m 1 li jyMiMiiiMMmiin II iiu . i .I ii " - , j T i ' t . . . .
. . . . . i ? . . . - - i . - -
Is ' i I .From the American Review.
Jly First Day xvitli tho. Rangers
f
juv a kextuckiax.
The scene of the following sketch, which,
may bejone of aseries.is laid not only in.
one of the most remarkable 'countries in
the world for its singular and unexplored
' sccnery-butjn a" wild and solitary part of
i it, where' till the forms of life are found in
a condition much nearer to the savage than
i the civilized. The reader must remember
that heps not to be taken to the extreme
frontier; of Texas, nearest- to Mexico and
the Indians -amid a mongrel population
of -Whites, .Mexicans and savages, living
: in a state, of perpetual feuds, in whichlhe
knife ahd rifle are theole arbitrators-in
short, where all the stable elements and or
ganization of society which; afford protec
tion; in ihc decorous observances and staid
proprieties of' civilized life, are totally
w'antinjj. jf Strong men! and unregulated
passionjS exhibit their yorstj and best cx-C
. tremes in! this atmosphere of license His
tory 'scarjeeyJaffords::ari.an
JierenssoClthe; Guerilla warfare con-!
stanlly iraging between the three races
yet fragments of them all, tinder one pre-
of thernjrefugees from the other side of the
Ilio Grande, for political or criminal offen
ces. Tfie Indians were wretched frag
ments, of 6np powerful tribes, which had
been ct f to pieces in thejr contests with the
other ,U4'f parties and now, cOwered , be
tween; them begging protection pf both,
and patiently biding their time for secret
revenge upon Cither. : The Whites werje
hardv arid reckless men inf virv Ktnmni tn
whom the excitement of j adventure of
vuuipuiitu uiiu incessant peril, nau joe-
come m
necessary1 moral aliment. This
: morbid
passion certainly founcT abundant
fgratrficajion here, Ibr-with the constant
I J iabi lit Of fittack from wi thout th ey we re
forever urirpondedAvithiri 4Sie;a.town : by
. natural ifpcs, ther most faithless and malir
t nant. vyhen it . is remembered, f besides,
' that they, only numbered fifteen in allrand
attempted t domineer? with a high hand
oyer as many hundreds of the other two
.S races at honpe, and, in addition, to defend
r a linef several hundred biles of fron
tier' against Hheo invasion f ofpredatery
hands frpm beyond tfaeii Rio Grande, or
from tN mountains of the Indian country;
and fu fib ermore, were compe 1 led to guard
i against, laivdj bailie "the treachery of spies
. l(irkjng around their very doors--it may
well bponjectured they had their hands
full. . Qcbqrsei to jflect all this a very
thorbugjH organization was necessary, and
a tfpopM gangers, numbering generally
about ten men. irrew out of this npfpssitv.
It is the period -of my note book of daily
V't,ut' ff A 'evv woras, in general ex
planation of the circumstances of my ar
; nval an SanAntonia; i '
Deterfnified to make myself familiar
with; all the phases of life in this curious
country, I had traversed the greatest por
tion of it' alone. But at that time (the lat
ter part of February, -'39) the journey to
San Antonio, u-as too perilous to be under
taken single; so that happening to meet
with anj old acquaintance from my native
btatc who, was, like myself, anxious to
'make, the trip, I joined him, and -we un-
uenooK. ir.iogettier. tie was a lirassos
Planter and owned, of course, a. number
ofslavcfsh One of these, in the effort to
make hjjs; escape to Mexico, had succeed
ed in reaching the neighborhood of hSan
(Antonid, jwhen he wasjarrested by'the vi
gilant Rangers, thrown into chains,! and
jUsowriejrdvertised ofthe fact by a spe
j cial mechger. , The particular object of
' ray friend Taney, was to recover this boy.
