San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-08-18

to the rear in arrest. | am wounded,
sir, but l will not turn over this com
mand to you"
Wounded be hanged! Capt Noel
you've got a scratch or winch child
ought to be ashamed" was the furious
reply, upon which Noel, considering
that he must at all hazards preserve the
dignity Of his position, ordered Lieut..
Mason to consider himself in arrest.
And, dismounting, and calling to one OF
two of the men to assist him, the captain
got out of his blouse and had the sleeve
of his uldershirt cut off, and then, in
full hearing of the combat up the pass,
proceeded to have scratch, as Mason
had truly designated it, ,stanched and
dressed.
Meantime, the troop, shamefaced and
Disguised, dismounted and awaited fur
Their developments. For fifteen minutes
they remained there, listening to the bat
tie mile away, and then there came a
sound that thrilled every man with ex-
citement-with mad longing to dash to
the front; there came crashes of mus
kerry that told of the arrival of strong
re-enforcements for one party or another
which party was soon developed by
the glorious, ringing cheers that they
well recognized to be those of their COM
rades of Greene's battalion.
by heavens" said Mason, with a
groan, latter all, We have lost our chance
It's Greene, not old X troop, that got
there in time to save them"
The looks that were cast towards their
new captain by the men, standing in sui
len silence at their horses heads, We're
not those that any soldier would have
envied
Directing the first sergeant to talk half
a dozen troopers and feel their way eau
tiously to the front and ascertain what
that new sound meant, the rest of the
men meanwhile to remain at ease, Noel
still sat there on the ground, as though
faint from loss of blood. The bleeding.
however, had been too trifing to admit
of any such supposition on the part Of
those who had been looking on. The
cheering up the pass increased. The
firing rapidly died away. Soon it was
seen that the first sergeant was signal
ing, and presently man came riding
back. The sergeant and the others dis
appeared, going fearlessly into the pass,
and evidently indicating by their move
ments that they anticipated no further
resistance. The arriving horseman dis
mounted, saluted the captain, and re-
ported substantially that the pass was
now in possession of Maj. Greene's men,
and that the Apaches were in full fight
towards the south, some of the troops
pursuing.
Then at last it was that the "mount"
was sounded by the trumpeter. and half
an hour afterwardS-full three hours
after they should have been there
Capt. Noel. with X troop, arrived at the
scene. Lane, faint from loss of blood.
was lying under tree; four of his men
were killed; one of the helpless recap
tured women had been shot by an Indian
bullet; five more of the Devils own
D's' We're lying wounded around among
the rocks. Desperate had been the de-
Tense; sore had been their need; safe.
thoroughly safe, they would have been
had Noel got there in time, but it was
Greene's battalion that finally reached
them only at the last moment. And vet
this was the thrilling announcement
that appeared in The Queen City Chron-
icle in its morning edition two days af-
forwards:
Gallant Noel! Rescue of the InIian
Captives! Stirring Pursuit and Fierce
Battle with the Apaches!
"a dispatch received last night by
the Hon. Amos Withers announces the
return from the front of Capt Noel, who
so recently left our midst, with portion
Of his troop, bringing with him the wo-
men and children who had been run off
by the Apaches on their raid among the
ranches south of their reservation. The
captain reports a severe fight, in which
many of the regiment We're killed and
wounded, he himself, though making
light of the matter, receiving a bullet
through the left arm.
while the rest of the command had
gone on in pursuit Of the Apaches the
captain was sent by the battalion COM
mander to escort the captives back to
the railway.
This dispatch. though of private
character, is fully substantiated by the
official report of the general command
ing the department to the adjutant gen.
eral of the army 1t reads as follows:
"'Capt. Noel, of the Eleventh cavalry, |
las just reached the railway, bringing |