Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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KEITH OF THE BORDER A TALE OF THE PLAINS By HAND ALL PAJUt&H 1 at "MY LADY Of THESOUTH." "WHIN WILDERNESS WAS KING." ?tc by UHAUOKH Uli. Vila. {gessrrtgSl A. C MMdmrm O < <*-. ?MX) CHAPTER I. The Plslnsrese. ? The man wti r!dln% Just below the Worn mit of the ridge, occasional I v up? lifting hi* head to ee to case acroce the crest, shading his syce with one Esing, to thus better concentrate bis ?vision Beth horse and tider plainly Sjahtbtted signs of weariness, but every movement of the letter showed Oesselses vigilance, his glance roam tag the barren ridges, s brown Win cheater lying cocked across the saddle pommel, bis left hand taut on the rein Tot the horse he bestrode scarcely required restraint, advancing ?lowly, with bead hanging low. and eely occasionally breaking into a 'brief trot under the Impetus of the spur. The rider was a man approaching thirty, somewhat slsnder and long of limb, hut possessing broad, squared ahouldem above a deep cbeet. sitting Che saddle easily in plainsman fash? ion, yet with an eroctneas of carriage which suggested military training. The face under the wide brim of the weather-worn slouch hat was clean ehaven. browned by sun and wind, end strongly marked, the chin slight? ly prominent, the mouth firm, the gray eyes full of character and daring His sir see was that of rough service, plain leather "chaps." showing marks of Ward ueago. a gray woolen shirt turn ed low at thd neck, with a kerchief knotted loosely about the sinewy ised throat. At one hip dangled holster of a "forty-five." on the >r bang a canvas-covered canteen Bis was figure and face to be noted emywhere, a man from whom you would expect both thought and action, end one who seemed to exactly fit bis wild environment Where he rode was the very west extreme of the prairie country. Eoswe sd like the sea. and from off the ereet of its higher ridges, the wide level sweep of the plains was visible, ?standing like a vast brown ocean to the foothills of the far-away moun Cains Yst the actual commencement of that drear, barren expanse was felly ten miles distant, while all about where be rode the conformation eras Irregular, comprising narrow val? leys and swelling mounds, with here end there a sharp ravine, riven from Che rock and Invisible until one drew wp startled st Its very brink The ejenoral trend of depression was un? doubtedly southward leading toward the valley of the Arkansas, yet Irregu lar ridges occasions!ly cut across, adding to the confusion The entire surrounding lsndscape presented the same aspect, with no special object wpou which the eye could rest for gnatdaace?no tree, no upheuval of nock, ao peculiarity of summit, no emake-llke trail all about extended the same dull, dead monotony of hrown. sun baked hill*, with sllghth greener depreestons lying between, interspersed by patches of sand or the white gleam of alkali. It was s dreary, deserted lend, parched under hot summer sun. brightened by no itton. excepting sparse bunches mt buffalo grass or sn occasional Stunted sage bush, sod disclosing no? where the slightest sign of humsn habitation The rising sun reddened the crest of the hills, and the rider, halting his willing horse, set motionless, gszlng enxmdily into the southwest Appar? ently he perceived nothing there un ejnual. for he slowly turned his body ?bout In the saddle sweeping his eyes. Inch by inch, along the line of Che horizon, until the entire circuit completed. Then his com lips smiled slightly, his hand isrtously patting the horse's -I reckon we're still alone, old girl." he said quietly, a bit of Southern drawl In the voice "We'll try for the trail, and take it easy " He swung stiffly out of the saddle end wtth reins dangling over his shoulder, began the slower advance em foot, the exhausted horse trailing hehlnd His was not a situation in which ooe could feel certain of saf**v for any ridge might conceal the wary foe mm he sought to avoid yet he pro? ceeded now with renewed confident *t was the summer of H?H. and the piece the v??ry heart of the Indisn country, with every separate tribe rsnglug between the Yellowstone and the Brazos, either rent loss or openly em the war path Humors of atrocities wore being retold Hie length and breadth of *be border, and every re port drifting In to ePh^r fort or set Uement only added ?o ?he ularm Kor Ones at least th* Mains Indians had a - ommon 'mum* tribal dlf had been ad \ | \u ,x^r dnst the whit* invader * *n,i K,. > Comsnches Xrapatoe* Che and geECM h \ I become welded ther III ' .vifce hr-i?? ??rhon.l f Agni were ?