The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1875-04-06

and were ready to start for Fort Brett. |
1t was now fully ten o'clock, and we cal
culated 10 reach the fort in couple of
hours. just then the captain said in
low voice:
Look at that bluff where we got the
antelopes"
"More game?' said l.
"Not the same Sort" he said, drily.
Looking 10 the direction indicated, I
saw eight or ten Indians, blazing in their
war-paint and tawdry ornaments. We
knew that the Comanches we're lurking
about the vicinity, and it was easy tor
the captain to make them out as belong
ing to that tribe through his pocket field
glass.
sTen to two is rather strong odds"
said my companion, "and we must make
up for it by taking the initiative and Grip
|pling the enemyto begin with" ."erasE
The squad of redskins had doubtless
seen the frightened herd of antelopes,
and shrewdly guessed that they were fly
ing from hunters. They found our trail
and had followed it to the brow of the
hill, where they now paused, sitting on
their ponies and looking toward the
wood which screened US. fara re
They were hesitating whether to come
boldly down,or to adopt some stratagem
to draw us out of the wood. They knew
our number as well as if they had seen
US. They could read our trail as easily
as We could an open book.
"Murrsy," said the captain, Eve must
disable two of those fellows, and that
will give them check. We must then
dash off and make the best headway we
can with this pack mule, turning when
necessary to give them another shot
You cover the big fellow on the extreme
right and I will take the one on the ex.
treme left, so we shan't waste two shots
on one red skin" -r'5 7- .anH) 4R
We both fired nearly simultaneously,
the captains man tumbling from his
horse, while the fellow at whom / had
aimed had his horse roll from under him
with bullet in his flank. a77sl hr
Zone Indian and one pony. Well,
Ethey cannot do anything without their
horses" said the captain, "though I'd
rather kill an Indian than a horse any
day. Your shot must have wounded the
big fellows leg,as they are binding it up
for him while they move along" .ca
The redskins picked up their fallen
,comrade and altogether disappeared out
Of our rirange, beyond the rising ground.
Now was our chance, land we dashed out
|of the wood with our faces turned to-
ward Fort4Brett, hurrying ou- horses to
as good time as we could induce The
I heavily loaded pack animal to make. OF
course, we knew that the Comanches
would soon be after US, and before we
had made mile toward the fort, we de-
scried seven OF the fellows pursuing US.
! One had been disabled, one killed, and a
third had been dispatched with these TO
seek their distant camp. Seven were left
to pursue US. Their plan was to cut us
off from the fort, that was plain enough,
but they feared to come within range of
our Spencers,as they had realized already
that we knew how to use them
There were but two of the Indians
armed with rifles, the rest had bows and
ws,the latter weapon however, within
certain range, was nearly as efficacious
The two rifemen now sent US their com.
pliments, but. though we heard the bull
let's whistle past US, no harm was done
The captain, being the best marksman
said he would face about and take sho,
at them,while hurried on with the pack
animal.
]. The moment they saw him turn, they
stopped their pursuit, but his aim wa:
quick. and followed instantly by the dis
charge Of his weapon. Another Of the
redskins was severely wounded, as W.
could see by the commotion among
Il them, and soon after the, captain hai
ljoined me we saw that the wounded In
dian was slowly making his way to tht
rear, but still mounted on his pony.
il There were six of them left The two
rifles were again discharged at us, ant
+ this time with more precision, as tb,
! blood flowed down my horses fore lee
from a slight flesh wound, not sufficient
however, to seriously annoy him. Thi.
time ! turned. and the captain hurried
/ on with the pack-horse.
| 1t is surprising how quickly one get
accustomed to the exigences Of frontie
life I felt as quiet and sure of my
aim, when / drew the trigger of my riff,
} at that moment, as / had when shooting
/ that fat buck few hours before, but a
} the same instant that / saw the redskil
whom had fred at fall from his horse
! ! felt sharp spasm in my left arm, ant
! knew that l also was hit -. -, -
".Only five leftp'' l remarked as
: fastened after the captain, and the In
dians stopped to look after their com
4 rade. s .r..r
| said nothing about my left arm, bu,
swinging my rife by the strap, took tn
r bride in, my right hand, and we hasten
ed forward. The best speed we coult
i get out of the loaded pack-horse was
, very ordinary trot, but yet we had don
pretty well thus far, and had got nearl,
, half way from the Little Blue to th
3 fort.
t The Indians began to realize tina
! they were playing a losing game, ant
we thought as they paused this time 81
: much longer than they had done before
] that we might possibly be rid Of them
E We were mistaken, for, maddened by
s their serious loss, the five rascals VIII
t were left made savage dash to hea
e us off from the course we were pursu
ing. eaau -, -; - =. aa.. .,...
, This means business" said the car
: tain; 1--WE must fight now, sure, and 8
Y close quarters, / think p - : -,
The Indian had shot last was on
D who carried rifle, but another had ts
g ken the weapon, and this fellow chos
the captains horse as larger and, sure
! mark, and put a ball through the an
n mails throat, which caused him to dro
r dead in few moments. Thrusting tb
n holster pistols in his belt, Capt. Greg
was forced to leave his favorite charge
l. lying upon the plain, and seizing tl
! paek-horse by the bit, he now devote
s himself to hurrying him forward viii
he walked by his side. >,
nj The Comanches were now drawing s