The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1875-05-20

signal, there came a flash and a bang from
the other side of the clearing, and half a
dozen bullets came peppering in among
the trees. 1 felt something warm squirt
over my hands, and the Niger who stood
beside me fell all of a heap. Like light
ming I up piece and let fly, and 1 heard
somebody give a yell that sounded as if
that letter had gone to the right address,
and then, for a few minutes, it was Just
fash, flash bang, bang like q firework
Seth and I kept 'em in play while the
rest slid down one by one. And mighty
ugly work it was, too, I can tell you,
blazing away in the dark with nothing to
aim at, and hear the bullets come rafting
about you without ever seeing who sent
them. But the rope was soon clear, and
then Seth stuck up the dead niger
against a tree, with his gun across the
fork of it, that they might see the CLINT
of the barrel, and think we were still on
the watch. Then he slid down, and I
after him.
The first thing we did was to take the
gold out of the poor old nigger's pack,
and part it among us. The rest of the
things we threw away, as we had thrown
away tools long before for u only
chance now was to march as light as pos
sible), and then we set forward along the
| gully. For some time we could hear the
rascals banging away overhead, but that
died away by degrees, and there was a
silence as if the world had just been Gre
ated and no life come into it yet.
All that night we stumbled along the
bottom of the ravine like men cropping in
a tunnel, sitting down every now and
then to rest /; but when day came we
saw the rocks on each side getting lower
and lower, and the great black pit spread
ing out broader and shallower, till at last,
a little after sunrise, we came out into
the forest again. But just then the other
bigger sat down and put his hand to his
side.
"No can go farther, senior I"
ran up to him, and blest if he hadn't
got a big bullet-wound in his side from
last nights scrimmage, and the brave fel
low had actually dragged on all might
without saying a word about it, lest he
should keep us back! / sat down and
took his head on my knee, and he dice
as quietly as'a child ; and we covered
him with leaves and left him lying there
in the bright morning sunshine, and wen
forward on u weary tramp again.
1t was harder than ever for us now, fol
we had eight loads among six men, anG
already I could see one of the Spaniardi
beginning to stagger and the old Indian
trembling like a leaf. Then o horrible
kind of fear crept over me that we should
keep dropping that way, man after man,
till there was only one left !; and then
but at that thought I threw up my armi
and gave a sort of yell like a man start
ing up from a bad dream. But Seth
punched me in the ribs with his elbow,
and whispered.
"'Sh! don't brighten the rest"
And I set my teeth and choked i
down.
1t may have been an hour or two aftel
this-Iwas beginning to lose all coun.
of time now-that Seth, who had got
little ahead of the rest, suddenly SANG
out
"Hurrahl"
We all looked up.
"Here's somethin' civilized at last
by hoe-cakel" says he. "Guess we'y'
struck the right track without KNOWN it
Look here"
Just in front of us was a gully abou
forty feet deep, through which ran
small stream, and across it lay a bridge
not one of the rope bridges you see il
Lower Peru, but good solid wood-tw'
long beams from bank to bank, witt
cross-pieces dashed to them, just like tn
sleepers on a railway Then we al
shouted at once and stepped out to eros
it; but, all in a moment, the poor oil
Indian, who was one of the hindmost
lurched over the edge and went slal
down into the water, and the gold h
carried Just sunk him like a stone
Whether he'd got hurt in the fight, toe
or whether he was just tired and dizz
like the rest of us, I can't say-but dow
he went, and we never saw him more. S
now we were cut down to five, and ha
lost our guide into the bargain.
"That's a bad job" says Seth; "bu
never mind, boys-we must jest steer b
the light of natur' nov. Whar thar's
bridge like that thar oughter be q trai
somewhat"
Sure enough there was a trail, and W
tried to follow it, but we soon lost
again, and tramped on all day at hay
hazard, trying to steer by the sun.
Toward evening we halted to eat, an
then pushed on again hot foot; for this
was the last of our provisions.
just as the moon rose we came upon
gully with a bridge across it, and Their
we all stopped dead and looked at eac
other-a look I shall neve forget. ]
was the same bridge that we had crosse
twelve hours beforei
That minutes one of the things 1 neve
like to think of. There we were, lost i
a tropical forest, our guide gone, ever
man of us as weak as a child, and not
morsel of food leftl
"Wel, boys" says old Seth (who wa
our mainstay throughout, "we're in
kind of fix, thar amt no denYin' il
Naow, I calc'late this bridge amt bi
long built by the look of it, and so, il
stead O. goin' losin' ourselves quite
everybody's way, L guess we'll jest site
here till some party picks us up-it won
be long, I reckin. That's my idee; ho'
does it strike yew?"
We all agreed at once; and, indeed, W
were too far gone now for any NOR
marching. So we sat down there fc
three days, bearing it as well as we could
: and trying to shoot game between whites
But our eyes were too dim and our hand
:, too shaky for that; and the birds an
, monkeys scurried past, chattering an
screaming as If in mockery. And at La
,, we couldn't keep it off any longer, and
came.
The Spaniards died first, and no wol
der, poor fellows for though some
them are as brave men as ever stepped
they haven't the pith and fiber of q
Englishman. The Portuguese held OIL
/ longer, for he had the heart of a lion; b,
at last he went too, and old Seth and
were left alone.
"Seth," says I, "Iet's bury these poo
; fellows while we can; for if they're lie
} lying here, and our hunger gets wors
we might be driven to-you knowl"
So we wrapped the poor fellows in the
blankets, with a heavy stone in each, al
5 rOlle1 tban Ovar the adoa of tho rovir