The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1896-05-15

corner and dropped down on q cot with
the rifle beside him.
Here was an instance Of the Apach<
Kids reckless bravery. Wounded and:
in the enemy's country. he deliberately
laid himself down and slept. AS hia
stentorious breathing became louder
and more suggestive OF deep slumber,
| grew more courageous; in fact, my
recklessness, as I now look al It.
amounted nothing short OF madness.
AS I sat there, in the suffering glow
of that tallow dip, the thought Of the
$4,000 out for Kid engendered a desire
and the desire engendered a determine
ton.
1 would capture him, but how?
l cast my eyes about the shanty.
There were nj firearms, nj rope where
with to tie a prospective prisoner-ln
short. nothing at all which I could use
in making such a desperate capture.
But, stay! On a rough wooden shelf.
not a great distance from my hand.
were two bottles. one containing
chlol oform liniment. Happy idea! I
would chloroform the Apache Kid!
II I should live a thousand years, I
could never account for the wild i'm
pulse that spurred me on to perform
that rash act. AS I have said. I am not
a particularly courageous man, and I
can only account for what I did by sup
posing that I was acting blindly and
thoughtlessly on the spur of the mo-
ment.
Drawing my handkerchief from my
pocket, I stepped to the shelf and laid
my hands on one of the bottles. But
I recoiled when I reflected that the
odor of the narcotic might affect me
while I was administering it to Kid.
Selling a towel. l tied it about my
nostrils, fold on fold, so that, in breath
ing, I might use 1t as a filter, so to
speak, for the air that entered my
lungs. A moment later I had saturated
the handkerchief, and was slowly ap-
preaching the recumbent form of the
redskin.
Kid slept well-at least his loud
breathing gave me this assurance-and
kept my eyes on that old Winchester
wv = wv 011u OS0AuO
the cot. Ihad neither time nor inclina-
ton to remark upon Kids countenance
as smoothed into peaceful lines by the
all-conquering hand Of slumber. I
merely applied the saturated cloth to
his nostrils and held it there for minute
after minute, while the perspiration
started in beads on my forehead and
NV roch oo,,ro ero oouoS ~voJ,,o1I1r o,k
my finger tips. At last, sure that the
Indian must be under the influence of
the drug, I dropped the handkerchief
and hurried from the shanty.
My nerves tingled with excitement.
Now that I had my man, what should
[ do with him? Reason suggested that,
to make him secure beyond all perad-
venture, he should be bound, and I
went to the stable to secure a rope
AS | turned to retrace my steps to the
house, the thought came to me with
crushing force that Kid had rarely
Travelled unattended by some brave with
a criminal tendency. Might it not be
that he had halted at the shanty to
wait for some red companion to join
him? What a fool l was. In another
instant I had leapei on my horse and
was galloping like mad for the Phoenix
mine. I would get the entire outfit Of
the Phoenix and make secure the final
capture of my half-taken prisoner.
l have reason to believe that the dis
lance from the Blueball to the Phoenix
has never been covered so rapidly be-
fore or since as it was by me that
night.
When I declared that I had captured
Kid, the renegade, the Phoenix boys
even jeered at me; but they all turned
out, armed themselves, and followed
me back to the Blueball.
The candle had long since burned
out and all was dark in the shanty.
| threw a Gordon of men about the
house, however, and then entered it
cautiously, accompanied by three of the
best shots from Phoenix.
Not a sound was to be heard as we
stepped into the cabin.
"He's still under the influence Of the
chloroform," I remarked, as I struck a
match and lighted a fresh candle.
When I finally turned my attention to
the cot I was amazed to find that It
"a empty.
The Apache Kid had disappeared.
On the table lay a pack Of much
thumbed playing cards belonging to
Joe. One of them-the ace of hearts
was turned up, and on ii was hastily
written tha fol1omipo.