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About Lake County examiner. (Lakeview, Lake County, Or.) 1880-1915 | View Entire Issue (July 30, 1903)
Supplement to LAKE COUNTY EXAMINER, Lakcvicw, Oregon. LORD OF THE DESERT By PAUL CHAITIi'l xir. A Compact- , When llammcrsloy entered licuno ho found three of tho cowboys who hrtcl slnrtod In pursuit of Kgmi ond IiIn band of wirrlora to r-in- Cure llcrthn Lyle. They had followed the liulliitiM to a point opposite th! trapper'a abode and had come to hi placn tho night before to socur" hU ndvlcn anil assistance. Onn whoso linblt It was to atroll about camp In tho early morning hnd taken hla -troll thla morning with tho fntal re ault already known to tho reader. Ilnintnorsloy concluded that It wna proper to Inform thean bravo men of tho situation. He told them thst Berths Lyle wna safe and advised thim to bury their dend comrade whllo ho returned t escort her Into amp. On tho previous night when tho trappor had loft llcrtha concealed !n tho opening In tho rlmrocks two of tho Indian aoarchlnn party had romo iio close th.tt she boi.smo alarmed for licr safety and stole away aa quietly na a shadow. She rcon found hersolf wife, however, ait tho footHtopa and low guttcrnl like murmurs of tho Ind iana Indicated that they had passed on to tho north, lint she had aouio tiifnculty In timing tier wny bark and .ho hud not felt r.ure of flndnK tho trapper iigalii. who wns now diligent ly searching for her, until aho ran n'nioHt Into Mm arms. Tho trapper had proceeded with her us neiir lila home 14 ho thoiiKht wns mifo and hnd left l.er aerreted with tho mlmonltlon not to leave under any clrcntiistmccs until hla return, ind proceeded cautiously on fool. Whllo approaching ! aecret passage thnt led to hla i-vern. In tho earlv morning, he henrii M10 rlllo shots and Immediately ascended to tho summit of tho rlmriH'ka to reronnollro. When ho discovered whit hnd token placo ho MiipHiHei that : band of cowboys had taken Ind gin In bis. quarters, la waa their custom, and thnt tho Ind iana having attacked the place the whlto men were defending It to the 1 bent of their ability. Having a greater ob.lect In vlev than tho ordinary warforo with Irnllnna. he signaled both sides to do aitt and whllo tho whlto men did ao f.ut of respect for tt-o trnpner'a Judg ment the Indlnns did ao bernuao it wan tho beat thin for them to do. It wna Into In tho forenoon when th trapper returned with tho young womnn. Tho men had burled thetr dend romrado In the rrudo manner of tho burial of tho deaert. They nnd wrapped hla Icx1y In hla blnnketa and placed tt deep In the aanda and piled tho lava rocka upon tho grave to pro rent tho prowling royotea from d's littering It. They were aoro at honrt over the loan of ono of their best companions, but tho thought of tho safety nf tho niece of tho I-ord of Tho Deaert and the honor of escort Ing her Into hla presence, somowhet inlflgnted the terror of tho blow. Ilnminemley had n gront taak be foro him. To acquaint Lyle. tho In valid father, of hla daughter' pres ence nnd to bring the daughter to the tl la figured father whom aha believe! wna dead, waa a trying ordeal for auch n tender henrted mnn. Then ho felt It Incumbent on himself to ac quaint tho cowbovs of tho truth of tho whole mntter of their employer's guilt, of the presence of the long loi-t Lyle and of tho plana on foot to rlv;ht tho nnmeroua wronga which had boon perpetrated. He had only entered the tipnrt.menta of tho Invalid that morn ing hurriedly to explain tho cause -of tho rifle shotn from tho front of tho envern, and to let him know of hla return and to nacertaln his lm medlntn wnnta. Whllo Jnmos Lvlo waa maimed and dlsflrured In body ho atlll possessed a clear brain. And the brain of the confined Invalid, when clear, aooma to bo brighter thnn tho ordinary. Whether the vigor Intended for tho wenk polnta go to tho brain or tho prostrated Invalid coneentratea all force upon thU organ, fir whatever may bo tho canao. thla often proves true. Hammeralev needed counsel nnd. while tho daughter wna bright and possoHRPd extraordinary Intelll peneo for onn ao young, he decided first, to consult the experienced fnther. Having provided temporary quar ters for the young woman and re quested tho cowboys to remain un til ho could consult with them on innttera of Importance tho trannrr quietly stole away to the Invalid's room. The consultation lasted sev eral hours but when ho returned It fMd not take lonir to begin the plana formed. H went straight to north nnd acquainted her with the fact that t-or father still lived and then