The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1858-11-04

! udU5cT--UuJ iHuoe oOuiOoo tu"e eHS
broiled chickens and fried eggs made
such a sweet scent in my nostrils, that
the popularity of our position was tempo
rarily forgotten by me, while MY friend
Charley was absolutely grinning, rub
bing his hands like a agluttoni5i The i'm
preston produced on us by a smell of the
eatables was evidently amusing to our
hosts, or +" "captors," may call them. the
apparent leader Of whom addressed us,
as the viands were being placed upon
the table: $50 .; 81.
"Senors must be hugry after their
ride: will they eat with us ?'' @
The manaer Of the man must have con-
veyed to Charley what he was about to
say, before lie actually uttered the words !;
for he was at the table and had an egg
on his plate before the conclusion of the
sentence. As for me, Iwas more digni-
fled /; and as l seated myself Ileisurely at
the table, | began thanking him in bad
Spanish. while Charley was eating in
good Yankee style. ~ DA.'e ~
/" We ask no thanks, Senor,'' said the
chief; "you are our prisoners we want
your money and your horses at day
light you may go free with what we leave
You = ,aa ueoa.aai3 u
aoAnd strange as itmay seem, his de-
liberate manner of tellingus that we were
to be skinned and turned loose in strange
forest, seemed to please Charley tremen-l
diously for he burst out in loud guffaw,
and laid back in his chair with a mouth
full enough of chicken to choak horse;
but at q severe look from me, he straight
ened up. the large, white grinders closed
heavily on the dainty food, and for at
least minute he looked melancholy.
After supper we were stripped of our
best clothes, and received in exchange
all the old garments we could desire
Our money was taken from us, Cat least
three hundred good dollars, and we
were then allowed to resume our places
in the corner. Charley quietly stretch
ed himself out, and to my utter astonish-
ment was soon as soundly asleep as if he
were the sole. proprietor of a " marble
hall, - or at least was dreaming that he
had dwelt therein. Not even the sweet
strains of a guitar, played by little girl
Of uncommon beauty, whom the chief
called " Uletta," could rouse him, al
though had he seen her, believe abso-
lutely, he would have joined the troupe,
married into the family, and eventually
have generated a race of jolly thieves.
The Guerillas seemed to care no more
for US after they had pilfered all our val.
uables, than if we had been so many
ours. Wewere apparently welcome to go
when and where we pleased and after
the guitar ceased, they gradually drop
ped down around the fire, and soon fell
asleep. r"ei s''EsSNA a9a4lae
Feeling no particular desire to have
much more to do with the fellows, it oc-
Cured to me that we might as well de-
part noiselessly. as to run the risk Of
some change of programme in the NOR
ming; SO shaking Charley, who was on
his feet in an instant, | suggested the
plan of escape, to which he readily acce-
ded. Hastily stepping over two or three
sleepers. came to the rough table on
which the chief had un warily left our
pile of money, How quickly, yet noise
lessly. il was transferred to my pouch, is
a matter left to the readers imagination.
On issuing from the hut, l found Carley
preparing the horses, and we were soon
in readiness for immediate departue.
'.Iye a devilish good mind to go back
and steal some of my own clothes !" said
Charley :. '"that was an over coat Of
-----'s best make. "ea'shJ 2iti ~ 4aesh9ti
l protested, however, and he, good
easy sopl, submitted, IS, 3 assd 7l.. snsaeHI
We struck off boldly enough, but soon
lost our way /; not for want of a path,
but on account of the aJuadance Of paths.
Our guide we had left behind, feeling a
little doubtful Of his honesty, and rather
inclining 10 think that he had purposelyI
escorted us into the guerilla camp We
consequently roamed about, crossing ana
recrossing, determining and re -determin-
ing, until, like eminent, politicians. we
"knew no north, no south, no east, no
west" About daylight we came to an
opening that resembled one we had pas
sed over just before reaching therobbers'
retreat the night before and here. for
the first time discovered that Charley
had another and decidedly better horse
than the one he bestrode previous to our
capture. He remarked, in explanation,
that HAVING had his choice In the corral