Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-12-17

such as you frequently see exhibit
ed OH the street corners and pre-
sided oyer by sunburned Italian.
With another man and Young fel-
low of Is, / travelled through Kans-
as to the Colorado line, selling and
trading our wares to the Indians
for anything marketable in the
cities. About the time Of our ar
rival in the western part OF Kansas
the memorable Indian outbreak was
terrorlzing the country. From the
south and west came reports OF the
terrible outrages perpetrated by the
Indians and greasers. Houses were
burned, the inmates were killed in
stantIy or tortured to death and all
the cattle were driven of and scat
tered. You may be sure | felt con-
siderable sOlicitude concerning the
safety of my little party and took
extra precautions to find secluded
spots when camping. OF course,
under the conditions, | deemed 1t
advisable to get out Of the neigh
borhood Immediately. To do so we
found it necessary to pass through
the country most likely to be infest-
ed by struggling bands Of Indians.
Despite the risks we determined to
make the attempt.
AFTER A DAYS TRAMP.
"After long, hard days tramp,
we encamped tor the night in one
of those small Canyons so prevalent
in western Kansas. 1t was an
excellent place, too. Our backs
were eaectually protected by a nat
ural cave in the side of the bank,
the entrance to which was conceal
ed by brush and tall grass. Sam,
the boy of the party, was an unusn'
ally bright young fellow and very
familiar with the tactics of Indian
warfare. Just before lying down |
noticed him untying a good sized
bundle of sticks resembling short
broom handles. lie placed them in
easy reach and tumbled down to
sleep. had also noticed him fum-
bling around the bushes a short
time before, but didn't pay much
attention to his actions. The other
fellow and myself concluded not to
set a guard, as we were IN such an
excellent place. | don't know how
long we had slept when we were
awakened by Sam shaking us
slightly and whispering:
"'Be quick now, the Indians are
getting ready to slip in on u.s.
"By this time we were both wide
awake and ready with our rifles.
"Listen,' whispered Sam; 'hear
the dirty scamps slipping up. Put
down the rifles. I've got something
better.
"He handed each of us four of
the sticks mentioned, remarking ::
"'Them's Roman candles. I've
got a pile of whoppers along and |
think we can scare these scamps
clean out of their hides
THE CANDLES FLASHED.
81 caught the idea in a moment
and strained my ears to listen for
further demonstrations from the
attacking party. We could hear
them creeping around through
the bushes, scarcely making a noise,
but easily distinguished in the ST.
lence of the night.
"sNow,' whispered Sam, take
two i'm each hand and I'll light
them.
"Suiting tho action to the word,
he contrived to light them IN rapid
succession. Then we turned them
into the bushes, and heavens. what
sight WAS revealed as the candles
flashed. About fifty villainous look
ing savages and greasers were
STOPPING and creeping along toward
us. At the first flash they stopped
as if spellbound. We turned them
so the green and white balls would
strike them in their faces. The
candles we're tremendous affairs,
and eight or ten Of them popping
away, apparently Independent OF
human aid, was enough to terrorize
any one. Our assailants wavcred
a moment then, and with q terrible
veil, bounded away toward high
ground as if the devil himself was
in pursuit. We could hear them
scramble up the hillside, mount
their horses and gallop away. Sam
afterward explained that he had
brought the candles alodg as side
speculation, and he also explained
that he had arranged a system OF
strings among the bushes, so tha'
no one could approach very close
without meeting the obstruction
ana alarming him. It is needless
TO state that we reached safe ground
in due time, without further moles
tation."
An EndtO housekeeping.
Edward Shepherd, of Harrisburg
~, .II,,.;nor paaaiVpl NJ