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diff --git a/41011-0.txt b/41011-0.txt index 7eee0e7..3546282 100644 --- a/41011-0.txt +++ b/41011-0.txt @@ -1,36 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pony Tracks, by Frederic Remington - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Pony Tracks - -Author: Frederic Remington - -Release Date: October 10, 2012 [EBook #41011] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PONY TRACKS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41011 *** [Illustration: THE LAST STAND] @@ -5113,361 +5081,4 @@ receipt of price._ End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pony Tracks, by Frederic Remington -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PONY TRACKS *** - -***** This file should be named 41011-0.txt or 41011-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/1/41011/ - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Pony Tracks - -Author: Frederic Remington - -Release Date: October 10, 2012 [EBook #41011] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PONY TRACKS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - -[Illustration: THE LAST STAND] - - - - - PONY TRACKS - - _WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY_ - - FREDERIC REMINGTON - - - NEW YORK - - HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS - - FRANKLIN SQUARE - - - Copyright, 1895, by HARPER & BROTHERS. - - _All rights reserved._ - - - THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE FELLOWS WHO - RODE THE PONIES THAT MADE THE TRACKS - - - BY THE AUTHOR - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHASING A MAJOR-GENERAL - LIEUTENANT CASEY'S LAST SCOUT - THE SIOUX OUTBREAK IN SOUTH DAKOTA - AN OUTPOST OF CIVILIZATION - A RODEO AT LOS OJOS - IN THE SIERRA MADRE WITH THE PUNCHERS - BLACK WATER AND SHALLOWS - COACHING IN CHIHUAHUA - STUBBLE AND SLOUGH IN DAKOTA - POLICING THE YELLOWSTONE - A MODEL SQUADRON - THE AFFAIR OF THE --TH OF JULY - THE COLONEL OF THE FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY - A MERRY CHRISTMAS IN A SIBLEY TEPEE - BEAR-CHASING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - THE LAST STAND - GENERAL MILES AND HIS ESCORT - THE SUPPLY TRAIN - UNITED STATES CAVALRY IN WINTER RIG - UNITED STATES INFANTRY IN WINTER RIG - CHIS-CHIS-CHASH SCOUT ON THE FLANKS - "TWO GHOSTS I SAW" - WATCHING THE DUST OF THE HOSTILES - THE HOTCHKISS GUN - A RUN TO THE SCOUT CAMP - IN THE TRENCHES - THE ADVANCE GUARD--A MILITARY SACRIFICE - THE HACIENDA SAN JOSÉ DE BAVICORA - EL PATRON - THE ADMINISTRADOR OF SAN JOSÉ DE BAVICORA - A HAIR-CUT À LA PUNCHER - THE MUSIC AT THE "BAILLE" - COMING TO THE RODEO - WAVING SERAPE TO DRIVE CATTLE - TAILING A BULL - JOHNNIE BELL OF LOS OJOS - WILLIAM IN ACTION - MOUNTING A WILD ONE - A MODERN SANCHO PANZA - MY COMRADE - ON THE MOUNTAINS - THE CASA CAMADRA - SHOOTING IN THE SIERRA MADRE - THE INDIAN'S STORY - THE CLIFF-DWELLINGS - THE PORTAGE - BLACK WATER - THE FAWN - BREAKING A JAM - HUNG UP - A COACHERO - THE START - MORNING TOILET - HARNESSING MULES - A DAKOTA CHICKEN-WAGON - ON THE EDGE OF A SLOUGH - A CONFERENCE IN THE MUD - "DON'T SHOOT!" - "MARK--LEFT" - "MARK!" - TROOPING HOMEWARD IN THE AFTER-GLOW - BURGESS, NEARLY FORTY-FIVE YEARS A SCOUT - THE BELL-MARE OVER A BAD PLACE - DOWN THE MOUNTAIN - GETTING GRUB - WORKING ON THE DIVIDE - BURGESS FINDING A FORD - GENERAL GUY V. HENRY, SEVENTH UNITED STATES CAVALRY - RIDING SITTING ON LEGS - OVER THE HURDLE BACK TO BACK - THROWING A HORSE - OVER THE HURDLES IN LINE - "WE WERE NOW OUT OF THE SMOKE" - OFFICER AND MEN--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY - AMBULANCE CORPS--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY - THE TOAST: "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" - WATERING HORSES - "DO YOU THINK THIS PONY IS GOING TO BUCK?" - DAN AND ROCKS - A DANGEROUS PLACE - "GONE AWAY" - TIMBER-TOPPING IN THE ROCKIES - THE BEAR AT BAY - THE FINALE - THE RETURN OF THE HUNTERS - - - - -PONY TRACKS - - - - -CHASING A MAJOR-GENERAL - - -The car had been side-tracked at Fort Keough, and on the following -morning the porter shook me, and announced that it was five o'clock. -An hour later I stepped out on the rear platform, and observed that -the sun would rise shortly, but that meanwhile the air was chill, and -that the bald, square-topped hills of the "bad lands" cut rather hard -against the gray of the morning. Presently a trooper galloped up with -three led horses, which he tied to a stake. I inspected them, and saw -that one had a "cow saddle," which I recognized as an experiment -suggested by the general. The animal bearing it had a threatening -look, and I expected a repetition of a performance of a few days -before, when I had chased the general for over three hours, making in -all twenty-eight miles. - -Before accepting an invitation to accompany an Indian commission into -the Northwest I had asked the general quietly if this was a -"horseback" or a "wagon outfit." He had assured me that he was not a -"wagon man," and I indeed had heard before that he was not. There is -always a distinction in the army between wagon men and men who go -without wagons by transporting their supplies on pack animals. The -wagon men have always acquired more reputation as travellers than -Indian fighters. In a trip to the Pine Ridge Agency I had discovered -that General Miles was not committed to any strained theory of how -mounted men should be moved. Any settled purpose he might have about -his movements were all locked up in a desperate desire to "get thar." -Being a little late in leaving a point on the railroad, I rode along -with Lieutenant Guilfoil, of the Ninth, and we moved at a gentle trot. -Presently we met a citizen in a wagon, and he, upon observing the -lieutenant in uniform, pulled up his team and excitedly inquired, - -"What's the matter, Mr. Soldier?" - -Guilfoil said nothing was the matter that he knew of. - -"Who be you uns after?" - -"No one," replied the lieutenant. - -"Well, I just saw a man go whirling up this 'ere valley with a soldier -tearin' after him fit to kill" (that was the general's orderly), "and -then comes a lot more soldiers just a-smokin', and I sort of wondered -what the man had done." - -We laughed, and remarked that the general must be riding pretty hard. -Other citizens we met inquired if that man was a lunatic or a -criminal. The idea of the soldiers pursuing a man in citizen's clothes -furthered the idea, but we assured them that it was only General Miles -going somewhere. - -All of these episodes opened my eyes to the fact that if I followed -General Miles I would have to do some riding such as I had rarely done -before. In coming back to the railroad we left the Pine Ridge Agency -in the evening without supper, and I was careful to get an even start. -My horse teetered and wanted to gallop, but I knew that the -twenty-eight miles would have to be done at full speed, so I tried to -get him down to a fast trot, which gait I knew would last better; but -in the process of calming him down to a trot I lost sight of the -general and his orderly as they went tearing like mad over a hill -against the last gleam of the sunset. I rode at a very rapid trot over -the hills in the moonlight for over three hours, but I never saw the -general again until I met him at dinner. Then I further concluded that -if I followed the general I would have no time to regait my horses, -but must take them as I found them, gallop or trot. So on this cool -morning at Keough I took observations of the horses which were tied to -the post, with my mind full of misgivings. - -[Illustration: GENERAL MILES AND HIS ESCORT] - -Patter, patter, patter--clank, clank, clank; up comes the company of -Cheyenne scouts who are to escort the general--fine-looking, tall -young men, with long hair, and mounted on small Indian ponies. They -were dressed and accoutred as United States soldiers, and they fill -the eye of a military man until nothing is lacking. Now the general -steps out of the car and hands the commission into a six-mule -ambulance. I am given a horse, and, mounting, we move off over the -plain and into the hills. The sun comes streaming over the landscape, -and the general is thinking about this old trail, and how years before -he had ploughed his way through the blinding snow to the Lame Deer -fight. I am secretly wishing that it would occupy his mind more fully, -so that my breakfast might settle at the gentle gait we are going, but -shortly he says, "It's sixty miles, and we must move along." We break -into a gallop. The landscape is gilded by the morning sun, and the -cool of the October air makes it a perfect thing, but there are -elements in the affair which complicate its perfection. The "bad -lands" are rough, and the general goes down a hill with even more -rapidity than up it. The horses are not the perfect animals of the -bridle-path, but poor old cavalry brutes, procured by the government -under the old contract system, by which the government pays something -like $125 for a $60 horse. This could be remedied by allowing the -officers of each regiment to buy their own horses; but in our army -nothing is remedied, because a lot of nice old gentlemen in Washington -are too conservative to do anything but eat and sleep. There is a bit -of human nature at the bottom of our army organization, and where is -the man who can change that? Men who were the very jewels of the -profession years ago have reached in due time the upper grades of -rank, and occupy the bureaus of the department. These men who have -acquired rank, years, and discretion naturally do nothing, and with -sedate gravity insist that no one else shall do anything. The -ambitious young men have to wait patiently for their retirement, and -in process of waiting they, too, become old and conservative. Old -soldiers are pardonable rubbish, since soldiers, like other men, must -age and decay, the only distinction being that youthful vigor is of -prime importance to a soldier, while in the case of the citizen any -abatement of vigor is rewarded by being shelved. What to do with old -soldiers is a problem which I will hand over to the economists as -being beyond my depth. But to return to the going downhill. General -Miles has acquired his knowledge of riding from wild Indians, and wild -Indians go uphill and downhill as a matter of course at whatever gait -they happen to be travelling. He would make his horse climb a tree -with equal gravity if he was bound that way. The general has known -Indians to ride for two days and a night at a rapid gallop, and it -never occurs to him that he cannot do anything which any one else can; -so he spurs along, and we go cutting around the _coulies_ and bluffs -like frightened antelopes or mad creatures. The escort strings out -behind. This is observed with a grim humor by the general, who desires -nothing so much as to leave his escort far in the rear. He turns in -his saddle, and seeing the dust of the escort far behind, says: -"Shake up the young men a little; do 'em good. They get sleepy;" and -away we go. - -It is over thirty miles to the first relay station, or courier's camp, -and another problem looms up. The general's weight is over two hundred -pounds, and I confess to two hundred and fifteen avoirdupois, and, as -I have before remarked, my horse was not an Irish hunter, so my musing -took a serious vein. It is all very well for a major-general to ride -down a cavalry horse, but if such an accident were to happen to me, -then my friends in the cavalry would crown me with thorns. Two hundred -and fifteen pounds requires a great deal more careful attention than a -one-hundred-and-forty-pound wasp-waisted cavalryman. What the latter -can do with impunity would put me on foot--a thing that happened some -ten years since in this very State of Montana, and a thing I have -treasured in mind, and will not have repeated. So I brought the old -horse down to a trot, and a good round trot eats up a road in short -order. Your galloper draws away from you, but if the road is long -enough, you find that you are at his heels. - -After a good day's ride of something like sixty miles, we met a troop -of the Eighth Cavalry near its camp on the Tongue River, and the -general is escorted in. The escorts draw into line, salute, and the -general is duly deposited in a big Sibley tent; and I go away on the -arms of some "cavalry kids" (as young lieutenants are called) to a -hole in the ground (a dugout) where they are quartered. On the -following morning I am duly admonished that if my whereabouts could -have been ascertained on the previous evening, the expedition would -have continued to the camp of the First Cavalry. I do not think the -general was unduly severe, desiring simply to shift the -responsibility of the procrastination on to other shoulders, and -meanwhile being content to have things as they were. I was privately -thanked by the citizen members of the commission for the delay I had -caused, since they had a well-grounded conviction that sixty miles a -day in an army ambulance was trouble enough. After some sarcasm by a -jolly young sub, to the effect that "if one wants to call a citizen -out of a tent, one must ring a dinner-bell," we were again mounted and -on the way. I was badly mounted that day, but able to participate in -the wild charge of forty-five miles to the Lame Deer camp, near the -Cheyenne Agency. The fifty Cheyenne scouts and a troop of the Eighth -were in escort. - -By a happy combination I was able to add greatly to my equestrian -knowledge on this ride. It happened in this way; but I must explain. -Some years ago I had occasion to ride a stock saddle (the cowboy -article), and with all the positiveness of immature years, I held all -other trees and all other methods of riding in a magnificent contempt. -Later on I had to be convinced that a great many young cavalry -officers in our service were the most daring and perfect riders, and -that the McClelland saddle was the proper thing. I even elaborated a -theory in explanation of all this, which I had duly shattered for me -when I came East and frequented a New York riding-academy, where a -smiling professor of the art assured me that cowboys and soldiers were -the worst possible riders. Indeed, the sneers of the polite European -were so superlative that I dared not even doubt his statements. Of -course I never quite understood how my old champions of the cattle -range and the war trail could pick things off the ground while in full -career, or ride like mad over the cut banks and bowlders, if they were -such desperately bad riders; and I never was able to completely -understand why my European master could hardly turn in his saddle -without tumbling off. But still he reduced me to submission, and I -ceased even to doubt. I changed my style of riding, in deference to a -public sentiment, and got my legs tucked up under my chin, and learned -to loose my seat at every alternate footfall, and in time acquired a -balance which was as secure as a pumpkin on the side of a barrel. Thus -equipped with all this knowledge and my own saddle, I went out to the -Northwest with the purpose of introducing a little revolution in -cavalry riding. Things went swimmingly for a time. The interpreters -and scouts watched my riding with mingled pity and scorn, but I knew -they were unenlightened, and in no way to be regarded seriously. The -general was duly amused by my teetering, and suggested to the smiling -escort officers that "he has lived so long abroad, you know," etc., -all of which I did not mind, for my faith in the eternal art of the -thing was complete. Now to tell how I discovered that I was riding a -seat which was no seat at all, and was only retained by a series of -happy accidents, I will continue. While at the head of the column, -where I could see the deep ruts in the road and the bowlders, and -could dodge the prairie-dog holes, it was simple enough; but my horse -being a very clumsy galloper, and beginning to blow under the pace, I -began to pull up, calculating to get a sharp trot, and overhaul the -column when it slowed down. The column of soldiers dashed by, and the -great cloud of dust rose up behind them which always follows a herd of -animals in the West. Being no longer able to see, the only thing to do -under the circumstances was to give my horse his head, and resign -myself to the chances of a gopher hole, if it was foreordained that my -horse should find one. True to his instincts, my old cavalry horse -plunged into the ranks. You cannot keep a troop horse out of the -ranks. They know their place, and seek it with the exactitude of -water. If the cavalry tactics are ever changed, the present race of -horses will have to be sold, because, while you can teach a horse -anything, you cannot unteach him. - -[Illustration: THE SUPPLY TRAIN] - -In front I could see two silhouettes of soldiers tearing along, and -behind could hear the heavy pounding of the troop horses, the clank of -arms, the snorts and heavy breathings. I could hardly see my horse's -head, to say nothing of the ground in front. Here is where the perfect -grip with the thighs is wanted, and here is where the man who is -bundled up like a ball on his horse's back is in imminent danger of -breaking his neck. I felt like a pack on a government mule, and only -wished I had some one to "throw the diamond hitch over me." The -inequalities of the road make your horse plunge and go staggering -sidewise, or down on his knees, and it is not at all an unusual thing -for a cavalryman to upset entirely, though nothing short of a total -turn-over will separate a veteran soldier from his horse. After a few -miles of these vicissitudes I gained the head of the column, and when -the pace slackened I turned the whole thing over in my mind, and a -great light seemed to shine through the whole subject. For a smooth -road and a trotting horse, that European riding-master was right; but -when you put a man in the dust or smoke, over the rocks and cut banks, -on the "bucking" horse, or where he must handle his weapons or his -_vieta_, he must have a seat on his mount as tight as a stamp on an -envelope, and not go washing around like a shot in a bottle. In a park -or on a country road, where a man has nothing to do but give his -undivided attention to sticking on his saddle, it has its advantages. -An Indian or a cowboy could take the average park rider off from his -horse, scalp him, hang him on a bush, and never break a gallop. I -do not wish to seem intolerant, because I will say that the most -beautiful horse and the most perfect horseman I have ever seen was the -bay gelding Partisan and his rider in the high-school class at the -recent Horse Show in New York; but I do insist that no one shall for a -moment imagine that the American style of riding is not the firmest of -all seats. - -[Illustration: UNITED STATES CAVALRY IN WINTER RIG] - -With a repetition of the military forms, we reached the cavalry camp -on the Lame Deer Creek. This is an old battle-ground of the -general's--his last fight with the Cheyennes, where, as the general -puts it, we "kicked them out of their blankets in the early morning." -These Indians recognize him as their conqueror, and were allied with -him in the Nez Percé campaign. One old chief pointed to the stars on -his shoulder-strap, and charged him to remember that they helped to -put them there. - -That night was very cold, and I slept badly, so at an early hour I -rolled out of my blankets and crawled into my clothes. I stepped out -of my tent, and saw that the stars were yet visible and the light of -the morning warming up to chase the gray shadows over the western -hills. Three tight little cavalry soldiers came out on the parade, and -blew three bugles as hard as ever they could to an unappreciative -audience of sleepy soldiers and solemn hills. I walked down past the -officers' row, and shook the kinks out of my stiffened knees. -Everything was as quietly dismal as only a sleeping camp can be. The -Sibley containing General Miles showed no signs of life, and until he -arose this little military solar system would not revolve. I bethought -me of the irregulars. They were down in the river bottom--Lieutenant -Casey and his Indian scouts. I knew that Casey had commanded Indian -scouts until his temper was as refined as beaten gold, so I thought it -safer to arouse him than any one else, and, walking down, I scratched -at his tent--which is equivalent to knocking--and received a rather -loud and surly inquiry as to what I wanted. My sensitive nature was so -shocked by this that, like the bad actor, I had hopes for no more -generous gift than a cigarette. I was let into the Sibley, and saw the -ground covered with blanketed forms. One of the swathed forms sat up, -and the captain allowed he wanted to get up in the night, but that -ever since Lieutenant Blank had shot at the orderly he was afraid to -move about in the gloom. Lieutenant B. sat up and denied the -impeachment. Another officer arose and made some extended remarks on -the unseemly disturbance at this unseasonable hour. To pass over these -inequalities of life, I will say that the military process of -stiffening a man's backbone and reducing his mind to a logarithm -breeds a homogeneous class whom we all know. They have small waists, -and their clothes fit them; they are punctilious; they respect forms, -and always do the dignified and proper thing at the particular -instant, and never display their individuality except on two -occasions: one is the field of battle and the other is before -breakfast. Some bright fellow will one day tell in print the droll -stock anecdotes of the United States army, and you'll all agree that -they are good. They are better, though, if you sit in a Sibley on a -cold morning while the orderly boils the coffee; and are more -fortunate if you have Ned Casey to embellish what he calls the -international complications which arose from the bombardment of Canada -with paving-stones by a drunken recruit at Detroit. - -After the commission had talked to a ring of drowsy old chiefs, and -the general had reminded them that he had thrashed them once, and was -perfectly willing to do it again if they did not keep in the middle of -the big road, the commission was loaded into the ambulances. - -[Illustration: UNITED STATES INFANTRY IN WINTER RIG] - -The driver clucked and whistled and snapped his whip as a preliminary -which always precedes the concerted movement of six mules, and we -started. This time I found that I had a mount that was "a horse from -the ground up," as they phrase it in the red-blooded West. Well it was -so, for at the relay camp I had issued to me a sorrel ruin which in -the pristine vigor of its fifth year would not have commanded the -value of a tin cup. After doing a mile of song and dance on this poor -beast I dismounted, and shifting my saddle back to my led horse of the -morning, which was led by a Crow scout, made the sixty-mile march of -that day on the noble animal. Poor old chap, fit for a king, good for -all day and the next, would bring six hundred dollars in the New York -Horse Exchange, but condemned to pack a trooper in the ranks until a -penurious government condemns and sells him to a man who, nine times -out of ten, by the law of God, ought not to be intrusted with the -keeping of the meanest of his creatures, to say nothing of his noblest -work--a horse. "Such is life," is the salve a good soldier puts on his -wounds. - -During the day we went all over the battle-field of the Little Big -Horn. I heard a good deal of professional criticism, and it is my -settled conviction that had Reno and Benteen gone in and fought as -hard as they were commanded to do, Custer would have won his fight, -and to-day be a major-general. The military moral of that affair for -young soldiers is that when in doubt about what to do it is always -safe to go in and fight "till you drop," remembering that, however a -citizen may regard the proposition, a soldier cannot afford to be -anything else than a "dead lion." - -We were nearing the Crow Agency and Fort Custer, and it is against all -my better impulses, and with trepidation at the impropriety of -unveiling the truth, that I disclose the fact that the general would -halt the column at a convenient distance from a post, and would then -exchange his travel-worn garb for glittering niceties of a -major-general's uniform. The command then advanced into the fort. The -guns bellowed and the cavalry swung into line, while numerous officers -gathered, in all the perfection of neat-fitting uniforms, to receive -him. At this time the writer eliminated himself from the ceremonial, -and from some point of vantage proceeded to pull up his boots so as to -cover as much as possible the gaping wounds in his riding-trousers, -and tried vainly to make a shooting-jacket fit like an officer's -blouse, while he dealt his hat sundry thumps in a vain endeaver to -give it a more rakish appearance. He was then introduced and -apologized for in turn. To this day he hopes the mantle of charity was -broad enough to cover his case. - -What a contrast between soldiers in field and soldiers in garrison! -Natty and trim--as straight as a sapling, with few words and no -gestures--quite unlike those of two days, or rather nights, ago, when -the cold froze them out of their blankets, and they sat around the -camp-fires pounding tin cans and singing the Indian medicine song with -a good Irish accent. Very funny that affair--the mixture of Cheyenne -and Donnybrook is a strange noise. - -The last stage from Custer to the railroad is thirty-five miles and a -half, which we did with two relays, the latter half of it in the -night. There was no escort--only two orderlies and the general--and I -pattered along through the gloom. The clouds hung over the earth in a -dense blanket, and the road was as dim as a Florentine fresco; but -night nor cold nor heat can bring General Miles to a walk, and the -wild charge in the dark was, as an experience, a complete thing. You -cannot see; you whirl through a cañon cut in the mud; you plough -through the sage-brush and over the rocks clatter and bang. The -general is certainly a grim old fellow--one of the kind that make -sparks fly when he strikes an obstacle. I could well believe the old -Fifth Infantryman who said "he's put many a corn on a dough-boy's -foot," and it's a red-letter day for any one else that keeps at his -horse's heels. You may ride into a hole, over a precipice, to -perdition, if it's your luck on this night, but is not the general in -front? You follow the general--that's the grand idea--that is the -military idea. If the United States army was strung out in line with -its general ahead, and if he should ride out into the broad Atlantic -and swim to sea, the whole United States army would follow along, for -that's the idea, you know. - -But for the headlong plunge of an orderly, we passed through all -right, with due thankfulness on my part, and got to our car at the -siding, much to the gratification of the Chicago colored man in -charge, who found life at Custer Station a horrid blank. Two hundred -and forty-eight miles in thirty-six hours and a half, and sixty miles -of it on one horse, was not bad riding, considering everything. Not -enough to make a man famous or lame, but enough for the time being. - - - - -LIEUTENANT CASEY'S LAST SCOUT - -ON THE HOSTILE FLANKS WITH THE CHIS-CHIS-CHASH - - -The train bearing the Cheyenne scout corps pulled into Rapid City -somewhat late. It is possible you may think that it was a train of -Pullman palace cars, but you would be mistaken, for it was a freight -train, with the horses in tight box-cars, the bacon and -Chis-chis-chash[1] on flat gravel cars, and Lieutenants Casey and -Getty in the caboose. Evidently the element of haste was woven into -this movement. We were glad to meet again. Expansive smiles lit up the -brown features of the Indian scouts as they recognized me. Old -Wolf-Voice came around in his large, patronizing way and said, -"How?--what you do out here?" Wolf-Voice was a magnificent type of the -Indian, with a grand face, a tremendous physique, and enough -self-containment for a High-Church bishop. High-Walking nudged -Stump-Horn and whispered in his ear, and they both smiled as they -looked at me. Lieutenant Casey walked out in the road and talked with -General Miles, who sat on his beautiful sorrel horse, while two scouts -and a young "horse-pusher"[2] from St. Louis helped me to load one -strawberry-roan horse, branded "52" on the nigh front foot, into a -box-car with a scrawny lot of little ponies, who showed the hard -scouting of the last month in their lank quarters. - -[Footnote 1: The name the Cheyennes apply to themselves.] - -[Footnote 2: Boy who travels with horses on the cars.] - -The quartermaster came down and asked Lieutenant Casey for a -memorandum of his outfit, which was "70 horses, 49 Indian scouts, 1 -interpreter, 2 white officers, 1000 pounds of bacon, so many crackers, -2000 pounds forage, 5 Sibley tents, and 1 citizen," all of which the -quartermaster put down in a little book. You are not allowed by United -States quartermasters to have an exaggerated estimate of your own -importance. Bacon and forage and citizens all go down in the same -column, with the only distinction that the bacon and forage outnumber -you. - -We were pulled down the road a few miles to the town of Hermoso, and -there, in the moonlight, the baggage was unloaded and the wild little -ponies frightened out of the cars, down a chute, into the stock -corrals. The Sibleys were pitched, and a crowd of curious citizens, -who came down to feast their eyes on the Chis-chis-chash, were -dissipated when a rather frugal dinner was prepared. This was -Christmas night, and rather a cheerless one, since, in the haste of -departure, the Sibley stoves had been forgotten. We never had stoves -again until the gallant Leavenworth battalion came to the rescue with -their surplus, and in the cold, frosty nights in the foot-hills there -can be no personal happiness where there are no stoves. We brewed a -little mess of hot stuff in a soldier's tin cup, and, in the words of -Private Mulvaney, we drank to the occasion, "three fingers--standing -up!" - -The good that comes in the ill wind where stoves are lacking is that -you can get men up in the morning. Sun-worship must have originated in -circumstances of this kind. The feeling of thankfulness at the sight -of the golden rays permeates your soul, and your very bones are made -glad. - -A few ounces of bacon, some of those accursed crackers which are made -to withstand fire, water, and weevil, a quart of coffee blacker than -evil, then down come the Sibleys, the blankets are rolled and the -saddles adjusted, and bidding _adios_ to the First Infantry (which -came in during the night), we trot off down the road. - -These, then, are the Cheyenne scouts. Well, I am glad I know the fact, -but I never can reconcile the trim-looking scout corps of Keogh with -these strange-looking objects. Erstwhile their ponies were fat, and -cavorted around when falling in ranks; now they paddle along in the -humblest kind of a business-like jog-trot. The new overcoats of the -corps metamorphose the scouts into something between Russian Cossacks -and Black Crooks. Saddle pockets bulge out, and a thousand and one -little alterations in accoutrement grow up in the field which are -frowned down in garrison. The men have scouted hard for a month, and -have lost two nights' sleep, so at the halts for the wagons they lop -down in the dust of the road, and sleep, while the little ponies stand -over them, ears down, heads hanging, eyes shut, and one hind foot -drawn up on its toe. Nothing can look so dejected as a pony, and -doubtless few things have more reason to feel so. A short march of -twenty-five miles passes us through the Seventeenth Infantry camp -under Colonel Offley, and down to the Cheyenne River, where we camp -for the night. There is another corps of Cheyenne scouts somewhere -here on the river, under Lieutenant L. H. Struthers, of the First -Infantry, and we expect to join them. On the other side of the -Cheyenne rise the tangled masses of the famous Bad Lands--seamed and -serrated, gray here, the golden sunset flashing there, with dark -recesses giving back a frightful gloom--a place for stratagem and -murder, with nothing to witness its mysteries but the cold blue winter -sky. Yet we are going there. It is full of savage Sioux. The sun goes -down. I am glad to cease thinking about it. - -[Illustration: CHIS-CHIS-CHASH SCOUT ON THE FLANKS] - -It is such a mere detail that I will not waste time on it, but this -freezing out of your blankets four or five times every night, and this -having to go out and coax a cooking fire into a cheerful spirit, can -occupy a man's mind so that any words not depraved do not seem of any -consequence. During one of the early hours I happened to sleep, and in -this interval Mr. Struthers came into our tepee. He had been on a -night's ride to the colonel for orders, and in passing, dropped in for -a chat with Casey. When about to go, he said, - -"Oh, by-the-way, I met Remington." - -"Do you want to renew the acquaintance?" replied Casey. - -"Why--how--why--yes." - -"Well, he's there, on the other side of this tent." And Mr. Struthers -passed out in the gloom, and his muttered expressions of astonishment -were presently lost in the distance. I had ridden and camped with Mr. -Struthers a few days since in the up country, while on the way to "the -galloping Sixth." - -The next day we passed down the river, and soon saw what to -inexperienced eyes might be dark gray rocks on the top of yellow -hills. They were the pickets of the Cheyennes, and presently we saw -the tepees and the ponies, and then we rode into camp. The men from -Tongue River greeted the men from Pine Ridge--the relatives and -friends--with _ki-yis_ of delight. The corps from Pine Ridge was -organized from the Cheyennes on that reservation, and was as yet only -partially disciplined, and in no way to be compared with Casey's Old -Guard from Tongue River. Some two nights before, the Sioux had fired -into their camp, and they had skirmished with the enemy. The vermilion -of the war-path was on every countenance, and, through sympathy, I saw -that our men too had gone into this style of decorative art; for faces -which had previously been fresh and clean now passed my vision -streaked and daubed into preternatural ferocity. - -It grew late and later, and yet Lieutenant Struthers did not return -from his scouting of the day. We were alarmed, and wondered and hoped; -for scouting through the Bad Lands to the stronghold was dangerous, to -state it mildly. A few shots would not be heard twelve miles away in -the hills. We pictured black objects lying prone on the sand as we -scouted next day--little masses of clay which had been men and horses, -but would then be as silent as the bare hillocks about them. - -"Ki-yi-yip--a-ou!" and a patter in the gloom. - -"That's Struthers." We fall over each other as we pile out of the hole -in the Sibley, and find Struthers and Lieutenant Byrom, of the Eighth -Cavalry, all safe and sound. - -"We have been on the stronghold; they are all gone; rustle some -coffee," are words in the darkness; and we crawl back into the tent, -where presently the big, honest, jolly eyes of Mr. Struthers look over -a quart cup, and we are happy. Byrom was a fine little cavalryman, and -I have good reason to know that for impudent daring of that -desperately quiet kind he is distinguished in places where all men are -brave. - -Away goes the courier to the colonel for orders, and after a time back -he comes--a wild dash of twelve miles in the dark, and of little -moment here, but a life memory to an unaccustomed one. - -"We go on the stronghold in the morning," says Casey; "and now to -bed." A bed consists of two blankets spread on the ground, and all the -personal property not otherwise appropriated piled on top. A luxury, -mind you, is this; later it was much more simple, consisting of earth -for a mattress and the sky for a counterpane. - -The sun is not up when in comes the horse herd. My strawberry roan -goes sneaking about in the frosty willows, and after sundry -well-studied manoeuvres I get a grip on the lariat, and am lugged -and jerked over the brush until "52 on the nigh front foot" consents -to stand still. I saddle up, but have lost my gun. I entreat Mr. -Thompson, the interpreter, to help me find it. Mr. Thompson is a man -who began fighting for the Union in East Tennessee about thirty years -long gone, and he has continued to engage in that work up to date. Mr. -Thompson has formed a character which is not as round as a ball, but -much more the shape of horn-silver in its native state. He is humorous -by turns, and early in my acquaintance he undertook the cultivation of -my mind in the art of war as practised on the frontier. On this -occasion he at last found my Springfield, and handed it to me with the -admonition "that in times like these one warrior can't look after -another warrior's gun." - -The wagons were to go--well, I never knew where, but they went off -over the hills, and I never saw them again for some miserable days and -dreary nights. Five Pine Ridge Cheyennes and Mr. Wolf-Voice were my -party, and we filed away. At Battle Creek we watered, and crossed the -Cheyenne a mile above. My horse was smooth shod, and the river frozen -half-way over, so we slid around on the ice, and jumped into the icy -waters, got wet, crawled out, slid around some more, and finally -landed. Mr. Wolf-Voice looked me over, and smilingly said, "Me think -you no like 'em"; wherein his conclusion was eminently correct. Who -does like to have a mass of ice freeze on him when naturally the -weather is cold enough to satisfy a walrus? - -It was twelve miles through the defiles of the Bad Lands to the blue -ridge of the high mesa where the hostiles had lived. The trail was -strewn with dead cattle, some of them having never been touched with a -knife. Here and there a dead pony, ridden to a stand-still and left -nerveless on the trail. No words of mine can describe these Bad Lands. -They are somewhat as Doré pictured hell. One set of buttes, with cones -and minarets, gives place in the next mile to natural freaks of a -different variety, never dreamed of by mortal man. It is the action of -water on clay; there are ashes, or what looks like them. The painter's -whole palette is in one bluff. A year's study of these colors by Mr. -Bierstadt, Professor Marsh, and Mr. Notman might possibly convey to -the Eastern mind an idea; so we'll amble along after Mr. Wolf-Voice, -and leave that subject intact. - -"Hark!" My little party stops suddenly, and we all listen. I feel -stupid. - -"You hear 'em?" says Wolf-Voice, in a stage-whisper. - -"Hear what?" I say. - -"Shots." - -Then we all get out our guns and go galloping like mad. I can't -imagine why, but I spur my horse and perform equestrian feats which in -an ordinary frame of mind I should regard as insane. Down a narrow -trail we go, with the gravel flying, and through a _coulée_, up a -little hill, on top of which we stop to listen, and then away we go. -The blue wall grows nearer, and at last we are under it. A few -cotton-wood trees, some frozen water, a little cleft on the bluffs, -and I see a trail winding upward. I know these warriors are going -up there, but I can't understand precisely how. It is not the first -perilous trail I have contemplated; but there are dead cattle lying at -the bottom which had fallen off and been killed in the ascent. We -dismount and start up. It tells on your wind, and tries the leg -muscles. Up a steep place a horse wants to go fast, and you have to -keep him from running over you. A bend in the trail where the running -water has frozen seems impassable. I jump across it, and then pull the -bridle and say, "Come on, boy!" If I were the horse I would balk, but -the noble animal will try it. A leap, a plunging, and with a terrible -scrabble we are all right. Farther up, and the incline is certainly -eighty-five degrees. My horse looses his front feet, but a jerk at the -headstall brings him down, and he plunges past me to be caught by an -Indian at the top of the trail. For a moment we breathe, and then -mount. - -[Illustration: "TWO GHOSTS I SAW"] - -Before us is a great flat plain blackened by fire, and with the grass -still burning. Away in the distance, in the shimmer of the air waves, -are figures. - -"Maybe so dey Sioux," says Wolf-Voice. And we gallop towards them. - -"What will you do if they are?" I ask. - -"Stand 'em off," replies the war-dog. - -Half an hour's ride showed them to be some of our Cheyennes. All about -the plain were strewn the remains of dead cattle (heads and horns, -half-butchered carcasses, and withal a rather impressive smell), -coyotes, and ravens--all very like war. These Brulés must have lived -well. There were lodge poles, old fires, and a series of rifle pits -across the neck of land which the Sioux had proposed to defend; -medicine poles, and near them the sacrifices, among which was food -dedicated to the Great Spirit, but eventually consumed by the less -exalted members of Casey's command. I vandalized a stone pipe and a -rawhide stirrup. - -The less curious members of our band had gone south, and Wolf-Voice -and I rode along together. We discussed war, and I remember two of -Wolf-Voice's opinions. Speaking of infantry and their method of -fighting, he said: - -"Dese walk-a-heap soldiers dey dig hole--get in--shoot heap--Injun -can't do nothin' wid 'em--can't kill 'em--can't do nothin' but jes go -'way." - -Then, explaining why the Sioux had shown bad generalship in selecting -their position, he turned in his saddle, and said, "De big guns he -knock 'em rifle pit, den de calavy lun pas' in column--Injun no stop -calavy--kill 'em heap, but no stop 'em--den de walk-a-heap dey come -too, and de Sioux dey go ober de bluffs." And with wild enthusiasm he -added, "De Sioux dey go to hell!" That prospect seemed to delight Mr. -Wolf-Voice immensely. - -It was a weary ride over the black and smoking plain. A queer mirage -was said by my Indian to be the Cheyenne scouts coming after us. Black -figures of animals walking slowly along were "starving bronchos -abandoned by the hostiles." - -"Cowboy he catch 'em," said Wolf-Voice. - -I explained that Colonel Offley had orders not to allow any citizens -to cross the Cheyenne River. - -"Cowboy he go give um dam; he come alle samee." - -And I thought Wolf-Voice was probably right. - -On the southern edge of the bluffs of the mesa we halted, and found -water for man and beast. The command gradually concentrated, and for -half an hour we stood on the high points scanning the great flats -below, and located the dust of the retiring hostile column and the -back lying scouts. Lieutenant Casey had positive orders not to bring -on an engagement, and only desired to hang on their flanks, so as to -keep Miles familiar with the hostile movements. A courier started on -his lonely ride back with a note for the major-general. Our scouts -were flying about far down the valley, and we filed off after them. -Presently a little column of dust follows a flying horseman towards -us. On, on he comes. The scouts grow uneasy; wild creatures they are, -with the suspicion of a red deer and the stealth of a panther. - -[Illustration: WATCHING THE DUST OF THE HOSTILES] - -The Sioux have fired on our scouts. Off we go at a trot, scattering -out, unslinging our guns, and the air full of fight. I ride by Casey, -and see he is troubled. The orders in his pocket do not call for a -fight. Can he hold these wild warriors? - -"Struthers, we have got to hold these men," said Casey, in a tone of -voice which was full of meaning. To shorten the story, our men were at -last gotten into ranks, and details made to cover the advance. The -hostiles were evidently much excited. Little clouds of dust whirling -hither and thither showed where the opposing scouts were shadowing -each other. The sun was waning, and yet we spurred our weary horses on -towards the enemy. Poor beasts! no food and too much exercise since -daylight. - -The Cheyennes were uneasy, and not at all pleased with this scheme of -action. What could they know about the orders in Lieutenant Casey's -pocket, prompted by a commanding general thinking of a thousand and -one interests, and with telegrams from Washington directing the -avoidance of an Indian war? - -Old-soldier Thompson even, with all his intelligence and knowledge of -things, felt the wild Berserker battle valor, which he smothered with -difficulty, and confined himself to potent remarks and spurring of -old Piegan. He said: "This is a new kind of war. Them Injuns don't -understand it, and to tell you the truth, I don't nuther. The Injuns -say they have come all the way from Tongue River, and are going back -poor. Can't get Sioux horses, can't kill Sioux," and in peroration he -confirmed his old impression that "this is a new kind of war"; and -then relapsed into reveries of what things used to be before General -Miles invented this new kind of war. - -In our immediate front was a heavy body of Sioux scouts. Lieutenant -Casey was ahead. Men broke from our ranks, but were held with -difficulty by Struthers and Getty. Back comes Casey at a gallop. He -sees the crisis, and with his hand on his six-shooter, says, "I will -shoot the first man through the head who falls out of the ranks." A -mutiny is imminent in the Pine Ridge contingent, but the diplomat -Struthers brings order at last, and we file off down the hills to the -left, and stop by a stream, while Casey goes back and meets a body of -Sioux on a high hill for a powwow. I watched through a glass, and the -sun went down as they talked. We had orders not to remove our saddles, -and stood in the line nervously expecting anything imaginable to -happen. The daring of Casey in this case is simply an instance of a -hundred such, and the last one cost him his life. By his prompt -measures with his own men, and by his courage in going among the Sioux -to powwow, he averted a bloody battle, and obeyed his orders. There -was one man between two banks of savage warriors who were fairly -frothing at the mouth--a soldier; the sun will never shine upon a -better. - -At last, after an interminable time, he came away. Far away to the -right are two of our scouts driving two beeves. We see the bright -blaze of the six-shooters, the steers tumble, and hunger is no longer -one of our woes. - -[Illustration: THE HOTCHKISS GUN] - -The tired horses are unsaddled, to eat and drink and roll. We lay dry -cotton-wood limbs on the fires, heavy pickets are told off, and our -"bull meat" is cooked in the primitive style. Old Wolf-Voice and -another scout are swinging six ribs on a piece of rawhide over a fire, -and later he brings me a rib and a little bit of coffee from a roll in -his handkerchief. I thought him a "brick," and mystified him by -telling him so. - -Three or four Brulés are let in through our pickets, and come "wagging -their tails," as Two-Moons says, but adding, "Don't you trust the -Sioux." They protest their good intentions, borrow tobacco, and say -Lieutenant Casey can send in a wagon for commissaries to Pine Ridge, -and also that I can go through their lines with it. Were there ever -greater liars on earth? - -I sat near the fire and looked intently at one human brute opposite, a -perfect animal, so far as I could see. Never was there a face so -replete with human depravity, stolid, ferocious, arrogant, and all the -rest--ghost-shirt, war-paint, feathers, and arms. As a picture, -perfect; as a reality, horrible. Presently they go away, and we -prepare for the night. This preparing for the night is a rather simple -process. I have stolen my saddle blanket from my poor horse, and, with -this laid on the ground, I try my saddle in four or five different -positions in its capacity of pillow. The inventor of the Whitman tree -never considered this possible use of his handiwork, or he might have -done better. I next button the lower three buttons of my overcoat, and -thus wrapped "I lie down to pleasant dreams"--of rheumatism. - -An hour later and the fires go down. Black forms pass like uneasy -spirits, and presently you find yourself thrashing around in the -underbrush across the river after branches to feed that insatiable -fire. One comrade breaks through the ice and gets wet, and inelegant -remarks come from the shadowy blackness under the river-banks. I think -a man shouldn't use such language even under such circumstances, but I -also think very few men wouldn't. A chilling wind now adds to the -misery of the situation, and the heat of the fire goes off in a cloud -of sparks to the No Man's Land across the river. After smoking a pipe -for two hours your mouth is raw and your nervous system shattered, so -nothing is left but to sit calmly down and just suffer. You can hate -the Chinese on the other side of the world, who are now enjoying the -rays of the sun. - -And morning finds you in the saddle. It always does. I don't know how -it is--a habit of life, I suppose. Mornings ought to find me cosily -ensconced in a good bed, but in retrospect they seem always to be in -the saddle, with a good prospect of all day ahead, and evening finds -me with a chunk of bull meat and without blankets, until one fine day -we come to our wagons, our Sibleys, and the little luxuries of the -mess chest. - -The next morning I announced my intention of going to Pine Ridge -Agency, which is twenty-five miles away. Mr. Thompson, two scouts, and -a Swedish teamster are to go in for provisions and messages. Mr. -Thompson got in the wagon. I expressed my astonishment at this and the -fact that he had no carbines, as we expected to go through the hostile -pickets and camp. He said, "If I can't talk them Injuns out of killin' -me, I reckon I'll have to go." I trotted along with Red-Bear and -Hairy-Arm, and a mile and a half ahead went the courier, Wells. Poor -man! in two hours he lay bleeding in the road, with a bullet through -the hips, and called two days for water before he "struck the long -trail to the kingdom come," as the cowboys phrase it. - -We could see two black columns of smoke, which we did not understand. -After we had gone eight or ten miles, and were just crossing a ravine, -we saw a Sioux buck on a little hill just ahead, out of pistol-shot. -He immediately rode the "danger signal." Red-Bear turned his horse in -the "peace sign," and advanced. We drove over the ravine, and halted. -I dismounted. Six young Brulé Sioux rose out of the ground, and rode -up to Red-Bear, and the hills were full of pickets to the right and -left. We waited to hear the result of Red-Bear's conversation, when he -presently came back and spoke to Thompson in Cheyenne. I looked at -him; his eyes were snapping, and his facial muscles twitched -frightfully. This was unusual, and I knew that things were not well. - -"Red-Bear says we will have to go back," explained Thompson; and -turning to Red-Bear he requested that two Sioux might come closer, and -talk with us. Things looked ominous to me, not understanding Cheyenne, -which was being talked. "This is a bad hole, and I reckon our cake is -dough right here," said Thompson. - -Hairy-Arm's face was impassive, but his dark eyes wandered from Brulé -to Brulé with devilish calculation. Two young bucks came up, and one -asked Thompson for tobacco, whereat he was handed a package of Durham -by Thompson, which was not returned. - -"It's lucky for me that tobacco ain't a million dollars," sighed -Thompson. - -Another little buck slipped up behind me, whereat Mr. Thompson gave me -a warning look. Turning, I advanced on him quickly (I wanted to be as -near as possible, not being armed), and holding out my hand, said, -"How, colah?" He did not like to take it, but he did, and I was saved -the trouble of further action. - -"We'll never get this wagon turned around," suggested Mr. Thompson, as -the teamster whipped up; but we did. And as we commenced our movement -on Casey's camp, Mr. Thompson said, "Go slow now; don't run, or -they'll sure shoot." - -"Gemme gun," said the little scout Red-Bear, and we all got our arms -from the wagon. - -There was no suspense now. Things had begun to happen. A little -faster, yet faster, we go up the little banks of the _coulée_, and, ye -gods! what!--five fully armed, well-mounted cowboys--a regular rescue -scene from Buffalo Bill's show. - -"Go back!" shouted Thompson. - -Bang! bang! bang! and the bullets whistle around and kick up the dust. -Away we go. - -Four bucks start over the hills to our right to flank us. Red-Bear -talked loudly in Cheyenne. - -Thompson repeated, "Red-Bear says if any one is hit, get off in the -grass and lie down; we must all hang together." - -We all yelled, "We will." - -A well-mounted man rode like mad ahead of the laboring team horses to -carry the news to the scout camp. The cowboys, being well mounted, -could easily have gotten away, but they stuck like true blues. - -Here is where the great beauty of American character comes out. -Nothing can be taken seriously by men used to danger. Above the -pounding of the horses and the rattle of the wagon and through the -dust came the cowboy song from the lips of Mr. Thompson: - - "Roll your tail, - And roll her high; - We'll all be angels - By-and-by." - -[Illustration: A RUN TO THE SCOUT CAMP] - -We deployed on the flanks of the wagon so that the team horses might -not be shot, which would have stopped the whole outfit, and we did ten -miles at a record-breaking gallop. We struck the scout camp in a blaze -of excitement. The Cheyennes were in war-paint, and the ponies' tails -were tied up and full of feathers. Had the Sioux materialized at that -time, Mr. Casey would have had his orders broken right there. - -After a lull in the proceedings, Mr. Thompson confided to me that "the -next time I go to war in a wagon it will put the drinks on me"; and he -saddled Piegan, and patted his neck in a way which showed his -gratification at the change in transport. We pulled out again for the -lower country, and as our scouts had seen the dust of Colonel -Sanford's command, we presently joined them. - -Any remarks made to Mr. Thompson on the tobacco subject are taken -seriously, and he has intimated to me a quiet yearning for a shot at -"the particular slit-mouthed Brulé who got away with that Durham." - -How we awoke next morning with the sleet freezing in our faces, and -how we made camp in the blizzard, and borrowed Sibley stoves of the -soldiers, and how we were at last comfortable, and spent New-Year's -Eve in a proper manner, is of little interest. - -I was awakened at a late hour that night by Captain Baldwin, of -General Miles's staff, and told to saddle up for a night's ride to -Pine Ridge. This was the end of my experience with Lieutenant Casey -and his gallant corps. We shook hands cheerily in the dim candle-light -of the tepee, and agreeing to meet in New York at some not distant -day, I stepped out from the Sibley, mounted, and rode away in the -night. - -Three days later I had eaten my breakfast on the dining-car, and had -settled down to a cigar and a Chicago morning paper. The big leads at -the top of the column said, "Lieutenant E. W. Casey Shot." Casey shot! -I look again. Yes; despatches from head-quarters--a fact beyond -question. - -A nasty little Brulé Sioux had made his _coup_, and shot away the life -of a man who would have gained his stars in modern war as naturally as -most of his fellows would their eagles. He had shot away the life of -an accomplished man; the best friend the Indians had; a man who did -not know "fear"; a young man beloved by his comrades, respected by his -generals and by the Secretary of War. The squaws of another race will -sing the death-song of their benefactor, and woe to the Sioux if the -Northern Cheyennes get a chance to _coup_! - -"Try to avoid bloodshed," comes over the wires from Washington. "Poor -savages!" comes the plaintive wail of the sentimentalist from his -place of security; but who is to weep for the men who hold up a row of -brass buttons for any hater of the United States to fire a gun at? Are -the squaws of another race to do the mourning for American soldiers? -Are the men of another race to hope for vengeance? Bah! - -I sometimes think Americans lack a virtue which the military races of -Europe possess. Possibly they may never need it. I hope not. American -soldiers of our frontier days have learned not to expect sympathy in -the East, but where one like Casey goes down there are many places -where Sorrow will spread her dusky pinions and the light grow dim. - - - - -THE SIOUX OUTBREAK IN SOUTH DAKOTA - - -We discussed the vague reports of the Wounded Knee fight in the upper -camps of the cordon, and old hands said it could be no ordinary affair -because of the large casualty. Two days after I rode into the Pine -Ridge Agency, very hungry and nearly frozen to death, having ridden -with Captain Baldwin, of the staff, and a Mr. Miller all night long. I -had to look after a poor horse, and see that he was groomed and fed, -which require considerable tact and "hustling" in a busy camp. Then -came my breakfast. That struck me as a serious matter at the time. -There were wagons and soldiers--the burial party going to the Wounded -Knee to do its solemn duty. I wanted to go very much. I stopped to -think; in short, I hesitated, and of course was "lost," for after -breakfast they had gone. Why did I not follow them? Well, my natural -prudence had been considerably strengthened a few days previously by a -half-hour's interview with six painted Brulé Sioux, who seemed to be -in command of the situation. To briefly end the matter, the burial -party was fired on, and my confidence in my own good judgment was -vindicated to my own satisfaction. - -I rode over to the camp of the Seventh United States Cavalry, and met -all the officers, both wounded and well, and a great many of the men. -They told me their stories in that inimitable way which is studied art -with warriors. To appreciate brevity you must go to a soldier. He -shrugs his shoulders, and points to the bridge of his nose, which has -had a piece cut out by a bullet, and says, "Rather close, but don't -amount to much." An inch more, and some youngster would have had his -promotion. - -I shall not here tell the story of the Seventh Cavalry fight with Big -Foot's band of Sioux on the Wounded Knee; that has been done in the -daily papers; but I will recount some small-talk current in the Sibley -tepees, or the "white man's war tents," as the Indians call them. - -Lying on his back, with a bullet through the body, Lieutenant Mann -grew stern when he got to the critical point in his story. "I saw -three or four young bucks drop their blankets, and I saw that they -were armed. 'Be ready to fire, men; there is trouble.' There was an -instant, and then we heard sounds of firing in the centre of the -Indians. 'Fire!' I shouted, and we poured it into them." - -"Oh yes, Mann, but the trouble began when the old medicine-man threw -the dust in the air. That is the old Indian signal of 'defiance,' and -no sooner had he done that act than those bucks stripped and went into -action. Just before that some one told me that if we didn't stop that -old man's talk he would make trouble. He said that the white men's -bullets would not go through the ghost shirts." - -Said another officer, "The way those Sioux worked those Winchesters -was beautiful." Which criticism, you can see, was professional. - -Added another, "One man was hit early in the firing, but he continued -to pump his Winchester; but growing weaker and weaker, and sinking -down gradually, his shots went higher and higher, until his last went -straight up in the air." - -[Illustration: IN THE TRENCHES] - -"Those Indians were plumb crazy. Now, for instance, did you notice -that before they fired they raised their arms to heaven? That was -devotional." - -"Yes, captain, but they got over their devotional mood after the -shooting was over," remonstrated a cynic. "When I passed over the -field after the fight one young warrior who was near to his death -asked me to take him over to the medicine-man's side, that he might -die with his knife in the old conjurer's heart. He had seen that the -medicine was bad, and his faith in the ghost shirt had vanished. There -was no doubt but that every buck there thought that no bullet could -touch him." - -"Well," said an officer, whose pipe was working into a reflective -mood, "there is one thing which I learned, and that is that you can -bet that the private soldier in the United States army will fight. -He'll fight from the drop of the hat anywhere and in any place, and -he'll fight till you call _time_. I never in my life saw Springfield -carbines worked so industriously as at that place. I noticed one young -fellow, and his gun seemed to just blaze all the while. Poor chap! -he's mustered out for good." - -I saw the scout who had his nose cut off. He came in to get shaved. -His face was covered with strips of court-plaster, and when informed -that it would be better for him to forego the pleasure of a shave, he -reluctantly consented. He had ridden all day and been in the second -day's fight with his nose held on by a few strips of plaster, and he -did not see just why he could not be shaved; but after being talked to -earnestly by a half-dozen friends he succumbed. - -"What became of the man who did that?" I asked of him. - -He tapped his Winchester and said, "Oh, I got him all right!" - -I went into the hospital tents and saw the poor fellows lying on the -cots, a little pale in the face, and with a drawn look about the mouth -and eyes. That is the serious part of soldiering. No excitement, no -crowd of cheering comrades, no shots and yells and din of battle. A -few watchful doctors and Red Cross stewards with bottles and bandages, -and the grim spectre of the universal enemy hovering over all, and -ready to dart down on any man on the cots who lay quieter and whose -face was more pale than his fellows. - -I saw the Red Cross ambulances draw up in line, and watched the -wounded being loaded into them. I saw poor Garlington. His blond -mustache twitched under the process of moving, and he looked like a -man whose mustache wouldn't twitch unnecessarily. Lieutenant -Hawthorne, who was desperately shot in the groin while working the -little Hotchkiss cannon, turned his eyes as they moved Garlington from -the next cot, and then waited patiently for his own turn. - -I was talking with old Captain Capron, who commanded the battery at -the fight--a grim old fellow, with a red-lined cape overcoat, and -nerve enough for a hundred-ton gun. He said: "When Hawthorne was shot -the gun was worked by Corporal Weimert, while Private Hertzog carried -Hawthorne from the field and then returned to his gun. The Indians -redoubled their fire on the men at the gun, but it seemed only to -inspire the corporal to renewed efforts. Oh, my battery was well -served," continued the captain, as he put his hands behind his back -and looked far away. - -This professional interest in the military process of killing men -sometimes rasps a citizen's nerves. To the captain everything else was -a side note of little consequence so long as his guns had been worked -to his entire satisfaction. That was the point. - -[Illustration: THE ADVANCE GUARD--A MILITARY SACRIFICE] - -At the mention of the name of Captain Wallace, the Sibley became so -quiet that you could hear the stove draw and the wind wail about the -little canvas town. It was always "Poor Wallace!" and "He died like a -soldier, with his empty six-shooter in his right hand, shot through -the body, and with two jagged wounds in his head." - -I accosted a soldier who was leaning on a crutch while he carried a -little bundle in his right hand. "You bet I'm glad to get out in the -sunlight; that old hospital tent was getting mighty tiresome." - -"Where was I shot?" He pointed to his hip. "Only a flesh wound; this -is my third wound. My time is out in a few days; but I'm going to -re-enlist, and I hope I'll get back here before this trouble is over. -I want to get square with these Injuns." You see, there was -considerable human nature in this man's composition. - -The ambulance went off down the road, and the burial party came back. -The dead were for the time forgotten, and the wounded were left to -fight their own battles with stitches and fevers and suppuration. The -living toiled in the trenches, or stood out their long term on the -pickets, where the moon looked down on the frosty landscape, and the -cold wind from the north searched for the crevices in their blankets. - - - - -AN OUTPOST OF CIVILIZATION - - -The hacienda San José de Bavicora lies northwest from Chihuahua 225 of -the longest miles on the map. The miles run up long hills and dive -into rocky cañons; they stretch over never-ending burnt plains, and -across the beds of tortuous rivers thick with scorching sand. And -there are three ways to make this travel. Some go on foot--which is -best, if one has time--like the Tahuramaras; others take it ponyback, -after the Mexican manner; and persons with no time and a great deal of -money go in a coach. At first thought this last would seem to be the -best, but the Guerrero stage has never failed to tip over, and the -company make you sign away your natural rights, and almost your -immortal soul, before they will allow you to embark. So it is not the -best way at all, if I may judge from my own experience. We had a coach -which seemed to choose the steepest hill on the route, where it then -struck a stone, which heaved the coach, pulled out the king-pin, and -what I remember of the occurrence is full of sprains and aches and -general gloom. Guerrero, too, is only three-fourths of the way to -Bavicora, and you can only go there if Don Gilberto, the _patron_ of -the hacienda--or, if you know him well enough, "Jack"--will take you -in the ranch coach. - -After bumping over the stones all day for five days, through a -blinding dust, we were glad enough when we suddenly came out of the -tall timber in the mountain pass and espied the great yellow plain -of Bavicora stretching to the blue hills of the Sierra. In an hour's -ride more, through a chill wind, we were at the ranch. We pulled up at -the entrance, which was garnished by a bunch of cow-punchers, who -regarded us curiously as we pulled our aching bodies and bandaged -limbs from the Concord and limped into the _patio_. - -[Illustration: THE HACIENDA SAN JOSÉ DE BAVICORA] - -To us was assigned the room of honor, and after shaking ourselves down -on a good bed, with mattress and sheeting, we recovered our -cheerfulness. A hot toddy, a roaring fireplace, completed the effect. -The floor was strewn with bear and wolf skin rugs; it had pictures and -draperies on the walls, and in a corner a wash-basin and pitcher--so -rare in these parts--was set on a stand, grandly suggestive of the -refinements of luxury we had attained to. I do not wish to convey the -impression that Mexicans do not wash, because there are brooks enough -in Mexico if they want to use them, but wash-basins are the -advance-guards of progress, and we had been on the outposts since -leaving Chihuahua. - -Jack's man William had been ever-present, and administered to our -slightest wish; his cheerful "Good-mo'nin', gemmen," as he lit the -fire, recalled us to life, and after a rub-down I went out to look at -the situation. - -Jack's ranch is a great straggling square of mud walls enclosing two -_patios_, with adobe corrals and out-buildings, all obviously -constructed for the purposes of defence. It was built in 1770 by the -Jesuits, and while the English and Dutch were fighting for the -possession of the Mohawk Valley, Bavicora was an outpost of -civilization, as it is to-day. Locked in a strange language, on -parchment stored in vaults in Spain, are the records of this -enterprise. In 1840 the good fathers were murdered by the Apaches, the -country devasted and deserted, and the cattle and horses hurried to -the mountain lairs of the Apache devils. The place lay idle and -unreclaimed for years, threatening to crumble back to the dust of -which it was made. Near by are curious mounds on the banks of a dry -_arroyo_. The punchers have dug down into these ruins, and found adobe -walls, mud plasterings, skeletons, and bits of woven goods. They call -them the "Montezumas." All this was to be changed. In 1882 an American -cowboy--which was Jack--accompanied by two companions, penetrated -south from Arizona, and as he looked from the mountains over the fair -plain of Bavicora, he said, "I will take this." The Apaches were on -every hand; the country was terrorized to the gates of Chihuahua. The -stout heart of the pioneer was not disturbed, and he made his word -good. By purchase he acquired the plain, and so much more that you -could not ride round it in two weeks. He moved in with his hardy -punchers, and fixed up Bavicora so it would be habitable. He chased -the Indians off his ranch whenever he "cut their sign." After a while -the Mexican _vaqueros_ from below overcame their terror, when they saw -the American hold his own with the Apache devils, and by twos and -threes and half-dozens they came up to take service, and now there are -two hundred who lean on Jack and call him _patron_. They work for him -and they follow him on the Apache trail, knowing he will never run -away, believing in his beneficence and trusting to his courage. - -I sat on a mud-bank and worked away at a sketch of the yellow sunlit -walls of the mud-ranch, with the great plain running away like the -ocean into a violet streak under the blue line of the Peña Blanca. In -the rear rises a curious broken formation of hills like millions of -ruins of Rhine castles. The _lobos_[3] howl by night, and the -Apache is expected to come at any instant. The old _criada_ or -serving-woman who makes the beds saw her husband killed at the front -door, and every man who goes out of the _patio_ has a large assortment -of the most improved artillery on his person. Old carts with heavy -wooden wheels like millstones stand about. Brown people with big straw -hats and gay _serapes_ lean lazily against the gray walls. Little pigs -carry on the contest with nature, game-chickens strut, and clumsy -puppies tumble over each other in joyful play; _burros_ stand about -sleepily, only indicating life by suggestive movements of their great -ears, while at intervals a pony, bearing its lithe rider, steps from -the gate, and, breaking into an easy and graceful lope, goes away into -the waste of land. - -[Footnote 3: Wolves.] - -[Illustration: EL PATRON] - -I rose to go inside, and while I gazed I grew exalted in the -impression