Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1905-11-09
Hunted Down
Copyright, 1908, by r. B. Mcclure
By c. B. LEWIS

numbering thirty. The drove was led
by stallion who's, grace and beauty
elected unbounded admiration 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
gnashcd 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 a herd
up and down the valley for 200 miles
north and south. lie had braveG 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 an his forehead, and there
were a beauty and a defiance about
him that appealed to the little band
all but one
See me put a bullet inside that
star" he said as he 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 nostrlls quiverIng and flanks
heaving, and then at a signal from
their leader they We're away Ike 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 a longing to revisit the
old pastures, ana they came sweeping
back They never came during the
day. but always on a 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 a year they stampeded the cattle,
and then The foreman ordered their de-
structlon. The next time they came
sweeping up the valley they were to be
made targets Of.
There was grumbling among the men.
4 drove Of wild horses is always a
peril to q herd of steers, but 1t went
against the grain Of the men born In
freedom themselves to shoot down
other of Gods creatures. The wolf,
the coyote. the HoH-yes, they were
mans enemies. but the wild horses
were his friends. If they were not un-
der his hand and obedient TO him they
were still his friends. Ever since men
and horses We're. a 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 1t was with his
cowboys. It was so with his own con-
science, and he did not blame them.
But the drove must 90. 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
We're rough and hardy men who We're
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 sent
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 whinny. BY
| day they hid themselves among the
| pines and cedars and came out only at
/ night to feed
The mountain lions aided the hunt
ers They ambushed horse after horse
and pulled them down, and the fierce
timber wolves kept the living in a
| 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 lie 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
a shrlll 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 who
/ entered into the chase gleefully and
! greedily. The man who captured the
black horse could pat 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 the
black horse moving until he fell from
exhaustion. II would seem almost as
II the summer breeze whispered the
plans Of men in his ears. He disap-
pemeI as il the earth had swallowed
him up, aud hc was not found for a
month Inou one DAY man penetrat-
cd q 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
ami grass We're plentiful, and the black
horse had lived iu safety. ON the grass
lay the uecayiug bodies Of four timber
I ,7-,Tt-ae Ihgt had mot death while trVing