The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1896-02-21
ON sCHLAT TIER s TRAIL.
A Woman Tei!e How She found tn.
HeaIerson the Trail South
4 .pf Denver,

A Woman Tei!s How She Found the
HeaIerson the Trail South
of Denver.
We struck the trail of the Healer at
D o'clock in the morning.
!. slnr indian guides knew it, beca use THE
white horse wore four new shoes and
had hair hanging around his feet, leav.
ing draggy mark where the ground
was loose. We had been on that self.
snme trail for two days, losing it often
where the Healer, takihg 10 the streams
in TIM lrellptaihs, Ind walked his tired
horse flAlf ii mile iii the shallow depths.
We Pa h ir5m e, tss e g sssls, ss
tclapphd their la hllsIoYef the newnsss OF
the prlnts, which poked as though the.
horse Ind just stepped past with bis pre-
ciohs burden.
We pulled up shortly at sign from
the foremost guide. We were al party
Of seekers for the Healersmore indoI11ita-
BILE than the others had been. The guide
was standing; upright in the saddle; and
the Indian signal to halt silently.
The First View. -.
-. And then he came in sight-the Healer
seated upon the bac k Of his white horse.
with his canvas bundle JIM front of him,
and his great hat set well back upon his
head - The: bundle contained his all,
some papers and a few articles of toilet,
the hatssomething he had notspreyiously
The Healer might have seen us. +
a quarter of mile of him. He must
have seen our campfire burning and
heard our songs last night But he no.
y Turning Ills horses nose toward the
best-beaten of the trails, the one leading
to the broad Santa Fe trail. he set out
for another days ride through the
mountains. And we behind him.
We had not spoken word thus far.
We felt little awed at coming suddenly
into the presence Of the man who is the
most discussed reatrre on the continent
today; and the panic of stiffness so pc
culiar to his meetings seized us. 90
Silently we fell in line The Healer
far ahead, / on, behind, falling back to
ride abreast with OUR supply wagon, for,
though I had journeyed long miles for
feel the very power which / had come
forth to sec. the power of the Healer
magnetism. 2
:. Schlatter let his horse wander along
the tvail rather than lead him. no
ticed that his eyes were cast heayenWard
and that he did not heed the steepness
of the path Or the. crevices and briars at
the side: l turned to whispersthis to my
comma nion IN the wagon, when found
him looking at me with astonished eyes.
We had made discovery together.
We were both letting our horses have
their head going down the narrow trail,
which was almost defile here: and
not one of us was taking care where we
went. yet the beasts carried us as secure:
ly as upon a ma ca damized street. -
Far ill the rear our& last two guides
were pulling at their horses heads. twist.
ing them and turning them. reassuring
them by pats and even getting down
to lead them around bad places, but we
ahead were riding swiftly and recklessly
yet with perfect safety. Was it the
Healer's example, orEwere we under the
smell of the power which is said TO be
his? a5 rs
A Mystic TrafI. s.sS.sss g s.
The mountain trail belonged to the
Sangre de Crinsto ridge of the Rocky
mountain range, and our path lay along
the old Santa Fee trail. We were rid
ing toward the Rio Grande and would
come out, doubtless, at Albuquerque
Our path the last day had been so di
vergent that none but the foremost guide
could have told exactly where we were
We wondered if the Healer himsel
knew. think now that he did, though
he looked neither to the right nor thu
Rio Grande as straight as though hi
were booking into the air at bird fly
ing the track he was to take.
We-this strange little procession-fol
lowed him i'll the same silent way fol
half a day. The sun was scorching no
in spots,s where the range sloped abrupt
| ly, leaving us in a little pan of the noun
tains.s Half an hour later we woul,
be upon the brink of ridge where i
| would be cold and we shivering. At sucl
| places my companion in the wagon woul,
| reach out to me silently with a shawl
and would take it from me when we wer,
| in warm part again.
1t was very curious. l could see ever
| the guides raising their collars arouns
their threats and cuddling, Indian fash
! ion, closer to the saddles. But aheac
! rode the Healer all the time, unmoves
| with either heat or cold and absolutel,
| unwindswept.
One thing caught my notice and sen
hangs in loose, uncurled waves zarotint
| his head. was not tossed by the wind
| and his hat stayed on when we were al
! holding ours with head bent down t,
help.
We thought the Healer would neve
! halt, and we wondered if we must follow
! him dinnerless all day. When suddenl,
| past noon he halted He pulled I'D tn
| white horse and slid off his back. H
threw the reins down, setting the hors
free. and dropped upon his knees il
he supported himself. We pulled u
forty yards from him and out of rever
ence went no nearer, but tied our beast
and made ready for a dinner on tn
trail.
| When we We're preparing our mea
the first words were spoken DO yol
think he sees, us?H This from my com
panions in the wagon. =*
Il know he does" | said, "and I an
| going to speak to him.
| what shall you say?"
| Give me something and will offer
| to him.
With piece of bread and meat in m,
hand, reverently approached the tire,
| under which the Healer was kneeling
He was resting upon his knees still ant
| his eyes were cast up to heaven. Hi
| canvas bundle lay upon the ground be
fore him, and saw that though it was
open he had nothing to eat. A small
metal plate was upon the bare ground
11o Tic I1etI0E he
and. taking the bread and meat
thanked me simply and broke it. laying
Il piece upon the plate.
l stood for minute. and as he made
no sign I turned and walked away The
thousand questions I had scheduled te
ask him faded from my mind 1t was
a blank. But as l turned from him /
am sure I heard him softly chant the
words:
Thou prcparest a table for me in the
midst of the wilderness. My cup run
ming over with JOY. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life and shall dwell in the house
of the Lord forever"
am quoting from memory low.
''What did he say? What did he do?''
elamored my companions as l rejoine,l
them at our camp, 100 feet away. "Did
he take it? Did he thank you? And
can we go over to talk to him?''
, Before l could reply the man ahead
whom we were all watching, rose from
his knees. and, taking the horses bride.
started for a little stream a few rods
away behind clump of trees where
we had filled our cups. When he came
in sight five minutes later he was mount
ed and OH his journey again. YEARLY
but loath to give up the journey, we
mounted and followed him..
Nleefinp Hin,