The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1893-09-16
pos lite bank. All, moi Something Il
wrong. From where we stand we can
see the head and shoulders of rider and

see the head and shoulders of rider and
horse; but both are stationary. Neither
shows out in full, and instantly we
understand, that, although the latter
may have jumped far more than twenty
feet, he has been obliged to take off"
too far back from the crumbling edge
of the ravine and has fallen short Of
perfect success.
our helpless crowd. All seems lostl
Not for ten seconds can the chest and
forefeet of the good horse maintain
their precarious hold. He and his
rider must fall backward into the ter
rible abyss Tom Ross sits in his sad
die not twenty feet away, paralyzed by
the emminence of the danger Not
otherwise can we account for hi. in
action while fractions of seconds Are
precious
One instant more, and the gallant
pair must perish before our eyes. But,
no; the old plainsman, Joe Carroll, had
come within fifty yards of the gulch
when the leap was made, and now, as
he spurs on still faster, we see his right
hand whirling around his head
hands hold, we know what the motion
means-and in another moment, while
yet score of feet from his mark, he
has thrown the loop of his lasso around
the imperiled mans body and his horse
upon its launches ut the same time.
The well-trained animal instantly pulls
backward; the tough rawhide line
tightens, and Kit Carson lies safe upon
the sward!
Alas, though, for the poor steed! Be-
fore his master has been fairly drawn
from his back, he topples over and, with
shrill cry, more fearful than that of
a human being in its agony, falls down
do wn-down to a swift, but happily
painless, death.
Then we awoke from our trance of
terror and ran with might and main
toward the scene. We found our lead
ers each clasping hand of the ia
nous scout, and were in time to hear
him say:
"Fve squeezed through lots of tighter
places than this, men, but have new
er before paid such price for my life.
| No amount of money could have
tempted me to part with that horse.
Hes saved my scalp over and over again
and has at last died for me- But"
turning to us, ''quick with your rifles,
| boys! Those red devils are going to
run for it."
Glancing to ward the baffled Apaches
we saw that they had not advanced an
inch since Carson's leap. but had con.
verged so as to form one body, and
avid -
Before turning, however, each warrio,
crouched low on the side of his pony
and the whole band delivered a mixed
volley of arrows and bullets
Ten of the former fell among us, and
the latter, being fred from old flint.
| lock, smooth bore buffalo guns, did nc
execution.
STEADY men, steady" enioined Kit
| Carson. "Shoot to kill"
At that time. repeating rifles had not
come into general use, but we all car
ried frst-class muzzle leaders, and al
| though somewhat blown by our race
each man of us stayed his rapid breath.
ing for moment and braced himself tc
| fire effectively
Now boys, now!' prompted the vet.
Gran fighter, as the cloud of ponies
turned tail to us, thereby partially ex,
posing the ir riders
Thirty rifles crack ed at the word, and
four mustangs and nine braves went
down; but before we could reload
every dead or wounded Indian was
caught up between two of his unhurt
comrades and, with demoniacal yells OF
rage, the whole crowd skurried away.
Then we brought our wagons down
to the ravine, made temporary bridge
with their poles lashel together end to
end in pairs, and quickly recovered Kit
Carsons weapons.
"How was it, Mr.. Ca rson?" asked
Carroll, "the reds seem to have got the
start of you this timc?"
YES" quietly replied the renowned
pioneer. ~ was fairly surprised for
once. I've been out for some days try.
ing to locate an easier road through
the foothills Having seen no Indian
sign about these parts, rode careless
ly round bluff this morning and ran
almost on top of that band of Apaches.
They were coming straight toward me,
not more than forty rods off, and moth.
ing but the speed of my horse saved me.
They've paid pretty dearly for their
fun, though. You'll see no more of
them this trip"
but why did you take the chances
of such a jump, instead OF riding off in
another direction?" inquired another OF
our party.
"Well,' replied Carson, "it was
risky. But knew the width of that
narrow spot to an inch. and believed
Blackbird could clear it, thus in mo.
ment gaining three miles. The reds
would have given up the chase then,
even If your party hadn't been in
sight, for they would have been
obliged to ride mile and half twice
over to get round the ravine; whereas
If I'd taken to the open country they
would have followed me for days.
Those wiry mustangs have no end OF
bottom.
"My poor horse did jump more than
far enough, but as You can see by the
marks of his hoofs on the other side
he started fully four feet from the
edge, and SO fell short in his landing,
Still, he would have saved himself il
he'd been perfectly fresh, for he has
more than once, with me heavily armed
on his back, cleared space of twenty.
five measured feet"
Kit Carson, with whom / afterward
became acquainted, was at this time in
the prime of life-about forty-twc
years of age, I think; and from his