San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1877-11-17


was discovered bearing down on the
fort from the direction of the mountain
range three miles away. As the word
went round, every man turned out to
catch sight of the animal about which
so much had been said. He came for
ward at q sweeping trot, head up, tail
streaming far behind, and his knee
action as perfect as il he had been train
ed on the course for years. He swerved
neither to the right nor left, and never
halted until he was within pistol shot OF
the crowd at the stOckade. ,, ..,....
The sentinel had not exaggerated in
his statements. The color was snow
white, and such strength and symmetry
no one had ever before seen in horse.
The ears were pointed, the eyes as
bright as stars, and the sun glistened on
his hide as if it had been vanished. For
two or three minutes not word was
spoken by any man, and the horse did
not move foot. Then a scout and
hunter, who had come into the fort
about half an hour before, said to the
commander: ~
"Why, that's the boss known among
us and the Injuns as white Devil"
I've seen him four or five times, and I've
heard of him at least once week for
the last five years. He's the ugliest,
slyest, and most treacherous beast
standing on four legs"
The scout related that the horse be-
fore them came to his notice about five
wears before, when the Indians made
several attempts to capture him. He
was singled out from the drove and pur-
sued for several days, and in despair Of
securing him, one of the red men sought
to kill him, so that no one else should
secure the prize. The horse was only
wounded by the bullet that was meant
to take his life. He at once separated
himself from the drove and followed
his former pursuers like shadow. He
dashed into their camps at night, at
tackled their ponies when he found them
grazing, and had on several occasions
attacked lone Indians and quickly kill
ed or disabled them.
"I'll give two hundred dollars to the
man who captures that horse for mel"
said the commander, as he noted every
fine point about the majestic animal.
"You might just as well offer ten
thousand" replied the scout. "That
ERE boss can pace, trot, and gallop, and
thar isn't wolf in the whole Sierra
Range which can smell of his heels. I'd
as quick take the job of cleaning out all
the reds in Arizona as of catchin' the
White Devil. See that fore foot 60 upP
See them ears lay backP He'll charge the
hull crowd in less than a minute!"
Before word of warning could be
spoken the horse made dash upon the
men, screaming out as a troop horse
does when badly wounded in battle.
The soldiers rushed for the gate. One
of the hindermost was a private
named O'Meary, scarcely up to the reg
ulation height, and run down by sick
ness until his weight did not exceed a
hundred pounds. The White Devil
seized him by the back, lifted him Oft
his feet by toss, and when the SOL
diers next looked O'Meary was being
borne away with the swiftness of the
wind. The horse had q firm grip of his
clothing and flesh, and keeping his
head well up he swept over the prairie
with the soldier held almost perpendic-
ularly before him. He was out of range
before any body could pick up a gun.
There was as many as fifteen horses at
the post, and in less than five minutes
as many men had mounted them and
were galloping away in pursuit.
White Devil and his victim had dis
appeared over swell about a mile
from the fort. As the horsemen reach
ed the crest they found the dead body of
their companion on the grass, bitten
and stamped and kneaded to bloody
mass. The horse stood facing them, 40
rods away, as if he had waited for them
to come up. As the remains were being
conveyed to the fort several hunters
came in, and in short time force of
20 mounted men left the gates to try and
effect the capture of the vicious animal.
The men had lassoes, hobbies and ropes,
and the instructions were to drive the
horse from the neighborhood if he could
not be captured. He stood on the ridge