LITERATURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7232, 3 August 1891, Page 1

LITERATURE.

WAR EAGLE AND HIS RIDER. (•' Jmmbor's Journal.) "Comanches," said Ad Anderson — *' Comanches, as I'm a living sinner ; " and he pulled his horse up sharp. " There's a peltin' big crowd of 'em too," he added, after a moment. " We're in for it this time, cure." There were six of ua together on the prairies about twenty miles from the Nueces, in Western Texas. There were my chum Tom Jones and myself ; and Ad Anderson and his nephew Billy, a youngster of fourteen; and the two Arend brothers. These last two we hardly knew, for, they were Btrangers to the rest of U3, being Pennsylvania Dutch, I fancy, or something of that sort, who had come out to Texas to look for a place to settle. Ad Anderson .and che reßt of ua were working as cowboys on the Santa Cruz ranch, and had come out across the Nueces to gather cattle. The Arends had happened along at the ranch the nighc before, and had joined us in the morning, saying they were going our way. They had each of them a good new Warner carbine and a belt full of cartridges ; but the way they handled them and the way they eat on their horses hadn't given us Texans much confidence. Now, when a swarm of mounted men appeared suddenly over a rise aix hundred yards away, and they heard Ad Anderson say " Comanches," they didn't stand or ask what to do, or say a thing, but they just turned their horses' heads aud put for the Nueces for all that was out. And that wasn't the worst of it, for the mouent they started, Billy the boy, who was riding War Eagle, the racehorse of the ranch, turned him for home too, gave him his head, and commenced to throw the whip to him, as if he was finishing a race on the track. But Ad Anderson knew what he was about every time. The minute Billy wheeled and ran, Ad Anderson struck the spurs into Mb pony — and it was no slouch of a poay he was riding either — and he was up and alongside of Billy before War Eagle was fairly into his stride. ' Chuck that whip, Billy," he shouted, raising his right hand with the quirt in it as if to'hit him — " chuck it, or I'll knock you off that horse." Billy turned his white face to Ad : he was sitting back in the saddle and slashing War Eagle down the shouldera with a stinging raw hide ; but he obeyed Ad j and at the word he loosed the loop off his wrist and flung the raw hide clean away. " Now pull that horse down to a lope," said Ad. " You mind me, d'ye hear ? Steady him ! Steady there, steady." Ad was a man that almost everybody minded when he spoke in earnest. Ha had been a captain in a regiment in Hood's Brigade during the war, and I reckon he hadn't been the worst captain they had. It was no easy task for Billy to get War Eagle steadied, for he was running on twenty-one feet and picking it up; but both he and the horse minded Ad's voice, and he got him down to a strong lope presently. Meantime, Tom Jones and I were loping along behind them at a very tidy clatter. We reached down as soon as we started, and pulled our carbines out of the leather case 3 in which we carried them slung between the off stirrup leather and the horse's side. Tom had a Spencer cavalry carbine, a seven-shooter, and a right good one too. I had only an old Wesson rifle. We had beautiful ground to run on just here, -for we were on a waggon trail from the Nueces to the Eio Grande, which crossed a high wide upland, bare of timber. As we looked back over our shoulders, we could see tho Indians spread out like a paok of hounds on both sides of the trail and coming after us on the keen jump. There must have been above thirty of them, and we could hear the hi-hi-hi-yas of their yells ringing shrill down the breeze. The Arends were away ahead of us already. Ad holloaed to them to hold up and keep cool as soon as he had got Billy to drop his whip and check his horse ; but they never took any notice of what he said. " Ton'll kill your horses," we could hear him shout to them, " running like that ! There's twenty miles to go, and you've got to Bave 'em. Take it easy, I tell you. Pull 'em in." I said most men naturally did what Ad told them. There was a ring in his voice and a cool confident manner about him that made it seem a matter of course to do what ne said. But those two poor fools didn't feel it so. I suppose they were just crazy with fear, and the harder they ran the more crazy they made themselves. At any rate they took no heed of him, but went on' whipping their horses and galloping as' fast as they could lay leg to the ground. In five minuteß they were clear out of sight over a rise. Tom and I now laid close up behind Ad and Billy,. our horses all going strong; the leading Indians were some three hundred yards behind. "Shall I try a belt at them without stopping?" said Tom to Ad. "I could maybe give one of 'em a scare." "No; no yet," answered Ad ; "it'll only make War Eagle fight for his head worse to hear you shoot ; and we can't afford to waste no cartridges neither. There's .a steep bank to go down about two mile 3 ahead. If they don't crowd na too hard till then, we'll stop there a minute to blow our horses and give 'em a rattle." But the leading Indians flogged their ■war-ponies to a racing Bpeed and closed on us fast. Two or three of them began to shoot, and we heard the ping of their ballets flying past us. Luckily, Indians are for the most part poor Bhots with a rifle on horseback, and we were none of us touched. " Give 'em a turn, Tom," said Ad. "Aim low." And at the word Tom Jones dropped Mb rein on his horse's neck and twisting His body round in the saddle, fired straight behind him. Bang !" "Eick off the ground," he announced triumphantly ; " one of them ponies is mighty sick. I aimed low, as you told me, Cap." His bullet had struck the ground well in front of the Indians, and rising from the graze, had hit ono of their ponies, which instantly fell to the rear. As he fired, each one of the leading Indians had dropped over the right-hand sideof hia horse and wheeled slightly to the right, thus covering his body completely from the shot. The effect was like the scattering of a covey of partridges when a hawk makes a swoop on them, and we gained a little distance by this manoeuvre. But now a lot of them began to edge off more to the right, trying to draw up parallel to us on that side, which would enable them to übo their rifles with more effect and be equally inconvenient for ua. Before they could succeed in doing so, however, the wished-for bank was near. It waß a place where the whole width of the high prairie broke away steeply for about two hundred yards down to a lower level. Ad turned in his saddle and took a look at the Indians. "Billy," said he, "the moment we're over the edge, you slip off and hold War Eagle and my horse, and I'll hold the other two. Mind you don't let 'em slip, now. Hang on to 'em like grim death." Then he added to Tom and me : "Jump off, yon boya. aa soon as you're over the edge, and chuck me your reins. I'll hold yonr horses, and you give 'em what for." Almost as he ended we were at the edge of the slope and over it, and we all leaped oS together. Throwing our reins, to Ad, Tom, and I knelt just nnder cover of the

