when the judge axed for the biggest rascal in coort. I'll have to retire."

At this juncture a strange occurrence took place. Mickey O'Rooney was
looking straight at the man, when he saw him fling up his arms, yell and
pitch forward to the ground, while the group instantly scattered, as if a
bombshell had dropped at their feet.

Just a second previous to this strange death, Mickey heard the report of a
rifle, showing that the warrior had been shot by some one at quite a
distance from the spot, which shot, at the game time, caused a temporary
panic among the others.

"Well, well, now, if that doesn't bate everything!" exclaimed the amazed
Irishman. "Just as I was thinking of raising my gun to give that spalpeen
his walking-papers, up steps some gintleman and saves me the trouble; _but
who was the gintleman_? is the question."

The inexplicable occurrence naturally recalled Fred Munson's adventure
with the grizzly bear. When he needed assistance most sorely, the shot was
fired that saved his life. Could it be that the same party had interfered
in the present instance? There was plenty of ground for speculation, and
the Irishman was disposed to believe that the diversion came from some
small party of Kiowas or Comanches, who had a special enmity against this
company of Apaches, and who, being too weak to attack them, took this
means of revenging themselves.

It was unsafe, however, to count upon the well-aimed shot as meant in the
interest of the whites, although the one that brought down the grizzly
bear could not have been meant for anything else than a direct help to the
imperiled lad. The Southwest has been noted for what are termed