Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-12-30

over and stage of the Southern route be-
fore the war. and was still the stopping
place for stages from Silver City, N NJ.
70 Clifton. Ariz. upon the eastern border OF
the San Carlos reservation.
Ms was my usual custom after camp was
pitched, horses plcke,el eeudnels posted.
and most OF the men asleep on the sand,
took stroll about TO see that everything
was all Right. II was a beautiful noon
light night One OF these wonderful nights
that you can see no place else on Q hemis-
phago save In Southern Arizona an l.onora.
Mexico. On the littlo slope just .ast Of tho
corral used for the stage horses, l could SEQ
| the little white fences surrounding the graves
Of the brave fellows buried there. Crave
yards are not large at these Western stage
stations, and little frontier outposta, hence
i has become tho custom 70 protect the
graves by neat llttle picket fences painted
white The fences arc built Just on the
edge OF the graves so that In the weird
moonlight one might almost Imagine them
10 be large cradles In which those they
guarded were nightly rocked to sleep. As
stood looking over at the graves and won
derlng how their occupants met trelr fate.
"Old Tex" the scout and guide OF the COM
mand eamo w.
'Ah, but theirs brave un lain in tina,
grave over Their to the right cap'ln,' said
he.
to 20 ON.
you never knowed Felix Knox? No. o.
coursc you didn't though, cause he's killed
afore yon come to these parts" the old
scout continued,
well, oap'ln, he was a gnm'ler" no
went on shifting his quld of tobacco az
TEX" always did when he set In to tell
4 story. "0ne O. those men yer hlgh-toned
tenderfoot from the East thinks Is ready to
shoot man he can't swlndle with his
cards. But they waFnt nothln O. that sort
| bout Knox, He WIS square up and up
| gambler with heart In i'm bigger'n an OK
| and ho had sand, TOO. Why, l seen I'm ouct
| over In Silver City, when a half drunken
| Mexican who'd been loan' swore he wus
| goln' TO XII i'm and drawed hts revolver
70 make II good, jump UP from his table and
| kick that Mexican clear into the middle o.
| tho road, But then that warn't nothin' to
| the sand he showed when these blankety
blank BANKED Attaches catched I'm"
| might digres5 enough to say that TEX"
| WAS not over choice In his vocabulary In
speallng Of the nations San Carlos pets. ana
| no hunter ever fel. the thrill Of satisfaction
| In bringing down a deer than "Tex" did in
s---2g one OF these ncndlsh red devils bite
well e wus this way" tho old scout
went ON. in the spring o. 10. business
git,en a llt,le dull Ia Silver City, Knox
| concluded 10 move over 10 Clifton which
wus Just then begnnln' to he a lively camp.
Hiring buck board with Mexican driver
he took hla wife and baby and started IN
! make the drive cross country. Tho Apaehes
hadn't been up TO any special deyitfy fer
some time, and he thought he could Ell
through all right Ho got down here 10
| forSs Ranch. when he WIS told he'd better
! not go eny further cause the red skins had
been skulhng round fer some days. and
II ned just go into camp for a few days
he'd DO welcome. But that didn't scare
Knox, not him. He'd fought Apaches dnzens
o times, and he declared he's going 10
make thatother thirty miles Into Clifton foro
shutdown. lniuns or no Injuns.
so after an early dinner he started nh,
But no hadn't gone only fist to that nil
| Their by tn river that we come out On this
evening. bout three miles out. when sure
enough an Apache come from behind a low
,ep mesquite tree down tn further side O.
n hill, Knox lsnowed right away thst
ther wus more Injuns Their. cause no coward.
iy Apache would ever take even chances
with white man. But he sus list as cool
about II as though he wus dealing III
ol.as nenlnd MS own table, He jumped OF
| IN wagon. grabbed a couple extra boxes AZ
cartridges from hts bag, drew His belt I'm
a notch r two. and kissing his wife and
baby Eeod-by told tn boy to run Ia, hossss
back TO IN ranch. while he'd stand On In
iniuna. and reei'ned he'd be a match fer
back here. toa. $50
Knox knowed he vus In fer IL ana a.
III wagon passed over tn hill he nrnss
from wayln his sor1brero to his wife ana
baby and made ready TO stand OH those rea
devils long rough to save his family. III
made dash Ter a mesquite tree q faw
rods away. hut hadn't reached il when n.
whole bank NV Apaches rushed up nv rirar
bank from where they'd been hiding. KnSx
ilst stood sun an pumped lead into Am
III 10 iell IN his tracks. allied with nearly
a dozen bullets.
Next DAY 4 party wus male IN and wen,
out where III nght took place. There ias
hnox'l body in n sun beside a ble esci,s
while ahoat him we're soatters6 sc,,nr,,,
empty shclla from bis Wincheslcr ona ~
volycr. showing that he'd done some Hwy
shooun. But mos, remarkable Nv All ~,
the fact tibet tn Apaches had not mniilatea
his body. Not only thls, bit theyd tessen
his hah'kerehief FINN his pocket. ,prcsd
It oyer bis face aud put snail s,onts IN
each corner to hold 1, down 50 a IA lsesn
tns SUD OF biz face. Some time af,ervnrd.
ono q ~ red aaviis told al Ia agaacy that
therd been foyty-iwo IN their tarty ~ ihe,
Knox Killed seven Nv 'am.
10 MIS- only gambler cap'n, but I'm
Yoln over 20 his gia2e yonder and taka nv
hat on IN honoF o tie brayeat man ever
= EDWIN $. GILL