The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-05-09
A BRAGGART In LOVE

The wome had gone to the drawing
room, and we had finished FIRST cigars.
when the conversation struck on rnatri-
mony. We were all married men, ex-
planning how it happened. The other
guests had told in turn their little story
in the free confidence one easily feels at
the end Of a perfect dinner. I had r.
lated my romance, and we now turned
to our host.
Marlin, how did you win your wife"
Its a long story-began ON hunting
pass in the Arizona desert, crossed the
water and ended in Colorado. Light
fresh cigars. No, I'll take Mexican.
Butler, bring the chartreuse-green for
me, if you please"
| think it was the summer of 1886.
Geronimo was not yet taken, and we
had been chasing in our turn until, for
lack of backs and feet, our horses were
tagging in the race, and we were set to
watch water holes in the San Simon, SO
polluted with alkali and arsenic a SEN
sible savage would have Stunned it, az
my dyspepsia, which dates from that
campaign, tells me ! failed to do.
Somehow the Geronimo campaign
reminded me of fox chase-the Indian
scouts keeping their noses close to the
scent, like dogs, too slow to force the
bush into the open, while the various
troops, like hunters in different wind.
held and lost the place which promised
first at the finish. II you know Arizona
at all, You will recall how sharp and
rocky are the crests Of the divides Be-
ing lines of most resistance in this lane
Of deep erosion, they retain the SHARP
jagged profile often seen in the SNOW
ice of mountain drifts as it disappears
in early summer. Below these scoops
lie a colony of rounded foothills reced-
ing and growing less until they end in
broken bowlder mesa, which, with
numerous arroyos, fades into the soft,
level adobe plain and blends as unsus
pected as the n walls of a cyclic
rama Join the rocks and logs in the pit
below you.
The Indians preferred these SHARP
crests, which were for them both watch
towers and im~pregnable bastions. DC
~casionally they would strike across the
valley, kill a rancher and steal fresh
ponies, and some troop would cut In
and crowd them in the open till they
took the next divide and met some bar
rier that baked the pursuers and forced
on them a detohr, while some other
troop, through accident of locality.
would tack and take the chosen place
on the. trail, giving for a few days it's
dust to the other pursuing columns. Ii
was a weary stern chase, performed un.
der burning skies Of cloudless blue in q
thirsty land of heat intolerable. And ii
was best expressed by our lieutenant,
who on being informed by a certain
captain Of "Nubian Horse that he was
after Geronimo replied, YES, captain,
q long way after" 1t was like cutting
cards for an ace or calling the turn at
roulette or faro to tell which oneA OF
some % troops would be in at the death.
We had had our little squirt, had
brushed them of the divide and for
three days led in the open across the
valley to the Sierra Madre, where fresh
or horsefiesh cut in from orr right and
took from Us the place Of honor and left
as, foot sore and back sore and winded,
at the base of the mountains, where we
were ordered q days march back into
the valley near the border to guard wa
ter holes of the San Simon in the sullen
month Of August. The nights were get
ting bearable, but the day heat still held
on with the stubborn i~nsistance Of d
southern hummer Our camp was moi
happy-the water was bad, d shelter
halves, but little thicker than cheese
cloth, proved leaky sunshades, and We
REINFORCED them with our saddle
blankets. We had no amusement excepl
TO growl, wish we were In the chas<
and wonder whose blooming intellect
had squatted us down upon ella mon
!, sters and sand files to watch watsr &c
/, foul neither soil nor sun would drink II,
The local sports Of the cantonmenl
were disguised. A week before they
were giving odds, 10 TO 3, on us Ii
the race and now used pool checks e
light cigarettes from the candles aboui
the cook FIRE. There was not d drop ID
anything Ia camp. The tobacco wal
running low. The only pack OF cardl
Was . monte layout orr packer hid
scraped from horse hide with 4 piece 81
j broken glass.
i Something wss going 20 happen, foI
the strain Wa telling on men, nerve,
The weather was too hot for camp idIe
neas, and No were near tho cline.
was first sergeant Of 4 troop then, ~
NEXT 70 . coward or d thief i think
toathed . dasertsr. We were mar -