New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-07-28

y
The halfbreed nodded sullenly, TO init
mate that he accepted the profered cOndi-
tons; and as-sOOn as my luggage had been
deposited in the wagon we drove of, John
placing his rife beside him on the front
seat.
That John had been drinking already was
tolerably obvious; not that his speech was
thick or his carriage unsteady. lntoxlca-
ton rarely manifests itself in this form IN
the Indian. But there was ludicrous as
sumption of dignity about the fel0w-char-
acteristie Of his race when drunk-which
al once revealed to me his condition.
have here to observe that the motives
which induce the white man and the Indian
to- drink are totally opposite IN character
The former drinks from good fellowship, OF
because be likes the liquor; with him, az
rule. intoxicatiOn is the accidental result OF
Over.indulgence. The Indian, on the con-
trary, drinks simply to get drunk; It Is put
a means to an end Hence the story OF the
Comanche brave, who, after lmblOIng as
many glasses Of well-watered whisky as MS
stomach would hold, went TO the seller, ana
in an aggrieved tone said: Me full up
and drunk no come yet y
The road, after running along the shore
for about three-auarters Of mile, branched
of. nearly at a right angle, into the woods;
AT the exniratiOn Of half an hour we came
10 a SPOT where it divides into two forks.
The halEbTeed, somewhat to my surprise,
for ] had an impression that Centrevllle lay
in the opposite direction, took the road to
the right Still l said nothing, knowing
that he must necessarily be better acquaint-
ed with the way than ] was.
Before long, however, ] became convinced
that we were going wrong. The road or,
rather lane we had entered upon seemed
but little Travelled, the grass growing in
many places in the wheel ruts, which, 1t was
scarcely credible to suppose could be the
case with a road traveTsed so frequently as
the one between Babylon and Centreville.
The forest, too, seemed to become denser
| and denser. Even at midday the sunlight
penetrates but feebly through the masses of
| foliage which crown the heads Of the tall
pine trees in these woods, and now, as the
| evening began to draw on, the darkness
was very perceptible.
| WAS half disposed to believe that John
was really more intoxicated than he ap-
peared to be- and that notwithstanding the
pToverbal sagacity of his race in such mat
tiers, he had taken the wrong road uncon-
sciOusly. / therefore decided to speak to
him without further delay. / said that it
was evident we were going IN the wrong
direction, and desired him to turn back at
once. The fellow eyinced not the slightest
disposition to comply with my request, but
continued to drive dOggedly OF, only reply
ing in a sulky tone: John on right path.
Know him well stranger don't.
The situation was becoming awkward.
That any individual having Indian blood
in his veins, could, under any circumstan-
ces, lose his way, was not easy Of belief to
one who had read COOper's Leather Stock
ing" tales, and who, at that time, was de-
won't believer in the fidelity of his descrip-
tiUns of the red man. Yet, that the half
breed had taken the wrong road, l was
pretty well certain. Was it not more likely,
then, that he had done so Intentionally; and
ifsO with what motive In an instant there
flashed across my memory the incident in
the boat already referred to. l remem
bered, too that when ! bad looked at my
watch that evening, as / was getting into
the wagon, there had come suddenly into
the half-breed's eyes the same fierce,
covetOus light / had noticed on the pre-.
vious occasion. Were his intentions evil,
what opportunity cOuld be more favorable
for their execution than the one which now
presented itself here, in the heart of the
forest, miles from any human habitatiOD,
the weapon, too, ready to his hand All
! there was the guestiOn-and my heart beat
| quicker as it suggested itself. Was the
| rifle charged or not If not, / would take
very good care to prevent his loading it.
But if it were2 Well, even then, being
on my guard, my chances were not alto
| gether desperate. 1t was true l was IN
| armed, my gun, the barrel unscrewed from
! the stock, being in mahogany box under
| the front seat. But / was, fdtter myself,
! a far stronger man than the half-breed
! and, bar firearms, l had but little appre-
! heusiOn as to the result Of the struggle be-
| tween US, if / once closed with him. His
! position, too, on the front seat, with his
| back toward me, gave me this advantage,
! thar, to attack me, he must turn himself
completely round and his doing SO would
| believe, afford me time TO place myself
on the defensive. i resolved, therefore,
! the very instant l saw his hand directed
! toward the rifle, or that he was guilty Of
! any overt act whatever, to grapLle with
| him, and, if possible, make myself master
! of the weapon.
In moments of peril or extremity, men
! think with extraordinary rapidity, and
! these reflections, and many others, passed
! through my mind in a few seconds.
! The half-breed still kept driving rapidly
! through the woods, and, as night was
! drawing on, resolved to wait no longer,
| but to precipitate the issue at once. /
! therefore peremptOTily ordered him to stop.
| determined to have recourse to force, if
! necessary to compel his compliance.
The fellow paid not the slightest attention
| TO me- but applied the lash iuriOusly to the
! horses back. We dashed along the road
for couple of hundred yards more, and
came suddenly to a large open space, at
Il. L
| was one evidently used for charcoal burn
! ing, for several acres Of timber had been cut
! down, and scattered here and there were
! piles of wood, arranged in the usual circular
! form, ready Tor firing. The road in fact
was a private One and only used at certain
| periods of the year by the owners of this
| portion OF the forest to convey the charcoal
/ and frewOOd to market.
As we drove into the clearing the half
bvaa1 ppippd in the horse shaTulV and he
fore / could guess his intentions, leaped
with extraordinary agility, rifle in hand
! out Of the wagon.
As | was preparing to follow him he
1 raised Lis gun and fired at my head. He
| was Just a second too late had | still been
| sitting erect at the back of the wagon, the
| ball must inevitably have passed through
my brain, but l had leaned slightly for
ward in the act Of jumping ont, and this
saved me. As it was, he aimed Just a hairs
too high and the bullet only grazed my
scalp, tearing up the skin and inticting a
wound which bled protusely, but was other
! wise rather painful than dangerous.
Believing myself, for the moment to be
! more seriously hurt than l really was, and
! rendered additionally savage by this very
! circumstance, l precipitated myself upon
! the half breed without moments pause
! He made blow at me with the dubbed
rife, but evaded it and closed with him.
! He proved to be much stronger than had
! anticipated, Judging from his height and
! build, but still no match for me, for at that
| period | was a man of more than average
! strength, and the Indian rarely possesses
! the muscle of the white man. In fact, con-
! sciOus of his inferiOrity in this respect, he
! invariably avoids, if possible, engaging in
| a hand-tO-hand encounter with him.
| The struggle for the possession of the
/ IL