The Round-Up or Geronimo's Last Raid

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NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES

3 3433 08253083 7

S.

ELL S

ARIZONA SERIES

Ay /AS //,

THE ARIZONA SERIES

THE ROUND-UP

THE ARIZONA SERIES STORIES

of the

STIRRING DAYS

of 1885

BY

EDWARD 1.

ELLIS

OFF THE RESERVATION, Caught

2.

S.

in an

or

Apache Raid

TRAILING GERONIMO,

or

Campaigning with Crook 3.

THE ROUND UP,

or Geronimo's Last Raid

THE ARIZONA SERIES

is

bound

in

uniform

style of Cloth, with side and back stamped in colors. Illustrated by Edwin J. Prittie.

Price, single volume Price, per set of three volumes, in

attractive

boxes.

$1.00

$3.00

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX

AND

T1LDEN FOUNDATIONS L R

THE ARIZONA SERIES

The Round- Up -OR-

Geronimo's Last Raid

By Author

"Log Cabin Adventure

Your

Own

EDWARD

"Deerfoot

of

Series,"

Series,"

Series,"

S.

ELLIS

"Boy

Pioneer

Series,"

and Doing Series," "Foreign "Bound to Win Series," "Paddle

"Up

Canoe Series,"

etc., etc.

ILLUSTRATED By

EDWIN

THE JOHN CHICAGO

C.

J.

PRITTIE

WINSTON COMPANY

PHILADELPHIA

TORONTO

NEW

LIBUAEY

:0

X AND JNDATIOWS 1539 I

F

COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY

THE JOHN

C.

WINSTON Co.

CONTENTS PAGE

CHAP.

I.

CHAP.

II.

CHAP.

III.

CHAP.

IV.

CHAP.

V.

CHAP.

VI.

CHAP.

VII.

CHAP.

VIII.

CHAP.

IX.

CHAP.

X.

CHAP.

XI.

9

TEN LITTLE INDIANS

25

A

40

SURPRISE

WAITING IN THE DARKNESS

55

A CHANGE

71

OF PROPRIETORS

THE CAMPAIGN

85

THE "HIDDEN TREASURE" THE RENDEZVOUS

IN

101

THE FOOT-

HILLS

Jg 00 llj

THE HELIOGRAPHIC MESSAGE...

117

"BETRAYED BY A FRIEND"

133

ALAS!

151

THE CARTEL.

165

o>

~>

^

CONTENTS PAGE

CHAP.

XII.

CHAP.

XIII.

CHAP.

XIV.

CHAP.

XV.

CHAP.

XVI.

CHAP.

XVII.

CHAP. XVIII.

CHAP.

XIX.

CHAP.

XX.

CHAP.

XXI.

APACHE HONOR

ISO

FLANKING THE MOUNTAIN SPUR

195

DESPOILED

211

GROPING FOR THE TRAIL

227

PARTIAL PAYMENT

243

IN THE SIERRA MADRES

258

A

QUICK PASSAGE

271

SPREADING THE NET

287

THE ROUND-UP

302

GOOD-BYE.

325

ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE

"INTO THE HOUSE !"

SHE DREW BACK IN HASTE

Frontispiece

49

HE SAW THE HORSEMEN HALT

Ill

"DON'T BE SCARED!".

284

THE ROUND-UP OR

CAMPAIGNING WITH MILES CHAPTER

I.

THE HELIOGKAPHIC MESSAGE. that flaming afternoon in the summer of 1886, Corporal Billy Bidwell, Maris

ON

Roydon and Bob Goodale were

riding slowly across one of the baked plains of Southern Arizona.

was hot enough to roast rattlesnakes. They had rested for hours in the scant shade of a group of pines in the foothills, and It

should have tarried longer, but they were miles from the command of Captain Lawton,

and in so dangerous a situation that they were impatient to rejoin him. Instead of ,

>

i

THE BOUND-UR.

10

waiting for the moderate coolness of evening, when they were liable to be drenched

by a tropical deluge, they yielded to their impatience and set out for the wooded mountains to the eastward, hoping to reach

camp before night closed in. The clear atmosphere quivered and pulsated with heat. The stumpy cactus, the dwarf juniper, the sage and chaparral wore the same dull tint as the sandy waste. Far through the shimmering haze, loomed a towering peak, at whose base to the westward,

nestled a lake of clear, cold water, as blue as the cloudless sky overhead. It was a tempt-

ing vision to the thirsty travelers, but none of the three gave it heed. Well they knew that if they headed their ponies toward it, the refreshing picture would dance away

from them like the ignis fatuis that woos The the night wanderer from his path. wirftf/e is one of the most alluring frauds of the Southwest.

The

which were the destination party, were still several miles distant when the Corporal, who was riding slightly in advance of his companions, drew of the

rein.

foothills, little

HELIOGRAPHIC MESSAGE. ' t

What 's up ?

' ?

11

asked Maris, glancing

inquiringly at him.

"

They're busy on the top of that peak a little to the left, he replied, pointing at the that had spot caught his attention some minutes before. At the first glance neither Maris nor Bob saw what he meant. Then they noticed a white flash of light which was little more It gleamed dazzlingly for than a point. a moment, then vanished and was followed by three quick flashes, then by one, then by '

'

two, again a longer one, and finally a series of intermittent gleams in quick succession.'

" The heliograph

' !

exclaimed

Bob Good-

ale.

"That's what it is," said the Corporal; the folks seem to be excited the way they're signalling. They must be sending important news somewhere.' When General Miles was arranging his decisive campaign against Geronimo, he with a thoroughness of detail that showed the true soldier. Prom General did

it

Hazen, the chief signal officer at Washingofficers ton, he secured a corps of skilled

THE BOUND-UP.

