6 THE OLD HOME CREIiK. tf I could have my way Voc bet I d have, by ging! Things tixt-U so ev'ry holiday Would come around In Spring! I'd like to simply bunch 'em up. All of 'em In one week. An' go and spend 'em fishin' Down along the old home creek! To cut an alder limb, A springy one and long, An' Kit a woven seagrass line, A long an' thin an' strong, Ar.' ketch me some grasshoppers. Or some blue bottle Hies, An" cast along the ol' home crcuk Where hemlock shudders lies. Oh, 11 • :31 t< r fix 'em up, My holidays, you know. So t 1 -\ 'utj bun< h 'an till my cup Till it would ov> rflow. I'or all the re.-; the long, long year I'd mak" my Sundays do. Give me r.;y holiaays In spring When buds are bu'stln' thoo. I want, to trot away Uiiwn thoo the orchard grass. An' hear tli sti.-sy bluejays squall An' mock th« catbird's sass; An' whistle like a mocktn' bird An' mock the tlnklln' brook An' jest t bubHii. full o' scngf The while I halt my hook. —.l M Lt 'a - i, In Houston I'ost. | A Daughter ] of the Sioux J By GEN. CHARLES KING. i Couyrife'Ut, 1902, 0/ The Ilobart Company* CHAPTER XX. in the hush of the wintry night, under a leaden sky, with snowtlakes falling thick and fast and mantling t he hills in fleecy white, Webb's col umn had halted among the sturdy the men exchanging muttered, low-toned query and comment, the horses standing with bowed heads, occasionally pawing the soft cover let, and sniffing curiously at this filin ly barrier to the bunch grass tliey sought in vain. They had feasted together, these comrade troopers ami chargers ere the sun went down —the men on abundant rations of agency bacon, flour and brown sugar, found with black tailed deer and mountain sheep in abundance in the •captured village, and eked out by supplies from the pack train—the horses on big "blankets" of oats set before them by sympathetic friends and masters. Then when the skies were fairly dark, Webb had ordered little fires lighted all along the bank of the stream, leaving the men of Kay's and Billings* troops to keep them blading through the long night •watches to create the impression Among the lurking Sioux that the ■whole force was still there, guard ing the big village it had captured in the early afternoon, anil then, in silence, the troopers had saddled and Jogged away into the heart of the hills, close on the heels of their guides. There had been little time to look ■over the captures. The main interest of both otliccrs and men, of course, centered in Mr. Hay, who was found in one of the tepees, prostrate frmn illness and half frantic frmn fever and strong mental excitement. He liad later tidings from Frayne, it seems, than had his rescuers. He could assure them of the health and safety of their wives and little ones, but would not tell them what was amiss in his own household. One significant question he asked: Did any of them know this new Maj. Flint? No? Well, God help Flint, if ever he, Hay got hold of him. "He's delirious," whispered Webb, and rode away in that conviction, leaving him to Bay and Billings. Three miles out, on the tortuous trail of the pursued, the column halted and dismounted among the pines. 1 lien there was a brief confer ence, and the word "Mount" was whispered along the Beecher squad- Ton, while Blake's men stood fast. With a parting clasp of the hand Webb and "Legs" had returned to the head of their respective com mands, "Legs" and his fellows to follow steadily the Indian trail through the twisting ravines of the foothilis; Webb to make an all night forced march, in wide detour and determined effort, to head off the •escaping warriors before they could reach the rocky fastnesses back of Bear Cliff. Webb's chief scout "Bat," chosen by Gen. Crook himself, had &>een a captive among the Sioux through long years of his boyhood, and knew the Big Horn Bange as Webb did the banks of the Wabash. "They can stand off a thousand sol diers,-' said the guide, "if once they get, into the rocks. They'd have gone there first, off only there was no water. Now there's plenty snow." So Blake's instructions were to fol low them without pushing, to let them feel they were being pursued, yet by no -means to hasten ♦hem, and, if the general's favorite scout proved to be all lie promised as guide and pathfinder, Webb might reasonably liope bv dint of hard night riding, to tie first at i,ne tryst at break of day. Then they would have the retreating Sioux, hampered by their few wound ed and certain prisoners whom they prized. hemmed between rocky heights on every side, anil sturdy horsemen front and rear. It was eight by the watch at the parting of the ways. It was B:."