The Wichita daily eagle., 1893-11-22
WATER BROUGHT DEATH.
The Fatal End of . Wild Race of Thirst

The Fatal End Of . Wild Race Of Thirsty
"a mile further! Only a mile fur
ther to water!' the guide had called
out over and over again that afternoon
as we rode over the plains, on which
the August sun beat down till every
breath seemed to burn the lungs.
OF the thirty troopers five were
flashed to their saddles little better
than dead OF the thirty horses seven
had dropped in their tracks since ten
O'Clock and been left behind. Of the
seven dismounted troopers only two
were with the column. The others had
fingered along until left far behind.
No water for man or beast for thirty
hours, and we were pushing ahead for
Lost river. There was selfish spirit
in the looks and actions of every man
When the last horse dropped down
every man hurried on for fear he would
'be asked to add some burden. Now
and then man stood up in his stirrups
to look ahead. You could read his
thoughts in his crafty looks. If he dis
covered signs of water he was going to
put spurs to his jaded horse and be the
first to taste the precious fluid. Some
looked back over our trail to see if the
dismounted men were coming up, not
because they are anxious for their
safety, but because we might find only
"a little water, and it would have to be
doled out.
The sergeant on my right had ex-
Aracted 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. Had one man
kn that detachment come upon spring
flowing a barrel of water to waste for
every second of time he would have
defended it with his life against the
thirst of his comrades. As the column
toiled along, lurching and stumbling
like an animal seeking a covert in
which to die. men cursed each other
without the slightest provocation and
refused their sympathy for those still
more distressed. Corporal Johnson
whispered to me that if his horse gave
out he would stay beside him and drink
his blood bat before I had answered
word he struck at me and hoarsely
shouted:
No! No! l tell you no! You shall
mot have one single drop. If you try
TO steal any ! will kill you.''
''The river. The river! 1t is right
ahead, and we are saved"'
A thin fringe OF grass and bushes
which seemed dead for years extended
east and west across our course and ran
back to the mountains, twenty 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
winding channel0of yellow dirt, so dry
that the puffs of wind raised little
clouds of dirt here and there. Not
drop of water had run down that chan
mel for weeks. Despair fell upon the
men-silent, hopeless despair-aEd its
effect was curious. No one cursed or
stunted cottouwoods struggling for
life and furnishing scarcely any shade.
One by one we followed the officer
across and pulled the saddles from our
horses and turned them loose. We had
meat and bread, but 30 fires were
l1indled. When a mans throat aches
end throbs, and his tongue fills his
l., % l.
cannot eat. The officer issued no or
ders, the men had no word for each
other. Everyone threw himself down
with the feeling that the end had
come. There were oceans of water
forty miles to the south, but neither
horse nor man could travel another
mile.
1t wasn't sleep, but that dim con-
sciousness one has Just before chloro-
form benumbs his senses. We knew
when one of the dismounted troopers
dragged himself into camp and fell
nmong US with q groan. We knew
when the sun went down. We felt the
cool night wind off the mountains. but
sf any one moved it was only to turn
over. Night fell, and the canopy of
heaven was studded with stars Nine
o D'cloclS, ten, eleven. midnight found us
living there. Then came curious
sound-a sound like a gale advancing
upon a ship over 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.
toaming water, sent down by cloud
burst in the mountains miles away.
Water. Waterr' shouted a dozen
husky voices in chorus and next mo-
ment there was mad rush. Men and
horses mingled together Men and
horses rushed into the food. to be
swept down and drowned together A
quarter Of an hour after that rush there
were only eleven OF US to answer to our
names and only half dozen 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-Exchange.
ectator-"Doesn' it require g
deal Of courage to go up in balloon?"
Aeronsut-"Not bit, ma am It's the
coming down in it.-Boston TRANSCRIPT.