St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-02-04
The Smoke Signal.

rEEILoI-s .InIRNEl AMONG. THE INDIANS.
Pedro chavez WAS i native of Ari>pr.
i'll sonora. and one of The best guides |
ever met upon the Mexican frontier.
He WAS wcll-rdurltcd. honest aud
brave. All the il lliracic> of Indian
wHIt;Ic he was familiar " it'll and knew
every foot of the country.
WAS on IL "trip with him from Sonora
to the Rio GIandr. just after We had
STATED from the station of the Butter
field Overland Mail Company. known
lis DRAGON Springs. III Southern Arizona.
he called my attention tea puff of LIGHT
blue smoke. II had risen suddenly
high in the an. in Il graceful column
from Il spur ui the thiIIc;lIui Noun
taInS. Remaining suspended ior Il mo
ment. il then. H. If 10y magic. melted
into the clear atmosphere leaving not Il
trace behind.
Nv hat does that mean. Pedro - in
quircd |.
''rhat'> the Apachc>' Nay of telling
their friends there aIc strangers on the
plains. When it, repeated two OF three
times, II Indicates, that the party is
large and wcll-armcd. 1t is THEN way
of tcleGraphlng. as N"u call il. replied
Pedro. These ApachcS are tin, smart
est, wickcdcSt and most cunning al all
the Indian tribes I've ever met and
I've never Vet seen Il white man that
Mas any match for EN-"
You don't exactly mean that. do Nou
Pcdr" ," inquired |.
''TlIHt's exactly what | mean" WIS
the answer "l"u Americans will
urNcl understand them. No one ever
>;iw Il white man give that attention to
the route he travels that an Apache
does. An Apache will carefully cN-
anime everything. Not IL lavimr. gully.
rock, bush. tree ol stump. large enough
to afford conccalment to an enemy. viii
escape his notice. while IL white man
will he satisfied with the most general
idea he can obtain " lille passing through
the country.
Nov we don't imagine there's an IN
dian within Il dozen miles of us, at least :;
but il wouldn't surprise M. if there WAS
one within as many Yards.
One within a> many yards of Us =
replied |, involumtliill. "WhN. where
could lac conc, al himself -
'That'S just it," answered Pedro.
.'lnn might pass within ten feet. and
never detect him. They'll conceal
themselves behind Il brown bush. OF Il
clump at cactus. or Il rock. 50 cunning
~ that not one man III fifty would de
tect him. Sometimes they will cover
themselves with grass. and lie upon the
ground for hours. waiting patiently for
Il party Ia pass, that they may ascertain
the number and quality of their arms
1--WE known one IL 50 adIoitlN cover
his gray blanket with dirt. that I've
passed within twelve feet. and. although
SAW him perfectly, supposed him t."
lac Il part of the granite houl,ler against
which he lay.
THAT smoke, continued he. point
my Ia the notwithstanding" column.
fIr To our right. lis for the purpose of
calling the bands together. and means
mischief, OF I'm mistaken. | SiIl'n't be
surprised If We have Il brush with 'cm
before Il great while. There is only six
at us. all told. and We must he prepared
tor them when they do come
Ihn> information WIS anything but
agreeable to me but il WAS imipnItaut
that ! should Ice AT Me>illa upon Il Ger
tain day. and ;I> II WIS necessary there
should hc as little delay aS possible if
would arrive on time. We must keep ori
our way.
We rode on very cauti"iI>ly therefore.
hut al such Il gait a> would bring us to
Apache Pass Through which our road
law before night. | am willing To adj
nit that had much less confidence, iu
our ability to successfully cope with
ANY band of Arachcs we might chance
Ia meet, than when we started in the
morning.
Al this time had been Il resident of
the territory bni Il few months. and al
Though had heard much of this terri
bile tribe, and had passed through r"r-
tons of their country tw" or three
times, | had never Yet seen one. Natu-
rally enough, had begun to think they
were not 81 dangerous dS they were rep
resented to he.
Pedtos information. however. had