St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1870-06-17

gentleman whose amuSemen: 1t was +
cry, "Wolf," I've lost all faith il
them but our little, halt-wild Pamp;
horses had truer instinct, and thei
warnings, given by stamping upon tn
ground, were not to be disregarded witt
safety.
81 can make out some objects movin!
about half n mile to the southwark,
said |, after long lookout on the plains
'They are mounted men, by ,Jove.. ~
exclaimed my companion; "and ridin:
hard this way too. Stand here will
your rifle, Alfred, while | slip cartridges
into the others. At that pace they vii
be here directly"
And so they were. Almost before Dick
had reached my side again, two ''Gua-
chOs,' their unusually swarthy faces liv-
id with fear, 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, rs soon is terror would al
low them, that three hundred Indians
were in hot pursuit, and would soon be
on the spot, and beSOught Us, for the love
of the Virgin, to give them shelter, as TO
ride out again into camp upon their toun-
dercd horses would be certain death.
Dick, rather to my surpriSe-tor did
not then know what distinguished iiars
the natives as a rule arc-calmly 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. senorcs, without lies,
ramos and a,iioS."
Upon this we learned, afer much
cross-que>tioning, that they had been
to buy horses (''To steal thc,n. more
likely" interiected Dick at the station
OF IA rich Spaniard. Don Ramon Garcia,
who lived about four leagues from us :;
and that when they reached the top of a
@entlc rise in the ground. and had "A view
of the house, they had seen, to their hor-
rOr and dismay. Il large body of the
dreaded Indians, who were alta cking-
for they heard shotS-Don Rlmons es-
tmcid.
'Whcreupon," said tine spokesman.
with teeth chattcring. 1--WE rode hard to
your abode, well knowing that the brave
EngIi>hman would not deliver u up.
Eut let Us mount your horses senores.
and ride for life. Soon they will he
here. and who can withstand the fierce
Lr,ro, -
If this be true" SAID Dick. turning
to me-"and / believe it l.. for these
cowar,llv >cuundrcls taccs are proof that
they have seen >ov1,hllig-thc sooner we
prepare TO tight the better. OF course they
were not attacking Ramon place; he has
fort strong enough 10 resist a thousand
OF them. and PLENTY of men and arms As
well. Most likely they made Il dash TO
carry Oft any one who might he >irolling
at q distance from the h-u>c, or 10 drive
off the horses; and it's equally likely
that we shall have them here soon. where
there's Il better chance for night at
tack In any event. we must be pre-
pared for them. Naturally. we can't
run away. and leave all we have in the
world to be destroyed, as these valiant
gentlemen propose.
The nativcs-both the late arrivals and
our own two men. who had often boast
ed ot what they meant To- do and had al
ready done in the way OF fighting Indians,
suddenly disappeared. We atterward
learned that they took refuge in corn
field in the rear of the house, where
they lay concealed until the fight was
over
Our preparations were very simple
a box OF cartridges was opened 0Or we
were provided with those ineStimable
peace and life prcscrvcrs, hrccch- loading
riilc-)1 and placed ready to hand, togcth-
cr with bottle OF whi-key and jar of
water; the door and window, our weak
est points, were secured rs strongly As
possible: and then shcltering our bodies
tehind parapct, we pcered cautiously
over. and strained our eyes to get the first
glimpse of the cnemy.
Nothing is 50 daunting as suspense TO
a young campaigner, and felt my heart
humping against my ribs with excite
ment, and Il sort OF nervous dread that |
should not play mans part in the
struggle we expected. But Dicks voice.
calm, low, and with slight drawl in it,
rcasSured me
"Now look here, Alfred, my boy" he
said; "lf we have to fight, keep cool,
and do as tell you. Reach your hand
over here-that's right like to feel
you grippe like that. Now remember to
aim steadily. as though you were winning
a cup i'll the rifle corps at home, and
don't show yourself more than you can
help for, though these beggars have on
y few muskets and pistols in the shape
OF firearms, they can shoot pretty straight
if you stand still enough for u long sight.
Their great point will be to force the door;
but we can stop that if you are steady
with your shots; and they can't fire the
bricks. Do you see anything ?''
"Ihere'S something dark on the ground
near the corral" | answered sit seems
nearer than it was
''An Indian sure enough. and the balls
going to commence" As he said this,
Dicks rifle rung out in the silence of the
night, and | saw splinter fly white in
the moonlight, about foot above the
dark object, which thereupon started up
with cry, and fled. Then we heard
the galloping of horses, and about one
hundred Indians rode in into view, and,
breaking into twos and thrces, circled
round US within shot-waving spears
and shouting as though the whole COM
pany OF fallen angels had met to lament
their change of circumstances chorally.
Don't shoot. This is all Il teint"
And my superior's warning came just in