Show ball I 1 comm uri T e f e sh ap wo M n bv HUGH by M SM jc M jle L author of kings of the missouri 91 pay gravel Grav elff A virginia scout etc ian copyright ty r 1923 1926 waru servi a CHAPTER XIII continued 17 only a scout he whispered in my ear ill swing off to tho the left to stop atop them from coming through tho the woods away he glided on the south side of the trail and taking a course parallel to it until the enemy passed him he controlled the strip between his bis line of advance and the trail for several minutes the forest was quiet except for some droning bees in the open trail then sounded a whistle why dont you answer him asked the girl I 1 knew it was none of labradors adors signals Ig nals and motioned for her to be still hlll A musket shattered the silence labrador was exultantly shouting 1 I ot a good one 1 mon dieu I 1 moaned the girl pressing both hands to her bend I 1 peeped from behind the tree and beheld a hideously striped face white and yellow even as a the girl had bad described it I 1 sent a ball crashing through the fellows head and lie he made a grew some business of dying kicking about and expiring with tits his two legs lega showing through tile the bush L I 1 heard labradors adors musket again quick ly followed by a pistol pastol shot then damians Da moans high voice howled now you have him I 1 1 I picked up the girl and tossed her high into the forked branches of the oak and warned to remain perfectly still and darted after labrador I 1 camo came upon him as he gave ground his face toward the invisible enemy the woman he growled as we come came together hidden in the tree fall bacal na lie passed on and I 1 remained to cover his retreat and give him film time to load dawlan yelled again and a choctaw brave came bounding through the woods flourishing ax and knife and I 1 sent a ball through his big painted chest just as lie was springing over a log then I 1 gave ground passing labrador who was ready for the next onslaught Ws get the girl and make makeup up the trail I 1 he muttered I 1 ran to the oaks and reloaded and said something reassuring to the girl the dead man in the trail would hold others hack back as they could not know I 1 had left my post to reinforce my friend I 1 decided we stood a better chance of escaping it if we stood our ground and did not make a running fight of it off to my left sounded a whistle and the crack of a gun followed by another which I 1 took to be labradors adors damean was shouting orders there was no danger of an attack up the trail so long as aa the fox led tile the fighting against the canadian repeating my warning to the girl I 1 ran the second time to help my friend I 1 softly called ray my name that lie he might not shoot we me for a choctaw and joined him lie he was wiping blood from his forehead and I 1 had a shaft through the flesh of the lower leg breaking off tho the feathered end I 1 pushed the barbed head through and straightened up in time to nick a brawny warrior who was creeping in on my right with a scream of rage damann betrayed his bis hiding place tile the next moment lie was urging four savages at us and I 1 said to Ln labrador librador brador now for or some good work my musket was empty and my pistol missed fire I 1 burled tile the pistol into it a sn savage 3 face and grappled with da moan I 1 heard JOPS joes pistol explode so close it deafened me and in the first gyration with damohn I 1 nearly tripped over the beggar joe lind shot lie he was now clubbing ills his musket and two choctaws were trying to got get inside ills his guard with their knives the man I 1 it had ad knocked down with my pistol now slashed at wy my logs legs with his knife I 1 sent the heel of my moccasin into inton his face but lost my grip on da moan who leaped to help his men bidish labrador thinking to do till this and have tile help of the two in a last struggle with nie me I 1 jumped after him just as one of the savages received labradors adors musket butt between tile the eyes his licad head caving in like tin nn eggs eggshell bell but the other lunged in with his knife and left it sticking between poor joes ribs I 1 had raised my ax to do for dagnan but even as it started to descend I 1 shifted my aim and caught labradors adors slayer fair on the scalp I 1 it k so BO that lie he fell beside his fits victim 14 kal il I 1 then damoon was on my back Ar arcilie wilie sight of poor labrador watching our struggle with dying gaze gave me the lie strength of several men I 1 must finish with damean and receive my friends last words my bly left arm arin was behind the fellows neck ue ile was trying to get gei nt at ill hla knife I 1 gave him a chance for the sake bake of getting my right wrist under his chin lie ile grunted with joy ne at lie he pulled tits hla blade free and I 1 gave a pull and push and lits ills neck in a most tidy fashion before he could even his point through my sart lAt labrador brador to ons aide and I 1 wheeled in 1 time to toehold the savage I 1 had twice knocked down raise on one knee to hurt burl an ax I 1 dropped and came up with a dead man q ax and chopped ww him to the chin there was a glearn ct app applause laune in labrador adorn etea ejea ta I 1 gabed gibed fits hl bidol red rings on a red pole he muttered referring to the notches Nat cheis style ol of counting coups get the girl away dont stop to bury me there may be more of thew them you shall be burled buried if there were a million I 1 panted I 1 thought he was gone but he rallied and whispered my wife was ans a