Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1889-02-08
ALKALl JIM.

highly valued friends among these hardy
and ~plctureaQue m~odntaineers, In person
4 fully ia feet tall and very slim. The
hair or LIS head - thick. but un~naturally
and appnrcntiy pr~emsturely white.
Oeer.y Get gray eyes twinkle checrily
Nv 70 cheek bJnes, over which Is tightly
s.TOtched q skin the color Of sole leather.
esneath which the play Of every muscle
Is plainly seen. Spry as a cat and tough
- q pine knot exactly expresses the
physical characteristics Of this quiet. self
contained mountaineer.
The other evening we were seated out.
side the cabin door, after the days work
was done and supper had been eaten. !
bad just expressed my wonder AZ to the
way Ia Eh'ch ''Fidgety Bull" who is one
Of the guietest Of men, came by his name,
when Jim. after slowly blowing a cloud
Of emoko, asked me; Ibid ye ever hear
how ! KEN by my namef"
had not and asked for information
Jim settled himself down comfortably on
his rough stool and began:
1T uz this yer way. Because. long
bout fourteen year ago ! he'd a bit NV ex
perience tibet KEN blame near putin an
end tine an left me In Jess about tn
wuss fix ! ever seen. sides turnin' my
hair plum white-ez Il Is now-in a weeks
NA0gH . "AA u yWAAh AGAAcE IA III 9NhNEot
18th more grit than sense. IN I'd listed In
tn army. Belonged t b troop In til
Fourth cavalry. We NJ stationed down
TO Fort Bowie. Arizona. an my time uz
most out when this thing happened. n
a whole company o soldiers got lost, n
several nv EN- died IA most all perished,
n they was tn wust suffertn' fer q while
y ever hear tell on.
I'VE w KEEP near tn reservation whore
tn Apaches stayed. less 1 be handy In
case o trouble. One day some o tn red
devils got out n TUX tn war path, n DO
gun KILN all tn settlers they cd find
Our company wuz ordered after EN-
when they'd got q dern good start. Nv
course. We'd ft Injuns Hfore, n ruther
TUX kindly to It. fer It promised sumthin'
I break up tn monotony o camp life.
Our captain was of on sick leave, IA tibet
left us under command o Lieut.. Hanson
Percy, his name wuz-a young fcller t
never d been west till he'd been sent out
from West Point tn same summer. He
wuz q regular dude; wore O white
shirt all the time; alters he'd his boots
blackedi ketched bugs n pinned EN- on q
board n studied 'em; seemed { enjoy It.;
camo from Boston. Thet mostly settled
1t 18th tn boys. They didn't fancy Gghtin'
Injuns With him. But orders Is orders,
n grumblin' don't go. 80 We started, all
the samo.
''Th' Apaches wuz last reported bout a
hundred n fifty miles north. ~ git on
Their trail we he'd { cross one o them dem
plains full y alkan n sage bsesh n moth
In else but rocks n sand. n mebbe q few
cactus n mesquit thrown in fer good
measure. Water wuz not t DO thought on
there, only In spots. where they w q pool
here n u spring therc. Jess 30 1t wouldn't
all be like hell. reckon. None on us
knowed tn lay o tn land. so We TUX a
guide-Mexican Joe. they called nina
big headed. bow legged teller. 18th y bull
fiddle voice n q mean look. He said he
knowed every inch o tn ground n speci.
ally oil til waterin' places. II wor II
August, n ef you've ever bin in Arizona
bout dog days y know what hat means.
Tn sun jlss nachully blazcd down n that
GlkRli plain wer red hot n gitten hotter
every blessed mint. N ez they wuzn't q
mite o shade n no umbcrils wo Jess he'd
{ tako It. We he'd oil our canteens filled
when we started IA expected L git t tn
first waterin' place before night. Long
bout noon KEN up q sand storm. Worst
things y ever seen. them saad storms Is.
Til wiEd Jess lifts tn hull surface O til
yearth n makes 1t turn summersets 18th
itself. so when tn fun's over y don't
know tn place yer seen a hour afore.
This ez tn worst one l ever seed. TIL
wind blowed Hail Columbia Y cudn't
SEQ q inch afore yer face. Tho all az
full o. sand n alkali n bits o. dry sage
bresh n dry mesquit branches n gravel.
II KEN ithOut y minit's warnin', n
we he'd Z turn our backs to It n
hold our breath n let 1t blow. 1t lasted
bout half on hour, / reckin. though It
seemed half a day t'1s. An stopped ez
quick ez II started But. Lord. We didn't
know where we wuz when It quit. Tn
lay o tn land wuz changed ell round
tn hills n hollers had snapped places.
Wed huddled up tn best wo could while
tn storm lasted. u they wuzn't one NV US
could tell which way we como or which
beat man n Mexican Joe. Looked like no
w astonished out O. q years growth. He
turned every way n each way no w sure
was wrong. r. make matters worse. tn
clouds wuz too thick Z SEQ tn sun n Wo
hadn't q compass In tn whole command.
That uz a mistake our captnin'd never
made. Finally Lieut.. Hanson took Joe
OF one side n p1avered it'll him. n Joe'd
nod his head n 81. senoredl' all tn time.
but ! felt suro he didn't know nOthin',
But tn lieutenant seed sumthin' had &
DO done IA put himself { til head O. tn
column n we started OF til way Joe
lowed uz right.
"Vvell. wo KEEP a-goin' till long awhile
'fore dark. n Mexican Joe he KEEP gittin'
neFyouser an %noryouser. Tn lieutenant
KEEP his eye on i'm, n at last he rodo up
elOst n sez; 100. l believe you're lostf
Thet deTn fool Mexican Jess Hoped of his
horse n onto his knees n begun T. beg fer
mercy. a.holdin' up his hands like he wuz
prayfn'. tn lieutenant laughed ut M
he didn't know ez well ez ho did after.
wards thot gittin' lost on a nlldli plain
amt no laughin' matter-'n told him {
git on his boss n como on lie did so,
but ] seed he NJ bout rum crazy-Eost o.
them Mexieans hafn't { fur Z 60 I crazy
land anyhow. We KEEP a-goin' till dark,
n he'd { stop II camp. TIL HOSES wuz
sufierin', but we couldn't help EN-. by
til time We he'd breakfast next mornin'
they wuznt q pint o. water left In the
camp. We wuz unB we'd be- all right In
III mornin'. fer we'd SEQ tn sun. But we
didn't sec q glimpse o him. Tn clouds
wuz worse n tn day afore. Directly we
bed another storm. like tn first. only not
quite 30 bad. But wo suffered lots more
from Il. An hour Rfterward tn lieuten.
ant pulled up his horse short like n luked