SAVED BY AN OUTLAW.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 193, 16 August 1890, Page 4

SAVED BY AN OUTLAW.

I bad ridden out to a ranob.B owned by a man named Blkke, about twenty mileß from my plaoe, for the purpose of looking at a ot Of imported fiheep he had for sa c, ami wreturning when I mot a .Uexicun wiib. l broken arm honbiing a oi>g ihe remd, wh told me that a bull had charged him Uv day before and flung him into a water ho'o, breaking his arm and bruising him severely all over. The bull was a wild oue from the mountains, and dangerously savage. You mc-y not be awrre of the fao f , but some yens ago— ls or 20 now — there was a lai'ge drove of cattie stampeded nesi 1 our placo by the Indians &yd driven into the mouatai>ia whoie they escaped, and in ocurst; of time grew perfectly wild, tor they wen of a breed quite unsuited to tho country. They are very shy, and ate rarely known to leave the mountain heights ; but a bull sometimes, when driven off from his herd by a stronger rival, will deaoend to the valeys, and often prove a dangerous foe to encounter, even on horseback. The Mexican warned me that the one he had been attacked by was still o the neighbourhood, and that it would stand me well to keep a look out for him. I had ridden on for a mile or two, when I dismounted to drink of a little running stream that crossed the road, and to eat ray lunob. My horsa I left standing, without taking the precaution of tying him, He was a young mustang, as nervous as a woman, and, without any apparent cause that I could disoover, threw up his head all of a sudden, and broke down the valley in a mad gallop, carrying, of courbe, my saddle, with my belt ooutaimug my pistols, which I had rather foolishly removed from my waist an hour or two before and hung from the horn of my sadd c. There was nothing for it but to follow the horse on foot, so off I ran in as bad a humour as you can imagine, for I was already fatigued by my long ride, and a tramp of perhaps miles was anything but inviting. I trudged on for an hour or two, until my feet were cut and blistered by the sharp rooks, and sat down to rest near a clump of eottonwood trees, one of great size and the rest of them mere sapplings. At that moment I heard a loud roar, and a crash in a bush behind me, and out rushed at a terrino pace a large black bull, oharging straight at me. ■ I had only just time so throw myself to one aide flat on the ground as he thundered by me. My next move was to make for the olump of oottonwoods, which I succeeded in reaching just as the bull turned again. My hat had fallen as I ran, and this the animal now attacked with a ferooity and maddened rage that showed me how little mercy would be shown the owner of it when his turn came. Having torn the hat to pieces with horns and hoofs, and having smelled me out, he commenced a circuit round the trees, stamping, pawing, and bellowing frightfully. With his bloodshot eyes and long, sharp horns, he looked like a demon. I was quite unarmed, having by some unluoky chance neglected to put in my knife on le&ving home, and my pistols, as I said before, being in my saddle ; and I was wearied almost to death,

The situation was a desperate one, and my only ouance consisted in dodging the bull round the trees until he should be tired out ; and thia was, indeed, a faint^ppe, lor tbe animal seemed fresh and warranted to outlast the strength of ten men. The bull charged again and again, sometimes coming against the tree with suoh force that he fell on his knees, sometimes bending the saplings behind whioh I stood until his horns almost reached me.

There was not a branch of the large tree low enough for me to seize and climb up, and I had no time in which to scale it between the bull's charges. How long this awful game of '• touch-and-go lasted I cannot tell, for after the first excitement of self-preservation passed off weariness again took possession of me, and it required all the instinct and love of lite in me to keep me on my feet. Several times the bull lei'b me for a few seconds, racing suddenly away, bellowing his malignant discontent, of my refusal to come forch and be trampled and gored to death ; but before I could cross over to a better position he always came back at full speed. My tongue began to cleave to the rcof of my mouth, my eyes grew hot and misty, my knees trembled under me, while a ringing in my ears warned me that nature was exhausted, and I felt it impossible to hold out until dark. ■ At length I grew desperate, and determined to make a run for the opposite covert the moment the bull turned from me again. I felt sure I was doomed, and thought of it ■until I actually began to welcome the idea of the struggle ending in any way. The bull seemed to know I was worn out, and grew more rapid and fierce in his charges ; But just when I was going to sit down uuder the great tree and let him do his worst, I heard the rattle of a horse among the rocks above, and a shout that sounded to me like the voice of an augel. Then came the barking of a dog and the loud reports of a stock whip, but the bull, with i his devilish eyes fixed on me, never moved. Up came a horseman at full speed, and crack 1 fell the lash on the bull's black hide, while the blood spurted out m a long streak. The animal turned savagely and charged the horseman, bellowing with astonished rage and pain, but the horse wheeled round just enough to baffle him — no more— and again the lash descended, cutting like a long, flexible razor. The infuriated bull was not to be beaten off \?ith a whip — he charged again and again. But he had met his match, for right and left as needed, the wiry Spanish mare turned, Bometimeß on her hind, sometimes on her -fore-legs. It was the most magnificent exhibition of equestrianism 1 ever saw, and I actually forgot my fatigue and exhaustion while 1 watched it. My rescuer now shouted something, leaped from his horse, and strode forward to meet the bull with an open knife between his teeth. As the bull lowered his head to charge, he seemed to catch him by the horns. There was a struggle, a cloud of dust, a stamping like two strong men wrestling. I could not see clearly, but the next moment the bull was on his back, with the blood welling from his throat, and hia limbs quivering in death, The stranger, covered with dust and blood, came up to me then, saying, apparently as unconscious of triumph as if he had been killing a calf in a slaughter house, "He's dead enough now, sir ; he wont trouble anybody any more I" I walked two or three paces towards the dead beast, when my senses failed me^ and I fainted.

When I came to myself my horse was Btanding near me tied to a bush, and my strange rescuer had withdrawn a few feet and was watching me intently. I went up to him, and thanking him for the service rendered me, inquired the name of him to whom I owed my liie. The man laughed a little, and then replied : " Well, I don't mind telling you under the circumstances. I am — " No. I'll leave his name untold — he was an outlaw and a fugitive from justice ; but he certainly saved me from a cruel death, and he was the finest horseman I ever saw.