Sketcher.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2050, 1 April 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Sketcher.

With Head* Uncovered.

As he took the dijpatch and placed it in an inside pocket and carefully buttoned his jacket over it and left the general’s tent one might hare thought it an order to be delivered a| the other end of the camp. There wa/no anxiety in his face —no hesitation itfhis stop—no dismal picture ruse before Jiim to chase the smile from his lips. He was to ride from a point on the right-hand branch of the Arkansas almost due southto Fort Lyon—fifty miles as the crow flies—over the level prairie—over the ridge-cat plain, and a thousand hostile Indians swarmed over the country between.

flight was jißt falling as the scout rode away, and three of the cavalry followed close behind. He had gone among the men and selected to please himself. There were none w ( io did not bear the scars of an Indian fight —who had not heard the war-whoop sc often that it had lost its terror. Each man knew that he took his life in his haid, and more. It is a soldier’s duty, wheter lie tights along the Rapidan or th^-fkansas —whether with banners flyinltad drums beating, or with the cries of in his ears —to die in defence of To die a swift death by bullet r’r arrow bad no terrors. To be tied to tin stake and tortured—to be cut with knives--to have burning splinters forced mo the llesh—to have ears and nose and fingers sliced off by the sharp knives -die thought made them cringe as thev rude away into the darkness to he swa’llowl up as soon as they had passed the sen.inels.

Nov. four abreast, bats pulled down and rens held tight, they face to the S'mill and break into a gallop—not a rush which ,vill wind their horses after the first ten mi es. but a steady, even gait, which will red oti mile after mile and hour after hour vithout distress to either man or horse. There is no talking. If the scout hears left or right the others follow without question. A frightened antelope s iiings up and dashes away —a. wolf is almost trodden under foot—a night-owl llaps ito wines over their heads and utters eric.' of warning -hut the four men arc as silent as if they hrd never spoken. Perha|« after midnight had passed and they an-still undiscovered they have stronger holies ; but what will daylight bring ! It the deep silence which clings to them m persistently an omen of evil > The red nan sleeps only when there is no blood to died—no one at hand to fall a victim to his hatred and cruelty. An hour after midnight there is a halt for the horses to breathe and the men to sit down and stretch their stiffened limbs. Kars arc strained to cateli the slightest sound eyes ache as they attempt to pierce the darkness which shuts them in, but hardly a word is spoken. Men who stand in the presence of death are busy with their own thoughts. A half-hour speeds away, and the ride is resumed. The scout has no compass to guide him. He may turn to the right or the left to avoid an obstruction, but as soon as it has been passed the head of his horse swings back to the south again with unerring instinct, lly-and-hye, as they ride, their eyes seem to penetrate further into the darkness, the horses prick up their ears as if seeing new fights, and a faint clow appears iu the east, H.iyh.-b; is coming. The darkness breaks ami dissolves. The mist begins to r.se like a lagged eiirtain, and presently tie glow deepens and day has come. The lu- ii ii'iie it but tin vdo not speak. They may -J nice at each other, hut wdiat need oi a word : The fort is still milesaway - tie ted min may men.tee them even at its gates.

Here, ...iid a grizzly old Indian 1 1 shier. .1- In - s .t his Imrse and surveyed the el mini. " i- where the led devils sw ling in h.-i.iud 'em. HoW many ! Well, a plump hundred mehho double that. Twenty ■ ns lug odds, spesluially when the hor.-e.s had been going all night. Lot’s f.'ll'-i on.” He tool, up the trad at a steady e,inter, a-- ending and desi-ciuling the interminable ridges stretching from east to west. Three miles further mi ho halted and ji iked his arm into the air and growled : “ 1 spe ted as much -look thar ! " A score of great-winged buzzards were sailing low iu the air mi the trail right ahead, and a groan passed from man to man. Ii might mean a dead horse -it might me 111 a slaughter. They pushed aheid.ita faster gait, anxious to know the worst, and the buzzards Happed their heavy wings and uttered cries of disappointment.

••Here they are-:'’ said the grizzly tighter m he eame to a halt on the crest of a tulgc ■' on.- two three four, and tor hj .t-r-. I'.aeh body bristled with in 'ii e.o hj had been limribly mutilated. ). ~: aye in ridge shells st lewt il tlie ground " I'd "f ,1 brave d.geuee, and the bodies ■a lime p"hies dotted the earth within I i'e dud.

" I low was it t asked one, after a careful survey "i tlie ground had been made. "Well, answered the old man as he •stood among the dead, " the way of it was this 1 About sunrise this ’ere 'gang diski vered and gin pursuit. Then it became a race, hut alter three miles a fresh gang riz up in front, and the boys had to dismount and depend on their own luck. The tight strung out till to’rds night, and 1 reckon a dozen or more reds bit the dust. No help eame, and at last the cartridges gin out. Then it was all day with the poor boys.”

“ And they surrendered ” “ Look hyar ! ” said the old man, as he pointed to each dead face in turn, “do you sec them bullet-holes —one fur each, right atwixt the eyes That’s how they died. Hill had saved the shots in his revolver. W hen the hour came each man took that weepen' in turn and sent a bullet into his brain and (lie reds rushed in to find four corpses. Let no man stand hyar with kivered head in the presence of such true bravery.”