Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1905-09-07
+. I. Hunted Down
By c. 3. LEWIS
....u.-t..Lt t..I- LIl II 1k.Ii....a
By c. 3. LEWIS
Copyright. pg;. By n. d. Mcclure

pastufaSe fe:icHcu lHc w fnu river val
ley almost the first thing their eyes
rested on was drove OF wild horses
numbering thirty. The drove was led
by Il stallion whose grace and beauty
elected unbounded admiration. Some
of tie drove had escaped from bond
age 10 roam the plains free from the
restraints Of man, but the leader had
surely been foalcd In some quiet cove
among the foothills, and his mother
had kept guard over him while the
timber wolves circled around and
qua he'd their teeth in hunger
He had been born as free as the air
about him, and when his muscles had
hardened he had galloped with herd
up aud down the valley for 100 miles
north and south. He had braved the
fierce winters, the cunning of the
wolves, the spring OF the mountain
lion, the greed and cruelty of the red
man. There he stood at the head of
his drove, five or six years old, black
as midnight, with the exception of the
white star on his forehead, and there
were u beauty ana Il defiance about
him that appealed to the little band
all but one.
See me put bullet inside that
start he said as lie pointed his rifle.
IF YOU do, | will put one through
your head!' replied the leader, and he
was backed up by his two companions.
For five minutes every horse In the
drove stood there with head and tail
up and nostrils qulvering and tanks
heaving, and then at Il signal from
their leader they were away like the
wind.
1t was through these men that the
Big Four outfit heard of the black
horse. The coming of men and cattle
drove him and his fellows down to the
south cul of the valley, hundred
miles away. but now and then they
seemed to have longing to revisit the
old pastures, and they came sweeping
back. They never came during the
day, but always on moonlight night
anG the first any one knew of their
prcSCnc was the sound of their thud
ding hoofs Three times in the course
Of Il year they stampeded the cattle,
and ,he2 the foreman ordered their de-
struction. The next time they came
sweeping NJ the valley they were to be
made targets Of.
There WA grumbllng among the men.
a drove of wild horses Is always
peril TO herd of steers, bgt 1t went
,,f Ia,
freedom themselves to shoot down
other of Gods creatures. The wolf,
the coyote. the llon-yes they We're
mans enemies, but the wild horses
were his friends. If they We're not I'M
der his hand and obedient to him they
and horses were bond of friendship
has existed between them. When the
horses came again a few shots were
fred, one or TWO wounded, perhaps.
sad the herd escaped material damage
The foreman saw how it was with his
cowboys. 1t was 50 with his own con
science and he d" aot blame them
But tie drove U..st so, There were
men over at san Bias who would 10
anything for money, even to the taking
of human life For certain price pcr
head they undertook TO eXtc"minate
the drove There we're four of them.
and they rode away secretly ana Swoge
the foreman to secrecy they had to
The cowboys would have called It mar
der ana demanded revenge TIE fcw
settlcrs along the DOT of the moautGiiil
we're rough and hardy mon who were
dealing with nature in the rough, but
trey would not have tolerated the
slaughter.
The quartet found the drove and be-
gan the work Sometimes the mon
kiiiej from the saddle and sometimes
they skulked and apcakcd on foot ann
approached thcir game MS the panther
does II was from no feeling of sent.
meut that they spared the blacl, horse
Ii had been agreed from the first %
spare him till the last aud then seek
10 capture him alive Il took weeks t.
finish the rest OF the drove Whom the
horses found death on their trail they
left the broad pastures and sought the
green coves, making far into the noun
taius. They spread out so as TO leave
no trail AMI ceased to whlnuy by
tay They HID themselves among The
PINGS and cedars and came out only at
ught 70 feed,
The mountain lions aided the hunt
yrs. They ambushed horse after horse
and pulled them GoHu and The fierce
timber wolves kept the living IN
ni.to E )ssrga Z .5t psata Hgr 5Ta
al l,Iupu 10 tht south advancing
civilization The poor horses were
Eemuea between
by anu rs the hr tiers gleefuIly re
ported That only one horse was left
llr black leader He could not have
escaped bullets had they been minded
- shoot him. but he bad outwltted the
wolves aud the lions, and when his
last companion wcat down lie uttered
shril neigh OF defiance and vanished
in thc distance, Word was sent up
aa +, down the valley that he was To
se hunted C. his capture. The cow
boys would have nothing 20 DO with 1T.
Gut there were a score Of others who
entered into the chase gleefully AMI
greeHly The man who captured the
black horse could put his own price Oh
him
The plan u campaign was for men