The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 29, 1903, Page 3

me, chief; give us the wo'th of your ment. Has the cld Gray Wolf gone ? or did he read them sign they'd ort to be read? Wah! the Gray Wolf has sharp eye— arp nose—sharp tongue, some time. Sign no can lie when he read 'um.” Jennifer turned to me. “What say you, Jack? "Tis all far enough beyond confess.” was as much at sea touching the mystery as he was; yet the thing to do seemed plain enough. ever mind the Baronet's m Mistress Margery's hazard tt * I would say d then to Yeates: “Wi in kill the usly. “I dun- no for sartair b a heap o fer’ if they w r anxious to hide , with the wo: - n enough for s be at it.” said I rd to let the . which even. in the ts were so plai was th t dog trot th 1d hunter outwearied T both ran with like the racking of a wel ars of br ng halt before the race began ates took time to mak iny of the trail, measuring the horses and looking to the briars for me bit of other token of assurance., When with him he was mumbling jes’ sc. They was a-making & hereaway, sartal ng them hosses to a keen ju Now, says I to was swallowed f utter fatigue, as rats, and to th CHAPTER XXIL HOW WE KEPT LENTEN VICTLS IN TRINITYTIDE. 'Twould weary you beyonl tha limit of good-nature were I to try to victure out at large the varied haps and hazards £s in the savage For the actors in any play detafls have ir place often wearisome to the box ly for the cli- So. if you please, you are to conceive four. the strangest ill-assorted com- ¥ on the footstool, pushing on from day deeper and ever de the pathless forest solitudes, yet alway h the plain-marked trail to g us. Ul not think it strange that [ should have but dim and misty memories of this fainting time. Of all privations famine soonest blunts the senses. making & man oblivious of all save that which drives him onward. The happenings that I remember cleafest are those which turned upon some temporary bridging of the hunger g One was Yeates' killing of a milch doe which, with her fawn, ran ecross our path when we had fasted two whole days. By this, & capital crime in eny hunter's code, you may guess how cruelly we were nipped in the hunger vise. For all the sharp privations of the forced march there was no hint on any lip of turning back. With Margery’s des- perate need to key us to the unflinching pitch Bichard and I would go on while there was strength to set one foot before the other. But for the old borderer and the Indian there was no such bellows to blow the fire of perseverance. None the less these two did more than second us; they set the strenuous pace and held us to it We had been ten days in this starving wilderness, driving onward at the pace that kills and making the most of every hour of daylight, before Yeates and the Indian began to give us hope that we were finally closing in upon our quarry. The dragging length of the chase grew upon two conditions. From the beginning the kidnapers were able to Increase their lead by stretching out the days and bor- rowing from the nights; also they were doubtless well provisioned, and they had horses for the captives and their impedi- menta. But as for us we could follow only while the daylight let us see the trail, and though we ran well at first the lack of proper food soon took toll of speed. So now, though the hoof prints grew bourly fresher, and we were at last so close upon the heels of the kidnapers that their night camp fires were scarcely cold when we came upon them, we ran no longer—cou)d hardly keep a dogged foot- pace for the hunger pains that griped and bent us double. The tenth day, as I well remember, was THE forest that 1 like the atmos- phere of an oven; this though we were well among the mountains and rising higher with every added mile of wester- ing. The sun had passed the meridian and we were toiling, sweaty-weak, up a rock- strewn mountainside, when a thing oc- curred to rouse us réughly from the fam- ine stupor and set us watchfully alert. In the steepest part of the ascent where d of rooting ground by trewing of bolders, was 1 free of undergrowth, Ephraim Yeates ha denly, signed to us with uoflung hand and dropped behind a tree as one shot, and in the same breath the running at Yeates' heels, s if the lowed him. later the twang of a bow- n the bre er clutched and in good time to let the rmless over us Then, o of the buzzing bow- crack of the old border- setting the mountainside all a-clamor 1g repetitions. him, ick and clean, by coonskin!” growled the marks , sitting up behind his to reload. what comes o 'being o ry e can't squinch SN m ez er hunker