Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1896-12-31

fired regularly and steadily half 4 doz-
en- shots each, and the attacking party
melted away. They replied, but we were
so well covered that we suffered 20
loss. Thus the night wore away with
desultOry firing on the part of the In
dams and the sharp replies by my good
fellows whenever an Apache was indis-
Greet enough to get in range. Then Il
new danger arose which nearly cost us
all Il lives.
AS the firing continued the smoke
of the carbines was driven back Tito
Il den. This was Il good thing for the
men at the doorway, for it cleared their
vision for another shot, but it nearly
choked the other men to death. 1t
filled the little chamber after a while,
and l saw that unless some means
were devised to get it out, the dread of
all would be realized, we would have
to abandon the only position which
held out any hope of rescue. Still we
could not stop, as that meant death for
all in its most horrible form. Well, to
make a long story short, we were coop
ed up in that hole for the better por-
ton of two days. Three of the men
were dead, McIntire had a shattered
bride arm, and the scouts were lying
in front of our position, mute evidences
of the fate which awaited us as soon as
Il cartridges failed.
FINALLY | concluded that, with no
water and the men almost insane from
thirst, it was all over. l decided to
make a dash and go down fighting in
the open. l asked the men to follow
me and they all shouted their approval.
We masked our intended movement as
well as possible and rushed out to the
plains with a yell of defiance. A. rat
Ting volley fell around us, but fortu-
nately the surprise of our dash prevent
ed the Indians from taking accurate
aim and Il few unimportant flesh
wounds were all that were received. l
was drunk with despair and so were
the men. 1t was certain death we all
believed, and we rode at those Indians
with the yells of devils.
Il shall never forget the shock of our
contact. We rode down the first lines,
but were too weak to force our way
through their entire column. The car
bines were emptied at half pistol dis
lance as we charged, and the heavy re-
volvers made sweet music as we adj
vanced at a furious gallop. Then there
was the shock of the meeting and we
knew that we were making our last
stand. The bright steel circled around
the heads of that band of desperate
men and the enemy toppled and fell in
windows about each horse. The men
shouted, yelled and laughed as they
fought on with the fury of demons.
They were going down too rapidly,
however, for that unequal contest to
last long. | was blind from a slash
across the forehead and cut away with
all the strength of my arm, scarcely
knowing what was doing. | seemed to
be in some horrible dream, where blood
was water and | was trying to swim
out. The waves rose higher and higher
and | was being rapidly engulfed in
that red flood.
suddenly | felt a sharp pain as if a
redhot iron had been drawn across NV
forehead, there was Il wild shrek. The
rapid thud of horses feet, and | fell to
the ground in Il faint. | was told later
that | was down and an Indian had
commenced the process of ScalDing me.
when the troops rode down into that
struggling bunch and Herrick's saher
swept Off the head of my assailant.
Il don't know much about the suc-
ceeding events. When | came to | was
stretched out on the floor of our ambu-
lance. my head splitting and bound in
bandages. Near me, with his arm. lii a
sling. was Mc1ntire. AS we were driven
along Somers poked his head into the
wagon and complimented me on my
stand and the skill shown in choosing
the position from which / had worn
out the reds. | was too sick then to say
anything. but when they talked of rec
olhmending me for Il Congressional
medal for my first fight | rebelled and
told the regiment how | had made a
ID fool of myself. McIntire wears
the medal. and | have this scar as a
memento of my first setto with old Chi.
huahua.'-Chicago Chronicle.