THE NORTHERN MYSTERY 253 



way of food - supplies, but otherwise un- 

 molested. Then the day came on which the 

 Apaches took the warpath, and painted and 

 bedecked up to and beyond the eyes, and 

 ripe for mischief, the braves galloped through 

 the settlement. Trembling, the two white 

 ladies and the Mexicans awaited their return. 

 But return they never did. The United 

 States trooper is rarely caught napping. 

 Untiring as the Indian himself, skilled in all 

 the arts of Far Western warfare, fearless to 

 a fault, he scents danger a hundred miles 

 away, and is soon on the trail of the savage 

 warrior. 



Sometimes in those stormy times he came 

 a little late, but come he always did, and 

 many a nameless hero has given his life 

 in Indian skirmishes. On this occasion 

 and it was one of the very last in Apache 

 history the rage for blood took so sudden 

 possession of the braves that, before being 

 caught and punished, they were able to raid 

 a white man's ranch outside the village, kill 

 and scalp the owner and his wife, and pin 

 the babies to the wall of the house with their 

 spears. One child an infant in long clothes 



