Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1894-1895, 1895-05-10

small, quiet-looking man limped for
ward and interposed.
"Come, now. drop this fOOliShnesS.
If hear another word about that mus
tang Ill shoot him, and end the fuss.
I'm captain OF this outfit. and as long
as l am. there's got to be peace in the
family
There was ring of authority in his
voice, and flash in his blue eyes that
showed him to be Il natural cOmman-
der, and one not to be trifled with.
The two angry men stood Sullenly ST
lent. while he went on more genially:
Come, shake hands and call it a
draw; at any rate til we get out of
here. l can't have the two best men in
the outfit quarreling! You can't either
of you ride the horse now anyway.
and from the way things look, IT'S
Il mighty slim chance whether you
ever will. If you're spelling for a
fight, those redskins out yonder will
accommodate you. at the drop of the
hat. Come, drop it, l say, and shake
hands like men,
But the two belligerents looked scowl-
ingly 1T each other and then at Clay.
His influence was too great to permit
of Il continuance of the quarrel in his
presence. but instead of shaking hands
they turned and strobe sulkily away.
They had trapped. hunted. starved,
revelled, dug gold and fought Indians
together for years. Each had more
than once risked his life for the ether
in the same matter-of-fact way in
pouch OF tobacco.
When Sam Finch had been stricken
By smallpox in Il Crow village. and all
the Indians who We're not yet attacked
had fled in terrified haste. Tom Collins
had stayed, and for six long weeks
waged his solitary fight with death
his only companions the snarling coy
otcs and the heavywinged buzzards,
his only rest the few brief moments
he could snatch when the raging de-
iirium of his patient was overcome by
bodily exhaustion; till at last the sick
man crept feebiy back to life. and
could be taken by his dey Oted nurse
to where more efficient, though MOI
tenderer, care and help could be given.
And now these two were as bitter in
feud as they had been close in friend
ship. The question at ISSUE was the
ownership of n grand black stallion
that had been lassoed while leading
his wild herd on the plains between
the MogOllOncs and the Colorado Chi
quita. His neck had first been encir-
cled by Collins lasso. but the tough
hide OF the lariat had been gnawed by
coyote, so that it broke when the
wild horse plunged. Before he could
thunder away the lasso of Finch held
him.
MY horser' said Finch.
II stopped him." said Collins.
He'd have got away without me
for your laSSO broke" cried Finch
and so the quarrel began. At first they
spoke laughingly, then angrily, till
things were said on both sides thai
neither man thought he could ever
forgive. Meantime the black, which
had been broken to saddle in one days
rough riding, was used by none OF tn,
prospecting party.
AS the disputants strobe away Clay
muttered to himself:
Queer what fools men will make OF
themselves sometimes! The idea OF
those two men quarreling about O
horse, when the chances are Il thous
and to one that their scalps will boil
be fluttering at the end of Apache
iances within twenty-four hOurs!'
The sun was about an hour high
and the wide, level mesa glowed ant
quivered in the heat. North, south
east, west, wherever Clay looked. h.
saw the Gordon of Apaches. Some sa
on their ponies like bronze statues
some were stretched on the groun,
asleep, some galloped down the little
canyon for water, but all waited quiet
~ for the time when their grim allies
heat, thirst and exhaustion, should de
liver the prospectors into their hands.
These were party of twelve strOn.
men who had started from Taos three