>.. iff??r?.(| , ; amor mixed settlers Hnlng the store eastern streams, guarded bv small t<? ? die1 n ? life ??r r*'H r I ? * (?, ...a here and ?her?, gut! ' that broad a'| denies*, eenreety wtihfg ton fa of e h other ff?ery?ber* bejo'.u these Unas >i patrol wandered roaming war parties, attacking travelers on the trails, raid? ing exposed settlements, and occa? sionally venturing to try open battle with the small squads of armed men. In this stress of sudden emergency every available soldier on active duty ?civilians had been pressed Into serv? ice, and hastily despatched to warn exposed settlers, guide wagon trains, or carry despatches) between outposts. And thus our rider. Jack Keith, who knew every foot of the plains lying between the Republican and the Can? adian rivers, was one of these thus suddenly requisitioned, merely be cause he chanced to be discovered un employed by tbe harassed commander of a cantonment Just without the en? virons of Carson City Twenty mtn utes later he was tiding swiftly Into the oorthwest. bearing Important news to General Sheridan, commander of tbe Department, who happened at that moment to be at Port Calrnes. To Keith this had been merely anoth? er pags In a career of adventure; for him to take his life In his hands had long ago become an old story. He had quietly performed the special duty allotted him. watched a squad ron of troopers trot forth down the valley of the Republican, received the hasty thanks of the peppery little gen- ( erai. and then, having nothing better to do. traded his horse in at the gov? ernment corral for a fresh mount and started back again for Carson City For the greater portion of two nights and a day he had been in the saddle, but he was accustomed to this, for he had driven more than olo bunch of longhoms up the Texas trail; and as he had slept three hours at Calrnes. and as his nerves were like steel, the thought of danger gave him slight concern. He was thoroughly tired, and It rested htm to get out of the saddle, while the freshness of the morning air was a tonic, the very breath of which made him forgetful of fatigue. After all, this was Indeed the very sort of experience which appealed to him, and always had?this Itfe of peril la the open, under the stars and tbe sky. He had constantly experi? enced it for so long now, eight years, aa to make It seem merely natural. While be ploughed steadily forward through the shifting sand of the cou- | lee. his thought drifted idly back over thoee years, and sometimes he smiled, and occasionally frowned, as various incident* returned to memory It had been a rough Ufa. yet one not unusual to those of his generation. Born of excellent family in tidewater Virginia, j hla father a successful planter, his mother had died while he was still In early boyhood, and he had grown up cut off from all womanly Influence. He had barely attained his majority, a senior at William and Mary's College, when the Civil War came; and one month after Virginia cast in her lot with the South, he became a sergeant in a cavalry regiment commanded by hla father He had enjoyed that life and won his spurs, yet it had cost There was much not over-pleasant to reroembei. and thoee strenuous year* of almost ceaseless fighting, of lone night marches, of swift, merciless raiding, of lonely scouting within tbe enemy's lines, of severe wounds hardship and suffering, had left their marks on both body and soul His father had fallen on the field at Antlo tarn, and left him utterly alone in the world, but he had fought on grimly to the end. until the last Hag of the Confederacy had been furled By thsr time, upon the collar of his tattered gray Jacket appeared the tarnished In slgnla of a captain. The quick ton ? dimmed his eyes even now as he re called anew that final patting follow Ing Apporaattox, the battle-worn fac of his men. and his own pnlnful Jour ney homeward, defeated, wounded and penniless It was no home when ho got there, only a heap of a?aes and i few weed-grown acres. No familiii t face greeted him; not even a slave was left. i He had houestly endeavored to re? main there, to face the future and work It out alone; he persuaded him self to feel that this was his para mount duty to the state, to the mem ory of the dead. But those very yearn of army life made such a task Im