Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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totttchiKftit ono TBE SUMTER WATCHMAN, Established April, 1850. "Be Just and Fear not-Let allZthe Ends thou Aims't at, be thy Country's, thy God's and Truth's." THE TRUE SOUTHRON, Established Jane, 1366 Consolidated Aug. 2,1881 New Series-Vol. XIII. ;So.i32. "You dou't tell me!" exclaimed Wing. "They're the first ladies to pass through here since I came on duty at the station two months ago. Yon stay at Moreno's, I suppose?" "Yes; the governor meets us there with relays and four or five men. We ?new there would be no danger west of the Santa Maria. " "W-e-1-1, did you stop at Ceralvo's or se? any of their people?" "No, I never put in there: Father's very suspicions of that gang. Why do you ask, though?" Wing hesitated. "There was some story afloat about Apaches, " he finally said. "The paymaster's escort threw The taller horseman held out his handt which Wing shook with cordial fervor. off a detachment toward the Gila this morning, and I sent one of my two men back to Ceralvo's to inquire. Yon must have met him. " "No, we made a circuit-cameby the old trail around the head of the slough. We haven't passed anybody, have we" Tony?" he asked of the si? lent horseman by his side. "None, senor: but there were many hoof trails leading to Ceralvo's," was the answer, in the Spanish tongue. "Then you'll need water here, Air. Harvey. It's a 10 mile pull across to Moreno's, " said Wing, as the four mule team came laboring np to the spot and willingly halted, the lantern at the for? ward axle slowly settling into inertia from its pendulumlike swing. "Where are we, Ned?" hailed a blithe young voice. Sweet and silvery it sounded to the trooper's unaccus? tomed ears. "Surely not at Moreno's yet?" "Not yet, paquita mia. Is Ruth ? awake? Tell her to poke that curly j pate of hers out of the door. I want j yon to know Mr. Wing. Sergeant Wing, j who has charge of the signal station I here." Almost instantly a slender hand, hold- j ing a little brass hurricane lantern, ap- j peared at the opening, followed by a j . sweet, smiling face, while just behind it peered another, only a trifle older and more serious, yet every whit, as pretty. Wing raised his old felt hat and mentally \ cursed the luck that had sent him down there in his ragged shirt sleeves. Pike, j the cynic, busied himself in getting j the buckets from underneath the stout i spring wagon, and bumped his head j savagely against the trunk laden boot as i he emerged. "1 never dreamed of seeing ladies tonight," laughed the sergeant. "It's i the rarest sight in all the world here, j but I remember you well when you j came to Yuma last year. That was j when you were going to school at San Francisco, I believe." "That was when I was in short j dresses and a long face, sergeant," ! merrily answered the younger girl. "I hated the idea of going there to school. Fan; here, was willing enough, but 1 j had never know anything but Arizona and Mexico. All ? could think of was j that 1 was leaving home." "She was soon reconciled, Mr. ! Wing." said Miss Harvey; "there were j some very pleasant people on the steam- j er." "Oh, very pleasant fer you, Fan, but i what did they care for a chit of 14 ? j You had lovely times, of course." "So did you, Ruth, from the 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 t<i>ken any notice of me whatever up to that minute." "Well, Mr. Drummond made up for lost time from that on, " laughed the elder sister. "I never told of her, Ned -wasn't 1 good?-but Ruth lost her young heart to a cavalry cadet* not a year out of tho Point. " "Is it our Lieutenant Drummond who was with you?" queried Wing. "Oh, yes; why, to be sure, he is of your regiment. He was going back to j testify before some court at the pre- j sidio, and-wasn't madame mean?- j she wouldn't allow him to call on Ruth I at the school, even when I promised to ! play chaperon and insure strict pro? priety and no flirting. " Ruth Harvey had, with quick move? ment, 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." j And now Miss Harvey had the field ! to herself, for the younger sister drew ; back into the dark depths of the cov- j ered wagon and spoke no more. In 10 minutes the team was rattling down the eastward slope, and Sergeant Wing turned with a siirh as at last even the sound of hoof and wheel liad died aw Slowly be climbed the steep i crooked trail to their aerie at the pe No sign of Jackson yet, no mess; rrom the ranch, no signal fires at 2 feno's or beyond. Yet was he right in telling Har with such precious freight to push across that open plain when there \ even rumors of Apaches in the air ? 