Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-12-04
THE CoMANcHEs' TRAIL.
BY SAMUEL wooDwoRrH CozzENs.

"What is it, Jim?n inquired of our guide,
whom / saw suddenly pause Il short distance
in advance of me, and then dismount from
his horse, rs il Tor the purpose of more thor
oughly examining the ground.
Its fresh Comanche trail replied Jim,
made since sunrise, and headed toward the
river, too"
Riding up, dismounted, and, kneeling
upon the ground, closely examined the
tracks before me, while Jim continued, look
ing around him:
They're on the war.path, too. sure's
shootin' "
As l could discover nothing myself but the
tracks made by number of unshod horses
feet, which had apparently followed one an
other in single file over the prairie, leaving
n long, snuous, snake-likc trail behind them,
| said:
81 can certainly see the tracks plainly
enough but how do you know that they
were made since sunrise by party Of Com
anches who are OH the war-pathP"
"Yer sec them spears of grass" replied
Jim. oval, there was heavy dew last
night warn't there? Now, if them spears
of grass had been trod down aforo sunrise,
you'd a-lound little PARTICLES of sand a-cing-
in to UNI; but, yer see, they're rs clean rs a
whistle, which shows that they was made
after the dew dried off. As to their ben'
Comanches, the print Of this moccasin shows
that plain enough; an it's fair TO reckon
they're on the war-path, cause they haint
got their families with EN-
"But how do you know their families are
not with them?" interrupted l.
because there ant no signs of their lodge
poles. Yer see," explained Jim, "lnjuns
alus carry the ir ledge-poles when their iami-
lies travel with 'em; an as they fasten 'em
to the sides of their horses, the ends drag on
the ground, leavin' mark behind 'em; an
rs there ant no mark here, it's plain they're
travelin' without 'em, and that's n pretty
sar;in sign they're on the war-path."
'If such is the case, what had we better
do, Jlm?n inquired [.
"Do? Why, there ant but one thing to
do an that is to look out for 'em. they
surprise us now, ii will be our own fault"
replied jim.
Can you tell how many there are in the
party?" asked |.
There's ten or n dozen of EN-, anyway
responded the guide, curly.
"Then it's very evident we don't want to
encounter them, and had better keep out Of
their sight," said |.
BLESS your SOUL" responded Jim, edo you
suppose they ant seen usP Why, ten to one
they're lookin at us this very minute, and
know our movements as well rs we do our.
Selves
GLOW looking at us2 There isn't crea
ture OF any kind in sight except our own par.
ty," continued |, closely scanning the coun
try with my glasses,
"Wal, we can see nobody, that's sartin
hut for all that, you may depend upon il
they've seen us, for the Comanches never
travel without having some one on the
watch That's the reason Injun trails alwul
cross the highest ground, instead of follown
the valleys. Yer see this trail heads for that
high mesa there; and more'n rs likely a'
not, there's an lnjun lynn in the grass up
there, a-watchin' ev'ry movement we make
or, ut any rate, it's safe to calculate there
is"
Now, this was anything but pleasant news
for me, who had hoped to reach the Rio
Grande, whittier we were bound, without
meeting any Of the bands Of hostile Indians
with which Western Texas Mt that time
swarmed.
had been resident of Texas some years.
and had recently been induced by som,
newly-arrived friends from the East to en-
bari: with them in the enterprise of stocking
a rancho situated upon the head-waters Of
the Gaudaloupe River; and, for the purpose
of procuring the necessary animals to star
it, we had decided upon trip into Mexico
crossing the Rio Grande at or near Eagl
Pass.
We had procured the services of Jim Da
Wis, one of Ben McCullough's celebrates
band OF Texan rangers, to accompany us n
scout or guide. We had left San Antoni'
five DAYS before, and, at the time my stor.
opens, were crossing the country lying be
tween Fort Inge and the Rio Grande, still
four days journey distant.
Being tho only one of the party, except tn
guide, who had had any experience upon tn
plains, the Information just received wa
anything but pleasant, for felt a good doa
ofanxiety MS to what might ensue If w
were attacked,
The remainder Of our party, with the pack