Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i ?tchmnn ano tm KB* SUMTER WATCHMAN, Kttablished April, 1850. flKso?idat?di.u?. 2,1881. "Be Just and J^ear not-Let alllthe Ends thou Aims't at, be thy Country's, thy God's and Truth's." THE TRUE SOUTHRON, Established Jone, 1366 SUMTER, S. C., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 1894. New Series-Yoi. XIII. No. 36. "I'll watch him, Mat," said Win$ "You lie down there, Moreno, and se to it that yon make no effort to slip knot while I'm at work here. Ho* far away is that ambulance now, Pal tersen?" he called to the man on loot ont. "Halted down at the edge of th plain, sergeant. That's where the struck water first, and I reckon the; couldn't make np their minds to com farther. I can make ont one or tw of the fellows coming back far down th desert to the south. Horses played on probably." "Anything to be seen across the val ley along the trail we came?" "Nothing, sir; not a puff of dust But here's something I don't under stand-off here in the range south of TL -well up toward the top. * ' "What's that?" asked Wing, drop ping the coil of lariat he held in hi hand and looking quickly np. "Well, it's more like signal smofc than anything else. Just exactly sud smoke as we have seen in the Chirica hua and Catarinas and- Well, jos come np here with your fieldglass, i you can, sergeant I believe there's ai answer to it way down to the south eas -t'other side of the valley. " In an instant Wing turned. "Sorrj for yon,Senor Moreno," he grimly mut tered. "But as only two men are wi tl me, and both are otherwise engaged, I'l have to secure yon temporarily. I isn't pleasant, but it serves yon right. ' In vain the Mexican pleaded and pro tested. A rawhide nata was wounc ^and looped about him in a few seien tifie turns, and he was left reclining against the rock, conquered yet inward ly raging, while Wing stole in to Drum? mond's rude couch, slipped the field glass from its case, then, with a long? ing look into the darker depths beyond, and a moment's hesitation, he stepped to the projecting rock that seemed tc divide the cave into two apartments . and called in lower tone, "Miss Har? vey." "Here, Mr.Wing. What is wanted?" And at the instant, prompt, alert, even smiling, Fanny Harvey appeared before him. The pallor was gone. The disheveled hair had been twisted into shape. Food, rest, relief from dread and misery and that little appreciated beautifier, fresh water, had wrought their transformation here. Wing's handsome eyes glistened as he removed his hat. "I have to go np to that point yonder a few minutes, leaving old Moreno alone, bound, to be sure, but his wife or daughter might slip ont and release him. Will yon have the goodness to take this and shoot lum if they should make the attempt?" And he handed her his pistol. : "I ? see to it that no one interferes with L m, Mr. Wing. What has hap? pened ? Are the others coming ? ' ' And she took the revolver, balancing it in her accustomed and practiced hand. The admiration deepened in Wing's * g aze. "I see you handle a pistol as though yon had used one. You're a true fron? tiersman's daughter. I'll have to be away for a few minutes, i'm going np to look from our rock above there. Some of om* men, they say, are in sight slowly returning, and the paymaster's ambulance is only a mile away, proba? bly waiting for the rest cf the party. How is Miss Ruth?" "Sleeping like a baby, bless her heart." "Well. I have promised Mr. Drum? mond that she should be his nurse. 1 hope you will consent. He is sleeping too. No -fever yet I am thankful to say." "Ruth will be ready, and so will I, to help in any way we can. But when are you to have a rest, may 1 ask?" "O-oh-by and by. Lee and the others must have theirs first. They have been in saddle much longer and farther than 1. When is Miss Harvey to have her rest, may 1 ask?" "W-e-1-1, I don't know. I'll say. 