Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1886-07-16
A WISE MULE.
She Puts Two ~,ilans TO flight and Saves
Her Masters Life.
for v Sn1l

ga band of redskins had come into the
valley-mebbe huntin' party, and IN ,bbe
whole village" said Dan CLASH, a Nom
tana hunter, describing an adventure with
lnfians. ''It was warnin' that a white
man about my size had better pack up aud
be Off, and tell you | didn't let no grass
grow under my feet ia gettin' ready. had
Travelled in the timber durin' the Gay, to
keep out of sight an to hi le my trail, but
now / left the shelter and took to the VAL
ley. had four or five hours to daylight,
and the way that mule and me got up and
bumped ourselves amazed the coyotes.
Jist know that we We're fully twenty miles
away when daylight broke. The timber
now was scattered along in groves, and
afore daylight was too strong we took
shelter in a bit of timber containin' per-
haps half an acre. This timber run to the
bank of the river, and the bank at that
spot was eight or tsn feet high.
II wasn't iist what you might call an
AL lnjun fighter. As 1 he'd put twenty
miles between me and the Iniuns down
the valley, | sorter flggered that there
wasn't another redskin higher than them
and that l could take things purity easy
fur spell. l unloade1 the mule and
turned her loose, and had iist eaten a bite
OF cold breakfast when the beast cum
slyly through the bushes, ears laid back
and eyes shinin', and gin me 10 nnder.
stand that sunthin' was wrong aein
She didn't pint her head to'rGs the valley.
trt straight fur the river, and | says to
myself that perhaps she scented Iniuus
who were passin' up or down in canoes.
| shoCldered my rifle and crept to'rds the
bank. but l hadn't gone thirty yards
when crack! crack! went two rifles. and
two bullets tipped past my head in q
way TO make me dizzy. With a scream
such as wild beast might give, tho mnle
made rush in the direction of the shots
and fo,lAred on.
This was what had happened and
what did happen. y couple Of Injuns
were, perhaps, comm down the valley
when they saw me take to the grove They
saw me, but l didn't see them. They en-
tered the grove on the upper side, leavln'
their ponies tiel to q tree, and were work =
in around to get shot al me but the mule
twigged the game. Both fred at the same
instant, and conscqu ,nce both rifl IS
were empty when the mule charged 'em.
To escape her-ani Pm tellin' you that
u
they scrambled up a cottonwood Crowi ,
on the very aige of the bank. One of 'ern
dropped his rife on the ground, whilo the
other took his up. The mule stood .nigh
the foot of the tree PAWN and squealin'
and as soon as | saw how the land lay
lifted my rife fur shot.
The feller who had taken his gun
up was workin' to load her, but
stopped him. My bullet nit him in the
shoulder. and it was catch -and-go that liz
didn't tumble. l was loadn' fur another
shot, and was takin' notice that tho un-
wounded one was climbin' higher when
the mule jumped hack with a mort and tho
tree began to 80 over Ii went slowly and
the two reds yell ID cut in terror. When Il
struck the water there was an awful splas
and great eommoiion. The tree was too
green to 1oat, AMI the water was SO deer
/ that oulr a few branches showed above
the surface. reckon that both Indian.
were pinned down in some manner. fur
neither one of 'em showed up after the
splash. kept clus watch ell about the
place fur half an hour, Iut not a sign OF
them could see.
Il got one of their rifles. which was .
splendid weapon, two ponies, worth one
hundred dollars api ce, a lot of steel traps
:rd large amount of rowder and lead
IL was lno"e' Il a week after that when |
rode into Fort Benton, Int ! never saw
ano' her iniun or had the least worry.
Whom the fellers at the fort wanted to pa,
me on the back and call me lig Injun, ]
pointed 20 the mule and said:
Gents, there stands the ole gal en.i-
tied TO all the credit, and the thing I'm on :
nappy aSou! is that she cant wear a si!l,
dress"