The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-03-17

rendezvous. was the last one to get
in and Tubbs brought the joyful intel
ligence that our game was coralled:
About mile from where we had
separated, he had struck trail Of
fresh blood, only few drops here and
there, and hard as hell to follow, but
succeeded in tracing it to the mouth
of blowhole. Ever see blowhole :?
No? Well, it's a cavity like fun
mel, sunk deep in the mountain, usu-
ally from 60 to 100 feet deep, and
most always choked up with growth
of pine trees and old logs, stones and
brush. The trail ended here, and he
couldn't find a path down, but he was
certain that Espinosa was cached
somewhere in the hole. That night
we worked our way to the spo nd no
Iniun ever stalkcd deer c care
fully than We did in gcttiLa there.
When we reached the mouth, Tubbs
ordered the lieutenant to place his
men around the hole and to kill any
body that came out, on sight. Twarn t
no use to try to capture the greaser
alive, and besides, twas his head we
wanted, anyhow The men were sta
toned as ordered, and I took my
stand where the blood trail ended.
Then Tubbs began the most wonder
full piece of scouting | ever saw. His
hunting knife was as keen as razor,
and with this between his teeth, and
his rifle in hand, he began the descent
of the blowhole. To do this he had
to lie down on his belly, his head at
an angle of Is degrees below his feet,
and go through that mess Of brush,
twigs, dry leaves, stumps and logs,
dragging his gun, and all without
sound. The least noise would be a
signal to Espinosa to send shot in
that direction, and it would be all
over. But Tubbs was too old bird
not to handle himself correct. Each
leaf was picked up carefully and aid
aside each twig cautiously cut away,
and several times he spent an hour
cutting through log with his knife,
that he dared not climb over. After
eight hours of this creeping he had
covered near about 80 or 40 feet, and
reached a point where view could be
obtained of the bottom of the blow
hole. It was about 30 feet below
him. A log had fallen across the
ground, reaching to either side, and
beside this sat Espinosa, his back
turned towards Tubbs. He was mend
ing saddle, and every few minutes
he would reach up and take down
sinew from lot he had hung on The
log above him. On the opposite side
of that log, cleaning gun, was his
nephew. Tubbs drew long breath,
and, sliding his rife into position,
took aim. He felt that his hand was
bit unsteady, and, as his life depend
ed on the shot, he lowered it again.
Twice more he covered Espinosa, only
to rest again. At last, feeling that
his nerves were in proper shape, he
took aim and pulled the trigger. AS
the report rang out, Espinosa sprang
to his feet, threw up his hands, and
fell backward. The shot had broken
his back.
"Run, nephew, run, he shouted, in
Spanish. ''They have killed me. :"
The young fellow started off up the
bank, but Tubbs called his game with
bullet through the heart. The soldiers
had been given positive orders not
to move from their positions under any
circumstances, but an excitable Dutch
man started down the hole at break
neak speed. Espinosa heard him
coming, and, although his back was
broken and he could not rise, he raised
himself on his shoulder and fired.
The soldier fell with bullet through
his brain. In the meanwhile, Tubbs
had finished his descent, and another
shot from his rife put an end to the
deviiish grcaser's life. The regulars
made their way down, and Tubbs or
dered one of the soldiers to cut off
Espinosa's head. The feller was a
half breed greascr, and did't like the
job, but Tubbs, persuasive power with
a rifle was always something remarka-
bic. The head was placed in a sack,
to be carried to Denver. We found
deer with it's throat cut, and an arrow
in it's heart, which helped us SO much.
Espinosa must have known he was
followed, as he only used a bow and
arrow when the bark of a gun would
be heard by his pursuers. In his
pocket we found diary which he had
kept ever since he became an outlaw,
with list Of every man he had killed,
always followed by prayer Of thanks
to Jesus Christ for the sacrifice of a
''gringo." This made me believe
that the old devil was loco (crazy).
We returned to the fort, and soon
afterwards Tubbs and | received the
reward. j. w. CHURCH.