m HAMPTON <
of PLACER
By MVmi PAMHSi!AUTHOR Of £
'W/nfmt&mm" Hf/wofRfMw
Himic/um/oM ^
j
copy#?mr .vox py ACHtru/oc r-ro.
SYNOPSIS.
A detachment of the Eighteenth in
fantry from Fort Bethune trapped by
Indians in a narrow gorge. Among them
is a stranger who introduces himself by
the name of Hampton, also Gillis the
post trader, and his daughter. Gillis and
a majority of the soldiers are killed dur
ing a three days’ siege. Hampton and
the girl only escape from the Indians.
They fall exhausted on the plains. A
company of the Seventh cavalry. Lieut.
Brant in command, find them. Hampton
and the girl stop at the Miners’ Home in
Glencaid. Mrs. Duffy, proprietress. Hamp
ton talks the future over with Miss Gil
lis—the Ki«l. She shows him her moth
er’s picture and tells him what she can
of her parentage and life. They decide
she shall live with Mrs. Herndon. Naida
the Kid—runs away from Mrs Herndon’s
and rejoins Hampton. H * induces lur to
go back, and to b .vo nothing more to do
with him. Hanij.von plays his last gam**
of cards. He announces to Red Slavin
that he has quit, and then leaves Glen
caid. Miss Phoebe Spencer arrives in
Glencaid to teach its first school. Miss
Spencer meets Naida. R< \. Wynkoop.
etc. She hoards at Mrs. Herndon’s.
Naida and Lieut. Brant again meet with
out his knowing who she is. Slu* informs
him of the coming Bachelor club ball in
honor of Miss Spencer. Lieut. Brant
meets Silent Murphy. Guster’s scout._ H**
reports trouble brewing among the Sioux.
Social difficulties arise at the Bachelor
club’s hall among the admirers of Miss
Spent er. Lieut. Brant meets Miss Spen
cer but she is not his acquaintance *»l lit**
day before. She tells him of Naida. and
he accidentally meets her again as lie i**
returning to the ballroom with a fan for
Miss Spencer. Brant accompanies Naida
home from the dance, tin th- way she
informs him as to who she h. and that
she is to meet Hampton. I.rant and
Hampton meet. Hamilton informs the
lieutenant tiiat his attentions to Naida
must cease, and proclaims an authority
over her that justifies the statement.
Brant tells Hampton of tin* presence of
Silent Murphy, and < f the fact that Red
Slavin receives government messages for
him. Miss Spencer called *»n Bob Hamp
ton. Tells him of a red-faced stranger
mistaking her for Naida. Brant inter
views Red Slavin. Finds the.t he is an **x
trooper in tin- Seventh cavalry. It was
Slavin’s and Murjhy's testimony that
more than ten y> ai* before had convicted
Rotx rt N >lai captain in tin* Sev
enth. of the murder of Maj. Brant. Sr.
Hampton attempts to force a confession
from Slavin. Slavin insists it is Murphy
he wants, and Murphy had left. In a
scuffle Slavin is killed by a knife thrust.
Hampton surrenders t** 15;: k Mason,
marshal. Mob attempts b* capture him.
Mason and his prisoner escape to a bill
and defend themselves. Mob lights fire
to burn them out. Brant tells Naida that
he loves her. She tells him there is an
insurmountable barrier between them,
but that she does not fully understand
it. Brint and Ins troop rescues Hampton
and Mason from the tires set by the
mob. Brant carries the unconscious
gambler through the lines «>f fin*. Hamp
ton is taken t«* tin* hotel and Naida comes
to nurse him. Miss Spencer accepts tin
heart and hand *>f Rev. VVvnkoop. Brant
is ordered to take the field. Before be
goes Naida tells him she loves him. but
cannot become his wife, or offer an ex
planation. He insists he will return to
her.
CHAPTER XXV.—Continued.
