nTIIOnULYRIDIIiGATWAf
"Howly mother, gintlemln!" argued
Dillon, " 'tis a matther av importince.
-Wd ye liave another shoutia' Douny
brook? an' me a-bearin' ay ull the
divilmcnt, same as , twua last year?
VVJd the ripntashun ar the camp, too!
In the name av innlninee. luve ye no
heads for aa emergency?"
Dillon was -clearly In earnest, and
when a man of his racial characteristics-Is
in earnest things are likely to
happen, whether the seen-? of action be
Spltzbc-gen or Timbuctoo. His indig
nation at our stupidity at the
mayor's, the sheriff's, and mine wa3
offensive; but we could offer no sug
gestion that might stand for us as
combatant There were men in the
camp with official titles, and men
very prone to swift and accurate shoot
ing, .but these collectively were as
.naught before the, breath of Dillon.
Galena was. like most other of North
western mining towns; if at all distin
guishable from them, it was by a slight
accentuation of that air of bonhomie
which is more or less apparent on the
visages of all communities of the
genus.
Dillon owned and genially pre-
"""Slded over one of the biggest and
.brightest and most bemirrored of the
combination saloons and gambling re-
' sorts.
The mayor, the sheriff, and I sat In
' a back room of the saloon, listening ia
tehtly to Dillon's harangue. After he
had given us every opportunity to sug
gest ways and means for the day of en
tertainment, fruitlessly, he elucidated
to us his own idea of a program, which
was voted on and adopted by unani
mous and Immediate consent This
narrative deals solely with the first
number of the program, so you will be
compelled to surmise the others from
it '
"We wull begin," aays Dillon, "in
the morning", wid what ye might dls
hlgnate a toorymint. This is the way
av it: We wull have rounded up a
bunch av thim divils av bronchos, an'
we wull also have rounded up a bunch
av jolly buoys; we wull beguile the
bhoys to the backs av the broncos, an"
we will give the best busther av thim a
foine fat purse which be wull spind
immfjutely. This, ye may understhand,
is legitimut, wid excoiteaient enough
to kape aff the raw idge av their tim
per. This we wull ' but this Is as
in tu b as concerns ua.
t A goodly purse waa eoltected against
thn cwnirifr nf the nomiLir vent.. Dil
lon's "ante" (his own word) was a hun
dred, and a number of others came
down handsomely. But in the interval
between the statement of the idea ana
the day of fulfillment tfcare arose the
necessity for some modification In the
plans. Dillon had relied on procuring
a number of bad and unbroken horses,
and on having the -many volunteer
riders break them on time, or some
thing of that sort. When the trial was
made, however, it was it mail impos
sible to bring together the required
number of sure-enough bad horses;
that is, horses which could be depend
ed on to make excitement under any
cfrca instances, so a big list of snapped
ad sombreroed competitors could not,
consequently, be accommodated.
The morning of the Fourth dawned
in ail the chaste radiance of July in
the foothills, such diy aa recom
penses a man for a yew lived in a hut,
150 miles from the nearest railroad
. artery, and, aa they" say in Montana,
"only half a mile from hell."
Directly after breakfast those ranch
people from the rival valleys, and
' from all adjacent sections, who bad not
been fortunate enough to get in the
night before, began to- concentrate In
the camp.
.. . Dillon drew me out to the veranda.
"By me sowl, 'twull be beautiful," says
he. "We have a brace av the beasts
as wud mlaharse the divil, an' the
bhoys ' are folne an' achln' for tha
sport. Te'll see ut the day, me son."
He was in merriest spirits himself, and
I should have enjoyed some of the ef
fervescence of his rollicking blarney;
but his answering sense of duty to the
. day compelled him to drink more fre
quently that I bad reason to believe
my experience and capacity would
permit, mo I was forced to abjure his
society.
About 16 he got on a table somehow,
' and announced the riding, and invited
the contenting Imsters up to throw dice
fot choice of horse. , This called forth
uproarious yells of applause, .One of
the contestants, the North Valley rep
resentative, was not present, but hi
mentor was, with - full power to act.
This latter, however, an old ranch fore-
'maa, with' badly bowed legs and a
crooked back, called out renewed cheers
by remarking that he 'reckoned it
;dMt make much difference about the
throw!', as Curlew far satisfied with
.'most any boss."