brow of the hill and opened fire. The | Indians were within a hundred yardß ; but at the first ahota they ducked behind their horses and turned away to right and lef b, streaming off in both directions, instead of charging right down on us. Indians hardly ever do charge straight in on men standing at bay. I loaded and fired wy single-shooter as fast as I could finger the cartridges ; but I heard Tom's repeater go bang, bang, bang, bang ! and I heard Ad's warning voice saying, ' Steady, Tom, steady : you're shooting behind 'em. Take that white horse now, and aim a good length in front. That's one of their chiefs, I reckon." Ad was standing behind us a foot or two lower down the hill with the horses behind him again, so that they were quite covered by the hill from a chance bullet ; but he himself standing upright was able to see over our heads where we were firing. I looked rouud for an instant to Tom's side of the fight while my fingers were stuffing a fresh cartridge into the gun and closing the breech. Bang went the Spencer again, and down came the white horse like a shot rabbit, and rolled over his rider. Instantly two other Indians dashed up to the fallen man, and leaning down from their saddles without dismounting, they Bwung him up between them, and bo across the withers of the horse of one of them, and bore him out of the fray. " Mind your side, Dick !" shouted Ad to me — " mind that chap ; stop him if you can ;" and looking to my own side, I saw that the leading Indian was urging his horse to go down over the brow somo two hundred yards away, with the view of getting behind us in the broken ground on that part of the slope. I brought my rifle instantly to the shoulder, and was taking aim, when Ad called out : " Raise your sight, Dick, or draw a very full bead : you've got the hundred yards' sight up." I drew a full bead, and missed. " Too low, much," said Ad ; •' you want to allow more than that. Now come on, boys," he added ; " let's scoot before they can bushwhack us among this broken ground." "We sprang on to our horses ngain and hurried to the foot of the hill. We had an advantage over the Indians in having the waggon trail to follow. It led down the easiest grade, and was comparatively smooth. Some of their bullets whistled past us as we ran ; however, none of our horses seemed to flinch, and no rider was hit. We got away from that hill quite four hundred yards ahead of our foes. " Choked 'em off that time," said Ad. "That touching up did 'em good: they won't crowd on us in the open, I reckon, quite so quick. It's that belt of timber along Jack Creek, though, that I'm thinking of now. If th ey was to get into that before ua, it's all U P." (To be continued.