Just at that moment Captain Moore met Colonel Evans.
"Read that," he said, as he held out the cactus leaf.
There were letters deeply scratched into the smooth, fleshy surface.
Father I'm a Prisoner to Kah-Go-Mish Staked out last night Safe now Don't know where he means to go next He says you will hear some day
Cal
Send mother my love.
It was a wonderful cactus leaf, for it made the strong hand of Colonel Abe Evans shake so that he could hardly hold it. Every pair of eyes around Cold Spring stared at it and at him, and when they once more turned to look at the Apache brave who had brought it he was not to be seen. He had vanished as if he had been a dream.