Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-12-15
TOLD IN HIS DREAMS.
PECULIAR VISION OF A RANcHeR ON
A NEW MEXICO PRAIRIE.
His Partner Appeared to Him Dur
ing sleep and Informed Him of the
Fearful Fate That He Had Met at
the Hands of the Indians.

ing sleep and Informed Him of the
Fearful Fate That He Had Met at
the Hands of the Indians.
No, l can't say l go much on super
! StitiOn and that sort of thing. but Id
dixie some of these wise chaps to eX-
plain little incident that happened To
me down in the PecoS valley, in New
Mexico. few years ago
! GriZZled Bob Morrow. veteran cow
boy. ranchman. globe trotter and phi
losopher. took another pull at his cigar
as he sat comfortably i'll his seat in the
hotel lobby. 4 thoughtful look came
over his face. and his companions at
the table awaited in silence his further
Uttcrances. After pause Bob CON
tiuued:
We were sign riding. Lee Wells
and |. Know what sign riding is
An imaginary line is drawn on the
prairie. Two men, one stationed at
each end. ride toward each other mt n
given hour Any cattle that have
crossed that line are rounded up and
driven back. The idea is To keep the
cattle together as much as possible
during the winter.
Our line was about ten miles long.
Lee and l used To meet half way every
day. and if no cattle had crossed we'd
sit down and smoke and chat bit.
Sometimes we'd visit each others
'dobe and generally chum together as
far as men can when ten miles apart.
We each had six horses. the pick of the
herd and mighty proud we were, too,
of 'em.
Bout that time the Indians We're
rather troublesome. They generally
went i'll small bands. and occasionally
the less of n bunch Of horses would be
reported by ranchmcn thCrcahout. Lee
and didn't fear 'cm much. They car
ried only bows and arrows. and if it
came to chase our horses could cas-
lily outrun theirs. The greatest danger
we had to fear was the loss of our
horses.
Lee and had talked frequently
about the Indians. and both were of
the same mind-if attacked. kill the
horses rather than let the mara uding
thieves get EN-.
Il left Lee at the half way mark. as
usual. one day, got back to my dobc
and after eating dinner turned i'll. !
hadn't been asleep very long when l
was awakened by sort of feeling that
there was somebody i'll the room. l
CROPPED under the pillow for my gun,
turning over as | did so, and there in
the doorway stood Lee Wells. The
fcathcrcd shafts of six arrows were
sticking from his breast. and his face
in the moonlight looked drawn and
CHASTITY. There was n smile of salts
faction on his face, though, as he said
quietly:
well. they got me, Bob, but they
didn't get the horses.
Il was out of bed in an instant. The
minute my feet touched tie floor Lee
vanished The door was shut and lock
ed lust rs | left it when | went to bed.
TOndcring over til" realistic dream.
or whatever it was. l turned i'll again,
but it was Il long time before l got TO
sleep again.
"A second time l was awakened 10y
the same vision. There stood Lee in
the doorway, and again he pointed to
the arrow shafts and said:
"'They got me, Bob. but they didn t
get the horses.
NO more sleep for me that night. l
looked around the 'dobe. thinking per
haps Lee was playing me trick. |
went out to the corral. The horses
were all right, and there were no signs
of anybody having been around. l sat
up and smoked and thought n whole
lot until daybreak; then | mounted ana
set off for the half way mark. Lee
wasn't there, and there was 10 sign of
his coming. so | rode on to his 'dobe-
There, ut the gate of the corral. was
Lees body, with six arrows i'll his |
chest, just as | had seen them in the |
vision. Inside the corral lay the bodies |
Of his horses. all killed with bullets.
1T was plain to me that, seeing the |
Indians coming, Lee had deliberately |
killed the horses before turning his at |
tcntion to the thieves. Judging from |
the hoof prints. there must have been |
about 20 Indians in the bunch. Lee |
must have damaged them some before |
he fell. judging from the cartridge |
shells lying around. They took his |
of course, and looted the |
dobc They didn't get much for their
trouble, though.
But what ! want To know is was
that dream or did Lee Wells really
appear before me in some sort of
form:"
His hearers could not eXplain.-Ncw
York Mail and Express.