Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1908-11-26
THE YELLOW
TUFT
By DAVID BRUcE FIrzoERALD
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
opyright. by Shortstory Pub. Co..

| jor, who had been a dozen years at the
post, and their points of view differed
In almost every conceivable particular.
AS they sat one evening, at the close
| OF blazing. fiery day. In a corner OF
the long veranda of the Communicates
quarters, the colonel discoursed on his
| favorite theme-which he had studied
| on Pennsylvania avenue, exactly 1900
miles distant as the crow fiies-The
only good Indian Is a dead Indian"
until the major began to revolye the
question of applying for leave Of abb
sence. He hated argument-and there
was not pound OF Ice within 200
| miles.
Just then Sergt James Mcguire
made an official report to the colonel.
saluted, clicked his heels and was
marching off. when the major brought
him up standing with a word and re-
quested him to tell the colonel what
happened at the Little Chusca Canyon.
The sergeant ffattened himself against
the white Misunderstanding, and In
deprecatory manner complied.
We'll, SIR" he said, 1T was at the
time of the second Navajo uprising.
with which, for pure devilishness, the
first wasn't In It for a minute. About
six o'clock one evening ranchman
came In from Manuelito with the news
| that the Navajos were out along the
Arizona border. moving eastward and
leaving an unpleasant trail We mount
ed four companies and were of ON the
stroke Of ten. But, Lord! we didn't
dream what was ahead. When we
halted at dawn next morning for
breakfast, two half-breed Zuni scouts
came In and told us that we were up
against the whole Navajo nation, with
It's war-paint on In broad streaks.
The captain considered bit, and
then ordered us TO saddle and mount.
We thought that meant falling back on
the fort, but 1t really meant going
ahead and holding the Indians In
check till reinforcements could come
up. With a half dozen scouts a mile
In advance, we rode westward
AT nine o'clock we sighted fairly
good sized bunch of Indians-about
two to our one-but that was nothing
/ thooC hoy AhOy ihadC Oh W NhC
north, intending to ride around and
get between us and the fort, 80 we
clapped the spurs In and went after
them. don't remember a nastier
ride. This desert is a warmish sort OF
4 place at the best-that day II was a
furnace. The sun was 80 blazing hot
1t raised fever blisters on our souls.
One poor fellow went clean daft We
couldn't have been wetter OF Steamer
II one of the post washerwomen had
poured boiling water over US.
I'VE brushed the reds three times
that day. first Jewett's stage
station, next at Yucca creek, and again
at Gibson's, near the beginning of the
foothills. Each time we rushed them,
because there was nothing else to do.
but they didn't stand worth cent
knew who would stand out In the open
and fight like a white man, but he had
too great fancy for green paint 1t
drew the fire of every man within
range; he had eight bullets In him the
day he died.
About two hours before shutdown
the reds halted in the mouth Of the
Little Chusca Canyon. From their
own standpoint, II was a beautiful
place for fight. The steep walls, a
thousand feet high, protected their
TANKS The gorge behind them ran
back 20 miles into the mountains, and
the floor Of the canyon, near Its mouth,
was strewn with great powders. An
Indian Just dotes on shooting through
crevice In the rocks.
when our captain-it was the ma
jor, here-saw the situation, 1t wor-
ried him-begging his pardon-and he
called the lieutenants aside for talk
The upshot was that the captain made
us little speech, the gist of which
was that we were not going TO round
up that bunch of reds, and might as
we'll be going, as the real circus was
to be down on the plains. But he said
that before we left he would like to
give the Indians In front a scare that
would keep them from hanging on to
our trail
I'VE saw II meant crawling, and an
swered by slipping from our horses,
We had half a mile TO cover before
the light failed, but the ground was
covered with big rocks. and we
crawled and lodged and made little
runs, the reds taking snapshots, but
doing no particular damage.
"A hundred and fifty yards from the
mouth of the canyon we reached an
open place. sand-foored and bare as
the palm of your hand. except for one
big bowlder in the center. It would
have been Just simple suicide to try
crossing The lieutenant shook his
, head, and sent back sketch Of the
ground to the captain.
while we waited for instructions. ]
noticed two Indians behind the big
bowlder. II was devil-may-care
place to be. for II we charged they
we're done for, no matter what hap
pened to US individually. and they had
no way Of knowing what we would
do. They were safe enough for the
time. so long as they kept behind the
rock. and sized them up as couple
OF bucks anxious to distinguish them
selves.