'perhaps by and by' too. Look, that man is calling you." Whirling about Wir.g saw his senti? nel beckoning, and in a moment he went clambering np tho rocky trail, active as a mountain Apache. "What is it. Patterson?" "It is signal smoke, sir, across the valley. That ain't more than eight miles away, and down here in the range ain't more than six. What Indians could be out here, I would like to know ? Do they grow everywhere in this in? fernal country?" Wing took his glasses and long and earnestly studied the bluish white clouds rising in pulls, feint and barely distinguishable in the opposite heights, then fixed his gaze upon the filmy col? umn soaring up among tho dark pines at the heart of the range to the south? ward. His face grew graver every min? ute. "Stay here and watch, " he said. "1 must go and get those other men in with the ambulance. Of course if it is Apaches, they've sighted that party and the few men straggling back, and those signals mean, 'close in on them.' I'll send the team right in and then rid? and hurry the other fellows out." The sun was retiring behind the Cababi range as Wing went leaping down the trail. "Sorry for you, Dick, cid boy," he said to his horse, who was drowsing in the shade. "More work for us both now." Never stopping io saddle, he leaped upon the bare, brown back and went clattering down the canyon "Keep your eye on J?oreno, there! he shouted up to the lookout. "If 1 tries to slip away, shoot him." Ten minutes' brisk gallop throng the windings of the gorge brought hu to the edge of the sandy plain. Ther< under- a little clump of willows, w* the ambulance, its mules unhitched an hoppled securely, nibbling placidly i such scant herbage as they could fine The horses of the two guards, unsac died, were drooping in the shade, to tired to hunt for anything to eat. "Saddle np, men. Hitch in and ge that team to the head of the canyon, liv? ly now,*' was his brief order to th sleepy trooper who greeted him, carbin in hand. "What's up, sergeant?" qnerie another, springing out from the wi] lows. 41 Lee told us to wait here, o wherever we could find shade ant water." * * Wait ? How long and what for ?" "Blessed if I know how long. Non of 'em ain't in sight from here coming back, but 'what for' is easy to answer The paymaster's chest." "The paymaster's chest?" erie? Wing. " Why, isn't that here in th ambulance?" "Not a hinge of it. Those greaser swapped it onto an apparejo while w? were all running for Harvey's daugh ters. The money's half way to Sonors by this time." CHAPTER IX. I Peaceful as was his rest, Drummond slept only an hour or so. For month he had lived in the open air, "on th< warpath, " said his captain, a veterai who had won his spurs twice over ii the war of the rebellion and d?clar?e himself quite ready to take his eas? now and let the youngsters see foi themselves the hollowness of militar} glory. Weariness and physical exhaus? tion had lent their claims, and despite bruises and many a, pang, despite the realization of the presence of the fail girls whom his dash and energy hael rescued from robber hands, the yering fellow had dozed away into dreamland. Whynot? The object of his mission was accomplished. Fanny and Ruth J Harvey were safe. All that was left J for the party to do now was rest in ! ^uict until another morn, then it would I be quite possible to start on the return I without waiting for the coming of their I friends. Before sunset his men would j be reassembled. They could have a I long night's sleep, and with the rising j of the morrow's sun, convoying their j three wagons and their captured trea ! sures, the little detachment would take j the back track for the Tucson road, j confident of meeting "old Harvey" j and probably a doctor on the way. I He himself, though most in need of j surgical attention when they reached j the caves, had such confidence in the j skill of Sergeant Wing as to feel tha I his arm was set as perfectly as could ! be done by almost any other practition? er, and before dropping off to sleep had quite determined that he would make the morning march in saddle. Still, he could not sleep for any great ? length of time. The instinct of vigi ! lance and the sense of responsibility I would not leave him. In his half j dreaming, half waking state, he once j thought he heard a light footfall, and ? presently as he doze?! with eyelids shut j there came a soft touch upon his tem I pie. Lifting his hand he seized that of ? his visitor-Fanny Harvey. I 4 ' Why are you not resting ?" be asked, i 'And where is Ruth?" "Ruth is sleeping, as we hoped you j might be. 