that here, in the year of 1893, I had rediscovered a Fort -Laramie after Mr. Parkman's well-known description. The foreman, Tom -Bailey, was dressed in store clothes, and our room had bedsteads and a -wash-basin; otherwise it answered very well. One room was piled high -with dried meat, and the great stomachs of oxen filled with tallow; -another room is a store full of goods--calicoes, buckskin, _riatas_, -yellow leather shoes, guns, and other quaint plunder adapted to the -needs of a people who sit on the ground and live on meat and -corn-meal. - -"Charlie Jim," the Chinese cook, has a big room with a stove in it, -and he and the stove are a never-ending wonder to all the folks, and -the fame of both has gone across the mountains to Sonora and to the -south. Charlie is an autocrat in his curious Chinese way, and by the -dignity of his position as Mr. Jack's private cook, and his unknown -antecedents, he conjures the Mexicans and damns the Texans, which -latter refuse to take him seriously and kill him, as they would a -"proper" man. Charlie Jim, in return, entertains ideas of Texans which -he secretes, except when they dine with Jack, when he may be heard to -mutter, "Cake and pie no good for puncher, make him fat and lazy"; and -when he crosses the _patio_ and they fling a rope over his foot, he -becomes livid, and breaks out, "Damn puncher; damn rope; rope man all -same horse; damn puncher; no good that way." - -The _patron_ has the state apartment, and no one goes there with his -hat on; but the relations with his people are those of a father and -children. An old gray man approaches; they touch the left arm with the -right--an abbreviated hug; say "Buenos dias, patron!" "Buenos dias, -Don Sabino!" and they shake hands. A California saddle stands on a -rack by the desk, and the latter is littered with photographs of men -in London clothes and women in French dresses, the latter singularly -out of character with their surroundings. The old _criada_ squats -silently by the fireplace, her head enveloped in her blue _rebozo_, -and deftly rolls her cigarette. She alone, and one white bull-dog, can -come and go without restraint. - -The _administrador_, which is Mr. Tom Bailey, of Texas, moves about in -the discharge of his responsibilities, and they are universal; -anything and everything is his work, from the negotiation for the sale -of five thousand head of cattle to the "busting" of a bronco which no -one else can "crawl." - -The clerk is in the store, with his pink boy's face, a pencil behind -his ear, and a big sombrero, trying to look as though he had lived in -these wilds longer than at San Francisco, which he finds an impossible -part. He has acquired the language and the disregard of time -necessary to one who would sell a real's worth of cotton cloth to a -Mexican. - -[Illustration: THE ADMINISTRADOR OF SAN JOSÉ DE BAVICORA] - -The forge in the blacksmith's shop is going, and one puncher is -cutting another puncher's hair in the sunlight; ponies are being -lugged in on the end of lariats, and thrown down, tied fast, and left -in a convulsive heap, ready to be shod at the disposition of their -riders. - -On the roof of the house are two or three men looking and pointing to -the little black specks on the plain far away, which are the cattle -going into the _lagunas_ to drink. - -The second _patio_, or the larger one, is entered by a narrow passage, -and here you find horses and saddles and punchers coming and going, -saddling and unsaddling their horses, and being bucked about or -dragged on a rope. In the little doorways to the rooms of the men -stand women in calico dresses and blue cotton _rebozos_, while the -dogs and pigs lie about, and little brown _vaqueros_ are ripening in -the sun. In the rooms you find pottery, stone _metates_ for grinding -the corn, a fireplace, a symbol of the Catholic Church, some -_serapes_, some rope, and buckskin. The people sit on a mat on the -floor, and make cigarettes out of native tobacco and corn-husks, or -rolled _tortillas_; they laugh and chat in low tones, and altogether -occupy the tiniest mental world, hardly larger than the _patio_, and -not venturing beyond the little mud town of Temozachic, forty miles -over the hills. Physically the men vacillate between the most intense -excitement and a comatose state of idleness, where all is quiet and -slothful, in contrast to the mad whirl of the roaring _rodeo_. - -In the haciendas of old Mexico one will find the law and custom of the -feudal days. All the laws of Mexico are in protection of the -land-owner. The master is without restraint, and the man lives -dependent on his caprice. The _patron_ of Bavicora, for instance, -leases land to a Mexican, and it is one of the arrangements that he -shall drive the ranch coach to Chihuahua when it goes. All lessees of -land are obliged to follow the _patron_ to war, and, indeed, since the -common enemy, the Apache, in these parts is as like to harry the -little as the great, it is exactly to his interest to wage the war. -Then, too, comes the responsibility of the _patron_ to his people. He -must feed them in the famine, he must arbitrate their disputes, and he -must lead them at all times. If through improvidence their work-cattle -die or give out, he must restock them, so that they may continue the -cultivation of the land, all of which is not altogether profitable in -a financial way, as we of the North may think, where all business is -done on the "hold you responsible, sir," basis. - -The _vaqueros_ make their own saddles and _reatas_; only the iron -saddle-rings, the rifles, and the knives come from the _patron_, and -where he gets them God alone knows, and the puncher never cares. No -doctor attends the sick or disabled, old women's nursing standing -between life and death. The Creator in His providence has arranged it -so that simple folks are rarely sick, and a sprained ankle, a bad -bruise from a steer's horn or a pitching horse, are soon remedied by -rest and a good constitution. At times instant and awful death -overtakes the puncher--a horse in a gopher-hole, a mad steer, a chill -with a knife, a blue hole where the .45 went in, a quicksand closing -overhead, and a cross on a hill-side are all. - -Never is a door closed. Why they were put up I failed to discover. For -days I tried faithfully to keep mine shut, but every one coming or -going left it open, so that I gave it up in despair. There are only -two windows in the ranch of San José de Bavicora, one in our chamber -and one in the blacksmith's shop, both opening into the court. In -fact, I found those were the only two windows in the state, outside of -the big city. The Mexicans find that their enemies are prone to shoot -through these apertures, and so they have accustomed themselves to do -without them, which is as it should be, since it removes the -temptation. - -[Illustration: A HAIR-CUT À LA PUNCHER] - -One night the _patron_ gave a _baile_. The _vaqueros_ all came with -their girls, and a string band rendered music with a very dancy swing. -I sat in a corner and observed the man who wears the big hat and who -throws the rawhide as he cavorted about with his girl, and the way -they dug up the dust out of the dirt floor soon put me to coughing. -"Candles shed their soft lustre--and tallow" down the backs of our -necks, and the band scraped and thrummed away in a most serious -manner. One man had a harp, two had primitive fiddles, and one a -guitar. One old fiddler was the leader, and as he bowed his head on -his instrument I could not keep my eyes off him. He had come from -Sonora, and was very old; he looked as though he had had his share of -a very rough life; he was never handsome as a boy, I am sure, but the -weather and starvation and time had blown him and crumbled him into a -ruin which resembled the pre-existing ape from which the races sprang. -If he had never committed murder, it was for lack of opportunity; and -Sonora is a long travel from Plymouth Rock. - -Tom Bailey, the foreman, came round to me, his eyes dancing, and his -shock of hair standing up like a Circassian beauty's, and pointing, he -said, "Thar's a woman who's prettier than a speckled pup; put your -twine on her." Then, as master of ceremonies, he straightened up and -sang out over the fiddles and noise: "Dance, thar, you fellers, or -you'll git the gout." - -In an adjoining room there was a very heavy jug of strong-water, and -thither the men repaired to pick up, so that as the night wore on -their brains began to whirl after their legs, and they whooped at -times in a way to put one's nerves on edge. The band scraped the -harder and the dance waxed fast, the spurs clinked, and _bang, bang, -bang_ went the Winchester rifles in the _patio_, while the chorus -"Viva el patron" rang around the room--the Old Guard was in action. - -We sat in our room one evening when in filed the _vaqueros_ and asked -to be allowed to sing for the _patron_. They sat on my bed and on the -floor, while we occupied the other; they had their hats in their -hands, and their black, dreamy eyes were diverted as though overcome -by the magnificence of the apartment. They hemmed and coughed, until -finally one man, who was evidently the leader, pulled himself together -and began, in a high falsetto, to sing; after two or three words the -rest caught on, and they got through the line, when they stopped; thus -was one leading and the others following to the end of the line. It -was strange, wild music--a sort of general impression of a boys' choir -with a wild discordance, each man giving up his soul as he felt moved. -The refrain always ended, for want of breath, in a low, expiring howl, -leaving the audience in suspense; but quickly they get at it again, -and the rise of the tenor chorus continues. The songs are largely -about love and women and doves and flowers, in all of which nonsense -punchers take only a perfunctory interest in real life. - -These are the amusements--although the puncher is always roping for -practice, and everything is fair game for his skill; hence dogs, pigs, -and men have become as expert in dodging the rope as the _vaqueros_ -are in throwing it. A mounted man, in passing, will always throw his -rope at one sitting in a doorway, and then try to get away before he -can retaliate by jerking his own rope over his head. I have seen a man -repair to the roof and watch a doorway through which he expected some -comrade to pass shortly, and watch for an hour to be ready to drop his -noose about his shoulders. - -[Illustration: THE MUSIC AT THE "BAILE"] - -The ranch fare is very limited, and at intervals men are sent to bring -back a steer from the water-holes, which is dragged to the front door -and there slaughtered. A day of feasting ensues, and the doorways and -the gutter-pipes and the corral fences are festooned with the beef -left to dry in the sun. - -There is the serious side of the life. The Apache is an evil which -Mexicans have come to regard as they do the meteoric hail, the -lightning, the drought, and any other horror not to be averted. They -quarrel between themselves over land and stock, and there are a great -many men out in the mountains who are proscribed by the government. -Indeed, while we journeyed on the road and were stopping one night in -a little mud town, we were startled by a fusillade of shots, and in -the morning were informed that two men had been killed the night -before, and various others wounded. At another time a Mexican, with -his followers, had invaded our apartment and expressed a disposition -to kill Jack, but he found Jack was willing to play his game, and gave -up the enterprise. On the ranch the men had discovered some dead stock -which had been killed with a knife. Men were detailed to roam the -country in search of fresh trails of these cattle-killers. I asked the -foreman what would happen in case they found a trail which could be -followed, and he said, "Why, we would follow it until we came up, and -then kill them." If a man is to "hold down" a big ranch in Northern -Mexico he has got to be "all man," because it is "a man's job," as -Mr. Bailey, of Los Ojos, said--and he knows. - -Jack himself is the motive force of the enterprise, and he disturbs -the quiet of this waste of sunshine by his presence for about six -months in the year. With his strong spirit, the embodiment of -generations of pioneers, he faces the Apache, the marauder, the -financial risks. He spurs his listless people on to toil, he permeates -every detail, he storms, and greater men than he have sworn like -troopers under less provocation than he has at times; but he has -snatched from the wolf and the Indian the fair land of Bavicora, to -make it fruitful to his generation. - -There lies the hacienda San José de Bavicora, gray and silent on the -great plain, with the mountain standing guard against intruders, and -over it the great blue dome of the sky, untroubled by clouds, except -little flecks of vapor which stand, lost in immensity, burning bright -like opals, as though discouraged from seeking the mountains or the -sea whence they came. The marvellous color of the country beckons to -the painter; its simple, natural life entrances the blond barbarian, -with his fevered brain; and the gaudy _vaquero_ and his trappings and -his pony are the actors on this noble stage. But one must be -appreciative of it all, or he will find a week of rail and a week of -stage and a week of horseback all too far for one to travel to see a -shadow across the moon. - - - - -A RODEO AT LOS OJOS - - -The sun beat down on the dry grass, and the punchers were squatting -about in groups in front of the straggling log and _adobe_ buildings -which constituted the outlying ranch of Los Ojos. - -Mr. Johnnie Bell, the _capitan_ in charge, was walking about in his -heavy _chaparras_, a slouch hat, and a white "biled" shirt. He was -chewing his long yellow mustache, and gazing across the great plain of -Bavicora with set and squinting eyes. He passed us and repassed us, -still gazing out, and in his long Texas drawl said, "Thar's them San -Miguel fellers." - -I looked, but I could not see any San Miguel fellows in the wide -expanse of land. - -"Hyar, crawl some horses, and we'll go out and meet 'em," continued -Mr. Bell; and, suiting the action, we mounted our horses and followed -him. After a time I made out tiny specks in the atmospheric wave which -rises from the heated land, and in half an hour could plainly make out -a cavalcade of horsemen. Presently breaking into a gallop, which -movement was imitated by the other party, we bore down upon each -other, and only stopped when near enough to shake hands, the half-wild -ponies darting about and rearing under the excitement. Greetings were -exchanged in Spanish, and the peculiar shoulder tap, or abbreviated -embrace, was indulged in. Doubtless a part of our outfit was as -strange to Governor Terraza's men--for he is the _patron_ of San -Miguel--as they were to us. - -My imagination had never before pictured anything so wild as these -leather-clad _vaqueros_. As they removed their hats to greet Jack, -their unkempt locks blew over their faces, back off their foreheads, -in the greatest disorder. They were clad in terra-cotta buckskin, -elaborately trimmed with white leather, and around their lower legs -wore heavy cowhide as a sort of legging. They were fully armed, and -with their jingling spurs, their flapping ropes and buckskin strings, -and with their gay _serapes_ tied behind their saddles, they were as -impressive a cavalcade of desert-scamperers as it has been my fortune -to see. Slowly we rode back to the corrals, where they dismounted. - -Shortly, and unobserved by us until at hand, we heard the clatter of -hoofs, and, leaving in their wake a cloud of dust, a dozen punchers -from another outfit bore down upon us as we stood under the _ramada_ -of the ranch-house, and pulling up with a jerk, which threw the ponies -on their haunches, the men dismounted and approached, to be welcomed -by the master of the _rodeo_. - -A few short orders were given, and three mounted men started down to -the springs, and, after charging about, we could see that they had -roped a steer, which they led, bawling and resisting, to the ranch, -where it was quickly thrown and slaughtered. Turning it on its back, -after the manner of the old buffalo-hunters, it was quickly disrobed -and cut up into hundreds of small pieces, which is the method -practised by the Mexican butchers, and distributed to the men. - -In Mexico it is the custom for the man who gives the "round-up" to -supply fresh beef to the visiting cow-men; and on this occasion it -seemed that the pigs, chickens, and dogs were also embraced in the -bounty of the _patron_, for I noticed one piece which hung immediately -in front of my quarters had two chickens roosting on the top of it, -and a pig and a dog tugging vigorously at the bottom. - -[Illustration: COMING TO THE RODEO] - -The horse herds were moved in from the _llano_ and rounded up in the -corral, from which the punchers selected their mounts by roping, and -as the sun was westering they disappeared, in obedience to orders, to -all points of the compass. The men took positions back in the hills -and far out on the plain; there, building a little fire, they cook -their beef, and, enveloped in their _serapes_, spend the night. At -early dawn they converge on the ranch, driving before them such stock -as they may. - -In the morning we could see from the ranch-house a great semicircle of -gray on the yellow plains. It was the thousands of cattle coming to -the _rodeo_. In an hour more we could plainly see the cattle, and -behind them the _vaqueros_ dashing about, waving their _serapes_. -Gradually they converged on the _rodeo_ ground, and, enveloped in a -great cloud of dust and with hollow bellowings, like the low pedals of -a great organ, they begin to mill, or turn about a common centre, -until gradually quieted by the enveloping cloud of horsemen. The -_patron_ and the captains of the neighboring ranches, after an -exchange of long-winded Spanish formalities, and accompanied by -ourselves, rode slowly from the ranch to the herd, and, entering it, -passed through and through and around in solemn procession. The cattle -part before the horsemen, and the dust rises so as to obscure to -unaccustomed eyes all but the silhouettes of the moving thousands. -This is an important function in a cow country, since it enables the -owners or their men to estimate what numbers of the stock belong to -them, to observe the brands, and to inquire as to the condition of the -animals and the numbers of calves and "mavericks" and to settle any -dispute which may arise therefrom. - -All controversy, if there be any, having been adjusted, a part of the -punchers move slowly into the herd, while the rest patrol the outside, -and hold it. Then a movement soon begins. You see a figure dash at -about full speed through an apparently impenetrable mass of cattle; -the stock becomes uneasy and moves about, gradually beginning the -milling process, but the men select the cattle bearing their brand, -and course them through the herd; all becomes confusion, and the -cattle simply seek to escape from the ever-recurring horsemen. Here -one sees the matchless horsemanship of the punchers. Their little -ponies, trained to the business, respond to the slightest pressure. -The cattle make every attempt to escape, dodging in and out and -crowding among their kind; but right on their quarter, gradually -forcing them to the edge of the herd, keeps the puncher, until -finally, as a last effort, the cow and the calf rush through the -supporting line, when, after a terrific race, she is turned into -another herd, and is called "the cut." - -One who finds pleasure in action can here see the most surprising -manifestations of it. A huge bull, wild with fright, breaks from the -herd, with lowered head and whitened eye, and goes charging off -indifferent to what or whom he may encounter, with the little pony -pattering in his wake. The cattle run at times with nearly the -intensity of action of a deer, and whip and spur are applied -mercilessly to the little horse. The process of "tailing" is indulged -in, although it is a dangerous practice for the man, and reprehensible -from its brutality to the cattle. A man will pursue a bull at top -speed, will reach over and grasp the tail of the animal, bring it to -his saddle, throw his right leg over the tail, and swing his horse -suddenly to the left, which throws the bull rolling over and over. -That this method has its value I have seen in the case of pursuing -"mavericks," where an unsuccessful throw was made with the rope, and -the animal was about to enter the thick timber; it would be impossible -to coil the rope again, and an escape would follow but for the -wonderful dexterity of these men in this accomplishment. The little -calves become separated from their mothers, and go bleating about; -their mothers respond by bellows, until pandemonium seems to reign. -The dust is blinding, and the puncher becomes grimy and soiled; the -horses lather; and in the excitement the desperate men do deeds which -convince you of their faith that "a man can't die till his time -comes." At times a bull is found so skilled in these contests that he -cannot be displaced from the herd; it is then necessary to rope him -and drag him to the point desired; and I noticed punchers ride behind -recalcitrant bulls and, reaching over, spur them. I also saw two men -throw simultaneously for an immense creature, when, to my great -astonishment, he turned tail over head and rolled on the ground. They -had both sat back on their ropes together. - -[Illustration: WAVING SERAPE TO DRIVE CATTLE] - -The whole scene was inspiring to a degree, and well merited Mr. -Yorick's observation that "it is the sport of kings; the image of war, -with twenty-five per cent. of its danger." - -Fresh horses are saddled from time to time, but before high noon the -work is done, and the various "cut-offs" are herded in different -directions. By this time the dust had risen until lost in the sky -above, and as the various bands of cowboys rode slowly back to the -ranch, I observed their demoralized condition. The economy _per force_ -of the Mexican people prompts them to put no more cotton into a shirt -than is absolutely necessary, with the consequence that, in these -cases, their shirts had pulled out from their belts and their -_serapes_, and were flapping in the wind; their mustaches and their -hair were perfectly solid with dust, and one could not tell a bay -horse from a black. - -Now come the cigarettes and the broiling of beef. The bosses were -invited to sit at our table, and as the work of cutting and branding -had yet to be done, no time was taken for ablutions. Opposite me sat a -certain individual who, as he engulfed his food, presented a grimy -waste of visage only broken by the rolling of his eyes and the -snapping of his teeth. - -We then proceeded to the corrals, which were made in stockaded form -from gnarled and many-shaped posts set on an end. The cows and calves -were bunched on one side in fearful expectancy. A fire was built just -outside of the bars, and the branding-irons set on. Into the corrals -went the punchers, with their ropes coiled in their hands. Selecting -their victims, they threw their ropes, and, after pulling and tugging, -a bull calf would come out of the bunch, whereat two men would set -upon him and "rastle" him to the ground. It is a strange mixture of -humor and pathos, this mutilation of calves--humorous when the calf -throws the man, and pathetic when the man throws the calf. -Occasionally an old cow takes an unusual interest in her offspring, -and charges boldly into their midst. Those men who cannot escape soon -enough throw dust in her eyes, or put their hats over her horns. And -in this case there were some big steers which had been "cut out" for -purposes of work at the plough and turned in with the young stock; one -old grizzled veteran manifested an interest in the proceedings, and -walked boldly from the bunch, with his head in the air and bellowing; -a wild scurry ensued, and hats and _serapes_ were thrown to confuse -him. But over all this the punchers only laugh, and go at it again. In -corral roping they try to catch the calf by the front feet, and in -this they become so expert that they rarely miss. As I sat on the -fence, one of the foremen, in play, threw and caught my legs as they -dangled. - -[Illustration: TAILING A BULL] - -When the work is done and the cattle are again turned into the herd, -the men repair to the _casa_ and indulge in games and pranks. We had -shooting-matches and hundred-yard dashes; but I think no records were -broken, since punchers on foot are odd fish. They walk as though they -expected every moment to sit down. Their knees work outward, and they -have a decided "hitch" in their gait; but once let them get a foot in -a stirrup and a grasp on the horn of the saddle, and a dynamite -cartridge alone could expel them from their seat. When loping over the -plain the puncher is the epitome of equine grace, and if he desires to -look behind him he simply shifts his whole body to one side and lets -the horse go as he pleases. In the pursuit of cattle at a _rodeo_ he -leans forward in his saddle, and with his arms elevated to his -shoulders he "plugs" in his spurs and makes his pony fairly sail. -While going at this tremendous speed he turns his pony almost in his -stride, and no matter how a bull may twist and swerve about, he is at -his tail as true as a magnet to the pole. The Mexican punchers all use -the "ring bit," and it is a fearful contrivance. Their saddle-trees -are very short, and as straight and quite as shapeless as a "saw-buck -pack-saddle." The horn is as big as a dinner plate, and taken -altogether it is inferior to the California tree. It is very hard on -horses' backs, and not at all comfortable for a rider who is not -accustomed to it. - -They all use hemp ropes which are imported from some of the southern -states of the republic, and carry a lariat of hair which they make -themselves. They work for from eight to twelve dollars a month in -Mexican coin, and live on the most simple diet imaginable. They are -mostly _peoned_, or in hopeless debt to their _patrons_, who go after -any man who deserts the range and bring him back by force. A puncher -buys nothing but his gorgeous buckskin clothes, and his big -silver-mounted straw hat, his spurs, his riata, and his _cincha_ -rings. He makes his _teguas_ or buckskin boots, his heavy leggings, -his saddle, and the _patron_ furnishes his arms. On the round-up, -which lasts about half of the year, he is furnished beef, and also -kills game. The balance of the year he is kept in an outlying camp to -turn stock back on the range. These camps are often the most simple -things, consisting of a pack containing his "grub," his saddle, and -_serape_, all lying under a tree, which does duty as a house. He -carries a flint and steel, and has a piece of sheet-iron for a stove, -and a piece of pottery for boiling things in. This part of their lives -is passed in a long siesta, and a man of the North who has a local -reputation as a lazy man should see a Mexican puncher loaf, in order -to comprehend that he could never achieve distinction in the land -where _poco tiempo_ means forever. Such is the life of the _vaquero_, -a brave fellow, a fatalist, with less wants than the pony he rides, a -rather thoughtless man, who lacks many virtues, but when he mounts his -horse or casts his riata all men must bow and call him master. - -The _baile_, the song, the man with the guitar--and under all this -_dolce far niente_ are their little hates and bickerings, as thin as -cigarette smoke and as enduring as time. They reverence their parents, -they honor their _patron_, and love their _compadre_. They are grave, -and grave even when gay; they eat little, they think less, they -meet death calmly, and it's a terrible scoundrel who goes to hell from -Mexico. - -[Illustration: JOHNNIE BELL OF LOS OJOS] - -The Anglo-American foremen are another type entirely. They have all -the rude virtues. The intelligence which is never lacking and the -perfect courage which never fails are found in such men as Tom Bailey -and Johnnie Bell--two Texans who are the superiors of any cow-men I -have ever seen. I have seen them chase the "mavericks" at top speed -over a country so difficult that a man could hardly pass on foot out -of a walk. On one occasion Mr. Bailey, in hot pursuit of a bull, -leaped a tremendous fallen log at top speed, and in the next instant -"tailed" and threw the bull as it was about to enter the timber. Bell -can ride a pony at a gallop while standing up on his saddle, and while -Cossacks do this trick they are enabled to accomplish it easily from -the superior adaptability of their saddles to the purpose. In my -association with these men of the frontier I have come to greatly -respect their moral fibre and their character. Modern civilization, in -the process of educating men beyond their capacity, often succeeds in -vulgarizing them; but these natural men possess minds which, though -lacking all embellishment, are chaste and simple, and utterly devoid -of a certain flippancy which passes for smartness in situations where -life is not so real. The fact that a man bolts his food or uses his -table-knife as though it were a deadly weapon counts very little in -the game these men play in their lonely range life. They are not -complicated, these children of nature, and they never think one thing -and say another. Mr. Bell was wont to squat against a fireplace--_à -la_ Indian--and dissect the peculiarities of the audience in a most -ingenuous way. It never gave offence either, because so guileless. Mr. -Bailey, after listening carefully to a theological tilt, observed -that "he believed he'd be religious if he knowed how." - -The jokes and pleasantries of the American puncher are so close to -nature often, and so generously veneered with heart-rending profanity, -as to exclude their becoming classic. The cow-men are good friends and -virulent haters, and, if justified in their own minds, would shoot a -man instantly, and regret the necessity, but not the shooting, -afterwards. - -Among the dry, saturnine faces of the cow punchers of the Sierra Madre -was one which beamed with human instincts, which seemed to say, -"Welcome, stranger!" He was the first impression my companion and -myself had of Mexico, and as broad as are its plains and as high its -mountains, yet looms up William on a higher pinnacle of remembrance. - -We crawled out of a Pullman in the early morning at Chihuahua, and -fell into the hands of a little black man, with telescopic pantaloons, -a big sombrero with the edges rolled up, and a grin on his -good-humored face like a yawning _barranca_. - -"Is you frens of Mista Jack's?" - -"We are." - -"Gimme your checks. Come dis way," he said; and without knowing why we -should hand ourselves and our property over to this uncouth personage, -we did it, and from thence on over the deserts and in the mountains, -while shivering in the snow by night and by day, there was Jack's man -to bandage our wounds, lend us tobacco when no one else had any, to -tuck in our blankets, to amuse us, to comfort us in distress, to -advise and admonish, until the last _adios_ were waved from the train -as it again bore us to the border-land. - -On our departure from Chihuahua to meet Jack out in the mountains -the stage was overloaded, but a proposition to leave William behind -was beaten on the first ballot; it was well vindicated, for without -William the expedition would have been a "march from Moscow." There -was only one man in the party with a sort of bass-relief notion that -he could handle the Spanish language, and the relief was a very slight -one--almost imperceptible--the politeness of the people only keeping -him from being mobbed. But William could speak German, English, and -Spanish, separately, or all at once. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM IN ACTION] - -William was so black that he would make a dark hole in the night, and -the top of his head was not over four and a half feet above the soles -of his shoes. His legs were all out of drawing, but forty-five winters -had not passed over him without leaving a mind which, in its sphere of -life, was agile, resourceful, and eminently capable of grappling with -any complication which might arise. He had personal relations of -various kinds with every man, woman, and child whom we met in Mexico. -He had been thirty years a cook in a cow camp, and could evolve -banquets from the meat on a bull's tail, and was wont to say, "I don' -know so much 'bout dese yar stoves, but gie me a camp-fire an' I can -make de bes' thing yo' ever threw your lip ober." - -When in camp, with his little cast-off English tourist cap on one side -of his head, a short black pipe tipped at the other angle to balance -the effect, and two or three stripes of white corn-meal across his -visage, he would move round the camp-fire like a cub bear around a -huckleberry bush, and in a low, authoritative voice have the Mexicans -all in action, one hurrying after water, another after wood, some -making _tortillas_, or cutting up venison, grinding coffee between two -stones, dusting bedding, or anything else. The British Field-Marshal -air was lost in a second when he addressed "Mister Willie" or "Mister -Jack," and no fawning courtier of the Grand Monarch could purr so low. - -On our coach ride to Bavicora, William would seem to go up to any -ranch-house on the road, when the sun was getting low, and after ten -minutes' conversation with the grave Don who owned it, he would turn -to us with a wink, and say: "Come right in, gemmen. Dis ranch is -yours." Sure enough, it was. Whether he played us for major-generals -or governors of states I shall never know, but certainly we were -treated as such. - -On one occasion William had gotten out to get a hat blown off by the -wind, and when he came up to view the wreck of the turn-over of the -great Concord coach, and saw the mules going off down the hill with -the front wheels, the ground littered with boxes and débris, and the -men all lying about, groaning or fainting in agony, William scratched -his wool, and with just a suspicion of humor on his face he ventured, -"If I'd been hyar, I would be in two places 'fore now, shuah," which -was some consolation to William, if not to us. - -In Chihuahua we found William was in need of a clean shirt, and we had -got one for him in a shop. He had selected one with a power of color -enough to make the sun stand still, and with great glass diamonds in -it. We admonished him that when he got to the ranch the punchers would -take it away from him. - -"No, sah; I'll take it off 'fore I get thar." - -William had his commercial instincts developed in a reasonable degree, -for he was always trying to trade a silver watch, of the Captain -Cuttle kind, with the Mexicans. When asked what time it was, William -would look at the sun and then deftly cant the watch around, the -hands of which swung like compasses, and he would show you the time -within fifteen minutes of right, which little discrepancy could never -affect the value of a watch in the land of _mañana_. - -[Illustration: MOUNTING A WILD ONE] - -That he possessed tact I have shown, for he was the only man at -Bavicora whose relations with the _patron_ and the smallest, dirtiest -Indian "kid," were easy and natural. Jack said of his popularity, "He -stands 'way in with the Chinese cook; gets the warm corner behind the -stove." He also had courage, for didn't he serve out the ammunition in -Texas when his "outfit" was in a life-and-death tussle with the -Comanches? did he not hold a starving crowd of Mexican teamsters off -the grub-wagon until the boys came back? - -There was only one feature of Western life with which William could -not assimilate, and that was the horse. He had trusted a bronco too -far on some remote occasion, which accounted partially for the kinks -in his legs; but after he had recovered fully his health he had pinned -his faith to _burros_, and forgotten the glories of the true cavalier. - -"No, sah, Mister Jack, I don' care for to ride dat horse. He's a good -horse, but I jes hit de flat for a few miles 'fore I rides him," he -was wont to say when the cowboys gave themselves over to an -irresponsible desire to see a horse kill a man. He would then go about -his duties, uttering gulps of suppressed laughter, after the negro -manner, safe in the knowledge that the _burro_ he affected could "pack -his freight." - -One morning I was taking a bath out of our wash-basin, and William, -who was watching me and the coffee-pot at the same time, observed that -"if one of dese people down hyar was to do dat dere, dere'd be a -funeral 'fo' twelve o'clock." - -William never admitted any social affinity with Mexicans, and as to -his own people he was wont to say: "Never have went with people of my -own color. Why, you go to Brazos to-day, and dey tell you dere was -Bill, he go home come night, an' de balance of 'em be looking troo de -grates in de morning." So William lives happily in the "small social -puddle," and always reckons to "treat any friends of Mister Jack's -right." So if you would know William, you must do it through Jack. - -It was on rare occasions that William, as master of ceremonies, -committed any indiscretion, but one occurred in the town of Guerrero. -We had gotten in rather late, and William was sent about the town to -have some one serve supper for us. We were all very busy when William -"blew in" with a great sputtering, and said, "Is yous ready for -dinner, gemmen?" "Yes, William," we answered, whereat William ran off. -After waiting a long time, and being very hungry, we concluded to go -and "rustle" for ourselves, since William did not come back and had -not told us where he had gone. After we had found and eaten a dinner, -William turned up, gloomy and dispirited. We inquired as to his mood. -"I do declar', gemmen, I done forget dat you didn't know where I had -ordered dat dinner; but dere's de dinner an' nobody to eat it, an' I's -got to leave dis town 'fore sunup, pay for it, or die." Unless some -one had advanced the money, William's two other alternatives would -have been painful. - -The romance in William's life even could not be made mournful, but it -was the "mos' trouble" he ever had, and it runs like this: Some years -since William had saved up four hundred dollars, and he had a girl -back in Brazos to whom he had pinned his faith. He had concluded to -assume responsibilities, and to create a business in a little mud -town down the big road. He had it arranged to start a travellers' -eating-house; he had contracted for a stove and some furniture; and at -about that time his dishonest employer had left Mexico for parts -unknown, with all his money. The stove and furniture were yet to be -paid for, so William entered into hopeless bankruptcy, lost his girl, -and then, attaching himself to Jack, he bravely set to again in life's -battle. But I was glad to know that he had again conquered, for before -I left I overheard a serious conversation between William and the -_patron_. William was cleaning a frying-pan by the camp-fire light, -and the _patron_ was sitting enveloped in his _serape_ on the other -side. - -[Illustration: A MODERN SANCHO PANZA] - -"Mist' Jack, I's got a girl. She's a Mexican." - -"Why, William, how about that girl up in the Brazos?" inquired the -_patron_, in surprise. - -"Don't care about her now. Got a new girl." - -"Well, I suppose you can have her, if you can win her," replied the -_patron_. - -"Can I, sah? Well, den, I's win her already, sah--dar!" chuckled -William. - -"Oh! very well, then, William, I will give you a wagon, with two -yellow ponies, to go down and get her; but I don't want you to come -back to Bavicora with an empty wagon." - -"No, sah; I won't, sah," pleasedly responded the lover. - -"Does that suit you, then?" asked the _patron_. - -"Yes, sah; but, sah, wonder, sah, might I have the two old whites?" - -"All right! You can have the two old white ponies;" and, after a -pause, "I will give you that old _adobe_ up in La Pinta, and two -speckled steers; and I don't want you to come down to the ranch except -on _baile_ nights, and I want you to slide in then just as quiet as -any other outsider," said the _patron_, who was testing William's -loyalty to the girl. - -"All right! I'll do that." - -"William, do you know that no true Mexican girl will marry a man who -don't know how to ride a charger?" continued the _patron_, after a -while. - -"Yes; I's been thinking of dat; but dar's dat Timborello, he's a good -horse what a man can 'pend on," replied William, as he scoured at the -pan in a very wearing way. - -"He's yours, William; and now all you have got to do is to win the -girl." - -After that William was as gay as a robin in the spring; and as I write -this I suppose William is riding over the pass in the mountains, -sitting on a board across his wagon, with his Mexican bride by his -side, singing out between the puffs of his black pipe, "Go on, dar, -you muchacos; specks we ever get to Bavicora dis yar gait?" - - - - -IN THE SIERRA MADRE WITH THE PUNCHERS - - -On a chill, black morning the cabins of Los Ojos gave up their inmates -at an early hour. The ponies, mules, and _burros_ were herded up, and -stood shivering in an angle, while about them walked the men, -carefully coiling their hair lariats, and watching for an opportunity -to jerk them over the heads of the selected ones. The _patron's_ black -pet walked up to him, but the mounts of my companion and self sneaked -about with an evident desire not to participate in the present -service. Old _Cokomorachie_ and Jim were finally led forth, protesting -after the manner of their kind. I carefully adjusted my Whitman's -officer-tree over a wealth of saddle blanketing, and slung my -Winchester 45-70 and my field-glasses to it. The punchers, both white -and brown, and two or three women, regarded my new-fangled saddle with -amused glances; indeed, Mr. Bell's Mexican wife laughed at it -outright, and Tom Bailey called it "a damn rim-fire." Another humorist -thought that "it would give the chickens the pip if they got onto it"; -all of which I took good-humoredly, since this was not the first time -"your Uncle Samuel" had been away from home; and after some days, when -a lot of men were carefully leading sore-backed horses over the -mountains, I had cause to remark further on the subject. A Mexican -cow-saddle is a double-barrelled affair; it will eat a hole into a -horse's spine and a pair of leather breeches at the same time. If one -could ask "Old Jim" about that saddle of mine, I think he would give -it an autograph recommend, for he finished the trip with the hide of -his back all there. - -[Illustration: MY COMRADE] - -Leaving the "burro men" to haul and pull at their patient beasts as -they bound on their loads, our outfit "pulled out" on what promised to -be plenty of travelling. We were to do the rounds of the ranch, -explore the mountains, penetrate to the old Apache strongholds, shoot -game, find cliff-dwellers' villages, and I expect the dark minds of -the punchers hoped for a sight at the ever-burning fire which should -discover the lost mine of Tiopa. We were also promised a fight with -the "Kid" if we "cut his trail"; and if he "cut ours," we may never -live to regret it. Some tame Indians, just in from a hunt in the Rio -Chico, had seen three fires, but they had "rolled their tails"[4] for -Bavicora so promptly that they had not ascertained whether they -were Apache or not. The same men we were in the company of had run the -"Kid's" band in to the States only two months before, but on our trip -that very elusive and very "bad Injun" was not encountered. Much as I -should like to see him, I have no regrets, since it is extremely -likely that he would have seen me first. - -[Footnote 4: Cowboy for travelling rapidly.] - -[Illustration: ON THE MOUNTAINS] - -Our little band was composed of the _patron_, Don Gilberto; my -travelling companion from New York city, who had never before been -west of the Elysian Fields of New Jersey; Bailey and Bell, ranch -foremen, and as dauntless spirits as ever the Texas border nurtured; -the ranch bookkeeper, a young man "short" on experiences and "long" on -hope; Epitacio, an Indian hunter, since outlawed; William, the colored -cook; four buckskin Mexican punchers; an old man who was useless for -practical purposes, but who was said to be "funny" in Spanish; and two -burro men. We were that day to go to the farthest outlying ranch, -called the Casa Camadra, and then to stop for a short hunt and to give -the punchers time to "gentle" some steers for work-cattle. The puncher -method of doing this is beautifully simple, for any animal undergoing -this is gentle or dead after it. After scouring the plain for antelope -until late, we followed up a creek towards the cabin where we expected -to find the punchers and the burro men with their loads of creature -comforts, and as we rode in it was raining a cold sleet. The little -log-cabin was low, small, and wonderfully picturesque. It was a -typical "shack," such as one used to see in the Northwest when the -hunters were there. Out in the rain sat two punchers, enveloped in -their _serapes_, engaged in watching a half-dozen big steers eat -grass. Inside of the cabin was William by a good fire in a most -original fireplace, glowing with heat and pride over his corn-cakes -and "marrow-gut." Between various cigarettes, the last drink of -_tequela_, and the drying of our clothes, we passed the time until -William had put the "grub" on a pack-saddle blanket and said, "Now, -gemmen, fly in." - -"Fly in" is vulgar, but it is also literal, for we did that: we did -not dine--we flew in. The expression and the food were both good. -Outside, the cold rain had turned into a wet snow, and we all crowded -into the little place and squatted or lay about on the floor. With -fingers and hunting-knives we carved and tore at the mountain of beef. -The punchers consume enormous quantities of meat, and when satiated -they bring forth their corn-husks and tobacco-pouches, and roll their -long, thin cigarettes, which burn until they draw their _serapes_ -about their heads and sink back in dreamless sleep. It is all -beautifully primitive, and as I rise on my elbow to look across the -blanketed forms packed like mackerel in a cask, to hear their heavy -breathing, and see the fire glow, and hear the wind howl outside, I -think how little it takes to make men happy. Tom Bailey and Johnnie -Bell, the ranch foremen, had faces which would have been in character -under a steel head-piece at Cressy, while the wildest blood of Spain, -Morocco, and the American Indian ran in the veins of the punchers; and -all these men were untainted by the enfeebling influences of luxury -and modern life. A chunk of beef, a cigarette, an enveloping _serape_, -with the Sierras for a bedroom, were the utmost of their needs. - -The sunlight streamed down the big chimney, and William's -"Good-mo'nin', sah," brought back my senses. Beyond his silhouette, as -he crouched before the fireplace, I could hear the sputtering of the -broiling steak. I repaired to the brook and smashed the ice for a -rub-down. It was still drizzling, and the landscape lay under a heavy -fog. Outside the cabin lay the dead body of a skinned wolf, and -about a small fire crouched the punchers. - -[Illustration: THE CASA CAMADRA] - -Breakfast over, the men rode off by twos into the fog, and as Tom -Bailey and I jogged along together we reasoned that if we were to -strike the point of the mountains and then keep well in the timber we -might catch a bunch of antelope which we had "jumped" the day before -on the plain below. So all day long we rode over the wet rocks, under -the drip and drizzle of the mountain pines, up hill and down dale, and -never "cut a sign." It was our luck; for on riding up to the "shack" -we saw the bodies of deer, antelope, a big gray wolf, and the skin of -a mountain-lion. We were requested to view the game, and encouraged to -comment on it; but Tom and I sought a dark corner of the cabin to -consume our coffee and cigarettes in silence. - -At the Casa Camadra are two other log-houses, and in them live some -squalid, yellow-hided humans who are to farm a little stretch of -bottom-land this year. They require work-steers to do their ploughing, -and Mr. Bell has brought up half a dozen vicious old "stags," which -are both truculent and swift of foot. The Mexicans insist that they -are not able to handle them; and Mr. Bell orders his punchers into -action. I strolled out to the corrals to see the bulls "gentled." -After a lot of riding and yelling they were herded and dragged into -the enclosure, where they huddled while seven punchers sat on their -ponies at the gate. I was standing at one corner of the corral, near -the men, when out from the midst of the steers walked a big black -bull, which raised its head and gazed directly at me. The bull had -never before in his stupid life observed a man on foot, and I -comprehended immediately what he would do next, so I "led out" for the -casa at a rate of speed which the boys afterwards never grew weary of -commending. No spangled _torero_ of the bull-ring ever put more heart -and soul into his running than did I in my great-coat and long -hunting-spurs. The bull made a "fo'lorn hope" for the gate, and the -gallant punchers melted away before the charge. - -The diversion of the punchers made the retreat of the infantry -possible, and from an intrenched position I saw the bulls tear over -the hill, with the punchers "rolling their tails" behind. After an -hour of swearing and hauling and bellowing, the six cattle were lugged -back to the pen, and the bars put up. The punchers came around to -congratulate me on my rapid recovery from a sprained ankle, when they -happened to observe the cattle again scouring off for the open -country. Then there was a grunting of ponies as the spurs went in, -some hoarse oaths, and for a third time they tore away after the -"gentle work-oxen." The steers had taken the bars in their stride. -Another hour's chase, and this time the animals were thrown down, -trussed up like turkeys for the baking, and tied to posts, where they -lay to kick and bellow the night through in impotent rage. The -punchers coiled their ropes, lit their cigarettes, and rode off in the -gathering gloom. The morning following the steers were let up, and -though wet and chilled, they still roared defiance. For agricultural -purposes a Mexican "stag" would be as valuable as a rhinoceros or a -Bengal tiger, and I await with interest the report of the death-rate -at the Casa Camadra during spring ploughing. - -In the handling of these savage animals the punchers are brave to -recklessness, but this is partly because it seems so. In reality they -have a thorough knowledge of bull nature, and can tell when and where -he is going to strike as quickly as a boxer who knows by the "skim on -the eye" of his opponent. But still they go boldly into the corral -with the maddened brutes, seeming to pay no heed to the imminent -possibilities of a trip to the moon. They toss their ropes and catch -the bull's feet, they skilfully avoid his rush, and in a spirit of -bravado they touch the horns, pat him on the back, or twist his tail. - -[Illustration: SHOOTING IN THE SIERRA MADRE] - -After hunting for another day, with more success, we packed up and -"pulled out" up the Varras Creek towards the mountains, leaving the -last house behind us. Beyond was the unknown country. For many miles -it had been ridden by some of the punchers, but the country is large, -covered with vast mountain ranges, with wastes of stony foot-hills at -the bases, while _barrancas_ yawn at your feet, and for a great many -years the policy of the Apaches has been not to encourage immigration. -In 1860 a heavy band of Mexican prospectors undertook to penetrate -this part in the quest of Tiopa, but they were driven out. It is now -possible for strong outfits to travel its wilds with only a small -chance of encountering Apache renegades, but very few have attempted -it as yet. It is so remote that prospectors for silver or gold could -hardly work a mine if they found one, and for other purposes it has -little value. The most magnificent pine timber covers its slopes, but -it would take a syndicate to deliver one log at the railroad. As we -wound our way up the Varras Creek we passed beetling crags and huge -pillars of porphyry rock cut into fantastic shapes by water and frost, -resplendent in color, and admirably adapted for the pot-hunting of -humans as affected by gentry temporarily stopping at San Carlos. - -In a dell in the forest we espied some "mavericks," or unbranded -stock. The punchers are ever alert for a beef without half its ears -gone and a big HF burned in its flank, and immediately they perceive -one they tighten their _cincha_, slip the rope from the pommel, put -their hats on the back of their heads, and "light out." A cow was -soon caught, after desperate riding over rocks and fallen timber, -thrown down, and "hog-tied," which means all four feet together. A -little fire is built, and one side of a _cincha_ ring is heated -red-hot, with which a rawhide artist paints HF in the sizzling flesh, -while the cow kicks and bawls. She is then unbound, and when she gets -back on her feet the _vaqueros_ stand about, _serape_ in hand, after -the bull-fighter method, and provoke her to charge. She charges, while -they avoid her by agile springs and a flaunting of their rags. They -laugh, and cry "Bravo toro!" until she, having overcome her -indignation at their rudeness, sets off down the cañon with her tail -in the air. - -Thus we journeyed day by day over the hills and up the cañons, camping -by night under the pines in mountain glades or deep ravines, where the -sun sets at four o'clock, while it is light above. The moon was in the -full and the nights were frosty, and many times we awoke to think it -morning when only our heads had become uncovered by the blankets and -the big white moon shone fair upon us. Getting up in the night to poke -the fire and thaw the stiffening out of one's legs is called by the -boys "playing freeze-out," and we all participate in the game. A -cigarette at two o'clock in the morning, with one's back to the fire, -while the moon looks down on you, your comrades breathing about you, a -wolf howling mournfully from a neighboring hill, the mountains -towering on every side, and the tall pines painting inky shadows -across the ghostly grass, is a mild sensation and rather pleasant. -Some of the men are on foot, from soring their horses' backs, and -their buckskin boots are wearing out, so they sit about the fire and -stitch. We are all very dirty, and I no longer take comfort in -watching the cook who makes the bread, for fear I may be tempted to -ask him if he will not wash his hands, whereat the boys may indicate -that I am a "dude," and will look down on me. The flour is nearly -gone, and shortly it will not matter whether the cook's hands are -rusty or not. The coffee and sugar promise to hold out. When William -can no longer serve "bull gravy" with his fried meat I shall have many -regrets, but they are swamped by the probabilities of a tobacco -famine, which is imminent. We get deer every day, but to one not used -to a strictly meat diet it begins to pall. The Indian hunter takes the -stomach of a deer, fills it with meat, and deposits it under the -coals. We roast it in slices and chunks, but I like it better when -"jerked" brown, as it then affords somewhat more mystery to a taste -already jaded with venison. In travelling with pack-animals it is the -custom to make a day's march before halting, and a day's march ends -about four o'clock, or when water is found. Ten hours' march will -loosen one's cartridge-belt five or six holes, for venison and coffee -is not a strong food. By 12 P.M. we acquire a wolfish yearning for the -"flesh-pots," but that shortly is relieved by the contraction of the -stomach, or three or four quarts of mountain water will afford some -relief. By nightfall one can "fly into" a venison steak, while -cigarettes, coffee, and a desire to lie down restore one's equanimity. - -[Illustration: THE INDIAN'S STORY] - -We have passed some small ranges and worm our way down bottomless -pits, but at last there rises ahead the main range of the Sierra -Madre. From the depths of a great _barranca_ we begin the climb. Never -have I seen hills as sideling as these. It is terrible work for one -not used to mountain-climbing and the short allowance of air one finds -to subsist on. The feeling of exhaustion is almost impossible to -overcome. The horses are thin, and Old Jim is developing more ribs -than good condition calls for, so I walk to ease the old fellow. There -are snow fields to cross, which intensifies the action. The journey is -enlivened at times by shots at deer, and the rifles echo around the -mountains, but being long shots they are misses. We passed the -_cordon_ of the mountains, and stopped on a knife-like ridge where the -melting snows under one's foot ran east and west to the two great -oceans. The climb from here over the main range was a bellows-bursting -affair, but as we pulled on to the high _mesa_ our drooping nerves -were stiffened by shots, and presently deer came bounding down the -ravine to our left. Jack made a bully flying shot, and the stricken -deer rolled many yards, until caught by a fallen log. My companion, -who was in advance, had fired into some deer, and had shot a buck -which was lying down, and he was much puffed up with pride over this -achievement in still-hunting. From there on we passed through the most -wonderful natural deer park. The animals did not fear man, and stood -to be fired at, though the open timber and absence of underbrush made -the shots long-range ones. After killing all we could carry, we sat -down to wait for the _burro_ train. - -That night we camped on a jutting crag, with the water running in the -_barranca_ two hundred feet below us. For a hundred miles the mountain -and plain lay at our feet--a place more for an eagle's eyrie than a -camp for a caravan. The night set very cold, and from out in space the -moon threw its mellow light down upon us. Before the camp-fire our -Indian hunter told the story of the killing of Victoria's band, where -he had been among the victors, and as he threw his _serape_ down, and -standing forth with the firelight playing on his harsh features, he -swayed his body and waved his hands, while with hoarse voice and in -a strange language he gave the movement of the fight. The legend of -the lost mine of Tiopa was narrated by a _vaquero_ in the quiet manner -of one whose memory goes far back, and to whom it is all real--about -the Jesuits, the iron door over the mouth of the mine, its richness, -the secrecy enjoined by the fathers on the people when they fled -before the Apache devils, and how there is always a light to be kept -burning at its entrance to guide them back. It was a grand theatre and -an eerie scene. - -[Illustration: THE CLIFF-DWELLINGS] - -On the other side of the mountain we found the trail most difficult. I -would never have believed that a horse could traverse it. To say that -it was steep is commonplace, and yet I cannot be believed if I say -that it was perpendicular; but a man could toss his hat a mile at any -moment if he pleased. Then, underfoot, it was all loose lava rock, and -the little ponies had to jump and dance over the bowlders. When we had -finally arrived on a grassy _mesa_ I concluded that if ever again I -did the like of that, it would most certainly be the result of a -tremendous error in my calculations. The pack-train was here detached -and sent to water, but we followed Jack to see his "discovery." After -miles of travel through the dry, yellow grass we came out on a high -bluff with a _barranca_ at its foot, the bottom of which we could not -see. On the overhanging wall opposite were Jack's cliff-dwellings, -perched like dove-cots against the precipice. It was only a quarter of -a mile to them, but it took two days to get there, so we did not go. -There are also holes in the cliffs, and underground passages. The -paths up to them are washed away, but Jack and some of his men have -invaded the silent village. They climbed up with lariats, and he was -let down over the cliff, but they found nothing left but dust and -cobwebs. - -We could not get down to water, and as our horses were thirsty and -foot-sore, we "mogged along." On our ride we "cut the trail" of a big -band of mustangs, or wild horses, but did not see them, and by late -afternoon we found the camp, and William busy above his fire. After -hunting down the valley for a few days for "burro deer" and wild -turkey, we found that the tobacco was promptly giving out, according -to calculations, and, being all inveterate smokers, we "made trail -fast" for the Neuearachie ranch. Our ponies were jaded and sore; but -having "roped" a stray pony two days before, which was now fresh, the -lightest _vaquero_ was put on his back, and sent hot-foot in the night -to the ranch for tobacco. He made the long ride and returned at noon -the next day on a fresh mount, having been thirty-six hours in the -saddle. This fellow was a rather remarkable man, as it was he who, on -the beginning of the trip, had brought some important mail to us one -hundred and seventy miles, and after riding down two ponies he -followed our trail on foot through the mountains, and overtook us as -we sat resting on a log in the woods. - -How we at last pulled into the ranch at Neuearachie, with its log -buildings and irrigated fields, and how we "swooped down" on Mr. John -Bailey, and ate up all his eggs and bread and butter at the first -onset, I will not weary you with, but I believe that a man should for -one month of the year live on the roots of the grass, in order to -understand for the eleven following that so-called necessities are -luxuries in reality. Not that I would indiscriminately recommend such -a dietary abasement as ours, yet will I insist that it has killed less -men than gluttony, and should you ever make the Sierra trails with the -punchers, you will get rather less than more. - - - - -BLACK WATER AND SHALLOWS - - -The morning broke gray and lowering, and the clouds rolled in heavy -masses across the sky. I was sitting out on a log washing a shirt, and -not distinguishing myself as a laundryman either, for one shirt will -become excessively dirty in a week, and no canoeist can have more than -that, as will be seen when you consider that he has to carry -everything which he owns on his back. My guide had packed up our -little "kit" and deposited it skilfully in the _Necoochee_--a -sixteen-foot canoe of the Rice Lake pattern. - -We were about to start on a cruise down a river which the lumbermen -said could not be "run," as it was shallow and rocky. We could find no -one who had been down it, and so, not knowing anything about it, we -regarded it as a pleasant prospect. "Harrison," being a professional -guide and hunter, had mostly come in contact with people--or "sports," -as he called them--who had no sooner entered the woods than they were -overcome with a desire to slay. No fatigue or exertion was too great -when the grand purpose was to kill the deer and despoil the trout -streams, but to go wandering aimlessly down a stream which by general -consent was impracticable for boats, and then out into the clearings -where the mountain-spring was left behind, and where logs and -mill-dams and agriculturists took the place of the deer and the trout, -was a scheme which never quite got straightened out in his mind. With -many misgivings, and a very clear impression that I was mentally -deranged, "Has" allowed that "we're all aboard." - -We pushed out into the big lake and paddled. As we skirted the shores -the wind howled through the giant hemlocks, and the ripples ran away -into white-caps on the far shore. As I wielded my double-blade paddle -and instinctively enjoyed the wildness of the day, I also indulged in -a conscious calculation of how long it would take my shirt to dry on -my back. It is such a pity to mix a damp shirt up with the wild storm, -as it hurries over the dark woods and the black water, that I felt -misgivings; but, to be perfectly accurate, they divided my attention, -and, after all, man is only noble by fits and starts. - -We soon reached the head of the river, and a water-storage dam and a -mile of impassable rapids made a "carry" or "portage" necessary. -Slinging our packs and taking the seventy-pound canoe on our -shoulders, we started down the trail. The torture of this sort of -thing is as exquisitely perfect in its way as any ever devised. A -trunk-porter in a summer hotel simply does for a few seconds what we -do by the hour, and as for reconciling this to an idea of physical -enjoyment, it cannot be done. It's a subtle mental process altogether -indefinable; but your enthusiast is a person who would lose all if he -reasoned any, and to suffer like an anchorite is always a part of a -sportsman's programme. The person who tilts back in a chair on the -veranda of a summer hotel, while he smokes cigars and gazes vacantly -into space, is your only true philosopher; but he is not a sportsman. -The woods and the fields and the broad roll of the ocean do not beckon -to him to come out among them. He detests all their sensations, and -believes nothing holy except the dinner-hour, and with his bad -appetite that too is flat, stale, and unprofitable. A real sportsman, -of the nature-loving type, must go tramping or paddling or riding -about over the waste places of the earth, with his dinner in his -pocket. He is alive to the terrible strain of the "carry," and to the -quiet pipe when the day is done. The camp-fire contemplation, the -beautiful quiet of the misty morning on the still water, enrapture -him, and his eye dilates, his nerves tingle, and he is in a -conflagration of ecstasy. When he is going--going--faster--faster into -the boil of the waters, he hears the roar and boom ahead, and the -black rocks crop up in thickening masses to dispute his way. He is -fighting a game battle with the elements, and they are remorseless. He -may break his leg or lose his life in the tip-over which is imminent, -but the fool is happy--let him die. - -[Illustration: THE PORTAGE.] - -But we were left on the "carry," and it is with a little thrill of joy -and the largest sigh of relief possible when we again settle the boat -in the water. Now you should understand why it is better to have one -shirt and wash it often. My "canoe kit" is the best arranged and the -most perfect in the world, as no other canoeist will possibly admit, -but which is nevertheless a fact. One blanket, a light shelter-tent, a -cooking outfit, which folds up in a sort of Japanese way, a light axe, -two canvas packs, and tea, bacon, and flour. This does not make long -reading, but it makes a load for a man when it's all packed up, and a -canoeist's baggage must be cut to the strength of his back. It is a -great piece of confidence in which I will indulge you when I caution -you not to pick out invalids for canoe companions. If a _burro_ would -take kindly to backwoods navigation, I should enjoy the society of -one, though it would not be in the nature of a _burro_ to swing an -axe, as indeed there are many fine gentlemen who cannot do a good job -at that; and if one at least of the party cannot, the camp-fires will -go out early at nights, and it is more than probable that the -companions will have less than twenty toes between them at the end of -the cruise. - -All these arrangements being perfected, you are ready to go ahead, and -in the wilderness you have only one anxiety, and that is about the -"grub." If the canoe turn over, the tea, the sugar, and the flour will -mix up with the surrounding elements, and only the bacon will remain -to nourish you until you strike the clearings, and there are few men -this side 70° north latitude who will gormandize on that alone. - -The long still water is the mental side of canoeing, as the rapid is -the life and movement. The dark woods tower on either side, and the -clear banks, full to their fat sides, fringed with trailing vines and -drooping ferns, have not the impoverished look of civilized rivers. -The dark water wells along, and the branches droop to kiss it. In -front the gray sky is answered back by the water reflection, and the -trees lie out as though hung in the air, forming a gateway, always -receding. Here and there an old monarch of the forest has succumbed to -the last blow and fallen across the stream. It reaches out ever so far -with its giant stems, and the first branch had started sixty feet from -the ground. You may have to chop a way through, or you may force your -canoe through the limbs and gather a crowd of little broken branches -to escort you along the stream. The original forest tree has a -character all its own, and I never see one but I think of the artist -who drew second-growth timber and called it "the forest primeval." The -quietness of the woods, with all their solemnity, permitting no bright -or overdressed plant to obtrude itself, is rudely shocked by the -garish painted thing as the yellow polished _Necoochee_ glides -among them. The water-rat dives with a tremendous splash as he sees -the big monster glide by his sedge home. The kingfisher springs away -from his perch on the dead top with loud chatterings when we glide -into his notice. The crane takes off from his grassy "set back" in a -deliberate manner, as though embarking on a tour to Japan, a thing not -to be hurriedly done. The mink eyes you from his sunken log, and, -grinning in his most savage little manner, leaps away. These have all -been disturbed in their wild homes as they were about to lunch off the -handiest trout, and no doubt they hate us in their liveliest manner; -but the poor trout under the boat compensate us with their thanks. The -mud-turtle is making his way up-stream, as we can tell by the row of -bubbles which arise in his wake; and the "skaters," as I call the -little insects which go skipping about like a lawyer's point in an -argument, part as we go by. The mosquitoes, those desperate little -villains who dispute your happiness in the woods, are there, but they -smell the tar and oil of our war-paint, and can only hum in their -anger. A stick cracks in the brush, and with all the dash and -confidence of a city girl as she steps from her front door, a little -spotted fawn walks out on a sedge bank from among the alders. He does -not notice us, but in his stupid little way looks out the freshest -water-grass, and the hunter in the stern of the boat cuts his paddle -through the water, and the canoe glides silently up until right under -his nose. We are still and silent. The little thing raises its head -and looks us full in the eye, and then continues to feed as before. I -talk to him quietly, and say, "Little man, do not come near the ponds -or the rivers, for you will not live to have five prongs on your -antlers if any one but such good people as we see you." He looks up, -and seems to say, "You are noisy, but I do not care." "Now run; and -if you ever see anything in the forest which resembles us, run for -your life"; and with a bound the little innocent has regained the dark -aisles of the woods. You loll back on your pack, your pipe going -lazily; your hat is off; you moralize, and think thoughts which have -dignity. You drink in the spell of the forest, and dream of the birch -barks and the red warriors who did the same thing a couple of -centuries since. But as thoughts vary so much in individuals, and have -but an indirect bearing on canoeing, I will proceed without them. -The low swamp, with its soft timber, gives place to hills and beech -ridges, and the old lord of the forest for these last hundred years -towers up majestically. The smaller trees fight for the sunlight, and -thus the ceaseless war of nature goes on quietly, silently, and alone. -The miserable "witch-hoppel" leads its lusty plebeian life, satisfied -to spring its half-dozen leaves, and not dreaming to some day become -an oak. The gentle sigh of the forest, the hum of insects, and the -chatter and peal of the birds have gone into harmony with a long, -deep, swelling sound, becoming louder and louder, until finally it -drowns all else. - -[Illustration: BLACK WATER] - -[Illustration: THE FAWN] - -[Illustration: BREAKING A JAM.] - -The canoe now glides more rapidly. The pipe is laid one side. The -paddle is grasped firmly, and with a firm eye I regard the "grub" pack -which sits up in the bow, and resolve to die if necessary in order -that it may not sink if we turn over. The river turns, and the ominous -growl of the rapids is at hand. - -"Hold her--hold her now--to the right of the big rock; then swing to -the far shore: if we go to the right, we are gone." - -"All right; let her stern come round," and we drop away. - -No talking now, but with every nerve and muscle tense, and your eye on -the boil of the water, you rush along. You back water and paddle, the -stern swings, she hangs for an instant, she falls in the current, and -with a mad rush you take it like a hunting-man a six-bar gate. Now -paddle, paddle, paddle. It looks bad--we cannot make it--yes--all -right, and we are on the far shore, with the shallows on the other -side. This little episode was successful, but, as you well know, it -cannot last. The next rift, and with a bump she is hung upon a sunken -rock, and--jump! jump!