J.\I>/A.\ TRAGEDIES AND ROMANCES.

and, a half an hour before sundown, brought the men within fifty yards of the Indian camp. A bloody fight followed, in which the Indian fighter killed four savages. The incident seemed to make him for the moment quite happy, and after the Indians were driven off he was observed to laugh. The ultimate fate of the man is unknown.

At a later period in his life, Wallace settled in a ranch on the Medina River. His principal neighbors were the Lipan Indians. One day Big Foot gave a grand dinner of bear meat and honey to the chiefs of the tribe, and made a treaty with them to the effect that henceforth he was to be considered the same as a Lipan, and that they would not steal from him. For many miles the white men lost all their live stock by the depredations of these Indians, but, as the years rolled by, Wallace was not troubled.

In time, the Lipans determined to move to the Guadaloupe River. A morning or so after their departure, Wallace found his horses stolen. He had no idea that they had been taken by his allies, but, on following the trail, he picked up an arrow which he knew belonged to the Lipan tribe. Repairing to San Antonio,-he raised a company of thirty men for the recovery of the stolen property. Just as the company of rough but brave fellows were about to leave the town, a stranger, wearing a stove-pipe hat, light cloth clothes, and patent leather gaiters, stepped up to Wallace, and explained that he was writing a novel of frontier life, and desired to accompany the expedition in order to acquire some practical experience.

The big Ranger looked down at the little dandy, and, with a wdnk at his men, told him, "All right, you're welcome, Mr. Author." The stranger hustled away, and the next day joined the party armed with a little, double-barreled gun and an umbrella. He carried also a tiny pistol, of which the men made all manner of fun. The first night was passed at Wallace's ranch. The author went to sleep on a big buffalo robe where a dog had been lying.