The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1897-08-07

man wolves in complete possession.
But the silver was beyond them, out OF
their reach, and all their trouble and
pains prof1tless. Mad at the thought of
being baked, the outlaws took the sur
vivors, the commandant, the teamsters,
the soldiers, bound them hand and foot,
! tied heavy stones to them and tossed
them, living, one by one, over into the
| dark water. OF all who had laid down
to rest in the evening, not one was
alive in the morning Pools of blood,
! trampled grass, half burned wagons,
the ashes of expired camp fires, marked
the spot, and that was all. Deep down
in the still, cool water lay the bright
silver, and on the surface a swirl here
and there told of the alligators fighting
over their hideous feast
Exactly one year later to the very
| day another party camped at the lake.
They were troopers returning to easy
service in Mexico, after a season of
| loneliness, hardship and danger on the
frontier. The memory of the tragedy
| enacted there had either been forgot
ten or given slight consideration, for
in those days lawlessness was but too
common to cause especial remark.
The troopers picketed their horses
among the trees, camp fires were light
! ed, supper was eaten; there was a rest
full hour or two given up to smoking,
storytelling, laughter, singing, the
playing upon guitar and mandolin, and
then each man, tired and drowsy,
wrapped himself in his blanket, soon to
be soundly sleeping. All but the senti-
nels, who kept their steady rounds as
the solemn night wore on. There was
a nearly full moon that at midnight
rested just north of the zenith, IL
! Eliminating with it's mild light the sur
face Of the open lake, and emphasizing
the black shadows under the trees. The
! sentry whose beat lay nearest the shore
| CHANGED to glance carelessly out over
! the water as he walked slowly along
and he saw something there that
| changed him from half somnambulist
! to an intensely awakened man.
| The water lay still and quiet as death,
and from its waveless surface the sen
| tinel saw what first seemed to be
! X
| ing and twirling. In a moment, even
as he looked, the shadowy vapors re-
! solved themselves into the forms of
men horrible shapes, with ;rgoniaing
! faces, and arranged themselves in
! CHASTITY procession, and, sWaying as in
a gentle wind, moved swiftly forward
! toward the camp of the sleeping sol
diers. A weird low cry, the shadow
of a wall, rose up and chilled the hear
er's utmost soul with deadly terror.
! More from fright than boldness the
sentinel fired his carbine at the adj
vancing shades and then ran shrieldng
into the woods. The sleepers, reused
up as one man, saw, heard, and they
| too fed, panic-stricken, into the thick
| cts. The horses plunged and broke the
| picket ropes. The noise of maddening
| beasts crashing through the UNDER
growth and the cries of terTor-stricken
men grew fainter and fainter as all
! hurried from the horror.
Later on in the night a few of the
bOldest met together, and, with cour-
| age somewhat restored, determined to
go back and have a second look at the
things that had affrighted them. eau
| tiOusly they returned within view of the
camp. They saw forms moving about
! hers and there, strangely dimmed in
the Pickering radiance of the camp
fires and strangely illumined when in
the shadows. Dropping behind bushes
and trees they watched breathlessly,
not daring to advance. The camp was,