The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1900-12-07
THE GARMENT OF IRON
A Tradition of the Coyoteros That Worked Disaster
and Death.
.HERE was no skeleton in tho
by GwendoIen Overton.
nrmOr Whcn IiHTIpUIV IUuHu


IL; only some sand and
bunch Of tumble-wecd. rat
tle-snake, and a tarantula. The tar
antula scuttled off, he killed the rat
tlesnake, and the tumble-wced and
sand he emptied out. Then he had
the armor done up in a shelter tent
and put upon pack-mule. AFTER
which. the column moved on. 1t should
not have halted after all, for 1t was
In pursuit of a band of Indians. But
there were bands Of Indians every day,
and the finding of full suit OF armor
lying under a mesquite bush beside
their trail was rare.
Certainly Hartpole had never heard
OF such n thing. And, so far as he
knew, II was the only suit Of armor
ever discovered on the New Mexico
plains. but his lore on the subject was
not profound.
When he got back 10 his twO-com-
pany post on the banks Of the ella, he
found the interest In life, which had
been lacking for him up to then, in
enlarglng that knowledge. He sent
East for books and histories ana treat
ises concerning coats OF mail and the
men who have worn them, and hc even
went so far as to write TO the Smith
sonan Institute, at the risk Of having
Government commission sent out at
once TO seize his treasure. And in the
interval of two months which elapsed
before he received n rcply-for the
railroad was only to Kansas in those
days-hc set about cleaning The armor
himself. and with his own hands join
Ing it together.
He was so occupied, what with that
and the histories ana the other books,
that he forgot to have ella bottom
malaria and had no time 10 worry
about the flies. Then, when the steel
was once more brigh. as the azure
shield Of Achilles, and he had proved
to his own and to every ones satisfac-
tion that 1t must once have protected
the body Of one of Coronado's men,
and must date back from the middle
of the sixteenth century, or thercabOut
he hung IL up In his One-roOm adobe
quarters, along with the Indian tro-
phies that were as nothing now and
the bottled reptiles OF many sorts; and
the fame of ii spread through the
land. An English lord, in pith hcl-
met and gray linen, who was going
about the country, Travelled miles out
OF his way TO look upon 1t; and
scientific party from Boston did the
same. Iartpole was beginning to bc
L.,
visitor of another kind.
II was a man he had seen sometimes
hanging around the agency ana the
post-a small, 1.-THE fellow, part CoyO-
tero Apache, part Mexican, possibly Il
very small part white, who had some
reputation rs a medicinc-man with the
tribes, but not much rs anything else.
Hartpole was sitting under his ra-
NADIA on late summer afternoon,
reading n book whose covers curlcd
up with the heat, when something
came between him and his light. and
looking up he saw the medicine-man
pecring in the opening. He said
"Hullo, Cicgo," and added; what do
you want, ch?"
Ciego was so-callcd because he was
blind in one eye. He came in under
the ramada, and stood SO close 20 him
that Hartpole moved little. The
Coyotero's cast-olI uniform and red
head-band were not clean.
Ciego spoke excellent Spanish, and
as Hartpole did, too, he had no trouble
about making himself understood. He
explained that he would like to see the
suit of iron clothes which he had been
told that the lieutenant possessed
The lieutenant was SO pleased TO think
that IL had been spoken of in the fast
nesses of the Sierra Blanca and OF
the Tonto Basin that ne forgot how
dirty Ciego was. and straightway rose
and invited him into the one room.
The medicine man stood looking nj
the armor with an interest and cvi.
dent appreciation that touched Hart.
pole very much. After the manner OF
his kind he said no word but present
ly he went nearer and felt of the plates
and chains with his fingertips, and
put his good eye close and looked in
side. Then he turned To uartpole
"Where did you find ity' he asked.
The lieutenant explained at som,
length.
lis II very oldY
Hartpole said 1t was at least thrc,
hundred and thirty odd years old. ant
went into little history.
Ciego nodded his head. IL know
he said. But that was so manifest,
absurd that Hartpole did not pay an,
attention TO IL. 1T is very fine" sal,
Clego. For how much will you sci
Il 10 meT' Naturally. Hartpole onl,
laughed, but the Apache was in earn
est, nevertheless. mo" he insisted
looking him sharply in the face ~,
de veras, ! wish TO buy IL from you"
"Well. | don't wish to sell" nr
swercd the lieutenant. rather vexed q
the mere idea.
IL have five hundred dollars" sal
the Indian.
"If you had n thousand you coul
not have IT,"
81 have n thousand"
Hartpole laughed again, little lu
naffonfiv