T. C. Harbaugh

“ Near the mouth of the corridor lay the giant form of Lava-Bed Kit, the revolver still clenched in his right hand, and his face, pale as death, turned toward the fire, which burned fiercer than before.
Captain Jack led his band into the passage toward which he had lately sprung, with ’Reesa South in his arms, and the journey underground to the new stronghold began.
Below the surface of the Lava-Beds, as I have said, a perfect honeycomb of dark passages exists. Therefore the savage can retreat from one stronghold to another—miles distant—without once showing his face above the earth. ”

“ The Indian spy watched the half-breed with bated breath while he searched for the boat, and when she saw him emerge from the gloom with a long canoe in his arms, she uttered an exclamation of joy.
“It’s hardly seaworthy, as the sailors would say,” said the chief, bearing the boat into the fire-light. “Time has warped the back and frame, but as we’re going down-stream, and that terribly fast, it may do.”
“It will do,” cried Artena, and then they fell to mending the large rents in the canoe. ”

“ Noiselessly the scout crawled behind a rock, and with ready weapons awaited the new-comers, for there seemed to be two.
The stars shone dimly upon the Lava-Beds, yet he could distinguish objects at the distance of several paces, and when the foremost of the new-comers came in sight, the scout, seeing at once that he was not a Warm Spring Indian, drew back with his knife, but did not strike.
The voice of the foremost man addressing his companion saved the lives of both. ”

“ His escape from death seemed miraculous. It was his sudden onslaught that saved him. It confused the savages, and almost in the twinkling of an eye he was gone.
They could swear that his trail was marked with his own blood, and when they returned to their chief, who was recovering from the spy’s attack, it was to tell him that his foe would never cross his path again.
This brave had sunk his knife into the scout’s side; that one had shot him in the back as he fell into the stream, and a third had crushed one shoulder with a clubbed carbine. ”

“ He faced the savages when he reached the end of the line, and began to “back” toward the corridor.
At the moment when the daring scout was about to cross the threshold of the passage, a half-hissing, half-grating sound startled every one, and the next second a shell rolled into the cavern! A cry of horror burst simultaneously from a dozen throats, as several Indians sprung forward and seized the deadly missile.
A moment’s scramble for the shell followed, when the most stalwart of the trio held it aloft, and began to strike it with his hatchet. ”

“ Donald could hardly resist the temptation to drop Captain Jack, the head and heart of the bloody Modoc war, and twice Artena preserved that red worthy’s life by touching the ranger’s arm as it unconsciously raised the weapon of death. ”

“ The last speaker was Boston Charley.
The next moment a wild shriek rung throughout the cavern, and a young girl, clad in civilized habiliments, darted from a gloomy corner of the cave, and threw herself among the scarlet rebels.
“He is my father!” she cried, fastening her eyes upon the last red speaker. “You shall not take his life. Already, fiends, you have slain my mother, and if you dare to take the scalp of the only relative I now possess, I’ll drive the knife and bullet to more than one red heart.” ”

“ A dark figure wearing a cavalry jacket and Indian leggings was crawling upon the watcher with the movements of the panther, and the look that shot from the dark eyes was indicative of the fiercest triumph and revenge, strangely commingled.
Once or twice the Indian—for an Indian the girls’ foe undoubtedly was—paused and listened, as if he knew that Donald McKay was not far off; but he never took his eyes from his prey. ”

“ The others looked to their weapons; but the murderer was too quick for them; one fell before he could draw his weapon, the other with the pistol in his hand.
“Thus I deal with dogs!” cried Jack, looking down upon his victims. “The warriors shall hear that they freed Artena, and that I discovering their treason, shot them. The traitors even will applaud me; the act will help make us truer brothers.”
Then he sprung over the dead with the name of the Squaw Spy on his lips, and the cave was untenanted by the living. ”

“ Evan Harris was the first to crawl into the bright starlight, and ’Reesa was pushed up to him, and Lava-Bed Kit brought up the rear, dragging his old enemy after him.
“Leave the carcass in the hole,” said the half-breed. “What do you want with a dead man?”
“D’ye s’pose I’d take a corpse about?” returned the scout, with an air of injured innocence. “This fellow isn’t dead, and I’ve got several old scores to settle with ’im. But—Jehu!”
The scout staggered back as a flame darted from the darkness of the corridor, and a score of bullets cut the air about his face. ”

