Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-10-19
THE SKELETONS STORY.

u the rolling prarc This broad val
lry strike. The Sierra Ncvadas and stops
~ IL a wall hal been built across il.
What is 20 ON The grass? Askull here
"a rib tlWr' bones scattered about a.
the Will beasts left them after the hur-
rihl' feast The clcan-pickcd skull
grin~ aud star,.s every hone and scat
tered lock IT hair has lis tory Of n
tragedy. And what besides these rel
icsY Wore homes mot scattered. bat
wing IN heaps q vcrtcbra with ribs at
tachrd q ncshlcs, skull bleaching I'M
der The summer sun. Wolves. Yes.
Count The heaps 81 homes and YOU will
find nearly u score Open boats are
picked up at sen with neither life nor
sign 90 bctyay their secret. Skeletons
are found upon the prairie. but they tell
plain story to those who halt beside
them. Let us listen:
Away on ~ the right YOU can see
trcc-tops. Away of to the left YOU can
soc the same sight. The skeleton is in
line between the two points. lie left
one grove Ia ride to the other. To ride!
Certainly; mile away j. the skeleton
of horse or mule. Tho beast fell and
was left there. II he left the grove nj
noon he would have been within n mile
of this spot nj dusk. 10 is therefore
plain that he did not leave until mid
afternoon, or possibly NJ dusk. Signs
Of Indians may have driven him from
his trnpping-ground. or mayhap he had
exhausted the game and was shifting to
new fields
II is months since that ride. and the
trail has been ohlitcratrd Were il
uthcrw Sc, and YOU took II zap from the
spot where the 81, IT, ON h0rsr now lies.
YOU would find the last thrrr or four
miles made at q tremendous pace.
''Stcp! step! step
What is IL? Darkness has gathered
over mountain and prairie rs the hunt.
rr iugs along over the broken ground.
Overhead tho countless stars look down
upon him around him is the pail Of
night. There was the pnttcr 1T foot.
stops ON The dry grass. llc halt, and
peers around him. but the darkness is
too deep for him Ia discover any cause
for alarm.
"paticr' pattcrl pattcr.'
There II i again. II j. not fifty yards
from whore hC lat halted The stems
are too light for those If an Indian. A
grizzly would rush upon hi, victim with
roar of defiance anil anger. A
panther would hurl himself through
thirty feet Of space with scream 10
unuyrvc the hardest hunter.
h"N"lvrs! whispers the hunter. as n
howl suddenly breaks upon his ear.
Wolves! The gauni. grizzly wolves
1T the foothills thin. and poor. and
hungry. and savage the lcgS tirrlc,s
The mouth full ~ teeth that can crack
The shuuldcr-hunc II buffalo. lIc cam
s'c their dark iorms nitting 6um point
to point The pattcr II their lcrt ON the
parrltd grls' pro * that hc is sur
Tuuudrd
Now The race begins. There Is mo
shelter until The grove Is reached. I'm.
slwct gutlr, The hurSc. and terror lashcs
MN WITH such whip ~ human hand
never welded over space through
lhr EI'um, almost rs swift rs nm arrow
cent % strong baud. but dark lin,
follows. \ line ut wolves spread, ou
v" thr right aud left. and gull6pS after
tongues out eyes flashing great flake
uI foam living back tn hlntch stone an,
grass and leave n trail 10 b. followed h,
The cuwardly coyotes.
Men ride thus only when life Is IN,
stake. y horse puts forth such spcr,
only when terror follows close bchint
and causes every nerve tn tighten like ,
w'rr drawn until the scratch of n fngc
makes 10 chord with wall Of ,lcspair
n pigeon could not skim the valley will
such swiitncss. and vet the wings of fat
are abroad, and long. AMI tirclcss. Tn
line Is there ave- IL is gaining! Incl
ny inch V crcCps up. and the rcd eve
TAKE on more savage CLEAN rs In
huntrr cries out u his horse and omen
fire rom his rcvulvcrs A wolf falls ot
The ught--a second on the left. Doe
the wind cease blowing ccausc IL meet
forcstg The fall of one man i'm n ma,
mob simply increases the determination
Of the rest
With u cry so full Of the despair tina
wells up from the heart of the strcn
man when he gives mp his struggle fo
Illc That the hunter almost believes
companion rides beside him, tho horS
slaggcrs RECEIVERS plungcs forward
Tails to ihc earth. II was n ploriou
struggle. but he has lost.
The wings of the dark line obliauo I
The center there is a confused bean q
snarling. fighting. maddrncd beast,
and the line rushcs forward AGAIN
saddle. bride and blanket arr i'm shred
the horse skeleton. And now IN
chase IL after the hunter. He has ma
mile the start, and a. he runs m
veins stand out, the muscles tighter
and he wonders ut his own spccd. Il,
hind him are the gaunt bodies and N
trclcss logs. Closer. closer. and no
he is going 10 face fate as n brave ma
should. He has halted. In an instar
circle is formed about nina circ
IF red eyes, foaming mouths an
yellow fangs which are to meet in n
flesh.
There Is an intcrval-a brcathir
spell. lie looks up at the stars-o
upon the night. II is his last hour b
there Is no quaking- no CRYING out
he night To send him aid. As Il
wolves rest flash blinds their ewes
'ccond-a third aud fourth, and In,
give way before the man they had loo
sd upon as their certain prey. But il
only for n moment He sees the
gathering for the rush. and firing his r
naming bullets among them he sciz
ais long rifle by the barrel and braces
meet the shock. Even n savage woul
1ave admired the heroic fight he mao
'orlife. He sounds the war cry and whir
rs weapon around him. and wolf aft,
wolf falls disabled. He feels n stranr
'Xultation over the desperate comba
and as the pack give way before n
mighty blows CLEAN q hope spring
lp In his heart
IL y only Tor moment; then the eli
sle narrows. Each disabled beast
replaced BY three which hunger "a
blood. There Is a rish-a swirl-an
me cry OF despair Is drowned in I'M
.hotns OF snarls as the pack fight owe
The gray of morning-the sunlight ,
loonday-the stars Of evening will loo
Town upon grinning skull and whitenin
bones, and the wolf will return ,
Tunch them again. Men viii not bur