dow nd le "Twouldn’t s'p e none bet 1 two. se skin had a wheen more o’ them inted sticks in for all his marcies! f that re The Lord be ef's the ck He came in with been »ed no anoola had not. , his black ey that d when a flat ing the mick to! were not ws h the lo if we could. r was not a dripping, s to keep a red ups‘ream in his long rifle at the nd his body bent to bring his eyes the nearer to the ground. CHAPTER XXIL HOW THE FATES GAVE LARGESS OF DESPAIR. Ephraim Yeates was gone a full hour. When he returned he gave us cause to wonder at his lack of caution, since he his earthen Indian pipe and coolly uck a light wherewith to fire it. But the pipe was aglow he told us of indings. % Twas about ez I reckoned; them var- mints waded in the shallows a spell to throw up off and then came out and forded higher up.” That will be a shrewd guess of yours, I take it, Ephraim?” said I, for the night was black as Erebus. “Ne'er a guess at all; I've had 'em fair at eyehoits,” “his as calmly as if we had not been for ten long days pinning our faith to an ill-defincd trace of footprints “Ez ‘I was a-going on to say, the incamped on t'other bank ruther eenside two sights and a born-blow from this. ‘em and counted ‘em—seven red- ‘Thank God!" says Richard, as fer- Iy as if our rescue of the women were y a thing accomplished. Then he 11 upon the scout with an eager ques- tion: “How does she look, Ephraim?—tell me how she looks! “Listen at him sald the old man, cackling his dry little laugh. “How In tarnation am I going to know which ‘she’ he's a-stewing about? There’'s a pair of ‘em, and they both look like wimmin ez have been dragged hilter-skilter “arough the big woods for some better 'n & week. Natheless they’re fitting to set up and take thelr nourishment, both on ’em. They was perching on & log afore the fire, with ever’ last idintical one o' them redskins a-waiting on 'em like they wasa couple of Injun queens. J reckon ez how the hoss-captain gave them varmints their orders, partic’lar.” Dick was upon his feet, lugging out the great broadsword “Show us the way, burst out impatiently. a deal of precious time! But the old man only puffed the more placidly at his pipe, making no move to bead a sortie. “Fair an’ easy, Cap'n Dick; fair and easy. There ain’t no manner o' hurry, ez 1 allow. Whenst I've got to tussle with a8 wheen o' full redskins, and me with my stummick growed fast to my backbone, I jest ez soon walt till them same red- skins are asleep. Bime-by they'll settle down for the night, and then we'll go up yonder and pizen 'em immejitly, if not sooner. But there ain’t no kind o’ use to spile it all by rampaging "round too soon.” There was wisdom undeniable in this, and, accordingly. we waited, taking turns at the hunter's terrible pipe in lleu of supper, and laying our plan of attack. This last was simple enough, as our re- sources, or rather our lack of them, would make it. At midnight we would move up. on the enemy, feeling our way along the river till we should discover the ford by which the captive party had crossed. The stream safely passed, we would deploy and surround the camp of the Indians, and at the signal, which was to be the report of Yeates' rifie, we were to close Eph Yeate: he “We are wasting in and smite, giving no quarter. The old borderer dwelt at length upon the need for this severity, saying that a single Cherokee escaping would bring the warriors of the Erati tribe down upon us to cut off all chance of our retreat with the women. “Onless I'm mightily out o' my reck- ing, this here spot we're a-setting on n’'t more than a day's Injun-running from the Tuckasege Towns. With them gals to hender us we aint’ a-going to be in no fettle for a skimper-scamper race a fresh wheen o' the redskins. Therefore and wherefore, says I, make them chopping-knives o' yourn cut and come again, even to the dividing erpart of soul and marrer.” Dick laughed, and speaking for both of us, said between his teeth that we were not likely to be overmerciful. But now the old wolf of the border gave us « glimp of an unsuspected side of him, taking Jennifer sharply to talk and reading him a homily on the sin of vengeance for vengeance's sake. In this harangue he evinced a most astonishing tongue-grasp of scripture, and for a good haif hour the air was thick with texts. It wanted vet a full hour of midnight when Richard began again to plead pite ously for instant action. Yeates thought jt still over-early, but when Jennifer Ipressed him hard the old borderer left the casting vote to me. 4 “What say ve, Cap't John? Your'n wiil be the next oldest head, and I