ld his interest in
the paper to his partner, Mr. Noltner. After that the office had few
charms for me, and more and more my spirits bent to a "Call to the
Wild." This feeling became the more pronounced by reason of a little
misunderstanding with Major Rinehart who commanded the troops at that
time stationed at Eugene City. The circumstances leading up to the
"misunderstanding," briefly are that a friend, Henry Mulkey, had been
arrested for a political offense by order of Major Rinehart, and it had
been determined to send him to Ft. Vancouver and possibly to Alcatraz. I
went to Major Rinehart's headquarters and applied for a pass to see Mr.
Mulkey. That I played good-goody--lied like a tombstone in order to get
the pass, is not necessary here to state, but I got it and arranged an
escape with Mulkey. That the arrangement miscarried was due to Mr.
Mulkey, and not to the prudence of Major Rinehart or the failure upon my
part to carry out the program.

Be that as it may. Mulkey was re-captured, and my own arrest was
ordered. A little boy, God bless him, overheard Major Rinehart give the
order to Lieutenant Tichnor, and ran and told me. Now, I did not relish
the idea of a residence either at Ft. Vancouver or Alcatraz--nor did I
know how long it would last. Consequently I leaped upon the best horse I
saw standing hitched to the Court House fence and rode out of town,
sending the horse and saddle back by a son of "Uncle Jimmie" Howard.
That boy is now a Baptist minister and I seriously question if he would
now accommodate me so far as to return a "lifted horse."

Under all the circumstances, I concluded to absent myself permanently--
at least until Major Rinehart's soldiers should move on. Securing an
"outfit" I joined a small company in the mountains, crossing the
Cascades by McKinzie Pass.

Chapter V.

Taking Revenge on Marauding Snakes.

On reaching the east side of the mountains, it became necessary to
travel in the night, at least through the open country between the
Deschutes and Bridge Creek. The Snake Indians were raiding the country,
and encumbered as we were with a small pack train, and with only a small
company, we deemed that plan safest. During the day a careful guard was
kept out and no fires lit. We thus passed safely through the dangerous
country to Bridge Creek. We arrived there in the morning and finding
quite a company from the Dalles, concluded to "lay by" a day or two and
rest our animals.

Abo