She smiled at him through a mist
of tears, a smile the sad sweetness of
which he would never forget. "In the
sense you mean, no. No living man
stands between us. not even Bob
Hampton."
"Does he know why this cannot be?"
"He does know, but I doubt if he
will ever reveal his knowledge: cer
tainly not to you. He has not told me
all, even in the hour when he thought
himself dying. I am convinced of that.
It is not because he dislikes you,
Lieut. Brant, but because he knew his
partial revealment of the truth was a
duty he owed us both.”
"You leave me so completely in the
dark,” he said: "is there no possibil
ity that this mysterious obstacle can
ever be removed?"
"None. It is beyond earthly power
—there lies between us the shadow of
a dead man.”
He stared at her as if doubting her
sanity.
A dead man; Not Gulls?
"No. it is not Gillis. I have told
you this much so that you might com
prehend how impossible it is for us
to change our fate. It is irrevocably
fixed. Please do not question me any
more. I cannot bear it!"
Brant rose to his feet and stood
looking down upon her bowed head,
her slender figure shaken by sobs.
"Naida, as you have asked it, I will
go; but I go better, stronger, because
I have heard your lips say you love
me. I am going now, my sweetheart,
but if I live I shall come again. 1
know nothing of what you mean about
a dead man being between us, but I
shall know when I come back, for,
dead or alive, no man shall remain be
tween me and the girl I love.”
"This—this is different," she sobbed,
' "different; it is beyond your power.”
“I shall never believe so until 1
have faced it for myself, nor will I
even say good-by, for. under God. I am
coming back to you."
He turned slowly and walked away.
As his hand touched the latch of the
door he paused and looked longingly
back.
“Naida.”
She glanced up at him.
“You Kissed me once; will you
again?"
She rose silently and crossed over to
him. her hands held out, her eyes up
lifted to his own. Neither spoke as
he drew her gently to him and their
lips met.
“Say if once more, sweetheart?”
"Donald, I love you.”
A moment they stood thus face to
face, reading the great lesson of eter
nity within the depths of each other's
eyes. Then slowly, gently, she re
leased herself from the clasp of his
strong arms.
"You believe in me now? You do
uot go away blaming me?” she ques
tioned, with quivering lips.
"There is no blame, for you are do
ing what you think right. But I am
coming back, Xaida. little woman;
coming back to love and you."
An hour later X troop trotted across
the rude bridge and circled the bluff
on its way toward the wide plains.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Mr. Hampton Resolves.
Mr. Bob Hampton stood in the bright
sunshine on the steps of the hotel, his
appreciative gaze wandering up the
long, dusty, unoccupied street, and
finallly rising to the sweet face of the
young girl who occupied the step
above. As their eyes met both smiled
as if they understood each other.
"There is nothing quite equal to
feeling well, little girl," he said, gen
ially, parting her hand where it rested
on the railing, "and I really believe 1
am in as fine fettle now as 1 ever have
been. Do you know. I believe I’m per
fectly fit to undertake that little de
tective operation casually mentioned
to you a few days ago. it's got to be
done, and the sooner I get at it the
easier I'll feel. Fact is. I put in a
large portion of the night thinking out
nay plans."
"I wish you would give it up ail to
gether. Boh." she said, anxiously. "I
shall be so dull and lonely here while
you are gone.”
"I reckon you will, for a fact, hut,
Xaida. it isn't likely this iittle affair
will require very long, and things are
"Donald, I Love You.”
lots happier between us since my late
shooting scrape. When fall comes i
mean to take you east and put you
in some good finishing school. Don't
care quite as much about it as you
did, do you?"
"Yes. I think I do, Bob." She strove
bravely to express enthusiasm. "The
trouble is, I am so worried over your
going off alone hunting after that
man."
He laughed, his eyes searching her
face for the truth. "Well, little girl,
he won’t exactly be the first I've had
call to go after. Besides, this is a
particular case, and appeals to me in
a sort of personal way. If you only
knew it, you're about as deeply con
cerned in the result as I am, and as for
me. I can never rest easy again until
the matter is over with.”
