The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1894-07-26
A WILD RIDE.

% 1NANy ~ OAA-AC '~tsAAA - LIZ
up to n Of the new forts on the upper
Brazos-I believe they called it Fort
Belknap or some such name. The sOjers
was a precious set Of grecnhorns-new
recruits, I should think.
"Wcll, these fellows were under the
command Of a white skinned, g"irIish
looking young chap, fresh from West
Point. But young and green as he was
the lieutenant was a gentleman and at
heart as good a fellow as even lived.
The party vas mounted on such nagS
as the quartermastcr could purchase for
them in a hurry, for though they were
infantry the journey before them was
too long to be undertaken afOOt over the
grassy prairie.
"ScarCely any Of the men had ever
before thrown leg over hOgskin, but the
lieutenant knew something about rid
ing. | believe he said he had been
learned it where he learned sojering,
and after a few days could sit his saddle
and bear the fatigue as we'll as any old
Texan.
"I'd been down to San Antonio about
three weeks, and when the quartcrmas-
ter engaged me to pilot the sojcrs
Strawberry had had the quiet range of
the prairie all hat time, and when we
took the trail he vas i'll prime order.
THE more | got acquainted with the
lieutenant the better | liked him. But
the fellows he had along with him were
Of no account, and | knew if the Co.
manches or Kiowas should cross our
trail they couldn't be depended on.
1--WE journcyed with the BraZO5 on
our left and in a northwest direction
till, after about a week or 50, we
reached the hcadwatcrs Of the Leon riv-
or, and as we'd discovered no signs Of
Indians | was glad to think we'd have
no occasion to try the spunk Of our
greenhOrns III a fight.
1--WE had reached the foot Of the
Black Hills, where the country is badly
cut up with deep ~barrancas, crossing
each other III every direction, and hav-
ing had a hard days travel | proposed
an early camp. While looking for a suit
able spot | discovered fresh horse tracks
and knew that a large party Of Indians
We're i'll the vicinity. l informed the
lieutenant of my discovery and advised
Illl 10 SttItIt Ills men do SOOIl tS DOSSI-
BILE, for as yet | was convinced our APP
prOaCh had not been detected.
But as soon as the men heard the
word Indians they set up such a hur-
rah that you'd "a thought them the
bravest chaps III the world, and it was
not long before | knew that the Indians
had discovered US, for we could hear
them calling to each other in the bottom
of one of the deep gulliCs, and presently
a score OF two showed their heads above
the edge Of the bank, and letting fly a
vOlley lodged out Of sight again.
Il was for getting out of the prairie
as soon as possible and reaching a spot
among the rocks at the commencement
of the rising ground, where we could
receive them at a better advantage, but
the lieutenant was 50 greedy for a fight
that he wouldn't listen to mea moment
and gave orders for his men to dismOunt
and form in regular line and await the
attack.
But scarcely had some Of them
obcycd the order than We heard a yell,
and the next moment the prairie was
covered with Il host of mounted KiO-
wa that came pouring out Of a bar
ranca and charged right down upon Us.
The SojcrS who had not Obcvcd the or
der, trusting more to their horses heels
han to their rifles, pat spurs to their
broken down nag> and attempted TO eS-
cape. But they might as well have es-
saycd to fly from the swift tornado as
to get beyond the reach of those wild
riders. \ part f the whoOping savages
made a dash for the cowardly fools and
soQG had their scalps, while the rest,
ranging past us with a hcadlOng gallOp
and lying over upon the farther side of
the fiery little mustangs, sent a vOlley
into our ranks. And now, taking my
advice, the lieutenant ordered his fellows
to rcmOun and i'll close order make an
effort 10 gain the rocks. But W. Of the
men were past mounting, and we had to
leave them.
1--WE had about half a mile TO go to
get among the nearest rocks, but to do
so we had to run the gauntlet Of the In
dians. who kept up a hot discharge
which made desperate work in u lit
tie ranks. We spurrcd through the saw
ages. who attempted to cut III ahead Of
Us, and with our Sah'rS ana reviewers
kept the track clear till we had reached
the rocks.
Having gained the spot, however,
We found to u chagrin that u sltua-
ton was but little improved, for the
reckless and undiSciplined men III their
eagcrness to escape had thrown away
their muskets and were now, with the
exception of their saberS, entirely IN
armed. But the lieutenant and myself,
besides our revolverS, had each a heavy
deer gun.
In the meantime our pack mules
had fallen into the hands Of the say
ages.
Il reckoned We We're within about 20
miles or so of the fort and proposed 10
the lieutenant that while he set his poor
devils to work gathering up the loose
rocks and making a barricade l would
endeavor to dash through the Indians
-~-- a.