--we both flounder overboard in any way -possible, so it is well and quickly done. One man loses his hold, the -other swings the boat off, and, kicking and splashing for a foothold, -the demoralized outfit shoots along. At last one is found, and then at -a favorable rock we embark again. - -You are now wet, but the tea and sugar are safe, so it's a small -matter. A jam of logs and tops is "hung up" on a particularly nasty -place, and you have a time getting the boat around it. You walk on -rotten tops while the knots stick up beneath you like sabres. "Has" -floats calmly out to sea, as it were, on a detached log which he is -cutting, and with a hopeless look of despair he totters, while I yell, -"Save the axe, ---- you--save the axe!" and over he goes, only to get -wet and very disgusted, both of which will wear off in time. For a -mile the water is so shallow that the boat will not run loaded, and we -lead her along as we wade, now falling in over our heads, sliding on -slippery stones, hurting our feet, wondering why we had come at all. -The boat gets loose, and my heart stands still as the whole boat-load -of blankets and grub with our pipes and tobacco started off for the -settlements--or "drifting to thunder," as Bret Harte said of Chiquita. -There was rather a lively and enthusiastic pursuit instituted then, -the details of which are forgotten, as my mind was focussed on the -grub-pack, but we got her. About this time the soles let go on my -tennis shoes, and my only pair of trousers gave way. These things, -however, become such mere details as to be scarcely noticed when you -have travelled since sunrise up to your waist in water, and are tired, -footsore, and hungry. It is time to go ashore and camp. - -You scrape away a rod square of dirt, chunks, witch-hoppel, and dead -leaves, and make a fire. You dry your clothes while you wear the -blanket and the guide the shelter-tent, and to a casual observer it -would look as though the savage had come again; but he would detect a -difference, because a white man in a blanket is about as inspiring a -sight as an Indian with a plug-hat. - -[Illustration: HUNG UP] - -Finally the coffee boils, the tent is up, and the bough bed laid down. -You lean against the dead log and swap lies with the guide; and the -greatest hunters I have ever known have all been magnificent liars. -The two go together. I should suspect a man who was deficient. Since -no one ever believes hunters' yarns, it has come to be a pleasurable -pastime, in which a man who has not hunted considerably can't lie -properly without offending the intelligence of that part of his -audience who have. - -The morning comes too soon, and after you are packed up and the boat -loaded, if you are in a bad part of the river you do this: you put -away your pipe, and with a grimace and a shudder you step out into the -river up to your neck and get wet. The morning is cold, and I, for -one, would not allow a man who was perfectly dry to get into my boat, -for fear he might have some trepidation about getting out promptly if -the boat was "hung up" on a rock; and in the woods all nature is -subservient to the "grub." - -Hour after hour we waded along. A few rods of still water and "Has" -would cut off large chews of tobacco, and become wonderfully cynical -as to the caprices of the river. The still water ends around the next -point. You charge the thing nobly, but end up in the water up to your -neck with the "grub" safe, and a mile or so more of wading in -prospect. - -Then the river narrows, and goes tumbling off down a dark cañon cut -through the rocks. We go ashore and "scout the place," and then begin -to let the boat down on a line. We hug the black sides like ants, -while the water goes to soapsuds at our feet. The boat bobs and -rocks, and is nearly upset in a place where we cannot follow it -through. We must take it up a ledge about thirty feet high, and after -puffing and blowing and feats of maniacal strength, we at last have it -again in the water. After some days of this thing we found from a -statistician we had dropped 1100 feet in about fifty-one miles, and -with the well-known propensity of water to flow downhill, it can be -seen that difficulties were encountered. You cannot carry a boat in -the forest, and you will discover enough reasons why in a five-minute -trail to make their enumeration tiresome. The zest of the whole thing -lies in not knowing the difficulties beforehand, and then, if properly -equipped, a man who sits at a desk the year through can find no -happier days than he will in his canoe when the still waters run -through the dark forests and the rapid boils below. - - - - -COACHING IN CHIHUAHUA - - -That coaching is a grand sport I cannot deny, for I know almost -nothing of it beyond an impression that there is a tremendous amount -of mystery connected with its rites. As a sport I have never -participated in it, but while travelling the waste places of the earth -I have used it as a means on occasion. I never will again. There is no -place to which I desire to go badly enough to go in a coach, and such -points of interest as are inaccessible except by coach are off my -trail. I am not in the least superstitious, and am prone to scout such -tendencies; but I'm a Jonah in a stage-coach, and that is not a -superstition, but a fact amply proven by many trials. I remember as a -boy in Montana having been so hopelessly mixed up with a sage-bush on -a dark night when the stage overturned that it left an impression on -me. Later in life I was travelling in Arizona, and we were bowling -along about ten miles an hour down a great "hog-back" to the plains -below. A "swing mule" tripped up a "lead mule," and the stage--with -myself on the box--ran over the whole six, and when the driver and I -separated ourselves from the mules, shreds of harness, splinters, -hair, hide, cargo, and cactus plants I began to formulate the -intelligence that stage-coaching was dangerous. - -While riding in an army ambulance with Major Viele, of the First -Cavalry, and the late Lieutenant Clark, of the Tenth, the brake-beam -broke on the descent of a hill, and we only hit the ground in the -high places for about a mile. I will not insist that every man can -hold his breath for five consecutive minutes, but I did it. Thereupon -I formulated vows and pledges. But like the weak creature I am, I -ignored all this and got into one at Chihuahua last winter, and first -and last did five hundred miles of jolting, with all the incident and -the regulation accident which goes to make up that sort of thing. -Now I like to think that I have been through it all, and am alive and -unmaimed; and I take a great deal of comfort in knowing that, however -I may meet my end, a stage-coach will be in no way connected with it. - -[Illustration: A COACHERO] - -[Illustration: THE START] - -On the trip out we had mules. They were black and diminutive. To me a -Mexican mule seems to be the Chinaman of the dumb animals. They are -enduring beyond comprehension, and they have minds which are patient, -yet alert and full of guile. The Mexican _coacheros_ have their mules -trained, as bankers do their depositors in our land. They back up -against a wall and stand in line while one by one they are harnessed. -In the early morning I liked to see the lantern-light glorify the -little black creatures against the adobe wall, and hear the big -_coachero_ talk to his beasts in that easy, familiar way and with that -mutual comprehension which is lost to those of the human race who have -progressed beyond the natural state. This coachman was an enormous -man--big, bony, and with Sullivanesque shoulders, gorilla hands, and a -blue-black buccaneer beard; and but for a merry brown eye and a mouth -set in perpetual readiness to grin he would have belonged to the -"mild-mannered" class, to which, as a matter of fact, he did not. It -is written in the lease of his land that he shall drive the Bavicora -ranche coach--it's fief-service, it's feudal, and it carries one back. -If the little mules and ponies did not stand in the exact six feet of -ground where he wanted them, he grabbed hold of them and moved them -over to the place without a word, and after being located they never -moved until he yanked or lifted them to their place at the pole. The -guards were Mexican Indians--hair cut _à la Cosaques_, big straw hats, -_serapes_, and munitions of war. William, whose ancestors had -emigrated from the Congo region before the war, was to cook. He was -also guide, philosopher, and friend to Mr. H. and myself in this -strange land, and he made all things possible by his tact and zeal in -our behalf. William knows every one in the State of Chihuahua, and he -is constantly telling us of the standing and glittering position of -the inhabitants of the mud huts which we pass, until it sounds like -that ghastly array of intelligence with which a society reporter -quickens the social dead in a Sunday newspaper. - -At night we stay at the different ranches, and, rolling ourselves up -in our blankets, we lie down on the mud floors to sleep. It's not so -bad after one becomes used to it, albeit the skin wears off one's -femur joint. The Mexican hen is as conscientious here as elsewhere, -and we eat eggs. The Mexican coffee is always excellent in quality, -but the people make it up into a nerve-jerking dose, which will stand -hot-water in quantities. Nearly all travellers are favorably impressed -with the _frejoles_ and _tortillas_ of the country. The beans are -good, but as old General Taylor once said, "They killed more men than -did bullets in the Mexican War." Of the _tortillas_ I will say, as my -philosophical friend, Mr. Poultney Bigelow, says of the black bread of -the Russian soldier, "It's a good strong food to march and fight on," -which can in no way be a recommendation of its palatability. - -The coach starts by gray dawn, and we are aroused at an early hour. -The white men take sponge-baths in a wash-basin, and the native who -stands about deep in the folds of his _serape_ fails utterly to -comprehend. He evidently thinks a lot, but he doesn't say anything. I -suppose it seems like "clay-eating" or penitent mutilations to -him--not exactly insanity, but a curious custom, at any rate. On the -return trip we have a half-broken team of buckskin broncos, which have -to be "hooked up" with great stealth. And when the coachman had -climbed quietly on to the box and we were inside, the guards let go of -the team, and the coachman cracked his whip, while we looked out of -the window and held our breath. Then there were Horse Pyrotechniques! -Ground and Lofty Tumbling! Greatest Show on Earth! for about a minute, -when we made a start down the big road--or didn't, as the case might -be. After the first round we often had to get out, and, two ponies -having got themselves into the same collar, we would then rearrange -them for better luck next time. - -[Illustration: MORNING TOILET] - -In Mexico they drive four mules abreast in the lead and two on the -pole, which seems to be an excellent way. Mexican coachmen generally -keep "belting" their stock and yelling "_Underlay-nula!_" which is -both picturesque and unintelligible. Our man was, however, better -educated. Forty or fifty miles is a day's journey, but the exact -distance is so dependent on the roads, the load, and the desire to -"get thar" that it varies greatly. - -We pass the Guerrero stage as it bowls along, and hundreds of heavy, -creeking ox-carts, as they draw slowly over the yellow landscape, with -their freight to and from the mines. Bunches of sorrowful _burros_, -with corn, wood, pottery, and hay, part as we sweep along through and -by them. - -We have the inspiring vista of Chihuahua before us all the time. It is -massive in its proportions and opalescent in color. There are torquois -hills, dazzling yellow foregrounds--the palette of the "rainbow -school" is everywhere. There are little mud houses, ranches, and dirty -little adobe towns to pass, which you must admire, though you may not -like them. Gaunt cattle wander in their search for grass and water, -and women squat by the riverbed engaged in washing or filling their -_ollas_. - -The people are enchanting. It is like reading the Bible to look at -them, because it is so unreal; yet there they are before one, strange -and mysterious, and, like other things which appeal to one's -imagination, it would be a sad thing if one were to understand them. -One is tempted to think that the people of our Northern races know too -much for their own good. It seems remorseless, but it is so. When I -heard the poor Mexican asked why he thought it had not rained in -eighteen months, he said, "Because God wills it, I suppose;" we were -edified by the way they shifted the responsibility which Farmer Dunn -in our part of the world so cheerfully assumes. - -One afternoon we were on a down-grade, going along at a fair pace, -when a wheel struck a stone, placed there by some freighter to block -his load. It heaved the coach, pulled out the king-pin, and let the -big Concord down and over on its side. The mules went on with the -front wheels, pulling Jack off the box, while we who were on top -described a graceful parabolic curve and landed with three dull thuds. -I was caught under the coach by one leg and held there. A guard inside -made all haste to crawl out through a window, and after a bit I was -released. We were all pretty badly bruised up, and Mr. H. had his foot -broken. The mules were recovered, however, the coach righted, and we -were again off. We made the town of Tamochica that night, and the -town-folks were kind and attentive. They made crutches, heated water, -and sent a man to the creek to catch leeches to put on our wounds. Two -men were shot in a house near by during the night, and for a few -minutes there was a lively fusillade of pistol shots. It was evident -that life in Tamochica would spoil a man's taste for anything quiet, -and so as soon as we could move we did it. - -We passed an old church, and were shown two Jesuits who had been dead -over a hundred years. They were wonderfully preserved, and were -dressed in full regalia. I wondered by what embalmer's art it had been -accomplished. - -[Illustration: HARNESSING MULES] - -A guard of punchers met us to conduct us over a mountain-pass. They -were dressed in terra-cotta buckskin trimmed with white leather, and -were armed for the largest game in the country. The Bavicora coach has -never been robbed, and it is never going to be--or, at least that is -the intention of the I-F folks. One man can rob a stage-coach as -easily as he could a box of sardines, but with outriders before and -behind it takes a large party, and even then they will leave a "hot -trail" behind them. - -One morning as I was lolling out of the window I noticed the wheel of -the coach pass over a long, blue Roman candle. I thought it was -curious that a long, blue Roman candle should be lying out there on -the plains, when with a sudden sickening it flashed upon me--"giant -powder!" The coach was stopped, and we got out. The road was full of -the sticks of this high explosive. A man was coming down the road -leading a _burro_ and picking up the things, and he explained that -they had dropped out of a package from his bull-wagon as he passed the -night before. We didn't run over any more pieces. If the stick had -gone off there would have been a little cloud of dust on the Guerrero -road, and, I hope, some regrets in various parts of the world. The -incident cannot be made startling, but it put the occupants of the -Bavicora coach in a quiet train of reflection that makes a man -religious. - -Now, as I ponder over the last stage-coach ride which I shall ever -take on this earth, I am conscious that it was pleasant, instructive, -and full of incident. All that might have happened did not, but enough -did to satiate my taste. - - - - -STUBBLE AND SLOUGH IN DAKOTA - - -Now I am conscious that all my life I have seen men who owned -shot-guns and setter-dogs, and that these persons were wont at -intervals to disappear from their usual haunts with this -paraphernalia. Without thinking, I felt that they went to slay little -birds, and for them I entertained a good-natured contempt. It came -about in this wise that I acquired familiarity with "mark," and -"hie-on," and "No. 6 vis No. 4's": by telegram I was invited to make -one of a party in Chicago, bound West on a hunting expedition. It -being one of my periods of unrest, I promptly packed up my Winchester, -boots, saddle, and blankets, wired "All right--next train," and -crawled into the "Limited" at Forty-second Street. - -"West" is to me a generic term for that country in the United States -which lies beyond the high plains, and this will account for my -surprise when I walked into the private car at the St. Paul depot in -Chicago and met my friends contesting the rights of occupancy with -numerous setter-dogs, while all about were shot-gun cases and boxes -labelled "Ammunition." After greetings I stepped to the station -platform and mingled with the crowd--disgusted, and disposed to -desert. - -A genial young soldier who appreciated the curves in my character -followed me out, and explained, in the full flush of his joyous -anticipation, that we were going to North Dakota to shoot ducks and -prairie chicken, and that it would be the jolliest sort of a time; -besides, it was a party of good friends. I hesitated, yielded, and -enlisted for the enterprise. Feeling now that I was this far it would -be good to go on and learn what there was in the form of sport which -charmed so many men whose taste I respected in other matters, and once -embarked I summoned my enthusiasm, and tried to "step high, wide, and -handsome," as the horsemen say. - -[Illustration: A DAKOTA CHICKEN-WAGON] - -The happiness of a hunting-party is like that of a wedding, so -important is it that true love shall rule. The _pièce de résistance_ -of our car was two old generals, who called each other by an -abbreviation of their first names, and interrupted conversations by -recalling to each other's memory where some acres of men were slain. -"A little more of the roast beef, please--yes, that was where I was -shot in this side;" and at night, when quiet reigned and we sought -sleep, there would be a waving of the curtains, and a voice, "Oh, say, -Blank, do you remember that time my horse was hit with the -twelve-pounder?" and it banished dreams. There was a phlebotomist from -Pittsburg who had shot all over the earth. He was a thorough -sportsman, with a code of rules as complicated as the common-law, and -he "made up tough" in his canvas shooting-clothes. There was a young -and distinguished officer of the regular army who had hunted men, -which excused him in the paltry undertaking before him; and, finally, -three young men who were adding the accumulated knowledge of Harvard -to their natural endowments. For myself, I did not see how jack-boots, -spurs, and a Winchester would lend themselves to the stubble and -slough of Dakota, but a collection was taken, and by the time we -arrived in Valley City, Dakota, I was armed, if not accoutred, in the -style affected by double-barrel men. All I now needed was an -education, and between the Doctor, who explained, expostulated, and -swore, and a great many "clean misses," I wore on to the high-school -stage. Like the obliging person who was asked if he played on the -violin, I said to myself, "I don't know, but I'll try." - -[Illustration: ON THE EDGE OF A SLOUGH] - -In the early morning three teams drove up where our car was -side-tracked, and we embarked in them. The shot-gun man affects -buck-colored canvas clothes, with many pockets, and carries his -cartridges in his shirt fronts, like a Circassian Cossack. He also -takes the shells out of his gun before he climbs into a wagon, or he -immediately becomes an object of derision and dread, or, what's worse, -suddenly friendless and alone. He also refrains from pointing his gun -at any fellow-sportsman, and if he inadvertently does it, he receives -a fusillade such as an Irish drill-sergeant throws into a recruit when -he does amiss. This day was cool and with a wind blowing, and the poor -dogs leaped in delirious joy when let out from their boxes, in which -they had travelled all the way from Chicago. After running the wire -edge off their nerves they were gotten to range inside a township -site, and we jogged along. The first thing which interested me was to -hear the Doctor indicate to the driver that he did not care to -participate in the driver's knowledge of hunting, and that in order to -save mental wear he only had to drive the team, and stand fast when we -got out, in order that from the one motionless spot on the prairie sea -we could "mark down" the birds. - -The immensity of the wheat-fields in Dakota is astonishing to a -stranger. They begin on the edge of town, and we drive all day and are -never out of them, and on either side they stretch away as far as -one's eye can travel. The wheat had been cut and "shocked," which left -a stubble some eight inches high. The farm-houses are far apart, and, -indeed, not often in sight, but as the threshing was in progress, we -saw many groups of men and horses, and the great steam-threshers -blowing clouds of black smoke, and the flying straw as it was belched -from the bowels of the monsters. - -[Illustration: A CONFERENCE IN THE MUD] - -During the heat of the day the chickens lie in the cover of the grass -at the sides of the fields, or in the rank growth of some slough-hole, -but at early morning and evening they feed in the wheat stubble. As we -ride along, the dogs range out in front, now leaping gracefully along, -now stopping and carrying their noses in the air to detect some scent, -and finally--"There's a point! Stop, driver!" and we pile out, -breaking our guns and shoving in the cartridges. - -"No hurry--no hurry," says the Doctor; "the dog will stay there a -month." But, fired with the anticipations, we move briskly up. "You -take the right and I'll take the left. Don't fire over the dog," adds -the portly sportsman, with an admonishing frown. We go more slowly, -and suddenly, with a "whir," up get two chickens and go sailing off. -Bang! bang! The Doctor bags his and I miss mine. We load and advance, -when up comes the remainder of the covey, and the bewildering plenty -of the flying objects rattles me. The Doctor shoots well, and indeed -prairie-chickens are not difficult, but I am discouraged. As the great -sportsman Mr. Soapy Sponge used to say, "I'm a good shooter, but a bad -hitter." It was in this distressful time that I remembered the words -of the old hunter who had charge of my early education in .45 -calibres, which ran, "Take yer time, sonny, and always see your hind -sight," and by dint of doing this I soon improved to a satisfactory -extent. The walking over the stubble is good exercise, and it becomes -fascinating to watch the well-trained Llewellyn setters "make game," -or stand pointing with their tails wagging violently in the nervous -thrill of their excitement, then the shooting, and the marking down of -the birds who escape the fire, that we may go to them for another -"flush." With care and patience one can bag at last the whole covey. - -At noon we met the other wagons in a green swale, and had lunch, and, -seated in a row under the shadow side of a straw stack, we plucked -chickens, while the phlebotomist did the necessary surgery to prepare -them for the cook. At three o'clock the soldier, a couple of -residents, and myself started together for the evening shooting. We -banged away at a thousand-yards range at some teal on a big marsh, but -later gave it up, and confined ourselves to chicken. In the midst of a -covey and a lot of banging I heard the Captain uttering distressful -cries. His gun was leaning on a wheat "shock," and he was clawing -himself wildly. "Come, help me--I am being eaten alive." Sure enough -he was, for in Dakota there is a little insect which is like a winged -ant, and they go in swarms, and their bite is sharp and painful. I -attempted his rescue, and was attacked in turn, so that we ended by a -precipitous retreat, leaving the covey of chickens and their -protectors, the ants, on the field. - -[Illustration: "DON'T SHOOT!"] - -We next pushed a covey of grouse into some standing oats, and were -tempted to go in a short way, but some farmers who were threshing on -the neighboring hill blew the engine whistle and made a "sortie," -whereat we bolted. At a slough which we were tramping through to kick -up some birds "marked down," one suddenly got up under our feet and -flew directly over the Captain, who yelled "Don't shoot!" as he -dropped to the ground. It was a well--considered thing to do, since a -flying bird looks bigger than a man to an excited and enthusiastic -sportsman. We walked along through the stubble until the red sunset no -longer gave sufficient light, and then got into our wagon to do the -fourteen miles to our car and supper. Late at night we reached our -car, and from it could hear "the sound of revelry." The cook did big -Chicago beefsteaks by the half-dozen, for an all day's tramp is a -sauce which tells. - -After some days at this place we were hauled up to Devil's Lake, on -the Great Northern road, which locality is without doubt the best for -duck-shooting in Dakota. We were driven some sixteen miles to a spur -of the lake, where we found a settler. There were hundreds of teal in -the water back of his cabin, and as we took position well up the wind -and fired, they got up in clouds, and we had five minutes of shooting -which was gluttony. We gave the "bag" to the old settler, and the -Doctor admonished him to "fry them," which I have no doubt he did. - -It was six miles to a pond said to be the best evening shooting about -there, and we drove over. There we met our other two teams and another -party of sportsmen. The shallow water was long and deeply fringed with -rank marsh grass. Having no wading-boots can make no difference to a -sportsman whose soul is great, so I floundered in and got comfortably -wet. After shooting two or three mud-hens, under the impression that -they were ducks, the Doctor came along, and with a pained expression -he carefully explained what became of people who did not know a teal -from a mud-hen, and said further that he would let it pass this time. -As the sun sank, the flight of ducks began, and from the far corners -of the marsh I saw puffs of smoke and heard the dull slump of a -report. - -"Mark--left," came a voice from where the young Harvard man with the -peach complexion and the cream hair had ensconced himself in the -grass, and, sure enough, a flight was coming towards my lair. I waited -until it was nearly over, when I rose up and missed two fine shots, -while the Harvard man scored. The birds fell well out in the pond, and -he waded out to retrieve them. - -As I stood there the soft ooze of the marsh gradually swallowed me, -and when in answer to the warning "mark" of my fellows I squatted down -in the black water to my middle, and only held my gun and cartridges -up, I began to realize that when a teal-duck is coming down wind you -have got to aim somewhere into the space ahead of it, hoping to make a -connection between your load of shot and the bird. This I did, and -after a time got my first birds. The air was now full of flying -birds--mallards, spoon-bills, pintails, red-heads, butter-balls, -gadwalls, widgeon, and canvas-backs--and the shooting was fast and -furious. It was a perfect revelry of slaughter. "Mark--mark." -Bang--bang. "What's the matter of that shot?" The sun has set, and no -longer bathes the landscape in its golden light, and yet I sit in the -water and mud and indulge this pleasurable taste for gore, wondering -why it is so ecstatic, or if my companions will not give over shooting -presently. There is little probability of that, however. Only darkness -can end the miseries of the poor little teal coming home to their -marsh, and yet with all my sentimental emotions of sympathy I deplore -a miss. If slough-shooting has a drawback, it is its lack of -action--it is a calm, deliberate shedding of blood, and a wounding of -many birds, who die in the marshes, or become easy prey for the hawks, -and it's as cold-blooded as sitting in water can make it. - -[Illustration: "MARK--LEFT"] - -[Illustration: "MARK!"] - -We give over at last, and the fortunates change their wet clothes, -while those who have no change sit on the seat knee-deep in dead birds -and shiver while we rattle homeward. Our driver gets himself lost, and -we bring up against a wire fence. Very late at night we struck the -railroad, and counted telegraph poles and travelled east until the -lights of the town twinkled through the gloom. Once in the car, we -find the creature comfort which reconciles one to life, and we vote -the day a red-letter one. The goose-shooting came later than our -visit, but the people tell marvellous tales of their numbers. They -employ special guns in their pursuit, which are No. 4 gauge, -single-barrelled, and very long. They throw buckshot point-blank two -hundred yards, and are, indeed, curious-looking arms. The -chicken-shooting is not laborious, since one rides in a wagon, and a -one-lunged, wooden-legged man is as good as a four-mile athlete at it. -He must know setter-dogs, who are nearly as complicated as women in -their temper and ways; he must have a nose for cover, and he can be -taught to shoot; he can keep statistics if he desires, but his first -few experiences behind the dogs will not tempt him to do that unless -his modesty is highly developed. If he become a shot-gun enthusiast he -will discover a most surprising number of fellows--doctors, lawyers, -butchers, farmers, and Indians not taxed--all willing to go with him -or to be interested in his tales. - -[Illustration: TROOPING HOMEWARD IN THE AFTER-GLOW] - -The car was to be attached to an express train bound west that night, -to my intense satisfaction, and I crawled into the upper berth to -dream of bad-lands elk, soldiers, cowboys, and only in the haze of -fleeting consciousness could I distinguish a voice-- - -"Remington, I hope you are not going to fall out of that upper berth -again to-night." - - - - -POLICING THE YELLOWSTONE - - -"Captain Anderson--he's the superintendent, you know--started to-day -for the south of the Park; some trouble, I believe, down there. A -scout thought the buffalo were being disturbed," said Lieutenant -Lindsley to me at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, near the entrance to -the Park. - -"That's unfortunate. Can I overtake him?" - -"It's nearly four o'clock, but as I am going down to our camp at the -Lower Geyser Basin, we can start now, and by travelling at night we -can catch him before he pulls out in the morning, I think," said the -yellow-leg. - -So putting our belongings into a double surry, we started hot-foot -through the Wonderland, leaving a band of Dakota chicken-shooters -standing on the steps waving their adieux. It verified all my -predictions--men who shoot chickens belong in a stage-coach--they are -a "scrubby wagon outfit," as the cowboys say. - -Posed on the trestled road, I looked back at the Golden Gate Pass. It -is one of those marvellous vistas of mountain scenery utterly beyond -the pen or brush of any man. Paint cannot touch it, and words are -wasted. War, storms at sea, and mountain scenery are bigger than any -expression little man has ever developed. Mr. Thomas Moran made a -famous stagger at this pass in his painting; and great as is the -painting, when I contemplated the pass itself I marvelled at the -courage of the man who dared the deed. But as the stages of the Park -Company run over this road, every tourist sees its grandeur, and -bangs away with his kodak. - -As we pulled up in front of the tents of the rest camp, one of those -mountain thunder-storms set in, and it was as though the New York fire -department had concentrated its nozzles on the earth. The place was -presided over by a classic Irishman by the name of Larry, who speedily -got a roaring-hot beefsteak and some coffee on the table, and then -busied himself conducting growing pools of rain-water out of the tent. -Larry is justly famous on the road for his _bonhomie_ and Celtic wit. - -At an early hour we arose and departed--the pale moon shining through -the mist of the valley, while around us rose the ghostly pines. We -cowered under our great-coats, chilled through, and saddened at -remembrances of the warm blankets which we had been compelled to roll -out of at this unseemly hour. At 7.30 we broke into one of those -beautiful natural parks, the Lower Geyser Basin, with the sun shining -on the river and the grass, and spotting the row of tents belonging to -D Troop, Sixth United States Cavalry. Captain Scott met us at the -door, a bluff old trooper in field rig and a welcoming smile. After -breakfast a soldier brought up Pat Rooney. Pat was a horse from the -ground up; he came from Missouri, but he was a true Irishman -nevertheless, as one could tell from his ragged hips, long drooping -quarters, and a liberal show of white in his eye, which seemed to say -to me, "Aisy, now, and I'm a dray-horse; but spare the brad, or I'll -put ye on yer back in the bloomin' dust, I will." The saddle was put -on, and I waited, until presently along came the superintendent, with -his scout Burgess, three soldiers, and nine pack-mules with their -creaking _aparejos_, and their general air of malicious mischief. - -Pointing to a range of formidable-looking hills, the captain said, -"We will pull in about there," and we mounted and trotted off down the -road. What a man really needs when he does the back stretches of the -Yellowstone Park is a boat and a balloon, but cavalrymen ride horses -in deference to traditions. My mount, Pat, was as big as a stable -door, and as light as a puff-ball on his pins. As Mr. Buckram said, -"The 'eight of a 'oss as nothing to do with 'is size," but Patrick was -a horse a man needed two legs for. Besides, he had a mouth like a -bull, as does every other animal that wears that impossible bit which -Uncle Sam gives his cavalry. We got along swimmingly, and, indeed, I -feel considerable gratitude to Pat for the two or three thousand times -he saved my life on the trip by his agility and sureness of foot. - -[Illustration: BURGESS, NEARLY FORTY-FIVE YEARS A SCOUT] - -Burgess, the scout, was a fine little piece of a man, who had served -the government with credit for over thirty years. He had breasted the -high divide in a dozen places, had Apache bullets whistle around and -through him, and withal was modest about it. He was a quiet person, -with his instinct of locality as well developed as an Indian's, and -contented with life, since he only wanted one thing--a war. I think he -travelled by scent, since it would have been simple enough to have -gone over easier places; but Burgess despised ease, and where the -fallen timber was thickest and the slopes 60°, there you would find -Burgess and his tight little pony picking along. - -Both Captains Anderson and Scott have a pronounced weakness for -geysers, and were always stopping at every little steam-jet to examine -it. I suppose they feel a personal responsibility in having them go -regularly; one can almost imagine a telegram to "turn on more steam." -They rode recklessly over the geyser formation, to my discomfort, -because it is very thin and hazardous, and to break through is to be -boiled. One instinctively objects to that form of cooking. The most -gorgeous colors are observed in this geyser formation; in fact, I have -never seen nature so generous in this respect elsewhere. I wondered -that the pack-mules did not walk into the sissing holes, but I suspect -a mule is a bit of a geologist in his way, and as most of them have -been in the government service for thirty or forty years, they have -learned how to conserve their well-being. There is a tradition that -one was considerably overdone once in a geyser-hole, so they may have -taken warning. Who can understand a mule? The packer leads the old -bell-mare off to a feeding-ground, and the whole bunch of mules go -racing after her, and chains wouldn't hold them. The old bell-mare -takes across a nasty chasm or a dirty slough-hole, and as the tinkle -of the little cow-bell is losing itself in the timber beyond, one -after another they put their ears forward and follow on. - -[Illustration: THE BELL-MARE OVER A BAD PLACE] - -We passed up a cleft in the hills, and were swallowed up in the pine -and cedar forest. Presently the cleft ended, and nothing but good -honest climbing was in front. There began my first experience in -riding over the fallen timber, which obstructs all the northwestern -Rocky Mountains. Once up in British Columbia I did it, but had trails, -and I childishly imagined that there must also be trails wherever men -wanted to go. Crisscross and all about lay the great peeled logs, and -travel was slow, toilsome, and with anything but horses trained to it -would have been impossible. - -A good horse or mule, once accustomed, makes little of it, but on the -steep down grades the situation is complicated by fallen logs, which -it is necessary to "bucket" over, and then stop dead on an incline of -50°, with a couple of miles of tumble if he fails. The timber grew -thicker, and when Burgess would get us in a hopeless sort of place, -Captain A. would sing out to Captain S., "Burgess is on the trail -now"; and when it was fairly good going, "Now he is off." But nothing -could rattle Mr. Burgess, and he continued calmly on his journey, the -destination of which, it seemed, could be nothing short of the moon. -Finally we found ourselves seemingly so inextricably tangled up that -even Burgess had to scratch his head. One mule was hung up hopelessly, -while the rest crowded around us into the _chevaux-de-frise_ of logs, -and merrily wound through the labyrinth the old Sixth Cavalry "gag," -"Here's where we trot." - -To complete the effect of this passage it began to rain, and shortly -to pelt us with hailstones, so we stopped under some trees to let it -pass, and two people who should know better dismounted and got their -saddles wet, while another, more wise in his generation, sat tight, -and was rewarded later for his display of intelligence. By-and-by, wet -and tired of fallen timber, we came into the Little Fire-hole Basin, -and found buffalo signs in abundance. We were in great hopes of seeing -some of these animals, but I may as well add that only one was seen on -the trip, though there was fresh spoor, and they were undoubtedly -about. We found no pony tracks either, which was more to the soldiers' -liking, since they are intrusted with the protection of the Park -against poachers. - -In this way squads are sent over the Park, and instructed not to -follow the regular trails, but to go to the most unfrequented places, -so that they may at any time happen on a malicious person, and perhaps -be able to do as one scout did--photograph the miscreant with his own -camera. - -After a good day's march we made camp by a little lake, and picketed -our horses, while the mules ran loose around the bell-mare. Our -appetites had been sharpened by a nine hours' fast, when a soldier -called us to the "commissaries" which were spread out on a pack -canvas. It was the usual military "grub," and no hungry man can find -fault with that. - -"Any man who can't eat bacon can't fight," as Captain Scott said; so -if any reader wants to be a soldier he must have a mania for bacon, it -seems. "This is the stuff that makes soldiers brave," he added, as the -coffee-pot came around, and we fell to, and left a dreary waste of -empty tins for the cook to pick up. We lighted our pipes after the -banquet on the grass, and walked down to the shore of the beautiful -pond, which seemed so strangely situated up there on the very crest of -the continental divide. There are only three seasons in these -altitudes, which the boys divide into July, August, and Winter, and -the nights are always chilly. An inch or two of snow may fall even in -mid-summer. In winter the snow covers the ground to a great depth, as -we can tell by the trees. Nothing grows but rather stunted fir and -pine and a little grass of the most hardy variety. The rounds of the -Park are then made by mounting the cavalry on the _ski_, or Norwegian -snow-shoe, and with its aid men travel the desolate snow-clad -wilderness from one "shack" to another. Small squads of three or four -men are quartered in these remote recesses of the savage mountains, -and remain for eight months on a stretch. The camps are provisioned -for the arctic siege, and what is stranger yet is that soldiers rather -like it, and freely apply for this detached service. There is little -of the "pomp and vanity" in this soldiering, and it shows good spirit -on the part of the enlisted men. They are dressed in fur caps, -California blanket coats, leggings, and moccasins--a strange uniform -for a cavalryman, and also quite a commentary on what are commonly -called the vicissitudes of the service. - -[Illustration: DOWN THE MOUNTAIN] - -[Illustration: GETTING GRUB] - -In the early morning our tent was pulled down, and our bedding packed -off almost before we had disentangled ourselves from its sheltering -folds. The well-trained troopers went about their task of breaking -camp with method and address. Burgess and a young soldier pulled a -reluctant strawberry-blond mule out of the line of pack-animals, and -throwing a blind over his face, proceeded to lay the blanket and -adjust the _aparejo_. With a heave the _cincha_ is hauled tight, and -the load laid on, while the expert throws the "diamond hitch," and the -mule and pack are integral parts. This packing of nine mules was -accomplished with great rapidity, and laying our saddles carefully, we -mounted and followed the scouts off down the trail in single file on a -toilsome march which would probably not end until three or four -o'clock in the afternoon. We wound around the spurs of hills, and then -across a marsh, with its yielding treacherous bottom, where the horses -floundered, and one mule went down and made the mud and water fly in -his struggles, while my apprehensions rose to fever-pitch as I -recognized my grip-sack on his load, and not likely to be benefited by -the operation. At the head-waters of these rivers--and it may be said -that this little purling brook is really the source of the Missouri -itself, although not so described--there is abundance of soggy marsh, -which makes travel extremely difficult. In one place Captain -Anderson's horse went belly-deep on a concealed quag made by a stream -coming out of the side of the hill, and rolling back, fell heavily on -the captain, and for a time it was rather a question whether the horse -would get out or not; but by dint of exertion he regained firm ground. -When a big strong horse gets into a slough the dorsal action is -terrific, and it is often necessary to dismount quickly to aid him -out. We crossed the great divide of the continent at a place where the -slope was astonishingly steep and the fallen timber thickly strewn. It -was as thoroughly experimental travelling as I have ever seen, -unless possibly over a lava-rock formation which I essayed last winter -on the western slope of the Sierra Madre, in Chihuahua; and yet there -is a fascination about being balanced on those balloonlike heights, -where a misstep means the end of horse and rider. I was glad enough, -though, when we struck the parklike levels of the Pitchstone plateau -as the scene of our further progression. If one has never travelled -horseback over the Rocky Mountains there is a new and distinct -sensation before him quite as vigorous as his first six-barred gate, -or his first yacht-race with the quarter-rail awash. - -[Illustration: WORKING UP THE DIVIDE] - -All through the Park were seen hundreds of wild-geese, so tame that -they would hardly fly from us. It was a great temptation to shoot, but -the doughty captain said he would run me off the reservation at a -turkey-trot if I did shoot, and since I believed him I could restrain -myself. The streams and marshes were full of beaver-dams, and the -little mud-and-stick houses rose from the pools, while here and there -we saw the purl of the quiet water as they glided about. This part is -exactly as primitive as when the lonely trapper Coulter made his -famous journey through it, and one cannot but wonder what must have -been his astonishment at the unnatural steaming and boiling of the -geysers, which made the Park known from his descriptions as "Coulter's -Hell." - -From the breast of the mountains overlooking the great Shoshonee Lake -there opened up the most tremendous sight as the waters stretched away -in their blue placidity to the timbered hills. The way down to the -shores was the steepest place I have ever seen horses and mules -attempt. In one place, where the two steep sides of the cañon dipped -together, it was cut by a nasty seam some six feet deep, which we had -to "bucket over" and maintain a footing on the other side. After -finding myself safely over, I watched the shower of pack-mules come -sliding down and take the jump. One mule was so far overbalanced that -for a moment I thought he would lose his centre of gravity, which had -been in his front feet, but he sprang across to the opposite slope and -was safe. Horses trained to this work do marvels, and old Pat was a -"topper" at the business. I gave him his head, and he justified my -trust by negotiating all the details without a miss. On a sandy -"siding" he spread his feet and slid with an avalanche of detached -hill-side. Old Pat's ears stuck out in front in an anxious way, as if -to say, "If we hit anything solid, I'll stop"; while from behind came -the cheery voice of Captain Scott, "Here's where we trot." - -On the shores of the Shoshonee we camped, and walked over to the -famous Union Geysers, which began to boil and sputter, apparently for -our especial benefit. In a few minutes two jets of boiling water shot -a hundred feet in air, and came down in rain on the other side, while -a rainbow formed across it. The roar of the great geysers was -awe-inspiring; it was like the exhaust of a thousand locomotives, and -Mr. Burgess nudged me and remarked, "Hell's right under here." - -Near the geysers, hidden away in a depression, we found a pool of -water of a beautiful and curious green, while not twenty feet from it -was one of a sulphur yellow. There was a big elk track in the soft mud -leading into it, but no counter track coming out. There had been a -woodland tragedy there. - -The utility of a geyser-hole is not its least attraction to a -traveller who has a day's accumulation of dust and sweat on him. I -found one near the camp which ran into a little mountain stream, and -made a tepid bath, of which I availed myself, and also got a cup of -hot water, by the aid of which I "policed my face," as the soldiers -call shaving. - -[Illustration: BURGESS FINDING A FORD] - -The next day we encountered one of those great spongy mountain -meadows, which we were forced to skirt on the rocky timber-strewn -hill-sides, until finally we ventured into it. We curved and zigzagged -through its treacherous mazes, fording and recrossing the stream in -search of solid ground. Burgess's little gray pony put his foot -forward in a gingerly way, and when satisfied, plunged in and -floundered through. The pony had a positive genius for morasses. We -followed him into the mud, or plunged off the steep sides into the -roaring river, and, to my intense satisfaction, at last struck a good -pony trail. "Now Burgess is off the trail!" we cried, whereat the -modest little scout grinned cheerfully. From here on it was "fair and -easy," until we came to the regular stage-road, to travel on which it -seemed to us a luxury. - -This expedition is typical of the manner of policing the Park, and it -is generally monotonous, toilsome, and uneventful work; and the -usefulness of such a _chevau-chée_ is that it leaves the track of the -cavalry horse-shoe in the most remote parts of the preserve, where the -poacher or interloper can see it, and become apprehensive in -consequence of the dangers which attend his operations. That an old -trapper might work quietly there for a long time I do not doubt, if he -only visited his line of traps in the early morning or late evening -and was careful of his trail, but such damage as he could do would be -trivial. Two regiments could not entirely prevent poaching in the -mountain wastes of the great reservation, but two troops are -successful enough at the task. It is a great game-preserve and -breeding-ground, and, if not disturbed, must always give an overflow -into Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, which will make big game shooting -there for years to come. The unreasoning antipathy or malicious -disregard of the American pioneer for game-laws and game-preservation -is somewhat excusable, but the lines of the pioneer are now cast in -new places, and his days of lawless _abandon_ are done. The regulation -for the punishment of Park offenders is inadequate, and should be made -more severe. The Park is also full of beasts of prey, the bear being -very numerous. A fine grizzly was trapped by some of the -superintendent's men and shipped to the Smithsonian Institution while -I was there. Near the Fountain Hotel one evening a young army surgeon -and myself walked up to within one hundred and fifty yards of a big -grizzly, who was not disposed to run off. Being unarmed, we concluded -that our point of view was close enough, and as the bear seemed to -feel the same way about it, we parted. - -Americans have a national treasure in the Yellowstone Park, and they -should guard it jealously. Nature has made her wildest patterns here, -has brought the boiling waters from her greatest depths to the peaks -which bear eternal snow, and set her masterpiece with pools like -jewels. Let us respect her moods, and let the beasts she nurtures in -her bosom live, and when the man from Oshkosh writes his name with a -blue pencil on her sacred face, let him spend six months where the -scenery is circumscribed and entirely artificial. - - - - -A MODEL SQUADRON - - -I am not quite sure that I should not say "The Model Colonel," since -every one knows men and horses are much alike when they have first -passed under the eye of the recruiting officer and the remount board, -and every one knows that colonels are very unlike, so that a model -squadron or a model troop is certain to owe its superiority to its -commander; but as we are observing the product in this instance, let -the title stand as above stated. - -The model squadron aforesaid is quartered across the Potomac from -Washington in Fort Meyer, which is the only purely cavalry post in the -country. Everywhere else the troops are mixed, and the commandant may -be of any arm of the service. Here they are all cavalry, with cavalry -officers and cavalry ideas, and are not hindered by dismounted -theories, or pick-and-shovel work, or any of the hundreds of things -which hamper equally good "yellow legs" in other posts. There are many -passable misdemeanors in this post, but only one crime, and that is -bad riding. There is little dismounted work, and any soldier can have -his horse out on a pass, so long as he does not abuse the privilege; -and when he does, it's plenty of walking falls to his lot. - -There is a large brick riding-hall of approved pattern, which enables -the men to do their work in all weathers. The four troops now -quartered there are from the First, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth -regiments, which creates a good-natured rivalry, very conducive to -thorough work. It is the opinion of General Henry that one old troop -should always be left at this post as a pace-setter for the newly -transferred ones, which seems reasonable. - -[Illustration: GENERAL GUY V. HENRY, SEVENTH UNITED STATES CAVALRY] - -Now to tell what the preparatory discipline is to the magnificent -riding which can be seen any morning by spectators who are "game for a -journey" to the fort by ten o'clock, I must say that General Guy V. -Henry is a flaming fire of cavalry enthusiasm. He has one idea--a -great broad expanse of principle--ever so simple in itself, but it is -basic, and nothing can become so complicated that he cannot revert to -his simple idea and by it regulate the whole. It is the individual -training of the horse and rider. One bad rider or one unbroken horse -can disarrange the whole troop movement, and "woe to him" who is not -up to concert pitch! "Who is the scoundrel, the lummux, humph?" and -the colonel, who is a brevet-brigadier-general, strides up and down, -and fire comes from his nostrils. "Prefer charges against him, -captain!" and the worst befalls. The unfortunate trooper has committed -the highest crime which the commandant of Fort Meyer knows--he cannot -ride. - -A soldier becomes a rider by being bucketed about on a bareback horse, -or he dies. The process is simple, the tanbark soft, and none have -died up to date, but all have attained the other alternative. This is -unimportant; but the horse--it is to his education that the oceans of -patience and the mountains of intelligence are brought to bear. It is -all in the books if any one cares to go into it. It is the gathering -of the horse; it is the legs carried to the rear of the girths; it is -the perfect hand and the instant compliance of the horse with the -signs as indicated by the rider; it is the backing, the passaging, the -leading with either foot, and the pivoting on the front legs; it is -the throwing of horses, the acquisition of gaits, and the nice -bitting; it is one hundred little struggles with the brute until he -comes to understand and to know that he must do his duty. It all looks -beautifully simple, but in practice we know that while it is not -difficult to teach a horse, it is quite another matter to unteach him, -so in these horses at least no mistakes have been made. After all -this, one fine sunny Friday morning the people drove out from -Washington in their traps and filed into the galleries and sat -down--fair women and brave men; of the former we are sure, and of the -latter we trust. The colonel blew a whistle--ye gods, what a sacrilege -against all the traditions of this dear old United States army!--and -in rode Captain Bomus's troop of the First Plungers, which I cannot -but love, since I am an honorary member of their officers' mess, and -fondly remember the fellows who are now sniffing alkali dust down in -Arizona. They were riding with blankets and surcingles, and did their -part of a drill, the sequence of which I have forgotten, since it was -divided with the three other troops--Captain Bell's, of the Seventh, -Captain Hughes's, of the Ninth, and Captain Fountain's, of the Eighth. -I felt a strong personal interest in some of these men, for memory -took me back to a night's ride in Dakota with a patrol of the Ninth, -when they were all wrapped in buffalo-skin overcoats, with white frost -on their lapels; the horses' noses wore icicles, and the dry snow -creaked under the tread of the hoofs as we rode over the starlit plain -and through the black shadows of the _coulees_. I had pounded along -also through the dust in the wake of this troop of the Eighth when it -wasn't so cold, but was equally uncomfortable. - -[Illustration: RIDING SITTING ON LEGS] - -[Illustration: OVER THE HURDLE BACK TO BACK] - -The sharp commands of the captain soon put the troop in motion, and -they trotted along with a cadenced tread, every man a part of his -horse; they broke into fours and wheeled to the right about, then into -line and wound themselves up in the "spiral," and unwound again, and -soon brought order out of a mess, and the regular canter was ever the -same. Then low hurdles were strung across the hall, and by column of -fours the troop went over, never breaking the formation; to the rear -they turned and back again; finally they took the obstacle in line, -and every horse rose as though impelled by the same mechanism. As if -this was not enough, every second man was dismounted and put on double -with a comrade, not with his breast to his comrade's back, but back to -back, and then in line the odd cavalcade charged the hurdles, and took -them every one. It was not an individual bucketing of one horse after -another, but all in line and all together. After this what could there -be more to test the "glue" in these troopers' seats? There was more, -however, and in this wise: The saddles were put on, but without any -girths, and all the movements were gone through with again, ending up -with a charge down the hall, and bringing up against the wall of the -spectators' stand at a sharp "halt," which would have unseated a -monkey from a trick-mule. - -The horses were all thrown by pulling their heads about, and one -cavalryman amused himself by jumping over his prostrate mount. They -rode "at will," and stood upon their knees on their horses' backs. One -big animal resented carrying double, and did something which in Texas -would be called "pitching," but it was scarcely a genuine sample, -since the grinning soldiers made little of it. - -The troop of the Ninth executed a "left backward turn" with beautiful -precision, and this difficult undertaking will serve to give one an -idea of the training of the mounts. - -Gymnastics of all sorts were indulged in, even to the extent of -turning summersaults over four horses from a spring-board. A citizen -near me, whose mind had probably wandered back to Barnum and Bailey, -said: - -[Illustration: THROWING A HORSE] - -"But what's this got to do with soldiers; is it not highly flavored -with circus?" - -I could offer no excuse except the tradition that cavalrymen are -supposed to ride well. All the men were young and in first-rate -physical fix, and seemed to enjoy the thing--all except one old first -sergeant, who had been time-expired these half-dozen times, whose skin -was so full of bullet-holes that it wouldn't hold blood, and who had -entered this new régime with many protests: - -"O'me nau circus ape; I can't be leppin' around afther the likes av -thim!" whereat the powers arranged it so that the old veteran got a -job looking after plug tobacco, tomato-cans, tinned beef, and other -"commissaries," upon which he viewed the situation more cheerfully. - -The drill was tremendously entertaining to the ladies and gentlemen in -the gallery, and they clapped their hands and went bustling into their -traps and off down the road to the general's house, where Madam the -General gave a breakfast, and the women no doubt asked the second -lieutenants deliciously foolish questions about their art. The -gentlemen, some of whom are Congressmen and other exalted governmental -functionaries, felt proud of the cavalry, and went home with a -determination to combat any one hostile to cavalry legislation, if a -bold front and firm purpose could stay the desecrating hand. - -But all this work is primary and elementary. The second degree is -administered in field-work, comprising experimental marches, and those -who know General Henry by reputation will not forget his hundred-mile -march with the Ninth Cavalry at Pine Ridge, and those who know him -personally will become acquainted with his theory that a cavalry -command in good condition, with proper feeds, should make fifty miles -a day, with a maximum on the road of ten hours a day, moving at the -rate of five miles an hour in cavalry halts, the gaits being walk, -trot, and leading, with a day's rest each week, to be continued -indefinitely. And knowing all this, they will be sure that the model -squadron wears out a good many horseshoes in a season. - -[Illustration: OVER THE HURDLES IN LINE] - -The "Cossack outposts" are another feature much insisted on, and, -strange to say, this arrangement was first invented in America, -despite its name (see Wagner's _Outposts_), and is an improvement on -picket posts in a ratio of 240 to 324. Another movement is the "form -square," which is an adaptation of the "Indian circle," it being a -movement from a centre to a circle, and useful when escorting wagons -or when surprised. The non-commissioned officers are sent on -reconnoissance, on patrols, and are required to make maps, which are -submitted to an inspector. - -Another scheme which I have never seen was the linking of a troop of -horses, formed in a circle, to one another, by hooking the regular -cavalry links from one horse's bridle to the next one's halter ring, -and then leaving them in charge of one man. I also saw the new cavalry -bit for the first time. It is commended by all who use it, and I saw -no horses boring on it or in the least uppish about going against it, -and I never remember a horse who would not do either the one or the -other to the old trap which was formerly worn. - -Two other curious movements indulged in by this squadron are the -firing over horses while they are lying down; and, riding double--the -man faced to the rear draws his pistol, and while moving to the rear -keeps shooting. It might be useful during a slow retreat, and could be -done with the carbine equally well. - -This whole enterprise at Fort Meyer is vastly encouraging. As one -officer said, "We take no credit for it, since others could do the -same if they had riding-halls and cavalry officers in command." But -there are cavalry officers and there are cavalry officers, and it is -not every day one is born. For thirty-five years has the old general -sat in a McClellan saddle, and the tremendous enthusiasm of newly -joined "sub" still remains. The very thought of a wagon arouses his -indignation, and every day the mules are brought into the riding-hall, -and the men initiated into the intricacies of the "diamond hitch." It -takes a past-master to pack a mule in twenty-two seconds, however, and -I saw that feat accomplished in General Henry's command. - -It is a grand thing for the young men to have this practical training -by these old veterans of the civil war and the alkali plains before -they go on the retired list. It is well for a young man to know enough -not to unsaddle a sweating troop of horses in a broiling sun, and to -learn that it makes sore backs; and it is quite important if men can -cook rations, and not go up to the sky-line of a hill when scouting, -and rival the statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World," when it is -clearly their business to throw what light they have behind them and -not before. It takes experience to put the sole of a boot back on the -upper, when it has fetched loose, with four horseshoe nails, and it is -not every man that knows that the place to intrench is on the edge of -a cut bank, near water, if one expects ever to get out of a round-up. -No one can figure that a recruit will know how many people passed over -the road before him, or which way they were going, and it takes a long -head and good nerves not to pull a trigger unless the sight is dark on -the object when the fight may last all day and probably all night; but -all these things are not taught in school. If a horse under him is -weakening on a long march in an enemy's country, it is an ignorant -fool who uses a spur instead of good sense. That's the time to unload -a few dollars' worth of government property. But who can understand -the value of a rubber blanket, fifty rounds of ammunition, and a -pocket full of grub, with a feed of grain in the bag, but one who has -tried it? There are lots of dead soldiers who would have learned these -lessons if they had been older. In my opinion, the tremendous box of -tricks which Uncle Sam's horses are supposed to carry has put more men -afoot than will ever be admitted; but at least the old boot has gone, -though there is yet room for an intelligent hand with a jack-plane to -shave off that cavalry pack. I am inclined to take what every one -tells me is a "cranky" view on this subject, but let it stand until -the next hard campaign, and I hope to be able to be more lucid. Horses -are horses, and horses are not made of wood, iron, or by rule of -thumb. - -To revert to Fort Meyer: it is altogether refreshing; it is worth any -one's while to go there and see four troops of cavalry which cannot be -beaten, and it is positively exhilarating to meet their creator, a -thoroughly typical United States cavalry officer, and I'm bound to say -his successor in command has had a hard pace set for him. - - - - -THE AFFAIR OF THE --TH OF JULY - - -The following is a letter from a young military aide-de-camp who was -in position to see a great deal of the great riots in Chicago. - -_Chicago, July -- 18--_ - -MY DEAR FRIEND,--In your last you ask me to give you my experiences in -the affair of the other day here in Chicago, and although I played but -a small part, yet I do not mind adding my little quota to the volumes -of matter already written on the subject. To begin with, we at -headquarters had known for sometime that the turbulent elements were -organizing an opposition to Federal authority, and indeed after the -demoralization of the police power in the affairs of Monday and -Tuesday, the general issued his proclamation putting the city under -martial law. The people were ordered to keep within their own doors, -under penalty of shooting or drum-head court-martial, after seven -o'clock in the evening, and it was also explained that any domicile -harboring an active enemy was to be reduced by the sharpest means at -command. The reinforcements arrived on Tuesday, and militia and police -were embodied in our command. I had been out on a patrol with a troop -of the Third Cavalry late in the afternoon, and I reported to the -general that there was an ominous lull in the city, and that I feared -the enemy were to take some active measures. We had tried, -unsuccessfully, to locate the rifles looted from the gun-stores, and -also to find anything like a rendezvous of insurgents. The better -class of people had nearly all left the city, and what remained were -guarding their business property. Chicago streets, usually so teeming -with human life, were almost deserted. No smoke came from the big -chimneys, and the shops were shuttered and boarded up. A great many -honest people of small means were much put to it to obtain food, and I -cannot but tell you how I saw some of the troopers divide their -rations with the citizens. At the time we had no intimation of the -serious turn affairs would take on, but the remark of the general's, -that "every soldier will die right in his tracks," had gone the rounds -of the camps, and nerved the men to face the music. I was eating my -dinner in the Chicago Club when I thought I heard rifle-shots. This -was about nine o'clock, and the moon was shining on the Lake Front, -although the side streets were dark, since the lights were out all -over the city. In a minute more a squad of cavalry swept up the street -at full gallop. They were heading for the general's tent, and I -grabbed my cap and ran down-stairs three steps at a time. As I made my -way along Michigan Avenue I could hear carbine-shots over in the city, -and shortly all the bugles giving "The Assembly." - -I got to headquarters, and met old Hewer of the Seventh, and it was -his troops which had come in; he told me they were then standing off a -mob, which was returning the fire down in the city. - -I got an order from the general to deliver to the lower section of the -camp, and getting on my "wheel" (which is better for this work than a -horse), I pulled out. I delivered my order to Colonel Loftowne, and -then waited to observe things, as I was to report back to -headquarters. Rawball's battery went into "action front," two -sections to a street. They were loaded, and then down on the next -corner came the