The Van Buren press., 1870-11-01
MISCELLANY.
A Story of Colorado.

|
ing and drifting snow over the vas
plains Of Colorado. 1t had reached
point as Pole Creek Ranch, situated upol
the southern bank ofthe Platte river, per
haps forty or fifty miles from Fort Sedg
wick. When it halted darkness had Sc
in. The ranchman came out with hi
light, and the weary passengers wer
about to leave their cramped positions
when that terrible sound, the war hool
Of the Sioux, broke the stiffness of tn
nigh, and In an instant AFTER fifty dusk,
forms were dashing to and fro, brandish
ing their bloody tomahawk ks aud strikiu,
all who came In their way.
The coach had been crowded viii
passengers, about one halft whom wer
women. There we're also two infants il
the party. Fathers fought desperately
but they fell. although they sold thei
lives dearly. The guard appeared al
most invincible; but they did not lon(
survive. The ranchmen proved them
selves no towards; but they too wer'
soon numbered with the dead.
Then came the firing of the ranch, ,afte
barrels of whiskey had been brought out
and one Of those horrible scenes of rev
elry over the burning pile and over th'
scalped dead followed. For some tim,
after the coach had left Fort Sedgwicl
Station it had been closely followed by +,
team" consisting of common wagor
covered with canvas, which was drawr
by small pair Of mules, but as the road
became heavier with snow drifts, the
small animals could not keep pace with
the six fine stage horses, and SO they
were left alone in the background.
The wagon was occupied by three per
sons "a young man OF twenty five, wo-
man who could not have been more than
seventeen or eighteen ears of age, and
a young infant.
AS they found they could not keep
pace with the stage, the woman said, and
very impatiently, II am sorry we must
be left behind. We may lose our way.
or be attacked by the savages.
NO" replied the man, :" for although
we are both strangers in the country. we
couldn't have better guide than the tele
graph poles. And as for the Indians at
tacking US, they are great deal more
likely in my opinion to be on the. lookout
for the stage and attack it."
"How much further do we drive to.
day ?"
81 can't we'll tell. Bat from the dis
tance we had to travel at noon, should
say that 8 O'Clock in the evening ought
to bring US to Pole Creek.
And three days more. Win bring us to
my fathers house in Denvtf Good ola
man, weary Of hunting. he builds fine
dwelling in the city, says it is for his chill.
dren and sends for us. have not seen
him since ] was child, but am sure l
shall love him
1t was something like an hour after
darkness had set in that the lonely trav-
elers saw the air becoming red ahead OF
them. Brighter aud brighter grew the
light until they could actually see the
flames as they shot up in the snow filled
atmosphere. Then nearer approach re.
vealed the true state Of affairs, and to
save himself and family the young man
at once turned the heads Of his mules
over The bluffs, and away from the river
Then came weary ride OF two hours,
during which time close lookout was
kept for light. At length one was dis.
covered and, nearing it, the party found
themselves at the base of a steep bluff, OF
mountain, which, unlike the other por
tons of the country appeared to be thick
ly wooded.
Leaving his team, together with his
wife and child, almost entirely concealed
by the overhanging branches of tree,
he began his difficult ascent for the pur.
pose Of ascertaining what the light he
saw meant In q few minutes he was
within a few feet of the place. He was
satisfied the glimmer did not come from
a cabin and as near as he could calculate
it came from rocky cave.
Up to this time the young man fel,
sure that he had not made the least noise
for the snow was soft. Neither could
he well be seen, for the snow which GOV.
cred his entire person rendered him ol
the same coloras everything around him
And yet he heard dog growl and then
a voice say. Keep your distance, Ingcn
Pete an me is just as ready for scrim
mage as we was this afternoon. Keer
your distance."
II am not an Indian but benighted
traveller" returned the young man. 81
saw the light, and did not know but |,
proceeded from the FIRE in some white
settlers cabin"
81 knew Pete didn't smell Ingin, OF
he'd be making a bigger fuss than that
But wait, and I'll he thar, and soon show
you the way into my Sebasterpole.
In a moment the hunter stood by the
side Of the young man, and bending clos.
to his face he appeared to be satisfied
The dog had his smell and agreed with
his master that all was right. A few
words of explanation passed and the old
hunter exclaimed, "Oh! got wife an
baby, ehi" love 'em! we can,
leave ls, sas,h.r~ s% dow y: r fFe'''n' in this bit
And away he went down the hill al
such rapid rate that the traveller found
it impossible to keep pace with him
When he did arrive he found that his
mules had been fed with the remainder OF
the provender left in the wagon, and tina,
the old man was returning, carrying the
baby in his arms and conducting the wife
Tho warm fire was reached. IL was
Just outside small cave, and surround
ed by sharp broken rocks, which had evi
dently fallen from above. The travellers
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