TOES AMBUSH.

Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 25, 15 September 1894, Page 13

TOES AMBUSH.

BY CAPTAIN CHARLES KING

Author of ‘ The Deserter ' ‘ The Colonel s Daughter,' ‘ A Soldier's Secret ,’ Sfc.

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ]

CHAPTER YI.

Harvey could not long have lain unconscious. No bones were broken, no severe concussion sustained in the rapid drag over the sandy surface, and the awful sense of the calamity that had befallen him and the dread and doubt as to the fate of his beloved ones seemed to rally his stunned and bewildered faculties and bring him face to face with the horror of the situation. Barely able to breathe, he found himself rudely gagged. Striving to raise his hand to tear the hateful bandage away, he found that he was pinioned by the elbows and bound hand and foot by the very riata probably that had dragged him thither. No doubt as to the nationality of his unseen captors here. The skill with which he had been looped, tripped, and whisked away and bound— the sharp, biting edge, even of the odour of dirty rawhide rope, all told him that though Americans were not lacking in the gang, his immediate antagonists hailed from across the Sonora line. VV ho and what they were mattered little however. The fact that after hours of repulse in open attack, the foe had all on a sudden carried their castle by a diabolical ruse was only too forcibly apparent. Writhing, struggling in miserable effort to free himself from his bonds, poor Harvey’s burning eyes were maddened by the picture before him only a couple of hundred yards away. There in the fierce light of the flames now bursting from every window and roaring and shooting high in the air from the brush-heaped roof of Moreno’s ranch there stood the Concord waggon, stalwart men clinging to the heads of the plunging and excited mules, a big ruffian already in the driver’s seat, whip and reins in hand ; there beside it was the paymaster’s ambulance, into which three of the gang were just shoving the green-painted iron safe the Pandora’s box that had caused all their sorrows ; there Moreno’s Californian buck-board, pressed into Service and being used to carry the wounded, drawn by the extra mule, and then was a sight for brother’s eye to see and make no sign ! —then ©ne big brute lifted from the ground and handed up to a fellow already ensconed within the covered waggon the senseless, perhaps lifeless form of pretty little Ruth, his father’s idol. The poor child lay unresisting in the ruffian’s arms, but not so Paquita. It took two men, strong and burly, to lift and force her into the dark interior, and one of those, to the uttermost detail of his equipment, was to all appearance a trooper of the United States Cavalry. There stood bis panting horse with hanging head and jaded withers, the very steed whose rush they had welcomed _ with such exceeding joy, saddled, bridled, blanketed, saddle-bagged, lariated, side-lined, every item complete and exactly as issu 1 by the Ordnance Department. ’ .3 trooper himself were the field ur. brm of the cavalry, the dark blue bl ase, crossed by the black carbine sling, whose big brass buckle Ned could now see gleaming between the broad shoulders, and gathered, at the waist by the oldfashioned ‘ thimble belt ’ the troop saddlers used to make for field service before tbe woven girdle was devise'-.. Even more : Harvey in his misery remembered the' thrill of joy wnh which he had noted, as the splend-c. rider reined in and threw himself from the saddle, the crossed sabres, the troop letter " C,’ and the regimental number gleaming at the front of his campaign bat. Who —who could this be, wearing the honorable garb of a soldier of United States, yet figuring as a ringleader in a band of

robbers and <. assassins., now adding rapine to their calendar of crirpe ? Edwai d Harvey’s heart withi helpless rage and wretchedness when he saw his precious; sisters dragged within the canvas shelter; — saw the tall, uniformed brigand leap lightly after them, and Heard Him shout to the ready driver, ‘ Now, off with you!’ Crack ! went the whip as the men sprang from the heads of the frantic mules, and with a bound that nearly wrenched the trace-books from the stout whipple-tree, the Concord went spinning over the sands to tbe south, whirling so near him that over the thud of the beofs and whirl of wheels aud creak of spring and woodwork he could hear poor Fanny’s despairing cry—the last sound he was aware of for hburs, for now in dead earnest Harvey swooned away. Half an hour later, tbe rafters of the ranch having by this time tumbled in and turned the interior into a glowing furnace, there came riding from the west a tender skirmish line of horsemen, in the worn campaign dress of the regular cavalry. With the advance there were not more, than six or eight — a tall, slender lieutenant leading them on and signalling his instructions. With carbines advanced, with eyes peering out from under the jagged hat brims, the veteran troepers came loping into the light of the flames, expectant every instant of bearing the crack of an Outlaw’s rifle, or perhaps the hiss of feathered arrows from unseen foes. Though some of the steeds looked hot and wearied, the big raw-boned sorrel that carried the young commander tugged at his bit and bounded eagerly as though impatient for the signal —‘ charge.’ Straight into the circle of ligbh straight to the ern entrance, now a gate of flame, the soldiers rode and loudly hailed ‘ Moreno !’

