THE RESCUE.
79
And the peaks of the far Sierra
Gleamed in the sunset gold.
But just as we neared the hamlet,
Where the shadows deepest lie,
From a cleft in the woody hillside
There came an awful cry,
And lo! the fierce Apaches
In all their wild array
Burst from the cedar thicket
And bore us far away!
Gleamed in the sunset gold.
But just as we neared the hamlet,
Where the shadows deepest lie,
From a cleft in the woody hillside
There came an awful cry,
And lo! the fierce Apaches
In all their wild array
Burst from the cedar thicket
And bore us far away!
Our Lady must have listened
To the shrieks that rent the air,
When I saw my loved Juanita
Seized by her shining hair,
And her brave young brother, Leon,
Thrust with a sharp spear back—
So the cougar springs on the helpless deer
In a lonely forest track!
All night we went in silence
By stream and steep defile,
To halt at morn on the lofty cliffs,
From Larna many a mile;
To halt while our masters ate their fill
Of the flesh of the mountain bear,
Of mescal, acorns, cactus fruits
Their prisoners might not share.
How dread they were by light of day!
Painted from waist to crown,
Their sashes blazoned with the stars,
Their black locks streaming down;
To the shrieks that rent the air,
When I saw my loved Juanita
Seized by her shining hair,
And her brave young brother, Leon,
Thrust with a sharp spear back—
So the cougar springs on the helpless deer
In a lonely forest track!
All night we went in silence
By stream and steep defile,
To halt at morn on the lofty cliffs,
From Larna many a mile;
To halt while our masters ate their fill
Of the flesh of the mountain bear,
Of mescal, acorns, cactus fruits
Their prisoners might not share.
How dread they were by light of day!
Painted from waist to crown,
Their sashes blazoned with the stars,
Their black locks streaming down;
