Des Arc weekly citizen., 1868-05-16
From tas Chimney coruer.l
eS No'"t LIPAN JOE.
CHAPTER I.

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 All over the country, gathered oi beggarly reservations" or struggling through life as solitary individuals, ar, to be found the relics of once numer ous and powerful Indian tribes. Al the time of our story, there still finger ed, as now, few bands of the Lipans who once disputed large share of tht Texas hunting grounds with the O. manches, but the nation was already fast becoming scattered and weakened and must now soon disappear ever from the long memory of the pension list at the Indian Office. The planta. tions, on the Brazos we're attracting 6 good deal of attention, just then, and not few men of wealth were turning in that direction, as we'll as the usual drifting medley of idle fellows, and worse, who have ever been the curse of all the pioneer movements ih the Southwest.
 A train sihgularly composite ol good and bad, and containing some oi those with whom we have to do in this story, was already within three or four days travel of Fort Grundy, as we may call the long established "post" and trading station in the vicinity of which some of the new experiments in cotton growing were to be tried.
 The nucleus around which the mixed crowd had gathered was composed of a portion of the worldly goods of n gentleman, a planter, from Louisiana, named Murray, who was following in the wake of such of his household goods as were already supposed to be safe at the fort.
 He had several wagons, fairly we'll laden, number of good horses, his son Harry, his daughter Rosa, two ne- gro men and girb besides the hired teamsters of the train.
 They had been joined, with genuine prairie license, by a heterogeneous crowd of nearly score of rough fcl- lows, half-breeds, gamblers, and other reckless characters, who seemed to be guided further west quite as much by an instinct that they were not wanted in the older settlements as by anything else.
 These men were all more or less well ariied ahd MoNnted, and, as they were of ,inquestionablc fighting character, constituted very tolerablc guard to a train in moving through a somewhat unsettled section of country like that.
 Mir. Murray himself, tall, hand some, elderly gentleman, very fair type of his class, was bestowing some extra attention upon his teams, as the train was halted for the usual noon- day rest, Rosa Murray and her dusky handmaid were cheerily at work pre- pairing for the dinner which Pete and Cesar were cooking over quick firc of buffalo chips, and Harry, a curly headed, merry-eyed, but rather indo- lent specimen of young Southerner, stood at the further side of the little group of trees among which they had made their resting-place, in seemingly rather earnest conversation with man ofsome thirty summers, whose bronzed and striking countenance, no less than his buckskin habilimcnts, proclaimed him no stranger to the plains, though he was evidently neither trough" nor ruffian.
 "And so, Lanman," said Harry, "you say you think there is some ground for these reports of Indian difficulties ?"
 "Yes, and have been talking it over with Lipan Joe. He is always pretty well posted. No doubt, there are only some marauding bands, who will nev- CT venture near the fort, but they may give some trouble to parties of immi- grants," said the man in the buckskin suit.
 "Parties like our own?"
 "No, hardly that; we are too strong. Not that some of the fellows over yon- der are not as bad as the Comanches themselves, and your teamsters are g wretched set. l shall be glad, for your sake, to see you safe under the guns oi Fort Grundy."
 Harry gave an uneasy look at tho fair face and girlish form of his sister owning to himself a somewhat similar wish.
 "You are gentleman, Lanman, said he, '.and can understand that nei ther my father nor myself care to have anything in common with crew like that"
 "Ycs, my friend" was the reply "but you must be more careful. Nei ther you nor I are over and above pop ular in camp just at this time"
 "Ha! Here comes Lipan Joe tc speak for himself"
 As Harry said this, they were ap preached by not very tall, but broad shouldered, athletic, dark-visaged In dian, nearly ''half white" in his dress but evidently ofunmixed blood.
 What's up now, Lipan?" asked Lanman. "You look as if you had something to say"
 "No talk now" said the Indian "bimeby talk much. All wait. Thinl bad. No like him.
 "Comanches coming?"
 sMebbe SO. No talk now. KeeI both eye wide open"
 And with this not very intelligibl, warning, the iron-faced warrior stalk ed away.