Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-09-10

the perileus nature Of my employment,
| as a kind of hero. | became almost con-
| tented with the situation. At no mo-
ment of the day, after getting out of
sight and hearing of the ranches in the
! morning until | returned with my flock
! at night. was | free from the dangers of
an attack. and so there was always suffi-
/ cient excitement about my work to pre-
vent the time dragging very heavily on
nv hands. I found my flock, TOO, was
very watchful and very easily alarmed
! and | watched their movements very
/ closely. During the heat of the day they
would collect in the shade of the little
clumps of jumpers and lie quietly for
! some time, At these times [ was also in
/ the habit of picking a spot where could
not easily be surprised, and quietly
| amusing myself while resting with build.
! ing castles in the air and writing execra-
! BILE sonnets in my diary. One dav.
while living thus Istlessly beneath q
/ clumD of manZanita, [ did not get ND
1 when nv flock began to stir but allowed
J them TO gradually scatter in all direc-
I tons over one of those little parks have
described. They did not seem inclined
to move in any particular direction but
! lust kept extending themselves on all
! sides from a common center until they
occupied an extent of perhaps FIVE acres
! of ground. Suddenly some of the num-
! Der took fright at something. and with
that unaccountable CELEBRITY common
! TO herds or drOves communicated
( their fears to the rest of the flock. and
/ in an instant the whole mass that had
! been feeding so quietly moment before
( were rushing at the top of their speed
! toward the center, each one wheeling
/ sharp about and running in an opposite
! direction, and so almost instantly
1 : bunching' the flock so completely that
one might have walked over their backs
/ with ease / was startled out Of nv rev
erie By the pattering whir-r-r Of their
! rushing feet, and saw instantly that
/ something unusual had caused their
fright. Often such punching was caused
by the vamosing of a disturbed COYOTE
! OF iack-rabbit; but this time their fright
! seemed more thorough than | had ever
before observed, each one striving TO
penetrate the flock so as to gain the pro
] lection Of his comrades. Ibid not change
my position in the least, but Law perfectly
! quiet, listening and looking with senses
rendered doubly acute by the danger
! which | almost fancied / could detect i'm
the air. My position was very favorable
! for screening my person, but unfor-
tunately gave the same opportunities to
any assailants | might have
All at once my heart jumped into nv
mouth for a single instant, and then nv
nerves seemed changed into chilled steel
wires as | saw the cOppery, snakey form
| of an Apache, about forty yards distant,
slowly rise from perfectly prone posi-
| ton to one on the hands and knees, and
! peer glaringly about. 1t was clear from his
manner that he was in doubt as to nv
exact position, owing, | suppose, to the
| fact that invariably moved some dis
! lance from the spot where l was last Wis
| IDLE whenever l lay down, in order to
prevent them from marking my cover,
and so creeping easily upon me-
Tie savage's body, through a little
opening in the bushes, was completely
| exposed to my aim while he remained
in his attitude of intense listening; and,
with scarce q movement, | laid the barrel
Of the rifle in the palm of my left hand,
and, with the elbow on the ground as a
rest took deliberate aim and drew the
| trigger. He fell heavily forward at the
sharp report which followed; and I am
certain that the angel who keeps the
great book wherein are recorded the
deeds done in the flesh here opened the
same, turned to the letter r, ran his eve
| down it until he came to Reed, J. r., and
under the heading of Good Deeds"
then and there credited me with having
made a good Indian" out of very bad
material
But, great heavens! what a change was
wrought in that hitherto quiet scene by
the sharp report Of my rifle as it rang
out on the still air! Instantly twenty.
five or thirty red devils arose from as
many hiding-places and gave such a
| hideous yell that the demons of the infer
| nal regions might well have taken les
son in their art from it. They evidently
supposed that one of their number had
! discovered me and had fired the shot.
But their yells suddenly ceased as |
| sprang from my own cover, rifle in hand,
| IN order to get correct idea of the stu
/ alton, just where my enemies were and
what | ought to do | saw that the band
! had surrounded the thicket where they
I supposed / was, but which proved
! to be the wrong one, and that the
| brave had slain was probably
! the only one who had crawled into
! dangerous proximity to me. They
/ quickly discovered their error, and their
! appalling yells at once ceased, while each
/ one darted to a cover like so many fright
ened partridges. One alone remained
/ exposed. He was evidently the chief of
| the band, and had remained at some dis
lance away and, thinking himself out OF
reach OF danger, stood boldly out, and in
! short sharp sentences seemed to be oil
rectlng the movements Of the rest, who
| were now darling from covert to covert
Tor the purpose Of surrounding me. lie
! was about 800 yards distant, and l, who
! knew myself, with my trained Henry, to
| be able to shoot into the size Of hat
! crown all day at that distance, almost
/ chuckled as | recognized how thoroughly
/ he was deceiving himself Raising my
/ rifle took a rapid aim and fired. He
/ broke short off in the midst Of a com
i mand, leaped nearly his OVID height in
/ the ali, and fell Instantly every Indian
! Of the rest of the band arose, and, with
/ terrible howl, poured in upon me their
I fire.
felt a sharp sting in my left shoulder
as returned the fire before they could
! again get concealed and made up my
] mind that l must 90 into a more shell
4 tered spot, as l would soon fall. Taking
/ advantage Of their momentary dlstraC
4 ton at the loss of their chief, l lodged
under the cover of the bushes, and then
ran swiftly at right angles to my assail-
ants toward a bare peak at some little
/ distance, whose rocky top would afford
/ me kind of forti6cation. They
! OWNED that | had fed very
/ quickly, but were deceived as to
my course of flight, and it was not until
/ was halfway to my intended. position
that they discovered the point for which