1 loveliness of those two dari, radii faces, the pretty white teeth flashing the lantern light, the soft, silvery, gi ish voices, the kindly, cordial handel] vouchsafed him by the elder as ti rolled away-these were things to s the heart of any man long exiled in t desert land. It had been his cust< to spend an hour in chat with his co rades before turning in for the nig' but with Jackson still away and Pi still plunged in gloom-with, moreovi new and stirring emotions to inves gate and analyze-Wing strolled off himself, passed around the rocky bi tress at the point and came to the bro ledge overlooking the eastward way the distant range. Here a mass of tinder, dry baked 1 weeks' exposure to the brirning su shine, stood in a pyramid of firewo ready to burst in flame at first ton of the torch. Close at hand were t stacks of reserve fuel. "Never Hg this until you know the Indians a raiding west of the Christobal," we his orders. But well he knew that on ignited it could be seen for many league. Here again he filled his f aithf pipe, and moving a safe distance awj lighted its charge and tossed tue mat< stomp among the jagged rocks belos He saw the spark go sailing dow. ward, unwafted from its course by fain est breath of air. Then he heard Pike growl or something like it and call? to him to ask if he heard Jackson. ? answer. Sure that he had heard tl graff though inarticulate voice of h comrade, he hailed again more loud! than before, and still there came no p ply. Surprised, he stepped quick] back around the rocky point to whei the tents lay under the sheltering eli and came face to face with three dari shadowy forms, whose moccasined foo steps gave no sound, whose masked an blackened faces defied recognitioi whose cocked revolvers were thrust int his very face before a lariat settled ove his. shoulders, snapped into place; an yelling for help when help was mili beyond range of his ringing voice Sei g?ant Wing was jerked violently t earth, dragged into a tent, strapped to cot, deftly gagged and then left to him self. An instant later the Picacho wa lighted up with a lurid, unearthl glare ; the huge column of sparks wen whirling and hissing up on high, ?un far and near the great beacon wa warning all seers that the fierce Apach was out in force and raiding the Yum road. Away out across the desert its re glare chased the Concord wagon when: in, all unconscious of the danger signal the sisters wero now chatting in a lo\ tone. " Drive your best," had Harvey mut tered io his Mexican jehu, as ho leane? out of the saddle to reach his ear "Not a word to alarm the girls," h cautioned his companion, "but be read; for anj-thing." Far out l>eyond thc swaying, bound lng vehicle : far ont across the blistere< plain, the glare and gleam fell ful upon the brown adobe walls at ii o reno's, and glittering eyes and swarthy faces peered through the westwar< aperture, while ont in the corral th< night lights were dancing to and fro and Feeny, sore perplexed, but obedi ent to orders, was hurrying thc prepa rations of his men. Murphy's wild announcement ha< carried conviction to the major's soul despite all Feeny's pleadings, and th< sight of that beacon furiously burning, the thought of these helpless womer being borne off into the horrors of cap tivity among the Indians, had conspire?: to rouse the paymaster to unlooked foi assertion of himself and his authority. In vain had Feeny begged him to thin! of his money, to remember that out? laws would resort to any trick to roi him of his guard and might have ever overpowered Wing and his party and then lighted the beacon. The chain oi evidence, the straight story told by his morning visitor, the awful news con? tained m the penciled note brought in hy Mullan, were considerations too po? tent to be slighted. In vain did Feeny point out to him that if Apaches were really in the neighborhood Wing would not be con? tent with starting the fire, but would surely signal whither to go in search of them, and that no vestige of signal i torch had appeared. Old Plummer j vowed he could never again know