On the Trail of Geronimo — page 248: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

236 ON THE TRAIL OF GERONIMO. aiming and firing as the necessity arose. His gun was grasped in his left hand, to be brought into play when his Smith & Wesson should be emptied of its charges. The main difficulty, as will readily be seen, was that the dismounted cavalryman could not keep his foes in front. Turn as quickly as he might, he was unable to guard every point. It was this fact which made it necessary to have the help of his comrades to extricate him from the fearful dan- ger in which he stood. The dexterity displayed by the Apaches was almost incredible. More than once it seemed to a horseman that when he aimed his rifle or pistol at one and pulled the trigger, the savage was in front of him, and yet the instant the discharge took place, he dodged out of range. They ducked their heads and whisked under the horses’ bellies ; they darted between their legs; they appeared in one spot, and the same instant were at another, and all the time they kept up such a wild whooping and screeching that the ponies, accustomed to such experiences though they were, became partly panic stricken, so that it was difficult to keep them at their work. COMMICOO© Sa!