Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-06-17
MISCELLANEOUS.
A NIGHT ATTACK.


~ A NIGHT ATTACK.
ANFtfPf - TFTEth
WAS still young man, scarcely more
tn9h Ooy, ID Iact, when / left England
" DecQme tne partner of my old school.
lnate, Dlck Merton, who had settled down
as Sheep-larEner in South America. Our
JIM anu Father modest capital was In
vested an league of land near Santa Fe.
on one Parana, bought "for a song" onae
count of some defect in the title also in
few sheep, having the lathy appearance.
and almost the speed, of greyhounds; and
lastly, in the materials Of our house. of
which, as we had ourselves been the ar
chltccts, builders and clerks of the work,
we were not little proud. 1t was built
OF sun BAKED bricks, and consisted of one
eoleraoiy large room, with fiat roof and
parape', accessible from the inside by
mearis of a ladder. Around it at about
th'fty yards distance, we had dug a deep
ury ditch, crossed by q drawbriHge, and
intended as protection against surprise
by our enterprising neigh6ors, the Indi-
ans. The latter dusky gentlemen had
hitherto behaved themselves very much as
such, and had confined their throat cut
ting propensities to certain stray sheen.
instead of gratifying them at the expense
OF the owners. But ugly tales were still
Iold OF their doings round about us-of
Whlte men taken while riding in sight of
nome, and tortured; of cattle driven off,
ana sneep speared in very wantonness of
miscnlef-which were not reassuring, and
wnlcn caused us to keep a particularly
snerp lookout, especially when, as now,
tie Indian moon (their favorite time of at.
tack) gave light enough TO point the way
to-plunder, but not to guide the aim of
the defenders. NJ
Dick Merton, changed indeed since the
days when his word was law among a se
lect circle of Pail Mall dandies, lounged
up TO where was standing. His cos.
tune was simple in the extreme, and con-
sisted merely of sufficiently aged pair
Oh leather unmentionables and red fan
mel shir-tbe whole being surmounted
ana renewed by very long black beard,
ana very short but equally black pipe /;
put through rough attire and surround.
ings, the indetnable ,je ne snis q,Iot of gen.
u.ity was as clearly recognizable as when
he was sowing his rather extensive crop
OF wild oats upon home soil, and before
that memorable Derby which induced
him, after settling with duns of every
description, to embark himself and the
leavlngs OF his property, and dwell among
sheep and savages, until he could return
with fresh grist to carry on the civilized
Mill.
Can you see anything stirring in the
csmpT said he, as he came up. "Those
horses are making a confounded row in
the corral. l saw johnson the Yankee
TINS morning, and he said that Indians
had crossed the river and he guessed we'd
better keep our wits well lied, that the
dusky syarmin didn't look in when we
warnt.ready for visitors"
Now, horses were our surest safeguard
against surprise. Dogs we had too, but
ihey reused rs up so frequently by bark
ing al notaing more formidable than a
stray ueer or fox that-reminded of the
gentleman whose amusement it was to
cryy, Wolfr-we lost all faith in them !;
outlOur little half. wild Pampa horses had
a truer instinct, and their warnings, given
by stamping upon the ground, were not
to be disregarded with safety.
"l can make out some objects moving
about half mile to the southwark" said
!, after long look out on the plains.
They are mounted men by Jove |" ex-
claimed my companion; "and riding hard
this way, too. Stand here with your rifle,
Alfred, while slip cartridges into the
Others. At that pace they will be here
directly"
And so they were. Almost before Dick
had reached my side again, two "Gua-
chos," their usually swarthy faces livid
withfear, sprung from their horses, which,
covered with blood, sweat, and foam
showed how sharp had been the ride, and
rushed over the draw. bridge. They told
us as soon as terror would allow them,
that three hundred Indians were in hot pur-
ha ha md
besought us, for the love of the Virgin, to
give them shelter, as to ride out again
into the camp upon their foundered
horses would be certain death.
Dick, rather to my surprise for l did
not then know what distinguished liars
the natives as rule are-ealmly lit his
pipe, and then ordered our visitors, in
a somewhat doubtful Spanish idiom, to
make themselves scarce"
:" Unless" he said, politely, "you can
tell plain tale, senores, without lies,
UanOS and ddi0S."
Upon this we learned, after much cross
questioning, that they had been to buy
horses C"To steal them, more likely" inter
jected Dick) at the station of rich
Spsniard, Don Ramon Garcia, who lived
about four leagues from US; and that
when they reached the top OF gentle
rise in the ground, and had view of the
house, they had seen, to their horror and
dismay, a large body of the dreaded In
dams who were attacking-for they heard
shots-Don Ramon's estdnciG.
Whereupon," said the spokesman,
with teeth chattering, eve rode hard to
your abode, well knowing that the brave
Englishmen would not deliver US up. But
let us mount your fleetest horses, senoIes,
nd do for ho har
and who can Withstand theIierce braV0s :"
"If this be true" said Dick, turning to
me-" and believe it is, for these coward
ly scOundrels' faces are proof that they
have seen S0nething-the sooner we pre-
pare to fight the better. OF course they
were not attacking Ramon's place; he has
fort strong enough to resist thousand
of them, and plenty of~men and arms as
well, Most likely they made a dash to
carry off any one who might be strolling
at distance from the house, or to drive
OIL the horses and it's equally likely that
we shall have them here soon, where
theres better chance for night attack.
In any event, we must be prepared for
them. Naturally, we can't run away, and
leave all we have in the world to be de-
stroyed, as those valiant gentlemen
propose"
The natives-both the late arrivals and
our own two men, who had often boasted
of what they meant to do and had already
done in the way of fighting Indians sud
denly disappeared. We afterward learned
that they took refuge in corn.feld in
the rear of the house, where they lay CON
cealed until the fight was over.
Our preparations were very simple-a
box of cartridges was open (for we were
ls.I . u