The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-03-04

unusual proceeding In case OF an oncer.
| The Lieutenant had two friends in the
garrison-his commanding officer and
| the Captain of one of the cavalry troops.
| The former was obliged by his Official
position to prefer charges, and there
| could be only one result-uismlssal from
the army and consequent disgrace Tor
| life. If, however, there was any way IN
which the lieut6nant's resignation could
be sent to District headquarters SO as to
| be acted on there and forwarded to the
War Department before the mail stage
with the charges should arrive at Santa
Fe, then all would be done that was
possible, and their friends reputation,
at least SO far as the general puIllc was
concerned, would be saved. 1t was tneh
| Friday. The stage would be due ~
Santa Fe the next Monday night. 1t
| seemed impossible to find a courier VINO
could beat that time but the Captain
made the attempt. Here is the scene:
| It is 10 O'Clock of Friday night. Ihe
| stars ara scintilating in the cloudless
sky, and even though it Is May, there is
| touch of frost in the air which makes
| the gray haired commanding officer Draw
| his military cape more closely about hlm
| as he trudges along the walk to MS
Office. Inside he finds his cavalry friend
waiting, and while, they warm them
selves in front Of roaring ire OF pine
| knock is heard at the door, and tall,
we'll built trooper enters, wearing Ene
yellow chevrops of corporal upon his
sleeve. The Major looks him over from
| head to foot and seems satisfied. tie
| then proceeds to give the necessary Id
structions, which are listened to with
| minute attention by the trooper.
Corporal, you will carry this package
| to the district commander in Santa Fe,
| doing your utmost to arrive by Monday
night. You will be accompanied by
Private Winters, of your troop. l cannot
| let either of you ride troop horses for
your mounts will doubtless play out on
the trail and have to be abandoned. You
will instead take horses from the Quar-
termaster, which are not SO liable.
Whenever necessary abandon them and
get fresh horses from the nearest ranch
or road house. Here is an order for two
horses for each place of the kind you will
pass on your trip. You will carry no
forage. The animals must subsist as
best they can. You will also leave your
overeoats and blankes behind, taking
only sa idle blankets apiece, together
with bareback and coffee Tor ratlOns.
For arms you will take revolvers. There
is long and fast ride before you, which
can only be made by travelling as light
as possible" Here the Major was about
to give more orders, but the Captain.
who had collected the man, ana knew
him well, interrupted: "Trust the cor
poral to get through all right, Major
he'll do it,"
The two men soon found out that their
steeds were not as valuable as troop
horses, just as the Major said. The cor
poraPs mount was not particularly bad
for "plug," but the beast selected
for Winters was vicious, and had to be
IL, On fI,ic mi hn
was kept unshod most of the time, and
was so found when led out of the stable,
hut by dim candle light he was thrown
to the ground, and held down by half a
dozen men, while new shoes were put on
bv the blacksmith. AT few minutes
past midnight the two soldiers rode
quietly but rapidly out of the sleeping
post, buttoning their coats tightly, as
the chilly air from the mountains swept
into their faces.
The trail was very dim, and in the
darkness of the night the instl net OF the
horses had to be followed. This was not
an absolute guide, for mile or 80 out
of the post the corporal wandered from
the trail, and suddenly found himAelf
and his steed at the bottom of deek'
gully. The sand was soft, however, and
neither was the worse for the accident
The trail now led over the Jicarilla
MouaIaiuS, anu. lAon Icing cAS" =.
daily by burros engaged in packing"
water to the mines and bringing ore in
rsturn, it was we'll defined.
AT am, just at tie peep of dawn,
the two troopers reached the Jicarilla
Miues-twenty-e eight miles from the past.
No time had been lost so far, but they
were tired and sore from the unusual ex-
ertion. Dismounting and hobblinR the
horses. thew lay down upon the ground,
with one saddle blanket beneath them
and one above, and slept soundly for an
hour. Then they we're awakened by the
san. and. in a few moments, without
pausing for food, were on the trail,
After the mountains mere passed the
scenery changed. The couriers were
now riding over sandy ANlkali mesa.
The sun was burning hot. ana tnere
was no water or vegetation only one
vast level of sand as far as they could
reach. broken here and there by to wering
rocks of the same material. which l. u tne
foreground were red and yellow, bun IN
the distance doomed up blue, like shl. ps
on the horizon.
At D. M, the troopers were at Next
can ranch called Los Pesas, sixty-four
miles from Fort Stanton. They were
tired, thirsty and hungry, and in .addi-
ton Winters horse had "played out.
THE order addressed to the owner of the
ranch was honored, however, and
fresh mount was secured. After rubbing
down his own horse. and giving him a
good feed, the Corporal joined his COM
panion in devouring rough, but pala-
table meal, set before them by the ranch
mans wife, the first food they had
touched since leaving Stanton. Then
they slept until shutdown.
Bidding good bye to their hosts, they
rode northward all night, now at walk,
and now at trot. Now and then they
would nap in the saddle, but no time
was lost on this account, for the horses
kept steadily on. By 'daybreak they