St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-03-31

in of course, he'd have an easy JOB,
had rode into the corral to drive out the
stock-there was thirteen ridin' ponies
and three OF four colts, But there was
a customer in there that the Cheyenne
hadn't reckoned on. 1t was q big mule,
jest the ugliest, orneriest critter over
you set eyes on, He never lowed any
strangers inside that corral if he could
help it, an he gently could, an that
was one reason we KEEP him.
'*Wal, he'd got after Mr.. Cheyenne,
an he was goin' for him most saw
agely. When we first saw the race,
the Injun was clear up on his pony $
neck, a-clingin' for dear life, and the
mule was'right up alongside. with his
jaws wide open. The Cheyenne had
lost holt O his reins, an was jest hang
in over on the opposite side of his
hosse's neck, an there they was, 60
in round and round, the jack a grab
bin an bitin' at the lnjun, an ARRAY
in an squealin' till you could a-hecrd
him mile. An the best of it all was
that them Cheyennes outside all
seemed to think it was the biggest
kind of fun.
Talk about an Indian not laughin',
why, fellows, they nigh busted their
throats. They clapped their hands on
to their stomachs an doubled up like
jack-knives. Ed and me laughed, too.
| don't believe we could "a helped it
if WEI known they'd killed us the next
minute.
"But matters soon begun to get
pretty ser Gus inside the corral; the
Injun darsn't git off his pony, for he
could see mighty plain that the mule
was after him. He'd "a got the fell
low, too, if his pony hadn't a-ben such
a smart little critter; the mustang
seemed to know that his master was in
danger, for he kept flynn round in a
short circle, keepin' the mule on the
outside O. his circle.
''But the Iniun was awful scared; he
couldn't use his weapons if he had any,
an he just hung on an yelled to the
others, for help l 'xpect, though, OF
course, we couldn't understand. But
it must a-ben, for pretty soon they
stopped their laughin', an all but two
that was left to guard us jumped on
their ponies, rode into the corral, an
with big whoop made dash for tn e
jack. g.
Il didn't have time to watch the out
come of it, for all at once | see Ed
jump at one of the guards, an strike
out The Cheyenne went down like a
stone, an before I could gather my
wits enough to make move he turned,
sprung onto the other one, Wrenched
a Winchester rifle out of his hands an
knocked him down with it.
II thought it was time then for me
to take hand in the fight, an seein'
the first Injun that Ed had hit tryin' to
git up again, / made a jump for him
an snatched his gun out of his hands;
it wasn't much of job, for he was
half stunned yet from the rap Ed had
give him.
...Come on Jimr heard Ed say
then. Don't shoot! Git inside the
gate!'
~ was glad enough to obey orders, l
tell ee, an leavin' the two Cheyennes
to come to their senses, | followed at a
run. We got inside the stockade, an
barred the gate. then we run into this
'dobe here, an fastened the door
.'You bet they won't come for us
now said Ed. I'm fixed for EN-, an
SO are you pretty well, an loolSin' at
him saw he'd not only got the last In
jun's Winchester, but he took off his
belt of cartridges, an brought that,
too. I had Springfield carbine in my
hands, so we didn' much fear 'em.
'.They made an awful racket out
side, but they didn't fire shot, an
pretty soon things quoted down, an,
we heard 'em drivin' off the. stock.
. After awhile we unfastened the
door, an got up on top of the 'dobe, an
then we could see the whole gang
driving our ponies across the hill to
the north.
"tGuess I didn't hurt those fellows
much, said Ed, but look, they've made
an end to the old MULE an sure
enough we could see him in the corral
chucked full of arrows. They had to
kill him 'xpect, OF he'd a run EN- all
out. The next day the boys come down,
an one O. the range bosses, an ] x
pected we'd git the bounce; but when
he heard how twas, he jest laughed,
an sent for more ponies
We stayed that night with the young
and pushed on again the
next morning, but learned, on reaching
the ranches above, the day after, that
we had narrowly escaped a brush with
a large party of Ckeyennes. They had
passed over the trail not more than
two hours ahead of US, on. their way
south again, evidently fearing pursuit
from the troops at Fort Collins and
Cheyenne. Such was life on the plains,
but ten years ago, where now are
large and thriving settlements, as safe
from Indian raids as the good city of
Boston. -FraaE w Cslksns, IN Nam
yon's illustrated World.
"A singular instance. of the ruling