The Western advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1872-1874, 1874-08-29

and at once saw that my COmanche
tactics would not do to rely upon here,
and all that would carry me through was
extreme watchfulness, and careful
avoidance of the chaparral as much as
was in my power. l also made up my
mind to 1g ght it out on that line if 7
should be Jumped" as the expression
for being attacked is rendered in 'front.'
icr parlance, for was convinced that to
! attempt retreat over such route as [
would be compelled to take would be
worse than folly.
Well the first day wore slowly away
and saw no signs Of Indians, either in
that or several succeeding ones. l did
not relax my vigilance, however, and as
my work was light and lasted only for
the daytime, and my evenings were soon
beguiled with quiet filtration that
sprung up between myself and a brown
haired farm-lass, who regarded me, from
the pcrilouss nature of my employment,
| as 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 l returned with my flock
at night, was l 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
my hands. l found my flock, too, was
| very watchful and very easily alarmed;
and l 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 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 day,
while lying thus listlessly beneath a
clump of manzanita, I did not get up
when my flock began to stir but allowed
them to gradually scatter in all direc-
tions over one of those little parks have
described. They did not seem inclined
to move in any particular direction but
just kept extending themselves on all
sides from 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 unaccountablc 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
direction, and so almost instantly
punching" the flock so completely that
one might have walked over their backs
with case. l was startled out of my rev.
erie by the pattcring 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 disturbed coyote
or jack-rabbit; but this time their fright
seemed more thorough than l 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 lay perfectly
quiet, listening and looking with senses
rendered doubly acute by the danger
which l almost fancicd I could detect in
the air. M position was very favorable
for screening my person, but unfor-
ptunatcly y gave the same opportunities to
any assailants might have.
All at once my heart jumped into my
mouth for single instant, and then my
nerves seemed changed into chilled steel
wires as l saw the coppcry, snakcy form
of an Apache, about forty yards distant,
slowly rise from a perfectly prone posi-.
tion to one on the hands and knees, and
peer glaringly about 1t was clear from his
manner that he was in doubt as to my
exact position, owing, I suppose, to the
| fact that invariably moved some dis
tancc from the spot where I was last Wis
ible whenever | lay down, in order to
prevent them from marking my cover,
and SO creeping easily upon me.
The savages body, through little
opening in the bushes, was completely
exposed to my aim while he remained
in his attitude of intense listening; and,
with scarce 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 arc recorded the
deeds done in the flesh here opened the
same, turned to the letter r, ran his eye
down it until he came to Reed, j. r., and
under the heading of "Good Deeds"
then and there credited me with having
made "good Indian" out of very bad
material.
But, great heavens! what 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 we'll 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 1
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 thickct where they
supposed l 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
tancc away and, thinking himself out of
reach of danger, stood boldly out, and in
short, sharp sentences seemed to be.di-
recting the movements of the rest, who
were now darting from covert to covert
| for the purpose of surrounding me. He
was about 800 yards distant, and I, 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 rapid aim and fired. He
broke short off in the midst of a COM
mand, leaped nearly his OVID height in