con ducted her to nls presence. Tho tu-ono that followed la doubtleita fa mlllnr to the reader's Imagination. The trapper left them alone together jtnd returning called the men to pother and mnde them acquainted with the entire fl'tniitlon. When these hardy men of tho des ert heard tho story of the trapper to aay thnt they were Indignant wouM lie putting !t mildly. They had never suspected treachery In the myster ious disappearance of James Lyle and now that the wicked Ixrd of The Pcriert had been proven guilty and bad also conaplrod to have the child murdered by Old ICgan. they were ready to attempt anything. Th further fact of tnelr long chase and tho loss of their rorrrndo In the cause did not soften their tempera. They would have gone straight to tho mono house and deliberately killed Martin 1-ylo nnd his colleague, Fol lett. nut Hammeraloy Impressed them thnt there wno other work more Important .1tnt at thla time. The cowboy of the Oregon desert of those rinya, like the cowboy of thnt aectlon today, win a mnn or intelli gence. Rome of them may hnve been 1'iilltv of some hasty committed of- ftnHO In the east which wna the renl cause of their presence In this coun de LANEY. try, but na a rul they wero men of courage, honor and Intolllgonco. The story of James Lyle hnd opened a way not only to punsh Martin l.yl) and Kollett but alo to right thu wronga done other persona. It waa decided to make tho work complete, nnd thn cowboys and tho trapper then and there entered Into a solemn cr.mpnct to glvo iho matter their un divided attention until the wrongs wero righted. For many years he trapper had been siivlng his earnings to make 1 trip to New York and attempt to carry out tho phiiis of James I.ylo. He hnd no other motlvo than ferret ing out a grout wrong and punishing a great crime, and all of thla was In- pi rod In him through sympathy for mm Al I'-Ml ll. the Invalid under his roof. It washM Intention when hla earnings were suf ficient to take no.no ono Into hla con fidence whom !io could leave In charge of his Invalid friend while he waa away, aa It would require con siderable time to l.iok after the d ti:lls of the matter, even ahould he bo succcHriful In getting a starting point. Hut now that he had three colleague!) In the persona of '.ho three cow boys, tho sailing p eared more ensv. One of them. Al. I?'ach, wan especial ly shrewd and ha-V l.ad experience 'n business In the Hunt, and It was there fore agreed thnt ho ahould make the trip while ono of 'he other men, Oscar Metzner, should .et'irn to the Htoiii House, report thnt all were killed ex cept himself, and at the same time do a little detective work by "pumping" l.lonldas IJggett, the rook at the Stono House, whom It was thought knew more than ho had ever divulged. Tho third, Julian Hyrd. waa to re main about the place for an emerg ency, whllo Hnmmerstey should pur sue hla vocation of trapping aa if nothing out of the ordinary had transpired. ' Tho following morning every per son set kbout to perform hu re spective portion of tho compact. CHAPTER XIII. Jim Lyle'a Story. TIia rrlnnlA hml nl,l If Animpralpv hng before, and had repeated to hio ditughtcr, the plot 'nto which ho aii'l hla brother had entered to defraud llin elilor brother of hla Inheritance and of the Ixird of The Desert's sub sequent attempt to put hi in out or trio wiiv Tliev hii-l seen an advertise ment In a New York paper mutiny that William 1-yle had Inherited a fortuno and tho legacy, whlrh con I'lHtert whollv in cn-ih. waa reailv for delivery upon prooi of the Identity of tho person nainon. iney went to Now York niul Marl in. who somewhat resembled tho legal nelr. swore to the rights of William I.ylo and James hwore to his Identity, the agreement belnr that thev should share the Ill- gotten gains equally. They remained In New York until communication cmil.i lin hnrt with the courts ol Scotland. Tho evidence sent waa 00 accurate aa to details that the money wa sent without hesitation. niiHnir tholr ntnv In N'ew York they busied themselves looking up the whereabouts or tne nerrauneu brother who was a dissolute fellow and who had become a physical wreck at last accounts. He had mar ried In New York and had one child n linv n,l inter had drlftCil tc Ohlcngo'and then no trace had been heard of him. Iiut they learned tnai tlra wna u anllnr who waa Intimately acquainted with the circumstances. but who at tne tme naa gone on h lung voyage to sea. They had taken Mm nrecniiilon to find the salor's ad dress and the cripple had remembered It. It was ihe purpose in sending ai. h tn Knv Vnrk In flnil this suitor