Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-06-27
OVER THE VERGE.

the running down and capturing D.
Chief Joseph and his band of war
riors, my troop was detached to make
scout from Camp Brown down
through the RattleSnake range to the
Platte river, and from there to the
Yellowstone by way of the Goose
Greek trail
When we went into camp ON Clear
Creek a comrade, named Lee, and ]
started off for a days hunting among
the high peaks of the Big Horn noun
dalnS, expecting to get a few sheep.
! Lee was man Of extraordinary
strength, and was noted in the regi-
| ment for his feats of muscular ability.
! We assembled 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
! we had to pick out way over the side
| hill until we struck another trail wind
ing in zig-Zag 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
advanced, until it seemed ito terminate
at a point only a short distance il
! front of US. We moved forward eau
| tiously, for on one side 1.-THE mountain
appeared to rise from under our very
feet into wall of 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 a 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
showed evidences of the grea test ter
ror.s Before l could ascertain the
cause Of lit, being in the rear Of Lees
horse and unable to see beyond it, a
shot was fired that awoke 10000
echoes.
What followed the sound of the shot
happened so quickly that 1 did not
realize danger until l found myself
horse. unable to see what was i'm the
path ahead Of us, but whose instinct
warned him of the presence of some
wild beast, had stopped in terror, and,
when the shot was fired suddenly
threw up his head and began backing
l had pulled the reins over his head
when l dismounted, and held them in
lok,, al ,;,1i, fao T IL
my escape from instant death. The
rapid backward movement of the horse
and the sudden tossing Of his head
threw me off my balance. and bef )re
could recover l was falling over the
cliff.
Instinctively l frightened my holl on
the reins and endcayored to grasp the
edge of the cliff with my left hand as
I was rolling over. l did succeed in
checking the shock Of my fall some
what, but could not secure a hold suf-
.6cient t. sustain my weight For a
moment | hung suspended over the
terrible abyss. my whole weight rest
ing upon my right arm. Quick as
fash I grasped the reins with my left
Also and there 1 hung, expecting death
every instant, for I knew that my
I horse would not stand long in the posi-
tinn no +nnr hold
I could see him standing above me,
and the beauty of his pose and the
rigidity of his position, as he stood
braced against the weight dangling at
one end of his bridle-rein, made an I'M
preston upon my memory that VIII
never be eradica ted.
I asked myself how much longer it
was possible to hang !,y so fT1il a
support as bit Of leather. The grip
Of my bands was so tight that my
finger-ends We're tingling and burning
with a hot iron.
Suddenly another shot rang out,
awakening Il myriad Of echoes that
seemed to mock ME with shrill laugh
ter. Again that backward movement
of my horse, and as | felt the reins
drag along the edge of the precipice,
thought must surely let go and fail.
Strange thoughts began to flash
! through my brain. mental pictures Of
/ loved ones long since dead appeared
W w lliSpCi pkdSCi -Ci iuC, IhClS was
singing in my ears, and l realized that
my strength was giving out.
just then [ heard my name spoken.
At first I thought it was but the voice
| of one Of the visions my excited brain
. had conjured up. But no, there 1t
sounded again. 1t was Lees voice,
, calm, collected, and inspiring. He was
/ whispering words of caution.
:, Opening my eyes, l saw his face
above me-what white, scared face it
! was, I thought Slowly, oh, so slowly
his hand stole down the reins until it
rested upon my wrist; then there was
quick grip of powerful fingers, an
exertion of wonderful strength, and /
was in safety Lee told me afterwards
that / was unconscious when he
stretched me out on the trail.
The first shot had been fired at a
mountain lion that crouched in the
trail 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 so ais to clear a
path to get back to where | was, and
had been in time to rescue new. Z.
Coulter. in San Francisco Argonaut.
MILLIONS FOR TOBACCO.