possible; the dull, dead monotony of routine, the loneliness, the slowness of results, became Intolerable As it came to thousands of his comrades the call of the West came to him. and at last he yielded, and drifted toward the frontier The life there fascinat? ed him, drawing him deeper and dee^ er into its swirling vortex He be? came freighter, mail carrier, hunter government scout cowboy, foreman. Once he had drifted Into the moun 1 tains, and took a chance in the mines, but the wide plains called him back once more to their desert loneliness What an utter waste It all seemed, now that he looked back upon it Right years of righting, hardship and rough living, aud what had tlx brought him* Tro> reputation of i hard lid^r. a daring playet at cards a quick shot. ? comer of danger. Hnd a bad man to fool with that was the whole of ? record hardly won. TLe man's eyes hardened his lips set firm ly, as this truth came crushing hom* A pretty life story surely, one to he proud of, and with probablv no better ndlng than an Indian bullet or the ' tsh of a revolver in *om<* harroo:.. right The narrow valley along which he wua traveling suddenly changed bs direction. eomc?dhng him to climb the rise of the ruige Slightly helow the I summit he halted In front extended the wide expanse of the Arkansas valley, a 000M of Splendor undf?r the .?olden r.i>s of U? nun. with vivid ' BOgtfMt of ootors, the gray of rocks j the yellow of sand, the In Q of di* ' ?nt Miii. the gross of reget at Ion, and tbe stiver sboeo of tho streun half hid :.-u behind the fr'-.ive or ? t.t tonwootii lining Its b.?nkii 'I hin was a sight Keith had often looked upon, I but always Wltb appreciation, and foi the moment ms eye? swept across from bluff to bluff without thought except for Its wllri beauty. Then he perceived something which Instantly startled him Into attention?yonder, ' lose beside the river, Just beyond that ragged bunch of cottonwoods. slender spirals of blue smoke were visible. That would hardly be a camp of freighters at this hour of the day, and besides, the Santa Fe trail along here ran close In against the bluff, coming down to the river at the ford two miles further west. No party of plainsmen would ever venture to build a fire in so ex)K>*ed a spot, and no small company would take the chances of the trail Bill surely that appeared to be the flap of a canvas wagon top a little to the right of the smoke, yet all was so far away he could not be certain He stared In that direction a long while, shading his eyes with both hands, unable to aeclde. There were three or four mov? ing block dots higher up the river, hut so far away he could not distinguish whether men or animals. Only as out? lined against the yellow sand dunes could he tell they were advancing westward toward the ford. Decidedly puzzled by all this, yet determined to solve the myptery and unwilling to remain hidden there un? til night. Keith led his horse along the slant of the ridge, until he attained a sharp break through the bluff leading down Into the valley It was a rug ged gash, nearly impassable, hut a half hour of toil won them the lower prairie, the winding path preventing the slightest view of what might be meanwhile transpiring below. Once safely out in the valley the river could no longer be seen, while barely a hundred yards away, winding along like a gresr serpent, ran the deeply rutted trail to Santa Fe. In neither direction appeared any sign of human life. As near as he could determine from those distant cottonwoods out? lined against the sky, for the smoke spirals were too thin by then to be ob? served, the spot sought must be con? siderably to the right of where he had emerged. With this idea in mind he advanced cautiously, his every sense alert, searching anxiously for fresh signs of passage or evidence of a \ wagon train having deserted the beat? en track, and turned south. The trail Itself, dustless and packed hard, re? vealed nothing, but some five hundred \ yards beyond the ravine he discovered what he sought?here two wagons had turned sharply to the left, their wheels cutting deeply enough into the prairie sod to show them heavily laden. With the experience of the border he was able to determine that these wagons were drawn by mules, two span of each, their small hoofs clearly defined on the turf, and that they were being driven rapidly, on a sharp trot as they turned, and then, a hundred feet further, at a slashing gallop. Just outside their trail ap Slender Spirals