reckon it hain’'t been turned piumb foolish ram=- paging crazy by this here purty gal o Gilbert Stair's.” Now you have read thus far in my poor tale to little purpose if you have not vet discovered the major weakness of a1 ampaigner, which is to weigh and sure all the chances, holding it to the full as culpable to strike too soon as too late. This weakness was mine, and in that evil moment I gave my vote for fur- ther waiting, arguing sapiently that my old field marshal would never set a night assault afoot till well on toward the dawn. Jennifer heard me through and yielded, perforce, though with little good-will. “I cannot compass it alone, or, by the gods, I'd go!” he asserted, angrily. “Mark you, John Ireton, this delay is a thing you'll rue whilst you live. Your cold-cut pros and cons mouth well enough I'm no soldier lawyer to argue them down. But something better than your damnable reasons tells me that the hour 5 hat these very present sec- are priceless.” Whereupon he flung If face down in the grass and would peak again until the waiting time was fully over and Yeates gave the word to fall in line for the advance. Having learned the lay of the land in his earlier reconnoissance, the old bord- erer shortened the distance for us by ‘guiding us across the neck of a horseshoe in the stream, and a half hour's i groping through the forest fetched upon the river bank again, this time precisely opposite the Indians’ louge fire on the other side. Here there was a little pause for three of us while Ephraim Yeates crept down the bank to try with his sounding pole what chance we had of crossing. Measured by what could be seen from our covert the narrow width of quick water seemed the last of the many vb- stacles. TLulled to security, as we guessed, by apparent success of their ruse to throw us off the scent, six of the Chero- kees were lying feet to fire like the spokes of a wheel for which the fitful o s the hub. The seventh man tted before a small tepee lodge -d skins, which, as we took it, be the sleeping quarters of the captives. Whilst all the others lay stiff and stark as if wrapped in soundest sleep, this sentry guard, too, it seemed. was scarcely more than half awake, for as we looked his gun was siipping from the hollow of his arm and he was nod- ding to forgetfulness. Richard was a-crouch beside me in this peeping reconnoissance, and I could feel him trembling In impatient eagerness. It should be easy enough—what thiik you?’ he whispered, and then, with a sudden grasp upon my wrist: “You are cool and steady-nerved, John Ireton; 1 swear you do not love her as I do!” - 1 grant you that, Dick,” sald I, sure that his excitement would the double meaning in the ad- And then I added, sincerely enough, “She has never given me the right to love her at all” “God help her at this pass!” he sald more to himself than to me, and then he would go in a breath from blessing Margery to cursing Ephraim }'eslu for this fresh delay. v It was Uncanoola who broke in upon the muttered malediction. Captain Jennif' cuss plenty like missionary medicine man. Uncancola no can find white w horse yonder. Mebee Captain Jen- nif’ see 'um, hey?” At his word we both looked for the horses, marking now that they were no- where to be seen within the circle lighted by the lodge fire. The Catawba grunted his doubt that the enemy was as inalert as he appeared to be; then he set the doubt in words. “Chelakee heap slick. Sleep only one eye, mebee, hey? Injun warrior no hi¢z horse and go sleep both eye on war path! Here our scout came gliding back, so nolselessly that he was within arm's reach before we heard him. Dick had eaid I was over-cool, but the old man's ghostlike reappearance made me prinkle to my fingers' ends. “How will it be,” Eph?” Dick queried, hotly eager to be at work. “We can make it across? Never say we can't pass that bit of still water, man!” But Ephraim Yeates did say so in set terms. “I reckon ez how we've got to cross, but not jest here-away, Cap'n Dick. She ain't making any fuss about it, but she's a-slipping along like greased lightning, deep and mighty powerful. I ain't say- ing we mought n't swim her and come out somewhere this side of Dan’l Boone's country, but we'll make it a heap quicker by projec'ing 'round till we find the ford where them varmints made out to cross.” “God!” sald Dick, deep in his throat, “more time to be killed! By—" The old man was parting the bushes to have a better sight of the encampment opposite, but at Dick’s outbreak he fell back quickly and clapped a hand on the lips of cursing. “Hist! Lookee over yonder, will ye!” he cut