It's that awful Murphy, isn't it?"
"He's the one I'm starting after first
and one sight at his right hand will
decide whether he is to lx; the last as
well.”
"I never supposed you would seek
revenge, like a savage,” she remarked,
quietly. "You never used to be that
way.”
“Good Lord, Xaida, do you think Tin
low down enough to go out hunting
that poor cus3 merely to get even with
him for trying to stick me with a
knife? Why, there are 20 others who
have done as much, and we have been
the best of friends afterwards. Oh,
no, lassie, it means more than that,
and harks back many a long year. I
told you I saw' a mark on his hand I
would never forget—but I saw that
mark first 15 years ago. This is a
duty I owe a friend, a dead friend, to
run to earth this murderer. Do you
understand now? The fellow who did
that shooting up at Bethune 15 years
ago had the same sort of a mark on
his right hand as this one who killed
Slavin. That’s why I'm after him and
when I catch up he'll either squeal or
die.”
“But how do you know?”
“I never told you the whole story
and I don't mean to now until I come
back and can make everything per
fectly clear. It wouldn't do you any
good the way things stand now, and
would only make you uneasy. But if
you do any praying over it, my girl,
pray good and hard that I may dis
cover some means for making that fel
low squeal.”
She made no response but stood
gazing thoughtfully past him.
"Have you heard anything lately.
Bob, about the Seventh?” she asked
finally. "Since—since N troop left
here?”
He answered with well-simulated
carelessness. ‘ No; hut it is most like
ly they are well into the game by this
time. Crook’s column, I have just
1 heard, was overwhelmingly attacked
! on the Rosebud, and forced to fall
back. That leaves the Seventh to
take the brunt of it, and there is going
to be bell up north presently, or I've
forgotten all 1 ever knew about In
dians. Hut come, little girl, as I said.
I'm quite likely to be off before night,
provided I am fortunate enough to
strike a fresh trail. Under such condi
tions you won't mind my kissing you
out here, will you?”
She held up her lips and he touched
them softly with his own. Her eyes
were tear-dimmed. "Oh. Hob, I hate
so to let you go,” she sobbed, cling
ing to him. “No one could have been
more to me than you have been, and
you are all I have left in the world.
Everything 1 care for goes away from
me. Life is so hard, so hard!”
“Yes, little girl, I know," and the
man stroked her hair tenderly, his
own voice faltering. "It's all hard; I
learned t hat sad lesson long ago, but
I've tried to make it a little bit easier
for you since we first came together.
Still, 1 don't see how 1 can possibly
help this. I've been hunting after thai
fellow a long while now. a matter of
1 o years over a mighty dim trail, and
i< would be a mortal sin to permit him
to get away scot-free. Besides, if this
affair only manages to turn out right.
I can promise to make you the hap
piest girl in America. But, N'aida,
dear, don't cling to me so; it is not at
all like you to break down in this fash
ion," and he gently unclasped her
hands, holding her away from him
while he continued to gaze hungrily
into her troubled face.
"Sometimes I feel just like a cow
ard, Hob. it's the woman of it; yet
truly 1 wish to do whatever you be
lieve to be best. But, Hob, I need you
so much, and you will come back,
won't you? I shall be so lonely here,
for—for you are truly all 1 have in the
world."
With one quick, impulsive motion
he pressed her to him, passionately
kissing the tears from her lowered
lashes, unable longer to conceal the
tremor that shook his own voice.
"Never, never doubt it, lassie. It will
not take me long, and if I live I come
straight back."
He watched her slender, white
robed figure as it passed slowly down
the deserted street. Once only she
paused and waved back to him and he
returned instant response, although
scarcely realizing the act.
"Poor little lonely girl! Perhaps I
ought to have told her the whole in
fernal story, but I simply haven't got
the nerve, the way it reads now. If
1 can only get it straightened out, it’ll
be different.”