nn iu iut-iico i i javonte scneme
of the slaves of Texas, and numbers of
them annually attempt, and some few effect
it They have the impression that their
. ; cunmupn is very greatly Dettered hy the
,L changej. I Indeed, the more spirited of them J
j; acquire, ny contact with the whites, hab
- its ot bought and action, whch elevate
'them t (decided superiority over tliefjaver
i age Jilexiban population & and if theyjean
! generijlljr more than a match for the im
irecilejhitiyes. Several notorious instan
e.es ot jthese junaways acquiring in a short
time plosition and rank, added to the "fact
N .t the Mexican population of Texas had
always exhibited a warm sympathy for
I them, Jaodl never failed to assist them in
getting off ty every means in their power,
I contributed of late to greatly increase the
frequqney of these attempts, and, in the
Same jrajiothb vigilance! of the planters
j and Rangers to counteract them. The
K San Ajutpnio routwas tlie only practica
ble one across the desert plains to the Rio
j t?randp,so that such rejliigees were all
compejied to pass through it. In a word,
1 ,s wi gate of that trbntier. "After a
! i journfey full of fatigue,;and danger, we
'P. Jlere f pproaching it on. the night of the
2oth news that the Indians were down
and ravaging the country had compelled
us to;travel after dark, With a view of
lessening ttie nrobahiKtincf r; .:.u
them;
.1
. It
ivas a ery clear niehf: brilliant c
only
l exan moonliKt u . i t
ongWimpressedby the majestic breadth
ounfe plain upon which ve had. tiv -
fr?S T ' lhei brokenfand wooded
Y; v grouhrUand which lay sheeted in thvast
circumference of a becalmed and silvery
ftr?n s. These primeval soli-'
fTb all the grandeur on, and so
- rSl WnC tha,t tbey wdre when first
Light r and that
reS PeS?T bur!Pon; 01d Chaosr
rev eahng all -forms , in its annihilatioh
:'' -, ;KJl!;fd the high
t- 5 Wve : me, ,its "glittering : fret-work
VMiith. -golden candlesticks!
;e?lnSiUP9n this broad levetJasef which
flecked their bold radiance in misty soft-
i8 felt asif vve crept with our slov
Pace along the plumb-line of thW xmvor
if ii fuH gaze of the infinite. Host of
BRTJNER & JAMES,-
Editors y, Proprietors.
Heaven, vith their' cold keen eves search-
ingly npon us. The aw one feels upon
these sky-bounded prairies is positively op
pressive. Of you do not? realize' eternity
and God's. being andomnipresence in such
a scene, then were you born without a
soul, or else it has died within you,
. After a ride of several hours, during
which neither of us snoke.,J we observed
khe monotonous nroSle of the horizon, be
fore us, broken by several objects. As we
approached, they gradually crept up from
the darkness and te could distinguish the
square outline of Mexican houses very
soon weVerenrhongst them-dustered
irregularly along the bank Of the San An
tonio River, the gleam and ripple of which
now struck upon our senses. - These hous
es were square stone, pens, thatched with
bulrushes, and, as we passed them, looked
desolate and dark enough, for it was very
late. To some distance, above and below
the ford; Jhey were dotted along without
a"y appf arance of regularity, while on
the opposite side, the confusion of black
angular inasses defined -against the sky,
indicated the location of the main town.
The river, which leans forth with a snd-
J den birtn from a cave a few miles above,
rushes roan ng clamorously over the wide
rocky bed which constitutes jhe ford. It
seemed, as it really is, a hazardous expe
riment to cross it during the night ; but,
howeverour venturesome impatience was
more fortunate than skilful in effecting a
passaged The bank is by no means steep,
and we .found ourselves in a few-paces
from thel water, amidst the low stone and
thatched houses, in a narrow street of the
suburbs ; thi after a while, led us into a
broader fone. in whieh th h niKpC fin nttli -
eKside grew gradually from mere huts to
the dignity of one, two, and' three stories
of massi ve stone. ' ;
One of these, standing somewhat singu
lar and taller than the rest, my friend paus
ed before, and announced that according
to the topographical description of our
where-abouts, with which he had been
furnishep, this must be the house of the
mercharit, who had cashed the reward of-
ierea toft the apprehension of the boy and
I. -1.1 1 f? i w
ie.,d him in charge. There was a light
glimmering through the door-chinks and
key-hole,: we dismounted and thumped
lustily and long for admittance ; at last a
man in his shirt-sleeves thrust his head
cautiously through the half-opened door,
ant demanded who we were. The night
was very cold, and Taney had some diffi
culty, for the chattering of his teeth, in
making:himself understood. He succeed
ed final jy in satisfying the Cautious mer
chant, and the door was, thrown open.