order through the still night to fire. A terrific -flash illuminated the black square, and then with a howl down the long -street went the 2-3/4 inch, and far down in the darkness I could see -her explode; then all was silent. The signal-rockets were going from -the top of the Auditorium, and I saw the answering upward sweep of the -balls of fire as they were replied to farther down the street. We were -on the extreme right, which was below the Art Building, and were -ordered to move for an attack on the streets of the city _en échelon_. -The guns limbered up, and, escorted by two companies of infantry, we -passed into the dim light. At the corner of Wabash Avenue we halted. - -Four or five blocks down we could both hear and see rifle-firing, -evidently directed on our camp, and also a great crowd. At this -juncture we heard a most awful explosion, dull and not like a -rifle-canon. "Dynamite!" we all exclaimed in a breath. - -"Cut the fuse to zero! Fire!" And with a terrific crash the missile -sped on its way. "I think that street will be clear for a spell," -drawled the captain, in his delicious old Georgia manner, as he got -his guns in motion. We could hear the occasional boom of a 3-inch and -the loud grinding of the Gatlings, and we knew it was enfilading our -fire. The rifle-fire was silenced down the city, and the mob, as we -judged by the noise, was running away. Over in the direction of the -post-office we then heard rifle-shots. - -"That's that outpost of the Twenty-seventh guarding the building," we -said to each other. It fairly crackled now--"giving 'em hot stuff." - -"Halt!" came the command, and the men stopped. "We will wait here for -orders." - -"What do you suppose that report was?" we asked each other as we stood -on the curbing. - -"It must have been dynamite. I know the sound of this ordnance too -well to be mistaken," commented the captain of artillery. "What's -that? Hark!" as a clatter sounded on the pavement in our rear. "It's a -horse coming at full speed. Spread out, men, and stop him." And, sure -enough, a frightened cavalry horse came charging into the midst of the -infantry, and was only stopped after he had knocked down two men. - -"He only has a halter on; he's got away from the picket line; here, -boys--here comes another." This one in turn was stopped, and two more -which followed directly. Detailed men were sent back with the horses, -while I went also to make my report. As I sped on ahead I was startled -by a shot, and with a sputter I heard the bullet go to pieces at my -feet. I looked around, and from the dark of a window came a flash and -another sputter. - -"D---- him, he is firing at me," I ejaculated, and I made the pedals -fly. I had no idea of stopping, but I thought I could remember the -building; and thinks I, "I am not after game, but whoever you are, -I'll hunt you up, my lad." - -At headquarters everything was bustle. - -"Some one exploded a big dynamite bomb right in the street, in front -of the Fifth Infantry camp," said Captain Moss to me, "and killed four -men and wounded a dozen more. Some of the cavalry horses broke away -from the picket lines and stampeded," he went on. - -The hospital tents were ablaze with light, and I knew that the -surgeons were at their grewsome work. - -I reported for orders, and shortly was given one to deliver at my old -post. Back I sped, and came near tumbling into a big hole, which I -knew had been made by the dynamite bomb. I will go down another street -and cross over, so as to avoid that fellow who potted at me, I -reasoned; but before I turned off I saw the two infantrymen and the -four old cavalry horses coming along. - -"Oh, lieutenant," they called, and I went up to them. "We saw that -fellow shoot at you, and McPherson held the horses and I slipped down -the dark side of the street and located him. He stuck his head out of -the window, and I rested across a door-post and let him have it." - -"Did you hit him?" - -"Well, you kin bet! He came out of that window like a turkey out of a -pine-tree. A little slow at first, but kerflop at last." - -So I took the street of my late enemy, and had a look at a dark object -which lay on the sidewalk under the house I had located. In response -to the order I bore, the infantry advanced to develop any opposition -which there might be. Men were thrown out in front, and the heavy body -marched in rear. We had proceeded this way for some blocks with no -sound but the dropping rifle-fire some quarter of a mile to our left -and behind us, when we began to find men huddled in doorways, who were -promptly taken prisoners and disarmed, and sent to the rear. Some bore -rifles and all had revolvers, and a hard-looking set they were. The -artillery fire had demoralized them, and whatever they were to have -done they had abandoned after the first shell had gone shrieking and -crashing down the street. - -"They'll get a drum-head in the morning, and it won't sit ten -minutes," mused an officer. "I suppose they are anarchists. Well, they -ought to like this; this is a sort of anarchy. It's the best we have -got in our shop." - -These words were scarcely spoken before a blinding flash lit up the -street as lightning might. A tremendous report followed, and I was -knocked down right over my bicycle, which I was trundling. I was up in -an instant, and with a ringing clash an object had fallen at my feet -and struck my leg a smart blow, which pained me considerably. I -reached down and picked up a Springfield rifle barrel without lock or -stock. A dynamite cartridge had been exploded in our front. The -infantry hesitated for a moment. Many men had been flung on their -backs by the force of the concussion. "Forward!" was the command, and -dropping my bicycle, I followed the dark figures of the infantry as -they made their way down the sides of the streets. Half a block ahead -was a great hole in the pavement, and the sidewalk was littered with -cobble-stones and débris from the walls of the surrounding buildings. -The bomb had been exploded over the advance-guard, and had destroyed -it utterly. Which building had it come from? We stood in the doorways, -and held our breath and waited. A stone dropped in the street with a -crash. A tiny light appeared in one of the upper windows of a tall -narrow office building. It disappeared instantly, and all was dark. -Two men put their heads out of the window. "See-e!" I hissed, as a -soldier drew up his rifle. All was quiet. The two heads peered down -the street, and then whispered together, when shortly we caught the -hollow echo of the words, "D---- 'em, they don't want any more." - -"Now run for it," said the captain in command, who was a big fellow, -and we all scampered off down the street to our main body. What we had -discovered was reported to the battery commander. He swore a great -oath. - -"Bring that gun up here to this side; boost her on to the sidewalk. -Come, get hold here, you fellows; lend us a hand; run her along a -little; train her on that doorway. Now fire!" And then, in a high -voice, "Captain, let your men cover that house with rifle-fire, and -detail some men to break into a store and get inflammables." - -The big gun went with a deafening crash, and the doorway was in -slivers. A dropping rifle-fire rained into the windows. Crash went the -big gun after a minute, but the building was dark and silent, as -though holding their sputtering toys in contempt. - -"I'm going to burn that building. Send a man to call out the fire -department!" roared the old captain, who had now lost all his -drawling, and was bellowing like a bull. After a time infantrymen came -along with their arms full of bottles and cans of kerosene, and I know -not what else. They had broken into a drug-store, and told the -proprietor, who was found there in the darkness with his three clerks, -to give them the most inflammable substances at his command. - -The squad of infantry formed on the side of the street occupied by the -ill-fated house, and as the big gun crashed and the rifle-fire -redoubled, they dashed down the street and swarmed into the building. - -"Keep up that rifle-fire!" howled the senior officer. It was bang! -bang! bang! for a full minute, when a flash of light lit up the -doorway, and with a rush out came the squad, and made its way to us on -the run. - -"We have fired the elevator shaft," said a young officer, breathing -heavily with excitement. The doorway was very light now, and shortly -the second-story windows over it showed yellow. Windows farther up the -tall building began to redden and then to glow brightly. It was ten -minutes now since the first gleam of fire, and the rifles had ceased. -The building was now ablaze. A huge roaring was heard, and the black -smoke poured from the hall windows, while the side windows were yet -dark. A harsh yelling came from the window where I had seen the little -match struck, and the thick black smoke eddied around and hid it all. - -"By sections--forward--trot--march," and with a dash we moved forward -past the roaring furnace and down into the darkness below. - -"My orders were to move forward," muttered the old captain, as he bit -at a plug of tobacco. - -It was now nearly twelve o'clock, and I could hear a great deal of -small-arm firing down the city on my left in front, and also the boom -of cannon away on the other side of town. Shortly a note was handed me -by an adjutant, and I was to go to a command on a street nearly in -front of headquarters. I sped along, and shortly met men by twos and -threes, wounded men going to camp, and two fellows sitting on the -curbing. "Where is Captain B----'s command, my men?" - -"Right on down the street--me bunkie's got it," was all I heard as I -shot along. - -The rifle-fire grew, and the crash of a Hotchkiss came at intervals. -Then I made out a small infantry reserve, and then the guns. I found -the captain, and delivered my note. - -"Wait by me," said the captain, as he went into a doorway and read the -order by scratching matches on his pantaloons, and the Hotchkiss -nearly broke my ear-drums. "Wait a minute or so," said the captain, as -he crushed the note into his trousers-pocket. - -I waited, and a "kid" of the reserves, whom I knew, greeted me and -explained. "They are in the depot, and we are going to carry it by -storm in a minute." - -Again the Hotchkiss went, and "Come on!" rang the order as the men -moved forward. It was the captain, and he wanted me to "wait a -minute," so, thinks I, I will wait near him; and pulling my bicycle -into a dark doorway, I waited along by the captain, near the head of -the procession. As we moved out from the protection of the street the -report of a Hotchkiss nearly threw me from my pins, and then we ran -silently under a rather hot fire from the windows and doorways. I -heard the balls strike--a dull slap--and a man stumbled forward ahead -of me and dropped. I sprang over him, and was soon out of fire, and -with the little column passed through the big doorway under which I -had so often passed with my gripsack and on the _qui vive_ for a -hansom-cab driver. There was a tremendous rattle of fire, the bullets -struck the stonework viciously; the hollow pat sounded, and men sank -reeling and lay prone under my feet. We piled in and returned the -fire. It was all smoke now; nothing distinguishable. "Come on!" came a -voice which interlarded itself with the reports, and we went on -wildly. We were now out of the smoke, and then I saw, by the light of -a fire, figures running. A man fired in our faces. He was sitting up; -a bayonet went into him, and he rolled over, clutching his breast with -his hands. "The house is on fire!" came the cry, and the infantry -continued to discharge on the retreating figures. A great flash -lighted everything, and as my senses returned, it came over me "that -was a bomb." I passed my hand over my eyes. The building was on fire. -I could see men lying around me breathing heavily and groaning. I got -up; a voice said, "Get these men out of here!" "Get these men out of -here!" I echoed, as I grabbed a big Irish sergeant, and supporting him -under the arms, I strove forward. The living soldiers took hold of the -dead and wounded comrades, and bore them back through the smoke and -into the street. The station was now on fire, and every one was -highly excited, for these bombs made strange work, and were very -demoralizing. They did no particular good to the enemy beyond that -point, since they did not stop our advance, and they also demoralized -the enemy quite as much as ourselves. There seemed to be no further -opposition to the troops. I went back to head-quarters, got my horse, -and received permission to go with a detachment of cavalry. We pulled -out up Michigan Avenue. We were to scout and make a junction with -stock-yard troops out to the south of the city or in Washington Park. -The moon was going down, and there was no sound but the clattering of -the troops and the jingle of the sabres. We passed a large squad of -police, with their lanterns, moving out south to protect private -residences and arrest prowlers. Ahead of us we heard three -revolver-shots, and galloping forward, we were hailed by a voice from -a window. "They have been trying to break into my house, catch them; -they are running up the street." The road here was very wide, with two -rows of trees in the centre and narrow grass-plots. - -"Come on!" shouted the captain, and spurring up, we moved forward. - -"There they are, captain: can't you see them?" spoke the old first -sergeant, as he drove his horse forward to the captain's side. - -We rode over the grass-plot, and, sure enough, forms were seen to run -up the steps of houses and behind shrubbery. - -"Dismount!--shoot them down!" came the command, and the men sprang -forward with a rush. A revolver flashed, and was followed by a dozen -carbine-balls, and from the blackness of a high front stoop rolled a -figure grunting and gasping. Shot after shot rang through the -darkness, and the troopers routed the vermin from step and shrubbery, -until shortly it ceased. - -"Captain, here is Foltz--he's been shot; and McInerny--he's shot too." - -I sprang up the steps of a great stone mansion and pounded on the door -with the butt of my six-shooter. A window was raised and a head peered -out. "What do you want?" - -"We are United States cavalry, and we have two wounded men. Open your -doors; we want you to put them to bed," and the window went down with -a bang. Shortly the bolts were drawn, the door opened, and an old -gentleman with white hair and carrying a lamp appeared. - -"Certainly; bring them right in, captain," said the old gentleman, and -the two men were carefully lifted and borne in by their comrades. I -helped to carry one man up-stairs, and to take off his great boots and -to strip him. - -"Is there a doctor near here, sir?" I asked. - -"Right across the street; will I send my man?" - -"Yes, and a-running, too," replied a comrade, who was stanching the -blood on the man's chest with a bed-sheet. - -We laid the man out, and I paused to note the splendor of the -apartment, and to think it none too good for a brave soldier. The -doctor came shortly, and I left the house. The troop was mounted and -moved on. From a mansion across the street came a shot and loud -shouting. We rode up and dismounted. There was a light in the front -room and the door was open. The captain sprang up the steps, followed -by ten or twelve men. As we entered we saw a half-dozen of the most -vicious-looking wretches I have ever seen. They were evidently drunk, -and did not comprehend the import of our presence. One man raised a -champagne-bottle and threatened the captain. A carbine flashed--the -report was almost deafening--and the drunken man dropped the bottle, -threw up his hand, turned half round, and sank with a thud. - -"Take these men out and shoot them, sergeant." And the now thoroughly -terrorized revellers, to the number of six, were dragged, swearing and -beseeching, to the pavement, and I heard shots. - -The room we were in was magnificent, but in the utmost disorder. The -floor was strewn with broken bottles, vases, and bric-à-brac. - -A form appeared in the door. It was a woman. She was speechless with -terror, and her eyes stared, and her hands were clutched. We removed -our hats, and the woman closed her eyes slowly. - -"Look out, captain, she's going to faint!" I cried. - -The captain slapped his hat on with a crush. - -"That's what she's going to do," he said, as he stood like a -football-rusher before the ball is put in play. - -"Grab her!" I shouted; and, with a bound, the captain made a high -tackle just as the lady became limp. Out in the hall I jumped, and -yelled, "Oh, you people up-stairs there, come down; come running; the -lady has fainted; we are soldiers; come down; come down; come down, -somebody!" And from the upper darkness a white-robed figure glided -past me into the lighted room. - -"Oh, I'm so glad!" she said, as she swept up to the rather engaging -scene of the beautiful woman and the captain, who was "not glad," -judging from his disconcerted air; and to make a story short, we left -the house. - -As we mounted we could see the darkness beginning to gray, and knew -that morning would come shortly. - -"It's been a nasty night's work, but if it once comes daylight I'll -leave nothing of these rioters but their horrible memory," mused the -old captain. - -"There is a glow in the sky off there--don't you see?" I added. - -"Fire! Oh, I've expected that." - -As the light grayed I could see the doors of majestic residences open, -windows broken, and débris trailing down the steps. - -"Looted." - -"There are people ahead--trot!" said the captain, half turning in his -saddle. The bray of the trumpet was followed by the jingle of the -forward movement. - -The captain pulled off to the side and shouted, "No prisoners, men--no -prisoners!" And the column swept along. - -We could make out more human forms, all running by the side of the -road. There were more and more fugitives as we drew nearer. - -"Come on," sang out the first lieutenant, as he put his horse into a -gallop and drew his six-shooter; and shortly we were among them, -scattering them like chaff and firing revolver-shots into them. Up the -side streets they went, scampering, terrorized. - -"I guess they will keep that gait for a mile," said the lieutenant, as -he turned grinning to me. "That is the outfit which has been looting -down Michigan Avenue. I wish the light would come, and we'll give 'em -hot stuff." - -At Washington Park we dismounted, and shortly were joined by B Troop -from Hordon's command. They told us they had been fighting all night, -and that the stockyards and many buildings were on fire. They had -encountered opposition, which seemed to be armed and to have some -organization, but, laughing, he said, "They couldn't stand the 'hot -stuff.'" - -After this we made the ride back. It was now light, and as we rode -slowly, men dismounted at intervals, and did some pretty work at -rather long ranges with the carbines. The enemy would see us coming, -and start to run up side streets, and then, riding forward, we -dismounted and potted at them, I saw a corporal "get a man" who was -running upwards of six blocks away--it was luck, of course. The police -were now seen posted along at intervals, and were going into houses to -tell the people of the order to remain in-doors for twenty-four hours -more, which was the latest from headquarters, and I suppose was -intended to give the police and troops an opportunity to seek out -armed insurgents. - -I got back to camp, dismounted, and, being hungry, bethought me of the -Auditorium for breakfast. I didn't think, after the pounding the hotel -had gotten in the early evening previous, that they would come out -strong on an early breakfast, but they did fairly well. You remember -Ed Kennedy, the popular clerk there--well, he was shot and badly -wounded while behind the desk, after the bomb drew our fire. He will -get around all right, I am told. - -I saw some of the execution of those hundreds of prisoners next day, -but I didn't care to see much. They piled them on flat-cars as though -they had been cordwood, and buried them out in the country somewhere. -Most of them were hobos, anarchists, and toughs of the worst type, and -I think they "left their country for their country's good." Chicago is -thoroughly worked up now, and if they keep with the present attention -to detail, they will have a fine population left. The good citizens -have a monster vigilance committee, and I am afraid will do many -things which are not entirely just, but it is the reaction from -lawlessness, and cannot be helped. They have been terribly exasperated -by the rioting and license of the past. Of course, my dear friend, all -this never really happened, but it all might very easily have happened -if the mob had continued to monkey with the military buzz-saw. - -Yours faithfully, JACK. - -[Illustration: "WE WERE NOW OUT OF THE SMOKE"] - - - - -THE COLONEL OF THE FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY - - -"You certainly are a tough outfit, colonel--you and your night-hawks -of the First Bikes--and I am not sure you could not have us cavalrymen -going to bed with our boots on, if we were on the other side," said -Major Ladigo, as he bit at the end of a fresh cigar. - -"Yes--bless me--Pedal's outfit might come into camp on top of yours, -Ladigo, and where would my guns be then? I can't have my gunners -sitting on their trails all day and all night too," sighed the big -gunner, from the other end of the tent. - -"It was good work," continued the old brigadier--"here, boy, pass -those glasses--and I have always thought well of the possibilities of -that machine in a certain sort of military operations. I don't think -you can chase Apaches with it--in fact, the only way to chase Apaches -is to agree to pay about $500 a head for them; and, also, I don't -think, Colonel Pedal--with all due respect for your enthusiasm--that -you could ever become of all-absorbing interest in great operations -between organized armies, but I do not want to commit myself since you -seem to accomplish such feats in these days. If we had not had a -really progressive man at the head of the army you would not have had -this opportunity; but now, Pedal, all these fellows want to hear about -your outfit, and especially how you conducted that affair at North -Colville--they all want to know--go ahead now--we have plenty of time -to listen," and Colonel Pedal of the First Bikes twirled his forage -cap in his two hands and grinned pleasantly. - -"Well--it was simple enough," he said. - -"Oh yes--it's simple now, but how did you get at it?" was the remark -of encouragement from somewhere. - -"Oh, well, you know, when I had organized and drilled this regiment, -the people up at headquarters used me in a fussy way as orderlies, -messengers, and in light outpost work, until my outfit was scattered -all over this country, and that was not my idea at all. I knew by long -experiment that bicycles were perfectly mobile in any country not -strictly mountainous, and my idea was that I could fight my outfit in -a new way; but fight it, that was my idea--and march it, too. I wanted -a few holes in that flag, and so I used to go up and labor with the -general. I pleaded and begged to be turned loose. So one afternoon the -general sent for me, and I went to headquarters. - -"He said that a big band of insurgents were gathering and organizing -up at North Colville, and that he wanted them destroyed or dispersed, -and asked me if I could do it without asking for supports. I knew the -old man had all he could do to open the communications to the west, -and that he was going to give the bikes a try to prove what they were -good for, so I said 'Yes, sir,' right away, though I did not know the -situation thoroughly; but I wanted a job of that sort, and I was in -for it. So he gave me orders to that effect, and after some inquiries -I left him. Through spies he knew of this condition, and that all the -communications were cut except the marine cable, which he laid in the -bed of the Kaween River to Northport, and that was thirty miles from -North Colville. I knew that all those upper counties were in a state -of insurgency, and my orders were to destroy the rendezvous at North -Colville and to then retreat; so my chief concern was to get through -the country without being stopped or engaged seriously by intervening -bodies of the enemy which I might encounter, and says I to myself, -says I, 'Old man, show 'em what bikes are good for.' Pardon me if I -become enthusiastic. I started down to my command, fell in my men, -with two days' rations and one hundred and fifty rounds. I made my -inspection, for, of course, you know, bike soldiers have a very -complicated equipment; what with bombs, telegraphic apparatus, tools, -and the extra parts of wheels, one must look well to his inspection. -They have the Rice equipment--combined cartridge-belts and -garment--which enables them to carry almost anything on the -shoulder-belt. At five o'clock we pulled out, and at dark found -ourselves at our extreme outposts, as I had calculated. I did not want -the enemy to see me, as I was afraid of the telegraph, but as I -proceeded I tapped the wires and cut them again and again. In fact, I -cut wires all night, for fear that they might not have been destroyed, -or that they might have been repaired. I ran smoothly through little -hamlets, and knew that I could not be overtaken. I made a slight -detour around villages of any size, such as Wooddale, Rockville, and -Freeport, for fear that the insurgents might be in force enough to -detain me. Back of Wellsville I got awfully tangled up in a woods, -and, in short, was lost; but I jumped an old cit. out of his cosey -bed, put a .45 on the cabin of his intellect, a flash-lantern in his -two eyes, and he looked sufficiently honest and intelligent to show us -the road, which he did, and we were not detained long. - -"I felt fear of Emmittstowne, as I had information that the insurgents -were in force there. We picked up a man on the road who seemed to be -one of our sympathizers, and he informed us that there were pickets -all along the road which we were travelling, and also mounted -patrols. He said that there were a terrible lot of insurgents in -Emmittstowne, but mostly drunk. - -[Illustration: OFFICER AND MEN--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY] - -"Captain Bidewell, who was in command of the advance, did a rather -clever piece of work here. He suspected that he would find a picket at -a certain place, and sent a dismounted squad on either side of the -road, which was bounded by meadow land with stone-walls, brush, and -trees on either side, and he himself walked down the road with two -men. They talked loudly, as though drunk, and sure enough, were -shortly held up by the picket. They surrendered and expostulated in a -loud voice, and offered their captors a bottle of whiskey. The advance -closed in on them and even got in their rear, and, of course, held up -the picket without a shot. A six-shooter argument used on these people -shortly disclosed the conditions, and we advanced." - -"Say, colonel, I know that Bidewell; he is organizing a bike regiment -out West now--met him as I came through," interpolated a medical -major. - -"Yes--nice fellow--held the ten-mile record for two years before this -trouble," replied Pedal; "but, as I was saying-- - -"Here is _How!_ gentlemen! - -"Well, to continue--to show you a curious phase of bicycling--my -advance ran a picket farther along the road and were fired on, but, -bless me, they had gone through so quickly and silently that they were -not hurt, and the sergeant, who was very wise, dismounted and blew his -whistle for us to advance. Bidewell dismounted and immediately -advanced, and the picket, hearing his men smashing brush, retreated, -and the sergeant turned a pistol loose in their faces and bellowed for -them to go out in the road, throw up their hands, and surrender, which -they did. You see, Colonel Ladigo, it is very hard to estimate bike -forces in the night, they go so silently--they simply flit; and when -you first notice them you wonder how many have gone before. A sleepy -picket is waked up by a lot of bellowing and shots and smashing of -brush, and he doesn't know anything, especially if the row is half in -his rear. Well, the shooting must have aroused the village of -Emmittstowne, and I made up my mind to run right into the town. The -moon was rising, and we could see fairly well; but first I tried a -little ruse with the captured picket. We advanced down the road a -piece, and the men ensconced themselves in the brush, while one of the -captured men stood in the middle of the road. We heard quite a party -coming up the road rapidly, and the picket called out to them that it -was nothing--that they had fired at some shadows, and that they might -go back. Two men actually advanced to him, but he insisted that all -was right, and that they might return; in fact, he protested too much, -since he knew that he was lying for his life, and that the date of his -demise was fixed at the instant he told the truth. We gave the town -half an hour to settle down, and then started on a down -grade--coasting silently. All was still. There were lights in a few -saloons, and a half-dozen men, who were immediately held up and -disarmed. There was evidence of a great many people in the village, -since wagons and horses stood about, and tents and huts were -everywhere except on the main street. I stopped in front of the hotel, -and, do you know, my column got three-quarters of the way through the -town before we were discovered. My column is three-quarters of a mile -long, you must remember, and that was very fortunate. Some one fired a -shot from a darkened window of the hotel, and I ordered my men to use -their revolvers. A man can shoot a revolver with great accuracy from -a wheel, as it glides so smoothly. Well, there was a deuce of a -popping, and it must have fairly riddled the town. The fire was -shortly returned, but in a desultory way which did not seem to do any -damage, and shortly the tail of the column passed down the street. I -had set the hotel on fire before we left, and I really do not think -that those fellows know what really happened there yet. I immediately -cut the telegraph line, and now had nothing to interfere with my march -to North Colville. I had two bikes ruined by shots, and abandoned the -riders; but they made their way to our lines later. As we proceeded -the country grew more flat, and we made the pedals spin; at times we -overtook night prowlers--tramps, for the most part--and one rather -large party of drunken insurgents, all of whom we disarmed and left -tied to trees and fences along the road. Do you know, Ladigo, that one -cannot hear my whole regiment on a road until it is right on top of -you. I have frequently seen men ride a bicycle right up beside a man, -who never heard a word until ordered to throw up his hands." - -"Oh yes, Pedal, I'd like to catch your outfit at the foot of a long -hill; I would fire yellow-legs into you in a way you would despise," -interpolated the impetuous cavalryman, as he blew smoke at the -ridge-pole and slapped his one leg over the other in a satisfied way. - -"Yes, you might, Ladigo; but I'm going to spend my life trying not to -let you catch me at the foot of a long hill, and if you do, you will -find about one hundred bicycles piled up in the road, and it makes bad -travelling for horses, especially with unshaken infantry pointing at -you from behind. Well, in this case, Ladigo, I did not have any of -your enterprising yellow-legs to bother me. As I was saying, we went -along swimmingly until we struck Cat-tail Creek, and found the bridge -burned. It was rather chilly, but I knew there was no help for it, so -we got out our air-cushions and did our little swimming drill right -there." - -"What are your air-cushions?" inquired the medical officer with the -long pipe. - -"They are made of rubber, and blow up, and will sustain five -equipments, and weigh fourteen pounds. Every five men have one," -explained Pedal. - -"Oh, I see--a quaint scheme!" - -"Yes; bikes are perfectly mobile," continued Pedal, with satisfaction. -"As I was saying--oh yes, we got over the river all right, but--" and -here he glanced apprehensively at Ladigo--"but I forgot to mention -that we lost fifteen bicycles in the passage." - -"Ha-ha! oh yes--there are your dismounted men," and Colonel Ladigo -beamed. - -"I think horses would have stuck in the mud of Cattail Creek, Ladigo; -fact is, horses are not perfectly mobile. I also neglected to mention -that the bicycles were all fished up and joined us later. We halted on -a hill off the road an hour before gray dawn, to wait for the command -to close up and to eat. There are always bikes which break down, and -it takes a little time to repair them; and men will fall and injure -themselves more or less. But within an hour I had my command all up -except five men, having marched nearly seventy miles in eleven hours, -had one engagement, crossed a river. And now, Colonel Ladigo, was that -not good work?" - -"Oh yes, Pedal, quite good--quite good; could do it myself, though," -and the soul of a cavalryman was bound to assert itself. - -"Undoubtedly you could, but not next day." And Pedal lit a cigar, -conscious that he had Ladigo downed, but not finally suppressed. - -[Illustration: AMBULANCE CORPS--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY] - -"My men down the road took in a cavalry patrol without a -shot--actually took in a cavalry--" - -"Hump--hump!" snorted Ladigo; "cavalry forsooth--a lot of d---- jays -on plough-teams; cavalry, sir--" - -"Here--here, Ladigo, come down," expostulated the assembled officers, -and Ladigo relapsed. - -"Well, after a reconnoissance and information from the patrol, I found -that there were over five thousand men rendezvoused there, partly -organized, and armed with all sorts of guns. Old Middle was in -command--you remember Middle, formerly of the Twenty-seventh Infantry, -cashiered at Fort Verde in '82." - -He was known to the men present, and a few sniffs and the remark that -"he was bad medicine" was all that greeted the memory of Middle. - -"From the patrol I found where their camps and lines and outworks to -cover the roads were, and also that it was but a quarter of a mile -across a wood-lot to the road which I had intended to retire by, which -ran southeast towards Spearfish and Hallam Junction, so I trundled my -bikes over to it, and laid them in a column formation off the road, -and left them under guard. I formed my command and turned some fellows -out of some rifle-pits, which were designed to protect the road, and -it was growing light. We charged into the town, which had been alarmed -by our fire directed at the men in the pits. The first thing we struck -was a long line of temporary camps, of what was probably a regiment, -which was on the other side of a railroad embankment; but they were in -a panic and offered us no resistance, while we advanced, rapidly -firing, and nearly destroyed them. As we entered the town I took one -battalion and directed it against the car-shops, which were full of -stores and troops: these men we also nearly destroyed; and, having set -fire to the shops, I entered the main part of the town, and as we -advanced I had it also fired. From my right I heard heavy firing, and -knew that the other command had encountered opposition; and turning to -my right I struck a second railroad embankment, swarming behind with -men who were standing off the advance of the other battalion. I -enfiladed them, and they retired precipitously. From the net-work of -railroad embankments farther up the flats north of Colville I could -see masses of men forming. They began firing at me from a great -distance, but we were protected by the railroad fill and did not mind -it; while our sharpshooters, with their arms of longer range, annoyed -the enemy quite a little, and kept up his demoralization. A great many -men had gotten away from the town when I had attacked the car-shops, -and I was in fear lest they might form in my rear under the cover of -the burning town, so I had my wounded removed rapidly to the hill -where my bikes were left, and then retreated rapidly under the cover -of the smoke. The enemy were left so completely in the air that they -advanced slowly, while from the cover of the brush on the upper edge -of a field I held them in play for an hour while my wounded got a good -start. At last they seemed to form, and approached to my right, going -around the smoke of the burning town, and as they outnumbered me four -to one, they would speedily have outflanked me. I began the retreat as -I had intended. I had thirty-eight badly wounded men who had to be -carried in blankets, fifty-six slightly wounded who would be trundled -on bicycles, and had left eighteen dead on the field." - -"I say, colonel, how do you remove wounded men on bicycles?" asked -some one. - -"It is simple when you see it, but rather difficult to explain. If you -will come down some day I will be glad to show you a wounded drill, -and then you can see for yourself. By cutting sticks and tying a -blanket or shelter-tent a desperately wounded man can be laid prone -between two bicycles, or if slightly hurt he can be trundled or even -ridden double with a comrade, while one man can move two and even -three bicycles. Oh, I tell you, the bike is a great contrivance once -you come to understand it," proceeded the Colonel of Cycle Infantry. - -"I should like to have fought those fellows a little harder, but I was -sixty miles inside of their lines, and I knew that to prolong the -affair would mean that they would be heavily reinforced, and besides -this was my first expedition. I had already destroyed the bigger half -of the enemy and burned the town, and I did not apprehend a vigorous -pursuit. What to do with my wounded was now on my mind. The country to -the east of North Colville is very broken, wild, and sparsely -inhabited. It had become necessary to abandon my wounded. I selected a -point over twelve miles from our battle-ground, far back from the -unfrequented road, in a very wild spot in the hills, and left every -man not able to travel there, with all our rations and two medical -officers, with ten men as a detail for the camp. My trail of course -continued, and they were never suspected. Coming to the valley of the -Spearfish I halted and slept my command until sundown, and then -started for our lines. On the way I rode into and demoralized a -half-dozen bands of armed insurgents, and struck our lines at five -o'clock in the morning." - -"What became of your wounded up there, colonel?" asked the medical -officer with the long pipe. - -"The evening following Captain Barhandle with fifty men started and -made a successful march to their relief, and left two more medical -officers and a lot of medical stores and rations, and came back three -days after. The camp was never discovered, and was relieved when the -general here made his first expedition into Wood County. They had -protected themselves from prowlers by waylaying the roads, and had a -dozen prisoners in camp, together with a half-dozen milch cows. My -bike men are excellent foragers, since they have been so much on -outpost duty." - -"Suppose, Colonel Pedal, you were forced to abandon your bicycles, -what would you do?" - -"We had a detachment on a scout the other day who were pressed into -some bad country and had to abandon their machines, which they did by -sinking them in Dead Creek, and the next day we went out and recovered -them. If it is desired to utterly destroy them, it can be done in an -instant by stepping on the wheel and 'buckling' it, or if you remove -the chain, it is useless to any one but yourself," explained the -colonel. - -"Now, colonel, do you consider that you can move your men successfully -in a hilly or mountainous country?" inquired Ladigo. - -"In all candor, no--not to a good advantage. I can march uphill as -fast as infantry, and go down at limited-express speed; but I really -want a rather flat country with lots of roads. I am not particular as -to the quality of the roads, so there are enough of them. I can move -through snow which has been tracked down by teams; I can fly on the -ice; and when it is muddy there is always an inch or so beside the -road which is not muddy, and that is enough for me. A favorable place -for a bicycle is along a railroad track--going in the centre or at one -side. When suddenly attacked, my men can get out of the road like a -covey of quail, and a bicycle can be trundled across the worst -possible country as fast as a man can travel, for you see all the -weight of the man's gun and pack are on the wheel, which runs without -any appreciable resistance, and all bike men know how to throw a -bicycle over a fence with ease, and my average march is eighty miles -a day. Ladigo, remember--eighty miles a day. No kind of roads, no -conditions of weather, or anything but superior force can stop my -command for an instant, sir;" and the colonel of cavalry rose and -added, "Colonel Pedal, will you have a drink with me?" - - - - -A MERRY CHRISTMAS IN A SIBLEY TEPEE - - -"Eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die." Not a good excuse, -but it has been sufficient on many occasions to be true. The soldier -on campaign passes life easily. He holds it in no strong grip, and the -Merry Christmas evening is as liable to be spent in the saddle in -fierce contact with the blizzard as in his cosey tepee with his -comrades and his scant cheer. The jug containing the spirits of the -occasion may have been gotten from a town fifty miles away on the -railroad. It is certainly not the distillation of the summer sunlight, -and is probably "tough" enough stuff to mingle naturally with its -surroundings; but if one "drinks no more than a sponge" he may not -have the jaded, retrospective feeling and the moral mending on the day -to come. To sit on a camp chest, and to try and forget that the -soldier's quart cup is not filled with best in the market, and then to -enter into the full appreciation of the picturesque occasion, is to -forget that long marches, "bull meat," and sleepless, freezing nights -are in the background. Pleasant hours sit so nicely in their -complemental surrounding of hard ones, since everything in the world -is relative. As to the eating in a cavalry camp on campaign, it is not -overdone, for beans and coffee and bacon and bacon and coffee and -beans come round with sufficient regularity to forestall all -gormandizing. The drinking is not the prominent feature either, but -helps to soften the asperities of a Dakota blizzard which is raging on -the other side of the "ducking." - -[Illustration: THE TOAST: "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"] - -The Sibley tent weaves and moans and tugs frantically at its pegs. The -Sibley stove sighs like a furnace while the cruel wind seeks out the -holes and crevices. The soldiers sit in their camp drawing-room -buttoned up to the chin in their big canvas overcoats, and the muskrat -caps are not removed. The freemasonry of the army makes strong -friendships, and soldiers are all good fellows, that being a part of -their business. There are just enough exceptions to prove the rule. -The cold, bloodless, compound-interest snarler is not in the army, and -if he were he would be as cheerless on a damp evening as he would in a -fight. One man is from Arizona, another from Washington, and the rest -from the other corners of Uncle Sam's tract of land. They have met -before, and memory after memory comes up with its laughter and pathos -of the old campaigns. One by one the "shoulder-straps" crawl in -through the hole in the tepee. And, mind you, they do not walk in like -a stage hero, with dash and abandon and head in the air; they -prostrate themselves like a Turk at prayer, and come crawling. If they -raise the flap ever so much, and bring company of the Dakota winds, -they are met with a howl of protests. After gaining erectness, they -brush the snow from their clothes, borrow a tin cup, and say, "How! -how!" - -The chief of scouts buttons up to his eyes, and must go look after his -"Inguns"; the officer of the day comes in to make his papers, and if -he keeps the flying jokes out of his statistics, he does well enough. -The second lieutenant, fresh from West Point, doesn't hesitate -to address the grizzled colonel of twenty campaigns--nay, he -may even deign to advise him on the art of war; but that is -unsatisfactory--the advising of colonels--because the colonel's advice -to the sub has always to be acted upon, whereas the sub's advice to -the colonel is mostly nullified by the great powers of discretion -which are vested in the superior rank. The life-study of a sub should -be to appear like the cuckoo-bird in a German clock--at the proper -moment; and when he appears at wrong intervals, he is repaired. -Colonels are terrible creatures, with vast powers for promoting -happiness or inflicting misery. If he will lend the moderating -influence of his presence, it is well; but if he sends his man around -to "present his compliments, and say that the d---- row will -immediately cease," his wishes if not his personality are generally -respected. - -It is never a late evening, such a one as this; it's just a few stolen -moments from the "demnition grind." The last arrival may be a -youngster just in from patrol, who explains that he just "cut the -trail of forty or fifty Sioux five miles below, on the crossing of the -White River;" and you may hear the bugle, and the bugle may blow quick -and often, and if the bugle does mingle its notes with the howling of -the blizzard, you will discover that the occasion is not one of -merriment. But let us hope that it will not blow. - -The toasts go around, and you use your tobacco in a miserly way, -because you can't get any more, since only to-day you have offered a -dollar for a small plug to a trooper, and he had refused to negotiate, -although he had pared off a small piece as a gift, and intimated that -generosity could go no further. Then you go to your tepee, half a mile -down the creek at the scout camp, and you stumble through the -snow-laden willows and face the cutting blast, while the clash and -"Halt!" of the sentinel stop you here and there. You pull off your -boots and crawl into your blankets quickly before the infernal Sibley -stove gives its sigh as the last departing spark goes up the chimney, -and leaves the winds and drifting snows to bellow and scream over the -wild wastes. - - - - -BEAR-CHASING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS - - -Mr. Montague Stevens is an Englishman who for the most part attends to -the rounding-up of his cattle, which are scattered over the -northwestern quarter of New Mexico; but he does not let that interfere -with the time which all Englishmen set duly apart to be devoted to -sport. His door-yard is some hundreds of miles of mountain wilderness -and desolate mesa--a more gorgeous preserve than any king ever dreamed -of possessing for his pleasure--with its plains dotted with antelope, -and its mountains filled with cougar, deer, bear, and wild turkeys. -The white race has given up the contest with nature in those -parts, and it has reverted to the bear, the Navajo, and Mr. -Stevens--land-grants, corrals, cabins, brands, and all else. - -General Miles was conducting a military observation of the country, -which is bound to be the scene of any war which the Apaches or Navajos -may make; and after a very long day's march, during which we had found -but one water, and that was a pool of rain-water, stirred into mud and -full of alkali, where we had to let our horses into the muddy stuff at -the ends of our lariats, we had at last found a little rivulet and -some green grass. The coffee-pot bubbled and the frying-pan hissed, -while I smoked and listened to a big escort-wagon driver, who was -repairing his lash, and saying, softly, "Been drivin' a bloody lot of -burros for thirty years, and don't know enough to keep a whip out -of a wheel; guess I'll go to jack-punchin', 'nen I kin use a dry -club." - -[Illustration: WATERING HORSES] - -Far down the valley a little cloud of dust gleamed up against the gray -of the mountains, and presently the tireless stride of a pony shone -darkly in its luminous midst. Nearer and nearer it grew--the flying -tail, the regular beating of the hoofs, the swaying figure of the -rider, and the left sleeve of the horseman's coat flapping -purposelessly about. He crossed the brook with a splash, trotted, and, -with a jerk, pulled up in our midst. Mr. Stevens is a tall, thin young -man, very much bronzed, and with the set, serious face of an -Englishman. He wore corduroy clothes, and let himself out of his -saddle with one hand, which he also presented in greeting, the other -having been sacrificed to his own shot-gun on some previous occasion. -Mr. Stevens brought with him an enthusiasm for bear which speedily -enveloped the senses of our party, and even crowded out from the mind -of General Miles the nobler game which he had affected for thirty -years. - -The steady cultivation of one subject for some days is bound to -develop a great deal of information, and it is with difficulty that I -refrain from herein setting down facts which can doubtless be found in -any good encyclopædia of natural history; but the men in the mountains -never depart from the consideration of that and one other subject, -which is brands, and have reached some strange conclusions--the -strangest being that the true Rocky Mountain grizzly is only seen once -in a man's lifetime, and that the biggest one they ever heard of -leaves his tracks in this district, and costs Mr. Stevens, roughly -estimating, about $416 a year to support, since that about covers the -cattle he kills. - -At break of day the officers, cavalrymen, escort-wagons, and -pack-train toiled up the Cañon Largo to Mr. Stevens's camp, which was -reached in good time, and consisted of a regular ranchman's -grub-wagon, a great many more dogs of more varieties than I could -possibly count, a big Texan, who was cook, and a professional -bear-hunter by the name of Cooper, who had recently departed from his -wonted game for a larger kind, with the result that, after the final -deal, a companion had passed a .45 through Mr. Cooper's face and -filled it with powder, and brought him nigh unto death, so that even -now Mr. Cooper's head was swathed in bandages, and his mind piled with -regrets that he had on at the time an overcoat, which prevented him -from drawing his gun with his usual precision. Our introduction to the -outfit was ushered in by a most magnificent free-for-all dog-fight; -and when we had carefully torn the snarling, yelling, biting mass -apart by the hind-legs and staked them out to surrounding trees, we -had time to watch Mr. Cooper draw diagrams of bear-paws in the dust -with a stick. These tracks he had just discovered up the Cañon Largo, -and he averred that the bear was a grizzly, and weighed 1800 pounds, -and that he had been there two years, and that all the boys had hunted -him, but that he was a sad old rascal. - -After lunch we pulled on up the cañon and camped. The tents were -pitched and the cooks busy, when I noticed three cowboys down the -stream and across the cañon, who were alternately leading their horses -and stooping down in earnest consultation over some tracks on the -ground. We walked over to them. There were Mr. Cooper, whose only -visible eye rolled ominously, and Dan, the S. U. foreman, with another -puncher. - -"He's usin' here," said Cooper. "That's his track, and there's his -work," pointing up the hill-side, where lay the body of a -five-year-old cow. We drew near her, and there was the tale of a -mighty struggle, all written out more eloquently than pen can do. -There were the deep furrows of the first grapple at the top; there was -the broad trail down the steep hill for fifty yards, with the stones -turned over, and the dust marked with horn and hoof and claw; and -there was the stump which had broken the roll down hill. The cow had -her neck broken and turned under her body; her shoulder was torn from -the body, her leg broken, and her side eaten into; and there were -Bruin's big telltale footprints, rivalling in size a Gladstone bag, as -he had made his way down to the stream to quench his thirst and -continue up the cañon. The cow was yet warm--not two hours dead. - -[Illustration: "DO YOU THINK THIS PONY IS GOING TO BUCK?"] - -"We must pull out of here; he will come back to-night," said Cooper. -And we all turned to with a will and struck the tents, while the cooks -threw their tins, bags, and boxes into the wagons, whereat we moved -off down wind for three miles, up a spur of the cañon, where we again -camped. We stood around the fires and allowed Mr. Cooper to fill our -minds with hope. "He'll shore come back; he's usin' here; an' cow -outfits--why, he don't consider a cow outfit nothin'. He's been right -on top of cow outfits since he's been in these parts, and thet two -years gone now, when he begun to work this yer range, and do the work -you see done yonder. In the mornin' we'll strike his trail, and if we -can git to him you'll shore see a bar-fight." - -We turned in, and during the night I was awakened twice--once by a -most terrific baying of all the dogs, who would not be quieted, and -later by a fine rain beating in my face. The night was dark, and we -were very much afraid the rain would kill the scent. We were up long -before daylight, and drank our coffee and ate our meat, and as soon as -"we could see a dog a hundred yards," which is the bear-hunter's -receipt, we moved off down the creek. We found that the cow had been -turned over twice, but not eaten--evidently Bruin had his suspicions. -The dogs cut his trail again and again. He had run within sight of our -camp, had wandered across the valley hither and yon, but the faithful -old hounds would not "go away." Dan sat on his pony and blew his old -cow's horn, and yelled: "Hooick! hooick! get down on him, Rocks; -hooick! hooick!" But Rocks could not get down on him, and then we knew -that the rain had killed the scent. We circled a half-mile out, but -the dogs were still; and then we followed up the Cañon Largo for -miles, and into the big mountain, through juniper thickets and over -malpais, up and down the most terrible places, for we knew that the -bear's bed-ground is always up in the most rugged peaks, where the -rimrock overhangs in serried battlements, tier on tier. But no bear. - -[Illustration: DAN AND ROCKS] - -Rocks, the forward hound, grew weary of hunting for things which were -not, and retired to the rear to pay court to a lady friend; and Dan -had to rope Rocks, and with some irritation he started his pony, and -Rocks kept the pace by dint of legging it, and by the help of a tow -from 900 pounds of horse-flesh. Poor Rocks! He understood his -business; but in consequence of not being able to explain to the men -what fools they were, he suffered. - -The hot mid-day sun of New Mexico soon kills the scent, and we were -forced to give over for the day. A cavalry sergeant shot three deer, -but we, in our superior purpose, had learned to despise deer. Later I -made a good two-hundred-yard centre on an antelope, and though I had -not been fortunate enough in years to get an antelope, the whole -sensation was flat in view of this new ambition. - -On the following morning we went again to our dead cow, but nothing -except the jackals had been at the bear's prey, for the wily old -fellow had evidently scented our camp, and concluded that we were not -a cow outfit, whereat he had discreetly "pulled his freight." - -We sat on our horses in a circle, and raised our voices. In -consideration of the short time at our disposal, we concluded that we -could be satisfied with taking 1800 pounds of bear on the instalment -plan. The first instalment was a very big piece of meat, but was--I am -going to confess--presented to us in the nature of a gift; but the -whole thing was so curious I will go into it. - -We hunted for two days without success, unless I include deer and -antelope; but during the time I saw two things which interested me. -The first was a revelation of the perfect understanding which a -mountain cow-pony has of the manner in which to negotiate the -difficulties of the country which is his home. - -Dan, the foreman, was the huntsman. He was a shrewd-eyed, little, -square-built man, always very much preoccupied with the matter in -hand. He wore a sombrero modelled into much character by weather and -time, a corduroy coat, and those enormous New-Mexican "chaps," and he -sounded a cow-horn for his dogs, and alternately yelped in a most -amusing way. So odd was this yelp that it caught the soldiers, and -around their camp-fire at night you could hear the mimicking shouts of -"Oh, Rocks! eh-h-h! hooick! get down on him, Rocks; tohoot! tohoot!" -We were sitting about on our horses in a little _sienneca_, while Dan -was walking about, leading his pony and looking after his dogs. - -When very near me he found it necessary to cross an _arróyo_ which -was about five feet deep and with perfectly perpendicular banks. -Without hesitation he jumped down into it, and with a light bound his -pony followed. At the opposite side Dan put up his arms on the bank -and clawed his way up, and, still paying no attention to his pony, he -continued on. Without faltering in the least, the little horse put his -fore-feet on the bank, clawed at it once, twice, jumped, scratched, -clawed, and, for all the world like a cat getting into the fork of a -tree, he was on the bank and following Dan. - -[Illustration: A DANGEROUS PLACE] - -Later in the day, when going to our camp, we followed one of Dan's -short-cuts through the mountains, and the cowboys on their mountain -ponies rode over a place which made the breath come short to the -officers and men behind; not that they could not cross themselves, -being on foot, but that the cavalry horses could they had their solemn -doubts, and no one but an evil brute desires to lead a game animal -where he may lose his life. Not being a geologist, I will have to say -it was a blue clay in process of rock formation, and in wet times held -a mountain torrent. The slope was quite seventy degrees. The approach -was loose dirt and malpais, which ran off down the gulch in small -avalanches under our feet. While crossing, the horses literally stood -on their toes to claw out a footing. A slip would have sent them, -belly up, down the toboggan-slide, with a drop into an unknown depth -at the end. I had often heard the cavalry axiom "that a horse can go -anywhere a man can if the man will not use his hands," and a little -recruit murmured it to reassure himself. I passed, with the loss of a -quarter of the skin on my left hand, and later asked a quaint old -veteran of four enlistments if he thought it was a bad place, and he -said, "It's lizards, not harses, what ought to go thar." - -Riding over the rough mountains all day sows poppyseeds in a man's -head, and when the big medical officer opens your tent-flaps in the -morning, and fills the walls with his roars to "Get up! it's four -o'clock," it is with groans that you obey. You also forego washing, -because you are nearly frozen stiff, and you go out and stand around -the fire with your companions, who are all cheerfully miserable as -they shiver and chaff each other. It seems we do not live this life on -a cold, calculating plane of existence, but on different lines, the -variation of which is the chief delight of the discriminating, and I -must record a distinct pleasure in elbowing fellows around a camp-fire -when it is dark and cold and wet, and when you know that they are -oftener in bed than out of it at such hours. You drink your quart of -coffee, eat your slice of venison, and then regard your horse with -some trepidation, since he is all of a tremble, has a hump on his -back, and is evidently of a mind to "pitch." - -The eastern sky grows pale, and the irrepressible Dan begins to "honk" -on his horn, and the cavalcade moves off through the grease-wood, -which sticks up thickly from the ground like millions of Omaha -war-bonnets. - -The advance consists of six or eight big blood-hounds, which range out -in front, with Dan and Mr. Cooper to blow the horn, look out for "bear -sign," and to swear gently but firmly when the younger dogs take -recent deer trails under consideration. Three hundred yards behind -come Scotch stag-hounds, a big yellow mastiff, fox-terriers, and one -or two dogs which would not classify in a bench-show, and over these -Mr. Stevens holds a guiding hand, while in a disordered band come -General Miles, his son, three army officers, myself, and seven -orderlies of the Second Cavalry. All this made a picture, but, like -all Western canvases, too big for a frame. The sun broke in a golden -flash over the hills, and streaked the plain with gold and gray -greens. The spirit of the thing is not hunting but the chase of the -bear, taking one's mind back to the buffalo, or the nobles of the -Middle Ages, who made their "image of war" with bigger game than red -foxes. - -[Illustration: "GONE AWAY"] - -Leaving the plain we wound up a dry creek, and noted that the small -oaks had been bitten and clawed down by bear to get at the acorns. The -hounds gave tongue, but could not get away until we had come to a -small glade in the forest, where they grew wildly excited. Mr. Cooper -here showed us a very large bear track, and also a smaller one, with -those of two cubs by its side. With a wild burst the dogs went away up -a cañon, the blood went into our heads, and our heels into the horses, -and a desperate scramble began. It is the sensation we have travelled -so long to feel. Dan and Cooper sailed off through the brush and over -the stones like two old crows, with their coat-tails flapping like -wings. We follow at a gallop in single file up the narrow, dry -watercourse. The creek ends, and we take to the steep hill-sides, -while the loose stones rattle from under the flying hoofs. The rains -have cut deep furrows on their way to the bed of the cañon, and your -horse scratches and scrambles for a foothold. A low, gnarled branch -bangs you across the face, and then your breath fairly stops as you -see a horse go into the air and disappear over a big log, fallen down -a hill of seventy degrees' slope. The "take-off and landing" is -yielding dust, but the blood in your head puts the spur in your horse, -and over you go. If you miss, it is a 200-foot roll, with a 1200-pound -horse on top of you. But the pace soon tells, and you see nothing but -good honest climbing ahead of you. The trail of the yelling dogs goes -straight up, amid scraggly cedar and juniper, with loose malpais -underfoot. We arrive at the top only to see Cooper and Dan disappear -over a precipice after the dogs, but here we stop. Bears always seek -the very highest peaks, and it is better to be there before them if -possible. A grizzly can run downhill quicker than a horse, and all -hunters try to get above them, since if they are big and fat they -climb slowly; besides, the mountain-tops are more or less flat and -devoid of underbrush, which makes good running for a horse. We -scatter out along the cordon of the range. The bag doing on the -rimrock of the mountain-tops, where the bear tries to throw off the -dogs, makes it quite impossible to follow them at speed, so that you -must separate and take your chances of heading the chase. - -[Illustration: TIMBER-TOPPING IN THE ROCKIES] - -I selected Captain Mickler--the immaculate, the polo-player, the -epitome of staff form, the trappiest trooper in the Dandy Fifth--and, -together with two orderlies, we started. Mickler was mounted on a -cow-pony, which measured one chain three links from muzzle to -coupling. Mickler had on English riding-togs--this is not saying that -the pony could not run, or that Mickler was not humorous. But it was -no new experience for him, this pulling a pony and coaxing him to -attempt breakneck experiments, for he told me casually that he had led -barefooted cavalrymen over these hills in pursuit of Apaches at a date -in history when I was carefully conjugating Latin verbs. - -We were making our way down a bad formation when we heard the dogs, -and presently three shots. A strayed cavalry orderly had, much to his -disturbance of mind, beheld a big silver-tip bearing down on him, jaws -skinned, ears back, and red-eyed, and he had promptly removed himself -to a proper distance, where he dismounted. The bear and dogs were much -exhausted, but the dogs swarmed around the bear, thus preventing a -shot. But Bruin stopped at intervals to fight the dogs, and the -soldier fired, but without effect. If men do not come up with the dogs -in order to encourage them, many will draw off, since the work of -chasing and fighting a bear without water for hours is very trying. -Only hounds can be depended on, as the tongues of other dogs thicken, -and they soon droop when long without water. Some of the dogs may -have followed the bear with cubs, but if they did we never heard of -them. The one now running was an enormous silver-tip, and could not -"tree." The shots of the trooper diverted the bear, which now took off -down a deep cañon next to the one we were in, and presently we heard -him no more. After an hour's weary travelling down the winding way we -came out on the plain, and found a small cow outfit belonging to Mr. -Stevens, and under a tree lay our dead silver-tip, while a half-dozen -punchers squatted about it. It appeared that three of them had been -working up in the foot-hills when they heard the dogs, and shortly -discovered the bear. Having no guns, and being on fairly good ground, -they coiled their _riatas_ and prepared to do battle. - -The silver-tip was badly blown, and the three dogs which had stayed -with him were so tired that they sat up at a respectful distance and -panted and lolled. The first rope went over Bruin's head and one paw. -There lies the danger. But instantly number two flew straight to the -mark, and the ponies surged, while Bruin stretched out with a roar. A -third rope got his other hind-leg, and the puncher dismounted and tied -it to a tree. The roaring, biting, clawing mass of hair was -practically helpless, but to kill him was an undertaking. - -"Why didn't you brand him and turn him loose?" I asked of the cowboy. - -"Well," said the puncher, in his Texan drawl, "we could have branded -him all right, but we might have needed some help in turning him -loose." - -They pelted him with malpais, and finally stuck a knife into a vital -part, and then, loading him on a pony, they brought him in. It was a -daring performance, but was regarded by the "punchers" as a great -joke. - -Mickler and I rode into camp, thinking on the savagery of man. One -never heard of a bear which travelled all the way from New Mexico to -Chicago to kill a man, and yet a man will go 3000 miles to kill a -bear--not for love or fear or hate or meat; for what, then? But -Mickler and I had not killed a bear, so we were easy. - -[Illustration: THE BEAR AT BAY] - -One by one the tired hunters and dogs struggled into camp all -disappointed, except the dogs, which could not tell us what had -befallen them since morning. The day following the dogs started a big -black bear, which made a good run up a bad place in the hills, but -with the hunters scrambling after in full cry. The bear treed for the -dogs, but on sighting the horsemen he threw himself backward from the -trunk and fell fifteen feet among the dogs, which latter piled into -him _en masse_, the little fox-terriers being particularly aggressive. -It was a tremendous shake-up of black hair and pups of all colors; but -the pace was too fast for Bruin, and he sought a new tree. One little -foxie had been rolled over, and had quite a job getting his bellows -mended. This time the bear sat on a limb very high up, and General -Miles put a .50-calibre ball through his brain, which brought him down -with a tremendous thump, when the pups again flew into him, and -"wooled him," as the cowboys put it, to their hearts' content. - -While our bear-hunting is not the thing we are most proud of, yet the -method is the most sportsmanlike, since nothing but the most desperate -riding will bring one up with the bear in the awful country which they -affect. The anticipation of having a big silver-tip assume the -aggressive at any moment is inspiriting. Indeed, they often do; for -only shortly before one had sprung from a thicket on to the -hind-quarters of one of Mr. Stevens's cowboy's ponies, and it was only -by the most desperate work on the part of his companion, who rode up -close and shot the bear with his six-shooter, that saved his -comrade's life. The horse was killed. When one thinks of the enormous -strength of the silver-tip, which can overpower the mightiest steer, -and bend and break its neck or tear its shoulder from its body at a -stroke, one is able to say, "Do not hunt a bear unless thy skin is not -dear to thee." Then the dogs must be especially trained to run bear, -since the country abounds in deer, and it is difficult to train dogs -to ignore their sight and scent. The cowboys account for the number -of the bear in their country from the fact that it is the old Apache -and Navajo range, and the incoherent mind of the savage was impressed -with the rugged mass of fur and the grinning jaws of the monster which -crossed his path, and he was awed by the dangers of the -encounter--arrow against claw. He came to respect the apparition, and -he did not know that life is only sacred when in the image of the -Creator. He did not discriminate as to the value of life, but with his -respect for death there grew the speculation, which to him became a -truth, that the fearsome beast was of the other world, and bore the -lost souls of the tribe. He was a vampire; he was sacred. O Bear! - -[Illustration: THE FINALE] - -[Illustration: THE RETURN OF THE HUNTERS] - -THE END - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - -Archaic and inconsistent punctuation and spelling retained. - - * * * * * - - -BOOKS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY FREDERIC REMINGTON - - RIDERS OF MANY LANDS. By THEODORE AYRAULT DODGE. 8vo, Cloth, $4 - 00. - - THE BORDERLAND OF CZAR AND KAISER. By POULTNEY BIGELOW. Post - 8vo, Cloth, $2 00. - - ON CANADA'S FRONTIER. By JULIAN RALPH. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50. - - THE WEST FROM A CAR-WINDOW. By RICHARD HARDING DAVIS. Post 8vo, - Cloth, $1 25. - - THE AZTEC TREASURE-HOUSE. A Romance. By THOMAS A. JANVIER. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Pony Tracks - -Author: Frederic Remington - -Release Date: October 10, 2012 [EBook #41011] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PONY TRACKS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41011 ***</div> <div class="figcenter"> <img id="frontcover" src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="605" alt="" /> @@ -5788,382 +5750,6 @@ Cloth, $1 25.</p> <p><em>For sale by all booksellers, or will be mailed by the publishers on receipt of price.</em></p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pony Tracks, by Frederic Remington - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PONY TRACKS *** - -***** This file should be named 41011-h.htm or 41011-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/1/41011/ - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Pony Tracks - -Author: Frederic Remington - -Release Date: October 10, 2012 [EBook #41011] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PONY TRACKS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - -[Illustration: THE LAST STAND] - - - - - PONY TRACKS - - _WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY_ - - FREDERIC REMINGTON - - - NEW YORK - - HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS - - FRANKLIN SQUARE - - - Copyright, 1895, by HARPER & BROTHERS. - - _All rights reserved._ - - - THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE FELLOWS WHO - RODE THE PONIES THAT MADE THE TRACKS - - - BY THE AUTHOR - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHASING A MAJOR-GENERAL - LIEUTENANT CASEY'S LAST SCOUT - THE SIOUX OUTBREAK IN SOUTH DAKOTA - AN OUTPOST OF CIVILIZATION - A RODEO AT LOS OJOS - IN THE SIERRA MADRE WITH THE PUNCHERS - BLACK WATER AND SHALLOWS - COACHING IN CHIHUAHUA - STUBBLE AND SLOUGH IN DAKOTA - POLICING THE YELLOWSTONE - A MODEL SQUADRON - THE AFFAIR OF THE --TH OF JULY - THE COLONEL OF THE FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY - A MERRY CHRISTMAS IN A SIBLEY TEPEE - BEAR-CHASING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - THE LAST STAND - GENERAL MILES AND HIS ESCORT - THE SUPPLY TRAIN - UNITED STATES CAVALRY IN WINTER RIG - UNITED STATES INFANTRY IN WINTER RIG - CHIS-CHIS-CHASH SCOUT ON THE FLANKS - "TWO GHOSTS I SAW" - WATCHING THE DUST OF THE HOSTILES - THE HOTCHKISS GUN - A RUN TO THE SCOUT CAMP - IN THE TRENCHES - THE ADVANCE GUARD--A MILITARY SACRIFICE - THE HACIENDA SAN JOSE DE BAVICORA - EL PATRON - THE ADMINISTRADOR OF SAN JOSE DE BAVICORA - A HAIR-CUT A LA PUNCHER - THE MUSIC AT THE "BAILLE" - COMING TO THE RODEO - WAVING SERAPE TO DRIVE CATTLE - TAILING A BULL - JOHNNIE BELL OF LOS OJOS - WILLIAM IN ACTION - MOUNTING A WILD ONE - A MODERN SANCHO PANZA - MY COMRADE - ON THE MOUNTAINS - THE CASA CAMADRA - SHOOTING IN THE SIERRA MADRE - THE INDIAN'S STORY - THE CLIFF-DWELLINGS - THE PORTAGE - BLACK WATER - THE FAWN - BREAKING A JAM - HUNG UP - A COACHERO - THE START - MORNING TOILET - HARNESSING MULES - A DAKOTA CHICKEN-WAGON - ON THE EDGE OF A SLOUGH - A CONFERENCE IN THE MUD - "DON'T SHOOT!" - "MARK--LEFT" - "MARK!" - TROOPING HOMEWARD IN THE AFTER-GLOW - BURGESS, NEARLY FORTY-FIVE YEARS A SCOUT - THE BELL-MARE OVER A BAD PLACE - DOWN THE MOUNTAIN - GETTING GRUB - WORKING ON THE DIVIDE - BURGESS FINDING A FORD - GENERAL GUY V. HENRY, SEVENTH UNITED STATES CAVALRY - RIDING SITTING ON LEGS - OVER THE HURDLE BACK TO BACK - THROWING A HORSE - OVER THE HURDLES IN LINE - "WE WERE NOW OUT OF THE SMOKE" - OFFICER AND MEN--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY - AMBULANCE CORPS--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY - THE TOAST: "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" - WATERING HORSES - "DO YOU THINK THIS PONY IS GOING TO BUCK?" - DAN AND ROCKS - A DANGEROUS PLACE - "GONE AWAY" - TIMBER-TOPPING IN THE ROCKIES - THE BEAR AT BAY - THE FINALE - THE RETURN OF THE HUNTERS - - - - -PONY TRACKS - - - - -CHASING A MAJOR-GENERAL - - -The car had been side-tracked at Fort Keough, and on the following -morning the porter shook me, and announced that it was five o'clock. -An hour later I stepped out on the rear platform, and observed that -the sun would rise shortly, but that meanwhile the air was chill, and -that the bald, square-topped hills of the "bad lands" cut rather hard -against the gray of the morning. Presently a trooper galloped up with -three led horses, which he tied to a stake. I inspected them, and saw -that one had a "cow saddle," which I recognized as an experiment -suggested by the general. The animal bearing it had a threatening -look, and I expected a repetition of a performance of a few days -before, when I had chased the general for over three hours, making in -all twenty-eight miles. - -Before accepting an invitation to accompany an Indian commission into -the Northwest I had asked the general quietly if this was a -"horseback" or a "wagon outfit." He had assured me that he was not a -"wagon man," and I indeed had heard before that he was not. There is -always a distinction in the army between wagon men and men who go -without wagons by transporting their supplies on pack animals. The -wagon men have always acquired more reputation as travellers than -Indian fighters. In a trip to the Pine Ridge Agency I had discovered -that General Miles was not committed to any strained theory of how -mounted men should be moved. Any settled purpose he might have about -his movements were all locked up in a desperate desire to "get thar." -Being a little late in leaving a point on the railroad, I rode along -with Lieutenant Guilfoil, of the Ninth, and we moved at a gentle trot. -Presently we met a citizen in a wagon, and he, upon observing the -lieutenant in uniform, pulled up his team and excitedly inquired, - -"What's the matter, Mr. Soldier?" - -Guilfoil said nothing was the matter that he knew of. - -"Who be you uns after?" - -"No one," replied the lieutenant. - -"Well, I just saw a man go whirling up this 'ere valley with a soldier -tearin' after him fit to kill" (that was the general's orderly), "and -then comes a lot more soldiers just a-smokin', and I sort of wondered -what the man had done." - -We laughed, and remarked that the general must be riding pretty hard. -Other citizens we met inquired if that man was a lunatic or a -criminal. The idea of the soldiers pursuing a man in citizen's clothes -furthered the idea, but we assured them that it was only General Miles -going somewhere. - -All of these episodes opened my eyes to the fact that if I followed -General Miles I would have to do some riding such as I had rarely done -before. In coming back to the railroad we left the Pine Ridge Agency -in the evening without supper, and I was careful to get an even start. -My horse teetered and wanted to gallop, but I knew that the -twenty-eight miles would have to be done at full speed, so I tried to -get him down to a fast trot, which gait I knew would last better; but -in the process of calming him down to a trot I lost sight of the -general and his orderly as they went tearing like mad over a hill -against the last gleam of the sunset. I rode at a very rapid trot over -the hills in the moonlight for over three hours, but I never saw the -general again until I met him at dinner. Then I further concluded that -if I followed the general I would have no time to regait my horses, -but must take them as I found them, gallop or trot. So on this cool -morning at Keough I took observations of the horses which were tied to -the post, with my mind full of misgivings. - -[Illustration: GENERAL MILES AND HIS ESCORT] - -Patter, patter, patter--clank, clank, clank; up comes the company of -Cheyenne scouts who are to escort the general--fine-looking, tall -young men, with long hair, and mounted on small Indian ponies. They -were dressed and accoutred as United States soldiers, and they fill -the eye of a military man until nothing is lacking. Now the general -steps out of the car and hands the commission into a six-mule -ambulance. I am given a horse, and, mounting, we move off over the -plain and into the hills. The sun comes streaming over the landscape, -and the general is thinking about this old trail, and how years before -he had ploughed his way through the blinding snow to the Lame Deer -fight. I am secretly wishing that it would occupy his mind more fully, -so that my breakfast might settle at the gentle gait we are going, but -shortly he says, "It's sixty miles, and we must move along." We break -into a gallop. The landscape is gilded by the morning sun, and the -cool of the October air makes it a perfect thing, but there are -elements in the affair which complicate its perfection. The "bad -lands" are rough, and the general goes down a hill with even more -rapidity than up it. The horses are not the perfect animals of the -bridle-path, but poor old cavalry brutes, procured by the government -under the old contract system, by which the government pays something -like $125 for a $60 horse. This could be remedied by allowing the -officers of each regiment to buy their own horses; but in our army -nothing is remedied, because a lot of nice old gentlemen in Washington -are too conservative to do anything but eat and sleep. There is a bit -of human nature at the bottom of our army organization, and where is -the man who can change that? Men who were the very jewels of the -profession years ago have reached in due time the upper grades of -rank, and occupy the bureaus of the department. These men who have -acquired rank, years, and discretion naturally do nothing, and with -sedate gravity insist that no one else shall do anything. The -ambitious young men have to wait patiently for their retirement, and -in process of waiting they, too, become old and conservative. Old -soldiers are pardonable rubbish, since soldiers, like other men, must -age and decay, the only distinction being that youthful vigor is of -prime importance to a soldier, while in the case of the citizen any -abatement of vigor is rewarded by being shelved. What to do with old -soldiers is a problem which I will hand over to the economists as -being beyond my depth. But to return to the going downhill. General -Miles has acquired his knowledge of riding from wild Indians, and wild -Indians go uphill and downhill as a matter of course at whatever gait -they happen to be travelling. He would make his horse climb a tree -with equal gravity if he was bound that way. The general has known -Indians to ride for two days and a night at a rapid gallop, and it -never occurs to him that he cannot do anything which any one else can; -so he spurs along, and we go cutting around the _coulies_ and bluffs -like frightened antelopes or mad creatures. The escort strings out -behind. This is observed with a grim humor by the general, who desires -nothing so much as to leave his escort far in the rear. He turns in -his saddle, and seeing the dust of the escort far behind, says: -"Shake up the young men a little; do 'em good. They get sleepy;" and -away we go. - -It is over thirty miles to the first relay station, or courier's camp, -and another problem looms up. The general's weight is over two hundred -pounds, and I confess to two hundred and fifteen avoirdupois, and, as -I have before remarked, my horse was not an Irish hunter, so my musing -took a serious vein. It is all very well for a major-general to ride -down a cavalry horse, but if such an accident were to happen to me, -then my friends in the cavalry would crown me with thorns. Two hundred -and fifteen pounds requires a great deal more careful attention than a -one-hundred-and-forty-pound wasp-waisted cavalryman. What the latter -can do with impunity would put me on foot--a thing that happened some -ten years since in this very State of Montana, and a thing I have -treasured in mind, and will not have repeated. So I brought the old -horse down to a trot, and a good round trot eats up a road in short -order. Your galloper draws away from you, but if the road is long -enough, you find that you are at his heels. - -After a good day's ride of something like sixty miles, we met a troop -of the Eighth Cavalry near its camp on the Tongue River, and the -general is escorted in. The escorts draw into line, salute, and the -general is duly deposited in a big Sibley tent; and I go away on the -arms of some "cavalry kids" (as young lieutenants are called) to a -hole in the ground (a dugout) where they are quartered. On the -following morning I am duly admonished that if my whereabouts could -have been ascertained on the previous evening, the expedition would -have continued to the camp of the First Cavalry. I do not think the -general was unduly severe, desiring simply to shift the -responsibility of the procrastination on to other shoulders, and -meanwhile being content to have things as they were. I was privately -thanked by the citizen members of the commission for the delay I had -caused, since they had a well-grounded conviction that sixty miles a -day in an army ambulance was trouble enough. After some sarcasm by a -jolly young sub, to the effect that "if one wants to call a citizen -out of a tent, one must ring a dinner-bell," we were again mounted and -on the way. I was badly mounted that day, but able to participate in -the wild charge of forty-five miles to the Lame Deer camp, near the -Cheyenne Agency. The fifty Cheyenne scouts and a troop of the Eighth -were in escort. - -By a happy combination I was able to add greatly to my equestrian -knowledge on this ride. It happened in this way; but I must explain. -Some years ago I had occasion to ride a stock saddle (the cowboy -article), and with all the positiveness of immature years, I held all -other trees and all other methods of riding in a magnificent contempt. -Later on I had to be convinced that a great many young cavalry -officers in our service were the most daring and perfect riders, and -that the McClelland saddle was the proper thing. I even elaborated a -theory in explanation of all this, which I had duly shattered for me -when I came East and frequented a New York riding-academy, where a -smiling professor of the art assured me that cowboys and soldiers were -the worst possible riders. Indeed, the sneers of the polite European -were so superlative that I dared not even doubt his statements. Of -course I never quite understood how my old champions of the cattle -range and the war trail could pick things off the ground while in full -career, or ride like mad over the cut banks and bowlders, if they were -such desperately bad riders; and I never was able to completely -understand why my European master could hardly turn in his saddle -without tumbling off. But still he reduced me to submission, and I -ceased even to doubt. I changed my style of riding, in deference to a -public sentiment, and got my legs tucked up under my chin, and learned -to loose my seat at every alternate footfall, and in time acquired a -balance which was as secure as a pumpkin on the side of a barrel. Thus -equipped with all this knowledge and my own saddle, I went out to the -Northwest with the purpose of introducing a little revolution in -cavalry riding. Things went swimmingly for a time. The interpreters -and scouts watched my riding with mingled pity and scorn, but I knew -they were unenlightened, and in no way to be regarded seriously. The -general was duly amused by my teetering, and suggested to the smiling -escort officers that "he has lived so long abroad, you know," etc., -all of which I did not mind, for my faith in the eternal art of the -thing was complete. Now to tell how I discovered that I was riding a -seat which was no seat at all, and was only retained by a series of -happy accidents, I will continue. While at the head of the column, -where I could see the deep ruts in the road and the bowlders, and -could dodge the prairie-dog holes, it was simple enough; but my horse -being a very clumsy galloper, and beginning to blow under the pace, I -began to pull up, calculating to get a sharp trot, and overhaul the -column when it slowed down. The column of soldiers dashed by, and the -great cloud of dust rose up behind them which always follows a herd of -animals in the West. Being no longer able to see, the only thing to do -under the circumstances was to give my horse his head, and resign -myself to the chances of a gopher hole, if it was foreordained that my -horse should find one. True to his instincts, my old cavalry horse -plunged into the ranks. You cannot keep a troop horse out of the -ranks. They know their place, and seek it with the exactitude of -water. If the cavalry tactics are ever changed, the present race of -horses will have to be sold, because, while you can teach a horse -anything, you cannot unteach him. - -[Illustration: THE SUPPLY TRAIN] - -In front I could see two silhouettes of soldiers tearing along, and -behind could hear the heavy pounding of the troop horses, the clank of -arms, the snorts and heavy breathings. I could hardly see my horse's -head, to say nothing of the ground in front. Here is where the perfect -grip with the thighs is wanted, and here is where the man who is -bundled up like a ball on his horse's back is in imminent danger of -breaking his neck. I felt like a pack on a government mule, and only -wished I had some one to "throw the diamond hitch over me." The -inequalities of the road make your horse plunge and go staggering -sidewise, or down on his knees, and it is not at all an unusual thing -for a cavalryman to upset entirely, though nothing short of a total -turn-over will separate a veteran soldier from his horse. After a few -miles of these vicissitudes I gained the head of the column, and when -the pace slackened I turned the whole thing over in my mind, and a -great light seemed to shine through the whole subject. For a smooth -road and a trotting horse, that European riding-master was right; but -when you put a man in the dust or smoke, over the rocks and cut banks, -on the "bucking" horse, or where he must handle his weapons or his -_vieta_, he must have a seat on his mount as tight as a stamp on an -envelope, and not go washing around like a shot in a bottle. In a park -or on a country road, where a man has nothing to do but give his -undivided attention to sticking on his saddle, it has its advantages. -An Indian or a cowboy could take the average park rider off from his -horse, scalp him, hang him on a bush, and never break a gallop. I -do not wish to seem intolerant, because I will say that the most -beautiful horse and the most perfect horseman I have ever seen was the -bay gelding Partisan and his rider in the high-school class at the -recent Horse Show in New York; but I do insist that no one shall for a -moment imagine that the American style of riding is not the firmest of -all seats. - -[Illustration: UNITED STATES CAVALRY IN WINTER RIG] - -With a repetition of the military forms, we reached the cavalry camp -on the Lame Deer Creek. This is an old battle-ground of the -general's--his last fight with the Cheyennes, where, as the general -puts it, we "kicked them out of their blankets in the early morning." -These Indians recognize him as their conqueror, and were allied with -him in the Nez Perce campaign. One old chief pointed to the stars on -his shoulder-strap, and charged him to remember that they helped to -put them there. - -That night was very cold, and I slept badly, so at an early hour I -rolled out of my blankets and crawled into my clothes. I stepped out -of my tent, and saw that the stars were yet visible and the light of -the morning warming up to chase the gray shadows over the western -hills. Three tight little cavalry soldiers came out on the parade, and -blew three bugles as hard as ever they could to an unappreciative -audience of sleepy soldiers and solemn hills. I walked down past the -officers' row, and shook the kinks out of my stiffened knees. -Everything was as quietly dismal as only a sleeping camp can be. The -Sibley containing General Miles showed no signs of life, and until he -arose this little military solar system would not revolve. I bethought -me of the irregulars. They were down in the river bottom--Lieutenant -Casey and his Indian scouts. I knew that Casey had commanded Indian -scouts until his temper was as refined as beaten gold, so I thought it -safer to arouse him than any one else, and, walking down, I scratched -at his tent--which is equivalent to knocking--and received a rather -loud and surly inquiry as to what I wanted. My sensitive nature was so -shocked by this that, like the bad actor, I had hopes for no more -generous gift than a cigarette. I was let into the Sibley, and saw the -ground covered with blanketed forms. One of the swathed forms sat up, -and the captain allowed he wanted to get up in the night, but that -ever since Lieutenant Blank had shot at the orderly he was afraid to -move about in the gloom. Lieutenant B. sat up and denied the -impeachment. Another officer arose and made some extended remarks on -the unseemly disturbance at this unseasonable hour. To pass over these -inequalities of life, I will say that the military process of -stiffening a man's backbone and reducing his mind to a logarithm -breeds a homogeneous class whom we all know. They have small waists, -and their clothes fit them; they are punctilious; they respect forms, -and always do the dignified and proper thing at the particular -instant, and never display their individuality except on two -occasions: one is the field of battle and the other is before -breakfast. Some bright fellow will one day tell in print the droll -stock anecdotes of the United States army, and you'll all agree that -they are good. They are better, though, if you sit in a Sibley on a -cold morning while the orderly boils the coffee; and are more -fortunate if you have Ned Casey to embellish what he calls the -international complications which arose from the bombardment of Canada -with paving-stones by a drunken recruit at Detroit. - -After the commission had talked to a ring of drowsy old chiefs, and -the general had reminded them that he had thrashed them once, and was -perfectly willing to do it again if they did not keep in the middle of -the big road, the commission was loaded into the ambulances. - -[Illustration: UNITED STATES INFANTRY IN WINTER RIG] - -The driver clucked and whistled and snapped his whip as a preliminary -which always precedes the concerted movement of six mules, and we -started. This time I found that I had a mount that was "a horse from -the ground up," as they phrase it in the red-blooded West. Well it was -so, for at the relay camp I had issued to me a sorrel ruin which in -the pristine vigor of its fifth year would not have commanded the -value of a tin cup. After doing a mile of song and dance on this poor -beast I dismounted, and shifting my saddle back to my led horse of the -morning, which was led by a Crow scout, made the sixty-mile march of -that day on the noble animal. Poor old chap, fit for a king, good for -all day and the next, would bring six hundred dollars in the New York -Horse Exchange, but condemned to pack a trooper in the ranks until a -penurious government condemns and sells him to a man who, nine times -out of ten, by the law of God, ought not to be intrusted with the -keeping of the meanest of his creatures, to say nothing of his noblest -work--a horse. "Such is life," is the salve a good soldier puts on his -wounds. - -During the day we went all over the battle-field of the Little Big -Horn. I heard a good deal of professional criticism, and it is my -settled conviction that had Reno and Benteen gone in and fought as -hard as they were commanded to do, Custer would have won his fight, -and to-day be a major-general. The military moral of that affair for -young soldiers is that when in doubt about what to do it is always -safe to go in and fight "till you drop," remembering that, however a -citizen may regard the proposition, a soldier cannot afford to be -anything else than a "dead lion." - -We were nearing the Crow Agency and Fort Custer, and it is against all -my better impulses, and with trepidation at the impropriety of -unveiling the truth, that I disclose the fact that the general would -halt the column at a convenient distance from a post, and would then -exchange his travel-worn garb for glittering niceties of a -major-general's uniform. The command then advanced into the fort. The -guns bellowed and the cavalry swung into line, while numerous officers -gathered, in all the perfection of neat-fitting uniforms, to receive -him. At this time the writer eliminated himself from the ceremonial, -and from some point of vantage proceeded to pull up his boots so as to -cover as much as possible the gaping wounds in his riding-trousers, -and tried vainly to make a shooting-jacket fit like an officer's -blouse, while he dealt his hat sundry thumps in a vain endeaver to -give it a more rakish appearance. He was then introduced and -apologized for in turn. To this day he hopes the mantle of charity was -broad enough to cover his case. - -What a contrast between soldiers in field and soldiers in garrison! -Natty and trim--as straight as a sapling, with few words and no -gestures--quite unlike those of two days, or rather nights, ago, when -the cold froze them out of their blankets, and they sat around the -camp-fires pounding tin cans and singing the Indian medicine song with -a good Irish accent. Very funny that affair--the mixture of Cheyenne -and Donnybrook is a strange noise. - -The last stage from Custer to the railroad is thirty-five miles and a -half, which we did with two relays, the latter half of it in the -night. There was no escort--only two orderlies and the general--and I -pattered along through the gloom. The clouds hung over the earth in a -dense blanket, and the road was as dim as a Florentine fresco; but -night nor cold nor heat can bring General Miles to a walk, and the -wild charge in the dark was, as an experience, a complete thing. You -cannot see; you whirl through a canyon cut in the mud; you plough -through the sage-brush and over the rocks clatter and bang. The -general is certainly a grim old fellow--one of the kind that make -sparks fly when he strikes an obstacle. I could well believe the old -Fifth Infantryman who said "he's put many a corn on a dough-boy's -foot," and it's a red-letter day for any one else that keeps at his -horse's heels. You may ride into a hole, over a precipice, to -perdition, if it's your luck on this night, but is not the general in -front? You follow the general--that's the grand idea--that is the -military idea. If the United States army was strung out in line with -its general ahead, and if he should ride out into the broad Atlantic -and swim to sea, the whole United States army would follow along, for -that's the idea, you know. - -But for the headlong plunge of an orderly, we passed through all -right, with due thankfulness on my part, and got to our car at the -siding, much to the gratification of the Chicago colored man in -charge, who found life at Custer Station a horrid blank. Two hundred -and forty-eight miles in thirty-six hours and a half, and sixty miles -of it on one horse, was not bad riding, considering everything. Not -enough to make a man famous or lame, but enough for the time being. - - - - -LIEUTENANT CASEY'S LAST SCOUT - -ON THE HOSTILE FLANKS WITH THE CHIS-CHIS-CHASH - - -The train bearing the Cheyenne scout corps pulled into Rapid City -somewhat late. It is possible you may think that it was a train of -Pullman palace cars, but you would be mistaken, for it was a freight -train, with the horses in tight box-cars, the bacon and -Chis-chis-chash[1] on flat gravel cars, and Lieutenants Casey and -Getty in the caboose. Evidently the element of haste was woven into -this movement. We were glad to meet again. Expansive smiles lit up the -brown features of the Indian scouts as they recognized me. Old -Wolf-Voice came around in his large, patronizing way and said, -"How?--what you do out here?" Wolf-Voice was a magnificent type of the -Indian, with a grand face, a tremendous physique, and enough -self-containment for a High-Church bishop. High-Walking nudged -Stump-Horn and whispered in his ear, and they both smiled as they -looked at me. Lieutenant Casey walked out in the road and talked with -General Miles, who sat on his beautiful sorrel horse, while two scouts -and a young "horse-pusher"[2] from St. Louis helped me to load one -strawberry-roan horse, branded "52" on the nigh front foot, into a -box-car with a scrawny lot of little ponies, who showed the hard -scouting of the last month in their lank quarters. - -[Footnote 1: The name the Cheyennes apply to themselves.] - -[Footnote 2: Boy who travels with horses on the cars.] - -The quartermaster came down and asked Lieutenant Casey for a -memorandum of his outfit, which was "70 horses, 49 Indian scouts, 1 -interpreter, 2 white officers, 1000 pounds of bacon, so many crackers, -2000 pounds forage, 5 Sibley tents, and 1 citizen," all of which the -quartermaster put down in a little book. You are not allowed by United -States quartermasters to have an exaggerated estimate of your own -importance. Bacon and forage and citizens all go down in the same -column, with the only distinction that the bacon and forage outnumber -you. - -We were pulled down the road a few miles to the town of Hermoso, and -there, in the moonlight, the baggage was unloaded and the wild little -ponies frightened out of the cars, down a chute, into the stock -corrals. The Sibleys were pitched, and a crowd of curious citizens, -who came down to feast their eyes on the Chis-chis-chash, were -dissipated when a rather frugal dinner was prepared. This was -Christmas night, and rather a cheerless one, since, in the haste of -departure, the Sibley stoves had been forgotten. We never had stoves -again until the gallant Leavenworth battalion came to the rescue with -their surplus, and in the cold, frosty nights in the foot-hills there -can be no personal happiness where there are no stoves. We brewed a -little mess of hot stuff in a soldier's tin cup, and, in the words of -Private Mulvaney, we drank to the occasion, "three fingers--standing -up!" - -The good that comes in the ill wind where stoves are lacking is that -you can get men up in the morning. Sun-worship must have originated in -circumstances of this kind. The feeling of thankfulness at the sight -of the golden rays permeates your soul, and your very bones are made -glad. - -A few ounces of bacon, some of those accursed crackers which are made -to withstand fire, water, and weevil, a quart of coffee blacker than -evil, then down come the Sibleys, the blankets are rolled and the -saddles adjusted, and bidding _adios_ to the First Infantry (which -came in during the night), we trot off down the road. - -These, then, are the Cheyenne scouts. Well, I am glad I know the fact, -but I never can reconcile the trim-looking scout corps of Keogh with -these strange-looking objects. Erstwhile their ponies were fat, and -cavorted around when falling in ranks; now they paddle along in the -humblest kind of a business-like jog-trot. The new overcoats of the -corps metamorphose the scouts into something between Russian Cossacks -and Black Crooks. Saddle pockets bulge out, and a thousand and one -little alterations in accoutrement grow up in the field which are -frowned down in garrison. The men have scouted hard for a month, and -have lost two nights' sleep, so at the halts for the wagons they lop -down in the dust of the road, and sleep, while the little ponies stand -over them, ears down, heads hanging, eyes shut, and one hind foot -drawn up on its toe. Nothing can look so dejected as a pony, and -doubtless few things have more reason to feel so. A short march of -twenty-five miles passes us through the Seventeenth Infantry camp -under Colonel Offley, and down to the Cheyenne River, where we camp -for the night. There is another corps of Cheyenne scouts somewhere -here on the river, under Lieutenant L. H. Struthers, of the First -Infantry, and we expect to join them. On the other side of the -Cheyenne rise the tangled masses of the famous Bad Lands--seamed and -serrated, gray here, the golden sunset flashing there, with dark -recesses giving back a frightful gloom--a place for stratagem and -murder, with nothing to witness its mysteries but the cold blue winter -sky. Yet we are going there. It is full of savage Sioux. The sun goes -down. I am glad to cease thinking about it. - -[Illustration: CHIS-CHIS-CHASH SCOUT ON THE FLANKS] - -It is such a mere detail that I will not waste time on it, but this -freezing out of your blankets four or five times every night, and this -having to go out and coax a cooking fire into a cheerful spirit, can -occupy a man's mind so that any words not depraved do not seem of any -consequence. During one of the early hours I happened to sleep, and in -this interval Mr. Struthers came into our tepee. He had been on a -night's ride to the colonel for orders, and in passing, dropped in for -a chat with Casey. When about to go, he said, - -"Oh, by-the-way, I met Remington." - -"Do you want to renew the acquaintance?" replied Casey. - -"Why--how--why--yes." - -"Well, he's there, on the other side of this tent." And Mr. Struthers -passed out in the gloom, and his muttered expressions of astonishment -were presently lost in the distance. I had ridden and camped with Mr. -Struthers a few days since in the up country, while on the way to "the -galloping Sixth." - -The next day we passed down the river, and soon saw what to -inexperienced eyes might be dark gray rocks on the top of yellow -hills. They were the pickets of the Cheyennes, and presently we saw -the tepees and the ponies, and then we rode into camp. The men from -Tongue River greeted the men from Pine Ridge--the relatives and -friends--with _ki-yis_ of delight. The corps from Pine Ridge was -organized from the Cheyennes on that reservation, and was as yet only -partially disciplined, and in no way to be compared with Casey's Old -Guard from Tongue River. Some two nights before, the Sioux had fired -into their camp, and they had skirmished with the enemy. The vermilion -of the war-path was on every countenance, and, through sympathy, I saw -that our men too had gone into this style of decorative art; for faces -which had previously been fresh and clean now passed my vision -streaked and daubed into preternatural ferocity. - -It grew late and later, and yet Lieutenant Struthers did not return -from his scouting of the day. We were alarmed, and wondered and hoped; -for scouting through the Bad Lands to the stronghold was dangerous, to -state it mildly. A few shots would not be heard twelve miles away in -the hills. We pictured black objects lying prone on the sand as we -scouted next day--little masses of clay which had been men and horses, -but would then be as silent as the bare hillocks about them. - -"Ki-yi-yip--a-ou!" and a patter in the gloom. - -"That's Struthers." We fall over each other as we pile out of the hole -in the Sibley, and find Struthers and Lieutenant Byrom, of the Eighth -Cavalry, all safe and sound. - -"We have been on the stronghold; they are all gone; rustle some -coffee," are words in the darkness; and we crawl back into the tent, -where presently the big, honest, jolly eyes of Mr. Struthers look over -a quart cup, and we are happy. Byrom was a fine little cavalryman, and -I have good reason to know that for impudent daring of that -desperately quiet kind he is distinguished in places where all men are -brave. - -Away goes the courier to the colonel for orders, and after a time back -he comes--a wild dash of twelve miles in the dark, and of little -moment here, but a life memory to an unaccustomed one. - -"We go on the stronghold in the morning," says Casey; "and now to -bed." A bed consists of two blankets spread on the ground, and all the -personal property not otherwise appropriated piled on top. A luxury, -mind you, is this; later it was much more simple, consisting of earth -for a mattress and the sky for a counterpane. - -The sun is not up when in comes the horse herd. My strawberry roan -goes sneaking about in the frosty willows, and after sundry -well-studied manoeuvres I get a grip on the lariat, and am lugged -and jerked over the brush until "52 on the nigh front foot" consents -to stand still. I saddle up, but have lost my gun. I entreat Mr. -Thompson, the interpreter, to help me find it. Mr. Thompson is a man -who began fighting for the Union in East Tennessee about thirty years -long gone, and he has continued to engage in that work up to date. Mr. -Thompson has formed a character which is not as round as a ball, but -much more the shape of horn-silver in its native state. He is humorous -by turns, and early in my acquaintance he undertook the cultivation of -my mind in the art of war as practised on the frontier. On this -occasion he at last found my Springfield, and handed it to me with the -admonition "that in times like these one warrior can't look after -another warrior's gun." - -The wagons were to go--well, I never knew where, but they went off -over the hills, and I never saw them again for some miserable days and -dreary nights. Five Pine Ridge Cheyennes and Mr. Wolf-Voice were my -party, and we filed away. At Battle Creek we watered, and crossed the -Cheyenne a mile above. My horse was smooth shod, and the river frozen -half-way over, so we slid around on the ice, and jumped into the icy -waters, got wet, crawled out, slid around some more, and finally -landed. Mr. Wolf-Voice looked me over, and smilingly said, "Me think -you no like 'em"; wherein his conclusion was eminently correct. Who -does like to have a mass of ice freeze on him when naturally the -weather is cold enough to satisfy a walrus? - -It was twelve miles through the defiles of the Bad Lands to the blue -ridge of the high mesa where the hostiles had lived. The trail was -strewn with dead cattle, some of them having never been touched with a -knife. Here and there a dead pony, ridden to a stand-still and left -nerveless on the trail. No words of mine can describe these Bad Lands. -They are somewhat as Dore pictured hell. One set of buttes, with cones -and minarets, gives place in the next mile to natural freaks of a -different variety, never dreamed of by mortal man. It is the action of -water on clay; there are ashes, or what looks like them. The painter's -whole palette is in one bluff. A year's study of these colors by Mr. -Bierstadt, Professor Marsh, and Mr. Notman might possibly convey to -the Eastern mind an idea; so we'll amble along after Mr. Wolf-Voice, -and leave that subject intact. - -"Hark!" My little party stops suddenly, and we all listen. I feel -stupid. - -"You hear 'em?" says Wolf-Voice, in a stage-whisper. - -"Hear what?" I say. - -"Shots." - -Then we all get out our guns and go galloping like mad. I can't -imagine why, but I spur my horse and perform equestrian feats which in -an ordinary frame of mind I should regard as insane. Down a narrow -trail we go, with the gravel flying, and through a _coulee_, up a -little hill, on top of which we stop to listen, and then away we go. -The blue wall grows nearer, and at last we are under it. A few -cotton-wood trees, some frozen water, a little cleft on the bluffs, -and I see a trail winding upward. I know these warriors are going -up there, but I can't understand precisely how. It is not the first -perilous trail I have contemplated; but there are dead cattle lying at -the bottom which had fallen off and been killed in the ascent. We -dismount and start up. It tells on your wind, and tries the leg -muscles. Up a steep place a horse wants to go fast, and you have to -keep him from running over you. A bend in the trail where the running -water has frozen seems impassable. I jump across it, and then pull the -bridle and say, "Come on, boy!" If I were the horse I would balk, but -the noble animal will try it. A leap, a plunging, and with a terrible -scrabble we are all right. Farther up, and the incline is certainly -eighty-five degrees. My horse looses his front feet, but a jerk at the -headstall brings him down, and he plunges past me to be caught by an -Indian at the top of the trail. For a moment we breathe, and then -mount. - -[Illustration: "TWO GHOSTS I SAW"] - -Before us is a great flat plain blackened by fire, and with the grass -still burning. Away in the distance, in the shimmer of the air waves, -are figures. - -"Maybe so dey Sioux," says Wolf-Voice. And we gallop towards them. - -"What will you do if they are?" I ask. - -"Stand 'em off," replies the war-dog. - -Half an hour's ride showed them to be some of our Cheyennes. All about -the plain were strewn the remains of dead cattle (heads and horns, -half-butchered carcasses, and withal a rather impressive smell), -coyotes, and ravens--all very like war. These Brules must have lived -well. There were lodge poles, old fires, and a series of rifle pits -across the neck of land which the Sioux had proposed to defend; -medicine poles, and near them the sacrifices, among which was food -dedicated to the Great Spirit, but eventually consumed by the less -exalted members of Casey's command. I vandalized a stone pipe and a -rawhide stirrup. - -The less curious members of our band had gone south, and Wolf-Voice -and I rode along together. We discussed war, and I remember two of -Wolf-Voice's opinions. Speaking of infantry and their method of -fighting, he said: - -"Dese walk-a-heap soldiers dey dig hole--get in--shoot heap--Injun -can't do nothin' wid 'em--can't kill 'em--can't do nothin' but jes go -'way." - -Then, explaining why the Sioux had shown bad generalship in selecting -their position, he turned in his saddle, and said, "De big guns he -knock 'em rifle pit, den de calavy lun pas' in column--Injun no stop -calavy--kill 'em heap, but no stop 'em--den de walk-a-heap dey come -too, and de Sioux dey go ober de bluffs." And with wild enthusiasm he -added, "De Sioux dey go to hell!" That prospect seemed to delight Mr. -Wolf-Voice immensely. - -It was a weary ride over the black and smoking plain. A queer mirage -was said by my Indian to be the Cheyenne scouts coming after us. Black -figures of animals walking slowly along were "starving bronchos -abandoned by the hostiles." - -"Cowboy he catch 'em," said Wolf-Voice. - -I explained that Colonel Offley had orders not to allow any citizens -to cross the Cheyenne River. - -"Cowboy he go give um dam; he come alle samee." - -And I thought Wolf-Voice was probably right. - -On the southern edge of the bluffs of the mesa we halted, and found -water for man and beast. The command gradually concentrated, and for -half an hour we stood on the high points scanning the great flats -below, and located the dust of the retiring hostile column and the -back lying scouts. Lieutenant Casey had positive orders not to bring -on an engagement, and only desired to hang on their flanks, so as to -keep Miles familiar with the hostile movements. A courier started on -his lonely ride back with a note for the major-general. Our scouts -were flying about far down the valley, and we filed off after them. -Presently a little column of dust follows a flying horseman towards -us. On, on he comes. The scouts grow uneasy; wild creatures they are, -with the suspicion of a red deer and the stealth of a panther. - -[Illustration: WATCHING THE DUST OF THE HOSTILES] - -The Sioux have fired on our scouts. Off we go at a trot, scattering -out, unslinging our guns, and the air full of fight. I ride by Casey, -and see he is troubled. The orders in his pocket do not call for a -fight. Can he hold these wild warriors? - -"Struthers, we have got to hold these men," said Casey, in a tone of -voice which was full of meaning. To shorten the story, our men were at -last gotten into ranks, and details made to cover the advance. The -hostiles were evidently much excited. Little clouds of dust whirling -hither and thither showed where the opposing scouts were shadowing -each other. The sun was waning, and yet we spurred our weary horses on -towards the enemy. Poor beasts! no food and too much exercise since -daylight. - -The Cheyennes were uneasy, and not at all pleased with this scheme of -action. What could they know about the orders in Lieutenant Casey's -pocket, prompted by a commanding general thinking of a thousand and -one interests, and with telegrams from Washington directing the -avoidance of an Indian war? - -Old-soldier Thompson even, with all his intelligence and knowledge of -things, felt the wild Berserker battle valor, which he smothered with -difficulty, and confined himself to potent remarks and spurring of -old Piegan. He said: "This is a new kind of war. Them Injuns don't -understand it, and to tell you the truth, I don't nuther. The Injuns -say they have come all the way from Tongue River, and are going back -poor. Can't get Sioux horses, can't kill Sioux," and in peroration he -confirmed his old impression that "this is a new kind of war"; and -then relapsed into reveries of what things used to be before General -Miles invented this new kind of war. - -In our immediate front was a heavy body of Sioux scouts. Lieutenant -Casey was ahead. Men broke from our ranks, but were held with -difficulty by Struthers and Getty. Back comes Casey at a gallop. He -sees the crisis, and with his hand on his six-shooter, says, "I will -shoot the first man through the head who falls out of the ranks." A -mutiny is imminent in the Pine Ridge contingent, but the diplomat -Struthers brings order at last, and we file off down the hills to the -left, and stop by a stream, while Casey goes back and meets a body of -Sioux on a high hill for a powwow. I watched through a glass, and the -sun went down as they talked. We had orders not to remove our saddles, -and stood in the line nervously expecting anything imaginable to -happen. The daring of Casey in this case is simply an instance of a -hundred such, and the last one cost him his life. By his prompt -measures with his own men, and by his courage in going among the Sioux -to powwow, he averted a bloody battle, and obeyed his orders. There -was one man between two banks of savage warriors who were fairly -frothing at the mouth--a soldier; the sun will never shine upon a -better. - -At last, after an interminable time, he came away. Far away to the -right are two of our scouts driving two beeves. We see the bright -blaze of the six-shooters, the steers tumble, and hunger is no longer -one of our woes. - -[Illustration: THE HOTCHKISS GUN] - -The tired horses are unsaddled, to eat and drink and roll. We lay dry -cotton-wood limbs on the fires, heavy pickets are told off, and our -"bull meat" is cooked in the primitive style. Old Wolf-Voice and -another scout are swinging six ribs on a piece of rawhide over a fire, -and later he brings me a rib and a little bit of coffee from a roll in -his handkerchief. I thought him a "brick," and mystified him by -telling him so. - -Three or four Brules are let in through our pickets, and come "wagging -their tails," as Two-Moons says, but adding, "Don't you trust the -Sioux." They protest their good intentions, borrow tobacco, and say -Lieutenant Casey can send in a wagon for commissaries to Pine Ridge, -and also that I can go through their lines with it. Were there ever -greater liars on earth? - -I sat near the fire and looked intently at one human brute opposite, a -perfect animal, so far as I could see. Never was there a face so -replete with human depravity, stolid, ferocious, arrogant, and all the -rest--ghost-shirt, war-paint, feathers, and arms. As a picture, -perfect; as a reality, horrible. Presently they go away, and we -prepare for the night. This preparing for the night is a rather simple -process. I have stolen my saddle blanket from my poor horse, and, with -this laid on the ground, I try my saddle in four or five different -positions in its capacity of pillow. The inventor of the Whitman tree -never considered this possible use of his handiwork, or he might have -done better. I next button the lower three buttons of my overcoat, and -thus wrapped "I lie down to pleasant dreams"--of rheumatism. - -An hour later and the fires go down. Black forms pass like uneasy -spirits, and presently you find yourself thrashing around in the -underbrush across the river after branches to feed that insatiable -fire. One comrade breaks through the ice and gets wet, and inelegant -remarks come from the shadowy blackness under the river-banks. I think -a man shouldn't use such language even under such circumstances, but I -also think very few men wouldn't. A chilling wind now adds to the -misery of the situation, and the heat of the fire goes off in a cloud -of sparks to the No Man's Land across the river. After smoking a pipe -for two hours your mouth is raw and your nervous system shattered, so -nothing is left but to sit calmly down and just suffer. You can hate -the Chinese on the other side of the world, who are now enjoying the -rays of the sun. - -And morning finds you in the saddle. It always does. I don't know how -it is--a habit of life, I suppose. Mornings ought to find me cosily -ensconced in a good bed, but in retrospect they seem always to be in -the saddle, with a good prospect of all day ahead, and evening finds -me with a chunk of bull meat and without blankets, until one fine day -we come to our wagons, our Sibleys, and the little luxuries of the -mess chest. - -The next morning I announced my intention of going to Pine Ridge -Agency, which is twenty-five miles away. Mr. Thompson, two scouts, and -a Swedish teamster are to go in for provisions and messages. Mr. -Thompson got in the wagon. I expressed my astonishment at this and the -fact that he had no carbines, as we expected to go through the hostile -pickets and camp. He said, "If I can't talk them Injuns out of killin' -me, I reckon I'll have to go." I trotted along with Red-Bear and -Hairy-Arm, and a mile and a half ahead went the courier, Wells. Poor -man! in two hours he lay bleeding in the road, with a bullet through -the hips, and called two days for water before he "struck the long -trail to the kingdom come," as the cowboys phrase it. - -We could see two black columns of smoke, which we did not understand. -After we had gone eight or ten miles, and were just crossing a ravine, -we saw a Sioux buck on a little hill just ahead, out of pistol-shot. -He immediately rode the "danger signal." Red-Bear turned his horse in -the "peace sign," and advanced. We drove over the ravine, and halted. -I dismounted. Six young Brule Sioux rose out of the ground, and rode -up to Red-Bear, and the hills were full of pickets to the right and -left. We waited to hear the result of Red-Bear's conversation, when he -presently came back and spoke to Thompson in Cheyenne. I looked at -him; his eyes were snapping, and his facial muscles twitched -frightfully. This was unusual, and I knew that things were not well. - -"Red-Bear says we will have to go back," explained Thompson; and -turning to Red-Bear he requested that two Sioux might come closer, and -talk with us. Things looked ominous to me, not understanding Cheyenne, -which was being talked. "This is a bad hole, and I reckon our cake is -dough right here," said Thompson. - -Hairy-Arm's face was impassive, but his dark eyes wandered from Brule -to Brule with devilish calculation. Two young bucks came up, and one -asked Thompson for tobacco, whereat he was handed a package of Durham -by Thompson, which was not returned. - -"It's lucky for me that tobacco ain't a million dollars," sighed -Thompson. - -Another little buck slipped up behind me, whereat Mr. Thompson gave me -a warning look. Turning, I advanced on him quickly (I wanted to be as -near as possible, not being armed), and holding out my hand, said, -"How, colah?" He did not like to take it, but he did, and I was saved -the trouble of further action. - -"We'll never get this wagon turned around," suggested Mr. Thompson, as -the teamster whipped up; but we did. And as we commenced our movement -on Casey's camp, Mr. Thompson said, "Go slow now; don't run, or -they'll sure shoot." - -"Gemme gun," said the little scout Red-Bear, and we all got our arms -from the wagon. - -There was no suspense now. Things had begun to happen. A little -faster, yet faster, we go up the little banks of the _coulee_, and, ye -gods! what!--five fully armed, well-mounted cowboys--a regular rescue -scene from Buffalo Bill's show. - -"Go back!" shouted Thompson. - -Bang! bang! bang! and the bullets whistle around and kick up the dust. -Away we go. - -Four bucks start over the hills to our right to flank us. Red-Bear -talked loudly in Cheyenne. - -Thompson repeated, "Red-Bear says if any one is hit, get off in the -grass and lie down; we must all hang together." - -We all yelled, "We will." - -A well-mounted man rode like mad ahead of the laboring team horses to -carry the news to the scout camp. The cowboys, being well mounted, -could easily have gotten away, but they stuck like true blues. - -Here is where the great beauty of American character comes out. -Nothing can be taken seriously by men used to danger. Above the -pounding of the horses and the rattle of the wagon and through the -dust came the cowboy song from the lips of Mr. Thompson: - - "Roll your tail, - And roll her high; - We'll all be angels - By-and-by." - -[Illustration: A RUN TO THE SCOUT CAMP] - -We deployed on the flanks of the wagon so that the team horses might -not be shot, which would have stopped the whole outfit, and we did ten -miles at a record-breaking gallop. We struck the scout camp in a blaze -of excitement. The Cheyennes were in war-paint, and the ponies' tails -were tied up and full of feathers. Had the Sioux materialized at that -time, Mr. Casey would have had his orders broken right there. - -After a lull in the proceedings, Mr. Thompson confided to me that "the -next time I go to war in a wagon it will put the drinks on me"; and he -saddled Piegan, and patted his neck in a way which showed his -gratification at the change in transport. We pulled out again for the -lower country, and as our scouts had seen the dust of Colonel -Sanford's command, we presently joined them. - -Any remarks made to Mr. Thompson on the tobacco subject are taken -seriously, and he has intimated to me a quiet yearning for a shot at -"the particular slit-mouthed Brule who got away with that Durham." - -How we awoke next morning with the sleet freezing in our faces, and -how we made camp in the blizzard, and borrowed Sibley stoves of the -soldiers, and how we were at last comfortable, and spent New-Year's -Eve in a proper manner, is of little interest. - -I was awakened at a late hour that night by Captain Baldwin, of -General Miles's staff, and told to saddle up for a night's ride to -Pine Ridge. This was the end of my experience with Lieutenant Casey -and his gallant corps. We shook hands cheerily in the dim candle-light -of the tepee, and agreeing to meet in New York at some not distant -day, I stepped out from the Sibley, mounted, and rode away in the -night. - -Three days later I had eaten my breakfast on the dining-car, and had -settled down to a cigar and a Chicago morning paper. The big leads at -the top of the column said, "Lieutenant E. W. Casey Shot." Casey shot! -I look again. Yes; despatches from head-quarters--a fact beyond -question. - -A nasty little Brule Sioux had made his _coup_, and shot away the life -of a man who would have gained his stars in modern war as naturally as -most of his fellows would their eagles. He had shot away the life of -an accomplished man; the best friend the Indians had; a man who did -not know "fear"; a young man beloved by his comrades, respected by his -generals and by the Secretary of War. The squaws of another race will -sing the death-song of their benefactor, and woe to the Sioux if the -Northern Cheyennes get a chance to _coup_! - -"Try to avoid bloodshed," comes over the wires from Washington. "Poor -savages!" comes the plaintive wail of the sentimentalist from his -place of security; but who is to weep for the men who hold up a row of -brass buttons for any hater of the United States to fire a gun at? Are -the squaws of another race to do the mourning for American soldiers? -Are the men of another race to hope for vengeance? Bah! - -I sometimes think Americans lack a virtue which the military races of -Europe possess. Possibly they may never need it. I hope not. American -soldiers of our frontier days have learned not to expect sympathy in -the East, but where one like Casey goes down there are many places -where Sorrow will spread her dusky pinions and the light grow dim. - - - - -THE SIOUX OUTBREAK IN SOUTH DAKOTA - - -We discussed the vague reports of the Wounded Knee fight in the upper -camps of the cordon, and old hands said it could be no ordinary affair -because of the large casualty. Two days after I rode into the Pine -Ridge Agency, very hungry and nearly frozen to death, having ridden -with Captain Baldwin, of the staff, and a Mr. Miller all night long. I -had to look after a poor horse, and see that he was groomed and fed, -which require considerable tact and "hustling" in a busy camp. Then -came my breakfast. That struck me as a serious matter at the time. -There were wagons and soldiers--the burial party going to the Wounded -Knee to do its solemn duty. I wanted to go very much. I stopped to -think; in short, I hesitated, and of course was "lost," for after -breakfast they had gone. Why did I not follow them? Well, my natural -prudence had been considerably strengthened a few days previously by a -half-hour's interview with six painted Brule Sioux, who seemed to be -in command of the situation. To briefly end the matter, the burial -party was fired on, and my confidence in my own good judgment was -vindicated to my own satisfaction. - -I rode over to the camp of the Seventh United States Cavalry, and met -all the officers, both wounded and well, and a great many of the men. -They told me their stories in that inimitable way which is studied art -with warriors. To appreciate brevity you must go to a soldier. He -shrugs his shoulders, and points to the bridge of his nose, which has -had a piece cut out by a bullet, and says, "Rather close, but don't -amount to much." An inch more, and some youngster would have had his -promotion. - -I shall not here tell the story of the Seventh Cavalry fight with Big -Foot's band of Sioux on the Wounded Knee; that has been done in the -daily papers; but I will recount some small-talk current in the Sibley -tepees, or the "white man's war tents," as the Indians call them. - -Lying on his back, with a bullet through the body, Lieutenant Mann -grew stern when he got to the critical point in his story. "I saw -three or four young bucks drop their blankets, and I saw that they -were armed. 'Be ready to fire, men; there is trouble.' There was an -instant, and then we heard sounds of firing in the centre of the -Indians. 'Fire!' I shouted, and we poured it into them." - -"Oh yes, Mann, but the trouble began when the old medicine-man threw -the dust in the air. That is the old Indian signal of 'defiance,' and -no sooner had he done that act than those bucks stripped and went into -action. Just before that some one told me that if we didn't stop that -old man's talk he would make trouble. He said that the white men's -bullets would not go through the ghost shirts." - -Said another officer, "The way those Sioux worked those Winchesters -was beautiful." Which criticism, you can see, was professional. - -Added another, "One man was hit early in the firing, but he continued -to pump his Winchester; but growing weaker and weaker, and sinking -down gradually, his shots went higher and higher, until his last went -straight up in the air." - -[Illustration: IN THE TRENCHES] - -"Those Indians were plumb crazy. Now, for instance, did you notice -that before they fired they raised their arms to heaven? That was -devotional." - -"Yes, captain, but they got over their devotional mood after the -shooting was over," remonstrated a cynic. "When I passed over the -field after the fight one young warrior who was near to his death -asked me to take him over to the medicine-man's side, that he might -die with his knife in the old conjurer's heart. He had seen that the -medicine was bad, and his faith in the ghost shirt had vanished. There -was no doubt but that every buck there thought that no bullet could -touch him." - -"Well," said an officer, whose pipe was working into a reflective -mood, "there is one thing which I learned, and that is that you can -bet that the private soldier in the United States army will fight. -He'll fight from the drop of the hat anywhere and in any place, and -he'll fight till you call _time_. I never in my life saw Springfield -carbines worked so industriously as at that place. I noticed one young -fellow, and his gun seemed to just blaze all the while. Poor chap! -he's mustered out for good." - -I saw the scout who had his nose cut off. He came in to get shaved. -His face was covered with strips of court-plaster, and when informed -that it would be better for him to forego the pleasure of a shave, he -reluctantly consented. He had ridden all day and been in the second -day's fight with his nose held on by a few strips of plaster, and he -did not see just why he could not be shaved; but after being talked to -earnestly by a half-dozen friends he succumbed. - -"What became of the man who did that?" I asked of him. - -He tapped his Winchester and said, "Oh, I got him all right!" - -I went into the hospital tents and saw the poor fellows lying on the -cots, a little pale in the face, and with a drawn look about the mouth -and eyes. That is the serious part of soldiering. No excitement, no -crowd of cheering comrades, no shots and yells and din of battle. A -few watchful doctors and Red Cross stewards with bottles and bandages, -and the grim spectre of the universal enemy hovering over all, and -ready to dart down on any man on the cots who lay quieter and whose -face was more pale than his fellows. - -I saw the Red Cross ambulances draw up in line, and watched the -wounded being loaded into them. I saw poor Garlington. His blond -mustache twitched under the process of moving, and he looked like a -man whose mustache wouldn't twitch unnecessarily. Lieutenant -Hawthorne, who was desperately shot in the groin while working the -little Hotchkiss cannon, turned his eyes as they moved Garlington from -the next cot, and then waited patiently for his own turn. - -I was talking with old Captain Capron, who commanded the battery at -the fight--a grim old fellow, with a red-lined cape overcoat, and -nerve enough for a hundred-ton gun. He said: "When Hawthorne was shot -the gun was worked by Corporal Weimert, while Private Hertzog carried -Hawthorne from the field and then returned to his gun. The Indians -redoubled their fire on the men at the gun, but it seemed only to -inspire the corporal to renewed efforts. Oh, my battery was well -served," continued the captain, as he put his hands behind his back -and looked far away. - -This professional interest in the military process of killing men -sometimes rasps a citizen's nerves. To the captain everything else was -a side note of little consequence so long as his guns had been worked -to his entire satisfaction. That was the point. - -[Illustration: THE ADVANCE GUARD--A MILITARY SACRIFICE] - -At the mention of the name of Captain Wallace, the Sibley became so -quiet that you could hear the stove draw and the wind wail about the -little canvas town. It was always "Poor Wallace!" and "He died like a -soldier, with his empty six-shooter in his right hand, shot through -the body, and with two jagged wounds in his head." - -I accosted a soldier who was leaning on a crutch while he carried a -little bundle in his right hand. "You bet I'm glad to get out in the -sunlight; that old hospital tent was getting mighty tiresome." - -"Where was I shot?" He pointed to his hip. "Only a flesh wound; this -is my third wound. My time is out in a few days; but I'm going to -re-enlist, and I hope I'll get back here before this trouble is over. -I want to get square with these Injuns." You see, there was -considerable human nature in this man's composition. - -The ambulance went off down the road, and the burial party came back. -The dead were for the time forgotten, and the wounded were left to -fight their own battles with stitches and fevers and suppuration. The -living toiled in the trenches, or stood out their long term on the -pickets, where the moon looked down on the frosty landscape, and the -cold wind from the north searched for the crevices in their blankets. - - - - -AN OUTPOST OF CIVILIZATION - - -The hacienda San Jose de Bavicora lies northwest from Chihuahua 225 of -the longest miles on the map. The miles run up long hills and dive -into rocky canyons; they stretch over never-ending burnt plains, and -across the beds of tortuous rivers thick with scorching sand. And -there are three ways to make this travel. Some go on foot--which is -best, if one has time--like the Tahuramaras; others take it ponyback, -after the Mexican manner; and persons with no time and a great deal of -money go in a coach. At first thought this last would seem to be the -best, but the Guerrero stage has never failed to tip over, and the -company make you sign away your natural rights, and almost your -immortal soul, before they will allow you to embark. So it is not the -best way at all, if I may judge from my own experience. We had a coach -which seemed to choose the steepest hill on the route, where it then -struck a stone, which heaved the coach, pulled out the king-pin, and -what I remember of the occurrence is full of sprains and aches and -general gloom. Guerrero, too, is only three-fourths of the way to -Bavicora, and you can only go there if Don Gilberto, the _patron_ of -the hacienda--or, if you know him well enough, "Jack"--will take you -in the ranch coach. - -After bumping over the stones all day for five days, through a -blinding dust, we were glad enough when we suddenly came out of the -tall timber in the mountain pass and espied the great yellow plain -of Bavicora stretching to the blue hills of the Sierra. In an hour's -ride more, through a chill wind, we were at the ranch. We pulled up at -the entrance, which was garnished by a bunch of cow-punchers, who -regarded us curiously as we pulled our aching bodies and bandaged -limbs from the Concord and limped into the _patio_. - -[Illustration: THE HACIENDA SAN JOSE DE BAVICORA] - -To us was assigned the room of honor, and after shaking ourselves down -on a good bed, with mattress and sheeting, we recovered our -cheerfulness. A hot toddy, a roaring fireplace, completed the effect. -The floor was strewn with bear and wolf skin rugs; it had pictures and -draperies on the walls, and in a corner a wash-basin and pitcher--so -rare in these parts--was set on a stand, grandly suggestive of the -refinements of luxury we had attained to. I do not wish to convey the -impression that Mexicans do not wash, because there are brooks enough -in Mexico if they want to use them, but wash-basins are the -advance-guards of progress, and we had been on the outposts since -leaving Chihuahua. - -Jack's man William had been ever-present, and administered to our -slightest wish; his cheerful "Good-mo'nin', gemmen," as he lit the -fire, recalled us to life, and after a rub-down I went out to look at -the situation. - -Jack's ranch is a great straggling square of mud walls enclosing two -_patios_, with adobe corrals and out-buildings, all obviously -constructed for the purposes of defence. It was built in 1770 by the -Jesuits, and while the English and Dutch were fighting for the -possession of the Mohawk Valley, Bavicora was an outpost of -civilization, as it is to-day. Locked in a strange language, on -parchment stored in vaults in Spain, are the records of this -enterprise. In 1840 the good fathers were murdered by the Apaches, the -country devasted and deserted, and the cattle and horses hurried to -the mountain lairs of the Apache devils. The place lay idle and -unreclaimed for years, threatening to crumble back to the dust of -which it was made. Near by are curious mounds on the banks of a dry -_arroyo_. The punchers have dug down into these ruins, and found adobe -walls, mud plasterings, skeletons, and bits of woven goods. They call -them the "Montezumas." All this was to be changed. In 1882 an American -cowboy--which was Jack--accompanied by two companions, penetrated -south from Arizona, and as he looked from the mountains over the fair -plain of Bavicora, he said, "I will take this." The Apaches were on -every hand; the country was terrorized to the gates of Chihuahua. The -stout heart of the pioneer was not disturbed, and he made his word -good. By purchase he acquired the plain, and so much more that you -could not ride round it in two weeks. He moved in with his hardy -punchers, and fixed up Bavicora so it would be habitable. He chased -the Indians off his ranch whenever he "cut their sign." After a while -the Mexican _vaqueros_ from below overcame their terror, when they saw -the American hold his own with the Apache devils, and by twos and -threes and half-dozens they came up to take service, and now there are -two hundred who lean on Jack and call him _patron_. They work for him -and they follow him on the Apache trail, knowing he will never run -away, believing in his beneficence and trusting to his courage. - -I sat on a mud-bank and worked away at a sketch of the yellow sunlit -walls of the mud-ranch, with the great plain running away like the -ocean into a violet streak under the blue line of the Pena Blanca. In -the rear rises a curious broken formation of hills like millions of -ruins of Rhine castles. The _lobos_[3] howl by night, and the -Apache is expected to come at any instant. The old _criada_ or -serving-woman who makes the beds saw her husband killed at the front -door, and every man who goes out of the _patio_ has a large assortment -of the most improved artillery on his person. Old carts with heavy -wooden wheels like millstones stand about. Brown people with big straw -hats and gay _serapes_ lean lazily against the gray walls. Little pigs -carry on the contest with nature, game-chickens strut, and clumsy -puppies tumble over each other in joyful play; _burros_ stand about -sleepily, only indicating life by suggestive movements of their great -ears, while at intervals a pony, bearing its lithe rider, steps from -the gate, and, breaking into an easy and graceful lope, goes away into -the waste of land. - -[Footnote 3: Wolves.] - -[Illustration: EL PATRON] - -I rose to go inside, and while I gazed I grew exalted in the -impression that here, in the year of 1893, I had rediscovered a Fort -Laramie after