The herald., 1894-12-15
TIE sowLoER WAS ALIVE.
An Apache ssrnfnsem That Nearly Cost
0oyernmcnt Courier His Life.

An Apache Strafnsem That Nearly Cost
Government Courier His Life.
"Talking of Indians and their strata
gems" said D. A. Ma-ston, lately OF the
United States cavalry. "thoy are past
masters in the arts of sisulking and de.
ceiving. An Apache will lilo behind
soapweed ON the open prairie, ana you
may ride past 200 or 800 yards away
and never have IN idea thnt there is q
redslrin within 30 miles of you ulless
ho decides to risk a shot at yoa. AS yet
pass tho sonpwoed he works his body
around SO as to keep it always in line
with the plant and you. Even on tho
open prairie. with no moro shelter thar
that afforded by somo little inequalit,
Of surface, he will sift dust over hi
body, fiatten himself out, face down
ward, against tho ground, and lying
motionlcss as stone will escape tht
observation of any except sharp ant
practiccd eyes. Sometimes in a group Of
cactus or Spanish bayonet, his buckakir
garments blending with the hues of the
plants. his faco and neck concealed by
tho head OF Spanish bayonet, no will
stand like post, indistinguishablo to
tho inexperienced eye, even at close
quarters, from the grotesque plants
about him.
"a queer experience Of this kind oc-
currod to me in my service in Arizona
during General Crooks last campaign
against the Apaches. Tom Merriam of
my troop and myself wcro detailed to
carry dispatches from Camp Bowie to
Camp Grant, up on the Rio Benito. It
was Il dangerous serY io6 ut that time,
and we had to keep sharp lookout and
bo ready to fight or run at a moments
notice, for there was no knowing at
what point on the route the Apaches
might not bo lying in wait to jump us
as we came along
"We were on our return to Camp
Bowie and had just crossct, the wooded
canyon where the cold spring is and
were coming out upon the open prairio
that stretches down to the San Pedro
river, when through the branches of q
low tree saw what took to be an In
dian ON the plain, about half mile
ahead. But on spurring my horse for
ward so as to get better look nothing
was to be seen save the bare prairie
with no sign of man or beast upon its
expense.
GAS we rode along spoke of the
matter to Tom, who laughed ut what he
called my scare, which ho said caused
mo to see imaginary Indians We came
opposite a low, gray bowlder upon the
ot,sin O0n nv ,p t,.ai
I don't remember ever to have scon
that rock before, said Tom, who had
been over the route several times. How
in the devil did it get there? I'll ride
over and tal.o look at it!' And ht
reined his horse and rodo toward the
object 1 followed him, few yards be-
hind.
His horse had scarcely taken dog-
Ell steps whom the seeming gray rock
moved slightly upward, and there came
from its lower edge flash and report
with tho scream of big caliber ball
that flappod Toms coat with its wind
and caused his herse to Plunge so sud
denly that Tom, one of the best riders
in the troop, not being on the lookout
for such happening, was thrown. AT
the same instant an Apache lcaped from
beneath the gray blanket that had serv-
cd him to masquerade as a bowlder and
ran like deer for the canyon, lcapiIg
to left and right rs he went to avoid tho
shots that Tom and l sent after him
from our repeating carbines.
eve knocked up the dust about his
feet and made him do some tall dodging
to the whistling OF our bullets, but that
was all, for we didn't hit him. To have
chased him wculd have been folly, first,
because we were bearing dispatches in
haste and needed the last ounce of re.
serve force in our horses, and, secondly,
because with the start he had we should
not have overhauled him in his run fol
the canyon, into which we could no,
have followed him. So we took the trai
again and rode our way with another
wrinkle added to our experience of In
dian tricl,ery and cussedness. New
Yorl. Sun.