a i moment of peace if he neglected to do ! anything or everything in his power j to save the girls. Most reluctantly he ! agreed that Feeny should remain in I charge of the safe and the two drugged I and helpless men. Murphy and all the : others were ordered out forthwith to march rapidly northeast ward until they struck the trail of the pursuit and then to follow that, hi l-l minutes, with four pack mules ambling behind, away they went into the darkness, and all that was left to man the ranch and de? fend the government treasury against all comers was tho phlegmatic but de? termined paymaster, his physically wrecked but devoted clerk, Sergeant Feeny, raging at heart, but full of fight, and a half breed packer named Pedro. The two senseless and drunken troopers were of course of no use to ai body. Even as the detachment mount? Latham with it, old Moreno appeal at the doorway shrouded in his sera] Approaching Murphy by the side f; thest from Plummer and the sergea: he slipped a fat canteen from under i cloak and thrust it into the corpora ready hand. "Hnsh-h-no words he whispered. "All is well. I ke my promise." And so saying he h slunk away, but Feeny was on the < side quick as a shot, quicker than t corporal could stow the bulky vesi in his saddle bags. Wresting it frc the nerveless hand of his junior, Fee: hurled it with all his force after t Mexican's retreating form. It stru Moreno square in the back of the ne and sent him pitching heavily forwai Only by catching at a horse post ? he save himself from a fall, but, as '. straightened up. his face was one not be looked at without a shudder ; grin ing teeth, snapping, flashing eyes, veng ful contortions of brow and jaw. hal fury and revenge, all were quiverii with the muscles under that swart] j skin, and the gleaming knife w j clasped in his upraised hand as, dri ! ing into the ranch and out of sight ! the hated "gringos," he burst in i the room where sat his wife ai ; daughter, and raging aloud, throng j that he leaped like a panther to anoth j door, fastened on the farther sid I where one instant he stood before at ! mission could be gained, and through I panel in which there warily peered i bearded face, swarthy as his own. Ar ! then Senora Moreno hurriedly bangi j the shutter and took up her guita j Something had to be done to hush tl ! -aproar of blasphemy and imprecatic mingling, with the shout of exultatic that instantly followed her lord's a( mission to the den. Nine o'clock came. Murphy and h: ! party were gone. The beacon sti j blazed at the westward pass. Thetwan ! of the guitar had ceased. Sil?ne j reigned about the ranch. Old Plumine with anxious face plodded slowly u and down the open space in front c the deserted bar. Feeny, with thre loaded carbines close at hand and hi belt bristling with revolvers, was d: viding his attention between the sal and tho still sleeping troopers. Ever onc?* in a while he would station th major at the safe, which had bee: hauled into the easternmost of th rooms that opened to the front instea of on the corral, and, revolver in hand would patrol the premises, never fail ing to stop at a certain window benin' which he believed Moreno to be lurkinj to warn that impulsive greaser not t show his head outside his room if h didn't want it blown off his shoulders never failing on his return to stir u] both recumbent forms with angry foot and then to shower in equal portion j cold water and hot imprecations upoi them. To Pedro he had intrusted the dut] of caring for the horses of his prostrati comrades. Every faculty he possessee was on the alert, watching for tk< faintest sign of treachery or. hostiliti from within, listening with dread bu stern determination for the first sonne of hoof beats from without. It mus? have been about 10 o'clock when, leav ing Mr. Dawes, the clerk, seated in the dark interior beside the safe, Feenj stepped forth to make another round, stopped to look at Mullan and his part? ner, now beginning to twitch uneasily and moan and toss in their drunker sleep, and then turned to seek the pay? master. Whatever lights Moreno had beer accustomed to burn by way of lure 01 encouragement to l>elated travelers, al] was gloom tonight. The bar was si? lence and darkness. Thc bare east room adjoining the corral was tenanted now only by the clerk and the precious iron box of "greenbacks." No glimmer ol lamp showed there. The westward apartments, opening only one into another and thence into the corral, were still as the night and even when a shutter was slowly pushed from within, as though the occupants craved more air, no gleam of light came through. "Don't show your ugly mug out here, Moreno," cautioned Feeny for the fourth or fifth time, "and warn any ! d-cl cutthroat with you to keep in hiding. The man who attempts to i come out gets a bullet through him." j There had been shrill protestation in Mexican Spanish and Senora Moreno's strident tones when first he conveyed his orders to thc 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. 