When Our eyes had recovered from the
dazzle of a large fire, we saw that there
were a number of merTsleeping on cots
and buffalo robes, along the whole length
of an extended and narrow room; near
the head of each man lay a Mexican sad
dle, glekming with silver mounting, and
a gaudy colored " serape," or Mexican
blanket thrown either over it or the per
son of the sleeper. -But the object which
at qncej arrested my gaze, was the figure
of the Pjegro Boy curled up upon the hearth,
and as he rose to a sitting posture from
his slejep, the clank and glitter of heavy
manacles upon his arms and legs struck
me most unpleasantly. He was a young,
stout, athletic-looking fellow, and after
rubbing his eyes in astonishment, receiv
ed the quiet and scornful greeting of his
mastertwith that stolid, heavy look of in
sensibility, which always had enraged and
made me forget any sympathy for negroes.
In a moment afterwards, I was listening
and inquiring of the merchant, with full
as much interest as even Taney exhibited,
concerning all the details of his capture
and th present circumstances which in
sured His safe durance till my friend should
call for him in the morning. The arrange
ments for his close keeping seemed, at a
glance so perfectly secure, that there was
no-, probability of his escaping. Hischains
were Of ihe heaviest cast, and he had worn
them for months under the eye of the mer
chant I he was sleeping in the same room
with a half dozen men the room lit by
the blaze of a large fireits two doors
massive nnd well secured by bolt and bar.
What jpecasion was there to doubt of his
safe keeping ? We could see no possibil
ity of dny ; and inquiring for the locality
of the jArnerican Tavern, which we had
understood w'as kept in the town, we took
our leave.
-Thil street led us into a largo square.
Precisely in its centre, towered a massive
cathe4ral,iiri the usual eentury-deiying
style 0fr Jesuit, architecture'-all j over,., the
worldly Lights in the windows of a long,
low,stbne building which faced the square,
designated to ns the place wc were in
search: of. -We dismounted and entered
a well, lighted apartment, furnished . very
much as, American bar-roonrsusuaIly are,
and, Ute as it was, fully tenanted. My
first irnpression was, that we had entered
amongst: a crowdofMexicans, but I quick
ly sawjj that their complexions were not at
all consistent with theircosturnes. Eight
or ten Jveryydung looking persons, evi
dently Americans or Europeans, yere pro-"
menading the room back and fbrth pufl
ing ayay, every man of them, hiost earn
estly at a . Mexican f ciffaritta," and all
dressed in a costume singularly blended)
vi iueiiqan ana American lasies. iuost
of them wore the Msombrerotw or Mexican
hat, and the many-hued serape," tl
care,?s,y ove" the "national suit of.
thrown
ciom.
KfX A CHECK TTPOX ALL TOUX
t , W safe.", - ..5
N.1. G
The. sombrero is a high sugar-loaf crown
ed, and broad-brimmed hat. generally dec
orated with a wide band of j part-colored;
beads, while the serape is a ihick blanket
curiously interwoven with lingular zig
zag figures, having a hole in the centre!
through which the head is thrust. This
falling down to the waist, over the'ordina-
ry American - dress, and exhibiting the
gleam of pistols and knife in
dcrneath, made up a very pic
tume.
the: belt un-
uresque cos-
Our arrival was notj noticed by the ill
bred and hard staring manner common in
American villages ; but we were greeted
with a manly and straight-forward court-i
esy, that t once placed us at ease with
ourselves and with them. Indeed, I was
forthwith irresistibly impressed by the per
fect bonhomme. yet man-of-tlie world ex
pression which characterized the bearinz
of these persons. There Was nothing of
tamilianty, but rather a degree of touchi
me-not-ism, which it would be difficult to
give an idea of in words, tempering the!
almost boyish and boisterous frankness
with which' we were questioned and ban
tered upon the incidents of lour journey,
precisely as though we had teen old fa
miliar friends since time began. This
pleasant cordiality. I have noticed is very
apt to be a trait of our frontiersmen of any
grade, but it was specially agreeable com
ing from these men, with a certain touch
of polish and good taste in it, , which re
minded one strongly of the wild blades
and eccentricities of college lite. Indeed,
if by any magic one could have dropped
suddenly into the circle without the at
tendant and explanatory circumstances, it
would have been the first impression that
it was a party of merry-makng Collegi
ates. These are the sort of men who are
never taken by surprise at any thing.
