Foes in Ambush

d 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

xcited 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 California buck-board, pressed into service and being used to carry the wounded, drawn by the extra mules; and then-God of heaven! what a sight for brother's eyes to see and make no sign!-then one big brute lifted from the ground and handed up to a fellow already ensconced within the covered wagon 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 his 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,

ppletree, the Concord went spinning over the sands to the south, whirling so near him that over the thud of hoofs and whirl of wheels and creak of s

enant leading them on and signalling his instructions. With carbines advanced, with eyes peering out from under the jagged hat-brims, the veteran troopers came loping into the light of the flames, expectant every instant of hearing the crack of outlaw's rifle, or perhaps the hiss of feathered arrow of unseen foe. Thoug

here were stationed as videttes to guard against surprise. Returning to where he had passed his lieutenant, the sergeant dismounted, allowing his weary horse to

no or his people,

or-way. My horse is frightened at someth

he tumbled-down heap of barley-sacks and the crumbling wall lay some writhing objects i

Oh, for Christ

d from the bank into the fresher air of the centre of the corral. Off came his canteen and was held to the parched lip

ed the lieutenant, leaping from saddle to his side. The man s

ers!-or they'll

" exclaimed the soldiers,

end of the corral-or Moreno's w

the blazing rafters of the overhanging shed, and behind this, senseless, suffocated, helplessly bound, two other forms. Thrusting the sacks aside, the troopers seized and dragged forth their hapless fellow-creatures. Jarred by sudden

ant Lee, "this is old

t discovery, and ran back for the next, a big, heavy, bulky shape in loose and blood-stained garments. It too

reach?" he questioned eager

inside when the roof fell i

ht back a brimming dipper, holding it to the poor fellow's parched lips until

uld they have left you alive? Where are M

ster they were laying for; but they've killed Ned Harvey

ng to his feet. "Harvey's daught

drop of the whiskey that's being

call in the men and send one back to hurry up the rest. Whe

master 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 the gang seemed crowding after the sa

rode into the corral

"We've found a man out on the plain to the sout

. They had lifted the Harvey girls 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 wagon. 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 had once befriended in Tucson pleaded with his fellows to spare the life of the only one of the party left to tell the tale. Pasqual an

nd, 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 burros to the well-wheel and get up several huge bucketfuls of water against the coming of the troop. He ordered others to rub down his handsome sorrel, Chester, and the mounts of two of th

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 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 s

unting at his signal, the men stood silent and wondering at their horses' heads, while their leader w

and likeliest horses. I want twenty men to go o

ully half an ho

ition. Kick off everything else. We'll feed and water here before starting, then we've got to ride like the devil. S

, turned away, and presently could be heard order

arrier who have any knowledge of surger

as, sir. I don't

ounded, yet it's impossible to bring him to. Give Woods a little mo

away, and then presently there came sound of galloping hoofs and cheering, and both the sergeant and Mr. Harvey had shouted that the troops were coming and rushed out to meet them,-"And the next thing I knew," said Woods, "was seeing Feeny 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 Feeny as he was trying to crawl after me; and while they were swearing and searching for the safe and carrying it out,

ry was improbable, too much so to deserve even faint attention. Just th

ate Bland is not with

e him back wi

l night. He rode ahead with the lieutenant

imed the lieutenant. "Sergeant Lee,

ave face and troubled eyes, bringing with him a y

re, has a queer s

What have you see

ped 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 I thought nothing more about it,-only no sooner did he get out into th

sprang to

elieve,-do you think it possible that Bla

, sir, but I haven't forgot

was

e 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 form

height and raising his gauntleted hand in air. "They can't go fast or far with those wagons such a night as this. They'll strike the foot-hills before they've gone ten mil

grizzled old trooper in an undertone. "The gang that m

ading 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

like, the clerk and Mullan and some other trooper of the escort burned to ashes in that hell-hole there, and Donovan and this last one-some of our fellows think

owed 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 effort 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 pre

ullenly after, urged on by the goad of their half-Mexican driver, the sergeant left in charge of the detachment at th

mond had hurriedly pencilled, there was no possibility of doctors reaching them before the coming night, and the thought of all they might have to suffer through 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 gauntlet 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 range. The stage from the west would probably come along about sunset, but nothing could be hoped for sooner. No troops were nearer than t

e, reverently and decently covered with the only shroud to be had, the newest of the saddle-blankets, lay the stiffening remains of poor Donovan and his comrade. Lurking about the westward end of the enclosure, their beady eyes every now and then glittering in the fire-light, 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

. Drummond left this for you, too, sir. He said you would maybe need it." An

last the suffere

ime, sir. He has twenty good men at his back, and w

ts of the night came crowding upon him. For a moment he seemed to quiver and tremble in every limb, then with

horse and your carbine. I must go! I must go!" But there his strength failed him, and grasping wil

p will do all that men can do. They'll bring the ladies safely back as soon as they've hung what's left of t

es. "Fox is coming slower. Quick now. Is it s

h. Here's Mr. Ne

s kneeling by the sid

ly! They only bound and held me till Jackson got back fro

broken, utterly broken, and my siste

ds us, old Pike here and I will be at his side. Thank the Lord, those louts were frightened off and never took our horses. They're fresh as daisies both of 'em. Cheer up, Mr. Harvey. If hard riding and hard fi