But hissing, snapping wood-work alone replied. Guided by an experienced sergeant, some of the troopers, never halting, rode on into eastward darkness, and there were stationed as videttes to guard against surprise. Returning to where he had passed his lieutenant, the sergeant dismounted, allowing his weary horse to stand, and then began minute examination. Following the freshest hooftracks, he found the young officer riding about through the thick smoke within the corral. ‘ Any sign of Moreno or his people, 'sir P’ he hailed. ‘ Not yet. Just see what’s beyond the door-way. My horse is frightened at something there and I can’t see for the smoke.’ ‘Obedient, tbe sergeant pushed ahead, bending low to avoid tbe stifling fumes. Between the turn-' bled-down Heap of barley sacks and the crumbling wall lay some writhing object in the sand, and his stout heart almost failed him at the moqn of agony that met his ear. ‘ Help ! water ! water !’ One bound carried him out of sight of his superior. The next instant, dragging by the foot a prostrate form, he emerged from the hank into the fresher air [of the centre of the corral. Off came his canteen and was held to the parching lips of a stranger in scorched civilian dress, his heard and hair singed by the flames, his legs and arms securely bound. ‘ Who are you and what’s happened ? Whose work is this ?’ demanded the lieutenant, leaping from his saddle to his side. The man seemed swooning away, hut the sergeant dashed water in his face. ‘Quick! —the others ! —or they’ll burn to death.’ ‘ What others P Where, man ?’ exclaimed the soldiers, springing to their feet.

‘ Oh, somewhere in there—the far end of the corral —or Moreno’s west room,’ was the gasping reply. Another rush into the whirling, eddying smoke, another search along under the wall, and presently in the flickering light the rescuing pair came upon a barrier of barley sacks, burning in places from huge flakes of fire falling from the blazing rafters of the over-hanging shed, and behind

this,; senseless, : suffwatcjd, jhclplessly bound, ; . two other „ , forms. Thrusting tjbe . sacks , aside, the troopers seized and , dragged forth their helpless fellow-creatures. Jarred hf the sudden pressure, a burning; upright snapped. There was a crackling, crashing sound, and down came the rafters, sending another ,column of flame to light up the features of men rescued not an instant too soon from the death that awaited them. ‘ Great Scot !’ cried Sergeant Lee,’ ‘ this is old Feeney —and yet alive.’ Together the two raised the senseless form, bore it out into the open space, laid it gently beside their, first discovery, and ran back for the next, a big, heavy,” bulky shape in loose and blood-stained garments. It took all their strength to lug it forth. Then the lieutenant bent by the side of the slowly-recovering civilian, ‘ Are there any more we can reach?’ he questioned eagerly, his heart beating madly. ‘ Ho—too late !—others were inside when the roof fell in. More water more water!’

Lee sprang to the ollas, gleaming there ip the firelight, and brought back ; a brimming dipper, holding it to the poor fellow’s parched lips until he could drink no more, then slashing away the thongs with which he was bound.

‘This is Greaser work,’ he cried. ‘How could they have left you alive ? Who’s done this anyhow ?’‘ Pasqual Morales. Moreno was in it, too. ( Twas rhe paymaster they were laying for ; but they’ve killed Ned Harvey and got his sisters —old Harvey’s children —from Tuscon.’ ‘ What cried the officer, leaping to his feet. ‘Harvey’s daughters here ?—here ? Man, are you mad ? ’ ‘ It’s the truth ! Oh, if I had a drop of the whiskey that’s been burned in there. I’m nigh dead.’ ‘ Run to my saddle bags, Lee ; fetch that flask quick ; then call in the men and send one back to hurry up the rest. Where have they gone F What have they done with theii captives ?’