Though young; their experience embra
ces the whole round of the passions. Thev
are prepared for all that come. TheirJ
personal familiarity with " imminent pe
rils" of every stamp, and with all the exi
gencies and excesses to which the life of
humanity is liable, gives to their port and
regard of all circumstances alike, an air
of coolness and indifference, as if .how
ever startling they might be-j-they came
as matters of course, which were to be.
expected, and certainly not wondered atf
This same familiarity with danger gives
to their appreciation of the social, or ra
ther the convivial virtues, a high tone
though the habit of self-reliance, engen
dered in scenes of solitary daring, infuses
a tinge of individual reserve! which cha
racterises their open good fellowship.
I was particularly struck with the youth
ful appearance of the whole party : my
impression on glancing arouhdTwas, that
there was not a man in the room over
twenty-two. -There was not k single com
monplace among them all (were decid
edly expressive, one way or another ; but
I.was greatly amused afterwards, in re
collecting how incongruous my first hasty
conceptions were with what: I afterwards
ascertained to be the true character of
each; my faith in my own Sagacity was
no little-diminished ! The personage who
earliest arrested my notice, was the most
boyish looking of them all. j His person,
though Scarce the average height, was
stout and moulded with remarkable sym
metry his hands and feet ivere woman
ishly delicate, while the Grecian features
were almost severely beautiful in their
classic chisseling. The rich, brunette com-
ptexion, and sharp, black eie, indicative
n r. f ii i . ...
of Italian blood, would have made the
fortune ol a city belle. The softness of
his voice, and his caressing manner, in
creased the attraction of his appearance ;
and, out lor a certain cold flash from those
brilliant eyes, I should have been entirely
in love with him at once. I thought him
some wild and petted scapegrace from a
southern family, who had run away from
his friends, and fallen upon; such a locali
ty, n.nd such society by accident. Yet as
I afterwards learned, this man, of all oth
ers in the room, was reputed most dan
gerous. The quick, unscrupulous vindic
tiveness of his passions had become pro
verbial; and the soubriquet of the Bravo"
had been universally applied to him.; The
man on whom he seemed to lavish the
most attention, and who, indeed, appear
ed to be regarded with particular defer
ence by all, was a slight, raw-boned figure,
with a, lean but bold Roman face, and an
expression of modest simplicity that struck
me at once as peculiar; there was some
thing absolutely shrinking -and hoydenish
in his bearing, and I remember feeling
some surprise, that so unsophiscated, easy,
good-natured looking a personage should
be treated with so much njspect by men
necessarily of so "Hardy" caist as those a
round ; yet this individual j was the cele
brated aptainv-g$w. Colonel Hays, the
leader and foremost spirit of the Rangers
-a mere youth yet more distinguished
for tempered skill and gallantry in the
Mexican and Indian wars,? than, any j man
who had yetfigured in the history of that
frontier. There was yet another: man who
specially deceived , my preconceptions of
his character: :This was ja tall.lheavy
boned, heavy-featured, ; gawky . Irishman,
who was lolling about vith rather an ex
cessive expression of abandon and jollity.
I took him at firet for decided M fiat"! but
I soonTobserved ja deep, rich current of thel
qaaintest and most spicy humor cohceiv-
able9 ,uhder the " surface, of- this careless
mannerism, inaeea, r nzgeraia, ino Dro-
O-' i 'at " r SERlES : ;-V;'
h ITVT 5 ' " "GMBmrismu' ' ) ' NUMBER 51, OF VOLTOIE 1.
, APRIL 19, 1845.
ther of the unfortunate Santa Fe prisoner,
was the finest i mpersonation of the best
and niost racy traits of Irish wit and Irish
gallantry that I have met with. The" re
mainder of the party looked like men of
severe, or at least decided tempers. But
such as they were,' these were the Ran
gers, nnd this was my first impression of
them. I announced my wish to Captain
Hays to become one of them, and share
I thej rough and tumble as well as their iol-
r'in inera, ana nsKS as well as plea
sure! was welcomed with frank en
thusiasm into the ranks, and called for' a
number of bottles of' noyau," at the bar
to commemorate and seal our.fellowship.
