The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-02-20


 was man of extraordinary strength, and was noted in the regiment for his feats of muscular ability.
 | We ascended the mountain by deer trail, Lee riding in advance. The trail | led up "hog-back' until it ran out | against the side of the mountain, when l we had ito pick our way over the side | hill until we struck another trail wind l ing in zigzag manner towards the | summit We dismounted and led our | horses, for the trail ran dangerously close to the edge of a cliff that formed | one side of an immense canon. whose depth we could only guess. Narrower and narrower grew the trail as We ad- | vanced, until 1t seemed Ito terminate at point only short distance in front of | us. We moved forward cautiously for | from under our very feet into wall of one side the mountain appeared to rise | solid rock; on the other side we looked into the depths of the great canon, which would prove an eternal grave to either of us should he lose his footing and topple into it.
 The apparent termination of the trail was due to curve at that point. to round which required steady nerves, We passed it safely, but had not gone twenty yards when both horses bent their ears forward, snorted, and show ed evidences of the greatest terror Be- fore I could ascertain the cause of it, being in the rear of Lees horse and unable to see beyond it, a shot was fired that awoke ten thousand echoes
 What followed after the shot hap pened so quickly that I did not realize danger until I found myself hanging between life and death. My horse, un- able to see what was in the path ahead of us. but whose instinct warned him of the presence of some dreaded wild beast, had stopped in terror, and when the shot was fired suddenly threw up his head and began backing. I ruled the reins over his head when dis mounted. and held them in my light hand to which fact I owed my escape from instant death. The rapid back ward movement of the horse and tie sudden tossing of his head threw me off my balance, and before could recover l was falling over the cliff.
 Insltinctively frightened my hold on the reins and endeavored to grasp the edge of the cliff with my left hand as I was rolling over. I did succeed in checking the shock of my fall some what, but could not secure hold sufh- cient to sustain my weight. For mo- ment I hung suspended over the terrible abyss, my weight resting upon my right arm. Quick as a flash I grasped the reiNs with my left also, and there I hung. expecting death every instant, for I knew that my horse would not stand long in the position he then held.
 could see him standing above me- and the beauty of his pose and rigidity of his position, as he stood braced against the weight dangling at his hri- dle rein, made an impression upon my memory that will never be era,li 2ated,
 I asked myself how much longer it was possible to hang by so frail sup port as a bit of leather. The grip of my hands was so tight that my finger ends were tingling and burning as though touched with a hot iron.
 Suddenly another shot rang out, awakening a myriad of echoes Il at seemed to mock me with shrill laughter. Again that backward pavement cf my horse, and as I felt the reins Grag along the edge of the pracipce, thought I must surely let so and fall, Strange thoughts began 10 flash through my brain. mental pictures Of loved ones long since dead appeared to whisper prayers for me, there was sing ing jn my ears. and I realized that my strength was giving out.
 Just then I heard my name spoken At first thought it was but the voice of one of the visions my excited brain had contured up. But no, thera it sounded again. It was Lees voice, calm, collected, and self inspiring. He | was whispering words of caution.
 Opening my eyes saw his face above | me-what white, scared face it was. I | thought. Slowly, oh, slowly, his hand | stole down the reins until it rested upon | my wrist; then there was a quick grip | of powerful fingers, an exertion of won | derful strength, and-I was in safety. | Lee told me afterward that I was un- | conscious when he stretched me out on | the trail.
 The first shot had been fired at a | lion that crouched in the trail | a short distance ahead, and had sent | It crashing into the depths of the canon. Hearing my cry of fear as I toppled | over the brink of the cliff, he had shot his horse to clear path to get back to | where I was, and had been in time to rescue me-W. P. Coulter in San Fran cisco Argonaut.