Foes in Ambush

n that rimmed the desert with purple and gold. Out on the barren, hard-baked flat in front of the corral, just where it had been unhitched when the p

izona, and from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same anywhere south of that curdling mud-bath, the Gila, the only human beings impervious to the fiercen

e adobe wall, and entered the dusty interior of the corral. One of the four quadrupeds drowsing under the brush shelter languidly turned an inquiring eye and interrogative ear in his direction, and conveyed, after the manner of the mule, a suggestion as to supper. A Mexican boy sprawling in the shade of a bale of government hay, and clad in cotton shirt and trousers well-nigh as brown as the skin that peeped through occasional gaps, glanced up at him with languid interest an instant, and then resumed the more agreeable contemplation of the writhings of an impaled tarantula. Under another section of the shed two placid little burros were dreamily blinking at vacancy, their grizzled fronts expressive of that ineffable peace found only in the faces of saints and donkeys. In the middle of the enclosure a rude windlass coiled with rope stood stretching forth a decrepit lever-arm. The whippletree, dangling from the end over the b

ster, slowly, addressing no one in partic

stick he held in the other paw, the boy simply tilted his head towards the dark opening unde

s he d

y, never lifting his handsome

't he har

shoulders was

ey

be," slowl

s your

os

, you go and tell

tling off for freedom; turned again, scotched him with his forked stick, and then with a vicious "huh!" drove the struggling

red, freckled face, bristling with a week-old beard, peered forth at the staff official with an expression half of languid tolerance, half of mild irritation. In most perfunctory fashion the soldier ju

told you I wanted everythin

you undid it," was the

es seemed devoid of any expression. His attitude remained unchanged, thumbs in

wanted to get on to Camp Stoneman by sunrise, di

I told you flat-footed if you let Donovan and those other men go back on the tr

se they'll be a

at ridge, it's ten minutes since I got the last wig-wag of the signal-flag at the pass. They hadn't come through then. What chance is there of their getting here in time to light out at dark? You did tell me to have everything ready to start, and then you undid it by sending half the escort back. You've been here in hell's half-acre three days and I've been here three years. You'v

in the lurch back at the crossing, would you

ith those thugs at Ceralvo's. They've just been paid off and had no chance for any fun at all before they were ordered out on this escort duty. That money's been burning in their pockets n

the story, sergeant? I

'em back, and they played it on you because they saw you were new to the country and they knew I was asleep; and now, unless Lieutenant

on't you suppose he'd have gone or

Bowie, where they haven't had a cent since last Christmas and here it is the middle of May. You ought to have pushed through with all speed, so none of these jay-hawkers could get wind of your going, let alone the Apaches. Every hour yo

sandy soil and hung a reflective head. "I wish y

open. You slept all night, sir, you and Mr. Dawes, whil

ose at hand had been noiselessly opened from within, just an inch or two. Neither knew, neither could s

t stay here, do you?"

with Apaches, and we can't stand 'em off with onl

a rude bunk within the ranch, bemoaning the fate that had impelled him to seek Arizona in search of health. He was in

here we stay till to-morrow night

retaining wall,-sibilant, gasping. Some one crouching stil

ta M

of desolation, strolled into the big bare room where half a dozen troopers were dozing or gambl

ffuse me sell you aguardient

ot the stuff? We'll make 'em believe Donovan's squad brought it in from Ceralvo's. Give me a drink now anyhow, you infernal Gre

ey come not to-night

n blazes do

e corral,-the major and that pig of a sergeant;-for him I snap my finger. L

, I tell you. He'd hear the gurgle of the spigot if he were ten miles across the Gila, and be here to bust things before you could serve out

left hand upon his lips and with that of the right han

red. "You will not betray, eh

Sergeant Feeny br

Moreno, I want supper cooked for eight in thirty minutes.-Drop those cards now, you m