'I've got this approach covered any? how, " muttered the veteran. "Now if : I only had men to watch those doors ! into the corral, I could pen Moreno and J whatever he has here at his back. It's j th.it gang cf hell hounds we passed at Ceralvo's that will pay us a call before j morning, or Fm a duffer." ! Once again he found the paymaster j wearily, anxiously patrolling his self I assumed post out beyond the westward ! wall. The presence of common danger, i tho staff ofncial's forgetfulness of self i and his funds in his determination to ; aid the wretched women whom he j firmly believed to have been run off by ; tho Apaches, had won from the sergeant j the tribute of more respectful demean \ or, even though he held the story of the j rai'l to be an out and out lie. : "Any signs or sounds yet, sir?" he : questioned ii: muffled tone, j 4'Why, I thought-just a moment j age-I heard something like the crack j cf a whip far out there on the plain." "That's mighty strange, sir; no stage j is due coming east until tomorrow j night, and no stage would dare pull out I on this stretch in face of the warning ' there at Picacho."' "Well, it may have been imagina I tion. My nerves aro all unused to 1 this sort of th*ng. How do you work i this affair when you want to reload. : sergeant? I'm blessed if I understand j it. I never carried a revolver before in ! my life." ? Feeny took thc glistening, nickel j plated Smith & Wesson, clicked tl? I hammer to thc safety notch, tested thc cylinder springs, and touching tue lever showed his superior by the feel rather than sight how the perfect me? chanism was made to turn on its hinge and thrust the emptied shells from their chamber. "The Lord grant we may have no call to shoot tonight, sir, but I mis? doubt the whole situation. That fire's beginning to wear itself out already, and any minute I look to hear the hoof beats of the Morales gang, surround? ing us here on every side. If they'll only hold off till toward morning and 1 can brace up these two poor devils they've poisoned, we can stand 'em off .awhile until our fellows begin to come back or Lieutenant Drummond hears of the gathering. " "And do you still believe there are no Apaches in this business?" asked the major. "Not out north or west, sir; they're thick enough ahead in the Santa Maria, but not to the ncrth, not to the west-1 can't believe that. Those Morales fel? lows know everything that is going on. They knew that just about this time Ned Harvey was expected along escort? ing his sisters home. They knew you had never seen him and could easily be made to believe the story. Every? thing has been done to hold us back, first at Ceralvo's and afterward here, until they could gather all their gang in force sufficient to attack, then Hist! listen!- There's hoofs now. No, not out there, the other way, from the Tucson road, east. God grant it's some of our fellows coming back! Keep watch here, major; I'll run out and challenge." Hastily picking up a carbine as he passed the door, Feeny ran nimbly out across the sandy barren, disappearing in the darkness to the southeast. Old Plummer's heart beat like a hammer as he listened for the hail. A moment more he could hear hoof beats and the voices of men in low tones ; then, low i toned, too, but sharp and stern, Feeny's challenge rose upen the night : "Who comes there?" Instantly the invisible party halted, surprised, but with the promptness born of frontier experience back came the answer: "Friends." "Who are you and where from?" "George Harvey and party from Tuc? son, looking for Moreno's. Who are you?" "United States cavalry on escort duty. How many in your party?" '/Only twp here. We were delayed by Apache signs in the Santa Maria. The 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 