Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-07-23

step IN the sand and often falllng;
he would imagine he could hear coy
otes and see them a few yards away
on either hand, lodging from one
cactus to another. and keeping close
watch on him. In reality he had not
seen a living thing since he left camp.
He kept on, staggering and falling;
he dared not stop. 1t was dark now.
He stumbled, fell heavily, and lay,
thinking to rest a moment. The.
he fell asleep. He awoke while
dreaming that he was resting in the
shade of some trees by a running
stream; he did not realize for a mo-
ment where he was, but when he re-
membered he jumped up and moved
on, he knew not which way-only to
be going. When he thought of his
direction with horror, he came back
to see from his tracks which way he
had been going when he fell.
He got on his knees and made a
circle to find the tracks, for he could
tell nothing from the tracks where
he had lain in the sand. He made a
circle, but found no track: he made
a larger circle and examined every
part of the sand, with the same re-
suit; he could not tell north, south,
east nor west.
He knew of the North star and
the Dipper, but he had never had
use for them before, and now every
star looked alike to him. They
would brighten up, then fade away.
He was becoming blind and he could
hear nothing but what seemed the
bowling of coyotes and water run
ming. The coyotes seemed drawing
nearer, and the thought of his bare
bones lying on the desert in a few
hours started him to his feet. He
took the course he was facing. He
was very weak, and reeled as he went
in the direction of his discovery of
the morning before. That seemed to
act as a magnet, in his weak condi-
ton. He thought now, in his suf-
fering, of his Creator and of the
Hereafter. He had never given either
much thought before, but he knew
now he was facing them. Suddenly
he came upon his tracks and found
that he had been walking in a circle.
Then his last hope fed; he staggered,
tripped, fell heavily on his head and
lay unconscious.
When the man recovered conscious
ness he was lying on some brush
against a large granite bolder which
formed one side of a brush hut. On
the other side was the door, through
which could be seen pine trees whose
branches moved to and fro, giving a
purring music. The man tried to I'M
derstand what had happened, and
then marveled that he was still in the
body; he moved his limbs and traced
his features with his hand, trying to
recognize himself. While thus
thinking he heard voices speaking
Spanish outside. Then an old In
dian oma came in, looked at him
strangely, and asked in Spanish how
he was. He told her he felt well,
but the sound of his own voice fright
ened him, and he would say no more,
Later in the day an old and a young
nan came into the place. They had
evidently been hunting all day. From
them the prospector learned Of his
rescue.
A few months prior to the white
mans journey an Indian, named
Pinto, Il Mexican outlaw, for whom
a large reward was offered, lived by
skirting the desert from one water.
hole to another, and relieving pros
pectors of their provisions land mis-
e~ries), if he saw them first, through
the sights of his rifle. In this way
he had maintained himself for years
until he located the rich placers in
Alamo. for which discovery the Mex,
lean government %pardoned him his
crimes. The rush to the new placers
was great; Indians and MeXicans
were going from all quarters. Pinto
had sent word to a friend at Yuma
to come to the mines. He described
the course his friend should take
and how he would recognize the camE
when he reached it. 1t had a large
number of alamo (cottonwood) trees
in the gulch, which was surrounded
by mountains, from which the ocean
could be seen, about 40 miles away
The man started from Yuma with
his wife, daughter and young son
They took a westerly direction, but
in a few days had lost their bearings
and drifted out in the desert.
Several days out of Yuma they
crossed tracks. They followed this
trail in its zig-zag career, then they
guessed the truth-some one was lost
in the desert and they concluded tc
follow him. They had not gone fan
when they found the unconscious
man. In their own way they treated
him and gave him a little water al
regular intervals, then packed him or
a burro, changed their course to the
north, for they knew the country
and on the fourth day they reached
the camp in which the escaped fugi,
tive heard their story. When the pa
tient was well enough they wanted
him to go to the new field with them;
he begged them to return with him
and told them of the wonderful dis.
coyery and the good outfit which was
out an the desert somewhere. AS tn,
prospector told of the nugget traiI
two feet wide, the old man would
look at his wife and raise his shoul.
ders slowly in a strange way, But
the prospector insisted; he tried in
every way to get them to return
with him. His persistence was the
only thing which would alter the
smile which persistently played on
the old mans bony features. He
would change the subject by saying
they would come back after visiting
Alamo. There was 10 choice left the
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