Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-03-09

over him for 9 moment, Watcnlng lor
q movement, but as none was made
be Joined the herd, and all moved of
at q gallop. 1t was five minutes be-
fore our horse staggered to his feet,
and he wanted no more fighting. He
had three bad bites about the shoul-
ders, and his legs were skinned in
dozen places, and it was week before
he got his spirit back.
Two or three times during the next
ten days saw lone wild horses, and
one of the old hunters with us was
asked for an explanation. He said
they were "rogues"-stallions which
had been driven from the herd IN dis
grace-and that they were always
considered ugly and dangerous. He
had known of their attacking a sim
gle horseman, but the presence of a
large party like ours would, Of course,
frighten them off. Two days after
this explanation we were strung
out for three miles along the river,
on the march and survey. Some
thing was lost by an officer, and one
of the troopers was sent back to re-
cover it. Ten minutes later the ar
ticle supposed to be lost was found in
one of the ambulances, and l was
sent back to notify the trooper. He
had galloped back to camp distance
of two miles, and was searching
around on foot when / arrived in
sight. was about to fiie shot to
attract his attention, when from the
cottonwood grove beyond the camp a
horse came charging out. He was a
"rogue" and bent on mischief.
The soldiers horse was grazing,
and the soldier had his eyes on
the ground, and l was SO astonished
by the sudden charge Of the rogue
that made no move to stop him or
warn the trooper. Indeed, a
warning could hardly have reached
him in time. His back was
to the approaching horse, and
the rogue seized him in his teeth
by hold between the shoulders, and
dragged him twenty rods before fling
ing him to one side. Then he started
for the cavalry horse, which stood
with head up facing him, and l got
my revolver out and spurred forward.
I was yet a quarter of mile away
when the rogue reached his second
victim. He ran at full speed, with
ears back and lips parted to show his
teeth, and the sight was too much for
the domestic animal. He was on the
point of turning to fly when the other
collided with him. 1t was as if a
locomotive had struck him. He went
down in heap, and rolled over and
over four or five times before he
brought up, while the rogue took a
half circle to bear down upon the
trooper again. The man was on his
feet and limping off; but he would
have been goner had l been further
away. l rode across the rogue's
path and opened fte ON him, and
after shaking his head in an ugly
way he galloped into the grove and
disappeared. The troopers horse did
not seem to have suffered any by the
shock, but soon after noon lay down
and died. The man was actually cry
ing when rode up to him, although
he had taken hand in several In
dian fights and was reputed to be a
brave fellow. The danger h d come
upon him SO suddenly as to overcome
his nerves. The horses teeth had
not broken the skin through his thick
clothing and he did not have bruise
to show, but such was the sudden
shock that he was on the sick list for
two weeks.
We were within two days ride of the
Bonita, and had been in camp two OF
three days, when one of the hunters
rode in just before dark with some
game and announced that heard oi
at least 1,500 wild horses were graz.
ing about three miles to the east Of us.
This was ON the opposite side of the
Pecos, which just here spread out
over a rocky ledge, and was 200 feet
wide and about a foot deep. Below
our camp was an old grove with many
dead trees in it. 1t was there we got
our wood. In all other directions the
ground was open. We had about
twelve tents in camp, aside
from the wagons and ambu-
lanches. The best feeding ground was
on the west OF the camp, and all the
animals were staked out there. Out
side the bunch of animals was guard
of two soldiers, and two more were
between the animals and the wagons.
There was no danger apprehended
from the Indians, and the guard was
set to keep prowling wolves out of
camp and to assist any horse that
might get tangled in his lariat. 1t had
been a hot day, with thunder heads"
showing in the sky, but, when the
sun went down the sky was perfectly
clear, and all signs pointed to a quiet
night.
1t was just midnight when the
shargest flash of lightning l ever sa1
followed by such a crash of thunder
as made the earth groap, tumbled
every sleeper in camp out of his
blankets. L say the sharpest flash l
ever saw. for was awakened in time
to see the most af it. 1t was so fierce
that it seemed to burn our eyelids. l
was hardly on my feet before there
came another flash, followed by
another roar. l knew it was going to
rain great guns, and l jumped into
trousers and boots and grabbed up
the rest OF my clothes and made for a
wagon only few feet away. The two
wagons were close to each other, but the
forward ends pulled away, so that the
vehicle formed V. While the space
between the off hind wheel of one
and the nigh hind wheel of the other
was not over foot, the space between
the tongues was six or eight. The
sky was black as l rushed out OF the
tent, and all the camp-fres had
burned low. l flung my clothes into
one of the wagons, and then hurried
back and got my weapons and some
other articles, and during this time
the heavens seemed afame and the
earth fairly rocked.
Men were shouting, horses neighing
and the din was awful, but as / reach
ed the wagon the second time there
came sound to drown all others. 1t
was a steady roar like the rush of
ond ~ frrau lo,,Iar I'll