and come up alone, Mr. Harvey. I must recognize you first." Feeny wanted to gain time. His brain was whirling. Here was partial confirmation of the story told by the alleged Ned Harvey in the morning. Here was the father coming with guard and relay mules to meet his children just as their morning visitor declared he was expected to do. Was it possible after all that the tale was true-that the children were there at the Gila, making a wide detour around Ceralvo's and taking the northward route around that ill favored ranch ? If so, what awful tidings had he to break ! Stout soldier that he was, Feeny felt that he wa3 trembling from head to foot. Up through the gloom strode a tall figure, fearless and confident. "There's no Irishman in all the Mo? rales 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 gloom. "I've never met you, Mr. Harvey, but Ave all know you by reputation. Just tell me your busi? ness and how you happen to be riding the desert this time of night, and then I'll tell you why I ask." "I am expecting my son and daugh? ters coming up from Yuma. We 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? We must be close there." "You're close enough to Moreno's. It's not 100 yards back there, but that light across the valley is the warning beacon at Picacho. They would hardly venture across, knowing what that j means." "Why, my God, man!" exclaimed Harvey, "that says the Apaches are out west of thc Santa Maria or the Christo? bal. Have you seen-have you heard anything of them?" "For the love of God, sir, don't ask j me now. Come to the ranch. Major Plum mer's there-the paymaster. He'll tell you all we know." A moment more and, with glaring eyes, with agonized, ashen face, the Arizona merchant stood at the entrance Up through thc gloom strode a tall figure, fearless and confident of the ranch, clinging to the horse rail for support, listening with gasping breath to Plummer'? faltering recital of the events of the morning. "Are you sure it was my son-m}' Ned?" he moaned. "I never saw him before. Mr. Har? vey, but some of my men were sure, and old Moreno here" The wooden shutter behind them swung open. From the inner darkness Moreno's voice, tremulous with" sym? pathy and distress, ft'll upon their ears. "Senor Harvey, my heart bleeds for you. I saw him but an instant, bu was he-Senor Edward, your son.'* . * ' God of heaven ! And your men hi gone, all of them!" "All but Feeny here." "Northeast, toward the Christobal "Yes, but stop one moment now ? look at this note. Is it your son's wi ing?" And Plummer produced crumpled page while Feeny held 1 light. Feverishly Harvey examii the scrawl, his hand trembling so hi he could not steady the paper. " It is like enough, ' ' he moaned. ' was written in such mad haste. '. horse!" he cried, "and you come w me," George. Send the others on < trail as soon as they get in. Give : another pistol if you can, I have 1 one, and in God's name order ale the first troops that reach you." Then in less than a minute even 1 galloping hoofs had muffled their d: thunder in the darkness and distan With wild dread spurring him on, i father was gone to the rescue of ] children, leaving old Plummer and ] faithful sergeant shocked and nervel? at the ranch. CHAPTER IV. And now, with such confirmation the truth of the story of anApac raid, the paymaster thought it or right to release Moreno from the dur? in which Sergeant Feeny had plac him. When so old an inhabitant of A izona as Mr. Harvey gave entire a dence to the report, recognized .the nc as really his son's handiwork and hi tened at all speed to overtake the pr suers, what room for doubt could left in the mind of a newcomer to t soil? It was time, thought Pinnum to form an alliance, offensive and defe sive, with the Mexican denizens of ? ranch against the enemy common both. But again Feeny shook his hej in solemn protest. "I may have been wrong as tot] Apaches, sir, but I can't be mistab as to Moreno. He's in the pay of tl Morales brothers, even if not an aetr member of the gang. He is lurking : there now, I'll warrant you, with tv or three of them in hiding, waiting fi the coming of the main body. They 'a' been here before this perhaps if hadn't been for the Apache stor They're more afraid of one of Cochise band than of all the sheriffs from Tu son to Tacoma. I wish the rest of Ha vey's people would get here," he co] tinned, looking longingly out into tl darkness. "Unless they are of betti stuff than most of these mule whackei in the territory, you won't catch thei hustling out alone trying to find the: master this night. And yet what U? would they be to us?" Plummer turned anxiously away an gave himself up to thought. Noth?n but a faint. glimmer now remained c the beacon light. All was still as th grave about the lonely ranch. Walkin over to the eastward door, he entere the dark room and was instantly haile by the voice of his clerk. 