The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-23
A DOUBLE ADVENTURE.
THE DANGERS OF TRAVEL ON THE
PLAINS OF sINALOA,
Reset by Apaches and In the Tolls Of
RObbers-A Night of Horror-Murder-
Gus Apaches and a Fair Would -be
AssasslB-A Lucky Escape
isan Francisco Chronicle. /


| thorny branches In half-careless and half
coquettish radiance, threw upon them such
| rich and gorgeous tints as they can only be-
| STOW at the last moments of their departing
glory. Far away before us stretched SEEM
| lngly interminable plain, which extended be-
yond the sunbeams into the gray twilight OF
| the distant east; and there, mistily portrayed
against the sky like vague and imperfect
dream, and apparently rs void of a firm foun-
datlon, the submits of the Sierra Madre rose
| towering heavenward. Here and there dense
masses OF foliage, deepening and darkening
into increasing depths of shade blended 50
almost imperceptibly with the outstretching
shawdows which they cast that it was difficult
TO tell where the reality ceased and the shadow
began. Myriads OF birds were Hocking from
the open portions OF the plain into the
| recesses OF the sombre foliage, and with noisy
and vociferous twitterings were uuarreIing
for the occupancy of their favorite roosting-
place upon some well-screened twig. There
| are times when silence will fall upon group
of travellers, quietly, steadily, calmly and
peaceably, like snowtlakes upon the ground,
without any apparent cause. The group that
shortly before were engaged In earnest con-
versation, and whose tones were persuasive
or vehement, as the case might be, and whose
hearty laughter at some unexpected sally of
wit or humorous narration rang out with q
| free and merry tone, will suddenly become
voiceess as statues and as silent as IL
stricken with dumbness. It was so with
our little group OF "Americanos," and one
Mapo Indian, who was acting in the double
capacity OF guide and servant, as we rode
over one of those broad plains which are SO
frequently found upon the coast line of Sina-
loa. We had felt the influence of the
INCREASING DARKNESS,
and as the gloom of evening fell upon us 1t
hushed us into q silence which was only dis
turbed by the tramp of our mules, the voices
of the birds and the hum of insect life. One
by one the stars shone out upon US, until the
arch above us was radiant with their myriad
scintillations. There had not been for several
leagues any token of human dwellers on our
route and 1t almost seemed as if our little
company were the only Inhabitants of the re-
gion we were traversing Suddenly, as we
passed by cluster Of low shrubs, our mules
pricked up their ears, and, evidently trembling
with fear, made an abrupt divergence from
the trail and broke into q quick run from
the bushes toward an open space. The
movement was so unexpected that it nearly
unseated me, but, as / struggled to regain my
position, thought saw In the dark shadows
of the bushes one or two men, and heard
their low-toned voices as they gave utter
ance to some expression in language that
did not comprehend. Deeming it best to
be ready for any emergency, as soon as / was
firmly seated In my saddle again drew one
of my revolvers and held 1t In readiness for
immediate use, Ii necessary. We. soon had
placed several yards of distance between us
and the bushes; 1t was then that our guide
placed his fingers upon his lips as a caution
TO be SILENT and with an expressive gesture
motioned ue to be on our guard. 1t was none
too soon, for at the same instant a sharp
whizzing sound passed through the air near
us, and from the noise made by some
object striking into the gravel a short
distance beyond, knew that an arrow, fail
ing Of hitting its mark, had struck the earth
instead of It's intended victim. Only one
word was spoken and that was in an almost
naudible whisper by the guide, who uttered
"Apache!' at the some time squirting his
mule into rapid rum We followed his ex-
ample, keeping out into the open plain, and
avoiding all clusters OF foliage. Looking back
upon our course, saw two or three savages
making a detour so as to come upon our
tracks some short distance ahead, and as one
of them, not aware that / had seen him. ran
across an open space from one cluster to
another OF the mesquite bushes, / drew bead
on him and fired. He tumbled so suddenly
that another Apache who was close behind
him fell over him, and as he tried to regain
his feet, second shot, this time from the
guide, dropped him also. At the same instant
AsHowER OF ARROWS
passed near US, one of them hitting one OF nv
companions in his shoulder, making ragged
hole In his coat and merely scratching the
skin. Fortunately for us the Indians were on
foot and although they were expert runners.
they dared not make free use of their speed
lest the fate that had befallen their two com
rades might also be theirs. After an hours
rapid ride we reached the adobe house of
half-breed Mexican, fellow with a most
| villainous expression OF countenance, and,
securing our mules in strong corral and
| giving them some feed we placed our bag
| gage In the house and prepared our supper
| aided by our host and his wife, young and
rather pretty female of about eighteen wears
| of age. Fearing an attack from the Indians
| the fire was eXtinguished as soon as our hastv
| meal was eaten, and we all sat silent in the
intense darkness. Not a sound was heard
| either without or within the house. except the
| cfunching of the food as it was eaten by the
mules. That sound soon ceased so suddenly
| that it almost appeared as if we could
| hear it break off into silence Not one
of us moved, or appeared to, at least
was almost startled into an exclamation of
| alarm as | suddenly felt hand placed lightly
on my shoulder, as if some one was feeling
| his way in the darkness 1t was withdrawn
as suddenly as it was placed there, and not
knowing but that the next moment it would
| be followed by the keen edge of murderous
| knife, noiseleSsly moved foot or so from
the seat had occupied. | had scarcely ac-
compl1Shed this action when an oath was ut
tered, and at the same time some one fell
over the seat had left. Instantly we were
| all upon our feet, but maintained a breathless
| silence, each awaiting for some movement Of
| the others; for in the intense darkness nothing
could be seen. The brief moment that this
silence lasted appeared to me like an hour or
| more OF time. Then a noise was made by
some one making misstep In the room, and
| instantly 1t was lighted by the flash of pis-
| toll and the shrek Of woman rose In tone
OF agony upon the stiffness of the night Fol
| lowing the report of the pistol came that Of
| another so suddenly that it almost appeared
| to be the same, and a body fell with dull
thud upon the earthen floor OF the room.
That one shrek of the woman was all she ut
tered-it was her last utterance, and she
must have died ere it had fully passed her
| lips. AS the light of
THE FIRST PIsToL-FLAsH
was seen. our guide who had providentially
been facing the spot where the oath appeared
| to proceed from, with his pistol extended 10
fire upon the first noise in that direction, saw
the face of the half breed, and fired at MIN on
the instant with deadly and accurate ann.