The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1895-02-27
AN APACHE GIRL.

General court-martial had been Or
dered convened at Fort Marcy. 1t had
convened. Private Thomas Wilkins of
Company D. -th Infantry, had been
tried for being off duty without leave,
the papers had been signed and sent to
Washington by the afternoon mail, and
Colonel John Briefly, who had acted as
Judge Advocate, and Major Thompson,
the surgeon, who had appeared as
witness against Wilkins, were striding
along the board walk towards the
Colonefs quarters when l met them,
and was invited in to have a glass of
something hot.
After the something hot had been de-
clared excellent by all the persons inter
ested. the talk naturally was of the
court-martial.
"By the way, Colonel" said Major
Thompson, 'if you will pardon my say
ing SO, I thought you were very lenient
towards Wilkins in your examinations. :"
YES, said the Colonel, 81 generally
am in such cases. You know" he said,
tnrning to me, "Wilkins left his quart
ers to go and see his sweetheart He Is
engaged to the girl
'But it was a clear case of neglect of
duty" remarked the surgeon.
Il know it., replied the Colonel, "but
well, l sympathized with him."
The Major said nothing more The
Colonel regarded his glass for a few
moments, tested the punch, and then,
looking up suddenly, he said:
"I'll tell you what will do. If you
men viii give me your word of honor
never to reveal to soul what I have to
tell until am dead and gone. 1 will give
you my reasons for sympathizing with
this man"
We gave him our word of honor, and
we kept our word. The Colonel has
DOW been dead for many years; the
Major, [ believe, is on the retired list,
and living somewhere up in Maine. and
so I do not feel that am wronging any
man in writing down the story told us
that Winter afternoon, some ten or fif-
teen years ago.
in the little old churchyard just out
side of the Mexican village of San
Felipe, in Arizona" the Colonel said,
sis a grave off by itself in one corner.
On the modest headstone is the inscrip-
ton: Sacred to the memory of the
Wood Dove, received into the Church
as Mercedes Briefly, wife of Colonel
John Brierly. q. S. A, died March 10,
1877, aged 26 years.
Mercedes Briefly was my wife ]
am the John Briefly referred to- She
was an Apache Indian, and when you
have heard what l did to win her hand,
knowing her heart was mine, you will
| understand why l did not put many
severe questions to the poor young man
to-day.
q first met the girl who was destined
to be my wife in the Spring of 1856,
when 1 was stationed on the frontier
The civil war, in which had won M
Colonel's commission, was just over
and the Apache and other Indian
were constantly on the war path.
| was at that time in command of tn
-th Cavalry, and had about 800 mel
with me.
"We were encamped near a littl
| Mexican village, San something or othe
in the northwestern part of New Mex
| leo. We had had no work to do TO
| about month, but the air of my ten
was heavy with reports brought to m
of large body of Apaches said to be o
the war path and rapidly approachin
our neighborhood.
| Zone afternoOn-I remember the da,
well-the reports were verified by tn
! capture of an Apache girl by some {
my men. The girl was brought to m
tent by her captors. They had foun
her riding by herself in the hills, an
had only succeeded in making her
prisoner after she had severely wounde
one of them.
II will not attempt to describe tn
beauty of this girl. She was the
about 19 years of age, of sublime figur'
with the most wonderfully beautifl
eyes. will only say that fell
love with her the very moment L sa'
her.
I'VE held the girl prisoner. She II
fused to tell US anything about herse
or to betray the whereabouts of her pc,
pie. That they were near we knew
however. and daily and nightly we e:
pected an attack. But for one mont
they remained under cover. We d
not go out and look for them, as it w
my policy always to let them fire I'll
first shot.
THAT month was in many respec
the happiest month in my life. Lo'
was new to me- | hadn't known
since my days at West Point. | lovC
the girl with all my heart, and, VIII
was sweeter, she soon grew to love L
in return.
"One afternoon l told her of my 10
and l asked her to marry me. She to
me then that she loved me, and told 4
that she would marry me. 1 left he
and that night the Apaches attacked L
Their victory was complete. Th.