Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1912-06-21

ghost may find his way upon his long dark jour-
ney. After that they light no more fires as they
consider that the dead man has had time to finish
his journey.
Whether Ascensio grew deranged suddenly or
whether it was slow and gradual process, no
can ever know, yet the fact remains that ne
came to believe in the religion of the Indians
with some variations and startling effects Oh MS
own. Believing as he did, that death was only
road by which man passed into longer and more
enduring. though not necessarily an eternal life,
he conceived the idea of building up fortune
for himself in that future life
In Ascensio's diseased brain there arose the
idea that whatever he slew in this world would
be his property In the next On that point he
was a maniac; on all Others perfectly sane. Now
began the series of thefts which made Brunels
name known from the Rio Negro to the Magellan
straits One after another he raided the horse
farms near the coast, drove away as much of the
stock as he could, and, shaking OF his pursuers
in every instance escaped into the widest parts
of the pampas
SO for a long time for years indeed, Ascensio
Brunei the Wild Man Of Santa Cruz, lived his
life beyond the reach of the short arm OF the Ar
gentine law Comasarios hunted him, various
Jueces de PS& acclaimed about him. and the garri
son of cavasfy In Chubut 'bolted their beef and
started again on the track OF the thief" And
then suddenly, one morning, the news few across
the countryside that the Wild Man had been cap
tured. 1t true. The way of it was as fol-
lows:
In the very heart O. Patagonia upon the banks
of river called the Mayo, lived, and indeed still
i've tribe of Tehuelche Indians the tallest and
perhaps the strongest people on earth They are
hunters and horse breeders, wonderful riders and
good men, They worship horsemanship and have
a number of strange rites which they practice at
the birth of man child in order to insure that
he shall turn out good rider.
Into the nature of those rites we need not go.
Fry-- Nv Inn
that you may understand what a task the Wild
Man set himself when he decided to steal a. hun
dred mares from men such as these peerless rid
ers, trained in every phase of Workmanship much
of whose lives Is spent in searching Tor strayea
horses and who can ride hundred miles day
without fatigue.
It appears that the herd of mares that Ascensio
stole were feeding In vega or marsh that
stretches on the southern banks OF the Mayo. NO
one was watching them. and as they were well
used to their pasturage, it seemed unlikely that
they would stray. Therefore when shortly AFTER
dawn an Indian lad came galloping to the toidos
with the news that the mares had disappeared, the
men of the tribe were on horseback and rid
Ing upon their trail
Hard on the trail the Indians rode all day. and
before sunset they we're aware OF man clad Ii
skins driving the mares before him. Swiftly some
OF the pursuers closed in on him, while others rode
to cut him of by canadOn or rift In the pampas
which lay across his path Had it not been for
this canadon the Wild Man would never, IN all
probability, have been taken.
As it was, he galloped down the sheer wall OF II,
but only to find himself cut OF by the Indians who
had been detached from the main body by the
cacique for the purpose. Riding In upon him the
Indians flung their heavy charlottesville
Tehuelche weapon Of three rawhide thongs, eacn
weighted at the end with a ball OF stone-Wn1cn
entangIed the legs OF the Wild Mans horse and
brought IL crashing TO the ground. On the ground
the Indians captured the Wild Man. snarling and
biting.
They did not slay the wild Nan, but bound him