The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1893-04-22
CORPORAL JrM's FATE.

At midnight the scouts came in with
information that they had discovered
an Indian village n few miles away,
and two hours later the officers passed
about from tent to tent and aroused
the sleeping men. Horses were brought
in and saddled, ammunition overhauled,
and sabers buckled 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 a 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 a child was
waited to our ears across the valley.
1--WE shall charge right into the vii
iage. Don't fire upon any of the squawa
unless they take part in the fight.
Keep together and mind the bugle
CALI"
So the order came down the lines,
and ten minutes later daylight was
strong enough for us to make out the
wigwams. We rode forward few
hundred yards, and then the bugle
sounded the Charge" and away we
dashed.
Military reports have told you how
It was The Indians had somehow
been warned, and were lying in anu
bush in the dry ravine in front of the
camp We were staggered-checlSed-
slaughtered - routed two Indians
killed and two wounded; thirty out OF
seventy troopers left lying there in
front of the ravine-all dead 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 q prisoner in the Indian camp
Corporal Jim is an old veteran of the
war, and this is not the first time he
has encountered hostile Indians There
are seven notches cut into tho 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
boast, but we know that he is brave
to reclSlessness 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 wrealing vengeance, Cor
poral Jim, turns pale, and fnintness
steals away his strength.
A prisoner in the hands of the
! Apachel 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 Apachei
know how to intlict and prolong. They
have ever been called the devils ot
earth. They are born with the feroci
ty of q tiger; they are reared to be
merciless; they are trained to torture
and kill; they die happy if they can first
inhict deathblow.
AS the lines are formed and Corpora,
J Jim is unbound and conducted to the
/ head of them he knows what is coming
| He is to run the gantlet. 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, {
I sub-chief. With his own hands Corpora
Jim bound up that chiefs wound on {
field of BATTLE gave him to drink from
! I, l., l..
the eXasperated trooper who wanted t.
finish him. Has the Apache forgotten
the incident? His eyes fash fire, anC
there is murder in his look. GRATITUDE
in an Apache AS well hope for it in
hyena! On his left is young Gray Eagle
the only son of a great chief A yea
ago when we charged village the bo,
was wounded and captured. 1t wa
Corporal Jim who had him in charge TO
six weeks showing him every kindnes
and consideration. Aye, it was the cor
poral who pleaded so hard for his pris
oner that vigilance was relaxed an,
Gray Eagle escaped from the fort III
is impatient for the torture to begin
He would infict it with his own han,
II permitted.
There is no hope for Corporal jim
He will be carried on the rolls as "miss
ing-supposed to be dead" Around tn
camp fires for year to come the boy
will mention his name in whispers an
hope that he was dead before the re-
demons reached him. 1t is high noon
The sunshine never seemed so mellow
the sky SO blue, the distant mountain
SO grand. There is shout along tn
lines The Indians are impatient 70
the torture to begin. The corporal Is
brave man, and a man in his prime. Ii
will last for hours and afford them
feast. They have let go OF his arms
and he is standing alone and waitin
for the signal to start The signal /
given, and as yell rends the al
Corporal Jim jumps to the left
wreaches tomahawk from the hand
OF warrior, and the next instant he
flying over the ground with the spec
OF horse, Thirty warriors rush afte
him; thirty more mount their ponie
and pursue.
Some day when these red devils ar
again being fed and clothed ut govern
ment expense and complaining of thei
wrongs" they will tell us the rest c
the story. They will not exult as the
tell it They overhauled Corporal jim
and he turned at bay and fought 6
desperately that they had to finish hiI
then and there. He did not die alone
and those who tell us might show tn
scars of wounds inflicted by him in tina
last desperate struggle if they would
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