The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1905-09-12
Hunted Down
By C. B. LEWIS
Copyright, 1906, BY R. B. Mcclure

WHICH ne ueH Sent out Dy lne big
Four Cattle company in search of new
pasturage reached the Wind river val
ley almost the first thing their eyes
rested on was drove of wild horses
numbering thirty. The drove was led
by stallion whose grace and beauty
elected unbounded adIriration. Some
Of the drove had escaped from bond
age to roam the plains free from the
restraints Of man, but the leader had
surely been foaled in some quiet cove
among the foothills, and his mother
had kept guard over him while the
timber wolves circled around and
CRASHED their teeth in hunger.
He had been born as free as the air
about him, and when his muscles had
hardenedsAhe had galloped with herd
up and down the valley for 200 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 beauty and a defiance about
him that appealed to the little band
all but one
See me put bullet inside that
start he said as he pointed his rife.
If you do, will put one through
your headp' 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 quivering and TANKS
heaving and then at a 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 end of the valley, a 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,
and the first any one knew of their
presence was the sound of their thud-
ding hoofs. Three times in the course
Of year they stampeded the cattle,
and then the foreman ordered their de-
struction. The next time they came
sweeping up the valley they were to be
made targets Of.
There was grumbling among the men.
A drove of wild horses is always a
peril to herd of steers, but it went
against the grain of the men born In
freedom themselves to shoot down
other Of Gods creatures. The wolf,
the coyote, the lion-yes, they were
mans enemies, but the wild horses
were his friends. If they were not IN
der his hand and obedient to him they
were still his friends Ever since men
and horses We're, bond of friendship
has existed between them. When the
horses came again a few shots were
fired, one or two wounded, perhaps,
and the herd escaped material damage.
The foreman saw how it was with his
cowboys. 1t was so with his own con-
science, and he did not blame them.
But the drove must go. There were
men over at San Bias who would do
anything for money, even to the taking
of human life. For a certain price per
head they undertook to exterminate
the drove There were four of them,
and they rode away secretly and swore
the foreman to secrecy. They had to.
The cowboys would have called 1t MUIR
der and demanded revenge. The few
settlers along the foot of the mountains
were rough and hardy men who were
dealing with nature in the rough, but
they would not have tolerated the
slaughter.
The quartet found the drove and be-
gan the work Sometimes the men
killed from the saddle and sometimes
they skulked and sneaked on foot and
approached their game as the panther
does. 1t was from no feeling of senti
ment that they spared the black horse.
1t had been agreed from the first to
spare him till the last and then seek
to capture him alive. 1t took weeks to
finish the rest Of the drove When the
horses found death on their trail they
left the broad pastures and sought the
green coves, making far into the noun
tains. They spread out so as to leave
no trail and ceased to whinnx BY
day they hid then ives among the
pines and cedars a. Idme out only at
night to feed
The mountain lions aided the hunt
Cd
and pulled them down, and the fierce
timber wolves kept the living in q
state Of terror To the north were the
cattlemen, to the south advancing
civilization. The poor horses were
hemmed between.
By and by the hunters gleefully re
ported that only one horse was left
the black leader. He could not have
escaped bullets had they been minded
to shoot him, but he had outwitted the
wolves and the lions, and when his
last companion went down he uttered
shrill neigh of defiance and vanished
In the distance. Word was sent up
and down the valley that he was to
be hunted to his capture The cow
boys would have nothing to do with it
but there were a score Of others wht
entered into the chase gleefully ami
greedily The man who captured tie
black horse could put his own price Oh
him.
The plan of campaign was for men
to station themselves up and down the
valley at intervals and to keep til
black horse moving until he fell fro
exhaustion. 1t would seem almost I'D
II the summer breeze whispered the
plans Of men in his ears. He disap-
peared as if the earth had swallowed
hin, up, and he was not found for a
month. Then one day a man penetrat-
ed wild, dark gorge leading into the
mountain, and when he had followed
it for a quarter of mile it debouched
into cove ten acres in extent. Water
and grass were plentiful, and the black
horse had lived in safety On the grass
lay the decaying bodies of four timber
wolves that had met death while trying
to pull him down. He had courage as
well as beauty.
The presence Of the man drove the
horse out into the valley, and then the
chase was taken up. 1t began one
morning at daylight.
The chase was cruel and later on led
to quarrels wherein men lost their
lives. For five miles each hunter pur-
sued the black horse at top speed and
then he rested. Confident of his speed
and strength, the lone horse moved off
with a defiant air. There was not a
moments rest for him all day long.
Three or four times he buried his
muzzle In the Ice cold waters of the
creeks as he came to them. The COM
ing Of night gave him no relief. 1t