These were drank merrily enough Fitz
gerald giving an especially rich and ban
tering toast before we separated " Here's
to Old Kentucky ! may he get the green
out of his eyes, and eat his sallad as soon
as possible, in preparation for the close
shOoting and tough chawing, wc the free
Brotherhood of Rangers indulge in." The
last phrase I did not fully understand un
til my after experience in dried or "jerk
ed" beef, as it is called, enlightened me.
It was past two o'clock before we parted
for bed ; and with brain dizzied by the ex
citement of the day, the novelty and orig
inality of the scenes and characters I had
fallen upon, it was some time before I got
to sleep. It seemed to me that it had last
ed only a few moments, when aloud
f humpiug at the door of the hostelry awa
kened me. It was a messenger from the
merchant, post haste, announcing to Tan
ey that the body had made his escape I
We; rose hastility, and found thafthe day
was just breaking. The messenger said
that the negro was off, and had taken with
him a quantity of valuable property; that
his chains were left upon the hearth,! the
back door was open, a splendid horse the
very; finest in the town, was gone, and a
fine silver-mounted saddle with it ; that
the picket fence of the back yard, which
was set with very heavy posts, and they
very deep in the ground, had been torn
up to afford him a passage ; that he had
taken, in addition to the horse and saddle,
several costly " se rapes," a brace of pistols,
and a rifle, and was gone, evidently and
beyond a doubt, for the Rio Grande.
This news created no little confusioff, and
the Rangers were forthwith astir. Trfney
and myself hurried to the house of the
merchant, to ascertain for ourselves, if
these statements could possibly be true.
Whatever had been the causeless and pet
ulent prejudices I had indulged in toward
this boy on the night before for his stupid
looks, they gave way now to almost the
opposite extreme of admiration for the
cunning and resolute skill he had display
ed in the manner of his escape ! It ap
peared that he must have had his chains
filed for some ime before, in effecting
which we ascertained he had been assist-,
ed by a Mexican blacksmith, whose shop
bordered upon the back yard, the liberty
of which he had enjoyed.
But the prudent daring of his measures
had been so consumate as to elicit ex
pressions of astonishment from every body.
He had managed to conceal the fact of
his chains being filed from the vigilance
of the merchant, and had patiently waited
his time tjll the arrival of his master, who
would take him in charge the next morn
ing, rendered it necessary that decisive
steps should be taken. He had then af
ter, we left him, and a sufficient time had
elapsed for the inmates of the room to get
to sleep again quietly divested his limbs
!rthe chains which he left upon the hearth;
then noiselessly possessing himself of the
holsters, rifle and saddle, (which last ar
ticle was plated with 8100 wqrth of sil
ver,) belonging to one of the sleepers, he
unfastened the back door and passed out
to the stable. This was insidehe yard,
and enclosed by a high picket fence. By
a wonderful exertion of strength, he had
torn up a number of the posts, sufficient
to afford a passage for himself and the
splendid horse he Jiad selected from a
mbng a number of others, and reached
the street by the back yard. In addition,
he had provided himself with a valise of
clothing and provision for several days.
A.11 of tese items belonging to the same
person -aich trader who had lately ar
rived from the Rio Grande. The rage
ahd astonishment of this individual on wa
king in the morning and finding himself
minus to such an extent, may be better
conceived than told. After ascertaining
these details for ourselves, by personal
observation, in company, with the restless
ajnd excited merchant,( we. returned to the
fonl door, where, greatly to my astonish
ment, we found Hays and several of his
gangers already collected V two' of them
mounted on swift horses, and armed for
the pursuit, waiting for us in the street.
