“The Apaches are coming! The Apaches are coming!” shouted Sut Simpson,
as his mustang thundered up to the edge of the valley, while his clear,
powerful voice rang out like a bugle.
The words were startling enough, and the sudden dropping of a dozen
bombshells among the unfinished dwellings of New Boston could not have
created greater consternation, emphasized as they were by the towering
form of the hunter and steed, who looked as if they had been fired from
the throat of some immense Columbiad, and had not as yet recovered from
their bewilderment. There was some system, however, in the movements
of the pioneers, for there was ever present in their thoughts the very
danger which had now come upon them so suddenly.
In the structure which was nearest completion were placed the dozen
women and children, while the other houses that were in a condition to
afford the means of defense were taken possession of by the men, gun in
hand, ready to defend themselves to the last. Fortunately enough, the
horses happened to be corraled within the inclosure, so that, unless
the defense should utterly fail, there was little danger of their being
stampeded by the Indians.
While these hurried preparations were going on, the hunter remained
seated upon his mustang, looking down upon the pioneers with a gathering
calmness, as though he were a general watching the evolutions of his
army. Now and then he anxiously gazed off over the prairie, his manner
showing that he was mentally comparing the speed of the approaching
Apaches with that of the labors of his friends.
To Fred Munson, perched in the top of the lofty tree, the whole scene
seemed like a hurrying panorama of a dream. He never once thought of his
own personal danger, in the intensity of his interest in what was going
on before his eyes.
The hunter had scarcely checked his mustang when the lad saw the Apaches
appear upon a ridge some distance behind. It was less than two miles
away, and they all dashed over at the place where the _avant courier_
had come at his break-neck pace; and as soon as they were all over, and
stretching away in the direction of the settlement, Fred had some chance
of estimating their number.
“There must be a thousand of them,” he muttered, in a terrified voice.
“They will murder us all--none can get away.”
His imagination, however, intensified matters. The Apaches numbered
several hundred, and, armed to the teeth as they were, brave, daring,
and mounted upon the best of horses, they were as formidable a party
as if they were composed of so many white desperadoes of the border.
A month before they would have walked over this party of pioneers; but
there is no teacher like experience, and in the long journey across
the plains, marked by innumerable skirmishes with the red-skins, the
settlers had acquired a coolness and steadiness under fire which was
invaluable in such emergencies as this.
But Simpson still maintained his position, glancing from the settlement
below him to the approaching Apaches, with that quick, nervous motion
which showed only too plainly that he felt a crisis was at hand, and he
could delay only a few moments longer.
It was a thrilling sight, the hurried preparations of the pioneers, and
the swift approach of their assailants. The latter came in no regular
order, but swept along like so many Centaurs, at first well together,
but, as they approached the valley, gradually separating and spreading
out, like a slowly opening fan, until the crescent was several hundred
yards in breadth, and it looked as if they intended to surround the
settlement.
Such being their apparent purpose, the hunter speedily saw that it would
not do to stay another second. He had come to warn the whites of their
danger, and now that it had burst upon them, he emphasized his good
intentions by dashing down the valley, and, leaping from the back of his
mustang, took his place among a dozen defenders who were gathered in the
building with the women and children.
His horse was covered with foam and sweat, for his master had ridden
like Paul Revere, and he needed the rest that was now given him. He
possessed extraordinary intelligence, and Sut knew that he could be
thoroughly depended upon in case matters got mixed, and a stampede was
attempted by the assailants.
There was no dilly-dallying. The most serious kind of business impended,
and all were forced to prepare for it. In a twinkling, as it seemed, the
hurry, bustle, and confusion suddenly ceased. Everything settled down
into quiet, and the defenders, with their loaded rifles, calmly awaited
the assault that was soon to be made.
As the Apaches neared the valley, they gradually slackened their speed,
but all reached the margin, from which they could look down upon the
pioneers, with their steeds upon a gallop, and then, without checking
them, branched still further apart, and, speeding down the slope, began
the battle forthwith.