of Blue Smoke Were Visible. lK?ared the marks of a galloping horse A few rods farther along Keith came to a confused blur of pony tracks sweeping In from the east, and the whole story of the chase was revealed as though he had witnessed it with his own eyes. They must have been j craay, or else impelled by some grave necessity, to venture along this trail in so small a party. And they were traveling west?west! Keith drew a deep breath, and swore to himself. I "Of all the blame fools!" He perceived the picture In all Its grewsorae cietaHs?the two mule drawn wagons moving slowly along i the trail in the early morning; t>? J band of hostile Indians sudden*? swooping out from some obscure bid? ing place in the bluffs: the discovery of their presence; the desperate ?.?rort ; at escape; the swerving from the open trail in vain hope of reaching the river and rinding protection un dornest h Its hanks: the frightened u.ulcb galloping wildly, lashed into a fronsy b> the man on horseback; the pounding of the ponies' hoofs, punc? tuated by the exultant veils of the pursuers Again he swore: "Of all the blatte fools'" CHAP7C R II The Scene of Tnrjedy. Whatever might be tie nature of tho tragedy M would he over with long before this, and those moving black spots away yonder to t'_;e WOSt, that ho had disrernr d from the hlufT. were undoubtedly the departing raiders There was nothing left for Keith to do except determine the fate of the unfortunates, and give their bodies de? cent burial That any had escaped, or yet lived, Wit altogether unlikely. unless perchance, women had been hi the part) in which case they would bars boon borne away prisoners Confident thai no hostlles would ho left behind to observe his movements, Keith pressed steadily forward lead ins bli horse He had thus traversed fully nalT a mile before coming upon any evidence of a right?here the pur? suer* had apparently corne up with the wagoa?. and circled out upon either side From their ponies' tracks there must have been a dozen in the band. Perhaps a hundred yards furth? er along lay two dead ponies. Keith examined them closely both had been ridden with saddles, the marks of the cinches plainly visible. Evl dently one of the wagon mules had also dropped In the traces here, and had been dragged along by his mates. ; Just beyond came a sudden depression i in the prairie down which the wagons ; had plunged so heavily as to break one of the axles; the wheel lay a few i yards away, and, somewhat to the right, there lay the wreck of the wag I on Itself, two dead mules still in the traces, the vehicle stripped of con? tents and charred by fire. A hundred feet further along was the other wagon, its tongue broken, the canvas top ripped open, while between the two were scattered odds and ends of , wearing apparel and provisions, with a pile of boxes smoking grimly. The remaining rattles were gone, and no semblance of life remained anywhere. Keith dropped hiR reins over his horse's head, and, with Winchester cocked and ready, advanced au tiously. Death from violence had long since j become almost a commonplace occur? rence to Keith, yet now he shrank for an instant as his eyes perceived the figure of a man lying motionless across the broken wagon tongue. The I grizzled hair ?.nd beard were streaked with blood, the face almost unrecog? nizable, while the hands yet grasped a bent and shattered ritle. Evidently the man had died fighting, beaten down by overwhelming numbers after expending his last shot. Then those fiends had scalped and left him where he fell. Fifty feet bevord. shot in the bad:, lay a younger man. doubled up in a heap, also scalped and dead. That was all; Keith scouted over a wide circle, even scanning the stretch of gravel under the river bank, before he could fully satisfy himself there were no others in the party. It seem? ed impossible that these two traveling alone would have ventured upon such a trip In the face of known Indian hostility. Yet they must have done so. and once again his llpt muttered: "Of all the blame fools!" Suddenly he halted, staring about over the prairie, obsessed by a new thought, an aroused suspicion. There had appeared merely the hoof-prints of the one horse alongside of the flee? ing wagons when they first turned out from the trail, and that horse had been newly shod. But there were two dead ponies lying back yonder; neith er shod, yet both had borne saddles More than this, they had been spur red, the blood marks still plainly