'Tired nature's sweet re j storer' is all you need, Mr. Drummond, j yet j'ou do not seem to have had more j than a cat nap. Twice i have stolen i in here to see you, and then, though 1 i was fearful of waking j-ou. you slept i peacefully through it all." "Well, I must have slept a ctouple of ! hours anyway, and I slept soundly until j within the last few minutes. Has j none of the men got back yet, Miss ! Harvey ? Do you know what time it j is? I suppose Wing "Is sleeping. " j "Mr. Wing ought to be sleeping, but j he isn't. The sentry-Patterson I think I they call him-summoned him up to i tho loe>kout there in the rocks, oh, about I an hour ago, and when the sergeant i came back he inounteel his horse and j redo away down the canyon. He said ? there was something requiring his at . tention. But you are to drink this : chocolate and lie still." I Drummond slowly strove to rise. ! He was too anxious, too nervous, to re j main where he was. j "Anel none of them has returned ! yet?" he asked. "I cannot understand j that. No, please do not strive to detain j mo here. I'm perfectly able to be up ! and about, and if Wing is gone it's my ! business to look after things." i Over among the rocks across the i narrow canyon the first object to meet I his gaze as he arose was Moreno, reclin j ing there bound and helpless, while at I hand a soldier had thrown himself on j his saddle blanket and was sound asleep. The plash of the waters in the brook, dancing anel tumbling down the chasm, made sweet, drowsing music for his ears, a lulling, soothing sound that ex? plained perhaps tho deep slumber of his trooper friend. "I heard Mr. Wing tell that man to lie down and sleep," said Miss Harvey as the young officer's eyes 6eemed to darken with menace at: the sight of a sentry sleeping on guarc. "Moreno is securely tied, and both Patterson up there and I here are now his keepers. The senora and her daughter are in the other caye, forbidden to go near him. " Glancing np at the stunted ceda where Patterson stood faithful to hi trust, Drummond saw that he wa peering steadily southward through th black fieldglasses. "What do you see, PattersonV h hailed. "Where is Wing? Any of th men coming back?" "Wing has gone on down the valley sir. Some of our fellows, two or thre only, were coming back, but the didn't come fast enough to suit him The ambulance will be here in a minut or two-it's just below us down th canyon now." Indeed almost at the moment th click of iron shod hoofs was heard, am the dejected mule team came into viev around a jutting point, the dingy yel low ambulance jolting after them, on soldier in the driver's seat handling th reins, the other riding behind and lead ing his comrade's horse. "Come np here to the mouth of th? cave, Merrill," called the lieutenant "You can unhitch and unharness jus beyond, but I want that safe unload? and put in here." "The safe's gone, sir." "What?" "The safe's gone, sir. We never go it. That's what took Sergeant Wini off down the valley, I reckon. I sup posed you knew it, sir, and him, too but he didn't. Those Morales fellow! got away with it on burro back whil< we were chasing the white wagon." For a moment Drummond stood as founded. "Man alive!" he at last exclaimed, "why was I not told of this? Get m< a horse at once, Walsh," he ordered "I'll take Patterson's. You two re? main here and see that that old scoun? drel don't get loose-Moreno there-and that no harm befalls the ladies. I'I ride down after Wing." "Oh, Mr. Drummond, you must not think of going, " exclaimed Miss Har? vey. "You're far too seriously hurt, far too weak, to attempt such a thing. Please lie down again. Surely Mr. Wing will do all that any man could do to recover the safe. All the others are in pursuit. They must have over? taken them by this time. Come ; I am doctor now that he is away. Obey me and lie still." Drummond's one available hand found itself clasped by warm, slender fingers. He would have drawn it away and striven to carry out his design, but a glance at his two troopers told him that they plainly and earnestly advo? cated Miss Harvey's view of the case. He was in no condition to make the at? tempt. And at the moment, too, even as he strove to release his hand, another voice was heard, almost imploring: "Oh, don't let him go. Fan. Don't let him try to ride!" And turning suddenly at the sound Mr. Drummond found Ruth Harvey standing close behind her sister, her eyes suffused, her cheeks blushing red. It was the first time he had seen her to speak to since they landed at the old wharf at San Francisco a year gone by, and for the moment he forgot the safe, the funds, the crippled arm, the band? aged head and every other item that should have occupied his thoughts. "Why, Ruthie, is this you? How you have grown!" And then the imprisoned hand was released only to be transferred to t-he clasp and keeping of another. In her fear that her