Bat th South Valley contingent de
murred at this, and Dillon routed It as
WsarWlMMtafy, . Bo old. Joe and ta
South Valley nun cast for choice, and
the throw was Joe's. He gruffly chose
the horse thai should be nearer the
aerral cat. Then . they (book out
.(! for precedence in order of rtd
jag, and this time the South Valley
Broacbo buster won, electing to ride
awd. There was one other contest
ant, who did not throw but I am an-K-MSms
my story.
tM these vlisslaarle ail road
- IJL'i aorralward. the exodus ira
Cr-z COsfi bar of Its deft at
fr: "TM. TU corral was situated at
i cr rsmfcy t the galea, oa a
, r 1 it C3 tawwr kwt than that f
.M tzi ts Oar nuts dtvlatoa af
When I got down the flat was cleared
for action, and the man called Curlew
was preparing to ride.
He had barely time to draw his
sleeve across his perspiring face when
the half-choked and bewildered pony
had leaped, like a flash, to his feet;
at the Bame fractonal part of a second.
Curlew was lightly ensconced in the
saddle, stirruped and pulling off the
pony's hood. Blinded by the sun, dazed
and frightened by the weight on hU
back, the bay stood quivering for a
short space. But a stinging cut from
Curlew's quirt discovered bis bond
age to him. Up he reared, straight
and unhesitatingly, tiil, losing his bal
ance, he dropped over backward with
an ugly thud, the broad horn of the
cow saddle digging Into the ground
just where Curlew should have been.
But the red-hafred rider was to one
side, waiting. He must have been
quick as light, for I assure you the
play of the pony was not slow. Again
and again the bay rose in the air
and repeated the backward fall. Curlew
each time eluding it and each time
swinging in the saddle a3 the playful
brute came to his feet. It was all
incredibly rapid, and how the boy
handled bis long, loose-jointed legs
Is yet a mystery to me. There were
12 of these backward half-somersaults
In that 90-foot corral, and then the
manoeuvre was over, forming merely
an unostentatious prelude to the real
tactics of the fight
With a shrill whistle of rage that
brought my heart against my ribs the
bay made several sharp sidelong jumps
and then took to running. Through
the corral gate, across the flat, up the
steep pitch, and into the town he went,
the whole company of Interested spec
tators following at their variously best
paces. Curlew set him with swaying
ease, the hackamore rope hanging
loose in his hand; he made no attempt
to stop or to guide.
In the midst of the town the run
ended in the inevitable buck, and
thenceforth the tun waxed fast and fu
rious. We were not mistaken in'our
horse; the brute was all his looks in
dicatedand more. The battle only
lasted some 15 minutes, but in that
short space of time he called into ac
tive use every resource of equine trick
ery and threw himself into every start
ling contortion that horse anatomy
permits of. He bucked straight and
sideways, and turned and fell, and
reared and kicked, squealing again and
again in that fierce, unholy manner,
till it seemed Impossible that the
plucky red-haired rider could longer
endure the awful back-wrenching
strain. A fall, too, meant death, for
the horse would have slashed him be
fore he touched ground or struck with
front feet as be lay. During the first
12 or 14 minutes of the fight that
boy's life was not worth the value of
a cigarette; between rage and fear the
horse was stark mad, and bad there
been the sign of an opening would
have leaped headlong into the repute 1
inferno a half a mile below.
As the moments wore on and his
whole repertoire of strength and strat
ergy was worked through, without In
the least unfixing his rider, the white-
eyed pony began to lose heart; it was
the first time that any man had been
so tenacious of grip, and gradually his
leaps became weaker and less vicious.
Then Curlew's quirt and blood-seeking
spurs urged him to more vigorous ef
forts, but even these could not much
longer sustain the engagement Drip
ping with blood and sweat, nearly
dead with fatigue, he finally sue
cum bed, and permitted himself to be
guided by the rider at will. A hearty
cheer burst from the crowd, and Cur
lew, rather pale and weak, but ever
smiling, was rapturously dragged from
the saddle and carried into Dillon's,
an inert monument of glory to bis
memory and demonstrative friends.
After the hero, his worshippers, the
antagonistic party, and all outsiders
had been, duly refreshed, which re
quired some little time, we bent our
selves again to the matter in hand,
and prepared to witness the second
bout of the maa against horse battle.
There was almost as wide a differ
ence of the two riders as between the
bay and the buckskin. The South
Valley champion was much shorter
than Curlew, and better knit If I
had not seen the confusing dexterity
of the lanky, red-haired boy, I should
have esteemed this the likelier man.
