252 OBSERVATIONS OF A RANCHWOMAN 



band in his turn, and told how on that night 

 of terror, riding for home and all that was 

 in it, he drew rein on the ridge above the 

 village, and beheld far below him fire and 

 smoke the annihilation of his little world. 



'In that moment,' he said, 'thirty years 

 were added to my life. Driving the spurs 

 into my horse, and followed by my two com- 

 panions, I tore like a madman down the hill- 

 side, to what I believed was certain death 

 amidst the ruins of my home.' 



Then, greeting the thunder of the horses' 

 hoofs, a challenge rang out into the night 

 ' And those flames were the camp-fires of 

 United States troopers, and my home was 

 undespoiled, my wife and babies safe, and the 

 thirty years I had gained upon that ridge 

 dropped from me like a mantle !' 



Still more recently a mother and daughter, 

 missionaries in a remote Mexican village, 

 were awoke one morning by the terrified 

 natives with the news that a band of Apaches 

 had encamped in the neighbourhood during 

 the night. For over a week the inhabitants 

 of the village dwelt in mortal fear, yielding 

 to the Indians all that they demanded in the 