“ Jack glad he’s gone. Good spy, good scout; but a very dog!”
“Then where girl?” questioned the traitor.
“Oh, she in cave. Kit and Cohoon get away from Mouseh; but Artena still in his fingers.”
“Good. The red girl is an accursed snake, and she should die.”
“She shall die!”
“Harry go now, if Mouseh has nothing for him to do,” said the spy, after a long silence, during which Jack had been busy with his thoughts.
The Modoc raised his head.
“Harry done well,” and here the chief’s eye fell upon the scalps. “He be Mouseh’s spy now in place of the white Indian.” ”

“ Down came the field-glass, and General Gillem sighed as he turned to his companion.
“A disastrous day for us truly, Kit,” he said. “No nobler fellows than Thomas, Howe and Wright. Now shall the war be pushed with vigor. This day’s massacre has heated my blood till it tingles through my veins. The fiends expect no quarter, as none they give. By Heavens, none they shall have! ”

“ They left the tent, but the young ranger could not take his eyes from New York Harry.
“You may reason soundly, Kit,” he said, at length, “but I will bet my life that Rafe Todd stands in that fellow’s moccasins.”
“He can’t,” said the scout, quickly and confidently. “That scar says he is not Rafe Todd, and didn’t I look him squarely in the eye when you lay about dead in Jack’s cave, and see that his face was as smooth as your’n, barring his paint? And then that Indian is a better man—physically—than the white villain.” ”

“ The intrepid chief of the Warm Spring Indians saw that he had missed the disguised scouts by losing his way among the Lava-Beds, and now he blessed the darkness that led him astray, for had he gained the objective point uppermost in his mind, he would, in all probability, have driven the knife or bullet into the hearts of the spies. ”

“ Gillem started forward.
“Artena!” he cried, recognizing the womanish figure seated on the Indian saddle.
“White war-man good; he wait for Artena,” said the woman. “But who with him?”
“Kit, Artena,” said the ranger quickly, starting forward. “I’ve been here since the bloody fight of this morning.”
Artena bent forward eagerly.
“Kit in fight?” she asked anxiously.
“Yes; Kit South never throws away a chance to draw trigger on a Modoc.”
“Did Kit see Indian with cavalry hat on?” asked the squaw. “He have white feather in cap.”
“I think I did get a glimpse of such a devil,” answered the Oregonian. ”

“ Jack turned and held a short council with his chiefs, after which a number left the cave, until the great Modoc and Hooker Jim alone remained.
The Curly-Headed Doctor had mysteriously disappeared with his patient.
“Our brothers will rest here,” said Jack, describing a circle with his hand. “Mouseh hopes that they may not be disturbed, for no braves shall enter the cave while they lie here. The Modocs have departed to watch the blue-coats, for the sun is high in the heavens now. Hooker Jim will sleep in the mouth of yonder hole, and the lightest step will touch his ear.” ”

“ Three new fellows from Klamath came in just before Gillem and I came out here to meet you.”
Artena started and caught Kit’s arm.
“What they look like?” she asked.
“Like rough fellows, as they undoubtedly are.”
“One tall?”
“They were all tall men.”
“One young?”
“Yes, younger than the other two.”
“He spy.”
“A spy?” cried Kit South. “A white man has more sense than to spy about a camp that holds Donald McKay and Kit South.”
“Anyhow, he spy,” reiterated Artena. “Artena heard Jack say that young white man sleep in Gillem’s camp to-night, and that he would soon know what soldiers going to do.” ”

“ His eye swept the red group as he spoke, but not a lip answered him.
“I’m your equal now, Rafe Todd,” cried the young ranger’s voice. “Come, let us finish this business.”
“I will not!” cried the renegade—“not now, at least,” and then he turned to the Modoc chief.
“Mouseh, you threw him that firearm. You lie if you say you didn’t. You hate me for—I don’t know what. Step out here. Don’t act the coward’s part. I’ll fight you fair.”
The next moment Captain Jack snatched a revolver from Hooker Jim’s hands, and boldly confronted the painted white man. ”

