Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1899-11-21

was not mark ON her except the slit
in her throat. / noticed that all four
of her hoofs were of. and the Papag9s
noticing this said: "Yes, it is true that
he ran her down. A deer always casts
its hoofs when run to death by man"
l find that that belief holds good
among all the Indians, but have since
noticed that in summer time, when the
ground is very hot and the deer are
fat and heavy, the same thing often
happens If you run them down with
horses.
THAT was Encinas' story of the Seri
running power, but the next day
happened to get an exhibition of it my
self that satisfied me even better, Just
before we were going to bed the major
domo came up and reported that the
verba colorado had come into the
troughs. 1t seems the verba colorado
was little red mare, the Incarnation
of devil in the wild range horse. She
had n reputation among all the 5000
head of stock on the ranch. having
been maverick SO long that when she
was finally caught up and branded she
was too wild to be of any use for ell
ther work or breeding. She had nearly
killed an Indian and n Mexican who
had undertaken to break her and had
been turned loose again. She never
came into the ranch except in the dri-
est weather. when all the outlying wa
ter holes had gone dry and she was
forced to steal in Mt night for drink
from the big tanks in the corral. 1t
had passed into saying on the Costa
Rica and other ranches around when
particularly bad spell of drought oc-
Cured, that it was bad enough to bring
the red mare home.
"Old Encinas told the foreman to
keep the verba penned up for the
night and. then chuckling. rubbed his
dry hands and said we would have
some sport in the morning. Then he
sent peon Off to the Seri rancheria
to see if Pablo was there. While the
messenger was gone he explained to
me that Pablo was one of the most
noted runners of the tribe. and as the
red mare was fit for nothing but kill
ing anyhow he was going to match her
in n sprint race with the Indian.
"When Pablo came up. it struck me
that if any man could run down
broncho horse he probably was the one.
He was G feet A and weighed about
$50, all bone and whipcord. He was
black as lead idol, and as nearly max
ed as the law allowed. He was bare
footed, too. but the old don explained
to me that none of the Seris ever wore
anything on his feet. which was the
way their trail was always to be dis
tinguished from n Papago's. Encinas
explained to Pablo that he was going
to turn the red mare loose in the morn
ing. and that IL Pablo could give her
ten feet start and catch her in 800
varas. approximately 300 yards, lie
could have her.
Next morning everybody who could
spare the time assembled at the corral.
The wild mare was inside, clrcling un-
easily and shifting at every corner for
an outlet. Encinas drew line ten
PAGES from the corral gate and told
Pablo he must let the mare get over
that before he started for her. Then n
vaquero was sent inside to get the
broncho started and the bars were let
down.
"Pablo was waiting just at the open.
ing, guiltless of any adornment except
n breechclout and big butcher knife
strapped to his hip. 1t would be strain
| ing the term to call him n bronze
Adonis or Apollo or any other old
Greek deity. for he wasn't. But such
another human greyhound l have new
er seen. Standing feet 4 and lean as
Pharaoh's kline, he hardly gave prom.
Use of the power that was really In
him. Dark as n negro, but with long.
straight hair falling almost to his
shoulders, and his white teeth gleam-
ing as he occasionally moistened his
lips, he had sinister look like one of
the old Ethiopian strangers out of the
arabian Nights His powerful neck
and great race horse chest were his
most striking features, and If it had
! not been for those and his broad hips,
his wasplike waist and sunken abdo-
men would have made him look almost
delicate.
"As the vaquero rode into the corral
the broncho mare started for the open
gate. She shied from the little crowd
outside and swept around the inclosure
again. Pablo was waiting at the gate.
! his foot braced against the post, and
STOPPING forward with his hands on his
knees, every muscle like n spring coil
ed up ready to be released.
THE red mare came round again Mt
a gallop. and. as the vaquero made a
feint at her with his rope. she swerved
You have been in the power house of
some great plant of machinery. Did it
occur to you that your body was more
wonderful machine?
In the term of natural life the heart
| beats three thousand million times and
with a pressure of thirteen
/ - mounds TO tIle strnI.s. LIS II,