Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-05-13

| matted ana STOOD with ears pOluteo SLolSnt
ahead. patBed his neck, and he lay down
| Then crept forward on hands and knees to
the edge of the fringe OF bushes, and what do
you suppose sawi A camp OF four redskins
! not over 200 feet away They had come into
the cove through ravine ut the upper end,
| probably arriving the evening before, and
were low just awakening from their nights
| sleep. They were out for hunt, as their
outfit showed and IS soon as they began to
move about they must discover the tracks OF
! the mule and suspect my presence.
l was mad al the way through. Even il
could pack Up and change locations before
being discovered the redskins would follow
on after me, and rest not until they had
lifted my hair or had returned to the walls
Of Laramie. l must either saddle up and
hold straight course for the fort or the
| four hunters must be wiped out They were
| four full grown men, each armed with rife
! and bow and arrows, and the only advantage
had was in having couple OF single bar
relied pistols, each good for a man in case Of
a hand to hand fight When l saw them
building UP their fire to cook their breakfas.
| by, hurried back to the cave to get bits
myself. The mule looked after ne as re-
treated, but made no effort to follow. he
| seemed TO feel that / bad left him there as a
sentinel, and the last l saw Of him he had his
head pointed toward the Indian camp.
The Indians had no suspicious of the pres
ence of a white man in that neighborhood
The grass was thick and heavy and the mule
had left no track to catch their eve They
had not entered the cove until evening, and
of course had no chance to lock around.
While | was knocking breakfast together I
had little time to get over my first alarm and
do little planning. Ny mind was made up
not to go, and TO stay meant that somebody
would be wiped out When had bolted my
breakfast l returned to the spot where the
mule was still standing sentinel. The In
dlans were taking it mighty easy, and it was
half an hour before they finished breakfast.
Then they had a smoke, and it was fully 0
o'clock before one of them shouldered his
rife and set of for the creek, while the
others proceeded to clean their rifles and oil
up their traps The one who was coming
down the cove would strike my ''signsn as
soon as he struck the creek. All my traps
were out, and as soon as he came to the first
one he'd know that white man set it /
realized that I'd got to get to the creek be-
fore him, and that I'd got to prevent his ever
going back, ard l amt joking bit when
say the mule realized it, too. He was w.
ing down and couldn't see the redskin.
but he heard and smelt him coming
and he turned to me to see II | was
alert. When | knew for. sure that the
red was bound for the creek | rose
up and ran on before. l was well sheltered
by the bushes, while he was coming down
without shelter and without suspicion. /
knew where he would first it the creek. and
l reached the spot ten minutes before be came
up. Just where he left the cove was a mass
Of rock, which had fallen from the cliffs
above, and it was behind this mass that I
waited 1t wouldn't do for me to fire nv
rifle, and must also prevent him from doing
the same. ! crouched there with nv tonla-
hawk in hand, and by and by the fellow came
along and stopped on the bank of the creek,
back to me, and only four feet away
Was it murderl Well, had the quartet
made me prisoner, they would have cut off
my ears and nose, cut my tongue out, pulled
off nv scalp, and lighted a fire on my bowels
and they would have called il fun. Twas
hestating to strike when the fellow gave a
sudden start Of surprise He had noticed
broken twig or some other slight sign, and
in moment more would have been the weT.
rior instead of the hunter.
l carried the body my shoulder about
ten rods down the creek and dumped it into
a natural grave made where tree had been
uprooted. Then | returned and carefully
efeced all signs of the brief struggle, and
with the dead mans rifle and knife to add to
my arTnOry made my way back to the mule
He hadn't moved foot. When patted him
on the head and let HIM smell of the Indians
rife he knew what had happened just as well
as did.
By this time the three hunters had finished
cleaning up and one of them picked up half
dozen traps, shouldered his rife and came
down the cove at a slouchy gait. The other
two, as | saw before l left, stretched out on
their blankets in the warm sun for a nap. l
was in ambush in the same place again when
the second man came up, and he stood
almost in the other fellows tracks and
whistled to locate him. He never knew
what hurt him, and l disposed of the body
in the same grave. When returned to the
mule, carrying the second Indians rife, he
tried bis very shckest to grin and chuckle,
and then he softly got up and pointed at the
two sleeping hunters as steadily as a pointer
dog l knew what he meant to say. i
left one rifle right there, wornled my
self through the bushes until oppo-
site the reds and twenty rods away,
and then left the cover and advanced upon
them. | was within pistol shot when some
noise or other alarmed them, and both
sat up facing me- Ny first shot knocked one
down, but as ] changed rifles the other cap
snapped and the man bounded to his feet and
grabbed his gun. 1t wasn't loaded, and as he
saw me pull a pistol he started like streak
of tightening for the upper end of the cove,
uttering signal yells at every jump. He
hadn't taken five jumps when eha nule
rushed past me with squeal OF rage, and IN
a minute more he knocked the redskin down
When 1 got UP there was no occasion for
bullet or knife. The Indian was as dead as
door nail. crushed to jelly under the hoofs
and knees OF the mule.
That's about all, gents. The four had been
danger was over / knew from their outfit
that they had come long distance, and it
wasn't likely they would be looked for dur
ing the summer, and | went to work again
feeling pretty safe. Whep / quit that cove
had the biggest bundle Of furs ever taken
into frontier post, and on the top Of It were
the belongings of four redskins, who had no
doubt lifted many q white scalp. The mulel
Well, owned him for several years after
taat, and when he finally passed in his checks
i gave him as decent burial as any pioneer
ever got-New York Sun
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