in. And then in a whisper meant for no ear but mine: *“The Lord be marciful to that little gal, Cap'n John; we've fooled our chance away—the game’s afoot, and we ain’t in it I looked and saw nothing save that the sentry guard had risen to throw & bandful of dry branches on the dying fire. But on the instant the dry wood blazed up, and in the wider circle of firelight I saw what the keener eyes of Ephraim Yeates had described the sooner. In the shadowy background of the surrounding forest a dozen horsemen the making obscure misslon. SUNDAY CALL. were converging in orderly array upon the encampment, and at the blazing up of the dry branches their leader gave the command to charge. What sham battle there was, or was meant to be, was over In the briefest space. The troopers galloped in with shouts and aimless pistolings, raising a clamor that was instanfly doubled by the vells of the Indians. As for resistance, the charging troop met withy nothing worse than the yellings and a scattering fusillade in air. Then the ring of horse- men narrowed in to closer quarters and there was some flashing of bare steel in the firelight, at which the Cherokee kid- napers melted away and vanished as if by magic. With the shouts and the firing Mar- gery and her maid had burst out of the sleeping lodge to find themselves in the thick of the sham battle; and it was but womanlike that they should add their shrieks to the din, being as well terrifled as they had a right to be. But now the leader of the attacking troop speedily brought order with a word of command; and when his men fell back to post themselves as vedettes among the trees, the officer dismounted to uncover courte- ously and to bow low to the lady. “The hoss-captain!” muttered Ephraim Yeates under his breath; but we did not need his word for it. 'Twas but a child's pebble-toss across the barrier stream, and we could both see and hear. “I give you joy of your escape, Mis- tress Margery,” sald the Baronet, mouth- ing his words like a player who had long since conned his lines and got them well by heart and letter-perfect. “These slip- pery savages have given us a pretty chase, T do assure you. But you are trembling yet; calm yourself, dear lady; Yyou are quite safe now.” I was watching her intently as he spoke. 'Twas now hard upon two months since I had seen her last in that fateful upper room at Appleby Hundred,#8d the interval—or mayhap it was only the hardships and distresses of the captive flight—had changed her wofully. Yet now, as when we had stood together at the bar of Colonel Tarleton's court, I saw her pass from mood to mood in the turn- ing of a leaf. her natural terror slipping from her like a cast-off garment, and a sweet dignity coming to clothe her in a queenlier robe, making her, as I would think, more beautiful than ever. “I thank you, Sir Francis—for myself and for poor Jeanne,” she said. “You have come to take us back to my father?” He bowed agaln and spread his hands as a friend willing but helpless. “Upon my honor, my dear lady, noth- #ng would give me greater pleasure. But what can I say? We are upon the King's business, as you well know, and our misston will not brook an hour's delay— indeed, we are here only by the good chance which led your captors to choose our route for theirs. I have no altern tive but to take you and your womai with us to the west; but I do assure you % She stopped him with an impassioned gesture of dissent, and darting a despair- ing glance around that minded me of some poor hunted thing’ hopelessly en- meshed in the net of the fowler, she clasped her hands and wrung them, breaking down piteously at the last, and begging him by all that men hold sacred to send her and her maid back to her father, if only with a single soldler for a guard. 'Twas then we had to drag my dear lad down and hold him fast, else he had flung himself into the torrent in some mad endeavor to spend his life for her. So I know not in what false phrase the Baronet refused her, but when I looked again she was no longer pleading as his suppliant; she was standing before him in the martyr steadfastness of a true, clean-hearted woman at bay. “Then you will not by so much undo the wrong you have done me, Captain Falconnet?”’ she said. “A wrong? How then; do you call it a wrong to rescue you from these brutal savages, Mistress Margery?” She took a step nearer, and though the dry-stick blaze was dying down and I could no longer see her face distinctly, I knew well how the scornful eyes were whipping him. “Listen!” she said. “When you set Tallachama and his braves upon us in the road that night, you were not cau- tious enough, Captain Falconnet. I saw and heard you. More than that, Talla- chama and the others have spoken freely of your plans in their own tongue, not knowing that my poor Jeanne had been three years a captive among the Telli- quoe® i The attack was so sudden-sharp and so completely a surprise that he was ta- ken off his guard, else I made sure he would not at such a time have dropped the gentlemanly mask to stand forth the confessed ravisher. “So ho? Then you have been playing fast and loose with me as you did with the handsome young planter and that beggarly captailn of Austrians? 'Twas a bold game, ma petite, but you have lost and I have won, for my game was still bolder than yours. What I need, I take, Mistress Madge, be it the body of a woman or the life of a man. Savez-vous un homme desespere, ma cherie? I am that man. You pique me, and I need the dowry you will bring. If I could have killed your lover out of hand I might have been content to leave you for a time. Since I could not, you go where I go; and when we return I shall do you the honor to make you Lady Falconnet!" The effect of this flerce tirade, poured out in a torrent of hot words, was less marked upon his helpless captive than it was upon her four would-be de- fenders. It moved us variously, each after his kind; nevertheless, I think the same thought Ilighted instantly upon each of us. Though we might not reach and rescue here, her sharpest peril would be blunted upon the quieting of this flend-in-chief. So Ephraim Yeates stretched himself face downward in the damp grass and brought his lor{g rifle to bear, while the Indjan sprang up and poised his hatchet for the throw; but nelther lead nor steel JOE ROSENBERG'S. was loosed because the light was poor, and a halr's breadth swerving of the alm might spare the man and slay the woman. As for the two of us who must needs come within stabbing distance, the same thought set us both to strip- ping coats and foot-clogs for a plunge into the barrier torrent. But when we would have broken cover, the old bor- derer dropped his weapon and gripped us with a hand for each. 0, no; none o' that!”™ he whispered, hoarsely. “Ye'd drown like rats, and we can’t afford no sech foolish sakerfices on the aftar o’ Baal. Hunker down and lie clost; if there's any dying to be done, ye've got a good half o' the night ahead of ye, and there’s all o’ to-morrow that ain’t teched yet.” It takes a pitiless avalanche of words to spread these interlinear doings out for you; but you are jo conceive that the pause is mine and not the action's. Whi the ‘old man was yet pulling us down, my fearless little lady had drawn back a pace and was giving the villain his answer. “I am glad I know you now for what you are, Captaln Falconnet,” she said, coldly. And then: “You can take me with you, if you choose, having “the brute strength to make good so much of your threat. But that is all. You cannot take for yourself what I have siven to another.” “Cannot, you say?” He clapped his hat on smartly and whistled, for his horse-holder; and when the man was gone to fetch the mounts for the wom- en, finished out the sentence. “Lis- ten, you. in your turn, Mistress Spitfire. I ghall take what I list, and before you see your father's house again, you'll beg dle"on your knees, as other women have, to marry you for very shame's sake! It was then that Uncanoola did the skillfulest bit of jugglery it has ever been my lot to witness. Posturing like one of those old Grecian discus-throwers, he sent his scalping knife handle fore- most to glide snake-like through the grass to stop at Margery's feet. Though I think she knew not how it got thers, she saw it, and the courage of the sight helped her to say, quickly: “When it comes to that, sir, I shall know how to keep faith with honor.” His laugh was the harshest mockery of mirth. “You will keep faith with me, dear lady; do you hear? Otherwise—" He turned to take the black mare from his man. At this my brave one set her foot upon the weapon in the grass. “l have no faith to keep with you, Captain Falcorinet,” she said. e struck back viciously. “Then, heaven, you'd best make the occasion. It has happened, ere this, that a lady as dainty as you are has become a play- thing for an Indlan camp. It lles with me to save you from that, my mistress.” She stooped to gather her skirts for mounflni and in the act secured and hid the knife: So her answer had In it the fine steadfastness of one who may make desperate terms with death for honor’'s e. by (Continued Next Sunday.) 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