The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-15

win in a show down. When I think of how glad the girl is going to be when she sees him I feel a whole lot like dropping him in the sage brush and letting him get lost.
 "Along toward noon we're riding round a sand hill when the ponies stick up their ears in a way that means one of two things-bear or Indian, and 1t
 ain't more than a minute before l see it's Indians There's quite a bunch of them, maybe 20 or 30, spread out so we can't get ijy and waiting real
 patient for v to drive up and say howdy.
 "They're all young braves, in paint l and feathers. and I know what their ! game is the minute I set eyes on them They has a. playful habit those days | of breaking out of the reservation oc- casIorally and burning few ranch houses and scalping few women and children, and then sneaking back to | their tepees after dark and laugnlng l at the soldiers who come up on the run usually about the tlihe the hio stop smoking.
 "I heads the ponies round so sudden | that the blackboard makes a circle on | one wheel and stars back for town ike I'd forgotten a mighty important CT | rand. Whats up?' the boy asks, holo- 1 inc onto the seat with both hands. The noh1e red mans up,' says. dodglng bullet that sings by my ear ike A mosouito. He's seeing red and thirsty | for gore I says, and if you want 10 keep on wearing your own naii "" | better hold on tight
 "There's a big, shelving rock about d rn,le hack. not far from the trail, and l Lrov if we can reach that l can noid | tbano off for quite a spell, so siaps lhe reins on the ponies backs and yeiis ie" | times and we drifts over the landscape | like a yellow dog with can tied 10 ms | tail. shedding store truck something sii- | ful Every time we hit rock we ]oits on | a can of tomatoes or bag or nour' tiii u looks like cyclone has scattered gen eral store all along the araii. Aiiu all | the time them blamed lndians are cia~ | ,ng ,,n on us, hanging over their ponies nac,xs and yelling like hell let loose. l .xVhen the rocks about 5OO yards ahead and the nearest Indian about as far l habind one of the ponies steps in a l nrairie dog's hole and goes down with 1 n broken leg, and before l have time 10 l. swear we're piled up in heap so prom's- 1 cuous that I don't know for a second or | two which is me and which is the puck l hoard. But crawls out Of the wreck mighty spry and looks around for the boy. | He's sitting in puddle of molasses ana | flour and broken eggs, hugging a nam ui,- da,. ana arm and looking mighty surprised | but not hurt bit- l "It ain't any time to stop and talk, so ,,+s the other cayuse loose from whats
 Jeff of the blackboard, and picks up the
 how and chucks him onto its back. Now i ride, you little cuss,' l says, graoo,ns 1 tba nony's tail and proding him In the
 r,Tnn with the point of my knife, and we
 heads for the rock, hitting only the high
 nlaces, with the pony towing me and the
 paarest Indian reaching for my back hair
 T never was much on travelling a-foot. but
 I reckon I must have broke all the run
 r,ny records for 50o-yard dash right then
 a,,d there. and we made the rock just
 ahead of our red brothers. I knows then
 we're all right for a while, for they can
 oo1v ger at us by riding straight up
 which ain't an Indians idea Of lighting d at all.