We were too inexperinced of course to
have thought, in our hurry and confusion,
of this prompt preparation, and as there
was no time to be lost, could not accom
pany them. One of them, I observed, was
the .Bravo,w the other was a swarthy
complected, handsome looking young fel
low, named Littell. He was mounted on
ibe horse of Hays, the most fleet and best
trained. animal. in the company. All the
Speed that could be brought to bear, was
bviouslyi! necessary for overt aki ng the
oyso well mounted as bo was; and with
such a start as he had gained.': The horse
pf the Bravo was alsb,a.;veryfme ahi
malA4 Fifty dollars for the boyf shouted
Taney to them, and just as Jhey were
bending forward to apply the Squirt " and
jspur, the hoarse voice of jthe'enraged tra
der rung out from over our shoulders-
" And fifty dollars more for the horse and
saddle." -
Thley were off at full Jweecl, clattering
over the stone pavement, while sparks
flew from the iron hoofs of their receding
animals. It would be a severe chase,
every one was aware, and the possibility
of recapturing the Boy seemed most prob
lematical. I could not help, in my own
heart, wishing that yhat seemed so un
likely, might not by any accident1 be
brought about ; for, apart from all ab
stractions, the coolness and daring the
fellow exhibited, showed him worthy to be
a freeman. 1 The day opened bright! and
pleasently. About ten o'clock that morn
ing we were all collected,1 grouped in the
sunshine, in front of Johnson's," on the
square, when pistol shooting became the
accidental jopic, growing out of the in
spection of my beautiful rifle-barrels.
Hays was said to be a Wonderful shot,
and gave us proof that the report idid jus
tice to his skill. He held one of my pis
tols in his hand, when observed a chicken-cock
some thirty paces offin the square,
which .wasjust straightening its neck to
crow. "Boj-s, I'll cut that saucy fellow
short," he observed as he levelled ahd fired
quickly at. it ; and, sure enough, the half e
nounced clarion-note of Chanticleer was
lost in the explosion, and fluttered over
dead with a ball through its head. Our
exclamations of astonishment and admi
ration were interrupted by the voice of
one of the party, "Hays! yonder comes
your horse and Littell full tilt up the street."
" Yes," observed another, he rides very
stiff. He looks like j a dead man." At
that moment the panting animal, dashed
up among us, and stopped by the side of
his master. Never, in my life did I look
upon a more terrible object than this rider.
With both hands elapsed convulsively a
round the high pummel of the Mexican
saddle, his eyes closed, his face ashy and
rigid, a clotted tide of gore issuing from
his side and streaming down the yellow
skirt of his buckskin hunting-shirt, his
reins on the neck of the horse, his gun
missing, his whole figure stiffened and e-
rect he looked, indeed, a spectre horse
man ! a riding corpse ! He's dead !" ex
claimed several, in awed, low voices, as
we were recovering from the shock of this
singular apparition. "He's warm yet,"
says Hays, as he placed his hand upon his
chalk'1 fingers, ' let's take him down. He
may not be dead for all." We sprang to
his assistance, and the body-at the first
effort fell over heavily into our arms. I
shuddered atlthe cold, earthly weight, and
that horrid Smell of fresh blood, which
once experienced can never be forgotten.
We bore him into the bar-rOom and laid,
him upon a bench. I observed that his
pulse was still faintly beating, and on the
the application of strong restoratives, after
a harrowing: interval of suspenseit began
to rise. We; now stripped him and ascer
tained that he had received a large mus
ket ball just above the ribs, and tracing
the blue line fits track had left, half round
the body to the Opposite side, we were in
duced to hope that it had glanced under
the flesh and not penetrated the chest.
Gradually his pulse heightened, and the
color began to return to his pallid face.
" Boys ! to horse ! The Bravo must iae
shot. This is the work of these cursed
Mexicans ," exclaimed Hays, as soon as our
suspense had been relieved somewhat by
these favorable symptoms. " Yes, d n
them !" muttered Fitzgerald, as we sepa
rated to get pur horses, leaving Littell in
charge ot Johnson. "That's a Mexican
ball, or it would'nt have been placed so
bunglingly. j Let's show 'em the Clean
thing with our rifles."
In ashortjtime we wore mounted and
collected before the door of the tavern
ready to stdirt, when Johnson came out
bareheaded,1 and told us that the wounded
man had so far recovered as to be able to
speak. He'could only understand of what
he feebly uttered : " The Bravo was before
me when I got it from a thicket P' This
gave us some cue-as to how this had hap
pened, and we set off instantly at full
speed. It was evident enough, that either
the negro orj his Mexican friends had made
this murderous attempt fronr ambuscade
to arrest pursuit, andAvhcther the Bravo
had not fallen a positive victim was left
in painful Uncertainty. It seemed proba
ble that the Mexicans had a hand in it,
from the fact that the ball was tod large
for the rifle jhe Boy had taken with him,
and - apparently had been sent from the
wide muzzle of a clumsy Mexican musket.