His movements were alert and be
bowed much experience; In complex
ion almost black, with a bearded and
somewhat sinister face "Charier Raw
lins, late at N'MlxIco, an' bad whin
he's dhrlnkln,'" as Dillon catalogued
him.
The buckskin pony remained la his
downcast posture and allowed tin
New Mexican to saddle him unresist
ingly, merely cocking bis hslry ears
one forward and the other back and
watching behind through the tall of
his slltted eye. I was standing along
side old Joe during this peaceful over
tore, and noted the old man's chuckle,
grim and ominous.
. Charier led his mount out from the
corral to the flat, and jamming his
finely worked Mexican hat down- over
his area, van I ted cleanly to his seat.
The yellow pony waked op Immediately
aad took tha back, not wildly and fa
roetooalr, as the bay had done, bat fa
a aabjs, matter-of-fact sort of way that
oariacad oa It was hi aataral gait
Juat aa aaothar bora might bar gal
loped or trotted, to did Ul beast hack,
aad for two Mad hoars ssatatilaH
tha tac wvam a foliar. tear ta all
that heart-breaking period did his tta
eal progress exceed 100 yards! It was
most astonishing, not one superfluous
movement was made; be simply kept
on and on, each Jump being alost semi
circular, that is, landing with his head
where his tail had started from, and
vice versa.
This is what the cowpunrhers call
changing ends, and it is not difficult
to imagine the cff.vt of suoh a pro
tracted merry-go-round sensation on
the rider. The bucking was neither
high nor fierce, but the strain of that
continuous swirl must have been rack
ing. There was one slight variation
which the scrubby bnckskln allowed
himself In his system, though this wa
of such nature as to be rather discon
certing to a rider with a head already
far from steady. It was to turn in the
air after the usual fashion, but instead
of alighting on stiffened legs, to fall
clumsily on one side, the pony saving
himself by bending his foreleg back
under hlra. It was an ugly trick to
evade, and the black New Mexican
must have been clear grit to told hU
own so long. His face grew pallid
and drawn, and after awhile his stom
ach revolted.
At the close of the second hour he
was helpless; his will was still In th i
thing, but his body wa3 limp and in
effective, and the blood slowly trickled
from his nose and ears. The pony
still worked with the monotonous reg
ularity of a steam exhaust and th;
end was unquestionably near.
When it came, the man was sprawled
to one side, and the horse immedi
ately lapsed into his usual drooping
attitude of watchful sleepiness. Some
of us ran to assist Rawlins, who lay
Just as he had fallen, too weak to rise.
But he waved us back; his face was
malignant with shame and anger, and
distorted by pain; altogether, with the
pallor and the blood-streaked beard,
he was not an exhilarating sight Roll
ing over to his side, he raised himself
partially on an elbow, and before wa
could close on him had drawn hli
Colt's and fired. The big gun spoke
sharply, and with a moan that was al
most human the buckskin por.y lurched
heavily to the ground.
We reached Rawlins in time to take
the smoking revolver from his nerve
less grasp; but as he fell back again,
I heard him mutter thickly: "There,
curse ye, y' mud-skinned hell-bound:
Ye'll wear no more men out!"
The prostrate broncho-buster's
friends had taken him up, and Dillon
was in the midst of a brilliant address,
awarding with much ornate language
the purse to Curlew, when an incident
In the form of antl-climax took th?
floor from the speakej and wound up
the sport with a hearty "burst of good
natured acclamation.
I had the history of this Incident
afterward. It seems that the boys of
the town the juveniles, I mean had
organized and schemed to place an un
registered and unexpected entry in the
contest; and their scheme was emi
nently successful and amusing. Th-s
camp supported a little half-breed
youth of about 12 years, a marvel in
his love for and command over horses;
be must have been born and reared
upon their backs, so easily did he be
come them. It was this urchin, Pe
dro by name, who was elected to rep
resent the younger faction In the rid
ing. There was one difficulty that
would have baffled most boys; no bad
horse was forthcoming, but Pedro was
so extremely Indifferent as to the na
ture or build of his mount that even
this was an easy adjustment At the
extreme upper end of the town was a
butcher's cow corral, and in it confined
a bunch of cattle new from the range;
one of these, a great red and white
4-year-old steer, was selected, and Pe
dro eagerly started on his ride to fame.