Mr. Parkman's well-known description. The foreman, Tom -Bailey, was dressed in store clothes, and our room had bedsteads and a -wash-basin; otherwise it answered very well. One room was piled high -with dried meat, and the great stomachs of oxen filled with tallow; -another room is a store full of goods--calicoes, buckskin, _riatas_, -yellow leather shoes, guns, and other quaint plunder adapted to the -needs of a people who sit on the ground and live on meat and -corn-meal. - -"Charlie Jim," the Chinese cook, has a big room with a stove in it, -and he and the stove are a never-ending wonder to all the folks, and -the fame of both has gone across the mountains to Sonora and to the -south. Charlie is an autocrat in his curious Chinese way, and by the -dignity of his position as Mr. Jack's private cook, and his unknown -antecedents, he conjures the Mexicans and damns the Texans, which -latter refuse to take him seriously and kill him, as they would a -"proper" man. Charlie Jim, in return, entertains ideas of Texans which -he secretes, except when they dine with Jack, when he may be heard to -mutter, "Cake and pie no good for puncher, make him fat and lazy"; and -when he crosses the _patio_ and they fling a rope over his foot, he -becomes livid, and breaks out, "Damn puncher; damn rope; rope man all -same horse; damn puncher; no good that way." - -The _patron_ has the state apartment, and no one goes there with his -hat on; but the relations with his people are those of a father and -children. An old gray man approaches; they touch the left arm with the -right--an abbreviated hug; say "Buenos dias, patron!" "Buenos dias, -Don Sabino!" and they shake hands. A California saddle stands on a -rack by the desk, and the latter is littered with photographs of men -in London clothes and women in French dresses, the latter singularly -out of character with their surroundings. The old _criada_ squats -silently by the fireplace, her head enveloped in her blue _rebozo_, -and deftly rolls her cigarette. She alone, and one white bull-dog, can -come and go without restraint. - -The _administrador_, which is Mr. Tom Bailey, of Texas, moves about in -the discharge of his responsibilities, and they are universal; -anything and everything is his work, from the negotiation for the sale -of five thousand head of cattle to the "busting" of a bronco which no -one else can "crawl." - -The clerk is in the store, with his pink boy's face, a pencil behind -his ear, and a big sombrero, trying to look as though he had lived in -these wilds longer than at San Francisco, which he finds an impossible -part. He has acquired the language and the disregard of time -necessary to one who would sell a real's worth of cotton cloth to a -Mexican. - -[Illustration: THE ADMINISTRADOR OF SAN JOSE DE BAVICORA] - -The forge in the blacksmith's shop is going, and one puncher is -cutting another puncher's hair in the sunlight; ponies are being -lugged in on the end of lariats, and thrown down, tied fast, and left -in a convulsive heap, ready to be shod at the disposition of their -riders. - -On the roof of the house are two or three men looking and pointing to -the little black specks on the plain far away, which are the cattle -going into the _lagunas_ to drink. - -The second _patio_, or the larger one, is entered by a narrow passage, -and here you find horses and saddles and punchers coming and going, -saddling and unsaddling their horses, and being bucked about or -dragged on a rope. In the little doorways to the rooms of the men -stand women in calico dresses and blue cotton _rebozos_, while the -dogs and pigs lie about, and little brown _vaqueros_ are ripening in -the sun. In the rooms you find pottery, stone _metates_ for grinding -the corn, a fireplace, a symbol of the Catholic Church, some -_serapes_, some rope, and buckskin. The people sit on a mat on the -floor, and make cigarettes out of native tobacco and corn-husks, or -rolled _tortillas_; they laugh and chat in low tones, and altogether -occupy the tiniest mental world, hardly larger than the _patio_, and -not venturing beyond the little mud town of Temozachic, forty miles -over the hills. Physically the men vacillate between the most intense -excitement and a comatose state of idleness, where all is quiet and -slothful, in contrast to the mad whirl of the roaring _rodeo_. - -In the haciendas of old Mexico one will find the law and custom of the -feudal days. All the laws of Mexico are in protection of the -land-owner. The master is without restraint, and the man lives -dependent on his caprice. The _patron_ of Bavicora, for instance, -leases land to a Mexican, and it is one of the arrangements that he -shall drive the ranch coach to Chihuahua when it goes. All lessees of -land are obliged to follow the _patron_ to war, and, indeed, since the -common enemy, the Apache, in these parts is as like to harry the -little as the great, it is exactly to his interest to wage the war. -Then, too, comes the responsibility of the _patron_ to his people. He -must feed them in the famine, he must arbitrate their disputes, and he -must lead them at all times. If through improvidence their work-cattle -die or give out, he must restock them, so that they may continue the -cultivation of the land, all of which is not altogether profitable in -a financial way, as we of the North may think, where all business is -done on the "hold you responsible, sir," basis. - -The _vaqueros_ make their own saddles and _reatas_; only the iron -saddle-rings, the rifles, and the knives come from the _patron_, and -where he gets them God alone knows, and the puncher never cares. No -doctor attends the sick or disabled, old women's nursing standing -between life and death. The Creator in His providence has arranged it -so that simple folks are rarely sick, and a sprained ankle, a bad -bruise from a steer's horn or a pitching horse, are soon remedied by -rest and a good constitution. At times instant and awful death -overtakes the puncher--a horse in a gopher-hole, a mad steer, a chill -with a knife, a blue hole where the .45 went in, a quicksand closing -overhead, and a cross on a hill-side are all. - -Never is a door closed. Why they were put up I failed to discover. For -days I tried faithfully to keep mine shut, but every one coming or -going left it open, so that I gave it up in despair. There are only -two windows in the ranch of San Jose de Bavicora, one in our chamber -and one in the blacksmith's shop, both opening into the court. In -fact, I found those were the only two windows in the state, outside of -the big city. The Mexicans find that their enemies are prone to shoot -through these apertures, and so they have accustomed themselves to do -without them, which is as it should be, since it removes the -temptation. - -[Illustration: A HAIR-CUT A LA PUNCHER] - -One night the _patron_ gave a _baile_. The _vaqueros_ all came with -their girls, and a string band rendered music with a very dancy swing. -I sat in a corner and observed the man who wears the big hat and who -throws the rawhide as he cavorted about with his girl, and the way -they dug up the dust out of the dirt floor soon put me to coughing. -"Candles shed their soft lustre--and tallow" down the backs of our -necks, and the band scraped and thrummed away in a most serious -manner. One man had a harp, two had primitive fiddles, and one a -guitar. One old fiddler was the leader, and as he bowed his head on -his instrument I could not keep my eyes off him. He had come from -Sonora, and was very old; he looked as though he had had his share of -a very rough life; he was never handsome as a boy, I am sure, but the -weather and starvation and time had blown him and crumbled him into a -ruin which resembled the pre-existing ape from which the races sprang. -If he had never committed murder, it was for lack of opportunity; and -Sonora is a long travel from Plymouth Rock. - -Tom Bailey, the foreman, came round to me, his eyes dancing, and his -shock of hair standing up like a Circassian beauty's, and pointing, he -said, "Thar's a woman who's prettier than a speckled pup; put your -twine on her." Then, as master of ceremonies, he straightened up and -sang out over the fiddles and noise: "Dance, thar, you fellers, or -you'll git the gout." - -In an adjoining room there was a very heavy jug of strong-water, and -thither the men repaired to pick up, so that as the night wore on -their brains began to whirl after their legs, and they whooped at -times in a way to put one's nerves on edge. The band scraped the -harder and the dance waxed fast, the spurs clinked, and _bang, bang, -bang_ went the Winchester rifles in the _patio_, while the chorus -"Viva el patron" rang around the room--the Old Guard was in action. - -We sat in our room one evening when in filed the _vaqueros_ and asked -to be allowed to sing for the _patron_. They sat on my bed and on the -floor, while we occupied the other; they had their hats in their -hands, and their black, dreamy eyes were diverted as though overcome -by the magnificence of the apartment. They hemmed and coughed, until -finally one man, who was evidently the leader, pulled himself together -and began, in a high falsetto, to sing; after two or three words the -rest caught on, and they got through the line, when they stopped; thus -was one leading and the others following to the end of the line. It -was strange, wild music--a sort of general impression of a boys' choir -with a wild discordance, each man giving up his soul as he felt moved. -The refrain always ended, for want of breath, in a low, expiring howl, -leaving the audience in suspense; but quickly they get at it again, -and the rise of the tenor chorus continues. The songs are largely -about love and women and doves and flowers, in all of which nonsense -punchers take only a perfunctory interest in real life. - -These are the amusements--although the puncher is always roping for -practice, and everything is fair game for his skill; hence dogs, pigs, -and men have become as expert in dodging the rope as the _vaqueros_ -are in throwing it. A mounted man, in passing, will always throw his -rope at one sitting in a doorway, and then try to get away before he -can retaliate by jerking his own rope over his head. I have seen a man -repair to the roof and watch a doorway through which he expected some -comrade to pass shortly, and watch for an hour to be ready to drop his -noose about his shoulders. - -[Illustration: THE MUSIC AT THE "BAILE"] - -The ranch fare is very limited, and at intervals men are sent to bring -back a steer from the water-holes, which is dragged to the front door -and there slaughtered. A day of feasting ensues, and the doorways and -the gutter-pipes and the corral fences are festooned with the beef -left to dry in the sun. - -There is the serious side of the life. The Apache is an evil which -Mexicans have come to regard as they do the meteoric hail, the -lightning, the drought, and any other horror not to be averted. They -quarrel between themselves over land and stock, and there are a great -many men out in the mountains who are proscribed by the government. -Indeed, while we journeyed on the road and were stopping one night in -a little mud town, we were startled by a fusillade of shots, and in -the morning were informed that two men had been killed the night -before, and various others wounded. At another time a Mexican, with -his followers, had invaded our apartment and expressed a disposition -to kill Jack, but he found Jack was willing to play his game, and gave -up the enterprise. On the ranch the men had discovered some dead stock -which had been killed with a knife. Men were detailed to roam the -country in search of fresh trails of these cattle-killers. I asked the -foreman what would happen in case they found a trail which could be -followed, and he said, "Why, we would follow it until we came up, and -then kill them." If a man is to "hold down" a big ranch in Northern -Mexico he has got to be "all man," because it is "a man's job," as -Mr. Bailey, of Los Ojos, said--and he knows. - -Jack himself is the motive force of the enterprise, and he disturbs -the quiet of this waste of sunshine by his presence for about six -months in the year. With his strong spirit, the embodiment of -generations of pioneers, he faces the Apache, the marauder, the -financial risks. He spurs his listless people on to toil, he permeates -every detail, he storms, and greater men than he have sworn like -troopers under less provocation than he has at times; but he has -snatched from the wolf and the Indian the fair land of Bavicora, to -make it fruitful to his generation. - -There lies the hacienda San Jose de Bavicora, gray and silent on the -great plain, with the mountain standing guard against intruders, and -over it the great blue dome of the sky, untroubled by clouds, except -little flecks of vapor which stand, lost in immensity, burning bright -like opals, as though discouraged from seeking the mountains or the -sea whence they came. The marvellous color of the country beckons to -the painter; its simple, natural life entrances the blond barbarian, -with his fevered brain; and the gaudy _vaquero_ and his trappings and -his pony are the actors on this noble stage. But one must be -appreciative of it all, or he will find a week of rail and a week of -stage and a week of horseback all too far for one to travel to see a -shadow across the moon. - - - - -A RODEO AT LOS OJOS - - -The sun beat down on the dry grass, and the punchers were squatting -about in groups in front of the straggling log and _adobe_ buildings -which constituted the outlying ranch of Los Ojos. - -Mr. Johnnie Bell, the _capitan_ in charge, was walking about in his -heavy _chaparras_, a slouch hat, and a white "biled" shirt. He was -chewing his long yellow mustache, and gazing across the great plain of -Bavicora with set and squinting eyes. He passed us and repassed us, -still gazing out, and in his long Texas drawl said, "Thar's them San -Miguel fellers." - -I looked, but I could not see any San Miguel fellows in the wide -expanse of land. - -"Hyar, crawl some horses, and we'll go out and meet 'em," continued -Mr. Bell; and, suiting the action, we mounted our horses and followed -him. After a time I made out tiny specks in the atmospheric wave which -rises from the heated land, and in half an hour could plainly make out -a cavalcade of horsemen. Presently breaking into a gallop, which -movement was imitated by the other party, we bore down upon each -other, and only stopped when near enough to shake hands, the half-wild -ponies darting about and rearing under the excitement. Greetings were -exchanged in Spanish, and the peculiar shoulder tap, or abbreviated -embrace, was indulged in. Doubtless a part of our outfit was as -strange to Governor Terraza's men--for he is the _patron_ of San -Miguel--as they were to us. - -My imagination had never before pictured anything so wild as these -leather-clad _vaqueros_. As they removed their hats to greet Jack, -their unkempt locks blew over their faces, back off their foreheads, -in the greatest disorder. They were clad in terra-cotta buckskin, -elaborately trimmed with white leather, and around their lower legs -wore heavy cowhide as a sort of legging. They were fully armed, and -with their jingling spurs, their flapping ropes and buckskin strings, -and with their gay _serapes_ tied behind their saddles, they were as -impressive a cavalcade of desert-scamperers as it has been my fortune -to see. Slowly we rode back to the corrals, where they dismounted. - -Shortly, and unobserved by us until at hand, we heard the clatter of -hoofs, and, leaving in their wake a cloud of dust, a dozen punchers -from another outfit bore down upon us as we stood under the _ramada_ -of the ranch-house, and pulling up with a jerk, which threw the ponies -on their haunches, the men dismounted and approached, to be welcomed -by the master of the _rodeo_. - -A few short orders were given, and three mounted men started down to -the springs, and, after charging about, we could see that they had -roped a steer, which they led, bawling and resisting, to the ranch, -where it was quickly thrown and slaughtered. Turning it on its back, -after the manner of the old buffalo-hunters, it was quickly disrobed -and cut up into hundreds of small pieces, which is the method -practised by the Mexican butchers, and distributed to the men. - -In Mexico it is the custom for the man who gives the "round-up" to -supply fresh beef to the visiting cow-men; and on this occasion it -seemed that the pigs, chickens, and dogs were also embraced in the -bounty of the _patron_, for I noticed one piece which hung immediately -in front of my quarters had two chickens roosting on the top of it, -and a pig and a dog tugging vigorously at the bottom. - -[Illustration: COMING TO THE RODEO] - -The horse herds were moved in from the _llano_ and rounded up in the -corral, from which the punchers selected their mounts by roping, and -as the sun was westering they disappeared, in obedience to orders, to -all points of the compass. The men took positions back in the hills -and far out on the plain; there, building a little fire, they cook -their beef, and, enveloped in their _serapes_, spend the night. At -early dawn they converge on the ranch, driving before them such stock -as they may. - -In the morning we could see from the ranch-house a great semicircle of -gray on the yellow plains. It was the thousands of cattle coming to -the _rodeo_. In an hour more we could plainly see the cattle, and -behind them the _vaqueros_ dashing about, waving their _serapes_. -Gradually they converged on the _rodeo_ ground, and, enveloped in a -great cloud of dust and with hollow bellowings, like the low pedals of -a great organ, they begin to mill, or turn about a common centre, -until gradually quieted by the enveloping cloud of horsemen. The -_patron_ and the captains of the neighboring ranches, after an -exchange of long-winded Spanish formalities, and accompanied by -ourselves, rode slowly from the ranch to the herd, and, entering it, -passed through and through and around in solemn procession. The cattle -part before the horsemen, and the dust rises so as to obscure to -unaccustomed eyes all but the silhouettes of the moving thousands. -This is an important function in a cow country, since it enables the -owners or their men to estimate what numbers of the stock belong to -them, to observe the brands, and to inquire as to the condition of the -animals and the numbers of calves and "mavericks" and to settle any -dispute which may arise therefrom. - -All controversy, if there be any, having been adjusted, a part of the -punchers move slowly into the herd, while the rest patrol the outside, -and hold it. Then a movement soon begins. You see a figure dash at -about full speed through an apparently impenetrable mass of cattle; -the stock becomes uneasy and moves about, gradually beginning the -milling process, but the men select the cattle bearing their brand, -and course them through the herd; all becomes confusion, and the -cattle simply seek to escape from the ever-recurring horsemen. Here -one sees the matchless horsemanship of the punchers. Their little -ponies, trained to the business, respond to the slightest pressure. -The cattle make every attempt to escape, dodging in and out and -crowding among their kind; but right on their quarter, gradually -forcing them to the edge of the herd, keeps the puncher, until -finally, as a last effort, the cow and the calf rush through the -supporting line, when, after a terrific race, she is turned into -another herd, and is called "the cut." - -One who finds pleasure in action can here see the most surprising -manifestations of it. A huge bull, wild with fright, breaks from the -herd, with lowered head and whitened eye, and goes charging off -indifferent to what or whom he may encounter, with the little pony -pattering in his wake. The cattle run at times with nearly the -intensity of action of a deer, and whip and spur are applied -mercilessly to the little horse. The process of "tailing" is indulged -in, although it is a dangerous practice for the man, and reprehensible -from its brutality to the cattle. A man will pursue a bull at top -speed, will reach over and grasp the tail of the animal, bring it to -his saddle, throw his right leg over the tail, and swing his horse -suddenly to the left, which throws the bull rolling over and over. -That this method has its value I have seen in the case of pursuing -"mavericks," where an unsuccessful throw was made with the rope, and -the animal was about to enter the thick timber; it would be impossible -to coil the rope again, and an escape would follow but for the -wonderful dexterity of these men in this accomplishment. The little -calves become separated from their mothers, and go bleating about; -their mothers respond by bellows, until pandemonium seems to reign. -The dust is blinding, and the puncher becomes grimy and soiled; the -horses lather; and in the excitement the desperate men do deeds which -convince you of their faith that "a man can't die till his time -comes." At times a bull is found so skilled in these contests that he -cannot be displaced from the herd; it is then necessary to rope him -and drag him to the point desired; and I noticed punchers ride behind -recalcitrant bulls and, reaching over, spur them. I also saw two men -throw simultaneously for an immense creature, when, to my great -astonishment, he turned tail over head and rolled on the ground. They -had both sat back on their ropes together. - -[Illustration: WAVING SERAPE TO DRIVE CATTLE] - -The whole scene was inspiring to a degree, and well merited Mr. -Yorick's observation that "it is the sport of kings; the image of war, -with twenty-five per cent. of its danger." - -Fresh horses are saddled from time to time, but before high noon the -work is done, and the various "cut-offs" are herded in different -directions. By this time the dust had risen until lost in the sky -above, and as the various bands of cowboys rode slowly back to the -ranch, I observed their demoralized condition. The economy _per force_ -of the Mexican people prompts them to put no more cotton into a shirt -than is absolutely necessary, with the consequence that, in these -cases, their shirts had pulled out from their belts and their -_serapes_, and were flapping in the wind; their mustaches and their -hair were perfectly solid with dust, and one could not tell a bay -horse from a black. - -Now come the cigarettes and the broiling of beef. The bosses were -invited to sit at our table, and as the work of cutting and branding -had yet to be done, no time was taken for ablutions. Opposite me sat a -certain individual who, as he engulfed his food, presented a grimy -waste of visage only broken by the rolling of his eyes and the -snapping of his teeth. - -We then proceeded to the corrals, which were made in stockaded form -from gnarled and many-shaped posts set on an end. The cows and calves -were bunched on one side in fearful expectancy. A fire was built just -outside of the bars, and the branding-irons set on. Into the corrals -went the punchers, with their ropes coiled in their hands. Selecting -their victims, they threw their ropes, and, after pulling and tugging, -a bull calf would come out of the bunch, whereat two men would set -upon him and "rastle" him to the ground. It is a strange mixture of -humor and pathos, this mutilation of calves--humorous when the calf -throws the man, and pathetic when the man throws the calf. -Occasionally an old cow takes an unusual interest in her offspring, -and charges boldly into their midst. Those men who cannot escape soon -enough throw dust in her eyes, or put their hats over her horns. And -in this case there were some big steers which had been "cut out" for -purposes of work at the plough and turned in with the young stock; one -old grizzled veteran manifested an interest in the proceedings, and -walked boldly from the bunch, with his head in the air and bellowing; -a wild scurry ensued, and hats and _serapes_ were thrown to confuse -him. But over all this the punchers only laugh, and go at it again. In -corral roping they try to catch the calf by the front feet, and in -this they become so expert that they rarely miss. As I sat on the -fence, one of the foremen, in play, threw and caught my legs as they -dangled. - -[Illustration: TAILING A BULL] - -When the work is done and the cattle are again turned into the herd, -the men repair to the _casa_ and indulge in games and pranks. We had -shooting-matches and hundred-yard dashes; but I think no records were -broken, since punchers on foot are odd fish. They walk as though they -expected every moment to sit down. Their knees work outward, and they -have a decided "hitch" in their gait; but once let them get a foot in -a stirrup and a grasp on the horn of the saddle, and a dynamite -cartridge alone could expel them from their seat. When loping over the -plain the puncher is the epitome of equine grace, and if he desires to -look behind him he simply shifts his whole body to one side and lets -the horse go as he pleases. In the pursuit of cattle at a _rodeo_ he -leans forward in his saddle, and with his arms elevated to his -shoulders he "plugs" in his spurs and makes his pony fairly sail. -While going at this tremendous speed he turns his pony almost in his -stride, and no matter how a bull may twist and swerve about, he is at -his tail as true as a magnet to the pole. The Mexican punchers all use -the "ring bit," and it is a fearful contrivance. Their saddle-trees -are very short, and as straight and quite as shapeless as a "saw-buck -pack-saddle." The horn is as big as a dinner plate, and taken -altogether it is inferior to the California tree. It is very hard on -horses' backs, and not at all comfortable for a rider who is not -accustomed to it. - -They all use hemp ropes which are imported from some of the southern -states of the republic, and carry a lariat of hair which they make -themselves. They work for from eight to twelve dollars a month in -Mexican coin, and live on the most simple diet imaginable. They are -mostly _peoned_, or in hopeless debt to their _patrons_, who go after -any man who deserts the range and bring him back by force. A puncher -buys nothing but his gorgeous buckskin clothes, and his big -silver-mounted straw hat, his spurs, his riata, and his _cincha_ -rings. He makes his _teguas_ or buckskin boots, his heavy leggings, -his saddle, and the _patron_ furnishes his arms. On the round-up, -which lasts about half of the year, he is furnished beef, and also -kills game. The balance of the year he is kept in an outlying camp to -turn stock back on the range. These camps are often the most simple -things, consisting of a pack containing his "grub," his saddle, and -_serape_, all lying under a tree, which does duty as a house. He -carries a flint and steel, and has a piece of sheet-iron for a stove, -and a piece of pottery for boiling things in. This part of their lives -is passed in a long siesta, and a man of the North who has a local -reputation as a lazy man should see a Mexican puncher loaf, in order -to comprehend that he could never achieve distinction in the land -where _poco tiempo_ means forever. Such is the life of the _vaquero_, -a brave fellow, a fatalist, with less wants than the pony he rides, a -rather thoughtless man, who lacks many virtues, but when he mounts his -horse or casts his riata all men must bow and call him master. - -The _baile_, the song, the man with the guitar--and under all this -_dolce far niente_ are their little hates and bickerings, as thin as -cigarette smoke and as enduring as time. They reverence their parents, -they honor their _patron_, and love their _compadre_. They are grave, -and grave even when gay; they eat little, they think less, they -meet death calmly, and it's a terrible scoundrel who goes to hell from -Mexico. - -[Illustration: JOHNNIE BELL OF LOS OJOS] - -The Anglo-American foremen are another type entirely. They have all -the rude virtues. The intelligence which is never lacking and the -perfect courage which never fails are found in such men as Tom Bailey -and Johnnie Bell--two Texans who are the superiors of any cow-men I -have ever seen. I have seen them chase the "mavericks" at top speed -over a country so difficult that a man could hardly pass on foot out -of a walk. On one occasion Mr. Bailey, in hot pursuit of a bull, -leaped a tremendous fallen log at top speed, and in the next instant -"tailed" and threw the bull as it was about to enter the timber. Bell -can ride a pony at a gallop while standing up on his saddle, and while -Cossacks do this trick they are enabled to accomplish it easily from -the superior adaptability of their saddles to the purpose. In my -association with these men of the frontier I have come to greatly -respect their moral fibre and their character. Modern civilization, in -the process of educating men beyond their capacity, often succeeds in -vulgarizing them; but these natural men possess minds which, though -lacking all embellishment, are chaste and simple, and utterly devoid -of a certain flippancy which passes for smartness in situations where -life is not so real. The fact that a man bolts his food or uses his -table-knife as though it were a deadly weapon counts very little in -the game these men play in their lonely range life. They are not -complicated, these children of nature, and they never think one thing -and say another. Mr. Bell was wont to squat against a fireplace--_a -la_ Indian--and dissect the peculiarities of the audience in a most -ingenuous way. It never gave offence either, because so guileless. Mr. -Bailey, after listening carefully to a theological tilt, observed -that "he believed he'd be religious if he knowed how." - -The jokes and pleasantries of the American puncher are so close to -nature often, and so generously veneered with heart-rending profanity, -as to exclude their becoming classic. The cow-men are good friends and -virulent haters, and, if justified in their own minds, would shoot a -man instantly, and regret the necessity, but not the shooting, -afterwards. - -Among the dry, saturnine faces of the cow punchers of the Sierra Madre -was one which beamed with human instincts, which seemed to say, -"Welcome, stranger!" He was the first impression my companion and -myself had of Mexico, and as broad as are its plains and as high its -mountains, yet looms up William on a higher pinnacle of remembrance. - -We crawled out of a Pullman in the early morning at Chihuahua, and -fell into the hands of a little black man, with telescopic pantaloons, -a big sombrero with the edges rolled up, and a grin on his -good-humored face like a yawning _barranca_. - -"Is you frens of Mista Jack's?" - -"We are." - -"Gimme your checks. Come dis way," he said; and without knowing why we -should hand ourselves and our property over to this uncouth personage, -we did it, and from thence on over the deserts and in the mountains, -while shivering in the snow by night and by day, there was Jack's man -to bandage our wounds, lend us tobacco when no one else had any, to -tuck in our blankets, to amuse us, to comfort us in distress, to -advise and admonish, until the last _adios_ were waved from the train -as it again bore us to the border-land. - -On our departure from Chihuahua to meet Jack out in the mountains -the stage was overloaded, but a proposition to leave William behind -was beaten on the first ballot; it was well vindicated, for without -William the expedition would have been a "march from Moscow." There -was only one man in the party with a sort of bass-relief notion that -he could handle the Spanish language, and the relief was a very slight -one--almost imperceptible--the politeness of the people only keeping -him from being mobbed. But William could speak German, English, and -Spanish, separately, or all at once. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM IN ACTION] - -William was so black that he would make a dark hole in the night, and -the top of his head was not over four and a half feet above the soles -of his shoes. His legs were all out of drawing, but forty-five winters -had not passed over him without leaving a mind which, in its sphere of -life, was agile, resourceful, and eminently capable of grappling with -any complication which might arise. He had personal relations of -various kinds with every man, woman, and child whom we met in Mexico. -He had been thirty years a cook in a cow camp, and could evolve -banquets from the meat on a bull's tail, and was wont to say, "I don' -know so much 'bout dese yar stoves, but gie me a camp-fire an' I can -make de bes' thing yo' ever threw your lip ober." - -When in camp, with his little cast-off English tourist cap on one side -of his head, a short black pipe tipped at the other angle to balance -the effect, and two or three stripes of white corn-meal across his -visage, he would move round the camp-fire like a cub bear around a -huckleberry bush, and in a low, authoritative voice have the Mexicans -all in action, one hurrying after water, another after wood, some -making _tortillas_, or cutting up venison, grinding coffee between two -stones, dusting bedding, or anything else. The British Field-Marshal -air was lost in a second when he addressed "Mister Willie" or "Mister -Jack," and no fawning courtier of the Grand Monarch could purr so low. - -On our coach ride to Bavicora, William would seem to go up to any -ranch-house on the road, when the sun was getting low, and after ten -minutes' conversation with the grave Don who owned it, he would turn -to us with a wink, and say: "Come right in, gemmen. Dis ranch is -yours." Sure enough, it was. Whether he played us for major-generals -or governors of states I shall never know, but certainly we were -treated as such. - -On one occasion William had gotten out to get a hat blown off by the -wind, and when he came up to view the wreck of the turn-over of the -great Concord coach, and saw the mules going off down the hill with -the front wheels, the ground littered with boxes and debris, and the -men all lying about, groaning or fainting in agony, William scratched -his wool, and with just a suspicion of humor on his face he ventured, -"If I'd been hyar, I would be in two places 'fore now, shuah," which -was some consolation to William, if not to us. - -In Chihuahua we found William was in need of a clean shirt, and we had -got one for him in a shop. He had selected one with a power of color -enough to make the sun stand still, and with great glass diamonds in -it. We admonished him that when he got to the ranch the punchers would -take it away from him. - -"No, sah; I'll take it off 'fore I get thar." - -William had his commercial instincts developed in a reasonable degree, -for he was always trying to trade a silver watch, of the Captain -Cuttle kind, with the Mexicans. When asked what time it was, William -would look at the sun and then deftly cant the watch around, the -hands of which swung like compasses, and he would show you the time -within fifteen minutes of right, which little discrepancy could never -affect the value of a watch in the land of _manana_. - -[Illustration: MOUNTING A WILD ONE] - -That he possessed tact I have shown, for he was the only man at -Bavicora whose relations with the _patron_ and the smallest, dirtiest -Indian "kid," were easy and natural. Jack said of his popularity, "He -stands 'way in with the Chinese cook; gets the warm corner behind the -stove." He also had courage, for didn't he serve out the ammunition in -Texas when his "outfit" was in a life-and-death tussle with the -Comanches? did he not hold a starving crowd of Mexican teamsters off -the grub-wagon until the boys came back? - -There was only one feature of Western life with which William could -not assimilate, and that was the horse. He had trusted a bronco too -far on some remote occasion, which accounted partially for the kinks -in his legs; but after he had recovered fully his health he had pinned -his faith to _burros_, and forgotten the glories of the true cavalier. - -"No, sah, Mister Jack, I don' care for to ride dat horse. He's a good -horse, but I jes hit de flat for a few miles 'fore I rides him," he -was wont to say when the cowboys gave themselves over to an -irresponsible desire to see a horse kill a man. He would then go about -his duties, uttering gulps of suppressed laughter, after the negro -manner, safe in the knowledge that the _burro_ he affected could "pack -his freight." - -One morning I was taking a bath out of our wash-basin, and William, -who was watching me and the coffee-pot at the same time, observed that -"if one of dese people down hyar was to do dat dere, dere'd be a -funeral 'fo' twelve o'clock." - -William never admitted any social affinity with Mexicans, and as to -his own people he was wont to say: "Never have went with people of my -own color. Why, you go to Brazos to-day, and dey tell you dere was -Bill, he go home come night, an' de balance of 'em be looking troo de -grates in de morning." So William lives happily in the "small social -puddle," and always reckons to "treat any friends of Mister Jack's -right." So if you would know William, you must do it through Jack. - -It was on rare occasions that William, as master of ceremonies, -committed any indiscretion, but one occurred in the town of Guerrero. -We had gotten in rather late, and William was sent about the town to -have some one serve supper for us. We were all very busy when William -"blew in" with a great sputtering, and said, "Is yous ready for -dinner, gemmen?" "Yes, William," we answered, whereat William ran off. -After waiting a long time, and being very hungry, we concluded to go -and "rustle" for ourselves, since William did not come back and had -not told us where he had gone. After we had found and eaten a dinner, -William turned up, gloomy and dispirited. We inquired as to his mood. -"I do declar', gemmen, I done forget dat you didn't know where I had -ordered dat dinner; but dere's de dinner an' nobody to eat it, an' I's -got to leave dis town 'fore sunup, pay for it, or die." Unless some -one had advanced the money, William's two other alternatives would -have been painful. - -The romance in William's life even could not be made mournful, but it -was the "mos' trouble" he ever had, and it runs like this: Some years -since William had saved up four hundred dollars, and he had a girl -back in Brazos to whom he had pinned his faith. He had concluded to -assume responsibilities, and to create a business in a little mud -town down the big road. He had it arranged to start a travellers' -eating-house; he had contracted for a stove and some furniture; and at -about that time his dishonest employer had left Mexico for parts -unknown, with all his money. The stove and furniture were yet to be -paid for, so William entered into hopeless bankruptcy, lost his girl, -and then, attaching himself to Jack, he bravely set to again in life's -battle. But I was glad to know that he had again conquered, for before -I left I overheard a serious conversation between William and the -_patron_. William was cleaning a frying-pan by the camp-fire light, -and the _patron_ was sitting enveloped in his _serape_ on the other -side. - -[Illustration: A MODERN SANCHO PANZA] - -"Mist' Jack, I's got a girl. She's a Mexican." - -"Why, William, how about that girl up in the Brazos?" inquired the -_patron_, in surprise. - -"Don't care about her now. Got a new girl." - -"Well, I suppose you can have her, if you can win her," replied the -_patron_. - -"Can I, sah? Well, den, I's win her already, sah--dar!" chuckled -William. - -"Oh! very well, then, William, I will give you a wagon, with two -yellow ponies, to go down and get her; but I don't want you to come -back to Bavicora with an empty wagon." - -"No, sah; I won't, sah," pleasedly responded the lover. - -"Does that suit you, then?" asked the _patron_. - -"Yes, sah; but, sah, wonder, sah, might I have the two old whites?" - -"All right! You can have the two old white ponies;" and, after a -pause, "I will give you that old _adobe_ up in La Pinta, and two -speckled steers; and I don't want you to come down to the ranch except -on _baile_ nights, and I want you to slide in then just as quiet as -any other outsider," said the _patron_, who was testing William's -loyalty to the girl. - -"All right! I'll do that." - -"William, do you know that no true Mexican girl will marry a man who -don't know how to ride a charger?" continued the _patron_, after a -while. - -"Yes; I's been thinking of dat; but dar's dat Timborello, he's a good -horse what a man can 'pend on," replied William, as he scoured at the -pan in a very wearing way. - -"He's yours, William; and now all you have got to do is to win the -girl." - -After that William was as gay as a robin in the spring; and as I write -this I suppose William is riding over the pass in the mountains, -sitting on a board across his wagon, with his Mexican bride by his -side, singing out between the puffs of his black pipe, "Go on, dar, -you muchacos; specks we ever get to Bavicora dis yar gait?" - - - - -IN THE SIERRA MADRE WITH THE PUNCHERS - - -On a chill, black morning the cabins of Los Ojos gave up their inmates -at an early hour. The ponies, mules, and _burros_ were herded up, and -stood shivering in an angle, while about them walked the men, -carefully coiling their hair lariats, and watching for an opportunity -to jerk them over the heads of the selected ones. The _patron's_ black -pet walked up to him, but the mounts of my companion and self sneaked -about with an evident desire not to participate in the present -service. Old _Cokomorachie_ and Jim were finally led forth, protesting -after the manner of their kind. I carefully adjusted my Whitman's -officer-tree over a wealth of saddle blanketing, and slung my -Winchester 45-70 and my field-glasses to it. The punchers, both white -and brown, and two or three women, regarded my new-fangled saddle with -amused glances; indeed, Mr. Bell's Mexican wife laughed at it -outright, and Tom Bailey called it "a damn rim-fire." Another humorist -thought that "it would give the chickens the pip if they got onto it"; -all of which I took good-humoredly, since this was not the first time -"your Uncle Samuel" had been away from home; and after some days, when -a lot of men were carefully leading sore-backed horses over the -mountains, I had cause to remark further on the subject. A Mexican -cow-saddle is a double-barrelled affair; it will eat a hole into a -horse's spine and a pair of leather breeches at the same time. If one -could ask "Old Jim" about that saddle of mine, I think he would give -it an autograph recommend, for he finished the trip with the hide of -his back all there. - -[Illustration: MY COMRADE] - -Leaving the "burro men" to haul and pull at their patient beasts as -they bound on their loads, our outfit "pulled out" on what promised to -be plenty of travelling. We were to do the rounds of the ranch, -explore the mountains, penetrate to the old Apache strongholds, shoot -game, find cliff-dwellers' villages, and I expect the dark minds of -the punchers hoped for a sight at the ever-burning fire which should -discover the lost mine of Tiopa. We were also promised a fight with -the "Kid" if we "cut his trail"; and if he "cut ours," we may never -live to regret it. Some tame Indians, just in from a hunt in the Rio -Chico, had seen three fires, but they had "rolled their tails"[4] for -Bavicora so promptly that they had not ascertained whether they -were Apache or not. The same men we were in the company of had run the -"Kid's" band in to the States only two months before, but on our trip -that very elusive and very "bad Injun" was not encountered. Much as I -should like to see him, I have no regrets, since it is extremely -likely that he would have seen me first. - -[Footnote 4: Cowboy for travelling rapidly.] - -[Illustration: ON THE MOUNTAINS] - -Our little band was composed of the _patron_, Don Gilberto; my -travelling companion from New York city, who had never before been -west of the Elysian Fields of New Jersey; Bailey and Bell, ranch -foremen, and as dauntless spirits as ever the Texas border nurtured; -the ranch bookkeeper, a young man "short" on experiences and "long" on -hope; Epitacio, an Indian hunter, since outlawed; William, the colored -cook; four buckskin Mexican punchers; an old man who was useless for -practical purposes, but who was said to be "funny" in Spanish; and two -burro men. We were that day to go to the farthest outlying ranch, -called the Casa Camadra, and then to stop for a short hunt and to give -the punchers time to "gentle" some steers for work-cattle. The puncher -method of doing this is beautifully simple, for any animal undergoing -this is gentle or dead after it. After scouring the plain for antelope -until late, we followed up a creek towards the cabin where we expected -to find the punchers and the burro men with their loads of creature -comforts, and as we rode in it was raining a cold sleet. The little -log-cabin was low, small, and wonderfully picturesque. It was a -typical "shack," such as one used to see in the Northwest when the -hunters were there. Out in the rain sat two punchers, enveloped in -their _serapes_, engaged in watching a half-dozen big steers eat -grass. Inside of the cabin was William by a good fire in a most -original fireplace, glowing with heat and pride over his corn-cakes -and "marrow-gut." Between various cigarettes, the last drink of -_tequela_, and the drying of our clothes, we passed the time until -William had put the "grub" on a pack-saddle blanket and said, "Now, -gemmen, fly in." - -"Fly in" is vulgar, but it is also literal, for we did that: we did -not dine--we flew in. The expression and the food were both good. -Outside, the cold rain had turned into a wet snow, and we all crowded -into the little place and squatted or lay about on the floor. With -fingers and hunting-knives we carved and tore at the mountain of beef. -The punchers consume enormous quantities of meat, and when satiated -they bring forth their corn-husks and tobacco-pouches, and roll their -long, thin cigarettes, which burn until they draw their _serapes_ -about their heads and sink back in dreamless sleep. It is all -beautifully primitive, and as I rise on my elbow to look across the -blanketed forms packed like mackerel in a cask, to hear their heavy -breathing, and see the fire glow, and hear the wind howl outside, I -think how little it takes to make men happy. Tom Bailey and Johnnie -Bell, the ranch foremen, had faces which would have been in character -under a steel head-piece at Cressy, while the wildest blood of Spain, -Morocco, and the American Indian ran in the veins of the punchers; and -all these men were untainted by the enfeebling influences of luxury -and modern life. A chunk of beef, a cigarette, an enveloping _serape_, -with the Sierras for a bedroom, were the utmost of their needs. - -The sunlight streamed down the big chimney, and William's -"Good-mo'nin', sah," brought back my senses. Beyond his silhouette, as -he crouched before the fireplace, I could hear the sputtering of the -broiling steak. I repaired to the brook and smashed the ice for a -rub-down. It was still drizzling, and the landscape lay under a heavy -fog. Outside the cabin lay the dead body of a skinned wolf, and -about a small fire crouched the punchers. - -[Illustration: THE CASA CAMADRA] - -Breakfast over, the men rode off by twos into the fog, and as Tom -Bailey and I jogged along together we reasoned that if we were to -strike the point of the mountains and then keep well in the timber we -might catch a bunch of antelope which we had "jumped" the day before -on the plain below. So all day long we rode over the wet rocks, under -the drip and drizzle of the mountain pines, up hill and down dale, and -never "cut a sign." It was our luck; for on riding up to the "shack" -we saw the bodies of deer, antelope, a big gray wolf, and the skin of -a mountain-lion. We were requested to view the game, and encouraged to -comment on it; but Tom and I sought a dark corner of the cabin to -consume our coffee and cigarettes in silence. - -At the Casa Camadra are two other log-houses, and in them live some -squalid, yellow-hided humans who are to farm a little stretch of -bottom-land this year. They require work-steers to do their ploughing, -and Mr. Bell has brought up half a dozen vicious old "stags," which -are both truculent and swift of foot. The Mexicans insist that they -are not able to handle them; and Mr. Bell orders his punchers into -action. I strolled out to the corrals to see the bulls "gentled." -After a lot of riding and yelling they were herded and dragged into -the enclosure, where they huddled while seven punchers sat on their -ponies at the gate. I was standing at one corner of the corral, near -the men, when out from the midst of the steers walked a big black -bull, which raised its head and gazed directly at me. The bull had -never before in his stupid life observed a man on foot, and I -comprehended immediately what he would do next, so I "led out" for the -casa at a rate of speed which the boys afterwards never grew weary of -commending. No spangled _torero_ of the bull-ring ever put more heart -and soul into his running than did I in my great-coat and long -hunting-spurs. The bull made a "fo'lorn hope" for the gate, and the -gallant punchers melted away before the charge. - -The diversion of the punchers made the retreat of the infantry -possible, and from an intrenched position I saw the bulls tear over -the hill, with the punchers "rolling their tails" behind. After an -hour of swearing and hauling and bellowing, the six cattle were lugged -back to the pen, and the bars put up. The punchers came around to -congratulate me on my rapid recovery from a sprained ankle, when they -happened to observe the cattle again scouring off for the open -country. Then there was a grunting of ponies as the spurs went in, -some hoarse oaths, and for a third time they tore away after the -"gentle work-oxen." The steers had taken the bars in their stride. -Another hour's chase, and this time the animals were thrown down, -trussed up like turkeys for the baking, and tied to posts, where they -lay to kick and bellow the night through in impotent rage. The -punchers coiled their ropes, lit their cigarettes, and rode off in the -gathering gloom. The morning following the steers were let up, and -though wet and chilled, they still roared defiance. For agricultural -purposes a Mexican "stag" would be as valuable as a rhinoceros or a -Bengal tiger, and I await with interest the report of the death-rate -at the Casa Camadra during spring ploughing. - -In the handling of these savage animals the punchers are brave to -recklessness, but this is partly because it seems so. In reality they -have a thorough knowledge of bull nature, and can tell when and where -he is going to strike as quickly as a boxer who knows by the "skim on -the eye" of his opponent. But still they go boldly into the corral -with the maddened brutes, seeming to pay no heed to the imminent -possibilities of a trip to the moon. They toss their ropes and catch -the bull's feet, they skilfully avoid his rush, and in a spirit of -bravado they touch the horns, pat him on the back, or twist his tail. - -[Illustration: SHOOTING IN THE SIERRA MADRE] - -After hunting for another day, with more success, we packed up and -"pulled out" up the Varras Creek towards the mountains, leaving the -last house behind us. Beyond was the unknown country. For many miles -it had been ridden by some of the punchers, but the country is large, -covered with vast mountain ranges, with wastes of stony foot-hills at -the bases, while _barrancas_ yawn at your feet, and for a great many -years the policy of the Apaches has been not to encourage immigration. -In 1860 a heavy band of Mexican prospectors undertook to penetrate -this part in the quest of Tiopa, but they were driven out. It is now -possible for strong outfits to travel its wilds with only a small -chance of encountering Apache renegades, but very few have attempted -it as yet. It is so remote that prospectors for silver or gold could -hardly work a mine if they found one, and for other purposes it has -little value. The most magnificent pine timber covers its slopes, but -it would take a syndicate to deliver one log at the railroad. As we -wound our way up the Varras Creek we passed beetling crags and huge -pillars of porphyry rock cut into fantastic shapes by water and frost, -resplendent in color, and admirably adapted for the pot-hunting of -humans as affected by gentry temporarily stopping at San Carlos. - -In a dell in the forest we espied some "mavericks," or unbranded -stock. The punchers are ever alert for a beef without half its ears -gone and a big HF burned in its flank, and immediately they perceive -one they tighten their _cincha_, slip the rope from the pommel, put -their hats on the back of their heads, and "light out." A cow was -soon caught, after desperate riding over rocks and fallen timber, -thrown down, and "hog-tied," which means all four feet together. A -little fire is built, and one side of a _cincha_ ring is heated -red-hot, with which a rawhide artist paints HF in the sizzling flesh, -while the cow kicks and bawls. She is then unbound, and when she gets -back on her feet the _vaqueros_ stand about, _serape_ in hand, after -the bull-fighter method, and provoke her to charge. She charges, while -they avoid her by agile springs and a flaunting of their rags. They -laugh, and cry "Bravo toro!" until she, having overcome her -indignation at their rudeness, sets off down the canyon with her tail -in the air. - -Thus we journeyed day by day over the hills and up the canyons, camping -by night under the pines in mountain glades or deep ravines, where the -sun sets at four o'clock, while it is light above. The moon was in the -full and the nights were frosty, and many times we awoke to think it -morning when only our heads had become uncovered by the blankets and -the big white moon shone fair upon us. Getting up in the night to poke -the fire and thaw the stiffening out of one's legs is called by the -boys "playing freeze-out," and we all participate in the game. A -cigarette at two o'clock in the morning, with one's back to the fire, -while the moon looks down on you, your comrades breathing about you, a -wolf howling mournfully from a neighboring hill, the mountains -towering on every side, and the tall pines painting inky shadows -across the ghostly grass, is a mild sensation and rather pleasant. -Some of the men are on foot, from soring their horses' backs, and -their buckskin boots are wearing out, so they sit about the fire and -stitch. We are all very dirty, and I no longer take comfort in -watching the cook who makes the bread, for fear I may be tempted to -ask him if he will not wash his hands, whereat the boys may indicate -that I am a "dude," and will look down on me. The flour is nearly -gone, and shortly it will not matter whether the cook's hands are -rusty or not. The coffee and sugar promise to hold out. When William -can no longer serve "bull gravy" with his fried meat I shall have many -regrets, but they are swamped by the probabilities of a tobacco -famine, which is imminent. We get deer every day, but to one not used -to a strictly meat diet it begins to pall. The Indian hunter takes the -stomach of a deer, fills it with meat, and deposits it under the -coals. We roast it in slices and chunks, but I like it better when -"jerked" brown, as it then affords somewhat more mystery to a taste -already jaded with venison. In travelling with pack-animals it is the -custom to make a day's march before halting, and a day's march ends -about four o'clock, or when water is found. Ten hours' march will -loosen one's cartridge-belt five or six holes, for venison and coffee -is not a strong food. By 12 P.M. we acquire a wolfish yearning for the -"flesh-pots," but that shortly is relieved by the contraction of the -stomach, or three or four quarts of mountain water will afford some -relief. By nightfall one can "fly into" a venison steak, while -cigarettes, coffee, and a desire to lie down restore one's equanimity. - -[Illustration: THE INDIAN'S STORY] - -We have passed some small ranges and worm our way down bottomless -pits, but at last there rises ahead the main range of the Sierra -Madre. From the depths of a great _barranca_ we begin the climb. Never -have I seen hills as sideling as these. It is terrible work for one -not used to mountain-climbing and the short allowance of air one finds -to subsist on. The feeling of exhaustion is almost impossible to -overcome. The horses are thin, and Old Jim is developing more ribs -than good condition calls for, so I walk to ease the old fellow. There -are snow fields to cross, which intensifies the action. The journey is -enlivened at times by shots at deer, and the rifles echo around the -mountains, but being long shots they are misses. We passed the -_cordon_ of the mountains, and stopped on a knife-like ridge where the -melting snows under one's foot ran east and west to the two great -oceans. The climb from here over the main range was a bellows-bursting -affair, but as we pulled on to the high _mesa_ our drooping nerves -were stiffened by shots, and presently deer came bounding down the -ravine to our left. Jack made a bully flying shot, and the stricken -deer rolled many yards, until caught by a fallen log. My companion, -who was in advance, had fired into some deer, and had shot a buck -which was lying down, and he was much puffed up with pride over this -achievement in still-hunting. From there on we passed through the most -wonderful natural deer park. The animals did not fear man, and stood -to be fired at, though the open timber and absence of underbrush made -the shots long-range ones. After killing all we could carry, we sat -down to wait for the _burro_ train. - -That night we camped on a jutting crag, with the water running in the -_barranca_ two hundred feet below us. For a hundred miles the mountain -and plain lay at our feet--a place more for an eagle's eyrie than a -camp for a caravan. The night set very cold, and from out in space the -moon threw its mellow light down upon us. Before the camp-fire our -Indian hunter told the story of the killing of Victoria's band, where -he had been among the victors, and as he threw his _serape_ down, and -standing forth with the firelight playing on his harsh features, he -swayed his body and waved his hands, while with hoarse voice and in -a strange language he gave the movement of the fight. The legend of -the lost mine of Tiopa was narrated by a _vaquero_ in the quiet manner -of one whose memory goes far back, and to whom it is all real--about -the Jesuits, the iron door over the mouth of the mine, its richness, -the secrecy enjoined by the fathers on the people when they fled -before the Apache devils, and how there is always a light to be kept -burning at its entrance to guide them back. It was a grand theatre and -an eerie scene. - -[Illustration: THE CLIFF-DWELLINGS] - -On the other side of the mountain we found the trail most difficult. I -would never have believed that a horse could traverse it. To say that -it was steep is commonplace, and yet I cannot be believed if I say -that it was perpendicular; but a man could toss his hat a mile at any -moment if he pleased. Then, underfoot, it was all loose lava rock, and -the little ponies had to jump and dance over the bowlders. When we had -finally arrived on a grassy _mesa_ I concluded that if ever again I -did the like of that, it would most certainly be the result of a -tremendous error in my calculations. The pack-train was here detached -and sent to water, but we followed Jack to see his "discovery." After -miles of travel through the dry, yellow grass we came out on a high -bluff with a _barranca_ at its foot, the bottom of which we could not -see. On the overhanging wall opposite were Jack's cliff-dwellings, -perched like dove-cots against the precipice. It was only a quarter of -a mile to them, but it took two days to get there, so we did not go. -There are also holes in the cliffs, and underground passages. The -paths up to them are washed away, but Jack and some of his men have -invaded the silent village. They climbed up with lariats, and he was -let down over the cliff, but they found nothing left but dust and -cobwebs. - -We could not get down to water, and as our horses were thirsty and -foot-sore, we "mogged along." On our ride we "cut the trail" of a big -band of mustangs, or wild horses, but did not see them, and by late -afternoon we found the camp, and William busy above his fire. After -hunting down the valley for a few days for "burro deer" and wild -turkey, we found that the tobacco was promptly giving out, according -to calculations, and, being all inveterate smokers, we "made trail -fast" for the Neuearachie ranch. Our ponies were jaded and sore; but -having "roped" a stray pony two days before, which was now fresh, the -lightest _vaquero_ was put on his back, and sent hot-foot in the night -to the ranch for tobacco. He made the long ride and returned at noon -the next day on a fresh mount, having been thirty-six hours in the -saddle. This fellow was a rather remarkable man, as it was he who, on -the beginning of the trip, had brought some important mail to us one -hundred and seventy miles, and after riding down two ponies he -followed our trail on foot through the mountains, and overtook us as -we sat resting on a log in the woods. - -How we at last pulled into the ranch at Neuearachie, with its log -buildings and irrigated fields, and how we "swooped down" on Mr. John -Bailey, and ate up all his eggs and bread and butter at the first -onset, I will not weary you with, but I believe that a man should for -one month of the year live on the roots of the grass, in order to -understand for the eleven following that so-called necessities are -luxuries in reality. Not that I would indiscriminately recommend such -a dietary abasement as ours, yet will I insist that it has killed less -men than gluttony, and should you ever make the Sierra trails with the -punchers, you will get rather less than more. - - - - -BLACK WATER AND SHALLOWS - - -The morning broke gray and lowering, and the clouds rolled in heavy -masses across the sky. I was sitting out on a log washing a shirt, and -not distinguishing myself as a laundryman either, for one shirt will -become excessively dirty in a week, and no canoeist can have more than -that, as will be seen when you consider that he has to carry -everything which he owns on his back. My guide had packed up our -little "kit" and deposited it skilfully in the _Necoochee_--a -sixteen-foot canoe of the Rice Lake pattern. - -We were about to start on a cruise down a river which the lumbermen -said could not be "run," as it was shallow and rocky. We could find no -one who had been down it, and so, not knowing anything about it, we -regarded it as a pleasant prospect. "Harrison," being a professional -guide and hunter, had mostly come in contact with people--or "sports," -as he called them--who had no sooner entered the woods than they were -overcome with a desire to slay. No fatigue or exertion was too great -when the grand purpose was to kill the deer and despoil the trout -streams, but to go wandering aimlessly down a stream which by general -consent was impracticable for boats, and then out into the clearings -where the mountain-spring was left behind, and where logs and -mill-dams and agriculturists took the place of the deer and the trout, -was a scheme which never quite got straightened out in his mind. With -many misgivings, and a very clear impression that I was mentally -deranged, "Has" allowed that "we're all aboard." - -We pushed out into the big lake and paddled. As we skirted the shores -the wind howled through the giant hemlocks, and the ripples ran away -into white-caps on the far shore. As I wielded my double-blade paddle -and instinctively enjoyed the wildness of the day, I also indulged in -a conscious calculation of how long it would take my shirt to dry on -my back. It is such a pity to mix a damp shirt up with the wild storm, -as it hurries over the dark woods and the black water, that I felt -misgivings; but, to be perfectly accurate, they divided my attention, -and, after all, man is only noble by fits and starts. - -We soon reached the head of the river, and a water-storage dam and a -mile of impassable rapids made a "carry" or "portage" necessary. -Slinging our packs and taking the seventy-pound canoe on our -shoulders, we started down the trail. The torture of this sort of -thing is as exquisitely perfect in its way as any ever devised. A -trunk-porter in a summer hotel simply does for a few seconds what we -do by the hour, and as for reconciling this to an idea of physical -enjoyment, it cannot be done. It's a subtle mental process altogether -indefinable; but your enthusiast is a person who would lose all if he -reasoned any, and to suffer like an anchorite is always a part of a -sportsman's programme. The person who tilts back in a chair on the -veranda of a summer hotel, while he smokes cigars and gazes vacantly -into space, is your only true philosopher; but he is not a sportsman. -The woods and the fields and the broad roll of the ocean do not beckon -to him to come out among them. He detests all their sensations, and -believes nothing holy except the dinner-hour, and with his bad -appetite that too is flat, stale, and unprofitable. A real sportsman, -of the nature-loving type, must go tramping or paddling or riding -about over the waste places of the earth, with his dinner in his -pocket. He is alive to the terrible strain of the "carry," and to the -quiet pipe when the day is done. The camp-fire contemplation, the -beautiful quiet of the misty morning on the still water, enrapture -him, and his eye dilates, his nerves tingle, and he is in a -conflagration of ecstasy. When he is going--going--faster--faster into -the boil of the waters, he hears the roar and boom ahead, and the -black rocks crop up in thickening masses to dispute his way. He is -fighting a game battle with the elements, and they are remorseless. He -may break his leg or lose his life in the tip-over which is imminent, -but the fool is happy--let him die. - -[Illustration: THE PORTAGE.] - -But we were left on the "carry," and it is with a little thrill of joy -and the largest sigh of relief possible when we again settle the boat -in the water. Now you should understand why it is better to have one -shirt and wash it often. My "canoe kit" is the best arranged and the -most perfect in the world, as no other canoeist will possibly admit, -but which is nevertheless a fact. One blanket, a light shelter-tent, a -cooking outfit, which folds up in a sort of Japanese way, a light axe, -two canvas packs, and tea, bacon, and flour. This does not make long -reading, but it makes a load for a man when it's all packed up, and a -canoeist's baggage must be cut to the strength of his back. It is a -great piece of confidence in which I will indulge you when I caution -you not to pick out invalids for canoe companions. If a _burro_ would -take kindly to backwoods navigation, I should enjoy the society of -one, though it would not be in the nature of a _burro_ to swing an -axe, as indeed there are many fine gentlemen who cannot do a good job -at that; and if one at least of the party cannot, the camp-fires will -go out early at nights, and it is more than probable that the -companions will have less than twenty toes between them at the end of -the cruise. - -All these arrangements being perfected, you are ready to go ahead, and -in the wilderness you have only one anxiety, and that is about the -"grub." If the canoe turn over, the tea, the sugar, and the flour will -mix up with the surrounding elements, and only the bacon will remain -to nourish you until you strike the clearings, and there are few men -this side 70 deg. north latitude who will gormandize on that alone. - -The long still water is the mental side of canoeing, as the rapid is -the life and movement. The dark woods tower on either side, and the -clear banks, full to their fat sides, fringed with trailing vines and -drooping ferns, have not the impoverished look of civilized rivers. -The dark water wells along, and the branches droop to kiss it. In -front the gray sky is answered back by the water reflection, and the -trees lie out as though hung in the air, forming a gateway, always -receding. Here and there an old monarch of the forest has succumbed to -the last blow and fallen across the stream. It reaches out ever so far -with its giant stems, and the first branch had started sixty feet from -the ground. You may have to chop a way through, or you may force your -canoe through the limbs and gather a crowd of little broken branches -to escort you along the stream. The original forest tree has a -character all its own, and I never see one but I think of the artist -who drew second-growth timber and called it "the forest primeval." The -quietness of the woods, with all their solemnity, permitting no bright -or overdressed plant to obtrude itself, is rudely shocked by the -garish painted thing as the yellow polished _Necoochee_ glides -among them. The water-rat dives with a tremendous splash as he sees -the big monster glide by his sedge home. The kingfisher springs away -from his perch on the dead top with loud chatterings when we glide -into his notice. The crane takes off from his grassy "set back" in a -deliberate manner, as though embarking on a tour to Japan, a thing not -to be hurriedly done. The mink eyes you from his sunken log, and, -grinning in his most savage little manner, leaps away. These have all -been disturbed in their wild homes as they were about to lunch off the -handiest trout, and no doubt they hate us in their liveliest manner; -but the poor trout under the boat compensate us with their thanks. The -mud-turtle is making his way up-stream, as we can tell by the row of -bubbles which arise in his wake; and the "skaters," as I call the -little insects which go skipping about like a lawyer's point in an -argument, part as we go by. The mosquitoes, those desperate little -villains who dispute your happiness in the woods, are there, but they -smell the tar and oil of our war-paint, and can only hum in their -anger. A stick cracks in the brush, and with all the dash and -confidence of a city girl as she steps from her front door, a little -spotted fawn walks out on a sedge bank from among the alders. He does -not notice us, but in his stupid little way looks out the freshest -water-grass, and the hunter in the stern of the boat cuts his paddle -through the water, and the canoe glides silently up until right under -his nose. We are still and silent. The little thing raises its head -and looks us full in the eye, and then continues to feed as before. I -talk to him quietly, and say, "Little man, do not come near the ponds -or the rivers, for you will not live to have five prongs on your -antlers if any one but such good people as we see you." He looks up, -and seems to say, "You are noisy, but I do not care." "Now run; and -if you ever see anything in the forest which resembles us, run for -your life"; and with a bound the little innocent has regained the dark -aisles of the woods. You loll back on your pack, your pipe going -lazily; your hat is off; you moralize, and think thoughts which have -dignity. You drink in the spell of the forest, and dream of the birch -barks and the red warriors who did the same thing a couple of -centuries since. But as thoughts vary so much in individuals, and have -but an indirect bearing on canoeing, I will proceed without them. -The low swamp, with its soft timber, gives place to hills and beech -ridges, and the old lord of the forest for these last hundred years -towers up majestically. The smaller trees fight for the sunlight, and -thus the ceaseless war of nature goes on quietly, silently, and alone. -The miserable "witch-hoppel" leads its lusty plebeian life, satisfied -to spring its half-dozen leaves, and not dreaming to some day become -an oak. The gentle sigh of the forest, the hum of insects, and the -chatter and peal of the birds have gone into harmony with a long, -deep, swelling sound, becoming louder and louder, until finally it -drowns all else. - -[Illustration: BLACK WATER] - -[Illustration: THE FAWN] - -[Illustration: BREAKING A JAM.] - -The canoe now glides more rapidly. The pipe is laid one side. The -paddle is grasped firmly, and with a firm eye I regard the "grub" pack -which sits up in the bow, and resolve to die if necessary in order -that it may not sink if we turn over. The river turns, and the ominous -growl of the rapids is at hand. - -"Hold her--hold her now--to the right of the big rock; then swing to -the far shore: if we go to the right, we are gone." - -"All right; let her stern come round," and we drop away. - -No talking now, but with every nerve and muscle tense, and your eye on -the boil of the water, you rush along. You back water and paddle, the -stern swings, she hangs for an instant, she falls in the current, and -with a mad rush you take it like a hunting-man a six-bar gate. Now -paddle, paddle, paddle. It looks bad--we cannot make it--yes--all -right, and we are on the far shore, with the shallows on the other -side. This little episode was successful, but, as you well know, it -cannot last. The next rift, and with a bump she is hung upon a sunken -rock, and--jump! jump!