The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-07-23


knew must be the Navidad. while
looking along the bank for a shallow.
place where the stream could he forled,
he heard the barking Of a dog. oi95flt
SAT first" he says, IL supposed that'it
might be some settlers dog, left behind
in the general flight; but L soon per-
ceived that it was coming nearer although
I was walking quite fast. 1a 1tt"*a 54o
81 then surmised that the dog was on
my track, and that probably there might
be some one following him. sg Coming
now to shoal water, I waded into the river
at place where it was not much above
my knees, and then hurried on as fast as
I could. ,f"'. - sga# 5saa a.sH503& sEa
After an hour or more, during which
Unjust have gone four or five miles, I
emerged from the timber upon the ed ge
of another prairie. 1s.ti ."Esu56@
.s.All this time the yelplng of the dog
had continued. The animal seemed to
have fully kept pace with me, and was
not now, / judge, more than half mile
behind. I felt sure that this persistence
in following me meant danger. :1a. -9a
II went out on the open prairie for
three or four hundred yards, then turned
short round and retraced my steps to the
edge of the timber. Here made a leap,
just as far as l could at one Jump, off to
the right of my trail, then runninn down
the edge of the timber for ten or fifteen
rods, I hid myself in the top ola tree
which had lately been blown down. I
posted myself so that could have a good
view of the prairie above me, and of my
recent trail. - -3'6.. -'.4.. 'H' a..
'The barking Of the dog quickly came
nearer, and soon yellow and white cur
appeared, followed by three Comanche
Indians, one Of whom held the dog back
by lash. They came out on my trail at
the precise point where I had left it. r.
zone Of the savages had a gun: the
other two had lances and bows. They
were walking fast, and went straight out
upon the prairie, following the trail l
had made, the dog now yeiping eagerly.
g, ''When they came to the place where I
had turned back, the dog stopped and be-
gan smelling about, as if at fault, The
brute seemed to wish to turn back. My
heart beat fast then, tor was wholly I'M
armed. =
But the savages, thinking that had
gone on, pulled the dog forward, and
continued on across the prairie. AS soon
as they were out of sight, rapidly made
tracks in another direction. But for this
trick I am very sure they would have
had my scalp.
For the next three or four days I wan
dered through a tract Of country where
there was but little that I could use for
food. At length. late one afternoon, I
came to a clearing, on the further side OF
which saw log house. After watching
while, l became satisfied that there
was no person in the house, and then I
ventured across the clearing to it.
The door stood open. 1 stole in and
searched eagerly for food, for was near
ly famished, and had grown so weak that
could hardly walk. But I could find
| nothing save few dried crumbs on the
cupboard shelves, and some unsavory old
beef bones. These crumbs I greedily de-
voured, and then knawed the beef bones.
There was bed in one corner, which
looked so inviting that I determined to
rest on it for that nj ght at least.
:*About midnight was startled by a
noise Of some sort. Listening, 1 found
that it was made by hogs grunting be.
meath the cabin floor. The shanty was
set up on blocks, two or three feet from
the ground, to keep out snakes. The
hogs had taken shelter under it. ~
At another deserted cabin where ou1
hero stopped to pass night he found {
large wolf-dog, which, like himself, ap
peared to be a refugee and a wanderer
The dog seemed overjoyed at meeting s
human being. The two at once joinec
their fortunes, and thenceforward Travelled
in company. --.f-- ,
Four or five days later they reached
the San Bernard river, which they crossed
by swimming, and then went to an aban
doned house to pass the ght- 49,: ~-
For supper that evening they had only
some dry corn, so, building fire, DIVA
set at work to parch the corn in the no
ashes. 49,.
"While thus busily occupied" he said
Ben-which was the name I had give1
my dog-uttered low growl, and look
ing up I saw the muzzle of gun poke6
slowly through the open window.
! ''In a moment it flashed to NV mint
that the smoke of my fire had attracted
the attention of some Struggling party O
the enemy, and saw that I was com
Pletely entrapped, for the only door O
the house was on the same side as tn,
window. ..o: r., .t -.
''Before had time to think what
would do the dog leaped through tn
window 49, .4:0, '-.nr -
''At the same time heard some on
utter a smothered shout, followed b.
some swearing in very plain English, am
I rushed out just in time to prevent til
dog from throttling an old friend of min
named Hardeman, who, with Capt. Dun
can and his company, were in pursuit Q
the flying Mexicans; for while had bee,
wandering in the wilderness the decisiv
battle of San Jacinto had been fought
and Santa Anna himself was a prisone
to our brave fellows. ,@~t. ~.
"Hardeman had seen my smoke an.
thought there might be Mexicans in tn
house. Ben would have seized him fail
! ly by the throat had it not been for
thick wooden comforter which he ha
mufned around his neck. - Youth's Com
p0niOn. u+ -,,.....- s..
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