The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1889-09-18

found that was really helpless, my
feet bein' caught in the moose O. a
stout lasso.
Every soon, however, the skin was
dragged off, and l saw several lnjuns
who fell upon me an tied my hands
in jiffy, an found myself fast
prisoner in the clutches o a half
dozen redskins. But this wasn't as
discouraging as it was to dis
cover man holdin' the end of
the lariat, in whom l recognized
Yumez, the Mexican, who grinned at
me in a most diabolical way that
showed 1 need look for no mercy at
his treacherous hands.
"'Carambo! he growled. 1t is my
turn now. You sot Bill agin' me an
now I'll have my revenge
"'What does this mean?' I demand
ed, furious with rage Loosen me, ye
coward, an I'll
"'Carajo' interrupted Yumez. I'm
not such a fool. Ye had your chance
an We let it slip. Now you'll take
what you get.
"And with that the brute came up
an whippin' out his knife said: 'rll
jest mark we with a cross, so Satanas
will give you an extra hot roastin'
when he gifts We down thar
"An' then the half-breed gave me
the mark We see on my cheek, stranger,
an laughed long an loud, an the In
juns danced lively jig as he did it.
Hurt? Wall. no doubt it did, an bled
some, too, but l war so mad 1 didn't
feel the pain till long afterward.
Then the villains seized me, an
dragged me to the edge O the preci-
pice on which our hut stood, where it
was two hundred feet deep, the side
being perpendicular an as smooth as
a bald mans pate, an tumbled me
over.
Il fell about ten feet, an was
fetched up short by the lasso with a
jerk that nearly twisted my ankles out
O. jint. Then the brutes began pay
in out the rope, finally hitchin' the
upper end to tho stub O. the saplin',
till was left hangin' by the heels,
head downwards, danglin' in mid air.
My hands had got loose in the mean
time, but it didn't help me bit, for
1 couldn't double up to get hold O the
rope.
cit was a horrible situation, an !
think l should have died in little
while from rush O blood to the head,
but before l could perfectly realize it
in all its horrors I heard the sharp
crack of rifle no: far away, an then
one O the Injuns gave the most on
arthly screech as 1 ever heard, an
know'd thar was some sort o. skrim-
nudge goin' on above.
1.-The next minute some heavy OBJ
ject struck me on the feet, an was
jest glidin' past when without know
ing edzactly what I was doin'
grabbed on with both hands an held
it fast.
"What dye think it was? Hang
me, if it wasn't the Mexican hisself!
In foolin' about the end O. the lariat
he had slipped an tumbled over the
edge O. the rock, an 1 had ketched
the villain, an was holdin' him by the
leg, an thar we two was, hitched to
the lasso an holdin' on to the rascal
by the leg, an both swingin' head
downwards.
"Yell? You bet he did. I never
heard sech skreechin' as that skunk
set up. A pack O. hungry coyotes
wasn't a patchin' to it. What hap
pened. did We ask? Wall, see hyar,
my friend. what. under them circum-
stances, 'ud be likely to happen?
Pears sort as if my fingers all to
oncest got kind O. cramp in 'em, an
was powerful weak, though sech
hing never happened afore or since,
and they doesn't look like women's
fingers, do they?" and the speaker
held up before me pair of muscular
hands. which he opened and shut in
a way that suggested a grip of iron.
Then he went on:
= AS ! was sayin', the cramps some
l6w got into my fingers at that eyden-
,ical moment, an somehow or other
never knowed exactly how it did
nappen-the Mexican slipped out o.
ny grasp, an fetched up head first on
The rocks a hundred an City feet be-
ow whar nothin' ever teched him
again 'cept the buzzards that picked
lis bones clean afore next sun-up.
Next thing l know'd | was bein'
hauled up, hand over hand. as slick as
my sailor could have done it, an
when l reached the top, Bill and me,
lear old Bill, stopped jest long enough
% have a brotherly hug or two, an
hen we got under kiver an looked
'ound for the Injuns, but blow me.
,har wasn't single varmint to be
seen in any direction 'cept the dead
oerp that Bill had plugged through
he head as he came tearin' up to the
'escue
=" 'Ye see, pard, began Bill, 4 found
mum sign a bit up the valley, an l
bought I'd better come back, seem
IS how We wasn't feelin' we'll, an -
"Bill stopped suddenly an grew
'ery pale, an then l seed he was
'leedin' bad, an then he slid down on
he grass with sort O. gasp, an
eein' how it was, began to loosen
lis shirt to git at the wound, but he