The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-08-02
A ouIcksANp EPISODE
How One Quiet Man Defeated Party of
Redskins.

Redskins.
The man had refused to take drink,
and had also declined tobacco in any
form; he had even refrained from pro-
family, when the occasion would have
excused it, and when everybody else
had had an adventure to relate, he was
silent 1t was not strange, then, when
he left the smoker, that the drummer
should turn to the only man there who
knew his name and plumply esk:
"Who's your friend?"
''Him?" was the reply; "him? Don't
you know him?"
"of course don't; could say he was
preacher, though, judging from his
mildness and his morality"
The other man haw-hawed like mule
in meadow. "W'y," he said, 'he's an
Injin fighter, or was, at least, when
there was enough of it in the west to
be called fighting, He was a corker,
too"
"He don't look it" asserted the drum
mer. "Have you got any affidavits?"
"That's all right" said the fighters
friend, "but let me tell you what he
done one time, and if you don't believe
me you tell him what fine lie told
you and see what happens"
'Go on with the story" replied the
| drummer.
''Well, once him and me had camp
out along the banks of the Missouri
where it's wild and woolly, and Injins
were as thick as blackberries in August.
never had much liking for the red
devils, but | wasn't afraid as long as
was with him, for they were as scared
of him as of pizen, and wouldn't poster
him unless they had whole band to
put on his trail. Our camp was located
in a sort of swale in the river bottom,
and there was mire and quicksand all
around it, except in one place, where,
if you knowed the way, you could get
in without much trouble. Well, one
day he went off up the river, leaving.
me in charge of the camp and telling
me to lay low, for there was signs of
Injins around, ans if anything hap
pened for me to let off two-pound
charge of powder we had loaded in o
boiler log, so as to give him warning,
as he would not be very far off. Moth.
ing happened until about o'clock In
the afternoon, when about half mile
off I saw him coming afoot with dozen
or more Injins close on his heels and
yelling worse than an election night
hullabaloo. was only a boy in then
days and didn't know just what to
do, but had confidence in him, and
got out my gun and revolvers
and waited for my chance to come in.
The Injins didn't know where our camp
was, and they didn't seem to know
what kind of ground lay between
where it was and where he was runnin'
along at the foot of the last bluff be-
fore the soft bottom was reached.
They didn't do any shootin', for they
wanted to catch him alive and have
fun with him after the Injin fashion
He had his gun, but wasn't doing any
shootin', and reckoned something had
got the matter with it. When they
first struck the low ground, about three
hundred yards behind him, they were
sure they would get him and they
throwed their guns down and let them
selves out. Then he began runnin'
queer and zigzag, and knowed he was
looking for the strip of hard ground
that led over to the camp. They didn't
know that, though, and when he struck
it and started over, he was quarterin
to them, and they set up wild yell
and cut across the bottom to head him
off. That was bad medicine for them,
for before they had gone two hundred
yards they began to founder in the
soft; but he just kept right on till he
got to me-"
"'Take this gun and give me you RS,
says he, this one is out of repair
81 handed mine over and took his"
"Now,' says he, young Teller, you
set down here and watch me show them
durn redskins how providence takes
keer of man that don't want no trouble
with nobody and won't have it,
neither"
''By this time the Injins were that
stuck in the mud they couldn't move,
and they looked as if they had been
sawed in two and the lower half
throwed away, so l sat down and
waited to see what he would do. They
hadn't got got within hundred yards
of the background anywhere, and he
went along it easy and quiet like, and
about every three steps his gun would
pop, an Injun would try to jump up in
the mud and sard and fall over and
when the gun had popped dozen or
more times he come back smilin'.
"'That jobs done, says he, let us
pray, and Pm squaw if he didn't flop
right down on his knees and offer up
vote of thanks that would have done
credit to any pulpit in the country"
''What did you do with the bodies?
inquired the drummer.
Nothing"
Nothing? You don't mean to say
you left them lying around your camp,
do you?"
"Well, yes" and ne smiled, ''only
they were lying around out of sight, for
in an hours time they had sunk down
in the quicksand, and there was moth.
ing left but lot of good guns and tif
teen or eighteen as nice ponies as you
ever stra idled, that we took in as a
rake-Cf."