“ Without a smile, but with delight in his eyes, the Modoc glanced at his warriors and chiefs.
“The moon shoots her silver arrows upon the earth after two sleeps. Arrow-Head’s braves will be here soon.”
A low murmur of satisfaction pervaded the red listeners’ ranks.
As he finished, Captain Jack turned to the runners again; but ere he could address them, an athletic young Indian, not yet seventeen, leaped over the heads of the warriors who stood behind their chief, and confronted the twain, with a cry of triumph! ”

“ No! it struck a wall of flesh and blood, and Artena and ’Reesa South were hurled ten feet backward by the strange weapon!
“Secure them!” cried Jack, pointing to the stricken girls with an air of triumph, and several braves snatched thongs from their girdles and sprung to the task.
The Indian’s invention had baffled his foes, and the hurling of the youth against them was an action unlooked-for by every occupant of the cave.
The force of the body was absolutely irresistible ”

“ The scout left ’Reesa with Cohoon, and crawled forward. But he soon returned, and reported five savages at the mouth of the corridor.
“We run through them!” said Cohoon.
But the scout, thinking of his daughter, hesitated.
“Father, arm me,” she cried. “You know I can shoot.”
The next moment Cohoon slipped a revolver into the girl’s hand.
“White girl armed now,” he said, “now we push through the Modocs.”
“We will, heaven help us! It is the only path to liberty,” said the scout. “When I say ready—”
“Quick!” interrupted Cohoon, in a tone of danger. “Quick, Kit, Jack coming!” ”

“ The deserter was not even severely wounded. Cohoon’s bullet had failed to penetrate a vital spot, and he was walking beside the Indian.
“We’re on safe ground now,” said the scout to McKay, “and there’s one man in this party who is not going into camp.”
Then every eye fell upon the painted traitor.
“Rafe Todd, you know who that one man is,” he continued, looking the doomed man steadily in the eye. “Here you pay the penalty attached to crime. Were we to take you into camp, Davis would send you to Fort Crook, and you would be hung in the presence of your old comrades. ”

“ Their seeming close hunting for McKay had elicited looks of approval from the Modocs, and their separation was covered by their zeal in the cause.
“We work for ’Reesa now, Cohoon,” suddenly cried Kit South, as they shot around a ragged lava rock whose glistening side hid them from the Indians. “It is night again, for I got a peek at a star down there. They won’t miss us for an hour, at least.” ”

“ Donald McKay and his Warm Spring Indians, of whom much hereafter, participated in the engagement; but remained among the rocks hunting, at the same time, for additional scalps and information.
“Artena,” said Gillem, after conversing some time with the spy, “I trust that you will not run your head into danger. We can not afford to lose you.”
“Artena watch out,” said the girl, with a smile. “She no fool squaw. Modocs no think she look for white war-man. She tell Jack all ’bout soldiers,” and there was a merry twinkle in the black eyes that looked down upon the bearded son of Mars. ”

“ I wanted to tell him that Captain Jack would be in camp to-morrow.”
“He will be there!” said the squaw spy confidently.
“It’ll be the biggest kidnapping on record,” said South. “If we get Jack, then the war won’t last long. Artena, are you sure that the Modocs do not suspect you?”
“Is not Artena a Modoc?”
“Yes, but—”
“But what, Kit?”
“The rebels are shrewd fellows. I knew them long before the war. They may be playing with you.”
“They play with fire, then,” said the girl. “What news in camp?”
“The men are mad enough to eat every Modoc in the Lava-Beds. ”

“ Men don’t always kill at fifty paces; but at this distance, ’Van Harris, I am a death-shot, with the revolver. Yes, we’ll settle the old score, and settle it forever.”
With the last word the shining hammer shot back with the fateful clicks that follow such movement, and the would-be-murderer raised his arm.
But, simultaneously with the latter movement, Evan Harris’ right hand shot upward, then forward, and closed on a revolver!
“Who threw him that weapon!” demanded Baltimore Bob, forgetting, in his anger, that he was at the mercy of his foe. ”

“ After a lapse of ten minutes, the scout rose to his feet and glided toward the cave, with whose labyrinths he had been familiar for years.
Artena’s protracted absence boded ill for her safety, and the giant scout proceeded with caution.
“The devils have caught ’Reesa and killed the old woman!” he grated, through clenched teeth, as he crawled over the lava rocks. “I never thought they would strike so high as Lost River; but there’s no telling how far a Modoc will go for a scalp. I’d like to get ’Reesa from ’em to-night, but guess I can’t. So—hello! here’s a hole! ”