If possible and then trace down the rightful heirs to tne property, noping by this means to bring the I,ord of The Deaert face to face with the law nnd mete out punishment to him. Thla had been the Hole desire of the crinnln nnd trnnner for many years. and they had been working together to carry out tne plan prompted ny tne sole desire that Justice be done. The cripple had long since paid tho penalty of his crime and while ho relnted the circumstances with some embarrassment his conscience waa now at ense for the part he had taken Ih the swindle, except that he desired to see the real heirs In possession of their inheritance. Hut the part of the story that made tears come to the eyes of nertha fol lowed this, on tne return or Jim and The Lord of The Desert to their ranch where now stands the great Stone House the brothers grew more distant from each othr. Scarcely a civil word ever passed be tween them and Martin was continual ly plotting with Dan Follett. One cold winter day while Jnmea and Follett were riding tho range they took shelter from a snow storm In a cavern In the rlmrocks. Unex pected to-James the Canadian ap pronched him from the rear and gave him a stunning blow across the head with a branding Iron which, ho had cnrrled Into the covern. He repeated the blows until he thought his victim was dead and dumped his body Into a crevasse by the wall of the cavern. It waa tho following day before James l.yln regained consciousness, and the snow and sloot had blown In from above almost covering his body, HU hands and feet were frozen, hut not withstanding thla condition !io climbed out of tho crevassn and half walking nnd half dragging himself, he started for the ranch to Inform hla In other of the murderous assault of the Frenchman. I In arrived Inte at nlrht In a blind ing snow storm and waa about to en ter the house when he saw tho Frenchman and his brother In earnei.t conversation, and heard the French man glvo the details of his own mur der and saw hla brother pay hli.i $.100 for thn deed. Ho went to tho stnbhis. procured a horse ond rode away In tho blinding storm. After thla ho lost conscious t'osa and did not regain It until ho found himself In tho trapper'a home, who had found him and rescued him from the storm on the plains. CHAPTER XIV. Surprises. Dan Follett reached tfie Warm Fprlngs vHlngo and found the war riors of thla tribe anxious for 11 raid en the Pluto camp, They were large ly In tho minority, and of a less war like spirit, but hnd Buffered much from tho depredations of tho greatei tribe. When Dnn told the chief that Old F-gan had a large number of mules and horsea In rami, nenr Ash Hutfe, and that there were only about 3.r men In charge of them, the leader of tho Warm Springs band was elated nnd lost no time In selecting GO of hli. bravest men and setting out with them on the warpath. Follett adopted tho AVarm Springs head dress and. al thouch ho needed but little painting, bo also did tli's out of an abundance of precaution thnt tho Snake warriors mlcht not discover him nnd . wreak vonrenncp upon the I-ord of The Dea ert for tho betrayal. As stated at tho beginning of this story, tho Snnkes were tho most cun r.lnir nnd most treacherous Indians of tho desert. They were feared and dreaded by all other tribes and werf- rnrely over cnught napping on tho war trail. After recovering the ad ditional bnnd of ponies for tho sup posed murder of ner'ha Lyle. Old Egan hnd only -?one &0 miles nwny and de cided to spend a few weeks on th pood frrazlng grounds at the foot of Ash Putte, where water and game wer also abundant. Ho bad played a clever ruse on the Lord of The Desert. When ho first had to nbandon hope of recapturing Hertha Lyle he wna for a time at u loss what to do. nut Indian sagacity la as deep as Indian treachery and k Snake was never known to stop at rnythlng short of accomplishing an end. The Chief knew of the es- t'angement between the Ixird of Tho Desert and tho trappr and rumo hnd gotten abroad among the Indians thnt the Ixrd of The Desert had com mitted Borne crime which was the cause of this estrangement. He con cluded after weighing matters care fully, that It would ho doubtful If the trappor would permit the gtrl to go to her wncle and he decided to takahts chances at least In getting the .re ward for putting her out of the war before tho Lord of The Desert learned of the escape, and then ho would tnke his chances on settling the matter with the man" of the Stone House, who dnred not push the. matter too far for .fear of exposure. Searching among his large number of scalpj torn from the