Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-10-16
A Wild Western Adventure.
San Francisco Golden Era.

their lives in their hands too often to
care for the danger they were exposed
to. Old Rip was a man who stood five
| feet eleven in his moccasins-a man
whom you would hardly care to meet
in the close tug of a desperate battle.
His hard brown face was scanned with
scars from bullet, knife. and claws of
wild beasts, and his muscular body
showed the marks of many a desperate
struggle. "Buckskin Sam" was the
beau ideal of mountaineer and plains
man, the western hunter that the
novelist paints and the school-boy
dreams of and wishes some day to be.
Although not SO powerful as Old Rip,
he was man Of great personal strength
and desperate courage. For many a
year these two had roamed the trap
ping grounds together, fighting Indians,
grizzlies, and wolves, chased by night
over the burning prairies, defending
their camp against the sudden attacks
of the red fiends, or spending reckless
" at the monte board the money they
had earned SO hardly on the trapping
ground.
They had been out all winter, and as
spring approached, the last cache was
covered, and the trappers now began to
think Of returning home. The camp
was built UP near the river, q tributary
of the Canadian, which flowed through
dismal canons in which the light of
dav never shows, under the shadow of
gigantic cliffs upon which human beings
never vet set foot, and only spreading
81, 10 no hoa
| had built his dam. The river was
broken by great rapids, and abounded
in rare fish, upon which they had
Toasted royalty for many a day. They
had q canoe and had been discussing
the chance of going down the stream
in order to save time.
81 am ready to take the chances, if
you are, Rip" said Sam.
Z" don't like to give myself away
said Rip. "What do you know about
the river after we get down to the big
canon, and who ever passed through
it?" ... ... ....
"Thats the fun of the thing, Rip.
We do what no one else dare dc" SAID
Sam.
81 don't like it," replied Ford, who
was by far the moro prudent of the
two. cha! what in Jehu is that 2
They seized their weapons, and ran ID
the door Of the hut, just in time to seq
dozen Indians running down through
the grass, blocking up the only way Of
escape. The moment the repeating
rifles began to play upon them, the!
went out of sight among the rocks, and
began their gradual approach, which
could only end in one way-the white
trappers would be overwhelmed!
"There's only one chance, Rip
cried Sam.
".And that?"
"The canoe"
ct am your man." cried the giant
trapper. You push the canoe into
the water and throw in the weapons
while / keep those fellows at bay. Oh
would you? Take that"
An Indian had raised his tufted head
to get a better shot at the trappers, but
before he could get back the unfailing
eyes of the trapper had looked through
the double sights and the rifle cracked.
The Indian sprung suddenly to his
feet, spun sharp around upon his heel
and fell dead In his tracks.
The next moment the canoe shot
from the bank and headed down
through the boiling flood, plunging in
the canon below so rapidly that the
Indians mad scarcely time to recover
from their amaZement at the sudden
exodus before the trappers were out of
sight. One of the Indians bounded to
his feet and uttered low signal Whoop
and two large canoes, containing IN all
about fifteen men, rounded the point in
the river above the canon and came
flying down under the strokes of the
paddles. The Indians on the shore
simply pointed down the stream, and
the canoes dashed by at a furious
speed, the wild yell of the paddlers an
nOuncing to the white men that they
were pursued. The first rapid passed
they entered long stretch of water
where the current was only four or five
miles an hour, and there the propelling
force in the other canoes began to tell,
and the Indians gained rapidly.
On each side of the canoe the canon
was a wall, 200 feet in height. and the
trappers could only put all their
foVlClISo- LII oAIO pdIlulCo d1lu udOIl Oh aS
fast as they could. Two miles further
and the pursuing canoes were scarcely
a hundred yards behind, the Indians
yelling like demons as they saw the
white men almost within their grasp.
Rip Ford shook his head as he looked
over his shoulder, when suddenly his
canoe was seized by a mighty force and
hurled downward, like bullet from
rifle. They had struck another rapid
more powerful than the first, the rocks
absolutely seemed to fly past them.
+. "This is something like it." cried the
daring Buckskin Sam. "How we do
move" .er .., .....,
II should say we did, old boy,n replied
Rip. II am only afraid we are moving
too fast" s4se La. .g
: =" Don't you believe it; those fell
lows seem to be standing STILL" said
Sam. ~. rasa
"They will get in the current in
a moment" gasped Rip. "Look at