I observed jthafgroups of Mexicans, with
their " serapes " folded around-' them,
were stand ingate very corner of the streets
as vve-passed through the town. They
were grinning and looking unpleasently
cheerful at us as we went by. - ; '
We soon) reached the widejejel Of the
extended plain on which the town stands,
and for several hous gal loped along its
vast; monotonous Expanse with hoih ing
ahead tarelie ve- tne'eye. After we' were
thorbughlyffatigued byhhis" samenessv a
dimVdark line loomed on the horizon be
fore usV which: as- weroac.t.pj.
pened up into bfbkeu. i rregular masses of
stretching for miles j othere low. busy, an4
ense-ranged like black shaded : islands
ot ragged ana uugut wuiui" w...w.
sidc'of the
old trail "we followed. Just
where it led
edo-e ofnn ti V ma leu" Paccs of the
euge oi one these " rnftto
khot from the orWoj
was an unusually close one 6Y stiff .crub- '
by brushy AVe separated to ride around
it and look for the trail of the, , assassin.
On coming together, Hays announced that -he;had
foundjt both:the ;trarapled spot
where, a horse had evidently stocxl ' for
some time, and the single trace of its flight
leading offin the direction of the Ilio Gran
de. After following this for "a quarter of
a mile, another trail of a single horse lead-
ing from the "main" ytraclT was observed
running parallel with it. This was tliat'
of a shod horse, and Hays exclaimed as
soon as he saw it, Ha I the Bravo is after
him I He'll get hjm I He wai ahead and
saw thescoundrel running : , ' - ?T
The sharp, experienced eyes of these men at
once recognized the trail,ot their comrade and
the main features of the occurrence. Wo fbl.
lowed these two trails until nearly sundown at
the same headlong, rapid pace we had held since
starting. ; .Thousb they continued on the same'
general course with the old beaten. road, yet L
miu iu iiuu ii umu, uui, uivergcu i In
an i rregular 1 ine, dodging around amongst the
44 motts," with ail the efforts of a desperate flight
and chase. I was greatly astonished at the
skill with which they une rringly traced this deiJ
. . ;i .L-:.i . . f
iuu irau, luougo we ivere going ai.a lasi gai-l
lop. This hard running had very greatly fagg.
prevent us from following up the chase to any
satisfactory termination ; , andwide jind ""seen
ingly interminable pla in, too,' was . opening be
fore us, whose bare nVululatinglsiirface otlercd
little of either pleasure or encouragement to our
perspective. Suddenly, however, and most un
expectedly, one of the men in frpnt jshouted,
while he pointed with his gun over to the right,
Loolt4 that mus le the Bravo.' file's got
him." We looked, and the figures of two horse,
men were just rising ihto ,yiwoveriUieridg6
of an undulation fur away across the plain. . . m
The figure of a ,mau heaving in sight amiJit
these wide solitudes, always causes a startle and
thrill of expectation and doubt, similar to the
feeling produced by the announcement of a
strange sail ahead n on shipboard, during a long
voyage. The eyeglaiices wiHh careless indif.
ferencq over ce at herds of deer, buualo.'or mus.
tangs, dotted on the distance;; but glimpse of
any sliatet even remotely resembling a brother
Lman, makes the pulse. leap'sharp.: and fast, and
the blood rush back to the heart ; for in this
lawless region it is impossible to conjecture,
whether, what should naturally be an auspicious
event, may not result in a mortal struggle. and
death to one party or the otheri, iThis distorted
condition of things causesjstrange emotions, for
it does seem most oiitrc and unnatural, that the
outlines, which of! all others ought to be "most
agreeable, should fce"prbductiVa brihe most unf
pleasant excitement, while we can look upon',
thousands and multiplied; thousands; of ;brulesl
with a , negative feeling, if not oneof plcasantrH
companionship. I ihave been particularly strticlc!