't go to-nigh

rdinates. The corporal looked embarrassed and turned to Moreno f

Murphy, finding hims

of his shoulders and upward lift of eyebrow. "I? What know I? I do but s

eady, and it's me you'll ask, not any outsider, when we go. I've had enough to swear at to-day without you fellows playing off on me. Go or

d ridden with the starry guidons in many a wild, whirling charge under Sheridan and Merritt and Custer in the valley of Virginia-held almost despotic powers among the troopers who spent that enlistment in the isolation of Arizona. Rare were the cases when they abused their privilege. Stern was their rule, rude their speech, but by officers and men alike they were trusted and respected. As for Feeny, there were not lacking those who declared him spoiled. Twice that

came for help was one he could not well resist. Passing Ceralvo's at midnight and pushing relentless

vie

the leading trooper, scorning Greaser interfer

to h

e seat. To his startled questions the driver could only make reply that he didn't know what was the matter; the sergeant had gone ahead to see. Presently Feeny shouted "Forward!" and on they went again, and not until Ceralvo's was a mile behind could the major learn the cause of the detention. "Some of Ceralvo's people," answe

vigils of two successive nights, had gone to sleep in the coolest shade he could find, there came riding across the sun-baked, c

with relays of mules. We have waited forty-eight hours and can wait no longer. For God's sake let half a dozen of your men ride out and escort them down here. There is no doubt

o, and the sisters, now seventeen and fifteen years of age respectively, were soon to go to Cuba to visit relatives of their mother, but were determined once more to see the quaint old home at Tucson before so doing; hence this journey under his charge. The story seemed straight enough. Plummer had never yet been to Tucson, but at Drum Barracks and Wilmington he had often heard of the Harveys, and Donovan swore he knew them all by sight, especially the old man. The matter was settled before Plummer really knew whether to tak

rooper Latham, a New Englander whom some strange and untoward fate had led into the ranks, and stationed him in the bullet-scarred bar-room of the ranch, with strict orders to allow not a drop to be drawn or served to any one without the sanction of Serge

teeth. "I believe he'd like nothing better than to get the esco

pants there were, but these even Feeny's sense of duty could not prompt him to disturb. Somewhere in the depths of the domestic portion of the ranch, where the brush on the flat roof was piled most heavily and the walls were jealously thick, all scouting-parties or escorts well knew that Moreno's wife and daughter were hidden from prying eyes, and rumor had it that often there were more than two feminine occupants; that these were sometimes joined by three or four others,-wives or

s at Yuma, at the stage stations, by mail of the commanding officers at Lowell and Bowie and Grant. Not for six months had a stage been "held up" or a buck-board "jumped" south of the turbid Gila. True, there was rumor of riot and lawlessness among the miners at Castle Dome and the customary shooting scrape at Ehrenberg and La Paz, but these were river towns, far behind him now as he looked back over the desert trail and aloft into the star-studded, cloudless sky. Nothing could be more placid, nothing less prophetic of peril or ambush than this exquisite summe

came lurching into the lighted space before the main entrance. At sight of the paymaster one of them stiffened up and with preternatural gravity of mien executed the salute. The other, with an envelope in his hand,

r?" queried Plumm

l sniffed at the tainted breath of the sufferer. "

Feeny, glari

," he ordered, fiercely. "How-how'd ye get h

slowly pointed up the desert under the spot wh

, "we're-we're too late;

y. "D'ye mean there were wom

ac

you dhrink when there was fight ahead? Hware's your d

ching the soiled envelope from the

the sprawling superscription. "In God's name read a

orth with a light, his white teeth gleaming, his black eyes flashing from one to another

buck-board gone. For God's sake help in the pursuit. Strik

rd Ha

ps vainly striving to frame further particulars. Leaving their supper unfinished, the other men of the little squad had come tumbling out into the summer night. No one paid other heed to the trooper sprawling in the sand. Already in deep, dr

get your liquor? Didn't t

no, sarsh'nt,

it! Hware'd you get it if it wasn't from h

' gen'l'men, ranchers; they were going after the Indians. T

ver him, you Latham, quick. Wake up, I say, Mullan. For the love of God, major, I believe they're both drugged. I believe it's all a damned lie. I believe it's only a skame to get you to send out the rest of your escort, so they can tackle you alone. Kick him, Murphy, kick him; thro

r of them this night. But don't you believe that letther, major. Don't you trust a word of it; it's false as hell. It's only a plant to rob ye of your escort first and your life and money later. That's it,

mean you think it all a fraud, a trick?" at las

oody lie. The guard at the signal-station hadn't seen or heard of them. They laughed at me when I told them what they tried to make us believe at Ceralvo's. 'Twas there they wanted to have you stop, for there you'd

here he could see the dim outline of the range against the western sky.

jor! It's no lie. The signal