vis? ible, and one of them was branded; he remembered it now, a star and ar? row. What could all this portend? Was It possible this attack was no Indian affair after all? Was the dis? figuring of bodies, the scalping, mere? ly done to make it appear the act of savages? Driven to Investigation by this susi ioion{ he passed again over the trampled ground, marking this time every separate indentation, ev? ery faintest imprint of hoof or foot. There was no impression of a mocca? sin anywhere; every mark remaining was of booted feet. The inference was sufficiently plain?this had been the deed of white men. not of red; foul murder, and not savage war. The knowledge seemed to sear Keith's brain with fire, and he sprang to his feet, hands clinched and eyes blazing. He could have believed this of Indians, It was according to their nati:re, their method of warfare; but the cowardliness of it. the atrocity of the act, as perpetrated by men of his own race. Instantly aroused within him a desire for vengeance. He wanted to run the fellows down, to discover their identity. Without I thinking of personal danger he ran I forward on their trail, which led di? rectly westward, along the line of cotton woods These served to con , real his own movements, yet, for the j moment, burning with passion, he ( was utterly without caution, without slightest sense of peril. He must know who was guilty of such a crime; he felt capable of killing them even as he would venemous ?nakes. It was a perfectly plain trail to follow, for the fugitives, apparently convinced of safety, and confident their cowardly 1 deed would be charged to Indian raid? ers, had made no particular effort at concealment, but had ridden away at a gallop, their horses' hoofs digging deeply into the soft turf On this re i treat they had followed closely along the river bank, aiming for the ford, and almost before he realized it Keith whs himself at the water's edge .obere I the trail abruptly ended, staring vaguely across toward the opposite Shore. Even as he stood there, veal Ising the futility of further pursuit amid the maxe of sand dunes opposite, tl e sharp reports of two rifles reach? ed him. spurts of smoke rose from the farther bank, and a b illet chugged Into the ground at his feet, while an? other sang shrilly overl oad These shots, although neither came sufficiently near to be alarming, serv? ed to Fer.d Keith to cov er Tool head ed and alert now, his first mad rage dissipated, he scanned the opposite bank cautiously, but could nowhere discover any evidence Of life. Little by little he comprehended the situa? tion, and decided upon his own no? tion. The fugitives were aware of his presence, and would prevent his crossing the stream, yel they were i ? a! all Kable to reiurn to thin side > mi thus reveal Iheir Identity To .it;?'npt any further advance w >uld be madness but he felt perfectly secure fr< m molestation so long as he re matnod quietly on the north shore Those ihote wer? merely i warning to keep back; the verj fad that the men tiring kept concealed was proof positive thai they simply wished to be left alone 1 hey were not afraid of what he knew now. only desirous of not being seen. Confident as to this, he retreated openly, without making the slightest effort to conceal his movements, until he had regained the scene of murder In ev'.dence of the truth of his theory no further shots were fired, and although he watt M that opposite sand bank carefullv. not the slightest movement revealed t ie presence of others That every rro tion he made was being observed by keen eyes he had no doubt, but this knowledge did not disconcert him, now that he felt convinced fear of re vealment would keep his watchers at a safe distance. Whoever they might be they were evidently more anxious to escape discovery than he was fear? ful of attack, and possessed no desire to take his life, unless It became necessary to prevent recognition. They still had every reason to believe their attack on the wagons would to credited to hostile Indians, and would consider it far safer to remain con? cealed, and thus harbor this supposi? tion. They could not suspect that Keith had already stumbled upon the truth, and was dete/mineC to verify It. Fecure In this conception of the sit? uation, yet still keeping a wary eye about to guard against any treachery, the plainsman, discovering a spade in the tiearest wagon, hastily dug a hole In the sand, wrapped the dead bodies in blankets, and deposited tin n