San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-12-07
Another Frontiersman on the Trail.

Sanderson, gloomily, though he''
acted queerly for some time.
"What did he DOR asked one O.
the party. D. a..
"The first intimation we had of il
was finding stores secreted about the
house." continued Mr.. Sanderson.
He plugged up al the rat-holes with
lemons, and I'd find salt stuffed away
in my clean socks. l didn't pay much
attention to it at first, but when |
found the piano full of cheese and
tried to play the 'Maiden's Prayer
through a bushel of limburger and
hard tack, l demonstrated with him."
Did he. say anything?"
Yes, he did, He just Missed
through his teeth; Beware the 18th
of Julyr. But 1 didn't think anything
of it. That afternoon we found him
roasting himself at the stake down
cellar, and yelling: Back, We cowardly
fiends of redskins; P. Sanderson never
squeals!' We put him out with some
water and / forgot all about it. You
see, 1 thought it was only a boyish
freak, like when he used to imagine
himself a whaler he harpooned the
laundress once" ~. ~ .
'"What was your first intimation,
that he was going to fight indians?'
What originally excited my sus.
picions was seeing him eating baked
dog in the back yard. I thought there
might be something wrong and |
watched, and saw him scalp the seat
of hail. cloth chair. what are you
doing?' asked him. Get thee gone,
thou pale-faced father, said he,<I'm
the Horned Avenger of the Mononga-
hela! See me take to the bush with
the scalp of my enemy and he
crawled under the wood shed. "'.TfA
Didn't you do anything?" g,,s,
"Yes, 1 took the chair in the house.
I thought there was no use i'll wasting
it, because the frame was good. But
what struck me as the strangest thing
was when 1 caught him shaving the
servant girl. He had her tied to a
door-knob, and was crawling all
around the kitchen floor on his stom-
ach with a carving knife in his mouth,
watching his opportunity to cut the
bands. The meat was. burned to a
crisp, the tea-kettle was boiling over,
and the vegetables were hanging
over the side of apot to see why some
body didn't come and take 'em out.
Did he give you any explana-
tion?"i. .r E,.oi ,'@'l1
90, no; nothing satisfactory. [ I'M
tied the servant girl who was nearly
dead of fright, and he made lunge
at me with knife that nearly ham,
strung me. But l didn't take any
notice until 1 heard him muttering:
Beware of the basilisk eye Then [
turned on him and demanded an ex-
planation."
"Get it?" ,ad ''..,
mo. That was the strangest part
of it. He seized the girl and ran out
into the yard and up a stepladder to
the top of the fence. Then he drew
the ladder up and dropedit in the next
yard. 1 had to go around and get it
before 1 could take the girl down. l
told him supper was ready but he
waved his knife in the airand howled:
sThe Avenger is downed, but not bea-
ten! am on your track, shall GRIM
son the death of the morrow's day
that the pot wrestler of the pale face
shall grace the wigwam of the Pride
of the Prairie' I suppose that was
his other name. They generally have
two OF three. L didn't say much.
What's the use? He ran along the
fence and jumped into the alley.
Then he pointed gun through a
knothole in the fence and snapped the
lock at me until bedtime. That night
| took a stick from under his pillow
with 200 notches on it. [ guess they
represented the number of times he
killed me through the. fence"
when did he go?" I. ...
Thursday morning. He told some
boys that he was going all the way
by water, because it saved walking,
and 1 think he must have got row.
boat somewhere. He's got notion
that the Indians are somewhere III the
vicinity of Albany, and 1 reckon I'll
find him there. o, he's on the trail,
because he went to the grocer and
scared him out of a string of onions
told him to Put 'em up, thou slave of
law, OF, by your star, the Avenger of
the Monongahela viii mount his
trusty steed, and following thee to thy
mountain fasness, will slay thee
while thy faithless wife crawls at thy