Page:The Prairie Flower; Or, Adventures In the Far West.djvu/40

 my scalp

ever. I reckoned it wasn't best to say die ef I could live, and I didnt' like the notion o' bein ' rubbed out '* by sich a dog-gone scriraptious lookin set o' half humans as them thar Rapahos. I cast around me, and seed that old Sweetlove, (rifle) am' IHT pups, (pistols) and my butchers, (knife and tomahawk) was all about; and so J jest swore I'd set my traps and make oin- on 'em ' come,' ef I ' went a woltin' for it.

"I sauf thar was 'bout a dozen maybe m<>re nn 1 they was ticklin thar bosses' ribs migluy han'some, you'd better believe, and a-comm for me with a parfect loose ness, every one on 'em carryin a bow, and every bow bent with an arrer in it. I knowed my muleys was gone, sartin, and all my traps and furs; but jest then I felt so all -tired mad, that I thought ef I could throw a couple, I wouldn't care a kick. So instead o' trying to run away, I hollered ' Whoa ' to the animals, and waited for the redskins to come up. (Jest a drap more o' that, Rash, ef you please; for this here hoss is as dry to-night as a dog-worried skunk.

"Well, on they comes, thunderin away like a newly invented arthquake, and I 'spected for sartin I was a gone beaver. Jest afore they got up so as they could let thar shafts riddle me, the infernal cowards, seein as how I didn't budge, had the ou- daciousness to come to a halt, and stare at me as ef I was a kangaroo. I. raised Sweetlove, and told her to tell 'em I's about, and 'some in a bar fight.' She an swered right han'some, did Sweetlove, and down the for'ard one d rapped right purty, he did. Well, this sot the rest on 'em in a rage, and afore I knowed it, they was all round me, yell in like the old Scratch. Half a dozen shafts come hissin through my buckskins, and two on 'em stuck right in my meat- bag, and made me feel all over in spots like a Guinea nigger. Instanter I pulled out Sweetlove's pups, and set 'em to barkin, and two more o' the humans drapped down to see how the snow felt. Knowin' it wasn't no use to be foolin my time, I jeiked the ropes, and told Skinflint to travel afore my hair was raised, leavin tke muleys to do what they liked.

Rifled.

"Seein me a-goin, the oudacious Rapa- hos thought they'd stop me; but I rid right through 'em purty, and got another arrer in m- back for it.

"Arter I'd got away, I looked round and seed two on 'em a-comin like all possessed, with their lariats doubled for a throw. I knowed ef they got near enough, I'd be snaked off like a dead nigger, and my hair raised afore I could say Jack Robinson Maybe I didn't ax Skinflint to dc his purti- est, and maybe he didn't, hey! Why he left a trail o' tire behind him, as he went over that frozen snow, that looked for all nater like a streak o' big lightnin. But it didn't seem to be o' no use; for the infer nal scamps come thunderin on, jest about so fur behind, and I seed thar bosses was all o' the right stuff. The sun was about a two hour up, and thar he stayed, he did; for it was so almighty cold, as I said afoi-e, he couldn't get down to hide.

"Well, on we run, and run, and run, till the bosses smoked and puffed like a Massassip steamer, and still we run. I made tracks as nigh as I could calculoto for the mountains, in the direction of Pike'u Peak, and on we went, as ef old Brira stone was arter us. I calculated my chasers 'ud git tired and gin in; but they was the real grit, and didn't seem to mind it. At last they begun to gain on me, and I knowed from the 'signs' o' Skinflint, thyt he'd have to go under, sure's guns, ef I didn't come to a rest purty soon. You'd better believe I felt queer jest then, and thought over all my sins, with the arrers sticking in my belly and back like all git out. I tried to pray; but I'd never larnt no prayers when a pup, and now I was too old a dog to ketch new tricks; besides, it was so all-fired cold, that my thoughts stuck in my head like they was pinned thar with icykels. I'd been chased afore by the Comanches and Blackfoot, by the Pawnees and Kickapoos, by the Crows and Chickasaws, but I'd never had sich fcelins as now. The short on't is, boys, I was gittin the squaw into me, and I knowed it; but I'll be dog-gone ef I cculd help it, to save my hair, that stood up so stiff and straight as to raise my hat and let the atmospheric in about a feet. I was gittin outrageous cold, too, and could feel my I heart pwmpin up icykels by the sack full,