The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-04-20
CORPORAL JlM'S FATE.
lie Escaped the Torture and Many
APaches Died with Him.

Information that they had discovered
an Indian village few miles away,
mi two hours later the officers passed
| about from tent to tent and aroused
| the sleeping men. Horses were brought
| N and saddled, ammunition overhauled,
and sabers bucklei on, and seventy of
us rode quietly away over the plains
| towards the foothills. There was plenty
of time and the horses were not pressed
| beyond walk. Just as day began to
dawn we halted. While we sat wait
ing we could hear the bells of the In
dian ponies and the barking of dogs,
and once the crying of child was
waited to our ears across the valley.
I'VE shall charge right into the viii
lage. Don't fire upon any of the squaws
unless they take part in the fight
Keep together and mind the bugle
callr'
So the order came down the lines,
and ten minutes later daylight was
strong enough lor us to make out the
| wigwams We rode forward few
hundred yards, aud then the bugle
sounded the "cha,g e," and away we
| dashed
Military reports have told you how
it was The Indians had somehow
been warned, and were lying in am
bush in the dry ravine in front of the
camp We were staggered-checked-
slaughtered - routed; two Indians
| killed and two wounded; thirty out of
seventy troopers left lying there in
| front of the ravine-all deaa or dying,
thank God, when the fight was over,
except Corporal Jim. He had been
thrown from his horse and stunned.
| When he recovered consciousness he
was a prisoner in the Indian camp
Corporal Jim is an old veteran of the
war and this is not the first time ne
has encountered hostile Indians. There
are seven notches cut into the stock OF
| his carbine. Each one stands for a
warrior he has sent to the happy hunt
ing grounds.
He does not say this, but all of us
know it to be so. He has never uttered
a boast, but we know that he is brave
to recklessness AS he lies on the
| grass, bound hand and foot, with the
warriors dancing about him with bloody
scalp locks in their hands, Corporal
Jim groans aloud. As they lift him
up and point to the dead and mutilated
bodies on which the squaws and chill
dren are still wreaking vengeance, Cor
poral Jim, turns pale, and a faintness
steals away his strength.
A prisoner in the hands of the
| Apache. That means death. Ten thou
sand dollars in gold would not ransom
him. If the chief of that village knew
that every living son in it would be
| wiped out in revenge he would not
spare his prisoner. Not death by bull
let or stroke of tomahawk, but death
after hours and hours of torture-such
torture as only the merciless Apaches
know how to intlict and prolong. They
have ever been called the devils of
earth. They are born with the feroci-
| ty of a tiger; they are reared to be
| merciless: they are trained to torture
and kill; they die happy if they can first
inflict deathblow.
As the lines are formed and Corporal
Jim is unbound and conducted to the
| y.
He is to run the gauntlet That is al
ways preliminary. 1t is to whet the
appetites of the warriors for the feast
to come. On his right is Red Bird, a
sub-chief. With his own hands Corporal
Jim bound up that chiefs wound on a
field of battle, gave him to drink from
his canteen and defended him against
the exasperated trooper who wanted to
finish him. Has the Apache forgotten
the incident? His eyes fash fire, and
there is murder in his look Gratitude
in an Apache, AS well hope for it in a
hycna, On his left is young Gray Eagle,
the only son of great chief year
ago when we charged a village the boy
was wounded and captured. 1t was
Corporal Jim who had him in charge for
six weeks, showing him every kindness
and consideration. Aye, it was the cor
poral who pleaded so hard for his prs
oner that vigilance was relaxed and
Gray Eagle escaped from the fort lie
Is impatient for the torture to begin.
| lie would infict it with his own hand
IL permitted.
There is no hope for Corporal Jim.
He wilrbe carried on the rolls as miss
| ing-supposed 10 be dead. ~ Around the
camp fires for a year to come the boys
will mention his name in whispers and
hope that he was dead before the red
| demons reached him. II is high noon.
| The sunshine never seemed so mellow,
the sky - blue, the distant mountains
so grand There is a shout along the
lines The Indians are impatient for
the torture To begin. The corporal is a
brave man, and a man in his prime He
will last for hours and afford them a
feast They have let go OF his arms,
and he is standing alone and waiting
| for the signal to start The signal is
given. and as q yell rends the air
Corporal Jim jumps to the left,
wrenches a tomahawk from the hands
| Of warrior and the next instant he is
| flying over the ground with the speed
| Of horse. Thirty warriors rush after
aim: thirty more mount their ponies
and pursue
Some day when these red devils are
| again being fed and clothed at govern
ment expense and complaining Of their
wrongs" they will tell US the rest of
the story. They viii no: exult as they