The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1893-05-19
CORPORAL JIM'S FATE.

AT m1dnlght the scouts came in with
information that they had discovered
an Indian village 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 buckle1 on, and seventy OF
us rode quietly away over the plains
towards the foothills Taere 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.
'We shall charge right into the vii.
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 for us to make out the
wigwams. We rode forward a 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 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 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 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 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
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.
Torispnar in tho of I've
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 infict and prolong. They
have ever been called the devils ot
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
infiict deathblow.
AS the lines are formed and Corporal
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,
sub-chief. With his own hands Corporal
I 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 flash fire, and
there is murder in his look. Gratitude
in an Apache! AS well hope for it in a
hyena! On his left is young Gray Eagle,
the only son of a great chief A 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 pris-
oner that vigilance was relaxed and
Gray Eagle escaped from the fort. He
is impatient for the torture to begin.
He would inflict it with his own hand
if permitted.
,
He will be carried on the rolls as ''miss-
ing-supposed to be dead" Around the
camp fires for year to come the boys
will mention his name in whispers and
hope that he was dead before the red
demons reached him. 1t is high noon.
The sunshine never seemed so mellow,
the sky so blue, the distant mountains
so grand. There is shout along the
lines. The Indians are impatient for
the torture to begin. The corporal is
brave man, and 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 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
him; 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 will not exult as they
tell it They overhauled Corporal Jim,
and he turned at bay and fought so
desperately that they had to finish him
then and there. He did not die alone,
and those who tell us might show the
scars of wounds inflicted by him in that
last desperate struggle if they would.
No man knows where he lies. The
Apaches dig no graves for their ene-
iac TNha xxYalxrae 1,