The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-01-26
CORRALLED BY FIRE.
Story of a Wild Night Ride on
the Plains

II was the end of scorching day in
August, 1910.
The heritage # the prairie, which
month before had been green a" sue
cuIent. was withered to its taproots-
The sun had drunk the last drop from
.hc slough bottoms, and the mud beds
were crlss-crossed with cracks till they
looked as if they never would hold
water again
At last the sun had set, and. tired
ont from a long days hunting,
tethered my thirsty horse and
lav down myself l had bur
roved with my heel and my knife fully
eighteen inches below the crust OF
mud. but had failed to find water i
know it would be morning before
enough moisture would filter into the
hole to satisfy the thirst of an abste-
miouS ground hog.
4 few ill-tempered mosquitoes ouZzed |
around, but / succeeded in driving them
off with pipe of tobacco before gong
To sleep
cannot tell how long slept before
| was awakened by the wild snorting
and struggling of my horse, Peter. ]
ONLY know that the sharp clatter OF
his hoofs upon the hard ground aroused
came conscious OF Il strange choking
sensation.
Great God-Firer' i excla lined,
sprinrinr To nv feet and rushing in
the direction of my horse.
The wind, which had barely waved
the spindly grass when l had laid
down, was now blowing quite strongly,
and a dense black smoke rolled Defore
it along the prairie and env, lopcd
everything in obscurity. Throug lhls
murilv mass, and above 1t, could DIS
tinctiy see dull red glow.
..SohIE Peter. sohr' / called as !
CROPPED my way toward the poor fright
cncd horse, who WAS securely tethcred
by the fore foot. and evidently believed
himself deserted.
.-Soh. Peter, sohr' My hand was
uDon him and he whinnied at the
touch. then stood trembling while /
bitted him and threw the saddle upon
his back.
As soon as had cinched the girths
| cut the rawhidc lariat from his fcSiociI,
then stood motionless for one instant
while | listened To determine whether
! could spare the paltry time necessary
To take up the tcther rope from the
| other end.
| The heated air blew into my face,
and now and then pieces OF burnt grass
| fitted 10y me, but it was not either OF
these warnings that made my heart
stop with fear. 1t was the dull,
laundering rumble of a staInpo de-a
stampede Of buffaloes! ! knew i only
too well. for had heard II once be-
fore on the banks of the Pipeston@
| Easy. whoa. Pete | said sev rely,
as the horse began plunging vio-ently
in his efforts To free hinself from re-
straint-
hesitated no longer. but flung my
self upon his back, and he sprang mad
Iy, away over the smoke shroudeo
praIrIe-
cornparatively unknown country, fun
IF b,d,,er and gopher holes, anG not
knowing at any moment whether Inc
next would find me still on horse back
or rolling head over heels down a
steep bank, with possibly broken
neck.
suddenly felt myself flung over tho
ro,umel of the saddle into the da-A
J ,,.ss The concussion was terrible, a
f,u souarely on my back, but di'
not los. presence of mind SprinGlne
-o my feet. dazed rs l was, i grope'
around and grabbed Pete by the hea'
inst us he was rising. j knew, how
ever As soon as / heard his laoore'
breathing that we could never reneH
i the old rate of speed, but must I'M
some other method of escape from In
,urriner ocean of life and fire that wa
steadily rolling mp behind us-
: Pete" gasped, for the jarrlng
hal received had to some extent give
me back my power of speech, I'VE re
:. pretty bad fix. but do the best yo
s. can
From time TO time i turned IN III
.addlc and pecred back into the my
terious ruddy haze, bat 1T was not III
tI had been deceived dozen time
: bv heavy pillows of smoke that /
last distinguished the forms OF the Du
5 icloes and realized that the living ti'
4 WAS close upon us
Presently | could hear their va
.,nortings as they jostied and crush'
one another in the mad race Ior III
r Then | could see their dark grizzb
forms against the glare, made doup
s nlonstrous in appearance by the ma
T. nifying influence of the smoke and
own fear.
showers of red-hot straws and gra
dranrllt and hurried ahead of I
= flames fell like fiery goads@upon I
:, frenzied animals, sdriving them TO
!, newed exertions.
Pete was beginning to fag, and NJ
:, and then his hind feet failed TO cal
- clear of the uneven sod and he was
: most thrown to the ground, out ea
{ time he recovered himself and st
he born
- terror.
'' Suddenly | was aware that we W.
struggling through heavy growth
n rank grass, and then we plunged Il
le' AN empty slough hole!
Oh Never shall / forget the nom
\ hen Petc's feet struck with .
AT shutter into the sticky mud: or
-er haIf-dozen frantic pluuges he made
It, fore giving in, or the moment gan
round over my shoulder TO see how
his buffaioes would fare
lat Pete struggled on. pulling h's
till from the clay with n noise like the DIR
vn. inr of a cork. but. tired and ha
of canned by my weight, he was not
ned To lSoep ahead of the living line
ost was craining upon him with e'
en- stride. and which was now scar
twenty-five yards behind us.
Ispranr from the horses back,
calling him eneouragingly by M
-, rushed on in front
80 The mud crust supported me- an
.-l.~l nv brain FOR sore
00' of avoiding the stampeding bu-fa
To right and left as far as ! could
the struggling front of the herd NJ
SHA ed. and il was now across the
patch of mud, so IL was clearly in
sible to evade them by turning
their 90 arse.
NO The bare ground offered the
- natural protection that was avail