!i.' wliea Blake retook the trail, with Sergeants Sehrelber and Winsor, the ! latter borrowed from Hay, far in the van. Kvrn had the ground been hard and stony these keen-eyed soldier scouts could have followed the signs almost as unerringly as ihe Indians, for each had had long years of ex perience all over the west; but, de spite the steadily falling' snow, the | traces of hoofs and, for a time, rt j travois poles could be readily seen and followed in the dim gray light of I the blartketed skies. Somewhere aloft, above the film of cloud, the sil very moon was shining, and that was illumination more than enough for men of their years on the trail. l'or over an hour, Blake followed the winding's of a ravine that grew closer and steeper as it burrowed into the hills. Old game trails are as good as turnpikes in the eyes of the plainsman. It was when the ravine began to split into branches that the problem might have puzzled them, had not the white fleece lain two inches deep 011 the level when "Lo" made his dash to escape. Xow the rough edges of the original impres sion were merely rounded over by the new fallen snow. The hollows and ruts and depressions led 011 from one deep cleft into another, and by midnight. Blake felt sure the quarry could be but a few miles ahead and Hear Cliff barely five hours inarch away. So, noiselessly, the signal "Ilalt!" went rearward down the long, dark, sinuous column "112 twos, and every man slipped out of saddle, some of them stamping, so numb were their feet. With every mile the air had grown keener and colder. They were glad when the next word whispered was, "Lead on!" instead of "Mount." By this time they were far up among the pine-fringed heights, with the broad valley of the Hig Horn lying outspread to the west, invisible as the stars above, and neither by ringing shot nor winged arrow had the leaders known the faintest check. It seemed as though the Indians, in their desperate effort to carry off the most important or val ued of their charges, were bending all their energies to expediting the retreat. Time enough to turn on the pursuers when once the rocks had closed about them-—when the wound ed were safe in the fastnesses and the pursuers far from supports. But at the foot of a steep ascent, the two leading scouts —rival sergeants of rival troops, but devoted friends for nearly twenty years—were seen by the next in column, a single corporal followed them at thirty yards dis tance, to halt and begin poking at 1,1 \ :*&&& 'V - ' j r ■" ~ 1 1 I —J — —' . - — ' .LJ "IIK FOUND SCHREIBKR CROUCH ING AT THE FOOT OF A TREE GAZ ING WARILY FORWARD." some dark objeet by the wayside. Then they pushed 011 again. A dead pony, under a quarter inch coverlet of snow was what met the eyes of the silently trudging command as it followed. The higli-peaked wooden saddle tree was still '"cinched" to the stiffening carcass. Either the In dians were pushed for time or over stocked with saddlery. Presently there came a low whistle from the military "middleman" between the scouts and a little advance guard. "Hun ahead," growled the sergeant commanding to bis boy trumpeter. "Gi\e me your reins." And, leaving his horse, the youngster stumbled along up the winding trail; got his message and waited. "Give this to the captain," was the word sent back by Sehreiher. and"this" was a mitten of Indian tanned buckskin, soft and warm, if unsightly, a mitten too small for a warrior's hand, if ever warri' r deigned to wear one—-a mit ten the captain examined curiously, as he ploughed ahead of his main body, and then turned to his subal tern with a grin on his face: "Beauty draws us with a single hair," said lie, "and can't shake us even when she gives us the mitten, lloss," lie added, after a moment's thought, "remember this. With this gang there are two or three sub chiefs that we should get, alive or dead, but the chief end of man, so far as "K" Troop's concerned, is to capture that g'irl, unharmed." And just at dawn, so gray and wan and pallid it could hardly be told from the pale moonlight of the ear | Her hours, the dark, snake-like col . 1111111 was halted again, nine miles ' further in among the wooded heights. With Bear Cliff still out of range and I sight., something had stopped the • scouts, and lilake was needed at the front, fie found Schrej.bel* crouching at the fo.it of a tree, gazing warily forward along a southward-sloping race of the mountain that was •■•parsely covered with tall, straight pines, and that faded into mist a few hundred yards away. The trail—the main trail, that is—seemed togo straight away eastward, and, for a CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY. OCTOBER 22. 