with this while travelling alone, when any thing'
the imagination cduld conjecturo intoa resem
blance of tho human form would produco 'the,
most uncomfortable sensations, v There isjnoth
ing to fear froai the animals, but ictm. thai like.;,
ncss to yourself everything of hate and treach
ery is to be dreaded. VOt'
We instantly headed'our horde's towards thesn
distant riders, who seamed lb bo jbggirig on ve
ry sociably at a leisurely gait in tho direction of
San Antonio. As we neared themevery4mo-l
ment made it more piobable-that the' man's. firsts
conicciuro was rignu, 4 ney soon ouserveu us
jand stopped with some flurry and hesitation of
manner, but afterm long and deliberate survey
they started to meet us. I thought at fiisf that
they intended to wheeTand make off, ba( the as
I sured recognition was simultaneous, ajnd with a!
loud cheer we increased our speed i be Bra-
vo waved his sombrero in the. air and answered
us. In a little while more we Crowded around
him and his prisoner, eageflyasking a multitude
t ru 1: ' J'...?.u fi
wi ljuusiiuiis. - x uc man wus iicu wiiu u juriai
about his feet, which was passed under the behT
ly of his horse. His hands were also tied be
hind him, and their appearance of sociability at
tho distance, was fully explained when, we ;aw
that the Bravo was leading his horse by anoth
er lariat. Re was a Mexican of spare figure,
with a lean Roman face, sharp hlaclt cyes,and
a vivid expression of bold knaveryj'not'aFall
cowed bv offr number and wrathful looks. His
whole appearance was altogether unlikelbe us
ual downward-eyed, sneaking, wollish look,'
common to Mexicans in circumstances of such
perij as those surrounding him. fhe audacity.,
of the fellow's bearincr at "once attracted ' com "'-i
. r - 0 . -u" -, . I.,'. r ' ,.:w i i
u ll'l T ji tt ! I t7T. 1.1 i u ...t.- .t. J f v
deuce are you doing with ;that saucy-looking
fellow alive? Ybtiare the last"min5rhoailJ ; ;
have Riisnpr.tftdof hivim lhe vlca of meretf in"
you.'" Ha, ha I" laughed he, the best of ' . "
the joke is, that I kept him alive, simply because ,--
he gave me so much trouble in .catching him. .
lie's a regular curiosity ; and I wahtcdtoshbvy I ; ,
r . a I!a UnriAin nrnm rrrwwt f!iirttr l'f
a Mf nit liinA I hit nn I tr m nAAf m A - l I. Ml , 1
that I. conjecture any xfyou ever saw.V,JI JT6o
scoundrelV said Haysr;! don't see that it re-1
qtiiredanycreat bravery toabbot a man from ths
bush. We'll take him off your hands'. I'll !
havb '
him disposed of."'" That's just what I wanted,
Jack," (so Hays :was
jwreu mo rascal oner' occauso no wiw-ji
fTauzh by his bold ironuJence. iust asI .wasan
the act of pulling trigger on him frlhe second
time, and 1 don't feel disposed to kill hirri hov3p
though I want jouail todo it, fbrbe deserves' &
it a hundred times. Don't you remember him!'; f
I think I tave seen him before said llajr, y
!but where or when' I can't recollect. Jtb .
;doesn't matter tbougb-wo'JlHrelieve youMf,j j
hin.'V "You have not frgotten Gonzalez, tho:
dexterous ihjef, who toler your sorrel horae last ; :
summer, and run hTm off across the Rio Grande?',' -
IH I this Is the" same felloy. Well, well
pay him ofTall scores flilstime.w 1! " lie under !
stands' perfectly whatj youtsay. By the way, ; 7
have you seen or heard any thtng.of Littell ? ; -Jle
went ff in very singular style.JIay ex ;
plained to him tho circumstances the reader, is
already la possession of; and while, we rodo
slowly toward a distant line of timber, ind.ca-. ; ;
ting a stream on which we weant cm5
theight, the Bravo related his story of theday . i
events to . os. ' , j---, t-. ... m)Mi. . "
After leading yoo in the street this morning,
.ITLx. trace for tbough we saw notb:T
ing oftneBoy's trail on it at first.1 felt conned
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