Argosy, Volume XXIII — Index Page, 1897 — page 25: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

* » A CAMPAIGN OF STRATEGY. 595 net, stood at the base of the foothills of the Dome Rock mountains. To the rear, therefore, the country was rough and broken with boulders, depressions, and elevations. No better hiding place could be desired by red or white men. The difficulty, however, in the former case, was that if the Apaches remained among the hills, they could do nothing more than fire their rifles at long range—a species of attack which could never be effective. Hence, their favorite method of circling about the building, while looking for some means of taking the defenders unawares. By this time the sun was low in the sky and night was at hand. If the building was attacked in the darkness, it was improbable that the women could hold out for more than half an hour at the most. There would be so many unseen ways of attack, that three times their number could not stand off the merciless hostiles. Kate Warren suddenly seized the arm of her sister, who looked in surprise into her face. | & ‘“Tet’s leave the house and hide among the foothills,’’ was her startling proposal. 7 3 It was such a strange fancy that Mrs. Bozeman was, silent for a minute. Then she saw that, dangerous as was the plan, it had its advantages. There were so many places for concealment that if they were once reached, the. women ought to be safe. The one obstacle that caused them to hesitate was the vague suspicion that the Apaches were maneuvering to bring about the very attempt. If so, some of them would be on the alert among the foothills to seize the fugitives the moment they came within reach. It seemed incredible that the hostiles would go away and leave this avenue open without preparing to turn it to account. And yet since the defenders had resisted them so successfully, it would not seem likely that they would take to flight, when the danger had shrunk almost to the vanishing point. But the sisters might speculate for hours, and be as far from the truth as at the beginning. The one fact was apparent—if they could reach the foot- hills unobserved, it was the wisest thing to do, and they determined to at- tempt it, 1f the way was open. They walked softly to the rear of the aoe room which extended the width of the building, and peered cautiously out. The comparatively level space which separated the structure from the first break in the land was hardly two hundred yards distant. It was a brief run across that, but where would they emerge? Each scrutinized rock, boulder, tree, and slope as narrowly as it could be done in the gathering gloom. ~ Their sight was keen, and the glass could be of no help where the intervening distance was.so slight. Look as closely as she might, Mrs. Bozeman failed to discover the slightest sign of life, but that was no evidence that it was not there in abundance. It was the same for a time with her sister, whose scrutiny was equally painstaking. The stillness of the tomb inclosed them, and apparently there was no living person within many miles. | Nervously anxious over the value of the minutes, Kate was on the point Eomichbooks-com war)