Part 14 (1/2)

The appearance of the officers as they passed into the hall after rising froler who stood in front of the door of head-quarters, for as soon as he saw them he raised his instru notes had scarcely ceased when there was a co out and hurried toward the stables There were a hundred and twenty of theed to the troops A, E and L--the latter commonly called the ”Brindles”--of which Captain Clinton's scouting-party was to be coe,” said the colonel, who stood in the doorway appearing to notice nothing, but in reality keeping a close watch over thewas done in accordance with the ”regulations” ”You are to go with Clinton, you know Are you ready?”

”I will be in half a le, or the prospect of soon es who had devastated Mr Wentworth's hoe, so that he did not readily lay his hand upon the articles he wanted, for considerably ain appeared with his Winchester on his back, a bag of cartridges slung over his shoulder and a revolver buckled about his waist He ran to the stable, and had just put the saddle and bridle on his horse when another call of the bugle was heard This was ”To horse,”

and in obedience the troopers left the stable and fell into line on the parade, eachin line--in fact, he did not knohere he _did_ belong--so he kept his eye on Captain Clinton, and when he saw that officer e at once placed hi up to the steps where the colonel was standing, awaited further developments

”Prepare to mount!” commanded Captain Clinton as he rode up in front of his own troop, and the words were immediately repeated by the other two company commanders

In obedience to this order each trooper placed his left foot in the stirrup, and at the coiven soon after, they all rose fros, and seated themselves in the saddles at the same instant No man was a half a second ahead or behind his companions The three company officers then rode back to the colonel to report that their respective companies were ready to march, and after they had listened to some verbal instructions froood-bye, the bugle sounded the ”Advance,” and the troopers,four abreast--or, as a soldier would have expressed it, in coluate There they found Wentworth seated on a wiry little ether too se, who rode by Captain Clinton's side, he gave hi a word turned his horse and rode away, the troopers following a short distance in his rear

When soldiers are on the er of immediate contact with the enees, of which the troopers co-party were not slow to avail themselves Some of them drew their pipes from their pockets and filled up for a s over the horns of their saddles and rode sideways, ”wo the line But this talking and s, for they rode rapidly, and ress that by three o'clock in the afternoon they ithin sight of the ruins of Mr Wentworth's ranche And a sorry sight it was, too Nothing but a pile of blackened sun-dried bricks reo had stood a happy home Household furniture of every description was scattered around, but every article had been ses had not been able to carry aith thee did not wonder that Mr Wentworth felt vindictive The man did not have a word to say, but the expression that ca sorrowfully at the ruins of his hoht of the ranche, George discovered that there was a horse staked out near the ruins, and that he had an owner in the person of a tall, gaunt round and rubbed his eyes as if he had just awakened from a sound sleep His dress was an odd e He wore a pair of infantryman's trousers, a rancheman's red shi+rt, and an Indian blanket of the same color was thrown over his shoulders His head was covered by a Mexican soaudily-orna for the troopers to cohted it at the s

”That's Mountain Mose,” said Captain Clinton in reply to George's inquiring look ”He no doubt gave himself the name because he has lived on the Plains all his life He is a lazy, worthless vagabond, but what he doesn't know about Indians isn't worth knowing If he would only wake up and display a little energy, he would be invaluable as a scout”

”What is he doing here?” asked George ”He see for us”

”Yes, I expected to find him at this place He has been out to take a look at the trail of that war-party who did all this dae--Well, Mose, any news?”

”Not ht for the Staked Plains, an' if you are lively enough to ketch 'em anywhar, you'll ketch 'eet the cattle,” said the captain ”If the Indians are going in there, they intend that the stock shall die of thirst rather than fall into our hands”

”That's jest their little ga at his pipe ”You see, they'll keep along on the edge of the desert, so't they can have grass an' water in plenty, an' if you don't pester 'eo into the Staked Plains at all; but if you push 'em hard they'll run the critters in thar an' leave 'em, hopin' that you will run your hosses an' men to death while you are huntin' 'e ones, nuther; an' I don't see why the colonel sent out sich a party as this so late in the day, anyhow We'd oughter been a hundredthat thar trail by sun-up this e felt the deepest sympathy for Mr Wentworth, who listened attentively to what the scout had to say, although he said nothing in return His al sorroed itself in his face, but did not take the form of words

As Captain Clinton hadinstructed him to find and receive the report of the scout as soon as possible, he decided to stop here and allow histheir horses into the charge of some of the troopers, he and his two coe rode off to hunt up Bob Owens He staked his own horse out beside Bob's, and then walked back with him to take a nearer view of the ruins

”How do you suppose that that man in the sombrero and moccasins knows that the Indians who did this have fled toward the Staked Plains?” asked Bob after he and his friend had spent soes' handiwork ”He certainly hasn't had tih to follow the trail clear to those plains”

”Of course not,” answered George ”But he probably followed it far enough to see that it leads in that direction”

”Well, explain another thing while you are about it,” continued Bob ”I have been out on a scout before now after the hostiles, following a trail that was as plain as the nose on one's face, when all at once the scout would leave that trail and strike off over the prairie where there wasn't a sign of a pony-track”

”He was taking a short cut on the Indians,” observed George

”I know that, and sooner or later he would bring us back to that trail again; and soained so much on the hostiles--who had perhaps been twenty-four hours' journey ahead of us e left the trail--that ould find their ca Nohat I want to know is this: How did that scout know that those Indians were going to that particular spring or creek or ravine near which we found the trail?”

”Have you ever hunted foxes?” asked George

”I should say I had When I left ho them, for he was posted in all their tricks But what have foxes to do with hostile Indians?”

”I a to use the tricks of the one, which you understand, to explain the tricks of the other, which you do not understand,”

replied George ”They are a good deal alike in some respects A fox, when he finds himself hard pressed, will resort to all sorts of manoeuvres to throw the hounds off the trail One of his tricks is to run over a newly-ploughed field, if he can find one, where the scent will not lie What would that brag hound of yours do in such a case?

Would he waste valuable ti to pick up a scent that wasn't there?”

”No, he wouldn't He would run around the outside of the field until he found the place where the fox left it”