Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1889-09-28

w ~ Was prooapio tnat tney would
hang On TO me.
! fode away to the east, knowing
that the prisoner had been conveyed
to some camp In the Wichita range. /
left the post in the morning and rode
hard all day without sighting an In
dian. At dark ! went into camp, and
had no alarm during the night, and at
sun rise was again holding for the
mountains. At about II o'clock,
while riding over broken ground, I
caught sight of an Indian taking COW
er, and halting my horse ! made the
peace signs with my blanket Ten
minutes later was surrounded by a
dozen warriors, who were evidently
astonished at my foolhardiness. ]
could speak their lingo fairly well,
and told them what / had como for,
and asked TO be taken to the nearest
village. This request was sulkily com
piled with, and at the end Of two
hours found myself In the little vii
lage OF Red Moon, chief of all the
Comanches. The village was scattered
along the rive Tor mile or more,
and ifnnibcreef 1t least a thousand
souls. My ADVENT was hailed with
whoops and yells and other tokens Of
satisfaction, and even when it was
known that / had voluntarily come
into camp ON an errand of mercy it
was hard to restrain some of the
young bucks from doing me injury.
! was taken directly TO Red Moons
tent, and my reception there was any
thing but cordial. He was anything
but noble In speech and look. BE
was dirty, unkempt and out Of sorts,
and ! had no sooner set eyes on him
than lSlew my mission would be
failure.
why does the dog Of white man
come to my camp2" was his salutation.
-Four days ago some of your war
riors captured white hunter O suns
journey to the west" l replied.
They did; and tomorrow he shall
der
II have come from his friends TO
buy his liberty. They will give Red
Moon more silver than he ever had
before"
II spit upon the white mans
money! he replied. THE white man
has killed my young men, built his
forts ON my land, and would drive us
away If he was strong enough. !
would not fake food from his hand il
were starvingr
| named the price which we would
pay for the doctor, and tried TO make
him understand how many guns and
blankets and other things the amount
would purchase, but he grew more
and more excited, and finally shouted:
Does the white man regard the
Comanches as squaws that their heads
can DO turned by soft talk2 Only the
dog Indian begs for mercy from a foe
or takes presents from an enemy.
Were you to offer all you had / would
not give him up He shall die. l
have said itW
Finding him so obstinate and de-
termined, ! mentioned that ] had
come alone and put myself in his
power, trusting to his honor to be per-
mitted to return in safety.
''Did / ask you to comet" he thun-
dered. Are you not here TO insult met
You shall see the other prisoner die,
and then you shall suffer the same
fater
! began to protest. but was hurried
away TO q lodge, disaimed, searched
and very roughly used. Before being
left alone my hands and feet were tied,
and the buck who did this gave me O
good day in the shape Of a slap in the
face that made my teeth rattle. was
left alone until just at dark, when q
boy brought me gourd Of water, and
held it to my lips while / drank. j
thanked him and inquired where the
doctor was. He replied that he was
confined in q lodge about two hundred
feet away, and that he would be put
to the torture the next day. All the
tribe within call had been notified TO
be present / asked him about my
own fate, and he said it was under
stood that was TO die the day after.
If there was any doubt about this it
was soon dispelled. The boy had
scarcely disappeared when old Red
Moon appeared. He was now fully
dressed as a chief, and had on all his
dignity. was lying on my back, and
he stood over me for moment, glow
crluk aONH upon luc Will StNuHo OK
preston before he said:
Does the white man think the Co
manche dog that he can come into
his village and insult himf"
ION the contrary the white mar
knows the Comanche TO be brave"
replied, land no chief is greater or
Drawer than Red Moon"
But you come to buys us off"
Tho white man captured by your
brave warriors is neither q soldier,
hunter nor scout He is man OF
peace. living far away. He has never
harmed you, He is great medicine
man among his people. For these
reasons his friends hoped the great
chief would spare his life. We wished
to make you present"
white dog, you liel" shouted the
chief. You wish to get us in trapl'
] argued and protested, and again
appealed TO his honor in my own case.
He heard me through, and then gave
me several hearty kicks in the side,
and exclaimed:
'You shall diel You were fool to
GOMEZ"
The kicks made me mad, and feel
ing that | had no hope Of release l
opened on Red Moon in the choicest
Billingsgatc of the west. called him
coward, poltroon, squaw, buzzard,
and everything else mean ! could
think Of. offered TO fight him in
any way he wanted, and boosted that
/ had on one occasion charged five Of
his bravest warriors and killed two
and run the others into the woods. |
gave 1t to him straight from the shout
der for ten minutes without break,
and he did not interrupt me by word
or gesture. When | finally paused
for want OF breath he said:
THE white man is not a dog, as
thought for. lie is brave man. He
will not cry and beg for his life when
the fire IS lighted at his feet. Ny
young men shall let It be known at
the fort that he died without being a
woman"
And that's more than you can say
for any OF your warriorsl" flung back
at him. 1.-THE Comanche whines like
a dog when he is hurt. He cannot
stand fire. When his feet get little
warm he becomes a child"
He pulled his knife from his belt,
thinking 10 end my life then and
there, but on second thought he re-
placed it and walked out. Directly he
had gone two warriors came In with a
liberal supply Of food, and my arms
xxya,.a s,pttod and xuaa oivar a chauro