1903 short distance, downward through a hollow or depression; while, up the mountain side to the left, the north, following the spur or shoulder, there were signs of hoof tracks, half sheet ed by the new-fallen snow, and through this fresh, fleecy mantlet ploughed tin? trooper boots in rude, insistent pursuit. The sergeant's horses were held by a third soldier a few yards back behind the spur, for Winsor was "side scouting" up the heights. The snowfall had ceased for a time. The light, was growing broader every moment, and presently a soft whistle sounded somewhere up the steep, and Schreiber answered. "He wants us, sir," was all he said, and in five min utes they had found him, sprawled on his stomach on a projecting ledge, and pointing southeastward, where, boldly outlined against the gray of the morning sky, a black and beetling precipice towered from the mist wreathed pines at its base. Bear Cliff beyond a doubt! "How far, sergeant?" asked the captain, never too reliant on his pow ers of judging distance. "Five miles, sir, at least; yet some three or four Indians have turned off here and gone—somewhere up there." And, rolling half over, Winsor pointed again toward a wooded bluff, perhaps :HM) feet higher and half a mile away. "That's probably the best lookout this side of the cliff itself!" he con tinued, in explanation, as he saw the puzzled look on the captain's face. "From there, likely, they can see the trail over the divide—the one Lit tle Bat is leading the major, and, if they've made any time at all, the squadron should be at Bear Cliff now." They were crawling to him by this time, Blake and Schreiber, among the stunted cedars that grew thickly along the rocky ledge. Winsor, fiat again on his stomach, sprawled like a squirrel close to the brink. Every moment as the skies grew brighter the panorama before them became more extensive, a glorious sweep of highland scenery, of boldly tossing ridges east and south and west—the slopes all mantled, the trees all tipped, with nature's ermine, and studded now with myriad gems, tak ing fire at the first touch of the day god's messenger, as the mighty king himself burst his halo of circling cloud and came peering over the. low curtain far at the eastward horizon. Chill and darkness and shrouding va por vanished all in a breath as lie rose, dominant over countless leagues of wild, unbroken, yet magnificent mountain landscape. "Worth every hour of watch and mile of climb!" muttered Blake. "But it's Indians, not scenery, we're after. What are we here for, Winsor?" and narrowly he eyed Bay's famous right bower. "If tlie major got there first, sir— and 1 believe he did—they have to send the prisoners and wounded buck this way." "Then we've got 'em!" broke in Schreiber, low-toned, but exultant. "Look, sir," he added, as he pointed along the range. "They are signaling now." From I)ie wooded height 1.000 yards away, curious little puffs of smoke, one following another, were sailing straight for the zenith, and Blake, screwing his field glasses to the fo cus, swept with them the mountain side toward the five-mile distant cliIV, and presently the muscles about his mouth began to twitch—sure sign with Blake of gathering excitement. "You're right, sergeant," he pres ently spoke, repressing the desire to shout, and striving, lest Winsor should be moved to invidious compari sons, to scrim as nonehalent, as Billy Bay himself. "They're coming back already." Then down the mountain side lie dove to plan and prepare ap propriate welcome, leaving Winsor ami the glasses to keep double-pow ered watch on the situation. Six-fifty of a glorious, keen Novem ber morning, and 60 troopers of the old regiment were distributed along a spur that crossed, almost at right angles, the. line of the Indian trail. Sixty fur-cupped, rough-coated fel lows, with their short brown carbines in hand, crouching behind rocks and fallen trees, keeping close to cover and warned to utter silence. Behind them, 200 yards away, their horses were huddled under charge of their disgusted guards, envious of their fel lows at the front, and cursing hard their luck in counting off as number four. Schreiber had just come slid ing, stumbling down from Winsor's porch to say that they could hear faint sound of sharp volleying far out to the eastward, where the warriors, evidently, were trying to "stand