The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1921-02-25

story Of the interesting periods Of my
| life and Of my death | cannot ex-
plain the phenomena / can only set
down here in the words of an or
binary soldier of fortune a chronicle
1 OF the strange events that befell me
/ during the ten years that my dead
BODY lay undiscovered i'm an Arizona
cave
Ny name is John Carter: I am bet
ter known ms Captain Jack Carter of
/ Virginia. At the close of the Civil
war l found myself possessed of sew
! eraI hundred thousand dollars (Con-
! federate) and a captains commission
| in the cavalry arm of an army which
/ no longer existed. AIasterless, penni-
less. and with my only means of live
/ lihood fighting gone / determined TO
work my way 10 the Southwest and
| attempt 10 retrieve my fallen fortunes
| in a search for gold.
/ spent nearly year prospecting
/ in company with another Confederate
officer. Captain james X Powell of
Richmond. We were extremely for
| tunate, for lare in the winter of 1865.
after many hardships and privationS.
we located the most remarkable gold
bearing quartz vein that our widest
dreams had ever pictured.
AS our equipment was crude i'm the
extreme we decided that one of us
must return TO civilization. purchase
the necessary machinery and return
with sufficient force of men properly
10 work the mine.
As Powell was familiar with the
country. as well as with the mechanl-
cal requirements Of mining we deter
mined that II would be best for him
to make the trip
ON March 3. 1866 Powell and ]
packed his provisions on two. of our
burrOs. and bidding me good-by he
mounted his horse. and started down
the mOuntainSide toward the valley.
across which led the first stage of his
journey.
could see him and his little pack
animals picking their way down the
mountainside toward the valley, and
all during the morning / would catch
occasional glimpses of them as they
topped a hog back or came out upon a
level plateau. Ny last sight Of Powell
was about three in the afternoon as
he entered the shpdows of the range
on the opposite side Of the valley
Some hours afterward / happened
TO glance casually across the valley
and was much surprised to note three
little dots in about the same place I
had last seen my friend and his two
pack animals. I am not given to
needless worrying, but the more
tried TO convince myself that all was
we'll with Powell and that the dots
had seen on his trail were antelope or
wild horses, the less l was able to as
sure myself.
Powell. | knew, was well armed
and. further an experienced Indian
fighter: hut I too had lived and fought
for years among the Sioux in the
North. and | knew that his chances
were small against n party of cum
ming trailing Apaches Finally I |
could endure the suspense no longer.
and. arming myself with two Colt re- |
volvers and a carbine. | strapped two |
belts OF cartridges about me and /
catching my saddle horse. started |
down the trail taken by Powell in rhe |
morning
Close upon dusk. I discovered the I
point where other tracks joined those (
of Powell. They were the tracks of I
unsbod ponies. three OF them. and the |
ponies had been galloping
followed rapidly until. about mid |
night. | reached the water hole where
Powell had expected TO camp.
was interested to note that the
tracks of the pursuing horsemen. for
such l was now convinced they must /
he. continued after Powell with only
brief stop al the hole for water: and
always at the same rate of speed as
his.
was positive now that the trailers
were Apaches and that they wished 10
capture Powell alive for the fiendish
pleasure of the torture. so | urged N,
horse onward al a most dangerous
pace. hoping against hope thar would
catch up with the red rascals before
they attacked him.
had forged ahead for perhaps a
mile or more. and had passed through
a narrow. overhanging gorge just be-
fore entering suddenly upon the table
and. and the sight which met my eyes
filled. me with CONSERVATION and dis
nav.
The little stretch of level land was
white with Indian tepees. and there
were probably half thousand red
warriors clustered around some OH
iect near the center of the camp.
was of course. positive that Powell
was the attraction. hut whether
thought or acted first I do not know.
but within an instant from the mo-
nent the scene broke upon my view |
had whipped out my revolvers ana
was charging down upon the entire
army Of warriors. shooting rapidly.
and whooring M the top of my lungs.
singie handed. I could not have pur-
;ued better tactics. for the red men. II
convinced nv sudden surprise thar NOT |
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