The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-08-15

those days we're the most desperate char
acters Of the frontier. and no one went
into the business unless he knew Row 20
handle a trigger. and get the drop on a
ranger. We were Tot long in making up
the intervening ground. and soon We were
In fun sight OF them.
stampsaed the Herd.
They were urging the cattle az hard as
they could. They we're then within seven
miles Of the Rio Crande. and expected 10
be across It before the sun rose. But they
locked back and saw rs. 4 warning shout
told the whole gang what was uD, and
then the trouble commenced They real
lied that they would never get away with
their booty and they proceeded to make
an attempt 20 save their own skins They
whipped out their revOlvers and began
shooting among the cattle TO stampede
them IN every direction They thought
We were too anxious to save the steers TO
pay any attention 20 the men who had
run them Of.
They were mistaken in this. however
The cattle lowered their heads in regular
stampede style and struck Of madly
across the prairie. one would have
thought that their long run Of almost
forty miles would have completely ex-
hausted them, but IL did not They seem
Cd TO gain fresh strength from the excite
ment Of the shooting, and with a wild
below they spread out over the plain. We
Jet them go. for We knew we could get
Them I'm time. Each one in the pursuing
party singled out his man, and let the 9TH
ers take care OF themselves
Il was on the outside. which was con-
sldered a position of honor. as ! had 20
keep my own trail. The desperate ahead
OF me was a heavy-set Mexican. and he
rode his melted horse as if he had been
born IN the saddle. He knew his bust
ness. and he Immediately got away from
the rest Of his crowd / afterward learn
ed that he WAS Tomas VilleiO. one of the
most treacherous and blOOdthirsty G-eas-
eTs on the frontier That made little diff
ference 10 me. / had a good shotgun.
loaded with buckshOt. and there were two
OF the finest colts in the world at my belt.
Besides / was young. I had my fathers
best horse. and / was certain that my man
would not get away from me.
A Trial of speed.
''He was about 600 yards ahead of me
saddle and laughed as ne saw ne come
after him. Too many cursed Gringos had
biz the dust before him in years gone by.
and he was not afraid OF me. But when
he saw me gain full hundred yards in
the first mile he did not seem so gay. II
was then about O'Clock in the summer
morning, and it was getting light. He put
the spurs TO his horse. and pulled away
from me a little; but / soon made up the
distance, and when he turned the next
time / saw he looked III worried. We
Kept on this way far three miles and a
half. My horse wax beginning to blow
with the furious outburst Of speed, and
NHlego kept squirting his mount, and urg-
ing it on with every epithet in the
Greaser vocabulary.
81 got within 100 yards of him and
dropped my reins on my horses neck. /
saw that / could easily plug him at that
distance. The Mexican had been more
used to a stern chase than / was to pur-
suit, as / soon found out. He stopped
his horse with a shock that would have
thrown any ordinary man out of his seat,
and turned him around. II was all 50
sudden that l was unprepared. Quick as
a flash the Greaser leveled his shotgun
and fired. i got the two charges of buck
shot full in the chest at the distance of
seventy-five yards. The tremendous i'm
pact of the lead knocked me off my horse
as if ! had been jerked with a laTiat. My
mount galOped away. / lay on the ground
bleeding terribly. The shot had gone
through a leather coat, a flannel shirt.
and my Undertaking. None Of them
reached my lungs, though one got inside
my ribs, and is in my anatomy to-day.
Killed His Man and Tainted.
But l was far from dead. in spite of
the fact that | knew / would soon faint
from loss of blood. played possum, and
turned over on my side, all doubled up.
quietly drew my revolver out of my belt
and awaited developments. Villejo looked
at me for a moment at a distance, and
then he dismounted and came toward me.
He saw that | was a Ranger, and he
some of my good weapons. He
was certain that the bucksh0t had killed
me, and he was not bothered much about
retaliation from me.
Il saw him as he walked up by looking
out under my arm. Just as he reached
me and stood over me / raised my "A and
fired. The ball went i'm under his chin
and tore off the top of his head. He fell
across me and then | tainted. He had
Just come in the nick of time. If he had
come up ten seconds later | would have
been powerless, and he could have killed
me with ease. My companions found US
a few hours later and took me home. /
was in the hospital for a day or two, but
il was not long before i was out ready
to turn the trick again. | was a little
wary after that about getting 100 close
to GreaSer who could shoot as well as
Tomas Nillejo."