'You're there, are you, Dawes?" h asked. "Not getting sleepy, I hope." "Not a whit, major. I couldn't, eve: if I hadn't slept most of the day. Vu sitting hero on the safe with a Colt's si: shooter in each hand. If old Moreno' door cracks, by gad! I'll let drive." ' Well, that's all right, but suppos they come around through the corra to this door?" "I'm ready. I came within an ac of blazing away at you, but I happens to recognize your figure and step jus in the nick of time." A low whistle without broke up th? colloquy. Plummer waddled off ii the direction of the sound. "What is it, sergeant?" "They're coming, sir. Harvey' men, I mean. Will you deliver hi; message?" "Just as you say. Why shouldn' you?" "It'll have so much moro effect fron your lips, major. They may misdoub me. Far out on the trail the quick trip ping hoofs of mules could now b< heard. Presently a horseman shot ni out of the gloom. "Halt there!" sang out Feeny. "Whose parry's this?" "Harvey's, Tucson. Looking foi Moreno ?s. A re we near ?: ' "You're there now, but you can'l stop. Mr. Harvey wants you to come right along after him. He has taker the trail to the Christobal, where the Indians have carried off his daughters. '' The man fairly reeled in his saddle, shocked at the dreadful tidings. "When? How did it happen? Who's gone with him?" "Some time this morning, from al] we can learn! Two squads of cavalry are on the trail, one with Ned Harvey, the other just out from herc at dark. Tho old man and George followed them as soon as they got in. Who's with you?" "Two Mexicans, that's all. They're no account. I'd best leave them here with the mules. They're just behind and have been scared to death already. " And so in 10 minutes two more of the low caste half breed Mexicans were j added to the paymaster's garrison, and Sergeant Feeny*s brief exposition of ? the situation at the ranch only delayed ? the incoming American long enough to water his horse and stow a little grain in a sack. "I wouldn't wonder a d-d bit ! if the Morales gang were around here," ; was his discomforting assurance. "None I of 'em have been seen about Tucson for a week before we left. Wish I could j sl ay and stand by you, but my first duty ; is with Mr. Harvey. I've been in his I employ nigh onto eight years." "What sort of looking man is Ned Harvey?" persisted the sergeant, still hopeful of some fraud. .'Tall, dark, smooth face-looks like a Spaniard, almost. I never saw any? body who resembled him hereabouts. I'm afraid it's no plant. I don't want to offend you, sergeant, but I wish to God it was all the Morales gang's do I in gs and that it was only your money I they were after. If it's Apaches, and tliey have got the old man"s children, ! he'll never get over it." I "By heaven!" muttered Feeny to ' himself, as the loyal fellow put spurs to his horse and disappeared ; " by heav? en, I begin to believe it's both." And now with gloomy face the ser? geant returned ter where he had left Major Plummer watching the westward trail. A brief word at the doorway as? sured him the clerk wa^ still alert and ready. A pause under the open window, high above the ground, of the room j where slept Moreno's wife and daugh? ter, if they slept at all, told him that all was silenc? there, if not slumber, and then he joined his superior. "That fellow was of the right sort, sergeant, ' ' said Plummer. '41 wish we had one or two like him." "I wish we had, sir. Those greas? ers are worse than no guards at ali. They'll sit there in the corral and smoke papelitos by the hour and brag about how they fought their way through the Apaches with Harvey's mules, but for' our purpose they're worse than useless. At the first sign of an attack they'd be stamj ling out into the darkness, and that'j last we'd see of them. Heard anything further out this way, sir?" "Why. confound it, yes. I try to convince