The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1888-03-09

championship had come NJ 70 bo set-
| tied at once. The two stations were
between us and the herd. and were al
ready diminishing. Every one Of the
horses had his head toward the pair
and was nm inter esting spectator. A.
any other time a presence wouid
have put them 10 flight. but under ftc
circumstances they gave as no atsea~
ton.
Now occurred a combat the Ike Of
which few men have ever witnessed.
The horses were pretty evenly matched
for size. Our champion had an nd
vantage in being shod. but 10 Offset
this the sorrcl was the quicker. Their
movements showed the broad disparity
between wild and domestic life. Our
horse was agile and smart. as the
terms 20. but the sorrcl had the sup
pleness Of a panther. As boxers feint
for an opening. 50 these horses Skin
mishcd for an advantage. They APP
preached until their noses almost met.
ami then reared up with shriil neighs,
struck at each other. and came down
to wheel and kick. The iron shoes Of
our horse hit nothing but air. but we
heard the double thud Of the sorrers
hind feet as he sent them home. They
ran of : o wheel and come together
again and repeat the same tactics. and
again our horse got the worst Of II.
He was a heads,rong. high-strung
beast, and his temper was now up.
When he wheeled the third time he
in his anger. The sorrel turned end
for end like a flash 10 use his heels. but
our champion lodged the kicks and
seized him by the shoulder with his
teeth. There was = terrific struggle
before the hold was broken. and then
they backed into each other and kicked
with all fury for a few seconds. Every
hoof hit something solid. but the iron
shoes Of our horse scored a point in his
favor. When they separated we could
see that the sorrel had been badly used,
especially about the legs.
!. When the horses wheeled for the
third time. both were bent on mischief.
As they came together they reared up
like dogs and struck at each other, and
for five minutes they were scarcely OF
their hind feet. Some hard blows were
exchanged and our horse had the best
Of the round. Indeed. when the sorrel
2 wheeled and ran away he had his head
I down and he seemed to acknowledge
: defeat. lie ran OF about twenty rods
/ before wheeling. and as he stood for a
moment l looked at him through a field
| glass hich one Of the men handed me.
, His ears lay Nat. his eyes looked blood
shot. and there was bloody foam on his
! lips. He had been severely handled,
: but was BY no means defeated. In
i deed. he had run away for The moment
to adopt new tactics When he moved
! up again he was the picture Of ferocity.
He came at full speed. reared, aud
struck right and left, and the second
blow Knocked our horse fiat on thu
y ground. II was a Knockout blow
/, The victor stood over him for q mo
!. ment, watching for . movement. bu
! rs none was made he joined the herd
1 and all went of nj q gallop. II was
4 five minutes before our horse staggered
to his feet. and he wanted no more
fighting. He had three bad bites about
4 the shoulders. and his legs were
! skinned in a dozen places, and il was
\ week before he got his spirit back
Two or three times during the mex
ten DAYS / saw lone wild horses. AM
one Of the old hunters with US wa
4 asked for an explanation He sais
n they were s'rogues stations which
I had been driven from the herd in dis
= gracc-and that they were always con
sidercd ugly and dangerous. He ha'
e known Of them attacking a singh
=. horscman. but the presence of larg
~ party like ours would d course frightel
o. them of. Two days after this eS
A. PLANTATION we were strung out for thre
" miles along the river. on the marc
and survey. Something VS. lost b
= An officer. and one 81 the troopers wa
= sent back 10 recover II. Ten minute
- later the article supposed to be To-
= was found in one Of the ambulance
IN ana / was sent bith ~ hothy ~
Of trooper. He had gallcpcd back !
camp. a distance Of two miles. an
! was searching around on foot when
~ arrived in sight was about to fire
shot 10 attract his attention. whe
a from the cottonwood grove beyond Il
camp a horse came charging out \
~ was a "roguc." and bent on mischief
I The soldiers horse was grazing. "a
~ the soldier had his eyes on the groun'
and | was 50 astonishcd by the sudde
~ charge Of the rogue that ] made .
n move TO stop him or TO warn q
trooper. Indeed. . warming coul
a have hardly reached him in time. II
q back was to the approaching hors
T. and the rogue seized him in his tect
"a bv a mold between the shoulders IN
81 dragged him twenty rods before fiin'
NJ ing him to one side. Then he starts
- for the cavalry horse. which stot
with head upfacing him. and got m
rr. revolver ~ and spurred forward.
IL was yet . quarter q : mile aw'