, 1883-09-15

the GOODNESS of his tone and manner.
His face looked CHASTITY by the light
Of the moon, now at its brightest,
and one arm hung, evidently broken,
at his side. But he was as cool and
uncOncerned as if he had been mere
ly driving cattle for an evenings
amusement.
ooh Mike" l exclaimed, dis it
over yet! Have we beaten them /?
Are the women safe? Have"
"Stop," interrupted Mike, Zone
thing at time. Yes, 1t is over, for
the present anyhow; and what red
skins are left alive are maxim tracks
for their reservations deal faster
than they came out % them, guess.
Yes, the women are safe, lad, thank
God. But get off your horse and lay
down for a spell, you need the rest,
and I'll tell you all about it. You see,
when we left you behind to watch
for the skunks as they ran from the
first shock of our charge, we went
round to the opposite side Of the
canyon where there is space for fif-
teen or twenty men to ride in abreast.
But before we went for 'em, l scout
ed round till l spotted the tents
where l knew the women would be.
was in an almighty scare lest they
might be hurt before we reached
them. But found it all quiet. The
Indians had not finished the whisky
yet, Then crept back to the boys,
mounted, gave the whistle-which
dessly you heard-and we piled in.
81, Tom Stockton, and Luke Rem
ington struck bee-line for the tents,
the boys following. l got to 'em
first, and throwin' open the flap of
the biggest one, IshOuted to the wo-
men inside, that we had come to
save them, but they must keep quite
still, and OnnO account cOmeOut.
"But, Lord bless you! the poor
critters could no more keep in than
fly. Pma hard cuss, Pat, there amt
many mean things / haven't done,
but its a. most brought tears into my
eyes, to see the joy with which we
were welcomed. And that fool,
Luke, fairly blubbered. Some on
'en threw their arms round us and
threw their arms round us and
Rugged us, some fell on their knees
and prayed God to bless us. l saw
more gratitude in those five minutes
than l ever saw before in my life.
Certainly, nothin' could have better
fitted the boys for the struggle that
was to come than that. We handled
them in a moment, however, and
only just in time, too, for in half a jif
on the devils came.
"Ah it was a rough time. But
ye see the Indians were taken COM
pletely by surprise, and were shot
from so many different directions at
once, that for all they knew we might
be hundred and fifty strong, in
stead of only twenty-five, and most
Of 'em struck south straight away.
But those that stayed fought like
hell, and l guess not many of the
boys hev got off as easily as you an
me. More'n once l thought it was
all up, but we tired 'em out at last.
"But let's come and lend the wO-
men hand with the wounded, and
mebhe they may have time to hind
up my arm a bit. 1t does hurt con-
siderable. l suppose it'll have to
come of, worse luck" We walked
slowly toward little group Of pines,
in the midst Of which was patch of
open ground, converted, for the time
being, into field-hospital. There
were the women, alive and well,
thank God, doing what they could
to relieve the wounded men, who
were herOically making light of their
sufferings, or bearing them in grim
silence. Dearly did we pay for our
revenge, successful though it was.
Ten men killed outright, five died
before morning, six were disabled so
seriously that they were never again
fit for active service. Only four,
among whom was myself, really re-
covered from the effects Of that trr r
rible New Years Day. But an aw-
full vengence was wrought upon the
Indians. During the ensuing week,
the stockmen came down from the
north and secured the country far
and wide, up to the very verge of
the Indian territory, and it was cal
culated that only one of all the fe-
rociOus band that had for so long
been the terror Of the countryside
reached the reservation alive.
Not for many years will northern
New Mexico be troubled again by
Indians. Such a lesson as they re.
ceived in the winter of 1878 will mt
soon be forgotten. - MdcRiillaR'S s
Magazine.