The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1867-11-23

/ Afier he trsnsaetion Of other busipees d
Assembly atioarasd till nsxs Monday ~ sn
ing, Nov. 25sh, al q O'clock.
Ilurn j. w. 0yEaACxKrs Rec. Ga
A Laughing Hero-.IncIdent Of n,
! Massacre Of Golraa.
~ We, find tho following sketch IN An Ok
number 81 he NeE Orleans LTD, ard ",
presume Il does cot owe all its interest q
the authors imaginat;on: 1t wAs the morn.
ing OF March i7ih, 1896, Aurora, the mothel
Of dews aud mistress Of golden clouds, came
as she a.snost ever comes 10 the living scenes
Of the plains Of Goliad-a thing Of beauty
queen Of the sky, on . throne Of burning
amber, robed In the crimson Of ire, with I
diamond Of purple, and streamers Of painted
pink. Oil il was glorious dawn for che
poet to sing Of earth, or the saint 10 pray %
heaven; but poets song nor saiRf's prayer
made the mstias Of the place and che hour
Alas no; it was very different sort Of
music.
A hundred hoarse drums roared The loud
reveilie that swoke -four hundred Texan pri-
soners and their guaFd-four tunes their
number Of Mcxlcan soidisrs--the elias ri the
Ohief Butchers grand army. -
The prisoners were immediately susnrnon-
ed to parade before the post, IN the main
street Of the village, and every eye sparkIed
with joyand every tongue uttered invoiuusary
acclamations of confidence.
Thanks, Santa Annal lie Is going 70 ex-
ecute the treaty We snall be shipped back
to the United Statesl We shall soc oar
friends once more u
Such were the feelings with which the
American volunteers, and the few Texans
among them, geseted the order to form into
line sA @
TIE fine was formed and ihsn broken into
two columns, wheueyery instrument Of music
in the Mexican host sounded . merry
march, and they moved away with q quick
step over the prairie toward the west
Five minutes Afterwards, singular dia-
logue occurred between the two leaders Of
the frcnt columns of tho prisoners.
Whist makes you walk 50 lame, Colonel
Neili Are Jon wounded f'' askei q tail,
handsome man, with blue eyes, and bravery
flashing forth ia all their beams.
"ColoneI Fannin, / walk lame TO keen
from being wounded do pom comprehend ~
replied the other, with laugh, aud such a |
laugh Is no words might describe--it was
30 loud, so luxurious, like the roar Of the |
breakers Of humor it vas, in short, . |
laugh OF the Utmost heart.
Z Lido not comprsAsaa Jou, Or srA, no
artist in riddles, re5oihad Fsnhin, smiling |
himsslfst the f2dIcross gaisey Of his com. |
panon so strangely iilsfiinkd.
"You discover that am lame i'm each |
leg" said Colonel Neil, flsr~;-s darn Mt the |
members Indicated, andlhimickiDg the move !
mehts Of a confirmed cripple, Is be laughed |
louder than ever. And yet" he added |
in whisper, lhaye neither the rheumatism
in my knees, NOR corns % ny tSeE. bafakassil
two big revolSers in M boots.',
That is violation Of the treaty by /
which we agreed to give up our arms" Col. |
Fannin mournfully suggested, |
"You will see, however. that I shah need |
them before the sun il an hour high replied
Neil "Ah fannin Jon do not know the |
treachery Of these base Mexieahs.
At an instant the sun rose in . sky OF ex.
traordinary brilliAncys and pillion OF aow-
er cups flung their rich odors abroad over
the green prairie, as 40 Offering % the LORD |
OF light, when the mandate of Mhalss was |
given by one OF Santa AnRa's aids, and two |
columns OF pfisoners were. broken ~ aad |
over the plain in small lhollcw
squares, encircied on every side BY Mexican |
infantry and troops on horse, with loaded |
and draHn swords. And then q /
pause, awful In it's sriliness, and /
disturbed only bY an Occasional ahriek o. |
terror, and Inc most timid among the cap |
tiVes realised the impending st9rm Of Gre |
and extinction Of LIES last hope.
And then the internal work Of wholesale |
murder was begun, and q scene ensusd such
as sfa1Hfly might De matched II. the very l
annals of 'neil Itself. The roar OF musketry
burst IN successive pesls1shsu rpfaitinx elHqe
o. in'rH'fsr, out could not utterly drown the
prayers of the living, the screams Of the
the dying!
Col. Fannin fell among the frst vie.,ms
ou. not 60 with the giant Neil. With the
oruer o. the Mexican officer 20 bis men 80 fire.
our nero stopped almost to the earth, 80 that
tne voliey passed entirely over him. He
wai'en not Tor second. Thrasting hand
int, ~ iIsg Of each boot, b. rose with . |
couple Of six shooters, the Aeadly reviewers,
ana commenced diseharging s6em wiin tue
quick rapidisy Of lightning into the thickest
of bis foes.
ra'ic stricken with surprise and fear. the
Mexicans recoiled add opened a passase
through which Neil bounded with the spring
o. panther and fed away, as IL wings had
oesh uea 10 his heels, whiilc half dozen
norsemen gave chase. H0ra while il seerned
uouotui ~snttner the giaas Colonel vouIo
"os distance even these, - much had the
peri, Q. The occasion increased the natural
elasticity OF bis mighty muscle. But presents
charger neeter than the rest might be dis
cerneo gaming on his human rival. and an
proached so near that the siragoon ra;sed -.
saore Tor coup de grace. Men became corr
scioos Of his danger, and hastily siackenea
nis speed, tall the hot steam OF smoke from
me horses nostEils appeared 10 uains,ls u;eA
ms very hair; and then wheeIikr ss..sas.,,.
NE Bird q round from . $780,. 80 ~
rlcer tumbled from his saddle r.. -
then Renewed his aieht ne s'ss''.
a mad yell q griefsnd rage x6roke Cam
tps Remaining tppers thep, ,,s'sss.,s.,n-
hte Of their coestade, and lis sfFsct 80 ~
mediasely evident 10 the augmdnfed cs :.
OF Aheir pursuit--for they gallbned sssrsssS
in one body, greatly retafdtng their nrosrsss
50 that Mel reached the river 49, 49,
LIE paused not momeuk hn. ,,,,nsss -. -.
long Dawn the steep bsnk 80 49, =. 49,.
and struck for the other skor. Tha S-.n
discharged their firearms ,neevsc..sI,-e
gave over the chase. she
In alcw minutes Neil th.a ,.na.a
soon - he felt satisfied that hs - n ~.
~ safe, burst INTO "a. ins.nppress;ve c a.
SION OF laughter, and excls,imed !. al Nm h,
ine, just to see how astsonished he vs,Ios
devils looked when haul "a NV rssnly.r IN.
Of my boots r.
n = l+f ~