, 1925-01-25

My brother took his shot gun along,
in the hopes of being fortunate
enough to ecure a shot at a cotton.
tail rabbit in the willows.
l almost forgot TO mention any
thing about our livestock purchases.
Having contracted fer a bunch of
native cattle to be delivered in the
early summer. the next thing seemed
TO be horses. We bought four head of
trained COW ponies. this being all
we could afford as gentle horses
were worth $50 per head and wild
horses about $40. OF the latter var.
iety we bought a couple. These were
out OF a Texas trail herd OF the fall
before. had been running out on the
range all winter and were about as
wild as horses generally grow.
The most approved first step in
the horse breaking business of those
days was to put a heavy rope hack
more on the horse. with about sew.
enty-five feet of rope. tie tho rope to
a log-the log Just heavy enough so
| the horse could not run away with
it-and at the same time provide the
! necessary give so hat a sudden Il
on the rope would not bring serious
results. On some bench land adjoin-
ing the creek and about a half mile
from the ranch we had u ponies
| tied out.
After walking down the creek to a
point about Opposite where the pom
les were located. we heard one or
both of them snort very loudly. as
IL afraid of the approach of come
wild animal. Knowing thai there
were several gray wolves on tho
range, we thought probably a wolf or
some stray dog might be the cause
Of their alarm. 30 decided to inves-
tigate. Going up out Of the creek
as carefully as we could, and keep
ing under cover as much as possible,
imagine our surprise to see a color
ed soldier. cavalry man. evidently be-
longing at Fort Robinson, ten miles
away, carefully approaching one OF
the horses. He had hold of the rope
and was working along. toward the
horses head, looking round every few
seconds. as II afraid of being seen.
| At that time one of us must have
stepped on a fallen branch because
the soldier let go the rope and jumped
into the brush, going down the creek
in the general direction OF the fence
makers camp. Something had to be
done quickly. A cavalry man won't
walk very far when there are horses
that can be stolen. We were not 50
much afraid on account OF our wild
ponies. but the gentle saddle stock
we could not afford to lose, and the
thought of sitting up all night. with
a gun, watching them. was anything
| but pleasant, SO back to the ranch
we went Int saddled up a couple of
good horses, my brother taking a
1915 Winchester, with a barrel
slightly cut down to make a conven-
lent saddle gun. this a relic of our
days on the Sioux Reservation. My
horse. although gentle. was gun shy
so l took a .3S double action Smith
and Wesson six shooter. this being
rather looked upon as a tenderfoot"
| gun at hat time.
Riding down the creek It was only
u matter of a few minutes to pick
| up the trail of the soldier as he came
up out of the brush following along
| the bank of the creek. As-wc APP
| preached the fence camp We could
| plainly see the foot tracks in the
snow leading for the tent, and get.
ting to within some fifty yards. the
| tracks were seen to enter the tent,
with no tracks coming out.
My brother at once raised his rifle,
| taking aim at the door of the tent.
and called 10 the man TO come out
| with hands up" About that time.
| something strange seemed to be go
ing on In the tent. l thought l saw
a shadow moving, but no man ap-
peared. and like a flash. tho realiza-
ton OF our position came to me.
Here was a colored soldier-no doubt
a deserter. and desperate, trying 10
get out If the country, and no ques-
ton but fully armed, and what
chance did we have. The delay of a
minute seemed to be hours. III ad
init l was getting nervous. and my
horse was pranclng around in the
snow. Now being somewhat of a be-
lever in lunches. as they say in this
western country, the time for quick
action had arrived, so I shot through
the tent about in the middle OF 1t, or
where l thought the shadow was
moving and this was a lucky shot.
as subsequent events fully proved
Any way. VIC got results. as out
came Mr.. Soldier. lie was down on
all tours and about as close TO the
ground as lie could get. gun in ono
hand and knife In the other. OF
course. he vas then looking into tine
barrel of my brothers Winchester.
and the command TO throw away his
gun and knife and Stand up with
hands up was quickly compiled
with. Brother still held down on him
while l picked w tho knife and gun,
at the same time assuring ourselves
that one gun was all he had. This
nroxcd To be n as Colts single action,