The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-11-23
4 HA|F OF THE PLAINS.
How Horizons Papoose Played Havoc
with Hearts at an Army Post.

had not HOWL " tuC safety "a -
towns and the larger camps watched
for The coming of the Apaches. who
had been raiding the outlying ranchos
and the smaller mining camps by flying
forays of small parties not known 10
he absent from their reservation. we
had grown tired of standing guard and
smelling our winter holidays and our
eyesight looking in the darkness Iol
the attack that did not come-allhoueii
the most recent ''tenderfoot knew tn ma
it was more than likely TO come al Iile
most unexpected tlme-W l,.I EN-
came a courier from Silver CITY 10 zen
rs that our camp was billed for the
next enga cement. -.
II came upon his arrival-or very
nearly so. This courier, VINO was
cowb3x from the "Sbar, 80 miles
north of US, had hardly gone TO ms
sumner when the trouble arrived:
Within an hour it seemed as tno ,;,s- Il
millions of bowling, sharp-shootinS,
e-oI,ernrnent-fed Ioafers had surrounded
the camp, and every man who could
handle rifle was needed.
Driven back from the surrounding
hills to the confines of the camp proper
driven. by sheer force of numbers,
back, back, into our very caplhs'
where the women and children were
bullet after bullet sent after an unseen
enemy who lay behind the rocks
then"
There came a bugle call, of which
we knew not the technical meaning;
but we did know that troops from
Fort F2avard had come to our rescue
and that we and ours were saved
The troopers, used to this KIND OF
work. had dismounted and had sur
nd q
of the latter made a break through
Tho lines. thew were followed by
number of soldiers. among whom. not
leading. but anxious to be lin the thick
of it, was Lieutenant John Marcus
Horton. late of West Point, who found
himself unable to brandish a sword
and shout Follow me-" at one ana
the same time, but who sprlnted ad-
mirably, nevertheless.
Lieutenant Horton never knew what
did happen that night-not exactly
He remembered only that when the
trouble was all over in this, his hrst
engagement, he was the possessor OF
q shattered arm, a broken rib or two,
cut head, and a small, blonde prisoner
whom he had captured at the point Oh
the sword when the troopers found
the obscure canyon in whlch the m
dams, who had evidently proposed 10
emigrate 10 Mexico, despite the season,
had concealed their families.
Horizons prisoner came along with
surprising willingness. Her complexion
was tanned by the sun and winds al
most as dark as that of any Apache;
but the same influences had served
only to bleach her naturally light hair
t. an Enthusiastically tow-and-molasses-
tAffv color or two. She must have
retained some recollection of her Scan
dinavian parents. else she had not
come along with Mr.. Horton so Will
inglv. for she had a temper, as was
presently discovered by several per-
sons. Yet she could not. or would not,
speak a word aside from the Apache
dialect. and we could learn nothing,
through the interpreters of her origin
or as to the time she had lived among
the Indians.
II was not embarrassing. merely; it
was distressing, really, TO all of US,
the question of what we should do with
this waif. Those of Apache parentage
we could and would return to the reser-
walton. But this one"
The women had talked it over. with
doubtful shakes of the head, when John
Marcus Horton, with more apparent
bravery than he ever showed as
'plebe." cadet-officer, or in actual
fighting service. strobe modestly into
the breach.
.Fn attend to her case he said.
Then, seeing that the eyes of the as
sembled mothers of the community
were upon him, he blushed, but con-
tinued. firmly: MY people will see to
it that she lacks nothing in the way
of education or training. Why not send
her to my mother IN Ohio? and 1 will
attend to the expenses of her chaperon-
age"
That was the end of Olga for the
time. Five years afterward she came
back to US, and her re-advent was the
undoing of many susceptibles.
Meanwhile, there had been changes
while Olga was at school. John Horton
was no longer in the army, an uncle
Of his having died and left him his
interest in several valuable mining
properties, the sole condition being
that he resign his commission as a
titled defender of his country; and
Horton, it is needless to state, ex-
changed his chances for glory for this
very substantial consideration with all
the alacrity that army regulations
would permit, thereby becoming
"ColoneI' Horton, by brevet of his ad-
rniring and envious' fellow citizens.
That was three years back, and twice
during that time he had been in ONO
20 visit his people, only TO return with
glowing accounts of the manner in
which olga WdS getting on Win nei
music, her other studies, and the ways
of polite society. After each of these
trips, it was "Olga this" and "Olga
that" until we were tired of hearing Of
his little Norwegian Apache" as one
of the boys ungallantly dubbed her one
time when Horton was not present
Had Horton been anything but a good
fellow land a wealthy NAM he might
have been called down" scores OF
times by the bored ones. AS it was.
however. we listened to him with what
was intended to be an interested eX-
preston, drank his wines. borrowed his
money, and hoped we might never be-
hold Olga in the flesh.
But when. after his third visit eact,
Horton returned 10 Silver City, bring
ing with him his mother and the little
Norwegian Apache" What a change
of heart and surrender of hearts,
Instead Of an angular, awkward young
person, possessed of points that might
make her. when developed, a beauty
of the lilly" type. behold petite young
woman. with a wealth Of pale-golden
hair. beautiful eyes and teeth, com
plexion of roses and cream. and de-
cidedly vigorous constitution which
called for lots of horseback riding and
other outdoor exercises.
OF course Horton was persona grata
at the post, having been stationed
there during the major portion of his
brief term of service as a lieutenant:
wherefore the wives and daughters of
the garrison strove to outvie each other
IN their attentions to his beautiful
protege, suffering themselves, on her
account, to listen to his mothers long