Mechanically he thrust an unliglited
cigar between his teeth and descend
ed the steps, to ail outward appear
ance the same reckless, audacious
Hampton as of old.
The military telegraph occupied one
half of the small tent next the Miners’
Retreat, and the youthful operator in
stantly recognized his debonair visi
tor.
"Well, Billy,” was Hampton's friend
ly greeting, "are they keeping you fair
ly busy with wars and rumors of
wars’ these days?"
"Nuthin’ doin’ just now,” was the
cheerful reply. "Kverythiug goin' ter '
Cheyenne. The Injuns are giftin'
themselves bottled up in the Hig Horn
country.”
“Oh, that’s it? Then maybe you
might manage to rush a message
through for me to Fort A. Lincoln
without discommoding Uncle Sam?”
and Hampton placed a coin upon tho
rough table.
“Sure; write it out.”
"Here it is; now get it off early, my
lad, and bring the answer to me over
at the hotel. There’ll be another yel
low boy waiting when you come."
The reply arrived seme two hours
later.
Fort A. Hincoln, Juno 17. 1876.
Hampton. Glencaid:
Seventh gone west: probably Yellow
stone. Brant with them. Murphy, gov
ernment scout, at Cheyenne waiting or
ders. BITTON, Commanding.
He crushed the paper in his hand,
thinking—thinking of the past, the
present, the future. He had borne
much in these last years, much mis
representation, murh lrfneliness of
soul. To run this Murphy to cover
remained his final hope for retrieving
those dead, dark years. Ay, and there
was Naida! Her future, scarcely less
than his own, hung trembling in the
balance. The sudden flashing of that
name into his brain was like an elec
tric. shock. He cursed his inactivity.
Great God! had he become a child
again, to tremble before imagined evil,
a mere hobgoblin of the mind? He
had already wasted time enough; now
he must wring from the lips of that
misshapen savage the last vestige of
his secret.
He dressed for the road, for hard,
exacting service, buckling bis loaded
cartridge belt outside his rough coat,
and testing bis revolvers with unusual
care. He spoke a few parting words
of instruction to Mrs. Guffy and went
quietly out. Ten minutes later he was
in the saddle, galloping down the dusty
stage road toward Cheyenne.
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Trail of Silent MurDhy.
The young infantryman w.io had
been detailed for the importan t serv
ice of telegraph operator sat in the
Cheyenne office, his feet on the rude
table, his face buried behind a news
paper.
■'Could you inform me where I
might find Silent Murphy, a govern
ment scout?”
The voice had the unmistakable ring
of military authority, and the soldier
operator instinctively dropped his feet
to the floor.
“Well, my lad, you are not dumb,
are you?”
The telegrapher's momentary hesi
tation vanished; his ambition to be
come a martyr to the strict laws of
• service secrecy was not sufficiently
strong to cause him to take the doubt
ful chances of a lie. "He was here,
but has gone.”
"Where?"
"The-devil knows. He rode north,
carrying dispatches for Custer.”
■When?”
”Oh, three or four hours ago.”
Hampton swore softly Hut fervent
ly. behind his clinched teeth.
"Where is Cus'er?”
"Don't know exactly. Supposed to
be with Terry and Gibbons, some
where near the mouth of the Powder,
although he may have left there by
this time, moving down the Yellow
stone. Murphy’s orders were to inter
cept his column somewhere between
the Rosebud and the Big Horn. No
other scout along this border would
take such a detail. But that old devil
of a Murphy just enjoys such a trip.
He started off as happy as ever i see
him.”
"How far will he have to ride?"
"Oh, 'bout 1100 miles as the crow
flies, a little west of north, and the
better part of the distance, they tell
me, it's almighty rough country for
night work. But then Murphy, he
knows the way all right. Sorry you
didn't come along a little earlier," he
said, genially. "Do you know Mur
phy?”
“I'm not quite certain. Did you
happen to notice a peculiar Mack scar
on the back of his right hand?"
