Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1909-02-05


near the long bar gate the post ambu-
lance was drawn up, and on top OF II,
in camp chairs, under red and white
parasols, sat the colonel and his wife
and the post adjutant and Mrs. Ur-.
quart, the suffers wife-and black
eyed girl, under big leghorn hat.
She looked down with studious tran
quillity along the rows of ugly faces
turned toward her, or watched the
dozen steers that were grazing lazily
in the center of the corral
Presently the mumbling along the
fence grew louder, and as the bar gate
was slowly showed open and six bucks
rode in bareback at lope, 1T swelled.
into lusty shouting. Two Of the riders,
in tight, beaded buckskins and flannel
shirts, wore red calico on their heads
and toed in. Another, the brawniest
of the batch, had three speckled feath-
ers in his hair and sat his pony as il
he were posing for photograph.
That was Black Wing.
According to custom, the riders
swung to the right and cantered down
around the corral and back to the
gate, waking up the herd and saluting
the party on the ambulance with wav-
ing Of hands, amidst prolonged howl
ing from the throats along the fence.
Then there was a lull, which fell to
dead silence while Black Wing raised
his broad bowie as high as he could
reach, uttered a piercing coyote cry,
and charged into the herd. He bore
down on the beast with the longest
horns and dealt it a swooping, savage
crunching blow behind the shoulder
with all his might, then drew back a
little, brandished his dripping knife,
and sprang in again.
The show had now begun. A mighty
hurrah went up from the crowd along
the fence as all the riders closed in
for the fight and slaughter; and while
they punched and slashed on left and
right, and spattered themselves with
hot blood, the applause broke into
frantic screeching, and the 5000 spec
tators jumped up and down and waved
their hands.
Two steers dropped to their knees
anu lOpplcu ONCl. hO CldLy hClo
seemed to understand, and made a
furious dash for the lower end of the
corral, came together, Rugged the
fence, and stampeded in sheer terror,
with the ponies on run at their clat-
tering heels in a cloud of dust The
herd was rounding past the gate, we'll
punched, when suddenly there went
rfn q "a fnnno a ,of nil hn
air. One of the bucks with red calico
on his head had been pitched from his
pony. Sandman had warned Mix that
his ticklish pony might throw him;
and when he saw the boy lying at the
lower end of the corral in a heap, mo-
tionless, with the frenzied herd aimed
straight at him, he grew a little pale
under his grease paint. AS he swung
| away from the bucks and kicked his
pony into dead run, the crowd quit
screeching, and with jaws set watched
him race to beat the plunging herd.
At rs yards he passed it. Six lengths
farther he threw himself full length
half off his pony's back, swooped out
and down, snatched handful of slack
in the back of Mix's shirt and took up
the race again, Juggling 1855 pounds of
limp, helplessness. 1t was a magnifi-
cent showing of skill and nerve, and
the crowd said so at once with an out
burst of shrieking that increased to a
panic when it realized that both bucks
were white men. Sandhams shirt was
ripped to his waist and Mixs blonde
| n Of he
plaster of sand and grass on his face
where the paint wasn't rubbed off
The willing little beast that bore them
was badly frightened, and Sandman
couldn't stop him until some time
after Mix had been dropped in lumI
near the ambulance.
The boy was unconscious. He was
a hard-looking case, lying there fiat OF
his back, with clenched fists. The
colonel felt him all over, swearing vic
lently, and said that his left leg was
broken below the knee. They turned
the seats over in the ambulance anC
laid him out on the rubber mattress
with the suffers shawl for pillow
When he came to his senses, Miss Cor
lido Wdo uShulHB ONSI ulIu anu WlplDs
his face.
1t was not long before everybod,
knew the story and accounted Sand
ham a hero. In the messroom of 1
company, he was voted fit for breve
captaincy, and Miss Corliss was unani
mously recommended for the Ret
Cross.
After 20 days the post surgeon CAV,
} Mix permission to be carried out OIL
the hospital veranda. During the long
balmy June evenings, when the bi,
moon shimmered down across the pa
rade ground, Sandman used to sit be
J side him in the shadow, and the,
: would listen to the banjo ditties tha
lfoated up the hill from the barrack
of the Ninth.
} One evening Mix was dwelling a
J length on the excellencies of the cir
i and wound up so:
"Do you know, Dorrie," he said, f"
really like that girl What would ,,o,