The Dickinson press., 1901-01-12
IN HIS DREAMS.
PECULIAR VISION OF A RANcHER ON
A NEW MEXICO PRAIRIE.

His Partner Appeared to Him Dur
ing Sleep and Informed Him of the
Fearful Fate That He Had Met at
the Hands of the Indians,
mo, l can't say l go much on super
stition and that sort of thing, but I'd
like some of these wise chaps to ex-
plain a little incident that happened to
me down in the Pecos valley, in New
Mexico, a few years ago"
Grizzled Bob Morrow, veteran COW
boy, ranchman, globe trotter and phi.
losopher, took another pull at his cigar
as he sat comfortably in his seat in the
hotel lobby. A thoughtful look came
over his face, and his companions at
the table awaited in silence his further
utterances. After a pause Bob con.
tinued:
I'VE We're sign riding, Lee Wells
and I. Know what sign riding Isl
An imaginary line is drawn on the
prairie. Two men, one stationed at
each end, ride toward each other at a
given hour. Any cattle that have
crossed that line are rounded up and
driven back. The idea is to keep the
cattle together as much as possible
during the winter.
sour line was about ten miles long,
Lee and I used to meet half way every
day, and If no cattle had crossed we'd
sit down and smoke and chat a bit
Sometimes we'd visit each others
'dobe and generally chum together as
far as men can when ten miles apart
We each had six horses, the pick Of the
herd, and mighty proud we were, too,
of 'em.
"'Bout that time the Indians were
rather troublesome. They generally
went in small bands, and occasionally
the loss of a bunch Of horses would be
reported by ranchmen thereabout. Lee
and I didn't fear 'em much. They car
ried only bows and arrows, and If II
came to a chase our horses could cas-
lily outrun theirs. The greatest danger
we had to fear was the loss of oul
horses.
"Lee and I had talked frequently
about the Indians, and both were OF
the same mind-if attacked, kill the
horses rather than let the maraudine
thieves get 'em.
II left Lee at the half way mark, as
usual, one day, got back to my 'dobe
and after eating dinner turned in. ]
hadn't been asleep ven long when
was awakened by q sort Of feeling that
there was somebody in the ROOM. ]
CROPPED under the pillow for my gun
turning over as I did SO, and there In
the doorway stood Lee Wells. The
feathered shafts Of six arrows were
sticking from his breast, and his face
in the moonlight looked drawn and
CHASTITY. There was a smile Of salts
faction on his face, though, as he said
quietly:
"'Well, they got me, Bob, but they
didn't get the horses
ST was out of bed in an instant. The
minute my feet touched the floor Lee
vanished. The door was shut and lock
ed just as I left it when I went to bed
Pondering over the realistic dream,
or whatever it was, I turned in again
but it was a long time before I got tc
sleep again.
"a second time I was awakened by
the same vision. There stood Lee II
the doorway, and again he pointed t.
the arrow shafts and said:
"aThey got me, Bob, but they didn't
get the horses
"No more sleep for me that night. ]
looked around the 'dobe, thinking per
haps Lee was playing me q trick.
went out to the corral. The horses
| were all right, and there were no signt
Of anybody having been around. I sal
up and smoked and thought q whole
lot until daybreak; then I mounted ant
set on for the half way mark. Lex
wasn't there. and there was no sign o
his coming, SO I rode on to his 'dobe.
'There, at the gate of the corral, wal
Lees body, with six arrows in hi
chest, just as I had seen them In tn
vision. Inside the corral lay the bodies
Of his horses, all killed with bullets.
ut was plain to me that, seeing thu
Indians coming, Lee had deliberatel!
killed the horses before turning his at
tention to the thieves. Judging from
the hoof prints, there must have beer
about 20 Indians in the bunch. Lei
must have damaged them some befor.
he fell, judging from the cartridge
shells lying around. They took nj
Winchester, of course, and looted TIN
'dobe. They didn't get much for theil
trouble, though.
"But what I want to know is wa
that a dream or did Lee Wells reall!
appear before me in some sort O
formY
Hi hearers could not explain.-NeV
York MAI and Express