Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-09-09
ocHE, THE CHICKASAW.

1t was our business to obey orders,
His mouth was straight and firm, and
bis small, gray eyes were set unusually
close together. His chin was sclean
shaver, and on either cheek he wore
o thin and formal whisker. Perhaps
II was to this severe exterior that
Colonel Bailey owed his appointment
ms deputy sheriff Of Guthrie district;
but be this as 1t may, everybody knew
him 70 be capable and fearless, and
so when an elusive young Chickasaw
bandit was seen In the vicinity Of Le-
high Il was the colonel who was chosen
to run him down.
Colonel Bailey selected me as one
Of his associates. For the other he
picked ont an unsociable fellow,
known in the community as frozen
Pete" I suspect that he had no
great confidence In our ability to catch
the thief. For when we reached Lee
high and found the outlaw under lock
and key, he seemed very we'll satisfied.
II merely remained for us to bring the
prisoner safely to Guthrie and lodge
him in the county Jail.
After q short delay, we started
on our return journey, and 80 ~
happened that one breezy autumn
evening We four encamped in q
hollow Of the Washita Hills, Okla
bona, With more than half our ride
behind us.
!. Our prisoners name was Oche---a
Chickasaw word meaning "all right"
Never was name less appropriate. Ex-
cept in his youth, his vigor and the
marvellous quickness Of bis motions,
Oche was anything but 'all right"
Though 10 st00A Ays fss! !fa IA Na,l A;s
left his weight scarcely o hundred
pounds. He spoke little English and
was wholly without education, but his
high reputation for cunning had been
thoroughly earned. A pair Of frayed
lluckskin trousers aud diugy blanket
made up his simple costume. He
looked q typical Indian outlaw, but
his face was kind, and there were
,,IfSn WIG ssjd bis gratitude for favor
vas kS6R and lasting.
- Az q professional horse.thief Oche
had small claim upon the kindness Of
'hohest men, and be must have e.
'bected the seSefest juStice at official
hands. But at the outset the. Indian
lad reason to BE- snrPrjssd TT S&AI
,trSfy q bis appearances Colonel Bailey
Wis E6hef3dB 70 3 fault, and his kind
consideration Tor prisoner Vas IN
variable Frozen Pete and followed
ssspg;s bag s.s no wish dn1v to oa b.
ural and right to offer Oche such little
attentions as were within our power
to bestow. I remember in particular
that last night when the Indian was
shiyering beneath his scanty blanket
how the colonel drew off his heavy
weathet-coat and spread II carefully
over him. Oche merely raised his
head and stared hard into the rugged
face of the sheriff.
: The hollow in which we had halted
was natural basin, situated on the
west bank of o branch Of the Washita
river. Eastward between us aud the
stream very narrow wall Of shaly
earth rose precipitously to the height
of full 80 feet. To the north and
west the low hills were almost perpen-
dicular. Thus on three sides the
basin was entirely shut in by cliffs.
On the fourth alone to the southwest
the view was open, and through the
gap we could see stretches of the IL
limitable prairie.
I. The tall prairie grass grew abun-
dainty on the floor OF our camping
ground, aud here and there along the
hard, dry walls chung an occasional
patch of stubbly buffalo grass or q
siekly cluster Of yellow cacti. Ger
tainly it was not pretty spot, but the
tall banks were rampant against the
chill breezes of the northwest, and
The basin had long since been favor
ito battle-ground for travellers.
4 On this night, however, the wind
had veered round until it swept unre-
sisted through the mouth Of our three
walled fat. All night long its vio-
lence steadily increased, and when
the colonel wakened us by loud shouts
Of "Rouse! Rouse!" it was blowing a
gale.
I started up and began to draw on
my heavy boots. The colonel was al.
ready making coffee over glowing
heap Of brush sticks. By chance my
). eyes wandered to the opposite side OF
the basin, where we had picketed oui
four broncos. They were gone.
In blank amazement / pointed &c
the spot. The colonel followed the
direction of my gaze and understood.
Then by common impulse we ran tc
where his overcoat lay. He snatchet
Il from the ground. Beneath were {
blanket, piece of heavy rope and ,
a l.. T..