Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1891-02-07

change Of diet was welcome one. !
never passed such q time since / was
born, for dared not sleep for fear Of q
surprise, and the weight of responsible
ity / felt, with those poor helpless
creatures on my hands, was simply aw-
ful.
Late on the second day, when climb
ed the hill for the last look, / saw q
small band Of Indians not more than an
eighth of a mile away. They did not
number more than seven, but we're arm
cd and in full war dress, and we're head
ing straight for the hill. Dropping on
my all iOurs ran rs fast as l could to
the mouth OF the cavern, and scram-
bling down. soon had the women and
children crouched up in the far end OF
the larger division, where no shots fired
into the smaller could reach them,
though / hoped the Indians would
fail to find us il they halted.
Silence then was absolute necessity, and
the women impressed this on the child
rem. / then went back, and by cling
ing to one OF the bushes swinging across
the entrance of the cave. peered out to
see what the redskins meant to do. l
could see they had struck our trail and
suspected we were somewhere about,
for they dismounted, and scattering, be-
gan to search the woods.
"As they drew near our hiding place
! dropped down into it, and cooked the
guns the women had brought and my
own trusty rife. Isuppose my frequent
goings out and comings in had left some
trace, for they seemed to notice the en-
trance at once, and presently / saw q
head peering over. The dim light Of
the cave might have prevented the
owner from seeing me, but, rs Ill luck
would have it. the infant CHI lid spoke
Of walled out just at that particular
moment. The cry was stiffled in an in
slant, but it had been heard, and the
head craned over further, while another
and another popped over. / was crouch
ing down as close as could, but, hear
ing the click OF trigger, knew that
concealment was no longer possible, and
blazed away. Two screams told me q
couple OF heads had been hit, and the
third disappeared. heard voice shout
ing for the others to come up. and could
distinguish the tones of oOilOquy be-
ing held, though without hearing what
was said.
Presently lighted torch was flung
into the cave but had retreated into
the further one, and nothing being Wis
ible, the Indians were uOnplussed, and
heard one cry out that there was moth
ing there. Another retorted angrily
that some one had killed Blue Water
and Leaping Turtle. This was followed
by patter Of shots on the floor of the
cave, one of which, rebounding, struck
one of the children on the breast, but
though the bullet imbedded itself in his
skin, the plucky little fellow did not
utter Q sound. As their firing still pro-
duced no effect, the Indians did not
know how to account for matters, and
presently one of them was imprudent
enough to stick his head over the edge,
but / made no move, and they held
another council. 1t was evident that
they feared to enter the cave, not know
ing how many lay concealed within 1t,
and at last they bit upon the yeiy rlsn
/ had been dreading. /,
"A lighted torch was thrown over.
and quantity OF leaves and moss was
pushed after 1t, but their amiable inten-
tion of smoking us out failed, owing to
the dampness Of the leaves and moss
and having deluged the earthern floor
of the cave with all the water We had
on hand. Seeing this fail they sum-
moned up courage enough to enter the
cavern, and as we saw the five forms
leap over the women and opened fire
on them. killed my man instantly
and so did Mrs. Ridley, who Immediate
" let q dusky devil who, screaming,
rushed upon her, have the full contents
of the other barrel in his breast. The
other woman missed her aim, and the
next moment was in the grasp OF one
of the Indians, but before could come
to her rescue her SON, q boy Of II, had
flung his arms around his neck and,
hanging ON his back kept him from
striking, when the woman, picking up
o tomahawk, struck him tremendous
blow on the forehead. He dropped like
o log, crushing the boy beneath him.
The remaining Indian, seeing his COM
panion fall, made break for the en-
trance, and was just climbing out when
l caught him, and firing. brought him
down with broken arm and ball in his
side.
Seeing him helpless and thinking
him dying did not shoot again, but
went back to the women, whom found
shriel1ing with excitement. | cOngfat-
ulated them ON their courage, which,
however, was entirely gone rs soon IS
the call for 1t was over. IrOiled the In
dian OF the boy, who was considerably
bruised by the weight Of the dead body,
but otherwise not hurt. The wounded
Indian l found to be an old acquaintance
OF mine, and seeing he was dying rapid
" did not disturb him. He told me
that, finding Ridley's Camp deserted,
the main party had gone back home.
but that, suspecting me Of having warn
cd them, some Of the young hotbloOds
had followed us TO be avenged on me.
They were pretty certain that I was the
only man in the party, but did not know
but what others had joined Us.
well, we took possession Of the