heada of Immigrant The Canadian gave him a Ftunningblow, women he had found one that com pared with the color of Pertha Lyle's hair and rushed on to meet hla engage ment with Follett and received the reward without question, as the read er already knows. He had Joined the main marauding party at Ash nutte and sent couriers to Mb other war parties to Join him there for a few weeka celebration. He only had 36 men with him now and these spent their time In various ways: tending the band of horses, a little Independent scouting and hunt ing, but mostly In tho Indian's favor ite pastime of lounging about camp. Dan Follett knew the lay of the country aa well aa any Indian of the desert. There waa not a foot of it that he had not ridden over time and again, and not a watering place at which he had not camped. He led the Wnrm Springs warriors to the place In the night time and It was decided to make the raid at midnight nnd get a good start before the fol lowing morning. While the Snakes felt reasonably tnfo, yet they guarded their band of stock with core. The animals were r.ll driven to camp at night and pick ets were kept on the watch to keen them from wandering away or to keep the Lord of The Desert'a cow boys from retaking them should he discover the fraud of the Bcalp. nut cautious aa they had been the Warm Springs warrlorg led by Follett. dashed suddenly upon them In the cover of the darkness of the midnight hour and drove the entire band of an In als away exchanging only a few thots with the surprised guard. Tho raiders decided to make the return to the Warm Springs camp In u round about way so as to throw tho Plutea off the trail, should they at tempt to follow. They therefore drove away In a southerly direction. Out of an abundance of precaution the stock were driven far In advance of the main band of Indians. Ten young warrior were assigned to this duty bnd Dnn Follett and the chief and 40 warriors acted as a rear guard. "Pretty easy work!" remarked Fol lett to tho chief In the lattc r'B tongue, for tho half breed knew all of the Indian languages of the plains. "ITgh!" Replied tho chief pointing back toward Ash Putte, "Old ICnnn hes not boon sleeping." replied Follett, aa he .saw a rich flame of flro rise from the summit of the peak and then aw It smothered and flash up alternately. It was evident to them that the Pluf.es were signaling to other war parties of their tribe, and ther hnd wasted no time In doing so. It had only been a few hours since the raid was made and yet the Plntes had as cended this hlrh peak and started their signal fires, It wss nearly noon the following day before the raldefs stopped for rest and to prepare a meal. They had Just passed through a canyon and had entered another plateau. A look out wns sent to the top of the rlm rocks near at hand to make observa tions. Ho had barely reached his station when he made hurried sig nals thet put the whole camp In tur moil. Two bands of mounted Piute warriors were approaching from dif ferent dlretlons at a rapid speed one wss coming from the southesst and tho other was coming from the southwest Bnd each of these bands outnumbered the raiders. All was hnrly burly In the csmp and the meal wbb finished as they moved alonr, every warrior taking a piece of mule meat In hi hand and eaMng It na they hurried away. nut. a clash seemed unavoidable. The bnnd of Plutea from the south west wns traveling the trail that the raiders Intended taking, and tho bnnd from tho southeast was making for the canyon through which they had Just passed. The wary Fgan hnd discovered the route taken hv the Wnrm Snrlnrs warriors and had signaled his bands, who were coming to Join him accord ingly, and they were at once nut upon the troll of tho raiders and Old Eir.in had already lolned the h?nd coming from the southeast In person. There wns but one hope for the raiders nnd that was to make a de tour and avoid the party coming from the southwest and then make their escape with as many of the stolen an imals as possible. Dan Follett now became the most active man among them. CHAPTER XV. Indian Telegraphy A Captive. When tho sun waa a llttlo less than two hours high the smoke began to curl from the rlmrocks at the point where the raiders' outlook had stood at noon. The Warm Springs war riors, beaded oy their enter ana uan Follett, had made a detour to the south of the main trait and hoped to avoid the band of warriors from the Buuvnvtrsi uj mains; amung uiv ui (Innni V-linru inev tintl nnfliMI. Kill y ' In Li-nm thi rlmmpbi ttPT fpArea thkl thav Wnr. A I iirvviirail nnt thAt the Snakes were already signaim their whereabouts to the two ap- v.1 v. 1 n n n.