Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1872-08-15
BUEL WITH AN INDIAN.


Verdigree. The redskins had s;snt
us their nhtnatum. There sat their
envoy extraordinary, half naked. on
his NANCY steed. armed and equipped
for war, and erect and in,pertuFbable
as Bismarck. The MONDAY breeze
Just moved his trailing scalp-lock,
elae he might have passed for paint
ed statue. 'Herndon sat on a hewp
slab of oak, beating the "long roll"
with the fragments osia bfoks8 ian,
rod andilaughiaslys dbnnandadhs
to fall into line, Bgt ", had 70 tr!-
fling m&tter before us.
Early that morning we had spurred
our horses through the crystal tide of
the verdigree, clambered up the
western banks, and after exploring
one of the ,lloyelisst valleys thaet thE4e
ever charmed the eye Of man, had
each selected a prolific tract of land
and determined to settle there for
life. The forenoon had been passed
cutting timber for our cabins. But
the jealous Osages had re7ented our
summary proceedings and had dis.
patched us peremptory summons to
retire across the river, or pay the
penalty of our Noncompliance with
our lives.
Won't you just be kind enough
to ride out to that there mound there?''
said Ben, the black-moustached Mis-
sourian, to the vermilion-daubed saw
age, who partially understood Eng
ish. We want to talk. this here
thing over a little. And he pointed
to spot about thirty yards distant,
as though he expected his request to
beimmediately complied with. Wheel
ing his charger gracefully, the Indian
acceded without word.
Our whole civil and military force
had been mustered for the occasion.
There were six of us. We were all
young and vigorous: all had seen
service, and that Of the roughest kind
We held an impromptu council OF
war. :"
& What do you think we'd better
do, boys?" inquired Ben, noncha-
lantlv.
A silence ensued; each waited for
the other TO speak first. At las. Text
can ventured to express on opinion
What his true name was l never
learned. From "Texas, the frontier
lingo had metamorphosed his title
into " Texica ri" and by that anoma-
lous sobriquet we knew, respected
and called him.
I'm in for a fight, boys" said he.
= This here land cant be beat no.
waere; it's A Nc. l. And they amt
got any better right to it than we
have; and, besides that, they amt
give US a. decent insitation to leave.
It wouldn't look we'll for us travel
off on terms like these And with
q grating oath, he aworc he'd die in
inc boots before. he'd get out Of the
w.y of set Of greasy osages, He
Siol EN- anyhow, every chance lie
got. Three seasons preceding, the
Otmsnches had scalped his father Oh
The old Texas line and Drained his
sister with war club. We expected
him to talk in just this style.
"You ;ust settle the matter foi
yourselves, boys, whatever it's to be,
interposed the Missourian, yawning,
as though nothing more than an every
day dilemma mere deal in poker
WAS tn be decided.
I thought it prnden! to dodge the
responsibility, and followed his ex-
ample. '. I n g
It's all very we'll to talk about
fighting it out, remarked Cotton !;
land it's likely we've got as much
sand in QUE craws as any OF 'em, but
H-hat can SIX OF us do with three or
four hundred I don't like the way
they taRs myself bat, the game is
I'll in their own hands, and they
know it. l had all the fighting |
wanted in the war, shooting yoq
Texas fellows, and. don't want any
more of it, if 1 can help it.. We
might e. y our logs together and
hold our xn till morning; but it
would turn out an ugly scrape before
we got through with it. We haven't
got drop Of water, and we'd soon
run out of provisions, and they'd
dance over our bodies in forty-eight
hours. Il the rest Of you want to
fight, why, fight it is, but 1 think
we'd better go little slow
He was young, blue-eyed, aaxen-
haired Minnesotian, and the border
rufian, gave him credit for being as
cool as a wedge and sharper than
steel.
+ II tell you what I'm in for, !"
said Indiana. (We generally went
blythe name of our native States.)
eve ere all "vets" in this military
business, and we want to use little
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