with* sympathy and distress, fell upon their ears. " Senor Harvey, my heart bleeds for I fou. I saw him but an instant, but it tvas he?Senor Edward, your son." "God of hcavfen! And your men have jone, all of them!" "All but Feeny here." "Northeast, toward the ChristobalV" "Yes, but stop one moment now and j look at this note. Is it your son's writ- j ng?" And Plummer produced the . rumpled page while Feeny held the ight. Feverishly Harvey examined J :he scrawl, his hand trembling so hard J re could not steady the paper. / " It is like enough,'' ho moaned. "It*i svas written in such mad haste. My i lorse!" ho cried, "and you como with ne, George. Send the others on our trail as soon as they get in. Give mo mother pistol if you can, I have but >ne, and in God's namo order along :he first troops that reach you." Then in less than a minute even the galloping hoofs had muflled their dull liunder in the darkness and distance. With wild dread spurring him on, the ather was gone to the rescue of his children, leaving old Plummer and his aithful sergeant shocked and nerveless 1 it the ranch. to he continued next week. Too Many Societies.?We asked n old colored preacher the other day, j iow his church was getting on, and his ! iiiswer was, "Mighty poor; mighty j >oor, brudder." We ventured to ask he trouble, and he replied : "J)e 'cie- ! ies, de 'cieties. I)ey is just drawin' , 11 de fatness and marrow outen de lody and bone oh de blessed Lord's iod~. We can't do nuffin without the j eiety. Dar is the Lincum 'ciety wid lister Jones an' Brudder Browd to run J t. Sister Williams mus' march right I n front of de Daughters of Rebecca. )en dar is de Dorcases, de Marthas, le Daughters of Ham, and de Liberian lilies." "Well, you have your brethren to 1 lelp in the church," we suppcsted. "No, sah. Dere am de Masons, de f )dd Fellows, de Sons of Ham, an do j )kIahonm l'romis' Land Pilgrims.") Vhy, brudder, by de time de brudders n' sisters pays all de dues an' tends 11 the meetings dere is nuffiu left for lount l'isgah church but jist de cob; [ le co'n has all been shelled off an rowed to tho speckled chickens."? ! Jible Reader. ? A Pleasant Cuke.?"I tell you," aid Rattlesnake Pete, "snakebite's a ! errible thing. F'r instance, I've jest icerd of the death of a pal of mine j rho who was bit by a snake over a ear ago." "Oh, come now," said one if his hearers, "you don't mean to | ay that it took a year for a snake bite , - i.:n ?) 1,^.1/1 i u mii a man.ut.ii j uu u 17mi?yrn?i osscs an' I'll tell you how it was. | Vlien the feller got hit, he took p^^^ f whisky, the remedy in lade and pervidcd. An' ured him. But the cure ftt that he kep' on takin' i fc has died of tremens^^^^^^HI f -9 9 , IIH'kWH We begin with a rep^^B ..r <* ?<] at/^l Wailllllgh <)l 11 lull <1 UII?I About the 3rd, the beginnings period will show itself in wej gions, by a falling barometer J temperature. The winds southerly?the thermomevB tinuc to rise, and the lmryB until extremes of both ere^B until general and violent*^! op and start on their casH^ The first storm period woijl^c normal conditions, about tne the new moon .fulling on that < the combined disturbb5B| Mars, Earth and Vent^T YimlfeAg0''103 ous storms the co^Bft^^B the rcacliouar}^^^^^^^H the 8th Otll^^H^H tro^B^BHH raii^^^B^^B tornadoc^BBBBEBB viaTTy mid lmrlhcriy'rv-gvfl^H^^^H be for in tflHH surprise the I ric' t^g parts of the contn^^RSH that energetic jftVIHPSH Watch the temperature^H reports, your own baromeB clouds. During 13th to 17tiiH will reach their; crisis fcndfl sweep from the weslnj^RH extremes of our coj^if^^^H of storms, each be struck severity, foi^^Mnu^H lenngif- <-; air do ,. o i Expect cyclonic^HHfl^H (i ng along the' southe^^^^HH zards to the nortj^HB^H hy a general col(^^HH^| felt the rpiakeueivtjlbatioii^^^HH ruprions, will be i^B^B essarily dnugeroiu^B^^^K storm period for 25th to 29 th incluHBj of the period wilF^^^^^B acteristerics as tho^^^^H of the month. Whe^^|H culrainute in very htgl^WJ heavy hail with thunder and may be looked' for. The n close cflld and Vhir generally. St. Louis, February 12thr^ ? jfel' ^ rfi LIFT THE MORTG/^y How to lift the i, farm is one of the h?^^H lems to solve, qd^ yet^^H important. Thej?^fl^^H for the hi the ]iayi A ^H^nsa ga %e *>? Belt SjA^H thand'o which have 11 imj^^BI^^BB cu m u 1 aBH^BI every t hin^^H^B^^^^H ifti^^^KBH^H land \ n,"kT^1^ i c? ' u, h{*<,^? U' S it "Si Able ^ * 'i stop th: Wrtf l)\ll4y o?'1 v'^^M 13 f?*H0u ^c . ?\VtvcU ?<7>in c trarftioTK coiH<'rlun^ J^B dictory. writers i6 city staiify. Gai (k'i) '>('4t ' lie re ,v/; earth the m I y h u ndre^^^^^^^^^^^H to one com jsaT ThH^ Uinnel^^^^H by means of which the the falls will be uied to l^H ^tricity, calls/ attention to^^P j twenty-seven lives have VH the enterprise. It is uUogei? velous piece of engineering j it is estimuted \>v proinhB tricians that the company to develop no less than power by means of tWgtwi^M The power is to be cavried^^B ty almost any distance rei^H instance, a contract 1ms extern furn's^ power to^H millsi Part of lhe Statdfl S o I ^ the foils, at tSg night SrdPer h?rSC P<H 'fceHUb. Owl