In an instant the sharp crack! crack! of rifles was heard from different
directions, as the Apaches opened fire upon the whites, who showed an
equal readiness in replying. The Indians never allowed their steeds to
rest. They were constantly in motion, back and forth, round and round,
circling here and there, seemingly at times in inextricable confusion,
but with a certain system, as shown in the evolutions of a large
party upon a stage, and with the result of never interfering with one
another's efficiency.
Some of the Apaches, in the very wantonness of their skillful
horsemanship, threw themselves from side to side upon the backs of their
steeds, firing under the neck or belly with as much accuracy as if from
the saddle. None of them were furnished with the regulation saddle;
some had blankets, while the most were mounted bareback. Their skill
was little short of the marvelous. Again and again, one of the red-skins
would make a lunge over the side of his animal, as though he were going
to plunge headlong into the earth; but, catching his toe over the spine
of his horse, he would sustain himself apparently by no other means,
while he kept up his fusilade. When his horse wheeled, so as to expose
the rider to the fire of the whites, the Indian would quickly swing over
the other side, where he would continue the same demonstrations.
Thus it was that within five minutes after the Apaches came down in the
valley, the settlement was surrounded by the several hundred, who
were circling back and forth, and sending in their shots, whenever the
opportunity presented itself.
The wood to which frequent reference has been made, it will be
remembered, was situated some distance from the settlement, and, as Fred
Munson was perched in a tree upon the other side, many of the gyrating
horsemen were frequently shut out from his view by the intervening
trees; but enough was constantly in view to keep his excitement up to
the highest pitch, and to cause him to forget his own prominence as a
target.
As has been already said, the settlers, from behind their intrenchments,
were prompt in returning the fire of their assailants. The effect upon
persons who had never been brought in collision with Indians would have
been to bewilder and terrify them. It is very probable that such was one
of the principal objects of the Apaches in making their attack as they
did; but it failed utterly in that respect. Carefully avoiding any
exposure of themselves, they popped away right and left, the reports of
the rifles mingling together, while the warriors, as they tumbled to the
ground here and there, showed how effectual the defense of the pioneers
was.
The Apaches scarcely expected such a vigorous defense, and, after losing
several of their best men, they widened their circle so as to avoid such
a close range, and fired more seldom, but with greater care.
New Boston was a peculiarly built, or rather laid out, city. If Caleb
Barnwell committed an absurdity in attempting to plant a settlement in
the valley of the Rio Pecos, when the entire surrounding country was
hostile, he showed some wisdom in the manner in which he conducted
matters after the attempt was made. The town was in an irregular circle,
with a grassy court in the centre, in which were pitched their horses.
Knowing how indispensable these animals were to men in such
circumstances, there could be but little doubt that the Apaches would
make a desperate attempt to stampede them, and the whites were therefore
on the look-out for such an effort. Not only Sut Simpson, but Barnwell
and a number of the principal men, held fire after the first repulse, so
as to meet such an essay at the very instant it was attempted.
The Apaches edged away some distance, under the galling fire of the
pioneers, until the watchful hunter saw them hurriedly massing on the
slope above. He knew the meaning of that the moment he perceived the
action.
“Be ready! they're coming for the animals!” he shouted, in a voice so
loud that the words were distinctly heard by Fred Munson from his perch
in the tree.
All those who held empty rifles hastily reloaded them, and the others,
raising the hammers of their weapons, fixed their eyes upon the
hideously painted forms, which resembled so many demons about to sweep
down upon them. There was barely time for preparation, and in another
minute the horde came rushing down the slope, like a mountain torrent,
their objective point being the square where the horses were secured.
Before they could reach them, however, the settlers poured in their most
murderous volleys, bringing many a glaring red-skin to earth, wounding
a number of their animals, and creating such a panic that the foremost
swerved off to the right and dashed up the valley, followed by the
others, while the property of the whites remained uninjured.
The first attack of the Apaches resulted in a repulse, and that, too,
when led by Lone Wolf; but the peril was not past. That war-chief had
learned the situation fully, and there was no danger of his repeating
this blunder. The next time he was sure to succeed.