‘ Heaven knows ! I could hear them screaming and praying—those poor girls 1 Mullan and the pay-clerk picked up TTeeny after he was stunned and then rushed him back ..through here, where the paymaster had dragged himself, to where you found him. That that’s the paymaster you’ve got there. Then they tried to save a drunken soldier while all tbe gang seemed crowding after the safe and the girls, but they w r ere shot down inside, and must have been burnt to death if they weren’t killed. Oh, God, what a night!’ And weak, unstrung, unmanned, the poor fellow sobbed aloud. At this instant there rode into the corral a couple of troopers. ‘ Lieutenant Drummond here ?, cried one of them. ‘We’ve found a man out on the plain to the south-east, gagged and bound Shall we fetch him in ?’

‘ You go, Quinn but g-et some one else to help you. Patterson, your horse is fresh, gallop hack on the trail. Tell Sergeant Meinecke to come ahead for all he’s worth. Let the packs take care of themselves. Send Sergeant Lee in here to me again.’ Then with trembling hands the young officer turned his attention to his other patients. Severing the cords with his hunting knife, he freed them from their bonds, then dashed water over their scorched and blackened faces, meantime keeping np a running fire of questions. Between his sobs the young civilian told him that the outlaws had hitched in both teams and taken also the spare mules and the buck board. They had lifted the Harvey girl into the Concord, the safe and Pasqual Morales into the paymaster’s ambulance, while the wounded men and Moreno’s people probably were put on the open waggon. Then they had all driven furiously away to the south, leaving only two or three men to complete the work at the ranch. Finding the paymaster and sergeant well-nigh dead, they had contented themselves with binding and leaving them to their fate to be cremated when the roof of the shed came down.

.Then one of the gang whom he; hac|. oncehefriended. inT.ucsbh pi eh ded witjf his; fellows to spare the life of the onlyon eofth e party 1 eft to tell the tale. Pasqual and the Mexicans were gpnej Those who remained were Americans,judging by;.their though two of them were still masked,. ‘My name is Woods,’ said the poor fellow. ‘ But that bandit had to beg: hard, , They were ready , to murden anybody connected with the defence, for Ramon was killed and Pasqual shot through the leg. I did that, though they didn’t know it. They bound and left me here, but made me swear. I .would tell Harvey and his friends when they got back that it wasno use follcwii p ; H(y Inc! thirjr armed men and three hours’ startThey never thought of any one else getting here first. Oh, heaver s! who can break it to Mr Harvey when he come ?’

And then Sergeant Lee came hurrying back, one or two men with him,, and together they laboured to restore to consciousness the paymaster, breathing feebly, and old Feeney,, bleeding from a gash in the back of the skull and a bullet-hole through the body. For nearly a quarter of an hour their efforts were vain. Meantime, Drummond, well-nigh mad over the delay, was pacing about like a, caged tiger. He set two of the men to work to hitch the bewildered little burrors to the well-wheel and get up several buckets-full of water against, the coming of the troop. He ordered others to rub down his handsome sorrel, Chester, and the mounts of two of the advanced party. At last, after what must have seemed an age* yet could not have been over thirty minutes from the time of their arrival, a soldier running in, said he could hear hoofs out on the plain, and at the same instant two men appeared lugging between them, bleeding and senseless, the ragged form of Edward Harvey. Scratched, torn, covered with blood and bruises, and still unconsciousthough he was, Drvmmoud knew him. at a glance. They had met the previous year, and though only once ifc was enough. Men with young and lovely sisters are not soon forgotten.. Kneeling by his side, the lieutenant sought anxiously for trace of blade or bullet. Rents there were many* and many a bloody scratch and tear, but, to his infinite relief, no serious wound appeared. Still in a deep swoon, his friend seemed to resist every effort for his restoration. The dash of water in his face was answered only by a faint shivering sighThe thimbleful of whiskey forced between his lips only gurgled down his throat, and Drummond felt no responsive flutter of pulse. The shock: to his system must indeed have beeit great, for Harvey lay like one in atrance. Drummond feared that he might never again open his eyes to light and home. And then the weary troop came trotting into view, old Sergeant. Meinecke in command. Halting and dismounting at his signal, the mert stood still and silent wondering attheir horses’ heads, while their leaderwent in to report to his commander. Drummond barely lifted his eyes from the pallid features before him. ‘ Unsaddle, sergeant ; rub down - pick out the best and likeliest horsesI want twenty men to go on a chase with me. How soon can the packs get up ?’ ‘ They must be fully half an hourbehind, sir.’

