Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-03-28
TOLL, In HIS DREAMS.
PECULIAR VISION OF A RANcHER ON
A NEW MEXICO PRAIRIE.

A NEW MEXICO PRAIRIE.
His Partner Ap1scsrcd to Kim Dur
ing Sleep and Informed Et:n OF the
Fearful Fate That He Had Net at
the Hands of the Indians,
No, ! can't say l go much On super
siition and that sort of thing. but I'd
like some of these Wise chaps To cN-
plain a little incident that happened to
me down in the Pccos valley, in New
Mexico. a few years ago"
| Gi.izzled Bob Morrow, veteran cow
boy, ranchman. globe trottcr and phi
losophcr, 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 u pause Bob con-
| tinued:
We We're sign riding, Lee Wells
and l. Know what sign riding is?
An imaginary line is drawn on the
| prairie. Two men, one stationed at
each end, ride toward each other Mt q
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 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
| of 'em.
"'Bout that time the Indians We're
rather troublesome. They generally
went in small bands, and occasionally
the loss of n bunch of horses would be
reported by rnnchmen thereabout. Lee
and didn't fear 'eln much. They car
| ried only bows and arrows, and if it
came to Il chase our horses could cas-
| lily outrun theirs. The greatest danger
we had to fear was the loss of our
horses.
lice and l had talked frequently
about the Indians, and both We're of
| the same mind-f attacked, kill the
| horses rather than let the marauding
thieves get 'em.
~ left Lee ut the half way mark, as
usual, one day, got back to my 'dobe
and after eating dinner turned in.
hadn't been asleep Very long when l
was awakened by Il sort of feeling that
there was somebody in the room. !
CROPPED under the pillow for my gun,
| turning over as did so, and there in
the doorway stood Lee Wells. The
| feathered shafts of six arrows We're
sticking Prom his breast, and his face
| in the moonlight looked drawn and
| CHASTITY. There was smile of salts
| faction on his face, though, as he said
| quietly:
"Wcll 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 floor Lee
vanished. The door was shut and lock-
| ed Just as left it when / went to bed.
Pondering over the realistic dream,
or whatever it was, turned in again,
but it was Il long time before l got to
sleep again
"a second time | was awakened by
the same vision. There stood Lee in
the doorway. and again lie pointed to
the arrow Shafts and said:
""rhcy got me, Bob, but they didn't
! get the horses
"No more sleep for me that night.
looked around the 'dobe, thinking per-
llaps Leo was playing me IL trick.
|
were all right, and there were no signs
\ of anybody having been around. L sat
| up and smoked and thought Il whole
lot until daybrcall; then mounted and
set off for the half way mark. Lee
| wasn't there, and there was no sign OF
his coming, so rode on to his 'dobe.
| '"l'here at the gate of the corral, was
Lees body, with six arrows in his
chest, just as | had seen them in the
vision. Inside the corral lay the bodies
| of his horses, all killed with bullets.
at was plain to me that, seeing the
Indians coming, Lee had deliberately
/ killed the horses before turning his at
tcnton to the thieves. Judging from
the hoof prints. there must have been
about 20 Indians in the bunch. Lee
must have damaged them some before
he fell, judging 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 to know is was
that Il dream or did Lee Wells really
appear before me in some sort OF
| form!"
His hearers could not eXplan.-New
York Mail and Express.
1
Good For Preserves.
Last spring IL feminine botanist bios.