The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-12-22
A MAD RACE FOR WATER.
And When 1t Was Found Death Rode Its
Surging Billows.

Surging BillOws.
GA mile fartheri Only mile farther
to waterp' the guide had called out over
and over again that afternoon as we rode
over the plains, on which an August sun
beat down till every breath seemed to burn
Ito lungs.
OF the 80 troopers five were dashed to
their saddles and little better than dead
OF the 80 horses seven had dropped in
their tracks since 10 O'Clock and been left
behind. OF the seven dismounted troopers
only two were with the column. The 9th
ers had fingered along until left far be-
hind. No water for man or beast for 30
hours, and we were pushing ahead for
Lost river. There was dbelish spirit in
the looks and actions of every man.
When the last horse dropped down every
man hurried on for fear he would be ask
ed to add some burden. Now and then
a man stood up in his stirrups to look
ahead. You could read his thoughts in
his crafty looks. If he discovered signs
of water, he was going to put spurs to his
faded horse and be the first to taste the
precious fluid.
The sergeant on my right had extracted
a bullet from its shell and was holding it
in his mouth and mumbling about lakes
and rivers and springs. The man on my
right was sucking at his dry and fevered
fingers and cursing himself because he did
not drink more before we left the fort.
As the column toiled along, lurching and
stumbling like an animal seeking covert
in which to die, men cursed each other
without the slightest provocation and re-
fused their sympathy for those still more
distressed Corporal johnson whispered
to me that if his horse S c;cvga ont he would
stay beside him and drink his blood, but
before | had answered word he struck
at me and hoarsely shouted:
"Nol Mol tell you mol You shall not
have one single dropl If you try to steal
any, will kill you'll"
1.-THE river The riverl 1t is right
ahead, and we are savedP'
A thin fringe of grass and bushes which
seemed dead for years extended east and
went across our course and ran back to
the mountains, 90 miles away. There
was the bed of Lost river. Men screamed
out instead of cheering as they urged their
horses forward toward the blessed water
which was to quench their thirst. We
looked down from the bank on the wind
ing channel of yellow dirt, so dry that the
puffs of wind raised little clouds of dust
here and there. Not drop of water had
run down that channel for weeks De-
spair fell upon the men-silent, hopeless
.despair-and its effect was curious No
one cursed or murmured.
On the far bank were few stunted cot
tonwoods struggling for life and furnish
ing scarcely any shade. One by one we
followed the officer across and pulled the
saddles from our horses and turned them
loose The officer issued no orders: the
men had no words for each other. Each
one threw himself down, with the feeling
that the end had come.
1t wasn't sleep, but that dim conscious
ness one has just before chloroform be-
numbs his senses. We knew when one of
the dismounted troopers dragged himself
into camp and fell among us with groan.
We knew when the sun went down. We
felt the cool night wind off the noun
tains, but if any one moved it was only to
turn over. Night fell, and the canopy Of
heaven was studded with stars. Nine
O'Clock, 10, II, midnight found us still ly-
ing there. Then came curious sound-a
sound like gale advancing upon ship
over a calm sea. 1t grew louder and louder,
and with it was mingled the neighing and
galloping of our horses. Men who had
fallen down to die sprang to their feet to
behold a wonderful spectacle. From bank
to bank Lost river was full of rushing,
foaming water, sent down by cloudburst
in the mountains miles away.
"Waterl Waterl" shouted a dozen hus-
ky voices in chorus, and next moment
there was mad rush. Men and horses
mingled together. Men and horses rushed
into the flood, to be swept down and
drowned together. A quarter of an hour
after that rush there were only II of us to
answer to our names, and only half doz-
en- horses were nibbling at the parched
grass around us. Back on the trail were
three or four corpses in uniform. The
rest of the troop were victims of the flood
which rolled past us.--Kansas City Times