12

and men and the best heliographs and appliances that could be obtained.

The country chiefly occupied by the Apaches was, roughly speaking, two hundred miles broad by three hundred miles long. Upon the high mountain peaks of were posted strong guards of infantry, supplied with casks of water and enough rations to last them a month in case of a siege. They had the best of field glasses and telescopes, and the finest heliographs. Years before General Miles had established the first line from Fort Keogh to Fort Ouster, and later used the instruments in the Department of Columbia, where the distance covered was fifty miles in an air line. this region

The

chief engineer officer blocked out the section and formed a network of communication.

New Mexico had

thirteen and Ari-

zona fourteen heliograph stations.

Some

of

them communicated with but one other while some reached as many as five. Such was the case at Bowie Peak, Arizona, and at the farthest northern point of the Swisshelm Mountains. The average distance between the stations was in a straight line about

HELIOGBAPHIC MESSAGE.

13

twenty-five miles. Fort Huachuca, howr ever, w hich communicated with three other stations

was thirty-one miles from the

nearest.

To

test the effectiveness of this ingenious

system a message of twenty-five words was once sent over a zigzag course of four hundred miles and returned. The whole time taken for traversing eight hundred miles was four hours. This beat the telegraph, which at certain intervals had to employ couriers.

You understand It is

graph.

the working of the heliosimply a small mirror, gener-

mounted on a

tripod. By passing a dark object before the face of the glass, flashes of light are made of varying length. ally

These indicate

letters or

Morse telegraphic

code.

words, as in the

The

principle

is

quickly learned. therefore, our three friends saw the signalling from the mountain peak they knew its meaning. By that I do not mean

When,

that they could read the message, for, unfortunately, none was able to translate a

was a cause of many rethat neither Bob nor Maris had

letter or

grets

word.

It

14

THE ROUND-UP.

learned the system, as he might have clone As a consequence the sentences shot over their heads were so much Greek to them. at the opening of the campaign.

Despite the clearness of the air for which is noted, the party sitting motionless in their saddles could make out nothing

Arizona

except the flickering points, so long as they

depended upon their unaided eyes. But Maris unshipped his field glass, and, leveling it at the peak, studied the spot whence

came the signals. In that crystallic atmosphere the revelation was almost startling. While he peered through the glass he spoke for the benefit of his companions: " On the top of the peak is a small mesa, with a rock which is so black that it must have been painted. " That's to make the flash show better,' 7

was the explanation of the Corporal. "

Three men are standing beside the tripod and seem to be taking turns in working the heliograph. A little to one side are several others whose number I cannot make out."

" Each station has

its

guard, sometimes

HELIOGRAPHIC MESSAGE.

15

only one man and then again five. They're in a mighty unhealthy country,' grimly " added Corporal Billy, where the principal crop is rattlesnakes and Apaches.' " Now, whom do you suppose they are '

asked Maris, slowly sweepsignalling to ? until it rested upon the around the glass ing blue mountain range to the westward. " That's the nearest p'int," replied Bid" it must be there.' well; " " How far off do you make it?

" Eight or ten miles.' " I can't see any answering flashes there; suppose you try it.' Maris passed the instrument to Billy who pointed it at the rugged section of which he had spoken. He held the glass level for a minute or two, during which no one spoke. Finally he lowered the instrument and shook his head. " I can't make out anything. These folks may be aiming over that mountain or at some p'int in another direction and too fur for us to see. Don't forget they're up so high that they have a better chance than us.

:

Bob Goodale

in turn scrutinized the dif-

THE ROUND -UP.

16

ferent points of the compass, but with no better result than before. Suddenly he

lowered the glass and glanced excitedly from one face to the other. " Do know what I think? "

you Maris was amused by his earnestness. " Don't keep us waiting; you can't im-

agine how anxious we are to know your thoughts. " That heliotrope is signalling to us! Maris and Billy were astonished. The former exclaimed: " Can it be possible? " Jiminy! I didn't think of that," said the Corporal as if speaking to himself. brief reflection, however, raised a '

:

A

strong doubt in the mind of the Corporal. " It don't seem reasonable; they must know that whatever they 're saying by means of that looking glass can't be read by you, so why should they waste their time ? No ;

they're talking to

someone a good many

miles away? " If the youths had been astonished before, they were now amazed by the words of Corporal Bidwell.

" Do you chaps remember when we were

HELIOGEAPHIC MESSAGE.

17

at Port Bowie that Captain Thompson, of the Fourth Cavalry, was appointed adjutant-general in the field, and he explained

how

that

call

thing you

the

heliograph

works? " Of course we remember Maris. " You know

it,'

replied

how accommodating he was. I asked a good many questions, and him and the young men that had been sent to work the contraption explained all about it. When you weren't around I pumped the fellows and learned a good deal more than you had any idea of.' "

How much

did you learn?

'

asked Bob

Goodale. "I'll

show you;

let

me have

that glass

'

agin.

Receiving the instrument, he once more pointed it at the mountain peak where the As he looked flashes of light still showed. he called out: " To Corporal William Bidwell and '

them

as is with

him

a mighty sharp lookout, for there's a party of Apaches at the base of the foothills that you're heading :

Keep

for; they're waiting for you.' 2

THE ROUND-UP.

18

Maris stared at Ms comrade. "It is wonderful I never dreamed he ;

' '

could read the signals. " And I don't believe " "

lie

can"

Listen!

Corporal Billy continued to translate: There are more than twenty of 'em of you unless you they'll gobble every one <