The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1900-06-14

us went up on the Dismal on hunt,
near the same place 1 have been tell
ing you of, and 1 took Blowout along,
for he is o frst-class hunting-horse,
all but one thing, and that is this: he
will not go into a blowout. He'll go
through fire or water if 1 tell him to
go, but q blowout-never.
"Well, we had been in camp nearly
week, when I started off alone one
morning, away back north from the
river, to see if I could have any bet
ter success, as I had not as yet shot
anything bigger than jack rabbit. l
rode eight or ten miles before I saw
anything, and then I caught sight OF
q big buck antelope about a half mile
away.
"He hadn't seen me, and as the
wind was in my favor and blowing
hard, I felt pretty sure of good shot.
So I rode quietly forward, keeping on
low ground until got near the place
where L had seen him. Then 1 dis.
mounted and crept up to the top of a
ridge and peeped over. There stood
the antelope about fifteen rods away,
broadside to me, his head up, as fine
a mark as you could wish.
81 fired, and the antelope fell, kick.
ing and struggling. L started toward
him on the run, calling to my horse
as 1 went Just as got within few
feet of the antelope, he gave great
kick, throwing himself over into a big
blowout-he had been standing just
on the edge OF it. I was considerably
excited by this time-it was the first
antelope I had seen for two years or
more-so I jumped down after him.
He went sliding down, down, clear to
the bottom, and then 1 got hold OF
him, used my knife, and stepped back
to let him bleed.
Gust then something in the sand
at my feet caught my eye. I stopped
to pick it up: it was bone, partly
buried in the sand. pulled at it,
then dug away the sand from around
it. 1t was human skull. Instantly
the awful truth flashed across my
mind; I was in the Dead Mans Blow
out
''For a moment I was stunned by
the terror of my situation. Then !
fairly screamed, and few at the steep
slopes of sand, trying to escape. But
it was no use-the sand came down as
L clawed into it. Still 1 kept trying
until I was completely exhausted. l
lay down at last, quite calm with de
SPAR. I wondered how long 1 should
live; wondered whether my body
would be found, as the other poor fell
lows was; and the thought came to
me that my friends at camp might be
alarmed at my long absence, and fol-
low my trail and so find me. But as
[ listened to the wind and remem-
bered how the sand was drifting, !
felt how useless any such attempt
would be, as none of them could guess
the direction in which 1 might have
gone from my first course. I remem-
bered, too, with terrible sinking at
my heart, that I had come much
farther than we usually did. I re-
called. too, that J had spoken the day
before of returning home alone, be-
cause of my poor luck. 1t seemed
clear that I could expect no help from
my hunting mates, and I resolved to
make one more effort to get out,
"With my knife in hand I climbed
up as far as I could, that is, to within
about twelve feet OF the top. There
1 began digging, but still the loose
sand from above kept sliding down as
fast as L dug. Again and again /
tried, but TO no purpose. At length
I slid back to the bottom, where l lay
again in stupor of despair, hov long
I cannot tell.
ST was aroused by low whinny
from my horse. L looked up and saw
him standing just at the edge of the
blowout, looking down at me, although
his eye seemed fairly to bulge out
with fear of the place. L have no
doubt that he understood my case we'll
and was wishing to help me. My
lariat was on my saddle, but as much
out of reach as the moon was. What
could do? As glanced around my
eyes fell on the antelope-the cause
of all my trouble An idea flashed
into my mind, and I quickly began
skinning the animal, all the time talk
ing to my terrified horse, coaxing him
to stand still.
81 soon had the hide off and cut
into long strip. Making moose at
one end, I climbed up toward the
horse as far as possible and, throw
ing the moose upward, I got it around
his neck. Now felt safe, for 1 knew
nothing on earth could induce him to
take another step forward. He stood
fast, and in a moment I was out, and
after a few minutes of trembling l
was able to mount and ride back to
camp. "-Youth's Communion,