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About The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1921)
A tW.ftWW.J. , tHlsl',- it' RED OLOUD, NEBRASKA, CHIEF -.Jr "', COMRADES Tvwrv-rvi'W r&$ fLsKlLs RANDALL cbpy&icte7 A.c.4eCLt3G & cc -INDIAN JOEI" Bjrnopata Tom Shelby, a ranaher, rides Into the frontier town of 1'onc, looking for a Rood time after a long spell of hard work aad loneliness on the ranch. In stead, b rum Into a funoral that of Dad Calking, a retired army maa of whom llttlo ! known. A alrl. atlll In her teens, survives Calkins. McCarthy, a saloon keep er aad Ponca'a leading citizen, de cldea that tho girl, now alone la the world, should marry. Bho screes to pick out a husband from the score of men lined up In her horns. To his consternation, nhe so lecta Bhelby, who had gone along; merely as a spectator. Ho docllnes the honor. Indignant, tho girl dls nlseea the assemblage Shelby nun tat two of' the rejected sUlt rs, and In a fight worsts them ota. Angered at their remarks, ha returns to tho girl, detormtned to marry her. If she will hnvo him. After his explanation alio agrees to narry him. Tho wedding takes place aad tho couple sot out for Shelby's ranch. With them Is "Kid" Mack II n, whom Bhelby has hired aa a helper. On the way the alrl tells her husband her namo Is Oiga Oarlyn. and also tells him something of the peculiar circum stances of her life Upon arrival at the ranch Bhelby Is struck down from behind and loft for dead. He reooTers consciousness to find that Maoknn and his wlfo have gone. He stRrts In pursuit. He learns his wife Is an heiress, that her ab duction has boen carefully planned and that she has been taken to Wolves Hole, a stronghold of ban dits aad bad Indians. CHAPTER VIII Continued. Shelby vhdnnod nil thin In his mem ory, questioning his etinnce of ever successfully Invndlngsuchn spot with out arousing suspicion. It wns plain ly proTen by their testimony thnt Macklln was taking his captlvo to this pot for safe hiding. ITo and his In dian accessories hnd ridden on, anx ious to reach this security with ns lit tle delay as possible. But would Shel by flnre to follow? To bo sure, except to the Kid, he woo unknown, which might make Mm welcome. Yet the daairer of detection was great. . Apparently, there was no othor feasible way In which he could hopo to serve Olga. He welched this, with no conscious thought of himself, cold ly and deliberately counting the chances, and doctdod to moke the at tempt. Convinced ns to his duty, and urged to It hv tho nersonni Interest ho felt In the girl, Shelby caBt all hesitancy aside. He would make the attempt; fortune had surely favored lilin thus far, and might again. Ho went back to where the buckskin waited, mount ed the animal, quiet enough by this time, rode down to tho edge of the stream, nnd sat silently In tho saddle while the beast drank. It wns n dark, clear night, the stars overhead like lamps In the sky, the air cool and fresh, no tnrned tho pony up tho vnl ley, mnktng no effort to hurry the nnl mat, desirous only at present of keep ing well In tho rear of tho two horse men ahead. He know the course they would take, must take, up the valley of the Dragoon as far as tho great bend, nnd then across tho plateau un til they reached tho Cottonwood. Ho would simply follow cautiously until daylight, then search for tho troll to make sure, and endeavor, from some elevation, to pick them up with his field glasses. Tho grass In the valley was thick, but not long. It presented no obstnclc to travel, but tho horso's hoofs raado no noise. Finding Uio rider undemon strative, the buckskin lowered bis bend and moved forward steadily at a rapid walk, Shelby swaying In tho saddle, half nsleep, yet keenly awuko to any unusual sound. Hour after hour passed, the valley narrowing as they advanced, the hills on either hand growing darker and more sharply defined, and the ribbon of the sky above constantly contrast ing. Tho man endeavored to think, but found it useless; there was llttlo be could plan In advance only con tlnue on nnd trust to fortune. His mind leaped from point to point, yet .settled upon nothing. He knew whero be was in a vague way, recalling to '.memory the outlines of this country as traced upon tho map, but by this tlmo he was well