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Show If TortUPC(l I A Prospector's Hop- 1 f i r row',,0 Experience in h I With Cactus I ,hc Arizona Dccr' I BaVJ &ii?iiJiiriWili!r.iiiirsiriWtijB H The cactus la a plant that atlrs up In H my mind memories of an Incident that H time cannot eraso, says an Arliuna H pioneer. When I went to Arliona In H 18C5 there were few white people, but B oo end of Indians The Indiana wero H not nil friendly. It was a year or so H after going to tho territory that, with H y small party of prospectors, I was H rrosslng tho great Arliona desert, from H I'hoenlx to where Is now the King of H,. Arliona mine. We ware all provided H- with- Axxf and water and wero making H Iho trip over tho hot sands and under H scorching sun with as much comfort H gs was possible until wo wero over- Bi .taken by n straggling band of Indians, i t think they were Jlcarlllas. BBJ There was nothing to do but mnko a Bl run for It, and we gave them n hard Bi tbaso for five hours, until Archie lint- BJBr sard, one of tho party, fell behind and BJBt "wns taken. Then wo turned and mado BJBJ fight, but It was no use. Tho Indians H mado off with their prisoner, a party H ot thorn keeping us off from thoso who had him In charge Wo followed until night, when tho Indiana mado n halt, nnd there, befure our eyes, thoy stripped strip-ped 1 1 Aiiard of his clothes and lashed him to a big cactus. Such suffering' They raited him Just far enough abovo tho ground that his wholo weight fell on tho ihnrp needles of tho plant, thousands ot them piercing pierc-ing his flesh, While halt ot the Indians In-dians held ue away, tho others danced about our suffering partner. There was unlr four of us, and about 20 In-liana, In-liana, but we aucceeded In driving them off, after n right that lantod until near midnight. When wo reached Italian! Ital-ian! ha was nearly dead from toss ot blood nnd the terrible agony that ho suffered. Wo got him back to 1'hoenli, but he died In n few days, I havo been cuugtit In tho desert nnd haro been saved of dying from thirst by drinking water that Is contained In the cactus, but I never can feel any grntltudo to tho plant nftor that first experience. And I noer can tolerate an Indian |