Show THRILLING ADVENTURE OF THE PONY RIDER One of tho dlftUucihu characters of western life a few years back was flue ponyrider or mall carrter who was the only means of public communication communica-tion between ono settlement and another an-other Their routes were over Hccttons of country where stage roads had not been opened sometimes extending for many miles and sometimes serving only as connecting links between Hues already established Some of these riders were young men for such a responsible duty you might think but they had been ought up In tho country had taken part In Its adventures dangers and trials and at eighteen or twenty years of ago eio as manly courageous and saga clous on the trail as you would expect ex-pect men of forty to be I Tho lives of these mull carrlers were fnll of adventure Tho country through which they rode was wild and unsettled and encounters with Indians wild beasts and desperado highwaymen were ficcinent One of the pluckiest riders was lit tie Sam Dudley He was only eighteen eight-een years old and nls build wan almost as alight as n womans but the strongest man couldnt stand fatigue fa-tigue any butter than Sam lie seemed Ito I-to be made up of steel and steam i Sam had n route that was particularly particu-larly dangerous as It lay In a region where bands of Shoshone Indians were always prowling about Warpath War-path or no warpath they robbed and butchered white men whenever they found them at a disadvantage and when pursued by parties bent out to avenge the outrage they hid thorn selves among tho rocks and lay quiet until It was safe to como out again This was down In Nevada near the Toquima mountains Sam rodo from Austin to San Juan a distance of fifty miles his course mining most of the way along ho Ileeso river Sam was duo in San Juan one afternoon af-ternoon about three oclock but that hour passed and then four oclock and lie had not arrived The mall agent seemed to bo a trllle uneasy as he talked about the delay I He said Sam Dudley the rider was I as brave a follow as over straddled a pouch but there were bands of Indians I In-dians all along his route and ho thought It was only a question of time I when they would wing him He had already had adventures with them In which his escapes had been little loss than jnarvelons and It was while he was telling me about ono of them that wo heard shouts outside his cabin followed by the sound of a homes feet at a rapid gallop Every ono hurried out and saw a sight that was by no means uncommon uncom-mon In such a country A young fellow fel-low apparently a mere boy in years was riding towaid the station on a darkbay mustang Ills buckskin clothes were soiled I find bloody and his left arm hung limp I and useless at his sldo His right I hand grasped the long black hair of all Indians scalp which he swung round and round above his head The reins lay upon the ponys neck hut the beast knew his stopping placo and needed no guiding In a minuto more I he had halted and all anxiously approached ap-proached the rider It was Sam Dudley the young mull I carrier pale and weak from wounds and loss of blood He was helped off the ponys back but fainted before he got Into the agents cabin Tho mall pouch was safe however Sam was not long coming to himself him-self again His loft arm was broken abovo the elbow by a rifle ball and another ball had entered his chest near the left shoulder Neither wound I was dangerous I About five miles from San Juan as he was Jogging along at an easy pace over a stretch of tableland ho saw three mounted Indians some distance ahead of him They were coming from an easterly direction and their course would Intersect his almost at right I angles They evidently saw him and ho had no doubt they would attack i him that was what they were there forHut But what could ho do To turn back was no safer than to go forward for they would pursue and overtake him Then even If they had no hostile intentions In-tentions his running from them would be sure to bring them after him So ho determined to go ahead and trust to his usual good luck cither to outrun or outwit them Without sluckonlng speed ho rode on toward them He was nrmcdi of course A repeating rlllo was slung across hit back and a revolver and a knife wore stuck In his belt When they were within 200 ywdo of each other the Indiana stopped thclt guns In their hands Sam stopped also and unslung his rlllo Perhaps at this distance hn might prove to he time better shot and pick off ono or two of them If their bullets missed him Anyway ho much preferred to light with 200 yards between them and ho resolved to moo no farther but wait for developments Meanwhile the Indians conferred with each other for a few minutes and one of them signed for him to come on He piomptly signed that ho wouldnt dti It At this tho redskins started toward him holding up their hands In token of filcndshlp Hut Stout was too shrewd to bo caught In such a 1allho know them too well His reply was a shot from his rlllc and ono of the Indians tumbled off his horse Tho other two Immediately fired at him their balls whistling harmlessly by him but nevertheless Sam fell from his pony to the ground and lay still In tho long grass The pony stood like a rock for Sam had thrown tho reins over his head All this time his onomles wino galloping gal-loping rapidly toward him Another I shot from them would no doubt have I finished himhe dared not risk It he must deceive them by a ruse Would It succeed It was a des perato chance and as ho lay there thinking about It and listening to tho tramp of tho approaching horses who will think It strange It I ho trembled a little bravo as ho was Hut ho needed all his nerve and he pulled himself well together got his ride ready and ruining his head and t rdl d w ii lr I Yr > H Dropping From His Horse to the Ground He opened Fire on the Indians shoulders took deliberate aim at the foremost Indian not 200 feet away and fired Tlio savage fell and another rider less horso went bounding over the plain Quick as lightning Sam fired again this time at his last remaining foe and horse and Indian both dropped I Exulting In his easy victory the gallant young fellow leaped to his feotto see tho third Indian not dead as ho thought but running toward him gun at tho ready Ills horse had been shot but ho was unhurt Sam was astounded Ho was not a victor after all on tho contrary he now faced his greatest peril This lashed upon him as the Indian stopped raised his gun and fired A sharp quick spasm of pain shot I through Sams loft arm and It fell helpless to his Bide tho ball had shattered It This made him drop his ride to the ground but his coolness and courage did not leave him The gun had not fairly touched the grass before ho had drawn his revolver and taken aim at tho savage but the latter lat-ter was equally quick with his gun The I two reports rang out as one and both men fell Dudley was shot In ho cheat near tho left shoulder and tho shock dropped him lIe did not loso con sciousness however and soon roso to his feel ready to renew the fight Hut this was not necessary Ills last shot had been fired fiom a distance of twenty paces and It had gone straight home The third and last foe was dead Forgetting his woundsthinking only of his triumph over his would bo murderers he whipped out his knife and took the scalp of tho Indian ho had just killed Then mounting his pony ho dashed off toward San Juan Chicago Dally News |