myself it's only imagination, but two or three times, far out there toward the Picacho, I've heard that whip cracking. I have felt sure there was a hammering sound, as though some one were pounding on a wagon tire. Once I was sure I heard a horse snort. That I was in a measure expect? ing. If those fellows mean to attack, they'll come mounted, of course, but what wagon would they have?" "One of Ceralvo's perhaps, to cart off the safe in, if they couldn't burst into it here." "There! Hark now, sergeant! Didn't you hear?" suddenly spoke the major, throwing up a warning hand. Both men held their breath, listening intently. For a moment nothing but the beating of 'their own hearts served to give the faintest sound. Then, out to the west, under the starlit vault of the heavens, somewhere in- that black ex? panse of desert, plainly and distinctly, there rose the measured sound of iron or stone beating on iron. Whether it were tire or linchpin, hame or brake, something metallic about a wagon or buckboard was being pounded into place or shape. 4 4 It's them, sir, " muttered the ser? geant. "It's that bloody gang, for there's no stage due tonight, and if it was Harvey's ambulance, recaptured, 'tis from the northeast it would be com? ing." "Mightn't they have missed the trail in the darkness, and having no ranch lights to guide them got lost somewhere out there?" "Not likely, sir. Shure, there'd be a squad of the troops and half a dozen old hands with 'em if it was Harvey's. This has come from the pass, and it won't be long before they'll be coming ahead. You'll need your carbine then. I D-n that man Mullan ! Can't I wake j him yet?" i Apparently not. Even the well di* I reefed kick only evoked a groan. Tak ! ing a couple of carbines, Feeny returned ? to the major, silently handing him one ? of the weapons, saying,"It's loaded, sir, and here's more cartridges." Then again both men listened in? tently. No sound now. The hammering had ceased. One, two minutes they wait? ed, then nearer at hand than before, clear, sharp and distinct, out from the darkness came the unmistakable crack of a whip. At the sound Feeny knelt. Click, click! went the hammer of his carbine to full cock. Another moment of breathless silence. Then the muffled sound of hoofs, the creak of wagon springs, then a voice: "It can't be far away. Ride ahead and see if you can't rout somebody out." And then Feeny's challenge again rang out on the still night air, followed instantly by muffled sound of stir and excitement in the ranch behind them. 4-Who comes there?" "Hello! What's that? Who's that? Is that Moreno?" "Who comes there, I say? Halt! or I'll fire!" 44For God's sake, don't fire, man! We've got ladies here." "What ladies? Who are you any? how? Quick!" "George Harvey's daughters of Tuc? son. I'm his son." "God be praised!" shouted Feeny, springing to his feet and rushing for? ward. * ? Are they all safe-unharmed ? i Where did you overtake them?" I 4'Overtake whom? What in blazes i are you talking about?" queried a tall, : slender fellow, bending down from his j saddle. 4 ' Who are you ? ' ' 4 4 Sergeant Feeny of the cavalry, and here's the major just back of me." "Major who?" ? 4 ' Maj or Plummer-him you was talk ? ing with this morning when you came j for help, " answered Feeny, his voice j tremulous with excitement. Already i he was beginning to see light. 44 Why, I've never seen Major Plum I mer nor any other major today. The ! only troops I met were Sergeant Wing I and his guard at the pass just after 1 nightfall. Have you met the Apaches? You saw the signal of course." "Signal, yes, but devil an Apache. Tell me now, wasn't it you was here at Moreno's this morning begging for troops to go and fetch your ladies down from the Gila? Wasn't it you sent the note saying they was ran off by In? dians?" And as was the case when? ever excited, Feeny's grammar ran to seed. "Not a bit of it. My sisters are here, safe and sound. We'd have been here an hour ago but for slipping a tire. Is father here?" _ . ? fxo BE CONTINUED.] Welcomed. The following bit of dialogue is re? lated to have taken place between an ac? tor and manager of a since disbanded company: Manager-What do you mean by ac? tually smiling during the performance of the death scene, as I saw you do to? night? Actor-I couldn't help it. With the wages we get now death comes as a happy release.-New York Herald.