The Portland daily press., 1899-01-27
ON ESCORT DUTY.
BY CHARLES D. LEWIS.

md six men and an ambulance were Or
Tered out within an hour to escort and
,onyey the colonel's wife down to tho rail
road. For a year there had been no open
act of hostility on the part of the Indians,
out we had known for weeks that they
were making ready for an outbreak. 10
was queer enough that the colonel should
come down to us In person as we stood ho-
side our saddled horses, knowing nothing
Of where we were to go or the object of the
trip, but stranger yet that all military
etiquette" should go out of his voice and
dcmeanor as he said:
Men, am going to send my wife down
10 the railroad to go east You are to be
her escort. 1t is case of life or death, or
she would not 20. l am afraid of the In
dians, and yet think you will get through
all right. You are to make tho best time
possible. If attacked
I'VE shall beat them off, sir, replied
Sergeant Gregg after waiting half a min
ute for the colonel to finish.
! Il hope you can. i can only send the
seven of you and q driver. Eight men
ought to beat off 100 Indians unless taken
In ambush. Be watchful and prudent.
Sergeant you are an old Indian fighter.
You will know best what TO do. You will
get away by o'clock. Travel as fast as
you can and as late as you can, so as to
finish the journey tomorrow. II you are
attacked -
The colonel did not finish He looked
at each man and horse, inspected the am
bulance and its pair OF mules, and with a
half nod to us he walked away. His wife
must go, and, owing to details and sick
ness, no commissioned officer could be
sent along II the Indians were out, an
escort of 90 men would not be too large.
ONLY eight of us were to GO Had he fin
ished his sentence he would have said:
III attacked and you are about to fall
into the hands of the red devils, do not let
my wife be captured alive"
We understood what he meant, though
we said nothing to each other. No mat
ter what he or any one else feared. the lit
tie woman was almost merry as she took
her seat in the ambulance for the start.
Nothing had happened when we reached
| the valley, and as we looked around us
and across it nothing could be seen to
alarm We had just taken tho ropes off
the blocked wheels of the ambulance when
the warw hoop of the hostile Indians sound
ed behind us, and we looked back over our
trail to catch sight of 100 mounted war
riors bearing down upon us. They had
l
Mount Now, straight across the val
levi Fall in to the rear of the ambulance.
The voice of the old sergeant was hard
and firm as he spoke. The curtains of the
ambulance were up, and glanced at the
colonels wife She had seen and heard
Her cheeks had paled, but she war remov-
ing a repeating rifle from its hooks as we
fell In behind the vehicle 1t was clear
| five mile dash. The prairie was Us level
as floor, and the mules needed no urging
after hearing the yells of the Indians. The
soldier driver wound the lines about his
| hands, braced his feet, and away we went
| We had a start of half mile. No man
looked back. The pace was u hot one, and
there was cover five miles away. The In
| dlans gained on Us, but only inch by inch
| The mules took up such gait that our
| horses had to lie right down to it TO keep
up. Not a word was spoken as we rode
| but every ear listened to locate those com
ing up behind us. If they came too near,
we must halt and open fire while the am
bulance pushed on. We had almost reached
cover before three or four rifle bullets came
singing over our heads. Three minutes
later we were among the trees and rocks,
and the race was ended. As the ambu-
lance halted and we flung ourselves off
our horses looked back and saw band
of at least 20 Indians almost within rifle
shot OF US The road struck the hills at
gulch, and they dared not follow us into
that They gave vent to their disappoint-
ment by shouts and yells and waste of
ammunition, and for few minutes they
had no plan In view.
well, we beat them in a fair race"
said the colonels wife as she descended
h,, rif IN hpf.
hands Sergeant Gregg, what are you
going to do now?"
Take cover, ma am. he replied as he
gave her the military salute.
"Yes, of course, she said as she looked
about. did you ever see pair of mules
run fasterF l might have got shot but
for you men behind. There must be near
100 Indians out there, but / guess we arc
safe enough now.
She ratified on in that fashion while we
were taking the mules from the ambu-
lance and unsaddling our horses, and il
was great weight off our minds to real
lie that she would not be a burden on our
bands. 1t was idle to think of pursuing
our journey in the darkness which would
soon close down, and before morning
there would be plenty OF Indians on the
trail beyond. We must take cover and
hope to stand them off until help arrived
or they grew discouraged at the siege. AS
we were consulting about location and de-
Tense the oolonel's wife came back 10 us
from the mouth OF the gulch and said;
That's the place. over to the left, men.
There's spring on that hill, with good
growth to shelter all, and you can see
s.enty of powders lying about ="
The sergeant had selected the same spot,
and in the course of a quarter of an hour
we were occupying 1t. We got the horses
and mules up there, but the vehicle was
left behind. 1t was cone shaped hill
amid half dozen such, but 1t commanded
the others. 1t was covered with pines and
cedars of small growth, and there was
splendid spring right ON the crest. If the
Indiaps had been fierce in their pursuit
or crafty in their plans, we could not have
reached It. 1t was the outbreak of war
again with them, and they were oyercau-
tious. They drew back into the valley to
consult TINS giving us a fair show, and