The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1888-11-03

ing tHenl, yet INC Inou1en eunn Va 'hooe
in the rear might so press the forward
ranks that q man would have little
chance to escape being trodden to death
by the pushing throng.
But there was strong reason to sus-
pect that less innocent motives than
mere curiosity might actuate them, for
I knew the untamed, violent nature OF
his half wild stock, and that they were
not to be tr ifled with.
As yet the distant red brown throngs
were only slowly drifting toward me but
l thought that detected symptoms of
uneasiness in those in front, and at
once concluded that 1 had better, in
the plains vernacular, 'hustle myself
and hunt my hole"
The distance to the corrals was two
miles or more. knew that could not
reach that point and at once decided to
seek safety in the arroyo, which lay
behind me-about half q mile, as
have already said. The thought struck
me, too, that to run, or even to turn
my back upon them, might incite and
draw this curious, living avalanche
headlong upon me. Therefore stepped
backward as quickly as l could, still
facing the oncoming multitude.
The leaders of the advancing herd
were no more than two or three hundred
yards in front of me, and ! had retreat
ed some fifty yards. stepping quickly
backward, when the foremost of my
pursuers quickened their pace into a
slow trot, an example followed by those
behind, till, like wave, a movement
had communicated itself to those
furthest in the rear.
And now the trot, which had been
gradually quickening, broke into an
awkard gallop, and the whole herd
charged down upon me.
For a moments l saw the semi
circle of converging columns, saw the
long horns sweeping the ground, like
march reeds before a November gale,
saw the plunging shoulders and heav-
ing backs surging through the clouds
of white dust which rolled up before
thcm-I gave myself up for doomed
man. Then, abandoning all further
effort at caution, l turned and ran for
my life.
The ground behind me trembled
under the tread of their myriad feet;
and the mufiled thunder of their plung-
ing hoofs, mingled with the low, fitful
believing which filled the air, sounded
like the roar of an advancing tornado.
Gun and game were too much to carry
in a race where so much was at stake.
l dropped them both as l sped onward.
The ground was as level as a floor;
and l flew over it, taking the stunted
sage bushes in my stride, till / reached
the arrayo. Then over the bank, and
down, at one flying leap, went; and
now, noticing, to my right, detached
mass of rocks, piled up in pyramidal
form, l turned sharply, gained them,
and, clambering upward, stood in o
place of safety.
1t was only about three feet across,
but dearcr to me, just then, than all the
broad acres of my fathers farm at home.
From this, my "coign of vantage"
now marked the surging mob of cattle
come crowding to the brink of the ar
royo and then, as the hundreds in the
rear pressed forward, l saw the front
ranks. by the dozen, pushed off into
the gully, slipping, sliding, plung ing,
one after another, till the ravine seemed
half filled with them and the white
dust rose like mist from the pit of a
vast cataract.
All around that little crag upon which
l half sat, half lay, like an exhausted
swimmer Just escaped from hungry
sea, heaved and billowed the tempes-
tuous bovine maelstrom with
"a roar
Like Ocean on its wintry Shore"
their white horns flashing like the foam
on the breakers. The sight of me,
perched up there, seemed to madden
them. The foremost, impelled by the
weight of the swaying thousands be-
hind, were forced close against the
rocks, while those in tho rear gored
viciously with their horns at those in
front. EyerYwhere about me was q tn