The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1900-07-12

called me there sank back upon the ground
from sheer exhaustion, when l came near
to him. l gave him half of the water in
the canteen on my horse, and fixed up
contrivance with his blanket by which the
not sunshine was kept out Of his eyes.
It may seem very little to do for a person
In that horrible condition. but 1t was all
could do. l sOpped a corner of rag
IN tin cup of water and washed as best
| could the wounds about the mans face.
Inat gave him some relief.
HE managed to tell me that he and his
dead comrade had had war of words on the
trail across the mountains. They were evil
IDENTIFY abandoned, half-civilized beings The
dead man attacked his comrade with pis-
toll, and the other could not reach for his
own pistol quick enough to shoot back. In
stead, the attacked Mexican drew his bowie
knife, and the two men clinched In mortal
embrace. Each man held>the other with a
powerful grip, and neither gave nor asked
quarter until death came to one Of the
Mexicans. While the attacking man pressed
his pistol against his antagonists body and
discharged every cartridge in it into the
man, the latter drove his bowie knife again
and again into his antagonist The knife did
It's mortal work quickest, but the seven pis-
tol balls in the other man brought death q
half hour after reached there. The shoot.
ing had probably occurred five hours before
l came riding along that way. When the
Mexican-I have never heard his name
died. | mounted my horse. and. hot as it
was, went galloping over toward Jmtown,
where l told Of the scene l had come upon
constable started back at once over the
trail.
Have | ever seen any bears on my mail
route? Yes; often In the spring and fall
months. Only last March l turned a bend
in the road among the foothills of the
Mogollon mountains and there, not half
mile ahead, were two black bears and two
cubs trudgfng slowly along. l looked at my
shooting irons. but I knew enough about
bears not to wound or harm one unless I
know can certainly kill it at the next shot
or see positively where there Is an avenue
OF escape open to me when hard pressed by
bruin. bear. unless wounded or mad or
crazy hungry, will get out of ones way on
the least chance of escape. So I put my
hands to my mouth and yelled and made
hideous noises to inform the bear family
of my approach The beasts stopped a
second, at my first shout, looked back and
then made for the nearest hiding spot among
the rocks. By the time I reached the place
where the beasts had left the road saw
nothing of them but tracks. l see coyotes
every week. but have never seen q noun
tain lion, and that's what I should really
like to watch some day The mountain lion
SO old time hunters and trappers say. is
the most wonderful acrobat in the world
mo; l have no fear of bandits. The mail
I carry never has anything valuable In it,
and l let that fact be known everywhere.
Besides, the country through which travel
Is so utterly good nothing that a jack
rabbit would have hard rustic for living
on 1t, and bandits would have hard picking
off the few poor, tattered prospectors who go
that way. II should however be held up,
I'd be sensible. As have just said never
carry valuables, and any bandit can look
through the mail pouch to his hearts con-
tent before I'm going to be shot. I'd, how
ever, put my long practice at firearms into
good use, rather than let any one Intention
ally run over me on the route"