Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-09-17
A NARROW ESCAPE.

|
he had seen q grave, and asked whose it
! was 2
bah, boys, turn pale did !? There
are circumstances in the lives Of most
men who live ON the frontier, which, to
! have them recalled, will make them turn
! pale. And mentioning that grave and
asking whose it was, recalled fearful
event in my experience9 But as the
night is young yet / will tell you about
it; and perhaps it will be warning 10
you never to trust too much to stranger,
OR throw temptation in his way"
Thus spoke your humble servant some
months ago to party of prospectors, of
whom he was was one. The following
is the story to which alluded above
Several years ago | was out with a
party prospecting for silver high up on
the Gila river We had been sometime
without meeting with any success, and
were returning to Fort Yuma, disgusted
with the country. We had left the Pi-
mos village a days journey behind us,
when we fell in with man travelling the
same way that we were. He was with
out grub or blankets, and said he was
going to California As we had some
spare mules we told him that if he could
ride and pack saddle he could go with
us as far as Fort Yuma. None of us
| liked the looks of the fellow He had
such thoroughly yillainous expression.
But as he seemed so badly used up we
took pity on him, and made the offer
that we did He accepted without any
hesitation. We found him taciturn,
never speaking unless he was spoken to.
When we camped he would take the sad
die of his mule and go off by himself,
never helping to get the grub ready
and when it was ready he would come
and pitch in with the rest fus. However,
though we did not like him or his actions,
we said nothing, thinking he might have
some secret sorrow that we had no right
to pry into We had travelled about two
days, when what am about to tell you
occurred.
We had camped at noon, and as the
weather was warm, some one proposed
that we should take bath. ALI had felt
that it would be a deliciously cool amuse-
ment, bathing in the shade of the cotton
wood trees which hung over the banks of
the river We stripped instanter, and
were soon enjoying ourselves gloriously.
/ had belt round me with several twen-
ties in it, and took it off to give me free
play in the water. laid it down on my
clothes carelessly, never thinking of hid
ing it from any of the company, as they
all knew that had the money, and | had
no idea that the stranger would be tempted
to take it. As / came out of the water,
/ noticed the stranger looking very low
ingly at my belt, and thought no more
about it. That night, from some cause, |
could not sleep well, and when / would
fall into a state of unconsciousness, was
troubled with such wild-like dreams thatI
would rather | had remained broad
awake. At last, about midnight, went
to sleep soundly; how long | lay / do
not know, but / wakened suddenly TO
find some one kneeling over me, and
very carefully cutting my shirt open.
Now | always had the power-call it
presence of mind or anything else-of
comprehending in au instant all that is
going on around me, no matter from how
sound sleep | may be walked.
1t is anything but pleasant to wake
and find ones self in the power Of des-
perado who will have no hesitation in
plunging knife into your heart
felt myself in anything but an envia-
BILE situation, knowing that the slightest
indication on my part of being awake
would cause the villain to give me be-
tween the ribs the length Of his bowie or
the contents of his pistol For, although
| could not see his pistol, felt sure that
he had it handy. To secure my pistol
without letting him know that / was
awake, was very delicate operation,
and attempted to accomplish il in The
following manner: My pistol and bowie
knife were both under my saddle, which
/ used for a pillow. | threw up my right
arm. over my head, taking care not to
touch the robber, and yawned as if ] was
half awake, but ready with my left hand
to catch his arm in the event Of his at |
tempting to stab me / had my eyes |
partly shut, so that he could not easily |
see them glisten, but sufficiently open to
see his every move, which could easily |
do, as it was q clear starlight night On |
the instant that l moved, he raised his |
arm to strike, and | was nearly betray- |
ing to him my being awake by throwing |
ND my left hand, but some impulse pre-
vented me from doing it, and he held his |
knife supended to give the blow had |
made another move.
When threw my hand over my head, |
with the same movement placed it un-
der the saddle and on the butt Of my \
pistol. which was cooked ready for use. |
/ Law in that position for about half
minute, but il seemed like an hour By |
that time / had power over my breath