there? in, piling above the mound the char I red remains of boxes as some slight protection ag?1nst prowling wolves. He searched the clothing of the men, but found little to reward the effort, a few letters which were slipped into his pockets to be read later, some or? dinary trinkets hardly worth preserv? ing except that they might assist In Identifying the victims, and, about the neck of the elder man, a rather pe? culiar locket, containing a portrait painted on Ivory. Keith was a long time opening this, the SDrlng being very ingeniously concealed, but upon finally succeeding, he looked upon the features of a woman of middle age, a strong mature face of marked re? finement, exceedingly attract*/e still, with smiling dark eyes, and a perfect wealth of reddish brown hair. He held the locket open in his hand for several minutes, wondering who she could be. and what possible connec? tion she could have held with the dead. Something about that face smiling up into his own held peculiar fascination for him. gripping him with r strange feeling of familiarity, touch? ing some dim memory which failed to respond. Surely he had never seen the original, for she was not one to be easily forgotten, and yet eyer-, hair, expression, combined to remind him of some one whom he had seen but could not bring definitely to mind. There were no names cn the locket, no marks of identification of any kind, yet realizing the sacredness of it. Keith slipped the fragile gold chain about his neck, and securely hid the trinket beneath his shirt It was noon by this time, the sun high overhead, and his horse, with dangling rein, still niblling daintily at the short grass. There was no rea fon for his lingering longer He swept his gaze the length and breadth of the desolate valley, and acioss the river over the sand hills All alike apper.r ed deserted, not a movirg thing being vlF.lhle between the Muffs and the stream Still he had the unpleasant feollng of being watched, and it made him restless and eager to he away The earlier gust of an$:er, the spirit of revmge. had left him, but it had merely changed into a dogged resolu? tion to discover the perpetrators of this outrage and bring them to justice for the crime The face in the locket seemed to ask it of htm, and his na? ture urged response. But he could hope to accomplish nothing more hete. and the plainsmari swung him? self into the saddle. He turned his horse's head eastward, and rode away. From the deeply rutted trail he looked back to where the fire still smoked la the midst of that desolate silence CHAPTER III An Arrest The Santa Fe trail was far too ex? posed to be safely traveled alone p.nd in broad daylight, but Keith consid- I ered it better to put sufficient space between himself and those whom he felt confident were still watching his movements from across the river, i How much they might already suspl elon his discoveries he possessed no means of knowing, yet. conscious of I their own guilt, they might easily feel safer if he were also pit out of the way. Ho had no anticipation or open attack, but must guard against treach? ery. As he rode, his eyes never left those far-away sand dune?, although he perceived no movement, no black dot even which he could conceive to be a possible enemy. Now that he possessed ample time for thought, the situation becamo more puzzling This tragedy which he had accidentally stumbled upon must have had a cause other than blind chance It was the culmination of a plot, with some rea? son behind more important than ordi? nary robbery Apparently the wagons contained nothing of value, merely the clothing, provisions, ami ordinary utensils of an emigrant party Nor had the victims' pocket! been care? fully scare) <-d Only the mules bad been taken by the raiders, and they would be small booty for such a crime The 'rail, continually skirting the btgb Muff and hearing farther .tu:iv fron? the river, turned sharply into a narrow ravine There was a consid? arable break in the rooky barrier heio. leading hack for perhaps a hum dred yarda, and the plainsman turned his horse thai way, dismounting when out of sight among the boulders He could rest here until night with little danger of discovery He lay down on the rocks, pillowing his head on the saddle, hut his brain was too active A Bullet Chugged Into the Ground at His Feet. to permit sleeping. Finally he drew the letters from out hir> pocket, and began examining them. They yield* ed very little Information, those tak? en