beyond the range f his own cattle, or any region he had ever hunted over. All about stretched tho desert of the Bad Lands; ho .could picture la his mind the 10000 presented from those bluffs, either of 'broken, rocky country, or dismal .desert, white with alkali. It wbb a land devoid even of animal or bird life, waterless and forlorn, avoided even by Indiana except for concealment In jell those hours of darkness be beard Ko Mund of life except the distant owl of a coyote. The first faint gray tf dawn gave him glimpse of his surroundings, and, on a alight ridge of laad, be finally curiously about.' He dismounted, and, after a few moments' scrutiny of the ground, decided that ho was still safe ly on tho trail of those traveling ahead. There were two traces suffi ciently defined to Indicate tho passage within a few hours of both Macklln's pnrty, and the two others. Neither outfit hod mado any effort at conceal ment, but Shelby, fearing tho latter might bo enmped for breakfast, left his horse to crop on the short grass, while ho advanced on foot. The troll was obscuro, but not difficult to fol low when onco discovered. Hanley nnd his companion had not ventured the pnssngo until dawn, the markB of their horses' hoofs so fresh as to con vince their trailer they were scarcely beyond tho sound of his voice. Ho even found whero they had dismount ed, waiting for daylight, tho ground littered with the ends of burnt ciga rettes. Shelby loitered an hour before ven turing to follow. Thero wns no other way out, and so ho munched at a cold meal, and permitted the buckskin to browse along the bank of tho stream, well concealed by a fringe of willows. Then, both horse and man refreshed, ho went forward on foot, leading the animal, and began tho upward climb. In plnces It was not unlike a cave,) and Shelby hnd no Idea how far he bad gone, when he suddenly emerged out from tho gloom into tho sunlight of tho summit, with a clear view across the level plateau. Shelby stopped, holding the horse back below the summit and gazed anx iously about. The soil left no trail and, with the naked eye, Shelby was unable to distinguish a sign of life within the radius of vision. Every thing hnd tho appearance of death tho death of ages. He stood uptight and swept the circle with his field glasses. He was barely In time; for far off there to tho left, scarcely dis cernible even then against the black, overhanging ridges of rock, he made out two slowly moving objects. They were not distinct, ho could not have sworn what they were, but there was no doubt in his mind as to their iden tity. He studied them eagerly until they disappeared down a. coulee, and then carefuly marked tho course, his point of guidance a high pinnacle of rock standing out against the sky. Ho was an hour reaching this ob jective, but onco thero ho found the trail plainly traced along the edge of tho bank. It led in nnd out amid the Intricacies of tho hills, taking, of nee- MH T ' iSfi I jl?ijV !ill 1 I lfljll wTlJ fiitl Kk ul V yfill 'flfllflllt' t W k jyrY JniwMnfJIIiri SB HkBBBst tfjSt&flfllllllllw At . GT-eCamJaT vsl Ilrttttnlll He 8uddenly Emerged Out From the Gloom. esstty, so winding a course as to give Shelby no view ahead and soon con fused him In point of direction. He could only move forward cautiously, fearful lest they might have baited for some purpose, -and watchful of every trace of their passage, as other ravines were constantly uniting with thlB through which he was blindly feeling his way. He came to sand and lost all signs of the troll instantly, search ing for It In vain for nearly an hour before confessing himself at fault. Then, leaving the horse bolow, he climbed tho nearest hill for a view of his surroundings. The sun gavo him the proper direc tions, but all about Btretcbed the same dreary, bare ridges of rock, offering no guidance. Thero was no life visi ble anywhere and although he waited for some time, sweeping hts glasses back and forth, he gained no glimpse of the two he endeavored to follow. They had vanished as though swal lowed ud by the earth. The bud wns drew j his, tired out tat gasesl already la the west and desperately be determined to try the level. Even this, amid the Intricacies of thone branch ing passages between the round hills, wos difficult to