The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1900-01-26
with a chain and always to something
that she could not pull aapart.

that she could not pull aapart.
She ruined ten horses, kicked one
mule to death and another one so that
we had to kill him, and she tore the
clothes all off of a darby who tried to
feed her one day; but it got to be an old
story after awhile, and we didn't pay
much attention.
Nobody will ever forget the first time
she was seen in a fight. You'd have
thought she was human, from the sense
she showed, and fiend incarnate from
the way she fought.
Our company had been out on sor-
tie and we were on our way home, every
body giving Jeb and Blazes a wide
thing in reach on the road as well as in
the stable, when we came upon a de-
tachment of rebel cavalry between us
and home. They had more men than
we did, but there was only one thing to
do, and that was to charge-and we did
it.
| l was abreast of Jeb when we got the
word, and 1 never saw anything made
of flesh and blood do what BlaZes did
| tueu. CcD COuluu nOlu ucI dHy llOlC
than you could hold cyclone, and she
ran like streak of lightning. In the 30
or 40 rods between us and the confed-
crates she got more than two rods
ahead of the rest of us, SO she struck the
line first. I'll bet she covered 80 feet at
every jump, and finally she took an adj
mighty plunge into the air, and landed
plump on top of confederate sergeant
and his horse, knocking them both
down as easily as she would blade of
grass.
She reared and plunged, struck with
her forefeet, kicked with her hind ones,
and she used her teeth like tiger.
She'd grab a rebel horse by the throat
and tear out a chunk of flesh; she'd
seize a man by the leg or the arm, and
pull him out of the saddle and trample
upon him quicker than you could knock
him out with a saber, and every time
she had chance she'd jump into the air
and land right on top of horse and
rider, and then bite and tear andI strike
her way through or past the next one
she met.
I don't see how Jeb ever stayed on her
back, but he did, and he came out with
out scratch, too. Nobody ever made
fun of Blazes after that brush, but her
greatest fight was her last one.
We'd been out on a scouting and for
aging expedition and were on our way
back when we had that set-to. There
were only ten of us, and we thought we
had got past the point where we were
likely to fall in with any rebs, when
cavalry come over the top of a knoll
not quarter of a mile away.
There was no use for us to try to run,
for we would only have run into their
lines, and there wasn't a, man there
who wanted to surrender, so we yelled
back and started to meet them.
We came together, and in second
we were all mixed up. They surround
ed us like flies around a honey pot. We
were so few that we could not keep
together, and every man fought for
| himself, regardless of the others. Still,
everybody could tell where Blazes was
all the time, by the commotion she
kicked up; and when in fight like that
one thing kicks up enough extra COM
motion to be noticed, you can bet it's
moving.
I got a bullet through my right Shout
der and another one in my left arm, and
I was helpless; and just then my horse
got saber clip on the side of his head
which sent him crazy and somehow, he
managed to kick himself out of the
melee before he dropped, which he did
with one of my legs under him; but
L was where couldIsee the fight, and I
kept my eyes on Blazes.
Just as I discovered her, [ saw Jeb
Smith pitch head first out of his saddle,
and 1 knew that the parson was done
| for.
Blazes seemed to know it, too. She
had been wild before, but she became
| perfect demon then. She must have
known that she had no rider, and most
horses quit fighting when the man is
gone off from their backs; but she
didn't She only got wilder andlwent in
| for vengeance.
She no longer paid any attention to
| the horses, but she went for the men,
and whenever she grabbed one she liter
ally tore him apart. Hundreds of shots
were fired at her, and her body was
covered with blood from the saber cuts
she had received, but she paved and
| kicked. and tore with her hoofs and
teeth, turning like cat, and bounding
about with the ease and grace of
| panther.
| Then, when most of our men had gone
down, and when practically all that
there was left for the rebs to fight was
that wild mare, there was another yell
from the top of the hill, and saw
three companies of our own men COM
ing to the rescue.
The Johnnies saw them, too, andthey
broke and ran, and as sure as live,
Blazes started after them.
She overlook the last man and seized
him by the shoulder, dragging him
from his horse to the ground. AS he
fell he fred his pistol, and the shot
went through her heart, but she chung
to her prey and her body fell upon the
man who killed her.