Dillon was getting well warmed to
bis much-prepared and patriotic ora
tion, when Pedro and the frantic steer
appeared, rushing down the pitch from
the town above. There was an unre
strained howl from the assemblage. In
which even Dillon Joined, and the
dirty, dare-devil brat shot out an an
swering grin from the careening back
of bis astonished steer. It was a thing
to make the old gulch quiver with
laughter. Som one had dressed the
boy especlallr for the game; he had on
a pair of heavy fringed, full-slied
sbaps, at least eight Inches too long
tor him, and only kept from entirely
covering bis feet by the shanks of a
pair of huge Mexican spurs, all bells
and bangles. His Impish face was sur
mounted by a S-lnch sombrero, a heavy
quirt In one hand and in th other a
coil of rawhide lariat, which was
looped only over the steer' horns.
And how that animal was twisting
himself, head down and tall up! But
tho boy clung Ilk a arnacli, by what
means I have no conjecture. It Is well
known that a steer has no withers,
that he can buck through the cinches
of any saddle, and a cowboy without a
saddle is not formidable. Tt there
waa that leaa youth heathen, hampered
by the awkward trappings they had put
on him, perched on hi arching, un
girded steed with all th pert compos
ure of a tomtit oa a pump handle,
which I old Joe' simile.
"Cum aff av that, ye youag limb,"
shouted Dillon, th ster 'rushed
madly by us; th boy waited, however,
till th crowd was aad, and then,
skillfully twitching his rope from the
steer's horns, slid harmlessly to the
ground. He could scarcely walk for
the grotesque accoutermants, but when
he did reach us, the boys grtd him
riotously.
"Olv th moner to th kid," aald
Curlw lacoalcalry. "That' a trick I
caa't do," aad midst clamor of com.
oadaUoa aad aaaaat th half-brd
areata waa fJraa th
Ta aaaaat axaoet a
aatMftas taatat.
aattor ta tall
Captjuw
Nathan
General Washington wanted a man.
It was In September, 1776, at the City
of New York, a few days after thu
battle of Long Island. The swift and
deep East River flowed between the
two hostile armies, and General Wash
ington bad as yet no system establish
ed for getting information of the en
emy's movements and Intentions. He
never needed such Information so much
as at that crisis.
What would General Howe do nexi?
If he cross at Hell Gate, the American
army, too small In numbers, and de
feated the week before.mlght be caught
on Manhattan Island as In a trap, and
the Issue of the contest might be made
to depend upon a single battle; for In
such circumstances defeat would in
volve the capture of the whole army.
And yet General Washington was com
pelled to confess:
"We cannot learn, nor bave we been
able to possess, the least information
of late."
Therefore he wanted a man. He
wanted an Intelligent man, cool-headed,
skillful, brave, to cross the East
River to Long Island, enter the en
emy's camp and get information aa to
bis strength and Intentions. He went
to Colonel Knowlton, commsndlg a re
markably efficient regiment from Con
necticut, and requested him to ascer
tain If this man so sorely needed could
be found In his command. Colonel
Knowlton called his officers together,
stated the wishes of General Washing
ton, and, without urging the enter-
CAPT, II ALB DISGUISED AS A
DUTCH SCHOOLMASTER,
prise upon any Individual, left the mat
ter to their reflections.
Captain Nathan Hale, a brilliant
youth of tl, recently graduated from
Tal col legs, was on of those who
reflected upon th subject H soon
raacaad a conclusion. He was of th
vary Sowar of th young mn of New
Eaglaad. aad oa of tha host of th
roaagvr aoMlara of th patriot army.
B bad barn aaaaatad for th taw
trr, aad hi motlv ta adopUag for a
ttaw taw arofsaaloa af arm vaa arly
patriotic. This we know from the
familiar records of blllfe at the time
when the call to arms was first heard.
In addition to his other gifts and
graces, he was handsome, vigorous and
athletic, all in an extraordinary de
gree. It be bad lived in our day he
might have pulled the stroke oar at
New London or pitched for the college
nine.
The officers were conversing In a
group. No one had as yet spoken the
decisive word. Colonel Knowlton ap
pealed to a French sergeant, an old
soldier of former wars, and asked him
to volunteer.
"No, no," said he. "I am ready to
fight the British at any place and time,
but I do not feel willing to go among
them to be hung up like a dog."
Captain Hale joined the group of
officers. He said to Colonel Knowl
ton: "I will -undertake It"
Some of bis best friends romon.
strated. One of them, afterwards the
famous Gen, William Hull, then a cap
tain In Washington's army, bas re
corded Hale's reply to bis own attempt
to dissuade him.