achieve, yet he finally discovered an exit and ventured to ward tho north, confident thnt the Cottonwood would surely He some whero In that direction. He enmo upon It so suddenly nnd unexpectedly as to almost dare his faculties. Almost without warning he stood at the very edge of a yawning hole nnd stared In nmnzement down Into those depths below. Again and again he hnd beard this Bcene describ ed, yet bad never before comprehended Its reality. A huge cut straight down, fully a mile wide, cleft the plain In two, with no vlslblo slgnB of Its pres 'ence until ono stood nt tho very cra ter's edge. At night ho would hnve rid den off without tho slightest wnrning of danger. And below 1 Feeling sick, dizzy, Shelby swung himself from the saddle, crept cautiously to the edge and looked down. He hnd no concep tion of the depth, for It already was hazy down thero, as though he gazed through a blue fog, but how small those trees appeared, mere toy trees, nnd the silvery strenm running through tho center seemed scarcely n yard wide. A yard, why, if It was actually tho Cottonwood, it must be n hundred feet from bank to bank I God I What n nolo 1 wnnt a rrcoK 01 nature 1 What a wilderness hiding plncel He loy motionless, with eyes search ing ud nnd down the valley. To the right he could not determine how far It extended, but to the left ho could discern the silver shield of water where the Cottonwood came tumbling over n precipice. One of the two pos sible entrances wns there; the other must be nlong some one of thoso nu merous side ravines, whose blnck en trances he could dimly perceive. It wns all so serene, so peaceful, the truth seemed Impossible that he was actually gazing down Into a veritable hell on enrth, a rendezvous of white thieves and Indian murderers, a bor der fortress for all the nameless devil try of tho frontier. And he must Invade the Hole, atone. If he would be of service to this woman cnptlvel By Bhcer recklessness he must pierce tho thing to the henrt Yet how wns it to be done? Not even a mountnln gont could find passage down those rocks even by daylight and In another hour nil would be darkness. Ho could not remain there; before night made the search Impossible he must at least find water and n place In which to camp. He stared down Into those deepening mists below, al ready beginning to blot out the fea tures of tho valley. "God, what n hole," he breathed; "It is like looking straight Into hell. The only way down must be some where to the left. Case told me they passed In .under thnt waterfall." He got to his, feet, with the pony trailing behind, moved backward away from the edge of the chasm Into the open plain. Suddenly, as his glance wandered scarchlngly toward the chain of rock hills, the man stopped, his heart pounding. What was that moving yonder, Just emerging from out the mouth of thnt ravine and becoming clearly outlined ngnlnst the gray al kali? ne knew almost Instantly the advance of n drove of cattle, debouch ing through the nnrrow defile nnd spreading out ns they attained the wider open space. There must be n hundred bead nnd oven ns ho com prehended, horsemen appeared in their rear, spurring forward to turn them to tho left down a shallow giilch. Thero wob no way ho could ocnpo observation; no possibility of hiding on thnt bare plnln. Shelby's brnln worked like lightning. There were five riders; he could count them now; In dians mostly, nlthongh ono wns surely white. Thero wns nothing left hlra but audacity and lies. Ho must take the chnnce, tho one chance, mad, des perate, yet yielding a possibility of suc cess. He swung the field glasses to his eyes yes, one rider wns white, a squat figure with a red beard, nnd another, the fellow nt this end, ap peared to bo a Mexican. Then he laughed grimly ; tho vortex of his glnss rested on tho exposed flank of the nearest steer and ho saw the brand. By nil the gods, they were bis own cattle I The humor of It flashed In his eyes, but tho Jaw of the man set sternly. The d d thieves 1 Ho strode forwnrd, tho pony trailing nt his heels, nnd then tho Mexican saw him, throwing up one hand In n swift signal and spurring bis horse reckless ly ncross the gray plain. They met half way, Slfelby still afoot, the other sweeping up at full speed, his horse brought fairly to