Josephine Chase

“ A few moments later the horses of the party were heard thudding down the canyon, and the two girls breathed with less restraint.
“Emma, I think those men were our bandits. I wonder!”
“Wonder what?”
“I wonder if they are not on their way to the Overton camp? Emma Dean, I believe we are in our own canyon, or near it!” cried Grace, a trace of excitement in her tone.
“Even if we are, we cannot find our way out in the darkness,” answered Emma helplessly.
“Yes we can. At least we cannot get far out of our way unless we climb a mountain, and that we shall not do. ”

“ Lieutenant Wingate was riding with the driver, Grace now being inside the coach with the other girls. To protect themselves from the chill mountain air, Elfreda, Anne, Emma and Nora had wrapped themselves in blankets and were dozing off to sleep.
Grace was not sleepy, though the slow movement of the stagecoach as the horses climbed the steep grade was monotonous. She was too keenly alive to the wonders of the mountains to think of sleep, anyway. ”

“ Lieutenant Wingate gravely informed her.
“Oh!” exclaimed Emma under her breath.
“I do not believe it is quite so alarming as that,” laughed Grace. “Even though there are Indians, we probably shall not be troubled by them. Are there any further suggestions, girls?”
“The Apache Trail sounds interesting to me,” admitted Anne.
“Both interesting and alarming,” averred Elfreda. “However, we know from past experiences that trouble always goes hand in hand with Grace Harlowe, so we are fully prepared in advance for whatever may come to us. What do we take with us, and how are we to dress?” ”

“ There was shale and dirt under the rocky shelf, which Grace partly scooped out with her hands, and a few moments later a cheerful little fire was burning. By its light Grace cleared away as much more of the dirt and shale as possible, piling in green boughs in their place.
“Is it safe to have a fire?” questioned Emma apprehensively.
“No. We must have warmth or we shall freeze, chilled through as we already are. Get in under the rock and you will soon feel quite comfortable, I know.” ”

“ It had been a wonderful vacation, with just enough excitement to make it interesting, as Grace expressed it, leaving the girls of the old Overton Unit better physically and mentally, with a new beauty in face and figure, each better equipped to meet life’s responsibilities through the coming year.
“We have not decided where we shall go on our next journey,” reminded Elfreda Briggs next day, after the Overlanders had settled themselves in a Pullman car for the homeward journey. ”

“ Before ducking under, a quick upward glance had shown Grace that Lieutenant Wingate’s hands were thrust above his head, and that Ike Fairweather was holding his as high as possible.
“All out, and keep your hands above your heads!” commanded a stern voice on the mountain side of the coach. “Quick!”
Grace Harlowe unlimbered her little automatic revolver from its holster under her blouse, the weapon that she had carried through the war. ”

“ When I go out for adventure I wish the real thing. Adventure in New England! Huh! It hasn’t existed in New England since the Indians put down an arrow barrage on the Pilgrim Fathers. You will have to think of something more exciting than New England if you expect me to go with you.”
“Where do we get the saddle horses?” was Elfreda’s query.
“Hippy will arrange for that,” Grace informed her. “I agree with Emma that, so long as we are going out for adventure, we should get as far from the beaten paths as possible. Roughing it in the real meaning of the term is what we girls need.” ”

“ Shouts of laughter, and a cry from Emma that he should be sent up for life, put the Overlanders in a merry mood. Even Ike Fairweather, whose eyes had grown large under the spell of Hippy’s oratory, permitted himself to indulge in a loud guffaw.
After a rather hurried breakfast, the outfit began packing up for the start. It was not an easy task to pack the tents and equipment on the backs of the horses, in view of the fact that each animal, except the wagon horses, must also carry a rider. ”

“ Emma came back spiritedly.
“No, not all. What I really was about to say, was that this outfit should have a name.”
“Perhaps we already have a name among certain persons who have smelled our powder,” twinkled Grace Harlowe.
“I too have been thinking that we, as an organization, should call ourselves something,” agreed Elfreda.
“Aren’t we the Overseas Girls?” questioned Nora.
“Not now. We may be all at sea, but we are not overseas,” answered Grace.
“I move we call ourselves the Rough Rider Patrol,” suggested Hippy. ”

“ Hold tight to me, Emma. It won’t do at all for either of us to slip off. We are liable to be shot if we do.”
As they worked their way up the mountain trail, Grace tore bits of linen from her handkerchief and cautiously allowed them to drift to the ground, hoping thereby to so mark the trail that their friends would see and understand.
The captors did not speak a word to the girls, slipping hoofs, creaking leather and the heavy breathing of the ponies being the only sounds accompanying the journey. ”