off" Webb's skirmish line until the travois with the wounded and the escort of the possible prisoners should succeed in getting back out of harm's way and taking surer and higher trail into the thick of the wilderness back of Bear Cliff. "Some of 'em must come in sight here in a minute, sir," panted flic veteran sergeant. "We could see them plainly up there —a mule litter anil four travois, and there must be a dozen in saddle." A dozen there were, for along the line of crouching men went sudden thrill of excitement. Shoulders be gan to heave; nervous thumbs bore down on the heavy carbine hammers, and there was sound of irrepressible stir and murmur. (Jut- among the pines, 500 yards away two mounted Indians popped suddenly into view, two others speedily followed, their well-nigh exhausted ponies feebly shaking their shaggy, protesting heads as their riders plied the sting ing quirt or jabbed with cruel lance; | inly in a painful jog trot could they j /.ig zag through the trees. Then j came two warriors, lending the pony of a crippled comrade. "Don't fire— don't harm them! Fall back from the ' trail there and let them in. They'll halt the moment they v our tracks! (iet, 'em alive, if possible!" were Blake's rapifl orders,for his eyes were eagerly fixed on other objects beyond these dejected leaders—upon stum bling mules, lashed fore and aft be- i tween long, spliced saplings and bear ing thus the rude litter—llay's pot wheelers turned to hospital use. An ; Indian boy,mounted,led the foremost mule; another watched the second; j while, 011 each side of the occupant of the Sioux palanquin, jogged a 1 blanketed rider on jaded pony. Hen was a personage of consequence— luckier much than these others fol- j lowing, dragged along on travois whose trailing poles came jolting over stone or hummock along the rugged path. It was on these that Wake's glittering eyes were fastened. "Pounce on the leaders, you that are nearest!" lie ordered, in low, telling tones, the men at his left; then turned to Schreiber, crouching close beside him, the fringe of his buck skin hunting shirt quivering over his bounding heart. "There's the pri/e 1 want," he muttered low. "Whatever j ou do, let no shot reach that litter. Charge with me the moment the lead ers yell. You men to the right," he added, slightly raising his voice, "be leady to jump with me. Don't shoot anybody that doesn't show light. Nab everything in sight." "YVhoo-oop!" All in a second the mountain woke, the welkin rang, to a yell of warning from the lips of the leading Sioux. All in a second they whirled their ponies about anil darted back. AH in that second Blake and his nearmost sprang to their feet and tiung themselevs forward straight for the startled convoy. In vain the few warriors bravely rallied about their foremost wounded. The unwieldy litter could not turn about; the frantic mules, crazed by the in stant pandemonium of shouts and shots—the onward rush of charging men—the awful screams of a brace of squaws, broke from their lead ing reins; crashed with their lit ter against the trees, hurling tlie luckless occupant to earth. Back drove the unliit warriors before the dash of the cheering line. Down went first one pony, then a second, in his bloody tracks. One after another, lit ter, travois, wounded and prisoner, was clutched and seized by stalwart hands, and Blake, panting not a lit tle, found himself bending staring over the prostrate form Hung from the splintered wreck of the litter, a form writhing in pain that forced no sound whatever from between grimly clinching teeth, yet that baffled effort, almost superb, to rise and battle still—a form magnificent in its pro portions, yet helpless through wounds and weakness. Not the form Blake thought to see, of shrinking, delicate, dainty woman, but that of the furious warrior who thrice had dared him on the open field—the red hrave well-known by sight and deed within the moon now waning, but, only within the day gone by, revealed to him as the renegade lialph Mo reau—Eagle Wing of the Ogallala Sioux. Where then was Nanette? (To Be Coiftlnued.] AN ANCIENT JURY. Or.T» That WII s Sent to Prison and Hound Over to He of (iuod lleliavior. In olden times, when a jury in Eng*- land remained impervious to the judge's gentle mode of persuasion, j line and imprisonment were resorted to. The jury that acquitted Sir Nicholas Trockmorton was condemn ed to eight months' imprisonment in addition to the payment of a large sum of money. