The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1883-05-04

constant achievements. Their horses,
moreover, II not actually feeter than
ours. had fewer membranes, and, as
we felt assured, could maintain the race
for n longer period. Still we plunged
ON, the old coach rocking from side to
side. and the horses foaming with
sweat.
lat last We were SO far overtaken
range of our firearms.
Every man take sure aim ut one
redskin and kill him, cried the old SER
geant, pausing before the words kill
him. to suit the action 10 the word.
which he did.
"A score Of reports followed the
crack of the old soldiers rifle. and q
half-dozen more Of the foremost red.
skins fell. Still they poured on. Bull
lets seemed to make no impression upon
them. They saw that our horses were
becoming wi"aed, and with wild yells CT
defiance they rushed into the leaden
spray rs II 1t had been shower Of rain,
"At length they came within arrow
range Of us. and with delirious howl
Of delight. which shall never forget,
they sent into us flight Of weapons,
which we afterward discovered had been
poisoned.
Zone of the soldiers, struck in the
temple. was caught rs he was falling
over the side of the coach. and hauled
back again in the throes Of death.
Another. pierced in the breast. fell
backward to the ground. and was quick
~ handed away by the hindmost horse
man to pack of red fiends, who now
appeared on foot.
"A passenger close behind me was
slain where he knelt by an arrow which
whizzed past my own head as l stood
firing, at the window, and crashed into
his skull.
1.-The express agent received his
death-wound from bullet-fOr they had
firearms as well as bOws-and, falling
to the ground. he was carried of in tri-
uInph to be scalped. Nine besides these
were wounded, and died before the
journey was over.
.'All this terrible havoc was the result
of that one charge; and still the demon
warriors rode on, yelling and shooting.
We brought down a few of them with
our rifles and revolvers, but their num-
bers were SO great, and their movements
so swift, that there seemed to be no dim
mutton in the crowd by which we were
surrounded.
Look here, gentlemen. I'll tell you
what it is called out the old sergeant,
who had been loading and firing, and
reloading and retiring with mistaken
gravity the whole time. these ere red
skins III be the death Of US mighty sud-
den now If we don't do something. The
horses are getting winded. and don't
like the looks o things. I've heard
tremendous noise sometimes brighten
Indians. Let's hold hard and give 'em
q regular volley!'
1T was difficult maneuver to exc.
cute. When you are under fire there Ia
a tendency to keep on firing whether 1t
be wise or not. However, we managed
to do it. The whole party, having made
ready, waited for the word. 1t was Civ
en- and we fired.
Il firmly believe to this hour that ev-
cry shot told. From fifteen to twenty
redskins and horses fell at that one dis
charge. 1t was our last throw and we
won it Whether we killed the chief or
not cannot tell. know not which
was the chief but certain it was, that
no sooner was our volley fired and its
effects seen, than the whole body of In
dams fell into the rear, and we saw no
more of them during the trip.
but, mark you, we did not owe our
safety to that 1t was bad generalship
on the part of our assailants. II they
had had the sense to shoot the horses,
instead Of devoting the whole of their
attention to the men, not one of us
could have escaped."