-lv fmni the outhenst, which had oeen joinea by Old Egan hlmseir early in m5 forenoon whose horse had escaped tue vigilance of the raiders tne previous tilirhf nnnn renchlne tne noon camp nf h Wnrm Snrinirs narty had sent a scout to search the plains for the escaping raiders. He had no sooner reached the summit of the rlmrocks thnn tha rlnnH of fliist among the etnd dunes showed him that the raid ers and their horses were there; ami the cloud of dust farther on to the southwest eavo him the further knowl edge that the other band of Egan'a wnrrlors had seen the early morning signal fires and were coming to aid In recapturing the stolen horses. The lookout gathered several arm3 full of sage bruRh from among the rocka and started a fire, the Indian's means of telegraphy, and soon signal ed tho two Piute bands of the whole situation. With a shout of exultation Egan's braves hurried toward the common center. The only hope before the raiders u-aa r ovndn th Snakes until night fall and then make their escape In the darkness. It was their Intention. In case they encountered the Plutea. to have 40 of the warriors under their chief and Dan Follett enirnge the enemy while n nf thn raiders would attempt to escape with the horses. Put in case of defeat the raiders were eacn to se lect an extra horse, abandon the nth era nn.i mnVo their wav out of the country as best they could. If night should come upon tnem Derore ine arrival of the Piutes. then they had great hopes of escaping. Put they were .doomed to disappointment. Shortly berore sunnown a oanu 'u pintu fmm thn southwest was upon them. The raiders took shelter be hind the sand dunes and with this advantage, heT3 their enemy at bay tn. Qnma time The men with the horses proceeded at a rapid pace. while the fight continued in ineir rear and aa the Piutes pressed tha Mon thev hacked from Sand dllTlO to sand dune, disputing every Inch of the ground. While it was a warm ana determined engagement there was littia fntnlltv as the men of each side sheltered themselves behind the sand dunes, nut thla scene was changed about the time, of sunset. The other band of Piutes arrived and attacked the raiders from the other side. Thus attacked from front and w.s. tho Warm Borings warriors were compelled to retreat and as thev did ao a great veil arose irom tne rimes who gave them a warm cnase. wnen ho raMers overtook the party in charge of the stolen horses they hur riedly took possession or an extra horse each and abandoned the others, iinnins in escane In the darkness. nut the Piutes were not satisfied with finding a portion of their horses. Flushed with victory a majority rushed on while a rew stopped to cor ral the horses that, had been aban rlrtnorl nun FYillntt waa rn less daring than ho wns a villain. Seeing In tho dusk of night a smnll detachment of the Tinaa ha tump,! and drew his re volvers and faced the,m, considering that fTj moment's time should be gnlnecf at thla point that was possi ble. He was a splendid marksman and when the Indians had approached within range of his revolvers he be gan firing, and In hla madness rushed toward them. He repulsed and routed them for a moment, but In his real he made a fatal mistake. Flushed with his rain of time he had crowded them still farther when, sud denly, he discovered that a larger de tachment of well mounted Piutes hid encircled him and cut him off from the main bnnd of hla frlnds. He turned and attempted to rldo through the Pint lines but discovered that hts revolvers were now empty and tFre w.as no time for reloading. They, surrounded his Instantly and took him a prisoner, and when the dashing marauding chief, for it was OH Kni himself Trho led the band, laid his hand upon Follett. he exclaimed: "You make better Plnte than Warm Snrlnrs Indian. Warm Snrlngs Indian coward, run away and leave you. Plnte stay with yon. and now you Bar with Pluto." chuckled the old cl.lef as he ordered his men to bind the captive securely and guard him closely. The Plntes pursued the raider for some distance and took several more horses and prisoners befpre thiy abandoned the trail. Tt wns late In the night before the camp was established, and the Plut-'B wore tired and hungry, bnt there was onc prisoner whose security was Iroked after and his name was Dan Follett. CHAPTER XVI. A Big Haul. nertha had spent .v?veral days with her father and provided for his every wish. Hammersley had rearranged things generally about the place, giv ing his home a better appearance. Jul ian nyrd. the cowboy, had also been