--we both flounder overboard in any way -possible, so it is well and quickly done. One man loses his hold, the -other swings the boat off, and, kicking and splashing for a foothold, -the demoralized outfit shoots along. At last one is found, and then at -a favorable rock we embark again. - -You are now wet, but the tea and sugar are safe, so it's a small -matter. A jam of logs and tops is "hung up" on a particularly nasty -place, and you have a time getting the boat around it. You walk on -rotten tops while the knots stick up beneath you like sabres. "Has" -floats calmly out to sea, as it were, on a detached log which he is -cutting, and with a hopeless look of despair he totters, while I yell, -"Save the axe, ---- you--save the axe!" and over he goes, only to get -wet and very disgusted, both of which will wear off in time. For a -mile the water is so shallow that the boat will not run loaded, and we -lead her along as we wade, now falling in over our heads, sliding on -slippery stones, hurting our feet, wondering why we had come at all. -The boat gets loose, and my heart stands still as the whole boat-load -of blankets and grub with our pipes and tobacco started off for the -settlements--or "drifting to thunder," as Bret Harte said of Chiquita. -There was rather a lively and enthusiastic pursuit instituted then, -the details of which are forgotten, as my mind was focussed on the -grub-pack, but we got her. About this time the soles let go on my -tennis shoes, and my only pair of trousers gave way. These things, -however, become such mere details as to be scarcely noticed when you -have travelled since sunrise up to your waist in water, and are tired, -footsore, and hungry. It is time to go ashore and camp. - -You scrape away a rod square of dirt, chunks, witch-hoppel, and dead -leaves, and make a fire. You dry your clothes while you wear the -blanket and the guide the shelter-tent, and to a casual observer it -would look as though the savage had come again; but he would detect a -difference, because a white man in a blanket is about as inspiring a -sight as an Indian with a plug-hat. - -[Illustration: HUNG UP] - -Finally the coffee boils, the tent is up, and the bough bed laid down. -You lean against the dead log and swap lies with the guide; and the -greatest hunters I have ever known have all been magnificent liars. -The two go together. I should suspect a man who was deficient. Since -no one ever believes hunters' yarns, it has come to be a pleasurable -pastime, in which a man who has not hunted considerably can't lie -properly without offending the intelligence of that part of his -audience who have. - -The morning comes too soon, and after you are packed up and the boat -loaded, if you are in a bad part of the river you do this: you put -away your pipe, and with a grimace and a shudder you step out into the -river up to your neck and get wet. The morning is cold, and I, for -one, would not allow a man who was perfectly dry to get into my boat, -for fear he might have some trepidation about getting out promptly if -the boat was "hung up" on a rock; and in the woods all nature is -subservient to the "grub." - -Hour after hour we waded along. A few rods of still water and "Has" -would cut off large chews of tobacco, and become wonderfully cynical -as to the caprices of the river. The still water ends around the next -point. You charge the thing nobly, but end up in the water up to your -neck with the "grub" safe, and a mile or so more of wading in -prospect. - -Then the river narrows, and goes tumbling off down a dark canyon cut -through the rocks. We go ashore and "scout the place," and then begin -to let the boat down on a line. We hug the black sides like ants, -while the water goes to soapsuds at our feet. The boat bobs and -rocks, and is nearly upset in a place where we cannot follow it -through. We must take it up a ledge about thirty feet high, and after -puffing and blowing and feats of maniacal strength, we at last have it -again in the water. After some days of this thing we found from a -statistician we had dropped 1100 feet in about fifty-one miles, and -with the well-known propensity of water to flow downhill, it can be -seen that difficulties were encountered. You cannot carry a boat in -the forest, and you will discover enough reasons why in a five-minute -trail to make their enumeration tiresome. The zest of the whole thing -lies in not knowing the difficulties beforehand, and then, if properly -equipped, a man who sits at a desk the year through can find no -happier days than he will in his canoe when the still waters run -through the dark forests and the rapid boils below. - - - - -COACHING IN CHIHUAHUA - - -That coaching is a grand sport I cannot deny, for I know almost -nothing of it beyond an impression that there is a tremendous amount -of mystery connected with its rites. As a sport I have never -participated in it, but while travelling the waste places of the earth -I have used it as a means on occasion. I never will again. There is no -place to which I desire to go badly enough to go in a coach, and such -points of interest as are inaccessible except by coach are off my -trail. I am not in the least superstitious, and am prone to scout such -tendencies; but I'm a Jonah in a stage-coach, and that is not a -superstition, but a fact amply proven by many trials. I remember as a -boy in Montana having been so hopelessly mixed up with a sage-bush on -a dark night when the stage overturned that it left an impression on -me. Later in life I was travelling in Arizona, and we were bowling -along about ten miles an hour down a great "hog-back" to the plains -below. A "swing mule" tripped up a "lead mule," and the stage--with -myself on the box--ran over the whole six, and when the driver and I -separated ourselves from the mules, shreds of harness, splinters, -hair, hide, cargo, and cactus plants I began to formulate the -intelligence that stage-coaching was dangerous. - -While riding in an army ambulance with Major Viele, of the First -Cavalry, and the late Lieutenant Clark, of the Tenth, the brake-beam -broke on the descent of a hill, and we only hit the ground in the -high places for about a mile. I will not insist that every man can -hold his breath for five consecutive minutes, but I did it. Thereupon -I formulated vows and pledges. But like the weak creature I am, I -ignored all this and got into one at Chihuahua last winter, and first -and last did five hundred miles of jolting, with all the incident and -the regulation accident which goes to make up that sort of thing. -Now I like to think that I have been through it all, and am alive and -unmaimed; and I take a great deal of comfort in knowing that, however -I may meet my end, a stage-coach will be in no way connected with it. - -[Illustration: A COACHERO] - -[Illustration: THE START] - -On the trip out we had mules. They were black and diminutive. To me a -Mexican mule seems to be the Chinaman of the dumb animals. They are -enduring beyond comprehension, and they have minds which are patient, -yet alert and full of guile. The Mexican _coacheros_ have their mules -trained, as bankers do their depositors in our land. They back up -against a wall and stand in line while one by one they are harnessed. -In the early morning I liked to see the lantern-light glorify the -little black creatures against the adobe wall, and hear the big -_coachero_ talk to his beasts in that easy, familiar way and with that -mutual comprehension which is lost to those of the human race who have -progressed beyond the natural state. This coachman was an enormous -man--big, bony, and with Sullivanesque shoulders, gorilla hands, and a -blue-black buccaneer beard; and but for a merry brown eye and a mouth -set in perpetual readiness to grin he would have belonged to the -"mild-mannered" class, to which, as a matter of fact, he did not. It -is written in the lease of his land that he shall drive the Bavicora -ranche coach--it's fief-service, it's feudal, and it carries one back. -If the little mules and ponies did not stand in the exact six feet of -ground where he wanted them, he grabbed hold of them and moved them -over to the place without a word, and after being located they never -moved until he yanked or lifted them to their place at the pole. The -guards were Mexican Indians--hair cut _a la Cosaques_, big straw hats, -_serapes_, and munitions of war. William, whose ancestors had -emigrated from the Congo region before the war, was to cook. He was -also guide, philosopher, and friend to Mr. H. and myself in this -strange land, and he made all things possible by his tact and zeal in -our behalf. William knows every one in the State of Chihuahua, and he -is constantly telling us of the standing and glittering position of -the inhabitants of the mud huts which we pass, until it sounds like -that ghastly array of intelligence with which a society reporter -quickens the social dead in a Sunday newspaper. - -At night we stay at the different ranches, and, rolling ourselves up -in our blankets, we lie down on the mud floors to sleep. It's not so -bad after one becomes used to it, albeit the skin wears off one's -femur joint. The Mexican hen is as conscientious here as elsewhere, -and we eat eggs. The Mexican coffee is always excellent in quality, -but the people make it up into a nerve-jerking dose, which will stand -hot-water in quantities. Nearly all travellers are favorably impressed -with the _frejoles_ and _tortillas_ of the country. The beans are -good, but as old General Taylor once said, "They killed more men than -did bullets in the Mexican War." Of the _tortillas_ I will say, as my -philosophical friend, Mr. Poultney Bigelow, says of the black bread of -the Russian soldier, "It's a good strong food to march and fight on," -which can in no way be a recommendation of its palatability. - -The coach starts by gray dawn, and we are aroused at an early hour. -The white men take sponge-baths in a wash-basin, and the native who -stands about deep in the folds of his _serape_ fails utterly to -comprehend. He evidently thinks a lot, but he doesn't say anything. I -suppose it seems like "clay-eating" or penitent mutilations to -him--not exactly insanity, but a curious custom, at any rate. On the -return trip we have a half-broken team of buckskin broncos, which have -to be "hooked up" with great stealth. And when the coachman had -climbed quietly on to the box and we were inside, the guards let go of -the team, and the coachman cracked his whip, while we looked out of -the window and held our breath. Then there were Horse Pyrotechniques! -Ground and Lofty Tumbling! Greatest Show on Earth! for about a minute, -when we made a start down the big road--or didn't, as the case might -be. After the first round we often had to get out, and, two ponies -having got themselves into the same collar, we would then rearrange -them for better luck next time. - -[Illustration: MORNING TOILET] - -In Mexico they drive four mules abreast in the lead and two on the -pole, which seems to be an excellent way. Mexican coachmen generally -keep "belting" their stock and yelling "_Underlay-nula!_" which is -both picturesque and unintelligible. Our man was, however, better -educated. Forty or fifty miles is a day's journey, but the exact -distance is so dependent on the roads, the load, and the desire to -"get thar" that it varies greatly. - -We pass the Guerrero stage as it bowls along, and hundreds of heavy, -creeking ox-carts, as they draw slowly over the yellow landscape, with -their freight to and from the mines. Bunches of sorrowful _burros_, -with corn, wood, pottery, and hay, part as we sweep along through and -by them. - -We have the inspiring vista of Chihuahua before us all the time. It is -massive in its proportions and opalescent in color. There are torquois -hills, dazzling yellow foregrounds--the palette of the "rainbow -school" is everywhere. There are little mud houses, ranches, and dirty -little adobe towns to pass, which you must admire, though you may not -like them. Gaunt cattle wander in their search for grass and water, -and women squat by the riverbed engaged in washing or filling their -_ollas_. - -The people are enchanting. It is like reading the Bible to look at -them, because it is so unreal; yet there they are before one, strange -and mysterious, and, like other things which appeal to one's -imagination, it would be a sad thing if one were to understand them. -One is tempted to think that the people of our Northern races know too -much for their own good. It seems remorseless, but it is so. When I -heard the poor Mexican asked why he thought it had not rained in -eighteen months, he said, "Because God wills it, I suppose;" we were -edified by the way they shifted the responsibility which Farmer Dunn -in our part of the world so cheerfully assumes. - -One afternoon we were on a down-grade, going along at a fair pace, -when a wheel struck a stone, placed there by some freighter to block -his load. It heaved the coach, pulled out the king-pin, and let the -big Concord down and over on its side. The mules went on with the -front wheels, pulling Jack off the box, while we who were on top -described a graceful parabolic curve and landed with three dull thuds. -I was caught under the coach by one leg and held there. A guard inside -made all haste to crawl out through a window, and after a bit I was -released. We were all pretty badly bruised up, and Mr. H. had his foot -broken. The mules were recovered, however, the coach righted, and we -were again off. We made the town of Tamochica that night, and the -town-folks were kind and attentive. They made crutches, heated water, -and sent a man to the creek to catch leeches to put on our wounds. Two -men were shot in a house near by during the night, and for a few -minutes there was a lively fusillade of pistol shots. It was evident -that life in Tamochica would spoil a man's taste for anything quiet, -and so as soon as we could move we did it. - -We passed an old church, and were shown two Jesuits who had been dead -over a hundred years. They were wonderfully preserved, and were -dressed in full regalia. I wondered by what embalmer's art it had been -accomplished. - -[Illustration: HARNESSING MULES] - -A guard of punchers met us to conduct us over a mountain-pass. They -were dressed in terra-cotta buckskin trimmed with white leather, and -were armed for the largest game in the country. The Bavicora coach has -never been robbed, and it is never going to be--or, at least that is -the intention of the I-F folks. One man can rob a stage-coach as -easily as he could a box of sardines, but with outriders before and -behind it takes a large party, and even then they will leave a "hot -trail" behind them. - -One morning as I was lolling out of the window I noticed the wheel of -the coach pass over a long, blue Roman candle. I thought it was -curious that a long, blue Roman candle should be lying out there on -the plains, when with a sudden sickening it flashed upon me--"giant -powder!" The coach was stopped, and we got out. The road was full of -the sticks of this high explosive. A man was coming down the road -leading a _burro_ and picking up the things, and he explained that -they had dropped out of a package from his bull-wagon as he passed the -night before. We didn't run over any more pieces. If the stick had -gone off there would have been a little cloud of dust on the Guerrero -road, and, I hope, some regrets in various parts of the world. The -incident cannot be made startling, but it put the occupants of the -Bavicora coach in a quiet train of reflection that makes a man -religious. - -Now, as I ponder over the last stage-coach ride which I shall ever -take on this earth, I am conscious that it was pleasant, instructive, -and full of incident. All that might have happened did not, but enough -did to satiate my taste. - - - - -STUBBLE AND SLOUGH IN DAKOTA - - -Now I am conscious that all my life I have seen men who owned -shot-guns and setter-dogs, and that these persons were wont at -intervals to disappear from their usual haunts with this -paraphernalia. Without thinking, I felt that they went to slay little -birds, and for them I entertained a good-natured contempt. It came -about in this wise that I acquired familiarity with "mark," and -"hie-on," and "No. 6 vis No. 4's": by telegram I was invited to make -one of a party in Chicago, bound West on a hunting expedition. It -being one of my periods of unrest, I promptly packed up my Winchester, -boots, saddle, and blankets, wired "All right--next train," and -crawled into the "Limited" at Forty-second Street. - -"West" is to me a generic term for that country in the United States -which lies beyond the high plains, and this will account for my -surprise when I walked into the private car at the St. Paul depot in -Chicago and met my friends contesting the rights of occupancy with -numerous setter-dogs, while all about were shot-gun cases and boxes -labelled "Ammunition." After greetings I stepped to the station -platform and mingled with the crowd--disgusted, and disposed to -desert. - -A genial young soldier who appreciated the curves in my character -followed me out, and explained, in the full flush of his joyous -anticipation, that we were going to North Dakota to shoot ducks and -prairie chicken, and that it would be the jolliest sort of a time; -besides, it was a party of good friends. I hesitated, yielded, and -enlisted for the enterprise. Feeling now that I was this far it would -be good to go on and learn what there was in the form of sport which -charmed so many men whose taste I respected in other matters, and once -embarked I summoned my enthusiasm, and tried to "step high, wide, and -handsome," as the horsemen say. - -[Illustration: A DAKOTA CHICKEN-WAGON] - -The happiness of a hunting-party is like that of a wedding, so -important is it that true love shall rule. The _piece de resistance_ -of our car was two old generals, who called each other by an -abbreviation of their first names, and interrupted conversations by -recalling to each other's memory where some acres of men were slain. -"A little more of the roast beef, please--yes, that was where I was -shot in this side;" and at night, when quiet reigned and we sought -sleep, there would be a waving of the curtains, and a voice, "Oh, say, -Blank, do you remember that time my horse was hit with the -twelve-pounder?" and it banished dreams. There was a phlebotomist from -Pittsburg who had shot all over the earth. He was a thorough -sportsman, with a code of rules as complicated as the common-law, and -he "made up tough" in his canvas shooting-clothes. There was a young -and distinguished officer of the regular army who had hunted men, -which excused him in the paltry undertaking before him; and, finally, -three young men who were adding the accumulated knowledge of Harvard -to their natural endowments. For myself, I did not see how jack-boots, -spurs, and a Winchester would lend themselves to the stubble and -slough of Dakota, but a collection was taken, and by the time we -arrived in Valley City, Dakota, I was armed, if not accoutred, in the -style affected by double-barrel men. All I now needed was an -education, and between the Doctor, who explained, expostulated, and -swore, and a great many "clean misses," I wore on to the high-school -stage. Like the obliging person who was asked if he played on the -violin, I said to myself, "I don't know, but I'll try." - -[Illustration: ON THE EDGE OF A SLOUGH] - -In the early morning three teams drove up where our car was -side-tracked, and we embarked in them. The shot-gun man affects -buck-colored canvas clothes, with many pockets, and carries his -cartridges in his shirt fronts, like a Circassian Cossack. He also -takes the shells out of his gun before he climbs into a wagon, or he -immediately becomes an object of derision and dread, or, what's worse, -suddenly friendless and alone. He also refrains from pointing his gun -at any fellow-sportsman, and if he inadvertently does it, he receives -a fusillade such as an Irish drill-sergeant throws into a recruit when -he does amiss. This day was cool and with a wind blowing, and the poor -dogs leaped in delirious joy when let out from their boxes, in which -they had travelled all the way from Chicago. After running the wire -edge off their nerves they were gotten to range inside a township -site, and we jogged along. The first thing which interested me was to -hear the Doctor indicate to the driver that he did not care to -participate in the driver's knowledge of hunting, and that in order to -save mental wear he only had to drive the team, and stand fast when we -got out, in order that from the one motionless spot on the prairie sea -we could "mark down" the birds. - -The immensity of the wheat-fields in Dakota is astonishing to a -stranger. They begin on the edge of town, and we drive all day and are -never out of them, and on either side they stretch away as far as -one's eye can travel. The wheat had been cut and "shocked," which left -a stubble some eight inches high. The farm-houses are far apart, and, -indeed, not often in sight, but as the threshing was in progress, we -saw many groups of men and horses, and the great steam-threshers -blowing clouds of black smoke, and the flying straw as it was belched -from the bowels of the monsters. - -[Illustration: A CONFERENCE IN THE MUD] - -During the heat of the day the chickens lie in the cover of the grass -at the sides of the fields, or in the rank growth of some slough-hole, -but at early morning and evening they feed in the wheat stubble. As we -ride along, the dogs range out in front, now leaping gracefully along, -now stopping and carrying their noses in the air to detect some scent, -and finally--"There's a point! Stop, driver!" and we pile out, -breaking our guns and shoving in the cartridges. - -"No hurry--no hurry," says the Doctor; "the dog will stay there a -month." But, fired with the anticipations, we move briskly up. "You -take the right and I'll take the left. Don't fire over the dog," adds -the portly sportsman, with an admonishing frown. We go more slowly, -and suddenly, with a "whir," up get two chickens and go sailing off. -Bang! bang! The Doctor bags his and I miss mine. We load and advance, -when up comes the remainder of the covey, and the bewildering plenty -of the flying objects rattles me. The Doctor shoots well, and indeed -prairie-chickens are not difficult, but I am discouraged. As the great -sportsman Mr. Soapy Sponge used to say, "I'm a good shooter, but a bad -hitter." It was in this distressful time that I remembered the words -of the old hunter who had charge of my early education in .45 -calibres, which ran, "Take yer time, sonny, and always see your hind -sight," and by dint of doing this I soon improved to a satisfactory -extent. The walking over the stubble is good exercise, and it becomes -fascinating to watch the well-trained Llewellyn setters "make game," -or stand pointing with their tails wagging violently in the nervous -thrill of their excitement, then the shooting, and the marking down of -the birds who escape the fire, that we may go to them for another -"flush." With care and patience one can bag at last the whole covey. - -At noon we met the other wagons in a green swale, and had lunch, and, -seated in a row under the shadow side of a straw stack, we plucked -chickens, while the phlebotomist did the necessary surgery to prepare -them for the cook. At three o'clock the soldier, a couple of -residents, and myself started together for the evening shooting. We -banged away at a thousand-yards range at some teal on a big marsh, but -later gave it up, and confined ourselves to chicken. In the midst of a -covey and a lot of banging I heard the Captain uttering distressful -cries. His gun was leaning on a wheat "shock," and he was clawing -himself wildly. "Come, help me--I am being eaten alive." Sure enough -he was, for in Dakota there is a little insect which is like a winged -ant, and they go in swarms, and their bite is sharp and painful. I -attempted his rescue, and was attacked in turn, so that we ended by a -precipitous retreat, leaving the covey of chickens and their -protectors, the ants, on the field. - -[Illustration: "DON'T SHOOT!"] - -We next pushed a covey of grouse into some standing oats, and were -tempted to go in a short way, but some farmers who were threshing on -the neighboring hill blew the engine whistle and made a "sortie," -whereat we bolted. At a slough which we were tramping through to kick -up some birds "marked down," one suddenly got up under our feet and -flew directly over the Captain, who yelled "Don't shoot!" as he -dropped to the ground. It was a well--considered thing to do, since a -flying bird looks bigger than a man to an excited and enthusiastic -sportsman. We walked along through the stubble until the red sunset no -longer gave sufficient light, and then got into our wagon to do the -fourteen miles to our car and supper. Late at night we reached our -car, and from it could hear "the sound of revelry." The cook did big -Chicago beefsteaks by the half-dozen, for an all day's tramp is a -sauce which tells. - -After some days at this place we were hauled up to Devil's Lake, on -the Great Northern road, which locality is without doubt the best for -duck-shooting in Dakota. We were driven some sixteen miles to a spur -of the lake, where we found a settler. There were hundreds of teal in -the water back of his cabin, and as we took position well up the wind -and fired, they got up in clouds, and we had five minutes of shooting -which was gluttony. We gave the "bag" to the old settler, and the -Doctor admonished him to "fry them," which I have no doubt he did. - -It was six miles to a pond said to be the best evening shooting about -there, and we drove over. There we met our other two teams and another -party of sportsmen. The shallow water was long and deeply fringed with -rank marsh grass. Having no wading-boots can make no difference to a -sportsman whose soul is great, so I floundered in and got comfortably -wet. After shooting two or three mud-hens, under the impression that -they were ducks, the Doctor came along, and with a pained expression -he carefully explained what became of people who did not know a teal -from a mud-hen, and said further that he would let it pass this time. -As the sun sank, the flight of ducks began, and from the far corners -of the marsh I saw puffs of smoke and heard the dull slump of a -report. - -"Mark--left," came a voice from where the young Harvard man with the -peach complexion and the cream hair had ensconced himself in the -grass, and, sure enough, a flight was coming towards my lair. I waited -until it was nearly over, when I rose up and missed two fine shots, -while the Harvard man scored. The birds fell well out in the pond, and -he waded out to retrieve them. - -As I stood there the soft ooze of the marsh gradually swallowed me, -and when in answer to the warning "mark" of my fellows I squatted down -in the black water to my middle, and only held my gun and cartridges -up, I began to realize that when a teal-duck is coming down wind you -have got to aim somewhere into the space ahead of it, hoping to make a -connection between your load of shot and the bird. This I did, and -after a time got my first birds. The air was now full of flying -birds--mallards, spoon-bills, pintails, red-heads, butter-balls, -gadwalls, widgeon, and canvas-backs--and the shooting was fast and -furious. It was a perfect revelry of slaughter. "Mark--mark." -Bang--bang. "What's the matter of that shot?" The sun has set, and no -longer bathes the landscape in its golden light, and yet I sit in the -water and mud and indulge this pleasurable taste for gore, wondering -why it is so ecstatic, or if my companions will not give over shooting -presently. There is little probability of that, however. Only darkness -can end the miseries of the poor little teal coming home to their -marsh, and yet with all my sentimental emotions of sympathy I deplore -a miss. If slough-shooting has a drawback, it is its lack of -action--it is a calm, deliberate shedding of blood, and a wounding of -many birds, who die in the marshes, or become easy prey for the hawks, -and it's as cold-blooded as sitting in water can make it. - -[Illustration: "MARK--LEFT"] - -[Illustration: "MARK!"] - -We give over at last, and the fortunates change their wet clothes, -while those who have no change sit on the seat knee-deep in dead birds -and shiver while we rattle homeward. Our driver gets himself lost, and -we bring up against a wire fence. Very late at night we struck the -railroad, and counted telegraph poles and travelled east until the -lights of the town twinkled through the gloom. Once in the car, we -find the creature comfort which reconciles one to life, and we vote -the day a red-letter one. The goose-shooting came later than our -visit, but the people tell marvellous tales of their numbers. They -employ special guns in their pursuit, which are No. 4 gauge, -single-barrelled, and very long. They throw buckshot point-blank two -hundred yards, and are, indeed, curious-looking arms. The -chicken-shooting is not laborious, since one rides in a wagon, and a -one-lunged, wooden-legged man is as good as a four-mile athlete at it. -He must know setter-dogs, who are nearly as complicated as women in -their temper and ways; he must have a nose for cover, and he can be -taught to shoot; he can keep statistics if he desires, but his first -few experiences behind the dogs will not tempt him to do that unless -his modesty is highly developed. If he become a shot-gun enthusiast he -will discover a most surprising number of fellows--doctors, lawyers, -butchers, farmers, and Indians not taxed--all willing to go with him -or to be interested in his tales. - -[Illustration: TROOPING HOMEWARD IN THE AFTER-GLOW] - -The car was to be attached to an express train bound west that night, -to my intense satisfaction, and I crawled into the upper berth to -dream of bad-lands elk, soldiers, cowboys, and only in the haze of -fleeting consciousness could I distinguish a voice-- - -"Remington, I hope you are not going to fall out of that upper berth -again to-night." - - - - -POLICING THE YELLOWSTONE - - -"Captain Anderson--he's the superintendent, you know--started to-day -for the south of the Park; some trouble, I believe, down there. A -scout thought the buffalo were being disturbed," said Lieutenant -Lindsley to me at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, near the entrance to -the Park. - -"That's unfortunate. Can I overtake him?" - -"It's nearly four o'clock, but as I am going down to our camp at the -Lower Geyser Basin, we can start now, and by travelling at night we -can catch him before he pulls out in the morning, I think," said the -yellow-leg. - -So putting our belongings into a double surry, we started hot-foot -through the Wonderland, leaving a band of Dakota chicken-shooters -standing on the steps waving their adieux. It verified all my -predictions--men who shoot chickens belong in a stage-coach--they are -a "scrubby wagon outfit," as the cowboys say. - -Posed on the trestled road, I looked back at the Golden Gate Pass. It -is one of those marvellous vistas of mountain scenery utterly beyond -the pen or brush of any man. Paint cannot touch it, and words are -wasted. War, storms at sea, and mountain scenery are bigger than any -expression little man has ever developed. Mr. Thomas Moran made a -famous stagger at this pass in his painting; and great as is the -painting, when I contemplated the pass itself I marvelled at the -courage of the man who dared the deed. But as the stages of the Park -Company run over this road, every tourist sees its grandeur, and -bangs away with his kodak. - -As we pulled up in front of the tents of the rest camp, one of those -mountain thunder-storms set in, and it was as though the New York fire -department had concentrated its nozzles on the earth. The place was -presided over by a classic Irishman by the name of Larry, who speedily -got a roaring-hot beefsteak and some coffee on the table, and then -busied himself conducting growing pools of rain-water out of the tent. -Larry is justly famous on the road for his _bonhomie_ and Celtic wit. - -At an early hour we arose and departed--the pale moon shining through -the mist of the valley, while around us rose the ghostly pines. We -cowered under our great-coats, chilled through, and saddened at -remembrances of the warm blankets which we had been compelled to roll -out of at this unseemly hour. At 7.30 we broke into one of those -beautiful natural parks, the Lower Geyser Basin, with the sun shining -on the river and the grass, and spotting the row of tents belonging to -D Troop, Sixth United States Cavalry. Captain Scott met us at the -door, a bluff old trooper in field rig and a welcoming smile. After -breakfast a soldier brought up Pat Rooney. Pat was a horse from the -ground up; he came from Missouri, but he was a true Irishman -nevertheless, as one could tell from his ragged hips, long drooping -quarters, and a liberal show of white in his eye, which seemed to say -to me, "Aisy, now, and I'm a dray-horse; but spare the brad, or I'll -put ye on yer back in the bloomin' dust, I will." The saddle was put -on, and I waited, until presently along came the superintendent, with -his scout Burgess, three soldiers, and nine pack-mules with their -creaking _aparejos_, and their general air of malicious mischief. - -Pointing to a range of formidable-looking hills, the captain said, -"We will pull in about there," and we mounted and trotted off down the -road. What a man really needs when he does the back stretches of the -Yellowstone Park is a boat and a balloon, but cavalrymen ride horses -in deference to traditions. My mount, Pat, was as big as a stable -door, and as light as a puff-ball on his pins. As Mr. Buckram said, -"The 'eight of a 'oss as nothing to do with 'is size," but Patrick was -a horse a man needed two legs for. Besides, he had a mouth like a -bull, as does every other animal that wears that impossible bit which -Uncle Sam gives his cavalry. We got along swimmingly, and, indeed, I -feel considerable gratitude to Pat for the two or three thousand times -he saved my life on the trip by his agility and sureness of foot. - -[Illustration: BURGESS, NEARLY FORTY-FIVE YEARS A SCOUT] - -Burgess, the scout, was a fine little piece of a man, who had served -the government with credit for over thirty years. He had breasted the -high divide in a dozen places, had Apache bullets whistle around and -through him, and withal was modest about it. He was a quiet person, -with his instinct of locality as well developed as an Indian's, and -contented with life, since he only wanted one thing--a war. I think he -travelled by scent, since it would have been simple enough to have -gone over easier places; but Burgess despised ease, and where the -fallen timber was thickest and the slopes 60 deg., there you would find -Burgess and his tight little pony picking along. - -Both Captains Anderson and Scott have a pronounced weakness for -geysers, and were always stopping at every little steam-jet to examine -it. I suppose they feel a personal responsibility in having them go -regularly; one can almost imagine a telegram to "turn on more steam." -They rode recklessly over the geyser formation, to my discomfort, -because it is very thin and hazardous, and to break through is to be -boiled. One instinctively objects to that form of cooking. The most -gorgeous colors are observed in this geyser formation; in fact, I have -never seen nature so generous in this respect elsewhere. I wondered -that the pack-mules did not walk into the sissing holes, but I suspect -a mule is a bit of a geologist in his way, and as most of them have -been in the government service for thirty or forty years, they have -learned how to conserve their well-being. There is a tradition that -one was considerably overdone once in a geyser-hole, so they may have -taken warning. Who can understand a mule? The packer leads the old -bell-mare off to a feeding-ground, and the whole bunch of mules go -racing after her, and chains wouldn't hold them. The old bell-mare -takes across a nasty chasm or a dirty slough-hole, and as the tinkle -of the little cow-bell is losing itself in the timber beyond, one -after another they put their ears forward and follow on. - -[Illustration: THE BELL-MARE OVER A BAD PLACE] - -We passed up a cleft in the hills, and were swallowed up in the pine -and cedar forest. Presently the cleft ended, and nothing but good -honest climbing was in front. There began my first experience in -riding over the fallen timber, which obstructs all the northwestern -Rocky Mountains. Once up in British Columbia I did it, but had trails, -and I childishly imagined that there must also be trails wherever men -wanted to go. Crisscross and all about lay the great peeled logs, and -travel was slow, toilsome, and with anything but horses trained to it -would have been impossible. - -A good horse or mule, once accustomed, makes little of it, but on the -steep down grades the situation is complicated by fallen logs, which -it is necessary to "bucket" over, and then stop dead on an incline of -50 deg., with a couple of miles of tumble if he fails. The timber grew -thicker, and when Burgess would get us in a hopeless sort of place, -Captain A. would sing out to Captain S., "Burgess is on the trail -now"; and when it was fairly good going, "Now he is off." But nothing -could rattle Mr. Burgess, and he continued calmly on his journey, the -destination of which, it seemed, could be nothing short of the moon. -Finally we found ourselves seemingly so inextricably tangled up that -even Burgess had to scratch his head. One mule was hung up hopelessly, -while the rest crowded around us into the _chevaux-de-frise_ of logs, -and merrily wound through the labyrinth the old Sixth Cavalry "gag," -"Here's where we trot." - -To complete the effect of this passage it began to rain, and shortly -to pelt us with hailstones, so we stopped under some trees to let it -pass, and two people who should know better dismounted and got their -saddles wet, while another, more wise in his generation, sat tight, -and was rewarded later for his display of intelligence. By-and-by, wet -and tired of fallen timber, we came into the Little Fire-hole Basin, -and found buffalo signs in abundance. We were in great hopes of seeing -some of these animals, but I may as well add that only one was seen on -the trip, though there was fresh spoor, and they were undoubtedly -about. We found no pony tracks either, which was more to the soldiers' -liking, since they are intrusted with the protection of the Park -against poachers. - -In this way squads are sent over the Park, and instructed not to -follow the regular trails, but to go to the most unfrequented places, -so that they may at any time happen on a malicious person, and perhaps -be able to do as one scout did--photograph the miscreant with his own -camera. - -After a good day's march we made camp by a little lake, and picketed -our horses, while the mules ran loose around the bell-mare. Our -appetites had been sharpened by a nine hours' fast, when a soldier -called us to the "commissaries" which were spread out on a pack -canvas. It was the usual military "grub," and no hungry man can find -fault with that. - -"Any man who can't eat bacon can't fight," as Captain Scott said; so -if any reader wants to be a soldier he must have a mania for bacon, it -seems. "This is the stuff that makes soldiers brave," he added, as the -coffee-pot came around, and we fell to, and left a dreary waste of -empty tins for the cook to pick up. We lighted our pipes after the -banquet on the grass, and walked down to the shore of the beautiful -pond, which seemed so strangely situated up there on the very crest of -the continental divide. There are only three seasons in these -altitudes, which the boys divide into July, August, and Winter, and -the nights are always chilly. An inch or two of snow may fall even in -mid-summer. In winter the snow covers the ground to a great depth, as -we can tell by the trees. Nothing grows but rather stunted fir and -pine and a little grass of the most hardy variety. The rounds of the -Park are then made by mounting the cavalry on the _ski_, or Norwegian -snow-shoe, and with its aid men travel the desolate snow-clad -wilderness from one "shack" to another. Small squads of three or four -men are quartered in these remote recesses of the savage mountains, -and remain for eight months on a stretch. The camps are provisioned -for the arctic siege, and what is stranger yet is that soldiers rather -like it, and freely apply for this detached service. There is little -of the "pomp and vanity" in this soldiering, and it shows good spirit -on the part of the enlisted men. They are dressed in fur caps, -California blanket coats, leggings, and moccasins--a strange uniform -for a cavalryman, and also quite a commentary on what are commonly -called the vicissitudes of the service. - -[Illustration: DOWN THE MOUNTAIN] - -[Illustration: GETTING GRUB] - -In the early morning our tent was pulled down, and our bedding packed -off almost before we had disentangled ourselves from its sheltering -folds. The well-trained troopers went about their task of breaking -camp with method and address. Burgess and a young soldier pulled a -reluctant strawberry-blond mule out of the line of pack-animals, and -throwing a blind over his face, proceeded to lay the blanket and -adjust the _aparejo_. With a heave the _cincha_ is hauled tight, and -the load laid on, while the expert throws the "diamond hitch," and the -mule and pack are integral parts. This packing of nine mules was -accomplished with great rapidity, and laying our saddles carefully, we -mounted and followed the scouts off down the trail in single file on a -toilsome march which would probably not end until three or four -o'clock in the afternoon. We wound around the spurs of hills, and then -across a marsh, with its yielding treacherous bottom, where the horses -floundered, and one mule went down and made the mud and water fly in -his struggles, while my apprehensions rose to fever-pitch as I -recognized my grip-sack on his load, and not likely to be benefited by -the operation. At the head-waters of these rivers--and it may be said -that this little purling brook is really the source of the Missouri -itself, although not so described--there is abundance of soggy marsh, -which makes travel extremely difficult. In one place Captain -Anderson's horse went belly-deep on a concealed quag made by a stream -coming out of the side of the hill, and rolling back, fell heavily on -the captain, and for a time it was rather a question whether the horse -would get out or not; but by dint of exertion he regained firm ground. -When a big strong horse gets into a slough the dorsal action is -terrific, and it is often necessary to dismount quickly to aid him -out. We crossed the great divide of the continent at a place where the -slope was astonishingly steep and the fallen timber thickly strewn. It -was as thoroughly experimental travelling as I have ever seen, -unless possibly over a lava-rock formation which I essayed last winter -on the western slope of the Sierra Madre, in Chihuahua; and yet there -is a fascination about being balanced on those balloonlike heights, -where a misstep means the end of horse and rider. I was glad enough, -though, when we struck the parklike levels of the Pitchstone plateau -as the scene of our further progression. If one has never travelled -horseback over the Rocky Mountains there is a new and distinct -sensation before him quite as vigorous as his first six-barred gate, -or his first yacht-race with the quarter-rail awash. - -[Illustration: WORKING UP THE DIVIDE] - -All through the Park were seen hundreds of wild-geese, so tame that -they would hardly fly from us. It was a great temptation to shoot, but -the doughty captain said he would run me off the reservation at a -turkey-trot if I did shoot, and since I believed him I could restrain -myself. The streams and marshes were full of beaver-dams, and the -little mud-and-stick houses rose from the pools, while here and there -we saw the purl of the quiet water as they glided about. This part is -exactly as primitive as when the lonely trapper Coulter made his -famous journey through it, and one cannot but wonder what must have -been his astonishment at the unnatural steaming and boiling of the -geysers, which made the Park known from his descriptions as "Coulter's -Hell." - -From the breast of the mountains overlooking the great Shoshonee Lake -there opened up the most tremendous sight as the waters stretched away -in their blue placidity to the timbered hills. The way down to the -shores was the steepest place I have ever seen horses and mules -attempt. In one place, where the two steep sides of the canyon dipped -together, it was cut by a nasty seam some six feet deep, which we had -to "bucket over" and maintain a footing on the other side. After -finding myself safely over, I watched the shower of pack-mules come -sliding down and take the jump. One mule was so far overbalanced that -for a moment I thought he would lose his centre of gravity, which had -been in his front feet, but he sprang across to the opposite slope and -was safe. Horses trained to this work do marvels, and old Pat was a -"topper" at the business. I gave him his head, and he justified my -trust by negotiating all the details without a miss. On a sandy -"siding" he spread his feet and slid with an avalanche of detached -hill-side. Old Pat's ears stuck out in front in an anxious way, as if -to say, "If we hit anything solid, I'll stop"; while from behind came -the cheery voice of Captain Scott, "Here's where we trot." - -On the shores of the Shoshonee we camped, and walked over to the -famous Union Geysers, which began to boil and sputter, apparently for -our especial benefit. In a few minutes two jets of boiling water shot -a hundred feet in air, and came down in rain on the other side, while -a rainbow formed across it. The roar of the great geysers was -awe-inspiring; it was like the exhaust of a thousand locomotives, and -Mr. Burgess nudged me and remarked, "Hell's right under here." - -Near the geysers, hidden away in a depression, we found a pool of -water of a beautiful and curious green, while not twenty feet from it -was one of a sulphur yellow. There was a big elk track in the soft mud -leading into it, but no counter track coming out. There had been a -woodland tragedy there. - -The utility of a geyser-hole is not its least attraction to a -traveller who has a day's accumulation of dust and sweat on him. I -found one near the camp which ran into a little mountain stream, and -made a tepid bath, of which I availed myself, and also got a cup of -hot water, by the aid of which I "policed my face," as the soldiers -call shaving. - -[Illustration: BURGESS FINDING A FORD] - -The next day we encountered one of those great spongy mountain -meadows, which we were forced to skirt on the rocky timber-strewn -hill-sides, until finally we ventured into it. We curved and zigzagged -through its treacherous mazes, fording and recrossing the stream in -search of solid ground. Burgess's little gray pony put his foot -forward in a gingerly way, and when satisfied, plunged in and -floundered through. The pony had a positive genius for morasses. We -followed him into the mud, or plunged off the steep sides into the -roaring river, and, to my intense satisfaction, at last struck a good -pony trail. "Now Burgess is off the trail!" we cried, whereat the -modest little scout grinned cheerfully. From here on it was "fair and -easy," until we came to the regular stage-road, to travel on which it -seemed to us a luxury. - -This expedition is typical of the manner of policing the Park, and it -is generally monotonous, toilsome, and uneventful work; and the -usefulness of such a _chevau-chee_ is that it leaves the track of the -cavalry horse-shoe in the most remote parts of the preserve, where the -poacher or interloper can see it, and become apprehensive in -consequence of the dangers which attend his operations. That an old -trapper might work quietly there for a long time I do not doubt, if he -only visited his line of traps in the early morning or late evening -and was careful of his trail, but such damage as he could do would be -trivial. Two regiments could not entirely prevent poaching in the -mountain wastes of the great reservation, but two troops are -successful enough at the task. It is a great game-preserve and -breeding-ground, and, if not disturbed, must always give an overflow -into Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, which will make big game shooting -there for years to come. The unreasoning antipathy or malicious -disregard of the American pioneer for game-laws and game-preservation -is somewhat excusable, but the lines of the pioneer are now cast in -new places, and his days of lawless _abandon_ are done. The regulation -for the punishment of Park offenders is inadequate, and should be made -more severe. The Park is also full of beasts of prey, the bear being -very numerous. A fine grizzly was trapped by some of the -superintendent's men and shipped to the Smithsonian Institution while -I was there. Near the Fountain Hotel one evening a young army surgeon -and myself walked up to within one hundred and fifty yards of a big -grizzly, who was not disposed to run off. Being unarmed, we concluded -that our point of view was close enough, and as the bear seemed to -feel the same way about it, we parted. - -Americans have a national treasure in the Yellowstone Park, and they -should guard it jealously. Nature has made her wildest patterns here, -has brought the boiling waters from her greatest depths to the peaks -which bear eternal snow, and set her masterpiece with pools like -jewels. Let us respect her moods, and let the beasts she nurtures in -her bosom live, and when the man from Oshkosh writes his name with a -blue pencil on her sacred face, let him spend six months where the -scenery is circumscribed and entirely artificial. - - - - -A MODEL SQUADRON - - -I am not quite sure that I should not say "The Model Colonel," since -every one knows men and horses are much alike when they have first -passed under the eye of the recruiting officer and the remount board, -and every one knows that colonels are very unlike, so that a model -squadron or a model troop is certain to owe its superiority to its -commander; but as we are observing the product in this instance, let -the title stand as above stated. - -The model squadron aforesaid is quartered across the Potomac from -Washington in Fort Meyer, which is the only purely cavalry post in the -country. Everywhere else the troops are mixed, and the commandant may -be of any arm of the service. Here they are all cavalry, with cavalry -officers and cavalry ideas, and are not hindered by dismounted -theories, or pick-and-shovel work, or any of the hundreds of things -which hamper equally good "yellow legs" in other posts. There are many -passable misdemeanors in this post, but only one crime, and that is -bad riding. There is little dismounted work, and any soldier can have -his horse out on a pass, so long as he does not abuse the privilege; -and when he does, it's plenty of walking falls to his lot. - -There is a large brick riding-hall of approved pattern, which enables -the men to do their work in all weathers. The four troops now -quartered there are from the First, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth -regiments, which creates a good-natured rivalry, very conducive to -thorough work. It is the opinion of General Henry that one old troop -should always be left at this post as a pace-setter for the newly -transferred ones, which seems reasonable. - -[Illustration: GENERAL GUY V. HENRY, SEVENTH UNITED STATES CAVALRY] - -Now to tell what the preparatory discipline is to the magnificent -riding which can be seen any morning by spectators who are "game for a -journey" to the fort by ten o'clock, I must say that General Guy V. -Henry is a flaming fire of cavalry enthusiasm. He has one idea--a -great broad expanse of principle--ever so simple in itself, but it is -basic, and nothing can become so complicated that he cannot revert to -his simple idea and by it regulate the whole. It is the individual -training of the horse and rider. One bad rider or one unbroken horse -can disarrange the whole troop movement, and "woe to him" who is not -up to concert pitch! "Who is the scoundrel, the lummux, humph?" and -the colonel, who is a brevet-brigadier-general, strides up and down, -and fire comes from his nostrils. "Prefer charges against him, -captain!" and the worst befalls. The unfortunate trooper has committed -the highest crime which the commandant of Fort Meyer knows--he cannot -ride. - -A soldier becomes a rider by being bucketed about on a bareback horse, -or he dies. The process is simple, the tanbark soft, and none have -died up to date, but all have attained the other alternative. This is -unimportant; but the horse--it is to his education that the oceans of -patience and the mountains of intelligence are brought to bear. It is -all in the books if any one cares to go into it. It is the gathering -of the horse; it is the legs carried to the rear of the girths; it is -the perfect hand and the instant compliance of the horse with the -signs as indicated by the rider; it is the backing, the passaging, the -leading with either foot, and the pivoting on the front legs; it is -the throwing of horses, the acquisition of gaits, and the nice -bitting; it is one hundred little struggles with the brute until he -comes to understand and to know that he must do his duty. It all looks -beautifully simple, but in practice we know that while it is not -difficult to teach a horse, it is quite another matter to unteach him, -so in these horses at least no mistakes have been made. After all -this, one fine sunny Friday morning the people drove out from -Washington in their traps and filed into the galleries and sat -down--fair women and brave men; of the former we are sure, and of the -latter we trust. The colonel blew a whistle--ye gods, what a sacrilege -against all the traditions of this dear old United States army!--and -in rode Captain Bomus's troop of the First Plungers, which I cannot -but love, since I am an honorary member of their officers' mess, and -fondly remember the fellows who are now sniffing alkali dust down in -Arizona. They were riding with blankets and surcingles, and did their -part of a drill, the sequence of which I have forgotten, since it was -divided with the three other troops--Captain Bell's, of the Seventh, -Captain Hughes's, of the Ninth, and Captain Fountain's, of the Eighth. -I felt a strong personal interest in some of these men, for memory -took me back to a night's ride in Dakota with a patrol of the Ninth, -when they were all wrapped in buffalo-skin overcoats, with white frost -on their lapels; the horses' noses wore icicles, and the dry snow -creaked under the tread of the hoofs as we rode over the starlit plain -and through the black shadows of the _coulees_. I had pounded along -also through the dust in the wake of this troop of the Eighth when it -wasn't so cold, but was equally uncomfortable. - -[Illustration: RIDING SITTING ON LEGS] - -[Illustration: OVER THE HURDLE BACK TO BACK] - -The sharp commands of the captain soon put the troop in motion, and -they trotted along with a cadenced tread, every man a part of his -horse; they broke into fours and wheeled to the right about, then into -line and wound themselves up in the "spiral," and unwound again, and -soon brought order out of a mess, and the regular canter was ever the -same. Then low hurdles were strung across the hall, and by column of -fours the troop went over, never breaking the formation; to the rear -they turned and back again; finally they took the obstacle in line, -and every horse rose as though impelled by the same mechanism. As if -this was not enough, every second man was dismounted and put on double -with a comrade, not with his breast to his comrade's back, but back to -back, and then in line the odd cavalcade charged the hurdles, and took -them every one. It was not an individual bucketing of one horse after -another, but all in line and all together. After this what could there -be more to test the "glue" in these troopers' seats? There was more, -however, and in this wise: The saddles were put on, but without any -girths, and all the movements were gone through with again, ending up -with a charge down the hall, and bringing up against the wall of the -spectators' stand at a sharp "halt," which would have unseated a -monkey from a trick-mule. - -The horses were all thrown by pulling their heads about, and one -cavalryman amused himself by jumping over his prostrate mount. They -rode "at will," and stood upon their knees on their horses' backs. One -big animal resented carrying double, and did something which in Texas -would be called "pitching," but it was scarcely a genuine sample, -since the grinning soldiers made little of it. - -The troop of the Ninth executed a "left backward turn" with beautiful -precision, and this difficult undertaking will serve to give one an -idea of the training of the mounts. - -Gymnastics of all sorts were indulged in, even to the extent of -turning summersaults over four horses from a spring-board. A citizen -near me, whose mind had probably wandered back to Barnum and Bailey, -said: - -[Illustration: THROWING A HORSE] - -"But what's this got to do with soldiers; is it not highly flavored -with circus?" - -I could offer no excuse except the tradition that cavalrymen are -supposed to ride well. All the men were young and in first-rate -physical fix, and seemed to enjoy the thing--all except one old first -sergeant, who had been time-expired these half-dozen times, whose skin -was so full of bullet-holes that it wouldn't hold blood, and who had -entered this new regime with many protests: - -"O'me nau circus ape; I can't be leppin' around afther the likes av -thim!" whereat the powers arranged it so that the old veteran got a -job looking after plug tobacco, tomato-cans, tinned beef, and other -"commissaries," upon which he viewed the situation more cheerfully. - -The drill was tremendously entertaining to the ladies and gentlemen in -the gallery, and they clapped their hands and went bustling into their -traps and off down the road to the general's house, where Madam the -General gave a breakfast, and the women no doubt asked the second -lieutenants deliciously foolish questions about their art. The -gentlemen, some of whom are Congressmen and other exalted governmental -functionaries, felt proud of the cavalry, and went home with a -determination to combat any one hostile to cavalry legislation, if a -bold front and firm purpose could stay the desecrating hand. - -But all this work is primary and elementary. The second degree is -administered in field-work, comprising experimental marches, and those -who know General Henry by reputation will not forget his hundred-mile -march with the Ninth Cavalry at Pine Ridge, and those who know him -personally will become acquainted with his theory that a cavalry -command in good condition, with proper feeds, should make fifty miles -a day, with a maximum on the road of ten hours a day, moving at the -rate of five miles an hour in cavalry halts, the gaits being walk, -trot, and leading, with a day's rest each week, to be continued -indefinitely. And knowing all this, they will be sure that the model -squadron wears out a good many horseshoes in a season. - -[Illustration: OVER THE HURDLES IN LINE] - -The "Cossack outposts" are another feature much insisted on, and, -strange to say, this arrangement was first invented in America, -despite its name (see Wagner's _Outposts_), and is an improvement on -picket posts in a ratio of 240 to 324. Another movement is the "form -square," which is an adaptation of the "Indian circle," it being a -movement from a centre to a circle, and useful when escorting wagons -or when surprised. The non-commissioned officers are sent on -reconnoissance, on patrols, and are required to make maps, which are -submitted to an inspector. - -Another scheme which I have never seen was the linking of a troop of -horses, formed in a circle, to one another, by hooking the regular -cavalry links from one horse's bridle to the next one's halter ring, -and then leaving them in charge of one man. I also saw the new cavalry -bit for the first time. It is commended by all who use it, and I saw -no horses boring on it or in the least uppish about going against it, -and I never remember a horse who would not do either the one or the -other to the old trap which was formerly worn. - -Two other curious movements indulged in by this squadron are the -firing over horses while they are lying down; and, riding double--the -man faced to the rear draws his pistol, and while moving to the rear -keeps shooting. It might be useful during a slow retreat, and could be -done with the carbine equally well. - -This whole enterprise at Fort Meyer is vastly encouraging. As one -officer said, "We take no credit for it, since others could do the -same if they had riding-halls and cavalry officers in command." But -there are cavalry officers and there are cavalry officers, and it is -not every day one is born. For thirty-five years has the old general -sat in a McClellan saddle, and the tremendous enthusiasm of newly -joined "sub" still remains. The very thought of a wagon arouses his -indignation, and every day the mules are brought into the riding-hall, -and the men initiated into the intricacies of the "diamond hitch." It -takes a past-master to pack a mule in twenty-two seconds, however, and -I saw that feat accomplished in General Henry's command. - -It is a grand thing for the young men to have this practical training -by these old veterans of the civil war and the alkali plains before -they go on the retired list. It is well for a young man to know enough -not to unsaddle a sweating troop of horses in a broiling sun, and to -learn that it makes sore backs; and it is quite important if men can -cook rations, and not go up to the sky-line of a hill when scouting, -and rival the statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World," when it is -clearly their business to throw what light they have behind them and -not before. It takes experience to put the sole of a boot back on the -upper, when it has fetched loose, with four horseshoe nails, and it is -not every man that knows that the place to intrench is on the edge of -a cut bank, near water, if one expects ever to get out of a round-up. -No one can figure that a recruit will know how many people passed over -the road before him, or which way they were going, and it takes a long -head and good nerves not to pull a trigger unless the sight is dark on -the object when the fight may last all day and probably all night; but -all these things are not taught in school. If a horse under him is -weakening on a long march in an enemy's country, it is an ignorant -fool who uses a spur instead of good sense. That's the time to unload -a few dollars' worth of government property. But who can understand -the value of a rubber blanket, fifty rounds of ammunition, and a -pocket full of grub, with a feed of grain in the bag, but one who has -tried it? There are lots of dead soldiers who would have learned these -lessons if they had been older. In my opinion, the tremendous box of -tricks which Uncle Sam's horses are supposed to carry has put more men -afoot than will ever be admitted; but at least the old boot has gone, -though there is yet room for an intelligent hand with a jack-plane to -shave off that cavalry pack. I am inclined to take what every one -tells me is a "cranky" view on this subject, but let it stand until -the next hard campaign, and I hope to be able to be more lucid. Horses -are horses, and horses are not made of wood, iron, or by rule of -thumb. - -To revert to Fort Meyer: it is altogether refreshing; it is worth any -one's while to go there and see four troops of cavalry which cannot be -beaten, and it is positively exhilarating to meet their creator, a -thoroughly typical United States cavalry officer, and I'm bound to say -his successor in command has had a hard pace set for him. - - - - -THE AFFAIR OF THE --TH OF JULY - - -The following is a letter from a young military aide-de-camp who was -in position to see a great deal of the great riots in Chicago. - -_Chicago, July -- 18--_ - -MY DEAR FRIEND,--In your last you ask me to give you my experiences in -the affair of the other day here in Chicago, and although I played but -a small part, yet I do not mind adding my little quota to the volumes -of matter already written on the subject. To begin with, we at -headquarters had known for sometime that the turbulent elements were -organizing an opposition to Federal authority, and indeed after the -demoralization of the police power in the affairs of Monday and -Tuesday, the general issued his proclamation putting the city under -martial law. The people were ordered to keep within their own doors, -under penalty of shooting or drum-head court-martial, after seven -o'clock in the evening, and it was also explained that any domicile -harboring an active enemy was to be reduced by the sharpest means at -command. The reinforcements arrived on Tuesday, and militia and police -were embodied in our command. I had been out on a patrol with a troop -of the Third Cavalry late in the afternoon, and I reported to the -general that there was an ominous lull in the city, and that I feared -the enemy were to take some active measures. We had tried, -unsuccessfully, to locate the rifles looted from the gun-stores, and -also to find anything like a rendezvous of insurgents. The better -class of people had nearly all left the city, and what remained were -guarding their business property. Chicago streets, usually so teeming -with human life, were almost deserted. No smoke came from the big -chimneys, and the shops were shuttered and boarded up. A great many -honest people of small means were much put to it to obtain food, and I -cannot but tell you how I saw some of the troopers divide their -rations with the citizens. At the time we had no intimation of the -serious turn affairs would take on, but the remark of the general's, -that "every soldier will die right in his tracks," had gone the rounds -of the camps, and nerved the men to face the music. I was eating my -dinner in the Chicago Club when I thought I heard rifle-shots. This -was about nine o'clock, and the moon was shining on the Lake Front, -although the side streets were dark, since the lights were out all -over the city. In a minute more a squad of cavalry swept up the street -at full gallop. They were heading for the general's tent, and I -grabbed my cap and ran down-stairs three steps at a time. As I made my -way along Michigan Avenue I could hear carbine-shots over in the city, -and shortly all the bugles giving "The Assembly." - -I got to headquarters, and met old Hewer of the Seventh, and it was -his troops which had come in; he told me they were then standing off a -mob, which was returning the fire down in the city. - -I got an order from the general to deliver to the lower section of the -camp, and getting on my "wheel" (which is better for this work than a -horse), I pulled out. I delivered my order to Colonel Loftowne, and -then waited to observe things, as I was to report back to -headquarters. Rawball's battery went into "action front," two -sections to a street. They were loaded, and then down on the next -corner came the order through the still night to fire. A terrific -flash