Des Arc weekly citizen., 1868-05-23

would be reasonably safe. If, how ever, an attempt should be made tc
 follow them into canon, the position was one which few determined men could hold against many times theiI number.
 With his sombre face, even glo0miei than usual, Lanman stood near the en- trance of the gorge, scanning the roll ing plain below him with a fieldglass which Harry Murray had found, on trial, to be one of unusual excellence.
 sThey are coming, Harry" shid he, laconically. as he lowered his glass. ''Let everything be put in readiness for a fight or a retreat"
 "Who are coming ?n asked Mir. Mur- ray.
 1 1.-The Comanches, this time, and not very large band. They have halted at the crossing to examine our trail. !"
 The horses, saddled and packed, were moved somewhat further up while the men of the party stood silently watching for the result of the search which their enemies were mak- ing.
 l The tactics of Lipan Joe had eviden- tly puzzled them. They could easily trace the trail into the water, and for some distance afterward; but where had it come out? They secured the banks on both sides, up and down, gesticulating savagely, and evidently not at all pleased by the loud and em- barrassing delay.
 After an hour or so wasted in this fruitlcss exploration, the Comanches seemed to have made up their minds, sagaciouosly, to something near the truth, and the whole band turned their faces upstream, though not riding very fast
 Already they were within an eighth of q mile of the ravine, when single warrior came up behind them. urging his jaded mustang to the utmost. and vociferating some piece of news that brought the whole band to halt
 Lanman could make pretty shrewd guess as to the probable cause ofthis fresh excitement; nor did he err much, for, as he surmised, the roughs were coming.
 Mounted on fresher, if not better horses than the somewhat weary mus tangs of the Comanches. the white cut throats would have caught up with them sooner or later, in any event, and the delay at the "branch' had hurried the catastrophe.
 In their blind rage and fear, they had pressed en upon the trail of the shod horses of Mr. Murray and his friends, taking little note how frequently it was crossed by the unshod tracks of the mustanges.
 Not that they would have minded that much, in any event, as they would have considered themselves a match for any ordinary 'horse-stealing party of any tribe.
 They had made blunder, however, as they found to their cost. S1he Comancbes well knew that fight must come, and prepared 10 meet it like veteran warriors.
 Keeping full half their force out of sight in the neighboring hollows and behind the thickets ofwillow and young cottonwood, they displayedjust enough of their warriors to tempt their foes into an immediate charge, and thus waited for vengeance. They were more than double the number ofthe desperadoes, but even then the fight was likely to be q fair one. Had their horses been in better condition, the Indians would doubtless have summed such a profitless trial of strength.
 The fugitives in the ravine, without themselves being seen, watched the exciting affair below them with breath less interest.
 "Whichever party wins," said Harry Murray, Git will be a good thing for us,as the victors will hardly be in con- dition for another fight right away"
 'Mueh kill, said Lipan Joe. Hope all git kill. Den we safe
 This charitable wish was hardly uttered before the foremost riders of the men from the camp came in view, and in little more time than it takes to tell it, the whole gang were made aware of the prospect before them, and prepared to rush in for what seemed the easy defeat or destruction Of the squad of redskins before them.
 True to their national tactics, the Comanches did not wait to stand a charge of white riilemen en masse, but broke in all directions, compelling their shouting and exulting pursuers to scatter after them.
 The result of this cunning manGuvre was, that as squad after squad of fresh warriors started from their ambuscade, the startled miscreants found them- selves compelled to stand, singly or in small parties, each against superior numbers.
 Had they kept together they could have made different kind of work, but as it was, man after man went down, though making desperate re- sistanee, that told fearfully on their dusky destroyers.
 The surprise had been very nearly complete, and the struggle was brief one. but. to inc consterlation of the