The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-11-07
CAe Death BIRD.
sY N QUAD.


OF the death bird OF the desert. No liying
man had ever seen It., but there were
plenty who had heard its notes. and III
notes always meant danger One might
travel TO and fro on the staked plains for
year and never see a bird OF any sori
except about its edges. The only nFsag
things to be met with are serpents, liz.
ards. scorpions. and skulking wolves. The
aridness and desolauon are too much even
for the buzzards
The death bird. so the legend went. an.
peared only al night. and then no man
saw him. He came 10 give warning. His
notes were peculiar, and no hunter could
initiate him. bat one hearing them II. ths
silence OF the night and the desert could
make no mistake. Before making the triE
an old hunter said to me:
There is but one danger 10 look out 10,
the Attaches. They may follow you clear
across The desert They will not attack
you by daylight, but at night. without
your having seen sign OF them. they vii
creep upon you as softly as serpents and
spare none. Listen for the notes Of tho
death bird, and when you hear them take
instant warning"
Ihere We're sixteen of US in the party
fourteen soldiers were supposed to con.
sutute force able to take care of itself
anywhere Inere was more anxiety as Il
our water and rations than as 10 the In
dams who might dog our footsteps. II
was midsummer, and the heat on tina:
great surface Of sand and alkali soil was
simply terrific. After the first day. wher
We were clear Of shelter, a march of six
or eight miles was all any one was cana
nf MI
and recuperation. but they also brough,
loneliness no person can describe Men
afioat on the wide ocean in a small boa;
near strange sounds at night and are
made afraid. Men on the desert are al
most made towards by the uncanny sur
roundings. If there is the chirp OF a
cricket or the howl Of a coyote. IL is nc.
company. 1t simply adds to the lonell-
ness. IL the night is unbroken, then ii is
as If heavy blanket had been thrown
over your head to shut out the living
world.
We saw nothing of Indians No one be-
lieved that a party took our trail. a
faithful watch was kept, however. but
after few nights, when / had come %
realize how helpless we really were, /
found myself depending on that legend of
the death bird. If we were menaced. he
would warn us. We had been out a
week when there came the BLACKLIST Of
black nights. IT was black because IL
vas moonless and a storm was gathering.
Our tents were set up in a cluster. but
they could not be seen at a distance IF
six feet Three sentinels were on duty,
but they could not see the sands at their
feet. If the Indians had followed, there
would never be better night for a sur
prise. It would be no trick at all to
creep within stabbing distance OF TIE
sentinels, and a vOlley of arrows and bull
let's sent through the tents must wound
or kill most of us.
| was sitting in the door of my tent
an hour after midnight, wondering how
soon the storm would break, when there
came 10 ne from a point not far distant
the notes of the death bird. They SOUND
ed a bit ike the call OF a quail and vet
they we're unlike. They were like words
instead of notes They were soft and
clear, and from the very first they said
to me:
Look QUIT Look QUIT Look out! DAN
gerI Danger! Danger. Death! Death!
Deathp'
l repeat that the bird seemed to be
ural notes. i may have got this idea from
my state of nervous apprehension, but so
it was. / turned and woke up the two
sleeping engineers and asked them to
listen They did not make out words as
did. but one Of them whispered:
That's a danger cry, or l never heard
one. tell you we are meRaeed by some
great perilr'
Thrice the death bird called its notes,
and then all was silence as before. A
soldier was sent creeping away 10 call in
the sentinels. few rods to the north of
US, as we noticed when going into camp.
the sands had been toyed with by some
strong gale until the ridges almost formed
a natural fort With the greatest care
and in the deepest silence we left tents
and baggage, and. taking nothing but our
water bottles and muskets, we crept out
OF camp TO the north, and by and by
reached the fort. 1t was so dark that
men had to be felt for instead of spoken
to, but at the end of half an hour we lay
In line with our muskets resting on
sand ridge and pointing toward camp.
One could tell by the feeling in the air
that the storm would soon break, and that
the first break would be a vivid fash OF
lightning. The men were instructed to
fire with the dash IN case it revealed In
dams about.
At last, when We were all In q tremble
with anxiety, the flash came For a few
seconds 1t was as If great searchlight
had fallen upon the desert Ii was so
binding that every eye was closed for a
second. When opened, they beheld a band
Of twenty Apaehes on hands and knees
within twenty-five feet Of the tents. A
voiley was fired straight into their faces
and a second as another flash showed a
few In retreat, and then We lay there in
the pouring rain till daylight came. There
mad been in the band. as near as we could
figure 1t, twenty-oEe Indians. We had fired
without aim, and the destruction wrought
was due to luck or accident. but there
were sixteen redskins lying dead on the
sands around the camp. Among these was
full chief, a sub-chief, and five or six
noted warriors. Our yolleys had accom-
plished more than a years campaigning
with 900 soldiers. Indeed. they brought
peace for two years. said one OF the sur
viyors to me afterward
I'VE had planned to kill the entire LOT
Of you We heard the notes OF the death
bird. and knew you would near them aiso
but we didn't Relieve you would under
stand the warning. Had you not UNDER
stood and moved away not a man OF you
would have escaped"
For many days subsequently-aye. for
many months and years-as / was posted
along the desert or Journeyed across IL |
looked for the death bird at morning.
noon, and night, but I never got sight of
him. bis mission Was TO fly only al night
and to tell OF peril.
The Boston spirit.
From HsFDer's Weekly.
Boston's new Symphony Hall was open
ed on October Is With a svsclal copeerr