, 1897-10-26
PETERS sAGACITY.
HOW A MULE SAVED THE LIVES OF A
WHOLE FAMILY.

ranger W ME xtl0
Rider Failed to Discern - Must Have
Known hi Murdcrous Apachss Were
In the House He Would Not Approach.
He WINS an ordinary, everyday sort of
mule, with a yellow skin and - shaved
tall, but hu was knowing enough to save
my life ard the lives of Tim Mastcn and
his wife and their two little children"
said James Gresham, formerly II ranch
man In New Mexico. ale wns n good all
round nniinul tint l could put to team
work of every kind, md il ! had occasion
to ride 80 miles he could carry ne there
in Il day us easily us any henst I ever rode.
so on this September evening In 1855.
after my work Of tho day was done. l sad
died up Pctcr-thnt was the mules name
-aEd started over to Nlustcn's ranch,
three miles away expecting that he would
curry me there without u hitch, as he al
why's had done before.
My ranch was in the Mimbres valley,
at a plnce called Fnirbrothers, where there
WINS Il little colony OF six or seven Ameri-
can families strung along us many miles
of the river, and we all WIRE engaged both
In farming and stock raising, with u mar
ket for our meat and vegetables ut the
minc camps in the Black range. Masten
had the most stock of all Ct us, and he
kept in his employ two herders for his
sheep and cnttic. | knew that lie had gone
with his family to Miiuhres that day, and,
that being our posto.icc, my purpose in
riding over to his HOUSE. was to see il no
had brought me an. mail. Just as l was
surfing from my house the thought Of
Chief Geronimo, then on the warpath,
came to my mind, and l went back and
got my winchester rifle.
"The country along tho Mimbres river
is billy, with considerable imbsr in the
valley and Tho ~ravii,es leading down into
it. For this reason l did not come in sight
Of Mnsten's iionso until WAS within IL
hundred Yards of it. lnd got tn where l
could sc he house, l mys,lf being still
In tho shadows of the trees, when Peter,
for the first time In all my experience
with him, talked, and not Il step farther
would 10 go. | was both ustonislIed and
panied ut this unusua behavior from him
and dug my spurs into his sides diiisent-
ly, but l could not force him ahead ono
step. All he would do us I set the spurs
into him WAS tn sniff and step from side to
side, with his cars cooked straight ahead
and his nose pointed straight toward the
house. Therr was no light in the house,
but the hcr6Crs wero up. for the mnon,
shining on the vGrnndn, showed one 81
tLtIu benttu III u tnilf anu tDe otnCr Slts
ting on the floor Of the veranda, with his
back against the wall.
~ wrcstled about ten minutes with Pc
ter and was undecided in my mind wheth-
er l hud better walk to the house or dis
nun and throw stones at tho mule, ms
the Mcxicuns do with their post horses,
when the thought struck i,e Tint the men
OH the veranda were sitting very still.
They Ind not chunaCd their position or
moved once since ! had come In sight of
tho honso-tirod and asleep after their
days work, of course, and the reason they
had not gone TO he'd was that they wcr.
sitting up to awnit the return OF llnstcn
II his family. They had not returned
that was evident. And hu,ing In this why
reasoned out tho whole mntter to my sat
isfaction l snw II why to compromise with
Peter by turning back and riding down
the Mimbrcs road tn meet Masten. The
mules feet fairly danced when l refined
him ahuut and gave him his Lead. 1t was
n mile to tie road. and another n!ilu : ri'.
ing brought me to where l heard tho snuUG
Of Mnstcn's wagon wteris.
I'm my ride ui two miles had hud tire
to tnke II secund thought, and l reflected
that there must he soiuc reason for the
mules Rtr.i npe behavior. Vhore w;s some
thing wrong ut the house, ! frl1 sure, and
when l met Maston l told him Low the
mule had behaved AID what ! had seen
and advised him to Ici,e his wife and
children ut u ranch u mile im.k wiiIo he
md | went uhciid ami explored the r,en.
ises. WIS afraid he would laugh ut L:r.
but he had heard reports in town IT In.
dinns raiuing tho nprer val y the day he
fore, md he WAS quite wiIi.ag to take up
with my uGy:te.
$50 lie left his wife and children ut thu
ranch, borrowed II saddle to put on one Of
his wagon horses, md together we went To
his ranch. A qu.. r;Cr Of II mile away We
tied tho horse ana mule in II thickct and
went forward on foot. The house was
still and dark. The two men were sitting
on tho verarda precisely Tvs l had seen them
before. While we crnuched In the shadow
of the trees, watching, IL 1ivl:ering light
appeared in the house, md then, one hy
one, seven Ap..ches filed out of the door
and took their way ncrcss the open space.
coming directly toward lis.
"Whethcr MRstcn Or | killed tho Apache
TINT fell will never lie lsnnwn. for we both
were firing our repeating rifles nsf..st AZ
we could pull back the levers. Tine In
dinns were Ed near when We turned lnO-c
on them that we could henr the bullet
strike this one rs ita fell backward. The
other Indians dragged him away and were
lost in the shadows before we had half
cmpticd our magazines. They sent two or
three r.. ndoin slnts ut us IA they ran, and
that was all the fight they made, for they
were ratified and s%tampeiel by our sudden
attack, not knowing what they had ran
up against. Ao soon us they wero ont of
sight Musten undo II dash for the honsr,
ard of roursa ! followed. The Indians
had SIT 1t o, Gre, but tho flames had not
made much hsa;. way. ind we easily rxtin-
Ruisitd tbs hlaza.
.'Then wo hrd time to look about us.
Thc tao borders were deud, rropped up in
tho positions in which We found them by
the Indiuns. wi.o, alter killing them, had
placed them us dccoys To lull the sus-
licions Of any ono approaching the ranch.
The moi must have Lecn killed at night
fall after their return from work. From
that time until they fired the house and
started to go nway the Indians had lain
inside waiting for the return Of Masten
and his family, and they would have got
them, INT me besides, had not my mule
Peter been for once Wiser than bis mas.
ter."-Nsw York Sun