The Southern herald., 1892-09-16


ullaE ianA- 5oLley urged ne Urclchsi
horses on For two miies the Whgoa
ground is way through TIE sand slow
" they went and mere slowly. and a
last The horses stopped End would Pul
no more. They embarrassed The horses
and Waer Went O. leading them while
Van Horn waited in The wagon until
his companion should come back with
the horses refreshed aRd water for him.
So Waer left him, and with his eanteen
and the horses passed out Of his sight
Van Horn erswlsd under the wagon to
wait in the shade for his return.
Night came and Wser did not come;
another day and another night. and
still be did not return At the end Of
two days he decided that his companion
had Perished and tried 70 save himself
Both came out alive and both are
here. This is the story Of his wander
ingS Waer told your correspondent:
Il looked back as passed around the
point and saw Van Horn crawl under
the wagon. That was the last saw Of
him until but let me tell you about it
as it happened.
when got near the tank tied the
horses to a bush. They were wild for
water aud was afraid they would
break from me and founder themselves
and foul the water into mud might
have spared myself the trouble. The
water hole was dry. These water
holes are not living springs you know,
but merely basins that catch the water
that drains from a hill and hold it.
There was not much rain last winter,
and the evaporation had sucked from
the ground the last drop Of moisture.
This was serious knew those
horses could not 60 on another day
without water, and without the horses
Il would not allow myself TO think
beyond that.
~ got the horses and struck of across
the desert again. There was q line Of
mountains twenty-five miles away, and
l expected to find water in some of the
canyons The horses began 70 groan
after bit / never heard a. pitiful a
sound before, and l hope 1t is the last
time ever hear H.
Then one Of the horses held back.
] tried to lead him, but he dropped to
his knees and then lay over on his side.
was terrified, but | worked and got
him up. A hundred yards further on
the other horse lay down, So II went
Then night came, but did not dare to
stop. There was no question Of grit at
all, only knew that it was either push
on or lie down and die. reached the
mountains before day break. but could
find no water. When the sun came up
could not travel, for the heat made
me so dizzy that could not walk, ! lay
under bush all day.
God, how | wanted water; Just q
spoonful, a drop. Several times during
the day tried TO travel, but could
not, for the desert and the sky whirled
before me, and down I'd go. About
sundown blood began to ooze from the
nOstrils of one of the horses, and he
soon died. Then the other one went
the same way, and l was alone in the
desert.
"Fortuuately, the lay of the land
was familiar 10 me. / knew the Gila
river was not more than forty miles
from me, and as had travelled nearly
that far from Van Horn, / determined
TO make the river. II went back TO
him without water knew it would be
all up with both of us. He might live
until got help. So away went; my
head was light and things swan before
me, but made good progress. re-
moved every stitch Of my clothing, with
the exception Of my shoes, and started
out l did not stop one moment, but
kept right on. did not think of get
ting tired. was crazy for water. 1t
was two o'clock in the morning when
reached the river. / drank and
thanked God. It was the sweetest
water that ever touched my lips.
after drinking all / dared, though |
felt as il could drink the river dry,
put on my clothes, filed my canteen,
and started for ranch house a little
way up the river It belonged to a
Mexican. / asked him for the use Of
horses and a wagon to 60 for Van
Horn. He told me that his horses were
not fit for the trip, that they would die
before they had gone half way, but
that there was a ranch about eight
miles further on, and the man there
might assist me
II ran as fast as could, for I knew
that every moment counted. The fell
low would not do anything, but pointed
out another ranch house about three
miles up the road and told me that he
thought the Mexicans living there
would help me. saw this man, after
hearing about Van Horn, was sure
he was dead, but did not like to tell me
so.
"When they heard my story at this
last place, however, they at once
hitched two mules to wagon and also
saddled two horses. Two Of us rode
the animals while one drove the mules
attached to the wagon. 1t was the
fifth day after l left Van Horn. We
started in the morning and reached the
wagon at one o'clock. Oh, the luxury
of that ride! It was hot and dusty, and |
my horses gait was not the easiest in |
the world, but the awful thirst was
not there and was not alone. As we
rode over patch l had traversed afoot |
the day before it seemed impossible
that / had been so long and suffered so
much.
ivan Horn was not there. On the |
wagon seat were two notes written by |
Van Horn. One was addressed to me,
stating that he had come TO the conclu-
sion that had perished and that he
had decided to try TO reach the last
place where we had got water. The
other one directed what should be done
with the wagon. One of the Mexicans
stayed with the wagon. With the
other took up Van Horns trail For