knight, her soldier, would leave them, and wounded though he was insist on attempting to follow his men in their pursuit, the shyness of maidenhood was forgotten. Ruth had seized and clasped the long, brown fin? gers, and Drummond forgot for the mo? ment all thought of quitting her pres? ence for the field. And then having-as she supposed won her point, and having caught the new light in his admiring eyes, it be? came necessary to struggle for the re? lease of the hand she had so unhesitat? ingly used to detain him. This might have proved a difficult matter, judging from the expression in Drummond's face, but for a sudden hail from Patter? son: * ' Can the lieutenant come up here a moment? There's something going on dawn there I can't understand." Old Moreno, whose bonds could not restrain his shifting, glittering eyes, glanced quickly upward. Then, as he caught a menacing look in the sunburn? ed face of the Irish trooper Walsh, he became as suddenly oblivious to all earthly matters beyond the pale of his own physical woes. And now it was Ruth's hand that would retain its clasp and Drummond's that was again struggling for release. In a moment the lieutenant stood under Patterson's perch. "What did you see? What was it like ? How far away ?' ' "Six or seven miles, sir. The valley is broad and open, and three of our fel? lows were riding slowly back on the west side, while Wing was galloping as though to meet them, and when they weren't more than a mile apart Wing's horse went down-looks no bigger than a black speck-and tho other three sheered off away from tho rocks on this side and seemed to be scattering apart." The words were low spoken so as to reach only his ear. Now it was no easy scramble for a man in Drummond's condition to make, but it took him only a little time to clamber to Patterson's side. "There's something back of all this, and you know it, Patterson. What i Apache sign have you seen?" "Smoke, sir, on beth sides. But we I agreed, the sergeant and I, that tho j young ladies mustn't bo alarmed nor i you aroused. Then ho rode away to ; hurry in any of our fellows who were : in sight and warn them to keep out ; from the rocks. What I'm afraid of is ' that they've been ambushed, or at least : that the Indians have ambushed him. I His horse is down, and those others you I see are away out on the plain now. , They're working around toward the ? horse as though he were lying behind j it, and they appear to be firing mount I ed." What was Drummond to do? To j leave his charges here, unprotected, was j out of the question. Fail to go or ' send to Wing's relief he could not. Decide he must and decide quickly. " Patterson, that party of Apaches can't be over a dozen strong, or they would have rushed out of their cover by this time, yet they are too strong and too securely posted to be driven by that little squad, especially if Wing is wounded. I can't shoot now, but I can ride and direct. Every man who can shoot may be needed here. You have four now and can stand off 40 Apaches-Tonto or Chiricahua-in such a position as this, so I leave you in charge. You have everything to help you stand a siege. Now see to it that the ladies are kept well under cover, and i'll hurry back with Walsh and what men 1 can find." Th*n down he scrambled, giving one look at Moreno and his sleeping guard? ian as he passed, then gave a low toned order to Walsh : "Saddle your horse again and ride just to the other side of that rock yon? der and wait for me." Well he understood that it would be impossible for bim to ride away without Fanny Harvey's knowing that some? thing of. a serious nature was impend? ing, and that he could not get away at all without their knowing it. What he desired was to conceal from them that there was any danger from Apaches. Just as he expected, both girls were eagerly awaiting him at the entrance to the cave. His revolvers were in there beside the rude couch on which he had slept so peacefully. "Now are you ready to return to hos? pital and proper subjection?" asked Miss Harvey laughingly. ' ' It is high time. What could have tempted you to climb to that high point?" "Why, it's the first chance I've had of a look around,"was the answer. "This is an awfully strong spot for a place of refuge. You are safe here, safer than anywhere -between Yuma and Tucson, now that the former pos? sessors are scattered. But did you hear what took Wing off?" "No, he didn't stop to explain mat? ters. He simply dashed away without even a saddle. 