Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-04-10

one ct us moved, or appenrea 10 n
least. I was almost startled into IN ex.
elamstion OF alarm .as,I snadenly - {
hand placed lightly On nv shoulder. q
ID some one vas feeling bis way IN tbs
darkness. ft was withdraw @ snd-
! denly as Il wss placed there. and moi
Knowing but that the next moment il
wouid De followed By The keen edge d
mufderods knife, noiselessIy moved
. tOOt or 50 from the seat bad oecu-
pied. 7 bad scarcely accomplished this
action when On Gath was uttered. aad
q The same tsnE ; 6ae ~ over iils
seat E nee 1eft. antiy We were all
upon cur feet, but maintained . breath
less silence. each waiting for some
movement Of the others; for IN the in
tense darkness nothing could be seen.
The brief moment thatthis silence lasted
appeared to me like an hour or more Of
time. Then noise was made BY some
one making q missfep in the room, and
instantly il was llghtened by the fash
ofaspistol, and the shrek ofthe woman
rose in q tone Of sgony upon the still
ness Of the night. Following the re-
port Of the pistol came that of another
50 suddenly that 1t almost appeared to
be the same. and body fell with duli
thud upon The earthern door ofthe room.
That one shrek Of the woman was all
she uttered-it was her last utterancs,
and she must have. died ere il had fully
passed her lips. As the light OF the
-
who had prosidentiaIly been facing the
spot where the, oath appeared to pro-
ceed from, with bis pistol extended TO
Gre upon the least noise IN that direc-
ton. saw The face Of the hslf-breed and
fred st him on the instant with q dead
ly and accurate aim. There was o
eommotion outside Of the house, and
the sound or running feet was heard
gradually dying away in the distance.
Still we dared not strike light. and
did not move Tor some time, until We
heard the mules renew their munching
sound as they began to eat again. Then
the guide spoke and struck light, and
the dead bodies OF the hslf-breed and
bis wife were lying where they iell.
She had large knife i'm her hand, end
u was her misstep o. she was returning
with il to where I had been seated that
caused her husband 20 FIRE, as he sup
posed, at me-. and killed her instead.
Evidently she had not noticed the po-
s,lsons each Of us had occupied when
the lights were exiinguished, and had
determined to use the knife for my des-
truction; and her husband not being
aware Of her intent, and having placed
hes hand Inadvertently on my shoulder,
supposed when she made the noise that
il proceeded from me- and fred in that
direction, intending to kill me. The
Apaches ,undoabtedly at this moment
were approaching the house intending
10 attack us in the dark, but The two
shots had led them TO suppose they
were discovered. and fearing they would
meet the like fate Of their companions
whom we killed ut first, they Hed from
the scene. II was their approach to-
ward the house that led the mules 10
stop eating, and when they ran OF and
were far enough away to be no longer
terror to the mules, the animals renew
ed their supper. II is . well-estabIish-
ed fact that the mules in that part Of
Mexico freduented by Apaches seem
to have a natural antipathy to them,
and can be cognizaat Of their proxImi-
ty. either by the sense OF smell or in
tuitively. when q man would have no
suspicion OF their being anywhere near
him. Our guide knew this, and he said
aS soon as the mules commenced eat
ing again he knew the Apaches bad va
mo<ed. II was 10 their keen sense of
the Apaches being close TO US at first
that saved our lives. Since then, 10
travelling through Mexico. if my mule
has pr,cked up bis ears and seemed shy
Of a group Of bushes, ] too have kept
away from them.-Saa FrGncisco Chroa-
iele. ....... ....-.- ...