‘ Sorry for that, sergeant. We’ve got to take at least four of them ; loadthem up with barley, bacon, hardtack, ammunition. Kick off everything else. We’ll feed and water here before starting. Then we’ve got to ride like mad. Send Trooper Bland here as soon as he has unsaddled. I want him to ride with me. He knows all the roads to the South. Meinecke saluted in his methodical German fashion, turned away, and presently could be heard ordering ‘Unsaddle,’ and then shouting for Private Bland. “ Are there any of our men besides the farrier who have any knowledge of

surgery ?’ asked the lieutenant of Sergeant Lee. ‘ They say Bland has, sir. I don t know anyone else/ ‘Well, I ’ve just sent for him. Mr Harvey here doesn’t seem to be wounded, yet it’s impossible to bring him to. Give Woods a little more whiskey and see if you can’t get a word out of the major or Teeny.’ But efforts with the half-suffocated men had no effect. The whiskey ■with Woods had better results. He presently ceased his shivering sobs and could answer any questions. Drummond begged for particulars of the capture, and these the man found it difficult to give. He was stationed at the back door, the corral side, he said, and hardly saw the final rush, but there was something so queer about it. There had been a few minutes’ lull. Then Harvey both began to talk excitedly and to call out that the ‘road agents’ were running away, and then presently there came a sound of galloping hoofs and cheering, and both the sergeant and Mr Harvey had shouted that the troops were coming, and rushed to meet them —‘ And the next thing I knew,’ said Woods, ‘was seeing Teeny flattened out on the ground and crawling on his hands and knees, and the room filled with roughs —some Mexicans, some Yanks and I slipped into the corral and saw one of them shoot Teeny as he was trying to crawl after me; and while they were swearing and searching for the safe and carrying it out, Mr Dawes and Mnllan managed somehow to help the paymaster out, and then went in after the other man.’ Then I/Voods could tell little more. One thing, he said, amazed and excited him so he couldn t believe his eyes, but he was almost ready to swear that the fellow Teeny ran to shake hands with was a soldier in uniform, and that he neld Teeny s band,while another came up behind and ‘mashed’Jhim with the butt of his pistol, and that this fellow in soldier’s clothes was the man who afterwards shot Teeny as he -was trying to crawl away. Drummond looked around at the man incredulous —almost derisive. The story was improbable, too much so t® deserve even faint attention. Just then Meinecke came back, and precise as ever stood attention and saluted. ‘ Herr Lieutenant, Private Bland. is not with my party at all, sir.’ _ ‘ Did you leave him back with the packs F ’ ‘No sir. The men say he wasn t with us all night. He rode ahead with the lieutenant until we came to Corporal Donovan s body. ‘ He’s not been with me since,’ exclaimed the lieutenant. ‘Sergeant Lee, ask if any of the men have seen him.’ Lee was gone bat a moment, then came hack with graveface and troubled eyes, bringing with a young trooper who was serving his first enlistment. ‘Private Gross, here, has a queer story to tell, sir. ‘What do you. know? What have you seen? ’ asked Drummond. ‘Why, sir, right after Sergeant Lee caught sight of the fire and sung out that it was Moreno’s, I was back about a couple of rods looking for my canteen. I was that startled when I found Corporal Donovan dead that I dropped it, and all of a sudden somebody comes out past me, leading his horse, and I asked him what he had lost, and he said his pipe, and passed me by, and 1 thought nothing more about it —only no sooner did he get out into the daik where I couldn’t see him than I heard all of a sudden a horse, start at full gallop right over in this direction, and now I think of it it must, have been Bland, for it was him that passed me, sir sneaking out, like.’ Drummond sprang to his feet. ‘ What do yon say to this, sergeant ? Do you believe —do you think it possible that Bland has deserted and joined these outlaws ?’ ‘ I don’t know what to think, sir, but I haven’t forgotten what Teeny said of him.’ ‘ What was that ?’

- A That he had too smooth a tongue to have led a rough and honest life ; that if he was a Texan as he claimed, Texas people had learnt to talk a different lingo since he was stationed among them with the old Second Cavalry before the war, and that he wished he’d been there at Lowell when the adjutant accepted those letters from former officers of the Regiment as genuine. Bland would never show them to Teeny. Said he had sent ’em all to his home in Texas. That was what made bad blood between them.’