'Something I must look after. ' was all he vouchsafed to say." "Well, the men just in tell me the paymaster's safe was spirited off. Con? found that little green box of green? backs! Some shrewd packer among Morales' people whisked it out of the wagon and onto a burro, and now we are all keen to get it back. Of course 1 can't sleep again until we know. Some of our people are coming slowly up the valley, and Wing went on down to meet them." But all the time he talked so airily with the elder sister. Ruth stood watch? ing him with suspicious eyes. "Mr. Drummond, please do not go," 6he broke forth. "You have no right to-now. " And James, the dissembler, found himself trapped. "Go I must, Ruthie," he said, with sudden change of manner. "I know you will not blame me or detain when 1 tell you, as 1 feel forced to tell you now, that Sergeant Wing is hurt. His horse has fallen with him far out on the desert. I'll be back very soon. " Then with sudden impulsive move? ment he bent, kissed her forehead and turned as suddenly away. When the sisters looked into each other's eyes a moment later, one face was blushing like the dawn, the other was pallid with a new and deep anx? iety. And now we, too, must follow Wing. He was a total stranger, it is to be re , membered, to the regiment when, after its years of battling in the Army of the Potomac, it was sent into exile on the far Pacific coast and speedily lost to sight in the deserts of Arizona. The type of noncommissioned officer most familiar to the rank and file as well as to their superiors was the old fashioned "plains raised," "disciplin furst and rayson afterward" class of which Feeny was so prominent an exponent. Brave to rashness and faithful to the very death, they had reason to look for re? spect and appreciation. They were men whoso only education was that picked up in the camps and campaigns of the famous old regiments to which, when mers recruits, they had been as? signed. They were invaluable in the army and would have been utterly mis? judged and out of their element any? where else. That "book learning" and soldiering could ever go hand in hand no man in the oki dragoons would ever have believed for an instant. Such scholars as had drifted into the ranks were, as a rule, irreclaimable drunk? ards, lost to any chance of redemption at home, and only tolerated in the serv? ice in the rough old days because of their meek and uncomplaining perform? ance of long hours of extra duty in the troop or regimental ofiices when, their whisky and their money alike exhaust? ed, they humbly went back to their desks, asking only to live in the hope Ile bait and Hissed her forehead. of another drunk. Hundreds of the old dragoons could barely sign their names, many could only touch thc pen when called upon to make "his (X) mark." "Another busted clerk" was the general expression when the young Californian came forward to enlist. Yet he was the picture of clear eyed, athletic manhood, was accepted with much hesitancy by the officers and un? doubted suspicion by the men, yet speed? ily proved a splendid horseman, scout, shot and, as was the final admission, "all round trooper," despite the fact I that he was weir educated and spoi ; Spanish like a native. Still, such w* j the prevailing faith, as it ever is arnon ! veteran soldiers, that the old style W2 j the best, it was long before he won prc j motion. No one who has not know ? both can begin to imagine the differ j ence between the army of a quarter cer ! tury ago and the army of today. Jm as Feeny was a resolute specimen of th old, so was Wing a pioneer of his das in the new. At the moment when th latter strack spurs to the wearied flans of poor Dick and called on'him for on more effort, the stalwart and handsom sergeant sped away on the path of duty confident of the fact that by this tim every man in his own troop and ever soldier who knew him at all won! stake his last dollar on Bob Wing's tac kling the problem before him as feai lesoly and intelligently as any vetera in the regiment. Having ordered the ambulance up th gorge, he himself spurred away to gath er in all stragglers within reach, so a to re-enforce the little garrison at th' caves in the event of attack from th Apaches. To his practiced eye no ves tige of doubt remained as to the char acter and purpose of the signal smoke: Not a moment was to be lost. Withii that very hour perhaps unseen Indian would come skulking, spying, "snak