Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-13

The Adventures of Lad with the
Apaches.

With j. Fl. Alden, who returned yester-
day from the Mexican border. was youth
of Is years named Juan. "Juan," said
Mr.. Alden, who has a large ranch at Alma,
''is real live character in an Indian ro-
nance. six years ago the Apaehes raided
my herds and carried a great number off
into the mountains. AS many others had
suffered easily gathered troop of horse
and f0lluw~s the trail along the ella. One
evening, several days after we had crossed
the border, our scouts rode back and no.
titled as that We were almost upon the
enemy, so proceeding more cautiously,
we kept on stealing our way through the
dense chapparal, when we suddenly came
upon scene calculated to freeze the very
blood in our veins.
There in the open space was a small
Mexican settlement. consisting of one
large square building OF adobe with one
large door or gate opening outward, but
devoid of any other mode of egress or of
obtaining light. The tour sides of this
structure faced a large court yard on the
inside, into which opened the doors and
windows of perhaps a score of separate
dwellings. fort part of the whole
editice. The roof was OF thatch and when
we came into full view this was burning.
We charged and killed many of the devils,
but others escaped. Dividing our party
into two sections, one of which STAYED
backifOr a half hour or so to eXtinguish the
fire and make an examination, the rest
pushed on after the tugitIves. Several
skirmishes were had and the Indians
were driven hard, but the fragment of
them eventually escaped into the noun
tain businesses, where it was impossible
to pursue them further.
Il was leading the advance party and
having good horse, was some distance
ahead of my men when l came upon one
of the Apaches, who was urging his pony
to bis utmost speed. In front OF him, held
with strong grasp, was boy of perha ps
II years of age, whose terror was made
greater by the tactics of the willy Apache.
who held him up as shield to protect
him from the shots of my Winchester
My horse, however, carried me to his side,
when | seized the bride of his pony with
one hand; dealt him a blow with the
butt of my rife, telling him to the ground.
The Mexican boy also fell with him, but
picked him up and found that he was I'M
Injured, but terribly frightened. The boy
Was Juan who, after recovering his senses
and realizing that he had been saved from
q terrible death, eVinced his gratitude bv
every means in lis power, cIasping my
knees and calling me in Mexican his pre-
server and savior Finding that the
Indians had escaped us we retraced our
course to the ruins of the village, where
we rejoined our comrades and camped for
the night, few of the Mexicans, who had
run away at the first attack, returning to
their devastated home.
EVERY member of Juan's family had
fallen victim to the ferocity of the A.U1a-
ches, and the next morning, when we
started on our homeward course, he man.
TESTED such a strong desire to 90 with
me that yielded and he accompanied me
home. The Indians we had captured we
turned over to the Mexican authorities.
Juan, now like son to me, has since
been member of my household. One OF
the principal objects of my visit is to
place him in good school, as intend to
educate him as "a gentleman"