The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1897-03-11

swung my knife fercely below nv
knees, round and round, till with the
motion, and the loss of blood squirting
hotly from my side, 1 became dizzy,
and almost fell upon my face.
''Regaining my upright position,
However, l again shouted to my an
tagonist, and told him if he was not
coward he would at least let me hear
his voice. But no answer came, not
even sound save my own rapid
breathing reached my ears. Still de
termlned to revenge the wound the
Mexican had given me, dashed mad
iy around the little room, from corner
to corner, across the floor, and in
every direction, striking sideways,and
III front and rear; but the blade fell
harmless upon the yielding air.
&" Coward! poltroonr l yelled.
where are you?. and again 1 slashed
right and left in every direction about
me,-tlll coming in contact with the
wall, the knife penetrated the partially
hardened adobies, and breaking off at
the handle, left me weaponless and
now completely at the mercy of nv
foe! Still l continued to shout to him.
calling him all the dastardly names IN
his language, SO rich in insulting cpl
thets, hoping thus to provoke him to
approach within clutching distance of
me,bu IN vain, no other sounds than
the echo of those / myself made, re-
pied to me. Again, 1 groped about
The walls. and crept in every direction
across the floor, and reaching with
my hands; but nothing came in con
tact with them, save gouts and pnd-
dies of my own blood, which was now
flowing to such degree that 1 begap
to faint Notwithstanding the excite
ment | was painting under. At length
l could grope no longer, and over
come with weakness, 1 fell my length
along the floor. My brain reeled and
l seemed whirling round and round a
vortex of roaring waters. The sound
as OF cannonading broke upon nv
ears, and Thousand flashing lights
were burning through my eyeballs-
I was dying.
But no! 1t was only fainting fit;
for IN another moment 1 felt a rush of
the fresh, external air, and the friend
ly voice of my reckless lieutenant.
saying:
Never fear, gentlemen; | tell you
he's not dead! The greaser has not vet
been born that can kill him. He's
greaser as we'll as Comanche proof! 1
say, Cap, my good fellow, are you
much hurtF and the kind hearted
fellow, raising my head upon his knees,
placed his canteen to my lips. The
stimulating draught instantly restored
my senses and l begged them to take
me to the open air. 4 have received
but one wound y replied ,'and that, I
believe, IS in my side. But never
mind me, L added, but do me the
favor and look for that Mexican major
for it was still mystery to me how
he had managed to escape me.
Lights, provided for the occasion,
were lighted, and my men entered the
lacale again, in search of nv antago-
mist. Presently heard a wild, Co
manche sort of a whoop that l at once
recognized as Ned's, and them
'Ha. ha. ha! Well, after all, I
knew l was right, s'when l said that
the greaser major wouldn't fight, See
here, boys, how the varmint has sneak
ed off, like the cowardly cut throat he
is! See. here's stone trap-door, and
beneath it passage, leading-nobody
knows where The rat has fled, after
leaving the print of his teeth upon one
of the best and bravest fellows alive.
Ha! ha! ha!
Sure enough, beneath the solid ce-
ment floor of the jacale, as is common
IN such houses, was narrow, subter-
anean passage, leading in the direc-
tion of the bank of the river; the trap
to which had escaped my notice, but
with which the Mexican was. doubt
less, we'll acquainted. Through this
he had escaped, leaving me alone to
tght the vacant air and darkness I
have not since heard of Major Farcia.
He, doubtless. will live long to recount
to his astonished countrymen, his
bloody duel with the Ranger cap
tain.