better woman than I 1 was man she will understand site she was very wisp for a red woman ah those natchez I 1 I 1 scalped scalded damean as I 1 had promised him I 1 should do and stuck his hair to a tree with hla his own knife then I 1 went back and comforted the girl and told her site she must remain in the tree for a bit longer this last that she might not discover the bloody plight I 1 was in returning to thi the scene of the fight I 1 dug due a grave with my knife and burled buried joe mademoiselle wept bitterly when I 1 rescued tier her from the tree and told her that labrador had gone away nar bonne six fingers labrador and dot da moan not to mention tile the tile the aluma woman and the natchez w word ord bearer taking mademoiselle north had cost much blood I 1 bandaged my leg and shoulder th with her assistance and we covered a quarter of a mile when we ran into a band of who had been atthe of 4 man I 1 had knocked down with my pistol now slashed at my legs with my knife traded by the gunfire gu nure I 1 told them 0 of fe the battle and gave joe all the credit except for the men in the trail they hastened on to gather the scalps and to leave a hieroglyphic picture carved on a tree by joes grave which would keep his resting place undisturbed for all time so far as the red men were concerned CHAPTER XIV one line from mademoiselle I 1 something of pence peace came to the girl ns as after a brief stop at we followed the win windings dinis of the chero kee willie while in the indian town maile made moiselle mol selle secured new garments of soft deerskin our travel was slow and we were a long time in following the eccentric river through its meanderings but so far as I 1 was concerned there was no need of hurry the governors of virginia virgini i and the carolinas Caroll nas would be very impatient to receive my reports yet if I 1 were tardy in finish ing my journey so also would wen islen ville wait overlong over long to hear bear from da moan the fox the ChIchu saws provided an escort until we were well within tits the cherokee country mademoiselle never spoke of the past of the tha time when we first farat met on ship island or of tier life in france whatever halt balf formed impressions I 1 had entertained regarding her life overseas were washed away by the murmuring current of the cherokee sometimes she ehe was a child sometimes a woman and whichever her mood there was a satisfaction that amounted to happiness in seeing tier her before the evening campfire and in knowing she was behind me in the light bark canoe this feeling of contentment tent ment in her presence grew upon me amazingly as we finally drew toward the end of the journey one night with the cherokee escort chanting some borne medicine songs in their nearby camp I 1 gave way to an impulse and bending forward to watch her thoughtful face through the smoke of the ore fire I 1 said once down the river I 1 asked you 11 something om ething mademoiselle I 1 wish to repeat that offer when we re reach ach home home she whispered lifting her hend head and staring at me strangely 1 I wish to make it home for you I 1 awkwardly explained she smiled sadly and lifted it hand to prevent further talk of afo tr kind and firmly said that Is all finished my tend we will not speak of it more this second left rite nie feeling entirely ent liely different than had the first it dawned on me that my proprietorship was about to end that the days of my arranging for her comfort were soon soo sooner ncr over if I 1 had been prompted by an exaggerated sense of chivalrous duty when I 1 first asked her to take my name at least I 1 had not been downcast by lier refusal iler her tears had forced the offer from me this my re entrance into the forbidden subject had no such unselfish incitement my face must have grown gron very long or else my trick of pulling at my beard gave her the suggestion for she ehe said in leaving it once for all I 1 will say monsieur oven even though it Is not maidenly to speak of it further you pitted pitied a poor girl who was entirely unknown to you yon heeded her plea to be taken north when you had all you could do to save your our own life her company has forced you into many dangers and has cost you a dear friend lt it A has greatly delayed your arrival home in addition to all this through your sour sense gense of duty you ou offered marriage to this athla waif who has no lie family no history monsieur you have exhausted all the sacrifice that the most tender of heart could be called upon to make I 1 wont try to thank you with words but my heart will always thank you 1 I dont ask for any thanks I 1 glumly replied that other time you spoke of your pride of pride standing between us A pride that forbids me allowing anyone to make every sacr sacrifice itice for me she evasively corrected 1 I did not read your belts that way I 1 doggedly retorted belts and her hands handa flew to her girdle your talk I 1 interrupted tile the pride you iou meant was waa that which one feels when thinking an Infer interior lor Is ranking making advances her face was as scarlet as tile the northern maples when the frost lays laa on the vermilion site she tried to be angry and there was a flash in tier her eye that bespoke a shrewd temper claire a nobody so proud she feels hurt when an honest gentleman offers tier her marriage oh la la lal I 1 surely some angll english 11 as well us all the french believe in fairy stor storks lest I 1 it la is what I 1 believed then I 1 insisted refusing to bo be laughed out of the notion |