The Opelousas courier., 1897-02-06

&NIeoS'' camps had watched 10:
,EK@ the coming Of til;
o ~ Apaches, who had bee,
~O railing the outlying
ranches and the smaller mining camp!
by flying forays of small parties no,
known to be absent from their reger
walton. We had grown tired of stand.
ing guard and spelling our winter holi
days and our eyesight looking in the
darkness for the attack that did not
come = although the most recent
'tenderfoot" knew that it was more
than likely to come at the most unex
pected time when there came q
courier from Silver City to tell us that
our camp was billed for the rext en-.
gagement.
1t came upon his arrival-or very
nearly SO. This courier, who was Il
cowboy from the "S.bsr," thirty miles
north of us, had hardly gone to his
supper when the trouble arrived.
Within an hour it seemed as thouph
millions of bowling, sharp shooting,
Government fed ~loafers had sur.
rounded the camp, aud every man
who could handle g rifle was needed,
Driven back from the surrounding
hills to the confines of the camp proper
driven, by sheer force of numbers,
back, back, into Il very cabins,
where the women and children were
bullet after bullet sent after an unseen
enemy who lay behind the rocks
then
There came a bugle call, of which
we knew not the technical meaning,
But we did know thattroops from Fort
Eayard had come to our rescue, and
that we and ours we're saved.
The troopers, used to this kind of
work, had dismountel and had sur.
rounded the redskins; and when some
of the latter made q break through
the lines, they were followed by q
number of soldiers, among whom, not
leading, but anxious to be "in the
thick OF it," was Lieutenant John
Marcus Horton, late of West Point,
who found himself unable to brandish
a sword and shout "FoIlow mel" at
one and the same time, but who
sprinted admirably, nevertheless.
Lieutenant Horton never knew what
did happen that night, not exactly.
He remembered only that when the
trouble was all over 10 this, his first
engagement, he was the possessor of q
shattered arm, q broken rib or two. O.
cut head, and a small, blonde prisoner,
whom be had captured at the point OF
the sword when the troopers found |
the obscure canon in which the Indians.
who had evidently proposed to emf
CRATE to Mexico, despite the season.
had concealed their families.
Horizons prisoner came along with |
surprising willingness. Her com.
plexion vas tanned by the sun and
winds almost as dark as that of any
Apache; but the same influences had
served only to bleach her naturally
light hir to an unmistakabIy tow-and-
molasses taffy color or two. She
must have retained somo recollection
OF her Scandinavian parents, else for
che had not come along with Mr.. Hor-
gon so willingly, for she had a temper,
was presently discovered by several
persons. Yet she could not, or would
not, speak q word aside from the
dialect, and we could learn
nothing, through the interpreters, of
her origin Or as to the time she had
lived among the Indians.
It was not embarrassing, merely; it
was distressing. really, to all of US,
the question of what we should do
with this weif. Those of Apache par.
We could and would return to
the reservation. But this one
The women had talked it over, with
doubtful shakes of the head, when
John Marcus Horizon, with more ap.
parent bravery tIsS@he ever showed
a ''plebe," q cadet,oAicer, or in
actual lighting service, strobe mod.
into the preach.
"Ill attend to her case," he said.
Then, seeing that the eyes of the as.
sem5ied mothers of the community
we're upon him, he blushed. but con.
firmly: "My people will see
it that she lacks nothing in the way
of education or training. Why not
send her to my mother in Ohio? and
will attend to the expenses of her
,haperonage."
That was the end of Olga for the
lime. Five years afterward she came
pack to ns, AMI her re advent was the
,ndoing OF many susceptibles.
Meanwhile, there had been changes
While Olga was at school. John Hor-
on was no longer ID the army, an nm {
re OF his having died and left him his ,
interest in several valuable mining
properties, the sole condition being |
hat he resign his commission as a :
,tled defender of his country and
t%orton. 1T is needless to state, ex. /
hanged his chances for glory for this &
cry substantial consideration with /
the aIacrity that army regulations !
'onli permit. thereby becoming q
Colonel" Horton, by brevet OF his /
.miripg and envious fellow citizens. :.
That was three years back, and t
yiee during that time he had been in =
'alo - visit bis people. only to return G
IT'D allowing accounts Of tLs n,anuer
which OLGA Was getting Oh With her i
,ssie, her ether studies, aud thu ways q
polite society. After easa as tasss