ing""upon their refuge, would be abl infallibly to determine the number an< character of its occupants, and if thei: own force were Considerable and tba of the garrison weak God alone coule help those innocent women. When last noted, the westward signa was puffing slowly up into the doudles sky from a point in the range perhap; six miles below Patterson's station ii the rocks. The three wearied troopers dragging slowly back from the chase could be seen coming up the valley prob ably four miles away, some distance, therefore, ahead of the supposed positioi of the foe. Wing well knew with wha? goatlike agility the mountain Indian! could speed along from rock to rock anc still keep under cover, and every mai who had served a month in Arizcm could have predicted that if Indians ii any force were within a day's march oi those three stragglers ambush and deatl would be their fate, perhaps even whei within view of their longed for goal. That they had not seen the sign, thal they were ignorant of the possible pres? ence of Apaches in the range, was man? ifest simply because they rode close along under the foot hills, often ovei the bowlder strewn outskirts "of the j falda, and, though still far from them, such was Wing's anxiety for their safe? ty that he rode furiously along, signal? ing with his left band as though tc say: "Keep outl Keep to j-our right 1 Don't go so close to the rocks!" In this way, urging Dick to his speed and never thinking of his own safety, intent only on saving his comrade? from possible death, believing, too, that no Apache could yet have worked his way so far up the range, Wing was riding, straight as the crow flies, from the little oasis at the mouth of the canyon toward the ambling laggards to the south. His course led him along within 100 yards of many a bowlder OT .* sn warrow," though his path itself was unobstructed. The sun had gone west? ering, and he was in the shadow. Pres? ently, however, as Dick panted painful? ly, heavily, up a very gentle slope, anc! the sergeant came upon the low crest of a moundlike upheaval, he saw some 400 yards ahead a broad bay of sun? light stretching in from the glaring sea to the east, and glancing to his right noted that there was a depression in the range-something like a broad cleft in the mountains, possibly a pass through to the broader desert on the other side. He gave it little thought, however. There, only a mile or so away now, came his fellow troopers, two in front, another lagging some distance behind, riding sleepily toward him and danger? ously close to a number of sheltering rocks. Intent only on them and still wishing to attract their attention, he swung his broad brimmed hat, waving it off to tho left, but with no apparent result. Confound them! Were they sound asleep? Cuuld they never be made to see? Poor Dick was able now only to strike a feeble canter, so utterly was ho used up, and just when Wing, looking only to the front, was thinking that he might as well discontinue the spur and let his poor hors? rest, they labored forth from the sheltering shade full upon the tawny, sunlit sand. Then, while the sergeant's eyes were tempo? rarily blinded by the glare, there came from the rocks to his right a sudden flash and report. He felt at the same instant a stinging pang in the leg. He had just time to grasp his own carbine and to attempt to swing off when the second shot echoed loudly from the rocks. H9 felt poor Dick start and swerve ; ho felt him going headlong, and the next thing he knew he was vainly striving to peer into the face of the ! evening sun from over the quivering j body of his faithful friend, unable for I the moment to see the faintest sign of I an enemy, and then the blood came welling through th? little hole in his worn cavalry trousers, midway between the hip bone and the knee, and he knew he had received a serious perhaps ! desperate wound. For the moment, therefore, he could I do nothing more but look for succor. A glance down the desert told him his fellows were at last rudely awakened. I True to the practice of the craft, the ? instant fire was opened from tho rocks each man had put spurs to his horse and dashed away to a safer distance with such speed as was possible with : their jaded mounts, each trooper warily i scanning the dark line of the foot hills ! in search of the foe and striving as he ; rode to unfasten the flap that held his j carbine, in th? fashion of th? day, ; athwart the pommel of his