The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1901-04-19
.r ana scalp you the. al

halted just out of rifle range, and soli-
tary warrior rode out from one of their
! lines and came in the direction of our
camp.
He made a signal for fomc Of us to
come out from our wagons and, slipping
revolver in my boot leg. | advanced TO
meet him
How" he said, as l came up in speak
ing distance.
I'm not feeling very well this morn
ing" | answered. I'm little homcSicl,
I ! guess. Pleasant weather we're hav-
ing"
lie ignored the speech and drew him
self to his full height
Me mighty chief, Geronimo" he ex-
claimed. slapping himself on the breast.
was about To tell him that was good
and to rake in the ante, when rcmem-
bered | might need my scalp if ever got
back to civilization, and said:
Glad 70 see you, Mr.. Gcronimo-have
read of you in the St Louis papers
Hope you are wel.'
Me want heap to cat" he exclaimed.
"All right" | answered. Just come
up to our camp-we'll have breakfast
ready presently"
-NS tuIutu anu iubkPN III tUe NTeCtlOn
OF our camp | saw that the other line of
Apaches had sneakcd up to our wagons
while our attention had been fixed on the
chief. Indians are very cunning. He
signifcd his warriors to follow, and we
were all soon back at the camp.
There were about 90 of them, and they
all staid for breakfast ana consumed
enough provisions to have done our party
two months. Then the chief wiped his
mouth and said:
"Want um horses"
We told him that we needed our horses
and did not intend TO give them up.
"kill um them" he exclaimed, drawing
a long knife and fourishing it in the air.
and his actions were followed by the
other 50 warriors.
We didn't want to be killcd-that is.
! the majority of us didn't-and we told him
TO take the horses along. | had become
very much attached to our horses. but
was also very much attached to my scalp
that is, it was very much attached to
me, and | knew it was of "no value if
detached" 50 | kept silent. After they
had helped themselves to our horses, the
chief approached me and said;
Gimme um watch"
gave him my watch without further
| parcy didn't want to hear those
words "kill um" again if could help it.
He next asked for my coat and a pair
of red suspendcrs | had on-in fact he
{ asked for everything he saw with child
like confidence that was touching to be-
hold. 1t was very fortunate he met us
when he did. for he seemed to be out of
everything that was necessary to make
his life happy. After he had taken every
thing we had that he could carry away he
still seemed dissatisfied and went through
our boxes again, smelling of the vinegar
and the pepper sauce bottles in a vague
sort of way
Then he called his braves around him
and rode away. When the Indians were
a few rods away, Kistler of The Optic
turned to us and said:
"Are those friendly Indians?"
Yes. answered the man who had nd
vocated a peace policy: ''they are evi-
IDENTIFY friendly, and it is our duty to re.
port their actions to the Indian agent"
just then. before we could prevent it.
kister, who had grabbed gun from one
of the wagons, sent a bullet into the
ranks OF the Apaches.
In a moment the widest excitement
! prevailed, and with a series of savage
! yells they whipped up their ponies till out
of range. and then wheeled about and be-
gan circling around us. yelling and firing
| as they rode
1t was fortunate for us that the most of
our arms and 4 anunition, being conceal
ed in the hay in our wagons, had ESCAPED
being found by the Indians or we would
| l1Vn hppD yyhollu NJ fhnir
was nothing left for us to do but fight,
now that it was commenced, and a mo-
ment later every gun and pistol belonging
to our party was brought forward and
put into service, and n telling fire was
poured into them as they swept past us.
Kistler. armed with a double barreled
shotgun. kept perfectly cool, loading and
shooting as fast as he could.
Again and again the Indians charged
| us, and each time from our breastworks
behind our wagons we poured deadly
fire into them, sending them back with
one or more of their number dead on the
ground. The shotguns in our party were
doing deadly work, but presently it was
announced that our supply of shot was
exhausted
kistler said nothing at this, but took
hatchct and broke open the box that con
tained our type Then he took handful;
of long primer" and loaded his gun. His
example was followed by the others. and
when the Indians charged us again they
were greeted by q dose of cold type,
which seemed to make n great impression
| on them Again and again they charged
US, and each time we distributed show.
er of cold pewter among them For the
next half hour the siege was kept up with
''long primer" and as the supply Of that
was exhausted we commenced to pour
upper case" into them in a most gencr
ous and lavish manner. When these
were all used up. we commenced using
mixed charges Of spaces and exclamation
points Then when they made another
charge we gave them dose Of quads and
display type. which so discouraged them
that il was plain to see that they bad got
enough
"You see observed Kstler grimly
the press eSerts a great influence in this
rountry even among the Apachcs
don't believe they viii come again"
His words proved true. for they soon
left us, taking their dead and wounded
along. Two Of our party had been slight.
ly wounded. but none was killed That
night we walked back to Mutt station and
the next day purchased some horses. and
in company with several citizens returned
for our wagons to find that they had been
burned 10y the Indians in our absence
We did not consider the press worth
moving after II had passed through the
fire and left il thprp vrlorc II o,, t .