‘ By heaven ! and now -to think that one of our troop ‘ C ’ troop should have been engaged in this outrage ! But we’ll get them, men,’ said Drummond, straightening up to his full height and raising his gauntleted hand in the air. ‘ They can’t go fast or far with those waggons such a night as this. They’ll strike the foothills before they’ve gone ten miles, then they’ll have to go slow. We’ll catch them before the sun is up, and, by George if Bland is with them, Pll string him to the highest tree we can find.’ ‘ There’s more than him that’ll be strung up,’ growled a grizzled old trooper in an undertone. ‘ The gang that murdered Pat Donovan will find scant mercy in this’crowd.’ ‘ Ay, ay,’ said another ‘ and there’s more than Pat Donovan to be scored off. Look yonder.’ Tor at the instant one of the packers came leading into the corral a resisting mule, at sight of whose burden many of the horses started in fear. It was the lifeless body of Donovan’s companion, the soldier who had escaped the assassin’s bullet when ‘ Patsy ’ fell onlj to be overtaken and cut down halfway to Moreno’s. ‘lt’s the bloodiest night I’ve known even in Arizona,’ said Lee to his young leader. ‘ The paymaster and Mr Harvey about as good as dead, old Teeny dying, most like, the clerk and Mullan and some other trooper of the escort burned to ashes in that hole there, and Donovan and this last one some of our fellows think is Tlynn, from ‘ T ’ troop —shot to death. It’s worse than Apache, lieutenant, and they’ll be no use trying to restrain our fellows when we catch the blackguards.’ Quarter of an hour later, leaving half a dozen soldiers under an experienced sergeant to guard the packs, the wounded, and the non-combatants at the smouldering ruins of the ranch, with barely a score of seasoned troopers at his back, Lieutenant Drummond rode resolutely out toward the southern desert, toward the distant line of jagged mountains that spanned the far horizon. The false and fatal blaze at the Picacho had utterly disappeared, and all was darkness at the west. The red glow of the smouldering embers behind was no longer sufficient to light their path. Straight away southward led the wheel-tracks, first separate and distant, but soon blending, as though one waggon had fallen behind and followed the trail of the bolder leader in the first. Straight away after them went the ruck of hoof-tracks, telling plainly that for a time at least the gang had massed and was prepared to guard its plunder. Stop to divide it was evident they dared not, for they had not with them the implements to break into the safe, and all their searching and threatening had failed to extract from the apparently dying paymaster any clue as to what he had done with the key. Stick together therefore, they undoubtedly would, reasoned the lieutenant, and all their efforts would be to reach some secure haunt in the Sierras, and there send back their demand for ransom. Twenty-five thousand dollars in cash and George Harvey’s precious daughters ! It was indeed a rich haul one that in all the dread history of the Morales gang had never been equalled. Even had they failed to secure the safe the richer booty was theirs in having seized the girls. But few people in Arizona as Arizona was then constituted would make great effort to overhaul a gang of robbers whose only victim was Uncle Sam and ‘ his levied hirelings.’ No-

