Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-07
S 7 RY OF A S G A r
As Related by Montana Jim to a Star
Reporter.
Encounter With Horse Thieves In the
Mountains of the West-Sev-
eral Bit the Dust.

Col Jim Struthers, alias Montana Jm,"
was in the American House last night. He
was not awake. His intellect dangled
downward over the back of his chair: his
feet rested leisurely on the table; his arms
swayed Imply at his side and his mouth
was open. His breath went and came in
gurgles like the exhaust pipe of wash
tub. The Star man slapped him on the
shoulder with whack that would have
settled any amateur glove contest. and the
colonel returned to consciousness.
He yawned a few times and in
the process of pulling himself to-
gether combed his hair with his
fingers. thus lifting it from his brow, and
exposing long and lurid scar which start
ed on the right temple and Travelled back
ward till IT got lost in hair.
Hello, colonel, Come out of this, and give
the readers of The Star something to mar
vel at said the reporter. Montana jim"
yawned a few times more, twisted his arms
slowly round in their sockets and rubbed
his eyes as though Rip Van Winkling him
self.
Tell me how you got this scar" said the
prospector for facts as he caressed his vic
TINS forehead with loving touch.
This scar? Oh, yes. l -ecollect. Well, /
got that mark from being too game. 1t all
ranch near Pease' Bottom Montana, and
after the regular fall wind-up three If the
boys Catfish Jahnnie, Roaring Harry ard
Yellowstone Joe proposed that we AXE
trip through the Yellowstone Park This
was largely because joe as his sobriluet
indicated, had seen a good deal of experi-
ence in that tourist-haunted part OF the
country toward which the star of empire is
said to wend its way. He had been pro-
fessional guide therein at a period antetiat-
ing our acquaintance. but with which De-
Rod this story is in no wise concerned 1t
is quite probable that Joe wanted to re-
visit his old stamping ground so much that
he was willing to have the expense of the
trip divided up among three companions,
rather than to bea- 1t all by himself
But the story which am now telling YOU
must be more remarkable for facts than
suspicious. After a long and delightful trim
we came within the shadow of the Yellow
stone mountains and camped. 1t was a de-
ightful spot. On one side ran the tracks of
the Northern Pacific, and every few hours
trains rushed by. On the other side a little
stream 6abbled and spari;led 1t was about
noon when we halted. There were high
nils all around us and plenty of timber
They Looked Suspicious.
After dinner we sat on the railroad wait
ing to see the overland express dash hy,
when from the brush down the tack three
men came out. They strolled along in the
direction Of our camp. We were d Eood
many miles from a station, and 1t was an
unusually suspicious circumstance TO see
these fellows iramping along the ties The
were bad Visaged, and thei- general appear
ahce Cld not impress us very favorably As
they got within about 100 yards of rs tba,,
htllooed In familiar wild west style and an
preached us ciyilly enough. The spokrsn,ln
said that one of their horses had eitbar
stayed OF had been stolen and he wanted
-, 70 MO" II we mad seen any horse answer
ing the description which he gave. OF
course. we had not, and invited the stran
gers to eat dinner with us They MA no,
seem 10 be at all disturbed about the miss
ing equine, and during the meal stated tba,
sooo many horses had been lost in that
country within the past year. because of the
dishonesty of certain people
. Ihey tod us that their camp was down.
the track IN ravine about a mile distant
~ S.'lu mat they would be glad to have
us take dlnner with them on the morrow
we promised to do SO. However there va
some sneakins suspicion down in Tho sub
CeHar Oh our minds that something was
CROOKED ABOUT the whole business This
suspicion was not Gained in any vav nv.
the calculating glaECes which the narty
bestowed on our armament and stock
ma hat AFTERNOON 1t was decided that we
shouid picket our horses and stand watch
by turns throughout the night 1t is a
very common practice with expert horse
thieves to simply swoop down and STAN
pede the stock of an outfit in true Indian
fashion, but this program will never WORT
Where the stock is pcketed. In a case
o. this kind the depredators simply SNEAK
around the camp like coyotes and cut the
ropes.
An Equine Mash.
I'm our outfit we had one very wild horse
He was as wild as a mountain goat He
would run IL you'd point your finger at
him. The only restraining influence which
ne acknowledged was that exercised by an
other horse. The wild horse was SO abso-
iutely stuck on his four-footed friend that
ne would eat and drink with him and never
seem satisfied without being in his COM
pany. True. he would fly off at a tangent,
but he would come to his mate, wagging
his tail behind him. We picketed all the
horses excepting this one. 1t was between
II ana o'clock when Roaring Harry
whose turn II was to stand guard entered
the prairie schooner and turned US all out
quietly with the remark that something
was up. The wild horse had run UP along
side his gentle friend and was putting anad
snorting in perfect fever of fright
We reasoned that the thieves had an
preached the camp and run on the untamed
animal They would conclude from this
that the stock was at large, and would
most likely attempt to stampede it. With
this theory in mind we took positions along
the trail which the thieves would follow
should they swoop down. My perch was
under an overhanging bowlder where |
could not be seen for the gloom, and from
where by the faint light of the stars /
could see pretty clearly all that went on
on one side of the wagon. 1t was showing
and blowing, and otherwise unpleasant
We had been on guard this way for perhaps
an hour. Everything was dead still, but
for the howl or cry of some wild beast in
the timber We thought that we heard
something which sounded like hoofs away
up the trail. Nearer they came and more
distinctly they sounded they struck
the frozen ground from which the snow
had been blown away. Then the sound
ceased. The party of horsemen had halted
We knew what was about to come and
every man took firmer hold OH his Win
chester and took good care that the ham
mer was up Then there was a sharp clat-
ter and a rush. Down the trail the thieves
were dashing full tilt
A Lively Attack.
las the squadron emerged from the
shadow Of the pines their outlines could be
seen. Bang! Bang! Whizz! Click, click,
Bang! Bang! Two horses dropped and one
rider bit the dust. as they say in the novel,
and his steed pressed by. Others of the
party rode by in a hurry. One of the
horses dropped directly opposite my station
Evidently his rider was full of life and
hope, for he arose on his knees and knew
instnctively that his gun was going to
his shoulder. when my trusty rifle flashed
out The blaze of my gun was the signal
which located me to him. He replied as
tnvr