The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-10-09
saw CHUx IN "OREaM."
Peculiar sisisn Of Ranehman on New
tIsxirnu rrairie.

/ Frur7 TIE New Yort Nsii sBd Express.
NO. I can't say I 60 much or supersfi-
| ton and that sort o thing. but I'd like
some o. these wise chaps to explain a lit
| tie incident that happened TO me down in
! the Pecos Valley. In New Mexico, few
years ago"
Grizzled Bob aEerfsw. veteran cowboy.
ranchman. globe trotter. and philosopher.
I took another pull al mis- cigar as he sat
/ in the Hoffman House cafe. \ thought
I full look came over his face and his COM
panions al the table awaited in silence his
| further utterances. After y pause Bob
continued:
I'VE were sign riding. Lee Wells and
J. Know what sign" riding is? An mag
I mary line is drawn on the prairie Two
men, one stationed at each end. ride to-
ward each other al a given hour ANY cat
/ tie that have crossed that line are round
ed Up and driven back The idea is to
keep the cattle together as much as pos
! sihle during the winter.
"Our line was about ten miles long. Lee
and l Used TO meet half way every day
ana II no cattle had crossed we'd SIT
down and smoke and chat a bit. Some
times we'd visit e9ch others 'dobes ard
generally chum together so far as men
can when ten miles apart. We each had
SIX horses, the pick of the nerd. and
/ mighty proud We were. too. Of en-.
Bout that time the Indians were
rather troublesome They generally went
IN small bands and occasionally the loss
OF bunch OF horses would be reported
BY Tanchmen whereabouts. Lee and [
didn't fear EN- IIuch. They carried only
bows and arrows. and II It came to n
chase our horses could easily outrun
theirs The greatest danger Ne had 10
fear was the loss of our horses.
Lee and | had talked frequently about
the Indians and both were Of the same
mird-if attacked. kill the horses rather
than let the msrduding thieves get EN-.
Il left Lee at the halfway mark IS
usual one day, got back 10 my 'dose
and after eating dinner turned in. |
hadn't been asleep very long. when z
was awakened By sort Of feeling that
there was somebody in the room. / 2 op-
I'd under the pillow for my gun. turning
over a. / did so, and there in the door
way stood Lee Wells. The fcathered
shafts Of six arrows were sticking from
his breast and his FACE in the moonlight
looked drawn and CHASTITY. There vas a
smile of satisfaction on his face, though,
as he said quietly.
Wen. they got me, Bob, but they
didn't get the horses.
II was out Of bed in an instant The
minute my feet touched the hJcr Lee
vanish ID The door was smut and locked
just as / left il when / went to bed. Pom
dernC over the realistic dream or what
ever il was. | turned In again, but il
was long time before l got 10 sleep.
"a second time | was awakened BY +he
same vision There stood Lee N the
doorway and again he pointed to the ar
row 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 par
haps. Lee was playing me a trick
went out TO the corral. The horses we're
all right and no signs Of anybody having
been around. / sat up and smoked and
thought a whole lot until daybreak. then
] mounted and set OF for the halfway
mark. Lee wasn't there, and no sign of
his coming, so ] rode on TO his 'dObe.
There at the gate Of the corral was
Lees body. with six arrows I'm his chest.
just as ] had seen them in the vision IN
side the corral Law the bodies Of his lOrs-
es. ali killed with bullets.
1t was plain TO me that seeing the
Indians coming Lee had deliberately kill
ed the horses before turning his attention
to the thieves. Judging from the noof
prints, there must have been about twea-
ty Indians in the bunch. Lee must have
damaged them some before he fell. judg-
ing from the cartridge shells lying
around. They took his WINCHESTER. Of
course, and looted the 'dobe. They didn't
get much for their trouble though.
But what / want 20 know is: was that
a dream or did Lee Wells really appear
before ne in some sort Of f0rmg'
His hearers could not explain