its h'aunches by tho cruel pressure of a Spanish bit Tho fellow was a hnndBomo devil but for tho evil In his eyes nnd a dis figuring scar down ono check. The eyes of the two met and the rider's hand dropped instnntly upon the ex posed butt of a revolver. "Buenns dlna, scnor," ho said harsh ly, staring. "What is tho meaning of Oils?" Shelby smiled, coolly returning bis glance. "The meaning of what, scnor?" he questioned shortly. "Your being here alone I I have not seen yon before. You are not of tho Wolves' den." "Oh, la thnt It, sehor?" Indifferently. "Then maybe you will tell me how I am to find a way Into this den of wolves? I have looked down yonder," ho waved his hand. "You seek It then?" "Sure; otherwise why should I be here? You will guide me?" "Caramhal It depends," suspicious ly, yet somewhat disconcerted by the other's quiet manner. "I would know more first You are lost?" "Completely; yet It Is a story easily told. I was with a man nnmed Han ley an' fellow called Hank." "Old Matt I know him." "Good; then I have met a friend. We were there, back In thoso hills, when my girth broke see, where I havo fixed It. I fell behind nnd they rodo on. I thought to follow easily, but you must know thoso hills, the trail was lost; perhaps 1 look a wrong turn, for suddenly I found myself on this plain." The Mexican sat motionless, bis eyes ns suspicious as ever, but his fingers no longer gripped on the re volver. The last of thoienttlo hnd dis appeared down tho coulee nnd the red bearded white man wns riding Toward them ncross the alkali. Neither changed position until he came up, a lump of a fellow, with staring eyes nnd complexion tho color 'of parch ment . "What the h 1 Is all this, Juan?" he questioned roughly. "Who Is the fellow?" "He travel with Matt nanlpy on' get lost; so be say." "Hanley, hey I That's some recom mendation. Who else wus with your party?" "A man cnlled Hnnk." "Slnglti. Well, tho story sounds straight so far; them two loft hero y "jft3 "You Are Not of wis Wolves' Den." to know that together; I happen What's your name?" Shelby looked him squarely In the eye. "Churchill." "What! Matt talked to me about that Fellow named Macklln stalkln' a girl down Ponca way." "He's got her; so Hanley says, an' that's what I'm here for seo?" "But you ala't 01' Churchill. Tho way I heard it he was sixty anyhow, an' a down-easter." "Virginia ; he's my father." "Oh, h 1, an' where you been?" "Soldlerln' mostly." "I see," his eyes wandered. "Sounds kinder fishy, young feller, but I nln't In no shape to tell. I reckon Matt Hanley kin straighten It out nn' If he Is down thnr, the best thing we kin do Is to take yer 'long. If yor lyln ye'll be d n sorry 'fore yer get out ng'ln. I'll tell yer Ant te begin with, but If yer gnme to ride along, we'll see yer get thnr all right Let's hit her up, Juan; them Injuns will need us 'fore long. Come on. stranger." He wheeled his horso nnd rode off on a shnrp trot nnd the Mexican fol lowed. Neither man so much ns glanced buck toward Shelby, seeming ly Indifferent ns to what ho chose to do. Yet he knew the customs of the West nnd that If ho failed them now no future falsehood would ever regain their confidence. Ho swung Into the snddlo nnd rode silently forward be hind Junn. The cnttle wero still out of sight ahead, but they could hear the calls of tho drivers. Shelby pressed his bronco up closer to the Mexican, who hud lit a cigarette. "Is It far, Juan?" he, asked. "Noin do Dlosl I heard you not To tho Hole you mean? Not far, but rough, senor; yet thero Is no other way to get cuttlo In." "Tho man with you ; who Is ho?" Junn emitted a cloud of blue smoke In the nlr, smiling pleasantly. "Scnor Laud." "Laud I" In undisguised astonish ment "What Laud? Not 'Indian Joe'?" "SI, senor; they call bcem thnt" confidently. "Ho'vcrrn bad man. You know heera, what?" Shelby gripped himself tightly. "I've henrd of him, Hint's nil. ne'a n Sioux squawmnn, but I never know what he looked like before." His pony, no longer urged, fell bnck, trailing at the renr of tho others. Junn rode on, unconscious nnd Indif ferent, blowing spirals of smoke Into tho air, and humming tho strain of some Spnnlsh melody, but Shelby wns staring beyqnd him nt the red-bearded white man slouched down In his sad dle. So that fellow wns "Indian Joe" Luudl As ever before ho roallzed to the full 'the danger Into which he advanced. "Indian Joe" Loud I When hndift he heard of him? For years certainly, cvr since ho hnd been In this north country, yet In appearance tho fellow was not at all what he previously had Imagined thnt desperado to be. Laud was gross, bearded, dirty, conrse featurcd; to all appearances a mere barroom tough, yet no mnn on tho frontier hnd a worse record or was more dreaded .and dosplBed. Why was he here stealing rattle on tho very verge of Indian war? True, be was not a Sioux tn blood, yet It wns well known that he had been ndoptcd Into the tribe rind never failed to have a hand In their deviltry. Army officers clnlmed he possessed mort Intlueiicc over them for evil than nny chief, nnd Shelby hnd henrd him mentioned ulili Sitting Bull us lenders In the ghost dunce. If true, then be must know how far to venture, nnd Jusi when to draw nslde so ns to save himself. That must be It to him wnr mount only 1111 opportunity to plunder. The dual re sult was clearly Indian ilefeni ; he would keep out, but In the meanwhile profit nil he could. The trull led downward nt 11 rather steep grade, In spite of continual eurv Ing. Tho sure-footed horses moved faster than the cnttle, nnd before the outfit reached the level of the valley tho three riders had closed In on the Indian drivers. Shelby know thorn at once as young Sioux warriors, and was again able to distinguish plainly tho brand on thu flank of the steers bring ing up the roar of the herd. They were unquestionably his own stock, and. In spite of his rage, he could not be entirely Indifferent to tho grim hu mor of the situation he was being guided Into Wolves' hole by the very men who had robbed htm. Yet his thoughts did not dwell upon this so much Just, then, ns on the mail chance he had assumed In this adven ture. What could he nccotuplMi? What hope was there that he would ever emerge ngnln nllve? He was going forward blindly, led by fute, with not even a plan of 'guidance. He must work atone, In the midst of enemies, desperate men to whom human life wns valueless, and where nny Incau tious word or act would Instnntly ex pose him to discovery. In spite of the fnct that he wns believed dead, Macklln would recognize him at it glance, and the very claim thnt he was n friend of Hnnley's exposed him to discovery. In some way he must nvnld them both, and yet no plan presented Itself to promise escape. He could only drift helplessly, heco'hilng more despondent of success with every step of advance. It wbb already dusk when they nt talned the level of the valley, and the overshadowing bluffs rose high on cither band, leaving them plodding through the gloom. Yet even here they had not attained the full depression of the Hole, which required another stinrn descent nlnni: the border of the streum, where a ledge of ruck had evi dently been blnsted out. This passage abruptly ended In 11 wide, stone cnuse way, turning sharply to the left, und running beneath u waterfall, where the broad stream leaped over a ledge of hleh rock. It was a task to get the cattle through, yet once ntnrted, they plunged forwnrd. following each other with fright never pausing until they scattered out over tho plain below. Laud drew up his horse In front of a smull log structure, m concealed at the edge of a straggly grove, that. In the gloom, Shelby was not even uwuro of Its existence until voices greeted them. "Back again, Joel Where'd yer pick up that bunch?" "Up on the Cottonwood; easy pick In." nnd Luud Hung ono leg over his saddle In a posture of rosl. "Whore's Kelly? Oh. I bin; bring mo out a drink. Anything new?" The tnll. raw-boned frontiersman who responded, puffed nt his pipe, and out through the open door of the cab in thero suddenly streamed n light re vealing his font 11 res. ami tho Indistinct outlines of others Idllnc "ear by. "Well, not much, .loo," he answered drnwllngly. "most o' the injuiis novo Btruck out; ain't it'ii n dozen bucks left, I reckon. They loll me they're raisin' h I already over I'oucn way; miivbo yer hoard about It?" Land nodded, wiping his lips with M.n linrlr if Ills tlllllll. "Wliur's Mlltt Hanley?" "Oh. he nn' Slngln cum' In 'bout five hours ago. 1 reckon, an' wont on up to the cove." "nave enythlng