Morris tribune., 1896-02-12

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the riding horses all saddled up, and
whether the reds charge or not they II
1 find themselves in q bad fix, reckon. =
For an hour and half we waited ;
then far up the pass there appeared
| high in the air wreath of dark smoke.
| A few seconds afterward we heard the
faint report of arifle, and Joe jubilantly
exclaimed: THERE Toms all right !
He's taken long shot at the reds as
they began to run. See that your tools
are all in working order, boys. The cir
Gus II begin soon. =
In ten minutes the smoke had drifted
down to the mouth of the ravine, driv-
ing before it number of deer, coyotes,
gray wolves and one huge grizzly bear,
at none of which we dared to shoot, for
fear of betraying our whereabouts.
More and more dense grew the smoke,
and presently we could hear the roar of
flames rushing through the fuelike
passageway. We heard something else,
too, for now arose wild chorus of In
dian yells, blended with the sound of
trampling ponies, and in half minute
thereafter we saw, riding for dear life,
a panic stricken crowd of war painted
Apaches, behind whom ragged a sea of
fire, in advance of which their utmost
speed barely enabled them to keep.
AS the weird scene unfolded said to
myself, s'Well, that canopy of black
smoke and the darting tongues of fire
below present fair picture of what the
internal regions are supposed to be, and
that swarm of hideous savages will do
for demons flying from everlasting tor
menti"
But now, choking, gasping, furious
with rage, the warriors-about 20 in
all-emerged upon the plain and drew
up to recover breath and clear their half
blinded eyes. Though they had not yet
noticed us, we keenly scanned their
ranks, but could nowhere see sign of
Frank Martin
My boy is lost Those red villains
have killed himi' hoarsely whispered
Joe, and his face took on look of con-
centrated ferocity that made me shiver.
The next moment the Indians caught
sight of us. apparently wholly unpre-
pared for an attack. In an instant every
bow was strung, and raising the terrible
Apache warwhoop the band opened out
little and came straight at us.
'Mount, men, mount - shouted Joe,
s'but leave that tall fellow with the
eagle plume to me- He's the one that
lassoed Frank. y
In order to reach US the redskins had
to traverse about $50 yards of level
ground, and when one-half that dis
lance had been covered they sent, while
at full speed, shower of futile arrows
in our direction. We, however, did not
fire shot until the bowling crew had
come within SO yards and their missiles
were becoming troublesome, when our
leader quietly said: "Give them vol
ley, boys then drop your rifles and
charge with revolvers Now"
Seventeen shots rang out at the word,
and several Of the foremost braves went
headlong down. The others halted,
wayered and seemed about to fly, but
at this moment the 10 &len. rushing
from behind the bluff, attacked them
furiously in flank, while we, in full
career, Numbered down upon their front,
our heavier horses rolling ponies and
riders over like tenpins
Thus caught between two fires, the
bewildered survivors broke away to the
east, their only avenue of escape, north,
south and west being barred by foes or
flames.
In rear Of the fugitives rode the still
untouched wearer of the eagle plume,
gigantic warrior, who had tried in vain
to stem the torrent of flight, and like
maddened tiger straight upon him
charged Joe Martin, whose mount was
the swiftest horse Of our lot
Desperately the savage dashed his
pony, but seeing that he must speedily
be overtaken he twice half turned in his
rude saddle and each time launched an
arrow at his relentless pursuer, who all
unhurt, still pressed on without firing,
while this vain defense somewhat de-
layed the brave, whose comrades had
now left him behind.
Nearer and nearer came the avenger,
and we, far in the rear, watched the
dering why Joe did not end it by pis-
toll shot. In less than half mile race,
however, he overhauled his quarry, yet
even then did not shoot, but when the
Indian drew his knife and aimed
mighty blow at his breast he caught
the tawny wrist in his right hand,
broke it by one fierce wrench, threw his
left arm around the warriors waist and
dragged him to the front of his own
saddle, as an ordinary man might have
done an infant.
The astonished redskin struggled
frantically, but as well might dove
expect to escape the falcons claws as he
to shake off that iron grip or unseat his
captor.
In a few seconds we came up, and
one of us said, 'Let me put bullet
through that rascaPs head, Joe. .
''Not for the world, savagely replied
Martin. 'tBy whatever torture my boy