The Opelousas courier., 1893-04-01

W = WV yANEA. side of a canon,
about a quarter of a mile long. Perhaps
I should call it a r~avine, for it was not
7ver forty feet deep, perfectly dry its
whole length. and light enough any,
where to see to work by. We drifted
straight in for twenty feet, and then we
| agreed that there were more ore in sight
| than we had ever seen before. There
was a mine worth $500, 900 if it was
| good for a cent, and for g time our big
find broke us ali up. Then we began to
cee1vass the drawbacks. Nevada was a
new country then compared with to-day.
Only a few mines had been opened and
little or no machinery introduced. We
were far from any settlement, right in
the Indian country, and if we had had a
| thousand tons of ore out of the ground
it would have been worthless. Our only
| show was to satisfy ourselves that we
had a good strike and then hang or till
things came our way.
My partners were named McCabe and
Thomas. While Thomas aud I stayed
to make a rough survey and a rude chart
and do further developing, McCabe
started for Austin with the pack mule
to bring out a supply of provisions. He
left us about s o'clock in the morning.
Up to that time we had not seen an
Indian, though knowing there were
plenty in the valleys below us. McCabe
had been gone about two hours when the
pack mule came into camp on the dead
run, and we were hardly on our feet be-
fore we caught sight of a dozen Indians.
The ravine ran north and south,
and we had our camp at the south
end. We'd have been surprised and
wiped out but for the mule. As it was,
Thomas opened fire and held the crowd
off while I got our stuff into the r~avine,
which was the only place offering any
shelter, in ten minutes from the first
alarm we were under cover, but the out
look was anything but hopeful. Just
where we had drifted into the bank was
an overhauging OF rock, which madC the
spot a safe shelter, and there we brought
up. The bottom OF the vim narrowed
there to the width of q wagon track and
was obstructed with pieces Of rock which
had fallen from above. In fifteen min
utes we had a pretty good breastwork
each side Of US, and then we waited to
see what move the enemy would mike.
We were quite sure they had killed Nc
Cabe, and l may tell you here that such
r,no tho aoc No ha1 k-1 noIo Lo-
relied rifles and two revolvers, with about
fifty rounds of ammunition apiece. We
had enough flour and pork to last us a
week, and we had the mule with us if
driven to extremity. We didn't feel like
whooping, but we were not SO badly dis
mayed at the prospect.
Perhaps you may have read of Corporal
Day. He was in the regular army and
stationed at Fort Bridger, in Wyoming.
For some derelection of duty he was re-
duced to the ranks. In revenge he at
tempted the life of his Colonel, and then
fed to the Indians aud became a rene
gade. He swore never to spare a white
captive, and on n occasion he assisted
in the torture of three of his old COM
rades. He kept drifting further West,
and it was the corporal who was at the
head of the gang which attacked us. It
was now five years since he became a
renegade, and stories of his ~ferocity and
cruelty had been circulated among
miners and prospectors all over Nevada.
The first move made by the enemy was
to get possession OF both ends Of the
ravine. The next was to push Corporal
Day forward from the south end with
a flag Of truce. AS he dressed like an
Indian and was very dark ~complexioned,
We did not know it was a white man
until he spoke. He came forward to
within twenty feet of the breastwork,
and called out in a cheerful way:
"Well, boys, there's no tenderfoot
:bout you! All ready for business, I
see! Pvecome to have a little talk with
you. You are only two. while We can
bring up 500 men if need be. It will
be much more sensible in you to surren-
der at once. No use trying to hold out
against such Odds"
tAnd what if we surrender" asked
Thomas.
"Well, they'll gobble your outfit and
let you go. I'll pledge you my word
that no harm shall come tt either OF
you."
He spoke like an honest man, and yet
as be talked we reeoilected half a dozen
instances where he had induced surren.
der in like manner and then solicited the
honor of binding the prisoners to the
stakes. After a brief consultation he
was informed that we proposed to fight
it out. We expected that he would
buster and threaten, but he did not.
On the contrary, he said he was sorry
for our determination, as he could not
influence the redskins in case any were
killed or wounded. He finally with.
drew, saying he would give US half an
uour TO make up our minds. When he
q gone we debated the question afresh,
.ld Tor a moment we were inclined to
trust him. Then we remembered the
story of his inducing nine prospectors
and hunters whom the Indians hal
sorralled near Beaver, q. T., to surrea-