The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-08-28

/ 1t was apparent from the first that the
characteristics that had made Davis Il
conspicuous character in academieal
/ days had not forsaken him as he had
/ grown, older. He began leaning from
I the moment he came into camp. After
lfutile attempts upon myself, lie trans
feIred his weight 70 a man from Ken
ltuckvLa administrative, devil-may-care
I fellow. who was his opposite in every
respect. The first days drive, too,. re-
vealed the fact that, whatever may. have
been his capabilities as q district school
teacher, they did not assist him in the
| driving of mules. More than once he
I'iirolved the leaders in q hopeless tangle
with the wheel animals, and his COM
plications with the harness were a pa
thetic mixture of helplessness and ig1io-
rance. As to his helpleSsnesS, it was
unique and, complete in its way He
seemed utterly Incapable of doing any
tliiflg without advice and assistance.
I lit is, perhaps, needless to say that
I these characteristics, however original
and amusing in themselves, were not
such as to elevate their pOssessoF,,in the
esteem of the party. In less than q week
from the day of the departure the man
I from Kentucky had warned Davis not
to come near him again at the risk of
being crippled for life. % At the end Of a
fortnight, | grieve to say, The had been
Kicked by AN irasdble member of the
party, and the propriety-of DESERVING
| him on the plains. was seriously DISCUSS
] ed. Hardly a man spoke TO him, and
! he seemed very pariah in the camp. /,
: After we had been three weeks out
/ there were not wanting signs of the
proximity def hostile SiedX!i lSiSnal
/ smokes were seen in the evening, and
I small clouds. Of dust lOwldewn upon the
! horizon indicated the presence of, scout
ing bands. In the mid-afternQPn OF a
sunny Sunday as we were slowly. as
cending a loW ridge in the prairie, the
. advance SCOTT came galloping in with a
bal through his arm, and a moment
later a Yelling band of Sioux began to
circle about the, trains To dismQunt and
tforih the three Wagons into q triangular
Nbatricade swasthe Workof but a few
minutes. Most of the men knew their
danger and how to meet it. The Sioux
Z were in large force, and narrowed their
circles i'm the asSllFaite y of an ease victo-
~. Their bullets began dropping in ai-
pmost Immediately, 70 Ia three minutes
after the ball opened several of the ami
! mails had been Killed, and johnson, our
leader, lay under a wagon with a bullet
! through his head.
/ As SAID, all the party Were heavily
armed But Il should have excepted
Davis, who not onlywas rImmamed,e but
! from his general character, was deemed
I quite capable of groveling in the. dust at
such time. In the hurry of the mo-
ment he had been lost Sight of, and now,
when he slipped forward 70 possess HIM
self of the dead mans grn, the man
from Kentucky told him with'an oath to
/ drop il. -Or give it to some one who would
use it, DAYS. did not drop it, however,
but took his station at the rear end OF
Zone of the wagons. In moment more
the spirally decreasing circle of savages
broke suddenly and swept in a wild
charge toward the train. And as we
turned toward the point of attack to see
two of the advancing warriors drop to
the quick report of DaviS's rifle, | think
surprise and establishment would have
rendered us incapable of resistance, had
not the Indians sweryed from their
course and began circling again, rs they
did.
But the man who had turned the at
tack never stirred from his post. His
slouching aspect seemed somehow to be
shaken off, as he stood there erect and
tfirm as rock. His infirm under lip
closed up like a steel-trap into. a hard,
! decided look. The man from Kentucky
! looked at him a moment, and went back
to his post with a p1uttered; =" Well, I'll
be BANKED! '"7 The guide, tying his
wounded arm in a Sling, said he'd
'sGive it up."' The wholeparty breath
ed freer. t,.a e,sH g....y YM al
But the whistling of bullets and the
yells of the Sioux continued. In short
time the canvas tops of the wagons look
ed ike gigantic sleeves. The circles of
! the savages widened only to contract
again. Whenever a reckless brave APP
preached within fair range, the Sharp
crack of the Winchester from the rear of
/ the wagon sent ball into his painted
body There was no random firing from
that rifle; every shot brought its man.
The repeated charges of the Sioux grew
! less frequent from the fact of the loss Of
! two or three of their number under the
deadly aim of those pale blue eyes. 1t
was after the fifth or xth-tharge of this
/ kind that the man from Kentucky eX-
pressed the unanimous sentiment of the
7 party when be said:I h.t..s %,
'"Hadn't yer better get farther under
/ cover, DaTis?. Its purity open thar.
But Davis shook his head without chang
ing position feU 81 O 10 l,., O..
The evening wore slowly away. The
minutes went by to an accompaniment
/ of shot and veil. Some OF the animals
were lying dead beside the wagons. The
spokeS of the wheels and the beds of 1.-The
vehicles were riddleda and splintered
with bullets, p Charge after charge had
! been repulsed. Three men were lying
badly wounded inside the triangle. The
victiins of the deadly Winchester formed
! a stfaggliHg line almost from its muzzle
, to the circle of discomfited but not de-
feated Sioux beyend.f Its ownetihad
hardly spoken Il word in all the time,
but had stood there like, II statute of
Fate. Night came on, and a low moon
wrapped the landscape in dusky crayons.
The savages retained ! their circular
guard, prepared to renew the attack on
the morrow. Shadowy forms crept
warily through the tall grass and drag
sed away the .dead1I Thc, wounded be
gan to plead piteQusly5 for water, and
there was none to give. ILL ..,t
Itwas mt a call of this Kind from the
man who had kicked him from his place
at the campfire "a few days previous
that Davis left hisPest'to come forward
and ask II no Mafel, was to be had He