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth a jury, having reduced a ; prisoner's alleged crime of murder to that of manslaughter, was at once sent, to prison and bound over in a large sum to be of good behavior. [ Penalties were likewise inflicted upon the innocent wife and children of the offending jurymen. Even now it is 1 believed by some legal authorities that a judge has the right to inflict i a fine upon a juryman refusing to > obey his directions. Such power is however, not exercised, except in the case of a juror absenting himself i without a cause. Of this practice there is the following story: A judge had fined a juryman for non-attendance. On hearing that he had been unable to be present be- j cause of his wife's funeral the judge, J whose wife was said to be not of a particularly gentle nature, exclaim-i eel: "That was a good excuse indeed. I wish we all had the same!" Two Good HlKrlilnmlerji. During the Crimean war a Scotch 1 officer was appointed to command a regiment recruited in Glasgow, Scot land, and, being a Highlander, took a vote of tlic regiment to determine ; whether the men favored the adoption i of the Highland costume. In could send him a. chewing jacket."—• ! Chicago Daily News. ' MEDICAL INVENTIONS. Machinery !No \r Play* an Important Part in tlie Treatment of Pu tientM in Hospital*. Hospital patients can now be nursed by machinery. An inventor has re cently patented an ingenious little ma chine, consisting of a small box, in which is a self-registering thermom eter, connected electrically with a tiny bell. This register is put under the armpit of a person suffering from fever, and when his temperature rises the bell rings, and the doctor or nurse is summoned. Dr.Laborde of the French academy of medicine has recently constructed a wonderful iittle electric machine for re storing persons unconscious from drowning, suffocation or similar causes. It i 3 called the electric tongue-tractor, and has a padded forceps, which is at tached to the patient's tongue and pulls this member out to its full length at regular intervals. It has restored life to an apparently drowned person after friction, a mustard bath and artificial injection of air into the lungs had all failed. A wound-stitching machine is the in vention of another doctor named Michel. It works very much more rap idly than the old method of stitching by hand, is painless and effective. It consists of a case, or sheath, holding a number of nickel hooks, or bands, like those used for the corners of card board boxe3. They are putin position with a pair of forceps, and can be ad justed at the rate of twenty-five a min ute. Their rounded points do not pen etrate the lower layer of the skin, but only the epidermis, and therefore the pain caused by them is very slight. They have the additional advantage of being very easily disinfected. A most curious invention is that of Dr Coakley for stimulating a weak heart. It consists of a hollow needle some eight inches long, made of an alloy of gold, and driven by a little electric motor. It is so shaped that it can be used to actually pierce the heart and inject into it a solution of salt, and warm water, which will stim ulate the organ, and so prolong and save life.—London Answers. Increase in .\merlean F2xpnrt*. In 11 years British manufactured ex ports have decreased 3.5 per cent., Amer ican manufactured exports have in creased 174 per cent., and German man ufactured exports have increased 35.5 per cent. Motor League THE American Motor league has devised a series of warning signs to be put up at points along the roadside, wherever conditions are such as call for reduced speed or unusual caution on the part of persons using motor cars; though in most cases these signs will be found useful to other persons making use of the public roads. The designs adopted by the league are in some respects similar to the caution signs put up by the English, French and Italian automobile associa tions. though less complicated, it hav ing been the aim of the league to re duce each sign to its lowest terms of simplicity, so that each will tell its story at a glance and by the use of the ! fewest marks possible. Each sign is : o be made of heavy enamelled sheet ! steel, with black figures on white back ground, the dimensions being 24 inches j square. All signs are to be put up ' "cornerwise," with angle at the top. i | this form, combined with the white I ; enamelled face of the steel, being cal | culated to stand out most conspicu ously against any ordinary landscape. ; To add to this effect, each post will be painted white, and the sign can | ; thus be