busy and besides providing game and other essentials a good supply of wood had also been stored away for the approaching winter. It was not known how long it would take Al. Peach to ferrlt out the whereabouts cf William Lyle. or his descendants and It was decided to wait his re turn before action and. In the mean time, preserve a silence as to the aafe y of nertha and her father as well -3 to keep secret all of the matters agreed upon. As the episode of nertha's arrival and the stirring events thereafter had pi evented the trapper from looking after his traps for a longer period rr. - , v. a She saw a sight that dumbfounded her than usual. It was decided that he should now make the rounds that he had started upon In which he was thwarted by discovering Old Egan and bis party with their captive. Pre parations were completed one night for the trip. Julian was to accom pany the trapper, while Bertha re tnained by her father and adminis tered to his wants. She was admon ished by the trapper to remain close and at no time show herself should anyone appear.- He gave the place the usual appeai once of his absence. after Bertha had taken her quarters in the secret chamber, and he and the cowboy left early In the morning to visit the traps, expecting to be gone several days. The first day out was spent In tak ing coyotes from the traps near at hand. These cunning animals had occasionally been caught by the bait set for them, but yielded the least percentage of revenue, according to numbers, of the animals that fell vic tims to the trapper's strategem. The plains fairly swarmed with these ani mals, yet the number of marten and wild cat caught by the traps was al most as large. The trapper paid es pecial attention to the latter class of animals, however, as their skins were much priied In the market and brought large prices. When they had reached a point among the most cavernous rimrocks the traps showed greater success in the finer fur catch aa this was the abode of the marten and wild cat. After they reached the outskirts of the last natural meadow, and were at the edge of the great barren waste that extended to the rocky gorges sur rounding Steln'a mountain, they came upon the big traps. Here they found evidences of big game also. Wliile passing along a deep gorge the trapper's eyes brightened and he exclaimed: "Grizzly, sure as you live!" He then pointed to where he had left a huge trap and then to the trail left behind where the bear had dragged it, and the heavy weight at tached to it. un the gorge. The trao per immediately looked to hla rifle and followed the trail eagerly, it brought back the old times the occu pation which he had followed so long alone anil the exciting events In a trapper's life. "Fe on the lookout!" cautioned tns trapper to his companion "he may show flghf when we come upon him, and it will not do to get , too close to him." On they followed the trail losing It occasionally among the rocks but as soon aa soli and sage brush were found they found the evidences again. They had entered a sub-canyon and were passing through a point tit which a late spring seep from the mountain side bad moistened the ground and produced a high growth of sage brush along the banks of the channel of the gulch and the trapper atjaln preserved unusual precaution. As they were elbowing their way through the tall sage brush that over lapped the channel, the trapper carry ing his rifle ready for action, there was a swish, an unearthly cry, and a mountain Hon sprang up In th sage brash to the left and tried 10 lop upon tho two men. nut Ham mersley fired Instantly and the) charge entered the animals heart. They approached the dead animal cautiously and found why It had reared up so straight In the air and) had been unable to leap. One of Hammersley's great traps had cnt Ita saw-teeth deep Into the animal's left hind leg and held It fast. The animal had been caught sev eral days previously, and had dragged the trap to thla point where It be came entangled and could get nn farther. Ther lost no time here, how. ever. This was a big haul, but the trapper was more desirous of over taking the grizzly. But they were not kept long In sus pense. They came to a narrow point In the canyon where the big animal had attempted to force the heavy weight that was attached to the trr between two huge boulders and had! pul'ed upon It so strongly that It had become fastened and the animal could go no farther. With a surly growl he warned them of their danger before they even saw him. As to tore against the chain attached to the trap for his freedom, however, they