Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1883-09-05

1t is morning ON the prairie.


: tain range; to the north shadOwy lint
which may mean hills or timber; to the
west and south broad, level ocean o.
green grass which has no limit. II
seems as level as floor to the eye, but
it is cut up with dry ravines and bitches
, and there are sharp ridges and dips and
sunken spots.
The sun is warm, the air still, and
every blade of grass is loaded with dia
mond dew-dropS. There is no bird t.
chirp, and no crickets to call out, but
there is 10 feeling of loneliness. One
who faces that morning sun and feels
the vastness of the prairie is lost in quiet
amazement. There is an awe upon
him akin to that which man feels when
he sees the ocean lashed to mighty fury.
The one is an exhibition of Divine anger
the other of Divine peace.
See. A rough-clad, full-bearded man,
of iron muscle and fearless courage,
suddenly rises from a hollow, tosSes
aside his blanket, and slowly turns his
head in every direction to scan the
green grass sea. At the same moment
his horse emerges from dip which has
heretofore sheltered him, and, with a
whinny of recognition and pleasure,
advances straight upon his master.
Alonei Man and horse are the only
living creatures in sight. They are as
much lost to the world as two grains of
sand washing to and fro in the Atlantic.
The masters hand steals up until it
rests upon the horses neck, and the faith
full animal crowds bit nearer, Both
are awed by the broad expanse. The
mighty grandeur of Nature steals in
upon the mans soul, and it seems to
pass like an electric current to the horse.
He raises his head. His nostrils ex-
pand. His eyes grow clearer and larger.
! Surely he must see the picture spread
cut before him there, and something of
its beauty must be felt.
See that. The mans hand goes up to
his eyes. He is looking straight to the
west. He stands like q rock, and his
eyes are as keen as an eagles. The
horse is looking in the same direction,
ears pricked forward, lips quivering and
every muscle in his legs frightened up as
if for race. What is it? A fulter on
the surface of the prairie caught the
mans eye for an instant and then dis
appeared. 1t was two miles away. 1t
was only trifle; but on that trifle de-
pendS his life. A shipwrecked sailor
catches his breath at sight of every
white cloud creeping above the water
line. The hunter on the prairie feels
his heart pound at the fiutter of a
birds wIng-the bark of coyote-the
hOot of an Owl-at sight of a hOof-print
or a broken bush. These may mean
nothing, or they may mean an ambush
"a race for life-capture and torture
"Yi! ii! yi.''
The level seeming prairie is broken
two miles away by dry ravine deeper
than mans height. This curves and
bends and leads on for miles. Scramb-
ling out of its depths, and each one
sounding his war-whoop as he mounts
his pony, are a score of Indians.
For two days the hunter has swept the
horizon in vain. He was alone on the
great ocean. Night had been tranquil
and full of sonnd sleep. Here, now,
rising like specters from the earth be-
| fore him, is band of bloOd-thirsty de-
mons raving for his life. The sight
stuns him for a few seconds. Then,
with a growi of chagrin and defiance,
he filings the saddle upon his horse,
picks up his rifle, and while yet the In
dians area mile and half away, he
mounts and heads for the east.
A race for life has begun.
| The hunters horse strikes into long,
steady gallop, which would keep him
alongside of train of cars. There is a
chorus of yells from the redskins as
thev made the first rush. Then the
silence of the prairie is broken only by
the thud! thudl of horses feet. The
very silence is ominous, and speaks of a
grim determination to run the victim
down.
Steady, now. The hunters horse de-
YOURS mile after mile of the green
prairie, now at the crest of a swell
now almost hidden in dip-for an in
slant out of sight of those who follow.
| They gain little. The hunter plans
that they shall. Every yard they gain
requires an extra speed that will take
ten minutes off the race after high
noon. AT 10 o'clock they have gained
half mile. Then the pace is even,
and neither loses nor gains.
There is something terribly grim in
following man to his death. Not a
shout-not call--nOt rifle-shot.
Thud! thud! thud! over level and ridge
and always to the east. The sun mounts
higher and higher, and now and then
the hunter glances back with a faint
hope that the pursuit has been abandon
ed. No! He might as well expect a
wolf to quit the pursuit of a wounded
deer leaving its life-blOod to stain the
grass at every roc.
1t is high noon.
The pursuit began over sixty miles
away, but the breeze brings to the
hunters ears that same monot0ny of
hoof-beats and he glances back to see
that same dark line strung out at his
heels. 1t has become a question of en-
durance. If he can tire them out he
will escape. He shuts his teeth anew,
reaches forward to caresS his horse
He is down! A burrow caught a
foot as the horse sped onwardS and
man and animal roll to the ground.
The race is finished. The poor beast
whinnies an apology for his fall as he
founders about with a broken leg, and
the exu1tant shouts of the redskins
hardly reach the hunters ears before he
is down alongside the crippled horse
and his rifle aimed at the approaching
Zoe.
1t is another bright, peaceful day
Here are the same pure air, the SAINT
blue sky, the same panorama of gras:
and flowers and dimly outlined noun
!; tainS.
A band of hunters are crossing the
prairie at steady gallop, instead of q
single man riding for his life. A vul
/ ture rises up with hoarse scream
second-a third, and the odor of de.
cay reaches the nostrils of Iiders and
hcrses. The band halts, rides to the
J left, and presently all look down upon
sight which tells its own story. The
swollen caacasS of horse, the scalped
and distiglired body of hunter-tramp.
i led body of a hunter-trampled grass
, spots of blood-broken aIrows-the
earth uptorn by hoofs.
II One with stOlter heart than the rest