San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-08-15

lie must determine at once WI pr inc
Indians are coming toward the PASS by
which the San Simon makes its burst
through the range, or whether, having
made wide dutOur around the little post
at Bowie among the Chiricahua noun
tains, they are now heading southwark
again and taking the shortest line to the
border before seeking to regain once
more their old trail along the San Ber-
nardino How often have their war
parties gone to and fro along those rocky
banks, unmolestel, uIpursued!
And now. secure in the belief that
they 49,, IT, -" 81 c.: '-' =. to
the rear in the stern chase %-.-G-i -
Apache breads. well knowing how easily
he can distance his ha,npered pur8uer5,
the renegades, Joined by a gang of the
utterly "unreconstruCted" Chiricahaus, o
are taking things easily and making
raids on the helpless ranches that lie to
the right or left of their line of march.
Fortunately for the records these are
few in number; had there been dozens
| more they would only have served to
swell the list of butchered men, of plum
dered ranches, of burning stacks and
corrals. of women and children borne of
to be the sport of their leisure hours
when once secure in the Businesses of the
Sierra Madres far south of the line.
Death could not come too soon to the re-
| lief of these poor creatures, and Lane
and all his men had been spurred to the
utmost effort by the story of the railway
| hands that they had plainly seen several
| women and children bound to the spare
animals the renegades drove along across
| the iron track.
Among the passengers in the pillaged
stage coach were the wife and daughter
| of an Indian agent, who had only recent
| ly come to this arid territory and knew
| little Of the ways of its indigenous peo-
pie Nothing had since been seen or
heard Of them. Capt. Rawlins and two
soldiers, going up as witnesses before a
court martial at Grant, were found
hacked almost beyond recognition, and
the driver too, who seemed to have
| crGwled ont among the rocks to die.
Verify the Apaches had good reason to
revel in their success! They had hood
winked the bureau, lodged the cavalry,
plundered right and left until they were
rich with spoil, and now, well to the
| south of the railway, with a choice of
| either east or west side of the range,
their main body and prisoners are halted
to rest the animals, while miles to the
rear their faithful vedettes keep watch
| against pursuers, and miles out to the
west the most active young warriors are
crying havoc at the ranch OF Tres Her
manos. 1t is the red glare of the flame
towards the sunset horizon that tells
| Lane the Apaches cannot be far away.
| The instant he and his comrades issue
from the gorge and peer cautiously to
the right and left not only do they see
the blaze across the wide valley, but
northward, not more than half mile
away, there rises upon the night wind
sound that they cannot mistake-the
war chant of the ChiricahuaS.
"Thsnk God" cries Lane, 1--WE are
here ahead of them"
Half an hours reconnaissance reveals
| to him their position. Far up among the
powders of the range, where pursuing
horsemen cannot rush upon them in the
| night, they have made their bivOuac, and
| are having a revel and feast while await
| ing the return of the raiders or news
from the rear that they must removing.
The range is rugged and precipitous
north of the gorge; cavalry cannot pene-
| trate it; but Lanes plan is quickly laid.
He will let his men sleep until 3
o'clock, keeping only three sentries on
| the lookout, one of them mounted and
west of the gorge to give warning should
the Indians move during the night. Then,
leaving the horses concealed among the
rocks south of the stream, with two men
to guard them, he will lead his company
up the heights and as close as possible to
the Apache camp, lie in hiding until it is
light enough to distinguish objects, then
dash dOwninto their midst rescue the pris-
oners in the panic and confusion that he
knows will result from the sudden attack,
send them back as rapidly as possible,
guided by three or four men, to where
his horses are cOrraled, while he and
his little band interpose between them
and any rally the Apaches may make.
Knowing well that they are armed
with magazine rifles and supplied by a
paternal bureau with abundant ammu-
milton, knowing that they outnumber
him three to one, knowing that by sun
rise the whole tribe will have reassem-
blad and must infallibly detect the pitt
full weakness of his own force, it is