saw the side of his huge body beyond the boulder. HammerBley watched the great an imal for a few moments and then ap proaching the boulders cautiously, h placed his rifle on the boulder and) fired a ball Into the animal's brain, killing him Instantly. Crizilys, even In those days. were rare catches and the trapper Informed Byrd that he was now satisfied with the trip and tbey proceed to skin the animal and prepare for the return. It was necessary, to spend the nlgnt here, which they did, but before) It was late they had the skim of the mountain lion also beside the grizzly's, and early the following morning started home, gathering up the hides of marten, wildcat and coyotes as Ihey proceeded; and It Is needless to say that when they ar rived home they were loaded down. In fact, the horse which had been left hobbled on the way was pressed lnsa service and was also loaded with Ul that could be conveniently packed up on him. nertha was greatly surprised and iLterested In the skins of the great wild animals, but she had news for them that she deemed of more Im portance to their future and the pro jects they had in view. While they were absent some one had entered the front apartments of the place and had spent the night. -Woman's curiosity led Bertha to break the admonition given her by the trapper. 3he had done bo with out exposing herself or the secret chamber, however, and this mitigate 1 her crime. But the discovery that the made, she thought might be ot importance to her friends. Upon looking through an aperture into the front room she had seen a. sight that dumfounded her. The face was first like a dream to ner. It seemed darker and wore a more for lorn look than when ane had last aen It. The man was barefooted and bare headed and he had so coat. His feet . were a mass of wounds, freshly made, and she knew that he must have trav eled many miles over the sharp rock and through the sage brush, for hfs . pants legs at the bottom were worn Into shreds. Again and again she watched him ae he prepared and ate his meal. She knew that she had seen him before, but where But when he prepared to leave in the morning she recognise! him. He placed a pair of the trapper'a old moccasins on his feet, after he had wrapped them well, placed a bun dle of food In a bag and then took aa old hat he found hanging on the wall, when he placed the hat on his head, the road brim shaded the face and cut the profile down, making it recognis able. It was Dan. FoUett! CHAPTER XVII. The Trapper's Story. 'Tell us. Mr. Hammersley. about vnuraolf" baM Ttarthn tho ntphr of the trapper's return after 6upper was over and the evening was before them. "Father," she continued, -na mid tti vArv murh nhjint vnn hut ha only knows your late life. We are un der so many oDUgations to you mat 1 we feel interested in your early his tory, your childhood, your birthplaco. your ratner and motner, your Droiners and sisters everything about yon. Mr. Hammersley!" "You ask something that I know dui ;ttle about, myself," replied the trap per. "I have been on these plains so lone that the past all seems like a dream. In fact, it Is so much like a dream that I sometimes get It con founded with my dreams and scarcely know which is real and which & dream. I was born In New York: City. At least, when 1 first recollect, we were living In Boston, and my mother told me that I was bora New York, and that we toad lived in Chicago. My step-father was a big coarse fellow, a ship- carpenter, and as soon as I was large enough to be in the way he was very cruel to me. It seems that he and my mother were married when I waa only two years old, and that my father had died when I was only one year old. I do not even know his name. It is unfortunate, too, but I was so young and knew not the Importance of having my own name, bo I took the name of my step-father, though t bear the given name of my father. This much I learned, but I do not re member how I learned it. "Anyway, my mother died when I was still a mere child and then I was sent to a sort of orphanage or place for the poor, and as aoon as I got old enough to leave the place I did o. and drifted into the streets waa a common street arab for several years sold papers, shlned shoes and did such things aa that class of boys c1j until I was nrteen years on. in ma nonnHma I hnH haen reading CtlCdn novels I had" picked up a smattering education at the orphanage, ana Kepi up reading. My soul was fired to g west and kill Indians, and be a nn er and trapper and do such othe things that a frontier life might lead to. "Well, one day I met Leonidas LI-