Uninterested, Shoz-Dijiji stood idly by until the Mariels had hastily
packed their few belongings and departed, leaving their wood behind
them. No longer did his fellows ridicule or taunt Shoz-Dijiji for his
refusal to join them in the torture of their captives or the mutilation
of the dead. His courage had been proved upon too many fields of battle,
his hatred of the enemy was too well known to leave any opening for
charges of cowardice or disloyalty. They thought him peculiar and let it
go at that. Perhaps some of the older braves recalled the accusation of
the dead Juh that Shoz-Dijiji was no Apache but a white-eyed man by
birth; but no one ever mentioned that now since Juh was dead, and it was
well known that he had died partly because he had made this charge
against the Black Bear.
Back in the camp of the renegades Gian-nah-tah and the others boasted
loudly of their victory, exhibited the poor spoils that they had taken
from the camp of the woodchoppers, while the squaws cooked the flesh of
one of the burros for a feast in celebration. Perhaps they were off
their guard, but then, even Homer is charged with carelessness.
Just as a bullet had surprised the camp of the woodchoppers earlier in
the day, so a bullet surprised the camp of the renegades. A little
Indian boy clutched his breast and crumpled to the ground. Other shots
came in quick succession, and then the air was rent by wild Apache
war-whoops. Apache had surprised Apache. Perhaps no other could have
done it so well.
As Crawford’s Scouts charged the camp of Geronimo, the renegades, taken
completely off their guard, scattered in all directions. Pursued by a
part of the attacking force, Geronimo’s warriors kept up a running fight
until all the fighting men and a few of the women and children had
escaped; but a majority of the latter were rounded up by the scouts and
taken back to Crawford’s camp, prisoners of war. Only the dead body of a
little boy remained to mark the scene of happy camp, of swift, fierce
battle. In the blue sky, above the silent pines, a vulture circled upon
static wings.
That night the renegades gathered in a hidden mountain fastness, and
when the last far flung scout had come they compared notes and took
account of their losses. They found that nearly all of their women and
children had been captured. Of Geronimo’s family only Shoz-Dijiji
remained to the old War Chief. Sons-ee-ah-ray was a captive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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