“Sure: looks like the half of a pear.
He said it was powder under the skin.”
A new look of reviving determina
tion swept into Hampton's gloomy
eyes—beyond doubt this must be his
man.
“How many horses did he have??"
"Two.”
“Did you overhear him say anything
definite about his plans for the trip?”
"What, him? He never talks, that
fellow. He can’t do nothing but sput
ter if he tries. But I wrote out his or
ders, and they give him to the 25th to
make the Big Horn. You wasn't plan
uing to strike out after him, was
you?"
"I might risk it if I only thought I
could overtake him within two days;
my business is of some importance.”
“Well, stranger, I should reckon you
might do that with a dog-gone good
outfit. Murphy's sure to take things
pretty easy to-day, and he's almost
certain to follow the old mining trail
as far as the ford over the Belle
Fourche, and that's plain enough to
travel. Beyond that point the devil
only knows -where he will go, for then
is when his hard ridin’ begins.”
The moment the operator mentioned
that odd scar on Murphy's hand, every
vestige of hesitation varnished. Be
yond any possibility of doubt he was
on the right scent this time. Murphy
was riding north upon a mission as
desperate as ever man , was called
upon to perform. The chance of his
coming forth alive from that Indian
haunted land was, as the operator
truthfully said, barely one out of a
hundred. To the end, to the death If
need were, he would follow!
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Know Tco Much of Thom.
Few men have been admired by
their own domestics.—Montaigne.
IN THE PUBLIC EYE
HANDLED GOTHAM PANIC
William A. Nash, president of the vCorn Ex
change hank, probably did as much as any man
in New York to put a stop to the recent panic,
,J. Pierpont Morgan alone excepted. When the
flurry came on he was made chairman of the
clearing house committee, and it fell mainly to
him to pass upon the securities offered by banks
in need of assistance, to decide which should he
aided and which suspended. He was regarded by
the other bankers as the balance wheel of the
Wall street situation. Nor is this his first ex
perience of a panic, for in lb03 he was one of
five men who, as executive committee of the
clearing house, had that panic in charge. Ilis
sound common sense, his keen business meth
ods and his far-sighted mental vision In each
case saved him front making any very grave
blunders, and be came through both ordeals with flying colors.
Mr. Nash commenced life as messenger boy in the bank of which he is
'now president. He won his advancement step by step, through his own
efforts, and 25 years from the day he entered the bank he was its president.
It then had a capital of $1,000,000; now it lias $8,000,000. He was the father
of the branch system and the Corn Exchange was the first bank to open
branches when the law was passed authorizing it to do so. To-day it has
22 branches and minor depositories throughout the city of New York.
Mr. Nash holds the idea that hard work, no matter how inteiligent. will
never raise a man very much above his fellows, unless it is combined with
the power of thinking for one's self and aiding his superiors with sugges
tions A man who can do this can practically dictate his own terms in the
banking world.
Chancellor von Buelow, finding that it re
quires a man of more than the average attain
ments to fill the shoes of the late Prince Bis
marck and to conduct the affairs of the German
empire, is said to be on the point of retiring to
private life. His uncompromising attitude to
wards the socialists, who are rapidly gaining in
strength, has been the means of blocking many of
the emperor's schemes and has caused the ut
most difficulty in his getting the money he wants
for an immense army. He has won for himself
the hostility of some of the court favorites, be
cause he has denounced their scandalous be
havior, and he has even made enemies in the
kaiser's own household by his opposition to the
marriage of the crown prince to the beautiful
Cecilie. because she was the daughter of a Hus
sian grand ducliess whose escapades were the talk of all Europe. All this
has reminded Germany that Von Ruelow was not so very impeccable himself
when he was a young man. and that his marriage to the lovely Princess
Camporeaie was achieved only after she had run away from Count Charles
von Doenhoff, her rich but aged husband.
