Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1891-02-04
Whose Turn Next I?

ductor had punched the tickets OF TWO
passengers who had boarded at that
point, and was again at liberty to
pursue the thread Of one of the many
narratives to which l had been an in
terested listener.
Eyes, them were boss times, round
co." said he. 81 was a young man
then, and as clipper as any of
'em, l can tell you. Plenty Injuns
round the country, too, and they hat
ed a white man like pizen. That re-
minds me of little adventure l had
which will give you an idea of how
bitter an Injun can hate.
II was down to Silver City, in the
fall of 81. l had just returned from
a successful prospectin' tour, and was
sort O. loungin' around waitin' for
somethin' to turn up. / was gettin'
about sick of doing nothin', when who
should l meet on the street one day
but Bill Winters, the partner Of many
of my adventures.
"Hallo, captain says he, just the
man I'm looking for. Got anything
to do?
"'Well, no. says l. I'm kinder
rusticatin'. Anything startling ONT
"'Yes,' says Bill, there's pros.
pectin' party down here waitin' for a
captain. You'd better take charge.
Done says l. I'm your man. +.
What direction are we amin for?'
"'East, following the course of the
Carson river to the fork, near the
lake, then towards the Augusta river
says Bill, 'and then, just anywhere
"'Whoop! here's sport. Well, l
kinder guess l will CO. says l. Il
know the country like a book
"In three days we were provisioned
for two months trip. Four horses
and heavy wagon completed the out
fit. There were twelve men besides
myself. l always did hate the num-
Der thirteen, and / felt kinder blue
when | counted the party, but said
nothin'.
"We made twenty-five miles the
first day, and at sundown went to
camp by the river. After supper we
pulled straws for picket duty, and Bob
Mullen was chosen for the first two
hours, Bill Winters for the next. A
puff at the pipe made us all sleepy,
and by 8 o'clock the camp was quiet.
81 guess I'd been asleep bout an
hour when l was startled by an un-
earthly shrek. Others were waken-
ed, too, and we jumped to our feet and
made for the direction where Bob had
been pacing on guard an hour before.
The moon was shining bright, and we
soon found Bob. Poor fellow, he had
been stabbed in the back, and was
dead. Closely examinatln' the damp
sod near the body, we found the hoof-
prints of herd of wild hogs, who
had scampered away with Bob's dying
shrek. These hogs. / want to tell
you, were common camp-followers,
and when a man was on picket, would
come snootln' and gruntin' around
the camp. A feller wouldn't bother
'em unless they got in the path, which
they rarely did, and then he'd simply
kick them out of the way and pass on
"Nothin' happened the rest of the
night. At sunrise we buried poor
Bob and again examined the sod
prints, but marcy trace of anything
human could we find.
"The next night, after hard days
tramp, we made camp, had supper and
soon dead asleep. At 10 o'clock Jake
4 forget his other name--gave a
half yell which startled the camp, and
well, we found him just as we found
Bob, stabbed in the back, and stone
dead.
"I'll never forget the cold chill that
passed over me, nor the awe-struck
feelin' which was plain on every face.
We were all dazed, and no wonder.
There wasn't & man in the party who
wouldn't face death in fair fight, but
this arrangement gave a feller no
chance at all. The boys wouldn't
back out of the nights picket, and
took their duty without anything un-
usual happenin'.
"The following night, Bill, my old
partner, gave me quiet hand grip
and took the first picket duty. was
to take the next following him. At11
o'clock Bill touched me lightly on the
shoulder and said:
"'Be careful, cap, keep your eyes
open y gripping my hand at the same
time.
Looking carefully to the condition
of my rifle, l took my place on the
lookout. I made up my mind 1
wasn't going to be stabbed in the back,
so kept my eyes in all directions at
once, il such thing was possible. /
was beginning to get kinder careless,
when / noticed herd Of hogs snootin'
and gruntin' at the other side Of the