The National tribune., 1903-07-02

HdEuAs uulc " EeduZe uDOul Ot tHe
money outlay caused by the prep
arations incident to an incpient contract.
We acquired by trade II rather old buggy
with team of fairly good horses and kept
one wagon with six mules. As had con-
siderable amount of money still left from
my savings in the army, we loaded up the
wagon with groceries and some dry-goods,
in order to replenish the stock of the store
at Tubac. Towards the end of November
we started for the latter place. Arriving
at the Canoa towards evening of the sec
Ond day, Wooster kept straight on alone in
the buggy towards Tubac as soon as night
fell, while l remained in camp at the
Canoa, on the western border of the Santa
Cruz River. With me were Hamlin, the
teamSter, and tine Iman-O -all-work, Ramon
Moraga.
SAVED By A DOG.
Here singular thing happened which
religious people would attribute to a kind
Providence, superstitious people to God
knows what, and the matter-Of-fact West
ern or frontier people of those days simply
to "a streak of bull-headed luck"
As we were sitting around the camp fire
eating supper there appeared suddenly in
our midst a very lean dog, probably at
tracted by the OdOr of our sizzling bacon.
Notwithstanding his starved and neglected
condition, / perceived at once that he was
a thoroughbred hunting dog, either setter
or pointer. l have forgotten which. We
fed him literally; he showed his gratitude
| teligent dog knows so well how to eni-
ploy, and when we lay down to rest for
the night he coddled up against me like
child to its mother.
| OF course, in those days at least one man
in Il camp was always told off to keep
watch while the others slept. The mules
were securely tied to the wagon wheels.
- fool nfnI, and tvnl- ~
| up about 10 o'clock. He reported every
thing quiet. 1t sat up and lighted my pipe.
| Without being called the dog sat upon his
launches between my knees From time
to time he would look at me with almost
human eyes, with such Il pleading express
sion that l expected him momentarily to
address me with some such words as:
will you please keep ME with you al
ways?"
| Towards IL O'Clock the half moon rose
| and gradually diffused gentle light upon
/ the sandy bottom of the river bed, along
the middle of which a narrow silvery rib
bon of water flowed. Scattered along the
edges of the river there stood some tall
cottonwood trees, in that season bereft of
| foliage, while the numerous elder trees
growing partly in groups, partly in soli-
tary state. for the most part had still re-
tanned their leaves and cast weird shadows
over the vast sandy waste. These trees
were interspersed with considerable under
growth that impeded ones viewing the sur
rOlndings to any distance.
Towards midnight the dog began to
show signs of restlessness. Now and then
he would take an occasional run to the
very edge of the water, sniff the ground.
Ishake his head then pointing with his
nose into the air would sniff again and
finally return to me and resume his sitting
1pOsture between my knees. 80 longer look
ing at me, however, but keeping his head
turned toward the stream.
About 1 o'clock l awoke Hamlin. He
was short, fat man, and to this l at
trbuted the difficulty l experienced in get
ting him fully awake. l did not then
know, or even expect, that he had Il
bottle of whisky nnder his saddle which
served as his pillow and that about one
half of the liquid WAS still on hand. After
much rubbing of eyes and stretching of
legs and arms he reported himself ready to
take the watch. and i lay down with the
dog by my side. ! / suppose L slept at
times, but was awakened frequently by
the restlessness ofsthe dog, who would take
a run towards the river at intervals. That
he did not go there to drink / had seen,
and furthermore knew that n bucket full
of water was standing within his easy
reach.
| At last he seemed to have overcome
whatever had caused his strange behavior;
he lay down quietly by ME and / fell
sound asleep.
i had slept probably an hour and a half
When ] was suddenly awakened from two
simultaneous causes: One was the jump
ing up of the dog and his pulling violently
at my OvercOat (whereupon he ran towards
the river, barking furiously), and the other
was the stamping and rearing of the mules
which kicked and struggled to free them
selves from their halters. l was up in an
instant with gun in hand. and so was
Ramon. Looking in the direction of the
dog, We just perceived several Indians dis
appearing behind the underground in the
river bed. We fired almost simultaneously
over the dogs head at the f}eet-foOted ras-
calls, probably without any better result
than that to show that ''we were awake
and ready" Then we called the dog back
and gave our attention to the mules. After
considerable trouble in untangling their
fastenings and quieting them with our
voices and gently patting and stroking
them with our hands, we investigated the
status Of our night watch.
| Hamlin was fast asleep, as fast as the
prOverbial log, or faster. His bottle, now
empty and exposed to view, lay by his
side. As daylight was now beginning to
peep at us over the peaks of the Santa
Rita Mountains, Ramon began preparing
the breakfast, while undertook to inter-
view
Did 1 wake him up gently? No, kind
reader, l did not. In fact, so far from
gentle was my manner in "stirring him
up," that he showed great resentment at
it. A few words of explanation, however,
settled all controversy, and when ordered
him to feed the mules he did so quite
meekly. may as well mention here that up
on our arrival at Tubac had n final ex-
PLANTATION with him and have not seen him
since that day. According to the unwritten
code of frontier life in u country swarming
with hostile Apaches, he had committed
the same crime as the soldier falling asleep
while on sentry before the enemy, the end
Of which according to the written code of
every well regulated army means firing
squad, q coffin, and hole in the ground,
all preceded by the playing of Plegel's
hymn by the band.
When daylight appeared we examined
the tracks of the Indians. This was an
easy task in the wet clay and sand sur
rounding the shallow river, easily fordable
by simple wading. To our horror we dis
covered that the foremost of them had
reached within less than 40 yards of u.s.
Had it not been for the dogs watchfulness
very few minutes would have sealed our
fate, and this tale would never have been
told. That dog enjoyed most luxurious
breakfast on that mOrning-and oh! how
III lupppd himt