more easily distinguished at I night by the driver of a rapidly mov- I ing car. Referring to the numbered | signs shown in the cut. No. 1 indicates i i approach to a steep descent; No. 2, ap- ; proach to a railroad crossing; No. 3, j i approach to a branch road (to right); ! i No. 4, approach to branch road (to \ left); No. 5, approach to cross roads; | j No. 6, approach to a ditch or abrupt depression in the road; No. 7, approach | to a hummock or "thank you, ma'am"; | No. 8, approach to a city, village or I i other collection of inhabited dwel- ! ' lings; No. 9, is a general caution sig- [ nal indicating the proximity of any j i danger or obstruction not scheduled above, as, for example, a wrecked bridge, a temporary excavation in the : roadway, a broken down vehicle in the 1 road, the moving of a building across AMMUNITION SAVER. Swedish Military Inventor'* Drvlaa tor Turicet Practice Wllliont Powder or Hull The raw rerruit may now be perfected in target practice without wasting any ammunition or exposing himself and others to the dangers resulting froia carelessness and poor marksmanßhlp. This can be accomplished by using a new apparatus recently patented by a Swedish inventor. The apparatus com prises a dummy gun mounted upon a universally jointed support, which per mist the gun to be pointed to any de sired direction. A pointer cooperates with this support to indicate even the slightest movements of the gun. The parts are normally so adjusted that when DUMMY GUN TARGET PRACTICE. the gun is aimed directly at the target, the pointer registers with a bull's eye mark at the center of a glass disk on the front of the apparatus. A clamping de vice is actuated, when the trigger is pulled, to lock all the parts against fur ther movement. Deviation from the proper aim may be then determined by noting the position of the pointer. In practice it may be found desirable to se cure a mirror In front of the registering disk, so as to reflect the position of the pointer to the marksman. The un skillful operator being provided with a registering target close at hand, can thus more readily observe his defective aim and more Quickly learn to perfect himself in target practice.—Scientific American. Me*nl>n The shipments of iron ore last year from the Mesaba range were 33 per cent, of the total production of the United States. The discovery of this range made possible the growth of our iron and steel industry, for in its absence the cost of ore would be double. Onr Enorniou* Apple Crop. The crop of apples this year Is esti mated at 48,000,000 barrels, which is more than half a barrel for every man, woman and child in the United States. the highway, ihe presence of a crowd or assemblage of people immediately ahead, or any other condition requiring caution. No. 10 is a plain, white sign and can be improvised in emergent cases by using a sheet of white cloth fastened upon a board of proper shape. Each sign is placed at a distance of not less than 200, nor more than 300 yards, from the point to which it refers. To enable automobilists at points distant from league headquarters to put up signs of wood, the league has issued the following specifications with the accompanying sketch: "MATERIALS NEEDED: One board 15Vfe feet long by 10 inches wide, or lOVs feet long by 15 inches wide and 1 1 inch thick, free from knots and other hurtful defects; one stout post 14 feet j long and not less than 5x5 in dimen | sions; 3G screws 1% to 2 inches long; J three half-inch iron bolts long enough to pass through sign and post, allowing j for nut at end; 1 quart good white paint mixed. , "DIRECTIONS: Plane your board I and cut in lengths of 30 inches, 4 j lengths for a 15-inch board or 6 lengths I for a 10-inch board; paint both sides; I then fasten together with screws, lay- I ing the front and back pieces at right | angles as shown in the sketch: bore | holes through sign and post and bolt i them securely together so that the top j of post shall /.ast reach the top of sign; | add two coats of white paint to both j sign and pout, and finish by painting j symbol on face of sign. Paper sten- I cils are supplied by the league to In- I sure uniformity of size and shape of ! symbols; set up sign in hole 4 feet i deep; fill and stamp securely. The face : at the sign should be turned slightly lin the direction of approach {away i from the point to which the sign re fers), so as to make an angle Of about | 30 degrees with the line of the road, j When completed the bottom of the sign is supposed to be about 7 feet abo*« I the ground.