“ Gordon and Miss Cartwright, while thoroughly frightened, were too plucky to make any outcry, and, after a few moments of lively work, the general and Hippy, with some assistance from Grace, succeeded in saving the tent.
About that time the rain dwindled to a sprinkle, and bullets again began to spatter about the camp. Uttering an exclamation, Grace ran for her rifle, which she thrust into Hippy Wingate’s hand.
“Look!” Grace pointed up at a spot on the mountains. “Look closely and you will see the flashes of the rifles that are shooting at us. Every time you see a flash, shoot at it!” ”

“ We propose to do the entire journey on our ponies, you know, starting the day after to-morrow.”
“Mebby, mebby,” reflected Ike.
“Are there any Apaches left in the mountains?” questioned Grace.
“Yes. Too many of ’em.”
“Friendly?”
“Sometimes when they want to beg or steal somethin’ from you. Don’t trust ’em, Miss. An Indian’s an Indian, ’specially when he’s an Apache. They’d do a heap lot more than they do if they dared. Can you shoot?”
“Some,” admitted Grace.
“I’ll bet you’re a dead shot. If them eyes was behind a gun thet was pinted at me, I’d put up my hands without bein’ asked a second time.” ”

“ Ike, for the moment, was unable to find words appropriate to express his emotion, then, recovering his voice, he launched into a torrent of threats as he stamped about, shaking his clenched fists.
“You will have to catch them before you carry out all those threats, Mr. Fairweather,” reminded Grace. “Lieutenant, the scoundrels have a wounded man with them, and cannot move rapidly. Shall we go after them?”
“Yes,” answered Hippy. “Ike and I will go. You go back and reassure the girls, Brown Eyes.” ”

“ How far back the tunnel led into the mountain she could not even guess, but it was reasonable to suppose that it was not a waterway when the Cliff Dwellers lived there.
“I am getting near it! The dead fire odor is growing stronger!” Grace told herself in a whisper. “I believe my surmises are correct. How I wish one of the men were with me. However, I’m in it and must go through with it,” she muttered.
Using her flash lamp to guard against stepping into a pitfall, the Overton girl picked her way cautiously along. ”

“ If you mean will they bother us in future, I will say yes, and, being a prudent person, I shall try to be prepared for them this evening.”
“You are a queer girl, Loyalheart. The longer I know you the less I understand you. You are the gentlest, sweetest woman I have ever known, but under the surface you have an armor of steel,” declared Miss Briggs.
103 “This mountain air surely is making you light-headed, Elfreda dear,” laughingly retorted Grace Harlowe. “I am a woman like yourself, no different, and, like yourself, I have fairly good control over my nervous system. ”

“ The Overton girl sprang up, dressed hurriedly and buckled on her revolver holster. She then ran over to Lieutenant Wingate’s tent and softly called his name. There was no reply from within, nor could Grace hear breathing there.
Thrusting a flash lamp through the tent opening, she swept the interior with a brief ray of light. The tent was unoccupied, and the blankets lay on the ground in a confused heap, indicating to her that Lieutenant Wingate had taken a hurried departure.
“Something surely is going on, and Hippy has gone to investigate,” muttered Grace. “That young man surely is improving.” ”

“ Crowning this weird, ungainly invention of nature is a brilliant red waxen flower of great beauty.
“That is the state flower of Arizona,” Grace informed her companions, pointing to the sea of red that stretched away for a long distance. “I propose that we dismount, have our luncheon here and chat for an hour or so.”
“Motion carried,” cried Emma, slipping from her saddle.
Ponies were tethered, and while Hippy was seeking water “for man and beast,” as he expressed it, the girls got out their mess kits and rations. ”

“ From that nucleus, Hippy says he has worked out a plan that promises entertainment, health and adventure for the jaded Overton girls after their strenuous war service. Hippy and Nora will be here in a few moments. He will tell you all about it.”
“Dark mystery,” murmured Emma.
“Let me ask you girls something,” resumed Grace. “Since we returned from France, where we all did our bit, has each of you been perfectly contented with the simple life, well content to remain at home without feeling one little moment’s yearning to see something stirring? ”

“ Nora and Anne are getting breakfast.”
“Have plenty of food,” cried Hippy as he came in a few moments later with the saddles and bridles of the dead horses. “A night in the Overton trenches does give one an appetite.”
Throwing the equipment down, Hippy told Nora, Emma and Anne about the fight of the previous night, not forgetting to give himself all the credit to which he considered himself entitled.
“This is terrible,” wailed Emma. “I’m afraid of somebody or something.”
“Fiddlesticks!” rebuked Elfreda. “After going through a great war one should not have nerves. Let’s eat.” ”

“ It was a dust-covered, brown-faced, bright-eyed party of girls who mounted the steps of the veranda of the Lodge, where a group of tourists were enjoying the cool mountain air of the late afternoon. All eyes were turned on the newcomers.
“The one with the brown hair is Grace Harlowe. The man is the great American Ace,” Grace heard one of the tourists confide to a companion. ”

