Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-11-20


to wait till daylight to get in here"
yell of rage and disappointemnt
at the failure of his ruse rent the air.
echoed 1t seemed by fully fifty threats.
The blow Of an ak fell on the door.
BUDS rifle rang out twice in rapid
succession; there was dull thud OF
one body falling to the ground and al
howl of pain from another. Then an
awful stiffness reigned for few NOM
ents. Bud and took advantage of 1t |
10 slip our extra door into place and
then took up our stations on either
side of the room to wait developments.
We were not kept in suspense long.
A rush was made and something hard
hit the door. They were trying this
time to crush it in with log. Buds
rifle poured out stream Of lead and
cries of pain told the result. This
method of attack was proving too cost
~ and the door was let alone.
Then my turn came. heard steal
thv climb to the rear of the pony
shed built at the rear of the cabin II
fired and by the light Of the flash II
saw my victim, and fired again. A
heavy fall and an agonizing groanj
marked another enemy gone
Daylight began to break and the
Cheyennes withdrew out of rifle shot
to hold council Of war. We had not
proven to be the easy prey they had
expected to find.
The day passed in desultory firing OH
both sides. We had to be constnatly
on the alert for sudden attack and the
strain was great.
Some of the bucks eager to gain re-
noWn In their tribe, took daring risks.
For their temerity number of them
paid a severe penalty Both of us were
good shots and no Indian could so clev
erly disguise himself in his efforts to
get near our cabin but what Buds
lynx eyes would detect him, then a
bullet from his unerring rifle would
reach its mark.
l saw him break the arm of an In
dian at three hundred yards. Nothing
was visible from behind a small tree.
1t was difficult for me to even distin-
guish the outlines of the brown bare
arm hanging motionless by his side.
When BUD nred the Indian scam
pered for better cover, his right arm
hanging limp.
Things looked blue for us, but tho
grim determination to sell ourselves as
dearly as possible nerved us to fight 1t
out to the bitter end. AS dusk APP
preached we could discern the enemy
gathering quantities of dead limbs and
dried grass We knew what that meant.
Closer and closer they drew the Gordon
around US.
When darkness was complete the at
tack commenced in earnest on all sides.
Bud took his accustomed stand beside
the door. AS each load of wood was
dropped we fired in the direction of the
sound. Sometimes we were successful,
but more often we were not
Then came digging on the roof A
couple of poles were lifted and the
sod resting on top came tulnbliog
through the opehing.
Silhouetted against the sky were
two heads seeking to penetrate the iii.
terror darkness Two shots rang out
simultaneously End the body IF one
came tumbli.g nto The cabin; The
other remained motionless.
No more had; slowed ahcvn the
opening but it served anothe. purpose.
Burning brands were flung through
that not only pa tally lighted .p Inc
interior but filled the cabin with suf-
locating smoke. Burning brands
were also flung down the chimney and
the top covered over to prevent the
smokes egress, Things were grow
ing unbearable. The flames outside
commenced to crackle and roar omin-
ously.
In short time the whole outside
was one mass of flames and the heat
grew sitting. Another blazing fagot
fell through the roof Bud dashed
over it bucket Of water and in the
succeeding momentary darkness we en-
tered the cave.
We were not moment too soon.
Hardly had we gotten the entrance
closed when a portion of the roof fell
in directly over us. A minute later
and our retreat would have been cut
Off. We each took up station at one
Of the hollow poles. The air was
close and warm. We could hear dis
tinctly above the roar of the flames
the Indians shouting their war-cry and
impatiently waiting the final scene in
their deadly work.
AS time passed by and we did not
put in an appearance they could not
imagine what was wrong. Their war
cry ceased and we could hear them
holding consultations. They we're
nonplussed No shots had been fired
at them for some time and they knew
we coud not live in that fire. Yet 1t
was seldom their victims deliberately
roasted to death.
Towards morning there was a stir
of excitement among them. Though
we were half dead from fatigue and
our cave was as hot as an oven our
sense of self-preservation sprang to
duty again. We feared they had dis
covered our hiding place.
But we were happily disappointed.
They made hurried examination Of
the smoking ruins and then dashed
rapidly away on their ponies.
The reason for their sudden depart,
ure was to us of course shrouded in
mystery. For fear they were trying to-
set some sort of trap for us we re-
manned for some hours where we
were. Then we heard the trample of
horses and all our fears returned. The
trampling drew nearer; then we heard
the sound of many voices, not the gut
teral of the red man but our own
mother tongue. 1t had never before
sounded SO sweet to our ears