"I think," said Hale, "I owe to my
country the accomplishment of an ob
ject so important. I am fully sensible
of the consequences of discovery snd
capture in such a situation. But for a
year I bave been attached to the army,
and bave not rendered any material
service, while receiving a compensa
tion for which I make no return: I
wish to be useful, and every kind of
service necessary for the public good
becomes ' honorable by being neces
sary." He spoke, as General Hull remem
bered, with earnestness and decision,
as one who bad considered the mat
ter well, and had made up his mind.
Having received bis Instructions, he
traveled fifty miles along tb Sound as
far a Norwalk, in Connecticut One
who saw him there mad a very wise
remark upon him, to th effect that he
was "too good looking" to go as a spy
He could not deceive. "Some scrubby
fellow ought to have gone." At Nor
walk he assumed the disguise of a
Dutch schoolmaster, putting on a suit
of plain brown clothes and a round,
broad-brimmed bat. He had no diffi
culty In crossing the Sound, since be
bore an order from General Washing
ton which placed at his disposal all
the vessels belonging to Congress. For
several days everything appear to
have gone well with him, and there Is
reason to believe that be passed
through the entire British army with
out detection or even exciting suspi
cion. Finding the British had crossed to
New York, he followed them. He mad
his way back to Long Iilsnd, and near
ly reached th point opposite Nor walk
whoro ho hand originally landed. Ren
dered, perhaps, too bold by success, he
went Into a well-known and popular
tavern, entered Into conversation with
the guests and made himself very
agreeable. Th tradition Is that he
mad himself too agreeable. A man
present, suspecting or knowing that
be was not th character he had as
sumed, quietly left th room, commun
icated his suspicions to th captain of
a British ship anchored near, who dis
patched a boat's crew to capture and
bring on board the agreeable stranger.
His true cbsracter was Immediately re
vealed. Drawings of some of the Brit
ish works, with notes In Latin, went
found hidden In th sole of bis shoes.
Nor did he attempt to deceive his cap
tor, and th English captain, lament
ing, as b said, that "so fin a fallow
had fallen Into hi power," seat blm
to Nw York la on of bis boats, and
with him th fatal proof that h was
nr.
September list waa tb day oa which
a raacaad New York th day af tha
graat ft which laid oa-talrd of th
little city in ashes. From the time of
bis departure from General Washing
ton's camp to that of bis return to
New York was about fourteen days.
He was taken to General Howe's head
quarters at the Beekman mansion, on
the East river, near the corner of the
present Fifty-flrst street and First
avenue. It is a strange coincidence
that the house to which he waa brought
to be tried as a spy was the very one
from which Major Andre departed
when he went to West Point Tradi
tion says that Captain Hale was ex
amined In a greenhouse which then
stood In the garden of the Beekman
mansion.
Short was his trial, for be avowed at
once his true character. The British
general signed an order to bis provost
marshal directing blm to receive Into
bis custody the prisoner convicted as
"I ONLY REGRET THAT I HAVE
BUT ONE LIFE TO LOSE FOR
MY COUNTRY."
a spy, end to see blm hanged by the
neck "tomorrow morning at ' day
break." Terrible things are reported of the
manner in which this noble prisoner,
this admirable gentleman and hero,
was treated by bis, jailer and execu
tioner. There are savages In every
large army, and it is possible that this
provost-marshal' was one of them, it
is said that be refused him writing
materials, and afterward, when Cap
tain Hal had been furnished tbem by
others, destroyed before bis fsce bis
last letters to bis mother and to tho
young lady to whom be was engaged to
be married. - As those letters were
never received, this statement may be
true. The other alleged horrors of the
execution it Is safe to disregard, be
cause we know It was conducted in the
usual form and In the presence of
many spectators and a considerable
body of troops. jOn. fact shines out
from the distracting confusion of that
morning, which will be cherished to
the latest posterity as a precious Ingot
of tb moral treasure of the Ameri
can people. When asked if he hsd
anything to say, Captain Hale re
plied: "I only regret that I have but ono
life to lose for my country."
The scene of bis execution was prob
ably an old graveyard In Chambers
street, which was then called Barrack
street Oeneral Howe formally noti
fied General Washington of his execu
tion. In recent rears, through tb in
dustry of investigators, the pathos and
sublimity of these events bave been In
part revealed.
A few year ago bronxe statue af
th young hero was unveiled In the
New York City Hall Park. It I great,
ly to be regretted that our knowledge
of thl nobl martyr la o slight; but
w know enough to b ur that a
merits tb veneration of hit country-
Tb maa who marries for moay
merely trad hi liberty for a maal
ticket
