St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1892-03-24

nor will he breathe whit faster
than when he started. He will go
for days without a morsel of food or
a drop of water; he will live On
snakes, mice and refuse, or if the
worst comes to the worst will shoot
his horse and eat what he wants of
him raw. Set out to pursue band
of Apache raiders, and if they are
hard pressed they will separate, each
for himself, so that the only way to
keep up the pursuit is to follow
them Individually, in which case the
Apache is sure to have the best end
of the contract. When the hunt is
over the dusky miscreants will come
together at some point 20 or 80 or
more miles away.
There were twenty-five of us caval-
rvmen, returning from one of our
fruitless pursuits of the terrible
Geronimo Our horses were worn
out and so were we. 1t was one of
the hottest days l have ever known
in that throbbing furnace of coun-
try We had several miles of baked
alkali plain still to traverse before
reaching the fort, where we could
secure shade and water, and what
we needed most of all else-rest.
Whewl but it was hot. Had not
the air been perfectly dry neither
man nor beast could have stood it.
The metal work on our guns was so
heated that no one could bear to
touch it with the naked hand. The
air shimmered and throbbed asst does
over a newly plowed field at noon
tide of summer day.
North, east, south and west was
one level stretch of plain, on which
grass grew Far to the westward
could be seen the outlines of the fort,
oddly distorted, through the culver
ing atmosphere, but in every other
direction was the naked, burning
desert.
We were strung along for a distance
of several hundred yards. In fact,
there was a squad OF five horsemen
much farther than that to the rear.
All the animals were plodd1ng slow
" through the sand, which it seemed
to me was hot enough to roast eggs,
their heads dropping, while we were
simply enduring it, grimly closing
our teeth, holding out to reach the
post.
Was there anything to be appre-
hended from Geronimo? Could we
old campaigners be entrapped
Low, level sand on every hand.
Well, right there in the midst of that
flaming plain, with ITS horrible sandy
waste, in which no spear of grass
could find root, that frightful chief
tain and his Apaches ambuscaded us.
1t sounds incredible, but it is the
fact.
Suddenly 1 heard the rifle firing at
the rear. 1t had dull, odd sound.
but it was close at hand, and as l
turned in the saddle, [ saw that the
squad farthest away were engaged
in a desperate fight with a party of
Indians, who were on foot, shooting,
striking and darting hither and
thither like so many demons.
We instantly wheeled and hurried
back as fast as we could to the help
of our comrades, but before we could
reach them three saddles were emp
tied, and Geronimo and his warriors
were scurrying across the plain at a
speed greater than any to which we
could force our exhausted ponies,
who sank to their fetlocks al every
step. We gave them a parting volley,
which wounded several, but they
managed to limp off with the help
of the others, and all were soon be-
yond danger. l don't know how far
they travelled off over that burning
desola tion, but it may have been
many miles, for they were capable of
doing it if they chose.
Those Apaches must have discover
ed our approach while we were a
good ways off. Knowing we were on
our return to the fort, they could
easily calculate where we would pass.
They then burrowed in the sand,
covering themselves entirely with the
blistering particles, SO that only their
snake-like eyes peered forth. Thus
we passed within few rods of them
without suspecting their presence.
In conversing with Gen. Crook
about the extraordinary incident,
that old campaigner smiled and
replied:
Il am not surprised have seen
them do the same thing myself; but
the Apache is the only Indian that
can do it. - Edward E. Ellis, in the
Chicago Inter-Ocean.