with 'em?" "Not thet I see they didn't did they. Jim? Just travel In' light." "Didn't say enythlng about another gazabo?" "Not that I know about. They not ed like they was both plum tired out, nnd wanted tor go asleep. Just took a drink apiece, and mosled nlong." Lnud let fall an oath. "All right thou, but d d If I'll ride down to tho cove tonight. We'll go up to your shack. Junn. And hunk down. Come on. both o' yer." "Because you are a I gueiii and became you are straight." woman, I think (TO UfcJ CONTINUED.) Bower-Bird's Wooing. A cynical method of enticing n hesi tating partner Into the bonds of matri mony Is furnished by the hower-blrd, which biiNds n structure of sticks formed Into a kind of passage or nve ntie and beautifully ornnmonted with fenthers and shells. On Its comple tion the would-be bridegroom brings the bird, of his choice to Inspect bis flue establishment and entices her to share It. Grove's is the Genuine and Only Laxative Bromo nq Quinine tablet The first and original Cold and Grip tablet, the merit of which Is recognized by all civilized nations. Be carets! to avoid tnltatloaa. Be sure its Bromo WO Z.?fc&rrn w w 0 The genuine bears this signature 30c. Vaseline RtjU&Pat.Ott. PETROLEUM JELLY For burns, cuts, sprains and all skin irritations. Relieves dryness of scalp. REFUSE SUBSTITUTES State Street New York Like and Unlike. The deuth of Anders Zoni, the fa mous etcher, brought the tulk round to Whistler, und n 1'lttsburgh poet said: "Whistler and Walter SIckert were once printing etchings together. SIck ert, stumbling, hud the misfortune to drop n copper plute. "'How like you!' said Whistler, icily. "Hardly five minutes later Whistler, usually the deftest, surest of men, dropped n copper plate himself. He stooped and picked It up. Then he murmured : "'How unlike mel'" Hall's Catarrh Medicine Those who aro In a "run down" condi tion will notice that Catarrh bothers them much more than when Uicy are tn Rood health. This fact proves that whit Catarrh Is a local dlsoase, It In greatly Influenced by constitutional conditions. HALL'S CATARRH MEDICINE la a Tonic nnd Blood Purifier, and acts through the blood upon tho mucous surfacea ot the body, thus reducing the Inflammation and restoring normal conditions. All druggists. Circulars free. F. J. Cheney & Co.. Toledo. Ohio. A Clean Send-Away. A country farmer lad was writing a letter to a city friend. Having no oth er envelope than 11 very dirty ono that he had curried In his pocket for quite a while, he used It, but annexed ut the end of his letter: "I". S. I'lense excuse the envelopa It was clean when it left my hands." Different. ' "Savages used to paint tliolr faces." "ItH different with civilized man," commented Mr. Chugglns. "He crawls under his car nnd gets his face smeared' with nutomobllo greuse." The Time la Ripe. "I want to do something really great In music." "Try a Jazz, symphony." Queer Cradlas for Babies. An Infant In Guiana Is usunlly bur led In sand up to Its wnlst whenever ttio mother Is busy, nnd this Is tho only crndlo It ever knows. Tho llttlo Lapp on tho othor hand, fares most luxuriously In Its mother's shoe. Theso Lnpp shoes oro big affairs of skin stuffed with soft moss, nnd can bo hung on n peg or tree branch safe ly out of the way. HELP THAT ACHING BACK ! Is your back giving outr Are you tortured with backache and stabbing lining? Does any exertion leave you ''all played out?'f Feci you just caa't keep Roing? Likely yonr kidneys are to blame. Overwork, colds, hurry and worry tend to weaken the kidneys. Backache is often the first warning. Headache and dizziness may come, too, find nnnovins kidney irreoularitics. Help tho kidneys with Doan'a Kidnev Pilia the remedy recommended by thousands. Aah your neighbor! A Nebraska Case Chas. E. South wick, 108 E. Park Bt, Blair, Nebr., says: "I had an uttr.ck ot what eoomod llko lum bago. I was lame and. sore through tho muscles of my bank and hips, Every move I made felt like a knire cutting ibb. Mv riAonln ' Sj iind used Doan'a Kidney Pills successfully so I got Borne. Doan'B curod mo of the attack." Gat Dean's at Aay Stats, 60e a Boa DOAN'SVSTiV FOSTER.M1LBURN CO, BUFFALO, N. V. JBanjLaaKBBBBBBBaSBBBVL Air Bacchus kills more than Mara. -German uroverh. W. N. U., LINCOLN, 10. 2-1921. V ". H