body in Sonora would fail to regard them with envious eyes, but in the deed of rapine that made them the capfors and posses*xrs of those defenceless sisters each man had put a price upon his head, a halter round his neck, for * Gringo ’ and 1 Greaser,’ Americmand Mex'cm alike, would spring to arms to rescue and avenge. As the rearmost of the little party of pursueres disappeared in the darkness and the wearied pack-mules went jogging sullenly after, urged on by the goad of their half-Mexican driver, the sergeant left in charge of the detachment at the corral looked at his watch and noted that it was just half-past two o’clock. The dawn would be creeping on,at four. Wearied as were his men he did not permit them all to rest . The condition of his wounded and the instructions left him by Lieutenant Drummond made it necessary that they should have constant attention. It was sore trouble for him to look at the old paymaster, whose life seemed ebbing away, lying there so pallid and moaning at times so pitifully, but Feeny lay torpid, breathing, yet seeming to suffer not at all. Both were in desperate need of surgical attendance, but where could surgeon be found P The nearest was at Stoneman, the little ca itonmeut and though a gallant fellow had volunteered to make the ride alone through the Apache-infest-ed pass and carry the .despatch that Drummond had hurriedly pencilled, there was no chance of doctors reaching them before the coming night, and the thought of all they might have to suffer trrough the fierce white heat of the intervening day was one that gave the sergeant deep concern. Then too, who could say whether the solitary trooper would succeed in running the ganntlet, and making his way through ? He was a resolute old frontiersman, skilled in Indian warfare,_ and well aware that his best chance was in the dark; but, speed as he might, the broad light of day would be on'him long before he could get half-way through. The stage from the west would probably come alorig about sunset but nothing could be hoped for sooner. Ho troops were nearer than the Colorado in that direction except the little signal- post at the Picacho. Corporal Fox and two men had been sent thither to inquire what the signal meant, and it would soon be time for them to come riding in with their report. How he wished Wing were here ! Wing knew something about everything. He was an expert veterinarian, something of a doctor, knew more of mineralogy than all the officers put together and could speak Spanish better than any man in the regiment. When it became necessary to have a signal-station at the peak, and it was found that no one knew' anything about the business, Wing got one of the old red manuals, studied the system, and inside of a week was signalling with the expert sent down from San Francisco. The interior of the ranch was still a smouldering furnace as four o’clock drew nigh. Woods, weak and exhausted, had fallen into an uneasy sleep. The trooper detailed to watch over old Plummer and Feeny and bathe their faces with cool water was nodding over his charge. Here and there under the shed on the north side which the flames had not reached the men were dozing, or in low awestricken tones, talking of the tragic events of the night. Hear the east gate, reverently and decently covered with the only shroud to be * had, the newst of the saddle-blankets, lay the stiffening remains of poor Donovan and his comrade. Lurking about the westwai’d end of the enclosure their beady eyes every now and then glittering in tbe firelight, the Mexicans, men and boy, were smoking their everlasting papellitos, apparently indifferent to the fate that had deprived them of home and occupation. One of the troopers had burrowed a hole in the sand, started a little cook fire, and was boiling some coffee ih a tin quart mug. Overhead, and far down to the horizon, on every side, the stars shone and sparkled through the Christobal. They were just beginning to pale when a faint voice

was heard pleading for water. Sergeant Butler sprang from hift seat and hastened to where he had left Mr Harvey hut . a few minutes before, still in a deep and obstinate swoon. ‘ Water, is it, sir ? Here you are ! I’m glad to see you picking up a little. Mr Drummond left this for you, too, sir. He said you would maybe need it.’ And ■ the Sergeant raised the dizzy head and held a little flask to Harvey’s lips. ‘ Where is he ?’ at last the sufferer was able to gasp. ‘ Overhauling the outlaws, hand over fist, by this time, sir. He has twenty good men at his back, and we’ll have the ladies safe to-night —» see if we don’t.’

The stricken brother groaned, burying his face in his arms as the recollection of the fearful events of the night came crowding upon him. For a moment he seemed to quiver and tremble in every limb, when with sudden effort he raised his head and turned again, the blood trickling anew fram a gash in his face as he did so. ‘ Give me more of that,’ he moaned,, stretching forth a trembling hand. ‘ More water, too. Lend me a horse and your carbine. I must go ! I must go !’ But there his strength failed him, and grasping wildsy at empty air, poor Harvey fell heavily back before the sergeant could interpose an arm to save. 1 Don’t think of it, sir ; you’re far too weak, and you’re n6t Never fear the lieutenant and ‘G * troop will do all that men can do. They’ll bring the ladies safely back as soon as they’ve hung what’s left of that murdering gang r Hello ! That you, Fox ?’ he shouted, sprirgingup as tWo or three horsemen came spurring in. ‘ It’s I—Wing,’ was the answer in ringing tones. ‘ Fox is coming slower. Quick now. Is it so that that gang has run off the young ladies P’ ( It’s truth. Here’s Mr Ned Harvey hmself.’

In an instant Wing was kneeling by the side of the prostrate man. ‘ Merciful heaven, my friend, but they’ve used you fearfully ! They only bound and held me till Jackson got back from Ceralvo’s a couple of hours ago. Are you shot —injured ?’ ‘ No, no,’ groaned Harvey. ‘But I am broken, utterly broken, and ray sisters are in the hands of those hounds.’ ‘ Never worry about that, man. I know young Drummond well. There isn’t a braver, better officer in the old regiment, if he is but a boy. He’ll never drop that trail till he over-akes them, and by the time he needs us,. ©ld Pike here and I will be at his side. Thank the Lord, those louts were off and never took our horses. They’re fresh as daisies both of ’em. Cheer up, Mr Harvey. If hard riding’ and hard fighting will do it, we’ll have your sisters here to nurse you before another night. Come> Pike,’ he cried as he vaulted into saddle. ‘ Now for the liveliest gallop of your lazy good-for-nothing life. Come on!’ (To he continued.')