“ Ike Fairweather and Lieutenant Wingate took more than ordinary pains in staking down the horses for the night, even though the animals were tethered so close to the camp that their every move might be heard by the campers. Ike distinctly objected to making a second trip to Globe for a bunch of runaway ponies.
While the men were engaged with the ponies, the Overton girls were chatting in Grace Harlowe’s tent, and Elfreda Briggs was dressing the wound on Grace’s head.
“It is really wonderful how rapidly a wound heals with you,” marvelled Miss Briggs. ”

“ The bandit revolver that Grace had taken from Belle Bates was cautiously drawn from its holster. Grace took steady aim and pulled the trigger. A heavy report crashed out, echoing and buffeting the canyon walls far up the dark mountain gorge.
Grace fired again, and, this time, a scream of rage or pain, neither girl could decide which,152 again set the echoes screaming up the canyon, but the yellow eyes were no longer there when Grace got a clear view of the scene.
“There! Your friend, the lost soul, has at least one bullet in his body. ”

“ Come! We can talk while we eat,” she added, leading the way to the dining room whose windows overlooked the sloping green lawns of Grace Harlowe’s much-loved home.
Elfreda, Anne and Emma had, within the hour, arrived at Haven Home where Grace had been living quietly and restfully since her return from France, in which country she and her friends of the Overton Unit had been serving with the Red Cross during the closing year of the war. ”

“ Another yell, then a rattling rifle fire swept the camp.
“Shall we shoot?” questioned Elfreda anxiously.
“No, not yet,” answered Grace briefly.
“I think they are going to circle the camp,” volunteered Lieutenant Wingate.
“We will wait until they have made the circuit, then let them have it, unless you have a better plan, Lieutenant. Every one keep down as low as possible and take no chances,” she called to Nora, Anne and Emma. The three defenders assumed a crouching attitude and waited. ”

“ We have no rifles and can do nothing to assist our friends.” Grasping Emma’s hand again, Grace ran back to the creek.
“Down!” she ordered as bullets began to rustle the leaves over their heads.
Both girls threw themselves down, and, with heads slightly raised, watched the flashes from the rifles. The outlaws were not riding this time, but were skulking, fighting Indian fashion, and Grace was now certain that the bandits that had been harassing the Overton outfit had returned for another attack. ”

“ A bunch of wild asters, set between two stones, to keep them from toppling over, completed the table decorations.
“There!” announced Grace, surveying the result of her labors. “We may not be strong on food, but we have decorations. Perhaps the guests may overlook the mere matter of food,” she added laughingly.
By the time the camp was in order, Ike came trotting up with his pack animal. He had a bushel of potatoes, and some fresh vegetables from which Grace prepared a salad, and while she was doing this, Ike thrust the potatoes into hot ashes to bake. ”

“ Have to go slow when we get into the hills, an’ we bump ’em right smart after leavin’ Globe. Sharp turns and narrow trail in spots, but it ain’t much like the days when I driv a coach an’ four in the hills an’ carried the mail an’ kep’ a weather eye out for bandits. Since then them buzz wagons has took all the starch out of livin’. Ever drive one?”
“I drove an ambulance at the front for nearly a year of the war,” answered Grace quietly.
“You don’t say?” Ike regarded the slender figure of the young Overton girl, his gaze finally coming to rest on her well-tanned face. ”

“ I think the owner got a good idea from us, and that he will make the Deadwood stagecoach trip a regular attraction for tourists. What do you say, girls?”
“Grace is the one to say,” averred Elfreda. “On our journey out here you will remember that we decided she should be our captain. I may have my doubts about the advisability of the proposed coaching trip, but I will agree to it with a certain mental reservation. Alors! Let’s go!”
“Have you seen the owner of the ponies?” asked Grace, turning to Lieutenant Wingate.
Hippy nodded.
“He doesn’t care what we do, so long as he gets his money.” ”

“ As she went over, Grace took one look below her and closed her eyes, but after a few moments she summoned her courage, opened her eyes and looked down. She could see, directly beneath her, the ledge under which the Cliff Dwellers’ Community House had been constructed. Out in front of the ledge were the white stone walls and part of the roof of the ancient structure, which she was on her way to explore.
“Getting down is easy. It is getting back that is going to be the big problem,” muttered the plucky girl. “It is worth the risk. ”

“ Don’t you worry ’bout the nags, Miss.”
40 “Then shake them out. Let’s stir up those people in the coach and show them what riding in a Deadwood stagecoach really means,” eagerly urged Grace Harlowe.
Ike did. He gave the reins a shake and cracked the long-lashed whip that sounded to Grace like the report of a pistol.
The horses responded instantly, starting down the steep grade at a lively gallop, accompanied by encouraging yelps from Ike Fairweather.
“Thet’s the way we driv when we thought the Redskins was after us,” he called to Grace without turning his head. ”