saddle, and I now, circling farther out upon the plain, in wide sweep, with carbines advanced, they were hastening to the j ! succor of their comrade. Presently one I of their number suddenly drew rein, j halted his startled "broncho," aimed to the left of the horse's head and fired, ' then, cramming a cartridge into th? I chamber, cam? riding farther. The ; others, too, followed suit, shooting at I som? object apparently among th? rocks . in fronir?f the sergeant's position. One of the men threw himself from his sad? dle, and kneeling on the sands drove two or three shots*at long range. Eager io add bis own fire to theirs, Wing pulled his hatbrim over his eyes, threw for Wing threw forward thc barrel over the now stilled carcass of poor Dick. ward the barrel over the now stilled carcass of poor Dick, and peered eagerly up the ravine in search of some foe at: whom to aim. Blindly he searched for dusky Apache skulking from rock to rock. There was no moving thing in sight. But what was this-this ob? ject that sn idenly shot out from behind a little ledge, and turning sharply to the left went clattering into the depths of a dark and frowning gorge? Could he believe his eyes? Did the Chiricahuas, then, have horses and wear trooper hats? Bending low over his steed and spurring him to the uttermost exertion, a tall, even soldierly, form had darted one instant into view and then gone thundering out of sight. Up to this moment Wing never had lost full con? trol of his faculties. Now his brain reeled. Before his eyes rose a dense cloud of mist rushing forth from the mountain side. Bowlders, near at hand, took to waltzing solemnly with their neighbors, and when at last the foremost trooper flung himself from his horse and crept to the sergeant's side, while his comrades rode on. keep? ing vigilant watch against the appear? ance of other foes, Sergeant Wing was found lying beside his dead horse. He had swooned utterly away. By and by, with anxious face and bandaged head and arm, Lieutenant Drummond came galloping down. Wing was then submitting to the rude ban? daging of his ieg and lying limp and weak, his head resting on Dick's stiff? ening shoulder. But Wing's eyes were covered by his gauntleted hand and he never looked np at his young com? mander, though he heard his anxious queries. ** Is he much hurt? Were there many of them?" "Shot through the leg here, sir," an? swered the sturdy corporal, "and was in a dead faint when we got to him. I don't know how many there was of them, lieutenant; they skipped off the moment we opened fire." "They couldn't have seen us coming, lieutenant," eagerly spoke a'young re? cruit. "They must have thought the sergeant was alone, for when we charged they just lit out for all they were worth, didr't they, Mike?" he eagerly asked his comrade, an older trooper. "Ch, shut up, Billy! There's nothing an Apache doesn't see, but we were too far off to tell i?\>w many there was. I only saw ore as he lept away. Shure the sergeant was-nearer-he could have seen." "Sergeant Wing, it is I, Lieutenant Drummond. Look up a moment if you can. You were close to them; how many did yon see ?" "How many Indians, sir?" asked Wing faintly. "Yes, how many?" A pause. Then at last: "I didn't see one, sir." [TO BE CONTINUED.] I Siana's Princely Author. The crown prince of Siam is among the boy authors of the world. He has written several stories for the English children's magazines and can write flu? ently in three European languages. "What in the name bf Jupiter have you sewed up all the pockets of my overcoat for?" asked Mr. Wilson. "My dear," said Mrs. Wilson, "I have an important letter to my milliner that I want you to post. "-Boston Home Journal. Has No Equal Hood's Cives Health and "C. L Hood & Co., Lowell, Mass.: "Gentlemen:-I think Hood's Sarsaparilla has no equal. It has been used in our family a good many years. My motlier, Mrs. Benjamin Sellers, came here from England thirteen yeaj-s ago, and has not been in good health for a long time. Every spring and fall she was so Sick and Worn Out that she had to stay in bed. She suffered from Indigestion ; in fact could hardly eat anything. She began to take Hood's Sarsaparilla,and? HOOD'S Sarsaparilla CURES did her so much good she thinks lt saved her life. She is an old lady, 78 years, and ls as smart as some young girls." MKS. J. R. JAMBS. Bidwell Ave., Waukesha, Wisconsin. Hood's Pills act easily, yet promptly and efficiently, on the liver and bowels. 25c