from the older man having no en? velopes to show to whom they had been addressed. The single document found in the pocket of the other was a memorandum of account at the Pioneer Store at Topeka. charged to John Slbley, and marked paid. This then must have been the younger man's name, as the letters to the oth? er began occasionally "Dear Will " They were missives such as a wife might write to a husband long ab? sent, yet upon a mission of deep in? terest to both. Keith could not fully determine what this mission might be, hb the persons evidently understood each other so thoroughly that mere allusion took the place of detail. Twice the name Phyllis was mention? ed, and once a "Fred" was also ro> ferred to, but in neither instance clearly enough to reveal the relation? ship, although the latter appeared to 'be pleaded for. Certain referencee caused the belief that these letters had been mailed from some small Mis* souri town, but no name was men? tioned. They were invariably signed "Mary' " The only other paper Keith discovered was a brief itinerary of the Santa Fe trail exte nding as far west1 as the Raton Mountains, giving the usual camping spot; and places wherej water was accessible. He slipped the papers back into big pocket with a distinct feeling of disappointment,! and lay back staring up at the little strip of blue sky. The silence was profound, even his horse standing mo? tionless, and fina'lv he fell asleep. The sun had disappeared, and even the gray of twilight was fading out of the sky. when Keith returned again to consciousness, aroused by his horse rolling on the soft turf. He awoke thoroughly refreshed, and eager to get away on his long night's ride A cold lunch, hastily eaten, for a fire wouV have been dangerous, and he saddled up and was off. trot? ting out of the narrow ravine and into the broad trail, which could be fol? lowed without difficulty under the dull gleam of the stars Horse snd rider were soon at their best, the animal swinging unurged into the long, easy lope of prairie travel, the fresh air fanning the man's face as he leaned forward Once they halted to drink from a narrow stream, and then push? ed on. hour after hour, through the deserted night Keith had little fear of Indian raiders In that darknees, Slid every stride cf his horse brought him closer to the settlements snd further removed from danger. Yet eyes and ears were alert to every shadow and sound Once, it mu6t have beer alter midnight, he drew his pony sharply back into a rock shadow at the noise of something approach? ing from the east. The stage to Santa Fe rattled past, the four mules trot? ting swiftly, a squad of troopers rid? ing hard behind. It was merely a lumping shadow sweeping swiftly past; he could perceive the dim out? lines of driver and guard, the soldiers swaying in their saddles, heard the pounding of hoofs, the creak of axles, and then the apparition disappeared into the black void. He had not call? ed out?what was the use? Those neo ple would never pause to hunt uown prairie outlaws, and their guard was sufficient to prevent attack. They ao? knowledged but one duty -to get the nail through on time. The dust of their passing still in the alt. Keith rode on. the noise dying away in his rear. As tie hours pass? ed, his horse wearied and had to be spurred into the swifter stride, but the man seemed tireless. The 6un was a a hour hl^h when they climbed the long hill, r?nd loped into Carson City. The cantonment was to the right, but Keith, having no report to ma"ke, rode directly ahead down the one long street to a livery corral, leaving his horse there, and 6ou^ht the nearest res tan rant. Exhausted by a night of high play and deep drinking, the border town was sleeping off its debauch, saloons nrid gambling dens silent, the streets llmo8l deserted To Keith, whose for rr.or acquaintance with the place had been entirely after nightfall, the view ?f it now was almost a shock--the (Miserable shack*, the gaudy saloon fVnntS, the littered street*, the dingy, fthpetnted hot* I, the dirty tiap of ?'an ras, the unc<?upted road the null prairie sweep! ig awes to tho hod son, all composed a hideous picture be neatl th< sun glare. He cou!d learce 1> ? ad man to attend lus horse, and at the restaurant a drowsy Chinaman ! I b< be shaken awake, an.i fright? en. 1 Into serving him He snt down to tli miserable meal oppressed with disgust never before bed hta life fo< i ..si so mean, useless utterly with out ?v rase (To be Continued.)