The prairie news. [volume] (Okolona, Miss.) 1851-1875, 1858-11-04

BY GEO. W. KENDALL.

Rare wags mEN be found among the
Texas Volunteers, yet the funniest fellow
of all is a happy go-lucky chap named
Bill Dean, one of the Chevalier's spy
company, and said to be one of the best
seven up'players in all Texas. While
at Corpus Christi lot of us were set
ting out on the stoop of the Kinney
House early one morning, when along
came Bill Dean. He did not know sin
gle soul in the crowd, although he knew
we were all bound for the Rio Grande /;
yet the fact that the regular formalities
of an Introduction had not been gone
through with, did not prevent his stop
ping short in his walk and accosting us.
His speech, or harangue, or whatever it
may be termed, will lose much in the
telling, yet / will endeavor to put it upon
paper in as good shape as possible
40, yes said he, wisha knowing leer
of the eye "Oh, yes all going down
among the robbers on the Rio Grande,
are you +, Fine times yon'H have, over
the left I've been there myself, and
done what great many of you won't
dol Game back but if didn't see
natural h--l--in August at that,-l am
teapot Lived eight days on one poor
hawk and three blackberries-couldntki xii
prairie rat on the whole route, to save
us from starvation. The ninth day come,
and we struck small streak of good
luck-a horse gave out and broke down,
piump out in the centre of an open pral-
rie-not a stick big enough to tlcke a
rattlesnake with, let alone killing him.
just had time to save the critter by shoot
ing bin, and that was all, for III three
minutes longer he would have died a
natural death 1t didn't take Us long to
butcher him, nor TO cut of, some chunks
of meat, and stick 'em on our ramrods !;
but the cooking was another matter. |
piled up a heap Of prairie grass, for it
Twas high and dry, and set it on fire; but
it flashed up like powder and went out as
quick. But"
Bat" put in one of his hearers, ''but
how did you cook your horse meat after
that ~
"How 2"
Yes, how e.
"Why the fire caught the high grass
close by, and the winds carried the flames
strcaking across the prairie ! followed
up the fire, holding my chunk of meat
directly over the blaze, and the way we
went it was caution to anything short
of locomotive doin S. Once in a while
little furry of wind would come along,
and the fire would get few yards the
start but I'd brush upon her with my
chunk, and then we'd have it agin, nip
and tuck. You never seen such Il Tight
race-it was beautiful"
"Very, we've no doubt" calculated
one of the listeners, interrupting the
mad wag, just in season to give him
little breath +" but did you cook your
meat in the end
Not bad didn't. chased the Id
fire a mile and half the almightlest
hardest race you heard tell on, and nev.
er give it up until run plump into the
marsh there the fire and the CHUNK 0l
horse meat came out even-a dead heat
especially the meat.
but wasn't it cooked = put in an
other of the listeners.
Cooked--no Just crusted over a
little. You don't cook broken down
horse flesh very easy, no how, but when
it comes to chasing up Prairie fire with
chunk of it | don't know which is the
toughest, the meat or the job. lon'
have laughed to split yourself to have
seen me in that race--t0 see me sft
leave me at times. and then to see ms
brushing up on her again, humpln ant
. movin, myself as though | was runnln
agin some of those big ten mile an hou'
Gildersleeves in the old States. But n
going over to Jack Haynes to get a gu
cocktail and some breakiast--Ill SCI
you all down among the robbers on tn
Rio Grande."