The princess found the rambling old Roman palace lonely with only
her husband, a man old enough to be her grandfather, for company, and she
was attracted by the young attache of the German embassy.
Without any pretense at secrecy the princess left her husband and Rod
from Rome with her young lover. That of course terminated Von Ruelow's
connection with the embassy, and few people would have given much for
his chances of advancement in diplomatic life. The appealing charm of his
wife, even then little more than a child, her rare beauty and their fidelity,
coupled with Von Ruelow's own undoubted talents, kept him in the imperial
favor, and he was sent from one embassy to another until he returned to
Rome as German ambassador.
Roman society conveniently forgot the elopement, and Von Ruelow hav
ing married the lady when her husband had divorced her 11 years after the
elopement, they were received into the most exclusive circles. The incident
is now being recalled in Rerlin society, however, and strong pressure is
being brought to bear upon the emperor to induce him to dismiss his chan
cellor.
1 PLIGHT
Warner Miller, formerly United States sena
tor from New York and once prominent in Re
publican politics as leader of the ‘'Halfbreeds,”
has failed as a result of the Martinique disaster
several years ago, "bankrupted by the acts of
God and William Nelson Cromwell," as one of
his friends expressed it.
He did not own a foot of land in Martinique,
nor did he have a dollar invested there, yet the
terrible explosion of natural forces that blew off
the top of the mountain, wiped a city from the
face of the earth. laid waste the fields and caused
much destruction among the shipping caused his
ruin years later. Deeply interested in the Nica
ragua canal project. Miller had invested much of
his money in it. The United States had virtually
decided to undertake the work. Miller stood to
make a fortune. Then came the disaster, which brought with it the fear of
similar outbreaks in Nicaragua. The Panama canal people had meantime
come to their senses and were preparing to make an equitable bargain. The
Nicaragua canal project was dropped and Miller was deeply involved. To
meet his obligations he disposed of his pulp mill and lumber holdings and
pinned his faith to the Sierra Consolidated Gold Mining Co., a West Virginia
corporation. He held about one-third of its total stock of $'!,000.000, hoping
to recover his standing through that, but the mines never became producing
properties, although he held on for 12 years, and in the end it came to crash,
bringing Miller down with it.
Miller first, came into prominent notice when Senator Roscoe Conkling
and Thomas C. Platt resigned their seats in the senate, to appeal to the peo
ple for their indorsement. They failed to receive the indorsement they
sought, and Miller became senator to succeed Conkling. He never did any
thing remarkable in the senate, and retired almost as obscure a personage
as when he entered.
TROUBLE IN INDIA ~
Lord Elgin, secretary of state of the colonies,
is accused by the British press of being respon
sible for the latest ferment in the Transvaal by
allowing the colonial legislature to treat British
Indians as criminals and send them to jail if they
refuse to register their finger prints and other
marks of identification. Many of the proud-spirit
ed high caste Indians have gone to jail rather
than submit to such an indignity, and in a few
days their ‘‘martyrdom" will be known ali over
India.
Just as the stories sent home by Indian resi
' dents of the Transvaal before the Boer war of
the powerlessness of the British there brought
on several uprisings and two rather serious wars
on the northwest frontier, so the story of the
treatment of these Indians now may be the cause
of still more serious troubles.
Lord Elgin is said to have explained that he was forced to consent to
the registration law of the Transvaal on threat of a rebellion, but if he
yielded to such a threat he shows himself to be a much weaker man than
be was ten years ago when he was viceroy of India. The frontier was then
in a disturbed state and the Afghans, stirred up by Russia, were committing
outrages. Lord Elgin took upon himself the responsibility of sending an
army to bring the disturbers to terms, which he did in short order.
Lord Elgin, although a Scotch nobleman and a descendant of an uncle
of King Robert the Bruce, was born at Monklands near Montreal, while his
father was governor general of Canada. The latter died in Canada when the
present Lord Elgin was a lad of 14. The family had been in the British dip
lomatic service for generations, and the name was known al! over the east.