illuminated the black square, and then with a howl down the long -street went the 2-3/4 inch, and far down in the darkness I could see -her explode; then all was silent. The signal-rockets were going from -the top of the Auditorium, and I saw the answering upward sweep of the -balls of fire as they were replied to farther down the street. We were -on the extreme right, which was below the Art Building, and were -ordered to move for an attack on the streets of the city _en echelon_. -The guns limbered up, and, escorted by two companies of infantry, we -passed into the dim light. At the corner of Wabash Avenue we halted. - -Four or five blocks down we could both hear and see rifle-firing, -evidently directed on our camp, and also a great crowd. At this -juncture we heard a most awful explosion, dull and not like a -rifle-canyon. "Dynamite!" we all exclaimed in a breath. - -"Cut the fuse to zero! Fire!" And with a terrific crash the missile -sped on its way. "I think that street will be clear for a spell," -drawled the captain, in his delicious old Georgia manner, as he got -his guns in motion. We could hear the occasional boom of a 3-inch and -the loud grinding of the Gatlings, and we knew it was enfilading our -fire. The rifle-fire was silenced down the city, and the mob, as we -judged by the noise, was running away. Over in the direction of the -post-office we then heard rifle-shots. - -"That's that outpost of the Twenty-seventh guarding the building," we -said to each other. It fairly crackled now--"giving 'em hot stuff." - -"Halt!" came the command, and the men stopped. "We will wait here for -orders." - -"What do you suppose that report was?" we asked each other as we stood -on the curbing. - -"It must have been dynamite. I know the sound of this ordnance too -well to be mistaken," commented the captain of artillery. "What's -that? Hark!" as a clatter sounded on the pavement in our rear. "It's a -horse coming at full speed. Spread out, men, and stop him." And, sure -enough, a frightened cavalry horse came charging into the midst of the -infantry, and was only stopped after he had knocked down two men. - -"He only has a halter on; he's got away from the picket line; here, -boys--here comes another." This one in turn was stopped, and two more -which followed directly. Detailed men were sent back with the horses, -while I went also to make my report. As I sped on ahead I was startled -by a shot, and with a sputter I heard the bullet go to pieces at my -feet. I looked around, and from the dark of a window came a flash and -another sputter. - -"D---- him, he is firing at me," I ejaculated, and I made the pedals -fly. I had no idea of stopping, but I thought I could remember the -building; and thinks I, "I am not after game, but whoever you are, -I'll hunt you up, my lad." - -At headquarters everything was bustle. - -"Some one exploded a big dynamite bomb right in the street, in front -of the Fifth Infantry camp," said Captain Moss to me, "and killed four -men and wounded a dozen more. Some of the cavalry horses broke away -from the picket lines and stampeded," he went on. - -The hospital tents were ablaze with light, and I knew that the -surgeons were at their grewsome work. - -I reported for orders, and shortly was given one to deliver at my old -post. Back I sped, and came near tumbling into a big hole, which I -knew had been made by the dynamite bomb. I will go down another street -and cross over, so as to avoid that fellow who potted at me, I -reasoned; but before I turned off I saw the two infantrymen and the -four old cavalry horses coming along. - -"Oh, lieutenant," they called, and I went up to them. "We saw that -fellow shoot at you, and McPherson held the horses and I slipped down -the dark side of the street and located him. He stuck his head out of -the window, and I rested across a door-post and let him have it." - -"Did you hit him?" - -"Well, you kin bet! He came out of that window like a turkey out of a -pine-tree. A little slow at first, but kerflop at last." - -So I took the street of my late enemy, and had a look at a dark object -which lay on the sidewalk under the house I had located. In response -to the order I bore, the infantry advanced to develop any opposition -which there might be. Men were thrown out in front, and the heavy body -marched in rear. We had proceeded this way for some blocks with no -sound but the dropping rifle-fire some quarter of a mile to our left -and behind us, when we began to find men huddled in doorways, who were -promptly taken prisoners and disarmed, and sent to the rear. Some bore -rifles and all had revolvers, and a hard-looking set they were. The -artillery fire had demoralized them, and whatever they were to have -done they had abandoned after the first shell had gone shrieking and -crashing down the street. - -"They'll get a drum-head in the morning, and it won't sit ten -minutes," mused an officer. "I suppose they are anarchists. Well, they -ought to like this; this is a sort of anarchy. It's the best we have -got in our shop." - -These words were scarcely spoken before a blinding flash lit up the -street as lightning might. A tremendous report followed, and I was -knocked down right over my bicycle, which I was trundling. I was up in -an instant, and with a ringing clash an object had fallen at my feet -and struck my leg a smart blow, which pained me considerably. I -reached down and picked up a Springfield rifle barrel without lock or -stock. A dynamite cartridge had been exploded in our front. The -infantry hesitated for a moment. Many men had been flung on their -backs by the force of the concussion. "Forward!" was the command, and -dropping my bicycle, I followed the dark figures of the infantry as -they made their way down the sides of the streets. Half a block ahead -was a great hole in the pavement, and the sidewalk was littered with -cobble-stones and debris from the walls of the surrounding buildings. -The bomb had been exploded over the advance-guard, and had destroyed -it utterly. Which building had it come from? We stood in the doorways, -and held our breath and waited. A stone dropped in the street with a -crash. A tiny light appeared in one of the upper windows of a tall -narrow office building. It disappeared instantly, and all was dark. -Two men put their heads out of the window. "See-e!" I hissed, as a -soldier drew up his rifle. All was quiet. The two heads peered down -the street, and then whispered together, when shortly we caught the -hollow echo of the words, "D---- 'em, they don't want any more." - -"Now run for it," said the captain in command, who was a big fellow, -and we all scampered off down the street to our main body. What we had -discovered was reported to the battery commander. He swore a great -oath. - -"Bring that gun up here to this side; boost her on to the sidewalk. -Come, get hold here, you fellows; lend us a hand; run her along a -little; train her on that doorway. Now fire!" And then, in a high -voice, "Captain, let your men cover that house with rifle-fire, and -detail some men to break into a store and get inflammables." - -The big gun went with a deafening crash, and the doorway was in -slivers. A dropping rifle-fire rained into the windows. Crash went the -big gun after a minute, but the building was dark and silent, as -though holding their sputtering toys in contempt. - -"I'm going to burn that building. Send a man to call out the fire -department!" roared the old captain, who had now lost all his -drawling, and was bellowing like a bull. After a time infantrymen came -along with their arms full of bottles and cans of kerosene, and I know -not what else. They had broken into a drug-store, and told the -proprietor, who was found there in the darkness with his three clerks, -to give them the most inflammable substances at his command. - -The squad of infantry formed on the side of the street occupied by the -ill-fated house, and as the big gun crashed and the rifle-fire -redoubled, they dashed down the street and swarmed into the building. - -"Keep up that rifle-fire!" howled the senior officer. It was bang! -bang! bang! for a full minute, when a flash of light lit up the -doorway, and with a rush out came the squad, and made its way to us on -the run. - -"We have fired the elevator shaft," said a young officer, breathing -heavily with excitement. The doorway was very light now, and shortly -the second-story windows over it showed yellow. Windows farther up the -tall building began to redden and then to glow brightly. It was ten -minutes now since the first gleam of fire, and the rifles had ceased. -The building was now ablaze. A huge roaring was heard, and the black -smoke poured from the hall windows, while the side windows were yet -dark. A harsh yelling came from the window where I had seen the little -match struck, and the thick black smoke eddied around and hid it all. - -"By sections--forward--trot--march," and with a dash we moved forward -past the roaring furnace and down into the darkness below. - -"My orders were to move forward," muttered the old captain, as he bit -at a plug of tobacco. - -It was now nearly twelve o'clock, and I could hear a great deal of -small-arm firing down the city on my left in front, and also the boom -of cannon away on the other side of town. Shortly a note was handed me -by an adjutant, and I was to go to a command on a street nearly in -front of headquarters. I sped along, and shortly met men by twos and -threes, wounded men going to camp, and two fellows sitting on the -curbing. "Where is Captain B----'s command, my men?" - -"Right on down the street--me bunkie's got it," was all I heard as I -shot along. - -The rifle-fire grew, and the crash of a Hotchkiss came at intervals. -Then I made out a small infantry reserve, and then the guns. I found -the captain, and delivered my note. - -"Wait by me," said the captain, as he went into a doorway and read the -order by scratching matches on his pantaloons, and the Hotchkiss -nearly broke my ear-drums. "Wait a minute or so," said the captain, as -he crushed the note into his trousers-pocket. - -I waited, and a "kid" of the reserves, whom I knew, greeted me and -explained. "They are in the depot, and we are going to carry it by -storm in a minute." - -Again the Hotchkiss went, and "Come on!" rang the order as the men -moved forward. It was the captain, and he wanted me to "wait a -minute," so, thinks I, I will wait near him; and pulling my bicycle -into a dark doorway, I waited along by the captain, near the head of -the procession. As we moved out from the protection of the street the -report of a Hotchkiss nearly threw me from my pins, and then we ran -silently under a rather hot fire from the windows and doorways. I -heard the balls strike--a dull slap--and a man stumbled forward ahead -of me and dropped. I sprang over him, and was soon out of fire, and -with the little column passed through the big doorway under which I -had so often passed with my gripsack and on the _qui vive_ for a -hansom-cab driver. There was a tremendous rattle of fire, the bullets -struck the stonework viciously; the hollow pat sounded, and men sank -reeling and lay prone under my feet. We piled in and returned the -fire. It was all smoke now; nothing distinguishable. "Come on!" came a -voice which interlarded itself with the reports, and we went on -wildly. We were now out of the smoke, and then I saw, by the light of -a fire, figures running. A man fired in our faces. He was sitting up; -a bayonet went into him, and he rolled over, clutching his breast with -his hands. "The house is on fire!" came the cry, and the infantry -continued to discharge on the retreating figures. A great flash -lighted everything, and as my senses returned, it came over me "that -was a bomb." I passed my hand over my eyes. The building was on fire. -I could see men lying around me breathing heavily and groaning. I got -up; a voice said, "Get these men out of here!" "Get these men out of -here!" I echoed, as I grabbed a big Irish sergeant, and supporting him -under the arms, I strove forward. The living soldiers took hold of the -dead and wounded comrades, and bore them back through the smoke and -into the street. The station was now on fire, and every one was -highly excited, for these bombs made strange work, and were very -demoralizing. They did no particular good to the enemy beyond that -point, since they did not stop our advance, and they also demoralized -the enemy quite as much as ourselves. There seemed to be no further -opposition to the troops. I went back to head-quarters, got my horse, -and received permission to go with a detachment of cavalry. We pulled -out up Michigan Avenue. We were to scout and make a junction with -stock-yard troops out to the south of the city or in Washington Park. -The moon was going down, and there was no sound but the clattering of -the troops and the jingle of the sabres. We passed a large squad of -police, with their lanterns, moving out south to protect private -residences and arrest prowlers. Ahead of us we heard three -revolver-shots, and galloping forward, we were hailed by a voice from -a window. "They have been trying to break into my house, catch them; -they are running up the street." The road here was very wide, with two -rows of trees in the centre and narrow grass-plots. - -"Come on!" shouted the captain, and spurring up, we moved forward. - -"There they are, captain: can't you see them?" spoke the old first -sergeant, as he drove his horse forward to the captain's side. - -We rode over the grass-plot, and, sure enough, forms were seen to run -up the steps of houses and behind shrubbery. - -"Dismount!--shoot them down!" came the command, and the men sprang -forward with a rush. A revolver flashed, and was followed by a dozen -carbine-balls, and from the blackness of a high front stoop rolled a -figure grunting and gasping. Shot after shot rang through the -darkness, and the troopers routed the vermin from step and shrubbery, -until shortly it ceased. - -"Captain, here is Foltz--he's been shot; and McInerny--he's shot too." - -I sprang up the steps of a great stone mansion and pounded on the door -with the butt of my six-shooter. A window was raised and a head peered -out. "What do you want?" - -"We are United States cavalry, and we have two wounded men. Open your -doors; we want you to put them to bed," and the window went down with -a bang. Shortly the bolts were drawn, the door opened, and an old -gentleman with white hair and carrying a lamp appeared. - -"Certainly; bring them right in, captain," said the old gentleman, and -the two men were carefully lifted and borne in by their comrades. I -helped to carry one man up-stairs, and to take off his great boots and -to strip him. - -"Is there a doctor near here, sir?" I asked. - -"Right across the street; will I send my man?" - -"Yes, and a-running, too," replied a comrade, who was stanching the -blood on the man's chest with a bed-sheet. - -We laid the man out, and I paused to note the splendor of the -apartment, and to think it none too good for a brave soldier. The -doctor came shortly, and I left the house. The troop was mounted and -moved on. From a mansion across the street came a shot and loud -shouting. We rode up and dismounted. There was a light in the front -room and the door was open. The captain sprang up the steps, followed -by ten or twelve men. As we entered we saw a half-dozen of the most -vicious-looking wretches I have ever seen. They were evidently drunk, -and did not comprehend the import of our presence. One man raised a -champagne-bottle and threatened the captain. A carbine flashed--the -report was almost deafening--and the drunken man dropped the bottle, -threw up his hand, turned half round, and sank with a thud. - -"Take these men out and shoot them, sergeant." And the now thoroughly -terrorized revellers, to the number of six, were dragged, swearing and -beseeching, to the pavement, and I heard shots. - -The room we were in was magnificent, but in the utmost disorder. The -floor was strewn with broken bottles, vases, and bric-a-brac. - -A form appeared in the door. It was a woman. She was speechless with -terror, and her eyes stared, and her hands were clutched. We removed -our hats, and the woman closed her eyes slowly. - -"Look out, captain, she's going to faint!" I cried. - -The captain slapped his hat on with a crush. - -"That's what she's going to do," he said, as he stood like a -football-rusher before the ball is put in play. - -"Grab her!" I shouted; and, with a bound, the captain made a high -tackle just as the lady became limp. Out in the hall I jumped, and -yelled, "Oh, you people up-stairs there, come down; come running; the -lady has fainted; we are soldiers; come down; come down; come down, -somebody!" And from the upper darkness a white-robed figure glided -past me into the lighted room. - -"Oh, I'm so glad!" she said, as she swept up to the rather engaging -scene of the beautiful woman and the captain, who was "not glad," -judging from his disconcerted air; and to make a story short, we left -the house. - -As we mounted we could see the darkness beginning to gray, and knew -that morning would come shortly. - -"It's been a nasty night's work, but if it once comes daylight I'll -leave nothing of these rioters but their horrible memory," mused the -old captain. - -"There is a glow in the sky off there--don't you see?" I added. - -"Fire! Oh, I've expected that." - -As the light grayed I could see the doors of majestic residences open, -windows broken, and debris trailing down the steps. - -"Looted." - -"There are people ahead--trot!" said the captain, half turning in his -saddle. The bray of the trumpet was followed by the jingle of the -forward movement. - -The captain pulled off to the side and shouted, "No prisoners, men--no -prisoners!" And the column swept along. - -We could make out more human forms, all running by the side of the -road. There were more and more fugitives as we drew nearer. - -"Come on," sang out the first lieutenant, as he put his horse into a -gallop and drew his six-shooter; and shortly we were among them, -scattering them like chaff and firing revolver-shots into them. Up the -side streets they went, scampering, terrorized. - -"I guess they will keep that gait for a mile," said the lieutenant, as -he turned grinning to me. "That is the outfit which has been looting -down Michigan Avenue. I wish the light would come, and we'll give 'em -hot stuff." - -At Washington Park we dismounted, and shortly were joined by B Troop -from Hordon's command. They told us they had been fighting all night, -and that the stockyards and many buildings were on fire. They had -encountered opposition, which seemed to be armed and to have some -organization, but, laughing, he said, "They couldn't stand the 'hot -stuff.'" - -After this we made the ride back. It was now light, and as we rode -slowly, men dismounted at intervals, and did some pretty work at -rather long ranges with the carbines. The enemy would see us coming, -and start to run up side streets, and then, riding forward, we -dismounted and potted at them, I saw a corporal "get a man" who was -running upwards of six blocks away--it was luck, of course. The police -were now seen posted along at intervals, and were going into houses to -tell the people of the order to remain in-doors for twenty-four hours -more, which was the latest from headquarters, and I suppose was -intended to give the police and troops an opportunity to seek out -armed insurgents. - -I got back to camp, dismounted, and, being hungry, bethought me of the -Auditorium for breakfast. I didn't think, after the pounding the hotel -had gotten in the early evening previous, that they would come out -strong on an early breakfast, but they did fairly well. You remember -Ed Kennedy, the popular clerk there--well, he was shot and badly -wounded while behind the desk, after the bomb drew our fire. He will -get around all right, I am told. - -I saw some of the execution of those hundreds of prisoners next day, -but I didn't care to see much. They piled them on flat-cars as though -they had been cordwood, and buried them out in the country somewhere. -Most of them were hobos, anarchists, and toughs of the worst type, and -I think they "left their country for their country's good." Chicago is -thoroughly worked up now, and if they keep with the present attention -to detail, they will have a fine population left. The good citizens -have a monster vigilance committee, and I am afraid will do many -things which are not entirely just, but it is the reaction from -lawlessness, and cannot be helped. They have been terribly exasperated -by the rioting and license of the past. Of course, my dear friend, all -this never really happened, but it all might very easily have happened -if the mob had continued to monkey with the military buzz-saw. - -Yours faithfully, JACK. - -[Illustration: "WE WERE NOW OUT OF THE SMOKE"] - - - - -THE COLONEL OF THE FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY - - -"You certainly are a tough outfit, colonel--you and your night-hawks -of the First Bikes--and I am not sure you could not have us cavalrymen -going to bed with our boots on, if we were on the other side," said -Major Ladigo, as he bit at the end of a fresh cigar. - -"Yes--bless me--Pedal's outfit might come into camp on top of yours, -Ladigo, and where would my guns be then? I can't have my gunners -sitting on their trails all day and all night too," sighed the big -gunner, from the other end of the tent. - -"It was good work," continued the old brigadier--"here, boy, pass -those glasses--and I have always thought well of the possibilities of -that machine in a certain sort of military operations. I don't think -you can chase Apaches with it--in fact, the only way to chase Apaches -is to agree to pay about $500 a head for them; and, also, I don't -think, Colonel Pedal--with all due respect for your enthusiasm--that -you could ever become of all-absorbing interest in great operations -between organized armies, but I do not want to commit myself since you -seem to accomplish such feats in these days. If we had not had a -really progressive man at the head of the army you would not have had -this opportunity; but now, Pedal, all these fellows want to hear about -your outfit, and especially how you conducted that affair at North -Colville--they all want to know--go ahead now--we have plenty of time -to listen," and Colonel Pedal of the First Bikes twirled his forage -cap in his two hands and grinned pleasantly. - -"Well--it was simple enough," he said. - -"Oh yes--it's simple now, but how did you get at it?" was the remark -of encouragement from somewhere. - -"Oh, well, you know, when I had organized and drilled this regiment, -the people up at headquarters used me in a fussy way as orderlies, -messengers, and in light outpost work, until my outfit was scattered -all over this country, and that was not my idea at all. I knew by long -experiment that bicycles were perfectly mobile in any country not -strictly mountainous, and my idea was that I could fight my outfit in -a new way; but fight it, that was my idea--and march it, too. I wanted -a few holes in that flag, and so I used to go up and labor with the -general. I pleaded and begged to be turned loose. So one afternoon the -general sent for me, and I went to headquarters. - -"He said that a big band of insurgents were gathering and organizing -up at North Colville, and that he wanted them destroyed or dispersed, -and asked me if I could do it without asking for supports. I knew the -old man had all he could do to open the communications to the west, -and that he was going to give the bikes a try to prove what they were -good for, so I said 'Yes, sir,' right away, though I did not know the -situation thoroughly; but I wanted a job of that sort, and I was in -for it. So he gave me orders to that effect, and after some inquiries -I left him. Through spies he knew of this condition, and that all the -communications were cut except the marine cable, which he laid in the -bed of the Kaween River to Northport, and that was thirty miles from -North Colville. I knew that all those upper counties were in a state -of insurgency, and my orders were to destroy the rendezvous at North -Colville and to then retreat; so my chief concern was to get through -the country without being stopped or engaged seriously by intervening -bodies of the enemy which I might encounter, and says I to myself, -says I, 'Old man, show 'em what bikes are good for.' Pardon me if I -become enthusiastic. I started down to my command, fell in my men, -with two days' rations and one hundred and fifty rounds. I made my -inspection, for, of course, you know, bike soldiers have a very -complicated equipment; what with bombs, telegraphic apparatus, tools, -and the extra parts of wheels, one must look well to his inspection. -They have the Rice equipment--combined cartridge-belts and -garment--which enables them to carry almost anything on the -shoulder-belt. At five o'clock we pulled out, and at dark found -ourselves at our extreme outposts, as I had calculated. I did not want -the enemy to see me, as I was afraid of the telegraph, but as I -proceeded I tapped the wires and cut them again and again. In fact, I -cut wires all night, for fear that they might not have been destroyed, -or that they might have been repaired. I ran smoothly through little -hamlets, and knew that I could not be overtaken. I made a slight -detour around villages of any size, such as Wooddale, Rockville, and -Freeport, for fear that the insurgents might be in force enough to -detain me. Back of Wellsville I got awfully tangled up in a woods, -and, in short, was lost; but I jumped an old cit. out of his cosey -bed, put a .45 on the cabin of his intellect, a flash-lantern in his -two eyes, and he looked sufficiently honest and intelligent to show us -the road, which he did, and we were not detained long. - -"I felt fear of Emmittstowne, as I had information that the insurgents -were in force there. We picked up a man on the road who seemed to be -one of our sympathizers, and he informed us that there were pickets -all along the road which we were travelling, and also mounted -patrols. He said that there were a terrible lot of insurgents in -Emmittstowne, but mostly drunk. - -[Illustration: OFFICER AND MEN--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY] - -"Captain Bidewell, who was in command of the advance, did a rather -clever piece of work here. He suspected that he would find a picket at -a certain place, and sent a dismounted squad on either side of the -road, which was bounded by meadow land with stone-walls, brush, and -trees on either side, and he himself walked down the road with two -men. They talked loudly, as though drunk, and sure enough, were -shortly held up by the picket. They surrendered and expostulated in a -loud voice, and offered their captors a bottle of whiskey. The advance -closed in on them and even got in their rear, and, of course, held up -the picket without a shot. A six-shooter argument used on these people -shortly disclosed the conditions, and we advanced." - -"Say, colonel, I know that Bidewell; he is organizing a bike regiment -out West now--met him as I came through," interpolated a medical -major. - -"Yes--nice fellow--held the ten-mile record for two years before this -trouble," replied Pedal; "but, as I was saying-- - -"Here is _How!_ gentlemen! - -"Well, to continue--to show you a curious phase of bicycling--my -advance ran a picket farther along the road and were fired on, but, -bless me, they had gone through so quickly and silently that they were -not hurt, and the sergeant, who was very wise, dismounted and blew his -whistle for us to advance. Bidewell dismounted and immediately -advanced, and the picket, hearing his men smashing brush, retreated, -and the sergeant turned a pistol loose in their faces and bellowed for -them to go out in the road, throw up their hands, and surrender, which -they did. You see, Colonel Ladigo, it is very hard to estimate bike -forces in the night, they go so silently--they simply flit; and when -you first notice them you wonder how many have gone before. A sleepy -picket is waked up by a lot of bellowing and shots and smashing of -brush, and he doesn't know anything, especially if the row is half in -his rear. Well, the shooting must have aroused the village of -Emmittstowne, and I made up my mind to run right into the town. The -moon was rising, and we could see fairly well; but first I tried a -little ruse with the captured picket. We advanced down the road a -piece, and the men ensconced themselves in the brush, while one of the -captured men stood in the middle of the road. We heard quite a party -coming up the road rapidly, and the picket called out to them that it -was nothing--that they had fired at some shadows, and that they might -go back. Two men actually advanced to him, but he insisted that all -was right, and that they might return; in fact, he protested too much, -since he knew that he was lying for his life, and that the date of his -demise was fixed at the instant he told the truth. We gave the town -half an hour to settle down, and then started on a down -grade--coasting silently. All was still. There were lights in a few -saloons, and a half-dozen men, who were immediately held up and -disarmed. There was evidence of a great many people in the village, -since wagons and horses stood about, and tents and huts were -everywhere except on the main street. I stopped in front of the hotel, -and, do you know, my column got three-quarters of the way through the -town before we were discovered. My column is three-quarters of a mile -long, you must remember, and that was very fortunate. Some one fired a -shot from a darkened window of the hotel, and I ordered my men to use -their revolvers. A man can shoot a revolver with great accuracy from -a wheel, as it glides so smoothly. Well, there was a deuce of a -popping, and it must have fairly riddled the town. The fire was -shortly returned, but in a desultory way which did not seem to do any -damage, and shortly the tail of the column passed down the street. I -had set the hotel on fire before we left, and I really do not think -that those fellows know what really happened there yet. I immediately -cut the telegraph line, and now had nothing to interfere with my march -to North Colville. I had two bikes ruined by shots, and abandoned the -riders; but they made their way to our lines later. As we proceeded -the country grew more flat, and we made the pedals spin; at times we -overtook night prowlers--tramps, for the most part--and one rather -large party of drunken insurgents, all of whom we disarmed and left -tied to trees and fences along the road. Do you know, Ladigo, that one -cannot hear my whole regiment on a road until it is right on top of -you. I have frequently seen men ride a bicycle right up beside a man, -who never heard a word until ordered to throw up his hands." - -"Oh yes, Pedal, I'd like to catch your outfit at the foot of a long -hill; I would fire yellow-legs into you in a way you would despise," -interpolated the impetuous cavalryman, as he blew smoke at the -ridge-pole and slapped his one leg over the other in a satisfied way. - -"Yes, you might, Ladigo; but I'm going to spend my life trying not to -let you catch me at the foot of a long hill, and if you do, you will -find about one hundred bicycles piled up in the road, and it makes bad -travelling for horses, especially with unshaken infantry pointing at -you from behind. Well, in this case, Ladigo, I did not have any of -your enterprising yellow-legs to bother me. As I was saying, we went -along swimmingly until we struck Cat-tail Creek, and found the bridge -burned. It was rather chilly, but I knew there was no help for it, so -we got out our air-cushions and did our little swimming drill right -there." - -"What are your air-cushions?" inquired the medical officer with the -long pipe. - -"They are made of rubber, and blow up, and will sustain five -equipments, and weigh fourteen pounds. Every five men have one," -explained Pedal. - -"Oh, I see--a quaint scheme!" - -"Yes; bikes are perfectly mobile," continued Pedal, with satisfaction. -"As I was saying--oh yes, we got over the river all right, but--" and -here he glanced apprehensively at Ladigo--"but I forgot to mention -that we lost fifteen bicycles in the passage." - -"Ha-ha! oh yes--there are your dismounted men," and Colonel Ladigo -beamed. - -"I think horses would have stuck in the mud of Cattail Creek, Ladigo; -fact is, horses are not perfectly mobile. I also neglected to mention -that the bicycles were all fished up and joined us later. We halted on -a hill off the road an hour before gray dawn, to wait for the command -to close up and to eat. There are always bikes which break down, and -it takes a little time to repair them; and men will fall and injure -themselves more or less. But within an hour I had my command all up -except five men, having marched nearly seventy miles in eleven hours, -had one engagement, crossed a river. And now, Colonel Ladigo, was that -not good work?" - -"Oh yes, Pedal, quite good--quite good; could do it myself, though," -and the soul of a cavalryman was bound to assert itself. - -"Undoubtedly you could, but not next day." And Pedal lit a cigar, -conscious that he had Ladigo downed, but not finally suppressed. - -[Illustration: AMBULANCE CORPS--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY] - -"My men down the road took in a cavalry patrol without a -shot--actually took in a cavalry--" - -"Hump--hump!" snorted Ladigo; "cavalry forsooth--a lot of d---- jays -on plough-teams; cavalry, sir--" - -"Here--here, Ladigo, come down," expostulated the assembled officers, -and Ladigo relapsed. - -"Well, after a reconnoissance and information from the patrol, I found -that there were over five thousand men rendezvoused there, partly -organized, and armed with all sorts of guns. Old Middle was in -command--you remember Middle, formerly of the Twenty-seventh Infantry, -cashiered at Fort Verde in '82." - -He was known to the men present, and a few sniffs and the remark that -"he was bad medicine" was all that greeted the memory of Middle. - -"From the patrol I found where their camps and lines and outworks to -cover the roads were, and also that it was but a quarter of a mile -across a wood-lot to the road which I had intended to retire by, which -ran southeast towards Spearfish and Hallam Junction, so I trundled my -bikes over to it, and laid them in a column formation off the road, -and left them under guard. I formed my command and turned some fellows -out of some rifle-pits, which were designed to protect the road, and -it was growing light. We charged into the town, which had been alarmed -by our fire directed at the men in the pits. The first thing we struck -was a long line of temporary camps, of what was probably a regiment, -which was on the other side of a railroad embankment; but they were in -a panic and offered us no resistance, while we advanced, rapidly -firing, and nearly destroyed them. As we entered the town I took one -battalion and directed it against the car-shops, which were full of -stores and troops: these men we also nearly destroyed; and, having set -fire to the shops, I entered the main part of the town, and as we -advanced I had it also fired. From my right I heard heavy firing, and -knew that the other command had encountered opposition; and turning to -my right I struck a second railroad embankment, swarming behind with -men who were standing off the advance of the other battalion. I -enfiladed them, and they retired precipitously. From the net-work of -railroad embankments farther up the flats north of Colville I could -see masses of men forming. They began firing at me from a great -distance, but we were protected by the railroad fill and did not mind -it; while our sharpshooters, with their arms of longer range, annoyed -the enemy quite a little, and kept up his demoralization. A great many -men had gotten away from the town when I had attacked the car-shops, -and I was in fear lest they might form in my rear under the cover of -the burning town, so I had my wounded removed rapidly to the hill -where my bikes were left, and then retreated rapidly under the cover -of the smoke. The enemy were left so completely in the air that they -advanced slowly, while from the cover of the brush on the upper edge -of a field I held them in play for an hour while my wounded got a good -start. At last they seemed to form, and approached to my right, going -around the smoke of the burning town, and as they outnumbered me four -to one, they would speedily have outflanked me. I began the retreat as -I had intended. I had thirty-eight badly wounded men who had to be -carried in blankets, fifty-six slightly wounded who would be trundled -on bicycles, and had left eighteen dead on the field." - -"I say, colonel, how do you remove wounded men on bicycles?" asked -some one. - -"It is simple when you see it, but rather difficult to explain. If you -will come down some day I will be glad to show you a wounded drill, -and then you can see for yourself. By cutting sticks and tying a -blanket or shelter-tent a desperately wounded man can be laid prone -between two bicycles, or if slightly hurt he can be trundled or even -ridden double with a comrade, while one man can move two and even -three bicycles. Oh, I tell you, the bike is a great contrivance once -you come to understand it," proceeded the Colonel of Cycle Infantry. - -"I should like to have fought those fellows a little harder, but I was -sixty miles inside of their lines, and I knew that to prolong the -affair would mean that they would be heavily reinforced, and besides -this was my first expedition. I had already destroyed the bigger half -of the enemy and burned the town, and I did not apprehend a vigorous -pursuit. What to do with my wounded was now on my mind. The country to -the east of North Colville is very broken, wild, and sparsely -inhabited. It had become necessary to abandon my wounded. I selected a -point over twelve miles from our battle-ground, far back from the -unfrequented road, in a very wild spot in the hills, and left every -man not able to travel there, with all our rations and two medical -officers, with ten men as a detail for the camp. My trail of course -continued, and they were never suspected. Coming to the valley of the -Spearfish I halted and slept my command until sundown, and then -started for our lines. On the way I rode into and demoralized a -half-dozen bands of armed insurgents, and struck our lines at five -o'clock in the morning." - -"What became of your wounded up there, colonel?" asked the medical -officer with the long pipe. - -"The evening following Captain Barhandle with fifty men started and -made a successful march to their relief, and left two more medical -officers and a lot of medical stores and rations, and came back three -days after. The camp was never discovered, and was relieved when the -general here made his first expedition into Wood County. They had -protected themselves from prowlers by waylaying the roads, and had a -dozen prisoners in camp, together with a half-dozen milch cows. My -bike men are excellent foragers, since they have been so much on -outpost duty." - -"Suppose, Colonel Pedal, you were forced to abandon your bicycles, -what would you do?" - -"We had a detachment on a scout the other day who were pressed into -some bad country and had to abandon their machines, which they did by -sinking them in Dead Creek, and the next day we went out and recovered -them. If it is desired to utterly destroy them, it can be done in an -instant by stepping on the wheel and 'buckling' it, or if you remove -the chain, it is useless to any one but yourself," explained the -colonel. - -"Now, colonel, do you consider that you can move your men successfully -in a hilly or mountainous country?" inquired Ladigo. - -"In all candor, no--not to a good advantage. I can march uphill as -fast as infantry, and go down at limited-express speed; but I really -want a rather flat country with lots of roads. I am not particular as -to the quality of the roads, so there are enough of them. I can move -through snow which has been tracked down by teams; I can fly on the -ice; and when it is muddy there is always an inch or so beside the -road which is not muddy, and that is enough for me. A favorable place -for a bicycle is along a railroad track--going in the centre or at one -side. When suddenly attacked, my men can get out of the road like a -covey of quail, and a bicycle can be trundled across the worst -possible country as fast as a man can travel, for you see all the -weight of the man's gun and pack are on the wheel, which runs without -any appreciable resistance, and all bike men know how to throw a -bicycle over a fence with ease, and my average march is eighty miles -a day. Ladigo, remember--eighty miles a day. No kind of roads, no -conditions of weather, or anything but superior force can stop my -command for an instant, sir;" and the colonel of cavalry rose and -added, "Colonel Pedal, will you have a drink with me?" - - - - -A MERRY CHRISTMAS IN A SIBLEY TEPEE - - -"Eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die." Not a good excuse, -but it has been sufficient on many occasions to be true. The soldier -on campaign passes life easily. He holds it in no strong grip, and the -Merry Christmas evening is as liable to be spent in the saddle in -fierce contact with the blizzard as in his cosey tepee with his -comrades and his scant cheer. The jug containing the spirits of the -occasion may have been gotten from a town fifty miles away on the -railroad. It is certainly not the distillation of the summer sunlight, -and is probably "tough" enough stuff to mingle naturally with its -surroundings; but if one "drinks no more than a sponge" he may not -have the jaded, retrospective feeling and the moral mending on the day -to come. To sit on a camp chest, and to try and forget that the -soldier's quart cup is not filled with best in the market, and then to -enter into the full appreciation of the picturesque occasion, is to -forget that long marches, "bull meat," and sleepless, freezing nights -are in the background. Pleasant hours sit so nicely in their -complemental surrounding of hard ones, since everything in the world -is relative. As to the eating in a cavalry camp on campaign, it is not -overdone, for beans and coffee and bacon and bacon and coffee and -beans come round with sufficient regularity to forestall all -gormandizing. The drinking is not the prominent feature either, but -helps to soften the asperities of a Dakota blizzard which is raging on -the other side of the "ducking." - -[Illustration: THE TOAST: "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"] - -The Sibley tent weaves and moans and tugs frantically at its pegs. The -Sibley stove sighs like a furnace while the cruel wind seeks out the -holes and crevices. The soldiers sit in their camp drawing-room -buttoned up to the chin in their big canvas overcoats, and the muskrat -caps are not removed. The freemasonry of the army makes strong -friendships, and soldiers are all good fellows, that being a part of -their business. There are just enough exceptions to prove the rule. -The cold, bloodless, compound-interest snarler is not in the army, and -if he were he would be as cheerless on a damp evening as he would in a -fight. One man is from Arizona, another from Washington, and the rest -from the other corners of Uncle Sam's tract of land. They have met -before, and memory after memory comes up with its laughter and pathos -of the old campaigns. One by one the "shoulder-straps" crawl in -through the hole in the tepee. And, mind you, they do not walk in like -a stage hero, with dash and abandon and head in the air; they -prostrate themselves like a Turk at prayer, and come crawling. If they -raise the flap ever so much, and bring company of the Dakota winds, -they are met with a howl of protests. After gaining erectness, they -brush the snow from their clothes, borrow a tin cup, and say, "How! -how!" - -The chief of scouts buttons up to his eyes, and must go look after his -"Inguns"; the officer of the day comes in to make his papers, and if -he keeps the flying jokes out of his statistics, he does well enough. -The second lieutenant, fresh from West Point, doesn't hesitate -to address the grizzled colonel of twenty campaigns--nay, he -may even deign to advise him on the art of war; but that is -unsatisfactory--the advising of colonels--because the colonel's advice -to the sub has always to be acted upon, whereas the sub's advice to -the colonel is mostly nullified by the great powers of discretion -which are vested in the superior rank. The life-study of a sub should -be to appear like the cuckoo-bird in a German clock--at the proper -moment; and when he appears at wrong intervals, he is repaired. -Colonels are terrible creatures, with vast powers for promoting -happiness or inflicting misery. If he will lend the moderating -influence of his presence, it is well; but if he sends his man around -to "present his compliments, and say that the d---- row will -immediately cease," his wishes if not his personality are generally -respected. - -It is never a late evening, such a one as this; it's just a few stolen -moments from the "demnition grind." The last arrival may be a -youngster just in from patrol, who explains that he just "cut the -trail of forty or fifty Sioux five miles below, on the crossing of the -White River;" and you may hear the bugle, and the bugle may blow quick -and often, and if the bugle does mingle its notes with the howling of -the blizzard, you will discover that the occasion is not one of -merriment. But let us hope that it will not blow. - -The toasts go around, and you use your tobacco in a miserly way, -because you can't get any more, since only to-day you have offered a -dollar for a small plug to a trooper, and he had refused to negotiate, -although he had pared off a small piece as a gift, and intimated that -generosity could go no further. Then you go to your tepee, half a mile -down the creek at the scout camp, and you stumble through the -snow-laden willows and face the cutting blast, while the clash and -"Halt!" of the sentinel stop you here and there. You pull off your -boots and crawl into your blankets quickly before the infernal Sibley -stove gives its sigh as the last departing spark goes up the chimney, -and leaves the winds and drifting snows to bellow and scream over the -wild wastes. - - - - -BEAR-CHASING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS - - -Mr. Montague Stevens is an Englishman who for the most part attends to -the rounding-up of his cattle, which are scattered over the -northwestern quarter of New Mexico; but he does not let that interfere -with the time which all Englishmen set duly apart to be devoted to -sport. His door-yard is some hundreds of miles of mountain wilderness -and desolate mesa--a more gorgeous preserve than any king ever dreamed -of possessing for his pleasure--with its plains dotted with antelope, -and its mountains filled with cougar, deer, bear, and wild turkeys. -The white race has given up the contest with nature in those -parts, and it has reverted to the bear, the Navajo, and Mr. -Stevens--land-grants, corrals, cabins, brands, and all else. - -General Miles was conducting a military observation of the country, -which is bound to be the scene of any war which the Apaches or Navajos -may make; and after a very long day's march, during which we had found -but one water, and that was a pool of rain-water, stirred into mud and -full of alkali, where we had to let our horses into the muddy stuff at -the ends of our lariats, we had at last found a little rivulet and -some green grass. The coffee-pot bubbled and the frying-pan hissed, -while I smoked and listened to a big escort-wagon driver, who was -repairing his lash, and saying, softly, "Been drivin' a bloody lot of -burros for thirty years, and don't know enough to keep a whip out -of a wheel; guess I'll go to jack-punchin', 'nen I kin use a dry -club." - -[Illustration: WATERING HORSES] - -Far down the valley a little cloud of dust gleamed up against the gray -of the mountains, and presently the tireless stride of a pony shone -darkly in its luminous midst. Nearer and nearer it grew--the flying -tail, the regular beating of the hoofs, the swaying figure of the -rider, and the left sleeve of the horseman's coat flapping -purposelessly about. He crossed the brook with a splash, trotted, and, -with a jerk, pulled up in our midst. Mr. Stevens is a tall, thin young -man, very much bronzed, and with the set, serious face of an -Englishman. He wore corduroy clothes, and let himself out of his -saddle with one hand, which he also presented in greeting, the other -having been sacrificed to his own shot-gun on some previous occasion. -Mr. Stevens brought with him an enthusiasm for bear which speedily -enveloped the senses of our party, and even crowded out from the mind -of General Miles the nobler game which he had affected for thirty -years. - -The steady cultivation of one subject for some days is bound to -develop a great deal of information, and it is with difficulty that I -refrain from herein setting down facts which can doubtless be found in -any good encyclopaedia of natural history; but the men in the mountains -never depart from the consideration of that and one other subject, -which is brands, and have reached some strange conclusions--the -strangest being that the true Rocky Mountain grizzly is only seen once -in a man's lifetime, and that the biggest one they ever heard of -leaves his tracks in this district, and costs Mr. Stevens, roughly -estimating, about $416 a year to support, since that about covers the -cattle he kills. - -At break of day the officers, cavalrymen, escort-wagons, and -pack-train toiled up the Canyon Largo to Mr. Stevens's camp, which was -reached in good time, and consisted of a regular ranchman's -grub-wagon, a great many more dogs of more varieties than I could -possibly count, a big Texan, who was cook, and a professional -bear-hunter by the name of Cooper, who had recently departed from his -wonted game for a larger kind, with the result that, after the final -deal, a companion had passed a .45 through Mr. Cooper's face and -filled it with powder, and brought him nigh unto death, so that even -now Mr. Cooper's head was swathed in bandages, and his mind piled with -regrets that he had on at the time an overcoat, which prevented him -from drawing his gun with his usual precision. Our introduction to the -outfit was ushered in by a most magnificent free-for-all dog-fight; -and when we had carefully torn the snarling, yelling, biting mass -apart by the hind-legs and staked them out to surrounding trees, we -had time to watch Mr. Cooper draw diagrams of bear-paws in the dust -with a stick. These tracks he had just discovered up the Canyon Largo, -and he averred that the bear was a grizzly, and weighed 1800 pounds, -and that he had been there two years, and that all the boys had hunted -him, but that he was a sad old rascal. - -After lunch we pulled on up the canyon and camped. The tents were -pitched and the cooks busy, when I noticed three cowboys down the -stream and across the canyon, who were alternately leading their horses -and stooping down in earnest consultation over some tracks on the -ground. We walked over to them. There were Mr. Cooper, whose only -visible eye rolled ominously, and Dan, the S. U. foreman, with another -puncher. - -"He's usin' here," said Cooper. "That's his track, and there's his -work," pointing up the hill-side, where lay the body of a -five-year-old cow. We drew near her, and there was the tale of a -mighty struggle, all written out more eloquently than pen can do. -There were the deep furrows of the first grapple at the top; there was -the broad trail down the steep hill for fifty yards, with the stones -turned over, and the dust marked with horn and hoof and claw; and -there was the stump which had broken the roll down hill. The cow had -her neck broken and turned under her body; her shoulder was torn from -the body, her leg broken, and her side eaten into; and there were -Bruin's big telltale footprints, rivalling in size a Gladstone bag, as -he had made his way down to the stream to quench his thirst and -continue up the canyon. The cow was yet warm--not two hours dead. - -[Illustration: "DO YOU THINK THIS PONY IS GOING TO BUCK?"] - -"We must pull out of here; he will come back to-night," said Cooper. -And we all turned to with a will and struck the tents, while the cooks -threw their tins, bags, and boxes into the wagons, whereat we moved -off down wind for three miles, up a spur of the canyon, where we again -camped. We stood around the fires and allowed Mr. Cooper to fill our -minds with hope. "He'll shore come back; he's usin' here; an' cow -outfits--why, he don't consider a cow outfit nothin'. He's been right -on top of cow outfits since he's been in these parts, and thet two -years gone now, when he begun to work this yer range, and do the work -you see done yonder. In the mornin' we'll strike his trail, and if we -can git to him you'll shore see a bar-fight." - -We turned in, and during the night I was awakened twice--once by a -most terrific baying of all the dogs, who would not be quieted, and -later by a fine rain beating in my face. The night was dark, and we -were very much afraid the rain would kill the scent. We were up long -before daylight, and drank our coffee and ate our meat, and as soon as -"we could see a dog a hundred yards," which is the bear-hunter's -receipt, we moved off down the creek. We found that the cow had been -turned over twice, but not eaten--evidently Bruin had his suspicions. -The dogs cut his trail again and again. He had run within sight of our -camp, had wandered across the valley hither and yon, but the faithful -old hounds would not "go away." Dan sat on his pony and blew his old -cow's horn, and yelled: "Hooick! hooick! get down on him, Rocks; -hooick! hooick!" But Rocks could not get down on him, and then we knew -that the rain had killed the scent. We circled a half-mile out, but -the dogs were still; and then we followed up the Canyon Largo for -miles, and into the big mountain, through juniper thickets and over -malpais, up and down the most terrible places, for we knew that the -bear's bed-ground is always up in the most rugged peaks, where the -rimrock overhangs in serried battlements, tier on tier. But no bear. - -[Illustration: DAN AND ROCKS] - -Rocks, the forward hound, grew weary of hunting for things which were -not, and retired to the rear to pay court to a lady friend; and Dan -had to rope Rocks, and with some irritation he started his pony, and -Rocks kept the pace by dint of legging it, and by the help of a tow -from 900 pounds of horse-flesh. Poor Rocks! He understood his -business; but in consequence of not being able to explain to the men -what fools they were, he suffered. - -The hot mid-day sun of New Mexico soon kills the scent, and we were -forced to give over for the day. A cavalry sergeant shot three deer, -but we, in our superior purpose, had learned to despise deer. Later I -made a good two-hundred-yard centre on an antelope, and though I had -not been fortunate enough in years to get an antelope, the whole -sensation was flat in view of this new ambition. - -On the following morning we went again to our dead cow, but nothing -except the jackals had been at the bear's prey, for the wily old -fellow had evidently scented our camp, and concluded that we were not -a cow outfit, whereat he had discreetly "pulled his freight." - -We sat on our horses in a circle, and raised our voices. In -consideration of the short time at our disposal, we concluded that we -could be satisfied with taking 1800 pounds of bear on the instalment -plan. The first instalment was a very big piece of meat, but was--I am -going to confess--presented to us in the nature of a gift; but the -whole thing was so curious I will go into it. - -We hunted for two days without success, unless I include deer and -antelope; but during the time I saw two things which interested me. -The first was a revelation of the perfect understanding which a -mountain cow-pony has of the manner in which to negotiate the -difficulties of the country which is his home. - -Dan, the foreman, was the huntsman. He was a shrewd-eyed, little, -square-built man, always very much preoccupied with the matter in -hand. He wore a sombrero modelled into much character by weather and -time, a corduroy coat, and those enormous New-Mexican "chaps," and he -sounded a cow-horn for his dogs, and alternately yelped in a most -amusing way. So odd was this yelp that it caught the soldiers, and -around their camp-fire at night you could hear the mimicking shouts of -"Oh, Rocks! eh-h-h! hooick! get down on him, Rocks; tohoot! tohoot!" -We were sitting about on our horses in a little _sienneca_, while Dan -was walking about, leading his pony and looking after his dogs. - -When very near me he found it necessary to cross an _arroyo_ which -was about five feet deep and with perfectly perpendicular banks. -Without hesitation he jumped down into it, and with a light bound his -pony followed. At the opposite side Dan put up his arms on the bank -and clawed his way up, and, still paying no attention to his pony, he -continued on. Without faltering in the least, the little horse put his -fore-feet on the bank, clawed at it once, twice, jumped, scratched, -clawed, and, for all the world like a cat getting into the fork of a -tree, he was on the bank and following Dan. - -[Illustration: A DANGEROUS PLACE] - -Later in the day, when going to our camp, we followed one of Dan's -short-cuts through the mountains, and the cowboys on their mountain -ponies rode over a place which made the breath come short to the -officers and men behind; not that they could not cross themselves, -being on foot, but that the cavalry horses could they had their solemn -doubts, and no one but an evil brute desires to lead a game animal -where he may lose his life. Not being a geologist, I will have to say -it was a blue clay in process of rock formation, and in wet times held -a mountain torrent. The slope was quite seventy degrees. The approach -was loose dirt and malpais, which ran off down the gulch in small -avalanches under our feet. While crossing, the horses literally stood -on their toes to claw out a footing. A slip would have sent them, -belly up, down the toboggan-slide, with a drop into an unknown depth -at the end. I had often heard the cavalry axiom "that a horse can go -anywhere a man can if the man will not use his hands," and a little -recruit murmured it to reassure himself. I passed, with the loss of a -quarter of the skin on my left hand, and later asked a quaint old -veteran of four enlistments if he thought it was a bad place, and he -said, "It's lizards, not harses, what ought to go thar." - -Riding over the rough mountains all day sows poppyseeds in a man's -head, and when the big medical officer opens your tent-flaps in the -morning, and fills the walls with his roars to "Get up! it's four -o'clock," it is with groans that you obey. You also forego washing, -because you are nearly frozen stiff, and you go out and stand around -the fire with your companions, who are all cheerfully miserable as -they shiver and chaff each other. It seems we do not live this life on -a cold, calculating plane of existence, but on different lines, the -variation of which is the chief delight of the discriminating, and I -must record a distinct pleasure in elbowing fellows around a camp-fire -when it is dark and cold and wet, and when you know that they are -oftener in bed than out of it at such hours. You drink your quart of -coffee, eat your slice of venison, and then regard your horse with -some trepidation, since he is all of a tremble, has a hump on his -back, and is evidently of a mind to "pitch." - -The eastern sky grows pale, and the irrepressible Dan begins to "honk" -on his horn, and the cavalcade moves off through the grease-wood, -which sticks up thickly from the ground like millions of Omaha -war-bonnets. - -The advance consists of six or eight big blood-hounds, which range out -in front, with Dan and Mr. Cooper to blow the horn, look out for "bear -sign," and to swear gently but firmly when the younger dogs take -recent deer trails under consideration. Three hundred yards behind -come Scotch stag-hounds, a big yellow mastiff, fox-terriers, and one -or two dogs which would not classify in a bench-show, and over these -Mr. Stevens holds a guiding hand, while in a disordered band come -General Miles, his son, three army officers, myself, and seven -orderlies of the Second Cavalry. All this made a picture, but, like -all Western canvases, too big for a frame. The sun broke in a golden -flash over the hills, and streaked the plain with gold and gray -greens. The spirit of the thing is not hunting but the chase of the -bear, taking one's mind back to the buffalo, or the nobles of the -Middle Ages, who made their "image of war" with bigger game than red -foxes. - -[Illustration: "GONE AWAY"] - -Leaving the plain we wound up a dry creek, and noted that the small -oaks had been bitten and clawed down by bear to get at the acorns. The -hounds gave tongue, but could not get away until we had come to a -small glade in the forest, where they grew wildly excited. Mr. Cooper -here showed us a very large bear track, and also a smaller one, with -those of two cubs by its side. With a wild burst the dogs went away up -a canyon, the blood went into our heads, and our heels into the horses, -and a desperate scramble began. It is the sensation we have travelled -so long to feel. Dan and Cooper sailed off through the brush and over -the stones like two old crows, with their coat-tails flapping like -wings. We follow at a gallop in single file up the narrow, dry -watercourse. The creek ends, and we take to the steep hill-sides, -while the loose stones rattle from under the flying hoofs. The rains -have cut deep furrows on their way to the bed of the canyon, and your -horse scratches and scrambles for a foothold. A low, gnarled branch -bangs you across the face, and then your breath fairly stops as you -see a horse go into the air and disappear over a big log, fallen down -a hill of seventy degrees' slope. The "take-off and landing" is -yielding dust, but the blood in your head puts the spur in your horse, -and over you go. If you miss, it is a 200-foot roll, with a 1200-pound -horse on top of you. But the pace soon tells, and you see nothing but -good honest climbing ahead of you. The trail of the yelling dogs goes -straight up, amid scraggly cedar and juniper, with loose malpais -underfoot. We arrive at the top only to see Cooper and Dan disappear -over a precipice after the dogs, but here we stop. Bears always seek -the very highest peaks, and it is better to be there before them if -possible. A grizzly can run downhill quicker than a horse, and all -hunters try to get above them, since if they are big and fat they -climb slowly; besides, the mountain-tops are more or less flat and -devoid of underbrush, which makes good running for a horse. We -scatter out along the cordon of the range. The bag doing on the -rimrock of the mountain-tops, where the bear tries to throw off the -dogs, makes it quite impossible to follow them at speed, so that you -must separate and take your chances of heading the chase. - -[Illustration: TIMBER-TOPPING IN THE ROCKIES] - -I selected Captain Mickler--the immaculate, the polo-player, the -epitome of staff form, the trappiest trooper in the Dandy Fifth--and, -together with two orderlies, we started. Mickler was mounted on a -cow-pony, which measured one chain three links from muzzle to -coupling. Mickler had on English riding-togs--this is not saying that -the pony could not run, or that Mickler was not humorous. But it was -no new experience for him, this pulling a pony and coaxing him to -attempt breakneck experiments, for he told me casually that he had led -barefooted cavalrymen over these hills in pursuit of Apaches at a date -in history when I was carefully conjugating Latin verbs. - -We were making our way down a bad formation when we heard the dogs, -and presently three shots. A strayed cavalry orderly had, much to his -disturbance of mind, beheld a big silver-tip bearing down on him, jaws -skinned, ears back, and red-eyed, and he had promptly removed himself -to a proper distance, where he dismounted. The bear and dogs were much -exhausted, but the dogs swarmed around the bear, thus preventing a -shot. But Bruin stopped at intervals to fight the dogs, and the -soldier fired, but without effect. If men do not come up with the dogs -in order to encourage them, many will draw off, since the work of -chasing and fighting a bear without water for hours is very trying. -Only hounds can be depended on, as the tongues of other dogs thicken, -and they soon droop when long without water. Some of the dogs may -have followed the bear with cubs, but if they did we never heard of -them. The one now running was an enormous silver-tip, and could not -"tree." The shots of the trooper diverted the bear, which now took off -down a deep canyon next to the one we were in, and presently we heard -him no more. After an hour's weary travelling down the winding way we -came out on the plain, and found a small cow outfit belonging to Mr. -Stevens, and under a tree lay our dead silver-tip, while a half-dozen -punchers squatted about it. It appeared that three of them had been -working up in the foot-hills when they heard the dogs, and shortly -discovered the bear. Having no guns, and being on fairly good ground, -they coiled their _riatas_ and prepared to do battle. - -The silver-tip was badly blown, and the three dogs which had stayed -with him were so tired that they sat up at a respectful distance and -panted and lolled. The first rope went over Bruin's head and one paw. -There lies the danger. But instantly number two flew straight to the -mark, and the ponies surged, while Bruin stretched out with a roar. A -third rope got his other hind-leg, and the puncher dismounted and tied -it to a tree. The roaring, biting, clawing mass of hair was -practically helpless, but to kill him was an undertaking. - -"Why didn't you brand him and turn him loose?" I asked of the cowboy. - -"Well," said the puncher, in his Texan drawl, "we could have branded -him all right, but we might have needed some help in turning him -loose." - -They pelted him with malpais, and finally stuck a knife into a vital -part, and then, loading him on a pony, they brought him in. It was a -daring performance, but was regarded by the "punchers" as a great -joke. - -Mickler and I rode into camp, thinking on the savagery of man. One -never heard of a bear which travelled all the way from New Mexico to -Chicago to kill a man, and yet a man will go 3000 miles to kill a -bear--not for love or fear or hate or meat; for what, then? But -Mickler and I had not killed a bear, so we were easy. - -[Illustration: THE BEAR AT BAY] - -One by one the tired hunters and dogs struggled into camp all -disappointed, except the dogs, which could not tell us what had -befallen them since morning. The day following the dogs started a big -black bear, which made a good run up a bad place in the hills, but -with the hunters scrambling after in full cry. The bear treed for the -dogs, but on sighting the horsemen he threw himself backward from the -trunk and fell fifteen feet among the dogs, which latter piled into -him _en masse_, the little fox-terriers being particularly aggressive. -It was a tremendous shake-up of black hair and pups of all colors; but -the pace was too fast for Bruin, and he sought a new tree. One little -foxie had been rolled over, and had quite a job getting his bellows -mended. This time the bear sat on a limb very high up, and General -Miles put a .50-calibre ball through his brain, which brought him down -with a tremendous thump, when the pups again flew into him, and -"wooled him," as the cowboys put it, to their hearts' content. - -While our bear-hunting is not the thing we are most proud of, yet the -method is the most sportsmanlike, since nothing but the most desperate -riding will bring one up with the bear in the awful country which they -affect. The anticipation of having a big silver-tip assume the -aggressive at any moment is inspiriting. Indeed, they often do; for -only shortly before one had sprung from a thicket on to the -hind-quarters of one of Mr. Stevens's cowboy's ponies, and it was only -by the most desperate work on the part of his companion, who rode up -close and shot the bear with his six-shooter, that saved his -comrade's life. The horse was killed. When one thinks of the enormous -strength of the silver-tip, which can overpower the mightiest steer, -and bend and break its neck or tear its shoulder from its body at a -stroke, one is able to say, "Do not hunt a bear unless thy skin is not -dear to thee." Then the dogs must be especially trained to run bear, -since the country abounds in deer, and it is difficult to train dogs -to ignore their sight and scent. The cowboys account for the number -of the bear in their country from the fact that it is the old Apache -and Navajo range, and the incoherent mind of the savage was impressed -with the rugged mass of fur and the grinning jaws of the monster which -crossed his path, and he was awed by the dangers of the -encounter--arrow against claw. He came to respect the apparition, and -he did not know that life is only sacred when in the image of the -Creator. He did not discriminate as to the value of life, but with his -respect for death there grew the speculation, which to him became a -truth, that the fearsome beast was of the other world, and bore the -lost souls of the tribe. He was a vampire; he was sacred. O Bear! - -[Illustration: THE FINALE] - -[Illustration: THE RETURN OF THE HUNTERS] - -THE END - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - -Archaic and inconsistent punctuation and spelling retained. - - * * * * * - - -BOOKS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY FREDERIC REMINGTON - - RIDERS OF MANY LANDS. By THEODORE AYRAULT DODGE. 8vo, Cloth, $4 - 00. - - THE BORDERLAND OF CZAR AND KAISER. By POULTNEY BIGELOW. Post - 8vo, Cloth, $2 00. - - ON CANADA'S FRONTIER. By JULIAN RALPH. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50. - - THE WEST FROM A CAR-WINDOW. By RICHARD HARDING DAVIS. Post 8vo, - Cloth, $1 25. - - THE AZTEC TREASURE-HOUSE. A Romance. By THOMAS A. JANVIER. 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